Race report for 2018 Barking ELVIS 5k

I first ran the Barking ELVIS back in 2016. My running was ‘okay’ back then (far from perfect, but I still managed 18:11). I had a very disappointing start to the year, dropping out of quite a few big races (The Big Half comes to mind), and then had a very frustrating time in mid-May when I couldn’t even break a sub-20 5k and got a hugely disappointing PW since 2015 of 42:00 for the Vitality 10k. I knew something had to be done, so started to focus of speed-work, going to parkrun consistency every week to push myself for a timed 5k, and waking up pre-6am before work to get some quality training in. I have also frequently been running twice/day. Weekly mileage has still been pretty low (in comparison to what I used to do a few years ago) but I was still running around 50-55km/week for the past 8-10 weeks or so. My main aim for the Barking ELVIS was to run it in sub-18.

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A brief review of the eve Mattress

After a recent refurbishment, I was in the market for a mattress for my new bed. I always try to do my ‘research’ prior to a purchase, particularly one of such significance and expense. I sleep an average of 8 hours in a 24 hour period (more or less!), which equates to 1/3 of my life spent in my bed. Now if I live until a fair old age of 90, that equates to 30 years (on average) spent on your chosen mattress of choice! Definitely not something to be frugal about. I saw an advertisement for eve mattresses on the London underground (several times), and have always been drawn to them. Positive advertisement? None-the-less, an online search returned favourable reviews. The price of a king size (EU) mattress was £700, and when compared directly with other more well-known brands, was not considerably more. One thing which often confuses me is the range of different types of mattresses available. Cheaper options all the way to high-end. Not to forget the plethora of different filling types. Eve have a single range, the only variation being size. Now this does seem to be a one size fits all business strategy, however, after reading several reviews and watching a number of videos, I was keen to try eve out. In no short part because they offer a 100-day trial period, which added to my peace of mind. I simply had nothing to lose.

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Why The Dark Knight Rises was a disappointment… (Spoilers)

There are many reviews available online about this finale to Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman franchise. Building up my expectations after the superb Batman Begins and epic The Dark Knight, I was eagerly anticipating the finale to this trilogy. Alas, I was a tad disappointed. I watch very few movies at the cinema, due to my lack of patience to watch an entire movie in a single sitting, and normally wait for home releases. I did however get myself to a theatre for this movie, as there was no way I could wait an extra 5 months to see this masterpiece (or so I thought).

*WARNING: This post contains spoilers*

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Does God exist?

This is a question which is profoundly important. Well, it is either profoundly important, or simply not even worth thinking about. I will make it clear at this point; all views expressed here are arbitrary and my own thoughts. Of course, some will agree and some will not. Is that not the beauty of debate, the human race and all knowledge we share? I will also need to mention that I will keep this post short, brief and simple, as this is a topic I can easily get carried away with!

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Andy’s blog

Hello! I’ll like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, making this as brief as possible. I am a passionate Scientist, gadget enthusiast, Apple (tech) fanatic, Moleskine lover and a caffine addict!

Over the next few posts, I will attempt to explain the purpose of my blog, hopefully providing some insight into all things I find of interest to post here.