It's a fine line!

It's a fine line between being injury free and having a niggle!  It's a fine line between an average of 6-01 and 5.59 on a tempo run!  

Today I attempted my usual out and back route along to Lazenby Village from Marske.   Straight out and back with no loops or extras - simple!   The weather was wet, drizzly..the kind of rain that gets you wet!   I didn't mind as once I get my head round that Lazenby run I dont mind the weather - just take it as it comes.   As I set off I felt a bit of a niggle in my left knee and made a mental note to myself that with all my recent miles I need to make time for a bit of foam rolling on the IT band...experience has taught me to recognise the signs that this is one niggle that can develop and stop you in your tracks...I have always found it fairly easy to treat with a combination of massage, ice and stretching but as I said it's a fine line!

Having ran intervals yesterday I could forgive myself for going easy today but once I got into the groove of the run the thoughts soon turned to chasing sub a 6 minute miling average for the course.   On the way out it seemed hard work and at four miles just before turning to come back I clocked 24.27.   As soon as I started on the run back I concentrated on being nice and relaxed but building up the pace assisted by the slight downhill of the course and having the wind behind me.   Mile splits of 5-57, 5-56, 5-54 then a 5-53 gave me a 48-09 for the 8 mile course and an average of 6.01 per mile!   As I said it's a fine line between 6-01 average and sub 6 minute miling!  Still a good run in the bag particularly after yesterday's intervals.

Some great news today from America as my good friend Andrew Willows posted a quality 3-51.51 on his debut Marathon at the Bayshore Marathon.  

http://dev.bayshoremarathon.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=51

Closer to home my attention is now starting to turn to the Redcar Half Marathon where I will enjoy a slightly different experience of being in the organising team rather than as a runner.  I know a few club mates are running in the event this year and are chasing Sub 75's to get into London next year through the championship route....no pressure boys but my application is already in the post!  

Retreat to the woods!

The plan today was to inject a bit of quality into my training so I opted for an early morning steady run (5 miles at about 6-20 pace) with a run later in the day that would be an interval session of some sort.   800m reps seemed a good option but as the usual courses would be more like wind tunnels I decided a trip to the woods was in order.

As the session approached I thought of some of the sessions we used to do up the woods with a group of us who at the time were running for New Marske Harriers.  The favourite session was a set of 1k intervals with a 1k jog back recovery.   I remember the sessions well and they certainly brought my running on as I was running with some experienced and quality runners.  Maybe those sessions were worth more than the physical benefits as I have always enjoyed the sort of efforts like that and the feeling that a hard set of intervals leaves you tired, motivated and buzzing from the high that your body has experienced.

Today I was looking to do 8 x 800m with a 2 min recovery.   Years ago I would have needed to search out the markers on the tree trunks to tell us every 200m point.   The Garmin GPS has made this sort of session much easier and I pre-programmed my watch with the session in mind.   Modern Technology certainly has it's advantages.   One thing that hasn't changed though with the advent of all this technology is the effort required to do a hard session.  This still needs to come from within!  I often wonder how my training might have been different if I had access to the range of features and feedback that you can get from the garmin.  Who knows!   For a while in the mid 90's I was desperate to break 33 minutes for 10k and the more I tried the more it seemed to evade me.  I ran about eight 10k's on the trot where I was low 33's and thought it would never happen.  In my frustration I decided not to worry about it anymore and ran the Chester Zoo 10k with no watch to refer to, no mile splits to worry about and a sense of freedom to run how I felt!.   As we turned the last bend with the finish about 200m or so away I saw the clock at 31:50 and sprinted home in 32.26 (think I was outside the top 10 and nowhere near the prizes but I didnt care as I had finally cracked the 33!).  I only achieved this once again in a race at Stafford where I equalled my Chester Zoo time......sometimes it just feels right!

Todays session felt hard and I needed to dig deep...it was also pretty busy on the woods path.  I started the 800s positively with a 2:43 followed by three consecutive 2:41's.   The next two were a little slower (2:44 and 2:45) partly because of a near incident with a poodle type thing (Grrrr!) and a couple of 6 year olds with parents on mini quad bikes added into the mix!   Rather than slip the quality I decided to think on my feet (with a quick re-programme of the GPS) and set out to finish the session with a 4 x 400m with 90 secs recovery.   Managed these fine but kept these at slightly under 2:40 (800m) pace.

