tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48333156350636250942024-02-20T09:27:22.355-08:0012 Marathons In 12 MonthsI started 2011 with the aim of running a marathon in each calendar month. After sticking with this plan up to August, I have since decided to run 2 marathons a month for the last 4 months of the year. I will be raising money for the construction of an SOS Children's Village in Chipata, Zambia.Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-27447175588932442262011-12-21T02:47:00.000-08:002011-12-21T07:55:04.405-08:00Portsmouth Coastal Marathon<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Hurrah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2011 is almost at an end and I’m feeling greatly relieved to have reached the end injury free with my marathon challenge behind me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As has already been pointed out, it is a good job that I can run better than I can count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have completed 16 marathons in one year after originally intending to do just one a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My average time for all 16 was just under 3 hours 30 minutes, ranging from 3 hours 3 minutes in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city> to 4 hours 14 minutes for the Shillington Shuffle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran 6 pure road marathons, 5 trail marathons and 5 marathons that were a mix of road and trail, and 5 of the marathons required a degree of self-navigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, my choice of marathons was reasonably diverse, which certainly helped to keep the challenge interesting throughout the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure it would have been as enjoyable if they’d all been large scale road marathons like <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city>.</span> <br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">My last marathon of the year took place from <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Portsmouth</place></city> on Sunday 18 December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw a few familiar faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First off was the legend who is Steve Edwards, who makes my marathon exploits seem feeble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has already become the youngest person to run 500 marathons (I was told this by another runner, and it’s not a fact that I have checked with the man himself).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is now on a mission to run 500 consecutive marathons in less then 3 hours 30 minutes (this is true).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talking to him on Sunday I got the impression he was slightly disappointed at only running 25 marathons in 2011 with an average time of 3 hours 10 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a couple of people who I’d seen at Broad Meadow the previous week, one who is closing in on his 100<sup>th</sup> marathon one who already has 411 marathons under his belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also met up with Ian Berry once again, who I ran with on the Pathfinder marathon and in the <place w:st="on">New Forest</place>, along with his girlfriend Sandra, who ran with their pet husky (who was the only runner to complete the marathon and not be given a medal).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also chatted briefly with a runner I met at the Bedford Clanger and Shillington Shuffle (unfortunately, I’ve forgotten his name).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3Pt9jN84FgSwXXwwr-gzG0rrMrS0Ywq-dRkuzVhCt_MaxBoJwWYgE_r-IkMjuZhsUfOJni1sug0974MGQzpXE-ZGs7K00b6YNd-9tyiEHE1fPBkGBMpizXvr5aDiGcUbE5p5HTwkujDE/s1600/Portsmouth+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3Pt9jN84FgSwXXwwr-gzG0rrMrS0Ywq-dRkuzVhCt_MaxBoJwWYgE_r-IkMjuZhsUfOJni1sug0974MGQzpXE-ZGs7K00b6YNd-9tyiEHE1fPBkGBMpizXvr5aDiGcUbE5p5HTwkujDE/s400/Portsmouth+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few runners warm-up at the start of the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">In total some 640 runners took part on Sunday, quite a large field for a December marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it was clear why the marathon had such a large turn-out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The organisation was immaculate and the route was very simple but at the same time sufficiently varied and scenic to make it an enjoyable event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Portsmouth Promenade we headed east all the way to the south-west tip of <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Hayling</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Island</placetype></place>, which is connected to the main land by a bridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then followed the same course all the way back to the start/finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFywZeG2vw4yCGsa7ZELEits8HS6MUjrs0aQSWR-DWPUDN0DkTYMrMl-SVVlh5hDIdzqVwaeJlDQuKWn72EMGb2_ko9cx-4t8FEOxrZBbeFP6jG25MAY7Dk4C1PgKjeRqvNKmOCBSJKPsM/s1600/Portsmouth+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFywZeG2vw4yCGsa7ZELEits8HS6MUjrs0aQSWR-DWPUDN0DkTYMrMl-SVVlh5hDIdzqVwaeJlDQuKWn72EMGb2_ko9cx-4t8FEOxrZBbeFP6jG25MAY7Dk4C1PgKjeRqvNKmOCBSJKPsM/s400/Portsmouth+003.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hitting the beach at mile 2</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At the 2 mile point we found ourselves leaving tarmac to run on the first stretch of beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ran around the top edge of a bay that would be under water at high tide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was informed that slower runners got very wet feet at this point last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marathon has an unenforced cut-off point at the half-way mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t make it to half-way before the cut-off you can guarantee getting wet feet on your homeward run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after this I almost lost my cool with the only idiot runner I’ve met all year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were running along a narrow footpath with a fence to a caravan park on one side and a narrow concrete sea wall on the other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was clearly no option but to tuck in behind the runner ahead of you and not even consider any overtaking moves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, someone behind me had other ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He got so close to me that he caught my heels twice, and I could feel his breath on my neck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was about to turn round and tell him to back-off when he literally pushed past me and tucked in between me and the runner ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought he was about to clip the heels of the next runner, but instead he jumped up on to the sea wall, which was about 6 inches wide, and sprinted past the six or so runners ahead of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could tell by his body shape that there was no way he was going to beat me to the finish, and I wondered to myself why anyone would risk falling off a reasonably high sea wall on to shingle at the 4 mile point of a marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, once we reached the end of the footpath and were running on a reasonably wide section of tarmac, I found myself passing the sea wall sprinter within a mile of his passing me, and then never saw him again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also made himself fairly distinctive by wearing a Santa hat.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">One small section of the route was alongside a very busy road, but for the most part we stayed very close to the coast running on a mixture of tarmac, gravel and mud paths, which were frozen on the way out but completely churned up and slippery on the way back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There was one other beach section to contend with, this one with very loose shingle underfoot, which is energy sapping to run on. Fortunately, it was no longer than, maybe, 100m.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At the halfway point I was just ahead of Ian, Sandra and their dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sandra and I kept passing each other over the next few miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typically Sandra would be ahead of me and I’d catch her at each water station, whilst she made sure her husky had enough to drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ian must have been just behind me the whole way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 8 miles to go the wind seemed to pick up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 6 miles to go I started to feel drained of energy and found it very hard to maintain a decent pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 4 miles to go I was caught by both Ian and Sandra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to try and keep with them to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then realised that Sandra had mud on her T-shirt and was running with a limp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I asked what had happened she told me she had managed to sprain her ankle with 9 miles to go, but was determined to carry on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was really struggling at this point but I thought that if she could run with a sprained ankle I should be able to keep up with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also sure that if I was in as much pain as she was I’d have given up entirely, or at least decided to just walk to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also amazed that Ian hadn’t tried to convince her to stop.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Whilst running with Ian and Sandra my right hamstring started to cramp, sending sharp pains down my leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt forced to slow to a walk, leaving the other two to go ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching Sandra limping off on a sprained ankle whilst I walked to nurse my hamstring made me feel like a complete wimp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I managed to start running again, but if I tried to push hard off my right leg my hamstring would complain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I had to run with an almost entirely straight right leg for the last 4 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This meant that I was passed by several runners, a situation that is the reverse of what I’m used to in the closing stages of a marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that point, I have to say, I wasn’t enjoying my marathon experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt as if I was attempting one marathon too many, or that’s what my brain seemed to be telling me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even questioned why I’d want to run 26.2 miles at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then thought about Sandra limping some distance ahead of me and told myself not to be such a wimp and to just get on with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even with a hamstring in spasm I was able to complete each mile in about 8 minutes 30 seconds, or thereabouts, and I reasoned that many of my clients would be happy with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was glad to reach the section of beach again and to then find myself back on Portsmouth Promenade with just 2 miles to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see the pier in the distance and knew the finish line was just beyond it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For what seemed like ages the pier never seemed to get any closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I probably had to walk about three times over the last 2 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t quite believe this was happening to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think that I’ve ever felt so relieved to reach the finish line of a marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also amazed that I had some how managed to do it in just under 3 hours 20 minutes.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilEJJUiWYQTUQNjurzkZebNjY436_99_bxSho6wD7NMv8h68fizmOJZi8h2Z8KQOvdaw97Nsax5rV_tesd838VONiz9gpNuwh-1Jx-pDIIkOZNtefhiOz_fHHG26391YLGgyJGzWJuYUlP/s1600/Portsmouth+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilEJJUiWYQTUQNjurzkZebNjY436_99_bxSho6wD7NMv8h68fizmOJZi8h2Z8KQOvdaw97Nsax5rV_tesd838VONiz9gpNuwh-1Jx-pDIIkOZNtefhiOz_fHHG26391YLGgyJGzWJuYUlP/s400/Portsmouth+004.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thumbs up for the 16th and final marathon of the year</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Of course, a few minutes after finishing, once I’d collected my medal and event T-shirt (only the second technical running T-shirt of the year – the other being from Loch Ness), any pain in my leg seemed to have completely subsided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chatted with a few other runners, all of whom said they found it tough, despite being completely flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Steve Edwards admitted to finding it quite hard, due to all the different conditions underfoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then sat and chatted with another runner on the promenade, sheltered from the wind whilst eating our complimentary soup, bread roll and mince pie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We watched many other runners on the last few hundred metres of the marathon and cheered them home along with a handful of supporters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNySU1q5DF33E1g3fa2Qvhq99qCk1DDTP_rS2cRrfd9NKFcYpD5tZtIG4HUAHPRg3XJmURL4T119CAhhfmev9bBoOdOoFK2qf3mQZTmGts1t9TWV5m9l_cTLlC3BuvLbOMhiGuuY5cK1g/s1600/Portsmouth+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNySU1q5DF33E1g3fa2Qvhq99qCk1DDTP_rS2cRrfd9NKFcYpD5tZtIG4HUAHPRg3XJmURL4T119CAhhfmev9bBoOdOoFK2qf3mQZTmGts1t9TWV5m9l_cTLlC3BuvLbOMhiGuuY5cK1g/s400/Portsmouth+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Runners approaching the finish line</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I then left when I noticed I was starting to feel the winter chill seep into my bones, and realised how little clothes I was wearing for a winter’s day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I headed back to the car and started thinking about a hot bath and a big Sunday roast waiting for me at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered if I’d ever be tempted to top my challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now I am looking forward to a few weeks off and not running another marathon until <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Paris</place></city> on April 15<sup>th</sup>.</span></div>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-11215555033989634282011-12-11T02:34:00.000-08:002011-12-11T02:54:27.814-08:00Last Long Training Run and Broad Meadow Marathon<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know, I know, I haven’t been doing a great job of keeping my blog updated of late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put this down to being generally very busy at work and Christmas preparations (feeble excuse) getting in the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to try and keep this brief, but may well get carried away.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First off, I completed my final long, 19 mile training run on Sunday 27 November, two weeks after marathon number 14.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was joined on this run by various friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all met in the car park of the Plough Pub in Fen Ditton at the civilised time of 10am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as well as I had been out for a few drinks the night before (as had others – it is the build up to Christmas after all).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jamsheed had agreed to run the whole 19 miles with me, whilst Tony, Dan, Megan and Lynne had agreed to see us off and then drive to the 5 mile point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were also joined by Steve at about 9 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a glorious day; clear blue skies, slightly cold, but not bad for late November, as you can see from the team photo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83BvyX7PJSmztUZZ_FCiXBZVK1WVvcvG_5VG-HcVtEE_ZKYO4BJeDSoyzB9FKhX70yEOdMKJ9OppAuY2jHwdyStANFQPNR2fd0iByNMYGdLh-4sKr6JEt6QnVVqtsoimPr-ihQFwMyf8r/s1600/Misc+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83BvyX7PJSmztUZZ_FCiXBZVK1WVvcvG_5VG-HcVtEE_ZKYO4BJeDSoyzB9FKhX70yEOdMKJ9OppAuY2jHwdyStANFQPNR2fd0iByNMYGdLh-4sKr6JEt6QnVVqtsoimPr-ihQFwMyf8r/s400/Misc+019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me and the Amsterdam Team: Dan, Steve, Tony, Lynne & Megan</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of the gang, with the exception of Jamsheed all ran in their Amsterdam T-shirts, which made me wish I had joined them on that run, rather than running in the Lincoln Spires & Steeples marathon that took place on the same day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, maybe another year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, Lynne had to pull out half way as her knee suddenly became painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all decided to put Lynne on a bus back into Town and to, hopefully, see her at the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of us continued on our way around the outskirts of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cambridge</place></city>, through Grantchester then around the backs to follow the River Cam back to Fen Ditton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a highly enjoyable social run at a very leisurely pace and I was very grateful for the company.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9NsSx5lTDT_AnxvDTEZmW9M7p2DHegYEIVDknr1F3a_olO4SVGr9EESzniNEQ2570T65UBRoZFCvotraZzAiCXu7saLS70za_3BgCUHxvrz2p9fBDEHSp3ERR2hSp5lnLlzNlXpgeeVR/s1600/Misc+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9NsSx5lTDT_AnxvDTEZmW9M7p2DHegYEIVDknr1F3a_olO4SVGr9EESzniNEQ2570T65UBRoZFCvotraZzAiCXu7saLS70za_3BgCUHxvrz2p9fBDEHSp3ERR2hSp5lnLlzNlXpgeeVR/s400/Misc+020.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Grantchester Meadows after Lynne's retirement</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHxDfEsKRThYR3JRVe22sJ2JCDJ4A-CF_Kfs_woiQRCA-rGNzQBr88G4vaoacsS2qT84ixup1KrcuS2ZmEjpTev4-raKyL2Jn_CfSiZQMwhqSneWsEcpyNQZb67fdSLByKw1viD7WXoaO/s1600/Misc+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHxDfEsKRThYR3JRVe22sJ2JCDJ4A-CF_Kfs_woiQRCA-rGNzQBr88G4vaoacsS2qT84ixup1KrcuS2ZmEjpTev4-raKyL2Jn_CfSiZQMwhqSneWsEcpyNQZb67fdSLByKw1viD7WXoaO/s400/Misc+022.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony & Megan alongside the Cam</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday evening I drove down to <place w:st="on">Stratford-upon-Avon</place> to spend a night in a Travelodge Inn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve long since given up on trying to convince Ruth to join me on my marathon weekends away, plus she also had a college reunion to attend in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">London</city></place>, which was tough competition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I spent a few lonely hours wondering the streets of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stratford</place></city> before having a meal for one in Bella Italia and returning to the Travelodge for an early night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what the loneliness of the long distance runner should be about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The running bit is very sociable, it’s the night away on your own before an event that isn’t.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I left the hotel I think I experienced the coldest morning of the year so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My car thermometer told me it was -1<sup>o</sup>C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was I being optimistic planning on running in shorts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was still an hour before the run started, maybe it’ll warm up a bit by then, I thought to myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race HQ for the Broad Meadow Marathon was in the Carriage Café at the end of the Greenway, a disused railway line that is now a leisure walking and cycle route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion it was strange that the marathon itself didn’t make much use of this bridleway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all given our numbers, directions and a cup of tea in the café before setting off at 9am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I glanced over the race instructions and found the route description confusing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a start I couldn’t tell which direction we were supposed to leave the car park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked with a few other runners, who seemed just as confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people were wondering how they’d manage to follow the instructions for all 26.2 miles. Whilst waiting to set off I also decided to change into running leggings. The thought of getting my bare legs out on such a cold day was too much.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0eLDXRuMpILbD4dZbHIKlZ9BLD0R0gx7gpsb5nFK9rDKtZWLuJVaL0pcL0YiIcs8R8L-by-fQvv1j2qzZTtYVfqnNTgXXUNLNd9k7EKyoOdvnc-Gv1cJTy0jGIn9cBVFEnlb-ytEvU8x/s1600/Broadmeadow+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0eLDXRuMpILbD4dZbHIKlZ9BLD0R0gx7gpsb5nFK9rDKtZWLuJVaL0pcL0YiIcs8R8L-by-fQvv1j2qzZTtYVfqnNTgXXUNLNd9k7EKyoOdvnc-Gv1cJTy0jGIn9cBVFEnlb-ytEvU8x/s400/Broadmeadow+001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race HQ in the Carriage Cafe</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come the appointed hour the race organiser set us off in the right direction, after reciting a shortened version of King Henry V’s “Once more onto the breach” speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 50 people set off at the start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I soon found myself in a lead group with seven other runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was grateful to note that we had a runner from the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stratford</place></city> running club up front who seemed to know the route well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the only person without the race directions in his hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This gave me and the others in our group a lot of confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We maintained a pace that I was very comfortable with and one which I knew I could sustain to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I’d be o.k. so long as our <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stratford</place></city> man really knew the way and didn’t decide to speed up.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stratford</place></city> runner was probably over confident of the route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 5 miles he seemed to suddenly doubt his directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked a local dog walker to point us in the direction of a road mentioned on the instructions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we reached the junction we met a group of runners who should have been a long way behind us coming from a different direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed we’d gone about half a mile out of our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided that whilst the local knowledge had served us fairly well to this point, I would start to also try to follow the directions myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we did go wrong a further two times because the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stratford</place></city> runner insisted he knew the way, whilst the rest of us were trying to piece together the instructions in front of us.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The marathon route itself was very scenic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first quarter was mostly over rolling countryside, passing some quaint churches and a war memorial on top of a hill with great views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second quarter was nice and flat following the canal on an out and back route, which meant we could cheer on the slower runners as we passed them whilst returning to the halfway point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The halfway point itself was back at the Carriage Café where we’d started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were due to pick up the second half of the race instructions at this point, but we had a forced stop as the instructions weren’t immediately available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone had to rush off and collect them from the boot of a car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1oB3zCmANdUqlv5wjhed5dyEI2Ek49c5qC2s6COmHje41GmMcm2YaK41QvzFalQw6wRYC0sQ9ahgCsk5h1LtVTHH2GsLfFmz-PlDlvRa7jbckh4DPJQzCeJdiSyvVwurwqd4lucEEJc3-/s1600/Broadmeadow+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1oB3zCmANdUqlv5wjhed5dyEI2Ek49c5qC2s6COmHje41GmMcm2YaK41QvzFalQw6wRYC0sQ9ahgCsk5h1LtVTHH2GsLfFmz-PlDlvRa7jbckh4DPJQzCeJdiSyvVwurwqd4lucEEJc3-/s400/Broadmeadow+004.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being checked in at the third checkpoint</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio73rENw5Fiu81qFOzRdHrm1ghiLJ96ewFzUk5lI5Ic9-H4Ze39Ets-L8qSRIls0KSHt6eli8KkVoll0o9eaY8WqnFpzcyWdriq5W72lNv6BqzWM08hs7Rvjj2F4BNeH3oIVzidiCtjdox/s1600/Broadmeadow+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio73rENw5Fiu81qFOzRdHrm1ghiLJ96ewFzUk5lI5Ic9-H4Ze39Ets-L8qSRIls0KSHt6eli8KkVoll0o9eaY8WqnFpzcyWdriq5W72lNv6BqzWM08hs7Rvjj2F4BNeH3oIVzidiCtjdox/s400/Broadmeadow+005.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we had to wait for the 2nd set of instructions there was time to pose for a photo</span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second half of the marathon then mostly followed the river out to the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">village</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Welford-on-Avon</placename></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Returning from Welford gave us another opportunity to cheer on those runners behind us and for us to appreciate just how much of a margin we had over the other competitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we were in Welford our <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stratford</place></city> guide picked up a hamstring pull and decided to withdraw from the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point our original group of eight was reduced to six.