http://www.farnhampilgrim.org.uk/

The event’s route is described as “mixed and mainly off-road”… great.  However, I figure that if I put the training down then, so what?  I can’t wimp out just because it’s not perfectly flat.  Besides, do I really care how long it’s going to take me to finish?  My main goal is survival for my first marathon!

I haven’t actually booked it yet, and frankly if it fills up before I can register (like the New Forest Marathon!) then I’m sorry in advance, I will be delaying my 1st marathon attempt until April next year!  Yup, if I can’t get into this marathon then I’ve decided to push it back a full year until April 2011.  Bad-side:  I’ve had to put it back so far and people were expecting me to do one.  Good-side:  It will give me the opportunity to save more money.

Let’s be positive though!  I’m going to do the marathon on 19th September in Farnham!  I’ve even did a basic training plan for long runs as follows:-

• 20th Jun – 07 miles
• 27th Jun – 08 miles
• 04th Jul – 09 miles
• 11th Jul – 10 miles
• 18th Jul – 12 miles
• 25th Jul – 10 miles
• 01st Aug – 13 miles
• 08th Aug – 15 miles
• 15th Aug – 17 miles
• 22nd Aug – 18 miles
• 29th Aug – 20 miles
• 05th Sep – 15 miles (day before we go to Greece)
• 12th Sep – 10 miles (this one might be in Greece)
• 19th Sep – Marathon

I’ve also decided that running 3 days a week is not enough for me and I’m going to go back to running on Tue, Wed, Fri and Sun.  I will try and make Tue an easy 10km run and Wed/Fri will be some 40 – 50min interval and hill training each week.  Those two training sessions have to be the big thing and I want to focus on those as well as weight training on Mon and Thu.  This means Sat will be the only day I’m not actually doing some sort of exercise.  Too much?  Perhaps.  But I’m aiming high on purpose.

Wish me luck people!

Related posts:

1. Hit the Tempo
2. Happenings & Training
3. Running on Holiday

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

Related posts:

1. 20 Miles of Fun
2. Points of (Un)Interest
3. The Long Goodbye

I’ve never done a 5k event before and I’m looking forward to doing these ones for a bit of fun and for the medals (I love the medals).  I’ve also managed to rope a few work colleagues into doing the Santa Dash and we’re raising money for Thames Hospicecare as well.  If any of you are interested in sponsoring our little team you can do so at www.justgiving.com/grouprisk.

I had a query on my post yesterday regarding the Reading Roadrunners.  I Run Because I Love Food asked “I’ve wondered about joining Reading Road Runners, but worry it might be a bit serious – are they the bunch that meet at Palmer Park?”

Yes, that’s them.  I’ve been a member for a while now but me and my mate Tony have only just started going to the Wed night track sessions again.  They also do track sessions on Fridays I believe but I don’t go to those ones.

When I first joined the running club I was a bit nervous because I thought it was just going to be a lot of elite runners and they’ll all be whipping past me constantly.  And the truth is, there are a lot of elite-ish runners who go whipping past me constantly, however the running club also has load of normal runners like me and my friend Tony.  They are a nice sociable bunch of people and very welcoming to new people.  In fact, the first couple of sessions are free so you can see whether you like it or not.

On a normal Wed night they have a little meeting with all of us by the track at about 6:30pm and let everyone know what runs are happening etc and then everyone splits up and heads off with different running coaches for some training.  There are loads of coaches and you can join any session you want.  All really flexible and a great way to spend cold Autumn and Winter evenings.

I do find that the membership seems to dramatically increase after new years when all the new joiners suddenly appear.  But on a normal night like last night there were quite a few people at the track.

On top of all that, by joining a running club you get discounts at Sweatshop in Reading and you also usually get reduced entry fees for events/races because Reading Roadrunners is UK Athletics affiliated.

Loads more info at www.readingroadrunners.org

Related posts:

1. Running Clubbed
2. 10k Runs Planned
3. Change is Good

I decided that I needed some sort of focus for the future and for training.  Also, the Brighton Marathon promises to reimburse a portion of the entry fee for those runners who have registered for the London Marathon (ballot).  This way, if I don’t get a ballot place for London I’ll still have my first marathon to train for!

I thought it was a fitting 2nd choice because it is Brighton’s 1st marathon and it will be my 1st marathon too!

I even get a lovely t-shirt that tells everyone what I’m training for!

I probably won’t really start focusing on marathon training until around October because that is when I’ll know for sure whether I’ll be running in Brighton or London.

