Peters London Marathon Experience 2006

London Marathon 2006

2006-05-01T08:49:00.000Z

The great day dawns and I got up nice and early to eat a huge breakfast got dressed and bandaged myself up for the race. My parents then arrived and we drove as close as possibly to the race red start. We then parked the car and made our way to the start. On my way to the start the adrenaline feeling started to flow through my body. When I got to the red start line in Greenwich Park, I sat down on a park bench until the race was just about to begin so as to conserve my energy. At this point I was sitting think about Adam think which part of the course he would be up to by now. I then heard a big cheer and the race had begun, I got up from the bench, took of my jacket that was keeping me warm and made my way to the back of the line. It took quite awhile before I actually got to the start line. Both fellow runners and spectators where shocked and surprised to see me on crutches as we where waiting, I explain how I came to be in this situation. At this point I felt good and the new gas springs seemed to be working well. Then finally I had reached the start and went through the arch and over the line. It felt amazing to be part of the crowd and being of equal status as the rest of the runners. The other runners where responding well to see someone do the race on crutches and if I felt a little tired or out of breath then the constant well supply of “well done’s” and “keep going” spurred me on. All the training was paying dividends moving rhythmically and harmoniously in a machine like manner. A head of me was a water station and I decided that I would take a drink. I asked the lady who gave me the bottle if she know what mile this station was at. When she replied that it was about mile five, I was in complete shock as so far it all had seemed quite effortless. I then continued once again looking forward to meeting my family at the six mile mark. I had looked at the route quite a few times but never really memorised it. I know that when I got to the Cutty Sark that I was roughly between the six and seven mile mark and was looking out for my family. After a while it soon becomes apparent that they were not there. I carried on regardless as I was feeling good and the cheers of the crowd surged me on. Over the next few miles, I wonder where my parents where. After a while this thought had settled and I refocused on the job in hand, I was really concentrating on my breathing and making sure that my stride was at the right pace. Once again I seemed to have just been so focused on my rhythm that I last track of the mile marks, it was at this point that I decided that I would let my body dictate my actions. Where if I felt good I would just power right on and if I felt a little worse for wear slow down until I regained my composure. I had just passed the ten mile mark this was meant to be the second meeting point but once again I could not see my parents in the crowd. As my parents where carrying all my food supplies plus bandages and other virtual equipment I really need to be meeting up with them at the pre-arranged meeting points. When I reached the eleven mile mark it had become apparent that the plans had gone out of the window and that I would have to just deal with it as the situation as it arose. I was just coming to the twelve mile mark when I started to feel the first signs of fatigue, my stride was a little miss timed, my breathing was heavy and my right foot was hurting. I decided that I would stop at the next water station to have a break and to re-catch my breath and then do a few wrist exercises. As I was doing this a lady came running up behind me, whom I had met at a previous race in Milton Keynes. I then re-started and a little while later we both agreed to stay together until I met up with my parents. As we were going, this lady boosted morale and gave me great support. This was her second London Marathon so she knew the course quite well and told me that we would soon be reaching the bridge. Once again my sprits where lifted as this was the third point in which I was meant to be meeting my family. As we went over the bridge the camera had just been dismantled, but this didn’t matter as I was just happy that I had got this far after my last few races had gone so badly. This was one of my favourite’s parts of the course as it was a duel carriage way and as I and my lady running friend was going up one side, the rest of the runners was coming back along the other side. The lady told me it was about the twenty-third mile mark. The crowd where really fantastic at this point really screaming home the weary runners for they last three miles and once again I felt part of the race. Unlike before where I was so far back that the crowd had disposed or just moved on to another part of the course. But now it was really just me and my lady friend on one side of the duel carriage way and our side of the crowd was going absolutely crazy which was really driving us on and making the other runners on the other side look over and cheer as well. Due to this I seemed to lose track once again by getting caught up in the moment and before I know it I was up to the fifteen mile mark. At this point I had never gone so far even on both feet! However the next mile seemed to take for ever and once again my mind started to wonder where my family was. There were still small dribs and drabs of the crowd and one man I spotted on a mobile phone. When the race started I stupidly took off my jacket and gave it to my Nan with my mobile phone inside the pocket and hopped off forgetting about it, this was the reason why I had not contacted them earlier. So when I spotted the man on the phone, I quickly hopped over and asked if I could borrow his mobile to call my family to find out where they where. When I got through to them and they then informed me that there where at the eighteen mile mark and was now heading towards me. I asked why there wasn’t at the six and ten mile mark like we had planned and they said that when they got to the six mile mark underground station it was so busy that they could not get out by the road. So they then went back on the underground and did the same for the ten mile mark and the same thing happened again. They then decide that there would go further a field and just wait until I got to them. I explained to them that I was now really tired and had hit the wall and felt completely exhausted and asked them to follow the course back so that we could meet up as quickly as possible. I then returned the man’s phone and started once again, I was really tired know and