First Time Marathon

The blog is dead long live the blog

2005-05-02T20:01:00.000Z

As I've now run - Ok run and walked, a marathon this blog has come to an end. It isn't however the end of my blogging days. I've started a new one over here. I couldn't think of a decent name for it so its just called Run Rob Run. Hopefully you may want to drop in and say hello.

One last thing - I've not added up all the figures up yet but it seems that I have raised somewhere between £1100 and £1200 for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Cheerio

2005-04-23T08:55:00.000Z

Job Done

Final Score

2005-04-22T16:34:00.000Z

I've been putting off writing this entry because in a way I'm ashamed of myself, but after my first post marathon run I realise I shouldn't be.

The Good News : I finished
The Bad News : 4hrs 20 mins and 49 secs

If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll understand this is outside of what I was hoping for by some 50 minutes.

So what went wrong?

MrsW and I travelled to London on Saturday and collected my number before the big queue developed. Had some lunch at the pasta party and headed off to hotel. I put my feet up and watched the Rugby while MrsW went to out.

Went for an early dinner of yet more pasta. Just got back to the hotel when I had a couple of urgent calls of nature. I put this down to nerves because I was so looking forward to the race.

Woke up after an uneasy nights sleep, but I was expecting that. Went for breakfast to find the restuarant was still closed (its 6:45). Finally opens at 7. I then discover that they don't do cereal only bread, croissants and danishes or the full english! Hmm guess which I went for.
Head off to the start to get myself sorted out, no problems here strip off and get into the pen. MrsW has been able to secure herself a place by the pen and we have a few final words before the off.

Mile 1 was as expected crowded avoided the temptation to dodge in and out I knew that people would tail off quickly and it would open up.

By Mile 2 it had settled down, I was at my cruise pace and I could enjoy myself giving the kids high 5's. I then glanced at my HRM it was showing 172! This fails to compute, routine 8 m/m is only about 158-160 what's up. Perhaps it'll settle in a mile or so. It didn't by mile 6 it was high 170's something was badly wrong. By mile 8 I had lost all energy, taking an energy gel made me feel worse. It battled on to mile 13 but my pulse was reaching 182 my 1K reps is 185. I have no option but to stop running and walk. And that was that I was reduced to a run walk routine for the rest of the race and even that was hard work. I was now in my own personal hell. I wanted out but there was charity money at stake to I kept going.

Met MrsW at mile 15 gave her a hugh and started crying but was told to keep going. Reached the RW supporters at Mile 17 and got a banana and some jelly babies. Met MrsW at mile 20 again and really wanted to give up but she wouldn't let me and then the long slow slog to the end. Fortunately I managed to get picked up by a few other Anthony Nolan Runners that got me to start running every now and again.

I don't remember much more about the race apart from the finishing straight, rounding the corner and seeing the finishing line seemed like the holy grail to me. I even managed a sprint.
Having talked to a few people I reckon I must have caught a virus/bug on the Saturday. As people say bad things happen.

So what I'm I going to do about it? Well, there is a little race called the Abingdon Marathon in October and I have a personal score to settle. I may even start a new blog

3:30 or bust!

Final Thoughts

2005-04-15T19:33:00.000Z

This is my last post before the big day. MrsW and I are traveling up to London Fairly early tomorrow so that I can get registered.

It doesn't seem that long ago that I got my letter telling me I would be accepted into the marathon, but the time has gone the training has been done. I've just looked at my running log, since I started training back in September I have covered 910 miles. Only 26.2 miles now stands between me and finishers medal. I feel good and I'm looking forward to the off. I expect Sunday to hurt but I have a mantra that I will repeat when it gets tough "Pain is only temporary, failure is forever"

With a lot of help from some relatives I have raised £973 of sponsorship for Anthony Nolan, though I would like to especially thank someone in Glasgow for donating £250.

I'd also like to say thanks to the people that have left comments , especially Pixie, Laura and of course the Mr Iceman, Leon

To everyone taking part Good Luck and enjoy your day

Robert

No No Not the Ice Bath

2005-04-10T16:12:00.000Z

What : Last longish run of training
Distance : 9.75
Time : 1:17:09

I'm a day behind again, but yesterday's run went well. I spent 5 minutes warming up on the exercise bike to ensure any tightness got loosened up before setting out. Once I set out everything went more or less to plan. 1st mile was deliberately slow as it will be on the day, then then gently up to marathon pace and finished off with a quicker couple of miles.

I've decided that since I've effectively lost 4 of the past 5 weeks of training, trying to show off and get a fantastic time is only going to end in failure. I am stilling aiming for sub 3:30, but just 3:29:59 would do lovely. With this in mind I've adjusted my steady pace to be about 7:55. This is marginally faster than needed for a 3:30 but will allow me to recoup the minute or so I expect to down in the first mile and a bit.

The marathon pace was OK but I struggled to do the quicker miles and was a bit worried when my right hip ached at the higher speeds going up hills. Again I took the hint and backed off the pace and went back to my marathon pace.

The aching hip worried me a little, so as a precautionary measure I made a great sacrifice. I ran myself a bath, but without the hot water - cold only. I would have put some ice in it but there wasn't any in the freezer. I then proceeded to sit in the bath for 15 minutes getting some sarcastic comments from MrsW which I won't repeat here.

Anyway it is now all systems go for the 17th and boy am I looking forward to it.

PS its now 16:12 BST on Sunday when do you think Leon (AimHigh) will make a comment about the ice bath? Answers on a comment to the usual address.

Pain Free

2005-04-07T14:57:00.000Z

Shh - got to say this very queitly in case my body hears me, but I was able to do 3 miles on the treadmill pain free at marathon pace. I only stopped because I got bored and was being tempted to push the go faster button.

So far there have been no after effects and I'm off for a massage this evening to keep it that way.

I'm now planning to do a 10 mile run on Saturday at marathon pace, provided I get through that OK then it is all systems go for the 17th!!

Fingers crossed!

Impulse Engines Restored

2005-04-05T20:30:00.000Z

What : Shakedown
Distance : 4.4
Time : 36:25

Pain free for the first day in several weeks so I decide to go out for a gentle jog at lunchtime. Alright when I say pain free I mean only an occasional twinge but nothing when walking or going up stairs. Everything was OK for the first 3 miles then the hip started aching. Took the hint and headed home. Was fine once I stopped but was iced a couple of times during the afternoon as precautionary measure.

That was yesterday I'm glad to say that the improvement has continued today. I did however decide not to risk a speed session, I'm so close to being back to fitness that I wasn't going to risk it. I opted for intervals on the exercise bike instead. That nearly finished me off!

Here was me minding my own business working really hard on the pedals and the seat decides to slip down to the bottom with a clang! The only thing stopping me following was the fact I was pushing so hard on the pedals I pushing myself back up. Anyway I managed my 20 min interval session plus a cool down period without injury so that is a plus. Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day and that is exactly what it will stay as. On the whole today is the first day I have felt really positive about FLM in a month, I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it!!

Disasterous cycle

2005-04-02T21:20:00.000Z

My hip still hasn't fully recovered and following advice from several people I'm not planning to run this weekend. However I was told that I could cycle and this would be good for maintaining the fitness.

So I set off on my bike this morning planning to have a wander South Hampshire. Its been 6 months since I was last on my bike so I was a bit rusty but I was moving. If you look at an OS map of this area you'll notice there are a lot of contour lines, meaning things are a bit lumpy. There isnt anything particularly large but there is a lot of it.

I was just about coping with this when disaster struck. I came down a hill, and was just about to start climbing another one. I stepped down the gears to be ready but my chain jumped off into the wheel. This is bad news VERY bad news. The chain locked solid but the wheel continued to turn against the chain. Net effect was I broke 10 of the 18 spokes on the drive side of the wheel and the wheel went so out of true that it jammed on the mudguard let alone the brakes. My ride was over.

I was now standing the in middle of rural Hampshire with a broken bike. Quick call on the mobile to MrsW to come and rescue me but got the answering machine so I left a message and started walking back towards a pub I had passed a mile earlier.

OK Pub, broken bike, waiting for someone coming to pick you up, what do you do. Of course have a pint. One problem its 10:10 and the pub doesn't open until 12:00!!!

Talk about bad luck!

Steady as she goes

2005-03-29T20:13:00.000Z

What : Steady run
Distance : 7 miles
Time : 55.28

Another recovery build up run. Hip is still achy but its hanging in there. Today's run was planned as being 2 miles warm up 4 steady miles 1 mile warm down. It actually ended up being 1 mile warm up and 6 miles steady.

