Is anyone still reading this???!??!?!

Well don't! I have a new blog! http://www.si.themaples.net/blog. It's being hosted on our new site, http://www.themaples.net.

Enjoy... This site will be terminated shortly.

I have great plans to blog this year, including my lejog/jogle training, and of course my 100 press up and 200 sit up fun :o) All to be revealed!

What a total dick!

-->> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7822574.stm

So Prince Harry doesn't think the terms 'Paki' and 'Raghead' are racist because they were said in Jest. What a penis. It's just as racist as any other term used to slag off another race, regardless if they were in jest or not!

Then on the way home, I heard loads of people on the radio saying they don't think it's racist because... "People in Britain are called Brits and people in Scotland are called Scots, why not call people from Pakistan, Pakis". I can't believe there are people about who think that the work Paki is just an abbr. rather than a racist term. People are genuinely offended and history has made the word a racist. In fact, why not take the rudest word (C) and say that is the same as the term 'lady garden'? Well surely they're equal in offence? They mean the same thing! Oh that's right, society and history has deemed one offensive, so it's not used! IDIOT.

So Harry, I'm sure you'll read this post... For the record... wog, coon, raghead, Paki are racist words and can cause offence. Stop being a twat. Stop making Prince Phillip look good.

Training week 2. T-22 weeks till London Marathon

Second week completed! Yay - the smaller runs are getting a lot easier, although today did push me quite a bit. However, assuming I haven't picked up any injuries from it, I think it went quite well.

Here are the details of my long run I did today, from a great site called EveryTrail

Trip Story
Schedule is a 90 min jog/walk

I tried to average a slowish jog of about 10 mins per mile so that I could last the time. I started a bit quicker and later decided to run 2 sets of 4 miles, with a 1 mile walk in the middle. You can see this from the speed stats quite clearly :o) Here are my detailed stats...

Mile1: 9:13 mins
Mile2: 10:13 mins
Mile3: 10:03 mins
Mile4: 9:15 mins
Mile5: 14:57 mins (walk)
Mile6: 9:23 mins
Mile7: 9:10 mins
Mile8: 9:46 mins
Mile9: 9:33 mins

9 mile jog 23/11

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

Here is the up-to-date schedule.

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far... it really is making it easier to train knowing I have so much support! If you want to support me, either check out the just giving widget on this page or go here. £850 so far, at the time of writing! Wooooo :o)

Training week 1. T-23 weeks till London Marathon

First week in is gonna be a tricky one, although looking down the line of my schedule, probably not the hardest one.

You can find my week's work in my online schedule here

My new gadget I'm using is awesome! So useful for working out when to go for jog to walk and back to jog at specific distances. I can imagine it will be equally good for jog/sprint interval training later too, etc.

I'm trying out some new energy bars and recovery fuel drinks to see if they're any good. Gave me lots of energy for my 5 miler, although that might just have been down to the uber-carbs I had the night before.

My appetite has gone through the roof just in a week also! I'm trying to eat carbs and fruit when hungry, also drinking squash and water much more.

I've lost just over 3 lbs this week which is probs half weight and half water as I'm still rehydrating after my longer run.

Early Birthday Pressie!

Liz gave me an early birthday pressie today (She's great ;o) ) as I'm now starting my marathon training. Well almost started ;o) Update will be at the end of the week! I got a Garmin Forerunner 201. To track my distances, times, speeds etc. I can also later download all info from the forerunner to my laptop and analyse my runs to understand where I'm doing badly, when I could do with energy gels/snacks etc. Could be very interesting. I'm really pleased with it :) I gave liz an idea of a watch (cheap digital one) so I could track any laptimes I do, but this will give me lots of fun things to play with and look at. One good thing also is the ability to download the route I have done and overlay onto google maps or the like to see on a map my travels :) Just for fun!

