Doing the legwork

Sorry it's taken so long to update this. Well, it's finally happening again. I'm aiming to run the London Marathon for the fifth time running. This year, I'll be running for the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS), and they are a fabulous charity that is committed to creating a world without barriers for deaf children, providing support for them and their families and campaigning for change. As those who already know me will know, this is a charity that is very close to my heart.

The prospects for deaf children have improved massively over the years, but it still makes for grim reading. Statistically, deaf children are still extremely vulnerable to isolation, bullying and low self-esteem. 65% of deaf children fail to achieve five GCSE passes. Deaf children are more likely to experience mental health problems and are twice as likely to be abused than other children.

So far, my training has gone well. As with previous years, I'm now doing 20+ mile runs at the weekends, so I'm definitely getting the legwork in. I've no idea whether I'll beat last year's finishing time but I am hoping to raise more money than in previous years. We'll see how that goes then....

For now, here's a photo of me modelling my running vest. This time it's more of a lilac colour. They always give me such nice colour vests, these charities.

If you would like to sponsor me, you may do so at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/martinpampel.

Many thanks once again to all for your continued support!

Great North Run

I recently fulfilled another ambition of mine - to take part in the Great North Run. I completed it in 1hr 33mins (93 minutes), beating my own personal best in a half-marathon.

I ran for Children With Cancer, one of a number of charities that I admire. They asked me if I would be interested in running for them, and without really thinking it through properly, I said "yes!" I was initially concerned about being able to raise enough money, since I had only completed the London Marathon a couple of months before signing up for this one, and was worried that nobody would want to spend even more money on sponsoring me.

I did not have to worry too much as I was able to meet the £500 target and in fact exceeded it, raising a total of £680 - thanks to some very generous sponsors.

The Great North Run was interesting but not necessarily because of the run itself. I had to sort out the logistics of getting to Newcastle in the first place, finding somewhere to stay overnight, familiarising myself with the city, and doing all of this on my own.

I drove up there the evening before, checked into my hotel room and got myself prepared. On the morning of the run itself, I woke up early and made my way to the start line, helped by a crowd of friendly people who I got chatting to. 

Eventually the race began and the weather conditions were just perfect for me. Warm, but not too warm. I wanted to do my very best, but not tire myself out completely, so I hoped to take it easy and take in the sights of Tyne and Wear. I didn't really take it easy, as I ran like the proverbial clappers but I still got a chance to see some of the views. 

At one point, about ten miles in, I was handed a bottle of water by a lady who looked a lot like Tanni Grey-Thompson and said to me "well done Martin, keep going." But it might just have been a random woman in a wheelchair. Apparently she was there handing out drinks so perhaps it was her after all, and I wasn't hallucinating due to tiredness and dehydration!

Eventually I finished, spurred on by the crowd, even though I had nobody that I knew cheering me on. It was nice anyway just to hear my name being called out.

I finally met the nice people who work at Children With Cancer, got some food and drink down me, made my way back to my hotel room, showered, got changed and then drove back to Manchester. I think the drive from Newcastle to Manchester took twice as long as it took me to do the Great North Run. I certainly found it more tiring....

There's a photo of me, below. 

Before anybody asks, yes, my nipples were bleeding, as you can see. It's not a Gorbachev-style birthmark on the child's head in the charity's logo....

Me after completing the Great North Run

I have now begun my training for 2015's London Marathon. I know, it never ends...

London Marathon 2014

Hello everybody.

I completed the London Marathon 2014 in a time of 3 hours 27 minutes and 51 seconds, beating last year's time of 3 hours 34 minutes and 19 seconds (and my own personal best) by about seven minutes. This marks the third year in a row that I have beaten my previous year's finishing time. For all that talk about me getting less fit as I get older, I seem to be getting better at this year on year.

The pre-race routine was the same as last year's. Meet up with my uncle, cousin and cousin-in-law who were also taking part in the race at our nearest Underground station, get the tube to Greenwich, walk over to Greenwich Park, sort out our various bits and bobs and then head to the toilets to get all the last-minute nerves out of our systems. I must have spent about half an hour in that portaloo, and most of that time involved waiting for the smell of the previous user's waste matter to subside, fixing the gel dispenser so that I actually had something to clean my hands with, and covering the toilet seat with several protective layers of toilet paper before sitting down.

Having done what I needed, I made sure I was well hydrated and drank plenty of water and Lucozade (other energy sports drinks are available) and then had to nip to the toilets once again. With only ten minutes to go, I headed towards my starting position, did some stretching and warm-ups and tried my best to mentally prepare myself for the race. I felt ready, yet at the same time, unprepared, contradictory as that sounds.

The starting pistol went off at 10am and about two minutes later, I crossed the start line. In previous years, I got off to a rather slow start as I found myself stuck behind slower runners and not easily being able to pass them. This year, this did not seem to be much of a problem and I got through my first mile in about seven minutes, whereas in previous years this would have taken at least eight or nine. By the end of the first hour of running, I had already completed eight miles and was showing no signs of slowing down.

Having passed the Cutty Sark at mile 6, the next major landmark was Tower Bridge, around the 12-mile mark. I completed the first half in 1 hour 37 minutes. Considering my fastest half-marathon time of 1 hour 36 minutes last month, this was pretty good, given that I still had another half of the marathon to come.

I managed to run 20 miles before needing to slow down and walk for a little bit. In an ideal world, I'd have carried on running but I really did need to rest and recharge the old batteries. Still, 20 miles without stopping is impressive (for me, anyway) and is the furthest I've managed in one go.

Finally I reach the Embankment. As usual, it seems to go on forever and ever, my legs have turned into unmovable stone pillars and the rest of my body is screaming at me to stop abusing myself. Somehow I kept on going, and although I didn't quite have the strength for a sprint finish, I was able to overtake dozens of people on my way to the finish line.

