Half marathon down... horse jump to go

My tactic of carrying a backpack with kit around with me has paid off and I took advantage of the snowlessness to put in a long run after work this week. A very long run. 13.14 miles to be exact. Now this is the furthest I have ever run in my entire life. I did a half marathon in December 2004 and although I wasn't last, I could see it from where I was.

I did my long run in 2 hours 7 mins 13 secs, which you might think is rather slow, but bear in mind that my half marathon in 2004 was 2 hours 37 mins 6 secs and you can see how far I've come in a relatively short period.

Just a short 3 mile tempo run (fast pace) tomorrow to keep the legs and lungs going before Sunday's crazy Beast run! I'll let you know how that goes...

BTW, Jim says Hi.

Here's mud in your eye.

6 days and counting...

It's only 6 days to the Beast 2010 and guess what?!? It's snowing again. Oh joy. The thought of doing the Beast in sub-zero temperatures is bad enough, but this also means that my marathon training is going a bit awry. With only 20 days until the Kilomathon as well, this is a bit of a disaster.

So far I have managed a 12 mile long run. I really want to do at least 13 miles before the event - more for my confidence than my pace. Knowing I can get to 13 miles means that (if necessary) I could walk the last 3 miles and still get to the finish line before the dreaded Sweeper Bus!

So for the next few days I'm carrying my kit around with me in the hope that at least one unsnowy night I can strap on those trainers and do a long run after work. If not, I can at least get some short, sharp tempo runs in so I'm not the last Beast home!

Wish me luck.

Here's mud in your eye.

The Beast!

It's only 12 days to the first of my challenges this year - The Beast 2010! So I thought I would tell you a bit more about it.

The Beast is a double or quit race, which means it is two 5mile laps of the course and you can choose to 'Do the Double' or be a quitter. I'm a quitter! It is run over an equine x-country route, where we have to leap horse jumps, squelch through muddy pools and navigate fiendish obstacles being provided this year by those nice chaps from British Military Fitness (yes, them again!).

Last year it took me 1hr, 1min 1sec. So this year I'm aiming to not only beat that, but smash it into little pieces and bury it at the bottom of a water jump. By the way, this is a typical water jump...

There are quite a few of the BritMilfit group doing the run this year and apart from the fun of trying to get dry and get changed in a field full of runners afterwards (you end up in muddy water up to your armpits), I'm already salivating at the thought of the soup kitchen and beer tent being up and running again this year :0)

And why am I doing all this? To raise money for those wonderful RNLI people, who risk their lives every day on our coasts and waterways. Please consider sponsoring my challenges at www.justgiving.com/dobby.

I'll keep you posted of my time and might even post a picture of my trainers after the event. Last year they went in the bin within 3 mins of returning home due to the whiffiness!

Here's mud in your eye (and probably everywhere else)...

What a difference a day (+ or - 504 others) makes

So I'm into week 4 of my training programme and the longer runs are hitting double figures and taking well over an hour now. That is a lot of 'me' time and I am not one of those runners who head into blissful meditation when they run. My brain runs faster than my feet. And it was during my tempo run this week that something occurred to me - I wasn't thinking about the run. Up until now every run had involved some element of how much Jim was hurting, how I wasn't sure I was going to make it, or why I wasn't as fast as that guy in the baggy lycra legging it up the hill in front of me. And that in turn led my thoughts to how difficult I used to find all this just 18 months ago.

It was a dark and stormy night... Well it was raining anyway, as I headed over to the park for my first British Military Fitness class. At that time I was a stone heavier, couldn't do a press up, had never heard of a burpee and couldn't run 100 yards without having a cry and cake. I watched all the mental Duracell Bunnies in the 'elite' green group bounding effortlessly up the hills and decided I wanted to be one of them. So I started trying to run and I found several things very hard -

1. Heating. I never seemed to heat up on runs like other people and ended up running in big jumpers and two set of leggings. I envied these runners in a t-shirt and shorts. But as I have got fitter, my internal thermometer seems to be working much better. I can now run in a thermal top and thin jacket on even the coldest of days and be perfectly warm.

2. Routes. I live at the bottom of a hill. To the east is a red light district. To the west dark, lonely streets. To the north an uninspiring ring road and to the south a rowdy city centre. Finding a route that kept my interest was impossible. But now I can run further, I can get to the interesting parts. Result.

3. Speed. It's difficult to do speed sessions when your 'easy' run is as fast as you can go for 30 paces without turning grey. As the miles notch up, the short speed sessions become possible and feel more credible.

So some of the basics problems I encountered at the start seem to have worked themselves out. And now, I am a very proud owner of green BritMilFit vest myself, although my hill bounding is anything but effortless...

Here's mud in you eye.

Me and Jim become close

So I'm now in my 3rd week of the marathon training and Jim (my little blister) is growing at a rate similar to a Blue Whale calf. He's a persistent little soul, but isn't causing too much trouble, as he's tucked away on the side of my big toe. As a result I've starting to use him as a yardstick of whether I've run far enough. If he hasn't put on weight, then I probably will...

But back to the training. Weeks 1 and 2 were hard work. Going from a nice little bimble around the park when I felt like it, to a minimum 4 miles irrespective of the weather was a shock. My first real long run (8 miles) was extremely painful, both physically and mentally. But week 3 has so far been easier. I did a 40mins steady run today at a good pace (for me) and felt good. I had to actually stop myself from going further. It's a great feeling to get back from a run feeling great, when it would have left you exhausted and aching a few weeks ago.

This week I'm up to 10 miles on my long run and actually looking forward to it. But that may well change before I lace up those trainers, pad up Jim and work out exactly how far 10 miles is going to take me. I'll keep you posted.

Here's mud in your eye.