Routes

simon Life 3 Comments

Navigating around as a blind individual you generally rely on routes. I have memorised many mental maps on how to travel to most important places I visit often.

For attending university in september I am having to add a large number of routes so I can travel solo. I had been mapping these routes out mentally for a while. I have been to the routes once or twice so repeat them in my head so when I use them again I know exactly where I should be at what point.

This week I visited one of the main routes to university with my rehab officer. Incredibly confident I could simply use the mental map I had created I zoomed off. After negotiating a few corners and crossing 2 roads I knew I should arrive at some steps. But I couldn’t find them.

I was a little puzzled and asked what was going on. Turned out there is some building work going on and all the pavements are now temporary structures in the fenced off road. Dammit just when I thought I had this down! read more

The Ultra

simon running , Comment

I wrote up a small race report for Wired about my ultra so instead of repeating myself go check it out!

I do plan on talking about the race more in depth in the future and the aftermath in terms of did the race change me? So if anyone has any questions for me to answer let me know!

Cane Training an Update

simon Life , 2 Comments

As the run approaches I have also been continuing with my cane training. I am pleased to say I have mastered the majority of the techniques and was praised for being so competent so quickly.

The cane training came at an odd time as attempting to run a 100 miles does not seem to go hand in hand with mobility issues. This contrast has been interesting as the skills I have acquired through running and training alone translated incredibly well to using a long cane.

It turned out the techniques I had developed on my own where the actual techniques used to navigate with a cane. A strange coincidence indeed! This allowed me to quickly progress through my training and become proficient with the cane in an incredibly short time frame.

On todays lesson a student accompanied me and my rehab officer. The student had to ask if I was indeed blind as I moved around so well. I laughed and confirmed I was and told her she should come see me running alone! read more

The Run

simon Uncategorized , Comment

It has all been a little quiet over here recently about my running. Well there are 11 days to go till I approach that start line and run 100 miles.

I still plan to broadcast the race live through RunKeeper and I am currently maintaing a separate blog for the occasion. Blind100

The race starts on the 24th of June at 1200GMT the broadcast will start a little earlier and that just to make sure everything is functioning correctly.

So what condition am I in? I am coming off the back of a little bone bruising but I am ready as I can be at this point. The training miles have been put in I just need to bring my A game on the 24th and log those miles!

Cane Training

simon Life , Comment

For a number of years I have been putting off cane training.  I had developed a system to navigate that during the time I felt was acceptable.  In hindsight all I had really done is stopped going out on my own.  I had restricted my travel to assure I was always accompanied by someone else.

I had decided a month or so ago to start the training but I was waiting for my request to be processed.  Finally last week I met for my first lesson with the cane.  Mobility previously caused a large amount of anxiety, while I was able to navigate in known areas I was still incredibly anxious and navigating around in unknown areas was incredibly difficult.

Beginning to use the cane I instantly dropped this anxiety as know I was sure I wasn’t going to walk into anything.  I was now able to walk around at a consistent pace at ease.  I had been resilient of the cane as I would lose my anonymity and I would instantly be identified as blind.  However while utilising the cane this thought never once entered my mind instead I was focussed on the instant difference it was making. read more

Coming to an end

simon Life , 1 Comment

Last september I had a pretty big week.  I started college, I became a father and I started training to run an ultra.  Now college has come to an end.

It is still settling in that I no longer have to goto college,  I really enjoyed my time there despite the challenges on accessible courseware.  I especially enjoyed studying psychology and look forward to continuing at degree level.

I managed to finish the course with the highest mark possible, so pretty happy with that.  I scored far higher than was needed for my place at university so feel I am in a great position to take my education to the next step.

As one of my challenges comes to an end the other two are just starting.  My run will be over shortly and all my hard training will hopefully pay off with a finish.  Being a father however is the challenge that will never end!

 

Get Donating!!

simon running , 1 Comment

When I initially came up with the idea of running 100 miles I never gave a thought to running for charity.  As the day of the run drew closer I began to wonder if running for a charity would be a good idea.

Around the same time Radio 1 were doing a hike for SightSavers, listening to the difference £5 could make to someones life I knew this would be a great charity to support.  For only £5 one persons vision can be restored, for such a small amount of money that is a huge impact.

I am hopeful I will be able to raise more than enough money to save at least one persons vision per mile (or if people are generous maybe 10?).  So please donate over at Just Giving. You can make a huge difference for a tiny amount!

I have also produced a number of prints, each sale will raise enough to save one persons vision so check them out!

So please be generous and spread the word! read more

Always interesting

simon Uncategorized 1 Comment

I headed our for today’s run armed with a hell of a lot of water and plenty of hammer and Gu.

The first 15 miles flew by without a hitch. The only problem I was losing a lot of time on the water stops. Refilling my handheld was taking far longer than I had hoped. Due to this my pace was suffering a little.

Around midway through a run
I like to eat some crisps. This resulted somehow with me getting tangled in my headphones. 3 minutes later I was still stood still fighting with my cable. Gah! Another hit on pace.

At hour 4 I decided to crack out the hammer nutrition. It mixes like a dream at home. On the run apparently not. With wet hand as a wet packet it would not open. After wrestling for 5 minutes and resorting to biting it open it was time to mix. I managed to miss the bottle and spill it everywhere.

I finally got it together and continued running. At mile 22 I was feeling it. By mile 25 I was doing a lot of walking. read more

Troubles….

simon Life, running , Comment

For the past 2 weeks we have been having a number of car troubles. It just keeps breaking down!

This introduces a number of problems like getting to college, doing the shopping and running. To go for a run my wife usually drives me to the airport and drops me off. Without a car it means I cant really run.

It is a 2 hour walk for my wife to drop me off and pick me up, so not really feasible and I can’t safely walk the route on my own. Far to many busy roads and I don’t know the route very well.

In an effort to keep up my training I decided to take a walk to my parents house. When I lived there I used to have a pretty impressive home gym and some of the equipment still remains. So the plan was to do 20 miles on an exercise bike.

I jumped on the bike and attempted to operate the machine. I was unable to read the screen and it made no audio notifications. After a few minutes this irritated me far to much and I had to stop. read more

Excuses: I got a lot

simon running , 2 Comments

Last night despite still feeling a little rough from the pesky cold I decided to do a little run. I have been trying to practice running at night, its something I have never done so I am trying to build my confidence.

It was a short 4 miles run but I was struggling at the 2 mile mark. This should of been a sign, despite this I thought I could run a 28 miler today; in an effort to catch up on missed miles.

Turns out that was a little ambitious. I was struggling at mile 6 and coughing up large amount of phlegm. I convinced myself Gu could solve all and swallowed more than I usually would.

This took me to mile 12, a quick nuun; again convincing myself it was hydration and I was fine for a few more miles. I lasted to mile 15 before it was just time to quit. I was fatigued, down on pace and decided to make the shame call.

Asking my wife to collect me 3 hours early, even worse I didn’t even make it to the agreed collection point, she had to come find me. read more