I've been saying I'm going to run Grunty Fen, the Great Eastern Fun Run (both half marathons) and the Hellrun for what seems like ages, but last night saw me put my money where my mouth is for Grunty Fen and the Hellrun, and fork over the cash, an event which was quickly followed by a minor attack of panic as theres no way I can get the money back so I really do have to go through with it now.
But despite that, I've found myself looking for other runs to do. Theres a local half marathon the week after the Hellrun, but I'm not sure if that'll be too much too close together, although by that time I should be able to do 13 miles on consecutive weekends, I guess. Then theres another half in December (despite my early reassurances to the other half that we wouldn't do any runs in December), and even one on Boxing Day (but I'm not sure if I want to do that). I can't help wondering if its a good thing to be planning what races to run when I've not even done one yet, but I guess I'll try and hold off booking anything else until after Grunty Fen so at least I have more of a feel for things.
Tonight should be a five mile run. I'm following a training plan from Runner's World, but I'm impatient and want to run further than that; now that I'm back into it, I like doing at least my 6.5 mile run, and I can't help feeling that the plan is too easy and maybe I should be looking at the 'advanced' schedule. But there again, by the time the weekend rolls round I'll be doing 10 or 12 miles, and with my knee being slightly iffy, perhaps I shouldn't try pushing it. I guess maybe I'll just play it by ear (or knee!) and see how it goes when I'm out there.
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Monday, August 21, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Choices, choices
My original plan had been that I would run the London Marathon. Reading around, I discovered just how small my chances are of getting a place through the ballot system - I'm looking at something like 1 in 5. Considering that both of us (the other half and myself) want to run, the chances of us both getting a place through the ballot in the same year looks even smaller.
I suppose we could have run for charity. Around a quarter of all places on the marathon are 'sold' to charity (10,000ish places out of a total of 45,000).
Theres plenty of charities offering places, but the prospect of having to raise £2,400 or more for the two of us to enter was just too daunting. Don't get me wrong, its great that so many people raise so much for causes they believe in, but the 'price tag' of £1,200+ a place seems very high indeed - far too high for me to manage, anyway.
Other marathons don't seem to have this huge 'do it for charidee' aspect; you can run them for charity if you like, but otherwise its simply for the personal achievement. You can simply apply directly - no ballot or anything.
So in September, we're going to cough up our 50 euros and sign up for the Paris marathon in April, 2007. If by some miracle we both get into London, then I suppose we'll just write off the Paris entry fee - but I'd rather get our entries in now, before everyone else who gets rejected from London has the same idea.
In the meantime, though, it seemed like a good idea to do some shorter events, to get used to running in a proper race, since its going to feel quite different than just going for a run after work. Once again, the Runner's World site was a source of inspiration, and I found myself eyeing up several different runs with an air of enthusiasm that I wouldn't have believed possible that first time I staggered round my first run.
One 'race' a month seems about the right number. It means I've got something to aim for every month, rather than just one big event in Spring next year.
So: September 10th is the Grunty Fen half marathon, October 15th is the Great Eastern Run, and November 12th is the Hellrunner.
Out of all of them, I think I'm looking forward to the Hellrunner the most. Classed as 'adventure running', it goes through woods, and mud, and water, and then up sandy hills. Its all off road, and its going to be very hard indeed for me with my pavement, on-the-flat running, but you get a teeshirt at the end, and I'm hoping its going to be a cool one (I'll be devestated if I do it all and the teeshirt doesn't say 'Hellrunner' on it!). And it'll certainly be an experience!
I suppose we could have run for charity. Around a quarter of all places on the marathon are 'sold' to charity (10,000ish places out of a total of 45,000).
Theres plenty of charities offering places, but the prospect of having to raise £2,400 or more for the two of us to enter was just too daunting. Don't get me wrong, its great that so many people raise so much for causes they believe in, but the 'price tag' of £1,200+ a place seems very high indeed - far too high for me to manage, anyway.
Other marathons don't seem to have this huge 'do it for charidee' aspect; you can run them for charity if you like, but otherwise its simply for the personal achievement. You can simply apply directly - no ballot or anything.
