Marathon training in jeopardy with another ‘itis and injury
I regret to say it, but my 3rd London Marathon is in jeopardy. An injury at the beginning of January was confirmed on Monday as pretty much Achilles tendonitis. I'd fallen over on the ice weeks back, and my right heel came down with some force into the ground. Suffice to say I'd just picked myself up and gone on with life, but three weeks of pain and natural healing not showing the leaps and bounds, the doctor was the next step.
It's ironic that it was the heavy snow that had disrupted the training, and put a stop to it. The video below was my first and currently last run of the year, until further notice.
Absolutely gutted. Having lost over a stone in weight from the other 'itis illnesses before Xmas, another knocks me six. Doctor diagnosed with a confident nod before I fully explained the incident and symptoms. At the injunction of the Achilles tendon and the bone, on the heel, the inflamation was causing every footstep to send those pain receptors a nudge. Worse of all, every morning was made worse as the tendon stiffened up overnight.
Faced with another month of rest days, the options were, 1) nothing, let it heal over next 4 to 6 weeks, 2) magic gel, 3) antiflamatory drugs, 4) physiotherapy, and 5) surgery with an injection and risk of rupture and 3 months in plaster. Well the options were obvious, drugs and physio. Question is how long will this all take? One to ask Liz on Friday afternoon.
Will have to make a judgement call in March on whether to run or not. But it leaves 2 months left of training, and a sponsorship target of nearly £500 to raise. Wonder if people will sponsor me regardless at my fundraising page on Justgiving.com. Or if I make it a sponsored walk.
Part of me doesn't want this second year of injury to mean deferrment. Not even sure if you can defer your place 2 years on the trot? This is a guaranteed place and not a Gold Bond place, but raising money for the NCT charity anyway.
Any marathon runners out there with the answers, please leave a comment. I've the parents telling me I don't have to do it, and shouldn't. Any of my friends or colleagues reading this, bloody sponsor me. I'll give you a signed beermat in return.
FIFA World Cup 2010 Betting Odds South Africa Pre-Draw
It's only about 8 hours away, and the FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa draw takes place to select the teams for the Group stages for next summer's football spectacular. I can't wait. Is this finally England's chance to avoid 'Group of Death' and get to the final and end the 44 years of waiting to win the FIFA World Cup again?
I'm not a massive betting man, but am surprised that pre-draw, England are in fact 3rd favourites to win it. Christ, have we ever had it so good, or are people thinking the Golden Generation are going to finally bring home the treasures on what is likely to be their last attempt? Albeit that Spain and Brazil stand in our way with equal betting odds, our route through the qualifiers was decent enough and Fabio Capello has instilled some increased confidence in the team.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and when Charlize Theron co-hosts the draw in front of millions, if not billions of people around the world, you are sure that the betting odds will change post-draw. Depending on just how lucky each of the teams are to avoid the Ivory Coast, Portugal and France (the so-called European teams likely to upset those in Pot 1), we'll see some interesting odds being touted.
Below are the screen grabs taken at 8am today from OddsChecker.com. Ignore the yellow lines, this was just from the Snagit scrolling down the screen. Click on the thumnails to view a larger image.
FIFA World Cup 2010 Betting Odds for the Winner (Pre-Draw)
FIFA World Cup 2010 Betting Odds for the Finalists (Pre-Draw)
FIFA World Cup 2010 Betting Odds for Top Goalscorer
It's always the case that once a team wins, you are thinking afterwards, "JFC, I wish I put on a tenner on that team to reach the final, or win". Take Greece in Euro 2004 , they went into the competiton with odds of 150-1. This would have been a nice bunsen burner!
If the Ivory Coast go into a week group, who's to say that Didier Drogba doesn't bang in a couple of hat-tricks? I'd be confident that the guys from the African Nations will certainly put a few away, credit to Chelsea FC nurturing these goal hungry players. Given that last World Cup in Germany 2006, Miroslav Klose got the golden boot for 5 goals. Come on, seriously, are you saying that was the worthy of such a title. At least in 2002 Ronaldo got 8 goals, and Brazil went on to win it. Get some interesting FIFA World Cup statistics here.
The newspapers have been speculating who would be England's best possible draw and worst draw, their Group of Death. The Sun newspaper are saying;
England's worst possible draw: USA (B), Ivory Coast (C), France (D)
England's best possible draw: New Zealand (B), Algeria (C), Slovakia (D)
We'll have to see. If we do draw France or even Portugal in the same group, it will be certainly an entertaining first week in June next year. With England seeded for the tournament, we will avoid the likes of Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Italy and Holland, who pose the biggest threat, but France and Portugal cannot be reckoned with. Who wants to play against 'Le Cheat' or 'The Winker'.
