Disaster

Saturday 30th October 2010

Less than 1 week to departure to New York, everyone has been wishing me well and asking if i am ready. My response has been consistant in that yes i am ready well as ready as you can be i have done all the training and am now winding down so as not to tire my legs out for the race, everything has really been routine.

When i say routine i mean knocking out 14 mile training runs has not really been a problem, so why disaster you ask, well i am currently lying on the sofa with an ice pack wrapped around my hamstring which decided to recoil like a colt 45, 3.5 miles into my 6 mile training run this afternoon.

Its strange i have been less worried about injury over the last week or so, my main concern has been not to catch the cold that is currently doing the rounds at work, my work colleagues have been dropping like flies, so in the interest of maintaining good health i have been dosing myself up with beechams which seems to have worked so far.

I am hoping this is a minor blip in the schedule, my last longish run is due tomorrow just 8 miles and i agreed to go out with my mate Pete which i was looking forward to as so far all of my training has been on my own, i am hoping the ice pack will do the trick.

I can honestly say that since returning from Africa i have never felt so tired and knackered my body has constantly ached, the actual training required to complete this marathon is so time consuming there is no time for anything else in your life at all, so in all honesty i am really looking forward to November 8th when its truly all over.

Well i say all over we have decided to defer the black tie dinner until June next year and that will form part of my charity golf day, so theoretically there is time to fit in 1 more mountain, Elbrus is looking favorite.

Will update on injury tomorrow.

Sent from my HTC

3 weeks to New York

My life seems to have turned into the following type of ground hog day, wake up, work, train, shower, sleep, it's been this way since I arrived back from Africa and to be honest it's getting very tiring and I am wondering where my life has gone. There has been very little time for recreation or family activities and = to be honest I will be glad when its all over now.

 

Fundamentally I have been sticking to the training plan, which has meant roughly 40 miles per week for the last 3 weeks. Before I left for Dubai I managed my first 20 mile run, 2 weeks have past since then and on the last 2 Sundays I have managed to break 20 miles. Each time the pain is as great as the last. It doesn’t seem to get any easier other than the mental toughness as you are more prepared for the pain.

 

There has been one other problem, since the running machine had broken, I have had to do all my running on the road and this has led to a series of unwanted injuries. Firstly it was the shin splints, then a pulled hamstring, however these are nothing compared to the most recent problem, which I am actually struggling to diagnose accurately and it is a toss up between the following, Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, or Plantar Fasciitis, the latter being the most likely however the concern is that to cure the problem requires between 3 months and 1 year, which clearly I do not have!  Basically I am suffering from a very sharp pain in the inner arch of my foot, which is exasperated when running.  I was due to do 8 miles today following up from the 6 miles yesterday, but walking today has been a problem so I went out on the bike for an hour. However this didn’t do the foot any good either.

 

I have been off this week spending time with the kids and Rachel as she has been moaning that they don't see me and that she feels like a single parent and that is affecting the boys. The week so far has been fun and allowed a more relaxed approach as the training is not taking as much time out of the day. We managed to get to the driving range this morning for a couple of hours which was enjoyable and the boys loved it and want to go back again. We had to be back in the afternoon though as my new running board for the running machine was arriving.  Surprisingly it arrived on time and a couple of hours drilling and sawing and I have the board in place, a bit of oil on the belt and we're away. I try the machine on a low pace for 3 minutes to work the oil through then disaster, the machine just cuts out! I have just spent £150 on a new board for the bloody motor to now blow up, typical.

 

So with 3 weeks to go I am seriously worried now about not being able to run until my foot gets better. With the difficult part done, the three 20 mile runs, achieved in 3 hours, 3 hours 10 and 3 hours 15, so quite respectable from the time perspective. I just do not want to loose my fitness now, this was really the last week for fairly high mileage training albeit my Sunday run is only scheduled for 14 miles, but as I say running a mile currently is impossible with the foot, I will see what it feels like with pain killers and anti inflammatory tablets.

 

Nothing ever seems to be simple or easy in this challenge.

 

We do however have one thing to look forward to, I have treated the family to a 7 night break to Lapland, so we will be spending Christmas Day in the far north of Finland. It seems I am attracted to the extreme cold, temperatures regularly drop to -35 degrees, however it’s a holiday of a lifetime and the family have put up with a lot this year. My Christmas Wish is to see the Northern Lights, the boys want to see the REAL Santa and Rachel wants to see the huskies!   

 

 

David Todd

Chief Executive Officer

3tc Software Limited

 

Tel:- +44 (0)116 272 5276

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e-mail :- david.todd@3tcsoftware.com

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Marathon Update

Wednesday 6th October 2010

Kilimanjaro seems such a long time ago now and with the marathon only a month away the memories are fading as my focus is purely on completing the last challenge.

I was interested to see how my body would react after getting back from Africa, so it was 2 days before i attempted my first run, well i guess it managed quite well as I comfortably covered 6 1/2 miles. This was a big confidence boost as after Mont Blanc I was worried my body would feel the same. Training continued to go well that week doing 2 seperate 5 mile runs, one at pace and one casual, although slightly hindered by the fact we were away in London for the weekend for Rachel's birthday. We took the kids to see the Lion King in the West End and I must admit I too thoroughly enjoyed it. I did take my running gear and forced myself out of bed early sunday morning and headed out through green park and hyde park, covered 10 miles and then went back to the hotel. No sooner had I jumped in the shower then the fire alarm went off. Rachel and the boys went down and I followed after showering and I was still no where near the last one out the building.

