Thames 20, Richmond Half and Olympic Tickets

Hey all,


First up I guess current state of training - ran 10 x km off a 100 jog to see if target pace for Reading was achievable. Ran roughly a 3:18/19 average exactly as planned so very pleased with that and felt relatively relaxed. Considering I'd had a long lunch and day at work it's good. Certainly since starting to work full time I've found track sessions are definitely a touch slower than before - that said tonight I was very much in control and chatting to people as I was going around. Looks like setting off at 5:20 is a goer.


So- as I said I'll be doing frequent race reviews on here - full disclosure I'm indirectly involved in Thames - is run by my second claim club chasers but I'll mostly try to be impartial. The organisers last time around seemed happy enough with my review despite the irreverent tone so I'll continue as before.

Thames 20 - Race or Pace

Entry for the Semi-Serious 


This year - very simple entry online system. Last year I didn't know about the race until the week before and I was "squeezed" in - so top marks on that front and were very approachable. Was very simple to pick up the number on the day. Very early start though!


Pushing to the Front


Pace groups are easily set out so you get a nice clear run. Absolutely perfect and almost everyone seemed to line up in roughly the right one. The one thing is that due to council regulations etc. you have to run the first mile at around 7 minute miling which isn't great but then the race isn't super serious anyway! Here's a photo of me and the 7 minute mile group starting last year...

So "Undulating" Means F:!@:##! Big Hill, Twice


Course is straight out along the Thames and straight back all on the towpath this year (last year there were a few diversions). I actually really like this sort of course but I know it's not to everyone's tastes. You won't run a really super fast time as it's along the towpath, rough aggregate worn away and gravelley stuff - you probably lose a few seconds a mile. This year I really felt the wind coming back though. The course was also marginally long by ~200m - not a huge issue in a non-certified/measured race.


Was Anyone Else Running Out There Today?


Nice big official pace groups so you get plenty to run with at your target pace - more races should do this! In terms of the pointy end it was a much quicker race this year with the course record being dropped by about 10 minutes. If you're in one of the target pace groups (7, 7:30, 8, 8:30 etc.) - then you'll have plenty of company. If you're much faster than that you could end up on your own for part of the race.


3000 runners at £20 a pop less £4 for the Winners Trophy....


£8 for entry - in miles per pound that's definitely better than most! (if a race is less than a £1/mile I think that's good value as a rule of thumb). Gatorade set out at miles 5,10 and 15. Lots of cakes at the finish. Definitely VFM. In terms of the winners prizes they've taken the trouble to arrange vouchers which is much appreciated and given the low cost of the race is very reasonable.


Movie Time (AKA - The Big Picture)


Pleasant early morning race. If you're hyper serious about running an official 20 mile PB this probably isn't the one but if you're looking for a friendly 20 mile hard training run/off-road race this is absolutely perfect. The cheers from the guys going the other way are much appreciated as well. Definitely a good race so it's getting a Race for Runners Bronze award. It's a great race and good value for money - for a training run last year huge steps have been made forward.

Race for Runners Award (Bronze)

Link to Clapham Chasers Site

Richmond Half

Entry for the Semi-Serious 

Race isn't until mid-May but is already filled up. Fair enough must be doing something right. The course record is 68:57 - now I don't mind if I sent an email to GNR, London, GSR etc. asking if they had a place and they blew me off - they're bloody huge races with top class runners. Unfortunately the big ones are always courteous and it's the little ones that are often small minded, petty and rude. I sent a polite email enquiring if they kept back any places for the sub-elite (yes - I know I'm crap in the big scheme but when the course record for a half marathon they claim is fast is less than a minute faster than my best then in relation to the status of the race I'm not that bad) explaining that I'm in good shape and would be looking at hopefully taking a shot at the course record.


So I get back an a fairly rude rejection email explaining to me (as I'm clearly slow) - "The race is FULL.  There is no reserve list." - you know when they're using CAPITALS, BOLDING IT and UNDERLINING IT they really think you're too stupid to get the message.

I'm a little surprised at this as Ranelagh are always friendly and are a well-established club but clearly there's not much of a thought for trying to put together a half-decent field for the race. Therefore the race gets my first...

REAL RUNNERS RUN FROM THIS RACE AWARD
(bolded, capitalised, underlined and italicised to really explain the message). 


Olympic Tickets

Okay- now this has really annoyed me - the tickets are being sold and ballots are being operated - perfect. Unfortunately people don't know what tickets they are going to get when they pay for them! The money is being taken before you know which tickets you have (they can literally take several thousands pounds for a month and give you no tickets). For me - this doesn't make a huge deal. 

For some of the people from Newham, Tower Hamlets - the guys who have been really paying for the Olympics with council tax and all the disruptions and a lot of whom aren't particularly rich - if they want to guarantee themselves tickets they need to book a lot of different events, pay for all of them, and still potentially not get any tickets. This really disappoints me and seems so badly organised.

Huge thumbs down for this.  

Training 7th March 2011 - (No Round-up as I'm Shattered...)