So in September, we're going to cough up our 50 euros and sign up for the Paris marathon in April, 2007. If by some miracle we both get into London, then I suppose we'll just write off the Paris entry fee - but I'd rather get our entries in now, before everyone else who gets rejected from London has the same idea.
In the meantime, though, it seemed like a good idea to do some shorter events, to get used to running in a proper race, since its going to feel quite different than just going for a run after work. Once again, the Runner's World site was a source of inspiration, and I found myself eyeing up several different runs with an air of enthusiasm that I wouldn't have believed possible that first time I staggered round my first run.
One 'race' a month seems about the right number. It means I've got something to aim for every month, rather than just one big event in Spring next year.
So: September 10th is the Grunty Fen half marathon, October 15th is the Great Eastern Run, and November 12th is the Hellrunner.
Out of all of them, I think I'm looking forward to the Hellrunner the most. Classed as 'adventure running', it goes through woods, and mud, and water, and then up sandy hills. Its all off road, and its going to be very hard indeed for me with my pavement, on-the-flat running, but you get a teeshirt at the end, and I'm hoping its going to be a cool one (I'll be devestated if I do it all and the teeshirt doesn't say 'Hellrunner' on it!). And it'll certainly be an experience!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Keeping Track
I've been running since August 2005, when I took it up as a cheap form of exercise to help me lose some extra weight.
The first run I tried was three and a half miles, and it took me over 40 minutes, and I had to stop several times on the way round.
But I kept going, and earlier this year I ended up getting quite serious about it; early May saw me (and a sometimes unwilling Richard) regularly running six miles in the evening, in around an hour, as preparation for my holiday in Yosemite National Park and my hike up Half Dome (with its scary cables). I felt I needed to be as fit as possible to do it; the thought of not being able to climb Half Dome because I was too unfit was enough to spur me on to keep running.
It worked too. I was able to trundle round Yosemite perfectly happily, sometimes covering sixteen miles in a day, without any problems. It was fantastic and felt like a real achievement for me. But with the holiday over, I found it difficult to spur myself on to run. There was no purpose - the simple 'keeping fit' reason wasn't enough. I needed another challenge, and the idea of running a marathon fitted the bill perfectly. It would involve training, it would be one heck of a challenge, and there was a set date to aim for (April 2007).
Like I tend to do, I threw myself into finding out as much as I could. I found the Runner's World website, and picked up some pretty useful information - including training plans. I filled in my London Marathon application form, and I discovered that there were other races I might want to do when the inevitable London rejection letter comes through.
And so here I am, August 2006, planning for marathons and half marathons, eating muesli, dried fruit and weetabix rather than toast and chocolate, and wriing this blog to try and keep some sort of track of where I'm going - and where I've come from.
The first run I tried was three and a half miles, and it took me over 40 minutes, and I had to stop several times on the way round.
But I kept going, and earlier this year I ended up getting quite serious about it; early May saw me (and a sometimes unwilling Richard) regularly running six miles in the evening, in around an hour, as preparation for my holiday in Yosemite National Park and my hike up Half Dome (with its scary cables). I felt I needed to be as fit as possible to do it; the thought of not being able to climb Half Dome because I was too unfit was enough to spur me on to keep running.
It worked too. I was able to trundle round Yosemite perfectly happily, sometimes covering sixteen miles in a day, without any problems. It was fantastic and felt like a real achievement for me. But with the holiday over, I found it difficult to spur myself on to run. There was no purpose - the simple 'keeping fit' reason wasn't enough. I needed another challenge, and the idea of running a marathon fitted the bill perfectly. It would involve training, it would be one heck of a challenge, and there was a set date to aim for (April 2007).
Like I tend to do, I threw myself into finding out as much as I could. I found the Runner's World website, and picked up some pretty useful information - including training plans. I filled in my London Marathon application form, and I discovered that there were other races I might want to do when the inevitable London rejection letter comes through.
And so here I am, August 2006, planning for marathons and half marathons, eating muesli, dried fruit and weetabix rather than toast and chocolate, and wriing this blog to try and keep some sort of track of where I'm going - and where I've come from.
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