The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner-Runner

[kinboshi]

Here"s a blog, with a bit of a difference.

I"ve decided to start this thread for three reasons.

1.  To help motivate me to do the necessary training
2.  To make people aware that I"m running to raise money for the NSPCC
3.  To hopefully encourage more people to take up running for fitness and/or for the challenge to run a 10K, half-marathon or the quite frankly ridiculous 26.2 miles of a marathon.

A fourth reason is that it might stop me posting as much elsewhere on the forum, and I"m sure that"s the one that"s the most important to many on here...

So what"s it all about then?

Well, on Sunday 26 April @ about 9am - I"ll be lining up alongside another 30,000 or so fellow runners (including Paula Radcliffe) to run the London Marathon.  It won"t be my first time.  I ran it in 2004, as it was something I"d always wanted to do.  I only started running in the August of 2003, and 8 months later I was running the famous distance.  Unfortunately, I picked up an injury in training and this affected me on the day - making the run more difficult and making it impossible for me to complete it in my target time.  As I crossed the line I "knew" I"d do it again.

Fast-forward to now, and I now have a little over 3 months to prepare myself for the race.  I"ve always done sport and been fairly fit - but I"ve never been a good long-distance runner.  Over the past few years, I"ve done less and less exercise, especially during the first 9 months of 2008, when I basically did nothing.  Poker isn"t really conducive to a good fitness regime.  As someone who works the usual office hours and then spends evening playing poker or doing whatever, it"s difficult to drag myself out of bed at 6 o"clock in the morning to go running in the pouring rain.

I"ve been trying to get a place in the London Marathon again ever since 2004.  In fact, I didn"t get a place in the 2004 marathon via a ballot place - I had to get a Golden Bond place where I promise to raise a minimum amount for a charity who then give me a guaranteed place.  I ran for the British Heart Foundation in 2004.  Fortunately, the way the organisers run the ballot for London is that if you don"t get a place 5 years in a row, you"re guaranteed a place on the 6th attempt (maybe something that APAT could adopt for the clickfest?).  So the 2009 marathon would be my sixth attempt - and therefore I knew I"d get a place.

My plan was to start running in the summer, build up slowly and then be in good shape to start my training on the run-up (pun intended) to the marathon.  The training programme for the actual marathon is usually over a 16-week period, but you need to have a decent platform already - in other words, I really wanted to be doing at least 25 miles a week come the start of the year.  I haven"t been doing 25 miles a week.  So I"ve missed my first target.  The thing with long-distance running is that you can"t go from nothing (or very little) to putting in 15-20 miles runs.  It"s all about putting in the miles, and it"s something I need to focus on doing.  I hope this diary thread will help me with that.

tl;dr....? skip the rest, read this

If that doesn"t interest you, this might.  I"m running for the NSPCC. 

You can sponsor me with an online donation here:  
http://www.justgiving.com/daniel-phillips

It"d be much appreciated.

[kinboshi]

Is there anyone else who runs on here?

[Chipaccrual]

I run bad sometimes.

Does that count ?

[kinboshi]

I run bad sometimes.

Does that count ?

 

Not quite what I was after!

[kinboshi]

When I did it in 2004, I mentioned I was struggling with a niggling injury.  I was aiming to do it in 3hr 45m, but that plan went out of the window when my knee was very sore at the 5 mile mark.  If it had been a training run, I"d have stopped - but there was no way I was going to drop out on the day.  By the time I was a few miles from the finish, I"d worked out (it"s hard doing maths whilst running, but it gives you something to do) that if I did the last few miles or so in a very quick time I could finish in under 4 hours.  So I did just that, culminating in a sprint finish down The Mall to the finish line.

The time on the clock was 4hrs 12m (or something like that), but it had taken me over 10 minutes to cross the start line.  All the runners have a chip that"s attached to their shoes and their are mats across the course that electronically measure when you cross over them - so they can give you your splits - and importantly, your exact time when you cross the line.  However, this took a day or two to come through on the system in 2004, and so I had to wait to see if I"d done it in under 4hrs.  I had - 3hrs 59m 57s to be precise

This time out, I"d like to beat that time.  I"d love to do it in 3hrs 30m, but I simply haven"t done the training to do that.  So I"m aiming for my initial target of 3hrs 45m.  I "should" be able to achieve that, but we"ll have to see how the training goes.

[kinboshi]

My biggest problem is combining work, poker, the rest of my life AND running.

Today for example, I got up at 6am and ran 8 miles (the weather was almost perfect, about 7 degrees, and a nice drizzle).

But to get up at 6am I"m having to have to go to bed earlier.  As I increase the miles I run, I"ll have to get up earlier and earlier (or run faster!).  This obviously doesn"t work well with playing poker in the evenings.  I could run when I get home from work in the evening, but I"m not too keen on that.

I prefer to run in the morning for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I"m usually knackered and hungry when I get home from work - not physically exhausted (as I sit at a desk all day), but ready to sit down, have my tea and relax.  By the time I"ve eaten it"s too late to go out and run, even if I wanted to.  The second reason is that I like running in the morning.  There are far fewer people about, maybe the occasional dog walker, people on the way to work (or coming home from the night-shift).  It means I get the paths to myself most of the time.  It"s difficult to drag my semi-concious body out of bed when the alarm goes off, but once I"m out the door and have done my first mile, I feel good and actually enjoy the run (enjoy is a relative term here).  Also, the feeling of getting back getting in the shower and thinking that I"ve already achieved something for the day is a good one.  Someone said to me once that there"s no feeling quite like aches you get after you"ve done some exercise - and it"s so true.  

My legs are aching a bit today - but it"s a good feeling.

