Thanks to Marathon-Photos.com

For those that don’t know, my eldest daughter Emma Berry Goodman passed away in September 2008 from Motor Neurone Disease. Whilst she was with us we were greatly helped by three fantastic charities: MND Scotland, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Childrens Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS).

For the last three years I have dedicated a years fundraising to each of these charities. This year my challenge was to run 1,000km in 2011 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
If everything goes to plan then I will achieve my 1,000th kilometer when I run in Strathclyde Parkrun -  event number 86 on Saturday 17th December.

I know that this is an expensive time of year but if you could see your way to giving a donation at https://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011 or by texting “Ross70 £5″ to 70070 – feel free to adjust the amount as you see fit!
Every £20 raised helps to provide 1 hour of nursing care and I can personally vouch for how invaluable the Marie Curie are!

Thank you all for your donations and your support and encouragement in this past year!

If you would like to see just how far 1,000km actually is have a look here.

I had hoped to be able to raise £1000. Every £20 raise helps provide an hour’s nursing, £1,000 would equate to 50 hours care! Unfortunately I’m only at £766 or 76% of target. I am putting a big push in, I’m planning to run every day in December to guarantee that I hit my km target but I need some help from you to make sure that I hit my £ target!

I understand that these are financially trying times and December is an expensive month but this is exactly when we should be thinking of others. Any donations at all will be gratefully received at https://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011 or you can donate via your mobile phone by texting “Ross70 £5” to 70070

To just add an extra element to the marathon my friend Andy from Reynard Nursery asked me to tweet every mile. I knew every mile would be very offputtingbut I thought I would give it a go. My marathon day tweets start here. I had experimented with VLingo for my BlackBerry which I was carrying anyway. My pre race day tests were all fine – press a button – speak – translated into text – press a button to confirm sending it to Twitter – easy. On the day, being a little breathless and having a howling gale (more of that later) things didn’t go quite to plan. “Four Miles” was translated as “F******* Hell” and “Five Miles and Feeling Good” was translated as “Hi Smiles and Feeling Good”. I reverted to typing after that.

Race Day

I had done a lot more preparation for the marathon this year over last year and also appreciated the benifit of the positive mental attitute. Having done one – there was no fear – I knew I could do another – I just had to do it slightly faster. The start was well organised as usual (I’m sure it was down to the sterling efforts of the Jammies : thanks Moira and John). Just as I dropped my bag off, the heavens opened – thank heavens for my Marie Curie poncho!

The scariest part of the day had been the weather forecast – 20+mph south westerly winds and intermittent showers. Rain I can live with but wind ……..

The first three quarters of the race were great – everything went to plan – had a nice chat with a few people (it’s only recently I have actually slowed down enough to be capable of having a conversations). Of course I was not heeding the warning signs – you NEVER feel a wind when it’s on your back!

The Twinge

Just before mile 17, the turn at the furthest point, as Gosforth House, when the wind was on my back and coming off the water my legs got really cold and I got a slight pull in my left calf. Nothing serious but I had to pull up and stretch it. With hindsight I should have worn long bottoms rather than my shorts but…. Just after the turn we head into the grounds of Gosforth House, nice and sheltered but I have now resorted to alternated running/walking but at this point it’s more walking than running.

As you emerge from the grounds just before mile 19 we get the first taste of the wind directly in our faces – NOT GOOD. Everyone in front of me, as soon as they take the left hand back onto the main road are stopped in their tracks and reduced to a walk.

This was definately the low point for me – you always know the last five or six miles will be hard, but with a slight twinge and the full fury of The Anemoi all conspiring against me this was not an uphill struggle, it was an upwind struggle.

I took a breather on the little detour up Lyars Road and got a big cheer from some of the Strathclyde Parkrun regulars and a quick chat with a few runners from Marie Curie and MND Scotland. Spirits raised, mile 20 marked turning into the wind for the home “stretch”.

The Crawl

My mind was actually in a much better point at this time: I knew I would finish, I was certain I would get a PB I just had to push through the wind. I was still alternating walk/run but I was determined to run more than walk so head down and push on. At this point the race was in carnage – I think only about a dozen runners passed me in the last 6 miles – it was just a constant stream of people with their heads down, leaning into the wind and walking.

To put the wind into perspective, during the gusts, the metal barriers to separate the runners from the cars were blowing over. The stronger gusts (around Cockenzie) would actually stop you dead in your tracks. My neck and shoulders were in agony at this point, I was having to turn my had to the side to actually be able to get a breath – great technique for a front crawl, not for the last six miles of a marathon!

My technique at this point was to simply spot a gaggle of walkers – reel them in and pass them, have a quick strech – and repeat.

The Finish

At 26 miles you come to the big roundabout and you get an enormous cheer from the crowd! THANK YOU EVERYONE!! There is only 0.2 of a mile to go – but then the atmosphere died – where did everyone go? Last year the finish was in the racecourse, this year it was in the street outside, but the public were not allowed into the finish straight !?!?!?!