		7th March 2011
Mon	AM
	PM	Easy run home from work – 7:50mm – 8
Tue	AM	Easy to steady run into work – 7:04mm – 8
	PM	Easy run home from work – 12 miles at 7:47mm
Wed	AM	Warm up, Teddy Hall Relays – 18:26 – 5:04mm – fairly pleased and ran well on tired legs – slightly misjudged finish, long warm down with Franco
	PM
Thu	AM
	PM	Recovery run home – 10 miles – first 5 very tough with heavy rucksack weighing me down – generally not great.
Fri	AM	5 miles easy into work at 7:24mm
	PM	10 miles recovery home from work at 7:55mm
Sat	AM
	PM	1:53 at 7:24mm – first 1:15 easy running around Battersea and Clapham Common then a 10 x ~160m hill sprints with jog recovery before an easy warm down
Sun	AM	Long run done early doors(ish). 21 miles done in 2:30. Took a split every 4 miles and paces were: 7:37mm,7:19mm,7:06mm,6:57mm,6:51mm and last mile in 6:27. Nicely progressive (though first half very hilly) and average of 7:08 bit faster than intended.
	PM
Running minutes		747
Miles		100
Cycling Minutes
Total Minutes		747
Summary		In comparison to last weeks very solid week – this was a very tough week. Work/study wise it was a tough week (midnight run...) with a lot of travelling to Oxford, a late night after Teddy Hall and just generally I don't think I had a single day that you would describe as “restful” all week. Even the weekend on the Saturday I needed to travel home for my cousin's wedding on the Sunday! (Lovely event and absolutely made up for Tosin and Kirsty – many thanks for having me!). Despite that I still managed to knock up a 100 mile week after having a very tough race on the Sunday previously. To run as fast as I did at THR off 54+ miles in 3 days was shocking. Unfortunately my plan to run hard on Saturday morning at Parkrun was slightly hi-jacked when I woke up with agonising calf-cramp 20 minutes before I was meant to head off – I was still utterly shattered so took another 2 hours sleep and did a run in the afternoon instead. Still – the hard work is done now and I can relax and look forward to having a good run-out at Reading – and of course an easier week! 4 weeks at 95 average is still very tough work for me!

Confidence

Most of the readers of this blog know that running is a confidence sport. If you're not confident in yourself and your abilities when you go to the starting line then you're screwed. You need to have a pretty singular purpose and the best athletes all tend to have an almost effervescent bubbling self belief that they "will" win. This is related to this blog - but only indirectly because this blog is about having confidence in your training.

This last winter it's been particularly relevant to me. Most of you who know me know that until my marathon build up I was pretty much a dyed in the wool track year-round kind of guy - or at the very least similar tough interval sessions year round. Following last year's succesful marathon build up (and subsequent injury in the recovery period) I started taking a slightly different approach in conjunction with my coach. Very few interval work-outs at all and simply a tempo run once a week. I knew this would be difficult to do and would be hard - especially as I knew that with just a few weeks interval training my fitness level would sky-rocket. Unfortunately-  after that sky-rocket initial start if you're not careful you can rapidly end up with a halt to any progress.

So I've had to pretty much sit back, run the miles, feel the fitness building (but only slowly) and have trust that I'm getting there. There have been a few glimpses - strong tempo runs or long runs for the most part the key one being a 7 mile tempo at 5:20 pace which let me know I was improving - but mostly I've just had to keep the faith and have confidence that it was there. As Mike Boucher (who runs marathons better than just about anybody) once put it I believe "You don't grow potatoes by uprooting them and checking they're growing every week".

So - the first race of my season is rapidly approaching. Since London last year my perspective has changed quite a bit - I'm now focusing much more on a single race and building towards that. It's intense but I think helps me  concentrate far better on what is important and bringing the effort for that one single day. Obviously I've had a bit of fun in the last week ( a 20 mile off-road race I won, and a pretty decent Teddy Hall Relay's leg on very tired legs!) - but I actually have very little idea of what shape I am in for the Reading Half next week. I'm sincerely hoping it'll be sub 70 - the real impact will be this final week of tapering.

I'm coming off a very strong block of around 4 weeks averaging in the mid 90s - for me that's a big step forwards. Now we just need to see if it pays off. Unfortunately my speedwork got delayed about 5 weeks ago for a week due to a quad problem (ideally I would have done a couple more weeks of faster work) but I still hope to put a good marker down and then see how the rest of the season goes.

Take care everyone - have confidence in your training and be glad - the summer is rapidly approaching!

See you at the races.
B

Training Log and Weekly Round-Up from 28th Feb

Okay - so in an attempt to get stuff regularly up I'm just going to start a weekly round up post each week and update as I go along together with hopefully my training on Sunday evening. So there won't be a huge amount right now but over the course of the week more snippets will appear!

Training log now included at the bottom. Summary - just short of 90 miles. Good track workout. Few hills. Poor parkrun. Quite decent 20 mile offroad race on Sunday.


Kawauchi - Japanese Style

For those of us interested in marathoning and in particular the top non-Africans (because let's face it - it's a different world!) a lot of the focus goes on the Japanese. Unlike the Africans and even the Americans they rarely have the really fast 5k/10k times but tend to knock out fast if not spectacular half-marathons (or equivalent Ekiden legs) and correspondingly better marathons. They have a knack for picking up the minor medals at world championships.

So it was fascinating to see Kawauchi - with decidedly average in the world of sub 2:10 marathoners shorter PBs of run a huge PB of 2:08 at the Tokyo Marathon. Brett Larner's excellent JRN has more details here. Kawauchi left the Japanese university system and corporate system at a young age. Runs considerably less miles (it looks like something in the mid 90s per week) and works a full-time job (admittedly with time in the morning to get a lot of training in). For those of us working full-time and without the quick shorter times it gives hope when a guy like this can make the huge jump to world class with a great PB.

The guy apparently runs every marathon like he might die during it, needing the medical tent on multiple occasions. For the final 6 odd k of the race watch the below...



Brockwell Park Run

 Okay so I've had a Parkrun going for 10 weeks now, I thought it was 2 miles away but it's actually 1.7 odd. I've unfortunately been either training on a Saturday morning or been away. Just generally talking to some runners there is a temptation I know for fairly decent runners to want to just go and do a park run on a Saturday rather than perhaps try and put a harder session in. Great for 5k/10k runners and not so great for marathoners. Non-specific work potentially compromising the long run. That said if you did a parkrun at the end of a long run...

