Why am I doing all of this again?

Sometimes I need reminding why I'm training 2-3 times a day most days of the week with the prospect of it getting even more difficult over the next 3 years.  Tonight I read a selection of the hundreds of emails I received during last year's big run.  I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye as I scanned through them.  

The majority of emails are from people I'm never likely to meet.  They are all inspiring and encouraging.  It'll not be the last time I browse through them as I look, every now and again, for a reminder that all of this effort is worthwhile.  

Meanwhile, training this week is going exceptionally well.  It's probably the hardest week of training for 12 months with 51 miles on the bike, 10 miles of running and 2 gym classes in the last 3 days.  Tomorrow will be a test with 34 miles on the bike and 5 miles at lunchtime.  Friday will see me do a 2 spinning classes in the gym and a long bike ride on Saturday will round things off nicely.  I'm looking forward(!) to next week where the majority of days will be spent running.  Oh and it's the 22 mile Pennine Challenge run a week on Sunday!  If you would like to sponsor me and the rest of the team, please follow the link to justgiving.com at the right hand side of the page.  Thanks in advance for the support!

No rest, no recovery!

Pictured (courtesy of my GPS watch and Google Earth) is my route over the Scotswood Bridge for last Monday's Blaydon Race. More on that later, but I'd like to mention how things are going on the training front.

Training in 2008 has evolved into a nicely balanced mix of gym classes, running and cycling. It's a far cry from the 50 miles a week I was running last year in preparation for the big run but I actually feel fitter and definitely have more strength and far greater mobility.

At the start of the year, I had planned on just doing the usual lunchtime runs and longer runs in the Pennines on weekends. It hasn't worked out this way as I'm enjoying the other elements of training so much. What has gone to plan, however, is the requirement to run faster and make things tougher than last year. Almost every run is at a quicker pace than last year. Also, the strategy I've adopted in preparation for USA 2011 is "no rest, no recovery". I've got 3 years to get used to running myself into the ground and I've made a pleasing start on that front.

Double sessions are common place during most days of the week. It's by no means easy, but I'm learning to adapt to the day in, day out grind on top of work and family responsibilities. The last couple of weeks, for example, has consisted of the following:

Monday 2nd - Spinning (45 mins, lunchtime), Spinning (45 mins, evening)

Tuesday 3rd - Boxercise (45 mins, lunchtime), Spinning (45 mins, evening)

Wednesday 4th - Run (6 miles, lunchtime)

Thursday 5th - Run (5 miles, lunchtime)

Friday 6th - Spinning (45 mins, morning), Spinning (45 mins, lunchtime)

Monday 9th - Spinning (45 mins, lunchtime), The Blaydon Race (6.1 miles, evening)

Tuesday 10th - Cycling (17 miles, morning)

Wednesday 11th - Spinning (45 mins, lunchtime), Cycling (17 miles, evening)

Thursday 12th - Cycling (17 miles, morning), Boxercise (45 mins, evening)

Sunday 15th - Spinning (45 mins, morning)

It's taken almost 5 months to establish the current training schedule. I'm now ready to step things up a notch in an attempt to see just how far I can push myself and, more importantly, to try and be as well prepared as I can be to start USA 2011 training next Spring. I see the remainder of the year being split into 6 cycles. Each cycle will consist of 4 weeks of cross training. Week 1 will be 60% cycling, 20% gym, 20% running. Week 2 will be 60% running, 20% gym, 20% cycling. Week 3 will be 60% gym, 20% cycling, 20% running. Week 4 will be 80% running, 20% gym.

So that's the remainder of the year sorted out! Meanwhile, back to this week, where Monday saw me run my 3rd Blaydon Race. It was a good run for me and I managed a PB of 51:32 despite the course being lengthened this year. The fact that I'd had a spinning class (taken by Tracy (aka The Terminator!)) at lunchtime makes it all the more pleasing.  Remember - No rest, no recovery!  By some coincidence, I saw Tracy in my eyeline just before the 1st mile point on the Blaydon Race. She's recovering from a knee operation and was taking it easy. I managed to keep up with her until the final 1/4 mile and it really helped having a familiar face as a pace maker. I was over the moon with my final time when I got to the finish line in Blaydon. Katy treated me to a pizza on the way home and I was up again at 06:00 the next morning for my maiden voyage to work on my bike. 

Getting to work in 01:35:55 felt like an even bigger achievement than the Blaydon Race PB. Cycling home on Wednesday night in the rain and then back again on Thursday morning surpassed everything else. I should explain that each pound saved cycling (and given the economy of my car that is some saving!) is going towards what I'm calling the "2011 War Chest". This is the sum of my own money that I'll need to support the next big tour. I'll talk more on that in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, let's not get too confident and brings things back down to earth! Wednesday's bike journey home was not without incident! I stopped at mile 16 for a drink. Nothing too dangerous there you might think. Think again as I, for one moment, thought I was on a spinning bike in the gym and forgot to release my feet for the stirrups. Well you can imagine the result! TIMBEEERRRRRR!!!!!! Thankfully, all I had to show for my stupidity was a grazed knee and bruised hip. Oh and my pride took a bit of a dent too!

