Toe Nail Fell Off

June

Having spent a large proportion of my time bragging about the ease with which I completed the marathon (no strains, stiches, stoppages etc.) I've now got my comeuppance: A MISSING TOENAIL.

A blister developed on the second toe of my right foot during the marathon and it's since deflated, with the loose skin falling off only today, takign with it the entire toenail. It's a bit gross but doesn't hurt and is apparently caused by your feet expanding a little bit throughout the marathon and rubbing.

Apparently it's very common among runners to shed some nails, especially after such a long race and while it doesn't hurt I am worried about my summer holiday and how long it will take to grow back. Someone told me it will take 2 weeks but if it's bacly damaged it may never return.

Watch this space...

Pictures and Time Break Down

Wednesday June 4th

Here are some pictures of me taking part in the marathon together with a breakdown of my time over the course.

I haven't yet tried running again since completing the marathon, gave myself a full ten days off to recover. I felt awful last Monday and Tuesday and was still not walking 100% properly on Wednesday. By the weekend I was fine but still had a slight hamstring pull along the back of my left leg and didn't want to risk damage by running on it.

Off running tonight for the first time, will blog my progress.

NOW: Looking for next challenge to sign up to!

The breakdown shows I ran fairly consistently throughout, slowing by around what's expected during such a long race.

At the start: looking very happy. You can see the arm pouch bulging full of jelly babies and gel and the raspberry flavoured Zade in hand.

I like this picture: around 2-3 miles in and I'm running well.

Later on, not looking so happy but still trying to smile. This is around mile 16.

The Edinburgh Marathon - 26.2 miles

Sunday 25th May - D-DAY

And so it's over. I can't really believe it. But I do have the medal, scars and achey muscles to prove that I did run 26.2 miles on Sunday.

The start was fantastic. I'd walked to the pens with my friends and I felt really excited. The first few miles are through the centre of Edinburgh, down past the now-iconic parliament building with a fabulous view of Arthur's Seat - the peak of a group of hills which sit in Holyrood Park on Edinburgh's fringe.

The route then winds out of the city centre towards seaside resort Portobello and down the coast through a number of small towns before reaching the beautiful Gosford House where it turns back on itself for the last eight miles or so, to finish at Musselburgh Race Course.

At the half marathon stage in a town called Prestonpans I felt pretty good. I'd paced myself properly and I was running well.

The going got tough somewhere between miles 16 and 17. I ate 2 paracetamol, anticipating the pain to come.

That was wise. I started to feel the burn around mile 19. It was getting hotter, I was tired and my legs were aching. But I knew I had less than ten miles to go.

From mile 21 onward it's pretty much a blur -- I can't really remember much other than really, really wanting to get to the end and not allowing myself to stop running. All around me people were walking, stooping over and vomming in the road. My legs felt as heavy as lead.

As the Musselborough Racecourse came into view I picked up a little bit. The crowds thickened, knowing that soon I'd be able to stop. Crossing the line felt funny. I stopped moving and my legs turned to jelly. It didn't seem real. I'd finished in 4 hours 10 minutes, a time that made me very very happy.

My legs have been stiff for the past few days and I've got a little bit of rubbing around where my sports top was, but all in a escaped relatively unscathed.

A man dressed as spiderman broke his own world record, for the fastest costumed Marathon, finishing in an incredible 02:49:50.

Ran: 26.2 miles

Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes, 21 seconds

Ate: A lot of jelly babies, one disgusting gel, 2 paracetamol

Drank: Ridiculous amounts of water and lucozade sport

Felt: Hideous for 2 full days afterwards

Finally: A huge huge thank you to all my friends and family who came to watch, I really wouldn't have made it round without you there, you were incredible.

The Last Eight Miles

Wednesday 21 May

And so I ran the last eight miles before the marathon. In my new "woven shorts" from Nike and the RNLI vest that I'll be wearing on the day. I didn't want to go crazy so I stuck to the normal route, from the house, along the river to the park, three laps of the park then back along the river past my house for about half a mile then turned back on myself.

Battersea Park is a 200 acre park in south west London. It's London's only park to border the Thames and is very popular as a consequence. Opened in 1858, the park was once a popular spot for duelling.

The park was designed by architect Sir James Pennethorne, who was also responsible for another of my favourite running spots, Victoria Park in East London.

One of my favourite things to do in the park is to stroll along the river edge, with the water on one side and the green on the other. That route measures just over half a mile and takes you past the enormous London Peace Pagoda - a Buddhist tower which aims to provide a peaceful focus for everyone.

The first Peace Pagodas were built after World War II - to symbolise peace in two Japanese cities that were devastated by atomic bombs. They quickly became an international symbol of peace and by 2000, there were 80 in different global locations.

Ran: 8.11 miles

Time: 1 hour 18 mins 35 seconds

Pace per mile: 9 mins 40 seconds

Calories: 853

Branson's Virgin Group To Sponsor London Marathon From 2010

Tuesday 20th May

Last week while I was away Virgin Group - the company owned by U.K. entrepreneur Richard Branson - was named the official sponsor of the London Marathon from 2010.

The company has signed a five-year £17 million deal to take over the sponsorship from margarine-maker Flora. That's a whopping £3.4 million per race. The sponsorship will be lead by the group's financial services unit, Virgin Money.

Branson is one of the U.K.'s most overexposed personalities, coming a close second to Jade Goody. He’s thought to be worth around £3 billion with Virgin's 200 brands turning over more than £10 billion in 2006.

http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/

The Pre-Race Blues

Monday 19th May

I’d heard a lot about the Pre-Marathon Blues – a stage of the taper where lack of miles and worries about the race combine to make you feel dreadful.

Last Saturday I felt it.

After running so many miles, relieving stress and bumping up the endorphins, a lot of people find the taper mentally challenging. According to my research, it’s common to feel a range of emotions in this last week before the race: irritability, tiredness, depression, to name a few.

That – combined with the anxiety of running your first marathon – can put you at rock bottom. And so on Saturday I lay in bed until noon, worrying that I’d not be able to make it round or thinking I didn’t want to. I knew I had to get up. I knew I had to go running that day, but it was just easier to lie there and while away the hours. Even when I made it out of bed I couldn’t seem to carry on. I had no motivation for getting out of bed and no motivation for running.

Eventually I managed five slow miles but the feeling wouldn’t go away. And it’s still lingering even now.

They say these feelings can be relieved through “focused relaxation” which includes stretching, yoga, herbal teas and breathing exercises. Really I can’t see how any of those will help. I am trying to run a little, sleep a lot and stay in a positive frame of mind...

Bruxelles

13th – 16th May



Attending the annual Brussels Economic Forum I knew I wasn't going to get much running done. The days are long, the hours are relentless and you're lucky if you can remember your own name by the end of each day, let alone the fact that you're running a marathon in just over a week.

Nevertheless I decided to try a few short runs during my stay.

I managed two. Both in the morning before the conference day started.

The weather in Brussels this week was super hot. Hotter I think than in London and also muggier. The air hung heavily in an uncomfortably close fashion. I felt almost claustrophobic, penned in by the humidity.

The first run took place under these conditions and even though it was early in the morning on Thursday, I found it stifling. I made it round one lap of the park near where I was staying.

Parc du Cinquantenaire, a park built by King Leopold was named to commemorate 50 years of Belgian independence. It's a relatively small park, the distance of my running route around the outside is about 1.25 miles. It's in the eastern part of the European District of Brussels and is dominated by a huge arch in its centre which was built in 1880.

Over night on Thursday it rained very heavily, clearing the air and making Friday morning's run much more bearable. This time I made it round two laps of the park. I'd like to have continued for longer but time pressures didn't allow.

While I was running I worried all this tapering was making me unfit. Have I been taking the taper too seriously? Had I tapered myself in to a new unfit realm? I certainly don't feel as fit as I was feeling a few weeks ago.

Looking back I was feeling fittest around the time of my second long run, when I was doing several longish runs during the week. Now I feel sort of sluggish and lumpy, which is causing me to worry.

I'm told one final run of ten miles this weekend will round off my training nicely and that then I shouldn't do anything from Wednesday onward. I suppose this is the kind of knowledge that comes with experience of running a marathon and that it's only natural to have a few pre-mara jitters ahead of your first one. Let's hope it'll all be ok in ten days time.

Ranlegh Half Marathon

Sunday 11th May

Rose early to participate in a half marathon in Richmond. It was hot, hot, hot.

The route starts in the beautiful Petersham – a small hamlet-esque village just outside Richmond, on the road towards Kingston and close to Ham. The Ranlegh running club is situated behind The Dysart Arms, a pub named after William Murray, the 1st Earl of Dysart, who lived at nearby Ham House.

