I went over the 1000 miles mark for 2009 today. Not probably as many miles as I should have done but I’m still chuffed. At least this year I have been a lot more consistent with my running and monthly mileage which is something I want to continue into 2010, along with upping it gradually so that by this time next yr the tally will be higher.

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Maybe I’ve missed something somewhere but have to admit to being a bit mystified by the news item highlighting a report which suggests that daily calorie counts may be underestimated (2,000 women 2,500 men).  Nooooooooo – that explains then why we’re all so thin ???

The draft report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition says that the recommended daily intake could be upped by 16% and provides a much more accurate assessment of how energy can be burnt off through physical activity.
Now, to be fair, it is reported that the panel stresses that people should only eat more if they exercise more, given rising levels of obesity. You don’t say…………..

To be fair, there’s probably something in the way this is reported and the BBC article  didn’t provide a link to the actual report. 
If you’re really keen you can read the full report here.

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I’ve eventually located my Dublin marathon photos in the “Lost & Found” section on MarathonFoto website. Thought for a time that this would be the second race this year where there was absolutely no photographic proof that I’d actually run the race!

It’s motivating and inspiring looking at the photos – (even in the ones where I look more expired than inspired!). It’s amazing how quickly you forget the pain, the aching calves, the semi-delirious thoughts at mile 25 that you’ve only got 1 mile to go and you will never, ever have to run this far again. Ha ha… Now, what am I signing up for next……

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Registration at the RDS took some time to get to on the Sunday afternoon as there were already diversions in place for the setup of the finish area. Picked up number and goody bag, only later discovering that evening that number was in fact the wrong colour for the time zone I’d put on the entry form – later found out this seemed to happen to a some other postal entries as well.

Did a bit of carbo loading at Wagamamas and played “spot the runner” game .

Kind B&B lady let us help ourselves to breakfast at some silly non-existent hour in the morning. I’m a bit superstitious and always bring my own little box of cereal mixture for race day as I know it works.

Half hour walk to start – distinctly fewer portaloos than previous years, more runners than previous years, so distinctly longer queues. Perfect weather – no wind and overcast although the sun did appear later.

Deposited bag in baggage area, off to start area, rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann (Irish national anthem) and half a rendition of Molly Malone, a few cheers for someone who seemed to get engaged to his girlfriend just before the start and then we were off.

And then 4:23 minutes later it was over …. oh the in between bit.  Lots of running, sore legs and mind games. Won’t bore with mile to mile details (all a bit of a blur anyway) but it took me until about 8 miles to feel sort of comfortable. However, it was funny even by 20 miles I didn’t feel so much I’d run out of energy or heavy legs or anything, but just very tight sore calves (yes I know I need to stretch more….) and certainly by the end my calves were much sorer than in any previous marathon. Medal, usual quandry what size tshirt to take, and a nice cheese sandwich and apple in a bright red SPAR lunchbox. Then a shuffle/stagger to the Luas tram and back to the B&B.

Dublin marathon medal 2009

Then it was recovery time – shower, eat, post mortem, more eating/drinking etc etc.

Oh and then trying to fit an 18 pk of Tayto cheese and onion crisps (the original and best Irish crisps) into hand luggage without ending up with only crumbs! And no I haven’t eaten them all yet….

Tayto - Irish crisps

Dublin marathon website

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Just a timely piece of motivation passed to me by an elite runner the other day.

Think tired – feel tired – run badly

Think positive – feel positive – run well

Memorised for the inevitable part of the race where brain starts to scream “stop” and the negative thoughts seep in.

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Seven days and counting… actually 6 days 20 hours 57 mins….time for the butterflies to take residence in my tummy and the decisions on what top to wear, how many gels to carry etc etc. To be honest I’ve quite enjoyed my short taper runs last week – left the watch behind so no pressure or worrying about pace. The sort of fatalistic mindset that it’s all too late to do anything about it now anyway.

I’m not sure how I feel confidence wise about Dublin – on the plus side I’ve done the most consistent training I’ve ever done before a marathon which is good – on the down side I’ve felt a bit stale and lethargic the past few weeks which is not so good. As Mrs Tweedy tells Mr Tweedy “it’s all in your head” when he says them chickens are organised (fans of Chicken Run will understand!). Same could be said of marathon running or at least from mile 20 onwards!

6 days 20 hrs 54 mins now……. not that I’m counting you understand……….

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You’ve heard of the post-race blues – somehow I seem to have managed to do it the wrong way round and get pre-race blues. Normally at this point before a race (4 weeks) I’m starting to anticipate it, thinking about the course while I’m out running, what it will be like to finish etc etc – basically generally obsessing a bit about it. Not this time. Out of the blue last week for the first time I really did not enjoy running. Normally once I get out the door, it’s fine. Not last week. I hauled myself round my nightly 4 mile route but felt stale. I even asked myself why I was doing this at all.  I followed the JFDI principle but even this couldn’t get me out the door on my LSR on Sunday. I really could just not get my head round going out for 15 miles. So I didn’t – for the first time. I was worried. I am a runner. What was wrong? Then after not running for three days I went out again – it was okay again – so it came out of the blue but now I was out of the blues again. Sometimes maybe we really do need a break – just knowing when can be the difficult thing and when we just need to get on with it and out the door.

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So it was just me for dinner tonight. When that happens often the baked beans make an appearance…which they did tonight…along with a strange combination of whatever was left in the veggie drawer of the fridge. I can confirm that rocket (wonderful homegrown variety thanks to a neighbour) compliments beans very nicely. Being a bit of a rocket fan I just stop short of having it on my cereal! Final version of dinner:

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Recently I’ve been feeling a bit below par, a bit sluggish. I’ve been still putting the miles in but it seemed a bit of a slog. Firstly my knee started to give me a bit of bother – running in shoes with 500+ miles on them wasn’t so smart I discovered and once I’d rid myself of £50 and acquired a nice shiny new pair of Asics 1140’s (and did some knee exercises) I’ve had no bother since. Moral of story – remember importance of changing shoes before reaching 500 mile mark.

Asics 1140 shoes

Secondly, as I’ve said it’s been a bit of a slog – basically because I was running all my runs at the same LSR pace. Today, taking some good advice on board, I varied my pace on my run and ended up running my 4 mile route nearly 4 minutes quicker than usual.

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There is an interesting article in Time magazine (read full article here) entitled “Why exercise won’t make you thin”. This is certainly a “hot” topic and ongoing issue for many runners, judging by the forum threads on Runners World. A common theme for many is that they train, run marathons etc and don’t lose weight. Been there – done that – bought the t-shirt!

We are served up so many conflicting “research” findings these days with regards to healthy eating and exercise that there comes a stage where we nearly switch off from these messages as we go into information overload. It can all seem so complicated and sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees.

You could read this article and take various messages from it. If you want an excuse to stop exercising then you could maybe find it here. 

The question is – why do we exercise – what do we want to get out of it – is it simply a means to an end?

My brain is becoming so numbed by so many conflicting “health” messages that I need to simplify it down for myself or I’m in danger of going mad! For me the bottom line is still – moderation – cutting out food types completely, banning certain foods only leads to unhealthy obsessions. BUT if you eat more than you need you will not lose weight.  It’s as simple as that. And we need to move more as I think we often grossly over estimate how much movement we do in a day and how many calories we actually burn. Also using food as a reward is always a dangerous and slippery slope.

For me running is about so much more than weight loss (and a good job too!).  Running is about freedom, empowerment, relaxation, de-stressing, challenges, pushing limits, exploring new places…..

And yes I still want to lose weight – to do that I think I need to take my own simple advice – move more and eat less.

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