Countdown to London- 2-ish weeks to go- ACK!

Ssshhhh.... do you hear it?! Listen hard- if you close your eyes (well, slightly close them so you can keep reading this entry), can you just make out the initial horns of the Chariots of Fire-Vangelis track? If you can't, I'll help you out: Click here for some theme music and think of me running to the finish line (like in the picture below) as I update you on the last push on my way to the 2015 London Marathon.

As promised, I will start with a quick recap of what we've done as a team over the past 3 weeks:

- I've surpassed my 1000-miles run mark... 1051 miles/ 1682 kms from May 1 2014 - March 31st 2015. 

- Personal fundraising target is nearly achieved, surpassing the 50% mark of the £4000 marker for Team Canada (Kyle and me)  https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning/

- Team Mondelez Runs fundraising has surpassed the £10,000 mark- which is an incredible amount of money to donate to such a worthy cause.

In some detail, we kicked off a huge push for fundraising with a successful Pancake Sale one Friday morning. Fluffy (North) American style pancakes with all the toppings- lemon and sugar for the Brits, Nutella for the European Continentals, and those who wanted the full Canadian experience could sample the sausage and maple syrup option. With a constant flow of batter on the go and a small Oxfam-by-association army as helping hands, our "All you can eat pancake buffet" complete with scones, muffins, and fruit salad helped to secure another 400£ towards the fundraising pot.

How best to get people in to buy your wares? My two top tips for events like these are to:

1) Host them on Fridays when people want a good excuse for some, ummm... "team bonding" and "relationship building". Of course happy, well fed, well connected colleagues make efficiently productive workers which is why events like this are necessary in the work place. And, we are doing our bit as a corporation to support poverty in developing countries. Win-win!

2) Coincide your event with other money-making opportunities leveraging natural phenomenons. Our very opportunistic Mdlz Runs Team Leader used the recent solar eclipse as a supplementary money-spinning event by charging 20p a view through the special solar eclipse glasses. I think we only made about an extra £1.00 in actual views, but I'd estimate that the increased foot-fall past the tall windows across from the kitchen whilst pumping out the heart-warming smell of pancakes brought us in some extra cash. 

A solar eclipse viewing, pancake eating patron

Events two and three of late involved some cross training activities, mostly because the cost of hiring a treadmill was going to be more than what we actually would have earned during our event. Instead we hooked up some stationery bikes, donned our pinnies, and cycled for change.

Fundraising in the UK is an interesting piece of work to take on. The Brits are very generous (or generous enough) people and are happy to give you their spare change. There are different levels of canvassing you can take on, where at the base-most level you can stand in a busy street and shake a bucket asking for change. If you do a stunt of sorts OR wear some funny clothes, you tend to get a bit more pocket money. Combine these events together and you can make 1000£ over 8 hours in two busy locations.

I wonder how much extra people donated for sporting the green sweatbands?

Add gold sequined leggings= ££

Add some family support in the form of cute kids= £££

Hustling the crowd for their spare 20 pences.

The last push of the fundraising weekend was a testament to the training that the team has diligently been following since the beginning of this year. For some reason, likely to check that you've been practising your pacing properly, all recommended training plans suggest completing a half-marathon in the middle of the full regime. This more traditional way of asking people to give you a fiver helped to round our weekend off to a hefty 2000£ as a team and not only did that bring us the satisfaction of PB'ing on the fundraising front, but our UK running team registered our best times for the run up to the marathon. I (un)surprisingly achieved a 99-minute race time in Warwick, which I was gunning to do in October and then scale the running back; however in keeping to the plan, I am in a position to quit running at the end of April (she says). The only unfinished running business I will have left is to register a 10km race under the 50 minute mark.

Meet the achievers- Team Mondelez Runs UK-edit.

What's left in the run-up, you ask?

As you can see the training plan is nearly complete. I'm proud of myself for the diligence taken in following the plan- especially on Tuesday nights, nearing 9pm, on a belly full of food, where the last thing you want to do is go out for an hour of tempo training. Of course there has been deviance in the way of switching days around or a mile here or there taken off, but on the whole, I've stuck to the plan. The push with training + coaxing/ coaching/ encouragement from those close to me + some motivation from Britney (warning with explicit lyrics) on the sprint finish at Warwick most definitely helped me crack into the 100-minute-half-marathon mark. 

And whilst the training eases down, the fundraising pursuit continues at full throttle as the team commitment has only just met the half-way mark. We still have some tricks up our sleeves to push the needle further towards the end goal. In the spirit of using our/ my strengths, upcoming events include:

-Chilli Lunch Sale

-Mondo-Chef Bake-off/ Cake Sale

-Kyle's Bottles in the Bin Bottle Drive

-50/50 Raffle for Team Oxfam Canada

-Henley Hog Roast

-Pre-Race Breakfast Buffet

And... if we absolutely have to, but would really rather not, another Cycle for Change at Cadbury World to top up the total pot. 

So, another call to arms from my Friends and Family, please spare me the pain of sitting on the bike for another few hours prior to race day and donate directly to my JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning/ 

Amazingly generous friends like you can donate £26/ $26 which is only a pound/dollar per mile I'll run (remember I've already done >1000!!!) and you can help to start a rice-growing revolution in Liberia or train more midwives in Ghana saving countless mothers from dying in childbirth. And to reward your generosity, or if you're feeling particularly British and want to reward me being dressed in a bit of a ridiculous outfit (because the +1000 miles and events completed to-date are not quite enough) I can send you a personal picture of me in my gold leggings and race gear as a thank you!

See for yourself, the great work that Oxfam provides.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/the-impact-of-our-work

And for when you’re feeling inspired, here’s the link to my fundraising page:

https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning/

Countdown to London: 6-ish weeks to go!

It's getting to the crunch time now- 6-ish weeks to go, perhaps the final steady uphill push at the 17 - 20 mile marker section of the course. You're (I'm) feeling tired, heavy-legged, but still excited enough to keep pushing and keep on track. The niggles are appearing and the colds are lingering, of course, not to be blamed for slacking on the foam-roller and stretching front... yes, that is a bit of a confession. Top Tip: Keep your eye on the prize and stay focused if you are really going to make it happen... for razor sharp performance, you need dedicated training in all complimentary areas.

What's keeping me motivated (other than a new green sweatband to match my Oxfam shirts)? Unsurprisingly, the challenge of the challenge is the main driver- to be attributed to my competitive and achiever traits. However, two other main motivators have been the commitment to the people I am doing the challenge with and a packed-full fundraising calendar. Islands of fun to tick-off along the way and having some group support- perhaps two of the most widely repeated tid-bits of wisdom when it comes to making a behaviour change or commitment to a goal, but entirely true to this cause.

So what have we been/ are we getting up to in order to "earn" our place with Oxfam? 

In taking the "why change a winning formula" approach, our running team hosted another successful Soup Sale in February to raise another 200£ towards Oxfam (the full team is now 22% of the way to our 22, 000£ total). On the menu again, and first to sell out was the (ingredients out) soup-er Sweet Potato and Chorizo option from our first sale. Additionally, a seemingly bottomless pot of Hearty Tomato, one Roast Garlic option, and one Cauliflower option accompanied by New Zealand inspired melted cheesy bread rolls AND a fresh baked-on-site German Bread contribution.

Coming up next we have a list of different events and challenges in the diary to look forward to. I'll keep this entry short and sweet to bring you up to date with our calendar of events and post short updates as we complete them. So, what's next, you ask?

Well, one full weekend of fun March 20 - 22nd, including:

1) Friday= Bournville Pancake Breakfast- because who doesn't love pancakes for breakfast?! I've totally pinched this idea from similar successful sales that our schools/ churches used to hold in Canada. And yes, these will be of the fluffy, maple syrup variety. Fingers crossed that this idea will be at least as successful as our Soup Sales to date and post-event pictures to come.

2) Saturday= Stationary Cycle Duel at Cadbury World. A colleague of ours gifted this idea to us where he set up a stationary bike in a public location and asked for donations from passers-by. Our intention is to cycle continuously against each other for most of the opening hours. We will take it as a bit of a relay (hopefully with some public goading at times) and whilst the other team members aren't cycling, they can be rallying up attention (and donations) from people coming to view the exhibition.

3) Sunday= Warwick Half Marathon. It's good training for a half marathon to cycle for hours on end the day before, right? Only if you have pancakes for breakfast the day before that, I heard- or at least, keep telling myself. This is the last training event before "the big day" and I'm in two minds if I try and blast it or try and keep to pace. Alluding to my aforementioned characteristics, I will probably end up blasting it- so hills permitting, I'd like to try and tempt my 1:42 Oxford PB.

After that, we have two more independent events in the calendar: an Easter Bake-off and some yet-to-be-decided pre-race stunt event. Ideas are very much welcome for the latter! Oh yes, and of course the last 6-weeks of training, and our proper jobs, and getting on with life, etc. But hey, the days are getting longer now, so that Tuesday night run is just about starting in the daylight again.

On that note, if you like the sound of the upcoming events, like to watch me work hard, and are feeling inspired, I'd ask that you please fuel the fire and donate to the cause to help the team reach their total target. And of course, I will keep you updated on our progress as we tick off another challenge from the list.

Here’s the link to my fundraising page:

https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning/

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/the-impact-of-our-work

Countdown to London: 3-ish Months To Go

It's getting nearer, and I've most definitely made some more progress over the past month in regards to my 2015 London Marathon training. Since the last entry, I've:

* Completed one full 16-week Intermediate training programme

* Ran my running total for 2014 to 1112 kms, which included my biggest win...

* Ran the full distance (42.2 km)!

* Ran the full distance under four hours (3hr: 54-ish min)!!

So unashamedly, I will now insert my fundraising plug here: As I mentioned before, the distance is only half of the challenge- raising the 2000£/ 3500$ is what I think is the harder part of the battle. If you haven't already donated to Oxfam (info on their work) through my Just Giving page, please do so generously. I will be providing updates on fundraising activities over the next three months as they arise.

https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning/

But back to running, even if I bomb out for some reason on the day, I know in my head and on my Strava, that I've completed this goal. Well, sort of. I hope you know full well that it's not any good to me in practice unless you deliver on the day... "who cares if you can land a double axle in practice if you can't land it in your solo"... yet more life lessons learned from a youth filled with competitive sport. And nearly a month after the (unofficial) event, I can say that running the distance feels like a long a distant memory. 

How did it actually feel? Well, I'm super happy that I did it from a planning and understanding perspective. I'm most satisfied with my "nutrition" plan. I certainly use the word nutrition loosely, in that from the perspective of someone who studied nutrition, fuelling with jelly sweets, energy gels, and juice concentrate hardly seems nutritious. I suppose that's always been the global message, though- you can eat crap if you work it off... in moderation. 

Some tips I picked up from some more experienced distance runners in the last part of my training were to: 

1) Work out how much glucose/ carbohydrate you need per body weight per hour and allocate enough jellies to bring with you during your run.

2) Start eating them earlier than you think you need them so you don't drain the tank.

This second tip was especially helpful, as previously for half-marathon training, I would not eat (or drink) at all on my Sunday runs to reap the full benefits of one or two gels and the isotonic stations on the day (often taking 5 - 8 min off my training times on race day). I think my tank (my glycogen stores), seem to last 10 - 13 miles, where some glucose top up at the 10 mile marker normally seems to do the trick for me. 

So when and what should I start munching? Some quick Google searching seemed to bring me to the same magic number of "after 1-hour of exercise, ingest simple, glucose rich foods". Learning to keep eating when that's the last thing you want to do was probably just as difficult as adding the extra miles. Like I said, I've used gels on race days in the past, a texture that I generally struggle with out of racing situations. I have since tried soft jellies (Swedish Fish/ Jelly Babies), which are better in every day situations, yet are harder to chew when you're tired and running. I don't want to carry a banana around, nor 1-litre of liquid with me, and I once tried a chocolate bar, took two chews and spit it out. 

In the end, I'm going to give full kudos to the portioned out Swedish Fish (four per hour after one hour) + two gels (mainly for the caffeine boost at 2.5hrs and 3.5hrs)  + 400mL of juice (to swig ever 30 min). I can't say I liked it (especially the Banana flavoured High5 Energy Gels- revolting!!), but the combo seemed to do the trick. I only felt like stopping from boredom rather than fatigue. 

What's next then (of course as far as training goes)? Ding ding ding!!! Round 2!

Goals:
1) Get faster
2) Don't get injured

I am adopting one of the official training plans laid out by the London Marathon team through their website, and when I say adopted, I really mean that I have created a mash-up of their advice at every level. Taking into account that I still want to have somewhat of a life to do some baking plus some helpful encouragement (that I am probably beyond the "Intermediate" category), I have combined the Intermediate and Advanced plans. Of course that means I have taken the rest days from the Intermediate programme and combined them with the extra hill sessions in the Advanced programme. That and, my long runs will not drop below 13 miles until I taper in April.

The plan starts off something like this:

The main difference with this plan vs. my first plan is the more structured break down of speed work for allotted times. For instance, this time there are more "reps" styled sessions vs. 5-miles at Steady pace. I believe it's working, though as my long run average mile pace times are dropping and my legs still feel intact. Although, Goal 2/ legs intact is probably also attributed to diligent foam rolling and stretching. In any case, there are only 12 full training weeks left (as I write) for me to get through, find another half to smash, and raise the rest of the cash. Wish me luck!

