On the road, and sweltering.
We had a nice relaxed night yesterday, at a barbeque round pete & em's. I even treated myself to a glass of wine (see that boat- it's pushed right out!) Turns out iced tea is an excellent beer substitute- much less sickly than most other drinks, & great for hydrating.
Speaking of hydrating, water intake's going to be all important today - tom's driving us up just now and it's very hot indeed, so keeping the levels topped right up is order of the day.
Latest weather reports are still hot, but mercifully predicting some rain showers in the early afternoon tomorrow. C'mon Scotland- surely a bit of rain isn't too much to ask for!
Alex is making us home made lasagna this eve (star!), then an early night. As you might tell from the way this post is jumping about between different topics, the nerves are back. Hopefully a nice chilled out eve will settle them down so we can get a decent sleep.
Today's mantra: it's just another run.
It's just another run.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Thursday
Did the Manchester 10k at the weekend. I wasn't going for any particular time, but felt good so ended up going quite quick- I got 42:25, which is quite a chunk off my previous personal best. It's strange how sometimes, if you take the pressure off, you end up doing better than you expected anyway.
I felt a slight twinge from my knee around 4km, but it went away & didn't come back for the rest of the race. Excellent news, except it didn't feel all that great later in the evening. After a few days of rest, light cross training & stretches, it's pretty much gone, so it looks like I'm on for Sunday.
It's an odd waiting game at the moment- we can't go out, but can't do any useful training either, so want it to be Sunday and get on with it.
I had a quick look at the weather. I figure it's probably pretty accurate at this point, and it's looking a bit on the hot side- 21 degrees and patchy clouds. Not great news, so slow with plenty of water is order of the day.
3 days. Bring it on.
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Three lessons in sports therapy, learnt the hard way. Part 3
Lesson 3: Iliotibial Band Syndrome is bad (but hopefully not really bad?)
Remember that knee I was telling you about?
During my next 7 mile run, it was fine for the first 5 miles. During the 4 mile run after that, it was fine for the first two miles.
Recognising this was heading in the wrong direction, I held back. I didn't do any running that weekend, and went to a physio the Monday after.
Turns out I've got something quite common called iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS).
There's a band of tissue running down the outside of the leg, from hip to knee joint, that's key in keeping your knees straight when running. On the left side, it's rubbing against the knee, causing inflamation. In my case, it's caused by excess tension in my glutial muscles (I am, quite literally, a tight-arse), meaning they can't do their job properly.
The upshot is I'm basically fine, until quite a way into a run (about 6 miles, currently), when it starts hurting, and if I ran through it, it starts hurting a lot. So I don't :)
Good new is that it's nothing difficult to fix- the inflamation should go down with rest & ibuprofen, and I've got a foam roller & some exercises I'm doing everyday to release tension in the thigh.
I've decided there's nothing to be gained a this point by trying to do long runs, so I've just got to try to keep as fit as poss over the next few weeks without exhasperating it. I went for a swim last weekend, which was good (well, I hate front crawl, so not that good, but still). I did a couple of hours on cross-trainers at the gym this week, which I seem to be able to use without feeling hit, which is very good news.
It's frustrating, cos it doesn't hurt at all when I'm just walking about, and the rest of me is hankering to do some really long runs, but gonna resist.
I've got a mini dress rehearsal next weekend, with the Manchester 10km. My brother's coming up to run it, and my folks are coming down to watch. I'm gonna do it, though I'm not going for a PB.
If I get serious issues on that one, I might have to reconsider, but for the moment I'm still gonna at least give edinburgh a shot.
W.
Remember that knee I was telling you about?
During my next 7 mile run, it was fine for the first 5 miles. During the 4 mile run after that, it was fine for the first two miles.
Recognising this was heading in the wrong direction, I held back. I didn't do any running that weekend, and went to a physio the Monday after.
Turns out I've got something quite common called iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS).
There's a band of tissue running down the outside of the leg, from hip to knee joint, that's key in keeping your knees straight when running. On the left side, it's rubbing against the knee, causing inflamation. In my case, it's caused by excess tension in my glutial muscles (I am, quite literally, a tight-arse), meaning they can't do their job properly.
The upshot is I'm basically fine, until quite a way into a run (about 6 miles, currently), when it starts hurting, and if I ran through it, it starts hurting a lot. So I don't :)
Good new is that it's nothing difficult to fix- the inflamation should go down with rest & ibuprofen, and I've got a foam roller & some exercises I'm doing everyday to release tension in the thigh.
I've decided there's nothing to be gained a this point by trying to do long runs, so I've just got to try to keep as fit as poss over the next few weeks without exhasperating it. I went for a swim last weekend, which was good (well, I hate front crawl, so not that good, but still). I did a couple of hours on cross-trainers at the gym this week, which I seem to be able to use without feeling hit, which is very good news.
It's frustrating, cos it doesn't hurt at all when I'm just walking about, and the rest of me is hankering to do some really long runs, but gonna resist.
I've got a mini dress rehearsal next weekend, with the Manchester 10km. My brother's coming up to run it, and my folks are coming down to watch. I'm gonna do it, though I'm not going for a PB.
If I get serious issues on that one, I might have to reconsider, but for the moment I'm still gonna at least give edinburgh a shot.
W.
Three lessons in sports therapy, learnt the hard way. Part 2
Lesson 2: ice baths are surprising good
The sciencey bit here is a little more controversial, but it's thought that by sitting in feckin' cold water for 10 minutes or so helps to:
- numb your aching legs, stopping them from hurting, and
- cause a rush of blood to the legs, flushing out the built up lactic acids, reducing the time for recovery
Studies into these effects have had varied results, but I thought I'd give it a go.
Luckily, the first run I decided to do this on (the 20-mile epic from the last post) was a warm day, so it didn't feel like that much of a chore when I got back. I filled the bath deep enough to cover my legs with cold water, then added a bag of ice (with a second back for top-ups.
Warm tea on-hand, I jumped in, and swore. A Lot.
After about 2 minutes of violent shivering, your body gets used to it, and it isn't actually as unpleasant as I was expecting. Your legs go very cold and kinda numb, stopping them from hurting, which helped. After about 12 minutes of this, I got out, rubbed feeling back in my legs, and waited for them to warm up a bit before a very welcome, and very hot, shower.
It's not exactly a controlled trial, but I certainly found I felt a lot better than I would have expected the next day. I'm convinced enough to keep trying ice baths after long runs. Except, right now, I can't do any long runs anyway. More on that in my next post...
The sciencey bit here is a little more controversial, but it's thought that by sitting in feckin' cold water for 10 minutes or so helps to:
- numb your aching legs, stopping them from hurting, and
- cause a rush of blood to the legs, flushing out the built up lactic acids, reducing the time for recovery
Studies into these effects have had varied results, but I thought I'd give it a go.
Luckily, the first run I decided to do this on (the 20-mile epic from the last post) was a warm day, so it didn't feel like that much of a chore when I got back. I filled the bath deep enough to cover my legs with cold water, then added a bag of ice (with a second back for top-ups.
Warm tea on-hand, I jumped in, and swore. A Lot.
After about 2 minutes of violent shivering, your body gets used to it, and it isn't actually as unpleasant as I was expecting. Your legs go very cold and kinda numb, stopping them from hurting, which helped. After about 12 minutes of this, I got out, rubbed feeling back in my legs, and waited for them to warm up a bit before a very welcome, and very hot, shower.
It's not exactly a controlled trial, but I certainly found I felt a lot better than I would have expected the next day. I'm convinced enough to keep trying ice baths after long runs. Except, right now, I can't do any long runs anyway. More on that in my next post...
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Three lessons in sports therapy, learnt the hard way. Part 1
Before we start, I'd like to apologise to anyone who really knows about sports science and/or physiotherapy, for undoubtedly getting the detail horribly wrong.
I've had an eventful few weeks, and right now I'm seriously worried about whether I'll be able to run this damned thing.
It all started on the saturday after my last post - my first go at a 20 mile run.
Miles 1-18: fantastic.
