So chuffed I ran far and quick for me!

Thinking about my sister's and I's long run last week, it's such a good feeling!

In 2000 I ran my first marathon. As I was 'in my prime', as I call it, I only needed to run 3 training runs: a 14 miler, a 12 miler and a 20 miler. I call it in my prime because my amateur american football playing was going well, and I was already physically fit.

As my 20s went on, I always looked at my fitness and endurance levels as waning and thought the 'good old days' were long gone. Then, to run well in 2011, running a 20-miler in 3:40, running 3 marathons in 3 days, gave my ego and self-esteem such a boost!

In the last 6 months, my running has felt slow and sluggish. But, to run that distance with Carla on Saturday, 16.5 miles in 11-minute miles, feels amazing! The pressure now is to keep it going!

But you can't beat the feeling that it gives you!

You know, now I'm not running for a cause, I get knotted up about whether I should be running now. Is this what God wants me to do now? Do I run just out of guilt? But one thing's for sure, it sure does make me feel good. And sometimes in life, we do need our release, our reason to punch the air and say 'I am'.

I pray that I'm made aware by my rescuer and redeemer when it's right to run and when it's not. That I can learn about myself through running and about this world that we live in.

Rest In Peace Deepen

I should pay tribute to Deepen Rai who was sadly killed on Friday in a plane crash in Nepal. This is the same crash that has been covered in all of the British press. Deepen was leading a group to Everest Base Camp.

Deepen was our guide last year on the trip to trek up Stok Kangri. He was an amazing guy. He taught us about the local Ladakh culture, about Buddhism, about how to look after ourselves on the trip. He also cared for us 24/7. The guy was up at 1am knocking snow off our tent so that we didn't get wet!

He also gave us some awesome coaching to give us the spirit and determination to get up the 6,150m peak. When we were looking at the peak one evening he said, 'It's tough, but not impossible.' To give us the right walking speed he would say, 'Slowly, slowly, catch the monkey.' He also affectionately nicknamed me 'Mr Pee' as I couldn't hold my bladder!

Rest In Peace Deepen Rai - your facebook page already has a flurry of touching tributes. You have made, I'm sure, a lasting impact with the hundreds of trekkers who have been lucky to have had you as a guide.

He leaves behind a wife and two sons and I pray for them to be comforted in this most difficult time.

Rest In Peace Deepen Rai xxx

Still running in 2012...

Hello all,
I've wanted to update this blog for a while.  Not that I've got anything major to say, but because a lot of people supported me in 2011 and just wanted to fill anybody in who was interested!

I've been fairly active still in 2012.  My running is actually going pretty well this month.  I've run 50 miles in September, and my pace is getting better which is a great feeling.  I fulfilled my one ambition for 2012 sports-wise and completed a triathlon (Coniston in June).  I've also done a duathlon (Parbold in March), a 60-mile bike ride (Manchester to Blackpool in July), the Great North (2 hrs 33 mins) and the Rainbow Ramble (11 mile walk).  I'm currently training for the Preston Guild Marathon with my sister and that has been great fun.  We're pushing each other and we did a cracking training run yesterday of 16.5 miles in 3hrs 5 mins.

There was no way I was going to do any running for charity this year - I think there's only so much you can ask people to sponsor you!

I've loved keeping going though and trying new things.  Swimming has been a blast - I've managed to swim a mile in the open water!  Cycling, I've not loved as much.  First there was the 4 months of constant flat tyres and punctures before I realised I needed a track pump.  Then, there's the fact that it's flippin' hard.  When it's flat, it's all good.  But, the slightest bit of uphill and it's horrible.  I don't know why running gets such a bad rap!

Saw this at the Great North Run and it seemed quite apt!

Biking it!

Last night I managed a stonking bike ride, cycling from my home to the other side of Parbold Hill and then back again. The hill is the steepest one near me, so I was proud of myself to get up it twice with stopping!


Cycling definitely feels like a whole different ball game. The workout last night was completely different to a run of the same amount of time. My breathing gets called into play, and of course my leg muscles are used in a way I'm just not used to. If I had run up that hill, I knew I wouldn't have felt as fatigued as I did when I'd pedalled up.

It felt really good!

1000 miles is done!

Well I'm done!

Last Saturday the 31st of December I ran the Liverbird Marathon which put me at 1000.1 miles ran in the year of 2011.  I ran a PB of 5:28:51 (although my official time said 5:33 I know I started my timer when I began) which a real bonus.  After covering the distance 9 other times in the calendar year I can say my fastest came on the final day of the year.

And.....my goal of running 1000 miles in the year is done!  I suffered a flu virus from Saturday the 10th to Tuesday the 20th of December so it was a real effort to finish the challenge.  I had to run 54 miles over 8 days to put me within reach, including a half-marathon on both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.  With just a four-day taper (!), I ran the 26.2 in Liverpool on New Years' Eve to officially finish the challenge.

If you would like to sponsor me for my challenge you can do by going www.justgiving.com/runclimbmather or by texting PAUL56 £5 to 70070.

My Stok Kangri Trip Diary

I thought this diary might be interesting/useful to someone who was thinking of a high-altitude mountain challenge.  Stok Kangri is in Ladakh, the Himalayan region in Northern India.  It's 6,153 metres high, which definitely brings on the effects of altitude sickness.

3/8/11 – Train to London

So this is it.  I’m sat on a train to Euston with a huge bag to my right!  The last two days have been tiring, making sure I have everything while worrying about homesickness, my dog Honey and they physical challenge ahead.

I left home at 1:30pm with my mum driving me to the station.  I keep having this nagging feeling I’ve forgotten something which is a pain.

This is the first time I’ve ever left the country alone.

In 2009 I went on a camping trip for four nights on my own to Aviemore.  I remember it being scary and unnerving to be far away on my own.

There’s a part of me that just wants to get going now.  I want to be on the trek, on the challenge, but it’s a whole 6/7 days away yet so I have to be patient.

There’s real ‘pluses’ of doing this that I can’t yet visualise.  All of these will happen over the next few days.  There’s sightseeing in Delhi, the capital of India.  There’s meeting the team that will be on the trek and getting to know them.

It’s quite peaceful to be sat here on the train to London.  It’s relaxing.  It’s good because I know there’ll be the rush of busy London!!!

4/8/11 – Flight from London to India

I’m writing this on the flight to Delhi from Heathrow.  Today has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.  I had further worries over my kit in a shop in Picadilly Circus.  I started to really panic so asked that familiar question: ‘why am I doing this?’

After a drink in Café Nero I walked to Embankment station and had a sit on a bench for peace and quiet.  Finding peace and quiet anywhere in London is hard!

Sitting there on the bench, 90 minutes before I needed to be at Heathrow, I really searched my soul.  Why was I doing this?  The homesickness and the cost is only all worth it if it’s for a reason.  I know that raising money for charity is worthwhile.  But still, I came to a crux in my thought process. 

It came down to a quote by Eddie Izzard which I often come back to,

‘Sometimes you just gotta go for it.’

It’s like, sometimes you don’t know why you’ve got to do something.  Sometimes you just have to be bold even when you’re not sure.

Since then, I’ve checked in and met the team.  It’s great to meet them and to get to know each other.  I am excited about it!  Looking forward to landing in Delhi and seeing the sights!

6/8/11 – Flight from Delhi to Leh

I’m writing this as the flight to Leh for Delhi is about to take off.

Delhi was culturally eye-opening.  Thoughts that hit me:

• so many many people
• the first time I’ve been somewhere out of Western society
• so much traffic!  Scary and dangerous!
• So much diverse culture!

When we land in about an hour’s time, we’ll be at 3,500m.  That’s double Ben Nevis and a bit more.  That’ll be the highest I’ve been at by far.  I’m excited about that!

Last night I was so tired.  I think I feel better in the mornings – more purposeful – more alive.  At night I need my rest.

7/8/11 – Arrived in Leh

Leh is beautiful  Today we have visited 3 ‘gompas’ (monastries).   It’s awe-inspiring to see the dedication and diligence the Buddhists have to their religion.

