So what did you do on your Christmas break

Eat my own weight in chocolate!!

Run/Walked 6 marathons and a couple of 12 milers in 11 Days.

Stats, Stats and more Stats

The wonders of modern technology has enabled me to accumulate these mildly interesting facts from the past 12 months.

I have run/walked just short of 3000 miles - About the same distance between London and Nigeria or London and Uzbekistan
Climbed 71,000 feet - That's twice up Mount Everest plus a quick trip up Mont Blanc
Burned 320,000 calories - That's about 1100 mars bars to me and you....

Now technology has let me down during the year so all those figures are lower(!) than they probably should be!!!

Christmas shopping what Christmas shopping...

Happy Christmas!

While everybody else was going crazy with last minute shopping i have spend the last 3 days getting up at 06:00am and walking 25.5 miles each day, I have to say that the 76.5 miles have been quite easy, my new trainers (yes another pair) have worked well, a slight rub on my right heal was sorted with help from my roll of Kinesio tape which i have been using for a couple of years now (long before David Beckham was seen sporting it on his back while playing football!), my legs, joints etc. are all fine........

And from the mist god said......

Don't worry i haven't gone all religious on you!!!!

It was a odd day, another 25 miles under my belt, but the whole day was spent in dense fog, visibility was 40 feet at most, God spoke to me and Hackney!! from the mist came "god is your savior" and various other religious ramblings... I stopped to listen and was almost hit by a cyclist on the tow path, she explained everything.....At seemingly random times there is an open air church service held in the field next to Lee Valley Ice rink, thousands of people stand in the field and do the praying thing....They must have a amplifier setup worthy of the foo fighters cos it was really loud, and the fact that was in dense fog and you couldn't see anything made it a very weird experience.....

Anyway as stated another 25 miles, feet good, shoes good, legs good, perhaps god is looking down on me!!!

The Beast of Chingford

Well it hopped like a rabbit, but was the size of a fat fox (or large dog), it was like a wallaby but had chunky front legs, To be honest I'm not sure what it was!!!

A heavy 8 days.....

Sat - Round Rotherham 50 miles
Mon - Bike 38 Miles
Wed - Run home from work 10 miles
Thu - Run home from work 10 miles
Fri - Run home from work 10 miles
Sat - Walk 8 Miles
Sun - Lee Vally training run 26 miles

Total = running/walking 114 miles, bike 38 miles

So if i fall asleep in your company it's not because you are boring it just that i'm a bit tired!!

Running by numbers.....

I read somewhere that Paula Radcliffe repeatedly counts too 100 while running during which time she has covered about a mile, the theory is that the counting takes your mind of the fact that your legs hurt, so while struggling during my Lee Valley Ultra training run (or another marathon to me and you) i thought i would give it a go, after all counting too 100 can't be that difficult, now maybe the cold had got to my head or that I'm just plain stupid but i found it incredibly difficult, the first problem was the need to count out loud and not just in your head, the second is the simple task of the counting to 100 without missing any numbers out!!.

Now i'm sure practise will make perfect but i was quite alarmed that such a simple task was so hard!!

My theory is that Paula head doesn't bob because she is working hard but because she is trying to successfully count to 100!

So if you see me out running and counting out loudly please don't think that i am mad (probably not too far from the truth) it's just that i have run a long way and things are getting tough!

Blisters don't hurt when you feet are numb with cold!!

Out on the bike today to give my feet a bit of a rest, it was very wet, windy and very cold, did Loughton to Ware and back along the tow path at the side of the river lea, had a nice bacon sandwich at Dobbs Weir and feed the ducks......

The alarming creaking noise from the pedals just disappeared, and a trip out on the bike would not be complete without a puncture which duly came at the halfway point....I've had the bike 6 months and had at least 6 punctures, today i tried the compressed air sealant puncture repair kit and it worked a treat with the number of punctures i seem to get i better order a case of the stuff.....

Anyway it was a round trip of 38 miles, it was quite hard work and my feet haven't been that cold well since the weekend!!!, all good training for the arctic....

