Training Week 25 - Done!

Righto,

Finally getting around to writing this one up!

Its been an an unusual 9 days since the marathon (this post has taken 3 nights to write), from the immense nerves building up to the race to the sheer exhiliration and complete exhaustion from finishing to the last few days where I guess the fatigue of the last 6 months training has really caught up with me and I'm left with a bit of a marathon sized hole in my life..now what?










This final weeks preperation was all about relaxation and nutrition, I managed 3 very relaxed runs during the week though had a bit of a scare during the first one with ankle problems forcing me to walk for a km or so. Fortunately the next couple of runs went fine and even the persistant tendonitis of the last 3 months seemed to be easing.



I spent plenty of time on running websites reading up on the do's and don't of last minute training, taking from what I read to not change my diet too much except to up the amount of carbs and also to avoid spicy foods..just in case. Knowing sleep was going to be difficult the night before I made sure of a week of early nights.





I took Friday off work to allow me to get into town to register for the race at the London Marathon Exhibition as well as make sure I was completely prepared for the day. The exhibition was fantastic, plenty of running gear to be bought, info on other world marathon events and plenty of pasta served with motivational and professional marathon runners giving talks on how to approach the race. I was relieved and a little suprised to find that my preperation for my longer training runs already matched one of the speakers preperations for her marathons ie spending the day with your feet up eating and watching telly...plenty of people out there taking that preperation into day to day life I imagine too.


Saturday was spent watching rugby with contually grazing on pasta and fruit, I had been watching the long-range weather forecast all week and up until this point the forecast had said heavy rain, which was great for me considering all my training had been in the cold..however fortunately for the spectators the forecast changed to sunny and hot..just my luck that we'd get our first summer day in about 2 years on the day that I'm supposed to run some 42km's..looks like i'd be breaking out the Tui hat.

Sunday, waking up to skies so beautifully cloud free and blue that it would strike fear to the hearts of any marathon runner I clambored out of bed had a quicky brekky a warm shower and flatmate Gareth and I drove to pick up Charles and then onto the start area in Greenwich.

After a bit of last minute hydration, lubing up, sunscreen application, sewing (charles's shorts didn't have pockets so we had to attach his carbo gels somehow)and a last minute dash to the urinals with the worlds longest queues we were off to the start line.





Approx 9.35am - Mile 0 - 10 minutes till start
We were both starting in group 8 of 9 so were pretty much at the end of the 35,000 runners. Charles soon discovered his ipod had stopped working but I assured him that there should be quite abit to keep him occupied on the way round.

9.45am - Mile 0
And we're off!..well not really we know the race has started but there's still no forward movement in the crowd





9.50am - Mile 0
And we're off!..slight shuffling forward




10:03am - Mile 0
We're across the start line and straight into a very light congested jog. The first couple of miles we find ourselves being overtaken by some interesting characters - Spiderman and The Stig









Ok fair enough, both athletes in their own right no shame there.......

...however a mile further in I'm passed by none other than Mr Tickle!..and I'm not so sure on the legality of his 'tickle' as he brushed passed either!



11:00am - Mile 5
Checking the time we're just inside the pace to run at my goal of 4hours 30 minutes, the crowds cheering us on are just incredible, scores of people shouting out encouragement, little kids on the side of the road hoping for a high five as you run past, people with their windows open with music blasting, even brass bands!, and with my name clearly on my shirt I was finally getting my training dues.





11:50amish - Mile 10

The crowds are just getting bigger and louder, I'm also happy at this stage to have regained some pride by overtaking not only the Stig and Mr Tickle but also a Camel, and at least 3 Rhinos.




We're still going pretty strong at this stage and I've made a bit of an effort to chat to all runners I see wearing a silverfern. A couple of which came over just to run this thing!



12:20pm - Halfway!


We've just crossed tower bridge and apart from Charles' knee giving him some issues we're going pretty well..that is until I see the clock at the halfway point (2 hours 16 minutes) showing we're behind the pace for my 4.5hour goal..time to pick up the pace! Though still made time to chat to an elderly woman running near me, it was her 20th London Marathon, certainly puts my effort into perspective!

12:40pm - Mile 15

Still going ok, definately feeling like I'm running the marathon now rather than parading in front of adoring fans cheering my name. I was hoping at this stage the crowd would have thinned out a bit so I could run faster, lots of runners at this stage were running out of steam and Charles and I were weaving like crazy to try and keep a decent pace going. Managed to run into fellow Kith and Kids and training runner Nathan, had a brief chat but he was having leg injuries again so had to say our goodbyes, also said my good byes to Batman and the boy wonder as well as no less than 4 Wonderwoman..the last of which had me looking twice.



13:30ish - Mile 20



Now we're really running a marathon. Idle chit chat is gone and replaced by heavy breathing and the energy used for the early stages high fiving now being used to spot gaps in the mass of runners slowing down or grab lollies that the crowd are handing out to us to keep us going. I'm pretty sure at this stage I'm back within my time goal but not 100% sure so keep on pushing and even manage to get past a couple of Baywatch stars as well as my nemisis from the first 2 miles Spiderman!









From here onward is the furthest I've ever run..



