A 5 mile PB.

It's a 50 mile week this week and Friday saw me run miles 26 - 30 for the week. To say that I'm enjoying my running at the moment is an absolute understatement and once again it showed on a cold lunchtime in Gosforth. 

Speed merchant Dave Francis and the ever reliable Carl Hudson were my company for the run from Regent Centre to Newcastle Race Course and back. My previous best for this one was exactly 43 minutes. Thanks to the other 2 lads setting a good pace, I beat that previous best with a time of 00:42:43. 

The split times were as follows:

Mile 1 - 08:21

Mile 2 - 08:44

Mile 3 - 08:38

Mile 4 - 08:30

Mile 5 - 08:30

As I said earlier in the week, confidence and fitness is reaching a whole new level. Every time I do something now I feel stronger and fitter. With 3 stone or so to lose it's going to be a while before it evens out too so expect more stories like this. The story I'd really like to write, though, is about beating my 1995 running times - 17 minutes for 3 miles and 43 minutes for 10k.

I'm constantly thinking of the stories and headlines in my mind. It's then a case of doing the actions to make them a reality. Once upon a time, back in 1993, the headlines were simply to run 3 miles round the block! Those were the days!

A new short term challenge. Oh and what a challenge!

Well then! Where do I start with this one? Are you sitting down? Ex pro Boxer and accomplished ultra marathon runner Jackson Williams (pictured) tonight issued a challenge with an invitation to join him on a 125 mile bike ride and 125 mile run.

The mammoth distance from Norwich to London and back will be done over the duration of 48 hours in aid of Sport Relief! The date of the event is 15th and 16th March leaving only 9 weeks to try and get as prepared as I can possibly be for it.

I'll post more details as and when I get them. In the meantime, there is no doubt that this is a massive, massive challenge. If successful, it will certainly accelerate the progress of my USA 2011 training. In the words of Lance Armstrong - "Anything's possible. You can be told you have a 90% chance or a 50% chance or a 1% chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.". 

I'll hopefully have a revised training schedule in place by the weekend!

The hard work is paying off.

It's still very early days but after today's body composition test there is further proof that the hard work is starting to pay off. In September, Mark Fleming set me a target weight of 100 kg. That's a weight loss by the way, in case you were wondering! 

Back in September, I weighed in at 105.6 kg (16 stone 9 pounds). My body fat was 28.6%, visceral fat rating (fat around major organs) was 12 and metabolic age was 52. That's not good! That's not good at all. These aren't the kind of stats of someone who wants to run 3100 miles in 100 days!

I'm pleased to report that there has been an improvement since that first weigh in. My weight is now 99.5 kg (15 stone 9 pounds). That's a stone in weight lost. That's not the full story though as I've lost 1 stone, 6 pounds of fat and gained 6 pounds of lean muscle weight. As a result my body fat is down to 21.3%. That's a 7.3% loss since September! The visceral fat rating is down to 8 and my metabolic age is down to a whopping 36! That's a year less than my real age and 16 years less than September!

The next target is 95 kg. That's 14 stone 13 pounds! That's the weight I was when I finished the 874 mile run in Lands End. Once again thanks must go to Mark Fleming and David Fairlamb for their continued support and motivation. And here's to the next milestone. I've got a feeling it will be achieved sooner rather than later!

Confidence and fitness reaching a whole new level.

I'm writing this post on the back of a super 10.4 mile run around Gosforth today. Running with a few of the other lads, we decided to run up to the Havannah Nature Reserve and then Newcastle Race Course. The other lads stayed in a pack and were having a 1 minute walk break every 7 minutes. That walking lark is not for me though! This meant that they would catch me up for a while then drop off for a while. This really threw me off my rhythm in miles 2, 3 and 4 as you can see from the split times. Enough was enough and I decided to increase the pace and try and put some distance between myself and the pack! I kept looking over my shoulder and the gap increased through miles 5, 6 and 7 with some good controlled running. In fact, if you take out mile 8 which I used to get my breath a bit then the pace was very consistent with only a 9 second variance between the later miles. My initial plan was to fend them off until mile 7 but I felt really good and relished the challenge of being pursued. It was very similar to when Steven Moore and I raced in the Cairngorms. You can read about that day here.

