It’s a weekend so that means its run day. Since starting my training I was set on running the last half of the marathon so I knew what, after Tower Bridge was awaiting me. With only a few more weeks to go (3 weeks and a day!) the opportunity to run this was dwindling. Hence, I decided today was the day.

After arriving in Victoria I dumped my kit in the local fitness first (a gym I appear to be using more and more just for its shower facilities!) and set off. Maybe, given hindsight a Sunny Saturday during school holidays was not the best time to head to Buckingham Palace! Trying to avoid the mental crowds that were out I just put my head down and went for it – crossing a road when the little man was on red. This is the first time in my training I have ever been pulled over by a policeman! The guy told me not to cross on a red man as apparently it encourages others to do the same! It was early in my run, I couldnt be bothered to be lippy, and he was a policeman so I nodded and got on my way!

The first few miles flew by and running along the Thames with the sun in my face has to be one of the better reasons to run! Around docklands it was stunning and really nice to be out…that was before mile 10(ish).

At about mile ten my right quad started to feel a bit tight. The pain continued on in a similar vain for the next 7miles. However, I pushed on and actually maintained a fairly reasonable speed with most of the following miles averaging around the 9min mile kind of time.

So 17miles later I have run the last half of the Marathon (and some!). I know what is coming up, what things to look out for and milestones along the route. I ran past where I suspect my family will be standing twice and also ran part of the canary wharf bit (albeit slightly different).

Next weekend I *think* I may attempt the first half of the course as a 13miler so I have in essence completed the whole route. The miles need to start dropping now so that means I have, before the big day completed:

• 1 Twenty Mile Run
• 1 Eighteen Mile Run
• 1 Seventeen Mile Run
• 2 Sixteen Mile Runs
• Plus many many more shorter ones…

21 days to go…both exciting and scary!
» Continue reading “One sunny Saturday in London, and the last half of the marathon…”

A repeat of a route I have done before. Almost a whole month later, and over 90miles of running, it was time to repeat the run.

Having only just finished a 20miler a few days before I was a little cautious – my legs at the start felt a few twinges but with hindsight I believe that maybe more to do with not doing any proper stretches and it being a bit colder than I had, in my head, thought it would be!

Anyway as there was nothing new to my route there is not much to describe really – a couple of weeks ago I went past what I thought was a Banksy on Essex Road, I watched out for it again and was correct in my thinking – Sadly it doesnt quite look like that anymore as the owner of the shop has added perspex to the front, to provide vandalism I assume?!

The last few miles went pretty well – sun was out and all was grand! I was certainly not done (which i suppose is a good thing!) and had a few more miles in my legs… bring on the next run!
» Continue reading “Home – Dads Office…again!”

Having completed an 18milers a few weeks ago the next stage was to get to 20miles and today was the day to accomplish that! Heading down to southend at silly-o’clock on a wet and dreary saturday morning I was aware that I was about to put myself through a challenge, reffering back to my blog in January…

I have never been to Rayleigh, so the route was a complete unknown to me other than the passing comments from others to expect some hills at the end. This was by no means an understatement. At about mile 9 I believe it was, we hit a fairly steep incline and from that point on it felt that there was a consistent rise in gradient. The last 3.5 miles certainly tested me. Fair Havens Training Run 12.5 Miles

The route had the same ending but another 7.5miles added onto it! Anyway, I was in Southend, short of runing with another group 20miles is what I was set to do…8:30 start, quite a pleasing 8miles, from my garmin data it appears this was all downhill so its not suprising! Running upto the Southend seafront, past the infamous Pier, beyond Peter Pans Playground (or whatever its called nowadays!) with a turnaround point about a mile beyound the Sea Life center. This was the good part of the run, the hard stuff started just beyond this point!

At about 14 miles I started to realise this wasn’t going to be easy, but it wasn’t until the big hill at 17 it really hit me. That is one tough end to a run so at the point I realised I would be able to get up quicker walking than running so I walked up.

At 18miles one of the Fairhavens support people caught up with me on their bike, this was a blessing in disguise as I had someone to talk through the last 2 miles with and in next to no time I was back at Littlehavens having completed 20miles with the knowledge that I certainly had a few more miles in my legs! All very promising really!!
» Continue reading “Southend – 20 miles…The Long One”

Its a Tuesday, that means run day…with a long run scheduled for Saturday I opted against the full distance to work and went for the halfway house – about 13/14 miles.

Beautiful day, albeit a little windy. Did opt for the sexy leggings and long sleeve top though as it was a little chilly out there. Also tried out a new waist water bottle holster:

It was a little awkward to begin with, and also its amazing how only a small amount of liquid weighs quite a lot, but after a bit I got used to it, and having a source of liquid with me appeared to be a great help!

Run went pretty well I thought – came in at half marathon in 1:56 and got back to the office feeling pretty good all things considered! Mile Marker: 14….Time Taken: 2:06:17

Bring on the hills of Southend on Saturday! » Continue reading “Home – Work the ‘shorter’ route”

Its a Tuesday, I will be in work late so the decision was made to run to work and get in a little late as I will have to miss my standard NikeTown Run. With all I need left in work on the Monday morning I could set off with a small backpack and my running shoes and be able to get into town without any issues.

Leaving the house at 7:30 after a scrambled egg breakfast I was blessed with blue skies and sunshine – spring, a brilliant time to run in Leaving in autopilot I set off on completely the wrong route – heading towards Walthamstow instead of Leytonstone! After about 5mins I realised my mistake but decided that I may as well cut back past Whipps X and get back to where I wanted to be.