Miles 19-20: Oh dear God.
In the last few weeks I've learnt a bunch of really hard lessons about distance running, so I thought I'd go through them in 3 parts
Lesson 1: hitting the wall is really bad
Your body can store a limited amount of fuel known as glycogen, in the liver, muscles and red blood cells. This can readily be broken down into glucose for you to use when doing things like running. The problem is, the body only stores around 1500-2000 calories worth. Which, on this particular run, got me through the first 18 miles.
After which...
I'm very glad I've found this out now, and seriously hope I get another shot at at 20-miler before the marathon to try it out in practice.
Meanwhile, I eventually got home and jumped straight into an ice bath. more about that in lesson 2...
p.s. In better news, I Just met my sponsorship target! :-D Thank you all so much - it's going to a wonderful cause, and is a big motivation to keep going right now.
W.x
I've had an eventful few weeks, and right now I'm seriously worried about whether I'll be able to run this damned thing.
It all started on the saturday after my last post - my first go at a 20 mile run.
Miles 1-18: fantastic.
Miles 19-20: Oh dear God.
In the last few weeks I've learnt a bunch of really hard lessons about distance running, so I thought I'd go through them in 3 parts
Lesson 1: hitting the wall is really bad
Your body can store a limited amount of fuel known as glycogen, in the liver, muscles and red blood cells. This can readily be broken down into glucose for you to use when doing things like running. The problem is, the body only stores around 1500-2000 calories worth. Which, on this particular run, got me through the first 18 miles.
After which...
- I couldn't think straight – I was nearly in tears, and got lost despite being in my own back yard, and having a GPS watch telling me where to go
- my legs Just Wouldn't Work Any More
- the outside of my left knee started hurting. A lot. (Unfortunately, we'll be coming back to this in lesson 3)
I'm very glad I've found this out now, and seriously hope I get another shot at at 20-miler before the marathon to try it out in practice.
Meanwhile, I eventually got home and jumped straight into an ice bath. more about that in lesson 2...
p.s. In better news, I Just met my sponsorship target! :-D Thank you all so much - it's going to a wonderful cause, and is a big motivation to keep going right now.
W.x
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
New Toys
Woo - new toy! :)
We had significant birthdays for both me & my mum at the easter weekend (I'm no longer in my twenties - sob!), so we had the whole family back in Preston. Lots of tasty food and wine later, I was on the way home with a bag full of champagne, tasty goodies, and one of these :-D
Which means the garmin pages I've been linking to now have even more stuff on them, including maps of where I've been. Which I reckon is way cool, in an geeky kinda way :)
Examples are here (from monday) and here (from this evening).
The first was a heart rate interval session. After a mile or so of warming up, run a mile whilst trying to keep a high heartrate (around 180bpm in my case), then half a mile at a much lower recovery rate (150-160). Repeat.
Doing this kind of training repeatedly helps make your heart more efficient, meaning you can work harder at the same heartrate. In other words, it makes you faster. I'm pretty happy with where I am so far with the distance, so I've been able to concentrate on some more varied training over the last few weeks, including some fast runs, some intervals, and even fell running (shudder!)
The other big change is that we now have showers at work, so I can do runs from work at lunchtime or running in in this morning (as I'm planning tomorrow). Less than 7 weeks to go, so having opportunities to squeeze in more miles always helps.
We had significant birthdays for both me & my mum at the easter weekend (I'm no longer in my twenties - sob!), so we had the whole family back in Preston. Lots of tasty food and wine later, I was on the way home with a bag full of champagne, tasty goodies, and one of these :-DWhich means the garmin pages I've been linking to now have even more stuff on them, including maps of where I've been. Which I reckon is way cool, in an geeky kinda way :)
Examples are here (from monday) and here (from this evening).
The first was a heart rate interval session. After a mile or so of warming up, run a mile whilst trying to keep a high heartrate (around 180bpm in my case), then half a mile at a much lower recovery rate (150-160). Repeat.
