Three cheers for my little brother, who has suddenly decided to run the Dublin marathon on 27 October. Most people try a 10k or maybe a Half before committing themselves to the big one…not my bruv.
It’s the most enormous undertaking, and I admire anyone who goes for it. Unlike a half marathon, you do need to give up other aspects of your life – namely a social one – in order to complete the distance comfortably. But it’s worth it. I’ve completed two London marathons, and the sense of satisfaction when you cross that finish line is like nothing else I’ve experienced: before or since.
Dan’s also running for a very worthy cause – the Keech Cottage Children’s Hospice, which is based in Luton and cares for terminally ill children in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. He’s looking to raise two grand; so, if you fancy sponsoring him, you can do so here.
Filed under: Bracknell Forest Runners Forest Five, running | Tags: bracknell forest runners, forest five, running
Nearly time for bed, so here are the highlights:
Location: The Look Out Discovery Centre, Bracknell – superb facility with masses of woodland, trails ideal for running and mountain biking, adventure play area, science and nature centre and the extremely exciting looking Go Ape. Note to self: must go back there soon to swing from trees making monkey noises.
Event organisation: very slick, happy to accept entries on the day from runners of all abilities. Straightforward start, friendly marshalls, lovely finish with a bit of support to cheer us in. Goody bag sponsored by a former client, Hummingbird, containing Bracknell Forest Runners pen, Mars bar and flyers for other runs including the unusual invitation to dress up as a Gorilla and run through the streets of London. Strangely tempting.
Course: beautiful undulating trails through the forest. A few inclines and descents to keep it interesting but nothing too long and draggy. Accurate mile markers.
Performance: surprisingly good…for me. My chest felt tight for the first mile, as if I was running in mid-winter, but loosened up after a bit. Felt comfortable all the way, and was pretty steady until the last mile when I managed to lift the pace slightly. Split times:
Mile 1 – 9:17
Mile 2 – 18:30 (9:13)
Mile 3 – 27:47 (9:17)
Mile 4 – 36:58 (9:11)
Mile 5 – 45:19 (8:21)
Now scoffing chocolate after eating a bowl of pasta in the bath. I’m multi-tasking…
Filed under: London-Brighton bike ride, cycling | Tags: cycling, London-Brighton bike ride
Yesterday I completed my first race on two wheels, by finishing the London-Brighton bike ride alongside 26,999 other people. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect to be honest as I’ve only ever “raced” around a course on two legs. Here’s my good, bad and ugly race report…
The good
- Remembering on Sunday morning as I pedalled through north London to the start line at Clapham Common that I actually quite like cycling.
- Comprehensively overcoming my fear of kerbs and cars, nine weeks after my date with the tarmac. (Several of my friends and colleagues expressed surprise last week that I was intending to do the ride, but it was either that or never get back on a bike again).
- Glorious biking weather from start (virtually) to finish.
- Well organised start, staggered between 6.30 and 9.30am. We were drip fed out of Clapham Common in batches according to the colour of our race numbers. I had envisaged a chaotic and dangerous muddle as people jostled to get ahead, but the reality was safe and serene.
- The atmosphere on the course. It was about as inclusive as a sports event can be, with people of absolutely all ages and abilities taking part alongside one another.
- The sheer variety of bikes and other contraptions along the route. Especially a lady on an incredibly decrepit old shopper complete with wicker basket; the chap with strange woolly socks on a BMX who would have looked more at home on a street corner wearing a hoody and pulling wheelies; a couple of uncomfortable looking recumbent cyclists; and the girl facing backwards on a tandem with a curious chain arrangement that meant she could contribute to the pedalling.
- Local support at the refreshment points, especially at Turner’s Hill where practically all the villagers and a brass band had turned out to fill up our empty water bottles free of charge and clap us along.
- Reaching the top of Ditchling Beacon just outside Brighton without stopping – unlike 90 per cent of the competitors.