felt completed utterly exhausted I had not stopped for ages and my left knee and foot was killing me through cramp. But my running lady partner kept me going with words of encouragement. It was at this point for the first time that we both began to really speak as before we were both really out of breath and I was too focused on the race. I found out the lady’s name was Rowan she was running for a charity called Scope and that she lived in Worcester with her husband. I think that she could see that I was in a bad way and all I could say was that I had defiantly hit the wall and it was at this point that I really had to start to fight. I then started to feel a bit faint from lack of energy. Rowan offered me some of her Luzcorde but this usually gives me hiccups which does not help matters. I just hoped that my parents where walking quickly as there could towards me as I was really struggling now. Just when I thought that things could not get any worse, my right wrist started to get that shooting pain in the joint again. Before long my stride had evaporated into nothing and had gone from at least fifty strides a minute to about one ever fifteen seconds. Over the space of two to three hundred meters my wrist had gone again. It was my worst nightmare what could I do now, I was about sixteen and half miles into the course and ever stride was pure agony. I just tried to block the pain from my mind, but it’s hard to do that when you keep thinking to yourself only another nine and half miles left. Rowan was superb as usual constantly cheering me on. I did not want to but this was now the darkest hour of the race and I honestly was considering pulling out at this point. I promised myself that I would never let myself do this, but my wrist was now throbbing so badly that I had lost all feeling in the tips of my fingers. I was in a bad way and my 2006 London Marathon experience looked like it was going to end on a bad note. I re-laid my thoughts to Rowan and said that I did not want to do permanent damage to my hands, she agreed and I then said that if I did not meet my parents before the end of the next bend then I would call it a day and hopefully came back next year. I didn’t want to let my sponsors down or the charity but I was at the end of the road. I was approaching the final bend when into view came my family with my Dad dressed in the CRY heart costume. Finally! I stopped and within in a minute they had reached me after a quick update of my condition a plan was formulated. I would cover myself from head to toe in deep heat take a few pain killers, eat a sandwich for some energy, then take of the cast, bandage my right ankle heavily put on my right foot Asics running shoe and try and hobble the rest of the course. The plan was a little crazy and I was a little worried about me weak ankle but at this point it was the only option other than quit. So I said my farewells to my family and asked them to meet me at the twenty-three mile mark for more food, pain killers and morale support which they agreed to do. I then once again set of with Rowan, I thanked her for staying with me and we began to start chatting again mainly to just take our minds of the next hour of torture. I was also now wearing the CRY heart costume which also raised my moral massively. The crowd at this point was pretty none existent and so was other runners. London resembled that scene from the film 28 days where London is like a ghost town. I don’t know if it was the conversation or the sandwich which I just eaten, the pain killers or all three but I soundly felt revitalised. My right ankle was holding up well and the pair of us where making good progress. It was little frustrating as we were so far behind now that they had started to take down the mile marker signs, so we were not completely sure were about we where. But together we where relentless and marched (I hobbled) on at a good pace all things considering. It was at this point that I had now managed to master the art of blocking out all pain and negative thoughts from entering my mind. I was like a robot programmed for one task to finish this race. Due to this the next six miles were a complete blurr and miles seemed to just merge into the next one. It was only when I saw my parents, at mile twenty-three I realised just how far I had come. I remember saying something like “meet me at the finish”. I was on a mission and I just couldn’t stop, mostly from fear of not being able to start again if I did stop to speak. My parents shouted back that they would see me there and set off for the nearest tube station. Just as I reached the twenty fourth mile mark I was met by the second group of familiar faces which was Adam and his family. Adam had kindly stuck around to see his friend finish the race. When I saw Adam the first thing that came to mind was how bad he looked and I told him so. I said “you look how I feel” and we chatted as we walked along by the embankment. It was at this point when Rowan turned to me and said that she was going to jog on as she wanted to finish before eight hours. I thanked her for all her help and then she was gone. So now it was only two and a bit miles left. The pain killers seemed to have lost there bite and pains ugly head reared itself once again. Adam said that he could no long carry on and would also meet me at the finish line with my parents. For company Adams Dad (Paul) and Sister (Lela) said that they would keep with me and keep me going for the last thirty minutes of my journey. I was just approaching Big Ben when it started to chime for six o’clock. Less than a mile left I can do this just keep going I kept telling myself. Paul & Lela where excellent in this last mile, they knew that it was all psychologically at this point and just kept setting me targets, which I would push myself to complete. My left knee like a car engine with no oil had completely seized up and in strange turn of events my injured right leg was powering me along. My body was falling apart, bit by bit could I make it. Not through not wanting but just physically not being able to do complete the last mile. I dragged my lifeless left leg it was like a dead weight. I once again met up with my family and friends who accompanied me up until the last hundred meters or so until I had to go it alone. The support was great but I was now fed up and desperately tired and irritable. The finish line was insight and all I could think about was the last hardest 800 meters of my life and then it was over! I comically finished the race, how I had started the race with a hop. I could not believe what I had achieved, all the crowd had now gone.

