22 Mile High Club

Last Sunday was our final long training run before the marathon. Ahead of us now is 3 weeks of tapering. This consists of doing no running, carbo-loading on beer and easter eggs and ..... hang on its the opposite of that. Basically you reduce your mileage while maintaining running and stay off the beer and watch your diet. We have three weekends to go. After that I will be the drunkest Zambian / Scot / South African marathon runner roaming the streets of Paris with a Stella pint in one hand and a stale croissant in the other.


So last weekend we both got up at 6:30am, had our pre-race meals (muesli followed by toast with honey and banana followed by a smoked mackarel and a cup of coffee). The race was in Cranleigh. Its a 15 mile or a 21 mile, decide on the day. So with Sarah driving and me navigating we ended up very lost in Guildford, saw a sign for Portsmouth and realised we better turn around. This was all happening in freezing wet weather. Finally we got to the recreation centre in Cranleigh 20 minutes late. We quickly got out the car and started the race route a mile early but a marshall pointed us in the right direction. We jogged along country roads in the peaceful rain without anyone else in sight. Finally after 2 mile, Sarah who had left me behind, signalled that runners were ahead. Boosted by this knowledge I started working the legs, picturing the dude from Chariots of Fire tearing round the bend in the 400m....... then realised there was still 20 miles to go. In the end I got round the 22 miles in about 3 hours.

We drove back and treated ourselves to a Sunday Roast at the Crooked Billet (i recommend the roast chicken in there, you will need a doggy bag) This weekend is Easter and I will do some running. Off to Sarah's sisters house for a birthday party on Sunday after our main run of the weekend. Looking forward to some rewarding birthday cake if the twins will give me a piece.

3 weekends till the marathon, the countdown has begun!

The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat!

Sunday saw us competing in the Reading Half Marathon. 13000 runners starting just down the road from at the Majeski stadium, and finishing in the stadium itself. We left early in the morning to drive there which should have taken 55 minutes. However a crash at the junction to get off the motorway delayed us quite badly, not as badly as the 5 men in skimpy running shorts standing next to their crashed car. We got on the shuttle bus after parking just in time and got to the start.

The organisation was excellent with the stadium offering a lot of toilet facilities. Tents were setup to drop bags off and Sweatshop had a shop there selling gels, energy drinks and surprisingly shoes. The main area of congregated people were those standing in what could only be described as the “dumping ground” Around 300 porta-loos with people lined up outside each of these green cubicles. We ended up joining the queue, a result of a bowl of porridge, prune juice and some carboloading drinks. It was fairly cold standing there but a stenchy warm steam blew across every so often, a by-product of the porta-loos.

We got underway just after 10, with the elite runners sprinting off first. There was a lone Kenyan and a number of Britain's touted as favourites. In the end the Kenyan wiped the floor, scooping the winning money and setting a course record. Our start was a little less subdued, I got into a manageable rhythm that allowed me to keep going forward. Watering holes were well stocked with water and Lucodaze. I heard they ran out of Lucozade for the slower runners – if that’s not motivation to run faster next time then nothing is. Brass bands along the way banged out some Rocky and Chariots of Fire theme tunes which helped and there were ladies handing out jelly babies to runners in need of a sugary fix.

The finish was in the stadium itself which was great as there was a big crowd cheering you in, it gave me the momentum I needed to catch the 50 year old woman I had been chasing down for the past 3 miles. 1hr 37 minutes was the finishing time. Sarah finished about 6 minutes before me and I found her at the bag drop. The medal and goody bag was much appreciated with plenty of lucozade and snacks. I nearly knocked Sarah out during the night though when I turned over bed, as I had proudly not taken off the medal.

My knees have been killing me today so decided to kill two birds with one stone. I bought a packet of frozen peas and wrapped it round my knee. At lunch time today they had de-frosted so much I added them to a bread roll and that took care of lunch. My knee is feeling much better but lunch did not apease me as much as I had hoped (dah doom dish). Still pasta this evening in preparation for tomorrow mornings training run.