Blog: Adrian Shandley

4:32 ...... A consistent time that I'm happy with

I woke this morning at 6.45 and looked across the 3 foot gap that separates our beds, there was Cuddles (Jeff) wide awake with those big eyes staring at me! He had that amorous lusting look in his eyes, the sort of look that scares me to my core every day!

So, to avoid his wistful gazing I put my head under the covers….. And what did I see ?                           (please don’t be rude!)

I actually saw my legs looking at me saying “Is it the same again today ?”

“Yes please if you wouldn’t mind” I said, and so both my legs & I got out of bed as one, with a mutual understanding of each other for the first time in 5 days. They delivered today with a consistent 4:32 which I am happy with for a 6^th day marathon.

The sun was out today, the lakes are fantastic, especially when the sun shines, the trees, the flora, the forna, the birds, the wildlife, It takes your mind off the distance, this beautiful planet really is the most fantastic accident of evolution, you really feel at one with it all when you’re out there. When the cars are not around the peace and quiet is astounding.

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

“You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

Best of all I have mentally cracked this course today, any marathon runner will know what I mean when I say that …. I have broken it down, segmented it and I now have it mentally beaten.

“Does running 10 marathons in 10 days get to you ?” I hear you ask

“No” I would say “You just start talking to your legs !”

Marathon 7 is just 12 hours away !

If you can help support please do, but tha fact that you are following my blog is support enough for me THANKS!

http://www.justgiving.com/Adrian-Shandley

DAY 5 TODAY MY TIME WAS  : 4:25 …. 3^rd fastest of the 5 Marathons …..Acceptable

We are now over the 5^th day, everybody seemed quite emotional this morning, don’t know why there are still 5 more to go! OR….. As I look at it 4 more marathons and a 26.2 mile lap of honour.

Really sore leg tonight, Roxy didn’t half hurt me tonight stripping my IT band muscle…. BUT ….. It could always be worse, Nick on the table next to me had acupuncture in his groin! And if you think I screamed you should have heard him!

AS THEY SAY IN SESAME STREET........ TODAY THE LETTER IS "S"

"S" is for SUPPORT, not just the on-site support but also the support of family, loved ones & Friends, without that you wouldn't get your plan off the ground in the first place. I never forget that without an understanding Wife, family & Friends to support your challenge you can't do anything like the 10 in 10. Last night my wife had a major problem with the car and I am lucky enough to have a great friend that I can call when I am 150 miles away from home. My thanks to John (AKA NOJ) who rescued my family in my absence. I have left home for 10 days, not to mention all the time I am out of the house when I’m training. Without the support and understanding of my family I couldn't do this

“S” is for SPONSORS ….. Without them it wouldn’t be worthwhile THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU

“S” is for STRIVING ….. which is what I am doing to get the best possible time I can, despite injury & tiredness

“S” is for SORE ….. Which I am, the body Rehab guys got me back on the road again today, none of the injuries from last night or this morning bothered me, BUT, I got a new injury in my right calf, just to add to my collection!

“S” is for SUCCES which I hope I will achieve ……. BUT you cannot get close to SUCCEEDING without the previous four points!

Tomorrow’s marathon is just 12 hours away! Thanks so much to everybody for your Support

http://www.justgiving.com/Adrian-Shandley

.

4:21 ....... Incredible !

By my normal times 4:21 would be a disaster, but....Last night, after the worst marathon time I have ever put in, I wouldn't have bet £1 that I would be running today!

When people say "you just can't put into words........" about something, the term is so often over used, NOT IN THIS CASE!

I just cannot put into words the miracle that BodyRehab performed last night and this morning to get me back on the road. I couldn't walk last night! ........a lot of pain & screaming later and I ran a great marathon today!

Roxy & her team are amazing, nothing short of AMAZING!

I also have to thank Chris Heaton for some good advice.

I have been seriously "put back together" by BodyRehab, I am fit, healthy, I have a great family & I am running marathons in the Lakes....."country of the Gods!" Perhaps one of the most fortunate people alive! with a seriously big task ahead of me, to try and help those less fortunate. (104 miles done, I just have to do another 158 miles!)

I may, however, feel very different tomorrow about how fortunate I am in this "groundhog day" world!

The Brathay 10 in 10 is a little like the French Foreign Legion..... We are a band of lost soles, in a closed camp, with a tough mission........... where no questions are asked about where you came from !!

PLEASE HELP ME IF YOU CAN

http://www.justgiving.com/Adrian-Shandley

Day 3 .... 4:55 .... A disaster !

Day 3, I was worried about knee pain, AND I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ! Painful isn't the word, I struggled from mile 10 and Heaven knows how I got home in under 5 hours, was looking like 8 hours at one point.

But, despite the pain, I had three things on my side, Firstly my wonderful wife Gill came up for the day, with my fantastic children, Jordan, Talitha & Kayla..... But did it help seeing them every 2 miles, what a motivation, BRILLIANT

Second my youngest daughter kayla has been messing with my itunes account, as a result my ipod is full of Ed Sheeran, to be honest the change of music helped, I quite liked it!..... and it kept me going for a few miles.

Finally, the thought of seeing everybody at the finish line drove me on, They were all there waiting for me, with hugs & kisses,

I even got a big hug from "Cuddles"

Tonight I have been with the body rehab team for 90 minutes and another hour tomorrow, BOY! does it hurt !

Day 4 ....... Here I come (I hope)

DAY 2 ! ....4:32 ........12 minutes slower than yesterday

Well I got through day one (just) with a severve pull. Thankfully the Body Rehab people worked right through the night to sort it..... actually they worked for about 2 hours, the rest of the time Prestridge was bouncing up and down on my bed, keeping me awake. That man, known by most now as "Cuddles" does NOT SLEEP ! What's more he wanders the corridors dressed in nothing but a bath towel. (a small towel at that)

He revealed far too much to mention at 3am this morning, I was in shock, not at the size (far from it) but at the fact that he got so close before I woke up ! I had, what can only be described as "a lucky escape" (although it has reminded me that I haven't bee fishing for a while,)

Today as I set off I could feel the pull for the first three miles, and then, to my surprise, almost every other part of my body started shouting for attention. Like a clock, the pains came, then went, to be replaced by another in an anti-clockwise direction. First the pull at the top of my left leg, then left knee, not wanting to be left out the blisters on my left foot had a go, then over to my right leg, not wanting to miss the pain party, right calf, knee then quad, and so it went on for 23 miles, until at 23 miles they all decided to have one big party together!

Tonight my legs are stiff, the rehab team have been all over me again (boy! it hurts) and I hope my aches & pains will be less by the morning ! Weather looking bad too !

Hang on, wait a minute, I can hear a clock! Oh yes it's ticking down until day 3 ! 3rd marathon only 14 hours away !!

It'll be another long night with Prestridge ! ...AND.....PLEASE!....Somebody take his phone off him too!

If you would like to sponsor me to carry on putting up with Prestridge (oh yes, and running 8 more marathons) then please go to http://www.justgiving.com/Adrian-Shandley

As a child, we used to visit the Lake District regularly. Whenever it rained, my late Father used to say, “they don’t call it The Lakes for nothing” and with his words of wisdom in my head, I have prepared myself for some inclement weather during some part of the 10 in 10.

Well I had a great weekend last weekend .....staying at Brathay for an orientation & running the course.  I know it sounds corny to say "I made so many friends" but I did. It was all time well spent listening to the team nutrition guys & body rehab. Ally, Mac & Scott were great and although 4hours 10 is a bit outside what I would like for a marathon, I really was not marathon fit, so I'll settle for it.

After running the marathon course last weekend I have run every day and run through some stiff legs I can tell you. Day off today cause the weather was horrible at 6am this morning so I went back to bed.

Yesterday I bought two pairs of main running shoes, ASIC KAYANO which have always been my footware of choice ..... so now I really do have two left feet ! I plan to alternate the two pairs up to the 10 in 10.

I also bought 25 pairs of tech socks ...... never had so many !



I am finding it hard in the week to get the miles in with work, but then "If You're too busy to run, you're too busy!" (Chris Brasher)

All my life I have "pushed" myself, "commit first and worry about it later", that's my motto ! that's how I ended up marathon running in the first place and that's how I've ended up at the top of Mount Killimanjaro or ....coming home to tell the wife I had too much to drink at a round table meeting and now we own a Race Horse ! (seriously)

But this time I think I have really lost my mind and I am just starting to think about the task ahead, this is no ordinary challenge! it isn't the usual thing people want sponsoring for, it is a very serious challenge and for the first time in my impulsive life I can't actually say if I will complete it or not because the total challenge is beyond anything I have ever imagined.

I am always at a fitness level that allows me to run up to 16 miles on any given day, but I will be back to Marathon fitness again by the end of October (doing Dublin on 31st) and I will do London in April but I am thinking I wil have to do a lot more Marathons in between.

In the TiT (how ironic is that abreviation?)  I think the second marathon will be very hard, and maybe there will be a tough patch in the middle somewhere (mentally) but who knows !

Anyway ........ I'll keep you all posted !

Adrian