Challenge 3 just 10 days away

It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was getting ready for Challenge 2 - the London Ultra, well the fact is it wasn't!

But as I complete one challenge the next one is round the corner and Challenge 3 - New Forest Ultra is only 10 days away!

So what have I been up to since the London Ultra? Not a lot really I had a steady training week last week where I completed just over 20 miles which may seem a lot but was actually about 30 miles less than a normal week.

On Saturday I took part in my 3rd Parkrun in Southend and despite the freezing temperatures I had a good run. Parkruns are part of a national programme and are a free 5k run which take place every Saturday morning. The runs are organised and supported by volunteers and are a great way to get into running or used as a time trial type training session.

So after a 2.5 mile warm up I lined up with another 98 runners. I came a very pleasing 9th with a new PB of 20minutes 46seconds.

I never started running to win races, that's because I knew it was never possible given my beer belly but I love the fact that I'm now reaching certain milestones that I never thought I would achieve.

Now without sounding like a football manager on the verge of winning a trophy I am trying to take each challenge as they come and not get too far ahead of myself.

That said I have been getting the route sorted for the beast that is Challenge 4 - 6 marathons in 6 days.

This will clearly be the biggest challenge so far and will be tough going. It must be said that I haven't exactly picked a picturesque route either, but it is the most direct from Great Wakering to Stratford Upon Avon.

More about challenge 4 soon.

As for now I've increased my training this week with a 20 miler planned for the weekend before I reduce the training ahead of the event.

Please remember that the Average Joe Challenge, which is a year long challenge, is to raise money for the Spring Board Opportunity Group.

Springboard is first and foremost a playgroup. Play is very important part of a child's development, as all children learn to play. They take children who, for a variety of reasons, may have needs that benefit from specialist support; children who need extra help and support becasue of physical, emotional or language problems.

They also act as a centre for parents of these children to give them information, support and help in co-ordinating all the agencies who may be involved with the family.

As mentioned previously Eva, my friends daughter who has Down syndrome, and their family have benefitted greatly from the support and work that Springboard Opportunity Group do.

Any donations no matter how big or small would be gratefully received and can be made through my donate page. A link can be found on the web version of this blog or by going to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/averagejoe

More soon on the build up to Challenge 3!

Toughest challenge confirmed!

So Challenge 11 (November) has now been confirmed which is the winter 100 mile run, that's right run!

I believe that this will be the hardest of all the challenges and will see me running through the night as I attempt to do it in under 24 hours.

With a field of only 140 runners its going to be both mentally and physically challenging but one I'm sure I can overcome, after all once I complete it I'll only have one more challenge left to do.

This week I have also received support from two great organisation - Sport Inspired and Clever Together.

Their support means another £300 towards the total so thank you to them, look out for the link to them on the blog in the coming weeks.

Remember donations no matter how big or small can be made via the web version of my blog by clicking on the My Donate logo or by going directly to my donation page at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/averagejoe

C2 - London Ultra - Done

The alarm clock was very unforgiving at 5:50am and without the option to keep pressing snooze I dragged myself out of bed to get in to my running gear.

I went down into the kitchen to sort my last few bits out and polished off 4 wheat-a-bixs, a banana and a brew. Whilst my wife got the kids up and dressed to military precision!

With everyone fed and watered, bags packed and the car loaded we set off for the start.

The journey was painless and we arrived at the start with about 40 minutes before we starters pistol. This gave me time to have my first pit stop prior to registering.

I registered and picked up my race number and map of the route which I was hoping not to use as I had planned to follow the other runners!

I started to do my final preparations when the coach load of other runners arrived. It was great to see a familiar, friendly face of Steve Drake my new ultra friend who dragged my ass to the finish line a month earlier at the country to capital event.

Steve went off to register and I went for my second pit stop!

With about 10 minutes before the start we were given our final instructions by the event organiser and ultra marathon legend Rory Coleman. There was some interesting instructions which included running through a blue door at a building site like a dodgy Japanese game show!

With the final instructions and a wave to the wife and kids we were off on the 50k journey.

What was clear from the amount of layers, woolly hats and gloves that people were wearing no one had anticipated the clear blue sky and sunshine!

Throughout the first ten miles there was a lot of runners shedding layers as it was starting to heat up which given the weather over the last month it was actually a welcome sight!

The first 2 check points came and went very quickly which was quite a nice feeling although I then started doubting my GPS watch. It was shortly after the second check point that I caught up with Steve who was one on those runners losing some layers.

We were now heading towards the famous postcode area of SW19 and unlike the Wimbledon fortnight we continued to have sunshine. We entered into Wimbledon park with me knowing that my supporters would be there to cheer me on.

Thanks to the power of Tom Tom Vez had found the halfway check point. Fortunately she had listened to the sat nav and not to a four year old who believed he was more knowledgable than Tom Tom!

It was great to see them and a real motivation boost although Vez taking a picture of me waving as walking over to them made it look like I was out on a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll!

The check points were well stocked with haribo star mix, chunks of snickers, sausage rolls and water. At the halfway point there was the added treat of cans of coke cola. Despite the burping from the fizzy coke it was quite refreshing and the caffeine boost I needed.

I said my goodbyes and from here we headed towards and into Richmond Park.

Now my theory of following the runners in front was not that well thought out as due to the weather there was a hell of a lot of other runners out on Sunday morning so when we entered Richmond Park there was runners going in all directions, fortunately for us an eagle eyed runner we were with spotted the smallest capital ring sign on a post. I'm not sure how they saw it as I was sure it was also hidden behind a tree! Anyway luckily for us they spotted it and we set off in the right direction again.

It was here that Steve started to suffer with a muscle injury and he needed to walk but he told me to keep going.

