Although I went to Germany to race over the weekend the most important thing became finding the elusive beaver that lives in the river that runs through the town and in front of the hotel. Reports and sightings of the beast range from doing a death roll with people staying at hotel killing 4 people to swimming backwards down the river smoking a cigar. The locals say that the beaver doesn't know he is actually a beaver because he has no mirror and believes he is a crocodile having met one once on a holiday in the river Nile, one German resident told us "He has killed all the other beavers, don't get too close as he will go for your ankles".

I saw a sighting of the Beaver in 2009 but the other Brits (Wicksy, Matt Bond, Emily Adams and Matthew Bowser) thought I was joking until the walk to the start line Saturday night we caught a glimpse of the 'Lock Ness Beaver' relaxing on the bank of the river. Matt Bond reckons the Beaver winked and gave him the thumbs up but Wicksy is still dubious and thinks it was a cuddly toy.....the legend lives on!

Over the weekend I was a bit nervous of my recent adductor problem as I knew there were a lot of twists and turns in the race but it is a brilliant race and atmosphere so after a session of 10x1minute on the road went ok on Thursday I decided to give it a bash.

I met up with Wicksy and Emily at the airport Friday and got to the hotel around 17.30pm, after a quick telly check and sit down in the room we met up for dinner where we were joined by Matt Bond who told us stories of his travels while eating about 4kg of raspberries! Matthew Bowser arrived late at night but which time we were playing on the Xbox (at hotel), using internet or playing foosball.

With the race at 9.30pm it is a long day taken up by eating, sleeping, watching films, playing Xbox and trying to stay rested for the race ahead. We did go for a jog in the morning which was meant to be 15mins but ended up being 26minutes...sorry guys.

Race Report soon...

It was an enjoyable trip and typically German in their organisation and their hospitality. It was also good to meet Matt Bond who I had never really spoken to before...I didn't like the fact he beat me and didn't buy me an ice cream but he did have some good tales and kept the staff on their toes with his struggle to operate a waffle machine!

Sunday I did 1hour 20mins with the guys (and girl) but having done 1hour 50mins on Wednesday I wasn't up for going much further and the blast on the legs the previous night meant my calf's were a little tight....actually very bloody tight!

Wicks of course is a pleasure to be around and it was good to see him get in the top 3, I don't think the course was kind to him and his style but he made a challenge for the win and 17.06 over that course for 6k was a cracking effort and surely a sub 14 performance on the road, in what was like running in a tumble dryer, due to the heat! Bowser needs to learn how to pour a cup of coffee without pouring it all over the table but I think he managed to talk to everyone in Neuss over the weekend and I felt for him having a 4.30am flight after getting to bed around 2am.....due to lateness of race and then dinner it is hard to get to sleep at a decent time out there.

For me it was a good weekend race wise and I am happy to be running pain free. I got a good weekends training in and hopefully the start of training/racing again for me. I also managed to get my bus back to Wales with only 15minutes between landing and getting to the coach outside the airport!

Film Review

I put a few films on the itouch for the weekend and for film fans out there here are my reviews...

Law Abiding Citizen

Good film, decent plot and few twists along the way...not a fantastic film but something for a boring Saturday night for sure. 6/10

Hurt Locker

Not sure if deserved all the Oscars this year but good insight into the army and what they do in Iraq. Good effects at times and time did go quickly watching it. 6/10

Unthinkable

A USA resident becomes a terrorist while Samuel L Jackson is the man torturing him to get the info. Think it makes a decent point by the end of the film but did drag at times for me....only watch if Emmerdale isn't on that night. 5/10

Clash of the Titans

Best of the weekend for me, love the old stories about Greece and the Gods stuff. Weird how the guy had Australian accent though! I even watched it again on the way home, a great effort from the film director.   7 ½ / 10

Simx