My next worry was how I was going to get to the car. Because I could not walk or use crutches through shear pain and exhausted. I had too much pride to expect my friends and family to carry me or take me to an ambulance. After completing the marathon I then needed to relieve myself front and back. I then noticed in the distance a mass of porter loos. At this point I was in a kind of zombie like trance where I seemed to move without awareness. After inspection of my first choice porter loo I soon discovered the absence of paper. So then through random choice of selection, I then chose another, still no paper and another and another. While my bodily functions where still processing, I was coming close to bare desperation to obeying the call of nature and wonded what would happen soon if I did find the elusive paper. Finally hitting the jackpot toilet, I hastily entered holding my nose and forming a perched position over the hole. My gaze then falls upon the sink. This was crammed with four pairs of poo stained knickers. The irony of the situation caused me to explode with laughter, which brought me back to life. I then exited the porter loos and made my way to my family and then we went to the tube station. While I sat on the underground train. I soon realised how much I had accomplished and how much money we had raised for CRY. Job Done!

http://www.save-young-hearts.org.uk

11 Days To Go !

2006-04-11T21:06:00.000Z

It seems to have creeped up slowly and now is just round the corner. I currently feel completely out of shape, probably the worst shape since I have started training for the event. Due to the ankle injury my weight has slowly crept up and I am currently weighing in at 79.5 Kg. This may not seem to much but at the start of this I weighted only 72 Kg. Also my wrist is still hurting from Sunday, I did apply lots of deep heat this morning and wrapped the wrist heavily for extra support. But still felt a slight pain when performing some light weights exercises tonight. As I now have the cast of my leg, I am more able bodied so I will be going to the gym at least twice a day now for the next 7 to 9 days and then gradually scaling down and then resting my body for the big one.

I am also looking forward to this Wednesday night as I will be testing out the new modifications which have been carried out on the crutches. I will report on them when I get back.

Reading Half Marathon

2006-04-10T16:25:00.000Z

What can I say this was a great race, it had the venue, the crowd and the atmosphere to be a classic. But once again injury reared its nasty head and forced me to pull up early. I don't really want to go into to much detail but just as I got to the third mile mark my right hand begain to really ache everytime I applied pressure through the stride the pain would intensive. It got to the point where I could no longer go on. So I just held both crutches in my right hand and begian to hop on one leg until I reached the next water station. At the water station I had a drink and then hopped over to the St.Johns abulance van. Where I recieved extra support on my wrist in the form of a bandage. This then allowed me to continue to hop along on the crutches with the damaged wrist. The pain was still there with ever stride but was just a little bit dampioned now. Just as I was about to leave the university park, I met my partners and there persuaded me to drop out at this point.Because if I had continuedI would have do ne some serious damage to the wrist resulting in myself been unable to paratake in the London Marathon in 2 weeks time. As I made my way to the car I felt angry again with myself as my body seemed to have given up on me again. Due to the pressures put on it through out the race. It seems that since I have been on crutches my performances have gotten worse week by week as my body throws up one problem after another problem. When I finally did arrvie back in Henley, I had some food and then wrapped the wrist in a dressing and placed a wine chiller unit over the top of the wrist and then went to bed.

I then woke up about 6pm to the sound of the phone ringing. I answered the phone and on the other end was Billy Guillver Capation of Team Mendelssohn. He asked me if I had I taken part and how did it go. I then explained what had happened and where I feel that it went wrong. As usual he was very encourging and said that I had done the right thing by stopping early and not risking further damage being done.

I now have to take it easy on the right wrist and right ankle. This side seems to be crumbling under the strain. Today I have just taken it easy wearing supports on both joints.

The Good & Bad News

2006-04-08T21:57:00.000Z

Well I will start with the bad news last weeks race at Worthing was a complete disater for myself. It was a completely bad day from start to finish everything that could have gone bad did. I pulled a muscle in the first mile, fell over, and then the crutches fell to pieces. But like most bad situations you have to pull some kind of good out of it and that was firstly the importance of remembering to warming up properly before the start and secondly that the crutches still have a few problems with the design. The problems that did occur have now been fixed or it has been identified and a solution as been provide to fix the problem. But the good thing with running as a pair is that if one of the runners fails, at least one runner will hopefully continue to the finish line. Adam did some excellent running on the day and looked half dead by the end of it. I feel that his time was excellent considering that he completed the course in the heart costume and with such windy conditions that couldn't of been easy.

The Good News:
Last night Adam & I organized a Pub Golf tournaments for a group of friends to raise money for CRY. It was a great night with some excellent performances from certain indivduals and in total we raised Â£161. For a better review of the night please read Adams blog or visit our website in a few days time for a full review, pics, videos and player profiles.

Adams Blog - http://adamlondonmarathonexperience.blogspot.com/

Fundraising Website - http://www.save-young-hearts.org.uk/

This was a good end to the week and has lifted ourspiritss nicely on thefundraisingg side of things as we have now smashed through the £2000 mark.

