Long Hard Slog

When I tell people that I'm going to run some insane distance of a weekend, they usually raise an eyebrow, mutter something about the state of my mental health and then ask me if I "feel better" for all the running. Well, here's the answer to that question - no. No, I don't feel better. My legs hurt, I've had a cough since Christmas that won't go away and I'm being shafted at work which makes getting up in the morning to go running all the more difficult. However, going on a long run at the weekend is a joy. Getting out of the house and running to some random place or other (OK, so it's not literally random, we usually have a destination in mind before we set out) is incredibly motivating - you get to see new things and places you haven't been before and, best of all, if you are running somewhere new, you don't know where all the mile markers are!

Our midweek runs are a different matter. As I already alluded to, getting out of work before midnight is a challenge at the moment, and that's making getting up before noon even more of a challenge! James and I have discussed our lack of motivation for midweek runs at length. We think that following the snowy and icy period over the New Year, we haven't managed to quite get back into the swing of things. As the long runs have got longer, our enthusiasm for a 3-mile morning saunter has dwindled and we're trying to find ways to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and sprint off into the distance. So far, we've determined that we need to sort out our nutrition (yes, 60-65% of a training diet should come from carbs but no, the carbs shouldn't all come from wine gums, cola and chocolate) and we think we need some new routes to run on our shorter runs - as they say, variety is the spice of life.

Another thing to try that I found while traversing the Internet the other day is a new type of interval training. I say new - it's probably been around for donkeys' years, but its new to me, and it's so simple (when you know how) that I'm slightly concerned that I didn't think of it myself. It's called Pyramid Intervals and the idea is that after a 5 minute warm-up jog, you run hard for one minute, easy for one minute, hard for two minutes, easy for two minutes, and so on up to five minutes (but keeping the recoveries at two minutes), and then back down again to one minutes. As sad as it sounds, I'm actually quite excited about this newfangled idea and can't wait to try it out - it can't be any worse than repeating the same intervals (4 mins hard, 2 mins easy) over and over again... can it?

Another thing that appears to be stagnating at the moment is our fundraising total - we hit £1,245 over a week ago and haven't raised a penny since. If you'd like to help us get out of a fundraising rut, please go to http://www.justgiving.com/bbjamarathon to give us a hand!

On parks and insatiable hunger

So we did make it to Sarita's house two weeks ago, and how wonderful it was to be greeted by a glass of champagne! Eleven miles is a very long way and it was still a bit icy underfoot in places. The next week was a cutback week, meaning we had to run "just" 8 miles at the weekend; we finished that run in the excellent Lockside Lounge in Camden Market - they do the most wonderful chicken, chorizo and olive pie with mashed potato and gravy (a recipe I'm happy to say we've stolen for home, but we still go there to have someone else make it for us once in a while!)

This past weekend, we ran to the Coal Hole on the Strand. We couldn't decide which park to run around, so we ran round all of them - Holloway to the Coal Hole via Hampstead Heath, Regent's Park, Hyde Park, Green Park and St James's Park. Hyde Park was the low point, mentally, but after a quick stop to get some Sprite we were on our way to the finish line. As the crow flies, it's only about 4 miles from Holloway to the Strand, so it was amazing that our winding route had taken us 12 miles. TWELVE MILES! I can run TWELVE MILES!

Today I have been contemplating the insatiable hunger that seems to go along with the long runs. After our 12 miler on Saturday I had a cottage pie at the Coal Hole (the pub is in the corner of the Savoy building, and it was not lost on me that they served the pie with Savoy cabbage!) and chips. Then I had pasta and sauce for dinner. I was monumentally hungry all day on Sunday (and ate enough to satisfy that hunger on a normal day) and now writing this close to lunchtime on Monday, I find that I could eat a horse (if I had one, which I don't).

A post-run cup of tea has become another institution (apart from eating pie) we seem to have adoped on our weekend runs - we were sitting in the Coal Hole on Saturday having drunk some soft drinks, wondering why we didn't really feel any better, when I remembered the restorative qualities of tea. After just about every other run we have had tea and I'm not sure whether it is a Pavlovian response or whether it really does make everything better, but either way it does the trick!

We are now up to £1,245 in our fundraising, so just about a quarter of the way to our target - please help us to get there by sponsoring us at http://www.justgiving.com/bbjamarathon

Thanks!

