A warning before festivities begin....

With thanks to SV

Muscles that hurt

Not ALL points shown are painful

Shamed by my inability earlier today to identify the muscles that are giving me "gip" after yesterday's Insanity workout, you'll be pleased to hear I've spent some productive time on-line researching muscular anatomy, and am now able to elaborate.

(I'm not seeking sympathy, mind. This post is simply to satisfy those of you who enjoy a bit of armchair schadenfreude.) 

Rictus Abdominis ("Abs"), Clavicular head of pectoralis (upper "Pectorals") and Deltoids - all mildly uncomfortable

Latissimus Dorsi ("Lats") - middling uncomfortable

Adductor Longus ("Adductors") - middling uncomfortable

Gluteus Maximus ("Glutes") - very uncomfortable indeed whenever I sit down or climb stairs

Semitendinosus ("Hamstrings") - very uncomfortable indeed whenever I bend over (feeding the cat used to be easy -not now!)
Like steel hawsers at all other times

So, now you know.

Hungry birds

At lunchtime I ran 9 miles through the parks: St James' Park, Green Park and Hyde Park, up to the  end of the Serpentine and back.

This photo is of early Georgian terraced houses (built in 1720-1725) on Lord North Street, leading to St. John's church.

Harold Wilson lived in this street while he was Prime Minister in the early 1970s. During this time it's claimed he was burgled by renegade MI5 officers.

In the 1980s Jonathan Aitken, MP and Cabinet Minister also lived here. Before he went to prison, that is.

Westminster Abbey from Westminster School

From Westminster Abbey I entered the parks.

Hungry moorhens

Hungry swans

"Not photos. Food!"

At the end of the Serpentine

Looking across the Serpentine toward Kensington Palace

Memorial to the 55,573 people who died while serving in Bomber Command 1939-1945

Back at work I told my friend Nick that I would have done a fast run, if I hadn't had to stop to take so many photos. For some reason he wasn't convinced.

I think the above photos prove my point, don't you?

Ouch ouch ouch

Today I'm walking like John Wayne after a full day in the saddle. My hamstrings and glutes are the worst, along with lots of other bits I couldn't even name.

Time for a short lunchtime run. Kill or cure.

So, what’s the training plan, Stan?

Shaun T - Mr. Insanity

It seems to be generally accepted by people who know a lot more about these things than I do, that the best form of training for endurance sports is to do lots and LOTS of that specific activity. So for example the best training for a climbing trip is to climb as much as possible. In the case of marathons, there’s no substitute for getting the miles in.

People do complete marathons without running a lot for for weeks beforehand, but that usually means a slow time - and quite a lot of suffering during the race. I want to enjoy the day!

My training for previous marathons involved running 5-6 days a week, and building up the distance of the weekend run little by little each week. This time, daily running doesn’t look feasible: over the last year or so my right knee has started to complain if I run day after day. The knee isn’t a problem on longer runs - just so long as I take a day’s break between them. I’m going to take advice about how to sort the problem out, but I’ve come to terms with the thought that I’ll probably need to limit how frequently I go running this time. It also means I may have to accept a slower time on the day.

If I can’t run so much, how to start to get race-fit?

Between January and March 2013 a couple of friends and I put ourselves through a 60-day fitness workout programme called Insanity. It’s an intense - but highly effective - cardio/resistance fitness routine (or “total body transformation system” as it’s makers call it - how very American!) at the end of which I was really quite fit.

(Of course, pretty soon afterwards, my training Switch turned to the Off position again and in no time was Mr Couch Potato once more).

Anyway the plan at least for the next month is to alternate running one day with an Insanity session the next, to build toward fitness as quickly as possible, while I try to sort out my knee.

Which brings us to the fun bit: this morning I did my first Insanity workout for months. It was 40 minutes of “Plyometric Cardio Circuits”, involving (after warm-up) a series of sets of hard 3-minute circuits each followed by a 30 second “break”, then repeated. I had very low expectations about how this morning’s session would go - and wasn’t looking forward to it much either - but in the event it went OK … until the final set of “Level One Drills” brought on a full-blown nausea attack and I had to slack off. Mmm - nice.

I am going to be so sore tomorrow. But at least I have a training plan, or the beginnings of one.

A Christmas lull - and a New Year's resolution

Not much running was done this week. I had a cold and cough over Christmas, recovering only to be able to do 5 miles around Clissold Park today. It was slow - I've had too many roast potatoes - but the park was cold and beautiful, and the run helped clear out my lungs.

Clissold House

Also, the first 50-mile milestone in my training was reached!

Hungry moorhens

Now it's time to "up the ante". So - I'm making a commitment, here and now, that on 5 January I will give up smoking - at least until after I run the Marathon at the end of April.

Any support people feel able to give would be much appreciated, and will really help motivate me to give up and stay off the cigs.

As an added inducement to visit my Fundraising Page, I've posted up a new embarrassing photo. It's a cracker.

