5 Day forecast

Today, the BBC weather forecast has a dark cloud with rain at the bottom and a bright sun in the top right hand corner for the London Marathon on Sunday.  I don't actually think this means much especially as today's forecast, yesterday, had the same symbol until the sun came out and the BBC weathermen (or women) changed it. The max temp is predicted at 11 and Min is 3 degrees C. Last year temperatures topped 21.

Final week is on track

All day I've been under a cloud of depression. People have been asking if I'm excited or worried and, to be honest, I have no feelings about the marathon at all.

I've just got home from a long tube journey without my usual run home from London Bridge to break up the monotony.  Marathon or not, running home is the way forward.  There's only so much stink, sweat and sullen faces you can take in rush hour. I finished off The Guardian from this morning, read both London free papers, and scouted around to see what other people were reading as I had left my Ipod to charge at home - girl opposite, The Kite Runner; bloke next to me, Alastair Campbell's Diaries; and a bloke standing up was engrossed in Heat.

The two freebies both had marathon tips in them.  They were talking about tapering and what the week should entail.  One said you should have a marathon plan and stick to it.  Now,  I've had a plan which has been steadily developing since January.  Although, sticking to it will be the difficult part.

Here it is:

Mile 1. Start off slowly and run a 10:30 mile.

Mile 2-5.  Run 10 minute miles.

Mile 6- 18.  Get into a rhythm that will enable a 9:30 pace but with 30 seconds of walking at each mile marker to take in water and PowerBar gels.

Mile 18- 26. Sprint finish.  Well, er, no, not really,  but no particular planned stops just run as far as I can with as few walking breaks as my withering, failing body will allow.

Mile 26 - 26.2(Finish).  One last push.

Now, Unlike the rest of the day, I'm getting a little psyched for Sunday.

Tapering

Just in case you've clicked on this for a bit of insight, or you're a mate wondering what I'm going on about by the word tapering, here are a few links to explain. But it's mainly about recovering from the excess training before the marathon.

Here are the links:

From Marathontraining.com

The BBC website

Runner's World

and another Runner's World one focussing on what you shouldn't do.

In-Seine

I ran 5 miles on Thursday evening.  After the elation of the night before of running a personal best for the mile this run was struggle.  My mate JB who's running the Paris Marathon on Sunday called to say he was at my house just as I had started running. He was early and I was distracted all the way back home thinking I should be there quicker.  When you know you should be somewhere and also know you need to control your pace it's not a good place to be.  Anyway I got home eventually and we continued to bore my wife to bits about pasta, 10K runs and comedy clips from the internet. 

John has taken a different approach to his first marathon than myself.  Where as I have soaked up every ounce of advice from books, blogs and previous runners he's tried to do his way and closed his eyes and ears to what everyone (often conflicting) has said.  He's younger and fitter so will be coming home, hopefully, in around 4 hours.  Bon Luck and Good Chance for Sunday mate.  

I'm now off to run to Tower Bridge and back.  My last 10 miler before the big day and my penultimate run.

Thanks

Thanks goes to Si for giving me £4 a mile to run the London Marathon.  My Barnardo's fundraising target has almost been made and if anyone wants to push it past the 1600 mark, be my guest.

Will the real Lance Armstrong please stand up?

If you look right, you'll see my fundraising has almost hit target.  Thanks goes to all of you who have given money to my Barnardo's justgiving page, joined in with the pub quiz or promised me some cash.  Some wonderful people have given me one hundred pounds (Thanks Anna, Sar and number 6), which brings me on to another point.  Not how wonderful some people are, but guessing who gave what.  I know who number 6 is now, even though he tried to deflect me by saying he never plays number 6 but number 3 on the rugby field.  I got through his defense in the end and a big thanks goes to JL.  But who has signed themselves as Lance Armstrong on my justgiving site? It harks back to my first blog post and unless Lance Armstrong is paying British taxes I know it's not the legendary ex-Mr Crow. So Lance Armstrong please stand up and be counted, who are you?  

Keep on running

On my 18 mile run - and yes, I will be banging on about this mileage for a while - I started by listening to the Flaming Lips and Polyphonic Spree.  The epic choral rock music seems to ease me into a rhythm which I do find difficult to get into at the beginning of a long run.  

I was just about ready to find some jangly pop on my Ipod when I met up with another runner on Tower Bridge and we ran together for a while, swapping tips and idling away a few miles. When we separated I hit play again and went back to the Polyphonic Spree.  I needed something else but couldn't be bothered faffing around concentrating on finding music when I needed to find my own running cadence.

Three miles later I was suffering and on a much needed walking break I hit shuffle. Luckily, the Klaxon's It's Not Over Yet didn't pop up, which has done in the past, but more irrelevant tunes from Oasis, Kate Nash and Kaiser Chiefs lifted my spirits.  Then with a mile to go Queen's Don't Stop Me Now took me to a different level.

