This past weekend I had the pleasure of competing on each day at the Olympic Stadium.

Day 1 was a 5 mile route around the olympic village that finished inside the stadium on the finish line of the track.

We had set off from doncaster at 5am in order to drive down and arrive in London. I had read there would not be changing facilities so thought I would just go down in my running gear as it wouldn’t be to cold. I also seemed to forget to pack any normal clothes for the weekend break, so literally just had running gear, no coat, no jumpers nothing.

Arriving in London; after spending a large amount of time being lost! I soon realised how cold it actually was. My wife and I were not prepared for this weather. Everyone else seemed to realise it would be freezing and was wrapped up warm. Being northerns we decided to grin and bare it. However 3 hours later this tactic was no longer working. So we had to resort to buying official Olympic jumpers. I was worried my son might get cold so I donated mine to him and used my tough northerner training to get through the shaking.

As race time approached we headed to our holding gate and all the issues of being cold were forgotten. We were position at the back of the second wave as we had no intentions of making this a fast run. Then over the loudspeaker came an announcement “the visually impaired runners are due to set off next”. What?? there was a special section we were supposed to be in? we dashed to the front and missed the start, we quickly joined in around a minute or so after once they realised the majority of the visually impaired also had no idea there was a special section as they all begin to gather behind us.

The run took a scenic tour around the park and we were able to run around the freshly built arenas. My wife had never run further than 3 miles and never run faster than a 10:30 mile. So we pushed it a little and ran slightly faster than that. Sian was struggling a little around the course but the idea of finishing in the stadium spurred her on.

As we entered the stadium we ran in the service tunnels and the adrenaline really kicked in. Our pace quickly increased to 9 minute miles and we shot out into the stadium. Running on the track felt fantastic and the stadium seemed huge. Crossing the finish line was a great feeling and we even received a really hefty medal.

The next day we returned to the stadium for the 100m sprint. This is certainly not my preferred running distance and I am not a fan of sprinting. The full range of motion and the intensity just has injury waiting to happen written all over it.

We Hund around the stadium for a while watching the other races and took advantage of the polar opposite weather of the previous day. After a couple of hours me and Neil Bacon headed down to our holding area to get ready for the sprint.

(Get ready for the excuses) We entered the warmup facility where I did a few warmups before heading out to the track. Once we arrived outside and walked out onto the track itself I realised I couldn’t see the lines defining the lanes. I asked for assistance from the staff but it was to late, I was told to go for it!

So unable to see the lines or even how far I should be running; on the sound of the gun I went for it. I apparently took an early lead but I felt myself drifting into another lane, so I eased off and concentrated on trying to stay straight. This apparently was my downfall as I was overtaken by not one but two people!

I finished the race 3rd and felt a little disappointed. But then took splice in the fact I had just done a 100m sprint in the Olympic stadium so who cares what position I finished in.

The weekend was fantastic and I managed to walk away with 2 medals to remind me of the events and some great memories to take away with me. I also managed to tear up my muscles; sprinting just aint for me.

The blog has been quiet for a while but rather than a lack of things to blog about I have just been too busy.

Adjusting to university has been a lot harder than I had anticipated. With the commute to university being the first time I have used my long cane it has been taking its toll. I perhaps rather wrongly assumed people would be forgiving of me using the cane and be polite. This turned out to be wrong.

Today for example as I boarded the tram someone clean kicked my cane out from me. No apology they just looked at me and pushed by me. This unfortunately happens on the majority of commutes. On the flip side about once a week someone is actually helpful and assists me with something.

With the rush hour commute being difficult I decided to make a few changes to my timetable to ease the process. Thankfully i didn’t enjoy the module I dropped to ease the commute. So I suppose it did all work out for the best.

While I begin to get my studies under control I have been thinking about next years ultra running. I am definitely entering the UltraRace Championship which will see me return to the Cotswold 100 amongst many other races (90 miles in Jan I best get training!) I have begun to think about other challenges.

I have never been fond of the multi day event but the past few weeks have been thinking about how far I could run in a week. 210 miles seems perfect achievable so could I run 280? push it to 300? I have a few destinations in mind and some interesting point-to-point runs. Just need some funding! (or sponsorship!)

It has all been a little quiet over here recently about my running. Well there are 11 days to go till I approach that start line and run 100 miles.

I still plan to broadcast the race live through RunKeeper and I am currently maintaing a separate blog for the occasion. Blind100

The race starts on the 24th of June at 1200GMT the broadcast will start a little earlier and that just to make sure everything is functioning correctly.

So what condition am I in? I am coming off the back of a little bone bruising but I am ready as I can be at this point. The training miles have been put in I just need to bring my A game on the 24th and log those miles!

I headed our for today’s run armed with a hell of a lot of water and plenty of hammer and Gu.

The first 15 miles flew by without a hitch. The only problem I was losing a lot of time on the water stops. Refilling my handheld was taking far longer than I had hoped. Due to this my pace was suffering a little.

Around midway through a run
I like to eat some crisps. This resulted somehow with me getting tangled in my headphones. 3 minutes later I was still stood still fighting with my cable. Gah! Another hit on pace.

At hour 4 I decided to crack out the hammer nutrition. It mixes like a dream at home. On the run apparently not. With wet hand as a wet packet it would not open. After wrestling for 5 minutes and resorting to biting it open it was time to mix. I managed to miss the bottle and spill it everywhere.

I finally got it together and continued running. At mile 22 I was feeling it. By mile 25 I was doing a lot of walking.

Long runs on a sunday are a balancing act. Knowing I have to run long the next day I can’t push to hard. Manages the last 5 mixing in a lot of walking. Finding my second wind on the last 2 miles I reigned it in and still walked. Getting a better pace at the sake of not performing the next day is not worth it.

