For Christmas my wife bought me an Inov8 rucksack with their H2Oriztonal hydration system.   The design is unique and a great idea to move the water lower to reduce movement and sloshing.  I have only just begun to use it and today was my third use.

After 2.5 miles it was time to take some water on board so I bit down on the valve and began to suck. Nothing.  I sucked harder. Nothing.  Equipment failures for me are pretty catastrophic; I have no idea what the point of failure is, just that it doesn’t work.  I can’t see if water is running up the tube or if the valve itself is broken.  Just as the rucksack was about to go sailing into the bushes I decided to call the cavalry,  I quickly told Sian what was wrong and we agreed to meet at collection point 3 to dump the bladder and go old school with bottles of water.

This meant changing my planned route, missing out on my hydration and nutrition timings and making a one-mile run to meet Sian.  Frustrated and angry I headed to collection point 3.  It turned out the valve was broken.  That setup cost me £60+ and it lasted 3 uses.  I will be sending a complaint email next week to Inov8.

With bottles of water on board I got back to the set route: running a few inclines.  By now my hydration and nutrition was shot and I was becoming frustrated, mistakes started creeping in and I fell down a ditch.  I still had 15 miles to go so I needed to get into a positive mind-set.  Just then Kanye West POWER! began playing which instantly perked me up followed by a runkeeper distance update.  Ahhhh 10 more minutes and I can crack out the Mr Kipling!

The next 10 miles went along swiftly, passing the half marathon mark the heavens opened.  This is the point I realise I forgot to pack my rain jacket.  I quickly gobbled a few Mr Kipling lemon slices and powered through.  The last mile was accompanied by the delights of Ray Charles and a Lucozade.

The bottles of water did prove somewhat of a distraction, as I constantly mistook the sloshing of the water bottles as footsteps.  So I desperately need a new hydration system.  So if anyone has any recommendations to one that can last and not flake after a few uses let me know!

Todays 8-mile run was the toughest run in recent memory.  I felt incredibly fatigued and dehydrated; thanks to a lack of food and water this morning.  Despite feeling rough and encountering a few issues along the way I did make the distance.

Running the usual route today proved far more challenging than normal, usually around once a week I will run into something, be it a random piece of rubbish a post or something larger like a ditch.  Today I managed to run/trip 3 times.  A new record but it really took its toll.  I tripped on THE largest piece of dirt I have ever found on a footpath; it was that large I am sure it will show as an incline on my RunKeeper stats.  I also managed to trip over what I believe was a pipe?? With the final obstacle being a traffic cone some genius had decided to place in the middle of the footpath, no actual road works to speak of, just one random cone in the middle of a path.

Paired with the fatigue these little incidents made todays run especially tough.  Each trip reminds me of the difficulties relating to the challenge I have undertaken, with each chipping away at my drive.  Every time I thought about quitting todays run and phoning Sian to collect me, I thought of the kind words I received from yesterdays post.  I didn’t begin this journey with the thought of inspiring others, I just wanted to achieve something for myself, to prove despite my failing vision I could still achieve amazing physical feats.  But armed with the knowledge my little adventure is inspiring others I dug deep, ignored the pitfalls and completed the short run.  Only another 35 miles to run this week, let’s hope someone has moved that cone!

Being blind introduces a number of challenges in my daily life; certain tasks can only be completed with support or guidance.  I wont bore you with the psychological effects and the stressors involved, I will just say its stressful.

Running is my way to alleviate stress, concentrating on my breathing and pace allows me to drift away.  Historically I used a guide runner to aid with my running, as running on the roads and blindness is a dangerous mix.   I began using RunKeeper while I had my guide runner, it gave me a great sense of control.  The audio cues allowed me to feel in control of my pace and not rely on input from my guide.  This frankly felt great for the first time ever I was able to give pacing information to my guide rather than the other way round.

Then I lost my guide runner, with university calling he moved to another city and I was left with one option: the treadmill.  Now the treadmill at first would appear the ideal solution after all it offers a very low risk of death.  But the treadmill itself offers a number of issues that actually removed control from me and into the hands of a guide.  The majority of treadmills now feature touch screens, pretty useless to someone who is unable to see the screen, I wouldn’t be able to change speed or incline, I wouldn’t know how far I had run or indeed for how long.  I could of course of used Nike+ for this information but it wouldn’t solve the actual operation of the treadmill.

