I've neglected this blog for a little while. Not necessarily because I don't have things to say, but because life's gotten in the way...
"Let's get back on track". That was the sombre advice from my Garmin app this morning after yet another appalling attempt at running. "Let's get back on track"...
The truth is, I feel pretty broken at the moment. For once in my life, the only thing that seems to be taking relatively little effort on my part is having diabetes. That's a strange thing to write really - the thing that's a 24/7 fixture in my life is the easy bit.
As usual, there's a lot going on (which is of my own doing), but it all seems to have fallen at once so I'm stumbling from one thing to the next without much time to think. That's not always a bad thing I guess - the pressure of working on a few, quite different things is interesting and definitely keeps me on my toes.
But it does mean a few things are getting squeezed out (I've not found a way to add a few extra hours in the day yet). Worryingly, it seems to be any kind of exercise which I'm sacrificing at the moment. Given my pathetic metabolism, that means I've invariably put on weight, and I seem to be obsessing about it rather a lot.
I look back at where I was 12 months ago, and I was running 100 miles a month, at my lowest weight for about a decade and feeling invincible. Now I'm struggling to run 4 miles (partly due to a stubborn knee injury I sustained mid-April), I'm about 12lbs heavier than I have been in ages and quite frankly it's making me miserable.
I seem to have developed some kind of weight obsessed insomnia as well and I'm finding it tricky to switch off, which is a little frustrating given how tired I actually feel at the moment. There's a lot running through my mind every night but I seem to go back to how frustrated I am that I can't run, and the effect it's having on me.
I've been travelling a lot lately for various reasons (social and otherwise) - London and back three times in six weeks (with another three in three weeks at the start of July)...
To be honest, I don't think there's much of a point to this blog, other than to write all this stuff down so it's one less thing in my head.
I should be able to shift some of this unwelcome weight which will make me feel a lot happier. Body image problems can't be over-stated in my opinion and it's something I wrestle with a lot more than I let on. I know my knee will come back to being somewhere partly sensible so I should be able to get out and find the enjoyment I got from running last year. And hopefully I'll get some sleep too.
At least diabetes isn't causing me too many problems. For once.
Until next time.
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Monday, 22 September 2014
Reasons to be cheerful
The Yorkshire Marathon is 20 days away now and I’m now fully focused on the last nine (NINE!) training runs before the big day.
I did my longest run yesterday – 22.2 miles – which is the furthest I’ve ever done in training and the second furthest I’ve ever done in my life. The time of 4 hours 10 was a little outside what I’d hoped, but nothing too demoralising so I felt pretty pleased with it all things considered. I didn’t push hard at all to be honest – didn’t tackle any of the major inclines on my route as I was trying to leave a bit of energy for the later, more gruelling miles.
I got to about 19 miles before I really felt like I was struggling but, that said, a lot of the last 3 miles was uphill which I took at a walking pace. I’m also having to do these longer runs with a backpack carrying spare water as I can’t convince people to set up impromptu water stations for me around Sheffield. Losing that bit of weight might make a difference.
I’ve decided that while a sub 4:30 marathon might still be a remote possibility for me, a lot of that will come down to conditions on the day. You can train, plan and prepare as much as possible but sometimes things just won’t quite click and you’ll not get the performance you wanted. Conversely, you can feel under-prepared and go out and have a great run. I’m prepared to accept that unknown factor so I’ll just take it as it comes. I feel confident I’ll beat my last time (5:30:41) and I’m quietly confident I can do sub-5. Anything after that is a bonus.
This coming weekend will be interesting as I’m doing 20 miles on Saturday followed by another 6 on Sunday morning as part of the Great Yorkshire Run. After that it’s some swift tapering before Race Day.
I’m also feeling pretty pleased about my weight for once as I’ve finally managed to get below 180lbs for the first time in about 5 years. It’s fair to say that marathon training whilst dieting has played a major part in that, but I’m now looking to just try and maintain this new weight. It feels strange actively trying to find extra calories to eat (rather than avoid!) but I’m hoping it’ll build up my energy stores over the next few weeks and maybe make those last few miles a bit more bearable.
My diabetes seems to be behaving itself as well with all my post run blood glucose levels being in a ‘normal’ range. I’m having to scoff most of a bag of jelly babies throughout the course of a long run but it seems to be paying off. Hopefully that’s going to continue without incident. It’s an added variable I have to take into account on each run and the longer I can keep it well controlled the better.
Finally it’s been a pleasing week from a fundraising perspective with people generously donating another £30 to take the total raised to £215 so far. There’s still a long way to go to the £1000 target but it’s great to see the notifications come through about new donations – it really is an added incentive to get out and run.
I read something recently discussing how running a marathon had become ‘normalised’ because of the number of events and the number of people signing up for each one. I think that is true to a large degree because it is a lot easier to find an event that it was 15-20 years ago. But what that doesn’t do is normalise the amount of work that goes into preparing for running 26.2 miles. It’s still an incredibly hard slog and the support that comes in from friends, colleagues and family makes a real difference.
As you probably know by now, I’m raising money for Diabetes UK so they can help to support the millions of people living with diabetes on a daily basis. Diabetes is a chronic condition that directly affects more than 4 million people in the UK (and over 30,000 in my home city alone). There’s also an estimated 700,000 people who may have undiagnosed diabetes at present, and seven million adults are currently at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The money I’m hoping to raise will pay for 20 qualified assessors to help people at risk understand what changes they can make to reduce their risk and be able to live a long and healthy life.
If you feel like you can spare a few pounds to help this incredibly worthwhile cause, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/broomhead or text BROO81 + your donation to 70070 (e.g. BROO81 5 to donate £5).
As always, thanks for reading.
Andy
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
2013 - Resolutions and more
Happy New Year! I hope you're all recovering from whatever you got up to last night.
The first few days in January are usually a time for people to think about what wholesale changes they'd like to make, and then persevere with them as much as possible. I wrote last year about how I'd been in a similar boat myself a number of times and all my good intentions had fallen by the wayside by late January.
There's traditionally talk of making major lifestyle changes which is usually difficult to achieve. Not through lack of desire per se, but through the difficulty in overhauling your day to day life and sustaining those changes. I'm as skeptical as the next man when people say that's what they're going to do, but this year, that's exactly what I'll be attempting.
At the end of this month, I'll be starting a two year clinical study to see if insulin pumps help people manage diabetes better than multiple daily injections (MDI). This will effectively mean a brand new type of medication, a brand new way of looking after myself and a lot of other changes that affect my day-to-day life.
I wrote in the the very first post on this blog how I do my best not to let being diabetic define my entire life, it's merely a part of who I am as a person. Whilst that remains the case, a complete change in a medical regime I've been used to for over 10 years will take some getting used to I suspect.
With that at the back of my mind, I've only made 7 resolutions this year but I'm hoping to keep them all (as opposed to the 8/10 from 2012)
1. Run the Sheffield Half Marathon and the Great Yorkshire Run
As regular readers will know, the Sheffield Half is my nemesis and I'm determined to conquer it this year. The Great Yorkshire Run eluded me last year as I'd pushed myself a little too much and wasn't able to compete when the day came.
2. Raise £500 for charity
After raising £1,500 last year, I'm taking an admittedly more modest approach this year (but then again I'm not running the London Marathon this year either). I'd like to be able to do more for charities that are important to me, but at the moment, I'm not sure how to do that other than run around and ask people to sponsor me for it. Hopefully I'll meet my target this year
3. See 12 gigs
This is the same as last year - I just like to be able to have a night out once a month so I'm hoping there'll be some great live shows to see this year
4. Read 11 books
Slightly more ambitious than last year's 10 - I ought to read more and having got some excellent books for Christmas, I'm confident I'll make this one.
5. Do a photo-a-day project
This is something I've wanted to do for a long time and I've never motivated myself to do it. I enjoy taking pictures and I'm probably quite reasonable at it. I'd like to become a lot more accomplished over the next 12 months and I think this will be a good way to do that. I'll be posting the results on a separate blog if you want to keep track of them
6. Keep my weight below 190lbs all year
There's a technicality that means I've got to get my weight back under 190 first (having lost 32lbs last year, a few have crept back on over Christmas). This one in itself is fairly ambitious as I've never maintained a weigh I'm happy with for more than about 6 months. I think the fact that I'll be in the clinical trial will help motivate me here.
7. Run 450 miles
That doesn't sound like too much - less than 10 miles a week shouldn't be that hard when you think about it. But I'm conscious I could end up injured again and I want a target that is attainable without having to put my body on the line in order to meet it. I'll be trying for 2/3 runs a week and supplementing that with sessions on the exercise bike at home.
So there you have it. That's my goals for the year in a few short paragraphs. It may not sound like too much (and I feel a little like I've copped out), but I think I have to be mindful of what else will be happening this year.
Once again, I hope you all have a wonderful 2013 and that you manage to keep any resolutions you've made.
Andy
The first few days in January are usually a time for people to think about what wholesale changes they'd like to make, and then persevere with them as much as possible. I wrote last year about how I'd been in a similar boat myself a number of times and all my good intentions had fallen by the wayside by late January.
There's traditionally talk of making major lifestyle changes which is usually difficult to achieve. Not through lack of desire per se, but through the difficulty in overhauling your day to day life and sustaining those changes. I'm as skeptical as the next man when people say that's what they're going to do, but this year, that's exactly what I'll be attempting.
At the end of this month, I'll be starting a two year clinical study to see if insulin pumps help people manage diabetes better than multiple daily injections (MDI). This will effectively mean a brand new type of medication, a brand new way of looking after myself and a lot of other changes that affect my day-to-day life.
I wrote in the the very first post on this blog how I do my best not to let being diabetic define my entire life, it's merely a part of who I am as a person. Whilst that remains the case, a complete change in a medical regime I've been used to for over 10 years will take some getting used to I suspect.
With that at the back of my mind, I've only made 7 resolutions this year but I'm hoping to keep them all (as opposed to the 8/10 from 2012)
1. Run the Sheffield Half Marathon and the Great Yorkshire Run
As regular readers will know, the Sheffield Half is my nemesis and I'm determined to conquer it this year. The Great Yorkshire Run eluded me last year as I'd pushed myself a little too much and wasn't able to compete when the day came.
2. Raise £500 for charity
After raising £1,500 last year, I'm taking an admittedly more modest approach this year (but then again I'm not running the London Marathon this year either). I'd like to be able to do more for charities that are important to me, but at the moment, I'm not sure how to do that other than run around and ask people to sponsor me for it. Hopefully I'll meet my target this year
3. See 12 gigs
This is the same as last year - I just like to be able to have a night out once a month so I'm hoping there'll be some great live shows to see this year
4. Read 11 books
Slightly more ambitious than last year's 10 - I ought to read more and having got some excellent books for Christmas, I'm confident I'll make this one.
5. Do a photo-a-day project
This is something I've wanted to do for a long time and I've never motivated myself to do it. I enjoy taking pictures and I'm probably quite reasonable at it. I'd like to become a lot more accomplished over the next 12 months and I think this will be a good way to do that. I'll be posting the results on a separate blog if you want to keep track of them
6. Keep my weight below 190lbs all year
There's a technicality that means I've got to get my weight back under 190 first (having lost 32lbs last year, a few have crept back on over Christmas). This one in itself is fairly ambitious as I've never maintained a weigh I'm happy with for more than about 6 months. I think the fact that I'll be in the clinical trial will help motivate me here.
