Chirunning and the battle for Brathay 10 marathons...

Chirunning and the battle for Brathay 10 marathons...: On the farm, every Friday On the farm, it's rabbit pie day. So, every Friday that ever comes along, I get up early and sing this little son...

Chirunning and the battle for Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days survival. A quest for a new running beginning!

On the farm, every Friday
On the farm, it's rabbit pie day.
So, every Friday that ever comes along,
I get up early and sing this little song

Run rabbit - run rabbit -
Run! Run! Run!
Run rabbit - run rabbit -
Run! Run! Run!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Goes the farmer's gun.
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run.
Run rabbit - run rabbit -
Run! Run! Run!
Don't give the farmer his fun!
Fun! Fun!
He'll get by without his rabbit pie
So run rabbit - run rabbit -
Run! Run! Run!

(Noel Gay/Ralph Butler)

‘Run, Jeff, run, Jeff run.

Run Jeff – run Jeff –

Run! Run! Run!’

I’VE just spent a weekend being reconstructed as a runner.

Out with the stiff shoulders, the helicopter right arm and rigid upright running style.

In with the new relaxed shoulders, the pumping arms and short strides. Yes, a new runner has been born. Welcome to Jeff ‘Chirunning’ Prestridge.

‘Run, Jeff, run, Jeff run.

Run Jeff – run Jeff –

Run! Run! Run!’

Watch out Brathay 10 in 10 challenge. I’m coming to get you!

What a weekend! It was like going back to childhood as I sat nervously in a posh hotel on the outskirts of Dublin waiting to be deconstructed and then rebuilt to last by Catherina McKiernan.  Catherina is a former marathoner of note – a winner of the London, Berlin and Amsterdam marathons as well as a gold medal winner at the European Cross Country championships – so she knows her running inside out. You mess with Catherina at your peril!

I wasn’t the only ‘victim’. Also waiting to be deconstructed were an assortment of bankers, former civil servants and financial advisers all waiting to see what Catherina would do to re-energise their running lives.

First to the horror part. We were all videoed as we ran the length of the hotel car park. I won’t comment on my fellow video stars albeit to say that my running companion Joanna was by far the ‘Chirunning’ star but if my individual video ever went on public show, it would surely be rated ‘adult’ entertainment and not permitted to be shown until either after the watershed or only with the front room curtains tightly drawn.

My faults? Well, let’s start with the positives – I can put one foot in front of the other and on a good day do eight minute miles.

Right, that’s the good news over with. Onto the bad news:

1.  My shoulders are far too tense and on occasion I run with lop sided shoulders as the left one refuses to drop.

2.  My right arm has a life of its own with the result that rather than pumping away for my running benefit, it seems to want to twirl away like a helicopter. My three sons have always joked about this peculiar aspect of my running style and I’ve laughed it off. But seeing it on video makes you realise that I should have applied for a pilot’s licence a long time ago!

3.  My whole body is too rigid. I run to break away from the stress at work (I’m a journalist for my sins, constantly having to meet copy deadlines) but I now realise that I take most of the stress with me on my runs. I run as if I have all the world’s problems on my shoulders. It’s not pretty, it’s not particularly good for me and it’s not easy on the eye. Let’s be brutal. I am no bit of running eye candy.

4.  On occasion, my feet don’t travel in a straight line as I run. OK, it’s not zig zagging but it’s not far off and long term it’s not good for the knees.

5.  I overstride – rather than take short soft strides - with the result that I send shockwaves through my body that register on the Richter scale.

There’s more but let’s keep things clean.

So what are the remedies? Thankfully, Catherina has them in abundance and it’s all centred on Chirunning. As she constantly reminded us during the day: ‘if you have good posture and are relaxed, you will go a long way.’ 262 miles in 10 days? I hope so!

So, in future, I’m going to try and run with good posture, lean forward to take advantage of the forces of gravity, lift my heel rather than my entire foot and swing my arms to take a little pressure off my long suffering legs.

It all sounds so simple. It all sounds so sensible. And to see Catherina run is like watching a surfer glide over the waves. Her running action is as smooth as a bar of milk chocolate galaxy.

