23rd January 2013
Original fund raising page
message
JR is on the run…
Hi, thanks for visiting my
page. As at 23rd January, I have just had confirmation of my
place running in the Brighton Marathon as part of the Arthritis Research UK
team. My running programme since Christmas has just about reached where I
was in the autumn when I ran half marathon distance. Just another 13
miles and 2-3 hours of running still to find!
I appreciate any encouragement
you can give and am particularly grateful for any donation to Arthritis
Research UK. I’m aiming to raise £1,000 and every contribution towards
this target is an extra incentive for me to keep running! I’m supporting
this charity because I know from experience in my family and amongst friends
the importance of on-going research to improve treatment.
Thanks and best wishes – John
28th January 2013
Message to first donations
Message to first donations
Thank you very much for the donation which is a big boost towards my
fundraising target.
As well as the fundraising I feel I am well on track towards my running
objective – I did 13.5 miles in 2.25 hours on Saturday (thankful for the break
in the cold weather). I should have had a rest day on Sunday but I ended
up at the gym and had my “rest day” at work today instead! Back on the
treadmill at the gym tomorrow and next weekend I’m planning on a step up to
16.5 miles.
I just read a worrying tip suggesting that I should limit myself to 2-3
cups of tea/coffee a day – I usually surpass that figure by 9.30am! There
is some advice you just have to ignore!
Thanks again and speak soon... John
2nd
February 2013: blind copy general update….
JR
still on the run and ahead of the game…
Hi
everyone,
It’s nice
to know that at the age of 48.55 years (to be exact) I met a new physical
challenge this morning in running a distance of 16½ miles. More than that
I did it in a time of 2 hours 31 minutes – I’m beginning to think that there’s
an outside chance I might break 4 hours for the Marathon. However, the
fact that for the last 2 miles it felt like I was running with a 5kg weight on
each leg is a cautionary note that my main aim is still just to complete the
26.2 mile distance with dignity intact! Before last September I’d never
run more than 5 miles (and that more than 30 years ago) - it goes to show
what can be achieved if you put your mind to it!
A story
about my mum…
Last
Saturday afternoon I was at my mum’s and told her that I’d run 13½ miles that
morning and that I was training for the Brighton Marathon. I emphasised
that the Marathon was being held on the day of her birthday – 14th
April. I also told her that I had to get away pretty sharp as I needed to
get home for overnight babysitting duty for my two grandchildren. The
next day I was at my mum’s again and she asked me how it had gone. I said
the children had been very good and that apart from one disturbance at about
1.30am (to find a lost teddy) and an early morning “wakeup call” at 6.15am all
had gone well. About 15 minutes later after I’d done some vacuum
cleaning round her flat we resumed our conversation and she asked me how things
had gone at Brighton! I have to say it’s nice to know my mum (bless her!)
has such faith in me but somehow when it comes to running in Brighton I don’t
think it will be on the back of a half marathon the day before, a night of
babysitting and definitely no housework for at least 24 hours afterwards!
(Sorry to anyone disappointed by that announcement).
Many
thanks for all who have visited my fundraising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnReece. [please note, my original fundraising site for Arthritis Research UK has been closed and as at December 2013 I have a new site fundraising for The Outward Bound Trust]
I’ve loved
reading the messages that have been left and am particularly grateful for the
donations to Arthritis Research UK for whom I am running in Brighton. As
of today the donations have reached the level of £200 and I’m still aiming for
a total of £1,000 by 14th April. Spending 2½ hours running
gives a lot of time for thinking and a number of the messages keep coming to
mind and certainly help me to keep going.
Hope
to catch up with you soon… John
3rd March 2013: blind copy general update….
JR in fancy dress run rumours…
Hi everyone,
Let me be clear from the start… I am not running the Brighton Marathon
in fancy dress!
However, I have to admit that in the last week I have taken to going out
on training runs wearing hat and gloves (not scarf)! Last Saturday (23
February) as I got up and looked out of the window to see snow falling and then
saw a weather forecast that referred to sub-zero wind chill, I thought it was
fairly ambitious to get out of the front door let alone go on a training
run! However, I had set my aim on extending my running distance having
completed 16.7 miles on each of the previous three weekends.
My new extended run adds a 3.7 mile loop at the end of my previous
course. This gives an added mental challenge to the run as at the point
that I complete 16 miles, less than a mile from home, I go off at a tangent to
run further away! I figure this must be pretty good mind training in
readiness for the last few miles of the marathon. Anyway, both last week
and yesterday I completed the 20.4 miles in just over 3 hours 10 minutes.
I’ve read a few times of the “wall” that marathon runners hit at about
20 miles. Having run this distance on successive weekends I’m not quite
sure if I hit the wall but I definitely found myself hanging on for the last
few miles yesterday. One article I read referred to some people who
consider “running through the wall” is better than sex! My mind boggles
in trying to imagine the sort of sexual experience that leads to that
assessment… it takes all sorts (see PS note)!
Looking ahead, with six weeks to go before Brighton, I’m looking to do
2-3 more runs of 20 miles and at least one of 23 miles (plus shorter runs in
between). However, the bit of preparation I’m looking forward to is the
final two weeks when I ease off on the miles and concentrate on “carb loading”
– that sounds much more fun!
Thank you again for the donations received so far. My fund raising page [ http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnReece ] [please note, my original fundraising site for Arthritis Research UK has been closed and as at December 2013 I have a new site fundraising for The Outward Bound Trust] stands at £320 but with cash donations and pledges I've reached £500 - half way to my target figure. The page has a couple of new photos added. One of these shows me about to set off on a run with "A Team" vest and my utility belf (as well as water bottles, just like Batman's utility belt, mine contains a "secret weapon" - my Oyster Card!). Another photo shows my regular running partner - a recurring blister! As the caption on the photo says... no gain without pain!
Thank you again for the donations received so far. My fund raising page [ http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnReece ] [please note, my original fundraising site for Arthritis Research UK has been closed and as at December 2013 I have a new site fundraising for The Outward Bound Trust] stands at £320 but with cash donations and pledges I've reached £500 - half way to my target figure. The page has a couple of new photos added. One of these shows me about to set off on a run with "A Team" vest and my utility belf (as well as water bottles, just like Batman's utility belt, mine contains a "secret weapon" - my Oyster Card!). Another photo shows my regular running partner - a recurring blister! As the caption on the photo says... no gain without pain!
All the best... John
PS Having been at White Hart Lane today I know one thing for sure…
running through the wall is definitely not as good as seeing Gareth Bale score
in a 2-1 win for Spurs over Arsenal!!!
I suppose, as training runs go, that
today’s was a useful experience in giving me every reason to believe I am ready
to complete the Brighton Marathon on 14 April. However there are other
lessons to learn…
One thing I’m glad about is that in the days leading up to the Marathon
I am not scheduled to be going to any rock concerts and my diet is likely to
involve an absence of alcohol for at least a couple of days before the
event (well – no more than very moderate intake!) . On the other hand,
this week has involved two consecutive nights out to see The Stranglers and a
certain amount of associated beer consumption!
Having reached home from the second of my Stranglers nights and crawled
into bed at 1am the odds were not looking too good that I would be running by
9.15am. As I looked out of the window
before setting off, I can’t say that the weather was a welcome sight, with
lashings of rain falling at a rather worrying angle!
Moreover, in the course of the run I found
that, by a strange quirk of nature, whichever direction I was running, I always
seemed to be heading straight into the face of the wind!
This, I had decided, was to be longest of my training runs and by the
end it was sheer grim determination that kept me going for the last 3 miles as
I reached a distance of 23.35 miles! My brother’s advice to me for the
Marathon has been to, “Run when you can, walk if you have to and crawl if you
must.” I did keep running today (for 4 hours!) but by the end I’d
dwindled to a pace that I’m sure, on fresh legs, I might have been able to walk
at! At least I was spared the indignity of anyone who was out on a stroll
actually overtaking me!