Doing this kind of training repeatedly helps make your heart more efficient, meaning you can work harder at the same heartrate. In other words, it makes you faster. I'm pretty happy with where I am so far with the distance, so I've been able to concentrate on some more varied training over the last few weeks, including some fast runs, some intervals, and even fell running (shudder!)
The other big change is that we now have showers at work, so I can do runs from work at lunchtime or running in in this morning (as I'm planning tomorrow). Less than 7 weeks to go, so having opportunities to squeeze in more miles always helps.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Longest week so far
Great weather this week. For the first time this year, I ran home on Wednesday down the canal. You can get on the canal at the end of deansgate, follow it all the way out past old trafford and stretford, get on the waterpark, and pop out at the back of chorlton. Running home after work is significant, because the route isn't lit, so you can only do it in daylight. It'll be even easier in a few weeks, when the clocks change :) Garmin details here.
After a quiet saturday, I got up this morning for an uber-run. Check out this map. My original plans was to head down a cycle lane along an old railway track, heading anti-clockwise across south Manchester, out to gorton reservoir, around the reservoir and then back. However, the railway line turned out to be not particularly inspiring (it's essentially a big ditch).
So instead, having got to the reservoir, i turned left, and headed off looking for the ashton canal. Turned out there was an easy route there, and so I could follow it into town, back out again, and back on the usual route home through stretford.
18 miles felt like a bloomin' long way - I'm trying not to think about the 8 miles more I'll have to do in a few months time :-/
I've been pretty wiped out this afternoon, but many meals later I'm not feeling too bad. 33 miles in total this week, which is a new record.
Garmin data for the 18-mile loop this morning is here.
Will.
p.s. Who knew that the mighty Alan Turing could run a marathon in 2:46?! Very interesting opinion piece in The Guardian, here.
After a quiet saturday, I got up this morning for an uber-run. Check out this map. My original plans was to head down a cycle lane along an old railway track, heading anti-clockwise across south Manchester, out to gorton reservoir, around the reservoir and then back. However, the railway line turned out to be not particularly inspiring (it's essentially a big ditch).
So instead, having got to the reservoir, i turned left, and headed off looking for the ashton canal. Turned out there was an easy route there, and so I could follow it into town, back out again, and back on the usual route home through stretford.
18 miles felt like a bloomin' long way - I'm trying not to think about the 8 miles more I'll have to do in a few months time :-/
I've been pretty wiped out this afternoon, but many meals later I'm not feeling too bad. 33 miles in total this week, which is a new record.
Garmin data for the 18-mile loop this morning is here.
Will.
p.s. Who knew that the mighty Alan Turing could run a marathon in 2:46?! Very interesting opinion piece in The Guardian, here.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Back on the horse
Quick post this morning - I've actually done a run!
The week after the food poisoning was pretty much written off, and then I've been away skiing last week (pictures here).
Skiing was awesome fun, of course, but did get in the way of doing any real training, so I was itching to get out by the time I got back. As it happens, Tom & Alex were off on a long run last night of about 9 miles, so I joined them for that.
I could tell I was out of practice slightly, and was a bit more out of breath than I should have been early on. If I get another run like that done during the week, I should be ok for the humongous run at the weekend - I suspect the London marathoners in the Sunday group might be up to doing 20-odd miles by now :-/
Data from last night's run, here. Nice steady run. Interesting that those guys are now running faster than the medium group on the club social runs though...
The week after the food poisoning was pretty much written off, and then I've been away skiing last week (pictures here).
Skiing was awesome fun, of course, but did get in the way of doing any real training, so I was itching to get out by the time I got back. As it happens, Tom & Alex were off on a long run last night of about 9 miles, so I joined them for that.
I could tell I was out of practice slightly, and was a bit more out of breath than I should have been early on. If I get another run like that done during the week, I should be ok for the humongous run at the weekend - I suspect the London marathoners in the Sunday group might be up to doing 20-odd miles by now :-/
Data from last night's run, here. Nice steady run. Interesting that those guys are now running faster than the medium group on the club social runs though...
Thursday, 25 February 2010
From Curry Mile
Feeling a bit foolish about the name of my blog now.
