Here are my blogs from the Men's Running Project 26.2
The
Positives - Monday 30th April
Time to sound like a winning Oscar speech. Firstly I
want to say thank you to everybody involved in Project 26.2.
Thanks to Men’s Running for picking me in the first
place, Danny, Rhalou and Chris have all been a pleasure to deal with.
Thanks to Paul Hobrough the physio
(physioandtherapy.co.uk), I think I shocked him on our first training day, as
my flexibility, or lack of it didn’t even get on the scale of some of his
charts! But by following his stretching routines along with some yoga, my
flexibility is a million percent better and my hamstring pains seem a thing of
the past.
Thank you to Up & Running and Garmin for kitting me
out with great gear that saw me through the project.
Thanks to High-5 for the supply of energy supplements,
these now accompany me on all of my long runs.
And then there is Nick Anderson my coach
(runningwithus.com). If any of you saw my tweets on Sunday, you will have seen
I was feeling pretty down at the time with my performance. Nick was the person
I felt I had let down the most. But as well as receiving lots of nice messages
from friends, family, the Project 26.2 team plus lots of people on Twitter,
Nick also sent me a nice message about the positives and the lessons I need to
take from this. More on those in a moment. I have really enjoyed his training
schedule and with better execution on the day by me, Sub four was a real
possibility.
Finally, and to be honest this is the most important
one, I would like to thank my wife Mich, she has put up with me over the last
six months and looked after our little boy while running has become a big part
of my life. She has been a star and I really appreciate her support.
So despite me not getting the fairytale conclusion to
the project I have learnt a great deal and got a lot out of Project 26.2. Here
are the positives
Weight
I have lost almost three stone in weight. 17st 3lb on
1st August 2011, 14st 5lb on marathon day. I have gone down clothing sizes and
I am feeling so much healthier. My aim now is to be 13st 3lb on 1st August
2012.
Knowledge
I have learnt a lot more about nutrition, stretching,
core stability, speed work, so much more than just running, which I know will
stand me in good stead for the future.
Personal Bests
I have a new half marathon PB of 1:38, a new Parkrun PB
of 22:18, my 10K times are getting quicker, plus PB’s at 16 and 20 miles, but
that is cheating really as I had never officially run those distances! And
despite my disappointment of my marathon time it was still a PB. I am pretty
sure I can improve my 5K and 10K PB’s in the near future, and I WILL get a sub
four marathon!
Friends
It has been really good sharing this journey with the
other Project 26.2 Spartans and GIRLS. I genuinely believe that we will keep in
touch, it may not be often, but I think we have all been bitten by the running
bug. So I am sure our paths will cross at an event or two and I will be keeping
tabs on how everybody is getting on via Facebook and Twitter. Plus we have
plenty of excuses to meet up for an occasional beer or two.
Also, having joined Petts Wood Runners, I now have a
new group of friends who have given me loads of support. The camaraderie is
excellent and I enjoy running with these guys on a Tuesday evening. I would also
like to thank the PWR members that came up to London to support (not just me
but also the other 20 PWR runners taking part)
I would like to take this opportunity (as I forgot last
week) to thanks all of my friends, family and colleagues who have supported me
and taken an interest during this project.
I have been surprised by the support I have received
via Twitter. I was a Twitter virgin before project 26.2. I now have almost 300
followers, people came up to me at events for a chat to say they had been
following me and the messages of support and congratulations have been great.
Some of these guys and girls even sponsored me, which is amazing! Which leads
me onto…
Sponsorship
I am delighted to say that as a result of my London
Marathon run, I have raised over £5,100 for the MS Trust which is almost double
my original target of £2,620, so HUGE HUGE thanks to everybody that sponsored
me.
Thanks to everybody who has followed my journey, I hope
some have been inspired or learnt a thing or two, probably not from my rambling
blogs, but at least from the experts who have helped me along the way. I have
already registered for the Brighton Marathon for March 2013 and the Toronto
Marathon in autumn next year is calling me! Rest assured, when I break that sub
four marathon, it will be all over Twitter and Danny will certainly be getting
a letter from me to publish in Men’s Running!
All the best
The Hippo
Mountains
& Reflections – Thursday 26th April
So first and foremost, I am disappointed to say that I
did not achieve a sub four marathon, if I had typed this on Sunday I may have
used the word gutted or devastated, but I have had a bit of time to reflect.
You may have seen from my Tweets or Facebook updates on
the day that I thought I had let a lot of people down. I must thank everybody
who sent me messages of congratulations and general pick me up messages.
I have had a chat with Nick (Anderson) the coach from
Running With Us and he has told me, in fact demanded that I look at it
positively. I have just achieved a marathon PB, 13 years after by previous best
marathon time.
When chatting with Nick he gave me a great analogy that
I would like to share with you.
If you are going to climb a mountain, first you need to
put in lots of practice and training. So if that mountain for me at the moment
is sub four, I have only really had a relative short amount (4-5 months) of
training. Also before you push on up that mountain, you need to get to base
camp first and then acclimatise before your ascent. If I take all of the
running that I have done recently as base camp, maybe I just need to spend a
bit more time at base camp first, before pushing on. But as Nick put it, 6-7
months ago, I was at the bottom of the mountain. So, once the legs recover. I
will be back at base camp, continuing my training
The more time I have to reflect, the more proud I am of
my achievement. I do have a list of positives to take from this, but I will
leave that to next week’s blog as this week I want to focus on the marathon
itself.
Before I do, I would just like to say that when I heard
on Sunday that a woman had died during the marathon, that quickly snapped me
out of my self pity. I saw lots of casualties during the day on the side of the
road receiving medical attention, so irrespective of time. I am grateful that I
finished. RIP Claire Squires.
What
went Wrong?
Thinking about that heading, I am not sure if ‘wrong’
is the correct word to be used? But I want to reflect on the situation which
might help others.
Was
I too ambitious?
With a sub four goal, I don’t think so and I do believe
that I will be able to achieve it. I think maybe though that because the
training had gone so well, I had managed a 1:38 half marathon, although I know
I could NEVER maintain that pace for a full marathon. I had loads of people saying
that I was doing well and that I will nail sub four, I raised or lowered
(depending which way you look at it) my target. In fact I had a 3:45 time band
on my wrist. I must admit, that I ripped it off in disgust at about mile 22
when I realised that I wasn’t going to achieve a sub four.
For a 3:45 I need to be doing 8:35 m/miles, you will
see from my stats below taken from the VLM tracking website that up until 30K,
everything was pretty much going to plan. But in hindsight, I should have just
stuck with the original target of sub four and gone for a 9m/mile which would
have given me a 3:56. The phrase ‘walk before you can run’ springs to mind, if
you pardon the pun! And if I am being brutally honest, I still feel I have let
Nick down a bit, by deviating slightly from the ultimate plan.
Did
I factor in the conditions?
Again in hindsight, No. When I got home Sunday evening,
I didn’t realise how much I had caught the sun, in fact both arms are sunburnt!
When it came to the water stations, in the first half of the race, I was taking
a drink at most stations, little and often is the mantra, but on reflection I
was taking too little, maybe only two or three swigs before discarding the
bottle. Once I got to mile 20, at every water station plus the Lucozade stations,
I was necking a whole bottle every time, so I think that I was a dehydrated.
But by then it was obviously too late.
I knew I was doomed when, first the 9 min mile pacer
overtook me, I tried to hang on to his coat tails but was unable to and then
Alfie the Dog overtook me as well. I saw my wife at the 23 mile mark and she
told me afterwards, that after she had seen me she was welling up and had a
lump in her throat as she could see how disappointed I was in my face that I
hadn’t achieved my target despite the effort I had put in. I admit on the day,
my head was well and truly down. But hey, I finished.
So, a few memories from the day. There was one person
holding a banner saying ‘Go on stranger’ which obviously applied to 99.99% of
people, and I also liked the banner being held by a woman that simply said ‘You
are my favourite’ I am pretty sure that was directed at me!
I couldn’t believe that there was a 4p difference in
the price of a litre of unleaded between the 8 mile mark and the 19 mile mark.
I do feel I missed out on one thing though and that is
all the offerings from the crowd, but my mum told me never to accept sweets
from strangers.
The atmosphere was amazing and the camaraderie between
runners was equally so. I was getting lots of encouragements and pats on the
back as I toiled those last couple of miles, and one fella slowed down his pace
and said “come on mate, I’ll get you there, you get me there”
I would also like to take this opportunity to
congratulate fellow Project 26.2 girls, Lorraine and Laraine on completing the
marathon who have both been through the wringer with injuries and during the
last few months both had situations where there was some doubt they would even
make the start line, let alone finish.
And then there is Mark, who I will now call ‘Lloyd’.
The reason being is that Lloyds bank has a dark horse as their logo, this man
is Black Beauty! I won’t steal his thunder and reveal his time, but put it this
way, he grabbed the marathon by the goolies, twisted them, yanked them up over
it’s head and threw it to the floor!
