So, in 8 weeks time, at about 4.20pm, I'll be hobbling home having completed the marathon! I'm not 100% sure that I have my head around that quite yet, but I'm getting there!
This week, as you can see from my other blog entry, I did 14 miles. Which was a bit hard. But for the rest of the week I did well, albeit with a healthy dose of falling apart added in for good measure!
On Wednesday I went to Mil Fit. It was a good class, but I trailed at the back. We did one exercise which involved running back and forth and back and forth between these lamp posts and by the time I had got to the last one and did the exercise and started back I was right at the back, trailing by a good 50 yards... slightly embarrassing, but I try to justify it in my head by thinking that a) it's dark on the Common, I can't go rushing around at full tilt in case I fall over in the dark and really do some damage, meaning I can't run! b) I run a great big long run every week, everyone else in my class just does Mil Fit - they'd be slower if they had to run further and further every week (I base this on no facts whatsoever, for all I know the whole of the rest of the class could also be running the Marathon and still be faster than me!)
Friday I went for a little 3 miles at lunchtime. Running at work is great, you get away from your desk, out in the park, and it was a glorious day on Friday, the sun beamed. Which was good as it was an OK run but I was tired from the start and felt every single step on the way round... but that is a cheering thing about even the worst run, you put one foot in front of the other and that is one step closer to being done and I can't name a time I've started a run and not been able to finish it, so even if it is bad, at least the miles are clocking up, that's what counts!
And so, the week finished with a final Mil Fit on Saturday morning. It was FREEZING! The ground was cold, there was frost everywhere, and I decided that I didn't need my gloves - big mistake! At one point I had to stop doing press ups just because my hands were so cold that it hurt to hold the press up position! Still, there was worst, whilst executing a 'wide leg squat thrust' (don't ask, really just don't ask!) I took my knee out again. When I did the first on I did think in my head 'This doesn't sounds like a good idea for my knee' but went ahead and did it anyway, resulting in my knee going out from under me again. Fortunately I managed to limp on and was back running (tottering!) in my position at the back of the class again in no time!
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Monday, 11 February 2008
14 miles and home...
Ouch, ouch, ouch... adding just 2 miles on last week's 12 has not agreed with me!
Just got back from a 14 mile detour to home, via Regent's Park (3 laps) and then home to my humble abode. Steady pace, but uncomfortable towards the end. Somewhere around Victoria it started to really kick in and my usual 100 yard walk/cool down at the end was really more of a hobble than anything else!!
Still I am going to shower (longer runs are good but once you sit down for about 10 minutes you realise that you smell, like really smell, not just a faint whiff, a real sweaty pong! Nice!), eat a big bowl of pasta and vegetate in front of some TV. With a lot of stretching thrown in so that tomorrow when I get out of bed I don't actually have to hobble to the bathroom! Oh and I might light a scented candle...
Don't worry though, I'll live to run another mile, or hopefully another 26.2...
PS Big thanks to Dan for being my first sponsor! :) Karma will be looking out for you this week!
Just got back from a 14 mile detour to home, via Regent's Park (3 laps) and then home to my humble abode. Steady pace, but uncomfortable towards the end. Somewhere around Victoria it started to really kick in and my usual 100 yard walk/cool down at the end was really more of a hobble than anything else!!
Still I am going to shower (longer runs are good but once you sit down for about 10 minutes you realise that you smell, like really smell, not just a faint whiff, a real sweaty pong! Nice!), eat a big bowl of pasta and vegetate in front of some TV. With a lot of stretching thrown in so that tomorrow when I get out of bed I don't actually have to hobble to the bathroom! Oh and I might light a scented candle...
Don't worry though, I'll live to run another mile, or hopefully another 26.2...
PS Big thanks to Dan for being my first sponsor! :) Karma will be looking out for you this week!
Saturday, 9 February 2008
9 weeks to go...
OMG, OMG, OMG!!
9 weeks tomorrow I will be lining up for the start of the 2008 Flora London Marathon and running for 26.2 miles... OMG!
So now it is crunch time, I need to get on with training, fundraising, oh and yes, some panicing about what I am doing and whether it is really going to be OK!!