I chuckled at the reference to keeping going and got into the beat. I then listened to see if not only Freddie's music could give me a boost but if his lyrics cold too.   

How could you not start swaggering, even if your legs are like jelly, your stomach's cramping up and there's a blister growing with every footstep on the inside off your right foot, to words such as...I'm a shooting star leaping through the skies like a tiger defying the laws of gravity?

Or I'm burning through the skies two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr Fahrenheit?

Or I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars...satellite out of control?

None of it seems to make much sense now but on the run I was motivated.

I'm not a sex machine so I won't write those lyrics in the vague hope that I don't look sadder than anyone getting excited about a Queen song could.  Or anyone who at the end of the song who quickly took his Ipod out of his pocket and made it play again.  

I'm now going to devise a set list of songs that will instantly give me a jolt if I'm flagging through the latter stages of the marathon. Some will be cool tunes including Stone Roses, Courteeners and a lot of Oasis's first album.  But I'm guessing most won't. Somebody should stop me at some point though, I could get carried away.

Over 18

I've just come back from running from Stockwell up to the Tower of London, through the City, on to the Strand, through Piccadilly, Westminster and then Chelsea, into Battersea Park and round it, over Chelsea Bridge, up to Vauxhall Bridge, and then home.

I8 miles.

Thanks must go to Claire who I met on Tower Bridge.  The 7 or so miles we ran together really helped ease the boredom and forget the fact my legs were getting very painful.

Although, as we departed 11 miles in, I slightly lost my pace but still got back home in around 3 hours.

More later.  Especially on the track which got me through my last mile.  

A few tips

I met two marathon veterans and another marathon virgin today.  We were being taken around a Barnardo's service to show what the money we raise will go on.  After a brief photo shoot for the local paper we sat down and must have bored the guy who took us round to tears.  

There are two and a bit weeks to go until the Flora London Marathon.  We have done as much as we can in preparation and with one more long run for me, and shorter ones for the others we sat down and discussed our injuries, sweets to eat on the big day, and tips we've either read about or picked up on the way.

Here are a few:

Put vaseline on every body part that will be rubbed.  Dive into the bottle and come out of the marathon without too many blisters.

Don't wear new shorts on the day.

Soak in the crowd around Tower Bridge.  They will give you an extra mile.

Chat to people you're running with.  A few laughs at the end will help make the last few miles a little easier.

Pack a bag long before the day so you don't forget anything or worry about it.

Print your name on your vest so the crowd can shout.

Walk in the middle of the road, if you're going to walk and need to be on your own, otherwise the crowd will be shouting at you to encourage you to run again and you might not be ready.

Expect the last few miles to hurt.  It will.

Enjoy it. This was said in the most enthusiastic-almost-shouting-voice with enthusiatic-enthusiasm.

Bank Holiday

Not only have I been worrying about my foot recently  but I've had a cold this week and have not been able to go out for a run since Saturday. So apart from the training with Daley Thompson (which I'll write up later) it's not been a great week.

On Saturday I decided a little bug wasn't going to beat me.  I was in Cardiff and a friend from Bolton was down visiting his sister so we went for a five miler.  I coughed and spluttered my way around Cardiff Bay and even though it was extremely windy, he - pun intended - breezed it.  As we got home, I put the kettle on and sipped on my Lemsip.  He went off to play squash with his sister's boyfriend.  I just shivered around the house and crawled back into bed.  

It's now Bank Holiday Monday and straight after we got back to London from a 3 hour trip from Cardiff I've just completed a morale boosting 6 miles.  Apart from a miscommunication with my wife which left me out in the cold for an hour it was great.

My goal for this week is: 

Tuesday 6 miles

Wednesday 3 fast miles

Thursday 6 miles

Friday rest

Saturday 18 miles.

I know.  18 miles! But if all goes to plan it'll not just help the glycogen and endurance, but give me the much needed confidence boost two weeks before the big day.

Boo Hoo

I ran last night and the end reaction was quite different to last time I ran. 4.5 miles in and approaching the home straight the little twinges in my foot turned into psychological and physical aches and my brain started asking questions like could you do another 21.5 miles on this foot?

The answer? I don't think so, I'm not sure.  Actually probably not.

I don't want to say the dreaded N word at the moment but for the first time in my training I'm not optimistic  about my chances.  I'll be seeing a physio tomorrow and get some answers about what I should do.  

34144

I got my Flora London Marathon running number today.  It's the one above.  Look out for it if you're in London or watching telly on April 13th. It'll be in front of a sweaty, balding man. 

I also got a London Marathon magazine which I read in one go.  I now know that Tower Bridge isn't great for spectators to stand on to watch the runners, to drink half a pint of water half an hour before I begin to run and that there are an awful lot of charities wanting people to run for them. An awful lot. But only one really.

