Manchester Marathon - The day I joined the Sub 2:40 club!

You reach a point in your marathon build up when you know the work is done and you cant really do much more.  The miles have been logged and the preparation is done.  The start line cant come soon enough and the taper becomes a drag, every niggle is a race threatening injury, every sniffle is man flu and the doubts convince you that you are losing fitness every day and you just need one more run to be ready! 

Actually I felt some of the above but it wasn't over consuming.  There was an air of calmness in my taper.  The last week's runs were planned out and each run went to plan including a few short runs at marathon pace where I tuned in easily to the intended pace of 6-06 per mile (2:40 marathon pace!).

Manchester is a great marathon to do.  The location at Old Trafford was easy to get to and plenty of parking etc so all those pre race issues were easily dealt with.  To the start line.....

Today...we race!

The legendary Ron Hill started us off.  Ron has run 115 marathons.  112 of which have been under 2:50 and has a best of 2:10.  He is also famous for his long running streak of running every day since December 1964.  He is a true running hero and still looks amzingly fit!

I only came out for a paper!

The first 10km of the race went according to plan.  Holding myself back I completed the early miles in 6-01, 5-59, 5-59, 6-05, 6-02 and 6-02 clocking 37.41 for the first 10km going through in 39th place.  The race was going perfectly at this point and despite a headwind the times were going in my favour.
10 miles in 60-10 I had picked up 8 places into 31st.   It was a case now of keeping this pace going and counting down the miles.  I felt comfortable and had the leading lady in my sights.  Just before halfway I caught the leading lady Emily Wicks and we ran together then for the next 10/11 miles.  I seemed to have found someone who was banging out an even more consistent pace than I could and despite a "quick" 5-50 mile at Mile 14 we set a consistent pace around 6-05 minutes per mile.

20 miles was logged in 2 hours and 23 seconds.  Over a minute ahead of my recent pb over 20 at Locke Park.  Now it was down to the business end.  This is where the doubts can come in and you wonder at what point in the next six miles is it going to go from comfortable to not so comfortable down to downright horrible! 

Mile 21 - a solid 6-02 we were going well still and managed to gain a place or two.
Mile 22 - 6-12 and it was starting to get tough.
Mile 23 - 6-16 this was crunch time.  My running partner of the last 11 miles was pulling away from me.  She went onto win a a solid 2:38.21. 
Mile 24 - 6-21 starting to think about the finish.  This was getting hard!
Mile 25 - 6-24.   Legs were aching.   The stadium was just in sight!
Mile 26 - 6-35 and the slowest, hardest mile of the whole race....

Finish - 24th overall in 2 hours 39 minutes and 21 seconds.   In my pre-race vision I would savour this moment.....its been a long time coming. Ive put the work in now I'm going to enjoy it!     In reality my effort had been a real tightrope job...I wobbled as I crossed the line and spent the next ten minutes emptying the contents of stomach unable even to keep the bottle of water the finish marshall's gave me!   It was certainly the worst I had ever felt at the finish line of any race !

I might look like I'm smiling but I'm not!




Ian Bloomfield - Vet 60, 2-44 and UK Record holder!

Do I want a massage, a coffee or just a lie down!
 

So that's another marathon done and dusted.  The marathon is more than just a one off race.  The real battle is getting to the start line in one piece and not falling off the tightrope that is the high mileage.   Now the dust has settled I'm over the moon with my result and even more chuffed that at this moment In time my 2:39.21 sits pretty at the top of the UK rankings for Vet 40 to 44.    


Manchester - you were fab!  Highlight of the day was most definitely the youth choir who belted out... "I predict a Riot!....I predict a Riot!" as I ran past.   That was the most surreal and amazing experience of the day!   

I'll sit and enjoy watching Mo run next week at London but I'll be keeping an eye on those vet 40 to 44 times! 



Thirsk 10 and Negative splitting!

I can count the number of times I have enjoyed the feeling of a negative split on one hand!  I just don't tend to do them.  I would like to but I always think that maybe I'm just not that kid of runner. 

Thirsk 10 on Sunday I had a game plan.   First three miles or so fairly steady then pick up in the middle section and finish strong.  Negative splits are so far out of my conscience I didn't even consider this. 

Thirsk 10 has been in my race diary now for four years. 

