2009 Part 1 – When the Going got Hot!

As I mentioned in the previous blog, 2008 finished with an unexpected 3rd race in the form of the inaugural Birmingham marathon.  Silverstone half before London marathon had been part of the plan.

In October 2008, when the London marathon ballot results came out, I had not been successful.  This time I decided I was not going to apply for a charity place. Don’t think badly of me!  I’d done two marathons, admittedly neither had gone to plan, but I crossed those finish lines and I had earnt those medals.  More importantly though, I’d raised a few thousand pounds for two charities.  I say I had, but of course it was thanks to all those kindly people that had sponsored me.  I was lucky in a way that I got into running as JustGiving came into being.  Yes, I had the trusty sponsorship forms for people to pledge an amount but now it could be done electronically, and it also saved the tough process of collecting the money. I genuinely had people tell me after my first one that they hadn’t expected to have to pay me as they didn’t think I could do it!  Anyhows, we’ll focus on fundraising in a blog another time.

In that rejection letter magazine was an entry form for Edinburgh marathon. Now I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it many times, but I was very naïve in my early days as a runner and also didn’t realise how vast the racing calendar really was. I mean, a 10K race was genuinely something at this time that I didn’t realise was a thing! I kid thee not.  A half marathon.  A full marathon.  I knew ultra-marathons also existed, but you’d have to be really out of your mind to want to run beyond 26.2 miles.  Or a very good runner with incredible fitness.  But a 10K?  I honestly did not realise how many of them occurred on a weekly basis. Now there are some major 10Ks in all the big cities.  I think not being in a running club at the time or knowing anyone that was meant that I had a very limited view of the running world.  It was me and Runner’s World magazine. 

I decided to enter Edinburgh in November 2008.  It would be nice to do a different marathon and it promised to be a pretty flat one based on the course profile that they showed.  And I wasn’t doing it for charity so maybe not having to fundraise and train and do all the other things I was doing in life at the time might mean I’d get my time down to 5 hrs. 30 or that target of London 2007 of 5 hrs. 15?  I booked a hotel and decided to travel up on the Saturday and return on the Monday.  The obvious and send sensible thing to do for a marathon over 300 miles away.

With that booked I decided I’d give Silverstone Half another go as build up to Edinburgh.  Silverstone was about 10 weeks before Edinburgh, so it was a good time to go out and give it a go.  Doing Edinburgh marathon also meant my method of starting training in January worked.  I’d have almost 6 months to prepare as Edinburgh was on 31st May in 2009. 

The next bit I remember very clearly. It’s amazing some of the things that remain crystal clear in one’s memory. I had read about the New York marathon and found out that there were companies in the UK that did packages to the city that never sleeps that included entry to the race.  What appealed even more was that NY marathon 2009 was not only the 40th one, but it fell on my 34th birthday! Who doesn’t want to run a marathon their birthday? And in New York?  So, I made a call whilst at work from my mobile to ask the company if they had places, they said yes, and I paid a deposit.

On a whim, on impulse.  No discussion with the wife! I just went for it.  I mean I didn’t even want to run any more marathons but the thought of doing New York really appealed to me. So, by the end of 2008 I had booked 2 marathons for 2009, 5 months apart which according to the articles I read was the sensible thing to do.  2 marathons a year, spring and autumn.  By the way, it would be March or April before I told my wife that I had booked the New York marathon.  I did ask her if she wanted to come with me.  She said no.  I don’t think she was impressed that I’d booked without telling her, but she has got used to me signing up for things on impulse and setting myself big challenges. 

So, into 2009 we go. At this time, I was still using the Saucony running shoes I had bought for London 2008.  These trainers would be all I wore in 2009.  Really. My philosophy was that I would be done after New York.  We all know that’s not how it worked out, but at the time it was 2 marathons in 2009 and that would be it.  Half marathons appealed a lot more and I could see myself doing a few more halfs, especially with Birmingham having a half.  Which brings me nicely to Birmingham half.  There would be another one in 2009 and it wouldn’t start near the Alexandra Stadium this time.  It would start and finish in Birmingham city centre.  It would also in 2009 be the IAAFs World half marathon championship.  It was going to be 3 weeks prior to New York, so I thought why not?  It turned out to be a very wise decision. 

I don’t have too many clear memories of Silverstone 2009 except that this time I managed to maintain a consistent pace all the way round.  Unlike the 2008 version there were no strong winds, it stayed dry and of course there is plenty of room to run.  The race went really well and at the 4th attempt I got under 2 hrs. 36 for a half marathon.  That was the target at my initial half at GNR in 2006. I came in at just over 2 hrs. 33 and that was the booster I needed to for Edinburgh.  It gave me the belief that a 5 hr. 30 full was on the cards, if I trained well.  And guess what?  No, don’t be so sceptical!  I did train hard.  A 20-mile run, and an 18-mile run in the first two weekends of May meant I had finally done the long runs you were advised to do in marathon training. Both runs were pleasing as I had returned from a 3-week holiday in India.  I didn’t run whilst out there but did do an awful lot of walking in temperature over 30 degrees.  I think that helped me achieve both these longer runs with confidence.

So, on Saturday 30th May I remember getting the train up to Edinburgh for my 3rd marathon and first one that wasn’t London with a belief that I could get a decent time this time.  I’d trained well this time.  I was doing better with my nutrition.  Admittedly I was wearing well-worn trainers, but I had a good feeling about this one.  Unlike London there would not be huge crowds all the way round.  As I found out there wouldn’t be much of a crowd, save in Edinburgh and at the finish.

I remember getting a decent night’s sleep and having a lovely walk along Princes St on Saturday evening.  I was in a hotel about 2 miles away.  Yes, that’s right a Holiday Inn!  I woke up and had the breakfast of champions – beans on toast, with a generous dollop of HP brown sauce.  It would be a few years before I found a porridge that worked well for me, but beans on toast. That’s where it’s at!  I remember getting a taxi to the start, it only cost £3!!  Imagine that.  I bet £3 now is just the fixed charge!

This is a good time to mention there is one thing that I have never checked from my first race in 2006 to present day.  And that it may surprise you to read is the weather.  I don’t care to check the forecast.  My philosophy was, is and always will be that the weather is not a factor I take into account when planning a run, especially a long one or on race day.  If I’m doing a race the weather will not make a difference to me taking part.  I don’t change my kit.  Shorts and T-shirt.  The only concession I make is gloves if it’s really cold.  No-one likes frozen hands.  I mean trying to use a phone in an emergency with ice hands or even trying to put a key in the lock; it’s not ideal. 

Now with Edinburgh I learnt a valuable lesson.  Checking the weather is important.  The temperature that day reached 25 degrees.  The hottest I had ran in. Both of my London marathon experiences had been kind to me.  I think maybe 21 or 22 degrees and when you’ve slowed to a walk, the heat isn’t an issue the way pain is.  If I had taken the time to check how hot it was meant to be I would have definitely hydrated better at the water stops and even carried a bottle.

One thing I decided before writing these blogs was that I would do them from memory.  I wouldn’t look up the routes of the races highlight certain parts of where I had ran.  Pre-2014 where I wasn’t posting much on social media i.e., Facebook, these memories are sketchy, but I believe and hope some of the vagueness makes these recollections more interesting to read.

‘Chilling’ in India a month before Edinburgh Marathon.