Overall generally pleased to get the session in but probably not going to read too much into the pace I ran.  Sometimes you just need to get a bit of quality in and doing the session on my own always makes it a bit harder.  

I couldn't help admire the skill of the Barcelona team last night but also interested in the stats produced by ITV with km run per player....my betting is Ji Sung Park might make a half decent marathon runner one day!

Back to business!

Tonight was going to be a track session but the weather just didnt inspire me...cold, wet and still a bit breezy!  I needed an alternative focus for the session so I turned my attention to a long effort.   The intention was an out and back run similar to Saturday's effort but (hopefully) a bit quicker. 

Sometimes I feel it is the first mile of my pace run that sets the pace for the whole run....Saturday's first mile was 7 minutes...the rest of the run did not get much quicker and I averaged 6-48 miling and felt tired and deflated.

Tonight was different...maybe it was because it was later in the day or was my body just fired up for intervals tonight and I was wimping out!   Mile 1 was a nippy 5-58...great.  Mile 2 was another 5-58....excellent.....Mile 3 I clocked 5-59...damn slowing down....Mile 4 back on track with a 5-53.   And so it went on.     The route I use for these regular pace runs are generally the same out and back route with a few variations en route to add additional miles on (not to make the run more interesting I might add!).   Tonight I was looking for about 10 to 11 miles.   The outward leg is a slight climb and quite a bit of focus is needed in the final mile before the turn point.  Another 5-59 bagged and feeling good...5 miles in 29.48 with the rest of the run generally a bit quicker.      I finished the run strongly with the second half quicker by about 20 seconds or so.   11 miles in total at an average pace of 5.55.  Definitely one of my stronger runs on this course so more than happy with my efforts tonight...I certainly showed a clean pair of heels to the imposter who ran my favourite long course on Saturday!

Tonight I have been reading an article about a true legend...Charlie Spedding.   Charlie is the current English Marathon record holder with 2-08.33 set 24 years ago.   His book "From Last to First" is a superb read and very inspiring.    In the Runners World article he gives some top tips on how to lift your running a notch or two.   My favourite tip and a message for some of my fellow runners who might be reading this blog is this:

"Progress is never a straight line.  Becoming a better runner usually involved plateaus and setbacks, but  perseverance with optimism always brings improvement in the end".

Nice one Charlie!

http://www.charliespedding.com/

Wind, a sore foot and belated birthday cocktails!!

The last few days have been a struggle...Saturday's run left me a bit deflated and in need of a few easy days so the wind that has been rattling around the last two days has meant an enforced easy few days...I enjoy running in most weathers but the wind really does wear you down as a runner.

Enjoyed a few drinks on Saturday night as a reward for a relatively sober birthday weekend the previous week...it was also a good opportunity to try out my new cocktail shaker!   Sunday and today were both easy days with just a nominal four mile battle into the wind both days.  

I also have picked up an annoying foot injury which I am 99% sure is to do with timing chips!   I have a swollen and bruised right foot at the point where I wore a timing chip in last weeks race...I know that this sounds a bit far fetched but after Thirsk 10 my left foot had similar problems (I wore my timing chip on the left in that race!).   So far it has not stopped me running but the kids are a bit hacked off with me for refusing to play football with them for the past few days.....they just wont accept my excuses that I'm a veteran and too old to kick a football about!

What next?

There are a few decisions to be made.

1.   Do I continue to work on the marathon training and do Nottingham Marathon in September?

2.   Do I look at doing a few 5000m and 3000m races on the track over the summer and delay a Marathon until next Spring?

3.   What are the races over the summer that I want to concentrate on?

My run at Chester has given me the qualifying time for London 2012 Championship Race.  I really enjoyed running the longer distance and felt strong enough to not be daunted by a Marathon in three and a half months or so.    I have already entered Nottingham but know I can run the Half Marathon on the day but feel I need an early decision to give me some focus.

Saturday mornings have become a key session for me and the build up to Chester has seen me running a longish hard run between 9 and 12 miles at a pace hovering around or under 6 minute miling.  The focus for most of these runs have been the Half Marathon at Chester.   This Saturday I drifted, I felt like I was running without a purpose, no real reason to push myself to the limit and struggled to lift myself to anything like the past few months.  10 miles completed but my fastest mile was a 6-40 mile with the rest around 7 minute miling.   

I need a plan....quick!