Rome Marathon 2009.
Dear Supporters and Sponsors
It is with great pleasure that I can report my success in Rome. I completed the course in 4hr 22min 8 sec. I managed to complete the run without walking which was rather satisfying and ran a fairly consistent pace. If you are one of those fantastic sponsors that pledged money upon completion of the task then feel free to give via credit card from anywhere in the World simply following this link. It really is made very easy for all to give. www.justgiving.com/phillmoore All money raised will go towards the charities that Sophie wanted to support. None of the money raised goes towards the teams costs, these costs have been born by the team.
The start was at Rome’s historic Coliseum and after a ‘42km 195m’ lap of Rome we finished back at the Coliseum. There were approx 20,000 runners this year and the streets are small. We were all bunched up from the start till about half way, with the odd stretch of wider road to make some ground up. This was a bit frustrating to find myself running on top of others for so long, but once we start to spread out it was much better. Mind you by the time I had space I felt I was well and truly settled into a pace and could not manage a significantly faster pace. Maybe it was a good thing as I might have gone too fast at the beginning if I’d had the space to run, who knows.... The bad news was that I hadn’t been able to declare a time or projected time at the point of entry so when my bib number was issued I was lumped into the group that went last! I found myself in with the 5hours plus group and really wanted to be nearer to the 4hour pace runners. Fighting my way through the crowd before the race was a good move as fighting my way through once running proved very difficult.
The temperature on the day was pleasant at about 10®C and there was a breeze, it was sunny too. It started cool but soon warmed up and a good part of the run was along the river. The temperature was never uncomfortable.
On another note I found I did hit a psychological wall due to my Nike+ device losing about a mile during the run. Finally I heard those magic words – Congratulations you’ve completed a Marathon. Only thing is the Finish line was nowhere in sight! Just at that point I passed a drinks station and wondered why an earth anyone would need a drink a few hundred meters from the finish! I’d assumed that my Nike+ might be out, but not that much! I didn’t take a drink and pounded on to what I thought would be the end as I rounded the next bend. You can imagine my dismay at finding the 25mile marker around the next bend and thus just over a mile to go...!!! It was rather soul destroying to be honest.

Once again thank you so much for the support, your emails and your concerns, your prayers for my knees, which have been fully restored and so far have not given me any pain! Mostly though thanks for the financial gifts your all pledged to raise money for this fantastic organisation.


Lastly I want to quickly mention the Dentist with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen who came to offer me some advice. He said that I should fill my running shoes with Vaseline otherwise I wouldn’t get round the course because my feet would blister..... It was a good tip, maybe – but not one I followed. Some of you out there might find it more helpful than I did, hence I’m posting it here.
Phill

Hello Friends and Supporters.

It’s well overdue this update and I feel very guilty that I’ve neglected this post.

I’ve been through a difficult couple of weeks on the training front as shortly after my 35km run I had severe pain in my knees. My initial thoughts were to rest and see how I felt after a couple of days. The pain wasn’t that bad when going about normal life, but excruciating when I tried to run. I gave it another day or two then ran after I took some Volterol. I didn’t feel a thing, but were they healed or was the pain being masked by the excellent Volterol? I decided to run without Volterol two days later and could only manage 1km....Houston we have a problem!

I went to the Dr who said I’d worn something out and it would heal , but over time and I should not run any more. Well until he said I could. Thing is I was now only two weeks away from the big day. I had Electro therapy and drugs and lots of prayer. Finally I went for a 5km run and after a slow start got settled in at a comfortable pace. I went out this week on Tuesday and Wednesday (the following two days) and felt good.

So on Saturday we will fly to Rome and collect my bib number – then eat some home grown pasta from the Worlds pasta capital. Sunday morning at 0600 we will eat breakfast and then prepare for the run at 0900.

Sunday 1st March 2009

OK HI everyone, following this must seem a little stagnant at times, but that doesn't mean I am not training!

At 13kms my iPod froze up making me very cross, I wondered if my running data would be OK. As I clocked up another kms the iPod did call it out, but that’s all it was doing!

Yesterday was one of my long runs before the taper off period, 35kms and I have to say it was hard. at 24kms I was cruising and enjoying the fact that I had no aches or pains and felt like I could go on for ever.....at 25Kms I needed to seriously revise the feeling and started to find my legs hurting a little. I pushed on and the time seemed to elongate and those 5kms to 30kms took forever.

