Update

So, on Saturday I decided to do parkrun - it was wet and muddy but it was nice to take part in it again after a reasonable absence.  It was quiet by the usual standards but still 275 finishers, I finished in 63rd place with a time of 23:39 - i took the first 2 km really steady and built it up. I was aiming for around 25 mins so I was happy with that.

Sunday morning, the rain was falling once again as I headed to Coate Water, upon arrival it stopped, it was mild and I ended up running for 7 miles.  The 8 mile route I was supposed to do was muddy/boggy and having done 3 miles the day before I wasn't concerned about skipping the last bit.

Tuesday night was the Christmas mingle jog (6.5km) with the club, everyone ran together, many in fancy dress. Stormtroopers, reindeers Santas and lots of flashing lights drew a lot of attention from passing motorists, back at the club house there were cakes and drinks to help refuel :-D

Tonight was PT session with George, the hour was spent in a harness with what is effective a bungee cord attached to it whilst I ran, bear crawled, crabbed, pressuped, burpeed against the resistance. It was brutal, I sweated buckets but I hope the results will be worth it.

Last official Thursday night club run of the year tomorrow...

Woohoo!

On the evening of Wednesday 9th December, Nicki Brotherston donated and broke the £1,500 target - it was an amazing feeling and I couldn't have done it without the help and support of so many - thank you!  The donations are still coming through, the more the merrier!

This week I missed my Tuesday run due to work commitments, Thursday night was interval night (good fun) and this morning I had a PT session with George before work - I could do with a good nap after all that :-D

Tomorrow I need to do something, maybe parkrun, a cycle and spa session - long run on Sunday of around 8miles

Have a good weekend

Procrastination...

It's been a better running week this week.  On Tuesday I run to and from club on top of doing a 10km circuit, on Thursday was a wet and blowy night as we took on the delights of Old Town past the bars/restaurants etc and did around 8km and finally this morning I completed around 13.5km.

On the whole I wasn't too achy, during today's run I initially had a bit of discomfort in my legs but that could have been tiredness but afterwards my glutes were a bit sore.

Just need to stick to the plan ad everything will be fine!

My fundraising total currently stands at £1,474.01!

This is just incredible, so so close to the target now - THANK YOU!

Life gets in the way

Sometimes the best laid plans just don't happen, life gets in the way. That how Sunday went for me.
Monday wasn't much better either and my physio had an accident so I didn't have my appointment.
Today I was feeling stressed, as a result I could actually feel my muscles tensing up but I was looking forward to joinimg the club for a run tonight and clear my head.

I decided to run there and back to help make up for the lack of running lately. It seemed like a good idea at the time. About 4.5km in I could feel my back muscles tense up and pull on my leg muscles, from there on in it was a mental battle. The truth is I should of binned it but I needed the freedom running gives my mind.  As I tried to block out the messages from my legs and back I lost sight of my fellow runners so I took an improvised route for the last couple of kms back to the clubhouse. Signed back in and hit the pavement again. For some reason I decided against the quickest, most direct route home. As I type this from the foam roller I know I was stupid with my physical health but my mental health is better, and that's harder to heal. 

I have signed up for the Bath half marathon in March as part of my training for London

#negativesoundingpost #getitoffmychest #breathe

Train hard, fight easy

The saying 'Train hard, fight easy' is applicable to more than just boxing, you could apply it to practically anything. In this instance I'm going to use it to describe the past 2 days, a PT session yesterday and bootcamp today. The idea is to increase my core strength to help with my running and also getting my glutes reactivated. I left the gym yesterday struggling to lift my arms and then went back for more of the same. The good thing is my cardio is improving for sure as today's session was just as brutal but others had to suffer with me. That said, there's no where to hide, there's only one person who benefits if I train hard or one person who doesn't if I slack off, me. Completing the marathon is a lifetime's ambition with the added bonus of raising money for a very worthy cause, Sense. I will complete the course, of that in certain but I want to finish it well. I will give it everything just like in the gym, when I cross the finish line I will do so knowing that I had given it everything, nothing left in the tank. 

Long run Sunday looms large, I need to do a decent distance, fingers crossed that the weather improves considerably as it been thoroughly miserable here today!

Just £60 will see me exceed my £1500 target, it's so close now! 