- Slick transport arrangements back to London. Everyone was given a bit of bubble wrap to protect their bikes, which were then loaded into a TNT lorry. The exhausted riders were then piled into coaches which followed the lorries back to Clapham Common to be unloaded. I had misgivings about putting my pretty bike in the back of a truck, but it emerged without a scratch.
The bad
- The first few miles through south London, where had to do battle with the traffic, obey the signals and found ourselves shuffling along slowly, if not at a standstill.
- The last few miles into Brighton where – absolutely knackered – we had to crawl along with the traffic again knowing we were so close, and yet so far away.
- An anti-climactic finish. I’m not sure why as there was a finish line and lots of support, but I just didn’t get the same sense of achievement as I do every single time I do a running race, whether a 10k or a marathon.
- The refreshment stops right on the course, which caused unnecessary congestion as people swerved around to get food and water. The organisers should have publicised the location of the stations so that people could plan where to stop/meet up. The first one (of 15) was at about the ten-mile point with another three before the 20-mile mark. Perhaps setting them back off the course would have also helped to ease the congestion for people that didn’t want to stop until later.
- A handful of people who obviously hadn’t cycled recently, or maybe ever, who seemed completely oblivious to the other riders. My cycling proficiency award goes to the bloke on a blue racer who just stopped and got off his bike halfway up one of the steeper inclines slap-bang in the middle of the road, nearly causing a massive pile-up with me at the bottom of it.
- The descent from the top of Ditchling Beacon trying to brake as if my life depended upon it. (Though I’ve overcome some fears, I could manage a top speed of only 32.2mph while others whizzed past at speed. Scary).
- The 2.5-hour coach trip back to Clapham with 51 other tired and sweaty people.
The ugly
- Hayward’s Heath.
- The unbelievable congestion at the 15/16-mile mark, where it took us about an hour to cover a mile across a major road. It was absolutely absurd to try to get 27,000 people across there without closing the road or using an alternative route to go over/under it.
- Having to get back on my bike at Clapham at 9.30pm last night to cycle to Paddington in order catch my train home. I’m not sure if my bum will ever recover.
So, all in all, a great race unfortunately marred by sheer congestion. I now understand why everyone I’ve spoken to has completed the race once and hasn’t gone back to do it time after time. I’m afraid I’d need some persuading to do it again.
Filed under: London-Brighton bike ride, X-bike, running, spinning | Tags: London-Brighton bike ride, spinning, X-bike
Having failed to get up early enough at any point this week to get the gym, I did manage to drag myself out of bed for one last spinning class before the London-Brighton bike ride on Sunday. As always, I was glad I made the effort once I got there. A different instructor took the class this morning – Matt – and it started off a bit slowly with some horrendous R&B crap as background music.
There’s a Sound vs Silence debate taking place on Runner’s World at the moment where two writers have swapped their usual running styles. The music nut has had his iPod confiscated, and the “running purist” has been plugged into headphones. Despite running years ago with no music before the iPod and even Minidisc player were invented, there’s just no case for silence in my book. But it’s just as important to think about the type of music. The chap who normally runs to the sound of his own heartbeat was sent out on his first iPod run with Dizzee Rascal. No wonder the poor bloke lost the will to live within the first few metres. He’s onto Mozart now. Can’t say that would flick my switch either.
Anyway, happily Matt turned out to have a wide variety of music on his iPod this morning and we left the R&B behind and upped the tempo with some guitar-and-drums rock music, involving some X-bike handlebar action and clapping during the chorus of a particularly catchy tune, and culminating in a standing climb, pumping the handlebars to Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis. Jack Johnson helped us cool down, and I left the class with a smile on my face.
Filed under: St Albans half marathon, half marathon training, running | Tags: half marathon training, running, St Albans half marathon
“I’d like to thank my sponsor, Imodium, for getting me to this point today,” said my uncle at my cousin’s wedding on Saturday as he opened his father-of-the-bride speech. I found out exactly how he felt when I crossed the line at the St Albans Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
It was always going to be a bit tough to run 13.1 miles the morning after a family wedding; the booze started flowing at 1pm at our house and promised to continue until the small hours. Being Captain Sensible for once, I stopped drinking after the meal, and probably saved myself the bother of applying for a second mortgage in the process. At over four quid a pint, and six for a gin and tonic, the drinks were extortionately priced. We were in Hatfield, for goodness sake. This didn’t stop my brother getting anihilated, though this was in part due to some surreptitious importing of alcohol into the hotel. All credit to Gemma, for matching him drink for drink, and not dropping her beer on the dancefloor/losing her keys several times.