The 6 miles weren't very steady either, couldn't get my pace to settle. I was either doing 7:50ish or 7:30 and all of it felt like hard work! Looking on the bright side it is another run in the bag and I didn't collapse in a heap at the side of the road. Ah well more of the same tomorrow I expect.

Easy does it

2005-03-28T18:13:00.000Z

What : First post injury run
Distance : 3.4
Time : 29:46

First run back after a week out with my hip injury.

Could feel the hip but not as in pain or discomfort, just that it wasn't quite right. I suppose this is to be expected. I was planning to run about 5 miles but had eaten the wrong stuff last night and my stomach wasn't happy about it.

I'm still pinging between Will I, Won't I? But as Laura pointed out its only my own ambitions that are putting pressure on me. I've had a couple of large donations to my fundraising so I'm more inclined to run. I'll leave speed work out for a couple of more days though, I'm just glad to be running.

No Stretching

2005-03-24T21:23:00.000Z

Update from my massage today.

It seems the whole area around the top of my left hip is very tight. So I was treated to a through rub down and some ultra sound to try and free things up and help recovery on its way. Richard (the massuer and ex-runner) reckons that I've actually got an inflammation where the one of the muscles is trying to tear itself off the bone.

And the last thing you want to do in this situation is .....

Yes you've guessed it Stretch! This only aggravates the matter.

The good news is that things are feeling better after the massage and ultra sound. Running won't be an option for another couple of days. I'm however allowed to cycle and use a cross trainer. So I should be able to maintain my cardiovascular fitness. I'll get the road bike out of the garage and go for riding for a couple of hours. Just need to avoid big hills, oh beep I live in Hampshire which isn't exactly flat. Some careful route selection required....

Still sidelined

2005-03-23T22:03:00.000Z

Still can't run, though I did try for a couple of miles on the treadmill (out of sheer frustration I hasten to add)

Really going through a time of uncertainty. Will I or Won't I be fit? I have been putting pressure on myself about the weekends LSR. It was planned to be 22 miles. I feel I need to do this because I gave up at 20 miles 3 weeks ago and also I need to know my hip will take it.

Thanks to the Sub 3:30 thread at RW, I'm beginning to realise that I shouldn't worry about this. One long run isn't going to make a difference. I have 2 20 milers under my belt plus 5 others that are at least 15 miles each. Bruce Tulloh has a rule of thumb for faster marathon runners, a category I hope I fall into, that says the longest 5 runs should add up to 100 miles. Well mine add up to 92.2 probably close enough.

As it happens I've had a couple of strokes of luck.

1) Managed to get an appointment to have a massage done on my hip tomorrow. If need be I could probably get some ultrasound on it as well.

2) Found a sport ice pack in the freezer compartment of the fridge at work which seems to have been there for a while. Needless to say its being put to use now!

And I've still got 24 days to go!

Enforced Rest

2005-03-21T20:44:00.000Z

I was in a bad way this morning. Everytime I went to turn over in bed I woke up with the pain from my hip. Things got worse as I went down the stairs to make MrsW cup of tea and my right calf went into spasm and left that horrible is that pulled muscle or not feeling. Luckily this cleared up after a couple of hours.

With the hip problem all hope of a run today had disappeared to be replaced by the nasty feeling that my hip may not clear up sufficiently for me to run a good FLM!!

Ok time to take action!

I inquired about going to see the physio but it seems that the company health insurance scheme has changed it rules. I now need a doctors letter and a claim form before I can have treatment - so that will take a week on its own. I then roamed around the internet to see if I could work out what was wrong with my hip. It seems that I may have problems with my piriformis muscle. The sports massuer did comment that it was quite tight last week.

Alright I know what it is now how do I stretch it?

Came across Dr Backmans Website which had a couple of interesting stretches for it and a few other things as well. Went and practised them at lunchtime and the sitting stretch at my desk most of the afternoon. The good news is that the hip seems to be easing off quite quickly. I'll see how I feel in the morning but I may just be able to try a gentle recovery run tomorrow. There will however be lots of stretching to be done.

Fleet Half and weekly review

2005-03-20T20:33:00.000Z

Only 4 weeks to go!!!!

Ran the Fleet Half today in a time of 1:35:35. Being brutally honest I'm disappointed in myself I should have gotten at least sub 1:35. My Garmin over measured by 0.28 mile (Thats a lot!) and I set myself too conservative a pace. In fact looking at the times (at the bottom) I must have been sleeping during miles 9, 10 and 11. By the time I realised my mistake it was too late to sort it out.

Apart from that this week has been a relatively good week. Managed to get back into the swing of things after my week away, but I'm still being troubled by my left hip, though I do think it is getting better (albeit slowly)

Stats ( Too tired to put them into table format)

Weekly Miles : 47.3
Monthly Miles : 87
Mile this year : 477
Total Training Miles : 870
Parrot Predictor : 3:12:23 (Good job this the thoeritical quickest time - because it would be an insane target for me)

Fleet Half Breakdown

Mile	Time	HR
1	6:41	166
2	6:58	168
3	7:17	169
4	7:08	170
5	6:56	170
6	7:11	171
7	7:04	172
8	7:13	171
9	7:32	171
10	7:23	173
11	7:26	172
12	7:16	174
13	6:57	179
13.38	2:27	184
Total	1:35:35	171

Keeping up

2005-03-19T20:52:00.000Z

It is now becoming really hard to keep things up to date. I'm either working, running,taking the kids somewhere, or sleeping. When I set out writing this blog I tried to complete an entry for every run, well I've now done 3 runs since my last entry. I can't even remember what Wednesday's run was without looking at my log.

Today was an easy 5 mile run. I'm racing at the Fleet Half tomorrow so obviously wasn't going to wear myself out. This will be my last race before FLM (and that's only 4 weeks away!!) I've been very tired this week, things at work are getting really busy and are starting to take it out of me. A couple of late nights and early starts haven't helped either.

In fact I think I might just finish my cup of tea and head to bed.

Goodnight

Nemesis

2005-03-15T20:58:00.000Z

What: Steady Run
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:07:36

Today was another physcological boost. I ran a route that I have always struggled with in the past. Its my longest lunchtime run and at the halfway point there is a slope that just seems to go on and on. Its not steep and its not particularly long but I've always had problems with it in the past. Maybe its because it comes after 3 miles of flat or slight downhill that I've pushed to hard on, but I always want to give up on it. "Not today Zurg" - came round the corner saw the slope and thought is that all it is and carried on my merry way up it.

Looking at the electronics after the run tell an interesting story, after the slope I couldn't get my pulse back down however my speed remained good and I didn't feel that bad during the run. Maybe my body is actually growing accustomed to long durations at race pace.

Getting back into the swing of things

2005-03-14T20:18:00.000Z

Back from the States and a complete week off running. I did briefly try the hotel treadmill but it turned out to be an old knackered thing that was horrid to run on. On the plus side though I did manage to save myself £30 by buying a new pair of Wave Creations when I was out there.

It was with these on my feet that I took on the work's treadmill. This was an imporant run for me, I could feel demotivation setting in. I had put on about 5lbs in weight in less than a week and was feeling tired. I was afraid that if I didn't nail this run then the whole marathon effort would be lost.

It wasn't a great start to the session, lethargic and slow. Struggled to get through the 2 mile warm up, then came the main event 5 miles at 1/2 Marathon pace. This was harder than it should have been. Although I was running at a constant speed I was suffering badly from cardiac drift. My pulse went something like this

Mile	AVE HR
1	164
2	168
3	170
4	173
5	176

This is also a couple of beats faster than I was running 7 mi/mi before I was off.

By the time I'd thrown in a warm down mile I'd covered a total of 8 miles in 63:07. Despite that it was a bit harder than I expected I was very pleased to have down it. The only downside is that my hip is hurting again, maybe it needs another massage. Good job I've got one booked for Thursday.

Postcard from America II

2005-03-08T17:39:00.000Z

Jetlag got the better of me yesterday. Finished work at about 5PM but was practically falling asleep decided that I would probably have a horrid time on the treadmill and feel even worse so I decided no running for me.

Did go for some retail therapy though. There is a large sports store very close to my hotel so went for a look. They were selling Gel Nimbus VI for $108 which works out at abou 62GBP. I was tempted but I've only had Nimbus V and there looked to be a few differences so I decided not to risk it. Then spotted the clearance rack which had all last years models including several pairs of my other shoes, Wave Creations, and was what more they were only $65, thats 35 quid!!! Alas they didn't have my size :( I found an 8 but take an 8.5. Managed to find out about local real running shop and will have a look there.

That is if the weather improves. Yesterday was a warm day, I could wander around outside in shirtsleeves. Today the temprature has dropped significantly and its snowing. Added to that its beginning to ice up as well means I won't be running outside. maybe the treadmill, if I can stay awake.....

