Birmingham Mail - Road Runner

Fingers Crossed

2009-05-19T09:52:53Z

I am pleased to finally say (without wishing to tempt fate in the least) that the shin splints I have been suffering for near-on two months are finally beginning to ease.

Much to my annoyance, I found the only way to solve the problem was to step back from training. This is right at the point I wanted to step up my training, so I'm sure you can appreciate how infuriating it was for me.

For a couple of weeks it felt like my legs took pleasure in tormenting me. Just when I thought my shins were coping with running, I'd run for a second consecutive day and have to stop after 15 minutes due to the agony. So, slowly but surely, I mastered it. I made sure I didn't run two days in a row, which for two weeks meant I could only run twice a week due to other commitments and races etc. Now I have started swimming to up the ante a bit and I'm actually feeling ok, so hopefully there will be less of me whinging on here about injuries than last year.

The Milton Keynes half marathon is approaching, albeit 10 weeks away now, and I really need to get myself into gear if I'm going to make it all the way round without collapsing (or hurling - see previous posts). Fingers crossed.

Buying a running watch

2009-05-17T17:53:55Z

Now I'm no expert but I thought buying a running watch would be pretty easy.
It's only a watch that tells you speed, distance and time after all.

WRONG!

Buying a good reliable running watch is a nightmare... but you can learn from some of my mistakes...

When it comes to buying anything I always do my research so when it came to spending around £100 on a watch just for running there was no way I was going to rush into anything.

After speaking to lots of other runners and doing my homework on the net the Garmin Forerunner 50 seemed the best deal - especially for a beginner.

It boasted a heartrate monitor, a footpod to monitor distance, time and speed, and a USB sensor that kept all you information on in easy-to-use log. And all for a tidy ton.

So I bought one from Up and Running in Birmingham City centre.

But before I could even put it on my wrist the start/stop button fell off. So back to the shop and a week later they got me a new one in exchange.

But this time the heart rate monitor and footpod didn't work and the watch had a low battery.

Back to the shop again.

The manager got three of their Forerunner 50's out and, unbelievably, NONE of the watches worked and none of the footpods and heart monitors paired up!!

So I endeed up spending an extra £45 on a Polar RS3000x, which they knocked down to to £145 from the rrp of £175.

I did my first run in it today and it seemed to work fine.

But I'm not going to recommend it to any of you lot til I'm 100 percent convinced... so watch this space.

As for Garmin Forerunner 50s, I personaly wouldn't trust them. Garmin have stopped making them now, and since they have reduced their prices to get rid of the old stock, there has been a lot of problems with their batteries, so I'm told.

So my advice: Either get a Polar or opt for one of the more expensive Forerunner 60s (£190) or 405s (£250+)

Congratulations to all Birmingham Mail fun run runners!

2009-05-03T13:03:10Z

A big well done to everyone who took part in today's fun run in Perry Barr.

It was a great turn out, fantastic atmosphere and I know a lot of cash has been raised for both the Macmillan nurses and the Birmingham Mail Charity Trust.

The winning time was an incredible 17 minutes 10 seconds. So a special well done who ever you were!

Hannah and I both did pleasing times. I finished in 22.45 and Hannah did 28.50.

Look out for your names in Monday's Birmingham Mail... and look out for pix and a video on this website very soon.

Well done again to everybody who took part and helped organise the event.

Back for more

2009-03-31T16:50:08Z

I am back! But not quite.

I started training for the Milton Keynes Half Marathon on July 26 a week ago. And have learnt - for the second time - how important decent trainers are.

My current pair have been through four months of training, several races and a half-marathon, so I don't know why I expected them to continue serving me well. The cushioning in them has completely gone and now I am suffering pretty severe shin splints and need to rest up for a week or two. In the meantime I have ordered an identical pair of new trainers from Ebay.

It's not a big deal because I have a lot of time, but still frustrating that I can't just get on with it. I need to look back and previous blog posts and try to avoid some of the injury issues I had from the last training session, especially if I'm going to cope with the Birmingham half marathon in October!

Getting faster

2009-03-27T11:12:48Z

Since returning from Iraq I have stepped up the aim of building up my speed and have decided not to focus on my long distance endurance.

