Two weeks on

Two weeks have passed since the big day and I'm pleased to say I've been taking it easy (running wise!) I'm enjoying having the extra time to do other things, such as walking, swimming and seeing friends! I had a great Easter break with some great walking in Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall, a part of the UK I'd always wanted to visit.

Today the running shoes were back on for a 5.5 mile run with fellow club runners and neighbours Dean and Gillian, who will be running the London marathon next Sunday. It was great to be out running again. Despite 2 weeks rest, the legs weren't feeling as bouncy as I'd hoped, with my old knee injury giving a bit of a niggle in the last mile or so. Nothing a bit of ice and massage won't sort out though.

So, with the marathon out of the way and training down at the track now back on, I'm raring to go, with a summer of 'shorter' races! Here is my hopeful 'to do' list so far:

25th April: Balmoral 10K
9th May: Penicuik 10K
22nd May: Black Rock 5 (running along beaches, through water and up hills apparently!)
25th May: The Rigg Race (approx 6 miles)
21st June: Edinburgh 7 Hills (14 miles taking in all 7 hills around Edinburgh - no set route, the shortest you can find basically!) http://www.seven-hills.org.uk/
12th July: Girvan Half Marathon
29th June - 2nd August: Tour of Fife (5 races in 5 days! Phew!)

So a few things to aim for over the summer. I hope to make the most of the Scottish Hills this summer too and bag a few more of those Munros :-)
Any other marathons? Well, definately...but I think I'll wait till at least a year has passed for that!

Paris Marathon, 5th April 2009

The day was finally here, April 5th 2009, the day of the Paris Marathon. I had a fantastic weekend, made so much better by all the amazing supporters who came to see myself and Julia run.

We all arrived on the Friday and checked into L'Hotel Pacific, just a mile from the Eiffel Tower. After heading to the Expo to pick up our numbers, we enjoyed some of the Parisian bars and had a nice meal at a classic French restaurant. On Saturday, Julia and I mostly relaxed, chilling out by the Eiffel Tower and making sure we ate lots of carbs for next day's run!

We were up at 6:30am on race day. I'd taken all the necessary equipment to make porridge in my hotel room (yes, I even packed my own kettle!). After breakfast was down, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. My dad came along with us, which was great as he was able to take lots of pictures to capture the atmosphere of the day. After much queuing (for baggage and toilets) we just made it to the start in time. Unfortunately we were a long way off our starting pen (the 3:45 slot), and had to push our way forwards. We got to the back of the 4:30 start pen, so spent the majority of the marathon overtaking people. Possibly a good mental tactic however!! The race was brilliant, a great atmosphere, and we saw our family and friends five times along the route in total, which provided a real boost in the later miles. We were aiming for 8:25/mile. We managed the first few in just under that, but unfortunately a blockage at the first water stop meant we were stood still for 2 minutes, making that one a 10:19 mile!! We had some catching up to do, but wanted to make sure we didn't overdo it in the early miles and pay for it later. We went through the half marathon in 1:52:20, only 20 seconds off target for a 3:45 marathon. I felt strong throughout the race, my legs only really started to hurt with about 5 miles to go. Julia and I ran together for most of the race. Unfortunately we got separated with about 3 miles to go at a busy water station.
The home straight to the finishing line was great, I put on a little (very little!) burst to the finish and was very pleased with my final time of 3:48:36!! A PB by 1 hour and 7 minutes, can't complain with that!! Julia came in just after in 3:51 :-).
Even better, we have raised over £2000 between us for Pancreatic Cancer UK!! A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make that total possible!
If you'd still like to, it's not too late to sponsor me: http://www.justgiving.com/jokirbyparis

So, what next....
Well, recovery has been the name of the game this week, with just 1 mile or running and a bit of swimming. I'm itching to get back running again though (who'd have thought it a few weeks back!). I have lots more races planned for the summer (albeit shorter ones!), the next one being the Balmoral 10k in only a couple of weekends time. And I'm already contemplating my next marathon, haha.... not for a while yet mind!!

One week to go!

So, only one week to go till the big day. I'm in the middle of my 2 week 'taper' and have been feeling the benefits of the drop in milage. Less fatigue...more strength. Having said that, I did a 'short' 12 miles this morning (in beautiful sunshine!) and developed a niggle in my left calf, which has proved to be quite sore, so I've been hobbling around this afternoon. Hopefully some ice and an easier week this week will clear it up for the big day. I'm sure everything will be in order as we step onto the start line of the Champs Elysees at 8:45am (local time) on Sunday, April 5th!! I'm starting to get very excited about race day, and am looking forward to running the course with fellow marathon runner Julia, and of course seeing our many wonderful supporters along the way. Throughout the training, the aim of the marathon has been to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer, and raise as much money as possible for Pancreatic Cancer UK. A HUGE thank you to all of my sponsors so far. Julia and I have already raised over £1000 between the two of us, which is excellent news for the charity!

You can still sponsor me on: http://www.justgiving.com/jokirbyparis Or if you'd like to read about the charity and what it's all about, you can do so on: http://www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/

One week to go....bring it on!!!

Inverness Half Marathon and more long runs

So I went down South for the first weekend in March to take part in the Mad March 20 in Dorset with Paris marathon buddie Julia. This would be one of our only training runs together, as up until now we've only been 'virtual' training buddies. I'd had a tough week of training in the preceding week, and had started getting a little niggle in my left hip flexor. I decided to try a little run on the Saturday to see how it was fairing, only to find I could only manage 2 miles until the pain became too much. After much thought, I decided to do the sensible thing and pull out of the 20 mile 'race'. I went along to support Julia and Marc (who was running the 10 mile race) and we had a good day, they both ran really well. The following week I cut the miles back a little and I think the rest did me good, because come the weekend and the Inverness Half Marathon I was ready and raring to go!!

