All set

I’m as ready for the Sheffield half marathon tomorrow as I’m ever going to be. I’m resting this morning, getting plenty of carbs, protein and fluid, then travelling down to Sheffield this afternoon and staying overnight.

I did another half marathon once, back in the days when my legs worked, but that was 30 years ago so I’m not entirely sure what to expect on the day. There will be considerably more people and organisation, this time, I’m sure. The instructions say to go to the area with sign that’s the same colour as my race number, so I’m going to trust that the staff know what they are doing and just meekly go along with that. A bit like airports; I worked out years ago that airports are incredibly stressful places…. unless you turn off the greater part of your brain and just trudge along in the general direction the signs tell you to. So I’m going to do that. Only without the trudging.

I’m fairly confident that I’ll finish, but I don’t have the slightest idea what sort of time I’m likely to get. Neither do I have a goal. This isn’t because I haven’t been training properly, it’s because I don’t know quite what to expect of the road surface. How rough will it be? What sort of camber? Slopes, I can manage, but will I be able to get into a decent rhythm or will I be fighting the whole way? The broken and overgrown pavements around here are not necessarily a good match to the roads of Sheffield.

Having said that, I did find an excellent new training path that’s likely a lot closer to the race conditions than anything I’ve used regularly so far. Annoyingly, I only found it two days ago. I’ll write about it in a bit, because there are some useful things to learn from it.

Assuming I survive the course, we’ll be going to the worst pub in Sheffield on Sunday evening. If anyone fancies a pint, that is where you can buy me one 🙂

People have been amazingly generous in their sponsorship. At the time of writing, they have donated £1315 for nia. I’m touched and I’m heartened.

But it doesn’t end here. I also have the Leeds half marathon and the Great North Run to do this year, plus the Middlesbrough 10k. I’ll be back after Sunday with a new donation page that’s not tied to any specific event and I’ll be using that for general fundraising efforts from then on.

Assuming I survive.

One week

The Sheffield half marathon is at the end of the week (Sunday 27th March)!

My race number, artfully cropped

I think I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be. I’m pretty sure I’ll get around the course, barring incident or injury, but I’m not expecting to set any records. I (already) broke the steering assembly on my racing chair (it’s fine, I’m just waiting for a part), so I’ll be using my day chair. That’s probably safer for everyone concerned anyway, as I haven’t managed to get as much practice in the racing chair as I’d have liked.

Sheffield Half Marathon
This is the chair I will be using

It also makes the logistics easier. I can fit both chairs in the car, but not if I also want to fit my wife in the car. None of the choices are very good: take two cars, have one of us use the train, hire a trailer, hire a van. The van hire option sounded good, but (unsurprisingly) hiring a van with hand controls is not a particularly straightforward process, so my wife would have had to drive both ways.

Training-wise, I feel in decent form. I had the weekend off and my schedule this week is only moderately intensive. I have a slight strain to a tendon from weight training last week and I don’t want to aggravate it. It won’t get in the way of my pushing action anyway, but It’s best to be on the safe side. I’ll be alternating between training with the rolling road:

My rolling road: I call it Roly.

And an actual road, which I assume you don’t need a picture of. The difference is like that between an exercise bike and a real bike. The former is good for building strength and endurance, but it doesn’t really prepare you for real race conditions. Not that I really know what real race conditions are, of course, since this will be my first.

I’ll also make the final decision on whether to use my freewheel attachment or not:

Freewheel attachment

The Freewheel attaches to the footrest, making the chair into a kind of trike. It has several advantages, particularly in dealing with bumps and dodgy cambers, but it also adds a fair bit of weight. I’ll do the same 7-mile course twice this week, once with the Freewheel and once without and make my decision after that. It’s not that I haven’t tried the same a few times before, this is just a final assessment.

My only real concern is that pain can fluctuate wildly with my condition. This doesn’t affect performance directly (in fact, exercise is about the only thing that helps the pain) but it does affect my sleep, which can hit performance a lot. I’ll just have to see what happens, although I’ll drag myself around the course no matter what.

I’ll let you know how the final week of training goes!

People have been amazingly generous so far, but if you feel like donating to an excellent cause, there is still time to do so here.
nia, is a women-led, women-only, secular, rights-based registered charity which has been delivering services to women, girls and children who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse, including prostitution, since 1975.

Even in these troubled times, it’s difficult to imagine a more worthwhile or important cause.

Sheffield half marathon

My first half marathon is coming up at the end of the month! On some days I think I’m ready and on others, woefully unprepared. I think I’ll get around the course, which is the limit of my current expectation.

Last week was supposed to be Extreme Training Week, but I had a bit of a setback due to an especially bad flareup of pain and much subsequent loss of sleep. In the end, I did a little less training than usual. Oops.

So this week is the All-New Even Better Extreme Training Week. I’d better get started.

I’ll be starting a last big push for fundraising, too. The crowdfunder is doing well, but I’m hoping to reach £1000. Please consider donating if you can. Once this round is over, I’ll be looking at ways to raise money for nia and related charities on a more regular basis leading into the various other events I have planned this year (and subsequent years). Any suggestions are welcome!

As always, take a look at my fundraising page. I’m doing wheelchair half marathons (three this year, plus sundry 10k events) to raise money for nia, a women-led, women-only, secular, rights-based registered charity which has been delivering services to women, girls and children who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse, including prostitution, since 1975.

Fundraising page live

My fundraising page is now live here!

I’m raising money for nia, a women-led, women-only, secular, rights-based registered charity which has been delivering services to women, girls and children who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse, including prostitution, since 1975.

I’m competing (although ‘competing’ might be too strong a word) in several wheelchair distance events through 2022 and beyond including the the Sheffield and Leeds half marathons (March and May), the Middlesbrough 10k (September) and hopefully the Great North Run (also September).

My JustGiving page for the Sheffield event in March is here.