Spinning

Yes, yes, yes...got the bike in the back garden and started off in a very eager, bright eyed and bushy tailed fashion.

Why does there aways seem to be a really excellent excuse to stop. My back ached (which has been the case for 6 months now but never before been a problem on a bike). Despite Richard hammering away to raise the handle bars so I wasn't bent over in some ridiculous position. Still no good.

It's pathetic. I am no further. Slow slow slow slow.... is this the name of the game then?

First marathon coming up on the 17th May 2009. WHAAAAAAAA! 8 months, 36.28 weeks, 254 days, 6096 hours....

Grumpy.

Rainmen

This morning at 6.am John, Ray and I [and Johns dog, Mutley] ran for 55 min most of which was in a light drizzle but then towards the end the rain came down in BUCKETS. We had warmed up by then so it was FANTASTIC............it felt so good to be alive and running !

We are starting to get together a Tues morning run at 6am from the leisure centre followed by shower and coffee/bites before going off to work straight from there. This is something a good friend does in Cape Town introduced me to every Fri morning, running through the harbour and onto the breakwater below Table Mountain and then shower with Muesli/fruit salad/yoghurt/toast and coffee/tea................somewhat more scenic than Guildford but I have always LOVED the idea and join them whenever in Cape Town so happy that it's getting off the ground here at last !!

My challenge for the next week [weighing in now at 83.5kg] is to be able to report after 7 days, at least ONE day without an alcoholic beverage !!

Keep running

Back On The Road Again...

No time to pause. Only 31 months....

New start

Hopefully this will be the beginning of my blogging for the 2011 MdS.
At present..............FATTER than EVER before but on a "fat off course" now so soon will be a racing snake !!!!
Speak soon to all of you, tim

SUCCESS!!!!

Someone else, other than me (in the team) is blogging about their training....

Woooo-Hoooo!

I see this as a bit of a red letter day as ML (Liz) has started her blog off after a run this morning - there is a link to it in the Blog list, but here it is as well - Liz's Blog.

Greg also assures me that he will get his training progress and tips, etc up here as well - so I'll be holding him to that, and Tim is keen to get his new laptop set up to be able to contribute as well.

So the nagging is starting to pay off :-)

Time for the Interval

No. Not that kind of interval!

As those of you who run regularly will know, there are a great many ways to try to improve your performance most of which work on the premise which goes something along the lines of "If you want to run fast, then you have to run fast" - Not rocket science obviously, as most things in life include a practice, practice, practice clause in order to facilitate the adaptation of the body to the requirements demanded of it.

So what is the catch? Well, as usual and especially for running, it being a load-bearing sport, too much, too soon or too hard will cause problems, so all of the training schemes and models around seem to attempt to reduce the risk of injury simply by reducing the work carried out (i.e. effort over time) but while still attempting to introduce the body to additional demands, such that it can adapt and improve in anticipation of the next time those demands are placed on it.

The Runner's World site quotes a number of standard techniques for improving performance, either endurance and / or speed. For example

• Easy Runs - to build aerobic fitness and muscular and skeletal strength
• Tempo Runs - to improve running economy and form
• VO2 Max Runs (intervals) - to improve running economy and racing sharpness
• Speed-form Runs - to improve running economy, form and leg speed
• Long Runs - to build confidence, discipline, improve fat-burning and endurance

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have started doing some interval training once or twice a week in order to try to improve my 10k and hopefully marathon times

Had a great run with John and Tim today (Sunday) as rather than a long run we did a 'VO2 Max Run' 11.5 miles which included 5x800m intervals in the middle.

We all complained about it during the run, but it felt good afterwards

Met for a braai

Met at Richard and Liz's House for a Braai - Had far too much meat and not enough carbs for running!

Missed Anthony, Tom and Rouzbeh but otherwise the rest of the team were there to reminisce over the previous April adventure and plan for April 2011 - the first time some of us had met up. The first of many social events before the big do!

We're IN - MdS 2011

It was a good plan - get 3 people to book a the places on the Marathon des Sables 2011 to minimise the chances of missing out on a places.

10:00am on the 2nd July 2008 (yes, 3 years before the race) the Best of Morocco / Sahara Marathon website was loaded up to accept bookings of up to 5 places per person at £500 deposit per place. 200 places were available for the UK, ROI and Israel.

They sold out in 7 minutes.

