Runner 37,999 - Last update before the big day

Thanks to all of your generous donations I have reached (and slightly exceeded) the sponsorship target of £1,600 – THANK YOU!!!

I have picked my number; The weather forecast seems favourable – 17C with a light breeze and white cloud cover; Everything packed, transport to Start line arranged - so all that remains is the small matter of me making it to the finish line.

No plans for Sunday and in South East England?

Why not come and support me – it’s a great atmosphere, a bit like a giant street party and there’s something for everyone. Sarah and Hanna will probably be around Canary Wharf – trying to cheer twice, probably around Mile 15 (Westferry Quay/circus) and Mile 19 (Canary Wharf). They even made some Banners – so you should be able to spot them. If you think you’ll be able to make it, let me know and I give you Hanna’s number. The Isle of Dogs is by all accounts the worst bit, so all support greatly appreciated.

Virgin have produced a helpful guide with the route map and lots of helpful info – you can download it here.

When will I be where?

I shall be wearing a lime green top with the Children’s Trust logo and my number is 37,999.

I’m tentatively aiming for a ca. 5.30hrs time which means that I should be at

• Mile 8 around 11.30/11.45
• Mile 15 around 12.45/13.00
• Mile 19 around 13.40/13.55 
•  Finish around 15.15/30 But I can’t promise anything…

Meeting afterwards

You can’t actually see me running over the finish line as it is all blocked off but I’m meeting up with Sarah and Hanna at the Children’s Trust Stand on Horseguard parade at the Guard’s Memorial. There is of course also an After Party @ The Picadilly Institute (formerly On-Anon and just off Picadilly Circus) on the 1^st floor - http://www.piccadillyinstitute.com/  - we will be there till around 6pm I imagine. If you are around please come and join us – I’ll promise not to sit down until I get home in the evening (mostly because I won’t be able to get up otherwise….)

Hope to see some of you along the way or afterwards

Tapering down?

Well, I managed to beat my "innerer Schweinehund" and go for a run in the afternoon. The weather was perfect, a somewhat nippy but sunny spring day. I ran to Dorking and back (ca. 12m with 260m climb - not too shabby). All in all a good run (faster than ever) but unfortunately a new niggle turned up - today my knees are killing me....

Minimum Sponsorship Target achieved!!!!!

Thank you every so much everybody for supporting and SPONSORING me. As of yesterday, I have now achieved the minimum target set. Let's see, how much we can now beat it by :-)

Not quite Worthing but challenging nevertheless

After a bit of introspection, common sense prevailed and rather than killing myself running 20flat miles in Worthing I decided to run 15 hilly miles on my home turf - ie. around Reigate (what with all the little ailments plaguing me at the moment - trapped nerve, problem shoulder and achy ankle)
It was pretty tough going but i maintained a 12.30 min/mile -ish overall. At around 12/13 miles it got really tough but once past it, it was ok-ish. I take some courage from that - I'm sure it'll be alright on the day.

It's now 3 weeks to the marathon - I shall be tailing back and concentrate in minimising the injuries so I shall be ready for the big day.

slightly nervous....

Tomorrow is the Worthing 20m run. I'm unlikely to run the whole way as my longest run so far has been 13.2m and with all the injury trouble upping the mileage by 35% might not be the brightest of ideas. So I shall definitely run 15 miles (the race are 4 x 5 mile laps) and see how I go.... so only prep I can do is carboloading and sleep - shouldn't be too difficult :-)

Health update

not goood - trapped nerve between 5/6th discs in neck, no strenght in my right arm - can't even make a cup of tea :-(
Not much I can do - sitting at a desk is worse than running so I shall persist - so rest assured I shall be running the marathon.

Not quite there yet

Soooo,
after another weeks rest and some advice from the Physio I headed out to a flat(ish) running course on soft ground - so I headed to Brockham Rugby Club and run around the fields 12 times!!!!
I went with Claire who kindly offered to run my snail pace and help me keep going. THANK YOU - no way would I have stuck to the 12 laps it took to run a meagre 10 miles.
My ankle is playing up and still killing me this evening - almost 2 decades of Basketball have left their mark and when it comes to the longer distances I can feel it again. Also my neck/shoulder clearly didn't like the long run either but its more a twinge than the full blown pain from before so I remain hopeful.
I have by now given up on any ideas of hitting a time that I might have secretly harboured - with the illness, sickness and injury and the thus reduced training it'll be a "make it round" kind of affair. But I will run it - no matter how slowly - so please keep sponsoring me!!

Slowly does it

I'm off the painkillers, although still on anti-inflamatories and did my first 6.5km run again on Sat morning. it felt quite good and the only niggle was my shoulder.
Saw Physio today and got great advice. Might have to drop out of Cranleigh and instead focus on running on a flat, non-tarmac surface for a bit until the neck is 95% as otherwise I might run the risk of not being able to run the marathon at all. So gentle off-road running, hopefully 20m run in Cranleigh, tackle the neck with ice and stretches and then hopefully be fighting fit for London in 5 weeks

Still injured

It's hit me bad I'm afraid. The sport masseur is doing wonders but I'm still suffering from constant pain in my arm. Will try gentle running in Germany this weekend - at least there won't be any hills - cross fingers as I'm planning to do the Cranleigh 15 the week after....

