Last run of the year

I took to opportunity of the Christmas break to go and buy some new running shoes as my main pair have got about 200 miles on them and my alternate pair have more or less reached the end of their useful life. As there hasn't been any problems with either make of shoe I knew I was going to buy one of the same again, but which one? I really like my Wave Creations, they are light and comfortable but I have a nagging suspicion about them for really long runs 12 miles+. The Asic Nimbus are at the other side, they are heavier and give a very comfortable ride but I don't feel at my fastest with them on. I had a chat with the shop assistant and she agreed with me. The Mizuno are lighter but are not as durable as the Asic Nimbus. In the end I thought about the kind of running I was going to do in the shoes - this pair is to grind out the miles on the long weekend runs but not for the shorter sharper stuff so the Asics it was. If I just use them at the weekend I may have even just bought my Marathon shoes.
Tomorrow is my rest day for the week, which made this mornings run the last run of the year. It wasn't particularly long but it was a tempo run with 3 miles at Half Marathon/10 Mile racing pace with a warmup/down mile either side. This was a tougher than I was expecting and was quite relieved when I reached the end of the tempo part. The odd thing is despite the run being tough I enjoyed.
Looking back at my running log since I started training at the end of September I have covered 393 miles - that's an average of just over 28 miles per week. Not bad considering I've had to rebuild my base fitness from scratch. The new year will start off tough with a 16 mile run on New Years Day. No late night revelry for me!

Getting confused

Yesterday was in training terms a hard day (intervals) so today was an easy day. This is where my confusion starts. According to the more recent training schedules I've seen easy days are at an easy or slow pace, whereas some schedules prepared for the London Marathon count steady runs ( i.e. marathon pace ) as easy days. Which one to believe? I've heard mumblings on the Runners World forums that current schedules are too easy and don't really prepare you for the stresses and strains of running a marathon well rather than to just complete it. I suppose the best maxim I've heard is "Listen to your body". My body wasn't complaining and felt like it wanted to do something a bit quicker but not to quick so I plumped for the steady run this morning. I was glad I did, last weeks steady run was off the needed pace by 15 sec/mile but todays was actually under the pace by 8 secs/mile. The route was the same with a small corner cut off because I only wanted to do 6 (ended up doing 6.7)
I learned another valuable lesson today, my pace is all over the place but mostly too quick. I'm fooling myself into thinking I'm going too slow and speeding up and therefore exhausting myself before I should. This is where my Garmin comes into play. It tells me how fast I'm going and gives me the confidence to slow down but still reach my pace. Isn't technology wonderful.

Sad News

We got some sad news this morning. One of my wife's uncles died yesterday. We didn't see him very often as he lived in Blackpool and we're down on the south coast. However on the occasions we did meet he was always very kind and welcoming. I was going to talk about my interval session this morning, but somehow my struggles don't seem worth talking about just now. So I'll leave it at that

Farewell Uncle Eric

Brrr - Its Cold

It was a bit nippy this morning. I'm not sure what the exact tempreture was when I stepped out the door but it was minus something or other. This may not be cold by some peoples standards (Your reading this Fake Swede? :-) ) but its cold by English South Coast standards. Running in these sorts of tempratures has some nasty drawbacks. Its very easy to pull something and underfoot conditions can be a bit treacerous. So I had to be a bit careful with my run. This was made easier as it was another 5 mile recovery run so I wasn't in any hurry ( apart from to warm up ). Again today was a nice quiet day out on the roads though I did pass 2 lady runners in screaming yellow running jackets. I can't laugh I was just as made with a dayglo yellow running top. At least we are easy to spot.

Boxing Day Run

There are a couple of nice things about running on Boxing Day.