Ok, first off - last week was great. Knackering, but great. I turned up on thursday to the social run with the club, and was told by Steph in no uncertain terms that I wasn't to be running with the medium group.
Fast group it is, then.
I was quite proud of myself - 8 miles at just over 8 minutes/mile. By no means the fastest I've ever been, but a lot faster than I've been recently, and I managed it without dying. Just.
Then Sunday was my first solo run in a while - a lot of people were off at the Blackpool half marathon, so no group training. I managed to be reasonably well behaved on friday (despite being at a winter bbq!), and set off saturday morning through the waterpark, up following the canal to salford quays (about 4 miles). 2 Laps of the quays, following every contour of the waterways added another 8, and then another 4 back made it 16. In fact, I took a slightly different route on the second lap of the quays, and ended up with a total of 17 miles, in bang-on 2.5 hours, which will do nicely.
Then Saturday night happened.
My friend Helen's birthday, which started with curry in rusholme (aka "the curry mile", for which this blog is named), and then some beerage. All good fun. Except for the food poisoning. Bugger.
Saturday night: don't ask
Sunday and Monday: laid out
Tuesday: First real meal
Wednesday: back to normal eating
I'm all better now, but didn't want to push it, so I've not done any running yet. I'm gonna do a short-ish run home this eve - 4-5 miles or so - rather than head out with the club.
Still... if that's the worst setback I get in training, I'll do great! :)
Garmin data for Thursday is here, and for Saturday is here. I just noticed how variable my speed is on the Saturday run looks, but then realised it's not really - it's just that the scales are different. Also... my average heart rate is only 164. Awesome :)
Will.
Ok, first off - last week was great. Knackering, but great. I turned up on thursday to the social run with the club, and was told by Steph in no uncertain terms that I wasn't to be running with the medium group.
Fast group it is, then.
I was quite proud of myself - 8 miles at just over 8 minutes/mile. By no means the fastest I've ever been, but a lot faster than I've been recently, and I managed it without dying. Just.
Then Sunday was my first solo run in a while - a lot of people were off at the Blackpool half marathon, so no group training. I managed to be reasonably well behaved on friday (despite being at a winter bbq!), and set off saturday morning through the waterpark, up following the canal to salford quays (about 4 miles). 2 Laps of the quays, following every contour of the waterways added another 8, and then another 4 back made it 16. In fact, I took a slightly different route on the second lap of the quays, and ended up with a total of 17 miles, in bang-on 2.5 hours, which will do nicely.
Then Saturday night happened.
My friend Helen's birthday, which started with curry in rusholme (aka "the curry mile", for which this blog is named), and then some beerage. All good fun. Except for the food poisoning. Bugger.
Saturday night: don't ask
Sunday and Monday: laid out
Tuesday: First real meal
Wednesday: back to normal eating
I'm all better now, but didn't want to push it, so I've not done any running yet. I'm gonna do a short-ish run home this eve - 4-5 miles or so - rather than head out with the club.
Still... if that's the worst setback I get in training, I'll do great! :)
Garmin data for Thursday is here, and for Saturday is here. I just noticed how variable my speed is on the Saturday run looks, but then realised it's not really - it's just that the scales are different. Also... my average heart rate is only 164. Awesome :)
Will.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Correcting Gait
I bought some new trainers this week.
I've been running in various generations of the same model of mizunos for about 3 years so the change is a bit of a risk- it can sometimes take a few changes to find a pair that suit you well, and the last thing I want right now is to mess up my feet in shoes that don't fit.
However, manufacturers have a habbit of fiddling with trainer designs, and the current generation have been giving me blisters everytime I run over 5 miles, so it's time for a change. Having done two fairly long runs in my shiny new brooks this week (7 and 15 miles), I'm pretty confident that they will do my proud (and soon be much less shiny).
When you're buying running shoes, the most important thing to consider is the way your foot moves as it strikes the ground. This is called your gait. If you were able to see your lower leg while running, you would typically see it either roll inwards (or 'overpronate'), or outwards ('underpronate') as your body moves forward. Either of these can bad- the angle places excessive stress on your knees and joints.