Welded And Ready To Hop

2006-04-01T14:22:00.000Z

Hi,

Well I did a few more miles on the crutches last night and deicded that the way the crutches where setup is the way in which best suits my style. So I Called Harry up explained to him that I was happy with the crutches and that I would be driven over to his place to get them welded up. This stops the crutches being slide up or down to adjust the height but then instead gives them more strength overall. This gives me a greater level of confidence in the crutches and will also help with the fatigue factors.

I am just now adding a few more corporate sponsor logos to my running costume for torrmows race in Worthing and then will be picked up by fellow runner Adam. The plan is to drive down to Portsmouth tonight get an early nights sleep and then get up early for the 9.00am race start time. This by far is going to be the biggest test of my ability physically and mentally as I have never run 20 miles before in one go or covered any where near that distance on crutches.

Wish me well this is going to be one long race I would say as much as 5 to 6 hours.

Testing Phase

2006-03-30T19:24:00.000Z

Early this afternoon I received a phone call from Harry Thompson telling me that he had the first working mode of the crutches at that he would like me to come to his place so that I could give them a try. When my Mum & I arrived at Harrys home we made our way down to his workshop where was greeted by Harry and his brother Eddie. The new racing crutches where then quickly re-assembly in front of my eyes and then it was time for the first test run. I took a few hops back and then took a few stides forwards. Instantly I could feel a huge improvement, the crunching shocking effect was minimal and the whole arcing stride was a lot smooth thanks to the pushing up effect from the piston cylinder. It did feel about strange at first due to the way the crutch was setup. After a few laps of Harrys yard, I explained to him that I felt that the crutch was compressing to much which was hampening my stride to stride rhythm. He then dissembled the crutches and added some more rubber stoppers, this stop the crutch from traveling any further. I then did another few laps and felt that had it further enchanced the experience on the crutches. I then played with the height of the crutches further. Harry then explained that I should go away and test the cruthces further to see if I can see any problems in the design. I told him that over the next two days I would be covering distance of between two and five miles on them and would get back to him with any problems. We then agreed to meet up again on Saturday so that the crutches could be welded in place adding further strength to the improved crutches. I will post tomorrow with my first review after cover a great distance.

Help From The Crutches ?

2006-03-29T11:50:00.000Z

Hi ,
Well I finally some good news for a change. Bill Guillver captain of Team Mendelssohn has managed to find a man by the name of Harry Thompson who has agreed to help make me some racing crutches for the Marathon. We had a brief meeting on Saturday and came up with a design specification for the new crutches and Mr Thompson has now set about making the first prototype set. I will be posting pictures and give updates on the racing crutches when I have more information available.

Best regards,

Peter

Finally Back In

2006-03-15T10:07:00.000Z

I am sorry that I have not posted for a while, could not log in due to some technical problems on the Blogger website. I am currently at work and will explain all about last weekends race when I get home.

Bottled It!

2006-03-05T20:49:00.000Z

Hi,

Today I was going to run the Berkhamsted Half-Marathon, but on the way to the race I decided that I was going to enter instead the five mile race. This was mainly due to the fact that I have another two half marathons coming up soon and secondly it took 2.5 hours last time to do just 6 miles on the crucths. So if you do the maths it would take me a considable amount of time to complete the half marathon. So I thought that if I am aimed for a good time today then I could build on that next time.

Tha race started will and the crowd was very supportive. I managed to keep quite a steady pace for the first mile and half and then I hit a hill. The hill went on for another half mile which really slowed me down. Once I reached the top I had a quick cup of water and carried on from here I just plowed a head with a nice smooth race. I seem to be handling the cructhes alot better this week and the new pair of gloves seemed to be working great. I remember taking a right turn and then looking up and seeing the finish line, with one last effort I propelled myself to the line. I then checked the clock and it read 1.15, this meant that I had done on average about 15 minutie per mile which is hell of alot better than last weeks 25 minuite a mile.

This shows some real improvement and is a good note to end the week on. With some more upper body training who knows what I can get the minuite mile time down to.

Hospital

2006-02-28T21:13:00.000Z

I went for a check up for my leg on Monday at the Royal Berks hospital in reading, I had another x-ray scan on my leg just to double check that it was broken. I then spoke to the Doctor about my running and asked if she had any more advice for me on the matter. She went away for a short while to discuss the matter with her collugures and then came back and informed me that I would be put in and a semi-cast. This is so that I can take the cast of everyone and then to move my ankle about so as to try and stop all of muscles in my leg from wasting away. This will allow me to start running sooner when the cast does finally come off. This also makes baths a lot easy plus I can now do some swimming to help with my overall fitness levels.

So all in all not to much bad news, I mean I new that I was going to be in a cast for another four to six weeks. But this makes things a whole lot easier with training and general day to day living.
I also received business cards today which I had printed for the sponsorship website. I plan to give the cards to inner family so that they can handout the cards to follow workers and also place the cards in local hives of activity. I am not starting to prepare for this weeks race, by doing lots of upper body strength workouts at the gym and looking for some hard wearing gloves to wear.