1) You run off the Christmas Turkey
2) Its nice and quiet on the roads
and
3) You get to use your running related Christmas Presents

I was no exception. I persauded the wife that a Garmin Forerunner would be great thing for me to have for Christmas. If you are wondering what a Garmin Forerunner is its a GPS system for runners. I wasn't disappointed - OK she asked me to order it so that it was the right thing.
The run was planned to be a slow 10 miles but for once I hadn't planned the route because I would let my new gizmo tell me how far I had gone. I spent the first couple of miles constantly looking down at it to see how far I had gone and fast I was going. As this was my only long run of the week I decided to take the advice of a couple of running coaches I've read and ran the last couple of miles at marathon ( or a little quicker) pace to get used to the feeling of running at target pace on tired legs. It felt good to do this and is certainly more fun than the single speed long haul runs.

Fat Boys Breakfast

Another early start this morning, this time on the treadmill for a speed session, 10 * 400 metres with 200 metre recovery. This is as short as I can reasonably do on a treadmill as the speed-up time is too long compared to the length of the interval. This makes 2 quick sessions this week but there is no really long run at the weekend as its Christmas so I figured I'd get away with it for this week.
As a reward ( and its the last day of work for the year) I treated myself to a cooked breakfast (aka Fat Boys Breakfast) from the canteen, I have to go past them most mornings when I go to get my milk. Although the breakfast was very nice it left me feeling really full and bloated for the rest of the morning. I can't see how some people are able to eat these day in day out, I'll stick with my bowl of healthy breakfast cereal.

Not more food!

Back in the office today to find that there is even more free food and chocolate out. And worst of all it's been tactically placed to entice the passing worker. Its not not even limited to chocolate. There are 146 people working on my floor half of whom are on holiday but I still found
Box of Roses
Tin of Quality Street
Homemade cake ( had to have some of that the big boss's wife made it! )
Puff Pastry mince pies
4 tubes of Pringles
Large Tube of peanuts
Large box of Oreo Cookies from the States
and most surprisingly a jar of pickled onions.
My weight is suffering I've put on a pound and a half in the past week alone and the stuff yourself festival that is Christmas Day isn't even here yet.
Motiviation to do any work has been somewhat lacking this week but I'm glad to say not the motiviation to go running. Today was another of those gentle jogs though this time it was a bit longer at just over 6 miles. I dread to think what state I would be in without the running.

Its raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring

Another day off this time to take the kids to see Father Christmas. Of course no lie-in, the training run has to be done before anything else or something will come up and stop it happening at all.
Today was planned to be a steady 7 (well 6.85 measured by accuroute) miler along a route I've run a few times. Sadly the weather was not being kind. It wasn't cold but it was wet and windy, add that it was still dark and you have all the makings of an unpleasant run. And thats how it turned out. As it was a steady run I was aiming at a heart rate of below 160 and seeing what sort of time I would get. The route isn't particularly lumpy however the last 3 miles have a long slow incline and gentle undulatations. And of course no uphill section would be complete without the full force of the wind and rain in your face, Oh wonderful!
I managed to drag myself round in 56:39 which works out at about 8:16 min/miles. This time worried me. A steady run should be at marathon pace and this was over 16 secs a mile slower than that needed for a sub 3:30 marathon. I suppose I can put this down to the weather, lets hope its not raining or windy on marathon day.....

Make the chocolates go away!

The tin of chocolates in my area was finished off at the weekend which was good as it meant there would be now temptation for those with a sweet tooth. Unfortunately one of my work colleague brings in a carrier bag of sweets and pours them into the empty tin and says "Some more sweets to be going on with". I fought a valiant but in the end hopeless battle to keep my hand out of the tin. I'm beginning to think there should be a law against all these tins of sweets being brought into the office.
It was with some relief that lunchtime came and I could get going out for a run. One thing was apparent when I stepped out of the building. It was cold, not very cold but the sort of cold that had you wishing you had worn running tights rather than shorts and perhaps a 2nd top. The run itself was very pleasant a nice easy 4 and a bit miles of recovery after yesterday's intervals session. I was very pleased that my heart-rate kept well within the targets I had been aiming for limits despite a couple of inclines. These runs have become the fun runs of the training program. They are not hard work (there not supposed to be) and neither the distance or the time is that important so a relaxing time can be had. That's more than can be said for tomorrows planned 7-miler.