14:00ish - Mile 25

Things really grinding to a halt mentally, have lost Charles either in front or behind? I'm not sure, the last thing I remember him saying was his leg was cramping. I'm not sure if I'm even going a good pace, still finding gaps and overtaking everyone around me but most of them seem even in my fatigued state to be in worse shape than me. The crowds are still fantastic though 4 hours of cheering seems to be wearing some of them out, in a last ditch effort to perk myself up by cashing in on my 15 mins of fame I start running up to the crowd telling them to make some noise! It did the trick! They cheered like crazy and I managed to squeeze out a little more pace..at least for a little while before I start to feel like throwing up..still I kept going

A little later - Mile 25.8

Really feel like vomiting now, keep trying to focus my mind on all those friends and family cheering me on here and abroad, just have to keep running less than a kilometre to go. I think back to those two 20 mile runs I'd done and how I managed to get through the pain then and that was without thousands of spectators. I see a lone steward holding out a bottle of water I grab it as I run toward the final stretch out toward Buckingham Palace..I manage to get a mouthful down me before throwing it away.


A little later - 385 Yards to go

I see the sign followed by the 200 metres to go, and I'm still not sure I'm going to make it,

really hitting the wall now as I make it around the last bend and soon the finish is in sight.







I aim for the middle arch and gun it over the finish line with arms held high!

Well thats it my final training entry, its been a completely insane 6 months. As I said when I first started this I stated 'I've never been a runner' right from primary school upwards I have never been gifted physically and from an early age I accepted my strengths would always be in my top 2 inches.
So why the marathon?

I did this to see if I was wrong, to see if I could change the way I think about my identity, to see if I can achieve something from scratch with actual hard work. Earning my degree pales in comparison to the work I had to put into this, and I guess now that I know this is possible it does open some doors as to what else can be accomplished if I'm willing to put in the time and energy as well as make the necessary sacrifices.

Right throughout school in every race you could guarantee I would come in last or at the very best(and normally only because of a kids asthma attack) second to last. So although in 16,031st position thats still some 19,000+ places ahead of any of my previous races!

Stoked!


Week 25 Results:

Distance Covered: 57.7km
Total running time: 6 hours 7 minutes
Average speed: 9.4 km/h
Money Raised: £460.00! What a week! Thanks to: Princess Ruby Keegan, Jo, Samantha, Janko Computers Sam, Louise, Tom and Mary, Robyn, Emily, Tim, Hamish, Ellen, Bev, Mark, Gerry, Renee, Richard, Yvette, Frank, Bhavin, Jason, Sean, John, Kevin, Tracey, Berick, Sandra, Paul, Adam and Richard.





And I gotta throw in a massive thanks to my trainer, mentor, nutritionist, flatmate, sponsor, reporter and mate Gareth. Sure if I'd done some permanent injury I'd be cursing him now, but as things turned out all went well so full credit for getting me involved with Kith & Kids and the London Marathon, an unforgettable (possibly) once in a lifetime experience, and I hope to see you out training for Dublin '09 once that leg gets sorted. Cheers mate!


In total we've raised some £1700.00 for Kith & Kids smashing the £1500.00 target. This money is going to make a real difference in peoples lives not to mention how all this generosity spurred me on in my training for fear of having to give it all back if I didn't succeed!

Thank-you all for your support..and I'm all ears for ideas for my next challenge!

too old to make the All Blacks?...


Cheers,


-Josh

4 hours 22 minutes 31 seconds

This just in! - My own personal roving reporter

My flatmate Gareth has kindly volunteered to act as a reporter on the day and will be contactable on my cell phone number 07809564664.


He ran the marathon last year for Kith&Kids and unfortunately sustained a bad injury training for this one though he's still got his eyes on the Dublin marathon later on in the year.

24 hours to go! - More info on when to catch me on the day

Ok, race officially starts 9.45am, now as I'm in the 4.5hr bracket I won't be near the front so it may take 15-30 minutes for me to reach the start line, I will be running about 10km an hour throughout the race on average, probably a lot slower at the start and maybe if everything falls into place a bit quicker near the end.

So in theory I should be finishing about 2.45pm after which I will be going through offical procedures and a quick stripshow next to Buckingham palace..cold weather so no cameras please..I should then be passing through the meet and greet area around 3.15pm and where I will be making my way to the British academy and then pizza express as mentioned in my previous posts.

You can text RUN to 83040 and enter my running number 39761, to get text updates or if your phone is WAP capable you can track me on the course.

CHeers,

-Josh

This just in! Online runner tracking system!

Go here: http://www.adidas.com/running click on the 'Follow your runner' link.

Enter my race number: 39761

You will see my progress on the map to the right.

If you want text updates enter your mobile number though if you're overseas and want text updates don't forget to put international and area codes in ie for a New Zealand mobile add 0064 to the start of the number and drop off the first 0. For example 0211494264 becomes 0064211494264, I talked to an adidas representative and they were't sure if it would work internationally but you can always track online anyway.

Marathon Number : 39761

Training Week 24 - Marathon this Sunday!

Well 5 days left and looking back at some of those painful weeks past it's just incredible that I sit here in position I am.

2 x 20 mile runs under my belt, about 900 kilometres mileage since November and most importantly only a mere £250.00 left to raise to hit the £1500.00 target.