Anyways - so I got down to Brockwell Parkrun. I've got a 20 mile race with a 4 mile warm up tomorrow so was never planning to blast it. Looking at the previous 9 results aside from Tobias winning the first one in 16:54 all the rest were over 17 minutes. I figured I could do a fairly easy "mini-tempo" sitting on the next runner and kick for the win.

So what do I see as I jog down but a bloke wearing a SoE vest. Damn. It's my mate Carlisle and I know he's in reasonable shape. That's the win gone. There's another guy in a T-shirt looking loose - James Trapmore. Anyways - race sets off, I stick in behind the two of them for the first 800, realise I'm going way too fast and ease off. They rapidly disappear into the distance and I poodle around for a 17:01. Given the plan was at the very worst (best?) to run at 17 minute pace and kick like mad I'm fairly pleased with the effort on the whole as there's no way it was near flat-out. In all honesty it felt like I was just trying to run a bit faster than usual on a steady run. Lead two were well clear - sub 15:30 for sure.

So anyways - just a couple of thoughts - firstly the course. I actually think it's a really good course - fast with a bit of a hill in twice but not really all that bad and a long sweeping downhill. Potentially you could run a very fast time on this course (and so I'm very pleased it's in my backyard). The one thing which would slightly improve the course time-wise would be to start the run at the top of the hill and take advantage of a big net downhill!

The second is more on parkrun itself as a concept. I've run 4 now and I think the fastest is 16:54 on Wimbledon Common. In each of them I've been in fairly good nick. The 3 I did last year were all just before the 31:38/69:51/2:31:16 series. This year I think I'm in good shape. So why are they all so slow? It's partly the course - but the courses ain't that bad. I want to say that it's early in the morning but this started at 9 and I'm usually putting in a hard tempo by 9:30. The main thing to me is that it's "sort" of a race. I really struggle to motivate myself to push the way I do in a race or even a hard training session. It's just sort of a "bleurgh - can't be bothered" feeling (not that far off what I felt at the Southern). Next week I may do it again and this time try and run it more seriously. Hopefully I'll get something a bit more reasonable!

On the whole - great event, thanks to the volunteers and you'll see me again soon. Hopefully soon!


Training Log

		2/28/11
Mon	AM
	PM	14 miles with a real variety of paces. Set off at a steadyish 7mm intending to try and link with Chasers- ended up racing an oldish guy with a 5:27 mile along embankment then back to 7s. Felt really bad when finally caught chasers - faint + ready to throw up, so jog/walked mile home.
Tue	AM	4.8 easy miles at lunch- standard Canal run
	PM	warm up to Battersea,2 x 3k off a 2:30 lap jog, then 3 x k off a 90 sec / 200 jog. 9:52,9:40,3:07,3:12,3:07 - Hendrick there for 1st and 3rd ks of 3ks. Progress - ks hard work though - not much speed.
Wed	AM
	PM	Rest day - Burger King for breakfast, lunch and a Curry for dinner - all allusions to being an elite athlete disappear.
Thu	AM
	PM	11 miles - first 5 or so with James easy at low 7s, few more easy then 10 x ~32 second hills hitting them hard - tough work but worthwhile, easy jog home.
Fri	AM
	PM	84 minutes fairly easy - did the same hils as the previous night but just jogging them and checking out the route to get to Brockwell Parkrun the next morning
Sat	AM	Warm up to Brockwell, 5k Parkrun, 3rd 17:01, warm down - felt really flat here even though wasn't trying to go fast but not great.
	PM	5 miles easy around Common - quite surpised to see I was running 7:22 pace for this. Managed to sneak it in between 800s and 3000 final - go Mo!
Sun	AM	4 miles warm up, Thames 20 - was hoping to jog 15 miles and push last 5. 2:28 man Mike Helman turned up and made it hard work. First mile had to be 7 minutes. After that we still clocked 57:42 first half. I went clear on second half and ended up with
	PM	58:52 for a 1:57:44 total. All offroad . V. pleased - splits of 6:38, 5:57, 5:44, 5:25, 5:34, 5:32, 5:35, 5:40, 5:53, 5:44, 5:53, 5:35, 5:48, 5:51, 5:54, 6:01, 5:59, 5:58, 5:53, 6:00
Run minutes		626
Approx Miles		83
Garmin Miles		89
X-T Mins
Total Minutes		626
Summary		Another solid week - pace was definitely faster than usual on a lot of my runs this week hence I've included Garmin mileage to give a better reading. Tuesday track I was very pleased with the 3k reps but felt it on the ks. Thursday it was good to get some hills in. Saturday was a bit disappointing but I knew I was holding back (but still felt like tough work). Sunday was a bit of a stormer - I didn't know I could run 5:30 miles and it feel so easy offroad! Also nice to come out on top in a good race. 20 miles offroad at 2:34 pace shows I'm in pretty decent nick right now over the longer stuff - just need to get my body used to some faster stuff right now!

 

Racing Schedule

Okay so I've gotten a few comments asking about what races I'm doing etc. and if I'm running London so might as well set out a very basic plan for the next few weeks and the rest of the summer...

Next couple of weeks
All about Reading Half and 12 Stage from now on. Basically whacking in a load of 5k and 10k pace stuff now together with a final long run. Sunday am doing the Thames 20 and will be running "hard" for part of that and hopefully clock a decent time for that portion- rest will be relatively easy. Wednesday I'm doing the Teddy Hall Relays - 3.6 miles! Saturday means I'm back home for a Wedding and so going to give the Cambridge Parkrun a quick once-over followed up by a second loop 5-10 minutes later at target HM pace.

Then it's easing up for Reading and sharpening for SoE 12 stage!