Postcard from America I

2005-03-07T18:03:00.000Z

Arrived at the hotel last night and the first thing I did was find the "Fitness Room". 2 Treadmills a stepper and a cross trainer, not bad considering. Had a quick check of the treadmill to see how fast it would go went up beyond what I would need. Considering getting changed and doing a couple of miles, but as it was 9PM local time ( or 2 AM body time) I thought that wouldn't be a good idea.

I'm pleased to report that I don't seem to have any problems from Saturday's aborted run, either mentally or physically. Leon and Pix thanks for your comments, they certainly lifted my spirits when I was a bit down. I'm in a much better frame of mind and feel that I want to go running. My hip seems to have calmed down as well, despite been sat in cattle class for 8 hours yesterday, so it definitely looks like worn shoes. Maybe I'll peruse the large sports store nearby looking for a new pair of Wave Creations while I'm here.

I gave up

2005-03-05T19:12:00.000Z

That's right I was running along and I just gave up and stopped. To make it worse I had already done 20.5 miles of what was supposed to be a 22 mile run. There was nothing wrong with my running I don't think I had hit the wall I just stopped running and started walking. I did try to start running again but just couldn't get myself going again.

When I got home I was disappointed with myself, but MrsW came up with a couple of excuses to make me feel better.

I was late to bed (Been at a retirement dinner - but no alcohol for me!)
Didn't have pasta for dinner
I ran along the sea front for a couple of miles (its always windy)
Spent the last 4 miles slogging away into the wind.

Maybe these did contribute, but I'm worried that I lack the mental strength to keep going. Maybe I'll take a couple of days off and recharge my batteries and come make refreshed.

Temper Temper

2005-03-03T20:49:00.000Z

What Steady run
Distance : 7.62
Time : 57:24

Something was not right about today's run. It was a chore and not fun despite being able to go quicker. I must have been in a bit of mood as I swore just because I wanted to cross the road and couldn't because there was traffic there and when 3 people walked straight in front of me without looking it wasn't a polite excuse me it was just barge straight through them. My excuse was I was actually in the last mile of my run and moving at sub 7 min/mile pace and didn't want to have to slow down. Anyway it was their fault for not looking, its not as if they could have missed me and my very bright yellow jacket.

Went for a massage this evening and got the massuer to have a look at the hip pain. It seems that one of my Quads is very tight and this may causing the discomfort. More stretching required. I'll have plenty of time for that next week been stuck in a hotel room.

Beginning to misfire?

2005-03-02T22:13:00.000Z

What : 1K Reps
Time : 54:41
Distance : 11Kms

Early start in the gym but not as early as it should have been. Beat out the prescribed intervals without any real problems. However things are not looking good for the training program in general.

I've been very lucky with my training so far. I've been able to train consistently, stay injury free and enjoy the experience. That may come to a rather abrupt end.

I've still got a niggle in my left hip. I'm hoping it is the early signs of worn shoes and a new pair of shoes will put a stop to it.
Work has gone absolutely ballistic - I'm off to the States at the weekend and don't really expect to get any serious training done. I may even have to go again in the next couple of weeks. If I'm not travelling I have a major software build to get of the door between now and the marathon
Domestic pressures are starting to build up. MrsW commented that all I seem to do is come home empty my bag and start packing it again. Nothing else seems to get done. I suppose travelling out on Mothers day isn't helping either.

Perhaps like a lot of other FLM runners, I'm suffering the mid-training blues. I must look on the bright side. I've built up a good base and should be able to take the occasional knocks. Hey it wouldn't be proper training without something going wrong!

No Central Heating

2005-02-28T20:43:00.000Z

I was planning a run today at lunchtime but got a call from home. "The central heating isn't working!" Wife had phoned British Gas to come and fix it, unfortunately they could only commit to coming between 12:00 and 18:00. Wife had to go out so I had to come home and wait for the Gas Man - no lunchtime run for me

This may be a good thing as my left hip was hurting a little bit.

The really bad news is that he wasn't able to fix it! Its an electrical problem which is proving hard to track down so he needs some specialist help. He's coming back tomorrow but for the time being on one of the coldest days of the year we have no central heating, so I currently have no need for an ice bath, I have an ice house!

7 Weeks to go

2005-02-27T20:56:00.000Z

What : Easy recovery run
Distance : 6.05
Time : 57:24

Today was one of the slowest runs I've ever done but then it was supposed to be slow. I've discovered this slow running lark as all a state of mind. You have to be in a "I don't give a $£@&" state of mind where you don't feel pressured. I was running in the dark (which is unusual for me) and couldn't really read either my Garmin or HRM, so I couldn't get upset about what they said!

This week was another easier week, but still had a couple of toughish sessions speed sessions in it but not as tough as previous weeks. I did however have a long steady run which was good fun. Though I'm not sure if it was at quite the right speed. This quicker run did give me a relatively low Parrot Predictor but I have to remember the Parrot Predictor is the theoritical best time not a predicted time.

Miles This Week	46.3
Miles This Month	185
Miles This Year	390
Total Marathon Training	783
Parrot Predictor	3:17:14

Long and Steady

2005-02-26T19:07:00.000Z

What: Long Steady Run
Distance : 14 Mile
Time : 1:46:05

As my Long Runs are getting well Long, they are now being interspersed with Longish Steady Runs. Today was one of those days. I suppose I didn't really need to do it today since Bramley last week was a very long steady run, but I sure wasn't going to do another 20 miler today. I made a change to my normal routine this week I actually did a proper mile and bit warm up before the main course. I think this helped because my HR was fairly steady from the start. The split times are at the bottom. Everything was going well until the last 2.5 miles. At this point I bumped into Titchfield Hill 30+ metres of elevation in about 300 metres - not fun. My HR went ballistic at this point and I didn't manage to get it settled back down.

Training is beginning to take its toll on other runners. Two of my compatriat bloggers ( Evil Pixie and Aim High! ) are both nursing injuries which has sidelined them. I'm hoping they have a swift recovery and are back running soon. Other runners have now hit the training wall and wondering if they are actually going to make it to big day. It would be a shame if any of them gave up as there is only 7 weeks left to the day.

Mile	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Time	7:30	7:35	7:47	7:32	6:35*	8:12*	7:41
HR	148	153	156	160	158	162	162
Mile	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Ave
Time	7:33	7:29	7:32	7:41	7:41	7:56	7:39	7:35
HR	159	159	161	162	164	166	171	160

*Garmin had another funny giving a very quick time for mile 5 and slow time for mile 6. I suspect it had a bad ready and measured a mile incorrectly then corrected the problem during the next mile

Erratic Heart Rate

2005-02-25T21:58:00.000Z

What : Easy Run
Distance : 5.16
Time : 46:15

I had meetings either side of lunchtime today, so I didn't think I was going to be able to get out. Luckily the morning meeting finished early so I managed to get out for a gentle run before tomorrows longish steady run.

One thing I have been noticing for a while is that I have a very erratic Heart Rate when I first start running. My average HR for the first mile was 158 and it had a maximum of 192!!! The 2nd mile was only 137, the run average was 143. I had even been trotting for a couple of minutes before I started any stopwatch. I've no other signs of been unwell, no dizziness or shortness of breath, just an HRM saying I've got a ridiculously high HR.

I'm inclined to believe that it is the chest strap having difficulties picking up the electrical impulses early on in a run, maybe I'll have a prowl round the net to see if anyone else has similar experiences.

Here's the breakdown

Mile	1	2	3	4	5	5.16	Ave
Time	9:02	8:56	8:59	8:55	9:01	1:20	8:58
HR	158	137	141	138	140	146	143

Revising plans

2005-02-24T21:10:00.000Z

What : brisk run
Distance : 5 miles
Time : 35:56

Good dinner out night last night with MrsW. The sticky toffee pudding was wonderful but a bit late to bed and not a good nights sleep having eaten so late. The run was supposed to be brisk (or about half marathon pace) which I would have liked to have done outside, but I didn't trust my digestive system after all that rich food. So it was the treadmill again.

Did a mile warm-up got off reset the HRM etc and started off on my 5 mile brisk. Not a lot more I can say really My HR only averaged 158 but was beginning to drift in the last mile as it went from 161 to 164. But neither of these are anywhere near the 171 which the upper limit.

Perhaps I'm not pushing myself hard enough? Don't suppose it really matters I'm on track for a sub 3:30 that is my main priority I'm not going to jeopardise that by pushing hard now and getting injured.

Happy Birthday to me

2005-02-23T18:12:00.000Z

Today is the 15th anniversary of my 21st Birthday. MrsW and the little W's bought me some nice running presents.