I had to walk a bit around this time and as I felt ready started to jog alone a bit more, but this was interrupted by the need to just walk....

Finally I made it home and completed the training distance of 35kms! My time was slower than I hoped for but I can do it again and get faster I hope.....

Sunday 15st February 2009

First of all a big apology if you have been following my blog and found that nothing is happening or so it seems. I will make a bigger effort to update this daily from now on....


Yesterday I found myself running the Mörfelden half marathon only two weeks after my last half marathon. It came to my attention that Mörfelden had its own half marathon running around my training ground – the forest. I entered without thinking too much about it and then realised it was due to start at 0930hrs. Currently the temps are a bit nippy with temps below zero and today we have 4” of snow to boot.
I went to collect my number at 0830hrs and the temp was -3°C which didn’t inspire me at all to go out an hour later and spent a couple of hours running around the forest. Still I duly went at 0920hrs for the 0930hrs start and there were about 400 runners I think. I have just checked and the total numbers of finishers was 313. Maybe the others were put off by the cold..!!!!
I started well and not too fast this time having maybe learnt a lesson or two from the Watford half marathon. I soon found a pack of three to ‘attach’ myself too and happily nestled in behind them for the first hour. The run was configured as an 10.5km circuit so we had to run it twice. I found this a little hard to run under the finish line and then carry on and do it all again. My pack of three stopped for drinks and I decided to carry on as I was in a ‘groove’ so to speak. I soon found another couple of runners who were running together and at a pace that was just slightly faster than mine, but manageable. As we got to the final mile I got a stitch and had to slow, but not to a walking pace, on this run I had maintained a run and a stable one all the way round. My average pace was 5:45/km or I think that came out to 8:30/mile. Finally the stitch went and I finished – wasted but under the two hours. I was happy with this time as it had been my goal. Final official time was 1:57:23 and a position of 297.I was a bit disappointed that more runners finished in front of me than behind, but finishing is what counts....
Five more weeks training before the big one in Rome.

Sunday 1st February 2009

First of all sorry if you’ve been following this blog and had felt that it had suddenly come to an end, it hasn’t...!!! It’s been hard though since Christmas as we went skiing straight afterwards and I did not manage to run whilst in the Alps. I hiked a mountain a couple of time and felt I’d done something towards training but no running.
Today I participated in a half marathon in Watford – UK. It’s like a practice at running with others, so today I ran with 1999 others instead of just me on my own. The weather was cold and blowy making it feel colder. We set off and I managed to pass a good number of runners. The weather warmed up and it felt good. After about 4 miles I started to be aware that runners were now over taking me! My pace was slowing and that old kids tale about the tortoise and the hare came to mind. Still I kept going did battles with all the hills on this run. In Frankfurt where I train in the woods there are NO hills and these would prove to be iterating. I was caught by some people I’d met earlier at the half way point and ran on with them for a mile or two before their pace was getting hard to keep up.
With only two miles to go a small pack passed me (on a hill) with the 10min/pace runner. I got determined and dug in passing the pack and making a fair bit of distance between me and them. We rounded a bend and I knew we were into the last mile with my legs getting worn out. The 10min pace runner passed me again as the road started to rise before me, I wanted to keep her in sight and pull it out of the bag in the final half mile. I just could manage that and so I ended my half marathon in 2hr 6min 57 sec. Happy enough but would like to do better in the coming weeks.

Thursday 1st January 2009

I went out today for a cheeky little 7km run in the forest. It was beautiful and the sun was shinning whilst it maintained a temp of -3......yes cold. Atually it was fairly refreshin though to have a good run straight after all the festivity of Chrstmas and New Year and all that food.

Off Skiing tomorrow and have no idea if I'll manage any running there.

Wednesday 31st December 2008

It’s been a while since I added an entry here as the Christmas break has been manic. I thought it best to add a final entry for 2008 before we go skiing.
I have managed to run though, at least three times and one of those run’s was a fairly long one at 14km. It’s been cold ion the UK and I noticed the difference in terrain – HILLS!!!!
Anyway I am starting to structure myself or I am being structured by friends a little and am currently considering the Watford Half-Marathon as my training run under competition conditions. This might add a bit of spice to my training schedule.....