5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of...

I survived!

Since getting back home, I've had a lot of questions asking me how the marathon was and to be honest it would seem unfair to the experience to sum it up in one word, or even one sentence. I hope that in this final blog post, I will be able to bring together some of the thoughts and feelings I had throughout that 5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds. Hopefully I can put down some of the highlights

The start line

I knew there was going to be 38,000 runners I just didn't quite understand how that would look, it was quite overwhelming, from my starting point I couldn't see the point where the mass of runner began in front of me and I couldn't see where the mass of runners ended behind me. There were a huge amount of incredibly fit looking people. It was obvious by the way they were talking, they were not doing their first marathon, that aspect of it I found very intimidating. When the starting gun went off I was around 600 metres away from the physical starting line so I was already getting tired before I had crossed the start line (which took me around 17 minutes).

The funniest memories from the start was the impact of runners over hydrating before the long race, there were load of runners in the 17 minutes before the start line who had to jump the fence and run back to the toilets. Then in the first 400 metres of the race once people started running there was a long row of bushes at which there were about 30 guys doing the toilet. It was funny to overhear two ladies beside me complain at how life was very unfair for women, I must admit at this row of bushes I made my first pit stop, I too was over hydrated.

The marathon was 5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of nerves, anticipation and excitement!

The crowds

I heard many people tell me how amazing the crowds are going to be and they were. The first taste of the kind of support the runners would get came around 50 metres into the race, when some cockney geezer shouted "keep going guys, you are almost there" I could tell from the folks around him, that he had told this joke about 100 times in the last 17 minutes, but it was funny to me.

This kind of encouragement lasted the whole marathon.  So many of the locals came out just to shout and clap the runners on, many came with jelly babies, orange segments and other things that the runners might need on their way. The two main highlights for me were when running round the cutty sark (around 6 miles) and the tower bridge (around 12 miles) where the crowds were so loud it was like running through a wall of sound, it gave me the impression of what it must be like to be a professional athlete to have a huge stadium roar you round the track- it was spine tingling.

5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of pure elation!

The race entertainment 

Another really cool thing was the entertainment that was put on for the runners, this ranged from some guy with a set of speaker on his balcony playing music and shouting random words of encouragement, to Morris dancers, gospel choirs outside a church, live bands, drum bands, bagpipes, brass bands, cheerleaders and many more. It was really amazing that they would do this, you only saw them for 20 to 30 seconds but some were so brilliant that many runners applauded them as they went.

5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of fun

The 9 mile mark

I knew that somewhere around the 9 mile mark, my own personal fan club would be waiting to see me, at this point the road was a little narrower and it was thick with runners, without my glasses I wasn't too sure if I would miss them. I would have done, but somehow over the significant noise of the crowd, I heard a roar that I knew instantly to be my dad's (not that he needed to shout at me often as a child, but apparently I'm still sensitive to it).

I then (much to the annoyance of about 50 runners) crossed the road to greet my family, at that point I felt an abundance of elation and being high on adrenaline it was an extremely joyful reunion. I felt so pleased to share this experience with those I love most. I felt empowered as I hugged them and went on my way.

5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of happiness

The 16 mile mark

The boost I received from my family lasted a few miles, but unfortunately not 17.2 miles, at around the half way mark I was beginning to really toil, at 15 miles I had run further than I had ever run before and at 16 miles my legs would no longer cooperate.

In hindsight, I realise how ill-prepared I was to run 26.2 miles. Between having the flu twice, sitting two exams, trying to balance running with normal life and being extremely cautious not to run with an injury or pain, I just hadn't put enough miles in my legs. Most of the reading I had done talked about hitting the wall at around 19-20 miles. I definitely hit it at 16 miles. 10 miles to travel after hitting the wall is an extremely long way to go.

