So with the miles rolling by, the new running buddies and the new music and routes, running was becoming fun again, but I still didn’t feel that I had the speed to enter any races as I felt I would let myself down.

However, then I was pointed in the direction of the Handicap tool on the RunBritain website.  I have written a few articles for RunBritain, and the Editor of the site, Jackie Newton, told me about their new handicap tool, that in a similar way to golf, gives you a running handicap depending on your previous race results.  I had a look and put my results in and got a handicap of 13.8.  Not only does it give you a handicap score, it also tells you how your times rank for each distance, and gives you a training plan to work on reducing your times and therefore your handicap.

For months since I’ve finished the marathon, I’ve struggled with motivation as I said, but this idea really appealed to my competitive side.  Since getting my handicap, I’ve recommended other people to use it (if I’m honest mainly people who I thought would have handicaps higher than mine), and I’ve run 60 miles in the last week rather than the 40 miles I had managed in the weeks since my marathon.  I am now looking for more races to enter so that I can add new times to try and reduce my handicap.  The idea is so simple, but has got me feeling excited about running and racing again.

To find your handicap visit:   http://www.runbritainrankings.com/

Whilst you are there, have a look at the other sections, there is loads of really good advice on running, injuries, races and everything else you could think of!

So with the enthusiasm back, the miles are disappearing rapidly…only 429 miles to go now!!!! I will keep you up to date with my progress, and my handicap score from now until the end of my challenge, and try to come up with some more words of wisdom and advice regarding injuries, and how to avoid them!

I took a week off running after my Marathon to recover and as a reward for the months of hard work leading up to it.  But after a week of over-eating and a few too many celebratory drinks, it was time to get back into running as I still had 1000 miles to run to finish my 2010 challenge.  By this time, the euphoria of finishing my first marathon had well and truelly worn off, and had been replaced by a huge feeling of anti-climax.  I had spent 8 months working towards one day, and it was over, and suddenly it felt like there was a huge gap.  I tried to use this as motivation to get back on the road and keep running, but I found that where previously I had gone out however I was feeling to make sure I could complete my Marathon, I now didn’t have that same drive.

When I did get out running, I felt like I’d lost all my power and fitness, and whilst I could just about maintain a reasonable pace on the flat, I felt that my hamstrings and quads had no power in them when I tried to run uphill.   This further reduced my motivation to get out running.  As I’m sure you will all have felt at some point, it’s very easy to get out running when you’re feeling good, and it is seemingly effortless, but much harder to get out when every step is a struggle.

To try and spur myself on, I put out another plea for sponsorship on Facebook and to my friends and family, and with a few more pounds coming in, it spurred me on to keep going towards my 2010 goal.  Gradually the miles rolled passed but it was hard work, and more and more often I would find myself making excuses to miss a day running.  The number of miles a day I needed to run to meet my goal kept going up and I decided I had to change things to get myself going.  I text everyone I knew who ran and asked if they wanted to go for a run with me, and I managed to convince five of my friends that they wanted to.  Over the next few weeks, with more regular and more entertaining runs the enjoyment came back, as did my fitness, and I was finding the runs were getting easier again.  I also started making more time for myself to go running, and without the feeling of having to cram a quick run in, the prospect became more enticing.  The MP3 came out again and I downloaded a new load of songs to put on it and push me forwards.  Finally, with the new tunes, came the new routes, so running became new and fun again!

Top tips for motivating to get back running then are:

Drag other people out with you…It’s no secret that running with someone else is much more fun, and you feel obliged to do it so as to not let them down.

Give yourself more time to run…I found the pressure of feeling like I had to get out running there and then put me off going at all.

Get some new tunes on the MP3 to listen to.

Change your routes to new ones!

And so the miles kept ticking over………

So after 8 months, 1000 miles of training runs, 3 pairs of trainers, and an incredible number of Physio sessions and anti-inflammatories, I finally made it to Stockholm!

We arrived in Stockholm on the Thursday, with the race on the Saturday, and spent a couple of days relaxing, having a gentle wander, and enjoying the beautiful city (and people).  Finally, it was Saturday 5th June 2010.  It was a date I had been waiting for for 8 months.  I had spent plenty of time reading up on race day preparation for a marathon and tried to follow it as closely as possible so my day went a little like this:

9am: Woke up (for the 93rd time) after really quite broken sleep…maybe some nerves kicking in??!!

Had a very warm shower for half an hour to get things moving

10am: Breakfast…toast and jam, an energy bar and some water

11am:  Stretches, and treatment from my friend/support crew to all the areas that were hurting before I even started.  Throughout my training, I had found various areas that tended to tighten and I payed particular attention to these when doing my stretches.

12pm:  2 hours until start time, I eat another energy bar, and tried to relax, and worked on some visualisation techniques that I had read about…things like visualising finishing the race feeling good, and repeating a mantra which I won’t share here as it’s embarrassing but seemed to work both before and during the race.

1pm:  Gentle walk the half mile to the Starting area, gradually feeling the nerves increasing particularly with the nagging thought of how my foot was going to hold out for 26.2 miles.  Queueing up with 20,000 fellow runners was a strangely calming experience, knowing that there were so many other people feeling how I did made it seem less daunting

2pm: The race starts, and about 3 minutes later, I cross the start line and I’m away!

3 hours, 44 minutes and 33 seconds later I crossed the finishing line in front a thousands of people in the Olympic Stadium and the 8 months of training had all been worth while. 

I had been aiming to do the marathon in less than 3 hours and 30 minutes, but by the time I reached 13 miles, the lack of running over the previous few weeks was starting to show and my quads already felt weak and tired.  The second half of the marathon was basically run in a strange movement that tried not to use my quads at all as they were cramping.  Sadly, any attempt to stretch my quads sent my hamstrings into cramp so I just carried on.  I had to resort to walking at times, mainly at water stations but as I crossed the finish line, the pain stopped and I felt the feeling of achievement I had been waiting for!

7pm: After struggling with 3 flights of stairs in the hostel, and a very very long shower, I enjoy my first beer! Technically speaking I should have had a cold shower to reduce the inflammation from the micro tears in my muscles, but the last thing you want to do after nearly 4 hours of pain is to jump in a cold shower so I went for a nice warm one instead…I never claimed to be a true athlete!!!

7.05pm:  Felt really quite drunk after approximately half a pint of beer..which is lucky in a city where it costs £8 per pint…see my blog is full of useful information!!

9pm: Gave up and went to bed safe in the knowledge that my legs would not be working the following day!

Sure enough the following day my legs were not a strong point.  My quads were particularly painful, but the hostel was full of people who were struggling up and down stairs from their previous days exploits so I was in good company and the camaraderie of the whole marathon experience continued.  We had another 3 days in Stockholm, and we spent our time relaxing in the many lovely parks, bars, and waterside cafes.  We also did a bit of sightseeing from the back of a boat which was a great way of relaxing after the Marathon!  None of this is in the slightest bit related to sports injuries, or marathon running, but I would definitely recommend visiting Stockholm..it is a really beautiful city with lots to do and would make an excellent weekend break!! (I’m not even working on commission from the Swedish Tourist Board)

It has been a long time since I’ve updated my blog for which I apologise.  The Stockport clinic is getting more and more established in the area and, along with my running, has been taking up a lot of my time.

A lot has happened since I last added to my blog so I’m going to split it into a few entries, so that it doesn’t turn into a huge lengthy bit of writing…and to add to the suspense of course!

Last time I wrote, I had finished my first Half Marathon, had struggled with injuries and had completed about 700 miles.  Leading upto the Stockholm Marathon in June, the weeks from April June contained much of the same sort of pattern and drama.

After my reasonable performance in the Wilmslow Half Marathon, I was feeling good, and ploughed on with my training, gradually increasing weekly mileage, and introducing more speed sessions in preparation for the Great Manchester Run in May.  A week prior to the Great Manchester run, after a 23 mile training run completed in little over 3 hours, I was feeling even more positive.  But then what I had been dreading all along happened…an injury, and one significant enough to stop me running too.  A few days after my longest run to date, I was doing a gentle jog and felt my right foot begin to hurt.  I “sensibly” carried on and used the usual ice and Ibuprofen that had got me this far.  Unfortunately, the pain didn’t settle and I was forced to rest.   I managed to complete the Manchester run a few days later in a respectable 42mins and 23 seconds, but my foot was very painful by the end of it.

My foot was now so painful that I was walking with a limp and running wasn’t a possibility.  Thankfully, I have one huge advantage over most people when it comes to training for a marathon…the best physiotherapy available, whenever I need it.  With only 3 and a half weeks left until the Marathon, I was having daily Physio, on top of treating myself and managing to single-handedly boost Ibuprofen sales to record highs.  Despite, this my foot was only settling very slowly, and the very distressing realisation dawned on me that I might not be able to complete the Marathon.

I didn’t run for nearly three weeks, and very slowly my foot improved, thanks to a lot of hard work from my colleagues.  Five days before the Marathon I ventured out for my first run…a gentle 8 miler.  To my relief the foot held up to the test well, but I realised that my fitness had suffered hugely.  With only a few days left until the Marathon, I knew I couldn’t over-train to try and recapture some of my fitness for risk of further injury, and depleting my energy levels, so I fitted in a few more gentle 8 mile runs, and then packed for Stockholm!

This experience made me realise just how crushing a blow it must be for an athlete to get injured prior to a major event.  Here I was, a totally novice Marathon runner leading up to my first marathon, and I was utterly depressed at the thought of not being able to compete to the best of my abilities.  I can’t imagine how I would feel if I had trained all my life for the olympics or something only to be ruled out at the last minute.  However, the fact that I had trained for 8 months to be ready for the race, pushed me on…there was no way I was going to back out now even if it meant being in agony from the first mile! 

The other thing that struck me from having this injury, and my training in general, is that I really don’t know how anyone without a medical knowledge and Physio on tap ever manages to cross the start line, let alone the finish line!  When I think back to the number of times I treated myself, or taped something, or got a colleague to treat me, I realise that I wouldn’t have got anywhere near my goal without a lot of help and knowledge of the human body, so I have the utmost respect for anyone who does manage it!

Along with large quantities of miles to be run, I am also trying to raise large quantities of money for the Andrew Flintoff Foundation, as I have mentioned before.

It has taken a while, but my JustGiving page has been set up and I’ve started getting donations there…so far I’ve raised just over £500, but that still means there is a long way to go to get to my goal of £3000.

If anybody would like to donate to the cause, it would be hugely appreciated, and would help this great cause continue with it’s amazing work, and it would also keep me going for the many miles ahead of me.  JustGiving is a really easy way to give money…a few clicks and a few details and that’s it, and the charity benefits from getting the money within two weeks of you donating it.

Please visit my page at:

http://www.justgiving.com/AndyByrne

The page gives you more information about the challenge and the charity.  I know that times are hard at the moment, but anything that you can give would be hugely appreciated!!!  Thank you!

I will keep posting on here to keep you up to date of my miles and my fundraising, and also hopefully keep giving you some useful tips as I stumble across them.  I hope that you find these tips useful and enjoy my blogs…even if they aren’t as structured as Mary-Anne’s!!

I don’t know how, but somehow three months have passed since my last blog entry.  A lot has happened I can assure you…a lot of miles, some injuries, a race debut and a dramatic change in weather.

