John Greenan's page
John Greenan is raising money for Help for Heroes
Participants: John Greenan
Story
I always wanted to run a marathon but until now life, work and ripped knee ligaments have conspired against. I've decided to do this and raise LOTS of money for a great cause. Please give generously.
I should recap here - 129 donations. Thanks to the generosity of many people and companies. I'd like to especially thank
Bamford Rose, Fixnetix, Fidessa, Thinkfolio, Chestnut Hill Advisors, Alphasights, Tradeweb, ITG
And individual donations from folks at BTIG, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, State Street, BNP Paribas Investment Partners (London, Paris, Hong Kong, Boston, New York and Tokyo), BNP Paribas Investment Bank, FXAll, Sapient, Goldman Sachs, FXConnect, FIXGlolbal, LaSallle Technology, Fidelity, MarketAxess, Credit Suisse, RBS, Nomura, London Stock Exchange, MTS, WBR, Societe Generale, Bloomberg, CameronTec, Morgan Stanley, Renaissance Capital, NYSE Technology, Macquarie.
I will also add updates here https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngreenan
Links to the first named set of firms...
http://www.chestnuthilladvisors.com
Thank you to the team at Bamford Rose - http://www.bamfordrose.com/
They are an engineering firm specialising in enhancing Aston Martin cars, primarily those of the Gaydon era (also they do great work on the Vanquish). You can think of them as being the functional equivalent of AMG for Aston Martin. On the 27th April they ran an open day for Aston Martin owners and fitted a fuse 22 bypass switch in exchange for a donation to Help for Heroes. Thank you very much Gentlemen.
04/09/2012 - Still working and still raising money! Thanks to Rita at Chestnut Hill Advisors http://www.chestnuthilladvisors.com
03/06/2012 - Still working on my legs. Leg pressing 180kg (400lbs) and using a Smiths press for squats with 4 plates = 80kg. Also cross training. Rowed 2000m in 8:14 - this places me in the 22nd percentile for my age & weight group globally on the Concept2 league - not bad for the second time in my life I'd ever rowed 2000m. http://log.concept2.com/rankings.asp
17/04/2012 - 01/06/2012 - Unfortunately I have been battling injuries - did something nasty to my right shoulder and then seem to have done the same to my left. This is a nightmare as it prevents me from swinging my arms to run. So it's cross country skiiing for CV work.
26/03/2012 - 16/04/2012 - more leg work. Now leg pressing 153kg. Discovered the joys of the reverse cross country skier. This build up the glutes and hamstrings rather than quads and calf muscles. Plus the usual squats and lunges.
{during pause in updates I moved house and have been in Australia for two weeks. But I was in the gym in Oz and horse riding as well - that constitutes cross training in my eyes}
19/02/2012 - Gym. Building up leg muscles - leg press 136kg. Body feels like I have been beaten up...
18/02/2012 - Gym
13/02/2012 - Gym - this is getting a bit repetitive but it shows I am putting in the hours...
11/02/2012 - Gym
08/02/2012 - Gym
04/02/2012 - Gym
03/02/2012 - Gym
30/01/2012 - Gym
29/01/2012 - Gym
28/01/2012 - Gym
26/01/2012 - Gym
23/01/2012 - Gym
21/01/2012 - Gym
18/01/2012 - Started at a gym. New game plan, build muscle first then start marathon training a bit later in the year to avoid overtraining injuries. Very pleased to see some more donations of late. So far £7,790 raised including gift aid...
22/12/2011 - Right, I have been somewhat remiss in updating this page. I had a couple of car crashes, thrown off a horse and a few other minor problems to overcome. But I have restarted fartlek running and I will complete 26.2 one way or another.
06/06/2011 - OK, so it was not right after Easter but I went out for my first post-physio, post-learning to run properly run yesterday. Exhausting - I feel like Jonny Wilkinson has been practicising his kicking on me. Anyhow, here we go!
21/04/2011 - have been incredibly frustrated with this injury nonsense. After Easter I will hit the roads. The target is 3:30 for Amsterdam in October.
17/03/2011 - given the go-ahead to resume training. But starting with 2 miles and gradually increasing distance by a mile or so per week. Plus lots of stretching. Frustrating but hopefully this will mean I can complete the Amsterdam marathon with nerve and verve.
11/03/2011 - have started running lessons (really) to remove the problems that have caused the injury. After one hour of this I felt totally beasted. Hopefully this will get me to a state where I can run a marathon.
26/02/11. Went to see a physiotherapist. Discovered I have a quite unpleasant injury.
Question: "Will I be able to run the Milan Marathon on April 10th?"
Answer: "In my opinion, NO".
So I am gutted. I have lived like a athlete/monk/hermit for the last few months, eaten, slept, trained, rested and followed all the guidance.
I am now thinking of a plan B. Amsterdam on October 16th looks likely - bound to be a flat course. Not sure about post-race recovery
http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/europe-marathons-list.php
EVERY penny raised here goes to Help for Heroes. I am paying all expenses such as flights to Milan, hotel and the marathon entry fee from my own pocket.
23/02/11 - Run to work. Managed 2 miles before the calves were screaming again. Went for a sports massage. I was expecting a Communist era female (male?) shot putter type but she was nothing like that. Oh my! "This might hurt a little". Yes, well, if "a little" means "like being stabbed with a broken bottle" then spot-on. Along with a ridiculous diet, supplements, lots of sleep and training I now have to give this a go. I need to do something because I am not training enough and (cheesey quote alert) failure is not an option.
20/02/11 - Planned on running 19.5 miles. Managed 4.7 before I had to stop. Calf muscles were screaming.
18/02/11 - Raised £7,500! Thank you to Jim Muir and the guys at http://www.autorek.com/
16/02/11 - Ran to work. Did "door-to-door" in 44:07. In two weeks I have knocked off one minute from this time. Excellent!. Now have Garmin sat-nav watch hooked up to heart rate monitor and PC. So I see that I was running at 95% of maximum heart rate for everything after 1 mile. And I burnt off 666 calories. I love my Garmin! A for effort, A for result. On the way home ran 2 miles at 8:41 pace. Ached, right thigh was tight so stopped.
16/02/11 - Did an interview with a trade magazine - hopefully they will print this url in the article (well, I did ask nicely).
13/02/11 - Ran 14 miles at 9:58. Then rest for 2 hours then the same route in reverse. Ran 4 miles then switched to walk 0.5 mile, run 1 mile. Ran 9.91 miles at 9:57. So in total ran 24 miles. I did this route before on the 29/11/10 and I was dead after the first 14 miles, so this is progress!
11/02/11 - WOW! We've now raised more than £7,000 (including tax rebates and offline donations). Thank you so much to everyone.
08/02/11 - Lunchtime run. Disaster. 2.5 miles. Calves and right knee screaming. Stop and walk back to the office. Right knee is full of fluid. Not good.
05/02/11 - Bit of cross training. One hour horse riding around Richmond Park. Plenty of cantering. Then a running circuit of the park. 7.1 miles in 62 minutes. Since the surface is rough and there are hills that is pretty good. A for result, A for effort.
04/02/11 Lunchtime run. 3 miles. Rubbish pace. Garmin battery went flat. A for effort, U (unclassified) for result. Must do better...
03/02/11 - Up at 5:45. Want to run "door-to-door in 44" (home to office). Did it in 45:07. Target to aim at!
Thank you to Matthew York and the guys at Thinkfolio.
02/02/2011 - Ran 4 miles in 35:40 (slow) then had another blast up Highgate Hill.
31/01/2011 - Up at 5:45, 4 miles in 31:41. This is 7:55 pace. If I can multiply this distance by 6.55 then I am cooking on gas :-). Then ran home from work, 2 miles run, walk 1 mile, run 1 mile, walk 1 mile then run up Highgate Hill. Ouch!
29/01/2011 - Interval training. Run one mile, walk one mile. Repeat. Miles in 6:34, 7:34, 7:42, 7:46. Very pleased - starting to get the pace I need. Stopped as it's too cold to continue.
26/01/2011 - Ran 3 miles in 24 minutes exactly - the pace I want to run the marathon. Walked one mile the banged out a fast mile in 7:34. Nice!
24/01/2011 - Up at 5:45am and ran 5.5 miles to work. 48 minutes. Better! Plus 90 minutes of bikram yoga.
23/01/2011 - Run 2.0 miles (muscle aches so stopped)
22/01/2011 - Walked 17.5 miles
21/01/2011 - Lunchtime run 6 miles at 9:22. Feet look a bit like an extra from "Shaun of the Dead"...
19/01/2011 - 10 miles after work at 9:56 - it's cold out there! My feet are falling apart. Daniel Day Lewis made a movie my left foot. If I made a movie about my feet it would be banned as a video nasty :-(
18/01/2011 - Up at 5:45 and ran 5.5 miles to work.
MarketAxess have made a donation of £250 - thank you.
10/01/2011 - Wow. Thank you very much to Hugh Hughes, CEO of Fixnetix and all round good man. As you can see below, he has donated £1,000.
7/01/2011 - Ran 8 miles, felt twinge in back, walked 9.5 miles.
3/1/2011 - ran 11 miles after a three week break
10/12/2010. I am off for warm weather training - going to crank up pace and distance.
ITG have made a corporate donation of £200 which appears as "offline donation" as they make a direct payment to Help For Heroes.
6/12/2010 Ran 15 miles at 9:46 pace. Bit chilly out there! Need to crank up the distance and improve the pace. First 10 miles were at 8:54 pace, so I am slowing down a lot after 10 miles.
29/11/2010 Ran 14.2 miles on Saturday at 9:48 pace. Tweaked my Achilles tendon. Not such a good day out. Rest for a few days and get back out there!
25/11/2010. Wow. I am incredibly touched at your generosity. Thank you so much to everyone. I will do my very best to give a great time - my target is 3:30 which means 8 minute miles. At the moment I am able to run 11 miles at 9:11 pace, so I have a long way to go...