I completed my first 10k run today, and my first run in the dark.
It was a terrible time in terms of my pace, but it’s the first proper run I’ve done in months. It was probably not the best idea to leave it until the week I’m doing a 10k organised run on Sunday. On the positive side, I’ve heard it’s mostly flat, unlike the hills in my local area.
I spent a good chunk of it walking. It didn’t help that I tripped on an uneven flagstone about 3k in and went flying. Managed to mostly land on the grass, but I scraped my hand on the pavement and cracked my toenail with the force of my foot hitting the uneven flagstone. Fun times.
It might not be the best idea to run in the dark on pavements covered in leaves because it’s autumn. But it also shows how the council is crap at looking after the pavements. There are so many pavements around Burnley where the flags are uneven. It’s a big hazard for anyone, but imagine older people who those who are visually impaired. It makes me more worried for my daughter as this is the kind of thing she’ll have to cope with as her eyes get worse.
As I was approaching Turf Moor (Burnley FC’s home stadium) some guy walking on the grass verge above me decided to take the mick and run alongside me whilst shouting stuff. I had my headphones in so couldn’t really hear what he was saying, but I glanced over at him and realised he had no top on. Quite odd when it was 6 degrees outside. He soon got bored when I didn’t give him any reaction.
Anyway, I don’t care about the time. I’m just happy I finished it.
Finished watching the 2026 Masters of the Universe film earlier today and really enjoyed it. It was just a kick-ass action sci-fi flick with Brian May guitar solos.
I watched the He-man cartoons as a kid but was never religiously into it. Even so, I was surprised by how many references I caught. Plus, there’s a cameo that you’ll spot if you ever saw the original live action film.
Jared Leto as Skeletor was campy as hell and I’m definitely here for that. I’m not the biggest fan of Leto (only over the last few years, as I grew up being a big 30 Seconds to Mars fan), but the fact that he’s playing someone with a skull for a face makes him a lot easier to bear.
If there is one negative I think it was a bit too heavy on the CGI. However, it’s by no means bad CGI, you’re just very aware that they’re doing most of it in front of green screens. But, saying that, you could say the same thing about a lot of Marvel films.
I’m kind of hoping they do a sequel, especially as they left it open-ended to do just that. It brings to mind the Dungeons & Dragons film in that it was a bit of a box office bomb yet was still well received by those who bothered to watch it (I loved it!). But money talks and a sequel is looking unlikely for both films.
If you’d like to watch it then it’s currently available as part of an Amazon Prime Video subscription (Disclaimer: I get a tiny commission if you sign-up for a 30 day free trial through my link).
Getting ready to start my 5k down Blackpool sea front.
A couple of weeks back I did my first organised run, which was a 5K on Blackpool sea front. I was somewhat dreading it, but I’m really pleased with how I did.
I’ve only been running for a few months and it’s the first time I’ve been pounding the pavements since my 20’s. Even back then, it was the odd run on the canal while I was bored due to unemployment. It was sporadic at best and I never stuck to it once I finally found employment. I wish I had, but that’s the folly of youth and the dreaded hindsight.
I remember being quite good at sprinting when I was at school, and for a short while I also thought I’d take up long distance running. I did one organised run (aside from the runs I did at school), came near last, and stopped bothering about carrying on with it.
Fast forward to today, where I’m on the cusp of 40 and I’m worn out from the daily grind and the constant tiredness that comes with parenting two kids. I decided I needed to do something to make me feel better about myself, give me more energy, and generally just be healthier. That something was running.
I’d be lying if I said it was just me who decided to get out there and run, as it’s thanks to my wife. She hit upon the same realisation as me over a year ago, and she was someone who absolutely detested the idea of running. Since she started, she’s regularly running longer than a 5K, has joined an all-female running club, and has done many organised races. This includes the London Landmark’s Half Marathon that she did earlier this year.
Aside from wanting to do it for the challenge, she also did this to raise money for Guide Dogs UK (our daughter has a severe visual impairment, amongst other complications) and ended up raising over an incredible £8,000. To say I’m incredibly proud of her is an understatement.
Anyway, while I don’t think I’ll be running a half marathon anytime soon, I do want to regularly do at least a 5K every week, and I’ve been spending weeks building myself up to that.
