Hard times…

Tuesday training is usually enjoyable in Atherstone – it was hard to enjoy much today having received sad news about the limited future of one of our pet cats, Russell, who has an irreparable heart condition which made me cry today at lunchtime despite the fact that he is now back home where he is most comfortable. I very rarely do tears. Training involved an out and back which I made more complicated by taking wrong turns on both legs! I ran extra in the end – 9 miles in total, up to the A444 and back and achieved the session objective of running negative splits, digging deep on the last mile to make it back. The run back was a lonely trudge if ever there was one. Cold, wet, dark, alone – I just needed Morrissey belting out “Everyday is like Sunday” to complete the full array of misery! I finished the evening with an athlete’s dinner of pint of Guinness and Chinese meal. Normal, healthier eating habits should resume tomorrow when I will also hopefully catch up with my old mate Craig who called me unexpectedly tonight just as I was about to go out. That was a pleasant surprise. Probably have a rest day tomorrow or just do something light. I felt I was running because I should tonight rather than because I wanted to but I am sure it will get better and it is just external circumstances that are causing my ennui. At least I don’t have a terrible beard like Gary Lineker – where there is poor quality facial hair, there is also hope!

Battling

Monday. I have been feeling down for around a week now for a number of different reasons and I understand the importance of engagement in order to occupy the mind and have something to distract you from your troubles. After work, I quickly wrote my weekly newspaper article, cooked a light meal and headed down the athletics track with Damo Taylor. It was cold and wet and aside from three or four junior hurdlers we were the only ones there. He is a considerably stronger runner than me so I thought I would just try and hang onto him for as many sets as I could. We did ten lots of 300m with 200m recovery jogs between each. I surprised myself at how well I kept up and probably beat him as many times as he did me. The session is about hanging on, jelly-legged, trying to keep form when your legs and lungs want to simply stop. I kept focussing on my breathing, rhythm and, where possible, visualising myself as hitting the home straight in the Olympic 1500m final running hard for the line. For anyone watching, like Stephanie White for example who was bike training on the sidelines, we probably looked like two muppets chasing each other round in the rain. I always fancied myself as Steve Cram circa 1985 mind – the Olympics comes to Nuneaton? You never know! I never know with Damo whether he holds back a bit to give me confidence or whether I do actually push him. Either way, it works for me so hopefully this type of session will become a fixture in the coming months.

I finished my evening ruining my earlier good work by drinking Guinness in The Legion as my darts team enjoyed a resounding win in an emotional match. I walked the dogs about midnight as penance. They enjoyed it if I didn’t!

A positive start

Sunday. Best opportunity to get a long run in usually. The aim was to run for 2 hours or 15 miles, whichever came sooner. I managed my 15 miles in 1:53 surprisingly easily. The hardest bit was trying to stick to the session plan and avoid the temptation to race off. “Time on your feet” was the mantra I kept saying to myself – ignore the time, this is training. I did allow myself the luxury of opening my legs for the last half mile and in doing so recorded negative splits which for any non-running nerds reading this means completing the second half of your run quicker than your first.

Speaking of firsts, today was the first time for a long time (March, I think) where I ran with a drink in my hand. In fact, when I last recall taking a drink, I got my friend Damo to carry it for me as he had a rucksack so even that doesn’t count. I should add here that Damo is quite a bit faster than me – it wasn’t as though I forced a willing youngster into doing all my fetching and carrying! Another first was the wildlife mixture encountered on the run. I like to clock how many different types of animal I can spot to help pass the time. Today I saw a rare, never-seen-before combination of heron, squirrel and crested duck at various points. I have seen them all before, just not all on the same run and unfortunately they weren’t all together enjoying a picnic like a scene from Wind In The Willows or such like. It really is a special part of the country to run in round here.

I have decided to run and raise some cash for the Dogs Trust charity so hopefully next week I can start promoting that side of things. On balance, I feel today went well. I achieved my objective comfortably and even managed a quick dog walk when I got back. The time was unimpressive by the standards I have set myself but this run was not about time, more time spent on my feet. I plan to increase my long run distances very slightly each time. I’ve managed about 34 miles this week but not off a plan. I dug a few plans out but didn’t like the look of any of them so I think I will devise my own and get some input from Matt Tonks if he will let me pick his brains sometime! Might try and hit the track tomorrow so long as I don’t stiffen up overnight. Normally after a long run I will try and endure a cold bath on account of not having sufficient ice! It was cold out there today – had to wear two layers but I didn’t feel the need when I got back as I felt fairly fresh. Just hope that decision doesn’t come back to haunt me.

So it begins…

I have always enjoyed writing so thought I would have a go at a blog. This one will attempt to chart my journey towards running the 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon. I am sure there will be a host of highs and plenty of lows along the way, all in the aim of completing the historic race as quickly as possible. There is a certain irony about the marathon in that you spend so long building up to it, once it starts, you simply cannot wait for it to finish quickly enough. I’ve done a few marathons before, some good, some bad and they’re never easy. On Tuesday of this week, I was fortunate enough to have my name drawn out of the dog-poo bag from 15 other hopeful runners from my running club, Badgers. This means I have five months to train and prepare for it – a challenge that both excites and frightens me in equal measure.

I’ll be 41 by the time the race starts and I have found that as I get older, body parts become less reliable and take longer to recover when injured. I need to dedicate myself to the task in hand while at the same time remain lucky in that I stay free from injury and can hit good form at the right time. While it is a club place and not a charity one, I think I will use the experience to raise some money for charity while I can. People have offered to sponsor me in other events when I’m not raising money, it will be five years since I did my last big charity push in the same event in 2011 so I won’t feel too guilty about tapping people up for a bit of cash once again!