Brought forward my Sunday run to Saturday as the BBC reckon it's going to snow. Which would mean no run... or the running machine again. Temp went below zero which is always dangerous for running... so I'm glad I did. 11.5/12 miles at 8 min a mile.

Fine but... running more than double that?? Ouch. If I add a mile a week I'll be at over 20 just in time. So next weekend will be a half marathon.

Warming up and down for running especially as it is cold is very important to avoid injury. My sister has sent me a guide for doing this correctly.

The guide was written by a fellow Chartered Physiotherapist - Sinead Murphy who works for top sports Physios based at the - The Locker Room, fitness centre in Cork Ireland. A must read for all runners.

The guide

Blog is global...

The Map below shows locations of people reading the blog... These include west and east coast USA, Ireland, France, London, Manchester and... Basingstoke.

Dots below show the locations...

Running machine - Well it's raining...

Rather than get wet I decided to run on the running machine instead.

I managed 11 miles that had to broken into 2 halves... as I discovered that the machines at my Gym cut out at 45mins...??? Even on marathon mode.

This sort of broke the Zen feeling I was starting to get by simultaneously running, listening to my MP3 and watching 3 channels of TV at the same time.

The cut out happened mid... Kylie, Dad's Army and Man U v Spurs. Amazingly Dad's Army was by far the most interesting... Spurs didn't put up much of fight... it seemed that they had decided that going out to Man Utd was no shame particularly as they League and Carling Cup to worry about. A real yawn...

Might have been a different story if they'd got a draw like West Ham with the monkey hangers.*
*Hartlepool famously voted their monkey football mascot as Mayor. The monkey mascot had a reputation as a hell raiser being thrown out of many grounds for poor behaviour but is now on to it's (his) second term as Mayor after a landslide second victory. Mainly, because he's been very good – despite Peter Mandleson claiming he would make the town a laughing stock.

After recovering from the visit of 700 West Ham fans the town is going to have a million visitors as part of the tall ships race 2010. Harlepool will for the first time be hosting a stage in this prestigious global event.
The only issue is there's only one road in and out...

Carlin MusicIron Bridge House3 Bridge ApproachLondon NW1 8BD United Kingdom info@carlinmusic.com

Many thanks to Carlin Music publishers of Elvis for their recent sponsorship. The King... will be will be with me every mile now.

Previous runs - RUN TO THE BEAT

The link below takes you to a record of my previous run for the Evelina Hospital - Run to the beat from the 02.

It also confirms the terrible conditions everyone ran in on the day.

http://www.gsttcharity.org.uk/fundraising/echappeal_beat_marathon.html

This link takes you to footage and results from the event.

http://www.runtothebeat.co.uk/Event/Results.aspx

Photos

http://www.sportcam.net/CompetitorImage.aspx?ID=1376&General=No

I came 598th out of 10,000.

Leave a comment if you know of any cheap local races in the run up for the marathon.

10.5 miles today

Practiced running at marathon pace today (i.e) slower than normal - 8 min a mile. Could have carried on after the 10.5 miles, - (thought it was 12 - didn't have time to measure before setting off), -which is a good sign.

Practiced drinking - still finding this almost impossible and eating carb gel. The gel is good like a meal on the go and stops your legs turning to jelly after 10+ miles.

Things like this can taste awful so I bought two to try at Xmas made by SIS - Science in sport . They are easy to eat and really do make a difference. Link takes you to the scientific evidence!

I only need them for my long runs so I'll buy a box - however that means they all have to be the same flavour... unless i can find someone to swap half a box with??

No running today resting. The wind is blowing... and not due to the new complex carb's diet...So I'll just write about something totally unrelated.

Managed to miss the London Irish v Connacht European challenge game as I don't have SKY.

75 - 5 to the Exiles with Aussie Peter Hewat scoring an amazing 5 tries.

Pearse saw the other leg in Ireland and reckoned they put out a B team because they knew... top of the table Irish would beat them.

All a far cry from the muddy days when I played for them... at Sunbury. They may now be professional but there's not a better day out at the Rugby at club level... particularly on St Patrick's day.

Quick running machine run today at my Gym. David Lloyd in Kidbrooke and weights session. Completed an 8 mile run to work this week as well. I'm not a good morning runner as I my normal running time is after 9.30PM... but it certainly woke me up.
Today’s 5km in 21m - interval training -on the running machine was the first time since late Oct I've had a pain free run. I picked up an Iliotibial Band Syndrome IBS injury after the Run to the beat half marathon. I think this was because it was so cold and wet. This is very painful creating a stabbing pain at the side of the knee but stretches* and exercises from Alison my sister, who is a trainee doctor and Chartered Physiotherapist, have really helped. Also advice by text from sports coach Pearse McGuigan - has been great, as I was clearly not resting enough. Less is more.
Pearse is now training swimmers in Ireland... but was part of the training team for the British Olympic Modern Pentathlon Team. Pearse is running the Belfast marathon in May… so will have my time to beat. *Link to one very effective stretch

Why I am running for the Evelina hospital


Scarlett enjoying an ice cream today



Scarlett at the Evelina shortly after she was born

About my charity : GUY'S & ST THOMAS' CHARITABLE FOUNDATION AND RELATED CHARITIES The Evelina Children's Hospital, at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, provides everything from routine care to life saving treatment for over 100,000 children every year. It is “a hospital that doesn’t feel like a hospital” and includes intensive care, neurology, and specialist heart and kidney units. Patients come from London, Southern England and much further a field for life threatening illnesses. While the children receive world-class care and treatment, NHS funding can not meet all the hospital’s needs. This is where the Evelina Children's Hospital Appeal steps in by raising money to buy the very best equipment and facilities. Charity Registration No 251983

Start of Log

Well I said I'd do this on my just giving site. As....

It is meant to create a reason for people to return or pass on the site... Well... we'll see.

I've decided to create a template to record info quickly about the big push to do 26 point something miles...

Mileage, runs and stat's - for those who may want run a sweepstake on my finish time there is a feed from my running log at the bottom of the blog. Mileage is rising but hasn't gone beyond 10 miles yet as it's been so cold! - 5! However... times are getting a bit quicker almost 7 mins miles.

Running equipment and other nonsense: Due to the cold I bought a running jacket - £12 from Decathlon and it's fantastic light with vents under the arms to stop you sweating. As it now feels like my fingers are going to fall off I also got a set of silky european footballer gloves £4.50.

Injuries: Two lost toe nails from the Run to the beat half marathon are growing back. Huge blood blister on my right foot but it's popped and doesn't hurt. I've had some knee pain but that is going thanks to, Dr, (in a few years), Bob Cregan who as a physio has given me good advice on training and streaches.

Food - Peanut butter can't get enough of whole earth. Tried every other cheaper brand but this is the one... nothing but nuts good source of good fats and protein. When your knackered it's like a meal in two minutes.

Tunes- I am listening too while running on my MP3: 128 BPM for running at the moment. I get all my tunes from Beatport.com - in particular keeping me going is - Ministry of Funk - Way Back - a mix of lots of classic summer tunes all in one track.

News on getting the money in: Good considering money is tight and it's only just after Chrisitmas. With off line emailed promises and gift aid I've broken the £200 barrier. Only £1600 to go then.