So, Edinburgh marathon starts, I’m already feeling warm and most of the first few miles are flat or downhill as you head past Holyrood and the stunning scenery including Arthurs Seat.  Then it’s pretty flat.  We went past the racecourse we would come back and finish on.  I remember running a pretty long stretch close to the sea.  There was a breeze, but the sun was really hitting hard.  It’s from memory, the road that leads to Leith.  At some point I knew we would turn around and head back the way we had come from albeit on the road and not by the sea. 

It was really getting hot, and I remember using a run walk strategy.  I decided at halfway that 5 hrs. 30 was too optimistic but around 6 hours was achievable.  There is a stately home or something like that whose grounds you run through before you make the turn back.  I remember when we got there, there was an attempt by the marshalls to cut the route short.  It was too hot and one of the water stops on the way back had no water left!  There were unconfirmed stories afterwards that a pallet of water had been stolen from the water stop!  I never found out if this was true.  I believe that the more likely explanation was runners taking 2 bottles of water to cool themselves down at a water station with less water than it should have had at the 21 mile or so mark.  As I ran past a marshall it was just as they tried to block the road and told people to turn around.  Afterwards I remember thinking I wish I’d turned around! It would have reduced our run by just over 2 miles, I think?

A number of runners did exchange words with the marshalls.  We were within the cutoff, so it didn’t make sense, but we were told it was for safety reasons, which did sort of make sense! Anyway, I could feel my mouth getting drier and drier and I really needed that water stop.  I’d ran out of water about 2 miles ago and when we got to the water station; no water.  Well, no full bottles.  Just the dispose bottles from runners before us.  I had walked the mile to the water station.  I’d taken a gel.  I was big on sports gels after the first London marathon.  You need something when you’re on your feet, moving for over 6 hours. I remember some runners desperately picking up bottles that were on the ground and taking drinks from them. I was tempted but I resisted.  I still had another gel, and we were assured there was lots of water 2 miles along.  Maybe there was when the message was given to us but same issue when we got there. 

The last 10K of Edinburgh marathon were harder than London.  Not because of pain or blisters.  But due to the heat.  It was energy sapping.  I’ve sine ran in much hotter conditions and not had any issues.  But like everything I have achieved in running that has come from learning from a lot of mistakes, training hard or a decent following wind!  I did a little jog across the finish line, and I was so relieved to finish.  I remember being given a bottle of water and downing it quicker than Usain did 100m in.  And then I grabbed a second one and that was drunk in the time it takes Usain to do 200m!  Water never tasted so good.  It was lukewarm, but I didn’t care.

It was a feeling of mixed emotions again.  Unlike the 2 London marathons I didn’t feel as much physical pain.  I felt shattered though.  And I could feel the dried salt on my face.  But I had done it.  I had done a marathon where the conditions were not what I expected or had trained for.  A valuable lesson learnt.  Always have a quick look at the weather, especially in the summer and late spring and make sure you hydrate accordingly. 

My time of 6 hrs. 23 was my 2nd best time, albeit of the only 3 I had done but I wasn’t down about the fact I didn’t crack the revised target of 6 hours I’d decided upon hallway through the race.  At the 3rd attempt I had come into a marathon well prepared.  Maybe still not perfect prep as I didn’t run for 10 days prior to the marathon!  My idea of a taper wasn’t quite right even with the experience I had gained.  I had started off quite well but whereas I know I didn’t respect the distance in the first 2 fulls, this time I did.  The one factor that is always out a runner’s hand, or so I believe, is the weather.  And it was the heat that did for me.  I felt that if prepared for New York the way I had for this one then sub 6 was a possibility and I would happily call it a day from marathon running if I did that. 

This time I didn’t stop running after a marathon.  In reality I couldn’t do that. When I boarded the train back to Brum the next day, walking quite well all things considering, I had exactly 5 months to the New York marathon.  So, I eased off for a few weeks but then got back into the training again.  The only difference as mentioned earlier was that I was using a half marathon as build up, except this time it was 3 weeks before the marathon and not 10.

Towards the end of June, I received an email from British Heart Foundation asking if I wanted to be considered for one of their London marathon places in 2010.  I’d done well with the fundraising for them the previous year so I it was quite flattering to be asked.  I had entered the ballot again and decided that it was a ballot place or nothing.  I told them I was concentrating on New York marathon that year but would be prepared to do a little fundraising for that with the Birmingham half as well if that was OK?  And so that was how I came to run Birmingham half and New York for BHF again.  I felt that having the focus of fundraising for a good cause would keep me on my game.

I felt that I’d not cracked how to prepare for a marathon properly now but that I had taken a literal big step to doing it better.  And by better I don’t mean a better time, although that was the aim, but better at it not being so painful. 

I’m going to save the 2nd half of 2009 for next week.  New York deserves to be featured heavily in my blog and let’s be honest, there’s no need for me to rush these blogs to get to the modern day!  I’ll be doing my 50th full in 3 weeks so the 100 marathons is still a distance away and the 100 mile ultra will hopefully happen in 2023.  So please indulge me as I take my merry old time going through my experiences.

Again, I’m afraid I have no pictures of either of the 2 races from spring 2009 covered here so I’ve used some stock pictures of me running again!  I do have pictures from the other 2009 races, you’ll be glad to hear.

Again, don’t be shy.  Message me, email me, tweet me, whatever you like.  I’m happy to cover lots of difference topics with these blogs.  I made it very hard for myself when I started running but I got better! It took a lot of hard work, perseverance, a few tears, a number of blisters and countless runs slower than the last; but looking back they were all the things that improved me as a runner and a person. And let’s not forget the fundraising.  Central to most of my running is to help those less fortunate than me.

Have a great week guys and see you next week for New York, New York!  We continue with how I did it my and continue to do it my way!

My 2nd and Final Marathon!

Hi and this week it’s back to The Journey to 100m.  I hope some of you did a runsome in the last week?  I did my first full marathon yesterday taking me to 48 official fulls.  Almost halfway to 100 marathons. Official ones of course as I’ve already done 100!  In terms of a 100 mile ultra, that is the big target for next year.

Anyway, lets pick up from where we left off 2 weeks ago.  If this is the first blog, you’re reading of mine you don’t have to have read any of the previous ones.  But if you want to know how not to prepare for a marathon then you will find it useful, I assure you!

So, 2007 London marathon done, fundraising for Oxfam smashed but nowhere near the time I thought I might be able to do.  Admittedly my anticipated time was based on just one-half marathon and little else.  Back in those days, it’s only 15 years ago but how old do I feel writing those 4 words?  In 2007 when Flora were the main sponsors the ballot was open for 1 day only.  Not the 1 week like now.  So, when the ballot opened there was absolutely nothing in me that wanted to enter, so I didn’t.  It took me about a week to be able to walk properly after that marathon.  I’d got a couple of blisters, both on my left foot and it took a few days for my knee pain to ease off. 

Come July though, and bear in mind, I did no outside running after that London marathon (apart from going back to playing 5-a-side), I applied for some charity places.  I had decided I need to have a 2nd go at my only attempt to do a marathon!  I wasn’t happy about the way it had gone. In reality I could have no complaints.  A combination of naivety, arrogance, over-confidence and most crucially not investing in the right shoes and under training always meant that it would end in tears.  And I did shed a tear or two.  Whether they were tears of relief, joy, pain or pride is one I will leave for everyone else to decide.  I change my mind about what those tears were, but I err to the side of pain and relief.

It got to October 2007, and I was offered a place by 2 of the charities.  I decided to go with British Heart Foundation (BHF).  There was a history of heart disease in my family and apart from cancer, it was the condition I heard most about.  So, this is where you’re thinking that I must have started my training as soon as I found out I had the charity place.  Well, you’d be wrong.  Well almost.  From October to December, I did a lot of treadmill running and some cardio work in the local gym. No running outside.  My plan was the same as the first attempt.  Start training in December but make sure that this time I did do the all important long runs.

