Tale of two cities

 My wife has commented that in recent weeks the blog has digressed from its original intentions as an aide memoir about training and the MDS to a generic social update. As I am in the thick of events I think that the blog will be more in sync with the original objectives over the coming months.

Since the last post I have completed the Paris Marathon and then supported my sister in her success at the London Marathon. Whilst spectating is less physically demanding, it is quite stressful trying to secure a good viewing spot and mentally draining trying to pick your runner out of the masses.

On Sunday 15th, I completed the Paris Marathon in 4 hours 23 minutes , which is obviously a lot slower than my target time of 3:30. Looking at my splits, I was on track until mile 9, with an average pace of 8 minute miles, but from that point the gap between my average pace and the 8 minute mile target widened, widened and widened. By mile 22 I was shot and completion became my sole goal. The last four miles became a death march with each one taking 13 minutes. As I managed to keep an 8 minute mile pace up until 16 miles and I also did 1:42 at my most recent half marathon I had a suspicion that my time to fall short of 3:30 but I didn't see 4:23 coming. I think I learned a valuable lesson that it is "a marathon not a sprint."

It is quite good that I waited a week to post this blog as if I had updated it close the race it would have been as dark as a Tim Burton adaptation. Sunday, and most of the week, was spent being a bit introspective and looking over reasons that I didn't meet my pre-race expectations. I think it was a mixture of a bad day, not eating enough over breakfast and over optimism when transferring my half marathon time to the full distance.

I didn't really stick to my usual pre-race breakfast and only had a few eggs plus a couple of pastries. I think that might have contributed to the legs fading. In addition,  I think 3:45 might have been a more realistic target as doubling my recent half marathon time and adding 10% would have come out at 3:47, but never mind. In hindsight I would still have given it a go and will have another crack at a future race :-)

Still, I would recommend the Paris Marathon as I had a great weekend in Paris with friends (well done Tina for a great time), it is another marathon under my belt and I raised £320 for Mencap through the sweep stake. Alina Tomziak won first prize of £30 with Jules Nugent and Nigel Rodford picking up £10 each for finishing second and third respectively. It seems strangely poetic that when Alina pulled number 100 out of the hat first I dismissed her chances of winning, almost out of hand. Oh marathon running you cruel mistress. See below picture of Tina and myself proudly displaying our medals:

One word of advice I would have for anyone doing a marathon sweep stake for charity would be to have a narrower range of tickets. I went with 30 second ranges but I would maybe go for 20 seconds which would mean you have a reduced spread between your fastest and slowest time. I would also have a reduced number of times faster than your PB too.

Still the main positives to take out of the race is that, as mentioned above, I have completed another marathon and I haven't been forced to reassess my opinions of France. If I had done a PB I would have begrudgingly been forced to upgrade from sporting hatred to mild contempt.

The start of the week was spent recovering. I didn't do anything for the first three days but then got back in the pool on Thursday and Friday to start the preparation for the 10k on 27th May. I also was looking forward to Becs coming back to London for a few days from Saturday.

As mentioned above I spent Sunday watching my sister doing the London Marathon. It was amazing and I was very proud to see my sister realise one of her lifetime goals. She also proved to be a great inspiration as she had a bit of a wobbly bit between mile 9 and 18 but then got back in the game and amazinly got stronger with each passing mile. She went over the line in 5:15 and looked great in the picture I took at 25 miles:

One thing that was striking about the marathon was that the Parisians haven't taken it to their hearts in the same way as Londoners feel about it's own one. Not only was the number of spectators quite low (estimated only 220,000 people in Paris versus over a million in London) but there were quite a few examples that prove that they find the whole thing a bit of a nuisance to them. As there was no barriers on the route there was countless cyclists and people on roller blades on the route. There was loads of people crossing the route. I saw a family crossing with suitcases and Tina saw some crossing walking their dog. There was were even a couple of drivers sitting in the cars waiting for a gap to pull out none of the route was one spectators. In addition the lack of barriers proved too much temptation to some competitors, as a friend who watched his wife and me said there was a middle age man staggering through the 16 mile mark on a few minutes behind the elite men.