A PB in the Blaydon heat.

They may have extended the route this year but that didn't stop me from posting a PB of 51:32 for tonight's Blaydon Race.  My previous best was 52:53 on last year's run.   Conditions were ideal for me, with a nice bout of early summer heat.  I do enjoy running in 20 something degree temperatures and tonight was no exception.  The miles ticked by as follows:

Mile 1 - 07:33

Mile 2 - 08:22

Mile 3 - 08:31

Mile 4 - 09:16

Mile 5 - 08:50

Mile 6 - 09:02

Full report to follow.

Route planning for USA 2011 made 100% easier!

The planning for USA 2011 just got a whole lot easier! I must say huge thanks to Jackson Williams and his team for providing me with a detailed route from CA to NY.

Jackson, ran the huge distance last summer and is himself planning to run from John O'Groats to Land End this year. As a press release from his website explains:

"Jackson, from Norwich, says he hopes to complete the challenge in between nine and 14 days. “Initially, I hoped to try and break the world record, which currently stands at nine days and two hours,” he explains. “But, although the training preparations have been going well I haven’t covered as many miles as I would have liked to.

“In preparation I’ve been running about 100 miles a week, with six days on and one day off. During my challenge, if I run 96 miles a day, I’ll break the world record and if I run 60 miles a day, I’ll complete the challenge in 14 days. But I’m just going to take the challenge one day at a time, and see how it goes.”".

With such a detailed plan I feel like I've been given many months head start in the planning and preparation for the next big run. The next major tasks are familiarising myself with the route and trying to secure some mobile accommodation. Getting some cheap/free digs is the key to the success of the next big run. Once I've secured a camper van (or similar) I'll be putting the chances of success up from 5% to 50% straight away. In the meantime, thanks again to Jackson and his team for some invaluable route plans.

4 weeks until the next challenge.

It is now just 4 weeks until the Pennine Challenge.  I feel in good condition and really ready for the 22 miles of relentless climbs and steep descents.  The rest of the team seem in good nick too, if not a little nervous.   Speaking of the team, we have added 2 members to the squad.  Jim Patterson, who cycled the route last year, will be a runner this time around.  Mark Cass, who is a good runner and all round athlete, will also be joining the running element of the team.

So we are now a 12 strong team with 7 runners and 5 cyclists:

Runners

Mark Allison

Jimmy Bell

Mark Cass

Jonathan Dixon

Carlton Fletcher

Steven Moore

Jim Patterson

Cyclists

Ian Glasgow

Mike Paul

Michelle Paul

Richard Scholfield

Fraser Scott

I'd like to express my thanks to the bbc.co.uk/tyne website for a nice article on the Pennine Challenge.  It can be viewed here.

Pledges coming in just like old times.

Within minutes of the justgiving.com/ thepenninechallenge page being created on Thursday, the pledges started coming in once again.   

Paul Edwards got the ball rolling for 2008 and there were several other generous pledges including £50 from www.beowulfconsulting.co.uk.    

All of these guys supported me last year via nufc.com and I'm really grateful that they've dug deep once more.  Thanks to everybody so far for your pledges.  

There are also a steady flow of names on the rest of the team's sponsor forms with Carlton Fletcher doing especially well so far.  

With so many people doing so many amazing things for so many good causes it is nice to see that our team's fund has made a good start.  The Children's Foundation is a very worthwhile charity and I hope the Pennine Challenge Team can get a decent 4 figure sum to reflect the hard work that will be put into this year's Pennine Challenge.

The Pennine Challenge Team. Finalised!

After month's of telling my colleagues that the 22 mile route from Castleside to Middleton "isn't really that bad*", I finally have a team of 10 able souls to undertake the Pennine Challenge.

The Team is a mixture of 5 cyclists (doing 44 miles) and 5 runners (doing 22 miles). We have various levels of experience. From accomplished club runners such as the one and only Jimmy Bell (Elswick Harriers (pictured right)) to relative newcomers such as Jonathan Dixon (A gangly 6 foot odd runner who is there to provide the comedy as much as owt else!).

We will be raising funds for The Childrens Foundation (Charity No. 1000013) whose vision is "for the health and well being of children and young people in the North East to be the best in the UK.".

The five runners are myself, Jimmy Bell, Jonathan Dixon, Steven Moore and Carlton Fletcher. The five cyclists are Mike and Michelle Paul, Richard Scholfield, Fraser Scott and Ian "The Coach" Glasgow".