There was one thing I did do.  I signed up for a half marathon to build up towards London.  My knowledge of running races and the local running scene was still nonexistent at this point.  I knew running clubs existed, but I believed you had to a really good runner to be part of one and someone like myself who really wasn’t cut out for running wasn’t someone any club would want.  Social media, especially Facebook, was becoming more popular but it didn’t have the groups and pages we know so well now.  So, Runners World magazine was still my go to for running advice.  Not necessarily a bad thing, after all it was written my passionate runners, but as we all know it’s good to have alternative points of view.

Actually, come to think of it there was another 2 things I did that I hoped would help.  I invested in a Garmin 305 Frontrunner.  You know the ones, quite square looking.  No Garmin apps at this time and certainly no Strava. So, when the watch was getting ‘full’ you could connect it to your PC and download all your run data.  I also had a running analysis done and found out I was an overpronator.  I won’t go into the details now, but the person who did the analysis said this was one of the reasons my knees had been playing up. So, I bought my first pair of proper running shoes. An odd thing to say considering I had done a half and a full by this point. Saucony was the make I went for, can’t remember the exact model.

So, I started my training in December 2007 so that went to plan.  In Feb 2008, BHF had arranged a training day and get together on the outskirts of London.  It was being led by Nick Anderson who I’m sure quite a few runners may be familiar with as he is one of the top endurance running coaches that are UK based.  Also talking was his namesake, but no relation, Keith Anderson.  Keith is an incredible runner who came into running when he was 30, much like me.  However, he became so good at it he represented England at the Commonwealth Games at the age of 41, so good did he become and ran Boston is 2 hrs. 17 prior to that.  The day was very useful.  I learnt about all the types of stretches I should be doing, the warmups, how to get nutrition right and so much more. 

2008 – I also appeared on The Weakest Link!

I went away and before and after every run for the rest of that year I would do those stretches, the warm downs, the breathing exercises. If you know me well, you know I don’t do any of this anymore, rightly, or wrongly. The day energized me and 4 week later I headed to the adidas London half marathon at Silverstone.  I went there hoping for about 2 hrs. 30.  I felt I’d trained well for it, and I did have a long run of 16 miles already under my belt.  The gap between Silverstone and London was 5 weeks and I thought I was well placed for both races.

The half did not go according to plan.  A really bad pain in my left knee from mile 8 onwards saw me hobble home in just under 2 hrs. 55.  This was a real hammer blow for me.  It was a minute a mile slower than the GNR of 2006 and I thought I’d trained for this one better.  The conditions were not ideal.  Wind and rain made it tough, but still, I expected better from myself.  I look back and realise that instead of just putting it down to experience I dwelled on it too much and didn’t train for the next 5 weeks like I should have.  The long run of 20 miles that I meant to do the week after never happened.  Between Silverstone and London 10 miles was longest run I would muster.  So, I was heading to London on a training plan that had started will, but I’d allowed a bad race to affect me and affect the rest of my training.

I followed the same weekend plans for 2008 as I did in 2007.  I booked a room at the Holiday Inn by the M4 near Heathrow airport.  I drove to the Excel arena to pick up my number.  This time though I went in with my running T-shirt and got it personalized at the Excel.  Not Usingh Bolt.  That alter ego was still over 3 years away!  Barry.  My Catholic name!  Seriously.  I went to a Catholic school.  My Sikh name is too long to print and most people to struggle to pronounce it when they a bit of time, never mind trying to read it and say it as I’m jeffing past!  I took in the pasta party at the arena, I listened to a couple of the speakers, mainly about getting pacing right and bought a Lucozade race package.  I needed my bottle of Lucozade Sport! I’ll talk about why I always had that drink after every run at a later date.

So, the morning of Sunday 13th April 2008.  Same as the year before.  Had a decent breakfast.  Beans on Toast, breakfast of champions!  Got on the coach feeling nervous, got off the coach near the start feeling even more nervous.  Found a toilet as I needed a pre-race dump quite badly.  The only race I remember where I really needed to unload like that before a race!  I appreciate that’s more detail than you may have expected but when nerves make you want to go that much it’s not pleasant.  So, I was more nervous than the year before when I hadn’t experienced this issue.  2008 was a hot one.  Not as hot as 2018 or 2018 but bloody hot.

The race starts. We don’t move.  We shuffle forward. I’m wearing my Garmin watch so this time I won’t go off too fast.  I know if I pace myself like I did at Silverstone for 8 miles a 5hr 30 time is on the cards.  I crossed the start line and did the first mile in 10 minutes.  Same mistake as last year. This time though, I applied the breaks and dropped to 12-minute mile pace and settled in.  And it was pretty good until mile 12 at which point my left knee decided to start playing up.  I remember mixing up the walking and jeffing; I really can’t say running as I don’t think after mile 12, I did any running.  I kept telling myself I could get through this again.  I revised my expected time to 5 hrs. 45 and then to 6 hrs. by the time I had 18 miles done.  I look back at 2008 and I realise that I started to feel too sorry for myself.  I let the race drift and then at about mile 22 I switched on again.  I decided that it was better to finish as quickly as possible, whatever that pace was than feeling sorry for myself.  One clear memory I have from mile 25 was a rhino going past me!  I’m sure it happened in 2007 but this was very clear and so for the last mile or so my focus was to beat the rhino to the finish line.  I didn’t.  But I wasn’t far off, and it probably helped me finish.

I did an abseil as well that year!

So, another painful finish. 17 minutes quicker than the previous year though.  That did bring me some joy.  It was still an hour off that very over optimistic time I’d targeted a year earlier.  And given how Silverstone half had gone my finishing time as I should have expected so I had a few more positives to hang on to.

I did have one scary moment on my way back to my hotel.  I was on the tube and suddenly felt very faint.  Even though I had hydrated often during the race I’d lost quite a bit of salt.  My face was a layer of dried salt.  I felt really faint on the tube but thankfully another runner who was with me spotted the signs, got me sat down and got me to eat some crisps from the finishers pack as well as some food I’d packed.  I chugged down the bottle of Lucozade sport I had as well and by the time he had to get off, I assured him I felt much better.  I never got his name, but it showed me how runners look out for each other.

I got to the hotel OK and after a shower and a balanced meal I had an early night.  I had to drive to work the next day!  I hadn’t booked the day off this time.  On my way in, I bought some Crispy Crème doughnuts; they were starting to become popular here and polished off 10 on my own.  Not a great idea!  But it was to celebrate a better run, a better time and my 2nd and final marathon of the 1 I planned to ever do!  This time though despite it not being a great day I entered the ballot.  I’m not sure why but I thought, why not?

I didn’t get a place before you ask.  So, 2 races in 1 year.  That was never part of the plan.  But 2008 would see me do 1 more race.  It had been announced that there would be a Birmingham half marathon in 2008.  Sponsored by EDF and at this time it was not part of the Great Run series.  I remember thinking why not do it. The inaugural one and it fell on 26th October, well after the ballot results of London.  If by a fluke I got a ballot place I could use Birmingham half to kickstart marathon training much earlier than the 2 previous years.  If I didn’t get a place, I had a race to look forward to; and to be honest I felt at this point half marathon was the right distance for me.  I’d made a mess of 2 marathons, fundamentally through lack of training, so maybe the half was better for me.  I didn’t get into London via the ballot, but I started my training for Birmingham half in July.  That’s right between London 2008 and July, I stopped running again!  I didn’t run for charity at Birmingham.  My aim was to beat my GNR time of 2006 and see how close I could get to 2 hrs. 30. 