I would also like to congratulate everybody else that I
know who completed the marathon. For some it may well be the only marathon that
they do. For me, I have some unfinished business...
Until next week
The Hippo
Why
am I doing this – Tuesday 17th April 2012
For those that have been reading my blogs, you will
know by now that they are usually light hearted and some bits completely
irrelevant to running. This blog is still going to be irrelevant to running
(kind of) and a bit more serious.
I started penning this blog a few weeks back when I
read fellow Project 26.2er and Spartan Mark’s @MCurtissmo blog of 12th March.
He included the following couple of sentences…
‘The other two ladies were happy and smiley and we got
to meet Ray’s wife and little lad Max. I smiled as Ray’s wife introduced him
and I remembered why I was doing all of this.’
This got me thinking about why I am actually running
the London Marathon? I must admit that the journey, the support I have received
from all involved on Project 26.2, family and friends, all the events I have
done has been a blast and I have thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the
journey. I obviously have a personal target of doing a sub-4 marathon as well,
but the ultimate aim is to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust!
If you have been following me since the beginning of my
journey you may know the reasons why, if you do not, I will enlighten you.
Both the Old Man and my younger sister suffer from
Multiple Sclerosis, despite there being no evidence that the disease is
hereditary. My dad has progressive MS, which means his body is constantly under
attack. My sister has remitting/relapsing so the disease attacks her
sporadically.
The simplest way to describe MS is as follows: Think of
your spinal cord as a TV cable, copper on the inside protected by a plastic
sheath. The MS disease attacks the sheath so the copper becomes exposed which
affects the signal being sent through the cable. To compound the misery, as the
body tries to repair itself the scar tissue that forms in turn also damages the
copper wire as well. So basically your brain is sending messages, but they just
don’t get through.
My dad is proud man and he probably won’t thank me for
typing this, but I want people to know how MS can affect people.
My dad used to be a marathon runner himself, he is now
virtually wheelchair bound. To walk 5 metres, takes him 10 minutes, having to
use crutches and walk backwards as he physically cannot lift his feet, a kind
of a moonwalk but without the crutch grabbing (sorry I did only say a ‘bit’
more serious)
At home a through floor lift has been installed, so he
can get up and down stairs in the wheelchair. All we need is some dry ice and
we can reproduce ‘Stars in Your Eyes’. Incidentally, my little boy thinks this
is very cool as Granddad comes through the ceiling of the dining room. My sister has to walk with a stick and will
admit that she has become a lot more forgetful. But the disease doesn’t only
affect my dad & sister. My mum is in affect a full time carer. So as you
can see the disease has had a profound affect on the whole family.
I am not typing this as a sob story, I just want people
to know why I am running the marathon and why I am running for the MS Trust.
More info on the MS Trust can be found here www.mstrust.org.uk If you would
like to sponsor me you can via here uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RAYCV
Even if you don’t want to sponsor me, you may know
somebody else who is running a marathon for another charity that is close to your
or their heart. Charities rely on big events such as the London marathon to
raise much needed funds. I know times are hard, but try and spare a few quid to
reward all the time and effort that these people are putting in to get round
26.2 miles so that their chosen charity can benefit.
A quick update on the week. I did my last long(ish) run
on Sunday, 9 miles, also I did 6 miles Tuesday evening with my running club and
ran Bromley Parkrun on Saturday. I’m still stretching daily and doing my core
workouts.
Am I ready? As ready as I am going to be! Couple of
gentle runs this week, but hydration, sleep and carbo-loading are the main
targets.
Hopefully my next blog will include the sentence ‘I
achieved a sub-4 marathon’?
Until next week
The Hippo
The
10 Musketeers – Tuesday 10th April
A bit of a shorter blog this week. Not much running to
write about. This week was my first week of tapering, which I am kind of
thankful for, mainly because I have been ill for most of the week and have only
managed a couple of runs. I was ill on Monday with a stomach bug, but managed
to go out Tuesday night with Petts Wood Runners, in fact I was asked to lead
one of the groups! Project 26.2 has now officially turned me into a runner;
maybe I will need to change my Twitter name from JoggingHippo to RunningHippo?
I was planning on running into work (10 miles) on
Thursday morning, but woke up completely bunged up, and have been suffering all
weekend from a cold. In fact on Saturday/Sunday it turned into Man Flu, so I
started to write a will, just in case.
I have also managed to tweak my back after my special
cross training day on Friday which involved swimming, soft play and running
around the park with my boy all day.
Saturday morning I forced myself out to run Bromley
Parkrun and despite not feeling great, was only 10 seconds behind my PB, so
again it kind of proves how the Project 26.2 training has transformed my
fitness.
Sunday, I didn’t know what to do with myself as for the
last eight weeks I had been running in an official event. I am just glad that I
didn’t have one planned for this week, as I know my heart would have ruled my
head and I would have probably run despite not being well.
But to be honest, the issues highlighted are trivial
compared to some of my fellow Project 26.2 runners. I will not go into exact
details, as I am sure they have their own story to tell via their blogs. But I
discovered that two of the girls might not be able to run their chosen
marathons. I can assure you, when I found out this info I was truly gobsmacked.
At the time of writing I don’t know whether they will be running or not, but if
they don’t, I will be gutted.
I think the 10 of us on Project 26.2 have built up a
good bond. Despite not seeing much of each other, we chat frequently via
e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, giving each other encouragement, advice and
congratulations. When Justin injured himself a while back, as well as giving
him encouragement, I think most of us were on his case (we know what Justin is
like) when he said he was ready to start running again, telling him to take it
easy and not to rush things and think of the main goal!
So if any of the other nine do not manage to complete
their chosen marathons, irrespective of what I manage to achieve, it will feel
a bit hollow as I know how hard everybody has worked and I want all of us to
cross both the start and finish lines. I want to share my story and enjoy
listening to everybody else’s.
‘All for one and one for all’
Until next week
The Hippo
A
Lesson Learned – Tuesday 3rd April
This is my last long run week before my taper begins
and in all honesty, I am looking forward to the taper. I have felt slightly
jaded this week. I think it is a culmination of being busy at work, the
training overall and also the fact that I ran hard last Sunday to achieve my
half marathon PB. I now have three easier weeks before the big day. I am
talking about the marathon; I am not getting married again.
Monday, I did a gentle 2-mile jog in the evening.
Tuesday, I managed 7.5 miles at lunchtime with 2 x 4-3-2-1 interval sessions.
This entails running for 4 minutes, 3 minutes, etc, with a 90 second rest
between each interval and progressively getting faster as the time decreases.
This was a tough, but good workout, made all the better by the sunshine and
that I was running along Regents Canal which was far nicer than running around
the city.
Thursday morning I ran into work (10 miles) and this is
where I felt pooped all day. I had my sports massage in the evening, which was
very welcome.
I had a rest day Friday, although no day is a rest day
as far as the training schedule goes, as I am either doing stretching or core
conditioning routines. I also had a slight worry about if I would be able to
make it to my planned Sunday run. There were no trains running early enough and
due to the Government’s clever way of getting a quick influx of £32m (I love a
conspiracy theory), my car’s petrol gauge was on red, and so were most of the
petrol pumps in the whole of Bromley. Fortunately, the missus queued and
managed to fill the car up.
Saturday I ran at Bromley Parkrun.
Sunday, I had to get up at silly o’clock as I was
running in the Kingston Breakfast Run, which started at 8:25am. So I was up at
5:30am and this is where I learnt my first lesson. For all of my other runs I
have made sure I have had a bowl of porridge (slow release carbs). This morning
I had a couple of breakfast bars and despite having a couple of malt loaf
en-route, during the run I actually felt hungry.
Lesson One: Eat a decent breakfast. I know this and have done for every other long
run. Ray you idiot!
I arrived at Kingston in plenty of time and met up with
a couple of mates, Beau and Fozzy. Beau is also running the London Marathon.
Whilst we were waiting around the start, Beau mentioned
that he had bought his trainers yesterday. I said he was brave and that he
should have broken them in first, rather than kicking off with a 16 mile run.
Ironically this is where lesson two was learned. I have done the majority of my
training in Mizuno Wave Rider 14 trainers. Courtesy of Up & Running I have
received a pair of Saucony Triumph 9 trainers. After wearing these a couple of
times I ran the Sidcup10 mile and my feet hurt. So I presumed that they weren’t
quite suited. I decided recently to buy another pair of shoes, and this time
went for the Mizuno Enigma. I had worn these three or four times and for the
10-mile run on Thursday. But during the run, I had to stop a few times to
literally take my feet out of my running shoes, to relieve the pressure and hot
spots I was experiencing. The last mile or so my form was seriously being
affected. Oh and as far as I know, Beau didn’t have any trouble with his new
trainers!
Lesson Two: Shoes really need to be broken in well,
before going for a long run. I will be sticking with my Wave Riders for the
Marathon.