So instead I chose something with may of appeared impossible: run solo on the roads with RunKeeper.  I memorised a 3-mile stretch of pavement and began practicing.  With each dip, lamppost and foreign object memorised and paired with distance audio cues through RunKeeper I was now in control.  RunKeeper allowed me to break free of the shackles of guide runners and feel a true sense of control and freedom.  It is difficult to express the difference one iPhone app has made, not only my running but my life as a whole.  For those 5 runs a week I forget I am blind and just run, RunKeeper made me just like everyone else on those 3 miles of pavement.

RunKeeper has not only allowed me to run solo but also kept my dream of running a 100-mile race alive.  Finding a guide runner who shared the same goals as me had proved difficult; no one was willing to train to that distance.  But now I have a running partner that doesn’t complain about the long runs and lactic acid, they simply deliver my audio cues that keep me running.  So this June armed with RunKeeper I will be attempting the Cotswolds 100.

There is nothing like baptism by fire.

I decided to finally bite the bullet and enter my first 100-mile race, in fact the first race I have ever entered.  I am sure some people may say for a first race it is a little adventurous: but I am certainly adventurous.

I am currently recovering from my knee injury but I am confident I can catch up on the training.  I have adjusted my goal and have decided to walk for larger sections of the race in order to complete the race.  The goal of a sub 24-hour race may no longer be possible but I will finish.

So I am asking for a little help from anyone who can run/cycle even a few miles to act as a guide.  I do not need hand holding just a little assistance to make sure I don’t run into cars or posts.  So it is a simple task really, if you cycle; as long as you take point or ride alongside I will be fine, the same goes for running.  If you prefer to run anything around an 11min a mile pace will be enough.

What I really need is someone who is able to run a 15 mile segment through the night, this will be the toughest stint, BUT even if you cant run now, training to run a 15 mile distance by June the 24th will be a breeze.  So if you want to help me achieve the challenge of a lifetime and be part of something special get in touch!

As regular readers may know I run a set route all the time. Not being able to see and new running routes do not mix.

Around 10 days ago I was doing my usual route listening to my audio GPS and I heard a voice “HELLO!!!!”. I jumped in the air turned round and heard an old man making conversation. It was a fellow runner. Now this is the first time a runner has actually took the time to chat to me so I decided to be enthusiastic and engage.

At this point I had another mile before I had to turn round and run back on my set route, so figured we had plenty of time to talk. As we chatted we both talked about our running goals, I the 100 miler, the old man just for fun. He had a long running career though, over 20 years of racing marathon and ultra distance.

We got on to chatting about our families and what we were up to this weekend. As we continued to run along the old man stopped suddenly a few times so I bumped into him. After about the third time I mentioned I was registered blind and had to follow the white line. He seemed shocked that despite my vision I was out pounding the pavements.

We had chatted for so long we were now off route. The old man decided to cut through the woods so I was left off route with the daunting task of finding my way back. I hugged the curb and decided to turn round. When the route became slightly difficult I decided to walk and try to get back on route as quickly as possible. After around ten minutes I was back on familiar ground and continued my run.

I will definitely be sticking to the route for future runs as the fatigue creeps up way to fast off route. I put this down to an increase demand on the thought process, no longer am I drifting away peacefully; I am panicking about getting back on route and spiking my heart rate.

I really enjoyed chatting to the old man, but paid the price in fatigue and had to drop a mile off my run.

As regular readers may know I run a set route all the time. Not being able to see and new running routes do not mix.

Around 10 days ago I was doing my usual route listening to my audio GPS and I heard a voice “HELLO!!!!”. I jumped in the air turned round and heard an old man making conversation. It was a fellow runner. Now this is the first time a runner has actually took the time to chat to me so I decided to be enthusiastic and engage.

At this point I had another mile before I had to turn round and run back on my set route, so figured we had plenty of time to talk. As we chatted we both talked about our running goals, I the 100 miler, the old man just for fun. He had a long running career though, over 20 years of racing marathon and ultra distance.

We got on to chatting about our families and what we were up to this weekend. As we continued to run along the old man stopped suddenly a few times so I bumped into him. After about the third time I mentioned I was registered blind and had to follow the white line. He seemed shocked that despite my vision I was out pounding the pavements.

We had chatted for so long we were now off route. The old man decided to cut through the woods so I was left off route with the daunting task of finding my way back. I hugged the curb and decided to turn round. When the route became slightly difficult I decided to walk and try to get back on route as quickly as possible. After around ten minutes I was back on familiar ground and continued my run.

I will definitely be sticking to the route for future runs as the fatigue creeps up way to fast off route. I put this down to an increase demand on the thought process, no longer am I drifting away peacefully; I am panicking about getting back on route and spiking my heart rate.

I really enjoyed chatting to the old man, but paid the price in fatigue and had to drop a mile off my run.