We managed to make the best of a single afternoon of sunshine and get out to West Bay yesterday for a walk along the beach and up to the top of the cliff. It was very nice and the obligatory ice cream that accompanies such trips was very scrummy.

Robyn had her camera with her and was busy snapping photographs for her new blog. Will be interesting to see what shots she got.

the half way point

I wasn’t able to attend the whole event but made sure I could sneak down with the girls for a quick peak at his progress and managed to get pool-side just as Daz was reaching the half way point. I tried to take a few cheeky photos on my phone but the officials collared me and asked me to sign a release. I was happy to sign the release and this then prompted me to go and get my SLR from my bag up in the spectators section to try and get some better shots. The lack of light and my ever decreasing camera skill level meant I didn’t get many good ones but something is always better than nothing and I thought I would share these few.

Darren was swimming this event not only for himself but for the Marie Curie cancer care charity. I urge you all to visit his sponsorship page, find out what he did and why and then send a couple of quid.

By reaching your target and raising £664.34 you could buy all the medicines, sterilisation and resuscitation equipment to help UNICEF safely deliver 14 babies and provide enough Polio vaccines to protect 3496 children.

The reason I’m sharing this is because the £664.34 didn’t come from me it came from you guys. Massive thanks to everyone who donated, baked cakes, spread the word and supported me in this venture. The thought of the money raised having that kind of positive effect on so many children’s lives is hopefully enough to give you (and I guess me) a slightly warm fuzzy feeling somewhere inside. You did great, big pat on the back from me (and not one of those condescending ones). If anybody still hasn’t had the opportunity of that warm fuzzy feeling then proceed here where you can still donate up until 11th April.

MWAH x x MUCHOS LOVE
DISCO

still love to know if this guy in the banana outfit beat me...damn fruit

So I gave up with this project a while back. The original plan was making this a daily project. I failed. I like quite a few of the photos though. I think I’m just going to add more as and when I see them and take them. I may even end up with 365 of them….it might just take a while to get there. This was far from the best shot but bizarrely I like the fact both Chloe and Robyn have there eyes closed.

The day started with a 5am start. Brekkie consisted of a bowl of porridge, 2 mugs of black coffee and some peanut butter on toast. Slightly more than I’d usually consume but considering the early start and that I wasn’t planning on eating again before the race I thought it prudent to have a little extra. We’d read lots of advice regarding parking for the event and the consensus was arriving early and using the park and ride bus service was a safe bet and likely to lead to reduced stress levels before tackling the 13.1 mile course (that for me was going to be stressful enough). The drive to Bath was a foggy one but we were one of the first cars to arrive at the park & ride and we managed to get on the first bus into the city centre. This was followed by a short walk to the Runners Village where we wandered around the very well organised facilities and got our bearings.

The first order of business (after a stop off at the porta-loo) was heading to the #teamUNICEF tent to say hello. The combined warm welcome from both @AlyreneRosser and Sally George from @unicef_uk plus chatting to a few of the other UNICEF runners made us feel right at home. They also furnished my loyal supporting squad (Chloe and Robyn) with t-shirts, flags and noise making doo-hickies so I would be able to spot them on my way round. Despite my nerves I was as ready as I was ever going to be. I said my goodbye’s to the girls and headed for my starting pen roughly an hour before the starters gun was due to sound.

Based on my two hour target time I’d been placed in the green start group which was basically in between the faster (white) group and the slower group (orange). Whilst waiting in the starting pen, the sun appeared and it became apparent it was going to be both a lovely sunny day and also a little warmer than I’d been used to in recent training sessions. I came across another #teamUNICEF runner in my start pen called Fredrik (originally from Norway) and we got chatting for a while which helped calm the nerves and pass the time. Fredrik had previously run marathon distance and was aiming for around 1hr 45mins so I knew he’d be setting a quicker pace than I could handle and be leaving me behind shortly after the starting line. The time approached 11am and it was clear they were going to start on time. We all bunched up in the pen and waited for the sound of the horn.

route (click to enlarge)

I started off at what felt like a reasonable pace and tried to get into a rhythm. On rounding the first corner the scale of the event became apparent, Pulteney Road from the start is a reasonably gentle downhill (uphill on the finish stretch) so from the top you got a great view of a sea of heads bobbing up and down in unified running motion. It’s quite an impressive sight and one that immediately put a smile on my face. The smile got bigger as just after passing the first mile marker I spotted Chloe and Robyn in the crowd waving and cheering me on.

Just before the second mile point the course dog-legs around Queen Square. I remember this bit of the course clearly as they had some kind of drum band bashing out tribal beats and there were a lot of supporters in the area going mental with cheers, clapping and encouragement. Those drums helped me keep my groove for a good couple of miles past that point (and helped even more so on the second lap). Running wasn’t coming easy (it rarely does for me) but I also wasn’t in any pain either at this point so I just tried to concentrate on keeping a manageable steady pace making sure I’d have enough left in the tank for the long haul. The field of runners had thinned out since the start of the race but I was still running in an ever changing pack of people. Lots of people constantly thundered past me and likewise I was leaving slower paced runners behind. I found a useful way of maintaining momentum and occupying my mind was spotting larger gaps in the pack ahead of me then using small bursts of energy to push forward and occupy those gaps. This meant by the time I reached the 3rd mile marker and checked my watch I was pleasantly surprised by my time. In fact somewhere between mile 3 and 4 I noticed Fredrik (spotted by his UNICEF running shirt) about 100-200 metres in front of me. It struck me that if he was running anywhere close to his target pace I was doing well to not be much further behind him. I did try to push forward and say hello but soon realised that his pace was faster than mine and the gap began to widen rather than diminish. It was also around this point that I got stuck between two ladies running for the Coppafeel breast cancer awareness charity. They each had one of these large breasts attached to their backs (see here) and were running side by side. The surreal nature of running behind two GIANT knockers bouncing up and down in front of me was almost too much and I’m sure had a negative impact on my next mile split ;0)

During miles 4 and 5 I started to notice the heat and started to consciously move into shade when it became available on the route. Checking my watch again somewhere around this point of the race had confirmed that my pace was good, in fact far faster than I’d run in quite some time, this coupled with the heat made me start to wonder if I would be in danger of burning out before completing the required distance. I decided that although out of character when running these distances I should make use of the available water and drinks stations. The scouts and other volunteers were doing a great job of dishing out Lucozade and bottles of Highland Spring water at various points. I tried to keep the bottles with me for long enough to take small sips and then dumped what was left over my noggin to cool me down. I didn’t want to end up having to make a loo stop but I’d also had to move over for two ambulances already and I didn’t want to be the cause of the next one being called. I think I must have struck the balance just right and I don’t think without the extra fluids I would have completed the course.

Somewhere between mile 5 and 6 Edwin Kiptoo (the leader runner) passed me. He finished the entire course in 62 minutes. Witnessing the amazing speed, power and focus of this guy thundering past me as he lapped me was enough to keep my mind occupied for another few minutes. Just astounding! The 10km came and went and I could see from the route ahead that I was about to pass over Churchill Bridge and start the second lap. At this point some pain began to set in, luckily though I had the bands and drums of Queens Square to perk me up again and after that the hundreds and hundreds of people that lined pretty much every part of the route to spur runners on. Some people were having parties in their gardens and the occasional student hi-fi had been taken outside and turned to maximum, the support and encouragement from people was great. I could feel my pace had begun to slow around mile 8 (possibly before) but my watch was telling me I could still go sub 2 as long as I didn’t really slow up. I dug deep and spent the next few miles just pushing myself to keep running. My legs were pleading with me to walk for a little while and by this point I was really feeling the heat. I ignored the legs and kept reminding myself I’d entered the race to run it and not walk. This coupled with thoughts of how far I’d come since 13 months before where I wouldn’t have been able to run quarter of a mile let alone 13.1 kept me going.

Mile 9 to Mile 11 were probably the lowest points of the run. My pace didn’t feel great, I could feel the blisters forming on my feet and my calf muscles were also burning. I remember glancing at my watch a few times and trying to work out what my chances of going sub 2 were. My brain was struggling to do basic arithmetic at this point though so I’m not sure I ever came to a conclusion. I decided I had to just keep running. Dig Deep and keep running.