2011 - Finished in 58.01.   2nd half was two minutes and twenty five seconds slower than the first half.  A fast first half turned out to be too fast and the last five miles were a painful experience with splits of 5:41, 5:49, 6:00, 6:09 and 6:30!   Ouch!  

2012 - A much improved Thirsk 10 performance in the middle of marathon training with a 27:52 first half and a 28:04 second half  gave me a solid 56:06 which remains a Vet 40 pb.  Missed out on a negative split by 12 seconds but it was a solid run

2013 - In great shape for this but the weather defeated me (and most of the field apart from Alyson Dixon who effortlessly cut through the wind I recall!) in the second half.   1st half of 27:56 was followed by 30:13

2014 - a first half of 28:23 was followed up by a second half of 28:09 (Yes you read that right - a negative split of 14 seconds) gave me 10th place overall in a time of 56:31.    Splits were:  5:43, 5:43, 5:41, 5:39, 5:37, 5:31, 5:39, 5:42, 5:35, 5:40. 


All smiles pre race!



The business end!

The race itself was great.  The windy first few miles was just a case of tagging onto a group, realising they were slowing a bit too much and then moving onto the next group.  The final group I settled with were some way ahead at the start but I caught then at around 3 miles.  This was the last big group and the rest were individuals in the distance.  I decided that being at the front of this group and pushing the pace from the front would be better rather than running behind and having them dictate the pace.  After a couple of miles of this there was only three of us pushing each other along at a nice steady pace.  Michael Joyeux (Quakers) was on his way to a storming personal best and did his best to drop me at the turn into the "lane" but I managed to stay in touch and we both managed to drop the third runner in our "pack".   I was more than happy to put some space between us to allow me a clear run home.  The "chimp" on my shoulder was telling me to take it easy and think big picture but had MJ come alongside me in the final 200m I would have found it hard to not give it my all!

Michael Joyeux has an excellent and informative blog called Run Michael Run! its well worth a read and I get a mention #consistency #outofreach #experienced !!!  Its always great to hear about someone who clearly loves his running and is making some great progress!

It's just under 2 weeks now until the big one.  Manchester Marathon.  The work is done now and I've just got to trust in the taper gods to get me through and on the start line in one piece.  




           

 

Taper Time

The three weeks after the Pocklington 10 were always going to be a make or break phase of this marathon build up.  After the enforced three week easy block as a result of sciatica the marathon build up would be one of a balance between catching up on lost time and making progress towards the goal whilst balancing on the knife edge of marathon training.

I must say that the last three weeks have been the best three weeks of training for some time.  A 66 mile week which included two decent quality runs and a nice steady 22 miler was followed by a 60 mile week with the Locke Park 20 being the highlight.  This was topped off by the biggest week of my build up which was a 74 mile week that included two decent interval based sessions, a long tempo at marathon pace followed by a 20 miler.  I actually feel good after the three week block, not over tired but Ive definitely lost that feeling that I am making up for lost time.

This is my third marathon build up in recent years and all three have been different.

Marathon 1 - Sunderland - 15 week build up averaging 62 miles per week.  Max week 80 miles in week 8.  No injury issues but peaked too early, not enough consistency in my long runs and not a great focused build up.  Outcome - hit the wall at 23/24 miles and finished in 2:46.29.

Marathon 2 - Chester - 17 week build up averaging 63 miles per week.  Max week 82 miles at Week 8.  Struggled with hamstring pain weeks 13 to 15.  Decent build up and a decent run that was hampered by hamstring pain most of the second half.   Outcome - a solid run and a pb of 2:43.42.   

Marathon 3 - Manchester - 19 week build up averaging (to date) 56 miles per week.  Max week of 74 miles in Week 16.  Injury issues weeks 8 to 10 meant reduced mileage.   Feeling totally back in the game now and raring to go.  Don't feel overtired and full of confidence going into the three week taper.   Outcome - ????

The difference between the first two and the current build up is length and mileage.  I have taken longer as a build up and not done as much mileage.  The peak mileage has been considerably later and Ive been fortunate that (touching wood!) the injury issues have been earlier in the build up to allow recovery.  Time will tell if this is the right build up or not!

Race wise the big one was the Locke Park 20 mile race.  20 miles of a park with two bridge crossings per mile, two or three sharp corners and a 180 turn isn't everyones cup of tea but it was a great experience and all credit to my club New Marske Harriers for putting it on.  My time (which was enough to win the race) was 2 hours 1 minute and 22 seconds.  This worked out to be sub 2:40 marathon pace which was a real confidence booster ahead of Manchester.  It was also an overall pb (my last attempt at 20 was in 2000 where I ran 2:05.23 in Stafford - a terrible run!) and a Vet 40 Club record which has stood since 1998. 