This weeks training is all about toning it down to give the injuries a chance to come right and my energy stores to build up..so only a paltry 44kms run..well paltry compared to last weeks 81km.

Now as mentioned last week, that last 20 miler absolutely destroyed me so I couldn't get into any training until the Wednesday night where I managed a reasonably slow 12km which I replicated again on the Thursday. Friday I managed my new fastest 5km run in the rain on my lunch break and Saturday, as usual was reserved for ice and rugby..even managed to avoid the temptations of booze watching 2 rugby games at the Wimbledon walkabout.

Sunday was reserved for a shortish long run, some 15km route from Beckenham through Croydon a lap around Lloyd park and back home again. Nathan, the 4th member of our somewhat ill fated party of 4 'Kith & Kids' runners joined me on this one..unfortunately he had some calf troubles two-thirds of the way through and had to get public transport home. This is a little worrying as from our party of 4, flatmate Gareth, Kiwi mate Charles and Liverpool fan Nathan I'm the only one not carrying any injury...and 2 out of the 3 were injured while running with me. Gareth is already confirmed out with a serious leg problem, however Charles (knee) and Nathan (calf) are still hanging in there so fingers crossed these final few days training are kind.

Well now turning toward the marathon itself, I've had a few ask where to meet up afterwards, where best to cheer me on during or what site can I watch the race on.

Meetup Points
'Kith & Kids' have a designated supporters point at the 18/19th mile mark which you are more than welcome to come along to...its also a pub if you feel the urge
ALL BAR ONE
Mackensie Walk
Canary Wharf
E14 5EH
Map


After the run
Righto now they're expecting some 100,000 at the finish line so it might be challenging to catch me there, I've been advised to head to 'The Duke of York Steps, next to the British Academy where I will be escorted by 'Kith & Kids' volunteers to the post-race party.

Post-race party
Kith & kids have hired out the entire downstairs of Pizza Express on Haymarket and friends and family are more than welcome to join us here..by now I will hopefully have recovered enough to turn my cellphone on too. The address:
Pizza Express
26 Haymarket
London
SW1Y 4EN

View Larger Map

From there..who knows? We'll see how I'm feeling after my pizza

Coverage

Probably best to check first on the BBC website

Failing that there is TV coverage in a few countries:
UK - Eurosport from 9.30am
Italy - Eurosport 10am
Canada - universal Sports from 1am
Australia - Eurosport Asia from 5.30pm
Japan - TV Tokyo from 2.40am
New Zealand and International - I haven't found an official webstream however I think if you visit here at about 9am New Zealand time you may see London Marathon listed there..be warned you may need a little bit of techie know-how to get it running

Alternatively http:j may have it if you do a search on the day for London Marathon.

Anyway if I get any stronger leads I'll post them up here closer to the day, but for now I must get some shut-eye, will update soon

-Josh

Week 24 Results:

Distance Covered: 44.6km
Total running time: 4 hours 11 minutes
Average speed: 10.6 km/h
Money Raised: £183.00! (Cheers to Sapph, Derek, Micko,Helen, Nathan, Phil, Nicole, Steeve, Rebecca, Rob, Josie and flatmate Rob)

Training Week 23 - Final long training run, Two weeks to go!

Thats it, the hard yards are done and so is my full time training!




Biggest running week yet this week over 80km, 4 mid-week runs culminating in another 32km (20 mile) endurance run. The next two weeks are now all about keeping my fitness up and giving the old shin splints, tendonitis and various other training ailments time to recover before the big run April 26th.



Now last week, fellow runner Charles and I attempted what we thought was a 30km run from my place up to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and back again (see videos on this page), now we took a couple of wrong turns along the way and when I did the final calculations we'd actually run just over 31.5km or some 19.7 miles. This took me some 3 hours and 20 minutes, my plan for this weeks long run was to replicate the run with a little added on to get it over the 20mile mark and ideally do it in a little less time..however first I had to do the warm up runs mid-week.



Tuesday Still pretty fatigued from Sundays effort I still managed 13.5km at a fairly easy pace

Wednesday Slightly less fatigued I gave a 15km run a go, I really wanted to lift my pace in this one..thought I did alright but turns out I went even slower than the previous night

Thursday Just adding on a little distance to the previous nights run, just over 16km at a good speed

Friday Pretty buggered by Friday so settled for an easy 4.5km run in the rain

Saturday Saturday off, rugby, ice, pub..drinking orange juice.., early night

Sunday 32km run following last weeks route only with a little bit added on to make it exactly 20 miles.

0-20km mark: Things were going well, I was running a good pace,didn't have to stop to retie laces and didn't get lost in Beckenham park, the day was pretty overcast so I wasn't even overheating
20-22km mark Start to notice I'm having trouble maintaining my pace..also notice I'm going through my limited supply of water a bit fast
25km-28km mark: In real trouble, pace remarkably slowed the couple of hills left really taking their toll, whole body aching, water now being sorely rationed..start to think about calling a cab
28km-31km: In agony, but keep telling myself if I can get through this then I'm all good for the marathon, start feeling really faint, keep trying to concentrate on the music I'm listening to to forget the pain
31km-32.2km Still not sure if I'd make it, kept feeling different movements in my legs suggesting something wasn't working right, my finish was a red post box, literately had tears in my eyes when I finished..except I was clearly dehydrated so it felt more like just pure salt. Lesson learned, take extra water.