Progress: a PB, 10 weeks, and 10% of 2000£

I'm 10 weeks into my London Marathon training plan, and it's all very real now. It's really happening, and it's really happening the hard way, and my official countdown timer app tells me that it's happening in 171 days, some hours and some minutes as I start this entry. What do I mean by "the hard way", because aren't all marathons hard, you ask? 

The rejection letter.

I mean that I was unsurprisingly unsuccessful as a ballot entrant= if you want to run, you pay! Well, get others to pay- but ultimately in the end, you pay. So as mentioned before, the team of colleagues that I am running with have decided to join the Oxfam charity: we pay Oxfam and admin fee, Oxfam gets us a London Marathon ballot entry, we raise 2000£ for Oxfam per person, Oxfam has funding to continue to support fighting global poverty, and as of late, the Ebola crisis: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ 

And... cue fundraising website plug here: you can donate to Oxfam via my fundraising website: https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning

Pleading over for this blog... here's an update on what I've been up to:

In short- I've been running, and running a fair bit. You might remember this picture from the previous entry; however, with far fewer check-marks:

I'm super pleased to report that I have been very diligent in working my way through this sheet- even with the challenge of being away from home for three weeks of the last ten. I'm also super pleased that the only run I've been skimping on is my Saturday "easy" run. It's not so much for a lack of motivation on a Saturday, rather for a pure lack of time. Excuses, excuses, I know- but domestic goddessry takes time! I do justify though, by using my Monday "rest" day for Spin class, so all-in-all, I'm still exercising five days a week, which has definitely been the biggest shock to the system. 

How have I been feeling about all of this?

Generally, quite fantastic. I've noticed a change in my energy levels, and mainly on days off. My body knows my running routine now, so if I take a Wednesday off for whatever reason and catch up on Thursday (typical off day), my legs are an antsy mess. It's still painful to go out on Tuesdays (former sit-on-my-ass days), especially now with the winter nights settling in... but the enticement of throwing on some funky leggings helps motivate me. I have certainly always loved the contained feel of wearing spandex!

All of this training has had a positive impact so far on my half-marathon time (disaster run in July 1:56:11), with a new PB (1:42:56) achieved at the Oxford Half Marathon October 12th! I consistently ran 7:51 minute miles (4:50 min/km), was able to dash the finish, and was not aching the next day (all toenails intact). 

So what have I learned in the past ten weeks of training? I've captured some secrets to my progress so far- these tips are for people who are familiar with exercise, but maybe not with the distance of half and full marathon running. 

Base Training: non-negotiable.

-Do a long run each week (>10km)

-For small improvements, add an extra mile (no more than two) to your long run per week.

-For slightly better improvements, you can get away with two running sessions per week: one long run and one interval session (~30 - 45 min).

To Kick Ass!!

-For noticeably feel-good improvements, run 3-5 times per week. To your base training (your long run + interval session), add tempo running and easy running.

Tempo running: you push yourself for an increasing amount of time. Start with a 10 min warm up, then 20 min at a "comfortably hard" pace, then 10 min cool down. Build the hard part by 5-min every week or two. This was a new term and concept for me. I've don a lot of Google searching on this topic over the past two months, and all of the information is saying the same thing.

Easy running: you should be able to talk and run. This acts as a clearing out of the leftover damage in your muscles from an interval/ tempo session the day before. Even as little as 30 minutes does the trick... and don't be afraid to take it easy. This might be the hardest run you do, or the hardest run in the week to get used to.

Don't over train: if you still want to do other classes/ cross training, add them to the appropriate days. For instance, on an "easy" day, do an aerobics or spin class instead of an easy run. Or, add your cross training to the end of a Tempo run. Really take the two days a week to rest.

To make it less boring on your long runs- listen to an audio book! This will help you with pacing rather than racing- so when you do race, you can pump the jam with the tunes and feel totally speedy! This works at the moment for 2 hours or so... I will let you know what my strategy is when I start upping the marathon miles- because let's face it, running gets super boring!

And finally, and some of you know that this kills me mentally- eat carbs; you'll need them. My total diet is probably only 30% carbs, but recovery sucks if I've abstained or dropped below that for the day. But you know what goes well with fresh bread after a long, cold run? Soup!

I say soup because before I sign off, the last tid-bit I have to share is the 10% of the 2000£ that I've managed to raise so far. So what does this have to do with soup? Well, part of that 10% came from a Soup Sale that I organised at work. 

 

Move over bake sale (although some home baked bread, cookies, and loaves did make it as accompaniments), Soup Sales are the new event to hold in the office! A very successful afternoon was had- we raised over 200£ with five different winter warmers on offer... you can see the queue of colleagues waiting to get a piece of this Masterchef!