I completed the 16 miles in 2:13:25. Nick had suggested
that I do another three miles afterwards, which was the plan until I ended up
like I was running in hobnail boots which is also a shame as the course was
lovely, along the Thames and past Hampton Court.
During the run I managed to see the editor of Women’s
Running magazine, she was busy taking photos and looked a bit shocked when I
bellowed ‘Hello Chris!’
I am sure a lot of runners will agree, although some
might not even admit it, but it is nice to get a medal at the end of the run. I
was a bit disappointed to receive a mug! However the goodie bag was tremendous
with all sorts of goodies and food and drink, there was even a present I could
give the wife when I got home (Burts Bees Shampoo and Conditioner).
Whilst walking back to my car, a chap who had already
finished was sitting having a coffee with friends shouted out ‘Hippo’, we had a
quick chat and he even said, ‘It feels like I know you, as I have been
following you in the magazine and your blogs.’ I forgot to get his name though.
My climb to A-list celebrity continues...
So now the taper and countdown begins.
Until next week
The Hippo
Cats,
Pigs, Hippos & Badgers – Tuesday 27th March 2012
It’s been a strange week this week, from a running
perspective anyway. After my 20 miler on Sunday, I went out for a gentle
two-mile run Monday evening just to loosen me up and to continue loosening up
my recently purchased Mizuno Enigma trainers. I had to pay for these ones, but
still got a discount from Up & Running!
For the rest of the week, basically the training plan
went out of the window. I was meant to go out with my running club Tuesday
night and was meant to have an interval session on Thursday, I even missed my
sports massage Thursday night. In fact the next time I ran was Friday lunchtime
where I went for a run with a couple of mates from work and ran a gentle 6.5 miles.
Saturday, I was planning on doing the Bromley Parkrun,
but again this didn’t materialise as I had lots of stuff to do in the morning.
So, Sunday morning, I awoke at 6am or was it 7am? Damn
you, clocks going forward! Anyway, I had scheduled an 8am departure time, but
there are two types of training that just can’t be synchronised, training for a
Marathon and potty training. So once my little boy had done his wee wee on his
potty, we finally left at about 8:20am (After the high-fives (hands washed of
course) and my little boy adding a sticker to his chart)
Fortunately, we got to Fleet in plenty of time for the
half marathon. Because of my unplanned rest week and because this half marathon
was sandwiched between two long run weeks, I had consciously made the decision
to go for a sub 1:40. Once again, if Nick my coach is reading this, he will
probably be cringing! I knew that I needed to be below a 7:38m/mile average to
achieve that and after my previous negative split run for my 20 miler, I was
considering whether to do the same. But I knew the second half of the race
would probably have to be run at pretty much my absolute limit, so decided just
to go for it from the off.
I am delighted to report that I achieved my goal and
managed 1:38:46 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161504700. I was beaming
like the proverbial Cheshire Cat afterwards, well a knackered Cheshire Cat
anyway. Once I met back up with my wife and little boy, he was also beaming. I
asked was it because he had saw Daddy running? Alas, it was not. He was more
excited about seeing the bloke dressed up as Peppa Pig running. Pig 1, Hippo 0.
We then had a nice afternoon and late lunch, meeting up
with one of my mates ‘Badger’ and his wife and their 5-week-old boy.
Despite being a tiring run, due to the heat and me
pushing it, the support was fantastic and I lost count of the number of “Go on
Hippo” shouts. In fact a bloke who was running next to me at one point
commented “I wish I had got my name on my top”
So, now it time for me to get my feet back on the
ground, (literally) re-focus and concentrate on my ultimate goal of the
sub-four Marathon, so I won’t be going at that pace again, unless of course,
Nick has some interval sessions planned for me.
Until next week
The Hippo
Getting
in to Top Gear – Monday 19th March 2012
For me, this week was the defining week in my training.
After achieving my PB at Silverstone last Sunday, legs felt fine on the Monday,
but come Tuesday I was having serious concerns about a tightness and pain in my
left hamstring, so much so that I put an appeal on Twitter for Paul (Physio
& Therapy) to give me a call. Like a knight in shining armour he came to my
rescue. I was due to go out for a run with my running club that evening and
with the 20 miler scheduled for the Sunday, I was worried that a) I might have
a potential problem or b) by going out running, I could cause a problem which
would undo all of the work that I had put in and also all of the time and
investment from the Project 26.2 team.
I was no doubt being a drama queen, but with the
marathon just over a month away, I didn’t want to take any risks. Anyway, Paul
asked me a series of questions and had me doing various stretches and poses,
all while I was standing outside Sainsbury’s (the fella collecting the trollies
was giving me some strange looks). Based on the info I gave Paul, he advised
that I should run, but gave me a strict stretching routine before and after.
Once again the wizard had weaved his magic! I had a pleasant run and it was
nice to catch up with a few people, as I hadn’t been for a while due to my
training plan requiring specific threshold or speed sessions.
I did a couple of easy runs during the rest of the week,
plus the usual various stretching and core conditioning sessions. The training
is not all about running you know! I also had the most painful massage of my
life on Thursday night. If it was being filmed, the BBC beep machine would be
doing overtime!
Saturday I did Bromley Parkrun and also managed to sort
out a lift down to the Surrey Spitfire the following day. I just want to
publicly thank Steve Jeffrey of Petts Wood Runners. Saturday was the first time
I had actually met him to speak to properly, yet the week before, he had
offered me £50 sponsorship if I could knock three minutes of my Brighton Half
marathon time. So inadvertently he had helped me get a PB, my charity had an
extra £50 and now he was my chauffeur! Just goes to show the camaraderie of
runners within a running club. Cheers Steve!
So, Sunday, Steve picked me up and we picked another
PWR, Dan. We were chatting about various topics, mainly running, but then it
transpired that we had Millwall (me), West Ham (Steve) and Palace (Dan) all in
one motor. An interesting combination, but we agreed that at least we all
followed a London team and there were no Cockney Red’s in the car.
We arrived at Dunsfold Park Airfield (venue for BBC’s
Top Gear ‘Star in a reasonably priced car’ and where The Stig thrashes the hell
out new cars) in glorious sunshine, but it was still nippy. After checking in
and sorting ourselves out, we were off. The first 2.5 miles were around the
airfield before going out into the country lanes. I am sure in the airfield
there was some cult with a suicide pact, I have never seen so many worms
wriggling around on tarmac? Once again I had over hydrated and needed a
‘comfort break’ (such a polite way of saying you need a pee).
Having this comfort break meant that unbeknownst to me
two other Petts Wood Runners had overtaken me, so I was jogging away in my own
little world and then I drew level with two women and they just said ‘Hello
Ray’ so after a double take, I ran for a mile with Emma and Eleanor having a
chat and then pushed on.
I was under strict instructions from Nick to do the
first 10-miles easy and then the second 10-miles at marathon pace. I completed
the 20 miles in 3:01:43 (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/159105301) My first
10-mile split was 01:34:06 and my second 10-mile split was 1:27:49. It was
mission accomplished, and I did something that I have read about a lot, a
‘negative split’ woohoo!
Despite my mild panic earlier in the week, I have got
the 20-miler in my locker at only a few minutes slower than I wanted. So, I am
now feeling a lot more confident!
Until next week
The Hippo
Secrets & Bees – Monday 12th March 2012
Monday this week, for the first time I felt a little
jaded. I think this was down to a combination of a few things. Firstly as
mentioned in my blog last week, my prep for the Eastbourne Half (arriving 5
minutes before the start) wasn’t great, plus spending two hours driving there
are back wasn’t the ideal warm up or warm down. Secondly, I think an
accumulation of the miles was maybe catching up with me a bit. Thirdly, I will
let you in on a secret! After the Barcelona Half I wore tights, nothing kinky
you understand, but compression tights under my tracksuit bottoms and I wore
these all day. Last Sunday due to the weather, driving and then shooting
straight out when I got back home, I didn’t put my compression tights on. I
definitely felt the DOMS on Monday!
Tuesday, Nick had a 654321 session planned for me, this
an interval training session where as each interval decreases in time you have
to up your speed (with only 90 seconds recovery between each interval). It took
me a while to warm up, still feeling a bit stiff, but I got into it and on the
one minute interval managed a 6:16m pace and even carried on for two minutes
instead of one.
Thursday I had a planned progression run. One thing
Nick has told us is listen to your body, so I decided to take it a bit easier
and went for a gentle 10K run with some colleagues along the South Bank and
Embankment, where I decided to make a spectacle of myself by falling flat on my
face in front of a few hundred tourists! I got a couple of cuts on my hand and
elbow, but mainly a bruised ego.
Saturday, I ran my 20th Parkrun and had an easy jog
with my mate FatPants.
Sunday was the Silverstone Half Marathon. After three
coastal runs, it was time to go inland. Fat Pants was picking me up at 08:15, I
was just about to leave when I had an emergency situation and had to remove a
large bumblebee from my flat.
