Building up nicely....

What do you think about when you run?   

I have been asked this question a few times recently as a result of people enquiring how my marathon training is going (well I'm sure they asked but maybe I'm becoming a marathon bore....you know when you are training well when remarks go from...you are looking fit....to.....you look a bit gaunt.  Are you ill?).   It's generally a question asked of runners by non runners.  A runner would never ask such a question!  

So what do I think about when I run?  Its a hard question to answer.  For me it usually involves thinking about how I'm running, how many miles to go, am I on the right pace, hows my heart rate.  Occasionally its about family, forthcoming events, planning things, work...in fact anything really!

 

I recently read this book by Murakami.   Its an extraordinary book full of snippets of inspiration and thought provoking statements.   Its not a book that will teach you how to run faster, or how to train for a marathon but it does help you understand that golden nugget of a question..Why do I run?   

" It doesn't matter what field your talking about - beating someone else just doesn't do it for me.  I'm much more interested in whether I reach the goals that I set for myself, so in this sense long distance running is the perfect fit for a mindset like mine"  

"Most ordinary runners are motivated by an individual goal, more than anything:  namely a time they want to beat.  As long as he can beat that time, a runner will feel he's accomplished what he set out to do, and if he cant then he'll feel he hasn't.  Even if he doesn't break the time he'd hoped for, as long as he has the sense of satisfaction at having done his very best - and possibly having made some significant discovery about himself in the process - then that is itself is an accomplishment, a positive feeling he can carry over to the next race"

Its been a while since I read a book that made me think as much as this one.    It put into perspective years of running and the fact that even after all these years I still have that urge to put my running shoes on and go for a run.  I know that most of my best running years are behind me but there is still that motivation to beat that time...its just that the times are inevitably going to get a bit slower as the inevitable ageing process kicks in.

That said the goal that motivates me at the moment is the marathon.  This will be my fourth road marathon.   Previous runs of 2-48 (London, 2000),  2-52 (Nottingham, 2005) and 2-46 (Sunderland, 2012) have all been tinged with an underachievement - injury in the build up, injury in the race, hitting the wall early, lack of pace judgement, not enough training etc etc.  

What they all have in common is the process.   They have all been a learning experience and have all contributed to my experience as a runner.    My build up to Chester in October so far has been excellent.  Ive concentrated on three key sessions a week.  

Long runs up to 23 miles finishing off at marathon pace
Weekly tempo type runs of up to 10/12 miles at or close to marathon pace
Interval based session on the track with variable recoveries.

What has really made the difference this time around is a focused build up with recovery built in to make sure I hit the key sessions, lack of distractions (last year I tried to build up to an Autumn Marathon AND complete a track season - the result...persistent hamstring problems! - hindsight is a wonderful thing!).   Ive found a routine that works for me.   Or rather I have travelled so far down a journey and only time will tell whether that journey has been successful.   Taking a leaf out of Murakami's book the process has been one of discovery and even if I don't achieve what I set out to do then at least I have added some more experience to the pot!

Away from marathon training I enjoyed a visit to Albert Park run on Saturday.   Having done the very first park run at Albert Park in 2008 (crossing the line first in 17:27 with 26 runners taking part) it's always nice to go back and enjoy the atmosphere.   Over 5 years on the whole parkrun initiative has grown massively and it was amazing to see 235 finishers there this week (and this was a quiet week!).   I crossed the line first again in 16:54.  My next park run will be my 50th in total - I'll wear my T-shirt with pride!

Discipline..its not all about speed!

Its almost a month since my last post and during that time I have raced three times and clocked up a decent few weeks of base mileage towards the main goal of the year (Chester Marathon). 

