Virgin London Marathon

Still no running for me since Brighton, but today we were in London supporting my brother-in-law as he also became a marathoner, completing the race in 4h15, a fantastic run in hot conditions.

We watched in Surrey Quays / Rotherhithe and Shadwell at the 9,11 and 13/22 mile marks and managed to spot him all three times (mainly thanks to his orange cap !). The London Marathon is such a fantastic occasion - enormous support from the crowds, great atmosphere and everyone joins in the spirit of the day - for example the church in Rotherhithe which throws open its doors to marathon spectators serving tea and drinks and offering free toilets.

While I was glad not to be running today I've not been entirely idle on the 1000 mile challenge front, and have signed up for the New Forest Half in September. I did this run last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so we are all heading back there for a second round. And if Practical Action still have some places, I'm hoping to do the Royal Parks Half a couple of weeks later to round off my races for the year.

Having been a bit disappointed with my showing in Brighton, I'm hoping to post some faster times in the other races to make up for it.

I'm a marathoner !

Well, sometime around 2pm on Sunday I crossed the finish line of the 2011 Brighton marathon. My race really didn't go to plan at all, and my time was at least 20 minutes slower than I hoped but since the weather was unseasonably hot - 20 degrees is pretty unusual for early April in England - overall, I'm very happy with the outcome, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We travelled down to Brighton on Saturday afternoon, arriving around 4pm, giving us time to settle into our hotel which was nicely located midway between the start in Preston Park and the finish on the seafront. An early dinner - more pasta - in the Lanes and then back to the hotel for a few final preparations before an early night.

Up at 7am for breakfast in the room - rice krispies, fruit yoghurt, orange juice and tea for me, porridge for Sophie - a last check we had all our stuff and off to the start which was a 20 minute walk away along London Road, the barriers already in place for the race. Into the park at about 8:10 and noting the queues for the toilets we made our way up to the baggage trailers to drop off our bags.

A common complaint about the 2010 race was the lack of toilets and I understand more were provided this time but there were still long queues at 08:45 as we made our way down to the start, so maybe the organisers need to up the numbers again next year.

After a bit of a communications breakdown with phone numbers I bumped into Ben, the other Practical Action fundraiser running at Brighton, and it was nice to have a quick chat and grab a photo before he headed off to run with his friends.

Sophie and I were in a starting corral close to the back (even though I had entered an expected time of 4:30 the 5:00 pacer was some way in front of us, so I guess a lot of people were over-optimistic about their times) so it took us more than 10 minutes to reach the start after Steve Cram had fired the gun to get the race underway. But finally, we were off ! I wished Sophie luck and we headed off into the early Brighton sun.

The course initially took us on a lap of the park, up a hill almost immediately which took many runners by surprise although having done my research I knew it was coming and took it steadily. On the downhill stretch I tried to just let go and gather some speed to gain a few easy early seconds but the route was still a little too crowded and I ended up dodging quite a few people and getting baulked several times so in the end I decided to just slow down and pick my way around people as I could.

The first few miles took us down London Road and around The Levels close to Brighton Pavilion. I had already decided that given the weather forecast I wasn't going to fall victim to dehydration, and drank a full 300ml bottle at the first water station at the 3 mile mark, (and repeated this every 3 miles until around 22 miles). Turning onto St James Street and climbing up through Kemptown towards the clifftop road out of Brighton, I was averaging 10 minute miles and, in spite of the constant gradual incline I felt pretty comfortable.

Having seen the 2010 course profile, I was prepared for the steep hill at around the 8 mile mark climbing up into Ovingdean and, although my left Achilles was twinging a bit, I still felt good and looked on target for a 4:30 finish. From 9 miles I knew the remainder of the course was downhill or level and, although I knew the last 10km would be a struggle, I felt I could probably gain a few minutes on the downhill stretch back into Brighton.

But I don't know if the wind dropped, or if the temperature rose as the time moved towards midday, or I wasn't as prepared for the gentle hills as I should have been but in spite of sticking pretty rigidly to my water and fuel regime, I was starting to find it quite hard going and as I passed the half-way mark on the Brighton seafront in 2h13 I didn't feel nearly as comfortable.

