It's Now or Never

Last week was my first week back to full training after being injured. Unfortunately, I had to work an extra shift so my Wednesday run had to be cancelled. On Thursday I ran a race pace 5.72 miles at 9.22 min/mile. This pace was hard work and it felt like I was on the edge of what I’m physically capable of. I am slightly doubtful of whether I could keep it up over a half-marathon. We shall see.

My Friday run was a hill session. I ran slowly for one mile and then ran up and down the hill that I hate three times. I was expecting this to be really hard but it was actually quite easy. Looking back on it I should have done it a few more times. A longer hill might be more effective to my overall fitness.

The Saturday was my long run. I ran round Llyn Brenig, a very nice route of 9.26 miles. My pace was 10.10 min/mile which was approximately what I was aiming for. I ran each mile then walked for a minute which was a nice system for me and allowed me to keep hydrated in the heat. It was about 16 degrees Celsius which is hotter than I’m used to but I drank each mile and consumed 1500ml of water throughout. It was also the first run that I used gels to keep my energy up. The orange Lucazade gels gave me a real boost taken at 30 and 60 minutes and they did not disagree with my stomach in any way. One more will be required for the half-marathon distance. I felt pleasantly tired afterwards but not uncomfortably so. My legs and feet were stiff but that passed by the next day. I am very pleased with this run.




On Sunday I ran an easy 5 miles with my dad. My pace was 10.47 min/mile and was very comfortable. This was an extremely enjoyable recovery run and it was nice to have some company. I cross-trained on Friday and Sunday using the cross trainer and rowing machine at the gym. In addition to this I did some strength training focusing predominantly on the core muscles. I am hoping that this will improve my running form. Overall, it was a very productive week. The next two weeks are vitally important in my preparation for the Leeds Half. I need to control my weight, complete every session with focus and intensity; and avoid any injuries. This is my updated schedule for the last month of training. Here’s hoping it all goes well.

Back On The Road With A Plan

Firstly, I have some good news. Through my recovery running last week I think (touch wood) that my hamstring strain has fully repaired itself. On the downside I think my fitness has suffered a little but it’s important that I motivate myself to build it back up. I am very excited to get back on the road and I don't want to get demoralised by a slight dip in performance. In three months I have gone from struggling to run one mile at 12 min/mile to running eight miles at 9.5 min/mile. I have run a total of 141.07 enjoyable and fullfilling miles. There is nothing to be demoralised about. I have come quite a long way.

I was also going to do a 10k race at about this point in my training but I have decided against it. Due to my injury I have already missed two long runs. These are an important keystone in my preparation and I think it would be a mistake to miss another one in favour of a race. I feel a bit sad at not doing a shorter race but I also feel I need to concentrate on the longer runs before the tapering period in my training. 13.1 miles is still a long way.

My aim is to complete the Leeds Half Marathon in about two hours. To do this I must capitalise on every advantage in the last month of training. As a consequence I will further reduce my calorie intake down to 1300 per day. This is in an effort to lose as much fat as possible before race day. This will be difficult but will be beneficial to my performance.

During my period of rest I have come up with a long run and race plan (see below) that I think might be useful. I know this is a bit obsessive but I do like a good plan.

EQUIPMENT

FOR LONG TRAINING RUNS

Normal weather: hydration belt, water, three gels, camera, phone, hat, sunglasses, ipod, map.
Inclement or unpredictable weather: camelback, coat, extra top, water, four gels, camera, phone, hat, gloves, windbreaker, map.

FOR RACING

Disposable top, disposable poncho, belt pack, hat, gels, keys, bank card.

Race bag: sports drink, Snickers, trousers, jumper, small towel, disposable poncho, safety pins, marker pen, socks.

POST RUN

In car: complete change of clothes and shoes, two towels, hot drink, sports drink, food, water, deep heat, ibuprofen, blanket, insulating blanket, book.

GENERAL PRE-RUN PLAN

Note – Piss as often as possible.
T-03.00: Breakfast – muesli & milk/one slice of brown bread with jam/banana or apple/500ml water.
T-02:40: Shave, moisturise and dress according to the weather.
T-02.00: Pack equipment, fill water and pack lunch.
T-00.30: Warm up for 10 minutes and stretch (incorporated into training runs).
T-00.15: Prepare for run.

LEEDS HALF MARATHON PRE-RUN PLAN

0600: Get up and shower and shave. 500ml sports drink.
0630: Eat breakfast & water.
0700: Drive to the race. Toilet.
0800: Race registration. Toilet.
0845: Warm up and keep
0900: Last toilet stop
0915: Line up to race.

RUN PLAN – LEEDS HALF MARATHON

0-1 miles = 10 min/mile.
1-7 miles = 9.5 min/mile.
8-12 miles = 8.5 min/mile.
12-13.1 miles = 7 min/mile.

Average pace: 8.9 min/mile.
Time: 1 hour and 57 minutes.

