Great Race

Reading Half Marathon,

Today im having a well earned rest, recovering from the race i had yesterday. Lewis joined us once again and helped me to the best time posted in the Heart Costume. 13,000 people entered the race which resulted in it taking 5 minutes to cross the line. Pete was on the crutches again so he was a bit further back but look at his blog to find out how he got on.

Once the race had commensed Lewis and i took the first couple of miles quite steady as there were too many prople in front of us to make too much progress up the field without expending too much energy. However even though it was a slow start at about 5 miles i was feeling a little tired and by the look of Lewis he was too. We plodded on for the next 3 or 4 miles, the part that i usually find hardest, and i could certainly feel it but my energy levels didnt seem to be dropping too fast which was good.

Just after the ten mile mark i decided to kick, Lewis kept with me and although it wasn't timed that was probably the quickest mile of the race! At eleven miles Lewis infoemed me that to reach our target time of 1 hour 40 minutes we were going to have to do the last 2.1 miles in 15 minutes which after the previous mile i thought was out of the question! However we decided to go for it and the 11th mile was also very quick. We passed the 12 mile point but soon after my body started slowing down and i slowed the pace slightly. Lewis overtook me and i made it my new mission to stay with him.

We were just outside the stadium and i realised that if i was going to beat Lewis i was going to have to move soon so i gathered myself and stormed past but almost instantly was cut off as the tunnel of the stadium squeezed everyone together. Lewis, being more observant spotted a gap and went through it, i followed him but did not have his momentum and as we entered the stadium Lewis took off and was uncatchable. Although our official times were not very good, as i previously mentioned we took 5 minutes to cross the line, therefore our chip times were a better indicator of the actual time.

Lewis managed 1:40:24 and i got 1:40:28.

So we didn't break the 1 hour 40 barrier but we gave it a good go and i was very pleased to have kept in contention with Lewis who is a better, more natural runner.

It was the most enjoyable race of the campaign and would consider coming back next year even if im not doing the London Marathon.

Great Night!!

Pub golf,

What a great night! Pete and i organised an evening of pub golf where we put the players into teams and then challenged them to see who could drink the most!! The rules were simple, you need to have a drink in every pub and the stronger the drink the more strokes you knocked off your PAR score. It could be said that there were a few casualties as the night progressed but that was all part of the fun.

The 12 Pub course started in the Little angel and finished in Magoos. The 9 players and teams were Leila and Vanisha, The Ladies; Lewis and Chris (Long legs), Henleys finest (although they proved to be anything but the finest!); Chris and Marc, Little and Large; Pete (good effort) and Ollie; and the lone ranger himself, John.

The best team proved to be Little and Large with the bonus rounds really coming in handy, Chris proving to be a master at beer mat flicking and downing his pint and Marc having something extra in the sit up challange. Leila recieved the award for the best dressed and was the talisman of the fundraising that raised £161. John the suprise outsider won the best drinker award with strong consistant drinking after Pete made a few major errors at the end and couldnt handle the pressure because all he had to do was hold it together (or hold it in!!).

Vanisha and Lewis had to drop out early after promising starts due to bad weather but hope to come back strong next time.

All in all it was a fantastic night with a great result in the fundraising that tipped the £2000 mark as a result! Well done to Peter as the ref, especially with the scandelous cheating that needed to be stamped out (Pete and Olly with their really strong WATER shots!) I think it can be said that everyone had a great night and maybe we can do it all again sometime.

Thankyou to all the players and to the generous public of Henley's nightlife who helped toward our cause to raise awareness for CRY and help them in their quest.

Silverstone

The silverstone half marathon was the most exciting run of my warm up runs so far but also one of the hardest. It was very windy and that was seriously slowing me down but crossed the line in an ok time. I have got a bit of an injury on my toe but that will hopefully clear up and not affect training too much this week.

In the heart

I have just got back from running my first half marathon in the heart suit. I felt i finished in a respectable time but i am feeling the effects in my legs. Im not sure if its the extra weight or the body being out of position but it was very tough, much harder than without.

Saying this i am planning on running in it again next week so i cant slack on the training yet and i am looking forward to a good week.

Best time

Today i ran my usual run in 35.58 mins which is my best time by over a minute. Im feeling very good about about running in the heart this sunday and feel fitter than i have felt for about five years so i think it is now or never. I finished my literature review of my dissertation today (the longest bit) so i feel everything is going good at the moment.

Also i will be appearing in my local newspaper tommorrow so i am quite excited about that because i have never been in it before.

Unfortunate Events

So.... the crazy events of the past few weeks have just started to die down. First my running partner gets a broken leg and everything looks like its going to pot then he is doing a 10KM race...... yes on crutches!!!! incredible effort!!

I wasn't feeling very well on sunday so i didn't do as well as i expected to do which is a bit of a shame but im feeling alot better now and just did my usual 5 mile run in 37 minutes and am feeling very good about that.

In general i am feeling very optimistic about the whole thing, despite the setbacks. It is a big shame that peter got injured and i hope he gets better soon but that is out of my hands and i just hope that he has the motivation to carry on.

Big news though.... I am planning to wear the infamous heart on sunday if my training goes well this week. That will be a struggle but an experience!!!!!

Exams

I had my last exam for my first semester of uni today. It is a huge stress relief and i am so pleased it is finally over. I was revising 12 hours a day for the past week and i almost dont know what to do with myself now!!

I havent been training like i should have but now i can concentrate on the training.

Im a bit worried about my first half marathon on Sunday.