I crossed the line in 5 hours 43minutes – 50 minutes faster than last year – Woo Hoo. I had a HUGE sense of achievement. A few years ago I could not contemplate running for 50 minutes let alone running a race where a 50 minute improvement was possible.

But then it went downhill. Last year, you finished, you got your medal, you got your goodie bag stuffed with all you needed, you crossed the road and you were in the park meeting your friends families and charities. This year, you got your medal, then a bananna, then a sports drink, then some water, then a big queue for your T-Shirt. OH, but there were no marathon T-Shirts left – would I like a Half Marathon one instead ? NO THANKS ! You would have through they would have known how many runners were registered – I seem to remember even telling them my size! Then another queue for my goodie bag. Why not just put everything I need in a bag – give it to me and let me get on my way? I’ve had quite a busy day so far!

The walk into the park seemed to take ages but no where near as long as the walk to the bus back to Edinburgh.

In Summary

I ran the race much better than last year but this year the wind took it’s toll rather than the sun from last year.

Will I do it again – I’m already pre-registered!

Will I try another marathon – Loch Ness in October!

My fundraising page http://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011 is still active until the end of the year and as of tonight my first run since Edinburgh I have reached half way 502km.

To date I have run 164km or 16.4% of my target distance – unfortunately I am only at 4% of my fundraising target – Never mind I have the Meadows (half) marathon, the Kilomathon and the Edinburgh Marathon in the next few months to give the fundraising a boost.

I thought it would be fun to visualise just how far 164km is, turns out I would be almost at Newcastle by now!

You can see this by clicking here.

I would have just included the picture rather than the link but PlusNet is screwing around with the permissions on my blog.

Here is the first draft of the dashboard I’ll be using to communicate my progress.

Click here for the bigger version.

The JustGiving page has also been set up here : http://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011

In 2011 I plan to run 1000km to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

This will be spread across multiple events including the Edinburgh Marathon and all of my training sessions.

If you would like to donate please visit http://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011

In 2010 my challenge was to run the Edinburgh Marathon in order to raise funds for the Childrens Hospice Association Scotland.

With the help of my good friends Angus Denham and Paul Crawford who ran with me on a variety of races YOU helped us to raise a fantastic £2072.88.

photo credit: Nick-K (Nikos Koutoulas)

The concept behind Marcothon was simple : run every day in December for at least 25 minutes or 3 miles.

My results:

• 15 days out of 31
• 18 runs in total
• 75.51km or 46.92 miles covered
• 10 hours 30 minutes running time

Officially that is a “fail” but it is my fourth best month in the year for distance and time but by far my best for actual number of runs.

I’m counting it as a HUGE success as it has been the ideal “warm up” for my 2011 running challenge.

Full details and stats to follow in a subsequent post but in summary:

Run 1000km in 2011 to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

http://www.justgiving.com/1000k-in-2011

Most would have said the weather was good, I beg to differ it was waaay too hot!
On the plus side I’m sure that helped bring out more spectators who really helped spur me on and yes the garden hoses and sprinklers WERE appreciated!

The Bad

The golden rule is to have practiced everything and have no new kit on race day.
Due to the heat in the days leading up and the forecast I decided to treat myself to a new belt with a bottle holder built in. Unfortunately this was not really up to the job and my bottle jumped out the holder in the first few yards after crossing the start line.
Due to the excitement of the start I even forgot to start the timer on my watch so it was a few minutes after crossing the start line before my watch started. My watch gave me a time of 6:23:24 and my official time was 6:34:05. I had also made sure that my watch had a new battery but I had not double checked the settings and I ended up having to fiddle with it during the run to get it set properly. My Garmin FR50 was complaining over the last few miles of low memory, I’ll either have to buy a new watch or speed up: I’m “cheap” so I’ll have to keep up the training !

The Ugly

No real injuries to speak of, the plasters on my nipples fell off so I had to get some emergency vaseline from the first aiders at mile 8. I finished with a small blister on each heel, but this was due to the fact I did more walking than running in the latter stages.
Obviously I’m stiff and sore today but I’m keeping moving to prevent complete seizure.

Results

The web site has the following timings.
10k – 01:13:11
Half – 00:00:00
30k – 04:21:43
Finish – 06:34:05
The time from my watch for the half was ~2:45 which was exactly the pace I was aiming to maintain.

Race Report

Unfortunately it was just after mile 14, just before 13:00 that the heat really started to hit home: I started to take dizzy spells, tunnel vision and felt nausious. I gave myself a good long walking break and doubled up on the water: one for drinking and one over my head and down the back of my neck.
This really was the beginning of the end, I started to get twinges in my legs due to walking and any time I started to jog my calf screamed almost as loud as my head. I was still determined to finish even if I had to walk.
My mind “broke” at mile 17, just prior to the furthest point when two chaps towing car tires behind them jogged past. I almost wept. I resigned myself to not finishing. This point in the course really is in the middle of nowhere so I decided I had to walk the course until I got back onto the main road. Even though this was the hottest point of the course I decided to just go one more mile. I was the one with my head down, blinded by sweat and factor 50 staggering all over the road. Somehow I managed two miles in this state until I got to mile 20.
At mile twenty I realised that it’s against the rules to drop out once you get to mile 20 as it’s only 10k from the end and 10k is “easy”. My mind trick worked and I picked up the pace from a stagger to a brisk walk, even managing to break back into a jog for the final part of the finishing straight.

Thanks

Angus (10k: 00:49:49, Half: 01:46:09, 30k: 02:35:11, Marathon: 03:42:32) for motivation and Paul for getting me to the race on time!
Thanks to all the supporters and volunteers on the day for enduring the heat, cheering us on and providing the cool showers from garden hoses and copius bottles of water!
Sophie Wells from Parkrun, it was your cheering on the finish straight that spurred me back into a jog!
Moira and John (driving the sweepbus), also from Parkrun, pleased to have seen you when passing the racecourse but more pleased to have NOT seen you again.
A HUGE thank you to everyone who was so kind and generous in leaving a donation or kind words of support at http://www.justgiving.com/26miles4chas. The page will be staying active as Paul intends to run 26 competitive miles over the coming year, he was injured so could not compete in the marathon.

photo credit: damianromero

Parkrun

Last Saturday (10th April) saw the the launch of the Strathclyde Park Parkrun.
After recieving so much encouragement from the folks at the Glasgow Parkrun I decided to give something back and volunteer to help. This is a win-win situation as I can run the ~4 miles from home to the park run, help out then run home so I’m doing my good deed for the day AND getting a run in !

Injury

Unfortunately on my run home after just 2 miles I got to experience just how bad “shin splints” are!
My other half was working so I had to hobble the last two miles home where the kids were great keeping me supplied with frozen peas.
To try and speed my recovery: 5 weeks until Edinburgh marathon (donate here: http://www.JustGiving.com/26Miles4CHAS) I did not do any running at all.

I’m Back!

It’s only a tiny niggle now so I thought I would brave a wee short run: 3 miles, Chatelherault and back. My time was “down” but no new or reoccurrence of any injuries. Despite having wun ~25 miles in my new shoes I have swapped back to my old ones “just in case”, and I’ll stick with them until post Edinburgh.
Hopefully a week of short runs will set me up for a longer run at the weekend then I’ll get back on track.

Monday – Radio Scotland

The excellent Radio Scotland program Get It On is a theme based program where you can suggest songs that match the theme. On Monday, not only did Brian Burnett play a song for me, the whole program was based around a theme that I had suggested: Happy Then Sad.
Then, to top it all off, my song suggestion on his blog prompted some great donations to my fundraising page http://www.JustGiving.com/26Miles4CHAS for CHAS – Childrens Hospice Association Scotland.
A HUGE thank you to Bryan and all the listeners !

Tuesday – Instant Karma

I managed to finish work a little early on Tuesday so I headed home to avoid the usual M8 congestion.
I pulled off at Junction 5 – Harthill to phone home. Pulling into a little side street to use the phone safely, I realised too late that the road was thick with ice and muddy puddles and I got stuck fast.
A HUGE thank you to the kind gentleman who took the time to help me get my free.
Less than one minute after freeing my car and continuing my journey, a car was coming towards me with flames coming from under and around his engine compartment. I managed to flag him down, he had not realised that his car was on fire.
Neither of us had a fire extinguisher! As I had just been stuck I had my shovel handy. A few shovelfulls of snow and the fire was out.
I dread to think what the consequences would have been if my altered journey times and kind samaritan had not happend just as it did.

Thursday – Winner !

Since restarting my jogging at the start of the year I have been a huge fan of the ParkRun concept, a weekly free 5k timed run, especially my local Glasgow ParkRun in Pollok Park.
I found out on Thursday that I had been selected as February’s SweatShop monthly prize winner. SweatShop are one of the fantastic sponsors of ParkRun that help make this fantastic free event possible!
The weird thing was, on Monday I was considering buying a new pair of running shoes so that I could get them broken in in time for the Edinburgh Marathon on 23rd May!
Karma strikes again!

Friday – Bandwidth Issues

Walking to work on Friday morning I got an E-Mail on my Blackberry from PlusNet, my ISP and website host.
Due to my website using considerably more than my allowed bandwidth my website had been taken down.
I had no idea as to why this was, I expected a spike on Monday following the publicity on Radio Scotland but had no idea why the spike happened on Thursday or Friday.
It turns out that Real Radio were running their Bring £1 To Work Day campaign. Part of this included them spending the day at Rachel and Robin House and soing a broadcast from there.
Some intrepid Googling turned up an mp3 that I had on this site of when Emma went to Real Radio with her friends from Rachel House. I have removed the file from my site and this is what casued the bandwidth problems. If you would like a copy, email me and I’ll find an alternative file host.