This was probably the first time I was on my own in the race and one where I couldn't actually see another runner in front either, I was starting to think I might need my map after all.

I reached the last check point (24 miles) feeling in pretty good shape and with a few more swigs of coke cola which were followed by more burps I set off for the final 7ish miles.

The great thing about the check points is that you tend to group back with other runners. This was the case so I was able to continue with my race strategy of following the person in front.

I finally caught up with 2 blokes that were running in front of me and tagged along with them. We started chatting and it turned out that they lived in Southend and we trained along the same routes! It's a small runners world!

It was at this point that I was starting to look more and more at my watch. What started out to be an absurd idea of actually finishing under 5 hours was starting to become a reality, but as with most men I didn't want to peak too soon!

With my watch showing just under 30 miles I told the 2 guys that we could get under 5 hours so we started to kick on.

One of the guys eased back but told us to go on, the next thing I know the other guy was pulling away from me and I had no more to give.

The mileage was now showing 31 miles and we weren't at the finish line! Knowing now that I couldn't finish under 5 hours I kept pushing as the athletic stadium came into view in the distance feeling a bit gutted and I was now being caught by some of the other runners who had saved some energy for the final kick.

I finally entered the stadium and on to the 100 metre straight.

As I got on to the track I saw James out the corner of my eye and I gave him a wave, he gave me a beaming smile which was the final boost I needed.

I looked at the finish line and I could see a runner who had passed me as we approached the stadium still going.

So I started to push myself one last time and I started to close the gap between us but as I got nearer he kicked on too. I just kept going and pumping my legs and I passed him just before the line.

At the time it was a great feeling to beat him on the line but on reflection I do feel a bit bad.

The great news was that I finished 94th out of 244 runners and in a time of 5 hours 2 mins and 45 seconds.

The link below shows the sprint finish!

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/ultraracephotos/8485152711/

And so my attention now shifts on to challenge 3 - the New Forest Ultra which is on 10 March.

I also get to meet up with Steve again who contacted me to let me know he had entered it after the event on Sunday as part of his preparation for the Marathon des Sables, a six day marathon across the Sahara desert!

Don't worry I don't plan to do it! Not this year anyway!

2 down 10 to go!

Well in glorious sunshine challenge 2 all 32 miles (should have been 31) has been completed in 5 hours 3 minutes! The finish was in an athlete stadium and I even had a enough in the tank to sprint finish and beat a guy just before crossing the line!

More to follow.....

C2 just a day away

With the second challenge being less than 24 hours away I'm spending the day relaxing as much as I can. The difference with this one compared the challenge 1 is the fact that I'm not at work the day before so I have a whole day to think about the event and start to get a bit anxious!

I've started to get my kit organised so that I'm not panicking later but this only seems to add to the nerves.

Despite this I am feeling relatively confident and I've taken it easy with the running this week by only doing about 20 miles. Training has gone well and I've completed over 100 miles in February so if all goes well I'd like to finish in under 5 and a half hours but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

I've also had some good news this morning and that is that Eva is on the mend. She hasn't been well this week but its good to hear she's doing a lot better so I'm going to put in a big effort tomorrow for her!

I also want to give a big shout out to the team at The Training Room - personal trainer academy. They have sponsored this event and have donated £150 which has helped raise over £1160 so far for Springboard Opportunity Group.

So the London Ultra Marathon route is a mixture of trail, grass and Tarmac but is apparently quite flat.

We start off at the City of London sports pavilion at 9am and follow the Capital Ring via crystal palace, tooting, Wandsworth, through Wimbledon and Richmond park, past Brentford and finish in Greenford 31 miles (50k) later.

I'm staying at home tonight so we have a relatively early start in the morning so that I can get registered by 8.30 at the latest. My support crew for this event will be the wife and kids so I'm looking forward to seeing some smiling faces at 6am tomorrow morning.

With next week being half term I have booked Monday off work so I will make it up to them all. The plan is to go swimming so a bit of a busman's holiday for me but I'll try not to be too critical of the leisure centre we go to.

So the rest of today sees me keeping hydrated and taking in as many carbs as possible whilst trying to get into the zone, whatever that is!

That's it for now so I'll hopefully see you on the other side of Challenge 2.

Great newspaper coverage

Today the challenge and the Springboard Opportunity Group got some great coverage in the Gazette and Herald.

Thank you to the paper for running the article. Click below to view it.

Gazette and Herald

It's now just over one week to go until Challenge 2 which has been supported by the Training Room - personal trainer academy. I'm starting to get both nervous and excited about the London Ultra my support team are gearing themselves up for what I'm sure will be a great event.

New month means next challenge!

So as we enter the start of February it means that the next challenge is not that far away and that's true as it is only 2 weeks away on Sunday 17 February.

Although I have not wrote a blog update for a while it doesn't mean that I have been sat doing nothing, far from it as I have continued with my training. So after dodging the snow and the icy conditions I have completed another 200 miles during January.

I started logging my training back in October and since then I have clocked up 637 miles which is over 94 hours of running. Now without sounding too smug I have also completed 4 marathons (including the Country to Capital Ultra) since the start of the year, so as some people are losing their motivation to continue with their new years fitness resolutions my motivation to continue is as strong as ever!

I was hoping to share a link to an article in the Gazette and Herald about the challenge and giving the charity some publicity but unfortunately it didn't feature this week but have been assured that it will be in next weeks edition.

In the last blog I posted some links to the official photos of the Country to Capital, below is two more including the finish line.

Photo 1

Photo 2

So tomorrow I will be out early doors as I aim to run another marathon before I put my feet up to watch the rugby. That is if Coach Izzy lets me, as you can see from the picture she is keeping a close eye on my training plan!