7. Run 450 miles
That doesn't sound like too much - less than 10 miles a week shouldn't be that hard when you think about it. But I'm conscious I could end up injured again and I want a target that is attainable without having to put my body on the line in order to meet it. I'll be trying for 2/3 runs a week and supplementing that with sessions on the exercise bike at home.
So there you have it. That's my goals for the year in a few short paragraphs. It may not sound like too much (and I feel a little like I've copped out), but I think I have to be mindful of what else will be happening this year.
Once again, I hope you all have a wonderful 2013 and that you manage to keep any resolutions you've made.
Andy
Monday, 29 October 2012
The day today
Apologies I've been AWOL for a while. I'm hopefully returning with some sense of regularity but you never know do you?
My last post was about the anger and stupidity you experience at football, and on reflection, you tend to experience that in all other aspects of life as well. Hopefully this post will try and be a bit more positive instead.
You may remember from a while back how I'd embarked on an attempt to shift the weight I'd managed to insulate myself over summer. I'm pleased to report that it's going remarkably well and I've lost nearly 21lbs so far. I'm down to 194.4lbs (against a target of 187lbs by December 14th) so I'm confident I'll get there with time to spare. As I'd sworn off takeaway of any description until Christmas (much to my wife's dismay), I've relented slightly and agreed to shell out for a pizza if I can get to 185lbs. Fingers crossed!
A few other things have been happening in the world which I'll mention whilst resisting the urge to pass comment or judgement.
Racism has reared its ugly head in the world of football, almost to the point where the media would have you believe people are using racial slurs as flippantly as Mark, Jeremy and Super Hans trying to section each other. Now I'm fairly sure this isn't the case but I suppose enough "high profile"incidents could convince you otherwise. Whilst all of civilised society is rightly disgusted by such behaviour, a few professional footballers decided that throwing their teddy (or t-shirts) out of the pram was the best way to tackle such behaviour. And not by getting off their arses and doing something. Messrs Anton and Rio Ferdinand are now being referred to, somewhat ominously, as the Ferdinand Family, suggesting they're actually part of an underground football mafia. Regardless, the quicker people become educated and stop being racist the better, I'm sure we all agree.
The United States will elect their next President next Tuesday with Hurricane Sandy affecting some key states in the East. Without wishing to reveal too much about my political leanings, I continue to be surprised that this race is pretty much a dead heat between a man who wants to expand healthcare coverage for millions of people, and someone who thinks windows on aeroplanes should open.
Whilst Hallowe'en is upon us this week, I've firmly got my sights set on Christmas now. I appreciate and understand it's far too early to talk about it, but I've not had a holiday since May and the prospect of a fortnight off is enough to make me giddier than most kids. I shall endeavour not to harp on about it too much until December as I'm personally of the belief that Christmas talk starting before late November is a form of insanity.
From a blog perspective, we're getting to the time of year where I run down my Top 20 tracks of 2012 so expect to see a blog or two about music before the end of the year. I'll also be writing my Review of 2012 and my 2013 preview which I'm sure you're all dying to read. And on a personal note, I'm now writing a monthly blog for DiabetesUK so if you're interested you can follow that on here or by visiting their website (blogs.diabetes.org.uk).
I think this has been a bit of a random stream of consciousness but hopefully I'll be back into the swing of it now.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Take care
Andy
My last post was about the anger and stupidity you experience at football, and on reflection, you tend to experience that in all other aspects of life as well. Hopefully this post will try and be a bit more positive instead.
You may remember from a while back how I'd embarked on an attempt to shift the weight I'd managed to insulate myself over summer. I'm pleased to report that it's going remarkably well and I've lost nearly 21lbs so far. I'm down to 194.4lbs (against a target of 187lbs by December 14th) so I'm confident I'll get there with time to spare. As I'd sworn off takeaway of any description until Christmas (much to my wife's dismay), I've relented slightly and agreed to shell out for a pizza if I can get to 185lbs. Fingers crossed!
A few other things have been happening in the world which I'll mention whilst resisting the urge to pass comment or judgement.
Racism has reared its ugly head in the world of football, almost to the point where the media would have you believe people are using racial slurs as flippantly as Mark, Jeremy and Super Hans trying to section each other. Now I'm fairly sure this isn't the case but I suppose enough "high profile"incidents could convince you otherwise. Whilst all of civilised society is rightly disgusted by such behaviour, a few professional footballers decided that throwing their teddy (or t-shirts) out of the pram was the best way to tackle such behaviour. And not by getting off their arses and doing something. Messrs Anton and Rio Ferdinand are now being referred to, somewhat ominously, as the Ferdinand Family, suggesting they're actually part of an underground football mafia. Regardless, the quicker people become educated and stop being racist the better, I'm sure we all agree.
The United States will elect their next President next Tuesday with Hurricane Sandy affecting some key states in the East. Without wishing to reveal too much about my political leanings, I continue to be surprised that this race is pretty much a dead heat between a man who wants to expand healthcare coverage for millions of people, and someone who thinks windows on aeroplanes should open.
Whilst Hallowe'en is upon us this week, I've firmly got my sights set on Christmas now. I appreciate and understand it's far too early to talk about it, but I've not had a holiday since May and the prospect of a fortnight off is enough to make me giddier than most kids. I shall endeavour not to harp on about it too much until December as I'm personally of the belief that Christmas talk starting before late November is a form of insanity.
From a blog perspective, we're getting to the time of year where I run down my Top 20 tracks of 2012 so expect to see a blog or two about music before the end of the year. I'll also be writing my Review of 2012 and my 2013 preview which I'm sure you're all dying to read. And on a personal note, I'm now writing a monthly blog for DiabetesUK so if you're interested you can follow that on here or by visiting their website (blogs.diabetes.org.uk).
I think this has been a bit of a random stream of consciousness but hopefully I'll be back into the swing of it now.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Birthday post - but no cake
Hi
Apologies I've not posted for a while - September seems to have flown by.
Having officially said goodbye to running for the year, I've turned my attention to trying to shift some weight.
As my exercise post-marathon has been sporadic at best, I've put on a fair bit of weight in the last 4 months. I've spent a bit of time trying to ignore it but predictably that hasn't worked very well so now I'm actively trying to do something about it.
Obviously there are a number of benefits to this. Being able to fit more comfortably in the clothes I own is one. Not feeling knackered every time I have to exert any kind of energy is another. And keeping my diabetes under control is probably the biggest benefit I'll get. I've got my annual(ish) review at the hospital in October (I rescheduled from September because I knew I'd get a kicking) and so being in a bit better shape when I go will be good news.
My plan is fairly simple - try and lose 2lbs a week between now and Christmas. The means I should lose about 2 stone by December 25th which would be pretty good. I know the reality of that will be a bit different but it's worth a shot. Weight is generally easier to lose when you're carrying a lot extra (as I am at the moment) and I know that come mid-December, I'll be into Christmas mode, but it's worth a go.
I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and exercise on a daily basis. If you're unfamiliar with it, you give it some information about yourself (height, weight, age, gender) and then tell it how much you want to lose and at what rate (between 0.5lbs and 2lbs per week) and it calculates a daily calorie allowance for you. There's the option to add exercise into the mix as well.
Based on my current and target weights, I have a daily calorie allowance of 1440 per day (though I earn a few extra each day from exercise). While that sounds like a fairly low number, it's essentially what I eat most days as long as I cut out the snacking that I'm incredibly prone to.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've invested in an exercise bike and I'm trying for 2 sessions per day on that to aid weight loss and boost fitness. At the moment I'm doing 20 minutes 6 mornings a week and between 30 to 40 minutes each evening. On average that burns off about 550 calories per day.
After one full week of calorie counting I didn't lose any weight, but I'm attributing that to a general 1 week lag in diet/exercise showing in my actual weight. Hopefully Saturday morning will show a reduction when I step on the scales.
What I have noticed is that my blood sugar levels have come under control very quickly and that my reliance on insulin has reduced significantly. I'll talk more about that next time.
I've made my daily diary available for public viewing if you're so inclined. As with the running, making this a bit more public gives a bit of added motivation so I hope you'll forgive the slight dullness of this post. I've got some more interesting ideas kicking about for future blogs - don't worry.
Finally, the title refers to the fact that this blog is one year old now. Thanks to every that's read some or all of the posts. Hopefully you'll keep coming back.
Take care
Andy
Apologies I've not posted for a while - September seems to have flown by.
Having officially said goodbye to running for the year, I've turned my attention to trying to shift some weight.
As my exercise post-marathon has been sporadic at best, I've put on a fair bit of weight in the last 4 months. I've spent a bit of time trying to ignore it but predictably that hasn't worked very well so now I'm actively trying to do something about it.
Obviously there are a number of benefits to this. Being able to fit more comfortably in the clothes I own is one. Not feeling knackered every time I have to exert any kind of energy is another. And keeping my diabetes under control is probably the biggest benefit I'll get. I've got my annual(ish) review at the hospital in October (I rescheduled from September because I knew I'd get a kicking) and so being in a bit better shape when I go will be good news.
My plan is fairly simple - try and lose 2lbs a week between now and Christmas. The means I should lose about 2 stone by December 25th which would be pretty good. I know the reality of that will be a bit different but it's worth a shot. Weight is generally easier to lose when you're carrying a lot extra (as I am at the moment) and I know that come mid-December, I'll be into Christmas mode, but it's worth a go.
I'm using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and exercise on a daily basis. If you're unfamiliar with it, you give it some information about yourself (height, weight, age, gender) and then tell it how much you want to lose and at what rate (between 0.5lbs and 2lbs per week) and it calculates a daily calorie allowance for you. There's the option to add exercise into the mix as well.
Based on my current and target weights, I have a daily calorie allowance of 1440 per day (though I earn a few extra each day from exercise). While that sounds like a fairly low number, it's essentially what I eat most days as long as I cut out the snacking that I'm incredibly prone to.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've invested in an exercise bike and I'm trying for 2 sessions per day on that to aid weight loss and boost fitness. At the moment I'm doing 20 minutes 6 mornings a week and between 30 to 40 minutes each evening. On average that burns off about 550 calories per day.
After one full week of calorie counting I didn't lose any weight, but I'm attributing that to a general 1 week lag in diet/exercise showing in my actual weight. Hopefully Saturday morning will show a reduction when I step on the scales.
What I have noticed is that my blood sugar levels have come under control very quickly and that my reliance on insulin has reduced significantly. I'll talk more about that next time.
I've made my daily diary available for public viewing if you're so inclined. As with the running, making this a bit more public gives a bit of added motivation so I hope you'll forgive the slight dullness of this post. I've got some more interesting ideas kicking about for future blogs - don't worry.
Finally, the title refers to the fact that this blog is one year old now. Thanks to every that's read some or all of the posts. Hopefully you'll keep coming back.
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
A Bientot Running
Hello again
As many of you know, I've had a love/hate relationship with running over the last year or so. If you're unfamiliar with that, you might want to re-read the opening post of this blog and the one describing my finest hour (but don't feel obliged).