Rotherham - Lovely this time of year - NOT

Even some of the regulars had to admit that was a tough day, 50 miles round Rotherham in the driving rain and gusting wind all in the name of fun, the day started at 06:00am with a chilly but dry start but soon the rain came, the round Rotherham is 30% trail, 20% road and 50% farmers fields, and we all now what farmers fields and rain means - yep MUD, this made it particularly tough going underfoot, not that it stopped the winner who completed 50 miles in just over 6hrs!!
In the end i ran/walked the 50 miles in 11hrs 55mins, In my mind i thought i had run big enough chunks to be quicker than that, but i suspect the conditions had a big hand in the overall time.

The positives - after 50 my legs were fine, my mind was still functioning, in fact i felt quite fresh.

The negatives - blisters, two quite large blisters on each heel, now i thought i had finally found a shoe/sock combination that worked, again maybe the underfoot conditions played a part

Gear:-
Jacket:- New Marmot jacket worked a treat in the driving wind/rain, only issue was the rucksac i was carrying caused the jacked to ride up at the back.
Trainers:- worked well until the mud/rain just got to much, the bootie design meant that at the finish once i took them off i could not get them back on again!! due to plan of blisters and the swelling of my feet - this is a serious problem....

Not quite Dean Karnazes but still 4 marathons in 1 week

Well that week didn't exactly go to plan, but i still managed effectively 4 marathons, 2 sub 4hr marathons (one with a full rucksac), and 2 walks one of 30 miles and the other of 25.8 miles (so we will call it a marathon!), the 25.8 miler included some running so that i wasn't too late for the pub!!

This weeks plan is a couple of easy 10 miler's on Monday and Tuesday and then a rest because it's the Round Rotherham next Saturday and thats 50 miles!

Unfinished business

Cloudy and dry thats what the weather forecaster said.

So it came as little surprise that at 06:30am this morning at Avebury (near Swindon) when it was absolutely tipping it down and visibility was no more that 20 yards.

The plan was to deal with a little bit of unfinished business, during the summer i took part in the none stop 85 miles Ridgeway challenge, only to be defeated at the 55 mile mark by the heat! (which was a bit of a surprise to me considering that only a couple of months previous i had run across the Sahara desert!!!)


So the only (sensible) option was to get the cabbie to take me back to Swindow station, i got the train back to Paddington station and then ran from Paddington past Hyde Park, along Oxford Street, through Holborn, the City, Whitechapel, Mile End turned up the River Lea, cut through Chingford, a quick loop of Buckhurst Hill and that was another 26 miles done.

So the 85 mile Ridgeway still eludes me, one day i'll crack you....

Good training for the Arctic

Lea Valley Ultra, well it should have been a proper race but turned into a training run, which was a shame as i won the marathon!! (OK only 4 people did the marathon distance, the rest doing the longer 32 mile distance) but a win is a win!!!

The temp was hovering around the -4 mark which was a good test for the Arctic, my thermal Helly Hanson tee shirt worked well, as did my 2 layers of Smartwool socks....

Injury what injury!!!

All summer i have been struggling with strained groin muscles, dodgy hamstrings...I've tried everything stretching, heat therapy, ultrasound, complete rest nothing seemed to work, i spent hours on the bike in an attempt to keep the fitness up but avoid the putting too much strain of the various bit that hurt.

Now while i was out walking i got chatting to a bloke training for a triathlon his background was cycling, along the way the conversation turned to injuries and i explained my various problems, instantly he said 'your bike seat is to high, and its actually the cycling that is causing your problem!' surly it couldn't be that simple.....

Anyway the bike has been in the shed for about 6 weeks, and I'm back running sub 4hr marathons all my pain has gone away and I'm back running freely (if not a little slowly) (edit 24/11/07 - this was also confirmed by a guy at the Lee Vally Ultra, he also instantly said 'seat too high' when the various symptoms where listed.)

Anyway is will get back on the bike soon, but will make sure the seat is adjusted down a little....

Thank you Triathlon man who ever you were....

A quick update

Running 150 miles across the desert - been their and got the tee shirt.....

