Sunday 28th December 2008
6.4 miles - Recovery Run
Perhaps a bit stupidly I’d drunkenly agreed to go running in the afternoon as well. Ordinarily this wouldn’t have been a problem, but with 2 weeks off, and with my hip reducing me to a walk in the morning, going for another run in the afternoon was a little silly. But i’d agreed to do a loop of Dam Flask with Mick and Kath, basically covering the Percy Pud route. I very nearly didn’t go, but my hip had settled down and although I was a bit stiff that wasn’t a good enough excuse not to run.
I’m glad I went as it was good to have a chat and a catch up, and it was good to get the legs going again. I suffered a lot afterwards though with aches and pains all over my body, including, bizarrely, my neck shoulders and stomach!?
Sunday 28th December 2008
9.85 miles - Long Run
Oh my God!! I can’t believe how rubbish i’ve been! Almost 2 weeks without a single run. That is very poor indeed. I did do a Circuit Training session in that time, but generally i’ve been eating and drinking too much as part of the festive celebrations. December was always going to be a cut back month, but this has just taken the piss a bit.
So with the excesses of Christmas still very much in my stomach I met up with Jon, Jim and Dan to do a very slow hilly long run. Luckily Jim hasn’t run since the summer, so was even more rusty than me. It was a lovely run on a lovely morning, and it would’ve been nice to enjoy it, but I was struggling from start to finish. In particular my hip was taking great offence to being dragged off the sofa, which meant the final climb up Lodge Lane was a slow trudge chatting to Jim instead of running.
I’d definitely like to have another crack at that route, maybe as part of a 20 miler running up from Hillsborough to The Sportsman.
Monday 15th December 2008
6.1 miles - General Run
This was probably a really silly thing to do, but after Saturday’s failure I needed to get back on the horse and run again. It was also partly me punishing myself. As it turned out, it was quite a nice run. I went slowly to start with but as the legs warmed up I soon got back into my stride and finished with a quick mile back to the club house.
Saturday 13th December 2008
39.3 miles - Round Rotherham 50 – Rotherham, South Yorkshire DNF
Or in my case – The Not Quite Round Rotherham 40.
In the build up to the Marathon des Sables in April 2009 I had set myself 3 main target races; The Bullock Smithy (56 miles), The Round Rotherham 50 (50 miles), and Town2Tring and Tring2Town (80 miles in 2 days). Everything else outside of these events would be ‘just for fun’.
The first of the 3 main events, The Bullock Smihy, was ticked off in September. So going into The Round Rotherham this weekend I felt quietly confident. My training has been going well, my endurance has improved, and this course is 6 miles shorter, considerably flatter, and held during the day rather than navigating through the night. What could possibly go wrong?
Things started off okay. My friend Ivan stayed over night, and we set off to the event centre at Dearne Valley College at 5am on Saturday morning. We found this with no problems, navigation was going to be a breeze today! Once there we teamed up with Rab and Jeremy two other guys who are heading out to the Sahara in April.
We went into the Sports Hall which bared a scary resemblance to a disaster area. Apparently for a fee of £4 you could stay over night on the floor of the Sports Hall. Comfy. This is one of the few times, in fact the only time, I have been pleased to live so close to Rotherham.
We made small talk, mostly about MdS training and kit. Not surprising really as, we concurred, it has taken over our lives. I’m sure there can’t be too many people who can speak excitedly and at length about the weight to calorie to taste ratio of various dehydrated foods with encyclopaedic knowledge?
It was soon 6am and time for the ‘walkers’ to set off. There were 3 start times; 6am for walkers, 7am for runners and 8am for relay teams. We’d opted for 6am, mainly to maximise daylight at the back end of the race, but also because we were taking large backpacks to simulate to some degree the type of weight we’d be running with in the Sahara, even if the conditions were almost the polar opposite to what we can expect in April.
I’d been fannying about with my kit all week. I knew the weather was going to be awful. The forecast has been showing freezing temperatures, strong winds and heavy rain, so I’d decided to order some Seal Skinz waterproof socks and gloves online. A large outlay of £40 for a one off race, but I knew they would be life saving. Sadly I didn’t get to find out because they still haven’t bloody arrived.
The first few miles went okay, I was running with Ivan, Rab and Jeremy. It was cold and wet, but we were moving quite comfortably running the flats, and walking the inclines. The navigation was easy because there were so many of us, and the first 10 miles were marked intermittently with red tape. I wasn’t feeling brilliant though, and was soon struggling to keep up. I felt I was pushing too hard just to keep on the back of them, which was stupid so early in the race and I knew I’d pay for it later.
I was still managing to keep up by the time we reached the first checkpoint at 10 miles. It was daylight by now and my spirits were lifting. I’d stopped feeling sick, and was starting to get into a rhythm. This didn’t last long though, and by the second checkpoint at Treeton, at 16 miles, I had dropped off the back of the group and was struggling. The weather and the terrain were really starting to get to me. The rain was relentless and I was soaked right through. It was hard to keep warm when not running, but the muddy, ploughed fields were almost impossible to walk on without falling over let alone run. When there was a chance to run I was trying to recover from the strength sapping field crossings.
From 20 to 25 miles seemed to take forever. The 25 mile checkpoint at Harthill was the first of the indoor checkpoints and I was going to take this chance to change socks and put some more layers on. In all I took with me 4 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of gloves, 2 hats, 3 pairs of bottoms, and 8 layers for my top. I think it goes some way to showing how bad the weather was that as I was getting ready to leave this checkpoint I was wearing every single item of clothing with the exception of 2 pairs of socks and a coat which were all sodden. I’d probably stayed at the checkpoint a bit too long, as my knees had seized up. I was also surrounded by people who were dropping out. The look of relief on their faces as they knew their ordeal was over made getting up and heading out into the cold and rain again very difficult. I was so close to calling it a day there and then. But I walked out the door and ran away as quickly as I could before I changed my mind.
I was also running to get warm. Everything was wet and cold from staying still too long, and running was the only way to warm up. I was now running on my own, but in amongst other runners and walkers, so the navigation was still relatively easy. My maps were getting soggy though, which was worrying, and the OS Maps were starting to disintegrate but the Wainwright style Strip Maps were still legible. It would appear that my map case was yet another item of ‘waterproof’ kit that was proving to be far from it.
The section between the Harthill checkpoint at 25 miles and Woodsetts, the 31 mile checkpoint, was tough. There were numerous field crossings each one seemed more cut up and muddy than the last. There were occasional tarmaced roads or paths to break it up, but these just seemed to lead to yet another series of ploughed fields. My pace was slowing, and opportunities to run seemed to become fewer and fewer. My hands were freezing now, the wool gloves I was wearing over my thin windproof running gloves were useless, and just making things worth so I discarded them. It’s amazing how small things lift your spirits, now my hands were warm again wrapped up in my coat sleeves I felt brilliant. I’d gone from wanting to drop out as soon as I reached Woodsetts to believing I could finish.
I didn’t stop too long at Woodsetts, I was way behind my target finishing time of 12 hours, but could still realistically get to the finish before the 16 hour cut off time. The navigation was still going well at this point and I joined the back of a group another 3 guys who were training for the Mont Blanc Ultra, and doing this is a qualifying event. We were slowly ticking off the miles together, but I was starting to struggle with a right buttock issue. It had been given me a little bit of trouble since around 10 miles, but by now it was starting to affect my hamstring and my knee. The guys I was with were running where they could, but I just couldn’t match them and again dropped off the back.
By this stage the field had really stretched out and I found myself on my own, just as the light was fading. I couldn’t believe how early we were losing the light it must have only been about 3:30pm. I got to Langold Lakes and without anyone around to follow or to check navigation with I started struggling. The corner of the strip map for this section had also received a lot of water damage and the ink was smudged on the paper. I ran (hobbled) up a track through some woods, but re-traced my steps. Luckily I bumped into someone walking their dog who gave me directions. I ran off back up the path, and followed what I thought was the right road to Firbeck. The light was fading so I put my head torch back on, and trudged on. I entered the village, it didn’t look familiar. I’d recce’d the last stages from Firbeck to the finish, so knew what Firbeck looked like, but this wasn’t Firbeck. I saw a sign for Letwell Village Hall…….NOooooooo!!
I was in the wrong village. I was cold, wet and now lost. I had no idea where I was as I had strayed off the Strip Maps, and my OS Maps were by now completely illegible. My heart sank, as I started trying to think what to do. There was an emergency phone number on the maps, so I took my phone out of my coat to make the call and get directions, but it was dead. The rain had got through my ‘waterproof’ pockets and killed it. I could’ve cried. I saw a bus shelter up ahead and walked towards it to have a sit down and pull myself together.
As I got to the bus shelter who would’ve thought it, there was an old OS Map on the wall. Don’t you love little villages, that wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes in Hillsborough!! I looked at the map and saw that somehow I’d headed West instead of North (maybe I should have taken my compass!!). Looking at the scale I wasn’t too far away, and could get to Firbeck on the road, with only a minor 3 mile detour from the official route. It didn’t take too long to get to Firbeck, but it was hairy walking along the roads, as by now it was pitch black, and the rain had started to get heavy again. I’ve never been so relived o see a village sign! But then I realised I didn’t know how to find the checkpoint, but luckily it was only small village so I only had a couple of roads to run along. I think it was an indicator of my luck that the checkpoint was on the last road I ran up!!
Once in the warmth of the Firbeck Social club, the thought of navigating the last 3 stages, across more muddy fields, in the dark, on my own, in the cold and the rain, didn’t seem very appealing at all. It was at this point I’m sorry to say that I decided to quit. To be honest I had it in my legs to finish, I just couldn’t cope with the weather and terrain in the dark. So I failed to finish Main Event number 2, clocked a shade under 40 miles in 10 hours.
It would seem I was far from the only person to drop out with only 172 finishers from 289 starters. This doesn’t make me feel any better though, and I’m still feeling a massive sense of failure and disappointment. I’ve failed to finish races before, but always through injury or exhaustion, on this occasion it was neither of these things, I just couldn’t face carrying on in those conditions, and that’s hard to accept.
I’ve been trying to draw on the positives from Saturday, there don’t seem to be many;
- I didn’t ache at all the next day, and I managed a hard session of Christmas Shopping at Meadowhall, and a 6 mile run.
- My feet held up well, not a single blister or sore after 40 miles and 10 hours on my feet.
- My rucksack that I’m taking with me to the Sahara was incredibly comfortable on my back.So it’s back to the drawing board, before the next big Ultra Marathon. At least with running 40 miles up the Grand Union Canal one day and then 40 miles back the next day, it should be pretty hard to get lost!! And hopefully my waterproof socks and gloves might have arrived by then. I’ll also take an iPod to keep company for the long periods when your running on your own. And finally I will keep all spare kit and gadgets in a Tesco carrier bag, because they are 100% waterproof unlike everything else I own.
Sunday 7th December 2008
6.22 miles - Percy Pud 10k - Sheffield, South Yorkshire 42:18 *PB*
To be honest I really wasn’t looking forward to the Percy Pud, as I had my mind on the Round Rotherham, but i’d also set myself the target of a PB, and my 10k PB was already pretty good compared to my others. I also had Jon telling me how many minutes he was going to beat me by (between 3 and 6 depending on alcohol consumption!). And to be honest I’m not really training for 10k’s at the moment. All of this combined meant for the first time in ages, I really wasn’t up for racing.
The preambles were good though. I knew loads of people racing, so it was good to catch up with everyone for a quick chat and take my mind off of the messy business of racing. But it was time to race though, so I headed to the start line with Jon. I was going to keep him in my sights. There was no way he was going to beat me by 3 minutes. Indeed deep down I wanted to beat him, so I was going to be all over him like a rash. We were soon underway, a bit randomly with no warning, people just started running. Maybe they should’ve borrowed Clowne Roadrunners starting howitzer? It was crowded because there were no pens, or time indicators, so there were people of all different paces all over the place. There was a lot of weaving in and out for the first mile, so I was surprised to clock a sub 7 minute mile. I settled into a pace, and felt comfortable. I was slowly making progress through the field, and coping well with the undulations in the first 2k. I was worried about the long flat section from the dam wall to The Plough. I struggle to keep my pace in these sections, but I just locked on to the person in front, picked them off, then locked on to the next one. This tactic got me to 5k in 21:17!! “Wow, a 5k PB!! Shit, that’s way too quick, I gonna crash and burn in the second half!!”
The halfway turn was tight as we did a 180 degree about turn and headed back the way we came. There was a slight incline and I struggled to get my legs going again. This was it, the start of a long slog home and a missed PB, I thought. But I locked on again, and started moving through the field. My mind was a muddle as I was trying to calculate a finishing time. I’d set my Garmin to km’s and was struggling to get my head round them. This distraction worked as I was knocking off km after km. We were soon at the 8km marker and the start of the climbing undulations back to the finish. I’d remembered them being really tough going last year, but I felt strong, and pushed on again. I could see IanM in the distance, I thought I had been catching him, but he was a long way ahead now. In the distance I could see the finish line and pushed on again. I knew I was going to PB by now. In fact I knew I was going to get sub 43, rather than the sub 44 I was aiming for, and finally crossed the line in 42:18. I was amazed, stunned and over the moon!
I thought sub 40 was a long way off before today. Now I really do think its possible some time next year, along with a sub 1:30 HM. I’m sure it must be down to Rachels’s magic flapjack.
Mile splits for today were remarkably balanced for me. And perhaps the thing I’m happiest with was the negative split.
1st 5k – 21:17
2nd 5k – 21:01Mile 1 – 6:46
Mile 2 – 6:46
Mile 3 – 6:57
Mile 4 – 6:50
Mile 5 – 6:55
Mile 6 – 6:52
Mile 6.22 – 1:07Yesterday’s run at the Percy Pud 10k surprised me somewhat. I really didn’t expect to be that quick, and I didn’t expect it to feel that comfortable either. The official results are in
Chip time: 42:18
Position: 185 out of 1410 (top 13%)
Friday 5th December 2008
7 miles - General Run
Sunday 30th November 2008
6.34 miles - General Run
The original plan for today was to run 25-30 miles in one hit. The opportunity to recce the last 3 stages of the Round Rotherham was too good to miss, so i’d decided to split the run into two; 15 miles in the morning and 10 miles in the evening. Sadly it didn’t quite work out like that as my legs decided not to play ball. I struggled over 6 miles, but decided to call it a day at 6.34 miles before I did myself an injury. All in all i’m quite happy with today’s training though. I just need to work on my really long runs.
Sunday 30th November 2008
14.2 miles - Long Run
Decided to recce the last 3 stages of the Round Rotherham with my club today. I haven’t recce’d any other stages because i’m hoping to be able to handle the navigation during the day. However, the last 3 stages will probably be done in the dark. The weather was cold, and the ground frozen which was good as there was a lot of open ploughed fields to cross. If it had been wet and muddy it would’ve been a nightmare. There was a good mixture of terrain going passed Roche Abbey, under the M18 and across open fields, along canals, through Industrial Estates and across parks. It was a slow pace as we coped with the navigation but it was good to get a long run in.
Friday 28th November 2008
6.4 miles - General Run
I forgot to charge my Garmin last night, so when I dutifully got up at 5:30am this morning to go for a trot I was gutted (relieved) to see that it was out of battery. As I then started getting undressed to go back to bed gleefully (I mean how can you possibly run anywhere without a Garmin?), I had a good hard word with myself. Only the previous evening I was planning what I was going to do after the MdS to ensure that I became a better runner, and one of the best at my club. So I wasn’t going to fall at the first hurdle!!
So I went outside and did the ‘Park Route’. Its a 1.25 mile loop and takes in some hills and some good flat bits for speed. Although at the speed I was going at this unearthly hour could hardly be classed as speedwork.