At the end of those 26 miles and 385 yards, I crossed the line with a time of 3 hours, 27 minutes and 51 seconds, although the sports watch with built in GPS that I was using said that I had in fact completed just over 27 miles and that I had apparently passed the 26.2 mile mark at around 3 hours and 21 minutes. As is the case with a lot of runners, we ended up running a little bit more than the 26 miles through having to zigzag around other runners and slightly deviating from the middle of the road to pick up drinks, etc.

Totally exhausted and barely able to stand, let alone walk, I collected my goodie bag, had my timing chip taken off my shoe, got my photo taken and headed for the Cancer Research UK runners welcome centre for a well-earned massage and a rest, all the while swearing to myself that I would never do anything stupid like enter another marathon again.

I've finally recovered and the aches and pains have all gone. Now all I feel is emptiness inside. I think I've got the post-marathon blues. I've lost all sense of purpose and don't really know what to do with myself. In the absence of another challenge to get me out of bed in the mornings, I think I'll have to either apply for next year's marathon or get myself a girlfriend to occupy my time with. Hmmm....looks like the marathon'll be the easier option.

So far I have raised over £1500 for Cancer Research UK, a charity that means a great deal to my family, and hopefully I can raise some more. If you would like to sponsor me, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Martinpampelmarathon

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With nearly a month to go until my fourth London Marathon, I am feeling quite confident.

I was down in Essex last weekend, where I took part in the Roding Valley Half-Marathon, an event that I last completed three years ago. I finished it with a time of 1hr 36minutes, comfortably beating my previous finishing time of 1hr 48minutes. I can attribute that either to being fitter and more experienced than last time, or perhaps overdosing on Lucozade before the race, giving me enough energy to get through it.
It is a very hilly course so I am pleased to have finished in good time, without needing to stop, and I got a medal for my efforts.

I ended up finishing in 96th place, having started very near the back in 459th position! Perhaps if I had not had to meander through slower runners in the first few miles, I might have completed the race with a faster time and in a higher position but it was quite a confidence booster being able to overtake and pass by several hundred runners.

I can assure you that I will not be running anywhere near as fast during the London Marathon. I will be pacing myself somewhat slower so that I have enough stamina to get through the entire 26 miles, not just the first 13. Having said that, I hope to complete marathon number four in good time too.

I have received my running vest from Cancer Research, and here is a picture of me modelling it. I think I'd make a great model. What does Claudia Schiffer have that I don't have? The vest is a bit too big but I would prefer it to be loose than skintight because this will reduce the chance of it rubbing against certain body parts.

The sponsorship is starting to pick up and I have raised over £650 so far. That's very nearly a third of my target. My plans to increase this amount are gathering momentum. It gets harder with each year to raise money as apathy increases and the credit crunch continues to crunch but I'm absolutely certain I'm good for the money.
If you want to join in and sponsor me just like all these other generous people, here is the place to go:
http://www.justgiving.com/Martinpampelmarathon

If The Shoe Fits

It's been a couple of months since I last posted anything. After four years of writing a blog about my marathon training, it's hard to come up with something genuinely new and not rehash old topics. Stepping up my training? Talked about that before. Injury scares? Done that. Bought a new pair of shoes? Mentioned that before. Mind you, that was a while ago. I think sufficient time has passed for me to be able to revisit that subject.

It had been nearly two years since I bought my last pair of running shoes. Normally runners are advised to replace their shoes every 300-400 miles and I think my last pair of shoes had done at least three times that distance. Really, I should have replaced them a long, long time ago, but sometimes you just get so attached to some things, that it becomes so difficult to let go of them. I still often run in the same shirt and shorts that I wore in training for my first marathon three years ago. If they're comfortable and still have plenty of use in them, then I shall continue to use them. In a way, they're like lucky items of clothing to me and I can't imagine running without them. I worry that running in different clothing, I'll somehow jinx myself and give myself an injury. It's totally irrational but that's just the way I am.

And so I have a new pair of running shoes. Despite being worn out, I still think there's some use for my old shoes. I might still rotate between the old and new shoes as I wear into the new pair, which will take a bit of getting used to. I'm not sure they're quite the same size as my old pair. In fact, they feel a bit smaller, but I've already tried them out on a treadmill for half an hour with no ill effects, so tomorrow I will take to the streets and see whether the new shoes pass muster.

Martin's on the Run Again

I am blowing the dust and cobwebs off this old blog because it's time to start posting again. I have once again thrown my proverbial hat into the ring and entered myself in the 2014 London Marathon.

You'd think someone would be satisfied with having done the marathon three times in three consecutive years, each time beating their previous time. And I am satisfied, but I want to carry on fundraising. I guess you could say I've been well and truly bitten by the marathon bug. There's no greater feeling than knowing you've accomplished such a feat of endurance and helped to raise lots of money for a good cause.

In 2011 I raised over £3500 running for the RNID, in 2012 I raised over £2700 for Action on Hearing Loss and in 2013 I raised over £2500 for Whizz-Kidz (you can see the law of diminishing returns at work here, but still very, very, very impressive amounts of money to raise).
In 2014 I shall be running and fundraising for Cancer Research UK. This is a charity that means a great deal to me as my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer about two years ago. Though she is now in remission, it was a worrying time for all of the family, most of all for her. A number of other family members have also battled various forms of cancer, including aunties and uncles, not to mention many family friends. 2014 also marks 30 years since my grandmother passed away from pancreatic cancer, so as you can see, the pursuit of a cure for cancer and scientific research into finding a cure and developing better treatment is one that I believe in strongly.

My training began some time ago and I am gradually increasing my strength and stamina as I go. Already I am running over ten to fifteen miles each weekend. Against my better judgement and normally financial prudent ways, I joined a local gym, so if it ever gets too cold, snowy and icy outside, as it did last winter, I have no reason to miss out on my training as I can take to the treadmill instead. It's no substitute for the hard surface of a concrete pavement, but in an emergency and as a last resort, it'll do.

If you would like to support me, you can sponsor me by visiting: http://www.justgiving.com/Martinpampelmarathon

London Marathon 2013

Dear readers,

I completed the London Marathon 2013 in 3hours 34minutes 19seconds, beating my previous year's time (of 3hrs 38mins 58secs) by nearly five minutes.