Due to 50mph restrictions and congestion, we parked up
at Silverstone about 11:15. We managed to get ourselves sorted, but I didn’t
get the chance to meet up with Laraine and Lorraine (two of the Project 26.2
girls) before hand.
I made my way to the start with 15 minutes to spare,
but then there was a tannoy announcement stating due to the congestion, the
start would be delayed by 15 minutes. A bit frustrating when you are psyching
yourself up and then you think you need a pee and there is nowhere to go! I had
a quick chat with a fella named Craig (@craighinch), who said he had been
following me in Men’s Running and then we were told that the start would only
be a five minute delay.
The weather was divine, as warm as Barcelona and a
million miles from the monsoon the previous week. And now I will let you in on
my second secret, Nick had earmarked this race as the one where I could go for
it and aim for a PB.
So I started faster than I normally would and managed
my first mile in 7:42 and then managed an average 07:30 for the next five
miles. The full race stats can be found here
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157012773 The result was that I managed a
new PB and finished in 1:41:25, so to say I am happy is an understatement.
Race day highlights:
·
People running on the track trying to take
the racing line, doing apex to apex cornering, very funny except for one woman
who managed to cut up about four of us, just so she could get the racing line?
·
Being overtaken by Batman and Robin in
skin-tight Lycra, but then being overtaken by somebody in a one-piece tri-suit.
At least Batman and Robin had capes to cover a bit of their dignity.
·
Me racing another bumblebee, well I presume
it was a different one, for about a half mile. Literally, it was flying next to
me for ages, it then went off in a different direction, I think it was getting
tired and I was getting the better of it!
·
At mile 11, a chap (who I now know from
Twitter was Mike Wells @mikew30) come up to me and say ‘Hi Hippo, I have been
following you in Men’s Running’ which was nice, but then he kicked on and
overtook me!
·
Seeing two crazy people doing the half
marathon on stilts, yes you read that right stilts!
I managed to meet up with Laraine and Lorraine
afterwards who both did brilliantly well. I won’t steal their thunder, so read
their blogs to find out how they got on.
So that is now four half marathons on four consecutive
weekends, topped with a PB. I am loving Project 26.2.
Finally before I leave you with a couple of photos, I
just want to say that I think I have moved up a couple of letters on the
celebrity status now, after being recognised twice and also having a comment on
Twitter saying I didn’t realise how high profile you are (shucks), I think I am
now at the dizzy heights of being a W-list celebrity!
Until next week
The Hippo
Chalk and Cheese – Monday 5th March 2012
Last week Barcelona, this week Eastbourne! Now, these
two places have quite a bit in common, they are both on the coast, they both
have the letters a, b, e, n & o in their name and er, I’ll come back to the
rest.
Monday was a rest day, which was handy as I was
travelling back from Barcelona and Tuesday I did a couple of miles at lunchtime
as a loosener. Wednesday was another recovery run, this time 4.5 miles. It was
from this run that I decided what my intended (note the word intended) marathon
pace will be. I gave Nick some feedback and he agreed. So based on recent runs
and the fact that I am getting fitter and losing weight, I am going to aim for
an MP between 08:30-08:40 minute miles. So all being well that would give me a
sub 3:50 marathon. Well that’s the plan anyway!? On April 22nd, hopefully I
will be saying in A-Team Hannibal style “I love it when a plan comes together”.
But minus the cigar, of course.
Thursday I ran to work, which is 10.2 miles. Nick’s
plan meant I had to include 3 x 12 min threshold sessions within the run, with
only a 3 min recovery jog in between. The first two elements I averaged a
7:50m/mile and the 3rd was 7:54. So I was very pleased with the pace and the
consistency of the three elements.
Saturday I ran the Bromley Park Run and was joined by
my mate Fat Pants. I took the opportunity to wear my very subtle running
t-shirt!
Sunday was Eastbourne, I had been keeping an eye on the
weather and the forecast was wind and rain. The forecast was right. I woke with
a bit of a sore throat. If I had my 100% sensible head on, I maybe would have
considered not running. But I am not Worzel Gummidge, so I don’t own
alternative heads and to be honest a 100% sensible head would not be in my
repertoire. (Nick will probably chastise me when he reads this).
I am one of those people who hates being late.
Eastbourne is approximately 60 miles from home, so I gave myself two and
quarter hours to drive down there. I hadn’t planned for a closed A22 and an
almighty diversion, and then getting stuck behind a horsebox. This resulted in
me managing to park the car in Eastbourne at 09:55 with the race starting at
10am. Not the ideal prep. So I had to leg it to the start.
So back to those Barcelona/Eastbourne similarities. In
Barcelona the start was under a magnificent monument, in Eastbourne it was in a
muddy field. In Barcelona it was sunny, warm and I was running along wide
roads, past plazas and fantastic architecture. In Eastbourne, it was tipping it
down, windy and I was running along gravel paths, through parks and past the
local chippy.
So you are probably thinking that I enjoyed Barcelona
but endured Eastbourne. This is not the case. I enjoyed Eastbourne just as much,
but in a different way. For me this was a quintessential British half marathon.
British weather, traditional seaside resort, lot’s of hardy souls showing the
stiff upper lip attitude standing in the rain supporting the runners (not all
were clapping, but that is because it is hard to clap when holding an
umbrella). A madman standing in the pouring rain playing the bagpipes, who
managed to appear in three different places. Volunteers that were just as wet
as me, but had to be a damn site colder, handing out water, picking up
discarded cups, marshalling the route, all with unrivalled enthusiasm and whom
without these events wouldn’t happen. I saw a woman running in motorcycle
leather trousers! And a bloke who, in addition to his trainers, was only
wearing a pair of boxer shorts (he needed to pin his number somewhere) and a
Borat mankini.
I think what I am trying to say is that the beauty of
running is that you are with likeminded others, you get to see places and
things you possibly wouldn’t see and you get an immense sense of satisfaction
when you finish. I know I have been fortunate to be part of Project 26.2, but
all you need is a decent pair of trainers, a few items of clothing and a little
bit of determination to enjoy a run wherever it may be.
Incidentally I finished the half in 1:51:53 which
equates to an 8:28m/mile, so maybe my intended MP will be possible?
I have attached the link to my Garmin stats http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154947789
and you see that there was a significant hill (well for me anyway) that climbed
over 300ft. Just thought I would give you an insight to what goes through my
brain while running. At the top of the hill there was literally a u-turn and
then you ran back down, when I saw this I started singing to myself “Oh the
Grand Old Duke of York, he had 10,000 men, he marched them up to the top of the
hill and he marched them down again” Lo and behold the name of the road we were
running back down was ‘Upper Duke Road’
That last bit was completely random I know, maybe my
brain is waterlogged.
Until Next Week
The Hippo
P.S. Another thing that the Eastbourne Half Marathon
had which Barcelona didn’t was people standing at the water stations with large
tubs of Jelly Babies. Nice touch!
Tengo
de Sobrepeso – Monday 27th Febraury 2012
For the linguists amongst you, you will know that the
title of this week’s blog translates to ‘I am overweight’ well I think it does?
The reason for Spanish, well I ran the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday, more
on that later. A strange title you may think, but I am happy to say that I am
overweight.
Now you are probably thinking either A) Ray we know you
are or B) he has lost his marbles. Let me explain. Recently I have had a few
comments along the lines of “you are looking well” which as we all know translates
to “blimey you have lost weight you fat git”
As I have mentioned in a previous blog, in August last
year I was in the 17st bracket (17st 3lb), two weeks ago, I made it into the
14st bracket (14st 13lb). Last week I weighed in at 14st 11lb. Using the BMI
charts, I have been obese for the last 6 or 7 years, but now I officially
overweight, I know these charts can be taken with a pinch of salt, but still a
momentous occasion for me! I am hoping that come 22 April, I will be in the
13st bracket?
Right, back to running. After the Brighton Half last
Sunday, I was given an easy three days from Nick, with some gentle recovery
runs and stretching. Thursday was a short sharp shock though with multiple
threshold and 10k pace elements with only 2 mins rest between each a tough work
out for thoroughly enjoyable running in the spring sunshine along Regents
Canal. Plus the legs got a bit of TLC in the evening with a gentle sports
massage.
Friday was a rest day, but as my wife and I and my
little boy had to get up at 3am to fly to Barcelona, it hardly felt like a rest
day! We arrived early morning and after checking in at our hotel made our way
to the place where I had to pick up my number which to my surprise had my name
on it!
Saturday, we did a bit of a recce to work out where my
wife would go so she and my little boy would see me during the race (The plan
worked, as they saw me 3 times) this was followed by the ideal preparation for
a half marathon (sic), walking round Barcelona Z00 for 5 hours (well worth a
visit by the way) I found a great pasta place for a carbo loading meal Saturday
evening.