I ran a PB at the very flat Fradley 10k two weeks ago, in a time of 49.34, but now I'm hungry to get below the 45 minute mark.

I think I'm going to try some fast 5km runs and build in some fartlek training.

Hannah and I are planning to do the Milton Keynes Half Marathon in July and the Birmingham Mail Half Marathon in October.
Both should be a lot of fun but I'm certainly not looking forward to making the transition to the longer distance later in the season.

My next race is the Birmingham Mail 5km Fun Run on May 3. You can find out more info here.
It was a lot of fun last year and I'd recommend it to anybody, no matter what running level.

In the meantime, can anybody recommend a 10km race to keep me going?

First race of the season

2009-02-12T18:12:20Z

After a six month break from training I've entered myself for a 10k race.

And to help me stay motivated four of my colleagues are also going to run it too.
The event of choice is the Fradley 10k which promises to be perfect for running a PB.

It's a flat two-lap course - perfect for the first race of the season.

The only thing that could scupper this gentle opener is the weather, and with the recent cold blast I'm discounting nothing.

Even now the footpaths and parks are caked in ice making training treacherous. I did a 40 minute jog today at Cannon Hill Park and needed to walk every 100 metres or so to ensure I didn't slip on the inch-thick ice.

I'll be looking to do a time of about 55 minutes for Fradley. Although with some of my colleagues who thrashed me in the Brum half marathon last year also taking aprt there will be plenty of motivation to run quickly (and hopefully get my revenge).

My PB is 51.07 but with only minimal t raining leading up to this race I think it will be well out of my reach.

American style eating - not the way to get fit

2009-01-19T20:30:31Z

After doing a days training with the army (which you can see pix of and watch on this website) I've fallen back into the trap of eating like Pavorotti and drinking like George Best.

A five day holiday in New York didn't help. My average diet consisted of burgers, fry ups, coffee and beer.

It's time to get back into the fitness thing again. Cue leaf turning.

Swings and roundabouts

2009-01-04T21:36:57Z

I must be one of the least disciplined detoxers around.

For as the new year started I decided to get back into the fitness malarky and get into shape.

But after just two days of exercise I fell off the wagon and ate a load of sweet and sour chinese pork balls with chips. It wouldn't have been so bad but my breakfast was a fried egg sandwich and lunch was a bacon butty. So about one billion calories there then.

My starting Body Mass Index number is 24.75. If that means nothing to you, you're not alone.
Here's a short explanation which I ripped off the BBC website:
If you'd like to calculate your BMI yourself, follow these three steps.

1. Work out your height in metres and multiply the figure by itself
2. Measure your weight in kilograms
3. Divide the weight by the height squared (the answer to Q1)

For example, you might be 1.6m (5ft 3in) tall and weigh 65kg (10st 3lb). The calculation would then be:
1.6 x 1.6 = 2.56. BMI would be 65 divided by 2.56 = 25.39.

18-25 is ideal. Anything bigger and you're fat and anything smaller and you're diet is turning into anorexia.

So my 24.75 is dangerously close to overweight - I'm just glad I'm nearly two metres tall so I can get away with eating a fair bit.

So, as I weigh in at 14 stone 8 pounds I've decided I now want to get my weight down 14 stone as soon as possible.

But as I have no discipline when it comes to cutting down on take aways and beer, I'm going to rely heavily on exercise.

This weekend I did the following:
20 minute run (3.5km) = 300 calories burned
10 minute cycle = 100 calories
40 minute swim (one mile front crawl) = 600 calories.
Total = 1000 calories

This should just about balance out the Chinese take away I've just had. I'm going to aim for three gym sessions/swims a week and increase my workout as I go. Watch this space to see how I get on. And if your going on a detox/diet/fitness regime, let me know how it goes.

And so it begins...again

2008-12-29T14:48:30Z

Nearly every calorific foodstuff under the sun has found its way into my stomach this Christmas so it's time to start afresh and get on with the detox.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to the Birmingham university gym with a million other fatties who have had too much to eat in three days over Christmas and will now lose approximately one tenth of what they put on by exercising for all of January.

