Making up for it

After the events of my run on Saturday, I awoke on Sunday with a renewed desire.  I had been in no state to attempt that run.  I had tried my longest run with about as much preparation as a man who might try and walk from Newcastle to London without a map, and who would be so stupid as to do that? 

So on Sunday I took myself out again and tricked myself.  I had no route or time in mind, I was just going to go for a run, and with an evil little glint in my eye, off I went.  90 minutes later I returned home having completed just over 8 miles and I felt really good.  At many points I'd told myself, "let's  just run to that corner", or "keep going until this track has finished then turn around" and then I'd tell myself how easy it had been, how close to home I was, and why don't we carry on to the next corner or for the next track.  Funny how easy it is to fool yourself, although some of you might be thinking that you already knew how easy it was to pull the wool over my eyes!

So I ended up feeling a lot more positive about things.  This week is an "easy" week as far as the distance is concerned, so I'm going to use it to work on my speed (or lack of it).

Double Figures

So this weekend I had to get into double figures with my long run, and make 10 miles. I figured the best way to do this would be the run "from somewhere to somewhere" technique, where I get booted out of a moving car 10 miles away and have to run home, this way, I am always getting closer to where I want to be rather than the "running a loop" where I would spend the first 5 miles running away from where I want to get to.

I had also decided that with this being a holiday weekend, I'd like to get it out of the way on Saturday leaving me the rest of the weekend for recovery and golf. With that in mind, I got dropped off at Old Street and began to run.

Mile 0-1: Started ok, but then got a feeling of tightness in my left calf, it's ok I tell myself, a little stretch will sort it.

Mile 1-2: I had drunk half a bottle of water before starting, and I have half left for the next 9 miles, that will be fine. I start considering how far I have to run! Bugger!

Mile 2-3: Arsenal at home, tens of thousands of fans "walking" down to the ground, and no chance of running at all, not good for the rhythm, oh, and my calf still hurts.

Mile 3-4: Hottest part of the day, I've finished my water, I don't have any money on me, no phone, and no rail pass, and I'm really thinking that the smart move would have been to do this tomorrow.

Mile 4-5: Lovely little run through Finsbury Park, the sun is out and so are lots of sunbathers.  I find that for the most part I have subconciously tensed my stomach muscles!

Mile 5-6: What is wrong with poeple? I'm 6' 5", although losing weight I am still a formidable size, I am wearing a bright blue t-shirt, my face is bright red, I am panting and wheezing, and yet still these idiots will step in front of me as I run through Wood Green. Next time I'm not stopping!!

Mile 6-7: The last hill and I'm into Palmers Green and onto my normal run home.  But things aren't good, I feel so tired, my legs feel like they have small children clinging to them, and I am now very aware that the Southgate RFC pub crawl should be hitting my route any time soon, there might be a chance of a pint of water!

Mile 7-8: Ok, so I've run past each of the pubs in Palmers Green and no sight of the boys.  I might have to make it home by myself yet.

Mile 8-9: Still hoping to  meet up with SRFC, I've added a loop to my run which takes me past the pubs of Winchmore Hill, so I run on. I'm slow, I have to stop and walk a bit, and I am acutely aware that I am really really annoyed with myself.  What's more, I can't find the pub crawl.

Mile 9-10: I've passed people I know in the street and hardly noticed them, it is still really hot, and I can't find the boys in any of the pubs, luckily, just as I hit the 10 mile mark, my wife appears, having been more than a little worried about me in the heat.  I collapse into the car bitterly disappointed.

Euphoria

I've discovered that running for this long takes me through quite a journey, I start feeling confident and thinking to myself that it's only a few miles more than I ran before, I listen to some upbeat tracks on my ipod that get me settled into my stride, and as I'm running I let my mind wander and contemplate many thoughts. Things are good. Then I start to get bored of basically talking to myself (I now understand what you have all had to put up with), and I start to think about how far I've gone, how far I've got to go, working out what it is in miles, k, feet and inches, minutes (hours), what percentage of a marathon that will be, what sort of time will I do, how many steps am I taking, all that sort of thing. And the miles pass by, but then I haven't got anything left to work out, I am no longer talking to myself and I've resorted to counting just to give me something to do. This normally takes me about 3/4 of the way home, and I then it's to my "power" tracks back on my ipod and a lot of telling myself that I can do this. Then it gets weird, I start singing, or more accurately, shouting along to the music. I have about 4 tracks that are really uplifting, and 2 in particular (Mr Brightside by the Killers and Dakota by the Stereo's) that I use and I really get into it, I run hard, I shout to the music, and I get quite euphoric, really quite euphoric, the sort of euphoric that I imagine is what they call the "runners high" and then I finish.

Anyway, my mid-week run is now about 6.5 miles, with my first double figure run this weekend. More euphoria to come!

Getting Longer!

So, having got back into regular training after the excess of my holiday and the high jinx of my birth(weekend), I now had to get back on track with my long runs. I seemed to slip back into the running during the week quite well and was pleased with the relative "ease" in which I got back to the 4 mile runs. But I am now at the point where every long weekend run I do is going to be further than I have ever run before (and before anyone elses says it, yes that has pretty much been the case since I started with the little 2 milers!).

