paulnoycemarathonforcompass-blog

[paulnoycemarathonforcompass-blog]

Why run a marathon Reason #4: Politely asking discouragement to leave the room.

So today I ran the second furthest distance I’ve ever run. The last time was the London Marathon in 2011 but I wouldn’t say that counted as running, because at least a third of it was hobbling/walking with a knee injury. But I digress. I’m surprised that geting up at 5:15am and running for 20 miles could actually make me feel better, but I’m feeling encouraged if a little numb in both legs.

Today was the long run before the ‘taper’ period where I’ll be running but not for massive distances. And, on a lovely sunny morning in Bristol I was able to get round 20 miles and still feel like the remaining 6.2 on marathon day would be achievable.

The reason this is remarkable is that my preparation in previous weeks included a less than impressive run at the Bath Half Marathon where I picked up a calf problem and ended up having to stop to stretch out the injury in order to keep running. In doing so, it seemed that the nagging voice doubting my ability to complete another marathon was turned right up to 11 and it was really hard to shake off that discouragement. I guess this is where sports psychology comes in and I’d need to develop a system to shout the doubting thoughts down. But I don’t have a sports psychologist to hand, so for today, I’ll settle for the fact that if you are only as good as your last run, I’m on track to start and finish on the 23rd April. 

Thanks also to those who have sponsored me this week. If you are still keen to do so, please visit my page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PaulNoyce and make a difference to the children in the Compassion projects in Uganda.

[paulnoycemarathonforcompass-blog]

Why run a marathon? Reason #3 Overcoming the chaos

I started writing this entry at 4.30am this morning. This was about 45 mins before I would start getting up and quietly leaving the house for a long run around Bristol. I say would, as life has been full of joyous and unplanned chaos over the last three weeks which has impacted my ability to prepare and get out to run.

My three week old son Thom is currently snuggled into his sling after eventually accepting my argument that sleep is a good option to consider. He is perfect but I’ve been thrown into a challenging pattern of looking after a recovering wife and sorting out the routines of school runs etc for my other children. It is difficult and wholly unfair to abandon them for a couple of hours so I can get 21km under my belt. 

I’ve also been sidelined with an eye injury- a scratched and inflamed cornea apparantly which has meant I’ve not been able to see out of my left eye. Vision is generally very important and even more so when running around streets and crossing roads.

So that brings me to the third reason for taking on a marathon challenge. There are plenty of marathon training programmes out there and my Strava account has been regularly sending me reminders that I should be completing a race pace session whilst I’m sorting out nappy changes or negotiating with my 3 year old about getting ready for bed, reminders acting like C3PO failing to read the room and take account of the chaos of life and focusing on giving you the cold facts instead.

So, am I behind on where I expected to be in training? Yes. 

Will this impact my aim to complete the marathon faster than 2011? Possibly.

Will it stop me completing the course? Absolutely not. 

I’m realising that crossing the finish line on the Mall won’t just be the end of the a 26.2 mile race, it will be the end of a few months of preparation. I’m learning that this time my training will be marked out by prioritising, adapting and making sense of this precious but crazy season of life.

Remember that three week old in the sling I mentioned? He’s waking up so I’d better get back to moving lulling him back to sleep...

[paulnoycemarathonforcompass-blog]

Why run a Marathon? Reason #2- Training= an introvert’s dream

The aim of this blog is to be honest about the journey to the marathon and the fundraising I’m doing for Compassion. So, I should start with a confession- I think one of the reasons I like running is the fact that I get to run alone and that brings with it a certain peace. Sure, it takes place with a lot of people on race day, but until then it is a long slog getting yourself out of bed and putting the miles in to make sure that you are ready for the challenge ahead. 

Now, life here is a bit crazy at the moment. I have an increased workload and large number of exam classes at school and at home we have two children and a third to be born on Friday. I love my job and I love my family but there is always something to be considering or doing either at work or at home and inevitably that takes it’s toll.