Miles run in week 4 (17 weeks to go): 9.8
Total miles since I started running again: 56

A bit more pace

Still slow, but my pace is picking up a bit now.

Notice the ghostly blue figure at about 1.75 miles. Spooky, huh?  I swear I only noticed it after I took this image for the blog...

All thoughts are now turning toward Christmas. A few years ago on Christmas morning, a friend and I took my sister's dogs out for a run in the Suffolk countryside not far from her house, while my sister and partner prepared lunch. Without consulting my sister we decided to take the dogs into the marshes near Dunwich - a lovely area on the Suffolk coast, about as far East as you can get in England - but boggy.

It was a beautiful blue winter's day for a run. As we ran down the raised wooden boardwalk into the marsh, the dogs had a great time bounding through the bog on either side.

The dogs we delivered back to my sister were completely covered in mud. Plastered head to tail. Oops.

Burning the candle at both ends

Yesterday I met up with a very old friend and his daughter for an evening of laughter and general carousing. Work is mad-busy at the moment - I'll spare you the details - and so it was good to forget all about it last night.

After a night of behaviour perhaps unbecoming for a man of my years, I got home at 3am this morning. Why is it that when you meet up with old friends from Uni, the years are stripped away and you behave like a 20 year old again? Anyway, I'll spare you the details of that, too*.

Today, feeling rather "tired", I reluctantly went out for a run. 10 miles: down to the Regent's Canal, which I then followed toward Limehouse Basin and back. I felt much better afterwards, if a little weary.

I love running by water.

Miles run in week 3 (18 weeks to go): 18.3

Total miles since I started running again: 46.3

* Instead, here's an account of an epic pub-crawl in 1647.

Update 22 December: Here's a short blog post about what it's like to spend Christmas living on a canal boat, by The Great Wen.

Lentement, lentement, en attrape le singe

At lunchtime I squeezed in my standard 5K river run but with an extension: from Lambeth Bridge down to Vauxhall Cross on the south bank, then over Vauxhall Bridge and back via Milbank - what I call the "Spot the Spook" extension.

My running is still slow, but energy is returning and I'm getting a bit quicker day by day.

From Blackfriars Bridge along the Embankment, with old St Paul's School on the right

Whisky, and running the Parkland Walk

Every so often I meet up with a couple of friends for a whisky tasting. Yesterday afternoon it was their turn to come over to my house.

It was billed as the "Dad Noises Session": its objective being to taste whiskies tasty enough to cause at least one participant to make involuntary Dad Noises.

So, after their young child had been put to bed and we'd eaten, we settled down to taste a few single malts.

I'm pleased to report that the objective of the session was met, and early on in the evening - not in the event by a Dad at all, but by a Mum. Well satisfied, we continued to sip whisky and chat until 02:15 in the morning.

A few short hours later I dragged myself outside and ran 7.3 miles along Parkland Walk and back, a tree-lined path which follows the route of a defunct railway line between Finsbury Park and Highgate.

Miles this week (week 2 of training): 13 (only 2 runs this week, work has been bonkers)
Total miles run since I signed up for the Marathon: 28
No. weeks left: 19

Thanks to jazzpianofingers for the Dad Noises idea

5.8 mile park run

Terrible photo, but it gives an idea of what the day was like. London can be stunningly beautiful on days like this.

Embarrassing photos

I made a commitment on my Fundraising page that I would change my photo every so often.

I'm already a bit sick of the first photo I put up, of me looking sulky in 1985, so I've posted another one up. Have a look if you fancy a laugh.

(Good crop, though.)

Boost

Both times I ran the Marathon before (a long time ago!), raising money for charity wasn't a priority for me. For one of those Marathons I didn't bother to raise any money at all. To be honest, back then I was running it for pretty selfish reasons.

This time I'm keen to raise as much as I can for the charity I'm running for, Boost Charitable Trust.

Why? Because what they do is just inspirational.

Boost is a small, well-run charity, which stands for Building On Overlooked Sporting Talent. Here's a little about what they do:

"Since inception in 2005, Boost has awarded grants of over £1.25 million to some amazing groups and organisations that bring sport to the needy and vulnerable, including; archery, boccia, badminton, pink dragon boating, fencing, football, sailing, swimming and wheelchair basketball and rugby, to name but a few. The majority of funding has been focussed within the United Kingdom.

A few of our current projects are detailed below:

Westminster Befriend a Family – Swimming

Boost supports Westminster Befriend a Family which provides weekly swimming lessons for 45 children. Sadly all these children are in need and are socially excluded. It gives a chance for the children to not only improve their fitness, but also improves their confidence and communication skills. Travel expenses are paid to enable the families to attend, and a snack and drink are given to the children after the session.

‘Because we live in temporary accommodation, which is really far from their school my children don’t get a chance to go round to friends’ houses or have friends round, here at swimming they see the same faces, they get to see their friends and enjoy themselves. Seeing my children happy is the thing most important to me.’

Sport in Mind

Sport in Mind provides badminton for people experiencing mental health problems in Berkshire. Due to their conditions, these people would otherwise not be engaging in any physical activity as they feel unable to access local mainstream sports.

“Playing sport and exercising regularly was undoubtedly the main reason why I recovered from depression, but also being a part of a little group and making new friends helped me feel like life really was worth living. I will be forever thankful for the help I was given by Sport in Mind.”

Boccia

Boccia was first designed as a sport for those with severe Cerebral Palsy.  The aim of the game is to propel a set of coloured balls and position them closer to a white 'marker' ball (the jack) than those of your opponent.  Boost has supported CP Sport for many years and during this time the sport has grown hugely."

More info on their website here.

Week 1 of 21

Today's route

Sorry in advance - this is not a terribly interesting post, but I want to keep a record of the running I'm doing.
Total distance, week 1 of training (20 weeks to go): 20.8km
Total distance run since I got a Marathon Place: 23.8km

Today's run took me through Westminster School and then around St James' and Green Parks. I didn't need to do much tourist-dodging (it was COLD!) except in Green Park where there were crowds heading towards Hyde Park and Winter Wonderland.

As I finished the run, my Runkeeper App sent me a cheery motivational message congratulating me for running my best week for several months, which pleased me for about half a second until I realised that it's because I haven't actually been doing any running.

Still, it's a start.

Horseguards Thingummy

Burning the boats after crossing the Rubicon

(Or how to mix your classical allusions)

I'm about to tell people I'm running the Marathon: Facebook friends this weekend, and work colleagues on Monday.

I'm a bit nervous about it, to be honest. There will be no backing out after that.

The problem of the On-Off Switch

As my good friend Clare told me once, my "Exercise Switch" is either On or Off at any one time. She's right: I seem to be psychologically incapable of sticking to a routine of regular exercise, like normal people seem to - a couple of runs or gym sessions a week or something like that. Instead, I'm either in full-on training mode - day in, day out - or I'm sitting around for weeks on end with a beer in one hand and a fag in the other.

The problem is that I find it impossible to stay motivated unless I've got a long term goal to aim for. Once I've got a goal, finding motivation to exercise isn't hard. If there's a climbing trip on the horizon I'm usually keen to get fit for it. Back in 2004 in the months leading up to a mountaineering trip to Peru I trained like a demon and, by the end of the trip - after 5 weeks of carrying a rucsac at altitude - I was fitter than I've ever been in my life.

But then my arrival back in the UK was my cue for a plummeting spiral into Couch-potatoland and in no time I was back where I started.

The solution is obvious really: find a form of regular exercise that's so enjoyable that it provides its own motivation. Easier said than done! Going to the gym won't hack it, that's for sure. Gyms are way too dull (for me anyway). The gym is like dieting, it doesn't work in the long term.

Cycling, maybe? Anyway, that's a problem I'll need to think about for after the Marathon.

In the meantime the Switch is On.

Silly hats a given. Acclimatising on Ishinca, Peru 2004

Some reason for hope

Ignoring my complaining quads, I jogged my usual Thames-side river run at lunchtime (I say "usual" - I haven't done it for months) and was pleasantly surprised. I was VERY slow - it was like running with tree trunks instead of legs - but my lung-function isn't as impaired by smoking as I'd feared.

There was no bagpiper on Westminster Bridge, despite the presence of a gaggle of tourists. Perhaps it was too cold. Or perhaps he's retired since I last ran across it. That's quite possible - it was that long ago.

Quad meltdown

My quads feel as if someone's taken a meat tenderising mallet to them. I'm going to have some difficulty with stairs tomorrow.

First run

This evening I went on my first run in months. Actually, "gentle jog" would be a better description: two laps of Highbury Fields. Very slowly indeed.

Still, it's a start.

From Monday I can expect to have the usual 2 days of muscle hell as my out-of-condition body reacts in shock to the unaccustomed exercise.

A rush of blood to the head!

Today my sister Rachel emailed to say she could get me a place in the London Marathon through her charity, Boost - if I wanted one?

I've run the London Marathon twice before: in 1998 and in 2001. That was a long time ago but, believe me you don't forget these things in a hurry. Training day after day, over weeks and months. Building up the distance of the longer weekend runs to increase your endurance. Dragging yourself out into the cold, the wind and the rain as well as into sunshine. It's not normal behaviour.

But sometimes a run can be just superb: near-effortless, under clear blue skies, along canal towpaths or in the Suffolk countryside.

And then race day comes and it's just magical: brimful with excitement and emotion. The crowds of spectators, some there just for the spectacle - or to count runners in Elvis Presley outfits - but others there to cheer on the strugglers and the stragglers. Marathon day lifts you out of your jaded existence. It gives you hope for the human race.

So, after reading Rachel's email, I sat for about half a minute then emailed her back to say: I'm in.

Just like that.

What have I done?