Rethinking My Running

Charlotte and I have settled into life in Chedburgh

It has been a few weeks since my last blog, and a lot has happened in that time, though not much in the way of running. Regular readers of this blog - yes, pay attention both of you - may recall I was preparing to go for a 5k pb at the end of July club time trial. This didn't happen - clearly I would have blogged if it had! - in fact, I didn't run it at all, preferring instead to help out at the finish line. In fact, I haven't even been out training since Charlotte and I moved into our new house mid July, having become somewhat disillusioned with running due to my repeated failure to improve my times.

Running for me has always been extremely helpful mentally: I find the training runs allow me time on my own to think things through, and help me deal with the stresses of every day life, and that decent races results help to boost my self-confidence. Unfortunately, easing off my usual training mileage after the London Marathon, whilst leading to a big reduction in my ongoing discomfort, has also led (not unexpectedly) to a down-turn in fitness and an inability to maintain the kind of pace I would like to run at. No sooner did I try to increase my mileage again than the discomfort returned, and so I made the decision to join the leisure centre gym in Haverhill, and to get my exercise fix that way instead.

As part of my sessions I make sure I end with a quick blast on the treadmill, usually doing 3km, and speeding up on the last kilometre. The hope is that this will allow me to remain competitive in 5km races, which has always been my favourite distance. I have now been at the gym for about 5 weeks, and so far results have been mixed:

Races since joining the gym

Race One: Kedington 5km

This, the 4th race in the Kevin Henry Series of club races, involves a big hill that takes up most of the 2nd kilometre. As with most runners, we spent a lot of time discussing how this might affect results.

Checking out the route beforehand by bike

My theory prior to the race was that this course still has the potential for fast times, since once the hill is out of the way, you can push hard, safe in the knowledge that the remainder is either flat or downhill. A lot of my club colleagues proved me right with some fantastic times. My own race didn't quite work out that way - I wasn't too displeased with my pace up the hill, but struggled to find the energy required to push on once I reached the top. Since this came very soon after I had joined the gym, I hadn't been expecting miracles and was fairly philosophical about it, although it was disappointing in comparison with the other KH races I had done so far this year.

Race two: Nowton Parkrun

One benefit of the location of Chedburgh is its proximity to Nowton Park - maybe only 15mins drive away - which means we have a new local parkrun. This is a reasonably straightforward course - two laps, with no nasty hills - but it is primarily on grassy tracks, with a short woodland section each lap. The grass is closely mown and not too hard to run on, but with my dislike of off-road running, I doubt this will ever be a pb course for me. However, I had not been prepared for quite how badly I would run there. The first time was fairly soon after we'd moved in - I ran without my Garmin at Charlotte's suggestion, so that I wouldn't stress about pace on the way round, and used it just to get used to the course. The result was just under 22mins, and it hurt throughout. After a couple of weeks at the gym, I returned expecting to see some improvement. However, on the morning I was feeling discomfort even before I began, and I ended up going over 22mins.

Race three: Club Time Trial

Hmm. Well I smiled a bit I think

Although it was my turn to look after the stopwatch for our August time trial, my co-organiser Andy was unable to run due to injury and agreed to step in for me, primarily since I had a job interview (for a managerial position at work) and wasn't sure if I'd make it in time. As things transpired, I got away earlier than expected, and so was able to run.

The run went well - my best 5km time for a while, at 20m24. I wonder if not being particularly focused on the race helped (I was obviously concentrating far more that day on the interview - which went well I think, but we are yet to hear who got the position.)

Another thing that helped was that a runner of similar speed to me, also named Andy, was just in front of me for the first half of the race, which helped me with my pacing. But this was the first time since joining the gym that I really felt the benefit of the extra strength this is clearly going to give me - and in particular, at around the halfway point, when I usually begin to flag, I had a very strong kilometre, and was able to get past Andy and push on well. Unsurprisingly, kilometre 4 proved tough, but it's still relatively early days and I was happy enough with the result.

Race four : Framlingham 10km

Charlotte booked us a superb B&B for the weekend, more like a boutique hotel really, and we explored Aldeburgh, Thorpeness and Framlingham itself on the Saturday, We were both entering the race primarily since it forms part of the Suffolk Grand Prix series, meaning the opportunity to score points for the club. There was a good turn out from HRC, and a fair smattering of pbs - including a massive improvement for Charlotte, For me, this proved to be one of my worst ever races - I even had to stop part-way round briefly, which is crazy for such a short distance - but rather than getting too down about it, I know it simply proves I am right to concentrate purely on 5km combined with gymwork, until I can get whatever my problem is sorted out. To this end I have registered with my new local surgery, with whom I hope to begin the whole investigative process again, in the hope that a new doctor may be able to shed some light on what's going on.

Race five: Cambridge & Coleridge 5KM

And so to a race last Thursday, the last of the KH series, and a much more encouraging performance, My time, admittedly on a fast flat course, was 20m15, and it was a similar experience to the last time trial, with a strong opening 3km in particular. If I have one regret, it is that I was unable to run hard for the last part since I felt a pb was on the cards having gone through 3km at only just over 12mins. For some reason I can't explain there was practically no discomfort at all, so I can't blame that - and at least I maintained pace, so there is plenty to be positive about.

Next steps

I think I kind of agree with this. Perhaps not completely. But sort of.

I think perhaps my next step at the gym will be to see if I can either increase speed in my 3km blasts, or to extend to 4km. Of course, running on a treadmill at your required pace is as straightforward as setting the buttons and then just gritting your teeth - slow down and you'd just fall off the back, so it's not an option. Running in a race requires much more willpower to maintain pace when it begins to feel tough, when just slowing down slightly is so tempting. I look back at my PB runs from over a year ago and can clearly remember how much they hurt from start to finish, not because of anything medical or injury related, but purely because it's total effort throughout. It's the reason so many recreational runners prefer to do longer races. For me, the reward of getting a good time following a really hard run race is why I run. I think that as my strength increases following all this gym work, I will feel more inclined to work harder during races to get the results I want. I am already experiencing this at the mid point of these 5km runs, when I am pushing on at the point that historically I have always eased off. I just need to discover that extra bit of willpower to keep working for longer.

I have 3 more races to complete this year: a couple of 5 milers to complete the Suffolk Grand Prix series, and the other a 5km road race in Shelford next weekend. I think the 5 milers may prove to be similar to Framlingham - a bit too far, and probably not great in terms of time - but it will be good to complete the series. The 5km race is a rare opportunity to run my favourite distance on road rather than track or trail, and this will be the race I submit as my "bonus" race for our club Grand Prix. With another week of work at the gym, I really hope to get under 20mins again.

It's always good to have ambition, and to have certain targets you want to achieve, in running or any sport. Following an up and down KH series, I am determined to come back stronger for next year, and think that this will be my main focus. The first six male runners and first four female runners from each club score the bulk of the points, based on their finishing position. These are then added together - with the club with the lowest points total finishing first. Your club's score is further reduced by subtracting one point for each runner that completes the course from your club. HRC have achieved fantastic turnouts in all five races, and we have had our best ever series. Last year I think I was always in our top six, but my best finish this year was seventh club runner home, so my aim for next year is to get back into points-scoring contention. Based on the results from this year, this will probably mean that I need to get into approximately 19min shape. Since my PB still stands at 19m44, this may seem unrealistic - but I hope that with plenty of hard work and determination, I can still make big improvements.

For the time being, just being able to get sub 20mins again on a regular basis would be fantastic, perhaps starting with next weekend.

Losing Weight and Chasing that 5KM PB

So to start with, a disclaimer: this is simply a blog post about my decision to try to lose some weight, which I believe will help me with my running and at the same time help me to feel happier in myself. It is not at all scientific, nor should it be seen as constituting advice. As with all my previous blogs, please rest assured that I haven't got a clue what I'm talking about.

One at a time, please

Step One: Realisation

I remember when the wii-fit board first came out, and I tried to buy one as a family Christmas present.
Everywhere local had sold out, and when I eventually tracked one down miles away, I was so pleased with myself that I unpacked it as soon as I got it home, as an early festive treat. Unfortunately, when I first stood on it to begin set up, my reward for all my hard work was to be told that I was overweight.