Tonight will mark my penultimate run of 2012, with my grand finale being the Great Yorkshire Run on Sunday. It's a difficult decision to turn my back on it for a while, but it's the right one to make.
In truth, I've not felt right since the marathon in April and I've held on to the notion that having races like the upcoming 10km at the weekend will keep me fit and solve all of my problems. The reality is much different.
Without rehashing old ground too much, I've found myself back at almost the exact same place I was a year ago. I'm not as fit as I was in March and my inability to find any kind of consistent exercise has meant I've piled on about 2 stone since the end of April. I'm probably a bit better off in the sense that my diabetes is more controlled than this time 12 months ago (though it's still be no means perfect).
I'm also battling quite severe shin splints. No matter how much I try and convince myself it's not a problem, I know deep down it is. I'm at the stage where a long drive in the car causes me pain from holding my foot on the accelerator in the same position. Fortunately I rarely drive more than about 30 miles at a time.
The only real treatment for shin splints is rest and so I find myself in the situation where I'll be stopping my running adventure for this year when I cross the finish line on Sunday. I suppose if I was less stubborn, I wouldn't even bother on Sunday, but I've paid my entrance fee and with the opportunity to get a medal as well, I'm not prepared to give up (I'm all about the glory really).
Instead I've turned my attention to a low impact form of exercise and I've bought an exercise bike which is currently in front of the TV in my living room (much to my wife's disdain). I'm on a mission to lose around 35lbs by Christmas all being well and I'm hoping that 2 bursts a day on the bike will help with that. It'll be more regular exercise than I've had in years so I'm hoping the "little and often" approach will work.
Of course I'll never manage twice a day every day, but if I keep my targets realistic then I'm confident I'll start to see a difference eventually and I'll allow my body the time it needs to properly recover. I managed 7km before breakfast this morning and hopefully that can continue alongside a longer burst in the evenings.
I know I'm going to have a certain amount of jealousy when I see other people out running but I'm trying to look at the positives and come back fighting fit in 2013. The date of the Sheffield half marathon is 12th May 2013 and I'm determined to finally beat the distance. I'm aiming to start training after the New Year so I've got 4 months of cycling and dieting to get me into the right position for that.
My sponsorship page for the Great Yorkshire Run is still open and you can find it by following this link. I've not actually raised anything yet, and I feel a bit cheeky asking people to dip into their pockets again given how incredibly generous people were at the start of the year, but if you have two quid spare, then The Children's Hospital and Diabetes UK would be really grateful of it. I'm going to stagger over the line come what may and I'm optimistic of beating my 10km time from three weeks ago (68 minutes).
Before I go, I should wish Dan and Ben all the best for Sunday as well. I know they're both running and will do a much better (faster) job of it than I will. I'd also like to mention Sam who's running the Berlin Marathon on 30th September for Children With Cancer. I'm sure Sam will attest to the fact that distance running isn't without pain and suffering and you can follow her journey on her blog.
Thanks to everyone who's supported my running/fundraising efforts this year - I do appreciate it all so much. Hopefully I'll be back next year asking for your money and support again. The blog will continue in the meantime...
Take care
Andy
As many of you know, I've had a love/hate relationship with running over the last year or so. If you're unfamiliar with that, you might want to re-read the opening post of this blog and the one describing my finest hour (but don't feel obliged).
Tonight will mark my penultimate run of 2012, with my grand finale being the Great Yorkshire Run on Sunday. It's a difficult decision to turn my back on it for a while, but it's the right one to make.
In truth, I've not felt right since the marathon in April and I've held on to the notion that having races like the upcoming 10km at the weekend will keep me fit and solve all of my problems. The reality is much different.
Without rehashing old ground too much, I've found myself back at almost the exact same place I was a year ago. I'm not as fit as I was in March and my inability to find any kind of consistent exercise has meant I've piled on about 2 stone since the end of April. I'm probably a bit better off in the sense that my diabetes is more controlled than this time 12 months ago (though it's still be no means perfect).
I'm also battling quite severe shin splints. No matter how much I try and convince myself it's not a problem, I know deep down it is. I'm at the stage where a long drive in the car causes me pain from holding my foot on the accelerator in the same position. Fortunately I rarely drive more than about 30 miles at a time.
The only real treatment for shin splints is rest and so I find myself in the situation where I'll be stopping my running adventure for this year when I cross the finish line on Sunday. I suppose if I was less stubborn, I wouldn't even bother on Sunday, but I've paid my entrance fee and with the opportunity to get a medal as well, I'm not prepared to give up (I'm all about the glory really).
Instead I've turned my attention to a low impact form of exercise and I've bought an exercise bike which is currently in front of the TV in my living room (much to my wife's disdain). I'm on a mission to lose around 35lbs by Christmas all being well and I'm hoping that 2 bursts a day on the bike will help with that. It'll be more regular exercise than I've had in years so I'm hoping the "little and often" approach will work.
Of course I'll never manage twice a day every day, but if I keep my targets realistic then I'm confident I'll start to see a difference eventually and I'll allow my body the time it needs to properly recover. I managed 7km before breakfast this morning and hopefully that can continue alongside a longer burst in the evenings.
I know I'm going to have a certain amount of jealousy when I see other people out running but I'm trying to look at the positives and come back fighting fit in 2013. The date of the Sheffield half marathon is 12th May 2013 and I'm determined to finally beat the distance. I'm aiming to start training after the New Year so I've got 4 months of cycling and dieting to get me into the right position for that.
My sponsorship page for the Great Yorkshire Run is still open and you can find it by following this link. I've not actually raised anything yet, and I feel a bit cheeky asking people to dip into their pockets again given how incredibly generous people were at the start of the year, but if you have two quid spare, then The Children's Hospital and Diabetes UK would be really grateful of it. I'm going to stagger over the line come what may and I'm optimistic of beating my 10km time from three weeks ago (68 minutes).
Before I go, I should wish Dan and Ben all the best for Sunday as well. I know they're both running and will do a much better (faster) job of it than I will. I'd also like to mention Sam who's running the Berlin Marathon on 30th September for Children With Cancer. I'm sure Sam will attest to the fact that distance running isn't without pain and suffering and you can follow her journey on her blog.
Thanks to everyone who's supported my running/fundraising efforts this year - I do appreciate it all so much. Hopefully I'll be back next year asking for your money and support again. The blog will continue in the meantime...
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Don't stop me now
Training miles completed this week: 17
Total training miles completed: 129
Training miles left: 89 + taper off period
Training runs left: 16 (inc taper period)
Hello again - with 53 days to go until the big race - things are really starting to get serious.
Last Friday saw me complete my last evening distance run (12 miles) in a pretty respectable 2 hours 11 minutes - an 11 minute mile pace. It felt really good to do and it was my first run in what I'll actually wear for the marathon in April (unexpected heatwaves aside). It was also very tough towards the end but I made it home relatively unscathed which is always the target. I got my first blister but I'm not going to complain as it took more than 100 miles to appear.
I have to confess that when I got home, the thought of going back out and doing it all again (plus another 2 miles) was far from appealing, but I'm hoping that was more psychological as I'd paced myself for 12 miles and not 26. We'll have to see how that goes over the next few weeks.
I did 5 miles tonight in 53 minutes - a best for me over that distance. I was really surprised when I got in and saw that as I felt like I'd not paced myself properly and had very little energy while I was going round - particularly around 3.5 miles. I guess the training is paying off and I'm able to work a bit harder than I expect. Shorter distances afford me some leeway as well but the longer routes need to be a lot more disciplined.
The remaining weeks are very much a pattern of long run/short run, building up the distances as I go. This coming weekend marks an important milestone for me. It'll be the first run I've done under proper "marathon conditions" (i.e. up early ish and running from about 9:30am). It'll also be the longest distance I've ever run and should give me an opportunity to banish the demons from 2008. It feels as though the training has been building up to this run and I think it'll give me a massive boost physically and mentally if I can make it through intact.
I've got a bit more of an interesting diabetes update this week. I realise my definition of "interesting" may be different from yours but...
I had an appointment with a diabetes specialist dietician last Thursday and it gave me a good chance to discuss what I eat now (and when) and what I should be eating to give me the best chance of getting round whilst managing my conditions.
What we found was that when I eat before running, my blood levels don't raise as much as she was expecting. This could point to too much insulin (although I've tested previously and ruled that out to a degree). She also said that what I'm currently eating for lunch (some salad leaves and grapes effectively) isn't really enough and I need to be eating more carbs and protein to build up muscle and improve glycogen stores for when I run. She also mentioned that if I eat a few jelly babies every mile then it could reduce my chances of 'hitting the wall' at around mile 18 so that's good news.
We came to the conclusion that I really need to focus more on a running diet rather than trying to lose weight. I've been trying to balance the two to a degree and I think it's more successful to shift my focus to running for the next two months and hope that the exercise will lead to some weight loss, albeit at a slower rate.
I've now started to incorporate rice cakes and fish/cheese into my lunch and I'm looking to switch to more chicken and pasta combos in the evening - particularly before a big run.
The other change I need to make is to reduce my insulin doses before and after a big run. I have two types of insulin that I take (Background insulin twice a day, and quick acting insuling before each meal). The exact amounts I need to reduce these doses by aren't clear yet and I'll need to experiment to understand what is best for me. As a result, for the next few weeks, I'm going to have to take my blood sugar meter with me whilst I'm running to monitor my levels. This should give me a guide ot managing my condition whilst I'm running. Hopefully I won't crash too spectacularly this weekend!
It's all down to a combination of numbers now - mile times, sugar levels, insulin reduction percentages, carbs per mile to keep my sugar levels correct - it feels a bit overwhelming sometimes but it does come down to training and numbers - something I can conquer if I put my mind to it.
I'm going to stop blogging on my weight loss for the time being as it's not really my primary focus. I'll still have a weekly weigh in, and I'll mention it occasionally, but it's not something I'll live or die by until May now.
No further fundraising at the moment - I've hit a bit of a plateau at the moment which is frustrating, but a number of people have pledged to donate before the race so I'm hoping I can still get close to £650 before I run. I know £1000 was always ambitious but trying to get as close as possible remains my goal. As always, all money raised is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes.
If you've been following my progress for a while and would like to donate, please do consider giving just a couple of quid. I know charitiable donations are often very personal things and so people rightly prioritise things that mean the most to them. Every pound I raise will help and so please consider having one pint less this Friday night and clicking on the fundraising link above instead - it would mean a lot to me.
Thanks for sticking with this until the end, I appreciate it's been a bit long winded this week and I can be a bit boring at times, but hopefully it's given a bit of an insight into how things are going and what changes I'll need to make to get round the distance in April.
Your support has been fantastic and I'll do my best not to let you down.
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 129
Training miles left: 89 + taper off period
Training runs left: 16 (inc taper period)
Hello again - with 53 days to go until the big race - things are really starting to get serious.
Last Friday saw me complete my last evening distance run (12 miles) in a pretty respectable 2 hours 11 minutes - an 11 minute mile pace. It felt really good to do and it was my first run in what I'll actually wear for the marathon in April (unexpected heatwaves aside). It was also very tough towards the end but I made it home relatively unscathed which is always the target. I got my first blister but I'm not going to complain as it took more than 100 miles to appear.
I have to confess that when I got home, the thought of going back out and doing it all again (plus another 2 miles) was far from appealing, but I'm hoping that was more psychological as I'd paced myself for 12 miles and not 26. We'll have to see how that goes over the next few weeks.
I did 5 miles tonight in 53 minutes - a best for me over that distance. I was really surprised when I got in and saw that as I felt like I'd not paced myself properly and had very little energy while I was going round - particularly around 3.5 miles. I guess the training is paying off and I'm able to work a bit harder than I expect. Shorter distances afford me some leeway as well but the longer routes need to be a lot more disciplined.
The remaining weeks are very much a pattern of long run/short run, building up the distances as I go. This coming weekend marks an important milestone for me. It'll be the first run I've done under proper "marathon conditions" (i.e. up early ish and running from about 9:30am). It'll also be the longest distance I've ever run and should give me an opportunity to banish the demons from 2008. It feels as though the training has been building up to this run and I think it'll give me a massive boost physically and mentally if I can make it through intact.
I've got a bit more of an interesting diabetes update this week. I realise my definition of "interesting" may be different from yours but...
I had an appointment with a diabetes specialist dietician last Thursday and it gave me a good chance to discuss what I eat now (and when) and what I should be eating to give me the best chance of getting round whilst managing my conditions.
What we found was that when I eat before running, my blood levels don't raise as much as she was expecting. This could point to too much insulin (although I've tested previously and ruled that out to a degree). She also said that what I'm currently eating for lunch (some salad leaves and grapes effectively) isn't really enough and I need to be eating more carbs and protein to build up muscle and improve glycogen stores for when I run. She also mentioned that if I eat a few jelly babies every mile then it could reduce my chances of 'hitting the wall' at around mile 18 so that's good news.
We came to the conclusion that I really need to focus more on a running diet rather than trying to lose weight. I've been trying to balance the two to a degree and I think it's more successful to shift my focus to running for the next two months and hope that the exercise will lead to some weight loss, albeit at a slower rate.
I've now started to incorporate rice cakes and fish/cheese into my lunch and I'm looking to switch to more chicken and pasta combos in the evening - particularly before a big run.
The other change I need to make is to reduce my insulin doses before and after a big run. I have two types of insulin that I take (Background insulin twice a day, and quick acting insuling before each meal). The exact amounts I need to reduce these doses by aren't clear yet and I'll need to experiment to understand what is best for me. As a result, for the next few weeks, I'm going to have to take my blood sugar meter with me whilst I'm running to monitor my levels. This should give me a guide ot managing my condition whilst I'm running. Hopefully I won't crash too spectacularly this weekend!
It's all down to a combination of numbers now - mile times, sugar levels, insulin reduction percentages, carbs per mile to keep my sugar levels correct - it feels a bit overwhelming sometimes but it does come down to training and numbers - something I can conquer if I put my mind to it.
I'm going to stop blogging on my weight loss for the time being as it's not really my primary focus. I'll still have a weekly weigh in, and I'll mention it occasionally, but it's not something I'll live or die by until May now.
No further fundraising at the moment - I've hit a bit of a plateau at the moment which is frustrating, but a number of people have pledged to donate before the race so I'm hoping I can still get close to £650 before I run. I know £1000 was always ambitious but trying to get as close as possible remains my goal. As always, all money raised is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes.
If you've been following my progress for a while and would like to donate, please do consider giving just a couple of quid. I know charitiable donations are often very personal things and so people rightly prioritise things that mean the most to them. Every pound I raise will help and so please consider having one pint less this Friday night and clicking on the fundraising link above instead - it would mean a lot to me.
Thanks for sticking with this until the end, I appreciate it's been a bit long winded this week and I can be a bit boring at times, but hopefully it's given a bit of an insight into how things are going and what changes I'll need to make to get round the distance in April.
Your support has been fantastic and I'll do my best not to let you down.
Take care
Andy
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Back on track
Training miles completed this week: 5
Total training miles completed: 96
Training miles left: 127 + taper off period
Training runs left: 20 + taper off period
Hello
It feels like a very long time since I wrote the last post, though it has only been a week as usual.
First and foremost, it's been good to get back out running. The last week and a half has felt very frustrating and being back out tonight for a steady 5 miles felt really good. I managed the distance in 56 minutes which is consistent with every other time over that route. My foot started to feel a bit stiff towards the end but I think that's to be expected really. Rest for the next day or so before heading out for a big distance on Friday night.
I've adjusted the distances on my next couple of runs to avoid doing too much too soon and leaving myself open to a possible setback. Instead of 14 miles this weekend I'm going to conquer the 10 mile barrier instead and push on from there. I think that having been out of action for a little while will mean my ankle is a bit stiffer and I just need to be sensible. I'll still have done more than 200 miles of training before April so I think erring on the side of caution is probably best.
It's been a slightly up and down week from a diabetes perspective, but sadly it's all self inflicted. The weekend mostly consisted of takeaway (I had a rare weekend to myself whilst my wife went to visit some friends) and as I've mentioned a few times, insulin doses tend to be a bit of guess work. I think those indulgences, coupled with a lack of running meant the last few days haven't been quite as controlled as I'd like but I'm close to a return to normality.
Fundraising has gone pretty well again this week which is nice considering I've felt very lazy and done little that should encourage people to donate. We've added £55 to the total since last week bringing it within touching distance of halfway at £482. I've got a few friends and family to lean on yet as well so hopefully I can make the push towards £600 in the next couple of weeks. 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 - two very worthy causes.
Given my takeaway indulgences this last week I'm somewhat surprised to have lost another 1.4lbs to be down to 188.6lbs overall. I do, however, remain sceptical about getting weighed after running so if there's little change (or a pound goes back on) next week I won't really be too shocked
A final word before I leave it for this week... There are only 66 days left until race day now so I'm inside the final 10 weeks and I think the hard slog is really going to start - there are some huge milestones coming up. The furthest I've ever run (training or event) is 15 miles. That was 4 years ago and that was the distance that lead to my foot getting injured. In the next 5 weeks alone, I'll be going beyond that distance 3 times (16, 18 and 20 miles) and that's quite a scary thought for a number of reasons.
Firstly, making those distances is psychologically important for me. If you've been with the blog from the beginning then you'll know that all the training and diabetes control has been a series of steps and small progressions to get me to this point. Getting out running at all was the first step, gradually upping the distances until I got through 3 intensive weeks at the end of January was another. Doing 10 miles this weekend will be the next one. After that, I need to prove to myself that I can run these long distances without my body giving up.
Secondly, the 20 mile run at the end of March is critical for so many reasons. It's the longest run of the training plan and it means that understanding mile times, my ability to pace myself properly and my ability to perfectly control my diabetes will be tested. If I can manage that distance and still be standing (metaphorically at least) then I'll know I can go to London and give a good account of myself which is all I want to do.
I'm not ashamed to say I'm scared or nervous because I am (and because I think it's probably quite natural given the circumstances) but I've come this far and I'm determined to do it.
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read this - it's great to have so much support. If you do have even a couple of quid going spare, then please consider donating it using the link above - it's not even the price of a pint these days (so I'm lead to believe) and it would make all the difference.
Take care, and have a great week - I'll speak to you next week
Thanks
Andy
Total training miles completed: 96
Training miles left: 127 + taper off period
Training runs left: 20 + taper off period
Hello
It feels like a very long time since I wrote the last post, though it has only been a week as usual.
First and foremost, it's been good to get back out running. The last week and a half has felt very frustrating and being back out tonight for a steady 5 miles felt really good. I managed the distance in 56 minutes which is consistent with every other time over that route. My foot started to feel a bit stiff towards the end but I think that's to be expected really. Rest for the next day or so before heading out for a big distance on Friday night.
I've adjusted the distances on my next couple of runs to avoid doing too much too soon and leaving myself open to a possible setback. Instead of 14 miles this weekend I'm going to conquer the 10 mile barrier instead and push on from there. I think that having been out of action for a little while will mean my ankle is a bit stiffer and I just need to be sensible. I'll still have done more than 200 miles of training before April so I think erring on the side of caution is probably best.
It's been a slightly up and down week from a diabetes perspective, but sadly it's all self inflicted. The weekend mostly consisted of takeaway (I had a rare weekend to myself whilst my wife went to visit some friends) and as I've mentioned a few times, insulin doses tend to be a bit of guess work. I think those indulgences, coupled with a lack of running meant the last few days haven't been quite as controlled as I'd like but I'm close to a return to normality.
Fundraising has gone pretty well again this week which is nice considering I've felt very lazy and done little that should encourage people to donate. We've added £55 to the total since last week bringing it within touching distance of halfway at £482. I've got a few friends and family to lean on yet as well so hopefully I can make the push towards £600 in the next couple of weeks. 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 - two very worthy causes.
Given my takeaway indulgences this last week I'm somewhat surprised to have lost another 1.4lbs to be down to 188.6lbs overall. I do, however, remain sceptical about getting weighed after running so if there's little change (or a pound goes back on) next week I won't really be too shocked
A final word before I leave it for this week... There are only 66 days left until race day now so I'm inside the final 10 weeks and I think the hard slog is really going to start - there are some huge milestones coming up. The furthest I've ever run (training or event) is 15 miles. That was 4 years ago and that was the distance that lead to my foot getting injured. In the next 5 weeks alone, I'll be going beyond that distance 3 times (16, 18 and 20 miles) and that's quite a scary thought for a number of reasons.
Firstly, making those distances is psychologically important for me. If you've been with the blog from the beginning then you'll know that all the training and diabetes control has been a series of steps and small progressions to get me to this point. Getting out running at all was the first step, gradually upping the distances until I got through 3 intensive weeks at the end of January was another. Doing 10 miles this weekend will be the next one. After that, I need to prove to myself that I can run these long distances without my body giving up.
Secondly, the 20 mile run at the end of March is critical for so many reasons. It's the longest run of the training plan and it means that understanding mile times, my ability to pace myself properly and my ability to perfectly control my diabetes will be tested. If I can manage that distance and still be standing (metaphorically at least) then I'll know I can go to London and give a good account of myself which is all I want to do.
I'm not ashamed to say I'm scared or nervous because I am (and because I think it's probably quite natural given the circumstances) but I've come this far and I'm determined to do it.
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read this - it's great to have so much support. If you do have even a couple of quid going spare, then please consider donating it using the link above - it's not even the price of a pint these days (so I'm lead to believe) and it would make all the difference.
Take care, and have a great week - I'll speak to you next week
Thanks
Andy
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
A frustrating week
Training miles completed this week: 0
Total training miles completed: 91
Training miles left: 140 + taper off period
Training runs left: 22 + taper off period
Hello again - thanks for dropping in this week.
I've been dreading writing this week's post as it's made me feel like I'm stepping into a huge confessional box ready to announce an unforgivable sin...
I haven't run this week.
After last week's post, I finally succumbed to the cold/flu that my wife and daughter have had and it knocked the stuffing out of me a bit. I was in no fit state to run on Friday night (temperature, aches, cough etc) and I've still got a bit of a chesty cough lingering around at the moment. I've felt really guilty about the whole thing all week.
I've also felt very frustrated. I'd been psyching myself up for that first 10 mile run since New Year and to miss it felt like a real blow. I'm not convinced I'll be able to run this coming Friday either which will mean I'll have missed three overall. I'm hoping I'll be feeling 100% by next Wednesday.
I've spent a lot of time this week trying to gain some perspective and talk myself out of some of this guilt and my reasoning is this... It's that time of year when there's a good chance you're going to catch something and having a chronic illness like diabetes actually means your immune system isn't as effective at dealing with or fighting off those sorts of things. I also discovered from some reading around, that running and exercising in general can also reduce the effectiveness of your immune system. You can read the science of that here if that's your sort of thing. As that article also suggests, running with anything on your chest as it can end up affecting your heart with potentially fatal consequences.
I also decided that I'm obviously not the first person to train for the marathon, I'm not the first person to get a bit of flu while doing it and I'm not the first person who's had to miss a few training runs so, whilst I may feel guilty, I probably shouldn't. And besides, it's probably better to miss a couple in February rather than get to the end of March and miss the bigger distances and head to London feeling underprepared. My final thought on the subject is that I may have dodged all the snow we're going to get as well so the risk of slipping and breaking something may also have been avoided.
Hopefully I'll return to some form of running by next week.
As I've written previously, having a bit of a cold also affects your blood sugar levels, so after last week's good news from the hospital, I've spent most of the time since, battling high blood sugar. It becomes very much about guess work when you're ill as the normal ratios and guides I use to keep control no longer apply. Thankfully my levels seem to have just about returned to normal over the last day or two so this hopefully bodes very well for a return to action very soon.
It's been another good week for fundraising, adding another £70 to the total, making it £427 overall and another 73 days to find the rest before the big race! Thanks again to everyone who's donated so far - it's very generous of you. 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 - two very worthy causes.
The one plus point I've taken away from this week's frustration is that I have little appetite when I'm under the weather and so I've managed to lose 1lb this week despite the lack of running - I'm now at 190lbs and I've lost about half the weight I wanted to lose. If I can maintain that then I should be around 180lbs by race day which would be an extra bonus.
I'll end it there for this week - I won't take up any more of your valuable time. Apologies there's not much positive news this week - hopefully that'll change next time I post. Thanks for reading this one - I appreciate they're not always brilliant and this week has been particularly self indulgent. Thanks for sticking with me - your support really helps and motivates me to keep going.
I hope you're all well and I'm looking forward to having better news to report next week.
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 91
Training miles left: 140 + taper off period
Training runs left: 22 + taper off period
Hello again - thanks for dropping in this week.
I've been dreading writing this week's post as it's made me feel like I'm stepping into a huge confessional box ready to announce an unforgivable sin...
I haven't run this week.
After last week's post, I finally succumbed to the cold/flu that my wife and daughter have had and it knocked the stuffing out of me a bit. I was in no fit state to run on Friday night (temperature, aches, cough etc) and I've still got a bit of a chesty cough lingering around at the moment. I've felt really guilty about the whole thing all week.
I've also felt very frustrated. I'd been psyching myself up for that first 10 mile run since New Year and to miss it felt like a real blow. I'm not convinced I'll be able to run this coming Friday either which will mean I'll have missed three overall. I'm hoping I'll be feeling 100% by next Wednesday.
I've spent a lot of time this week trying to gain some perspective and talk myself out of some of this guilt and my reasoning is this... It's that time of year when there's a good chance you're going to catch something and having a chronic illness like diabetes actually means your immune system isn't as effective at dealing with or fighting off those sorts of things. I also discovered from some reading around, that running and exercising in general can also reduce the effectiveness of your immune system. You can read the science of that here if that's your sort of thing. As that article also suggests, running with anything on your chest as it can end up affecting your heart with potentially fatal consequences.
I also decided that I'm obviously not the first person to train for the marathon, I'm not the first person to get a bit of flu while doing it and I'm not the first person who's had to miss a few training runs so, whilst I may feel guilty, I probably shouldn't. And besides, it's probably better to miss a couple in February rather than get to the end of March and miss the bigger distances and head to London feeling underprepared. My final thought on the subject is that I may have dodged all the snow we're going to get as well so the risk of slipping and breaking something may also have been avoided.
Hopefully I'll return to some form of running by next week.
As I've written previously, having a bit of a cold also affects your blood sugar levels, so after last week's good news from the hospital, I've spent most of the time since, battling high blood sugar. It becomes very much about guess work when you're ill as the normal ratios and guides I use to keep control no longer apply. Thankfully my levels seem to have just about returned to normal over the last day or two so this hopefully bodes very well for a return to action very soon.
It's been another good week for fundraising, adding another £70 to the total, making it £427 overall and another 73 days to find the rest before the big race! Thanks again to everyone who's donated so far - it's very generous of you. 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 - two very worthy causes.
The one plus point I've taken away from this week's frustration is that I have little appetite when I'm under the weather and so I've managed to lose 1lb this week despite the lack of running - I'm now at 190lbs and I've lost about half the weight I wanted to lose. If I can maintain that then I should be around 180lbs by race day which would be an extra bonus.
I'll end it there for this week - I won't take up any more of your valuable time. Apologies there's not much positive news this week - hopefully that'll change next time I post. Thanks for reading this one - I appreciate they're not always brilliant and this week has been particularly self indulgent. Thanks for sticking with me - your support really helps and motivates me to keep going.
I hope you're all well and I'm looking forward to having better news to report next week.
Take care
Andy
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Sacrifices and good news
Training miles completed this week: 12.5
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Easy does it
Training miles completed this week: 10
Total training miles completed: 78.5
Training miles left: 167.5
Training runs left: 26 + taper off period
Hello - Happy Wednesday - thanks for dropping in.
Another 10 miles down this week and I've gone through the first psychological milestone on my plan. I'm very much focussed on taking this one run at a time now and being able to tick the miles off every week is becoming very satisfying.
My weekend run was brought forward slightly to Friday night due to commitments I had at the weekend. I managed the whole distance in 69 minutes and also managed the first 3.3 miles non-stop. Whilst that felt like a good time (for me at least) and it felt really good to do a significant part of the distance in one burst, I realised that I'm starting to let my focus shift from my real goal - to do the marathon.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of knowing how fast I can cover a set distance and knowing my mile split times etc but I feel like I'm starting to convince myself that every run must be better than the last but really that simply isn't true. I do feel very satisfied when I post a good time, but I also know that pushing myself harder each time I step out of the door isn't really going to help in the long term.
My guide time (and I think it'll help if I refer to it as such) is a 12 minute mile average. I've consistently run inside this for a few weeks now which is good over a relatively short distance, but in a month's time I'll be talking about a 14 mile run not 6 miles. Pushing myself over a shorter distance is one thing, but my approach and mindset will need to be completely different for the proper distance runs and I need to concentrate on adjusting my attitude for what's coming up if I want to avoid another injury.
With that in mind my 3.5 mile run tonight was an easy one - I took it at a gentle place, stopped a couple of times (partially due to an annoying stitch - symptoms of wrong food at the wrong time and not enough water I think) and still managed the distance in a respectable 39 minutes. What was most interesting was how the extra rest day affected me. I thought I'd be a lot fresher and find it easy going. In fact this morning I was actively looking forward to getting out there. The reality was slightly different. My ankle started to feel a lot stiffer and harder to run on after a while which was unexpected. I think regular exercise is benefiting it more than I thought and perhaps I need to focus on the steady pace and minimising the impact. Hopefully Saturday morning will be easier going.
As an aside, to give you an idea of what's coming up, in the next 4 weeks, I'll run 61.5 miles with a maximum distance of 14 miles!
My diabetes has been slightly better behaved this week but I remain convinced that my immediate approach to my insulin has to change, as well as how I medicate myself in the run up to the marathon. Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks where I made it from breakfast to lunch without the need for a snack or something to boost my blood sugar mid-morning.
As I think I mentioned last week, I've got a consultant appointment next Wednesday (Feb 1st) which will give me a good chance to sit and talk through all my concerns about training in detail. Hopefully next week I'll be able to elaborate a bit more on what it's going to mean.
It's been a good week on the sponsorship front as well - I've raised another £100 since the last blog taking the current total to £257 - just over a quarter of the way there. I'm very fortunate to have the support of so many generous people. There's 13 more weeks until race day to raise the remaining £743 and I think the fundraising page stays open until the end of July so hopefully I can get close to the target by then. All money raised will be split between Diabetes UK and Sheffield Children's Hospital so if you have £1 to spare, then please consider clicking on the fundraising page link above and donating it.
I talked last week about keeping a better eye on my weight and trying to lose 20lbs over the next few weeks in time for the marathon. As well as feeling and looking fitter, it's a lot of weight I won't have to carry round the course with me so it can only be a good thing. My starting weight a fortnight ago was 199.4lbs. By last Wednesday I was down to 197lbs and tonight I'm at 192.2lbs which is surprising (I've had Chinese and cake this week) but pleasing. It adds a bit of support to my theory of lagged weight loss - expect minimal change next week. I'm doing this weight loss with a couple of friends and having their support has been really great and inspiring so long may this continue :-)
I think I'll come to a close there. It feels like it's been a really good week which is nice to be able to say after so long. I was thinking back to the posts in early September about how positive it felt to finally be able to go out and run a mile (with walk breaks) and now I'll be doing a minimum of 13 miles a week. Progress indeed.
Take care and thanks again for your support
Andy
Total training miles completed: 78.5
Training miles left: 167.5
Training runs left: 26 + taper off period
Hello - Happy Wednesday - thanks for dropping in.
Another 10 miles down this week and I've gone through the first psychological milestone on my plan. I'm very much focussed on taking this one run at a time now and being able to tick the miles off every week is becoming very satisfying.
My weekend run was brought forward slightly to Friday night due to commitments I had at the weekend. I managed the whole distance in 69 minutes and also managed the first 3.3 miles non-stop. Whilst that felt like a good time (for me at least) and it felt really good to do a significant part of the distance in one burst, I realised that I'm starting to let my focus shift from my real goal - to do the marathon.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of knowing how fast I can cover a set distance and knowing my mile split times etc but I feel like I'm starting to convince myself that every run must be better than the last but really that simply isn't true. I do feel very satisfied when I post a good time, but I also know that pushing myself harder each time I step out of the door isn't really going to help in the long term.
My guide time (and I think it'll help if I refer to it as such) is a 12 minute mile average. I've consistently run inside this for a few weeks now which is good over a relatively short distance, but in a month's time I'll be talking about a 14 mile run not 6 miles. Pushing myself over a shorter distance is one thing, but my approach and mindset will need to be completely different for the proper distance runs and I need to concentrate on adjusting my attitude for what's coming up if I want to avoid another injury.
With that in mind my 3.5 mile run tonight was an easy one - I took it at a gentle place, stopped a couple of times (partially due to an annoying stitch - symptoms of wrong food at the wrong time and not enough water I think) and still managed the distance in a respectable 39 minutes. What was most interesting was how the extra rest day affected me. I thought I'd be a lot fresher and find it easy going. In fact this morning I was actively looking forward to getting out there. The reality was slightly different. My ankle started to feel a lot stiffer and harder to run on after a while which was unexpected. I think regular exercise is benefiting it more than I thought and perhaps I need to focus on the steady pace and minimising the impact. Hopefully Saturday morning will be easier going.
As an aside, to give you an idea of what's coming up, in the next 4 weeks, I'll run 61.5 miles with a maximum distance of 14 miles!
My diabetes has been slightly better behaved this week but I remain convinced that my immediate approach to my insulin has to change, as well as how I medicate myself in the run up to the marathon. Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks where I made it from breakfast to lunch without the need for a snack or something to boost my blood sugar mid-morning.
As I think I mentioned last week, I've got a consultant appointment next Wednesday (Feb 1st) which will give me a good chance to sit and talk through all my concerns about training in detail. Hopefully next week I'll be able to elaborate a bit more on what it's going to mean.
It's been a good week on the sponsorship front as well - I've raised another £100 since the last blog taking the current total to £257 - just over a quarter of the way there. I'm very fortunate to have the support of so many generous people. There's 13 more weeks until race day to raise the remaining £743 and I think the fundraising page stays open until the end of July so hopefully I can get close to the target by then. All money raised will be split between Diabetes UK and Sheffield Children's Hospital so if you have £1 to spare, then please consider clicking on the fundraising page link above and donating it.
I talked last week about keeping a better eye on my weight and trying to lose 20lbs over the next few weeks in time for the marathon. As well as feeling and looking fitter, it's a lot of weight I won't have to carry round the course with me so it can only be a good thing. My starting weight a fortnight ago was 199.4lbs. By last Wednesday I was down to 197lbs and tonight I'm at 192.2lbs which is surprising (I've had Chinese and cake this week) but pleasing. It adds a bit of support to my theory of lagged weight loss - expect minimal change next week. I'm doing this weight loss with a couple of friends and having their support has been really great and inspiring so long may this continue :-)
I think I'll come to a close there. It feels like it's been a really good week which is nice to be able to say after so long. I was thinking back to the posts in early September about how positive it felt to finally be able to go out and run a mile (with walk breaks) and now I'll be doing a minimum of 13 miles a week. Progress indeed.
Take care and thanks again for your support
Andy
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Patched Up
Training miles completed this week: 10
Total training miles completed: 68.5
Training miles left: 177.5
Training runs left: 28 + taper off period
Hello - thank's for dropping by.
There are 95 days to go until the marathon - it's starting to feel very close now, and I've still not done over 6 miles yet. But that's about to change quite quickly over the next few weeks.
I'm now heading into the stage of long run/short run, with the next two being a slight exception. When I originally finalised my plan, I realised I'd ended up with all my distance runs mid week and my shorter runs at the weekend - and running 14 miles on a Tuesday or Wednesday night didn't seem appealing so I swapped at one week. This coming week is the changeover week.
I've done 10 miles this week (4 and 6) and 10 miles are planned in next week (6.5 and 3.5) and then it's 2 miles a week extra on the distance run until the end of March.
The title of this week's post is a reference to how I'm feeling at the moment. My foot aches quite a lot of the time now, particularly after the long runs and on Sunday, I felt some pain in one of my toes so I've strapped it up as a precaution. I think at worst, it's a tiny stress fracture but there's no evidence of that really - I'm just being cautious. I also felt a bit of a cold coming on this week but I think I've held it at bay for now.
I think that feeling like you're facing a constant battle is probably natural during any kind of training like this. There's probably a lot to be said for mental fitness as well as physical fitness and I've overlooked that up until now. I'll be trying to focus a lot more on the positives over the next few weeks.
Saturday's run went pretty well - 4 miles in a few seconds over 44 minutes was pleasing. The 11 minute mile is nice, but realistically I know that as I start going further and further, that will probably push back out closer to the 12 mile mark overall. It's not something I'm overly worried about, but it's good to be able to track what you're doing. Another bonus was that it didn't feel too horrific getting up at 4am to fuel up before running. As I get in to longer distances, I'll probably be leaving the house at a more sensible time so I can adjust my eating time accordingly.
I did 6 miles tonight in 65 minutes - consistent with my last run at this distance. It might be a sign of how far I've come that I'm disappointed that I didn't do it faster. I managed to run the first 3 miles without stopping which felt great - an actual sense of achievement. I'm not sure if it's the cooler air, my determination to run whilst feeling patched up or the fact that I remembered I'd forgotten my inhaler and so paced myself a lot more but it felt a lot easier tonight than probably any other run I've done. My foot started feeling heavy towards the end of it and I've not doubt it'll hurt tomorrow, but I'm celebrating while I can! I may have mentioned that I was using Endomondo to track my runs. Here's an example of tonight's 6 mile run (though you can see that the GPS is a bit off on the map) - I thought I'd share it with you.
It's been a very strange week from a diabetes perspective. Since my run last Tuesday, I've really struggled to keep my blood sugar in check, but not in the way I've been used to. I've found that it's been really difficult to maintain a decent level and that I've crashed a few times a day. Whilst it's obviously good to be having lower blood sugar, too low is as bad as too high and as I've mentioned before, it's walking that tightrope in between the two.
I've been experimenting by lowering my insulin doses with meals but it's a lot of trial and error at the moment. I've got a consultant appointment at the hospital on Feb 1st so I'll be able to talk through it all in a lot more detail then - I'll just need to muddle through on my own until then. Runsweet have a lot of good information and advice for people with diabetes but I'm wary of making any drastic adjustments without speaking to a doctor first - I think that's just sensible.
I was talking to someone last night about how frustrating it feels in many respects. I've made a conscious effort to adjust my diet and get back into a proper diabetic regimen for a good few months now and it almost feels like I've got to start and learn how to do it all over again. I think I probably just need to understand the science behind it and it'll hopefully be fairly straightforward.
A quick mention on diet and such as that feels like quite a good segue there. I've started tracking my food through the MyFitnessPal which is giving me a good idea of how many calories I need to lose about 20lbs over 20 weeks. It also helps track what I'm eating around training days and my carb levels (to aid insulin doses). It's quite a useful tool. I'm think I'll print off the reports to take along to the hospital in a couple of weeks.
Final quick update on sponsorship. A few very wonderful people have chipped in this last week and the total (exclusing gift aid) currently stands at £157 which is quite good I think. You can keep an eye on progress, stay up to date with the latest blog and track the countdown to the main event by visting the fundraising page. All the money is being split between DiabetesUK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity and you can read about all their work by clicking on one of the links.
A hectic weekend meant I wasn't able to go out and get any pics for my Sheffield photobook, but I'm hoping to rectify that this weekend so I can get a good start on that.
I'll leave it there for this week - appreciate I've gone on a fair bit there so thanks for sticking with it to the end. I mentioned a few weeks back that the end of this week was critical and it's really positive that I'm just about through it relatively unscathed.
Thanks for your support - the messages I get really mean a lot
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 68.5
Training miles left: 177.5
Training runs left: 28 + taper off period
Hello - thank's for dropping by.
There are 95 days to go until the marathon - it's starting to feel very close now, and I've still not done over 6 miles yet. But that's about to change quite quickly over the next few weeks.
I'm now heading into the stage of long run/short run, with the next two being a slight exception. When I originally finalised my plan, I realised I'd ended up with all my distance runs mid week and my shorter runs at the weekend - and running 14 miles on a Tuesday or Wednesday night didn't seem appealing so I swapped at one week. This coming week is the changeover week.
I've done 10 miles this week (4 and 6) and 10 miles are planned in next week (6.5 and 3.5) and then it's 2 miles a week extra on the distance run until the end of March.
The title of this week's post is a reference to how I'm feeling at the moment. My foot aches quite a lot of the time now, particularly after the long runs and on Sunday, I felt some pain in one of my toes so I've strapped it up as a precaution. I think at worst, it's a tiny stress fracture but there's no evidence of that really - I'm just being cautious. I also felt a bit of a cold coming on this week but I think I've held it at bay for now.
I think that feeling like you're facing a constant battle is probably natural during any kind of training like this. There's probably a lot to be said for mental fitness as well as physical fitness and I've overlooked that up until now. I'll be trying to focus a lot more on the positives over the next few weeks.
Saturday's run went pretty well - 4 miles in a few seconds over 44 minutes was pleasing. The 11 minute mile is nice, but realistically I know that as I start going further and further, that will probably push back out closer to the 12 mile mark overall. It's not something I'm overly worried about, but it's good to be able to track what you're doing. Another bonus was that it didn't feel too horrific getting up at 4am to fuel up before running. As I get in to longer distances, I'll probably be leaving the house at a more sensible time so I can adjust my eating time accordingly.
I did 6 miles tonight in 65 minutes - consistent with my last run at this distance. It might be a sign of how far I've come that I'm disappointed that I didn't do it faster. I managed to run the first 3 miles without stopping which felt great - an actual sense of achievement. I'm not sure if it's the cooler air, my determination to run whilst feeling patched up or the fact that I remembered I'd forgotten my inhaler and so paced myself a lot more but it felt a lot easier tonight than probably any other run I've done. My foot started feeling heavy towards the end of it and I've not doubt it'll hurt tomorrow, but I'm celebrating while I can! I may have mentioned that I was using Endomondo to track my runs. Here's an example of tonight's 6 mile run (though you can see that the GPS is a bit off on the map) - I thought I'd share it with you.
It's been a very strange week from a diabetes perspective. Since my run last Tuesday, I've really struggled to keep my blood sugar in check, but not in the way I've been used to. I've found that it's been really difficult to maintain a decent level and that I've crashed a few times a day. Whilst it's obviously good to be having lower blood sugar, too low is as bad as too high and as I've mentioned before, it's walking that tightrope in between the two.
I've been experimenting by lowering my insulin doses with meals but it's a lot of trial and error at the moment. I've got a consultant appointment at the hospital on Feb 1st so I'll be able to talk through it all in a lot more detail then - I'll just need to muddle through on my own until then. Runsweet have a lot of good information and advice for people with diabetes but I'm wary of making any drastic adjustments without speaking to a doctor first - I think that's just sensible.
I was talking to someone last night about how frustrating it feels in many respects. I've made a conscious effort to adjust my diet and get back into a proper diabetic regimen for a good few months now and it almost feels like I've got to start and learn how to do it all over again. I think I probably just need to understand the science behind it and it'll hopefully be fairly straightforward.
A quick mention on diet and such as that feels like quite a good segue there. I've started tracking my food through the MyFitnessPal which is giving me a good idea of how many calories I need to lose about 20lbs over 20 weeks. It also helps track what I'm eating around training days and my carb levels (to aid insulin doses). It's quite a useful tool. I'm think I'll print off the reports to take along to the hospital in a couple of weeks.
Final quick update on sponsorship. A few very wonderful people have chipped in this last week and the total (exclusing gift aid) currently stands at £157 which is quite good I think. You can keep an eye on progress, stay up to date with the latest blog and track the countdown to the main event by visting the fundraising page. All the money is being split between DiabetesUK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity and you can read about all their work by clicking on one of the links.
A hectic weekend meant I wasn't able to go out and get any pics for my Sheffield photobook, but I'm hoping to rectify that this weekend so I can get a good start on that.
