At the start of the week I was planning on competing in the 1 mile club
championship race taking place this evening. However upon assessing how far
away the venue was from my apartment and figuring out how difficult it
would be to get there I began to review why I was competing in the race and
whether it was really worth it, especially considering it will take me five
times as long to get to the venue than it'll take for me to run the race
itself! So this made me review - why am I running and what do I hope to
achieve?
First and foremost, I am not running to win races, I'm training for a
marathon - 26.2 miles. The bulk of my training is focussing on building up
mileage. Any races I do between now and the big day will be purely for
preparation purposes. I am under no delusions that I'll win any of them,
there's far too many faster, fitter people around. As stepping stones to
running the marathon I would like to compete in a 10k, a half marathon, and
other similar distance events. I'll also work on interval training to
improve my fitness and my speed, as well as some hills work, all of which
will work toward preparing me for the marathon.
Short 1 mile races however wont exactly give me any benefit. They do not
fit into my objectives to run a marathon. They would be ideal if I were
training to do sprinting, or to compete seriously in shorter
distances...but I'm not. So what is the minimum race distance I'm willing
to do? As my first ever race was a 5k I can see benefit in doing future 5k
races for comparison purposes to see how I'm improving since the last one.
I think it is reasonable to set this as my minimum race distance.
There are however a series of races that I DO have a chance of winning.
Both the Serpentine running club and the running club at my work do monthly
"handicap" races. These work by staggering the start times for the runners
based on their previous race results with the idea that everyone finishes
the race en-mass. As you are running against your own previous time, the
first person across the line (and therefore the "winner") is the person who
has improved on their previous time the most. As *fingers crossed* I will
be improving over the course of the next 9 months as I train for the
marathon then these are the races that I stand a chance to win - and it is
my aim to win them! Quite simply - this is an achievable goal which meets
my objectives.
So what did I do this evening instead of competing in the 1 mile race? Well
I chose to use my time more wisely and go for a run in the park - making
the most of the extra time I have to go for a longer run than I typically
would mid-week. I ran from my flat, the full length of the top of Hyde Park
and Kensington Park Gardens and back - a distances of 3.4 miles total which
I did in about 35 mins. I ran quite fast as I wanted to get home before it
started to get dark and I took short breathers to tide me over but all in
all it was a good run.
Showing posts with label Info. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Info. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Why I'm running for Hearing Dogs
When I was a child I was inspired by the story "Sounds like Skipper" by Kerena Marchant. In it the author, a BBC TV researcher, tells how she adjusted to being deaf, and explains how Skipper, her hearing dog, lets her lead a normal life. It was my first introduction to the concept of hearing dogs and it demonstrated to me the profound impact they can have in the life of a hearing impaired person.
Hearing dogs are trained to help severely deaf people by alerting them to sounds such as the doorbell, cooker timer and smoke alarm - sounds that many hearing people take for granted.
While the practical value may be obvious, the therapeutic value should not be underestimated. In addition to increased security hearing dogs bring their recipients increased confidence and independence to what can be a very frightening and isolating disability.
When out and about a hearing dog's special burgundy jacket helps others to recognise the owner's otherwise invisible disability. If you're in a crowded space and someone is stood in your way after you've repeatedly asked to get past how many of you would just barge past? I know that after spending 2 years in London I definitely would. However if you saw they had an assistance dog you'd no doubt approach the situation differently.
One in seven UK adults will suffer from some form of hearing impairment, some from birth, others as the result of an accident or illness. My father is supposed to wear a hearing aid - he had frequent ear infections as a child, resulting in ruptured eardrums, followed by a career as a diver which has left him with reduced hearing. I inherited his proneness to ear infections and in certain situations I'm reminded that my hearing has also been affected - especially in noisy environments where I struggle to make out specific sounds. While neither of us requires a hearing dog over half a million of people in the UK experience severe or profound hearing loss and could potentially benefit from having a hearing dog.
