Archive for the ‘London Marathon’ Category

Image by bignoseduglyguy via Flickr

As I finished a 14-miler last weekend I passed two runners coming in the other direction. These two chaps, virtually sprinting, were about 7 feet tall and didn’t have an ounce of fat on them. If you’d have cooked them up and made a jogger-burger you’d still be chewing the meat a week later. These two were as toned as they come.

I’d manage to finish my 14-mile training run in about 2 hours 10 minutes (not bad going considering I was taking it easy). Who knows at what stage these two runners were. But just from the look of their posture, the length of their stride and the clothes they were wearing you could tell that they were professionals. Or at least ran for more than a hobby.

This got me thinking. How much of a lifestyle change do you have to make to become a professional runner? How much competition is there? What sort of money are we talking for a race win? How fast do you really have to be?

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As you all probably know, registration for the London Marathon 2010 filled in record time this year. 2 days and 16 hours after the website opened the ballot places were already filled, a full 15 days quicker than the previous year. I check twitter very regularly for those talking about the London Marathon and the number of people raising money for charity with JustGiving is phenomenal. With so many trying to raise money it can be easy to forget the reasons that these people are inspired to do what they do.

If there ever was a frank reminder of those, not just running the marathon, but who decide to perform magnificent feats in the name of charity, then the JustGiving awards was it.

Last year, JustGiving came under some scrutiny in the media. The spin was that people were claiming to be emotionally blackmailed into donating via online charity sites such as them. An unnamed Daily Mail columnist (no surprises there) would not be bullied into donating via the web when she could just as easily donate her cash and know that all of her money was going straight to her charity.

But when Major Phil Packer manages to raise over £1.3 million for Help for Heroes, or a campaign to stop X-Factor from claiming yet another Christmas #1 raises over £100,000 for Shelter in less than 2 months, you have to face facts. Since its inception in 1999, JustGiving has helped over 8,000 charities raise over £450 million. None of this would have been possible without the ease and speed at which users are able to donate online.

But, JustGiving admit themselves that they would be nothing without their fundraisers. So what better way to show their appreciation than by throwing their first ever awards ceremony in London to celebrate the amazing people that give up their lives for others.

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I’m writing this post from the comfort of my bed this week. A culmination of the cold weather, over doing it at Christmas and marathon training have resulted in a sustained period of man-flu and (eventually) two days off work.

After my doctor basically told me to stop being an idiot, stop training, take some paracetamol and go to bed, I’m now halting my marathon training until I’m back up to full strength.

It’s a tough little conundrum. Like last year, I’ve taken on a 16-week training plan for this year’s marathon. Some don’t think that’s enough but 5-6 runs a week for 4 months will do me plenty.

I’d kept up a fairly decent 10k pace before beginning my training so it wasn’t too much of a shock to the system once starting. But how in the name of all that is holy am I supposed to train in the worst snow Britain has seen for decades, not get a cold and have any chance of beating my time last year?!

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So I’ve managed to claw my way back into the London Marathon for 2010. Thanks to the Lymphoma Association, I’ll be donning a fluorescent green running vest in April 2010 and running around London with 40,000 other nutters (some of you may have noticed a new purple twinge to the site).

If you were lucky enough to have been given a ballot place, then count yourself lucky indeed! You had less than a 1 in 5 shot. 100,000 entrants will have been turned down to run in 2010. I was one of them so thank your lucky stars you even have a shot.

If you managed to grab a charity place then count yourself even luckier. To grab one of the 12,500 guaranteed places you have a 1 in 8 shot!

Unless you’re a celebrity, the hardest part of the London Marathon is getting in!

Guaranteed (Golden Bond) places come at a cost. Sponsorship targets range from £1000 – £2500 and most charities will make you sign a form to say that you will have banked the money by a certain date. For the 2009 marathon my target was £2000, which I smashed by over £400. But in order to do that I had to win an amateur video competition, beg my company for a sizeable donation and rely on the huge generosity of my friends and family, who will no doubt be suffering from ‘donor fatigue’ this time around.

I’ll be covering off unique ways to raise money in this blog in the months to come. But before that I have to plug my own!