Anyone that has is in and around Brum will know that the route for this race changes every year.  I don’t think it has had 2 identical routes.  In 2008, it started on the main road near the Alexandra Stadium which meant a very undulating run into Birmingham city centre which knackered me out! The finish was on Broad Street after taking on what would be referred to as ‘that hill’ for a number of years until the Broad St finish was no more.  I was one of just under 10k runners that did that inaugural Birmingham half.  My time as OK, 2 hrs. 48.  Not quite what I wanted but it was relatively pain free.  I was just knackered by mile 5!  And so that was it.

I didn’t have a place in London 2009, and I was not going to go for another charity place as I’d found fundraising harder the 2nd time round.  I remember thinking that I’d definitely do Birmingham half again but no marathons in 2009. When the London rejection magazine came, there was a flyer for Edinburgh marathon.  It was a tempter, but did I really want to? 

As it would turn out, after doing 3 races in 2008 I upped the ante in 2009 to 4 races.  Two half marathons and two fulls.  Which ones?  That’s for next week.

Final Note – I have no photos from any of the 3 races in 2008!  So, I’ve just gone for a couple of stock photos.

Lets Talk About…. 1. Runsome

Let’s talk about ………  Runsome.

Every so often I’m going to take a week off from blogging about My Journey to 100m and to discuss something more generic, running based of course.

The first in the Let’s Talk About series is about Runsome, https://runsome.org/.  It’s something I became aware of during 2020 and have been involved in ever since.  The concept is simple and in fact something we have all probably done at some point in our lives, albeit not necessarily running but walking.  Those short journeys we do on a regular basis.  A quick trip to the local shop to pick something up, the school run, a prescription pick up and so many more.  Most peoples natural habit now is to jump in the car. 

A lot of these trips are less than 2 miles there and back.  The perfect distance to do a brisk walk or a gentle run and get the 30 minutes of activity that we know we should do. And the benefits are of doing the journey on foot are many.  Some fresh air, a chance to get out and enjoy the outdoors, a break from tech, no worries about parking (school runs are notorious for this).  Not spending £20 when you only went to get one item! You do that trip to the shops on foot you won’t overspend!

The goal is simple.  To inspire more of us, whoever we are and whatever we look like – to #RunSome everyday journeys, errands and commutes.  During the various lockdowns especially the first one where we were told 1 hour of exercise only, people got into the habit of getting out and enjoying walking and / or running.  The roads were so quiet, and it felt good to be outside and seeing other people out and doing the same.

The beauty of runsome is that it doesn’t require a fundamental change in lifestyle.  It doesn’t intrude too much on everything else going on in our lives, yet it can be so beneficial.  It doesn’t have to be a solo activity.  Runsome with your other half, your parents, your children, your friends and so on.  Get into a routine and a good habit with others and encourage people you know to think about not being so reliant on the cars, especially for those really short journeys.  Journeys that when we were kids, we would do on foot.

Like so many other great initiatives out there to encourage people to get into running (we’ll talk about those as well); the focus is on doing it at the pace you are comfortable with.  If you can run it all, great.  If you want to walk some of it and run the rest, that’s fine too.  Like all the ways available to get into running, there really is no right or wrong way to go about it.  You just need to want to do it and get into a routine. 

Could you park further away from your destination and walk or run.  If you use public transport, something I used to do was get off the bus about 3 or 4 miles from home and run. Admittedly I am a very keen runner so this isn’t something you would do when new to running but it’s certainly something to try to build to.  And it’s not something I would do every day.  It was very much once a week but a great way to get a runsome into your week.

I remember as a kid the long walks to school, or so they seemed.  When I moved to secondary school I carried on walking to school, deciding that I didn’t want a lift or get the bus.  At university we walked everywhere.  From the halls of residence to the main campus, to do our supermarket shopping to go grab some food.  Admittedly, as students we were on a budget so walking as many journeys as possible was the sensible thing to do.  It’s also why I probably got into running to a small degree whilst at university but just never maintained it. 

Whenever I’ve been abroad whether to rural Punjab in India with non-existent public transport as a kid, to Vancouver, to Paris on a school trip, the Lake District, Dubai and so many other places, getting around on foot was the natural thing to do; regardless of how good the local travel network was.  It feels good to walk in the sun of Dubai, in the fields of Punjab, the rural beauty of the Lakes.  Yet ask us to a mile journey on foot in areas we know so well and the natural inclination, sadly, is to do it by car. 

During the pandemic I made the daily trip to my local Gurdwara one I did on foot, approx. 2 to 3 miles depending on what route I took.  Ordered something from Amazon?  Instead of waiting all day for it to turn up – why are we always last on the deliver day right? – I get it sent to an Amazon locker within a 2-mile radius so I could run it there and back.  Of course, this is a bad idea if you’ve ordered something heavy and / or cumbersome, but it can be a nice challenge if you want it to be.

If we look at where we live and work, we are in a country with lots of green areas to run in, a great path system and pretty safe ways of crossing over, and even under, roads.  The more people that can get into runsomes the more it becomes part of the conversation, the more local councils, regional mayors, and the national governments will have to sit up and take notice.  How good was it to notice the lower pollution during lockdowns?  It felt so good to run near main roads and to know I was taking in cleaner air.

There is a very important thing about that doing a runsome that can really help people get into running and ditching the car for a journey or 2, and then 3 maybe even 4.  I know when I tried to get into running the first few times the big question I had was “Where do I run?  How do I work out a route?” With runsome there is none of that.  You already have the purpose for your run, which is to replace a car journey, go to point A and then come back home.  You may decide to run the route you would drive or take side streets to avoid running by a main road.  It gives you some freedom from having to create a route.

And of course, with all the great running initiatives out there to promote a place for running e.g., Parkrun, Couch to 5K groups, Run Talk Run and others that may be more localized, anyone can do this.  That is the beauty of running, it’s something we can all do.

You may not want to become a regular runner.  You may have no interest in using Runsome to build to something bigger.  And that’s absolutely fine, although you may find you change your mind!  Your focus may be just to ditch that car for a few regular trips and be active instead.  To just exercise the mind and body and use it to run an errand or 2.  And there is nothing wrong with that. The beauty of runsome is that it does help with physical wellbeing, especially if done with other; it’s great for mental wellbeing with the control and freedom runsome can give you.  But just as important the environmental impact.  Imagine if you could encourage others to do the same.  Do a runsome instead of relying on your car for every journey.  Of course, long drives you will need the car, but is it too much to do a runsome a couple of times a week?

I don’t believe it is. Millions of others don’t.  The Runsome network doesn’t and hopefully we can really make Runsome become bigger in 2022. 

Check out the video done for Runsome in conjunction with Runners World featuring Charlie Webster.

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a36542532/runners-world-runsome/

My 1st and Only Full Marathon!

So, the first race I did, GNR 2006 had went pretty well all things considered. If I’d used some common sense back then I would have carried on running for 2 months.  Not any long runs; but just getting out 2 or 3 times a week and putting some miles in, letting the body get into a nice routine would have helped me a great deal come December when I planned to follow the official marathon training plan I had. You know, that plan I was meant to follow until a broken wrist meant deferring my marathon place by a year.  I did do a little bit of treadmill running from memory.  As the years have gone on, I’ve become fearless with my running and will run in any weather, at any time, wearing shorts and T-shirt.  No long sleeves for me. None of these running tights.  But in my early days of running, I would find any excuse not to run.  Too late, too cold, weather looks iffy, too dark, too tired etc.  How times and attitudes have changed.

