The Walker With Heart

The Power of the Personal Best

2012-02-04T19:49:00.001Z

I'm 40...

According to the books I should be slowing down...

Bugger that!

I'm not entirely sure where my sudden spurt of pace has come from, but its kept coming...

I've, in 10 days, taken over 2 and a half minutes out of a PB for 5 miles that has stood for 2 years... That would be enough to make my running this year a success!

In one run I slayed a 5km pm that again has stood for 2 years, taking almost 2 and a half minutes out of it... That's dream land territory

If it was all the short stuff I'd be worried as I'm not in this for the sprint, I'm in this for the marathons... A truism and a reality for me...

But I also took 6 minutes out of my 25km PB, not a distance I run often but still a massive improvement over the previous run which was in the build up to the Liverpool Marathon.

So what?

Running for me is a lot, an awful lot, about confidence... The demons of school telling me I'm slow, I shouldn't run, are still on my shoulders even now. I ran the 5km start to finish at pace, I ran the 5 milers with the last km being the fastest (going as fast as my 5km pace in places), apart from 1 km (in 3 chunks - the muddy 500m, and the 2 x 250m fiddling with my hip pockets to get the gels out) I ran 25km.

So those demons are quietened down, for now... The hard miles are working, the strength work in the gym is working, the sports massages are working (painful but it all seems to be working)...

So my objectives - keep the demons at bay, keep the miles going... My odd combination of events means I've got to find time to put hills in as well as pace... Which was the potter around the West Pennines this Friday. Now, I need to wait for the morning, it should be a 30km run... But ice isn't entirely sensible to run on, so I'd have to hold my frustrations at bay, and go to the gym... This is a run I intend to finish, so no glory dashes!

This week is an almost pain in the ass... I've a trip to London for work (if the West Coast line is working again) on Tuesday, a course in Buxton on Thursday and a much more pleasant trip to London on Friday for a CHF Trustees meeting. And then on Sunday is one of my favourite races the Southport MadDog 10k - will it be a PB, I don't know, I do know I'll try...

TTFN

Paul

Awareness Raising - A View from the Trenches

2012-01-29T20:46:00.001Z

It's almost the month of lurve...

The month most closely associated with hearts...

And that means it's time to think about awareness raising...

But what about?

Is it - we exist... some of us die as children... some of us have life limiting conditions... some of us defy the odds and run, cycle etc more than we were ever allowed in our childhoods - or it all of them.

In marketing terms its a complicated sell, what is the USP of being affected by a congenital heart defect?

I honestly don't know - 20+ years in the awareness raising game and I'm not sure if anything makes us a unique group of individuals. We can be defined by having or knowing someone with a congenital heart defect but that in itself is not a selling point.

We're not all cute...
We're not all blue...
We don't all need help to do things...

So I'm still struggling with the USP...

What I do know, is that awareness raising is about going out into the wider world, telling people who do not know, and may be interested, that we exist. Self referential awareness raising doesn't work - telling someone something they already know is a bit odd...

So break out of the shackles of Facebook and Twitter and do something to tell someone else about us... If that's wearing red, and most importantly explaining why, then do that! If it is helping the Children's Heart Federation collect at one of the busiest train stations in the UK then click here

As for me, I'll be do my mix of behind the scenes stuff (yes you can raise awareness without it being plastered everywhere, its about influence) and running in CHF colours at my first formal race of the year - http://www.maddog10k.co.uk/

And trust me, when I tell some of the other runners that I have a heart condition they gain some awareness...

So pick your message, sell it well, say it true and remember just because congenital heart defects are important to us, doesn't mean they are to others - so be nice and respect people!

TTFN

Paul

A musical interlude - Might for right, not might is right...

2012-01-22T22:01:00.001Z

I grew up with my nose stuck in many a book; my favourites then are still some of them now - The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sherlock Holmes, Tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Not having a set of particularly robust male role models I sought solace in tales of daring do, mystery and chivalry.

I also like musicals, and much to some of my friends disgust, and love Camelot and Man of La Mancha partly because they draw together some of themes from the books I loved and made them manageable. They also managed to turn pages and concepts into a line or two of song...

Might for right, not might is right -

I've said elsewhere I don't like bullies, and its a sad fact that some who've been bullied find the attraction of the power that brings when they encounter someone they have some level of power over too tease, bully and impose themselves on that person becoming that which they hated most.

And boy, is that a seductive trap... Checking yourself constantly, getting those closest to you to check, and checking that when you provide help and advice you do it for the best of reasons...

Checking doesn't mean you have to always agree with people, and if they are wrong and present a risk to themselves or others they do need to be told... So get those people to check, review and let you know how close to the line you're getting...

Of course the recipient of the advice may not welcome it, especially when they are in the wrong - well that when you have to develop a suit of armour of your own. Doing the right thing against the tide of popular opinion is a tough river to swim...

Man of La Mancha gave me the first nickname I didn't hate, or was from someone trying to bully me by making a joke of my heart condition. It was from a friend now long dead, who saw behind the shield of humour, daring do and fire & brimstone passion to see a knight of woeful countenance

- tilting at windmills is something I seem to excel at, occasionally I may even catch my Dulcinea...

Finally, its not been a good week in the UK dicky-ticker world and while the rage against the night has been and gone there is now just that lingering feeling -

So to misadventures, if not adventures my friends

TTFN

Paul

A day to fall in love (again)...