Despite the horrors of the last 10km I still managed to shave a cool 7 minutes from the previous weeks time!



Its Tuesday night now and I'm still not quite 100%, have made an appointment with a physio for Friday to have one final rub down but I think as I'm now going to be on light training for the next two weeks I should be fine by the 26th.

Anyway very stoked now for getting those 2 x 20 miler runs under my belt before the big one, and very impressed by the amount of support and sponsorship I've had over the last 23 weeks. At last count we've raised £957.00, £130 coming in last week alone!

Just to illustrate further where this money is going please have a watch at Kith & Kids latest informational video below:



Righto, week 23 done! Bring on the penultimate week 24!


Week 23 Results:

Distance Covered: 81.4km
Total running time: 7 hours 42 minutes
Average speed: 10.6 km/h
Money Raised: £136.26 Big Cheers to, Amy, Erin, Mark, little Blake, Libby, Mark, Dave, Clare, Chris and Andy!

Training Week 22 - Growing in confidence!

3rd good running week in a row, 3 more of these and I should be very well set for the big day

I continued on with the last two weeks winning running formula with 3 medium length runs during the week, a short midday run on the Friday and then another new long distance record run on the Sunday..except this week I upped the distance even further.




Monday- Night off to cook some Chili for the week and to give the legs a bit of time to recover from the previous Sundays 27km run, and also to purchase my 3rd pair of trainers as the others were just hitting the 400 mile expiry..(The newest ones are the shiniest)


Tuesday- Back into action with a new adventurous route planned. It was supposed to take me over what appeared to be a large park south-east of Croydon..unfortunately it turned out to be private land..and a golf course so what was supposed to be a soft underfoot 13km run turned into a 15.5km run with many detours, very happy to find I got through this ok after the weekends run.

Wednesday- A 13km run home from work which left me exhausted..possibly the previous two runs catching up with me I think

Thursday- Another 13km run, much slower than normal but at least no new injury concerns

Friday- An easy 4km run on my lunch break with the lovely Michelle from IT Projects. Definitely needed this run as the previous 4 had been taking their toll and this was good just to stretch the legs without interfering with my big Sunday run.

Saturday- Day off, Rugby, Ice, Movie, Ice, Book reading, Ice..quality

Sunday- The big one!


Route - 30km run from my house in Beckenham up to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and back

Company - Fellow runner Charles, and flatmate/marathon veteran cruelly cut down by injury Gareth who kindly volunteered to drive up to the observatory to get some footage of our running.

Highlights-

1km - pain in right ankle, figured I could run it off

2km - pain in both ankles and shins, worried I may not be able to run it off

4km - pain too much, in a last ditch effort to save the run I quickly re laced my laces..kinda felt that one was much tighter than the other

5km - a little lost in Beckenham palace park..took a wrong turn somewhere

7km - found our way back onto the map and realise my legs are feeling quite a bit better

9km - Charlies ipod dies, not a good sign this early in a run, there's only so much you can talk about when out of breath for 3 hours

17km - First signs that Charlies leg isn't doing to well

19km - A little bit of a downhill and Charles leg is not coping well at all

21km - The ascent up the observatory hill, painful but not as bad as I would have thought considering we had 20km behind us, Gareth catches up with us here and films a bit of a running interview

22km - Charlie pulls out and catches a ride back with Gareth, I'm still in good spirits so continue on

27km - Not in such good spirits anymore, starting to 'Hit the wall'

29km - Really struggling, trying to sing along to the Beatles 'Let it Be' to keep my mind occupied..strange looks from passers-by

31km - body starting to shutdown, now just a mind game to finish, saved by Amanda Ray's song 'Little Things' which starts playing on the ipod..I sing along as enthusiastically as possible

32km - Warm-down, I have the camera at this time so say a few words..not making a whole lot of sense

A couple of hours later - In bed, ice strapped to legs watching a movie, happy to have no new injury..just the old ones giving me their usual grief

So there you have it, another excellent week and to top it off Southern Railway has offered a sponsorship of £150.00 to my cause to be paid once I've completed the marathon. Now only 10km off the marathon distance and only £500.00 more to raise - Feeling Confident!


Week 22 Results:

Distance Covered: 77.2km
Total running time: 7 hours 51 minutes
Average speed: 9.8 km/h
Money Raised: £160.00 Big thanks to Wendy and 'Southern Railway'

Training Week 21 - 1 month left!

Another very good running week!

Again no booze, instead we have: Wellman's vitamins, Cod Liver Oil, Echinacia drops and vitamin C bullets (grapes...).

5 runs this week, I figured I'd up my weekly runs to 12km or so and then attempt a 24km run on the weekend.

Tuesday: 12.5km - was a little worried for the first half hour or so with both shins giving me some grief, though once they warmed up properly it was plain sailing

Wednesday: A very fast 8km run with a big uphill followed by a big downhill, was out to dinner after this one so didn't do my ice routine..which I've now learnt is a bad idea

Thursday:12.5km - legs not in good shape, definately understand the value in icing my legs after each workout, still managed a good distance but at a very slow pace..much icing afterwards!