So, I started my training just after Christmas and kept to it until I had to do longer runs and then I went into excuse mode.  I remember the weekend I should have done 18 miles doing 10 on the Saturday and just under 7 on the Sunday. I thought that would be OK! I had no issues with the shorter runs, loved the rest days of course but the long runs? Nope, any excuse to get out of them or cut them short.

I was still running in the pair of Adidas trainers I had bought from Vancouver the year before without testing, but they had served me well at the GNR. I had still not made any running friends and hadn’t found anyone I knew who had done the London marathon, or any marathon for that matter.  The one thing I did found easy to do as marathon day approached was the fundraising.  So many people were prepared to sponsor me and the company I worked for agreed to match £500 so I was in decent shape to hit my target of £2500. 

When I was asked about how the training was going, I’d say great.  It wasn’t a lie. I genuinely thought it was going really well.  I was focused on 12-minute miles which I was hitting with every run.  And with GNR I knew I could maintain it for at least half of the marathon.  I’d use the calculation of take your half time, double it and add 20 minutes or so to give me an expected London time of 5 hrs. 40.  I thought that I could do better so decided 5 hrs. 15 was my target.  As you’ll find out in subsequent weeks the first half dozen marathons showed that I just did not realise how ambitious that was for a non-runner who only ran for 12 to 16 weeks in training.

Again, I won’t bore you with the training (or lack of).  One of the things with London marathon is having to go and pick your race number up.  For someone who lives in the Midlands, the easiest thing was to go down on Saturday and pick it up in person.  At the time, and possibly still now, Holiday Inn was one of the partners of the London marathon.  If you stayed at one of their hotels you were guaranteed a coach journey to the start. That was one of the reasons that I booked a Holiday Inn. 

As I had decided to drive down (that would come back to haunt me), I picked a Holiday Inn next to the M4 at Heathrow airport. I didn’t want to stay central if I was driving down and it was a good spot to drive back home from.  It would prove to be a poor choice of locations for me.  What I had not factored in was the journey from the finish all the way back to my hotel.  Especially given how I would feel when I completed that marathon.  Again, I believe I had a rose-tinted glasses outlook on how I would feel at the finish.  I knew I’d be tired and bit sore but that having a Mars Bar, a sandwich and something to drink would see me all right.  Yes, I really did believe that. I kid thee not.

So, I drove down to the Excel on Saturday 21st April 2007 and got there at just about 10am.  I planned to get my number, wonder round and then drive over to the hotel for an afternoon check in.  This was before the congestion charge.  I was overwhelmed by the number of people there, all the exhibitions, the big brands, the excitement etc.  All I remember is I didn’t buy any kit.  After all I planned to do the marathon and never run again!  I do remember getting the pacing bands that Lucozade were giving out as well as one of their little bundles.  This was a time when I’d drink a bottle of Lucozade sport after every training run.  I really believed it was that important a drink to have.  I had no idea about gels, eating during a run or anything like that.

I remember driving through central London, not a great idea on a Saturday but the next day I would realise I had driven along some of the course particularly down by the embankment.  What did I do at the hotel? No idea.  Watched TV, read a book, ate and rested.  I think I got a decent night’s sleep.  On race day I had breakfast and then stood outside for the coach with a few other runners.  I remember the coach journey to the start. More runners were picked up along the way and I was a bag of nerves by the time we got to the start.  I was in the red start; it was a warm day but there were trees providing shade.

I’m smiling but I don’t mean it! About mile 15 maybe, and the pain is real.

I had my bottle of Lucozade Sport as I stood on the start line.  I was really nervous now.  I listened to other runners talking, I smiled at those that spoke to me.  I struggled to speak.  I noticed just like the GNR that most runners had their names on their T-shirts.  I did not but more on that in a bit.  I was wearing a technical T-shirt and had plasters on my nipples! Chafing in a half marathon was bad, I could only imagine what a full would do! Over the T-shirt I wore my Oxfam running vest.  I wasn’t comfortable just wearing the vest. I was still very body conscious at the time.  On the big screen we could see the race had started.  As we started to walk towards the start the nerves and the fear were joined by excitement.  This was it!  I was about to run a marathon!  The guy next to me wished me luck.  I managed to do the same.  And then?  We were off. 

I mentioned last week about vivid memories from all my races so here are the things I remember clearly about London Marathon 2006.

As we got past the park a lot of male runners went charging off to the left to relieve themselves.  Thankfully, one of the few things I got right that day was going for a call of nature as late as possible.  I wasn’t looking to sneak up the starting pens and was happy to take my place wherever.  So, I was able to run carefree to begin with.  The fear had gone, some nerves were still there.  My focus was to split the race in 2.  Get to halfway and then get to the finish.  My strategy Is different these days, but it was that simple back then.

I could tell I had an adrenaline rush.  I remember the support, the smiles on all the runners faces.  Why not?  We were running London marathon after all.  Remember my target time? 5 hrs. 15.  I got to mile 5 in 53 minutes!!  Way too fast.  The fastest I had ever run.  I knew at mile 1 I was going too fast, but it was at about mile 8 I finally did the sensible thing and slowed down.  Did I slow down, or did I get slower?  The latter. The difference?  I kidded myself that I’d made the decision to ease off.  The reality is that my body couldn’t cope with the pace. I got to halfway, just over Tower Bridge in about 2 hours 50.  I’d walked for about 1km to try and kickstart myself.  You can see the loss of time over the course of 8 miles.  I’d started to get knee pain.

Up to mile 18 I used a run walk strategy.  The pain was getting worse.  And the big issue was my trainers.  They were too worn out.  They were also not at least half a size bigger than my normal shoes.  Apparently that was a thing as well.  You’re running shoes should be a half or full size bigger due to swelling feet.  The things I learnt the hard way. I stopped at mile 19 to speak to a St Johns Ambulance volunteer.  They asked me to take my trainers off.  I knew if that happened it was race over.  So  I rested for a while, elevated my feet and then carried on.  The pain in my left knee was unbearable but I had to see this out.  Didn’t I?  The crowd kept me going.  That was one of the big factors in me hobbling to the finish.  The shouts of “Come on Monty,” in particular made me smile.  Monty Panesar was a Sikh cricketer at the time, part of the England test team. So, with no name on my T-shirt for people to read, the crowd got inventive.  “Go for it Mr. Singh,” was also popular as was “Well done the Bearded man!”

The last 7 miles is a blur to me.  A common feature of my first four London marathons is that I didn’t pay any attention to the route.  Crossing Tower Bridge always stands out as does the finish, but not much else.  By the time I saw the 26-mile marker I was close to tears, but I was so close now.  I managed to jog over the line.  The relief. Oh, the relief.  When the medal was put round my neck and the person congratulated me, I just hugged them.  It was over.  The pain was too much but I limped to collect my bag and I swear I had a massive grin on my face.  I’d done it.  I had completed the marathon.  It definitely wasn’t pretty, it hurt far too much, I was so hungry; I’d only drank going round apart from a couple of slices of oranges I’d nabbed.  That Mars Bar tasted so good!

