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post Marathon

I did it! I ran the London Marathon in 4.43 and finished 19,360th! It was a hot day - I remembered to bring a hat, but I forgot suncream. I think the hat was a lifesaver in actually allowing me to get round - I was very worried I'd get heat exhaustion. The suncream would have been nice though - I'm quite burnt on my arms, neck, and backs of my legs.

I felt pretty good through the first half. The low point was at around mile 17 when I somehow lost track of how far I'd gone and was expecting mile 18 to be coming up. Big disappointment when I saw the marker.

Fortunately I got a lift soon after when I saw my friends Alison and Chris - it definitely helped to see some friendly faces on route. If I do another then I will get my name printed on my shirt - I hadn't realised people gave shout-outs as they saw names pass by.

The last section was tough. My legs were very tired, but I stuck to my run/walk cycle and it did seem to help stop me seizing up. The feeling when I finished was incredible. I can't really describe it - just a kind of cathartic wave of emotion. I shall probably look very strange in the photo.

After the race I staggered across the river to meet H (we thought it would be a bit less crowded on the South Bank). We had a snack at the NFT cafe and I got changed. Then we went on to eat at Strada - it was pretty good (though I suspect almost anything would have tasted good) and then back to H's parents in time to see the girls before they went to bed.

Here's my official time, and here's a random picture of me on Flickr - I literally picked it out a big page of thumbnails.

Marathon Sponsorship

I'm running the marathon for myself primarily, but I wanted to raise some money for charity too, so I've chosen Amnesty International, as I've been involved with them for a long time now. I've got a JustGiving page up here, or the button below should also link to it.

Thanks in advance to anyone that will sponsor me! Amnesty have been campaigning for the human rights of victims of oppressive regimes for many years, and unfortunately there are still many countries that practice torture, arbitrary detention, and "disappearances" - ie state sponsored murder.

Marathon Training

Looking out the window now, it looks like I did well to go running yesterday. Still, it was the toughest run I've done yet - my body seemed to rebel from the moment I set off. My left foot had been aching a bit in the week and it started playing up almost as soon as I set off. I think a lot of this was also psychological - all the negative parts of my brain trying to make excuses for me not to finish. Normally it wears off after a while but this time it just seemed to be continuous.

Fortunately, after a couple of miles, my foot felt better and I did have a fairly good run for an hour or so. But I wasn't even up to 2 hours before I started feeling a bit tired - which is quite unusual.

By 3 hours out I was really suffering, and my right leg almost cramped. Fortunately that kind of made me realise that a big part of the problem was dehydration. I stopped at a random stranger's house and asked them if they'd refill my bottle (thanks, random stranger). Previously I seem to have got round nearly 20 miles with just 500ml of water and whatever I drank before I set off, but yesterday I just needed more - I had to stop and ask again before I finished.

Anyway, I finally struggled home in about 4.13 (predicting a marathon time of just under 5 hours). I'm pretty pleased I did it, and didn't jack it in - I think it will really help build some mental toughness for the big day. OTOH, I'd really like to do better than 5 hours on the day, so I need to make sure I stay more hydrated.

I got my pack through from the Marathon telling me where I'm starting and such like. And Amnesty have sent me various sponsorship stuff - I'm going to set up a justgiving site, so it should be available in the next few days - I'm just waiting for some Amnesty bits to customise it.

100 miles

I did 20 miles on Saturday, in just over 3 hours 30. I think that takes me to just over 100 miles run so far this year. Conditions were good on Saturday though - I did the same route as for the 17 mile run, but I just added on a couple of loops of the science park, and a wrong turning to make it up to 20 miles. Definitely more aches and pains on this run though - my right ankle started to twinge, and every walk break I had to stop and rotate it a few times to get it feeling right again.

For some reason the big psychological hurdle for me was the 17 mile run - maybe because I hadn't run so far before. Ironically that went very well, but this one was much harder. I definitely got some kind of second wind towards the end though - I felt tired, but my form imroved, and I was able to run strongly to the finish.

Next long run though, I have to find some more places for comfort breaks!