The pots for the World Cup 2010 draw are as follows;
Pot 1: South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain
Pot 2: Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Honduras, Mexico, USA, New Zealand
Pot 3: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
The range of betting odds pre-draw is quite surprising. You can almost bet on anything! If you check OddsChecker.com and you'll see everything you'd expect from Winner, to Reach the Final and even England Player to be sent off. Below I've pasted links to the main ones so you can have a flutter yourself...
To Win World Cup 2010
Top Goalscorer
To Reach Final
Continent of Winner
To Host 2018 World Cup
England Specials
England Top Goalscorer
Stage of Elimination
Pot 2 Oppenents
Pot 3 Oppenents
Pot 4 Opponents
Group Stage Oppenents
Next Players To Be Sent Off
England Fans Player of the Year
England to be Knocked Out Stage
And a classic, To Start Opening World Cup Match in Goal. Only wish there was one for "Will Lampard and Gerrard combo in midfield be a success this year?" But if we think it will, it might be worth a punt on the following;
To Progress Further Than Brazil
To Play Brazil In Final
Anyway, I'll write another blog post at the weekend, to compare the odds. Then we can be as sick a parrot if New Zealand win it.
Good luck England!
Week 9 London Marathon training summary
We're officially now into 2nd half of the training schedule. Having reached half way, I've not reached the half way point of the sponsorship target or the distance. Some work to do on these.
However, I went out today for 1 hour 20 minutes in the cold, after a huge Sunday roast down the pub in the afternoon.
I got a donation this week from a family member and inside the card it read, "where do you find the time?". The answer is pretty obvious, whenever I'm not working, commuting, eating, sleeping, being a dad and husband. Yes, that's lots of free time isn't it. Not.
I'm going to investigate the distances from the train stations near to work and home. Maybe I can look at running home or to work from one of these? Although running the entire 30 miles us a bit unrealistic.
I would need to up the weekly milage to do that. This week though, has been pretty poor. I put that down to two evenings getting home late and having a few post drink beers midweek. That didn't help. This week, the plan is not to have any alcohol.
Week 8 London Marathon training summary
Blimey week 8 came around quickly didn't it! At least this week I managed to get out twice and I'm back out running again.
Thursday morning at 5.30am saw me hitting the streets with a 50 minute run. That was really early to be honest, and with a full day of work that followed and delays getting home, it was no wonder I didn't run on Friday or Saturday.
Now trying to get back into the swing of things has been really hard. But the motivation was sparked once again with a couple of donations during the week. Still a long way to go though.
Today I got myself out in the evening and ran 60 minutes which is quite a contrast to what the schedule says. I should be up to 2 hours and 30 minutes today, so quite a way off the pace. But I'm not dejected with that, and realise if you take a few weeks off then it's expected that I'll fall behind.
However it's not a race, and I plan to complete this once again, no matter how much training I do. When you are raising money for charity it's a different perspective. Secretly inside though, I do want to break the 5 hour mark!
Tee at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Arizona
I've been watching today on Sky Sports HD the Day 4 and the Semi Finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Arizona.
What an incredible golf course! You would be hard pushed to watch such a better contrasting golf course in high definition.
Set in the Arizona desert, this lush green golf course sits crisply in the dramatic brown desert landscape and deep blue skies. There are building restrictions that mean there are no high rise buildings, in contrast to Dubai and the skyscrapers in the background.
The Semi Final matches between Ogilvy vs Cink and Casey vs Fisher are great to watch in HD. The big name players are out, such as Tiger Woods who went out in the 2nd round, but great to see that an Englishman will be in the final tomorrow.
It's amazing that the television coverage now has some awesome technology to analyse the golf shots. Early today in the Quarter Finals, they showed a 20 foot putt that was swinging left from the edge of the green.
Leonard's putt followed the dotted blue line exactly through the middle, which was apparently the best line. Just goes to show that the pro's really do know the best line when the ball lands in the cup.
Week 7 London Marathon training summary
Well there goes another week!
I am pleased to say that I have managed some physical exercise this week, including some running for the train midweek, but not worthy of adding to this documentation of my training. So the summary of time spent running last week was zero.
The stag do at the weekend actually burnt some calories with the hovercraft racing and quad biking, but I'm sure this netted out after the copious consumption of Corona beers on Saturday night. I don't think that the thought of a long run on Sunday with a hangover after a 2 hour drive home was high on the priorities.