Last time I wrote, I’d managed 46 miles and was stuck inside with 6 inches of snow outside.  After 104 days of the year, I’ve now run 683 miles with the small issue of 1327 miles still to go to finish my challenge of 2010 miles for the year.  I’m sure, like me, a lot of you will be enjoying the sunshine which is certainly making running in the evenings a lot more tempting.  However, it has forced me to look into my hydration a little more.  With my long runs now reaching 20 miles on a Sunday, I have found that I need to take on quite a bit of water now that it is warmer.  The only problem with this is that I get shoulder pain from carrying the bottle (clearly I’m such a finely tuned athlete, that a bottle of water is enough to cause problems!).  Apparently, this is not particularly unusual, and for anyone else who might have this problem, I suggest you invest in a “tool belt”…a belt similar to a bum bag that you can put your bottle in, and any gels, jelly babies etc…saves you carrying things and it makes you look much more professional.

As I mentioned, I have been struggling slightly with various minor injuries, all of which I could put down to increasing my mileage too quickly and not stretching sufficiently.  Despite my Physio background, I, like most of you, was doing a brief stretch prior to and after a run and that was about it, but I found that my quads, and ITB (band down the outside of your thigh) was getting increasingly tight causing me knee pain, which was painful enough to make me stop running.  Since this wake up call I have done a daily stretching regime, as well as dynamic stretches (stretches with movement) prior to a run, and static stretches (your old fashioned ones) after all my runs.  The difference has been huge…not only has my knee pain disappeared but also the general tightness and aches and pains I had put down to just doing lots of running have reduced massively!…try it..you will be surprised.

Having done lots of training (and stretching), I finally took part in my first race at the Wilmslow Half Marathon.  I was a little nervous, and not quite sure what to expect so probably started a little too far back in the crowds, and paid for it with a very slow first couple of miles trying to get passed some much slower runners.  I then spent the rest of the race trying to make up for lost time finishing in a time of 1 Hour 37 minutes and 47 seconds, which, although respectable, was not as fast as I’d hoped, mainly due to the poor start.  And so for my last words of wisdom for this blog entry…if you are even a vaguely serious runner (in that you are aiming for a particular time rather than just to finish), then make sure you start further forwards than you think you perhaps should.  This way you can run at your own pace and will not be tripping over others at the start.

So, after deciding that training for, and running a marathon just wasn’t hard enough, I have now decided to challenge myself a little further.  I will be aiming to run 2010 miles in the year of 2010, aiming to raise at least £2010 for the Andrew Flintoff Foundation.  For those of you who don’t know, the AF Foundation is a charity that raises funds to build, develop and improve Child Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy Units throughout the UK.  For more information visit:  http://www.affoundation.co.uk/home

To reach my target I will need to run 5.5 miles every day for a year, although I will be aiming to run on five days a week to give myself a chance to rest and avoid burn out.  That does of course mean some longer runs, but hey, I’ll be running 26.2 miles on June 5th so that will help.  As with all challenges like this, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but slowly as my friends point out that I will have to run when I go on holiday, and if I’m feeling ill etc, I’ve realised it was somewhat foolish.  However, if it raises lots of money then it will all be worth it, and I’m already looking forward to 2011 for a rest!!

You can follow my progress on http://my.nike.com/Sebber82 as well as here of course….it’s sure to be a lot of hard work but hopefully some fun along the way too!

So my last few blogs entries have given you a brief insite into the early parts of my training.  However, it has been suggested by both the critics and my fans that they would like tips from a Physio regarding training for a Marathon.  With that in mind, as I’m always eager to please, I have formulated my “Ten Tips for Twenty Ten”, the title of which was chosen more for its alliteration than it’s content you understand!

1.  Enter a race!  Until I entered a Marathon I managed to run maybe twice a month as I found some genuinely excellent reasons why I shouldn’t go for a run.  Now I have something to aim for, I actually enjoy going!  More importantly my body is now used to running and so I don’t hurt as much after the runs.

2. Get the right kit.  This does not mean getting the most expensive trainers and running shorts and shirt.  However, if you are going to be doing a lot of running (which you will be if you are training for a marathon) then the right running shoes, as well as appropriate clothing, will reduce the chance of injuries.

