Useless Poster

I realise that a blog where there's one post about how you're going to start running with nothing new for 18 months might appear like some kind of failure but it's really just a reflection of my inability to post anything.

Last June I completed the Basingstoke Race for Life 5K. I know plenty of people that spend their time running 10Ks and Half Marathon distances and I can't even begin to describe how much I admire them for it. But let me tell you, right now that 5K is my Half Marathon. It's never easy, and usually about 1K in I'm there thinking "why the hell did I think that this was a good idea?", but I finish. That feeling when you cross the line, there's nothing like it. My body may hate me but my mind loves that I did it. That particular 5K in June nearly didn't happen. I can't even remember exactly what had happened, but I remember spending most of the afternoon crying. I had a choice to make. To run, or not to run? Not one part of me wanted to run that day but I knew that somehow I had to.

Stats:
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 56:03
Avg Pace: 17:39 /mi
Calories: 812

In August I did a short run with my dog Cash, who, quite frankly, looked like she didn't know what hit her. That girl will do anything for a biscuit though.

Stats:
Distance: 1.6 miles
Time: 27:34
Avg Pace: 16:19 /mi
Calories: 435

A few weeks later I ran again. I had this great idea of going back to a park I used to walk through as a kid and was feeling really enthusiastic about it. I parked my car, and a local took it upon herself to single me out for verbal abuse and I was left shaken. I headed back to the woodlands near my house where I'd usually run, negative thoughts filling my head. Afterwards I checked the ZombiesRun! app that I often used and found the Zombies Run Virtual 5K and instantly signed up.

Stats:
Distance: 1.7 miles
Time: 38:35
Avg Pace: 21:33 /mi
Calories: 457

Bring on November and the Inaugural Zombie Run Virtual Race. For those unfamiliar with the ZombiesRun! app, the general premise is that you are trying to survive the zombie apocalypse by running to complete missions to help a group of survivors. The great thing about it is that the storyline element makes you want to do the next run to find out what happens next. Tip though, be wary of running at night/near woods/etc because you will be jumpier than usual. The race itself has 5K and 10K options and a unique storyline that spins off from the apps regular story in a way that allows for runners to be at different stages of the story. Of course, I did this 5K by running, at night, around my garden because, with a week to run in, I left it to the very last minute - win for procrastination, loss for my nerves. Due to my evening spent running in circles in a very small space my stats were all a bit skewed but the main thing was another 5K completed.

December came and so did The Muddy Welly. The course is a trail run loop around Wellington College in Berkshire, with two races occurring simultaneous. 5K runners do one loop, 10K runners do two. Two things excited me about this race. First, doing a trail run and second getting to run at the same time as one of my Team Amazingstoke buddies - James. We both run at very different paces but this was a run that allowed him to do 10K, me 5K, and have us both finishing at around the same time. And that was pretty much what happened, we started together and came very close to finishing together. Another bonus - the mulled wine at the end.

Stats:
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 56:01
Avg Pace: 18:04 /mi
Calories: 868

So that was 2015 over with 3 5K races completed. I felt so proud of myself and was definitely experiencing a high of sorts. As I entered 2016 I set myself a goal to go one better and finish 4 5K Races in 2016. Now I just had to pick the races.

Due to a series of unexpected events, I found myself back where my 5K adventure had originally begun: A Disney Cruise. Race One was set - the Castaway Cay 5K on January 27th 2016. Race 4 was also an easy pick. That would be the Muddy Welly again. Another Race for Life 5K seemed ideal in the middle of the year so I was just left to pick another one to go in the middle. Very early on in 2016, ZombiesRun! announced a Spring race so there were my 4.

But before I could get to the races I had a run to do with my Team Amazingstoke buddies. We found a local park that we could run a loop of and we all just ran at our own pace, in the dark, for about 40 minutes or so. One of the things about running that never fails to blow my mind is the camaraderie. However self-conscious I might feel, it's never because other runners have made me feel that way, in fact it's usually them that get me through, cheering me on as I put one foot in front of the other.

Stats:
Distance: 2.1 miles
Time: 42:21
Avg Pace: 20:10 /mi
Calories: 640

Cruise time. On my previous cruise, I quite enjoyed running around the outside deck before anyone else had woken, so run I did.

Stats:
Distance: 1.81 miles
Time: 30:12
Avg Pace: 16:37 /mi
Calories 324

Next stop Castaway Cay where the medals had been somewhat upgraded since my last visit but the course had not. Okay, so maybe doing that mixology class the day before hadn't been the best idea running wise but I was ready to go. I don't know if it was just that more people were taking part this time around or that as a group everyone was just slower but there were far more people around me than before. I kept alternating with a group of walkers as to which of us were ahead, and I won't lie about getting frustrated with some people that felt that just seeing (instead of reaching) the turnaround point before turning around meant that they were doing the full 5K but whatever, I was barely 1/12th of the way through the year and my goal was 25% complete.

