If you've wondered why I've not entered any significant races this season...

Hold on to your hats...

The simple answer is that this summer I am heading off on an adventure that I am not entirely sure of the start date of.  It is July now and to be honest I had expected my gear to have all been shipped, but it hasn't so I guess I could have entered some races after all, if only my head (and my funds) had been in order...

Yet I am distracting from the point.  The point of which, maybe has not fully sunk in.  it may be a case of being careful what you wish for, as with a little hard work and some luck, your wishes can come true...

As you know, I am a teacher living, working, training and tweeting from the UK but I am proud to announce that from August this will not continue, I am going to be moving with my family to work on the other side of the world on the northern tip of Borneo in a small country called Brunei! 

My wife finishes her job tomorrow and our house is up for rent, this is really going to happen!  I hope that the move, while being a fantastic opportunity for my career will give me more time with my immediate family, an opportunity to travel, and some more time to get even fitter - I mean training in 30 degrees in 85% humidity has got to make you fitter right?!

So I want to thank everyone who has supported us, and if you are reading this from a link on twitter, you are also a great group of people who are inspirational in your own right - I hope I return such inspiration!  So my tweets might hit your time lines a little off on the time stakes, but don't forget me, I hope we can still compare training and if you're on strava look me up and join my team to stay in touch!

As I move forward on to the next chapter of our adventure, I will leave you with an Old Proverb,
'There is a choice you have to make, in everything that you do. You must always keep in mind that the choices you make... make you.'

Blue.

My 1st Marathon - Wolverhampton Marathon 2012

Wolverhampton Marathon Sunday 2nd September 2012

Well, let me tell you, this was some way to end the summer holidays!  If I told you that I entered this marathon as little as 6 weeks before, you'll probably think me mad, I probably am (a little!)  Never-the-less I did it and now nearly 2 months later, I feel compelled to write this blog about it.  Can I say, only do what you think your body can handle, I in no way aim to promote how I went about training for this marathon, this blog is simply there to entertain and share my ideas.  There is more than one way to cook an egg...

Below is an outline of how I trained in August, I have also included what how I trained for July. 15th July was my 1st Olympic distance triathlon (City of Birmingham, just over 3hours);

Date	Activity	Distance (Miles)
01 July 2012	RUN	3.33
02 July 2012	BIKE	20.25
03 July 2012	RUN	3.2
04 July 2012	WALK	4.5
05 July 2012	REST
06 July 2012	BIKE	24.86
06 July 2012	RUN	6.21
07 July 2012	REST
08 July 2012	REST
09 July 2012	RUN	4
10 July 2012	REST
11 July 2012	BIKE	9.6
12 July 2012	REST
13 July 2012	REST
14 July 2012	REST
15 July 2012	SWIM	0.93
15 July 2012	BIKE	24.85
15 July 2012	RUN	6.21
16 July 2012	REST
17 July 2012	REST
18 July 2012	REST
19 July 2012	REST
20 July 2012	REST
21 July 2012	RUN	14
22 July 2012	BIKE	26
22 July 2012	X-TRAIN	0
23 July 2012	RUN	3.3
23 July 2012	SWIM	1.25
23 July 2012	X-TRAIN
24 July 2012	BIKE	51
24 July 2012	RUN	6.22
25 July 2012	RUN	3.4
25 July 2012	SWIM	1.56
25 July 2012	RUN	3.4
26 July 2012	REST
27 July 2012	BIKE	14
28 July 2012	REST
29 July 2012	BIKE	15.42
29 July 2012	RUN	5
30 July 2012	WALK	12
30 July 2012	RUN	12
31 July 2012	WEIGHTS
01 August 2012	SWIM	0.62
02 August 2012	SWIM	1.59
03 August 2012	RUN	3.1
04 August 2012	BIKE	37
05 August 2012	WEIGHTS
06 August 2012	WALK	2.7
07 August 2012	WALK	2.3
08 August 2012	REST
09 August 2012	BIKE	17.4
09 August 2012	BIKE	16.4
10 August 2012	WEIGHTS
11 August 2012	TURBO	5.4
11 August 2012	WALK	3.2
12 August 2012	BIKE	65
13 August 2012	REST
14 August 2012	REST
15 August 2012	REST
16 August 2012	REST
17 August 2012	SWIM	0.25
18 August 2012	REST
19 August 2012	REST
20 August 2012	RUN	7.41
21 August 2012	REST
22 August 2012	REST
23 August 2012	REST
24 August 2012	SWIM	0.32
25 August 2012	REST
26 August 2012	REST
27 August 2012	REST
28 August 2012	WALK	4.9
29 August 2012	REST
30 August 2012	REST
31 August 2012	RUN	3.2
01 September 2012	RUN	2
02 September 2012	RUN	26.2