2012-01-08T19:18:00.000Z

... with the English countryside...

The Peak District is one of my favourite places on this planet, once you get away from the normal honey spots you can walk for hours seeing no-one else, and yet know that civilisation with all of its pluses and minuses is only a short way away...

When the day starts out like this, its not going to be a bad one... Throw in about 650m of up and down, and just under 22km (2000ft & just under 14 miles), a fair chunk of it over a moor that gives views of the sharp edges over the Derwent valley, and the rest through the historical plague village of Eyam (pronounced Eaamm, not Eyam, or by the American guest at the Youth Hostel E-YAM) down to Stonet Middleton where the climbers were playing and a slap up tea the Youth Hostel (they do do food, it's cheap and the better than much in pubs these days). Good Job I burned those 2000 calories!

The only downside on 2 and a bit days walking - a mysterious blister on my heel... Why mysterious, because the boots have done the best part of 80 miles before Friday, and I can find no reason. But a decent compeed blister plaster seems to have done the trick. I'm also fairly lucky with such things, given the abuse my feet get I average, roughly, a blister every 300 miles - which isn't bad!

Time for a soak I think

TTFN

Paul

ps Total so far for the year - 74km

Change the World... Another NY Resolution blog

2012-01-01T14:43:00.002Z

New Years Resolutions...

Blargh....

Don't do them, when I did I didn't keep them...

However, that doesn't mean I don't do change... I just pick random dates... well semi-random...and some like the title are long term projects... Apologies, I'm on a blogging roll, so you'll need to wade through other stuff first...

Weight loss - Reviewing my training plans for 2012 in November, I decided one way to improve would be to carry less weight... My collection of titanium , tissue thin waterproofs and micro-towels is a good start. Unfortunately the only thing really left to trim weight off is me...

The best objectives are ones with an element of precision - so by the Belfast Marathon (7 May) I'll have lost at least a stone (14lbs, 6kg).

How - simple really - I'll eat a bit more sensibly. My slow cooker will work its magic for my evening meal, lunchtimes will be mainly a tin of soup and I will try to remember that although its easy to improve my mood with a large carb-surge it doesn't do my blood sugar or waist line much good.

Progress - the week before Christmas I was down half a stone. It'll have gone up a bit, but this is a long term aim not a crash diet.

More exercise - I can hear the puzzlement through my computer screen. Again its not really more, its better. Last year's marathon training was scratchy - I got the long slow runs in, but the mid week runs were intermittent and not always targeted. I have a bag full of reasons for that - my job is to work around them and do better.

So, specifically - I'll move one of my runs to after work, giving me more time to do a longer run. I've done it before when training with the specific aim of breaking the 2:45 for a half marathon, I will do it again.

A New Challenge - A difficult one - I run in anything from 5k's to marathons in a year... I've walked a fair bit too... Challenges have to inspire me, and possibly others, hence the 2012km, the Excalibur Marathon and the Nottingham ultra-marathon. All are beyond my comfort limits, each will push my determination, stamina and sheer bloody stubbornness to new levels.

Do something fun - well that's the Open University course, there is absolutely no need for me to do an arts course, I could just potter around art galleries and muse on what I see. However, I respond best to a goal and a challenge - so an Arts based degree it is (and yes fitting it in is difficult). So the specific is to submit the assignments on time, and to pass them all... Not entirely straightforward when confronted with a poetry assignment!

Change the world - nothing big there then. I have a certain skill set, nothing to do with the running, walking and climbing, and access to a wide range of people with knowledge which when combined can make things happen.

I don't write much about these meetings, email exchanges and presentations because most of the time they are frigging boring - and often they are the very long end of a lever. Some of them are behind closed doors and I can't talk about, but all of the input over the years is invaluable, others can be more open - and when I know which I'll ask for your specific help.

So, it's a bank holiday weekend, Sunday is officially one of my rest days from exercise so its a catch up on other stuff - 2 essay's to write (Poetry! Cats! Argghhh!), a blog for the Adult Congenital Heart Association (Here - they're worth a read, and not just mine!), training plans to finalise, and just to prove its not all a grind - I'm off to the Peak District next weekend for a short break, so the maps are out and the weather being checked...

TTFN

Paul

and for 2012?

2011-12-30T19:33:00.005Z

It wasn't meant to be a thousand miles in 2011...

My stated aim at the begining of the year was to do 100km a month, coming in at 1200km - 745miles... A good loading for anyone, and one I wasn't sure I was going to make given the various competing pressures for my time.

But with 11 miles and c24h to go, I think I'm going to make it... I'll go for a stroll this evening and then tomorrow walk along another section of a new
Long Distance Path - the Wirral Circular Path. This bit will take in industrial archeology, Napoleanic defenses, battles of the US Civil War and finish near one of my favourite nature reserves - Hilbre Island.

This thousand hasn't been quite as structured as the last one, which has meant when it became a possibility I was left with more miles than I normally would've wanted to do in a month. November was the crux - and the challenge for £40 to do 4 whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifeeks of 40km for my 40th. That bought me to within 140 miles of that thousand... Just under 5 miles a day every day, come rain, come shine, come head cold...

It's not been easy, but I am chuffed I've almost done it... 1000 miles...

