Planning the future; Anthony Nolan; and a sore finger

This was orignally posted yesterday, but playing around with things has resulted in it appearing today.

I should start with an apology if this post is a little long:

I guess it was about a year ago that I would have happily sat in a pub, discussed the merits of running, and branded anyone who did such an activity a mentalist.  In some ways, I stand by my convictions, but happily include myself in such a lame categorisation.

The reason I came to start running was (in my view) the fault of a childhood friend of mine, Stan, from the village I grew up in 30 years ago.  We had one of our random chats, and he let the cat out of the bag that he had entered both the Lincoln and Hull 10km races in 2011.  I reckon there was a wager involved somewhere here, but the competitive nature in me decided that if he can run 10km, then so can I… so I entered the British 10km, and the rest is history.  I was hooked.

Before I knew it, I had planned the next 12 months.  I was entered into the Run to the Beat Half Marathon in September, which was great as it was down the road from my home; the Brighton Half Marathon in Feb 2012; and the Brighton Marathon in April 2012.

With hindsight, I look back at this ambitious planning, and wonder what the hell I was playing at.  Why plan so much when after the first run training for the 10km, I got 2km before I had to lie down wheezing in Shrewsbury Park?  This wasn’t like me, and furthermore, Stan, the poor bastard was coerced into following my plan, and is still sticking with it to some extent, barring an injury he fears will pull him out of the marathon, and sensibly so to.

I have no answer to the question above, but I find myself already looking beyond Brighton, and possibly towards Amsterdam in October, with a half marathon in the Langdale Valley of the Lake District in September to really test the legs.  It’s all crazy, but I have to plan ahead before I can stop.

I also want to do one thing for charity every year in my 30′s.  It started walking the Yorkshire Three Peaks for the Mountain Rescue England and Wales.  Last year I ran the British 10km for Anthony Nolan.  My mother died over 12 years ago to Leukemia, so this is a charity that I am happy to be involved with as they do a lot of work towards matching donors for people suffering and need a bone marrow transplant.  I’m stuck in two minds whether to pick one event for this year, or alternatively open a charity page for all events, and just let people know which events are coming up, and remind them of the sponsorship at the time.  I just don’t like to look as though I pester my friends and family continuously all year round.

After the Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge

Anyway, the training has been going from strength to strength.  I inadvertently ran over 20 miles on Sunday without thinking about it.  It hurt me a lot, but I did it, and was happy to have made it round in one piece.  It has given me the confidence that I only need to find another 6 miles, and get used to a better pace.

Training has involved cycling to work 2-3 times a week with the running taking place over the weekend.  I’ve slowed down on my cycling pace, just using it as an excuse to loosen the limbs, as well as save money on the transport costs here.  Yesterday, cycling into work, it was raining, and travelling through Greenwich, I saw a car that decided to pull out in front of me.  With all the water on my brakes, I wasn’t able to pull off the kind of stop I’m used to, and ended up hitting the back of the car and falling into the road.

Luckily all I could identify was a sore finger (which is currently in the phase of fusing a purple colour with red).  What amazed me was, a/ the driver drove off, b/ all other traffic were doing their best to drive around me, rather than helping some poor fool lumbered on his arse by another motorist.

The camaradarie of city living.