…by Laura Lock (Neil’s wife)

I am not sure if this post will ever see the light of day on Neil’s running blog. It doesn’t detail miles completed, or times of splits. It does not contain references to nasty looking feet or a recomendation for a new piece of kit. It does however talk about grit and determination and immense pride.

My husband is a runner. Which makes me a running widow! In the months leading up to a marathon our Sundays are usually filled with trips to random places at very early times of the morning for a race or don’t start until lunchtime once the ‘long run’ is out of the way. I am not a runner myself (yet!), so why do I let hubby’s hobby take over our weekends? The answer is simple. I enjoy it as much as he does. I meet new people. People just like me who spectate or people like Neil who run. The community is amazing and I have a lot of very close friends who we have met from running circles over the years.

Last week Neil ran in his 8th Marathon in 4 years. He started back in 2009 and has now lined up 5 times in London and 3 times abroad. His running has taken us to the south of England and this summer up to the North for the GNR. We have been to Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Venice and to San Francisco (during the San Fran half marathon we got engaged!). I get to go to nice places on hoilday because Neil wants to run – I definatly am not complaining!

As with most revolutions I always like to be at least a year behind and with barefoot running this is very much the case. Don’t get me wrong I have been watching this movement for a few years but I am dubious about the claims and risks involved.

A few weeks ago I got a pair of Five Fingers. If you have seen my blog over the last few weeks you will know my marathon training has been far from text book. However, I wasn’t stupid enough to throw barefoot training into my schedule as I know I heavily pronate and need the support. However, now with the marathon out if the way it seems like a great time to take them out for a spin.

Having been to a number of workshops and read all the books my plan over the coming weeks is to start to wear them around the house, for short walks and just refrain from running in them. I’m undecided whether I can wear then to work as I’m not sure they would fit the dress code (not that we really have one, but I have been trying over recent months to look a bit more smarter than I used to!).

Once I have amassed a few miles walking in them I plan on starting to up the distances a little bit. I suspect I will never reach the marathon distance in these shoes, I think my biomechanics are totally inappropriate for that. However, I’m keen to give them a go alongside the Brooks Pure’s I also have sitting in my cupboard. I can see if a lighter shoe makes any difference to my times in the shorter distance events. Alas I suspect losing a few pounds off my stomach will help more than ultra light shoes

Follow up post will be made in due course!

N

Somehow the day was here where I had to go collect my number. After a couple of months of digging my head in the sand and expecting something would stop me from actually making it to the start line, there I was at the Excel not ill, not injured and excuse-less. Oh cr*p. Maybe I should have done more runs!

As always the number collection process was smooth and efficient, if you go on the Weds/Thurs this always seems to be the case. We popped over to the main stage to watch Iwan do his talk and tell the audience it was all about pacing etc, etc. I then had a very formulaic approach to the stalls at the expo. I basically went direct to the stalls I wanted and didn’t go elsewhere. Nuun, yes please – let’s try some other flavours, SIS yup go on then – caffeine gels at the ready, Skins – time for some new shorts and finally X-socks as I’m not liking the new Hilly’s as much as my old Run-Sky-Runs. A fair amount of cash spent and we left the expo, however everything I bought I would use!

That was Thursday over, two days to go until the start. Could something happen now I wondered?!

It is raining, the wind is howling around the building, it is still dark outside and it is a Sunday morning yet the alarm is going off. Dreary eyed I get out of bed and head to shower and try stuff my face with porridge that I don’t want and consume a pint of fluid I don’t really need. I feel alone sat waiting for my food to digest until I flick on twitter…

I know whatever time it is on a Sunday morning there will be someone else out there going through the same routine as me. Perhaps preparing for a race or maybe just getting set up for a long run (long is a completely unmeasurable distance). Anxiety is common as people head out into the unknown, as I’m sure you will all empathise, no two runs ever feel the same. However, here we are joined by this ‘thing’ in common whilst everyone is still tucked up in bed. There is normally some banter, or good wishes for those racing before the little army set off on there own way.

When I was doing my research on the Abu Dhabi (cough Laura possibly found this cough) I found out that every Tuesday night they open up the F1 course to runners and cyclists and the best part is that it is completely free!

Two days after running a mega training run and after a day of touristy stuff (morning visiting the mosque, afternoon going on the worlds fastest roller coaster in Ferrari World) I put on my trainers and headed to the track.

This isn’t the first time I have run on a race track having run the Silverstone half marathon a few years ago but this was a very different experience to that. For one it was probably 50-60 deg F hotter!

A few weeks ago whilst out on a work lunch with Prash, an employee from Rackspace, I found out we would both be in Abu Dhabi at the same time and he also liked running. I figured it was a perfect excuse for company and we arranged to meet up and run the track together.

On meeting Prash and his family trackside it was clear a few of us would be coming out. Laura had her trainers on and would be heading out on track with us to. The first time she had run on a race track! We got our passes and set off to the start.

As all of us were different abilities we set off in groups – I was looking to do sub 9min mi’s but not overly fussed beyond that. Two days after a 23 mile run I felt my body deserved a rest. I tried to let Prash take the pace but think I may have bullied a little bit towards the end we chatted about a bit of work and a bit of pleasure. Some say you should leave your work at home when on holidays, but to be honest if work is always running around a beautiful track in perfect temperatures I’m happy to talk shop for a bit of it!

About a month ago whilst panic buying a different pair of trainers following blistergate 2013 I spotted a leaflet for an event being run by the East End Road Runners. The concept was simple, they would provide pacers and fuel stations around the first 22miles of the London Marathon course.

For any of my long term followers you will know that I have run the London Marathon a few times so by now should be totally familiar with its every twist and turn. However, if you have participated in this event I’m sure you will agree the route can be a bit magical as you spend 26miles looking at the pavement in front trying to avoid tripping over or the beautiful backdrops shielded by several rows deep worth of spectators. Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining – the spectators are what makes this race so iconic however, for once I wanted to try get some grasp as to the route we run! It *could* possibly help with some of the head demons, allowing me to break the course up a bit better…

On Easter Sunday as the clocks went forward I set my alarm for the crack of dawn to head towards the Cutty Sark and the meeting point for the event. The morning was odd – it felt like a race morning as I struggled to take in my breakfast. It was a bitterly cold however the skies were blue and the sun out which was a good sign!

At 9am we met in Greenwich, waiting with Sally (colleague from work) we opted to head into McD’s to keep warm whilst we waited, i’ll hasten to add not once did the thought of eating a mcmuffin enter my head at that time of day. My nervous energy was spent trying to work out how I was going to hang onto a 8:35 pace for 22miles…

With enough time to get to the Red Start the group were herded up by the running club and walked the mile or so up to the start. Here we were a group of say 80+ runners stood at the gate leaving Greenwich park, about 3 weeks too early!

Twelve months ago I ran the Reading Half for the first time. I had a bit of history with the city and felt no urge to go back but last year I entered as part of my marathon training regime. The weather that day was perfect for runners, blue skies & sun however not too hot. You could have asked for a nicer day. Roll on 12 months to the 2013 Half.

Arriving in Reading on Sat we chose to stay by the stadium as we had done last year, I’m aware it wouldn’t take to long to get there in the morning but we liked the hotel and it just saved the morning rush. When we were driving over we were greeted to “variable” conditions aka rain and heavy rain. This happened all day and set the scene perfectly for what was about to come

Sunday morning, curtains opened – rain. I could spend the rest of the post explaining the foul weather on the run but it’s probably easier to just say it rained permanently through out. The perfect phrase to describe the race because of the conditions is GRIM.

My running since the start of 2013 has been sporadic. It’s pretty late in the season already and I have, due to niggles and blisters etc, missed out on a number of long runs. The longest I have gone before this weekend was a 15 miler and a couple of 13′s – I can’t even say my midweek runs have had any routine to them. Normally I’d try to do 3 runs but have been struggling to fit them in around work commitments. So, on Sunday morning I ignored the rule book, I left the flat with a brand new pair of trainers on (completely new model and make), brand new socks (both to hopefully remove the risk of blisters) and went LONG.

When I set out my target was 20miles, I had planed a route which should cover that distance without any loops. I knew this was going to be a challenge in my head and I needed as few excuses to cut the route short as possible. I set out towards the Capital. The first few miles were the boring parts. I covered familiar territory and spent a good hour denying my ‘inner chimp’ a victory and winning the battle in my head telling me to stop. At 6miles I readjusted my shoes as my foot ached on most strides. However, I didn’t stop for long and I told myself it was small pain relative to what I felt last weekend. From about 7 miles the route I had chosen really came into its element…

A few weeks ago I put my name down and won  a ‘competition’ on Facebook for a place at Nikes Flyknit Experience at Somerset House. I wasn’t overly sure what to expect when I turned up assuming it to be like a press event. Try on some shoes, go for a run then send you home in them for good will and hope you review the product. How wrong was I…

Arriving at the amazing Somerset House lit up pink with a Nike Dome in the middle it was already becoming clear that Nike marketing budget was large on this campaign…Free tshirt and (bandana!?) later I went to collect the shoes I was here to try out – the Flyknit.

After a bit of a debacle with not enough shoes I eventually ended up selecting a size too big for me as my size was unavailable. Fortunately for me my wide feet helped with this as whilst the shoe was technically too long my feet were held fairly firm in the narrow shoe and possibly helped by the steam ‘customisation’ fit. See below…

Once you have selected your trainer size the process moves onto ‘moulding’ them to your feet. The trainers are made from a material that when steam heated adjust around your feet – apparently. The concept is that the shoes shouldn’t be loose anywhere around your foot. Quite a cool little show was put on around this, a little bit gimmicky but made me smile as my shoes came out of the steamer!

First thing to note is these are neutral shoes (I believe), they are ultra light and actually look damn cool as a complete contrast to my current stability shoe. However, I don’t think I would be able to run a large distance in these shoes due to my heavy pronation. once we were kitted out the event was ready to start. They had a quick Q&A with 800m Olympian Andrew Osagie before a warm up and time to run.

Welcome to my first real training post of 2013. As is typically the case, the day after my birthday celebrations normally coincides with the local half marathon and almost every

year for the last few I have signed up and plodded around Roding Valley. This year was no different and at 8am we set off for the start of what should have been a half marathon with some extra VLM Marathon training miles (6-7) added on for good measure.

The starting gun fired at 9 and we off. This was my second half marathon of 2013 (the first was Dorney in Feb) and as it was ultimately a training run I had no intention of speeding off looking to set into an 8:30 or so stride. Unfortunately at about 3 miles the blister I was a little bit wary about from runs on previous weeks felt like it was starting to become aggravated. I obviously started to adjust my running style to stop landing on the blister but in turn this triggered pains in whole knew places: quads, calves and knees. As I approached the half way point (the course was laps) I saw Laura, by this point I was practically hobbling and she thought I had fallen. I was in pain, I was at mile 7 of a race but I didn’t really want to make this the first time I have ever stopped during a race.

At this point a lot of questions go through your head of which the most obvious is ‘should I pull out?’ I had been wrestling this thought for at least 2 miles previously as each footfall created a pain in my body. I’m almost certain any medical person wouldn’t have even engaged in the debate, pull out incase you do more damage.