Next week: Depending on how my right foot feels I might get out for a run but primarily it will be swimming, swimming and more swimming. I also have my next fundraiser, five a side football tournament on Tuesday, which I am hoping will raise an additional £500 for Mencap.

TTFN...

Hong Kong Fuey

Short blog this week as was in Hong Kong and I used the break to ensure that I stuck to my tapering regime. Hong Kong is the perfect place to taper as they have a lot of escalators to take you up from the harbour to the middle and upper levels, taxis are ridiculously cheap and there are next to no running routes around the city.

Not only are there no parks worth running round but the pavements are teaming with people, they are cluttered with street furniture and full of dried shark fins displayed on blankets on the floor outside all manner of shops. If that wasn't bad enough I think every parent buys their children, that won't work in finance, a trolley on their 16th birthday as Hong Kong definitely has a 'have trolley will work' mantra about it.

I did manage one run, at 8 minute mile pace for 2 miles, round the only green space nearby Becs' apartment; a 200 metre circumference circle of grass with a statue in the middle of it. It was mind numbingly boring but the fact that I was joined by about twenty runners reiterates how sparse HK is for runners; I even saw someone running round it at 2 am...

Still, HK is great city and never ceases to amaze. It is ecliptic mix of oriental ethos and expat bankers. It is also a haven for people with a childish sense humour. Shops called Wanko and streets called Man Fuk Lane and Man Ming Lane make every street corner a potential Benny Hill paradise zone. I was similar amazed on this, and my previous, visit by the domination of 7 Eleven within Hong Kong. They must make more in one city than they make in the whole of the UK.

As adventurous as ever I sampled the local delicacies of crispy pigeon, black fungus and chicken feet. The pigeon was quite nice but the least said about the other two the better. I can still detect the faint taste of the sinewy gristle of the chicken feet. I should have known better than take any culinary advice from a race that bites off bits of crab still in the shells, crunches the shell and spits out the bits that can't be swallowed. Also whilst I enjoy using them chopsticks are ridiculous when you consider the advantages of a knife and fork...

I spent the most of this visit on the Outlying Islands and New Territories. I was also surprised by the amount of German people that came up to me asking whether I spoke German. See what you think about the picture of my moustache's day out to the Buddha on Lantau Island but I can't see it...

The moustache got the lack of approval from Becs that I expected but one bonus is now she doesn't hate the full beard quite as much as before. Besides the contempt of the tache took the attention from me shortening my stay at either end to go over Upton Park; wasted intentions after another disappointing result at home to Birmingham on Monday.

Still, Monday also contained a 3.7 mile run at good pace to keep the legs remembering how to run which was testament to a great flight home in Virgin Upper Class and the hour spent on arrival in their Revival Lounge having a shower and Eggs Benedict. I can't stand flying but it is a great perk of Becs' stay in HK that I could upgrade on the return flight and get a bed and good meal on the flight.

The final note of merit/thanks this week is the fact that I have managed to sell all the Paris sweep stake tickets. This means I have raised £300 for Mencap, that I wouldn't have otherwise raised. It has also triggered the gambling instinct in my friends, family and work colleagues. Ones with slower times threatening knee capping whereas others who randomly picked faster times are offering to carry my bag or discouraging me from going to the pub.

Next week: continue tapering, first big race of the season and then ramp up the swimming training for the 10k swim.

TTFN...

"Just like my dreams they fade and die..."

Disappointing end to the week with West Ham blowing the big game, but "I am forever blowing bubbles pretty bubbles in the air."

Still it was an interesting week, mainly due to some interesting changes in facial hair. The moral of the story is that if you are trying to clean your house of alcohol don't watch any George Harrison, Beatlemania and/or any 60s/70s nostalgia documentaries as you might think that one of the beards is cool and end up looking like this...

Still, in typical Deano fashion I turned a negative into a positive and seized an opportunity to increase awareness of the MDS at work and raise some extra money next year. Over the course of the week I decided to change my facial hair such that my prototypes for the Marathon Des Sables are set. The plan is that next year I will 'auction off' each facial hair style such that the one that raises the most money will be the one that I have for the race. I might regret this but if I raise more than a, to be determined, threshold I will have a Mohawk for the race too. Besides I could even follow B.A. Baracus' lead and combine the two to make a unique look for 2013:

The styles will be

1) The full beard (ironically the do nothing in all business cases)

I am sure by now people can visualise me with a beard...