Friday: Legs still not that great I figured on a gentle 5km run on my lunch-break to give me a good 48hour break before my 15 miler attempt.

Saturday: Day off, on the couch watching rugby and icing injuries

Sunday: Fellow marathon runner Charles and I headed out on what should have been a 24km run.

It was a nice day but my shins were still giving me grief and as it had been raining the last couple of days, this route didn't involve many parks as they would be too slippery.

We went a pretty steady pace for the first 16km and probably slowed a bit between 16 and 20km due to fatigue, getting a little lost with googlemaps not being 100% accurate, and what turned out to be a mammoth very long hill.

At about the 22km mark it was all downhill so picked up the pace again and finished suprisingly with a bit of a sprint.

When I mapped the detour it turned out we ran an extra couple of miles or 27km total, and the time 2 hours and 34 minutes..and even better no new injuries and I actually felt I could of ran another couple of km's..if I really had to....

Week 21 Results:

Distance Covered: 65.3km
Total running time: 6 hours 09 minutes
Average speed: 10.6 km/h
Money Raised: £19.00 Big thanks to Grandma, Grandad, Mum and Mark

Training Week 20 - Fantastic result!

Over 60km's run last week and no new injury and no new illness, couldn't be happier!

Fruit and vitamin intake - Gratuitous
Alcohol intake - Nil
Bedtime - Early
Social Life - Hanging by a thread

5 very solid runs this week.

Monday- 11km run from work, legs a bit sore for the first couple of km's but came right

Tuesday- 10km run from work, to compensate for the tendonitis I made this run mostly grass, legs came through fine but was feeling pretty fatigued by the end.

Wednesday- Day off, legs elevated and iced, early night had.

Thursday- Back into it, 10 km run from work, again tendonitis causing issues but altered route back onto grass and legs coped better.

Friday- A little worried about the tendonitis for the half marathon I figured I'd just do a short run in my lunch-break to maximise rest time before Sundays run..unfortunately I did manage to somehow get a little lost in Croydon..and lose track of the time, 9km later I was back at work.

Sunday- Absolutely beautiful day! Unfortunately I woke with a bit of a chesty cough, by midday and after a good helping of bacon and eggs I felt well enough to give that half-marathon a crack - map here => http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2655036

The first 10km's went pretty well, though by the 15km mark the heat and effort was definately being felt.

At about 18km I was feeling noticibly light headed and really had to concentrate hard to do things like cross roads or tram tracks.

At 19km, I was beginning to wish I'd brought along a second bottle of water and that I hadn't wasted my last carbo-gel at the 17km mark.

At 21km, I was verbally abusing myself for planning a route that was clearly a whole kilometre more that a half-marathon and thereby physically impossible to accomplish with my current fitness levels.

At 22km, I was now cursing myself for putting in a staired railway overbridge at the end of my run..no way could I get up there!

At 22.15km and over the darned overbridge and the end of my run I'm stoked about finishing well and have new respect for the full marathons 42km requirement.

And my time - 2 hours 4 minutes! (about 14 minutes faster than my goal)

Anyway a very successful week, now to build on it

Week 20 Results:

Distance Covered: 62.25km
Total running time: 5 hours 46 minutes
Average speed: 10.8 km/h

Training Week 19 - Missed the half, but going to have a crack this weekend..health willing

Well I waited as long as I could, but Saturday night still with a sore throat and a harsh cough I made the call not to run the half-marathon. My main goal is the full marathon and it wasn't worth the risk with injury or illness. I'm sure I could have finished it, probably not with the fastest time, but as the race was so far away from home I would not have access to my normal routine of icing injuries and re-fueling nutrition so I really needed to be in grat shape which currently I'm not.

Anyway onto the training for the week. Well as I was firmly on the road to recovery I decided to celebrate on Monday with a gentle 4km run on my lunchbreak followed by a not so gentle 16km run home after work, I felt good fitness wise and thought I was pretty set up for the half marathon unfortunately I went to bed with a nagging sore throat and by Wednesday couldn't get out of bed. I took it easy until Friday when I tried for an indoor run to see how the fitness was, I managed 6.5km but felt incredibly fatigued afterwards. Saturday was another rest day with the hope I'd be alright for the big race, although I didn't manage the half I still went out mid afternnon and ran a relaxing 10 km.

Now is definately the business end of the training especially taking into account my run of injuries and illness of late, my plan from now is early nights, strictly no drinking, eating plenty of fruit and remembering to take my vitamins..In addtion I'm aiming for 4x 10km this week topping it off with a half marathon distance to run on the weekend..fingers crossed!


Week 19 Results

Distance Covered: 33.6 km's
Total running time: 3 hours 9 mins
Average speed: 10.6 km/h
Money raised: £0

Training Week 18 - Official Half Marathon this weekend coming..and sick with a cold...again

Well trying to continue with last weeks momentum I tried an energetic 10km outdoor run after work on the Monday, unfortunately my left leg had other ideas and I was forced to limp home after a paultry 6km. Tendonitis again my afliction, mostly now in my left leg, anyway with a bit of rest and ice over the next two nights I was then well enough to have another run on the Thursday.

This one I tried at the gym so to reduce the impact on my legs, I managed a pretty good paced 10km, thanks mostly to whoever got the TV's on the treadmill working properly allowing me to zone out to this weeks 'The Rugby show'.