Night off

I rarely drink these days but last night a few work colleagues and I hit the town for some beers and Chinese food. A great combination! It felt good to have a night off running but I did make up for it with a intense session in the gym with George.  Plus, tomorrow I'm back in bootcamp so whatever 'damage' a rare night out did will be short lived.

I plan to get back on the marathon bus on Sunday morning too to take on a different route.

£60 is all is going to take to exceed my £1500 target.  

Good times!

Nothing to like here, move along

Following on from the highs of Sunday's run, I went back to see Donna on Monday. she was really pleased with my progress and set about the root cause of my back issues, dysfunctional muscles.  Basically, my lower back is doing the work of my glutes but with even after a week there has been a marked improvement.  Last night I was supposed to run 10km for "Doing it for Dan" but took a wrong turn and ended up doing 6.5km (I will re-do this).  During my run I felt good, breathing was good, no niggles and I was picking up speed as I went - running at forgotten speeds.  When I finished though, within seconds, there was a pain in my right shin.  Judging from the work I had done with Donna I wasn't convinced that was actual the source of the pain, just where it was manifesting.  My calve muscle was very tender, I foam rollered, stretched (and winced) for a good while after but I need to continue to follow the routine and not get disheartened.

Tonight, I think I'll have a bit of a cycle and a trip to the jacuzzi to work on the glutes.

My usual Thursday evening run needs to be adjusted as I'm going out with work colleagues for dinner and beers, not a typical training regime but I'm looking forward to it.

Ideally, back on track on Sunday for the marathon bus. Fingers cross

Wasn't expecting that...

Was struggling to drag myself out the door to do my run but decided to bring my headphones for a change and listened to the Foo Fighters as I pounded the pavements of Swindon. I gave up listening to music whilst running as I was told a lot of events wouldn't let you have headphones but as I needed a bit of motivation I thought sod it. The weather so cold but dry and it was nice to be able to run without the aid of lights for a change. I didn't feel at my best as I hadn't eaten or drank a lot today so I was surprised when I got home to see I had recorded my second fastest 10km!

Pleased to report no niggles so my exercises are obviously paying dividends

Core

All the resources tell you that running a marathon is not just about running but it's about core strength. I'm back training with George with the sole focus on the core.  I had forgotten the intensity of his PT sessions and whilst boot camp comes a close second there's no hiding here, giving it everything, muscles and brain screaming in resistance but deep down knowing that the benefits will come later. I left the gym feeling drained physically but it felt good to be back.

No bootcamp yesterday as I was in Birmingham for the day but need to get a minimum of 10km running in today.  I was supposed to do the marathon bus this morning but slept through so have to make up for it later.  

Back in the game

Considering the terrible weather recently, tonight was dry and mild with little to no breeze. 

Decided on the middle route tonight and was joined by Steve who's also returning from injury. Usually we run at a similar pace so it was good to have him back. Both of us were struggling for 'match fitness' for want of a better phrase but we kept a good pace despite not knowing the full route. No pains or niggles a touch of a stitch so the lessons from Phil, Donna and Jack are paying off. 

I've added a Strava feed to the page so you can keep an eye on my progress. 

Talking of progress; we're so close to hitting the £1500 target:

THANK YOU!

Tomorrow sees the return of training 1 on 1 with George to improve my core strength. It'll be hard but worth it in the end

The road to recovery

On Monday I visited Donna @ Activology to get the issue with my back investigated.  Turns out to be money well spent as even though it still feels I have her elbows or fingers in my back, the actual pain I was experiencing has disappeared.  The root cause is muscle dysfunction which is pulling my pelvis out of alignment.  So when I was stretching underneath the desk the other weekend the muscles were already being stretched and I just overcooked it.  The knock on effect is now it has been diagnosed it can be corrected and hopefully have a positive effect on my notorious hamstrings - win, win!

I'm a little disappointed as I would have liked to have run a few km yesterday or today with Ben Smith on his incredible journey of running 401 marathons back to back http://www.the401challenge.co.uk/ but because my back was so painful I didnt think it would be possible so didnt book the time off. Typical really.

However, I did manage a 5km run last night to test the waters and haven't had suffered any negative fallout out so I just need to continue with doing my homework exercises in conjunction with the ones I was shown on Saturday and I should be back in business.

Inspired

I just realised I basically duplicated a post so apologies for that. 