5 hour 22 minutes and 17 seconds of exhaustion

The 19 mile mark

Somewhere in London's financial district, is the 19 mile mark. This was the next place I was to meet my family. At this point I was going so slow, it would have been hard to miss them. This time it was not so much a happy reunion, I saw them and I just said "It's so sore". I could tell there was a lot of sympathy from them, I saw in their eyes the desire for them to say, Gary you've done really well just stop here and we'll get you home, but we all accepted quitting was not an option, the pain was the only option, but you don't ever want to see people you care about going through pain.

I had a couple of brief moments with Lynne, I can't remember what was said but I do remember taking a lot of heart from it.

5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of pain

20 - 25 miles

For me at this point, the crowds stop mattering, even the other runners didn't matter, no matter how imaginative their costumes were, I could have been on one of those long lonely runs I had done over the winter. It became such a mental battle, my feet were on fire, my knees and ankles were begging me to sit down and I couldn't help but feel I was doing some serious damage to my hips. It became so long with each mile feeling so much longer than the one previous.

At one point I remember thinking, I can't remember a time in my life when I was not running the London marathon.

To demonstrate my struggle in the last parts of the race, I received some race stats saying in the last 7km of the race I overtook 50 people but was overtaken by 1,100 people.

5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of mental anguish

The finishing line

The mental aspect seemed to lift a little with 2km to go, I was able to envisage the first 2km of most of  my training runs which is my house to Dobbie's and for some reason that seemed to give me great hope that the race would soon be finished. At the 26 mile mark, Buckingham palace came into view and I was able to break into a hobbled jog for the last 0.2 miles and was able to find a random stranger to hold hands with as we crossed the line together.

The feeling of relief as I crossed the line was overwhelming, I congratulated my random stranger and he congratulated me then I just broke down in tears. Now cause I'm a man, I want to say this is not really like me, but there was such a surge of emotion in crossing the line, I just couldn't hold it back. A week on, I still am not sure what it is exactly I was feeling, but I know I wasn't alone.

5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of relief

It was again a joyful reunion to meet all my family, for the long and painful walk to the busiest tube station I'd seen all weekend.

Post running pain and glory

I had a terrible sleep on Sunday night, primarily because of pain. I woke up about 1am unable to move my leg, I lay there for about 20 minutes before I had to wake Lynne up to help me out of bed, she didn't seem to have as much sympathy as at 19miles as she just laughed at me. Everyday since then I have got better and better, yesterday I actually did some exercise and felt great. I may even be ready to go for a run in the next few days.

On Monday morning we were at King's Cross station wearing my finishers medal, Charlie and I were standing in the queue to get a picture at platform 9 and 3/4. An American visitor in front of me looked at my medal which is silver in colour and asked me if I had just done the London marathon, I proudly told him that I had, to which he responded and you managed to come second, congratulations! Now I probably should have put him right, but I didn't!

Next steps

 It has been an amazing experience to prepare for and complete the London marathon. 21 weeks ago I was not doing any exercise, I sat in an office for hours a day. In doing this I managed to get much fitter, lose a bit of weight and feel like I have accomplished something amazing. If I can do it, then I think most people can amaze themselves and take on this amazing challenge.

Tomorrow morning the entry for the ballot for the 2016 marathon takes place, I've decided that I will apply again, it is unlikely I will get a place through the ballot, but if I do I will look forward to repeating that amazing experience, if I don't get a place through the ballot I will count myself lucky I don't have to go through that traumatic experience.

My advice to you all for this week, is to apply for a place in the London marathon. It can change you!

Thanks for reading.



Donors of the week

The last two weeks I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of friends, family as well as friends of family and family of friends. I would like to mention the following special people!

Isobel Watkins
41 UK
John mellor
Rita Tulloch
Mike, Jane and Ethan
The Bousies
Dawn
Marcella
Audrey (old school friend of Lynne's)
Paul
Rachel and Charles Oliver
Kathry and Nathan
Rachel Gorrie
Tony Rand
Shona
Ala Taylor
Gavin Duffy

These contributions in addition to all previous contributions have provided almost £1,650 to Actuaries' Charitable Trust, I thank you all.