Over & Out

Winchester 10K - Kind of Finished

2006-02-27T18:55:00.000Z

This was my first race since breaking my ankle, I was a little nervous due to my lack of preparation for the event. I mean I only have had a week to train my upper body for the demand of the course.

Well my sister drove me down to Winchester in the end due to the injury. We arrived nice and early to prepare for the race, most of which we just sat in the car talking about what "if" situations. I then meet Adam in the town centre outside the Weatherspoons, where I then put on my gloves and prepared my crutches for the race. I then hopped outside to join the crowd which was forming for the race, with some strange looks from other competitors. I then started to mentally gear myself up for the next ten kilometers. I joined the back of the crowd and by this point I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. The feeling within was a sort of going into the unknown, like the first time you went to get on a rollercaster or got on a plane. The kind of first time feeling, obviously I have been on crutches before but never in a situation where you have to go at such a speed over such a distance. The race then begain, it started at a pace which I could keep up with the pack. This was short lived the pack had just left the town centre area and I thought I was about last. By the time I had reached the 1km mark I had just realized that this was going to be a huge effort just to finish the event, before I always knew that this was going to be hard but now I felt that my body would let me down rather than personally wanting to stop due to the effort factor.

The second km mark seemed a lot longer than the first and the burning eyes of the motorists as they went past only made me more determined to finish the race. No one had over taken me now for a little while, so I had guessed that there was no more late entries to come. A little further along I say a man walking towards me he had a race number on and seemed a little angry from his face expression. I said "Hi" as I hopped by, but did not get a reply. I come to the conclusion that he must have injured himself and that he felt he could no longer continue the race. My leg was really starting to ache now, I had never gone this far before without stopping for a second or two. My breathing was fine (maybe a little higher than normal but still accepactble) the real problem was the fatigue that was begain to creep up my left leg. I heared some heavy breathing approaching, I had a quick look round and it was an old man (70+). By the looks of him quite a experienced runner at that, he seemed to be taking it slowly not pushing himself to much probably just like myself just hoping to get round in one piece. He gradually begain to move away from me and once again I was on my own or so I thought. I had now just passed the three Km mark when I become aware of someone else behind me. I carried on going when the man drew level with me, he then explain that he had been keeping with me just to ensure that I made it safely up the hill. We then carried on going for the rest of the race together, the man's name was Dan and he was just recovering from a broken vertebrate in his back. Dan and I then reached a T-Junction in the road, he informed that the map goes left and that we had to go up that road. As we where so far behind we had no one else to follow. I slower progressed up the hilly road at a very slow speed, I finally reached the top, tired and seriously fatigued. We then started going left along a country lane, after another 200 metres I felt and so did Dan that we may have taken a wrong turn. A car was heading towards us, we flagged him down and asked if he had seen any other runners. He said "nah" and then spead of. Dan then suggested heading back the way we had just come and seeing if we had missed a turn sign. At this point I felt complety drained and probably would have given up on the spot if I could have. Dan started to jog back down the hill. I slowly followed with a look on my face that said really pissed of don't speak to me. I felt tired and angry at myself for going the wrong way and the anger was building every second as I felt that if I stopped then I had failed. But failed not through ability but lack of looking where I was going and I felt partily responsible for Dan being in the same boat. As he was only following me to make sure that I was going to make it. We doubled back on ourselves in good time, Dan then asked at a Post office if they had any idea how to get back on track. The young lady gave Dan the directions and we where both back on our way. We started going up a killer hill, I had to stop at least three times to catch my breath. My left leg had all but given up on me, making it about four times harder on my upper body without the extra push of my left leg. We passed the 4km mark and I felt like I would have to stop at the next marker and call it a day. Dan was really good at this point as he constantly reassured me that it was ok and that he didn't mind waiting for me. At this point I was just glad that someone was with me to keep me going. The next part was all a bit of a blur, I just remember Dan talking and myself thinking to myself keep going. I had finally reached the five km sign post. I think I must have had some kind of second wind because I just seemed to fly up the next hill and was making nice progress along the flat road. Another ten mins later and a MPV had just driven past us and indicated. The gentleman then wound down his window and asked if we where ok. The man was a race official and was just checking up on the last runners. Dan said that we both wanted to Finish and that we would see him back at the finish line. The path then disappeared after we went through a tunnel, it was like a mud path by the side of the road. I found it extremely difficult making my way through the mud footpath. Then my second saviour appeared, it was Adam in his car. He was just checking to see if I was ok and what had happened to me. I explained that I had got lost and that I was now back on track and making good progress. He asked if I needed a lift, I said that I would be ok and would get there on my own steam. I then started to hop along again to try and catch up with Dan. It was at this point that I thought to myself that this is a main road and I don't have a footpath like before to keep on that would keep me safe from cars. I then told Adam that I would take him up on that offer and that I would like to be dropped off as soon as a path reappeared. I then jumped in and we started to drive, we then pulled up along side Dan I asked if he would like a lift, he said that he would catch me later. As we sped off in the car, I felt guilty for leaving Dan and that maybe I was cheating myself for taking the lift. The path then started again and I jumped back out and started to hop along again. With a bip of the horn Adam was gone and once again I was all alone, I started to pick up some speed and promised myself not to stop until I reached the next marker sign. When I finally reached the sevenKm sign I had a little break, checked to see if I could see Dan and then carried on. My wrists where hurting now and my body felt exhausted and as Dan had spoken about early I really felt like I had hit "the wall". My body had now used all of its ready made energy and had begain to break down Fat for energy. I felt slow, sluggish and a little bit sick due to my bodies low sugar level. I soon saw another mark for eight, I carried on going now on a kind of auto-pilot mode. The good thing in my mind now was that I was coming back into town and could not be far from the Finish line. Just after I passed the nine Km mark I heard a voice it was Adam again sitting in his car, he said that I just had to get to the bottom and that's the nine marker point. He was eating some Jaffa cakes, I asked if I could have the last one. He looked at me and then the cake and then gave me the cake with a smile. I took the cake in my hand and with one huge bite devoured it in one. Almost instantl I could feel sugar re-entering my blood stream, I then said bye and continued on my journey. I reached the nine Km sign and turned left, I made it about three hundreds metres down the road when I could here someone approaching it was Dan again. I was glad to see him again as I was a little worried about him, in my mind I thought that he would have caught me up a little while back. It was now only about 800 metres to the end just one more hill, I slowly crepted up it. Dan pointed out a sign for the football ground, at that corner was Adam who was waiting with his girlfriend. I was glad to see them both and now just wanted to get to the end so that we could all just go home, I felt guilty for making them have to wait for me. My mind was in overdrive to finish, but my body was a mess, I had left it back at the 9 marker mark. With the last drop's of effort left in the tank I hopped towards the stadium. I had finally arrived or so I thought. It was then that I found out that I the gates where shut. Adam then informed me that the finish line was just there, pointing to a spot about three metres in front of the gate.