I got a Bright Yellow Brooks running jacket, a couple of long sleeved tops and a pair of running gloves. So with all this new cold weather gear I can confidently predict it will get warm soon.

Unfortunately I still have to work and run ( or is that run and work ), so I bought a whole stack full of cakes for the office and went to work.

The lunchtime run was a dull affair. It was cold and light snow showers and I really had to drag myself out to do it. I cheered myself up a little by wearing my new jacket which is lovely. The run itself was supposed to be an easy 6-8. I did 7.6 in about 1hr 6min but never felt happy. I'm coming to hate my easy runs, their no fun. There is no challenge of going a long distance or any zip to them, they just have to be done.

Got back to the office and went for a shower only to find that the Ice Bath Manic calling himself Aim High must have interfered with the hot water supply. There was no Hot Water! The showers only did cold or VERY COLD. I wasn't very amused, I am definitely not going for an Ice Bath after that experience.

Warp Core back online!

2005-02-22T12:47:00.000Z

Sounds like something out of Star Trek but I suppose it is a good analogy to describe this mornings session. As I said yesterday today was 1 mile reps and that means the treadmill. Back to the fast stuff after a lazy day yesterday.

As this week is an easy week it was only 3 reps instead of 4 I had 2 weeks ago. I also heeded the schedule and took the full 4 minutes jog recovery between reps. The first rep started badly and I felt as if I wanted to just get off but I need to be of tougher stuff so I persevered. Things got better. 2nd Rep was much smoother, the 3rd was hard work at the end but then I expected that. By the time I'd finished with the Warm down I'd covered 6 miles in 46:50, not bad considering.

The Bramley 20 official results are now available and I recorded 2:35:39. I was perusing another RW Blog about Bramley from WS Susie and her thoughts on the Bramley 20. A very knowledgable person ( I must add here blog to the links at the side ). She faced the same dilemma as myself regarding pace training run pace or marathon pace. I ran mine at marathon pace because I had to have confidence in my ability to run and the pace and for prolonged periods but faced the prospect of being slow and sore for a while. Given today's performance I got away with it but not by much...

Some well deserved rest

2005-02-21T19:11:00.000Z

Well when I say rest day I mean - do a gym induction for a couple of people at the works gym followed by a little light rowing and then a stretch.

Was a bit stiff getting out of bed this morning (especially at 4:30 to get a drink of water) I'd been told that some people have to go sideways down the stairs the day after running a long race. I was one of them!

Struggled back to bed and when it was finally time to get up my body was just about ready to respond. Stepping into the bath to have a shower was "uncomfortable" but the shower soon warmed me up and I began to feel like a member of the human race again.

Things have got better during the day and if it hadn't been for the lunchtime gym induction I would have been off for a run, whether this would have been a good idea I'm not sure.

Back to running tomorrow and the joys of 1 mile reps.

Bramley 20

2005-02-20T20:08:00.000Z

Done it! Cracked 20 miles. Ran the Bramley 20 in rather cold conditions in something like 2:35:45. Meet a couple of guys from the 3:30 thread at the race and ran most of it with them. Stirling job by GeoffM in setting a good pace and all credit to Sawyer how had just arrived back from a skiing trip.

Details are below, but the Garmin and the course measurement didn't quite agree (and I know the course measurement is more accurate than GPS, so there is a runt of 0.12 miles. I'm trying to think what to say about the race. It was certainly well organised, well marshalled and great provisions with water and isotonic drinks.

Strangely I can't remember much of the race, apart from seeing a broken television lying by the side of the road and a hill that got a lot longer and steeper the 2nd time around. The last 4 miles are a little undulating and this took it out of me as my mile times increased for them. By mile 19 I was mentally done in. I had spent the last 8 miles counting down to the end but there was just something about that last mile that nearly got me to stop running. Perhaps it was becasue I was beginning to pass a steady stream of other runners that were walking and something was saying "Its OK to walk". I did manage however to conjure up a sprint finish from somewhere which was good fun.

Mile	Time	HR
1	7:43
2	7:44	148
3	7:28
4	7:31	156
5	7:36
6	7:47	160
7	7:37
8	7:35	161
9	7:46
10	7:42
11	7:44
12	7:57	159
13	7:45
14	7:39	159
15	7:53
16	8:07	161
17	7:55
18	7:55	162
19	7:50
20	7:39
Runt	0:41	167
Total	2:35:45	159

Getting nervous

2005-02-19T21:08:00.000Z

Bramley 20 tomorrow. Longest I've ever had to run and its going to be a Marathon Pace! You could say I'm a little nervous

I've was fortunate in some ways today - My parents computer had a failed CD-Writer so I was called upon to fix it. This distracted me for a while and this evening I've got the little one's to bed, made up my energy drinks for tomorrow and pottered around. Just need to pack my bag and double check the race instructions then I can head for bed. Oh I also managed to do a 2.4 mile jog this morning to keep loose for tomorrow.

No rest for the wicked

2005-02-18T21:08:00.000Z

That's how I felt this morning. I'v taken a day off work so that I can spend some time with the kids at half term. Only problem is I've still got to run, so instead of a nice lie in the little voice inside my head kept on going "Got to get up, you've a run to do"

What : Slow to Steady
Distance : 7.8
Time : 1:03:40

According to the schedule today was supposed to be 2 miles easy 4miles threshold and 2 miles easy. This was a bit tough to be doing 2 days before the Bramley 20 so I threw myself out the door without a plan of what I was going to do, all I knew was start slowly.
Did this then I got to about 2.5 miles and got bored so stepped the pace up to Marathon Pace and held it there for the next 4 miles. Then trot to finish.

I won't bore anyone with a table of split times, because its getting late and I'm tired so I'll say goodnight at that.

Time Warp

2005-02-16T20:33:00.000Z

I think I have definitely found a rift in the Space Time continuum. Out running with my Ex-Training Partner (The one that is much much MUCH faster than me!) when my Garmin started counting down the distance. This was in exactly the same spot as yesterdays problem. This time it kept on calculating the lap speed and then suddenly jumped forward in distance to give me the faster mile in the run by 40 seconds! To prove its not just my Garmin running partner's Garmin threw a wobbler and recorded the slowest mile by 40 seconds. So if youre ever near the superstores in Locks Heath keep an eye out for any aliens.

Running bit
What : Steady
Distance : 8.45
Time : 1:02:35

Breakdown

Mile	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	8.45	Ave
Time	8:03	7:28	7:26	7:19	7:39	6:40	7:32	7:04	03:20	7:24
HR	150	159	159	159	161	164	164	160	164	159

Space Time Distortion

2005-02-15T20:33:00.000Z

What : Recovery run
Distance : 6.7 according to Garmin - but I know the route is 7
Time : 1:00:17

I must have crossed a Space Time Distortion today. My Garmin bleeped at me to say I had just reached 4 miles. When I next looked down it was saying I had covered 3.8 miles, I'd actually gone backwards! Unfortunately time hadn't gone backwards it was was still going forwards, as you would expect. Eventually it counted back up to 4 miles and started working properly again.

Bit of trouble at home. Mrs W is not very well, shivery, cold and aching bones it could be the dreaded flu . Little W's are all recovering from their sneezes and coughs but what Mrs W has is different. Life isn't being helped by the fact its half term and I'm working.

Split times

2005-02-14T20:38:00.000Z

I was recording some fantastic split times 5:45 but then they started getting slower 5:54, 6:03, 6:12 I was blowing up. Then much to my dismay I realised that I had been dreaming and the split times was actually the time on my alarm clock everytime the snooze timer was up

Eventually I dragged myself out of bed but I was a tired bunny all morning. Somehow managed to drag myself out a lunchtime and that was a wake up call.

I've not fully learned my lesson from last weeks hill reps. Today was reps but on the, relative, flat. 12 * 1 min with 1 min jog recoveries, well I say jog recoveries I mean "walk for 40 seconds with hands on head wondering where the next breath of air is coming from before moving a little quicker than walking" recoveries.

Still the really hard session of the week over and done with well apart from a small matter of a 20 mile race on Sunday....

9 Weeks to go

2005-02-13T22:12:00.000Z

Is it really that soon? Getting a bit nervous when I think of it in those terms.

Today was the standard recovery run - 5.95 miles in 53:07. Nothing much else to say about it apart from I didn't feel as bad as some of the "day after the LSD" recovery runs have felt.

Weekly round-up

Total for the week	53
Parrot Predictor	3:29:02
Total for the month	86
Total for the year	291
Total Marathon Training	684

The Parrot predictor isn't as good as a couple of weeks ago (closing on 3:15) but then the mix of runs is different only one steady state and one long interval with longer recovery runs. What is encouraging is that my long run speed is improving, albeit only by a couple of seconds per mile but every 2 seconds per mile is nearly a minute over the length of a Marathon.