I have received a very kind email from someone on behalf of the charity thanking me and all my donors for all the work that had been put in. They will ensure that these funds are put to good use.

Please give generously!

If you wanted to sponsor me but just never quite got round to it, my just giving account will be open for another two months. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false

Almost there (at the start line that is)

It's the final Countdown! De de do do, de de de da doo

Well I can't believe it is almost here, One week from now I will hopefully have successfully completed the London marathon. After all the pain, illnesses and the long lonely runs in all sorts of terrible Scottish weather I feel pretty confident that I will at the very least make the starting line. The finishing line? Well that is yet to be seen!

It's been a much better week as I've been in the pre run recovery where the advice has been to slow down and allow the muscles to recover. This week I took the opportunity to get a feel for the race atmosphere by taking part in the Edinburgh 5K Parkrun. As this was a very short run in comparison I wanted to really push it and had a target of 25 minutes. Much to my annoyance when I received the email telling me of my official race time it was 25 minutes and 1 second,  I was 196th out of 418 and had I been a girl I would have almost been in the top 40 ladies, which I think is something to be pleased about.  Although I really enjoyed having people around and can't even imagine what it's going to be like having 36,000 people around.

(Me looking very tired with only 200 metres to go at the park run, perhaps had I not slowed down for the camera I would have made it in under 25 minutes)

Well it seems appropriate at this time to pay my respects to one thing that has been with me through all my training but just won't make it for the big day, it may not seem it to you but this is a significant loss to me. After almost 250 miles of training in the last 4 months, my favourite shorts are no longer in a condition that they can be trusted to provide me with the support I will need for 26.2 miles....

(It's become a pretty big hole)

In some ways I feel upset on behalf of my shorts, it's kind of like when John Terry was playing for Chelsea all season but was suspended for the Champions League final, which would have been the biggest match of his career.  They may not be on my body but they will be in my thoughts.... Rest In Peace goodly shorts.

Well I hope to be able to share the key aspects of the weekend with you all via Facebook and I'll be sure to have a post race report on my return (Assuming I've survived!)

Wish me luck!

Vital Stats

Time run this week -  25 minutes 1 second
Distance covered this week - 5.0km
Distance covered since beginning of training - 371.3km
Average pace - 5 minutes 0.2 seconds per kilometre

Donor of the week

People have been very generous this week and the Actuaries Charitable Trust has had some great donations:


Firstly I must thank my employer, CPRM, who this week were extremely generous with their donation. I'm very lucky to work with some great people all of whom have been very supportive to me and my marathon attempt. It is great that the company has shown their support in this way and I'm very grateful to them.

Secondly I must also thank my good friends the Watson family:

(Steve and Rachel in their best outfits)

These guys have ensured I will think of them all the way by sponsoring me £1 for every mile.

Thirdly I must also thank Master Martin for his second donation to the marathon cause. Martin currently holds the position of the Master of the worshipful Company of Actuaries, which is the livery company that operates the Actuaries Charitable Trust. Thank you again Martin.

Please give generously!

It is only one week to the big day but it's not too late to sponsor this  fantastic cause. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false

London's calling!

Well I'm back on my feet (almost). Many thanks to Lynne who took over blogging duties last week as I was completely floored with the flu. I'm feeling mostly better now, although if you've been within 30 metres of me recently you'd know all about it as I have a barking cough that I can't seem to get rid of.

(A repeat picture, but this is how I look ill)

Being sick has been bad and good. It was really annoying as it came on the weekend I was supposed to do my longest run. I had hoped to do 18-19 miles, but I didn't get out at all. This made being sick all the more stressful, I spent the first day in bed, half awake half asleep dreaming about struggling to run the first couple of miles of the marathon. In other ways it has been good, my legs and hip feel better than they have done for a while, so it may be a good thing.

