Reflecting on 2019

What a year it's been. At the beginning of 2019, I was hard at work, training for the most incredible challenge of my life. I was somewhere around 14-15 stone, running three times a week, and I had just reached the milestone target of achieving thirteen miles in my training. It was amazing.

I managed to improve from there. A minor setback in January (blowing out my knee from not stretching properly after running) caused a lot of pain, but I soon got back up and carried on working. I set my targets and I reached them all.

When the marathon finally came in April, I managed to beat it. What a day. I still smile every time I think about it. I still remember how good it felt to run that course. Every time I train, I think about that day and how amazing it was to finally cross the line. That feeling - and the memory of turning the final corner and hitting The Mall - will keep me going for years to come.

And the good times didn't stop coming. After managing to beat the marathon, I married my longtime fiance. I'm lucky enough to have experienced two 'best day evers' this year.

2019 has been an incredible year. There are more challenges to come in 2020 that I can't wait to experience and share with you all. The Bath Half is now 74 days away and the Bristol 10k is just two short months after that. My training has suffered recently, but I'm picking myself up and brushing off the dust and getting back on it. I'm excited to see what the next year has in store and take on all new challenges.

Millenium babies are now twenty years old. Pass me a drink!

This is also the beginning of a brand new decade. Ten years ago, I was a completely different person to now. I was unfit, overweight, had never gone out running for the fun of it. I has in a fairly new city, in a relationship with a beautiful girl I had known for a couple of years. Now look at me. What a difference ten years makes. What a difference one year makes.

I hope 2020 brings you fun, laughter, and happiness. If you're getting in shape, keep it up. If you're thinking about starting, I can't wait to see you you out there. There's never been a better time to challenge yourself. If I've learned anything from this decade, it's that anyone can achieve their goals.

See you in the next decade.

Getting back on track

It's been a strange time in the half-marathon training camp lately. I'm enjoying the feeling of training again; the thrill of running and pushing myself and continually improving every time. On the flipside, I'm also learning about the challenges of scheduling and completing said training as a team. It should have been obvious, but it's surprisingly difficult to co-ordinate three people multiple times per week. When it was just me, I could do whatever run I wanted whenever the mood struck. Now I find myself working around other people. It's not bad - far from it, I love running with them - but it's a strange experience after 18 months of solo work.

We're good for Monday, right? Right, Sally? Lookin' at you, Sally. Monday, yes?

Currently my wife has spent the last two weeks in bed with a horrible sickness, so Jodie and I have continued training at a good pace. I'm really pleased with how both of them are improving and pushing themselves to do better. I remember how good it felt to finish a challenging run with my legs still attached, so getting to see the satisfaction on their faces is absolutely wonderful. In fact, I think the ladies are doing even better than I did originally. My runs were often broken up with a short break to catch my breath halfway through. Not for these girls. They keep going and they push even harder during the second half. Colour me gobsmacked.

With each of us having to travel from entirely different parts of the city at different times of the evening, I tend to get to the gym first. That's good for me - I can hop on the treadmill and try to push myself to run as far as possible before they arrive. Once we're all in place, we can get to work and start training. It's working well so far.

I am a little concerned about the about of time we have left. I have every faith that Nikki and Jodie are going to smash it on the day - but that day is fast approaching. In fact, at the time of writing, there are currently 110 days until the Bath Half. That's really not long at all. it will be January by the time we complete the Couch to 5k training programme. After that, we'll really have to push ourselves to reach a decent distance.

Like I said, I know they'll knock it out of the park on the day. But getting to that day is going to be challenging. I have a funny feeling I'm going to be the one playing catch-up when the time comes!

Starting from zero

Well, here we go again.

A new challenge is on the horizon. In one hundred and thirty one days, I will tackle the Bath Half with my wife Nikki and our best friend Jodie. It's going to be a totally different experience to the London Marathon. Bath is a city filled with narrow streets, cobbled roads, and beautiful views. I have no idea what the course will look like, but I have a good idea what kind of places we'll be passing on the day.

We are running in aid of Bath Mind, a mental health charity that means a lot to us. The current goal is to each raise two hundred pounds in order to help people who really, truly deserve all the support that they can get.

A deserving local charity that we're going to support 100%

I have also signed up to run the Bristol 10k next May, with a group of total mad lads at work. That should be a lot of fun and I hope to have more details about this event soon. A half marathon in March and a 10k in May sounds like a hectic, challenging way to get back on my feet.

Since the London Marathon came to an end oh so long ago, I've really slacked off in the running department. I initally cut down my distances and managed to get pretty good at picking up the pace, but then things got pretty busy in my personal life. I married the woman of my dreams and enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon. This means that I've been eating a lot but doing nothing to shift the extra weight. I wanted to get out there and start running again, but never had the drive.

I've gained a good chunk of my former weight, too. Not a drastic amount, thankfully, but I'm now hovering in the 14.5 - 15 stone region. Considering that my weight after the marathon was a nose over 12.5, that's pretty freaking crazy. I know what I have to do. I know the challenge that's waiting for me. Now I have to pick myself up and start from zero and get back out there.


And this time, I'll have two other newbies along for the ride! I can't wait to get started again.

Roll the Credits

The 2019 London Marathon is a distant memory now and the fundraising money has been collected and passed to Crisis. I'm delighted to say that we managed to beat the £2,000 target! What a fantastic achievement. I've never done any kind of fundraising before, so this is a wonderful moment.

I want to take this blog post as an opportunity to thank a lot of people for all their help and support. Firstly, a monumental thanks to the vast list of people who generously donated money to the cause. You've all helped less fortunate people to get back on their feet and it's much appreciated.

