A Change of Scenery

So after a pleasant and eventful train journey, I was finally home for Christmas back in little old Cranleigh; all the worrying about trains not running and bad weather preventing travel were misplaced, and I was very glad. My training has been a bit hit and miss recently what with all the snow and ice which seems to have stayed beyond its welcome. I've tried my best to go running as much as I can, but after slipping in to a hedgerow and falling in to a gate I have decided to put my safety first if its looking a bit dodgey.
I've now run out and round beacon hill two times which is a run I really enjoy doing, not least for the fantastic view at the top which can be seen from the point below, although when I've ran to here it has been a bit more snow covered.

For Christmas, my wonderful brother and sister were kind enough to buy me some new headphones and running gloves, which have both been put to good use already. (I sold my old headphones to my mum for a very reasonable price!) It was even a toasty 7°C when I went for a run today so it was nice not to be shivering as I plodded on down the old railway line.
Its been really encouraging to hear a number of friends and family commit to sponsoring me in the new year, I know Christmas is always an expensive time. I've got a lot of fund raising to do between now and the big day on the 17th April as well as much training to be done! If you would like to sponsor me then please follow the link at the top of the page in the description, all money goes to HOPE HIV. Student loans comes in shortly, maybe the money you save from not going out one night during exam time could put be put to better use supporting young people in Africa, not to make you feel bad if you DO go out in January, but....just kidding. Any sponsorship would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and I apologize sincerely for the delay in updating my blog.

ps. Now completed over 100 miles in training.

I need sponsorship, not conversation

Well this last week I have had the pleasure of being confined to treadmill running due to the snow. Running in the same spot for long amounts of time in front of a mirror, admittedly this is considerably more pleasant for me than most, having my handsome self looking back at me, cheeky bit of pouting if no ones watching. I managed 16km on the treadmills last Friday, I use the plural 'treadmills' correctly as I had to change machine after the one hour mark due to an unavoidable safety feature which stops the treadmill after 1 hour. Safe, if it warned you and didn't just allow you to run in to the dashboard thing. 

I was due to go for my first outside run this morning however I woke up with pains in both my left and right Peroneus Longus, which for those of you who haven't studied structural kinesiology or anatomy is the muscle on the lateral side of your lower leg, and is used in eversion and plantar flexion of the ankle joint...obviously. Heres a nice picture for you.

I think I strained them playing indoor football on Saturday where there is significantly more quick changes of direction than in 11-a-side which I usually play. Hopefully they should feel OK tomorrow after Jenny and Sarah (sports massage geeks) gave me some exercises to do.

The heading for the blog is not me being rude, I was chatting to a friend earlier and realized just how much time I now spend discussing training and the marathon, which is nice and I really like the fact so many people care about how I am getting on, or checking to see if I've given up yet. But I do really need sponsorship, I understand its Christmas time coming up (apparently) so its an expensive time of year, and obviously if you would rather sponsor me after the holidays then there is plenty of time and I would really appreciate that. It would be great if you could sponsor me now though if you are able to help me move closer to my target steadily (link at top of page) . Its so true that without sponsorship, from you all (my friends and family) then I am simply running as a hobby, it is you who is going to be making the difference to thousands of children lives through supporting HOPEHIV's fantastic work. My friend Ricardo suggested bucket collections at London tube stations which I will be looking in to, and maybe taking a few people to do it with me, but I really appreciate his suggestion, and any others people offer. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a marvellous and snow free week.

Cold Progress

I would assume most of you are aware of the current snow and sub-zero climate making its home in the UK at the moment. Snow and sub-zero temperatures are two things I did not put on my running wish list when I applied for the (London) marathon! And unfortunately good cold weather running gear is not something which companies are handing out for free, however I got paid on Friday by the clothes shop I work in so decided to invest this in some protection from the cold. I opted for a long sleeve running top, and having never bought a brand new running top before I wasn't entirely sure what I should go for. I knew Asics were a good company who know a thing or two about running, so I chose there top without trying it on as I had a 15 minute break from work to go purchase it. I tried it out for the first time properly this morning (after having used it as an extra layer to keep me warm at church last night) and it was so very good, I can't recommend it enough, it kept my arms and chest relatively cold free (at -3°C its hard to be genuinely warm) and definitely made the whole 8am run experience in the snow more pleasant. Heres a picture of the top:

So yer, for those who are interested, thats a pretty good LS running top in my opinion, and not too dear at £19.99.

The last couple of runs have felt really quite good on my legs as well, the first few weeks I would run in the morning and for the rest of the day be complaining about how my legs hurt. Thats not been the case this week, as I now have a stretching routine before and after exercise which has helped immensely. Not just in recovery but also my calves feel much more comfortable whilst out running, and I think this, along with the few weeks training have contributed to me running the furthest I ever have in one bout last Friday and this morning cutting 2 mins 30 secs off the same run from last week as well as my fastest 1km in training so far.So a good week on the training front. 

On the fund raising front I hope to send out letters to various friends and family this week, and I have set up a facebook group this week: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_173588062660809&ap=1 so feel free to join. Please do dig deep and sponsor me, I've tried to make it nice and easy using the link below:

SPONSOR ME HERE

Thanks for reading!