Medium Term

After that I'm basically just looking at having some fun for a while. Mileage will go back up a bit. Back onto focusing on the tempo runs. I'll probably be doing more races than in previous years - often as tempo efforts instead of flat-out runs. A few long races (HM+) at probably close to marathon pace and a few track races as well to really blow the cobwebs away. It's going to be a fairly eclectic mix. The main aim though is going to be to bash out a half-decent 10k. 5k, 10M or HM PBs also acceptable.

Long Term

A marathon in the autumn is the goal. At the moment I'm thinking either Berlin, Amsterdam or Abingdon and really not sure which! A PB and sub 2:30 clockings are obviously what I'm hoping for (that really shouldn't be any surprise).

Why no London?

Well - last year I got to this stage and was getting pretty fit and as much as I wanted to make my debut, after running huge PBs over 10k, HM and effectively 5k at 12 stage (15:18 short leg > 15:51 track 5k no matter what conversion you use - plus I had to set at least one at some point during my 10k!). This year I'm not having that regret and can enjoy being fit and hopefully really push on. An autumn marathon fits my yearly schedule an awful lot better in terms of being able to enjoy lots of racing in the Spring/Summer and training for the marathon whilst there's still some sun instead of just gloom! Also being in the Autumn I really don't care that much about racing in the first half of the winter so am quite content to spend a bit more down-time and ensuring I come back injury free. A spring marathon (good or bad) would have me chomping at the bit to get training again.

I'm also not totally convinced by London. Lovely atmosphere no question but being the shy retiring flower that I am, at some points I found the crowds quite distracting - I sort of wanted them to go away and just let me get on with trying to run. The personal support was fantastic - I'm hugely indebted to everyone of you who came down and watched me and really kept me going but the big crowds of people I didn't know howling at me did get to me at times - especially when I was running badly (is it really bad that I quite liked going into the tunnel in the second half?). The course is quick but not lightning fast. The big crowd of runners at my pace was also very good but did have me focusing on what other people were doing rather than what I was doing and concentrating on my own race.

Ah well - that is the plan at least! Hopefully I'll end the year with a fair few PBs and a couple more medals!

Training Week 21st February 2011 & Round-Up

Weekly Round-Up...

Okay - first up there is the weekly round up on a couple of things and then the training log. Log is below if you want to skip to it. Basically ~100 miles, one good 5 x 2k session, one okay but not great 7 mile tempo. Job done.

Just Do It

 Some weeks make me think this more than others - this was one of those weeks. It brings to mind an old but very apt "once a runner" quote.

"And there were questions: What did he eat? Did he believe in isometrics? Isotonics? Ice and heat? How about aerobics, est, ESP, STP? What did he have to say about yoga and yogurt? What was his pulse rate, his blood pressure, his time for 100-yard dash? What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes." 

Which sums up my view very aptly. Just get out there and run as many miles as you can is the most basic thing any runner can do. Is it necessarily the best and most optimal training - possibly not? Does that matter - not so much. People end up quibbling about that final 1% be it diet, stretching, plyometrics that they forget that if you just focus all of your energies on running a lot consistently - you may not win an olympic medal but odds are you'll be an awful lot better than you were when you started.

Change is good...

And now to totally contradict my above advice... Perhaps the one thing that is equally important if not more so than just plain getting the miles in is avoiding injury. Now some injuries are acute - there's not an awful lot you can do about them. Some might be non-running related (falls, trips etc. - Chris Tomlinson put himself out for most of a season stubbing his toe on his bed) and some might be running related but generally there's not a huge amount you can do about those other than warming up properly. On the otherhand overuse injuries are something you can often do something about...

Whilst specific strengthening advice from your physio is key - the most simple thing I think you can do is to change things up? What things?


- Pace
- Terrain
- Shoes


These seem to be the easiest 3 to change to me - if you run across a variety of paces (from very slow to fast), a variety of terrains (some muddy runs, some asphalt, some hard trail, some grass) I think you're well set. The last one of those (and possibly most contentious) is shoes. I think overuse injuries often come from a very specific set of circumstances - I don't know about you all but I certainly find I tend to run in a very different way wearing one pair of shoes to another. By having a variety I hope it constantly challenges muscles and tendons in slightly different ways rather than working the same ones constantly. Not sure whether there's any truth in this but seeing as it doesn't hurt to change the pair of shoes I wear for different runs I figure I might as well do it. 


Hyde Park Relays (and jogging around a course)

Went to these on Saturday after my tempo. Never really appreciated what a great way to rack up some miles just going along and running around a race in reverse really is. Something I've always planned to do but never really got around to. Got some more miles in and had a good chat with lots of people. I think these events seemed a bit bigger this year and there was a great spirit despite the slightly miserable weather. Particularly nice to seem some club and training group teams having a go as well as the universities.

Post-race food definitely gets a 10/10. Chilli and potato went down a treat.

Training Log

		2/21/11
Mon	AM
	PM	9 miles easy at 7:30mm with Chasers - including a 7 minute MP tempo @ 5:38 pace in the middle.
Tue	AM
	PM	warm up to Battersea, 5 x 2k, 6:30,29,34,32,29 off 2:30 lap jog, warm down
Wed	AM	Easy lunchtime run - 35 minutes at 7:30 pace up Regents Canal
	PM	Recovery run home very slowly - 8 miles at 8:30 odd pace - legs felt track the previous night. Didn't feel anything from ankle but still aware of it.
Thu	AM	36 - easy lunchtime run - 7:30 pace
	PM	8 miles home - first 5 recovery last 3 easy pace.
Fri	AM	Steady lunchtime run with Harold - 32 minutes at ~ 6:30mm
	PM	10 miles home very slowly - about 8:10 pace- legs really struggling for last section - muscles just very tired.
Sat	AM	warm up, 7 miles tempo at 5:27mm, warm down - really struggled here on last of 4 laps as my legs were just shattered and struggled to lift them much- aerobically fine
	PM	8 miles - had to get to Hyde Park to watch Hayley run Hyde Park relays, very easy recovery running and legs actually felt okay
Sun	AM	2:07 long run - just over 15 miles so a slow pace but glad to get one in with good company in Chasers 3-3:30 group
	PM
Running minutes		751
Miles		100
Cycling Minutes
Total Minutes		751
Summary		Very solid week – I was pleased with my 2k session on Tuesday as when I started I thought that'd be brutal. Bit disappointed to drop off on the tempo but aerobically was fine – legs were just mashed from the week. Nice to have gotten into a solid routine during the week with lunchtime 5 and post-work 8 being a nice training routine. 8 miles Saturday afternoon probably not smartest thing I've ever done but it just seemed simplest way to get there!

Training 14th Feb 2011

		14/02/2011
Mon	AM	Roughly 3.5 miles easy around Common with Hayley - tried out new trail running shoes
	PM	9.5 miles to Clapham Chasers and round 2 commons loop.
Tue	AM
	PM	Easy run home after 2 beers - 8 miles 7:55 pace
Wed	AM	Easy run into work - 8 miles at roughly 7:30 pace
	PM	Easy run home after Japanese meal with the girls. 8.5 miles at 8:15ish.
Thu	AM
	PM	Session of 5 x k (90) on road, 3:15,04,06,06,02 - not great but first real one back. Have been struggling for breath recently and whilst legs were fine here was breathing very hard. Odd not being on track.  Left it way too late (9ish) and tired from work
Fri	AM	8 miles easyish into work at 7:23 pace - got to admit I was fairly tired for this one and harder work than usual.
	PM	32:22 with Harold at lunchtime - fairly quick, probably mid 6s on the Canals around Canary Wharf
Sat	AM	2:27 / 20 miles / 7;19mm - run with Chasers Sub 3 group for first 13 or so miles then 3 laps of BP at 5:40 pace (29:45) w. James then a jog back. Good run.
	PM
Sun	AM	90 minutes at 7:21mm around Clapham Common in X-talon 190s. Didn't intend to run so fast but pace just flowed. Progressive.
	PM
Running minutes		688
Miles		92
Cycling Minutes
Total Minutes		688
Summary		Fairly good week on the whole with some consistent training and my first interval session back. Also good to get a proper long run in and add some faster stuff in the middle which was tough but definitely added some value.

20th February - Weekly Round-Up

Will try and get an actual training log up tomorrow (it's stuck on my work computer!) but to sum up the week roughly...

92ish miles. Session of 5 x k off 90 (3:15,04,06,06,02) on the roads. 20 mile long run including 5.25 miles (3 laps Battersea) at 5:39mm.

I mean as for the rest of it - do you really care how long I spent commuting in and home each day?!

I've seemed to find myself getting annoyed by quite a bit this week - just with general stupidity and people failing to see the forest for the trees. But here's a round-up of little bits and pieces about my training and the sport generally.

New Shoes - Innov8 X-Talon 190

Might as well start on a positive note then!

I got my new pair of X-talon 190s from Pete Bland Sports. I'd ordered 3 pairs of shoes and unfortunately 2 of them they didn't have in stock and are contacting me with alternatives but this pair arrived very swiftly and in particular the postage costs are very reasonable.

So - basically I'm in love. I've always hated wearing spikes as they seem to really irritate both my heels and my calves. These on the otherhand are just like a pair of racing flats and are really flexible on the underside adapting to your feet. The lugs on the bottom really grip in very well and make you confident and stable in mud.

The heel is nice and flexible which is really rare in shoes I've found recently and why I've had to stop using the Mizuno Wave Rider as the most recent edition made the heel a bit stiffer and got rid of the foam cushioning protecting the heel.

The most surprising thing - is that from looking at them you'd imagine the lugs are very plasticy and you'd imagine they'd clatter along. Actually even on the road they're soft and flexible. I wouldn't chose to run a marathon in them but they certainly hold up well if you've got some road bits in an off road run.

The one thing I haven't tried them out on yet is seriously thick mud. Speaking of which...

National Cross-Country

So yesterday was the national XC. It's a fantastic event in a large number of ways. I didn't run it this year as I've decided I'm not running in the sort of mud you can see below as I just don't enjoy it. That's my personal choice and I appreciate many others love it.

Unfortunately on the day it was really tough conditions out there and mud ended up being six inches deep. Personally I can't really see the point in racing in conditions like that - you're not seeing who has trained hardest, is the toughest or most naturally talented - just who can wade through the mud best (though huge congrats to Steve Vernon - for those at the very front they're all hugely talented and I've always admired Steve's drive and persistence in races). I just find it interesting that we choose to do this in stark comparison to the European XC...

Kenyan XC champs...

and that our number one runner chose to race indoors, Thompson wasn't there, Lemoncello wasn't there, Overall wasn't there, Vernon wasn't there, Beattie wasn't there. The list goes on.

I'm sure I'll come in for a lot of flak for this - but I think we could do with having slightly firmer, less muddy courses. Not natural mud - that's fine, more the better! But the mud kicked up by hundreds of feet going through it.

A way of doing that might be to limit teams to 6 or 8 runners just like in the old days. Make it a real aim to make the team. Maybe seperate out the junior and senior competitions.

That said huge congratulations to the winners of the races and those that had stormers. Particularly Jon Pepper who was hardly mentioned in the run-up to the Southern or the National and took 2nd and 5th. Jon was a youth prodigy just like those being hyped up at the moment. Went a little bit off the radar for a bit with injury issues and is now clearly running better than ever. Also Dave Norman who in addition to being a top bloke managed a career best of 12th with a series of 10 consecutive runs in the top 40. Amazing consistency.

Also as per eightlane thread - the contribution by the volunteers to put on and organise the race is absolutely huge and under-recognised so a thanks to them as well. Unsung heroes of our sport.

The "Lufbra" Echoe has its usual entertaining take on the issue.

There's also a personal account here by James Lawler - a top class athlete on the road who after a decent run at the Southern had a similar experience to me this time around (albeit he finished) and pretty much sums up my feelings about, as he puts it, the national quagmire championships!

Group Training

This is one of my personal bugbears. The sport is way too fragmented and there isn't a focus on getting athletes of similar abilities trying to train together.   I go to a track occasionally on a Tuesday and there are three different groups training together all at the same time. This seems absolutely crazy to me. Often groups are doing identical sessions. Each group tends to have a mix of abilities with big gaps in the groups.

Look at the Keynans by contrast on group runs. Huge groups all working together. This post by Ryan Mcleod puts it into context. 60 athletes all of international calibre. Unbelievable. We have a limited number of reasonable athletes and they seem to be being divided up by too many coaches and too many clubs.

One of the things that irritate me the most is when clubs and coaches get in the way of athletes training. The purpose should be to facilitate quality group training rather than divide it up. If that means some people need to look at how best to support athletes rather than having their own little group then so be it. I know some people think coach education is absolutely huge and we need as many coaches as possible. I must admit I'm unconvinced. What most people need is to be told to get out there and just plain run, ideally in big groups, for a fair number of miles a week. The sport is getting overcomplicated for no reason. The more coaches the more they try and keep small close groups without looking at how best to integrate local runners together. People go to the track year-round rather than put the solid distance work needed to run well. The ego takes over as the coach needs to monitor them. Often this is just for a single run a week rather than a year round intensive look at the athlete.

This is just my view but we need more of a focus on what the TOP coaches are saying and encouraging athletes to realise that themselves and supporting them as best we can rather than trying to live out our own dreams.  A 2 week coaching course does not a coach make. The best coaches have been involved with the sport for 10+ years and always look at the best outcome for the athletes and the sport as a whole.

Personally I find my own coaching set-up excellent. We look at how best to integrate the training I need to do with local groups to have the assistance. There's no jealousy if I need to do sessions with another coach to achieve that. We simply looking at the best way forward for the athlete. I wish more coaches were capable of doing the same.

Aviva Grand Prix

This was a really great event to watch. I loved the 400 hurdles - I just couldn't believe it when they broke after the first lap! Entertaining and a fresh look at the sport and how to market it.

The dual national record for me was the highlight of the meet with fellow Beagle Mo Farah setting the UK indoor record for 5000 after his coaching switch and Galen Rupp taking down the American record.

Farah has taken a lot of stick recently for a coaching switch to the US to work with Alberto Salazar unfortunately having to leave his coach Alan Storey. I reckon this might have more to do with endorsement contracts but it's a fantastic move for Farah. He now has Rupp, Webb and Ritz all to train with. Hopefully the 4 of them can push each other to better things.

It was also really good to see some of the British lads really taking a shot at hitting the indoor QT for Europeans of 7:54. I'm surprised more (lower) key races don't try doing this with faster and slower runners working together over longer and shorter race distances to get the best time possible. It's a real pity McLeod ended up a touch short but hopefully there'll be a possibility of some lenience. I thought Murray was incredibly brave to try and go out with the pacemakers.

Other highlights of the day was Helen Clitheroe's incredible run of 8:39 showing hard work can really pay off. Jenny Meadow's run confirmed her as a consistently world class performer.

Okay- think that's about it for the week - hopefully log will be up soon. Take care all.

See you at the races.

Bryn

Sometimes you forget...

... just how damn tough K reps are!

I did my first k session in probably over a year - in previous years these have been my absolute staples. When I can do a session of 8 x k off a minute hard then I know things are going well - at times it has been "my" session.

Thursday night I returned to the fold with a couple of little twists from the past.

- Firstly I did them on the road. This was WEIRD. Nothing to gauge my progress. Not being totally sure how much was left (albeit on an approximately measured road straight) of each rep. It felt really weird.
- Secondly I've rarely left it so long before doing any sort of speedwork and never been in this sort of shape pre-speedwork. Usually when I can bash out a really good set I'm in sub 33 shape but I've never started doing them when already in sub 33 shape
- Finally I was doing them after a hard days work, late at night, on my own. Always a tough one.

So - how'd they go? At first I was annoyed but I can see the plus points now. The session was 5 x k off of 90 secs. The times came out at 3:15,04,06,06,02. I might have been able to run faster for the last one but I'm sure I gunned it out of the blocks way too hard.

That's some way off the best I've ever done this sort of session but I'm not too annoyed now. Generally I see big improvements on a weekly basis doing these sessions. Seconds per lap. If I could be running a similar session at 3:00 or better I'd be quite happy and I think that'll happen soonish. It also confirms that I'm running quite decently whilst still utterly unfit from an aerobic capacity point of view (though my anaerobic conditioning and aerobic conditioning are both solid).

This was also backed up by the way I felt during the reps. Usually during these sessions it's my calves which are killing me and limiting me by the end. For the first time in years it was my lungs! Clearly the work at strengthening the body has helped to a decent degree and aerobic capacity tends to come fairly quickly for me.

Anyways - some optimism going forward I hope! I've now entered my peaking phase unfortunately probably a little bit late for Reading but hopefully I'll be able to race successfully the second half of March and then look at returning to the miles and LT stuff for a bit before hitting the speed again for 5-6 weeks and bashing out a good 5/10k. By the time that's done it'll be marathon build up again!

Run on friends.

B

Week Commencing 7th Feb 2010

07/02/2010

Mon
AM 14.65 miles at 7:35mm with Clapham Chasers leading fast group

Tue
AM 54:55 run into work - Magneto PB! - 6:39mm average- felt good.
PM 65 run home from work - quad completely tightened on me on way home - lot of pain and difficult to walk

Wed
AM Rest - did a massage, possibly a little deep

Thu
AM Rest - leg less painful at work today and walking normally

Fri
PM 5.75 mile run home stopping at Oval on way back and catching tube - leg mostly okay but felt a small tightening.

Sat
AM 4.28 short easy run around Clapham Common to test leg - held up well but being cautious

Sun
AM 10 miles at 8mm with Hayley - really dreary run in horrible weather.


Minutes 394
Miles 53

Very much an unplanned lower week but I was back running again by the weekend which is positive. Really quite scared on Tuesday as from the way the leg felt I thought something fairly serious had happened.

If I've got niggles and can still card in the 50s I'll take that though. Unfortunately any sort of speedwork got delayed by another week.

Great Bentley Half - Race for Runners Award

So an idea I had about a year ago but never got around to implementing was for the races I did to grade them according to how I personally felt about them on a number of criteria that mattered to me and I would hope the rest of the running fraternity. Whilst Runners World have a rating system, given that it includes negative ratings for tough courses and being "clubby" (way to get people involved guys...) I never really felt that it was a good way to evaluate a race. Generally I relied on word of mouth as to the best races. Hopefully if a few others fancy contributing reports on "Races for Runners" and equally "Races for Non-Runners (or Rip-Off Races)" then it'll help focus the best runners on the best races!

So - one of the reasons that has driven me to do this is that after my 3rd place finish last year Great Bentley went to great lengths to contact me and offer me a complimentary place this year. I'd always planned to try and do a review on the races I'd enjoyed and figured that if they could go to that effort I could get around to doing a short review!

The criteria I'm marking a race on are:- Entry for the Semi-Serious, Pushing to the Front, So "Undulating" Means F:!@:##! Big Hill, Twice, Was Anyone Else Running Out There Today?, 3000 runners at £20 a pop less £4 for the Winners Trophy and Movie Time (AKA The Big Picture)

Great Bentley Half

Entry for the Semi-Serious 

Now this one is a year ago so my memory is a little foggy. From my recollection though there was a fairly reasonable deadline before the race. The fee was reasonable and not extortionate. I didn't enquire before the race as to whether free places were available at the time nor whether late entry was possible (as I was actually organised for once!).

Given that they were willing to offer me a free place based on a 3rd place 71:55 finish the previous year I'm sure that they would at the very least be willing to listen to faster runners looking for a late entry though you'll have to speak to them personally. Offering free entry to high placers from previous years is a great way to build up strong local race support and make sure it's down in the calendar as a definite.

Pushing to the Front

I was fine to get right to the front of the start last year which is a pleasant change from clambering over barriers that I usually end up doing. At the start of the race most went off at a reasonable race pace. The only issue that seemed to be was a slight lack of loos in the immediate vicinity. (You'll get any problems as well as praise!)

So "Undulating" Means F:!@:##! Big Hill, Twice

This is a potentially very fast course. I ran a decent PB there of about 2 minutes (taking another one off at the slower Reading comparatively). There are from memory 2 very minor rises. One I think was a motorway bridge and the other was a train bridge so fairly short in both cases. The rest of the course was basically flat.

The only problem with the course is that it is exposed to wind and hence "potentially" - if you get a calm day you will run a PB. Get a huge wind going and it will be a tough one. The time of year is great for a decent temperature.

Was Anyone Else Running Out There Today?

Field is an interesting one. Last two years James Connor has won with ease. Last year Paul gave him a bit of a battle. I was trying to keep the faint sight of a vest in the distance and there was another biggish gap behind me. That said - there were a lot around the 73-80 mark and the same again this year I believe (though the front end suffered). If you want to run in the 73-80 mark this is a very good race. If you are faster you can still run a fast time but might end up time trialling a bit.

If you can get a few faster runners interested then you could really fly on this course.

3000 runners at £20 a pop less £4 for the Winners Trophy....

Last year in an absolute rarity for a mid-level East of England road race they actually gave out some cash prizes! Whilst they're not giving out thousands I think any step in this direction is to be highly encouraged. I picked up enough to have covered the entry fee and part of the petrol which is nice and doesn't really hurt the bottom line too much I'd hope. *

As far as the rest of the experience went - the goodie bag had quite a bit in and the T-shirt was actually quality. Technical from a decent fabric rather than the really cheap stuff. Blue colour with a nice white reasonable design. In terms of race t-shirts it was definitely worth it. I've even found a picture of me wearing it!

Movie Time (AKA - The Big Picture)

 Overall - a very good experience last year backed up with a complimentary entry this year. I was actually quite annoyed I couldn't manage to get back that weekend and compete as I would have liked to support a race that supported the community.

The number of negative things I can say about the race are limited. Basically if you're really fast and want to run a fast time you might be out there on your own!

I'd seriously recommend this race to any semi-serious runner and in particular those in the 73-80 minute range for which this would be an excellent opportunity.

Race for Runners Award (I'd do some logo but I'm crap at art)

Link to GBRC site

*Side note:
Given my experience to date in the East races are very "economical" when it comes to sharing out the entrance pot. I can't think of more than twice when I've actually picked up cash despite a fair few wins and no more than one or two more a reasonable prize. The vast majority offer a cheap trophy (yes - I've organised my own race and get copies of the Running Imp catalogue - I know exactly how much you spent on it! In my race we made a decent money off a low entry fee and had a prize list worth over £500 for a relay race of ~700) which if you're up to much you'll not know what to do with all of them fairly soon. If races can focus on offering either cash prizes or reasonable alternatives (bottles of wine are always appreciated!) it would be appreciated by the serious runners and they will return to the race!

