leyton.org

I’m chuffed a lot of people are saying they’ll be coming along on Sunday morning (or watching on TV), so I thought it’d be worth saying a bit about my rough plans for the day, and point folk in the direction of a few websites that might be useful.

I’m hoping to get somewhere around a 3:45-4:00 marathon time. Whilst I hope I may be able to manage a bit faster than that (based on race predictor times), I’m conscious this is my first ever marathon. It’s so much more than a double half marathon: I also don’t know how I’ll feel after 23 miles, given I’ve never run more than that before. If I do find myself going a bit faster, I’m hoping I’ll have the presence of mind to back off and save my energy for the final 6 miles. But best laid plans have a habit of falling by the wayside, and I’ve also something of a history of underestimating my own race ability.

A sub-3:45 marathon time has me doing miles at a pace of about 8:30 (over a minute slower than my half-marathon pace). A sub-4:00 marathon time has splits of 9:10. If I’m careless, splits of 8:00 put me close to 3:30 – 30 seconds a mile difference roughly equates to fifteen minute time, which is quite easy to remember.

It’s fun to put my pace up against the elite runners. But when I quote these figures, I sometimes sense incredulity – even amongst runners – at just how fast marathon pace is. They’re running almost twice as fast as me. Faster than I can run even in short race, running flat out! And they’re running that for 26.2 miles! To put the world-records into perspective, the men are running with 4:44 splits (2:03:59 world record) and women in 5:09 (2:15:25 world record). I can’t even run a mile at that speed! The best I’ve managed is 6:09, about a year ago. Impressive stuff, so give them a cheer if you see them. They’re world class athletes.

Anyway, what does this mean for “Richard spotting”, if you’re thinking of coming along on the day. Remember that there are over 35,000 other runners, and it’s incredibly hard for runners and supporters to spot people in crowds, even when you’re expecting them! And that’s before the hours of running that may well have preceded my morning!

So drop me a note if you plan to be along, and roughly where. The course map is here, but best of all there’s also a spectator guide. If you see me, shout loudly. Even if I don’t see you (which is quite likely), the support still means a huge amount for me and every other runner, and really does make a huge difference. There are times when things will be really tough. A cheer can change that in an instant. Lots of support for other runners from my running club appreciated too (’Go Bella!’ works).

Start is at 9:45, and I’m on the ‘Blue’ start on Blackheath. I’ll post my number in due course. I’ll probably be looking something like this, although the size of my smile will be inversely proportional to the distance run, until I cross the line at least

Cutty Sark (~6.5 miles): 10:40am
Tower Bridge (~12.5 miles): 11.40am
Canary Wharf (~19 miles): 12.30pm
Tower of London (~22.5 miles): 12.55pm
Embankment (~24 miles): 1.10pm
Finish: (26.2 miles): 1.30pm

All this of course presumes I cross the line on time, which is unlikely, and also presumes a steady pace, which will be difficult given congestion on the course, especially at the start. The theory is similarly paced runners start at the same time, in pulses, with faster runners at the front, and slower runners to the back. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work like that

After the event, my goal is to go and meet up with Frances and fellow club runners, and then collapse in my very convenient hotel, for a few hours. I hope to go out for a celebratory drink or three later in the afternoon/evening, if you’re in town. Frances will, hopefully, be contactable on her mobile. I’ll probably be reunited with my iPhone on Monday morning

Tracking runners

Well, after 15 weeks of training, I finished my last long run on Saturday. Best of all, I bumped in to Frances who’s just starting training for the Race For Life she’s doing in June, and got an extra two miles with her. A great way to top off my training, and pleased to report Frances did very well too for her first run in almost a year.

The training has gone very well. My previous post summarised a few niggles I’d had, but all the issues have been put to bed. I’m only left with a bit of a sock and blister problem – something I’ve not experienced before – and one that I’ve not had a chance to properly sort out. So I’m going to have to take a tiny bit of a gamble with a pair of socks I think have been ok, and hope things work out ok.

My longest run was 23 miles, which I was very pleased with, particularly when compared to how I felt after a 20 mile run a couple of weeks before. The difference between the two was nutrition, and I’ve got that licked. I’ve also discovered that whilst I don’t have an adverse reaction to Gels, they’re not exactly nice, particularly if you get it on your fingers, and the sweetness is just icky. I really begin to crave solid food! So I’ll definitely be putting some food in my gear bag, something I can get my teeth into when I finish!