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We weren’t quite sure what had happened to the other person in the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We continued as a group all the way to the fifth and final checkpoint, which was just 2 miles from the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure others in the group were wondering if we’d end up having a sprint finish to the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all knew there were prizes up for grabs for the first 3 runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was certainly going through my mind, but I kept telling myself I wasn’t bothered about getting a prize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea of turning the last few miles into a race certainly wasn’t discussed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, with about half a mile to go the youngest person in our group clearly fancied his chances and started to speed up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone else then started a pursuit and I decided to have a go myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With about 200m to go I was in second place, but I was aware of someone closing in on me fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt as if I was close to my limit, I could have gone a little quicker, but to do so might have resulted in me spilling the remnants of breakfast over the finish line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I reasoned that coming second really wasn’t that important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With less than 100m to go to the line I was passed by the runner who clearly wanted the second place a lot more than I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very happy to come away with a third place finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbTpz7cWqDBasWxh3QC0Unxa2dYg18YuTRBw-gg0Ccv55hG8O_g-PgmrVfLoS1wgIZSkygBE7zILpNdURiDsDeX9Y4WkgtKHVCrKiOQMHIi-EYLipgancRONYwctUvbShYnvodaCvxnNc/s1600/Broadmeadow+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbTpz7cWqDBasWxh3QC0Unxa2dYg18YuTRBw-gg0Ccv55hG8O_g-PgmrVfLoS1wgIZSkygBE7zILpNdURiDsDeX9Y4WkgtKHVCrKiOQMHIi-EYLipgancRONYwctUvbShYnvodaCvxnNc/s400/Broadmeadow+006.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marathon number 15 completed</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My finishing time was 3 hours 46 minutes, not particularly fast, especially as the course wasn’t that difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s indicative of how much you slow down when you have to follow instructions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We six leaders congratulated each other at the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we’d stopped running we quickly became cold, so we retreated into the café where free tea and sandwiches were laid on for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chris, the organiser then turned up to give us our mementos: a T-shirt and an engraved shot glass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone seemed delighted with the shot glass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s certainly not a memento that I’ve had before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were then asked to hang on for the prize giving ceremony, which would take place when the first three ladies arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other runners slowly trickled in after us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 20 minutes went by before the next finisher arrived, and we had to wait almost an hour until the first three ladies were in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, given that I’ve never, ever been involved in a prize giving ceremony before I was certainly not about to rush home and miss it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third lady turned out to be Lisa Barry, who I ran with on the Pathfinder marathon back in August.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was taking this one easy as she was running another marathon the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prize giving ceremony was held; we were applauded by about half a dozen hangers on, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what was my prize?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fairly decent looking bottle of mulled wine (very seasonal) and a £10 gift voucher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For an £18 marathon entry fee I had come away with a decent amount of goodies and had a very pleasant run with a nice bunch of guys.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I just have one final marathon to run this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really hope it is on a marked course and that I don’t have to follow instructions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll find out next Sunday.</span></span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu6n3_PgbV_5kdCmcMDjhyphenhyphene_KJJ2sULHhpzu6kjLdqxq4NjA-yGfPNsj-IZ2KxOpauSyu8ToWyF03Aa1wqbNal3ghzUgb7yYyi53jYAsNx-ZoXv5DSIOGHxT0aq88YBYxbEotKMiyfNUq/s1600/Broadmeadow+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu6n3_PgbV_5kdCmcMDjhyphenhyphene_KJJ2sULHhpzu6kjLdqxq4NjA-yGfPNsj-IZ2KxOpauSyu8ToWyF03Aa1wqbNal3ghzUgb7yYyi53jYAsNx-ZoXv5DSIOGHxT0aq88YBYxbEotKMiyfNUq/s400/Broadmeadow+010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At home with my booty: T-shirt, engraved shot glass, gift voucher and mulled wine</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-16407961963645128082011-11-24T07:32:00.000-08:002011-11-24T07:32:12.735-08:00Kettlebell Challenge for Children in Need<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, the running continues. In fact, only this morning did I complete an interval training session consisting of eight sets of two minute pieces. I haven't put myself through a hard interval training session for some time, as I've never felt that I'd recovered enough since the previous marathon to run hard. However, this morning I was feeling up to the task and curious to see the effects of running 14 marathons in 11 months. I wasn't quite as quick as at the start of the year, but not a million miles away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">What I really want to report on today is the Cambridge Kettlebell Challenge. One of my clients had the idea of holding a mass kettlebell class to raise money for Children in Need. I developed the idea and mentioned it to other clients, who were mostly really keen to be involved. The aim was to run a class on Saturday 19 November from 10am to 5pm. 24 people got involved, most people did 5 minutes at a time of kettlebells and 5 minutes either instructing or shaking the donation bucket. No one stayed the whole 7 hours, but most people did a one and a half hour stint and worked in relay throughout the day. One person (John) did about four hours in total - big up to him.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchC5gHc3i2KLWFdB5xoz7GCAei1SOwB_5PR-2KdoDZ_DhQsGfQyCvUOTUSNIucMlHGZo9wMwi9qTO3e8ZUvwNWhzzPxunq-lSei1Bi5-XqTVhEOhTLhwnYVxayD4z_atvyFdGbJBZKQxd/s1600/KB+Challenge+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchC5gHc3i2KLWFdB5xoz7GCAei1SOwB_5PR-2KdoDZ_DhQsGfQyCvUOTUSNIucMlHGZo9wMwi9qTO3e8ZUvwNWhzzPxunq-lSei1Bi5-XqTVhEOhTLhwnYVxayD4z_atvyFdGbJBZKQxd/s400/KB+Challenge+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kettlebell Challenge - I'm the one with the bucket.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">I mostly kept an eye on everyone from a distance whilst shaking a bucket. I also spent most of the day shouting "spare any change for Children in Need", and "help us complete our 7 hour kettlebell challenge. Give it a go if you think it looks easy". By the end of the 7 hours we had two very heavy buckets, and I was a little hoarse. My expectation was that we might collect between £300 and £400, but on the day we managed to raise £980. We've also collected £1,382 via a JustGiving page (<a href="http://www.justgiving.com/cambridgekettlebellchallenge">www.justgiving.com/cambridgekettlebellchallenge</a>), which, with Gift Aid, has brought the total raised to £2,665. Pretty amazing, heh?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It was very gratifying to turn something I do to make a living into a charitable event and a cause for good. Everyone who came along also really enjoyed themselves. So who says exercise can't be fun? Of course, they might not have enjoyed it as much if it had been pouring with rain. Fortunately, we had fantastic weather.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm now off to do some kettlebelling myself. My next big run will be this coming Sunday, when I intend to do an 18 mile training run around Cambridge. I should be joined by quite a few friends, at least for the last 13 miles. Should be fun.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-14512869906702894522011-11-13T10:34:00.000-08:002011-11-13T10:47:46.786-08:00Shillington Shuffle<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">This oddly named marathon was another low-key event organised by the Long Distance Walker’s Association.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Distances on offer were 12, 17 and 26.5 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As is the way with these events, there was no mass start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could start anytime between 8am and 9.45am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t in the interest of faster runners to set off too early as it would have been quite possible to reach the first checkpoint before it opened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this in mind I went out to the pub the night before with a few friends and allowed myself to indulge in the sinful act of drinking two pints of beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a relaxed approach I have to marathons these days.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Sunday morning came round and I was up at 7am and out of the house 45 minutes later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drive to the starting <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">village</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Barton-le-Clay</placename></place> took about an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The car park was a short walk from the official starting point at the village hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After stripping down to my running gear, making my way to the start and checking in, it was 9:05 when I eventually got going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no idea of how many people were before me, but over the first few miles there were plenty of walkers and runners for me to chase down and follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this, I still managed to miss two turns early on going a short way off course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was my fault for not paying close attention to the race instructions, which we had to run with.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">After less than 2 miles we had our first gruelling climb to contend with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just south of Barton-le-Clay is a ridge of hills that suddenly jump up out of the ground and seem almost man-made in the context of the surrounding gently undulating landscape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our route would take us up a steep gulley to the top of the ridgeline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran past a few walkers on the lower slopes of the hill, but soon gave up on my exertions and walked along with everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the top of the hill we had fantastic views of the surrounding countryside in the early morning mist.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsskRkWPA_ThBPTI22Vm2zoblOhQFZLV6GDX9fJHhyphenhyphenVBg8uehSTn3tXtLSHFiNnqstM1pnp52OCbrbUEVIX2J7sjKCZd2zQsCqu1bXUFZwFJlV-LMcoMxIr8nglnx13GDOd5SVaAtefuo/s1600/Shillington+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsskRkWPA_ThBPTI22Vm2zoblOhQFZLV6GDX9fJHhyphenhyphenVBg8uehSTn3tXtLSHFiNnqstM1pnp52OCbrbUEVIX2J7sjKCZd2zQsCqu1bXUFZwFJlV-LMcoMxIr8nglnx13GDOd5SVaAtefuo/s400/Shillington+001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First steep climb of the day</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Most of the run then continued on footpaths, bridleways and farm tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were several sections were the organisers had secured landowner permission for us to run along the edges of ploughed fields.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as there is no official right of way, the running on these sections was tough and on some occasions almost impossible, you had to tiptoe your way through clods of ploughed earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also seemed to me that if there was the opportunity to run up a steep hill then the race director didn’t want us to miss it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, we ran up and over a hill with a trig point, which I mention as an illustration of how high it must have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can now see on the map that there is an alternative path that goes around the hill that wouldn’t have made the route any longer or shorter overall.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Just after the second checkpoint of the day in Pirton, the route passed through the village church ground and past the very pretty little church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I reached this point as a memorial service was taking place and just at the point that the congregation were having a minute’s silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I respectfully stopped to a walk and continued through the church ground in complete silence.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnaDFFTl6sJLuy9pZdHsc64p5Ge5XAhAAcO7WAQpWSUR20svFk-egr2zijSYipoxxLDf0NWCJ5LSmazwhIow7n85h-wV5vDaS9stNykoosPYj4GDUlR0bSJ9aSDDAd72QkYl9iyPa0Iza/s1600/Shillington+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnaDFFTl6sJLuy9pZdHsc64p5Ge5XAhAAcO7WAQpWSUR20svFk-egr2zijSYipoxxLDf0NWCJ5LSmazwhIow7n85h-wV5vDaS9stNykoosPYj4GDUlR0bSJ9aSDDAd72QkYl9iyPa0Iza/s400/Shillington+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pirton Church</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Just over half-way through the run I was brought to a complete standstill and left scratching my head as the directions seemed unfeasible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I reached a way marker post where the instructions told me to turn right and head towards a farm building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only problem was that turning right meant running through a field of cabbages with no sign whatsoever of a footpath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were very clear paths going ahead and left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where the instructions wrong?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see another runner approaching so I decided to wait until he reached me so we could decide on a course of action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my good fortune the runner behind me was the race organiser. What were the chances of that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He confirmed that the instructions were correct and that there was a right of way through the cabbages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also told me that he had recently met with the farmer who had assured him the footpath would be reinstated before the event went ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naughty farmer didn’t keep his word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two of us ran through the cabbages, trampling on several and getting very wet feet in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only hoped that we were making enough damage so that other runners would be able to follow our footsteps.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">By the time I reached the final checkpoint in Shillington itself I was feeling completely knackered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very slow over the previous section as on many occasions I had to stop to read the directions and then check them again to make sense of them before proceeding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that I was getting so tired that simple instructions weren’t making sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately for me, just after the final checkpoint, and whilst I was scratching my head once again, another runner caught up with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turned out to be someone I’d run with on my third marathon of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two of us then continued together to the finish, chatting all the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was able to make much better sense of the instructions than I was, so I left him to it and just followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">When we reached the finish we were informed that only one other person had completed the full marathon course ahead of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My partner had actually started 4 minutes ahead of me, so at this stage I was actually second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it’s quite possible that there were runners who started later than me and completed the course in a quicker time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time keeping on the course wasn’t exactly accurate so I can’t really claim a second place finish with confidence, and there won’t be any published results at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best I can say is that it’s another marathon completed this year and I now only have two to go.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-12758257011290857482011-11-06T11:18:00.000-08:002011-11-06T11:19:34.084-08:00Update For The Last Three Weeks & Rutland Water Marathon<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last 3 weeks has been a busy period for me. First I was contacted to ask if I'd try a new pair of running shoes. I was quite excited about getting a free pair of running shoes in the post to road test. However, the shoes weren't for me. I was asked to test the Sketchers Prospeed. The shoe is designed to encourage a mid-foot strike, rather than a heel strike, and it does this very well. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When I first went for a run in the shoe I started by running normally, but as there is no cushioning in the heel, you immediately have to adjust your running style as the impact feels quite uncomfortable. So, whilst the shoes are very good at promoting a mid-foot strike, I didn't quite feel they were right for me. After each short run I did with them I felt that I'd been for a hard run, even though my speed indicated otherwise. The shoes are supposed to promote a more efficient running form. It could be that I need to stick with them for a longer time period, but I ended up thinking that my running form doesn't seem to be broke in the first place, so why try to change it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Ruth and I also went on a short holiday just over a week ago. We spent 5 glorious autumnal days walking in the Peak District. We couldn't believe how lucky we were. First we spent a couple of days with our dear friends, Kate and Ron, who have fantastic walks (and runs) right from their front door in the charmingly named village of Tintwistle.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDFjJT9mWmoFtU2Cgp7rIJ-PJnnMGu7OJwQC5jU6mT3VirkhXGtdDPHYCrxLJVxrptwBrPyRiMOfX3Hu2U9BPeBA9vkDnw-4_yE7r6QDZ5AtfRIFHjhZACl7Dv3pTlhL5ed0QEZ5HuU2j/s1600/Peak+District+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDFjJT9mWmoFtU2Cgp7rIJ-PJnnMGu7OJwQC5jU6mT3VirkhXGtdDPHYCrxLJVxrptwBrPyRiMOfX3Hu2U9BPeBA9vkDnw-4_yE7r6QDZ5AtfRIFHjhZACl7Dv3pTlhL5ed0QEZ5HuU2j/s400/Peak+District+001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a short distance from our friend's house</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JKaW9MJjw78vlov-hrJGTayZylTcHEWC4ejGboe6zi_AjX674XgD6WP62wZGK6CjFFhYJnSuNQGeomi7cBvH89SjiMCJXE7KHdtYOZWIjdmA7-jiaTORvGvMvnU2ICQyW3BSErwdfLsE/s1600/Peak+District+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JKaW9MJjw78vlov-hrJGTayZylTcHEWC4ejGboe6zi_AjX674XgD6WP62wZGK6CjFFhYJnSuNQGeomi7cBvH89SjiMCJXE7KHdtYOZWIjdmA7-jiaTORvGvMvnU2ICQyW3BSErwdfLsE/s400/Peak+District+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">... and slightly further away.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruth and I then spent two days walking from a base in the centre of the Peak District, where we did a couple of really long days walking. Ruth was pretty much finished off at the end of each day, and it took me a lot of persuasion and prodding just to get her up to go out for food in the evening.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLFAyOXjsHsiP4S84d3ii6Y2d0VK_N3dcHUMGE-WzEhyphenhyphen3DMzzIrqkNXi6kJgP-i7FiadNLjEEGSK_t4mNKcZFiZgPqHaQOTPTr4ttSAFasHsnAaApWnBZkJDXISH2zPER1XYi1E7iFVmd/s1600/Peak+District+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLFAyOXjsHsiP4S84d3ii6Y2d0VK_N3dcHUMGE-WzEhyphenhyphen3DMzzIrqkNXi6kJgP-i7FiadNLjEEGSK_t4mNKcZFiZgPqHaQOTPTr4ttSAFasHsnAaApWnBZkJDXISH2zPER1XYi1E7iFVmd/s400/Peak+District+030.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruth on Stanage Edge</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our last day was a little more relaxed with a walk around the gardens of Chatsworth House, which I'd highly recommend for nature and garden lovers.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOojNrMVeUP8briV_mD2LDCH7EpW3FvdpTBLQ2ClkuIqFIdCDP2z38avAr8TRFelfdT3UewUAGCuk9jPtMVz-9A7iBlErdZM7DRSVb2Kvpm_7ihHdpo3bL00DYLhK9_3ODeQfnpunsC669/s1600/Peak+District+081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOojNrMVeUP8briV_mD2LDCH7EpW3FvdpTBLQ2ClkuIqFIdCDP2z38avAr8TRFelfdT3UewUAGCuk9jPtMVz-9A7iBlErdZM7DRSVb2Kvpm_7ihHdpo3bL00DYLhK9_3ODeQfnpunsC669/s320/Peak+District+081.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chatsworth House</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsivXbxwVXmu_NiHhmBP0-oOemBHAybzpzm-L7kQR_tGUf_of0BbZGVQ5VEPqNI-q09yuBIdqzwO0-eFBoFGuntgMA2pxgfuib-Qxnw55FsmHPwQ_D88JsRRKIqOILpvKkQL_uS1gI7DAU/s1600/Peak+District+050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsivXbxwVXmu_NiHhmBP0-oOemBHAybzpzm-L7kQR_tGUf_of0BbZGVQ5VEPqNI-q09yuBIdqzwO0-eFBoFGuntgMA2pxgfuib-Qxnw55FsmHPwQ_D88JsRRKIqOILpvKkQL_uS1gI7DAU/s320/Peak+District+050.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Emperor Fountain</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie49zUw390dEWYZlG_12Bkxp0ipoxrEpUbQ6EA8fflW8MkHx9p84dUJKsqeSYiWtO5t4Foby8NOAmKxSSpRrAyEfvuqWHfDC1JD7jOncJVx6CCJ82cws0-U0hF0WLdtUk1P80AlfnwC6mj/s1600/Peak+District+069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie49zUw390dEWYZlG_12Bkxp0ipoxrEpUbQ6EA8fflW8MkHx9p84dUJKsqeSYiWtO5t4Foby8NOAmKxSSpRrAyEfvuqWHfDC1JD7jOncJVx6CCJ82cws0-U0hF0WLdtUk1P80AlfnwC6mj/s320/Peak+District+069.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autumn Colour</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizy3zC_raG2riLrcui1JlBshhqH6-5FEt0nVbzbPndCC5QnRO6ofw_mU39dwLanU7JtguQlMtw_jChCRaI5eGy9ke5_4-61l3NuW-nXlqgKprIxr7u5vNF6JGWgA9lyFaZ8h4U9HnJRMx/s1600/Peak+District+084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizy3zC_raG2riLrcui1JlBshhqH6-5FEt0nVbzbPndCC5QnRO6ofw_mU39dwLanU7JtguQlMtw_jChCRaI5eGy9ke5_4-61l3NuW-nXlqgKprIxr7u5vNF6JGWgA9lyFaZ8h4U9HnJRMx/s320/Peak+District+084.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kitchen Garden</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following our few days in the Peak District we spent a couple of days with Ruth's parents in Nottingham. We returned to Cambridge last Saturday so that I could get in a 13 mile training run as preparation for this weekend's marathon. It was quite nice to have a few non-running days, but I did also enjoy going for a run along the Roman Road bridleway close to home. A run I've not done for some time, as there hasn't been the need to do a long run from home whilst I've been entering marathons every other week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Last week was work as normal. It was a busy week, made even more so by the fact that I'm now also organising a 7 hour kettlebell relay event in aid of Children In Need on Saturday 19 November. I just hope it doesn't rain on the day, as I have set myself up to be on hand for the entire 7 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">And so to today. I was slightly apprehensive about marathon number 13. I am in no way superstitious, but so many other people made comments about hoping I wouldn't have bad luck and twist an ankle that I actually started to fear the day, especially as rain had also been forecast. Fortunately, the long term forecast was characteristically incorrect and the weather on the door was fantastic, although quite cold with temperatures at the start of just 7 degrees Celsius.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">For a £25 entry fee the start line was very low key. Okay, so we did have chip timing, but there wasn't a single portaloo at the start. Instead, all toilets where at the two car parks which were each a 20 minute walk from the start in either direction. Thankfully I had made use of the facilities in the car park, but I had also expected there to be loos at the start. You would have been in a tight spot if you had walked form your car to the start to find no toilets. Would you walk the 20 minutes in each direction to use a loo? Unlikely. A bush is fine for a number 1, but... need I say more?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The race apparently had an entry limit of 1000, but I'd guess that there were less than 300 people lined up at the start. Once we were underway the line of runners quickly thinned out into a long string of runners in single file. I did find myself running side-by-side with a few runners, with whom I would try to strike up a conversation, but for most of the run I was running alone. I spent a couple of miles running with a marathon first timer named Matt. We had a pretty decent chat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Rutland Water itself is a reasonably large reservoir with a long peninsula that juts out into the lake like a tongue, making for a U-shaped body of water. The route of the race started near the dam to cross the dam wall at the furthest distance from the peninsula. We made our way counter-clockwise around the lake and had to run two laps around the peninsula, which had a timing mat at its end to ensure no one could cheat by only doing one lap. On my second lap I found myself overtaking slower runners on their first lap, which must have been dispiriting for them. I tried my best to cheer them on as I passed by. As I passed one group of female runners I shouted "cheer if your having fun", to which they mostly all responded with a whoop, so I hope I brightened their run briefly.