Wednesday, March 26, 2008

entering the last phase!


So as i sit here in Lanzarote, with a little cloud cover you may be glad to hear, i now enter what is really the last phase of training. As always training plans change and mine has considerably.


firstly due to my right ankle giving me a little trouble, so pulled the mileage back a little. Secondly due to getting a decent balance of family time and running time whilst on holiday. Finally taking advice from those that have done 10 in 10 and built a bigger taper into the training. Taper being the period we pull the training back to get a little rest in the legs prior to the event.


Red mountain allowed me to build a little hill training into the training runs in lanzarote, as the area i am in is pretty flat! But in general i ran between 10 - 12 miles, 4 times per week and then put a 20 mile run in at the weekend. Thus averaging around 60 miles per week , rather than the 70 - 80 i originally anticipated.


But going into this last 4 week phase of training i have Paris and London marathons next week and the week after respectively. With a long run the day after or before each marathon, and then a back to back 20 miler in week 3, i think,well i hope, i'll be ready to take on the 10!!


Sponsorship is going incredibly well, with all close friends,family and work colleagues coming up trumps, so thank you!! Also a big thanks to people i have not even met before, that are friends of friends,that have simply dug deep and sponsored me. Really, it is much appreciated.


So I am off to pack, to return to what seems like wind, rain and general poor weather, but i guess you can have too much of a good thing!!!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A second chance



Every Morning my eyes open shut
As the aches creak to the side of the bed
The darkness waits through the Glass
As I think of the reality ahead


As the cold air hits, the body turns left
Back on the morning run
A familiar face; four bends and a turn
Then the orange of the morning sun

Each Muscle wakes one by one
And some not until the hill
But as I climb and watch my breath
My thoughts remain ever still

Imagine a life with nowhere to turn
The friends you know are not
You burn a car or lie on your back
This is the life you’ve got….

The systems failed, whatever that is
For your life is not a dance
A 4 letter badge stamped on your heart
Your genies wish; A Chance..

I can’t believe we are in this mess
These children need our love
They walk our streets and know our names
But who wants to be a Dove?

I turn off the beach and head for home
Four hugs await me there
Two worlds collide to raise some hope
To change that vacant stare

Let’s give these children a second chance
We can all start again
The deal is simple, you dig deep
And I will run the ten!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

2 weeks in the sun!


So momentum is picking up and now we only have 8 weeks to go before the kick off. Thats 6 weeks of good training and then a 2 week taper. A taper is when you pull back on the training and allow your legs to recover from all the training they have been subject to over the past few months.


Training is going well and I am flying out to Lanzarote tonight for a 2 week holiday where I can train, hopefully with the sun on my back!


A couple of questions people are asking I thought I would answer in the blog:


Where are the runs?


All the runs are in Windermere and it is the same course every day! So if you want to come up to Brathay - You have a choice spanning 10 days!! The last run however is the Brathay Windermere marathon and it should be a fabulous day out. There are still places available in the marathon and 8 weeks to go, just about enough time to train!! Come on lads!!


How many miles have you trained so far?


As I had not run properly for 14 months prior to this event this is quite an easy one to answer. I started training in January and to date have trained 572 miles! When you write it down and think I have to run 262 miles in the event it does not seem enough! Oh well, here's to luck, hope and dogged determination. But the training has been quite heavy as I came from a standing point, not rolling over from a marathon so I have had to build mileage quickly but steadily enough not to get injured.


Is it better to donate online?


Absolutely! If you donate online and you are a UK taxpayer then Brathay will get an additional 28p in the pound through Gift aid tax relief. So if you want to donate please go to http://www.justgiving.com/matthewevans and donate online - you can leave a message there too.


On a final note I must say a massive thank you to everone that has donated so far. My target of £2000 has very nearly doubled - which is what this challenge is about - Brathay and the fantastic work they do giving the Children of the UK a second chance......


Diolch


Monday, March 3, 2008


We have done it!! We have hit £2000 for Brathay! This was the initial target for each runner to raise. So I have now raised the bar to £3000!!
A few people have been asking to see the training schedule for the last 10 weeks. This is the schedule as it currently sits, but it does change all the time to fit in with work, family commitments etc. I am running in the Paris Marathon and London Marathon respectively, so that is the 2 x 26 mile runs w/c 31st March and 7th April.
I am struggling to work out the taper at the end of the training as my legs will need to rest. So I think I may well drop the mileage w/c 21st April, but I am still taking advice on this.
The training is getting hard now, late nights, alcohol, wrong food will all throw training to pieces so I am trying to be as disciplined as possible. Ran a very bad 20 on Saturday because i did not prepare correctly on Friday; so a valuable lesson learnt, which I guess is what training is for!
Thanks again for all your support and hopefully will try and get a video up on the blog later this week.