Please no Snow!

Half way through my 3rd week of training now, last week I only managed 3 runs due to having a job interview on the Friday but I still managed to run over 21km which I was happy with. Tomorrow I am hoping to run 13km which will be my longest ever run and would be a good step forward, my challenge is to run for 10 minutes longer each Thursday, so I started at 50 minutes, and will be running for 1hr 10mins. Not very much at the moment by most recreational runners standards but come January/February time I will hopefully be running 2-3hrs once a week on top of my other 3 training sessions, which is both exciting and scary!

The weather is forecast to snow in the North and some Eastern parts of the country this week, and as I'm yet to get my running tights or training top I am really hoping it doesn't!  Heres some stats for my total training so far:

I have burnt off more calories than there are in 9 Big Macs.
I have run for longer (time wise) than if you watched all 3 of the Bourne trilogy back to back.
I have run the distance from Loughborough to Coventry.

Not bad for 9 sessions I don't think. Please don't forget to sponsor me, it would be great if you could all dig deep and contribute what you can for HOPEHIV. They are a fantastic charity, please follow the link from the text at the top of the page!

Against the Elements

Week one of my training plan has been completed, and I don't think I've ever appreciated a Sunday as a day of rest quite as much as today! I went out running 4 mornings of the week, and have covered 27km which I am pleased with. I've never done any kind of regular endurance training before and this is easily the furthest I have ever ran in a week. Although this would be fairly standard for most recreational runners. I also played football yesterday, we lost 1-0 in what was a very close game. I was expecting to be walking round for most of the match unable to run, however I managed to keep a good pace going for the entire match which is something positive to take away from it, and hopefully my running will lead to improvements on the football pitch as well. Fingers crossed.

The morning runs have been cold, which I expected, but also very windy, which I hadn't! Tuesday morning being the worst, the first half of my run was almost all in to a head wind making it rather difficult. I should be receiving a bit of money this week after my Vauxhall Corsa was scrapped, so I am hoping to get some new kit (windproof jacket, running lycra tights and gloves) to battle the elements in the coming weeks.

I've also managed to come up with a breakfast plan before and after a run. I usually head to breakfast at 7.45 to eat a banana and a small bowl of yogurt, giving me a good balance of carbohydrates and water just before exercise, and prepare a bacon and egg sandwich to eat straight after I finish my run, to deliver protein and carbohydrates post-exercise. And all free as I am in catered halls. Just need to make sure I remember to throw away any uneaten food or it makes my room smell.

One thing I have learned from my first weeks training. Train hard, Rest easy. Making the most of R&R is very important to good quality training and performance. As promised, here is my fundraising page set up through Virgin Money Giving, so if you would like to sponsor me it would be greatly appreciated!

A good week, thanks for reading.

Running to a New Routine

Well today was my first day of training, and I opened my curtains wide hoping for the rays of morning sunlight to burst through my window. Unfortunately, this was not to be as rain beat down on the grass outside and grey clouds filled the sky. So off to the gym it was and the treadmill was the order of the day. Felt like it went ok and I kept a good pace, and was interesting looking at the adidas micoach afterwards to see my heart rate during my exercise, and which of their neatly colour designated training zones I was in at different times.

This afternoon I went round a friends house briefly, before going in to town to buy some new running shoes, which I've never had before so it was great having my gait cycle (stride) videoed and looked at to see where I needed support from my shoes due to foot shape and running technique. I bought some New Balance running trainers (see picture) in the end, with £20 off the RRP so I was pleased to have saved some money there, also bought some running socks and a drinks bottle for running I got for free!

The week ahead, I've got 3 more runs, football training and a game on Saturday, and 2 gym sessions, so I'm keeping busy. With regard to sponsorship for my Marathon I will be setting up a page through which you can donate if you so wish in the next week. Thanks for looking.

Anything worth doing, is worth doing well.

Today I've been thinking about this simple phrase and wondering what it means for the next 5 and a half months. Yesterday I received the fantastic news, that HOPEHIV had accepted my application to run the 2011 London Marathon and to raise funds for them. So theres obviously a lot of excitement on my behalf, yet also I'm quite aware of the dedication and commitment this challenge is going to be. I want to not simply finish the marathon, but enjoy it and run well.

I've set my training start date to Monday, between now and then I need to sort out my training plan, have an idea of the time I am looking to run the race in, sort kit and gear out, and think about the long road to raising sponsorship money. Quite a challenge, but I have been giving the opportunity to push my body's limits and raise money for a great charity, so this is definitely a challenge worth doing!

HOPEHIV 10 Year Anniversary

HOPEHIV is about the generation of hope. They support children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS. They have the potential to make Africa's future one of hope, rather than despair. Today, HOPEHIV is helping some 50,000 vulnerable children and young people through some 40 partner organizations in 400 communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
HOPEHIV turned 10 in 2010, and this is a nice short video to give you an introduction to the charity, a bit of history, and the work which it is involved with.