Miles 12 and 13 I guess were actually more physically demanding with various parts of my body really not very happy with my brain ignoring their advice. Mentally though I was near enough the finish to not care. I just needed to cover these last two miles, however slowly, I just wanted to cover the distance. By the time I started the 13th mile I’d all but given up on going sub 2. It wasn’t important to me now though. I had managed in my head to convince myself that the pain and discomfort was now just an internal battle of wills between old me and new me. I was certainly not going to let old me get the upper hand. I just kept pushing.

The incline towards the finish line although far from steep felt like a mountain but passing two or three people un-concious at the roadside getting medical treatment served as a reminder that my situation could be much worse. I was finding it hard to judge where the final corner was ahead as I knew from that point it was only probably 100-200 metres to the finish. I couldn’t separate runners from spectators in the distance. It was at this point I glanced at my watch and realised that it was reading roughly 1hr 56mins. Several long seconds later I checked it again as it finally dawned on me that I still had a chance to get in under 2 hours. This gave me the kick I needed to give an audible growl and push onwards up the road. As I turned the corner and saw the finish line I went into some kind of auto-pilot. I’m not sure if it was my body’s desire to cross the finish line and stop running as soon as possible or the desire to try and cross the line under 2 hours but from somewhere I found enough energy to break into a sprint. I weaved in and out of several other runners and crossed the line. I stopped my watch and confirmed (at least from my own timing) that I’d come in under 2 hours at a time of 1hr 58min 45secs. I was pretty happy, and sore, and I needed a wee. Suddenly the girls appeared from nowhere with our friend Meghann, they’d been at a special viewing area at the finish line (thanks to UNICEF) and had all seen me cross the line. I struggled to walk back to the runners village but stopping to pick up my medal, have my photo snapped, pick up goody bag and have my timing chip removed all gave me time for suitable stops and an opportunity to get my head together. Once again the pleasure of running with #teamUNICEF paid dividends as I had somewhere to head and rest up for a short while before trashing a Mars Bar and getting changed. Once I had control of my legs again, caught up with Fredrick and some of the other UNICEF runners me and the girls headed into Bath for ice cream and a picnic. A great end to a super day.

My official chip time is now recorded as 1hr 58mins 28secs. Considering the ups and downs I’ve had with my training and considering this is my first half marathon I’m more than chuffed with this result.

I’ve included a few photo’s below that we snapped ourselves. I’m waiting for the spare funds to buy the shots taken by the official event photographers. Once I have these I’ll share them here also.

If you ever consider entering this race yourself I can give you the following advice…
1. Bath is beautiful
2. This race is very well organised, follow the information in emails and blog posts and you can’t go wrong.
3. The people of Bath are awesome.
4. #teamUNICEF rock consider running with them.

If you’ve thus far missed the opportunity to sponsor me for my efforts (where the hell have you been hiding?) then please follow this link where you can still donate until 11th April 2012. To all those who have sponsored me or offered words of encouragement via facebook, twitter or dailymile THANK YOU!

So why did I do it? Why didn’t I stop at mile one or two? Well mostly because I’m an idiot. There is however another reason. I’ve committed myself to run 13.1 miles on March 11th for @UNICEF_UK. I’ve not run this distance before and like it or not, I have to put in some hard work and go through some pain to achieve that goal. Lets put that pain in perspective though. Approx 320,000 children in East Africa are suffering from severe acute malnutrition to the point of needing immediate life-saving assistance due to the combination of drought, the global economy and war. These are innocent children who could potentially die if aid is not given. This is happening now. Children are dying.

