The Story So Far
It all starts again, only 24 hours to go before the challenge starts up again with a short Sunday run in Berlin…I’ve done 26.2 miles so often this year it is staring to feel like a short run!!
Arrive OK in Berlin, and for the first time ever I have received a FREE room upgrade to an exec suite which gives me fantastic panoramic views of the city…fantastic...maybe it is a good omen for the race tomorrow…it is 8:30pm now and our Paul is lost in the middle of Berlin so I am off the pasta party for a couple of bowls of pasta.
The best thing about running a marathon in Germany…when you finish, the first thing they give you is a beer..;-)The plus side for me is that I finished with no injuries and 26.2 more miles in my leg which gives me great hope for a good time in Chicago in two weeks time.
It All Starts Again
Here we are, just over 3 months after the last marathon, the belly is just as big, but the knees are feeling great.
After i finished the Boston Marathon and being diagnosed with torn ligaments in my knees i wondered if all of this was going to do more long term harm than short term good, but with some good advice on strength training techniques and a short rest, i am now back on the marathon trail.
This weekend i ran my first ever running event with my dad in the Bupa Cardiff 10k, although it took us just over an hour...(dad blames the plastic frog in his garden which he fell over the night before) it was a great way to celebrate my dads birthday especially as the weather waas so fantastic.
Myself and my nephew Paul are now only 10 weeks away from our Berlin Marathon for which we are hoping to beat the 4hr mark, i am touching wood when i say this, but i am having no ill effects from any training i am doing ang long may it continue, our paul on the other hand is suffering with some niggling calf injuries, but i am sure we will be OK.
Anyway, i just wanted to let you were we are upto, we are still trying our best to organise the footy tournament so hopefully we will be in touch shortly with all of the details.
Ian In Boston
Wake up on Thursday, legs and knees still aching from my London exploits…decide to see if my legs can take a light run…they can’t, Celia…(sister-in-law and official challenge masseuse) called in to loosen the legs…this seems to do the trick as I feel great the next day…
Alex gives me that he has been diagnosed with "Aortic Valve Regurgitation” which basically means that his heart leaks every two heart beats and he is advised not to run, he says he is still coming to Boston to ‘cheer me on’…I call him a big French wimp and he gets a second opinion, he later says the specialist gave him the OK to run..great news…I wasn’t sure I could do it on my own…;-)
Saturday 19th – Two days before the start of my second marathon in a week and the airline decides to give me a 5 hour delay…magic. Finally reach Boston 10 o’clock at night, with the time difference it works out we have been awake for almost 24hrs, not the best preparation for a marathon at the best of times…;-/
Sunday – Watch the Olympic Marathon time trails, some of the worlds greatest runners on show and it is pretty awesome to watch…the speed, the bodies…dear me!! It is a great sight, and obviously inspirational..;-)
Monday RACE DAY – The atmosphere is a bit weird, all of the American runners take it sooo seriously, I don’t think any of them weighed over 10 stone…obviously you could see them poohing their pants when they saw me in my fine physical condition. The day was perfect running weather, warm with a slight breeze to keep you cool…this is a good start to my day I’m thinking.The journey to the start was a long one and I was knackered, I think I fell asleep twice…hardly the American Dream!!! As we approached the start, I began to get emotional at a time which seems to hit me at the same time before each race which is a bit strange, they also played as song that was played continuously around the time when Leighton died…a bit surreal and I guess a bit of a reminder from upstairs.
The Race – Dear Me!!!...what a crowd, they were absolute lunatics…I think every single person in the crowd shouted my name…(much to Alex’s annoyance after 20 miles) I had the college girls chanting, the college guys trying to outdo them, it was fantastic…and at times really saw us through some real difficult miles. I lost Alex about 9-10 miles as I slowed due the fact that I let my knees on the bus, I agree with Alex when he says it was possibly the most painful thing he has done, it certainly was for me. We both crossed the line in just over 5 hrs, again neither of us pleased with the timing, but more than pleased with achievement, particularly Alex who in all seriousness suffered extremely badly at one point and had to lie down because of his heart problem….he still went onto finish which, with all things considered was an absolute mammoth task for him, I like to think that we got each other through those last few miles, but if I am honest, Alex got me through more than I got him…the hills were a killer and we started off too quickly…do I ever listen to anything anyone tells me??
The time has come for me to stop putting my body through the hell it goes through every time I run, so I am taking the next 4-6 weeks to get my weight down to a manageable weight, currently I am 14st 8lbs, which as everyone keeps telling me ‘is slightly heavy for this type of challenge’ in other words lose weight ya fat b*std…I hear ya, I take it all in, the aim is to be nearer 13st before the next race…we will see…;-))
I’d just like to thank a few people in Boston – the ladies of Wellesley college…excellent distraction along the way, the young girl who ran with me with a pint of beer ‘to keep me going’…the good old country folk who offered beer along the way…Cathy for following me round on this crazy challenge & lastly Alex, for one, getting me through some stick moments and staying with me all the way
Post Race – try to get Alex to come and have dinner with us…poor sod was shattered has his dinner and goes straight to bed, I decided as it is the day before my birthday and I am gunna sample the local brew…( I was in bed before an hour had passed)
Alexs view of Boston..
April 21st 2008, Boston.
My legs are still screaming but smile is on my face as I'm writing. This idea of running with Ian at the Boston marathon had been in my head for awhile but this race being my first marathon I just didn't know what to expect, just like the first day in a new school.
Fortunately, I felt relaxed and happy to be there with friends and didn't really have a race tactic as my only objective was to reach the finish line. In normal circumstances, my preparation would have only led me to do good on 25 km or so, the rest of it was expected to be a battle with my body anyway. But the 2 weeks before the race were a bit hectic in terms of health checking and making sure it was safe for me to run this race, so in those conditions I just thought I'd go with the flow and not worry about my performance...on the 25 first km anyway.
So here we are with Ian, getting ready to go to Hopkinton (start line) queuing to get in the school bus that will take us there. His scouser vibes surely did put me in a good mood, ah! After a horribly long bus ride and laughing at Ian's face falling asleep and crashing into the back of the front seat, we finally made it to the athletes village. Ian spent most of his time in the "porter potty" there while I zoned out and watched all those people that looked like they knew what they were about to do. I was so close to find out by my own...
Km 0: Go! finally..
Km 1: Ian's 12th wee of the day
Km 2: Ian's shoelaces
Km 3+: Feeling good - Cheering crowd all around
Km 10: Ian's knee funerals
Km 12: Going on my own while Ian takes it easy
Km 20: the Wall, a bloody long one!
Km 23: Breakdown, legs won't go no more.
Km 30: Catch up with Ian, such a great feeling to find a friend on your way at that stage, specially a scouse one!
Km 30+: Walk through SorenessLand
Km 30+ again: Laughing with Ian
Km 42: Boston, finish line, at last...Cathy has been waiting for a while now!
Running friends, I'll see you soon! But until then keep on running!
Alex
A great weekend and real sense of personal achievement would sum it up.
My training had gone to plan and I felt prepared. However, I felt an odd nervousness the day before and had broken sleep as I ran through my race tactics and plans - which was to stick next to the Shreky-likey for 9 miles then start running ;-))
The event had a real sense of occasion and we left to the tunes of Rocky playing in our ears ! After 4m I commented to Ian how we were being beaten by a pastie, and that this was unacceptable ! So we left the pasty behind .. eventually !
Once leaving Ian at 9m I then tried to make up some ground/time .. great plan but seemingly inpractical within the hectic roads of London - the level of congestion and inability to move past people suprised me to be honest - even at 24m it was still congested along the route.
The crowds were great and continually encouraging everyone - though I couldnt help but think - as we past a pub full of revellers enjoying an early morning pint that we'd got the raw end of the deal !
Past 16m you notice more people walking and dropping off .. theres a real urge to have a little rest yourself or walk a bit - thankfully I managed to avoid this and keep going. The last 4m coming back into central London along embankment and Whitehall give you a lift as you know you are near the finish and my 2nd quickest 5k was between 35-40k !
I finished in an official time of 4:05:54 - though I'd scrub 3 mins for Ians loo break ! I was hoping for between 4-4.15 and so given the constraints faced I was more than happy with this .. and would even consider doing the whole thing again !!
It was a great feeling running up the Mall with the end in sight with "You'll Never Walk Alone" playing on the ipod .. I finished 13,000 out of 35,000 - so in top 35% which I was happy with :-)))
It was great catching up with the girls and Ian at the end and enjoying the moment and atmosphere .. it was funny seeing the girls weary looks and hearing their greeting comments of "Ooh, we've had a hell of a day" !!!!!
Big well done to Ian who also finished - which considering his checkered prep was bit of a miracle
The night-time was a bit of a wash-out for me as I was a right lightweight and had a near-death experience .. which provided Ian with priceless comedy value and photographic opportunities ( as I'm sure you will see from the site ! ).
Cheers
Paul
Sunday 6th – 1 week to go, I have not managed more than 7 miles in training (due to ankle and knee injuries) so I have a had to sit down and seriously consider whether I should pull the plug on the whole thing…decide to sleep on it..
Monday 7th – decided I have nothing to lose…I have done the London Marathon once before, so even if I can run 7 miles and power walk the rest, I know I still wont be the last and the challenge can continue, decide that if I make it to the end, then I will apply the same logic to the Boston marathon only 1 week later.
Thursday 10th – Arrive in London, killing two birds with one stone, Cathy is having to have tests for our next cycle of IVF, happens it is a good reminder why I started all of this in the first place and I now feel much happier that I didn’t pull the plug.
Friday 11th – Cathy has tests and all results come back OK…maybe this is a good omen.
Sunday 13th – RACE DAY – wake up very early…(just after five) feel very energetic and put this down to nervous energy, send Burgy Boy a good luck message and sing him happy birthday. The time seems to fly past and before I know it we are 20 mins away taking pictures of us at the start..with Paul dressed like he is crossing the Antarctic rather than running a marathon – see the picture gallery for more understanding.
Were off!!!…it was a very emotional start for but u managed to keep my tears in check…never know when I’m going to need that salt..;-)..the challenge starts here…
1st Mile – Knee injury surfaces…let Paul know just in case he wanted to storm away as he has trained hard and stayed away from injury , but to his credit he stayed and kept me at a constant pace for the first 10 miles or so and at about the 8ish mile mark I couldn’t believe how fresh I felt..(it didn’t last long)…he eventually left me at 9-10 mile mark and finished in 4hrs 2ish..which is pretty awesome for his first marathon.
Half way – as it turns out I got to the half way mark at a personal best time which I was really happy about because it gives me more confidence going forward with the rest of the challenge.
‘THE WALL’ – Hit the dreaded wall about 17-18 miles…but to be honest, the fact that the week before I considered pulling out after an uncomfortable 7 mile run I am ecstatic…but not long after the lack of training told and I was unable to put any pressure on my knees…so rather than risk developing further injury, I decided to power walk…I ended up finishing just under 5hrs.
Part 1/5 complete...‘tick’ – I may have been over taken by a Giant Cornish Pasty and a rhino, but I finished, which is what it is all about.
SUNDAY EVENING post race meal – Now the focus of the day should be on the run and the fact we finished etc…but you have just got to got to the picture gallery to view burgess after the race. Here we are after a few post race ‘happy birthday’ drinks for Paul, when he decided to ‘have a whitey’ he fainted basically, eyes rolling t o the back of his head drama queen sort of stuff, it is possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen, even the ambulance crew made a mockery of him…view pics.
But like a trouper he recovered and sank a couple glasses of Vino…
The day as a whole did not disappoint, every space along the route packed with people offering bananas, oranges, jelly babies...and the odd glass of champagne..(i only had one)...but the whole experience is just fantastic, even the fact i was beaten by a pasty...i wouldn’t swap way i feel with just finishing for anything...;-)...(except maybe finding out in advance if i will finish all 5)
I just wanted to say thanks to Paul for pulling me through the first few miles and congratulate him on his fundraising so far and the time he did it at – Nice one..;-)
Oh!! & a big thank you to the girls, who haven’t stopped telling us that they ‘had a terrible day’ and there legs ‘were killing them’…sorry but they were looking at the wrong person for any sympathy…;-))
Cheers,
Ian
After the website launch and my million emails and texts sent, I thought with the technology would come the money...but in reality it's been a slow start with the online donations with most people prefering to give cash or cheques, but hey!!! it doesn't matter how we get it as long as we get it....so keep on giving whichever way is best for you.
13/01/2008
Happy birthday to my ickle sister who is 30 today...
12/01/2008
Training been much better, short runs becoming almost pain free, seems the lighter i get the better it becomes...fingers crossed...although 2 days in Amsterdam has done nothing towards increasing my mileage!!!
01/01/2008
Not a lot of good solid training being done in the last moth, but we had a good rest for a few days over christmas so onwards and upwards for the new year...
01/12/2007
Recently, i was finding training difficult due to the pain in my ankle, i've been for a scan and been diagnosed with 'aggressive arthritis'...this just means i will have to be more careful with my diet and lose a few more pound, but either way, this is gunna be a whole lotta Pain!!!
In The Beginning...
After sending the fateful email to all charities and getting a full-on response from them all, my initial thought was oh!! Pooh!!...what do I do now…i have never done anything like this ever, well certainly not to this level.
Straight away Gillian from Macmillan arranged a meeting so I went to see her without a clue in the world what I was going to talk about, she gave me a few pointers which helped calm me down and it gave me confidence I needed to tell myself it could be done.
Since that meeting I have twisted the arm of a few friends to help me train and roped a few more in to run with me in each of the marathons.
So far to date we are well on the way to raising the £20000 target I have set myself.
We have various donations and pledges from companies and individuals alike, also a number of people wanting to run various fundraising events…so in addition to all of the running we have all that to organise too, but I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.
Supported charities:
