Thursday, 19 January 2012

Wednesday 18th January 2012 - 90 mins X-Trainer

Total so far: £700.53
Text "MIFF70 £5" (without quotes) to 70070 to donate £5 to Mencap.  Change the amount to whatever you are comfortable with.
Click on the "Donate Now" link in the sidebar or visit www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet.
Thanks!

After getting some pain after 15 miles in two days on the treadmill I decided to go back on the elliptical.  Or, as I have realised in the last day or two, the Cross-Trainer.  It seems I am the only person in the world to call it an elliptical trainer.  Or maybe there is such a thing as an elliptical trainer but I have not been on it.  What I have been on is the cross trainer, or X-Trainer to save space.  Anyway, whatever it is or isn't, I spent 90 minutes on it tonight. I find myself zoning out when I'm on it and I used the time to read some more (I'm reading a book about Shackleton's ill-fated mission to Antartica).

My legs were tired and weak by the end after three days of hard work but I feel good.  I did a quick set of 15 reps on some machine that you sit on and pull things down to you.  I won't attempt to name it.  Then I went down and did 20 minutes in the sauna, unbroken. Usually I have to get out at about 15 minutes and cool down but I saw all 20 through.  Then I jumped in the pool for 30 lengths and then back into the sauna for another 20.  I didn't do this second twenty unbroken, I had to get out and grab a cold shower and re-fill my water bottle.  By the end of the 20 I was drizzling water over myself from my bottle and feeling pretty dreadful.  But I'm glad I pushed it a little and got to the 40 minutes.

That's the last training I'll do before the ultra on Saturday.  My thoughts are now bending entirely to the challenge ahead. I bought my provisions and have made my plan but more about that in the next post.

All quiet on the fundraising front. It's been a week since my last donation so I need to step things up a little.  I will spend some time today contacting more businesses and maybe see if I can use my Linked In or anything like that to promote it.  I was supposed to be in the Whitchurch Herald but they didn't print the article.  Oddly I did see a spike in hits to my blog but no donations came of it.

Thanks for reading folks! Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 0 miles
Time  0 hrs
X-Trainer 1:30 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 500 m
Sauna  40 mins

TOTAL
Distance 344.48 miles
Time  62:51:43
X-Trainer 17:41 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 620
Swimming 13,000 m
Sauna  7:15 hrs

Contact me: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over
£9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be cool and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Wednesday 18th January 2012 - 6 miles treadmill

Total so far: £700.53
Text "MIFF70 £5" (without quotes) to 70070 to donate £5 to Mencap.  Change the amount to whatever you are comfortable with.
Click on the "Donate Now" link in the sidebar or visit www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet.
Thanks!

A solid 10Km on the treadmill tonight to give my calf another workout.  I felt some soreness in my legs through the run and also afterwards but just tiredness, not injury (I hope!).  I do have some pain in my right ankle and I think I will invest in a support for the ultra on Saturday.  Before the treadmill I did some core strength work. I put more effort into this than I normally do and my heart rate was high even before I started on the treadmill.

Over the last week or so I've focused a little on my kit list.  Most of the equipment I need has a pretty obvious safety function and some of it will be helpful on Saturday.  I have bought a foil blanket; anyone who has ever wrapped one around themselves at the end of a cold marathon will testify how warm they are!  Also, a pea-less whistle (great phrase!); a desert hat with neck shield; and a tiny first aid kit that seems to weigh only fractionally more than the air that surrounds it.  I've also bought some gaters to keep the sand out of my trainers.  This is an essential precaution as I am told that having sand in your shoes is a sure fire way to rip your feet to shreds in the desert.

The exotic nature of the Marathon des Sables is evidenced by the fact that I've also had to buy an anti-venom kit to suck out snake or scorpion venom quickly in case of a bite.  The possibility of being bitten by a snake or a scorpion fills me full of dread and yet also a sort of boyish excitement.  I hope I never have to use it but you have to say, it's kind of cool to need one.