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After any long distance run, the steps you take during your recovery process can determine how quickly you are out running again. Those in full swing of a marathon training plan, will be running anything from 5 to 20 miles each weekend. Here are a few tips to ensure you are back on your feet by the time the next weekend comes around…

• Stretch
  Probably the most important thing you should do immediately after your run is stretch. It will help increase the length of your stride. You’ll also flush out lactic acid and prevent an injury creeping up on you over the next few days. Position your stretch and hold it for 10 seconds. Do not bounce. Some people believe that stretching can sometimes cause injury (muscle tearing etc). While this is true, injury normally occurs when you stretch cold, tight muscle (i.e. before a run). Stretching warmer muscles (which they will be after a run) should be fine. Check out Brad Walker’s book, The Anatomy of Stretching for more information.
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• Refuel
  Make sure you take on plenty of water as soon as you finish. This will replenish the fluids you’ve lost in sweat as you’ve been running. A good way to check that you are hydrated enough after a run is to look at the colour of your urine. If it is darker than usual, drink more. Drinking sports drinks and using sports gels or CLIF Shot Blocks will also replace electrolytes so try to do this as you run. Once you are back your body will be screaming out for you to replenish your glycogen stores. You’ll need to stock up on carbs and protein so get a banana down you within 20 minutes of getting back.
  

• Keep warm
  You’ll feel understandably hot after a marathon and keeping warm might be the last thing you want to do. But the foil blankets are there for a reason! Your defences are weakened after a long run and as your body loses heat you’ll increase the risk of infection. Your muscles will also become stiff. Cool your body down gradually by keeping moving (strong walks will loosen the muscles).
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• Sooth those aches and pains
  If you have picked up an injury, or you find that one part of your body is aching more than usual, then rest that area. Massage gels like Jointace, Blue Active Gel and Tiger Balm are useful for reducing inflammation around the knees or the lower back. Alternatively, grab a bag of frozen peas or have an ice bath.
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• Get a massage
  If you’ve just finished a marathon and ran for a charity, a lot of charities provide free sports massages at the finish line. They can be pretty intense though so you might want to ask the masseuse to take it easy on you. If you’re in training, chances are that you won’t be able to splash out for a sports massage every week so try out the Scholl Percussion Massager (£49.99). One of the detachable heads has a group of rubber pinpoints that really loosens your thigh muscles. It also has a detachable handle so you can do your own back (if your other half won’t oblige)!
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• Aerate your feet
  Get those soggy socks off quickly and let your feet breathe. The moisture that can accumulate in your shoes during a long distance run can lead to infections. Change into dry socks immediately after your run. Better still, wear flip-flops around the house. It’ll also mean that blisters will heal more quickly. SOLE’s Platinum Sandals do the trick nicely as they have an orthopedic  footbed (rather than a flat piece of rubber) that supports your arches and are much more comfortable than standard flip-flops.

Sir Win A Lot

For a chance to win a huge goody bag full of products that will help you on the road to recovery, including:

• 8 Jointace patches (www.vitabiotics.com/Jointace)
• A tube of Jointace massage gel
• 6 CLIF Shot Blocks (www.clifbar.com)
• 2 pots of Blue Active joint gel (www.blue-active.com)
• A pair of SOLE Platinum Sandals (www.yoursole.co.uk)
• A Scholl Muscle Therapy Percussion Massager
• 4 sports books (The Anatomy of Stretching, The Anatomy of Sports Injuries, The Anatomy of Pilates and Stability, Sport and Performance Movement)

… all you have to do is either…

1. Post a message on Twitter by clicking this link or…
2. Answer the following question:

ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE, WHAT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU SHOULD DO AFTER RUNNING?

A. Eat

B. Stretch

C. Sleep

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

*Winners will be contacted either by email or Twitter and announced on 12th October. Your email address will in no way be distributed to third parties.

Race Day – part 2

I knew the next section of the course very well, having run it many times before during my training runs. This, however, was not an advantage at all. The Highway, Westferry Road and Eastferry Road are long stretches of tarmac that just seem to keep going and have no poignant landmarks (aside from Canary Wharf in the distance). Although the crowds were brilliant, the numbers had started to drop off and it was down Westferry Road (the Isle of Dogs section) that I started to feel nauseous. At mile 16 the heat became too much for me. 

As I turned the corner to travel back up towards Canary Wharf I began to feel faint and my vision started to blackout. It came over me very quickly and I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I didn’t want to start walking as I knew how hard it would be to start a jog back up again but something needed to change. For the next two minutes I ploughed my way along at barely a jog until I was seriously concerned that I was going to pass out.