Will I be able to take it board and change the running habits of a lifetime (OK a tad over 14 years)? I’ll give it a try, especially if it makes the Brathay 10 in 10 challenge a little easier on the back, hamstrings and shoulders.

I’m determined to do my bit for Brathay Trust and raise lots of lovely dosh (justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge). Hopefully, Catherina’s Chirunning course will help me fulfil my side of the bargain.

As my Dad would sing – 30 years ago - while hopping down the garden:

Run rabbit - run rabbit -
Run! Run! Run!
Don't give the farmer his fun!
Fun! Fun!
He'll get by without his rabbit pie
So run rabbit - run rabbit -
Run! Run! Run!

blog One: 10 marathons in 10 days: Thoughts post the Gloucester Marathon

Thoughts post the Gloucester Marathon: We've had our differences and come through them Stumbled and crawled along the way but she means the whole world to me I won't ever le...

Thoughts post the Gloucester Marathon

We've had our differences
and come through them
Stumbled and crawled along the way
but she means the whole world to me
I won't ever let her go away

What a day, oh what a day-ay-ay
What a day, oh what a day
What a day, oh what a day-ay-ay
What a day ohhhh-oh-oh-oh, what a day

(Saw Doctors, What a Day, 1997)

WHAT A day, oh what a day-ay-ay. 26.4 miles (not 26.2 miles according to my Garmin Forerunner) of torture masquerading as the Gloucester Marathon.

Please, never again!

The day started off rather precariously as the alarm clock on my blackberry screeched into action at six o’clock, telling me in no uncertain times that it was time to get up and do battle in Gloucester, home of the gothic Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester Docks and Gloucester Rugby Club (disappointedly failing to get through to the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup).

Although I managed to switch off the alarm without having to get out of bed, the next ten minutes were dangerous. ‘Do I really have to do this blasted marathon?’ ‘Why not a recuperative morning in bed sleeping and listening to the Archers?’ These wicked thoughts raced through my mind.

A month ago, I would have been tempted to succumb to them. But today, I knew I had no choice. If I couldn’t be bothered to do the Gloucester Marathon, what chance do I have of doing 10 marathons in 10 days around Lake Windermere in May? None whatsoever.

At 6.10 I emerged from my pit, had a quick shower (with Original Source shower gel: Mint and Tea Tree – for more details visit www.originalsource.co.uk) and prepared for the chore ahead of me. Porridge (Quaker oats – apple and blueberry) embellished with banana and raisins were consumed as was a peanut butter bagel. I then prepared my protein drinks (professional eh) for the two hour car journey to Gloucester, a drink supplied by Team Nutrition (www.teamnutrition.co.uk).

I can’t say I felt good but my spirits were buoyed when I arrived at Seven Vale Sports Centre in Quedgeley to be greeted by a mob of 10 in 10 Brathay marathon super stars – Davey Green (looking as handsome as I’ve ever seen him); Jim Meta (a running metronome); Howard Bailey (jovial as ever); Matt Dunn (a super runner); Diane Shaw (a lovely, down to earth person); Rob Dallison (sporting some wonderful barefoot running shoes) and the running machine that is Steve Edwards (a phenomenal athlete).

To the run. What a day, oh what a day-ay-ay! It really was a question of mind over matter. Five miles and then three identical laps of seven miles. Tough? Yes. Cotswold undulations everywhere. And the wind made running difficult, especially when it was in your face as yet another hill presented itself for ascent.

Most runners were hardcore – with many sporting 100 Marathon Club shirts in recognition of their marathon prowess/madness. There were also Comrades Marathon badges galore (a 56 mile race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa – check it out at www.comrades.com). I felt a novice in comparison, especially since someone dressed as a nun ran ahead of me for most of the race and then sprinted off as if they had been called to an emergency mass.

The event was superbly organised (well done www.beyondthelimitations.co.uk) although the queue for tea and cakes was too long to join (it would have taken me 3 hours 58 minutes – my race time – to get to the front!). And I’m sure (as I said at the start) the course was a tad longer than it should have been.