At The Coast Road 5km on a balmy summer evening in Marske where I clocked 16:36 for 11th place.   This didnt quite go to plan and I struggled a little with the intensity of the race particularly the start.  I'm becoming increasingly aware and concious of people who start races like they are doing an 800m or 1500m race then come back to me after a mile or so and wonder at the end why did it all go wrong.  There have been plenty of times when I have done that but more lately I have become a lot more disciplined with my pace judgement and take some pride in maintaining a steady (but decent!) pace and look to try and start the race at an intended pace and build on that rather than go for a fast start and hang on.  This race was just twinged with disappointment as the last mile I just dropped off the pace and allowed two or three (Younger!) runners to edge me out in the final stages of the race.

This "steady away" tactic was definitely going to be tested to the full in the next race.  I had built this race up in my head as an A race.  Had a sensible pre training week and (apart from the hot weather) all seemed set to smash another Vet 40 pb.  The race was the Sunderland 5km also incorporating the North East Champs.  Some unbelievable results at the front end underlined how quick the course is with 18 runners going under the 16 minute barrier. 

http://www.sunderlandharriers.org/results/2013/sundlnd_5k_2013.pdf

My own race was decent.   Set off at a decent but sensible pace and avoided any issues at the start with a 5.13 first mile taking advantage of the downhill start.  2nd mile felt actually very comfortable with a 5.17 so all that was needed was a sensible last mile and I was home and dry.   I think in my head I must have relaxed a bit too much and then realised my legs felt dead coming off the back of the lake.  A slight incline was enough to send my legs to jelly and a group came past me.  A last mile of 5.23 and despite a fast finish I clocked 31st place in a time of 16:32.   The positives were that this was equal to my time of two years ago (proving the ageing process is not slowing me down!).  The negative is of course the feeling that maybe just that slight loss of concentration was the difference.   Its a fine line but onwards and upwards. 

Sunday saw me toe the start line of the New Marske Victorian 10km.  I had never really saw this as a target race so was contemplating using this as a marathon pace test.  That is until I realised there was a decent field assembling for this race and there might be an opportunity for me to test myself against some quality opposition as well as (I confess!) not lay myself open to be "scalped"

"5:30 miling all the way" was the aim and to some extent this was achieved.  First mile was a crazy affair with a mass of runners ahead of me.  I counted about 25 at one stage as I went through the first km.   First mile of 5.24 despite being a cautious start meant that there were a few people who had clearly set off too fast and would pay for it later on.  Miles of 5:29, 5:26, 5:32 and 5:30 gave me some daylight on those that were paying for early exertions and those in front who possibly ran a more sensible race.   The last mile was a bit of a harder effort and unfortunately I slipped out of the intended pace and clocked a 5:40 to finish 9th overall in 34:24.   Not bad as I predicted a 34:30 on the start line (quietly of course!).    The 10km at Abbey Dash remains my post Chester Marathon aim!



There is no lying sometimes when it comes to pace judgement and knowing where you are. You know when you feel good, you know when you just don't feel right. There are a fair few people out there who need to take a step back and look at themselves and ask the question. Is a five minute mile appropriate for me at the beginning of a race where my average pace overall will be almost a minute a mile slower? I suspect I know the answer to that but please continue to test that theory out as I like working my way through the field and picking you off one by one!



Anyway I wont be racing for a few weeks as I build up another block of mileage for the marathon.   Sensible disciplined running for me now as I build up the mileage and avoid the injuries that plagued my unsuccessful Autumn Marathon training last year.    74 days to go as as I write this blog.  

I'm going to be road testing these over the next few weeks.  Firstly I definitely would not normally contemplate the price of these.   Secondly I am not easily taken in by gimmicks but I do like buying new shoes!

 

That said its an interesting concept and I'm willing to give it a go.  My first run definitely felt quicker and less effort needed to run fast.   Lets see how they go over the longer distances over the next few weeks. 

