"Recovery" week

Only 26 miles completed this week as the training plan called for a bit of a breather before it reaches its climax in a couple of weeks time.

Eight and five mile lunchtime runs at Dulwich during the week and then 13 miles in Pollok Park in Glasgow at the weekend bringing my total for the month to a very healthy 118.4 miles.


Pollok Park is a lovely place to run, with Highland cattle roaming around, good offroad paths and nice woodland and riverside scenery. And unusually for Glasgow the February weather was really nice, warmish sunshine and no wind. There were plenty of other runners and cyclists out enjoying the conditions.

I did 8 laps of a 1.6 mile circuit, feeling pretty sluggish at the beginning, probably due to the effects of the birthday dinner for my Mum the previous night, but speeded up towards the end and even managed a wee sprint up the "home" straight on the last lap.

My total for the year is now 207.43 miles, and my marathon training still seems nicely on target.

36 mile week

This week contained the highest weekly mileage in my marathon training plan - 36 miles. And I managed to complete them all - lunchtime runs of 5 and 8 miles in Dulwich on Tuesday and Thursday, 18 miles in the rain in Greenwich yesterday and another 5 in Dulwich today.

While I still have a couple of long slow runs to do: 19 miles in 2 weeks time and 20 in 4 weeks time, the weekly totals start to decline from here - a sign that I'm getting close to the end of the hard training and the start of the "taper" towards marathon day itself.

My body seems to be holding up relatively well considering the extra mileage - a few aches and pains of course but nothing which a couple of days' rest doesn't fix.

I think my main concern on race day is going to be my calves and hamstrings stiffening up. Apparently this happens to all marathon runners, even the elites, and explains the "marathon shuffle" familiar to anyone who's watched at the finish of a mass participation marathon. Over time your leg muscles tighten up making a normal stride impossible, and this is the second main reason why marathon runners slow down in the last few miles of the race (the other reason being hitting "the wall" when the body runs out of easily accesible carbs to burn and starts the less efficient process of burning fat instead).

I won't be able to avoid the stiff legs issue happening to me but I hope by doing regular stretching sessions between now and race day I might be able to postpone the problem for a few extra miles.

I've been reading this book, which I got as a birthday present (thanks Sally and Phil) and while it's aimed at more serious (and better) runners than me it contains a lot of useful hints and tips on marathon preparation. Rather than just giving a bunch of standard training plans, it explains a lot of the theory behind why you should do a mixture of long slow distance runs, tempo runs and intervals in your training, and what benefits each type of run brings. It also gives guidance on nutrition (to help postpone or hopefully eliminate "hitting the wall") and on strength and flexibility training (including a set of exercises which I plan to do regularly to reduce the risk of stiff legs towards the end of the race).

So, another good week's training brings my total for February to 92.2 miles, and for the year so far: 181.22 miles.

This week I also entered the ballot to run in the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October. Fingers crossed for that one - I've spectated at the race twice and it would be nice to run round the course, particularly since Practical Action have people running for them there every year.

Gear part 2

As far as clothing from the waist up is concerned, the main thing is, for long runs at least, to wear a technical t-shirt or long-sleeved shirt. Cotton t-shirts are fine up to a point, but on a hot day, or a wet day, or if you're running more than about 10km cotton quickly becomes wet and uncomfortable and can cause painful chafing ("joggers' nipple").

So I have quite a large collection of technical t-shirts, most of which I've either bought in sales or have acquired as part of "goody bags" at the end of races. Ron Hill, New Balance, Nike and Asics all seem pretty good.

For cold or wet weather I have one or two long sleeved technical tops - a Berghaus one and a Nike one are the ones I wear the most. For the really cold days I'll generally wear a fleece on top, and any old woolly hat and gloves.

Fortunately it looks like the really cold weather is over for this winter and hopefully I'll be running in a t-shirt again soon.

A good week's running this week - four miles at lunchtime on Wednesday, 8 miles at race pace on Thursday, and then a long slow run of 17 miles at Greenwich yesterday. I decided to have a day off today even though there was a 4 mile recovery run on my plan - my knee is a little painful and at this stage it's probably better to give it an extra day's rest. 29 miles is probably still the largest weekly mileage I've ever done and I have 36 miles on the schedule next week so I'm sure I'll benefit from the extra recovery time.

I also went for a sports massage on Thursday which was a little painful at the time but I'm sure helped with my Saturday run - thanks Charlotte, and thanks Sally for the birthday gift.

So my total for the year is now 144.56 miles.

