Evening Mail MD shares his Hoad Hill Ulverston marathon training experience

Hundreds of athletes gear up for Ulverston running challenge

Still time to sign up for colourful Ulverston fundraising run

Inaugural Ulverston marathon ticks all the boxes for former Keswick to Barrow champion

Hoad Hill runners clock up the miles

IF you only read one paragraph of this article make it this one.

This isn’t an article about the art of marathon running. It’s an article about attempting to do something of which you thought you would never be capable.

You can apply the principles to any goal in life. This particular goal just happens to be to run a marathon.

Whatever that challenge is, if you want to do it enough, you will do it. Believe me. It’s just that for me, until August last year, I wasn’t even aware I had this particular goal…

There were only two problems with me running a marathon.

Firstly, I am not a runner. I hadn’t run since I was forced to at school. I was rubbish at it then and that was 30 years ago.

Secondly, I hate running. Trying to catch trains had taught me that. A few yards of running and I was wheezing.

Running is definitely not for me. Within an hour of meeting running mentor Gaynor Prior and Mr Motivator (alias Wayne Singleton of Siemens, Ulverston), I walked through the door at home with the words: “I am going to run a marathon.”

The brain had already won the battle. Then, (after everyone had fallen about laughing), it was all about, the body.

MEDICAL OPINION

You must consult a medic. Set off for a run straight away and you could be in for a serious shock.

I had a medical immediately to assess whether my then 47-year-old body was beyond repair.

Much to my surprise, I was given the all-clear.

MOTIVATIONAL MILESTONES

My marathon journey started almost four years ago – although I didn’t know it then.

I was at the presentation for the Keswick to Barrow walk at The Forum in Barrow.

Witnessing £250,000 dished out to charities and good causes was an inspiration. I knew then I had to take part the next year – 2012.

Much like the marathon I didn’t know if I could walk 40 miles in one day. But I got the bug, completing the K2B for the next three years.

And when I met Gaynor for the first time in August 2014, that was the deciding factor – “If you can stay on your feet for 11 hours doing the Keswick to Barrow, you can run a marathon.” That was me convinced.

MY BIGGEST TIP

Whatever your goal is, whether it’s running a marathon, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece, make it part of your daily routine.

I have got to the point where spending 35 minutes a day running is now as much a part of my daily routine as getting out of bed.

And if we really challenge ourselves, how many of us really couldn’t find just more than half an hour a day spare that we otherwise would waste on our smartphones, computers or in front of the TV?

Once you get that routine, you are more than half way there. It’s surprisingly simple.

FOUR THINGS I THOUGHT I’D NEVER SAY:

“I’m going for a run” – the first time I said this I almost choked. I wondered whose body the words had come from. Surely not mine. After those first few alien steps it’s all about pacing it. I had learned from doing the Walney Run training that you start mixing running and walking and over time (about 12 weeks) extend the running sections and reduce the walking until you are running the whole route. In August 2014, Gaynor said I would be running 10 miles non-stop by Christmas and not be out of breath! Incredibly, she was right.

“I’m taking my trainers away with me for the weekend,” – this only happened to me two weeks ago. I was going to visit family on the Fylde Coast, and surprised myself when my trainers were the first thing into my bag! I surprised myself even more on the Saturday morning when doing an eight-mile run around childhood haunts (no danger of anyone recognising me – no-one knows me as a runner!)

“No thanks I won’t have a red wine/beer” – I want to give myself the best possible chance of getting to the finish line on Sunday. When I heard a glass of red wine was the calorie-equivalent of eating a bowl of trifle I decided my weekly wine intake was maybe not conducive to completing a marathon! A real-ale lover as well, it has been tough to forego alcohol on social occasions. I have been’dry’ through June and July. But I can’t wait to reverse those decisions on Sunday night! (In terms of long-lasting benefits, I will definitely reduce my weekly alcohol intake from where I was before. I can’t be sure to say the same about my foodie favourites, puddings, cake, chocolate and even trifle though!).