The running is going okay at the moment and I’m still plodding along.  For example, I did the following recently:-

Today – 5.42km at at 05:32 min/km pace (did some weights and cycling as well)

04  Aug 2009 – 10.37km at a 05:47 min/km pace

02 Aug 2009 – 14.00km at a 05:44 min/km pace

28 Jul 2009 – 10.69km at a 05:36 min/km pace

I’m going to update my spreadsheet tonight after I’m done writing this post.  You’ll be able to see my total mileage to date as well as my total mileage covered on my virtual run across Canada.

Take care and happy running, walking, crawling….

Related posts:

1. Virgin London Marathon Ballot
2. London Marathon
3. Virgin London Marathon Site Update

This morning I ran 10.55 km (6.55 miles) at an average pace of 05:40 min/km (09:09 min/mile).  This morning’s run felt good, even though my right butt-cheek and lower back is a bit sore from the speedwork yesterday.  My sciatic nerve plays up a bit once in a while but with some constant stretching it usually goes away.

To cap it all off I did some push-ups and crunches this evening -

Push-ups:  3 sets of 20,22 & 22

Crunches:  3 sets of 60, 50 & 70

I think I might head out to Wargrave to take part in the Wargrave 10k on Sunday morning.  It’s something to do and it adds another medal to my collection.  After that we’re heading over to my friend Tony’s place for a bbq.

Tomorrow I might go for a short run of a couple kms around here on the cycle paths… I’m still undecided.

I’ve been reading everyone’s Juneathon blogs and most people are keeping it up which is very impressive (one person hasn’t posted anything in 10 days!).  I think we should all give ourselves a pat on the back for getting this far and remember that we are just about half way!  Keep it up Juneathoners!

Related posts:

1. Juneathon – Day 13 & 14 (Push, Run, Walk)
2. Juneathon – Day 8 (Rest Day)
3. Juneathon – Day 4 (Getting Better)

If this keeps up I’ll be doing hundreds of push-ups for Juneathon instead of what I really want to do… running!

Anyway, this evening I used my trusty coffee table (it’s a big chunky wooden one) as my exercise point.  4 sets of dips (feet on sofa and hands on coffee table) and three sets of crunches (legs on coffee table) as follows:-

Dips:  20, 20, 20 & 20 (My arms were killing at the end)

Crunches:  50, 50 & 50

At the moment I’m hoping I’ll be able to go for an easy run tomorrow and help clear my head a bit.  I’ve also got the Dorney Dash on Saturday morning but because the weather is predicting heavy rain I might give it a miss.  I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to events in the pouring cold rain and also I’m just getting over this cold and don’t want to push it.  So, I’ll see what the weather is like on Saturday morning and I’ll make my final decision then.

My mate Tony wants to go for a run with me at Dinton Pastures on Sunday, however the weather for Sunday is predicted as heavy rain again.  That means I might have to forego a run at Dinton and head to the gym and the trusty treadmill instead.  Again, it depends on what the weather is really like.

I’m not too bothered about missing the Dorney Dash as I’ve got some other runs planned over the coming months:-

14/06/2009 – Wargrave 10k
28/06/2009 – Sam Run
05/07/2009 – Tadley 10k
19/07/2009 – The Grant & Stone Wycombe 10K
23/08/2009 - Everton 10k
06/09/2009 – Peppard 10k
27/09/2009 – Mortimer 10k
11/10/2009 – Henley 10k

That’s 8 runs and because they are all 10kms it should be relatively simple to build them all into my weekly running schedule.  I generally run more than 10km on a Sunday anyway and this way I get more medals to add to my collection.  I love the medals (crazy eh?)!

I hope the illness subsides enough tomorrow for me to run!  Now I’m off to read some other Juneathon blogs….

Related posts:

1. Juneathon – Day 1
2. Juneathon – Day 6 & 7 (Running Again)
3. Juneathon – Day 11 & 12 (Back to normal)

• Run or exercise every day
• Blog about it (if you don’t have a blog, join the Facebook group and post your efforts there)
• Visit your fellow Juneathoner’s blogs and leave a comment in support (or call them a slacker)

So I first when to JoggerBlogger’s site and commented on his post.  I also joined the facebook group.  However, I was left off the list on JogBlog’s site for some reason.  I’ve decided I’m going to do it anyway and I’ll read the other blogs and comment accordingly as per the rules.  As I was left off the list though, I doubt people will find this one!  Oh well, what can you do.

I probably won’t be running every day during June but I’ll certainly incorporate some sort of exercise.  I’ve decided to give the 100 Push-Up training a go again and I’ve also bought a new book called “The Official British Army Fitness Guide” which as some handy exercises you can do at home.  Also, the one thing the book talks about at the beginning is having a good cardio base and running!  It’s a pretty good book to have I think.