Hats off to Matt Dunn and Steve Edwards who both ran magnificently. Indeed, hats off to all my fellow Brathay 10 marathon in 10 days colleagues. They were all magnificent on the day as they will be in May. And a big thank you to the gentleman who shouted ’10 in 10’ every time I passed him – I felt a bit of a super star.

I can’t say I feel brilliant as I write this. I am walking like a penguin although the Tiger Beer is helping my recovery! – sorry Team Nutrition). But one little snippet of joy. Some kind individual sponsored me £100 as a result of reading one of my tweets on the Gloucester Marathon. Thank you Dennis Hall!

What a day, oh what a day-ay-ay.

My blogs can be read at www.brathay.org.uk or via www.jeffprestridge.blogspot.com.  If you fancy sponsoring a 52 year old mad bad ginga (53 in May) – go to justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge. If you fancy a gander at the pictorial book I put together on my Coast to Coast walk in June 2011 – email me at jeff.prestridge@hotmail.co.uk  or jeff.prestridge@mailonsunday.co.uk.

Love you all.

What a day, oh what a day-ay-ay (I love the saw doctors).

blog One: 10 marathons in 10 days: Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days: Blog Four

blog One: 10 marathons in 10 days: Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days: Blog Four: Hey you, don't watch that Watch this! This is the heavy heavy monster sound The nuttiest sound around So if you've come in off the s...

Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days: Blog Four

Hey you, don't watch that Watch this!

This is the heavy heavy monster sound

The nuttiest sound around

So if you've come in off the street

And you're beginning to feel the heat

Well listen buster

You better start to move your feet

To the rockiest, rock-steady beat

Of madness

One step (marathon) beyond!
Madness (One Step Beyond, 1979)

MADNESS! Sheer madness! It’s a week since I met my fellow ‘10 Brathay marathons in 10 days’ colleagues  and I’m beginning to realise that we’ve embarked upon a task of herculean proportion. Madness! Sheer madness! One step beyond.

First, the good things I have accomplished since our little 26.2 mile reccie around Windermere last Saturday.

Number one: By hook or by crook (more the latter I would say) I have managed to run every day (OK just six days) since finishing my 26.2 mile Brathay marathon initiation. Now, some would describe it as fast walking but in my eyes, it’s running and I’m proud I’ve run when my mind has tried to make excuses (‘go to the cinema’, ‘go home’, ‘go and get some food from the canteen). Four milers, five milers and a seven miler have all been trotted out. Madness! Sheer madness!

Number two: For the first time in my running career (stretching back 14-15 years) I’ve taken on  board carbohydrates (orange and passion fruit flavour) before running – not JUST  before I’ve run but a COUPLE OF HOURS before. It’s what the sports nutritionist at Brathay told us to do and I’ve stuck to his advice. Has it made a difference? No, but I feel comfortable that I’ve listened, learnt and hopefully it will all pay dividends come May when I am carbo loaded up to the proverbial eye balls. Madness! Sheer madness!

Number three: I’ve managed to get the sponsorship (justgiving.com/jeff.prestridge) show on the road again. A nice little £500 donation via BACS from Cazenove (‘thank you very much’ as the Saw Doctors would say) has cheered me as has £420 of justgiving donations (thank you Derek French, Paul Nuki, Third City, Mark Lund, John Jory and Joe Wiggins). Still a long way to go to hit my charity target but I’m determined to help Brathay Trust carry out its crucial work with children. £100,000? A preposterous target? Maybe. Madness! Sheer madness!

Number four: I’ve marvelled at some of the things my fellow 10 in 10ers have been up to. Prime candidate for official 10 in 10 lunatic  has to be Lee Boyce who has put his ice bath experience (complete with beer) on you tube. Have a gawp at http://youtu.be/3Ez0PEuV-kY and laugh out loud. Madness! Sheer madness!

