Onwards Sketchbook

http://dooooodle.blogspot.com/2009/06/onwards-sketchbook-2.html

Running Update

I ran my first competitive race since the Surrey County Cross Country Chapmpionship in January yesterday evening, at the Dulwich Midsummer 5k. I came in second place in just over 16 minutes (slower than the 15:48 I ran two years ago) which I was reasonably pleased with. I've been struggling with my IT band since my last running post at the end of April and I haven't been able to do the training I would have liked. I found that I was getting problems on runs over 45 minutes, so I've been getting a lot more miles on the bike. I also made a decision to stop running with my GPS watch so I wasn't constantly monitoring my pace and I did some lovely runs around Dulwich Woods just enjoying the run without worrying about time.

I had told myself that the 5k would be a bit of a test and that if I couldn't perform I would make a decision to stop racing. In a way that would have been quite a nice release, but the result means that I still feel I can be competitive (hopefully more so when I run some decent interval sessions). I'm going to try running three quality sessions a week (intervals, tempo and a long run) and carry on getting out on the bike, and see how that goes.

P.S. Many thanks to Kerry at Nike for the socks - they made all the difference!

Onwards Sketchbook

Richard 'Kenny' Kenworthy has written an interesting post on his blog that features some of his beautiful drawings made for the Onwards film.

http://dooooodle.blogspot.com/2009/05/sketchbook-01.html

Kenny is an amazing draughtsman, and working with him I really enjoyed seeing the working drawings he made.

Talk in June

On Tuesday 9 June I'll be speaking as part of Creative Review's Portfolios Seminar Programme, at Central Hall, Westminster, London from 1700-1815.

www.portfolioshow.co.uk

Drawings Blog/Babies

I've set up a new blog specifically for publishing some of the drawings I've got piling up about the place. Believe it or not I still spend a lot of time every day drawing, and I thought I ought to offer a break from the obsession with running.

Check it out here:

http://jamesjarvisdrawings.blogspot.com

In other more personally momentous news, my partner gave birth to a baby boy (as yet unnamed) last Friday, the 8th of May, so that's been keeping me busy.

Poets Ranked by Beard Weight

http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/2009/05/poets-ranked-by-beard-weight.html

Running Update

I'm now running for 23:40. The 10% extra each session seems to be working quite well. The interesting thing is that I am not limiting my pace, just the duration of each run, so I don't feel especially slow.

My last three runs have been in a pair of Lunar Glides, kindly supplied by Nike. They feel really nice - super light but supportive, and a nice change from the Structure Triax I've been wearing. They feel roomy in the toe box, with an upper that's really minimal.

Blanchland Moor Loop

This is the favourite route that inspired the hill climb sequence of Onwards. There's a killer 25% climb for the first 2 km up to the edge of the moor.

Blanchland Moor Loop at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging