It doesn't get easier, you get stronger !

 Forgive me Father for I have sinned, it's been almost 5 weeks since my last blog ! A mixture of busyness ( is that a word ) and injuryness ( I'm sure that's not a word ) being the main excuses for not putting fingertips to keyboard. "Excuses ?" I hear you say, yep that's right, excuses .... there's no valid reason why I haven't blogged. I was just looking for an excuse. Like those people who provide 'reasons' why they haven't been for a run / gone for swim / had a session in the gym .... 'reasons' not valid, if people really wanted to, they'd find a way, and thus it is the same with me too. I'm sorry, I'm human ;-)

Anyhow, the last time I hit the keys with such vigour was in the run up to my fundraising night in The Old Inn on the 14th Nov ( yep it was that long ago !). Anyhow, great response online and in the pub to both the raffle and the auction. A mindblowing total of around £1357 was raised on the evening. I must hay a huge thanks to all who contributed a prize / item for auction and to those who took part. For those that missed it, and those who wish to see it again, here's a picture of the cake donated by Candyfloss Cakes of Pontarddulais ... only 10 calories as well ;-)

The following weekend I was oiling the wheels of industry ( working nights ), it was my running clubs presentation night. Now, some of you will know I'm membership secretary / interim club secretary, and will wonder why on earth would that evening be arranged for a night I'm working ..... I'm still trying to work that one out ;-). Anyhow, got presented with this for topping my division with our intra club races, never thought I'd be anywhere near the times I've been running a year ago. Amazing what some regular training and a bit of confidence can do for you.

A couple of weeks later, a weekend in London is on the cards. Main reason being to attend the MdS seminar being held in some very posh venue in Mayfair. My definition of posh 1. No blood on the pavement outside, 2. No blood on the carpet inside. There, it's that simple. In fact incredibly posh. We listened to the Frenchman who started the whole MdS thing, along with double Olympic gold medallist, James Cracknell, and very good he was too. It was also a chance to purchase some kit, in particular the sleeping bag, legionnaires hat, which together with other assorted bits and bobs I got from Rory Colemans store in the Expo. We were also given, yep my favourite word, given, a rucksack from the organisers, which I can use on the MdS. I've gone on a few runs with it and apart from the bottle holders, I'm happy with it.

Now, the 'injury' .. I had this pain in my leg about 2 inches below the knee ... and it would hurt whenever I started running and when I finished. Also, whenever I pressed a certain point on my leg it was worse than childbirth ( YES it was ! ). So, my training was cutback, for a few weeks I only did a short 3 miler, just to try and keep the fitness while the leg healed. Anyhow, it didn't heal so off to a specialist I go. Turns out I have some Osteophyte ( I may have got this wrong, definitely Osteo something), after getting a bang on my leg, which I can' remember. I had some acupuncture and it helped for a few days. The good news is that it wont hinder my running and if I'd only known that then for around 3-4 weeks I would have been running far more than I had. Still, I'm happy that I can run and that it wont stop my training. Long term, I'm not entirely sure whats going to happen, they may just disappear, they may require some form of treatment like anti steroidal drugs.

Finally in this edition of Tircoed-Pathe News, I was incredibly fortunate to be given 4 tickets for the Llanelli v Ospreys game on boxing day. I wont mention who donated them, but I am incredibly grateful. What to do with them, well I raffled them in the Riverside Lounge post match last weekend, just after the Ospreys had beaten Bordeaux. I even got interviewed on stage, the last time I was on that stage interviewing the players, I was around 3.5 stone heavier ! Managed to raise a fantastic sum of £275 .. not to be sniffed at, and it's worth mentioning that my running total for fundraising is now over £4500 ... incredible !

As for the training in the past 5 weeks, not a very long list but better than nothing !

2.8 miler loop near where I live

3 mile loop near where I live

2.8 miler near to where I live

6.7 miler along the forest, junction 46 and back on the old A48

8 miler ( very hilly !)  Tircoed, velindre up to five roads, down to Bont, back to Tircoed, it hurt !

5 mile pyramid session with the club

12.5 mile with 4 kg on my back, Tircoed to Velindre lakes and back

Yoga session ( I know, but it was enjoyable ! )

15 miler ( very hilly ) with 4kg on my back, Tircoed, Velindre lakes, back to Velindre, up to five road, down to Bont and back to Tircoed  it hurt more than the earlier one !)

2.8 miler loop near where I live

5.3 miles along Swansea bay, followed by Cooper test with running club ( 12 min running as fast as possible, log total distance run and compare with future runs !)

20 miler, with 4kg on my bag, from Tircoed, down to Gowerton, along cycle path through Dunvant, down to clyne along seafont for a mile and back, hillier than you'd imagine.

5.5 * 800m efforts with 90 seconds recovery with the running club on the athletics track

18 miler with 4 kg on my back, from Bynea to Burry Port and back.

Phew, that's all and very well done if you've got this far.

Here's the obligatory link for fundraising, click here to give me your money ;-) and if there are any business owners who'd be happy to sponsor me in return for space on my kit for your company name, I'd love to hear from you ! ( You can comment on the blog I believe )

That's all for now

Fatboy

Don't wait for Inspiration - be the inspiration !

It's been a fortnight of two halves to pinch a sporting phrase ... I guess I'm paying the price for the amount of running I have done recently together with the extra weight I've been putting on my back.

Anyhow, following the 1st ever parkrun, I had a few days off which was then followed up with a gentle 7ish miler around where I live. It was nice to get out there and just run, with no need for speed, checking the time and so on ... I ended up completing 6.7 miles in 56 minutes, 3 minutes faster than I've run the same route in the past ... I keep telling myself to run on feel and I should do just more of this .... my body knows when I'm going too fast for the intended distance, I just need to learnt to trust my body a bit more !

Followed that run up with the second Swansea Bay Park Run, but with a difference, I had promised to pace a couple of friends around the 5K route, to try and get them under 25 minutes ... in fact, I'd planned to run at 7min 50 secs a mile pace, which would give us a time of around 24 mins and 30 seconds ... we did it in 24 mins 24 seconds ... new PB's or just missing it by 1 second ... great running from all concerned and it felt good to help others achieve their target times rather than just concentrate on me ... in fact, I'd like to do some more of this ... it felt good shouting at someone with 200 metres to go !

The next day was the big one of the week, meeting up with 12 time MdS finisher Rory Coleman and another MdS entrant Jeff Smith, to tackle the sands of Merthyr Mawr .... the plan was to run a loop through the sands from the car park, up and down a few dunes, onto the beach, along to the river and back into the sands finishing off in the car park, a loop of about 4.3 miles. I'd also decided, if running on sand wasn't enough, to try it with some weight, so I added 4kg to my rucksack and headed off at 9.00 in the morning. We did a loop, had a break for water and some chews and headed off again, and again and again, in fact we ran the loop a total of 6 times. Thereby completing by 2nd marathon in two weeks and 8th in 11 months ... pace was MdS pace apparently, averaging around 14 minutes a mile .. now that not may sound fast, but consider that the weight on my back will be double that in the desert and the temperature will be more than double .. and the distance over the week will be 6 times what I ran on the Sunday - the enormity of the task ahead has really hit home ! I should point our that distance on Strava is wrong for some reason, we absolutely hit 26.2 miles. ...

I had some much needed rest for the next week only venturing out the following Sunday for a gentle recovery run of 3 miles near where I live. I've started to notive some aches and pains while I've been resting, a dull pain below my right kneecap and a slight twinge now and again just above my left Achilles ... anyhow, I'm glad I've rested and am ready to hit circuit training on Monday evening to see how I manage on the legs.

My fundraising is still progressing very well, with my total just a few pounds shy of £3,000 ! How amazing is that ? Anyhow .. my fundraising night in The Old Inn, Penllergaer is fast approaching on the 14th November. We have a DJ who is doing the night for free, which I am very grateful for. There'll be a raffle for some fantastic prizes, too numerous to mention all of them but £150 worth of waffle party for kids, L'Oreal hampers of mens and womens products, afternoon tea for two in Morgans hotel and much much more. The highlight of the evening will be the auction, which has progressed very well over the past few days ... here we go

1. Cowboy rugby hat, with many rugby badges on, some which are quite rare, current bid £40

2. A 4 ball golf day in the Vale Resort, Hensol, I'm told its the Lakes course and theres no time limit for when you need to play. I'm guessing you could play  a round during the 6 nations next year and see if you can watch some of the Welsh squad training - current bid £100

3. Football signed by the Manchester City squad - current bid £45

4. Two gold tickets to watch the Ospreys play ASM Clermont on 16/17th January, with access to the premier lounge, current bid £100

5. Signed Everton football shirt, current bid £50

6. Swansea City signed shirt, with signatures printed on, with a certificate of authenticity, current bid £70

7. Ospreys away shirt from 2010/2011 season, signed by squad at the time, including Tommy Bowe, AWJ, Shane Williams, Richard Hibbard, Duncan Jones, Paul James, Lee Byrne, Mike Phillips and I think Marty Holah and Jerry Collins ... all in a nice frame, current bid £150

8. Signed Manchester United football shirt, with pictures of the players who have signed it, along with clarification of which signature is which and certificate of authenticity, current bid £110 ... that's an absolute steal at that price, please don't let it go for that !

Wow, what a list .... I'm hoping that our fundraising total gets a massive boost next week !

Not much planned for this week ,a few short runs and circuits on Monday evening.

If you're looking for a reason to get out there, looking for something to give you a kick to get you going ... don't wait for inspiration - go out and be the inspiration !

Til next time

Fatboy !

Just keep going ... everybody gets better if they keep at it.

Never have I found the title words to be truer than in the last week. As you know by now, I tackled the Amsterdam Marathon on the 18th October, with the aim of breaking 4 hours. Well,, in case you've shied away from all of my social media accounts, not only did I break 4 hours, but also 3 hours 45 minutes, crossing the line in 3 hours, 44 minutes and 30 seconds. Here's a pic of me just about to cross the line

Quite an action photo don't you think. I'd started the day with a plan of maintaining 8 mins 30 seconds a mile, until mile 16 then seeing what I can do in terms of increasing the pace from there. Now, that would mean me running faster / further than I've done in any of my training runs, but, there's no point going quietly into the night is there ? The route is fairly flat, well, most of Holland is in all fairness. Takes us through the Rijksmuseum, into the financial district before heading out to the best part of the course (in my opinion). Around 7 miles running along the banks of the river Amstel, one things for sure, I know where the well heeled live out there, some very impressive houses on the riverbank. Little did I know at the time, but as I passed the 13.1 mile marker, I had just set a new PB for my half marathon ! The pace by this stage was 8 mins 15 seconds a mile and I was still feeling very good. So good, in fact that I decided to throw in a quick one at mile 17 and see how I got on. Well it was a sub 8 min mile, but it didn't last and I paid the price in the last 10K for that ( at least I think I did) ... at one stage I was on for a 3:41finish but I just didn't have the strength left to maintain the pace, something I will need to work on for the future. Anyhow, rounded the corner, to take us into the Olympic Stadium and then it was time to see if I could stretch my legs for the last 300m .. I did, sort of ... Now, you may notice from the pic above of some red spots on my running vest .. have a closer look at the photo below

Yep, I had the dreaded runners nipple ! So excited was I to get to the start line, I forgot to apply the body glide before I handed my bag in. It wasn't until mile 14 when I looked down and saw that I was leaking claret ... now, I can genuinely say, it didn't hurt, either at the time or when I had a shower, hard as nails from Taibach see ! Great race and lovely location, talked to some lovely people on the run too, hope to see you again soon if you're reading this !

Other training included club night on the Wednesday before the marathon, then going taper stir crazy I did a sneaky 3 miler the next day. Wednesday after the marathon was also club night ( I must admit I struggled with the speed work that night). Friday, I decided to try and run with a bit more weight than I've done recently. So I managed to get 7kg in my rucksack and headed off on a hilly 5 miler, just to see what it would be like. In all honesty, it went well, in fact, due to the amount of bouncing of the rucksack / weights digging into my back, at times I had to slow down to minimise the impact of the weights on my back ! 12 hours later it was time for the very first Swansea Parkrun, 5K, timed, and the best bit, totally free ... every single week .. how good is that, I can't say how good this is and that everyone should try it ... you'll be totally amazed at what you can achieve ! Anyhow, surprised myself with the early pace ( in fact it was way too quick !) but managed to PB my 5K time  (for the 5th time this year). Ok, it was only by 2 seconds but it all counts. Even better was the fact that it was so close on the back of the weighted run ... definitely doing more of both the weight runs and the parkruns. Here's a photo of me approaching the finish line of the parkrun !

Anyhow, enough of all that, onto the fundraising section. First a reminder about the fundraising night in the Old Inn, Penllergaer on the 14th November. It's shaping up to be a good evening, with some great raffle prizes and even better, blow your socks off, auction items ... see the lists below.

Raffle prizes include, (but not limited to), 3 months gym membership of simply gym with family pass to LC2, one of Richard Clarks weight loss books, a session of Reiki, male and female hamper of body care products from L'Oreal and more !

For the auction, these are the items I currently have up for grabs, if you wish to make a bid now, please let me know ... bidding online stops on the 14th at 5:00pm ... if you've bid online and its still the highest after the auction in the pub, the item is yours .. its that simple .. honest .. have a butchers at the list below ( there may be more as well !)

1. Signed football by the Manchester City squad - Sean McManus £40

2. Signed football shirt by the Everton squad - Joni lloegr - £50

3. Cowboy hat with about 40 rugby badges on (kindly donated by Casper) - Darren Thomas £30

4. Golf 4 ball in the Vale Resort, Hensol (kindly donate by Aspire2Be), the lakes course - Peter Jones £100

5. Framed & signed Ospreys away shirt 2010/2011 season (kindly donated by Becky Clark/ The Bank Statement) - Darren Thomas £60

6. Liverpool football shirt, signed by Glen Johnson (kindly donated by Steve Furnell)

7. Two gold tickets to see Ospreys v Clermont in the European Cup in January 2016, access to premier lounge, match day programme - karl angell £100

8. Man Utd signed shirt (2014/15 season) with photograph of squad & signatures to aid identification, along with certificate of authenticity.- Darren Thomas (bidding on behalf of friend) - £110

Once again, a reminder about the date in the diary draw ... simply donate £10 via this link, and pick any date from Jan 1st to Dec 31st ... put the date you've chosen in the text box and once I've sold all the dates, I draw one out of the hat and winner gets £300 ... clicky here

Finally, congratulations to all my running friends who've recently completed their own races, be they 5K or the Snowdon Marathon .. you're all an inspiration as far as I am concerned.

A few more words that we need to adhere to ... "Know your limitations, then go and defy them" ... that's what I intend to keep trying to do !

Well done if you've survived this far

Til next time

Fatboy

I'm going for a run, I may be some time .....

…. But hopefully not that long #sub4hr !

This is the last blog until I’ve completed the Amsterdam Marathon. When approaching races like this, I always, without fail, look back at when I started running and the progress that I’ve hopefully made. Back in April 2013 I was persuaded via a friend on twitter to enter the Cardiff Half Marathon in October of that year, the longest I’d run prior to that being a Swansea Bay 10K some 10 years earlier, and it has to be said, some 3 stone lighter. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I was training for this, other than trying to increase the distance I could run each time. No tempo runs, no fartleks, no hill work .. nothing, other than run and keep going until I couldn’t go any longer, which, typically, wasn’t very long anyhow ! I managed to complete the ½ in 2 hours 4 mins, my longest run prior to that race being 9 miles .. yes, the 13.1 miles hurt ! The following week I joined 3M’s Roadrunners, based in Gorseinon and its been relentless forward progress since ( barring a 3 month lay off due to a rotator cuff injury).

I get asked quite often what do I do when my training or a race hasn’t gone to plan, its been bad etc. I find the singularly most important thing is to always, without fail, look for a positive in every single piece of training that I do. Did I mention, WITHOUT FAIL ! No matter how bad the run has gone, no matter how bad I feel after it, no matter how far away from the training session goals I am, I look for and always find a positive, WITHOUT FAIL (I have mentioned that before haven’t I?). As an example, the London Marathon was not a good run, twisting my ankle at 8.5 miles in & having to run / walk /hobble the remaining 17 miles home ! The positives from that were that I finished it (where others may have pulled out) and that I was only 30 minutes off my PB even with a dodgy ankle. See, the power of positive thinking !

Anyhow, enough  of the rose tinted stuff, what’s happened since the last blog … quite a lot and all positive yet again … the first West Glamorgan Cross Country League fixture of the season took place at Llanmadoc in the Gower. It was our clubs turn to host a fixture so a lot of organising went on between some fantastic people at the club, the National Trust and others. Working nights meant I wasn’t really in the right place to run, but I did help man the cake stall and thanks to all the great people who brought cakes and then bought other peoples, we raised £240 on the day, between my charity and another club members, so £120 more for the cause, great stuff.

Runs over the past 2 weeks …. (all logged on Strava now, if you’re really that interested in looking at the splits and so on !)

18 miler along Llanelli coastal path, aiming to keep my heart rate around 145 bpm .. achieved the aim at a pace of 9’ 51 mins

Club race 5K race from Llanelli Leisure centre out and back, the day after an 18 miler, legs felt heavy, but I managed to beat my 5K PB by 5 seconds, lord knows how that happened ….

Hilly 12.5 miler, with 3Kg pack on my back at marathon pace, again achieved aim, pace per mile was 8’54 seconds -  with hills and weight on my back, very pleased with how that went.

Fartlek session along Llanelli coastal path, about 6 miles in total, 1 min effort, 1 minute recovery for 30 mins, peaked my speed at 5 mins 30 seconds a mile ( ok only for a minute but I felt like Mo Farah at one point !)

Gentle 5 miler after the previous days club training, 5.1 miles in total at a pace of 8 mins 19 seconds.

10K training run along Llanelli coastal path, not really pushing it and not paying much attention to time / pace, at least not until I looked at my watch after the 5^th mile. My pace for which was 8 mins … anyhow, I looked at the total time so far and could see that I was on for a PB if I pushed hard for the final mile and a bit. Last mile was completed in 6 mins 55 seconds menaing I PB’d my 10k time on a training run by 25 seconds … it’s strange how these things happen but very pleasing when they do !

So, what do I hope to get from the Amsterdam Marathon, well, my target time is to get under 4 hours .. anything better than that will be a bonus !

Fundraising continues with some very generous people out there donating prizes and money, they know who they are, thank you, all of you.

Quick reminder of the fundraising night being held on the 14^th November in The Old Inn, Penllergaer, Swansea. It’s shaping up to be a good night, got some great raffle prizes, and confirmed items for the auction, to date are

1.       Signed football by the Manchester City squad

2.       Signed football shirt by the Everton squad

3.       Cowbay hat with about 40 rugby badges on (kindly donated by Casper)

4.       Golf 4 ball in the Vale Resort, Hensol (kindly donate by Aspire2Be)

5.       Framed & signed Ospreys away shirt 2010/2011 season (kindly donated by Becky Clark/ The Bank Statement)

6.       Liverpool football shirt, signed by Glen Johnson (kindly donated by Steve Furnell)

There may be more to come as well …. If you’re interested in any of the items above, make a bid and let me know … also, if you have anything you feel like donating to the auction, again, I’d love to hear form you.

Once again, congratulation on surviving this far, the £10 date in the diary continues, if you wish to donate £10 for a chance to win £300, click on the link and enter your name and the date you want when you donate …. I’ll confirm that the date you’ve chosen is free (if not, you can chose another one) .. clicky here to donate http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/MdS-Madness

 

Finally, I have to share this photo, its of two members from the running club, one was helping the other achieve a PB in the recent Caridff Half, just look at the determination on their faces … fantastic team work … which reminds me, make sure you have self belief beyond reason, be your biggest fan and smash it !

 

 

See you after Amsterdam

Fatboy

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 !

 

 

 



Strive for Progress not Perfection !

Strive for Progress not Perfection !

A very apt title as time has gone so quickly, I didn't realise that I failed to do my blog last week .... so here's the progress .... the timing isn't perfect !

Another good couple of weeks training wise ... and progress made on weight loss, which has undoubtedly helped me get the times I've been getting recently.

So lets start, almost two weeks ago, a gentle 5 miles recovery run at 8'44" a mile pace, mile long hill involved in this run up past 3M's ... I used to hate that hill, now, its doable in a decent enough time  last year I'd have to walk up the hill !)

Club night on the Wednesday, intervals along Gorseinon cycle track, then on the Friday I did the half marathon run up to the top lake in Felindre again,  weighted back pack natch (for all Gwlad online readers !) but a more sedate pace of 9'19" a mile.

One again work intervened, but on the Wednesday it was time for one of the clubs monthly races ... managed 3.5 miles at a pace of 7'11" !!! Just twelve months ago I was struggling to get under 9 minutes a mile, now here I am hitting just over 22 mins for 5K ... came 17 out of around 50 runners ... again when I started with the club, I was typically towards the bottom 10 runners !

Friday just gone and it was time to get serious, enough of these half marathons, 15.2 miles at a pace of 9'13" per mile ... to hit my target of sub 4 hours for the Amsterdam marathon I need to be hitting 9'09" .... the run included around 1500 feet of elevation gain ... something I wont have to contend with in Amsterdam, so I'm quietly confident of getting #sub4hr !!

Saturday (yes the very next day after Friday !), was the day of the village fete. A chance to raise some money, possibly make some useful connections and run on the treadmill for a while.

Here I am on the treadmill !

 

 

 

Started off thinking I would run for 2 or 3 hours, as I doubted there'd be much interest and I seriously doubted my ability to do any sort of decent distance given that I'd run 15 miles the day before. How wrong I was on both accounts - firstly, my fellow villagers were fantastic, donating a total of £177. Secondly, buoyed by their interest, I kept going for the full 26.2 miles (42.1 Km) in a time of 4 hours 15 minutes .... here's a pic of the treadmill screen !

 

 

 

 

So a total of 42.2 miles in two days ... I was very pleased with the effort over the two days .. in particular the marathon, as it was 9 minutes quicker than my best time over that distance ! Yep, I'd PB's my marathon time on a treadmill ....

 

This got me to thinking, what have I done since my first Marathon in November 2014 ... well, there was London, the Ultra Marathon, and 3 'training' runs over the same distance ... 6 marathon distance runs ( and further ) in 9 months ... I never thought I'd ever be achieving these distances, yet along with such frequency !

 

From a fundraising point its going well, I'm over my negativity from the previous couple of weeks .. a few worthy mentions here ..

 

Kit Sportswear in Ireland (run by a good Port Talbot man of course), for supplying me with my running kit.

 

The Buck Inn for providing a raffle prize for my fundraising evening, a meal for two and a bottle of prosecco

 

Ed Curnow of Yo-Cart for donating a fantastic prize to the same raffle; he has a waffle and frozen yoghurt business. He has given a prize worth around £150, which means he will attend a party or other event with his waffle maker .... you'll be able to eat to your hearts delight !

 

I've also made good progress on the "date in a diary" raffle, where you could win £300 ... I've already sold 51 dates ... just 314 to go !! 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, your comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there - experience life !

 

All the best for this week

 

Fatboy !

 

P.S. In the village fete, we hired a pub ... yep an inflatable pub ... and here it is !

 

 

 





Of course it's hard, if it was easy, everyone would do it !

Of course, its hard, its supposed to be hard. If its easy, everyone would do it. Hard is what makes it great !

I eased off on the mileage this week, some short gentle runs, a circuits session and a half marathon training run .... this training malarkey is starting to pay off too.

First, Monday night circuits session in Olchfa Skool sports hall, led by Pilot Light from our running club. 45 second bursts on a number of stations with 15 second recovery. Exercises ranged from weighted lunges, push ups, ab crunches, shuttle runs to a new exercise for me. It was a bit like a burpee, in that you do a squat but once up out of the squat then its a jump over a small hurdle ... they've been christened "Herpes" and for my schoolboy sense of humour, that name kept me entertained when my lungs were crying out for me to stop. Followed up with some yoga type exercises at the end ... I'm about as flexible as a housebrick, so these types of moves don't come easy to me at all .... what looks relatively straight forward can be very painful, kudos to those who manage these week in week out !

Tuesday was spent recovering from Monday, Wednesday however, was a lovely warm day so we decided to hit the beach, Llangennith to be exact, who can resist these views eh ?

It was such a nice day, I managed a gentle 3 miler on the beach, all good practice. In the evening it was club night, which was a sprint session on the field next to Swansea Uni track .. like a billiard table the pitch was. Session was a 10 metre run getting up to speed, 30 metre sprint, focussing on form rather than all out speed and then a 10 metre slow down, followed by a recovery jog of about 150 metres. Of course, when I say the sprint was all about form rather than speed, that was the intention, however, when there's a few middle aged men next to each other the competitive spirit takes over, I think nearly every sprint turned into a race ... really enjoyed it but by god, my hamstrings were still reeling 4 days later ! Session ended with a cool down and more of the yoga type stretches we did on Monday. Thursday saw my youngest daughter, my wife and I embark on a gentle jog through the forest. this was such a nice thing to do, running along side my wife and daughter was a lovely experience. Now, I must say I was very impressed with what my wife, Lou, managed. As many of you will know, she had breast cancer last year, and had to endure chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy .... so its knocked the stuffing out of her. She managed a mile, which may not sound like much but given the amount of treatment she's had I was very impressed with how far she managed.

Work interrupted my training for a couple of days, but on Sunday morning, before my 12 hr night shift, I decided to do a half marathon with a weighted backpack, only 3kg to start with.  I'm thinking the sooner I get used to running with 8-10kg on my back the better. The route was from my house, through the forest, up towards Velindre and then up the hills towards the lakes, all the way up to the top one and then back down home. Now, I decided to use my heart rate monitor as an indicator of  effort rather than just looking at my pace all the time (learning a lesson from my 10k PB from the other week !). Now, it was a nice run and it felt well controlled, a few hills got my heart up to 160bpm but in the main it was around the 145 mark. However, I'd made another schoolboy error in that I hadn't charged my garmin and the battery warning came up just after I turned for home so I had to disconnect the hrm. Obviously I had to have a peak at the pace and it was surprisingly quicker than I had done this route before. In fact, by the time I was hitting 10 miles I could smell blood ... it looked like another PB was on. Prior to this my fastest half marathon was last years Swansea Half in a time of 1 hour 58 mins and 40 ish seconds .... so despite it being a 'gentle training run' I decided to keep the pace going and see what I got. At 12.6 miles in my garmin died, but I knew I'd do the extra 1/2 a mile in the run back home ..... my final time ( allowing for 1/2 mile at the average pace for the whole run) was 1 hour 52 minutes 8 seconds .. I'd smashed the 1/2 marathon PB by over 6 minutes on a very hilly course with 3kg on my back ! This is the elevation profile for the first half of the run, the second half being the same but in reverse !

 

 

I thought I'd add this photo just because its a good one !

 

 

 

 

A quieter week on the fundraising front again, which is now starting to concern me ... however, that's my problem ... wrote about 40 emails to local businesses and now waiting to hear from them, just 2 or 3 would be good ! On a much more positive note, my mother in law continues to add her considerable amount of help, this time managing to secure two hampers of loreal products that I will be either be raffling or auctioning off ... here they are, one womens and one mens hamper !

 

 

Also, I've stolen another fundraising idea from one of my club members. I'm selling dates in a dairy for £10 each, once I've sold them all, I will pull a date from the hat and the winner will get £300 ! How does that sound .. a good way to help sponsor me and with a chance of getting a considerable amount of money back - lets see how it goes !

 

Again, congratualtions on getting this far, here's the obligatory plug for the fundraising page, click me, you know it makes sense

 

Final thought for the week - one day, you'll wake up and there wont be any more time to do the things you've always wanted - do it now

 

 

 

Fatboy

Relentless Forward Progress

Another great week training wise .. I'm slowly getting into the 'zone' !

Monday was my MdS training day with Rory Coleman (12 time finisher of the MdS & coached Ranulph Fiennes to completing this year) ... I figured if he can't guide me down the correct path then no one can ! I thoroughly enjoyed they time I spent with him and learnt so much about the correct kit to take .. more importantly what not to take and what not to do also. I'd urge anyone competing for the first time to spend time with him, it'll save you money and pain. Most valuable lesson of the day was how to tape my toes to avoid blisters .... tried it later in the week and it worked ! I should add that it was a 1:1 session .... once all the advice on kit had been provided off we went on a 26.2 mile run.

Now, I should admit I was very doubtful that I'd do the distance as the longest run I'd done since the ultra in May was a 13.1 miler about a month ago ... so hardly had the miles in my legs ... but what a enjoyable run it was ... not quick, as it was all about getting the pace right for out in the race, so it took somewhere around 5hrs 15 mins, maybe a bit longer ! Ran from near Sophia Gardens down to Barry and back .... managed it and my calfs felt better for it as opposed to worse that I thought they would !Home and walked the dogs a few miles just to help recovery and the same the next day.

Wednesday night was club night with 3M's - lovely session hosted by Alyson, despite the weather. Then along came Saturday - I was fundraising in M&P's open day .... I was going to attempt a 26.2 miler on a treadmill, the furthest I had ever run on a treadmill prior to then was 10K ! Must say a big thanks to all who gave so generously, especially this guy .... made the trip down from Rhos just to say hi .. legend !

 

 

And here's one of me in action too ! The keen eyed among you may realise that I'm wearing a cycling top not a running top .. NSPCC sent me that by mistake, but I couldn't not wear something with the name on when running for them ... it was warm (no where near sahara temperatures though !) ... no air flow through the top, I was gently perspiring, and had a little bit of a glow about me.

 

 

 

Now, in the past two weeks I've been trying to shed a few pounds, as advised by Mr MdS ... so I've cut out bread, potatoes, in fact anything white from my diet .. and obviously chocolate etc.... I've been very surprised by how quickly the weight has come down, from 14st 2lbs to 13st 6lbs this afternoon ! here's the proof  (picture quality not great )! I'd imagine running 66 miles in the previous 7 days helped a bit too.

 





Fatboys Fantastic Funders;

I have to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated so generously on Saturday at M&P's Motorcycle open day .... haven't had a great deal of time for anything else this week !

Again, if there are any businesses who would be open to sponsoring some of my equipment then I would love to hear from you.

Once again, well done on reaching the end, another plug click here to donate please !

Thought for today "the body wont achieve what the mind don't believe"

You know it makes sense

Fatboy

Gaining some momentum !

As the title suggests, it's been a good week on all fronts, even my calf muscles !

Fundraising; its been a great week, and I feel a lot of progress has been made, but there's still a long way to go. I've carried on mailing businesses asking for sponsorship, help in fundraising, raffle prizes etc .... below is a list of what will now be known as Fat Boys Fantastic Funders !

Fat Boys' Fantastic Funders

1. Mark Colling of M & P Motorcycles for kindly allowing me to pitch my treadmill up outside his business on the 8th August. They're holding an open day there, its well worth the visit to view all the Harley Davidsons, they look awesome.

2. Advanced Physio Nutrition for being my physio for the duration of my training, well worth considering a visit if you've got an injury, in need of a sports massage or are looking to lose weight and / or improve your fitness ! http://physioandnutrition.co.uk/services/

3. Richard Clark, Personal trainer - for donating 10 of his books for my raffle
4. Simply Gym - for donating 3 month membership and a family pass for the LC2.
5. Candyfloss cakes for agreeing to bake a cake
6. Kathy M Harris for donating 2 reiki sessions - http://katherinemharris.me/
7. Neil Collier from Collier Photography for donating a prize for the raffle.
8. Fallstreak consulting - for their sponsorship of my shorts !
9. Finally, a massive thank you to my mother in law, Mary Gillat, for contacting Manchester United and getting some officially signed merchandise from them ( and possibly Man City too)

Ok, that's the obligatory thanks for all above (I'm sure there's more, if I've missed any, I'll add them next week ) ...

Training; Followed up last weeks little 4 miler with another one just to make sure calf was ok ... it wasn't, twinged a bit going up a hill and that meant rest and ice for another 3 days. Wednesday saw my clubs (3M Road Runners Gorseinon) monthly grand prix race. This month it was a 10K along the cycle path between Gowerton and Clyne. Wasn't very confident going into it, especially as I'd just arrived straight from a 12 hour day shift ! On top of that my garmin failed to find a signal in time for the start so I was racing naked in my opinion ..... if only I'd known ! Legs felt good so I upped the pace until I caught up with someone who I knew was a lot faster than me. I hung onto his heels on the way down the gentle hill and all the way back up ... I could tell I was going faster than I usually do. Anyhow, we turn off the track to Dunvant Rugby Club and there's about 100m to the finish .... I thought I'd try to up the pace to see if I could take him .. well, I'm not sure where it came from but I ended up with a sprint finish which saw me overtake him and another runner in front of him ... I also took 2 mins off my 10K PB and all on a non-flat course ! RESULT !!
   There's a lesson there that I need to remember, run on feel not by numbers. If my garmin had been working, I'd have seen the pace, thought "SHIT! I need to slow down, I'll never carry this pace all the way through to the end" .... must remember that for future runs. Finished the week with a gently 6.5 miler in the forest where I live. So weekly total miles low at just over 16.5 but not bad considering the state my legs were in at the start of the week. Got a slow 26 miler on Monday ... with a backpack on, looking forward to it ;-) It's with Rory Coleman, 12 time MdS finisher, who coached and ran with Sir Ranulph Fiennes this year ...  looking forward to it.

Another plug for my fundraising page, just click here !

Finally, an ex work mate of mine, who took the step to finish work and set up his own business in the fitness industry sent me this ... never have I felt those words to be truer !

That's all for this week and congratulations for getting to the end !

You know it makes sense ....

Fat Boy !

First week - some good, some bad !

Finally, first week is over and a lovely wet Sunday is here, just the weather for catching up with my blog.

Fundraising. Been busy on this front this week, trying to sort out some events to raise money. There are many generous people out there, that's for sure. I asked if I could borrow a treadmill for the fundraising, on my village facebook page. Within 24 hrs, I had a response, the treadmill is now in my spare room waiting to be carted round various events ! Managed to get a fundraising night sorted in my local (The Old Inn, Penllergaer) on November 14, should be a good night, but need to sort out raffle prizes, auction prizes and so on ... if anyone has got anything they'd wish to donate, please let me know !! Many more contacts made, emails sent etc, and more to do in the coming weeks.

Training; I don't really have a specific training plan yet, I'm just continuing the plan I've got for the Amsterdam marathon in October. Sunday saw me join two of my mates for a gentle 10 miler along the Llanelli Coastal Path. It was a nice day, sun was out, path was busy ... all went well until 8.5 miles in and pop, calf tightened up ! I tried stretching, etc but nothing would ease it off .... worse still got home and it was being a right pain ... only one thing for it RICE, plenty of Ice in fact  .. dammit ... no more running this week.

MdS general; got a training day in Cardiff on 3rd August, where we'll get all the info on what to expect in the desert. Along with what kit to take, so not to get too weighed down and most importantly, how to tape your toes to prevent the dreaded blisters. Following that its a gentle run for 5-6 hours with a backpack (certainly wasn't expecting to be doing that distance so early in my training, but it seems a very sensible pace, just hope my calf holds up that's all !)

Did manage a nice 4 miler Saturday night, calf held out ok, but could certainly feel it when tackling the hills near me .... should be ok to do a long flat run as long as I take it easy.

If there are any business owners reading this who could see their way to sponsoring me, I'd love to hear from you, many sponsorship options are available !

You could even have your company name n a backpack making its way across the Sahara !

Finally, here's my Virgin Money Fundraising Page in case anyone wants to donate today.

You know it makes sense, all the best, and congratulations for making it all the way to the end !

Paul