Lakeland 100 Ultra Marathon

I've set this blog up to record my progress while preparing for the Lakeland 100. What better way to start than with a day off! The run itself is a total grueler. 100 miles and 6800m of height gain to be completed within 40 hours. I've decided to do the run for Cancer Research UK and you can sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/runbazrun. I thought I could count on one hand the number of people that I knew with cancer. I could. Then I went on to my other hand and now I'm onto my toes...

Although I'm not new to long distance stuff, (I've done the Manx Mountain Marathon, the Three Peaks Yacht Race, two Ironman triathlons and the Devil of the Highlands), this is by far the most daunting challenge to date. In fact, just the thought of taking it on gives me the jitters. My training programme is based around a long run Saturday and a medium run Sunday and Wednesday. You do three hard weeks and then one easy week. During the hardest sessions the long run is 30 miles and the medium is 20. Thankfully this won't be for a couple of months. My weekend just gone was 21 Saturday, 13 Sunday. I can't recommend a hilly half marathon on a hangover if you're considering it. To cope with the height gain I've got to fit in some hill work. The Wrekin in Telford is local to me and in the early part of the training, Shropshire residents are likely to see me slogging my way up and down this hill made famous by the expression, "Going around the Wrekin to get to Wolverhampton". That's me with the small black rucksack, blue shorts, headphones and, hopefully soon, a Cancer Research UK running vest. I'll move on to the Long Mynd soon and then there's a big training week in May up in the Lakes.