As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I am suffering from a dip in motivation. With no sponsorship money raised in a month, and the honeymoon period of running the short distances long gone, it seems that this marriage of marathon training is going to be long old slog for another 9 weeks.
With it being pancake day today, another calorific conundrum awaits me. Faced with a love of food, and a hunger to lose the weight, just how many pancakes can I treat myself to, that are sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice? It's torture!
But for every pancake I eat tonight, I promise to run that many miles tomorrow.
Week 6 London Marathon training summary
Another disasterous week of training. They never said it was easy, but it feels like the week flashed by quicker than ever before. I think I may have even promised myself that this weekend I would do at least one short run, however parenthood and Valentine's Day were higher priorities.
So my two weeks holiday from running has come to and end. The week ahead already looks like a tough one, but some motivation is needed. How? Easy, get those muddy trainers out of the garage and aim to raise at least £100 towards my fundraising for the NCT.
I've not seen any donations for a few weeks now, and I think my friends are going to have to receive the begging email from me. If you are one of those people who haven't donated, you know what to do. Make a donation online via Justgiving from the link on the left of this website.
I should expect to receive my NCT running vest this week, so that will be a major booster. Also I might consider entering the Justgiving competition to win £100 towards your charity. This will have to given some thought as you have to upload a video into YouTube. Watch this space, I just might give that a go!
Spain 2-0 England, football team show poor National Anthem singing
So Fabio Capello has seen his unbeaten run for the England football team come to an end, losing to Spain 2-0 in Seville this evening. Even though it was a friendly international, it was a weakened side through injuries, and a chance for some of the youngsters to have the chance to make an impression.
David Beckham makes his historic 108th cap for England, and rightfully so, I think he deserves it. But if he was to have been in the starting line-up, then he'd be singing his heart out to the national anthem, "God Save The Queen".
For the record, Spain don't actually have lyrics to their national anthem, Marcha Real. They tried, but it got thrown out last year within a matter of days, and national uproar.
I was disappointed to see the English players lining up at the start, with a half-arsed attempt to sing the anthem. Most of them were mumbling the words, with only Ashley Cole, Michael Carrick, John Terry and David James visibly making the most effort. Gabriel Agbonlahor didn't even open his mouth, which leads to the question, does he know the words?
It was revealed why Wayne Rooney never sings the national anthem, because he never learned the words, and the FA said that players show their pride to play for England in different ways, some sing loudly and some focus on the game ahead, but they cannot force people to sing.
"God Save The Queen" lyrics
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.
The full standard lyrics for "God Save The Queen" can be seen on Wikipedia with some background to the anthem.
How to sing the national anthem wearing an England football shirt
This is an example from England v Spain in the Euro 1996 competition at Wembley, showing the England players how it should be done (with the exception of Gary Neville).
So footballers, be proud to be representing the country, and please learn and sing the national anthem ready for the 2010 World Cup. If the England rugby team are able to do it, I'm sure you guys can.
Week 5 London Marathon training summary
Not really sure how to say this, but this week's training schedule was a complete write off.
It began with the worst snow fall Britain had seen in 20 years, the country ground to a halt, and the weather for the rest of the week was cold, icy and more snow fall.
And it ended with some swimming on Saturday night, but only at a party that entailed a lot if alcohol. So whatever calories I burnt off treading water in the heated outdoor pool, I matched with the bottles of lager and glasses if champagne. A cracking party!
As with most of the country, it was hard to lace up the trainers with the snow and icy pavements, and get out there. However I did see some brave folk give it a go.
Now I need to really kick off the stamina training and get back out there.
Week 4 London Marathon training summary
All I can say is that I'm glad there is still plenty of time to train. This week has been a bit of a write off.
Thursday was the only successful day, and with that I ran for 40 minutes and managed a shopping trip half way.
Whilst it was not a continuous run, I did run flat out for 20 minutes, spent some money in Mothercare, and then ran back. All in the space of a lunchtime.
So what happened this weekend? I don't really remember much of Saturday, and today the heavy snow fell. Therefore my only excuse is...
Snowed in.
I will see if I can fit in the due 1 hour 45 minutes run on Monday, but don't hold you're breathe, the cold snap from Russia is apparently staying with us for a few days.
If that is the case, I won't be Russian about much this week!
Schedule: Tue: 40 mins FR, Wed: RD, Thu: 60 mins SR, Sat: 40 mins HR, Sun: 1 hr 45 mins LR
Achieved: Thu 40 mins SR
