Miles this week: 31
Still
to go: £973.00
I
don’t know what was harder, writing this blog or running those 16 miles this
week…?!
Sadly
there were no kind people this week to donate, so the total is still sitting at
£527. As great and generous as this is, I’m hoping to smash through the £1,000
mark come end of March. So I set you this challenge, good people! Don’t worry,
you’re not alone, I will still be finding ways to raise some funds too. In fact
I’m looking for a good car boot to do in or around the Bracknell area, so if
anyone knows of one, please do let me know.
Reading
week nine of the book this week was a tad confusing. It was trying (I say
trying because I’m still not entirely sure I get it) to explain how to train
the cardiorespiratory system, which then can help determine your appropriate
training intensity. All I took from the chapter was that cardiac output = heart
rate x stroke volume and maximal heart rate = 220 - your age (though the latter
is not always the case). The book also provided an inspirational story of Mark
Block. It’s quite a long story but I think it’s worthwhile and something I can
think about when out on those long runs.
Mark was a high school track star in both cross
country and the 2-mile, which gave him the chance to attend the University of
Northern Iowa on a cross country scholarship. However Mark, at the age of 20,
decided he wanted a change and decided to join the army. Two days before he was
about to leave, he was involved in a major car accident.
As a result of Mark not wearing his seatbelt he
suffered head trauma, a broken neck and a partial cut of the spinal cord.
Whilst he was in hospital, Mark suffered multiple cardiac arrests and, due to
his injuries, he was hooked up to a respirator. Mark required surgery but due
to his condition they could not operate, so he lay paralysed for two weeks.
When they could finally operate, the vertebrae were so badly damaged that all
they could do was to realign and reinforce them.
As you can probably guess, the prognosis was that
Mark would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, not being able to feel
or move anything below his ears. But Mark wasn’t going to settle for anything
less than walking out of the hospital. And that’s exactly what he did on
Christmas day, with only a cane to help him.
Mark went to enrol in the class that this book is
based on, but he didn’t get in. After talking to the coaches it was decided he
could participate, but he was only allowed to do 6.2 miles of the marathon. As
the training progressed, so did Mark’s end challenge - solely due to him and
his determination. His challenge was then upped to 10 miles, before settling on
a half marathon (13.1 miles).
At the start of the race Mark felt he could do
more, so, without telling anyone but a fellow handicapped friend, he started 15
miles from the finish line. He went on to complete the 15 miles in 8 hours and
33 minutes. By this time the course was closed and traffic was back to normal,
but they had kept the finish line open for Mark, where he was greeted by
family, friends, fellow students and the coaches.
For
me, the story highlights the importance and power of determination and self-belief
when overcoming a challenge. It shows that, really, you can do anything if you
put your mind to it!
Like last week, I achieved some more personal goals
this week. My longest ever run is now set at 16 miles (just!) and the grand
total for the week is now past the 30 mile barrier. This hasn’t come easy, as I
seem to have picked up a small niggle on the outside of my left knee. It’s
nothing at the moment, but something I will have to keep my eye on. Perhaps I
will look into going for a sports massage in the coming weeks. On a more
positive note, I received my running vest from Sense in the post this week! Now
all I need to do is get my name printed on it. My running week looked
like this:
Day 1 = 4 miles
Day 2 = 7 miles
Day 3 = 4 miles
Day 4 = 16 miles
Total = 31
miles
Now I’m back in the swing of training and it’s
starting to feel like all I do is eat, sleep, run and repeat! Shame I can’t do
more of the eating and sleeping thing. If you were to ask me how I would break
up running, I would say into three sections. Those sections being mental state,
cardio fitness and of course the body, now I have been back a good month I feel
I have achieved the first two but I am still not quite there in terms of body.
My legs still feel like they are taking a pounding each time I head out the
door, so that sports massage is sounding very appealing right about now!
Not sure if I’m
going crazy, but this past week I seem to have been acknowledging everyone and
everything. Maybe I’m doing it just to pass the time, or maybe to prove to
myself that I am actually still alive.
Pssstt….. I think it’s the
second one!
So
I had my last free session at the running club this week. It was very similar
to my first session where we ran for 6 minutes at race pace, then recovered for
a minute before starting again. For each repeat a minute was taken off until we
only had a minute of race pace left. It was good but generally speaking I’m not
a big fan of this type of training, as I try not to have a recovery period
unless I really have to. The thinking behind this is that with having frequent
recovery periods you will never push yourself. I’m sure I will need this
thinking when tackling the dreaded runners wall.
I’m
still not sure whether I will join. I’m not convinced it will help me improve
my running technique, which was the main reason for going. I thought the
coaches would be looking at people running and making suggestions to help them
improve. Maybe this will happen, or perhaps it’s based more on you to drive
yourself forwards. Either way I’m sure you guys will be the first ones to know
about my decision!
Monday
saw the list of celebrities revealed for the London marathon and I was not
among them… What’s the deal there?! Surely I’m an internet craze with my weekly
blogs? No? Just me then?
I’m
not sure how the celebrities get their places, but I noticed Sense didn’t have
one. I think it’s great that the organisers hold spots for celebs and that they
have to run for a charity, as obviously it draws attention and publicity to the
charity which generally equates to more money for them. I know the celebrities
probably run for a charity close to their heart, but I personally would like to
see all charities listed on the London Marathon website have two celebrity
runners (in case one gets injured). This year one particular charity has 19
celebrity runners. I’m guessing the organisers have a special charity each
year, hence the overload of celebrities for this one. I have no doubt those
celebrities will raise some much needed funds, but you have to feel for the
rest of the charities who don’t have a celebrity face to promote their charity.
This
year there are, in total, 103 charity spots for celebrities. There are 35
people classed as actors, 7 from the business sector, 2 chiefs, 25 sports
people, 15 reporters/presenters, 3 from the music industry, 2 that I would
class as D-list celebs, UK, US, Commonwealth teams for Walking with the
Wounded, 1 politician and 1 comedian.
Though
we are all running for charity, I would very much like to complete the marathon
before Michael Owen even Helen Skelton-Myler. Maybe even in front of at least
one Olympian/professional runner.
Only
£973 to go to reach my overall target, so with that in mind please dig deep and
donate generously. Anything you donate is a step in the right direction, even
if it’s £1!
Leigh
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