Reading Half Marathon

Sunday was a big milestone in my running 21 mths after I initial started running to keep fit and 8 mths after I decided I was going to run I marathon I completed my first half marathon.

Even though I’ve run the distance several times over the last couple of months I was still very nervous on the start line, this died away once we got away. The first 3 miles were really difficult to get my pace right due to the large number of people running, at the start they had said there were 18,000 of us. No sooner had I got settled into my pace and suddenly I needed the loo, why is it you always need the toilet at the most inappropriate time and it  really doesn’t help when people start trying to hand you water. I ended up giving in at the 8 mile mark and queued up to use a portaloo, if I’d carried on running I’d of either had to of finished with crossed legs or very damp shorts.

I don’t know why but I’d always thought Reading was quite flat, not as in level flat. What I hadn’t expected was their to be two big hills, the first was about 200 foot climb over ¾ of a mile the second was worse at around 250 foot in less than ½ a mile. The second hill was a case of not looking at the summit but the road a couple of metres ahead of me dealing with it bit by bit.

When I eventually got to the 12 mile marker I felt my spirits lift, just 1.1 miles to go. I never really thought much about the effect a crowd at sporting event could have, but in that last mile the encouragement and cheering that was coming from the spectators for everyone running really did lift me. When I eventually ran into the football stadium I felt like my feet were floating as I heard the cheers for everyone running from about 6,000 spectators, the experience was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I owe a big thank you to Leanne my better half whose support over the last couple of months has really helped me ramp up the distances I’ve been running.

My finishing time was 1:58:59, which was just inside my target of 2 hours and I learnt lots of little lessons to take forward with me for the 26.2 miles I’ve got to do in May.  It seems awfully close now and 26.2 miles seems rather more daunting.

I’m running in aid of CLIC Sargent, if with your help I manage to raise £2,000 then I shall run in a nurse’s uniform. I’ve been told by Leanne that at the moment it looks like it will be a little number from Ann Summers, I’m not sure who this is going to be worse for me or the spectators. To make a donation and destroy what miniscule of dignity I have left then head to www.justgiving.com/Nicholas-Armitt

It's been a while (still running)

As the title says it's been a while, it's all to easy to get out off the habit of blogging and quite hard to then get back into it. Well I've kicked my arse to get writing again.

The marathon training is back on track after a disastrous December and January through illness. I ended up ith what seemed like the longest cold in the world, I'd almost got to the point that if it had gone on much longer I would of asked the vet to put me down. Turns out I'd also had a viral infection along with several colds. I never thought I'd hear myself say this but for those two months I was so frustrated as I wanted to get out and just run and I did a couple of times, which wasn't the best idea as each time I did I felt as sick as a dog.

Well I finally shifted the colds by the start of February and running was able to commence full pelt. I'm now back upto running 3 times a week with a least one run of over 13 miles in preparation for the Reading half marathon in two weeks time. I feel quite confident about this having run the distance several times already. The marathon is a slightly different matter, lets just say with it only being 10 weeks away I'm beginning to feel slightly nervous about distance. I'm just going to have to get lots of training in between now and then.

Ups & Downs

It’s that time again, yes it’s my monthly training update. Firstly I’d like to thank all of you who have been kind enough to donate money to CLIC Sargent  and help to get me closer to my target. At this point with only 6 months to go it’s looking very likely that I will be running in a nurses uniform, not sure if I should be thanking you all for this though. October has been such an up and down month, I did my first 10k race and spent half the month injured. I was really pleased with my performance in it and managed to finish in the midfield which was a really good feeling. I learnt a lot from it, but the main thing was to run your own race. I found very early on that running with other people can quite quickly get you into a herd mentality. One of the other lessons  was to learn the terrain of the route. I was at the about the 4k mark when I noticed one rather steep hill in front of me, now I have to say this was quite a shock as I wasn’t expecting it. Half way up it I felt like death, it was at this point I realised I had to run up it a second time! I managed to finish with a time of 54:07.