Its snow annoying

The recent cold snap has been incredibly frustrating. It has stopped any real training happening for a couple of weeks now. We should have run quiet a few miles between 20th and 29th, but had no chance to run due to snow and ice. We managed intervals on the 30th, then a small recovery run on the 31st. Since then we managed to run 10 miles on the 3rd, but that was through stubbornness rather than any real sense that both of us managed to run 10 miles. I ran around platt fields park in Manchester many, many, many, many times to make up the distance, whereas BB ran from home to Nat's house. Since then we have had the sense to keep ourselves wrapped up and warm.
We are meant to run 11 miles this weekend, but I have no idea if we will manage it. We aim, if possible, to run to Sarita's house this Sunday.

Christmas Cheer

The training is really gathering pace now - we ran 8 miles on Sunday, which is the furthest either of us have ever run. We're getting close to a third of the marathon distance which, with four months still to go, is pretty good progress. It is still amazing to me that I have run nearly 250 miles this year, especially considering we didn't start until April and had a 6 week break over the summer!

The fundraising is also gathering speed now - we're up to £580, but there's still a long way to go. We're really hoping that people will be infected with the Christmas spirit (or spirits!!) and put their hands deep into their pockets for us. We're also hoping to host a fundraising event sometime in the New Year - watch this space!!

Thanks for all the support and have a great Christmas!

The Movember 10k

So, today we ran our first "training race" for the marathon - the Movember 10k. We lined up with 617 other moustache sporting (yes, even the ladies) lunatics in a blustery Greenwich Park and ran up and down hills until we hurt. A lot. The hills were all a bit much and there was sideways rain. The worst thing was that we had seen the course map beforehand, so we knew when we ran down the steep hill just after the start that we would have to run back up it again nine and a half kilometres later. In spite of battling with eye infections, sore quads and the cold, it was a good run and BB got a personal best (which is still pitifully bad, but faster than before nonetheless!)

The next race we have arranged is the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon, and that isn't until February, so we're looking for a few more to do (anything between 5k and 10 miles, depending on when it is).

In the meantime, back to the training....

Why Hearing Dogs?

Many people have asked us why we have chosen to run for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. I think some people wonder why we have not chosen a strictly medical charity, or something with a closer personal link (as we both have form for that!). When we decided to take on this challenge, we drew up a shortlist of charities that we thought we might like to run for. Some of them were dependent on both of us getting places in the ballot (which didn't happen), but it became quite clear that we both like charities that help people and charities that help animals. Our ideal cause would, therefore, have to be something that helps both people and animals.

I had always assumed that Hearing Dogs for Deaf People was like guide dogs (for blind people), only for deaf people. This is in part true - they do provide dogs to people with impaired hearing and the dogs help with practical things, such as alerting their human friend to a fire alarm or doorbell. However, on reading more closely, we discovered that the charity gets about seventy per cent. of its dogs from rescue organisations. This means that it also ticks our "helping animals" box. Not only does it help the dogs who are selected for the Hearing Dogs training programme, but it also helps other unwanted dogs who are not suitable to be Hearing Dogs as it frees up space in the shelters for them. Being a "big sister" to a retired racing greyhound (my parents' lovely Emma) has made me passionate about every unwanted dog (or cat, or budgie...) being given a second chance.

The most important thing, though, in the list of "things people don't know about Hearing Dogs" is the emotional and psychological impact they can have on the life of a deaf person. Some deaf people feel isolated and lack the confidence to participate in what they see as "normal" activities - for some, this can mean it is difficult to find or hold down work, for others it may mean it is more difficult to make friends or join in with social and leisure activities. It seems this is particularly prevalent among people who were not born with a hearing impairment, but have lost their hearing through accident or illness. A look at the Hearing Dogs website will give you a chance to read several case studies which demonstrate the impact a Hearing Dog can have on someone's whole life - many people with Hearing Dogs report that their dog has made them more confident, enabled them to find a job or perform better at their work and has, in some cases, simply given them a talking point which enables closer interaction with people they may not otherwise have spoken to.

We think Hearing Dogs is a fantastic charity doing fantastic work. They are often overshadowed by the more well-known charities, but they are every bit as deserving. We hope to be able to raise enough money to provide "complete partnership support" for a dog and its human partner throughout the dog's life. The amount needed for this is £5,000 - please help us to get there by visiting our sponsorship page at www.justgiving.com/bbjamarathon

I hurt already from the 4*(4 run+1 jog) intervals[2 miles] we did this morning. the thought of 26.2 miles is scary, not sure if it will ever stop being scary but there is no turning back now :S