Day 59

I must apologise today as I've missed my running schedule. This was mainly due to pains at the top of my tibia which developed after Sundays 10k race. I had the same yesterday, and as today's run was meant to be a series of uphill sprints, I thought it best to give it a rest. This was also compounded by a very long day at work from 7am-8pm.

I'll be back out tomorrow even if my knee is still giving me issues as it's an easy 5 miles, so I'll just take it steady. Then it's a couple of days off before Sundays 15 miler (longest so far!).

Chris P

(sponsor me here)

Day 58

And on the 58th day, he rested. Ok, so not quite biblical, but deserved none the less.

Just wanted to draw your attention to the new widget on my blog:

My MP3 player ------------------------>

Now you can check out what I'm listening to while I pound the streets. You can skip through the tracks to hear a selection of motivating beats, and I'll be changing them regularly so be sure to check back and see what fresh new funky flava's I've got for you!

Chris P

(sponsor me here)

Week 9, Day 57

So much for having Mondays off! Today was 6 mile fartlek day (enough sniggering from the back row please). For all those who are interested in what fartlek is, it means "speed play" in Swedish. Basically you pick a target and run at a set pace (depending upon the distance) until you reach it. So for example, if you choose a spot 100 metres away, then you'd sprint to that point. From there you continue to jog until you feel recovered, then repeat the process, but vary the distances and pace. So all in all it's a pretty good workout. For a full lowdown on fartlek, click here

Tomorrow's a rest day, so I'll be back on Wednesday.

Chris P

(Sponsor me here)

Day 56

10k race pace today... What fantastic weather, blue skies, sunshine, it's like April already! Thankfully though, we're still at the end of January so a few more weeks of preparation left (11 weeks until race day).


I put in a PB today of 44:26 (previously 45:50), so I'm quite chuffed with that. Also I found out when I got home that Dad was on his way to pick Mum up from the hospital as she was being discharged. All in all it's been a good day so far.

Usually Monday's a day off, but tomorrow's schedule has a 6 mile fartlek (I'll explain tomorrow) listed, so I'll be back here then. Enjoy your Sunday!

Chris P

(sponsor me here)

Day 55

So today's run was meant to be 20 minutes at a moderate pace, but it didn't happen. Instead I opted to play golf, which in fairness is a reasonable swap - 4 hours walking round a golf course, carrying a bag, is good endurance training (isn't it?) :-)

Mum hasn't had a good day today. She's back in hospital so I'll go and see her tomorrow. Every day now I'm constantly reminded why I'm doing the marathon. I wish the reminders were a little less frequent, but unfortunately that's the way things are going.

10k race pace tomorrow...

Chris P

(sponsor me here)

Week 8

Well, I thought it was about time that I started keeping a blog of my running exploits. I'm currently training for my first marathon, which will be this years London Marathon on April 13th. So far I've managed to stick to my schedule fairly rigidly, even over the festive period, and I've only missed 3 days of training in 8 weeks.

Ok, so why am I doing this? Well, if you want the full breakdown go to my fundraising page here.
I've definitely got enough motivation to get me through the next 11 weeks of training, and the big day itself.

So my intention is just to post here regularly so that other runners can maybe take some comfort in the fact that there are other people going through the same pain, rain or snow as you will be in preparing for the big race. If by some chance it helps to inspire others to run for a worthwhile cause, than all the better. And if it helps me raise just a little bit more, then it would have been time well spent.

I'll see you all here tomorrow!

Chris P