So with a 100 minute run on the cards for the weekend, the sudden realisation that I was going to my parents (and a wedding) hit me. For those that don't know, my parents still live in the village I was brought up in, Rothbury, which is in a valley, in the middle of Northumberland and it is not well known for being flat!

In fact, there was no route that I could take that wouldn't involve hills, and some quite big hills, in fact, some very big hills, you know, the sort of hills that have names! But I managed to put in a 95 minute run, complete with some hills and covered 8.5 miles, which I was pretty pleased about, as I think half of the route was on an incline!

Right, time to start collecting some money

Ok,  so I am 9 weeks into training, I have just over 11 weeks left, and I've run over 100 miles so far, and it's starting to get serious (oh bugger).  With that in mind, I felt it is also time to start collecting. So you can sponsor me on my JustGiving site by clicking HERE 

As mentioned I'm doing this for the Anthony Nolan Trust and the sponsorship raised goes to them, I have a target of £1500 to raise, and I know a lot of you have already dug deep for Sam Hart (btw, if you haven't given him the money you owe, do it, now!), but that should have cleared your accounts by now!!

Please note: none of the sponsorship is in anyway supporting my running of the marathon, it all goes to the charity, not on flights, hotels, fancy new running shoes, etc.  Oh, and no jokes about the size of my Carbon Footprint  ;o)

Running Speed

So, into week 5 of my "how to run a marathon for stupid people who aren't fit enough to run a marathon" training programme and I'm confused, yes, very little baffles the sharp mind of Mr. Scott, but this has.  You see, the training programme is now talking in terms like, jog, steady, easy, brisk, fast, slow, comfortable and hard, like - 75 minutes steady or 40 minutes brisk etc.

Now for those that know me, you might now understand my confusion, you see, I have 2 speeds of running, one is the pace I class as "running" and the other is "walking", there is nothing faster than running and nothing in between, if I really wanted to I could add "standing still" as a 3rd and possibly "lying down" or "walking backwards", but I'm not really sure that is in the spirit of what I'm trying to achieve.  So my quandary is, what pace is my "running" pace, am I jogging, taking it easy, steady or briskly?

Whooo

Yesterday a reached  100 TRAINING MILES, I am very pleased, behind schedule, but very pleased, still not looking forward to my 10 mile run this weekend, but I feel more confident about making it now.

Oh The Pain!

So as per usual the body is strong (stop laughing) and the mind is week!

Last week was full of good intentions, I was going to get seriously back into my training schedule following our holiday and rack up the 100 training miles etc. etc. however, with the multiple events that included my wedding anniversary (lovely night out and fantastic dinner with plenty of champers, wine, great steak and creme brulee - not the greatest of training diets) and me turning the ripe old age of 35 (I know, you're all thinking that he doesn't look that old) , which involved a complete day out with Southgate RFC watching the rugby on Saturday, followed by Sunday which hinged on the toss of a coin, the coin won, and we ended up sitting in a beer garden downing shots and playing silly drinking games until I had to be taken home (at least an early night followed).

So, as is becoming a bit of a theme on this blog, this week I mean it, this week I get back into the programme.

I reckon I'm 2 long runs behind on my target which means that the 110 minutes run this weekend is going to be hard, but I'm confident that I'll get back on track, I have to if I am to stand any chacne of finishing on November the 4th (which I have just worked out is 11 weeks from Sunday - bugger).

Oh and it's raining again, great.

Holiday is long gone

Ok, just over 4 miles last night (and as it was MB's brithday I had 2 pints and a curry at lunch time, then forgot to eat banana on the train) and just short of 2 miles this morning on my quick run into the office (fastest time yet), both runs where under the 10 mintues 30 seconds per mile mark (I know it's slow compared to all your flighty things, but remember I'm the size of 1.5 normal runners!).

Any way, I'm feeling quite pleased that my holiday doesn't seem to have damaged me too much, but I still have my long run this weekend and I may have to plan a flat route for it, however, It will be off the back of me bringing up my 100th training mile.

Tuscan Training

So, I've just arrived back from our holiday in Tuscany. The Scott's Summer Holiday was fantastic with a couple of days in Rome where we took Alice to the Colesium (she loved it), and the week in a beautiful house the Tuscan region of Italy (which had no mobile phone signal or internet connectivity, it was brilliant, so sorry for the lack of updates!).

As for the training, I did eat a lot of pasta, however this was washed down with a lot of Nastro, and Chianti, and I'm also very glad that the marathon is taking place in the cool of November. I managed to get some runs in, and as our house was at the end of a half mile forest road (up hill) and most of the runs took place with tempratures in the high 30's, I felt I did alright, I reckon the heat and the hills added a mile or two to each run. I've also convinced myself that the endless days of splashing about in the pool pretending to be a shark for the kids, actualy counts as cross-training, someone please agree with me?

But I'm not kidding myself, I am behind on my schedule (something I share with Sam after his trip West), and I need to put some effort in this week (which is going to be hard, considering the week contains my wedding anniversary and my birthday!!).

However, needs must, and I am again spurred on by the performance of my friends, as Rob completed the London Triathlon yesterday in a time of 2 hours and 40 minutes, which is brilliant, so well done Rob, Ollie on the other hand managed 6 hours of drinking in celebration, which for him is an excellent effort.