London Ultra 50k 2011

'It's often said that if you want the biggest cheer in a marathon, finish last.' - anon

Well guess what.....

Pre-race
In some ways, Friday and Saturday were harder than Sunday!  It was hard to relax during Saturday day, thinking about the challenge ahead.  How hard would it be?  Would I be able to cope?  And there were other, more basic questions, like would I be safe?  As Saturday day turned into night, I was able to chill at my mates Stueys, eating good food, drinking good water and feeling much better.  We even jogged to the local pub, humming the Rocky tune!  I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep much the night before, but I'd made sure I slept well on Thursday and Friday night.

Waking up on Sunday morning, I felt a real sense of energy and adrenaline.  'Baby we were born to run!' sings Bruce Springsteen.  How right he is!  Finally, I would be able to get some actual miles under my belt, after thinking about the race all week.

0 miles to 7 miles: Pure unadulturated fun
After feeling nervous and anxious for about 48 hours, it was a

Running a load of miles.....(31 to be exact)

'Pain is temporary, pride is forever.'

Currently at 178 miles ran in the year, as of today's date.  I'm ahead of schedule, but that's only because I feel better when I've got something in the bag!  Plus I'll hopefully be taking a break from running in the Summer to climb one huge mountain (more on that later).  Last week's running was a grand total of 18 miles, way below my weekly goal of 25 miles.  I'm tapering right now for the London Ultra, this Sunday the 20th of February.

At the moment, I'm really looking forward to it, getting to wear the NAS shirt with pride, running for a cause I'm passionate about.......................................but it's still a long way!

What's going through my mind now about the race this Sunday?  So many things.....nerves, anxiety, excitement, fear, passion, pride.  I know physically I can do it.  Let's see how I do!

www.justgiving.com/runclimbmather

Enjoying the miles....

Boy, did the marathon take it out of me!

It was Tuesday before I ran again, a 5 miler.  I ran after work, and still had soreness from last Friday.   I didn't enjoy it at all.  It felt like I was just running to 'add to the total', if you get what I mean.  It felt like a chore, something to endure.  At the end of the run there was no feeling of accomplishment, just sheer relief, which wasn't good.

Wednesday was a no-go, but Thursday

26 miles on a Friday night

Well, it wasn't your average Friday night.  It did, however, move me from 105 miles done to 131!


I decided to get my training run in for the London 50k. The way the dates fell, I either had to run a 22 mile/26 mile run on either the weekend just gone, or the one coming up. To get the most out of my weekend, I ran it on the Friday night to get it out of the way.

I've got to be honest, it was kind of cool to get to mile 16, and bump into my parents and sister on their drive home.  The conversation went something like this