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EwReQ8gm1bPONToa4iS8vpsE9pOAUnBDkuT3YZPed1YbVRV__TMV6hz0Ii74JWOFtfAvuo7U-xdqH16wD-bP2EA1WjeHyVMawZO5KVP6eearn6lxIl6rRVdMh47BaeODz3qrLIt8o9O5/s1600/Rutland+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EwReQ8gm1bPONToa4iS8vpsE9pOAUnBDkuT3YZPed1YbVRV__TMV6hz0Ii74JWOFtfAvuo7U-xdqH16wD-bP2EA1WjeHyVMawZO5KVP6eearn6lxIl6rRVdMh47BaeODz3qrLIt8o9O5/s400/Rutland+001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAZFvVCIrNkyRUyKXNaMt2cWRzDHhmBw6cq2XxpPfgaMD0TLfFuFHcOfenzRStYouxQw2kCD9odL3Py8dNNxcI89xfkeXOwaFELdJ8JgEuC6XnyWxYoJXxz4xVvtHsFojyBxBfDbgBk99C/s1600/Rutland+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAZFvVCIrNkyRUyKXNaMt2cWRzDHhmBw6cq2XxpPfgaMD0TLfFuFHcOfenzRStYouxQw2kCD9odL3Py8dNNxcI89xfkeXOwaFELdJ8JgEuC6XnyWxYoJXxz4xVvtHsFojyBxBfDbgBk99C/s400/Rutland+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It was a welcome relief to finish the second lap of the peninsula and turn left for the final eight miles, rather than right for another lap. I was feeling really good at this point and overtook several runners in quick succession, including the first placed lady. However, at mile 22 we reached a reasonably long and steepish climb that reduced me to a walk. The first lady caught me again at this point and passed me with ease. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Over the last four miles the terrain was very undulating with the odd short steep uphill climb. I kept finding myself catching the first lady and going past her, only to be passed by her a short while later. We kept this up all the way to the finish. With about half a mile to go we were running side-by-side and the finish line was in sight. I decided I'd just keep alongside her all the way. With only about 200m to go we reached the final short climb, which reduced my running partner to a halt, I turned and shouted at her "you can't walk now, we're nearly there". She groaned, then pulled herself together and started running again. At that point I was determined to cross the line together, I didn't want to beat her as I felt she had run a much more consistently paced race than I had. But with about 100m to go I suddenly realised that a sub 3.15 time was possible, and so I found myself sprinting for the line. According to my own time keeping I crossed the line in 3 hours 14 minutes 41 seconds. The first lady was then just a few seconds behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I collected my medal and finishers T-shirt and made my way to the bus stop to catch the free shuttle back to where I'd parked about 3 miles away. However, once I got to the bus I realised I hadn't taken my customary finishing photo, so dashed back to the finish line to have my photo taken.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t4pRpPzFgHzn-mar-0ebgXXrpNxGAOi90rXoVx43BP7_NeQGwl3bKmEnPlhdDEr1nB6PcO1BHFXVOD-8Xq0n3DmVsfvaTOPnmNCsHxJyc7SECF1iOm_eDmitK00GXqGHM9UBLxv4ocZD/s1600/Rutland+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t4pRpPzFgHzn-mar-0ebgXXrpNxGAOi90rXoVx43BP7_NeQGwl3bKmEnPlhdDEr1nB6PcO1BHFXVOD-8Xq0n3DmVsfvaTOPnmNCsHxJyc7SECF1iOm_eDmitK00GXqGHM9UBLxv4ocZD/s320/Rutland+007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On returning to the bus stop I realised I'd just missed the bus and then had to wait about 40 minutes for it to return. I have no idea why it took it so long to travel 6 miles. If I'd known I was going to spend so long waiting by the side of the road, getting cold, I would have walked the 3 miles to the car park. Once I reached the car I departed as soon as I could put on long trousers and drove for a good 20 minutes with the heater on full blast to thaw out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Now I'm home and looking forward to a roast dinner for supper. I definitely need the calories. I'll be eating well this week, as I have another marathon to do next weekend, my second back-to-back marathon weekend of the year.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-8718904410945645672011-10-18T00:48:00.000-07:002011-10-18T00:51:18.050-07:00Spires and Steeples Challenge (or Lincoln to Sleaford Marathon)<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Another weekend and another marathon completed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time it was the <place w:st="on">Spires</place> and Steeples Heritage Trail Challenge. This was another low key event that was also advertised as a long distance walk as well as a running event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The organisers were very keen to point out that it wasn’t a race, and there was no timing involved and no published results.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gbdUMyl9_XYApo-KUn72XiCPwz60aNZNBX4wG-4S6iiyW3P0_nWovHP8z9sLOCGNzOzRN-oqbrGNYnUP4E_satYxXym0IIJqDIYJcjEiWBjchfK-nWOrjkko8mmmwZS0JuD3zfhbTH8i/s1600/Lincoln+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gbdUMyl9_XYApo-KUn72XiCPwz60aNZNBX4wG-4S6iiyW3P0_nWovHP8z9sLOCGNzOzRN-oqbrGNYnUP4E_satYxXym0IIJqDIYJcjEiWBjchfK-nWOrjkko8mmmwZS0JuD3zfhbTH8i/s400/Lincoln+016.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cold autumnal morning outside Lincoln Castle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">The marathon started from inside <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Lincoln</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Castle</placetype></place>, just outside the very impressive law courts, and finished outside The Hub in Sleaford, which is the National Centre for Craft and Design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race (sorry, challenge) started at 9.30am for runners and 8.30am for walkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We runners got ourselves ready, stripping off outer warm layers and pinning numbers to vests on what was a cold, autumnal morning, with clear blue skies and a very low sun in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and there was a lot of chit chat amongst complete strangers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I talked to several runners, but only found one person who had done the event before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people were concerned as to how clearly marked the trail would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race instructions said the trail would be marked, but recommended that we also carried the two page description of the route, just in case we got lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turned out that this was unnecessary.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN-n8gggvOKNXurpPV55oaINo1Zrbtp_RN8MVzXZKPT48_UTx-VU6xMr8sST18YJxBDo5mKD1-Z975LPd5YVoMQR3_6CwXFyfz5RUDxadSXeaAy2qhq5_Yi1aGdP5q2NLjyI7NcHt-yM3/s1600/Lincoln+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN-n8gggvOKNXurpPV55oaINo1Zrbtp_RN8MVzXZKPT48_UTx-VU6xMr8sST18YJxBDo5mKD1-Z975LPd5YVoMQR3_6CwXFyfz5RUDxadSXeaAy2qhq5_Yi1aGdP5q2NLjyI7NcHt-yM3/s400/Lincoln+017.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Runners getting ready in front of the law courts in the grounds of the Castle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Probably the hardest part of the run was the very start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all set off from inside the castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once through the gate the course made a right turn to run down a steep cobbled street towards the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was one descent where I didn’t feel that it would be sensible to let gravity do its work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cobbles felt quite slippery underfoot, and were also really uncomfortable to land on at full pelt, even with almost new running shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the very bottom of the hill we had to cross a river bridge and then a pedestrian bridge over a dual carriageway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this the route of the challenge was mostly along footpaths and bridleways through Fen like countryside and passing through several nice villages.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">There were probably only about 100 runners attempting the full marathon distance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a mile the line of runners had already become quite dispersed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself running alongside a young male runner who looked like a novice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to strike up a conversation only to discover he was French.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but my immediate reaction was a desire to trip him up, due to <country-region w:st="on">France</country-region>’s win over both <country-region w:st="on">England</country-region> and <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Wales</place></country-region> in the rugby world cup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to admit that <country-region w:st="on">England</country-region> deserved to lose to <country-region w:st="on">France</country-region>, but I’m sure that almost every rugby fan in <country-region w:st="on">Britain</country-region> felt that <country-region w:st="on">Wales</country-region> should have come away with the victory over <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">France</place></country-region> and that if it wasn’t for a poor referee decision they would have won.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, moments later I realised that the young French runner alongside me could not be blamed for the outcome of a rugby match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept pace with him for a short while and I wished him luck as I sped up, leaving him to eat the dust kicked up by my shoes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">After about five miles I could only see about four runners ahead of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn’t seem that far off, and we all seemed to be running at about the same pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point I looked over my shoulder and I couldn’t see any other runners behind me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed that we were leaving the rest of the field a long way behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just before reaching the first checkpoint we started over taking a steady stream of walkers, who were all very obliging by stepping to one side to allow the runners to pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I continued to overtake a steady stream of walkers all the way to about the third checkpoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walkers also had the option of only doing half the course and starting a little later in the day from the third control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This also meant that we runners had even more walkers to pass on the second half of our run.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">There were five checkpoints on the course, and at each one we had to hand in a wristband with our competitor number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was so the organisers could keep track of everyone and make sure no one was lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottles of water were also available at all five checkpoints, and chocolate bars were also being handed out at the third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It almost seemed that each village was asked to round up volunteers to man each of the checkpoints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some just had a few adults, whilst one in particular seemed to have a whole infant school of children handing out water bottles and doing a very good job of cheering each runner on as they came in to view.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">As I approached each of the checkpoints I seemed to almost catch two of the runners ahead of me, but I seemed to take longer than them over stopping for a drink and chewing doing an energy gel, so they managed to put some space between me and them again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was caught by another runner as I was finishing off my drink at the third control and the two of us then ran together, chatting all the way to the next feed station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stopped to take on some water, whilst the other runner didn’t even reach for a bottle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth is that I also felt that his pace was a little too fast for me and I was happy for him to carry on without me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Just before the final checkpoint I finally caught up with the two runners who had been just ahead of me the whole way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was starting to feel in a lot of pain by this stage, but the two of them seemed to be fairing a lot worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ran as a group of three very briefly, but I was eager to get the last few miles over and done with and was clearly able to maintain a faster pace than the other two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I turned my back on them and ran on alone, even though I was very aware that I was only slowly edging away from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last few miles were horrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ground was flat, and mostly on a flood bank alongside a river, very much like running alongside the River Cam to Ely, but the surface was as rutted as anything and baked hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can imagine what mud would be like after horses had walked through it and then baked by the sun you’ll have a good idea of the ground conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs seemed to almost buckle with every stride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I overtook one final runner at this stage, who had been in sight for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t think I was going to catch him, and certainly hadn’t made it an aim, but he was doing a mixture of jogging, hobbling and walking, and going through that cycle every 20 to 30 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I passed him I asked if he was ok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He grunted some response, which I didn’t make out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then just responded by saying the last few miles were horrible, to which he agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then left him behind to hobble towards the finish.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">With about half a mile to go I spotted Ruth waving at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was actually surprised to see her, as she has only seen me run in three marathons so far this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was glad to hear her confirm that I didn’t have far to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, soon after passing Ruth I reached the edge of Sleaford and was running on smooth tarmac once more, which instantly made my legs feel better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The finish was as low key as the event itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We turned to run over a bridge, and then made one other turn to suddenly find that we were in a finishing funnel edged with plastic tape and directed towards a table with three event organisers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One took our final wrist band, one handed out a medal and the other gave all the finishers a certificate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were then told to help ourselves to a bottle of sports drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with that another marathon was completed.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJCwCXhyphenhyphenCQRuiWV9BIMq_Gn7OKBHuj9CsPfgWwKkkmgpiVC73-leuVZHUYBGhpEvTarTrsryH3QHQRPg740mZ6bYu39628qEGM1bpf5W0zSfcuOM_CLetmyddcs6paKU7P8hqwsw6S-4V/s1600/Lincoln+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJCwCXhyphenhyphenCQRuiWV9BIMq_Gn7OKBHuj9CsPfgWwKkkmgpiVC73-leuVZHUYBGhpEvTarTrsryH3QHQRPg740mZ6bYu39628qEGM1bpf5W0zSfcuOM_CLetmyddcs6paKU7P8hqwsw6S-4V/s320/Lincoln+030.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final river crossing</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;"></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">As I waited for Ruth to make her way to the finish, I congratulated a few other runners and waited for the three guys I’d overtaken in the last few miles to finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once Ruth got to the finish line it was time to take a few photos, including a staged photo of me running across the last bridge to send to my charity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently I’m going to be the cover star in their next biannual publication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN7Lu1j2FypKARfiP6AxpNyHfYwW1gMgQqrcU90eWRvCGkBrpTzGf8_mYMqaEajESBTWmAdocW-ucvE15hn1BwFBR8Z0JJJquMwW_TiLBhAAsyjkk_zSvn2bcVqxgXHfgHaC5Sjdfzj7I/s1600/Lincoln+027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN7Lu1j2FypKARfiP6AxpNyHfYwW1gMgQqrcU90eWRvCGkBrpTzGf8_mYMqaEajESBTWmAdocW-ucvE15hn1BwFBR8Z0JJJquMwW_TiLBhAAsyjkk_zSvn2bcVqxgXHfgHaC5Sjdfzj7I/s400/Lincoln+027.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12 marathons completed and original target achieved, but I still aim to do 4 more</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Ruth and I then had a quick meal in a greasy spoon café before the drive back to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cambridge</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t sure if I could face a full meal, but once I had a plate of pasty, chips and peas in front of me I seemed to have no trouble polishing it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I now have two weekends off before my next marathon on November 6<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ruth and I will be having a short walking holiday in the interim.</span></div>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-6573115726434717862011-10-08T00:12:00.000-07:002011-10-08T00:28:16.643-07:00Loch Ness Marathon - Full Report<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">On the last day of September I found myself flying to <place w:st="on">Inverness</place> by myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ruth was supposed to have gone with me, but with <city w:st="on">Cambridge</city> forecast to be blisteringly hot, compared to a weekend of rain in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Scotland</place></country-region>, I was told that I’d be going on my own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ruth had no intention of standing at the finish line of a marathon in the wet waiting to see her dearly beloved cross the line when she could have been sunning herself at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was, obviously, a little disappointed by her lack of commitment, but also realised that I didn’t have a hope in hell of persuading her to change her mind and come with me, even though I’d already paid for her flights, a double hotel room and pre-race pasta party meal for two.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">As there is only one flight a day from Luton to <place w:st="on">Inverness</place>, I was expecting to see several marathon runners on my flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I only managed to spot maybe 3 or 4 likely contenders, none of whom I was sufficiently confident were runners for me to approach and ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I kept my nose buried in my book whilst waiting in the departure lounge and for the duration of the flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An ex-client bought me a copy of “The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner” as a goodbye present a few months back and I’ve finally got round to starting it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have thought that this would have made me stand out as a runner to any observers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Once at <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Inverness</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Airport</placetype></place> I made my way to the city centre by bus, from where I only had a short walk to the Aberfeldy Lodge Hotel, which I’d booked months ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I presented my hotel accommodation voucher to the hotel owner, who studied it thoroughly before telling me that the voucher didn’t mean anything to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She went off to make a phone call, and when she came back she informed me that I’d been the victim of an internet scam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d handed over just over £170 to someone who had set up a bogus internet site pretending to be a hotel bookings agent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was absolutely gutted, to say the least, and realised that the weekend was going to end up costing a lot more than I’d bargained for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The owner was very helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t have a spare room herself, but managed to find me a room in a nearby B&B which proved to be excellent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I ended up staying with Sergio in the Averon House B&B (Tel: 01463 232469, www.averon-house.co.uk).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you ever find yourself needing somewhere to stay in <place w:st="on">Inverness</place> then I would highly recommend it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sergio is a perfect host and went out of his way to ensure I was comfortable and had everything I needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The breakfast was fantastic, if anything there was way too much of everything, which can’t be a bad thing, unless you’re on a diet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did have to insist that I only wanted porridge on the Sunday morning before the marathon, and I think Sergio felt he had to make amends for only giving me a measly breakfast by offering to make me sandwiches and to cook me pasta the night before the marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I refused, even though the offer was genuine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The B&B itself is located just behind Inverness Castle and is just a 5 minute walk from the centre of town and about a 15 minute walk to the marathon event village.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvz9vCHdrT_njVWZQg0WVxioJkvhsg_1Betpp6jNbpxCYZQRq0_NX7BuBwio1ktfvQ9kek_0AjSDRDCSs4rLULqo3ucy4ntXNZkjhsDBqFpW3yiOB2wlJVPXzUuE0CgBPU7Y7bdrslQmX/s1600/Loch+Ness+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvz9vCHdrT_njVWZQg0WVxioJkvhsg_1Betpp6jNbpxCYZQRq0_NX7BuBwio1ktfvQ9kek_0AjSDRDCSs4rLULqo3ucy4ntXNZkjhsDBqFpW3yiOB2wlJVPXzUuE0CgBPU7Y7bdrslQmX/s400/Loch+Ness+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inverness Castle and the River Ness</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzlDfy-HMIVvL8tD3yUkeEcLz6NTmWRKwooPmUWunC8aWqXbrFydUdqFPT1K_zf5je1EO6msAl3YY3ULh9lpy1geeM2hQkUAS7U0j60tuOEDbZ-FPJfA2NNjJV8n9cXi5MZbqH7t3PKV0/s1600/Loch+Ness+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzlDfy-HMIVvL8tD3yUkeEcLz6NTmWRKwooPmUWunC8aWqXbrFydUdqFPT1K_zf5je1EO6msAl3YY3ULh9lpy1geeM2hQkUAS7U0j60tuOEDbZ-FPJfA2NNjJV8n9cXi5MZbqH7t3PKV0/s400/Loch+Ness+017.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Marathon Event Village - open for registration.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The event village is where I had to go on the Saturday before the marathon to collect my race number and to attend the pasta party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always have high expectations of so called pasta parties, which are never realised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What should have been a fun gathering of like minded people sharing anecdotes of previous marathons, training disasters and narrow escapes from the jaws of menacing dogs, turned out to be a massive marquee that was less than a quarter full, a band playing folk music on a small stage at one end, small pockets of runners dotted here and there and a less than generous serving of pasta for which I’d paid £10 in advance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I managed to find myself sitting close enough to solitary female runner that I was able to start a conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think my opening line was built around a moan about the size of the portion of pasta, to which she agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From this we got into a conversation about all the usual sorts of things runners talk about; how many marathons have you run before, what’s your best time, what are you aiming for this time, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we exchanged names and asked where we’d travelled from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coincidently, it turned out that Jenny lives just up the road from me in Huntingdon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I considered asking her if she wanted to hang out together for the rest of the day, given that we were both on our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought that maybe we could catch a movie and go out for pasta together in the evening, but I decided that it might sound too much like a chat up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead we finished our meals, wished each other good luck for the marathon and went our separate ways.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Given that I had pretty much fully explored <place w:st="on">Inverness</place> on Friday, I did decide that I’d kill my afternoon with a trip to the cinema.