Training Diary of Andy Mitchell as he prepares for the London Marathon 2008

Monday 10th March

2008-03-10T10:50:00.001Z

Mon 25th - 7 miles

Tues 26th - Could not run - Jayne out for the night

Wed 27th - 10 miles - felt a little tired at the end which is a bit worrying

Thurs 28th - Could not run as we travelled up to Bristol for a wedding

Fri 29th - 11 miles - managed to run before the wedding. It was hard work all the way - getting worried why this is happening, shouldn't this distance be a doddle.

Sat 1st- 12 miles - Again seemed to be hard work all the way. It was hilly which I am not used to. I actually had to stop up one steep hill, which I have never done during a run. I don't quite understand what is going on. Why am I feeling so tired and lacking energy.

Sun - Rest and drive home from Bristol

Mon 3rd - 4 miles - No energy what so ever, what has happened to me? I have gone backwards.

Tues 4th - No run - not feeling 100% - coughing a lot.

Wed 5th - On a course after school - got home at 8.30 - no run - still coughing especially at night - this doesn't help.

Thurs 6th - parents evening at school - got home at 8.30 - no run - still coughing and not sleeping very well.

Fri 7th - Jayne out tonight so no run possible even if I felt well enough.

Sat 8th - Swimming with my daughters in the morning - thought I would give it one more day of rest and an early night to see if that would help. It feels that this infection has gone to my chest. Not good. This is meant to be the time when I am really clock up the miles.

Sun 9th - After church I went for a run and managed 8 miles. Felt quite tired at the end. I needed to see how it went. Still coughing up bad stuff so I think it needs a visit to the doctors tomorrow. If I need antibiotics, I need them now so that I waste no more time. I have to run the Hastings Half marathon next Sunday. Still feeling very depressed about it all. I have worked so hard and now it all seems to be going peared shaped.

2008-03-05T14:31:00.001Z

Thurs February 14th - Saturday 16th Did not do any running as I felt rather run down and lethargic. This feeling always seems to happen when I am holiday.

Sunday Feb 17th - Felt better today so ran 14 miles. I felt really good and it was a lovely day running along the estuary.

Monday Feb 18th - Rest Day

Tuesday Feb 19th - 9 miles

Wednesday Feb 20th - Did not run as I had to prepare a speech I was giving to the parents tomorrow at school.

Thursday Feb 21st - Did not run as it was preference evening at school - arrived home at 9.30.

Friday Feb 22nd - Ran for 6 miles but not feeling to great.

Saturday Feb 23rd - 21 mile run. This was hard work. Did not feel that good after 6 miles but I was determined to run for 3 hours. Did not feel that relaxed at any point. Found a good new route though but did not have much confidence after the run.

Sunday Feb 24th - Rest

Monday Feb 25th - 7 mile run. No real aches and pains after Saturdays run. A busy week ahead again. I am really struggling to find the time to run during the week. I am a bit worried that my training is losing its intensity.

Tuesday Feb 26th - Wife out for the evening so looking after the children. No run. Spent the evening trying to get all my work done so that I could have a long run tomorrow evening.

14th February

2008-02-14T11:21:00.003Z

This was a busy week at work, so I struggled to get a decent amount of mileage in.

Monday 4th Feb- Rest Day after Sunday Run - I didn't feel too bad. I also had a meeting at school - got back home 8.15pm so would have had no time for a run.

Tuesday 5th- Meeting after school -6.15pm return - dinner and put the girls to bed. Managed a 6mile run.

Wednesday 6th - Bowling after school - 8.00pm return - ran 6 miles.

Thursday 7th- Parents evening - 9.00pm return - no time for a run.

Friday - Was going to Bristol but my wife wasn't very well so decided to leave the trip to Saturday. Managed to get in a 10mile run.

Saturday and Sunday - visiting my sister in law in Bristol so unable to run at the weekend.

Monday 11th - Need to get a long run in having had a easy week last week. On Half Term so I can run in the day time! Managed a 20 mile run around the sea wall. Took 2hr 45min. Legs very numb at the end. I can see those last six miles will be agony. Pleased with my progress considering I only had a little water with me. Forgot to buy jelly babies......

Tuesday 12th- No run after yesterday's efforts - good job as I feel sore today. Had some alcohol for the first time since Christmas, not a good idea don't think I was fully hydrated. Felt very guilty.

Wednesday 13th - Struggled today (pay back for the alcohol?) but managed a 4 mile run.

4th February 2008

2008-02-04T11:18:00.000Z

Monday 28th - 4 miles

Tuesday 29th - Rest

Wednesday 30th - 13 miles - felt very good, got a bit bored and cold. Think I might need to invest in some better quality clothing instead of my cotton shirts and try an Mp3 player.

Thursday 31st - Rest

Friday 1st Feb - 6 miles

Saturday 2nd - 3 miles - felt really drained. I found it very hard work, don't know why. I have got a half marathon tomorrow. At the moment it feels like I will be walking some of it. I will try and stock up with carbohydrates to see if that helps.

Sunday 3rd - Great Bentley Half Marathon. Picked a cold and windy day to run my first official half marathon. The course is very flat and fast but very open so the wind could play a part. After my initial worries yesterday I felt good all the way round, the start was very slow but in a way that helped. Time 1hr 38mins. Jayne and the girls were there at the finish. A good day.

29th January 2008

2008-01-29T10:36:00.000Z

Monday 21st - Could not run due to an awards evening for some students in my year group.
Tuesday 22nd - 6 miles
Wednesday 23rd - 10 miles
Thursday 24th - Could not run due to a parents evening
Friday 25th - 6 miles
Saturday 26th - 16 miles - felt good at 12 and pleased with my progress- looking forward to next weeks half marathon at Great Bentley
Sunday 27th - 4 miles

21st January 2008

2008-01-21T12:05:00.000Z

Monday 7th - 4 miles
Tuesday 8th - 4 miles
Wednesday 9th - 6miles - my birthday - that's dedication for you!
Thursday 10th - 5 miles
Friday 11th - 3 miles

Saturday 12th managed 11 miles. What a run - muddy fields and a strong head wind along the furthest part of the run - agony, I will not do that again!! Lovely scenery but you do not really notice it when you are battling against the wind. Today, for my birthday I bought myself my marathon trainers - absolute bargain! Sorry Dan their Reeboks (I mention their name in the hope of sponsorship!)

Sunday 13th - 3 miles
Monday 14th - 6 miles
Tuesday 15th - 4 miles
Wednesday 16th - 6 miles
Thursday 17th - 4 miles
Friday 18th - Day off

Saturday 19th - 13 miles. Jelly babies and water didn't seem to help - can't see how i will ever reach 26. That was hard enough. This was a bit of a wake up call.
Sunday 20th - 6 miles - slightly slower pace - felt really good - cheered me up after yesterday's agony.

7th January 2008

2008-01-08T10:44:00.001Z

I didn't manage to run on Wednesday as the illness decided to get worse. Did not start to recover until Sunday, just in time to return back to school. I have become very frustrated and worried that this lack of training will really set me back. It has been nearly two weeks. What a waste of a holiday. Today, Monday I went back to school and felt alright so I went for a run in the evening. I managed 4 miles. I didn't want to over do it. Lets see how I feel tomorrow.

I have just entered two half marathon's -
1) Great Bentley Half Marathon - 3/02/08
2) Hastings Half Marathon - 16/03/08
I have stated that I will be running for Hammer Out but obviously raising money is difficult as people are sponsoring me for the London Marathon. If you would like to sponsor me, please add the sponsorship to my just giving page, and put in the comments which event you are sponsoring.

Thanks

1st January 2008

2008-01-07T14:28:00.001Z

On Saturday 22nd Dec I was well enough to start training again. Went out for a short run, but felt so good it ended up becoming a 10 mile run. Sunday I managed to run 4 miles but it was a bit of a struggle after Saturday. As I knew I probably would not be running Christmas Day and Boxing day I went out on Monday and ran 8 miles and felt pretty good.

On Boxing day we travelled down to my parents in Hastings. On the Thursday I ran about 8 miles - Hastings has a few more hills than the Blackwater Estuary and it was a good test of endurance. IIllness then struck the Mitchell household in Hastings. First to go was my father and me, then my wife and finally my mother. I have not been able to run again for nearly a week. This is very frustrating and also worrying. If I am to beat 4 hours I cannot afford to waste this much time. It is now Tuesday, I still do not feel 100%, but I hoping to try a small run tomorrow before we return to Tollesbury.

Wednesday 19th December

2008-01-07T14:25:00.000Z

I went for my first run since getting a cold. My last run was six days ago and I was debating how far to run. It was a very cold and frosty night. I managed to complete a six mile run. My boredom was somewhat broken by Father Christmas who was visiting the every household in the village. Time was not very good and felt a little disappointed. I still had to get some marking done before bed.

Training Diary as Andy Mitchell Prepares for The London Marathon 2008

2008-01-07T13:50:00.000Z

To give you some background information, I haven’t played sport since my Hockey days at Enfield Hockey Club which ended in 1998. Since then I have done very little sport apart from the odd round of golf. Last Christmas 2006, I decided to try running to lose weight and conscious that the big four O was approaching. I started running regularly in April and found running 2 miles a struggle. By July I could run for 1hour 15mins covering a distance of about 9 miles. I took it very easy over the school holidays (I am a teacher) and started running regularly again in October.

This is when I was offered the Silver bond place by Hammer Out for the 2008 London Marathon. Since then I have run regularly; 3-4 times a week. During the week I run in the evening after putting the children to bed. My plan was to see how well I went up until Christmas and then get a proper training plan in the New Year. My goal is to complete the marathon in less than 4 hours. For the past two weeks I have currently been running three 6 mile runs a week and a 12 mile run at the weekend. However, last weekend I caught my first cold of the year and I was not able to complete my 12 mile run.