My first official race!!

Well tomorrow brings my first official race - a 10K in Manchester - called "We Love Manchester 10K"
The weather in England has been absolutely dreadful of late with huge downpours and big storms.
Not ideal running weather!!
So I've been doing most of my running inside on the treadmill at the Gym.
I did a 10K in just below 44 minutes which felt OK.
I started off at a 9mph pace and did that for 5K, but struggled to sustain it, so dropped to 8mph which felt much easier. Hence on Sunday I'll aim somewhere in between and then hopefully pick up faster nearer the end.
In general the training's going well, although I've picked up a slight niggle with my left foot which is a little sore, bit I'm hoping nothing too serious.
Fingers crossed it doesn't rain too hard tomorrow.
I'm actually quite nervous about the race. I've played football in front of tens of thousands of people, but I know tomorrow I'll be nervous for the race and the adrenalin will really be pumping.
Bring it own!!

Here's one of my favourite tracks from one of my all time favourite bands.
Keane are probably the most underrated groups in pop music history.
IMHO they are so much better than Coldplay - but never received the same adulation.
There is no justice in the world!!
Enjoy!!

Keane - Nothing In My Way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ4zfLydI20

All the "nice" things that come with those extra miles!!!

It's funny now I'm reaching the 8 to 9 miles stage in my training you start to become more and more aware of all those things which are never necessary in shorter runs.
That being that the real need to apply copious amounts of vaseline to avoid chaffing that occurs from these longer runs, to ensure "nipple protection" which is critical and extremely painful if not protected.
That's in addition to the need to continually hydrate and also to consume calories post run to ensure adequate    body recovery.
When I get to longer runs (in excess of 12 miles) I'm also going to afford myself the luxury of ice baths.
I tried it once after playing football and it really was amazing - very invigorating, I got out of the bath feeling like a new man!!
More of that to come.

Here's another bit of choice music - a track which I've always loved and always will!!

REM - Loving My Religion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ2yXWi0ppw

Upping the mileage!!

The training programme is going well, I'm managing to keep upping the mileage nicely, although steadily.
I even manged to stick to my training programme on my holiday which I thought was pretty impressive as I'd not anticipated that.
I'm now running for 60 mins at a time (which is by far the longest I've ever run without stopping). Even as a professional footballer we never did any running which was longer than 20 mins non stop. It was all high tempo but short bursts and hence my body is not accustomed to long running periods.
However, I'm running at about an 8 mph pace so I'm up to 8 mile territory.
I'm also working on my injury prevention programme which I do on my "rest days", hence I run one day, do an injury prevention circult for my core body one day, then run etc. (I'll detail this ina future post)
Hence my programme is looking like this;
Monday - Core body Injury prevention circuit
Tuesday - Run - approx
Wednesday - Core body Injury prevention circuit
Thursday - Run
Friday - Core body Injury prevention circuit
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Long Run
I've been reading avidly on marathon training books - one by Ricahrd Nerurker  - 
Marathon Running : The Complete Training Guide
which is excellent and I'm taking in this guidance although also doing what feels right for my body and fits into my daily routine, including work and family commitments.

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Marathon_Running.html?id=rs-NXXK9ZMkC
I've also been reading this book
"Keep on Running : The Highs and Lows of a Marathon Addict"
which is very good and very humorous. It describes one man's obsession with running marathons and the euphoria he feels which then fuels his marathon addiction and counteracts the lows of marathon running.
Well worth a read.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keep-Running-Highs-Marathon-Addict/dp/1849532362

In terms of music I've been listening to this a lot and really like it. Very cool, very current and very addictive!!
Until next time.........

Marina And The Diamonds - Primadonna Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIK2Z1uebtg