Running this morning

I did my longest run ever so far this morning - just under 15 miles. Took me about 2 hours 40, which is a bit slower than I'd like. Conditions were okay when I set off, but my hands started to get really cold after about an hour - I think I need some thin gloves that I can take to prevent it as this has happened a few times now. I find if I take my normal gloves my hands get too hot, and the gloves are too bulky to easily put in my waist bag.

It rained too in the latter half of the run, and I finished the circuit by going round Nine Wells, so there was quite a lot of muddy ground to cover. Bit of a slog to be honest, but I feel good now I've done it. I'm going to aim for 17 miles in a couple of weeks time, and that should pull me back just ahead of the schedule in Galloway, and give me some slack in case I lose more time later on in the year.

This weekend

I increased the distance a bit this weekend - I did an 8 mile circuit + 3 runs from the corner of Chesterton Road and Castle Hill up to the top of Castle Mound. Each run up is just under 1/5 mile, so that's just over another mile altogether. Time was around 1 hour 30, so I'm reasonably happy with that.

I seem to be getting a bit of soreness underneath the outside of my right knee though, so I'm going back to the physio to get it checked out.

Saturday

Here's today's route - 7 miles in 68 minutes. that's about 9.45 a mile. Turnover was about 170, and my legs felt okay most of the time - the left knee was a bit stiff, but the right ITB felt okay this time - I have been stretching it.

My Amazon stuff arrived - two more books to add to my productivity/self-help collection. Dave Allen's Ready for Anything which looks a bit of a swizz to be honest. Just recycled columns from his website and stuff like that. I bought it largely on the strength of the fact that Amazon users reviewed it favourably. Oh well. The other one is The Now Principle which looks much more promising. Hopefully it will give me some ideas to overcome my woeful habit of procrastinating.

Perhaps it's working already - I started reviewing my Risk course, and I got through 6 chapters. And I played with L & E in the garden too, and H has finished her OU exams, so a good day all round.

34 mins

Got up at six, it was dark but surprisingly warm (given that it's frickin' October already). I felt pretty good running, and I measured turnover at around 174, so I'm quite happy with that. I've noticed some tension in my right ITB though, so I'm going to have to remember to stretch it.

Other news - been off work since Friday - Mrs F had a minor op (saw consultant Friday, op on Saturday - wonders of private cover) and it kind of knocked her out for a few days. She has an exam for her OU course this Friday, so I wanted to give her as much time as possible to get back to feeling well. Fortunately she seems much better today, and I was able to go back to work in the afternoon.

Another day, another run

I did my short circuit this morning. I seem to have got into the habit of doing it twice a week, and then a longer run at the weekend. Hopefully that will see me through my marathon training.

I think I'm going to have to buy some more running clothes though, and also look at getting some energy bars and stuff - I've been taking bananas with me to eat, but they don't react well to being knocked about inside the waist bag, and you end up with a rather soggy banana.

Incidentally does anyone have a waist bag that stays still when running? I can only get mine to keep still by using safety pins. If I don't it bounces like crazy, and it's really distracting.

Saturdays Run

Here's where I went - courtesy of Gmap Pedometer.

I tried to raise my turnover a bit, and found I could run comfortably at around 160 just by paying a bit of attention to it. That's quite a big improvement on what I was doing before, so I think it should be possible to incrementally raise it further before next year.

Based on the gmap results and my run time (about 1.02 for the whole circuit), my best current estimate for my marathon time is about 4.15. I'd like to get it down to 4 hours at least, but again, it's early days yet. Plenty of time to get injured...

Legs are quite stiff today. Next short run is tomorrow - it's getting harder to get out of bed now the mornings are getting darker.

Out on the road

I've managed to run both Tuesday and Thursday morning this week, which I'm quite proud of. Not particularly far - just round Cherry Hinton and back. The short version of the route takes about 35 minutes.

I've been looking at my turnover - currently about 152-154. I wasn't sure what was considered a "good" turnover, but apparently 180 is where it's at. So I'm going to look at gradually picking up my turnover - apparently higher is actually better at reducing injury too, as it means you tend to run lighter and without raising your foot so much.

