Life is a journey, not a competition

Another two weeks and time for another blog. I have some great news to share with you !!

Counting all the money either already donated or pledged, we have now passed over £2,500 !!

I can't thank you all enough ... I'm amazed at the generosity of everyone who has helped me so far and those who continue to help. Prizes continue to be donated from some very kind businesses, for my fundraising night on November 14th in The Old Inn ( have I mentioned that before), we've even got afternoon tea for two at Morgans' Hotel in Swansea (that's proper posh that is like !). Sunday 27th Sept, we had a cake stall at Llanmadoc for the first West Glamorgan Cross Country race of the season and as a joint effort with another one of my running club friends we raised £240 .. so £120 for the cause made on a lovely day in the Gower, how's this for a view ?

 

I've also made excellent progress on the "date in a diary" raffle, where you could win £300, around 124 dates sold so far ... If you want a chance to win £300, donate £10 on my page HERE and in the text box type in a date you'd like from Jan 1st to Dec 31st .... once I sell the lot, I draw one date and that person wins the cash .. simple !

So how has the MdS training been going .. well yet again, it hasn't, as my focus over the past two weeks has been more on the fast approaching Amsterdam marathon on the 18th October .... determined to go sub 4 hours for this one and training is going very well. Another relatively low mileage week, with a couple of circuits sessions thrown in to help strengthen my running muscles and prevent injury ... it seems to be working !

A few short recovery runs in the streets near where I live, all involving hills .. as I can't leave my house for a run without having to tackle one ( or more ) without hitting one on the way out or the way home. Then a 10K from Killay ( note - that rhymes ! ) along the Dunvant cycle track up to Gowerton and back, again hills involved. Finally a 13.1 run up to the reservoirs in Velindre and back, even more hills involved in that one. I was planning on pacing the 60 minute group for the Swansea Bay 10K but had to take my daughter to Sophia Gardens to compete in the Welsh Karate Championships ( she got a Silver and a bronze too !)

Plan for the coming week is to hit another 20 miler on Tuesday with a short one either side before returning to work on Thursday.

A lot of people I tell about what I'm doing are keen to learn what it really involves and what will it be like living in the desert for a week. So I'll be going to incorporate a bit about what I'm learning about desert living into my blogs from now on.

This week, we have the question most people ask, 'what about going to the toilet' .. well there's a couple of options, one being the obvious 'behind a bush' (or whatever you can find) option. The race organisers do have some makeshift ones to use ... see the pic below ... I think I'll be going with option 1

In addition to the above, the next popular question is 'where will you be sleeping'. When I answer a tent, there's often a look of disappointment on peoples' faces, as I expect me to say 'under the stars' or some such response. I think that's because people have a preconception of what a tent is like ... well, these 'tents' are slightly different, here's a pic of all of them in the desert.

If you look very closely, you will see there are no side walls / doors to these 'tents' ! They are very simply constructed bivouacs, a far cry from the type of tent you get on a Canvas holiday as an example.

Finally, I cant do this blog without mentioning Saturday ... no, not the night shift I had to work, but the rugby match that was going on when I was in work .... this picture expecially for Mrs Harris

I read a post on facebook from someone who claimed "not to be a proper runner" who had just completed their first 50K run, a fantastic achievement in my opinion .... obviously, they now considered themselves to now be a proper runner .... my response was no matter how far or how little you run, if you run, you are a proper runner !

Very well done on getting this far yet again

Life is a journey, not a competition ... (apart from when the rugby is on natch )

Til next time

Fatboy

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations

Two weeks have flown since the last blog .... in running terms the first week was a total rest week for me. That's right, I didn't run a single mile !

Was I injured ? No !

Was I suffering from a lack of motivation ? No !

Had someone stolen my trainers ? No !

Mainly, it was due to having to work ( I know I normally do a run between my day and night shifts, but I felt like I needed a break !) and going to Glasgow to watch my youngest daughter compete in the British Karate Championships in the Emirates Arena. An eight hour drive was certainly worth it, when, competing in her first competition at this level, she won Bronze in her category.

 

 

Anyhow, I felt refreshed after the week off, so Monday just gone, I tried out my new trainers, Brooks Ghost 7 (2 E width fitting), on a gently our long run , just under 7 miles, they felt good. I followed that up on Monday by going to our weekly circuits class in Olchfa School ... it was certainly tough but oh so worth it. Here they are ... that's me breaking them in up in Glasgow !

 

 

 

Wednesday evening was time for another one of our running clubs Grand Prix (there are 10 throughout the year, with you 7 best results counting for points. At the end of the year, there's awards, promotion and relegation, so it's taken pretty seriously !). Only a short run and fairly flat, 5K along the Gorseinon cycle path. How did I get on, only went and PB's my 5K time, 21 minutes 50 seconds .. get in !

 

Thursday daytime, I ran the half marathon route up to the lakes in Velindre again, legs were a bit tired and I really took my time, 13.1 miles in around 2 hours ten minutes. Saturday was deemed long run day ... my aim was to do a 20 miler, and for that to be around the pace I want to run in the Amsterdam marathon next month. Well, I managed to PB my 20 mile time too, 2 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds ... first time under 3 hours and a PB by over 13 minutes .... look at the splits too ! I was so pleased for a number of reasons. Mainly because I had hit my target, but also because I know there was more left in the tank ... even maintaining this pace suggests a marathon time of 3 hours 53 minutes or so .... think I may adjust my target time to 3 hours 50 minutes ! (But lets not get too ahead of ourselves eh !!) Grab an eye full of those splits ... very pleasing that I managed to keep the same pace more or less for the whole run ....

 

Two PB's in four days .... that break must have done me some good.

 

 

 From a fundraising point of view, its been a good couple of weeks too, several companies have generously agreed to sponsor me ... more about this in future blogs, similarly, a few more prizes have been donated for the fundraising evening in November (14th in The Old Inn - have I mentioned that before ?). Howeve,r if there are any other business owners reading this, and you'd like the chance to get your company name / logo on an item of kit please get in touch with me at tircoeds@googlemail.com

 

Camels ! what about them ? Well, I'm told if a camel catches up with you on the MdS, the MdS is over for you, they are the sweepers, and walk at a very leisurely pace ... anyhow, I found this on facebook, a letter on Viz comic

 

"If camels have to conserve as much water as possible for their epic cross-desert journeys, why do they spit at people who annoy them ? Surely, a kick in the goolies would be far more water efficient!"

 

Cant really argue with that line of thinking can you ?

 

Don't forget the "date in a diary" raffle, where you could win £300 ...If you want a chance to win £300, donate £10 on my page HERE and in the text box type in a date you'd like from Jan 1st to Dec 31st .... once I sell the lot, I draw one date and that person wins the cash .. simple !

 

Once again, congratulations for surviving this long ... and remember, difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations

 

Have a good two weeks til next time

 

Fatboy !