training update

Rolling 7-day average now up to 30 miles, with 10km on the cross-trainer on Monday and a 12km run last night. I'm working away from home - ie in a hotel, with a gym - until 8th April so there's no excuse for not banging out 10km every night, is there?!

The people we're raising money for....

An astonishing story hit the news today as medals for service in Afghanistan were handed out.

Diprasad Pun, serving with 1GR received the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross after single-handedly repelling a Taleban attack in Helmand province earlier this year. When he ran out of ammunition, he used a sandbag and a machine gun tripod as improvised weapons, before firing a claymore mine to rout the enemy.

Such are the soldiers that the Gurkha Welfare Trust looks after - one of the charities, along with Oxfam, that the Trailwalker event raises funds for. 

Training update...

Still banging in 25 miles a week, device of choice is the cross-trainer on the grounds that
a) it's a whole-body workout
b) it doesn't have the impact and hence injury-risk of a treadmill and
c) I've really got into it

Switching off my brain whilst exercising is coming along nicely. Music helps, and I've found some 'top 10 tracks to run to' websites - improvement in time spent, if not in speed.

Blackberry standard earphones are a PITA though, get a sweat on and they fall out, and one of them got mashed by the machine yesterday. No-one seems to do a 'sports' alternative - don't they think the Blackberry business-geek demographic get any exercise?

(and ebay isn't much help - most sports headphones are advertised as both iphone and blackberry-suitable, but they have different plugs.......)

status update....and thanks!

First off - a great big THANK YOU! to everyone who has sponsored us so far, your contributions are going to two very worthy causes who address sickness and poverty with a dedication and commitment that us wannabe trailwalkers can only imagine. Thank you all.


I've settled into a reasonable training routine - 22-25 miles or so a week, all in the gym, and either on the cross-trainer or running machine.
Currently I'm working on my mental approach. When walking, even at tabbing speed, I can easily suspend my brain - switch off, listen to music, immerse myself in my own thoughts - and the miles flow past without my noticing them.
As soon as I start to run though, conscious brain is back with me, dreaming up every reason why I should slow down. So I'm practicing brain-suspension-whilst-running...and finding it very hard!

I'll let you know if it works...

Training update - spinning

I did a spinning class last night. 45 minutes of pretty intense effort, the standing up in the pedals must have done some good because it didn't half hurt!

I've no idea how 'far' we went, but a relentless pace and sweat dripping off must be good training mustn't it? At least I kept up with all the pace and effort changes, and didn't feel stressed at all as far as heart or lungs went, just big effort from the quads and my calves cramping up at the end.

I just hope it's relevant training for a little walk......

London Ultra 50K

In an attempt to kick-start my training for the Trailwalker, I figured a 50K trail race would be good preparation. With this in mind, I did the London Ultra 50K trail race a couple of weeks ago, which took a band of 226 brave runners from Streatham Common to Wembley, following London's Capital Ring.

As this was my first ultra-marathon, I was a bag of nerves on the morning of 20th Feb. It was interesting to look around the group waiting to start. There was probably about 10g of body-fat between them (myself excluded).

The route took us through some residential roads for the first 10K then into parks and along canal tow-paths for the bulk of the race. I didn't appreciate just how big Richmond Park is, nor how muddy it gets after rain. It stayed pretty chilly and overcast for the whole race, but didn't really rain, which was nice. However, there had been so much rain on Saturday that many of the parks and woods were incredibly muddy, slippery and treacherous. Running downhill through muddy woods was one of the more challenging aspects of the race, I have to admit. By running, I really mean slipping and sliding. I ran pretty consistently for the first 30K or so, but the last 20K proved more challenging.

There were a couple of brutal hills through woods that were particularly muddy, so there was nothing for it other than to walk. The worst hills were at about 40K and 48K, just to test your endurance. Needless to say, I walked both of those as did the few people around me. The last mile or so was pretty much downhill, which almost harder than running uphill due to the additional pressure on tired limbs. As I was heading to the finish line, I could hear someone close behind so put on as much of a sprint finish as I could muster and finished 4 seconds ahead of three guys just behind me. I didn't even know there were three people so close behind me until I checked the results! I finished in 5:09:36, which put me 72nd out of 212 finishers. I thought I'd be around 200th so I'm delighted. And I'll be back next year.... maybe.

our name change...

We decide the team name was a bit clunky, so we've become Feet First.
what do you think?

training update

Weekly training running at around 20-22 miles at the moment. A mix of gym work (mostly cross-trainer) and proper outside running.
The only side-effect to date is a general feeling of being knackered, luckily feet and joints are bearing up well at the moment.

Current faves are Inov8 roclite shoes - very light, it feels like you aren't wearing anything on your feet. Then you run through a puddle and are convinced you aren't wearing anything on your feet - instant wet socks! Worth it for the weight reduction though.
 
And a mention for another Inov8 product -the Race Elite 25 pack. I ran round Elterwater with it in constant drizzle, the sort of rain that gets everywhere. My spare fleece and trousers were bone dry.