75% of hearing dogs were previously unwanted - they may have been in rescue centres or donated by people no longer able to look after them. The remainder are supplied by breeders, or the charities own breeding program. Since the charity receives no government funding, it relies totally on the generosity of individuals and organisations to continue transforming the lives of deaf people.
I hope you will agree that this is a worthy cause and donate whatever you can - Thank you in advance!
Hearing dogs are trained to help severely deaf people by alerting them to sounds such as the doorbell, cooker timer and smoke alarm - sounds that many hearing people take for granted.
While the practical value may be obvious, the therapeutic value should not be underestimated. In addition to increased security hearing dogs bring their recipients increased confidence and independence to what can be a very frightening and isolating disability.
When out and about a hearing dog's special burgundy jacket helps others to recognise the owner's otherwise invisible disability. If you're in a crowded space and someone is stood in your way after you've repeatedly asked to get past how many of you would just barge past? I know that after spending 2 years in London I definitely would. However if you saw they had an assistance dog you'd no doubt approach the situation differently.
One in seven UK adults will suffer from some form of hearing impairment, some from birth, others as the result of an accident or illness. My father is supposed to wear a hearing aid - he had frequent ear infections as a child, resulting in ruptured eardrums, followed by a career as a diver which has left him with reduced hearing. I inherited his proneness to ear infections and in certain situations I'm reminded that my hearing has also been affected - especially in noisy environments where I struggle to make out specific sounds. While neither of us requires a hearing dog over half a million of people in the UK experience severe or profound hearing loss and could potentially benefit from having a hearing dog.
75% of hearing dogs were previously unwanted - they may have been in rescue centres or donated by people no longer able to look after them. The remainder are supplied by breeders, or the charities own breeding program. Since the charity receives no government funding, it relies totally on the generosity of individuals and organisations to continue transforming the lives of deaf people.
I hope you will agree that this is a worthy cause and donate whatever you can - Thank you in advance!
My First Post
Hi, thank you for visiting my blog. I'm Eleanor Macklin, (or Ellie as some of you may know me). For the past two years since graduating University I've been living in London, working and traveling and I thought it was high time I set myself a new challenge.
I started running halfheartedly while I was at University (Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh has a beautiful campus!) and now that I live in London I have the fantastic privilege to go for a morning jog around Hyde Park. When I get fit enough I'll be able to go running past such landmarks as the houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Number 10 Downing Street. I really have caught the running bug and so the "logical" challenge to set myself was to run the London Marathon. I've secured my place for next year - 2011, running for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People - a very worthy charity. This blog will be a record of my training progress.
Of course the added benefit is that next May, a month after the Marathon I will be getting married and so hopefully the training process will get me looking my absolute best in time for my big day. I hope to lose about 13kg (28 lbs) over the course of my training - one of the parameters I'll be recording on this blog.
At the present moment I have been out of running for about 6 weeks due to an injury sustained while horse riding, however my current running pace is about 12 minutes/mile and before my break I was running about 10 miles a week on average.
My end goal is to complete the marathon - I'm not aiming for any record breaking times, just to get across that finish line. However I am hoping to complete it in approximately 5 hours - less if possible.
I started running halfheartedly while I was at University (Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh has a beautiful campus!) and now that I live in London I have the fantastic privilege to go for a morning jog around Hyde Park. When I get fit enough I'll be able to go running past such landmarks as the houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Number 10 Downing Street. I really have caught the running bug and so the "logical" challenge to set myself was to run the London Marathon. I've secured my place for next year - 2011, running for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People - a very worthy charity. This blog will be a record of my training progress.
Of course the added benefit is that next May, a month after the Marathon I will be getting married and so hopefully the training process will get me looking my absolute best in time for my big day. I hope to lose about 13kg (28 lbs) over the course of my training - one of the parameters I'll be recording on this blog.
At the present moment I have been out of running for about 6 weeks due to an injury sustained while horse riding, however my current running pace is about 12 minutes/mile and before my break I was running about 10 miles a week on average.
My end goal is to complete the marathon - I'm not aiming for any record breaking times, just to get across that finish line. However I am hoping to complete it in approximately 5 hours - less if possible.
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