Two weeks ago I had a phone call from Tom Williams, of Marathon Talk Podcast. I have met Tom before at the Nottingham Marathon aid station and had been in touch electronically since the start of the podcast.

Earlier that day Tom had been contacted by Noel Thatcher MBE whose wife is Japanese and he himself has many ties with Japan. The Tsunami and the destruction it has caused in Japan had caused Noel to question whether there was anything that could be done. At that point an idea was born between Tom and Noel – let’s use the power of running and it’s community to raise awareness and funds for Japan.

The concept is simple – you donate a run to Japan and you sponsor unit for unit that distance, eg you run 10miles you log it on http://RunForJapan.com and you donate £10/10$ etc.

After initial reservation from me regarding the logistics of the site and the difficulty getting something done so quickly, within a day a website was designed, created and fully functional. The website allowed users to upload a photo of themselves (preferably running) and has a collage of all runners involved.

The campaign got off to quite the best start possible. Paula Radcliffe was the first donator. WOW. I put this down to Martin Yelling (also involved with Marathon Talk) and his wife being lifetime friends of Paula as Liz and her trained at the same club as children.

Needless to say my evenings were long and late fixing bugs, working live on a site that was getting respectable traffic. As I write this post two weeks after it started we have raised £15,800 been mentioned by Mike Bushell on the BBC, tweeted about by Jenson Button, donated to by Chrissie Wellington etcetcetc. It’s been mental and im glad to have been involved. Noel is understandably absolutely elated and let’s hope the campaign carries on over the next few weeks pushing out to new runners across the world.

Once again I start a post a long time after the event but to be honest finding time to write these is not easy. I used to write on the tube but at Xmas I got a kindle and have spent the last few months reading whenever possible. Had it not been a PB race I may have ignored it and fast forwarded two weeks…

I start the story at the point of being absolutely shattered the night before the race in a hotel in Ascot. The week before I had been trying to balance work, Run For Japan (see next post) and a mini taper. Unfortunately the last item failed following late nights and early starts…

On Saturday morning, chauffeured by Laura I headed to Dorney Lake in Eton for the second race in spring. The weather was spectacular. Perfect running conditions, not a cloud in the sky and still a little bit chilly. The course looked idilic and whilst I was a bit apprehensive following the poor taper I was going to certainly give it a go.

My previous PB set just a month earlier at the Roding Valley Half was 1:35:33. Given that this was a hilly course I figured this target was certainly achievable so I set my Garmin ‘Virtual Partner’ at this time and aimed to beat it/him/her.

The start was a bit of a pain, it was a good km walk from the registration tent meaning that it took longer than it probably should have done to get going. I also hadn’t really bothered to read the race route – I was just about to find out it was a 4 lap course…dull!

Anyway, after 3months of routine training I would like to say I had a perfect race. I did beat my PB coming in at 1:32:30. However, this did not follow a perfectly paced run. Typically I zoomed off, first mile way to quick (I think it was sub 7min/mi possibly about 6:40) at the end of that mile and to a much greater extent by the end of mile 5 I realised I was going to have to hang on for 8 more miles. My splits are frankly embarrassing, up and down like a yo-yo. Fortunately to my credit I managed to recover a bit for the final couple of miles otherwise I think I may have missed out on the PB…

The race itself was ok, the organisation baring the trek to the start was generally good. I found the water stations very helpful as they were quite frequent. However, I believe they ran out of bottles in my last lap (which means more worrying, some out there still had two to go). I don’t think it was necessary to give it out after the first KM but understand this was just because of the position of the station and laps. Also it was good to see chaps handing out gels, I ignored them as I train with other types but it was a nice touch. That said, if you want to lure people into your gels perhaps it’s better stuffing a couple of different flavours in the goody bag. That way people will try them when it is good for their training…?

I have to say I do like Dorney, the route is pretty much flat as a pancake and on a day like that it is perfect material for a PB. However, there is a part of me on distances of half mara and less that actually enjoys the hills a bit. Sure the ups are slower but the downs give some recovery time!

Needless to say, a great start to the weekend a great run on the back of a 20miler the weekend before and slap bang in the middle of the heavy month! Happy days.

N

Sunday 6 March, The Clapham Chasers Thames Riverside 20. Following my rather poor organisation I failed to register early enough for the 2011 Silverstone Half Marathon and therefore was free on Sunday. A few months ago an email sent via the Serpies mailing list gave info of a race or pace 20m run. The course was to start at Bishops Park, Fulham and follow the river away from London. After speaking to the coach to see if it was ok to do it I signed up.

At the time the logistics of getting to the park for 7:30 hadn’t been considered however at 6am as the alarm went off I was cursing myself (as I’m sure Laura was too!). Fortunately the traffic was good and the journey across was quick and pain free, even taking into account the slight detour to pick Rich up in Kennington.

I wasn’t scheduled to race this event doing it as a paced run instead and I was looking to do 10miles @ 8:30min/mi and 10miles @8:00min/mi testing out marathon pace for a reasonable length. The route was pleasant although I was glad to have company I think an out and back on one path alone may have sent me insane!!