It really is a gorgeous part of London. Right next to the park, the main street is lined with a group of 17th and 18th century mansions. There’s Rutland Lodge, which is now converted in to mega-pricey flats, Montrose House, once home to rock legend Tommy Steele, and Petersham House, a Wren-period property owned by Francesco Boglione, who also owns the Petersham Nurseries.

Petersham Nurseries shot to fame a few years ago after Madonna allegedly lunched at the cafe. It’s run by Australian chef Skye Gyngell and has won a raft of awards including "best alfresco dining" at the Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards. www.petershamnurseries.com

Anyway, no alfresco café breakfast for me. I had 13 miles to run. The start of the route is uphill and after a short climb the rest is flat as a pancake. I started off well, but worried I was going a bit too fast in the heat. The first half of the run offered quite a lot of shade and I managed to keep fairly cool.

The second half of the run was very pretty, partly along the river covering the same course as the Kingston Breakfast Run I completed earlier in my training. It was very exposed to the sun and super, super hot. Had a bit of a waiver between miles 11 and 13, was really feeling the heat and lost my concept of how far it was to the finish. Luckily I managed to pull through that when I realized there was potential for me to finish in under 2 hours. Really pushed it for the last mile or so and finished in a time I was very very happy with.

Ran: 13.1 miles in one hour and fifty-eight minutes

Loot: Medal with blue ribbon, banana

Jelly babies at miles: 6, 8, 10, 11.5

Results: http://www.ranelagh-harriers.com/results/080511.html

The Big One: 22 Miles

Thursday 1st May

And so to the last long run of the training. Setting off to Richmond alone on the train I felt scared. I was weighed down by lucozade, water and jelly babies and I had over three and a half hours of solid running to go.

On reaching Richmond I decided to run up the hill from the station to the park. It's steep. Luckily I had The Incredible Sounds of the Dreem Teem garage sound track to keep me going... The ipod ran out after the first hour which was a bit annoying but ok.

I ran across the park and back, round the park, doubled back on myself and then ran across the park and back again.

Weather was a bit of a challenge. It hailed around mile six. I got upset and almost stopped. Pushed on through. At the end stopping felt funnier than carrying on. I seemed to be fine apart from one massive blister on my left foot and an achey bunion. I felt a huge sense of achievement and really now believe I will be able to do the marathon.

What was surprising was the amount of water I was able to intake without needing the loo. I drank at least one litre before I started and then another litre on the way around. Could have taken more on board if I'd had it.

Rewarded myself with a holiday in France and no running for five straight days.

Ran: 22.04 miles

Time: 3 hours 39 minutes, 12 seconds

Time per mile: 9 minutes 56 seconds

Calories: 2317

Jelly Babies At Miles: 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19.5 (low point), 20.

Hydration

Wednesday 30th April

Much has been written about the holy grail of hydration and of its importance to runners.

Most of it is useless, incomprehensible and fails to give clear guidelines.

After my lack of hydration in Richmond on Saturday I resolved to get to the bottom of the hydration-saga.

This little gem from the UK Government’s Food Standards Agency:

“It’s important to make sure you drink enough fluid when you’re training and when you’re running the race, but it’s also important not to drink too much. If you get dehydrated or if you drink too much, this can affect your performance and be bad for your health.”

Errr, thanks, that’s really helpful. It gets better:

“To perform at your best in the race it’s a good idea to listen to your body and drink whenever you feel thirsty. If you don’t feel thirsty, there’s no need to drink. And remember, you don’t need to drink at every water stop.”

So I need to drink exactly the right amount? Not too little but not too much? Ok thanks, that's great.

Better advice is found elsewhere:

It's important to begin the run properly hydrated. That means drinking at least 2 litres a day in the weeks leading up to the race and then 500ml of fluid two hours before the run and another 150ml of fluid just before you start.

Studies have shown that the average person loses 500ml - 1.5 litres of fluid per hour of exercise.

Replenising this is important, since a mere 4% drop in hydration levels leads to a 25% drop in performance.

Most people recommend taking 125-250ml of water or sports drinnk every 15-20 mins. That seems like a lot to me. Which is probably why I felt so dreadful on Saturday.

For a three hour run, that means you'd need around three litres of water. You'd probably also need to "do a Paula."

After a long run you should drink 500ml - 1.5 litres more, monitoring the colour of your urine as a guide to when you've had enough.