I had missed the end, I took so long that they had packed up and gone home. Dan then suggested going to the leisure centre to see if anyone was there. I told Dan that I was getting there by car and that I would meet him there. We then made our way round to the Leisure Centre, I then got out of the car. My body had now seized up like an engine without any oil, my joints where aching and I felt like going a sleep. I hopped to the entrance and was directed to a large hall. The officials where packing a way, Dan was at a table speaking to lady. He was explaining that we had just finished and would like some kind of medal. The lady then informed us that she would make a note of our numbers and send us one each. I then turned to Dan thanked him for all his words of encouragement and hopped of back to the car.
I then was driven back to my sister in the car park, who was in a slightly hysterical state. She was a little mad that I had taken so long, but after a quick look at my face I think that she had forgiven me. I then said bye to Adam and his girlfriend and was back on the road to Henley on Thames and a great big Sunday dinner, Excellent!

So next weeks half-marathon here I come!

First 2 miles on the crutches!

2006-02-25T10:47:00.000Z

Well I have just completed my first two miles on the crutches and all things considered it didn't go to bad. I mean my hands were hurting, people were giving me that crazy look and my left leg had some serious cramp in it. But other than that not to bad. Sunday will be my first race on crutches and hopefully I will be quick enough to Finnish the race under my own steam.

My plan is to keep using Bills work out plan, plus get as many miles under my belt on crutches. So that my arms and left leg will adopt to the extra strain which I am placing on them.

My family at this time are quite concerned about my ability on the crutches. I think what they mean is that I tire quite easily just maneuvering around the house, so how I am going to get on for six miles going up and down hills.

I think my answer to that question would be that I just don't know? But that if I can just keep going for as long as possible without stopping and then also try and block out the pain coming from my blistered hands for as long as possible then I could be in with a chance of finish.

I would post again tomorrow after the race and keep you up to date.

Broken Ankle - Great !

2006-02-24T19:30:00.000Z

I am sorry that I have not posted for a while. As the title explains I have gone and broken a bone in my right ankle. This obliviously has caused me a great deal of distress and has effected my marathon hopes. My first response was that it was all over, when the Doctor informed me that I had broken part of the ankle bone and said that I would be in a cast for about four to six weeks and at least another further week or two of no running. This would of meant that I would have not run for at least six weeks and that I would never have run more that 14 miles in one go. So my chances of finishing the London marathon where slim, plus the fact that my ankle would have been very weak and the 26 miles could cause more damage to the ankle leaving me with some possibly permanent damage. The Doctors last bit of advice was to rest and keep weight of the leg for a week to speed up the recover.

So that is what I have been doing for the last five days, just sitting in my room watching films, sleeping and thinking how stupid I feel for breaking my ankle at such a critical time in my training schedule. Just generally wallowing in self-pity.