I had plans to head to Oxford on the Friday night so managed a fast 5.5km run on my lunch break and a beautiful 8.5km run along the Oxford canal on the Saturday, really enjoyed this run, its amazing how much easier a run is when the scenery is invigorating.

I was back London way on the Saturday night and although I had plans to meet up with fellow marathon runner Charles for a run together on the Sunday I had to cancel due to a very suspect Burrito eaten the night before, I won't go into detail here but running was not an option.

Its Tuesday night now, and unfortunately I have come down yet again with a cold..which is getting a little beyond funny now, I think save for 3 or 4 days I have been sick now in various capacities for over a month. The official half marathon is this Sunday so I'm going to have to make a call on whether I run it sometime in the next couple of days. I was feeling fine yesterday and managed a good 16km run with still plenty of gas left in the tank so I think if I can just shake this cold by Friday I should still have the fitness to compete, albeit at a very relaxed pace. Don't really have a clue whats going wrong with my health, I have lost another couple of kg's in the last 2 months and my bodyfat is at an all time low. Fingers crossed things will improve shortly.

Assuming I make it there, the half marathon is taking place on Silverstone race track, where the British leg of the Formula 1 took place last year, so to give me that added advantage I have got hold of a guide video from Jacques Villenueve on how best to approach the race.

Week 18 Results

Distance Covered: 30.4 km's
Total running time: 3 hours
Average speed: 10.2 km/h
Money raised: A massive life saving £164.00!!!!! This has really righted the ship, so a huge thanks to Esther & Milton, Jenny, Isaac & Nikki, Tomo and Mary - I realise this is a small fortune in New Zealand dollars so am very humbled, you do realise now that no matter how sick I get even if I have to drag an IV line behind me I will be running this marathon!

Training Week 17 - Slack on the updates but things getting back on track

Righto very short one, been really busy lately with course work, study, getting back into regular training!! and writing a convincing application for work sponsorship which according to their rules the amount donated is dependent on the quality of my application so fingers crossed!!!

Anyway cough is nearly gone!!, sore throat is barely noticable and deep sexy croaky voice is now but a pleasant memory.

4 runs this week on the comeback trail, all outdoors due mostly to the after effects of the cold..as mentioned last week. I also managed a long run of some 17km, this was actually supposed to be a gentle non-injury inducing 8 km around the park but as I finished up about 8pm at my flat I discovered it was locked up and I was without keys, phone, wallet and travel card so I resigned myself to laps around the block until a flatmate arrived..




Week 17 Results

Distance Covered: 44.8 km's
Total running time: 4 hours 20 mins
Average speed: 10.2 km/h
Money raised: £0

Training Week 15 & 16 - London Flu part deux

Sick, sick, sick, sick!!! AND Getting stressed out about being sick which I'm guessing isn't helping me get better!! On the plus side injuries are having a good time off recovering! Maybe its just my body saying 'ease up son, lets not get all crazy on the training until you really need it'...then again maybe its the extreme cold weather followed by what is in comparison warm days (think we got double digits on the weekend..although hard to tell from bed) creating a great environment for cold and flu.

..anyway week 15: Total write off! Only made it into work mid-week as I don't get sick pay and therefore affect earnings and therefore my eligibility for a Visa extension.

Now week 16 was slightly improved, managed 3 incredibly mucusy runs before the body collapsed again and I had a round two with the flu from Saturday morning.

Mondays run:
On-call with work and call-outs started at 5pm just as I arrived at the gym so had to postpone until Tuesday.

Tuesdays run: 7km indoor.
A gentle...no actually scratch that, an arduous 7km journey with all manner of mucus threatening to expel itself all over gym equipment..fortunately I kept my dignity intact and completed this with minimum spillage.

Wednesdays run: 8km outdoor.
Outdoors where no deserted patch of grass was safe from what I was bringing up..just so you all know I don't ever spit normally, but these simply aren't normal times!!! Anyway for extra exertion I made this a hill run..ok to be fair it wasn't really for extra exertion I just wanted to be running downhill for the second half of the run to make me feel better about my new lack of fitness.

Fridays run: 5km outdoor.
Feeling the early effects of the flu..and I admit also being in a hurry to get into town for a birthday dinner, i decided on a nice relaxed 5km run. It was quite pleasant, what helped was there was still sunshine at 5pm at night which is a nice change.

Week 15 Results

Distance Covered: 0 km's
Total running time: 0 hours
Average speed: 0 km/h
Money raised: £10.00 thankyou Heather!!!

Week 16 Results

Distance Covered: 20.4 km's
Total running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Average speed: 11.0 km/h
Money raised: probably £50.00 (way back when discussions were first being had about working on-call for our franchise's bid submission I did volunteer to work a night for a donation to my charity, so true to my word I will put a nights wages into my charity just as soon as they're paid to me)

Training Week 14 - London Flu...

Righto this week was all about slowly getting my body back into running, short runs, no heroics and if I was feeling pain pull out and try again the following night...well at least that was the plan..but then Sunday night this happened:


And no one was prepared.