Nose to the treadmill

What a way to start the week. I found myself inside the gym at 7 this morning on a treadmill thinking what I'm doing here? The answer was the running week was fairly well broken by Christmas events and I needed to get my running when I could. The shock was even greater this morning when the session was Mile repetitions, 4 of them to be precise. By the time the warm up/down and rest periods where thrown in it was 7 miles in total. The first 2 were hard work not only run at 6:40 but on a 1.5% incline. After the 2nd I realised I wasn't going to cope with the speed and the incline. As the session was about speed and a track is flat the incline went. This made the session bearable - just! By the time I had finished I felt that I could face this afternoons Christmas lunch with a clear conscience.

Passing 40

Today brought another training milestone, 40 miles in week. This was brought about by 2 runs. Yesterday's run was a bit of a nothing run. It was supposed to be a slow and easy 5 miles but the gale force winds put paid to any chances of it being easy. I suppose there was sone good thing to get out of it, the experience of running in inclement weather as all my other running has been done in mild conditions.
Today's run was long and slow, these runs have now got to the stage of where they just happen. The route is worked out the day before and I just plod along it. The route is mostly a variation on a theme. This can be useful as mentally I know that once I turn a particular corner I'm nearly home OK nearly home means 5 miles still to run but its something I'm familar with and can grind out if I need to. Today was a little harder but this is probably because I didn't get to bed until gone 1 this morning and was up at 7:30 for the run.
I've rewarded myself with the day off from my recovery run tomorrow and a nice bottle of Youngs christmas pudding beer which I'm drinking right now. The nose will be firmly to the grindstone next week.

Relay Fitness Challenge

Today was supposed to be my rest day but it hasn't turned out that way. I got hooked into taking part in a relay fitness challenge to raise money for charity. The challenge is organised by the RAF personnel based at Swanwick Air Traffic Control Centre. Simple idea each person runs on a treadmill for half an hour. People then guess the distance covered. Last year the RAF challenged the civilians at the centre to compete against them. That was a big mistake by the RAF. My highly competitive training partner (HCTP) organised the Civilians, we had 3 sub-40 minute 10Kers plus a sprinkling of low 40's (including myself). The military didn't have any runners, so we gave them a bit of a thrashing.
The rules were changed for this year. It was to be 9 minutes running, 9 minutes cycling and 9 minutes rowing. I started off on the cycling, I had been tipped off that no matter what intensity you set the bike for each pedal rotation counted as the same. In other words keep the level low and the pedal rate high. I managed to knock off 3.3 miles in my 9 minutes. Then it was running simple tactic here, set it for 4 min K and hang on for 9 mins and accelerate at the end if any thing left. This was going to plan until my shoe lace came undone and I had to stop the machine to tie it up. The problem was the treadmill takes aboyut 30 seconds to come up to speed which is a lot in only 9 minutes, So I averaged a little under 4min/k at 2165metres. Then came the rowing part. Like most runners I lack upper body strength so rowing is hard for me but I had to try as HCTP had just arrived and was watching who her team were doing. I can't actually remember my rowing distance as by the end my brain was suffering from oxygen starvation (or temporary insanity).
I suppose I could call today a cross-training day, it certainly wasn't a rest day!

Laying ghosts to rest.

I was a good boy this morning I valiantly resisted the temptation to stick my hand into the tin of chocolates first thing this morning. I kept on reciting to myself "Intervals at Lunchtime". I was saved by the arrival of the work colleague that had kindly brought them in. He took what was left of the tin to a meeting where they were finished off. Phew - it was tough but it had to be done. So it was off to the gym at lunchtime with my freshly polished halo glowing.
I hadn't been looking forward to today's session I had made my mind up that it would be 3*1.5 miles at around 10K pace. This has been my bogey session since I tried it a couple of years ago and blew up and was unable to finish the session. If I'm going to get through this marathon training I need to put this ghost to rest. There is something about an interval that when I start I never feel as if I'll be able to hold out to the end of the session. Today was no different but I just got on with it and was surprised at how quickly the first half mile came and went. Once the 3/4 mile mark came I knew I was half-way there and would hold on till the end of the interval. I was surprised with myself at the end of the first one at how well I felt. No2 Interval came and went the same way however I was sweating buckets. It was No 3 I was dreading. This is were it started getting difficult especially in the last 1/2 mile, but I hung on in.
By the time I had finished my warm-down I had covered 7.5 miles in 1 hr and 40 seconds. I think I can lay the ghost to rest now.