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to see The Debt, which I really enjoyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not exactly a barrel of laughs but it kept me off my feet the day before the marathon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The previous evening I’d had no problem finding somewhere to eat in <place w:st="on">Inverness</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The night before the marathon was a different story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I headed to a well known pasta chain for 6.30pm, thinking I’d beat the rush, to discover a queue of runners outside the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I joined the back of the queue to patiently wait for a table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long, mainly due to being a little brash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spotted a single male at the front of the queue being shown to a table for two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked the people ahead of me if they had any objections to me jumping the queue to see if I could join who I assumed was a single runner, just like me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn’t, so I barged on in, tapped the guy on the shoulder, asked if he was running in the marathon (he was), told him I was doing the same and asked if it would be ok for me to share his table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very grateful that I was able to drastically reduce my wait time, even though my dining companion, Andy, wasn’t the most talkative chap in the world, and when he did talk in his broad Glaswegian accent I had to ask him to repeat himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself wishing I had asked Jenny out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we were both full of pasta and garlic bread, we wished each other luck (I think that’s what he said), and went our separate ways.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">It had rained in Inverness pretty much all day on Saturday, whilst the whole of <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">England</place></country-region> basked in sunshine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the weather forecast promised dry weather with sunny spells for race day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I awoke and looked out the window I saw the same old dreary drizzle that I’d seen all the previous day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At breakfast I discovered another marathon runner had checked in the previous afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt was running in his first marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two of us ate our porridge and then walked to the marathon village together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were instructed to be at the village by 7.30am to get on a bus that would then drive us to the start of the marathon 26 miles south west of <place w:st="on">Inverness</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marathon was due to start at 10am and we both couldn’t work out why the buses needed to depart so early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely it doesn’t take that long for a bus to travel 26 miles!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At 7.45am a long convoy of assorted buses, from luxury coaches to Stagecoach double deckers, left <place w:st="on">Inverness</place> with some 3000 runners onboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quite a strange sight to see so many buses travelling in convoy, with police escort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever the buses needed to turn right, the police would set up a road block so we could carry on unimpeded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This must surely get full marks for organisation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just over an hour after leaving <place w:st="on">Inverness</place> we were still on the buses, driving slowly along winding country lanes, with lots of well hydrated runners writhing in their seats with tightly crossed legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone on our bus begged the driver to stop so we could jump off and then jump behind a bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The driver refused, but a few minutes later it become apparent that someone on the lead bus was in a similar predicament and the whole convoy came to a halt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One by one we witnessed bus doors ahead of us opening up and streams of runners jumping off to relieve themselves in the wide open Scottish air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our driver grudgingly opened the door, but shouted at us that she’d leave us behind if the convoy moved on before we were back on the bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We eventually reached the start at 9.40.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all at a loss as to how it took so long to get to the start of the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must have taken a massive long detour.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAwjuqr5dWhO1pOst7gVUR7dAPYUsuS86zPKe6-8yOhp8Eex6uXSWLWREmWDhOnP6lu7IZBfShCNrfvIczc19pSFpf8w6_t76W-07x-C3McUxACaJ0iFzsoCVN2Oh0GKxhxUttGn2Ov7B/s1600/Loch+Ness+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAwjuqr5dWhO1pOst7gVUR7dAPYUsuS86zPKe6-8yOhp8Eex6uXSWLWREmWDhOnP6lu7IZBfShCNrfvIczc19pSFpf8w6_t76W-07x-C3McUxACaJ0iFzsoCVN2Oh0GKxhxUttGn2Ov7B/s400/Loch+Ness+019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Baggage trucks at the start</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At the start it was very cold and damp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This made it difficult to decide what to wear for the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opted to wear a T-shirt over my running vest with the intention of discarding it somewhere on route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There wasn’t much at the start other than a few portaloos and baggage trucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starting zones were marked according to predicted finish times on boards along the side of the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once everyone was in position a troupe of pipers made their way through the entire field from the back to the head of the line of competitors, which made for a very atmospheric start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the pipers were at the front of the field there was a lot of cheering, clapping and hand shaking amongst the crowd of runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few seconds later we were off.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk2ZGn2hkB5bA-Qxu1x51FIM-A7scoEcGk53povD4s7Agcc4my9Gm8YpgTe7O3REeuLJWRCNBUy3DqxYi1Tj-ojMG72CVFFMVT-b8qmEn6A9KhSEIjgDHxdGo8tS4lKYZehlY72dUlLqC/s1600/Loch+Ness+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk2ZGn2hkB5bA-Qxu1x51FIM-A7scoEcGk53povD4s7Agcc4my9Gm8YpgTe7O3REeuLJWRCNBUy3DqxYi1Tj-ojMG72CVFFMVT-b8qmEn6A9KhSEIjgDHxdGo8tS4lKYZehlY72dUlLqC/s400/Loch+Ness+022.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pipers at the start of the marathon</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Loch Ness is probably one of the easiest marathons I’ve run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first 10 miles is predominantly downhill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To some extent this makes it hard to judge how fast you should be running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly you can go faster than on the flat, but how hard should you push it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was running at about 7 minutes per mile for the first 5 miles, and wondered if I was going too fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was aiming to finish in around 3 hours 30 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feared that any faster would be too much given that I’d only just run a marathon the week before.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At times we’d come to short sections of quite steep descents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I employed the just let go and let gravity take you technique, which requires turning the legs over very quickly and almost leaping large distances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most runners around me were using way too much energy breaking themselves and fighting against gravity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running fast downhill is a skill worth learning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighhP533s6NZjm6fDKD1umTJemE488RI2geSyvM7BHbK_8jmWODXPR_b2x6PfvWgHKyI0J2WpOsuhkM56ieQ32BJ3jp74-knhy8bCB_iZPZaUB0j3T3Yi4mnbwvahaF_VtbR9DgmCxDV8q/s1600/Loch+Ness+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighhP533s6NZjm6fDKD1umTJemE488RI2geSyvM7BHbK_8jmWODXPR_b2x6PfvWgHKyI0J2WpOsuhkM56ieQ32BJ3jp74-knhy8bCB_iZPZaUB0j3T3Yi4mnbwvahaF_VtbR9DgmCxDV8q/s400/Loch+Ness+023.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last view of the Loch before the hill at mile 18</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Miles 10 to 18 are then mostly pancake flat and right alongside the shore of the <place w:st="on">Loch</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I reached the halfway point in 1 hour 35 minutes, 10 minutes faster than I’d planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I was feeling pretty good and wasn’t too concerned with being ahead of schedule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At mile 18 the course starts to go upwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many runners at the start were talking about the ‘big’ hill at mile 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got to it, it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did go up for the best part of two miles, but the gradient wasn’t severe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was possible to maintain a comfortable pace all the way to the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was then one other smaller and slightly steeper hill at about mile 22, but once over this it was mostly down or flat all the way to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was amazed at how good my legs were feeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to increase my pace, and each mile got progressively faster over the last 3 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I passed dozens of runners, and I felt as if I was having the best run of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a reasonable number of spectators lining the course over the last two miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got several shout outs which helped spur me on to catch the next runner ahead of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got to the last 100m I even had enough left in the tank for a sprint finish, a definite first for me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhye0o6_Zq0XNTWLJfhAx7lyXadIlN5owMhHIeTyMXbLHRQKW7FIuOxABCqv6sJEwadRoDJ6aKMC_68JHqELmhdwYNZ88nK9pRv-x-2wfU1UpkaGSroBmoSV9kWq19boFLBmLOK4YWXX5yh/s1600/Loch+Ness+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhye0o6_Zq0XNTWLJfhAx7lyXadIlN5owMhHIeTyMXbLHRQKW7FIuOxABCqv6sJEwadRoDJ6aKMC_68JHqELmhdwYNZ88nK9pRv-x-2wfU1UpkaGSroBmoSV9kWq19boFLBmLOK4YWXX5yh/s400/Loch+Ness+024.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I hung around at the finish to greet a number of runners that I’d chatted to on the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was then how I managed to orchestrate my customary finishing photo, by roping in Ross, who finished his first marathon in an incredible 3 hours 17 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mentioned in my previous post that I finished in 3 hours 14 minutes, a time that I’m very happy with, and one that deserves a second mention.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWpoWcvUl_YR8KajamzwTx5GuKAgWw81bSxNyAyvtz2tzdmnHQpkIzuDUfOznbwXZ1INIL-q47lxnN-g924lkpPwtWLWrfKsEXRBdnvrtdULmA72cCiatm5DCNScYO5nzLwOoLdQocVW7/s1600/Loch+Ness+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWpoWcvUl_YR8KajamzwTx5GuKAgWw81bSxNyAyvtz2tzdmnHQpkIzuDUfOznbwXZ1INIL-q47lxnN-g924lkpPwtWLWrfKsEXRBdnvrtdULmA72cCiatm5DCNScYO5nzLwOoLdQocVW7/s400/Loch+Ness+026.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tired runners in the finishing funnel collecting medals, goody bags and drinks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxlZL3s93QnDJcDczFzxX7ThaQveqCKky5T0AGw71upGeFpFYhDhNzJlWxpu-FJnlBuG8auv938EBuO3zwmJMIZaYerMZzE7uM0bw27w7T8aU5-0alNitWTEsZPHQwLUvTs9_2woN2TaZ/s1600/Loch+Ness+027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxlZL3s93QnDJcDczFzxX7ThaQveqCKky5T0AGw71upGeFpFYhDhNzJlWxpu-FJnlBuG8auv938EBuO3zwmJMIZaYerMZzE7uM0bw27w7T8aU5-0alNitWTEsZPHQwLUvTs9_2woN2TaZ/s400/Loch+Ness+027.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nessie keeping an eye on the finish</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Once I’d collected my medal and excellent quality race T-shirt, I headed to the baggage trucks, got my stuff and had a quick bite to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then started to slowly walk back to the B&B, periodically stopping to stand and cheer those who were still running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The following morning I opted to wear my race T-shirt for the journey home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted as many people as possible to know what I’d just done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After breakfast I said goodbye to Sergio and made my way to the airport by bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><place w:st="on">Inverness</place> airport was a very funny sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was clear who had run the marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bizarrely, the vast majority had opted to proudly wear their race T-shirt, just like me, but many were also limping around as if they’d been wounded in a hideous accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d say a third of the people at the airport had run in the marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time I wouldn’t have my head buried in my book in the departure lounge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself sitting next to a couple of runners who were only to happy to exchange stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone seemed to agree that it had been a fantastic event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d rate it in my top 4, which I’d say are <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">London</city></place>, Snowdonia, South Downs & Loch Ness, but in no particular order.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Despite the distance from <city w:st="on">Cambridge</city> and the fact that there isn’t a whole lot going on in <place w:st="on">Inverness</place>, I would definitely run this marathon again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ll be writing more either later today or tomorrow with other news from the past week.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-89799283214270573802011-10-04T08:40:00.000-07:002011-10-04T08:40:07.972-07:00Loch Ness Marathon - Brief Report<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will have to write up a full report from Loch Ness at the weekend. For the time being here is a brief update on what proved to be one of my best and favourite marathons of the year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surprisingly, the marathon has real PB potential, due to the fact that the first 10 miles (yes, 10) are practically downhill. It's then flat for 8 miles, then goes up for 2 miles up to mile 20, but not at a significant gradient. There's then another shortish hill at mile 23, but after that it's either down or flat to the finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ran my strongest finish ever, and my legs were feeling great, even though I'd only run New Forest Marathon the week before. I finished in a time of 3hrs 14mins with the feeling that I still had a few miles left in me. It was a great feeling to have at the end of a marathon. I can honestly say I've never enjoyed running 26.2 miles as much as I did on Sunday. I'd definitely recommend this run. To cap it off you get a great medal and a great T-shirt that you'd actually want to wear. </span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-5184745980343421022011-09-27T14:00:00.000-07:002011-09-27T14:00:35.284-07:00New Forest Marathon<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I think I’m discovering there’s a big difference between running one marathon a month and two a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess that shouldn’t really come as a big surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have affectively just run 3 marathons in 4 weeks, with the Pathfinder being the first of the three on Monday 29 August, and <place w:st="on">New Forest</place> the third on Sunday 25 September.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I was really looking forward to the New Forest Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It promised to be a scenic marathon that was almost entirely on tarmac and without too many hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I arrived at the start on Sunday morning almost too early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The previous night I had stayed at my mum’s house in Winchester, which isn’t too far away, but I still managed to completely over estimate how long it would take for me to get to the start in New Milton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had one and a half hours to kill from the moment I’d parked the car until the start of the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told that the car park was only a short walk from the start, so I left everything I needed in the car and walked in to New Milton to see if I could get a cup of tea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turned out it was just short of a mile to the start, so by the time I’d walked from the car park into New Milton for a cup of tea and back, then back to the start with all my race gear I’d practically walked 3 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a day out for some people!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Whilst waiting at the start I spotted two runners I’d met at previous events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was Ian who I ran with for the entire duration of the Pathfinder Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a quick chat before he had to dash off to get himself ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then spotted a chap I’d met at the Isle of Wight Ultra Marathon the previous year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two of us chatted until the race got underway, he made it clear he didn’t want to go at my pace, so I left him behind and weaved in and out of slower runners over the first mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then soon found myself alongside Ian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were both aiming to finish in about 3 hours 30 minutes so I decided to stick with him for a while.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">We soon found ourselves overtaking slower half marathon runners, who had set off 30 minutes before us, this continued all the way to the 9 mile point, which was where the two courses diverged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some reason overtaking slower runners who are running a shorter distance does give you a confidence boost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or at least it does for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was at about this point that Ian and I caught up with one of Ian’s club mates, Marc, who was aiming for 3 hours 15 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if Ian then made a conscious decision to pace his mate, but I noticed that our pace lifted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t want to burn out or risk injuring myself so I dropped off and let the two of them get on with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I tried my best to enjoy the scenery as much as I could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marathon course either went along tree lined avenues or over vast areas of open heathland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also mostly on tarmac except for a couple of sections that went off-road on gravel tracks through the forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although picturesque in places, it’s not the most varied of landscapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I, perhaps, had overly high expectations for it being a wonderful scenic run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, it was all very nice, and I’d much rather run it again as opposed to, say, Gloucester or the Bedford Clanger, there just wasn’t much variety to the scenery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that this contributed to making it feel like quite a tough event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The run was also hillier than I’d expected, with a total elevation gain of 236m, making it hillier than the Robin Hood Marathon.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuPX9s-DTcc8aqdAYKuZwWT1xuAzSEy0RTPb9XuTxScIpo0cHyDc_P_TdqSC2ZQ9S0rchvCSS8lp5m6XBX-6byq8pc7caWiAYr71UTOG8XLsKPXlN89T8w0vS-xje4y6LBab3FkDrPU3r/s1600/SAM_0769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuPX9s-DTcc8aqdAYKuZwWT1xuAzSEy0RTPb9XuTxScIpo0cHyDc_P_TdqSC2ZQ9S0rchvCSS8lp5m6XBX-6byq8pc7caWiAYr71UTOG8XLsKPXlN89T8w0vS-xje4y6LBab3FkDrPU3r/s320/SAM_0769.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">To say I had to dig deep to get the job done on this one would have been an understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From about 14 miles my legs started to ache and seemed to be screaming at me to stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to be very mindful of the fact that I owe my livelihood to my legs and that I couldn’t really afford a serious injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This meant that I tried to focus on the type of pain I was feeling whilst also trying to keep my pace nice and steady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I thought I was heading towards muscle cramp or a tear I would have slowed down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, it just continued to feel like general fatigue, so I pushed through the pain and did my best to ignore it, whilst still paying attention to it, if that makes sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Miles 14 to 18 felt especially tough and my pace did drop off over these hard four miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realised that whilst I had come accustomed to running one marathon a month my body was now telling me that I hadn’t yet reached the point where I could comfortably run one marathon every two weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered how I’d feel when it comes to running the Loch Ness Marathon in a week’s time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that I was trying to really focus on how I was feeling whilst also maintaining a decent pace probably didn’t help me to really enjoy my surroundings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is that over the last 10 miles I might as well have been running anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">One thing that helped me over the latter part of the course was catching up with Ian again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst I was in pain I wasn’t struggling as much as Marc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ian was clearly now trying to pace him to a 3 hour 30 minute finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed with them for a short while, but by the time I’d reached mile 20 I could smell the finish and I almost started to feel refreshed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I resolved to try and lift my pace again and I slowly pulled away from Ian and Marc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then continued to overtake people all the way to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the 23 mile mark the course hit a sudden steep hill, which seemed particularly cruel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some kind soul had placed had painted motivational signs besides the road at this point to try and encourage runners along, which included favourite runners’ mottos such as “pain is temporary, pride lasts forever”, and signs that said “today YOU are a HERO – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yes you</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite these encouraging words I was reduced to a walk on the hill, until I spotted a photographer pointing his camera at me, at which point I decided that I had to run for the photo that I won’t buy anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still can’t figure out the logic in that one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just goes to prove that sometimes words aren’t as powerful as the thought of someone somewhere having photographic evidence of me walking in a marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I was beyond the photographer I continued to run to the top of the hill and then managed to keep running all the way to the finish.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The last couple of miles to the finish were on narrow country roads enclosed by high hedgerows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me it felt rather claustrophobic, which was heightened by my desire to just get to the finish line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every couple of hundred yards or so stood a marshal in a fluorescent vest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’d suddenly appear in the distance as I rounded every minor bend in the road and they seemed to act as beacons for me to aim for, acting as the next target for me to reach on my run to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder if they had any idea how useful they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought of them as my little yellow angels.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">All of a sudden I turned a corner to find myself back in New Milton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last 400m were lined by spectators cheering on the runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several spotted my name on my running vest and gave me a shout out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s definitely better to hear people shouting out your name, rather than “come on 1067”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I crossed the line in a time of 3 hours 27 minutes 20 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I waited for Ian and Marc to finish, who both crossed the line together just 3 minutes behind me in a time of 3 hours 30 minutes and 18 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a brief chat and then went our separate ways in the belief we will one day meet again at some other running event, quite possibly later this year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I walked the mile back to my car, getting something to eat on the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then experienced the one big drawback of the New Forest Marathon – the traffic getting away from the event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First we had to share the roads with runners who still hadn’t finished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marshals were only allowing cars on to the roads in small numbers, which was all fair enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon after this I hit a massive traffic jam on the approach to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Lyndhurst</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to get back on to the motorway network all traffic has to go through this very small town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed to take an age to slowly crawl through the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought my left leg was going to cramp every time I had to use the clutch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I should invest in an automatic for post marathon drives!