I intend to write much more about each of these precautions as I get closer to the event (and learn how to use each of them!).Tonight I may go back on the elliptical just to give my calf and ankle a full three days to rest before the 33 mile ultra on Saturday but I'll see how I feel when I get to the gym.

On the fundraising front I emailed the PR departments of all the companies listed in last week's New Scientist recruitment special (random I know, it was the first thing that came to hand!).  I have also listed out all the companies in the FTSE100 and the FTSE250 and over the coming days I intend to write to the PR departments of all of those firms asking for sponsorship.  If you work for a company who might be willing to sponsor an honest and hardworking Welsh boy to do something a little useful with his life then please get in touch!

Thanks for reading folks! Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 6.25 miles
Time  0:59:15 hrs
Elliptical 0 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna  15 mins

TOTAL
Distance 344.48 miles
Time  62:51:43
Elliptical 16:11 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 620
Swimming 12,500 m
Sauna  6:35 mins

Contact me: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be cool and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Monday, 16 January 2012

Monday 16th January 2012 - 9 mile treadmill

Total so far: £700.53
Text "MIFF70 £5" (without quotes) to 70070 to donate £5 to Mencap.  Change the amount to whatever you are comfortable with.
Click on the "Donate Now" link in the sidebar or visit www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet.
Thanks!

Another big step on the road to recovery tonight.  And also a big step on the road to the Sahara perhaps?  I gave my calf a proper test in the gym, running 15km.  I wanted to run 10 miles and my usual combination of confidence and ignorance meant that I didn't check how many Km it was.  Turns out it's not 15.  It's a little more.  So in the end I only did 9.32 miles but I didn't know it until just now when I checked.  Never mind.  I'm happy with 9 miles at roughly 10 mpm pace.

My leg held out pretty well.  I had some pain in my right ankle before things got warm and loose.  Then, at about the 70 minute mark, I got a growing pain directly at the site of the muscle tear but it only lasted about five minutes and it eased off as I slowed the tempo a little to prepare for my warm down.  I'll wait and see how it fares over night.  Right now (about 2 hours after the end of the run) it feels fine and I have no pain :)

I'll have another short run tomorrow and Wednesday but then I intend to take two full days off before the true test on Saturday.  The 33 mile Anglesey ultra-marathon.  It'll be the longest event I've ever competed in and I'm really looking forward to seeing how my body copes with it.  I'm targeting a time of 10 hours to finish although I don't know if there are cut off times that are quicker.  Ten hours works out to about 18 mpm and I think I can maintain that as long as I don't linger too long at the checkpoints etc.  It's nice to have a target but of course my main focus is just on finishing it at all!

On the fundraising front I got knocked back by tesco locally.  I have to go through a central organisation in London to collect at a tesco so I'll give them a call.  I also want to find locations for some collection boxes this week and get them in place and collecting money as soon as possible.  As I've mentioned before, if you know of anywhere suitable to house one for a few months please let me know!

Thanks for reading folks! Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 9.32 miles
Time  1:34:22 hrs
Elliptical 0 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna  0 mins

TOTAL
Distance 338.23 miles
Time  61:52:28
Elliptical 16:11 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 620
Swimming 12,500 m
Sauna  6:20 mins

Contact me: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be cool and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Friday, 13 January 2012

Thursday 12th January 2012 - Another treadmill test

Total so far: £695.53

Text "MIFF70 £5" (without quotes) to 70070 to donate £5 to Mencap.  Change the amount to whatever you are comfortable with.
Click on the "Donate Now" link in the sidebar or visit www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet.
Thanks!