POST RUN

Immediately walk/jog for 10 minutes then stretch and take on fluids.
T+00.20: Get warm if possible. Keep moving.
T+00.45: Eat within one hour. Keep moving.
T+01.00: Begin journey home if at a race.

I've Broken It

So, I rested my right hamstring for a couple of days hoping that I could resume my running on the Wednesday. I kind of knew that it wasn’t better but went out for a three mile run anyway. This was not a good idea but I kept on thinking that I could somehow run it off. Unfortunately, I ended up hobbling through the last two miles and could hardly walk for the rest of the evening.

I am now officially injured. For the first time in my life I want to run but can’t. There’s a sick sort of pride in my first injury. Firstly, it proves I am “A Runner” and secondly, it shows that I am pushing my body to and beyond its physical limit. This is stupid, of course. I don’t want to be pushing my body to breaking point but it is quite nice to find that limit. Now I know it’s a proper hamstring strain I can come up with a proper recovery plan.

First off, I joined a gym on Thursday. Bodyz in Prestatyn is a strange gym and the only one I have joined with a hot dog and chips stand right outside the door. There is also a McCain chips vending machine!? I have never seen one of those before. So, not good places if you like chips and want to lose weight. Anyway, it should suffice for my needs. In the long run I want to use the gym for proper cross training and to strengthen my core muscles and legs. This should prevent future injuries, speed up fitness gain and weight loss and keep things varied.

My recovery plan is as follows. I did some light cross training on Thursday and Saturday and completely rested my legs on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I will try a one mile easy run on Wednesday. If that goes well I will run two miles on Thursday then rest on Friday. If all is well I will then run three miles on Saturday and four miles on Sunday. If the injury surfaces again I will have to go to a sports physiotherapist.

So for now it’s just a matter of fingers crossed and hope for the best. I do miss running though.

Nothing To See Here

Righto. There’s a lot to get through in this post. On Friday my cross training for the day consisted of moving sacks of manure for the garden. This was heavy and equally smelly work, not to be repeated. I went for a nice one mile run with my dad. It was a very relaxed pace and nice to have some company.

I did a very stupid thing on the Friday night. I sunk six bottles of beer and consequently had a bad head on the Saturday morning. Moreover, I was quite tired and did not eat enough before my long run of nine miles. Not the best preparation by any means. Just to confound the issue, it was a foggy day with a cold, dampness that clung to everything.




The first three miles felt fine although a bit slow. Then everything started to go wrong. The fog closed in and visibility decreased to about 40 feet. In the maze of small roads and with no points of reference on the horizon the inevitable happened: I got lost. It took me about 20 minutes of stopping and starting to regain my bearings. I lost all my rhythm and became very cold and wet. I struggled getting up hills and was very slow on the flat. The last three miles were fine although I felt disappointed with my performance. I also felt completely worn out all day and found myself struggling to do anything.




So, there are things to learn from this.

1. No drinking the night before a long run. Before last Friday I had not drunk in quite a while with a view to abstaining from booze altogether. I think it might be better to allow two or three drinks every so often. There are rules to this. Only drink before a low intensity day and allow at least three days between drinking. This should allow me to socialise over a few drinks without feeling the need to drink too much.

2. Get at least eight hours sleep the night before. This just requires a bit of organisation and self discipline. I might try meditation to lower my heart rate before going to bed.

3. Make every preparation to know the route before embarking. For the longer runs I will try and drive the route beforehand. Also, I should always take a proper map rather than a shitty GoogleMaps printout.

4. Get the nutrition and hydration right before running. I will double my efforts to eat 400–500 calories and 500ml of water three hours before my long runs (8 miles plus).

5. Respect the distance.

In the previous post I noted some discomfort in my right hamstring. This resurfaced in my Sunday five mile run and became really painful. I could barely walk by the end of it. Not good. After a bit of Internet diagnosis I have come to the conclusion that it is a mild hamstring strain (don’t think it’s Sciatica). I’m going to rest it for a couple of days and then do a three miler on Wednesday. Also, I’m going to join a gym to start doing some strength work. This should stop these little injuries from cropping up as I increase the mileage.

In conclusion, this has not been a good week for my running. I under prepared and paid the price with an injury and bad long run. Need to get better.

The Happy Misery of Rain

Having had a lovely and quite lazy day it was time to get my game face on for a five mile run. I decided to run as the sun set to darkness and as the clouds started to darken with an intent of oncoming rain. Head torch and raincoat packed in my waist pack, I headed out.

The first couple of miles were pretty straightforward. Then the rain started. You know where you are with some sorts of weather. This was comfortably in the category of a light storm. The wind made going fast a virtual impossibility. However, I always like running when the conditions are bad. It makes me feel tough. I like to imagine what the drivers of the passing cars are thinking of this crazy bedraggled figure stumbling up the road in the pitch black.