Next week brings the Bramley 20, that will be the first true indicator of my readiness to run sub 3:30 at London. Fingers crossed!

Hills on the LSD

2005-02-12T20:18:00.000Z

What : LSD ( Long Slow Distance)
Distance : 18.5 miles
Time : 2:40:35 (Breakdown at the bottom if anyone is that interested)

Its that time of the week again, time to spend most of the day running around South Hampshire. I tend to run my LSD over a core route tacking on a bit to bump the distance up. I've always called the route flat because on some streches you can run for a mile or more without crossing a contour line, but I decided to have a look at an OS Map and work out how many "bumps" my route actually has. Here is a round-up of them

Titchfield Hill 30m in about a Km
Bridge St 15m in about 300 metres
Peak Lane 20m in about 600 metres
Park lane 30m in about 1Km
And my absolute favouritre (Not!) 10 m in the last 50 metres to the house

None of these are that savage but maybe my route isn't as flat as I think...

Breakdown
HRM can only do 16 laps so the HR is for 2 miles

Mile	Time	HR
1	8:25
2	8:59	149
3	8:36
4	8:42	144
5	842
6	8:43	151
7	8:55
8	8:22	148
9	8:38
10	8:41	146
11	8:39
12	8:35	152
13	8:19
14	8:43	151
15	8:37
16	8:57	154
17	8:43
18	8:33	157
18.5	3:35	160
Ave	8:38	150

Return of the Sniffles

2005-02-11T19:54:00.000Z

What : Slow to Steady
Distance : 8.37 miles
Time : 1:03:48

The gory details

Mile	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	8.37	Avg
Time	7:55	7:40	7:53	7:35	7:43	7:37	7:25	7:09	2:46	7:37
HR	151	152	154	154	160	163	160	166	168	158

According to the schedule today was to be a steady run "starting slow and finishing faster" the thing is I don't think finishing faster meant a 7:09 last mile. I've got LSR (or LSD) tomorrow so I may pay for that later.

There is potential trouble in the West household. The little ones all have the sniffles again. Middle one has a nasty cough to match and was off school with it early this week. I've started sneezing and minor sniffling but no other symptoms. I'll check my pulse in the morning and if its OK then I'll declare myself fit for running. In the mean time I'll order in another batch of surgical masks and gowns....

Tactical replan

2005-02-10T13:40:00.000Z

The past couple of days have been a struggle to get out at lunchtime as we've been interviewing for a couple of new developers. I lost yesterday's run in its entirety because an interview supposed to finish at 12:45 finished at 1:30 and I had another meeting shortly afterwards. I wouldn't have bothered if it was an Easy run I had lost but it was one of the weeks key-sessions so minor replan required.

So instead of going 8 Steady, Rest, Mile Reps, 18 mile LSD it became Rest, Mile Reps,8 Steady, 18 mileLSD.

I may come to regret this on Saturday but I'll play it by ear and listen to my body.

As for today

What : 4 * 1 mile 400 m jog recovery
Distance : 7 miles
Time : 52:31
Ave HR : 163
Max HR : 185 (Thats supposed to be my theoritical maximum!)

Rep Number	1	2	3	4
Ave HR	166	170	174	178

It came from the Fog

2005-02-08T16:44:00.000Z

What : Easy recovery run
Distance : 6.8 miles
Time : 1:01:47

Early morning run for me again this morning due to lunchtim work commitments. I really must train my boss to stop scheduling things at lunchtime. After yesterday's excertions it was an easy 6-7 miler.

Overview ( spot the hill!)

Mile	1	2	3	4	5	6	6.8
Time	9:29	8:56	9:01	8:56	8:51	9:20	7:10
Average HR	137	139	140	Oops	140	146	144

I was somewhat taken aback during my run when I saw something coming out of the fog on the other side of the road. It was the abmoninable runner covered from head to toe including a full face balaclava and bright yellow running jacket. Its not as if it was cold I was in a long sleeve top and shorts. Perhaps I'd better change my route in case it catches me next time.....

The hills are alive...

2005-02-07T20:28:00.000Z

To the sound of me about to expire

What : 10 * 50 secs Hill repeats
Distance : 6.8 miles
Time : 58:53

This was tough. After my last hill session I thought the hill wasn't steep enough, so I found a steeper one much steeper
This was a mistake although its only for 50 secs it was a hard 50 seconds. After the first repeat I thought OK breathing is bit hard but I can handle this, but by the time number 8 came round I was looking for an oxygen cylinder, number 9 felt like I was better of dying right there and at the end of 10 I leaned on a fence wondering if I was about to see my midmorning bananas again. I was actually wondering if I would be able to make it back. After a couple of minutes of me holding up the fence I felt OK enough to set off back to the office. Needless to say my time wasn't superfast but that's the hardest session of the week over and done with.

Sussex Hills and weekly recap

2005-02-06T20:27:00.000Z

What : Easy (Supposedly!)
Distance : 5.3
Time : 48:21

Stayed in a Country Hotel last night for Mrs W's 40th Birthday. Had a very nice meal and a couple of bottles of wine. Faced with a dilemma in the morning - do I go to the pool and sauna or do I go for an easy run. Being a dedicated marathon runner in training I opt for the run, Mrs W decides on the pool.

I had been eyeing up the road the Hotel was on as it seemed very quiet and country-like so I decided on an out and back run 2.5 miles out turn round and come back. Very good plan so off I went. Nice and easy I said to myself "The roads going up? oh thats all right it won't be for long" WRONG it kept on going up and up and up, some easy run! After about 25 minutes of this I decide enough is enough and turn round and come back. Shall we say the return trip was somewhat easier. Morale of the story - check the OS map for contour lines before you set off!

Mrs W didn't have much better luck. It seems that in the time I was out there was a "fire incident" at the hotel complete with attendance by the local fire brigade. Of course Mrs W had gone for a swim and had to leave the pool in a hurry and stand outside in her swimming costume brrrr. Fortunately for her she was given a towel and one of these space blankets to keep warm. I think I got the better deal at least I was warm.

Moving on to the weekly recap. My easy week has come to an end and it was by recent standards easy. I now have 2 hard weeks and the Bramley 20 before my next one. Even with losing a days running I have still managed a respectable 33 miles, next week is planned as 51 miles. They say February is the hardest month in London Marathon training.

Total for the week	33
Parrot Predictor	3:29:40
Total for the month	33
Total for the year	237
Total Marathon Training	630

What's the difference between Porridge and Ready Brek?

2005-02-04T21:47:00.000Z

What : Sorta Slow Run
Time : 1:24:38
Distance : 10.2
Where : Home to Work

Work diary was a bit busy today with interviews for new staff and running tomorrow is out as its the Mrs's birthday so I ran into work this morning. This isn't the easiest of things as it takes at least 2 days of planning to make sure I have all my things in my locker the day before, nothing worse than getting in to find you have no trousers.

Somehow I've managed to turn the HRM alarm on so that it bleeps when you are outside of the set-limits. Not too big of a deal just keep within the limits problem was it started bleeping at me after 100 metres! I sometimes get erratic readings when I first start off so decided to ignore it but this kept on going despite me slowing right down. Finally by mile 2 I had to stop and find out what was wrong - Really simple Homer Simpson like answer. In my haste to get out of the door I had managed to set the upper limit at 120 when it should have been the lower limit. Doh!

Anyway enough of running - onto the title of this post. The other day on the sub 3:30 thread of Runners world I innocently asked what the difference between Porridge and Ready Brek was ( we were discussing pre-run breakfasts at the time ). Trouble is everyone was expecting a joke and was disappointed there was no punchline - so if anyone has a punchline let me know!

Aldi Heart Rate Monitor

2005-02-03T20:37:00.000Z

What - Easy, Brisk, Easy Tempo session
Time - 47:53
Distance - 6 miles
Where - Treadmill @ work

Early Morning session again. I find this very useful for the key weekly sessions as it makes sure they are done and dusted before anything else can get in the way. This rest week is having positive benefits , the niggles that move from muscle to muscle have gone for the time being.

I used my new Aldi HRM in real anger using it to measure mile splits. I didn't realise until I went back and looked at the splits that it actually recorded the average HR for each lap as well as the average HR for the run - nice bit of kit, amazing considering it only cost £13.

Quick return

2005-02-02T22:45:00.000Z

Hectic day today - 8AM appointment at the boys school, boss's lunchtime staff meeting and baby sitting little one in the evening. With 1 run already lost this week I wasn't going to make it 2 so I decided to get up early and go for a run.