Sunday morning I was up early to catch a couple of
tubes to the Arc de Triomf (still in Spain by the way, not France). There was a
tremendous buzz around the place, beautiful sunny morning, 12,500 runners from
all over the world and to top it all after a couple of minutes they started
blasting out one of my favourite tunes over the Tannoy, Don’t Stop Me Now by
Queen! I have now decided to buy one of those iphone arm holders now, so I can
take some photos immediately before and after a race, oh and call the Mrs if
need be if we have difficulty meeting up. Race organisation was spot on and
despite my Spanish being limited to ‘Hola’ & ‘La Quenta per favor’ I easily
found my way to my starting area, I had a blue number, there was big blue
ball0ons to mark the area. For a moment, I thought I might be in the area
reserved for people whose name ends in the letter O, I saw Alberto, Diego,
Pedro, Sergio & Gonzalo but then I saw a José, so felt a bit more
comfortable and to be honest Hippo ends in O!
The race started with a ticker tape explosion. The
course is great, massive wide roads and avenues and only one tiny hill (over a
bridge at about mile 10). Being European, the distance markers are all in kms.
I much prefer miles, 4 miles to go seems to sound better than 6.5kms to go. If
you have ever been to Barcelona, you will know that graffiti seems to be a
common past time, so much so that despite the distance markers being put out
late Saturday night, I had to chuckle when I saw that the 17km sign had been
graffitied. I was under instructions from Nick to run slower than the previous
week, but was finding this difficult due to atmosphere (drumming bands every
few kms), so my pacing was a bit all over the place and I finished in 1:50:30.
I then had a gentle 2 mile jog warm down to go and meet my my wife (Nick’s
instructions, although he did say 3 miles)
We then sat in the sun at a local café and just relaxed
(obviously after I had done some stretching first) A great weekend and I will
be going back again next year. In fact I am thinking of starting ‘Hippos Half
Marathon Tours’ I can recommend a great hotel, know a great pasta place for a
pre run meal and can help you get your number beforehand and advise the best
place for families and friends to stand!
Until next week
The Hippo
Putting
the Miles In - Monday 30th January 2012
This week has been my first real disrupted week when it
comes to keeping to my schedule from Nick. After the Sidcup10 last week, my
legs felt heavy and achy on Monday and Tuesday. I did a yoga session on the
Monday and went for a gentle jog on the Wednesday. Thursday was a planned 45min
progression run, but I had a really nasty migraine, so didn’t do any running on
Thursday or Friday. Saturday morning I had a bit of a loosener by doing the
Bromley parkrun gently. I found a car key on the way round and after a
bellowing an announcement at the finishing pavilion, I re-united with its
owner, so that was my good deed for the day. Then it was a drive down to
Brighton with the wife and my little boy as we were staying in a B&B the
night before the Brighton Half.
We just managed to catch the postman before we left and
he handed me the latest edition of Men’s Running. I was looking forward to this
with a bit of trepidation as my wife had been interviewed for this month’s
edition. So get yourself a copy to find out what she said about me! Saturday
afternoon, to be frank it was pi**ing down so a leisurely walk around the lanes
turned into finding refuge in the shopping centre and coffee shops. I had
booked a table at an Italian restaurant for 6:30 as we were meeting up with
fellow Spartans, Justin and Keith along with Keith’s wife and his little boy.
Keith however turned up solo as he had ballsed up his B&B booking, oops
sorry Keith I said I wouldn’t say anything, oh well never mind! We had a nice
meal and a good chat.
My little boy has also been poorly this week with a
cough and cold along with a trip to A&E this week with a finger injury. So
unfortunately, Saturday night was not a good night’s sleep. Anyway Sunday was
an absolutely beautiful morning, blue sky and nice and fresh, perfect for
running. Whilst at breakfast (porridge of course) another guest asked if I was
running the half marathon, to which I replied “yes” she then asked if I knew
which roads were closed and asked if I could help her work out how to get her
van to Manchester Road?? Er sorry love, I am just running IN the event, not
running THE event!
Whilst making my way to the start I bumped into Nick
and Phoebe (the Project26.2 coaches) had a quick chat, then dropped my bag off
and sorted myself out. Good atmosphere at the start and then Annabelle Giles
gave us the horn. I started off at a gentle pace, didn’t really have much
choice due to the numbers, but after about mile 2, started getting into my
stride. At about mile 3, I got a pat on the back and a chap said to me, I have
been following you in Men’s Running. I am taking the fame in my stride (pun
intended). So we had a little chat and as promised, Mr Wilson @twupsanddowns
you are now in my blog. I had my name on my shirt so had lots of “Go on Hippo”
shouts which was nice, I need to perfect my royal wave.
Now, when I was told at the beginning of this training,
that I would need to put the miles in, I didn’t realise this would be at an
official event. Most of the talk post-race was about the distance, it seems
that somebody had put a cone in the wrong place (ooops) as pretty much
everybody made the distance 13.5 miles? If I had have known this, I might have
brought along another High5 gel! Despite this, my official time was 1:48:34,
although courtesy of my Garmin 610, my 13.1 split time was 1:46:04. It was
really good to catch up with most of the other Project26.2 GIRLS and Spartans
and just a shame three of the gang couldn’t make it. I had a post run interview
with Men’s Running editor Danny (I really must get an agent) a chat with Nick
and chin wag with the others.
After we all said all our goodbyes I then had a nice
afternoon in Brighton with my wife and little boy, including Fish and Chips
(protein and carbs) and a ride on the Helter Skelter (high point of the day for
me and my boy, again pun intended). So to finish a photo of the gang, I think
Freya had already shot off by the time this was taken (she’s fast that girl).
Until next week,
The Hippo
Dictionary
Definitions & Monkey Baths – Monday 13th February 2012
Hello again. Before I continue with this week, I did
mention in my blog two weeks ago that I would mention last week about the
effects of the ice bath. But as I forgot, I will now mention them this week.
Still with me? I can report as a result of having my ice bath after my 15
miler, I can confirm that it did seem to have a positive effect and my legs
definitely felt fresher on the Monday than previous Monday's after long runs.
So there you have my scientific findings!
This week I was granted an easy week by Nick. Monday
was my now customary yoga class. Tuesday was a recovery run. So I went out with
my club (Petts Wood Runners), but went with a different group and did just
under 4.5 miles at an average pace of 10:51 and it was good to have a chat with
some other club members that I have not met before. I think this is one
advantage of joining a running club, there will more often than not be a group
that you can run with whatever your standard. At PWR there are 7 different
groups on a Tuesday night. It was another bitterly cold night, about -4. So
when I got home I had a monkey bath.
Now you probably know about ice baths but possibly not
about monkey baths. A monkey bath is where you fill the bath up with water that
is about one degree hotter than it really should be. You stand in the water and
think 'bugger that is hot' and then you start to lower yourself into the water,
this is where you start going 'Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh' just like a monkey and then
there is a big OOOH just as your knackers touch the water. When you get out you
are usually lobster red! Here endeth the lesson.
Wednesday was a core condition session. Thursday I did
a progression run, 10 mins easy, 10 mins steady, 10 mins threshold. I ended up
doing just under 4.5 miles in 37 mins. Thursday night was reserved for a sports
massage. Paul Hobrough (Physio & Therapy) had spent a lot of time earlier
in the week trying to find me a suitable Sports Masseur. I just have to take
the opportunity to thank Paul, as you will probably see from other blogs, he is
spending a lot of time with us, despite having his existing clients and
business to deal with. Anyway, if you were in Bromley on Thursday night you
might have heard me wimpering. I did some research when I got home.
Dictionary
definitions:
Massage - The rubbing or kneading of parts of the body
especially to aid circulation, relax the muscles, or provide sensual
stimulation.
Assault - An unlawful threat or attempt to do bodily
injury to another.
I can tell you, at some points I'm not sure if the line
was crossed or not. But Paul and Nick said it will do me good, so I will back
for more GBH, I mean massage next week.
Saturday I did the Bromley Parkrun with the temperature
showing as -8!!
Sunday I was taking part in the Sidcup 10, the first of
my SOGEF runs (see here for more info re SOGEF
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RAYCV). Despite a light dusting of snow in the
morning, it was not enough to stop the race going ahead, but the light freezing
rain was a nice touch as the runners waited to start. The run was a 3 lap
course and after running for 5 minutes, I saw the 7 mile marker, alas that was
only relevant two laps later. As I approached mile 5, I was lapped by the
leader who had just gone through mile 8 in fact as I went past the left hand
turn to the final straight, one of the Marshalls was shouting "finishers
turn left here", I just muttered back "I wish". However, I was
pleased with my time of 1:20:22 with an average moving pace of 8:05m/mile.
Only 10 weeks today until the big day!
Until next week
The Hippo
The Numbers Game – Monday 6th February 2012
This week my Sub4 running gear has a very apt name!
Monday I started off in the warmth of the gym doing my (now weekly) yoga class
and once again I had to look on in awe at the strength and agility of not only
the instructor but also some of the other people in the class. I am comforted
to know that as long as I keep up my weekly yoga, in 12 years’ time I might be
half as good as them.
