Sunday 27 February 2011

Half Term over and another week closer

Firstly a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far or has donated money to Diabetes UK already via my fundraising page.  I believe there is around £300 already sponsored by my colleagues at work - thank you all, and fingers crossed the firm will match your sponsorship/donations too.  Then there is a further £100 from Tim and Trish if I can complete the course in under four hours - a great incentive to the training.  Thank you also to everyone who bought cakes at Trinity on Saturday and made donations.  And thank you to Sarah and Graham for their really generous donation to Mr Matty Fixit.  He is prepared to undertake any odd jobs from bicycle repair through to household DIY and garden maintenance. References can be supplied on request!  I also promised when I applied for the Golden Bond place that I would donate £250 to Diabetes UK if I was given a place, so now I ought to put my money where my mouth is.


On the training front, after Monday's half marathon distance along the Shropshire Union tow path in the rain, my legs have felt really quite tired all week.  I did a short 35 minutes run on Wednesday which was really hard work.  Then a tough circuit training session on Thursday, with legs still sluggish.  I had a rest day on the Friday and took it fairly easy on the bike.  Saturday was another short run of around 45 minutes, but focusing on sprint sections.  With the extra pain I have been feeling in my legs and knees, I was going to restrict today to a small run even though it should be a long "long".  After doing a large set of hill repeats, I did a few loops of a 15 minute circuit on a flat section of the park.  Before I knew it I had completed around two hours of running in the pouring rain.  The legs and knees still feel good enough to do a little something tomorrow.  May my run says it was 16 miles but I think it was probably more like 14.  Anyway it was a good run to finish the week on given that it included all the hill work in the middle too.  Hoping for some dryer weather next week... there seems to have been far too much running in mud recently!

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Another milestone

After a couple of hours of strengthening work and a short run on a treadmill at the gym on Saturday, I was ready to give the knees a proper test.  May be it was the country air or the luxury of having a couple of days off to visit family in Cheshire, but it was time for a long run.  Nothing short of the magic "13" would have done the trick.  So after having done a four mile walk over the fields to visit Beeston Castle and back, for over half of which I had to carry my daughter on my shoulders (!), it was trainers on time for a lovely long run along the towpath of the Shropshire Union Canal to visit my brother's family in Waverton...

Most people would have gone by car and thought it was a long way.  As the rain started to come down, the already dim sunlight fading, two wrong turnings before I had even left Bunbury, no phone or money on me and doubts about whether I should have turned "right" at the canal not "left", I was having second thoughts about my 'great idea'...!  Also with all the rain, the clay soil of the towpath was incredibly slippery and a few times I very nearly took an early bath.  Then fifty minutes into the run with no-one around to help, a large thorn became impaled in one of my shoes.  I couldn't pull it out and had to carry on, hoping the thorn would not work its way through the sole into my foot.

Waverton is the first real bit of civilisation that you come across after many many miles along the towpath.  It's a familiar landscape for me from my childhood but I wasn't stopping there -- I had to continue on and go all the way up to Rowton Bridge and then back again in order to make up the distance.  Those last couple of miles, running away from my final destination before heading back (on hard tarmac - eek!), were really tough!

13.6 miles in the wet and mud, with a time of around 1 hour 55 minutes despite getting lost and trying in vain to sort out my 'puncture' -- quite a milestone given my inability to run even half a mile in December!

Today was a short run between the rain showers back in Greenwich Park (around thirty five minutes of running).  My legs lacked energy and ached from the long run on Monday, and I had completely overeaten at lunchtime, but at least the knees felt fine....

Friday 18 February 2011

The end of another week

It was a tough old circuits session last night!  And I am sure it didn't have anything to do with the "race" I got into on my bike on the way home - the sprints are good for the quads.  Interestingly there was less pain in my knees doing things like spotty dogs and jumps than I normally feel -- so running on grass is looking like the way forward to increase the miles while minimising the impact as far as possible.  I am also doing plenty of IT-band stretching and other leg stretches.