Anyways - that's my first race review and hopefully I'll do a few more over the next few months. It'll be more entertaining when it's a race that's really cocked something up.

Imposter & Training‏

So I got an interesting email from my mum this week with the below picture attached saying “I found this running photo of you – it’s quite good!” – to which I had to reply “mum – that’s not me”. Parental fail.

In all fairness I had to take a fairly good look myself. It’s a worrying resemblance of me when I have long hair! I’ve already got one evil twin and I don’t need another one!

So – how has training been going? On the whole I think I’m making a lot of progress. Two big weeks followed up by this easier week which will hopefully be around 60 miles is quite reasonable. I think when 60 becomes an almost trivial weekly mileage you’re doing well.

What I have learnt is that my ankles start to suffer after more than about 10 days of high mileage – means I’ll need to slightly alter the structure of my weeks perhaps in a 100,70,90,80 format or the like. 

Flexibility and strengthening work is still going well. Can consistently touch the floor and starting to get a bit more than just the finger tips down now! 

Just generally I’ve been running a lot fewer sessions. Quite often just one a week. It seems to work for me during this base period. I think this will eventually shift to 2 sessions per week and then finally when I’m really trying to peak 3 sessions per week but reducing the volume drastically. You can’t do 8 x km 3 times a week but 4-6 x km at 5k pace is much more feasible plus it allows me to attack a much wider variety of paces. Also at that point all the rest of my running would essentially become easy whilst right now I’m hoping to include more general steady running to try and get to that aerobic “tireless” state.

Hope all is well with everyone.

See you at the races,

B

Why am I doing this?

It's a question I'm sure every runner will ask themselves at some point. I remember quite clearly the first time I asked myself - I was around 12 on a 5-6 mile training run with the Omega club in the boiling heat and I thought about it and remembered. "Hell - I love doing this".

I've found myself asking the same question a number of times over the years and I've always found a reason to carry on running. Back injuries have put me out of two races over the years but at the end of the day unless I thought I was doing myself serious injury I always had a reason to carry on. It's a question I asked myself many times - particularly when injured - and I carry on because I've always been able to find something about that moment that I loved. It might have been something as trite as the wind in my hair or as visceral as the feeling I was pushing myself as hard as I could and wondering how long I can hold on for.

For the first time, whilst running the Southern XC, I asked myself that question and I didn't have an answer. There was absolutely nothing about what I was doing that I loved. My feet were skidding all over the place, I was freezing and I just couldn't push myself in the slightest. So I quit.

At first - despite decided to quit, I decided I was going to finish, not work at all but just run around. Why? I'm not exactly sure - it doesn't really make much sense does it? After all - just about anyone can run 9 miles of mud - it's running it fast and hard that makes it difficult. So I carried on running, then as I was going down a hill, my spike plate suddenly dug into my foot and I could feel my achilles tweak - that decided it. I carried on jogging till I saw my coach and hopped over the barrier (I was actually still in pretty good shape) and had a chat. He clearly wasn't impressed - though not as devastated as the lad he was with was! (he might understand in a few years- maybe not).

The tweak I felt in my achilles and the sheer worry that came through feeling it made me think a bit more (to clarify - I was not injured, simply potentially it might have been - this was very much a decision I made rather than being forced out the two previous times).

What was the answer to the question? If I had no answer why was that?

Did I hate running? God no! I love running. That was why the achilles tweak worried me so much - that if I carried on there was a chance (however small) that I might not be able to run the next day.

Did I hate racing? Again- NO! I love racing. Pushing myself as hard as I can. It's difficult and sometimes painful. I learnt a lot about myself over the last 10 miles at London this year - that I was still racing and trying to pull people back even though I'd been in agony for 8+ miles showed I still love to race. If I had my way I'd be racing every single weekend! It's the best thing in the world. That feeling when someones on your shoulder and you're trying to break them, surging past someone, just throwing it all out on the course and seeing how the dice fall.

So perhaps it's XC? Do I hate XC? This one I had to have a long think about it. I raced a XC about a month ago. A tiny little Surrey League Division 2 race. I had a dodgy calf and was in agony most of the way around. I had a ball. It was for the most part a great, really challenging course. A rolling start, heading into wooded trails, constant twists and turns, a succession of downs and uphills before a long climb back up a steep hill with admittedly a bit of mud at the top.

This is XC to me. Running through woodlands, over streams, across fields, up hills and along footpaths.

What was the difference then? Simple - at the large major XCs you aren't running cross-country; you're running through-country. The ground has been churned up by hundreds before you. Some manage to skip over it - I just find myself skidding through the worst of the bog. I've run the Southern at Hillingdon and at Parliament Hill and both times, whilst I was pleased to get around, it was a battle. I couldn't run properly in the slightest. I'm sure some think it's fine but to me running should be more than wading.

It's anathema to everything I love about running. Looking back I can't think of a single major XC - ESAA, Intercounties, National or Southern that I've ever enjoyed. So it's a simple decision for me. That was my last major XC unless I know the course is going to hard and fast.

I'm sure some of the purists, and the various keyboard critics, will hate this. "He's just weak", "He just doesn't like being beaten", "Why doesn't he just man up" - that's your call. My call is - if it's something I hate then why on earth should I do it just because you expect me to do it?

The lad at the side when I pulled out yelled at me "if you get back in the race now it won't be like you've dropped out and you'll regret it less later!" - I'm fairly certain this isn't something I'll regret - I generally try and avoid second-guessing myself. One of the things I love about running is that it's when I think clearest.

 Life is too short to do something you don't love. Too short to be doing anything just because other people expect it. I'm sticking to my passion - I hope you do as well, whether it be cycling, road racing or wading through 4 inches of mud at Parly Hill.

See you at the (not XC) races.

B