Tuesday was a progression run, starting off easy and
then upping the pace every 15 minutes. I managed to cover 6.5 miles in 55mins
and it was a pleasant, if not bloody cold run along Regent’s Canal.
Wednesday, I was volunteering at The Bridge Academy in
Hackney to help students prepare for work experience. This was a thoroughly
enjoyable day and I finished the day off with a core workout at the gym.
Thursday’s planned run from Nick was a 75-80 min run to
include 3 x 15 min blocks at marathon pace (MP). I went out in the evening and
I think I started off a bit quickly, probably because the mercury was showing
minus figures. Nevertheless, I was feeling good and enjoying the tougher
workout and I managed 9.6miles averaging 8:16 m/mile. Way quicker than my
envisaged MP. Nick will probably tell me off! Anyway the gods decided to punish
me for not listening to Nick, as my run came to an abrupt stop (hence the 9.6
mile distance) as I slipped on ice and in the process of trying to stay upright
(which I achieved) I felt a twinge in my hamstring.
This meant that I had to miss my first scheduled run of
my training since I started Project 26.2, so I rested for 2 days.
Sunday was a scheduled long run. I only did a 7.5mile
run. a) because I didn’t want to overdo it because of my hamstring twinge and
b) because of the conditions, I didn’t want to tempt fate too much and risk
another injury. But said conditions begged to be run in. The pic below shows my
fellow Petts Wood Runners who also braved the conditions (some of whom did 16
miles).
To finish, I thought I would review some numbers in
ascending order. Data correct as at 8pm 05/02/2012
-5 - The temperature it was for one of my early morning
runs
0 - The number of alcoholic drinks I have had this
year.
2 - The number of yoga sessions I have done this year.
9 - Number of my fellow Project 26.2ers, the Spartans
and the GIRLS.
15 - Distance in miles of my furthest run since 1999.
22:18 - My PB for the 5K Parkrun.
31 - The number of pounds I have lost in weight since
starting training on 1st August 2011.
76 - Days until the London Marathon.
135 - The number of miles that I ran in January.
187 - Followers on Twitter.
600 - The suggested word limit for my weekly blog (I
think, only achieved once; this week).
898.40 - The amount I have raised so far for the MS
Trust.
2480 - My race number for the Brighton Half Marathon.
2620 - My fundraising target for the MS Trust.
15,424 - Number of calories burnt in January while
running.
Until next week
The Hippo
A Week of Firsts – Tuesday 31st January 2012
The first of my firsts this week was yoga. I had booked
on a lunchtime session on Monday and didn’t know what quite to expect. First
and foremost it is bloody hard. I learnt the Cobra, the Downward Dog, Cat
stretch, 1st, 2nd & Humble Warrior, well when I say I learnt, I heard the
words and then I just looked on with a wry smile on my face as the majority of
the class got into these positions with ease whilst I struggled to get even 10%
of the way. And as for the Bird of Paradise, I think I would have to dislocate
joints and break limbs to get anywhere near that. But I did enjoy the session
and the instructor Marta was very helpful. With all these animal references,
surely there must be a Hippo position, if not I am going to invent one!
The second of my firsts was giving my new Saucony
Triumph 9 trainers (courtesy of Up & Running) their maiden voyage. I took a
bit of a leap of faith by wearing them for my threshold session on Tuesday
(total of 6 miles), but they were very comfortable with loads of forefoot
cushioning. Although flippers might have been more appropriate in the weather.
The third of my firsts was using my Garmin Forerunner
610 with a workout that I created online for the aforementioned threshold run.
Once over a few teething problems (press the start button Ray, you clown) it
was good to be beeped at and vibrated (ooo eer missus) when the next stage was
starting or I was running too fast or too slow (normally too slow).
The fourth of my firsts was a proper ice bath on Sunday
after my long run (15 miles). There was some twittering this week about the
potential benefits of ice baths. I have in the past after a long bike ride sat
in a bath of cold water. I spent the whole week filling up ice trays and then
emptying the resulting pineapple shaped ice cubes into a couple of containers
in the bottom of the freezer. I am writing this on Sunday evening, so will let
you know next week if I felt any benefits the following day.
MS
Trust – London Marathon evening reception
Tuesday night, I was invited to a reception hosted by
the MS Trust for all the people who will be running the London Marathon for the
charity. Guest speakers included a physio, nutritionists and a previous
marathon fundraiser. This was an informative evening, despite me being in the
privileged position of having already learnt a lot of the information from the
Project 26.2 experts.
There were some other pertinent points from the evening
that I would like to share with you:-
- The MS Trust produces almost £600,000 worth of free
literature every year for patients and professionals.
- Their website gets over 65,000 hits per month.
- There are only 230 qualified MS nurses in the UK.
- People with MS are often diagnosed in their 20s &
30s and MS is the most common cause of disability in young adults.
I think one quote summed it up.
‘It takes only 10 words and 1 minute to tell somebody
they have MS, but a lifetime to deal with it’.
My father and younger sister, both have this (at
present) incurable disease. If you would like to sponsor me to help raise funds
for this worthwhile charity, please go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RAYCV
More info about the MS Trust can be found here
www.mstrust.org.uk
Training
My training schedule this week was very similar to last
weeks, just with a bit more on the hills on Saturday. Kudos to my wife, for
driving me to a long hill and then killing time whilst I ran up and down the
hill. I hope these elements do not get much longer, I am running out of big
hills and might have some explaining to do to the wife when I say I need her to
drive me to the Swiss Alps for marathon training. Nick said this was a
consolidation week before the taper for the London Marathon kicks in which
sound ominous!
Until next week
The Hippo
Stretch,
Run & Sing, in that order – Monday 23rd January 2012
Hello again, these weeks are flying by. When I say that
the London Marathon is 3 months away, that sounds quite a long time, but when I
think of it in weeks and it is only 13 weeks away. To me, that doesn’t sound
long at all, especially when I have my weekly schedule from Nick and before I
now it I am doing my long run at the end of each week.
I mentioned in my last blog that I expected the report
from Paul (Physio & Therapy) to say ‘Ray, you are a lump and about a
flexible as a mahogany sideboard’, well I wasn’t far off. The opening line of
his conclusion was, and I quote ‘Ray you need to STEEEEEETCH my friend’. In
fact in some of the tests, I didn’t even register a score! I always thought
that the reason I couldn’t touch my toes was because my gut was in the way,
when in fact it had more to do with that my hamstrings are as tight as a guitar
string (the belly probably didn’t help either). Well the belly is slowly
getting smaller and along with the stretches prescribed to me, as of next week
I will be taking part in yoga or pilates classes three times a week. I am sure
this will be entertaining to watch as I attempt to get my body into positions
that I have about a 1% chance of actually achieving.
I have had a discussion with a few people now about
wearing headphones whilst running. I never have, for running or cycling. I much
prefer to be simply taking in what is around me. Very profound now. “Sometimes
we look but don’t see”. I also like to be with my own thoughts, less profound
now. On my Thursday run this week, I had the Thomas the Tank Engine tune/song
going on in my head. For those of you with young kids, I am sure you know it;
“They’re two, they’re four, they’re six they’re eight,
shunting trucks and hauling freight. Red and green and brown and blue, they’re
the really useful crew .” etc etc.
I had to get this tune out of my head, so here is a
little song that I thought up whilst running. To be sung to the tune of ‘That’s
Amoré’ (with apologies to Dean Martin).
When you feel the ground shake
It’s not an Earthquake
It’s The Hippo
When he tries to run fast
The effort doesn’t last
It’s The Hippo
Now he has a new approach
As he has his own coach
It’s The Hippo
So his aim of sub-four
Is a dream no more
It’s THE HIPPO!
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, watch out!
Saturday this week, I also popped along to Up &
Running in Sevenoaks to replace the original trainers that I got. After one run
on the treadmill at my gym, I decided they weren’t for me. So a quick call
before Christmas, and Alan said “No problem, I will order the other pair in for
you” which to be fair was the pair that Alan actually recommended in the first
place. Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Saucony Triumph 9’s (more
forefoot cushioning). It was good to have a chat with the guys in the shop and
they were genuinely interested in my training and progress. Good shop, good
staff!
So, my training this week.
Monday I took it easy and just did some core
conditioning in the evening.
Tuesday was a threshold session: 15 min warm up
followed by 5 x 5 minutes threshold elements with only 90 seconds rest between
each burst. This was a tough session, but I really enjoyed it as I could really
feel that I had a good work out.
Wednesday was cross training in the gym with a good
stretching session.
Thursday was 30 mins easy followed by 30 mins at
marathon pace. I know to achieve my sub4 marathon the slowest I can run is a
9:09min mile. So at the moment, I am aiming for what I think is a realistic
pace and that is an 8:50 min mile. I achieved this on Thursday and if I could
maintain that on the day that would give me a 3:51 marathon.
Friday, was a rest day, so I just did some stretching.
