Pre-race Nerves

Well, it's the night before the big run. I'm just getting some pasta and chicken down me before the drive up to the Lakes. The forecast isn't great. There's a front moving in and it should arrive in Coniston about 7.30 tomorrow night - just in time for the start of the race.

The plan goes like this:

Arrive Coniston tonight
Take 2 Nitol
Go to bed
Get up tomorrow lunchtime
Eat
Check in
Sleep
Start and keep on going until I collapse or get back to Coniston (some time around 3 am Sunday morning).

Thanks for all the support and encouragement. Keep the donations to www.justgiving.com/runbazrun coming.

Baz.

Route Recce

Well, I got back from the Lakes this afternoon after a week spent checking out the route for the Lakeland 100. We did all of it bar the leg from Dalemain to Howtown. That's 95 miles in six days. We had a mix of weather and it was good to test our resolve during the three days of rain and wind that we had to contend with.
The route itself is beautiful. I've been going to the Lakes for many years to walk and run over the peaks but by staying high, I've missed out on some fabulous valleys. The Lakeland 100 follows links between the passes so most of the terrain was new to me.
How did the Spencer body withstand the punishment? Not bad actually. My feet are in surprisingly good shape - no blisters or nail losses; just some slight sole soreness and a couple of ankle-turning moments to keep me on my toes. I'll need to put some work into the wobble board to prevent any sprains during the race. I had some minor chaffing which was due to a combination of soaking wet Ron Hills under waterproof trousers. I'll be wearing shorts on the day so it shouldn't be a problem. I might test them out in the wet though just to make sure. My legs have stood up surprisingly well with 6800m of height gain in them and there are no joint problems. Top.

April Showers

Just back from the Saturday long run. Went to Church Stretton and spent five happy hours on the Long Mynd (or Long Whinge if you're having a bad day). Covered just over 25 miles. When I got back to the van I finally, finally, felt like I could go again. I've been waiting for this for so long. If you're taking on 100 miles more or less none stop, and you don't think you could keep going after a 25 mile training run then you're going to struggle. This has given me such a boost; I'm starting to believe I can really do this.

I'm out with Gary tomorrow morning, doing the Pontesbury Potter route again. That'll be another 57 mile week done. Next week is an easy week but we go up to the Lakes Friday night and have a big weekend planned so I might have to build in an easyish week when we come back instead.

Thanks to those of you checking how I'm getting on and a big thank you for the donations.

Baz

Hard Times

It's been a difficult week, made harder by the fact that I'd convinced myself that this week was an easy week. I've had to change some of the sessions around due to work. So far I've done 23, rest day, 14 then 12. The 23 miler was grim. Gary bonked and I was pretty close; I felt a bit sick when I got home. For the runner, bonking is nothing to do with the Nedge Hill car park. It's when your muscles run out of fuel and can't do their job. Your legs feel like soggy spaghetti and you can't go on - the marathon runner's wall. All you can do is eat, rest and wish that you'd taken more fuel on board.

I've got the next two days off and then I'm back into the schedule again.

Ellen came out with me on her bike on Sunday for my 14 miler. She had a puncture and we had to leave the bike with some very kind people in a green oasis at the back of Woodside. Note to self, spare inner tubes are useless without a pump.

I've been doing some route planning over the weekend, trying to sort out the GPS. The course is MASSIVE. If you get a map of the Lakes and draw a line around the National Park, that's the route! We're off up to Ambleside at the end of the month for some practice. We should get some idea of pace which has been worrying me of late. If we go off too quick we won't finish. Ellen's decided that we'll do the whole of the 50 mile route over the Saturday and Sunday. We should be able to get the rest of the 100 done over the rest of the week.

The Spencer feet are starting to toughen up. Unfortunately, I've discovered that my rucksack rubs on both sides of my neck now that I'm not wearing my jacket in the warmer weather. So, more application of Leukotape should do the trick. By the end of the Summer, I'll have two white patches below my ears, as well as panda eyes.

Running through treacle

Well, the lady that wrote the training program that I'm following said 100 mile training should feel hard but it will get easier. She got the first bit right anyway. I've dropped back to four days per week; the Tuesday two or three miler hardly seems worth the effort putting my shorts on and I feel better for the extra day's rest. The trouble is, the first run of the week is now 12 miles long, followed by six, then 25, then 14. That's 57 miles spread over four days. Each run now feels like I'm running through treacle, lots of effort but not much progress. Come the 31st of July, I will probably be grateful if I feel as good!

I've been experimenting with food, trying to find an alternative to the gels. Malt loaf is good because of the fruit and sugar. It really sticks to your teeth though and is a bit too much to chew when you're running. Gary gave me one of his honey brioches last weekend on the Long Mynd. It sounds a bit pretentious but surprisingly good. There's 100 calories per roll plus whatever the butter and honey runs to. They're soft enough to squish down for packing in the small pockets of my rucksack and easy to chew and swallow. You have to time your breathing quite well though otherwise you end up sucking in brioche shrapnel then coughing your guts up.