I have recovered enough in the last week to go on two runs, the first was just a tester to see how the lungs and legs were feeling and was only 4 miles. The second was on Saturday, I was running towards town and then the heaviest (and quite painful) hail shower started, I decided to run towards my old gym and did an hour and a bit on the treadmill and then jogged home once the sun had come out. Apart from coughing my lungs out at the end, I felt pretty good.

Now I am entering a stage of my training called the taper, it's where I basically let my muscles repair themselves so they are all good for the big day, I like this because it means I don't have to do long runs, which I like because I am really bored of long runs!

So now it's basically looking forward to the big day itself, I'm very excited about going to London, and think this is a really cool way to do a tour of the city.

A few years ago I had a three day tutorial for one of my actuarial exams down in London, everytime I go to London I act like a complete tourist, the 'local' actuaries always find it funny that I would be so excited about seeing Big Ben or crossing tower bridge. At the tutorial they all mocked me when I told them that my plan for the evening was to get as many 'selfies' of the London tourist attractions so I could text them to Lynne.  Best night ever....

(Me at Picadilly circus)

(Me at Trafalgar square)

(Me at the Horse's guard)

(Me at Downing Street)

(Me and Big Ben)

(Me at some cathedral)

(Me and Cromwell)

(Me at parliament)

(Me at the Olympic park)

(Me at Harrods)

Fingers crossed that the pace of my marathon means that I'll be going too fast to enjoy the sites. Although I think this will be a really cool way to see it all again.

Vital Stats

Time run this week -  2 hours 40 minutes
Distance covered this week - 26.6km
Distance covered since beginning of training - 366.3km
Average pace - 6 minutes 9 seconds per kilometre

Donor of the week

People have been very generous this week and the Actuaries Charitable Trust has had some great donations:


Now this wouldn't be the time for mother n law jokes (and I do have some good ones), but my mother n law was extremely generous in her donation. In giving her donation she insisted that I use her passport photo!

And many thanks to all my wife's hard working colleagues in Lochgelly for their kind contributions. Also must say thank you to Andre Miller for his contribution.

Thanks guys

Please give generously!

We are now less than 2 weeks away from the big day so if you would love the chance to be donor of the week and at the same time help a great cause that contributes to loads of different charities then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false

Down But Hopefully Not Out

Well you shall have to put up with me (Nurse Lynne) this week since our athlete is sick!  It all started on Friday when I suggested we spend the weekend decorating and gardening.  Gary suddenly developed a debilitating illness.  Suspicious I know, I thought the same but he has been rather convincing.

On Friday morning I decided the best thing to do would be to ignore it and give him disapproving looks when he didn't want to come to Homebase to buy wallpaper with me.  He soldiered on and I mustered some sympathy and thanked him for coming.   He was still planning an afternoon run and we both thought it might be just what was needed to show the germs who's boss.  He was going to meet his colleague at 5.30pm for a longer run, so just enough time to paint 3 walls of our sons bedroom.  I started to notice he really was quite unwell as we got going,  I think it was when he leaned over me and dripped snot on my hand!  So he admitted defeat and decided to cancel the afternoon run.  After the first coat was finished the sweat was lashing off of him and he decided to take a wee nap in between coats.  

He slept for 4 hours!  And spent the whole of the next day in bed.  By late afternoon he got up saying he felt better and asked if he could help.  He pasted one strip of wallpaper but the effort sent him back to bed for another 2 hours.  Now I normally don't mind sleeping next to my hot husband but these last two nights I could have fried an egg on him!  Now Gary is one of lifes stalwarts when it comes to illness.  In the last 5 years he has had one sick day off work when he had something similar to this.  We are not sure if its flu or something gastric since there has been some vomiting and the other.  He hasn't eaten and has only been able to sip water until today, he has just finished some lunch.  We are both hoping we don't see that again!  