You're looking for the colour of pale straw apparently. Good luck!

18.2 Miles Down - 8 To Go

Saturday 26th April




Felt pretty scared ahead of this Saturday's run. I planned to run 18 miles and it was HOT.

To get an 18 mile route in Richmond I ran across the centre of the park from Richmond Gate to Roehampton Gate, turned and ran back and then ran around the edge of the park in one direction before turning around and running back again.

The first eleven miles were ok. Had two jelly babies at the start and then one at each mile after the eleventh. Miles 12-14 were also ok. Miles 15-18 were particularly tough and I ran out of Zade at just before mile 16. That was a mistake as it was very very hot.

Afterwards I felt alright. Very dehydrated, but ok. I had a sunburnt nose.

Legs were a bit stiff in the evening but muscles seemed to cope quite well. My left shin felt quite sore down the front and the bunion on my right foot is very painful but nothing a few days rest can't cure.

Topped off the day with a lovely picnic in Battersea Park watching the sun set. Rehyration using strawberry flavoured cava probably not the best option.

Felt: Encouraged by my progress, worried that I need to do more research on hydrating

Distance: 18.2 miles

Time: 2 hrs 48 mins
Average pace per mile: 9 mins 12 secs
Calories: 1916

Jelly Babies

Tuesday 22nd April

I’m dedicating this post to my good friend and housemate who introduced me to the power of jelly babies.

Apparently many runners use Jelly Babies as an energy source during longer races – both to fuel their miles and also as a motivational tool (“One more mile, then I’ll eat a baby”).

Jelly Babies are a cult UK sweet. Launched in 1918 to celebrate the end of World War I, they were originally called Peace Babies. Allegedly they come in six flavours: strawberry, lemon, raspberry, lime, blackcurrant and orange. The reality is they only come in one: sugar. Still there’s something strangely addictive about their texture, a soft jelly flesh encased in crystallized sugar.

And they are great for running.

I trialled the Babies for the first time last Saturday. It was fantastic. We ate them as follows:

Start: Two babies
Mile Seven: One baby
Mile Ten: One baby
Mile Twelve: One baby

I think the effect was mostly psychological but it definitely worked, if you’re feeling low or like you might stop, you can just focus your mind on the next jelly baby. Further exploration on the internet suggests that some runners take a baby on board at each mile after the halfway point.

Calories per baby: 20 (all from sugar)
Nutrition per 100g: Calories: 335, Carbs: 79.5g, Protein: 4.0g, Fat: 0.0g

Ingredients: sugar, glucose syrup, water, gelatine, citric acid, colours (E150d, E120, E132, E104), flavourings, suphites.

Turns out I’m not the only one with a penchant for the jellied baby:

The father of a little boy with a rare skin condition says positive thinking and jelly babies were the key to getting him through the London Marathon to raise money for research into his condition.
http://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/latest-features/Dad-runs-marathon-for-little.3996457.jp

A runner is hoping for sweet success in the London Marathon due to her Jelly Baby powered training regime.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=304259

The Big Build Up

Saturday 19th April


Coming in to the final stages of the training now and the last three massive runs. More seasoned runners than me assure me that this is where it all happens – the most vital part of the preparation.

I plan three long runs:
Saturday 19th April – 14 miles
Saturday 26th April – 18 miles
Thursday 1st May – 22 miles

Then I enter the taper phase.

Most of my reading on Marathon Running suggests that many runners ignore the taper phase and therefore aren’t properly rested for the Main Event. The idea is that – having built up your miles and fitness over the weeks – you should reduce your weekly mileage and length of run to guard against injury and recover from the strain you’ve put your body under in the build up.

Last Saturday saw the first of the long runs in Richmond Park – without a doubt the most beautiful place in London to run. We ran around the perimeter once then turned back on ourselves and went round in the opposite direction.

It was tough. Especially when we reached 7 miles and realized we’d need to do it all over again. But somehow we kept going and even managed a little pick up in pace toward the end. Afterward my legs hurt but I felt good. It made me feel that I was almost ready for the marathon both physically and mentally. There was also a massive sense of achievement in getting the first of the three long runs out of the way.

Roll on next Saturday!

Distance: 14.3 miles
Time: 2 hrs 14 mins
Average pace per mile: 9 mins 25 secs
Calories: 1503

Nike+ SportBand

Sunday 20th April

My running life’s been revolutionized. Last week I bought a Nike+ SportBand. It tracks distance, time, pace and calories burned. It’s absolutely incredible and really easy to use, even for a confirmed technophobe like me.

It works via a sensor in your shoe that sends out a signal with every step you take. That communicates with a band on your wrist which holds a UBS key. Once you’ve finished the run you unplug the USB key from the watch strap, plug it in to the computer and it uploads your runs to a website, plotting them on a pace graph.

I’m quite a new user but I’m very excited about it. On the Nike+ website you can look back over every single run you’ve done, check out the stats, benchmark yourself against other runners and download free running plans to get ready for different races.

I paid £48 for mine at London City Runner, which is on Ludgate Broadway near Ludgate Circus in the city. It was £40 for the Nike+ set which contain the band, the USB key and the shoe chip and then a further £8 for a shoe wallet which attaches to your shoe and holds the chip because I don’t have Nike running shoes.

www.londoncityrunner.com

www.nikeplus.com

And runnin' runnin'

Monday 14th - Friday 18th April

This week has been exhausting. I've managed nothing more than a few runs between the office and home.

Saw Jeremy Irons playing Harold Macmillan in Never So Good at the National Theatre. Macmillan was the British prime minister from 1957-63 and the play looks back at his life, revealing a bevvy of interesting facts for those of us who haven't read his biography. I didn't know Macmillan was wounded five times in World War I or that he survived a plane crash in World War II. Jeremy Irons was Very Good, as was the actor who plays Churchill and duckface from Four Weddings and a Funeral. Highly Recommended, especially if you can get the £10 tickets offer from Travelex.

Also watched the Italian film My Brother Is An Only Child, which follows two squabbling brothers navigating the political ideologies of 1960s Italy. The older hot brother is a communist, the younger, gangly one a fascist. They fight, they make up, they fight some more. They are a metaphor for the entire country. One dies, the other comes to terms with himself and his politics. Beautiful. Thought provoking given my current heightened interest in Italian politics. Could have been half an hour shorter.

The London Marathon - Blood, Vaseline and Blisters

Sunday 13th April

The London Marathon


Watching the London Marathon was at once inspirational and frightening. The reality of what your body goes through was striking, as was the obvious difference between the people that were well prepared and those who really, really weren’t…

Our first stop was between Miles Eleven and Twelve, at Bermondsey. Torrential rain notwithstanding most people were looking fairly chipper. There were a few good costumes, a few bad ones and some crazy folk who'd chosen not only to run more than 26 miles but to do so pretty much in the nude.

Freshness left us at our next stop: Mile Twenty-Four. This was marathon running laid bare. Probably one of the most gruesome points you can stand at. Sodden, tired, bloody: the runners were really feeling it. Attendants handed out Vaseline and Lucozade, dignity didn't play a massive role.

Gordon Ramsay sailed by looking fresh as a daisy. He was running the marathon for an impressive ninth-straight time. We also spotted Castaway has-been and Atlantic rower Ben Fogle, a giant Cornish pasty and a group of six Maasai warriors from a village in northern Tanzania, who were running in jangley flip flops.

Kenyan-speedster Martin Lel set a new course record this year, completing the course in a staggering 2 hours, 5 mins and 16 seconds and chalking up a pace that's waaaay under a five minute mile.

My friends completed in times ranging from 3 hours and 42 minutes to 5 hours and 7 minutes. WELL DONE EVERYONE.

Inspired I ran just over four miles in the evening: around Battersea Park and along the river a little bit.

Fact: London's marathon course is the only one in the world to take in both the east and west hemispheres, crossing the Prime Meridian in Greenwich.

Richmond Ten Miler

Saturday 12th April

A beautiful run this Saturday, around the perimeter of Richmond Park. Much nicer than any of the more urban runs I've done so far.

One lap of the lovely Richmond Park is about eight miles, we added on another two miles at the end. The 'zade came in handy around mile seven. All in all a great run - there's a few sneaky hills if you run around clockwise (which we did) but you can knock most of those out by running anti-clockwise.

Richmond Park is the largest open space in London and covers around 2,500 acres. It was created by King Charles I, who brought his court to Richmond Palace in 1625 to escape the plague in London. The park itself is walled, and quite rugged with lots of little woods and copses and a golf course on the east side. The highest hill in the park is called King Henry VIII's Mound - we ran up it - slowly.