2) What I am referring to as the George Harrison, above.

3) The 'Alexi Lalas' Goatee:

I will grow it longer :-)

4) The 'Morgan Spurlock' Handle Bar

5) The 'Magnum P.I.' tash

6) The 'Errol Flynn': To be done after the Paris Marathon,as West Ham lost the bet for me, or unless Becs attacks me in the night with a razor...

To keep it fun I decided not to do it hiding away in my bathroom but actual modelled each style each successive days at work. If looks were worth a thousand words I think my boss, and many others at work, slightly, approved of the goatee and Magnum P.I. looks but was shocked by the George Harrison and Handle Bar. Besides I felt I was definitely on the shop shelf on the '70s porn handlebar' day as I got a lot of looks from men in tight trousers...

I even managed to convince a Reading mate to have a sportsman bet that whichever team lost on Saturday, he gets the draw as the away team, would have to keep the moustache for a further two weeks...

Fee free to propose alternative beard/taches...

Training summary:

- Monday: Recovery day
- Tuesday: 874 metres swimming
- Wednesday: 45 minutes spin class
- Thursday: Rest Day
- Friday 19 mile run in 4 hours.
- Saturday: Recovery Day
- Sunday: 3k swim

Week total: Running, 19 miles; cycling, 45 minutes; and Swimming, 3,874 metres

The run on Friday was great. Not only was it my last long run before the Paris Marathon but it was also very rewarding to see Carol complete the last 19 miles of the London Marathon route, from Greenwich, so she knows the landmarks. It also made me witness Carol taking out a man at Canada Water station. I suppose it was Carol's fault as he was looking the traffic flow in the opposite direction but it was funny to see how high he jumped as she screamed down in ear and embedded her nails in his chest.

It also provided Carol the opportunity to run in warm conditions for the first time so she will be prepared if Marathon day is a hot one. She really struggled during the middle section but had the endurance and mental toughness to knock out the miles after this picture as we crossed Tower Bridge.

It also meant I saw one of the best road signs yet as we were heading east on Narrow Street:

Carol won't thank me for saying this, but she was quite emotional at the end of the run when we got to Mall. I think it was a mixture of doubt, relief of finishing a tough run and realising the next time she's at that point she will have a finished the journey to completing the marathon.

I always say that one of the best bit of a challenge is standing on the start line, not knowing whether you have what it takes to complete the event, as you find out more about yourself at that point than years in your normal environment. It is human nature to doubt and requires mental toughness to pull through. Carol is a tough cookie and us Deane's have a stubborn streak that runs through our veins such that she will pull through the tough miles that everyone has during a Marathon.

Saturday was the regular disappointment that I am getting used to. West Ham played extremely well for 40 minutes had Reading on the run but progressive got deeper and more nervous before they played on it and scored goals at precisely the right times. They even managed to give me the glint of a chance of a comeback before snuffing that out with a fourth goal a few minutes later. Just means I have to keep the tache for a while...

I suppose I am going to have to go to HK safe in the knowledge that we have completely cocked it up and thrown away all the hard work over Christmas getting pole position. Still, as the club song says, if dreams fade like bubbles reaching the sky all you can is blow another bubble and see how high your next dream gets. Barnsley away next Friday and Birmingham at home on Easter Monday after I get home from HK. IF we could just get 6 points, IF Southampton could drop points and IF Reading could drop some points things could still turn out for the best. Still, I don't want it to sound like sour grapes but part of me wants Reading to go up simply for the odious unsporting manner they celebrated their win. I have never seen a team ignore their fans and come up our end to celebrate the win. For that I really hope they get promoted so that I can see them get smashed every weekend next year on Match of the Day. I also didn't touch any of the non-alcoholic beers on Saturday evening either...

Sunday was at the Lido. I know I said I wouldn't be going there again but the lake in Essex that I was planning to go to isn't open for another four weeks.

Next week will be spent tapering in Hong Kong; carbo loading on Noodles, topping up with Sushi and having a few liquid lunches of the non-sport shake variety. It will also mark a year to go to the Marathon Des Sables.

TTFN...