I think I went to the Oxfam post-race get together for about an hour.  I must have as I remember when I eventually started my journey back to my hotel, I wasn’t hungry, but I was in pain.  It was a relief to get back to the hotel.  I grabbed food at Heathrow airport, got to my room, showered, fell asleep, woke up, ate, and slept a good sleep.  I could barely walk the next day and every time I pressed the clutch on that drive home was agony! 

The ballot was open for the next years marathon.  I did not enter the ballot.  There was no way I would ever run a marathon again.  Or run, walk it if I’m being honest.  I didn’t even plan to do a half again.  The pain was not worth it.  Yes, I had undertrained.  Yes I should have got better trainers.  Yes, I had gone off way too fast.  Yes I had given no thought to my. eling strategy.  Yes, the 2nd half of the race was a long, drawn-out nightmare.  But I had completed a marathon and there was no need for me to ever do it again!

My finishing time, you ask.  6 hours 33 minutes and 45 seconds.  Over 1 hr. 15 off my over-confident prediction of what I was capable of and almost 1 hour slower than the expected time based on my GNR performance.  So a bit of a fail in terms of time.  It took a while for the pain to go away.  But I had done a marathon.  That was what I clung on to.  I didn’t analyze the splits provided by the official timing initially. But then I did.  And a few months later, about July, I decided that I didn’t want my 1 marathon to be such a terrible experience. I could do better. I would do better.  I had to do better.

I’d missed the ballot, so I registered an interest with 3 charities and one of them offered me a place for the 2008 London marathon.  They were impressed that I had raised over £3,000 for Oxfam with my first race.  I was proud of that.  I had nailed the fundraising.  But now I wanted to nail the marathon and run that time of 5 hrs. 15 I believed I was capable of.

So, London marathon 2008 would become my 2nd full marathon after only planning to do 1.  I’ll nail the time and then that will be it for me and running!  That’s what I told myself.

So how did I prepare for 2008?  How did it go?  Did I do races in the build up to it? I’ll let you know in 2 weeks.  Next weeks blog will be the first in another series I want to do called Let’s Talk About….  I’ll pick specific things I want to concentrate on.  The first on will be about Runsome.

My Journey to 100m will be back in 2 weeks, the day after I complete…. My first full marathon of 2022!

Any questions? Please fire them over to me.

The First Race – GNR2006

Before I dive into those first 2 races, I’m just going to make an observation about some the memories I will be sharing over the next few months, maybe even years of this blog series.  I started my running when camera phones were taking off, but selfies weren’t a thing yet as the cameras were very basic. Although at the time they were the dogs you know what!!  So, I don’t have a lot of photos from races I did from 2006 through to 2013.  I have a load from 2014 onwards though as like most people I’d politely ask someone to take a photo for me!  And as runners and their friends are very good people, they would. The one thing I’ve noticed, and I would love to know if other runners who have been doing races for a number of years have found this as well; is that I have a few very clear memories of every race I’ve done.  Not every run! That would be an exceptional bit of memory skill. But I can look at the list of races I have done and there will be a few things that stand out about them.

An example or two for you. My first ever race, the GNR 2006, I clearly remember while it was pouring with rain, running past Carol Vorderman and the then Countdown team. More on this later. I remember the pain in my knee at my first London marathon in 2007. Pain was a very regular feature in my first 6 or 7 years! I remember getting a high five from Steve Cram at the Worcester 10K as I sprinted to the finish in 2017! I remember seeing friends cheer me on at various GNR’s over the years. I remember running behind a couple dressed as Smurfs at the Robin Hood marathon in 2014, another painful race.

The point here is that I have found that running has had an incredibly positive effect on my mind, my ability to concentrate and remember things.  It’s really helped me with my memory and being able to recall bits of conversations and experiences before, during or after a race.  I’m sure that many others have found this.  So, the memories I’m sharing are things that are pretty clear in my head!

So, if you were paying attention last week, you’ll remember I used to cheat at school when it came to running!   I loved and still love watching Athletics but had no interest in running per se. Doing the GNR was something I’d thought about at university but never went for it.  Running was something I did when my weight got too much, as it often did.

So, 2005. Like every year, I was watching the London marathon. Martin Lel won the men’s race and Paula Radcliffe won the ladies race. This year I did something different. Normally when most of the elite runners had finished, I would switch off. This time with nothing else to do I carried on watching all the everyday people running, most for good causes.  I was going to use the term ordinary runners or fun runners but neither term to me seems appropriate. The former does a disservice to anyone who takes on a marathon. It’s an extraordinary thing to do.  And let’s be honest as a marathon runner I might find 5K or 10K a fun run but who finds a marathon a fun run!!??

So suitably inspired, the details came up about how to enter the ballot. At this point I’ll again remind you dear reader that I did no running at this time of my life!  I was 29 and apart from a couple of games of football a week I didn’t do much exercise.  I had no running friends, or at least none that I knew of. Anyhow the details were quite clear. The following day and only for that day up to 5pm, you could enter the ballot for the 2006 marathon. I like to think I’m quite a sensible person who plans things out but when I want to be I can be very impulsive.  And when it comes to running and big challenges, the more impulsive I get! So, the next day, I entered the ballot. These were the days when Flora were the main sponsors and 4 failed ballot attempts meant you got a place on the 5th go.

Ballot entered, the sensible approach would have been to think positive and start doing some training on the basis that if I did get a place, I’d have got into running.  Nope. Not me back then. I decided it was better to wait until October to see if I got a place and then start running. So October eventually came and a letter came through the door and the letter I had said that I had been unsuccessful.  Oh well, there was always next year was my initial thought. However the magazine gave a list of charities you could run for.  So, for whatever reason I applied for a Gold Bond place with Oxfam assuring them I could raise the £2500. So not only was I not a runner of any type at this point, but I was also blagging them about my fundraising abilities. Of which I had no experience! Two weeks later they offered me a place on their team, I did the registration, and I was officially running the 2006 London marathon!

Time to start training? Nope not me. I was sent a 16-week training plan, so I was going to wait until December to start my training!  I did in the meantime start doing some treadmill running in November and then I did do a few miles in December, but not quite to the training plan!  I was also using a normal pair of trainers. Another of example of just how naïve my initial approach into running was. This lack of awareness about running shoes would be a major reason for the pain of that first full marathon.

The eagle-eyed amongst you and those who read last weeks blog will know that my first London marathon was in fact in 2007 and not 2006. So, what happened?  Did I come to my senses and defer? Did I not bother turning up? Well, I did defer the place but not because I came to my senses.  A broken wrist put paid to my plans. January 2006, on a Sunday I’m playing 7-a-side football, like I did most Sundays at that time.  I slip on the Astro turf and the player I’m trying to tackle falls onto me.  I noticed a pain in my right hand/wrist. It’s really cold so I don’t pay much attention.  I go in goal, save a shot and Oh my word, the pain! As soon as we finished playing, I went to A&E die to the swelling and unnatural colour of my wrist! I’d broken a bone.  And because I’d carried on playing and gone into goal, they had to put pins in my wrist to make sure it healed properly before putting my hand and lower arm into plaster.  No running for 6 weeks I was told! This would take me into March. I was barely training even though I should have been. So, I finally did something sensible.  I deferred my charity place for the allowed one year.

