Post London

Well, traditionally this is a week of going downstairs backwards, saying "F**k that hurts", and all sorts of stretching and not being able to exercise. However - this week, it's been a lot easier. I did less training, I weigh more, and all sorts of bad stuff, and yet I did less damage. Was it the psot race massage, or was it the fact that I wasn't going as fast, thus putting less force through my legs, even though it was over a more prolonged period?

Anyhow - Wednesday I went out and ran just over a mile at 8:40 pace - I had quite a few twinges, but nothing too bad, but decidd not to push it further. I was going to run yesterday, but I had a stinking hangover (socialising with runners isn't good for you!), but this morning I was up early(ish) and out there. I did my route up Northey Avenue.

Not a bad run - my right quad tightened a bit, as did the adductor, but I had a few probs with this during FLM early on and they faded. probably the worst bit was my breathing, which did seem rather laboured, and I stopped a couple of times and coughed up rather thick gunk :os

Anyhow - it wasn't meant to be that fast, it was really just a recovery run, but I think my feet are getting more used to the Kayanos and it was my fastest run for a while. Still nothing like my old pace, but it's an improvement - particularly good considering I only ran a marathon seven days ago.

Then it was off to the gym - for a Body Pump class (my legs complained!), and a relaxing sauna and swim session, during which I swam quarter of a mile.

Weight a Minute!

Right - that's FLM polished off, and my legs survived relatively intact - in fact less so than when I was running faster times. Kinda surprising, considering I weigh about two stone more (as can be seen in some of the piccies).

Anyhow - all this forum socialising and the readily available supply of biccies at wuk has done enough damage. I know it's not the first time I've said it, but hopefully with me being able to do some proper training, it'll be easier. I weighed myself this morning and weighed 226 lbs (16 stone 2 lbs). Wibble!

Anyhow - I've just been to the shops, bought lots of veggies, fruit and all that sort of thing. I know I also need to control portion size [waves to Wumble]. Anyhow - here goes.

I'm about to enter a couple of races - the Epsom 10k on May 21st, and the Dysart Dash on the 25th June. Let's hope by the later I'll be close to 15 stone (or below) and go sub 50.

I've also decided to reset my PBs for now. I'm never going to come near to what I did in 2002 soon, so for the moment I'm wiping the slate clean. That way I can get the motivation from improving my times, rather than just thinking "cripes that's sh1te compared to my PB". Okay - it's a cheap mpotivational trick, but if it helps me then it's got to be worth doing. By the end of the year I hope to be pushing my original PBs!

Anyhow - here goes :oD

Recovery Run and Making Plans for My Gel!

Okay - not quite what the title says - but I couldn't resist! I do need to buy some more carb gels, but this post is mainly about...what I plan to do over the next few months.

Reassured by Sunday - I feel like putting together a proper training plan and entering some races. I seem to be able to run without injury. I even manged to run a mile (at a relaxed 8:40 pace) tonight - with only a minorish twinge below the knee.

I'm still looking, but current races I'm lining up are:

Epsom Counties 10k - May 21st

Dysart Dash 10k - June 25th

New Forest Half - September 17th

I'll probably chuck in another 10k somewhere, such as Elmbridge. I want to get my 10k time under 50 mins again (Dysart?), and then aim for under 45 by autumn and then back close to my PB of 41 minutes by the year end.

I so hope I'm right and the injury stays away :o)

Recovery - and What's Next?

Been a bit frantic the last few days - lots of things to sort, and managed to bollox up my money so I took too much out of my current account and left myself short!

Got the motorbike back last night - felt very nervous riding it, but brought it into wuk with me today and I'm getting more used to it. Think the turning my head isn't doing me much good - got some neck strain I didn't have before.

I also went swimming last night - only a few lengths, but kicking my legs strongkly to get some low impact resistance into them. This morning they're moving better - not that 30 seconds of stiffness before I get them moving, although I still know I've done a mara. I'm considering a one or two mile run tonight.

Weight has gone up again - I'm now 1.6kgs heavier than I was Monday morning! Glad I didn't start the weight loss challenge thing on Monday!!

Well - the question is - what are my next goals? Watch this space!

Flora London Marathon 2006

First of all - this is just a quick blog - will do all the stats and stuff tonight.

Wibble!

It was an early start - I got up at 5am, feeling a tad apprehensive but not as nervous as before when I was going for a PB. I busied myself getting food etc, interspersed with lots of pointless activity, cursing the fact that no-one else was on the RW forums to wibble to!