When I got to the Race Course, I could see the chasing pack of Carlton Fletcher and John Brettell through the trees! They closed the gap at 9.4 miles to the length of the bridge near the 3 Mile Inn on the Great North Road. As I left the bridge they started on it. I thought for a second that they were going to catch me so I tried to increase the pace even further. I got a good rhythm and technique going and made good use of my arms just as I do up the steps on a Saturday morning. My pace was enough to see me back home first and John wasn't too far behind with Carlton nowhere to be seen!

I can't tell you how pleased I was with the final time of 01:31:58. I've actually ran 8.4 miles in around that time last year. To do 2 more miles on top of that in a similar time is very exciting indeed! I know I'm training for an ultra-distance run but part of me is wondering if, when I get down to my 1995 weight of 12 stone, will I be able to run the kinds of times that I used to run in 1995? I used to do this 3 mile run around Washington. The first 2 miles were at 00:05:30 pace with the final one at 00:06:00 pace. I'll definitely be trying that one before the year is out!

Back to the present time! That's 25.4 miles done for the week with 24.6 left to do on top of a personal training session tomorrow and Beach Bootcamp on Saturday. Today's run and a hilly 11 mile run I did last Friday in the Pennines (is there any other kind?) has really served as an indicator of where my fitness levels are. And the easier than normal personal best of 11 lots of steps on Saturday morning tells me a lot too. This is only week 10 of USA 2011 training! There are 120 weeks or so left and there is still about 3 stone to lose in weight. I'm starting to wonder just how much improvement can be made during that time? With the confidence and motivation I currently have, I reckon this is just the tip of the iceberg. I now have a genuine hunger (not the usual kind) to push myself and run further and faster every time. Confidence is sky high. I'm now looking forward to finishing off the week in style again and hitting the planned 50 mile target! 

A good start to a 50 mile week

This week will see me run 50 miles and, at the time of writing, I've already managed 15 in very cold conditions! Next week will be the usual mixture of running, spinning, body pump and gym work before I increase the mileage to 55 miles the following week. This is the pattern I'll be following until the summer. i.e. increasing the mileage every fortnight until I get to 110 miles per week in July. 

It's a case of so far so good in 2009. No injures. No illness. Long may it continue.

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 9

Tuesday 30th December - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Wednesday 31st December - 7 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Low Westwood and back. (01:04:50).
Friday 2nd January - 11 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Whittonstall and back. (01:45:19).
Saturday 3rd January - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).

Saturday 3rd January - 11 x run up the steps. (00:27:48). PB!

Sunday 4th January - 5 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Ebchester and back. (00:44:57). PB!

2008 - Year end thoughts (part 2)

One thing is for sure, although I will be running across the USA in 2011 on my own, it can't be done without the help of a few people who are worthy of mention. Two of the most important people associated with the run are David Fairlamb (below left) and Mark Fleming (right). You can read all about their importance to the project here. In a nutshell, though, these 2 guys' aim is to ensure that I'm in peak condition for the run, both physically and mentally. Good luck with that one lads!

All joking aside, though, I'm already starting to feel the benefit of having these 2 guys on board. Mark puts me through my paces on a weekly basis in the gym and keeps a critical eye on my body composition stats every month. He's always on my case about nutrition and diet and is the key reason why I've lost a stone in fat since September. Qualifying in 2008, Mark has just started out with his personal fitness career and has already got a growing list of clients. One thing I can honestly say, though, is that you'd think he'd been doing personal training for years. His enthusiasm and motivational nature is second to none and will be called upon numerous times during the next 2 1/2 years of training.

David Fairlamb takes Beach Bootcamp, of course, and the benefits, the challenge and the enjoyment I get from it is well documented here and here. I have met some great people at Bootcamp and they are always full of encouragement and keen to know how my training is going. David will be another key motivator and will take some part in overseeing my training over the next few years. David's years of experience and advice will be his major contribution to the project. Again, he will be called upon many times during the next 2 1/2 years.

Other folk very worthy of mention are the people I run with at Northern Rock; Carl, John, Carlton, Patrick, Jeff, Julie and Colin to name but a few. There are times, especially in the early days of pre-training, where this lot dragged me round and provided valuable company to keep me going. Hopefully, this will continue in 2009. 

