Training

A week to go until the London Ultra Marathon and less than 2 months until the Marathon Des Sables. 50km is going to be interesting. Training has been going really well and had a good week of running last week. covered 107k out of the 124k planned. Fairly happy with my times after a break. My target is to run as far as I can at 12.6km/h and hopefully come home in just over 4 hours. I don’t know how realistic this is but 12.5km is a km/h slower than I have been going on the longer runs so I am hoping I will at least make the 40km at pace.

	W/c 30.01.12			W/c 06.02.12
	Target	Actual	Time	Target	Actual	Time
Monday	20	27	01:46:00	R	R	R
Tuesday	R	R	R	20	21	01:25.0
Wednesday	17	17	01:15	15	15	01:09
Thursday	10	10	00:41	15	20	bike
Friday	17	Fail	Fail	10	Inj
Saturday	30	30	02:16	40	Inj
Sunday	30	23	01:28	35
Total (km)	124	107	7:26:00	135	56	1:10:25

Unfortunately the cold has hit and my arthritis has decided to play up. I struggled to even hobble on Friday and in a lot of pain. Typical that one problem resolves it’s self and then another starts.

I am not too worried about it, unlike the last injury. I know exactly what it is and having arthritis in my knees form the age of 6. I know how to manage it. Hopefully it will resolve itself in the next few days and only a weekend of training missed, fingers crossed for some warmer weather soon. It may make next weekend a challenge missing this weekend’s 40k run but I will try and make that up in the week all being well.

For the last month all I seem to have done is buy kit for the Marathon Des Sables. It’s a rower’s heaven. I have been testing it out and actually really impressed with some of it. The 2XU elite compression shorts have worked a dream and sleeping in the Under Amour cold gear compression kit does seem to have helped recovering. My titanium Spork, although it was £15 it is light and I am sure will do the trick. My plastic Mirror will be useful to do my hair when I wake up, o and also signal the helicopter when I go off track. I have a habit of getting lost while running. I have a terrible memory and not a good sense of direction, I got lost at the same point 2 years in a row competing in the river relay.

I have had some very generous sponsors so far, although I would say on the whole the fundraising has not been going too well.  I am on £391.00 I have 6 weeks to go and a £10,000 target. If anyone has any ideas, please do let me know. And if people are reading this and have not seen the just giving link on the right, the address is

Click: Just Giving

I have paid for the trip myself so not looking for money to cover my jolly, but to support a very deserving charity Springboard for Children. Both the Charity and I will be incredibly grateful if you are able to make a small donation which will go directly to giving a child a better future.