I’ve added a lot more “planned” races and events to my calendar and you can see some of them listed on the right.  I’ve only actually paid for the Dorney Dash which takes place next weekend.  The other races are relatively local and I’ll probably just show up on the day and pay the £10 (or whatever it costs) and just run them.

As for non-running related matters, my lovely wife and I are off to London tomorrow to wander around (dinner etc) and to go to Madam Tussauds.  My wife says she has wanted to visit Madam Tussauds ever since she was a child, so that’s where we’re going.

We’ll be taking some pictures so I’ll stick some on Flickr so you can have a look.

Tomorrow I’m going to head off to Dinton Pastures early in the morning (06:30) so I can get in a run of at least 6 miles before we get ready to go in to London at about 10:00 in the morning.  I’m hoping it will be a long run but we’ll see how things play out!

Related posts:

1. London, Tussauds & The Dungeon
2. Juneathon – Day 6 & 7 (Running Again)
3. Juneathon – Day 5 (Pushing Up)

Anyone know what the heck that is?

I haven’t run since the Woodley 10k on Sunday and I’ve got the Bupa 10k in London coming up this Monday.  I’ve already decided I’m doing it no matter what.  It cost too much money for me to not turn up (London runs always seem to cost a lot of money).  I figure I’ll wear an ankle support on Monday and I’ll jog/walk around until the finish.  I’m obviously not going to go for a personal best or anything but I want to do the run and see the sights of London.  Also, the run takes place on part of the route of the Olympic Marathon (not that that means much to me really).

I’m trying to stay positive and not get too down about it all but it is hard.  I had the horrible painful run on Sunday in the Woodley 10k and as a result of that I am now injured.

Okay, I’m done whining now.

Tomorrow I’m going to either run (slowly with a support on – depending on how I feel) or use the cross-trainer at the gym.  Either way I’m doing something!

Related posts:

1. Woodley 10k and Injury
2. Pre 2009 Bupa London 10000
3. Full of Crap

The wedding went off without a hitch except for the fact that my wedding ring is too tight. This is odd considering it felt okay when we bought them. I suppose my fingers have gotten fatter; they certainly have this past week at an all-inclusive hotel with us eating ourselves to death!

I managed to do a bit of running whilst in Greece. I ran twice on the treadmill at the hotel gym (strangely enough nobody else used the gym) and twice on the roads along Afandou beach to the next town of Afandou.

Running was difficult in Greece because it was much warmer than I am used to (even at 6am) and because we were eating so much each day (more than we do at home) that I was never actually comfortable. I even started to get heartburn all the time, which I haven’t had (up to that point) in ages. Damn you delicious hotel food!

The morning runs were amazing though because there was nobody on the roads and the sunrise was fantastic. It was nice to run around and see the streets and the beach.

I don’t know if any of you have ever been to Greece; I’ve been there quite a few times to various different islands. Greece always appears to have buildings in various stages of a) just being built, b) half finished but being used anyway, c) run down and not used anymore and d)fully completed and in use (not many in this category).

That’s one of the things I love about Greece. It’s always a wonder walking around and seeing a massive hotel being built or one next to it that looks like it was lovely at one time but is now falling apart (surely the new neighbor building the new one would ask themselves what happened to the one next door before starting the same venture).

We also found out from one of the locals in Kolymbia why there are so many houses on the Greek islands that look unfinished. She said it was because they were a dowry for the women/daughters. Fathers would start building the houses for their daughters for when they grew up and got married. As building a house is expensive, they would do little bits to it over the years as and when they had the money and materials. It seems to me that the men in Greece are getting a great deal when they get married and that couples who are expecting a new child must be shitting themselves that it will be a girl!

I’ve taken a few pictures of my run on my mobile phone camera (so they are not that great) and they are the ones you can see here. Even with the horrible picture you can tell the sunrise was amazing.

We didn’t spend lots of time lying around on sunbeds but we did spend some time doing that – my wife loves it. We rented a hard-top convertible micra for three days to explore as much of the island as possible. The only place we didn’t bother exploring was the north of the island because that is where you find Faliraki and Rhodes town. I have no interest in visting places that try and adapt to a “british” sort of experience with their mini Asda shops, mini Morrisons, McDonalds etc. I hate that about places. That’s one of the reasons I hate the Canary Islands so much.

What is the point of going abroad to another country if you aren’t going to try and immerse yourselve in the other culture as much as you can; learn about the people and eat their foods. If you want a “full english breakfast” and “sports bars” then stay at home cause you’re messing up these places.

