Running Devizes

Another thing I'm finally learning - about taking holidays. Never been a strong point, but that's starting to change. So for the next week I'm away from this blog and away from Bedfordshire.

Still miles to be run. Or, more accurately, plodded. Starting with an eight-miler tomorrow after I've driven to Devizes.

I'll let you know how it went next week.

Be good.

And don't forget to sponsor me for the last 26 miles - the link's on the left hand side of the page. And if you want to know why, visit the NSPCC site and catch a glimpse of the work they're doing.

Like the BBC - nothing but the same again

And then on Tuesday I did it all again. Another six mile run. This time in a light breeze, as the sun went down. A little overcast, but a totally different proposition from Monday.

Such a different proposition that I ran substantially faster. The theory is that I don't care about how fast I run, just that I get round the 26 miles of the New York marathon safely and injury-free. The practice is that of course I care a little about how fast I am. Not enough to really do anything about it, but just enough to feel rather pleased with myself when I see that I've run faster than I have before.

I should also note at this point something that became apparent on Monday - how restrained Bedfordshire drivers are. Given a slow-moving target on wet, puddle-strewn roads, the temptation to catch the edge of a nearby puddle and propel its contents in my direction must have been strong. No-one took advantage.

At every point of every run, 90 per cent of drivers have been accommodating, steering round me on the road. And for that I'm grateful. I usually acknowledge them, but if you're one that I didn't be assured that it was largely because I didn't have the strength to lift my arm.

And Rachel, my coach at Personal Best in Clophill, has sent through the next month's schedule. It's going to be fun - stepping up again to 16 mile runs. And more of them. I'm getting a fair few of these 500 miles under my belt now - and feeling better for it. Well, feeling better the day after the run anyway.

88 miles down, 412 to go.

A run delayed is still a run

So then, you're probably wondering where I got to. And whether I managed that six miles on Sunday. I didn't. While I felt generally pretty good the day after the big run, my left knee wasn't quite there - still stiff and slightly achy/numb. Nothing major, nothing to worry about, but enough of a warning sign to not choose to run on it.

[That's progress, that is - learning to listen to the warning signs. And even acting on them!]

So I waited until Monday evening for the run. Yup. Monday evening. Monday the-torrential-downpour evening. Monday the-what-the-hell-is-this-in-August evening. And then I did my run. The rain wasn't a big problem - in fact I rather enjoyed it (I am, after all, someone who loves their weather "raw" which is why the closest to "feeling at home" I've ever experienced was living in Glasgow). It was the wind that really did for me.

And despite the fact that I effectively run in a big irregular circle, it amazes me that the wind is always in my face. Never mind that half an hour earlier it was behind me, by the time I've come 180 degrees, it's altered to accommodate me...

So, an hour after I left, I got home, drenched and windswept. Carrying an extra stone or two in water saturation.

To be greeted by a three year old looking at me. "You're all wet. Silly Daddy." And a five year old. "Is that all sweat?"

Of course, they're utterly unimpressed by my stoic attitude, mistaking it for sheer insanity. Ah well.

12 miles good, 2 miles ouch

Well that went well. [He said sitting very gingerly, with nagging aches from his thighs, calves and toes...] The first really big run and I covered it, for the most part, without too much difficulty.

I say that, of course, knowing that the first 10-12 miles went fine. The last two miles were different, but that's only to be expected.

It's actually been a lovely evening to run - cool, with a light breeze, perfect conditions. The blackberries are starting to appear in places too, which are perfect little energy boosters as I'm going round. And there's all sorts of things in Bedfordshire that I've never noticed before - the Jubilee memorial clock on a house in Greenfields, the 18-inch butterfly on a wall in Clophill and the neon "Duff" beer sign in the Flitwick window. Not forgetting of course the aromatic cigarette smoke wafting past me at one house. Obviously very calm and relaxed residents there. I kept running before inhaling - wouldn't do to get the munchies halfway round the run.

I'm uncomfortable tonight, and the schedule calls for a six-mile run tomorrow. We'll see how things look in the morning...

Getting going...

And so onto the next thing - setting up all the sponsorship details on the web.

And that's now done. You can sponsor me easily by clicking here to open a separate window. Blog's set up - I'll be reporting regularly here on how the training's going.

Next step, write something for the local media and then email everyone. I'm excited.

Although tomorrow holds a certain morbid fascination for me - a 14 mile run, the first one in double figures. Nice relaxing Saturday, then...

New York it is

Excellent news. Having missed out on the lottery to get into the New York marathon and then been too late to get a charity guaranteed place, I was resigned to hoping for a cancellation somewhere or running the Athens marathon on 6th November 2005 instead.

But I've just had the call from NSPCC that there's a place available if I still want it. And I most definitely do. New York it is.

62 miles down, 438 miles to go.