After a few weeks of feeling fairly downbeat this run restored my enthusiasm for the challenge ahead. I loved the sense of feeling out of the city and the fresh air.

Saturday ended with afternoon tea at a friend's in Islington. Polished off lots of crustless sandwiches and scones sans-guilt after my ten miles in the morning.

Perfect.

www.royalparks.gov.uk/richmond

Ran: Ten miles

Realised: How close to Richmond Clapham Junction is

Resolved: To go to Richmond more often

Ate:

Shredded wheat

Crustless sandwiches

Scone, jam, cream

Little cakes

Pink fizzy wine

Lots of tea

Nice Cup Of Tea

Monday 7th April
This one doesn't need any explanation but very accurately captures my current mood.

It's from the lovely Last Lemon Productions: www.haroldsplanet.com

Ljubljana and Bled

3rd - 7th April

Work took me to Slovenia for a few days this weekend while training took a back seat. Left my running kit at home but did manage two walks and one short swim which I hope went someway to bolstering my fitness.

Walk One took me through Ljubljana Old Town and up the steep Castle Hill to Ljubljana Castle, a hotchpotch of architectural styles thought to have been first settled in 1200BC. According to the information points, the castle was first mentioned in literature in 1144, and was gradually added to over the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. After a brief spell as a prison in the early 19th century, the building was renovated in the 1960s and is now used as a venue for weddings and cultural events. There’s a café in the main courtyard and a great 360 view from the top of the main tower.

Walk Two was a far-more-substantial 6.5k in Bled, a small town in the north-west of the country at the edge of the Julian Alps. It’s almost too pretty to believe and eerily quiet. The town is set on a picture perfect, mountain ringed lake, with an island-church in the middle. That’s overlooked by a cliff-perched castle which adds to the Disney-esque fairytale setting. Gave myself a near-heart-attack and several blisters hiking up to the viewpoint to get some photos. Undid all I’d achieved by scoffing local-specialty the kremna rezina – a vanilla custard and cream pastry not dissimilar to England’s custard slice.

The Battersea Loop

Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd April

Motivation, Staying Power and Enthusiasm have all abandoned me these past few days.

Drank too much wine. Worked a lot.

Ran the tried and tested "Battersea Loop" just to keep going. The loop is just 2.9 miles, or 4.7 kilometres long. Realised I would need to run it nine times to make a marathon.

Got depressed. Not good for reviving Motivation, Staying Power or Enthusiasm. Resolved that one day soon I will run the Battersea Loop six times in a row. Felt better.

Uphill Struggle

Monday 31st March

One of the things about training for a marathon is that it becomes increasingly difficult to fit in anything else. Training swallows your life whole, like a snake digesting a mouse. Thusfar I’ve chosen to prioritize my life over my training, but with less than eight weeks until D-day something had to give.

And so I found myself hatching a Master Plan.

Invited to Monday night dinner in Finchley? Not a problem, I’ll run to it: putting in the miles, saving time and arriving for supper with a healthy glow. Genius.

A quick look at walkit.com suggests a route of 8.2 miles from my office to my friend’s house near Finchley Central. So far so good: Quick change at work. Back pack on. Ipod in. And we’re off.

One of the great things about running a route you've never run before is the sense of freshness: the thrill of taking in new sights and the slightly sick feeling when you worry you're getting lost.

One of the not-so-great things about running a route you’ve never run before is that it’s fairly easy to underestimate the amount of pollution or the number of hills you’ll encounter.

And hills and pollution there were aplenty. In fact, this entire route was on an upwardly-tilted main road.

Setting out up Gray’s Inn Road in the sun shine I felt pretty positive. Cutting down the side of Kings Cross Station, the route took me past disused London Underground station York Road – which sits between Kings Cross and Caledonian Road on the Piccadilly Line and closed in 1932 – and into the hinterland of “redevelopment” that sits behind Kings Cross.

The long and not-particularly good-looking Brecknock Road made up the next stretch, delivering me to Tufnell Park tube station, which is encased in that distinctive and very attractive Edwardian red tiling that I like.

After that the super-hill set in. Dartmouth Park HILL is a hill and a half. A long, protracted, seemingly never-ending beast of a hump.

