Job Done !! Lincoln 10k 1 Hour 6 Minutes Non-Stop

Sunday 21st of March 2010
Started the morning with two banana's, honey and milk whizzed up; along with isotonics and supplements.

Nice sunny morning in Lincoln, with a bit of a nip in the air. The Burnley clan arrive at Yarborough school two hours before the race is due to start in order to get parked.

We're one of the first there and take a stroll down to the start.

Looking at some of the people arriving, I'm feeling rather confident that I have nothing to worry about, and certainly won't be last.
From a man in a thong, to people in costumes and the forces well represented in full combats, plenty of shapes and sizes.

Stood on the line, I was bursting for the loo but had just gone 10 minutes earlier and decided it can wait for an hour.
11:00am and the siren goes for the Elite runners, slowly followed by the rest of us filtering through.
I shook my mate, Julian's hand and bid him a good race as he sped off into the distance. I started at a very steady pace good advice from others.
Running the first 3k was fairly easy and was passed by many people, but I wasn't worried about that as I'd probably catch many of them up later anyway. At the 4k mark someone was being carried into an ambulance, he could hardly stand so obviously trained hard.
At this point I was still going okay and passed the 5k & 6k markers; by this time I was really needing to go to the loo.
Just before the 7k marker a bloke in full combats and bergen passed me, fair play!! Just after that, 6 more blokes from the RAF in full combats passed me and were getting great support.

At this point,my legs were feeling really heavy and I started to get into a breathing rhythm.

If there was one thing that was hacking me off, it was a bloke running in jeans, jumper and a pair of market trainers that had been with me all the way and I couldn't get passed him; I did in the end.

Between 8k & 9k I stared to pass a some of the people who'd sped passed me at the start but the Lincoln Cathedral was now in sight and the finish line not far beyond.
On the last half mile, the crowd started to grow and I saw some friends along the way. Rounding the Cathedral, I ran on the path as the cobble stones were a nightmare.
As I ran through the arches, I was greeted by Mother & Father In-law followed by Mum screaming, flanked by Keith and family, but no Louise and kids in sight just yet.

The little rise up to the Castle was a blur and I crossed the finish line at 1 hour 6 minutes non-stop.

At this point all those long hours on the road in the cold nights of winter and on the treadmill when it snowed and pissed down with rain, all became worth it.

I filtered through the finish and sat on a bench for 5 minutes before heading out to meet Louise and the kids who'd been watching me come through on the big screen in The Lawn.

JOB DONE !!! And thanks to everyone who supported me and sponsored me. Hopefully around £500 raised all told.

I've now signed up for the Woodhall Spa 10k and looking to get back out on the road after a week's rest in order to allow my legs to recover and the stabbing pain in my right foot to get better.

Later Folks !

Nearly There, Time To Join The Flash Gits

Well, it's been a real hard slog over the last three months and I've had some fantastic support from family, friends and work colleagues and so it's time for me to do my part of the bargain.

The last week has been fairly relaxed as I don't want to pick up any injuries before Sunday 21st as I want to be running in as best shape as I can be.

I've done two main runs now and have concentrated on time, and then distance.

Last week I ran steadily for 45 minutes at a steady pace and then last night I ran for 55 minutes and have felt the best I ever have whilst running.

I have a small niggle in my right foot so will lay off it now until the day; might get on the bike in order to take the weight off.

One funny thing that happened last night was that I thought we were going to have a Ronnie Corbett moment in the gym. I'm not sure whether the bloke was trying to catch me up or he couldn't work out which button was the increase or decrease button, but he kept getting faster and faster and nearly fell off - very, very funny.

At the moment I'm predicting that I've raised about £400 pounds; maybe a bit more, which is fantastic support and thanks to everyone who has dug deep.

So, until the day, I'll bid you all a good day and will prepare to look good amongst the flash gits on the starting line.
Look out for me - # 1305 - I'll have a white t-shirt on with my name and charity on the back.

Later Folks

10K - DONE - It's In The Bag - Just The Race To Do !!

Last Sunday ran my furthest distance to date at just over 5 1/2 miles from South Hykeham to Waddington. It was hard work and I felt really knackered, I also had to walk some of it - maybe too many Magners the night before didn't help.

I started on a new project at Morrisons in Bradford this week and will need to find a new road route which takes me places where I won't get mugged - I've been warned as a colleague got done at 4pm in broad daylight in the city centre; so it might have to be the treadmill in the week and road at weekends.

Anyway, I went into the gym on Tuesday and got cracking, I got up to 5k and felt really good so decided to push on and see if I could last the distance. A couple of flash gits came and went which made me feel even more determined.
Having listened to the same MTV songs three times over I thought I must be doing well. Got to 7k and the bloody treadmill went into cool down mode. So reminiscent of a scene from Mr Bean, I frantically tried to get it going again, with a couple of bad expletives and frantic button pressing, I was back up to speed.
I crack on and got passed the 10k mark and finished off at 10.30k - which deserved a "git in theeeya" - good job no-one else was in the gym.

Nothing on Wednesday as my legs were knackered. So just some light bar work ;-)

Thursday I got some new gear and joined the flash git club. Only one problem in that the new shorts were on a Medium hanger and when I put them on, thought "ooh, they're a bit tight, I've lost weight"
I got to 5k on the treadmill and had to stop, chafing. Took the shorts off only to find they were small, and I had a bit of plum damage 8-0.

On Friday I went for a deep tissue massage to sort my back out and today (Saturday) I feel like I've been back in the ring again. Hopefully it'll sort things out and the person who did it was great and explained everything that was happening.

Nothing doing today as it's Lou's 40th and so I'll get out on the road tomorrow and it's looking like a good day.

Have a good weekend.

Later Folks