Monthly Archives: April 2012

Good service counts even when you’re running

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So how to mix a blog post on running and customer service…

I ran the London Marathon last week with the orthotics I had from the physio back in December last year in my shoes.  They gave more support in the Adizero shoes than without and by all accounts corrected the way my feet hit the ground.  They’re made by a company called Vectorthotics and clearly say on the package that if you are planning at doing any strenuous or endurance activities, the block bits should be glued on with more solid cement glue stuff.  Mine weren’t but they had held through all (or most) of the training runs and I’d had one pair already glued again by our local Timpson shop in Twickenham.

When it (the small blue block in the middle) has come loose before, you know it has as it clicks in the shoe a bit and you can hear it.  But I guess the noise of the other runners and crowd last weekend and total concentration on getting round, meant I had no chance to hear it, as it came off (and ended up towards the toes – maybe that’s why I didn’t run as fast as I had hoped… LOL).

So I needed to visit the shoe shop again and get them to glue it back on.  When I did this last time, they just did it, with a big smile and said don’t worry about paying, just put some money in the charity box they had in the shop.  Fantastic.  I’ll come back with service like this – we’d come back anyway as we’ve used them lots over the years and they’re good.  I ran in last Saturday early afternoon and the same guy was in and I asked the same question, if he could glue it on.  No questions asked he just did it.  And again no charge – just money in the box for charity.  It happened to be a rugby day on Saturday with a big Army and Navy game on at Twickenham Stadium and I got chatting to another customer in the shop (whilst we waited).  As I was chatting and waiting I noticed some signs on the walls in the shop.  One fine example below…

With a sign up like this from the company chairman, you know the service is going to be very good.  There are other similar signs up around the store, all saying it’s all about service and making sure they do right by you the customer.  And the same in all their stores.  I popped back today to take the photo and asked the guy before I did and explained why – and he smiled!

For me this is a huge statement, the guys in the shop are totally empowered to do what they need to to make it right.  And have the ok from the top to do so – no need to phone head office to check.  Make a decision there and then, to make sure the customer is happy.

This is unlike many other companies I know of who give the front line staff no empowerment and need everything run by the next level or two up.  Even for small things.  This does my head in – such a waste of time and effort on everyone’s part and 9 times out of 10, you get annoyed customers all the same.  Do we really need to check with HQ or the bosses boss if someone wants to bring a small item back for a few pounds or dollars and doesn’t have the receipt, it’s unopened and clearly from that shop?  No.  Think of the cost of checking and delays.  And the experience the customer is having.  Not good and as the customer you think twice about using them again.

Apple and Amazon are both great at customer service, and shining beacons for others to follow, and everyone knows they are good which is a huge huge part of what makes them so successful.  They are big and yes they have the money to do it properly but it’s not all about that, so it’s nice to see the little shops doing as good here.  Sure Timpson are a global chain but the shops are small and typically with one member of staff in – and ones you might not think of as leaders in customer service and customer experience – but Timpson do it very very well.  Thanks for the great service, we will be back.  And I’ve just discovered they even do a mystery shopper programme and you can sign up on the front page on the web site.  Nothing to hide.  Nice one!

What to do next and have you recovered?

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That’s it all over – all those months of training and 26.2 miles around London all done.  For charity, for fun, for your own PB, just to say you’ve done it or for a million other great reasons.  5 days on from the big event, the aches and pains just about gone, walking normally, going down stairs freely and back maybe doing a few easy runs!

The first few days are difficult and the legs don’t work as well as they should and stairs are very painful.  It’s amazing how different a 23 mile training run is to the actual 26.2 mile race.  For all my training runs over 20 miles, just showered and stretched after each and then carried on as normal and no issues the next day.  But add just 3 more miles and race conditions and it’s a whole different ball game.  When I did the London Marathon first back in 2009 it literally took about 2 weeks to recover.  This time 5 days – so something in the training worked.

