25 days to go! It's getting nearer now.
I've done all of my very long runs and am now starting to taper down the exercise. As the physical exertion has gone down, the donations have gone up and I have now raised over £1000. I don't think I'm going to beat last year's total of £3500 but the challenge is still to beat last year's finishing time of 4 hours, 47 minutes, which I don't think is beyond me. If my training is anything to go by, I should quite easily beat that time, unless I'm injured or the weather or day's conditions somehow hinder my performance.
My fundraising alternatives to getting people to visit the following page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/martinpampel
are coming to fruition. I'm in discussion with some local people about using a hall to host a quiz evening (a few weeks after the marathon - but that doesn't matter; as I will have hopefully completed the marathon, people might be more willing to part with their cash, knowing that I have already done what was needed to earn their money) and I have started a sweepstake at work, where my colleagues have to guess what my finishing time will be, and they are allowed as many guesses as they like, but it's £1 a guess, and whoever has the closest guess to my actual finishing time will win £26 - a pound a mile.
As for aches and pains - my feet are all right now, it's my knees that are currently sore. It seems that my body parts are, one by one, conspiring to stop me from running the marathon. Weirdly, I did my 20-mile run on Saturday afternoon, and I was fine when I finished, yet it was yesterday, Tuesday, when I started feeling an odd sensation in my knees, so it can't have been caused by the running, so maybe it'll go away as suddenly as it came about.
Wednesday 28 March 2012
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Pretty Taper
As of tomorrow, it will be thirty days and exactly one month to the London Marathon. So far, all is going well. I have had a few niggling little injury setbacks but have recovered from them, and am hoping that I remain injury-free for the rest of my training. At the weekend, I will do another long run of twenty miles, give or take, and from there, begin tapering - that is, running less and resting more. This is where I will be gradually winding down the training and doing fewer miles with each week, decreasing the total mileage by roughly 20% from the previous week. I will cut out any part of my training in which hills or major inclines are present, so as to avoid damaging my muscles.
I know it sounds ludicrous - why spend the last few weeks of marathon training by taking it easy? The idea is to let the body recover for the big race so that you (by which I mean I) will be in peak physical condition for the marathon and have plenty of energy and the muscles are able to repair themselves.
A lot of runners make the fatal (well, not literally fatal) mistake of not tapering. You need those last few weeks to give the body time to heal itself and store energy, and to recover physically and mentally from all the months of training. There's not much more you can do in the last few weeks if you have already spent the previous months training intensively. Why over-exert yourself, get injured and ruin everything?
So, once the weekend and the long run are over, I will be progressively slowing things down - not putting a stop to them altogether - just gradually easing up.
I know it sounds ludicrous - why spend the last few weeks of marathon training by taking it easy? The idea is to let the body recover for the big race so that you (by which I mean I) will be in peak physical condition for the marathon and have plenty of energy and the muscles are able to repair themselves.
A lot of runners make the fatal (well, not literally fatal) mistake of not tapering. You need those last few weeks to give the body time to heal itself and store energy, and to recover physically and mentally from all the months of training. There's not much more you can do in the last few weeks if you have already spent the previous months training intensively. Why over-exert yourself, get injured and ruin everything?
So, once the weekend and the long run are over, I will be progressively slowing things down - not putting a stop to them altogether - just gradually easing up.
Sunday 11 March 2012
On With The Shoe
As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, I was considering buying a new pair of running shoes to replace my current pair that were still in good condition but probably needed replacing, just to be on the safe side. Yesterday I bought a new pair of running shoes from the same shop that I had bought my old pair, some 18 months ago. I felt the shop had given me some useful advice in buying my shoes last time and felt comfortable going back there again.
I tried on a few pairs of size nine running shoes from a variety of different brands but in the end, went for the Saucony (I don't know if it's pronounced Sau-KOH-nee, Sau-son-NEE, or Sau-SOH-nee; I've only ever seen that name written down, and the lady in the shop didn't know what the pronunciation was either).
The new shoes were very comfortable and I noticed that they felt padded and were cushioning my feet more than my old ones, so clearly the padding had been significantly worn away in the older shoes. I ran for a few miles in the new shoes so as to wear into them. Haven't completely shaken off the slight foot injury that I picked up last week but it is improving. With only about forty days to go until the marathon, I am desperately trying to avoid getting injured this close to the race. So I need to compromise between doing my training and resting and taking it easy.