I'll leave it there for this week - appreciate I've gone on a fair bit there so thanks for sticking with it to the end. I mentioned a few weeks back that the end of this week was critical and it's really positive that I'm just about through it relatively unscathed.
Thanks for your support - the messages I get really mean a lot
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Open and Honest
Training miles completed this week: 11.5
Total training miles completed: 58.5
Training miles left: 187.5
Training runs left: 30
Hi - thanks for stopping by.
Whilst I only write these updates once a week, it feels like they're coming around a lot more frequently. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing. It's always nice to be able to give an update on how things are going, but with every week that passes, I'm getting closer to the start line without really feeling prepared.
This week I've managed another two runs and I've had the chance to try and start to really plan for doing some bigger distances. Running on a weekday evening is usually quite straightforward - I can have a snack (current choice being a banana) before I leave work and then I feel sufficiently fuelled up to run in the evening.
It's a bit more inconvenient for a Saturday morning run though. This past weekend I did 5.5 miles in a very respectable 58 minutes - it felt like a good run at the time and I was very pleased with the pace. As I'm usually out running by 7am, getting adequately fuelled meant waking up at 4:15am to eat something then having a couple more hours in bed before setting off. I think that may become a feature over the next few months - particularly with a 12 mile run on the cards at the end of February. It's not ideal by any means, but needs are...
The 6 miles tonight went well in some respects but not so well in others. I managed the distance in 65 minutes which is pretty respectable considering everything. I started to get a bit of pain between mile 3 and 4 but got through it. It feels uncomfortable now as I'm typing but I'm hoping 3 days of rest will help to reduce any lingering effects. Keep your fingers crossed...
I've talked previously about various routes I've taken but I think I've finally found one I can use to build up to at least 10 miles without too much trouble. If you have a look at last week's post you'll see the map I used for 5 miles. As this is a fairly flat route (for Sheffield at least) I plan on just running slightly further from home each time before turning back. I used this for the 5.5 miles and the 6 mile run this week as well.
With regards to my injury, I'm definitely feeling a lot more discomfort in between runs now (and during them as you've seen above). The physio exercises do help but I think I'm coming round to the idea that I'm just going to have to put up with the aches and the pain over the next few months. I'm already putting in the lower end of the required amount of training and can't really afford to fall further behind. As long as I can run, I'm going to keep doing so. It's been nearly 4 years since the injury and the fact that it's still giving me pain makes me feel like it's something that I'm not going to be able to shake off. Time will tell I think.
Following on from last week's diabetes update, my levels have come back down to sit within the normal range they were in before Christmas. I've got a blood test next week (I hate needles by the way - not ideal for a diabetic at the best of times, but blood tests really bring out the worst in me), and should have the results when I see the consultant on Feb 1st. That'll really give the best indication of how well my control has been. Anything under 10 will be great, whilst I'd love to see a number under 8.
That consultant appointment will give me a good opportunity to discuss whether or not my medication regime needs to change in the build up to the marathon. I've read a lot of articles about how people adapted their injections to cope with a run, but everyone is different so it'll be good to have that conversation and try and figure out the best approach.
I've not been sleeping too well recently and I think that's for a couple of reasons. Firstly I'm finding it hard to switch off. My life feels like a never ending stream of numbers and maths problems at the moment - mile times, distances, blood sugar levels etc. As I mentioned last week, I'm trying to understand the effect that running has on my sugar levels as well so that's something else to add into the mix as well. Obviously feeling fully fit and rested is key to running - I think I just need to find some good relaxation techniques before bed.
Secondly, I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll get on to serious distances and I'll break down. I'm scared all this hard work will be in vain. I'm scared I won't raise any money. I'm scared I'll lose control of my diabetes. I'm scared I'll have a diabetic episode halfway around London. And I'm scared I'll let people down. I know I shouldn't be - everyone is so supportive and I can't thank them enough for their kinds words and encouragement. But fear isn't a rational reaction and I need to conquer it pretty quickly, to rid myself of the distractions. I'll probably come back to these points in the next week or so.
Finally a more positive word about fundraising. I had a conversation with @Victoria1867 on Twitter and she suggested putting together a photobook of well known Sheffield landmarks with a bit of a twist on the images to make them unconventional yet still recognisable. I'm fairly confident I can get some good shots over the next couple of weeks and then it's a case of editing them and getting some printed. Proceeds will all go to the charities I'm fundraising for so if that sounds like something you'd be interested in buying then do let me know. And a big thank you to Victoria for taking the time to talk through some fundraising ideas - it's really appreciated. Don't forget you can visit the fundraising page or find out more about Diabetes UK or The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity by clicking on the links.
I think I'll leave it there for this week. The mantra remains pretty much the same - build up the distance, keep doing what I'm doing, and mitigate the pain as best I can.
Thanks for reading - I hope it's not starting to feel like too much of the same each week. It's starting to get into a critical few weeks for the training so hopefully all the hard work over the last 4 months will start to pay dividends. Your continued support means a lot.
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 58.5
Training miles left: 187.5
Training runs left: 30
Hi - thanks for stopping by.
Whilst I only write these updates once a week, it feels like they're coming around a lot more frequently. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing. It's always nice to be able to give an update on how things are going, but with every week that passes, I'm getting closer to the start line without really feeling prepared.
This week I've managed another two runs and I've had the chance to try and start to really plan for doing some bigger distances. Running on a weekday evening is usually quite straightforward - I can have a snack (current choice being a banana) before I leave work and then I feel sufficiently fuelled up to run in the evening.
It's a bit more inconvenient for a Saturday morning run though. This past weekend I did 5.5 miles in a very respectable 58 minutes - it felt like a good run at the time and I was very pleased with the pace. As I'm usually out running by 7am, getting adequately fuelled meant waking up at 4:15am to eat something then having a couple more hours in bed before setting off. I think that may become a feature over the next few months - particularly with a 12 mile run on the cards at the end of February. It's not ideal by any means, but needs are...
The 6 miles tonight went well in some respects but not so well in others. I managed the distance in 65 minutes which is pretty respectable considering everything. I started to get a bit of pain between mile 3 and 4 but got through it. It feels uncomfortable now as I'm typing but I'm hoping 3 days of rest will help to reduce any lingering effects. Keep your fingers crossed...
I've talked previously about various routes I've taken but I think I've finally found one I can use to build up to at least 10 miles without too much trouble. If you have a look at last week's post you'll see the map I used for 5 miles. As this is a fairly flat route (for Sheffield at least) I plan on just running slightly further from home each time before turning back. I used this for the 5.5 miles and the 6 mile run this week as well.
With regards to my injury, I'm definitely feeling a lot more discomfort in between runs now (and during them as you've seen above). The physio exercises do help but I think I'm coming round to the idea that I'm just going to have to put up with the aches and the pain over the next few months. I'm already putting in the lower end of the required amount of training and can't really afford to fall further behind. As long as I can run, I'm going to keep doing so. It's been nearly 4 years since the injury and the fact that it's still giving me pain makes me feel like it's something that I'm not going to be able to shake off. Time will tell I think.
Following on from last week's diabetes update, my levels have come back down to sit within the normal range they were in before Christmas. I've got a blood test next week (I hate needles by the way - not ideal for a diabetic at the best of times, but blood tests really bring out the worst in me), and should have the results when I see the consultant on Feb 1st. That'll really give the best indication of how well my control has been. Anything under 10 will be great, whilst I'd love to see a number under 8.
That consultant appointment will give me a good opportunity to discuss whether or not my medication regime needs to change in the build up to the marathon. I've read a lot of articles about how people adapted their injections to cope with a run, but everyone is different so it'll be good to have that conversation and try and figure out the best approach.
I've not been sleeping too well recently and I think that's for a couple of reasons. Firstly I'm finding it hard to switch off. My life feels like a never ending stream of numbers and maths problems at the moment - mile times, distances, blood sugar levels etc. As I mentioned last week, I'm trying to understand the effect that running has on my sugar levels as well so that's something else to add into the mix as well. Obviously feeling fully fit and rested is key to running - I think I just need to find some good relaxation techniques before bed.
Secondly, I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll get on to serious distances and I'll break down. I'm scared all this hard work will be in vain. I'm scared I won't raise any money. I'm scared I'll lose control of my diabetes. I'm scared I'll have a diabetic episode halfway around London. And I'm scared I'll let people down. I know I shouldn't be - everyone is so supportive and I can't thank them enough for their kinds words and encouragement. But fear isn't a rational reaction and I need to conquer it pretty quickly, to rid myself of the distractions. I'll probably come back to these points in the next week or so.
Finally a more positive word about fundraising. I had a conversation with @Victoria1867 on Twitter and she suggested putting together a photobook of well known Sheffield landmarks with a bit of a twist on the images to make them unconventional yet still recognisable. I'm fairly confident I can get some good shots over the next couple of weeks and then it's a case of editing them and getting some printed. Proceeds will all go to the charities I'm fundraising for so if that sounds like something you'd be interested in buying then do let me know. And a big thank you to Victoria for taking the time to talk through some fundraising ideas - it's really appreciated. Don't forget you can visit the fundraising page or find out more about Diabetes UK or The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity by clicking on the links.
I think I'll leave it there for this week. The mantra remains pretty much the same - build up the distance, keep doing what I'm doing, and mitigate the pain as best I can.
Thanks for reading - I hope it's not starting to feel like too much of the same each week. It's starting to get into a critical few weeks for the training so hopefully all the hard work over the last 4 months will start to pay dividends. Your continued support means a lot.
Take care
Andy
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Autumn
Good morning
Like most people, I'm mourning the passing of our very brief summer and looking at the long nights and short days with a fair amount of contempt. But secretly I'm also quite pleased.
Autumn is my favourite time of year to run - it's cool but not too cold and I prefer to run when it's dark rather than during the day. I also quite like running in the rain. Don't ask me to rationalise it because I can't. The only thing I can come up with is that perhaps I feel like I've worked a bit harder, or it's a greater test of my dedication. But really I have no idea why I like it so much.
Whilst autumn brings my favourite running conditions it also brings Christmas preparations and so more time gets filled up with seeing friends and family before we all take a well earned break from work. It just means being a bit more creative with fitting in some training.
Since my last post I've done two more runs - both over the 1.5 mile route I have round the town. I've had a bit more of an ache the following day each time but all in all I'm feeling pretty good. It feels good to be able to do two a week and not feel like I'm made of glass.
I'm in the process of planning out a 2 mile run for my next outing which will probably be Saturday morning. I feel a bit daft exulting a 1.5 or 2 mile run. Before my injury I wouldn't have considered going out for less than about 2.5 miles but things obviously change. I think I've got about another 6 weeks (or 12 runs) before I really have to start putting in a distance run once a week - I think that will be a real test of how capable my body is of holding out for the actual marathon.
With regards to diabetes, it's been another fairly successful week - I had one blip last night/this morning where I seemto have miscalculated m dosage on a piece of parkin but all should be back to normal by lunchtime.
Again, the run up to Christmas brings its own challenges for diabetes. More meals out with friends certainly means extra calories (which I don't particularly welcome) but it also means a lot of uncertainty about looking after yourself. It's quite easy to get carried away with it all and tell yourself it's only a treat. The problem is that it gets easier and easier to justify that to yourself and you slip out of good habits and back into bad ones.