This week has been a good training week, I did some great runs, my knee injury (damn, skiing!) is healing well and I feel like I have crossed that barrier and mentally I feel like a distance runner now. That's sounds like some kind of motivational speak, or just a stupid cliche, but really this week I have got my head around running a whole marathon and really know that I can do it!
This week I ran 12.1 (don't forget that 0.1, it really is important to the overall distance, much the same as the 0.2 in the marathon really does make all the difference, ask any runner at the 26 mile marker!!) in just a breath under 2 hours. I am really pleased with this. I don't want to think about times or putting a target on what I am doing or when I finish, but I do have a time in mind and I'd like to keep visualising it and see how close I can get...
I also went to Mil Fit on Monday, which was great until I fell awkwardly on my knee in the last 10 minutes and went down. I was fine, a few streches and a little walk around put me right, but it really took my breath away from me and I was worried that I had done some serious damage. Alas no, I survive to run yet another long run over over 12 miles - lucky me!
Also, went for a little three mile dash around the park on Friday lunchtime, how can 3 miles feel like hell when I can do 12? It doesn't seem right to be, but everything ached and complained the whole way round, I was tired before I had even taken half a dozen steps, it wasn't good! Still, more miles on the legs, more training on the plan, more of an excuse to mainline chocolate like it is going out of fashion!!
In other news I have decided to put my ballot place to good use and raise some money for Get Connected. Please see my fundraising page at: www.justgiving.com/goingthatextramile for more details and the chance to donate large sums of money to a good cause as a way of making yourself feel better for revelling in my misery as I train for this!
9 weeks tomorrow I will be lining up for the start of the 2008 Flora London Marathon and running for 26.2 miles... OMG!
So now it is crunch time, I need to get on with training, fundraising, oh and yes, some panicing about what I am doing and whether it is really going to be OK!!
This week has been a good training week, I did some great runs, my knee injury (damn, skiing!) is healing well and I feel like I have crossed that barrier and mentally I feel like a distance runner now. That's sounds like some kind of motivational speak, or just a stupid cliche, but really this week I have got my head around running a whole marathon and really know that I can do it!
This week I ran 12.1 (don't forget that 0.1, it really is important to the overall distance, much the same as the 0.2 in the marathon really does make all the difference, ask any runner at the 26 mile marker!!) in just a breath under 2 hours. I am really pleased with this. I don't want to think about times or putting a target on what I am doing or when I finish, but I do have a time in mind and I'd like to keep visualising it and see how close I can get...
I also went to Mil Fit on Monday, which was great until I fell awkwardly on my knee in the last 10 minutes and went down. I was fine, a few streches and a little walk around put me right, but it really took my breath away from me and I was worried that I had done some serious damage. Alas no, I survive to run yet another long run over over 12 miles - lucky me!
Also, went for a little three mile dash around the park on Friday lunchtime, how can 3 miles feel like hell when I can do 12? It doesn't seem right to be, but everything ached and complained the whole way round, I was tired before I had even taken half a dozen steps, it wasn't good! Still, more miles on the legs, more training on the plan, more of an excuse to mainline chocolate like it is going out of fashion!!
In other news I have decided to put my ballot place to good use and raise some money for Get Connected. Please see my fundraising page at: www.justgiving.com/goingthatextramile for more details and the chance to donate large sums of money to a good cause as a way of making yourself feel better for revelling in my misery as I train for this!
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Week 2... more good work...
OK, this is more like it... I finished the week feeling like I had been run over by a truck (and soundly failing all over again to go to any early more Military Fitness at all whatsoever, I think this might be a pain reserved solely for New Year!
Monday - 2m run and Military Fitness
So Monday didn't quite go according to plan. I packed my kit on Sunday night, and by lunchtime on Monday realised that I didn't have my sports bra. Now there are few bits of kit that you need for running, but believe me a sports bra is a total essential! You can cut corners on kit, any long sleeve top, t-shirt, jogging shorts will do (within reason... if it is too big there could be awkward chaffing issues, but on the whole pretty much anything goes... all this dry fit, shrink fit, wind resistant stuff is cool, but the only thing that will really make you go faster is to run faster, so why waste money on kit?!?) but as a woman you can't get very far without a sports bra!