What shall i do next ??

hmmmm - The 6633 Arctic Ultra

350 miles along the Dempsey Highway in the Yukon territory of North West Canada - That's a long way
Temperatures down to as low as -40 - Now that is quite cold

Sounds just the ticket, where do i sign.........

No stopping me now........

Medical today,

Heart - ticking,
Blood pressure - spot on,
Weight - about right,
ECG - lots of wavy lines in all the right places,
Lungs - full of air and nothing else,

A medical on the NHS cost anything up to £100!!!, but because I'm running for charity that will be £25 to you sir.......

Running out of excuses now!!

The last long run - 21 miles

Less than 2 weeks to go.

Today was the final long run 21 miles, full pack off road, another easy day really, up and down the River Lea, it was quite hot so plenty of practise at drinking on the move, the new top seems to alleviated the rubbing problems with the rucksack belt.

My trainers have started to fall apart, now i was up for complaining to the manufacture but then it was pointed out to me that i had done over 700 miles in them in less than 3 months!!

The plan is to run 10 miles every other day for the next week and then a bit of a rest before we get down the the serious business of running across the Sahara desert!!!

The squeamish should look away now...

My big toe got completely trashed back in November in a 50 mile race, I had already drilled a hole in the nail to let the blood under the nail out (and yes I did that my self), but now the nail was starting to come away from my toe.

There was 2 ways my big toe nail was going to come off,
Option 1. catch in a sock and rip it off
Option 2. have it removed by the jolly Mr Silver (the chiropodist)

Option 2 it is then, now I didn’t look when he removed it but it did involved a big pair of cutters, and one of those dremel hand sanders!!! But the whole procedure was virtually pain free (thankfully).

More importantly i was able to run the next day without any pain or discomfort.

Now the biology lesson, your nails are effectively just hardened skin (not hair), nail growth is a 2 way thing, the nails grow in length (as you would expect) but also in depth, so even though had 80% of the nail removed underneath there was already a thin toenail forming.

Now that was easy.......

Sat:- 21 Miles, 3hrs, full rucksac, off road.
No major issue, decided to change my running top for the desert, the raidlight is a great running top but it doesn't work with my rucksac for reasons I'm not going to bore you with!!!
If only every running day was like this, here's hoping for a few days like this in the desert.......
18 days to go - bring it on........

Slacker

Lack of time and general tiredness has resulted in a very poor mileage this week, only been out running 3 times this week but the evenings are getting lighter so all 3 times have been off road in the forest.
Back and calf have been fine, so last weekends nightmare was all down to sitting in my car for 8 hours, and worrying about getting injured....
There is something very satisfying about running in the rain, and add mud to the mix and you get a great running experience (as long as its not in Devon - see previous post!)

FAILURE!!!!!

21 miles was the best i could do at the Coastal Marathon in Devon, but in my defence it had taken me 8 hours to drive from London to just outside Salcombe, the course was vertical in places, very very muddy and slippery. The scenery was stunning, seals, big waves, high cliffs and submarines.......

Hat's off too the people who finished, i jarred my back on one of the slippery sections and then a slight pull on my right calf was enough for me to call it a day, 21 miles in 4 hour was quite a hard slog. 3 weeks till the MDS i don't need to be getting any serous injury this close to the race.

But it does not get away from the fact that was my first DNF (did not finish) and that it my book is a failure.

All was not lost as i did have to walk 1 mile to and from the start, and later in the afternoon after a rest i walked 3 miles along the beach. so i did do 26 miles just not in one go and in the race so it is still a failure.......

Her Majesty could have popped out and cheared us on....

The Thames Path Ultra.....

50 Miles from Reading to Shepperton following the Thames Path (well the bits that weren't flooded or closed..) today's plan was firstly not to get any sort of injury, secondly to run the first 20 miles then walk the last 30 because that is what i suspect i will be doing on the 50 miles stage in the desert....now swimming trucks weren't on the essential items list but we could have done with them at the 5 miles stage as we found ourselves wading through freezing cold knee deep water one positive side to this was that it got rid of the tight feeling i had in both calf's....

