April 25th 2010

Thank god for that it's over, many thanks to everyone who sponsored us, a big thank you to Mark, Dawn, Megan and lauren for putting us up overnight on the eve of the race and for looking after Heather and taking her to the finish for us, you were a great help guys and made our life alot easier. A big thank you to all those who put up with us on training runs and to Fred and Rita for having h when needed and to bob and carole for putting us up prior to the race.
As for the marathon itself it rained a bit at the beginning and the the hot weather didn't arrive until early afternoon. I wasn't impressed with the start and after a couple of miles I realised that 3hrs 20mins was out of the question. I was looking for 3hrs 30min but in the end was happy to settle with being able to run all the way and only just missed out. I was very emotional at the end as I have decided there are too many other marathons in the world and four London's is enough.
Liz was a inspiration, with all her injury issues for the past couple of months and not having completed all the long runs she wanted to I am very proud of her for what she has achieved. She set out to run it all, not be crippled at the end and to enjoy it, I am not sure if she enjoyed it but with the exception of a few zeppelin sized blisters on her feet the first two were a positive.
Thanks again to everyone who donated money to the Hospital, its a very worthy cause and maybe in the future we might even jump out of a plane for them.
Andy

Thursday 15th April

Well with just under two weeks to go tonight will be our last run with the club. We have both laid off the long runs and our injuries seem to be bearing up and we are both confident of a good race on the day.
The great news is we have passed the £1000 mark so thanks to everyone who has donated. We will put one last post on before the big day and then you will be able to see the after photos!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday 4th April 2010

we are back at last, I managed a 5 miler on Thursday with Steve and the lads, didn't feel too good at the time and the next day I was worried with the pains in my calf but since then it has worn off and we both went out yesterday and managed 7 miles with no issues so fingers crossed. Liz has taken to wearing her compression socks which she says seem to be helping, whether its in the mind or actually doing anything doesn't really matter as long as it gets the job done, although it doesn't do much for her street cred. Apparently she was running down the middle of a country lane with the ipod on full blast, singing at the top of her voice only to discover she had two cars following her!!
We will both be taking it easy for a few days and try to get a 10 to 13 miler in sometime in the week.
We have passed the £800 mark and it would be great to get to £1000, thanks to everyone who has donated so far.

26th March 2010

It's not been a good week for either of us and the toll of the large amount of training is causing injuries. Liz is still having problems with her right leg and has further physio booked and she has finally decided to take a week off altogether to give it a rest. As for me I have shin splints in my right leg, I stopped running after a painful 4 miles on Tuesday at the club and have been on the turbo ever since and I also have a physio session booked for Monday. Still there is no need to panic just yet, I believe we have both done enough training to this point and my main priority is for both of us to get better asap so we are both good for the big day.
Hopefully I have some better news next week.

12th March 2010

Well what a busy week. At the weekend we had the Bideford 1/2 Marathon. Liz completed a great personnel best of 1hrs 56mins and I just about managed to scrape in under 1hrs 30mins with 8 seconds to spare.
Liz currently has a annoying injury to her hamstring but hopefully with a bit of physio she will be back to full training soon. We still have 6 weeks before the big day and it's better to over come these small obstacles sooner rather than later although she is finding it frustrating.
I have just finished another 50 miles week and the legs are tired, only a couple of weeks to go and i can start to cut back a bit.
We are both booked in to do the Loch Ness Marathon in October, which by all accounts is very scenic.

Sunday 21st Feb

The end of another week, we managed a joint run in Windsor Great park on Tuesday covering 17 miles in the persistent rain, but despite the weather it made a change to run somewhere different. My mileage has increased this week to 45 miles and i even managed to fit a 9 miler in to celebrate my 44Th birthday on Thursday.
On the way to Windsor we stopped at the Bristol Hospital and met the girls at Wallace and Grommit. I was good to see where the money we are raising is going and to see how enthusiastic the girls are at the charity. We have just past the £700 and hopefully we should have a article in the local paper this week which will hopefully boost our efforts.

Saturday 13th Feb

We were both suffering from mild colds last week and cut back on the miles a bit to allow us to both make a full recovery. Liz has managed 32 miles for the week with a long run of 14 miles and I put in a 18 1/2 miler on Thursday despite the freezing cold wind in the Tarka trail.
It's half term next week and we are doing out first long run together around the Great Park in Windsor for a change of scenery, Liz will be doing 17 and I'll carry on for 20. At the same time we will get Heather to take some photos of us in the Wallace and Grommit race tops for the web site abd the press release.
We have only ten weeks to go before race day and the time will start to go very quickly, we both have the Bideford Half Marathon coming up at the beginning of March and a couple more long runs to go before we both start to taper down the miles during April.

Thursday 4th Feb

Well what a week, snow on Sunday and still I managed to get my arse out of bed at 0745 and be running by 8 to do 18 miles along the Tarka Trail. Didn't feel too bad and I wasn't going quick due to the covering of snow on the route. Went out with the lads on Tuesday for six. Wednesday was a low point, I had a tooth taken out at the dentist, 44 years old in two weeks and parts of me have had enough already and decided to jump ship!!!!! Drowned my sorrows with a very healthy KFC, pepsi and a couple of chocolate bars and low and behold the next morning I managed a pretty quick 12 miler, so much for a healthy diet!!Felt reallt good running at marathon pace, around 7:25/7:30min miles with plenty left. If the sun makes an appearance I'll go out for a short ride op the bike tommorow and start planning the next long run for late next week.

February 1st

Well, today was a shocker- went out with Kathryn to do 15 and did 17 but boy was it tough. And the hills???!!! I am so glad there are no hills in London!. Very pleased with the distance and on track but the thought of doing 9 and a bit more is a bit daunting!! But I can still walk and am smiling still so can't be all bad. Have to say, we couldn't chat as much today though..... Much to everyones surprise I'm sure!
Will plan a very flat route next week for the long one thats for sure.
Andy did 18 1/2 yesterday in snow and hail in a good time so he is also on track and plans to get out on his bike this week too. He's having no trouble training and could run it tomorrow in a knock out time. (No pressure!)

Tuesday 26th Jan

We both had a great run at Braunton on Sunday. Liz managed 1hr 33min with help from training partner Kathryn. They did really well as the course has a few slight bumps in it and who knows how fast they would have run if they hadn't talked so much. I was pleased with my time of 71 mins which is a one minute improvement over last year, my only dissapointment being I couldn't catch the guy in front despite a concerted effort in the last three miles. I even managed 30 miles on the bike on Monday which helped lossen the legs a bit. Back to the club tonight and this week should see liz doing about 32 miles and I should be up to 40.

Tue 19th Jan

Liz completed her longest run ever yesterday with help from her friend Kathryn. 14 miles and she can still walk. I have started some speed work and did a quick 10 miler yesterday. We are both running our first race of the year which is a very tough 10 miler in Braunton and we managed good mileage last week of around 32 miles each, so touch wood everything is on course.

Friday 15th Jan

Well thank god the snow has gone, I think we are very lucky in this area as the rest of the country still seems to be covered. With the temp rise so the mileage has increased and I managed to get out for my first long run of the year on Thursday when I managed 16 miles on the Tarka trail giving me a total of just under 32 miles for the week. Had a 1/2hr session on the turbo today to loosen the legs and I'll try to get a 5/6 miler in on Saturday all things being good. Liz has named her group of running friends the HELP13 group which stands for Help Elizabeth Last Past 13. She is doing great so far and I am confident that she will complete the marathon without any problems.

Monday 11th Jan

1hr on the turbo following a weekend night shift, still very cold with more heavy snow falls expected during the night and tomorrow morning, but the temp is supposed to be on the up so hopefully I will be able to get a 8-10 mile run in at some point.

New Year

The start to the New Year has been difficult to say the least. The weather in North Devon has been awful with freezing temps and snow covering the roads and pathways, having said that one of the advantages of living by the coast is having a beach just down the road and we have both managed to get out and put some six to eight milers in. Liz has just completed a 12 mile run and is on schedule for 20+ miles this week, which is remarkable given the conditions. Andy was up to fifteen miles for a long run the week before Christmas and he will start some speed work as and when the snow clears, he has also been busy on the turbo trainer which has helped clear some of his Christmas excess.