Done and Dusted

So, on Sunday I ran the Real Berlin Marathon. You may have seen on the news that Haile Gebrselassie broke the world record, so while I was technically competing in the same race, I'm not sure it was the thought of me chasing that pushed young Haile over the line!

I went round in 5.43.27, I could talk you through the race, but instead I'll keep it simple. I began nervous as hell, was feeling good at the halfway point, then my right knee started giving me all sorts of trouble and the rest of the race became a real struggle.

The second half was a mix of highs and lows, the highs perhaps being the cheerleaders around mile 17, and the lows being pretty much everything else!

At this point I should really say thanks to a few people. First of all the guys who texted and called to wish me luck, there's too many to mention but thanks to each of you, it meant a lot. Same to those who have sponsored me, knowing so many people had given money to the cause kept me going at some serious low points!

Special mention to my boys Kirt, Hog and G-Man for believing I could do it, probably more than I did! A massive thanks has to also go to Jules, my running partner. What a compadre, couldn't have done it without your constant jabbering and shouts of "I am the Yeti!"

The biggest thanks must however go to my sister Helen. What a performance. Firstly I wouldn't have entered without her, then I wouldn't have got to the startline, and I almost certainly wouldn't have made it if I hadn't been able to take comfort in the fact that she was suffering just as much!

We were a sorry sight at the end, as the picture shows, but the 24 hours afterwards has amused me no end as we grunted our way back from Germany!

I also cracked open a beer for the first time in a month on Sunday night, and I can tell you now it was enjoyable! Whether or not I'll sign up for another of these I don't know, but at least now I know it's not an impossibility.

As far as Everest goes, there's been loads of news recently. I sat down on Thursday with Kirt and Charlie to debate the Team Hillary captain and eventually all decided that Glen Lowis was the man for the job. Congrats to him, I have no doubt he'll rise to the task.

The website has also gone live, check out http://www.theeveresttest.com/ for all the best bits there.

I'm pretty knackered now, and my mind and body is shutting down, so farewell. I'm now going to have to come up with something else to write about on this blog!

The time is nigh

Hi folks,

This is likely to be my last post before the marathon. How do I feel? Nervous as hell that's how.

Last weekend I went to Dubai on a work jolly, which was great but hardly ideal preparation! I didn't manage to get a run in which was disappointing, but not crucial I don't think. I ran for an hour last night and will go again tomorrow morning, then it's sit back, eat pasta and wait for Sunday.

Helen and I started up our fundraising page last week and seem to be going along quite well so far, as I write we are barely £2 away from the £600 mark, a decent start.

I also recently finished reading 'Every Second Counts' by Lance Armstrong. Now, this guy needs no introduction, he's a proper legend. I can't remember if I said, but I was lucky enough to have him as a guest speaker at a recent company do in Hawaii and he was really inspiring. More than that though, he has given me my slogan - "Pain is temporary, quitting is permanent." There shall be no quitting on my watch!

Work for Everest is coming along well, although I'm gutted to be missing the big meeting this weekend where the captains will be named. Fortunately I'm in the loop with that and will be speaking with Kirt and Charlie on Thursday about who will lead Team Hillary. There's so many decent candidates that it won't be an easy choice, but I guess the good thing about this is that no choice will be the wrong one.

One negative was that I had to send out a nasty email today chasing people for payment, that sucked but needed to be done. Did kind of make me feel like an asshole though.

Anyway, wish me luck and I'll let you know how I got on...if I survive!

Knackered

My oh my, it has certainly been quite a week. I am sitting on my sofa with my feet up watching the football knowing that the last eight days has brought a number of firsts for me.

On Saturday last I got up at 8 am, ran 9 miles then went and played cricket. Admittedly, I hardly lasted very long with the bat, but I did get through a three over spell, comfortably my longest since school!

I then sat in the pub with the boys and did not sink a single beer, then went home to a dinner party, where I also avoided booze. It has now been two weeks since my last beer, and that certainly seems a long time ago. I won't lie, I'm hanging for one, but fortunately I have the Carling I-pint to amuse myself(ask me if you've not seen it - comfortably my favourite toy!).

On the Sunday I had another early start, running the Gyro 10k, in full cricket gear. Have a look at Glens blog to the right for a write up of that.

A fairly uneventful week followed, and then today arrived, and I was up at seven and proceeded to run 16 miles, which, as it turns out, is a bloody long way. I am aching all over, and it took me a pretty long time, but the good news that I finished and my knees and feet are not completely shredded.

It does have to be said however, that the thought of adding another 10 miles onto what I just ran, scares the bejesus out of me. Sadly, that is what I am going to have to do in just two weeks. I had my first meeting with "The Wall" today and I fear it is something I will become fairly well acquainted with in two weeks time.

So, next weekend I have to go to Dubai and again avoid the booze in tricky circumstances as well as trying to get a run in. It's 40 degrees out there at the moment, so that could be fun!!

Until next time!

Addicted to....

A little while ago, I forget when exactly, somebody made the mistake of emailing the old classic Tetris to me at work. I was addicted to this thing at school, and it seems the years have not diminished my enthusiasm for a game that is basic to the point of making me wonder if my IQ is gradually sliding downwards with every passing moment I play it.