Anyway, a rather long detour via my flat meant around an hour and a half later I was at Mil Fit - phew! After a quick stop off at home to change and pick up the missing item, I jogged the mile from my flat to Mil Fit, did the class, and jogged back... it's icy right now, but it feels good to be out in it. That said I did cough the rest of the night, with the icy air in my lungs I think it managed to get right into parts of my lungs that don't get much air these days and I hacked a bit for the rest of the night - nice!
Also, in it's debut use, having just said you don't need any fancy kit (!), I used my Camelback for the first time. This nifty tiny rucksack has a 2 litre pouch with a tube that comes right round to your mouth, so you can carry water, and take some on while running. I think it might be best to walk and drink though, my attempt at taking on water while running resulted in a fit of spluttering, which also didn't help the intake of icy air either and just lead to even more coughing!
Wednesday - 6m run
2 laps of the park! This went off without incident, I have managed to get into a nice routine. Lap one is a comfortable jog around the park, keeping it simple and a bit slow, getting round without any heroics... lap 2 is a chance to let it out a bit, if I have any energy left then I take the pace up and try to stretch myself.
Thursday - 4m and Mil Fit
OK, so this was the challenge that I was dreading all this week. A friend from Mil Fit (we'll call her E - in case she doesn't want to feature in this!!) works near me and she suggested we run together when she found out about my marathon. She's doing the Paris marathon a week befoer I do London. It's great to have someone to train with. She's got a plan and everything! So I think it pays to stick with her, we both could do with the motivation and I could do with someone to help me out with a training plan.
Anyway, she suggested this crazy idea. Run to Mil Fit in Battersea, then do the class, then go home... I was worried. What happens if I can't keep up with her pace, arrive totally dead to Mil Fit and then die in class too, how humiliating would that be? E and I haven't run together before, and she says her pace is slow and steady, but what if her idea of slow matches Paula Radcliffe's and is nowhere near my steady 10 minute mile slow? And how the hell am I going to do a whole Mil Fit class after I have run all that way?
Well, needless to say my fears were unfounded. Our run to Battersea was fresh - again the chilly air saw to that! And I did drag at the back of the class around at Mil Fit, but I didn't totally embarass myself. I mean I had no acceleration left in me, once I was pegged at the back of the class then that was the best I could do, there was no sprint left! But apart from that I didn't do too badly, and I certainly didn't finish the class with nothing left, which is what I was expecting.
And so, bar my total lack of energy for anything at the weekend, I think this was another good week... could have been a lot worse, and hey, still not doing too badly in the run up to 1st Jan 2008 when the hard work really starts!!
Monday - 2m run and Military Fitness
So Monday didn't quite go according to plan. I packed my kit on Sunday night, and by lunchtime on Monday realised that I didn't have my sports bra. Now there are few bits of kit that you need for running, but believe me a sports bra is a total essential! You can cut corners on kit, any long sleeve top, t-shirt, jogging shorts will do (within reason... if it is too big there could be awkward chaffing issues, but on the whole pretty much anything goes... all this dry fit, shrink fit, wind resistant stuff is cool, but the only thing that will really make you go faster is to run faster, so why waste money on kit?!?) but as a woman you can't get very far without a sports bra!
Anyway, a rather long detour via my flat meant around an hour and a half later I was at Mil Fit - phew! After a quick stop off at home to change and pick up the missing item, I jogged the mile from my flat to Mil Fit, did the class, and jogged back... it's icy right now, but it feels good to be out in it. That said I did cough the rest of the night, with the icy air in my lungs I think it managed to get right into parts of my lungs that don't get much air these days and I hacked a bit for the rest of the night - nice!
Also, in it's debut use, having just said you don't need any fancy kit (!), I used my Camelback for the first time. This nifty tiny rucksack has a 2 litre pouch with a tube that comes right round to your mouth, so you can carry water, and take some on while running. I think it might be best to walk and drink though, my attempt at taking on water while running resulted in a fit of spluttering, which also didn't help the intake of icy air either and just lead to even more coughing!