Well I gave my legs another tester on the treadmill.  This time I did a mile at roughly 11 mpm pace.  The good news is that I did it.  The bad news is that I felt some pain in my lower right leg.  I just don't know if this is a sign that the leg is not healed or whether it's just that I haven't run on it for a month and that I'm now stretching around the scar tissue after the muscle tear.  I wasn't limping and the pain wasn't severe and didn't linger long after I finished.  I have a rest day today and I think I will avoid the treadmill at the weekend and stick to the elliptical just to be safe and then next week I'll test it again.  However, I have booked myself a "do or die" challenge the following weekend.  The Anglesey ultra-marathon.  It's a 33 mile off-road course.  I know, I know.  I never was the sharpest pin in the cushion but it's all off road and I intend to walk a lot of it and use it to test my kit out (cooker, dried food, etc).  I will probably have three or four days of complete rest afterwards and see where I am after that.  Keep everything crossed for me!

So anyway, after the mile on the treadmill I did 77 minutes on the elliptical (eqiuvalent to 7 miles at 11mpm) and then went home.  I didn't even shower at the gym because I was worried about my legs so instead I got home and sat in a deep hot bath for a while.  As I write this (7am the following morning) I have no pain and can stand easily on my toes.

On the fundraising front the fund I got another £41 in donations.  Thank you Zoe & Pyme and thank you to the two folks who donated via SMS.  With the uncounted money that is sitting in the collection pot I'm using for leafleting I know I now have over £700 in the total.  Thank you :)

Lastly, I got my photo taken for the Whitchurch Herald.  Hopefully they will feature it in next week's edition.  I made some changes for the photo though after the unflattering one that was in the Leader.  I lost the hat! Fingers crossed that it generates some more sponsorship.  I also sent some text to the "Essentially Yours" magazine and with any luck I'll be in the next edition.  Rest day tomorrow!

Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 1 miles
Time  0:11 hrs
Elliptical 1:17 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna  0 mins

TOTAL
Distance 328.91 miles
Time  60:18:06
Elliptical 16:11 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 620
Swimming 12,500 m
Sauna  6:20 mins

Contact me: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be cool and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Wednesday 11th January 2012 - Back on my toes

I ran tonight.  For the first time since the 17th December I got on my toes and ran.  OK, it was only for half a mile and it was on a treadmill and it was very slow.  But I ran!  I had a few natural twinges and pains but nothing specifically in the area of the torn muscle and nothing that has lingered to the morning (I'm writing this the day after).  I think tonight I will risk taking a mile of my plan and doing it on the treadmill to see how it goes.  If I can get off the elliptical and back on my toes it will do my confidence a lot of good.  For all the nerves I had stepping on the mill; it felt fantastic to be running again!!!

The rest of the workout seems a little irrelevant but I'll relate them anyway.  I started with some core exercises (bridges etc - how boring they are!), then the treadmill for half a mile, then an hour on the elliptical (I finished Lord of the Rings!), 60 lengths in the pool, and finally a quick ten minutes in the sauna to finish off.

On the fundraising front I contacted a couple more newspapers and also one radio station to see about publicity.  Oh, and I asked Mencap for a branded t-shirt to wear when collecting so I look less like some dodgy geezer embezzling fag money from passers by and more like a dedicated and hard working charity fundraiser trying desperately to meet his target!  The fund went up by £35 today.  Thank you Joe and thank you Joanne (great advice about my feet!!).

Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 0.5 miles
Time  0:06 hrs
Elliptical 1:00 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 0
Swimming 1500 m
Sauna  10 mins

TOTAL
Distance 327.91 miles
Time  60:07:06
Elliptical 14:54 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 620
Swimming 12,500 m
Sauna  6:20 mins

Contact me: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be cool and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Tuesday 10th January 2012 - 2:48 hrs elliptical

Fourteen miles on my plan tonight so I translated that to 2hrs 48 mins on the elliptical.  I forgot my ipod and so it was gym dance music all the way again.  Like alcohol, I think your tolerance increases through exposure so the impulse to claw my ears from my head was lessened this time around.  Although the version of "With or Without You" they played should be criminalised.