As you can see, I didn't run large distances but aimed to train pretty much every day however towards the end, I did rest more.  I would also like to let you know that I don't really have a runners build, at 6'3" on race day I weighed 18 stone 4 Lb.  As a larger guy, my concerns were aimed at staying hydrated and not too hungry! I ran in a race belt, with 9 high-5 banana flavoured gels that I rationed throughout the run.  For breakfast, I had a 2-egg scrambled egg on 4 pieces of toast and half hour before the start of the run I ate a banana and had some high-5 zero drink.

I set my watch to count down 9:45 on repeat and this was my target time to try and cross each mile marker before the beep; I did this fairly steadily for the first 10miles, went through 10km in 57 mins but from 10 miles onwards, the belly began to rumble and I was hungry!  I drank at most water stations and had two pee stops over the marathon distance however a blister began brewing from mile 4.  Mile 11 was the first mile over 10min/mile pace and I went through the half marathon in 2:12.  Now Wolverhampton marathon is a 2 -lap course, I can not tell you how easy it would have been to peel off after that 1st lap and head to my car but I didn't.  Miles 14-18 were the worst, and I've never been so grateful to receive a jelly baby off a passing runner in my life!  I contemplated going into corner shops and trying to get mars bars on credit but kept going one foot in front of the other.  Then something happened.  I felt lighter, was this the wall?  Had I gone through it?

A group of lads handing out cartons of orange juice who at first riding towards me caused me to hestitate turned into my saviours and I kept going and going.  I even caught up a few of the runners who had over took me earlier. 

The race got hard again in the 20 miles, I missed a mile marker and began to doubt that I was moving.  The blister began talking.  Soon I recognised the park edge where the race finishes, I caught up another runner and as I crossed the finish line I became over whelmed but my legs would not stop!  I was very grateful that someone could take off the timing chip!  I was doubly grateful for a dip in the local swimming pool on my way back to the car! 

I'd done it!  Marathon goal truely ticked off in a time of 5hours 1minute 13 seconds.  My goal all along had been to go around 5 hours, I 'd predicted 4:50 and although I just missed 5 hours I was and am so happy with my achievement.   The blister was the size of two 50 pence pieces side by side. A word to the wise though, marathons are hard, I advise you train!  Mental toughness is a must!

Needless to say the following week I came down with a cold.  I've ran a few times since but strangely I've felt a little down. I need to sort out the next challenge but I'm rather disillusioned by entry fees. Until then, I've joined a masters swimming club in a new attempt to reduce my waist line.  Also considering growing a mo for movember and doing #turbovember twitter challenge.
Thanks for reading.

Birth, marriage and the small matter of 310km in the month of May!

Well May went fast!
I signed up for the http://10keverydayinmay.com challenge towards the end of April as a means of remaining focused in the lead up to playing my part as best man at my friends wedding - I needed that suit to fit!  There was also the small matter of my first child's due date as well as the need to rise up to this personal challenge, not knowing what was going to happen after my son was born made me want to squeeze every possible training session: a busy month.

Knowing that it was highly possible I would be distracted from running at some point, I began the challenge of running 10km everyday, two days earlier than the May 1st start.  With my http://www.justgiving.com/somethinkblue fund raising page I set off.

The first week or 70km, went well, then things began to get harder, my calves caused the most discomfort and it was around this time that I walked a few days.  I also split the 10km into two 5kms in addition, I varied the time of day, one day running in the morning and the next running at night to give my body as much time as possible to recover.

