ONE WEEK! ONE WEEK OF PARANOIA AND EXCITEMENT!

This is it, just one week left till the Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 and, if on plan, as I write this I'd have about an hour to go!  A week / 7 days.  Seems a short time but, oh my word!  This is going to be a long, long, long week!  Not that I'm excited or anything and I am really bursting to get to my start pen at the Blue start and set off  round 26.2 miles of London's streets, but this week I face a two headed monster to battle with...

First:  Why, oh why, oh why does "everyone" I meet have a stinking cold?  Boots must be selling out of tissues and Lemsip 'cos wherever I go there are sniffles, bunged up noses and sore throats.  Even the steward in front of us at Wycombe Wanderer's away match at Wimbledon, yesterday, was in a right state of "manbola"! Stay away you lot...I DO NOT want a cold this week!

Second: I have been told about the final week paranoia and am deep into it now...

State of preparation: "What was that twitch in my hamstring?"  "Oh, my calves are a bit tight."  "Have I got planar F in my right foot?"  "Am I getting a cold (see above)?" 

The Expo:  Neeeeeed my race number, chip and kitbag...NOW!  Do I go Weds, do I go Thurs, how much time should I spend there?

The race: "Am I prepared?"  "Will the alarm go off?"  "Have I cut my toe nails a week out as Ben said?"  "What did I do when I ran the Bramley 20 miler?"  "OK, so I have run 20 miles several times...but what awaits in the last 6.2 miles?"

Simply, I want two things this week.  This week to go fast and to be completely wrapped in cotton wool and a duvet.  This week IS going to go very slowly but will also be THE most exciting, life changing, selfish, focused, single minded, paranoid and panicky week ever.  So that's it 555 miles of training so far, some simple runs and lots of rest and sleep this week, and a gradual build of balanced carbs and hydration to be ready for next Sunday.  I know how amazing it was as a spectator in 2014 and can't get my head around what it will be like following that dotted blue line on the road around, yes, 26.2 miles.  Not that I am looking forward to it or anything, really!!

Everything has a purpose and whilst a massive part is the personal challenge and experience, what I am doing is raising money for the great folks at Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research to help them beat blood cancers.  There are personal reasons and connections that I will draw on as inspiration and all I can do is thank those who have already donated and ask if you spare £5 or £10 or more to help me help them, please...
...here is my VM Giving page:
...and here is Stephen Fry giving his unique style of support!

Thank you, mark

PUTTING THE ULTRA BACK IN BONKERS

It's been far too long since I sat down to Blog, but now is the time to put that right.
 
It has been a long and, at times, hard year of running and competing with lots of lessons learned and some real development in both running pace and style as I developed better technique.  Still lots to do.  This year included two run streaks of 179 and 107 days, split by a bout of illness.  The second streak was ended as focus turned to the challenges of 2015. All was going well until I lost my Dad.
 
After 94 years of a great life  doing so much to help others, being a Husband, Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather, a production director in a car parts business and 5 year PoW veteran of Stalag 8B from 1940-1945 who escaped three times and eventually fought with the Czech partisans he died in early November.  Dad never wanted to go into a home and it is fantastic that he stayed in his own bungalow until the day he died, organising things and living life his way.  A way I thoroughly approved of.  The honour of being with him alone in his hospital room overnight for his final night will stay with me forever and was a small thing, last thing I could do for him.  George, Dad, you have and always will be my inspiration in life...very much always will be.  RIP GEB.
 
And, oh, will I need inspiration next year?!  People keep saying things like "you're going to have a big year next year" and I think they are right.  A big year where I will absolutely need every bit of inspiration from Dad, and every bit of support from Debs.
 
You may recall that although I didn't get a ballot place in the London Marathon 2015 I am fortunate enough, to have one of Sherfield Park Runner's two UK Athletics club place.  So, I am in and preparing now, a week into the 20 week training plan.  My brother, Chris, died of Leukaemia at the age of 51 and, in memory of Chris, I asked the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research Trust if I could fund raise and run for them.  They said yes, and like another 174 runners I will be fund raising for the L&LRT, and getting their full aid and support up to, during and after the VMLM2015 with great support on the day.  Through them comes coaching/ training support from Ben and Richard at Full Potential, and we had had really practical on-track and in classroom training day yesterday.  What has to be done over the next 19 weeks is clear...and now has to be delivered with many hard miles of effort in the cold of the coming Winter months.  I can't wait!  I seriously and positively can't wait!
 
But this is just the first of many big running events in 2015.  On a whim, and thanks to the light night power of Facebook, I signed up for the public ballot for the Berlin Marathon in September, safe in the knowledge that I wouldn't get in.  Oh wait!  I have an e-mail in German, scroll down to the translation, and "Congratulations You Are In!  You must now start preparing for the 2015 BMW Berlin Marathon"!  Wow!!!  Hmmm, I hadn't really said to Debs that I'd entered as she'd just think I was/ am bonkers, expecting to not be successful, but here I am now with a place, hotel booked and all set for a marathon expo at the very famous Templehof airfield, and a marathon threading its way through both (as was) West and East Berlin.  It is flat too so, yeah, time to pick the pace up!  Oh, and she does think I am bonkers!
 
And in between?  June sees my first Ultra, running Endure 24 (24 hours around a 5 mile, woodland, trail lap) as a solo runner, rather than the team of eight that I ran for this year.  Plus, a new challenge...a self designed/ planned approx. 63-65 one day Ultra leaving our development north of Basingstoke ("B") and running with the equally bonkers Ben Eason (SPR's Training Sec and all round awesome bloke / runner) across Hampshire to finish on Bournemouth ("B") pier followed by fish and chips at Harry Ramsden's.  Hmm, there are no official aid stations so the plan is to map out big supermarkets and make use of all their facilities. This is The B2B, and is scheduled for early August...and, with the holiday traffic, we'll probably get to Bournemouth faster than the holiday makers.
 