Grandad Carol and Alisdair

Sara from Virgin Money

June

Caroline Friend of your mums

Stephy Tweddle

Sophie

Alex

The many anonymous donors

Matt

Heather Parker

Ela

Danni and Cliff

Kim

Everyone at the Integral CSC

Friend of your Mum

Lisa Wylie

Aaron Morgan

Sarah and John at Water Matters

Sue - friend of your Mums

Charles and Rach

Chris H

Ben G

Future [and now current] Mrs Mason

Hannah

Rich

Connie Marchant

Christine Rodgers

Scott and Jo

Mum & Dad

David H

Daniel Watts

Ravi Krishnamurthy

Sarah & Alex

The Lucke’s

Fran

ASW

Phil

Felicity Hamilton

Julie W

Hollie and Jamie Cassettari

Sarah and Andy M

Lew Wilson

Bernard McPhail

Ross

Sam

Harry

N Garland

Liz Boult

Jess Burton

Secondly, I want to thank everyone who made this insane journey possible, both from my company and the lovely people at Crisis. There are a lot of names I've probably forgotten (and I'm so sorry about that!), but the names I can remember include Amanda from Integral, Neil and Gemma from JLL, and Rosie and Anna from Crisis. Thank you all for giving me the chance to fulfil a lifelong ambition and supporting me every step of the way.

Finally, I want to thank those in my life who supported me each and every step of the way. My (now) wife Nikki, my family and friends, and everyone who cheered me on during that incredible day and the seven months of hard, hard training that I completed in the build-up.

Sincerely, thank you all.

The 2019 London Marathon is over, but my next challenges are on the horizon. I'll be sharing more details soon and getting back into running shape. Can't wait to get started!

The aftermath

It's all a memory now. Everything I experienced - the sights, sounds, smells, and laughter - are all in the past. It feels like the strangest, most vivid dream I've ever had. All the work and stress and pressure it took to get ready and feel confident going into that day - it's behind me now. I have nothing left to worry about. It's a weird sensation. One the one hand, I'm elated every time I think about it. On the other, I'm sad that there's nothing else to work towards.

Nothing except stand in ankle-deep water and gaze whistfully into the distance.

So I took the first week off. Once the marathon was done, I promised that I wouldn't do anything active for a full seven days. Seven months of hard grind, seven days of unfettered laziness. You know what happened? I was bored after three days.

I ate everything I wanted - curry; pizza; chocolate; those Easter Eggs I'd been so good in saving for over a week; burgers; everything. You name it, I ate it. My gut was a bottomless pit for the entire week. Usually I eat like a starving man for a full day after a long run, but this was a new record (or a new low, depending on how you want to view it).

What surprised me the most was how little pain and discomfort I experienced. No lasting aches. No throbbing muscles or agonised joints. Not even that unpleasant shifting and grinding of tendons and muscles in my feet. The only sensation I felt was a tightness in my upper thighs that lasted for two days. By Wednesday, it was gone. I could walk around and do everything like normal. Nothing to stop me. It was like I hadn't spent five hours running twenty six miles.

After a full day of doing absolutely nothing (except catching up on videogames and eating all the sweet in the house), I returned to work and received a wonderful welcome. Banners, balloons, champagne - even a rapturous applause. The best start to a work day that anyone could ask for. I work with some really amazing people.
 

Cake and booze? You know me so well!

The only physical activity I allowed myself was the usual lap of the park at lunchtimes. Other than that, I remained on my arse for the whole week. At first, it was blissful. But after just three days, it was so boring. I wanted to get back out there, to stretch my legs again and feel the wind on my face. The last few days dragged past, almost tormenting me with repeated sights of people running and training for next year's London Marathon. It really is fantastic to see so many people pounding the pavements. I'd like to think that I'm part of the reason for the new wave of eager runners getting into shape for the first time. It feels almost as good as running the Marathon itself.

My weight has bounced all over the place recently. I weighed 12.12 stone the day before the marathon and 12.8 the day after. Once my lazy week was at an end, I weighed 13.4. It's so easy to pile on the pounds and so difficult to shift them again! I've started back at the gym now, with a new goal in mind - picking up the pace. I know I can run long distances. My new challenge is to try and see how quickly I can hit the old targets. I usually average around 30 minutes per 5K, can I do it quicker? Of course I can!

There's been plenty of other excitement besides getting my trainers back on. My brother has taken up running, now that his football season is over. He messages me every now and then with his progress. I love knowing that other people are getting into this hobby with me. It's great to see so many other runners out there, testing the waters and finding out their limits. That's the best part about running - your limits are not set and get pushed back further every single day.

But it's not just my brother who has gotten the bug. My fiance and her best friend have signed up to take part in the Race for Life 5K in June, a muddy obstacle course! They're already hitting the treadmill and getting ready to take on a fantastic new challenge. I can't wait to get out there and cheer them on! I'm so proud of them both.

So what's next for me? I've done the Big One, the most popular Marathon in the world. Where else do you go from that? I don't want to stop training or try my hand at something else - I'm addicted to running at this stage - so what can I do? Well... I've already signed up for my next challenge. Nothing quite as extreme as twenty six miles, but this time I won't be running alone. My fiance and her best friend will be running with me! March 15th 2020 is a long way off - but I already know how quickly time moves when you have something to achieve.

Can't stop, won't stop.

Thirteen miles through the beautiful city of Bath! Can't wait.

My stats from the day

Nothing much to say here. I wanted to have a more in-depth look at the stats recorded by both my Fitbit and the official tracking app. I like breaking down figures, hope you find this interesting, too.

Fitbit data, part one

Fitbit data, part two

Fitbit data, part three

Tracking app data, part one

Tracking app data, part two

I don't know about anyone else, but I like this breakdown. Good to see what I did. I especially love that burst of speed in the final stretch!