Turning off the seafront onto Grand Avenue and round the corner into Hove, my calves really started to tighten up and as I approached 15 miles I decided to stop and walk through the water station. While this helped me down the water more comfortably, as several marathon runners told me before the race -" whatever you do don't stop running - it's really hard to get going again !", and each time I started running again my legs would be ok for a while but then they would really start to stiffen up - first my calves, then my hamstrings, then the muscles on the inside of the thighs (abductors?) to the point where they felt like they might cramp.

So before too long I realised that I was probably not going to be able to run all of the rest of the race and that if I was going to walk at times I should at least try to do it according to a plan (perhaps I "gave in" too early in retrospect, but that's easy to say in retrospect). So from about 17 miles I aimed to run to the next mile marker or water station, walk for a couple of minutes, then run to the next mile marker etc. And I did that pretty much all the way along the seafront to the port at Shoreham and back towards Hove where, with around 3 miles to go, I decided I should try to run as much of the rest of the finishing straight as I could.

Fortunately the atmosphere on the finishing straight was FANTASTIC. Crowds lining both sides of the road, cheering everyone on and shouting the names on people's charity t-shirts and vests (in retrospect I wish I'd put my name on mine). And the crowds stayed well into the afternoon even as the runners started to thin out. It made for a real grandstand finish as I gritted my teeth and managed to run what I thought was the last couple of miles but my Garmin tells me was the last 0.8 miles to the finish.

I crossed the line just as the clock ticked past 5 hours since the starting gun, although my Garmin gave my time as 4:48:34, later confirmed by the chip timing system as 4:48:32. So, the second half of the race took 2:35, almost 12 minutes per mile, making my average pace almost exactly 11 minutes per mile.

So... my first marathon. What an experience ! My initial reaction was of disappointment, that I'd missed most of my pre-race targets, and regret that I'd perhaps given up running a little too early.

 Also puzzlement that in spite of following my training plan pretty closely, and doing all the right things during the race, as far as I could tell, my legs simply couldn't handle the distance.

Frustration that the rest of my body was in good shape. Perhaps I should have pushed myself harder. Perhaps I wanted to run a comfortable marathon and wasn't prepared for a struggle. Perhaps I should have done more hill training.

But on further reflection most of these thoughts have been replaced with quiet satisfaction: I've run a marathon, in a respectable time for a novice, on a day when many runners, fitter and better-equipped than me, struggled with the heat and either pulled out, didn't start, or under-performed. And, most importantly, thanks to the generosity of my friends, family and colleagues, I've raised a tidy sum for Practical Action and CLIC Sargent.

While I don't plan to do another marathon this year, I think I will tackle another one in future, hopefully on a cooler day and next time, I'll train better, prepare better, and not give up to "the voices" quite so quickly.

Sophie, once again, showed real determination in her run - she had had a niggling calf injury in the last three weeks and hadn't been able to run, and was seriously considering pulling out. But she decided to give it a go and as I descended the hill at Ovingdean at around 8.5 miles I was delighted to see her running past on the ascent, looking cheerful and running well. And I continued to see her on the other "out and backs" along the course. making slow and steady progress around the course to finish in around 5 hours 20.

Not a personal best for her in time terms but given the heat and her injury, a fantastic performance. And she was the only one of the three of us who ran the whole route.

Sally was also disappointed with her time but without justfication: 4:15 in those conditions was a really great run - better than her faster run at the New Forest last September.

So, now that the marathon's over, a break from running for me until after Easter, when I start training for the BUPA London 10000 coming up at the end of May. And I'll be running that race wearing a CLIC Sargent t-shirt.

Unfortunately as I walked for a fair proportion of the last 9 miles of the marathon, I can't count the whole race towards my 1000 mile target for the year, but the first 17 miles count, and I've added those to the total.

Come on Come on!

I run in Greenwich park pretty much every week and so tend to see the same faces regularly - other runners, dog-walkers, and just locals going for a Saturday morning stroll in the park. There's one elderly lady who is there every week, hunched over a trolley as she hand feeds the squirrels and tries to shoo the pigeons away. She shouts out "come on come on!" to encourage the squirrels as she makes her way around the park - and it's become a bit of a mantra which the four of us who run laps there regularly use to spur each other on.

Perhaps the "Come on Come on" lady will unwittingly help me keep going during this Sunday's marathon. When you're running for four hours there's plenty of time for your mind to wander, and anything which  makes you smile, raises your morale or just stops "the voices" telling you to stop can be pretty helpful.

Having spent much of last week working in Aberdeen, eating a little unhealthily and not running, my eight miles around Greenwich at the weekend was more of a struggle than usual - but I've had a couple of good shorter runs since then and, best of all, my long-standing sore knee seems to be finally healing (or maybe the "taper" in my training is having its effect).

Anyway, with only one more training run to go before the race (I'll probably do a couple of miles around Dulwich tomorrow lunchtime)  I'm feeling in pretty good shape, and all things considered I've followed my training plan pretty well. Just need to avoid any last minute ankle twists and make sure I remember all of the bits and pieces of clothing, food and gear I'll need to make it to the start line on Sunday. (Fingers crossed Sophie will be able to join me on the start line as she has been struggling with a calf problem these last couple of weeks).

Quite a few more people have sponsored me in the last week - thank you very much for your support and generosity - I appreciate it very much, especially those of you who I regularly pester for sponsorship.

Richmond Park, celeb spotting, and some real athletes

On Sunday my brother-in-law, who is running the Virgin London Marathon, was doing his final 20 mile run in Richmond Park, so me, my wife and sister-in-law joined him for a couple of laps. It was my first time running there and I can see why my brother-in-law likes it - it's a huge area, and although it's surrounded by suburban London it feels very much like you're in the country with some beautiful woodland and deer roaming around. And a nice big lap with a good mixture of hills and flat bits.

Three weeks before the London marathon though, so probably the busiest day of the year for runners - it seemed like the whole city was there doing their final "long slow run", but even so, it's such a big park that there was plenty of space for everyone. The lap we ran is around 7.12 miles and I set off fairly steadily, not really knowing what the terrain would be like. Although it's undulating and there are a few hills, there's nothing as steep as the inclines in Greenwich, and there's also some long downhills to compensate. I did my first lap in 1:12:49, averaging 10:13 per mile but sped up a quite a lot on the second lap (powered by jaffa cakes and jelly babies) and averaged 9:49 per mile to complete the run in 2:22:53, almost exactly 10 minutes per mile. I felt really strong too so overall I'm pretty satisfied with my fitness with a couple of weeks to go.

The run was also notable for some of the other runners - a group of, I suspect, elite Kenyans who overtook me on one of the uphill stretches and disappeared into the distance effortlessly, their elastic legs carrying them along as if on tip-toes, barely touching the ground; Gordon Ramsay, who apparently I ran past without noticing; and, most impressive of all, a runner with one good leg and one prosthetic leg who also overtook me at a rate of knots, while chatting happily to everyone he passed. A really inspiring sight.

So, together with the midweek Dulwich runs I did, I completed 28.8 miles last week, and 4 speedy lunchtime miles in Dulwich today (comfortably my fastest 4 mile run this year) brought my total for the month of March to a hefty 130.4 miles. I'm in Aberdeen on business for the rest of the week so won't be running until the weekend again but at this stage I'm happy just to give my body a rest.

Finally, a quick hello and thanks to Michaela at Practical Action for her ongoing support, and also to Ben, who is also running in Brighton for Practical Action.

[Image at the top is from the Friends of Richmond Park website]

Three weeks to go

 So... in three week's time I'll have run the Brighton marathon. It's been a date a long way in the future for so long but suddenly it seems very close.

Yesterday I did my final "long slow run" in Greenwich - 20 miles. It was really hard, much harder than two weeks previously when I did 19. I think perhaps I was a little dehydrated as I wasn't running any faster than when I did 19 but during the last 5 miles or so my heart rate really climbed and I think I'd have been struggling to complete another 10km.

The temperature was certainly warmer this weekend, so it was a good lesson to learn in advance of the big day and I'll need to remember to stop for water more often during the race.

With three weeks to go it's about time to set some targets for the race. In order, they are:

1. Get to the start line, fit to run !
2. Enjoy the experience !
3. Cross the finish line on foot - before the 6 hour sweeper truck picks me up !
4. Run the whole course (with the exception of stopping briefly a water station or two)

5. Beat the average American male marathon runner (according to Wikipedia in 2005 the average American man completed the marathon in 4 hours 32)

6. Run at an average pace of 10 minutes per mile (4 hours 22 minutes)

7. Beat 4 hours 15 minutes.

8. Beat 4 hours 9 minutes (= 9.5 minutes per mile)

Clearly I would love to beat 4 hours but I think averaging 9 minute miles is overly ambitious for my first marathon and given my level of fitness and training.

My total for March now stands at 97.43 miles and for the year, 304.86 miles.

This week the "taper" begins and while I still aim to run 4 times per week, the distances will gradually decrease up to race day.

Fundraising

As it's now only 4 weeks until the Brighton marathon it's time to ramp up my fundraising efforts.

 Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far - I really appreciate your support, especially since many of you have sponsored me in previous years. Practical Action and CLIC Sargent, like most charities, depend heavily on donations to support their work and they are very grateful for your help. In the current economic climate everyone is tightening their belts and charitable donations are one of the first items which people look to minimise, so many charities are really struggling to maintain their activities.

As well as asking my long-suffering friends and families for sponsorship, this year I am also looking to large corporations to donate. So far I've asked the chief executives of three organisations for support - Sainsbury's, United Biscuits and Marks and Spencer. I received a polite email from Sainsbury's outlining all of the charitable activities they support and saying they were unable to support me at this time - but nothing as yet from M&S or United Biscuits. I have had one anonymous donation so far though so I'll be charitable and say that perhaps this came from one of those companies.

I don't expect to have much success via this route as most companies already have specific charities they support at a corporate level and probably receive hundreds of requests from their own staff and from random people like me every year. However, I plan to carry on this approach - "if you don't ask you don't get", and I've also been asking if they have any promotional items they might consider donating as prizes for a raffle / quiz night I might organise later in the year.

This week's running consisted of a couple of lunchtime trips to Dulwich for 5 and 8 mile runs, and a 4 mile run back from the garage after I dropped my car off for its MoT, plus 12 miles in Greenwich yesterday - bringing my total for February to 64 miles and for the year to 271.5 miles. I've had a bit of a cold for the last couple of weeks so haven't been feeling 100% when I've been out running, and my knee is still giving me a bit of pain, but since after this weekend's last "long slow run" of 20 miles my training plan moves into the "taper" towards the race, that'll give my body a bit of a chance to recover.

What do people think about when they're running?

Last year I bought Huraki Murakami's book "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running". In retrospect I misread the title - I was expecting to find out what he thinks about when he runs (besides being an author he's an experienced marathon and ultra-runner). But I quite enjoyed the book - much of it is essentially a diary of his experiences training and running in races, so for an amateur runner it was quite interesting - particularly his story of re-running the route of the "first marathon" by Pheidippides, much of which now follows the route of a busy Greek highway.

But I was looking for something a bit more philosophical about his reasons for running, what he got out of it, and it didn't entirely answer the question I hoped it might, i.e. what do other runners think about when they run.

Before I started running one of the reasons I didn't give it a go was because I assumed it must be really boring - unlike with cycling, the scenery passes at a very sedate pace and unless you are a top distance runner, your scope to run somewhere much different to where you are now is pretty limited.

But I've since realised that running isn't boring at all, and perhaps as my working life has become more hectic, I've come to really value those hours out running in the park or along the river. It's an opportunity to empty your mind and, particularly on long runs when there are few people around, it's possible to almost achieve a meditative state, helped by the rhythm of the running and breathing.

On shorter runs, or when running at lunchtime after a busy morning at work, my mind is generally more active, and it's a good time to try to think about and solve work problems. Somehow the action of running seems to get your mind working differently from normal.

And of course when you're running there are plenty of more immediate concerns to think about:
- Don't shut that gate don't shut it, don't shut it....aaargghhh
- Is that dog a chasing after runners ankles dog or a nice well behaved dog?
- Is that crampy feeling in my leg going to stay at it is or turn into proper cramp?
- Am I going too fast ? Am I going too slow?
- Is that kid going to run away from his father or towards him?
- I hope that crowd of pigeons stays exactly where it is
and of course, the Voices, which are always saying "Just stop, you know you want to, you've run far enough, you're tired and sore, go on stop".

A good week's running this week - a very speedy 5 miles (8:45 pace) on Tuesday lunchtime at Dulwich, 5 miles again in Crystal Palace Park on Wednesday (slower, but good hill running practice) and another 5 miles at Dulwich on Thursday lunchtime (this time running around in the opposite direction for a bit of variety). And then my long slow run at Greenwich today - 19 miles, at 10:20 pace, which is pretty good for training, and keeps my hopes of running around 10 minute mile pace on race day alive.

So, a 34 mile week, bringing my total to 241.86 miles for the year.