Welcome back, again. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy. I have kept this blog a little shorter as the last one took me over 20 minutes to read, harder task than completing the events.
On Sunday 21st June 2015, I had completed my toughest challenge to date. Cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats in 10 days, with no support throughout the full journey. It was an unbelievable experience and I would recommend it to anyone. Yes it does cost a lot, takes up a lot of your time with training, it is well worth it though. I have memories over those 10 days that will live with me for the rest of my days, money cannot put a price on that. Arriving in John O'Groats was a feeling I can't really explain, just a massive adrenalin rush that I had only experienced a few times before. Now this challenge is over, I am now in search of a few more challenges to keep the blood pumping, I think I may have found a couple to keep me occupied which I will now go through with you. Of course they are all part of my year to raise as much as possible for charity, which is going very good so far.
Up to the 21st June 2015, I had cycled 3070.5 miles and run a total of 446.7, totalling 3517.2 miles. To have covered this amount of ground in less than 6 months I was over the moon with myself and my achievements so far. The Amazon River is just short of 4000 miles, so I wasn't too far off that milestone. From Preston to New York, it is 3300 miles, that had already been ticked off. Seeing it down in writing makes me think how far I have actually travelled, hard to put in context. Anyhow, I could feel myself getting fitter as the weeks went by and by the end of LeJog I felt the fittest I had ever been. Not denying I wasn't in need of a rest, I was, but this wasn't an option at all. This thought had been eliminated from my head earlier on in the year, giving up at any point was not an option. 
With the cycling done, it was time to focus back on the running as my main goal. Wanting to take the fitness I had gained from cycling and to use it to good effect. Staying in Scotland for a few days after the cycling, I had a couple more runs in which to take in the great scenery of Aviemore and Edinburgh, we had returned to Edinburgh to celebrate our achievements in style. In Aviemore I stayed up late and went running at about 23:52, completing a 7 minute mile before the stroke of midnight. Then once the clock turned 12, I went and did another run, meaning I was now free for the day to go and enjoy a few drinks without worrying about having to get my running shoes out at any point, for a good 36 hours or so at least. The few drinks turned into a full on session, ending up in a student bar at 3am drinking all sorts... Only problem was I was dressed for an occasion, not a Scottish student bar. All good fun though as you can see from the photo... Ste's shirt (on the left) was buttoned up at the beginning of the night, not by the end of it.
Once the night out was out of the way it was time to go home and start settling into the real world again. Arriving home on Wednesday 24th June, if was time to rest up and prepare for a few events I had scheduled for the following weekend. Over the next ten days I covered just over 14 miles, nowhere near the distance I would have like to have covered, however I was listening to my body and I definitely needed a rest and to refuel for a few days.
My next event soon turned up and It was back to Cuerden Valley for early morning parkrun. Last time I had ran this was on the 30th May, with it now being the 4th July, I hadn't been involved for 5 weeks and I was missing it. I knew I had a lack of running fitness but I was feeling good. My overall fitness was through the roof and with a good week of short runs I was up for beating my previous PB of 19:28. It had taken me 2 months to achieve this time so it wasn't going to be an easy task at all. Arriving in the valley I was greeted by the usual crew who wished me well and congratulated me on my recent achievements. This put me in a great frame of mind for the run ahead. The run had arrived and I set off at a fair pace, after 2 miles I knew I was up on my previous time but had to keep pushing. I was in 1st position from the start and I sometimes find it hard to run with no-one directly on my shoulder. I did keep my pace up and pushed hard up the last hill to get a new PB of 19:24. It was only 4 seconds off but to be the 1st finisher and to PB as well it was a great return to the valley and did my confidence a lot of good. As I hadn't been focusing on just my running for a good few months, it was great to be progressing and was excited for what was to come.
Once I was finished in the Valley is was them time to prepare for my 2nd race of the day which was the Lostock Hall Carnival 5k. With this pretty much being my home turf I couldn't miss it. Even though I had run hard in the morning I was still hopeful of achieving a good time and carrying on the good work. With the race starting at 12:45, I only had a couple of hours to get home and fed, then back out again. It was a hot and windy day, great conditions, except for it being hot and windy. At the start line there was a few fast people lined up next to me, so I knew I could start fast and hopefully try to keep up with the leaders. Running through the streets of Lostock Hall with 100's of people watching I think I had a bit too much adrenalin for the first mile, completing it in 5:37. For the 2nd mile it was then back into the wind and I could feel my energy draining after a start that was too fast for me. I was hoping I could maintain a good enough pace but my 2nd mile was 6:06 and slowing. 3rd mile was consistent with my 2nd with a time of 6:07, which I knew wasn't enough to come close to my PB of 18:01. As always I finished strongly on the home stretch in front of the crowds, ending up with a time of 18:28, which works out 5:57/mi. My final position was 5th out of about 80 people, which I was more than happy with. My first top 5 finish, yes it wasn't my fastest of time, considering I was still recovering from the morning run I was impressed. I learnt a lot in this race about my pacing as well, trying to keep up with the faster people was silly to start with. At this point I had only being running 6 months so I will still learning with every run I did. I have also learnt to make sure I wear longer shorts when people are taking photos, the arm/leg tan from my cycling just looks ridiculous!!
The weekend over running wasn't over, Sunday has arrived and it was time for the 'Trawden 7' which was part of the Grand Prix for Red Rose Road Runners. So I was never going to miss this event and points were up for grabs. Being honest I was tired before this race, waking up that morning my legs felt heavy and I was feeling a little drained. Think half of it was poor hydration after the running on the previous day, only myself to blame for that. The fact in was my 186th straight day of running may have had something to do with it. As always my good friend Pete was taking part in the race, this was out first off road race so think we was both a bit nervous of what was ahead. We had heard the terrain was tough and a good few hills to tackle, nothing like a good challenge. It was a good turn of for RRRR as always, great to run for a club in which you are guaranteed some support along the way, before and after also. Anyhow, race time had arrived, a little later than planned which meant I had to warm up twice, not the best preparation. Before the race they said there was a prize for the first person to do a lap of the field then exit the field first, so I knew it was going to be a fast start. I definitely set off to fast again and after 1 mile my legs were giving up on me and I knew there was a tough course ahead. I covered the first mile in 6:20 which was roughly my 10k pace, with it being on grass to start and slightly up hill I should have taken it steady, I didn't and it showed. I gradually started to slow which I wasn't used to, it was now turning into a mental challenge. My 2nd mile was 7:16, followed by an 8:42 for the 3rd. Yes it was uphill from 1.5 miles and a climb of over 300ft, but I was struggling. Hard to admit but I walked for about 10 seconds, then questioned what I was doing and quickly got my legs going again. The next 2 miles didn't get much better, 7:46 and then 7:49 for the 5th. Think I was struggling with the terrain, having to carefully watch your footing for every step definitely slowed me down. In the back of my mind I was thinking I need to avoid any sort of injury as I did not want to miss a day of running for any reason. for the last 2 miles we ended up back on the road which suited myself and I started making ground on a lot of people. Finishing with a 6:28 and 6:21 mile, overtaking a good 20 people in the last mile was a good feeling for myself after a poor race compared to others.. Overall it was a good race and challenge for myself, biggest test I had had for a while on the running side. I finished with a time of 51:01 which works out to be 7:13/mi, not my fastest run but in a way a very satisfactory run. 186 runs on the bounce and 476 miles covered after this, the total was creeping up towards 500 which was a mini target of mine.
For the next week my short term plan was to rest up a little and prepare for another Saturday parkrun. I mixed it up with some fast single mile runs and a couple of slower 5k's. Come the 11th July I was now up to 488.6 miles and approaching my 192nd run. On the morning of parkrun I was feeling good and ready for the challenge of beating my previous PB. It was my 28th time down in the valley and was loving it more than ever. Once again I set off at a good pace and was faster over the first mile than my previous week. All I had to do was keep it up and finish strongly which I did. Finishing in first place with a time of 19:17, taking 7 seconds off last weeks time. Was well chuffed with this as it seemed my hard work was now starting to pay off and I was getting fast over the shorter distances. After the run it was time for a brew and cake in the barn, which happens every week. To my surprise I was given the award for park runner of the month, which got me a pair of trainers of my own choice from sweatshop. I was delighted and pretty speechless really. Pita Nadine, CV parkrun director announced it and said some really kind words. One stat which she brought up was the fact I had been to parkrun 28 times, of those 28 I had PB'd on 14 occasions. My first run was on the 25th October 2014, finishing in 23:12 and not being able to run all the way round the course. 7 months later, I had improved dramatically knocking off 3:55 over the 5k course. Works out pretty much 45 seconds fast per km, not bad going really. Even though I was running the fastest I had ever run, I had to start somewhere, just takes a bit of commitment and you will see results like myself. The team at Cuerden have a lot to do with my progress, I can't name everyone as there are so many people. From week one of me turning up, the encouraging and positivity received from everyone was inspiring. Without knowing it, the runners, volunteers and organisers help you a long the way. I cannot praise them enough and I have a lot of time for everyone involved in such a great event, Pita, Ray and everyone involved, you can be proud of the set up you have and please don't change the way you all are. Thanks for the trainers, they set me up well for the rest of the year and would certainly help me complete my challenge.
For the next couple of weeks I now had to focus on training for a half marathon which was scheduled for the 26th July in Lancaster. I had only ever completed 2 half marathons before, one being the GNR which I ran with my friend in about 2 hours 30 mins. The most recent was early in 2014 which I completed in 1 hour 47 mins, with literally no training. Over the next 15 days I covered 43 miles averaging 2.8 miles a day for that time. This took me to 534.7 for the year, this was still leaving me with an average of over 5k a day to reach my target of 1000 miles for the year, so a lot of work still needed. The day had arrived for the Lancaster half marathon, once again Pete Batts was great company for the day and we was both encouraging each other to take part in races we would never do. As well as it being my first real half marathon, it was also Pete's. I know he was as nervous as me but was going to be a good run. I was feeling good before the race and was running well and was getting used to pacing myself over longer distances. My aim for the race was to maintain a 6:40/mi pace which would take me under 1:30:00, I was hoping to beat this time and run hard for the full 13.1 miles. Setting off I took it quite easy and ran within my comfort zone as I didn't want to make the mistake of setting off too fast again as I had done in previous events. At the half way point I was in a good position covering the 6.5 miles in 43 minutes, I knew if I could keep that pace up I would definitely beat my target and maybe scrape under 1:25:00, asking a lot of myself with this. I kept pushing on and slowly started to take over a few people which was driving me on even more. I was averaging 6:30/mi and was comfortable with the speed I was at. I was now running my own race, there was no-one in front or behind that I could see, so it came down to the mental battle again of keeping those legs going. I pushed as hard as I could in the final part, crossing the 13 mile mark I knew I was in for a sprint finish to get below 1:25:00, it wasn't to be though. My final time was 1:25:12, which I was delighted with. This was my first half marathon that I had properly raced in and had beaten my expectations by a long way.
My next event soon arrived on 2 days later on Tuesday 28th July. It was the last race of the Vernon's 5k series which was a fast course, little hilly to start with but you could make some ground up on the 2nd half. I had previously ran this course in April, with a time of 18:21. I had also run the 2nd race out of the 4 in May with a time of 18:19. Unfortunately I missed the 3rd part as I was cycling, so I was up for running the course hard to make up for the loss. Plus to keep up with the sequence of beating my previous times. Even though I had run the half marathon on the Sunday, I felt really good and had no aches or pains. With a previous PB of 18:01 at Catforth which is a flat course, I was hoping to push hard to get near that time. With Vernon's being a little more undulating, I knew if I could get close to that time then I would be soon dipping below the 18:00 mark for 5k. After my warm up and stretches it was game time. Once again the turn out was superb, with a good turn out you always get the very good runners. You can look at it in two ways, either you'll never catch the front runners, or you can continue to work hard and close the gap, 2nd option is the one I am looking at, slowly but surely. To the race, I had made sure I was near the front the start with as every second would count. It was a very fast start and the leaders seem to pull away from the start, but they was in sight so I was happy and was maintaining a 5:45/mi pace for the first 1.5 miles. With this all being up hill it was now onto the 2nd half and to try and keep the pace up. I was being pushed all the way by some good runners which helped me a long. Approaching the 3 mile mark I knew I was up on my time but I was just focusing on a strong finish. As I crossed the line I stopped my watch bang on the 18:00 mark, with race timings and the exact results only coming later on it was a tense wait. I received the results later on and my time was 18:01, a joint PB. I have to admit I was gutted as I really thought I had a PB in the bag, the fact I had beaten my previous race time by 18 seconds I was still delighted with this. I finished 12th out of about 100, which was also good news, I know I need to cement down some more top ten places.With July now being over, I had successfully ran for 7 months straight, which included 217 individual runs in the 212 days I had run so far. My total distance for running so far was 555.2 miles, averaging 2.55 miles a day. It was really good going so far, achieving things I never thought I would and felt I could get stronger as the year went on. I still had a lot of hard work to do and another 5 months of running to complete. With 153 runs still to go, I had to step it up and start averaging around 2.8 miles a day until the end of the year to reach my target of 1000 miles. Without the running I had also cycled 3356.8 miles for the year, without this my running average would have been higher, all part of the challenge!
Hope you have enjoyed the read so far, I shall be posting again soon and will eventually catch up on time. In the next episode there will be a special boxing addition alongside some marathon talk as well, so don't be going far :)
I have noticed recently I have had a good reaction to my blog from all over the world. I have had views in Spain, Sweden and even as far as South Korea.... Seriously. So if you are reading this and I don't know you personally, it would be great if you could comment, hope you're enjoying yourselves. Until next time....
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