At day 14, I had a sports massage on my legs, from this day forward, I took greater interest in stretching and using foam rollers to target pressure points, targeting the sore areas with localised self massage. Then on May 22nd our baby boy was born.  I had ran 230km without a gap but now priorities had changed.  He was not eating and my wife's blood pressure was high; they were kept in hospital.  I spent the next few days in a daze, taking respite in a quick 5km run a few days later, also happening this week, my friend was getting married and I was his best man, I had a busy week!

After a week in hospital, my new family were allowed home, now we were all together, I didn't want to leave them - EVER!  However, this is not reality, the running challenge echoed at the back of mind, I needed to get back to it, I had got 75km left to go, I cracked on, even incorporating introducing my family to the world with a few 5km strolls with the push chair, these were the most special kilometres of all of them.

With the bank holiday weekend, my brother in laws birthday and the Queens Jubilee, I made a decision, I needed to get this challenge completed, so with 25km left on Tuesday 5th June 2012, I set off and just over 2.5hours later, my challenge was over.  310km completed in 36 runs, with an average run time of 63.89mins/10km.  Considering I had walked some of the sessions, I was very pleased with this average time!

To date, I have raised almost £100 for the Special Olympics GB in doing this challenge, I was acknowledged as getting the 1st 10km distance logged on the fitnaturally challenge website, and I suspect, I was one of the last!  Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.  My fund raising page is http://www.justgiving.com/somethinkblue

10km every day in May (equals 7.5marathons)

Ok this challenge is right up my street: daft enough to get my attention, hard enough to sustain it and quite possible with some hard work!!

It is also an opportunity to raise some money for a hard working charity, Special  Olympics GB who do a lot of good for many people.

It is going to be tough, my wive is due to give birth in May, if she reaches the due day towards the end of May, all will be well, otherwise a new found challenge and distraction will be vying for my attention.
:)
https://www.justgiving.com/account/your-pages/somethinkblue
http://10keverydayinmay.com/
http://www.twitter.com/somethinkblue

Run 30 miles on the last day of being 30. April 1st 2012

I thought up this challenge for myself a while back, I also had the goal to try and get as fit as possible to compare being 31 with being 21.  The main advantage I have over my 21 year old self is my mental attitude - put bluntly, I'm stubborn. 

Previously, I would have said that it's strength and ignorance that get me through, but with age, I am trying to worker smarter and not just harder.  That started with nutrition and gear.  I took on the trip a back pack, carried 4.5litres of squash, 3 bagels, 2 bananas, a cream egg and some sweets! (I factored on 500ml of fluid per hour)

Weather was also a major factor, when I began, it was minus 1 degrees so I needed to dress appropriately, yet as the day progressed and warmed up, I had to ditch the clothing, the plan was that as I drank through my fluids, it would lighten up my pack and help as I tired, yet as it filled with discarded layers, it remained fairly heavy.

The large part of my route was away from roads and took advantage of the canal paths in the local area.  I found the following sites really useful; http://canalplan.eu/cgi-bin/canal.cgi and http://jwultra.org.uk/ which is a similar challenge.

I've got to say, I had a total blast and really enjoyed the day, although I had to dig deep between 17-22miles as that was when  I found it most difficult.  Now a day later, I've got the ache in my body that tells me that I did something awesome! The Miicoach app on my Blackberry made it so easy to track, luckily, the signal maintained for the whole journey and my battery survived the duration however it was flashing red at the finish!

I finished 30miles within 7 hours, I estimate that the total stoppage time for food and changing clothing was in excess of 1 hour yet the time was not the challenge here, it was to run 30miles on the last day of my 30th and that is what I did!  All 18stone1 (+my backpack) of me lasted the distance.  The only thing I forgot was the sun cream!!

Looking forward now, I need to continue to work on consistent training per week, (currently around 5hours), carry on building my confidence back on the bike and shed the weight that is giving you other athletes out there an unfair advantage over me!!  Knowle 5mile fun run in May and City of Birmingham Olympic Distance Triathlon in July.  My wife is also expecting our 1st child in May which should bring its very own 'secret training' into the mix!  Hoping to get some outdoor water time at Sandwell Valley Park lake from May onwards.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!  I'm 31, aching somewhat but buzzing!!
Matthew Hunt