I started doing the Couch to 5K Challenge using the handy NHS app. It does a fantastic job of getting you up off the sofa and easing you into it. However, about halfway through, I decided to ditch it and just go at my own pace. The reason for this is that I felt it was holding me back. By the halfway point I always wanted to carry on running for a couple of extra minutes when it was telling me in my ear to stop and walk. I felt like I’d just got past the point of needing to be directed and would just slow my pace or walk when my body was telling me to.
I also switched up my regular running route to one that would take me through fewer windy streets where I had to cross roads every few hundred metres. It’s now a long stretch by a main road where I don’t have to contend with as many crossings. Plus, it just feels better on my legs and feet, with the added bonus of it being downhill for half of it. Though the route back is obviously the opposite!
I had a few problems with my right foot for one week, so I had to take some time off to recover. When I got back on it, I decided to just try for a full 5k as I knew I had the Blackpool race coming up. I finished it in 35 minutes 13 seconds, which I was really pleased with. Although I was sweating like a pig when I finished and my legs felt like jelly.
I find the hardest part of running is not being out of breath, but dealing with aching legs and trying to push through it. By the time I was running down Blackpool sea front with my wife, it was the opposite as I had to slow down once I got to the halfway point and my lungs needed a rest. But it was 25 degrees (77 degrees to any Americans who stumble across my blog) with very little breeze, and very humid. At the halfway point I took a bottle of water from a steward handing them out and walked for a bit, guzzling the whole bottle in about 30 seconds. For the rest of the race, I alternated between a few minutes running and a minute walking.
Here we are with our medals. As you can see from the medals, there was also a choice to do 10k, but I’m definitely not ready for that. My wife could smash it though.
My final time? 34 minutes 31 seconds, shaving a good chunk off my original 5k time. I crossed that finish line feeling awesome. Then I looked at my watch and realised it had only tracked 4.87km. But it’s all semantics, as the course was measured to be 5k and I know I did that distance. To hell with my Strava.
The race was on Sunday 12 July. I took some time off to recover and…. I just never went back to it. I’ve been using the excuse of the heatwave we’ve been having here in England, but I need to stop being lazy and get back on it. So, after work tomorrow, I’m heading out to do another 5k. I’ll keep doing the 5k’s for a bit now until I feel comfortable enough to increase that distance.
Tonight we’ll find out if England can beat Norway to reach the World Cup 2026 semi-finals. I’m quietly confident given how well they played against Mexico, but this is England we’re talking about and we’ve grown accustomed to misery on the football field.
Anyway, my last post on this sporadically updated blog of mine was about Walkers Bangers & Mash flavoured crisps that have been released as part of a World Cup promotion and this flavour obviously represents England. I also mentioned that there were other flavours out there that I was yet to try and would hopefully come back here and report on them when I finally did.
Well, reader, I tried them.
I can’t take credit for hunting them down, that was thanks to my wife. She likes to peruse the aisles of Home Bargains and B&M Bargains and will often come back with some random new snacks for us to try. It’s mostly unhealthy stuff, but it’s not like we eat them all the time. Anyway, she knows how much I love crisps so grabbed some when she was out and about.
First up is Wavy Spanish Queso crisps that, obviously, represent Spain. The first thing that struck me when I opened these is how much they smelt like feet, so that didn’t fill me with excitement to put one in my mouth. Luckily though, these were excellent. Very cheesy, but I’m all about strong flavours when it comes to crisps so that suits me just fine.
Queso is the Spanish word for cheese, so I’m not sure if these are supposed to taste like any cheese in particular. The most popular cheese in Spain is Manchego, which is made from sheep’s milk. I’ve never tried it so can’t say if it tastes like that, but it definitely wasn’t the type of cheese you’d find in a standard cheese and onion flavoured crisp or a Wotsit. What I do know is that the reviews for this on the Tesco listing are split between those who loved them and those who say they taste like vomit. If you’re not a big cheese lover, you’ll likely one to give these one a miss. But I personally loved them.