I can't wait to sit on the sweaty stinking bikes after some lardy person has perspired half their body weight on to it.

I can't wait to queue for the running machines while a load of detox newbies walk at a snails pace thinking they're doing a stirling workout that will see them ship shape in no time (I've never understood why people join a gym just so they can walk on the treadmill).

And I certainly can't wait to plonk my behind down on the sit-up mats where the bum print of the last person will remain for all eternity because they ate one or two (dozen) mince pies too many.

But I must stop myself there. Despite my grumpiness, I always, always look at these people and think - fair play to them.

Going to the gym, which is normally full of fitness freaks showing off their six packs and tight muscly bits, is pretty damn intimidating at the best of times. So if you can make it there when you are at your most plump, and at least have a go at losing a few pounds, then you have my respect.

It also means, when I come to taking a Spring holiday, that there should be enough room in the Easyjet economy seats for those New-Year weight watchers to fit their ample behinds without encroaching into my space.

Is this the end?

2008-11-18T20:42:14Z

After an embarassing fall during a paintball game last year I wasn't sure what the future would hold for me in terms of sport.

After I was taken to hospital via ambulance doctors told me I had practically no cartilage left in my left knee and unless I had an operation I would have to quit sport all together.

So in June last year I took the only option available. The results weren't good. Doctors drilled around a dozen tiny holes in the remaining cartilage in my knee in hope it would encourage it to grow back.

To make matters worse they told me the lump of cartilage that had come lose in the fall, that was around the size of a penny, was trapped outside the knee joint making it almost impossible to remove.

It was then that I decided to try and complete the Birmingham half marathon. Thankfully I did it without any major injuries.

But now, two weeks after the race, I'm not sure if my knees have it in them for me to continue running as a long term hobby.

My left one hurts after about 20 minutes of jogging and my right one is now giving me a lot of acute pain too. I was hoping it would go away but it hasn't.

So now I'm not sure what to do. I should probably see a sports physio or knee specialist but I don't like the idea of what they could tell me.

At just 26 I don't want to be told I should give up running. Maybe it's my own fault. Over the years I have played a lot of school football and rugby and then compounded this by four years of rowing for the University of East Anglia. Have my knees finally had enough?

I had to give up my normal five-mile run today because the pain was so bad. But I'm hoping that this is just a blip in my recovery/training from a year ago and things will get back on track soon.

We'll see. Watch this space.

First run since Brum half marathon

2008-11-11T12:48:48Z

I've had more than two weeks off from running and this morning I decided enough was enough. I went out for my first five mile run since finishing the half marathon (in agony).

I was slow, it hurt, and I really found it tough to get back into the swing of things. Overall I was more than six minutes slower than my PB for this route (which I did about six weeks ago). I did the fairly flat five miles from Bournville to Cannon Hill Park and back in 46 minutes. Pathetic.

So I'm going to have to buck my ideas up if I'm going to take on the Grim challenge in a few weeks. I'm not sure if I'm up to it yet so I'll hold back on my entry for a while.

A map of my route was supposed to be embedded below. A technical glitch means the route line hasn't appeared, but I started from Bournville Train Station, did a loop of Cannon Hill park, and then ended at the station. However, this route, which is my favourite for training, is no use in the evenings because it is so poorly lit. Anyone know of any well lit runs in the Stirchley/Bournville/Edgbaston area?

View Larger Map

STILL injured...and I haven't run for weeks!

2008-11-10T22:07:56Z

After all the niggling injuries I have written about on this blog, the halfmarathon gave me the ultimate, painful, and incredibly annoying one of all.

Mainly annoying because I don't know what it is and even when I was in unimaginable pain with it in the days after the race I could not find it in myself to be bothered to go to A&E and sit there for three hours to wait to be seen.

My right foot, just in front of my ankle on the top of my foot, ached like hell from about five hours after the race.

I couldn't walk properly for a week and a half and spent that long with everyone at work telling me to goto the doctor because they were sick of me limping around like a sick puppy.

But I knew if I did I would just be told to rest and "see how it goes" so Ileft it, and now it's just plain irritating because I can walk properly for about five minutes, and I start thinking I might be able to start running again, and then I get a twinge and it's all downhill from there.

