Time!

Throughout time, people have said wondrous things about it. (the it is the aforementioned time)
I do not have any profound statement to say about the aforementioned and shall instead rely on the quote of another gentleman, named William Shakespeare

'we are times subjects, and time bids be gone'

Unfortunately I don't have the time to dissect this quote or discuss its meaning but I do know is that time flies by and then when you get older this flying seems to speed up until what used to feel like a week only feels like a day and what feels like a minute used to feel like 10!
Needless to say with this rushing past of time ever so rapidly accelerating it was very nice yesterday morning to wake up and remind myself that I had more than a month until I am running the marathon.
However, today I got no such luxury.

"BUT WHY NOT, NIC?" said an Idiot, foolishly.

Today it is one month until the marathon.
One Month! 4 and a half weeks! 31 days! 744 hours! 44,600 minutes! 2,678,400 seconds!
(those were all different examples of how long I have got until the marathon, don't add them together... if you add them together you will get 6 months... which is bloody ages!)


"So Nic, with the big day being so close I assume you are doing everything in your power to be on top of your game?"

Well... no actually.

Last week I accidentally had a week of no running, much eating and even more drinking for I was in...

NEW YORK!

hehe... it's building shaped!

Now many people would say going for an over-indulgent holiday just over a month before you are running the marathon is a silly idea

A professional would laugh in my face to which I would offer two arguments.

Firstly

NEW YORK!!!

"I can't find Times Square anywhere!"

And Secondly,

I am not a professional, never did I profess to being professional. The whole point of me running the marathon is that It doesn't fit in with my real life.

I am not a runner, I am not a sportsman. I am putting in all this time and effort to raise money and awareness for asthma UK.

Now if you lovely folk would like to donate I would greatly appreciate it.

"where can I give said donation?"

WELL YOU CAN DONATE HERE FRIEND!

So please go ahead and donate.

We are well within reaching my target of 1,700 by the date I run the marathon.

Thanks all,

Nic

Big things are happening!

Hello Blog fans,


Things are getting big though!
Firstly, It is now less than 2 months until the big day, the day where I run 26.2 miles for Asthma uk!

Two months ARGH!  It is actually only 54 days now! 54!!! That is less than 8 weeks, you couldn't even have a whole series of Doctor who in that time!

If a major BBC saturday night drama started this saturday, I would have ran the marathon by the time it finished! that is how close we are now!

Secondly, I have recently broken the £1,000 mark fundraising wise! This was massively helped by the HUGE quiz my sister and her husband put on for me last weekend. It was a great night with a hilarious quiz, fish and chips and some other silly games along the way.
Obviously they are family and i they hadn't done something huge I would have seriously chastised them BUT that doesn't mean i shouldn't thank them publicly.
so...

THANKS!

Thirdly,
I passed a rather major milestone in my training, in fact I passed 13 of them, in one go, in under two hours.

Thats right, the day of the quiz I ran 13 miles (13.1 to be precise). I decided if I was going to have a psychological advantage over the rest of my training I would need to get a half marathon under my belt.
Conditions were perfect and I developed a new method of running a certain distance then coming back, then heading off in another direction for a mile and a half, and heading back!
It seems to be a very productive way of running and great to keep myself motivated.

This is all greatly helped by the fact I live in the middle of a 4 way intersection.

I ran all the way to Buckinghamshire

needless to say, my knees were a bit odd the next day but It now really feels like I can do it!

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated towards the £1000 I have raised so far (only £700 to go), a huge thank you to all who have motivated me so far!

and if you haven't donated yet...
www.virginmoneygiving.com/nicmunday

you can do it right there!
Thanks team

Nic

The Secret Ingredient

Hello Blog Fans,
So as a quick catch up, I now have 75 days until the London Marathon 2014!
If I was a the kind of person to get nervous about things right now I would look like this;

I left the oven on!

Luckily I am a relatively passive, level-headed, straight forward Kinda guy and I know that I am on the right track to run this Marathon and so instead I look like this;

"what a neat hair cut Nic" said Nic's Mum

ah, when you look at it I am almost exactly the same. I tell a lie of course, I have only got the point where I have one hand on my face!