Having run on ice in January, through snow in February and through
sweeping rain in March, I think the only
weather I haven’t prepared for is a heat wave!
As ever, many thanks for the donations to the charity I am supporting - Arthritis
Research UK.
My fundraising page [ http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnReece ] [please note, my original fundraising site for Arthritis Research UK has been closed and as at December 2013 I have a new site fundraising for The Outward Bound Trust] is now showing
£400 plus and I have also been grateful to receive cash donations and pledges
which mean, overall, I am pushing towards the £600 mark. The donations
have been a big incentive for me to keep running and on mornings like today I
need every motivation that can be mustered!
All the best… John
8 April 2013: update…
Run Reece, run…
Just the other day, I was asked why I had decided to run a
marathon. I had to think for minute but the answer finally came to me, “A
bit like Forest Gump, I woke up one day and just felt like running!”
However, for the final two weeks of my training schedule I have to ease
back a little, so my last 20 mile session was a couple of weeks ago, through
sleet and a minus 3˚C wind chill factor.
In this final week – just as the weather has started to improve – rather
than running I’m having to concentrate more on nutrition and in particular look
to do a bit of “carbo-loading” (carbohydrates) to build up the glycogen levels
in my muscles. Having run all my training sessions by myself, suddenly a
few people have said they would be quite happy to help me at this stage in my
preparation!
My current thinking (let’s see if it lasts the week) is go alcohol free
until after I’ve finished the marathon. I’m not so sure that this will
lead to any significant dietary advantage but I’m absolutely sure it gives me
an added incentive to get to the finish line!
Many, many thanks to all who have contributed to my chosen charity, Arthritis
Research UK.
I’ve now received 34 donations adding up to £562 through my fundraising
page [ http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnReece ] [please note, my original fundraising site for Arthritis Research UK has been closed and as at December 2013 I have a new site fundraising for The Outward Bound Trust] and 24 donations
through a traditional sponsorship form, adding up to a further £246.
That leaves me less than £200 away from my fundraising target of
£1,000.
I hope very much that I’ll be at the starting line on Sunday having
reached the first of my targets and that 4 to 4½ hours later I’ll have reached
my second.
I am so looking forward to sending my next update to say how I got on!
All the best… John
17 April 2013: update…
Did Reece concede to madness
at mile 14….?
Did I concede?
Not quite, but I think it was
the guys in white coats chasing me from mile 14 onwards that got me over the
line!
Things had gone pretty well
until the 14 mile point but at that point I faced a big dilemma as the course
took a steep right hand turn, heading off into the far distance before looping
back to the 18 mile marker literally yards in front of me. Should I skip
across the lane and complete the “next 4 miles” in a matter of seconds? Or
should I accept the growing discomfort and pain over a further 40
minutes? That was a terrible temptation to put before a man who had been
running for 2 hours, who had tendon ache in his left foot and who was beginning
to feel nauseous from the ingestion of energy gels and fluids! My
virtuous side (what there is left of it) won the argument and on I went, the
long way round. By the time I had legitimately reached mile 18 I really
was ready to plead insanity – what else was keeping me going?
By this point the optimistic
pace of 9 minute miles that I had kept going throughout the first half of the
marathon had dwindled to 10 minute miles and was inexorably heading northwards
with each successive step. I was now entering the stage of the Brighton
Marathon that is known as the “Saucony road to hell” – 3 miles that take you to
the most westerly part of the course, a power station at Portslade by Sea,
approximately 21½ miles into the course. A few things stick in my mind to
confirm the description of this stage of the course – most particularly is the
fact that the power station chimney, which can be seen from miles away, seems
to remain obstinately distant, no matter how long you feel you have been
running towards it! This with the aforementioned pain and nausea, and the
alarming rate at which my legs seemed to be gaining in weight, brought about a
genuine feeling of misery for the next 30 or so minutes.