I was on the road by 6:20 which I thought was quite impressive. The plan was to do somewhere between 7 and 8 miles at a slow to steady pace. This was going very well up until about 3.5 miles when certain bodily functions kicked in and we're not talking the fluid kind. So a quick altering of course and shortest route home was planned.

After the run I was feeling quite frustrated that I hadn't acheived what I wanted to, but as Leon said in a comment a couple of days ago at least I'm running.

I suppose I also now know that Aubergine Tart joins Red Onion tart on the list of foods incompatible with early morning runs. I think I might stick with meat for dinner.

Ivan Noble

2005-02-01T20:02:00.000Z

It was great sadness that I read of Ivan Noble's death yesterday. I like many others didn't know him but read his articles about his brave and ultimately unsuccessful fight against a brain tumour. Ivan had written them for the BBC and they recorded his fight against the disease from diagnosis right through to end. The BBC published his final column last week where he acknowledged the end was near, but the news of his passing so soon afterwards was a blow. His story was that of courage and uncertainty, the fight to live long enough to see his daughters third birthday and the arrival of his son both of which he achieved.

Ivan leaves behind a wife and young son and daughter, Mine like many others thoughts and prayers are with them.

Stress levels are high

2005-01-31T12:43:00.000Z

Today has not gotten off to a good start, I was late to bed last night after the internet connection at home seemed to pack up - taking last nights blog entry with it and upsetting "She who must be obeyed" ebay watching. I had planned to do an early morning session on the treadmill, but couldn't get out of bed in time.

OK do the session at lunchtime - No, We are handing over a software build to test today and as Chief Software Bod I get asked to sort out any last minute problems. Guess what someone had a problem! OK problem sorted ( must remember to bury the bodies later :-) ) but its now 12:30 and I'm starving and I don't fancy doing 10 *400m at the moment, decide to make use of the fact its my easy week and give myself the day off and plan my running for the rest of the week.

Tuesday 8 miles slow to steady - should be able to do that as nothing on my calendar at the moment. If I get up in time I may even do what was supposed to be today's session instead.

Wednesday 2 miles easy 2 miles brisk 2 miles slow - Uh Oh, Boss has a meeting at 12:30 so no lunchtime running. Morning ain't any good got to go to the boys school for 8am, evening blocked by kids social diaries.

Thursday 5 miles easy Nothing in Calendar should be able to do that, might move my brisk run in there - quality run and all that.

Friday 10 miles easy - Interviewing all morning and through lunch, may have to run into work, but got to be home pronto in the evening.

Saturday Rest - Its Mrs W birthday (front digit changes as well!), run on that day and I will die a painful and horrible death.

Sunday 5 easy - Should be able to fit this in somewhere.

Maybe I will be able to salvage something from this week, keeping my fingers crossed.

Marathon in 2 days

2005-01-29T18:52:00.000Z

I'm glad todays run is over. Since I had a close look at my training schedule yesterday and todays run have stood out. I have covered 26.5 miles in 2 runs on back to back days. Todays contribution was 17.2 miles today as my weekly LSR (Long Slow Run) in a fraction over 2hr30. This is the furthest I have to run in succesive days with the exception of the weekend in which I have my longest training run of 22 miles in late mid March

I seem to have got through my LSR it in reasonably good shape. Perhaps this is because I changed my fuelling arrangements. I've been reading a couple of threads at Runners World and it became apparent that I wasn't taking in enough carbohydrate during the run. I've been running my LSR with 1 gel at 10 miles and then hanging on. Today I tried 1 gel after an hour and another 45 mins after that. Coupled with me having a bowl of ready break before I went out seemed to keep me going in much better. I was sore when I got back but not exhausted. For this effort I do have a reward next week is an easy week, no LSR and no Steady runs, just a couple of speed sessions and some gentle recovery runs. I'm looking forward to that.

Fartlek

2005-01-28T21:43:00.000Z

A bit of variation today, instead of the usual steady run today was Fartlek session, the only problems where the fartlek part was 5 miles long and had another 5 miles in warm-up and warm-down. I have come to the very firm conclusion that I hate fartlek, I always run too fast and exhaust myself early and regret it for the rest of the run.

On reflection I actually was lucky my Sometimes Training Partner had been to a talk about marathon training and wanted to put some of the ideas to the test like 3 * 2mile with 2 min recoveries. I had to good sense to say no to that idea! Long run tomorrow then I have a rest week - scaled down mileage and at a slower pace looking forward to that.

1 K reps

2005-01-26T15:18:00.000Z

This is starting to get tough. Wednesday is normally the end of my 6 days of running, so the effort is beginning to tell. Today was a case in point, early morning start on the treadmill for a 6 * 1K repetitions at 4min/k pace. First couple of repeats were OK but by number 3 it was getting hard work. It was at this point that I have to start keep motavating myself by say things like " half way through", "last minute" and "last 100 metres". By the time I got to number 5 it was countdown to finish and then the "I've come this far I'm not giving up now" determination starts to kick in. So I got to the end knowing that I'm not running tomorrow and can relax a little.
One downside I seem to have a sore left hip, having down a bit of research it may be my ITB tightening up - I've also got a bit of outer left knee pain which would tally. Luckily I'm off for a massage tomorrow - Rest day has come just in time.

And I ran another steady run

2005-01-25T21:41:00.000Z

Yip another steady run today, in fact it was an exact repeat of last Friday except this time I remembered to put freshly charged batteries in the Garmin so I knew how far I was going (8.36 miles to be precise). My pace is still being wayward. The average was 7:26 which is good - too good, should be nearer 8:00 for Marathon Pace. The trouble is I find it difficult to slow down and maintain that slower speed, its seems to creep back up. I'm going to have to sort this out.

Blogger ate my post

2005-01-24T21:12:00.000Z

I wrote a post last night summing up my week and my chilly recoery run yesterday and blogger went and ate it! Not fair the button most definitely says "Publish Post" not "Trash post and give some obscure error about the server being down".

Back to hill sprints today or in my case gentle inclines. Run up jog down repeat 10 times or until sick. I managed to get to the repeat 10 times without being sick but it was a close call. I'm glad BT have got these green metal cabinets dotted around they are absolutely ideal for draping over while wandering if its your heart pounding away inside your chest or something out of Alien trying to make a bid for freedom.

Bye for now

I need a running partner

2005-01-22T21:12:00.000Z

Long slow run this morning 16 miles by the time I got home, but the last 2.5 miles where a real struggle. I don't know why my pace was fairly much in line with the rest of the run so I don't think I hit the dreaded wall. If anything I was mentally done-in, I suppose after spending 2hr 20 wandering round the streets on your own you do go a bit gaga. So I think I need to find a running partner to keep me company on my LSR or else the men in white coats may be coming for me. Trouble is I don't know anyone that does that kind of distance on a Saturday, most people do there long runs on a Sunday. Perhaps I should just get measured up for that nice white jacket that buckles up at the back.

Hey its the end of the week

2005-01-21T21:54:00.000Z

Yipee! It's Friday and I'm glad to see the end of this week. Its been a tough week at work. We are due to deliver a big piece of software for testing in the next couple of weeks and people are running around trying to get things sorted.
Of course I have to make time for my running so I took an extended lunchbreak and knocked off another 8 miles in a steady run. I can't be sure what my pace was as my Garmin ran out of battery power half-way round , but it was certainly a lot quicker than what is required for the marathon. Hmm either I going to run a very good marathon or I'm going to blow up. I suspect its the latter so I need to trim down that speed.
Despite my long lunchbreak I had still managed to do my hours by 3:30 so nipped off to get my hair cut. I had an interesting discussion with my barber about Paula Radcliffes head-bobbing running style and that of the Chinese runner how looks as if someone has superglued her arms to her sides. Anyway time for bed - I've got 15+ miles to run in the morning.

I'm impressed Big One

2005-01-19T21:06:00.000Z

Its nice to now that Big One pays attention to healthy easting habits. At Christmas he decreed that he would only have chocolate from his stash every other day. He even marked it on his calendar to remind him which days they were. He has also decided that he doesn't want sweets after rugby training, though he will quite happily accept his post match hot dog if he has a game. The latest shock came this morning where he read the side of the packet of all the cereals and told Mrs W that he would have wheatabix as that had the lowest sugar content! All this from a 9 year old
We just need to crack this thing about wanting Big Macs if we take him to the McDonalds (or FatDonalds as little one calls it - very appropriate) and we might just have a healthy eater.
Enough of the family on to running matters. Another morning treadmill as my boss was holding a staff meeting at lunchtime, very antisocial of him. This is perhaps no bad thing as the office gym is getting a bit busy, full of People with new year resolutions. It should be interesting to see how busy it is in a couple of weeks time as all the good intentions wear away. I suppose I shouldn't say that - I'm one of the people that does the gym inductions in my spare time!