Running when it's hot

Huh, having just read this Making Light thread on heat stress on Friday, I went out for a run on Saturday morning about 8am (thinking it wouldn't be too hot) and I didn't drink enough water before I went, and I ended up with what I'd diagnose as mild heat exhaustion. Fortunately I realised I didn't feel quite right and cut the run short, but it left me kind of vulnerable for the rest of the day. In the late afternoon, I mowed the lawn and felt fine, but when I tried to do a bit of work in the garage after that, I started feeling really stressed, and making stupid mistakes. Again, fortunately I realised something was wrong, and went to lie down and drink more water till I felt better, but it was amazing how quickly I went from fine to really-not-right-at-all. Today the weather is cooler, but take heed from my lesson kids: be careful if you are running (or otherwise exerting yourselves) in the sun.

Back on the Road

On Saturday while England were playing, I was busy buying new running shoes from Hobbs (Grays as was). It was very quiet, so the guy was able to spend some time advising me and looking at me walk (he was impressed with how relaxed my hamstrings were but not in a gay way oh no). Anyway, I ended up getting some Saucony Grid shoes, my usual Asics not being up to correcting the pronation enough.

On Monday I had physio so I got her seal of approval on the shoes as well. She seemed to be happy enough for me to start doing some short runs (10-15 minutes), so I shall get out there and give it a go, probably at the weekend. Just have to see how the knee behaves itself.

Physio

I had a second appointment with Dr Speed last Thursday, where she put me on a treadmill to observe me running. The thing that was immediately clear to me on the video was that the front of my right foot splays out as I land, which inevitably forces the knee in and contributes to the PFS. Anyway, Dr Speed thought I should try physio first, rather than seeing the podiatrist about orthotics. Just as well, as the podiatry appointments are pretty expensive, and not covered by my insurance. I'd go anyway if I thought it was necessary, but best to leave it in reserve.

Anyway, I saw the physio, Jane Warrington, on Monday. She focused a bit more on the muscular imbalance between the outer and inner quad muscles - she reckoned this was pulling the kneecap out of alignment. So I have exercises to strengthen those muscles, and my glutes. They're quite subtle exercises, but when you isolate the muscles you realise how easily they tire. The other interesting thing to me that I've noticed doing the quad exercises is that if I lunge / squat down the way I'm supposed to, with my knee over my second toe, it tends to put my weight more on the outside edge of my foot, and I realise that the fact my feet are quite flat may also be causing my knee to roll in. So I think when I start running again I'd better have a look for some motion control in my shoes. Not sure what make and model to go for yet - I've used Asics for a long time, so I guess I'll look at their range first.

Fixing my knee

So I got a referral from my doctor, and by the power of private medical insurance I saw Dr Cathy Speed at the Lea hospital on Tuesday. She was very good - she runs herself I think - and she seemed to think I do have PFS, and that it is fixable by a combination of physiotherapy, and possibly orthotics.

She's referred me on to a physio Jayne Warrington and a bio-mechanics specialist, Sophie Cox. Plus I have to see Dr Speed again next week and she'll put me on the treadmill to confirm what she thinks is causing the PFS - she reckons its lack of core stability, basically causing my leg to collapse inward as it lands.

All pretty hopeful really. It's the marathon next weekend of course, so it would be nice to get going again around that time.

Out of the marathon

Unfortunately, I'm out of the 2006 marathon I think. My right knee started hurting after my run on the 11th, and it's the same problem as before - PFS. So until I can work out what's causing it (gait, footstrike, could be various things) and whether I can fix it, I've had to stop running, which is basically going to destroy my training schedule for the marathon. So I'm pretty much decided that I'm going to defer until 2007, unless I recover by a miracle.

By some sort of irony, I saw this link the other day: How Running Made Us Human - quite interesting theory.

Marathon Training

Well, I got up at 6 today and on Tuesday and ran a four mile circuit. Took me just under 50 minutes both times - which is pretty slow, but I'm not so worried about times at this stage. Just getting out and round is enough.

I'm going to try skipping the short run for a while at least - I'm not sure if I'll get the benefit from it. I may try to start doing it if the training isn't hurting me too much later on. I discovered that running to work is not a sensible idea - I'd realised I'd have to take in spare clothes the day before in order to have something to wear when I got to work, but I forgot about a coat, and at that point, the idea just began to seem absurd. All these logistics? Why bother when I can just do a circuit from home?