What that doesn't include is walking to work, or trips to the corner shops, or trips to get stuff after a days walking... a rough estimate for those would an extra 500km

Which brings me to next year, there is an obvious distance challenge, in kilometer form (I'm not completely insane!) of 2012... But that will mean I need you to give me money, well not me - give it to a cause close to my heart - the Donate Here button works or click here -

This year is about my fight with the inevitable aging process and defying my mid year crisis... an extra 250 miles in a year

So cough up, while I'm still at leave of my senses...

TTFN

Paul

What sort of patient are you?

2011-12-29T18:12:00.002Z

First off, apologies to my pure-bred disability activist friends this is going to look like its steeped in the medico-legal model rather than the evolved social model... But you may like seeing where I go with it...

I was asked by a colleague about whether there was any training for a relative on handling their recently diagnosed diabetes... and after the usual nudges towards Diabetes UK, I started reflecting on the stages of being a patient, and though I'm sure there's a lot written by psychologists I thought I'd throw my tuppence into cyberspace...

A Pure Patient

When we discover we're a patient we're just that a patient - we need to go to a doctor, find out our prognosis, what we can do to help mediate our conditions - we're pure, we may have some previous experience of others with our condition but as it affects us, none...

An Informed Patient

We've joined the support group, we've read the information pack, we're carrying the passport/wallet/sos talisman/medic alert... We know the treatment we should get and and know what to do if we don't get it.

An Expert Patient

This is where is starts getting controversial, a lot of people will say Expert when they mean informed... The gap is the psychology part... Let me try and explain

The original Expert Patient Programme (EPP) was a 12 week scheme designed to take informed patients and take them to the next level, where they manage and understand themselves and their conditions. They know the impact of mood on their conditions, know that sometimes their control may not be perfect, but know that they are human and occasionally need that slippage.

I can't put it any better than this:

"This chapter introduces the concept of expert patients – who enjoy good quality of life despite
chronic disease; who have the confidence, skills, input and knowledge to play a central role in the
management of life with chronic disease, and to minimise its impact on their day-to-day living.

From: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4018578.pdf

For me the moment I became an Expert Patient was when my GP asked me how I should manage down a blip in my blood glucose... rather than telling me that I should eat less X or Y.

The next stage is my own, I've not read it somewhere and will probably get slated for it...

Weaponised Patients

We're not toxic patients they are the opens who shout and scream, demand a private room etc etc etc.

Weaponised patients are the ones who have the information, manage their own conditions, deal with their medical experts as equals and then take the next step...

The next step is getting involved in designing their services, at a local, regional, national or international levels...

Like all weapons they know only to use their full range of skills when the need is there, there is no pointing shooting off at the mouth all the time as people will get bored. We're the ones who end up on GP reference groups, running our support groups, being involved in our NHS trusts management structure etc etc.

The problem is the line between Weaponised and Toxic is very fine... can you look beyond your own experience and draw together the opinions of many, can you wade through document after document and make sure you know them so you can explain them to others... and can you go eyeball to eyeball with an expert in a specialist centre and tell them they're wrong, they don't understand what its like to be a patient as they do the proding rather than being prodded... and do it in such a way that educates an expert rather than alienating them?

There is also the fact that you, I and everyone can move between these "states" quickly, depending on the time of day, how lunch has settled and what news the medic is giving you.

Weaponised patients are quite rare, mainly I think because it is tiring, very tiring... And managing that is something that the EPP didn't cover.

Is there a less militaristic term for weaponised patients? Advocate, as a term, has been overused, misused and abused... so find me a name...

TTFN

Paul

ps the self awareness thing kicks in at odd times, so I've just realised that I blog more when I'm doing more exercise... 50 miles in 5 days... only 11 left to the 1000

Going Ultra...

2011-12-27T21:15:00.004Z

A promise to a number of beautiful ladies (Ladies, I'm expecting sponsorship for that one ;-))...

The big events so far signed up for for 2012...

Excalibur Marathon - a 26.2 mile challenge walk (my companion in arms for this one a) denies I ever said it was a marathon and b) swore a lot when I suggested jogging any of it c) needs to man up... ;-)) - 12 hours time limit, 4600ft of up and down - 31 March

Belfast Marathon - a normal 26.2 marathon - 7 May

Nottingham Ultra - a 31mile ultramarathon - 7 Oct

These are the big ones, there's the usual scattering of 10ks and local runs that I'll do for fun, and enjoyment. Doesn't mean I won't push myself, does mean I won't jeopardise the overall fitness on one of these runs.

My training for the 1st 2 is going to overlap, and then provides the springboard for the 3rd. All of my distance runs (anything over a half) are based on a simple strategy - first distance then speed.

The best advice I was ever given was always protect the Long Slow Run (LSRs) - normally Saturday morning in my case. Given the walk done today (still recovering from a head cold) I should be jumping back in around the 10 mile mark - we'll find out in a couple more days.

Flat fitness won't cut it this time, and although the 1st is a walk (probably ;-)) I'm going to need to mix up the LSRs with some hefty walking to keep the up and down going as well...