Once the wrist was OK again towards the end of March, did I start running with a year to prepare? Er, no. Or not quite. In May decided that maybe I should try a half marathon before I eventually did London to practice pacing, fueling etc. This came about after I started reading Runners World magazine. Still no running friends so this was my source of knowledge. In May I saw a feature from a charity called Get Kids Going who had places for the Great North Run (GNR) that year. So, I asked for a place, agreed to raise the minimum of £350 and voila, my first race was now going to the GNR, a race I had grew up watching.  So, I followed a training plan from July through to race day. We went to Canada that year, I walked into a sports shop and asked to look at running shoes. I didn’t do a gait analysis.  I went for a brand I favoured. I was bought up on Adidas Sambas and Gazelles, so I went for a pair of Adidas running shoes. Yes, really. That was how simple I kept it. Like brand, buy brand, don’t test them out. 

I won’t bore you with my training suffice to say I settled for a pace of 12-minute miles as my target.  Did I achieve it? Read on. So, race day.  I mentioned earlier the vivid memories I have of every race I have done. I still have family in the northeast, so accommodation isn’t an issue.  I remember being a bundle of nerves at the start. It was overcast and expected to rain. I looked around and felt quite overwhelmed. Everyone seemed much better prepared than me, better kitted out, calmer etc. A lot of people had their names or nicknames on their running tops. I didn’t, as I didn’t realise it was a thing. I remember doing the warmup, led by Mr Motivator. All the stretches, all the warmups. In the early days I was extremely focused on all this.  Now, not so much. The race starts and we’re….. not moving. 30 minutes later I crossed the start line and fell in behind another runner who said they were aiming for 2 hrs 30. I knew my target time was 2 hrs. 37 and bit so I kept this person in sight but lost them on the Tyne Bridge. I remember crossing the Bridge and Red Arrows did a fly over. I remember the heavens opening at mile 4. As we went uphill towards Heworth roundabout, the rain lashing down, I ran past Carol Vorderman and the then Countdown team, including Susie Dent and Richard Dignance. They were walking for Whitely. Richard Whitely, the original Countdown presenter who passed away in 2005. They were walking for Marie Curie and all wearing blazers of the type he wore. They were soaked like all of us but smiling to everyone that acknowledge them. After that all I remember is the last mile, the wall of sound, the red arrows and crossing the line with a big grin on my face. I’d done it!  I had completed my first half marathon following a training plan I had and only had to walk some of it? My time. 2 hrs. 40 mins and 3 seconds. I was not far off the 12-minute mile pace I wanted to average. I was chuffed. I’m not going to lie.  It felt good, despite the 2 downpours we had and the course being more uphill than any of my training runs.  At this time, I was relying on good old Casio watch to time my runs. On training runs I was guessing the distance!

THAT FIRST FINISH. WHAT A WAY TO LEARN ABOUT CHAFING!!!

The only minor issue was that this was the days where charities provided cotton T-shirts for runners, not the technical type. Yes, you’ve guessed it.  Chafing! The Get Kids Going logo is purple. I looked down at my soaking wet T and thought the colour had ran. Nope. It was blood. Apologies if you’re squeamish!  So, another valuable lesson learnt. I needed to cover my nipple for longer runs!!  And those Adidas trainers. No issues whatsoever. Training in them was fine and running 13.1 miles in them was fine. I’d learn the hard way that I’d been lucky upto this point.

The third positive was of course raising the money I’d pledged for the charity. So, with 7 months to go to London marathon 2007 I’d shown I could train for a run and do it to the planned pace, raise money for charity and in a way, it hadn’t put me off.  So, running a half first had worked out well. That broken wrist turned out to be a blessing. Or had it? Surely, I now knew that running was a good habit to have?  Well, I did. However I stopped running after the GNR.  My plan was to start training in December for London. I did a bit of treadmill running as I thought that would keep me ticking over. Went back to playing football and then come December I put off training for 1 more month and started in January 2007.

Now I’ve wrote a lot more than I expected to get to this point.  Bit like my running. My 7 or 8 mile runs often become half marathons. So I’m going to leave it here for this week!  That gives me a chance to talk about my first London marathon experience in more depth.

You can see I was naïve when I got into running. I got through the GNR with luck mainly and that maybe fueled what I can only describe as over confidence in preparing and running that first full. And no proper investment in a running watch or trainers. I learnt everything the hard way, the painful way. But I like to think those tough times gave me the steel and determination to never quit a race. To dig in, persevere and keep going. Go get that bling! Not so much the T-shirts.

I have started a new page on the website where I’ll add the races as I touch upon them. I was in 2 minds about adding my times, but they are on there.  They are a useful way for me and others to see the progress made. And most crucially, when I eventually get to 2014 and the Manchester marathon the difference in times will be a reflection of what happens when I did put the work in.

The False Starts – 6th Feb 2022

Well, I’ve made it back for another weekly blog! In running it’s sometimes said that the 2nd run is the most important when getting into running. The 1st run is usually littered with all the things you shouldn’t do, going off too fast, getting a stitch, poor weather, struggling to breath, the aches, and pains!  Enough to make you decide not to go again. But if you do go for the 2nd run in a short period of time after the first i.e., days not months or years; then it becomes a great habit. 

First things first. Had I always been interested in running? Resounding no! I’m a Geordie.  I’d happily run playing football all day if given the chance. Imagining I was playing for the Toon, trying to emulate my heroes, Keegan, Beardsley, Waddle or Gazza. So no, I had no interest in running as a kid for the sake of running. But then how many kids in the 80s did? Even now a lot of people don’t get into running until they are adults. The reasons are varied and something we’ll touch in the next few weeks.

I have, however, always been a huge fan of Athletics. I remember the 1984 LA Olympics, or more accurately the Athletics of the ’84 Olympics. We were in Vancouver at the time visiting my uncle and his family and we watched quite a bit of it live. I was familiar with a certain athlete called Steve Cram of course. The Jarrow arrow. The local lad who made it to the Olympics. Others were focused on the battle between Ovett and Coe. Daley Thompson transfixed me. My first sporting hero who wasn’t a Newcastle United footballer!

He could run fast, he could run far, he could jump, throw items long distances, and pole vault! Surely the one field event we would all like to try. So, I was hooked on Athletics.  Carl Lewis, Linford Christie, Fatima Whitbread, Steve Backley, Kriss Akabusi; the list goes on of athletes I loved watching. Because of Steve Cram, the middle distance appealed the most but sprinting, the field events and then long distance got me hooked.

There is a reason I mention all the above. At this time, I attended a school called St Peters Primary School in Low Fell Gateshead. Yes, I know. I don’t look like I’m Catholic! It was the school my parents really wanted me to go to. A catholic school to their minds meant discipline, a very good education and more importantly as one of the few Asian families in Gateshead at the time, a Catholic school meant if I suffered any racism there would be zero tolerance of it.  Thankfully, they were right, especially for the last point.  As a young boy with a top knot, I stood out, but the headmaster of the school, Mr. Moffat, supported my parents desire to attend his school. Anyhow, I digress!!

The reason I mention this is that if you were in 3rd or 4th year Juniors; I believe this is now called Years 5 and 6; in Gateshead, it was compulsory to run the Junior Great North Run at the time. At least I think it was! I don’t remember being able to opt out! Back when the GNR started it used to be in June and not September as it is now. The junior GNR I believe was 5 miles! It was on the Saturday. It used some of the route of the main race. You got to Heworth roundabout. Ran around it and went back the way you had come, on the other side of the dual carriage way. The finish was the only thing I liked. Typical right?!  It finished on the track in Gateshead Stadium. By amazing coincidence, I finished both the ones I did with the same school friend. Let’s call him Michael! And both took roughly 1 hour. Looking back, not too shabby!