Onwards I ran, up past a busy Mile End and towards the Tower of London. Seeing the Tower is always pleasing, even moreso today with it basked in the sunshine. However, one negative was the fact that this marker was at 10miles – just under half way through, today was going to be tought!

Onwards I proceeded – not stopping until the Houses of Parliament at just short of 13miles, where I had to wait to cross the road plus I took on some water. Half Marathon completed in 1:57, much quicker than Paris! I’m not going to lie to you, the last 5miles of this run were tough – boredom crept in and morale had dropped massively – had to walk a couple more times which I think was predominantly down to my head telling me it was a good idea – not because I needed it!

18 miles, just under 3 hours later I stepped through the office door, yes it was tough – could I have done another 8 more miles, I think so – would the speed get slower and slower – definitely. Sub 4 hours is looking less and less likely every day now but must keep on pushing the miles! » Continue reading “Running to work – again…The longer way (18miles)”

Following a late night at my bafta fundraising event I realised I probably should go for a run, also the sun was out and the sky was blue so I had very little excuse other than the demons in my head!

Only wanted to run a mid-distance today as my plan is to run to work on Tuesday hence doing my long run then. Went back to one of the ‘old routes’, this is my dads running route – just over 7miles which is fairly hilly. The first time I ran I hated it with a passion, now its not too bad.

The run went really well, really enjoyed the sun being out – it makes a massive difference to moral. Much like tuesdays run, today was a real moral boost – just what I needed.

Now its time to take the afternoon off, and relax in preparation for Tuesday…. » Continue reading “Post BAFTA night run…”

It’s that time of the week again, off to Ox Circus I go.

This run for me was somewhat pivotal, having struggled on Sunday on the half marathon I was a little bit low, doubts were starting to set in my mind – am I taking on too much, will I manage to get round this course….?

Well the run went pretty well. Did it in a really great time, fealt like I had plenty of energy left after 7 miles, bring on my next run! » Continue reading “Nike Town Run”

This day has been coming for a long time, and rather unfortunately about 5 days before it I came down with a cold! Dreading the run from the moment we reached French soil things only got worse, with only 3 hours sleep I woke up on a damp Sunday morning and headed down to the Metro station.

After arriving and queing (sadly being british was a downful on this one – need to learn how to ‘queue’ like the rest of Europe!) for a long time for one of the 5 toilets the run was just about to begin and off I went. Looking at my garmin data it appears I started off at a reasonable pace and the first couple of miles went by quite smoothly. The run itself I dont think was that well organised and it was at the start and end this appeared most obvious. With cars parked at the side of the roads and people opting to run on the pavement instead of the road it all seemed a little odd. There were also a LOT of runners, more than I have ever run with before and this caused a fair amount of congestion!

Ignoring the first “drink station” at 5km meant I could assess how they would  be from now on – a bit of a nightmare! Water was on offer which was fine alongside pieces of orange and bananas – whoever thought that is a good idea for people to drop on the floor has never tried running on banana skins!

At about 6km I had planned to see my street team (Laura and Claire) who had accompanied me out on this wet morning, lo and behold they were there – with cameras at the ready, no pictures captured in time I must have been running that quickly!!! I’m sure at the next point in 4km the cameras would be set and ready to go…

I don’t think my body started flailing till about 12km – 7.5miles in. Energy levels fealt low and I just felt myself slowing down further and further. I didnt seem to be able to do anything to speed up.  It was a fighting battle for over 6miles – I didnt want to walk but came close a number of times to it.

2:01 since the start of the run and I was crossing the line – glad to have got round all things considered, slightly upset that it was just over 2 hours but nevermind, hopefully when am at full fitness I should be able to claw back a few minutes.

That’s my first official run of half marathon distance done – back to personal running now up to the big day!

Map and photos to follow shortly.

Another early start for a before work run. Couldn’t go the full distance to work as I hadn’t left any clothes in town so had to hand over a change of gear to my dad who got the train to his work.

Beans on toast down and away I went. Following the same route as I intended on doing to work I set off to Lea Bridge Road, through Dalston then into town, past Kings X and Euston. Didnt get lost at all today which was a bonus!

Run went well, distance came in shy of 11miles, all good training for Saturday. For my birthday I got my own Garmin watch so went with that on today.

Garmin Link to run information.

Thoughts about the run was it went well, reasonable speed, no major niggles other than a little bit of a tight hamstring later this afternoon.

Hopefully this should mean sundays half marathon should go well….Hopefully!

Since starting this Marathon campaign I have been hoping one day to run into work, didnt manage to get a huge distance on Saturday so this morning was the opportunity…

Having researched a route which should be around the 14-16mile marker I set off early in the morning, still half asleep but with no going back. The first 6 or so miles was old familiar territory, I’ve run this before and new it well. However, after turning left at the end of Lea Bridge Road I was venturing into unknown territory. Armed with a rough route in my head I set off, got lost, followed bikes and generally didnt know where I was going until eventually I popped out at Old St. I knew Old St, but not where to go from there, but figured that I was heading in at least the direction of the West End, a few miles, dodgy turns and busy streets later I finally got to Tottenham Court Road, where I was to start on the 4/5 mile long and straight road to work.

Forty minutes later was walking into the office, ready for a day ahead. I walked into work at bang on 10am – not even late! Pretty good going even if I do say so myself.

See below my route to work

and click here for the garmin data. Here is my nike+ graph stuff

more info can be found here. As you can see, since callibration the data seems a lot more accurate. It was about 1/2 a mile out, which over a distance of 15ish miles isnt too bad!