I’ve thankfully been injury free, which has meant I’ve followed my coaches training programme quite closely. The best thing about it having done that is I’m as certain as I can be that I’ll get around the course, and I’m told the atmosphere in London is something special, so should hopefully help pull me along when the going gets tough, after, I suspect, the 20 mile mark. It’s carb loading over the next week to ensure I’m as properly prepared as I can be.

The taper is certainly proving to be quite difficult. I had to stop myself running to pick up our car from the garage yesterday (a 30 minute jog away), conscious I need to be taking it easy and reducing my mileage and effort. It’s also confirmation to me that running is very much part of me these days. Certainly if I’m trying to find excuses to run places, and convincing myself not to!

I’ve also had so many great words of advice from fellow club runners, and park runners. Whilst I know it’s my own race, and I need to run it to my plan, I’ve absorbed as much from people as I can. It’s the only way a new-marathoner can really get an idea about what’s involved. I’m determined to enjoy it – I’ve heard a good few horror stories of setting off too fast, changing plan too early, or struggling through injuries. Finishing, I hope, with a smile on my face is my primary goal. Faster times can wait. I settled on a sub-4 hour time as my primary goal, with 3:45 as my ideal. Anything better than that would be delightful, but I’m not going to push myself too hard, at a distance that is such a serious test over the complete distance. I’ve never run more than 23 miles, and those last 3.2 miles will surly be the hardest.

This last week is busy on the work front, but I will find myself in London at the end of the week, and should be able to get registered with plenty of time to spare. An early start on Saturday to get out to see the Bushy parkrun so I can check out what a properly busy ‘funnel’ looks like, to take some tips away to Glasgow parkrun, where we’re experiencing phenomenal growth and, given we’re so far away from other parkruns, having to learn a lot through experience. Sunday morning I’m close enough to the railway station that will take me out to Blackheath it shouldn’t be too bad. My goal then is to get up, scoff my porridge, stuff a few things in my bag, and just get out there. I’d really rather be there very early, than stressing about not getting there at all. I’m a rotten traveller when there’s time pressure.

If you’re going to come along on Sunday to watch (and I’d highly recommend it even if I wasn’t running, it’s a great atmosphere), be sure to allow plenty of time to get around. It’s a bit busy, and crossing the course is very difficult. Drop me an e-mail, or a comment, if you’re planning on looking out for me. It’s hard for runners and spectators to see each other, given it’s so busy (and the runners can be a bit preoccupied!). I’ll post some rough times for key points if my race goes according to plan, but could be some way either side of that.

All that really remains is for everybody to keep their fingers crossed for cool and overcast weather. Sunny is not good. Rain is not good. But cheer everybody taking part, even if you don’t see me. The amount of training most people will (should!) have put in is, I can say from experience now, huge. The marathon is just the icing on the cake, and I can certainly say it makes a huge difference on short distances, it’ll be something else on a marathon course!

I’ve just booked my post-London Marathon hotel. A bit of luxury to, I hope, reward 4 months of hard graft. And also not very far away from the finish line, just on the other side of Green Park. Should be eminently walkable, even after 26.2 miles and sore legs. Heck, Frances may even be able to carry me there

I’d also rather fancied getting the train back on Monday. I’m not a fan of flying unless it’s necessary or the only option available. Previously I’ve managed to find very good deals from Glasgow to London, even at peak times, with a bit of advanced planning (a rare commodity in my case). It’s quite possible to get first class travel if you travel outside of the rush hour, and the price difference is often as little as £15 – Given you get free meals on the way, it’s not much different from standard class plus a couple of sandwiches and coffee from the buffet car. Plus you don’t get half as many distractions, so it’s ideal if you plan to work.

Unfortunately, I was in for a bit of a shock last night. Because I’ll be in London already (I’m going to be quite some way south on business, and arrangements are being made by my client), I’m just looking at a single ticket rather than a return. It seems that train prices, with Virgin Rail at least, are geared on return travel. Consequently where it was once not much difference in price to travel by train, it’s looking very hard to justify not flying back (Assuming I can make it up the boarding stairs; I’ve heard horror stories of marathoners struggling to get on flights! And I do like a good horror story to keep me honest)

I’m not sure whether this is a function of dropping demand for air travel keeping easyjet and co’s prices low (it is also unusually foresighted of me to be planning a flight 10 days in advance), or whether the train companies simply don’t have a system to adjust ticket price based on availability: Surely one of the best legacies of budget air travel?

Regardless, I’m now pondering flying back, and then putting the money I’d save on the train trip I’d planned, to good use with a nice meal out with Frances later in the week. Heck, with the money I’d save I could probably buy a chunk of rain forest.

If the Government really wants to do something about getting more people to travel by train, it would do very well to insist they adopt the pricing strategy of budget airlines because as things stands, train travel is starting to look prohibitively expensive, even if you’re prepared to spend a bit extra.

The Scottish Athletics forum closed down rather abruptly over the weekend, but I’ve just seen this rather ominously worded news item:

In order to protect sponsors and public partners, the forum section of the scottishathletics website is now closed.

Whilst the forum did sometimes feel a bit opinionated, and not particularly ‘relaxed’, it still seems rather a shame to take this rather drastic action, and shut it down completely.

Building an on-line community, particularly from one that is already well established off-line, can be a very hard thing to do. Sometimes discussions that might seem quite harmless off-line, can seem quite hostile on-line. Without a bottle of beer and a smirk to highlight somebody is making light of something, conversations can rapidly become far too serious. Plus, of course, there’s nothing quite like an empty or poorly populated forum to generate an empty, chill, wind, publicly emphasising few people care as much as you’d hoped.

In the Scottish Athletics case, it seems a bit harsh to shut it down entirely, and then to be public about its reasoning. I’d have thought it might have been a better first step to move to moderate posts, or review the forum setup (fewer categories etc). As it is, they’ve cut off a forum that was already being used by a fair number of people, and known about by a lot more. It may well be a calculated decision based on a number of factors (not least that it’s not hugely widely known about in the wider community), but I fear their abrupt closure, they really risk annoying athletics supports that – from what I’d seen on the forum at least – had valid contributions to make, even if it wasn’t always to the benefit of Scottish Athletics.

I’d certainly be interested to hear what others think.

Last night I watched the excellent Daily Show (shown on More4 at 8.30pm), to see one of the most anticipated interviews that host Jon Stewart has done on the show since the presidential candidates were queuing up to appear. Jon Stewart has been in a bit of a public spat with CNBC finance journalist Jim Cramer over his advice, style and past record over the last few years of financial turmoil. It’s not just a case of bad tips (eg. tipping Bear Stearns a week or two before it collapsed), but his whole attitude and approach to financial matters.

There’s plenty of comment on the encounter on other websites (Prospect’s blog is worth a read, and includes links to the piece), and it was certainly fascinating. A slightly contrite display by Jim Cramer, it did feel like Jon Stewart pulled a few punches. He made excellent points, held the man to account, and really did an excellent job in showing up the poor coverage and attitudes in finance, and financial journalism, that surely contributed to the recent problems. It was simply a great combination of excellent satire, humour, and journalism. Well worth watching.

But throughout the show I couldn’t help but wonder where Britain’s equivalent was? We do have excellent satirists, no doubt, but it’s the format and frequency of The Daily Show that I wish we had. We have “Have I got news for you?”. Enjoyable though it is, it’s rarely particularly incisive, and does get rather childish at times. Chris Morris and Brasseye perhaps came close, and for topical, humourous, and activism, Mark Thomas.

Perhaps it’s that the talk show format hasn’t really ever taken off here in the same way it has in the US, or that our comedians can’t be tempted or persuaded to do a daily show. Certainly it’d be something I’d like to see at least tried over here.

I’ve a bit of a confession to make. I’ve a bit of a soft-spot for US crime/cop shows. Law and Order, CSI (original series, natch), and more recently, and despite some initial reluctance, Numbers.

For a while, it kinda bugged me as to why I like these shows. Let’s face it, they’re rarely that demanding. But I realised that I enjoy their self-contained format. There are, inevitably, story-arc’s, but they’re usually bite-sized in their own way: You can still watch the arc development shows without needing to know or care too much about character development, if you don’t want to. Being able to watch a show, miss a few, then just grab another, is the name of the game. Bite-sized cop shows. Usually something interesting going on, perhaps a bit of a moral or twist. Nothing too taxing at after a hard day at the, er, computer screen.

Of course, it has its downsides. By being bite-sized and time-limited, they have limited scope for complicated stories or characters (hence the story arc). Plus my usual gripe that US shows featuring any science or technology (ie. CSI/Numbers) almost inevitably involves silly computer usage (some “database” that can be readily searched, readily accessible CCTV cameras (always easy to “enhance” to get a retina reflection), and always involving windowing environments you’ve never ever seen before in your life), and painful use of technology no doubt envisaged by muppets.