After about 2miles I had found a natural rhythm at a slightly faster than hoped for 8:15min/mi. My heart rate was settled so I carried on at this pace. We soon bumped into Lindsie who was training for Rotterdam Mara, the week before London. It turned out she would run with me from about mile 3 to the end!

The course was flat and to be honest the morning lacked many anecdotal stories other than Rich being an idiot and not going to the loo before starting to run. 1 mile in he was regretting the move especially given the fact that there were no toilets on the route.

After finishing the 20 I carried on and added a slow mile and half on at the end making this my longest training run in 2011 (and to date as previously I’ve only ever got to 20). The run went really well hitting almost all the splits bang on, apparently I still looked good at the end and apart from feeling a bit dehydrated I felt it too. RESULT

All in all a good little 21.5miler

During this week, as usual, the toughest session was Thursday’s interval session. This week it was not only intervals, it was mixed with a marathon pace set in the middle which really tested me.

Today was LSR time and Laura’s dad had volunteered to ride his bike the 20 miles with me to keep me company. Last night I made sure he did not pack the kitchen utensils (If you have seen the film ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ you will know what I’m talking about!) and set my alarm for a 7am wake up call. We set off at a steady pace about 8.40 and proceeded to tackle the hills of North West Kent. Around 7 miles in catastrophe struck, whilst muttering a few choice words under his breath Martin pulled over with a puncture to the the back tyre. I carried on for a loop but when I returned the bike was still not fixed and Laura had been called to pick him, and bike, up. At this point I made the call to turn back the way we came and run back on my own.

Having done some quick calculations in my head I realised that I would need to add more miles on the way back in order to make 20 miles. With that in mind I tried to work out the route with the least hills. Now, if you have ever run in this part of Kent you will know why i am about to write – FAIL! Its very hilly and even a road you think is flat in the car is definitely not whilst running. Remembering part of the Dartford Half Marathon course I made my way to ‘Central Park’ which added a couple more miles.

I headed back. Deep down I knew I was still on course to not meet the number of miles I needed to, but hoped that I may have miscalculated. I hadn’t. I met Martin on the outskirts of their village with the stricken bike. It turns out he had been dropped back home, changed the tyre and come back out to find me. Unfortunately it seems he has got a dodgy back wheel and the tyre punctured again 3 miles from home meaning a long walk back. Approaching the house my Garmin showed I still had 3 miles to complete so i ran on (and on!) up ANOTHER hill.

At the top of the hill I thought I had extended the distance by enough to cruise my way back downhill to the end. I hadn’t. 1 long mile short…

Finally back home I rewarded myself with a very hot shower and a bacon sarnie.

Till next time – race next weekend at Dorney Lakes. Maybe see some of you there!

I’m a little bit disappointed in myself that it has taken me so long to write this post meaning that I have had to join two great runs into one. However, a busy birthday weekend stopped me from getting any time to update this (or my training diary – sorry coach!)

Last week was half term for Laura and we headed up to Ilkley to stay with Justin and his girlfriend. I met Justin at the 2010 Thunder Run and since then we have kept in touch and also did the Stockport 10m together (I say together he is much quicker than me…!). We arrived at their house where he and his girlfriend Ashleigh had offered to put us up and before long Justin and I were donning head torches and trail shoes and about to go for a run in the moors.

Having only run in pitch black once before (the thunder run) and struggled a bit I was a little apprehensive but I was in good company. As well as my inexperience when it comes to night running, this was the first time I had run in mud since cross country at school – an event I tried desperately to get out of each year! This run was going to be tough!

It was muddy, it was hilly, it was dark. How muddy and hilly i couldn’t tell because of the darkness but my heart rate was high and my speed was slow. Since running this I have been advised by a number of runners to leave the Garmin at home for these types of runs as they are slow and looking at the stats on the dial it’s all a little demoralising! I seem to remember after the thunder run thinking I hated it, then loved it again on the way home I thought this again! A week and a half later I want to go back for more…

Thank you to Justin and Ash for their hospitality, it was lovely to see you both and Josie. Looking forward to more Moor runs in the future…

The following Sunday was my first race of 2011, the Roding Valley Half Marathon which also coincides with my birthday. I have done this race before in 2010 however this time the weather was much kinder and hence the run was much more enjoyable. Starting about 5mins from the front door it is in a perfect location for me and its pretty cheap. Why would I not do it?! The race went well, and given that its in the title of the blog I once again smashed my PB time of last year. On entering the race I had a 1/2mara time of 1:42 recorded at Silverstone last March, I knew from the off this time was due to be broken if my current training was anything to go by. I ran the course in 1:35:32, 11 minutes faster than the 2010 run! On the back of the run, just for good measure (ha!), I tacked on another 3 to 4miles to stimulate the feeling of running on tired legs – all in preparation for the Marathon.

All in all another successful week of running!