So what does all this mean for our Marathon runner?  Well he is a little concerned since getting up the stairs is taking his breath away at the moment.    But with some positive thinking and lots of encouragement I'm sure he will still do us all proud.  Perhaps the lost weight will make it easier to carry himself round the 26miles-and he has lost a lot of weight.  Anyone looking for an effective crash diet may want to come visit and give him a big hug to catch his bug.  

I think it has made him feel worse as today has been gorgeous, probably the best weather day of the year, yesterday was quite nice too.  While Charlie and I haven't been able to venture far we have been able to get out on the bikes and enjoy the garden.  Poor Gary hasn't been able to join us.  This weekend is probably also the first Easter Holiday for about 8 years where he hasn't needed to be stuck in the house for different reasons.  Normally at this time of year he has had an exam to study for.  I know poor guy and I'm laying it on pretty thick aren't I?  I am probably just feeling guilty for my lack of sympathy initially.  

Well I am not sure re stats he was at the gym this week and spent a fair bit of time on the cross trainer.  Let's wish him luck for the week ahead and hope this doesn't effect his progress so far.

Hmm blogs need pictures don't they?  Hmm. would you be interested in seeing my sons wallpapered room and a before and after of the garden?  You would ok well here you go then.....

Gary pasted the second strip from the window-sterling effort!

Nearly before.

And After.

And what was Gary doing while all of this was going on?  Well variations of this position....... 

Poor guy please send him some love and donations are always appreciate too.

All donors of the week will be featured next week.  Thanks to all those who have donated so far.

Please give generously!

We are now less than 3 weeks away from the big day so if you would love the chance to be donor of the week and at the same time help a great cause that contributes to loads of different charities then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false

Inspiring a generation!

The marathon is now less than a month away, and I'm finding more and more of my thoughts are focussed on the marathon. The two main things being 1, whether I'm going to be able to complete it and 2, how the fundraising is going.

This was compounded this week when I received the final correspondence from the race organisers with all the details of registration and my race number. The number to watch out for is 51681. Fingers crossed that it is not also my finishing position!

I think it has annoyed Lynne a little that my attention has been a little elsewhere (as she is used to having my full focus). She said to me yesterday "Gary stop worrying about the marathon and go and spend some quality time with Charlie." I appreciated this reminder to not forget what's important in life, so I went through to Charlie and said to him "Boy go get your shoes on, we're going out for a run!"

I got a mixed reaction to this, there were a few complaints but on the whole once he got the idea that this was happening he was ok with it. We jogged and had a nice we chat on our trip, he learned an important lesson about going to the toilet before going out running and an even had the opportunity to get the all important life lesson regarding peeing against the wind! Despite this stop we finished a 2k run in a rather credible 16 minutes. Lynne laughed as we got home as I was sweating a lot more than him.

He was even aware of the post run ritual of a nice warm bath. Since this was about quality time, him, I and about a half dozen wrestling figures all squeezed into our very small bath, there was barely any room for water. He even suggested that this be repeated next week!

He also learned another important lesson recently thanks to the marathon. A few weeks ago he was in bed and I just decided to go upstairs and check on him to make sure he was sleeping, as I was going up the stairs I smelled the very distinctive smell of deep heat. Getting into the bedroom, I see Charlie with bright red legs having smothered them in deep heat cream. He had put a little cream on and when it got too hot had the idea to cool it down by using more cream which may have been repeated a few times. By the time I got up it had got a little out of hand, I first told him to leave it as it would cool down by itself, he asked how long it would take to cool down I told him about an hour, he almost had a fit "AN HOUR", I spent a few minutes blowing on his legs before he had to resort to a cool shower.

My runs have gone well this week, I ran just under 12 km on Tuesday night feeling a bit sore for the rest of the week. I ran 24km yesterday which I feel okay for considering. When I saw Uncle Paul the physio last week, he was able to work out that my right leg is about half an inch smaller than my left one. I made some small alterations to my shoe which seems to have helped my calf and hip. 

Perhaps I've just been running lop-sided all this time.