This was further confirmed when some pictures appeared on facebook after a lad's day out in London, when I was shocked to see how big I was looking. At just under 6 foot, and almost at 15 stone, I was not exactly morbidly obese, but I clearly had some work to do if I was to get myself in shape, and feel happy with how I looked again.

 

Step Two: Joining the gym, and treadmill running

I used a well known brand of slimming milkshakes to help me shed a fair amount of weight in the beginning. These may or may not be a good idea - and again I want to point out this blog is not intended to constitute advice - but it worked for me in that it allowed me to lose enough to feel confident enough to join a gym.
I attended for about a year, sticking rigidly to the plan drawn up for me at my induction, and I got noticeably thinner, stronger and more muscular. In terms of running, I used the treadmill to do interval sessions (alternating between 1min slow, 1min fast) which is an excellent way to burn calories. Sadly, family breakup meant I had to leave Haverhill in May 2011, and with that I left the gym as well.

On the plus side, I now had daily access to a treadmill, so began to concentrate on using that as a way of continuing the weight loss and improving my fitness. I had my eye on a debut half marathon, and began to build up my distances. For some reason, it never really occurred to me to try running outside - I clearly have quite a high boredom threshold, and am quite happy running up to ten miles on a treadmill providing I have my ipod to listen to. Unfortunately a niggly back problem meant I had to stop running for a bit, the half marathon plan was temporarily shelved, and my weight began to climb again.

Step Three: The Great Outdoors

A few months later, in March 2012, I moved to Hundon - much nearer to my kids, and a lovely part of the county to live in. With no treadmill, and with the cost of rejoining the gym proving financially prohibitive at the time, I had no option but to try running outside. My back was now fine, but I had lost a lot of the fitness I had worked so hard to find, and I clearly remember only getting 1.5 miles in to my first run before I had to stop, completely exhausted. Turning back for home I stopped again a couple of times, and that first run of 3 miles took me over 30 minutes. However, with the scenery, fresh air, and nice weather, I was hooked. And more than anything, I really enjoyed the sense that, unlike with my previous treadmill miles, I had actually run somewhere, and that given time I would be able to build up my distances and properly explore the new area where I lived in a way I never would with my car. I bought a large ordinance survey map for my lounge wall, and began plotting new routes to try before I left the house each run. Before long, I had a number of decent routes and knew the surrounding area really well.

The aptly named "Mare Hill" formed part of my regular route. I also used to run up Cock Hill in Kedington regularly, but when I tried to find a picture on Google Images the results were quite horrific...

One particular 5 mile route became a favourite, and I would set out each day to try to better my previous time. I went from approximately 10min miles when I first started up to around 7m40 pace, and learnt how to deal with hills in the process. Fairly soon after I began this new chapter in my fitness regime, I saw a local half marathon advertised, and this became my focus - ideal because in addition to my usual routes, I could also jump in the car and after only a short journey, I could train on the actual route. At the end of May 2012, I ran my first ever race in a respectable time, and encouraged by this I joined Haverhill Running Club, and began racing regularly. Within a year, my half marathon time had improved by 14 minutes, and my 5km time from an initial 21mins at my first ever parkrun, down to 19m44 a couple of times at club time trials. More on this later, since this remains a 5k pb. All was going well, and I was down to 10.5 stone, and feeling great.

Bad Health/Injury

In April 2013, I again moved away from the area, and this meant I attended running club far less frequently. I have never regularly attended the Thursday, sociable runs, but I love the Tuesday speedwork sessions, and I can see a direct link between these and my short distance times. But more relevant still, I began to experience some bladder/stomach problems, which have never been satisfactorily diagnosed, and which continue to dog me over a year later. For about a year, up to and including the VMLM, I was affected by problems every time I ran - sometimes nothing more than mild discomfort, but often much worse. My race times all fell away, and my PBs from 2012 seemed like impossible targets. Although the problems increased during and immediately after running, they were present all the time, and initially not directly linked by doctors to running - and besides, I have always used running as a way of keeping myself mentally healthy - and so I decided not to stop running, but merely slow down. I remember one or two races in particular that were truly horrible - including having to stop midway through the Newmarket 10k, which I believe I may have quit if it hadn't been part of the Suffolk Grand Prix series - but in the main I found I could deal with the situation providing I slowed down a bit, gritted my teeth and just got on with it.