So, how am I going to piece this together - January is a good example:

Every week -
Mon am - Gym for Pre-hab & Strength work - (5:45-7am)
Mon eve - Climbing (couple of hours)
Tuesday - up to 10km at lunchtime
Wed am - Gym for Pre-hab & Strength work - (5:45-7am)
Wed eve - Climbing (couple of hours)
Thurs - up to 10km at lunchtime
Fri - rest
Sat - LSR
Sun - Rest/shorter rehab run/walk

The LSR will get mixed about - so the weekend of 7/8 Jan I'm in Eyam in the Peak, so depending on the weather I'll either find a hill to run up on the Saturday, or if the weather's bad I'll walk up it. The following weekend I'm leading a group on a nice walk e.g. not too arduous and with a cafe (which hopefully will be open) in Delamere, so the Sunday will be the LSR.

So, 2 days rest a week, a maximum of 3 runs a week (OK, possibly 4, but normally its 3), with strength and cross training built in as a diversion, and to keep me amused. I've also got my sports therapist booked in for a good session getting the kinks out of my legs every other month, and some very useful friends (when you've a top 20 in the world tri-athlete sitting on the next bank of desks you do tend to pick their brains, while being a little in awe of their determination and fitness).

For those who worry, there is a small cadre of friends who make no bones about reminding me I'm mortal and will insist I sit the feck down for a week if they can see I'm carrying injuries or burning out. My cardiologist is also aware of (most) of this and has seen a 24 tape (Holter) for the climbing, walking, running and a heart rate trace for up to and including marathon distance...

And that's the plan, as with all plans there will be times where it doesn't survive contact with tarmac or hill side.

Hard as it may be for anyone whose seen me joke about what I do, there is a fair amount of sports science going on behind the scenes, and even some common sense...

And on that terrifying note...

TTFN

Paul

ps... Today:

Me... a poetry anothology? must be course work...

2011-12-18T15:42:00.002Z

Ok,

part of my OU course on poetry is to create an anthology of poems, culled from an anthology of animal orientated poetry...

The Bear - Frost (p23 - 24) beautiful imagery, hidden in a simple rhyming structure (though the repetition of Greek amuses, its as if he runs out of words)

Blue Moles - Plath (p39 - 40) more beautiful imagery, though perhaps vivid would be a better description

I have a Gentle Cock - Anon (p 126 - 127) made me laugh, and the switch between the straight description of the animal and then innuendo of the last line is stunning:-)

On a Dog of Lord Eglinton's - Burns (p188) the simile of a dog's life is pointedly made

Widgeon - Heaney (284) - Euwwww

In the Introduction to the Book of Beasts, the anthologist describes anthologists as despots, and maybe I am... My anthology is based on what attracted me in a single scan read through. So they tend to be shorter, punchier and cause an immediate emotional reaction - be that a smile in Frost description of the Bear's "fundamental butt", or the heart wrenching imagery of the dead moles by Plath. I have a Gentle Cock appeals (I freely confess) to the school boy in me, and from the last line, where you go from a description of a cockerel to something far more suggestive, I suspect the long forgotten author as well.

Burn's use of simile struck me as pointed and poignant - and I could imagine the same thoughts going on behind the soft brown eye of a hunting dog looking across a hall at the human animals around the piste.

And Heaney, well the idea of using the windpipe of a half dead bird as a flute is always going to cause an emotional reaction...

So a completely different blog from normal... It even gets a bibliography...

Muldoon, P. (Ed) (1997) The Faber Book of Beasts. London. Faber & Faber

TTFN

Paul

It's CHRISSTTTTTTMASSSSSSS (or something like that) and please double your donation!

2011-11-28T19:53:00.002Z

Ok, its not even November...

But Reindeer have been spotted, discarded wrapping paper blown around like confetti, the inevitable bumps and scrapes (my right elbow), the mistaken paternity (me again... explanation below), oh and some bloke with a beard... went Ho Ho Ho a lot... wore a natty line in red, with white trimmings

I probably mangled my lines when I thanked some of our supporters and families for the help they've given CHF over the last year, but the reason I keep going and keep doing the mildly insane things I do is because of the look on the kids faces when they realise who they're going to see, and then that they can dance the night away.

But its also the look on the parent's faces, brothers and sisters and the CHF Staff and volunteers, because it's about making all of those involved in making a kid with a heart condition a rounded human being enjoy themselves, have a laugh and a bop...

Which in a weird way brings me to my 40th, my friends (who are my family) made sure it was a hell of a weekend. Tomorrow I'll be booking myself my day of being trained as a spy, and the GPS watch has already seen action running, walking and in the gym...

Other than that much of the last month has been taken up with running and walking - the 40 km for the 4 weeks over your 40th has taken a lot of time. But is been done, and completed by running back into Alton Towers this morning.

The next challenge? I have a stone to lose (14lb) before the Belfast Marathon - why, cos I'm naffed off with being flagged for having a high BMI. So if I get it down I won't get hassle.

Now if anyone wants to donate for any of my challenges then please help CHF, by donating during the Big Give Week - 5th to 9th December - Your donation will be worth twice as much

http://new.thebiggive.org.uk/charity/view/5064?search=9e0ac8d4-4a20-4e40-893d-b678cad46278

http://www.chfed.org.uk/support_us/fundraising/the_big_give_2011

Please if you can give during that week, it'll mean we can take more kids to see Santa, and more DJ's can mistake the overgrown kid (me) for a dancing dad... And then, to the amusement of all, announce it to the world at large...

TTFN

Paul

A Really Shit Run (literally)

2011-10-26T18:53:00.002+01:00

It was as if I was possessed by the spirit of Buster Keaton (younger readers, I suggest Wiki or YouTube)... Slapshit could be the new comedy genre...

But that's getting ahead of myself...

The plan was 5 miles... Up and over a not particularly pleasant hill, around the park, back over the hill and Bob's your auntie!

However, running into the park, I trod in dog muck...

Fine, I'll run on the grass, to clean my shoes off...

Reach the grass... Small yappy dog starts bounding around me (no owner to be seen)... sticks its nose in the back of my knee, causing my leg to buckle...

My hand goes down and straight into another pile of dog crap...

I try and stand up, dog still yapping around ankles and my other foot slips, and I drag my legs through more dog shit...

I now lock like I've had a severe case of the Paula Radcliffe's... And I'm a choice, run around to the sports centre and try and sort myself out, or jog the 3 km back to the office...

Avoiding eye contact with everyone I aim for the sports centre, attracting the attention of a confused dog (probably a Labrador), bounding up at me and meaning that I miss the next pile of shit I stand in...

Normally the sports centre staff and safely in their reception box, not today... as I walk past stinking, covered in shit the member of staff is standing there looking at me as dumbfounded as I feel...

So, into the shower fully clothed, remembering just in time that my phone is in my pocket...

Then a 3km run back dripping wet, but mostly clean...

Then the longest, hottest shower in history...

So, a really shit run!

TTFN

Paul

Week off over... Now the forward look...

2011-10-16T17:41:00.003+01:00

The job now is to carry on, not to do what I did after the Edinburgh Marathon and rest on my laurels and loose the gains I'd made (that 2:30 half marathon is tantalising close).

The week has been one of rest, stretch, recuperation, sports massage (thanks Gina, it hurt but helped!), climb (as a stretch - and push the grade at a 6b top rope) and do a gentle walk.

So this week I carry on; trying to get out at lunchtime at work for 5km or 5miles, pushing the climbing, get a doctor's note so I can get a personalised programme at the gym (I love the insurance industry), and generally keep it up.

The aim? Well, I always said that this would be a year of challenges, and dear friend has thrown the weight loss one into the mix - to be fair I asked them to help - as a stone off before the Belfast Marathon would be rather useful.

And there's a couple of runs I'm looking at... As I seem to have all the abilities at swimming as a block of concrete tri's don't float my boat - so fell running and ultra's it is... Something like a gentle fell run in the Peaks, and a 50km run as an Ultra...

So off I toddle, one foot in front of the other... when I've booked the runs I'll let you know.

Oh, someone recently asked what I do to relax...
Well, the exercise is relaxing - I do have a rather busy day job as well as of all this fun... But when I do get a couple of spare hours I do like playing with my camera!

TTFN

Paul

The post marathon post

2011-10-10T19:17:00.003+01:00

Did it, finished it, completed it, got the T-shirt, got the medal... as ever heard the spinning of my PE teachers (and a few cardiologists) in their graves as someone with Fallots dared to believe they could try, and complete, a marathon... or two, or three...

The race itself wasn't particularly good, those ultra-supportive of the company that puts these runs on in Liverpool will say that its was the first time and there's bound to be teething trouble... Which is acceptable to a point, that point is when they forget some of the field...

What makes runs great, and I've checked with some others, isn't the pace of the front runner (unless they truly are one of the greats) is the heart and sheer guts of the last ones across the line. The 3+ hour half marathoners, the 7+ hour marathoners. Treat these people as you would the champions, the winners, and all will feel great.

I will always be a back of the pack runner, and I've been the last one across the line in races, and I know the great runs are the ones I will come back too year after year not just because of the chance to run, but for the fact they treat all runners the same.

So, I've a few days off the running... A gentle climb tonight loosened the worst of my legs, and I'll have a sports massage on Thursday before an afternoon long climb on Friday.

I've also kept a promise to myself and asked the gym manager to help me work up a personalised plan... Once he's got his head around the heart condition and the diabetes we'll see how that goes!

In all of its horrible majesty:

TTFN

Paul

To Belfast I go... Just Liverpool to do first

2011-10-02T20:31:00.002+01:00

The magazine was the one with the irradiate poison - also known as the Red Fleece of Doom... So 4 rejections from 4 attempts at the London Marathon ballot. London has a special attraction, and like the Great North Run has that element of "event" rather than "run".

Which is why I liked the look of the Belfast Marathon - I love Belfast as a city, its a quicker commute than London, and I'm in, paid for, with flights booked all for less than the train fare to London.

All of which is great, but by this time next week I'll have run another Marathon - my home one, in Liverpool - well starting on the Wirral...

Through the Mersey Tunnel...

Up and up out of the tunnel and up to the Cathedrals...

Around the parks

And I should be back for a late lunch...

I've had the protein heavy meal, the rest of the week is pasta, veg, hydration drinks and keeping myself ok...

As for the end of Sunday, all I can say is....

THERE WILL BE PIE!

TTFN

Paul

Schrondinger's Magazine... London Marathon - the Quantum Run

2011-09-29T21:45:00.003+01:00

Somewhere in the Great British Postal system is a magazine at the moment it is a potential magazine...