Vital Stats

Time run this week -  3 hours 47 minutes
Distance covered this week - 36.2km
Distance covered since beginning of training - 339.7km
Average pace - 6 minutes 16 seconds per kilometre

Donor of the week

People have been very generous this week and the Actuaries Charitable Trust has had some great donations:

First of all a big thank you to our friends Alex and Nargis:

Being donor of the week this week this is the second time in a week that Alex has struck fame, after appearing on TV last week on a programme on ITV called the triplets are coming, he was the surgeon performing some kind of c-section. It was extremely impressive. Thank you Alex and Nargis.

The folks at CPRM, many of my colleagues this week stuck their hand in their own pocket to give to the marathon efforts,  which was extremely appreciated! Many thanks to Neil, Laura, Ami, Helen, Wilma, Maili, Mike, Murray, Lesley, Kabir and Natalie who all donated in the past week.

Here is a picture of most of the company in our best formal business wear!


Also a special thanks must go to my team leader Gareth Evans:

(Gareth showing his usual level of focus on the crazy golf course at last year's actuarial team triathlon)

Gareth has been extremely kind with his contribution, not only by giving a very generous donation but also by donating his winnings from the recent cricket world cup sweep we had in the actuarial team. Gareth, an extremely proud Englishman has been at CPRM for two years now, he is also the current actuarial pudding champion and makes a mean key-lime pie. He is the kind of guy you'd want on your pub quiz team as he knows something about everything and is an all-round decent bloke! I don't say that just because of his donation but also because he'll do my appraisal later in the year!

Thanks Gareth and I hope you have fun on your sabbatical in Peru!

Thanks guys

Please give generously!

We are now less than 4 weeks away from the big day so if you would love the chance to be donor of the week and at the same time help a great cause that contributes to loads of different charities then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false

Once in a generation events! (the eclipse and the marathon)

Apart from the running, this week's been pretty good. Usually at this time of year it's about knuckling down and getting some serious revision down for actuarial exams. It's a relief seeing that pressure that my friends at work are now starting to feel won't affect me this April, although it doesn't mean I'm not studying...

(When I'm not out pounding the street I'm revising marathon theory)

This week has been marked by a few significant 'once in a generation' type events, I pretty much blinded myself on Friday morning looking up at he sun, looking out for the eclipse. I thought it was awesome, I went out with my pal Gary at around 9:25 and we enjoyed the amazing spectacle that was happening in the sky with a bacon roll (for protein purposes mainly!) Even though my phone is rubbish I got these decent snaps which I was quite happy with...

It was the kind of thing that geeky actuaries love, then it just continued to get better on Friday afternoon as the FTSE100 index went above 7000 points for the first time ever. It was like the best day for actuaries since the release of 'the Pensions Act 2004', and will be difficult to top!

Which all brings me to my own once in a generation event - running a marathon I will never, ever put my body through this again!

It's been an up and down week! I got so close to last week's commitment to run home from work, had it not been for the massive diversion on the bike path still being in place and the dark forcing me to take the long way home from Inverkeithing I probably would have made it. Anyway I completely ran out of gas and had to call Lynne to pick me up about a mile from home! For the first 18km I actually felt pretty good and it was done at an ok pace, the last 5km I was just running on fumes, I think I probably just needed some nourishment.

Anyway since that my legs and hip have been quite sore. I tried to go out for a shorter run yesterday but by 5km I had to stop as I felt like I was really aggravating something and had to walk home. I came home pretty dejected to be honest. I needed the help of Uncle Paul the physio, who basically told me I need to man up a bit:

I'm also now finding I'm being a little less tight and trying to invest in a lot of 'products' that will help me do better, here is just a sample of the things I'm now using:

Only 5 weeks to go now, I somehow need to find the balance between training and survival!  On the bright side however, I've had a few people this week say to me that I'm looking skinnier! It may just be worth the pain!