It was on Wednesday night that I received a call from a fellow running partner by the name of Bill.
He was calling to ask about my leg and what my plans were now for the marathon. I told him that I still would like to take part in the marathon, but did not think that I would be able to run that distance so soon after my injury. I then explained how depressed I felt about letting down all of my current sponsors and not being able to run anymore races in the heart costume to help raise awareness for CRY. He then suggested that I still take part in the marathon by covering the distance on crutches. I had pondered on the idea but felt that it would not be allowed by the officials and that I also did not have enough time to properly prepare for the race with the extra demand it would place on my upper body. Bill then said that he would call the race body for me and speak to someone which he knew and that he would call me back with the answer.

About five minutes later the phone rang and it was Bill. He said that he had spoken to his friend and he had said yes I could partake in the race on crutches. This was great news and really lifted my spirits. We then said goodbye and I thanked Bill for all his help. Just before I put down the phone Bill gave me a work out plan to help me build up my upper body and explained that I needed to do this three times a day every day until the day of the marathon. I once again thanked him for all he's help and then I put down the phone.

I was now back in the Race!

eBay!

2006-02-17T21:58:00.000Z

I got up to day with a sole mission to list three items on eBay.

Can you guess how many I listed? Yes you guessed right none. By the time I had taken pictures, done some research on each item and decided which catergrey to list them in, the time was about three pm. I needed to pay some money into my account to pay for some spending I had done duing the day. So I started getting ready to go down the bank to pay the money in, otherwise I would have run the risk of being overdrawn. By the time I had founnd my car keys, got dressed to a suitable standard, gathered the required amount of money and was heading for the front door, the time was now close to about 4pm. Just as I was closing the front door, the phone began to ring I rushed back inside and it was a friend on the line calling me about a possible run later on tonight. We spoke for about ten minutes, before I realized that I had to go, to get to the bank before it shut, I said I had to go and bolted for the day. Unlocked the car jumped in, turned the key in the ignition barrel. Nothing happened, great I thought I really needed this right about now. Turned the key back to neutral and then tried to turn the key to get the engine to turn over, but again there was still no luck. So I got out rushed back inside changed keys, jumped in vehicle number two and this time it starts first time. I am now finally on my way to the bank. I am now hasterly travelling down the road (obviously still keeping to the laws of the road). I then find a parking space, get out lock the door and start rushing in the general direction of the bank. I turn the corner look up at the clock on top of the town hall and think to myself no problem the bank is now a stones throw away and I have roughly five minutes to spare. I slow down my pace a little now to a more refined gentlemanly walk. I enter the banks door way push on the door and. It doesn't move great somehow I have missed the bank. I checked my mobile and the time said that I had five minutes to go and then I checked the town hall clock again and it matched my mobile. I tried to push the door again, but still with no joy.

To basically cut along story short the bank had decided to close five minutes early for secretary reasons. Great.

I then traveled back home called CRY order some more sponsors sheet forms, plus a tagging gun and some more money boxes. I then checked the Just give website and found that we have had to more generous sponsors from some close friends (Which cheered me up a little). I then called Adam to speak about Sundays race, meeting times and to ask about his general week.

I then logged back on to eBay and started to write an about "Me" page. By the time I had done that and had published it and had some dinner, it was about time to do some running at the gym.

To keep with the hill training theme I set the treadmill on a hill type program and run for 30 minutes. I then did some interval training with two minutes high speed, three minutes low speed (recovery) I did this for a total of 15 minutes before doing some light streaching and then headed for a much deserved sauna.
I feel that treadmill training is good for two reasons. Firstly you can evaluate your general running speed condition and secondly unlike normal outdoors running treadmill running doesn't let you quit (slow down). When you get tired when you are running outside you seem to naturally just slow down with out realizing until your body recovers and allows you to start to speed up again. But with treadmill running you have to maintain the set speed or you are going to shoot off the back end.

After today's training I feel much more confident about Sunday race. Bye for now!

The End Is Near

2006-02-16T22:52:00.000Z

Me just about to Finnish the race with 100 meters to go.