I did my first Ultra, a 30 mile "race" that actually went better than the two marathons I have attempted before and since. The day afterwards I was finally told the problem was almost certainly running related rather than medical, and a short break of a couple of weeks seemed to confirm this as everything settled. I therefore began having physio, which did seem to help initially, combined with some yogalates to work on core strength. However, the problem never went away completely, and I began looking for new ways to enjoy running - volunteering regularly at my local parkrun, and at a couple of races, joining the club committee, and doing a lot more pacing, which allowed me to still enjoy hitting PBs, just not my own. Getting a club place in the London Marathon meant I continued to log the miles, and in fact my preparation for this went pretty well, as I got better at dealing with the situation.

Although, as blogged about previously, the marathon itself didn't go well, this did seem to be merely a blip in what had otherwise been quite an encouraging first half of the year. I have been attending Tuesday sessions regularly, and with parkruns most weekends and a fair few races too, my times have been steadily coming back down - with new PBs at 5mile and 10k distance already this year. I have found for some reason that I am not experiencing the discomfort so much during these shorter races and training sessions, despite the level of activity being that much more intense. I now believe that the problem is linked more with high mileage than anything else - a couple of months of no more than 50 miles and I actually believed it had gone away, but no sooner did I begin to increase the mileage (to 100 last month)  -  as I began to think about an autumn marathon - than the pain has come back again.

Decision Time

Despite having already paid to enter the inaugural Chelmsford Marathon in October, I have now decided I am going to give this place up, and remain focused on shorter races, thus allowing me to cut back my monthly training miles again . I am not prepared to go back to dealing with daily discomfort again, and hope that maybe with only 2 or 3 runs a week, with the emphasis on quality rather than quantity, I can still improve my times whilst continuing to enjoy my running. To fill in the gaps and get my daily exercise fix, I intend to rejoin the gym, and the improvement in overall strength  and conditioning, particularly regarding core strength, should still enable me to get quicker. Having made this decision, I feel a lot more relaxed about the rest of the year's running - to be honest, the thought on embarking on another marathon training schedule didn't particularly appeal anyway, irrespective of the anticipated increase in discomfort.

I had an encouraging run at an Ekiden (marathon relay) event over the weekend, running the first, 7.2km leg for the club in just under 30mins - which roughly equates to 10k PB pace. However I suffered for it the next day, and think I may well adapt a stategy of run one day, rest the next, with maybe two days rest after a hard race. But nonetheless, it seems I have rediscovered my old pace for this type of distance - 6m45 per mile on three separate occasions now - and it's just the 5k PB that's proving elusive. Which brings me to the original reason for this blog - my focus on this month's club time trial.

Why Can't I hit my old 5km times?

There may be a number of reasons for this. Firstly, it is a distance I race very often, and these races have probably helped me tremendously in terms of acting as excellent training/tempo sessions for subsequent 5mile and 10k races. Effectively, whilst hitting 6m30 pace over a 5k results in a time I would find disappointing as I chase my 19m44 PB, it is great preparation for me to be able to run 15secs a mile slower in a slightly longer race and hit a new PB, as was the case at both Bury 5 and Haver10K. What I guess I'm not doing enough of is running quicker than my current 5k PB pace - and so to do this it may be a good idea to run some more 1k rep sessions, which are easy enough to replicate on my own with a Garmin watch, in addition to the sessions I do with the club. Again, this fits well with the idea of running shorter but faster training sessions, and I can incorporate some interval treadmill sessions into my gym sessions as well, which will all help.

Lighter shoes, or "racing flats" : less weight to pick up with every stride

But another factor must be that I am now back weighing 12.5 stone - 2 stone heavier than when I set those old 5k PBs. I think I am probably a stronger and more intelligent runner than I was back then, but if I'm carrying around additional 2 stone it's perhaps no wonder that in the very shortest distances that I race, I'm unable to find that 10-15seconds per mile than I so desperately need. It does rather make a mockery of my having bought lightweight running shoes, to save a few grams!