I’m still really not sure what the problem was. There was a possibility that I was having a hypoglycemic attack. The symptoms were similar (I’d recognise them easily as I have type-1 diabetes) but the shakes weren’t as prominent as when hypoglycemia sets in. Still feeling very unsettled and sick, I began to walk. I became very upset and disappointed in myself. The hardest part to handle was that I knew exactly how far I had left to go and could visualise the route clearly in front of me. I had 10 miles left to cover and just couldn’t picture myself finishing. I began to think about the speech that Monty Halls had given in the Justgiving meet-up and how, later that day, I would have all the time in the world to look back and reflect on my performance. I knew I’d be disappointed but said to myself, “You’ll also remember how shit you’re feeling right now!”

Right at that moment, another MS Society runner ran up from behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said,

“Come on Sir Jog A Lot, you can do better than that! The best of luck to you.”

… and the second he went past I started to run again. I’d only walked for around 30 seconds but it had felt like a lifetime. I approached the next drink station, grabbed a cool bottle of water, took one gulp and poured the rest over my head. This was the first ever time I’d done that and the feeling was invigorating. I immediately felt much better and picked up the pace again. I wasn’t quite at 10-minute miles but I was running and that’s all that mattered. From then on it was the support from the crowd that kept me running right until the finish. It sounds cliched but I don’t think I’d have achieved anywhere near 26 miles if it weren’t for the support from the crowd, my friends and my family along the route. If you ever do the marathon then my one piece of advice is have someone there with you. When you hit that wall, which I well and truly had done, you’ll need their support more than ever.

Over the next 2 miles I was cheered on by an old school friend who I haven’t seen for yonks, my friends and family at the next MS Society cheering point and a fellow blogger who recognised the ‘Sir Jog A Lot’ on the back of my vest and wished me luck. She had an eventful race. This picture was taken at Canary Wharf. 

You can see the relief in my eyes at seeing some familiar faces. This picture also gives an idea of the casualties there were that day. I’m too delirious to notice the poor bugger to the left of me who was being so violently sick and was in so much pain that the paramedics could hardly touch him. According to the BBC, 6,038 runners needed medical attention that day. It was no 2007 heatwave but it was pretty toasty.

By now I’d started to feel a little cramp set in at my groin and I had the beginnings of sunburn (which would later turn in to full-blown strap marks across my shoulders) but I was really enjoying the experience. London sometimes has a reputation of being a grumpy and impersonal city. Not today. There was not one ounce of discontent or negativity and the whole of London had come together to cheer on a group of runners, who most had never met before or have any affiliation, with as much passion and vigour as a father watching his son score his first goal for his school football team. It was awe inspiring. 

At mile 23 the noise was deafening. The walls of the city buildings echoed the screams and cheers from the spectators and it was one of the best moments of my life. I was told later on that one of my friends spotted me at this point and they were screaming my name but I couldn’t hear. 

At mile 25 I was plum-tuckered. The last 1.2 miles went incredibly slowly. I must have run a 13 or 14-minute-mile and every inch of me wanted to walk. The MS Society post-race reception was along Birdcage Walk, two turns from the finish line, and I saw my supporters one final time (they did incredibly well to spot me three times during the race). I didn’t quite have enough for a sprint finish but I made it over the line to join an elite group of people who can say…

“I’ve run the London Marathon.”

Time: 4:45:51

Not the best time and certainly a very long way from my initial target of sub-4 hours (yeah right) but I was over the moon to have finished. The goodie bag was stacked full of post-race treats and it wasn’t exactly light (sports drink, milkshake, apple, Jelly Babies, creams, t-shirt, foil blanket and much more), which made the trip back round to the MS Society post-race reception all the more fun!

I was provided with a sports massage from two burly blokes, the only two men in a room full of female masseurs (I think Lady Jog A Lot had been in and had a word before I got there). They also interviewed me for a video that’ll be used to entice others to run the marathon for the MS Society (link to be posted as soon as it becomes available).

Would I do it again? 

You bet your ass I would!

Race Day – part 1

I made it to race day without injury. The previous day, on a very, very easy jog around Blackheath, I’d lashed a couple of footballs back to some kids playing in the park and immediately thought, “Why the hell did I do that?”. I’d avoided injury so far, why risk it the day before the marathon? Perhaps I was being overly cautious, but short of lining the walls of my flat with cotton wool, I’d done everything in my power to make sure my body was at my peak of physical fitness. My vitamin C levels were through the roof, I’d had pasta 3 nights running and the only exercise I’d done the day before (besides the short jog first thing in the morning) was the washing up. 

