I’ve been formally registered (part-time) to do a PhD for more than a year now - funny how time flies! - and I’m at the stage of writing up my literature review. I surprised myself this morning counting up the number of papers I read in that time - around 90. Not all relevant, I’m sorting out which ones are relevant now to reference in my lit. review.

Dusting this old blog off after 3 years of inactivity, and re-purposing it to write about the research I’m doing.

Team Spraoi finished the marathon in a time of 4 hours and 3 minutes - a great achievement, and a great show of dedication with the wet weather. I met my own target of finishing the first stage in roughly 40 minutes. Hard to say the exact time, I was concentrating on handing the wristband over to Martin, and iMapMyRun had developed a mind of it’s own and kept going to sleep. At least it was there when I needed it most - for pacing myself early in the run.

The crush at the start slowed me down initially, but I made up time on the way out to Blackpool and got ahead of schedule within the first two miles. Running down Patrick’s Quay and Horgan’s Quay into the wind and the rain was a bit of a battle. We had a nice view down the harbour, though. The 5-mile point must have been just before the skew bridge on the Glanmire Road; a clock there read 39 minutes 30 seconds as I passed, and the changeover point was only a few hundred yards further on. A shuttle bus took us back to the City Hall, where Eirin and the kids were waiting for me with a hot cup of tea and a croissant! What more could you ask for?

It’s not quite all over - we’ll head for Glanmire in a while for the celebratory barbecue, photo-session, and official announcement of how much we raised.

It’s the big day, and it’s lashing rain! That doesn’t really bother me, I’ll just have to make sure I don’t get cold. And wrap my iPhone in a plastic bag. During the week I decided to carry that with me during the race - funny how dependent we get on technology, but there you go: iMapMyRun has been great, and I use it to check my pace as I’m running.

So breakfast is cornflakes, muesli, natural yoghurt and milk. That’s what I would normally have, and I’ve added a banana to it as a concession to the day that’s in it. The marathon starts at 9am, it’s 7:15 now, so hopefully I’ve allowed enough of a break that my stomach won’t be complaining to me during the run. I’m looking forward to a cup of tea and a croissant afterwards!

Coming the end of Week 9, so only a week or so left really to the big day. Thursday’s run was a high point: 5.27 miles in 41:44 - that’s an average of 7:55 per mile! I’d got average figures like that earlier in training, but only over shorter distances. At this point, outside of the odd ankle twinge, I think I’m ready for my stage in the marathon.

Earlier in the week, I varied it a bit: Monday was a hot day, but I went out at lunch time, down along the side of the Curraheen River, to see what it was like running in the heat - taking it easy, at a pace of 9ish minutes a mile. Wednesday was our speed-Pilates day! Second time around, I got more benefit from it: the muscles felt like they had been stretched and made to work hard.

I think it’s time to reveal some of the tips I’ve been given (and actually tried to listen to) along the way. From Michelle W:

• If you come across any short races [during the training period] it’s a good idea to do them as they can help set your pace.
• I find with racing I’m trying to keep up with everyone around me and by picking up my pace I get completely exhausted early on.  Its better to start at a nice steady pace and pick it up in the second half.
• I’d [run] in miles not Km, cause when you’re racing the miles will be marked and it’s good to be prepared rather than calculating from Km.
• I’ve also bought a Garmin forerunner which is so fantastic for clocking the distance when you’re running and for loading up the maps.

From my running buddy, Sean:

• Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Something to do with a more regulated flow of air into the lungs, helping the absorption of oxygen.

From Rebecca:

• Have a pasta party the night before the race. Great way to store up energy!

Thanks for the advice everybody.

Well, things got very busy over the last few weeks, and training suffered a bit. It wasn’t a case of doing absolutely nothing, but the schedule went by the way side. I got in a few runs with Sean, one or two on my own, and of course Norma’s sessions have been a big help. Norma was away yesterday, but she’d arranged for a Pilates class for us - something a bit different. But if that was Pilates, it was the fastest and most intense Pilates ever! Good, but tough. There’s another session next week - I think we’ll see if Norma will join us for that one…

So after the irregular training, I apprehensively went for a 30 minute run tonight - and was very pleasantly surprised: 3.95 miles in 30 minutes 34 seconds, that’s 7:44 minutes per mile according to iMapMyRun. Yahoo! I broke the 8 minutes a mile.

Now I just have to figure out what week it is, and work back into the schedule.

Oh, good luck to Michelle W, running in the London Marathon this Sunday! Thanks for the advice you’ve given us, I’ll have to share some of it here.

Scene of last Thursday’s 60 minute jog - the walking/cycling path along by the Curraheen River. My ankle was giving me a bit of cause for concern, not helped by the fact that I fell over a steel rod sticking out of the ground. I blame the rabbits for that - but that’s another story!

We did some sprints on Monday, and they went really well! It was on the track in CIT, Norma put out some cones - I’m not sure of the distance, probably no more than 50 metres. Okay, so short sprints, but going the full distance at 100% was achievable and felt good. It made a lot more sense than what I’d been trying on my own.

Tuesday was an official rest day, not just a Jonathan rest day - there have been enough of those! Yesterday was Wednesday, so it was core and flex in the CIT gym. Those crunches are getting easier, and just as well because Norma is pushing us a bit more, but my neck muscles still don’t stand the pace.

According to the schedule, I’ve got a 60 minute jog to do today. Muscles still stiff, not just from yesterday, but from Monday as well. Energy levels good, though, so I’m looking forward to getting out later. Actually, my appetite has gone up, and my weight a little as well. Maybe those muscles are starting to develop? I’m trying to make sure I include more protein (from natural sources, of course!) in what I eat - I’ve read that protein is essential for building and repairing muscle.

Easter’s been a whirlwind, lots going on. Training highlight over the last week was a 9km run last Sunday, taking 54 minutes. That was a pace of 5:52 minutes per kilometer, according to iMapMyRun. Two days later, on Tuesday, 4.91km took me 26 and a half minutes - 5:21 minutes per kilometer.

Talking to a seasoned runner (Robbie) on Sunday afternoon, he said an eight minute mile was a good pace, i.e. a five minute kilometer. With another 7-odd weeks of training, I’m thinking that might be achievable. On the other hand, I asked him about the sprints that are in my training schedule. He said he and his running buddies used to do sprints: they would run 400 meters, giving it 100% effort, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat however many times. I’m way off being able to do that - 100% effort for the first 30 seconds, and a rest of at least two minutes between runs is what I’ve been able to do. I’ll have to do a bit of research on how to build myself up properly.

So Sunday and Tuesday were good, the rest of the week has been very patchy. Back to normal life next week after the Easter holidays, so the plan is to settle back into the schedule in earnest from Monday.

Walking out after last week’s class with Norma, Michael looked down and said ‘Ah, Asics 150s. Good shoes, I had a pair of them once’. I had a sudden glimpse down the precipice into what it might be like to be a committed runner. Sorry Michael, it’ll never be me. Did I mention that I’ve had very little exercise for the last 20-odd years? Although I made a conscious decision a few years ago to either walk or cycle to work as often as possible - helped by the fact that it’s so hard to get parking in CIT, but also I live close enough that I couldn’t justify driving. Mind you, there are people who live closer and drive…