Shorts'n'all

Not the first outing in shorts this year, but the first where there was no hint of a chill. Blossom coming out everywhere (I think that's early, but a city boy like me doesn't have much experience on which to base that estimation).

Rapeseed in full flow - running alongside a bright yellow field, whose pollen has as powerful an effect as Oz's poppy field.  (Except rather than sending me to sleep, it wakes up the nose and throat...)

Calves tight, but the Achilles tendon (which had been acting up again recently) is once more calm.  The little jelly inserts in the running shoes help no end.

And a fab audiobook to listen to.  Thich Nhat Hanh's The Art of Mindful Living.  Very peaceful, very calming and very beautiful.  My mind still wandered as it tends to onto work/blog/life matters, but for much of the time the book helped to centre and calm the normal noise.  Same again tomorrow, definitely...

Cold, damp, overcast and all-round great

I had been wondering whether the late arrival of Autumn would be followed by the gentle run-in we get when it's on time.  Now I know.

As far as I can tell, it's done three months of work in a fortnight.  One week, the sun's bright, the wind's cold, but the landscape was a glorious abundant green.  And today, running across the newly reopened path by the earthworks and past Motte and Baileys and on past Wrest House, the sun had gone, but more noticeable was the sparseness of the trees.  Crow's nests clustered in now-bare treetops, mud everywhere (including, now, in the house, but I hope to clear up before the others get home) and a dreich sky overhead.

Fantastic.  Real weather, none of this "I only like the sunshine" malarkey.

93 miles run - 986 miles to go

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Back on the road again

The weekly long run today - a clear 7-miler with some big hills thrown in.

I missed the Friday run - something to do with leaving the house at 5am to catch a 6.30am flight to Geneva, landing again at 10.30pm and getting home at 11pm. Didn't feel much like going out for a run at that point.

Today was an odd one, though.  Felt like lead weights in my legs from the start and struggled up Great Lane and the hill above the village. And on through Flitton - little more than slightly lengthy plodding.

And then suddenly, after five miles, as I rounded the corner out of Wardhedges and slowed to a walk while I tucked my gloves into the camelbak, took a slurp of water and a bite of banana, it all shifted.  I can't call it a second wind - there'd never been a first - but from then on it was an easier run.

It was also a much easier run than the one this time last year, which in New York - my first marathon.

And running in bright chilly sunshine on a Sunday morning has another effect: I can see drivers as they pass.  I wave and say thank you to the vast majority who give me a generous birth.  Most wave back and actually smile - which helps for the next stage of the run.

In the dark, I wave and mouth thank you, but they could be offering me sexual favours and I'd never know...

59.5 miles run - 1019.5 miles to go

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Clear and bright and bloody cold

Most of the recent runs have been at night - even 5.30pm starts are in the dark within a mile or so.  And while the headlamp helps, it's still not ideal - while most motorists are considerate, the ones that aren't blast past close with headlights full on and make it uncomfortable enough for me to prefer not to run at night.

So today, for the first time in a while, I was working at home, so ran in the middle of the day.  Blue skies, bright sunshine.  And biting cold.  In the sunshine was great (although Badger Hill seems to get closer to the vertical all the time), but out of the sun the slightest breeze was freezing.

There are round and about still the shriveled remnants of blackberries here and there.  Few leaves on the ground as yet - most trees are still green, although no longer the vibrant colour of summer, but the dulled green on the slope downwards to winter.

52.5 miles run - 1026.5 miles to go

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Sawn-off unicorns

I've missed a few runs recently, but made it out last night for the weekly long run.  No, it's not actually that long yet - tonight was about 7 miles.  Plenty long enough in this drizzle, but still considerably shorter than what many people would consider a long run.

Running at night on country roads presents its own special challenges.  I've taken to wearing a small headlight that means that at least the space in front of me is lit and I can avoid the potholes.  And drivers can see me in plenty of time - a slightly odd bobbing light from afar, but me from close.

It does mean that when I'm running in areas with streetlights, I look a little odd with this thing in the middle of my head - like a sawn-off unicorn.

It also creates an interesting little feature when running in the rain.  Much like driving at night in a snowstorm - the rain passing in front of my face gets lit and swirls toward me.  Very odd.

One question though - we're into October and it's getting cooler.  And people have lots of central heating on.  So why don't they draw their curtains - either for privacy or at least to keep the heat in?

No wonder this report came out today from the Energy Saving Trust on the UK being the worst wasters of energy.  From what I saw last night, we waste pounds each evening...

40.5 miles run - 1038.5 miles to go

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Carcasses

Dead rabbit lying by the side of the road.  Sounds like the start of a Cowboy Junkies song or some particularly downbeat country song.  Possibly the first ever Bedfordshire Blues?