Is it bedtime yet?

2005-01-18T19:59:00.000Z

ER is back on Channel 4 which is great because I love it. The only problem the time 10 o'clock. That's my bed-time (or I try to make it). I could video it but then when would I watch it? So I stay up and watch it and take the pain of the 5:45 alarm call. This I can just about handle ( I like my sleep ) but I got a 4 AM alarm call this morning as youngest coming into the bedroom and announced that he had a wet bed. Throw in a hectic workday and a 7 mile run and you have a tired Rob who is looking forward to his bed.

Got some good news about my cousin. Since she had her bone marrow transplant she has been struggling to throw off a fungal infection. After trying a variety of drugs the hospital decided to keep her in for a week or so to allow them to give her intravenous drugs every 6 hours. It seems that this latest round of treatment has done the trick and they have been able to eliminate the infection.

Bringing up the 500

2005-01-17T20:44:00.000Z

Another run, another milestone this time 500 miles in training. I can't believe how quickly this has come round it. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was struggling to run 4 miles, now my shortest run is 5 miles. I do feel a bit of a fraud today. I was going to speed session outside but it started to rain and the wind picked up so I wimped out and ran the session from the comfort of a treadmill. Nought much more to say really so I'll say night night at that.

Not tonight Josephine

2005-01-16T19:59:00.000Z

"Not tonight Josephine" is the supposed response by Napoleon Bonaparte when refusing sex with Empress Josephine. It came to mind last night when I went to bed fairly early last night only to be woken an hour or so later by "She who must be obeyed" going on about seeing some youths and a motorised wheelchair. My response was to say "So what" and roll over and went back to sleep.

I had another early start this morning for my recovery run. This was supposed to be about 5 miles but I wanted to try a trail that runs between a golf course and a creek. Might be somewhere interesting to run. Unfortunately I hadn't checked on how long the trail was and got too far away from home before being able to make the turn for home. The route was ok though the creek was a bit grotty as it was low tide, but it was quiet and made a change. By the time I had got home I had actually done 7 miles and was a bit late for taking the kids to rugby.

Oh finally a quick recap on my weeks training.

Miles this Week	48.4
Miles since starting training	498
Parrot predictor	3:23:04

I do like to be beside the seaside

2005-01-15T20:49:00.000Z

As I right this entry I'm drinking a bottle of McEwans "Champion" which according to the side of the bottle is 7% ABV, so if I appear to start ramble aimlessly you know why!

Long Slow Run this morning the schedule said 13, I wanted to do 14, and ended up doing 15 miles. I was at a tradeshow yesterday up in London and had spent all day on my feet so I didn't want a particularly hard route today. After studying the OS map and ruling out most of the footpaths as they'll be nothing but mud just now I found a route that went off to the seaside. It involved a run down a quiet country road before coming out on the seafront. Then a couple of miles along the front before turning back inland and heading for home. The run along the shore made a nice change but wasn't really that insipring as it was a horrible grey day.

In the end I completed my run in 2hr 13min which is a fairly good time, but more importantly I don't seem to have had a recurrance of the foot problem I had after my 16 miler 2 weeks ago. Perhaps changing the long run shoes back to Asics has down the trick?

Another early morning session

2005-01-13T21:47:00.000Z

I couldn't go running at lunchtime as I had to go a see the dentist and his sidekick the hygenist for my six monthly check-up. This meant an early morning session on the treadmill. These are not fun, your still half asleep, the gym is cold and you struggle to get into the swing of things. The session was another batch of threshold intervals pushing me up to my VO2 limits. This time instead of 4 * 5 min it was 1*10 + 2 * 5:30. I finished feeling OK but as the day has gone on I've been tiring. Tomorrow is a rest day so I can recoup my energy before Saturdays long slow run.

Long Hill

2005-01-12T22:18:00.000Z

Did another steady run today, this time over a different route which a bit of a hill in it. The hill isn't particularly steep its just that it keeps on going for over a mile and is relentless. I'm no stranger to the hill I've run it many times before as my old office used to be half way up. But of course with te office being half way up I've only ever needed to run up half the hill at a time. I suspect that I will become very familiar with the full length of this hill in the coming weeks.

Here are my mile split times - can you spot the hill?

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	last .13
7:41	7:42	7:36	7:28	7:25	7:52	7:34	7:24	0:58

I should have taken the shampoo

2005-01-11T19:54:00.000Z

Very wet run today. Quite literally as I stepped out the down the sky opened and the rain came down in sheets, I was soaked to the skin by the end of the first mile. As it was a steady pace run today once I got wet that was the worst over as I was running fast enough to keep warm. If anything the rain made me run faster so that I could get get back sooner. Once I finished I was so wet I looked if I had been for a shower with my clothes on. In the end I completed the 7 miles in just under 52 minutes - which is an excellent time in those conditions.

Need to work harder

2005-01-10T21:42:00.000Z

Hill sprints for the first time in a good few weeks. The weather was being unpleasant but only in so far as it was raining, but no howling gales which was a relieve. I was able to find a nice quiet spot up footpath that sort finished in a muddy trail. The sprints themselves went well and I wasn't collapsing halfway through feeling as if I was going to see my breakfast again. It was then that this nasty thought struck me had I pushed myself hard enough? Deep down I know I didn't which is a little discomforting. Maybe I've subconciously got an eye on the back to back steady runs I have lined up in the next 2 days.

Parrott Predictor

2005-01-09T20:37:00.000Z

To log my miles I'm using David Hays Excel workbook. In it there is a theory from a Coach named George Parrott that you can't run a marathon faster than the combined times of your fastest 26.2 miles in a weeks training. The workbook automatically calculates this. With the addition of my 5 and a bit mile recovery run this morning this figure was 3hr 22min 56secs. Ok this is the fastest theoritical I could run a marathon but at this stage of training I'll quite happily take it. It was especially welcome today as I needed a bit of a lift after yesterday's demoralising run.

Slow to Steady

2005-01-08T21:15:00.000Z

I couldn't get on the computer last night (the wife was doing some window shopping or least I hope it was window shopping!) so there is 2 runs to report on.
Yesterdays was supposed to be 6 miles steady off-road but all the paths around here are just mud and not very good stuff to run on so it had to be on the pavements. My steady pace seems to have picked up dramatically in the last couple of weeks as yesterdays run averaged 7:35. This is encouraging though I mustn't get carried away with myself there is a big difference between 6 and 26.2 miles.
The difference was shown up this morning. In my running schedule the occasional Long Slow Run is replaced by a longish steady paced run. Today was one of those days. Where I had been doing 16 miles last week I was doing only 10 miles this week at a slow to steady pace. This should have been a fun run to do, the weather had other ideas. Most of the Gale/Storm force winds passed through during the night but there was enough left to make running a difficult experience. I hate running in the wind, you can't see it and its a constant battle to fight against it. I came the closest I have to just saying enough was enough and stopping. I actually changed my route just to get out the wind. All I can say is I was glad when it was finished it was an alround unpleasant experience. On the positive side it was a reality check a lot of hardwork lies between now anf the 17th April.

Kinda Nothing Run

2005-01-05T21:48:00.000Z

I can't remember if I've said this before but my boss has this really anti-social habit of having his fortnightly staff meeting at 12:30. Sorry boss but people have got to run. Anyway it was staff meeting today so a nice early start on the treadmill again. The run was an odd one today - Threshold intervals 4 * 5 min intervals at about 10 mile race pace. Not fast hard intervals where you are glad of the rest periods nor constant running. I understand what the idea is to get used to running harder for the tempo runs to come but the run left me with neither a buzz of exictement of doing a hard session nor refreshed after a recovery run. Anyway rest day tomorrow.

New Running Acquaintence

2005-01-04T21:54:00.000Z

"There's somebody in the changing rooms wanting to go out running with you" was the message I got from my broken training partner. There was a new chap that had just transfered to the office and wanted to find out where the running routes were. When I met a runner like this I'm always a bit wary because I don't know what their expectations are. So I asked him if he did a lot of running. He said "Oh a little about 40 or 50 miles a week". I was planning to do a 7 mile steady and he was happy with that.
The first mile showed this guy was a bit quicker than me, OK probably a lot quicker than me if you put his mind to it. My target pace was 8 min/mile when it got down 7:30 min/miles I had to say that I was going to slow down a little as today was supposed to be an easier run. He didn't mind after all he needed me to find his way back to the office. Things settled down into a nice pace after that, not slow but not too quick either just perfect for a steady pace.
He's away for the next couple of days but we plan to get out next week.

