Stay on target

Well I’ve finally managed to feel within myself that the marathon training is sort of on target.  While I had planned to be a bit further along on my long runs than I am, with the minor injuries and the bad weather, am I content with where I have got to.

So, Sunday morning and I woke to what must have been one of the nicest days of the year down here.  Bright sunshine, clear blue skies, not a cloud in the sky.  Yes at 8am was a little fresh, but once I was running I didn’t really notice it.  I had to take a totally new route due to local events taking place and took a bit of a risk as if I had to stop after about 1/2 way there was no shortcut home.  Lots of nice new things to see though, and the podcasts kept me company during the run.  Will be adding it to my list of training routes for when I’m up early enough to avoid shoppers!

By the end of the 11 miles (50% more than I’ve done in training so far this year) the legs were quite tired so I was glad I had finished, but there have been no problems after, so that is good.Having finished in a good time, I carried on and watch those running the offical local 1/2 marathon, something I could have done if I’d managed to get around to signing up last year.  Took me a little while to realise it by I was in celeb corner with Zoe Ball and David Walliams in attendance.  Happily they did their bit with flag waving and a couple of photos for a local charity.  No one disturbed them, which was also good.  Norman has been good at supporting the full marathon and was there quite late last year as he was still cheering when I went past!
So I plan to do another 10 miler this week towards the end to start getting the longer distances under me.

As things stand I think I’m pretty close to being on target.

Its the little things

So, the marathon training continues, but has become somewhat interrupted.

First of all there was a load of snow and ice.  Living on a hill makes training somewhat difficult in these situations.  It was a shame as I was doing well with the training, had got over the injury I always get when I restart my run training, and was increasing the distances nicely.  Getting somewhere flat to carry on the running wasn’t possible either, with driving conditions, esp on a hill, too risky.

Anyway, the snow goes and I resume.  Thankfully the legs are still used to running so no repeating issues from before.  Again the runs start to go well, times coming down, distances going up.  All the good stuff that encourages you.

Then came last Sunday.  I’m heading out on my first 10 miler.  Not worried about the distance, have done over 7 already, so know that I’m building up gradually and it won’t be an issue.  Then less than a mile in, I notice or rather feel, something wrong.  Pain in the left foot arch when I land.  Not shooting pain, but enough for it to be uncomfortable.  I run on for a bit (possibly a mistake) to see if it goes, but no luck.  After less than 2 miles I’m heading home, walking, to avoid doing any long term damage.  I go out for a trial run on Monday, just in case it was a ‘oh it’s playing up today’ type thing on the Sunday.  Same problem and I stop straight away.

I choose to rest for a bit and due to a series of events, it’s come round to Saturday and I’ve not run.  Hopefully it will be better.  The plan is for a 5 mile run today and a longer one tomorrow, possibly 10 miles.  Of course that’s the plan.  It’s not been helped by another niggle now.  Bringing in the shopping (not heavy bags at all), I walk up the step to my house and feel a muscle by the shoulder blade go.  I’ve no idea how this might effect the running, will have to wait and see, but you can imagine my thoughts when it happened!

None of these are big injuries, but they are annoying little niggles that are stopping me getting to a decent distance in terms of training runs.  I know I still have over 2 months to go, but I’d have liked to have got 10 miles under the belt by now.  Hopefully tomorrow!

Signs of the Times

I've always found advertising and signs interesting.  I think that was one of the reasons I enjoyed some of those elements of my degree.  It is reckoned that a billboard has less than 1/2 a second to attract someone's attention.  Of course there is much more than grabbing attention that is important for a billboard, it has to also be in keeping with what is being advertised.  I doubt strongly the now famous wonder bra advert would have been quite so memorable if it had been for the Financial Times.  (Then again...).

For a long time (over half my life) I subscribed to Private Eye.  They would take great pleasure in pointing out where the same advertising campaign would be used for different products, often when the same advertising agents were being used.  I get the feeling that it happens far more often than most people are aware of, but then I suppose there is an argument for not changing a winning formula.

Wording on signs is equally important as well.  A website that I drift to every now and again has a section entitled Signs and Blunders (Ship of Fools for those who want to look) that often has unfortunate wording from church signs and newsletters.  I think the self assertiveness class being asked to use the doors at the rear of the building was a classic case.

There are two signs that I drive past on a weekly basis that have drawn my attention.  One I've only just noticed, and it talks, in big bold words, about being open 7 days a week.  Nothing odd about that I grant you, plenty of places are.  Its the small print on the sign that I find intriguing.  Having made a big fuss about being open 7 days a week, in small, but readable writing at the bottom it goes on to mention that they are closed all day one day a week.  This sparked my curiosity as to why it was important to give the impression that they are open everyday when they are not.  Personally I'd have thought that people would be more upset to find a place they thought would be open and isn't, then think that a place didn't open 7 days a week.  Maybe I'm wrong in that and the message that is being sent.

The second sign is one that always makes me laugh whenever I see it.  Whether the wording is done on purpose or not I don't know.  I like to think that it's been written so that people like me can have an immature giggle at it.  The sign is outside a vets and related to an offer in relation to having your pet neutered.  Now I'm sure that neutering is not a laughing matter in itself, however everytime I see the sign offering 20% off neutering, I can't help but wonder which 20% they take off and which 80% they leave!  Yes it's silly and we know what is meant, but words can be easily twisted, as I am doing so on this occasion for comedy reasons.

So this brings me back to my interest in signs.  Hopefully it might have made you wonder a little more about some of the signs you go past each day.