Nope this was just a 6.5 mile plod for no other purpose than weight loss. I’ve been shit at Slimming World since May. I got down to 14stone 0lb, and in the last 6 months all i’ve managed to do is put weight on! At Slimming World last night I weighed in at 14st 9lb. Not good enough! So i’m taking myself by the scruff of the neck, and for the next 4 months i’m doing things properly.
Thursday 27th November 2008
4.3 miles - Recovery Run
I ran home from work to try and sweat some pounds off before Slimming World. It didn’t really work, but it was good to stretch my legs a little bit after last nights hard Circuit Training Session. I don’t really like this route home from work, as its quite hard going on the body with a steep 2 miles descent, and then a gradual (so as you’d hardly notice) ascent to my house. I much prefer the longer 7 miles route down Manchester Road and through Rivelin Valley, but thats just not feasible in the winter.
Monday 24th November 2008
8.5 miles - Recovery Run
I ran last night, despite being quite creaky after Clowne yesterday. It was a fairly steady 9min/mile recovery run out to Damflask, as a few of us from work decided to run the Percy Pud course. I don’t know why we decided to do it on a Monday night when there is no street lighting and only 2 of the 5 of us had head torches? It made for an interesting run, and a good bit of fun in the rain and snow. The first 6.5 miles was nice and comfortable, but I really struggled on the 2 mile run home when I left the rest at the Admiral Rodney. So I have elected to rest tomorrow. I might even have a browse round Meadowhall.
Sunday 23rd November 2008
13.1 miles - Clowne Half Marathon, Clowne, Derbyshire
I woke up this morning feeling quietly confident about today’s Clowne Half Marathon. Training has been going well, i’ve done some good speedwork, and my endurance has increased. So I set myself a target of sub 1:43, I knew Clowne is a fairly tough course and would show some improvement on Windsor. I also had a bit of an ambitious target of sub 1:40 in my head.
All this confidence completely disappeared when I hit the M1 and the rain was lashing it down on the windscreen, and the little snowflake thing on my dash board went red as the temperature hit 0 degrees C.
I reached Clowne and had the usual wardrobe dilemma. How many layers to wear? Four or Five? I had a base layer. A sweatshirt. A windproof jacket. And a vest. Not to mention the gloves, woolly hat, and leggings. Was that too many? Yes according to the tough northern types from my club. So I stripped off, and froze my delicate parts off.
Luckily the rain soon stopped, and there was even a hint of sun trying to break through the clouds. My spirits were lifting.
I stood in the sub1:45 pen, trying to make out would the tannoy was saying. There was this incoherent burble that went on for about 5 minutes. It was probably health and safety shit? As the people around me were all sharing confused looks a car bomb went off. “Jesus Christ”!! As I picked myself off the ground I realised it was actually the start ‘howitzer’ going off. Slightly trampled I started getting into my stride.
The first couple of miles passed quickly. As the field thinned out we hit the first of the Derbyshire undulations. The route had been described to me earlier, and from what I gathered the whole thing was uphill!! No sure how thats possible on a circular route, but who am I to argue?
We were soon out in the country and luckily the wind was still, the rain had stopped, and I was nice and warm. I was in a good rhythm, and feeling really good about a sub 1:40. Part of me was even thinking about a PB!
I was expecting the wheels to come off at some point. I was knocking out mile after mile of sub 7:30 minute miles, and I really didn’t think I could keep it up.
I couldn’t.
As we hit 9 miles the proper hills started. There was a tough climb up to 10 miles, and then a long boring straight, and then another climb. This was tough and a PB had gone out the window. I was also getting tail gated which was annoying me, so I stepped in and slowed up a bit letting Mr. Tail Gate pass me. He built up a bit of a gap, and probably thought he’d done me. But as we hit the 12 mile marker I stepped up the pace again. As I went passed him, we began a long descent and I built up a comfy gap. It was like a slow motion version of Coe v Ovett. With 800m to go his legs had gone. With 400m to go I was closing in on a Barnsley Harrier, but I could feel someone closing in on me! Just 200m to go and I could almost feel breathe on my neck. I kicked again and took the Barnsley Harrier, and left the guy behind me for dead. I could see the line, just 50m to go. I saw the clock and I was well under 1:40!! It was all I could do to stop myself dipping for the line.
It felt great. It also felt remarkable comfortable. I walked through the funnel, and picked up my memento.
All in all a today was a very good day. I went through 10k in 46:00 which bodes well for Percy Pud and my clash with my colleague Jon.
Splits for today were:
Mile 1 – 7:45
Mile 2 – 7:31
Mile 3 – 7:23
Mile 4 – 6:57
Mile 5 – 7:06
Mile 6 – 7:58
Mile 7 – 7:14
Mile 8 – 7:00
Mile 9 – 7:59
Mile 10 – 7:43
Mile 11 – 8:22
Mile 12 – 7:55
Mile 13 – 7:35
Mile 13.1 – 0:43Total – 1:39:11
Nice
Saturday 22nd November 2008
8 miles - General Run
I got up early this morning and dragged myself out for a run. I had no idea where I was going, or how far i’d go. I just run. It was nice to feel a bit liberated and not have to run a particular distance, or at a certain speed, or on a set route. In the end I looped round Hillsborough, ran up Loxley Valley and then came back and looped up Langsett Road. It felt great, and really set me up for the day. It wasn’t perhaps the best idea to do an 8 mile run the day before a Half Marathon, but I really need to get used to running tired.
Thursday 20th November 2008
3.9 miles - General Run
Another run home from work before Slimming World. I only ever seem to do it when I’m desperate and know i’ve had a ‘bad’ week.
Tuesday 18th November 2008
7.4 miles - Tempo Run
I drove down to Ascot last night to stay at my mum’s before me and my sister go and visit my Grandma. I think I should move back in with my mum for the next 4 months, because I always end up getting decent runs in when I’m down here! This morning I got up early and did a hard 7.4 miles at speed. As usual I ran from Sunnghill into South Ascot, up passed the station and to the racecourse. I did a loop up to Heatherwood Hospital and then bag down to Sunninghill. It felt brilliant, which is something I can rarely say about training runs!
Sunday 16th November 2008
5.27 miles - Hill Work
Despite feeling a little achey from yesterday’s run, and feeling very fresh due to refraining from any alcohol at my Grandma’s 80th birthday party, I decided to get up early and go for another run. I didn’t have a plan this time and just set off to see what happened and where I ended up. To be honest I very nearly turned round at the end of the road, because my legs were hurting so much! But I dug deep and then headed from Sunninghill into South Ascot and then up passed the train station to Ascot Racecourse. I then went up to Heatherwood Hospital before looping back the way I came. Despite the creaky start I managed to put in some decent mile splits in the middle and felt rather chuffed with the run.
Saturday 15th November 2008
12.35 miles - Long Run
I don’t know what’s come over me. Maybe the fact that the MdS is only a matter of months away has focussed my mind? But I managed a 3rd morning run on the bounce, and this was a cracker! I ran out from Sunninghill, along the A30, through Sunningdale and on to Virginia Water. I then did a lap of Virginia Water and headed home again. It was good to have a change of route, as most of the routes I do in Sheffield I have run 100′s of times one way or another. This was great though as there are some enormous houses along the A30 which you never get to see from the car. Virginia Water is great as well, with lots to keep your mind occupied. All in all it was a fairly comfortable run, with the second have being done a decent pace too.
Friday 14th November 2008
3.23 miles - Tempo Run
Another morning run. We’re heading down South for my Grandma’s 80th Birthday, so won’t have chance to run tonight. I decided that i’d make it a good sesssion as I didn’t have much time, so after a lap of the park as a warm up I did 2 laps at pace. It hurt, it always hurts in the morning. In fact it always hurts all the time, just a bit more in the morning.
Thursday 13th November 2008
5.13 miles - Recovery Run
A very hazy, slow plod around Hillsborough Park again, and again, and again. I really should stop going to the pub after Circuit Training on a Wednesday night. It just seems to be habit now, and when you’re in there you can hardly be seen to drink soft drinks! Its bad enough being a Southerner, without living up to the stereotype!
Anyway , the run was okay, and it cleared my head. It was fairly slow as I hurt from Circuits the night before, and i’m generally quite creaky in the mornings at the best of times.
Wednesday 12th November 2008
3.22 miles - Recovery Run
I managed to drag myself out of bed against my will, and with much persuasion from my wife. I think she’s getting fed up with me setting my alarm for 6am, and then turning it off and going back to sleep. So I actually got out and ran. I was a bit creaky after last nights tempo run, and I only really got into my stride after 2 miles, so was a bit disappointed I only had time for 3 miles. I really must do morning runs more often.
Tuesday 11th November 2008
5 miles - Tempo Run
I managed a quick run on the treadmill tonight. Overall it wasn’t an electrifying pace, but for two 5 minute bursts I was running at 10mph. I’ve never managed that on the treadmill before, so i’m quite pleased with that.
Sunday 9th November 2008
3.81 miles - High Peak Relay (Leg 10), Cromford, Derbyshire
Today was the High Peak Relay. It was the second year I had raced this with the FetchEveryone team, and again I chose Leg 10. Mainly because its not often you get to have a go at your 3.81 mile PB, but also because it is mostly downhill, which is surprisingly hard work.
After what seemed like a lot of waiting around, it was my turn to run my leg and bring the baton home. I set off waaaay too quick and was keeping with the leading pack for at least 800m. I think I was clocking sub 6min/mile pace on the Garmin. Stupid! I slowly dropped off the pace and noticed a little 10 year old lad had tucked in behind me. I chuckled to myself about his poor race pacing, thinking he’ll be dying on his arse in another 800m or so. I kept the pace fairly stable at around 6:20 min/miles for the first flat mile, then the first descent came. I opened up my legs and just let myself go. I was opening up a large gap from those behind me. Including the nipper. Ha ha! Then the flat bit came. I’d remembered this from last year. I hadn’t remembered quite how long it was though. My pace had started at 6:30 min/miles, but I got progressively slower as this section went on. I dropped to above 7 min/miles for the first time, and I could hear foot steps behind. There was a group of 4 runners, one of which was the little fella. Damn! We rounded a tight muddy bend which I took gingerly as I had opted for road shoes, and all 4 went passed me. We reached the last descent, which I remembered from last year was steep, but on tarmac, so I just let my legs go. The tarmac was pounding my quads, and knees and feet but I passed 3 of the 4 runners who’d gone passed me, and was struggling to catch the other.
Thankfully it was soon over. It was much harder than I remembered from last year. But maybe I put more effort in this time. I don’t know?
Friday 7th November 2008
4.4 miles - General Run
This was the first time in a while i’ve managed a morning run. I wish I could be more disciplined and get up every morning to do a few miles. It would definitely help with the weight loss, and build up the mileage. I wore my Skin leggings for the first time this morning. They felt okay, but they don’t stay up! They’ve only got an elasticated waist so they seem to roll down my big gut and then start falling down my bum! I’m going to have to adapt them slightly if i’m going to wear them in the desert.
Thursday 6th November 2008
4.2 miles - General Run
I decided to have a couple of rest days. I don’t want a repeat of the stress fracture, so I must not over do things too quickly. Tonights run was just a short run home from work. These are junk miles really, but it helps towards the weight loss.
Monday 3rd November 2008
7.92 miles - General Run
Club run tonight. It was tough, and I was slow. My legs were really heavy after the weekends runs, and I struggled to keep up. It was also a longer run than they usually do, and it involved a lot of hills. Maybe it just felt that way? Anyway it was good to stretch the legs and 36 miles is a good return for 3 days running.
Sunday 2nd November 2008
15.5 miles - Long Run
I was hoping to make up for yesterdays rubbish run, so I headed out to Derwent for a loop and a half of Howden and Derwent for a solid 20 mile run. My legs fely heavy after yesterday’s run, so I decided for an easy run:walk strategy of 25:5. It started well and I was enjoying myself. The scenery is truly fantastic around there. But I was struggling early, and by 9 miles I knew it was going to be tough to make it to 20 miles. So again I decided to cut the run short, but added on a small loop to take me to 15.5 very slow, very hard miles.
To be honest I was very disappointed with this weekends running. The plan was for a minimum of 35 miles, and actually ended up with 28 miles. Its better endurance training than I have managed for a while, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t really enough. I need to work on the mental aspect of my running I think. Too often I appear to bail out, when really I need to dig in and get through it.
Saturday 1st November 2008
12.85 miles - Long Run
That didn’t quite work out as planned! I was hoping to do 15-18 miles this morning, but it didn’t quite happen. I went out first thing with the group at Endcliffe Park. this was probably my first mistake. Its a tough 7.5 mile loop, with a couple of tricky climbs. The people I normally run with are pretty quick too, and I normally struggle to keep up with them anyway. So to do this as the first half of my run was suicide. As it proved later.
From Endcliffe Park, I headed up Brocco Bank, and up into Broomhill, then up to Lydgate Lane, and on to Crosspool. So after a fast 7.5 miles the last thing I needed was a never ending 2.5 mile climb, but thats exactly what I got. By the time I was on Manchester Road I was suffering. I decided to cut the run short and headed down to Rivelin Valley Road. By now it had started raining and I was struggling to run. My legs had gone. Oh well, another rubbish run to chalk down to experience!
Thursday 30th October 2008
4.14 miles - General Run
Thats the first time i’ve run home from work for months. I often take my kit, and often have an excuse for not doing it. It is junk mileage in a way as its just 4 miles, mostly downhill. But it is a good way to get some mileage in the legs, and its just me being lazy and taking the easy option of a lift home. The weather doesn’t help either! But in a desperate attempt to try and shed some weight ahead of Slimming World I ran home hard. Sadly it didn’t work and I put 0.5lb on, but that is usual after a marathon, in fact its normally a bit more.
Wednesday 29th October 2008
4 miles - Warm Up
In my wisdom I thought i’d do a 4 mile ‘warm up’ run before Circuit Training tonight. I’m not sure i’ll bother again! Circuits nearly killed me and I felt completely empty at the end of it.
Monday 27th October 2008
6 miles - Recover run
I went out with the club tonight, which in retrospect was a bit silly. All the routes around Handsworth seem to involve loads of hills and my quads just weren’t in the mood for it after Saturday!! It also seemed a pretty quick pace, but that was probably just me suffering. I was glad to get out and do it, otherwise I could have seen me just wallowing in post-marathon recovery for at least a week.
Saturday 25th October 2008
26.2 miles - Snowdonia Marathon, Llanberis, Gwynedd
I think that was possibly my favourite race to date! Despite the gale force wind and stinging rain I enjoyed almost every second.
Things didn’t start off too well, I was a bit too eager to catch the bus to the start so was huddled up in the freezing cold and rain with over an hour until the start. I then sought refuge by some trees where I saw a familiar face. It took me a second to place it, but it was Moz who I used to play American Football with at Southampton Uni nearly 8 years ago. It turns out he’s been bitten by this running bug too. Small world! We had a bit of catch up, but I think he was more surprised to see me there as I was about 20 stone last time I saw him. We made our way to the start line, basically to stand in different place getting cold and wet.
We were soon off, and heading towards Pen Y Pass. I was (unusually for me) taking it very easy. I was comfortable letting people fly passed me, as I made steady progress up the long winding hill. The weather was getting worse rather than better, with a few gusts of wind bringing me to a halt. Being large has many draw backs, but wind resistance on days like this is a biggy! We were soon at the top though, and I was sticking to my run/walk strategy…….sort of. I had planned for a 40:5 strategy, but instead opted for a 43:2.