I see what is meant by altitude acclimatisation.  Last night I had a banging, thumping headache.  Also, it is far easier to get out of breath.  I wish I’d paid more attention to the high-altitude advice given on the charity challenge website!

9/8/11 – First camp

We have just set up camp one in Chilling.  I’ve just completed two firsts: I’ve washed my hair and brushed my teeth in a stream!  That feels pretty cool and it’s made me feel at home!

We have a group to look after us: a cook and 3 helpers.  It’s extremely humbling to have someone cook for us throughout the trip.  There’s now a kind of home-comfort feel to this.

10/8/11 – Trek Day 1 - Chilling to Skiu

Today we trekked from Chilling to Skiu.  Day one done!  We are now at camp in Skiu.  It’s extremely hot.  Must be close to 30 degrees Celsius.  I’ve just washed in the stream and it really helps to feel ‘human’ again.

We have an amazing team of porters to look after us.  All we’ve had to do is trek for 3 hours.  The porters have had to carry all of our stuff and tend to the ponies.

It wasn’t easy today but it was over quite quickly.  To say it’s 3pm now and I can chill, relax, not have to do anything and all of my meals are taken care of is humbling.  These porters work so hard for us!  (I’m not doing a good job of emphasising the challenge aspect of this yet am I?)

We were up at 6am with a wake up call and a cup of black tea.  We had to be up, have our bags packed and dressed for 7am.  After an amzing breakfast of cereal, omelette, toast, tomato ketchup, peanut butter and jam on toast and all the tea I could drink, we were off at 8am.

By 9am we reached the crossing of the Zanskar river.  We crossed using a cable car which was for one person at a time.  It was already 11am by the time we were off again.  After only 2 hours, we were at Skiu.  The first day’s hike was done in 3 hours and by 1pm!

It was short but it was hard as well.  It got so, so hot.  Throughout the whole time it was sun cream, hat, sun glasses and balaclava to escape from the heat.

We now have a couple of hours to chill out before dinner at 5pm and visiting a monastery at 5:30pm.  Time to chill…

 11/8/11 – Trek Day 2 - Skiu to Shingo

We have made it passed Shingo to the bottom of Ganda La pass.

Today has been a much tougher day.  I have a banging headache because of the altitude.  We are at 4,200m.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s trek but not after a good rest.

It has all been gradual ascent of about 800m.  The first 3 hours felt good.  We stopped at Shingo for lunch and my headache started.  The last hour I found quite hard because my head was throbbing.  It was a real pressure headache.  I ran out of water as well and it was all overwhelming.

As we got to camp, it was still scorching.  The rain came and now everyone is chilling out in their tents.

Luckily, tomorrow will be a cooler day.  On the other hand, altitude will be a bigger factor as at one point we’ll be at 4,900m.  Yikes!

I’ve ran many marathons and climbed a UK mountain every day for a week.  Nothing, however, can prepare you for the effects of high altitude.  You know what, I’m proud of myself.  I’ve trekked for 2 days at high altitude.  I’ve never done that before.  I think it’s so important to acknowledge what you’ve achieved.  You’ve got to give yourself a boost at times.  It’s what keeps you going.

12/8/11 – Trek Day 3 - Shingo to Rumbak

Today we trekked for 2 and a half hours to reach Ganda La.  The ascent was tiring and by the time we reached the top at 4,980m my head was banging again.  We descended for about 40 mins and stopped for a lunch stop.  After 2 big stops, you start to feel a bit rubbish.  It was a naff feeling to be told by Deepen we had another 2 and a half hours to go to get to camp.

What’s good is that tomorrow is the last long day before summit day.  Bring it on!

13/8/11 – Trek Day 4 - Rumbak to Markeno

I am writing this while sat around the tea tent with Deepen and the team.  We are in Markeno which is a 2 and a half hour walk from Low Base Camp.

Today we set off from Rumbak and climbed the 3 hour ascent to Stok La pass which was at 4,980m, similar to yesterday’s pass.  It was a real slog but the difference today was my headache wasn’t as bad.  At the top, I felt cold but ok.