So I'll be laid up for the next few weeks where running is concerned, but I am determined to get back on the road as soon as I am able and keep doing races.

I'm sure I am not the only one to say a few 10ks wouldn't go amiss after all the junk I have eaten since the half-marathon.

What do you get if you cross a bus route with a blogger and a brum runner?

2008-11-07T18:17:05Z

A strange question that I've never thought about...until now.

A group of bloggers are attempting to stay on the Number 11 bus for 11 hours on November 11.

We've featured it as a story before in the Mail but I've just had a running related thought (although it may not be original).

After the success of the Birmingham Half marathon, couldn't the council and bus companies team up to make the number 11 route the new route for the first ever Birmingham Marathon? It is pretty much exactly the right length after all.

Any fancy running it? I hear it passes through some picturesque areas.

Paula Radcliffe to run Birmingham Half Marathon

2008-11-07T17:38:34Z

I've been a bit slow on the uptake on this one but Dave Harte spotted an article in the Guardian suggesting Paula may be gracing us with her presence in 2009.

Apparently she cold be considering running in the World Half Marathon Championships in our own fair city next year.

Like Jon Bounds points out on Birmingham It's Not Sh*t, the organisers better draft in a few more portaloos if the rumour is true!

The question I'm pondering is if the world half marathon race in Brum will also be the equivalent of this years EDF half marathon where more than 9,000 runners took part?

Can anyone shed any light on this?

If so - will the council be paying her an appearance fee?
She did earn £300,000 in appearance fees and prize money for winning the New York Marathon after all.

Extreme running

2008-11-05T09:45:56Z

Looking for a new challenge after completing the Brum half marathon? A friend of mine, James Billingsley, aged 27, who has run the odd marathon before, tried a Polar Circle marathon. See his pictures and read his account below. It was still dark, and I was still half asleep, when we boarded the 4x4 truck outside our hotel (which is also the serving airport).
If I wasn't fully awake at this point then the bone shaking two-hour ride to the starting point certainly bounced me into life!

Everyone was in good spirits on route but there was a definite sense of anxiety for what hand the weather would deal us during the day.
The previous day, spent reccying the route across a section of the polar ice cap, was a harsh reminder of just how unwelcoming the landscape can be if the weather isn't on your side.
"Watch your step" the guides had advised, but I was generally too busy falling over to pay attention to their tips for a safe passage.

I had got to know a few of the international competitors during the lead up to the race and there was a good feeling of camaraderie as we jumped down from the vehicle and made our best efforts to 'warm up' in the subzero temperatures. Minus 10°C may sound a bit nippy but as the sun spilled over the glistening horizon revealing clear blue skies it dawned on us that we'd been granted almost perfect conditions for our polar run.

The 60 something runners huddled together under a makeshift start line awaiting the starting orders. Many a sane person may consider this to be a most unfortunate position to find yourself in.... hopping around in a pair of tights at the Arctic Circle with miles of snowy terrain laid out in front of your feet. Well you wouldn't know it to look at the faces of the small group of competitors. As we counted down in unison from 10 you've never seen such a cheery, grinning bunch of fools in all your life!
"GO!" and we were off...
Since my first marathon in April earlier this year, Stratford-Upon-Avon has been my training ground preparing for this run. You may consider the actual marathon in the glacial hills of Greenland would the toughest part of the whole experience. The opportunity to run in such a breathtaking landscape with only the sound of the snow crunching under your feet to keep you company for hours on end is really the reward for the training done.

Nights after work when you didn't want to run but still did the miles anyway, days when you knew you had hours in the pouring rain to get through but pulled on your trainers nevertheless, those are the real battles.
A marathon isn't really something you can do without any preparation or training but that's exactly what makes it so special. You have to earn it!
The Polar Circle Marathon has to be one of the most refreshing marathon challenges available today and if the only thing stopping you is the thought "can I really do that?" then my experience is 'Yes!' and 'you should!'.

James Billingsley completed the Polar Circle Marathon on 18th October 2009 in 4hrs24mins and came in 12th overall. He is currently looking for new exciting runs and welcomes any recommendations!