Do You Remember The First Time? or How I Hated Running At First And Then Quite Enjoyed It

Tom and I ran the BUPA London 10,000 today! It was fantastic! A few hiccups along the way (more about that later!) but we got over the line and I was so proud of him!!  He trained for a 10k in just 4 weeks!  I might be ok at this coaching thing ;)

Without further ado, here is my hubby's race report for you all to enjoy, in the humorous style you've come to expect! My race report will come tomorrow with some more pictures. Enjoy!

10k man with his medal, a photo by philippa_moore on Flickr.

In the last episode of 'The Running Pains of Mr. Latte' we followed our reluctant anti-hero on a journey of self discovery, love, pain and death as he battled his way to Mars to restore lost memories. Oh, wait. That's the plot of Total Recall. Scrap that last sentence, or at least the latter half of it. I would delete it but my backspace key is broken.

Basically, in the last instalment of this critically acclaimed piece of literature, I had discovered that speed was good for my legs but bad for my heart and lungs. My next run was painful and I had to stop and I got grumpy. If I remember correctly I almost threw Mrs. Latte into the Thames, but she over-powered me and, picking me up by my testicles, actually threw me off Chelsea Bridge. Thankfully, I survived to run another day.

But seriously (no, really, seriously) I was starting to find running less painful in my legs but I was getting tired about halfway through the run. This had the interesting side-effect of pissing me off. Therefore in most of my runs last week I was prone to spells of grumpiness and of course dwelling on negative thoughts and topics of conversation whilst running, which led to an awful run. I would end up returning home ready to throw it all in and give up. And indeed I would have if it weren't for Mrs. Latte...after all she bought me all the gear in the first place.

We had another run early last week during which I discovered something even more remarkable; when I started getting tired if I lifted my legs using my thighs instead of my knees it took the pressure off my lower legs and I would be able to run for longer. Eventually I was able to run 7km without stopping.

By the time Saturday rolled around, and it was our last training run,  I was feeling quite confident!  I started to mess about, running along benches, running backwards to show off (I think Mrs. Latte was impressed) and even managed a little victory finish as we left the park. All in all I felt amazing on Saturday and it was the first time that I had had a genuinely great run and had fun while I was doing it. I didn't get grumpy and I certainly didn't feel like hurting anyone, which was most fortunate for our annoying neighbours. That was Saturday.

On Sunday we awoke to Mrs. Latte cradling a massive swollen cartoon foot. It throbbed in time to her heartbeat and it was looking as though she would not be able to run the race on Monday. You may be wondering how her foot became damaged in the first place. Well, we wondered the same thing, but I can assure you that it had nothing to do with me or the frying pan that I chased her round the flat with.

I also noticed that I was going off my food and my stomach was a bit jumpy. I put this down to drinking far too much coffee in the mornings during our days off. I assumed that the caffeine was doing something to my tummy. Then it dawned on me on Sunday night that perhaps I was nervous. Me? The ALMIGHTY Mr. Latte? The husband of Skinny Latte couldn't possibly foul himself at the thought of doing a 10km race...surely? Oh, but I could and I was and I did! Sorry to shatter your illusions, dear readers, but I am as fallible as you mere mortals, despite being married to a Goddess (more on that revelation next week).

Despite my stomach's best efforts to make me stay at home and quiver in bed watching episodes of 'House' (not sure about the finale of Season 7 BTW - WTF. BRB. LMFAO. ETC.) Mrs. Latte and I advanced on Green Park (by foot because the Victoria line was down) and I found myself impressed by the professional readiness of the organisation (Bupa) and the spectators and runners who gathered there. The toilets were particularly impressive as they were clean and provided hand wash. Wow. Even my last job didn't provide such facilities! The atmosphere was really positive and the weather was warm and sunny.

Mrs. Latte's foot had returned to normal and so it was looking like she was going to be able to run the race with me. I must admit that I had been miserable at the thought of running my first race on my own. The one thing I was looking forward to the most was running with her, so I was and still am so pleased that she was able to run and that the frying pan (or whatever it was) didn't do any lasting damage!

The start, a photo by philippa_moore on Flickr.

We were in the Green A start wave which set off at about 11:30am from St. James's Park. It was such a thrill to be running with my beautiful wife at my side and to be running through Parliament Square and passing Big Ben. What struck me at first was the sheer number of people cheering us all on. Kids were holding their hands out for high fives and whistles were blown and flags waved. It was a real boost and was only the beginning of such generous spectators we would meet along the way.

Running down the Embankment towards Tower Hill we passed the tube station and started to speed up. Mrs. Latte and I were side by side the whole time and kept encouraging each other. She has been so supportive this last month and today was certainly no exception. What a lucky guy I am.