For the recovery a number of things you need to do:

  1. Move – don’t just sit down and do nothing.
  2. Raise the legs – when you can when you are sitting down.
  3. Massage – to help those muscles, as soon as possible after the run.
  4. Ice packs or ice baths – haven’t tried these myself but people swear by them.
  5. Nutrition – water, carbohydrates and proteins.
  6. Active rest – do some easy exercise soon.

Number 6 is what seemed to be the transition point for me.  Legs – just legs nothing else really – very sore, until yesterday when I went for an easy 4 mile run with my gorgeous wife (owner of Snowballs in Summer).  Very easy and slow pace.  And after that legs pretty much back to normal.

Some great other links for articles on post-marathon recovery are:

How are your legs?

And then once recovered, what do you do next?  Training for these babies is full on and gives you a real focus.  Running 4+ days a week and doing more and more miles and seeing improvements along the way, really gives you a boost and focuses the mind.  So when it’s all over, there’s a gap – at least for a bit.  For a lot of people if you don’t enter races that often, what now?  Enter another race.  This year is London’s year and there are lots of great running events on.  One I’d only just heard about is the British 10k London on Sunday 8th July – a week or so before the London Olympics and covering part of the planned Olympic Marathon route.  Covers a lot of the great sights you see on the London Marathon and the Royal Parks Foundation 1/2 and “only” 6.25 miles (10km) and 25,000 people – so a great crowd running through normally busy roads in central London.  See the route plan below:

Even better as well as the ballot places, there are guaranteed places for a bargain price of £50 – only £18 ish more than the ballot place.  What a deal.  I couldn’t refuse and got myself a place last night.  A very different distance to the longer runs and needs different training.  Need to figure that out next and what sort of time I want to try and aim for.

And the event video from 2011…

Don’t forget of course the ballot for the Virgin London Marathon (VLM) 2013 opens on Monday 30th April – next week – and the number of ballot places are expected to fill up very quickly.

London Marathon 2012 – we came, we saw, we ran

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Happy St. George’s Day for today – 23rd April.

We’ve done it.  26.2 miles around London town done!  And what an event.  37,500 runners, a huge number of supporters and blue skies for the most part.

Over £2,220 raised for Whizz-Kidz – and donations still coming in – by my friends and family and a staggering £1.5 million raised for Whizz-Kidz by all their runners.  I didn’t make the photo shot before the start but here it is – what a team!  If you still would like to make a small donation, it’s not too late – just go to www.justgiving.com/jasonnoble1.

An early start yesterday for Nobles and the train journey up to town quite something else for a Sunday morning.  So many people going to the marathon to run or support.  The trains were so busy it was like normal rush hour, but with a real buzz in the air.

Perfect weather yesterday morning over London – clear blue skies and not too hot.  It got warmer throughout the morning but the rain and wind didn’t hit until about 3pm – by which time a lot of runners had finished.

After a detour to the wrong start, we made our way back to the red start and the Noble support crew said goodbye and good luck and made their way up to Westminster just after mile 25 to join Nic’s mum and dad and wait (a good few hours) with the banner.

A few toilet stops for me before the gun and then we were off.  Note – not going to the toilet for almost 4 hours is in itself a major achievement for me (and most blokes).  I crossed the start line about 3 minutes after the gun went off, full of high spirits and enjoying the continuing buzz.

My pace started at about 8:30 per mile for the first 2 miles, just with the crowd and trying not to get off too fast.  After about 4-5 miles, pace at 8 minutes per mile, so on track.  The blue and red starts merged at about 3 miles and it’s then that you realised how many people are actually running – a lot.

A trip around the fully restored Cutty Sark at about 6 miles was another high point, with a great crowd.  South of the river the atmosphere was amazing – with bands playing, people out in the street cheering outside their front doors, in pubs with beers in hand at 10:30am and children handing our sweets and all wanting high fives from the runners.  Spotted my cousin Leanne at about mile 11 with the Lyons support crew waiting for Noel and had a huge “Jason” shout from them.  Having your name on the front of your shirt really helps and people all along the route are shouting out your name, helping push you along.

My pace was well on-track up to half-way and 3:30 looked a real possibility.  Then the dreaded Docklands happened.  My pace started gradually slowing down – 8:02 (not too bad can still get back), 8:05 (might need to rethink target time); 8:07 (this is going to be hard), 8:11 (oh crap) and so on…!   Support through the Docklands was great.  From 2009 I remembered it being a bit on the sparse side with people cheering you on, but not this time – they were there in force.

Just before the half-way point, I got to see the eventual winner come sprinting past (literally – 4:43 minutes per mile for 26.2 of them).  An awesome sight and with 6 or 7 miles to go he already had a lead of about 2 minutes.  Saw a few of the other front runners going passed and cheered them on, before almost getting knocked over by a Smurf.

 

Now coming out of the Docklands, with about 6 miles to go, and past Tower Bridge and runners just coming up to half-way and then past The Tower of London.  Getting closer but it’s hurting now.  That infamous carrot (him and his runner bean mate beat me in the 1/2 marathon in 2010) keeps catching up and over taking and then dropping back.  Will he beat me this time?  Yes!

A bride runs past, but Spiderman drops back.  A Roman Centurion overtakes me and gets the crowd up in cheers – he’s fast!  The Embankment now and nearly on the home straight.  Legs hurting but I refuse to stop – it’s a mental thing now to keep pushing!

25.5 miles and the Noble support crew come into sight.  Run up and give little Sophie a high five and nearly go flying – close call.  800m to go – that sounds a lot further that it should.  600m – we’re close.  400m – I can almost feel the finish line.  Less than 400 yards – I can see the finish.  Go go go – a push for a “sprint” finish, nothing left but overtake at least one person, and we’re done!  Finish line crossed.

A hobble now for about a mile to get the area where you meet friends and family – that’s not funny, having to walk that far now!  Medal and bag of goodies picked up and free drinks downed.

My official time was 3:46:54 – a whole 14 seconds faster than my time in 2009.  But a way off my target of 3:30.  Pace and split up to half-way were good and on track (and pretty much spot on what they were in 2009).  Official time and place is…

 

Always an emotional time now and a few hugs with the support crew when I find them.  Then off – very slowly – to the Whizz-Kidz reception and massage.  The massage was very nice but legs very sore today and stairs are my enemy.  Fingers crossed the usual DOMS doesn’t occur where it hurts most 2 days later!

 

 

An amazing experience yet again.  London at its absolute best.  2012 is going to be London’s year!  Perfect weather and a great great atmosphere.  Yes it was very very hard as before – and that’s with all the training.  To crack 3:30 – maybe one day – even more training no doubt needed.  And very emotional.  Plus a parking ticket when we got back to the car – parking on Sunday’s is free normally isn’t it???  I’m in the process of “negotiating” with the council to see if I can donate my fine to Whizz-Kidz instead.  Fingers crossed.

A very fitting quote – “If you want to win something, run 100 meters.  If you want to experience something, run a marathon.” by the great Emil Zatopek.

In the marathon news yesterday, Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest marathon runner at 101, completed his race in seven hours and 49 minutes. The East Londoner has said this would be his last marathon so he can concentrate on shorter distances and faster times.  What an inspiration.

The day of course was sadden by the news of the death of 30 year old Claire Squires, one mile from the finish.  Very very sad.  Our thoughts go out to all her friends and family.  Claire was running for the Samaritans.  RIP.

What do 37,542 people running in London look like?

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That’s the official number of confirmed runners from Virgin and it’s the most since 2010…

So not the most ever but still a huge huge number.

To see what this many people running looking like, either come along and have a great day out as a supporter – it’s London at its best (there’s nothing like it), watch out for it all on the TV (BBC1 I think) or check the photos in the papers on Monday.  But it looks something like this…

To be in that crowd is nothing short of awesome.  A solid 2 mile long stream of people all running and all buzzing.  Happy days.