Today I met the Sense events team and over 40 of my fellow marathon runners. It was inspirational to sit in the room with them all, talking to some and hearing from others there were a lot of first timers there, all from different walks of life and backgrounds. I learned that I'm fortunate to have already built a good, varied training plan and I had considered everything that needs to be covered. The big thing I need to really concentrate on is nutrition as my diet isn't exactly the typical athlete's baseline.  Time to routinely use MyFitnessPal and understand how to fuel my body during my long runs. 

I also learned new exercises to help pre & post running so that's great. 

I'm looking forward to Sense setting up the #TeamSense Strava and Facebook pages to help us encourage each other and see how everyone is progressing. 

There's another training day in February and I hope that people are excelling with their running and their fundraising. 

I'm up to £1,222.01! The target is within reach but I don't want to stop there! I'll do a sweepstake on my finish time and if there are other ideas on how to get you to part with your hard earned cash, let me hear them

Injured

On Saturday I was working and somehow managed to pull a muscle in my back which has halted all training.  The fact I couldn't lie flat or twist and turn properly meant there was no way I was risking making things worse.

Tomorrow i'm heading to London to meet Sense's event team, I was hoping to participate in the 5km run afterwards.  This evening my back feels reasonable so who knows!  Cross fingers

Injured

It happens to everyone and it's my turn now.  Yesterday I had a few twinges in my back but nothing too painful.  I hadn't been lifting anything just moving stuff at work and crawling under desks to run power, network and phone cables as part of an office reorganisation. However, I woke up in pain in the middle of the night.  Even lying flat was uncomfortable.  I'm supposed to be doing my long run today but it's best if I don't and try to be patient and try again next week.

I had deliberately started my training earlier than the 16 weeks to allow for injuries and bad days.  As a runner there are some days you can run and it feels great and you can run further than you planned to.  But, there are other days where a 5km parkrun can leave you utterly exhausted before you're even halfway. Those days are hard to deal with, they mess with your head. How is it I can run a 10km race or a half marathon but struggle on a parkrun? Having a charity place in the London Marathon brings with it so additional incentives and motivation; there's the cause - raising awareness for them and of course funds to allow them to carry out their good work.  Also there's the list of people who donated in the process, they're saying that they believe you will do everything you can to deliver, in this case crossing the finishing line in The Mall. It would be bad if I let them down by not being fit enough to take on the challenge through lack of preparation but worst of all it would be terrible to let myself down so I will prepare myself as best as can, mentally and physically to meet the challenge, to complete a lifetime's ambition. When injuries come I will deal with them and find other ways to continue the journey.

Wow!

I was really struggling for energy today, tired and lethargic.  As the day wore on, the weather turned miserable which did nothing to energise me. As I drove to meet up with the Allstars, my dad called to say that he collected £47 in sponsorship last night which took me over £1000! I'm thrilled with having raised that amount in a little over a month and I know of others that have told me that they will donate so the target is certainly achievable, I'd love to have the full amount in the bag before Christmas so all that's left to worry about is the training. That said even when I get to the target I'll still be reminding you (if anyone actually reads this) to donate.

As I met up with the others, lots of people were opting for the short route due to the weather. I opted to run with Mark and Nathan, both great runners, on the long run.  I was pleased I did as I was buoyed by the fundraising results and the rain stopped as we set off. A good pace and a good conversation and we were soon back at the clubhouse having a brew.

https://www.strava.com/activities/427116616

R&R + Fundraising Update

Tonight I decided to try and help my legs recover a bit more by relaxing in the spa.  Unfortunately the ice maker was out of order and the jacuzzi wasn't as warm as usual but it was good to chill out for 30mins.  A bit of time on the foam roller is planned for this evening plus a few body weight exercises chucked in for good measure,

I'm very near to reaching two thirds of my £1,500 target tonight which is hugely humbling and provides great motivation when it comes to training so thank you all very much!

Club night continued...

Well the legs objected to running at Richard's pace and I let him crack on and claim a few PBs along the way.  I was struggling at one point and gave myself a break by walking between a lamppost then carried on.  It wasn't long after that Alan & Richard caught up with me. Alan passed by and Richard and I completed the last few kilometres together.  Chatting helped to distract from the legs telling me they wanted to stop and have a brew! So thanks to Richard for helping me finish the route.

In terms of the new running light, it was great. Very bright and comfortable to wear, if you wear a chest based heart rate monitor you will need to adjust it to ensure they don't sit on top of each other.

