Sub 2.25 or Bankruptcy! by Thomas_Bedford

continued from part 1 (below this blog or here http://www.realbuzz.com/blogs/u/Thomas_Bedford/sub-2-25-or-bankruptcy/posts/the-final-chapter/)

Race morning

Negatives-

• Baked beans, sausages and bacon 2 ½ hours before a race is bad!
• Improvising rubbing your private area so you can borrow a Kenyan’s Vaseline in the toilet queue is not ideal 10 mins before a race but very amusing!

Positives-

• Great nights sleep.
• Relaxed and ready to go!

5m 35s a mile was what I was looking for the 1^st mile – My ugly makeshift watch gave me 4m 45s. It must be broke as well as being ugly because I felt comfortable. I decided to ask the two guys around what time they were hoping for. The first said sub 2.20 and the second said 2.22, the ugly watch must have been correct! They then asked me and I replied that I think I am in the wrong group and eased off the gas (I had no idea i would be seeing them later!).

Running 5.30’s felt good but i was cautious as I had been informed Dublin marathon is undulating for the 1^st 8 miles. I took this onboard and tried to relax as much as possible and use Ryan Hall’s advice from my last attempt and just try and fall asleep for the first half.

At 10 mile things started to take shape. I felt good and the group that had passed me two miles before were coming back to me. The ugly watch I had bought had no lap times that actually helped me break down the race into 2mile targets of 11mins dead. Not even I could screw that maths up!

I went through halfway in 72.04 and felt great. I was worried this pace would catch up on me later down the road but the wall never came. In my last attempt i started to feel bad at 16 miles but I felt very good and continued to gradually work my way past people. Infact at mile 13 I met a Welshman and asked him what his target was. He said he was also going for sub 2.25 so I shook his hand and said let’s do it. After half a mile I started to move away from him and really started to focus on 11mins/ 2 mile splits!

I continued to pass people upto mile 19 and then it was me and the clock. 11mins for two miles were comfortable and my aim was to get to 22 before getting excited. At mile 24 I was able to start looking at the finish and calculating backwards. I needed just 6min miles to complete the challenge. The only thing that was going through my head was £10,000 and much about the same for chairty for two 6min miles!

1mile to go- My legs were starting to hurt but I gave myself one aim – keep the stride length long!

½ a mile and I knew it was there without any problem. All I had to concentrate on was the celebration.

2:24.07

For a giggle look at some more photo's here

The relief was immense and I was in shock I had completed it in Dublin but, felt it was a just reward for the last month of illness and negative thoughts!

On reflection I was glad I surprised myself because I had been my own worse critic in training. I had convinced myself I was not fit enough and looked at what I had missed in training rather than how much i had done. Normally my pints are always half full rather than half empty!

So what now.....

Three years ago i got myself in decent shape for a bet and then walked away once I completed the task. I am feeling a little bit different after this attempt. I really enjoyed teaching myself a new event and now that I have completed it i am thankful for my shocking experience in San Diego 5 months previous. I feel as though I really changed my attitude and learnt respect for the marathon.

A famous quote comes to mind as i am writing this from a running legend and four time Olympic Gold medallist Emil Zatopek.

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon." Emil Zatopek

I certainly feel I experienced something from this bet and even thought of my own quote to describe the marathon.

“A marathon is a lady. Respect her and you shall get your rewards!” Tom Bedford

So answer the question Tom.... What now? Well I have enjoyed getting myself fit and proving that I was not just all talk and backed up my pub-lic statement! I think I can easily run sub 2.20 without much more dedication than this attempt. So for now let’s go for that...... The sad state of British marathon running means that I am 17^th in this year’s ranking of which I achieved off almost 1.5 years of training. I mean no disrespect to current marathon runners but the facts state this. I obviously have the talent and the ability to hurt myself in training, with the right dedication who knows what I could produce. I will certainly give it a good go for the next year and see what happens. Running ruins your social life which is something I enjoy a lot but, I guess I can postpone it for a little bit longer, right?

Thanks a lot for everyone comments and support over the last 1.5 years. Despite this originally being a simple pub bet it has given me the opportunity to help a great charity close to my heart (entoto foundation).I hope you have enjoyed this blog and maybe you would buy me a celebratory beer if we met in a pub (or not!)? Well the pub is on hold for a while so why not give your £4.00 to an ethiopian girl for a life saving operation? Makes sense to me and will take just 1 minute!

http://www.entoto.org/Tom_Bedford_Pledges.html

Bye......... for now!