Right... I've got a 20min jog to go out and do while you lot are sitting about relaxing in the warm! This is very hard work and deserves lots of money! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated so far! I'm up to £719 now! Still a long way to go though!

For those who haven't sponsored me yet... stop being cheap! I'm really putting myself out for this, so go here now while you don't have an excuse! :P

London Marathon training schedule.

So, my first marathon run is next year. I'm aiming to get under 4 hours, but for that I will need a good training scheme. I've knocked one up from a runners world website. They typically do 14 week schedules, so I've combined the first 8 weeks of the "First marathon" schedule, and tagged the full 4hr->3.5hr marathon schedule on the end with a couple of weeks duplicated in case of injury etc.

Here is the schedule.

I'll keep it updated with my actual distances ran and injuries picked up on the way... I'm currently nursing a groin injury which should hopefully be gone by next week when I start. I also like the fact that my first day is rest :D

I still want to buy some running trainers (will go shopping this weekend) and maybe a pair of undershorts. There are some around that support all the muscles including the groin, or adductor (no smut please) and also there humerously names groin straps I could get... suggestions welcome. Quite expensive... maybe Santa will treat me :)

And for anyone who wants to sponsor me :) click here!

London Marathon!

Woohoo!!!

I've got a place in the London Marathon 2009! :o)

Please Please Please sponsor me to run 26 miles... It's a very stupid thing for me to do, but I'm doing it for a very good cause. I'm running for Ronald Macdonald House Charity (RMHC), who provide accommodation for parents with children in hospital. This is a very important charity to me as they helped my brother and sister-in-law stay close to their lovely daughter Nicole on two occasions for weeks at a time when she was very poorly in hospital. Nicole has since made a full recovery and is a darling little Niece :o) So I'm really proud to run on behalf of RMHC and would love for people to donate to them, even if it's just a few of pounds if you think I've run enough to deserve a beer, then put it towards the charity.

You can sponsor me online here -> http://www.justgiving.com/simonmaple

If you can spare anything at all, I'd really be grateful!

Thaaaaanks :D

Upside down dogs!

I've sent this photo...



To this website... http://upsidedowndogs.com/

Let's see if it gets in :o)

DIY done and DIY todo

We've been very busy with lots of DIY recently and have been thinking about other things that could be done next!

We've taken out the toilet and sink from the downstairs loo, put up new coving, prepped the walls with loads of plaster, filler and lots of sanding, put new isolation valves on the pipes (compression joints) ripped up the new floor, layed a new ceramic floor, put plaster coving up (one of the most irritating jobs I've ever undertaken as the walls are by no means square :oS) and painted lots of white paint everywhere as an undercoat. Liz's Dad, Terry, was great help with the DIY when he and Liz's Mum, Linda, came over to stay for a few days. Linda did lots of gardening and weeding and stuff with Liz when us men were grunting and doing manly things like plumbing.

So, that's what We've done so far. We still need to give another undercoat, especially over the new plaster, followed by the actual colour coat! tbd, install the new loo and sink, with plumbing and taps, new mirror, and wall tiles by the sink, then some other bits and bobs like glossing and stuff.

I thought today about a possible project: To convert the back of the garage to a fun bit of space. The bit I'm talking about is about 3m x 2.5m... As you can see from the detailed drawing below, It will contain, shelves to but beers on, a beer fridge, a pool table, a few stools, a dart board and a pool table light thing. It's gonna be fun :o) Now I just need to convince Liz... hmmm I'll tell her about the beer fridge first I think :oD

Went to South Africa

Big Spider...

Silverstone and guests

This weekend me and my brother, Gav, went to silverstone to watch some F3 and GT racing... awesome! It was a really great weekend. We managed to even walk out onto the pit wall and the grid! Here are a couple of photos to sum the weekend up...





Guests

We had some guests round recently... they're very rude. They stay in the loft and run around keeping us up at night... we've had to move rooms a couple of nights when they're noisy. I left a trap for them but they seem to have taken the food and forgot to shut the door behind them :( I'll reset it again tonight... Looks like they may not be squirrels after all, possibly mice?