What can go wrong will go wrong

2005-01-03T20:41:00.000Z

I don't know what else could have gone wrong this morning. I set off this morning for a fartlek session with my Garmin strapped to my wrist. I had just checked the battery status and it said it had quarter of a charge left. This did last very long as after the first half a mile it bleeped and switched itself off, as I was still in warm up and not that far from home I doubled back and got a new set of batteries.
New batteries fitted I duly set off again. I managed to get a further mile before my stomach started acting up, luckily I was fairly close to the local shopping centre and its conveniences!
OK nothing else can go wrong can it? Wrong, I finally managed to start my fartlek session and was happily doing all sort of distances when my HRM chest strap decided to slip down and no matter how many times it got put back it kept on coming down again. In the end it slipped down to my waist and stayed there till the the run was finished.
So a couple of lessons
1) Never believe the battery readout on a Garmin
2) Don't have red onion tart the evening before a morning run
3) Make sure your chest strap is on properly!

Happy New Year

2005-01-01T14:50:00.000Z

First run of the new year and it was the longest I've done to date, 16 and a bit miles. The last 2 miles were the toughest I was really suffering. I had been planning a 16 mile run for over a week and was determined to complete the run running not walking. This was put sorely to the test when my garmin bleeped to say I had reached 16 miles I was really tempted to stop and walk. I've not felt like this before. About the only thing that made me keep going was I could look up and see the house at the end of the road.
I may have an explaination to feeling like this - due to Christmas I had moved a couple of runs around, delaying last weeks longish run to the Sunday. The effect is that I've run 50 miles in the past 7 days, 7 days of late nights and early starts. Not the best of ideasgood. I also seem to have a sore foot, though I'm hoping its just tired foot muscles. An early night is called for tonight.

Last run of the year

2004-12-30T22:03:00.000Z

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

2004-12-29T23:09:00.000Z

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

2004-12-28T13:20:00.000Z

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

2004-12-27T22:44:00.000Z

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

2004-12-26T22:32:00.000Z

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

2004-12-24T15:16:00.000Z

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!

2004-12-23T22:49:00.000Z

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

2004-12-22T21:08:00.000Z

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!

2004-12-21T22:39:00.000Z

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

2004-12-20T17:29:00.000Z

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

2004-12-18T21:24:00.000Z

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

2004-12-16T13:06:00.000Z

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.

2004-12-15T18:23:00.000Z

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

2004-12-14T20:57:00.000Z

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

2004-12-13T20:54:00.000Z

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

2004-12-12T17:04:00.000Z

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

2004-12-11T14:09:00.000Z

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

2004-12-10T17:08:00.000Z

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

2004-12-09T21:10:00.000Z

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

2004-12-07T21:34:00.000Z

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

2004-12-06T12:44:00.000Z

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

2004-12-02T20:41:00.000Z

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.

Man v Machine

2004-11-30T22:15:00.000Z

Back on the treadmill at lunch for my recovery run, though I think for my own well-being I should run these outside. I get frustrated that I'm not doing the distance as quickly as I would outside, but the whole point of this run is to listen to your body and take it easy, not judge yourself against the little digital counter in front of you. It doesn't care if you didn't get the sleep you wanted the night before or that you had a tough run the day before its just going to run at this pace whether you like it or not. Perhaps I should put a towel over the readouts so that I can't see how fast I'm going and just accept the mileage when I feel I've done enough.

Broken Training Partner

2004-11-29T21:14:00.000Z

Step in mileage of one midweek runs to 7 miles. I've been a bit worrried recently that most of my running has been on the flat so I decided to take in a hillier route today to start boosting my leg strength. The route has a long slow climb out at the beginning to wake you up before a very long hill at mile 4 that just goes on and on for over a mile.
Anyway I was out running with the same chap I've been running on and off with for the past couple of weeks. He is not running as much as myself at the moment so isn't improving as quickly as I seem to be. I'll give him his due though, he stuck there with me right until the last 200 metres. Unfortunately his calf muscle decided to give out at this point. I'm not sure how bad it is but he spent the rest of the afternoon hobbling about. Hopefully it will be speedy recovery.

20 weeks to go

2004-11-28T21:05:00.000Z

The london marathon is 20 weeks today, when I say it in those terms it seems very close. I keeping on wanting to panic that I'm not running enough but I must not do that. When I look calmly at my training everything is on target if anything I'm ahead of schedule.

When I look back to the condition I was in when I started training 9 weeks ago I could hardly run 4 miles, now its 13 miles. My short recovery run this morning took me to over just over 36 miles for the week and 220 miles since I started training. As it says on the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy "Dont Panic!"

Acceptance Pack

2004-11-27T15:43:00.000Z

Two more training runs. Yesterday was supposed to be my 6 mile Marathon Pace but I decided to have a change and ran a negative split session on the treadmill based roughly around my marathon pace this went well I need to practice this a bit more to get used to a slow start and building up. One of my running partners was on the treadmill next to me and we exchanged the normal chat you do on a run. This was quite good as it broke up the monotony.
This mornings run was a journey into the unknown for me as will most of the Saturday training runs from now on. I broke the 2 hr barrier for a run and covered 13 miles, The last time I ran 13 miles was a Half Marathon I did about 4 or 5 years ago. I can never remember running for 2 hrs before.
The run was going OK until I realised I had made a bit of route planning error, I was going to climb a hill and had mentally prepared for this being the last hill. Then I looked at my watch and realised I had another 20 minutes to run. I had to put more miles in and this involved another climb. None of these climbs are that difficult, but it was the disappointment of being faced with it that was annoying thing. It was a hard slog the last mile and a bit but I got through it.
Fortunately I had a "pick-me-up" waiting for me when I got home. The acceptance pack for the Marathon and with it my number. I am runner number 9075. I know I have a letter saying I'm in and that my cheque was cashed but the arrival of this number makes the Marathon seem that much closer. The big day itself is 20 weeks tomorrow.

A big thank-you

2004-11-24T19:43:00.000Z

First and foremost I would like to thank the person who donated £50 towards my fundraising. I don't actually know the person which was even more surprising. It was a wonderful boost to see the pledge this morning after my interval session. I now know the name but they made they decided to keep the name anonymous from everyone else and I will respect that here. Again Thanks!

I've been lucky enough that my company put an article about my marathon run on the intranet, right at the top of the home page! I must admit I'm a little embarrassed to look at the intranet now. That's were the big donation came from.

Today's diary was horrid. There was a slim chance of getting a 20 min lunch break but absolutely no chance of getting a run in. Fortunately I knew about this yesterday so altered my run schedule. I was going to do 400m reps up a gentle incline but got into work really early and went on the treadmill for an 800m reps session instead. It was really the same as last week except I did 5 reps today instead of 4. All I can say is I knew I had done a session at the end of it!

"Your definitely losing weight"

2004-11-23T21:15:00.000Z

Blogger seemed to be acting up yesterday so I've got 2 runs to report on. Yesterday's was a comfortable 5 miler at lunchtime, though I very nearly didn't make it. My boss asked me what I was doing at 1 o'clock and I said "Running, why?" "I'd like you to do an interview he said" OK I can go out for my run at 11:30 no problem. Then he says "lets meet at 12:45 to discuss" OK I have to go out at 11:15, what was the time 11:10 oh beep! I'm glad to say I managed to fit my run in and be back in time to do the interview.

Today's run was the sort 3 mile recovery effort. As I was working at home this morning I threw myself out of the door early to get it over and done with before I started reading my e-mails. I ran the same route as I did on Sunday night, but it was amazing how much more confident my running was with it being light. My heartrate was only a couple of beats quicker but I managed to get round 2 minutes quicker.

When I got back my spirits were lifted further by the wife saying "Your definitely losing weight". Apparently the bulging stomach isn't quite so bulging and the shoulders are better defined - whatever that's supposed to mean!

Night time running and passing 30

2004-11-22T08:22:00.000Z

Last night I went for my first night time run in I do not know who many years. It wasn't far as yesterday was the recovery run (3 miles) from the long haul the day before, but its strange how a familiar route is total different in the dark. The run also marked a couple of other milestones.

1) I passed 30 miles per week (it was 32 in total)
and
2) I now running 6 times a week. So I'm now up to to my full complement of weekly runs. They just start getting longer.

My mum has started reading this this so - Hi Mum!

Cold and Wet

2004-11-20T10:20:00.000Z

I was reading one of my fellow FLM bound runners weblog last night (Fake Swede) who lives in Sweden. He currently has daytime tempratures of minus 5 degrees to deal with - So I can't really complain that I thought it was cold when I set off this morning. It was the rain half-way round that got me! Having said that it must be seen as a temporary discomfort that a warm shower and dry clothes soon changes. Something to look forward to at the of these long slow runs.