Full of Crap

Last Updated on Monday, 24 May 2010 06:16 Written by The Virtual Runner Sunday, 23 May 2010 09:46

I didn’t do the marathon.  I know, I know… I put in all that training!

Everything was going well and we flew to Canada as planned.  However, the second or third day there I started sneezing a lot and I thought it was just allergies (my sisters have pets).  Nope.  Full blown cold kicked in and I was seriously congested in the sinuses.  No problem I thought.  It’s “above the neck” so I’ll continue on like normal.

By Saturday I was feeling pretty rough and wasn’t sleeping well.  I was sticking to the plan though and drinking lots of fluids to stay hydrated for the marathon the following day.  I even went to collect my race pack from the race expo on Sat afternoon/evening.

Sunday morning, coughing and exhausted.  I couldn’t do it.  I was too ill and I was scared to put myself through about 5 hours of running whilst being ill.  To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.  My friends jokes of calling me a “real virtual runner” didn’t help much either.

So, that was it.  I was a virtual runner with a bad cold, race number, timing chip and new t-shirt but no completed marathon.  To top it all off I’ve been raising money for charity and I feel as though I’ve let people down.

Put it all together and I’m on a bit of a downer at the moment!

So, what am I doing to sort all of this out and get back on form?  I’m thinking about it and I haven’t decided yet.  I’ll do one of the following:-

1. Register for a new marathon in the autumn and use the time to get in even more training and raise more money for charity (although I’ll feel as though I’m putting things off).
2. Do my own “virtual marathon” by completing 26.2 miles myself and documenting it using my Garmin Forerunner and video.  This means I would need to attempt the distance over the next couple of weeks.  Probably on a Sunday around Reading, Berkshire.  The downside to this is that there is no medal and no finish line.  Will I still feel the same completing it?  Or am I just doing it for the sake of doing it?  A guilt marathon.

I’d be grateful if any of you out there could comment on this post and give me your thoughts and opinions on what you would do in this situation.

As for running, I went and ran for an hour this morning and it was the first time I’ve run in about 2 1/2 weeks.  My hip flexors were a bit sore afterwards but it felt okay.  I’ll probably push the 10k running for the whole week and do a bit most mornings in order to get myself ready to plod around the Bupa 10,000 in London this weekend.  I’ve got my race pack through and it’s a great event to do.  I certainly won’t be getting a PB this year but I’ll still get the medal.  I love the medals!

Once I’ve done the 10k I’ll give you a write up about it and let you know what it was like.  I’m supposed to have a VIP pass to the elite/celeb area before the race so who knows who or what I’ll see!  I’m taking my wife with me because I’m rubbish at spotting anyone famous!

Now, you may or may not be wondering about the title of this blog.  I mean, to say “full of crap” kind of indicates that I’ve lied about something.  But I haven’t.  “Full of crap” relates to the ridiculous amount of food I ate while in Canada.  There is nothing to do where we were.  Fredericton, New Brunswick is a beautiful city in Canada but it’s boring!  So, everything seemed to revolve around food and eating out.  To top it all off, I missed a lot of foods that I used to eat when I lived there so I felt I had to try as much as possible.  Bad idea.

The flight home was a bit uncomfortable and my wife and I thought we may have to book extra seats; one for each butt cheek.

To make myself feel a bit better I went on a (kind of) liquid diet for a couple of days.  Man, it felt nice.  All I ate was cereal for breakfast (I know it’s not a liquid but I need some fibre and stuff.  Most important meal of the day!) soups, yoghurt, smoothies etc.  No more bloated feeling!  All ruined today with a massive feast of delicious burnt bbq meaty goodness.  Damn.

Tomorrow the liquid diet starts again.  It’s a nice cleanse for me and I’ll probably try and do it for the whole week.  At the end of the week I’ll assess how I feel and decide whether to continue.

Yours sincerely,

Fatty Chubberson

The Long Goodbye

Last Updated on Sunday, 17 January 2010 10:18 Written by The Virtual Runner Sunday, 17 January 2010 10:18

Happy new year (sorry I’m late)!  It’s a new year with new challenges coming in many forms. 

I’d firstly like to apologise to both my readers for not posting anything in some time.  I’d also like to apologise to myself for not having the motivation to just get off my backside and get out there running.

For the past few weeks I’ve done nothing but sit on my butt!  Yes, I was ill for a couple weeks out of that and I also had a bout of food poisoning, but there is a major laziness element at play too.

I’ve found it hard to get motivated when it comes to running and I think that the motivation will start to return.  In fact, it started to return last night when I was looking online at future runs/events.

My wife, my son and I are travelling to Canada this year (we have a house-sitter – all you would be robbers) in May for a couple of weeks to visit family.  Whilst we are there an event will be on that we took part in in 2007 – The Fredericton Marathon. 

The Fredericton Marathon is the name of the event, however there is a 5k, 10k, half-marathon and a full marathon to take part in.  We did the 10k a couple of years ago and it’s a small event but all flat because it’s in a river valley.

I was/am intending to do the Brighton Marathon on 18 April, however because of the lack of training going on at the moment I don’t think this will be realistic (do you?).  So, I’m thinking that if I get off my backside today and start running again that I can be ready to plod through my first marathon on 9th May instead!  In Canada!  My home country!

I was originally motivated to do the Brighton Marathon but it’s waned somewhat… not sure why.  The thought of doing the Fredericton Marathon has filled me with a new sense of motivation and also I think it’s fate that I’m supposed to run it!  It’s 17 weeks away which means I’ll have more time to train and get around the course too!

As for all of you and this blog… I will start boring you with my ramblings again.  Whether or not you read them is up to you!

Bring on the training!!