The weather was pretty changeable in Inverness. Wind and rain the night before, snow and sleet in the morning, then sunshine, then more snow!! I'd gone up with several other club members so there was a good atmosphere at the start, despite having to be pushed out into the sleet to the start line! The course was really nice. It started along the banks of the river Ness, we then crossed over, past the Inverness Castle and then along the river. The rest of the race is a mixture of woodland, roads, housing estates, but the race finishes back along the river and into the athletics stadium where we ran a loop of the track before crossing the line. I was aiming for a personal best if I could, particularly wanting to run under 1hr40mins. That would mean an average of 7:35 per mile. I set of with Gillian, although after a few hundred metres I looked down at my watch and realised we were doing 6:30 per mile. A bit quicker than I was planning!! I knew I wouldn't stay with her for long, so I dropped down the pace. The quicker first mile paid off though, as there were some toughy hillier ones to come. I felt strong round the whole course, the marathon training from the last 3 months was definately paying off. The last mile was back into a headwind, at which point the sleet shower was setting off again, making it all the more painful. I entered the stadium on 1hr38... would I make it!! I crossed the line in 1hr39:19. A new personal best. I was very pleased!!

Since then this week has involved a speed session with the club, a longish run (very painful), followed by a massage (even more painful!), and a tempo run. Today I set off early in the morning with fellow marathon runners Dean and Gillian to do a 20 mile run. This is my furthest run of the training program, as I'm back down to 18 next weekend! We set off at 8:30am. The sun was shining, and the first half was mostly flat and downhill, with the wind in our backs. We ran down to Musselburgh along the coast and beyond. At some points we decided we would just run 20 miles and get the bus back, to avoid the hills and very strong headwind on the way back. However, we realised there would be no buses that went back to Edinburgh if we carried on for 20 miles, so we had no choice but to turn round and head back. The second half was tough to say the least!! But we made it - just over 20 miles in 3hours and 1 minute!!

Just one more week of tough training and then I begin my 2 week taper to the Paris marathon...

Long Runs and a cycle to Falkirk

With 6 weeks left now till the Paris marathon, I'm entering the peak of my training, with weekends taken up with long runs and week days incorporating slightly longer runs also. I have now completed long runs of 18 miles and 19 miles and to be honest, both felt quite good! Despite a few minutes of intense calf pain on returning to my flat, the runs themselves felt good, and no injuries have presented themselves (more than the odd niggle here and there). I am encouraged by these longer runs and feel I can tackle the 'Mad March 20' in Dorset with Julia next weekend with confidence. Watch this space for a full race round up next weekend, along with the Inverness half marathon which will be the weekend after!

Other than running, I've made some space for a bit of cycling too. Myself and Dan had quite an adventure yesterday, with our 33 mile ride from Edinburgh to the Falkirk Wheel. Neither of us had been to the wheel before (a massive boat lift connecting the Union Canal to the Forth and Clyde Canal), nor had we been further than about 10 miles along the canal, so it was fun to explore! We took a leisurely pace., largely dictated by strong head winds and tired legs! There was beautiful scenery along the way, and a slightly scary tunnel about 1 mile long which has to be walked through as is so dark!! We then caught the train back to Edinburgh (didn't fancy the 33 mile cycle back!). A really good route, will have to make it all the way to Glasgow next time!

Bishopbriggs 10K

It's been a little while since I updated my training / racing blog. So far 2009 has been going well for me in terms of marathon training. I still have no injuries (touch wood), and the odd niggles seem to come and go without causing too many problems. My longest weekend run is still only 15 miles, so I will wait to see how things progress over the next few weeks as I gradually increase the milage.

On Saturday January 17th, myself and Dan headed across to Bishopbriggs (just outside Glasgow) for the Jack Crawford 10K race. The weather forecast wasn't looking too good, with a severe gale warning for the afternoon in Western Scotland. Fortunately though, the bad weather just held off till after the event. The course followed the Forth Clyde canal towpath. A really nice route, although a bit narrow and muddy in parts. A hard weeks training meant that this race felt a bit tougher than usual, but I think the longer runs had paid off as the distance felt quite short. I came through in a time of 44:58 which I was very pleased with. My training plan has me down for doing a sub 47 minute 10k at this point to be on track for the 3:45 marathon - so far so good.

A big thank you for all the sponsorship I have had from so many of you so far for Pancreatic Cancer UK. This money will make a huge difference to many people. Many thanks. http://www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/

Bushy Park 5km Time Trial - New Years Day!

Well, I've very much enjoyed the Xmas and New Year holidays. I'm 3 weeks into my official 16-week training plan and all is going well so far. My longest weekend run to date is 14 miles (aiming for 15 today!). The Xmas holidays have provided lots of quality time to get out for training runs which has been great (fuelled by mince pies!). I've managed to meet up with Paris marathon training buddie Julia too. On Xmas Eve we did (along with our friends Katherine and Jamie) our traditional Xmas Eve run around QE park. We normally finish the run with a cup of tea and mince pie, but this year went for the more traditional McMuffin breakfast! haha!

On New Years Day myself, Katherine and Julia (and Marc who ran with Julia) entered the Bushy Park 5km Time Trail. Yes, it was at 9am on New Year's Day - madness. Beautiful course and perfect running conditions. So we started 2009 the way we meant to carry on! Katherine won the race! I was third in 21:19. Not a PB, but not bad for New Year's day and a hard week of training. Julia ran a PB which she was very pleased with!! I will carry on with the training schedule...XC race and 10km race in Glasgow to come next!