Wednesday - 6m run
2 laps of the park! This went off without incident, I have managed to get into a nice routine. Lap one is a comfortable jog around the park, keeping it simple and a bit slow, getting round without any heroics... lap 2 is a chance to let it out a bit, if I have any energy left then I take the pace up and try to stretch myself.
Thursday - 4m and Mil Fit
OK, so this was the challenge that I was dreading all this week. A friend from Mil Fit (we'll call her E - in case she doesn't want to feature in this!!) works near me and she suggested we run together when she found out about my marathon. She's doing the Paris marathon a week befoer I do London. It's great to have someone to train with. She's got a plan and everything! So I think it pays to stick with her, we both could do with the motivation and I could do with someone to help me out with a training plan.
Anyway, she suggested this crazy idea. Run to Mil Fit in Battersea, then do the class, then go home... I was worried. What happens if I can't keep up with her pace, arrive totally dead to Mil Fit and then die in class too, how humiliating would that be? E and I haven't run together before, and she says her pace is slow and steady, but what if her idea of slow matches Paula Radcliffe's and is nowhere near my steady 10 minute mile slow? And how the hell am I going to do a whole Mil Fit class after I have run all that way?
Well, needless to say my fears were unfounded. Our run to Battersea was fresh - again the chilly air saw to that! And I did drag at the back of the class around at Mil Fit, but I didn't totally embarass myself. I mean I had no acceleration left in me, once I was pegged at the back of the class then that was the best I could do, there was no sprint left! But apart from that I didn't do too badly, and I certainly didn't finish the class with nothing left, which is what I was expecting.
And so, bar my total lack of energy for anything at the weekend, I think this was another good week... could have been a lot worse, and hey, still not doing too badly in the run up to 1st Jan 2008 when the hard work really starts!!
Monday, 10 December 2007
Lessons learnt from training week 1
Right, so I think that the reality of the situation is starting to sink in. I have started to tell people (and I have a facebook group too, which is basically like broadcasting anything to the world at large!) and they seem to be on board with it, although the general feeling is basically that I am insane to do it, and then they find out that I am doing it for the second time and really start to worry about my mental health.
Training: Week 1.
Well, not great, but not bad either!
Monday Night: Military Fitness
When in doubt simply enlist help from the army! I have been training with British Military Fitness (http://www.britmilfit.com/) since the start of this year. They are great! They run classes at parks across the UK, and loads in London, so you turn up, limber up and put yourself in their capable hands while they grind you into the ground for an hour. Running, circuits, sit-ups, press-ups, burpees (don't ask, they are as bad as they sound!), it is all fun and games... well, sort of... no, it is! I really enjoy it, but in a kind of perverse way. They push you to your limits, but at the end of it you do feel like you have really worked out and you can feel the improvement in your fitness from the first class.
Wednesday Lunchtime: 6 mile run
Working in Regent's Park is great, it means that a whole little running track, in the form of Regent's Park and Primrose Hill is there before me at lunchtime, and I need to start taking full advantage. A lap of the park is 3 miles, so it is time to start making every lap count I feel...
I had meant to then go to Military Fitness twice at the weekend, but got a bit of a sniff, so ducked out... and it is getting icy... and the class is at 9am... and this is the time for excuses because after Jan 1st 2008 there are NO EXCUSES bar an injury that keeps me from doing any actual running, so I might as well play the wimp card now while I can...
Training: Week 1.
Well, not great, but not bad either!
Monday Night: Military Fitness
When in doubt simply enlist help from the army! I have been training with British Military Fitness (http://www.britmilfit.com/) since the start of this year. They are great! They run classes at parks across the UK, and loads in London, so you turn up, limber up and put yourself in their capable hands while they grind you into the ground for an hour. Running, circuits, sit-ups, press-ups, burpees (don't ask, they are as bad as they sound!), it is all fun and games... well, sort of... no, it is! I really enjoy it, but in a kind of perverse way. They push you to your limits, but at the end of it you do feel like you have really worked out and you can feel the improvement in your fitness from the first class.
Wednesday Lunchtime: 6 mile run
Working in Regent's Park is great, it means that a whole little running track, in the form of Regent's Park and Primrose Hill is there before me at lunchtime, and I need to start taking full advantage. A lap of the park is 3 miles, so it is time to start making every lap count I feel...