I had a fantastic run around Greenwich Park this afternoon, though it could have been a little warmer!  Run time was about 70 minutes with some hill work and the last 30 minutes being a solid run at a good pace, the longest period I have run without a 30s walk for around 3-4 months!  Mentally, it is a bit of a milestone.  More importantly, the knees are still talking to me.

Today I also witnessed some of the generosity of people at work as the sponsorship/donation money started to roll in -- thank you all who have sponsored/donated money already; it somehow makes all the training so worthwhile and is strangely moving.

Total week's exercise:
56 miles on the bike
3 hours 45 mins running
1 hour circuits

Half term next week -- I think I should try to squeeze in a longer run 

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Eight weeks to go...

If you look very very carefully, you can just make me out at the back of a selection of Diabetes UK runners, in the yellow top under the vest.  The man at the front is Joe Pasquale.



Sunday was a nice little run around Regents Park with other Diabetes UK runners.  And don't be led into thinking that it was warm with all that bare flesh on show -- there was a chill old wind blowing and Mr Pasquale's jacket was removed only moments before this shot!


Keen to stay on grass but too late in the day to get into the park, my Monday run was a couple of circuits around Blackheath common.... in the dark.  I ran for about an hour, doing longer intervals of around ten-fifteen minutes running, then 30 seconds walk.  Still very satisfying.  It was strange to see the heath so full of runners in the dark.  It was rather like turning over an old rotting log and seeing underneath everywhere teeming with life that isn't usually visible.


Tuesday was a rest day and some knee/hip exercises.


This morning I had a lovely run in Greenwich Park, again sticking to the grass, watching the sun come up...  An hour's worth of longer intervals, including some hill work and a 15 minute circuit at a reasonably fast pace.  It sets you up just right for the cycle into work!  And I have a new favourite ipod track: Alex Gaudino Feat and Crystal Waters' Destination Calabria that I have been singing all day.  Knees feel ok -- a bit noisey and some pain at certain points, but fine for running.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Welcome

Hi and welcome to my training blog.

After having a great time doing a half marathon in September, I decided I was ready for the next challenge.  I have watched the London marathon every year from the bottom of our road and always said to myself that I should give it a go one year.  Then in October I was successful in being offered a Golden Bond place to run for Diabetes UK in the Virgin London Marathon, now only eight weeks away.

At the time I was doing a lot of running at the weekends -- heading off for a 'short run', always enjoying it and thinking I would go just a little further, and then before I knew it completing ten to fifteen miles.  I was also jogging to work several times a week.  Then in late October, my knees said "no".  I had classic symptoms of "jogger's knee" and was physically unable to run for about two months.  What a disaster!

During the dark, cold months of December and January I have gradually started to get back into running.  At first I could only run for about 20 minutes in intervals of 1.5 mins running, 0.5 min walking.  That seemed a very long way from the 26.2 miles I would need to do in April.  I have also been doing a great deal of strengthening exercises and that has allowed me to build up to longer runs.  I am now running for about 45-60 mins, up to four times a week, on grass whenever I can, but still doing intervals of 2-10 mins for fear of harming the knees again.  And I can tell you that there are some really lovely sun rises to be seen from the top of Greenwich Park as the mist rises at 7am...!  The training feels to be going well and the knees, though feeling old and creaky, still seem to be holding up.

Today was a marathon training day at the Diabetes UK offices.  It was great to meet all the runners, but I soon realised that I was a long behind in the fundraising stakes.  Everyone has already achieved considerable levels of fundraising already while I am still to get off the starting blocks (it hadn't seemed right doing fundraising while I couldn't run).

But here we go -- I have decided to go for it.  62 days to go.  I am already incredibly excited about doing the run.  My knees are holding up (nothing that a few ibuprofen won't treat), no injuries from skiing, so lets bring on the 42 kilometers!

Matt