With just over 5 weeks I thought I'd better get my act together and finalise the route for challenge 4.
So thanks to google map here is an overview:
Day 1 - 26.5 miles
Great Wakering to Wingletye lane in Hornchurch.
This is a straight route that follows the A127 pretty much all the way.
Day 2 - 26.6 miles
Wingletye lane to Packhorse Lane (near junction 22 M24)
This takes me via the top of the Barking and Dagenham, Chigford, Enfield, Potters Bar and finally South Mimms.
Day 3 - 26.3 miles
Packhorse Lane to Watling Street (near Little Brickhill)
Like day 1 a large chunk of this route follows along one road, here it's the A5. Along the way I will pass through St Albans and Dunstable.
Day 4 - 26.2 miles
Watling Street to New Road, Farthinghoe
Here the route goes via Buckingham and Bletchley.
Day 5 - 26 miles
New Road, Farthinghoe to Stratford upon Avon train station
All being well I will finally reach Stratford upon Avon on Saturday. Here I will follow the A422 via Banbury, Ettington and Goldicote and finally in to Stratford.
Day 6 - 26.2 miles
The Shakespeare Marathon
Total distance 157.8 miles in 6 days
This will be followed by a cheeky beer before I have a long sleep!
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Running in a winter wonderland!
So it's officially spring right? Time to put away the winter thermals and get out the shorts? Not a chance!
Today (Saturday 23 March) I took part in the Southend parkrun which was pretty grim.
The wind was gale force and the sleet/snow was hammering the 40 brave (mad) runners. (The photos are from todays Southend Parkrun - check all of them out on the Southend parkrun Facebook page)
Despite the weather I actually had a good run which started with a 2.5mile warm up to the start and then taking on the 3.1 mile route.
It wasn't a PB today but I did finish in a better than expected 3rd! That's right 3rd! Now don't get me wrong I'm made up with that placing but I do put it down to the reduced numbers which included a lack of club runners probably a result of a number of half marathons on Sunday.
Anyway this is certainly a boost to my confidence as the days pass leading to Challenge 4.
It's now just over 5 weeks away until I start the first of the six marathons and I'm praying for some warmer weather as 6 days of running in weather like this is unthinkable!
I've been taking it easy recently so over the coming weeks I will be increasing the mileage and I'm planning to do back to back 20 milers which will be a real test for the legs!
This week I received an email from Southend Radio who want to interview me on Sunday 21 April about the challenge. Hopefully it will raise the profile of what I'm doing?!
If anyone has any ideas about how I can raise the profile of the challenge and more importantly raise money for Springboard Opportunity Group please get in touch at knightandy1@gmail.com
Time to have a brew and stay warm!
Today (Saturday 23 March) I took part in the Southend parkrun which was pretty grim.
The wind was gale force and the sleet/snow was hammering the 40 brave (mad) runners. (The photos are from todays Southend Parkrun - check all of them out on the Southend parkrun Facebook page)
Despite the weather I actually had a good run which started with a 2.5mile warm up to the start and then taking on the 3.1 mile route.
It wasn't a PB today but I did finish in a better than expected 3rd! That's right 3rd! Now don't get me wrong I'm made up with that placing but I do put it down to the reduced numbers which included a lack of club runners probably a result of a number of half marathons on Sunday.
Anyway this is certainly a boost to my confidence as the days pass leading to Challenge 4.
It's now just over 5 weeks away until I start the first of the six marathons and I'm praying for some warmer weather as 6 days of running in weather like this is unthinkable!
I've been taking it easy recently so over the coming weeks I will be increasing the mileage and I'm planning to do back to back 20 milers which will be a real test for the legs!
This week I received an email from Southend Radio who want to interview me on Sunday 21 April about the challenge. Hopefully it will raise the profile of what I'm doing?!
If anyone has any ideas about how I can raise the profile of the challenge and more importantly raise money for Springboard Opportunity Group please get in touch at knightandy1@gmail.com
Time to have a brew and stay warm!
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Official photos from Sunday
Monday, 11 March 2013
A quarter of the challenge complete
Its the day after the New Forest ultra and I'm pleased to say that my legs are feeling ok and not too sore.
Fortunately the snow held off yesterday but the weather was pretty poor and we still had to suffer gale force winds and zero degree temperatures!
The event itself was good and the team of marshals were brilliant and really kept us going. The conditions were that bad that about 8 people dropped out of the race.
As mentioned previously the race was 3 laps which meant that we knew exactly what was coming which was both mentally and physically tough going.
The new forest itself was beautiful even if we had to avoid cows and horses!
For those people who know me and maybe thinking that I am disappointed with my time I'm pleased to say that I wasn't as disappointed as I thought I might be.
I finished in 5 hours and 16 minutes and came 26th out of 50 which given the conditions I'm pleased with and the main thing is I came out without any injuries!
I now have just over 6 weeks until challenge number 4 which is the big one 6 marathons in 6 days so the next couple of weeks I plan to take it easy on the training to recover fully. It also gives me a good opportunity to focus on the fundraising which is currently around £1500.
It was great to see Eva over the weekend and how well she's developing, she really does have a great family and the support from the Springboard Opportunity Group is awesome.