We climbed down for half an hour and the headache set in.  I’ve not really felt out of breath or had heavy tired legs but the headaches have been bad.

It was a great feeling of relief to reach camp 3 hours from the pass.  On the way there, it was still tiring and the headaches were still there.

Now we’re here, I’m excited to be so close to summit day.  Tomorrow is only a 2 and a half hour trek to base camp, then the day after is a rest day.

In the run up to this, I kept thinking ‘Just go for it.’  After all the thing I’ve already done this year, it’s not like this is what I’d completely set my sights on this year.  For myself, I’m already really pleased within myself that I’ve challenged myself this year to the hilt.  In a belief that I have, that it doesn’t matter whether you’ve ran that half marathon or not, it’s about whether you’ve dared to dare or not.  I’m already content.

“We don’t dare because life is difficult.  Life is difficult because we don’t dare.”

However, today I realised that I have a chance, an opportunity, to climb a 6,000m peak.  I don’t know anyone who’s done that.  It’s a chance to do it for myself, to tick it off the life list.

14/8/11 – Trek Day 5 - Markeno to Base Camp

Made it to Stok Kangri Low Base Camp.  All of my entries seem to have a ‘trekked  a long way, got a headache’ structure to them!  I can assure you the headaches are rough!

I felt okay today but again head was pounding.  Marathons may be hard you don’t get headaches!

15/8/11 – Rest Day

It’s snowing! It’s chucking it down with snow.  The base camp, which was green and lake district-esque yesterday when we got here, is now covered in a white blanket.  This will make the summit day, if it is still tomorrow and not the day after, even more challenging!

This morning we went on an acclimatisation walk to where advanced base camp should be (except no-one is allowed to camp there now because of previous littering).  I put on all of my summit day kit so felt a bit too warm at times.  It was hard going but felt pretty good as we had trekked to 5,300m.  Not bad going!

After lunch it started to get pretty cold.  We were all a bit delirious from the cold.  We had our crampons fitted.

17/8/11 – Summit Day

I’m writing this having successfully summitted Stok Kangri.  I’ve managed to climb to an altitude of 6,150m!

My initial feeling is of relief.  It was so tough.  We set off at 12:30am and returned at 2:30pm – a 14 hour trek!

First steps

We were woken at 11:35am by Deepen to get ready.  I had all my stuff with me so felt ready.  However, it’s hard to judge how many layers you’ll need so I was a bit behind setting off at 12:30.  I had to walk quickly to catch up.  By the time I’d caught up I was out of breath!  Not what you need!  To make matters worse, I’d dropped my head torch and hadn’t even realised.  Deepen handed it back to me.

Reaching Advanced Base Camp

We reached ABC in about 2 hours.  Because of the thick snow that had fallen 24 hours earlier, it was made all the more difficult to get there.  From then on, we were split into 2 groups. 

Crossing the glacier

At the foot of Stok Kangri is an enormous glacier.  I’m guessing it took about an hour and a quarter to cross it.

This the furthest we’d walked towards Stok Kangri, having trekked to ABC 2 days earlier.  I remember thinking how unusual (and to be frank intimidating) it was to be walking in the dark.  In fact, it was only light by 6am.  Crossing the glacier was hard work.  The snow was over 3 feet deep in places.

Steep, steep terrain

What followed after the glacier was exhausting.  It was over 2 hours of steep, steep ascent to the ridge through thick, fresh snow.  Our guide was going at quite a pace.

I remember it getting to 4am and realising how hard this was going to be.  I longed for the sun to rise.

Ridge to summit – madness!

At 6am, it was a superb feeling to get to the main ridge at 5,900m.  What followed was unexpected and very difficult, climbing up very steep cliff faces with sheer drops either side.  There were some scary manoeuvres to be made!

The biggest cock-up I made was when our guide told us to put our crampons on.  Had the summit day been 4 days earlier, it might not have required them.  I, with hindsight quite stupidly, put mine on myself.  I should have had the guide look at them.

I got myself into a situation where both crampons had fallen off my boots and it was stuck on my own with no grip whatsoever.  One guy from Israel tried to help me but again the crampons fell off.  It felt utterly hopeless and I was almost prepared to give up.