...ok..except maybe her:




Anyway although the snow was a right pain for most of England with the complete cessation of public transport, for a broken down first time marathon runner it provided a perfect opportunity to get some different sort of training in, without aggravating my current injuries too much..that being a gentle 6km walk/climb/jog/trudge/slide from my home in Beckenham to my work in Croydon, and back again at the end of the day.


I then followed this up with (and a big thanks to flatmate Gareth digging his car out of the snow and driving me) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night on the treadmill at the gym. 8km on the Tuesday, 9km on the Wednesday and 10km on the Thursday, the legs we still sore but no where near the levels from the previous weeks training.

Unfortunately Friday night had me feeling the beginnings of a nasty flu..its Wednesday now and its the first day that I've been able to stay out of bed for any significant amount of time, still the worst of it is over so fingers crossed I might get a couple of small runs in on the weekend.

One more thing before I go, a big thanks to all of you who've sent me in some sponsorship ideas and those family and friends who are actively putting ideas into action and raising money on my behalf, its been a tough and incredibly frustrating couple of weeks with injuries and illness but hopefully I'll be back fighting fit by the weekend and I can put through a few ideas then.

Cheers,

-Josh

Week 14 Results

Distance Covered: 39 km's
Total running time: 5 hours (approx)
Average speed: 7.8 km/h
Money raised: possibly £60.00..(I have a letter stating that the gang of thugs who attacked me on a train home from work back in September have kindly offered a donation of £60.00 to my cause..and by kindly offered I mean they've been arrested and have been ordered to pay compensation..still it all counts!!!)

Training Week 13 - INJURY! a bit of a backward step

Not the greatest running week by any means. After my half marathon run on the Saturday I had the Sunday off and attempted an easy 10km run home from work on the Monday, unfortunately my legs didn't feel great from the start, I persevered with it thinking they would come good after a couple of km's however after about 4km I found I could only jog in small bursts and by about the halfway stage I was reduced to a two leg limp..which I can tell you looks even more ridiculous when you're wearing tights and a blue red and white 'Where's Wally lookalike' hat...I don't know why I happened to choose the route with the least public transport available so unfortunately I had to walk the remaining 5km's home..not fun at all.

Still I figured this might have just been 'one of those nights' us runners have and that maybe I'd be alright running the following night...WRONG..an easy 5km run lasted only the 1km before every step felt like someone was driving a scalding hot bread knife through my shin handle first..again I chose a bad public transport route and had another mammoth route to walk.

Wednesday morning I called a physio and made an appointment for the following day..this was then delayed until Friday as the receptionist made a mistake and booked it in the clinic 20 miles away as opposed to the one across the road..still the Physio bloke was pretty cool, looked at my legs got me to do some stretch's and then gave me the diagnosis of tendonitis..and then he tells me the treatment for it is deep massage and 'I'm sorry but this really isn't going to be comfortable'
What followed was 30 minutes of pain that had me thinking I'd be happier running the marathon with tendonitis that go through anymore of this misery..in fact I don't care what you say mum but this was right up there with child-birth! And it cost me £50.00!

Well that was the running for the week..fingers crossed next week will be improved, but for all those budding masochists out there give marathon running a go..it'll blow your mind.

Week 13 Results

Distance Covered: 15.2 km's
Total running time: 2 hour 1 minutes
Average speed: 7.4 km/h
Money raised: £0

Cheers,


-Josh

Training Week 12 - Half marathon done, ...half way there

3 months gone, 3 months till the marathon, On Saturday I ran a half-marathon distance in an incredibly impressive 1hr 52 minutes, thanks much to flatmate, trainer and soon to be 3 time London marathon runner Gareth.

Unfortunately I wasn't particularly 100% during the week and only after being given the medical ok did I do some training so only the 2 runs for the week, the half-M and an easy 10km run which by accident turned into a bit of an 18km journey. Still although the weekly overall distance wasn't great both runs were pretty huge and I managed to sustain a good pace of over 11km/h for both.

Ok so training on track, I'm a couple of weeks ahead of most 16 week training programmes, however where I am lacking is sponsorship, only a third of the way there and time is starting to get short. If anyone has some fund raising ideas (I have been given a few already which I'll be looking into) please let me know, they just have to be reasonably simple without much work at this end as my nights and weekends will be coming increasingly running dominated.

Anyway thats it for now, onto the home stretch

-Josh


Week 12 Results:

Distance Covered: 39.3km
Total running time: 3 hours 29 minutes
Average speed: 11.3 km/h
Money raised: £0

Training Week 11 - The big 50, now for the half marathon

50km run this week, thats right the equivalent from the centre of Stratford to the centre of New Plymouth via Bell Block..except with no hills..and for the most part bored to tears running on the spot..

Actually it wasn't too bad just the 3 treadmill sessions 2 of which were combined with some personal training to keep it interesting, I've started some weights work to give me a little more power and endurance in addition I've been looking at increasing my stride length and therefore optimising my energy to distance\speed output...which loosely translated means after each session I'm shaking like a leaf and am weak as a kitten, this has led directly to a new addiction to gummy worm lollies on the walk back from the gym..which is probably a good thing as I seem to have misplaced another couple of kg's and my belts now don't seem to have enough holes.

