Spinathon

Ultra marathon store

Still continuing with training 6 days a week, still enjoying it. No change in amount on my giving page but that should definitely change in the next fortnight. This week I held a 4 hour Spinathon at Waterlane leisure centre. 14 brave people sat on a spin bike from 10am till 2 pm to raise cash for my cause...... Total to follow.

























THANKS EVERYONE, FANTASTIC EFFORT

Diary of a long distance runner

23rd sept 2013 3 miles easy after yesterday's hard half.
24th sept 2013 4 miles x country steady pace
25th sept 2013 5 miles on the road slow pace
26th sept 2013 3 miles x country race pace
27 the sept 2013 3 miles x country steady pace
29th sept 2013 spinathon




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Looking ahead

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I'm loving my running at the moment. My legs are feeling great. This week I have felt the need to look for some races that could offer me a challenge and therefore give my training a direction and purpose.

Here's a couple I have found. The first one is May 2014




London to Brighton

The second is August 2014




Grim reaper 100 miler

ANYONE FANCY JOINING ME, GIVE ME A CALL

Well today Paula and myself ran a tough half marathon, it was warm and hilly and a 2 lap course. I never knew that Ipswich had so many hills in it.







I told myself that I would just use it as a training run as my mile pace had dropped off since increasing my distance. About 5 seconds after the gun went, my competitive head kicked in and training run session ended and race session started.
Paula finished in a time of 1:53 and I finished in 1:44.





Diary of a long distance runner

16th September 2013 -4.5 miles fast pace on the road, lovely dry autumnal morning. Felt good

17th September 2013 -3 miles fast pace,on the road, cool and dry
17th September 2013 - 4.3 miles steady pace with Paula, on the road, weather cool but dry

18th September 2013- 3 miles on the road, lovely cool morning.

No running as I was on a course in Birmingham and it was too intense, felt a couple of days rest would be more beneficial




22nd September 2013 - Ipswich half marathon- warm, dry day, road race, very hilly- race pace 7:56 average, 1:44:06 finish time. Happy with that.

WOW !!!! My Donations have reached 15%


THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME GET THERE.

Another mile stone reached

New sponsor..............Please click here




It was put back once but on the 17th August 2013, I completed my 12 hour Endurance run. The day started very foggy and I thought I was going to be in for a cool, scene less run.








How wrong, I was. By 8.30am the sun had burnt through and was beaming down with vengeance. The 1.75 mile loop that I was travelling had a path at the top of the cliff and a path along the bottom of the cliff, running past JayJays Beach cafe. The top path gave a bit of relief from the heat as there was a cool breeze, as opposed to the bottom path that offered nothing whatsoever.
Every lap I was taking fluid from my girlfriend Paula and her daughter Ella.
This was my day, round the 1.75 mile route, running, eating and drinking. This was more of a mental challenge than a running challenge and thankfully I had some great people running at various times through the day to keep me going. It seems a good time to mention them
Andy Deacon, Phil and Marie Ayers, Alan Fairs, Paul Harrod, Johannes Langer,Kim Gowen, Claire Smith, Olivia Smith , Deborah Smith, Tamsin Desborough, and not forgetting Ella, who did a fantastic job of lap counting and as always Paula who continues to support me.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH
My target was 63 miles and was ahead of the game and on target until at about 20 miles, the recent hamstring injury showed its head again. Fortunately it wasn't enough to end my endeavour, but it was enough to not allow me to push on to my goal. So a quick stop to put on a compression bandage and off I went again.




In training I had been having an Sis gel every hour and a porridge every 2 hours. And seemed to work really well.








This worked for the first 3 hours on the endurance day, but then I had no interest in eating porridge. I'm not sure if it was because it was hot, but my training plan for eating went out of the window. My eating went to a gel every hour and a Jaffa cake or some cake every now and then. I did however drink plenty of fluids. I had water or water with Nunn hydration tablets added. I drink more than 15 litres in 12 hours and only had 5 toilet stops whoop !!!!!!
I had some low points during the day, mainly when I was running alone. I would like to say a massive thank you to the following people, who made the run possible and who kept me going.

On my last lap round I needed my last toilet stop. As I came out of the loo, I had to go up 3 steps, would believe it, I caught the top step with my toe and in slow motion fell forwards cutting my knee and hands. Lol...
Surprisingly I felt okay when I stopped. On long events previously I have felt dizzy and not with it, when I stopped. But i was ok, tired but ok.I drove home, got in an ice cold bath, followed by a hot shower and stretch. I had a Chinese before bed. Can't remember going to sleep. Good 8 hour sleep then got up, the stairs down were challenging at first, once I was moving, my legs felt ok.
Diary of a long distance runner
17th August 2013. 57.38 miles (details above)
24th August 2013 steady 4.12 miles x- country run in thetford forest with Paula, bit of a wet day
28th August 2013 steady 5.15 miles road
31st August 2013 steady 10.5miles on the road. Dry and abit warm
3rd September 2013 fast 5 miles x country
7th September 2013 8.30 miles on the road, comfortable pace with Paula
9th September 2013 4 miles, fast pace x country, very warm and dry
10th September 2013 4.31miles x country , very warm, steady pace.
11th September 2013 4 miles x country, early morning, felt good
12th September 2013 5 miles on the road, dry, steady pace
13th September 2013 4 miles steady pace on treadmill in garage, god it's hot in there, felt very thirsty.
14th September 2013 10miles, steady pace, wet and windy
This blogs donation Roll of honour
Paul Kemp ........Director of Staffbank recruitment agency
Pam and Bernie Miller...... Heartcare exercisers
Keith Watkins and Malcolm Harper.... Cardiac patients
Pat Pittam.... Sports therapy client
Julia Sowerbutt....... One of my Walberswick ladies
Pete and Angela.... My neighbours
Jan Reid....... One of my LBT ladies.
Deborah Smith...... One of Paula's friends
Angela and David Mower..... Waveney Valley Runners
Sally Dravniek ........ A fellow exercise instructor
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH
Did I mention new sponsor..... Thanks Keith

