Finished

Job Done

Garmin time 2 hours 13 minutes. Result subject to official confirmation.

A Memorable Moment

"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other." - Emma - Jane Austen

Preview

Advance Warning

Tomorrow is the big day.

Today is:-

1. Re-read the race instructions
2. Check have everything needed
3. Prepare list of things to do on day
4. Select sacrificial warm top for pre-race waiting around
5. Arrange drop-off and pick up by Mrs Taxi

My number is high and orange. This means that I start off from the sheep pen at the back of the grid. Long tramp from the runners’ village through the tunnel into Grove Street and then turn back into Henrietta Street. Walk almost half a mile to the start! Advice is to arrive early.

Keep Cool

The Bath Half Marathon website shows the route.

Down Poultney Street towards the Holburne Museum. Right into Poultney Road, under the railway bridge at North Parade junction, curve around the back of Widcombe - past the deepest canal lock in Britain, the hotel by the canal where we had our reception, and the rear entrance of The Ram. Cross the Avon at Churchill Bridge by the new bus station - still not big enough or integrated with the railway station.

The Busometer - Bath Bus Station

Turn left past the end of Quay House, where I worked in Room 101 in the last Century. Curve right past Green Park old station where the Somerset and Dorset trains started for Bournemouth. Slow and Dirty they called it - but it was faster and more direct than now (change at Southampton). Then an uphill bit past the curry house and sewing machine shop to Queen Square.

Exit Queen Square past the old Register Office where we were married. Pound down the Upper Bristol Road alongsde the allotments and Vickie Park. Somewhere about here I will be lapped by the eventual winner. The instructions say Keep Left.  This is not a political statement.

Gasometer - Bath

On past The New Westhall, and Bath Coke and Light, to the north end of Windsor Bridge where the mini-Tesco site still awaits planning permission.Uphill past The Weston and The Old Red House and the long drag down Newbridge Road.

Every town has a “street of a thousand B&Bs”. In Bath, Newbridge Road is it.

Cross the Avon again - near where I had my retirement “do” at a not to be recommended venue so I won't mention it - and turn back towards Bath along Lower Bristol Road.

Past the southern end of Windsor Bridge and past all the car dealers. Under the 10Km arch - or you don’t get a time - and back across Churchill Bridge for lap 2. This is going to be a hard bit. You are supposed to do lap 2 faster than lap 1 - on the basis that part of lap 1 is warming up and on lap 2 the crowd of runners thins out so overtaking is easier.

A reliable source told me that the hardest bit is the Lower Bristol Road second time around. On this long stretch if the fatigue and long view of the distance still to be covered does not depress you then the militant nihilism of the new architecture will.

Don’t go under the 10Km arch second time around - that would confuse the timing chip! After that it seems to be a relentless rise to the finish. Don’t sprint to the finish is the official advice. Chance would be a fine thing. Tortoise not hare.

Drink!

Bath - World Heritage City.

Prostate Cancer

Decision made - it is to be The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Thank you all of those who commented and emailed me after my earlier posting about choosing which charity to support. It has helped me decide.

RNLI
As an official sponsor of the Bath Half Marathon this would have been the easy choice with minimum work on my part. But:-

• RNLI will get the lion’s share of sponsorship of the run - perversely perhaps I want to support a charity that is not already involved
• The money is going to support Lifeguards - which to me is not the core activity of RNLI - rather than the boat rescue services
• I got no response to my email enquiry.

VSO
A small amount of money here might have a bigger impact than a larger sum to another charity. But:-

• Potential contributors have suggested that charity should begin at home - reducing my potential pot
• The volunteer that I thought I was sponsoring in Malawi appears to have changed - and I am unable to update you on what is happening
• There is no obvious link in time or location between this charity and the Bath Half Marathon.

The Prostate Cancer Charity
There are two links here - one personal and one timely:-

• My brother was diagnosed and treated successfully for prostate cancer
• March 2011 is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for men. There is a genetic component but most men will get it eventually. There is an urgent need to develop a reliable method of screening. More research is required to find out why some prostate cancers are more aggressive than others and how this can be detected so that treatment can be focused on those most in need of it. Unfortunately available treatments can have unpleasant side effects.

How 2 Help
Today I have set up a “Just Giving” page for you to visit - and make a donation if you wish. You can use credit or debit cars or PayPal.

A couple of things I should point out:-

• If you make a donation now it is taken immediately and you cannot get it back if I don’t run the Half Marathon - you may prefer to wait until I have completed the run
• Just Giving charge 5% of the donation - which they take out of the gift aid - for administration and running their website. The card providers and PayPal also take a small cut.

Details of these costs are at Just Giving - what-it-costs

Give Generously

“Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more.” - Wordsworth

.

No Pain - Time to Regain

After injuring my calf I rested up for a few days - with a bit of gentle walking.
Tried running again too soon - short gentle run around the block repeating my first run - left me in pain again.

Ten days lost due to injury - less than 6 weeks to go. Bit like riding after falling off - get back on.

Romeo - “Courage, man! the hurt cannot be much.”
Mercutio - “No, ‘t is not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ‘t is enough,‘t will serve.”

Recent Run Reports
Ten days on - restarted gentle running. Progress in past week:-

• 68th Run - First run for nearly a week. Short Slow Run to test out LH calf. No pain on this run. Sunny but cold day - wore top, over-trousers and gloves. Did not get too hot!  After midday but still some ice about. Steady gentle pace with no speeding.
• 69th run. Cool and damp - full warm gear on including gloves. 4.37 miles in just over 40 min.Followed route taken on day when injured. Legs felt OK - no aches or pains.Did not push the pace - just kept going steady. 
• 70th run. 6.28 miles in 1 hour and 1 minute.  Afternoon run rather than morning one. Dull overcast and a bit cool - westerly wind. Wore full warm gear including gloves and cycling bottoms over shorts to keep hands and legs warm.  Ran as far as 2nd river crossing - aiming at an hours run. Comfortable run - felt good - though not as good as previous longish runs before hurt leg. No aches and pains in calves - so reassured.
• 71st run. 4.49 miles in 42min 42sec. The Answer to Life The Universe And Everything?

Rest days between. Calf feels a bit tight after run today but not painful.

Lessons Learnt
These are five things that I should avoid:-

1. Extending distance by a too great an amount in one go
2. Not resting sufficiently between long runs
3. Inadequate fluid and mineral intake for exercise regime
4. Running hard on too-cold muscles on a cold day
5. Ignoring pain and carrying on.

And when running on a recycling day - watch out for trip hazards - bin tops left off and lying on the path.

Hungry Horse in 4 letters - MTGG

“I would not have the horse I drive
So fast that folks must stop and stare
An easy gait - two, forty five - suits me; I do not care;
Perhaps, for just a single spurt,
Some seconds less would do no hurt.” - Holmes, Contentment.

“Give me another horse!  Bind up my wounds!” - Richard III

“A horse!  a horse!  my kingdom for a horse!” - Ibid

“He doth nothing but talk of his horse.” - Merchant of Venice.

Injury

“Ouch!” - ET

It has happened - my first injury.

Has rather made a mockery of my new training plan published at the weekend.

Last week I did my first run more than 13.2 miles / 21.2 Km. Completed in under 2 ½ hours. Hence my confidence in my ability to complete the Bath Half Marathon in March.

Not so sure now.

Monday morning went for a shorter-faster run. Was to have been Figure 8 route 4.7 miles in about 42 minutes. On a straight slightly downhill bit where I was pushing the pace I got a sudden muscle spasm in my left calf. Thought it was "just" cramp so stopped and massaged it for awhile before continuing at a more circumspect speed. But then got more a severe pain at the farthest point from home. Stopped running at 2.44 miles / 3.93Km and walked home.