Injury strikes again

Having managed to get our for a 5 mile run on Fri morning (a very slow and painful experience), my neck and shoulder now decided to pack up. Despite a cocktail of drugs, the pain is excruciating and that puts a stop to any training at the moment :-( I'm sooo disappointed as I know that I need to get more miles on the road but as the germans say "da ist der Wurm drin"....
So, Monday I shall book myself to see the GP, followed by an Osteopath as well as a Sportsmasseur - I shall attack this on ALL fronts and with a bit of luck I shall be back up and running (literally) in no time at all.

Milestone 2 - The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

"The race is a testing, single-lap course through some of Kent's finest countryside"

Fully agree with the finest country side - especially on a warmish and sunny spring day. Testing it was indeed - I climbed 210m during the race!! Having been ill (tummy bug & then a cold)  for 3 weeks prior to the race and never having raced more than 11 miles - I approached the race with some trepidation.

As I got into it (at about 3 miles) I really started to enjoy myself. At the half way mark I was definitely beaming and at mile 7 I started overtaking people slowly but steadily. However, the very tough bit came between mile 11 and 12 - it must have been a mini wall - muscles seized up, feeling sick and wanting to give up. I managed to keep at it and when I reached the final half mile I was sprinting to the finish line! Felt really great for having done it although there are a few niggly bits I need to try and address - the wall, the sickness feeling and get my muscles a little bit more resilient. But no worries - I have 6 weeks to get myself ready....

struck with illness again...

Having just gotten rid of the tummy bug, I now have the cold from hell as well as suffering from lower backpain, stiff neck and feeling nauseous. I should have stayed in but the weather was so nice (and having stared into a PC for far too long) I thought I'd get out for a bit and do at least a short 4 mile run. Dreadful  - couldn't breathe and all in all very hard work and painful. This must be the bit they all warn you about... but it's not overtraining - it's the side effects of winter ...

Getting back into the swing...

Yesterday I managed to get myself out and run the RPAC running session - slightly shorter version (the one for the not so fit) but ended up doing just over 3 miles in 30mins - quite a pace for me. More importantly, whilst I did not feel perfect I did not need to rush to the loo half way through the run, so I think that things are definitely improving for the better at the moment.

keeping at it

did a 4 mile loop (Link to route) this evening hoping that tummy had improved. It hasn't and I'm glad it was only 4 mile ending at home !! All in all pleased though as I ran pretty hard despite the two miles are uphill all the way...

Persistent lurgy....

I failed miserably in running my 12 miles today. Having been off sick with a tummy bug all week, I had psyched myself up (and was indeed a little better) for my 12m run.
Alas, it wasn't to be. After an emergency stop at a friendly garden centre I managed to go for another 2 miles or so and then had to give in...and walk back 4 miles home. How annoying and frustrating on every level...
Note to self: keep running but max 4 miles and do not venture too far from home until fully recovered.

Struck by the lurgy

so there is no training at the moment. In fact, I can't even make it out of bed at the moment. Hope this gets better soon else I will not be able to get the mileage in for the half marathon at the end of the month

Tackling the long runs....

Ground frost, bright sunshine, blue sky - perfect running conditions for my 11miler. the last mile or so started getting hard (bearing in mind that there are no flat roads in and around Reigate!!) but was quite chuffed about it at the end. Must sort out the music though - I've been listening to the same CD since I started running and at these long distances I end up listening to it 3 times!!! Any tips on running music greatly appreciated.

Beating the winter blues

Managed to fight the little voice urging me to stay in the warm and bright of the house and went for a 4 mile run last night - felt sooo much better for it - still smiling :-)

Children's Trust Marathon Training day

 The Trust organised a training day which comprised of a run (6/12miles), breakfast and a tour around the Trust itself. In addition we had the opportunity to speak to experts about the training plans, nutrition, injuries and fundraising. It was a great morning (the run less so) and good to meet the other runners.
Training wise this was an off-week - I've been very tired and did not manage to get out running at all. Add to that a gruelling weight session on Fri and the run on Sunday and everything still aches. Trying to be positive and make sure I get all the runs in this week... this is the difficult part...

Add another x-country for good measure

Overtaking during the second lap

The Perch - an odd title for a race. It's an old land measurement of 5.5 Yards and 2,000 makes the unique distance of 6.25 miles or 10.05 kilometres.
Previously held on the Epsom Downs, it was moved to Nonsuch Park in Cheam instead. Believe it or not, they managed to find every single mud track in the park. With all those paved roads available, the organisers turned into another bl***y x-country race!!!!!
Never mind, I stuck to it and to be fair it felt much much easier than the day before and I started overtaking people on my second lap, mostly on the uphill. So whilst I'm not fast, I seem to be building up stamina and endurance which is really what the training is all about.

Going for the finish (not looks)

So I was mightily pleased with myself when I managed  to beat a couple more runners to the finish line - as you can see by the look of concentration I gave it my all (that was left that is).

Timing - again about 2 mins slower than 3 years ago. But, glass half full mode - I did race a similar distance the day before and this was pure cross country whilst the previous Perch had quite a bit of road running thrown in.
Satisfied and achy I went home and spend the remainder of the day recovering ...