I finished the week with a nice but still exhausting 8km run in my local park as can be seen in this picture. Now originally I was planning to top this 50km mark and hopefully include a half marathon distance, unfortunately my body has conspired against me and I will have to wait on the outcome of a doctors appointment tomorrow to determine this weeks running chances, fingers crossed I can at least squeeze in a half marathon somewhere!

Week 11 Results:

Distance Covered: 50.1km
Total running time: 4 hours 42 minutes
Average speed: 10.7 km/h
Money raised: £100.00 (Massive thanks Dad!)

Training Week 10 - My Date With Gym

Week 10 already and what a week it was, with England in one of its worse cold snaps in years, temperatures as low as -9 I was finally forced inside and join my local gym. After so much time running outdoors its been a little challenging adjusting to a treadmill. On the plus side its warm, little chance of slipping over, I don't have to worry about traffic/chavs/local violent offenders or crazy people and the treadmill provides more cushioning which is helping keep away the old shin splint problem..The only real downside is if I thought running outdoors was boring for 2 hours at a go.. try running on the spot for that long! The treadmills do have TV's so to get over this I'm really going to have to go through the old tv guide to find something that can keep the mind occupied.

Anyway 4 runs for the week 3 indoors and 1 early morning run on the weekend.

My goal this week was to up my weekly running limit to 42.2km, coincidentally the distance I'm gonna be running in the Marathon.

My first run at the Gym went superbly, 13km and I felt I could go further..but it was getting pretty late. I had to start pretty slow to get the legs charging but after a good half hour I really hit my stride running up to 13.5kph at my peak.

Wednesdays run was just on 11km, I had a session with a personal trainer before the run and as part of my evaluation for my run I had to give him my best speed over 10km, I pushed probably a little too hard and had to have a bit of a sit down afterwards due to a bit of post run nausea still I beat my previous best and did a 55.05 minutes for 10km.

Thursday's run I approached at a little more leisured pace and did 12km, I think my legs could have handled more but my brain had had enough. I had forgottan my ipod and spent the running time watching antique roadshow..not the greatest.

My final run was an outdoors during the day, for some reason I thought I had to run 8 more km to make up my 42 for the week..not 6km, I was on an unfamiliar route running very cautiously on snow and on the road when the pavement was too icy, needless to say I took a couple of wrong turns and ended up with an 11km run taking my total to 47km for the week, 5 kms more than planned!

Hopefully the weather will warm up in the next couple of weeks as I think I'm due to give a half-marathon distance a go.

Week 10 Results:

Distance Covered: 47.4km
Total running time: 4 hours 44 minutes
Average speed: 10.0 km/h
Money raised: £12.00 (Grazie Mille! Donatello!!!)

Stai Attento!

-Josh

Training Week 9 - Bloody Cold!

Well England has just been hit by a cold snap and this is really starting to affect the running!.

Absolutely stoked to say I finally managed 4 runs in a week! Adding to another record weekly run.

First run was on Thursday 30th December, the plan was to run 10km or so to get to a gym to sign up, as clearly the weather is not meant for running in..unfortunately it became clear about 2km's into the run that with all the ice developing on the pavements that it was fan too risky to be out running, I still carried on and took the most direct route home resulting in a small 7km run.

The following day was New Years Eve and since I was due to finish work earlyish I figured I could squeeze in a bit of a run before the ice hit the pavements..unfortunately work didn't finish as early as expected..not that it would have mattered much since the pavements were icing up by about 2pm, still I didn't realise until I was out there.

The plan was to run to my mates place near Wimbledon from West Croydon..now I'd run out that way some time ago and was reasonably sure there was a stretch of road near some parks that didn't have a pavement. I looked on google-maps and when I printed my route I turned on satellite view and printed out the tracks I needed to run on when I got to that road. So I figured I was well prepared..



The run was going pretty smoothly despite the occasional ice sheet, about half way through I hit the road without a pavement and made my way into one of the parks, turned the page of my printed out map-book..and what do you know? Satellite view didn't print, all I had was a blank section where my carefully planned route should have been.. Seeing as it wasn't quite dark I figured I could bluff my way through it..turns out I have a lousy sense of direction. What should have been an 11km run taking a little over an hour turned into a very cold and frustrating 13.5km run taking over 1 hour and 40 minutes! ..and in turn led to me leaving the New Years do a little after midnight as I was feeling tired..either that or maybe I'm getting old.

After a night off I was back into it on the 2nd, I did absolutely nothing on the 1st to make sure my legs were in fine form for a good run, things didn't go particularly well with both shins and calves playing up again nearly pulled out about 2 km's in but powered on and after about 6km's they came good and I finished an 11km run pretty strongly. Think the problem might have been something to do with circulation, I didn't move from my desk much during the day then when I ran it was in the cold and up hill.

My final run for the week was on Saturday morning around a park that's close to my house, it was a nice change to a) be running in sunlight b)running on a soft surface and c)running in shorts, think I might make it a habit of having at least one park run a week.


Bring on week 10

Week 9 Results:

Distance Covered: 38.8 km's
Total running time: 4 hours 13 minutes
Average speed: 9.2 km/h
Money raised: £35.00 (Cheers to Rich & Sarah, little sister Mary, Mum and Mark..and also to whoever dropped that $40.00 back in Stratford New Zealand, be assured its gone to a good cause)

Cheers,

-Josh