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least after Loch Ness next week I won’t be going anyway immediately after the run, as we won’t be flying home until the Monday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just have to hope by legs can now cope with another marathon after just one week.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-45229606048490099372011-09-18T09:24:00.000-07:002011-09-18T09:24:18.335-07:00Ticking Over As Usual<span style="font-family: Arial;">There’s been a flurry of activity amongst a small group of my running friends and Sweaty Betty runners this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A considerable number (9 at the last count) have enrolled for <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Paris</place></city> marathon, which takes place next April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many it will be there first marathon, and at the moment they seem to be excited about the prospect of taking on the marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also enrolled and I too am excited about the prospect of a weekend trip to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Paris</place></city> to run the marathon with a group of friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, for me, there is the small matter of running the remaining 7 marathons this year, which is a daunting task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not quite sure now why I decided to up my challenge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ll be running my next marathon next Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that the last one was just last week, it has been a case of just keeping ticking over this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of my runs have been done either with clients or with the Betties on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went for a steady 8 mile run yesterday, on what was a lovely autumnal Saturday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I headed down to the <place w:st="on">Cam</place> and out towards Waterbeach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I turned round I discovered I’d been running with a strong tail wind on my back – I hate it when that happens!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was heading back I passed a small group of friends out on a 22 mile training run in preparation for the Amsterdam Marathon on 16 October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll also be running a marathon in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Lincoln</place></city> on the same day, but I also have another two to do before then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today was the day of the Cambridge Chariots of Fire Relay race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I had a number of friends taking part I ran into town to give them some support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The relay race is a 1.7 mile lap around central <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cambridge</place></city> for teams of 6 people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was won by the same team as last year from the Glassworks Gym, with my mate Guilio’s team in second place once again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a running event it is really good fun and most teams are made up of groups of work teams, many of whom would not normally call themselves a runner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was good to see so many people given it a go and having fun at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I’d seen all of my friends complete their laps I headed off on a six mile run back to home, meaning I’d run a total of 9.5 miles today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I just need to keep on ticking over for the remainder of the week and look forward to the New Forest Marathon next Sunday.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-73869383258275861912011-09-13T01:40:00.001-07:002011-09-13T01:48:31.647-07:00Robin Hood Marathon - Race Report<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I learnt an important lesson about technology and planning on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, neither came to my undoing, but it was a close call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all I discovered just how reliant I have become on my Garmin GPS watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were staying at Ruth’s parents the night before the marathon and I only took my Garmin with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I charged it up over night, but when I unclipped it from the charger in the morning it completely froze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It still showed the time, but it wasn’t advancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pressing all of the buttons in every combination imaginable had no affect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just stuck on 8:18<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">:21</span></sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ruth tried to persuade me that it would be a good test to run without a stopwatch, but I wasn’t convinced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m terrible for starting too fast when I do have a stopwatch, without one I was convinced I’d run the first half too quickly and be knackered way before reaching the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept it with me to the last minute and periodically pressed buttons to see if I could reset it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By some fluke it suddenly went through a reset phase under its own accord just as I was about to hand it over to Ruth and say goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d have my trusty companion with my after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I made a mental note to always take a back-up stopwatch with me in future.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I then had another panic attack as I was waiting in my starting zone just 18 minutes before the marathon was due to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suddenly realised I didn’t have my timing chip attached to my ankle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No chip would mean no time and, therefore, no official result.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point crowds of runners were entering the starting zones and a bigger crowd of spectators were lining the sides of the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to fight my way through an oncoming tide of runners and supporters in order to get to the car and back in 18 minutes, which was parked at least a half mile away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also relying on Ruth going straight back to the car after saying goodbye to me and still being there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had talked about going off for a coffee, and I had no idea where she’d go for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sprinted back to the car, which was not the warm-up I wanted, and, fortunately, found Ruth in the car park just a few meters away from our car. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got the car key off her, found my timing chip, attached it and jogged back to the start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself jogging with quite a few late arrivals, which made me feel better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fought my way through the crowd and got back to my zone with about 3 minutes to spare and an elevated heart rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure I’d forgotten to attach my timing chip due to being so pre-occupied with my non-functioning Garmin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, alls well that ends well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in the right starting zone ready to tackle the Robin Hood Marathon for the third time.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I had previously run the <place w:st="on">Nottingham</place> marathon in 2007 and 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2007 it was the third marathon I’d ever run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2008 I entered in order to pace a friend on what was her first ever marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I distinctly remember saying at that time that I’d never run it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for this is that the first half is reasonably hilly and very crowded, with approximately 9,000 half-marathon runners and just 1,000 marathoners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the half-way point many runners start to speed up towards what is their finish, whilst us marathon runners just need to get our heads down, stick to the target pace and focus on the other half that is to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second half of the marathon is then pancake flat and with very few spectators to cheer you on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some reason, going from a busy run in the first 13 miles to a quiet and lonely second half seems to make the race seem longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other reason I’d also previously said I wouldn’t do this race again is that the last 5 miles are alongside the River Trent and it always seems that you have to run into a headwind when you are at your most fatigued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has always seemed a brutal finish, and Sunday was no exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anything it was worse than previous years as we had to do battle with elevated winds that were ahead of Hurricane Katia.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">However, despite all my moaning, I was looking forward to running the Robin Hood Marathon once more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My previous three marathons this year have all been off-road affairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve also been getting progressively smaller in size: 600 at the <place w:st="on">South Downs</place>, 200 at Fairland’s Valley and approximately 50 at the last marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It made a nice change to be taking part in a road marathon with a very large field once again, were there was no need to read race directions and no need to carry your own sports drink and gels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also nice to be back on familiar ground and to know exactly what was coming up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I found that the first 10 miles seemed to fly by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few interesting and picturesque sights to take in over this part of the course: <placename w:st="on">Nottingham</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Castle</placetype>, the grounds of <placename w:st="on">Nottingham</placename> <placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> with its boating lake and leafy <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Wollaton</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Park</placetype></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about the 5 mile point I spotted another runner that I’ve seen at a couple of other events this year and had a chat with him for a few miles, but I was mostly running by myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does seem perverse that the bigger the running event the less people you chat to as you run around the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miles 10 to 13 seemed particularly long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be that I was anticipating the point at which the field would suddenly diminish leaving the ‘few’ to get on with the task of tackling the marathon by ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly mile 12 to 13 seemed especially long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at the point where the two races divide and the half-marathoners headed off to their finish, whilst the rest of us started out on the second half of our race, I did have a sense of pride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives me a great sense of satisfaction that I am able to run marathons and that here I was running in my ninth of the year so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I wasn’t about to get complacent, it was time to focus on the next 13 miles.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Once past the half way point the marathon course heads east on pancake flat roads, following the River Trent a short way to the cross the river via the Lady Bay Bridge and then through a residential estate for about a mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the houses are behind you there is then a 3 mile run along an almost deserted road to the 18.5 mile point, where the marathon course turns back on itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The road is closed to traffic well before the marathon reaches this part of <place w:st="on">Nottingham</place>; as a result it is eerily quiet with very few spectators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, Ruth had borrowed her mum’s bike and cycled out to the 16.5 mile point to wave me on.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhew7pG-22NYHLb1ahoS574c8OLicei7AKw1GTQvhlMRSNdOzy1tE7yf3ksRU6oToi5EsXxV5omu1VwMtaqfehogoNv5VKWjyTSr53WrxphAJUfs6olGhybql-0rR2jIrAP2lFIcJw5-_Bi/s1600/Robin+Hood+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhew7pG-22NYHLb1ahoS574c8OLicei7AKw1GTQvhlMRSNdOzy1tE7yf3ksRU6oToi5EsXxV5omu1VwMtaqfehogoNv5VKWjyTSr53WrxphAJUfs6olGhybql-0rR2jIrAP2lFIcJw5-_Bi/s400/Robin+Hood+011.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The long, lonely road.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">For about a mile before reaching the turn around point you get to see the lead runners coming the other way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two streams of runners are simply separated by a row of traffic cones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A runner I was running alongside at the time turned to me and said “it’s tempting to just nip across, isn’t it?” To be perfectly honest, the thought never crossed my mind, but I had also assumed that there would be some sort of control point at the turn around point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There wasn’t, just a single marshal to cheer us on our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, soon after I’d turned around I realised I was overtaking runners that I’d already overtaken several miles back. There was no way that they had passed me again, so I can only assume that for some weary runners the temptation to cut a mile or two off the course was too great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only hope that they felt justified in still collecting their finisher’s medal, because I wouldn’t have.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At about the mile 20 point the course turns into the National Water Sports Centre to run around the rowing lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you round the top end of the lake there is about a 5 mile stretch along side the lake and then the River Trent directly into the full might of the wind, with nothing to provide cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A junior 4 man kayak race was taking place, which helped act as a little distraction from the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to see if I could keep alongside the kayaks, but failed miserably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw Ruth once again as I left the rowing lake behind me to then run alongside the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Trent</place></city> back to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were only 4 miles left to go, but my legs were feeling shattered by this stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took great comfort in the fact that I was overtaking many runners who were clearly struggling more than I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ruth later told me that she hadn’t seen me looking like I was in so much pain in the latter stages of a marathon before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m glad she kept this piece of information until after I’d finished.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2G63jfw8zvq4ugdVFspNxU6sHN54nQiuY65LRSrvZ91LgUQYAIQTVw2gozWvpfWsIUXfMnmbdIsv6_Z-tnJ7lATG0EPzRxLEvYjcjs887gwnQu5UcG13hhXnuPCdHzlJNI3pwSMbwv8U/s1600/Robin+Hood+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2G63jfw8zvq4ugdVFspNxU6sHN54nQiuY65LRSrvZ91LgUQYAIQTVw2gozWvpfWsIUXfMnmbdIsv6_Z-tnJ7lATG0EPzRxLEvYjcjs887gwnQu5UcG13hhXnuPCdHzlJNI3pwSMbwv8U/s400/Robin+Hood+030.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the bravado, I was in a world of pain at this point.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">It was with great relief that I reached the 25 mile marker and knew that I’d soon be crossing the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Trent</place></city> and heading back on myself to have the wind behind me for a change, even if it was for less than a mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crowds were immense over the last half mile, and many people started calling out my name to cheer me on, which did help spur me on to the finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does help to have your name on your running vest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I crossed the line in a time of 3 hours and 16 minutes dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very happy with my time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was my second fastest time of the year, but I wondered if I’d end up paying the price the next day, as I’d be starting the day by doing a 5k run with a client.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it would have been sensible to have gone a little slower.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I met Ruth shortly after I’d collected my medal and we headed back to the car, almost forgetting to take the customary finisher’s photo, which we only remembered to take once we got to the car.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qMnpyeksLX9bgvW6mqGaq0TXk92fj_Lr4B1T7LRIs6gHD-TRQnHhV7D0d_slh0OaVAGuSmAszVy0B2jFMt2lcO7iMIRcmGIcW5mGzhGiX6kV-PqnGKG35CS1T9YSK8V4jVr2zBy_tS9-/s1600/Robin+Hood+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qMnpyeksLX9bgvW6mqGaq0TXk92fj_Lr4B1T7LRIs6gHD-TRQnHhV7D0d_slh0OaVAGuSmAszVy0B2jFMt2lcO7iMIRcmGIcW5mGzhGiX6kV-PqnGKG35CS1T9YSK8V4jVr2zBy_tS9-/s400/Robin+Hood+033.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's marathon number 9, and now 7 to go (possibly?)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As I am writing this on Tuesday morning, I can report that all was well yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs felt fine on my 5k run with my client, and they held up to the rigours of teaching 3 kettlebell classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This morning there is the merest hint of what I got up to at the weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re not quite feeling 100%, but if I had to go for a long run I’m sure they’d do just fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dare say that all of my kettlebell beginners from yesterday’s classes are feeling a lot worse.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-69824470927669728262011-09-09T04:59:00.000-07:002011-09-09T04:59:09.242-07:00Post Marathon R&R On The Wight Isle.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The day after the Pathfinder Marathon Ruth and I packed up our tent and headed off to the Isle of Wight for a few days R&R. We pitched our tent on a lovely campsite on the East side of the island and then headed off for a little walk along Sandown Esplanade and along the coast, just to blow away the cobwebs following the long drive.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day the weather looked like it was going to be overcast, so we decided to have a relaxing day by just taking in a few sights, rather than going for a long walk. So we headed off to Osbourne House, the former summer home of Queen Victoria, and then on to Carisbrooke Castle.</span> </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gjb7iIFSfJKHGwTT_PNILPEveSCAf7tZyAjesObQ2lwmIJuZ6ZZfPWHbVX6lrLp2lLwqhyphenhyphenySUTlJbkQWM8jxV5PYswpvA-TfwzHD1ixbt5DgnTJQMv_ZzLmFQCchC6HNUIzryl91Wsra/s1600/IOW+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gjb7iIFSfJKHGwTT_PNILPEveSCAf7tZyAjesObQ2lwmIJuZ6ZZfPWHbVX6lrLp2lLwqhyphenhyphenySUTlJbkQWM8jxV5PYswpvA-TfwzHD1ixbt5DgnTJQMv_ZzLmFQCchC6HNUIzryl91Wsra/s320/IOW+007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAojFcZ-LOBGEFim0H3_qsKaQbazhNINj5t76aTVEY_L5YWv8Puf3N7HS1wVwsHHjbFBAqwgxpjP3TDvp-08yzdO0ujSp0l1isdHsMWBQKx2WPcaCtrbiLS7REXTkgXjqoeLgLeb1vGTax/s1600/IOW+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAojFcZ-LOBGEFim0H3_qsKaQbazhNINj5t76aTVEY_L5YWv8Puf3N7HS1wVwsHHjbFBAqwgxpjP3TDvp-08yzdO0ujSp0l1isdHsMWBQKx2WPcaCtrbiLS7REXTkgXjqoeLgLeb1vGTax/s320/IOW+011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We both felt slightly out of place at both attractions. At Osborne House we were way below the average age, as most visitors seemed to be OAPs on coach tours. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8tDQq-29RinjCPCO9Rp4h-9EmFzD54MsHSAuXA-XMDrrQSFAPg6jot-AzdR9iNbF2Kk-z1LKLaFq_wfx2rmtUA7pEDgS7BoIu4T174zqO60LTAa4DG3XvFVcqPpVBcpPIZyl-VBDAgxXz/s1600/IOW+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8tDQq-29RinjCPCO9Rp4h-9EmFzD54MsHSAuXA-XMDrrQSFAPg6jot-AzdR9iNbF2Kk-z1LKLaFq_wfx2rmtUA7pEDgS7BoIu4T174zqO60LTAa4DG3XvFVcqPpVBcpPIZyl-VBDAgxXz/s320/IOW+034.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiNHN0TLkN-pDaA-5tdcp-BznPN9Ty7GWZKTf5QUxYjy1p8TJMeV2ZtfW9B62Rs8d3KULAo99YuaI3aOB1FtNxiZWOsLz_SHmwZCfnc6yP92Rq5pSbMYvq5mxG3Tdo8bT9vubC44N-1kO/s1600/IOW+039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiNHN0TLkN-pDaA-5tdcp-BznPN9Ty7GWZKTf5QUxYjy1p8TJMeV2ZtfW9B62Rs8d3KULAo99YuaI3aOB1FtNxiZWOsLz_SHmwZCfnc6yP92Rq5pSbMYvq5mxG3Tdo8bT9vubC44N-1kO/s320/IOW+039.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At Carisbrooke we seemed to be just about the only couple amongst large groups of families with young kids. I was also slightly saddened by the sight of obese parents with young children. I know everyone has the right to live their lives as they choose, but it became apparent that a child that is brought up by two obese parents has their childhood restricted. I witnessed a few children who were eager to go off and explore the grounds of the castle, and to climb the steep stairs up to the ramparts, but who were always called back by their overweight parents because they didn't have the energy or couldn't be bothered to go with them. The worse thing was hearing their excuses and lies, "don't go down there, Johnny, there's nothing to see down there", or "you don't want to go up those stairs, they don't go anywhere".</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The following day we woke to glorious sunny weather. My legs were finally feeling over their marathon fatigue, as expected, so we headed off to do a days walk. We drove pretty much to the opposite side of the island and parked at Yarmouth. We then walked alongside the River Yar to Freshwater, where we stopped for a morning tea and cake. From Freshwater we headed up to Tennyson Down walking due West towards the needles. Last June I ran in the inaugural Isle of Wight ultra marathon, running 70 miles of coastal path over two days, and the Tennyson Down section is what I remembered as being the most scenic. It was just as picturesque as I'd remembered, except this time I was ambling along at a leisurely pace and had more time to take in the views.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Once we'd reached the Needles we followed the north coastline around to Alum Bay, which has a hideous theme park going on, and is overrun with tourists. We passed through quickly to get to the short steep climb up to the top of Headon Warren, which was covered in heather and wild flowers, and which has great views of the coast, if you can ignore the sight of the car park at Alum Bay.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruth overlooking Alum Bay, before reaching the hideous car park</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMiMNdQUjWwUK1_RRwEZZLIFBNtZCo9W4rXAPHvyji1fhaYJl5q0WQQuFIJdmXDDPW1tKSDA5B5Nh5zDN4uJusl2618f5O_zSmB_wcscNJFE5jWT_p2yLrYrK9NM8qM80-9cGavnFWliO/s1600/IOW2+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMiMNdQUjWwUK1_RRwEZZLIFBNtZCo9W4rXAPHvyji1fhaYJl5q0WQQuFIJdmXDDPW1tKSDA5B5Nh5zDN4uJusl2618f5O_zSmB_wcscNJFE5jWT_p2yLrYrK9NM8qM80-9cGavnFWliO/s320/IOW2+010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chairlift down to Alum Bay infront of The Needles</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDAI0rMAoo_Cl5GkZvXNtVa2kBD0mx7FdYwQEw_W-iwtSuJWQrN9VPxWtHrwdpKzPzMeOkSFsq-ZqH1wYA042HTCbJiFjMizR-x7qDVpQLsrJg3hOGnQWtTTWjGMOJBe80-vhpw2v79FO/s1600/IOW2+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDAI0rMAoo_Cl5GkZvXNtVa2kBD0mx7FdYwQEw_W-iwtSuJWQrN9VPxWtHrwdpKzPzMeOkSFsq-ZqH1wYA042HTCbJiFjMizR-x7qDVpQLsrJg3hOGnQWtTTWjGMOJBe80-vhpw2v79FO/s320/IOW2+012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruth on Headon Warren</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">We then headed down to sea level and mostly followed the coast all the way back to Yarmouth. Yarmouth itself is a lovely little fishing port crammed with interesting looking pubs and restaurants. We felt we really should stay for our dinner, so we found a nice seafood restaurant were we shared a massive platter of crab, mussels, prawns, crayfish tails, scallops and mackerel. It was all lip smackingly delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day we headed off for another walk along the south coast of the island. When I did the ultra marathon there was one section where I went hideously wrong and ended up running an extra 3 miles on top of what should have been a 38 mile day. I'm considering running the event again in 2012, and I mentioned to Ruth that I'd quite like to go for a reconnaissance walk along the section of coast where I'd gone wrong. Ruth wasn't against the idea, so off we went. It was another great walk, but not as long as the previous day's. We ended up in Ventnor and spent some time walking along the seafront and exploring the town. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As we walked through town we spotted an interesting looking Spanish Tapas bar called El Toro Contento. We popped in and instantly loved the feel and smell of the place. It really felt as if we had walked into an authentic tapas bar. We booked ourselves a table for that evening then got a bus back to where we'd left the car, killed some time and then returned to Ventnor. The tapas bar was a great find. It's run by an English woman and her Spanish husband, with their two teenage children helping out. It has to be the best tapas bar outside of Spain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sadly, that was the end of our brief holiday. The next morning we packed up the tent and got the car ferry back to the mainland and drove back to Cambridge. Last Sunday was then spent doing chores to get ready to start back at work, mainly a mountain of emailing. In the afternoon I got out for a 10 mile run, my first run following the marathon six days before. Since then I've only been out for a run on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, my next marathon is this coming Sunday.</span><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Since running the Pathfinder marathon I have decided to up the challenge for the rest of the year. So far I've completed eight marathons in eight months. My aim now is to run another eight marathons over the next four months. In September I plan to run Robin Hood Marathon this Sunday, followed by the New Forest Marathon two weeks later. This will then be followed the week later by the Loch Ness Marathon on the first Sunday of October and the Lincoln Spires and Steeples Marathon two weeks after that. My plans for November and December have not yet been set, but there are enough marathons out there for me to step up to my new challenge.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Why have I decided to increase the challenge? Partly out of curiosity. I seemed to have adapted to running one marathon a month and I would like to see if I can now adapt to running two a month. It's also because I would like to continue to raise money for SOS Children's Villages. As the year has progressed the fund raising has tapered off, which was to be expected. However, I know there are many people out there who keep saying they will sponsor me but haven't done so yet. Hopefully, this will shock them into action. Basically, I want your money!</span></div>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-57914065586840127242011-08-29T13:26:00.000-07:002011-08-29T13:30:02.518-07:00Marathon Number 8<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm very aware that I haven't been producing regular blog updates over the last few weeks. This has been mainly due to commitments at home. Ruth decided it was time that the entire ground floor of our house was re-decorated. If it had been left to me this job would have been put off for probably another couple of years. But Ruth is strong willed and very persuasive and I decided it was probably in my best interest to do as I'm told. As a result a lot of my spare time has been spent with a paint brush in my hand. Needless to say I have been getting out for training runs, I just haven't had the time or energy to also write about them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm not going to go in to any details of what training I have done over the last two weeks. All you need to know is that I completed marathon number eight today. Today's marathon was primarily organised as a long distance walk starting and finishing in the small Cambridgeshire village of Conington, which is about 10 to 15 miles from home. It was the 14th running of the Pathfinder Walk. Given that it's such a local event, and so close to home, I was surprised that I'd never heard of it before. I've mentioned the event to almost all of my running friends and a few other friends besides and haven't so far found anyone that I know who has heard of the event. I can only assume that the organisers are happy keeping it as a low key event. It's mainly advertised through the Long Distance Walking Association website.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The event is called the Pathfinder Walk to commemorate the Pathfinder bomber squadrons that were mostly stationed in East Anglia during World War II. The sites of three of the former air bases can be seen on the walk/run. The Pathfinder squadrons were an elite bomber force that pinpointed bombing targets ahead of the main bombing raid. The memento from the event was a mug with a picture of a Halifax bomber, one of five aircraft used by the bomber group. I'd personally prefer a medal, but a mug is better than yet another useless T-shirt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Walkers had a choice of four walking routes of 14km, 23km, 32km and 42km, and could start any time from 7.30am onwards. Many walkers had already started by the time I reached the village at about 8am this morning. Marathon runners were all set off at the same time at 8.30am. I found myself very quickly amongst a group of three other runners consisting of Rob, Ian and Lisa. We all seemed to be running at the same pace so we stayed together and chatted as we ran. I discovered that Lisa is a local girl and midwife running something like her 143rd marathon! Ian was running his 61st marathon and is from my home town of Winchester, and Rob lives close to Stevenage (sorry but that is all I remember).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Self navigation with written instructions was required on this run, the fourth such event I've run this year. Thankfully, the instructions were very clear and I never found myself running off route by mistake. From Conington we headed west to the hilly part of Cambridgeshire. We ran past our first airfield at Graveley were a few WWII buildings can still be seen, and continued on undulating ground through Yelling and Papworth Everard. From here the ground started to level out again and at about this point Rob decided to speed up and run ahead on his own. The rest of us were content to continue as a group of three.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'd like to make it clear that whilst running marathons does get easier, they never feel easy. As is always the case I started to struggle with six miles to go. It was reassuring that Rob and Lisa were also finding the going tough. For the most part the ground was very uneven over the last quarter of the marathon and this really started to take its toll. It was a relief to finally reach the tarmac road leading into Conington for the last 200m of the run. The three of us crossed the finish line together in a time of 3 hours 31 minutes and 40 seconds. However, there was no official timing on this event. Once we'd crossed the finish line we headed to the registration tent and handed in our route cards, which had been stamped at each of the five checkpoints and then collected a certificate and our mug memento. I'm not sure whether our times were recorded or not, or if any finishing results will ever be published. I'm not expecting them to be.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSfOptyciFWWUT-vZdcbPVLCSzQXk2JquwPU-lSWmpQ8vcKnoicEenR258PgBb-y5vz94VU7YN9volWL2N9KPZNkNuWTHTwAPkBfms3RrREEgPiZ0sErxXlEgp12n8uMrVrqflRO1E1GW/s1600/Pathfinder+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSfOptyciFWWUT-vZdcbPVLCSzQXk2JquwPU-lSWmpQ8vcKnoicEenR258PgBb-y5vz94VU7YN9volWL2N9KPZNkNuWTHTwAPkBfms3RrREEgPiZ0sErxXlEgp12n8uMrVrqflRO1E1GW/s400/Pathfinder+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My running companions: Rob, Lisa, Ian & me.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-33799091484796813102011-08-14T09:29:00.000-07:002011-08-14T09:32:56.442-07:00The Long Slow(ish) Solo Sunday Slog<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been on a few lovely runs this week, even if they have been solo efforts. It's been a quiet week work wise, due to many clients being away on holiday, but that has meant I've had more time to get out for some early morning runs.</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On Monday evening I only had two people show up to my kettlebell class. This meant it was fairly easy for me to also have a workout and at the same time keep an eye on my two clients. I tried to do the same in my lunchtime class on Wednesday, but that time I had nine clients to keep an eye on, so not as easy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Tuesday morning I went on a short 5 mile tempo run around Cambridge Airport, which is my favourite route if I'm in a rush. It's not the most inspiring route as it's alongside busy roads, but most of the circuit sticks close to the boundary fence of the airport and is completely uninterrupted by side roads, so great for fast paced tempo runs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">On Wednesday I decided to start my day with a leisurely 8 mile run up to Bates Bite Lock in Milton. As I was getting ready to go I spotted a sparrowhawk land on our brick barbecue, which is reasonably close to the kitchen window and also fairly close to a few bird feeders in the garden. Strangely, at the time there were no other birds to be seen. I did get out my bird watchers' guide book, just to make sure it was indeed a sparrowhawk, and sure enough it was one male sparrowhawk. After a couple of minutes it got bored waiting for sparrows to arrive at our feeders and flew off in the direction of Coldham's Common.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On the off chance that I might get a second glimpse of our neighbourhood bird of prey I decided to start my morning run with a circuit of the Common. To my absolute delight, just as I was entering a wooded section of the Common I was brought to a complete standstill by the sight of a pair of sparrowhawks that were clearly chasing another male away from their territory. Perhaps the pursued bird was the same one that I'd seen in our garden! I watched for a few seconds, which was all the time it took for the outnumbered male to decide he'd be better off elsewhere and for the pair to then retreat into the woods. I continued on my run without any other major incident. I returned home via Coldham's Common just in case I got another glimpse of sparrowhawks, but it wasn't to be. It did add an extra mile onto my planned run, though.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">After my busy exercise schedule over the beginning of the week I then did no real exercise until today. My excuse is that Ruth and I have been busy repainting the kitchen, which is a right fiddly job, but it's looking pretty good, although not quite finished. However, so far I'm very happy with our handy work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today I went for a solo 21 mile run from home to the water tower on top of the hill over looking the village of Linton. It's one of my favourite runs, as much of it is off road and it is also reasonably hilly for Cambridgeshire. As soon as I reached the first hill I got the impression that it was going to be a hard run. I haven't been on this run for several weeks and the first hill up to the start of the Roman Road seemed steeper than normal. It was also quite warm and humid and I was dripping with more sweat than is normal for me. Thankfully, I seemed to get into my stride once I was on the Roman Road and the next 7 miles to the water tower seemed to fly by. It was also fairly uneventful. I hardly saw another person, just one dog walker and a couple out on mountain bikes. There was also no interesting wildlife to report back on.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At the water tower I stopped for a couple of minutes whilst I wrestled with an energy gel wrapper and took a big slurp of water to wash it down. I also made sure I stopped long enough to take in the view. There are not many opportunities around here to stand on top of hills and look down on the surrounding countryside, and I like to make the most of whatever views we do get.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On the return leg of my run it seemed as if the rest of the world had eventually got out of bed. I passed one horse rider coming towards me on the bridleway, then I overtook a group of three runners, saw another two heading towards me, also passed two other horse riders, a couple of groups of cyclists and several groups of walkers. What a difference an hour makes!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The whole 21 mile run took me 2 hours 35 minutes at an average pace a little under 7 minutes 30 seconds per mile. Not bad for a hot and hilly Sunday outing. However, I have one big blister on the ball of my foot and my legs have been complaining ever since. I must do a few more stretches before going to bed. I'm up early to see a couple of clients, one of whom I'll be running with.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the week I discovered that I've missed the boat with regards to next year's London Marathon. I was merrily assuming that I had until September to apply for my Good For Age place, based on my finishing time from this year, as this was the cut-off time for fast runners to apply last year. However, when I checked the website in the week I discovered that Fast Good For Age entries were closed in July. It serves me right for assuming that the application process would stay the same from year to year. As it happens, I had been considering not running London next year in favour of running Paris marathon for a change. My disorganisation now means that that decision has been made for me. I've checked the Paris Marathon website and it's not possible to enter until September. Next year Paris Marathon will be held one day before my birthday, so it will make for a birthday weekend trip away from home. Maybe not everyone's first choice for a birthday activity, but it will do for me.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-42986840933022486832011-08-07T12:31:00.000-07:002011-08-07T12:31:58.879-07:00Return to Sunday Social Runs<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I managed a 19 mile run, and for most of it I had company. Many of my running friends are now in full training for Amsterdam Marathon in October. A group of five, three of whom I hadn't met before, had arranged to meet at 9am in Cherry Hinton to start a 16 mile run around Cambridge. The run had been planned by my good mate Tony, so I invited myself along.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I first had a 1.5 mile run from home to get to the start, where I met Nigel, Andreas & Megan for the first time, along with Tony and Stephen (who I've only ever met at a couple of half marathons). We were also joined by Jamsheed, Jo and Dan, who had all been running since 8am, but came along to run some of the route with the rest of us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As the nine of us made our way from Cherry Hinton around the perimeter of Cambridge Airport and on to the River Cam, I couldn't help but think what a striking bunch we were in our assortment of brightly coloured running clothes. I hope that passers by were impressed by how vibrant and healthy we all looked. I'd also like to think that some might have envied our level of health and fitness and that maybe, just maybe, one or two were inspired to take up running to get fit. One can but dream. One part of my goals for running 12 marathons in 2011 was to try and inspire others to set challenging goals for themselves. It would be nice to find out if I have been successful.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Once we'd reached the Cam at Fen Ditton we followed it upstream all the way to Grantchester, which meant taking in plenty of Cambridge City Centre's green spaces, including Midsummer Common, Jesus Green, the Backs, the Mill Pond, Lammas Land and Grantchester Meadows itself. We really are blessed with living in a beautiful green city that is full of history.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The group did become quite fragmented along the way. First we said goodbye to Jamsheed, Jo and Dan on Jesus Green. At this point Megan mentioned that she was struggling with some calf pain. She was determined to carry on, but at a much slower pace to the rest of us. Stephen volunteered to stick with her and help her around, so we left him to it. The remaining four of us carried on at a reasonable pace. We then said goodbye to Nigel at Lammas Land, which was my 10 mile mark (8.5 miles for him). We didn't then see Stephen and Megan again from this point on, so the remaining three of us ended our run uninterrupted.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">From Grantchester we headed for Trumpington and then along a short section of the newly opened guided busway to Addenbrookes Hospital, where I bumped into Jim, one of my clients, who was out for a walk. Once we'd made our way past the hospital Tony announced that he was going to knock on a friend's door to ask if he could fill up his water bottle. Andreas and I waited whilst Tony talked to his friend's dog through a window alongside the front door. A short while later Tony's friend opened the door dressed in just a dressing gown and not looking too amused. Turned out that he had shipped his two kids off to visit their grandparents and that he and his wife were making the most of having any empty house. Nice one Tony! I'm sure his friend would have been even less amused if he knew we only had about 3 miles to go.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So after Tony's re-fill, we continued on our way to Cherry Hinton and back round to our meeting point outside Tesco's. From here I continued on my own for the last 2 miles back to my house. All in all a very pleasant Sunday outing and I feel fit and ready to face the next marathon in 3 weeks time. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Just need to make one quick update. It turns out that I won't be running the Grafham Water Marathon, as it is already full. So I'll be sticking to running the Pathfinder 42k Walk, New Forest Marathon and Loch Ness Marathon all as my next three marathons in August, September and October. Just happens that all three will be within a five week period. Never before have I run three marathons so close to each other. Perhaps it's a good job Grafham Water was full.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-31221465370671843942011-08-02T03:10:00.000-07:002011-08-02T03:13:56.324-07:00Back Into Full Training<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am now throwing myself back into full marathon training, which is just as well as I have a very hectic marathon schedule looming. My original marathon plan for the next three months was as follows:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">13 August - North Downs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">25 September - New Forest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">2 October - Loch Ness</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">However, as I mentioned in my previous posting, the North Downs Marathon now clashes with a friend's birthday celebration, so I've opted to do the Pathfinder Marathon in Cambridgeshire on Monday 29 August instead. In addition, I have also decided to run the Grafham Water Marathon on 18 September. This marathon has only just been added to the race calendar, and the opportunity to run in a local marathon in its inaugural year was too good to miss. Of course, I could have decided to do this instead of New Forest, but this also gives me the chance to visit my family in Hampshire. I'm also keen to see how I cope with running three marathons on three consecutive weekends. There's also something appealing in finishing the year having run 13 marathons instead of 12 - a baker's dozen, as it were.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, following the last marathon two weeks ago, I had a week of just ticking over, which mainly involved running with clients and the Sweaty Betty running club. I started my training again last Tuesday with a 5 mile tempo run around Cambridge Airport. On this five miler I averaged a pace of 6 minutes 28 seconds per mile, with two of those miles run at a pace of 6 minutes 16 seconds. Given that it had only been 9 days since the marathon I was very happy with this pace.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since last Tuesday I haven't run more than 10 miles on a single run, but I have been trying to focus on pace with each run, trying to run bursts at 6 minutes 30 seconds per mile or faster. So far it's all going well and my legs seem to be doing fine. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've also been doing quite a high volume kettlebell training over the last two weeks and have managed to do more work with a 20kg kettlebell than ever before. However, I had a brief workout on Sunday and afterwards all felt fine. But a few hours later I reached into a cupboard to get a carton of fruit juice and my neck and shoulder on my right side went into spasm that then remained a little painful for a good 36 hours afterwards. How does that work? Lifting 20kg is fine, but a 1kg carton of juice ends up causing a minor injury! Fortunately, it all seems fine today, but I think I'll give it a little rest before trying anything to strenuous with a kettlebell again.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-1556130417220982532011-07-19T01:18:00.000-07:002011-07-19T01:32:15.297-07:00Fairland's Valley Race Results In<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I checked the race results yesterday I was amazed to discover that I finished in 6th place out of 205 marathon runners. I thought I was just plodding around. Still, my high placing would explain why my legs were feeling so tired. I've definitely been feeling sorer after the Fairland's Valley Marathon than I was post South Downs, which should have been a harder race. But maybe this also further confirms my difficulty to soreness ratio theory.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I wouldn't necessarily regard the Fairland's Valley Marathon as being particularly tough, providing you can interpret race instructions whilst running. It is mostly run off-road and at times on fairly thick grass, which is more energy sapping than tarmac, but also a lot more pleasant.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhacUFmJu6yapTPYQpl52-8DTolIdDrtWYBAdEVeaIvRkKB9lR7MP71NZEdPZvLxwGNP8_Yf9W1EWBpHv_ihFaCTUL2HeHkXsXyiwAkJ-dlgwqzd_xKwCAtIjMZppalZGN0T0i1E9G6mR62/s1600/Fairlands+Valley+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhacUFmJu6yapTPYQpl52-8DTolIdDrtWYBAdEVeaIvRkKB9lR7MP71NZEdPZvLxwGNP8_Yf9W1EWBpHv_ihFaCTUL2HeHkXsXyiwAkJ-dlgwqzd_xKwCAtIjMZppalZGN0T0i1E9G6mR62/s400/Fairlands+Valley+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There's also a few challenging short climbs. But none of the hills were impossible to run up.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Z4UTyO9DYbuVTe3UlGGI9sa8I-4tYVx-keYXWI2-0mUc-9BNsA1Fc6xv_aKiTVeArSrFTzLvzTUP2Q2JxuenbnQCwPQrQc2j1QlCOB9AgR0NiAqeXmxD0O5NkkilY-iUhibBFqMk1-Az/s1600/Fairlands+Valley+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Z4UTyO9DYbuVTe3UlGGI9sa8I-4tYVx-keYXWI2-0mUc-9BNsA1Fc6xv_aKiTVeArSrFTzLvzTUP2Q2JxuenbnQCwPQrQc2j1QlCOB9AgR0NiAqeXmxD0O5NkkilY-iUhibBFqMk1-Az/s400/Fairlands+Valley+003.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On the whole, the weekend's marathon was a really enjoyable race. The number of participants was fairly small. About 500 people in total took part, with 205 doing the marathon and the rest either opting to do the 50k ultra, or an 18 mile or 12 mile run. As always with small events there was greater camaraderie and the runners were more supportive of each other. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOStVkZUmeQ-3EZOolwf7-sJAj-e833tTYZFf0EsPyQvxnBkDMC9jUwVc5mbKfyRqTC5G6qZPd5rNOT7PYbUZJhI49SowFBduGWu9yV19ApYCYqjjzetfEvLetZg6cK4ZyXiGRDC4PuSB/s1600/Fairlands+Valley+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOStVkZUmeQ-3EZOolwf7-sJAj-e833tTYZFf0EsPyQvxnBkDMC9jUwVc5mbKfyRqTC5G6qZPd5rNOT7PYbUZJhI49SowFBduGWu9yV19ApYCYqjjzetfEvLetZg6cK4ZyXiGRDC4PuSB/s400/Fairlands+Valley+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marathon number 7 completed</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The organisers had laid on a free barbecue at the finish, and I was very grateful for my cheese burger. My one and only criticism of the event is that the race memento is a bit naff - a one size fits all baseball cap with the Spartans Running Club logo on, the club that organised the event. Still, it was a cheapish event to enter, so I can't really complain. I guess I prefer a medal.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since Sunday I have now picked out my next marathon. I've decided not to do the North Downs Marathon so that I can join my friend for his birthday celebrations. Instead I will take part in 42k Pathfinder Walk which starts at Conington in Cambridgeshire. It's another local event and only cost £7 to enter. Although it's billed as a walk it is recognised by the 100 marathon club, in fact it was a member of the club who told me of the event. There are also different start times for runners and walkers, so runners are definitely welcomed by the organisers. I'll be posting my application today.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-5295011674627674052011-07-17T10:32:00.000-07:002011-07-19T01:28:27.232-07:00Fairland's Valley Marathon - Brief Post Race Report<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I've been a little slack on updating my blog over the last few weeks and also suffering slightly with a lack of motivation with regards to training. I'm blaming Glastonbury and the warmer weather. I'm hoping that today's marathon will give me the boost to get back on track with both.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This will just be a quick update. I hope to write more later in the week. Today's race was the Fairland's Valley Marathon, which started and finished in Stevenage. I didn't have great expectations for either my time or the relative beauty of the course. Stevenage isn't the most inspiring place on Earth. However, I had my scepticism squashed soon into the run. The countryside around Stevenage is varied and stunning. Perhaps not quite Lake District stunning, but very nice none the less. We ran through a good mix of woodland, country estates and meandering river valleys. Given that it's only about a 45 to 50 minute drive from home, this is definitely a marathon that I'd do again, and which I would recommend to friends.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The need to follow written instructions and self navigate can be a bit of a pain, and I did go wrong on two occasions. Fortunately, I realised my mistake very quickly so it didn't cost much in terms of time. For the majority of the race I ran in a pack with six other runners. By the time we'd reached the final checkpoint we'd become a group of three, and over the last few miles the three of us separated as we each focused on our own personal battles to reach the finish. Thus, Dave from South Africa finished a couple of minutes ahead of me, and Beth running her first ever marathon finished about a minute behind me. The two of them are pictured with me below. I think you can work out who's who.