I know I'm not the only person raising money for charity but any donation no matter how big or small really will make a difference and would be appreciated. To donate please click here
Well for now I'm going to rest up and sort out the final preparations for Challenge 4!
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Challenge 3 done but was one hell of an event!
Im pleased to say that challenge 3 has been completed and I'm glad to see the back of it!!
Well we didn't break 5 hours but the good thing was it didn't break us mentally!
The weather and terrain were tough going but we still managed a respectable 5 hours 15 minutes.
I've got my feet up at the minute recouping so I'll update more tomorrow.
Thank you to Russ for getting me around!
Well we didn't break 5 hours but the good thing was it didn't break us mentally!
The weather and terrain were tough going but we still managed a respectable 5 hours 15 minutes.
I've got my feet up at the minute recouping so I'll update more tomorrow.
Thank you to Russ for getting me around!
Challenge 3 has arrived!
Morning all...so here we are 3 weeks on from completing the second challenge its the morning of the New Forest ultra and challenge number 3.
I've had a good night sleep and thanks to the great hospitality of Pam and Tony (Eva's grandparents) I feel refreshed and fuelled for the 31 miles that lie ahead later on.
At this point I have no idea what it's like outside as I'm lying in a warm comfy bed not yet brave enough to look out the window to see how many layers I'm going to need today.
It's a small field of runners today doing the 50k with only 78 people taking part. Although there will be a lot of runners there doing either a half marathon or a 20 miler.
For us 78 we have a 3 lap route to follow in the beautiful and picturesque forest and I'm hoping that the rain yesterday hasn't turned the track/trails in to the muddy bogs like the first 2 events.
As for predictions about the run, that big 5 hours is niggling in my head and hopefully with the support of Russ (Eva's Dad) and my new ultra buddy Steve we can break it!
Yesterday was great as I got to spend time with Eva and her family. I even got to see Eva crawl for the first time.
We went for a nice walk after lunch which was a great way to loosen the legs off especially after being in the car for 3 hours. Which reminds me that I'm not looking forward to that drive home later.
Finally, I must say a big happy Mother's Day to my wife who I have left at home with the kids and the her parents.
Hopefully her dad is doing the pampering which I will look to take over when I crawl in later today.
Well I guess I'd better brave it and get my race head on along with my kit.
Come on C3 let's be having you!!!
I've had a good night sleep and thanks to the great hospitality of Pam and Tony (Eva's grandparents) I feel refreshed and fuelled for the 31 miles that lie ahead later on.
At this point I have no idea what it's like outside as I'm lying in a warm comfy bed not yet brave enough to look out the window to see how many layers I'm going to need today.
It's a small field of runners today doing the 50k with only 78 people taking part. Although there will be a lot of runners there doing either a half marathon or a 20 miler.
For us 78 we have a 3 lap route to follow in the beautiful and picturesque forest and I'm hoping that the rain yesterday hasn't turned the track/trails in to the muddy bogs like the first 2 events.
As for predictions about the run, that big 5 hours is niggling in my head and hopefully with the support of Russ (Eva's Dad) and my new ultra buddy Steve we can break it!
Yesterday was great as I got to spend time with Eva and her family. I even got to see Eva crawl for the first time.
We went for a nice walk after lunch which was a great way to loosen the legs off especially after being in the car for 3 hours. Which reminds me that I'm not looking forward to that drive home later.
Finally, I must say a big happy Mother's Day to my wife who I have left at home with the kids and the her parents.
Hopefully her dad is doing the pampering which I will look to take over when I crawl in later today.
Well I guess I'd better brave it and get my race head on along with my kit.
Come on C3 let's be having you!!!
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Run Forest run!
So a week today sees me take on my 3rd challenge which is the new forest off road 50k ultra.
This event is part of the new forest festival which is a 2 day running event that has a number of different events and distances all within the new forest.
I plan to have a light week of training ahead of the weekend, I think I'm getting a pre race ritual sorted now although I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing or is just that I'm a bit superstitious.
With February being a shorter month I didn't break the 200 miles for the month but I did complete a respectable 184 miles.
This has now taken my mileage count to 838miles since 22nd October when I started training for the first challenge.
As you can see training continues to go well although after 124hours of running I have now started to get a slight pain around my knee cap.
I must say I am starting to look forward to getting on the bike an the end of April to give the knees a bit of a rest.
Well that's it for now but I'll give an update the day before the challenge.
As you know I'm doing these challenges to raise money for Springboard Opportunity Group. You can make a donation by clicking the My Donate logo on the web version of the blog.
This event is part of the new forest festival which is a 2 day running event that has a number of different events and distances all within the new forest.
I plan to have a light week of training ahead of the weekend, I think I'm getting a pre race ritual sorted now although I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing or is just that I'm a bit superstitious.
With February being a shorter month I didn't break the 200 miles for the month but I did complete a respectable 184 miles.
This has now taken my mileage count to 838miles since 22nd October when I started training for the first challenge.
As you can see training continues to go well although after 124hours of running I have now started to get a slight pain around my knee cap.
I must say I am starting to look forward to getting on the bike an the end of April to give the knees a bit of a rest.
Well that's it for now but I'll give an update the day before the challenge.
As you know I'm doing these challenges to raise money for Springboard Opportunity Group. You can make a donation by clicking the My Donate logo on the web version of the blog.
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