The Walker With Heart

I don’t count the friends that have died in any single year, those whose health has had a down spell, or those who’ve had ops.   If I did I think I’d go slightly mad (and probably not in a good way).   Some view this as me not really caring, well those “some” don’t know me. I’m not a surgeon, nor a doctor or a nurse… I can’t help other than being me, doing what I can to raise awareness and try and work behind the scenes to improve things. Those who have died haven’t just been from my dickey-ticker world, friends and colleagues from work, others I know through my varied and mixed interests.   Each year I buy a decent bottle of Scotch, single malt (I have standards) and I hope that I can leave it on its shelf unopened. The Jura: Superstition is far, far too far down the bottle for it to have been a good year. But it has been a year where I have done things I wasn’t sure that I would be able to… I set myself the target of walking or running 25 miles a week on to...

This is a blog for all the little people, the middle sized people and the big people who end up being the little and middle sized people’s parents – Thank you. I spent the last four days running around, in a non-running sense, around Butlins at Bognor.   Over twenty kids (and a few adults) with heart conditions and their families came and joined CHF for our magical Winter Wonderland.   I wish I had a magic wand and we could bring all who wanted to come along, but through the generosity of one sponsor we were able to bring more families than ever before, and member groups and individuals supported others to come. So why a thank you from me? And this isn’t just for our Winter Wonderlanders, it’s for everyone who comes along to be part of our family. (Yes we have the odd hiccup, yup some of us don’t always get on – but that’s family.   We roll along with the rough and smooth and get on with things.) From Science Museum trips, through farm trips, madness in ...

And so it ends... The three weeks of rest, recovery and finding my focus I promised myself. Don the Trail26 at Rivington, wait for 3 weeks and then start again... By my math its eighteen weeks to my date with destiny, the start line at Greenwich. As I've ranted and moaned about before this a run six years in the making, six years of marathons, ultramarathons, worn out trainers, worn through shorts, not too many blisters and far too much chafing!!! So this is the year where I'm hoping it all comes together, I'm fit - but not race fit; I'm lighter than I was - but not as light as I can be; I'm focused - just about the right level. I've got the endurance in spades, I can walk all day (and have done many times...) The early spring races are booked, a fun fast 10k in Southport, my Mad Dog three times its been organised, three times I've loved it. The Cambridge half, flat fast and fun... and last year nice and chilly. The cardiologist is content with my ...

I'm done... The math is simple 4000km in a year equals 77km a week for the year. The challenge was to equal 25 miles a week for the year to celebrate the Children's Heart Federation's 25 years of supporting families and children born with heart conditions. Seventy Seven? Yes, that's rather more than the 40km that 25 miles would require... but as normal its the extra steps that I count, my baseline distance a day walking to work, popping to the shops ect is 5k, so taking 35km a week hurts, but is right for me... 42km, just a bit extra to make sure, and make it a Marathon a week (just cos it feels right😁). So, I could vegetate do nothing but sit on my rump, but that's not really in my nature... and I have one bugbear that I want to itch the scratch of.  The night hike, the pushing brain and legs through the night, pushing my control of tiredness to the limit. So my final hurrah is a night-ultra distance hike... 35miles around the Wirral Circular Trail, starti...

So that was it, the last medal for 2013, the last t-shirt, the last finish line... It was hard, partly because of the rubbish taper I'd had, partly because it wasn't the best of weather and partly because it was never, ever going to be easy. The first half was the hilly half, up and along and up passed Rivington Pike and then up towards Winter Hill, the TV tower looming surrounded by radio towers.  Already the terrain had been a mix of cobbles, leaf strewn cobbles, bog and tarmac... And then the first three of the 10k runners went past me, hell and high water these guys were fast - 40min 10ks on this terrain well, well beyond anything I'm ever going to consider but a joy to see. At this point a "motivational" text from a mate turned up - You're going to die in this weather. The gods hate you.  Nice, and it worked, I wasn't feeling at my best and the little prod of defiance the text provoked was all I needed. Apart from anything else I'm a stubborn ...

The clocks went back in the UK this weekend... And a "meme" started hitting Facebook, asking people to think about how they used their extra hour and think about doing something good with it. I slept through my extra hour... But I had a good excuse, I was awake until about 10 minutes before it happened.  This weekend was a meeting of the European Congenital Heart Groups' Working Group (that is a mouthful - we're the ECHG!).  This is the merry band of people, all born with heart conditions, who are trying to work through a long list of things before the next big meeting in Switzerland next year. So why was I up so late, I'd love to say it was because I'd convinced them all to go to a pub and we'd had a lock in.  However, it was simply because I had probably the easiest journey, and thus had the least tiredness to face down.  So meeting notes of the first 3 hours were written, drafts were made ready for the next morning and in the side window of the lapt...

One year, hopefully 2014, I'm going to sit and write how all of my training for a marathon has gone swimmingly, how the miles have gone flying and how my body has held up brilliantly... However, not right now... I had a cracking week in the Lakes back at the start of the month, 70 miles of walking and running to get me back in the groove... Then a weird cold thing took a week out, then a rogue biker almost took me out - I was jogging on the pavement, they were cycling... Apparently they had right of way, and that way went through my right hip... So 10 days of gingerly bending and flexing it, building up the walking as a compensation and it seems to be working. A couple of gym sessions to test the joints out and it all seems to be fine... Which leaves me two weeks from a trail marathon with bugger all in my legs apart from a reasonable 10km... As people can see I ended up doing a modified Galloway of 900m run, 100m walk - until I warmed up and blasted the last 2km in...