The final countdown

I really can't believe how the last few months have flown by, it feels only yesterday that Aly called me and delivered the news I had made the selection for 2018 10in10 challenge, that was June last year. I'm now on the brink of the challenge itself with the main bulk of my training for 10 Marathons in 10 days behind me, Blackpool Marathon which I'll tell you about shortly brought the curtain down on my training plan.
When I very first put together my Just Giving Page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sean-warburton1  in June last year I wrote, "how do you even train for 10 marathons?" I'm still not sure I know if I'm honest, you can torture yourself going over these things which I tend to do, a quick look on Facebook & Strava will reveal some members of the group doubling my mileage this year, and there will be other with less miles, those with injuries and illness, and those who've cross trained with spinning, cycling, strength etc. So who's right? Well, I think we all are.....everyone is different, and everyone is unique and as such will require different training plans and approaches. I feel like my plan is right for me, I've had my ups and downs like everyone, but I'm feeling "ready" now, at least as ready as I'll ever be, I just want to get up there now and get started before anything goes wrong!

We had really warm weather in the build up to Blackpool Marathon, so I was a little concerned about the conditions being too warm for me, I don't really get on with warm weather. I needn't have worried mind you as when we arrived in Blackpool it was really cold, wet and windy and I was freezing! I also miss read the information and got set for a 9am start, only to realise the race started at 9:30am, so I had an extra half hour to stand around in the cold.

I was really glad to get moving and warmed up, probably got a little too warm if I'm honest as I'd made a rookie mistake of over layering due to being cold. All the same I got through the race with no major problems, felt off for the last few miles with sickness which was unusual but regained my complexion once over the finish line. I completed in 3:24 official which I was happy with given the wind and the way I felt for the last few miles, hats off to Flyde Coast Runners for putting on an excellent event and great bling!

 

 

My recovery after events has improved greatly over the last few months, previous to my 10 in 10 training I was good for nothing the day after a marathon, but these days I feel pretty good and tend to run the day after as normal, so maybe I do know how to train for 10 Marathons after all? Well that particular question will be answered all to soon, just over 2 weeks until we head to the Lake District to run day 1 of 10 marathons.

 

I couldn't finish without mentioning the tragic and untimely death of Matt Campbell whilst running to raise funds for Brathay in the London Marathon this weekend.  The trust have been overwhelmed by the donations received in his memory to support their work. At the time of writing pledges total over £153,000 largely on his Just Giving page which is incredible https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mattcampbell-londonmarathon

 

Matt was the son of Martin who was an integral part of the 10in10 for nine years, Matt was close to everyone at Brathay firstly because of his Dad and in more recent times because of himself. It was a huge and overwhelming shock to lose Martin 18 months ago, to be followed so closely by Matt is almost beyond belief......

 

It's made me even more determined to complete my challenge to support Brathay and all the amazing people associated with the Brathay Trust. I also want to dedicate my Blackpool Marathon run to Matt, thoughts are with his family and friends.

 

#runformatt