Anyhow - time to leave - good to see some of the Sutton Runners again, and have a natter about what had been going on. The bus wended it's way through the streets up to Blackheath, but our plans were scuppered when they'd closed the roads early and we had to walk the last bit. It provided a welcome chance to pee in an alley and visit Costa's for a massimo latte!

Blackheath and the Build Up

Then onto Blackheath. There didn't seem to be anyone by the church, and a text to Benz on red start produced no response, so I walk towards the blue start area, and bumped into Smitch on the way, complete with Andy (boyfriend I guess?) and a stackful of tissues! Maryanne had got stuck on a train, and it got to the stage where I felt I had to go into the blue area and get acclimatised. I made my way in, met up with Womble and Leon, and prepared to faff for England (and pee for them too!).

Soon - they were calling for baggage, so I frantically changed, then got a call from M saying that she had arrived. We arranged to meet up, and I headed out of the blue start area but failed too see her. We had some frantic faffing while we sorted that out. Then a mad search to find the pens - only to find that the ones outside the start area wer six onwards, and I wanted to be further forward. I made it with a minute to spare - saw Vrap and the raptorites, gave hugs all round, and headed forward as far as I could.

We're Off!

9:45 - and the hooter sounded, and we were under way. The start is slightly uphill, and we didn't seem to get going quite as quickly as last time. I decided "if I pee at 600m, that'll get the nervous wees out of my system and I can settle down to run properly. Little did I know that this would be the first of many!! A bit more of a climb, across a roundabout, and we hit mile one. The Garmin said 1.02 miles - fantastic!

A left turn, and my feet were aching a bit, as was my left quad. "Ignore it", I told myself, and kept going. It settled fairly soon, but an awful lot of FLM on the blue start at least has a right sloping camber, and I was wary of that. We creasted the hill, and there was a nice downhill to come. Shortly before we joined the red start, there was a drink station, and I gulped plenty of water as I was thirsty, pourinf about half of it over my head. Then onwards to the joining point, with lots of booing and hissing. Then the first chip mat at 5km, with the high pitched screaming from the mats. I was getting nicely into my stride by this time. I'd felt pretty good and had only taken a short walk break at mile two, as I didn't want to fall back with the slower runners too much. I was on about 9:30 - 10:00 minute miles.

This stretch is rather dull, with not much going on, and it passed without incident. I had started taking the odd walk break, but really only 30 seconds while I took a drink. This led to the need for more pees, which also provided walk breaks/stops!

Mile six came into view, and shortly after the 10k point. I was just over an hour to here, and the Garmin was only about 0.05 miles over. A smidgeon under ten minute miles, and I decided I could walk a bit more, but didn't feel that I needed it. I resolved to try to get to half way at ten min/mile pace (2:11), giving me spare in the second half to still get under five hours. Then onto Greenwich and the wonderous Cutty Sark. I tried calling Maryanne at this point, but couldn't get through, and had no luck with Vrap either.

The next couple of miles are rather dull, but ticked by nicely, save for more stops for a leak. It was becoming irritating by now! Still - it did let my heart rate come down. Mile ten came and went, and I felt chuffed that I'd reached double figures, my legs starting to feel tired but knowing that I should reached the half way mark feeling okay - and much the same as in my previous long run about nine days earlier. Mile eleven came and went, and I knew that Nicko and Meldy would be there. I saw Nicko, we high-fived, and I looked for Mledy. Ah well, that snog will just have to wait (good thing too!). then it was on to mile twelve, and I knew that Tower Bridge was approaching. This is always one of the noisier parts of the course, and it didn't let me down this time!! I didn't notice the incline.

Another couple of hundred yards, and then it's right onto the Highway. Last year they switched this bit of the course so it was run in reverse, and for me this was the first time I'd run it this way. It seemed to work fine, and before long I passed the half way point (2:15 - slightly slower than desired, but I'd noticed I was slowing). I called Maryanne, and got lots of cheers in the background, which was good to hear. I saw some of the elites coming back in the opposite direction, and Luis and Martin from the club.