Useful things so far:

• gmap pedometer - I've mentioned this before, but it's really handy for working out distances for run routes. Here's the coming Sunday's 8 mile run from my parent's place.
• Google Groups search - on energy bars. Pro-bar opinion seems to centre on CLIF bars (not tried yet myself). The anti-bar sentiment seems to think it's all hype, and you'd be as well to eat, say, a Jordan's Frusli. I looked at those in Sainsbury's but the sugar looked very high as a proportion of the carbs. I got some reasonably priced bars from Holland and Barrett (3 for £1) which were quite nice: CarbWise Caramel Peanut Crisp. V popular in the Cambridge store apparently. I may stick with those unless I find something better.

London Marathon

Fantastic news this week - I'm in next year's London Marathon. I've wanted to do this for a long time, but the amount of training has always put me off. Ironically, now I have two children, I have less time to run in than when I was single and lived in Blackheath (where the race starts), but what the hey.

Moments after the initial elation come the doubts about whether you can actually do it. Fortunately, I had read about this book:

which sounded ideal for me - I think I saw it on Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools. A quick Amazon later and I'm reading it.

Jeff's method, in short, is that you have to run and walk from the start. There's a lot more to it than that, but the idea is to stop your legs getting so fatigued. Also you run the full distance before the day itself, so you don't have a "wall" to hit.

The program is really for 26 weeks, but I only have 20 till the race, so I started at week 6 of a 4 hour time program to see if I could do it. Today was to run 11 miles. I got round okay - the run walk thing really works well. He also recommends short, low steps, and eating while you go. Anyway, it's by far the longest run I've done recently, and my knee problem didn't bother me, so I'm sold so far.

In the coming week I'm supposed to do two 40-50 minute runs on Tuesday and Friday + a 30 minute run on Wednesday. I'm thinking I can do the longer ones by running to work (although it's a bit further than is ideal and it means I have to use the godawful buses to get home). The short one maybe I can do at lunchtime, but I may just have to drop it this week as I'm not sure how I'm going to fit it in really.

I'll try to blog what I've done against the program, and how I think I'm going to do. I'm hoping for about a four hour time, but my run today suggests more like 4.30 - 4.40. Still, early days.

First steps back on the road

I did my first run for several months yesterday - just under 20 minutes round Cherry Hinton Park on a lovely autumn afternoon. My knee felt fine (apart from one minor twinge) so I'm hoping that I can gradually build up the amount of running I do again.

I'm thinking maybe two shorter runs a week would be better than a single longer one, so I'll try that. I'm also thinking of getting some gait analysis done - anyone know a good place? - in case I've developed a problem in that area that caused the knee inflammation.

Good to be back on the road again though.

Gmap Pedometer running routes

I saw the Google maps hack this guy did (he wanted to work out distances for running) so I saved my basic 3 running routes around Cambridge:

• round the city - about 6 miles
• Cherry Hinton Park (includes a hill) - about 5 miles
• Nine Wells - somehow the URL for this got lost - I'll re-record it.

Hey - 2 years blogging as of a couple of days ago.

More on Knee Problems

I went to see someone who actually knows about knees, and I've been diagnosed with chondromalacia - also known as runner's knee as it is apparently pretty common in runners. Anyway, I have to rest the knee for a bit, and then I need to look into what might be causing the underlying problem - could be overpronation, although I've been using the same kind of fairly neutral shoes for a long time now without any problem.

Knee Problems

I've been having some trouble with my right knee for several weeks now. It aches just on the inside of the joint when I'm running, and it persists after the run, which made me worried about doing too much with it.

I've been to the doctor and she said there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, so after a bit of rest, I've started running again with a knee support. I suppose I should be grateful that I've had about 10 years without any injuries, but it's still annoying when something that's become such an important ritual in my life is suddenly threatened without there being any apparent cause as to why the knee should suddenly start playing up.

Nine Wells

I discovered this site the other day, which has a variety of walks around Cambridge. Since I'd recently been reading about Hobsons Conduit, I decided to do the Nine Wells walk as a run. I enjoyed it (although my right knee started playing up - probably a sign I need new trainers) and it looks like I can extend the run by going up the hill past Nine Wells towards Shelford.