The first spot of bother (or pain in the arse) was an incline in the road just after Millennium Bridge (on which I proposed) and people started to struggle. With the general pace of runners slowing I found myself having to jump onto the pavement to get around people who were falling back. It reminded me of how I felt at kilometre 7 in Battersea and that I probably needed to start pacing myself.

There were some amazing drummers and bands along the way. In particular I want to mention the guys playing 'We Will Rock You' along the Embankment, the taiko drummers at Bank and a Caribbean band that I can't remember the location of. These musical interludes gave the race a pulse and really pushed us all further but I reckon I burnt myself out a bit early in the middle and by the 5km mark I was starting to think I couldn't do the rest. We hit the 5km mark at 32 minutes and 15 seconds.

It was at the 7km mark that people were starting to stop at the First Aid points and there were people walking, stopping and looking terribly exhausted. Despite this, Mrs. Latte and I, still side by side, marched on and our pace remained strong. We looped round Bank and headed back down to Embankment where we headed towards the 8km mark. There was a shower which I ran though drenching myself thoroughly and a water stop that I literally caused a pile-up at (well, it was my first time).

Taking it easy, we glided over the 9km mark in Whitehall and rounded the corner onto The Mall. My legs were tired but my heart and lungs, the two pieces of my biology that had let me down previously, now pulled in the extra fuel from nowhere and we both charged through the finish line at 1 hour, 4 minutes and 24 seconds. I was so pumped that I almost forgot to stop! It was amazing and the rush of running the whole way without stopping, or even really seriously considering stopping, was the biggest high of all.

We're 10k'ers! Go Team Cyberdyne! :) , a photo by philippa_moore on Flickr.

On collecting our medals (again I caused another pile up) I started thinking about how I had gone from couch potato to 10km runner in a month. It was all thanks to Phil and her patience and belief in me. She knew that if I just got off my arse and did it I would manage it. I remember back to my first run in Battersea Park only four weeks ago and how much pain I was in. It seems like another me now. It really doesn't take long if you take it seriously and do it in your own time/pacing.

After all of the races I have been in the crowd waiting to see Phil so I can cheer and maybe steal a kiss from her, I finally got to run one with her. That was the best thing I could possibly have asked for today, getting to be with her every step of the way and not just on a corner at kilometre 4. I even said to her at kilometre 9, "now I know why you love running!".

Now I know why she does it and it only took me three years!!

And that's it. The best result in a challenge that only needed me to trust Phil's belief in me and what my body could do.

I fully intend to keep running, perhaps not as often, but certainly once or twice a week.

I have also got over my fear of wearing shorts.

Mr. Latte

the running report: the running pains of Mr. Skinny Latte

A guest post by my husband Tom, who is running his first 10k on May 30th!  

Imagine the sight, if you will, of a six foot, skinny, half-exhausted-from-sitting-behind-a-desk-all-day, blu-ray addicted, 30 year old male as he struggled, blinded and dazed up the steep steps to the street. His right knee was a mangled mess of swollen muscle and his left shin reduced to something that Gregory House would be happy to live with. This was me at 6:30 this evening as I reached street level in my 'Big Lebowski' shirt and with my stick-like legs dangling out of the my Adidas (can I have my product placement money now please?) shorts.

I am telling you this long piece of descriptive info as I have (as some of my fans, followers and scary stalkers will know) been for three runs on my own the last week. In summary this is kinda how it went:

Sunday: A short run to the park and back. By the time I got home I thought my heart and lungs were literally trying to teach me a lesson by leaping out of my mouth (via my throat) and heading to the local betting shop. I was being punished for trying too much too soon. I had tried to be a smart-ass by running fast. I am Man. Watch me run. Watch me collapse in the street and get caught up in a street cleaner more like...

Monday: Decided to take my time this time (too many uses of the word 'time' there but I've typed it now and I'm not going back to change it for you or anyone) and managed to run to the park and do half a lap before pain in my chest and back started again. I walked for a few minutes and then ran to the exit of the park and then walked again. To say it was a crap run was an understatement, but my body was still functioning at a vertical level, so I was happy. The next day my legs hurt so I decided to spend two days watching movies with excessive violence in them.

Thursday: Ran to Battersea Park, did a lap without stopping and ran home. OK, I might have walked a bit on the way home, but otherwise I did about 5.5km. I was very happy and aside from being asked by a passer-by if I was OK (or about to expire) I felt amazing. Celebrated by watching a film containing excessive amounts of violence.

Saturday: Got up early in the mood for a damn good run. Forgot to wake up first and also didn't realise that I had a stinking hangover from hell until halfway round the park. Had to stop and walk for a few seconds. Got home feeling angry and disappointed with myself and felt like setting fire to the street, but instead cleaned the flat (something I do when I'm angry). Legs really hurt...again realised that I'd obviously run too fast and pushed myself without properly fuelling.

