Week Sixteen - The London Marathon

And so... The London Marathon.

I started this training plan on Tuesday 3rd January, three months and 21 days ago. But in earnest, my journey to the London Marathon started on Thursday 25th April 2013 where I ran 2.09 miles at 10.52 minutes/mile. I had never been a runner and I wasn't particularly fit (lets go with puppy fat, yeh?), but for one reason or another thought I'd give it a go. I'm not going to pretend I remember, but the Marathon was on the Sunday previously... at the very least it's a nice coincidence, it may well have been the motivation I needed. 

Four years later I am the very proud owner of a London Marathon Finisher medal. 

Anything is possible.

The last thing I'd want to come across as is some sanctimonious knobhead, but if days like yesterday inspire you to put on your trainers and go for a 15 minute jog at whatever pace then hey... we're doing alright, aren't we?

I thought it would be nice to do a mini-diary of the weekend, although I doubt my words will be able to do it justice. I've whacked Saving Private Ryan on the TV, so I've got three hours to somehow get my thoughts in to some sort of comprehensible place. 

I will also be consuming a lot of chocolate, obvs.

Friday

I went down to London on Friday night to avoid any travel stress on Saturday and to try and get as good a sleep as possible. I managed to get a ludicrously cheap £8 train down to London from Lichfield and the weekend had begun, armed with a meal deal and the most random of realisations that part of the BQ Support Crew were also on my train in Sarah and Michael - so the trip down was much better than anticipated! 

On arrival in London I joined Charlotte and a pal of hers for a chicken burger and a (soft) drink at Fancy Funkin' Chicken in Brixton, before unpacking everything to make sure for the tenth time that I had everything I needed. Turns out I did. Bed time.

Saturday 

Now Saturday was important. We had to go to the ExCel Centre across London to pick up the running number and timing chip - not forgetting spending lots of money on Marathon branded gear that I really don't need. 

Once we were all signed in we had some time to kill before meeting the rest of the Support Crew for dinner in the evening, so we went on the cable car over the Thames, drank a ton of water, had some Jaffa Cakes and a had a nap! 

We meet everyone at 6pm at Strada (after I had enjoyed a very manly mocktail across the road...), and had a wonderfully carb-heavy meal - eventually. For some reason it took about an hour to put some (£8!) dough balls in the oven for five minutes as well as cocking up the order itself. The dreams of an early evening meal went slightly out the window but it was fine and it was amazing to see everyone. The Support Crew worked out where they were going to be on the course in the morning and we said our goodnights.

Of course, last week I mentioned there might be a video or two in the offing. Soooo... what better moment than the night before the day this has all been about?

One last check of the kit, attached the running number to my shirt and set the alarm for 6.20am. Finally, it was one sleep to go.

Sunday

As expected, I slept awfully. I woke up at 3am and genuinely considered a slightly extended warm up but I must have drifted back off in to the lightest sleep for a few more hours. I aimed to get across to Blackheath for about 8am to give enough time to get across and not be in a rushed panic at any stage. I am invariably rubbish on the Underground, but thankfully 40,000 other runners were doing the same thing so it was easy to get there. 

I had about an hour and a half to kill but that was ok, it gave me a chance to take in the surroundings and what lay ahead. There were SO many people gradually filling the field with people looking a mixture of extremely excited and on the edge of being ill. I was somewhere in the middle, I just wanted to start. 

Now, I've told you before that this marathon shit isn't all glamour... and nothing says that more than the following photo.

VASELINE CLUBBBBB.

(Worked a treat mind you).

As 9.20am rumbled past, it was time to get ready and dump my bag on the lorry - and go to the toilet about 16 times. 

After standing in the starting pens for a good 20 minutes or so, we finally got underway at about 10.03am. It was so cramped, as expected, and there was a lot of jostling for position. As we went round a slight bend it reminded me of a first corner of a Formula 1 race (obviously 1000% slower), and I was amazed no one clipped my heels and sent me flying. 

The first five miles or so drifted in to and out of Woolwich with nothing much to look at, but the pace was good - quickly settling in to a decent 8.40ish pace. I did however run past someone dressed as a Macmillan coffee mug and someone dressed as a pint of beer... so early wins and all that.

The first notable part from a landmark point of view was the Cutty Sark at around seven miles which was bouncing. Not only were there a ton of very loud people there, but I had Green Light by Pitbull on the playlist. As the first hour came and went I took my first of three gel packs (to be taken on each hour) and drank some water. I felt worryingly iffy at eight miles, but thankfully that subsided and I felt confident my stomach was going to play ball with the gel and water combo. 

The roads became extremely tight near Canada Water which slowed things down a bit, whilst some lunatic spectator thought it would be a good time to try and cross the road which nearly caused a huge accident.