And to the bad things? Yes, I’ve drunk a little too much as usual, not helped by a splendid night out at Texture restaurant – check it out at http://texture-restaurant.co.uk/  Restaurants that also have champagne bars are lethal. Yes, I enjoyed myself (although not as much as the couple opposite who literally were undressing each other before my poor little eyes) but enjoyment is not good for fine-tuning the body into the lean mean machine it must become if the 10 in 10 is to be conquered. Champagne? Lovely. Madness! Sheer madness.

And I’ve not slept well. Someone needs to hit me over the head with a hammer every night! Any volunteers out there? I am sure a few would love to! Madness! Sheer madness!

Brathay 10 in 10? ONE STEP BEYOND!

    

The forthcoming conquest: 10 Brathay marathons in 10 consecutive days – read all about it at: www.jeffprestridge.blogspot.com   or if you feel generous and fancy sponsoring me (proceeds to children’s charity Brathay Trust) …. www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge   One last thought: if u would like to purchase my book ‘A beautiful Great Britain’ – a pictorial view of the 192 mile Coast to Coast walk – email and I will send details.

blog One: 10 marathons in 10 days: brathay 10 marathons in 10 days: Blog Three

blog One: 10 marathons in 10 days: brathay 10 marathons in 10 days: Blog Three: BLOG THREE: LETHARGY RULES LYRICS SUNG WHILE RUNNNG: “Candy came from out on the island, In the backroom she was everybody’s darlin...

brathay 10 marathons in 10 days: Blog Three

BLOG THREE: LETHARGY RULES

LYRICS SUNG WHILE RUNNNG:

“Candy came from out on the island,
In the backroom she was everybody’s darling,
But she never lost her head
Even when she was given head - she said

Hey Babe, take a walk (run) on the wild side,
Said hey honey, take a walk (run) on the wild side.”

(Lou Reed, walk [run] on the wild side, 1972)

MONEY RAISED FOR BRATHAY TRUST TODAY: £100

SOMETIMES, running is a walk in the park (by this I mean it is as easy as ABC).  You run like a gazelle and you suddenly feel liberated from life’s issues, life’s tedium, and life’s countless problems. It’s only happened to me sporadically but it’s orgasmic when it happens.

Today, I ran as if I was Atlas – carrying the world’s problems on my shoulders (and doesn’t the world have problems in this point of time).

I panted, I puffed and I screamed out for a bit of ‘oomph’ (energy) to get me out of neutral. I failed and must admit that by the time I got  my fifth mile under my belt in London’s Hyde Park I was kicking Egyptian geese out of my way in order to speed up (they were waddling quicker than I was running!)

Why the lethargy? Why the lack of zest? Maybe, a little bit of fallout from last weekend’s Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days initiation weekend. After the high created by the weekend, I’m now beginning to realise the scale of my challenge. It’s a monumental task which I underestimate at my peril.

Since doing the marathon around Windermere on Saturday (in a modest four hours and ten minutes), I’ve run every day (four consecutive days) clocking up more than 20 miles in the process. I’ve run when I haven’t wanted to run. I’ve run after a marathon when in past marathons I’ve given myself at least four days rest before running again. I’m breaking habits but I HAVE to. I’ve got to be able to run when I don’t want to. But it’s not easy and my body is telling me so.

Today’s running wasn’t helped by a lunch I had to attend in the City of London on the virtue of bonds. Although I stayed off the alcohol, contenting myself with a tonic water (a gin would have helped), the salmon mousse and lamb did lie quite heavily in the stomach. And even a brisk after lunch walk from Gloucester to Kensington didn’t allay the feeling that the lamb was quite happy to stay where it was:

“Jeffrey had a little lamb,
his fleece was white as snow,
everywhere that Jeffrey went,
that lamb was sure to go.

And you could hear them singing:
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.’

(Mary [Jeff] had a little lamb, Wings, 1972)

 A few energy sweets were consumed before the run – as was a protein drink. But they didn’t seem to work. Lethargy ruled.

Maybe tomorrow will be better. Maybe I will be the gazelle I hope to be. I’ll let you know (don’t hold your breaths – just donate via www.justgiving.com/jeff-prestridge )

Love you all. And love that wonderful charity called Brathay – www.brathay.org.uk

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