Vital Stats

Time run this week -  3 hours 10 minutes
Distance covered this week - 30.9km
Distance covered since beginning of training - 303.5km
Average pace - 6 minutes 9 seconds per kilometre

Donor of the week

I got three donations this week, thanks to everyone who has been so kind!

The Edinburgh Anderson's, this is my brother and his family:

They also left this great message inspired by my all time favourite movie

Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth...there is no spoon. Then you will see that it is not the spoon that's bends, it is yourself! There is no 26.218 miles...However, you are a spoon

Also my niece Amy Campbell:

(An old picture from a few years ago which she will probably not thank me for)

Amy, currently one of those poor students, has been pressured more than most for a donation, given all the free nights accommodation she's had at our place in the past few months.

I also received a mystery donation from someone calling themselves a "friend of a friend" perhaps wishing to remain anonymous I really appreciate this donation as it shows the generous spirit that many actuaries have. So thank you very much!

Thanks guys

Please give generously!

We are now just 5 short weeks away from the big day so if you would love the chance to be donor of the week and at the same time help a great cause that contributes to loads of different charities then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false

Going the extra mile...

Only six weeks to go!

This week I had someone come to me this week and say, "Gary, I've been reading your blog and I don't think you are doing enough training, all of these 10K runs should be 10 mile runs", other people have also echoed this sentiment, up to now I have been able use a range of excuses from studying for exams and having sore legs and worrying about injuries. My main worry however is that I agree with them but I am just unsure of the best way to prepare now.

Getting ready for work on Tuesday, I decided to do something different, I packed my running stuff went to the train station and asked the ticket man for a "single to South Gyle train station, for I am going to run home!" I had hoped for a shocked reaction from the ticket man but he just gave me an odd look and went on with his job. As the day wore on I became less and less convinced that this was a good idea, I had mapped out the route and it was around 20K (further than I have run up to this point) I decided that I would then run to Inverkeithing park and ride then get the bus home, a slightly more sensible 14 - 15K. I had even timed it so that I would comfortably make it back for a bus that would take me home.

I managed to leave work at the right time and everything was going smoothly until I reached the following sign:

In a car, I think it's reasonable to have the occasional diversion, but I did not expect this running home. The footpath diversion was huge adding around 2 to 3K of rolling hills to my run, meaning that in total I had run 17.2K and missed my bus home, although I did  enjoy the cracking views in getting to run across the road bridge.

(Instead of the expected run route of a straight line between 5K and 9.5K, I found myself taking the long way round)

As I was out that night I didn't really have time for much of a warm down, I just showered and went on my jolly way. The lack of warm down and the extra mile (or two) caught up with me at night as I woke up in a lot of pain in my hip, Wednesday morning has been about as low as I have felt in all my training as I kind of felt that I am just not made to run long distances (without hurting myself at least).

I approached the weekend with a lot of caution, not knowing if I would be able do even a shot run. However by Saturday morning I felt ok again so I went out to do another 10K, as I was approaching home I still felt fine and was able to turn that 10K into 10 miles!

Next week's challenge is to make it home (or at least get to the bus stop in time)

Vital Stats

Time run this week -  3 hours 20 minutes
Distance covered this week - 33.3km
Distance covered since beginning of training - 272.6km
Average pace - 6 minutes 0 seconds per kilometre

Donor of the week

I got two great donations this week which included my very first "international donation". My donors of the week were:

The McRobbs

Lynne's older sister Nikki (in the middle) and her husband Alex left Dunfermline a couple of years ago for Aberdeen(shire). In appreciation for my deep love (when I say love, I mean fear) of dogs they will hopefully be opening a kennels business later this year. I think they don't want me to visit!

Suzanne Newson

I was surprised when this old friend form my teenage years who moved to the good old USA  ages ago made a donation and inspiring quote from one of my favourite all-time movies.

"Run, Forest, Run." Good luck with your race.

Thanks guys

Please give generously!

We are now just 6 short weeks away from the big day so if you would love the chance to be donor of the week and at the same time help a great cause that contributes to loads of different charities then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false