After what seemed like eternity, I reached Waterlow Park – one of London’s most underrated green spaces, perhaps because of its steep hill location. It’s 26-acres and was given to the public as a "garden for the gardenless" by London’s then-Lord Mayor, Sir Sydney Waterlow in 1889. To the south, the park borders Highgate Cemetery, resting place of a plethora of famous dead people, including Karl Marx. Passing up through the park I paused for breath at Lauderdale House, a neoclassical style building which took its name from the Earl who first lived there. Now an arts centre and tea room, its hill-top location affords visitors a jaw-dropping view over London.

Onward and upward, through miles of residential wasteland and across the hellish North Circular, I eventually landed in Finchley, just in time for sausage and cabbage mash, bracingly strong coffee and a white chocolate chip cookie. Yum.

Ran: 8.2 miles, mostly uphill.

Felt: The burn of those hills, Over full after supper.

Ate:
Porridge with banana and honey
Hot cross bun
Niçoise salad (no anchovies)
Apple, grape and yogurt salad
Sausage and cabbage mash
White chocolate chip cookie

ASICS Kingston 8.2 Mile Race

EIGHT WEEKS TO GO

Sunday 30th March

A mile is longer than a kilometre.

Not rocket science I know, but something I became acutely aware of this morning.

Most of my training thus far has been done in kilometre denominated races: You run, every so often a sign pops up telling you which kilometre you're at. Psychologically it's quite comforting and - when you're running in kilometres - it's never too far until the next sign.

Cut to rainy Kingston at 7am on a depressingly-grey Sunday morning. In real terms it was 6am because the clocks went forward last night. Eighty-percent recovered from a knock-out bout of Winter Vomiting Illness, and after five straight days without running, I had - perhaps foolishly - decided to get back in the game at a 8.2 mile "breakfast run" in south west London.

Got off to a slow start in a bottle neck. Forced to dodge way too many obstacles in Kingston town centre (Not cool, Mr. Race Organiser). Became distressed at lack of distance sign posts. Realised a mile is a lot further to run than a kilometre, hence lack of signage. Splashed about in some mud. Ran along the river (pretty), then along the road (not so pretty). Handed free lucozade. Finished. Handed more free lucozade. Became stuck in long queue to give in bar code (Again, not cool.) And another to pickup bag (Ditto).

Maybe it was the weather or the rude early start or perhaps it was my mood or lack of health, but I didn't enjoy the Kingston run as much as I'd hoped. Granted, part of the course goes along the river and past Hampton Court Palace which is pretty, but the thrill of that is soon eroded by the drudge of running the final two-thirds of the race along major roads. Not good for the lungs or the knees. And the organisation could be better: there's no accurate timing, no clocks along the way and at the finish you're required to rip off a bar code and queue up in a funnel system so that your place in the race can be recorded. Which seemed to take forever. Bah humbug. Overtired. Going to bed.

Ran: 8.2 miles in one hour and fourteen minutes

Loot: Novelty Mug (much respect), ASICS Branded Pen, Organic Dark Chocolate, Banana, Honey and Oat Snack, LOADS of Lucozade

Really Dreadful Pictures:

www.sportcam.net/photos/0804010747/0/pv_BRE08_5193x015604.JPG

www.sportcam.net/photos/0804010747/0/pv_BRE08_5193cx013216.JPG

www.sportcam.net/photos/0804010747/0/pv_BRE08_5193x002182.JPG

Highs: Running along the river, Finishing.

Lows: Queuing to finish, grim porter loos, moody women in the bag drop, lack of proper time checks.

Ate:
Porridge with banana
Honey and oat bar (in race goody bag)
Hot cross bun
Chicken and avocado sandwich (yum)
Mint choc chip ice cream cone
Hot chocolate
Pineapple chunks
Pasta with courgette, tomato and bacon sauce

Two More Days Of Nowt

Friday 28th and Saturday 29th March

Really there isn't much to blog about. I've wasted 48 hours of my life lying in bed. Felt well enough on Saturday to try 3 "normal" meals but not well enough to run anywhere. Consulted my friend's doctor-boyfriend over lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. He said I'll be well enough to run again on Sunday, provided I'm properly hydrated. Apparantly that's one of the key aspects of marathon running (eight weeks off, it's a constant learning curve). Onward and upward, off to bed early ahead of loss of hour and VERY early start...

Learnt about: hydration

Watched: Hot Fuzz on dvd

Ate:
Dry bread
Smoked chicken salad
Chocolate brownie
Chicken stir fry
Cadburys Creme Egg

Wipe Out: Third-Straight Day

Thursday 27th March

The second day of trying to shake off the norovirus saw me floating round the house in a trance, bleaching everything I own and watching a lot of dreadful day-time TV.