All this made me wish I was able to get addicted to things that might be good for me, such as running, cycling, cooking healthy food etc. When I started training for this marathon lots of people said how I would get addicted to running and find it taking priority over everything else. Well, what a load of rubbish that was.

Seriously, all I have got addicted to from this training is buying plasters. I'm not kidding, all I concentrate on these days is finding ways to protect my feet and so far Compeed plasters have proved the way forward. I even bought some surgical spirit yesterday in an attempt to make my feet harder.

It reminds me of that scene in Forrest Gump where Lieutenant Dan tells Bubba and Gump to look after their feet and I know where he's coming from. Am I going to make it round this 26.2 mile course in Berlin in less than a month? I am starting to doubt it. What I am going to do is give it my best, and if I come up short, well, so be it.

Back to the Everest line, I've noticed how proud Glen is about getting himself in the South London Press and how he has been boasting about being the first to get some publicity(we also had a mention on Cricinfo recently) thus I am forced to burst his bubble.

The Wimbledon Guardian carried a story on me back on the second of August, so it's safe to say I am hugely famuos in my local area and spend my days walking around in disguise to avoid being mobbed by the local hero-worshippers....maybe not. Still, read all about me(even more) right here.

Until next time folks.

Maybe I can become an Olympian?

But then again, maybe I can't. I'm sat here watching the highlights of this slightly absurd Olympics and thinking that these guys are the nuts. Why did I stop riding bikes when I was nine? I am sure I would have something to offer by now.

It has been an interesting few days to say the least. After a nice relaxing holiday I came back and tried to pick up where I left off with the running. This was perhaps not my smartest move. Barely 45 minutes in to my run my right knee went and I could barely get round Richmond Park....and my sense of humour failed.

On Monday I had some orthotics made for my shoes by the London Orthotic Consultancy and this evening I was beaten to a pulp by a psysio. All this leaves me, hopefully, better equipped for September 28th...and considerably poorer I might also add!

I am just realising now how hard all this actually is, which was kind of the point. Must keep going, quitting is for the weak - just ask Tim Don

Since my last confession.....

Since I last posted on this here blog quite a lot seems to have happened, well, happened to me anyway.

On Thursday I teamed up with Jules and did my first serious run, eight miles round Richmond Park and amazingly I awoke the next day still able to walk, so that was encouraging.

I have stepped out of the loop since then after going on a work do to Hawaii, which was quite simply one of the best weekends ever. I am not one to make people jealous, but if you can imagine the best party you have ever been to, then put in one of the best locations you can imagine, add almost 3000 people, and a whole load of awards, of which you win one, and you'll be somewhere close. Oh, and did I mention it was all free? For three days. Flights, hotels, food and booze(although I still managed to spend £250, but so be it).

I have little doubt that this jaunt has probably set me back somewhat in my training, and as I sit at my desk at 5:15pm the day after returning, I am wondering if I can actually face hitting the gym tonight. The answer is most certainly no, but I fear I may have to give it a go anyway. Wish me luck.

Of course, it goes without saying that I spent much of the time out there telling everyone who would listen about the Everest Test, and as always the response was hugely encouraging. People love this stuff and hopefully we can capitalise on that and really start taking this up a level.

Padding up and getting the runs

During the last few weeks the Everest Test has become increasingly intense, which quite frankly, is bloody marvellous.

On Sunday 6th July eight of us ran the London 5K at some absolutely horrible hour; we met at 7:30am and having sunk multiple beers and eaten copious amounts of barbecued meat the night before I was actively encouraging everyone to "maximise our exposure" by going as slowly as possible. The race had to be completed in an hour so why waste coverage time by finishing any quicker??

My words clearly fell on deaf ears however, as we ran round in about 33 minutes which I was pretty surprised about - although I was more surprised by the fact that I thought I was going to die coming into the home straight and only have Ben Jarman to thank for his constant pep talks to get me over the line!

Now, as you may have read below I am planning to run a marathon at the end of September, so it is probably not such a good sign that I am struggling to get round a three-mile course. Well, hopefully come Berlin I will not be padded up and have a serious case of the meat sweats before I even start.

However, do not be surprised if that is the case on September 7th when myself and another load of Everest cricketers go round the Gyro 10K(http://www.gyro-events.com/) in full cricket gear once again, although I will do my utmost to avoid Kirt, Miles and Jules the night before this time!

Some of the boys are also doing the Nike 10k the week before but by the sounds of it full cricket gear is not acceptable dress for that one...tossers.

So, exercise aside I am spending my time desperately trying to avoid massive booze ups, which is really quite tough. Last weekend was my work summer ball - free alcohol all night - and this weekend is another company do, but this one is in Hawaii. Three days of non-stop alcohol consumption is likely to put my training back about two months, which is hardly ideal as I've only been doing it for six weeks, so at this rate I may not even make the start line!

My major concerns currently are my knees and constant blisters, I saw a physio yesterday who absolutely beat the crap out of me and left me bruised this morning, but it's all about no pain no gain eh?

So on that note I'm off to trap my hand in a door, as that's bound to hurt so I am sure make me gain in the long run....see what I did there?

Until next time....