At the last club time trial, I asked one of our quicker runners, Martin, if he would mind helping me set a new PB at this month's run. These 5k races fall on the last Thursday of each month, and since I now jointly organise these along with a club colleague, I rarely get the chance to race one. However, at the end of this month, Andy will be in charge of the stopwatch, and providing I get a full raft of volunteers, I will be able to go for a time. Martin is going to attempt to get me round in 19m30, which equates roughly to 6m20 pace  - with a sprint finish. This is a great opportunity for me to set a new PB, on a flat course, with an excellent experienced pacer on board. Having set this up, I was determined to do all that I could to achieve my goal - and that meant, alongside some smart training, that I needed to lose some of that weight.

No Junk July

A few days after I had began to watch what I ate, I heard about a facebook page called NO JUNK JULY, encouraging participants to ditch unhealthy food for a month. On the banned list were such things as chocolate bars, crisps, takeaways, fry-ups, fizzy drinks, cakes - in short, most of things I enjoy eating the most. I joined up since I felt the support and encouragement of others was bound to help. I began well enough, only slipping up a couple of times (cake, what else?!) but then I found I was beginning to fret about a weekend away meeting  a number of Charlotte's relatives, which I knew would test me to the limit, with the promise of a large family BBQ and plenty of beer. I had already begun to become slightly disillusioned with the whole cold turkey approach to things, and found I was permanently hungry, craving certain foods and generally getting a bit tetchy. I knew that I had made some positive changes, which I believed I could stick to, so I decided to stop beating myself up over the occasional lapse - any type of diet which you hate is unlikely to succeed - and enjoy the weekend, safe in the knowledge I would have the willpower to spend the majority of days eating more healthily.

What has surprised me most is how easily I adjusted back to the new healthier diet after what proved to be an enjoyable weekend. I went the whole of the following week sticking rigidly to my new routine of smoothies for lunch, and avoiding the work vending machine, which I used to raid at the start AND end of each shift. Snacking between meals now involves fruit, and I seem to have got past the feeling hungry stage and settled into the new diet quite well. The first hint that losing weight could help my times came with a decent performance as a parkrun tourist in Newport that weekend, where I came 12th out of a field of over 300. Early days, but I have already lost about 8 or 9 pounds, and am noticeably thinner around the middle.
Charlotte has been very supportive of this lifestyle change, and got a great new PB herself in Newport.

Portion Control

When I have an evening race, I need to ask for an early work shift to allow me to finish in time - this typically involves getting up and eating breakfast around 5am. With lunch around 11am, it means that by the time I finish at around 6pm I am more than ready for my main meal of the day. Obviously eating a cooked meal so close to a 7.30pm race start would be a bad idea - besides, quite often there would not be enough time since I tend to travel straight to the race venue after work.

Dinner was slightly disappointing

So  recently, I hit upon the (blindingly obvious) idea of eating my main meal at lunchtime on such days. Not only do I then begin my race feeling less hungry, but my body has had plenty of time to digest the meal and I have some fuel on board for the race - which I will usually top up with a banana about an hour before the start.

I have tried this twice, and it has worked well both times - the first time led to a new 5mile PB at Bury, and the second to my best ever race placing in a Kevin Henry fixture. What was interesting about the second time was that the microwave-ready meal I bought that day happened to be a weightwatchers one : purely because it looked the most appetising on offer. When I served it up, I was dismayed at how little there seemed to be on the plate - but I felt perfectly full once finished, and it made me realise how unnecessarily large my main meal tends to be. Like many people, I find it hard to leave food on my plate, so even when I know I have cooked too much, I still tend to finish it off. Cooking smaller portions is an incredibly obvious and easy way to reduce calorie intake, and combined with having cut out most of the unhealthy stuff too, I am confident I can continue to lose the weight I want, with the target to have lost a stone by the end of the month, and ultimately to get back down to my 10.5stone "fighting weight."