Sun,sand, sun and more sand

My reduced training mileage has continued. My hamstring feels better. I have exchanged miles for degrees, and travelled to Tunisia, where I got my first experience of the Sahara and was able to do some heat and sand running.
I've not liked my lack of training and was desperate to get back to it.
Whilst in Tunisia we had a temperature range of 29 to 51 degrees, some windy conditions and a big sandstorm, which gave me an understanding of how easy it would be to get disorientated.
I have changed the fluids that I run with. I have changed to plain water instead of a squash mix. I also use salt and mineral capsules to counteract the minerals that I lose in my sweat. I take one capsule every 30 minutes to an hour. In Tunisia, as I was still conscious about my hamstring, I started with slow 3 mile road runs, building upto 5 miles and then I moved onto sand running, at was always in the back of my mind to not overdo it and I kept my runs to every few days ( after all I was on holiday)
I have to say I enjoyed running in the heat, I know I ran at a slower than normal pace but my heart rate was still ranging from 140 - 170 bpm.
I have also changed running shoe, to one with a bigger toe box in an attempt to save my toe nails. The shoe I have gone for is the Brooks Adrenalin GTS 13

I will review them as I go through my runs, but they feel good so far.
Photos in Tunisia













My first hot sand run .......Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Diary of a long distance runner
9th July 2013 slow 3.5 miles on the road, felt comfortable even though it was warm
11th July 2013 steady 3 miles on the road
16th July 2013 steady 3 miles on the road in the Tunisian sun, hot and dry. Felt good
17th July 2013 slow 3.3 miles with Paula, early morning, warm and dry
19th July 2013 slow 4.25 miles on the road, very hot, didn't take enough water
23rd July 2013 steady 4 miles, very hot and dry
27th July 2013 5 mile sand run, loved it. Hot hot hot
30th July 2013 6 mile slow run, back in the uk, felt good. Still warm
2nd August 2013 8 miles steady, good hydration, warm and dry
4th August 2013 10 mile steady, felt comfortable.
7th August 2013 8 miles steady run, late afternoon, didn't feel as comfortable
10th August 2013 early morning steady 20 miles, warm, last 3 miles with no water.
THIS BLOGS DONATION ROLL OF HONOUR
Birds eye
An Anonymous donator
Claire Whittonbury
Thank you, thank you , thank you

Road to recovery

There's light at the end of the tunnel. Slowly slowly catch the monkey, was once said to me. This is the route I'm taking, 1.5 mile run on Tuesday and 2 miles on Sunday. Plenty of stretches and plenty of ultra sound on my ankle. All with no pain or discomfort.

The 2 miles on Sunday was with Paula. I biked 8 and then ran 2 miles in the middle of Paula's 10 miler. We left home at 7am, what a beautiful morning.


Lowestoft seafront






Fingers crossed, the frustration is over.

As ever thanks to Paula for her support.

Thanks also to Ali Kent for her magic hands, getting my legs better
- Posted from my iphone

Endurance run cancelled

I thought my leg problems were behind me after my 8 hour run. I was wrong. My left hamstring injury decided to return last weekend. I reluctantly took the decision to postpone my 12 hour endurance run at Gorleston. I plan to run it same place but in August. This will give me 8 weeks to get myself injury free. This is a really frustrating time as I just want to run.


My motivation to write this blog is not where it should be. I put this down to me being upset that my ability to train and run has been put back. Normal blogging will return in good time.

On a positive note, we have our first winner of Marks monthly 100 club.


Number 53, belongs to Mr Eddie Dixon from Lowestoft. Well done £50 is yours.

I plan another monthly draw in August.

This blogs donation roll of honour.


Jane Tibble - one of my Walberswick fitness ladies
Sandra - another Walberswick fitness lady
Stevie Allix- an old regiment friend
Thank you

- Posted from my iphone

Back to running ways

Thank The Lord, it's been a frustrating fortnight. Been finding it very difficult not to run. The hamstring tear may still be in the background but hasn't stopped me training this week.

My injuries have left me to focus on myself and to realise that injuries and pain can be avoided or eased with abit of thought and care about one self. Fixing your feet-this book has opened my eyes and given me some great tips

A must read for anyone wanting to make running a big part of their life.

So with my 12 hr endurance , I felt that this weekend I should run for 8 hours not so much a distance test, but a test of my mental ability. It was certainly tested. During the 8 hours, Lowestoft saw lots of different weather, rain, wind ,sun and hail.
I was eating roughly every 2-3 hours and having a gel every hour.
I would like to thank the James Paget University hospital, who fitted my with a mobile Electro Cardio gram machine to see how my heart would cope with an 8 hour run.

Results to follow...
I was followed for the first 2.5 hours and the last 2.5 hours by my girlfriend Paula on her bike. She kept me motivated. Thank you.
Roll on the 12hr run, looking forward to it.

This blogs donation roll of honour.

Claire Whittonbury

Thank you

12 hour endurance run at gorleston is a fortnight away. Come along and say hello or even run with me for a while



- Posted from my iphone