Up-date time

Thought i had better update the Blog, although not much has happened since the last post.

Failed to get into the London Marathon (again), but have lined up another marathon for the same time. This meant i could get ready for the Kent Midnight challenge, 30 miles of mixed terrain, so my first ultra-race is planned.

Spent a morning with Luke Cunliffe, discussing the MdS and what was needed to get me through, very pleased with the meeting as Luke has a wealth of information to give.

Next race is the Santa Run in Colchester on the 9th of Dec, so expect a few photos posted in various location.

Back Soon
Rich

Been & Gone

Well that was fun. 13 miles of great scenery one large hill and an obvious loss of fitness.

I struggled badly from 8 miles onwards, finally finishing in 1hr 50min. The lack of training over the last few weeks really showed and spoilt my 40th birthday race (organisers gave me number 40 as a gesture). But it was all to be expected.

Back to training for the MDS, albeit gradually, with races planned. But lets see how the next few months go, and see if i get a place in the London Marathon next year.

Things ain't getting better

I have finally hit rock bottom on the running front. The chest infection i had resulting in some heavy coughing, which in turn has pulled several muscles in my stomach and back, consequently i cannot run at all now. Hopefully i will finally be able to do some light training next week, and with the Henley ½ only 6 weeks away will have revise my target time. Initially this was to be about 1:24, but i will have to aim for 1:30ish instead.

Good job the Kent 30 mile was cancelled, as that would have been a no-go and a waste of a trip. Have ordered a pair of Inov8 Roclite 315's to train in as these may be the footwear of choice for the MdS, so i thought i would see what they were like. http://www.sportsshoes.com.

R

Another bad week

Not another bad weeks training - i'm getting a bit pee'd off about this. It all comes down to a chest infection now and not being able to breathe when you are running is a bit of a handicap. Still i have another 8 weeks to go until my next reace (Henley ½), and having run 8 miles last week in under an hour hopefully i can get my PB down from 1:29, depending on the course.

Will have to take a week off to recover, and as i am taking the family to Cadburys world on Monday, will have to watch what i eat (Not).
R

Kent Challenge hits the dirt

Not the best of news for those of us training for the MdS, but the Kent Challenge series has been cancelled for the 30 mile runs. As this was a run i was training for in the run up to the Henley ½, it has meant a complete re-write of the training schedule to cater just for the ½. Having said that, training has been difficult, with work related issues, combined with a personal illness so, in all, not too bad news in the long run (poor joke).

Henley ½ Marathon training

Running resumed in the second week and I subjected myself to an ECG, just to check that I was ok; better to find out now than 2 weeks before the race, after paying out everything. I approached my employers’ board of directors for some money (£1,000 sponsorship obtained) and started training for both the Henley ½ in October & Kent 30 mile challenge, in September.I also started buying bits & bobs of equipment, but after finding out I wouldn’t get the funds until the end of the year, felt it would be best left until then.

Up & Running

I felt that this would be the month that would give me a clear indication of my abilities and potential to do the MdS, as I was running in the South Downs Marathon, which, by default of location, was to be very hard work. The terrain allowed only the best runners to run the hills, which us mortals had to walk, but I got round in 4:07 and didn’t hit the wall at all. Rain hammered down in the last 5 miles (won’t have this to contend with in Morocco), but with Andy Palmer, from Poole Runners as company the miles seemed easy and I finished with ease. I hit the wall the following day as I felt like I had flu that night, but recovered quickly with little discomfort, and returned to cross-training within a week.

Inital Starts

March 2007, and the places opened on the internet. I had set alarms and reminders for 10am, not that I needed any of them, and the moment the places came up on offer I grabbed one. Thankfully I was lucky to get a place as all places (220 + 100 on the waiting list) went in 30 minutes. From then on it was a case of trying to concentrate on the next race rather than 2 years in the future.

I managed to get a web-site launched – http://www.desertram.co.uk/ - with the help of my brother Ed (who actually did all the work, whilst I just kept asking for things to be changed), and this was officially launched in June. Business cards, car stickers and flyers were all printed and all paperwork to be sent out was suitably changed to show the site.