I’ve had the misfortune myself of attending the funerals of 3 of my own children. They all died during childbirth. It was hard. It hurt like hell. Believe me when I say I don’t wish that loss on anyone and although not physical pain it hurts way more than running 4 miles on torn up feet. We eventually could rationalise that pain though (or at least we can now 10 years later) as in all 3 cases (twins and 1 other) there is nothing anybody could have done to change their fate. I support UNICEF because in the case of the 320,000 children mentioned above we have the ability to change that outcome and stop the kind of pain associated with the loss of a child for hundreds and thousands of people. It doesn’t take much and most of us have plenty. I don’t have a tonne of money but what little I have I’ll give and what I don’t have I plan on making up by raising money through sponsorship to get this run done and if that means occasionally tearing up my feet so be it. I believe it’s important (I guess because of my experiences I’m biased). The reason I choose UNICEF over the countless other deserving charities is because they have a track record of making a difference and the work they do is focussed on improving the lives of children all over the world who are at risk (not just in Africa). I’m not even sure why I’m sharing this here. Sometimes I guess it helps to write down and share the things that constantly go round in your own head to stop you going mental (ok more mental). You might feel this is a very clever blog entry to try and guilt people into sponsoring me (because lets face it we’re all sadly that cynical these days). It isn’t. I ain’t that clever. I’m not even going to include the link to my sponsorship page for that reason. I’m sure you can find it if you want it (and I’ll not deny I’d really appreciate the support). I guess this is just all about perspective. I’ve got a lot of that since I started running. My priorities have changed. My take on what is possible has changed. My view on what hurts has changed. I guess I’ve changed over this last year – I think for the better.

on a side note: in running terms they may look ugly but this is a mere scratch…some of the ultra nutters I follow on twitter probably eat pain like this for breakfast. I just need to man the f**k up

Tonight I tried something new and for me completely different and well out of the comfort zone. I had Robyn booked onto a street dance class at the leisure centre so I decided rather than spend 50 mins waiting for her to finish (bored out of my brain) I’d book myself on a fitness class that ran the same time. The only option that fitted the bill was boxercise. So tonight I tried boxercise (oh how I’ve changed in 12 months)! For me the whole fitness class vibe is alien but with the confidence gained from running I didn’t feel completely out of my depth and in fact I’d say I quite enjoyed it. The circuits should definitely help with me building core strength (something I’m rubbish at trying to do on my own) and it serves as a nice break to the running routine. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel comfortable in that environment but heck they let me kick a punch-bag…my inner child was well happy :0)

It was quite the experience and they were full of good advice. They also had some clever technology which took video footage of me running on a treadmill and were able to play it back to me in slow motion to see what was going on across different shoes etc. It highlighted that whilst suffering from muscle pains in my foot from the run the night before I was tending to be sloppy and heel-strike. When I did my arches were collapsing and my feet rolled all over the place, my legs jarred in allsorts of uncomfortable directions to compensate. This wasn’t corrected by me trying different types of running shoes. As soon as I concentrated on fore-foot striking though everything tidied up and things got back into line. All useful information as I have felt that since building up the miles again over the past month things have generally not felt right and I probably haven’t been paying due attention to how I’m running. Thats something I can address. The holes in the uppers is something I’m going to have to continue to live with to a certain extent (apart from keeping my nails shorter). I can still run with the Kinvara’s but I find on longer runs it’s a source of distraction. In the end I’ve decided to plump for a slightly cheaper option to my Kinvara love and pick up a pair of Grid Flex’s (also from Saucony) as they should still be pretty lightweight and don’t have a massive heel to toe drop (Although not classed as minimal) and with the difference in price I’ve picked up a cheap pair of light trail shoes that I can use and abuse out in the mud. Hopefully in rotating these two new pairs with my existing Kinvara’s I’ll be covered for a few more miles yet.

Sunday I was still a little sore and should of just gone out for a light recovery run but being a lovely sunny morning I got a little carried away and headed along a new route to Hardys monument. It’s a fairly prominent marker on the local landscape and one I’ve wanted to add to my log for sometime. It turns out to be quite a climb (about 720ft) over 4-5 miles over country road and some tracks but the view from the top made it all worthwhile. I headed out slow and after my experience in the running shop applied a fair bit of concentration to making sure I was striking on my forefoot rather than slopping around on my heels. A day later and my calves are aching a little but no noticeable muscular pains in my feet which considering it was a longer run than Friday seems to indicate it’s something I should continue to work on.

Putting all the weird techncial issues to one side it was a lovely run and a nice way to finish the week with my mileage total back up heading towards 30 miles a week. Lets hope I can keep it up. Next time I do this route I may pack a DSLR in my bag to get some decent shots of the view to share for now you’ll have to make do with these mobile snaps.