And moments later, running back into the village, there's the remains of the old church up on the hill - further back than I'd thought it was.  There are, of course, stories about its being used by satanists and its being haunted.  Looking on the web, there may be something in the former - mention of it apparently made the papers back in the 60s and again in the 70s.

As for the former - haunted?  There's supposed video of a ghost here, but if you can see anything, you're either more gullible/perceptive than me or you need new glasses.

No ghosts on the run today.  Uneventual in the extreme.  Apart from the rabbit, and he wasn't talking.

28.5 miles run - 1050.5 miles to go

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Lessons galore

Well that was an interesting one...  Sunday morning, windy, occasional rain, with blasts of sunshine along the way.  Not quite four seasons in one day, but certainly three of 'em.

And the lessons.  First the positive one - I've finally worked out how to set different limits for different sessions on the heart rate monitor.  So today's run was at a higher rate than normal.  Officially, rather than accidentally.

Others were less positive.  My camelbak is good for more than just carrying water - it could have carried the rain jacket for those occasional moments when I needed it.  Rather than wear it the whole way around.

And a wicking layer coupled with a rain jacket is not a good combination on a day like today.  Overheated the whole way.  And taking off the jacket wasn't really an option in the wind - I tried.

Having whinged about all of that, it was a good long run.  Timing wasn't bad, dealt with the hills well, etc, etc.

26 miles run - 1053 miles to go

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Into Lightning

Friday evening and the first real test - a run in cooler, windier weather with the constant threat of rain.  It rained earlier, it's obviously going to rain later, but I managed a dry run - although the homeward leg allowed me to see lightning flashes out over Flitwick, Harlington and Toddington.

But a good enough run.  And the runs are now long enough to benefit from the MP3 player and listening to audiobook chapters or podcasts.  One of the drawbacks about running a business from home is that there's no commuting.

Now I know that commuting is more bane than boon to most people, but it does allow time to read and listen to useful stuff.  Even more so now, with interesting podcast programmes than previously.  And there's never enough time sitting at the desk to listen to a podcast, so the runs are perfect for that.

Improving my legs and cardiovascular system and the brain all in one go.  Can't be bad...

21 miles run - 1058 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Flat, quiet and refreshed

Well, the cold set in full blast a week after the last post. I'd managed a couple of runs in the meantime, but it gradually got a greater and greater grip. Not fully over it yet, but well enough to head back out onto the roads. And I've only missed a couple of short runs and one slightly longer one.

And I've finally found a flatter route to run from the house. Maximum out-and-back distance is 2.8 miles, so I'll have outgrown it before long, but at least it's enough to get my fitness up off the floor without demanding instant hill runs of my legs.

Not bad today. No MP3, no music, just me and the road and a handful of drivers - all of whom were kind enough to give me room.

Some blackberries still along the way - a nice, juicy, sweet boost - and some redcurrants later in the run. Just a couple of bushes wild in a hedge. I can manage when it's all like this.

And the benefit of running in daylight (unlike last week, when I ran the same route in the late evening) is that you get to see the blackberries and pickin's as you go.

16 miles run - 1063 miles to go.
Posted by Tony Quinlan

On the cusp

Sunday morning run in bright sunshine and 22C heat. Sapping, but out and back well. Pulse high before I started - I suspect I've got the edge of a cold, so lots of vitamin C to stave off its full onset!

It may be summer weather today, but we're obviously on the cusp of autumn. The first wave of blackberries has gone, but there are still some available as sweet snacks to passers by in need of refreshment. And there are some still developing on the hill up the A6.

Being a city boy, I'm always learning new things out here in the country. I always associated autumn things with October, but blackberries are late August, the first chestnuts are falling off the trees now (although none are open - I guess even the squirrels won't touch these just yet). The horse chestnut tree on the corner of the High Street and Kiln Lane has started to turn orange and brown, although from the office window across the valley, everywhere else is green.

Still another good run today. And, despite the temptation, I'm only recording flat ground distance here. Every run from home seems to take in substantial amounts of hills (mostly uphill, according to my legs), but I'm avoiding adding that to the distances here. Still got a good 1000 miles to go...

9 miles run - 1070 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

The Backhill Wurlitzer Conspiracy

Another run today. Slow and steady. The stiffness and ache in the left knee ease off after a mile or so, and my heart rate today stayed down until the last half mile - so improving already.

There are many great things about living in a Bedfordshire village (and some less great ones, but let's not go there) - like being able to run without pounding pavements and without having to inhale car fumes all the time.

Today, however, I came across a brand new and totally unexpected one - musical accompaniment. Coming back down the Slade from the farm, and puzzling as I always do what made this path so important that at some distant time someone decided it was worth building a brick base to it, I reached the houses at the bottom. The first thing you come to is a large shed/small barn behind a hedge. Nondescript and normally silent.

Except this morning, there was a full-blown wurlitzer tune emanating from it. At least, that's what I took it for, not being an expert in the fairground music genre. Is this some secret gathering of the Fairground Illuminati? a Wurlitzer World Council?

Or perhaps a late Bedfordshire entry into Fairground Idol?

2.5 miles run - 1074 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

On the road again

And here we go. Entered into the 2007 Paris Marathon this week. Bib number: 32266

The date is April next year, giving me a full 30 weeks to get properly ready and avoid injury - the traditional trip-up in Quinlan running plans. Both last year and this, I didn't give myself enough time, over-trained early in an attempt to get on some sort of track to a good time - and promptly end up injured and unable to run at all. Last year it was the Achilles, this year I managed to re-trigger the hip problem that stopped me in my tracks back in 1998.

At least this time, the hip problem won't result in six years of doctors' saying "Get used to it, you'll never run again". This time I knew what stretches worked and I'm working them into my daily routine - and the pain dissipates by the day. (Non-hessian office chairs help too - which tells you a lot about exactly where the pain is...)

So. A new, slow, long-term running programme was required. And all the training programmes out there are for 18 weeks or less. They talk about longer being better, but do they actually have longer training programmes out there? No.

But I've eventually found something - a little programme called RunCoach32. And after downloading the trial version from RunCoach :: Your personal trainer I've fired it up and planned a lovely long gentle run in to next April.

I'm a bit concerned that it describes my programme as "UNREALISTIC" - because it doesn't seem to think I'll be able to improve my mile time significantly in the next six months from my current state of plodding-slowly-round-in-unfit mode. Personally, while I don't think I'll quite reach the heights of svelte-athlete-devouring-the-miles-with-smile-on-face, I do think that I'll see a significant improvement. I did last year and I did this year in shorter timeframes. Only the injuries got in the way, caused by ramping too much.

So a nice slow build here we come...

And, in a six month period, a full 1079 miles to run. I could change the name of this blog as a consequence, but let's be honest...

So. First run yesterday - and not bad. Not exactly fit, not exactly easy, but a great start.

2.5 miles run - 1076.5 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Fast turnaround

Only a few miles this evening, but better than last week.

It's amazing to me how powerful the body can be at adapting and getting better. It's only seven days since I went for my first run in months. The next day, despite stretching, there was some stiffness and soreness.

I had one more run last week and then another this evening in lovely sunshine. And the difference in only a week is amazing. I felt better, ran faster and recovered more quickly.

Now, if only I could get my heart-rate down below "impending explosion" I'll be doing well...

5 miles run - 1074 miles to go.

Posted by Tony Quinlan

Off we go again

The NY marathon last year was wonderful. Slow. Painful. Hot. But definitely wonderful.

After the Achilles injury, I hadn't actually managed to do any running for over two months before the date, so getting round at all became my main aim. And I made it. In 32C heat (or was it 26C? it's already getting exaggerated in my head), I ran for the first few miles, alternated the next few between walking and running and then walked the last few - finishing in just under or over six hours. (Time between starting gun and my finishing: six hours plus change; time between my crossing the start line and my crossing the finish line: five hours and fifty minutes, tuppence ha'penny)

And a long break thereafter. But back on the trail again.

This year, I'm not going for New York. Dublin, however, is another matter.

Just started a little training in the past week, so I'm also restarting this blog. Watch me go...

Pulling into the home straight

Just over a fortnight to go and I'm feeling better and better. The Achilles hasn't complained despite all the stretching and strengthening exercises I'm doing with it. And in the meantime I've been rowing away like a good 'un and feeling much better for it.

I'm still mildly disappointed that I'm going to be run-walking my way around New York, but that's just this time. And I might as well enjoy the view! I've entered the London marathon, and that will give me plenty of time to get ready to run a marathon with a good time target. For now I'll be content to finish.

And the distance target's still there. Between serious sessions on the rowing machine and occasional light jogs on the treadmill, I've added a further 21 miles to the total. Not huge, but still progress in the right direction. I'm still planning on hitting that magic 500 mile target.

And the sponsorship's hotting up - thanks to everyone that's donated already and thanks to everyone that's about to by clicking here

Cheers

Tony

_{Tony Quinlan
Chief Storyteller
Narrate}

132 miles down, 368 to go.

Back on track...

Finally, the all clear comes through on the Achilles tendon. It's been a few weeks of ultrasound with Kevan, but it's now looking good. Four weeks to go.

So, a new fitness programme. The old running programme went out the window and will, by now, be swooping with albatrosses somewhere over the Pacific. The new programme, thanks to Rachel Armstrong at Personal Best, is mostly general fitness with some running.

