Week 12 – Getting back out there and my longest run yet…

A funny ole week. When I got back from Madrid, my foot was a bit sore but I was getting rather nervous about all the time I was missing out on. As I stuck into the blog earlier this week, we are now less than a month away from the Marathon. I am a bit worried at having peaked too soon at the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon so I was keen to try and get back into the routine. My idea was for two shorter runs and then go for my first long run in about 3 weeks.

It almost went that way this week – one shorter run but I did get the long run in. The shorter run was quite a nice one, around the edge of Hyde Park on Wednesday night, before having dinner with P&P. I took a bit of a short cut home but the whole run was about five miles in total. Happily, my ankle/foot felt a bit better at the end of it and I was pretty upbeat. I was meant to go for my second shorter run on the Friday night in Newcastle, but by the time I got up there and ready etc etc, it was just too late. So all it left was to prepare for the Long Run.

Sunday, 26 March 2006 – 16.5 miles, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
As I type, I am still in bits… that was a long old run but I’m really glad I got round it. I am off booze more-or-less fully till after the Marathon (!) and I stayed dry during the week and during the weekend. I am also trying to eat a bit healthier and load up on carbs a bit more. It’s all easier said than done, but I am trying to keep it up. I set out a course, much of which was similar to the one I ran in Newcy a month or so ago. Only this time, the plan was to make it all the way to the Coast and then do a big loop back to eventually get back to Jesmond. I set off just after 1pm and a long afternoon was waiting in store. I read something in the book that I empathised with quite a lot and thought of about five minutes into my run. At the start of the run, I don’t get into my groove very quickly and often it feels like I’m never even been for a bloody run before in my life! I felt that way again today and the first two miles were quite a struggle. But it felt good after that and I got into much more of a groove and the Lucozade Sport was helping out big time. I reverted back to listening to music and set out a playlist of more upbeat music. It is the way forward, I really enjoyed listening to it. The first 7 or so miles were fine and then I started to ache a bit. My ankle was holding up OK and I’ve bought an ankle support which I guess helps. Reaching the Coast was a good feeling and it felt nice to run along it. The next six or seven miles were alright although I was definitely starting to tire. But the last two and a bit miles were tough. All the muscles in my legs were starting to tighten and there seemed to be little I could do to get going. My pace reduced dramatically. I struggled my way back to Devika’s place and got there after 3h02m. Not a great time but a great feeling to get back and to have run for three hours was fantastic. I couldn’t work out if my ankles were sore as my whole legs ached! After some good stretching and a big bowl of past, I felt a lot better. It is nice to be back running properly and hopefully I can now get some more regular sessions in as well as another long run next weekend.

One month to the Marathon!

Week 11 - Better news this week...

My foot was pretty sore again and I went to the Doctor near work, who recommended an x-ray in case there was a broken boken in my left foot.

I got the x-ray done and the great news was that all the bones were in tact! Woo hoo.. not a broken metarsal in sight. It was still quite sore but I was told to rest it and go to see a Physio. I travelled to Paris with work but got to the Physio on the Thursday. She thought that the capsule at the bottom of the ankle was damaged and some wear & tear on the tendon so the prognosis was to rest it but to slowly get back into the running routine, given I was training for the Marathon. The foot was getting a bit better and so it was very relieving news.

I went to Madrid for a long weekend with Rory & Daryl. Had a great time and Daryl and I decided on the Sunday morning, to clear our hangovers, we would go for a relatively easy run. It wasn't so easy in the end! We set off from Sol and went round the Palacio Real and Jardines de Sabitini a couple of times and struggled our way uphill all the way back! We reckoned it was about 4.5 or 5 miles and, although I was knackered at the end, it was a very enjoyable run. My foot feels a bit sore and occassionally twinges but it certainly feels a lot better. I am desperate to run quite a bit now and catch up for my two missed long runs but I know I need to be patient and work my way back into the routine and what the Book advises.

So the plan for next week is to get back into the habit of running and hopefully I will be on track to do my first Long Run in three weeks.

Week 10 - Starts so well but ends so badly...

An up and down week.

I managed to get only two runs in this week. The first was a good five miler round Clapham. It was a route I had done before and which was fine. I had a bit of a mare as I had to run during Man U's game so I missed most of it but managed to catch the end of it and didn't have the guilt of missing a run.

A colleague, Jeremy Rogers, whom I initially thanked for a generous sponsorship, embarrassed me by sending this blog round to his distribution list. I haven't been that embarrassed maybe ever... hopefully some of the punters who saw that I have this actually sponsor me now (in fact, if they're reading this and keeping up and still not sponsoring me, they should do it now!).

Wednesday night I managed to run all the way home - another first! I make it just under 8 miles. Ran with Crooky and Regina for the first part of it, on the south side of the Thames and then broke away about half-way through to split down to Clapham. Was fairly knackered by the end of it and the weather was pretty crap but was delighted to make it home in one piece! Managed to see Liverpool get knocked out of Europe too - capped a great old evening.

