6489

So this is my final blog post anywhere before Sunday's Yorkshire Marathon attempt.

I say attempt because that's exactly what it is.  Despite all the training and hard work that's lead me up to this point, there's absolutely no guarantees of anything and I need to carry this determination over the start line and around York to get me to the end.

That's not to say I don't feel prepared because I think I am.  Definitely more so than I was two and a half years ago in London.  I've paid a lot more attention to my diet and training and I've focused on more than simply just logging miles.

I said recently that almost every day this year has been a lead up to this race.  Whilst I know I don't have anything to prove to anyone, I still feel like I owe myself something - that the first time I did a marathon wasn't really a true reflection of what I might be capable of.

I boldly said at the start of the year that I could knock an hour off my last time (5:30:41) and I still think that with some good conditions and a little bit of luck, that might be possible on Sunday. I think 4:45 is a more achievable time but I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to do anything until 18 or 19 miles in.

Experience tells me that the last 7-8 miles are the hardest and I'm hoping I can put myself in contention with something I can personally be proud of at that point.   If not, then maybe it just wasn't my day and whatever happens, I'll be glad to get round.

I read somewhere recently that running a marathon has become "normalised" to some degree.  Back in 1981 when the first London Marathon was staged, running 26.2 miles was a rare thing that few people outside of elite athletes even attempted.  My dad doing the 1989 marathon was what hooked me in from an early age.

Nowadays there are so many opportunities open to people that want to go that full distance (which I think is fantastic), but what I think it means is the effort that goes into preparing for a marathon gets lost.  Basically it's incredibly hard work for your average Joe like me. 

To give you some idea of what it takes to get to the start line, I've run 507.33 miles so far this year - roughly the distance from Sheffield to John and I've spent 86 hours, 16 minutes and 25 seconds training.  It's a huge commitment and it's very tiring.   But compare that to 2012 when I'd logged just under 195 miles (and just 36 hours running) it's a huge step forward.

Whilst running is mostly fun (and running in a big race with a big crowd is almost certainly the closest I'll ever get to being a rock star), it also has it's downsides.  It can be very painful, at distances over about 18 miles it can make you want to be horribly sick and you can ache in places you never knew existed.

Of course I have to manage diabetes alongside all that too which makes it a little more complicated.  I'm hoping I've had enough practice this year to have a clear strategy set out, and I'm hoping the jelly babies I'll be scoffing every few miles won't make me throw up (though you never can tell.

In short, I'm not taking anything for granted, but I'm hoping I can get round in a reasonable time and do so without injuring myself!

In 2012 I spent the day before the race watching The Hunger Games at the Odeon in Leicester Square.  This year I'll be at a networking day for Diabetes UK (conveniently held in York) meeting volunteers and other local group members, before having dinner and an early night.  It's good to have something to take my mind off it all and I'm hoping there'll be a lot to think about which will distract me whilst I'm running the next day.

Going to York is very much like going home, as I lived there for 10 years, and the start/finish will be at York University where I studied for four years.  I'm hoping it'll be a great weekend all round.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone who's supported me in one way or another.  I've received a lot of encouragement from friends and family and it's been great to see so many people generously donate to Diabetes UK.  I've raised £635 so far and I'm really hoping I can make it to £1000 before the end of the year.  I won't tell you all again, how much good that money will do (check any of my last blogs to see what I mean) but trust me, it really will make such a huge difference.  If you want to donate, then please visit http://www.justgiving.com/broomhead or text BROO81 10 to 7007 to donate £10.

I'll see you all on the other side with the verdict on how it went.

Thanks for reading.

Andy

Peer Support

There should be little doubt that living with diabetes can sometimes be difficult to the point of making you feel overwhelmed.

Having a good support network is key to helping you manage the times where you feel like you're not sure where to turn or what to do for the best.  Many of us are fortunate enough to have a group of close friends or a supportive family to help us when we need it; to listen to our problems and offer a sympathetic ear.

Some people are a little less fortunate or may even feel worried or embarrassed about revealing a particular problem or concern to someone they have a close relationship with.  In these cases, Peer Support can be an effective tool for people with diabetes.

Peer Support is an incredibly valuable service that's run on a purely volunteer basis aimed at providing anyone affected by diabetes, whether it's you with the condition or you're a parent or carer for someone with diabetes.  All volunteers go through training provided by Diabetes UK to ensure they're able to listen to whatever you have to say and provided support, advice or guidance wherever possible.  Anyone can get in contact via phone or e-mail and you can read more about it on the Peer Support page

Recently I've become involved, along with another volunteer Louise, in a new strand of localised Peer Support that is being piloted by Diabetes UK.  The overall aim is to be able to offer the same Peer Support service described above, but also offer informal support in a more social environment on a group or face to face basis within our own local areas.

Louise and I are offering Peer Support through a number of different mediums (Twitter, Facebook, and via a shared blog) as well as looking to utilise the Diabetes UK forums if at all possible.  That support will be open to anyone who feels like they need to get something off their chest, just needs someone to listen or simply needs pointing in the right direction for some support or advice.

On a local level, we're hoping we can promote the service by getting local doctors and healthcare professionals on board and by asking our diabetes specialist teams to make sure everyone in hospital clinics knows what we have to offer.  As interest hopefully grows, we'll be looking to arrange informal meetings for people to get to know each other.

Our new Peer Support work hasn't been going very long but it's starting to gather momentum and the more we can spread the word, the more we'll be able to help people affected by diabetes with anything they might need.

Louise and I aren't experts with years of medical training, but we do have a wealth of experience in living with diabetes and know that sometimes, having someone who's able to listen will do you the world of good.

If you want to find out more about what we're hoping to achieve, please visit our Peer Support Blog which also details how to get in touch with us by e-mail.

You can also connect with us in the following ways:

Andy (Sheffield area)

Twitter:  @AndyPeerSupport
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diabetes-Peer-Support-Sheffield/534756433284902


Louise (South East)

Twitter:  @LouPeerSupport
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diabetespeersupport

If you've got something that's been troubling you then please consider using Peer Support as a means of unburdening yourself.  We use the hashtag #talktosomeone on Twitter so if you need help, support or advice then do Talk To Someone.


Important: All Peer Support volunteers have been through training and checks to ensure you're always discussing any issues in a safe environment.  Your details will be kept confidential at all times.

Mental Strength

This blog was first posted on the Diabetes UK blog site

When discussing diabetes, it can be quite easy to revert to familiar topics depending on who you speak to. Talking to other people with diabetes can lead to trading war stories about particularly unpleasant hypos or serious hospital stays as well as what type of therapy they use to manage their condition. Talking to people who don't have first hand experience of diabetes can turn into a discussion about being type-aware or explaining (for what may feel like the millionth time) that yes, you can have a biscuit/chocolate/piece of cake without needing serious medical attention.

What doesn't get possibly as much discussion are the mental aspects of having diabetes. I'm by no means an expert but I think it's important to make time to give these 'hidden' aspects as much consideration as other factors.

I think it can be quite easy to bypass how you feel about having diabetes because living with it becomes such a normal part of your day, you don't necessarily stop to think about it.

What prompted me to consider this quite recently was the set of forms I received as part of my REPOSE 6 month follow up. The premise is quite simple - you're faced with a number of statements and asked to score them on a scale of 1-5 based on your experiences over the last 4 weeks (e.g. very likely to very unlikely, extremely important to totally unimportant etc.)

That sort of process in itself isn't anything new, but what it does offer is a chance to reflect on those moments when you might have felt sad, angry or frustrated and not consciously understood the reason why.

Some of the questions are quite generic and deal with how you rate your quality of life overall, how you feel on a daily basis and so on. Others ask you to consider how living with the specifics of diabetes affects your relationships with the people around you and your day to day activities or future ambitions.

Whilst I wouldn't dream to speak definitively for anyone else, I'm sure that at some point, many people with diabetes have experienced some sense of anger or frustration that relates to their condition and I know I certainly have. What I don't tend to do is reflect on those feelings and either rationalise them or find someone who can help me with them.

If I were to ask you how much you feel burdened about having to think about your nutrition or how frustrating you find the fact that others don't understand your treatment, you might not give them too much thought. Hopefully for the vast majority of people, such things really aren't factors in your day to day life. However, for some people, struggling through on new regime of insulin therapy or coming to terms with a recent diagnosis can leave them feeling stranded and alone.

Whether you've been diabetic for 12 weeks for 12 years, you're bound to go through difficult times at some stage and but it's being able to manage them that is important.

My lowest point came after about seven years after my diagnosis (I'll have been a fully paid up member of the T1 club for 12 years in October). I got to a point where testing my BG and seeing constantly high numbers would make me feel depressed so I stopped testing regularly. I don't mean that I'd test once a day, I'd be lucky if I tested once a week. As a result my HbA1c rose steadily and I was going to 6 monthly hospital reviews armed with more and more constructive excuses and promises that things would be different next time. I'd be economical with the truth with my family because I felt ashamed I wasn't looking after myself when really I didn't want to admit that I either felt too exhausted to do it, or I couldn't remember how. This continued for about 18 months before I eventually came clean and with the help of my wonderful wife, I started to get things back on track.

I'm incredibly lucky that I have a very supportive family and a great relationship with my specialist team that helps me through the tougher times. There's also a lot of other support out there in various other guises and there's also a growing online community of people with diabetes who can listen and help you.

Filling in my 6 monthly review forms has been a cathartic experience and a reminder that whilst things might feel good today, I've also experienced some serious low points and managed to come through them relatively unscathed.   If I'd had to fill in the same forms a few weeks after getting my insulin pump, I know for a fact that the answers to some questions would have been markedly different but being able to reach out for support to the right people at the right time has made me stronger.

17626

Training miles completed this week: 9
Total training miles completed: 232
Training miles left: 0
Training runs left: 0

Hello again. Welcome to my last pre-marathon blog post!  It feels a bit surreal writing that to be honest.

I completed my final training run tonight -  a steady 3.5 miles (in a torrential downpour) over my old route as a wind down in preparation for Sunday.  I managed another 5 miles last Saturday night although the inclines are still causing me some shin-splint esque pain.  I'm still hoping that the flatter course will make the difference there (aided by pre-race paracetamol as well I think).

At the start of the week I was considering how it felt to be at the end of my training, to have done my last bit of race preparation, and to be honest, it's quite emotionally overwhelming.  I went back and read some of my earlier blog posts from September/October time, and I can't quite believe the progress I've made since then.  Going out and completing a mile (with a number of walk breaks thrown in) was a massive achievement back then and now it hardly feels woth going out to do less than 5 miles.

It also feels strange that I've wanted this so much since my Dad ran the marathon in 1988 (ish - I'll confirm that when he finds his medal) and now it's only a few days away.  I guess I'll not be focussing on that too much at the start on Sunday - I expect I'll be somewhat over-awed by the occasion and I'll be buzzing from the adrenaline a fair bit.  However, I do expect that when I turn down The Mall and finally see the finish line, there's a good chance I'll turn into some sort of blubbering emotional wreck (though I don't want to spoil my finisher's photo so I'll try and hold it together a bit).


I'll take injuries (most notably these shin splint pains that I can't shift) with me to the start line but as I said in one of my first ever blog posts, my aim is to get to the start line intact. Once I've done that I know I can get to the finish one way or another.

I promised you a bit of a Marathon-By-Numbers post last week and so here's what I've come up with:

17626 - my marathon running number.  I'll be going from the blue start at Blackheath
30,000 - number of other people also starting at Blackheath on Sunday
232 - number of training miles I've run since 18/10/2011 (just shy of 9 full marathons)
183 - days since my first training run.  It's been fully 6 months of training to get me to this point
4,500 - approximate amount of pressure (in tonnes) that I've put through my body whilst training (the "average" person sends 500 tonnes of pressure through their body over the course of a marathon run)
2-3 approximate difference in centimetres  in your height between the start and end of the marathon - compression of the discs in your back means you lose about an inch in height over the course. I'm going to test this on Sunday.
72 - the number of people to date that have parted with their money to sponsor me for the marathon
26 - people I've never actually met or spoken to (excluding the realms of the internet) that have sponsored me - thank you
1128 - the amount of money I've raised for Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity to date
10.91 - my average minute mile since I started tracking my time on New Year's Eve
36 - total number of hours I've been out running throughout my training
6 - number of scheduled training runs I've missed in the last 6 months
5.25 - my projected finish time (in hours) for the marathon this weekend
1724 - (at the time of writing) the number of hits the blog has had since it started

I'm not sure what I'll do with this blog when the marathon is all over and done with.  I'll obviously be back next week to let you know how it all went, but after that.... I don't know.  I'd like to keep writing something, but I don't want to be one of those people that thinks having a blog equates to having a right to force their opinion on everything/anything on the world.  I have a Twitter account for that.  I'll guess we'll see eh?

I'm travelling down to London on Friday to get to the Expo to register and collect my running number and shoe tag and then I'm meeting up with my closest friends in the evening and we're seeing a show in the West End.  Saturday my lovely wife and I are having the laziest day possible (mostly hanging around the cinema in Leicester Square I think) before the race on Sunday.  I'll try and fire off a few tweets before the race starts if I can to show the start area and the build up etc (@BroomOwl if you're interested).  I'm not planning on doing anything during the race other than texting my family when I'm roughly half way round but I'll let you all know how it went afterwards. 