Come race morning I was fired up. I had two slices of toast with jam (I decided to skip the baked beans as the previous day I’d tested a tin of Tesco’s finest with flatulent results) and a banana, topped off with a carbo gel and a lucozade sport I’d bought at the Expo. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel nervous. I’d had a good night’s sleep and felt I’d done all I could to prepare. We got to the red section at 9:15am (fully lubed-up with Bodyglide and two small circles of Compeed over the nipples). The race started at 9:45am so I took some time to take a look around at my surroundings. Not surprisingly the queue for each WC was 30-people deep. The sun was out in force so most had a bottle of water and everyone was smiling. 

The gate to get across the road to the red section was closing at 9:30am so I said my goodbyes and made my way across. I was immediately instructed by Ant (or Dec) that the baggage lorries would be closing imminently and it was last call to get your belongings in before the start. I wasn’t prepared at all and bundled all of my stuff into the bag and quickly dropped trou for some last minute Bodyglide action – much to the dismay of an elderly lady runner behind me. At least my arse couldn’t look any better after all the training! I then had to sprint to my allocated lorry before it closed (of course it was at the opposite end of the line) and then dive into the urinal queue before the start of the race (which was now about 60-people deep). Lesson learned – get there earlier next time.

I started in zone 6 (out of 9) which meant there were quite a few runners in front of me and by the time the start had commenced the sun was really shining and it had started to get quite hot. This was it. Four months of training had led up to this point and I was keen to get going. We crossed the line 10 minutes after the official race start and started plodding down Shooters Hill Road.

I immediately needed a wee. You have to get a decent amount of fluid down before the start of the race (especially as the sun was out) so this was expected. I’d been told that needing the loo at the start of the marathon was often just a sign of nerves and that I should hold out for a few miles (if only to avoid the large queues at the start). So I kept going and took the whole experience in. The road was so congested with runners that you just couldn’t go at any different pace than that of the crowd. Luckily, the pace was perfect; a gentle jog to ease us in to the first couple of miles. The weather had meant that the crowds were out in force and all of the windows of the houses that lined the road towards Charlton were full of spectators. An elderly gent running to the right of me had a sign that read ‘Hip Hip…’ on one side and ‘Hooray!’ on the other, which he would spin back to front towards the crowd. Brilliant.

The first 5 miles went by in a flash. The red group had now merged with the blue and green (without any booing) and we were making our way into Greenwich to the Cutty Sark. I’d now spotted the blue line on the road, which maps the shortest distance of the course and I was doing my best to stick to it. Impossible. The sheer volume of runners prevents you from doing anything other than what the mass says. Darting in and out of runners at different paces would only use up vital energy and I was keeping a pretty good pace. In fact my first three 5k times were very consistent and I was running at around the 9 or 10 minute mark and feeling great (if a little unsettled by the growing urge to urinate). The Japanese Taiko drums were incredible as we went under the bridge just before Greenwich. I found myself with goosebumps and could have used that feeling of adrenalin much later in the race. 

The crowds really were amazing and the volume of people had now picked up to two or three deep along both sides of the road. Having my name on the front of my vest really helped as the encouragement is 10-times more effective if someone calls your name. As we turned the corner at the Cutty Sark everyone did their best to avoid Matt Baker. I’ve run around this area a lot and I was wondering how they would avoid the steep steps at the back of the ship next to the entrance to the Greenwich walkway. A ramp, genius. I passed the Justgiving team at this point (squashed up against the barrier) and gave them a wave but none of them saw me. Never mind, I was coming up to mile 7 and the first MS Society cheering point (where I knew Sally, friends and family would be). I saw them from a mile off. Sally was balanced precariously on a fence and my Mam and Uncle were both waving fiercely and cheering. Along with the support of the MS Society crowd, this was a fantastic lift.

After spotting a gap in a fence where a group of male runners were urinating, I stopped for a 30-second pit stop. I’d managed to hold out until mile 9 and probably could have gone on longer so it was definitely the nerves and anticipation of the race that had made me want to go so early on. I did feel for the female runners queuing up to use the portaloos though. If I’d have stayed still for any longer than the 30 seconds I did then I’d have probably seized up quite badly. 

After the first really big milestone, Tower Bridge and the half way point, I’d managed a time of 2:11:26 (on course for sub 4 and a half hours) and I was feeling pretty good. I was now into my third carbo gel of the day and I’d kept very hydrated. It was hard not to stay hydrated as the volunteers handing out the 750,000 bottles of Vittel throughout the day were absolutely fantastic. Every time I wanted a drink I was handed one. The only gripe I had with the organisation throughout the whole day was at around mile 11 when the crowds were not controlled and had encroached heavily on the road, narrowing the course for the runners. This caused a massive bottle-neck and meant everyone had to slow down to almost a walk. 

The second half of the course didn’t go so well. But that’s another story…