N.B.New energy to post on blog = new template for blog.

Has it been *that* long?

So, I was perusing other blogs using their RSS feeds and I thought - crap, no one has blogged, that's rubbish. I actually quite enjoy reading other people's blogs when I get the chance, especially Joe and Adam's as they're 13 and write some random and funny things that make me laugh.

Then I looked at my blog... well, I haven't posted for a couple of weeks so I thought I'd write an update... Looking down the previous posts I saw some humerous ones about me trying to lose weight... peaks and troughs... i'm currently in a trough although my belleh looks like a peak ;) I also saw a really nice post about the holiday me and Liz had last year which really made me smile :D

Any how, just thought I'd let anyone reading know I'm still alive! Since the last post, I'm still engaged :) Bought a lovely house (4 bedroom - blimey!) with Liz, which we're currently doing up, got two new additions to the family... Liam who is my lovely new Nephew and a brother for Nicole to play with! and Toby! our lovely dog :o) Lab X Springer. Here's a pic of Toby after I slapped my dusty hand on him after sanding a wall down... as you do.



Also just came back from a holiday with Liz and her Family to Norfolk, boating on the broads. Was great fun. Went with Liz, her parents, Hazel, Peter, Joe and Adam, and of course Toby!

Day 30

Perhaps I should go to the gym tomorrow...

But i'm still losing weight:

Starting Weight : 11st 8 3/4 lbs
Current Weight : 11st 3 lbs
Total Weight lost : 5 3/4 lbs = 5 good pies (or 1 and a slice of Ian sized pies)

(click to enlarge)



Also GET WELL SOON to poor little Adam!

Day 21

Well, it's been quite up and down and apart from that day I ate 200 bars of toblerone I'm still doing OK, and close enough to my target for me to feel achievement.

One thing I have noticed is that I'm quite a bit lighter in the morning compared to when I go to bed at night. I always weigh myself last thing before I go to bed. I don't know where the weight goes... I haven't noticed any deposits when I wake up in the morning... maybe some kind, intelligent reader will help me understand.

Starting Weight : 11st 8 3/4 lbs
Current Weight : 11st 4 1/4 lbs
Total Weight lost : 4 1/2 lbs = 4 good pies (or 1 Ian sized pie)

Day 10

Firstly, due to a few people saying "you're losing how much in 6 weeks?!?!?" and me doing a bit of reading up, It seems its not healthy to lose such a vast amount of weight over such a small time scale... If I do the chances of me getting gallstones. After a but of research, the appropriate amount of weight to aim to lose in a week is 2 lbs. This unfortunately means that the date I can safely reach 10 stone is 21st December... the shortest day of the year.... how apt ;o)

Here is my progress so far, along with the projected weight loss if I am to hit 10 st on 21st December.
Starting Weight : 11st 8 3/4 lbs
Current Weight : 11st 6 1/4 lbs
Total Weight lost : 2 1/2 lbs = 2 good pies



Click the image to enlarge

Day 1

Day 1 in the maple-sammé house... Simon is 11 st 8 3/4.. his target weight is 10st...

The question is, can he get to the dizzy depths of his 10 stone target before his birthday? 20th Nov. (42 days) It'll mean lots of gyming and running... maybe a bit of football :o) I'll keep you updated with progress!

Tips would be gratefully recieved ;o)

Holiday post! And some good news...

Firstly the good news.... Reading managed to get a point from the champions at old trafford!!!! :oP

Holiday news: So we left for holiday about 3 weeks ago from heathrow and landed in Chicago. Liz hadn't been there before so I was showing her all the sights. There's still not a huge amount of stuff to do, but the bits we did were really cool. The parks are great. It was only about 30-33 degrees but about 90% humidity often made it a little uncomfortable and a bit sticky.

