A WEEK ON AND I AM STILL A MARATHON RUNNER!

A week on from successfully completing my first marathon, the Virgin Money London Marathon 2015, and I'm still just as happy as I was a week ago.  This really will be something that lives with me all my life.  I did have about 5 seconds after when I thought “not again” but I soon dropped that nonsense and am eagerly awaiting the outcome of the 2016 ballot to try all over again!

The weeks up to the big day started with nicely controlled “tapering” as run mileage and intensity both reduced and I worked on recovery and energy stores.  In the last week, though, I seemed to encounter just about everyone with a cold as the famous pre marathon paranoia, or “maranoia”, really kicked in as the nerves built and I, like many others, worried constantly about something going wrong in the last few days – especially illness or injury!  What was at risk was 565 miles of relentless, self-focused, hard graft training…many say that the marathon is the hard bit, it isn’t, it is the “Glory Day” when you get back what you put in.  As long as you enjoy it too.

Early start 0616 train from Basingstoke packed with runners and supporters. Time for the iPod and some personal space.  Another train to Blackheath and I was there…umm, into grey, cold drizzle!  Rats!  But, I was lucky as, thanks to the great folks from Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, L&LR, I could join their pre-race do and have food, drinks, warmth and great loos!

All too soon, it was time to hit the Blue start assembly area, drop my bag and await the start in a fetching combo of old throw away tee shirt and a see through L&LR disposable poncho.  Yep, I cut a fine style in the portaloo queue…but I wasn’t alone.  Indeed, some 38,000 of us were doing the same thing, and we watched the big screens as the elites and wheelchairs made their early starts at amazing speeds, then queued in our particular start pens ready for the 10:10 start.  I’d thought that with so many people it may take 10-20 to get across the start line….but at 10:18:22 I was off and trying to remember all the advice.  Mainly to (1) NOT go out too fast and to pace it right, (2) keep my head up – take in the event fully – and enjoy it! and, (3) get my form right and use my arms to reset tempo making sure my hips and pelvis were level.

To be honest, all three worked and I pretty well kept to them although my pace and form slipped a little on miles 25 and 26 down the Embankment that just seemed to go on and on and on!  I was very fortunate that my club mate, Adrian, who was pacing for Runners World, caught me and shouted at me in Birdcage Walk which jolted me back to life for the big finish.  I had been aiming for 4 hours 10-15 mins and was and still am delighted with 4:12:57 with the potential to now tweak some things and improve stamina / form for the last 6.2 miles to go under 4 hours in future.

During the run, I really had enjoyed the whole thing and probably made it all look a big too easy at my cheering points at 11.5 and 23.3 miles where I not only accelerated to be far faster than targets for those miles but went by smiling and waving to show I was OK.  At both, I was very lucky to have two cheering groups…first my own dedicated “cheering crew” of my wonderful Debs who has had to live every day of my relentless training, plus Julia, Heather, Sophie, Danielle, Amy and her friend.  Easy to spot in bright yellow L&LR tee-shirts, they were what I was aiming for at each point and gave me a fantastic lift.  Then, at each place, just down the road were the supporters from running club, SPR, who gave me another lift. Did I make it look “easy” or “comfortable” by managing pace and the race mile by mile?  Yes, I probably did!  I now really do understand why people say the event is the easy bit…it is the utter dedication and determination in the training that is the hard bit with lovely 18 mile wet, cold, at times very lonely Sunday long runs.

I wanted to finish as the priority, I did and in a time I am very happy with for a first time running over 20 miles.  There is a great medal, tee shirt and goody bag but even more valuable are the memories as I was delighted that many of the people dearest to me could be there and share it with me…or, me share it with them?

By running for L&LR I not only benefitted from pre-event support and coaching but a post run celebration at Central Halls where, after a massive cheer that I just hadn’t expected,  some food, a very welcome 20 mins leg massage and an even more welcome beer.  Oh, and a wonderful feeling walking on carpet with no shoes or socks on!

A fantastic event and experience that couldn’t have been possible without a great group of people that each played a big role in the preparation and the day, who I trust with each aspect.  There were my constant “running buddies”, Amy and Libby, some guys from the Club, especially Jonathan, Nick D & Adrian, my coach Ben from Full Potential, all the team at L&LR, Gary Turner...and my brill sports physio, Vicki at The Body Reset Clinic.