3.  Build up your running slowly, and aim for a steady pace.  Most people who get injured when they start running  do so because they build up their training too quickly, and don’t allow their bodies to strengthen and become accustomed to the new stresses being put through the joints and the muscles of the lower limbs in particular.  Another way of getting injured is trying to run too quickly too early in a run, without having warmed the muscles up.

4. Stretch! You can happily read millions of articles about stretching all of which will be totally contradictory and leave you confused.  I would recommend stretches are held for between 20 and 30 seconds, and are applied slowly without “bouncing”.  They should be done regularly as part of the warm up and cool down, and I still stretch certain “problem areas” on the days I’m not running as well.

5. Cross train.  To avoid injuries it is important that you are not over stressing the particular joints and muscles used in running.  Try adding rowing, or swimming into your weekly exercise routine.  Swimming is particularly good as it is very good at building lung capacity, but it also gives your joints a rest from pounding on the roads.

6. Run on different surfaces. Try not to run on roads all the time, as this means that your ankles, knees and hips, as well as your lower back are taking a lot of force through them on a regular basis.  Try and build in runs on grass or dirt tracks…these runs will be slower but will be just as good a training exercise.

7.  If you are forced to run on a treadmill (as you will be in this lovely winter we’re having), add an incline to the run.  This will make it harder and mean that you don’t have to run on the treadmill for as long which can get very boring, and can also cause some people shin pain.

8.  Don’t ignore the niggles.  To a certain extent, when training for a marathon you are likely to have a few niggles, aches and pains along the way as you have to put a lot of time in training and it is demanding for your body.  However, do not ignore that achilles that always hurts after you’ve run, or that groin pain that comes on when running, or whatever part of you hurts more than it should.  Make sure that you get them checked out particularly if they are getting slowly worse.  If you ignore it for the months proceeding the marathon, Sod’s Law dictates that it will “go” a week before the race.

9.  Make sure you have rest days.  Going for a run is demanding on the body and it needs time to recover every now and then to avoid getting injured or over worked.  If your training schedule is quite tight with not much time to your race, then maybe the rest day would involve a gentle swim rather than a run so that you are still working on your fitness but avoiding using the same parts of your body as you would normally with running.

10.  Strenthen your glutes and core (for starters)!  When I strated running, I could feel that my pelvis was rolling around a lot, and by the end of the run my hamstrings would be tight and my back stiff and painful.  Since working hard to strengthen my glutes and core, these pains have disappeared and I feel more stable around my hips, which means I’m not wasting energy, and I’m less likely to get a hamstring strain because they are not having to work as hard.  Although a marathon is an endurance race, you still need to incorporate strengthening work into your work out…it will boost performance, as well as reduce your chances of getting injured!

These tips are in no particular order, but if you follow them, you will certainly reduce your chances of getting injured, and that means you just have to worry about running 26.2 miles in the best possible time!!..Simples!

I am not totally sure that I should use this title, as I’m not sure what type of foot fall to the site we will get from web searches…but it’s an important lesson!

By Mid-October, the running was going well.  The same could not be said of the weather. Sunday had become my “long run” day, and on this particular Sunday it was cold and it had just started to rain before I was going to go out. I wasn’t put off by this as I knew that training over the winter would involve a lot of cold, rainy runs!  So off I went on a 9 mile with no Ipod for fear of electrocution.  Despite many layers, I was soon resembling a drowned rat, and the only “positive” was that I couldn’t get any wetter.

Now for those of you with a sensitive disposition, I advise caution when reading further. I don’t know if any of you have tried running in the cold and wet, but it does present certain issues, which, as a novice runner, I had not considered. I had heard before of putting Vaseline on your nipples to avoid chaffing, but hadn’t actually thought about needing it for a 9 mile run: Serious mistake! If I can save anyone the pain that wet t-shirt on nipple causes, by them reading this blog, then my time will have been well spent. 

From that day forward, I ensured all precautions regarding my comfort were taken, having learned another valuable lesson the hard way!