Can't wait for all that next year but first comes Xmas and the New Year with family, friends and my cadre of running shoes, on road training and off road doing trails and cross country races for SPR (Southern Cross Country League) and others like today's Muddy Welly 10k Trail and January's Cliveden 6m XC with its infamous set of steps.  Bring it all on!  UltraBonkers to the max! :)

114,999 DISAPPOINTED RUNNERS AND ME!

OK, so I knew that maths didn't work out well with 125,000 runners entered into the 2015 Virgin Money London Marathon ballot this April going for just 10,000 available places.  But, that didn't stop over 5 months of hope, anticipation and planning.

If you read my earlier blog, EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT IN THE LONG RUN, you'll know my plans for 2015 events have taken a few knocks recently with date changes taking plans out of alignment.

Well, the big disappointment came yesterday...not just for me but for some 114,999 others with just 10,000 entrants going "woo hoo!!". Rather than a natty "You're In" magazine, I got the one I really, really didn't want to get. The one saying "Sorry" with the yellow costumed runner...the pesky yellow costumed runner who I have come, overnight to hate vehemently as the personification of my disappointment.

Yes, I know, the maths didn't work!
Yes, I know, I shouldn't have been surprised!
Yes, I know, I shouldn't have been as excited and anticipated a positive outcome so much!

But, that..doesn't..make..the...news...easier...to...absorb...or...live...with!!!

That's even with knowing that there are runners out there who have entered the London Marathon ballot since Noah thought the weather looked like a bit of precipitation. One runner I know well has got "Sorry!" in the ballot 13 times BUT has managed to run the event 6 times through one competition win, two entries through the old rules of 5 rejections leading to a guaranteed place, and also three times running in charity places. But, never through the ballot

So, what's next? Plan B, it is! Our brilliant running club, Sherfield Park Runners, is registered with UK Athletics / england athletics and through the UKA/ea "British Running Club Entries" scheme should get two places allocated in VMLM2015 as the club's membership is now up over 70 registered members. This will all come clear in the next 6 weeks. Our Committee thought ahead in May and devised our first set of selection criteria for use in 2015 and sustainably thereafter in selecting which runners get those coveted places. The first is obvious - that a runner has to have entered and been unsuccessful in the ballot. Others, aligned with what other local running clubs use as their criteria, include what that individual has done for the club; raising sponsorship; running in the club colours in past events and at VMLM2015, etc. Cases are being developed and our selection will be made. Fingers are crossed for better luck in this stage!

There has been SPR success in the ballot though with, at least, two members getting the "You're In" pack and that is just absolutely fabulous news for them and the club. I hope to be working/ running through a marathon training plan with one of them who I already run a lot with anyway. That reminds me, better go and set up Friday's pre-dawn run (I was also out at 0540 this morning - funny how I didn't see any other runners!!!).

ttfn, Mark

WHEN DID A MARATHON BECOME A TRAINING RUN?

October 6th, 1984 was the day that led to me being told I'd never walk again, then after 5 months in plaster and on crutches, leaning to walk again. But now I run.

Why? I raced karts and had a double end-over-end flip crash landing on and smashing my left ankle. The injury seemed quite straightforward but after a month the consultant realised I had damaged the blood supply to my foot meaning my toenails weren’t growing and, more importantly, the breaks weren’t healing. Many tests followed but all that could be done was wait and hope.  Amazingly, my body fixed itself by re-creating the fine blood supply and I eventually came out of plaster ... missing out the “walking plaster” stage as I was already (without permission) walking on the existing cast and, err, riding a bike! Just the sort of bonkers thing I do!

So, walking ... things changed from “...you should be able to keep your foot but not walk on it” to “...you’ll need to learn to walk again” (for which I was given absolutely no help by the hospital!). I taught myself. I fell over a lot but got mobile again but it took me months to be able to walk down a flight of stairs facing forward. Now the mantra was “...you mustn’t run, ever!”.  So I didn’t for far too many years as I was so pleased to be able to have a foot and to be able to walk.  I followed the warnings for some 28 years, and what a waste of running time that was.

The catalyst for change was meeting my partner, Debs, in 2012 and as we coloured in the details of our past lives running came up (she’d run half marathons before) so we decided to start running together.  We did, and I entered us for the Fleet Half marathon just 4 months ahead to give us some focus.  Bonkers!

Away from running I am a 52 year old Dad with two daughters at UNI, a kart racing motorsport nut and a management consultant working long, pretty stressful hours and living in North Hants.  Now I am a runner too!  Also, entirely against expectation, I am the Chairman of a running club (Sherfield Park Runners) that Debs and I started in April 2013 ... but more of that in another post.

Over some upcoming posts I’ll take you through my inspirations; the running club; run streaks; and, into my training.

Training? Yes, this year has been based round 5 half marathons (Reading, Fleet, Edinburgh, Bristol and Basingstoke), lots of 10Ks and 5Ks (love parkrun in Basingstoke and as a “tourist”) and various trails including in a team of 8 at this year’s fabulously wet and muddy Endure24 where my contribution was five, 5 mile laps.  I am constantly being told I am bonkers especially when I grab a new challenge, often coming from when someone says “...you can’t” or “...you are too old”.  This applies even more with my 2015 running plans ... a first marathon (planned to be VMLM2015) and straight on to do Endure24 again BUT this time as a SOLO as my first Ultra Marathon!

My summer reading has been Ultra marathon books from Ira Rainey, Dean Karnazes, Chris MacDougall and Byron Powell, and tapping into some great Ultra marathon groups for info.

Bonkers!
Ultra!
Hence...ULTRABONKERS