We were soon heading downhill, which is much more my cup of tea. I was in a rhythm and feeling comfortable, coming down towards Llyn Gwynant was pretty grim, the rain was stinging, I was wet through, cold and still only about 5 miles in. It was going to be a long, long day if the weather stayed like that. From her to Beddgelert it was mainly a gradual descent with some gentle undulations. I was in my element and it was a bit more sheltered. I stuck with the plan and was walking even though I didn’t feel like I needed to. The support was great, I can’t believe people were actually opting to stand out in that weather to clap a load of idiot runners on. There were Mexican Waves, Jelly Babies, High Fives and cheers most the way along the course, and particularly through Beddgelert.
I really enjoyed the climb out of Beddgelert, it was nice and steady and my legs were feeling strong. I even had a bit of a spurt of speed around 16 miles, I think I was doing that stupid sprint for home thing I do sometimes. But that didn’t last long! I normally start to struggle at 18 miles, but I was feeling great. I was feeling great all the way to 21 miles when the big climb started. I began running up it, but thought I better conserve some energy. For some reason I thought it was a mile climb, followed by a long descent, followed by another mile climb. So I was holding something back for the second climb. But it never came. People were literally being blown off their feet as we reached the summit, the rain was stinging and the wind was ridiculous. There was even a bit where we had to duck under a tree that had been blown over! But before I knew it I’d reached 24 miles, and this was where the fun began. I wish I’d brought a change of shoes, but instead I was flying down the muddy grassy slope slipping all over the place in my road shoes. Then we hit tarmac and I was flying. It was incredibly steep but my legs were fine, and I must’ve passed about 50 people along this section as they were hobbling and walking gingerly down hill. I knew we had to do a lap of Llanberis before the finish, but I felt really fresh and clocked a final mile of 8:46 mile picking off some more people on my way to the finish.
All in all I think I paced it almost perfectly. I wish I’d been a bit braver going up Waunfawr hill, as I had way too much left in my legs in the last 2 miles, and may have gone sub 4:30 if I had. But it was nice to finish a marathon feeling strong and fresh. The crowd were brilliant coming into the finish, I still can’t believe anyone would’ve chosen to stand out in that weather, without an organic t-shirt or slate coaster to look forward to!!
My splits were as follows, I think you can clearly see where the hills were!
Mile 1 – 9.55
Mile 2 – 10.22
Mile 3 – 11.04
Mile 4 – 12.12
Mile 5 – 8.50
Mile 6 – 9.40
Mile 7 – 8.45
Mile 8 – 9.00
Mile 9 – 9.32
Mile 10 – 10.35
Mile 11 – 9.45
Mile 12 – 9.51
Mile 13 – 10:26
Mile 14 – 11:19
Mile 15 – 10:19
Mile 16 – 9:34
Mile 17 – 9:22
Mile 18 – 11:10
Mile 19 – 10:17
Mile 20 – 10:27
Mile 21 – 10:02
Mile 22 – 12:51
Mile 23 – 14:58
Mile 24 – 12:06
Mile 25 – 9:40
Mile 26 – 8:46
Bits – 2:56
Total – 4:33:44
The weekend was topped off with a lovely couple of days in Llandrillo yn Rhos (as we’ve been told to say it) with Rach’s Nain. Luckily she was on hand to translate my Snowdonia Marathon t-shirt, and give us both a bit of a Welsh lesson. I think even after 37 years she’s disgusted that Rach only speaks English!
Tuesday 21st October 2008
4 miles - Interval Session
I recently read somewhere about the benefits of interval training to your overall fitness and how it even benefits your endurance. So always one for a ‘whim’ I decided to do an interval session tonight. Basically I did 2:30 mins at 10km/h (recovery) and 2:30 mins at 14km/h (effort). It was surprisingly hard, and even though I look a bit of a plum on the treadmill in the gym I can see this helping my 10k and Half Marathon running if nothing else.
Monday 20th October 2008
5.25 miles - Tempo Run
Couldn’t make it out with the club tonight, due some an unforeseen urine related incident with our car. So while Rach waited for it to be valeted I went to the gym. It was a pretty hard run averaging around 7:30 min/miles, which felt good. Although the plan of doing 8 miles went out the window as I felt a bit of a calf tweak so eased off.
Saturday 18th October 2008
7.5 miles - Tempo Run
I went out with Jon and the group that run from Endcliffe Park on a Saturday morning. I’d heard about them from another friend sometime ago, but thought it would be a bit too quick for me. Surprisingly though I think I held my own, particularly the first half uphill to Porter Brook. Later on it got a bit muddy with some grassy descents which I didn’t really fancy with a marathon only 7 days away, so I dropped off the pace a bit. All in all a very nice run, with some decent hills and good chance to stretch your legs at an uncomfortable pace, rather than a killer pace.
Wednesday 15th October 2008
2 miles - Circuit Training
It was shuttle runs at Circuits tonight, which I was please with. We had 3 minutes of shuttles, with 2 minutes of random excercises, followed by 1 minute jogging on the spot recovery. The shuttles were great and just what I needed…….a bit of ‘fast twitch’ work on my leg muscles, ahead of my 3.81 mile downhill race against Hann at the High Peak Relay. Luckily my calf felt okay and there were no ill effects from Saturdays long run.
Saturday 11th October 2008
20 miles - Long Slow Run
That was a great run, and my longest training run ever. I made the route up as I went along and despite planning to do a flat route I ended up covering 750ft of ascent in the first 2 miles, by running up Walkley Lane and then Lydgate Lane. I ran out to the Norfolk Inn along Manchester Road, then back down Rivelin Valley before going out to Damflask, and then back to Hillsborough. It felt great and I probably would have carried on for a loop along Penistone Road had my calf not been hurting. I made sure I took in some walking breaks every 40 minutes to take on fluids and gels. I think this is where i’ve struggled in the past. The plan definitely worked and I felt great. It was just what I needed ahead of Snowdon. I’ll probably take it easy next week and hope the calf sorts itself out. If so I may run this route again next weekend.
Wednesday 8th October 2008
2 miles - Circuit Training
This is a bit of a guess, but Circuit Training tonight involved a fair bit of running at pace. All in all we were running for a total of 14 minutes, in 2 minute bursts. So it was a bit like an interval session with a load of leg and abdominal excercises thrown in between. It hurt as I haven’t been to circuits for about 6 weeks. But I felt great after!
Monday 6th October 2008
6.85 miles - Club Run
Last nights run was just what I needed – a confidence boosting 7 miles with my club, over an undulating and hilly course. I haven’t run with them for over a year, and my running has moved on leaps and bounds since then. It was nice to run in a mixed group and not feel like I was holding people up, like I have felt on some recent runs. It felt comfortable, and I felt like I could run on and on. I know I should be pushing myself at the moment, but for a few weeks I need to be in my comfort zone and repair my running confidence a bit.
Saturday 4th October 2008
15.5 miles - Grin ‘n Bear It Fell Race, Langsett, South Yorkshire
Well its another Saturday, so surely that means its time for another rubbish race performance? Yes it certainly does!
Can’t believe how bad today was. It was a tough race, but even in the second half when the terrain was much more pleasant I still had a shocker.
I should’ve known it was going to be a bad day. I had a migraine late last night, which meant I woke up with the post-migraine hangover thing. But no major ill effects other than a slightly swollen brain. I forgot to set my alarm, so woke up late and must’ve gone out and back to the car half a dozen times to get things I had forgotten.
I finally got to Langsett Barn and met up with my club mates. There was a bit of banter about the weather, and how ropey it was up on the top of the moor. It was described as running through slush-puppies in a wind turbine…which actually sounded like fun. It wasn’t. The description should have included “in a fridge freezer”!
We were off and it started off badly. I fell after less than a mile on a flat and innocuous bridleway. I had a rucksack on and was stranded on my back like a turtle for what felt like ages! With a bruised ego and a bashed knee I got up and carried on. It got worse after Checkpoint 1. The terrain went from rocky trails to boggy mud. I just couldn’t run. Everytime I took a step I was up to my ankle / shin / knee / knackers* in mud (* delete as appropriate) This would have been fun if it wasn’t so windy and cold. I was soaked through, my Garmin had stopped and wanted to go home, and we’d only been going for 50 minutes (probably?)
I trudged on and then lost my Walsh in a bog. I couldn’ find it and ended up on all fours trying to dig it out. I finally got it out and emptied it of mud, before putting it back on. I’d had enough! If it wasn’t so remote I would’ve gone home. I was well off the back of the group I had been running with, and was getting more and more despondent. It was ridiculous, you just couldn’t run (or at least I couldn’t).
I made it to Checkpoint 2 and we turned North. It felt a bit more sheltered, and the terrain was marginally better. My spirits lifted and was able to run again. I managed to catch up with some of the people i’d been running with, and carelessly followed them the wrong way down to the reservoir. The last thing I needed at this point was to to walk back up a hill to go the right way. ARGGGHHH!!!!
Finally we were through Checkpoint 3 and on tarmac. We met up with the Trans Penine Trail where I was hoping to make up some ground. But my legs had packed in, and it was a fairly slow run / walk to Checkpoint 4 and then on to the finish.
I think it shows what an awful run I had as my club thought I had opted for the 23 mile race when I sloped into the finish after 3:27, almost an hour slower than I was aiming for.
Oh well. Its miles in the legs. I shall be sticking with undulating firm trails for tomorrows run. And if there is a hint of wind / rain / mud then I’m staying in bed!!
Tuesday 30th September 2008
7.25 miles - Tempo Run
I did a decent treadmill run last night. 7.25 miles in an hour. It was just what I need for my confidence after the JW Ultra. The hotel gym was pretty small and the layout was weird. The treadmills were facing mirrors, which I find a bit weird. I don’t mind like looking at myself, but for an hour…..watching yourself getting increasingly sweaty and baggy? It doesn’t help with the PMA.
Saturday 27th September 2008
20 miles - JWUltra, Stratford, Warwickshire
I don’t know what to say and I don’t know where to start, but the bottom line is I did not finish.
I’d perhaps approached this race a bit complacently, after all it was ‘only’ 30 miles and i’d completed a 56 mile race just the other week. It would be a walk in the park in comparison! With this in mind I set about to forget my energy gels, electrolyte hydration tablets, sunhat and food.
The plan was to do a run/walk strategy where i’d run for 25 minutes then walk for 5 minutes. This would help conserve energy which would help me later on. This would have helped if I had stuck to it! Instead I got all competitive and just kept going at a much quicker than planned pace of 10:00 minute/miles. I was surprised how hard I was finding it to keep going at this conservative pace even in the early miles. I had a tight groin and hamstrings, but i could feel myself to start struggling to keep the pace at 7 miles. I got to 13 miles in 2hrs 10mins and the to 15 miles 20 minutes later, but I was shot. I stopped for a walk, and ended walking a whole mile. This was bad news this early in the race, and when I did finally get running again my hamstrings had seized up completely and the running just served to strain them.
I was now in a lot of pain particularly behind the knees and it was more pianful to stand and walk than it was to run, but I was completely out of energy and running wasn’t an option. I was walking, then shuffling, then sitting and stretching my hamstrings over and over again until I finally reached the Checkpoint at 20 miles. I’m very disappointed that I chose to retire at that point, but I was in a lot of pain, and whilst it was the right decision for my long term training, I feel as though i’ve taken a hit to my psychological preparation, which will be equally important in the desert.
I suppose I almost pleased that i’ve had this setback, as I was getting a bit cocky and complacent after Bullock Smithy. This race has taught me a lot of valuable lessons, which I will use over the next 6 months. I don’t like not finishing races, it hits your ego, and it also makes spending 14 hours away from home, and travelling 200 miles, a bit of a waste of time!
Sunday 21st September 2008
13.1 miles - Windsor Half Marathon, Windsor, Berkshire
I’m a bit sore this morning after Windsor Half yesterday. I seem to have tweaked my right achilles, my left hip, and my right arse cheek. But other than that it was all good! I was really pleased with my race. I set off steadily, and was feeling good until about 8 miles. I tried stepping it up a bit, and was looking on course for about 1:40 – 1:42, but I had nothing in my legs. The rest of me was fine, my lungs were good, and my legs felt strong, I just couldn’t get them to go any faster. I presume that is the result of the Bullock Smithy 2 weeks ago? So rather than panic or get annoyed I just settled back into a pace my legs could manage and cruised over the line in 1:45, which equated to 730th out of 4385, which I’m really happy with. I can safely say I have laid the 2005 demons to rest!! Just the Blackpool demons left to do battle with, but the scars of that are a bit too fresh and a bit too deep!!
Wednesday 17th September 2008
5 miles - Hill Work
Buoyed by yesterday’s run, I decided to see if I could improve on my time (me competitive??)
Things went really well again, and whilst I felt like I was working a lot harder, I did manage to do it 90 seconds quicker.
I quite like running round in circles. Maybe i’m just a bit odd?
Tuesday 16th September 2008
5 miles - Hill Work
As I was still worried about the state of my feet I planned out a 1.25 mile loop near where we were staying. This meant if things hurt too much I was never too far from ‘home’! The 1.25 mile also involved 225feet of ascent, so would give me a bit of hill training too.
I was a bit like a coiled spring, and I couldn’t wait to get out there, and ended up doing the loop 4 times. Its was a bit boring, but it should replicate the up and down nature of Windsor. I was well chuffed with my splits though; 11:48, 11:15, 11:17, 9:46. Which gave me 5 miles and 900ft of ascent in 44:06, and no toe bother at all!
Sunday 14th September 2008
1.1 miles - Recovery Run
My feet were a mess after Bullock Smithy which has prevented any running (and a fair bit of walking). This has hampered the enjoyment of my holiday a bit, but sitting down reading and eating lots isn’t too traumatic if i’m honest! Pleasingly there were no blisters, apart from under both big toes, and this should be rectified by wearing road shoes instead of trail shoes in the desert. I was expecting the toe nails to come off, instead they just floated around on massive blisters for a while being massive and swollen. They’ve settled down a bit now, and have just turned interesting colours of black and purple instead!
So I decided I’d do a gentle run. However a combination of my Garmin not working, having a massive lunch at the Saracen’s Head in Symond’s Yat, and then me getting a bit lost curtailed it to very short, very slow 1 mile plod. But that was more than enough for me!
Saturday 6th September 2008
56 miles - Bullock Smithy, Hazel Grove, Cheshire
I honestly have never felt pain like it!
I set off at midday yesterday and finally completed the course at 7:44am this morning. So basically it took me 19hours 44mins to complete the 56 mile course (although it was more like 58 miles). On paper 19:44 for 58 miles looks rubbish, if you take it in context I am so please and proud that I managed to finish, in fact even 8 hours after finishing i’m getting all emotional again.
This years Bullock Smithy was part of the Vasque Ultra Running Championship which mean there was a record entry of 251 runners. Of those only 213 started, obviously the sensible ones had seen the state of the weather on Friday and the weather forecast for Saturday and decided to sack it. Of the 213 starters there were nearly 100 retirements, which I think goes some way to show how tough it was.
We started off at midday on Saturday and made really good progress. I was running with Ivan from the MdS forum, and we were slowly ticking off the Checkpoints. These were situated roughly every 4 miles, in various barns, village halls and tents and had an endless supply of tea, squash, biscuits, as well as soup, doughnuts and hotdogs. I was in danger of putting on weight during the race.
We were comfortably running the flat and downhill sections and walking uphill. Whilst the weather was fine at this point, the previous days rain had really played havoc with the terrain. Most uphill and downhill tracks had water running down them. In fact Cavedale was more like a river. This meant my feet were wet almost as soon as we set off. I didn’t think too much about it the time, but this was going have a big impact later on. We’d reached the 20 mile Checkpoint in about 5 hours, and the 28 mile (halfway) just as the sun was starting to set. This was where it got really tough!
Running and navigating in the day had been okay. About 3/4 of the climb was out the way (6000ft), but it had taken its toll on my legs. This coupled with the terrain and having to navigate in the dark meant we could only really run the tarmac sections, although after 40 miles we didn’t even manage that. We started taking longer and longer at the checkpoints. Trying to get warm and dry and out of the rain. It had conveniently started lashing it down at about 11pm, and didn’t really stop until 5am. The people manning the Checkpoints were superb, loads of laughs and encouragement, which just what you need when your into your 12th hour of running/walking!
Me and Ivan around the 35 mile point
At 43 miles I changed my socks and taped my feet. They were a mess, it was grim, and i’m quite squeamish about these things! Both big toenails were black, particularly my left one. My feet were all wrinkled and soft like i’d been in the bath all day. So rather than getting blisters the skin on my toes had actually split where they had been rubbing. So I taped them up, took some painkillers and put some fresh socks on. The fresh socks stayed dry for approximately 2 minutes before we hit another ‘stream’ / track!
Almost every footpath we took was rocky and wet. I was stumbling around almost delirious. And everytime I kicked a rock the pain shot up through my foot into my leg. It was agony, and I was dropping further and further back from the group I was with. By the time we reached the 47 mile checkpoint I was ready to quit. I couldn’t keep up, and I didn’t want to walk in the dark on my own. I was starting to get emotional, and decided it really wasn’t worth it. So I was going to retire. I got to the checkpoint, took on some fluids and had some cake. It was freezing, I was soaking and i’d had enough. Everyone else was ready to go, so I decided I’d try and make it to the 51 mile checkpint and make a decision there.
It didn’t get any better. Me and Ivan dropped back from the 6 others in our group and teamed up with a group of 4 blokes. I was chuckling to myself at the ridiculous sight in front of me. It was like Night of the Living Dead. 6 ghostly silhoettes just staggering silent in the dark. No one talking, no one making any noise, just shuffling silently onwards. We reached the canal and what I thought was the 51 mile checkpoint, but I didn’t realise there was afurther 2 miles to go along the tow path. By this stage distances had lost all meaning. Ordinarily 2 miles could be cracked out in about 15 minutes, but by this stage it was more like 45 minutes. We finally made it, and I was starting to feel quite good. Only the last leg left, just 5.6 miles to go. But by this stage 5.6 miles meant about another 3 hours walking! It didn’t help my mood at all.
We set off along an old railway line, just concentrating on puting one agonising foot in front of the other. My feet were a proper mess by now. The soles of my feet were on fire. Every step was agony. I was getting slower and slower, and stopping more and more often. I lost everyone and decided I’d finish it on my own, and in my own time. The sun was coming up, and by this time i’d given up on times, I just had to try and figure out a way of completing the last 4 miles. I shuffled onwards and Ivan (the star) had stopped up ahead where the path split from the track. He showed me the route left. Only 2.5 miles, that didn’t lift my mood. We shuffled on again, and I was dropping back yet again. In the end I told him to crack on and get it finished. I’d spied a bench I was going to make home for while. He set off and I had ‘a moment’!
I got up, staggered on to a bus shelter. By this point the sun was up, and the world was coming to life. I think people thought I was tramp or something, just slumped on the floor under a bus shelter. I picked my route and found my way to the main road. 2k left to go! I decided I’d try running, as I thought it relieved the pain from running. I shuffled on, looking like a complete freak. 1k to go, I stopped and phoned my wife, trying my hardest not to blub down the phone. I saw some people behind me, and got all competitive. I’d been passed by so many people that I wasn’t going to anyone else passed me. 500m to go….nearly there. I could see the bridge and almost managed a sprint finish. I staggered into the scout hut and it was all over! I didn’t cry, I was far too tired to expend energy making tears.
I have never ever experienced anything like it. It took every ounce of energy and heart that I had to finish it. And I am so pleased with myself. I could have (and very nearly did) quit, but after DNF’s at Blackpool and Belper I’ve realised that your body can carry on, you just need to sort your head out. The combination of weather, terrain and distance took its toll, and for me it makes the achievement that much more special.
Thanks for all the good luck wishes, that certainly helped my moral when I got some signal in the early hours.
To be honest the way I feel at the moment means I never want to run again. Everything hurts and I still can’t look at my feet. After the MdS i’m never doing any stupid distances ever again. Its 10k’s and HM’s for me all the way!
I am now sat watching Police Academy 2 while popping pain killers. Thats the life!
Tuesday 2nd September 2008
4 miles - General Run
Monday 1st September 2008
6.5 miles - General Run
Sunday 31st August 2008
6.85 miles - Supposedly Long Slow Run?
PPPPPPPProper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance (apparently)I am very annoyed with yesterday’s run. The plan was to run for 4 hours and see how far it took me, hopefully 20 – 22 miles. I was going to go steady doing a 25/5 run/walk plan, which would mean I would finish still feeling reletively fresh. It was all a bit of a rush squeezing it in as i’d promised the missus a trip to Decathlon then we had to go to my nephew’s 1st Birthday Party. I’d set my alarm for 7am which meant I would be at Derwent by 8am at the latest. Obviously I overslept slightly, 7am is a stupid time to get up on a Sunday, so finally crawled out of my pit at 7:30am, rushed around sticking various lycra and technical fabrics on myself before jumping in the car. I had meticulously filled my bag with food and fluids the night before and put it the boot, but it was only when i’d got to Derwent I realised I hadn’t vaselined or plastered up. So I started off tentatively and all seemed okay, but by the time i’d reached 4 miles my nipples were raw (sorry about the mental image thats painting), so I decided to sack it and ran back to the car for a shade under 7 miles. I’m so annoyed with myself as this was a really important run ahead of JW Ultra. It was going to help me sort out my pace strategy, and my fuelling strategy as well as getting some long miles in my legs. Instead I did a shit slow run and followed it by a load of birthday cake and a Turkish meal.
Saturday 30th August 2008
6 miles - Longshaw Sheepdog Trials, Longshaw, Derbyshire
I’d been having trouble with my achilles again, but decided after a few days rest I would try running on it, and I’m so glad I did! What a great race this was!! Everything about it was superb. It was a lovely course with some really demanding sections, particularly the long grassy incline to finish. There were also a few muddy / boggy surprises, of which I managed to find all of them and end up up to my arse in mud. But it all adds to the fun. I set off a lot harder than normal as i’m guilty of setting off too conservatively on these fell races. I was blowing hard after only a couple of miles and thought I was going to completely blow up, but found some strength from somewhere and pretty much kept my place all the way to the finish, and even managed to overtake a few people.
Approaching the finish at Longshaw
I finished a fairly respectable 63rd out 133, so pleased with my improvements. The fell running is definitely doing wonders with my endurance, and i’m now looking forward to hilly road courses at Windsor Half and Snowdonia Marathon.
Tuesday 26th August 2008
6.4 miles - Eyam Fell Race, Eyam, Derbyshire
I ran a fell race in the famous plague village of Eyam last night (Link (roll over me to see where I go)) but think I may have disturbed some plague spores or something as thats the only way I can expalin a fairly ropey run. Not feeling too clever this morning either, so may take myself off to A&E, or just find a rock to crawl under
I suppose it wasn’t that bad of a run, I just felt off pace and finished a fair way behind some of my usual targets. As a plus point I did win a spot prize, which was a £10 meal voucher for the Miner’s Arm’s in Eyam, so will be heading off there Friday night to treat the little lady.
The course was okay, but loads if it was either on tarmac or compact trail, which means my ankles are killing this morning. The Walsh’s don’t come with much cushioning! I would’ve been better off running in road shoes to be honest, i’ll remember that for next year. There were only a couple of tough climbs, and a great descents through some woods near the finish (where I actually overtook people…..very unlike me!) On the plus side I felt strong in the second half and was slowly picking people off all the way along the route. Maybe I need to start having the courage to start further up the pack?
Sunday 24th August 2008
1 mile - Fetch Everyone Yorkshire Mile, Leeds, West Yorkshire
I was in Race 1 of the inaugral Fetch Yorkshire Mile, and a bit nervous because this was the fast race. I hadn’t said anything, but I was hoping to beat Haddi. Not for any malicious reasons, just that most his times are slightly quicker than mine, and I was hoping to stick with him and maybe pip him on the line. We got under way and Haddi was off sticking to Dave’s coat tails. It didn’t look like I had a hope of beating him, so concentrated on just getting round as quick as I could. I wish I’d kept a track of my 400m splits, as I’ve never run on a track before, so had no idea how to pace myself. I just kept myself going along at an uncomfortable speed rather than going too quick, or too conservatively. I did glance at my watch at 800m and was a bit disappointed to see it said 3:10. I was aiming for 6:15, but really wanted to get closer to 6:00, so 3:10 at half way was not good, especially as I was really struggling. The third lap was probably the worst, but I managed to step the pace up with about 600m to go. Haddi at this point had dropped quite a bit back from Dave A and was being caught by some of the field, with 200m I was on his shoulder and stepped out to make my move, but the barsteward had saved a bit for the finish and left me for dead! I hadn’t looked at my watch since 800m so was surprised how quickly I’d covered the last 2 laps and finally crossed the line in 6:11, so a 3:01 for the second 800m. I was quite happy with the time, especially as the preparation had been pretty poor. I think there is definitely room for improvement and I think a sub 6:00 isn’t too far off.
In full flight, approaching the finish line
Friday 22nd August 2008
14.1 miles - Long Run
Thursday 21st August 2008
6 miles - Pilsley Fell Race, Pilsley, Derbyshire
I ran Pilsley Fell Race last night, which is run in and around the grounds of Chatsworth. Parts of the course are breathtaking because of the views. Other parts are breathtaking because of the long grassy hills. I think its advertised as a 5.5 mile race, but it was definitely longer, but I didn’t mind that at all because I was loving it. Yet again I was toying with bailing out at the last minute because of heavy legs, and yet again as soon as they say ‘GO’ my legs come to life. I had really good run and surprisingly beat a couple of people from my who i’m usually noweher near.
Wednesday 20th August 2008
7.3 miles - Recovery Run
Last nights run was poo. I managed the specified 7 miles (did 7.3 in actual fact), but it was horrible, and horribly slow. I did the route which takes me up a steep hill for the first 0.75 miles then a slow gradual descent for the next 2 miles. This always feels hard, and I find it really hard to get any speed or rhythm going. I don’t know whether its because I have a backpack on, which weighs probably 3kg-4kg, or whether I’m just shit at running? From there I go into Rivelin Valley woods, which is a bit more fun. For some reason I never find my way through the same way twice. I’m forever running down dead ends and turning back, and then getting lost, but I suppose it livens it up a bit. Although last night I ended up in the top corner of the graveyard which is all overgrown, with hundreds of broken and wonky gravestones. The woods close in a bit here too, so I was properly shitting myself. Funnily enough, this was probably my fastest pace!! Bizarrely there were some old Jewish graves with Hebrew writing from 1910-1930′s. I must go back and have a look when I’ve got some back-up!
Monday 18th August 2008
4.25 miles - Trunce 8, Oxspring, South Yorkshire
After yesterday’s 18.65 miles I probably shouldn’t have raced this. My legs felt heavy unsurprisingly, but as soon as we started I felt great. Amazingly I even set a new PB for this course. I’ll have to wait until the 2009 series to try and beat it, but i’m sure on fresh legs i’ll have no problem.
Sunday 17th August 2008
30km - Belper Rugby Rover, Belper, Derbyshire
I won’t say too much about the race as it’s all just merged into one hilly, muddy memory. I went with the intention of a) finishing b) getting a PB, and c) going under 4 hours. I started off slowly, as in previous years I’ve gone off like a tool only to blow up spectacularly in the second half. This time though I was going to aim for a negative split, by running well within myself for the first 10 miles and then stepping it up for the last 8.65. The other tactic I was going to use was telling myself it was a 20 mile race, which again would stop me going too fast early on, and would also keep me going towards the end when I might think walking would be a good idea. Luckily I’m pretty stupid so managed to pull the wool over my eyes and the finish at 18.65 miles came as somewhat of a surprise.
I really enjoyed the woods between 11-14 miles. In previous years I’ve been on my own at this point, dehydrated and in a mess. This year I felt strong and was loving it. I was flying up and down hills, and passing people left, right and centre. I don’t think a single person overtook from 10 miles onwards, which was pleasing.
All in all I had a great run, and I feel a bit bad for talking it up to be this horrendous race. Its just it has been an horrendous race for me previously, and it just goes to show if you go with a plan and stick to it, you shouldn’t come unstuck. I’m really looking forward to running it again next year and shaving some more off my PB of 3:18!!
Thursday 14th August 2008
4.3 miles - Recovery Run
Just a simple plod home tonight. My legs are a bit heavy from last nights run, so I wanted to give them a bit of a loosener, but I also wanted to sweat a bit of weight off before Slimming World tonight. Every ounce counts!
Wednesday 13th August 2008
7 miles - Fell Run
Sunday 10th August 2008
10 miles - Askern 10, Asken, South Yorkshire
I’ve raced a 10 miler for a while, so when I had to pull out of the two races from earlier this week I decided to enter this at the last minute. There was quite a big Handsworth Roadhogs presence as the race was a counter for the Club Grand Prix. So I found a couple who were aiming for sub 1:15. That was probably a bit quicker than I could have hoped for at the moment, but if I could keep in contact with them for a bit it would help me towards my aim of sub 1:20.
I managed to keep them in site up until we hit the hills at about 3 miles. The hills were pretty relentless, particularly the one at 3.5 miles that lasted until about 5 miles. But the recent fell running must being paying dividends as I passed them on the long hill. I felt really strong, and where normally I fade going up hills and then speed up going down, I noticed I was passing a lot more people going up today.
Whilst I felt strong on the hills they still knackered any outside chance I had of a sub 1:15. But from 7 miles onwards it was fairly flat with some longish gradual descents, so I decided to kick for home (sort of) and quicken my pace. I was breathing heavy by this point, but felt confident after Monday’s cracking 8 mile Tempo Run. I could feel the niggle in my ankle but it wasn’t effecting my pace too much. I hit 9 miles at roughly 1:10, so knew even if I blew up badly i’d get my sub 1:20. But carried on picking up my pace, and was slowly picking people off. With about 300m I stepped it up again just as we came in to do a lap of the field to the finish line. I blew a couple of people away with my turn of speed (at least thats what it felt like, i’m sure it looked entirely different….probably like a fat old labrador excitedly plodding in from the garden when it hears its food bowl getting filled up). Sadly I over egged it a bit early and was nearly puking with 100m to go as the two Barnsley Harriers I was closing in on pulled away from me.
I finished in 1:16:48 which I was really pleased with. The splits were:
Mile 1 – 7:34
Mile 2 – 7:39
Mile 3 – 7:41
Mile 4 – 8:15
Mile 5 – 8:16
Mile 6 – 7:13
Mile 7 – 7:45
Mile 8 – 7:34
Mile 9 – 7:35
Mile 10 – 7:02I’m really pleased with those splits, mainly because it was a negative split and I felt I was getting stronger in the second half despite a lack of endurance work. That 10 miler equates to a 1:42 (ish) HM which is very pleasing given it was an undulating course, with some long tricky inclines in places.
Wednesday 6th August 2008
7.65 miles - Long Run
Tonights run was proper ARSE. The plan was to do 3 maybe 4 laps of Damflask which would’ve meant either 10.5 miles or 14 miles. This would have relieved the pressure from this weekends runs as I am out ‘socialising’ on both Friday and Saturday nights and am very unlikely to be running, particularly the Long Slow variety.