On the first Sunday we flew to San Diego, which turned out to be a really nice chilled out place. We kinda thought it was a bit like Balitmore and enjoyed a seal ride! Which was a part land part sea tour in the same vehicle. temps were around 30, and was nice. Liz's presentations went really well which was good. Coolest thing was going into the top gun bar one night... saw the piano and had a 'slab' of ribs!

Friday we flew to Las Vegas (Lost Wages) to temperatures of around 38-42 which was... hot! but a great change from home temps. The first full day we were there we took a tour to the West rim of the canyon. This meant taking a mini plane which would only hold 8 people + pilot over the hoover dam and mead lake and landed at the canyon. We got out and had a helecopter ride to the bottom of the canyon, followed by a boat trip at the base of the canyon along the colorado river - awesome!!! Just as we we're having our photo taken on the pontoon, I turned to Lizzy, told her I loved her lots, got down on one knee and proposed to her! Thankfully she said yes (I knew she would ;o) ) and I gave her the rock!



After all that, we went on a coach trip round part of the west rim and had lunch courtesy of a native indian settlement on the very edge of the rim which was great!

After another day or so in Vegas, we (won some money! and) hired a car to drive over the hoover dam and accross to Flagstaff, which is a nice little quaint place near to the south rim of the canyon. We stopped off at burger king (Yes, thats a TRIPPLE whopper... god bless america!)...



...We spent two nights/three days there and went on two day trips. Firstly to monument valley which was simply amazing!



The next day we went to the south rim of the canyon, which was extremely pretty, 18 miles wide and 1.5 miles deep - spectacular! Although lizzie didn't like the edge that much! ;o)

A 4 hr drive and a super sized McDonalds later saw us back in Vegas :o) (lost lots of money :o( and) we went on a day trip to death valley and at the lowest point the temperature was 55 degrees!!!!! ouch! even in the shade it was 50! It was these temperatures due to the depth below sea level. At the lowest point it was over 200 ft below the sea level... luckily there was no water there! Its so hot the driver has to pour cold water on the car door handle to open it to avoid burning his hands! Now thats hot :o)

Then finally got a plane back and am now just getting over the jet lag... We both really enjoyed the holiday, so now we're talking about our lives together, our upcoming marrage... probs summer 2009 we think, and of course the imminant house move! (Someone buy my house!!!)

All in all an amazing time!

Posty posty post

So whats happened... well I've commented on Adam's blog, so I guess I should write something so he doesn't have a strong argument back ;o) So Adam... na na na na naaaaaaaa!

Also Joe has cried as my last post was a while back, so cry no more little ones! Oh and well done in the football.... It sounds like back when I was your height (gag here)... Goalie always played all the games everyone else got subbed. But then hey, who wants to be a keeper!

I've been a bit sportier than usual this week, with go karting on wednesday (I won! Yippee, and got a trophy! :o) ) they cricket yesterday (lost) then football today (lost one, won one), however I did score an AWESOME goal even by my low standards!

My house is up for sale, and Liz and I have decided to buy a house together, so things are going very well for us :oD We are still renting liz's and that can stay as it is. We're looking to move to south of Basingstoke... A little villagy place called Kempshott.

Thats all for now :) going to see a house later today, which might be a nice one for us!

bfn! Si

It will never end

This time last year, I blogged with a post entitled "Where will it end?".

It is now clear to me, after watching a gillette advert that there will never be an end. Shavers will get more and more ridiculous. Here's a link to gillette's new razor, dubbed gillette fusion, a 6 (SIX) bladed razor. 5 on the front, 1 on the back.

I look forward to blogging again on 19th April 2008 about a 8 blade razor which also scratches your arse and makes the tea ;o)

A poem by me

There was a young boy from Margate,
Who had neither a friend or a mate,
His hair looked a mess,
he liked to wear a dress,
and his face was always ORANGE!!!!