Another mile, and the odd sign above the tunnel came into view, and we lurched right shortly before this into Narrow Street. Then it was the small backstreets around the Isle of Dogs and surrounding area. It was odd to be doing this bit backwards! I was starting to feel tired, but hey - this was further than I'd run for two years, and I had no right to feel anything but tired!! I told myself that in a mile you can ring and ask Maryanne to pour the coffee! That spurred me on, and in spit eof a couple of walk breaks on some small but seemingly sharp hills, I wasn't going badly. I made the call, and resolved to take the next mile fairly easy, so that I could be strong approaching mile seventeen and the RW crowd. I actually caught sight of the ballons really early, way before Hollywood's banner, and walked at the bottom of the climb so that I would look strong! During this time, someone said "Not far to go now", and I jokingly said "well then you won't mind running it, let me give you my number"! I stopped off for another pee, and then ran the last 200m to our wonderful RW support peeps!

RW Support Point - Mile 17

How fantastic can it be to see a group of friends? There were hugs all round, I probably said some stupid stuff, and decided I couldn't let this chance pass. I came off the road, stopped, had two cups of coffee, another pee, and countless Pringles and jelly babies! Sadly, I had to go eventually (I'm guessing I spent nearly fifteen minutes there), and left there with 3:15 on my Garmin. Nine miles to go, so even at 20 minute miles, i was still going to come in at 6:50 or so. Five hours didn't look likely, as I was sure I'd have to walk soon, and I didn't want to leave walking too late and only start once I had cramped, as otherwise the last miles would be agony. When to decide to walk though?

Anyhow - another few yards and I passed the mile 17 marker, and then into an uneventful (apart from a pee) mile 18. The 35km mat follwed soon after, and it was rather good having the extra milestones to tick off. These roads are rather featureless, and I did do the odd walk break, but my legs were still turning over reasonably smoothly. I did vaguely think about asking for a massage from St Johns around mile nineteen, but they were occupied, and by mile twenty, they hadn't got any worse. I was still doing the odd minute walking, but all too often the crowd kept saying "come on, get running Iain", and gave such a cheer when I did that it was hard to comply!

Mile 21, and I was still running! The crowds all round had been phenomenal, but they really grow around this point, and the whole run becomes just a tunnel of noise. Around this point, the caterpillar went past, shortly followed by Rupert Bear. He beat me in my first FLM in 2000, and I've been wanting revenge ever since. He'd beaten me this year though.

Around this point, I got a call from Leon, saying he'd finished in 3:16, which is fantastic going. He wanted directions to the Crisis reception, which were at the bottom of my kit bag, and as I think I said "I'm not going back for them now"!! It was great to hear a familiar voice though, and hear that he'd done so well. I passed on what info I could recall, but as I found out later, it wasn't enough.

Back onto the Highway, where it was odd to see how desolate the other side of the road was. Just a few very lonely looking runners, and I did my best to whoop at them and give as much encouragement as possible without seeming smug. I hope they all finished. Then the new part of the route for me, past the back of the Tower (so no cobbles), and then onto the bit leading down the embankment. The crowds were going mad, and some kind soul gave me a swig from a can of Carlsberg. Just what I needed! Another pee stop, I climbed through some tape, went off road, only to find I couldn't back on again. The Vittel people kindly moved some barriers out of the way, so I made it back onto the road just before the 35km mats I think!

I was still mainly running at this point, particularly on the flat or marginally downhill bits, saving the walking for the minor uphills. Mile 23, and I knew that the underpass wasn't far away. The Garmin was only registering 0.15 miles further, which given the weaving was great, although I think the new model needs to count the times you stop for a pee as I'm sure I was into double figures by this point, and with more people at the side of the road it was getting tricky! I decided to go in the underpass (if it's good enough for Paula!). The Garmin lost its signal at this point, which was a shame, as when I came out the other end, it had added on about three miles, so I'd already done over 26 at this point!

Bear Death Grudge Match

You hit the real embankment here, and again the crowd just wouldn't let me walk, and I didn't really want to except for in short bursts. Suddenly, surprisingly, I saw a white furry head not far in front. It was that ruddy Rupert character. Maybe I did have a chance for revenge after all. He was walking, whereas I was still running. Ha! This was going to be a sweet victory. I was walking a minute and runing a minute, which worked well, but Rupert was walking faster than me, so I didn't get much ahead. He broke back into a run, and I was struggling. I tried two minutes run then 40 seconds walk, which kept me just about level, but it was a close thing, particularly with another loo stop! We traded the lead a couple more times, and around mile 25 I decided I was going to have to do something special. I broke into a run, and kept going from there on in, with only a couple of short breaks. I'd left that imposter bear for dust!! Ha!