One of the best places we visited when we had the rental car was called Profitas Ilias. There was a hotel at the top which was originally built as a headquarters for Mussolini. Across the road and just up some old stairs is a villa and church that were also built for Mussolini. My other half and I walked up (we had this place mentioned in our travel guide) the stone stairs to the church (we hadn’t paid much attention to the villa at this point) and noticed that behind the church the path kept going up the mountain (in it’s usual zig-zag sort of way) but looked like nobody had used it (except goats) for a very long time. We made the decision to keep climbing and we would dig out the guide book (it was in the car) when we got back down.

We walked and climbed for about 40 mins or so and we were trying to figure out how old the path was and we sort of felt sorry for whoever the people were that built it and laid all those rocks and the edging. Finally we came to the top and it was beautiful. Quite flat, rocks, grass, pine trees and lots of wild flowers. You could see for miles and it was fantastic. My other half and I were really happy to have continued to the top, especially as it seems it was just us that had discovered it recently (most places we went to had lots of tourists doing the same thing). We were the only ones there and we sat and enjoyed it for a while before heading back down.

When we got back to the church and the villa we realised that all the tourists go as far as the villa and the church and that’s it.

We wandered around the villa and added our own grafitti to the writings on the wall. Who knows how long it will be there considering there was some from 1992 and earlier.

I won’t bore you anymore with my ramblings about our trip because you probably stopped reading ages ago!

This week I need to get some running in and concentrate on getting back to normal life.

I’ve got the Woodley 10k run this Sunday and it should be okay. I’m not looking for a personal best or anything. In fact, the only 10k run I really want to aim for a PB on is the Great Capital Run at Hyde Park in London, but that isn’t until July (registration hasn’t opened for it yet though).

So here are my runs for last week and I’m off running again tomorrow:-

01 May 2009 – 14.06km (8.73 miles) at a 05:40 min/km (09:09 min/mile) pace
04 May 2009 – 6.67km (4.14 miles) at a 06:01 min/km (09:41 min/mile) pace
05 May 2009 – 7.64km (4.74 miles) at a 05:57 min/km (09:35 min/mile) pace
07 May 2009 – 6.92km (4.29 miles) at a 04:49 min/km (09:23 min/mile) pace
08 May 2009 – 9.52km (5.91 miles) at a 05:41 min/km (09:10 min/mile) pace

I haven’t really had a long run since the 1st May (my wedding day) but I think I’ll go for about 9 miles tomorrow and some short runs the rest of the week.

Related posts:

1. Running on Holiday
2. Running Again
3. Juneathon – Day 11 & 12 (Back to normal)

It was fantastic watching the thousands of people in the crowds, the celebrities being interviewed (Katie Price, Peter Andre, Nell McAndrew, Gordon Ramsay to name a few) as well as all the other runners.  Everyone was running for different charities and reasons and the atmosphere of the event was amazing.

Nell McAndrew was the fasted celebrity with a time of 03:10:20  while Katie Price and her husband Peter Andre finished in 07:11:00.

The winner for the elite men was Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) in 02:05:10, the winner of the elite women was Irina Mikitenko (Germany) in 02:22:11 and the winner of the wheelchair race was Kurt Fearnley (Australia) in 01:28:57.

I ran 16.00km (9.94 miles) at a 05:38 min/km (09:05 min/mile) pace while watching the marathon and the time just flew by.  I was so engrossed in the event and coverage.

I’ve also decided (like many that watch the event) that I am going to enter the ballot for the 2010 London Marathon.  Why not?  If I get in, great!  It will be something to train for and a great day and achievement at one of the worldest biggest and best events.  If I don’t get in, no big deal.  There are other years or other marathons.  About 150,000 people enter the ballot and about 36,000 people get to run.  You do the maths.

The rest of my day was spent chilling out with my family, barbecuing and putting together a gazebo/tent thingy in the garden.

As soon as I’ve completed this rambling session I’m going to update my running log/spreadsheet with my recent runs and I’m also going to work out where I am on my virtual run across Canada so I can update my location map.

Previous two runs this week:

24 April 2009 – 10.82km (6.72 miles) at a 05:32 min/km (08:55 min/mile) pace.

23 April 2009 – 10.79km (6.70 miles) at a 05:32 min/km (08:55 min/mile) pace.

Not much variety in my runs since the half marathon and I’m fully aware of that fact.  I’m just holding steady at the moment with our wedding day coming up and the honeymoon week away as well.  I’ll concentrate more on quality training when I get back… I promise.

Related posts:

1. Virgin London Marathon Ballot
2. Virgin London Marathon Ballot Update
3. Virgin London Marathon Site Update