Marathon Day

Watched some of the marathon this morning - I used to live in Blackheath and it's always interesting to me just for that reason. I do want to do it myself, but I just haven't been disciplined enough to sort out the application - partly because I could never quite figure out when I was going to do all the training. I've done the Great North Run twice, which was good fun. I will do the marathon though - although not next year now (for reasons I won't go into at the moment). Maybe I'll aim for 2006.

I'm not going running today I think - I've managed to go twice this week in the morning, which is a new experience for me. I used not to like getting up and setting off, but with being off work, it's actually been quite a pleasant thing to do. I'll try to see if I can continue to do it after I start work again. I'm starting at Sungard tomorrow - I have to go down to London for an induction day - it's the first time I think that I've joined a company that has an induction when you join, rather than six months later when it's redundant knowledge. Bodes well in my opinion.

Catch Up

Well not really running - I've missed blogging two runs on the last two Sundays - both standard circuits of about 55 minutes each. That also means that I haven't blogged anything for over two weeks which is a bit annoying.

In my defence I can only say that I've been a bit stressed and generally waiting for a particular thing to happen and that often makes me put things off - like everything is on hold until the thing I'm waiting for occurs. I still can't say what it is but I'm pretty hopeful now and that's sort of unblocked me, which means I now have a gazillion links and bits to post. Oh well.

Running Yesterday

Back to my "default" circuit for a change. One slight detour round the Coleridge Rec Ground - I wondered if there was an entrance on the far side from Radegund Road - looks like there is but I didn't feel up to running down there to see where it comes out. Too cold. Total time about 57 minutes.

Today, I are been mostly running...

Towards Cherry Hinton - I went out along the path off the end of Brookfields, which comes out at the Coldhams Lane development - a surprising amount of buildings have gone up there over the last few months. Through Cherry Hinton, then round the little nature reserve (apparently called The Spinney) and round the Chalk Pit.

Somehow the small wood with the huge alien chalk pit behind it reminds me of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood - which I heartily recommend to anyone who hasn't read it.

Back home via Cherry Hinton Park. Total time 38 minutes and a bit.

Running Yesterday

I did a slightly shorter circuit than usual yesterday. I ran up to the Green Dragon bridge via the route I'd take to work on my bike, then across the common, and back via Parkers Piece and the cycle bridge. Total time about 45 minutes.

I timed myself to the Green Dragon Bridge as I've discovered that it's very close to being the half way point on my journey to work. That took just under 18 minutes, suggesting that running to work would take about 35 minutes. That compares with 20 minutes by bike, 50 by bus, and about 1 hour 5 minutes on foot. I haven't tried driving there yet, but the traffic to the Science Park area always seems pretty bad, so cycling wins hands down.

Running and Blogging

Today I went back to my "standard" circuit round the city. I didn't manage to run last weekend because of meeting friends for lunch and feeling too tired afterwards. So today was a bit a of a struggle - probably more so to get out the door than to keep going once I'd started. Took just over an hour to get round.

Similarly I notice I don't seem to be blogging very much either. I think it's mainly because I'm having problems deciding what I want to do outside of work and so I don't know what to focus my energy on. I'm also never sure how much personal information I want to put in. I didn't mind talking about my job search because it was helpful to me to keep a record, and very little of that needed to be confidential. I also thought that it might possibly be helpful to other people.

Another run round Cherry Hinton

Today I went out along the path that starts from the end of Brooklands (ie at the end of Mill Road) and followed my nose round past the new developements just off Coldhams Lane up to the Robin Hood pub.

I then went into the nature reserve across the road from there. That was some nice running - it's wooded, and it was quite muddy today, but it has some nice little ups and downs to go over. I got a bit lost and ended up at the exit by Limekiln Road which I really didn't want to run again - see last week.

So I doubled back, and ended up in a large chalk pit near to Limekiln Road. I had no idea it was there before, so I had a good run round and ended up scrambling up a very slippery bank at the end to run back through a field and then back into the nature reserve.

I ran back home via Cherry Hinton Hall park and then Birdwood Road and Perne Road. Total time about 42 minutes.