It wasn’t until our guide came back for me and fixed my crampons with my lying on my stomach in the snow that I was able to continue.

My legs were already burning with lactic acid build-up after battling with non-existent grip for 20 minutes.  The final push to the summit, therefore, left me absolutely exhausted.

The arrival at the summit (at 9am by the way) was an exhausting moment.  There was no big feeling of achievement.  It had felt like hell so I just wanted to sit down.  As I reflect on it now, I wished I could have felt a sense of achievement at summit moment.  But there was so many great moments on the challenge, it didn’t matter.

It wasn’t until the 2^nd party of our group arrived that my emotions started to flow.  One of the group, Alex, had shown amazing character and determination.  We all got photos together and I seized the moment – to get a photo taken with my NAS t-shirt and a photo of Peter.

Back down again to the ridge

As I thought about Peter and my motivation for doing it, I truly wept.  Peter has the most amazing smile and finds enjoyment in the most simple of things.  Right there, at over 6,000m altitude, I was humbled and tears flowed.

What followed was quite an exhausting start of the descent.  Four of us and the guide were roped together and we descended over steep, icy terrain.  You kind of forget you have to get down again!

Ridge to camp

It’s a unique position to be sat on a mountain ridge at 11am, when you’ve already physically been on the go for 11 and a half hours, and you’ve got 4 hours or so still to go.

We descended the mighty drop to the glacier with crampons, anxious for a rest.  We crossed the glacier to advanced base camp, stopped for a refreshments and made it back to camp for soup, chips and hot lemon.

I feel so relieved.  I’m not in a rush to do it again!  I do feel extremely pleased that I’ve been able to climb to that altitude using my own two legs.  I suppose after knowing this day was coming I’m glad it’s done and I can now rest!

My nephew Peter with autism

My nephew Peter with autism

Lancaster Half Marathon 2011

I was really pleased with my time of 2 hours 21 minutes, which averaged 10:46 min/mile.

My Guide to Running in a Gorilla Suit

I am partial to a bit of monkey running!

I first got the idea back in March 2011 when I had the Liverpool Half Marathon coming up.  I'd just ran a 31-miler and a 20-miler so knew I could 'up my game' for the half marathon to generate more awareness of my running for autism.  At first, I thought I'd run it in my american football gear, to get the attentions of my former american football team-mates.  But then, I still had a gorilla suit I'd borrowed off my 'brother from another mother' Stu.  So, I trained it in it one Monday and Wednesday night and was ready for the Liverpool Half.

My Guide to 'Running in a Gorilla Suit'

• First of all, it's hard to tell where you're going.  I can see where I'm going, but only just.  I use a bandana over the top of the mask to keep it in place, but the eye-holes are only so big.  It can get quite disorientating, especially after running 20 miles in the Liverpool Marathon!
• Secondly, you sweat - a lot.  You only have to walk around in the thing and you start sweating, which means you have to drink water, constantly.  If you don't drink constantly, you quickly get a headache from dehydration, which isn't good.
• You get tons of support.  It's the reason I did it.  The support from the crowds in Liverpool have been electric, amazing.
• You get lots of the same joke - constantly.  Now, I'm gonna sound like a grumpy old man now, but the 'Do you want a banana?' and the 'It must be hot!' comments wear a bit thin after a while.  I know, I know, I'm a grumpy old man.  But it's part of the challenge that you have to prepare for psychologically.  After 8 miles of the Liverpool Marathon, I was getting loads of the same comments which was hard to deal with, so I stuck my earphones on and chilled out with some White Album from The Beatles.
• And finally, the kids absolutely love it.  It's worth it just to see how many laughs you get from kids in the crowd.

• My training video and my Liverpool Half Marathon Video

 

The Liverpool Half was amazing fun!  Then, in September I started to have the idea for the Liverpool Marathon.  I'd already just run a marathon at the end of August, and so knew I had the long-term stamina.  The Liverpool Marathon was a huge event.  Even if I couldn't manage it, I knew it would give great publicity to the National Autistic Society.