Seven Weeks To Go

I can't believe it's only seven weeks before we attempt Hadrian's wall. I had my first run this morning after injuring my knee. I kept it short - 4.78km/2.97mi. I can still feel something's there around my right hip and the side of my right knee so I will be keeping the miles low until I'm confident everything's OK.

I've had two updates from other team members.

Stewart has also had a little knee problem recently and adjusted his miles accordingly. He has been running the hills and country side of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.

Graham (left) has also been keeping his runs to less than ten miles each. He has been working away quite a bit lately and finds it difficult to get the longer runs in. Overall though, both of them are training well - better than me anyway. I think they as well as me are nervous of getting an injury that will prevent us starting let alone finishing the Hadrian's Wall trek.

Graham and I were also scheduled to run the Fradley 10K in Lichfield on March 8th. Unfortunately Graham will be away again so can't make it. I'm hoping to still have something in me to at least complete it. I don't think I will be getting a new PB this year though. My PB for the course is 54:41 in 2007. It was my very first race since taking up running in 2006. It's a great, two lap PB course that's uber flat most of the way around. I couldn't get the time off last year to run it and would hate to miss it again this year.

I also need to keep in mind that the following Sunday I'll be running the Stafford 25th Anniversary Half Marathon. I remember the first time I ran it in 2007. It was my first HM and I ran it with ITB Syndrome in my left knee. My time was 02:09:10. The week before I was hoping for a sub 2hr but with my knee problem, it just wasn't going to happen. It was also the first time I met Nigel from the Running From The Reaper Podcast http://runningfromthereaper.blogspot.com/ I think he grew a beard waiting for me to come in. He's a much faster runner than me. We also met at the Stafford HM last year where I also didn't do as well as I planned. My problem that time was a lack of sleep through work. I had just three hours sleep Friday night and four on the Saturday. I was shattered. My finishing time in 2008 was 02:11:32! Longer than when I ran with a knee injury!

I hope to be running regularly from now on so will have inspiration to keep the blog updated each week.

HELP for HEROES

HELP for HEROES is a charity set up in 2007 to help support our wounded servicemen and women injured in the current conflicts.
In 2008 Darryl 'Daz' Gardiner, the brother of a Police Officer colleague of ours, had his life taken from him while serving his country.
On Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd April 2009 my friends and colleagues and I will attempt to run and walk a hilly 135km/84 miles from the West to the East coast of England in his name.
We would like to raise as much money as we can for the HELP for HEROES charity.Please visit the HELP for HEROES website at:
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/index.html but please, not before you've read these words from Darryl's mother.

In Memory of Corporal Darryl 'Daz' Gardiner

Cpl Darryl Gardiner was killed on Sunday 20th January 2008 when his vehicle hit a mine during operations against the Taliban, 3km (1.8 miles) north east of Musa Qala, Northern Helmand. He was attached to 52 Brigade Reconisance Force as a REME engineer during his tour of Afghanistan, this was his second tour. He was known by his family and friends as Daz.Daz is was a cheerful, intelligent and easy going person. He had a playful nature, a highly active and robust sense of humour and a passion for skydiving. As a skydiving instructor he was down to earth, relaxed and always encouraging - he never suffered from an ego problem and as such was an example of how to do it right. The best type of friend you could have, a man who was never down and always had a smile on his face.

Darryl was described by his seniors as a "very capable soldier" who always thought of others, he was selfless and others always came first.

Skydiving was his passion and his home 'Drop Zone' of Netheravon was his 'Playground'.

From the age of 14 Daz attended Gordon's School in Woking, Surrey and was an active member of all Combined Cadet Forces, represented the school in many actvities. Captain of the Rugby XI, a member of the school band as a Drummer on official engagements, took part in the prestigious Ten Tors Walk and from all these achievements graduated as Deputy Head Boy, a position he was very proud of.
Daz was the middle of my three children, his older brother Paul is in the RAF and currently serving in Afghanistan. Laura, his younger sister is a Police Officer with West Midlands Police Force. As a family we have encountered the worst loss you can imagine and very proud of Daz and all his achievements.
Our thanks go out to the Officers from West Midlands Police Force for their commitment and efforts to complete this task in memory of Daz and in raising money to the Help 4 Heroes charity.
Thank you for your donations and be assured they will be received gratefully by this Forces charity.
Sharon Ross
Mother of Daz Gardiner
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Help for Heroes gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.Thank you for your support.