This weekend Mrs Noyce has stepped up to being head coach of the training- facilitating me to go out and run 10km yesterday and a half marathon today. Not the best training plan as my legs feel like jelly now but I’m aware meeting baby #3 might reduce my ability to get out somewhat. A grand total of 157 minutes out of the house and running around Bristol. It is a great place to run around, so that helps as there is always lots to see to help mark off the kilometres but I do wonder that if I was not on the introvert side of personalities whether it would totally do my head in if I couldn’t have people running with me. 

However, even though my legs ache, my head feels clearer. Some of the stresses of the week have been shaken off (after all, players gonna play and haters gonna hate) , I’ve had a chance to think about the way that life will change over the next five days and I’m fresher for the family that greet me at home. Running isn’t just about getting yourself fitter physically- for introverts it is a way of charging yourself up with that valuable independent time. 

Thoughts on the run- I’m still the 2017 course record holder on certain segments of the routes that I run. At the end of last year I was nowhere near the top times- do the speedy runners know something I don’t?

Tracks of the day- kilometre 5 of the 21.1km today was greatly aided by ‘Don’t Be Long’ by Army of Bones and Hysteria by Muse. A blisteringly combination and probably responsible for me breaking my pace target completely. 

Kilometre 20 was tarnished by the hilarity value of the fact I had managed to add ‘9 Crimes’ by Damien Rice to the playlist. Or, as it gets known in our house ‘A song from Shrek’. Ether way, if you know the track you will know that it has probably not been included on anyone’s running playlist ever. If you could have seen me there was clearly great bemusement on my face as I tried to work out whether the phone had died and then how on earth I had managed to put such an intense, non-running track on a playlist to keep me going. Must do better in the playlist game. Side Note- it’s a great song Damien, just for that particular time and place...you know...

That is a preview for a future ‘why’- to compile great music to listen to.. or perhaps I should open up a contest for the least effective motivational playlist ever put together....

[paulnoycemarathonforcompass-blog]

Why run a Marathon? Reason #1- raising money for Compassion Challenges

I ran the London Marathon in 2011. 4 hours 38 minutes and 21 seconds after starting I finished. The injured knee and frustration of having to walk/run large finals of the last eight miles meant that although I’d raised money for charity I didn’t quite feel like I had done as well as I had hoped. As I dragged myself down the final strait on the Mall as I’d seen so many times on TV and collected my medal, there was a sense of unfinished business. 

My wife asked me after we had located each other through the crowd of post race family meet ups going on around me whether I would ever do it again. This was possibly seeking some sort of video evidence that could be played back once my body had recovered and I started talking about entering for a second time. I chose a diplomatic and non-committal response but I figured deep down that for the right cause I could be inspired.

In November the chance came up to enter the ballot to get one of Compassion’s charity places, I put my name forward and was surprised when I watched the live feed on Facebook to hear my name being called out. 

So my reason for running the marathon this time is to help Compassion UK, a charity who do brilliant work with child sponsorship and supporting children across the world. What is even more exciting for me is the money that the project is going to. 

As a teacher I am aware of the massive difference education makes to the lives of young people, whatever country they live in. I visited Uganda in 2010 and spent some time teaching there and met many committed professionals and dedicated students. However, the infrastructure and facilities are not always in place to provide the best for the young people. The money raised from this Compassion Challenge will go towards the building of new classroom facilities to benefit the education and health of around 273 young people was one factor that inspired me to take part.

We've sponsored a child called Edward in Uganda through Compassion for many years and are aware of the great work that the projects linked with Compassion do so I can be confident that the money raised in this challenge will go to the projects directly.

There’s a team of us running for Compassion and you can find out more about the project here: https://challenges.compassionuk.org/_uploads/civs/UgandaClassroomConstruction.pdf .

And, if you want to play your part in making these classrooms a reality, it would be great to have your sponsorship and support at https://challenges.compassionuk.org/profile/327/paul-noyce 

Then you can view my blog posts of early mornings, painful feet and musings on the challenges of managing life, work, family and the miles with your feet up and a smile knowing that you have done your bit... 

Unless of course, you can be inspired to sign up for a challenge in 2017...