Of course I'm not advocating some sort of horribly strict diet over Christmas - diabetes doesn't stop you being human. But it's not always the worst thing in the world to just go out and have a salad instead of a burger once in a while.
Whilst this may not be strictly true, the way I once had it explained to me was this:
Your diet as a diabetic should be as varied and balanced as everyone else's diet should be. It's just the consequences of it not being balanced are worse for you than they are for other people.
I think that's fairly sensible advice (although I'm happy to be challenged). Being diabetic won't get in the way of my customary Chocolate Orange at Christmas. It just means that it'll get eaten over a fortnight and not a couple of days.
One final point before I sign off, I had a quick medical review at the doctors last night which ended up with them weighing me. Aftera few weeks of not feeling quite right with myself, my weight was back to 88.5kg (or 195lbs in old money). Again, I know it's not something to be shouting about from the rooftops, but it's good to know I've lost about 18lbs and all in all, managed to pretty much keep it off.
I'm not sure if this has been a particularly good read or not but thanks for stopping by and sticking with it. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.
I can always be found lurking on twitter (@BroomOwl) or at the other end of broomowl@gmail.com if the comments pages are playing up again. I hope you have a good rest of your week and I'll post again soon.
Take care
Andy
Like most people, I'm mourning the passing of our very brief summer and looking at the long nights and short days with a fair amount of contempt. But secretly I'm also quite pleased.
Autumn is my favourite time of year to run - it's cool but not too cold and I prefer to run when it's dark rather than during the day. I also quite like running in the rain. Don't ask me to rationalise it because I can't. The only thing I can come up with is that perhaps I feel like I've worked a bit harder, or it's a greater test of my dedication. But really I have no idea why I like it so much.
Whilst autumn brings my favourite running conditions it also brings Christmas preparations and so more time gets filled up with seeing friends and family before we all take a well earned break from work. It just means being a bit more creative with fitting in some training.
Since my last post I've done two more runs - both over the 1.5 mile route I have round the town. I've had a bit more of an ache the following day each time but all in all I'm feeling pretty good. It feels good to be able to do two a week and not feel like I'm made of glass.
I'm in the process of planning out a 2 mile run for my next outing which will probably be Saturday morning. I feel a bit daft exulting a 1.5 or 2 mile run. Before my injury I wouldn't have considered going out for less than about 2.5 miles but things obviously change. I think I've got about another 6 weeks (or 12 runs) before I really have to start putting in a distance run once a week - I think that will be a real test of how capable my body is of holding out for the actual marathon.
With regards to diabetes, it's been another fairly successful week - I had one blip last night/this morning where I seemto have miscalculated m dosage on a piece of parkin but all should be back to normal by lunchtime.
Again, the run up to Christmas brings its own challenges for diabetes. More meals out with friends certainly means extra calories (which I don't particularly welcome) but it also means a lot of uncertainty about looking after yourself. It's quite easy to get carried away with it all and tell yourself it's only a treat. The problem is that it gets easier and easier to justify that to yourself and you slip out of good habits and back into bad ones.
Of course I'm not advocating some sort of horribly strict diet over Christmas - diabetes doesn't stop you being human. But it's not always the worst thing in the world to just go out and have a salad instead of a burger once in a while.
Whilst this may not be strictly true, the way I once had it explained to me was this:
Your diet as a diabetic should be as varied and balanced as everyone else's diet should be. It's just the consequences of it not being balanced are worse for you than they are for other people.
I think that's fairly sensible advice (although I'm happy to be challenged). Being diabetic won't get in the way of my customary Chocolate Orange at Christmas. It just means that it'll get eaten over a fortnight and not a couple of days.
One final point before I sign off, I had a quick medical review at the doctors last night which ended up with them weighing me. Aftera few weeks of not feeling quite right with myself, my weight was back to 88.5kg (or 195lbs in old money). Again, I know it's not something to be shouting about from the rooftops, but it's good to know I've lost about 18lbs and all in all, managed to pretty much keep it off.
I'm not sure if this has been a particularly good read or not but thanks for stopping by and sticking with it. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.
I can always be found lurking on twitter (@BroomOwl) or at the other end of broomowl@gmail.com if the comments pages are playing up again. I hope you have a good rest of your week and I'll post again soon.
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Something to write home about
Hello again
Today marked an important step on the long road to London. I went for a run!!
I say run. In fairness it was more of run/walk (as advised by the physio) but I still got my running gear on and went out in the wind and the rain and did some running. And while it was only just over a mile - going out and doing it was psychologically big for me
The question now is whether or not going out was a good idea. The physio and I agreed it should be if I took it steady. And I definitely did. I've got a bit of a dull ache at the moment but I get that from time to time. I'm not naive enough to think it's unrelated but I'm equally not going to be so pessimistic to think that it will be a problem. I had a similar pain after each physio appointment so I'm going to continue to focus on the positives.
I won't be doing any more jogging until the weekend now (at the earliest) so hopefully I can continue with the exercises to loosen the joint and things will get gradually easier.
Diet-wise I've been plodding along. It's been one of those funny weeks where we've had friends visiting and things so I've not been able to be as strict as I normally would be (I even chanced a sliver of lemon meringue pie at my mum's the other night) but I've been steadfastly sticking to the salads during the week.
I haven't weighed myself yet but I imagine I'll be hovering around where I have been for the last two weeks. I'm feeling good and I think that's one of the most important things to consider. I'll lose more weight as I gradually increase the training over the next few months.
Finally, a quick diabetes update. Things are feeling like they're returning to normal now. Blood sugar levels are generally in the 4-7 area although the feeling of being on a tightrope is still there. Even after all these years I'm still amazed by how even slight changes in routine can have such an affect on my blood sugar levels.
I sometimes get the feeling that I'll never be able to control that mystery factor and every now and again, I'll get an unexpected reading. I think that's just part of my life and not panicking when it happens is the best thing I can do.
I've got a follow up appointment with the diabetes nurse on Friday morning. I've probably not done everything she asked me to do but I think it's difficult to try and prescribe a method of living your life to someone else. But perhaps that's for another blog.
If you fancy a chat then you can find me on Twitter (@BroomOwl) or drop me a mail on broomowl@gmail.com You'll be pleased to hear that BlackBerry have sorted themselves out so I'll have no problems getting back to you.
Thanks for reading - I know a lot of you make the effort to have a look and I really do appreciate it.
Take care
Andy
Today marked an important step on the long road to London. I went for a run!!
I say run. In fairness it was more of run/walk (as advised by the physio) but I still got my running gear on and went out in the wind and the rain and did some running. And while it was only just over a mile - going out and doing it was psychologically big for me
The route - cheers GoogleI
I won't be doing any more jogging until the weekend now (at the earliest) so hopefully I can continue with the exercises to loosen the joint and things will get gradually easier.
Diet-wise I've been plodding along. It's been one of those funny weeks where we've had friends visiting and things so I've not been able to be as strict as I normally would be (I even chanced a sliver of lemon meringue pie at my mum's the other night) but I've been steadfastly sticking to the salads during the week.
I haven't weighed myself yet but I imagine I'll be hovering around where I have been for the last two weeks. I'm feeling good and I think that's one of the most important things to consider. I'll lose more weight as I gradually increase the training over the next few months.
Finally, a quick diabetes update. Things are feeling like they're returning to normal now. Blood sugar levels are generally in the 4-7 area although the feeling of being on a tightrope is still there. Even after all these years I'm still amazed by how even slight changes in routine can have such an affect on my blood sugar levels.
I sometimes get the feeling that I'll never be able to control that mystery factor and every now and again, I'll get an unexpected reading. I think that's just part of my life and not panicking when it happens is the best thing I can do.
I've got a follow up appointment with the diabetes nurse on Friday morning. I've probably not done everything she asked me to do but I think it's difficult to try and prescribe a method of living your life to someone else. But perhaps that's for another blog.
If you fancy a chat then you can find me on Twitter (@BroomOwl) or drop me a mail on broomowl@gmail.com You'll be pleased to hear that BlackBerry have sorted themselves out so I'll have no problems getting back to you.
Thanks for reading - I know a lot of you make the effort to have a look and I really do appreciate it.
Take care
Andy
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Looking forward
Hello – thanks for stopping by.
First of all – apologies I’ve not posted for a couple of weeks. Obviously being on holiday was a factor in that, and I wanted to make sure I had something meaningful to talk about this time.
I suppose the immediate good news is that I’ve not really felt any pain in my foot for a couple of weeks now (the most notable exception being on the flight home). I think that’s quite a good sign really, especially when you consider the amount of walking I did while I was away.
I’ve also been swimming another couple of times this week which is quite handy. It’s good to get the exercise and it gives me time to focus on what this is all about.
I’m not seeing the physio again until next Tuesday (11th) but I’ve got some more physical exercises to do in the interim (think jumping up and down holding a football…) so hopefully I’ll get the go ahead to run somewhere next time!
I got my marathon acceptance letter and magazine through the post while I was away. I’ve not opened it yet as I don’t want to start getting ahead of myself by looking at all the training plans and reading all the articles about how hard it’s going to be - I’ve got a fairly good idea of that already…
The most difficult thing this last week or so has been getting my blood sugar back to some semblance of normalcy. I was keeping an eye on it while I was in Las Vegas
Having recovered from crippling jet lag by drinking an unhealthy amount of caffeine and sugar, I thought it would be easy to correct my sugar levels over the weekend and be back on track immediately. It’s not been quite that straightforward but I think I’ve just about got a handle on it again. I’m probably 1 to 1.5 mmol above where I’d like to be but nothing too concerning. (Educational segue – blood sugar levels should be around 4.5 to 7.5mmols (or so I was always told) and I try to average about 6 ish. I’ve been around the 7.5 to 8.5mmol level for the last few days but that’s not too bad – I’m probably being harsh on myself).
Anyone who follows me on Twitter may have also spotted that I dipped into the low end of the blood sugar spectrum on Monday night just as I got to Hillsborough Leisure Centre. Fortunately I managed to find a few rogue jelly sweets in my bag and got through it OK. I’ve also been waking up early (4am) feeling a bit on the low side these last few days, but I’m managing to get back to sleep until my alarm goes off.
I think it’s a pretty natural part of adjusting from eating a very different diet for a week (not to mention eating at irregular times and flying messing with my insulin doses) so I’m fairly happy that things are back under control.
Weight wise, I’m still at 198lbs. I’m tempted to feel bad about that and hammer my diet even more but the truth is I eat so few calories for 5 out of 7 days I can’t. Plus I know being on holiday affected my weight so I think I just need to continue doing what I’ve been doing and I’ll continue to lose it.
I’ll post an update next week to let you know how the exercises have gone, what the physio says and whether or not I can be trusted to run even just a mile or so.
As always, thanks for reading. At the risk of sounding like a teen drama series, if you want to get in touch for a chat about the themes of this blog, then you can always drop me a line on broomowl@gmail.com or find me on Twitter (@BroomOwl). Of course if you want to chat about something else, that’s equally welcomed and encouraged.
Take care
Andy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)