Day 126 - 1 week to go!

Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.
Dedication's what you need - if you want to be a record breaker!

As you can see from the picture, I was out putting in my 10 mile run this morning despite the heavy snowfall. I'd put off starting my run until after having watched Match Of The Day, so that I could see Newcastle put 3 past Reading (got to make the most of our good run!). By 8:30 the snow had been falling for 30 minutes and the ground was getting covered. It seemed that I was the first brave soul to be out in the blizzard, with only my footprints breaking up the white carpet that had been laid on the roads and pavements. Only on the main roads was there any sign of life or traffic. Looking out of the window now, having showered and warmed up, the scene looks beautiful. More winter than spring though! (I thought this was April?) As it was quite slippery on the run, I decided to take things fairly easily - I didn't want to be picking up an injury with only a week to go until the marathon. This was bourne out in my finishing time of 1:27:55 for the 10 miles, so just a couple of minutes under 9 minute mile pace - not too bad really. Even if I kept to that pace next Sunday I'd still finish in under 4 hours.

Here's to keeping warm for the rest of the day. Plenty of time to think about final preparations for next weekend!

Chris P

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Day 121

Less than 2 weeks!

The big day is fast approaching, and every now and then I get a little nervous flutter thinking about it. I think that the best plan on the actual day is to try and relax as much as possible. Sit down for as long as I can and remain calm - I'll need all the energy I can get for the race!

Sunday's run was a 10 mile race, so I thought I'd try and keep the pace up for the whole distance. I finished in 1:16:20, so nicely under the 8 minute mile mark. Again, I don't think it's realistic to expect this from the marathon itself, but running harder will definitely aid in preparation.

Tonight was a brisk 6 miles - 44:39. I felt as though I could have pushed harder at points, but there's no point in trying to kill myself at this stage and getting an injury with so little time left. This week has the last of the speed work sessions in, so I'll make the most of them, as next week is full of short slow runs. And then one big one!

Back tomorrow,

Chris P

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Day 118

This week's the start of tapering the training down before the marathon. It feels strange not having any big runs scheduled for the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I'm still running 10 miles tomorrow, and compared with 6 months ago, that's a good size run. However, I've been reading a book this week called 'Ultra Marathon Man' by Dean Karnazes, which I was given by my brother and his wife for my birthday. Now this guy talks about his childhood and how he used to run for the cross country team, until one day he gave it up. Then later on in life he picked it up again and is now running races which vary in length from a marathon to 125 miles!! It's quite inspiring stuff and makes me want to get out and train harder, right at the point in my schedule when I'm meant to be easing off. I think I'd better finish the book after the race is done!

On with the training...

Chris P

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Day 114

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter holidays. What did I get up to? Well, apart from a 30 minute muddy run on grass, in the middle of hail storms on Saturday, I pretty much opted for more of the same on Sunday. Not one to let the weather get the better of me, I got out there in the cold of Sunday morning for my 20 mile run - the longest yet (until race day). It started out pleasant enough; a nice smattering of snow on the grass, ice on the pavements - so I kept to the roads. However, about 20 minutes in, it started snowing. Lightly at first, and then heavily. Later this turned to hail and finally to sleet, so I pretty much had the whole spectrum over the course of my 2hr 55min run.

What did appear to work though were two things - Firstly I ran for 50 mins and then walked for 2 mins in order to spread out the workload. This provided a loop of just over 6 miles, so that by the 3rd time of pausing, I knew I only had a mile and a half left to grind out. Secondly, I bought some Sorbothane insoles for my trainers during the week, and for the first time after a significantly long run my feet weren't sore and I didn't get any onset of cramps.

Bring on the Marathon!

Chris P

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Day 108

Yesterday was my birthday, and I still managed to get my 5 mile off-road run in before going out for dinner. I'm not sure Tapas would be on the strictest of training regimes, but then who said I'm being strict?! I got a birthday card from Mum and Dad, in which Mum had written a message for me a couple of weeks ago - I think that tops any list of presents.

Tonight was a 6 mile fartlek run, which I ended up finishing in 45:15, so getting back to a better pace after what has felt like a few weeks of slightly slower runs. Tomorrow has a slightly longer than usual midweek run of 8 miles in store, so I'll check back in afterwards.

See you then

Chris P

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Day 105

We held Mum's funeral service yesterday. There was a wonderful turnout of family and friends; so nice to see many of the people whose lives had been touched in some way by Mum. The service itself was beautiful, with all persons involved drawing great strength and delivering their pieces admirably. It's hard to put into words quite how I feel. There's a whole rollercoaster of emotions which can appear at any time. Anybody who has ever lost someone close to them will understand the empty feeling that it leaves. You'll get that realisation that you're never going to see that person again, but likewise you know that they've gone to a better place, free from pain. Generally, I think I'm doing pretty well, and it helps to have family and friends to support one another through times like these. I will miss her.

After the emotions of yesterday and the consumption of a few drinks along the way, it was no surprise that I only recorded a time of 1:47:30 for my half marathon today. Mind, it certainly wasn't helped by the weather either; very wet and windy for the whole duration.

Next Sunday's the final big run before the main event; 20 miles. From there on in it tapers down until we get to April 13th - M day!

I'll be back during the week.

Chris P

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Day 100

Firstly, apologies for not updating my blog for a couple of weeks. I've still been going out and training, but we've had a few rough weeks with regards to family and to be honest I really haven't felt like writing everything down here. Sadly, after spending 2 weeks in St Catherine's Hospice, my Mum passed away on Saturday morning. She slipped peacefully away which makes up in a small way for all the pain and suffering she'd been going through. The funeral has been arranged for this Saturday.

I'll update you all tonight on my training progress.

Chris P

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