Rehab going well

Apparently I was wrong about the weather at the Round Rotherham 50 last weekend ... it was just as bad as last year, if not worse. Well done to Les Hill though who finished in 9 hours (well over an hour slower than he's capable of).

Today I moved into stage two of my rehab from knee injury. This means I can run continuously for 35 mins (slowly increasing to 60 mins). I'm also cycling 3 to 4 times a week and doing strength exercises three times weekly. Still doing the straight leg quads exercises twice a day.

Congratulations to William Sichel on being guaranteed a world number 2 ranking for 2008 in six day races - well done to him and his crew.

charity fund raising

charity number 1080540


Well here we are - the big announcement. Regular visitors will know by now that I plan to raise some money for charity next year. After much deliberation I've decided to raise funds in aid of Orchid.

Orchid is the only UK registered cancer charity to focus entirely on the male-specific cancers; prostate, penile and testicular. Orchid exists to save lives and suffering caused by these diseases by funding medical research and promoting awareness about them. More information can be found here.

The race I plan to take part in is a 48 hour race which is part of the Athens International Ultramarathon Festival 2009.

I'm sure you lot will give generously. Most of you know by now that I had cancer back in the 1990s (testicular which then spread to my lungs) so this is quite dear to my heart.

Right ... moving on ... the song lyrics on the last post. Well Alastair Humphreys got the first one correct. They were Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and Ain't Gonna Cry No More by Whitesnake. The latter especially has lots of memories for me ... when originally told I had cancer I couldn't seem to stop playing that particular Whitesnake album (Ready an' Willing). Must've driven all the other patients mad but it certainly helped with my frame of mind.

Another brilliant song which puts things in perspective is When A Blind Man Cries by Deep Purple.

Now then - why would Alastair Humphreys be reading this blog. I don't have anything in common with this adventurer type bloke except that we're both Yorkshiremen. He's twelve years younger than me and I don't recall ever meeting him ... if he does though I 'd be interested to know when and where. Anyway I wish him all the best for his long journey home !!!

All the best too to Steve Battle, Les Hill and Paul Tranter who are taking part in tomorrow's Rowbotham's Round Rotherham 50. I hope the weather is better than last year for you ... it can't be worse. Commiserations to Phil Robertson who has had to withdraw through illness.

Remember - Orchid exists to save men’s lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancers through pioneering research and promoting awareness.

Yesterday - ouch, today - much better

Yesterday I had planned a 24 mile run where each mile was to be quicker than the previous one. After about a mile I put my foot down awkwardly on the kerb and went over on my ankle - the right one. The immediate pain wasn't too bad but the next four or five miles found me running with a limp - not good. The following couple of miles were much better but I decided it would be wiser to stop at eight miles instead of treble that distance.

Back home I applied ice immediately and took some ibuprofen. Will continue with this course of treatment for at least a few days even though my ankle feels almost normal again now.

In a slightly unrelated development it seems that Les Hill of Dumfries RC has signed up for the Hull 24hr race. Les is obviously a decent runner having taken part in the last six editions of the Round Rotherham 50 mile trail race and finished 14th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. He also competed in this year's Anglo Celtic Plate 100k in Cardiff, finishing ninth in 8h 37.

Although he's much better than me over the trails, 8 hours in the mud hardly compares to 24 hours on the track. I also believe I'd have finished one place ahead of him over the 100k had I been fit. Still, he's a definite threat though.

Today was my first run this year where I didn't use ice before or after. Only 5.25 miles but I feel OK ... and so does my achilles.

Just looked at the results of the Crawley 12 hr race (I was going to do this before injury struck, remember). John Pares won with just over 130k but I also notice that Derek Martin finished in third with over 102k - well done to them. It seems to me that I would have finished much closer to John than I have on the previous occasions we've raced - maybe he had a bad run, I've no idea - but I'd have been looking for something over 125k. Full results can be found at http://ultrarunner.co.uk/

Yesterday on my local BBC news program I was interested in their piece about the Three Peaks Race - 24 mile fell race in the Yorkshire Dales taking in Whernside, Pen Y Ghent and Ingleborough. They made it seem as if it was the most difficult race in Yorkshire !!! All us ultra runners know that it isn't (it's merely the race with the best scenery) and more difficult races include Fellsman (61 miles from Ingleton to Grassington), Round Rotherham 50 and Hull 24hr track race. I sent an email to the news program with this information and hopefully we'll get some publicity for ultra races ... or maybe not !!!

This morning I looked at Phil Essam's website (http://planetultramarathon.wordpress.com/) and noticed that he is looking for a helper to post information while he is 'going part time' later this year ... could I do that ? Need to think about whether I can spare the time ...

Also noticed on that website that Yiannis Kouros has won the Ciserano 24 hr race (Italy) with 261k ... this took place on 20 April, just three weeks after he won the Brno 48 hr race with over 400k - amazing recovery.

If anyone comes across any good decaf coffee please let me know - thanks.

No recognition for ultra runners

At Thursday evening's committee meeting (I'm secretary of Otley AC, a medium sized club based in Yorkshire, England), I nominated Phil Robertson for our Runner of the Month award - in December he completed the Round Rotherham 50 in 9h 47. Considering the terrible weather and the fact that this was his first ultra I felt this was a remarkable achievement ... no one else did though.

At the meeting I was shown Athletics Weekly's (27 Dec issue) annual review. Guess what ... not a single mention of anything longer than a marathon. Another example of ultra runners getting a raw deal.

As far as my recovery goes I was doing fine until yesterday when my achilles started playing up. I guess 3 sets of 10 'step stretches' is a bit too much at the moment so I'll stick with 3 sets of 9 for a few days. Need to get up to 3 sets of 25.