Potential Magazine 1 - Puts me through hundreds of miles of running, absorbing hours and hours... with the ultimate goal of the London Marathon...

Potential Magazine 2 - Puts me through hundreds of miles of running, absorbing hours and hours... with the ultimate goal of an unchosen marathon next year...

Good running to all those who know already, especially No 10569

So as the postal system delves into the depths of quantum running, all I can do is wait concentrate on 9 days time and enjoy this:

Yes, its a video of the Great North Run, and yes you get a hint of the atmosphere...

TTFN

Paul

The essence of a challenge...

2011-09-25T18:00:00.003+01:00

So I asked for challenges... and I've got a beauty up first...

For me, to be effective a challenge needs to be just beyond what is normal; so 200km in a month is that. Especially as its a month where I've not got a weeks walking planned (nor can I fit one in).

It needs to have a symbolism... 40km a week for the first month of my 40th year... yup that ticks that box.

Needs to scare me a little... yup, the equivalent of just under a marathon a week for 5 weeks does that a little...

Can I do it, the answer should be yes... if everything works. However, I've things booked for every weekend in November (some will count to the total, some won't)...

As for this weekend, a nice gentle 15 miler from Hapton to Colne and then a cold cut in cancelling out the 10miler planned for today. At this stage it's not a major problem, I've done the miles, I just need to be fit for the day... so no pushing it when I don't need to!

TTFN

Paul

If Carling did Half Marathons...

2011-09-22T20:46:00.003+01:00

They'd be just like the Great North Run...

There'll be those who don't like the crowds - part of the joy is the rest of the 54,000 people out sharing the experience

There'll be those who don't like the focus on charity runners - tough

There'll be those who say you can't get a PB - I have 2 years running

There'll be those who realise somewhere between Newcastle & Southshields that they actually enjoy this running lark - I did, and it reminds me every year!

:-)

Other than that, my annual check up was fine - when my cardiologist is pretty much egging me on for a PB he can't be too worried.

So, the taper has begun....

TTFN

Paul

The Psychology of a Bad Run

2011-09-11T19:13:00.002+01:00

It was a bad run...

My legs felt heavy - check the fuelling strategy & effort in the preceeding week; ok busy week in the office, not a brilliant diet; inc walking 26 miles in the previous 6 days... Hmmm, that's a fairly heavy loading...

It was into a strong head wind, for 10 miles - Man up, nought you can do to change that!

It was humid - you don't cope well with humidity, you know that, nought you can do about that in 4 weeks

The water bladder spring a leak - buy a new one, test camelbak's lifetime warranty

It was a bad run, deal with it.

Analyse it yes, obsess on it no. I've been out to 18 miles already, on race day 18 miles will be middle of Sefton Park, heading back towards town.

I have to plant it into context, it was one bad run in a training programme that has seen me do my first fell run, first trail run, first cross country and perform better than I expected. My fuelling the week before the 20 miler could've been better - and I know what to do (and not do) for the marathon.

So, one swallow doesn't make a summer and one bad run doesn't ruin a training plan.

Next job...

The Great North Run - 13.1 miles of fun with 50,000 friends! I've been banging out 2:45 halfs in training, so my target is to come in under that, how much will depend on the day.

Oh, and my annual check-up with my cardiologist on Tuesday... It doesn't matter how fit I feel, how well I've run, it's still a worry to go and be prodded and poked, ecg's and echo'd and inevitably end up talking about stuff other than my heart...

So wish me luck for Tuesday, and a spring in my heels for next Sunday

TTFN

Paul

It takes more guts to go slow than to go fast...

2011-09-04T18:34:00.004+01:00

I paraphrase one of the elite group of ultrarunners talking to the author of a book I've devoured in a train ride and a coffee! Born to Run, by Chris McDougall, seriously it covers the evolutionary basis of running, one man's struggle to run without getting injured and at its core was a love of running shared by these elites and a tribe of indigenous Mexicans.... Rarely do I choke up reading a book, let alone a sports one and this one did that to me...

However, the quote is a truism... If you're one of those lucky people who can pick up a pair of trainers, do no training and on your first go Half marathon and knock off in under 2 hours then brilliant, you are something I will never be a natural athlete.

Whether that not being a "natural athlete" is because of my heart condition or my diabetes I will never know and quite frankly don't intend to worry to much about it.

What I will worry about is anyone who like me has to work hard to get around a run, be it; 5k 10k a half, a full marathon or something else...

At the core of working hard is absolute honesty, if you run 5k in 40 minutes than what's you've done. Rounding it down to 37 because of the hill in the middle doesn't work... You need to know what you've done and try and work out why, and decide what you want to improve.

And you might be happy with what you do and not want to improve...

If you do, then comes the hard work, the runs, the cross training, the runs to a pace, the short sharp runs alternated with recovery runs, the hill runs and so on...

We may not be elites but we learn from them, the hydration strategies; the fuelling strategies, the tapering, the base loading... We devour magazines on new ways of training, reading about the latest shoes and how to shave grammes off our kit (when it would be a lot cheaper to shave some off our bellies!).

And on we run, the back of the pack heroes, often for our charities always for the thrill, the challenge and just because we might just be able to finish!

So remember, always remember, most people will never ever do a half marathon, a marathon, a triathlon or anything else....