Once I got to secondary school though when you were encouraged to enter, I never did. For 2 years I did it as I thought you had to; and you probably did in all honesty but there was no way I was doing it voluntarily!!  In the weeks leading up to both races, 1986 and 1987, we trained in the playground of the school. The playground was like a ‘J’ shape. So, there was a short period of time where we were out of view of Mr. Murray who oversaw the training.  And myself and my best friend would stop running when we got out of view! We would then come back into the main part behind whoever we had been behind. Clever right? We thought so. Then others copied us! They weren’t as aware and would actually come straight back into view having cut out a section.  Mr. Murray got wise to it so stood at the bottom of the playground, so it wasn’t possible to cheat! I should mention the playground was on a hill, so it was like doing hill sessions! For 30 to 40 minutes. Torture. These days though I need that long to get into my rhythm for the long distance I prefer.

Secondary school. One of our PE teachers tried to get us to do cross country. We didn’t like it. We kept taking shortcuts. We got told off. We did detention, but still kept taking shortcuts. After 4 weeks he abandoned trying to get us to do cross country! We stuck to playing football, occasionally rugby and Athletics in the summer.

And that was about as much as I can say about young me and running! I would watch all Athletics on TV and was lucky enough to see some great Athletes come and compete at the Gateshead Stadium but being a runner was not for me. Mainly as I was overweight when I got to secondary school and kept on putting in weight, so running was tough.

When I sent to university though, that weight dropped off. Cooking for yourself, on a budget; walking everywhere on campus, playing lots of football (what else) saw me lost 5 stone in my first year. In the 3rd year we lived near the running track at Birmingham University so 3 days a week I would go and do between 10 to 20 laps. I got into a routine. I quite enjoyed it. I loved watching GNR on TV; as a kid I watched it in person on the Tyne Bridge; and promised myself I would enter it and do it at least once. Then I graduated. Went to India for 6 months. Came back married. Found a job. Forgot all about running and found work colleagues to, you guessed it, play football with!!

Throughout my 20s I promised myself I would do the GNR. I did it as a junior so I might as well do the full version I thought. I never though tried to get into running. Until? Yep. I put lots of weight back on. Even then it was lots of treadmill running as I was self-conscious. In 2005 for some unknown reason, I decided to enter the ballot for the London marathon! It was a race I watched every year. I loved watching the elites but then I became even more intrigued by all the charity runners, ordinary people like me who trained for it and did it. I was hooked and so I entered the ballot. This is in the days of Flora sponsoring it. The days of entries only opened for 1 day. Guess what? Nope. Not that! I did not get a place in the ballot but on getting the rejection letter I applied for a charity place, said I could raise the £2,500 minimum required for the place and got it! At this point I had still not done any road running at all. This is October 2005. I was about to turn 30 so I thought the challenge would be good!!

I had no running friends. This was just as broadband was coming in and dial up was on the way out! Social media was not really a thing. Unless you count Friends Reunited or Myspace. So basically, I had no idea what I was doing!  I received a training plan from the charity and started following it in Jan 2006. One week later I took a nasty fall playing football. I know! I broke my wrist. I had to have pins put into it to allow the bone to heal properly. So, I had to defer the London marathon to 2007.  I was gutted but I knew it was for the best. I hadn’t taken it seriously enough. However, I decided that instead of a marathon being my first event, a half marathon should be! So, I got a charity place for the 2007 GNR!

Yes, I know. Why would someone who never really took to running try to get into it by training for a marathon? Not a 5k, not a 10k, not even a half. But the whole 26.2 miles. I’m not sure. But in a way that broken wrist did me a favour. I’m certain I would not have finished the marathon if I had done it as planned in 2006. By at least doing the GNR that year first I realized that running a marathon is serious business. It should have been obvious! It wasn’t. I was too laid back when I entered the ballot. I’d say it was an arrogant decision. Watching TV, thinking if they can do it, so can I. One mantra I have maintained for a number of years now based on all those races where I got it wrong is to respect the distance. That’s why when I finally attempt 100 miles it’ll be with full focus and commitment and lots of experience!

So, I leave you in 2006! We’ll pick up with how I prepared for that first half, how it helped (or did it) my preparation for my first marathon in 2007.

Feel free to comment or email me any questions or things you would like me to talk about.

Never done.

My Journey from 1 to 100(m)

Alreet?  Thought I’d begin with how I always greet people, especially on race days.  I may live in the West Midlands now, but I will always be a Geordie at heart.  Hence why I run in shorts and T-shirts in all weather conditions!

Dear Running. Thanks. T-shirt courtesy of Ordnary Athlete

So welcome to my first running blog!  It’s been a long time coming I must admit.   I’ve been promising myself and others that I would blog about my running journey since 2019!

Didn’t work out but here we are at last!  I think maybe I spent too much effort at times thinking of a catchy name for my blogs when I would have been better off actually writing it.  I won’t go through the various ideas I had and trust me there were a lot!  Honourable mentions to ‘The Other Bolt,’ ‘Running 422 100m,’ and ‘Run Singh Run.’   Only 1 of these was my idea!

In the end I settled for a title that has a double meaning and captures where I am at this moment in time with my running; Usingh – My Journey to 100M.   The ‘m’ is most definitely not for metres!  On the 1 hand it represents the 1 distance I still want to crack within the next 2 years, 100 Miles.  Secondly, it is to capture my journey to completing 100 official full Marathons.  Unofficially I’ve already done at least 100 runs of marathon distance.  But it gives me to something to focus on longer term, say the next 5 years or so.  As I type, I am at 47 on this journey.  Like so many of you Covid-19 has affected some of my expected numbers.  But hey, we’re runners.  We love the challenge, and we know it never quite goes to plan.  But we persevere.

So, the first blog isn’t going be too long. This is just a quick summary about me and then I’ll blog about running memories, the mistakes I’ve made, the things that have worked, memorable races, memorable people, the running challenges, the way running has improved me as a person and so much more. And also, the things that still puzzle me about running! 

If anyone wants to fire questions at me feel free to do so. I hope that my experiences will show that you really can aim big with your running (or anything in your life you enjoy doing) and achieve it. The key is belief and being prepared to work hard for it. Never really lacked the first, although I definitely was overconfident when I did my first half and full marathons and learnt the hard way how important the second one was. Hard work is exactly that.  But the hard work will and does pay dividends. Took me about 6 full marathons to realise that.

So, let’s keep this brief. Did my first half marathon in Sept 2006. My first full in April 2007 and my first ultra (69 miles) in June 2015. My first 10K race? Hold onto your seats here. Dec 2015!! I waited until I had done 30 half marathons, 14 fulls and said ultra before I got round to doing a 10K race. More on that another time! March 2013 I did start Parkrun, which I love.  Again, a topic for another blog. You’ll know I like a challenge. I attempt JOGLE but had to abandon it 332 miles and 9 days in after soft tissue damage made it almost impossible for me to walk. And then July 2021, 31 marathons in 31 days. All things I’ll talk about, more than once I reckon, for as long as I keep this blogging up!

The first official blog next week will be about the number of aborted attempts to get into running. From the age of 10, into my teens, at uni and then into my 20’s. Even after those first 2 races my routine was enter 1 or 2 races a year. Wait until 3 months before race date, train, do the race (painfully for most of them), collect the medal and T, and stop running!!  It’s been quite a journey. But then every runner has their own journey, their own story. The ups and the downs. The moments of despair, elation, the tears shed (sometimes happy, sometimes not), the support, the relief. As a runner you go through the whole gamut of emotions, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my journey. I look back at a lot of it and think, it’s been interesting! And I hope that remains a feature of my running for many years to come. As I aim for the 100m, and then beyond.