[lukybugur]

I and a few of my mates decided that this was going to be on our list of things to do during our mid-life crisis years. A couple have done it already and are doing it again this year. The rest of us ... hmmm, we"re not so keen to say the least.

I would like to use it as an "excuse" to get myself fit but like you, would find it very difficult to dedicate the time to it. As I said last year, maybe next year ...

[Swinebag]

I"m running in an attempt to lose a bit of weight (well a lot really) and have made a reasonable start. I may do a 10K in june but am a long long long long way off even thinking about doing a marathon.

good luck with this Dan and I will sponsor you.

[kinboshi]

I"m running in an attempt to lose a bit of weight (well a lot really) and have made a reasonable start. I may do a 10K in june but am a long long long long way off even thinking about doing a marathon.

good luck with this Dan and I will sponsor you.

Thanks for the comment - you swine !!

(appreciate the sponsorship though.  Double it will have to be, trebling it seems pretty unlikely...)

[kinboshi]

I and a few of my mates decided that this was going to be on our list of things to do during our mid-life crisis years. A couple have done it already and are doing it again this year. The rest of us ... hmmm, we"re not so keen to say the least.

I would like to use it as an "excuse" to get myself fit but like you, would find it very difficult to dedicate the time to it. As I said last year, maybe next year ...

As Nike would say - Just Do It!!  

Do a 10K, then a half-marathon, and then enter a full marathon.  Write a stupid blog on here and then you have no excuses!  

Seriously though, anyone can do it if they put the miles in training.

[duke3016]

Here"s a blog, with a bit of a difference.

I"ve decided to start this thread for three reasons.

1.  To help motivate me to do the necessary training
(I"ll motivate You if it kills me)
2.  To make people aware that I"m running to raise money for the NSPCC
Great cause you have my sponsorship
3.  To hopefully encourage more people to take up running for fitness and/or for the challenge to run a 10K, half-marathon or the quite frankly ridiculous 26.2 miles of a marathon.
FECK RIGHT OFF

[kinboshi]

Here"s a blog, with a bit of a difference.

I"ve decided to start this thread for three reasons.

1.  To help motivate me to do the necessary training
(I"ll motivate You if it kills me)
2.  To make people aware that I"m running to raise money for the NSPCC
Great cause you have my sponsorship
3.  To hopefully encourage more people to take up running for fitness and/or for the challenge to run a 10K, half-marathon or the quite frankly ridiculous 26.2 miles of a marathon.
FECK RIGHT OFF

Disappointed with the third comment there Ger!  I thought you"d be right up for it...

[TopPair2Pair]

Doubt I could ever run 10k but would love to do the cycling part of a triathlon one day, somehow!!

always played footy alot, and ridiculously injury prone, the last 3 attempts to return to playing regularily have resulted in; a chicken nugget growing on the back of my right ankle, a torn up knee, a torn up groin, and ongoing worsening shin pain! And thats just in the last fortnight......they"re all mainly due to me being a fat lazy b&%$%$7!!

I dont know what you do and dont know so i"ll just ramble about stuff that helps me and hopefully one of the points will be of use...

You"ve prolly heard of creatine before but may not know about monster supplements, cheapest place to get good supplements (free delivery). If you"ve havent then i"d do some reading on it. basically helps your muscles recover sooner/improves endurance. 8 week cycles are recommended. It is expensive but also the best creatine product out there imo. 2 servings a day, 1 immediately after run will send ya fitness levels through roof to start off with, best to go back to 1 serving aday at a certain point to make them last longer over the 8 weeks.

A few reuseable cold packs from www.physioroom.com (not sure if the cheapest place for these) are an excellent way to minimise the aching. I come home, go straight to freezer and shove 2 of them on each leg, for 20mins, (20m+ is bad, also if you stretch for a cool down, do it before this). I then have a hot bath which seems to work much better for me rather then just icing shins, none of that walking around like the floor is on fire the next day!

Asda Porridge. Yeah it tastes like used pants but if you can hack it, its great, v cheap, fast to make and a goood source of carbs. prolly most approp to have it straight after morning run.

Umm... seems like you"ve run before but most important of all is recovering (rest+ right nutrition), if you dont recovery form last run then u"ll allow the niggles to get worse, a good routine is tough to find but thats been my solution. Hope I dont sound liek a fitness numpty writing all this, i am not, i just have loads of great experience of being a "sicknote baller"!!!

Good luck fella!

[Mikeyboy9361]

Dan, I am very impressed with any one who runs and claims to enjoy it! I have run all my life to either get fit or keep fit for other team sports I play, as a kid I used to run Fell races, and I have to say that I actually hate running! I have always said that one day I would do the London marathon, but as I get older that aim seems to be drifting away. So good on ya, and I will give you a tenner in Walsall if you promise not to put it on black

[kinboshi]

I"ve never used creatine - but I"m sure it"s useful.  Some of my friends who do boxing swear by it.  I think I"d just swear at the cost of the stuff!

I do take vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as cod liver oil and glucosamine sulphate for my joints (not damaged through running, but through karate and hockey).  I also try to eat well most of the time.

Rest is also the key for me.  But it"s a tricky business.  I need to get the miles in, and need to increase the number of miles I run in a week - but at the same time I can"t increase it too quickly as I need to take days off for rest/recovery, and also if I increase the mileage/speed that I run, then the recovery will take longer and I"ll be increasing the risk of injury as well.  I don"t want to get an injury before London.  I also don"t want to catch flu or something else that"ll interrupt the training.

You can shove your porridge - I can"t stand the stuff.  I"ll stick to my pasta, rice and bread. 

Ice baths are great - but I"m such a wimp.  They do make a difference though, and I usually jump in the shower after a run and start it cold for my legs.  That usually lasts about 5 seconds before I turn the heat up though .