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, Windsor castle was quite pretty, Tim rice (west end theatre bloke) said good morning...walked the last few miles with a lady celebrating her 50th birthday!! now don't let it be said that age dampens the competitive spirit, because with about 30 metres to go she sprinted off to cross the line before me.......

In the end the route was a couple of miles short of the 50 because of the flooding, but i finished in a time of 10hr 9mins, only 1 tiny blister to report and actually felt quite fresh....

Toady's lesson
Always keep a little back for the sprint finish even if you have just walked 50 miles!!!!

The good old british weather......

Tuesday was sunny enough for just a tee shirt, thursday we had 5" of snow, and after a discussion about how i could not remember the last time it rained solidly for the whole day it did just that on Saturday......

Saturday:-
The plan was to go long again maybe 40 miles, but it was so cold and wet that idea was quickly forgotten, I decided that a slow run was probably a better idea at least this would reduce the time i would be cold and wet.
The result was 26 miles (a marathon) in 4hrs 45min with a 9kg (probably a bit heavier once it got wet) pack in the cold and wet and with a bit of a cold hanging around, no blister to report, but a fair amount of chaffing from my soaked clothes - ouch.....

Sunday:-
Beautiful sunshine, if not a little cold, felt good considering i had quite a hard day yesterday, once i was running the plan was 20 or so miles, after about 10 miles my shin started to hurt, so as not to do any further damage cut the run short, but still 13miles (a 1/2 marathon), stuck ice on my shin but it will OK tomorrow which is a rest day anyway.

Paying the price for clean trainers

06:00am start today, the aim was 8 hours solid walking covering 32 miles.

The early start was required so that i was back in time for the rugby (go johnny go), bit of a cold/sore throat thing going on but once i got going all was OK, the first hour was dark enough for my head torch (don't want to be falling in the canal this time of year) it was great to watch the sun come up shame it did little to raise the temp which was frosty to say the least, and i must say the birds put on a great dawn chorus

Everything looking good, about 12 miles out start to get a bit of a sore foot, must have something in my shoe, well it was the complete opposite it was what was missing that was the problem, i had forgotten to put the innersoles back in after i had washed them, this could turn out to be quite painful mistake.

Well i completed the 32 miles in 8 hours, but i did get 2 large blisters on my heals which are going to take a few days to settle down, very annoying, felt quite rough when i got back, quite feverish so watched the rugby at home and eat a big pizza...

Moral of the story, if you do get up at 05:00 in the morning to walk 32 miles check you innersoles before you set off!!!

My numbers have come in

Well it may not be my lottery numbers, but it is the next best thing, things start getting official when you get given your race number, well for the 2007 Marathon Des Sables (the worlds toughest foot race - your going to here me say this a lot in the coming weeks) my number will be 820.
So when you are watching out for me on Eurosport, or getting your daily update from the www.darbaroud.com website 820 is the number to keep an eye out for.

Messing about on the river

With a start point of Waltham Abbey this week i have done 52 miles of the River Lea

On Thursday i walked north up the River lea to the other side of Ware, 13 miles out and 13 miles (obviously) back again, the path itself is excellent, and apart from the industrial area around Broxbourne it is countryside all the way, plenty of ducks, swans, herons etc. and being along the river it has the added bonus of being flat.....

On Sunday i yomped (run/walk) south down the river toward the city, its industrial all the way, and to be honest in places it stinks, for whatever reason this morning was hard, my legs wern't interested in running or walking today, it was cold, windy, and although i have mentioned it already it stank.

So if you ever find yourself in Waltham Abbey and fancy walking a bit of the River Lea, take my advise and go north, if only for the sake of your nose...

So what did you do on Saturday night.......

