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Author Topic: The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner  (Read 234674 times)
kinboshi
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« on: January 21, 2009, 03:48:31 PM »

Yes, it's another diary thread...

I've decided to start this thread for three reasons.

1.  To help motivate me to do the necessary training
2.  To make people aware that I'm running to raise money for the NSPCC
3.  To hopefully encourage more people to take up running for fitness and/or for the challenge to run a 10K, half-marathon or the quite frankly ridiculous 26.2 miles of a marathon.

A fourth reason is that it might stop me posting as much elsewhere on the forum, and I'm sure that's the one that's the most important to many on here... Cheesy

So what's it all about then?


Well, on Sunday 26 April @ about 9am - I'll be lining up alongside another 30,000 or so fellow runners (including Paula Radcliffe) to run the London Marathon.  It won't be my first time.  I ran it in 2004, as it was something I'd always wanted to do.  I only started running in the August of 2003, and 8 months later I was running the famous distance.  Unfortunately, I picked up an injury in training and this affected me on the day - making the run more difficult and making it impossible for me to complete it in my target time.  As I crossed the line I 'knew' I'd do it again.

Fast-forward to now, and I now have a little over 3 months to prepare myself for the race.  I've always done sport and been fairly fit - but I've never been a good long-distance runner.  Over the past few years, I've done less and less exercise, especially during the first 9 months of 2008, when I basically did nothing.  Poker isn't really conducive to a good fitness regime.  As someone who works the usual office hours and then spends evening playing poker or doing whatever, it's difficult to drag myself out of bed at 6 o'clock in the morning to go running in the pouring rain.

I've been trying to get a place in the London Marathon again ever since 2004.  In fact, I didn't get a place in the 2004 marathon via a ballot place - I had to get a Golden Bond place where I promise to raise a minimum amount for a charity who then give me a guaranteed place.  I ran for the British Heart Foundation in 2004.  Fortunately, the way the organisers run the ballot for London is that if you don't get a place 5 years in a row, you're guaranteed a place on the 6th attempt (maybe something that APAT could adopt for the clickfest?).  So the 2009 marathon would be my sixth attempt - and therefore I knew I'd get a place.

My plan was to start running in the summer, build up slowly and then be in good shape to start my training on the run-up (pun intended) to the marathon.  The training programme for the actual marathon is usually over a 16-week period, but you need to have a decent platform already - in other words, I really wanted to be doing at least 25 miles a week come the start of the year.  I haven't been doing 25 miles a week.  So I've missed my first target.  The thing with long-distance running is that you can't go from nothing (or very little) to putting in 15-20 miles runs.  It's all about putting in the miles, and it's something I need to focus on doing.  I hope this diary thread will help me with that.

tl;dr.....skip the rest, read this

If that doesn't interest you, this might.  I'm running for the NSPCC. 

You can sponsor me with an online donation here: 

It'd be much appreciated.

The next post will tell you why...


« Last Edit: January 14, 2011, 04:09:30 PM by kinboshi » Logged

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kinboshi
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« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2009, 03:59:52 PM »

Some facts from the NSPCC:

What you need to know about child abuse
   
  • Every ten days in England and Wales one child is killed at the hands of their parent. In half (52 per cent) of all cases of children killed at the hands of another person, the parent is the principal suspect.
   
  • More than one third (36 per cent) of all rapes recorded by the police are committed against children under 16 years of age.
   
  • NSPCC research shows that a significant minority of children suffer serious abuse or neglect. Our 2000 study of the childhood experiences of 2,869 18-24 year olds found that:

         o Six per cent of children experienced frequent and severe emotional maltreatment during childhood.
         o Six per cent of children experienced serious absence of care at home during childhood.
         o 31 per cent of children experienced bullying by their peers during childhood,
            a further seven per cent were discriminated against and 14 per cent were made to feel different or 'like an outsider'.
         o 43 per cent experienced at least one of these things during childhood.
         o Three-quarters (72 per cent) of sexually abused children did not tell anyone about the abuse at the time. 27 per cent told someone later.
         o Around a third (31 per cent) still had not told anyone about their experience(s) by early adulthood.
         o A quarter (25 per cent) of children experienced one or more forms of physical violence during childhood.
            This includes being hit or kicked, shaken, thrown or knocked down, beaten up, choked, burned or scalded on purpose, or threatened with a knife or gun.
         o Of this 25 per cent of children, the majority had experienced 'some degree of physical abuse' by parents or carers.

  • Almost two thirds of children killed at the hands of another person in England and Wales are aged under five.
  • The National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse estimated that the cost of child abuse to statutory and voluntary agencies is £1 billion per year in the UK. Most of this is spent dealing with the consequences of abuse rather than its prevention. The total cost of abuse far exceeds this estimate. Individuals and families bear most of the consequences, sometimes for the rest of their lives at an incalculable cost.