My shoes aren't the only piece of running gear that's new - I also received my running vest with my chosen charity's name on it. Here's a picture of me modelling it (excuse the hair, I've been meaning to get it cut - the hair on my head, that is):
I like the new vest. It has some nice, vibrant colours. A lovely blue, a pure white and a little bit of pink too. The pink is especially nice. Only a person as confident in his heterosexuality as I am can get away with wearing pink without people asking questions. Ahem. I liked the turquoise and yellow vest that I wore in last year's marathon. That was a lovely little number. I can't decide whether I prefer this year's vest or not, because they are both very nice vests. It's a size medium, which I thought was my size, but it appears to be a little bit big for me. Not a problem though. It will sag a little, and as a result, not touch my 'nippular area,' so I will be less likely to suffer from chafing and bleeding nipples during the marathon.
As the marathon draws nearer, the sponsorship money has been coming in. I have been telling anybody who'll listen about the marathon and reminding them about sponsorship, albeit with the subtlety of a brick through a plate-glass window. Most of them have kindly agreed to sponsor me. Indeed, some of them already have sponsored me now. I've raised over £700 - thanks to everybody for their kind donations. Other people are yet to sponsor me, including a few people I call close friends. One even emailed me to tell me that I had "a cheek" to ask him for sponsorship. I guess generosity has never been his strong point. I don't think he's opened his wallet since 1994. Didn't stop him from telling me that I should sponsor him for a 10k walk in May though.
I tried on a few pairs of size nine running shoes from a variety of different brands but in the end, went for the Saucony (I don't know if it's pronounced Sau-KOH-nee, Sau-son-NEE, or Sau-SOH-nee; I've only ever seen that name written down, and the lady in the shop didn't know what the pronunciation was either).
 |
| My old Mizuno |
 |
| My new Saucony |
The new shoes were very comfortable and I noticed that they felt padded and were cushioning my feet more than my old ones, so clearly the padding had been significantly worn away in the older shoes. I ran for a few miles in the new shoes so as to wear into them. Haven't completely shaken off the slight foot injury that I picked up last week but it is improving. With only about forty days to go until the marathon, I am desperately trying to avoid getting injured this close to the race. So I need to compromise between doing my training and resting and taking it easy.
My shoes aren't the only piece of running gear that's new - I also received my running vest with my chosen charity's name on it. Here's a picture of me modelling it (excuse the hair, I've been meaning to get it cut - the hair on my head, that is):
 |
| Me sporting my running vest for this year's marathon. |
I like the new vest. It has some nice, vibrant colours. A lovely blue, a pure white and a little bit of pink too. The pink is especially nice. Only a person as confident in his heterosexuality as I am can get away with wearing pink without people asking questions. Ahem. I liked the turquoise and yellow vest that I wore in last year's marathon. That was a lovely little number. I can't decide whether I prefer this year's vest or not, because they are both very nice vests. It's a size medium, which I thought was my size, but it appears to be a little bit big for me. Not a problem though. It will sag a little, and as a result, not touch my 'nippular area,' so I will be less likely to suffer from chafing and bleeding nipples during the marathon.
As the marathon draws nearer, the sponsorship money has been coming in. I have been telling anybody who'll listen about the marathon and reminding them about sponsorship, albeit with the subtlety of a brick through a plate-glass window. Most of them have kindly agreed to sponsor me. Indeed, some of them already have sponsored me now. I've raised over £700 - thanks to everybody for their kind donations. Other people are yet to sponsor me, including a few people I call close friends. One even emailed me to tell me that I had "a cheek" to ask him for sponsorship. I guess generosity has never been his strong point. I don't think he's opened his wallet since 1994. Didn't stop him from telling me that I should sponsor him for a 10k walk in May though.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Martin's Big Feat
Another foot-related pun in the title (I swear the titles are better than the actual material in the posts that follow).
The time has gone by since the last blog update and we are now in the month of March. There has been a slight amelioration in the quality of the weather and the temperature. I say "slight," it's barely noticeable up here where rainy days are ten a penny. I went for a run on Sunday afternoon, observing that the sun had come out, and being of the impression that the weather was pleasant and that it would be a good day. Unfortunately, it was deceptively sunny because it was still rather cold, and about 25 minutes into the run, it began to rain. Ten minutes after this, the rain stopped, the sun emerged from wherever it had temporarily disappeared, and dried up the wetness caused by the rain, and a little that had been caused by excessive sweating. So far, so good, and I continued my run. Six miles in, I decided to take a little detour and venture further North. I ran past Bury and into a small town called Walmersley. Just as I had completed the eighth mile, it began to rain again. Not in the same way as before, though - this was torrential rain, an absolute downpour. It was like the heavens had opened and some giant creature from above had decided to urinate on me continuously for half an hour. At the end of this constant soaking, I was thoroughly drenched, looking like a drowned kitten. Eventually the sun reappeared and I carried on running. That's the thing with weather. It doesn't matter whether the weather is sunny or rainy or even snowy during the marathon - you have to run it, whatever the weather is like. You can't let a bit of inclement weather defeat you. I'm not that easily defeated anyway. In fact, I think I prefer rain to excessive sunshine, as too much heat makes me dehydrate and sweat even more profusely.
