Schiphol Airport Wheel of Energy - looks fun

100 Miles

This month I have run 100.4 miles. That makes me sound a very geeky, but it is a great achievement. They have also been good quality miles. I did a fast 3 mile run on Sat night and I finished the month with a very hilly 11.4  mile run around High Elms. This is my longest run for a while and I now have a very strong base to build on during February. I need to start ramping up my mileage and doing some long runs in February. February is going to be tough.

INSANE GUYS DOING CHIN UPS ON A CRANE

Walk on water (Liquid Mountaineering)

Karate Concept Number 3

I will not criticise others until I myself am perfect and above criticism.

Karate Concept Number 4

In instructing others I will try to remember my own lack of ability in understanding and teach with patience and determination to improve the ability of others and myself.

Karate Concept Number 5

You cannot find your way ahead until you go back to the way you come,

Debrief - Mental clarity

I often think about my run after it has finished, a sort of debrief. I think about what went well and how I can improve things. I was really pleased with my last run but a couple of things have been nagging at me.

Around the last mile a couple of the guys decided they were going to have a bit of a burn up and sprint back. I automatically said don't worry about me see you at the finish. I had decided that I would be unable to stay with them without even trying. Then I suddenly thought I would go for a burn up and surprised myself with how well I did. Conclusion I need to think positively.

The second thing is  when I am running my mind start to think about other things. I  need to bring my thoughts back to the running and enjoy the moment and stay focussed

Today's picture is of Dean Potter (slack liner extraordinaire). I am sure when he is on the wire all his attention will be on what he is doing. His mind will not be thinking about other things or indeed what  happens if he falls off. I need to bring this mental clarity into my running. 

Action: Think positively, stay focused and enjoy the moment.

80 days to go and firing on all cylinders

Another great training run last night 10.5 miles in 1.33, average pace 8.9 (This puts me on a target for a sub two hour half marathon and I can see a PB up for grabs soon). I have never really paid any attention to the pace numbers on my Garmin but I can now see this is a great aid as it gives you a reference point to see how you are doing. One of the benefits of running with a variety of runners is you pick up useful tips and the leader of last nights run was very keen to maintain pace. It was a small group last night and some are training for sub 4 hour marathon which makes me think I should be aiming for this territory.It is definitely achievable but requires lots of training and there is a big difference between a 10 mile run and 26.2. I will give this some thought. The thing that really pleased me, is although the run pushed me there is still a lot of potential in me. I have ran two 10 mile runs in a few day and all is good- 80 days to go until London and I am firing on all cylinders

The Form-Key moves - training aid

The yang form has 315 moves and 109 postures. The form take about 14 minutes to complete. The key moves within the form are set out below.






Single Whip
Cranespreadswings
Cross Hands
Repulse Monkeys
Cranespreadswings
Needle at Sea Bottom
Single Whip
Wave Hands like Clouds
Single Whip
Kicks
Cross Hands
Single Whip
Slanting Flying
Single Whip
Fair Ladies
Single Whip
Wave Hands like Clouds
Single Whip
Snake Creeps Down
Golden Cock
Repulse Monkeys
Cranespreadswings
Needle at Sea Bottom
Single Whip
Wave Hands like Clouds
Single Whip
White Snake
Single Whip
Snake Creeps Down

Night run 22nd January

We meet at the Blacksmiths Arms in Cudham at 8 oclock on Saturday for our second night run, organised by Jerry Smallwood.  9 of us set off on a 10 mile route around Cudham, the route was a figure of 8. We ran 5 miles around Cudham and back to the car park for a quick drink then ran a second leg of 5 miles.

It was a cold night, Cudham is very hilly and it was also very muddy. I thought we would see and hear more things at night but a group of 9 guys with touches  must scare all the wildlife. We did see a Deer and we did disturb a few guard dogs as we ran past some of the farms. We kept together as a pretty tight group and there were some great shouts:

Very muddy
Wheelbarrow
Roots
Rocks
Hole
Big hole
Barbed wire............

There were a lot of stiles to climb over and a few fences. It is very easy to get lost at night as your field of vision is really only what you can see with your torch (there was no moon so it was very dark).
Jerry had planned a great route and also had a map for when we got a bit lost. We arrived back at the Blacksmiths at 10.30 for a much deserved drink.

Running a night is a really fantastic experience and it was great to run with such good runners. I would recommend the occasional night  run but it would be sensible to make sure you run with a partner.

Orpington to John O' Groats and back

Over the last two years I have ran just over 1,400 miles, an average of 700miles per annum, or about 13-14 miles a week  This is equivalent to running from Orpington to John O' Groats and back or to look at it another way I ran a half marathon each week.

London Marathon in less than 4 hours

I have just read the latest edition of pulse the news letter of Orpington Road Runners and they have included predicted times for London Marathon based on the Purdy formula.  This has been based on my latest 10k time and calculates a predicted time for London Marathon of  3:57:22.

3 mile run 20th Jan

 

I completed my fast run in 24.19 which is an improvement of 37 seconds and a PB. I was very pleased.There is lots of room for improvement and feel that I am developing into a good runner. I also weighed myself and weighed in at 12st 5lb so I have lost 2lb since Christmas. The graph above shows elevation and pace. I have published this because the course it fairly hilly and it shows I am running at constant pace,  just over 8 minutes a mile.

Hilly run with the faster group Tuesday 19th Jan

Tonight I decided that I wanted to run with Brian's group (which is the second fastest group) and I was just beginning to think this may not be a good idea when my friend Dan asked if were running with the faster group? so I decided to give it a go. I used to regularly run with Brian's group, but Brian very rarely stops for regroups and recently I have been running with a slower group.  It was a large group and we ended up running 8 miles in 1.14. We went from Green Street Green to Charmwood, across to Knockholt Pond to Pratts Bottom (past Coolings garden center), across the A21 and home via Worlds End Lane. From the elevation chart below you will see how hilly this run was.

Elevation chart for Tuesday nights run

Fortunately I managed to keep towards the front of the group and the last couple of miles were downhill and really fantastic. I have noticed that I tend to hold back on the downhills and I was overtaken by a few of my colleagues. I think I just need to be more confident, disengage brain and engage legs. I need to work on my downhill running.

When I got home I was on a real high (this will be the subject of a future post). I always find that I have trouble sleeping after a tough run. It is a weird feeling. I lay in bed and it feels like energy is sparking around my body. I am probably listening to my body start to repair itself.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday run, a 10 mile constant pace, marathon training run.

Karate Concept Number 2

I may not understand all that I have been taught, yet I have been instructed and must strive to find the meaning of that instruction no matter how long it may take, knowing that instruction can sometime be absolute silence, a word, a sentence or a loud shout.

Keston 10 mile run 15th Jan

Caesar's Well source of river Ravensbourne

wikipedia-Information of the River Ravensbourne

Long training run this weekend was a 10 mile. A 5 mile run to Keston, and back, the first half is predominately up hill which makes the return leg downhill and faster. Average pace 9.45 minutes a mile. If I can maintain this pace for London Marathon I will finish in 4hrs 20minutes. 26.2 is a long way I will have to work hard to to maintain this pace. The run was very relaxing and Keston was very peaceful. I took a few photos but it was getting dark and they did not come out very well.

Keston-Peaceful

Nike - Onwards by James Jarvis - lovely cartoon about running

Fantastic cartoon about people who run marathons

The is a fantastic cartoon but you will need a facebook account to view.

Funny video on running

some 10k maths

One mile is about 1600m. If you run 10k in about 50 minutes you are running at 8 minutes a mile or 8 miles in 1600m. To improve 10k time by 1 minute is the equivalent of 200m.

If two runners set off at the same time the runner who completes 10k in 49minutes will be about 200m ahead of the runner who finishes in 50 minutes.

Running to Tai Chi

Decided to kill two birds with one stone. On a Wednesday night I teach Tai Chi at Petts Wood and the hall where I teach is on the route of my 3 mile run. I was due to do 3 mile Thursday so I decided to run to  and from Tai Chi.

Club 10K Tuesday 11th January 2011

Tuesday evening was the club 10k. My best time for 10k is 47.50 and last month my time was 52.30. I really wanted to run below 50 so I ran with my of my friends who usually ran around 49. I managed to stay with my friend for about 2/3rds but he got about 10meters ahead of me  running up Crofton Hill but I could not catch  him. I knew I was running at my limit. My finish time was 49.58 and I was very pleased, my friend finished in 49.18 and I will stay with him all the way next time. It is definitely good to pick a runner who is running slightly ahead of you and try and stay with them.

Time 49.58  Calories 793 which is roughly 100 Calories per mile Pace 8.06 min per mile.

How many calories do you burn when you run?

To work out how many calories you burn in a mile use the following formula:

Weight in Kg  times 0.789 less [ 1 for a man; 2 for a woman] times 7.634 plus 51.109.

In my case this is 80 times 0.789 less 0.7636 plus 51.109 equals 107 calories per mile.

To keep it simple I burn about 100 calories a mile. I will check this with my Garmin. So what does 100 calories of food look like?

A small banana

Marathon Training Tips

I have been asked to provide three marathon training tips for my local running club. Here are my top tips:

1. 26.2 miles is a long way so  make sure you have a good training programme you can follow, which enables you be build up the distance, you do not need to do the full distance in training but should be comfortable running 18-22 miles.I can recommend the Heros 17 and 22 mile training runs.

2. On marathon day, it is very easy to go off too fast, try and run at a constant pace.

3. Don't under estimate how much fluid and energy you use during a marathon. I like to take my own supply of fluid (orange squash) take sips at regular intervals, plus have a  gel about every six miles (test the gels out first and find one which you like!!) and a few glucose tablets in the second half.

Heros 9th Jan 2011

Ran 8.00 miles today around Cudham and Biggin Hill with about 20 other Orpington Road Runners.Very muddy and hilly, a great run, even though it was pretty cold and icy in parts but the sky was clear and the sun was out. It felt like spring was on the way but I think that is optimistic.

I think I will start to take some of my own photos.

24.56 Sat 8th Jan

Ran my usual short run but this time I attacked the straights and finished in 24.56 this is 2 minutes 11 better than my PB. I was well pleased.

If I am to improve my time I will need to be more aggressive.

Early morning run Thursday 6th Jan

Decided to get up early and do my short run before work, the main reason for this was so that I could spend the evening with my family. It is tough getting out of bed but decided best just to get up and get running gear on and get out the house ASAP. Once I started running I soon warmed up and got into my stride. I ran 3 miles is 27.15 two things come to mind:

1. I did not have any breakfast and need to have something as soon as I get up.

2. I need a strategy for each run.

Training Run Tuesday 4th Jan

Ran 7.3 miles last night in 1hr 10 ( pace of 9.8 minutes per mile). Route was through Farnborough village along A21 towards Bromley, right at The Sea Cadets towards Bickley, upto Petts Wood, Crofton and along alley by the railway to Orpington and home via Tubbenden Lane.

It was fairly hilly and managed to have a burn out at the end which was great.

I feel like I have a very strong base to build on and really need to do some speed work.

Fantastic running video Coe against Ovett-1980's

This is a fantastic video it just makes you want to go out and run.

Seb Coe versus Steve Ovett

Knacker Cracker New Years Day Run

What a way to start the year. This year we started at the top of the hill ran down to the bottom then back up to the top. This is one tough 10K have a look on the comments on the websites.

http://www.trionium.com/knackercracker/

The last mile is really tough, run down 270 steps then across some stepping stones  across some water. Then back up the 270 steps. The steps were really muddy.

It was great to talk to the guys I went down with. Some people do some serious mileage and it was very motivational for me. I am looking forward to London Marathon.