The following week the training continued to go well, although after the 10 mile in London, the back of my right knee had swollen up. Was not sure what that was until I was on the running machine and realised that my patella knee support that i wear was too tight, after removing it I have so far had no more problems with my knee and I covered 6 miles, 5 miles and 6 miles respectively, My long run for the week was scheduled for friday as I had to go to Dubai on business on saturday and I wasn't going to attempt to run in the heat.

So friday comes and I leave work on time for once. My plan is to do 18 miles, however, the weather is awful so this is a dilemma. There's no way in this wind and rain that I will do 18 miles so my only option is the treadmill. So MTV on and off we go. Things go well to start with and very quickly 2 hours have passed and i have covered 14 miles. Then the treadmill starts to make a funny noise and seems to be creating a trough in the middle of the running surface. At 15 miles I hear a loud crack and again the trough gets bigger. I decide to slow it down a little to see if that helps but no, I can now smell burning rubber! So at 17.5 miles I stop the treadmill, quickly change my top, put on the raincoat and my garmin and head off out. It seems to take ages for my watch to get a satellite signal and my legs are getting cold, finally off we go its probably only been 5 mins since i got off the treadmill but thats all it took to change my rhythm. I manage 3 miles and i am drenched but also elated as I have cracked 20 miles and felt great and the time was 3 hours dead. If the treadmill hadn't given out i think i could have pushed myself to complete 26miles. My fitness is there just need to balance the training.

I do think the treadill is really bust now, which will be a pain as its easy to jump on there and run than go out in the cold! I have decided that I am a fair weather runner!

So Dubai, god its hot and the humidty is unbearable at 85% on arrival. The hotel however as a good gym. The downside to this is that the treadmills are the ones with the built in fan, the little slot at the top of the display. They don't work that great in the UK and as I suspected they are terrible here. I don't think I ever sweated this much on my 20 mile run let alone the 4.5 miles I did on sunday evening. Monday I ran 7 and Tuesday another 4.5. As i'm travelling back on wednesday I can have 2 days off, run again on friday and then this Sunday the plan is to do 23 miles thats a round trip to the office!

Once again I'm at another airport waiting for a plane. Went to put my ipod on but for some reason nothing from it and yes it is charged I made sure last night.

Picture attached is the view from my room at sunset. Unfortunately it doesn't compare to the views experienced on Mont Blanc and Kilimanjaro. I find myself missing the mountains.

Sent from my HTC

Breakfast in Amsterdam

Well we're nearly home at last. Crap flight, with crap service over with. Hence we're in Murphy's bar having a celebratory breakfast.

Cheers everyone and thanks for all your support.

Treats

On our way into town we decided to give away all our sweets to the local children. It was an interesting event, with the kids literally fighting to get near the car window. It was nice to see their smiling faces and I am sure that they will enjoy them, hope they have a good dentist!

It was only after we pulled onto the main road, Russ realised one of the little blighters had knicked his sunglasses!

Tipping

One of the most annoying things on this trip has been the requirement to tip. I don't mind tipping if it is deserved and you show your appreciation of the service but here you tip for everything and I mean everything.

At the first hotel after you had ordered your drinks the waiter refused to leave the table until you tipped him and this was for every drink. The same was for food, even when they brought you the wrong order and it took over an hour they expected a tip.

But by far the worse is at the hotel we're in now. This place is set up as something fancy but really doesn't pull it off. There are more employees than guests. You are constantly surrounded by up to 3 people. If you even talk to them they expect a tip. Now I know and appreciate that they get basic minimum wage and it is basic, but quite frankly the behaviour over requiring a tip is merging on being quite threatening. If they don't feel that the tip given is enough the wait 'til you tip them more.

When we arrived yesterday evening our bags were carried to the room by a kind lady. We had been on a bus for 3 hours having trekked for 7 hours that day, so we were not in the best of moods and we just wanted a shower. When it was clear we had no change, she proceeded to close all the windows, turned the lights on, then re made the made beds, then did something in the garden, came back in did something in the bathroom, then started drawing the curtains, at this point I told her to stop. leave the curtains. I didn't want them drawn and that I was sorry I don't have any change until I had been to reception and at this she left. But it didn't end there Simon went to reception to get some change they said they hadn,t got any but out of nowhere appeared our chalet girl. 'I have. I have' she said, and proceeded to change Simon's 10 dollars all in exchange for a 1 dollar tip.

And again at lunch today, the waiter gave Simon the change however he had to wrestle it out of his hands. It is sad to see this desperate state of poverty and like I said I don't mind tipping as what is £1 to us is £100 to them but it begins to wear you down.

Bored

As you can most probably tell by the recent blogs we are REALLY bored now. We all want to get home. Some have already left. Stephan has just caught the bus to Nairobi 7 hours he must be mad, Ed, Karen and Anna are on a 1 day safari, Arrund and Carmen left after breakfast and we're just sitting in the garden with Toby and Johnny before they leave, most of us blogging for something to do and pass the time!

We have organised to go into Arusha to kill more time and find some souvenir's for the family as there was nothing at the Kilimanjaro national park shop , well not unless you wanted last years edition of the guinness book of records, which was the centre piece of the window display! Plus the hotel shop was not much better and I refuse to pay 20 dollars for two fridge magnets, especially when the wages of the poor people that made them was most probably about 50p!

This part of any type of trip I hate. You've done what you came to do and you just want to get home as fast as possible! Our flight is not until this evening so have quite a lot of time hanging around still! Wish the taxi would hurry up so we can have a look at some more tat!