There's not much left to say now I think except a huge thank you to every one of you that's read the blog, sent me words of encouragement or clicked on the fundraising page to donate some money (you can still click on the link to donate if you want to).  Reaching my target with a week to spare has been a fantastic achievement and I won't let you all down now.  The support you've all shown me over the last few months has been incredible.  My Dad and brother-in-law are travelling down on Sunday morning to watch so I'll be looking out for them around Wapping and I'm so grateful they're making the journey down to support me.

I also owe my wife a massive thank you too.  Even though she doesn't actually read this blog at all ("it's too long"), she's made a number of sacrifices over the last year or so, and I really honestly couldn't do this without her and I hope she knows how thankful I am for everything she's done.

Thank you everyone.  I'll speak to you again from the other side of the finish line.

Take care

Andy

The final countdown

Training miles completed this week: 15
Total training miles completed: 223
Training miles left: 9
Training runs left: 2

Hello again

I'll start with an apology this week.  I didn't write a post last week and that was essentially for no other reason than I was sulking a bit about not running.

A day or so after my 20 mile run, I started to feel a bit of pain in my foot so I took a conscious decision to miss a run and let it heal a bit.  There's obviously no point running for the sake of it - an injury this close to the marathon needs to be looked after.  I thought I could miss one run and be back out to properly start my tapering.

Unfortunately I got a migraine which floored me for about 4 days (I think I've mentioned these before) and so I ended up missing another training slot.  That left me feeling a bit downbeat about the whole thing and I didn't feel that blogging any of that negativity would be particularly cathartic.  But I'm back now with my penultimate blog before race day.

I've managed 3 runs this week totalling 15 miles which is encouraging.  I did 4 miles last Thursday and followed that up with 5 and 6 miles.  It's a bit of a twist on the taper plan I had in mind, but I need to bear the injuries in mind and so I've opted for an extra shorter run rather than doing, say, 12 miles and reducing down after that.  I just need to make sure my legs still worked and I'm happy to report that they do.

Skipping the two runs last week has meant I've developed a bit of a complex about being underprepared.  I'm not sure how much of that is the "to be expected" pre race nerves, and how much of it I really believe.  By the time I get on a train to London at the end of next week, I'll have already run 232 miles - equivalent to about 9 full marathons.  I'd like to think that stands me in good stead but at the same time I have a nagging doubt that having done no great distance for a few weeks will be a bit of a set-back.  Hopefully it's the former.

I think nerves are natural at this stage.  I'm venturing into the unknown in more ways than one.  Obviously I've never run a marathon before and equally, I'm running on a route I'm wholly unfamiliar with.  I've also not run with anyone in this sort of race environment for about 17 years (The Rother Valley 10k for those of you in Sheffield).  All this is easily overcome I suppose - I'd just not really considered all these factors until recently.

I'm going to have to focus on my pace in the early miles - I don't want to set off too quickly and burn out too soon.  I know the first 5 or 6 miles can be done at around a 10 min/mile pace and I should hopefully be able to replicate my 11.5 min mile (ish) time to 20 miles.  That gives me a good guide to where I should be and when.  As I've stated all along though, as long as I get round before the medals run out (6pm) then I'll be ecstatic.

I'm considering Google-mapping the route before I set off.  I'm not sure if that's a bit OTT or whether I'll genuinely feel calmer for having visualised the route at least once before I set off.  In all likelihood, I'll probably get bored/frustrated after 2 miles of trying, but it could be worth a shot.


There's been some movement on the fundraising this last 2 weeks which is excellent!  Current total is £837.50 which is another £130 since I last blogged.  The generosity everyone has shown has been incredible!  I do still have some more donations that I've been promised as well so I hope I'll be able to get very close to the £1,000 target.  If you're thinking about donating then please know that even a couple of quid will make a difference - you can click on the subtle fundraising link above, or the less subtle one at the end of this post to donate.  Again, I can't thank people enough for what they've already done - I couldn't have wished for more. 

As always, all money that I raise is being split equally between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes. The Children's Hospital money will be going to help fund a summer camp for children with diabetes which is very worthwhile.

I'll blog next week after my last training run which in itself feels like quite an emotional milestone.  I'm going to do a bit of a "Marathon Training by numbers" post which will either be a bit interesting or not half as fun as I thought it would be - who knows?

As with the running, I feel a bit rusty with the blogging so hopefully this has been a moderately interesting post for me to return with.  As I say, I'll try and sum everything up next week and perhaps talk about where this blog goes after the marathon is all done, because to be perfectly honest with you, I don't have an answer for that just yet.