Had my phone with me so could have rung for a taxi.

Reading the Family Medical Encyclopaedia the symptoms suggest it could be:-

• Cramp - caused by a temporary lack of blood flow associated with severe exertion
• Peripheral vascular disease - in which blood vessels in the legs are narrowed
• Compartment Syndrome - pressure that limits blood supply.

The third of these occurs most often in athletes who have well -developed muscles. So it won’t be that. The second is a bit worrying as it could be associated with high cholesterol levels and narrowing arteries. Warm baths, deep heat and resting already seem to have reduced the pain to dull ache so maybe it is just the first of these three.

Time for Rest and Recuperation (R&R). Re-assess and revise plans - be realistic.
And maybe some therapy? Better ask Sam on the Runners Forum.

Good timing - it has been sheeting down with rain ever since.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs Ch 16 v18.

 R&R - head down and hard at it. 

Pommies Paddled in Perth

Today is Antagonise an Aussie Day.
When you meet an Aussie shout “By an innings and…”

Make the most of it. It won’t happen again in my lifetime.

Tell an Aussie that the design is by Sir Ralph Freeman

There are some events so rare and significant that you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about them.

My childhood heroes include Peter Twiss, Peter Collins and Peter May. Most of you will have to google these names to find out who they were. Ba-bang, brrm-bbrm, thwack as it would say in the comics.

My knowledge of cricket is tiny and my cricketing ability at school was nil. They placed me in the field where I could do least harm and I never got to bowl and rarely to bat. My then undiagnosed short sight was a reason for my lack of proficiency.

It was only this week that I learnt why it is not a good idea to try and hit every ball and also the difference between “retaining” and “winning”.

In Sydney ask "Are You Being Served?"

Why are we drifting so far off topic? Motivation-motivation-motivation.

There is a lot of bull along the lines of “You can do anything you want to - you only have to try”.

No you can’t - ask Ikarus, or Captain Scott.

But you can improve. Planned, applied, timely and relevant training makes a difference.

Call his Ute a "Dinky truck"

There is no way that I am going to win the Bath Half Marathon - a winning time is just over an hour. For me it would be stretching it to complete the course in double the winner’s time. But I know I can complete the course in less than 3 hours.

Call his house a "bungalow"

As the weather improves - such an optimist - and Spring approaches my weekly training plan is:

• One longish slow run
• A couple of shorter faster runs
• An as the mood takes me run
• Three rest days in between

Eight weeks to go. Geronimo!

Chat Up his Sheila on Bondi Beach

More is Less

Another threshold crossed - a new distance achieved - more than ten miles.
To be precise 10.6 miles in 106 minutes. At my usual pedestrian pace of 10 minute miles.

Red Berries - White Snow

After an enforced layoff of nearly 2 weeks due to snow and icy conditions my fitness levels do not appear to have dropped as much as I feared. Yes, it has been difficult to get back into the swing of things and it has felt hard work at times. Restarted with a couple of short loops of 3+ miles, extended this to over 5 and then decided to double it.

Now that I have done 80% of the distance I am confident I can complete the Half Marathon in March.

Inevitably the shorter runs are faster on average - there is a distinct drop-off in my pace in the last part of a run - more markedly in the longer runs. Ideally I would like to increase my average on the longer runs to be closer to that on the shorter ones.

To do this I need to concentrate on the efficiency of my running. A more “falling forward” stance, better control over arms and legs, and controlled deep breathing rather than gasping, will all create more speed for less effort. I need to recreate the discipline I held to during my 10Km race - when my average speed was above my usual but my max speed was less than usual.

I ache therefore I am.

Rest day today.

In running, every pace
Is but between two legs a race,
In which both do their uttermost
To get before, and win the post;

Yet when they’re at their races' ends,
They’re still as kind and constant friends,
And, to relieve their weariness,
By turns give one another ease.

Butler.

Kind and constant friends - Saxons at Dyrham Park NT