So while the week started so well, it ended pretty badly. I was walking home after work on Friday and felt a really sharp pain in my foot. Really weird but I couldn't put any pressure on it at all for a while. The pain then came & went. I put Deep Heat on it and hoped it would be ok for my scheduled long run on Saturday but unfortunately I woke up on Saturday morning with it feeling even worse. I had a great weekend with the lads doing a flying lesson in Warwickshire but, as I type on Sunday night, the pain remains intense, although it comes and goes. Hopefully the doctor/physio this week will be able to work some magic and get me running again.... Here's to a good Week 11....

Week 9 - Successful fundraising & Getting back into the groove of training

Week 9 has probably been one of my best weeks since beginning training.

I started the week by sending an email to family, friends and colleagues in an attempt to raise £3,000 for Shelter, the charity for whom I am running the Flora London Marathon. The response has been fantastic and, as things stand on Sunday night, I have hit £2,677.44. Many uber-generous donations and some super witty comments have taken me a long way towards the target. Not quite there yet, though, so hopefully a few more punters will dig deep and help me achieve the target.

The other reason I enjoyed Week 9 was that I got three high-quality runs in. I was meant to do four but I couldn't work it out logistically - but I am very pleased with the three that I did get in. Having picked up no additional injuries (the cold persists) has put the icing on the cake.

The first run was a 4-miler on a treadmill, run at a pace of 8.5, so pretty solid. I have got to a point where I just assume I can do that distance and it just shows what happens if you put the miles in, running 4 miles doesn't even seem that big a deal. The bigger tests would come later in the week.

On Wednesday night, I went for a run with a colleague from work, Regina, who has run sub 4hr marathons and wakes up at 5am every day to run. Good company indeed! We set off from 125 London Wall on our charted out route (on gmap) of 7 miles. We ran past St. Paul's and over the Millenium Bridge. We then ran along the river, on the South side, right the way to Vauxhall Bridge. Regina kept up a very consistent pace throughout and it was good to have someone to help me determine a consistent pace. As per usual, the first 3 miles or so were the toughest but after that I felt like was getting into a groove. It was a fairly nippy night as well but that helped offset the fact that I forgot my bottle of water that I have becomes used to running with.

Anyway, back to our run! We ran on the north side of the river till Westminster Bridge, crossed back over and then worked our way back to the Millenium Bridge and eventually back to our starting point. We managed to do it in under an hour; 58 minutes to be precise! We were pleased to have broken the hour mark and, after some stretching, I was pleased with the realisation of having run so much mid-week.

The third and final run of the week was on Saturday morning, when I set out and managed to complete 14.5 miles. Had a fairly early night on the Friday and, encouraged by Devika, set off at about 11am, gloves on and water-bottle in hand. I had been out on the Thursday and I think the first couple of miles from the house in Clapham were getting rid of those lingering cobwebs. I ran through to Battersea and crossed Battersea Bridge. I had enjoyed running along the Thames, the Palace of Westminster proving particularly striking and inspiring. I set off to see it again and ran along the north side of the river all the way to Westminster Bridge, where I crossed back Souf. That was around the half-way mark and I felt ok, a bit tired but generally pretty positive.

I had no iPod so it was more a scenery- and people-watching exercise. Lots of time to think as well, which is nice - except I kept thinking of all the things I still wanted to get done over the course of the weekend!! I pushed myself to keep going and ran all the way back to Battersea (with a quick dive into a shop to buy a bottle of Lucozade Sport, aka amber nectar!). Ran back up to Clapham Common and round it, just for good measure, given there were hundreds of runners out! It was at that point that my legs, particularly my groin and quads started feeling very tight. I was nearly back, though, and I kept going. My speed dropped off remarkably and I was fantasising about getting home and doing some stretches and drinking lots of water. But I had mapped out my course and ran along the long Bollingbroke Grove final road as I had pre-determined. I was sore at this stage and I was very slow but I kept going. I rounded Thurleigh Road, left onto Wroughton Road, no. 4, home! No sprint finish this time... just a lot of relief!

Time to stretch and Devika, through her dancing, knew loads of stretches to appease my muscles. I drank a lot of water and struggled for about an hour afterwards. We ate some pasta, chilled out and I did some more stretching while watching the footie before heading out for a well-deserved glass of red wine at Priya & Preeth's. I woke up on Sunday morning a bit sore but not too bad compared to how I felt waking up the day after the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon. I can do this! Looking forward to following the Book for the forthcoming week. I'd love to get the four runs in, including the 16 mile long one all while staying injury free. I'd love to cross the £3,000 mark on my www.justgiving.com/vinay charity page. Here's to a great Week 10!