I'm exceptionally pleased with this result for two reasons - 1) I had done a lot more intensive training than last year and 2) I wasn't even sure if I would finish in a faster time than last year, despite the extra training, so I am glad to see that it had not gone to waste. Not that I would have been particularly bothered if I had been slower than last year. As I've said from the beginning, the fundraising means more to me than anything else.

In fact, I was on course to finish around 3hrs 30mins. However, I let things slip a little around 23 miles in, but to finish only four minutes after that is still an incredible achievement all the same. My other family taking part also finished the marathon, including my uncle Mark and my cousin Darren who got cramp in both his legs around 9 miles in, but bravely soldiered on through the remaining two-thirds of the race. It is hard enough to run a marathon as it is, but to do most of the race after picking up an injury and carrying on to the very end without giving up takes a hell of a lot of guts. I am very proud of his determination.

The organisers and participants took part in a 30-second silence before the beginning of the race, in memory of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing last week. It was a very moving and respectful 30 seconds, followed by loud applause. It was absolutely the right thing to do, and many of the runners, like me, also wore black ribbons as a mark of respect.

I got off to a good start as I was much closer to the front of the crowds than I had been the previous two years, meaning I did not spend so much of the first few miles trying to wind my way around slower runners in front of me. Despite the only landmark in the first 11 miles or so being the Cutty Sark and therefore there not being any sights to see, I was able to keep myself motivated.
Running along Tower Bridge was a wonderful experience again, and the sight of so many people cheering me on is one I won't forget in a hurry. At the 13-mile mark, my cousin Matt was there to greet me, with his colleagues from the Alzheimer's Society who were all cheering on the runners for that charity.

I kept up the pace but after around 18 miles, I was beginning to flag a bit. A short walk and a drink of water and Lucozade were enough to put a spring back in my step and I carried on again. I saw some more family at mile 23, near the Monument. At this time I had slowed down and started walking again as fatigue set in. Their shouts of encouragement spurred me on. I counted down from 5 in my head and zipped off, yelling "AAAAARRRRGHH!"

My brother and my Dad were at mile 25 to cheer me on, and they saw me, although I did not  see them properly, expecting them to be standing on the other side of the road. Another cousin of mine, Claire, was also at mile 25, and it was great to see so many family and friends turn out to support me (though to be fair, they were mostly out there supporting other people as well).
As with last year and in 2011, the Embankment and Birdcage Walk just went on and on and on, with seemingly no end in sight. That last mile or so down Birdcage Walk was like mental torture. I ran past a sign saying "800m to go!" After running what I thought must surely have been at least half that distance, if not the whole lot, I approached another sign saying "600m to go!" Things continued in this fashion when I got to a sign saying "200m to go!" as I turned into the Mall for my sprint finish. By this point, I did not have much energy left so it wasn't so much a sprint finish, more like a "relatively fast-paced jog" finish but I at least had enough energy left to overtake a few people down the final stretch.

I crossed the finish line, and who was there to greet me? None other than Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin, who are the sponsors of the London Marathon. He very kindly shook my hand but I was too exhausted to even say anything, let alone thank him. What a nice man though.
I could barely walk down to Horse Guards Parade to collect my kit bag and had to sit down for a while, but eventually I summoned up the strength to get up and go. I went to the institute where the charity Whizz-Kidz were hosting their post-marathon reception, and there I got some food and a massage. I was hoping for a hot, blonde, Swedish masseuse (as in my mind, this is what all people who practise massages look like) but instead it was a 15-stone bearded man called Peter from Birmingham. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

I was initially worried that the heat would affect my performance, as most of my training had taken place in the coldest winter I have known for years, but fortunately the temperature on Sunday did not turn out to be too hot. In fact, it was quite frosty first thing that morning, and though it did get very hot later on, it was just about bearable, and I did have to slow down and walk a few times, but this was more due to tiredness than any adverse weather. I'm happy and I've raised nearly £2000 for a really deserving cause - the charity Whizz-Kidz, which provides disabled children with wheelchairs and other mobility equipment that is not readily available on the NHS.
https://www.justgiving.com/martinpampel/

So that's three marathons done in three years. Marathon number four next year?
To paraphrase the rower Steve Redgrave's apparent retirement after winning his fourth Olympic gold medal at the Atlanta games in 1996, "I give permission to anybody who catches me in a boat again to shoot me," I say "I give permission to anybody to shoot me if I enter another London Marathon."
Of course, we all know that Redgrave changed his mind and went on to win a fifth gold medal after competing at the next Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. So who knows?

After all, tomorrow is another marathon day

One more day to go! This is it, now. Third marathon in three consecutive years. All the hard work in training has been done, and it's up to me to put in a good performance tomorrow.

I attended the London Marathon Expo at ExCeL in the Docklands yesterday (as I did in previous years) and got my name printed onto my running vest, although the letters of "MARTIN" have come out slightly smaller than I would have liked. I spent most of the morning wandering around the Expo, looking at the various stalls and listening to people advertising marathons in other parts of the country or in other countries, and trying to sell me running equipment, energy food, etcetera that I didn't really want or need.

More and more people have sponsored me with the marathon getting closer and I should make my target now, and hopefully even exceed it. I set up another sweepstake at work, asking people to guess my finishing time in the marathon, for £1 per guess. Nearly 200 employees at the corporation took part, so a lot of money was raised! I have my quiz evening in two weeks' time and I expect to raise even more money then.

£200 in the money mug!

People have been asking me "are you going to beat your finishing time last year, Martin? Are you? Are you?" I don't know. I wasn't setting out to finish in a faster time. I just wanted to raise more money and take part again. Now I feel under pressure to be better than last year, and it's a pressure that I don't really want or need. The fundraising is more important to me, so if I perform better than last year, then great, but if not, I won't be too bothered about it. With the death of a 23-year-old runner in the Brighton Marathon last week, and the death of a young lady in last year's London Marathon, as well as the horrible events of last Monday's terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon, I think there are more important things to be worrying about than how quickly I finish, so it's good to have a sense of perspective.