Well i took part in the Moonlight challenge, a 30 mile off road, overnight (start time 22:00) race near Canterbury, the course was a 6 mile loop to be completed 5 times, The plan was to run 6, walk 6, run 6, walk 6, run 6, but as with all good plans that went totally out the window.
Due to the mud and worsening weather conditions i changed the plan to run the first 3 or 4 laps and walk the last, the wind had picked up to the point that at times you were walking but just not going anywhere.
I ran the first 2 laps quite easly, the 3rd lap was quite a struggle, I ran the bits you could safely run and walked the muddy bit which was now shin deep. Lap 4 the wind was accompanied by rain, which hurts when it is being blown against you and 60+ mph, the event was starting to lose its fun factor!!!
I was just about to start the last lap when i was stopped by the event organiser, due to the dangerous conditions and the fact the course was now blocked in two places by fallen trees the rest of the race was to be abandoned, in some way this was great news, i like a bit of a challenge but another 6 miles in the mud and franky quite appalling weather didn't really appeal, so i didn't complain too much and called it a night.

I ended up with 25ish miles in 4hrs 10mins, legs, ankles etc. all intact

Run forest run.......

If i had a pound for every time someone has shouted "Run forest run" at me then i would be a rich man (and would have coughed up the £17,000 it costs to enter The Polar challenge, a 350 miles race to the North pole www.polar-challenge.com)

Anyway, ran the 10 miles to work, did a 9hrs work, and then ran back home, pretty tired once i got back home, so treated myself to a big pizza :-)

Injury update:- left shine - fixed, back - fixed, right foot - a little sore towards the end of the run today but nothing to worry about

No going back......

Well i've paid my money now, so it's official i will be competing in The worlds hardest foot race

Best i get training!!!!!

A right result......

Not a big fan of needles, I have no problems with the idea of running across the desert being chased by scorpions, but the thought of that needle make me feel quite uncomfortable, so reluctantly i went to the doctors to check what jabs are required for Morocco needless to say it was the full complement, but what a result apart from Typhoid they are all up to date – YES…….

Even better news, the nurse has just stocked her sweet jar reserved for all the ‘brave little solders’ that she stabs in the backside, its goes without saying that I will qualify for some sort of ‘sweet’ reward…….

Oh my god - I’m in (subject to acceptance by the organisers)

Well the email came yesterday, subject to agreement by the organisers I’m in, if I can keep myself in one piece for the next 80 days I will be on the start line of the ‘World’s toughest foot race’, although I have done plenty of reading and research there is so much to do in so little time, there is equipment to buy, ECG's to arrange, food to organise, clothing to try out, trainers/socks/foot taping strategies for the desert, etc. etc oh and not forgetting plenty of training to be done!!

An injury update....

Been out running the last couple of days managed 4 miles or so each day before the shin started to hurt a little, decided against trying to run it off so I’m resting it over the weekend and giving it plenty with the heat lamp and ultrasound machine, the pain is now only where the tendon joins the actual muscle (Tibialis anterior) so I’m hopeful the rest will clear it up.

The world’s most dangerous sport.....

Cycling on the road, just cycled 30 miles to deliver a Christmas present (yes I know it is the 3rd of January!!) and I have been cut up on a roundabout, passed so closely by a lorry that I don’t know how he didn’t actually hit me, almost ended flat on my back again when I hit some mud left by a tractor, and beeped by a white van man who obviously though I was in the wrong even though he had just tried to overtake me and turn left in one movement….

So I have to play a game of getting miles done and staying alive, I’m going to have to stick with the road as it’s the only way to get the mileage done, but I might have to be a bit more selective on my route……

Anyway 28 miles in 2hrs 10mins, shin still a little sore but it’s getting better each day even with the mileage/duration increasing each day.

Where did everybody go.....

Well OK it was just before 08:00am New Years Day, but it was quite spooky, I was out for just over an hour on my bike and i didn't see anybody, no cars, dogs, nothing, in fact the only life i saw was a couple of cows, some deer, and hundreds of squirrels.

Kept the route flat, and avoided the worst of the mud, this enabled me to firstly not fall off!!, and secondly to give my shin a stress free workout.

My shin gave gave me no discomfort whatsoever while cycling, but is still a little uncomfortable when i walk, i tried a very short jog and it was also fine, so tomorrow morning its a light jog round the block and then out on the bike, fingers crossed that i have got to that point in an injury when you lay caution to the wind and just go for it, 9 times out of 10 you quite literally run the injury off, lets hope this is not the exception to the rule......