Hill Training

2006-02-16T21:57:00.000Z

So this weeks race is cross country. As I found out from the second and third races cross country is a mess affair. The first cross country that I ever raced in was at Wendover. Before hand I felt that the race would be like another training session. I mean I run five miles at least three times a week with out to much of a problem. People kept telling me that it would be a struggle, but I refused to listen and remember thinking to myself that this should be re-classified as more of a fun run. Boy was I wrong. The race started on a narrow muddy path, my thoughts where to get a good start so I kept to the sides and burned it along. As I was over taking people it occurred to me that I was using up a lot of energy trying to balance myself and run fast at the same time. Just about this time so first hill come, it was a slow incline hill. This really zapped the energy from my legs. Everything seemed to go wrong at the same time, my legs felt like jelly, my breathing was heavy and my ipod stopped working on the hill. As I fought my way up the hill, my running partner Adam shot past me, like I was standing still and shot of in to the distance. I was still running but just not at a very quick pace, the terrain soon leveled of and I regained my strait. It was not long before I had Adam back in my sights at this point we must have been up to about the first mile mark. Then the course started to go down a really long hill into a valley. Being the young foolish rookie which I am, I pushed myself down the hill at break neck speed whizzing past people. I had a quick look back and Adam was behind me. When I got to the bottom of this hill the path took a left and then went on a long bending L shaped bend. When I got to the end of this bend I could see about 800 meter straight and then a step hill going back up the valley. This didn't really faze me at this point, I just chucked a long, thinking to myself it doesn't look to huge and just to go up it at a sensible pace. As I was nearing the top of this hill, I started to over take people that had started to walk. I began to feel the burn in my legs. I had a quick look round for Adam and carried on going when I finally reached the top my heart rate was really high approach about 180. So I just kept running at a slow pace to re-cache my breath. Then the unthinkable happened the course took a sharp right and I was faced with another hill. It was at this point when I realized that this so called fun run was turning into a nightmare course. In my training and all the other race which I had done before there would obliviously be hills but when you get to the top there is some kind of rest bit for about another 300 to 400 meters to give you time to recover. I started to climb the hill at a crawl type pace, it seemed to be getting steeper by the meter. All the time my heart rate was getting faster and faster. I could hear my little black heart monitor watch start to beep. At the same time people starting to over take me and I remember thinking to myself that I would never underestimated multi-terrain ever again.

I did end up making it to the top of that hill and finishing with an average time of 40 minutes. So I was reasonably pleased with myself. What I learnt from that race was to never use up all your energy by speeding up a hill because when you get to the top there could be another. Just take your time your get there in the end. I mean I have never heard of the "Never Ending Hill". Just keep plugging away, with one foot in front of the other and your get there in the end.

So getting back to this weeks cross country. I haved decided to change my training schedule to have a lot more hill interval training. The local steepest hill is called greys road. I have been running up that and then jogging back down an adjacent hill. Running back round to the start and running back up it. This I feel is helping my body to get used to the stress that it is put through in cross country by do hill after hill. I want be able to tell you if it had helped until Sunday night, but I have noticed a slight increase in speed all ready when I am climbing the hill.

So that's about it for this week training wise, will post again tomorrow with my thoughts on fundraising and to see if I have made the Wokingham paper for last sundays race.

Up and Running

2006-02-14T19:43:00.000Z

Hi All,

The website is finally up and running @ save-young-hearts.org.uk

It has taken along time to get up due to website designers schedule, problems with server company and my general lack of IT expertise. I am now going about trying to raise the website profile, through search engine entries and receptacle links.

Since my last past I have raced a further four times. Twice of which has been in the heart costume. The first time at the Watford half marathon was really hard going, due to my lack of food before the race. At the ten mile mark I had a serious low blood sugar level, brought on by not eating much that morning. So the last three miles took twice as long as normal and seemed to be never ending. But I have now learnt my lesson in pre-race food. I feel that the missing food thing was just one of them things that slipped my mind in the rush to get to Watford. Also another factor was that i had injured my right ankle in the Canterbury 10 and was still recovering from this injury when i took part in this race.

So for the Wokingham half marathon I really packed in the carbs, with lots of banneras and a big bowel of porridge. I had done running training with an iron vest and my right ankle felt a lot better. All of these factors helped me run this half marathon in under 1 hour 42 minutes, plus i was wearing the heart costume.

Any how must dash as i am not going down the gym and will be posting again soon on further updates.

Running Plan

2006-01-09T19:41:00.000Z

Just adding the final touches to the website now.

I think i am only on day 10 or 12 so far and all ready feeling a little burnt out. So after todays five mile run. I decided to have a mid-day sleep. When i got back up i felt a whole load better, but at the moment i seem to be eating like a horse. I don't know if it is all this extra training or something to do with the time of year.

I completed the five mile course today in 35 mins and had a avg heartrate of 150. I am hoping to bring this down to about 32mins. Plus when the weather gets a little less muddy i will start wearing the iron vest abit more

At the moment i am on track with the running plan and everything seems to be going well.

That's it for today

2006-01-04T16:18:00.001Z

Me & Adam running Victory 5

2006-01-04T16:18:00.000Z

Henley 6 Mile Fun Run

2006-01-04T16:17:00.000Z

Marlow Half Marathon

2006-01-04T15:02:00.000Z

Here is a picture of myself limbering up for the Portsmouth Victory 5. With my running associate Adam .

First Blog

2006-01-04T13:28:00.000Z

This is my first entry and to start with nothing really to exciting happening.

As i have just overcome a nasty cold at the moment my plans are to recover before starting some really hardcore training this year. I say my local Doctor yesterday and he recommand plenty of rest.

So my plan for today is really to just crack on with the CRY website and to hopefully hand over all the important information to the website designer by Friday. Once the site is up and running, I plan to start to sending out information packs to potential business sponsors. And to make a final decsion on the colour of the sponsors running shirt.

So for now that is all i have to say.

Peter