“I enjoyed that” - perhaps the most weird thing of all. After 48 years of being convinced I hated running, I have actually found myself uttering these words. Usually after a revitalising shower, a huge glass of water, and lying flat out on the sofa, glad it’s done for another day – but hey, I do actually say it! MY RUNNING MILESTONES August 2014 – set out of the door and ran for the first time. I ran for about 100 yards, before stopping to walk. I did 1.8miles, stopping to walk six times. (I run past the tree every day where I first stopped to walk and always think of the pain I was in then and am amazed I feel so different now!)

September 2014 – first 3.5-mile run at Kirkby which becomes part of daily routine

November 2014 – first 10-mile run – Kirkby to Broughton and back

March 2015 – 17-mile run from Lowick church around Coniston Water

April 2015 – swap distance for hills – 12-miles over Kirkby Moor from Kirkby up the Hoad and back (walking up the Hoad – something I expect to do on Sunday, I have never yet run it!)

June 2015 – 20 miles. This was a big psychological milestone for me. Kirkby to Broughton and back – twice! Breaking the 20-mile barrier gave me hope I will reach the finish line on Sunday.

July 2015 – first 10k ‘race’ I have ever entered. Walney Run 10k. Finished 50th. Strange experience to run alongside other people! Good acclimatisation I hope, ahead of Sunday.

July 2015 – 24.5miles. My biggest training run of all. Kirkby to Broughton and back, then over Kirkby Moor to the Hoad, and back to Kirkby. Time – 5hours, 20mins. If I could add on the last two miles on Sunday I might make it to the finish line in about six hours (seven hours is the cut off point).

August 9, 2015 – I don’t know if I can run more than 26 miles. I have never tried. I will try for the first time in my life on Sunday. We’ll see what happens! APP I use MapMyRun. Others are available. It’s surprising how motivational it is to see what times you are doing during training, especially when split into sections. It has helped me get my daily run down from 39 minutes at the start to 32 minutes now. It might not sound a lot – but believe me, it feels good!

KIT It is true what they say, you don’t need loads of kit to get started. A pair of good running shoes is about the only essential. You can add specialist running t-shirts as you go, but in the early days any t-shirt, shorts, socks will do the trick. I haven’t stepped foot in a gym through all the training. I have used our natural environment and the leafy lanes of south Cumbria as my running track.

HEALTH BENEFITS I had a work medical in June which I have every two years. The medics were amazed at the difference. Weight lost (about two stone), less beer belly (due to less beer), greater lung capacity, better heart rate, improved blood pressure, better cholesterol levels.

But for me it’s the mental health benefits which are the most stark. Achieving something you never thought yourself capable of, drives you on to try other things. It gives you motivation and self-belief. That’s the bit for me which is the most liberating and life-changing.

THANK-YOUS Too many to mention. Gaynor and Wayne obviously for setting me on the way. Many others – you know who you are – who have asked, emailed, texted – just saying ‘how is the running going?’ – is hugely motivating in itself. So to all those friends/work colleagues a massive ‘thank you’ from me. To family for putting up with me saying; “I’ve just got to go out for a run”. To editor James Higgins for being my lunchtime running partner when there was a need to double up the daily running with a 4.5mile run from the office up Abbey Road and back. And to the complete strangers who shout their encouragement and add amazing motivation – the postman, the woman working at the level crossing at Foxfield, a couple around the lanes of Bardsea, I’ve even high-fived with work associates I’ve met when running through Ulverston market place – the support is amazing, perhaps because they see I am not the shape of a runner and I look to be struggling! But each and every word of encouragement has been gratefully received.

THE END? Will I reach the finish line? I honestly don’t know. In any event it’s been quite a journey. And it’s a pretty sure bet, either way, there will be tears! Will I carry on running? I’d like to think so. I’d like to think I’d at least carry on the daily 3.5-mile run. But I really don’t know. I think I need a challenge. We’ll see.