Even the sense of relief at
finally reaching the power station was tempered by the fact that, having looped
round to face eastwards, while I could see Brighton pier (which marked
the 26 mile point), it was in the far, far distance – I’d not realised that 4½
miles would seem so far. Things were now getting pretty desperate – my
running pace at this point was down to 11m 45s per mile and on this basis I
knew that I had at least 50 minutes to go. I’d had to ditch the ambition
of a 4 hour marathon shortly after my mile 14 experience and I now realised
that 4 hours fifteen was pretty much out of the question but there was no way I
was going to give up on sub 4½ hours without one hell of a fight!
In hindsight it is interesting
to have witnessed the conversation that went on in my head over the next 4½
miles – one voice urging and pleading me to stop and the other countering that
all I had left to do was a distance that I do week in week out on the treadmill
at the gym. A couple more challenges faced me – the first, at mile 24,
was the sight of another runner – a man who looked younger and more of an
athlete than me - lying prostrate with four or five first aiders around
him. That was almost the trump card for the voice of doubt in my mind and
for a moment I was almost convinced that I was about to keel over myself.
Having had the experience in the distant past of being on the verge of fainting
(in all honesty, once or twice I went beyond the verge!) I was mindful to try
to focus my mind on something else but that was pretty difficult in the
circumstances! The last fling of the dice for the “voice of doubt” was
when I saw that my GPS watch was telling me that I’d completed 25 miles but I
could see the official mile marker was still some way ahead (about quarter of a
mile). That might not seem any distance to worry about now, but at the
time I felt a tremendous sense of injustice – the goal line had been shifted
(which as a Spurs fan I often find to be the case!).
But suddenly beyond all doubt I
was in the last mile – I even raised myself to punch the air as I went past the
Arthritis Research UK cheer team who were shouting their encouragement to
me. Even so, the finishing line, just like that chimney at Portslade, was
reluctant to seem any less distant and it was only in the last 10 metres that
it finally sank in that I was going to finish!
I’m not sure what emotion hit
me at first as I crossed the line but I do know that as my mind disengaged from
the torture of telling my legs they had to keep running, my legs seemed to
respond by saying they were going to stop functioning altogether! I just
about managed a shuffle, dragging my left leg behind me, through the various
stages of ‘repatriation’ – collecting my finisher’s medal and tee-shirt, silver
sheet, energy drink, banana, crunchy bars and finally collecting my kit
bag.
And what about Lesley - my head
coach, chief cheer leader, nutritionist, official photographer (and that’s not
the half of it!)?
It’s amazing but after a couple
of bags of crisps, a massage and finally some fish and chips I was ready to
contemplate the possibility of maybe another marathon in a year’s time – and
that was before I’d even had my first beer! I was even considering what
colour my local post-box might get painted!
I must once more say a big
thank you to all who have enabled me to move beyond my initial fundraising
target of £1,000. I hope you take a further look at my web page[ http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnReece ] [please note, my original fundraising site for Arthritis Research UK has been closed and as at December 2013 I have a new site fundraising for The Outward Bound Trust] which
has some new photos – courtesy of Lesley! There are a couple of me
running (mile 13 and mile 18), one when I at last reached Lesley and my
favourite which I’ve christened, “Brighton is mine”!
Very best wishes - John
PS I feel that at this time
some words are necessary in respect of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the
day after Brighton, and also the tragedy of the young man of 23 who collapsed
at mile 16 of the Brighton Marathon and subsequently died. It is with
huge sadness that I mark those events and, in respect of the incident at
Boston, a mixture of emotions and a resolve that we must continue to work
towards a day when such horrors are a thing of the past.
Final
fund raising page message….
In January
I ran on ice, in February I ran through the snow, in March it was gales and
sleet and finally on 14 April 2013 I ran in Brighton!
Having
never run a distance of more than 5 miles before September 2012 my original aim
for my first marathon was to finish in a time of 4.5 to 5 hours. In the
end I managed it in 4 hours 21 minutes!
I greatly
appreciate the huge amount of encouragement I received, particularly the
donations that enabled me to raise my fundraising target above the original figure of £1,000 and
finally reach a total of £1,430 for my chosen charity, Arthritis Research UK.
Many, many
thanks - John
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