Marathon training - half way

Today marks the end of week 9 of my 18 week marathon training programme and it's also the first week where I've completed all of the mileage in the allocated week. A four mile lunchtime run on Tuesday, a seven mile run at race pace on Wednesday, 11 miles in Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage yesterday and then a gentle 4 mile recovery run this morning bringing my total for the week to, appropriately enough, 26 miles.

The 11 mile run was a little tougher than I'd expected - the park in Stevenage is a little hillier than I remember and I've been avoiding hills lately to give my sore knee a rest. It was also rather windy and I continued my recent bad habit of setting off too fast on my "long slow run" when I should be aiming to run around 10% slower than race pace.

Anyway, I did my 5 laps in a reasonable time and am happy to have reached halfway in my training with no major injury worries and having completed all of the distance runs successfully.

The next few weeks are the crux of the training - a 17 mile run next weekend, 18 the following weekend, then an "easy week", then 19 miles, another easy week, and then on 19th March the final long slow run of 20 miles before beginning the "taper" towards the race. At the moment I'm fairly confident but I'm reliably informed that after 15 miles is when your body starts to really complain so until I actually do those training runs I'm not going to know how I'll react.

As well as reaching halfway in my training, I also passed a landmark in my 1000 mile challenge - I've now completed the first 100 miles - 115.33 to be exact. So running-wise, everything's very much on target at this stage. Just need to up the pace a bit on the fundraising...

Why Practical Action ?

This is the third time I've set out to raise funds for Practical Action. On a previous occasion two years ago I wrote the attached post and, having read it I see no reason to change it - it's as true now as it was then.

"So, out of all the charities there are to choose from, why did I choose Practical Action ?

I suppose there are several reasons.

Firstly, while I recognise there will always be a place for short-term aid to tackle, for example, natural disasters or refugee crises caused by wars, for me it's important that we help people in developing countries in a sustainable way. Otherwise, one generation from now, or even in a year's time, we'll be back where we started, or somewhere worse. Practical Action is very much focused on the long-term, on solutions which will hopefully allow future generations to lift themselves out of poverty.

Secondly, the technology which Practical Action develops and promotes is simple and for that reason I think - more effective. It's focused on problems which affect people on a day-to-day level: cooking, getting clean water, growing food, keeping their home weatherproof. And because Practical Action works closely with communities, they have a more thorough understanding of the problems they face and can come up with practical and local solutions.

A good example of this is Practical Action's work to improve toilets in Zimbabwe, Sudan and Nepal. A solution to a problem which is common in developing countries, but tailored to individual communities, and using simple technology which is easily maintained and can be built and/or manufactured locally by local people.

Thirdly, Practical Action is all about enabling people to improve the conditions of their day-to-day lives using simple technology. For me this is the key thing. Rather than just provide technology as aid, they help people learn to manufacture the technology themselves, and to educate them about the importance of e.g. clean water and hygiene for health.

And finally, for both fundraisers and long-term donators, Practical Action is very supportive. Many charities treat everyone the same, whether you're a one-off donator, or a regular one. You just end up as another name on a mailing list, to be constantly pestered for money. Similarly when raising funds for some of the bigger-name charities, there's no individual contact - you might get a fundraising pack and a standard thankyou letter. In fact some of the larger charities are positively disinterested when you contact them with a view to fundraising.

Practical Action is different - regular donators are valued, fundraisers are treated individually, and the quality of the updates they send on their work is fantastic - every one is worth reading.

So- that's "why Practical Action?".

Gear - part 1

One of the best things about running it doesn't require a lot of gear. To start with all you need is some properly fitting running shoes (and they don't have to be expensive) any old t-shirt and shorts or tracksuit bottoms and off you go. And if you limit yourself to running the occasional 5k or 10k race every summer that's pretty much all you ever need.


But once you start clocking up more mileage, running longer races, and running in all weathers, you can make your life a bit more comfortable if you get some more specialist clothes. For example cotton t-shirts are fine if you're running a short distance in cool weather, but run more than 10km, or in hot or wet weather, and chafing will start to cause problems, and running in a sweat-soaked t-shirt is pretty uncomfortable. Similarly, once you start running half marathons or longer, any little minor niggles with gear can, over the course of two or three hours, become major problems. So since I started running I've tried out quite a lot of different gear and it's probably worth talking about it for anyone who might be just starting out.