A note on new gear: my inov8 waist pack seems to do the job although it could be a little small for fell running when I might need to pack water proof trousers as well as a jacket. I am a little disappointed with that because it looked bigger on the interweb. It goes to show that it is still much better to go to a real shop to get your hands on the actual product before parting with cash. Still, it should be adequate for shorter runs up to about 6 miles. It was also the first time using my new Peter Storm Jacket in a Bag. I bought this with some trepidation as I knew it wasn’t very breathable but it was cheap at £20. It was a choice of this or a Berghaus Paclite which, at about £150, seemed a stupid amount of money to spend. As predicted, the jacket didn’t breathe well at all but it did keep off the cold rain so, for now, it’s a thumbs up from me.

My cold seems to have disappeared as I felt much better today despite the adverse weather. The only slight niggle was a pain in the back of my thigh from doing squats and lunges earlier in the day. I’m sure it will be fine tomorrow. It was a pretty comfortable run today and I was only slightly off my race pace. It seems I’m getting better at this running lark. That’s good.

Fast & Slow

It was the first morning in a while where I could rise from bed with a good eight hours sleep under my belt. It was slightly unfair, I thought, that I had the beginnings of a sore throat. Never mind, I still had to do my five mile race pace jaunt today.

A mile in I realised that race pace might be pushing it today. I felt awful. I can always tell when things are going wrong. My face feels like it’s unusually hot and there’s this uneasy feeling in my stomach that hovers just underneath the tiredness. At that point in my run I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to complete it let alone go at race pace. However, a certain feeling of stubbornness reared its magnificent head and I persevered.

I have been reading a book about fell running called Feet in the Clouds by a chap called Richard Askwith. What becomes evident from his history of the sport is the hardiness of the people who train on the fells each day. These athletes push themselves up and down mountains through the pain of serious injuries that would cause most road runners to take a couple of weeks off. So, I wasn’t going to let the small matter of an oncoming cold ruin my race pace. Who knows, I might have to run through illness when racing so I need to get used to it.

With my resolve steadied I pushed on and with a mile to go I was surprised to see that my pace exceeded even my race pace. I finished with a big sprint and averaged a 9.42mile/min pace over 5.2 miles. This is my fastest run of any distance so I was very pleased especially considering how bad I felt for most of it. However, I paid for it in the hours after. I had felt dehydrated all day so was gasping for a drink when I got back even though I had a sports drink before. Felt a great urge for food and thought that a bowl of Shreddies would do the trick. However, my temperature kept on jumping around making me feel awkward and awful. Even after a big plate of pasta, cheese and tuna I now feel shattered and feel like I’ve done much more than a 50 minute run. I think it’s a combination of being tired after work, hunger, dehydration and feeling a bit ill. The dehydration is a symptom of my illness so the main points are as follows. Firstly, I need to have a think about whether it’s a good idea to have my race pace run directly after my work shift. I’m often very tired on Wednesday evenings so it might be an idea to have an easier run on these days. The other point is to watch the nutrition on the Wednesdays. I need to have a banana or something before leaving work.

A note about the lack of photos. I have inextricably lost my waist pack so I cannot carry the various accoutrements that I usually have with me. This usually includes my house key, my phone, a five pound note, a coat if it’s likely to rain and, of course, my trusty camera. I have ordered a fancy new waist pack but am waiting for the cogs and gears of the UK postal system to get it to me. I like having a camera with me as it relieves the occasional boredom or pain of certain runs. A friendly reminder that I am primarily doing these runs to have fun and to see the countryside that I would otherwise miss or ignore.

I must not get ill. I must not get ill...

Tea, Biscuits & Darkness

I dislike Sundays. Sundays are the days before Mondays and Mondays mean work until Wednesday evenings. A period throughout which I cannot run. Also, Sundays are days on which I have to catch up on all the things that I haven’t done. Therefore, I usually crash through Sundays in a rage cursing the fact that I can’t spend much more of the day in bed with tea and biscuits. With all these bad vibes that I create for my Sundays I find it difficult to motivate myself to run. I am getting better. Since quitting the booze my head feels a lot clearer on the weekends and I always make sure I have an easy run on the Sunday.

Easy runs always make me feel uneasy. Why can’t I run at my normal pace? Why should I have to make myself run slower when most of the time I try desperately to run faster? Of course, the benefits of giving the legs a bit of a break whilst still getting the blood flowing are very important. Even though I know this I always find the easy runs quite hard. Quite by accident I came upon a solution to this problem on my easy four mile run yesterday night. I had not charged my Garmin watch for some time so, predictably after the first quarter of a mile, all the important information disappeared. Initially I was annoyed but then I realised that it didn’t matter. Even better, I relaxed into the run, listening to my body and ran very comfortably. I wasn’t constantly cross checking how my body felt with the stats from the Garmin. I enjoy having the data and find it invaluable to measure my progress from day to day. However, I think I shall leave all the numbers and statistics at home on my future easy runs. Seems nicer, more relaxed.

Other than my new found enjoyment with night running there is nothing more to report. There is a certain privacy and seclusion to being shrouded in a cloud of dark. Just breath in the headlight, a quiet mist and a brooding sky. Typical that it’s getting lighter in the evenings. Bring back the darkness.