This month I’ve had to deal with shin splints and a cold one after the other, it’s meant I’ve not been able to run for 3 of the last 4 weeks. I’ve been climbing up the walls wanting to get out. I managed to get out 5 times, covered 36km’s, burned 3,356 calories with a total time duration 3hrs 9mins. Due to injury and illness I’ve mainly done short 4k runs, but on the positive side I finished the month with a 13.27km run the longest distance I’ve ever run.

December is all about kicking the distance up and no longer about getting fast times. I’m going to be running an average of 30kms a week, while focusing at running 5.30 per km as this is the pace I’m looking to run the marathon at. Hopefully it isn’t going to get to cold out there.

Change of Mind

I took the day of work on Thursday to volunteer my photography skills to a charity that was having an opening event. I'd volunteered my skills several months ago to them from seeing an advert on the Virgin Unite site requesting photographers. I'd not expected to hear anything back as I'd done similar with other charities in the past and not had them come back to me. Well last week I received an e-mail asking if I was available to photograph an event for the charity, I replied and said yes of course. 

I got up early Thursday and headed upto central London with my camera gear feeling a little nervous. I found it strange that an event I'd volunteered to do and wasn't being paid for still made me feel as nervous as a paid event. I arrived on time and started working straight away photographing some of the rooms in the new home, the charity had bought 3 terrace houses near UCL Hospital and converted it into one house providing free accommodation for families of children receiving treatment for cancer and leukaemia in London. The next 3 hours seemed to fly away as I skirted around taking photographs of everyone there and the actual ribbon cutting.

I followed Marie Jordon as she was shown round some of the rooms and was found myself struck by the conversation between her and the lady showing her round. It was a genuine eye opener on how much hard work had been put in to achieve the success of the project. I later caught up with Marie's husband Eddie to grab some photographs of him, only to find him on the phone to The Times doing an interview for the charity, once he finished Ellana the Senior Press officer for the charity took him round the house to see all the hard work that had been done. It was interesting to see him noticing the small details and commenting on them.

The thing with being the person with the camera is after about the first half hour people stop noticing you and start being themselves. This is when you start seeing people as they really are and what struck me most about everyone there was they really cared about the people the charity was helping and had a genuine interest in what it was doing.

Thursday morning has helped to change my mind on something I was quite determined about. As many of you already know, mainly because I wont shut up about it I'm running the Edinburgh Marathon this coming May. I'd originally said I wasn't going to run it for a charity as I wanted it as a personal challenge. This disappointed some of my friends as they thought it was an opportunity missed, well I've changed my mind and decided that I shall run for CLIC Sargent. The work this charity does makes a big difference on many peoples lives, they don't just provide accommodation, they also employ and fund care professionals in hospitals across the UK. If you have a moment then goto their website to learn a little more about what they do. If you would like to sponsor my first ever marathon then just pop over to my Just Giving page and help me to raise money for a really good charity. 

Autumn has arrived

Well it's time for my monthly progress report, I'm a day late with it as I was busy with photography commitments yesterday. September has been a bit of a watershed month for my running, at the same time as increasing the distance the times have come tumbling down.  The amount of time it takes me to recover has also decreased, it's quite incredible how quickly your fitness can turn round. I even got the pleasant surprise of seeing that I'd dropped a clothes size.

This month I’ve been out running 14 times, covered 85kms , burned 8,918 calories with a total time duration of 8hrs 16mins. I started the month running avarage km times of 5.08 over 4km, 5.20 over 8km and 6.10 over 12km. I've finished the month with average km times of 4.34 over 4km, 4.41 over 8km and 5.01 over 12km. I'm really pleased with how well the month has gone, but I 've still got a long way to go.

October is going to be roughly the same training plan as September, just a bit wetter. The next couple of months are going to be the hardest for motivation with the dark nights rolling in and the weather deteriorating, I really don't enjoy running in the rain. I've also got my first 10K run this Sunday, I'm feeling a bit daunted by it as it appears the race is slightly more serious than I'd realised. Mind you it isn't about time but getting used to running with others while keeping my own pace. Hopefully I wont come last.