Starting from the ground up, I've always run in Reebok shoes. It's not one of the leading brands in terms of specialist running shoes - it's more of a fashion sportswear company I think - but their shoes seem to suit me (and they're also cheaper than a lot of the more well-known competitors). I bought my first pair, Reebok Premiers, about a year and a half before I started running and they sat in the cupboard gathering dust for a while before, in a fit of New Year enthusiasm in 2007, I put them on and went for a breathless, and very short, jog around my local park in Edinburgh.


Since then I've had four more pairs, one of which I've worn out but the remaining ones are still usable and very comfortable. As I mentioned, they are not expensive shoes, and it's often possible to save money on running shoes by waiting until a manufacturer releases a new version of a particular shoe - often the older version gets sold off cheaply.


In terms of socks, so far I've tended to wear any thin, comfortable sports socks I could find. The most comfortable ones I have are made by Saucony and were sent by the Brighton Marathon team as an apology when the training t-shirt I'd ordered from them was very late to arrive. Unfortunately I've not found them for sale anywhere else, so I'm still on the lookout for some really comfortable ones.

I wear Ron Hill tracksters in winter and their shorts in summer. The tracksters are maybe a bit old-fashioned but they have a good balance of stretchiness, comfort and support, and they're warm enough for most winter days. Their shorts are light and comfortable and most have either internal key pockets or external zip pockets which are handy for car keys, mobile etc.

I did try a pair of New Balance shorts but they weren't so comfortable so I'll be sticking with Ron Hills for now. Apart from anything else, it's nice to support a British company.

I also have some skins compression shorts and tights. The tights are most useful for wearing after a long run and seem to help prevent muscle stiffness and soreness. I have also worn them when running, and they are useful for extra warmth and support on really cold icy days worn underneath my tracksters, but they are a little too constricting to be comfortable to wear for every run, and the seams can be a little uncomfortable.

The shorts are useful in spring and autumn when it's too hot for tracksters but not hot enough for shorts yet. Again though, the seams can chafe a bit when you've been wearing them for a while. But they are comfortable to run in and give your thighs and backside some support.

Briefly, another good weekend's running - 4 miles in Dulwich on Friday lunchtime, 15 miles in Greenwich on Saturday (another new distance record for me) and a rather leisurely and hungover 4 miles in Hertfordshire on Sunday after a late Saturday night at a Burns supper with friends.

So, a good start to the 1000 mile / marathon challenge, with 89 miles completed in January.

Why CLIC Sargent ?

In an earlier post I gave an example of why I wanted to support Practical Action for my "marathon challenge", and I'll talk a lot more about this in future posts. But I wanted to talk a little about why I chose CLIC Sargent as the other charity I'm running for in 2011.

Like most people, I have relatives and friends who have suffered various forms of cancer, and sadly have lost some of them to the disease. All of them, were, however adults, and while the premature death of anyone is tragic, it's at least some consolation that all of them enjoyed many years of mostly healthy life.

We know more about the causes of cancer than we used to, and it's clear that some cancers can be avoided by choosing to live a more healthy lifestyle - by avoiding alcohol, smoking, and eating a more healthy diet.

According to Sarah Woolnough, Cancer Research UK’s director of policy: “We do know that up to half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle such as giving up smoking, keeping a healthy weight and cutting down on alcohol. People can also reduce their risk by eating a healthy balanced diet that is high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in red and processed meat. All these things, along with taking regular exercise and avoiding sunburn, can reduce the risk of developing cancer.”

While this wasn't widely known to, say, my parents' or grandparents' generations, it is known now and so we can all do more now to minimise our chances of developing cancer in adult life. Of course, I know that there are many cancers which have no real correlation with lifestyle factors, and there is still plenty of work to do to identify the causes of all cancers and to develop effective treatments for them.

For children to be diagnosed with cancer seems to be a particularly harsh twist of fate, both for the children themselves and for their parents. They have had little time to enjoy a healthy childhood, and must undergo lengthy and sometimes unpleasant hospital treatment. Fortunately the outlook for childhood cancer is improving, and according to CLIC Sargent's website, seven out of ten children survive childhood cancer. But it seems to me that children suffering from cancer are the ultimate "innocent victims".

CLIC Sargent provides a host of services to support children with cancer and their families:

• providing nurses and social workers to support families;


• running a helpline for parents of children with cancer;


• paying for holidays for children with cancer and their families;


• providing "homes from home" to make visiting remote specialist hospitals easier;

It seems to me that all of this work is critical in helping children and their parents cope with the traumatic experience of a cancer diagnosis and treatment, maximise the chances of children surviving - and helping parents deal with bereavement in the sad cases when treatment is ultimately unsuccessful.

And that's why I'm running to raise funds for CLIC Sargent.