Why does the NSPCC continue to fundraise and where does the money go?

"We rely on voluntary donations for 87 per cent of our income. Without your support we would have to close our vital services in just over seven months.
We work with very tight budgets and we ensure that every penny we spend on fundraising is spent with good reason. We are constantly assessing every method of fundraising, be it television, mail or catalogues (for example) to ensure that it will help us raise more money to help more children.
We are pleased to say that for every £1 we invest in fundraising, we raise £4.55 for our work to end cruelty to children.

For full details of our income and expenditure, please see our Annual Review and Report."
« Last Edit: January 21, 2009, 04:05:08 PM by kinboshi » Logged

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« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2009, 04:26:39 PM »

good luck Dan thumbs up
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« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2009, 04:31:43 PM »

good luck Dan thumbs up

+1
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« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2009, 04:32:19 PM »

Do you do any treadmill running or is it purely road?
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kinboshi
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« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2009, 05:04:42 PM »

Do you do any treadmill running or is it purely road?

Purely road running.  I find running on a treadmill mind-numbingly boring - although I suppose I could download every series of 'The Wire' and watch that whilst I run (I haven't seen any of them yet and I've been told I'll love it). 

Also, running on a treadmill doesn't really get you ready for running a marathon.  There's no wind resistance, and you have to have the incline set to 3% (I think) to replicate the effort of running outside.  it might suit some people, but it's not for me.  I don't like going to the gym in general.  If I had a decent treadmill in the house, then I'd probably use it as well as running outside.
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« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2009, 05:09:26 PM »


running on a treadmill doesn't really get you ready for running a marathon.  There's no wind resistance, and you have to have the incline set to 3% (I think) to replicate the effort of running outside.


If I had to set the incline of my treadmill to 3%, I'd be on tilt.

GL Dan.
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kinboshi
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« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2009, 05:14:17 PM »

LOL @ Red. 

I've just done some googling, and you're meant to have the incline change between 1-3% to get close to outdoor running.  Or something...
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« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2009, 05:58:59 PM »

I still think you're a wimp for not being able to run under 3.30 pfffttt
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« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2009, 06:51:27 PM »

Good luck with this buster!
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kinboshi
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« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2009, 07:16:38 PM »

Thanks to those who've sponsored me already thumbs up

There's been some mention of the time I'm aiming to run. 

When I ran in 2004, I mentioned I was struggling with a niggling injury.  I was aiming to do it in 3hr 45m, but that plan went out of the window when my knee was very sore at the 5 mile mark.  If it had been a training run, I'd have stopped - but there was no way I was going to drop out on the day.  By the time I was a few miles from the finish, I'd worked out (it's hard doing maths whilst running, but it gives you something to do) that if I did the last few miles or so in a very quick time I could finish in under 4 hours.  So I did just that, culminating in a sprint finish down The Mall to the finish line.

The time on the clock was 4hrs 12m (or something like that), but it had taken me over 10 minutes to cross the start line.  All the runners have a chip that's attached to their shoes and their are mats across the course that electronically measure when you cross over them - so they can give you your splits - and importantly, your exact time when you cross the line.  However, this took a day or two to come through on the system in 2004, and so I had to wait to see if I'd done it in under 4hrs.  I had - 3hrs 59m 57s to be precise Grin.

This time out, I'd like to beat that time.  I'd love to do it in 3hrs 30m, but I simply haven't done the training to do that.  So I'm aiming for my initial target of 3hrs 45m.  I 'should' be able to achieve that, but we'll have to see how the training goes.  Boldie and technolog have already provided some encouragement (the sods), and I'll be out again tomorrow morning putting in the miles.

 
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« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2009, 08:06:50 PM »

Tomorrow?  TOMORROW?!  Get yer arse out there this minute and start running la lazy git.  Run Forrest..... RUN!!!!
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« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2009, 08:11:00 PM »

I'd love to do the marathon, but I'm just too fat, lazy and unfit for that kind of mullarky.  You do it for me.

Good luck Forrest, go break that personal best Smiley
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« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2009, 08:41:21 PM »


  As I crossed the line I 'knew' I'd do it again.


This proves you a sick man. In my running days my thoughts at the end of a run/race were usually 'never again'

Good Luck with this, I will be an avid reader.
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« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2009, 08:45:18 PM »


I used to live & work in Greenwich & those marathon runners were just a bunch of skinny troublemakers  Wink

Will you be wearing some sort of animal costume?  Grin

Good Luck Kin
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