Any hopes I had of running neatly all the way around have disappeared. I'm going to be in run-walk mode now. And I'm going to enjoy every moment.

The 500 miles? Still relevant - but some of it's going to be on the rowing machine that I'll be using for the next couple of weeks. Running 500 miles seemed to be a lot. Rowing a couple of hundred does too.

Looking good...

Swimming AND breathing?

One of the things that's come out of tonight's ultrasound session was the possibility of more swimming. That's a stretch for me - I've never been a confident swimmer. Never been comfortable with immersing my face in the water. Never worked out how to breathing and swimming at the same time.

I can stay afloat and even make reasonable ground in the water. But front crawl consists of head-in-the-water-rotate-the-arms-swim-super-speedy until air runs out, then surface, stop, breathe in and repeat. Not how they tend to do it in the Olympics. Unless you're Eric the Eel. And even he seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly.
I've always meant to do something about it, but never quite known what or where to go.

But I've now discovered a possible solution. Rather than embarrass myself at swimming classes (I doubt Genevieve would be that impressed if I turned up at hers, although the novelty value would be good for about 10 minutes), it turns out the Bedford Tractors (triathlon athletes) hold a regular swimming training session at Bedford School with a coach to help improve performance. And that includes people with my swimming technique.

Definitely worth a try.

Tony

Don't forget to sponsor me at Just Giving: 500milestogo

Climbing the walls

OK, this is driving me spare. While the Achilles tendon seems to be getting better - no more burning pains at the back of my left leg - it's a slow process. And it's been three weeks since I last went for a run. So I'm lagging behind on the miles to clock up, time is running out ahead of New York and I feel like all that early work is slipping away from me. Argh. To put it mildly...

But. Here's the good news. The ultrasound with Kevan's been helping a lot. And tomorrow I'm talking again to Rachel about how to restart the training programme. It's now going to be focused, I feel, on a get-me-round version rather than a relatively respectable time. But we - I - am going to get there all the same.

And the 500 mile challenge? Still holds. Definitely still holds. But the New York 26 miles won't be the last 26, they'll be somewhere in the middle. So 500 miles to go before 40 still holds. And I'll be keeping this going too.

Who knows, I may end up completing the 500 miles at the Luton marathon in early December. From never having done a marathon to doing two before 40 - might not be such a bad thing. Heh.

Tony

Don't forget to sponsor me at Just Giving: 500milestogo

Sponsorship

A reminder. Yes, I am doing it for the good of my health, actually. But I'm also doing it for the good of other people's health too - specifically children.

I'm running for the NSPCC, who've asked for a minimum of �1000 in sponsorship. But we can do better, you and I, so I'm targetting �2600. Whatever you can spare, I'm grateful for.

To sponsor me online go to the address on the left - www.justgiving.com/500milestogo

Thank you.

Tony

Frustration building

Now this is tough. Having checked it out properly, it's now plain that I've damaged the achilles tendon in my left heel. Not seriously, irreparably, but enough to make me stop running and rest it. And the inactivity is driving me crazy.

I'm now on a course of ultrasound and gentle stretching, but I want to be out there running. [You have no idea how strange a thought that feels in my head...] In the meantime, no running. And when I do, no hills.

No hills?!?

Have you seen the terrain around here? Granted, it's not exactly the Himalayas or even the Cotswolds. But Clophill sits in a valley - something plain from the poor radio and TV reception here. [Why do Channel Five only show programmes and films where it's snowing all the time?] So, as I've previously pointed out, every run starts off uphill. And that's the biggest no-no of all.

So. I've had two weeks of inactivity. I'm going to start covering the next chunk of mileage on a rowing machine. It'll keep me fit, and building my fitness. It'll give me distance to cover, so I can keep chipping away at that 500 mile target. And it'll stop me going insane with inactivity.

And soon I'll be back on my feet, ready to resume the road-pounding ahead of New York...

After dark

Back home again now and, after a week's rest, ventured out last night for six miles. Running later in the evening in a vain attempt to miss the humid heat that saps the strength. No such luck - drenched within the first two miles. And s it got dark, I became increasingly aware of my vulnerability running on unlit roads.

Where possible I ran on pavements, but the surfaces are treacherous in the dark and I often resorted to the roads once more. And however bright and white and reflective the running top I wear may be, it's not much good as cars hurtle over the crest of a hill or round a corner. And plenty do...

Still, a good six miles run. Even if this morning that achilles tendon's acting up again. Time for another conversation with Rachel at Personal Best about how best to resolve this before my training disappears completely.

But on the bright side, I've passed 100 miles in the programmme...

110 miles down, 390 to go.