Having trained in the Pennines for the most of 2007, I can't stress how difficult this route is. Only last week, one of last year's runners (Michael Dunn (pictured left)), had an exploratory operation on his knee. The injury came near the end of last year's run on the hills around Middleton. Michael will be on crutches for a few weeks and I wish him a speedy recovery. I don't for one minute think we've seen the last of Dunny's running career. You can't write off a charity hero as quick as that! And you may notice that Ian "The Coach" Glasgow is a cyclist this year. He also sustained a knee injury on the route last year and hasn't been able to get much running in as a result. The route really is that treacherous!

My own preparation for this run has been not the usual itinerary of out and out running. I've really mixed it up this time with 4, 5 or sometimes 6 spinning classes, 2 boxercise classes and 3 good quality runs a week. I've managed to maintain this schedule for 3 months now so I feel very prepared. I'm running as fast as I have for a long time, posting 01:13:50 (a PB) for the 8.4 Havannah route last week and 01:15:05 only today. I'll be spending the next 4 weekends in the Pennines getting used to those hills and getting the distance up slightly. Oh and I mustn't forget the weekly workouts on Wii Fit. They aren't as strenuous but I do enjoy the change!

*yeah right!

The route planning starts....

Using Google Earth, I've started to take a very high level look at a potential route across the USA.  The route starts at Huntington Beach in California and I've managed to trace it as far as Las Vegas.

I must admit, my geography of the West side of the USA isn't the best.   I'm glad to report, though, that I'm starting to get a good appreciation of where the various places are.   Thankfully, this route is slightly south east of Death Valley.  That's a shame in some ways, as I could have got a few extra bob in sponsor money I reckon.  The official Death Valley website gives some advice for hikers - "When half the water is gone, it is time to turn back."!!!

I'll keep you posted as the route planning progresses.

Upstaged! AGAIN!!!

Last year's big run from John O'Groats to Lands End raised over £34,000 for St. Benedict's Hospice. Just a month before I set off on that epic, a group of Northern Rock staff, headed by Mark Fleming (pictured on the left with me on day 10), did a bike ride in Northumberland and raised £47,000 for The Northern Brainwave Appeal!!!! I'm sure you'll agree that the amount raised is astonishing and might I say fully deserved!

Now the thing is, Mark has been reminding me of this fact on an almost daily basis. To say the words "Charity" and "Hero" are commonplace in our office is a massive understatement. It's all good banter though. However, the fact remains that I got upstaged last year in the fundraising stakes.

Not one to rest on his laurels he decided to go one better at the derby match last weekend. He decided to upstage my lap of honour at the Aston Villa match when his mate Jan won a hospitality package in a competition. After a tour of the ground he met Peter Beardsley, then had a cuppa with Kevin Keegan and Terry Mac in the manager's office. Then a pre match meal followed with Sir Bobby, Chris Mort, Mike Ashley, Niall Quinn and Bob Murray (!!!!). His seat for the match was right in front of Chris Mort and Mike Ashley and he was subsequently seen by millions on Sky TV celebrating the first goal (pictured). His (and all of our) day was complete when we stuffed the sad mackems 2 - 0. Ever since Sunday, people have been listening in total amazement as to how Mark and his friends were treated by the club. Once again, they've scored big time in the PR stakes; treating a bunch of working class lads to a quite remarkable day. And a day, I'm sure, they'll never forget. And one Mark will undoubtedly never let us forget! I dread to think how he is going to upstage my run across the USA in 2011!

Dreaming Miss Daisy!

In the Summer of 2005, I would often wake up in a cold sweat during the night having dreamt of running the length of the UK from John O'Groats to Lands End. Admittedly, the route was often lined with bikini clad babes but the point is that I started to subconsciously plan and prepare for the biggest challenge of my life.

3 years on and a similar thing has started to happen.  I've started to dream about running the 3100 miles from the west coast to the east coast of the USA (30 miles per day with a rest day after every 14!!!  The dreams are quite vivid!!  No sign of any American totty just yet mind!).  

At the time of writing I reckon there is about a 5% chance of success.  So many things have to be in place, so many things have to be in my favour.  I am determined to give it my best shot though.  It would be great to hand over one last sizeable cheque to St Benedict's Hospice (and whatever other charity is chosen) in 2011.    

In the meantime, I'm continuing to run and run as much as I can.  I'll be building up the miles over the coming months, especially in the North Pennines.  Also, while I still have a job there, I'll be continuing to enjoy the classes in the Northern Rock gym (Spinning, Boxercise and maybe one day Body Pump (whatever that is!)).  I've been doing 5 or 6 classes a week for the last 7 weeks.  After so many lonely miles on the road, it's refreshing to take part in a class with other people.

I must say that the instructors are very good too (Andy, Paul, Matt, Steve and Tracy).  I could do with one or two of them in the USA in 2011!

Meanwhile, I do hope those dreams of running such a distance continue for sometime yet.  And if a few Daisy Duke lookalikes want to make an appearance then that would be just fine.