YOU ARE AMAZING!!!

TTFN

Paul

Countdowns and a request for challenges!

2011-08-29T16:44:00.005+01:00

Countdowns tick on and on...

12 days to my 20 miler (I'm doing 2 x 18 and 1 x 20)

13 days to the Nun Run - 5k dressed as Nun

16 days to my annual check up

20 days until the Great North Run - the world's largest Half marathon, just me and 54,000 friends out for a jog;-)

40 days until the Liverpool Marathon - running from one side of the Mersey to the other, with about 12,000 of my friends - through the tunnel, past the brewery and a finish next to a world heritage site... Just hope they don't run out of T-shirts...

62 days until I'm 40... Deary me, 40, how did that happen! Seriously, given the chances I've been given at various points in my life to reach 1 year, 16, 21, 30 reaching 40 is a little strange... and doing it while being as fit as I've ever been is making me grin like a loon!

More than one of my friends has asked what insane stunt I'm going to be doing during my 40th year, and to be honest I'm not sure... As I've done more and more the insane seems less and less insane... So the Fellsman 60 miles across Yorkshire in 24 hours seems a challenge rather than barking, the Edale Skyline train tun looks like hard work, but do-able...

Some of my big challenges are still there - learning to swim... new lessons found, might try them out this week.

But as for a big challenge for the year, I don't know... I'm open to suggestions... So feel free to make suggestions - my only "rules" - I normally fund events myself so I might not be able to afford to do everything, I do have to work for a living which might limit my time and occasionally my cardiologist does shake his head and suggest I maybe should do something different...

So knock yourself out!

TTFN

Paul

ps grumbling half marathon yesterday

And the week before a decent 18 miler

Test Blog - does the video work for people?

2011-08-19T19:49:00.000+01:00

Video tracking...

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/46821514"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Imported Garmin Route (17/08/2011)&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt; and more runs in on MapMyRUN. &amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Find run&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

The internal monologue...

2011-08-07T18:07:00.004+01:00

Running is at its core very simple - you put one foot in front of the other, at a pace faster than walking...

Which is why it gets so complicated in my head...

Have I set off too fast, or too slow? Is that twinge a twinge I can run off or something I can ignore, if I ignore it for how long? How many miles have my shoes done, do I need a new pair? what flavour are these energy sweets meant to be? What's for tea? Why didn't that pair of cyclists go into single file, it meant I had to run through the puddle? What meetings have I got this week at work? How's my heart rate? Hail!!! Bloody hell that hurt! Am I going too fast, or too slow? That twinge has moved... where's it going next? What time do John Lewis' stop doing Sunday lunch? Someones texted, it can wait for my next minutes walking... How many sweets have I got left? Definitely new shoes for the GNR & Marathon, that stone hurt... Bugger the sun's come out, take jacket off or leave it on?

And then for a few glorious moments everything just works, my heart rate drops a little and my speed increases, my feet glide instead of thump, the twinge disappears...

And then a skittish horse needs to be got around...

Twinge is back, now moved for the 4th or is it 5th time... Where's the turning off the transpennine trail onto the canal, must be soon... Hmm, an idea, while at the Fringe I'll jog up Arthur's seat... Ah, a sign, no its for a pub... ohhhhh, pub lunch, what time did John Lewis' stop? Last 10km, not feeling bad, been definitely a loooong... sloooow.... run.... Canal turning, I know the route now, know it well... time to pick the pace up... jacket on, probably should be off, can't be bothered.

Sub 3:30 is possible, do I go for it, do I not... Bugger I forgot all about that text! How much hydration fluid have I got left, last of the sweets gone, down to 5km, I can see the church spire near mine, hot bath, hot bath! Bloody angler moved his rod at the wrong time, trying to hurdle after a half marathon isn't elegant, survived with a glancing blow rather than anything major, twinge on the move, where are my compression shorts in the flat, come on, just pick the feet up, 3:30 is just possible... I set off too slow, my last 5 miles is going to be my fastest, keep it up! Hell, big stone in shoe, going to have to stop, stone out, relaced... too tight, loosen, lost a minute, local drunk decides he wants to run with me, then wants to hug me, come on give me a break... Blast, 3:30 has gone, now turning up the slight hill to the flat... 3:31 accroding to the Garmin... That'll do! The one on the phone had the extra minute of my shoving it in a pocket before I set off...

And relax... time to unwind... Arthur's Seat, now that was a good idea:-)

TTFN

Paul

I don't like bullies... I do like running

2011-08-05T19:32:00.003+01:00

This blog will never be read by the people who should read it...

I gave a talk on CHD on Wednesday night, and the topic of bullying came up...

I don't like bullies... I never have I never will...

Bullies don't have discussions, or even arguments, they make statements and if you don't agree with them you are either frozen out of the group or attacked.

Bullies attack people, they don't discuss ideas and come to a consensus or an agreement to disagree, they just attack.

Some are trolls (in the online sense) who are trying to get a reaction, others are just dogmatic and so convinced they are right no other argument has the right to be heard.

Bullies will cite the rules, but not even consider what they're claiming applies equally to them.

Bullies come in all sizes and shapes, some use emotional blackmail, some try to threaten, some are just unpleasant...

