Ross Goodman

The Good

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.
(continue reading…)

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.

photo credit: darkmatter
It’s been a while since I have written anything so apologies in advance about the length!

Marathon Team Update

Start with the good news: as of today the fundraising total hit £300 which is great but the marathon is no sprint, so lots more time (6 weeks gulp) to go. http://www.justgiving.com/26miles4chas
The not so good news: unfortunately Paul has had to pull out of the Edinburgh Marathon due to an injury he has picked up during training.
The better news: Paul has agreed to competitively run the distance of the marathon before the end of the year. Due to this, we will be keeping the fundraising page open until the end of the year so you can show your support.
(continue reading…)

On 7th September 2008 my daughter Emma Berry Goodman passed away from Motor Neurone Disease.

Last year I ran a half marathon and cycled across Scotland to raise funds for MND Scotland.

This year (before my 40th birthday) I will complete the Edinburgh Marathon on 23rd May 2010. I have also managed to elist the help of my two best friends Angus Denham and Paul Crawford.

The childrens hospice, Rachel House in Kinross was a favourite outing for Emma and she really looked forward to her time there. The staff and volunteers there go out of there way to bring a smile to everyone’s faces!

If you would like to show your support for the fantastic work done by CHAS please consider adding your donation on this page : http://www.justgiving.com/26Miles4CHAS

You can see some of the photos that I have taken at Rachel House in Kinross here.

Last Friday Simon Corbett arranges a fantastic fundraising night for MND Scotland.

Simon had arranged an excellent DJ to keep the evening entertained.
A quizz to test our general knowledge.
A raffle to make sure that lots of us had something to take home.
There was an auction of a bottle of whisky, signed by the First minister; that went for £250.

I’d like to thank Simon and his family and friends for organising the event, everyone who donated raffles and everyone who turned up of the night.
Ross Goodman

Acording to my training plan here I have just finished my first marathon!

I did it in a time of 5 hours 28 minutes.

OK, in actual fact it took me 41 days, but it is a milestone !

Sarah Goodman, my 13 year old daughter decided to join me on my run tonight.

She did great, she did’nt slow me down any. I am keeping track of my training in a Google spreadsheet here.

We are in training for our upcoming fundraising events.

See the widgets on the right if you would like to donate.