Realised things were hitting a low point after spending thirty minutes musing as to why diet coke tastes so much better out of a can...

Ran: No where, THIRD DAY IN A ROW

Ate:
A few jacobs cream crackers
Lots of cans of diet coke
Two slices of dry toast

Knocked Out By Norovirus

Wednesday 26th March

Training's taken a back seat after some unscrupulous villain infected me with Norovirus, or Winter Vomiting Disease.

It's a new one to me, but according to BBC Health, Norovirus is the most common cause of gut infection in the UK, hitting over 60,000 people in England each year. Plans to run home as part of training had to take a back seat as did the idea of meeting a university friend from Leeds who's only in London for one night. Stomach feels like its in a wrangle, sleeping a lot. Bored myself to sleep listening to France-England on Radio Five Live and surfaced only to watch The Apprentice at nine.

The Apprentice: First episode of a new series. Interesting collection of 16 "High Achievers" this year, whittled down to 15 after trainee solicitor Nicholas de-Lacy Brown got the boot for selling whole lobsters at four pounds ninety each. Sir Alan Sugar sent his job-seekers to Islington's Chapel Market to flog 600 quids worth of fish and return with a profit. Unsurprisingly the market-goers snapped up the cheap lobsters, prompting the boys team to lose and Nicholas "Head of Pricing" de-Lacy Brown to get his marching orders. Shockingly all of the eight team members seemed to think £4.90 was the right price for a lobster. I wondered where they shop. Lobsters are about 15 quid each in Waitrose. At the Big Easy in Chelsea they have a lobster festival where half a lobster sets you back £15, and in J Sheeky, it's a hefty forty quid. The more cynical among us might speculate that these blunders are, at least in part, solely for the camera's benefit...

Ran: No where, for the second-straight day

Ate:
Porridge
Tuna sandwich
Half pack of cheese and onion crisps

Vommed: A lot

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7169347.stm

Inpromptu Day Off

Tuesday 25th March

Knee and hip felt off after yesterday’s escapades. Resolved to tackle problem by wearing four-inch heels to work and “resting” i.e. ignoring alarm clock to lie-in when I should have been on a pre-work run. Wracked with guilt over lack of training: tried to overcompensate by researching training watches on the internet. Couldn’t commit to one. Watched Hollyoaks, ‘Stenders and Napoleon Dynamite in succession. Should have been running.


Ran: No where

Worried about: Getting a cold

Resolved: To do better tomorrow

Ate:
Soy-milk porridge with honey and banana
Niçoise salad (no anchovies)
Apple, kiwi and strawberry salad
Innocent mango and passion fruit smoothie
4 x mini eggs
1 glass of white wine
Prawn and pea risotto
3 x mini Cadbury crème eggs
Lots of Rooibos tea

Stanwick 10K Road Race - Easter Monday

9 WEEKS AND COUNTING

Monday 24th March

Madness is... getting out of bed at 7am on a Bank Holiday Monday.

Utter madness is getting out of bed at 7am on a Bank Holiday Monday in sub-zero temperatures, dragging your entire family an hour in the car to a village you've never heard of and completing a 10K race over undulating terrain.

And so my marathon journey took me to Northamptonshire village, Stanwick, and its annual Easter run. It was cold. Numb feet and blue arms at the start line. Much debate over whether or not to wear jumper.

Started as well as could be expected on an incline. Spurred on by sighting of Grandpa at 1K. Mental strength left me at 1.5K when it dawned on me that there was likely to be more than one hill... pretty sure I'd been overtaken by at least 50 other runners by then. Got into stride behind seriously old dude with pale grey mullet, matching sweatbands and tiny shorts. Internalized thoughts. Lots of hills. Sharp incline about three quarters in = upsetting. Downhill finish = serious killer.

Ran: 10K undulating road race in 50 mins and 37 seconds.

Loot: Medal, orange squash, glory.

Highs: Spotting Gramps at 1K, regaining the feeling in my toes at 2K

Lows: Turning blue, getting overtaken by a geriatric

Ate:
Shredded wheat with skimmed milk and banana
Baked potato with beans and cheese
1 slice Cadbury's Easter Cake
Pint of shandy
1.5 glasses of rose
Unorthodox spaghetti carbonara (chicken as well as bacon).