Woo Hoo

This has nothing to do with Blur's breakthrough song in the US.  Well, it shouldn't, but as soon as I finished my come back three miles I couldn't help myself but to just shout. And I now can't get the 2 minute 22 second guitar blast written to prove to the world, the US and Damon Albarn himself that he could get a hit over the pond out of my head.

OK, I may have been writing about my come back last week too, but I honestly believe this could be it.  Last week's false start was probably because I rushed the second run.  I won't be running again now until Wednesday or Thursday. And the prescribed Ibuprofen will be taken three times a day for the full week.

The feeling of getting back on the Southbank, running past the Tate Modern, London Eye then Westminster on the sound of six boings from the big boy Ben himself was incredible.

I know I'm still not fully fit, and currently worrying about the slight niggle my foot wants me to know about while writing this, but a big 'ole WOO HOO is still reverberating around my neighbourhood and nervous system about the fact that I got through my first run in a rather depressing week. 

The boy is back...and not for turning

After a bizarre moment on leaving a Mother's Day morning tea at The Ritz, when we saw Baroness Thatcher and her son (Maggie and Mark to some), where the three most dominant females forces in my lifetime, my wife, mother and the ex-Prime Minister all rubbed shoulders, I finally got back running after ten days off. I knew it was going to be an auspicious day today.

I've been swimming three times during the last week to keep up a certain fitness, eating the same amount of calories - just because I like to, and just been itching to get back and pound the pavement.

I'm pleased to report the foot which was giving me grief seems fine and although the pace wasn't exactly up there with previous 4 milers, it feels like I've never been away. 

Tomorrow it'll be a five miler and a build up until running 10 - 15 miles on the weekend.  Even though I've been eager to get back I bet by Wednesday I'll be fed up again with going out in the cold and rain.  The grass is always greener isn't it.

Anyway back to Mothers Day I wonder if Maggie and Mark had sarnies and scones like us. Bet they didn't.

Tip Number 1

After running 15 miles, use the gentlest soap you can find to wash yourself. Never use Tea Tree and Mint shampoo. You could possibly wake up the whole neighbourhood from their Sunday morning lie in by the shouts that shockingly jerk out of yourself when rubbing it in to your most sensitive areas.

A dedication to Si

I think my biggest worry about training for the marathon is getting injuries. It means you feel sore, can't train, and have too much time to think about everything that can go wrong in between now and getting to the end of the marathon. I ran a 12 miler around a month ago and my knees didn't recover for a tense four days. In the time it took to recover I had decided I'd not do any more long runs before the big day, the pain would never go away and that my knees would implode and blow my shins into my metatarsals - there are more than one as we all know by now - as I pass Westminster on April 13th. After the pain had gone though and a pleasant 4 mile run was over, all the worries went too.

My mate at work has just returned to his treadmill after two weeks recovering from a 14 mile run that he knew he shouldn't have completed almost straight from the start. He's since decided not to follow his intermediate routine and go on a beginners schedule and just aim to get round on the day. But my bet is in a week's time he'll be back wanting to at least beat a time in the lower 4th hour on the day.

On Sunday my knees hurt but recovered for a run on Tuesday. I ran at lunch time with a colleague and we decided to go up to a lake and run around it 3 times. At the beginning of the third lap pride got the better of me when I should have just said: 'let's go back as my knees are tender'. As I left the post run shower it wasn't my knees that were in pain but my foot. It felt as though it was cramped up. This meant I didn't run yesterday and there was still a slight twinge this morning and I wondered if I should have gone out today on it. 6 miles later, if it was chopped off right here and now I would be grateful. Hopefully I haven't committed a running sin and over trained on an injury but we'll see. My worries have started.

I know this is a selfish ask but if you pray please say a little one for my right sole (and soul while you're there), cross your fingers if you cross fingers, and if you're Daoist please throw out some yin to my painful yang.

This final paragraph is the dedication to Si who has the ultimate marathon injury (see attached blog).

Thanks Lance

Lance Armstrong congratulated me on my furthest run yet, today, in my preparation for this year's London Marathon on April 13th. I took the congratulations in my stride, put my ipod and its Nike+ attachment back in my pocket, then hobbled home.  (If you have an Ipod Nike+ you'll know what I mean, if not, Lance Armstrong congratulated me - let's leave it at that).  The hobble was supposed to be a 200 metre warm down.  But it was definitely a hobble marked by a woman who passed me while talking to her boyfriend.  She paused her conversation and in her loudest whisper, after snatching a second glance at me, said: 'He must be mad, him'. 

When I got home, my wife looked in horror at me and said that I looked like I'd been crying for the 2 hours+ that I'd been out.

I wasn't feeling great, but good that I'd completed the 3rd longest run I'll be running until the big day itself, until met by these two comments, so thanks Lance for the enthusiasm. 

So, that's my first post on my new blog which will mainly be about my runs, tips I find out about running and marathon training in the next few weeks.  But until the next run I'm off to put my feet up and knees on ice.