That’s it before the big day.  Pasta done.  Kit ready.  Number and tag fixed.  Train times sorted.  Kids in bed.  Bed early for us soon and then up early tomorrow for an early start.

Good luck to everyone running tomorrow.  It’s a great event, great fun to be part of it, yes it’s hard and it hurts but it’s well worth it when you cross the finish line and get the medal.  Enjoy the experience!

 

£1 can make a difference – help me help #WhizzKidz

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The final push.  The training’s all done, the kit’s all ready and it’s just waiting now.  This time tomorrow I will be somewhere near the finish line – positive thinking!  And all the hard work training over the last 5 months paid off – fingers crossed (still thinking positively but hedging my bets).  And over £2,000 raised for Whizz-Kidz through my friends and family and beyond, far and wide.  It really is amazing and means so much to me and of course Whizz-Kidz and the children they look after – a huge huge thank you to everyone!

Even after tomorrow it’s not too late too donate and if you’re waiting to see if I finish – that’s all good.  The Just Giving page will still be up and running and taking donations.  And of course you can still donate today.  Every £1 and any loose change you donate makes a massive difference here.

Just go to www.justgiving.com/jasonnoble1 to donate or even send a text from your mobile – it couldn’t be easier…

Whizz-Kidz have some 500 runners running tomorrow and are aiming to raise over £1.5 million – that’s an amazing sum of money that all goes to help the work they do and allow the children they help to live more active lives.  Being part of this is a real privilege as I’ve said before.

Inspiration and motivation for Sunday’s #LondonMarathon

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A great article I found today on motivational tips for a marathon from The Sporting Edge.

At this stage in the training, when all the running is done, the eating has all gone according to plan and you’ve got your number and kit ready, motivational tips like these are superb.  For me, I love reading them and seeing how others get themselves mentally prepared – including the elite runners.  Even for us middle of pack runners, they help big time and give you tips for when it gets tough (and it will).

Tomorrow is the day before the run and for me it’s all about chilling out, listening to some relaxing music (maybe with a few tracks thrown in that I find inspirational).  And a short 2 mile jog – maybe with little Miss. Noble on her bike alongside.

Need some motivation still?

And finally even some inspiration from Dilbert and the gang…

Don’t forget to pick up your London Marathon number

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That wouldn’t be good would it.  All the training and preparation over the last few months and you don’t visit the Marathon Expo to get your number.  If you’ve not been already you’ve got 4 more days to get down to London ExCeL.

Did mine yesterday – got there as soon as it opened and had a look round at the stalls and stands.  A lot of stuff there and a chance to catch-up with other runners and your chosen charity – if you’re running for one.

Lots of stands from pretty much any company involved in running.  All great and nice to see everyone and see the latest and greatest running tech, but would anyone seriously pick up a new pair of shoes 4 days away from the Marathon or try out a new energy drink?  Highly unlikely and a risky strategy if you did.  I almost get why everyone needs to go to the event to pick up your number (I said almost) and I can see there might be a commercial opportunity for running equipment companies at the same event.  But why not have another official London Marathon Expo a few months earlier when people are starting out training and looking for advice, new kit etc?

All done for me though and kit all ready, with number and shoe token.  Timing for the journey up to London for Sunday morning being sorted out, a day of rest tomorrow with stretching and then a 2 mile jog and more stretching on Saturday to get rid of any last minute nerves.  678 training miles done including 4 today.  2 more to go and then the big race on Sunday – past all the great sights in London.

The Marathon Expo definitely gets you getting excited about the run and it is a buzz seeing everyone there – so maybe that’s reason enough to have it now…!

Snow, rain, sun, hail or thunder? #LondonMarathon

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5 days away now and the weather forecasting guru’s are talking.  As a scientist (physics – real science) at heart, I don’t have much faith in long term weather forecasts – it’s all chaos theory and little butterflies flapping their wings in China could cause havoc.

But the bets are in and from a straw poll taken earlier today we have…

So about 10 degrees C and it might be cloudy with a bit of rain.  Lose the rain and I’m happy with that!