Oh just to annoy the others in the office that are trying to watch their weight, when I got back to my desk I pulled out a large tin of Cadburys Roses and left them on top of the filing cabinet. I felt I had earned a couple.

Lay off the sweets

When I arrived at work today there was a large tin of "Heros" perked on the filing cabinet at the end of my row of desks with a note saying help yourself. I've got a sweet tooth and very soon lost count of the number of times I had dipped my hand into the tin before lunchtime. I thought nothing more of it when I went for my lunchtime run.
Today was another one of those simple straight forward plods that are recovery runs, or it was supposed to be a straight forward plod. Just under Half way round I suddenly lacked all energy and if anything felt a little faint. This can be warning sign of a major problem so I double checked my HRM and it said I was only down at 140 so no cardiovascular problems. It was then that I remembered the chocolates I had been eating. Those fatty, refined sugar laden sweets! I must have thrown my blood sugars well out of balance and was paying for it big time. I managed to struggle round the rest of my run but it wasn't a pleasant experience. So the moral of the story is "Lay off the sweets before you go running!"

Progression Run

Today was one of tougher days in my marathon training. Although I had a day off work to do some Christmas shopping I still had a run to fit and I had to fit it in early so now long lie in for me this morning. Instead it was out the door and into the dark and cold for an 8 miler at 6:30 in the morning. I was out at this time last week but that was for a "cruise" into work. Today was a faster paced run with a time and purpose in mind.
I was reading an article on a running coach's website a couple of days ago about what he called progression runs. In these you do your normal pace until the last part where you pick up the speed. This is to simulate the end of race and help with your stamina and strength. I've heard of these being called by other names. I used today's run as an experiment in this type of training run.
I ran the first 5 miles at a steady but not brisk pace and then picked the pace up until in the last mile I was nearing 10K pace. My impression of the run was good, felt I had achieved something but had not totally exhausted myself in doing it. I was rewarded with an encouraging average of 7:52 min/mile. I'll probably give this another go in a week or so

Curry night

I was out last night with some of the "lads" for a curry. Of course when you are out on one of these occasions you have to have a beer or 2. I'll admit I'm getting old and I was back home, feeling stuffed and falling asleep on the sofa by 11.

This is all very nice until you remember that I had to run in the morning, before taking the biggest kid to rugby. I don't know what was worse that blotted feeling from th curry or the biting wind at 8 o'clock in the morning. Either way I decided to get this run over and done with quickly. This turned out to be a good idea as my digestive system had decided it had enough of the curry and wanted to get rid of it sooner rather than later. Not wanting to get caught short certainly speeds the end of a run up!

So the moral of the story: Don't have a curry the night before a run!

Anyway looking back at the week I managed to cover 37 miles, not bad with only 5 runs. My target for next week is to break the 40 mile mark.

What you see in the morning

Another long slow run this morning 14 and a bit miles in 2hrs10mins. Its amazing some of the sights you see in the early morning. I started my run just as dawn was breaking and was able see the mist rise off the fields that line one of the roads I run along, pity this was disturbed by the smell of exhaust fumes from the cars on the road. Someone had obviously been thinking of a lonely runner the night before as I came across 2 unopend bottles of Grolsch sitting at the side of the pavement. Nice thought but not the best of fluid replacement options.

Anyway got to go now taking the kids to see "The Incredibes".

Missed Run

I was planning on doing a relaxed four mile out and about a lunchtime between 2 meetings, but my first meeting overran and my lunch hour became a lunch half hour so no chance of a run. I would have compensated by running this evening but can't because of family commitments (wife is out so get to watch the kids). I don't think the idea of running less than 12 hours before my long run is that sensible idea either

I mark it down as extra rest after a particularly hard run yesterday. I'll just put my feet up in front of the TV instead.