A year and a half ago I took on a challenge that I knew was doable with the right training and I am very pleased to say that in Dublin I proved myself right! I have not written a post for a long time and I apologise for that but basically I decided to let my legs do the talking. I have split the final chapter into two parts as it was getting quite long....

After San Diego’s failed attempt (last June) I mentioned I needed to become a marathon runner and respect the event. Well, I got my head down and think I achieved it. I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason. Looking back over the last 3 months I could not agree with that theory anymore.

My journey from San Diego to Dublin started when I bumped an old friend Phill Sly on a run. It just so happened that both our Saturday nights had been quite heavy ones which basically means you run your Sunday morning run after the hangovers passed. I had not seen Phill for years and decided to follow him in the opposite direction to catch up and get some advice as Phill is a very good marathon runner. It would turn out that Phill would start setting my training put up with my mini strops!

Without going into detail we went into 3 months of intense training that mainly worked on my strength and endurance. A typical session would be an hour run at ok pace followed by 15mins of hill repeats. When I first completed this session I thought Phill was going to kill me but it turned out to provide a strong base that would be pivitol to completing my challenge.

2 hard months went by and I could feel the strength in my legs and was looking forward to running the Chicago marathon. Things then took a big step backwards after I increased my training too much too soon. I was struck down with tonsillitis that put me out for 2 weeks and meant I could not run Chicago. Luckily I was flexible enough to select a marathon two weeks later but felt my opportunity to run a sub 2.25 had passed. My confidence in sessions disappeared and my final month of training was psychologically very negative. Despite this I felt that running a marathon would be good experience and I tapered for Dublin.

 The Taper

I expected to start feeling great in my final two weeks but my body seemed to feel worse. Infact, the only positive thing to come out of my taper was a fortune cookie that told me “All your hard work is about to pay off!”

I told very few people about Dublin as I felt I was 3 mins off 2.25 shape. Entering the final week Phill and I agreed I should go for a time of 2.27. With the pressure now off I relaxed a little and enjoyed a few pints in my final week before heading to the airport Sunday morning.

Already in my young life I have a history of missing flights. I thought I had enough time to board but when i arrived I realised I had missed my flight! Apart from feeling a complete plonker, I had mixed emotions about missing it. With all the negative thoughts during my taper I was faced with a possible 'get out now' option and contemplated going straight home and forget about the race. I asked myself some very serious questions. I then made a big decision that if I could get to Dublin I will race on one condition – That I would 'man up' and take Dublin as a nothing to lose situation. I decided too run and now had the adrenaline flowing through my body on coach ride from Luton airport to Stanstead airport to catch the next plane to Dublin. Suddenly I became really positive and felt good about running a sub 2.30 marathon. It was a step in the right direction. What the hell, lets rock 'n' roll!

As you may have discovered from my airport fiasco, I am not the most organised person in the world. I like to think I choose to spend more of my life 'living' rather than planning to live! In reality I am just a complete muppet! At the hotel I went through my race kit and realised one important equipment was missing….. No Watch! Its 6pm on a Bank Holiday Sunday – where am I going to find a watch? I put my tracksuit on and ran to the city centre 10 mins away. All the sports shops had shut and only two possibilities – TK Max or Marks & Spencers. No joy in TK Max. I managed to find the ugliest looking sports watch for £20 in the xmas gift section in M&S. As I’m paying for the watch I have a little chuckle that out of the 50 or so elite and club runners in the race, I have to be the only one running around Dublin looking for a watch nearly 12 hours before the race!

Back to the hotel for some pasta, a cheeky beer, cold bath and sleep! I don’t know how I did it but despite my stupidity I was so close to getting myself to the start line!

Continued part 2 (http://www.realbuzz.com/blogs/u/Thomas_Bedford/sub-2-25-or-bankruptcy/posts/sub-2-25-without-bankruptcy/)

hello peeps...

Been a while but i have been a very busy boy!