All was going well. I was certainly doing the whole ‘train slow’ thing and keeping nicely between 9:15 and 9:45 min miles. But at 5 miles I felt a nasty pain in the ligament in my left ankle. I ran it off a bit and headed off for my 3rd lap, but the pain came back so I sacked it. Very disappointed as though I was bored shitless (laps are very mind numbing) I felt okay, my lungs were fine, and my legs were good. I suppose I have ramped my mileage up significantly, this week is on course for a 45+ mile week. So maybe my body is not playing ball?
Tuesday 5th August 2008
4.07 miles - Recovery Run
Tonights run felt awful. I ran home from work, which basically involves a 2 mile steep descent which really hurts the knees. Then its 2 miles of very gradual incline that you barely notice, but it makes you feel like you are running through treacle. Not an enjoyable route and not an enjoyable run. It never gets any easier and it certainly doesn’t seem to get any quicker. I much prefer the longer loop home so I might stick to that when time allows!
Monday 4th August 2008
8.05 miles - Tempo Run
Missing Trunce tonight hasn’t helped my narky mood and I was in a right sulk by the time I got home. So much so I had decided not to run at all. “Forget it! If the running God’s aren’t going to let me run, i’ll teach ‘em, by sitting on my fat arse looking on Facebook”. Luckily my wife came home and bullied me into doing a run (i think she just wanted my sulky face out of the house) I’m so glad she did though as I did one of my best Tempo Runs ever. It felt hard, but also incredibly satisfying. I managed to knock out 8.05 miles in 1 hour, which is 7:27 pace. I’ve not done a Tempo Run like that since just before Reading. So with a bit more endurance work I should be getting back into decent HM PB shape soon. Which is good, but also bad, as really I should be in decent Marathon shape what with Belper and the JW Ultra on the horizon. Oh well, silver linings and all that.
Saturday 2nd August 2008
4.02 miles - Easy Run
Thursday 31st July 2008
3.5 miles - Easy Run
Wednesday 30th July 2008
1 hour - Circuit Training
Tuesday 29th July 2008
5 miles - Fell Run
Monday 28th July 2008
10.5 miles - Long Tun
Sunday 27th July 2008
13 miles - Gritstone Tryal, Leek
Well it certainly lived up to its name. I knew it would be tough, as it was off road, but stupidly I hadn’t allowed for the hills. It was hilly, what a surprise, it’s part of the Peak District!! I’m such a doofus. The heat also took its toll. It was 28degC when I got back to the car, but it certainly felt hotter in parts.
The navigation side of things wasn’t too bad. The start to Checkpoint 1 was fairly easy, it was just a matter of following everyone else!! Checkpoint 1 to 2 was also quite easy. There were a few routes, but because it was a clear day you could see the Marshall on the hill a couple of miles away! At this point I was following a few runners from Staffordshire Moorlands AC. Although I was following them, I had an eye on the map, and knew where I was at all times.
Checkpoint 2 to 3 was tough. It was a good few miles, there were limitless routes and everyone had thinned out so you couldn’t see any other runners. It was just me, Brian and John. I’m sure they will never find this page but if they do, I owe them!! I pulled my weight though, pitching in with our location and route suggestions. They were proper fell runners though, and weren’t going to stick to things like tracks and paths. We were up over stone walls, over barbed wire fences, through Alpaca fields, and rivers! It was great fun, I fell over lots, but was loving it.
Checkpoint 3 to 4 was pretty straightforward. It was only a mile, as the crow flies, and invoved going cross country (of course, paths are boring apparently!!). We dived down through some woods, over a river and up a gorse covered climb to a track where we thought the checkpoint was. We were wrong slightly, these 3 digit co-ordinates only give you and approximate position, and the checkpoint was on the path as we thought, but up a dirty steep bouldery hill. My legs were getting heavy by this point. I’ve always struggled with these kinds of changes in pace. Stopping and starting this big old unit takes a lot of effort, and I much prefer just getting ino a rythm on the tarmac, if i’m honest.
Checkpoint 4 to 5 again was straightforward if you went as the crow flies. You couldn’t quite see it, but it was on the adjacent ridge. We again ignored the paths and went straight downhill, over a boggy marsh and up the other side. It was a shorter distance, but probably slower overall as we lost a couple of places, but we were having more fun.
It gets a bit hazy after this. My water bottle was in my backpack, so not easy to get to, so I wasn’t taken much on. It was a mistake, and by the time I was thirsty I had already shit it to be honest. I was starting to feel sick, and had a bit of a headache. I was a bit disorientated and was struggling to keep up with Brian and John. I was also no longer contributing as I didn’t have a clue where I was and was using all my energy to keep up. Luckily the next section was through some woods which gave a bit of relief from the sun. But not so luckily it was just relentlessly uphill for what felt like an eternity. We finally left the woods and it was a short plod passed an Ice Cream van (that was just cruel) and down a rocky bank to Checkpoint 6.
After this I’d dropped off the back of Brian and John, but was trying to keep them in sight. It wasn’t working so I was having to navigate myself. I felt a bit better as i’d taken some fluids on, and some salt. I pulled myself to gether and finally made it to Checkpoint 7. I wanted to lay down and have a bit of a rest, but I knew there was only one more Checkpoint to find and after that it was the finish.
Checkpoint 7 to 8 was tough. There was a maze of paths crossing fields and various ramshackled farm buildings, so it was hard to pinpoint your location from the features. Somehow I made it on to the road which gave me a boost. I’d done a far bit of walking since Checkpoint 6, but managed a pathetic plod along the road. From here I was home and dry, there was a clear path from the road, across the field to Checkpoint 8. There was a bit of climb up to it, and that’s when I started getting cramp in my hamstring. To start with I thought i’d pulled it, and was starting to worry about yet another injury, and yet another lay off. But after I’d punched myself in to Checkpoint 8 and stretched it off it felt fine.
Checkpoint 8 to the finish was easy (thank God!) You could see the Winking Man Pub from Checkpoint 8. It was perhaps a mile away, but it was across a field and then along the A53. Again I managed a sort of shuffle and nearly collapsed when I reached the end!!
Today was hard going. The weather didn’t help, and again I probably set off a bit to strong. But i’m really glad I finished, I’m sure a few didn’t. I’m not sure of my exact position, but it was probably 45th out of 80. Not bad for a road runner with one Yellow ‘O’ under his belt and an aversion to OS Maps.
Thursday 24th July 2008
3.9 miles - Easy Run
I ran the short route home for a painful downhill 3.9 miles. It seemed so much longer, but Mr. Garmin never lies. I was trying to sweat out as much fluid as I could ahead of Fat Club. I normally I sweat loads, but nothing was happening last night, hardly a bead of sweat on my brow, let alone around any other regions! Anyway it seemed to do the trick and I lost 2.5lb, so i’m slowly creeping back towards my April/May weight.
Wednesday 23rd July 2008
1 hour - Circuit Training
I did Circuit Training last night. I really didn’t want to go as my body is a bit wrecked. I think it was rejecting to the 24 miles i’d run in the previous 3 days, which is a massive ramp up in training to previous weeks/months. So I plodded over to the gym, all the while debtaing whether to turn back and go to bed!! The muggy weather wasn’t helping either.
Circuits was hard. It was very hard. Possibly the hardest session in the few months i’ve been going. Not because I was tired, as everyone else found it hard too, it was just relentless. He split the group into 2. One half would run round the sports hall, while the rest did excercises in the middle. It started with one minute of running, while the other group would do one minute of exercises. Then we’d swap. Then it went up to two, then three, then four minutes, a water break, then four, three, two and one minutes for a total session of 40 minutes. On paper it doesn’t sound too bad, and I suppose it is as hard as you make it, but going from a minute of press ups into running your socks off for a minute, into two minutes of squat thrusts/sit ups into two minutes of running your socks off, and so on, hurts, a lot! But I was buzzing when I came out of there, and really glad i’d made the effort!!
Tuesday 22nd July 2008
7.75 miles - Easy Run
Another plod home last night. This time I added in an extra loop and some additional ‘getting lost’ to bump it up to 7.75 miles. I was told you can run along the whole of Rivelin Valley without going on the road, this seems to be a lie, which I and the Aussie women following me found out. I hope she didn’t think I was leading her into the allotments for some sweaty, heavy breathing flashing!!
Yet again the run started off painfully, and yet again I didn’t want it to end. I was really enjoying it, and feel pretty confident about Sunday’s long run. Not sure whether to play it safe and do 10-12 miles, or up the ante and try for a 15 miler. Don’t want to shock the foot too soon though.
Monday 21st July 2008
6.55 miles - Easy Run
I feel 100% focused again…..at last!! I think watching that MdS documentary has really helped. There’s no way I would’ve run home from work last night otherwise. It hurt a fair bit after Sunday’s race. The legs weren’t playing ball, mainly because I don’t think they liked the steep hill up Lydgate Lane for the first 0.5 mile, and then the gradual descent for the next 2.5 miles, but they loved the trail run along Rivelin back into Hillsborough for a nice 6.5 mile plod.
Sunday 20th July 2008
3.18 miles - Recovery Run
My legs hurt particularly behind my knees, but thought it best to go to the gym and do a very slow plod. It was hard, and I couldn’t wait to stop. Normally runs start hard and then you get into a rhythm, but my body was screaming from the first minute to the last. I feel better for doing it, but glad I didn’t have to do any more!
Sunday 20th July 2008
10km - Sherwood Pines 10k
So onto the 3rd race of the week (I think I race too much, you know!), and with the legs feeling like lead and the niggles niggling away I decided I’d just have a bit of a plod and enjoy Sherwood Forest. At least thats the race strategy I had discussed in length with my neighbour and his cousin on the journey down there.
With no particular pressure to achieve a time I started near the back. There were a lot more people running than I expected, which made for a congested and delayed start. There was a definite air of ‘fun run’ about this race, which became apparent when people were stopping to walk after a kilometer. I started slowly because of the crowds and clocked 8 minutes for the first mile. Not a problem, i wasn’t racing. As the field spread out a bit I stepped up the pace a bit and started picking people off. I was feeling quite comfortable, but was worried about my legs as it had been a while since I have run this far, at this speed. I wanted to save a bit for the end as I thought I might blow up around 4/5 miles. This couldn’t have been further from the truth, if anything I had my wobble around 3 miles when I saw the arrow directing the 5k runners to the finish. If it hadn’t been for the fact the 5k and 10k race numbers were different colours I think I would’ve sacked it. But once I was passed the turn off I felt okay. I was clocking fairly even splits of around 7:25 min/miles (I really should’ve changed the units on the Garmin to km’s!) and was feeling comfortable. When we passed the 8k marker I knew we nearly there so stepped up the pace a bit. I was feeling strong and was still picking people off, when I looked at my watch at 9km I knew there was a chance of a sub 45mins so I stepped it up again. The last 100m+ was on a speed sapping grass and up a gentle incline, which killed any chance of a sprint finish (or marginally faster plod as i’m sure it actually looks like). But I went over the line in 44:54………….Well happy with that!!!
Whilst the last couple of km hurt, I was left thinking what might have been if i’d started a bit further up the field and perhaps pushed it a bit more earlier on as I just missed a PB by 17 seconds. Still I enjoyed it, and got a nice t-shirt out of it too.
Wednesday 16th July 2008
5km - Doncaster Town Centre Open 5k
I’m not sure why I ran this, its hardly good MdS training, but I suppose its good to be back racing and slowly building the mileage up. It was also a massive confidence booster as I knocked over a minute off my PB. It was a bit of a strange set up. There were 3 races – a fun run, the Vets race and then the Open race. All had about 150 competitors so it was a fairly small affair, and it was 3 laps around Doncaster Town centre. The support was surprisingly good, with lots of people hanging around after their events. All in all it was a great evening, very well organised and a fast course. I was just glad I didn’t get lapped…..just!! As I set off on my last lap at around 14:30 the winner was just coming in to finish behind me. Incredible. Hopefully I might be that fast when I grow up!
Monday 14th July 2008
4.25 miles - Trunce 6 - Oxspring, South Yorkshire
The Trunce is a bit of local institution. Its a 4.25 mile fell race that is held 9 times a year, and for the last 3 years I’ve been meaning to have a go at it, and I finally popped my cherry last night. I knew it was going to be a bad race when I got my trail shoes out of the bag and they were still wet from last Wednesday, but seeing as there are 3 river crossings I didn’t really mind. I’m not sure exactly how much water was left in my shoes, because my legs felt like lead! I just couldn’t get them going, and was relieved everytime we got to a stile so I could have a little rest! Even on the flat tarmac bits I was struggling, which is unlike me. I was also having problems with my laces, your lace coming undone once is bad, twice is stupidty, three times is unforgiveable, but four times!!!!!! I was on the verge of taking them off and doing it bare feet!!! I did the half mile downhill sprint to the line with my lace flapping all over the place, doing this ridiculous high knee lift thing just to avoid tripping over it. But I still managed to clock 36:04 which I was fairly happy with. I think on a good day, with the right preparation and no shoe lace issues I could shave a good 3-4 mins off of that, so I’m looking forward to the next one in a few weeks!
Saturday 12th July 2008
4.6 miles - Hill Work
I stayed over at my mum’s stopping off on the way down to Dorset for a wedding, so I got up early for a run before heading off (I was surprised at my dedication!! ) I chose a route that would have hills in, but after recent Fell Runs / Races, i’ve decided the hills in Berkshire that I remember as a kid really aren’t the same as the hills in the Peak District. So what was supposed to be hill work, was a leisurely 4 miler with a few inclines. Still it woke me up, and got me into a sweat and I feel much better for that!
Wednesday 9th July 2008
6 miles - Fell Run
I can’t begin to explain how tough last nights Dark Peak club run was. You really had to be there!!! It was like nothing else I have ever done. I haven’t even done walks that extreme let alone any ‘runs’!!!
The numbers go some way to highlighting the severity of the route – 6 miles (approx.) in 2 hours 15 mins (approx.)!!
We met in a car park just off Snake Pass, and even though there were 20+ experienced looking fell runners I felt pretty confident, whilst I wasn’t at full fitness I have over 60 races under my belt, and even one fell race!
After the first climb I think I probably shoul’ve just truned round and gone home! The only way out of the car park was up, and by “up” I mean a full on scramble of on all fours. It was muddy and I could barely get any grip, so it was one step up, half a step back. I was grabbing on to anything to pull me up, grass, trees, posts, even barbed wire. Mile 1 in 20 minutes!!!! I’d like to explain the route in detail but I was in survival mode after the first mile!!! I don’t think I’ve ever ‘run’ a 20 minute mile, and at this point I was still able to keep up, so it wasn’t even as if I was lagging behind slowly plodding away.
Finally we were at the top and could start running…..sort of. Kinder Scout is bleak even on the clearest of days. But tonight it was drizzling and the cloud was low. Visibility was poor and you could barely see 50m in front. There are no well worn tracks up there, you are just shin high in bracken, or knee high in peat / muddy ponds, or up to your arse and on you face if you happen to put your foot down one of the many hidden holes!!! My quads were knackered and we’d only just started. Every foot step was tough. You had to raise your knees high to clear the bracken, you had to concentrate on every step to avoid falling on your arse, and I was wet and cold.
All I remember is lots of ridiculously steep ascents and descents. Literally sliding down on my arse, because it was the safest and least painful way of doing it, and hauling yourself up the otherside using your hands to grip the grass and bracken to pull you up, as it was impossible to climb up otherwise. There were the river crossings (too many to remember), not really rivers but swollen fast flowing streams with wet slippy rocks and water that was desperately trying to drag your feet away. In the end I decided it was easiest to go through the deeper parts up to your shins, after nearly falling in twice when going across on boulders sticking above the water.
I don’t think I’ve fallen over so much since I was a toddler. But I noticed through the run that falls get little sympathy. I was soaking, and my feet were a mess. I could feel blisters on the balls of my feet as my feet were sliding around in my sodden trainers. I kept turning my ankle, almost with every step, as I found out to my cost that trail shoes really aren’t suitable for fells.
I was definitely on auto pilot and was almost delirious when I saw a road. Surely we must be nearly back now!! I’d been told club runs were 90 minutes and we’d been out 2 hours at this point. But no, there was still a wooded trail to run along. If I’m honest this was my favourite part. The trail was muddy, and the light was fading which made dodging tree routes and slippery rocks a bit tricky, but it was relatively flat, and you could RUN!! By now it was all getting a bit ‘Deliverance’ A few of us had split from the main group, mostly because I was struggling, and my mate had turned his ankle badly. We left the wood trail and headed up the bank towards the road, ran through some stinging nettles, and bumbled over a barbed wire fence (I am not agile….at all….I have now come to realise!). I was so relieved to see tarmac have never been so pleased to run on it…….ever….honestly…..it was that exciting………I am a road runner…….FACT!!!!!!
All in all in was tough, extremely tough, but I definitely feel the benefit. I will definitely go again, I’m not sure when to be honest, but I think I need to build up my endurance a bit, and get some proper shoes!!!
And I can’t wait for the nice flat 5k on tarmac at Donny next week, I’ll be flying round!!!!
Monday 7th July 2008
4.5 miles - Hathersage Gala Fell Race
So thats what proper Fell Running is all about!!!
Did the Hathersage Gala Fell Race last night. Its not a particularly long one being only 4.5 miles, but its got 1050ft of ascent, which is a lot!!
Things started off badly when I realised that i’d forgotten my trail shoes, so was going to have to run in my road shoes……….FOOL!! I was told the route wasn’t too muddy and i’d be fine……….THEY LIED!!! Its was muddy and slippy going up hill and muddy, grassy and slippy going down. Sadly I didn’t have the ‘cojones’ to let myself go as I thought I might die. There were some fantastic sections of the route that were almost like Bouldering where you were having to use your arms and legs to scrabble your way over, which was all new to me!! But luckily the last section of descent was on tarmac, so I put my racing slicks to good use and made up about 10 places.
I had a great time though, and it definitely made for a hard 4 mile training run. I’m now looking forward having a run out with Dark Peak on Wednesday.
I finished 170th out of 231, so not too disappointed in that, seeing as it was my first Fell Race attempt (and I was running in carpet slippers – must buy some Fell Running shoes!!)
Saturday 5th July 2008
11 miles - Long Slow Run
I met up with some friends this morning and headed out to Grindleford for a bit of trail running. We parked up at the station and caught the train to Edale. The plan was to run back from Edale to Grindleford taking in Lose Hill and some more flatter terrain, finally ending up at the cafe in Grindleford for bacon butties.
It started off quite tough with a few hundred feet of ascent up Lose Hill. The weather wasn’t great and it was a bit slippy under foot, but I slowly made progress up to the summit. Sadly the weather had closed in a bit and the low clouds meant a pretty poor view. We caught our breath and set off again downhill. I much prefer downhill!! When you are as large as me gravity works in your favour!
After this though the terrain flattened out and we began meandering our way back to Grindleford along the river. I started struggling at about 8 miles as its the longest i’ve run for a long time. The last couple of miles felt particularly hard, and I even had to stop for a couple of walking breaks which was disappointing! Maybe i’d over done it a bit at the start with some downhill sprints!
Soon we were sat in the Grindleford Station Cafe though gorging on bacon sandwiches, fruit cake and Shandy Bass!! Thats the life!!
Friday 4th July 2008
6km - Race Pace
I’m slowly building the mileage, so in the meantime I’ve been entering some shorter races just to keep me busy!! I’ve got a 5k race this month and think i’m with a shout of a PB, so thought i’d have a bit of a time trial tonight. I warmed up with a 1km slow jog, and then did 5km hard. I was really pleased to clock 21:32 for 5km, and think in race conditions I may be able to go sub 21 mins!
Monday 30th June 2008
5.5 miles – Trail Run
I’d been on a long weekend to Prague for a Stag Do so really wasn’t in the mood (or condition) for a run tonight, but i’d agreed to meet with Ruth and go from a steady 5 miler. We headed out into the Peaks near Ringinglow, parked up and ran. I don’t know that area of the Peaks at all, so I was just following Ruth’s lead. The pace was comfortable, and it was fairly undulating and tricky under foot, but it was good to be out running in the fresh air out in the country and running with company always makes it feel a lot easier. It was also good to clock my furthest run for a while too!
Wednesday 25th June 2008
3.5 miles – Dam Flask Relays (leg 3)
I know sometime ago I said I wasn’t going to bother racing anything less than Marathon distance in my build up to the MdS…..well the injury scuppered that! So i’ve decided June / July I will start racing again and slowly building up mileage over short 5k and 10k races, and some shorter Fell Races to increase my leg strength. Tonight’s race was my first since April and as it was the South Yorkshire Relay Championships I was a little bit nervy! I had no idea what i’d be able to do time wise and I was surrounded by decent club runners.
The race was quite tough as by the time it was my leg the field had stretched out so much I couldn’t see anyone in front of me, so I had to pace myself. This is not a good situation after so long out as my splits proved:
Mile 1 - 6:46
Mile 2 – 7:10
Mile 3 – 8:23 (long hill)
Mile 3.5 – 3:03
Total – 25:30
All in all I was pretty chuffed with my race. I probably set out too fast and then really suffered on the long hill so didn’t have too much left in my legs for the last half mile descent. But at least I didn’t come last (100th out 119 men, and 121st out 188 overall), and I’m now confident that the foot has fully healed.
Monday 23rd June 2008
4.4 miles – Treadmill
As another step towards my comeback I decided to increase the mileage tonight. The plan was to do 5 miles and a relatively brisk pace. I set off comfortably and increased the speed every 5 minutes. I was well on course to clock a sub 40 minute 5 mile run, which would’ve been good considering the lay-off, but there was a worrying pain in my foot which made me stop running. I’m not sure where this leaves me now. I’m anxious about running on it, but time is ticking and I need to start increasing mileage!
Saturday 21st June 2008
4.3 miles - Easy Run
I’m taking part in a 1 mile race in August, which isn’t exactly superb MdS training, but its more a social thing. So I thought i’d do one warm up lap of Hillsborough Park (1 mile), then a lap at Race Pace, then a warm down lap. As usual I made it up as I went along and after 2 laps I headed out towards Rivelin Valley. I then took in a couple of hills and headed home after a longer than planned run. Still the foot felt okay and I’m happy with slowly building up my mileage again.
Friday 20th June 2008
3.5 miles - Easy Run
Seeing as the last couple of treadmill runs have gone okay, I decided to test my foot out on the tarmac. I’ve already agreed to run the Dam Flask Relays as an ‘easy’ comeback race so thought i’d go and do a lap of the course as a recce. It was quite a laboured run, and not particularly enjoyable. It feels a lot harder than normal running on the tarmac and I was blowing by the end. But the foot felt okay, and I’m really looking forward to the race now!
Monday 16th June 2008
4 miles – Treadmill
To continue the gradual build up of mileage I decided to do a steady 4 miles tonight. I always find it hard to run ‘steadily’ on the treadmill because its so boring I just want to bang out the miles as quickly as possible! It was a bit slower than Saturday’s effort and was a lot harder to be honest. I think i’ve got out of the habit of running and am finding it very hard to motivate myself again, particularly on the treadmill!!
Saturday 14th June 2008
5km – Treadmill
This was my first proper run for weeks, but I felt quite strong after Spinning so thought i’d test out my foot. Things didn’t start off too well and I was struggling after 20 seconds!!! But I soon got into my stride and ended up pushing myself a little too hard. I was really pleased to see that while I may have lost a lot of endurance my leg speed has probably increased thanks to the Circuit training and Spinning as I clocked a comfortable 23:50 5k at an average of 7:40 min/miles.
Wednesday 7th May 2008
Military Circuits - 1 hour
I first did this a couple of months ago but ended up hurting my back doing the dips, I’m not quite sure how as its supposed to work your triceps!? But I decided I’d give it another go, and again loved every minute of it. Its tough, particularly when you have the upper body strength of a sparrow!!
Basically this evening it was a quick warm up, 5 mins of 25m sprint shuttle runs, followed by 5 minutes of floor exercises (press ups, crunches, burpees, squat thrusts, star jumps etc.) Which was repeated 4 times. I was a bit worried that the amount of running would hurt my foot, but it didn’t. And the recent gym work has certainly helped my upper body strength as I wasn’t reduced to doing press ups on my knees this time!
Again I shall be incorporating this into my regular schedule, as it should hopefully help with my core strength and help burn off some my excess flab thats proving a bit stubborn at the moment!
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Tuesday 6th May 2008
Spinning – 1 hour
Seeing as the foot is knackered again, and the stress fracture has reappeared I have decided to take the drastic step of doing some Cross Training and actually writing about it. Up until now I have done sporadic bits of cross training but not written about it, but seeing as I will be doing no running for the next 6/8 weeks I will keep the training section ticking over by upping the stuff that doesn’t involve using my foot.
I decided to give spinning ago with Rachel. She’s been wanting me to go with her for a while now, but i’ve been putting it off due to fear. It looks well hard, if i’m honest!! But to my surprise I loved it. I was hard, particularly on the bum….those seats take some getting used to! And it definitely works your fast twitch muscles (I believe thats the technical term?), and gets your heart going and the sweat flowing. My legs were wobbly afterwards, but I can’t wait to go back. I shall definitely be incorporating one or two sessions into my training schedule once i’m back on my feet.
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Sunday 27th April 2008
13.1 miles – Sheffield Half Marathon
Disappointing to say the least!!
The weather was superb, ideal running conditions with it being overcast, still and occassional drizzle. Team Bond Bryan met up before the race after some frantic phone calls for a last minute team photo.
(L-R Gonzalo, James, Kris, Chris, Phil and Me)
I had no idea what pace to run, as I hadn’t done a training run for about 7 weeks due to various injuries, and while I had done Paris Marathon in that period it had probably done more harm than good. So I decided to set off conservatively, around 8:00 – 8:30 min/miles and review that at halfway.
Obviously as soon as the gun went that plan went straight out the window as I clocked back to back 7:20 min/miles for the first 2 miles, out of the stadium and through the commercial areas of Attercliffe. It was then into town, up passed Ponds Forge, which involves a short steep climb that burns your quads. I kept up sub 8:00 min/miles until about halfway, where it all started to become really hard work. Lack of training was having its effect!! The race was a blur after that. Eccleshall Road, as always was a joy to run along. Its a gradual incline for about a mile up to the half way turn around point and then back, but its so well supported along there that you barely notice. Then its back into town and along Division Street and passed City Hall and the Peace Gardens. This is another great bit of the course, as its well supported and scenic, but I was really beginning to struggle and the pace was slipping to 8:30 min/miles with only sporadic bursts of sub 8:00 min/mile pace.
Once you’re out passed Ponds Forge at about 9 miles its the most challenging part of the course. The crowds have disappeared, you’re working really hard, the energy levels are disappearing and the course involves long boring straights through deserted commercial streets. 9 to 10 miles was hard, 10 to 11 miles was harder still and 11 to 12 miles saw my pace dip to 10min/miles. The wheels had come off and my target of 1:45 was well and truly out of the window, but mile 11 to 12 meant even a sub 1:50 was going to be tough now!!
I managed to dig deep, and I managed to up the pace in the last mile. I don’t know whether its psychological that you know you’ve nearly finished, or because the crowds have swelled again around Don Valley, but I found some energy from somewhere. Having done this race 3 times before I was well aware of the cruel lap around the top of the stadium before you enter it. Its only about 800m, but it can be the longest 800m you’ve ever run when you think you’ve nearly finished only to be directed away from the finish. I put a little burst on in the last 400m, it might not have looked like it to anyone watching, but I felt like I was sprinting!! And I managed to sneak over the line in 1:49:10.
I was gutted to be honest. I had run the first half of Paris in 2:00:00, so thought a 1:47 would be easily achievable and a 1:42-:1:44 a possibility. But the last 3 miles were tough. I was also struggling as it appears my metatarsal stress fracture has returned. Not surprising really given that I rushed back so quickly to Paris. This now means I shall take that next 6-8 weeks off running and let my body heal properly. I will have to review my race diary as I will be missing a lot of crucial training events, but if I don’t sort myself out I’ll just end up limping from race to race with no training between, doing myself more and more damage. This is hard to except, but it will allow me to concentrate on other training, such as core strength, general CV fitness and maybe some walking too.
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Monday 21st April 2008
2.5 miles - Short slow run
That was better. Still not brilliant, but I at least managed a mile at a decent pace. I was hoping for 4/5 miles, but the Achilles tweaked a bit so I decided not to risk going any further. I shall spend the week icing it, and resting and hopefully I will be good to go for Sheffield Half on Sunday!
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Monday 14th April 2008
1km – Very short slow painful run
Possibly even worse than Saturday’s run. Its barely worth even writing about it!! It was slow, it hurt, and I’m not sure how long this Achilles strain is going to take to get better. A lot of planned events for next month are looking unlikely now!
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Saturday 12th April 2008
1km – Very short slow painful run
Whilst the stress fracture in the left foot appears to have come through Paris unscathed, the same can’t be said of my shiney new injury……..the right achilles. I could barely walk on Monday and Tuesday, but its slowly getting better, so I thought i’d have a slow easy run on the treadmill for 3 or 4 miles, with a view to running outside for 6 or so miles on Sunday. That was perhaps a touch optimistic!! I manged to run for 5 minutes before stopping and retiring to the sauna. I have iced it (a lot) over the weekend, and it feels much better today. I will rest it for a few more days and see if I can get a decent training run in before Sheffield Half on 27th April. Plans of a possible PB are evaporating, particularly as I haven’t had a decent training run since 24th February!!!!
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Sunday 6th April 2008
26.2 miles – Paris Marathon
After a good winters training, loads of miles in the bank and some good solid PB’s over 10k and Half Marathon I was really looking forward to Paris Marathon. Sadly though a stress fracture at the end of February enforced a 0 mile month in March, and all plans of a 3:45 marathon went out the window. Instead I just had to concentrate on finishing in one piece, and not causing any long term damage. The sensible thing to do would have been to withdraw, but the chance to run Paris Marathon doesn’t come along every day. So with a bag full of pain killers, lycra and various coloured powders I headed off to France praying that I didn’t get stopped at customs!
The journey there was remarkably smooth, the new Eurostar terminal at St. Pancras is fantastic and the new high speed line means you barely have chance to fall asleep and dribble on the person next to you before you’re at Gare Du Nord.
With the 2008 Marathon des Sables in full flow, and no recent training of my own, Paris had taken a bit of a back seat in my mind, and it wasn’t until I arrived at the Marathon Expo on Saturday evening that the excitement and anxiety really hit me. I went and picked up my race number, and was directed to pick up my finishers t-shirt, which I thought was tempting fate a bit. So I left it folded up in the bag and didn’t even look at it…not that I’m superstitious or anything, I just wanted to earn the right to touch it.
There was a real buzz around the Expo with 1000’s of people from 100’s of countries and I was just wandering around taking it all in with a big stupid grin on my face. I’ve done over 50 races in the past 4 years, but none have been on the scale of this and I couldn’t really believe I was there. I tried my hardest to spend some money, but it was really busy and my French is awful………what is the French for “do you have any compression socks for the larger gentleman”? So I left empty handed.