Menu of the Day for the Soup Sale included:

Parsnip and Ginger

Squash and Chorizo

Spinach and Stilton

Tomato and Oregano

Spiced Lentil

And on that delicious sound note, I am going for one more fundraising plug- where if you want to get your hands on one or more of the uber flavoursome fares, please make a donation on my Just Giving page and I will send you across a recipe of your choice! 

 https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning

My New "Raison d’Être"

It's that time of year again- September: and 17 (-ish) years of educational conditioning prompt me to feel like it's the beginning of the year, rather than the end creeping closely to Christmas. Feeling fresh, and not only from the crispness of autumn air lurking in the morning, I have decided to get serious about the newest challenge I've signed up for- running a marathon. And not any marathon (as you probably suspect as I tend to turn my cheek ordinary), the London Marathon! 

Of course a challenge like this would always be on the horizon. The only question was: when? With a couple of colleagues in a similar frame of mind, one put his initiative out there to rally up a team of us to band together and make this marathon challenge more than just the running. We've pulled together a team of 14 runners (from novices to veteran marathoners) with the challenge of running 10,000 miles and raising over £20,000 for Oxfam leading up to the London Marathon on April 26th, 2015. 

I probably (definitely) needed some sort of commitment like this to get me to the next stage of running. I've lamented before about my wandering mojo, and since April this year, I've been getting suckier and suckier at running! At first I thought I was just tired, so I scaled my mileage down; however, my minutes-per-mile time was still creeping up. Feeling lethargic during most of my Sunday runs during the early summer, I thought- maybe it's the wine? But it has antioxidant properties- so how can that be?! I scaled it back (the Saturday night wine this time), with no improvement to my running, nor waistline! Could it be the fact that I'm now on the wrong side of thirty and the side effects are settling in; are some of my mitochondria are going on a permanent vacation?

Whatever it might be, this poor performance is not acceptable (don't people get faster at their marathon times as they get older?), and feeling raring to go for the start of the new year (September), I decided to get prepared and make a plan. I should know better... I always feel better with a plan!

Preparation steps: 

1) Buy some new shoes. I did actually need new shoes, anyways. I was tired of my toenails falling off! Don't worry, I will not spare the details over the upcoming months.

2) Buy some new clothes- always makes me feel more prepared; and I'm sure it's a fact that the more neon or patterned or reflective you are, the faster you run. Right?!

3) Find out how much training time I actually have... made much easier with a handy countdown app.

4) Tell people! I learned this in school, in Uni, and in life- if you tell people (a lot of people) you are going to do something big, there is more pressure for your to actually go through with it. It's proven to be one of the best exercise strategies for those embarking on a big goal.

5) Train! The last big prep step. 

To date my running has been consistent, but unmonitored. I've just kind of done it. I've had big gains with relatively little input (making me think I am kind of okay at it). I was improving with each race, motivating me to keep doing it. I've hit a plateau now= mojo decline= frustration= FIX IT! So that's what I'm doing now. I am going to take this seriously, and hopefully I will do it well.

So what's the plan? Broadly, I have two marathon training routines to plod against, no wait, no more plodding- work towards before April 26th... with time off over Christmas (naturally). You'll be frightened to know that there are officially 17 weeks (or less, depending on when you are reading this) before Christmas. Session 1 will focus on getting used to the distance for 16 weeks. Session 2 (starting in January) will focus on speed for 17 weeks.

I've got a lot to learn to do this, mostly because just doing it won't be good enough (for me). The most challenging will be running five out of seven days a week. I currently only run twice - maybe three times a week, so finding time (away from the kitchen most likely) will be step 1. And actually because of the fundraising challenge (I think more scary than the running), I will need to be baking constantly- and charging! I suppose the carrot will be the carrot cake that I can eat because of the extra calories I will be burning off! 

The second hardest challenge will be to push myself when nobody is looking; hopefully with the help of my GPS tracker + web upload. And lastly, to learn to go out when it's dark and raining: the reality of living in England and training for this over the winter means that if I wait until the rain stops, I might never get out for a run... and as mentioned, the early nights are a good excuse to buy some neon reflective clothes!

Now that I've shared my plan, the inevitable call for support is extended outwards to you- 

• Please keep following my blog: of course I will be sharing my pain (and successes) virtually with you, I might even treat you to some pictures of bruised toe-nails!
• Send me abuse to get out and run, or run faster! And feel free to join in.
• Please donate- our team will raise £20,000 for a global charity called Oxfam: (read more about it). You can donate on my personal fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/xtynsrunning/ 

Thank you in advance and get inspired to get active for yourself or a good cause :)