One thing is for sure, I will endeavour to do my very best. So I would like to end by thanking all of my supporters and sponsors for their kind donations and good wishes. I would also like to wish my fellow runners (including my cousin Darren, my uncle Mark and his uncle Paul, who is again the oldest runner in this year's race at the age of 88) all the best for tomorrow, and hope that the event is a safe and enjoyable one for all participants and spectators.

My running number - 49914.
I am not a number, I am a free man!

You can follow my progress (or lack of) as my running number is 49914 and if you wish to sponsor me, my JustGiving page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/martinpampel

Boston bombing

The excitement of the upcoming London Marathon has turned into a period of shock, sadness and disbelief at recent events.

Yesterday, at around 14:50 local time, three people were killed and dozens injured in a twin bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Of the three murdered, one was an eight year-old boy called Martin.

Even though I was not in Boston and have never even been, and even though I only found out through watching the news last night, the story has shocked me to the very core. I just can't get my head around how this could happen at such an event, or anywhere else for that matter. Why anybody would want to bomb runners and spectators at a marathon is beyond me. I cannot for the life of me see any reasons. There's no military, financial or strategic reason to do this, so the only conclusion that I can jump to is that someone, or some people, simply wanted to kill and injure as many people as possible. Pointless, utterly senseless violence. Whether it is an act of domestic or foreign terrorism, or the work of an individual or a terrorist group remains to be seen, but I hope that the perpetrators are caught and duly punished.

The security measures for the London Marathon have always been stringent but I expect that they will be re-examined just to ensure that all participants and spectators on Sunday are completely safe. I am not worried and I have nothing to fear (in regard to terrorism anyway). I will feel no more or less safe than I did during the last two marathons, and I know that the police will do as brilliant a job in policing the event as they have every single year. The horrible news of yesterday has only made me more determined to start and finish the race on Sunday, as an act of defiance against the terrorist scum, and as a show of solidarity to our friends across the pond who have been affected by this atrocity.

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Twelve days to go until the London Marathon. I have completed the last of my long runs and started tapering down the exercise to allow me to recover and take it easy before the big day, so that my body is in peak condition.

My sponsorship has now exceeded £1000, I have attempted several runs in my green Whizz-Kidz vest, my friend Sam and I are in the process of organising a fundraising quiz evening, for which I have been able to obtain a number of very exciting and sought-after prizes, and I have also received my running number for the race - it's 49914. I am not sure what the numbers mean. I think they're either completely arbitrary or sorted by charity, but last year I was 33743 and in 2011 I was 46411.

In short, everything is coming along nicely as we head into the last few days before the Marathon. I am excited, although it is a nervous sort of anticipation. I will just do my best and just keep on running, even when my heart, head, legs and feet tell me to stop.

In the meantime, if you wish to sponsor me, here is the link to my JustGiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/martinpampel

April Come I Will

With less than a month to go until the London Marathon, things are really hotting up. Unlike the weather which remains colder than a witch's tit. Whatever that means. At any rate, coming back from a run, my nipples seem to be semi-permanently hard from the cold. I have never known it to be so cold this late into March. I hope that there is an increase in temperature in April and on Marathon Day. Even a slight increase would be welcome.

The long weekend runs have continued, averaging about 20 miles each weekend. This Sunday, I was "only" able to manage 17 miles. For some reason, I just didn't have the strength, and in hindsight, it was probably better that I called it a day and finished the run, rather than carry on and risk injuring myself. I made up for it by doing a longer-than-usual short run on Tuesday. All in all, I've run a total of more than 630 miles in my training for this marathon, which is more than I had trained at this point last year and the year before. These 630 miles make up roughly the distance between London and Milan. All in all, I think the total distance covered since I began training for my very first marathon is around 2000 miles - that would be roughly the distance between London and Beirut. Hopefully by mentioning Milan and Beirut in this paragraph, the Milan and Beirut tourist boards might offer me a free holiday?

The sponsorship is increasing, and I am now up to nearly £1000. It has definitely been harder raising the donations this time round but I am grateful for whatever I can get, sponsorship-wise. I have had a few donations from anonymous donors. If only there were some way of finding out who they were, so I could give them a big thank-you and shake their hand. The best way of giving is to give and not let others know that you have given, so I expect they're not in it for the thanks or the fame, just an act of genuine kindness.

We've seen a picture of me with the new running vest - here's a picture of me actually modelling it. If I may say so, I think green really suits me.

Jolly green runner

Vested Interest

Under six weeks to go and less than forty days now. The Marathon slowly creeps up on us.

The fundraising is showing signs of improving, and I have now exceeded a quarter of my target, thanks to some very generous sponsors. I haven't even had to resort to much emotional blackmail or anything. I have pulled out all the stops in attempting to get as much sponsorship as I can. I'm organising another quiz night in which I will also be writing and asking the questions. I have put up posters and sponsorship forms in the apartment building in which I live, and also on all the floors at work, though some humorless spoilsport keeps taking down the poster and form on the first floor. Must be someone I insulted in a previous job.

The training is still going very well, with another long run completed at the weekend. I thought I might have picked up a slight groin strain but my fears appear to be baseless and in fact, complete rubbish because I went for another run today with no ill effects. Even though we are now in the middle of March (not quite Spring yet - that'll be when it's the vernal equinox - March 20th) the temperatures have not really improved. It is still bitterly cold, and this is not helped by the especially chilly winds. I await the day when I can finally go out for a run without having to wear a jacket over my running shirt, but I shan't get my hopes up just yet.

From running shirt to running vest, I have just received my Whizz-Kidz vest from the charity. It's a lovely bright shade of green. Green is the new black, or so they say. At any rate, while I'm running the London Marathon in that little number, even my friends in Manchester should be able to see me.

Here's a little picture to whet your appetite.

I'm so vain, I probably think those pictures are of me.

I can run for miles and miles and miles

Just about fifty days until the London Marathon now.

In the whole of February, I have run more than a hundred miles, and this is more than I accumulated in February 2012 and in February 2011, so there’s no doubt about my ability to put in the extra effort.