The best way of handling bullies, in my experience, is first realising what they are and then employing whatever range of techniques work best for you... You're within you're rights to just walk away, if you feel you have to engage then do so with compassion and even pity... They may not know how bullying they look and sound.

And always, always remember all bullies are scared of something... And it's probably you, or what you stand for.

So never, ever even think about not being you. Never, ever let them change you, stand tall, be you and let them bring it one, because every time they do they just confirm how scared they are of you!!!

Rant over - running stuff!!!!

I ran up a bloody big hill!!! Win hill in the Peak District! OS mapping says it was a shade under 9 miles and 1500ft of up (and down).

It was also a hot day, so I'm seriously pleased. I didn't run up all the hill, it was more of a very fast shuffle but I was going at my usual walking pace for the flat, going up!! Down was a confidence thing, getting used to letting my legs just roll down the hill, letting my ankles bounce off rock.

Was it hard? Hell yes! Do I want to do it again?? Hell yes!!!

Miles to do over the weekend! Not sure the naan bread counts as carboloading but the curry was damn good!

TTFN

Paul

Don't sponsor me - sponsor them - The Norfolk Coastal Path...

2011-07-23T19:09:00.003+01:00

There a couple of similarities between the Norfolk Coastal Path and the Coast 2 Coast...

They have the word coast in...

And my luck with the weather seemed to stay set to "Wet"...

The main similarity is that walking any reasonable distance day after day has a cumulative effect on your body, its in some ways harder to walk (with a days food water and gear) 2 half marathons on consecutive days than it is to run a marathon in a day.

Day 1 - Cromer to Weybourne

A blustery, wet day... An inspired route out of Cromer, but went into interesting woodlands and pretty much the only hills of the walk... A day for testing waterproofs and finding decent tea shops in Sheringham (to drip in and drink tea!)

Day 2 - Weybourne to Stiffkey

SHINGLE!!!!!

And Sausages... It's a long story... But Cley Next the Sea wins the best named, and accurate, bus stop name - Delicatessen.

Day 3 - Skiffkey to Burnham Overy Staithe

Finishing with a long hard section on the sand, with the wind howling wasn't the easiest way of finishing the day... However, we had fortified ourselves with excellent chips at Wells:-)

Day 4 - Burnham Overy Staithe to Thornham

When the guidebook says part of today is a trudge, then its not good... However, we did see twitchers, twitching for Montague's Harriers and were bitten by some rather large flies...

Day 5 -Thornham to Hunstanton

The boardwalk carried us through most of dunes, and then the sight of the Hunstanton cliffs and the thought of a long promised fish and chip lunch drove us on!

There were no bands to welcome us in, and if they had been there they'd not have been for me - but for those who'd also done Peddar's Way or those for those this multi-day walking isn't a regular occurrence...

So don't sponsor me, sponsor them:

http://www.justgiving.com/hundredmilewalk - mad people!
http://www.justgiving.com/ploddingforpapworth - did damn good (new shoes and all)

As for me, its back to the marathon training, but the weeks isn't all work, climb, run, work, climb, run... for on Thursday is Maiden Night and the world shall rock:-D

Oh, and a special thank you for Norfolk Green - never has a week's walking been so entertained, and helped, by a team of cheerful and knowledgable bus drivers!

TTFN

Paul

Now that was a weekend:-D

2011-07-10T20:24:00.002+01:00

Where to start...

Awareness raising?

Sleeping at the Science Museum?

Running in the heat with 25,000 of my friends?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

I'll start with the pure joy, of seeing a whole bunch of kids, kids with heart conditions and their brothers or sisters and occasional best friend firing rockets, checking out what makes us us, trying to send action man into space, watching at IMAX movie... or my favourite bit sleeping at the museum, right next to the Apollo lander... I also ended up promising the kids that my snoring kept the ninga trained giant rats at bay... (Thank you Museum Usher Person!!!!)

Also for reasons best known to themselves, the kids decided I was super-adult... Resulting in my ritual humiliation in front of a room full of people as I was presented with my prizes - a Galileo thermometer and a science museum mug! Both of which will be on my desk in the morning:-D

To use the jargon, hopefully Friday night broke down the isolation that many kids with heart conditions face. Or in my speak, at least for a while they were as normal and as special as any other kid in the museum! And if they got to see some adults with heart conditions being silly so much the better!!!

The awareness raising was a balancing act... Do we accept that we'll be criticised in some quarters and reach an estimated 5 million last edition readers, or do we take the moral high ground? The News of the World mucked up (children have been known to read this blog, that was a letter substitution code... think about it), what they did was scummy and those responsible should be prosecuted to hell and back... and what an opportunity - hopefully people will read up to page 32 and see what was put together in record time, hopefully showing the wider world what being a parent of a heart child can be like... http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/downloads/finalissue/pageflip.html

The final element - a hot British 10k, through the streets of London, past Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, Big Ben and a finish on Whitehall. With 21 others running for CHF... Was,as it always is, when running with huge group of people great fun. For me it was a cracking run,I matched my Tunnel 10k time on a day which only a few months ago I'd have not run much at all! My attempts to get more used to running in the heat seem to be working:-)

Oh, and to make it extra special an old dear friend managed to meet up at the end - and reminded me of some very good times - Thank you Hippu:-)

And now, my legs are tired, I am tired so an early night for me!

TTFN

Paul