In an earlier blog I said “…just eight weeks to go to VMLM2015, and I absolutely can’t wait!”  Well, I wasn’t wrong, I loved it, and absolutely can’t wait to VMLM2016!”.  I know what it will take now with the kind of dedication, focus and sacrifice needed for “the hard bit” the training!  Things will be different now as, before 2016, my “A” race schedule has a run of “firsts” this Summer:

·         24 hour solo endurance trail run, Endure24

·         50km Trail Ultra, the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1

·         Berlin Marathon

In my next blog I’ll talk about the recovery and the weeks after the marathon. Cheers, Mark

6 DOWN, 14 TO GO!!

The end of 2014 was tough...I lost my Dad in November and, whilst 94 is a fantastic age and he “kept all his marbles” until the end, it is still a big loss to lose my Dad, my friend, my “sounding board” and my inspiration in one go. A massive hole in my life that will never be filled, but life really is about the next generations and loved ones around me. That’s where my drive comes from now. The early weeks of London Marathon training were more “mechanical” than inspiring and they went in a unmotivated flow, ticking off session after session. Christmas and New Year changed all that. For once, I properly downed-tools from work, rested, re-charged and re-set my life. Proper rest, improving speed and endurance in training, the benefits of pilates and lots of great times with family and friends. I somewhat blew the concept of rest days (Ben at Full Potential please ignore that bit!) as my motivation kicked in and I found myself saying, between two parkruns on New Year’s Day “...funny, the more I go through my training the easier running is getting”! Doh!

But that is the difference, I am now deep (200 miles with 100 miles in 2015) into the 20 week pre London plan, seeing and feeling benefits although not (yet) shifting the weight I want to (basic physics...want to carry less weight, and each 1lb off equates to 10lbs less pressure on my knees) and have not touched a drop of alcohol since N Y Eve...even having a non-alchi birthday! I can really say now, having completed 6 weeks of the training plan that I am utterly enjoying it (yes, I am bonkers!) even its relentless nature. As some of you will know, this path to VMLM2015 is a step on to ultras so my plan differs from many a marathon plan that would have an easy day on Saturday ahead of a Sunday long run. Thanks to Ben (from FP) my plan is a very personal fit to my needs and what work demands of me too...unlike many, with my client work being on various sites, I am not able to do commute runs so I have adapted.

What’s my week like? Mondays are the oddest thing called “rest days” with [drum roll] NO running but with pilates...I am loving pilates but have no style – others have graceful and controlled movements, whereas mine are somewhere between a one-armed paper hanger and someone with their laces tied together! Core work and conditioning rule, and pilates along with my trusty foam roller and a fantastic new knobbly massage roller stick are working. My sports physio, the wonderful Vicki at Body Reset Clinic, is really pleased at the way some old, persistent muscle knots are getting under control. I really am trying to look after my legs and feet with all the investment going into training which means that I have stopped racing karts, which is quite a shock, and do get really annoyed at silly trips...caught a kerb and stumbled out of control into a parked car last week, luckily without any real injury apart from a sore foot for a day. The rest of the week has...3 effort sessions (Kenyan Hills, Intervals, fartleks, threshold, sprint hills, etc.), 2 recovery runs, parkrun and a Sunday long run or a Sunday cross country event. Oh, swimming and starting cycling again drop in there somewhere.

Gotta say, I love mud-plugging on cross countries and whilst the distances are “only” 5-6 miles there is an all-round training hit of threshold + hills + endurance in one wet hit, yes!! The year started with the Cliveden 6m XC taking 3.5 mins off my 2014 time around the beautiful grounds of the house, complete with steep uphill zigzag and twice up the 175 steps of yew tree walk!!!!!!

Fellow club members from Sherfield Park Runners, have been great. Practical advice, great club nights and also joining me in various of my effort sessions rather than me always banging out effort sessions on my own. Many are in their own training for half and full marathons so it works for all and I really, really appreciate the company and enthusiasm.

Events wise things are getting serious. The Bramley 20 (cunningly that is a very local, 20 mile race) is looming very near, as in Sunday 15th Feb! By then I really need to have settled on what “marathon pace” means for me as I am still in a range. 22nd March brings the Reading Half Marathon where Amy, my running buddy (from SPR), and I are targeting a 3 mins + reduction in PBs and getting a sub 1:45 HM. Yeah, not remarkable for many but another step forward for me where my first HM, March 2013, was 2:15+, so all good. April sees the London Marathon itself which I am already massively excited about, including the support that I know will be there from Debs and others, Endure24 in June as a solo and the Berlin Marathon in September. Now the latest piece of the jigsaw has landed...in August, at the Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 the very popular 50km trail ultra round Salisbury with 5 rivers, 4 hills, 3 country estates, 2 castles and a cathedral!

Why do all this? On one hand I love a challenge and am, in many ways, (Ultra)bonkers! But there is a good cause under all this...raising money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. Please have a look at this page, my drivers and what I’m trying to do:

 http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=MarkBurrell996&utm_source=SwitchToDesktop&utm_medium=web&utm_content=Footer&utm_campaign=VMGMobile&stop_mobi=yes

I have a stinking cold....do I care?  No!  Staying cheerful and positive and will use a little rest for all the development to sink in.  Cheers for now, Ultra Bonkers 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! :)