Time for the taper

Today was the day of my longest training run, which I took as an opportunity to treat as a dress rehearsal for the marathon itself. I woke up early and unusually for me on a Sunday, had some breakfast. This of course meant that I then had to wait a couple of hours for my breakfast to settle down, so I used this time to take the dog for a bit of a stroll, to simulate the trek across Blackheath park to the blue starting zone.

Today's run was 20 miles long, and it took me up to Tesco in Havant, down to Canoe Lake in Southsea, and then back home.

I'm going to resist the urge to talk about any sort of 'journey', but the last few weeks have been a bit up and down. After completing 18 miles, my legs were absolutely shattered for the run on the following Tuesday, and could barely manage 3 miles. Suddenly the marathon distance seemed very daunting again. Fortunately a few days of rest and they were back to their best. Then the sun came out.

The last couple of Sundays have seen a rise in both sunshine and temperature, and accustomed to cold weather running, my pace had taken a beating and I was struggling to average 9 minute miles on my long runs.

It's not been entirely sunny and warm though. Taking advantage of my works flexible arrangements, I headed out one Thursday afternoon at half two, to get a seven mile midweek run in, and as I headed out into the sunshine, it wasn't long before I was fighting through some incredibly thick fog, good job I knew where I was going because there wasn't much visibility.

I can't tell you too much about what happened in today's 20 mile run, but I do know that I started off averaging a stunningly fast 8:15, and overall this only reduced to 8:22. It was a pace I was feeling comfortable maintaining too which was amazing. I guess that's the difference a drop in the temperature, and no hockey match the day before can make.

After 20 miles I won't say I felt good, but I certainly felt a lot better than I did after the 18 mile run a few weeks back. I was carefully managing my drink and fuel intake today, making a conscious effort to have at least a sip of Lucozade at each mile point, and also a couple of Jelly beans every three miles. It did feel like I was consistently stuffing sticky fruity sugary stuff into my gob, but it did keep me going and the difference was noticeable, so I will certainly be aiming to replicate that on race day.


At the end of the run, I took the opportunity for a cheeky selfie, to capture the effect that 2h:47:34 of running had had on me, somehow I still managed to crack a smile. In honour of the #nomakeupselfie that swept the social networks this week, I also sponsored myself £3 for the privilege. (Feel free to do the same).

So now to the taper, an opportunity to drop down the miles, and give me legs a bit of a rest, so they can be ready and raring to go in three weeks time. Bursting to go.

With the long run behind me, I can now refocus my efforts on my fundraising. My total currently stands at £1088, and I am hopeful that I will be able to raise that up to £1500 before the big day, even if I have to cheat and include gift aid. That would be enough to send not one, but two dairy cows, changing two families lives forever.

I know it seems that everyone seems to be asking for money at the moment, particularly with Sport Relief only just passed, but anything you could spare at all would be very gratefully received, even if it is just £1. I can assure you I am certainly putting in the effort at this end!

It's quick and really easy to do at: www.virginmoneygiving.com/davidjohns

Missing a car and hitting a fence

Running is hard. Beginners on a treadmill will often be amazed at how few calories they burn off with 10 or 15 minutes of jogging. An amazement that will only be furthered when they see the number of calories on the back of their vending machine Mars bar upon leaving the gym.

But it all depends on your sense of perspective. When running, you burn around 150 calories per mile. This may not sound like much on it's own, but when you head out for an 18 mile run, it soon adds up to 2700 calories. Now that is a big number.

Today, as you may have guessed, I headed out for the first of my two long training runs, a nice long 18 miles. Although there was a bit of wind, it wasn't significant enough to upset me, and the bad weather managed to hold off until long after I'd finished.

Knowing just how many calories I would be burning I'd prepared for today's run by filling my waist adorning pouch with plenty of fruity jelly sweets, and stuck the energy gel I'd acquired in last weeks finishing bag into my pocket. With a bottle of energy drink in hand, and a second bottle strategically placed in the forecourt, I set off on the first of my planned nine mile loops.

After last weeks 8 minute mile paced half marathon, I was planning on slowing this run down a bit to something a bit more sensible. To hit a sub four hour marathon I will need to average a touch over 9 minute mile pace. To buy myself a bit of contingency though for the final 10k, I will want to complete the first 20 miles at around 8:40 pace, and so that was my aim for today.

The first 9 mile lap was largely uneventful, except for when I nearly got myself run over. Approaching a usually quiet road, I was surprised to see a car approaching. Being a survival loving kind of human I waited for the car to pass before crossing. Only when I was halfway across, did I spot the car that was following behind it and heading straight for me. Fortunately I crossed fairly swiftly, and so suffered nothing more than a flush of embarrassment. Top tip to anyone out running. Look before crossing roads.

On completing the first lap I slipped open our front gate and exchanged my near empty bottle for a fresh full one and headed out for more of the same. It was at this point I thought I'd give my gel a go.

I'd never tried a pouch of energy gel before, and I have to say it was an experience that I'm not sure I wish to repeat. The taste was incredibly sweet and fruity, but more than anything it was the texture that really disturbed me. The closest thing I can think of to compare it to is a crème brûlée, but obviously without the palette pleasing caramelised sugar. I think I'll stick to jelly beans in future.

The second lap was unsurprisingly much like the first, although this time without any vehicular near misses. Although I was grateful for the refuelling opportunity, I think in future I'll have to find two different routes to split it up into to break up the monotony a bit.

At points, the thought of extended the second lap to make it up to 20 miles did enter my head, but I'm glad I stuck to the planned 18. The last mile was very difficult, and my pace slowed to 9:13. I'm not sure that I was  hitting the dreaded wall, but it was in the very least, a fence. I finished the 18.14 miles in 2:38.13. The thought of running another 8 miles on top of that is daunting to say the least. I have a feeling that the impact that the wall has on me, will make or break my hopes of hitting a sub four hour time.

In other news, I gave my fundraising another push at work at the tail end of the week, what with it being pay day and all, and thanks to some very generous colleagues, my sponsorship total has now broken through the £750 target to fund a cow!

It's fantastic news and I would like to thank everyone that has donated so far, but I'm not going to stop there. With six weeks still to go, there's plenty of time to push the sponsorship as high as I possibly can, and who knows, I might even raise enough to send two cows!