Katharine

I did something really stupid this morning. I e-mailed my former running partner (Katharine) and asked her if she wanted to out for a run at lunchtime - She said yes. For most people this wouldn't be a problem but for me this is trouble. In the time since we ran together I've put on a lot of weight, she has lost some, I've got slower, she's got faster a lot faster! There was a time that I could beat her over 10K be draw at 10 Miles and she would beat me at anything longer. Not now, she recently ran a 10 Mile race in 62 Minutes! That's a pace faster than I used to be able run a 10K in.
The route wan't going to help a long slow incline followed by a quick down followed by a long climb. In total it was seven miles. The start and end were easy enough as we now work in different places so had to meet up. The bit in the middle was hard work! There is method to my madness and that is I have to work very hard and push myself to limits I can't go on my own, over time this will make me a much stronger runner.
Katharine will also be running FLM so we will be arranging weekly runs to compare progress, in some masochistic way I'm looking forward to them.

Plodding along

Today was one of my recovery runs which is quite fortunate as I felt really tired. I could have taken the day off but I felt I had to run. I might even wake me up. I set my HRM for an easy paced run and off I went. Nothing special happened I added an extra loop onto an existing run and basically used the oportunity to explore some parts of the housing estate near where I work.

By the time I got back I'd covered about 4 miles with enough time to have a stretch and chat to some of the gym users. Best of all I actually felt much more awake than I had all morning. Just goes to show its not all about massive mileages or speed sessions, sometimes just plodding about is the bst thing for you.

Victory 5 and overdoing it

I've had a tough couple of days, both in and out of running shoes. Friday was my marathon paced run on the treadmill. This went well and felt comfortable about the run and the fact that I was a couple of seconds per mile inside the pace. Unfortunately things just got tougher from there.

Friday night was the company dinner dance. I'm fortunate in that the company I work for is fairly generous and there was drinks on arrival a 6 bottles of wine between 10 people on each table. The problem was we only had 8 people on our table and they were mostly drinking the white, and I was drinking the red. Of course once you've started mingling after the meal you tended to get top-ups from other tables. I didn't get to bed until 2:30 in the morning.

Sunday brought the Victory 5 race in Portsmouth. This was my first race in several years and I wasn't looking forward to it. I did have a target in mind of 35:00 and would quite happily settle for 34:59! Unfortunately for me I placed myself in the wrong part of the starting line amongst the slower runners and it took me about 800 metres to pick my way out of them and into some clear running space. My first miles was 7:14 so I was under a bit of pressure from the start. fortunately I was able to pick the pace up and nearly eliminate the deficit by the 2nd mile. And was slighty ahead by the 3rd mile. The final run in was tough we were greeted at the 4 mile marker by a marshall that was screaming "Do you want a fast time or what!" I think he was an escapee from the Royal Navy's PT department. In the end I managed to bring myself home in about 34:35 so I was pleased with that time. Unfortunately I should have rewarded myself with a rest today but I didn't.

I've got an all-day meeting today and decided that I'd better run into work. So I did all 7 and half miles of it in a fraction over an 1hr. Unfortunately I'm now really feeling the strain and just want to sleep. My own fault and a mistake I will learn from.

Swapping Days

Today was supposed to be my rest day but I didn't get a chance to go running yesterday. I had to queue up at the local leisure centre at 6:45 in the morning to book youngest onto a swimming course and my boss had has staff meeting at 12:30 so lunchtime run either. An evening run was out because of other family commitments. So I decided to take yesterday as rest and today as a run day.

I know I said I wouldn't mention the cold a couple of weeks ago but it was rather "parky" at lunchtime and I was doing hill reps so plenty of scope to pull or tweak something. I was however a good boy and did a nice warm-up jog and some streching before the sprints. I've found a new hill (well gentle slope actually) that is perfect, its almost 400 metres long, tarmaced and quiet. Today was only 4 reps but I was very pleased when I did all my times within a second of each other, showing that I'm running at an even pace. To round things off today I had a visit to the Sports Massuer for a "tune-up" as he put it.