Club night

After the strains of bootcamp and my long run over the weekend, my legs were in need of rest and a massage yesterday. Jack has done sterling work in loosening the muscles ready for tonight's club run.

It's the final week of this particular route but my first club run in my new trainers and first ever run with my new run light.  It has a chest mounted white LED which is pretty bright and a flashing red LED on the battery pack which is on my back.  I'm hoping it's more comfortable than the miner's style light I used last week, it's certainly brighter. Whilst most of tonight's route is reasonably well lit, I'm very aware of the cracks in the pavement and trying to avoid injuring my foot again, hopefully this will help.

Post marathon bus #1

It started out a bit chilly and foggy but the sun came out and burnt the fog away. Managed 15km today, must remember to wear decent socks for longer distances as these started to rub. The new trainers felt OK and overall pretty pleased considering the silly start time but to be fair there's little traffic about and quite a few dog walkers, cyclists and runners making the most if the quiet start to the day

https://www.strava.com/activities/424168381

When I got back to the car and grabbed my water bottle there was actually stream rising off my arms and legs!

Too early!

I'm not considered to be a morning person, to be honest seeing this time of a Sunday morning should be illegal as far as I'm concerned but I have to get used to it. Day 1 of the marathon bus and I'm trying to stretch what Clayton and George left of my legs. I didn't sleep that well and the thought of just climbing back into bed and snoozing for a few hours is hugely appealing but it won't get round a marathon course. Enthusiasm hasn't appeared yet, perhaps I'll find it along the way?

New shoes!

After my last few runs I was feeling a bit of pain in my calf muscles and shins so decided it was time to replace my Mizunos. 

But first I had to get through bootcamp! The weather was warm and sunny in stark contrast to last week. It was a good session but very tough on the legs 

When I got to Run, I wasn't sure how my running would be for my gait analysis but it turned out ok and I walked out with a pair of Saucony Guide 8. Will break them in tomorrow on the marathon bus

Old Town

Once again our Thursday night routes took us around the sights of Old Town. I ran with route master Craig, he was kind enough to slow to a pace I could manage but encouraging me to push on the uphill sections. Happy with the performance overall. 

https://www.strava.com/activities/422661532

Today's legs are brought to you by...

the help of this stuff:

10km

First run after the clocks went back, it was dark and damp but not cold. In fact, weather wise it was good conditions for running. I ran with Richard who generally runs like the wind but he is great company. At another 6 or 7km my shins started to hurt, a slight stitch and had I not ran with him there would have been some walking done. But, I hung in there and made it around in a good time. Time to do even more stretching and book sessions with Jack to get the legs back to how they should be.

https://www.strava.com/activities/421528415

£800.01 on the totaliser today, absolutely delighted with that!

Bootcamp

Return of the 6 week bootcamp today delivered by George & Clayton.  The rain poured down in the lead up to the start but stopped for the hour.  It's amazing how quickly you can get out of fitness but I always enjoy training with them.  Simple, body weight exercises like press ups, star jumps, jumping squats, bear crawls (I hate these more than burpees!) sit-ups mixed with interval sprints or pushing and dragging 50kg on a prowler meant by the end of it I was feeling pretty sick. A sure sign of a good workout.

George is great trainer, he's taken me from the point where I could barely do press ups to where I can take part in events like Tough Mudder. Tackling every obstacle head on, not just for myself but helping people before and after me get past the obstacle too.  He believes in his clients and uses variety to maintain interest and ensure that by the end of the session you're cursing him under your breath but ultimately you know you're in better shape. His belief is infectious as he tells you to do something and you do it without questioning it, even though there's no way you'd even have contemplated doing it at any point in your life until he said it.
Clayton is another great trainer, similar style to George and we can have great banter along the way which helps numb the pain!

Fundraising update: £9.99 away from the halfway point! As part of my place I had to be at £750 one month before the marathon so I'm over the moon to be at this stage now.  The sooner the target is reached means I can concentrate on training, sure I can still nag people for cash from time to time but the pressure will be off.

Old Town

Tonight's route took me around Old Town, I'm not sure which was more torturous; the hills or forcing us to run past people enjoying themselves in the numerous eateries and bars! My cardio is still building back up after my lay off and there was some shin pain afterwards but it's important to stay positive and continue to stretch well before and afterwards. Bootcamp restarts on Saturday which will help regain my fitness levels and I think I'll book an appointment to see Jack next week to work his magic on my legs.