I am not yet wavering in my motivation to go out on long runs or get out of bed at an insane hour to get a few miles in before going to work. A lot of other people would probably have tired of the endless running by this point, but I seem to have this uncanny knack of being able to focus on a task and see it through to the very end. My manager at work has commented on my admirable knuckling-down skills. I treat pretty much every task I do with the same level of determination and dedication.

Last weekend I was back in Essex, visiting family and friends. Went to a school friend’s stag party on the Saturday. There I indulged in the usual stag party “activities” and had a few drinks but not too many because after arriving home at 1am, I was out of bed again at 7am to do another long run at 9:30am. 

Virtually all of my training over the last three years I have done alone. Every step on every pavement, all by myself, alone with just my thoughts, and the only interaction I have with fellow human beings are when I pass some other runner or get shouted at by drivers to "watch where I'm f*cking going." That’s the kind of person I am, really. I prefer to run by myself at my own pace, with nobody to hold me back and slow me down, or speed past me and make me exhausted trying to catch up. However, last Sunday, I changed all that and decided to run with my uncle and cousin, both of whom are also running the London Marathon. 

It was nice to have a bit of company for a change, even though I did not run alongside them for most of the time because I was a fair bit faster than both of them. Whenever I ran past them, I would carry on to the end of the road and run back to where they were, run alongside them and carry on again. By doing this, I was able to run a total of 18 miles even though I had run on exactly the same streets as my uncle who had done 13.

We ran along the streets of Chingford and Woodford Green. All very pleasant, despite the cold, and a welcome change of scene. There was this very nice pond in Chingford, and I did three circuits of the pond. I could have run twenty miles if I had wanted to, just running round and round that pond. It's a rather nice little pond.  One can tire of running up and down the same old streets all the time. After a while, the streets just repeat themselves like the background to a cheaply made Hanna-Barbera cartoon, so it was a joy to run somewhere different. I would do it a bit more often but tend not to run to areas that I am not familiar with, just in case I get lost, so it was a good thing that I had some company.

I'm preparing for another long run this weekend. We're going into the month of March now, so this is where the runs get longer and more intense, before I start tapering down in April. Surprisingly, I haven't managed to injure myself again but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. This is my big problem, a slight lack of confidence in my own ability. Each time I go out for a run, I constantly worry to myself: "is this going to be the one where I get injured and my leg breaks/knee pops/foot falls off/I die?"

A run do

The date of the London Marathon is (very slowly) getting closer; it's sixty days away and we're coming up to two months to D-Day. Or should that be M-Day?

The training is still going well and in the last few weekends I have run twenty miles. Adding this to my short midweek runs, I have already totalled more than eighty miles this month alone. Providing I stay injury-free, I think I'm on course to challenge my personal best set in last year's marathon. Whether I beat it or not is anybody's guess.

My last long run was a nice one. I decided to shake things up and try a new route for once. After running the six miles to Bury, instead of turning back towards home, I continued on to a nice little town called Ramsbottom, another four miles in a northerly direction, before then heading back ten miles to my apartment, making a nice round twenty miles, all in all. Ramsbottom, now my favourite place name, second only to Cockfosters. I have never run to Cockfosters before, nor have I ever been there, but there's always a first time for everything.

The weather has started to improve a little. We've actually had sun for four days in a row, which means something is bound to go horribly wrong soon. A snowstorm, with 25 inches of snow probably. The temperature has started to get a little warmer as well, although it was freezing cold when I went for a run at 7am today, and stupidly forgot to wear gloves, which meant that by the time I returned to my flat after running seven miles, my fingers felt like they were frostbitten.

Fundraising is going well, albeit slowly. So far I have been sponsored by 13 donors, for an amount not far off £300, about 13% of my £2000 target. I hope I get more sponsors and I'm not stuck on 13 donors and 13% as I'm extremely superstitious. Probably means it'll take me 13 hours to finish the marathon.
Anyway, the amount raised - so far, so good, but it could be a bit more. After running this race twice before, my friends are probably fed up of having to sponsor me again. My running tales about running from Manchester to Bury and back again, or even the fact that I'm doing my third marathon in three years are no longer impressing anybody. Nobody cares. It's getting so that I'd have to run it backwards or naked, in order to get a bit of interest and appreciation for what I'm doing!
No, I am not doing the Marathon naked. Over my dead body. Then again, the ancient Greeks ran naked, and if it's good enough for the ancient Greeks, who gave us the Olympic Games, democracy, science, the theatre, architecture, sculpture, philosophy, among other things, then it's good enough for me. Although I'm not sure if the original marathon run from the Battle of Marathon to Athens by Pheidippides was done in the nude. Perhaps I could be the first.

If anybody reading this would like to sponsor me, please do so at: http://www.justgiving.com/martinpampel - don't do it for me, do it for the kids! Help a very worthy cause. Please. Think of the children.

Sore Spot

I have managed to complete several long runs in the last couple of weeks, largely thanks to my training programme not being interrupted by snow or injury. After running twenty miles yesterday, I am in pain. In fact, sheer agony, but I am not injured.

It is not my feet or knees that hurt, but my inner thighs, which are extremely sore from my shorts rubbing against my skin for the last two hours of the run. The friction has more or less scraped off some skin on my legs. In my three years of running, I have never had a chafing anywhere near as bad as this. The pain was horrendous, and it felt like someone was taking a cheese grater to my legs, and looking at the rash on my legs now, it does look like someone has attempted to shave me with a cheese grater.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so hopefully this image will demonstrate the amount of pain that I am in:

Having a shower afterwards was pure torture and felt like I was washing my legs with sulphuric acid. Oddly though, given that it is a more common chafing complaint, my nipples are absolutely fine, no problems there.

My legs are still very sore and for most of today and last night, I have been walking slightly bow-legged. People will start to think I've got rickets or I've soiled myself. However, I'm prepared for next time as I went to the supermarket this morning and bought several tubs of Vaseline, ready to slather all over my legs and other sensitive areas.