Training and working has taken control of my life. I know training is going well when my social life gets boring and I start acting like its my stag party when i finally get on the beers! I race in two weeks in Bristol and hope to decide then if i will run the Chicago marathon 11th October or give myself another two weeks and run the Frankfurt marathon. 

Just got back from a very fun trip to Berlin where I watched an extremely well organised championships. Berlin did a great job and will certainly get my vote when they go for the next European Olympics!

I did not think I would be amazed by the Bolt Show again but I reacted the same way Michael Johnson did during the 100m! Wowza!

There were some great races during the championship that were down to a change of guard in many distances. The 800 and 1500 for the men and women were very open and all lived up to expectations. The only failing of the championships was the female 800m winner Caster Semenya and that fault lies at the feet of the iaaf (again).

I did enjoy a bit of banter with many people over the South African's gender (the top national anthems she should have collected the medal too are as follows:

Man I feel like a woman! - Shania Twain

Girls and Boys- Blur

Stand by your man - Tammy Wynette (especially the lyrics 'Sometimes It's Hard to Be A Woman')

I'm every Woman - Whitney Houston

and my personal favourite:

Can You Feel It? - Jackson Five

Pub jokes aside, I find it so sad that the governing body has failed the sport again. The iaaf failed the sport by bringing the winner (they officially allowed to run) into disrepute! They failed Caster's human rights by sending her out to slaughter whilst publicly questioning her femininity.

They only decided to investigate this matter two weeks before the championships (despite Caster being known to them 3 months prior)! Well done Lamine Diack (known as Lame Richard to his friends), you attempted to ruin the first athletic championships in decades not tainted with drug talk! Instead you decided to mismanage a situation that will no doubt ruin this young persons life! Kelly Holmes makes a very good point in this article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8220188.stm)- she was humiliated being asked hours before a final to take a gender test in front of the whole world!

"She obviously has a manly build and even a deep voice but that means nothing especially at 4am in my local club!"  

What happens if Caster takes the test and passes? It is funny how the iaaf avoid drug rumours incase they get sued but decided to screw this issue up! I would put some money down now that she passes a test and the iaaf get sued! All of which would have been avoided if they actually had some control over this failing sport that has only been temporarily resuscitated by Sir Usain Bolt!

For years I have been asking myself the following questions over and over again - Why is it always athletics that hits the press with negative news like this? Surely other sports have these issues? If other sports do, does athletics have a problem managing these issues or failing to hide them under the carpet?

Can someone out there please answer this?

What a week.....

My body feels like it’s just been to a pool party at Michael Barrymore’s. My legs feel numb, feet bruised and there is some serious chaffing going on down stairs! That’s what happens after a 90 mile week.

Training has been very hard this week but I’m still fighting against my arch enemy – Mr Fatigue! Aerobically things are going well I am just waiting for the body to catch up. As i mentioned I have taken a different approach to my training and think it is going to pay dividends in a few weeks. In the last two weeks I have been slowly getting rid of the last bit of track mentality in me and in the near future hope to be reborn as a marathon runner.

Sounds like I am joining a religious cult or something but in a strange way that is what marathon running is – A Marathon cult! Every decision I make has to be considerate to who I worship aka training my body!

Look at all the similarities....

·         Religious Diet Restrictions / Runners diet -Low fat, high complex carbs and lots of protein (no Mac Donald’s)

·         Religious services/ Long runs – A long run is just like prayer at a religious service, you cannot replace a long run with quality it does not matter how much you believe or don’t believe. (You shall run for 2hours!)

·         Charity/Stretching- You know it is good but you sometimes need other people to help you make the right decision and do it! (How many people would give to charity if no one was around!)

·         Sins- Beer/ hangovers- You do the crime, you do the time. You feel the pain regardless of how much you repent ones sins! (I am never drinking again!)

·         Religious festivals (xmas day)/ A big marathon- Everyone is excited to be there at the start but that will all change in the afternoon when everyone falls out with each other and you realise why you don’t do this more often! (Are you always a drunk or do you just choose to be on special occasions?)

I will do you some research about starting a Marathon religion up and probably get a government grant!

I need some ideas though.....

·         A Church/ place of worship- running track/ park?

·         Who should be the marathon God or God’s?

·         A sacred book/Bible- Will this be in paperback or in a form of a blog?

Who wants to be a disciple of the Marathon God’s?