My preliminary training plan looks like:
Monday - rest/massage
Tuesday - running
Wednesday - yoga/cycling
Thursday - running
Friday - abs/core
Saturday - bootcamp
Sunday - long run

Tough session

So tonight I was feeling fit enough to attempt the long route. In reality my fitness levels have dropped since my injury. Even early into the run I was contemplating swapping to the short route. However, I kept moving forward. Trying to block out the feeling of cold, tight legs, stitch or whatever.  Felt good to get back to the club house, 10km under my belt and didn't give in despite wanting to. The training for the marathon will have days like these and getting through them is going to be tough. I'm going to have to rely on my experience of training with George for Tough Mudder, starting from nothing and achieving a great level of fitness. I will improve, it takes time, practice and effort.

In other news, I'm delighted to have reached £600 of my £1500 target. I have to have 50% of the target a month before the event and the reminder a month afterwards. Ideally I'll have the full total (and more) before the first deadline so I can stop pestering people for their hard earned cash and concentrate on getting mentally and physically prepared for the day. But I'm hugely thankful for all the support given regardless of what stage of the preparation

Inspiration

My older brother ran his first marathon today in Melbourne and finished in under 4 hours! He's trained really hard over the past 5 months and today got his reward. He also applied for the London marathon but sadly was unsuccessful in securing a spot which is a real shame. We started running about the same time, albeit in different hemispheres, so it would have been nice to taken on the challenge together. Maybe another day! But for now, I applaud his result and hope that in April I can post up such a great time

parkrun

Today I took part in parkrun for the first time in 3 months.  Parkrun was my first experience of running with others, it's a free event held all over the world every Saturday. Old & young, fast & slow and everything in between, it really is a great thing.  It was a cold morning but there were over 450 people lining up to run 5km.  I just wanted to see how my foot felt whilst running on the uneven surface, thankfully it survived unscathed. When I first started running, I found myself questioning how the small kid or or much older person were still sprinting at the 4km stage going up hill whilst all I wanted to do was start walking, now I'm full of admiration for them. Fair play to them.
Over the coming months I hope to use parkrun as part of my training as it's a great course, picturesque and full of enthusiastic runners and volunteers to help keep you motivated when you'd rather be sleeping.
22:57 was faster than anticipated but I'll happily take that!

Second run

After a three week absence from running it's nice to get back out there, even in the cold and dark! I'm sure there will nights when I'm not quite as pleased to be pounding the dark streets but not tonight.  I forgot to hit start on my watch so missed a few hundred metres but still managed 7.5km at an average of 5min/km. So far, the foot is holding up well :-D

In other news, fundraising is going really well! I'm overwhelmed by people's generosity and support, two weeks in and nearly a third of the money raised. Thank you!

The beginning

In a bid to keep my social media feeds from being overwhelmed by talk of fundraising and marathon training and mainly for my own benefit, I decided to keep a blog of my training and progress up until the London Marathon.

Historically, I don't have a good track record with maintaining blogs but I'll give it a go.

So, where does this journey begin? Well, it started during the 2015 London Marathon. I was watching the coverage on the BBC, as usual amazed at the number of people lining the streets to cheer those crazy runners on their way around the course. The great thing about the London marathon is the mixture of participants; the elites, the wheelchair athletes, the charity runners, the club runners and those that run just because!

Over the years I've watched the coverage, I've looked for people i know in the crowd and in between the barriers and often wondered how it must feel to participate in one of the largest sporting events of the year. My wife told me that if I wanted to run it, I'd have to enter it first - she was right of course, as she often is. At the time, I hadn't been running all that long and my maximum distance was around 5km, nowhere near the 42km of a marathon distance. However, when the ballot opened I along with 247,068 others applied for a place.

On Thursday 1st October I received confirmation that my ballot entry was unsuccessful but I looked through the Marathon News magazine and found lots of worthy charities still looking for people to help raise money for them by doing the marathon. I submitted an application to Sense and the following day they called me back to discuss it and I'm delighted to say they have accepted my application to represent them.  All I have to do now is raise a minimum of £1500!  You can see how I'm doing against my target and of course, contribute towards it by visiting 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/teamg33k

Unfortunately on 19th September I rolled my right foot and have been unable to do any training since but last night I finally managed to go for a run.  Click here for the stats.  Not quick and not far but it felt good to be back running.