Brighton Marathon 2013

It came, I ran and I conquered!!!
Two years ago when I finally decided I wanted to take my running more serious, I never thought I'd be able to run a marathon, I didn't even wanna try!
I used to run to keep fit for football and life in general but I would never run over 4 miles ( I didn't think I could ).
So after a little time I started getting up to 7+ miles and I thought that maybe if I push myself harder I could run longer distance's, so that's when I started signing up for events.
The logic in my head was if I've got something to aim for I'm gonna train harder as I don't wanna let myself down or look like a clown infront of a crowd.
So after signing up to the Brighton Marathon last October I've been running on average 3 times a week, between 6-10 miles on a week night, with a long run on the Sunday. Each Sunday I'd add an extra mile till I reached 21 miles, the week before the big day.
I was pretty nervous on the day and judging by the 3, half mile long queues for the toilets there, most other people were nervous too!
The race started at 9AM and with my predicted time of under 4 hours I was placed in the front section, which I was pleased about as I missed being in the congested area ( slightly behind ) which can add a good few minutes on your finish time. I did have a time in my head I wanted to complete the race in ( 3 hours 45 mins ) but to be honest, as it was my first marathon, I just wanted to finish.
The first 14 miles flew by, with me running my fastest long distance minutes per miles I've done, due to the massive help and energy given to me by the crowd, my 2 friends which came and the huge support of my loving wife. In total I saw them 5 times around the course cheering me on!!!
Things started to get dark between miles 18-22 though. The industrial area was free from crowds and stunk of fish and I really had to dig deep to keep going. Luckily after here the final 4 and a bit miles were along the coast, with it's nice sea breeze, cooling me down and the cheering crowds I got a second wind and made my way to the finish line. Opting to keep my pace and not over doing it like some fellow runners did, which was clearly a bad move for them as 6 people alone that I saw pulled up with muscle strains!!!
I ran across the finish line in a time of 3 hours and 41 mins ( which I was well pleased with ) and bowed my head to recieve my finishers medal very proudly.
I'm not gonna lie I was in alot of pain when I finished and the following 4 miles of walking to the train and from the train to our friends house felt awful, but to be fair I think it helped in the end as I didn't get stiff.
I did tell my wife after that I don't wanna do it again but after the aches went all I can think is, I gotta do it in 3 hrs 30 mins. So I can see me back there in 2015!
Congrats to everyone that finished and my condolences go out to the family of Sam the young lad who died during the race of heart complications, raising money for other people to give them a better life.



Keep running and show your support for the victims of Boston #runforboston

Ki(d)ngCudi

There was quite a buzz around rapper/singer KidCudi before he dropped his solo album "man on the moon" and after hearing some cuts of the tracks I brought it and was impressed.
As much as I love hiphop, I can't totally relate to much of it as it's not the lifestyle I live or have grown up with, but Cudi's style is. His indie, dark-moody story telling was a fresh sound in hiphop for me and I had the album on repeat for a long time!!

So when he dropped his 2nd LP I was straight on it but I'll be honest I was pretty let down. With only a handful of tracks I really liked I thought it was gonna be a case of another artist who's thrown their all into being heard, then rushing together their next album's while they've still got a buzz around them ( record label pressure maybe to blame ). Cudi's solo effort on Kanye's "Cruel Summer" wasn't much to my liking either, so with this weeks release of his 3rd LP "Indicud" what kinda album was it gonna be??
I listened to his "King Wizard" track on YouTube and that was more like the Cudi I loved, so my thoughts were positive. After listening to "Indicud" from start to finish 6 times already in 4 days, I think it's safe to say that in my opinion, he's back on top and I'd even go as far as saying I like it more than "Man on the Moon". This is very rare for me as not many artists now days make a better body of music than their 1st album. There is a few featured artists on the album including Kendrick Lemar, ASAP Rocky, Haim and the Rza, to name a few and they all add to the albums sound, rather than a bunch of names to just help sell a record. It seems Cudi has chosen to work with people who will work well with his tracks, which makes better for the listener.
It's definatly worth a listen, my album of the year so far!!!

On Repeat

Doing alot of driving (for work) and running, (over a hundred miles a month at the moment, due to training for a marathon) ive always got my earphones in listening to music.
Most of the time i got my whole playlist on shuffle but sometimes i get some albums that i love so much they're on repeat constantly.
Im sure you're all the same and when you love an album you go running your mouth to anyone that'll listen (after all word of mouth is the best form of advertising).
So this is me running my mouth off on what im loving right now, i hope you check these tunes out and go cop yourself a copy.
First off after waiting 7 years since his last album Justin Timberlake has finally dropped his 3rd solo album and as expected its awesome. I got mad love for JT and he's come up with the good's again, teaming up with Timberland on the beats which is a power house in the music biz (and to make me even happier he's bringing out another 10 tracks on 'The 20/20 Experience'Part 2 later on in the year).


My next album thats been on repeat is a mixtape from a couple of Westside playas, a Detroit duo called Faygos and Coney. Im a big fan of these since the member Kid Jinx and i started chatting on twitter and he sent me the link to their track 'Genesis' on You Tube, shortly followed by 'Smoke it over' featuring Lil David Ruffin. Go check out the videos on the link.
http://youtu.be/EU8YvlhzoBs Genesis.
http://youtu.be/BwOm9T7OmPk Smoke it over.
The mix tape is hot, with the duos wordplay and punchlines on their own and other peoples tracks, plus with it being a free download, why the hell wouldn't you get it??? Both Kid Jinx and Derrty D are on twitter so for more info follow them at @faygosandconey @BurgersandBooty and @DerrtyD.
Here's the link to their free downloadable mixtape 'Made In Detroit'.
http://t.co/I92n416xfL


























Even though this next albums been out a while now im still bumping it.
DMX's 'Undisputed'.
Ive always had alot of love for the Darkman but after a long absence, due to being in jail and the stories of him being on crack, i was wondering if he was ever gonna get back in the booth.
Then when he dropped his mixtape 'The Weigh In' i was worried about what this album was gonna be like. With its bad sound quality (it was a mixtape i suppose i cant be too fussy) and its awful content (it sounded like he'd lost his flow and did it all half asleep and fucked up).
But once i listened to this album, it was clear he's still got it. If you want ruff, real talk, street shit and heart felt gospel raps there isn't much better out there than the Dog.

With all the running i have been doing its always good having some dance tunes on the Ipod to keep you pumped and keeping pace. I have alot of singles that i have on a playlist but Calvin Harris' '18 Months' is a great album to exercise to. With great beats and a whole list of A star featured artists you can't go wrong.


Peace, enjoy.

I'm so lazy!!!! (At blogging)

As the title suggests, i have been extremely lazy with my blog posts and it's been along time since I've actually blogged which is really bad of me.
Since the new year I've hung up my footy boots and really put my all into taking running very seriously.
So it's only right my next blog will be all about my training, events done and that are lined up, plus what I've been doing to help me get in shape and ready to race.
So saying I'm lazy isn't totally true, it's just I've been too damn tired to write after a hard nights training.
Peace.