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYGppBqN-F2KG8g1ZOk6HL5nXSE6T5bcw3lO-fUrOlDXza7XhFFXRYRKxVMq425EKuxWVQCgTI4FYtVTW65C66CloHtk-Ih24g_NiOYG74xebCZqkWewTm3sF1vBWNMhNklwqEpE_Klh7/s1600/Fairlands+Valley+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYGppBqN-F2KG8g1ZOk6HL5nXSE6T5bcw3lO-fUrOlDXza7XhFFXRYRKxVMq425EKuxWVQCgTI4FYtVTW65C66CloHtk-Ih24g_NiOYG74xebCZqkWewTm3sF1vBWNMhNklwqEpE_Klh7/s400/Fairlands+Valley+008.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My finishing time today was 3 hours and 44 minutes. This needs to be verified with the official results, which I expect will be on-line tomorrow. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For the first time this year and don't have my next race booked already. So I really need to get on to do that. I haven't 100% picked out my August marathon yet. I was going to do the North Downs Marathon, but that now clashes with a friend's birthday celebration. If I can find an alternative attractive marathon to do on a different weekend, then I'll book that. If not, I'll stick with my original plan even though it means letting a friend down. I doubt if my absence from the party will be noticed that much.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-60829897634177334662011-07-03T10:41:00.000-07:002011-07-19T00:09:54.899-07:00Post Glastonbury Long Run<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Boy that was a hard run today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been three weeks since South Downs Marathon and training has taken a bit of a slump in that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was mainly due to being away for the best part of a week at Glastonbury Festival, which I treat as my one chance in the year to really let my hair down (what little I have) and have a bit of a wild time without thinking about the next race goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s great that it fell exactly half way through my marathon challenge for the year.</span></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, on Wednesday 22 June I left <city w:st="on">Cambridge</city> at 6am with two friends (Victor and James) for the 5 hour drive to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Glastonbury</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather wasn’t looking too great for the following days, but I wasn’t going to let that get me down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a bit of a trek to find a camping pitch for the three of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the fact that the gates only opened at 9am, the site was virtually full by the time we actually arrived on the main festival site just after mid-day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we were pitched it was time to go and have our first festival meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a vast choice of food available at <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Glastonbury</place></city> and it is possible to eat very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first meal was a Lebanese meze of cous cous salad, stuffed vine leaves, feta and spinach filo pastry parcels, falafel and hummus. </span></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBJasYyk9Dakku6HuAUpHAZv_U-fBIterQ7qg_0LdGgc050Dy6jqch4E6v1awjvUek5WolNl_861sjn0V2pEdEEKpxgeYj7MBUQ0ymn9gvUdl8Vd7xcaumdC9d9MqFH_OzDF6daWQp9vv/s1600/Glasto+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBJasYyk9Dakku6HuAUpHAZv_U-fBIterQ7qg_0LdGgc050Dy6jqch4E6v1awjvUek5WolNl_861sjn0V2pEdEEKpxgeYj7MBUQ0ymn9gvUdl8Vd7xcaumdC9d9MqFH_OzDF6daWQp9vv/s400/Glasto+004.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lovely Glastonbury mud</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Later on the Wednesday we met up with two other friends, Simon and Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then pretty much stayed together as a group of five throughout Wednesday evening and all day on Thursday, trudging through the slurry like <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Glastonbury</place></city> mud between bars and various venues.</span></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcUjVQZyTqbjbl0h2sA-tJWCyxDOZcNa-uXvVqucEr5GEc3N5xl4aDs6nFkf6JzuMmmxi7i0388sQ27FzwP7xvQ6OTpd1VJoNz5GaLmOCsT3DApXI7GdVZYQibGdEb2AIk6aMU_GvsTdv/s1600/Glasto+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcUjVQZyTqbjbl0h2sA-tJWCyxDOZcNa-uXvVqucEr5GEc3N5xl4aDs6nFkf6JzuMmmxi7i0388sQ27FzwP7xvQ6OTpd1VJoNz5GaLmOCsT3DApXI7GdVZYQibGdEb2AIk6aMU_GvsTdv/s400/Glasto+002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First pint of hot spiced cider</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The festival really kicks off from Friday morning, and it looked like the weather was going to pick up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day started well on Friday, but rain returned in time for Morrissey’s set and continued throughout U2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, it stayed dry and warm on Saturday and the mud started to dry out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This meant that for the whole day we had to wade through ever hardening mud, which would cling to boots adding a good kilo of extra weight to each leg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be the closest I’d come to doing any training.</span></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheHP3y_i4kSvv3zquTIronTC6bJ-Ff5oMWILfjj-crz3P17W77t2-jV5VTUffOJDWUcSujUtYmTgFmQipUanQgubSQjCYYr-CsTOXd9QRmSbY2886vZH1oSHJrr3ulwQ5lhdb8pvg5waq_/s1600/Glasto+068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheHP3y_i4kSvv3zquTIronTC6bJ-Ff5oMWILfjj-crz3P17W77t2-jV5VTUffOJDWUcSujUtYmTgFmQipUanQgubSQjCYYr-CsTOXd9QRmSbY2886vZH1oSHJrr3ulwQ5lhdb8pvg5waq_/s400/Glasto+068.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunshine over Glastonbury Festival</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thankfully, the ground was mostly dry by Sunday afternoon and it was possible to lie out on the baked earth in the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was on Sunday that I got to experience my two absolute highlights of the weekend: TV On The Radio, and Queens Of The Stoneage, who were amongst one of the best headline bands I’ve seen at the Festival.</span></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the long walk from our camping pitch to the car Monday morning, we then had the five hour drive back to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Cambridge</place></city> to face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very grateful that Victor was doing the driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got home muddy and tired, with a rucksack of dirty clothes to wash and a tent to erect, hose down and dry off before putting it away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That evening I had an early night to try and make up for only getting about 5 hours sleep each night for the previous five nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it was back to work as usual on Tuesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt as if I was working through a sleep deficit for the entire week and was very grateful for a long lie-in Saturday morning – to think I’d actually contemplated going to Parkrun.</span></span></span></h3><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since Tuesday I’ve done more kettlebelling than running, which is a reverse to the norm for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a little apprehensive about today’s long run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew it was going to hurt, but with my next marathon taking place in two weeks time I had no option but to get out for a 20 mile run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opted for the 20 mile loop via the villages of Bottisham, Swaffham Prior and Lode and finishing with an 8 mile run along the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a hot day, with temperatures in the mid 20s, and with very little shade on the route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By mile 12 my legs were starting to hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to take in the sights along the river to take my mind off the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the last 2 miles of the run I felt as if I was practically crawling along and the desire to just walk was overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I managed to dig deep and it was a huge relief to eventually find myself back at my front door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the rest of this week I need to focus on some good quality running to get back in to better shape for the Fairland’s Valley Marathon on 17 July.</span></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjib4KSwP5w-KUxEIB4m0ufD67oHNVTQwUMJ3QA60Xu0JYAKt-XfEmSryNJ-wnZ0TrdLlWUB5HZTk8zWJ9TL89ePGWNxNL-ZUDIN7Ahcb-cm46rJZ8zYeYKLoLnTmLmkzzja5KjBt6sE3ge/s1600/Run+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjib4KSwP5w-KUxEIB4m0ufD67oHNVTQwUMJ3QA60Xu0JYAKt-XfEmSryNJ-wnZ0TrdLlWUB5HZTk8zWJ9TL89ePGWNxNL-ZUDIN7Ahcb-cm46rJZ8zYeYKLoLnTmLmkzzja5KjBt6sE3ge/s400/Run+005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life on the Rive Cam</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span> </h3>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-21741889245304018152011-06-20T12:12:00.000-07:002011-06-20T12:21:30.172-07:00Wasted weekend (perhaps?)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This will be a quick update as I've done very little in the way of running since the last marathon. I figured that if I'm going to keep tabs on all the good work I do I should also report on the pitfalls to my training. Last weekend I was full of good intentions that didn't materialise, mainly because I spent a lot of it with a hangover.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Saturday's hangover was pathetic. Ruth and I stayed in with a DVD Friday evening and drank one bottle of wine between us. The next day I struggled through a few choirs with my hangover but couldn't summon the energy to do any training. I had planned to do a kettlebell session and short 5 to 6 mile run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">On Saturday evening I went out with a bunch of mates for a lads' night out. Most of them are now parents and we rarely all get together without respective wives, partners and children being in tow. My hangover from the previous evening had just about gone by the time I was heading out. I was expecting to only be out for a few beers and be home by 11.30pm. We were kicked out of one pub when it closed at 11pm, but none of us quite felt ready to go home. So we headed to a pub just down the street that was open to midnight. However, when that pub closed we found ourselves going on to somewhere else. I haven't confessed to Ruth what time I got in, but I came very close to watching sunrise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So Sunday morning, of which I saw way more than I would have liked, I woke with my second hangover of the weekend. At least this time I felt as if I deserved it. Despite the magnitude of the hangover being more severe at first, I did manage to do some training later that day. But the 14 mile run I'd planned didn't happen. Instead I did some kettlebelling and I also played with my latest fitness toy. My ViPR (which stands for Vitality, Performance and Re-conditioning) arrived earlier in the week, so I had a quick workout with that, too.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzR8Gd_Ni049KjrHly6RUsGS4N5GT2KSP-OO4WYZe_lWLz9jC3yTxvGcMNLIW91VZJOJLf_AzbRQjrVTmLnJO3ddLDeiQcB4An_uA5XNuHTkJK1JOPBXJTcShYZVMFPECw7lSo8gzA5_Ls/s1600/Fitness+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzR8Gd_Ni049KjrHly6RUsGS4N5GT2KSP-OO4WYZe_lWLz9jC3yTxvGcMNLIW91VZJOJLf_AzbRQjrVTmLnJO3ddLDeiQcB4An_uA5XNuHTkJK1JOPBXJTcShYZVMFPECw7lSo8gzA5_Ls/s320/Fitness+008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It must have been a good workout, because my abs have been complaining today. Anyway, that's about it. Tomorrow is my last working day before I head off to Glastonbury bright and early Wednesday morning. Maybe all the drinking I did last weekend was good training for this forthcoming weekend. Watch this space for my Glastonbury review.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-79852267674621470372011-06-12T13:29:00.000-07:002011-06-13T12:41:21.948-07:00South Downs Marathon Race Report<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">What a beautiful and brutal marathon that was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the South Downs Marathon being the toughest of the year so far, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scenery was probably even more spectacular than the Windermere Marathon, largely due to the fact that so much of the marathon course was run along the top of the <place w:st="on">South Downs with great views of the surrounding countryside</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, this was what made it tough, because to reach the view points meant running up hill.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The race started from the grounds of <placename w:st="on">Slindon</placename> <placetype w:st="on">College</placetype>, which is about 7 miles east of Chichester and 50 miles from my parental home in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Winchester</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The college itself is a rather well appointed private school that specialises in the education of boys with dyslexia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The grounds of the college made for a pleasant setting to whittle away the time whilst waiting for the race to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather unusually the race was set off in four waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first wave consisted of the relay runners, made up of teams of four, who set off at 9am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solo runners who predicted it would take them longer than 5 hours to complete the marathon started at 9.20am, followed by runners who though it would take them between 4 and 5 hours at 9.40am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who expected to complete the race in 4 hours or under, which included me, set off at 10am.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PiATOlLhqPPjzDdchPy-RBCByvJCRpiMmLNO_SB_O7jf5vA5IDqO_GkhskVxgkdvOR_Yd0MmWalJ7zKZv6BqsKo-GpK-Qm9U7z9gAOnMEnOfUZsEXdk5qKCAChF4C1t9DKpwDJIpZt15/s1600/South+Downs+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PiATOlLhqPPjzDdchPy-RBCByvJCRpiMmLNO_SB_O7jf5vA5IDqO_GkhskVxgkdvOR_Yd0MmWalJ7zKZv6BqsKo-GpK-Qm9U7z9gAOnMEnOfUZsEXdk5qKCAChF4C1t9DKpwDJIpZt15/s400/South+Downs+004.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The start of wave 3 at Slindon College</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I was at the college in plenty of time to watch all of the waves of runners depart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 20 minute duration between each wave of runners seemed to last forever, and there was very little to do except queue for the loos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which was my only gripe, the portaloo provision seemed minimal for the number of runners, and we weren’t allowed to use the loos in the school itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have been frantic if I’d been in one of the first two waves to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time it was my time to set off, the vast majority of runners and supporters had already gone on their way, and the grounds were suddenly very quiet for the last 20 minute period before my race was due to start, which was the only time that there wasn’t a massive queue for the toilets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9sL3vtij3aLdUuBi3J7grLL2zEN3Lj8LpwNhTlsWfcEX2A5iGehL8s7G83wNmk4UyOTbyxF7dUuqR7ENKVY-aCGCv5fg9V0q7ZDKMuBIoOpHp89S5v5smliAirQMzKpeeiFmvpdO5X_B/s1600/South+Downs+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9sL3vtij3aLdUuBi3J7grLL2zEN3Lj8LpwNhTlsWfcEX2A5iGehL8s7G83wNmk4UyOTbyxF7dUuqR7ENKVY-aCGCv5fg9V0q7ZDKMuBIoOpHp89S5v5smliAirQMzKpeeiFmvpdO5X_B/s400/South+Downs+011.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Waiting for my start time</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">As I mentioned in a previous post, the marathon is divided into four sections with a checkpoint at the end of each section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marathon was chip timed and used a disposable timing chip that I’ve never seen before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A timing mat was present at all three checkpoints, as well as the start and finish, which gave the organisers reliable information about who was still left out on each part of the course.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">When my race started at 10am, the runners stayed together as quite a tight pack for the first couple of miles, which were reasonably undulating, but with definitely more up than down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From roughly the 2 mile point the incline got steeper and continued to go upwards for the next 2 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This part of the route went through shady woodland with foxgloves growing wild in clusters of sunlight amongst the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quite pretty and helped take my mind off the incline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Towards the top of the first climb I started to pass more and more runners who had decided to walk up the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was on the verge of walking myself when I suddenly turned a corner and found myself running on the flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after this I was out of the trees and on top of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It then became quite apparent that the climb had decimated the pack of runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see a pair of runners a short distance ahead of me but no one else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then looked over my shoulder and there were just a small number of runners emerging from the trees behind me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I caught up with the pair ahead of me and decided to stay on their heels for a while and use them as my pace makers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t let them know this, though.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_I2eQu7Tn7QP63bSkVfCWHFJLfsNYIUL54tkZLpx9DTVJ5M_5gVpRkpetSYaQOV6EwUvULazjHavT4YkJ4hVej11wx9WcL52b1AXOrnxwLSiicd4G3siy7AkY7euuSLpjiJzsIEgyke25/s1600/South+Downs+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_I2eQu7Tn7QP63bSkVfCWHFJLfsNYIUL54tkZLpx9DTVJ5M_5gVpRkpetSYaQOV6EwUvULazjHavT4YkJ4hVej11wx9WcL52b1AXOrnxwLSiicd4G3siy7AkY7euuSLpjiJzsIEgyke25/s400/South+Downs+012.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running on top of the Downs</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The next couple of miles were fairly level running with good views of the surrounding <place w:st="on">South Downs</place> and its villages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started to overtake runners who had left in the earlier waves from the five mile mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Six and a half miles in we reached the first steep descent down to the first checkpoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I let gravity take over and I flew down the hill passing plenty of runners who were using way too much energy and over exerting their quadriceps by breaking their descent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was grateful that it wasn’t raining; otherwise the white chalk path would have been treacherous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNht2arbN79TegIt_SOQQBEHX7PirIsaWST4hp0Ifl_i-fqfUrHtuipNqTRvRg14lHC1Kl1d_j-AvuuzfUZUVh5mng04LhXH3JNPo295KJXLYR8D98_4sPeK5cj3pKLylh-Zxz7GWAlEI7/s1600/South+Downs+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNht2arbN79TegIt_SOQQBEHX7PirIsaWST4hp0Ifl_i-fqfUrHtuipNqTRvRg14lHC1Kl1d_j-AvuuzfUZUVh5mng04LhXH3JNPo295KJXLYR8D98_4sPeK5cj3pKLylh-Zxz7GWAlEI7/s400/South+Downs+013.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting the climb after the first checkpoint</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">At the bottom of the descent we crossed the busy A285, went through the first checkpoint and then started the climb back up to the next section of the <place w:st="on">Downs</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first all of the runners attempted to run up the second big hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it wasn’t long before more and more runners succumbed to the hill and decided to walk instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To start with runners adopted a system similar to the escalators on the London Underground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People running would stick to the right and walkers would stay to the left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But nearer the top of the climb the vast majority gave up all hope of running and competitors were walking on both sides of the path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point anyone with enough determination left had to run through the thick grass to overtake the walkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From half way up I found myself half walking and half running to reach the top of the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But once again, at the top of the climb we were rewarded with good views and level running, at least until it was time for the next steep descent to the second checkpoint and road crossing on the A286.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUc7V7l53Frn6nBaUh6Eon8wBneW0JWE_aTGWRA3WBE0cNE9u8XyD8LRC3J_iapYuY6xd7TiXH2J6Y6_cGdEaFQtyMuKkKNqSZp5_1pcvrayTCrVFZU9po4pR5UKfHQKx4OspPJCuV1LKY/s1600/South+Downs+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUc7V7l53Frn6nBaUh6Eon8wBneW0JWE_aTGWRA3WBE0cNE9u8XyD8LRC3J_iapYuY6xd7TiXH2J6Y6_cGdEaFQtyMuKkKNqSZp5_1pcvrayTCrVFZU9po4pR5UKfHQKx4OspPJCuV1LKY/s400/South+Downs+014.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Halfway up the 2nd big climb - walkers left, runners right</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">The third section of the marathon was the toughest of the lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the most undulating, with short, steep climbs being quickly followed by steep descents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardly any of the next six miles would be flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the previous section I had constantly been overtaking runners who had set off in the previous two waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the third section of the marathon seemed to reduce everyone to the same speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I managed to run down some of the earlier slopes, but by the end of the third section of the course even running down had become painful and I didn’t trust myself to just let go and give in to gravity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were plenty of runners around me who were cut and covered in dust from falling over, and I didn’t want to end up with more grazes on top of the ones that I already had from my fall earlier in the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think I saw anyone run up any of the hills on the third section of the route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone making a valiant attempt from the bottom of a climb soon gave up and walked with the rest of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, we still had the views to take our minds off the pain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsl-zttsPe6DQg_DEFSmWO4M_fHEutaVAR8BWi-G0Mp5X5oMffO5ruuKRdmYg0wXQD_eE-6pDQg-RgROP1DHQdFKLPo5upYlhlMCNN1qD_3SxFa44omhAH_Fyow3fuT7Bb6vxFbB6ZzuxU/s1600/South+Downs+016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsl-zttsPe6DQg_DEFSmWO4M_fHEutaVAR8BWi-G0Mp5X5oMffO5ruuKRdmYg0wXQD_eE-6pDQg-RgROP1DHQdFKLPo5upYlhlMCNN1qD_3SxFa44omhAH_Fyow3fuT7Bb6vxFbB6ZzuxU/s400/South+Downs+016.jpg" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the climbs on the third section of the course</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">On the approach to the third and final checkpoint a runner who had completed this marathon on a few previous occasions reassured me that the final section wasn’t as tough and that the last two miles were all down hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, he was correct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had almost resigned myself to walking the last six miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the start of the final section my feet felt mashed from being pushed to the front of my shoes on the descents and from all the running over hard chalk paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs also felt knackered from the effort of running up and down way more hills than I’m used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But somehow I managed to dig deep and carry on running, even though I only averaged a little slower than a 9 minute mile pace over the last six miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">I crossed the finish line in a time of 3 hours and 41 minutes and felt the usual wave of relief and elation wash over me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this marathon felt like a much harder thought battle than most, and as such the sense of accomplishment was also higher than any of the previous five run so far this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the agony also came the shear pleasure of running in a beautiful part of the English countryside. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The landscapes and vistas encountered seemed quintessentially English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I almost felt as if I was on a location finding mission for an episode of Country File.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It certainly had been a rewarding marathon and I dare say that I will be back at some point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six down and six to go</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Soon after crossing the line I met up with Ruth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then headed straight to a burger van for a well earned quarter pounder with extra bacon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing like rewarding yourself with junk food after burning off in excess of 3000 calories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what my Garmin tells me was my energy expenditure on the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also tells me that I made a total ascent of 840m, which is 2724 feet, or similar to running up and over one of the major peaks in the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Lake District</placename> <placetype w:st="on">National Park</placetype></place>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Amazingly, I feel in pretty good shape today (aside from two massive blisters on my little toes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This helps back up my theory that the tougher the marathon the less sore you are afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that flat marathons might be easier to complete, but in doing so you exercise your muscles in exactly the same way for the 3 to 5 hours that you run, leading to muscle fatigue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On hilly courses the amount of work that is undertaken by the hamstrings and quadriceps is constantly changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, whilst it might be physically harder, your leg muscles aren’t always working at the same rate or in the same way and, as a result, the repercussions the next day aren’t as severe. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Anyway, the completion of the South Downs Marathon means I am now half way through the target I set back in December last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reviewing the list of marathons I drew up at that time, this is the first time that I have deviated from my original plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had intended on running Cheltenham Marathon this month, but I think I made the right choice in switching to the <place w:st="on">South Downs</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also had the advantage of enabling me to combine running a marathon with visiting family and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who says men can’t multi task?</span></div>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-82084624578799835102011-06-08T02:04:00.000-07:002011-06-08T02:09:11.245-07:00Ouch!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marathon number six takes place in 3 days time, which means carbo loading time again. Unfortunately, I had a minor mishap yesterday, which means I'll be running with a few scrapes and bruises, but more of that later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">First of all, the weekend went to plan. Saturday morning I went for a 5 mile run in a new pair of running shoes that I'd bought the previous day. I managed to run the middle mile at a fast 5 minutes 40 seconds pace, which I was quite happy with. I then did a mini 15 minute kettlebell workout before meeting with friends at the Cambridge Strawberry Fair in the afternoon. The fair had become quite a raucous affair in previous years, with people travelling from far and wide for the free one day music festival. Lots of my friends had stopped going as the level of drunken behaviour, violence and arrests increased. It was scrapped last year on the recommendation of the police, but this year it was back with heightened security. Ruth and I popped along with a couple of friends to see if anything had changed. The major difference was only having two entry points with random bag searches, but the fair itself did also feel more relaxed. Some effort has been made to change the emphasis of the fair, and as a result it is no longer just about music. The dance tent has been scrapped, as it seems that that was held responsible for previous troubles, and instead there was a large open green with Medieval combat re-enactments taking place. We only went along for the afternoon, so I can't comment on what happens after nightfall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">On Sunday I went for an 11 mile run with Jamsheed, Andrea G and Paul. We just headed up the River Cam to Waterbeach and back, and had a very pleasant social run together. The weather continued to be warm and dry. Cambridge did eventually have a good, long downpour of rain on Sunday evening and Monday morning. Fortunately, it stopped in time for me to teach my outdoor kettlebell class Monday lunchtime, and there has been very little sign of rain since, despite the forecast earlier in the week saying we'd have a good three days of rain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The mishap that I mentioned above occurred yesterday morning. I left home to go for an 8 mile run and I'd only gone a few hundred yards from my front door when I suddenly found myself sprawled on my back. I really have no idea how it happened, one minute I was running, then I remember looking over my shoulder to check for traffic as I crossed a very quite side road, the next second I was falling to the ground. I managed to get both hands out to break my fall and then I rolled onto my right elbow and hip, and then onto my back. I have a grazed back and hip to show for it, which are more painful than I'd have thought possible. After about 9 years of running this is the only time I can remember randomly falling over. A few years back I remember being tripped when my foot disappeared down a hidden rabbit hole. But yesterday I couldn't see anything on the pavement that I might have tripped over. The footpath itself was in good condition. I'll have to just put it down to being one of those things and hope it isn't a sign of old age. Maybe fate decided I needed something to spice up my blog.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegpxLXqQNTw-qQKn_zpgoDQ6YB2epx-2Si5hg2V7KQO9uEHgHu7dvfbmiq976PEisUe4yyfkGRNDDNPSv1yXR8zDg1CFUBwNlQZ175NmT3zPlovTcssY4PePA6JML4ZrqIL4enuzrynBY/s1600/Misc+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegpxLXqQNTw-qQKn_zpgoDQ6YB2epx-2Si5hg2V7KQO9uEHgHu7dvfbmiq976PEisUe4yyfkGRNDDNPSv1yXR8zDg1CFUBwNlQZ175NmT3zPlovTcssY4PePA6JML4ZrqIL4enuzrynBY/s320/Misc+006.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-36740031306148892552011-06-03T10:09:00.000-07:002011-06-03T10:17:36.237-07:00Countdown to South Downs Marathon<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big news this week relates to the arrival of race day information for the South Downs Marathon on June 11th. I always knew that this was likely to be a tough marathon, but an inspection of the course profile, along with prospect of the race being on a very warm day, left me feeling a little apprehensive.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8C48qsTBEpMNLTbTT7FB0ycbL_HlTpEbx2u2K6y2Tz6pm9YPbPek0a7FJ9t-vfo443dzFk6OXJgmj92GdG-NxM2HdObVhDV63DO1clG1cSnewo5zVAA9giSIrkXL5mDY6g4rLBLmqOJvA/s1600/SDM+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8C48qsTBEpMNLTbTT7FB0ycbL_HlTpEbx2u2K6y2Tz6pm9YPbPek0a7FJ9t-vfo443dzFk6OXJgmj92GdG-NxM2HdObVhDV63DO1clG1cSnewo5zVAA9giSIrkXL5mDY6g4rLBLmqOJvA/s640/SDM+001.jpg" t8="true" width="481" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">The marathon has been divided into four sections. There is a checkpoint at the end of each section, which coincides with a road crossing. I'm not too concerned about the first two sections. The first section steadily climbs from 200 feet to about 700 feet over the first 4 miles, but you then run along a ridge along the South Downs Way before descending back down to 400 feet at the first checkpoint. The second section also climbs quickly to about 700 feet followed by roughly 4 miles of fairly level running along the top of a ridge line before another quick descent to the second checkpoint. It's the next two sections I'm concerned about. Section 3 has another quick ascent, followed by 5 miles of undulating running. Then the final section seems to be the most undulating section of the lot, and it finishes 200 feet higher than the start. I think I'll be taking this one nice and steady from the start and opting to walk up several of the hills.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This week has been fairly busy training wise. You might remember that I injured my right shoulder in the week before London Marathon, back in mid April. It was only this week that I've felt that I could start doing some serious kettlebell training with it again. So on Tuesday I set aside some time to have a good kettlebell workout. I did lots of two hand and one arm swings at first just to check how my shoulder felt, then I started some snatches and military presses. I started the workout with a 14kg kettlebell and then moved up to a 16kg bell, I didn't feel as if I should push my luck beyond this after several weeks of not using the bells so much.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kettlebell one arm swing</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5REnlREAf88BEqX47Dw1OOeAwdA_YjOhA-C0hQk89cXlUh8QwFlDoEOqJ43ZljRmk39GA1QuFvrrMSDTk6bK0gZIRQu3dlzJJP2htW6QDCkEOyINO_R1gtjVzdzByNKh4BXuH8HjKN-q/s1600/2009_11_15_04962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5REnlREAf88BEqX47Dw1OOeAwdA_YjOhA-C0hQk89cXlUh8QwFlDoEOqJ43ZljRmk39GA1QuFvrrMSDTk6bK0gZIRQu3dlzJJP2htW6QDCkEOyINO_R1gtjVzdzByNKh4BXuH8HjKN-q/s320/2009_11_15_04962.JPG" t8="true" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kettlebell Military Press</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've also run every day this week, except today, one way or another. On Tuesday I ran with two clients; a gentle one in the morning and a not so gentle one in the evening. On Wednesday I did my own interval training session, which I kept fairly short, but this was followed by putting the Sweaty Betty ladies through their paces. I had them doing lots of short sprints with very little recovery time. It was a tough session which had them complaining in all the right ways. I think most enjoyed it, really! I then followed this with an 11 mile run yesterday morning. Since Monday the weather has gradually got warmer with each passing day. By the time I finished my 11 miler yesterday I was a puddle of sweat. I then did another quick kettlebell session this morning, focusing mainly on core specific exercises.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I hope to do a short run tomorrow followed by another kettlebell session. On Sunday I'm toying with the idea of doing a long hill training session in preparation for the South Downs the following week, but I suspect I've left it a little late to do any serious hill work. I'll see if I can persuade some friends to go to Royston hills with me.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-35021762800884859602011-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:002011-05-31T01:44:20.348-07:00Into The Furnace<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking out of my window at the pouring rain it is hard to believe that my run earlier today felt like the hottest run of the year so far. I also felt very badly prepared.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Yesterday Ruth and I hosted a barbecue party to celebrate Ruth's birthday with a dozen of our close friends and their respective kids. Fortunately, the weather was fine. Perhaps a little on the breezy side, but dry with the odd patch of sunshine. I remembered to drink sensibly, but I didn't do much in the way of carbo loading for a long run today. It would have been more appropriate to have had the barbie after a long run, not the day before. Anyway, it was good fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This morning I drove to Magog Down where I parked up and set off for a 16 mile run to Linton Water Tower along the Roman Road. This was my first significant run since completing Windermere Marathon. I'd pretty much had a whole seven days of rest from running after the marathon. My only run during the week was on Tuesday evening with a client. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I didn't start my run until about 9am, later than I'd normally set off, and the temperature was already picking up. I enjoyed my outward run and felt pretty good. I was surprised at how few people I saw on the footpath, given that it was a bank holiday and the weather was good. The Roman Road heads south-east, but after 7 miles I turn onto a road heading south-west in the direction of Linton water tower. As soon as I turned onto the road I was hit in the face by a gust of wind. The Roman Road is mostly enclosed by trees and hedgerow and I had been unaware of the wind up until this point. The water tower is only about another three quarters of a mile further on, half of which is on road, the other half on a gravel track leading uphill to the tower.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As I arrived at the bottom of the gravel track I had a flashback to racing Andy to the top of the hill on a similar training run earlier in the year. Today I only just managed to keep on running to the top. I felt really sluggish all of a sudden, and the temperature also seemed to suddenly get hotter. I felt as if heat was being reflected from the surface of the gravel track into my face. Once I'd made it to the top of the hill I found some shade to stand under whilst I had an energy gel and some water. After a couple of minutes rest I set off to retrace my steps back to the start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I don't know if it was just a figment of my imagination, but the temperature seemed to have increased by more than was possible on my return run. The hedgerow on either side of the track seemed to be trapping the heat, turning it into a furnace. However, no one else seemed to realise this. By the time I was running back to the start many walkers had risen from their slumber and were out for a stroll on the Roman Road. Most were wearing jackets and didn't seem to realise how hot it was. Could it just be me?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">By the time I'd got back to the car I was exhausted and I felt as if I couldn't have run another mile. This is a very rare feeling for me. I put it down to post marathon fatigue and lack of carbohydrates with my main meal yesterday. Yes, I had the typical male response to a barbie, which is to fill up on barbecued meat. Still, it was all very tasty.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4833315635063625094.post-32340276588756049102011-05-24T05:29:00.000-07:002011-05-24T06:25:07.725-07:00Windermere Marathon - Full Report<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two days have since passed since my fifth marathon of the year and my legs have finally stopped aching. Many people find that their legs hurt more on day two following a marathon, due to a phenomenon known as DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness. I seem to get the rarer IOMS - instant onset muscle soreness. I don't think this was helped by having to sit in a car for five hours immediately after the marathon. I was so grateful for Ruth doing all the driving home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The only downside of Windermere Marathon is the amount of travel time involved in getting there. It's too close to fly, but such a long drive on a Friday afternoon. We wanted to make a bit of a weekend of it and had planned to camp with our friends, Ron and Kate. The same Ron who I'd supported two weeks ago when he was running in the Shakespeare Marathon. Ruth and I left Cambridge at about 1.30pm on Friday. We arrived at our campsite six hours later. The dreaded M6 between Birmingham and Manchester was a nightmare of slow moving traffic. We also drove through a patch of heavy rain, but fortunately we had clear blue skies when we arrived in the Lake District. It's been a few years since I've been so far north and I'd forgotten just how much colder it is in this part of the country compared to sunny East Anglia. I'd only just packed enough warm clothes to keep the chill out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Once we had our tent up we sat down with our two friends and cracked open a few beers. I had said I wouldn't drink any alcohol until after the marathon, but after such a long drive I felt that I needed it. Ruth then cooked a meal for the four of us and we then spent the evening chatting away under the stars. Our camp site was right on the shore of Lake Windermere and it was a very pleasant and peaceful place to be with good company.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">On Saturday we decided to do a fairly easy walk through Grizedale Forest. It would have been nice to have climbed one of the major peaks in the Lake District National Park, but I didn't want to over exert myself as I suspected the following day's marathon was probably going to be reasonably tough. As the weather didn't look that promising, staying fairly low also seemed to make better sense. So we restricted ourselves to a fairly modest walk up to Carron Crag at 314m, the highest point in Grizedale.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Y8608jcNyzL697O8AY5FFzTlkXK4x6SVVJMe00AesHHdQ_t5dI75mGvq2bkVrb-rAWnK_01zcOZao0cAtxBARVKAmQLg0xD3ykv8tgRehOf28K__5JIbyPK00730llPCUgCQKZDKs438/s1600/Windermere+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Y8608jcNyzL697O8AY5FFzTlkXK4x6SVVJMe00AesHHdQ_t5dI75mGvq2bkVrb-rAWnK_01zcOZao0cAtxBARVKAmQLg0xD3ykv8tgRehOf28K__5JIbyPK00730llPCUgCQKZDKs438/s320/Windermere+001.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruth and Kate near the top of Carron Crag</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The walk up to Carron Crag proved to be fairly short, which worked out to our advantage. Kate mentioned that they had friends who had recently moved to Windermere and suggested we paid them a visit. We phoned to check they were in and then set off to see them. As we pulled up outside their house the heavens opened. This was then the start of the rain that would hardly seize up until the next morning.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That evening we huddled inside Ron and Kate's tent whilst Kate cooked our evening pasta meal. The others opened a few beers and I think I counted two bottles of wine being opened. Obviously, I resitricted myself to soft drinks and did my best to feel virtuous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That night rain pounded our tents. Fortunately, I'm a fairly heavy sleeper so I wasn't disturbed by the foul weather. Over breakfast the others all talked about having a restless night and mentioned hearing car alarms being set off by the wind and rain. I was completely oblivious to this and woke feeling refreshed and ready for a run. I was slightly concerned by the continuing wind and rain, and wished I'd packed my lightweight waterproof running jacket. I was then a little dismayed to discover our tent had developed a slight leak and that we had a drip right over the spot where I had left my running shoes. I don't mind my feet becoming wet whilst I run, but putting my feet into wet trainers at the start of a marathon is not something that I relish. I made a mental note to never camp the night before a marathon ever again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We packed up our wet tent and loaded the car and I then made my way to the start point of the marathon at Brathay Hall, just two miles from our campsite. I sat in the car for as long as possible to shelter from the rain. The others were all back at the campsite packing Ron and Kate's tent.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At 10:05 the rain seemed to ease, so I left the car and made my way to the start area. As I got there the heavens opened again and everyone dived for whatever cover they could find. I found myself huddled under the eaves of a building with several other runners who were all in high spirits and trying their best to put a brave face on the situation. Moments later the rain suddenly stopped and it was time to make our way to the start line. I chatted to a couple of other runners in those last few minutes before the gun went off. We all suspected we'd be in for a cold, wet, windy and tough run. The gun went off at 10.30am sharp and I wished good luck to my fellow runners who were standing nearby.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The marathon route went right past the road leading to our campsite, and my support team had said they'd be there to cheer me on. As we approached the junction I could see no sign of them. Then just as I got to the junction Kate's car came whizzing up the road towards us and came to a halt with a few beeps from her horn. Talk about cutting it fine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">From the start at Brathay Hall the marathon route heads pretty much due south to the pretty little village of Hawkshead, where a few residents had come out onto the streets to cheer us on. You could describe this part of the route as undulating. For a Fen boy, like me, it's bloody hilly. The major problem that I had with the hills around Windermere is that there is no regularity to them. I like hills that stick to pretty much one gradient so that you can find a single pace to run at until you reach the brow. The hills on the Windermere marathon alter their gradient all the time. You run up a step section, which then levels off for a few yards, kicks up again, dips a little, climbs at a shallow gradient, turns a corner and hits you in the face with another steep section. Your legs never have time to settle into one pace. Then every now and again you get a short and steep down. On the downhills I passed many runners trying to fight gravity. Running fast downhill is a skill that is definitely worth learning. If you fight gravity you over exert your quad muscles. To let gravity do the work you need to disengage your brain, take long strides and let your legs turn over super quick. It's harder than it sounds, but it saves lots of energy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The route is all on road, and much of the first half is through woodland, but with plenty of open road sections allowing us runners to admire the view of the rolling hills to the south of the Lake District. I had told myself that I would take plenty of photos. But for most of the race I was running and chatting with one or two people at a time. To stop and take a photo would have meant losing my running partners, or using too much energy to keep trying to catch them up. So I opted to chat with whoever was alongside me at the time, if they seemed the sort of runner who is keen for a chat during a marathon, and to just take in the views as I ran.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">After Hawkshead the route passes to the west of Esthwaite Water, one of the smaller lakes at just 1.5 miles long. The end of the lake was at the 6 mile point. After another 6 miles of running we were at the village of Newby Bridge. Here there was a good amount of spectators lining the streets to cheer on the runners. Several spectators lined the stone arch bridge that was built in the 17th century and for which Newby Bridge is famous (apparently). From Newby Bridge the route heads north and stays fairly close to the eastern shore of Lake Windermere. The east side of the lake is more developed, so there was a lot more spectators out cheering on the runners for the second half of the marathon, which is always welcome.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Windermere itself is at the 20 mile mark on the marathon. It's from here that the marathon always starts to take its toll. My legs were feeling very heavy, but the number of spectators out through the town centre made sure I kept running with good form. I was also aware that I was leaving behind several of the runners I'd been chatting to up to this point and gaining on many who had previously seemed beyond reach. I was expecting to see my support crew at mile 23, but they were nowhere to be seen. I imagined them sat in a pub somewhere, enjoying themselves and forgetting all about me. I put the thought to the back of my head and carried on with the task at hand. My legs were feeling really heavy now but I told myself all I had left to do was the equivalent of six laps of Midsummer Common - easy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">With one mile to go the route passes through Ambleside. There weren't many spectators out, but enough to give me a boost. I was overtaking many runners at this stage. With just over half a mile to go I caught a runner as we crossed a narrow hump back bridge, we both commented on the fact that it felt like a massive hill. Soon afterwards I'd reached the entrance to Brathay Hall. From the entrance gate the road leads upwards to the hall. I passed another runner who was struggling with this last climb on the marathon. The course then went around the side of the house to finish on the lawn at the back. There were many people lining the finishing straight cheering on the competitors. I ran towards the finish line with both hands held in the air for victory. My official time was 3 hours 18 minutes and 4 seconds. This is my second fastest time for the year so far, on the toughest course. The way my legs were feeling I could tell I'd not taken it as easy as perhaps I should have.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I stayed at the finish line for several minutes waiting to see some of the runners I'd chatted to during the race cross the line. As they came in we shook hands and patted each other on the back for a job well done. I might see some of them at some future marathon, most I'll probably never see again, but for a few hours on this particular Sunday we were kinsmen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This marathon had definitely been the highlight of the year so far. It might have involved a long drive to get here, it was certainly tough, but the scenery and level of camaraderie made it all worthwhile. Thankfully, it had stayed dry for the entire time that I was running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">All I had to do now was find my missing support crew. There was no sign of them near the finish, so I made my way to the car to get my mobile. I discovered that they had gone to mile 23 to see me, but must have just missed me. They blamed me for running faster than I'd told them. We met up at the finish and shortly afterwards Ruth and I bid farewell to our friends.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DLaJB3mlVPCqnkJt83IY4HfRoNEDC1bK9FSpCoSab0M5tRdC0tJH029_fuwOKoebakA64EnkE4B2jAHAOjBrXZ4GTdB63thRE8Csw49KDKnOyPzVCZ_XsBfxNBkYFNJPjIb70Hdx9I1G/s1600/Windermere+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DLaJB3mlVPCqnkJt83IY4HfRoNEDC1bK9FSpCoSab0M5tRdC0tJH029_fuwOKoebakA64EnkE4B2jAHAOjBrXZ4GTdB63thRE8Csw49KDKnOyPzVCZ_XsBfxNBkYFNJPjIb70Hdx9I1G/s400/Windermere+008.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My support crew: Kate, Ruth, Ron & Ozzy the dog</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPJju1qpPn2-pU9NJ6MpHopQTyxNtxkeeiKDoELJVa9LDQBqThnTqbqclIeuzE1W5b9yu1Z1Tck-C-mZeqpseQ1xJ12k-OZ4LxG1yWJdS5UqitqACj2W98bBWhxr5LbWZqNFuBw2o8LCg/s1600/Windermere+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPJju1qpPn2-pU9NJ6MpHopQTyxNtxkeeiKDoELJVa9LDQBqThnTqbqclIeuzE1W5b9yu1Z1Tck-C-mZeqpseQ1xJ12k-OZ4LxG1yWJdS5UqitqACj2W98bBWhxr5LbWZqNFuBw2o8LCg/s400/Windermere+012.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marathon number five completed</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">Then we had the long drive home, which brought on the aching in my legs earlier than is normal. However, it's a good job my DOMS have subsided now, as I'm due to run with a client later today.</span>Alan Middlebrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09963077222284098895noreply@blogger.com0