At this point the crowds are completely unbelievable, and you hit Birdcage Walk. They have started to thin by this time, and had gone slightly quieter, and in my exhuberance, I worked them and starting yerlling "I can't hear you" and "make some noise!". They responded perfectly, and I think appreciated it. I think the crowd love to see that their support makes a difference to the runners, and with that in mind I was applauding the crwod from half a mile to go. One final walk break, a cry of "don't give up now Iain" (my response was "I'm not f**king going to!!"), and the quarter mile mark was in sight. Unbelievably, my legs still felt strong, and I did the last quarter mile in nine min/mile pace. Crossing the line felt incredible, and apparently I was on telly. I did do an amazingly spectacular finish - arms raised, whooping and pumping my fist in the air. Forgot to stop the bliddy Garmin though!

Phew - it's over

Then the chips are taken off, you get presented a medal, and bags are reclaimed. I called M, we had a chat, and I said I'd see her in the Thistle. My brain went nuts, and I decided to fit in the Croisis reception (thanks Wumbly) beforehand, which took much longer than anticipated, and frankly I was daft no t to mention it. The massage and shower were great though, as was chatting to everyone in the Thistle :o)

Here's to next year!!

What Have You Done Today, to Make You Feel Proud?

Well - here goes - another year, another FLM! I still can't get used to doing it. Frantic kit packing, unpacking, and rechecking, and so on ad nauseum. Sleep wasn't too bad, but came in fits and starts.

This is the marathon that I didn't think was going to happen. A couple of weeks ago I was running ten miles and getting rather drastic cramping at the end of it. Then I had a good run - half marathon distance, in my new Kayanos. Even so - it's still only half way.

FLM might never have happened even so. Okay - I'm happier with my shoes now, but even this morning, I managed to add too much liquid to my porridge, some spilt as I carried the bowl to my room, and I nearly skidded @rse over tit in one of the most embarassing runner's injuries ever!

Sat here noe with the self same bowl of porridge in front of me, and Heather Small on th CD player bit of the 'pooter:

#I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending#

Yeah - so I won't do a PB today, and I may end up walking as much as I run. In many ways it's a sh1te year for running, but even so, I'll have done something that many others aven't done. I'll have "stepped out of the ordinary", and frankly, it's a great feeling. I reckon I may even get more pleasure out of crossing the line this year than I did in 2004, when I last did it, and ran all the way.

For all the slagging it gets about being over-hyped, FLM for me still reaches inside my and touches my soul. The emotional charge I get from it is immense. I can easily see myself in tears by the end of it, particularly as I'll be further back in the field and seeing more people struggling, and I intend to help them. Every one of these people has "stepped out of the ordinary". And long may they continue :o)

Good luck to anyoen running, reading this at stupid o'clock ;o)

Carbo Loading

Right - all the running done - bar a small matter of 26.2 miles on Sunday, so I'm stretching, rubbing, and resting, btu also stuffing me face full of a lot of carbs. I was hoping to lose weight, but after a good start, i can't really stick to that and lose weight. So:

Brekkie:
Porridge and bananas type stuff

Other meals:
Pasta, Jacket spuds, rice, cous cous, and also nice puds like rice, bread and butter pudding and so on. Plus personally I find a decent quantity of protein helps, so it'll be tuna with those spuds.

Going to be careful to eat something lighter Saturday night - otherwise I find I can feel a bit "heavy".

Snacks
Biscuits!! They're carbs aren';t they?? Finally, I can be guilt free as I stuff me face on choccie hob nobs! After being biscuit free so far this week, I've had four so far today. Mmmmmmm!!!

Preparation is Complete!

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 26:22 (sounds vaguely familiar!)
Shoes: Kayanos (looped laced)

Right - the final run before FLM, and I decided to try the Kayanos loop laced. It seemed to work! Although the outward leg of my run the shoes felt a bit loose, I tightened the lacs on the way home and they felt great, but without introducing that soreness in the top of my foot. I'll be using the same lacing on Sunday.

I rather daftly hadn't got my shirt sorted! My usual techie top had been giving me jogger's nipple recently, so I ran in a club cotton shirt on Friday, which worked fine, but then again if Sunday is hot it's not a good move. So today I tried a techie top I bought at last year's expo. Three miles is hardly a great test, but it seemed ok.

The run was fine - a bit tight in the left quad in the first 1.5, but this eased on the way back. I hope tight quads/ITBs aren't going to come back to haunt me after my 13.1 mile run where they weren't an issue. It'll be a shame if that problem comes back, but if it does I really haven't much idea why! Then again - on that run I did have a few minor twinges in the first fifteen minutes, maybe I just forgot them! The left quad is still a weeny bit tight as I write this though, which is a bit of a worry :o(

My lycra shorts have a hole in them, as do my "marathon pants" - the ones I've worn for every FLM I've done (2000, 2003 and 2004). The thing about them is I know they don't chafe - so I'll be getting them stitched up!

I tried the HR monitor today. It was easy enoguh to set up, but it does seem od that the default is to not register the heart rate signals, given that the machine comes with a heart rate monitor! It's not an extra like a cadence sensor! ANyhow - it was easy as anything to use, the only thing worrying me is that my average HR was around 160bpm when I was running at approximately 8:40m/m pace! What's puzzling is that I haven't really been getting much faster than this pace for ages! Okay - I wasn't tracking my HR then, and my training has been a bit eratic, but I'd still expect to have improved aerobic fitness by now. Nothing fantastic, but I think I'd be expecting to get back to closer to 8m/m, and feeling quite easy at 8:40 pace - more like 140bpm! Ah well - it'll come - I'm hoping after last Friday's run that my training can be more consistent and I'll get some proper training done without worrying about injuries. For the first time in ages, I felt like I really got back to running as I love it.

It crossed my mind "If I could defer a second time, would I do it?". The honest answer is "I don't know!". All the telly coverage and stuff in the papers is reminding me just what a great, atmospheric day FLM is, and although I know I won't do my best run on Sunday, I just know that I'm going to have one of the most memorable days of my life. I don't have to decide whether to defer, but frankly if I did, I have a feeling that I'd probably opt for running it.

Last Day of the Holidays

Back to work tomorrow - and a minor annoyance that I won't have the moped but will have to keep going with the trains. On the plus side:

Just spent a fabbity weekend with friends up in Brum with Vrap, Aim High, Pixel and assorted minipeeps. Oh - and mava of course ;o) Nearly a disaster on the way home 'cos I misread the tickets and thought the train left Brum at the time it arrived at Euston (i.e. I should have got to Brum station nearly two hours earlier), but I managed to sort that out and we made the train. Stupid thing was they never checked our tickets!!

Garmin is now working with HRM - realised that you have to scan for it. Must admit it wasn't exactly clear in the booklet, but sod it, it's sorted now.

A minor cough - hope it doesn't turn into anything before FLM next weekend. Feeling a bit chesty as well :o( However - legs recoverred quickly from my longest run for ages (MotionBased reports it as 13.44 miles!), no real ITB cramping or anything, so I'm all set for FLM :o)

Here's a pic of the route

I'm in Love with my Shoes!

Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2:02:35
Shoes: Kayanos!

Wooo - well, this'll have to be quick, about to head up to Vrap's, but a mad impulse to jump from six miles in the kayanos to twelve. How would I know otherwise what they're like over longer distances? And you know what? They felt great! My knee didn't niggle one little bit, and although my quads were tiring, I got to ten miles feeling a hell of a lot less tired than in the 2100s a few weeks ago.

I was going to stop at twelve, but felt relatively good, so decided to push on to the psychologically significant 13.1 miles - half way :oD

Chuffed to bits!

More details after the weekend

It's Official

Ironman
I've sent the email in making the withdrawal official. I'll be back next year though :o). Just need to decide whether to cancel the hotel or to go out and support. In some ways that might get me down, but in another it'll be fun. Just might feel like a bit of an outsider though :o(

Plus of course there's the cost issue - flights plus youth hostel will probably come to about £400 (plus more for meals out etc), and bearing in mind the news below, I could do without that.

Computer
Crashed the other night, and now although I can get online, it won't load web pages and I can't use MSN, although I can do the former of those by logging in to work. Skype works too. Odd! I suspect it's a fairly easy fix too, but havign said that, I've been tinkering for two days with no luck! I've been thinking of a new pooter for a while anyhow, so m aybe I'll make now the time :o)

Study
I'm getting more and more tempted by the A level - somewhere! While the objection to doing it at my old work holds (five days a week for small chunks!), it would give me a better start to the physio degree and look better to St George's and other unis. They might think the access course was a bit of a cop out.

Floodlight suggests a couple of courses in human bio at Croydon, although I can't find them on the website - I'll give them a call later.

Training
Did a six miler the other day - seemed good - 8:40 pace. Some slight twinges the next day, but they could have been due to Pilates. It was a comfortable run as far as my legs were concerned - only the hills revealed any twinges, and FLM is flat.

M has suggested a strategy which I love the sound of - at least as a starting point. Run to the one mile marker, then walk until elevent minutes (my target pace per mile) is up. Then run to the next mile marker (hopefully about 0.88 of a mile), then walk to 22 mins, and so on. If I can stick to that it'll bring me home in something like 4:45, which leaves plenty of room for slowing down!! The only slight problem is that that still leaves 20 odd miles to run, and I'm sure my pace will slow! STill - if it can get me to 16 before I have to walk all the time, I'll be pleased. This is going to be about completion, not about speed - although sub 5 would be a nice bonus!

Mega Update Time!

Right Blog-fans - here's the update on a whole load of separate topics:

Ironman Germany
Forget it - there's no way I'm going to be able to make a half-decent attempt at it. Training has been crap - partly down to me, partly down to work, and partly down to lurgies. And now this injury - it was the final nail in the coffin. Maybe next year! I still hope to do Bala and the London to Brighton Bike ride though, and keep up training

FLM
I'm really in no fit state to do this, but it's a great day out, and I can't defer, so I'm going to give it a crack. The accident put paid to any hoped of reaching a fifteen miler, although I did a two mile run comfortably last night, and I'll have a crack at a six tomorrow - hopefully my legs will have recovered from Body Pump by then!

Scooter Repairs
Well, having said "you'll know by the end of Tuesday (4th April), they rang me up and told me they needed to send an inspector to see it, and wouldn't be able to do so until Wednesday next week (12th). I protested vehemently, and they agreed they could see it earlier if it was at Ewell Scooters as that was in a different area! Couldn't their inspector peep come the three miles to my flat?

Anyhow - I was all ready to take the bike over there early, before there was a lot of traffic, but the damn thing wouldn't start! So I ended up in a right paddy running over there with it, pushing it up some nice hills, all the time wearing a bike helmet (now rather sweaty) so I could get on it on the downhills! And I was panicking in case the inspector got their first.

To cut a long story short, I beat the inspector, and I'm now waiting to hear what's decided. They're supposed to let me know within two days, so then the bike shop can order the parts and hopefully I'll have it back by early next week, or possibly earlier if I'm lucky.

Weight
This shot up to 103.3kgs after a couple of nights of huge fun, stuffing my face, and drinking with M. Must admit I measured that around lunch time when I got back, but even so, it was up!!

So - a determined weight loss campaign has ensued, and I've lost 3kgs already in the space of five days. Probably the first kilogram of that wasn't real (it wasn't measured at the same time of day) but even so, that's very pleasing. Let's hope I can get below 100kgs again.

I've been doing a fair bit of gym stuff and I'm very much enjoying it - I almost feel like jacking in FLM just so I can concentrate on that and not hold back, but it's only another couple of weeks so I should be able to stand it. Mind you, I reckon I'll have a week of very sore legs after run/walking 26.2 miles!!

Work
I've handed in my notice. They were fab about it, and really enthusiastic about my plans, even offering me a free A level, and begged me to do some teachign while I was there. I'm undecided - it's that or the access course. See what you think! I've used + for positives and - for negatives.

A Level
+ will help prepare me for the physio course better
+ will be near to teaching work at my current job, and they'd fit around me
+ money!

- there's a lot of travel
- I wouldn't have as much free time - it's easy to get dragged into spending extra time as well, which might muck up either my A level or training or relaxing
- in spite of writing a nice resignation letter, I hate that job! Would it be tolerable for 12 hours a week? Would anywhere else be better?
- even if I do restrict teaching hours, I still have to go to DLD five days a week, as that's how the A level runs
- a lot depends on the exam - major sweaty palms on results day!

Access Course
+ should be a doddle - especially the maths and computing side of things
+ not at my current work
+ plenty of time to train and study
+ would be a really good chance to chill before the degree while still doing something useful
+ probably easier to get some physio experience to fit in around it
+ no results day nerves - it's continuous assessment, and you only need a pass

- not such good preparation for the degree
- may be harder to get work to fit in around it
- could not work but that means losing money, and I do want to enjoy life and not having to be watching the pennies

Some combination option might be possible - do the access course but study the A level material from books, and/or also enrol in a local A level course.