Thanks for sticking with me today and if you've been with me since the start, thank you for making it this far.  I really appreciate all the support you've all given me.

Take care and have a good week

Andy

You can donate at any time by clicking on this fundraising link

Pain management

Training miles completed this week: 16
Total training miles completed: 188
Training miles left: 25 + taper off period
Training runs left: 8

Hello again.

There's only 31 days left until I'll be lining up to start the marathon.  It feels like yesterday I remember the countdown being 180 days and thinking I had all the time in the world to train and prepare.

Training is definitely beginning to take it's toll now, with pretty much every day spent ignoring some form of pain.  I think that it (being in pain) has been so much of the norm for me over the past 4 years that I'm surprised that I can still really feel it at all.

But I can feel it and the major battle I've had this week has been in my mind.  For those of you who know me, you'll know that I'm a bit stubborn from time to time, and training is one of those areas where I'm the most bloody-minded of all.  I'll try and explain...

I've come to terms with the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever really lose the aches and pains in my foot if I want to continue any form of running based exercise.  It's the new, less familiar pain that I'm struggling to get used to.  When I did my 4 mile run last week, I had a bit of pain in my ankle joints and in my legs, but I passed it off as lack of proper stretching and warm-up.  I did 16 miles on Saturday morning and the pain was there again but I ran through it and it disappeared after about 4 miles.  (I managed the distance in 3:04 and I felt like I could have kept jogging/walking as well which was pleasing)

I Googled shin splints when I got in as it seemed to be the only condition I could think of that would make sense.  And reading through the causes and symptoms, it does make a lot of sense.  I'm not going to visit my GP for it as I know the answer is rest.  I also don't want someone to tell me I can't run because I've worked too hard to get to where I am.

On the other hand, I constantly remind myself that I've already done less training than someone preparing for their first marathon should do and so missing any distance at all never really seems acceptable to me.  I'm into the mindset that I'm 'only' doing 6 miles so it shouldn't be a problem, not really letting myself understand that 6 miles is a distance that means I need to take care.

Ultimately, my goal is to do the marathon and if that means cutting back on my training and resting sensibly then that's what I should do, no matter how hard it might be.

I've decided to skip my 6 mile run for tonight in favour of resting and keeping my 20 mile run on track for the weekend.  Whether that turns out to be a sensible decision or not, only time will tell but it feels like a good compromise.  I think I wrote some weeks back about saying that I'd cut down to one run a week if that's what I needed to do.  There's only 4 weeks left and I think getting this close to race day and feeling ready to compete is an achievement in itself.  If I only do 4 more runs instead of 8 then it doesn't really matter - I just need to convince myself of that.

I've conquered my battered ankle, (possible) shin splints, at least one stress fractured toe (possibly two) and now I just need to get the better of my own psyche.

I managed my blood sugar really well again on the last 16 mile jaunt (reaffirming my belief that the 18 mile run was so painful because I got things wrong).  I'm convinced now that 8 miles and then 4 jelly babies every 4 miles will get me round comfortably.  I'm glad to have one less thing to worry about.

There's been some more fundraising money in this week which is good news!  Current total is £575 and I'm hoping I can break the £700 barrier before April 22nd.  I'm becoming a bit more direct in terms of sponsorship requests now (as the people in my office will be finding out this week) so I'm still hopeful of making at least £700 before I top up the rest to £1000.  The generosity everyone has shown has been incredible!

As always, all money that I raise is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes. The Children's Hospital money will be going to help fund a summer camp for children with diabetes which is very worthwhile.

I had an interesting conversation with my daughter this week.  She came up to tell me that she had a poorly tummy and she needed an injection to feel better.  She sees me injecting before meals and asks what I'm doing.  I tell her it's because I'm not very well and I have to take medicine.  It's hard to see her mimicking what I do because one of my big fears is that she'll end up the same way.  But I don't see the point in hiding it from her either.  Fortunately, this only lasted a couple of days this time.

Finally, a word on another blog you might enjoy.  A friend of mine has entered the Tough Mudder event in November and has started a training regime that will ultimately put me to shame.  You can follow Sam's progress here - it's a great read.  We seemed to have a bit of a virtual running club on Twitter at the moment and it's great to get support and chat things through with people doing the same thing.  A really valuable way to stay sane.  Thanks - you know who you are.

Have a good week - hopefully next time I'll be able to report on a decent 20 mile slog.

Take care

Andy

You can donate at any time by clicking on this fundraising link