I had meant to then go to Military Fitness twice at the weekend, but got a bit of a sniff, so ducked out... and it is getting icy... and the class is at 9am... and this is the time for excuses because after Jan 1st 2008 there are NO EXCUSES bar an injury that keeps me from doing any actual running, so I might as well play the wimp card now while I can...
Monday, 3 December 2007
Countdown to my doom...
I don't like this site (see below, I don't mean the blog, I like the blog!)... it is like a constant ticking reminder of what I am doing... and how long I don't have to get myself ready...
http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/
But feel free to use it as a marker for how long you have left until you come to line the streets and cheer me on!! :)
http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/
But feel free to use it as a marker for how long you have left until you come to line the streets and cheer me on!! :)
Starting out..
Right... so I'm running the 2008 London Marathon. Oops...
I'm mean I realised that every time I balloted for a place each year that meant that a) there was a chance that I would get a place and b) that chance was getting higher and higher and after 5 attempts I would finally get one, but that doesn't mean that I had actually processed that in the context of doing a MARATHON on 13th APRIL 2008... oops...
There are a few things I need to sort out now:
1) Training - I am lead to believe that you need to do some of this in order to take part. I also know this is true since I did the marathon in 2003 (so I clearly am mad, I mean I am already doing this for the second time - why?!?) but I don't really remember the training that well, I mean I kind of do, I remember long mornings plodding along the South Bank in the mist and fog on January but I don't remember anything else... did I do shorter mid-week runs? Sprinting and running? Cross training? These words seem alien to me...
2) More Training - it's not like just running the distance is the problem, I mean in order to train I need to make time to train. I'm not very good at making time for things. I am the sort of person that wants to do everything at once and all the time, so how is that going to work with training? Oh and I am away for Xmas, and New Year, and a week's skiing in January, and a wedding at the end of Jan, and one at the end of Feb, and er... no that's it, I mean the rest of the time is just my own (!).
3) Sponsership - I think I'd like to raise some money. Last time I did it for Leonard Cheshire and raised around £1,400. This time I think I'd like to do it again. Also, this means that as my place was via the ballot it was free, so all the money I raise can go direct to whichever charity I choose, instead of them having to pay money for my gold or silver bond place and then take what is left over. However, raising money can be as much of a job in itself as doing the training. But it would also be worth it. Plus, if I am suffering, then why shouldn't everyone else that I know suffer by being made to help me out and go without something in order to sponser me!!
OMG - what have I done?!?
I'm mean I realised that every time I balloted for a place each year that meant that a) there was a chance that I would get a place and b) that chance was getting higher and higher and after 5 attempts I would finally get one, but that doesn't mean that I had actually processed that in the context of doing a MARATHON on 13th APRIL 2008... oops...
There are a few things I need to sort out now:
1) Training - I am lead to believe that you need to do some of this in order to take part. I also know this is true since I did the marathon in 2003 (so I clearly am mad, I mean I am already doing this for the second time - why?!?) but I don't really remember the training that well, I mean I kind of do, I remember long mornings plodding along the South Bank in the mist and fog on January but I don't remember anything else... did I do shorter mid-week runs? Sprinting and running? Cross training? These words seem alien to me...
2) More Training - it's not like just running the distance is the problem, I mean in order to train I need to make time to train. I'm not very good at making time for things. I am the sort of person that wants to do everything at once and all the time, so how is that going to work with training? Oh and I am away for Xmas, and New Year, and a week's skiing in January, and a wedding at the end of Jan, and one at the end of Feb, and er... no that's it, I mean the rest of the time is just my own (!).
3) Sponsership - I think I'd like to raise some money. Last time I did it for Leonard Cheshire and raised around £1,400. This time I think I'd like to do it again. Also, this means that as my place was via the ballot it was free, so all the money I raise can go direct to whichever charity I choose, instead of them having to pay money for my gold or silver bond place and then take what is left over. However, raising money can be as much of a job in itself as doing the training. But it would also be worth it. Plus, if I am suffering, then why shouldn't everyone else that I know suffer by being made to help me out and go without something in order to sponser me!!
OMG - what have I done?!?
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