Today's Run

Similar to last time (see the category archive if you want the whole story) except instead of keeping going along Worts Causeway, I turned right onto Limekiln Road to get back to Cherry Hinton. This was a BIG MISTAKE. Seriously, the road is really narrow and some sections have no verge at all so if cars come from both directions at once, they literally have to queue up to get round you. This is very un-nerving, and clearly the potential for being run over is enormous, so I'm not running that way again.

Back in Cherry Hinton I ran up the High Street until I could cut back to the path that runs along the back of Cherry Hinton Hall park - followed that back to Birdwood Road and from there back to Perne Road.

Total time about 52 minutes.

I also noticed for the first time some footpaths into a nature reserve in Cherry Hinton, so I may check those out next time. I'd quite like to go to the hash again but I don't think this is a good week to start as I have two evening things with work this week.

Today's Run

I wanted to do a different circuit, so I ran out down Perne Road, into Birdwood Road, then through Cherry Hinton Park. I carried on out along Cherry Hinton Road towards Fulbourn then cut through a hedge on the right into a field that takes you south towards Worts Causeway.

This is the point of the run really - the section through the field is quite long, and it goes up a hill (yes, really) that allows you to look down on Cambridge. The sky was big, the weather was cold, there were no people. Just what I needed to clear my head.

That section actually brings you out opposite a path that takes you round Wandlebury Ring, but that makes it a much longer run, so I skipped that today.

Coming back into the city via Worts Causeway and Mowbray Road then Perne Road was not so good (although running the causeway was pretty quiet) but it had got pretty dark and cold by then, so I figured taking the shortest route back was probably wise.

Total time was about 48 minutes.

Running

Went running yesterday. Standard circuit - took 57 minutes (although I omitted running up Castle Mound).

Today's Run

Ran for about an hour. I did the usual circuit, except that I went down Grange Road onto Barton Road and back to Lammas Land from there. I had intended to do a bit of exploring South of Barton Road, but I needed to get back home for about 4 - I shall have to run quicker.

Also went for a run last Thurday, but forgot to post about it. That was about an hour too.

Sunday and Monday

Did a standard circuit on Sunday afternoon. Weather was quite clear -- just a little drizzle at times -- and surprisingly warm. Just under an hour to get round.

Monday evening I finally got round to going back to the Cantab Hash. Interesting circuit -- nobody was quite sure if we'd done it all. Perhaps a bit too much running round the carparks of Cambridge, but good fun in general. Met a few new faces at the Radegund -- there may even be someone there who can help me find another job.

Yesterday's Run

Did a moreorless standard route - didn't do Castle Mound, but I ran out as far as Grange Road instead of Queen's Road and did some back roads at the bottom to come out on Lammas Land and rejoin the standard route from there.

Total time was just under an hour. Weather cold but bright.

I may try to go to the Cantab hash tonight -- not managed to go for too many weeks now.

Today's Run

Went for a run about 4.30. Took just over an hour to do my standard route, which is:

• Up Perne Road towards Sainsbury's.
• Left along Coldham's Lane.
• Up to the junction with Newmarket Road, turn left and run up to the Elizabeth way roundabout.
• Go down the path that leads into Midsummer Common and then run along the river past the boathouses and as far as Jesus lock.
• Cross the river, over the zebra crossing, then up the little road past the playground and follow the back roads up to the corner of Clare Street, where you can turn intoo the back of the County Hall carpark.
• Through the carpark and up Castle Hill for a quick breather - that takes about 25 minutes.
• Down the hill, cross the road and run down the side of the County Arms.
• Follow your nose down to the junction of Chesterton Road (between Westminster College and what was the Town and Gown). Cross there and then turn down Queen's Road.
• Follow that down, running along the paths of the Backs until you get to the corner of Queen's Road and Silver Street. Cross there and carry on down towards Bella Pasta.
• Cross the little footbridge and run up towards the river path. Turn right and run along by the river, crossing under the Fen Causeway (I think) until you get to the little bridge that crosses over just by Lammas Land.
• Cross there, and follow your nose along until you get to the corner of Brooklands with Trumpington Street.
• Run along Brooklands, then cross Hills Avenue just at the bridge over the railway. Cross this, turn left into Cherry Hinton Road, and then either just run along this road until you reach Perne Road again, or turn up, say, Rustat Road, and go along the back way to get to Perne Road.

As I say, this took about an hour - weather was nice, quite cold, but sunny.