Saturday, I couldn’t resist my Parkrun in the morning
(Nick will probably tell me off), but I did this before driving to a hill, to
do (surprise surprise) a hill training session. If you have been following me
on Twitter, you may realise I am not a fan of hills. I know they are a
necessary evil, but me and gravity don’t get on. I did enough hills on my bike
to last me a lifetime when I cycled Land’s End to John O’Groats a couple of
years ago.
Sunday was a long run with PWR and we did just shy of
13 miles in 2:01:30. The run had 255 metres of ascent (if you are reading in
black and white that is 836feet) more hills.
So another week passes. I feel I am making good
progress, so I just need to keep cracking on with my training, especially my
stretching.
Until next week
The Hippo
Putting it all into practice – Monday 16th
January
Hello all, bit of a long blog this week and for me
quite a serious one. I am sure you have gathered from mine and the other
Spartans and GIRLS’ blogs, last Saturday’s Training day was very enlightening
and I am sure that I speak for the others that we are all now doing a lot more
than just ‘running’.
I decided to have a little think about the information,
knowledge and advice I have received over the past month or so and how this has
had an effect on my training and me. These are not necessarily in any
particular order of importance as I think they are all key components of
successful marathon training.
Gait analysis
Let’s face it, most of us are not brave or mad enough
to run bare footed like fellow Spartan, Justin, so due to the amount of time we
are on our feet, the right footwear is very importance. I won’t go into the
details of pronation, supination, heel striking etc here. But an effective Gait
analysis will discover all these elements. I must admit that I have had Gait
Analysis’ in the past at retailers (no names mentioned) where they literally ask
you to run on a treadmill and that is it. When I went to Up and Running in
Sevenoaks earlier in the month, I was asked to stand on one foot, walk with no
shoes on, squat on one leg, the arches of my feet were looked at, all before I
was even asked to ‘run on the treadmill’ Their conclusion was that I am a
neutral runner and a mid to forefoot striker.
Physio
After running my first 15K run in October last year, I
began to have problems with my left hamstring. I rested and did numerous
stretching. I have also been wearing compression shorts, but couldn’t get rid
of the niggle. After spending 10 minutes with Paul of Physio & Therapy he
identified the problem. The source of my problem is my glutes, too tight which
in turn were putting pressure on my sciatic nerve. Paul has given me some
stretching exercises and some nerve flossing (his words not mine) exercises to
do and already the niggle is feeling better. As part of the bio-mechanical
analysis that I had, Paul also confirmed that I am a neutral runner and mid to
forefoot striker. I will be receiving his full report this week. It will
probably be along the lines of ‘Ray, you are a lump and about a flexible as a
mahogany sideboard’
Stretching
I think most recreational/enthusiastic runners know the
importance of stretching, yet I expect most do not spend anywhere enough time
stretching. Also I must admit I have probably been doing it wrong for years.
Stretching cold muscles before a run and also not holding stretches long
enough. I am now taking a lot more time and effort to stretch properly after my
runs and again I am definitely feeling the benefits, especially less soreness
the day after long runs.
In fact I have been getting some funny looks from my
2yo boy as I do my one legged squat flamingo impression or perform the
stretches prescribed to me. He tries to join in and help by pushing and pulling
my limbs, so whilst I do not think Paul’s job is in jeopardy just yet, this
could be the start of a potential career for my boy.
It has also helped his vocabulary, he already said
“Daddy running” when I put on my running gear, but now he also says “Daddy
stretching” when I start my routine. I think I will wait a while before I teach
him to say “Daddy performing core strength exercises”
Core strengthening
To be honest I would have never considered core
strengthening to be part of a marathon training programme, but after having a
session with Nick & Phoebe (Runningwithus.com) and understanding the
benefits, I am now reguarly doing planks, bridges, finger crushers to name a
few.
Variety of running
When I did my previous marathons in 1998 & 1999, I
just went out and ran. Same pace, different distances and that was about it.
Now I am doing long runs, recovery runs, progression runs, hill running and the
tough one, threshold runs. In the past after a long run, if I ached the next
day I would not run, now with a short recovery run, the legs feel a lot better.
Sport Supplements
I think that most people has heard of Carbo loading.
However, it was interesting to learn about how much carbs your body can
actually digest per hour (especially important whilst running) and also the
importance of actually replenishing after a run. So during my last two long
runs, I have started taking the High5 energy gels. More than anything to make
sure I can get on with them, as my long runs haven’t been too long yet. I have
to say they are easy to consume, no water needed and no horrible sticky texture
in your mouth afterwards. Well worth a try in my opinion. I am also making
myself a 4:1 carb/protein drink after tough sessions to make sure I am
refuelling.
Conclusion
So in my humble opinion, Make sure you have the right
trainers, if you have a niggle, see a good physio and get it sorted quickly,
vary your running, ensure that you stretch and work on your core, and make sure
you are properly fuelled and refuel. You can only benefit from all of this!
Now I know it is easy for me to say as I am getting
this professional advice and service as part of Project 26.2. Maybe with the
exception of physio & sports supplements, the rest is free. Even if you
don’t have a personalised training plan, there is enough advice and plans that
can be found in Men’s Running to ensure you have a complete and varied training
plan.
There is no guarantee that I will run a Sub4 marathon,
but at least Project 26.2 and all the advice I have received is giving me the
best possible chance.
Quick review of my training for the past week
For Monday my training plan had me scheduled for a
30-45 min recovery run. However as I had run further than planned and been on
my feet for almost 2 and a half hours on the Sunday, I decided to just to do 20
mins as a bit of a loosener. Well the experts on the Training Day said to
listen to your body, and as I am now a performance athlete!
Tuesday was PWR (Petts Wood Runners) club night. Did
just over six miles, the first 3 were a steady pace approx 10 min mile , but
the last 3 miles the pace was upped a little, with a 8:51, 8:30 and then I went
for it in the last mile and managed to put in a 7:10 min mile, definitely
threshold pace for me.
Wednesday I did some gym work and core strengthening.
Thursday was a progression run, 15 mins easy, 15 steady
and then 15 threshold. I managed to fall arse over tit early on (tree root) so
there is now a large indentation on the pavement!
Friday was a rest day.
Saturday: When I went to my car at 08:30 in the morning
to drive to the Bromley Parkrun, the thermometer registered -5. I thought my
Sub4 running gear was in reference to my target marathon time, not the
temperatures I would be running in! Anyway, by taking on-board the advice from
Nick, I did a ‘proper’ 10-15 minute warm up, so I was primed from the off. I
had forgotten to charge my Garmin, so I was running ‘on my own’ but I had
consciously made a decision to go for a PB. Despite not having my watch to
guide me, I managed a new 5k PB of 22:18 knocking a 1minute, 1 second of my
previous best. Well chuffed!
Sunday: I was out with Petts Wood Runners for a 11.6
mile easy run. A beautiful crisp morning and very picturesque as we ran through
woodlands, across farmland and the edges of a golf course (all on public
footpaths by the way).
So that’s it from me for this week, normal service of
me just making up random stuff will be resumed next week.
The Hippo
The furthest I have run twice – Monday 9th
January 2012
I started the week with a planned 90 minute run, but
ended up being on the road for 110 minutes. Doing my training based on time
rather than distance is something I am not used to but the bonus was I ran just
under 12 miles which is the furthest I have run since 1999!
Tuesday was an easy 45 mins on the treadmill. I was
meant to do Pilates (no laughing at the back) and some cross training on
Wednesday but my usual class had been removed from the timetable at my gym.
Cross training for me was cycling. I got home from work and Hurricane Mental
was going on outside, after a 15 minute argument with myself on whether I
should go out, I donned my lycra (not a pretty site, a Hippo in Lycra) and
battled the elements for a 50 min cycle. At one point I had to cycle downhill
just to keep moving due to the headwind.
During the week, I reached a milestone of 100 followers
on Twitter. I was also asked a question via Twitter on just how much as a Hippo
do I weigh. Well, when I decided to consciously start my training on 1st August
last year I was 17st 3lb. On the 1st Jan this year I was 16st 3lb. Hopefully
with the booze ban, healthy eating and my training I will be losing quite a bit
more weight. According to those BMI charts I need to lose at least another 2
stone to be in the acceptable weight band. This is not my ultimate aim, but
surely the lighter I am the better chance I will have of running a sub4
marathon? I will keep you updated. But to be honest if you want inspiration re
weight loss, take a look at fellow Spartan Richard who two years ago was 25
stone!
Thursday was a progression run, 3 x 15 minutes segments
getting progressively harder, the sweat was pouring off me. Friday was a rest
day, so I rested.
Saturday was the Project 26.2 Training Day. I think I
speak for all of the Spartans & the GIRLS that we learnt absolute bundles
from our coaches Nick and Phoebe and Paul our Physio. I could write a couple of
pages about the day and I doubt if it would do it justice, so I thought I would
limit it to 10 things that I learnt:
1) I AM a performance athlete.
