London Marathon 2016: Training Update #1

I recently realised that it's been nearly three months since my blog post outlining my plan to run the 2016 London Marathon on behalf of the mental health charity, Mind. Well, I thought that with just under three months to go until the big day, I'd outline the progress I've made.

I can basically boil my thoughts on this into three things. Firstly, a change in diet. Towards the back end of last year, I bemused my work colleagues with a consistent high protein diet, in order to prove to myself that I had the motivation to do it. I won't bore you with the details, but some personal highlights of my weird and wonderful 8 week programme were a daily sweet potato fondant, which is essentially a poncy way of saying yoghurt, sweet potato and cinnamon layered, and a bland lunch of turkey mince, brown rice and broccoli. However, the favourite from my office has to be the piece of fish I would have at 4 o'clock every day, which would need to be microwaved and often left a distinct smell!

It certainly worked, as coupled with the gym, I lost weight and got more fit. I quickly decided that for the benefit of my office, I'd adapt the diet for the run, focusing more on a blend of protein and carbs to supplement the increased energy I was going to be using. Though it's meant giving up days of my weekends to cook (which I actually don't mind), and continued willpower, I've kept up a more healthy and balanced diet than I've ever had, and it definitely makes you feel better about everything!

Coupled with this, I've had a dramatic change in my mindset over the last few months. Those who know me will know I'm not exactly a glass half-full kind of guy - I tend to plan (and all too often expect) the worst to happen. I'd argue that in general, I'm not wrong to do so, but as I've found to my cost, getting too focused on the negative affects more than just yourself. However, when you're looking to push your body beyond the point it can comfortably function, or even when you're forcing yourself to go for an hour-long run in the rain (remember, this is Manchester), you can't allow yourself to fall into this habit.

So, I've tried to be more positive, particularly in relation to my training. So when either my mind (or my body) is screaming out at me to stop, stay in bed, or just go home, I've forced myself into the gym or to keep running. I've also used the running as a stress relief after a busy week at work, or time for reflection whenever I'm feeling down, alone or frustrated, so it's been beneficial for me on a number of levels. In particular, the running has been therapeutic in a number of ways, and the dedication that I've had to show to it has kept my mind occupied and taken a large amount of time.

Applying these things has had considerable results in terms of the distances I've been able to achieve. For each of the last four weeks, I've run over the 26 mile distance that I'll face on 24th April, including a couple of half-marathon distances. In total, I've far surpassed 200 miles in the last three months, and that's making allowances for the time I took off to enjoy Christmas!

However, while I'm more than on track in terms of training, the focus I've put into that has left me a little behind in terms of the fundraising. A huge target of mine is to raise £2,000 for the mental health charity, Mind, who help people suffering from any number of mental health problems. Over one in three individuals in the UK will be directly affected by mental health issues, and with many of these conditions still considered taboos in the modern (certainly working) world, changing the mindset of the population is still a critical issue. Mind is a fantastic charity, which I know helps millions of people across the UK either suffering with mental health problems, or have family members that are, and though less visibly than providing food to Africa, they do save lives by saving people from themselves.

In order to help me in this, I've set up a Virgin JustGiving page, which can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/ANDREW-HAYWOOD3/. Any donations you can make would be greatly appreciated and gratefully received.

2013/2014: The Year of the Free-Kick?

Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos. All of these men have been considered 'dead-ball specialists'. We have seen many spectacular goals from each of these from free-kicks, and it has become an essential to have such a player in your team. Very much like in rugby or American football, kicking has become an ever-more important aspect to football. Over the past few years, goals from free kicks has been fairly stable in the Premier League, with several players renowned for their ability, but few outside those beginning to chip in. However, this season, free kicks have taken a much more important role, and we have seen many players who you would not consider 'dead ball specialists' score them.

Looking at statistics, we can see that during the 2011/2012 season, 29 direct free kicks were scored, with Sunderland scoring the most (5). After just 15 games of the 2013/14 season, the total of free kicks scored has reached a staggering 20. If free kicks continue to be scored at this rate, we will see over 40 goals from free kicks this season, setting an all-time Premier League record.

So who has been scoring all of these free kicks? Though they may be top of the table and have marksmen like Podolski and Ozil to take them, Arsenal are yet to contribute to the free kick goal tally. Aston Villa have two, and both have been scored by the same man. Leandro Bacuna, the relatively unknown midfielder before this season, with spectacular efforts against Manchester City and Cardiff City, made himself well known to the Villa fans, and Premier League viewers around the world. Cardiff and Crystal Palace, like Arsenal are yet to score from one, but a familiar name in Frank Lampard has registered for Chelsea. Everton also contribute two from a single player, and Leighton Baines scored them both in the same match! Turning the game on its head, his two brilliant set pieces ensured Everton would leave West Ham with all three points.

Fulham have struggled to score goals all season, so that they do not appear on the list is unsurprising. Hull also do not feature, but Liverpool certainly do. In Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard they have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to free kicks, and the pair have not failed to deliver, with Gerrard scoring one against Hull, and Suarez contributing two, against Everton and in a four goal display against Norwich. Free-scoring Manchester City have been most prolific from dead balls, but not from the usual sources. Aleksandar Kolorov and David Silva are the club's recognised free kick takers, but Alvaro Negredo's goal against Swansea, and Yaya Toure's incredible haul of three, against Newcastle, Hull and Norwich, mean that Manuel Pellegrini may want to review his set piece takers! Manchester United have contributed with three, with Wayne Rooney scoring all, against Crystal Palace, Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion.

Newcastle, despite having an excellent taker in Yohan Cabaye, have failed to register a free kick yet this season, whilst Robert Snodgrass has added one for Norwich City. Southampton's resident specialist, Rickie Lambert has added another one for his collection, whilst Stoke have had efforts from Marko Arnautovic and Jermaine Pennant. Sunderland, despite their previous supremacy in this area, have also failed to score from a free kick this term. Swansea, West Brom and West Ham all have also failed to register, whilst Kyle Walker's recent effort against Manchester United is the only free kick from Spurs. Nevertheless, this is already nearly as many as the whole of 2011/2012, despite neither Gareth Bale nor Cristiano Ronaldo being in the league.

What could be causing this? If we were seeing players like Robin van Persie or Luis Suarez scoring more free-kicks, we could simply put it down to increasing player ability or speciality, but it is not. We are seeing a plethora of players scoring from free-kicks, many of whom have either never or infrequently scored from them before. Could it be to do with the ball? There have been complaints from goalkeepers in recent years that the balls move in the air far too much, making it impossible to track the path of the ball. However, has the ball changed so drastically over the past two years that it could account for the rapid increase in goals from direct free kicks? I think not. If we compare free kicks stats from now to those from the 1970's and 80's, then we could explain it that way, but two years is too little time.

However, another explanation may go some way to explaining it. Over the last decade, football has become less and less physical, with challenges often resulting in free kicks. Clubs have therefore cottoned on to the fact that dead balls are going to be of greater importance than ever before. As a result, further training has been done to improve the free kicks of a wide range of players. Whereas 10 years ago, perhaps only one or two specialist free kick takers would be used for dead balls, now any one of six or seven may be used. The correct accuracy and power will take time to perfect, so two years can make a massive difference in this time frame. This may not be the whole explanation, but I believe it goes some way to explaining the recent trend of free kick goals in the Premier League.

 This season has been truly record-breaking in terms of free kicks, and to do it without some of the greatest free kick takers in the world is astonishing. However, such is the importance of free kicks in football, I feel this will slowly become the norm. It will be extremely interesting to see if this trend continues over the next few seasons, as this will determine whether it was a flash in the pan, or if we are seeing the hard work on the training ground come to fruition in the Premier League. This may be the Year of the Free-Kick, but it may also be the beginning of a free-kick dynasty.