Started Training

Today I started my marathon training completing 10 miles in 1hr 34mins.This was a social run with Justin and Angela and I returned home very pleased. I have not run 10 miles for a long time so actually getting out there and doing it was a good achievement for me, although the thought of running 26 miles seems impossible at the moment but I just need to build up the distance slowly.

Night Run July 2011

Last night was the third night run. I really love these events. It is very easy to become focussed on distances and times and forget about the fun and joy of running and that is exactly what these events are about. The event was organised by Jerry Smallwood and he has written an excellent write up on his ultramagicforest blog.

http://ultramagicforest.blogspot.com/2011/07/july-night-run-report.html

This was an important run for me as I have not been doing so much running meeting recently and I have Beachy Head marathon in 12 weeks. I was a bit worried about the distance and I have to admit I was struggling at the end of 14 miles mainly because this was the longest run I have done for some time and at the end my right knee was hurting a bit. At the end of the day I was comfortable on the run and I have a good starting base for Beachy.

Short Run

I  managed to get home early tonight and got out for a short 4.6m run around my short course. Unfortunately my Garmin was not working properly and I am not sure of the time. It was good to be out running again. I am going to miss Tuesday nights club run but will go out either Thursday night or Friday morning. On Saturday another night run is planned which I am really looking forward too.

Been a Long Time -Been Busy

I have not updated my blog for nearly a month as I have been very busy. I have been on holiday to Italy and travelling to the Midlands and Wales several times taking my daughters to and from university. I have also been  sorting out my Tai Chi class with my friend Chris.

I have only managed to run about once a week and usually only about 6-8miles. I have lost a lot of fitness and put on about 4 pounds in weight which is a lot for me.

I am now just about to start my training again. It is a shame I have lost so much fitness but I do feel pretty strong and hopefully my body has had a long time to recover.

I have the following runs in the diary:  Eridge 10,  Petts Wood 10K and Beachy Head Marathon.

I have missed my running and I am going to work out my training plan.

Chevening Run 2011

It was the running club Chevening run on Tuesday. This is a group 12 mile run to Chevening. I decided to run with the slower longer group. This was a tough run the  first 5 miles to Knockholt is mostly up hill. When we had arrived at Chevening we had done 8 miles and I was a bit worried that if I had to run 8 miles back I would not be able to make it. Fortunately we came back via a shorter route and we only ran 13.5 miles.I have not been doing so much running recently and it was a tough run . I pretty much had to walk the last mile. There were lots of people on the run and it was great to catch up with all my running buddies. I am going to ramp up my running soon when I start training for Beachy Head.

Tuesday night at the Running Club

Excellent 8 mile run on Tuesday night around Chelsfield.  There were some long hills - up around Well Hill and I did have to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. Fantastic view from Chelsfield  across London. The sun was setting and I could see Canary Wharf, Gherkin and The Shard. From top of Goddington Park we had a sprint back to Green Street Green, my legs were tired from 10k on Monday so it tough and pleased to get back to the finish.

It was great to get back running with the running club and spent time chatting with fellow runners after we had finished. For such a small running club some people are doing some pretty impressive stuff:

• Two ran in  in Grand Union Canal Ultra marathon - 145miles!
• Three completed Comrades marathon.
• One person ran in the 2012 Olympic test and got picture in national paper wearing a ORR shirt.

Marathon Analysis

One thing that has been nagging me is my performance in London Marathon and two weeks later in the Marafun.

During training I was consistently running 18 miles in about 3hours. My best time was 2.54 in February. I was also feeling pretty good (but tired) after 18 miles. Based on these times I should easy be able to do a marathon in  about 4hr 20mins.

So why did I run London in 5.30 and Marafun two weeks later 4.56?

When I have a look at the results my average pace in training is 10 mins per mile. At London it all started to go wrong at mile 15 when I started to feel sick ( I am sure it was the gels and the heat) and at Marafun it all started to go wrong at mile16 when I go cramp in my calf, which I think is because I still had London Marathon in my legs from two weeks prior.

I just know I can do a Marathon in sun 4.30

My next Marathon is Beachy so that will be interesting!

BUPA 1OK

It has been a little while since I have written my Blog as I have been busy on various things and the time has flown bye. I ran BUPA 10k on Monday. I have not ran for two weeks since the Marafun and it showed as I completed the course in 56minutes which is about 10minutes off my PB. Anyway I really enjoyed this run, great atmosphere and route and how often do you get a chance to line with with Mo Farah and Paula Ratcliffe, even if I was a couple of wave starts away from them.

However, I did managed to see Mo Farah running down the embankment on his return as I was after a mile into the race. He runs at twice the speed I do and it is incredible to see.

I am definitely going to do this race next year and my daughter Jo has also said she will run.

I going to say that I think this is one of my favourite races after all that long distance marathon training 1k just seems to fly past in a blink. Focus over June and July will now be on some speed work and shorter distances before I start preparing for Beachy Head.

10K is that all

I have just received my race instructions for the BUPA 10k at the end of May. I had a quick look at the route and thought is that all. I have got so use to doing longs that a 10k looks easy. I know I should not say that because 10K can be very tough if you are maxing out.

It is going to be interesting to see the impact long distant training will have on a more powerful shorter run. I suspect that the increase in stamina will come at the expense of speed.

I have done this run a couple of times before and it is very well supported and should be a great event.

Marafun Marathon

Completed my 4th Marathon on Saturday. The Orpington Marafun. I really loved this event, it was local, well organised and despite the small field a very friendly atmosphere. I ran the first half with Jerry, George, Dave and Tom, really great group and got round the first half fairly easily. However, after about mile 15 miles got cramp in my calfs and thought I would have to give up and become a DNF, but I have never failed to finish a race and though just got to tough this out.  I ended up running slowly and as soon as cramp hit me I  stopped,  stretched, then walked and eventually ran and so on and on and on.

I ended up finishing in 4.56 which was PB. The frustrating thing is I know I can so much better but keep getting hit with problems in later stages. There were lots of Orpington Road Runners and friendly faces and I spoke with lots of people on the route. At the end I ran with a couple of 100 Marathon club members. I said to this woman you must find this pretty easy and she said this was her 297 marathon and closing stages always tough. Her husband who was running with her had done over 400 marathons. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

I did not take any gels and I did not have any energy problems and apart from cramp everything else was fine.

One thing I did notice was the night before I woke up with a very slight feeling of getting cramp in my legs so the problem was in my legs before I started. My conclusion is to have more massages. 

I am going to concentrate of shorter distances for a while and do a bit of speed work before I start my training for Beachy.

Feeling Great

I am looking forward to the Marafun on Saturday. I am treating the run as an experiment. I have really rested over the last couple of week and it has done my body the world of good and I feel  physically very strong. Mentally I feel like I just need to dig in and get this over. Then  I am going to concentrate on some speed work and my 10k time then will start training for Beachy Head in July plus need to spend a bit more time on my Tai Chi.

I am hoping there will also be a nice little group running together.

Update

Went for a 8 mile run with Heros on Sunday which was a change of plan from my Keston Run on Saturday. Run was very hilly and to be honest I found it pretty tough, but so did Dave and we concluded that we still had the 18 miles from the previous Sunday.

Sunday night went to Karate good lesson and I can feel it today.

Looking forward to Saturday I just hope it is not too hot.

Busy Busy Busy

I have been very busy recently and not had time to update my Blog so here goes:

I have signed up for the Marafun marathon next Saturday. I am really looking to this event mainly because there is a group of us running to about 4.30 time.I always love running in a group mainly because the banter and small talk builds good relationships with your friends and helps the time pass especially when the going gets tough. If I can achieve 4.30  I will be really pleased.

I have not been unable to get out for a run this week so I will do a 10 mile run over Keston Sat afternoon and 6 mile Monday then hit the marathon on Sat. I am trying a different approach for the Marafun. I know I have the base level of fitness so I have not done so much training and I am allowing my body to build up its energy reserves.

After Marafun I am going to concentrate on doing some speed work for a couple of months I would really like to do a 10k PB of around 46mins then I will start training for Beachy Head Marathon in October.

The Tai Chi class has picked up momentum and we had 7 students last week. Need to start sorting out insurance, T shirts, setting up a page on facebook etc etc etc.It is all pretty exciting but takes time. We have got lots of plans.

I have also missed Karate for a couple of months. I feel very guilty about missing Karate but I just could not do the long runs on Sunday then Karate in the evening. I am so close to taking my next grading. I just need to get my act together and start training. I have not done a press up for ages.

18 Mile Run

Meet with Dave and Tom at 8 am and set off on our standard 18 mile run. It is always great to run with other people especially if you are all run at a similar level. We completed the run in 3 hours dead and were all well pleased.

Tom has only done one marathon and has decided to do the Marafun in a couple of weeks - hoping for about 4h 30m so it looks like we could have a nice little group aiming to do the Marafun in 4h 30m.

I did not take any gels on my run and I do not think it made any difference so I think my days of using gels are over.I also used my Camelbak and was surprised that I only  drunk about 500ml.

All in all a great little run only annoying thing was at about mile 14 we were crossing the road and just as I ran up onto the grass I must have put my foot on a wire from a wheel hub and it caught my other foot and I hit the deck, fortunately I was OK and lucky that I did not break my ankle as it was like a snare. As I fell a car passed and some yobs shouted out the usual abuse with lots of f**king ........ I admit it must have looked funny but I did not like the verbal abuse so I shouted back at them in the same way they shouted at me beckoned them to come back to me.

I apologised to Dave and Tom for my out burst but these sort of things make me angry. The interesting thing was it must have really got my adrenalin following as the next couple of miles flew bye.

 

Mr Busy

Over the last few days been very busy with work and family and not had chance to update my Blog so here goes.

Tuesday had a fantastic 7 mile with the running club first time for a little while that I seemed to have fired up.

Wednesday was Tai Chi night and guess what we had 4 students and another who is interested but cannot start for a while so hopefully momentum  is picking up.

Planning a 18 mile run with Dave on Sunday, I will be interested to see how I get on as I have not done any training.

Also decided to sort out my ipod shuffle so that I can use it when I am running.

Nice little Run

On Sunday I got up early and did a nice 6 mile run over High Elms also bumped into a fellow ORR and had a nice little chat.

My 10k Race Times

Nov 08   50.43
Dec 08   49.48
Feb 09   49.51
Mar 09  48.43
Nov 09  49.50
Dec 09  47.55
Dec 10  52.27
Jan 11   49.57
Feb 11  49.22

VLM update

My god that was tough. I am not sure what happened but at 14 miles started to feel sick, it was fairly hot and the sights of fallen runners made me think I need to take it easy and get home. I finished in 5.27 no way near my PB. Not a great result but at the end of the day:

• I finished and got a medal that means I now have one Marathon medal (Beachy Head, New York and London) for each of my three children. It will not mean much to them but it does to me.
• I raise £1,700 for charity, which I thought was a fantastic achievement and  is a great feeling. A big thank you to all who sponsored me.
• I did not suffer any injuries and energy was not too bad- I just felt sick ( I need to find out why but I am sure I need to find an alternative for energy gels).
• I spent time with a great bunch of people and got some great messages of support from family and friends.
• One of my friends achieved a PB of 2.33 and came 84- What an achievement.
• I live to fight another day.
• Finally a big thank you to my wife Linda who has been a great support to me over the last three months of training. In her words if I spent as much energy on the house and garden as I do on training for all the things I do then we would have a perfect house. I was going to reply all this training makes me the perfect husband but I thought I should not go down that route....

All in all live is good who cares about the time and I am going to chill for a bit whilst I sort out the next challenge.

Race video and report to follow.

VLM Race Number

Final Run

Well I did my final run last night just over 5 miles at a very relaxed pace (just over an hour with several stops). I ran with the slower group and it is interesting to note how easy the people doing VLM can run up the hills when the others are out of breathe. It just shows the level of fitness.

Thoughts now turn to making sure I have all the right equipment ready for race day and must make sure I do not get too excited and start too fast. Also keeping an eye on the weather, it was hot for Brighton Marathon last weekend  and a lot of people crashed.

Overall I feel great, such a good feeling to know that all that training is behind you.