I spent the next few days feeling very low and negative (yes, even amazing people like me can get negative!) about running and the race next week. The pain in my legs got worse and by Monday I was having trouble walking and even running to dodge speeding cars (why do they go through red lights and WHY does no one catch them?!) was causing enough pain for concern.

Wednesday (today): Legs in a lot of pain. Hurt to walk home from train station. Felt very miserable but got my gear on anyway and beautiful Phil came with me. Despite my legs hurting, the warm up was good and we ran steadily to the park. No problems so far and my chest wasn't hurting, which was good. We did a lap of the park and I was still feeling good. My lower legs were still sore but my thighs were taking the brunt of the punishment and so I was able to power through it. On reaching the exit to the park (a full lap) we took a break and did some squats. I found that doing the squats removed the pain in my legs almost completely and to my surprise was able to run ALL the way home! This is something I was aiming for last week and had failed until tonight. So, excluding squats we ran 6.7km tonight. My best yet, so I was really chuffed!

All I wanted to do when I got in was collapse and sleep, but Phil got me doing stretches and I ended up feeling much brighter and in a lot less pain. Over an episode of House and a Lucozade I reflected on why tonight's run had been such a success even with the pain in my legs. I reckon it was because I had simply made a rookie mistake: I was trying to do too much too soon. My last few solo runs had been with music, most of which had a relatively fast beat and encouraged me to run faster. I've got long legs so running faster is more comfortable. That said, running faster might be good for my legs but I now realise that it's not good for my heart and lungs.

Tonight Phil showed me the balance between speed and endurance. Everyone is different and despite my long legs and their strength I clearly need to give my heart time to catch up. This is something that I never even thought about, and why would I? I've spent the last thirty years either in front of a computer, a TV or in bed! Sad really, but true.

I am quietly interested in going for another run tomorrow evening (Thursday) to see if adopting the same practice will yield the same results. My legs, at the time of writing this, are sore but in far less pain, which suggests that the pain comes from lack of use. I was/am certainly not 'out of shape' but I am clearly not as 'in shape' as I thought myself to be.

More on this exciting story when more details become available.

Next: Australian woman living in London loses husband when he slips between crack in pavement due to weight loss from running.

Mr. Latte

long time no blog!

India, a set on Flickr.

Sorry for the radio silence my friends, it's been a hectic couple of weeks - a few days ago I got back from a week in India! I was over there for work, but managing to have a few days holiday as well. It was amazing. I have so much to tell you about it, but to be honest I'm still digesting it all, there was so much to take in. It's an incredibly intense place, but so haunting and beautiful.

I will write some posts about it soon (I have quite a few brewing in my head!) but tonight Tom has written a guest post for me about how his running is going, which I'll put up in a few minutes.

Enjoy! More soon :)

wedding (and hay) fever

Hello my friends!  Did you enjoy the Royal Wedding on Friday?  I certainly did!  Our friend Katie stayed at our place the night before and she, Tom and I headed out early to see if we could catch a slice of the action:

This was the closest we could get to the BACK entrance of the Abbey! 

We still got caught up in the atmosphere!

We live a short walk from Westminster Abbey, so even though we knew it would be packed we thought we should take advantage of being so close.  We'd heard the helicopters flying overhead the night before!  We went up to the Abbey about 9am - Katie and I had dressed up for the occasion and her fascinator and my white cowboy hat with veil got a few stares on the walk up!  Perhaps we were mistaken for official guests, ha ha ;) Even though it was a grey and somewhat chilly morning there was so much excitement in the air!  We battled the crowds for a while but eventually it became obvious that we weren't going to see anything (people had been camped out for days in the prime spots!), so we headed down the road to a pub that was decked out for the occasion:

Eventually the crowds got a bit much and we decided we'd have a better time in the pub

Pimm's!  At 10AM!!
The only time I drink that early is Christmas....it had fruit in it, I didn't feel too bad!

What country were we in again?! ;) 

I wore my own wedding earrings and brought my wedding clutch along

Me with my hat!  It's a little mini white cowboy hat with veil - it was given to me to
wear on my hen's night last year!  I thought it deserved another outing ;) 

Cheers!

We settled in with some Pimm's and got prime seats for the TV viewing, the pub was getting fuller by the minute - eventually you couldn't move in there.  The pub was only down the road from the Abbey, so you could hear the bells ringing and the crowds cheering faintly.  The pub was silent during the vows and when the Archbishop of Canterbury said "I declare that they are husband and wife", a huge cheer erupted, both in the pub and outside the Abbey, which we could again hear faintly, and everyone started clapping.   The service and hymns dragged on a bit, but then we heard the clip-clop of horses hooves outside and everyone rushed to the windows and outside to the street to see - it was the royal carriages on their way to the Abbey to collect the bride and groom, and the Queen.  There must have been about 100 horses out there, and the ornate carriages were sparkling and glittering in the sunshine.  It was quite amazing, like you had walked on to a film set!

Once the bride and groom had emerged and were on their way back to the Palace, Katie headed up there to attempt to see the balcony scene - Tom and I weren't keen as we'd heard there were going to be about a million people in the Mall (and that estimate wasn't far off in the end!) so we headed back to the flat where we kept watching it on TV, I made us brunch, we had some G&T's to toast the happy couple, and Tom went outside to watch the RAF planes and the Spitfire fly over the flat on their way to the Palace to salute the newlyweds!  The noise was incredible!!

It seemed to be the weekend of weddings, as the next day we went out to Buckinghamshire for the wedding of one of Tom's oldest friends:

In the courtyard of the registry office

It made us think of our own wedding - a very simple registry office ceremony, and then a lovely party afterwards; very intimate, very heartfelt.  It reminded me of why I love going to weddings - it feels wonderful to be in the presence of so much happiness and joy.

Tom was driving, so lucky me got to take advantage of more Pimm's (!) and a very classy French red wine with dinner at the reception.  It was lovely to be out in the country, breathing the fresh air and seeing rolling green fields and roads lined with trees.

The cake was delicious - the bride's mother made it to a traditional
Sri Lankan recipe, it had cinnamon and cardamom in it

The rather dapper MC!  

Us

Tom and I had the dance floor to ourselves at one point in the evening, where we danced and sang loudly to "It Must Be Love" by Madness, one of our favourite songs (we love The Tall Guy!) - I had had many red wines at that point so didn't feel too self conscious!

We also spent some of the long weekend running - yes, I said we!  In the spirit of true love and all, Tom and I are doing the BUPA 10k at the end of the month!  Over the past few months as I trained for the marathon, Tom has got more and more interested in having a go at running.  On the journeys back from my various half marathons and other races, he would mention that he might like to give it a try, as I certainly looked like I was having fun!  He's never been a sporty guy but is a very keen walker and swimmer when he feels inclined.  We've had many conversations about how planned exercise, as well as incidental, helps keep muscles and bones strong as we get older (I'm sure you've all heard it before!) and  I always thought he had a good build for running - he is very tall and has very long limbs - so the plan was that once the marathon was over, I would train him for a 5k that we could do together over the summer.  The deal was that I had to buy Tom a pair of runners...because he didn't have any ;)

But then last week Lucozade put me forward for BUPA, and mentioned that they had a spot for Tom too if he felt up to the challenge....with NO coercion on my part, Tom said he'd do it!!

So I got him some shoes.......

Green! 

 And now we've started training in earnest!  We have 4 weeks!!  What a challenge!  I wonder if my coaching skills are up to it?!  But so far so good - we went out on Friday evening, yesterday morning and this morning and Tom is doing brilliantly!  We've done a combo of walks/runs and are trying to build up the distances.  I even had him doing strides yesterday (which he hated but they get results!).  I'm really enjoying running together - I wasn't sure whether it would be his kind of thing, but we're both having a lot of fun!  Apart from when I get grumpy that the wind keeps blowing my cap off, or when the pollen gets really bad (spring in London is not much fun if you suffer from hay fever!).  We've improved on the walk-run ratio each time, and today we covered about 5km all up, including a walk warm up.  Because Tom's legs are longer than mine he can actually run faster than me (!) so I was also getting a good workout!

With my coaching hat on (!) I've been very mindful about making sure we stretch properly - sometimes when it's just me I get a bit lazy about it - so we do a proper cool down.  It's so interesting, learning about how running affects someone else's body other than my own.  Tom has different fuelling needs, and different stamina, so I've had to take all this into account when planning what we'll do in training - but it's really fun!  We haven't got a lot of time, but our goal so far is to run as much of it as possible, and break for a walk when he needs it.  But who knows - whatever happens, he'll get over the line with me right by his side.  I'm so proud of him, and really looking forward to it :)

But don't think I've got out of this easily - as an exchange for him giving something that I love a go, I have to do the same!  I have agreed to watch every single Paul Verhoeven film he owns!  We started with Basic Instinct (which I actually quite enjoyed) but I'm not looking forward to Robocop....but oh well, the things you do for love!

He's tweeting about his progress, and I might get him to guest post while I'm away next week to let you know how he's going.  Can a complete beginner do a 10k in just 4 weeks?  We're going to find out!!

He was warned that life with me wouldn't be boring ;)

Do you exercise with your partner, or have you ever done a sporting event together?

Have a great week everyone! xx