Even so, I am cracking on with my training and I would say its going very well. In the last week I have ran not one but two 10KM runs.

Obviously  10KM is a good 20 miles short of what I will be running on the 13th of april but what has made me happy is that I have ran this with little difficulty and I feel like I have got my body into a real Long distance running position. Also, as these two 10Ks will show you, I am picking up pace.

RUN 1

So Run one was on my day off last friday, I had a bit of a Lie in (after a slightly drunken night) got up, had some shredded wheat and set off, no idea where I was going but aiming to keep myself at sub 10 minute miles the whole time.

 I ran along the canal for a bit, ended up nearer Heathrow at one point and then headed home in a big loop.

I achieved what I set out to do and completed the run in 59 minutes and 40 seconds!

WIN!

I had stopped at one point and walked about 100 yards, THIS WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Run 2

Little did I realise at the time, but I actually drew a Giraffe

My second run was today (28/01/14), once again I had a lie in (but no drunken night last night), I had Marmite on toast and set off. This time I ran with a purpose, My house is at a T junction, so I ran 1 mile in one direction and back again, then 1.5 miles in another direction, and finally 1 mile in the other direction to finish my run (leaving me a mile to slowly jog home as a cool down)

This I did and it was very succesfully as I ran this 10k in 50 minutes (and an annoying 25 seconds)

I shaved almost 10 minutes off my overall run!

"BUT HOW? what is your Secret Ingredient Nic?" said everyone with an average amount of curiosity

Well, time to be a detective about this

Maybe not Sherlock but... I'm at least Watson Level

The main differences between my two runs were the following,

• In the first one I was a little hung over
• In the first I didn't know where I was going or how far I was from home whereas in the second one I knew exactly where I was at all times,
• The confidence I gained in the first one motivated me in the second one
• The first one improved my fitness and jogging skills which then obviously improved the result in the second one.

These are all valid points and it was probably a bit of all these things. 

BUT there is one vital difference between these two runs that we must not forget. in the first one my breakfast, was the measly, pathetic, "good for your heart" Shredded wheat

Is the single ingredient "sucking at jogging"?

Whereas in the second one I breakfasted like a king, I had the breakfast god would have wanted me to have.

A simple slice of bread, lightly toasted and spread with the magical, wonderful spread that is...

How can you not love it?

Lady's and Gentleman, I introduce my Secret Ingredient, MARMITE!

It will certainly be my breakfast on Marathon day, hell Marathon and Marmite start with the same three letters!

If you agree that Marmite works, or you are worried my sanity is being slowly diminished by my marathon training the please support and motivate me with a donation to Asthma UK here

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NicMunday

Thanks Blog Fans,

Nic

Two Epic Runs

It is now 81 days until the biggest run of my life!
So you'd think my training would have certainly picked up a  notch or two wouldn't you?
Well it has ok!

Don't believe me, let my serious face show you otherwise...

This is genuinely how my Dad told me to look serious

... OK so that wasn't very convincing but I really have upped my game, I promise.

Amongst my runs since my previous blog have been two relatively epic runs. They were, however, epic in different ways. One due to sheer length and the other due to location.

The first was Tuesday the 14th of January,  the heady delights of Christmas and New Year had long since passed and after a long day of work I got off the tube 6 stops early and ran the rest of the way!
It was a 7.5 mile run and although this isn't my longest ever run, it was after a long day of work and i managed to keep my average speed at under 11 minutes per mile.
After finishing this run I felt pretty darn good as I think it was the first time in a long time that I have felt that this really is a possible feat.
I will finish the London Marathon.
It WILL be epique.
Here is the run

"Wow, you crossed the A40"
"You are right, this is a boring picture"

RUN 2

So the second was epic because it was in my old haunting ground of York, not only that but it was a run around York's walls.

For those who don't know, York still has almost 90% of it's original Roman and medieval walls.

They make for a great run for two reasons. 

1. Great views of the city

2. You feel like a roman soldier!

Here is the run

It's like a tadpole with an Australia shaped head

I have numbered certain points around the run so i can point out certain things to you.

1. Morrisons. I used to live in York, and in fact lived round the corner from this morrisons, needless to say, I went there a lot. It was like a second home. One time I went there 4 times in one day. IT WAS A GOOD SHOP

2. A tiny staircase

I am talking tiny, and cramped and even I had to duck whilst running up them!

3. York St.John University (previously a petrol station)

4. A great pub called the Lion and Lamb, built into the walls I was running round (some would say this means it would be justifiable to pop in whilst running round the walls, however I did not)

5. The River Ouse, if you don't know what a river is, re-evaluate your life.

6. York railway station, if you don't know what a railway station is, re-evaluate your life.

7. The top of Micklegate. Micklegate is a fine road, filled with fine establishments where one can get drunk. I have got drunk here on many occasion and enjoyed every occasion. Here is a photo of Me and my friend Handley the very first time I got drunk on this road, back in 2009

"mmmmmm" said Handley

"AAAAAAA" said Nic

8. Clifford's Tower. An old Medieval motte and Bailey style castle that has absolutely nothing   to do with a big red Dog.

"it's only a model"

Basically, it was a nostalgia tour mixed with training for the marathon.

It would seem these are the great lengths I will go to now to keep myself interested and motivated whilst running.

With only 3 months to go my training is getting more intense and I will be honest with you, it can sometimes be a little dull, hard work and tough to get out of bed for.

It would all be a lot easier if you lovely people could support me by donating now at

www.virginmoneygiving.com/NicMunday

Thanks loads!

So that was my two Epic Runs, but you know what they say, these things come in 3s. So let us see what happens next shall we...

Nic Munday

3 months to go!

Today is exactly 3 months until I run the London Marathon,

13 weeks

90 days 

2160 hours

129,600 minutes

7,776,000 seconds

Well when you put it like that it doesn't seem so bad!

OH NO WAIT ITS HORRIFYING!

at this point my best run is 10 miles,

I would say my fitness is up (although Christmas got in the way a little),

I feel a lot better though, and I think from my perspective, if I may say so myself, I look a little slimmer!

The next three months are going to be tougher, up until now I have been being relatively lax about it, joyfully jaunting over bridges and taking in the sights, but its got to be a whole lot more serious than that I think, don't you?

of course you do!

"are you telling me this whole blog is simply to tell us that you are upping your game on the training front?" said the average ready nonchalantly 

Of course not, It is me telling you that I am upping my game on all fronts, because many of you kind folk out there need to also up your game a whole lot and rather swiftly!

Most of you should know me, and know that this is not my usual sort of hobby. I've never been on a sports team, or considered exercising to be in any way fun. I did not do this because it is the usual kind of challenge I revel in.

Sure I look forward to the excited feeling I will have when I can say that I am a Marathon completer,

but the main reason I am doing this is to raise money for Asthma UK.

Click here to find out more about Asthma UK

And I implore you to support them and motivate me in the process.

I am not just asking for donations, I am asking for tips, messages even the odd random love letter wouldn't go amiss!

One fine example of the support I am receiving comes from my brother-in-law and his wife (who is my sister)

"your sister got married?" said the average reader, fully in the knowledge that this s an innapropriate time to ask such a question.

Yes, she did... see

"What a great life we have ahead of us" thought Sally
"What's that on the bleedin' roof" though Sam

Sally and Sam have organised a quiz night to help raise funds for my marathon effort. A quiz that one and all are invited to. So if you like questions, answers and Fish & Chips all bundled up into one evening of fun then I suggest you come,

Click here to find out more about the quiz night!

I feel I have bombarded you with enough info for one evening, It has become a lot more serious... but that is because I am suddenly very aware of the task ahead of me!

IT IS A RUDDY MARATHON AFTER ALL!

I shall leave you with these final thoughts,

1. Donating is easy you can do it here, Virgin Money Giving

2. Sharing this blog on facebook and twitter would make my day

3. there are 20 sheep to every one person in new Zealand... who knew!

Thanks,

Donate,

Be Awesome!

Nic

We're not in Chelsea any more!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It is a new year
It is just over 4 months until I run the London Marathon
I have kicked things up a gear!


So when last we spoke I had just got lost in Wandsworth and ran 10 miles! Obviosuly since then I have run but not as much and not as frequently,
WHY?
well I shall tell you why.

1) I had tonsillitis
2) I went to Bratislava (see picture below)
3) It was only ruddy Christmas!

if only I'd looked the other way... I would have seen that castle!

Needless to say that after 2 weeks of no running at all when I went for my most recent run (6 miles) it was a little more difficult then it had been!
Who knew this long distance running thing was so hard! Why would anyone ever do this to themselves?

This feels like a good time to mention Asthma UK,
As you all know the reason I am putting in all this effort and running more than my non-sporty self thought it would ever run  is to raise money for this cause.
It is really important to talk about it now as the cold, wet, winter months are the worst time of the year for Asthma sufferers (followed closely by pollen season... damn you flowers!) 90% of Asthma sufferers say the cold is a trigger for their Asthma. When you remember there are 5.4 million people with Asthma in the UK that means that 4.9 million people just in the UK are suffering with bad Asthma at this point of the year.
Asthma is often regarded as quite a minor ailment as well, possibly because so many people have it or maybe because most people who do have it are often rather blaze about the whole thing
"yeah sometimes I cough so much I pass out from lack of oxygen... lol!"
It is worth noting that it is a pretty major deal and can kill and Asthma UK is fighting to stop the fatal attacks!
So please donate, It is really easy...
Just Click Here
I am running a marathon for goodness sake!

So I have moved house now which means no more running through Battersea park, or along the river Thames but I went for a 6 mile run around the local area and discovered just how different it was.

Firstly, its a way less built up area and despite the fact it is technically in London I don't think the area knows this as you can see in my photo

Maybe Yorkshire has followed me down south!

The second main difference is that other joggers nod and smile at you, like you are friends!

I wrote a whole blog on how they don't do that (Here it is) and it turns out I was just in the wrong part of the world!

Crazy talk!

Anyone, although a little harder than i remeber, the Jog went well and I am now way on my way and in the final four months!

ARGH

Here is my run,

Kinda like a squashed whale with water coming out his blow hole...?

Please donate,

be awesome,

love Nic

Lost in Wandsworth

So I ran 10 miles.
Which feels like a pretty major landmark in my ongoing quest to run a marathon next april.

I am sure you have many questions such as...

How did you prepare to run 10 miles?
When did you plan the route?
How did you keep yourself motivated?

The answer to all these questions is I got lost and ended up running 10 miles because I accidentally ran to Wandsworth.

But it did make me realise how motivational getting lost is (or maybe that is just me)
I was no longer running to train for the marathon, I was running to get home. Sure I could have walked but that would have taken ages!
It was essentially an adventure of epic proportion

This gif is also funny because I am short

Here is the run

The clever people amongst you will notice that I should have ran along Nine Elms Lane

As you can see the run started out like most of my longer runs nowadays,

Off to Westminster and back.

Last time I ran there and back i told you I didn't do any photos because I was on a roll and thought stopping for photos would make me die inside, but this time I was more confident.

So I took this rather attractive photo of me on Westminster bridge.

 It would appear my hair is trying to escape my head

On the way back home I thought I would try running across more bridges (you know how much I love bridges) which then left me on the south side of the river between Vauxhall bridge and Battersea bridge, there is no tow path along the river at that point so I had to go further south and leave the thames behind. 

I should have simply crossed back over the river!

I should have kept an eye on my mapping app!

I should not have kept running for a mile and a half whilst thinking 'this is probably the wrong way'!

But I did, when I finally realised my mistake (in Wandsworth) I swiftly but my explorer hat on and managed to find my way back to Battersea park and got home!

Result.

It is worth noting however, that in the early part of my run I did cross some new bridges and actually in my whole run crossed 4!

Before getting lost I was going to write about the new bridges I crossed but will save that for my next blog, here are the photos I took however...

Points for guessing which bridges they are!

In summary, I was a bit of an idiot. It paid off though and I think for the first time since I started training it feels very real, and very much feels doable!

Please don't forget that I am doing all of this for a cause, Asthma UK. They do amazing work and I did not choose them for no reason.

Donate because they are great, or donate because I am running round London, trying to find enjoyment in it by losing my way!

You can donate here Nic's Marathon Donation page

Thanks loads,

Nic