I drank an awful lot of water between 7pm and 2am – and I’m sure the bearded group of psychologists at a convention in the neighbouring function room thought I had a urinary infection, as I had to walk past them on the way to the loos every time. I must have walked the equivalent of a half marathon back and forth to the facilities, which partly explains why my feet were absolutely killing me by the end of the night. I was also wearing stupidly high heels.
So I woke up on Sunday morning after just over five hours’ sleep – nicely rehydrated but with sore toes. I also had to make a dash for the bathroom – several times – shortly after waking up. Obviously something in the buffet had not agreed with me. Fortunately, M&D had quite a large stock of Imodium, and I popped one of those before walking down to Verulamium Park to start the race.
I’ve never done a half marathon in the summer. It’s rather lovely walking to the venue in your running kit, and not having to carry seven fleeces, a pair of tracksuit bottoms, hat, scarf and gloves around with you for when you finish. However, it turns out that running on the hottest day of the year so far was not so nice despite the lovely rural course which took us all around the east and south of St Albans, where I grew up.
We kept up a steady ten-minute mile pace for about eight miles – then it really started heating up in the lanes around Bedmond. It was also very very hilly – much more so than the Great North Run and Reading. Thankfully, the organisers had laid on loads of water stations which were well staffed. The marshalls were fabulously supportive – the St Albans Striders are heavily involved in organising the event and many of the marshalls are also runners, which makes a big difference. There was very little in the way of public support away from the town, so the marshalls did a fab job of spurring us all on.
Nonetheless, we seriously slowed down from the nine-mile mark. My running partner was having a bit of a shocker and I thought he might actually hit me when I tried to “motivate” him with some uplifting thoughts about what a lovely day it was, and what a lovely view of the Abbey we had, and how lovely the marshalls were. Luckily, he was too knackered to throw a punch.
We crossed the line in 2:17. Absolutely rubbish time, but a really nice run on the whole. So, I’d like to thank Imodium, my sponsor, for that…
Filed under: Commando Challenge, London-Brighton bike ride, St Albans half marathon, half marathon training, running | Tags: Commando Challenge, half marathon training, London-Brighton bike ride, St Albans half marathon
I’m feeling more confident about the London-Brighton bike ride in ten days’ time, having been out again last weekend for a reasonable 15-ish mile ride. OK, it’s nowhere near the distance but at least I don’t feel like I’m going to hit the deck again every time I turn the handlebars. I felt noticeably more relaxed and considerably happier about tackling the roads down to the coast.
I’ve done another six-mile run this week. I would have preferred to do a nine or ten-miler before the St Albans Half Marathon this weekend, but just haven’t been able to find the time. If I run it in two hours and ten minutes, I’ll be happy with that.
I was hoping to go for another half marathon in the autumn to try to break the elusive two-hour mark, but failed to get places in either the Great North Run or Run To The Beat. Instead, I’ve convinced a crowd from work to join me in Devon for the Commando Challenge. This isn’t just about running with no pants on. No, it involves seven miles of cross country running with various team-based challenges around a Royal Marines training course.
The website gves competitors the following handy hints, as if providing advice on the best way of doing one’s laundry:
“Remember to tie your laces tightly or you ARE going to lose your footwear.”
“It really is worth a visit to your local Army Surplus as old combats will not only protect you from cuts & scratches, but also protect your knees in the tunnels.”
“Remember – this is a military fitness test and you should train like the Marines do. During your training runs, drop and do press-ups, squats and crunches. This will prepare you for the frequent mid-race changes from running to crawling and back again.”
Gosh.