I knew that the Support Crew were going to be roughly 12 miles in, and I also knew that they had been heroes and made some signs so I suddenly switched on a bit to make sure I saw them.

I saw them alright.

What a huge, incredible boost. 

People talk about adrenaline and I'm not sure you can truly appreciate it's powers until you get a jolt of it like I experienced here. Amazing. 

Soon after this was another highlight - running over Tower Bridge. Which was absolutely stunning. What's better is I had this banger blaring out. You haven't lived until you run over Tower Bridge singing along to Larger Than Life.

We passed the half way mark and saw the superhuman elite runners steam passed us on the other side of the road as they headed back in to the city. We, on the other hand, had to loop round the Isle of Dogs and other thrilling locations and this is where the first real pangs of 'this is realllllly shit' kicked in. Whether it was the come down of the adrenaline wearing off or the acceptance of having ran for two hours and still having 12 miles to go I don't know, but it was tough. My left hip was unusually painful which is a new one and I could feel it in my knees too.

Support on the course was as amazing as you'd expect, but through these few miles it was much more sparse than elsewhere. Annoyingly, we went through a few tunnels which completely ballsed up the GPS which meant Run Keeper thought I had ran a 4 minute mile. I categorically did not run a 4 minute mile. 

We looped back round to where we had seen the elites earlier and I think that helped mentally and I also saw the Support Crew again around here - admittedly in a much less joyful, 20 miles in kinda manner, but an equally big boost. As an aside, I saw a couple of other friendly faces in the crowd at various points so thank you to them for screaming 'BENNNNNN!' as loudly as they did to attract my attention!

I spent most of the day trying to avoid thinking how many miles I had to go, I find ticking off blocks of 15 minutes is easier to deal with but for the last six miles it was impossible not to think of every single mile that was left. Truth be told I can't remember much of the sights at the end bar an awareness of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace... it was more a case of talking myself through it.

When I say talking myself through it, I mainly mean shouting 'COME ON' every few hundred yards to keep going. When you see the '1000m To Go' sign it feels like it shouldn't be very far at all... but it's SO FAR after 25 miles. I'm not sure how well it'll show in the photo below, but I've never felt more pain than in those last few miles through running. 

Never.

Now somehow, I was able to pump in the fastest split of the entire bloody marathon at this point. Whether this was because it meant the end would come sooner, I was so determined to hit a 3hr 47 or because Tom said he'd sponsor me even more if I did a sub-8.50 last mile I'm not sure...! Probably all three. 

Crossing the finish line was the biggest sense of relief imaginable. From that point on for twenty minutes or so everything is a bit of a blur. Before I knew it I was sat on the ground in the meet and greet area and everyone had found me. It was all a bit much. But I didn't cry. YES.

I did it in 3 hours and 47 minutes which I am absolutely thrilled with.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who sponsored me, sent me messages of good luck and well dones, everyone who bought a cake last week at work too (£160!), ran with me in the build up, and my Support Crew on the day both in London and at home. I can't express in words on a silly blog how much that meant and means to me... You're all amazing.

Quite wonderfully, this morning we ticked up to the £2,000 mark in sponsorship. That isn't including the cake money, nor the £500 that work will hopefully match too. Thank you to each and everyone of you.

Today I can't move, my knees and thighs are in next level pain and my head hurts. But I can eat all the chocolate and ice cream that I like, and be safe in the knowledge that I have achieved what I set out to do... be it subconsciously in 2013 or back in January of this year.

Thank you for reading, I hope you've enjoyed it. I promise I'll shut up about the marathon now...

             ... or maybe after this week, at least.

Week Fifteen - ONE WEEK TO GO

IT'S NEXT WEEK! 

IT'S NEXT WEEK! 

IT'S NEXT WEEK! 

After fifteen weeks of the training programme, 45 runs and 349 miles... the London Marathon is next freaking week.

That sentence is simultaneously a huge relief and absolutely terrifying. I feel like I am as ready as I am ever going to be, but it is still 26.2 miles and that's a really long way.  

The next week is mostly about not doing anything silly (bend with your knees, not with your back...), drinking lots and eating as well as I can. I've heard a rumour that sweet potatoes are basically the best thing to eat in the week pre-marathon soooo... I'm just going to try and eat loads of them.

One of the most important days of the whole fundraising campaign is the CAKE SALE at work on Wednesday. I hope this will raise some more money and provide an always welcome sugar boost to D90 inhabitants.

As always, the sponsorship continues to amaze me and tick upwards. Thank you to everyone so, so much - I'm not sure I would have been able to get this far without you all. If anyone else does want to sponsor me as we head in to the final week, the page can be reached here - thank you!

Run #43 - Wednesday 12th April

Loadsa rain, loadsa wind = loadsa FUN. I jest. It was pretty shit, but was all about ticking off the fifth-last run and continuing the tapering. Very steady four miles than an 8.33 came out of nowhere for the last mile which is nice. 

Ordered some new underlayer shorts as it has dawned on me that my current ones have no where to put the gel packs. And unless I'm keen to risk some serious chaffage (I most certainly am not), I need to get one with pockets.

Run #44 - Friday 14th April

For the first time in many a moon, I have put the leggings in the cupboard and unleashed my legs to the world. Would you just look at them. Sensational. I do feel the cold quite easily, but the leggings have also served as a bit of psychological support for the knees. But I really don't want to run the actual day in them for fears of overheating and not looking cool... so shorts are back!

Whether it was the tapering effect kicking in or the new found freedom of my legs I don't know, but this was the freshest run I've had in a very long time. So much so that the average pace was back at 8.32 and the fifth mile was an 8.12. 

Wheels. 

Run #45 - Sunday 16th April

The last run longer than 30 minutes in the tank with a nice seven miles this morning. I am now definitely sure it is the tapering effect that is responsible for my legs feeling fresher. 

An average pace of 8.23, with the last three miles being 8.12, 8.10 and 8.00.

For context, the same distance took me the best part of four minutes longer on ten days ago with an average pace of 8.50!

So good on the tapering people, it has made a difference. 

I have two runs left before the Marathon with three miles or so on Tuesday and Thursday. Then it is off to London on Friday evening before picking up the race number and associated garb on Saturday, and assembling the support crew for some carb-heavy meal on Saturday evening!

I'm aware these write ups haven't been all that interesting for a few weeks now, for one there has been no silly videos(!) but I'm thinking about doing some sort of video diary in London for the weekend if I can think of enough worthwhile #content... it is important that the running blog of the year goes out with a bang!

Cheers.

Week Fourteen - Dead Legs

I am afraid that I have bad news for those of you who look forward to my ramblings on a Sunday (/Monday!) night... There are only two blogs left after this one you know... Gulp.

First things first, an important update on the sponsorship. It's gone MAD.

ONE THOUSAND AND SEVENTY FIVE POUNDS! I know I say it every week but this is absolutely mind blowing. Genuinely humbled by the whole thing and the support I have received.

You'll also notice I have nudged the target up to £2,000. Now, whilst I don't expect to get near that figure, with two weeks to go it'll be good to get as much as possible for such a great cause - so it isn't a case of me being greedy!

The Just Giving page, as always, can be reached here - thank you!

Sunday marked the last of the seriously long runs, so we are now very much on the home straight. So fingers firmly crossed for getting through the next couple of weeks unscathed.

Run #40 - Tuesday 4th April

Sooo about 36 hours after finishing the hell on earth that was the 22 miler on Sunday, the 'tapering' period began which translates to the slowest run imaginable just to get moving again. It took me about 25 minutes to get ready - pulling socks on when the muscles are not having it that much is a wonderfully joyous experience.

As a reward, I took myself on a new route which helped to break up the monotony a little whilst I was really pleased to not fall over again.

Run #41 - Thursday 6th April

For the first time in what felt like weeks, I was joined on Run Club by a fellow Run Club member which was very much needed. This was easily the hardest of all the morning runs so far, and the exertions of four days prior meant my legs were heavier than they've ever really been before and my motivation was pretty low too. 

It took us 64 minutes to churn out the seven a bit miles, which is schlowwww but at least I had company and it was gloriously sunny too.

Run #42 - Monday 10th April

Due to important Stag Do commitments in Prague, ahem, the weekend run was understandably delayed until Monday. As you may probably imagine, it has been a weekend of heavy hydration which is the number one rule for marathon runners.

Thankfully, however, as tapering season has begun I don't have to do any ridiculous distances which is goooooood news. I still had ten miles to run but the last three or four weeks have been so much fun that this didn't feel too bad. 

Well, the first two miles did feel very bad. But after that I got a bit better and managed to feel relatively comfortable by around the half distance mark.

That is the longest distance I had left to run, with five-five-seven-three-two milers left to go - less than two weeks until the actual day which is absolutely wild.

This week's banger of the week can only be this B-A-N-G-E-R from Mr. 305 - a sure fire shoe-in for the playlist for the day.

I'm ready to GO GO GO*

(*sort of, roll on 23rd April).

Week Thirteen - Hit the Deck

It's the LAST week before tapering can begin - HALLELUJAH!

But before that, a somewhat daunting 35-odd miles to get through first, including 22 miles at the weekend... a distance comfortably more than I have ever been before.

Here is a quick taste of what is to come this week...

But we are getting there.

Sponsorship has been absolutely phenomenal this week. Thank you SO much to everyone, you are the genuine best.

We've still got three weeks to go so no rush, but as ever, if you do want to sponsor even a couple of quid then 1) you too are the best, and 2) the Just Giving page can be found here.

Run #37 - Tuesday 28th March

Whilst I feel ok following the 19 on Saturday, it's fair to say I've had to keep moving. Any long durations of sitting still is bad news for the hips and calves in particular. That said, I wasn't exactly thrilled to have to run this evening. 

Where it used to take me five minutes or so to get going, it now takes two miles. But no dramas beyond that.

What is a bit weird though, is how difficult it is to deal mentally with a run five miles long. After running for over two and a half hours on Saturday, my mind expects five miles to be a walk in the park and feel like twenty minutes. Turns out it isn't, it's 45 minutes and I'm aware of every single step of it. 

Anyway, five more miles done.

Run #38 - Thursday 30th March

Bit tired, yanno?

Thursday Morning Run Club was t-o-u-g-h this morning. Thanks to the clocks changing it was darker which was a treat, but I thankfully avoided the rain. Once again it was a sole member Run Club morning, simply to give more time to recover before the biggest of the bigguns on Sunday. 

I took about half an hour to do the first two miles (I'm pretty sure I saw a sloth steam past me up the hill after the QMC) but I did see someone in a sensational full, bright orange tracksuit running through the Uni to brighten up my morning. Props to you, sir.

It was definitely my slowest morning run so far, but at this stage that isn't a problem. A gloriously empty shower followed which is all anyone could ask for.

As an aside, that ends March and it has been a RECORD BREAKER. The previous record total for a month was 93 miles. March weighed in at 120 miles. That one might last a while.

Run #39 - Sunday 2nd April

The big one then. The longest run on the programme and final big effort before the real thing in three weeks time.

Last week I felt ok at 19 and could probably have gone on a little bit, but then there is a little bit more and then there is three miles more. So I was apprehensive as to how things would go.

With that said, it was important to build as strong a support network as possible for this. Thankfully I had Julie again for the first eight miles, not to mention a short and sweet cameo from Bert at 'mile 19'...

At eight miles I was met by Tom and Kate which was great - I can not tell you how much of a difference seeing friendly faces makes. If we could work out a relay for the marathon for the entire duration of the race I would be most appreciative. Fanx!

It gives you a chance to act like a complete knobhead and it brightens up the monotony like you wouldn't believe - no more so than taking inspiration from Chris Pratt's hilarious Instagram (check it out, kids) and introducing my first contribution to #WHATSMYSNACK.

Lolz.

At ten miles, Tom peeled off and the last twelve mile stint began. As was expected, this was the hardest. My playlist bangers are huge, but when the miles start heading towards twenty... well, it's tough. It is, however, worth highlighting the BANGER OF THE DAY at arounddd about 14 miles.

OH MY GOD WE'RE BACK AGAIN.

BROTHERS SISTERS EVERYBODY SAY.

I drifted through the next six miles or so feeling it gradually more and more as the miles wore on. Then something a bit mad happened. I fell over.

Admittedly, I wasn't at my most lucid levels of concentration but I have absolutely whacked a man hole cover that was probably an inch or so above the rest of the pavement. Before I know it I am on the deck. This has NEVER happened before. It was essentially like when Ali hit the canvas for the first time.

Somehow the forward momentum has helped me barrel roll back on to my feet, without dropping my water, or causing too much damage.

Which is RIDICULOUS when you think a butterfly could break my bones a few years ago.

I said a quick prayer to thank all that is holy for not knocking my teeth out and I carried on, a bit more alert and awake than I was before hand.

Just after mile 21 I saw a familiar figure ahead... TOM WAS BACK. I was so happy I threw my bottle of water over my head and near galloped (stumbled) towards him. The last mile was significantly better for that and I eventually, finally stopped running.

Whilst I am aware I am often prone to hyperbole, I can tell you that is was the hardest thing I have ever done. The pace was a little bit slower than last week, but who cares, this would still bring me home in around 3hr 45.

It was deceptively warm and despite hydrating well throughout I felt S-H-I-T by the time I got home. Perhaps foolishly, I had a warm bath and this only seemed to make me feel worse. I was a little unwell for a bit which was peak misery, but it gradually improved. Nothing that bread and lurpak (then a toffee crisp, Ben and Jerry's and a Wispa Gold) can't cure.

So that is it - the tapering begins! The longest distance I will run will be an hour and a half next week, before an hour on the final week before London.

Thank fuck.

***

Huge, huge thanks to everyone who is supporting me so much with their words of encouragement, sponsorship and dragging themselves out to make it that bit easier for me. You're all heroes. I couldn't do it without you.