We got 9 confirmed places for the team and hence had to wait for today for a number of waitlist places to be released for the same race.

Thanks to Liz on the team, we now have 3 waitlist places as well - which in the past 4 years as least is as close to a guarantee of a place as you can get. The Best of Morocco Representative has stated that approx 30-40 waitlist places will get in, so we are now comfortable we can relax in the knowledge we will all be running together in April 2011.

This entry will seem a long time ago at that point and I wonder what we will be thinking over those 6 days?

Only time will tell.

For the Record, we are:

• Liz Pomeroy
• Greg Collett
• John Rees
• Robert Urwin
• Rouzbeh Faramarzian
• Will Forbes
• Steve Davies
• Anthony O'Driscoll
• Tim Stewart
• Tom McGee
• Vanessa Land
• Richard Pomeroy

We'll have plenty of time to go into more details of each of us over the next 3 years.....

To Cranleigh ... and beyond

Did another long run today on my own as John did his long run on Friday morning and Tim did his yesterday.

We all independently did about 22 miles though which was to schedule.


However, while the others did their runs round the outskirts of Guildford, I played mindgames along the Guildford and Horsham railway (disused) from Guildford to Cranleigh (about 8 miles) plus another 3 miles past the village to get the out and back total.

I say mindgames because as usual, that sort of run is more telling your mind you can manage something rather than being physically unable to do it, for 2 reasons - firstly, however far you run out, you have to run back, and secondly it is the first time in over 3 years that I've run 22 miles, and longer than that since I've completed that distance on my own.

Up to 33km (20 miles) I was just about okay, but then the tireness set in - and then shortly after I hit the uneven ground of the canal on the way back, so the last 2-3 km was tough :-(

Still only 5 weeks to go and I know I can do 22 miles, so with rest (tapering training), proper food and hydration (rather than 500ml over 3 hours!) and the whole race environment, I am confident to be able to complete Amsterdam in a PB time.... Famous last words :-)

Wooooo-hooooo - Long run!!

Well as some of you may realise I've been out of the proper running for a bit with shin-splits, but WHAT A FANTASTIC FEELING to have completed a long run with no major adverse effects other than the usual stiffness - but even that was not excessive.

20 miles today, along the Wey navigation from Guildford to Woking direction. I've done this run before, although not quite as far and the last time was back in February, so the ground and weather were a little more challenging!

Completed that run with Tim and John in a good 2:35 time - which is about a 3:20 marathon pace. With the excitement of the day, the racing environment, a little more speed work and 2-3 weeks of 'tapering' this time should certainly be possible, perhaps even up to 3:10 - realistically at this stage I don't think sub-3 hours is possible, without risking further injury.

Training is a balance between performance and injury - getting to the start line is the greatest battle.

Speed work

Hi guys, Richard has just introduced me to the marvels of BLOGGING so here goes my first entry:


Felt like a runner for the first time in ages this evening. 10 min warm up and then 8 x 3 min with 1:30 jog between. Pleased to be feeling as though I was moving faster than for a long time. Hopefully this means all the 50 mile weeks starting to pay off...........about time as Amsterdam Marathon now just around the corner.

Till next time, tim

The Intrepid Adventurers

So here it is - finally!

We are a group of 7 individuals who have been planning to race the Marathon Des Sables for a number of years and we are now deep into the training cycle for the 2008 running of this event.


Billed as the 'toughest footrace in the world' the MdS is actually 5.5 marathons over 6 days - 150 miles, with a schedule that includes a double marathon (that's 54 miles) on day 4, followed by a 'normal' marathon on day 5 of 26.2 miles.

Just to make things interesting, each competitor has to carry ALL their food and equipment or the entire 7 days, being provided only with water throughout each of the races and a rudimentary communal canvas at the end of the day! We estimate that backpacks will weight anywhere between 9-13kg at the start of the event.

The team consists of: -

• Jason McCreight - British, Guildford based, ex-triathlete, Business Manager
• Tim Stewart - South African, Guildford based, ex-triathlete, GP
• Rob Urwin - British, Newbury based, ex-County athlete, Director
• John Rees - Welsh, Guildford based, GP
• Greg Collett - South African, Leeds based, Financial IT
• Will Forbes - Leeds based, Financial
  
• Richard Pomeroy - British, Guildford, IT Manager

If you're interested to read more of our exploits over the next few months then follow our progress here and sponsor our efforts to raise money for charity.