You can make your much needed donation by going to the 'Daz' Gardiner fundraising page at Justgiving by clicking: http://www.justgiving.com/dazgardiner
To read the tribute from the M.O.D. http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CorporalDarrylGardinerKilledInAfghanistan.htm
You may also contribute to rememberance day:
http://www.myremembranceday.org.uk/Memorials/MemorialDisplay.aspx?memorialId=1327&Donate=true

More Snow?

Had my first run since Friday 30th yesterday. I had things to do that weekend so couldn't get my 13km/8mi run in scheduled for the Saturday 31st or Sunday 1st. On Monday 2nd we had quite a snowfall and instead of running, which would have been very difficult, my wife and I both went for a walk in it after work to a local pub. On the way, my right leg slipped, just ever so slightly to the right and I felt a small click at the top of my leg. It didn't hurt and was only a little uncomfortable. After around ten minutes or so I forgot about it. The rest of the week though I could feel it in my hip. It was quite stiff, and each time I got up from a chair I would make small involuntary sounds like ooh, aah and my more recent and favourite meaningless noise - oi! I kept off running and avoided walking on the snow as much as I could all week.

Saturday 7th there was a fresh fall of snow. Not much, but it was on top of old snow and ice. I couldn't put off running anymore. Plus, it was only a couple of inches deep.

I was supposed to run 32km/20mi , but because of the snow, or should I say the ice under the snow, I only managed 24km/15mi. My knees were aching. I suppose it was the way I needed to run to save falling on my bum. By the end of it I almost staggered into the house and my knees, my right one especially, were hurting. My hip was fine though. Needless to say, I didn't manage to get my 16km/10mi in this morning. I'm wondering how to play this now. Do I do what I should have done last week this week or do I keep with the schedule and do what I'm supposed to do this coming week? I'm going to play it by ear, mainly because I couldn't understand that last sentence.
I've transferred to another location with my work so the travelling will be different. This will also have an effect on my training - mainly good. It's actually nearer to home so I should be able to cycle and run to and from work when my shift or on-call allows. My move is the main reason I've not filled in my training calendar on http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/ for the next twelve weeks leading up to Hadrian's Wall. My shifts and days off will change at the new office so when I'm settled into a new pattern I will complete the rest of the schedule for the remainder of my training.

Until I get there I don't have any of my own photographs of Hadrian's Wall but I did find some great shots taken by a chap called Yokels on the Flickr website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yokels/sets/72157603930046809/
And some excellent views taken by a young lady called Rose Davies:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosedavies/tags/hadrianswall/

Thirteen Weeks Left

By my calculation we only have another thirteen weeks to go before tackling Hadrian's Wall. At the moment I'm still feeling confident and I have no injuries. Friday I drove over to Heath Hayes in Staffordshire to meet up with Stewart for a long run. Stewart is also training for Hadrian's Wall but because there's almost an hours drive between us we don't get to train together very often.
We started our 30.74km run at 7:06am from Heath Hayes and in the mist made our way to Chase Water lake. It was a cold morning, around 1C but with the wind travelling the full length of the lake it made it feel 5C below. We then made our way to Cannock Chase and on the way in the far distance I could see a couple of deer keeping a close eye on these two nutters out running lit up like beacons. Stewart couldn't see them - he wasn't wearing his specs but they were there - honestly.

The route up to now was what you might call 'undulating'. But, the Chase is made up of hilly paths that criss-cross each other. The forrest and bracken is quite dense so we really needed to stick to the paths.

The trails across Cannock Chase were very muddy in parts. We were reduced to a slow and cautious walk through some of the boggy patches, trying not to sink in the mud. On other downhill paths it was tree roots we had to avoid tripping over. We came back through Hednesford ending at Stewarts home.

It was a great mornings run and to have company on these distances helps to pass the time.

So, for the week. I ran 9.54km (5.93mi) on Monday, 26.17km (16.26mi) Wednesday and 30.74km (19.1mi) Friday. Because of life commitments I did have to miss yesterday's 13km run though.

http://www.cannock-chase.co.uk/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7330000/newsid_7336800/7336874.stm

While searching for information about Cannock Chase I came across several videos of trail cyclists on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ7XSDKDbTQ