You get quite a lot of time to think while you're running. It's strange what comes to mind. I went past two rather large Black Country gentlemen the other day while powering my way up the Wrekin for the fourth or fifth time that morning. They were talking about crisps. "Heard about those Tyrells?" one asked the other.
"The ones with the new flavour? Balsamic vinegar isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's right. They used to have 60 grammes written on the packet in really big writing. Well, I bought some the other day and now they've got 40 grammes written on them but it's in really small writing."
"That's not on, that."
"No, it's not."
Luckily, I was quite a bit quicker than them so I didn't get to hear the rest of their conversation. Two things struck me about this. Firstly, these lads really knew their crisps and had clearly made a study of it. The second thing that sprang to mind, as I tried unsuccessfuly to keep my breathing to a two-two rythmn, was how the human body responds to the demands that we put on it. Marathon runners look like they're supposed to: strong legs, lean, small upper bodies. They just look like they run a lot, which of course, they do. Body builders look like people that lift heavy weights. You get the idea. Anyway, following this train of thought I tried to imagine what these Black Country boys looked like. Then it came to me - crisp eaters.

A big thank you must go out to all of you that have made donations at www.justgiving.com/runbazrun.

Baz.

Calorie Counting

Well, another tough week - the same as last week except that I seem to have done nothing but eat. I've had fish and chips twice plus an eight ounce burger - not all on the same day mind. Whilst wiping the grease from my chops, I thought about the calories I'd need to consume on the run. You burn about 100 calories per mile which means that I'll have to eat 10,000 of them on the run in July. The three lard-fests I had this week would only account for 4,500 of them. Not that you'll find a fish supper as recommended carb loading in Runners' World. For my training I use sachets of gel. They're gloopy, gooey, sickly sweet mouthfuls providing 100 calories each. This means that I'd have to eat 100 of them just to get round. Not. The organisers will be asking us soon for suggestions for the food at the checkpoints. Popular are things like rice pudding, honey sandwhiches, soup and pretzels (for the salt). Anything low residue (so All Bran is out).

Wrekin Reps

The Wrekin is a lovely little hill near Wellington. It's 407m high, has an Ironage hillfort on the top and a semi-resident population of Fallow deer. To the top and back from the Forest Glen car park is three miles and 200m of height gain. Saturday's session was eight repeats: 24 miles and 1600m of height gain. It was lovely for two reps. The mental stamina required to do another six meant I had to dig quite deep to finish: Hendrix on the iPod helped. Another test materialised Sunday morning when I had to go out and do 12 miles. Imagining they could talk, my legs were saying to me, "Just another half hour in bed Baz. It won't matter if you don't go. We'll really love you." It reminded me a little of my dad's comments on hearing about the poor bloke that tragically collapsed and died after running the Stafford half last weekend, "If he'd have had a lie in and a full English, he'd be alive today". Maybe, maybe not. Dad's too old for running half marathons now but you do hear people using incidents like that to justify not exercising. Better to die like a lion than live like a mouse. My thoughts are with his family. Now, back to my legs. Of course, it does matter if I don't go. The whole point is training my body to go when I don't want to. What's it like doing long runs back to back? Well, for the first two or three miles of the second session, it feels like trying to run with two dead legs. They kind of feel like they don't belong to you; maybe they belong to a distant great aunt, or the Pope perhaps. They certainly don't belong to a runner. Does it get any better? No, not really; you just get used to the feeling. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other, 180 times per minute. Anyway, I'm really chuffed that I've completed the first proper big weekend. I've a few blisters which should dry up tomorrow, no joint, tendon or ligament problems and no chafing. All I need to sort out now is my worryingly pale legs, lack of good looks and absent natural charm. I do have a rather fetching tattoo though.

I've been quite touched by the reaction of people at work. I always thought doing things for charity, mate, was a bit cheesey. People have been very supportive though, saying what a tremendous thing it is that I'm doing, almost as if I'd completed the 100 already. Often, they relate the challenge to a significant run that they've done, but then say that their's is insignificant compared with the Lakeland 100. Not so. If you're running your first 10k, you're still going into the unkown, testing the limits of your mind and body. Until you've done it, you don't even know if you're capable of it. When you start getting into the longer distances, you realise that often, the limiting factor is what's between your ears rather than a perceived lack of athletic ability.

Now to the cancer bit. Some bad news today and some good. The bad: Jade Goody. She died this morning aged 27, leaving behind two kids. The primary cancer was cervical cancer. Whatever you think of her as a celebrity, there's something desparate about a young mother's death in those circumstances. The good: my mate Deb. She's on her second dose of chemotherapy for breast cancer and is doing well.

I've got a well-deserved rest day tomorrow. Don't forget to make a donation at www.justgiving.com/runbazrun. Thanks. Baz.