Next up was the Portuguese Chorizo & Onion crisps. These were the worst crisps of the lot for me, simply because I could barely taste anything. If you’re trying to emulate the flavour of chorizo then you’d expect something quite strong with a spicy kick, but these were so subtle that I may as well have been eating a packet of ready salted flavoured crisps. It’s odd because on the photo of the single crisp above, it looks like it has a lot of strong seasoning covering it. Maybe I got a dud packet, but disappointing overall.
Finally, while not Walkers these next crisps are part of the same massive corporation that is PepsiCo, so you’d assume they’re part of the same sponsorship deal. These were Doritos Mexican beef taco flavour.
I didn’t like these much at first, but they’d been sat in the cupboard for a day or so after opening and I decided to give them another try. I ended up finishing the packet (eventually) as the flavour grew on me, with just enough spice of them to not venture into too spicy territory. Way better than the chorizo crisps, but the third best on the list overall.
So, for me, the king of the Walkers World Cup 2026 crisps are the Spanish queso flavoured crisps, even if they do smell like my feet after I return from a 5k run.
By the way, next time I’ll try and remember to take photos of the actual crisps rather than just the packets. I did remember for the chorizo & onion flavour crisps at least. Sorry about that!
These English Bangers & Mash crisps from Walkers are pretty much all sausage. They’re very moreish, and I realised I’d eaten half the bag in no time at all. For anyone outside the UK who is wondering what ‘bangers & mash’, it’s what we call sausage and mashed potato.
They brought back memories of munching through a purple packet of sausage flavoured crisps on the school yard in junior school, purchased from the school tuck shop for probably about 20p. The taste instantly brought that memory flooding back, sort of like that moment in Ratatouille where Anton Ego is reminded of a meal from his childhood when he eats a simple bowl of ratatouille cooked by a rat. Not that I’m comparing fine dining to a few mass produced Walkers crisps (although, outside these particular crisps, posh crisp flavours are practically fine dining to me).
But the whole point of that scene is that presenting something simple resonated with Anton, just like a simple, sausage flavoured crisp reminded me of eating while staring up at the grassy bank that ran alongside the school yard, ready to break into a run and join my friends on the grass. But, finish the crisps first. Obviously. One does not leave good crisps unfinished.
Those crisps I remembered may have been Golden Wonder, but I looked it up and they did (and still do) a sausage & tomato crisp. But the bag isn’t purple, it’s brown. There’s no tomato taste in these Walkers crisps, so maybe it’s another brand I’m thinking about or my memory is failing me. But either way, these crisps still triggered that fond memory.
These English Bangers & Mash crisps are part of Walkers promotion of the FIFA World Cup 2026, with this flavour representing England. There are also Walkers Max Portuguese Chorizo & Onion (I definitely want to smash those) and Wavy Spanish Queso. I’ll try and pick them up at some point and give them a try too.
By the way. If you haven’t realised it by now, I really love crisps. I’m even in a Facebook group for crisps. What a life I lead.
That bunch of clothes on the dryer above is Ivy’s way of helping. She saw me getting the washing out of the washing machine and approached saying “I help.”
She then proceeds to just shove them on the dryer, one after the other, in one big bunch. She wouldn’t let me help her either, saying “no, I do it”, which is not surprising as she’s fiercely independent (anyone with a three year-old will have a similar experience).
In her little head she thinks she’s helping, and she’s at that age where everything is an enjoyable learning experience and boring-ass chores feel fun. Yeah, it means the job takes twice as long for me, as I have to take everything off that she’s put on there. But I would never not want this experience. It’s cute as hell and it’s little moments like this that I’ll fondly remember, especially once she’s a grumpy teenager moaning about helping with chores.
They’ll get to an age one day where you’ll miss these little moments from when they were tiny. My 7 year-old already likes to moan when we ask him to do chores, yet there was a time when he would be like Ivy too. That said, Noah also has unprompted moments when he wants to help, such as with helping me clear weeds in the garden. I’ll always let him help and cherish that time with him, because those moments don’t last forever.
They won’t be perfect when they do help. But those imperfections are what helps them learn. Focus on the process, not the outcome.
I’ve just realised I’ve never mentioned Ivy on my blog before, apart from announcing our pregnancy in this post. There is something I want to share about her soon as it’s a cause I need to bring more awareness too, but I’ll leave that for another day.