Anyway, the run continued and the rain stayed away for the rest of the duration that I was outside. At some point, about 17 or 18 miles in, I began to feel a slight pain in the back of my foot. I carried on running because I was only a short distance from home, but once I arrived at my flat, the pain was more pronounced and it did start to hurt a bit. I rested my foot and gave it some ice treatment and kept it elevated, saw a physiotherapist the next day, who rather optimistically told me that my leg and foot were fine and that I could go for a run the very next day. I chose not to take his advice and rest the foot a bit longer, and decided this morning to do a "short" run of 5 miles. The run was fine. I did feel a slight twinge as I'm still in recovery, but no pain, so hopefully I'm on the mend. My feet are still attached to the end of my legs, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm OK. It might be time to replace my running shoes as I have got a good 800 miles or so out of them, possibly even 1000 miles, and perhaps that is the reason why my feet are feeling a bit tender occasionally. I can't see any major signs of wear and tear and I'm not entirely certain how often one should change their running shoes, as surely that depends on the person's weight and gait and the frequency and distance of their running.
Then again, perhaps my shoes are absolutely fine and not at all worn out, in which case I'd be spending £100 for nothing, but £100 on a new pair of running shoes is a better price to pay than £200 for some physiotherapy sessions if I get injured again. I'm not a skinflint, it's not the money. I'm just very attached to my current pair of trainers. They've been with me every step of the way of this journey. Quite literally. It will be hard to replace them. But there's no room for sentimentality. Time to get a new pair. Better to be safe than sorry.
The time has gone by since the last blog update and we are now in the month of March. There has been a slight amelioration in the quality of the weather and the temperature. I say "slight," it's barely noticeable up here where rainy days are ten a penny. I went for a run on Sunday afternoon, observing that the sun had come out, and being of the impression that the weather was pleasant and that it would be a good day. Unfortunately, it was deceptively sunny because it was still rather cold, and about 25 minutes into the run, it began to rain. Ten minutes after this, the rain stopped, the sun emerged from wherever it had temporarily disappeared, and dried up the wetness caused by the rain, and a little that had been caused by excessive sweating. So far, so good, and I continued my run. Six miles in, I decided to take a little detour and venture further North. I ran past Bury and into a small town called Walmersley. Just as I had completed the eighth mile, it began to rain again. Not in the same way as before, though - this was torrential rain, an absolute downpour. It was like the heavens had opened and some giant creature from above had decided to urinate on me continuously for half an hour. At the end of this constant soaking, I was thoroughly drenched, looking like a drowned kitten. Eventually the sun reappeared and I carried on running. That's the thing with weather. It doesn't matter whether the weather is sunny or rainy or even snowy during the marathon - you have to run it, whatever the weather is like. You can't let a bit of inclement weather defeat you. I'm not that easily defeated anyway. In fact, I think I prefer rain to excessive sunshine, as too much heat makes me dehydrate and sweat even more profusely.
Anyway, the run continued and the rain stayed away for the rest of the duration that I was outside. At some point, about 17 or 18 miles in, I began to feel a slight pain in the back of my foot. I carried on running because I was only a short distance from home, but once I arrived at my flat, the pain was more pronounced and it did start to hurt a bit. I rested my foot and gave it some ice treatment and kept it elevated, saw a physiotherapist the next day, who rather optimistically told me that my leg and foot were fine and that I could go for a run the very next day. I chose not to take his advice and rest the foot a bit longer, and decided this morning to do a "short" run of 5 miles. The run was fine. I did feel a slight twinge as I'm still in recovery, but no pain, so hopefully I'm on the mend. My feet are still attached to the end of my legs, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm OK. It might be time to replace my running shoes as I have got a good 800 miles or so out of them, possibly even 1000 miles, and perhaps that is the reason why my feet are feeling a bit tender occasionally. I can't see any major signs of wear and tear and I'm not entirely certain how often one should change their running shoes, as surely that depends on the person's weight and gait and the frequency and distance of their running.
Then again, perhaps my shoes are absolutely fine and not at all worn out, in which case I'd be spending £100 for nothing, but £100 on a new pair of running shoes is a better price to pay than £200 for some physiotherapy sessions if I get injured again. I'm not a skinflint, it's not the money. I'm just very attached to my current pair of trainers. They've been with me every step of the way of this journey. Quite literally. It will be hard to replace them. But there's no room for sentimentality. Time to get a new pair. Better to be safe than sorry.
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