Snow Excuse

Things have steadily improved with my training. Since my last update, I successfully completed a seventeen-mile run (albeit with a few stops along the way - taking nearly a month out injured meant I wasn't quite as fit as I could have been) and I'm happy to say that my feet seem to be fine and that I have (so far) not had a recurrence of that annoying foot injury.

No sooner had I got back into the swing of things with the training, then factors beyond my control threatened to derail everything. On Friday it snowed heavily, and even though it had stopped by Friday evening, it meant that the long run that I had planned for the weekend would be out of the question.

Perhaps I could have seen the snow as a blessing in disguise and used it as an opportunity to get some much-needed rest and relaxation, curling up in the foetal position in the warmth of my home, but no, not me. The glutton for punishment that I am, on Saturday I decided to go outside and run in the snow, in the biting cold. I was never going to exceed ten miles in that sort of weather, with that amount of snow on the ground, but I felt that any running was better than no running at all.

So, defying all common sense, and a number of comments such as "you must be bloody mad", "you'll slip over in that", and "don't say I didn't warn you", I put on my trainers and ran around my local park, where the snow was more than a couple of inches thick. There, I learned one important lesson: running through snow is not as easy as it looks. Sylvester Stallone made it appear perfectly simple when training in Rocky IV. For me, I felt more like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.

I managed six-and-a-half miles. It was an exhausting six-and-a-half miles, but in the snow, I was working much harder than I usually do. I had to raise my knees up higher, I had to move my ankles a bit more and it gave my body and joints a much-needed workout that I wouldn't get from the usual surfaces on which I run. I also had to be more cautious about slipping or tripping. As it was, I never once slipped. The snow that had just fallen acted as a nice shock absorber and I think my body felt all the better for that run, physically exhausting as it was.

Having "only" accomplished six-and-a-half miles on Saturday, I went out again for another run this morning. Over Saturday night and this morning, more snow had fallen. However, this snow had covered most of the pavements so I was able to run along the pavements without worrying about slipping on ice as there was a fair covering of snow. I again managed six-and-a-half miles, bringing my weekend total to thirteen miles, which is fairly close to what I would have liked to achieved in a single session, but two lots of six-and-a-half miles in the snow is good enough for me.

Hopefully the snow will have cleared up by next weekend so I can get some more "proper" running done. On the other hand, if there is freak weather in April when the Marathon comes, and it snows heavily the day before, then at least I will be adequately prepared to run in those conditions should that situation arise! Mind you, the organisers would probably just cancel the event...

Painful running, my foot!

I haven't updated in a while. How remiss of me.

There has not been much to talk about except that tomorrow will be 100 days until the big day (the London Marathon, not my wedding. Honestly, who'd want to marry me?)
In the meantime, I have gradually been increasing the distance on my long runs at the weekend and trying desperately to avoid getting myself injured. Again.

There was a setback in December when the big toe on my right foot began to hurt through all of the running. It happened during a 15-mile run but I did the sensible thing by resting my foot when I got home, elevating it, putting ice on it. Then all would be well, and I would go out for another run the following weekend. It would begin smoothly, only for the toe to start hurting and the pain to kick in after about two miles into the run. I would rest it again for another week, and run again the following week, with a nice pleasant start, only for the toe to start playing up again after only two miles. I just kept getting a pain in the foot each time I ran, despite resting for a week.

I realised the problem must be more serious than I thought, so I sought advice from my doctor and I  then (reluctantly) rested the foot for two weeks. That was the hardest thing ever, going two weeks without doing any running whatsoever. I felt so guilty for not exercising, emotionally beating myself up for my enforced laziness and feeling jealous of all my other friends who were running out in the freezing cold, while there I was, in my warm lounge, watching the telly with my foot up.

So, two weeks later, I was ready to run again. After a short three-mile run on a treadmill on Christmas Day, my feet did not feel any ill effects. After a four-mile run the very next day, there were again no adverse effects. Later that week, I did six miles, and the following weekend this went up to twelve miles, again, with no resultant pain. A bit of aching in the feet, but no actual pain. So after taking some time out through injury, I'm starting to get back on track. I'm a little bit worried that I've missed out on some vital training, but the worst thing to do would be to rush back into my training and try to make up for lost time - that'll only lead to injury again and I'd be right back to where I started from.

I guess it seems I'm not as fit as I used to be. Actually, let me correct myself. I am as fit as I used to be, in terms of my health and stamina. However, my body just doesn't seem to be able to stand up to this sort of punishment and my feet aching after every run is probably my body trying to tell me something. It's perhaps no wonder, really. Each run I do, my feet (even in well-cushioned shoes) are pounding down on the pavement thousands of times. It's about equal to the force of 20,000 atomic bombs being dropped. OK, it's not quite that strong, but seriously, there is a lot of pressure being put on these feet of mine, all the more so, given that this will be the third consecutive year in which I'm running the marathon. I may be running for a disabled children's charity, but if I'm not careful, it'll be me needing the wheelchair.

Running Again, Naturally

Greetings to all six of my readers, or however many of you are out there.

I am updating my marathon blog again, which can surely mean only one thing. That's right, I have lost all sense of sanity and am running the London Marathon again in 2013. If I make it to the start line, and hopefully to the finish as well, this would be three consecutive marathons. A hat trick, if you will.

In 2011 I ran for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and in 2012 I ran for Action on Hearing Loss. For 2013, I will be focusing on disability of a different nature. My charity of choice is Whizz-Kidz. They help disabled children by way of providing them with wheelchairs and other mobility or specialist equipment and support to allow them to have the best quality of life possible. Did you know that there are around 70,000 children in the UK that could benefit from the right mobility equipment but don't currently have access to it? In this day and age, that's just not acceptable. So hopefully by running these 26 miles again, I can raise more awareness of the cause, and plenty of money with it.
I will admit that my first choice of charity was in fact Breast Cancer Care as my mother is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and at the moment it's a cause that understandably means a lot to me. Unfortunately the charity had so many applicants for so few spaces that I was unable to represent them this time. Let me be clear though, this does not make Whizz-Kidz a second choice charity by any means - I am just as passionate about assisting this equally deserving cause and I encourage all those reading to help me in supporting them.