Stats:
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 56:00
Avg Pace: 18:01 /mi
Calories: 811

Monday 18th April saw me running the ZombiesRun! Spring Race with my Team Amazingstoke buddies nearby. Halfway there and still 8 months left of the year!

Stats:
Distance 3.1 miles
Time: 57:07
Avg Pace: 18:23 /mi
Calories: 932

At the start of May I signed up for the Windsor Race for Life at the end of the month. I was a little tired of the Basingstoke version, and the idea of running with views of Windsor Castle really appealed. I had a last minute trip to Orlando, FL for the Invictus Games and visiting friends so I packed my bags and looked forward to the race the week after I returned. 2 days before the end of my trip disaster struck. I stepped off a curb and rolled onto my ankle on my way out of Hollywood Studios. I wish the event itself had a more dramatic twist to it (unintended pun) but I really did just step off a curb. Okay there was torrential rain involved along with a desperate plea on Facebook for someone to come and help me but ultimately it was just a curb that left me on all fours in the rain. One day spent driving around Magic Kingdom in an ECV and a very painful day spent travelling home later and I was in a waiting room at my local hospital, waiting to be X-rayed. The verdict? Torn ligaments, and let me tell you, if I had a dollar for every person that's told me it would be less painful to have broken my ankle, I'd be seriously rich right now. So instead of me running the Race for Life 5K I was stuck at home, having been told that I was under no circumstances allowed to put weight on my ankle. What was worse was that no-one seemed to be able to give me any kind of recovery time. Every time I asked I just got a vague response. My crutch soon became my best friend and I found myself grateful for the fact that it was my left ankle and that when I bought my car I'd opted for an automatic, meaning I could, at least, still drive myself around.

November 2016. About 6 weeks to the end of the year and I am still just 50% complete on my goal. Last week, I signed up for a local gym membership so that I can start improving my fitness levels through the winter. I haven't used the crutches for a while but my ankle is definitely still not what it was. I haven't given up yet on being able to do the Muddy Welly but time is definitely starting to run out.

A long time ago...

Well, not really. This story began over a year ago In January 2014. I'd booked to go on a Disney Cruise with my parents the following May and began researching different activities to do on the trip. The cruise in question was 4 nights in the Bahamas and, for those that don't know, the itinerary looks something like this:

Day 1 - Port Canaveral

Day 2 - Nassau

Day 3 - Castaway Cay (Disney's private island)

Day 4 - At Sea

Day 5 - Port Canaveral

I'd never been on any kind of cruise and I'd been dreaming of going on a Disney cruise for over 15 years. Despite all that excitement I was really nervous about how I'd find it. So when I start getting nervous about something I tend to research the hell out of it. By the time I set foot on the ship I knew exactly what to expect about everything which in some cases was a good thing but I digress.

While researching I came across activities that you can do while at Castaway Cay. For most people, a day at Castaway Cay involves lying on the beach all day an activity I loathe. I can't imagine anything more boring so I started looking at the other stuff you can do and came across the Castaway Cay 5K. Now at around the same time some friends of mine had started taking up running and we're doing Color Runs and Half Marathons and the like. I don't know what switch flipped in my head but I decided that I was going to do the Castaway Cay 5K. In part it was probably that it wasn't actually going to cost me anything extra to do so if it all went tits up I wouldn't have incurred any significant financial expense. I came up with a training plan and my only really goals were to finish and to try to run the whole thing.

About 1 month into training disaster struck and I managed to injure myself. Now being 250lbs you might think that I injured myself while running. No, I picked a T-shirt up from the floor and felt something go in my back. Putting the pain aside things did not feel good so I pulled back almost entirely from the training but still with the determination to do the 5K as planned. 

I started reading people's running blogs, learning every part of the 5K and its challenges. If I couldn't physically prepare I would most definitely be mentally prepared. One of the blogs I came across was The Fat Runner and out of all the ones I've read it's probably been the one that connected with me the most, because, like me, this guy, for no apparent reason at all, woke up one morning and decided that running the Castaway Cay 5K was a good idea. 

I will recap the cruise and the 5K later on but what followed was me doing another 5K and then running being put on the back burner for a year. That is until now...

This past year I've seen 2 cousins both complete a half marathon and several people I know complete the London Marathon. Last week someone at work came up with the idea of a large group of us doing the local Half Marathon in October. After last year I did walk away thinking that I would love to complete a Half Marathon and a Marathon just to be able to say I did it and since the last 6 months has been a bit of a whirlwind now seems as good a time as any to give it a try. Sorry there is no try. Now seems as good a time as any to do it.