From there I headed off to Rue St. Denis to meet some Fetchies for some serious carb loading at PastaPapa. I don’t know who choose the venue but it was conveniently tucked amongst a load of sex shops and massage parlours, I was early so had wonder around. I tried my hardest to spend some money but it was really busy and my French is awful………
I drank about 3 litres of water, and had a massive bowl of pasta in between a lot of nervous conversation. It wasn’t nervous chat because I was intimidated by the lovely bunch of Fetchies around me I was just bricking it at the thought of a DNF at Paris!! So I headed back to my hotel, via a detour round the rather intimidating streets of god knows where. The 3 litres had taken its toll, and I had to make an emergency toilet stop. Armed with only a Lonely Planet guide, and a neon light over my head saying “Mug Me” I wondered around trying to find a public toilet. It was getting desperate so I expanded the search to include dark corners, and/or trees. Then finally like a gift from God, one of those big automated toilets came into view. I was so excited a little bit of wee literally came out!
I finally got back to my hotel a relived man. French TV dictated that the Marathon started at 8:45am, so with my usual anxieties about being late, I set my alarm for 5:30am. You can never arrive somewhere too early in my book!! So with the late meal, coupled with the early start (and the detour) I wasn’t going to get much in the way of sleep.
As predicted I only managed a few hours sleep, I was glued to some bizarre karaoke show on French TV (and I thought X Factor was crap!!) and then the quiet suburb I was staying in seemed to come alive in the early hours with Police sirens and Fiat 500’s beeping their horns all night. There were possibly a few nerves as well. So I was awake before the alarm and shoving Malt Loaf down my throat washed down with Lucozade Sport at 5am! I’m not sure if that’s what Hailie Gebresallassie does, but it works for me! It was a good job I was up early as I hadn’t factored in the 30 minute toilet visit……..I couldn’t believe how nervous I was………..before making my way to L’Arc D’Triomphe!
There was a buzz about the place, and I couldn’t wait to get started. I stripped off, put my bin bag on and made my way to the pink starting pen. I got to my pen, and waited anxiously debating whether I needed to go to the toilet again. The decision was made for me by the French organiser’s, as they had conveniently laid on 2 toilets for 35000 people!
Then………….TROIS, DEUX, ON, VA!!!!”…………we were off!!! No we weren’t…..yes we were…..err, no…..yes……we finally crossed the line 12 minutes after the gun had gone off, so I had a lot of ground to make up on the leaders – but it’s a marathon not a sprint!! The first few miles passed by uneventfully, I was soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying myself. I had purposefully not looked at the route, as I didn’t want to be able to link certain points with how far we’d run, or more importantly – how far we still had left! There was a worrying pain in my left foot at around 3k, and I honestly thought if it got any worse I’d have to drop out. The next 7k were spent obsessing about the foot pain and scoring it out of 10. So before I knew it we’d gone through 10k. It had taken 1 hour exactly, which is slow. I wasn’t aiming for a PB, but I still felt I was going too slowly. The foot pain had eased and I felt comfortable so I stepped up the pace a bit moving from 9:30 minute mile pace to 8:30 minute mile pace.
The second 10k was great. I was really starting to enjoy myself and was no longer worried about the foot. There were bands lining the route pretty much the whole way, my favourites were the Brazilian samba bands (for a number of reasons…………okay mainly because of the costumes!!) and the Gay Pride stages blaring out the Communards and Erasure (again because of the costumes!!). The streets were lined with support and there was a real carnival atmosphere, with lots of flag waving, shouting and cheering. With all this going on I hadn’t really been watching my pace so was surprised when I went through halfway (21.1km) in exactly 2 hours. This gave me a massive lift and my thoughts turned to a possible PB. If I could keep going at this pace and hang on for the last couple of miles I might just sneak under my previous best of 4:12.
That feeling lasted approximately 3k before I blew up and hit the wall (I thought the wall was supposed to come at 22 miles not 16!!) We’d started running along the Seine and going through the tunnels along the side of the river. It all started off as good fun, lots of shouting and singing as the oxygen starved brains of the runners turned us in to inebriated fools. But the tunnels kept on coming, and with them the undulations. The 16 mile point is always tough, your brain is telling you that’s a very long way to have run, but that you’ve still got 10 miles to go……which is still a bloody long way!! So I stopped for a toilet break and to take on some fluids and M&M’s (and for a little walk). I was soon off again as I’d given myself a good talking to, there was no way I wasn’t going to finish!!! We were finally through the last of the tunnels and through the 30k point.
Lots of things go through your head when you’re running, but when I’m racing I pretty much spend the entire time doing maths! Working out how far I’ve been, how far I’ve got left, predicting various finishing times based on various realistic and unrealistic paces. But my brain was more busy than usual. I’d already seen 4:10 go out of the window, and 4:20 was rapidly joining it. My pre-race aim was to just finish, but I wanted to finish under 5 hours, and if possible under 4:45. I knew if I could just keep shuffling along I might just sneak under 4:30.
From 30k to 40k was agony. I was a mess. Somebody was taking great delight in rebuilding ‘The Wall’ at every kilometre, and at it was starting to take its toll. I was shuffling along barely going faster than walking pace, but I was moving….just! The organiser’s had printed your name on your race number which ended up being a life saver in the last few miles. Everytime I felt like stopping and curling up in a ball there would be a huge shout of “ALLEZ MATTHIEU” which gave me another little burst. My emotions were all over the place and stupid little things would set the tears off. I’m bad at the best off times, but at 38k of a marathon, dehydrated and with an oxygen starved brain even people handing out plastic glasses of wine was setting me off (…….well it is a nice thing to do, giving up your time on a Sunday afternoon!) I was still ticking off the kilometre markers (even if it was a lot slower) and when I finally passed 40k with just 2.2km to go I knew I was home and dry!
But those 2.2k seemed to take an eternity. I was completely disorientated and kept expecting to see L’Arc D’Triomphe, but it never came. Even with 500m left to go I couldn’t see it, still nothing at 200m, I was over the finish line and still couldn’t see it……………I was over the finish line. Thank God it was over, I was wrecked, I was fighting back the tears, I was trying not to puke. I couldn’t believe how tough it was, so much harder than Draycote. It just goes to show how much fitness you can lose in 4 weeks, but I’d finished!! I shuffled off and picked up the various things people were handing to me, I shuffled and picked up my bag, I shuffled through the crowds and found a little corner near a Metro station where I collapsed and pulled myself together for a bit.
I don’t really remember getting back to the hotel, or having a shower, or getting dressed. The next thing I new I was in a café struggling to lift the largest drink of lager I’ve ever seen. Talk about taking advantage of the ignorant non-French speaking Englishman…………when did “Un Bierre” mean “can you bring me the largest, most expensive of your premium lagers my good man”? The re-hydration continued with some friends in Kitty O’Shea’s where we whiled away the evening chatting about splits, and energy gels, and PB’s. I headed off home a merry man.
The merriment was short lived the next morning though. It felt like I’d been run over!! My head was pounding, and every single part of my body was aching (apart from my foot…..well you’ve got to take the positives ) I checked out of my hotel and limped around Paris looking at the sights. Or at least I hobbled up to them took a photo and hobbled on to the next one. I was in no shape to be contending with steps, or queues!! Then before I knew it I was back on Eurostar on the way home!!
I had a superb weekend, and can’t wait for the next one now………….hmmm Amsterdam or Berlin????
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Wednesday 2nd April 2008
2 miles – Easy Run
Almost a carbon copy of Monday’s run, only slower!! It took a while to get into it, then I started getting pains in my foot after almost 2 miles, so I stopped. I at least want to get to the start line in Paris on Sunday!!
Having read what the guys are going through in the Sahara at the moment its made me re-evaluate my training a bit. For some reason its really hit home this week how much work i’ve got to do in the next 12 months. I’ve read lots of reports about past MdS evenst and seen a few documentaries is one thing, but having read how much training this years guys have done, and then seeing them go through hell has been a wake up call!!
There’s nothing much I can do about it now, as i’m still struggling with injury, but I’ve decided to re-think some of the events i’d planned for later in the year. Doing a load of local 10k’s and Half Marathon’s is not going to do me any good, I need to concentrate on ‘time on feet’, and maybe a dose of psychological help!!
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Monday 31st March 2008
2 miles – Easy Run
First run for 29 days due to the stress fracture of the metatarsal. Ideally the Physio would’ve liked me to keep the soft caste on for another 2 weeks and then slowly build up my endurance again over the following month. But i’ve got Paris Marathon to run on Sunday and these opportunities don’t come up often!
The physio advised I run on the treadmill to start with to avoid too much stress on my foot, so I planned a slow 3 miler. The run was tough to start with, I felt like i’d been going for ages and looked down to see I hadn’t even been running for 2 minutes!! I soon got into a bit of a rhythm and whilst I had a very light stitch I felt quite comfortable. Then I started getting pains in my foot which was worrying. I thought the fracture had gone again so I stopped at 2 miles. However its seems it was more of a muscular issue, I suppose the muscles and tendons in my foot aren’t used to running after 4 weeks off.
So (with fingers crossed) I shall try another short run on Wednesday, and maybe another on Friday, just to try and get my body used to running again, and hopefully my foot will hold up for Sunday. If the worst happens I at least have a couple of months for recuperation before the next big training event Kent 50 in August.
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Sunday 2nd March 2008
13.1 miles - Reading Half Marathon
The foot was feeling okay, and I felt in good shape, so thought I’d go all out for a PB and sub 1:40. I was surprisingly nervous before the race, far more nervous than I have been before a race for a very long time. I suppose that’s what happens when you start setting yourself big targets?
I love Reading Half Marathon, the course isn’t particularly scenic, but its well supported most the way round, and with over 11,000 runners you’ve always got lots of company! The start was congested, but I made my way to the ‘Blue’ start. There was a big countdown then an enormous bang as some fireworks went off in a nearby field. I think they were supposed to be professional pyrotechnics, but they managed to set the field on fire and it seemed to be spreading, but I couldn’t hang around gawping as I had a race to run.
To be honest the race was a blur. I had my head down in race mode, it only occassionally came up to look at my pace on the Garmin. I felt really comfortable until about Mile 3 when I started feeling a sharp pain in my foot, but it wasn’t too many problems. However, by Mile 9 it was causing quite a lot of pain particularly on the downhills where I normally motor away from people around me, but I was probably going slower downhill than I was up. By Mile 11 I was starting to struggle, this is definitely the hardest bit of Reading where you can see the Stadium and the finish, but know somehow you’ve got another 2 miles to run. Its all on dual carriageway, and then there’s the switchback section where you run about 3/4 mile up to a roundabout, then round it and back towards the stadium! I saw SarahL (who I was supposed to be racing) on the otherside of the road, about 800m ahead of me which gave me a boost…….for about 100m before all my energy deserted me, again!
Before I knew it I was in the Stadium to an amazing welcome. There was a group of Fetchies with ballons and banners cheering in anyone in Fetch colours, which gave me the energy for a sprint finish (although when questioned later no-one actually noticed a change in pace!) and a time of 1:37:46! 
Splits:
Mile 1 – 7:26
Mile 2 – 7:25
Mile 3 – 7:38
Mile 4 – 7:11
Mile 5 – 7:13
Mile 6 – 7:21
Mile 7 – 7:32
Mile 8 – 7:35
Mile 9 – 7:29
Mile 10 – 7:27
Mile 11 – 7:33
Mile 12 – 7:36
Mile 13 – 7:54
Mile 13.1 – 0:24
I’m really happy with those splits. It was a completely different race to Brass Monkey where I started off relatively slowly and picked it up in the second half, instead I went off fast held on and managed to just about keep going. All of this with a stress fracture it would later turn out.
I am now in a leg brace and unable to run for 4 weeks. So that means my training for Paris is out the window, and any thoughts of sub 4 hours. Still, i’ll just go and enjoy it and aim for a sub 4 hour marathon some other time.
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Wednesday 27th February 2008
4 miles – Recovery Run
Went to the Walk In clinic at hospital on Monday and had my foot scanned. Nothing was apparent on the x-ray, but I have been informed that stress fractures can’t be detected on x-rays, so the trip may have been a waste of time. I think basically I shouldn’t run until its stopped hurting.
So ignoring all this advice I did a slow plod on th treadmill tonight. It wasn’t fun or enjoyable, and whilst there was only minimal pain from my foot, my legs felt like lead. I’m not sure if i’m compensating for my foot and sub-consciously running in a different, but it was hard going. I’ll give it a rest tomorrow and do another run on Friday. Then i’ll have to make a decision about whether to run Reading or not!
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Sunday 24th February 2008
11.6 miles – Long Slow Run
That was tough!! My legs were like lead and I needed a ‘No.2′ almost as soon as i’d set off. It was a new route though, so that kept me going. I ran out to Damflask, but rather than running along the road which I normally do, I ran lower down in the valley alongside the river. It was great running on trail rather than pounding the tarmac, although at about mile 10 I had a worring pain in my foot. I managed to plod the last couple of miles home, but I’m now concerned I may have a stress fracture of the metatarsal. I’ll see how it is tomorrow and get it scanned, but worst case means i’ll have to miss Reading Half and Dronfield 10k, and have limited training before Paris Marathon!! This will not be good!
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Saturday 23rd February 2008
10 miles - Tempo Run
My legs seem to have fully recovered after Sunday’s marathon so I’ve planned to do back-to-back long runs this weekend. Not really long runs just a 10/10 or 10/12 or whatever feels comfortable.
Today’s run was on the treadmill as I didn’t really have time to get out into the Peaks. I’ve started running with an inclined treadmill to make my sessions a bit tougher, and was running at around 8:45 min/mile pace. Treadmills are tedious places to be for over an hour, but I like to think its good mental strengthening and plan a few 3 – 4 hour treadmill runs later in the year to really kill off the brain cells!
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Friday 22nd February 2008
6.25 miles - Tempo Run
I had a spare hour so thought I ought to get some training in. I’ve been a bit slack in February so far, and probably have placed too much emphasis on Draycote Marathon, when actually it was only ever going to be a training run. I suppose the fear of failing to finish a Marathon again was forefront in my mind. Nevertheless the training is back on track and hopefully I should clock 100 miles for February and then start getting my training up to the levels of January. Today’s run was okay. I started off at a brisk pace and did intervals of varying inclines on the treadmill whilst sticking at 7mph pace. It was quite tough on the quads, but I felt good. For the second half I just maintained the pace on a slight incline, as I didn’t want to trash my legs too much as I have back to back long runs planned for the weekend.
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Wednesday 20th February 2008
4 miles – Recovery Run
I ran. It was slow. It was on a treadmill. It was a bit painful. But at least its out the way now!
My hip is sore this morning, so I think another couple of days rest before a longish run on saturday. But my back appears to be okay, I thought initially it was the half a bottle of wine I drank round a friends house after the gym had been the reason for the numbed pain, but it seems the run did it good.
After the success of Sunday I have booked into some more races later in the year. These include the Snowdonia Marathon, possibly stepping up from the White Peak Half to the Full, and maybe the JWUltra, but that one is the day before our wedding anniversary. Obviously I know which is most important, its just a matter of convincing my wife!
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Sunday 17th February 2008
26.2 miles – Draycote Water Marathon, Draycote, Warwickshire
What a day! It was superb, and I can’t stop smiling!!
I didn’t know what to expect because the last few weeks training has been a mess due to hamstring niggles and illness. And on Friday I thought i’d slipped a disc I was in so much pain with my back. So my aim of run/walking for a time of around 4:45 changed to just finishing.
The race was 5 and a half laps of the Draycote reservoir on a fairly flat course with only limited undulations. As usual I set off way too fast, clocking 9:00 to 9:30 minute miles, and also forgot to stop and walk! I was plodding away but feeling comfortable. The first 8 miles went by in a blur and then it was just a matter of ticking off laps. I ran with some Fetchies (from the website www.fetcheveryone.com) for most of Laps 2 and 3, which was a relief to be chatting rather than concentrating on the Garmin.