I may have completed the marathon twice before, but I am under no illusions as to how challenging it will be to run it yet again.
As I write this, I have a bag of frozen peas resting on my right foot. During my most recent run at the weekend, I picked up a pain in my foot, close to my big toe. As I was several miles from home, I had to continue running with the slight pain. The pain was much more pronounced after I had returned home and taken my shoe off. It was as if the shoes masked the pain somehow, which bodes well for the marathon, because if I were to hurt my foot halfway through, there's a good chance that I might be able to ride through the pain and finish the marathon, depending on how much I hurt myself. However, my main concern is recovering from this niggling foot injury and I don't know how long that will take. It could be a few days or it could be a few weeks. Rather now than in March or April though, but it is rather frustrating all the same.

Why am I running the marathon again, then? I raised lots of money in the last two, and in the previous race I ran like the proverbial clappers and finished with an amazingly quick (for me) time -- what more could I possibly want? It's not about beating my previous finishing time. To be absolutely frank (hold on, I thought I was Martin, not Frank) I'm unlikely to finish in a faster time than my 3hrs 38mins 58secs. I want to keep on raising money and awareness for deserving causes. I just know that if I don't run the marathon this year, I will miss the thrill of taking part, the atmosphere of the crowd and the event in general. Running for me is like an addiction and I've caught the running bug. If I had my way, I would keep on running the marathon until it's a physical impossibility for me to do so. I suppose there are worse things out there that one can be addicted to than running.

Question Time

It's been about three weeks since I completed the London Marathon and what a funny three weeks it's been. I've had congratulations from all sorts of people. Family, colleagues, friends (well, the friends that care anyway, the rest are decidedly indifferent), people in the local area, even complete strangers who just happened to read about my marathon exploits in the local papers.
I've had my dad tell me that the guys at work have seen me in the local newspaper, and my grandparents have been telling me that people have phoned them up to tell them that they'd seen their grandson in the news. Lots of messages from people telling me how proud they are of me. I'm very touched by all the nice messages.

The total amount that I have raised so far is creeping slowly towards the £3000 mark. Donations continued to pour in after the marathon, especially when I mentioned how I had decisively and comprehensively beaten last year's time.

Last night I hosted the quiz evening with a friend in order to raise some more money and the takings that night amounted to just over £500 - a very impressive and unexpected amount indeed. The evening went rather smoothly, I felt, except we arrived at the venue a little later than we ought to have done, and as a result, had not finished setting up the room by the time the first guests arrived. Furthermore, we had to keep a lot of people waiting before actually beginning, which might have frustrated a few of the more impatient participants. Also, in hindsight, we could have provided more to eat and drink, especially during the interval, so that is clearly something to learn for the future if I organise an event like this again. On the other hand, we got at least sixty people into the room, onto eleven different tables/teams, and they appeared to enjoy the questions. It seemed to be the right mix - easy questions, difficult questions, and extremely hard questions. Enough to satisfy everybody, yet also being able to separate the men from the boys. And presumably the women from the girls.

I got a lot of compliments about the quiz style and questions and also on the witty repartee between me and my friend, with whom I had written the questions. We went roughly halfway on the whole thing, writing 100 questions each, 10 for each round, and then choosing the best 5 of each of our questions for every round, so there was a good, healthy mix. We've both been to plenty of quizzes before so we knew what kind of questions to write and how to aim them at our audience.
The quiz comprised the following rounds: 1) Marathons and Deafness; 2) History; 3) Geography; 4) Art and Literature; 5) Music; 6) Science and Nature; 7) Sport; 8) Spellings; 9) TV; 10) Film. I wrote all of the questions for the first and eighth rounds but otherwise we wrote half of the questions between ourselves. There was also a raffle, for which I had worked very hard to try to get some decent prizes. Many companies were kind enough to donate a few, including my own company, the local cinema, a theatre in town, and a nearby restaurant. Hopefully the people that won on the raffle are satisfied with their prizes.
Overall, it was a success because the vast majority of people went away happy. Many of them were lovely people that I'd never met before but were pleased to have met me and taken part. They'd enjoyed their evening, they'd learned a few things, met a few people and had a good time. The evening overran by a fair bit, but in my defence, the guests got more for their money -- the quiz could have been over in two-and-a-half hours, but instead it took three hours. We gave the public what they wanted. 160 questions (100 quiz questions, plus 60 marathon round picture questions). That's 5p per question. Absolute bargain. Plus a raffle prize for a couple more quid if they got lucky. You'd be hard-pressed to get a better quiz deal, if I may say so myself.

Some people might want to know what the questions were. As this is a blog about the marathon, I'll stay on topic and just post the questions to the first round - the marathon (and deafness) round:

1	Until 1990, they were known as Marathon bars - what are they now called?
2	What was the name of the Greek messenger who allegedly ran the first ever marathon - from the Battle of Marathon to Athens in 490BC?
3	In what year was the first London Marathon run?
4	Which famous (clipper) ship do runners pass around 10km into the London Marathon?
5	In which US state was the first wheelchair marathon held – Iowa, Ohio or Utah?
6	The London Marathon is currently sponsored by Virgin, but who were the previous sponsors?
7	After which inventor is the unit of sound intensity, the decibel, named?
8	The incus is the medical name for what tiny bone in the middle ear?
9	What hearing condition’s symptoms include a ‘ringing’ in the ears?
10	“The Sound Of Silence” gave which duo their first number one single in the USA?

Answers on a postcard, please.

London Marathon 2012

Hello everybody.
I completed the London Marathon 2012 in 3hours 38minutes 58seconds, beating my previous year's time (of 4hrs 47mins 47secs) by more than an hour.

I am absolutely thrilled with this, as all those months of training and torture have finally paid off. I began my training for this marathon with the aim of beating last year's finishing time, but I did not expect to beat it quite by that much. I would have been very happy to finish fifteen minutes or even half an hour faster, but nearly seventy minutes? I don't think anybody expected that, least of all me.