My splits (as the race was also chip timed for the record) were:

5:54, 5-53, 5-55, 5-57, 5-59, 6-00, 5-59, 6-02, 6-01, 6-01, 6-00,6-02. 6-04, 6-03, 6-05, 6-10, 6-12, 6-18, 12 -45 (last two miles). 

Link to the full report and a rogues gallery!

http://www.new-marske-harriers.co.uk/index.php/road-running/road-reports/777-locke-park-20-9th-march-2014-report

Pocklington - job well done!

Today's race was never going to be an all out affair.  I toyed with the idea of doing the race as a long run and wondered how disciplined I could be to do an 8 or 10 mile warm up then "race" at marathon pace.  In the end the wind that greeted us decided my tactics.  I would do a four mile warm up followed by the 10 mile race followed by a four mile warm down.  I decided that I would have an easy start with the first few miles with the wind helping then "see how it goes".  The Manchester Marathon is my A race and these races are just part of the build up.

Race aims were simple:

1.  Get through the race with no injury issues.
2.  Keep each race mile at marathon pace or quicker (6:06 minute miling).
3.  Try and run the second half as close as possible to the first half.

After a steady start the first five race miles (after a 4m warm up) were completed in a nice and steady 28:46.   The second half a positive split with 29:53.   The four mile cool down was a nice steady affair making it a total of 18 miles at an average of 6:15 per mile - job done!

So back to the aims:

1.   Yes got through all fine which was a big relief after the last few injury ridden weeks.
2.   Yes - all race miles under 6:06 miling - a bit close at times in the second half due to the wind!
3.   A 67 second positive split.  Did I mention it was windy?

8th overall and 1st Vet 40 was a bonus!



Back in the game it seems!

Manchester Marathon Update

As I limped through the rest of January my mind was set that the only way I would contemplate Manchester Marathon on 6th April would be a "normal" February.   But what is normal?    Normality for me in terms of running would be a 50 mile week or getting through an interval session or two without any niggles.  The unpredictable nature of sciatica (affectionately known as the dark passenger!) meant that you literally need to take each day as it comes.

So on the 31st January a pain free "double day" was completed with a decent 5km on the treadmill at lunchtime was followed by a steady four miles on the evening.   Maybe February would be "normal" and I could put the terrible start to the year behind me.    Imagine my frustration when on the 1st February I struggled to manage little more than a four mile jog limited by the sciatic nerve making every step a struggle!

A 40 mile week followed by a 66 mile week that included some quality in the form of an interval based session and a couple of decent tempo efforts on the treadmill surely meant that I was back to normal, managing decent runs with only slight episodes of sciatica in between runs.   A 50 mile week followed which included a snowy 5 mile tempo at marathon pace and a more than decent track session should (under normal circumstances) be considered as being back in business.

But the marathon relies on consistent long runs and so far in 2014 my longest run was 16 miles almost six weeks ago.  So not back in business at all really! 

Its amazing the difference one good run can make.  An 18 mile run to start this week has provided the boost I needed.  I'm now officially "Back in the Game!"  At this moment in time I am six and a half weeks away from the start line in Manchester.    Its the Snake Lane 10 on Sunday so an opportunity to combine a decent 10 mile effort with a long cool down.   It will be the first race of 2014 and will be followed by the new Locke Park 20 and possibly Thirsk 10 in March. 

How many pairs of running shoes do you have that are currently active?

Runners World in December released an article that showed there was a 39% less risk of injury in runners who use multiple shoes.   In work today a colleague asked me how many pairs of running shoes I own.    

The answer to that is probably far too many as I'm not keen on throwing away good shoes that have limited "running life" but still look ok.

So active shoes......

2 x general training shoes - Mizuno + Adidas
Race Shoe - Brooks Racer ST 5
Old Race shoe used on treadmills - Brooks
Quicker shoe for intervals - Adidas Adizero
Trail Shoe - Brooks
Spikes - Two pairs one for Cross Country (not used this winter!) and one for Track

Total - 8 !   Yes I'm a multiple shoe wearer and Yes I probably am addicted to running shoe shopping!