Running shoes can correct this by having different levels of support on the inside arches of your feet, for different types of gait.
So- one of the most important things you can do when you're taking up running is find a pair of running shoes that suit your gait. Luckily, running shops can help. They have treadmills in store with video cameras that video the back of your lower leg as you do a short run in a neutral trainer. By measuring the angle of your lower leg, they can then find a trainer that will correct that angle to be vertical. A few iterations later, your should have 3 or 4 trainers by different manufacturers that suit your gait, and it comes down to which best fits your foot, and feels most comfortable.
The running shops provide this for free, but it'd be a bit rude not to buy from them if you find a pair that work for you. It is often very slightly cheaper to buy trainers online, but only by £5-10 or so. It's well worth it, to have trainers that fit you properly.
While I'm at it, here's the garmin data for the 7 miles round Salford Quays*, and 15 miles up Through Salford towards Prestwich, which I did this week.
Will.
* Observant readers will be able to spot where I stopped to pick up fish & chips on the way home :)
I've been running in various generations of the same model of mizunos for about 3 years so the change is a bit of a risk- it can sometimes take a few changes to find a pair that suit you well, and the last thing I want right now is to mess up my feet in shoes that don't fit.
However, manufacturers have a habbit of fiddling with trainer designs, and the current generation have been giving me blisters everytime I run over 5 miles, so it's time for a change. Having done two fairly long runs in my shiny new brooks this week (7 and 15 miles), I'm pretty confident that they will do my proud (and soon be much less shiny).
When you're buying running shoes, the most important thing to consider is the way your foot moves as it strikes the ground. This is called your gait. If you were able to see your lower leg while running, you would typically see it either roll inwards (or 'overpronate'), or outwards ('underpronate') as your body moves forward. Either of these can bad- the angle places excessive stress on your knees and joints.
Running shoes can correct this by having different levels of support on the inside arches of your feet, for different types of gait.
So- one of the most important things you can do when you're taking up running is find a pair of running shoes that suit your gait. Luckily, running shops can help. They have treadmills in store with video cameras that video the back of your lower leg as you do a short run in a neutral trainer. By measuring the angle of your lower leg, they can then find a trainer that will correct that angle to be vertical. A few iterations later, your should have 3 or 4 trainers by different manufacturers that suit your gait, and it comes down to which best fits your foot, and feels most comfortable.
The running shops provide this for free, but it'd be a bit rude not to buy from them if you find a pair that work for you. It is often very slightly cheaper to buy trainers online, but only by £5-10 or so. It's well worth it, to have trainers that fit you properly.
While I'm at it, here's the garmin data for the 7 miles round Salford Quays*, and 15 miles up Through Salford towards Prestwich, which I did this week.
Will.
* Observant readers will be able to spot where I stopped to pick up fish & chips on the way home :)
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Sundays are better than Saturdays
This weekend's long run was on a Saturday rather than Sunday, and I press-ganged into doing the full length marathon training session - 16 miles out from town, roughly following the Irwell north out towards prestwich, and looping back.
You'll notice that description is a bit vague - I used google maps afterwards to work out where on earth we went, but quickly got lost. It feels quite odd not knowing where it is I've been, when I'm used to running my own routes. I'm doing my best to get a route map from one of the other runner's GPS watches - if I get it, I'll post it up.
In the meantime, the heartrate info and so on is here
I felt pretty good for most of the run, all things considered. Very heavy legs by about 13 miles in, but I got round ok. Two & a half hours is much longer than i've ever run before, so I has happy with that. Plus, that pace would put us about bang-on 4 hours for a marathon, which isn't too shabby at all.
The problem with it being on a saturday, is that saturday morning is followed by saturday evening. And this particular Saturday evening started with watching a 5pm rugby match in the pub.
I recall worryingly little about what happened later, but suffice to say afternoon pints of strong continental-style lager beer straight after running all morning isn't the cleverest idea I've ever had.
Luckily, I've been reliably informed I didn't make too much of a fool of myself, and the weekend runs revert to a Sunday next week.
Will.
p.s. Big love to a number of unexpected donors to my fundraising. You guys rock.
You'll notice that description is a bit vague - I used google maps afterwards to work out where on earth we went, but quickly got lost. It feels quite odd not knowing where it is I've been, when I'm used to running my own routes. I'm doing my best to get a route map from one of the other runner's GPS watches - if I get it, I'll post it up.
In the meantime, the heartrate info and so on is here
I felt pretty good for most of the run, all things considered. Very heavy legs by about 13 miles in, but I got round ok. Two & a half hours is much longer than i've ever run before, so I has happy with that. Plus, that pace would put us about bang-on 4 hours for a marathon, which isn't too shabby at all.
The problem with it being on a saturday, is that saturday morning is followed by saturday evening. And this particular Saturday evening started with watching a 5pm rugby match in the pub.
I recall worryingly little about what happened later, but suffice to say afternoon pints of strong continental-style lager beer straight after running all morning isn't the cleverest idea I've ever had.
Luckily, I've been reliably informed I didn't make too much of a fool of myself, and the weekend runs revert to a Sunday next week.
Will.
p.s. Big love to a number of unexpected donors to my fundraising. You guys rock.
Monday, 8 February 2010
C'mon now - it's for charidee!
Many of you know I've been running for a good few years. I've never done a sponsored run before, because they have always been runs I would have been doing anyway, and have always felt well within my comfort zone.
This one feels a little different. Right now, a marathon feels like a very very long way - twice as long as any run I've done before, and pretty daunting. Since this is my first one, I felt that raising some money for a charity I cared about would be a Good Thing (tm).
So - over the next 16 weeks, I'm going to be doing a whooooole lot of running. I reckon it'll be around 350 miles. In the process, I'm also hoping to raise £350 for charity.
There were a few different causes in the - a'hem - running. All of them are very worthy, but once I started thinking about it carefully, one of the contenders felt right.
Rosemere Cancer Foundation is a charitable trust, supporting cancer care in Lancashire & the Lakes. The Rosemere Centre in the Royal Preston Hospital is one of the biggest specialist cancer treatment centres in the UK.
This centre, along with local Cancer Units in Blackpool, East Lancashire and Morecambe Bay, form the Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Network, bringing specialist care to patients throughout this region. Rosemere raise over half a million pounds a year to fund additional facilities and services for patients.
Some of you will know that both of my parents - Alan and Angela - have been affected by cancer over the last few years. The Rosemere Centre was where my Dad was treated. As a family, we feel extremely lucky that in both cases, and purely by coincidence, the cancer was noticed early, has responded well to treatment, and they're both currently fine and dandy.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
http://www.justgiving.com/willlovett
This one feels a little different. Right now, a marathon feels like a very very long way - twice as long as any run I've done before, and pretty daunting. Since this is my first one, I felt that raising some money for a charity I cared about would be a Good Thing (tm).
So - over the next 16 weeks, I'm going to be doing a whooooole lot of running. I reckon it'll be around 350 miles. In the process, I'm also hoping to raise £350 for charity.
There were a few different causes in the - a'hem - running. All of them are very worthy, but once I started thinking about it carefully, one of the contenders felt right.
Rosemere Cancer Foundation is a charitable trust, supporting cancer care in Lancashire & the Lakes. The Rosemere Centre in the Royal Preston Hospital is one of the biggest specialist cancer treatment centres in the UK.
This centre, along with local Cancer Units in Blackpool, East Lancashire and Morecambe Bay, form the Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Network, bringing specialist care to patients throughout this region. Rosemere raise over half a million pounds a year to fund additional facilities and services for patients.
Some of you will know that both of my parents - Alan and Angela - have been affected by cancer over the last few years. The Rosemere Centre was where my Dad was treated. As a family, we feel extremely lucky that in both cases, and purely by coincidence, the cancer was noticed early, has responded well to treatment, and they're both currently fine and dandy.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
http://www.justgiving.com/willlovett
Monday, 1 February 2010
Cottage cheese to the rescue
After being well behaved on Saturday, I got up early on Sunday and did my first big run with the harriers. Most of them were doing 16 miles, but that's a bit too far at this point - last thing I want to do is injure myself. Luckily, a small group (well, 2 of us) wanted a shorter distance so left them after about 6 miles, and looped back, ending up with just over 10 miles.
A nice steady pace meant my heart rate stayed reasonably low, but my legs were definitely feeling leaden by the end. I'm writing this the next day, and quite pleased my legs don't hurt much. After a conversation with Gisle (friend and occasional health freak) last week, I decided to try getting a bunch of protein in me straight after the run, and it seems to have helped recovery. I'm not the biggest fan of cottage cheese generally, but if it stops my legs hurting, it's all good.
First Sunday run with the harriers
A nice steady pace meant my heart rate stayed reasonably low, but my legs were definitely feeling leaden by the end. I'm writing this the next day, and quite pleased my legs don't hurt much. After a conversation with Gisle (friend and occasional health freak) last week, I decided to try getting a bunch of protein in me straight after the run, and it seems to have helped recovery. I'm not the biggest fan of cottage cheese generally, but if it stops my legs hurting, it's all good.
First Sunday run with the harriers
Thursday, 28 January 2010
First run with the Manchester Harriers
In the last few weeks, I've been ramping up the running, and I'm aiming to do about 3 serious runs a week between now and the run. If all goes to plan, that will be about 350-odd training miles, and should put me in a fairly decent state to get round the course without dying. Maybe.
Along the way, being the techy-geek that I am, I'm going to keep track of the distances I've done, what kind of training I'm doing, and pretty graphs of how close to a coronary I'm getting.
To kick off, I went for my first ever run with the Manchester YMCA Harriers this evening, which you can see graphs of here.
In the cold and the dark and the rain, we ran down a hill very slowly, then back up again very very quickly. Six times. Apparently this is good for me.
I'm feeling exhausted but good, though already sore - I can tell it's gonna be worse tomorrow. Luckily, I've a few days off to recover, until Sunday when I'm heading off with them for another 10-12 miles or so. Why am I doing this again?
Along the way, being the techy-geek that I am, I'm going to keep track of the distances I've done, what kind of training I'm doing, and pretty graphs of how close to a coronary I'm getting.
To kick off, I went for my first ever run with the Manchester YMCA Harriers this evening, which you can see graphs of here.
In the cold and the dark and the rain, we ran down a hill very slowly, then back up again very very quickly. Six times. Apparently this is good for me.
I'm feeling exhausted but good, though already sore - I can tell it's gonna be worse tomorrow. Luckily, I've a few days off to recover, until Sunday when I'm heading off with them for another 10-12 miles or so. Why am I doing this again?
Aaaand we're off
Right then! A Snickers! 42.195 kilometers. 26 miles and 385 yards. Twice as far as I've ever run before. Bit scared. Big numbers.
My last big run was the Great North Run in October last year, which is a half-marathon. Shortly afterwards, I was in the pub with Tom (housemate) and Alex (housemate's missus/unofficial housemate).
The timing of this pub visit is important. It was just long enough after the GNR that our legs didn't hurt any more, but still soon enough after the training that we felt in pretty good shape.
These ideal mental conditions, plus a significant quantity of booze, led to the genius decision that - having done a semi-marathon - we should have a go at a proper one.
Somehow, this idea survived the next morning's hangover.
So - on the 23rd May, the three of us are heading up to Edinburgh, and are doing our first marathon. That's 16 weeks from this coming Sunday.
My last big run was the Great North Run in October last year, which is a half-marathon. Shortly afterwards, I was in the pub with Tom (housemate) and Alex (housemate's missus/unofficial housemate).
The timing of this pub visit is important. It was just long enough after the GNR that our legs didn't hurt any more, but still soon enough after the training that we felt in pretty good shape.
These ideal mental conditions, plus a significant quantity of booze, led to the genius decision that - having done a semi-marathon - we should have a go at a proper one.
Somehow, this idea survived the next morning's hangover.
So - on the 23rd May, the three of us are heading up to Edinburgh, and are doing our first marathon. That's 16 weeks from this coming Sunday.
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