Then Heidi, who was spectating, said she would run the last 2 laps with me, which was a life saver!! I felt okay on lap 4, and was still cracking the miles out at around 9:15 minute miles. But I hit a big wall on lap 5 at around 22 miles. I knew I was going to finish because I was so close, but Heidi was amazing keeping me going, and setting me little targets, and generally being bossy and not letting me stop and walk!!
I couldn’t believe how many Fetchies turned up to support, far too many to remember! But it certainly made it a day to remember. Thanks all, and finishing to the cheers and applause has definitely made it my best running moment so far.
Here are the splits. If can work on my endurance, then a sub 4 hour is definitely possible this year:
Mile 1 – 8:52 Mile 14 – 11:04 (toilet break)
Mile 2 – 9:03 Mile 15 – 9:34
Mile 3 – 8:54 Mile 16 – 9:21
Mile 4 – 9:16 Mile 17 – 9:35
Mile 5 – 9:23 Mile 18 – 9:19
Mile 6 – 9:03 Mile 19 – 9:15
Mile 7 – 9:37 Mile 20 – 9:12
Mile 8 – 9:22 Mile 21 – 9:40
Mile 9 – 9:01 Mile 22 – 9:56
Mile 10 – 9:12 Mile 23 – 9:51
Mile 11 – 9:34 Mile 24 – 10:31
Mile 12 – 9:12 Mile 25 – 11:00
Mile 13 – 9:29 Mile 26 – 10:59
I think what I’m most happy about is I did the first half in 2:01 and the second half in 2:11, which is fantastic given that only 6 months ago I struggling to do those times for a Half Marathon!
I feel so much more confident about Paris now!
Group photo just before setting of
Just after the start – Mile 1
Way too much energy at Mile 11
Still looking pretty fresh at Mile 16
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Wednesday 13th February 2008
2.5 miles – Tempo Run
I have been tapering for Sunday’s marathon, but thought whilst I was in a hotel with a gym I’d make use of it. Nothing too strenuous just a quick 20 minute blast, followed by some time on the rowing machine. It was good to loosen the legs as I’ve been itching to run!
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Sunday 10th February 2008
9 miles - Tempo Run
The plan was to run from home, up to, and around, Damflask and back, which is roughly 10.5 miles. I also wanted to do it at a Tempo pace of around 8:30 min/miles. Everything was going well, and I was enjoying myself, and it was a pleasant change to be running in warm sunny weather. I’d rounded the reservoir and started to make my way home when the familiar nipple pains started. It appeared that my plasters had come of and I was getting a nasty case of Joggers Nipple. Its not happened for a while, and was a good reminder just ahead of Draycote!! So the planned 10.5 miler had to be cut short, which was annoying as the last 1.5 miles is the easiest as its all downhill!!
I’ll probably not run this week and rest up ahead of Sundays marathon. It would be nice to be like a coiled spring for Sunday!
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Saturday 9th February 2008
10k – Race Pace
My training has been pretty poor in February so far. I’d like to say it was all part of a planned taper ahead of Draycote, but to be honest I just haven’t had time to run. Typically now I do have some time I probably shouldn’t run as I should be resting and taking it easy!! But in my typical way of ignoring training plans I went to the gym and did a quick 10k on the treadmill. It felt really comfortable, although my hamstring (the left one this time!) wasn’t feeling so clever towards the end. All in all it was a good run though, and I clocked 46:30 which would’ve been a PB a few weeks ago.
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Wednesday 6th February 2008
1 hour – Military Circuits
I’ve been meaning to go to this for a while now, but fear has prevented me!! However, the little bit of core strength training I do isn’t really enough for the rigours that await me so I took the leap.
Whilst I am now a broken physical wreck i’m glad I did it, and am looking forward to next week already!! Essentially it was 45 seconds per excercise, with about 30 excercises per circuit with no breaks between excercises!!
We started on the sit ups, and gruelling moved through the dips, press ups, squats, shoulder presses, sprints, burpees……….I forget the other excercises now as I busy being in a world of pain!! My back hurts this morning, and it quickly became apparent last night that my shoulder and chest strength is pathetic!
Hopefully a few more weeks of this and i’ll start seeing the difference.
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Tuesday 5th February 2008
4 miles – Recovery Run
Thought i’d get to the gym for a bit of a plod. Haven’t had much chance recently because of niggles, colds, DIY work, adoption work, Uni work and actual work! My head is all over the place, and i’m not sure if thats because I haven’t done as much running recently? I wonder if running is that theraputic, and if I didn’t do as much as I do would my head always be this scrambled? Wow, thats a bit more philosophical than the normal blurb about Tempo Runs and LSR’s!!! I’ve got Military Circuits tonight. I thought I ought to step up my core strength work as the ad hoc stuff I do at the moment probably isn’t enough. That was another reason for just plodding last night, as i’m not sure how intense Military Circuits will be.
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Sunday 3rd February 2008
10k – Dewsbury 10k, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Possibly the worst preparation i’ve ever had for a race, although the enforced ‘taper’ meant I was like a coiled spring, having not run all week due to the hamstring and this cold I can’t seem to shake. Some of that ‘coil’ and some of the effects of the cold were dampened slightly from the ridiculous about of alcohol I sank on Friday night. I think I finally crawled home at about 3am, so I need to work on the whole tee-total thing!
Saturday was generally spent shuffling round the house in my pyjama’s watching really awful attempts at International rugby, curled up on the sofa. I didn’t feel an awful lot better on Sunday, and whilst the legs were fresh I felt bunged up which was effecting my breathing.
After a pit stop in the worst public toilet I have ever been in, (and I mean EVER!!) we made our way to the start. It was a bit cold and there was a slight breeze, but it was dry and perfect race conditions. I was hoping to go sub 45 minutes here, but with the cold and the hangover still having its effect I decided I’d just aim to PB.
Once we’d started I realised I hadn’t changed my Garmin from miles to km’s, so I wasn’t too sure what pace to run at. After some initial confusion and try to do some maths in my head I settled on trying to stick as close to 7 min miles as possible. My splits were:
Mile 1 – 7:00
Mile 2 – 7:07
Mile 3 – 7:30
Mile 4 – 7:11
Mile 5 – 7:01
Mile 6 – 7:04
Mile 6.22 – 1:41
Which I was really pleased with. I think there is a bit more to come, as my hamstring tightened up in the last 3k. So when I should’ve been pushing to the finish line I couldn’t, but i’ll settle with 44:38!
I think that will be my last 10k of the year though. I need to start working on my endurance and 10k’s don’t really fit in with that.
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Monday 28th January 2008
5 miles – Tempo
This was supposed to be a slow recovery run, but as always on the treadmill I end up challenging myself, and also run quicker just to ease the boredom. All in all quite a quick run, but started feeling the hamstring towards the end. That doesn’t bode well for Sunday’s PB attempt!
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Sunday 27th January 2008
17.5 miles – Long Slow Run
Not happy!!! The plan was to do 4 laps of the bottom reservoir at Derwent, which would’ve made it a 22 mile run. But I at least wanted to do 20 miles. It was going well for the first 2 laps (11 miles). I stopped to get a drink from the car, and have a cereal bar, and then started on lap 3. It was going okay until about 15 miles when the legs turned to mush! I then strayed from the plan and ran along a different route to try and make the run up to 20 miles without having to do the final lap. On reflection I should’ve just completed the lap (16.5 miles) and stopped for another drink and cereal bar and carried on. Instead I got to the car and sacked it. This does not bode well for Draycote in 3 weeks. I have a 10k race on Sunday where I would like to PB, so am not planning a long run this week, and I should really then start to taper before Draycote. But I really think I need to get another Long Run in my legs for my confidence. I’m not racing Draycote and i’m only using it as a training run for Paris, but i’d at least like to finish it, however on today’s evidence that doesn’t look likely!
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Saturday 26th January 2008
6 miles – Tempo Run
Needed to stretch my legs as running has been sporadic this week due to niggly hamstring. The first 2 miles were awful and I thought I was going to have to stop due to the pain. But as I got into a rhythm and the hamstring warmed up I was able to increase the pace a bit, and ended strongly.
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Thursday 24th January 2008
4 miles – Easy Run
My first early morning run of the year (and probably since 2006). I used to do all my running before work, but now I really struggle to get motivated. However, if i’m going to ramp my mileage up to 50 – 70 miles per week I need to start doing double sessions on some days, as well as back-to-back LSR’s at the weekend. I nearly didn’t go this morning, as the hamstring problem (whilst still a little tender) seems to have moved down into my knee and ankle. This is probably because of my ‘unique’ running style last night trying to avoid over stretching my right hamstring. It was all okay once I got moving though, and I did a few laps around Hillsborough Park and surrounding areas. Its not a bad run as its got some steep inclines, steady descents and flat sections. So you can squeeze a bit of everything in a relatively short session.
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Wednesday 23rd January 2008
5 miles – SLOW
I’ve been having real hamstring problems since Sunday’s race, so haven’t wanted to risk running on it. But i’ve been a bit like a coiled spring, and also worried that all the good work i’ve done in the last couple of months could be undone by a few days rest (me, obsessional…………never!!) So I took a slow plod home from work at around 9:45 min/mile pace. I thought I was going to have to stop in the first couple of miles, but the hamstring soon warmed up, and I finished quite strongly. I suppose we’ll see what the damage is in the morning!
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Sunday 20th January 2008
13.1 miles – Brass Monkey Half Marathon, York, North Yorkshire
Couldn’t believe how well today’s race went. I thought i’d aim to do 8 min miles for as long as I could and just hold on in their until the end, which would give me a PB at least, and if things went well maybe even a sub 1:45. I started off fast and thought i’d pay for it sooner or later, but it just felt really comfortable. At mile 10 I thought I was in with a shot at sub 100 minutes and tried pushing on a bit, but my hamstring started tightening up so I eased off a bit. There was definitely loads left in the tank, and there’s a lot more to come.
Splits
Mile 1 – 7:53
Mile 2 – 7:47
Mile 3 – 7:48
Mile 4 – 7:44
Mile 5 – 7:49
Mile 6 – 7:44
Mile 7 – 7:38
Mile 8 – 7:37
Mile 9 – 7:42
Mile 10 – 7:31
Mile 11 – 7:37
Mile 12 – 7:31
Mile 13 – 7:31
Total – 1:40:34
I can see why Brass Monkey was voted one of the top races in the UK by RW. It was faultless! A nice course, and superbly organised. Because its based at York Racecourse there was ample parking and toilets. The sweatshirt for finishing was tasteful and the goody bag had a Yorkie, Pringles, Haribo and water in….you couldn’t ask for more!!
Friday 18th January 2008
4.15 miles – Tempo Run
After a couple of dodgy runs I thought I should stretch my legs and see what I could manage. Obviously didn’t want to over do it too much, but needed to prove I could run quicker than 9.15 min/miles! I did and it felt comfortable for 4 miles, but I need to find another 9 miles from somewhere!
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Thursday 17th January 2008
4 miles – Easy Run
Run home from work again. Even slower than last night! Starting to think the Tuesday tempo run was a blip!! Felt like stopping about a mile from home, God knows how i’ll fare on Sunday with dodgy runs like this!
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Wednesday 16th January 2008
4 miles – Easy Run
Slow run home from work. The first 1.5 miles are down hill, although there is a section of about 300m up a very steep hill. Then a slow gradual incline over the last 2.5 miles. Its not a very scenic run, and its quite tough hence the very slow time!
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Tuesday 15th January 2008
8 miles – Race Pace
I’d been putting my Recovery Run off for a while because of stiff knees and hips, so had to make up the lost miles on the treadmill at the gym. I started off comfortably but felt great, so I pushed on a bit more, and then a bit more and ended up clocking 8 miles in an hour (7:30 mins per mile). I was really happy and a bit surprised by that, and it shows these Long Slow Runs are paying off in terms of endurance.
Hopefully I can put it all together on Sunday a get a sub 1:50 Half Marathon!
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Sunday 13th January 2008
14 miles – Long Slow Run
On reflection I perhaps should’ve done the longer of the two runs on Saturday, as it was psychological torture getting out of bed knowing that you’ve got to run 50% further than the previous, on stiff legs! But I suppose its all good preparation.
Originally the plan was to drive out to Derwent and do the 15 mile loop there, but the car was required elsewhere, so I thought i’d repeat yesterdays route with an extra lap of the reservoir. Sadly my Garmin died a few miles into the run, so I had no idea how far I had run, but as i’d stucjk to roads I was able to measure the route when I got home using this superb website: www.gmap-pedometer.com
It was a little shorter than planned and I would’ve made up the difference, but I felt like I was running blind without my Garmin. I’ll have to start getting used to running with just a normal watch again, and measuring routes off of maps!
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Saturday 12th January 2008
10.5 miles – Long Slow Run
I’ve been planning to mix up my very long runs, with back to back shorter long runs (if that makes sense?). So this weekend it was my first back to back. The plan was to run 10 miles on Saturday and then 15 on Sunday. The route I’d chosen for Saturday was from Hillsborough up along Loxley, passed the Admiral Rodney, out to Damflask, once round the reservoir and then back. I’d calculated it was roughly 10 miles, and I wasn’t too far out. Its quite a tough run as the first few miles are uphill, then there’s a mile or so of undulations, and then its pretty flat round the reservoir. The bonus is that on the way home its downhill! The run went ok, and was pretty unspectacular, I could’ve gone faster but was saving my legs for Sunday.
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Friday 11th January 2008
3 miles - Tempo Run
I was in two minds about running tonight because I was worried about it affecting my legs ahead of the planned back to back Long Slow Runs over the weekend. I went anyway as I had a spare half an hour. I felt quite good and strong, and would’ve pushed even harder and faster had I not been concerned about the LSR’s. Its good to stretch your legs sometimes and really go for it, which I haven’t been able to do recently as the focus has been more on distance than speed.
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Thursday 10th January 2008
4 miles – General Run
Ran home from work tonight. I had planned out a 4 mile route, as if you were to run as the crow flies it would barely be 2 miles and it would be down some pretty steep sections of road. The run was good, partly because the first 2 miles were down a gradual hill, but it was nice to get some running in that didn’t impact on any other plans. I’ve decided I’m going to start running home from work more often as it means I can get some good 5 mile Tempo runs in during the week and still have the evenings free.
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Tuesday 8th January 2008
10 miles – Long Slow Run
You can tell its ‘New Years Resolution’ time!! I had to wait for a treadmill at the gym tonight. There must be over 25 treadmills at my gym and I don’t think i’ve ever been there when they’ve all been used. I’m sure it will quieten down in a week or two though when everyone starts falling off the wagon
The plan was for 5 miles at a slow pace tonight, but seeing as I had the time, and my legs felt okay, I pushed on a bit. My trainers started rubbing at about 8 miles and my legs were sore at 9 miles, but I kept going. It was a slow pace, but i’m pleased to get a LSR done in the week. It eases the pressure of doing too many more runs before the weekend. If everything goes to plan this could be my first 40+ mile week, although as i’ve proven many times before the best laid plans normally turn to rat shit!
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Sunday 6th January 2008
10k - Pennine 10k, Brighouse
I’d decided not to ‘race’ this after yesterdays 18 miler, but I still set off way too fast. I went through 5k in 23:30, but died on my arse in the second half and my left quad fell out with me!! I was a bit disappointed with the time as even though my legs were like lead I still expected to go sub 50, which goes to show how much my running has moved on in the last few months.
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Saturday 5th January 2008
18.65 miles - Long Slow Run
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Wednesday 2nd January 2008
7 miles - Tempo Run