London Royal Parks Half Marathon

Did the London Royal Parks half Marathon on Sunday. In about 2 hours 35 minutes. Very nice route. George came to cheer me on...

Two days in Dublin

Am just back from a short break in Dublin, having stayed at the Croke Park Hotel. A very nice hotel indeed.

We left the Hilton Croydon on Monday morning and headed straight to the lounge at Gatwick. I got full value from the lounge and was ever so slightly pissed by the time I got on the plane.

Had a stroll into town on Monday evening and early dinner at Messrs. Maguire. Had a burger. Not too bad but pretty expensive.

Tuesday we borrowed a bike from the hotel and tried to find some geocaches. We found four or five (and couldnt find at least 2). The search took us to some nice places including the hidden garden near the library (see photo).

Ate at 101 Talbot. Very nice and worth a visit. http://www.101talbot.com/

Thursday morning a visit to a cafe for breakfast followed by the writers museum (not very interesting really). A late and very good lunch at the very filling Gallagher's Boxty House, a strolled around town for some tourist tat then back to the airport.

Crystal Palace 10k

I ran the Crystal Palace 10k this morning (cancer research 10k). I was a bit worried that I'd come last but I needn't have been (lots were walking it). I finished in about 1 hour 7 m 30 s. Whilst this was about 8 mins slower than my personal best I was quite pleased as I've been running closer to 1 h 20 in training.

It was a nice route through the park. It was undulating in parts but I actually found myself enjoying the hills. I was very pleased to find plenty of energy to spint into the stadium.

George joined me for the run...

From Panini to Croydon

I've stayed in a few Hilton hotels over the last month. Warwick, Coventry, Blackpool and now Croydon. The staff are generally nice and helpful and in the main they aren't bad places to stay (but is not bad, good enough given there are plenty of other chains out there).

And they do let themselves down sometimes. In Blackpool we ordered a vegetable panini, only for it to turn up with no vegetables. When we complained I was told it was because it was pre packed and heated up (even though we were being charged £7 for the pleasure).

I made the mistake of buying a bottle of wine (cheapest one) and a couple of bacardi and coke at one Hilton. The bill came to almost £40. With a double Bacardi costing over £8!

The hotel in Croydon is ok except the swimming pool is closed and the room way too hot (air conditioning not really doing anything).

Hilton prides itself on the "Hilton breakfast". But again they could do so much better. They insist on making fake scrambled eggs (surely it's not too difficult to use real eggs rather than a pre prepared mix). The coffee is pretty bad althoug to be fair they will often make a cappacino or other stronger coffee if you want. Some offer a bit of variety at breakfast with things like waffles or pancakes - which George likes) but overall the could do so much better.

I do have a Hilton honors card (although I never seem to get anything from it... And the chain last year lost records of all my previous stays) but increasingly thinking that I should start staying elsewhere.

New Blogs on the ILC Website

Have just put two new blogs onto the ILC Website. One was the article for Yorkshire Post on younger people and pensions.

And the other was on the new National Travel Survey findings.

Spent a bit of time at the weekend selling listing some things on Ebay: Have a look here.

Should bring some good money in for the never released version of Queen Platinum Collection.

And hopefully bring in a bit of cash for my bike computer/ Radio.

Alan B's charity cycle run from Pentonville Road to Pompey

A message from my friend Dr Burnett

"We have been raising money for various causes in Ethiopia over the last three years. Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest countries, with a GDP equivalent to the turnover of Starbucks.

Our interest is primarily the health and wellbeing of older people, and we visit Ethiopia each November and pass on funds to different organisations there. As we pay their own expenses on these visits, every penny raised here in the UK goes directly to the causes they help, with accounts provided each year to ensure the money is going where it matters.

Only about 10% of older people in Ethiopia receive a pension (these tend to be ex-government and ex-army), so those who do not have family support are often destitute and beg on the streets.

Our family fundraising efforts over the past few years have included sponsored runs, walks and dinners, as well as the auction of my much-loved sporting memorabilia!

As we have got to know the country over the last three years, we now plan to dedicate our money and time to a single cause. This project is in Awassa in the Rift Valley (where the world's best coffee comes from), on the main road to Kenya. The local pensioner association has constructed a building for a medical centre to cater for the 1000+ older people in the town (see photo). The only, but huge, drawback is that they have no medical equipment or drugs.

In 2009, we as a family, along with the Portsmouth Pensioners' Association, are committed to raising £6,500 to change this situation. So far this year, we have sent £3,600 to get the project started. The association has secured the services of a local pharmacist to acquire the medicines, and local doctors and nurses to volunteer their services in the centre.

And that's where you come in... by sponsoring my cycle run from Pentonville Road to Portsmouth.

To help with our fundraising, you can send a cheque, made out to 'Portsmouth Pensioners' Assocation', to:

Derek Wareham
Treasurer
Portsmouth Pensioners' Association
100 Percy Road
Southsea
Hampshire
PO4 0BL

We're not yet a registered charity, so unfortunately we're unable to do this through Just Giving. Anyone who donates to this good cause will be updated towards the end of the year, after our November visit.

Many thanks for your help, and best wishes for the future."

Reliable healthy and tasty. What more can you want for.”

Posted a review of Yo Sushi on Tripadvisor.

"First visit to Yo Sushi in Croydon today. It was surprisingly busy but service good. For a quick meal it works so well. And our two year old loves it. On top of rice fish and dumplings, he insisted on two of their deserts (as well as fruit). So didnt work out a cheap lunch!"

You can find the review here

Yorkshire Post

Yorkshire Post have published a piece I've written on younger people and pensions.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/opinion/David-Sinclair-Young-free-and.5599866.jp

Review of Cinnamon Club London

I've posted a review of a recent lunch at the Cinnamon Club in London on Tripadvisor

"Went a couple of weeks ago for lunch. The set lunch is great value at £22 for 3 courses. Much cheaper than the a la carte. Food was excellent. Had a great amuse of a cold mint soup. A starter of chicken tikka then a pork curry. And a fantastic rice pudding. The setting is great ( it's not that long ago that I used to go to the library- before it was turned into a restaurant)service was great and attentive. Enjoyed it a lot."

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186338-d718517-r39075981-Cinnamon_Club-London_England.html

Westminster to Gipsy Hill

Ran home again today. Details here. Managed to do it in just under 1 hour 14 minutes (which is about 3 minutes quicker than when I started occassionally running home a few weeks ago).

Geocache #3 Parliament View

Found my third cache today (second attempt at this one though as lots of police hanging round first time!). Also, my first magnetic one so wasnt sure what I was looking for. Posted on geocache website here.

A run home

I ran home today. Nice day for it. But i am very slow. If you want to know the route then have a look here. Annoyingly because it is built up in westminster it takes about 8 minutes before I can get a signal on my garmin (so the route on the link doesnt actually start where I started)

Does anyone know if the new garmin forerunners are better at finding GPS position?

Geocache #2 Pirates' Ship (Eastbourne Seafront)

Found my second cache today.

I've posted details of the find on Geocaching.com http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=46ac4bec-0523-453e-b3e1-b91e521d87f8.

Geocache #1 Six Pillars (Eastbourne Seafront).

Found my first ever cache

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=46ac4bec-0523-453e-b3e1-b91e521d87f8

I even took a photo to celebrate.

Review of Mangosteen London

Posted a review of Mangosteen onto Tripadvisor.

"Great restaurant in gipsy hill. Nice staff and an interesting menu."

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186338-d731177-r36054182-Mangosteen-London_England.html