Some time ago – we’re talking late 1990’s – I used to be a fan of The Bill. Largely because it coincided with my eating dinner, plus living on my own. I’d also recently returned from Germany, so glutted on British TV shows I’d missed. The Bill, you’ll recall, wasn’t previously a soap opera. In fact, as soon as the ‘character development’ cranked up, I pretty much stopped watching it. I didn’t want to care about characters. I just wanted to see a 30 minute show which involved criminals getting nicked godsdammit! (Yeah, BSG is another big favourite! You can tell, can’t you)

New UK derivative arrival “Law & Order: UK” didn’t entice me from the trailers, but it’s actually looking like it’ll go the distance. I can’t quite get used to Apollo^wJamie Bamber speaking with a British Accent, but it’s proving rather good (being born here helps, naturally!). The format seems to make the transition reasonably well. I’ll be curious to know if they show it in the US at any point. But certainly one to watch a bit more, and it’s suitably “bite sized” for my tastes.

So with just over seven weeks to go until I run in the London Marathon, I’m in week 9 – over half way – through my 16 week training programme. I’d been planning to write a bit more in way of updates, but as you can see, my weblog writing mojo has taken a bit of a back seat the last few months.

In the general sense, things are going well. I’ve got most of my long runs in – I just missed one – and I’ve been working through the issues that have come up, as I encounter well known endurance running issues for the first time. Until starting my training I’d never run more than about 14-15 miles.

There’s not really a discrete way to say this, but it boils down to three things, first of all chaffing. Run for 18 miles straight and if you’re not wearing the right gear, things that are usually fine start to rub. I’ve learnt to hate cotton. And it’s never nice, so liberal doses of, er, Vaseline or similar (Favourite training quote so far “There’s no problem that Vaseline can’t solve“).

So with that solved, and the distance increasing, I really start to struggle after my first 20 miler. My pace just dropped, and it was tough to get around and hit the 20 mile mark. My body had just run out of energy. A long run can easily burn 2000 calories. Look on the back of your cereal packet, and that’s the recommended daily intake for an adult. In just a few hours! So last week I spent a small fortune on what are best described as “orange flavoured wallpaper paste”: Yup, I’ve got some gels at last. I’ve also “rediscovered” Jelly Babies. Ok, I’ve always liked them (head first, natch), but they were pretty much a long car journey treat. Now they’re a great reward on long runs.

The goal in all of this is to make sure I’ve tried everything out, so that on race day I’m as prepared as I can be. I’ll be worried enough as it, and the weather will no doubt provide enough randomness for my tastes!

My third, and – I’d feared biggest – issue was sore legs, particularly my right leg. I’d begun to worry I’d picked up an injury – a hamstring or calf strain or similar – so had backed off a little. In talking it through with some fellow runners, I was strongly recommended to try getting a sports massage. People seemed marginally surprised I’d not actually had one before.

The reason is I’m a bit funny about massages. Just don’t particularly like people touching me, so whilst Frances is usually first in the queue for a spa massage, I’ll content myself with a run and then a shot in the pool. However, it was such a consistent “you’re training for a marathon, therefore you must have a massage” from so many running friends that I figured I’d give it a shot. As one of my clubs coaches is a qualified masseur, popped along early and had the full ‘Oscar treatment’. Painful? Yes, but in a really good way. I was very surprised by the difference I felt, and where the problem (such that it was) seemed to be located. I’d not actually expected to be able to run afterwards, but felt really good, so I opted to skip the hill session my group was scheduled for and went for an ‘easy’ run around Glasgow Green with a few others. Whilst the pace wasn’t quite as easy as I’d hoped, it was eminently manageable, and my legs felt, and still feel, fine. I may even go for an easy run this afternoon. The last few weeks they’ve been stiff for a fair while after any long-ish run. So, I’ll be most certainly going back!

This weekend I’m running the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon as part of the training plan. Not sure what pace I’m going to run it at yet though. Coaches advise is largely “just see how it goes”, which seems sensible enough to me, perhaps as a pacing run for the marathon, perhaps a bit quicker. I’ll be saving any attempt at half marathon PB’s for later in the year. Then it’s a few more weeks of long 20-22 mile runs before starting the taper.

I’ve also rediscovered running with music. I’d stopped listening to music whilst running a couple of years ago, but trying to motivate yourself for a 20 mile run on your own, you do need something! As my running club weekend long runs normally clash with the parkrun, I’ve been running on my own a lot, unless I managed to find a few others happy to get up early on a Sunday morning. But when that doesn’t happen, I’m off on my own with my music, and quite enjoyable it is too.

So all going quite well, and I’m quite relieved my recent worry about injury was, it seems, misplaced. I’ve overcome the challenges I’ve encountered so far, and learnt a lot about my body in the process. It’s far from over though: There’s a lot that can happen even when it’s “just” a case of getting a few more long runs done, but I’m enjoying the experience, and if that’s happening, fingers crossed it’ll come together ok on the day.

I use Firefox almost exclusively when I use Linux, or if I’m forced to use Windows, but the last couple of weeks I thought I’d give Firefox a proper ‘go’ and make it my default browser on my main work computer (A Mac Pro since you ask).

For whatever reason – most probably that I’d just become very used to Safari – I really struggled with Firefox. I just like Safari’s RSS implementation (and Firefox didn’t convert those bookmarks to it’s setup). I like the Safari’s reasonably quick startup time, and I like the shortcuts to the bookmark bar (option-1 opens bookmark #1). Plus Firefox’s plugins just get to be a pain with all the updates. And none of them really seemed to be a killer.

With Safari v4 coming out, I thought I’d give that a shot to see how it faired. I hate rebooting computers when adding applications (it implies too much deep integration for my tastes), Safari 4 feels faster. Bar the new tab setup (Think Chrome), I like all that seems to come with it. There are some hidden preferences that mean I can switch off the new tabs, but I’m going to see how I fare for now.

I did have a ‘moment’ when I realised 1Password didn’t work with the new version, but in perhaps one of the fastest update turnarounds I’ve seen in an application, they pushed out an update in no time, confirming that this is by far the best Mac application I’ve had the pleasure of buying. I’ve too many passwords to remember, by merit of my job, so a very secure and safe way of generating and storing them, makes a huge amount of sense.

So, Firefox on the Mac just doesn’t quite cut it for me as my main browser. It’s not about Firefox itself: It is a good browser, and I use it where I need a second browser (in my line of work, that’s quite often). It’s probably that my working habits have settled around Safari, and the Firefox User Interface just doesn’t quite work for me. I just can’t be bothered adjusting, and Firefox doesn’t have enough extra to warrant the change. It needed to be something special, and wasn’t.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. It’s a day to celebrate, to mark the birth of a great scientist who was the first to observe, prove and document evolution – a process that has resulted in a world of such magnificent variety. In doing so he allowed us to throw off the peculiar view that somehow we humans were ’special’, giving us a complete and elegant explanation for the life that surrounds us.

It’s a day to celebrate rationality. Look at how far the scientific method he utilised has taken us and improved our quality of life and understanding of the world and universe about us.

There is, to me, far more awe and wonder in rational explanations and approaches than any alternative world view I’ve ever encountered. The process of discovery is remarkably rewarding too. Go on. Give it a try, pick up a book on science and evolution and find out for yourself.

The sound-bites and superlatives have been flowing in the build-up to the swearing in of Barack Obama, but for once they’re entirely appropriate. Today is a historic day, as we wave goodbye to the most unpopular US president in history (See shardcore’s rather appropriate artistic response), and bring in a president-elect who represents so much to so many people, from many backgrounds, cultures, communities and countries.

I didn’t write much on the US election. I feel somewhat uncomfortable voicing opinions with regards other countries democratic processes (at least, where they’re open and fair), but that didn’t mean I didn’t have an opinion, and I was very keen to see Obama win for many reasons.

A lot has been said about the challenges that he faces. From a huge economic crises, to Iraq and Afghanistan, and to all the domestic problems and infrastructure work. Substantial problems even before the economy went over the edge. His slogan of “Change” raises hopes too that he will strike out in radical directions. But after Blair in 1997, where we had similar hopes in the UK, I’m wary that hopes may be dashed in the face of the reality of changing the inertia that comes with any large governance system.

I’m certainly going to be watching the event, and I wish him well. Particularly in his speech. He will be addressing millions of people in front of him in Washington, and quite literally billions of people around the world, and many historic inauguration speeches before him have set expectations high. But hopefully that’s where he will set out his agenda, and the mood. He’s a gifted orator, and I look forward to hearing what he has to say.

The first African-American US president is truly a moment to savour. History in the making.