So, here is where I explain how the London Marathon went. I shall try to make it sound original, because in many ways it was similar to last year's marathon. Firstly, I got up very early (5am), had breakfast, met my uncle at my nearest Tube station (plus my cousin-in-law and a friend who were taking part in their first marathon) and we all travelled to Greenwich Park together. There, we went our separate ways. I made sure to get to the toilets early to perform my ablutions and relieve myself of any last-minute nerves, before the queues got too long, otherwise you would probably spend more time queuing for the loo than you would actually running the marathon.

I did a few stretches and psyched myself up.  I tied my running chip to my shoe - this would calculate precisely what my finishing time would be, so it was imperative that I tied it properly so that it would not fall from my shoe mid-race!

The race began at around 9.45am, and this time, I was closer to the front than I was in last year's race. I crossed the start line roughly ten minutes after the first runners had set off (as opposed to 20 minutes last year). This meant that while I would initially still be surrounded on all sides and slowed down by slower runners during the first few miles, this would be much less of a problem than if I had started right at the back like last year.

I felt fitter than I did last year. I knew that I was faster and that I had more stamina, so it was not particularly difficult negotiating the first fifteen or so miles. Last year, they changed the route of the marathon slightly, so I was not able to run past the Cutty Sark. This year, it was back to the typical route, and I was able, for the first time, to see the famous clipper ship in all its splendour.
In terms of landmarks, other than the Cutty Sark, there wasn't a great deal to see until reaching Tower Bridge, about 12 miles in, but I was able to keep myself motivated by listening to the crowds and being buoyed by their cheering.

Running on Tower Bridge (about 12 miles in). Compared to last year, I seem to be having less difficulty at this stage, if the look on my face is anything to go by.

I reached the halfway point (13.1 miles -- yes, half of 26.2 miles is 13.1 miles) in 1 hour and 46 minutes. Already, things are looking positive because I recalled reaching the halfway mark in 2011 shortly after two hours had passed; this year, I was at least a quarter of an hour faster! At this relatively early stage, I was not going to get ahead of myself, because last year I suffered a bad case of fatigue and my second half was noticeably slower than my first half. Luckily, this year did not see a repeat of that situation, as I was still able to keep on running (as the Spencer Davis Group sang -- errr....ask your mothers). In fact, I ran a continuous 18 miles without stopping or walking, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the most I've ever run in one go without needing to walk. And even then, I did not need to walk for long - just long enough to take a few sips of water and Lucozade, and have a few energy sweets. I'm not sure what kept me going. Maybe it was from drinking all of that Lucozade and keeping well hydrated. Maybe it was the right sort of weather conditions that meant I was able to run comfortably. Maybe it was the determination to prove my doubters wrong in order to beat my previous finishing time. Maybe it was knowing what to expect, from having done the marathon last year. Maybe it was a combination of all of these. Everything seemed to fall into place really, so it was a very good run for me. I experienced very little pain or discomfort. My running vest was a little bit too big, so there was no rubbing or chafing of the nippular area. The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. The rain that had been forecast did not arrive until long after I had finished the race. Overall, things went smoothly. I paced myself nicely, and looking at my race results afterwards, it's clear that I was very consistent; each 5km took me roughly 25 minutes. I'd also had my hair cut earlier that week. Perhaps that helped reduce wind resistance.

However, I did have to slow down and walk a couple of times, which there is absolutely no shame in doing. I believe I had a walk at mile 18, mile 20 and mile 22, but these were very short walks, for no more than 90seconds to two minutes, and then I was off and running again. I was also very lucky not to hit the dreaded wall. Tiredness did begin to set in, and my legs did indeed ache, but none of this prevented me from carrying on, and I was still able to run comfortably. While the last six miles of the 2011 marathon were sheer torture, the equivalent six miles this year were little more than a fairly difficult physical challenge.

On the Embankment, I saw various members of my family, which gave me such a huge physical and mental boost. My dad and brother cheering me on and taking photographs. To be told by my cousin, ecstatic, that I was "doing amazing!" was great. Further on down the Embankment, I saw another of my cousins, who was cheering on the runners for the Alzheimer's Society, who he works for. This year, the Embankment didn't seem quite as long. Birdcage Walk seemed much shorter than it did last year. Perhaps they seem longer when you're tired and struggling, but this time, I eased through them. Turning past Buckingham Palace and into the Mall, I got ready for my sprint finish and overtook seemingly dozens of other runners, literally roaring as I crossed the finish line. It's a roar of relief. Relief in knowing that all the training had paid off. It's also a roar of pain. Pain because by now my legs really were aching. It's also a roar of success. Success, because I can see that I have beaten my previous time, not by fifteen minutes, not by half an hour, but by more than an hour. 3:38:58 is the magic number.

Me with my medal, shortly after finishing the marathon.

Exhausted, I gulped down some water, collected my medal, and had a few photos taken of me by the official photographers, then made my way to Horse Guards Parade, to meet the representatives from the charity Action on Hearing Loss, for whom I ran the marathon. I had a banana and drank a little more, then made my way to the portable toilets. 26 miles of running can do funny things to one's digestive system, you know.
After that, I made my way to the charity's post-race reception, where I met some of the other runners, and had a massage. I was hoping for the masseuse to be a tall, blonde, Swedish woman (not sure why exactly, and she wasn't either), but the massage was very pleasant and the masseuse was gentle and eased my general soreness and stiffness.

Meanwhile, my dad and brother are still on the Embankment, waiting for other members of the family to pass by, before they come to find me. My uncle finished in 5hrs, 9minutes, and his son-in-law, my cousin-in-law, finishes in just over 7 hours, owing to a leg injury sustained about halfway into the race, so it is quite some time before I am reunited with the rest of my family, but I don't care. I'm just feeling incredibly proud of myself (which is something that I don't normally do, as modesty forbids). Plenty of people have congratulated me and told me how proud they are of me and the time in which I completed the race; their good wishes, support and sponsorship have touched me deeply, and I know that I could not have done it all without them.