Anyway, I took my kindle and so I was able to take my mind off the effort and the music by reading more of Lord of the Rings. Gollum fell into Mount Doom with the ring last night so to be honest the time absolutely flew by.  In fact I came to the end of the session before I came to the end of the book and was a little disappointed to have to leave it!  But on the whole I was very pleased with the work I did. I found it much easier than the 14 miles I did last week with no 'wobbliness' when I got off the machine like I had had on previous sessions.  One problem I did have though is that my jogging bottoms have rubbed the front of my thighs so much that they are red raw and stung like crazy in the pool.

After the elliptical I went down to the pool and eeked out 20 minutes in the sauna although I had to have several cold showers to get me through it because my body was still hot after the workout.  Finally I threw in 10 lengths to cool me down.  It might have been 12 though, after the depressing realisation that I had lost count. Quite a feat considering I was only counting to ten!!

A great day on the fundraising front too.  The total has gone up to £619.53, plus I have some uncounted money in my pot from the weekend to add yet.  Thank you Bridget, Nigel and those who donated anonymously through SMS.  I'm very grateful.  I got my event featured on my work's intranet and had a long talk to a journalist from the Whitchurch Herald.  I am going on Thursday to have some new photos taken (note to self.... pull tummy in for photo!).  Hopefully they will run a story on me next week.  Fingers crossed!  I also wrote letters to the managers of Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA, and Morrisons supermarkets in Wrexham, Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch.  The letters ask for donations and also ask for permission to run collections at their sites. Fingers crossed again!

Phew, busy day!

Peace, out.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 0 miles
Time  0 hrs
Elliptical 2:48 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 20
Swimming 250 m
Sauna  20 mins

TOTAL
Distance 327.41 miles
Time  60:01:06
Elliptical 13:54 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 620
Swimming 11,000 m
Sauna  6:10 mins

FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £619.53. 
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet
Text "MIFF70 £5" to 70070
or just click on the "Donate Now" link on the sidebar.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have.  You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com

DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Most are treated as ‘different’ however with the right support people with a learning disability can have access to education, jobs and an independent place to live. Mencap works with people with a learning disability to help them live the lives they want.

Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet

Monday, 9 January 2012

Monday 9th January 2012 - Evening Leader article

Today is a rest day on my schedule so nothing occuring on the training front (apart from 100 press-ups done to punish myself for more lapses of motivation work-wise).   However it was a very good day for fundraising.  I got my photo and a great write up on page 3 of the paper.  I'm really grateful to the Wrexham Evening Leader for the help they gave publicising the effort.  Hopefully it will lay the ground for when I drop leaflets around the Wrexham area over the coming weeks.  I think I look really fat in the picture but hopefully that will help the sponsorship as people look at it and think that I need all the help I can get!!

I saw the benefit of the leaflets I dropped yesterday with Grace and it pushed my fundraising up to around the £600 mark!  I'm absolutely delighted!  A huge thank you to all those who sponsored me today and yesterday; especially Liz who generously donated £50, increased to £62.50 with Gift Aid - awesome, thanks Liz!!  I'm grateful for every donation, large or small.  They all help me to get closer to my target.

I have the remaining leaflets to drop and then I'll get a new batch made up.  I think for the second set I will try to push for business sponsorship.  I can include the logo and perhaps a small advertising message on the leaflets so that for a sponsorship at a certain level I can give firms a free leaflet drop to 2,000 homes in the area.  If you are reading this and you know of a company who might benefit from this then do let me know.  I would love to be able to help some local firms out at the same time as growing my sponsorship fund.

JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg

TODAY 
Distance 0 miles
Time  0
Elliptical 0 hrs
Kcal  0
Press-ups 100
Swimming 0 m
Sauna  0 mins

TOTAL
Distance 327.41 miles
Time  60:01:06
Elliptical 11:06 hrs
Kcal  34,388
Press-ups 600
Swimming 10,750 m
Sauna  5:50 mins

FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £597.53. 
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet
Text "MIFF70 £5" to 70070
or just click on the "Donate Now" link on the sidebar.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have.  You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com

DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.

Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you.  You really ARE awesome.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet