Mile 6 – Off course up a huge hill Before and during your marathon it is important to take on enough fluid to make up for what you will lose in sweat. There are feed stations every few miles and it is best to take advantage of their water, as well as electrolyte drinks that help replace the salts that you are going to be losing too. It is something to practice during the long training runs as you want to know which flavours you can stomach, plus you have to be careful not to over hydrate, which can be just as bad. As someone who has twice ended up…

Mile 5 – Some steep uphills and easy downhills It is easy to injure yourself when doing lots of running, especially on tarmac. Going off road onto footpaths is easier on the knees and mixing in some other exercise helps further, typically swimming and cycling. I have been working on my stand up routine since last summer. I shuffle round in the chair until both feet are in front of me, parallel, shoulder width apart. Then I lean forward, hands supporting me, stand up straight and hold it there for about 5 seconds while stretching the adductors at the front of my legs. Next, I walk on the spot half…

Mile 4 carbo loading and feed stations Let’s say the human body can store about 2,000 calories. When running you use up about 100 calories per mile, so when you get to 20 miles you have burned all the stores, you are running on empty and that’s when you hit the wall. You get through it by a combination of taking on more calories at the feed stations around the course and sheer willpower but it is important to make sure your stores are full before you start by carbo loading in preparation for the race. Cycle 1 day 22, the last week of the first cycle and I have…

Mile 3 Downhill, easyFor the first few miles you have to dodge past slower runners who started ahead of you, while being overtaken yourself by the quicker ones behind, but you gradually settle in with those going at your pace. Just don’t get carried away when it seems easy, you might go too fast and think you can keep this up all the way. It’s obviously too early to judge but I’ve had a boost this week with my back feeling much better, but more of that later. This week saw cycle 1 day 15, my third visit to Montefiore Hospital and I’m an expert now.  Familiarity with the routine…

Miles 1 and 2Undulating with some steep uphill sections.It is a great relief to get underway. The first two visits to the hospital for the first 28 day cycle of treatment are referred to as days 1 and 8. The next two will be days 15 and 22. Mine are mainly on Wednesdays.The lovely team at the Montefiore Hospital really looked after me and calmed my nerves. Much of the time is spent sitting around but there is plenty of coffee and a great lunch. I started with the pre-meds then an hour later I was given my drugs with two injections to the subcutaneous fat in my stomach, one…

Wear your name on your shirt when running a marathon and the crowd will shout out their support.  For the first few miles you wonder why all those people seem to know you but you don’t recognise them, but by mile 23 when you have used up all your body’s stores of energy, you need the supporters to tell you to keep on going. It was hard to know how to tell people about multiple myeloma at first.  I’m of a generation who don’t like to talk about cancer.  I’m not the sort to post my emotions on Facebook, so I was wondering about how to tell family and various…

Waiting to get to the start line If you arrive at the start of a marathon with plenty of time, the best thing to do is queue for the toilets.  Then when you come out, join the queue again, once will not be enough.  Time can drag when you are waiting to start.  Have a chat with people otherwise you can feel nervous and you notice every little ache and pain. The next days and weeks were spent learning about myeloma.  I’m not sure I paid attention to the biology lesson when we covered stem cells and the immune system when I was at school 50 years ago and now…

The entry ballot Not everyone gets in after applying for the bigger marathons, it’s a matter of luck. I eventually followed Sue’s advice and tried the doctors.  They might not massage a pulled muscle but this was a bit of a mystery now so it couldn’t do any harm.  I had a Livi video call with a GP as my 64th birthday treat which led to blood tests and an x-ray.  After some extra blood tests, I received a call from the surgery receptionist who said that the GP wanted to arrange a call to go through the results. Tuesday 24th January was already going to be a stressful day. …

Applying for a marathon and training Deciding to enter a marathon requires a commitment to hours of training. Once the decision is made, you have to do what it takes. I had decided to retire in April 2022. Thanks again to my friends and customers at ROCC Computers, I had a wonderful send off and the best present ever – my retirement blanket complete with pictures of my colleagues over the years. I didn’t know quite how it would work out but I was ready to try out retirement. In my new free time I soon got the hang of running club on Tuesday mornings. In the first two months…