So that’s what I took from today. Manage my pace and energy after all it’s an ultra not a sprint!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My latest Wired Playbook post is up, this time it focusses on my nutrition.  It details my transition from nutrition not even appearing on my radar to my total focus on nutrition in my training.

My current nutrition plan is dictated by me financial situation, I am hoping to be able to afford some hypotonic hydration soon as that is what I am really struggling with.  I sweat like mad so have to take on large amount of liquid for my body to keep cool and function. Drinking this much liquid is proving tough!

You can check the post out here: WIred Playbook

I finally bit the bullet and confirmed my place at Sheffield University.  I followed this up with a quick visit with the disability department to discuss my needs and assistance I may require.

After discussing my needs and being reassured assistance would be put into place we hit the same old problem: Books in a digital format.  Of the 5-pre course books on the reading list only 2 are available digitally.  This continues to frustrate me, as we all know books are created in digital formats.  There isn’t someone sat at a typewriter creating a book that is then photocopied.  It is obviously sent to the printers digitally.  So why not just convert that and sell?

I know the answer, its stupid DRM.  Publishers do not want to lose control of their books.  So now I will be forced to purchase the paper books and pay for them to be converted, making a £20 book a £200 book.

I am trying not to let this get me down and focussing on the course itself, I am looking forwarding to studying psychology at degree level and I am especially looking forward to the lectures.  Not so much the commute though, but it’s the price I am paying to continue my other pursuits.  There is always a trade off.

My ability to run the miles I do is relates to the technologies I use. When those fail my confidence drops and I generally fail to run. Today was full of ups and downs in relation to my confidence.

After yesterday’s 21 miles I had a relatively easy 13 today. I had been tired all morning and was constantly yawning at college. Arriving home I quickly chugged a Lucozade, fed my son and myself and headed out.

I started the run slightly achey but my legs soon warmed up. After running for a while I was sure I was at a hydration point but I hadn’t received an audio cue. I continued to run for another half mile before manually pressing for an update. No audio, great.

I fiddled with my phone but couldn’t get any audio at all. I decided to restate RunKeeper, hydrate and continue. The run began with audio cues intact, that lasted a whole 6 minutes. I was at an easy part of my route so decided to continue sans cues.

After a few minutes a screeching noise came through my headphones. I had no idea what was happening and RunKeeper crashed. With my technology flaking out I rang my wife. She wouldn’t be able to collect me for an hour.

My confidence was shaken so I decided to take a little rest; eat a peanut butter sandwich and try to fix my phone. A quick restart seemed to return audio and I was back running.

I felt incredibly refreshed and the confidence was back. I ran the next 2-miles and my wife rang saying she had left early and was on her way. I quickly returned to collection point 2 and ended the run early.

My ability to run solo is intrinsically linked to technology thus creating the confidence equation. When it works it runs high when technology fails it hits a low. It’s the price I pay for solo training.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A few weeks ago I did a little post about needing a plan B.  With my first choice university turning me down I was forced into the uncomfortable prospect of moving house.  Not only would I have to uproot my family and move to a far more expensive city I would lose my running route.

Well I have now found a plan B: turns out it was plan A after all.  Sheffield University sent me an email announcing they had made a terrible mistake, they meant to offer me a place after all!  I was incredibly shocked to receive an e-mail from Sheffield as I thought to myself “pffff kicking me while I’m down, rubbing it in that they don’t want me”.  Only to discover it was a mistake, I quickly rang the admissions department to confirm I was still interested.

So riding on a high from that e-mail I received another e-mail this time from Wired Playbook.  Would I like to be a guest blogger? Yeah I would!  Life is certainly being kind to me these past few days.

I have also spent the day convincing myself biscuits are the ideal carb loader in preparation for tomorrows run.

A thought just popped in my head which I felt deserved a little post.

In life most things come down to perception; when I started running I perceived 5 miles to be a great distance. Hitting 5 miles on the treadmill would of been a day to remember. The maximum distance I would run used to be 3 miles. That 3 miles I now perceive as a sprint with a 5 mile distance now a short run.

I have no idea when this change in perception occurred. But it had me thinking what do I now consider a long run, 15 miles? And if so, by the end of the year will this be a short run?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Elm Close,,United Kingdom

It is always a good idea to have a plan B.  The past few months seem to have taken the opportunity to drive this point home.

My initial plan to run the Cotswolds 100 has been put into jeopardy due to a knee injury.  I injured my knee in November and thanks to my stubbornness I ignored my own body and continued to push hard.  I am now nearly 2 months behind in my training.  I now however have moved onto plan B, rather than not run at all I plan to utilise a larger run walk split.  I will now walk the majority of the night section to reduce the running miles to the 70 mark, this should allow me to rapidly catch up on the training and still achieve the goal of a sub 24 hour 100 miler.

My other plan B is going to have a large impact on my entire family and me.  I had planned to attend a local university to obtain my BSc in psychology.  Unfortunately I received an unsuccessful through the UCAS system so will not be attending.  This is forcing two other possible options, one will involve a total relocation the other a sizable commute.  With mobility an issue the thought of the commute is causing great anxiety but will be something easily conquered after a few practice runs.  Moving will prove the most problematic, with finances strained we cannot live in a comparative area to what we do now.  We will be forced to live in a smaller house and live in (I will put this a nice way) a less affluent area.  This move also imposes another issue for me, no more running.  I will lose my beloved paved paradise and due to size restrictions in the housing will not have room for a treadmill.  This doesn’t leave me with many options at this point, persuade the wife to put a treadmill in the living room (unlikely) or utilise a nearby gym.  The lack of freedom from running will be a hard blow but I need to remember the rewards of the BSc and a new career path far outway the negatives.

In the end I WILL HAVE to find a way to run, just not sure what plan B is quite yet……