2) I am not very flexible (although I kind of knew this
already).
3) I won’t challenge Richard to a game of Twister
because he IS very flexible.
4) I am rubbish at the plank.
5) I am even more rubbish at one legged squats.
6) I need to eat more, a bit like Keith, who didn’t
seem to stop eating all day.
7) I am part of the 20% of runners that supinate and
have a similar foot strike to 80% of elite athletes who supinate, apparently J.
8) My running style is potentially suited to minimalist
trainers.
9) I have found somebody less co-ordinated than me:
Justin.
10) I can use my little boy as a free weight as part of
my training. If it was good enough for a Russian runner (whose name escapes me)
who beat Paula Radcliffe, it will be good enough for me.
I know I said 10, but I have an 11th and this is a good
one.
11) My testicles can tell me if a have tight hip
flexors!
For Sunday Nick had another 90min easy run planned for
me. I recently joined one of my local running clubs ‘Petts Wood Runners’ and
they had a group run. So we met at 8:40am at Petts Wood train station
(surprisingly), jumped on the train to Sevenoaks and then had a jog back which
included some cross-country and a hill or two (the North Downs). A bit longer
than 90mins again, and probably not as easy as it should have been. But I
enjoyed the run clocking up 13.8 miles and this was the furthest I had run
since, er, Monday!?
Oh, somebody recognised me in the Supermarket as they
said they had seen me in the Men’s Running magazine. I know how David Beckham
feels now, I can’t even go to my local supermarket now without being
approached!
Until next week
The Hippo
Training for Two - Monday 2nd January
I started the New Year as I mean to go on, running; taking part in the additional NYD Bromley Parkrun. If any of you are following me on Twitter (subtle hint @JoggingHippo) you might have noticed a monumental statement from me on New Year's Day. The Hippo (that’s me), member of CAMRA, the man that has a keg and not a six-pack is going on the wagon! The next alcoholic beverage I will be consuming will be on April 22nd, hopefully to celebrate a sub-4 London Marathon.
My planned training this week was very similar to week one, four runs including threshold training and hill training, plus some cycling and Pilates. I must admit that it didn’t quite go to plan due to family and football commitments. But I still managed a 60 min easy(ish) run, a 45 min run with threshold elements, a 45 min run with hill sessions and a bit of cross training. Now the festivities are over there are no excuses.
So training for two? Don’t worry I am not pregnant, although some of my mates might say I look like I have been pregnant for years. It is not only me that is in training, my little boy has now started his toilet training. I am now the ‘proud’? owner of a double seated toilet seat. Day one saw 17 visits to the toilet without any final action. I think I might record these shuttle runs as part of my training log.
This week also saw the February editions of the Men’s Running and Women’s Running hit the shelves, not the top shelves you understand. The Spartans and the GIRLS can now be found in the Health & Fitness section of WH Smiths and other retailers. I have to smile when I think about this, me in the health and fitness section!
So next week, Project 26.2 goes up a gear which includes a training day where all the guys and girls will be put through our paces by Nick and Phoebe and we will also be meeting our Physio Paul Hobrough, who I am sure will tell me that my running style is akin to a three-legged camel. Despite this, I am really looking forward to the day and will update you all next week about the pleasures and pains.
Finally, as I type this there are 111 days until the London Marathon, so as well as my target of a sub-4 marathon, I also have a target for my charity, the MS Trust. I have decided to aim for £2620 (a mere £100 per mile). If you would like to sponsor me you can via uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RAYCV
Cheers
The Hippo
Jingle Bells - Wednesday 28th December 2011
So this week, my fellow Project 26.2ers and I all started with our official training schedules. No taking it easy for us, Nick & Phoebe mean business. But if we all want to achieve our targets, we need to start as we mean to go on.
Now before I go on, the title ‘Project 26.2ers’ is a bit of a mouthful, so I want to give our groups collective names. For the gents I will now refer to us as the ‘Spartans’ (nicked from Keith to be honest, as he used that word when he twittered me). If you have seen the film 300, I think I have a long way to go before I get a physique like the Spartans. For the ladies, I will refer to them as the ‘GIRLS’. I know what you are thinking, “what a rubbish name”. Well GIRLS actually stands for Groovy Inspirational Running Lady Stars, not so rubbish now is it?!
So this week’s schedule courtesy of Nick my coach, (Ha can you believe that, ‘my coach’ the closest I have been to being coached is sitting on the back seat of National Express 40 seater). Anyway, the week started off with some cross training at the gym (rowing and cycling) followed by a 60 minute easy run with my running club on Tuesday evening, followed by a warm down with a cheeky Guinness. The club were having a couple of Christmas drinks, so I thought it was rude not to. I had a couple of people come up to me and ask if I was the JoggingHippo? Oh the power of the Tinterweb!
Wednesday I was meant to cycle to work, but was bringing my little boy up to London, so didn’t want to battle with the Sarf London traffic with him balanced on the handle bars, I thought about it, but instead settled for a 45 minute ride once I got home.
Thursday morning was a 45 minute running session including threshold elements. Friday was a rest day which was perfect timing as Thursday afternoon/evening was my team’s Christmas Do. As I subscribe to Men’s Running, the latest edition was delivered, so I got to see myself and my fellow Spartans in print, what a fine band of men we are! Don’t forget, the magazine will be available in all good newsagents from 29th December.
Christmas Eve, I ran in the Bromley Park Run and then found a local hill (well I didn’t find it, I knew it was there) and did some hill runs. I then took a trip to Sevenoaks to visit the Up & Running shop. Alan and Tony were very helpful looking after me and I received some early Christmas prezzies, fully kitted out with Sub4 gear (I am hoping this is a lucky omen for my target time) and a lovely new pair of Saucony running trainers.
Christmas Day. This was meant to be a rest day. Nick, if you are reading this, apologies, I promise to listen in the future but there was a Christmas Day Parkrun. I had to join the 124 other hardy souls, as A) I have never gone for a run on Christmas Day before and B) I needed to ‘earn’ the extra calories for the Dinner I was cooking that day. Yes you read that right people, modern man me, cooking the Christmas Roast. My wife and little boy are still alive with no reports of food poisoning, so I will deem that a success. Oh it tasted really good as well.
So week one of the official training schedule completed, I have a sneaky suspicion that it is going to get a little bit harder!
Merry Christmas
The Hippo
The Wallowing Hippo - Monday 19th December 2011
Hello. Let me introduce myself. I am Ray AKA the @JoggingHippo. Why the hippo? Well, a long time ago I was playing in a Sunday morning football game in monsoon conditions. After going in for a sliding tackle, it was commented that I looked like a wallowing hippo. The rest as they say is history. Why jogging? Er, surely I don’t need to explain that.
So, I have been picked for Project 26.2. I can’t believe it, my wife couldn’t believe it, my mum and dad couldn’t believe it, my mates couldn’t... I think you get the picture.
Monday 5th December was the start of the project. Meet up for a photo shoot, interview with Danny (Men’s Running editor), talks with a High5 rep regarding nutrition and have a chat with the coaches re my training plan.
Now before I go on, a comment re: the coaches Nick & Phoebe. Well, Phoebe. I was looking at Phoebe thinking, "I’m sure I know you from somewhere." (Yeah that old chestnut Ray, "haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”). When I got home, I said to my wife, “I am sure one of our coaches is a nurse on one of those hospital programmes, if not she is a dead ringer or her twin sister”. Lo and behold, after some extensive research (the www.runningwithus.com website), I confirmed that Phoebe was in Holby City!
Anyway, I met the other lads and lasses who are taking part in Project 26.2, and they are a thoroughly nice bunch, although I think we are all mad in our own way. As I suspected, I am the token fat bloke in the group. We have already been e-mailing and tweeting each other and I look forward to meeting up with them at our training day and following their progress.
The icing on the cake was the High5 nutritional supplements and the Garmin610 that we all received. Cheshire Cat springs to mind!
My training started on August 1 (before I even knew about Project 26.2), when to be honest I struggled to run two miles without stopping. Since then I have slowly been building up the miles. To date I have now taken part in 12 Park Run’s (the free weekly 5k runs) and have also completed three 10Ks and a 15K event. I have also joined my local running club, Petts Wood Runners. Work permitting; I go out every Tuesday evening for a group run.
Last week I did my longest run since 1999, running 10 miles into work. Despite being soaked, I felt pretty good. My feelgood factor was quickly deflated. Having gone into one of the shower rooms at work and getting undressed, I then discovered the shower wasn’t working. Cue putting wet running gear back on and having to wait for another shower to become free!
Please check back on a weekly basis, to find out how I am getting on and see if I have bumped into any other Holby City stars.
Finally, I should say that my Project 26.2 is next year’s Virgin London Marathon. I am running for the MS Trust. If you would like to sponsor me (and find out about my SOGEF) please go to my Virgin Money Giving page uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RAYCV
Cheers
The Hippo
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