Total training miles completed: 91
Training miles left: 155 + taper off period
Training runs left: 24 + taper off period
Hello and thanks for taking the time to read this week's post.
I've been deliberating whether to write this post for a few weeks now and I've decided to give it a shot. I'm a bit worried that it won't sound quite right and I'll end up coming across as a bit self-aggrandising. I hope regular readers and those who know me would back me up in saying that's not how this is meant to be.
The trigger for actually writing this came from an advert of all places - specifically this one:
I suppose it struck a chord with me because, whilst I knew that training for a marathon was no mean feat, I'd never really understood the actual extent of what it takes until I started doing it myself. I've got friends who've run the London Marathon, and my sister and my dad have both done it too, but I've never really grasped the enormity of the challenge until very recently. The line in the above that says "I am all the days you don't see" pretty much sums it up for me.
The thing is, that it's not really me that's making the sacrifices - it's my family. At the moment, my wife has to put our daughter to bed on her own twice a week while I'm out running and as I start getting above 12 miles in the next few weeks, I'll be taking large chunks out of our weekends to prepare.
Whilst I do make sacrifices of sorts (getting up early for weekend runs, not getting home til 9pm some nights) I'm doing that voluntarily. My family take the extra burden to let me do this and I think that aspect is overlooked as much as "all the days that you don't see". I hope I've articulated that in a decent way.
Back to running and I've banked a decent 12.5 miles this week. A 7.5 mile run last Friday night was a good test and despite feeling a bit of a twinge in my thigh muscle and feeling like I'd lost a lot of energy after 5 miles, I still put in a respectable 80 minute time. Going back to last week's post again, I'm not setting out to run any of these distances in a "good" time - I'm setting out with the hope of getting back in one piece. I'm keeping an eye on the mile times, but only as a reference, not a target to beat. Fortunately that twinge in my thigh subsided quite quickly and I've not felt any additional pain in my foot yet.
It's been cold in Sheffield this week but the 5 miles last night felt pretty good. A solid 55 minute time with no reaction afterwards is good. I think it's a sign of how far I've come that when my wife asked me how far I was going I replied "only 5 miles". In September, doing a mile filled me with fear and now 5 miles doesn't feel like much.
I had my diabetes review at the hospital today and had some really good news! My long term blood sugar level (used in essence to monitor how well you're managing your condition) has dropped from 10.1 to 7.4 since August which is very pleasing. I know it may not mean much out of context so I've handily got a picture (below) which might illustrate it better.
You should be able to pick out roughly where 10.1% is using the top scale and roughly where 7.4% is too. Basically moving from red to green is the good new story of today!
I'm hoping to get to see a specialist nurse or dietician about running the marathon with diabetes as the consultant felt that would be the best approach. Hopefully I'll get to do that sooner rather than later as there's some big distances coming up soon.
On a fundraising note, it's been another good week as I've managed to add another £100 to the total - taking it to £357 so far - more than a third of the way there. I just need to find another 65 friends who have a tenner to spare to make the target now! In all seriousness, people have been incredibly generous so far and I never even dreamed I'd have raised this much by January! I'm still committed to making up any shortfall via a company donation, but it would feel even better to add money on top of the £1000 if I can reach the target. As a reminder, you can visit the fundraising page by clicking on the link. All money raised is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity
A final mention on my weightloss target. It's felt like another good week of eating sensibly and the Weigh-In has me at 191lbs (a loss of 1.2lbs since last week). I think that's decent as I'm still slightly suspicious about last week's weigh in - 8.4lbs lost in 3 weeks is good - another 11 to go though!
I'll leave it there for this week - appreciate that's been a long post so thanks for sticking with it and for indulging me a bit at the start. Once again, your continued support means a lot to me so thank you very much. The blog passed the 1000 view mark last week - I never thought we'd get that far so that was a pleasant surprise. I appreciate you all taking the time out to read this. I won't let you down.
Have a good week and take care
Andy
P.S. Other brands of trainers are available etc etc - I'm not endorsed or sponsored by Asics - the advert just struck a chord with me.
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