 

Finally another plug for the Redcar Half Marathon.   Here are a few of the exciting things that as a runner I feel is taking the race forward:

 

1.   Chips in the number itself - no messing about with chips on shoes!

2.   Water pouches that are easy to use and more runner friendly

3.   Quality goody bag, T-shirt and medal

4.    New race website http://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/halfmarathon

 

For those yet to enter but thinking about it please enter early.  As a race organiser it makes life so much easier and we don't need to spend as much of the race fund chasing runners to enter.   Secondly this race is in its 31st year but as with all public sector led events under so much scrutiny as councils feel the pinch of the recession.  

 

Happy Running everyone :)



Mo...you are cleared for lift off!

50.89 seconds final lap.....what more can you say!  Mo...you are approaching the bell....passengers please put your seat belts on..Mo you are cleared for lift off....whoosh!    Ive never seen anything quite like the acceleration in a 5000m...quite literally breathtaking!

Saturday at Gateshead was a fantastic day of athletics.   So much to see and so much drama.  As well as the predictability of the Mo win we saw the drama of Holly Bleasdale in the Pole Vault, the gutsy Jess Judd in the 800m, the cruising style victories of Perri Shakes-Drayton in the 400m and the majestic Elidh Child breaking the Scottish Record in the 400m hurdles.

It was also a reminder of how brutal sometimes our sport is.   You had to feel for poor Holly Bleasdale who pulled on the GB vest but didn't register any points after bringing the bar down three times on her opening height at 4.25m.   Fair play to the girl though she signed autographs and posed with kids for an age afterwards despite the horrible feeling of defeat and probably wanting to simply disappear from the stadium rather than smile for the camera.  I guess that's a part of the life of a top class athlete.

Even the sprint teams managed to keep hold of the baton...happy days! 

My own training is going well.   Last week was a shift in my focus towards the Chester Marathon.  A 20 miler a week last Sunday and a 16.5 miler last Sunday have both gone well.  Not too fast and my recovery has been good from both runs.  I'm mixing up a few long Sunday runs as baseline preparation for the marathon build up proper and trying to maintain leg speed to get a few decent 5kms under my belt in the next three weeks.  

 

Tomorrow nights Coast Road run should be a good tester.  The speed is definitely there and on paper I should be close to the 16:29 clocking at Middlesbrough.  Three decent weeks of 60 miles per week and three solid track sessions since that race should have at least maintained my level of fitness post Middlesbrough 5km.  You never know you are going to race off high mileage so it will be a case of seeing how it goes.     The speed sessions are going well and there seems to be a general move towards a bit of speed in the old legs.  

Don't forget to spread the word about the Redcar Half Marathon...entries are coming in nicely now so don't delay...we only have 1675 entries left!

 

http://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk/halfmarathon

 

 

 

Technology 1 Runner 0

Imagine my excitement.  A new Garmin 610 arrived for me today.  After months of price tracking and indecision I hit the button "Place Order" on the well known tax evading site named after that long river in Africa (alledgedly I might add!) and it arrived today.   Opening the box I thought simple...plug it in, charge it, put the ANT + dongle thing in the computer and away we go.  

In reality it was two hours of cursing, scouring support websites, emailing supportive experts and still the same result....non connection with my existing Garmin Connect and an inability to upload the fruits of my labour on the PC. 

Then my dear wife comes in....

Have you read the instructions?

Yes of course I have...

10 minutes later the Garmin is connected, working perfectly and ready to upload! 

I didnt read the instructions of course!

Time to test it.  A three miler would do me.  Screens all set up to give me optimum information on the run...new fangled features such as the touch screen ready to be explored and the vibration auto lap primed.   Techno heaven!

3.2 miles later, a great run, feeling good and job done.  Cant wait to upload this beauty .... no wires needed and the start of a new friendship with my sparkly new Garmin.

What did I do...only pressed the wrong bloody button when i finished...reset the watch and lost all my data!

Bloody Technology!

Redcar Half Marathon

This year I am proud to be Race Director for this long established road race.  We have almost 300 entries so far and preparations are going well.  Please support this event and spread the word. 
Redcar Half Marathon online entry