Finally, it is the many sponsors and supporters who will ultimately put the icing on the USA 2011 cake. Without them, this whole project would not be worth doing. With them, however, we are likely to succeed and very likely to hit that fundraising target for 2 very worthwhile North East charities. Happy New Year!

2008 - Year end thoughts (Part 1).

2008 was another good year for fundraising with the sum of £2,601 handed over to The Children's Foundation (Charity No. 1000013) in respect of The Pennine Challenge. Thanks to the team who accompanied me on a 44 mile bike ride and 22 mile run through the harsh terrain of the North Pennines, this took the overall total raised since I began fundraising to over £51,000. Brilliant!

2008 was also the year in which I started training for the 3100 mile run across the USA in 2011. More importantly though, 2008 was the year where the real building blocks started to be put in place to give me the best possible chance of succeeding in the USA. And what exactly do I mean by success?

Success will obviously be managing to finish the run in 1 piece in the 100 days that I've planned to do it in. The next campaign will also be considered a success if I manage to raise a considerable amount of money for St Benedict's Hospice (Charity No 1019410) and The Children's Foundation (Charity No. 1000013). 

The fundraising target is a very ambitious £50,000. At the time of writing there is £1395 worth of pledges on the board. That's not bad at all given that the run is still over 2 years away! I'd like to think that by the end of 2009 that figure will have nudged close to £5000. To help me achieve this I'll be continuing to sell Run Geordie Run t-shirts, selling the places in the "3000 scheme" as well as asking for conventional pledges. Also, thanks to Geordie band "The Exiles", there'll be a couple of charity songs for sale/download too. I saw the 2nd draft of lyrics back in October for the 2 songs. Both songs were superb to say the least! I can't wait to hear what they sound like when put to music.

The t-shirts are selling very well indeed with all proceeds going to the 2 charities. This wouldn't have been possible without the help of Brian Wells (design), customplanet.co.uk (production), Peter McCowie (production costs) and David Fairlamb (erm......well David twisted a few arms).

The first few places in the "3000 scheme" have been taken up too. It is my hope that I'll be able to dedicate each mile of the run to a lost loved one. Please click the link at the right hand side of the page for further details.

As you can probably tell, I'm getting a "little help from my friends" with the organisation and support of this run. I'll talk more about that in part 2 as well as the plans for 2009.

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 8

Monday 22nd December - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Saturday 27th December - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).

Saturday 27th December - 5 x run up the steps. (00:12:30).

Saturday 27th December - 5 x run up the Priory bank. (00:11:05).

Saturday 27th December - 6 mile run, Tynemouth, pier, Fish Quay and back. (00:58:34).

A very good week of training.

Week 7 of training for the big run in the USA has me thinking that I'm currently well ahead of where I need to be with 2.5 years of training left. Not only that but I'm continuing to develop a whole new level of mental toughness. This is going to be essential to get me through the thousands of miles that I need to do between now and August 2011.

Thankfully, the chest infection I had last week is a thing of the past. This week saw me bounce back with some good running and average minute per mile times coming down to below 9 minutes. I enjoyed a cracking Beach Bootcamp session on Saturday and what I can only describe as the best steps session to date afterwards. I ran 9 times up the steps in King Edwards Bay with a lot less recovery time in between each one. The burn levels were nowhere near as bad as previous weeks and Dave Fairlamb agreed at the end that this was the best attempt yet at what is a difficult explosive style session that gets my heart rate near the red zone every time! It should have been 10 times up the steps but Dave said that if I could beat a passing female jogger who was running up them (with a good head start) then I could drop one.

This week's steps session drew the largest team of people ever to attempt it since I've been doing it. Each person took it in turn to accompany me on each attempt. The encouragement and support from each one of them was brilliant as ever. At the end, my legs were a bit shaky but that didn't stop me from doing a 5 mile run from Tynemouth Beach to Spanish City and back. It was slow on the way out with a toilet stop at the lake (the toilet's at the lake not the lake itself by the way!). I got just past Spanish City when my GPS watch read 2.5 miles. I was much quicker on the way back with the last 2 miles around the 9 minute mark. It was one of those runs where I felt I could have gone on for loads more miles. All in all, it was a very good couple of hours of exercise. The plan now is for a run to become part of the Saturday morning routine after Bootcamp and the steps. There is no festive rest and the next session is this weekend. 6 miles will be on the cards this time. I might be running to Blyth and back by the time the Summer comes!