Running for Off The Fence Trust Limited

PO Box 2206 Hove. BN3 8LY Tel: 01273 733 732

Email: robert.lines@offthefence.org.uk

30 October 2006 - Two days later..

Well, the marathon was two days ago and I'm starting to get a bit more perspective on what happened. At the time it felt awful, but perhaps just finishing it was an achievement. In the end I got to the finish line in 5 hours 27.

Over the first 7 miles I was doing OK and managing a comfortable 9 minute/mile pace. But the swollen ankle was hurting and by 10 miles I had taken 100 minutes. Part of the problem is the amount of time that you have to think about things. At about 15 miles I realised that I couldn't remember being in such pain for such a long period since I was 6, and had broken my leg. At 20 miles I felt so fed up that I decided just to have a rest and lie on the grass. But that was impossible because every passing runner wanted to check that I was OK. So of course I had to get up and start running again. By this stage my right ankle wouldn't bend forwards or backwards, so I couldn't run up hill or down hill. Unfortunately most of the last 6 miles over the seven sister hills was either up or down, so there wasn't a great deal of running!

The final couple of miles was OK though. I found other runners to chat to, and an old friend jumped out of his car at beachy head when he saw me passing and ran alongside for 400m or so. That was a real boost especially as the end was in sight.

The whole thing has felt like a bit of a disaster if I'm honest. Two months before I had had a comfortable 15 mile run over similar terrain in 2 hours 19. Even a fortnight before the marathon the running was feeling really good.

Two days later and I'm feeling better about the whole thing I think. I saw the doctor this morning and she wasn't sure whether the swelling is an allergic reaction or an injury. I've been banned from running for a fortnight - which is great, except we are booked into races in Oxford and the New Forest this coming weekend. May be the shorter race will be OK.

Finally, thanks so much to everyone who sponsored me. With the gift aid tax refund the total amount is almost double what I had hoped for, which is fantastic.

During the race I swore several times that I would never ever take part again in another marathon whatever the circumstances. However, I'm feeling no ill effects from the experience and it is hard to imagine that in 12 months time I won't be tempted to try again and better this year's effort!

Thanks again for all your support,

Rob.

27 October 2006 - 18 hours to go

Well, the ordeal is almost over and hopefully in 24 hours the whole marathon malarkey will be finished.

The swollen ankle has gone down and it is starting to look more like the other one. It seems that the swelling may have been an allergic reaction rather than a symptom of injury. Which is great of course, but did mean that I had to start psyching myself up again on Wednesday when it began to look possible that I was going to be able to run after all.

The weather looks like light rain, but even better is the very low wind speed expected - and even then the wind is from the west which means that it will be behind us running the final leg along the coast.

I guess I ought to have a target time. Given the climb, and the fact that it's my first marathon, perhaps it is Ok to aim for 10 minute miles. That would give a finish time of 4:22, but who know how it will feel tomorrow morning after the first 15 miles..

24 October 2006 - Swollen leg

Four days from the big day and the lower part of my right leg is swollen. 'Nurse' Clare measured the swelling around my right ankle to be 2cm larger than my left. I ran for a couple of hours on Sunday and that seemed to be the cause, though I was aware of problems starting after a race on Saturday morning.
However, apart from the swelling and some restriction in movement, there's no pain at least. In fact the original ankle injury wasn't apparent at all on either Saturday or Sunday. So, I am feeling optimistic that there is a good chance that the swelling will have gone down sufficiently by Saturday morning for me to have a go at the event.
The swelling is inconvenient, but the weekend's races were both positive from a running perspective. On Saturday I had a win on the green course at River's Wood, and on Sunday I ran comfortably for two hours (though admittedly finished towards the bottom of the field). On Sunday it rained torrentially for the entire two hours. If it is like that on Saturday along the cliff-tops it will be awful. The current 5-day forecast is predicting light rain, but this far out, it's usually wrong..
Having had over 6 months of build-up, I have to admit that it will be great when it's all over :)

18 October 2006 - Running with a broken leg?

As an example of how determined you have to be in competitive running, I sent Paul this link to an item about a boy who completed the last four miles of an orienteering event with a broken leg:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6058354.stm

Having said that.. In the event that I suffer any kind of fracture during the marathon I will of course expected to be air-lifted off the Downs :)

16 October 2006 - Night-O and Ardingly

Last Thursday Paul and I had another training session. That makes it 3 weeks out of 4, so perhaps it's not too bad. We started off in Hove Park as I wanted to check the permanent orienteering course posts were still in place ahead of a schools event tomorrow. It soon got dark and the session turned into night orienteering, Paul with the torch, and me scrabbling around in the undergrowth. Goodness knows what it must have looked like :)

After that we ran back through the park past the boys and girls enjoying being 'motivated' by the ex-army trainers on their £10 a head British Military Fitness session. We jogged back to Paul's and picked up Edward on the way there. On Paul's blog I noticed that he was complaining that I had suggested that he was the most unfit person I knew that was preparing for the half-marathon. But hey, c'mon, where's the big surprise?? We did 4 miles in an hour for the second session in a row.

On Sunday I drove out to Ardingly Resevoir and met up with Off The Fence supporter Ray Smith and we ran the length of the resevoir 4 times. The total length was 8.58 miles in 78 minutes. I think that gives a pace of about 9.1 minute miles which I would definitely settle for over the marathon distance. Felt pretty good at the end of it. Ankle was fine for the first 7 miles and then it wasn't too bad. It has certainly improved in the last fortnight, so there must be a good chance I will get round the marathon without the injury affecting things too much.

Twelve days to go before the big day and no more long training runs. I'm actually starting to look forward to it.

12 October 2006 - Brainiac: Science Abuse

Almost certainly the best day's orienteering ever! :)

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the orienteering part of the shoot because I was involved in the filming. But anyway, Brainiac is a popular ITV science programme that is shown on Sky One. Some of the highlights are 'What not to put in a microwave', and 'Exploding a caravan because it's in the way of something'.

At yesterday's filming the caravans' were unfortunately in the way of a football match, a cricket match, fishing, and of course... Orienteering. I reckon we had the biggest explosion at the orienteering. The caravan was twice as big as the rest so perhaps it needed extra combustible material.

9 October 2006 - A bit worn out

I've spent the last week feeling a bit worn out. The running has been OK, but in the evenings I haven't felt up to much else.

Yesterday was supposed to be the long 18-20 miles day. I managed about 14, and couldn't help but think about Jane Goody's experience in this year's London marathon. Apparently it takes one day to recover from each mile that you run - and this is why the 20 mile run is scheduled three weeks ahead of the event. Next weekend is a 10 mile run. So in summary, I now have no more time in which to do a long run, and will have to 'hope for the best' :)

Yesterday I ran in a regional orienteering race just north of Arundel and then ran 4.5 miles in Hove Park. On a positive note, the 10 miles in the forests felt pretty comfortable.

Last week I managed to get out several times with Nigel and John. Disappointed that Paul bottled our training session on Thursday, but I guess I should give him one more chance :)

Today is a rest day, but tomorrow night it's back out with the Hedgehoppers.

On Wednesday I'm taking part in the filming of Brainiac . The producers want to film some orienteering, but I have also agreed to play football. Both activities as a precursor to blowing up a caravan packed with explosives. The event is on army land near Nutley in East Sussex. I will of course take photos and report back in due course..