17 Days to go

And so, with time running out before the time trial, I need to ensure I keep pushing hard in my training sessions, and keep watching what I eat and drink. I don't know if I will get a pb or not, but if I can maintain this new healthier mindset, I am convinced I will eventually hit my ultimate twin targets : a sub 19min 5km and a sub 40min 10km.

Perhaps next year I will think again about going for another marathon, but for the time being I have a much clearer focus on what I want to achieve in my running.

Racing Throughout May

If January through to April was all about training for and running the London Marathon, then throughout May I rediscovered my love of the shorter distance. I have always been better at the 5k races, and have always felt I should probably be better than I am at 10k too – and it’s not just the races themselves, but the training: long slow runs bore me, and I much prefer a shorter, more intense training session, such as the excellent Tuesday night club ones run by Trevor, Steven and David. These sessions are extremely hard to replicate on your own – much easier to push yourself properly when there are others around you doing the same, and the camaraderie/banter in between
reps helps make the hour more enjoyable: they are hard but fun, which is exactly what good training should be. I had a period of about 8 months when I hardly ever made club training, and my times all began to fall off – and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that since I resumed Tuesday sessions from the turn of the year, I have been able to steadily chip away at my 5k times and am now back
close to my pb from over a year ago.

And so, the races in May came thick and fast.

Running along the same tracks the horses train on

Firstly, Newmarket Heath 6k: running without Garmin and just going by feel alone, I was pleased to come within 30 seconds of my time from last year, when I was running at my quickest. This was the first indication to me, after a disappointing London Marathon, that it wouldn’t take much to get back to my old times again, and possibly go quicker.


Next up, the first Kevin Henry race of the season at Impington. Everyone talked about the PB potential of the course – nice and flat, wide enough for no congestion, and good surface underfoot. I came within a few seconds of a PB, and my first sub-20 run in a KH fixture, so I was happy with that.

Next came the Ashdon 10km, the first of 3 races over that distance that I deliberately set up for May, with the aim to improve my time over what I find quite a tough distance to pace properly. Ashdon was hilly and off road – two factors I always try to avoid where possible, so again this was a conscious decision to try to take myself out of my comfort zone, and tackle things I find tough. My time was respectable enough, but the overriding memory of the day was the huge HRC turnout, which made for an enjoyable social occasion. Oh, and the cake. Obviously.

Lots of Haverhill Runners

Lots of Cake

Second 10k of the month, the inaugural Haver10. Again, a great club turnout for this and the Half, and my best ever race: a new PB for the distance and 5th place overall – obviously not the most competitive of races, a fact which I’m sure will change in future years as more local runners become aware of the event. But a nice flat route in the main, which just a slight incline coming back out of Sturmer.

A field of about 180 so I was chuffed with my finishing position

Nice to run on roads I know so well – having a good mental picture of how far there is to go has got to help, and I was pleased to keep my pace reasonably consistent throughout, with enough left for a sprint finish. 41m50 suggests that my sub 40m target is not quite as ridiculous as it has seemed over the last year, although there is still a long way to go.

In between all these races, there have been my weekly Parkruns. I have traditionally tended to neglect hills as part of my training, so Colchester Castle Parkrun on a weekly basis has helped tremendously with that. It’s a tough one to pace, since the first half is all flat or downhill, before then you tackle the big hill twice in the latter part of the race. So I never know whether to go all out to start with, and get some time in the bank, or whether to try and save something for the tougher second half. On this particular occasion, there was a 20min pacer, and since I was determined to go sub 20 for the first time there, I settled in behind him and let him do the thinking for me – even choosing to run without my watch. I was chuffed to bits when I was able to go past him with half a kilometre to go, and with a strong finish, I was sure I had a new PB – only to discover he had paced it incorrectly, and I had only matched my previous best time there, of 20m07. To be fair, I have been an official pacer there myself on two previous occasions, and not managed to cross the line at exactly the right time - it's not as easy at it seems.

But the most enjoyable race of the month for me was my last – the Bupa 10000, in London. I entered this mainly because it fell on my 40th birthday, and I had a few Colchester-based friends doing it too, with the promise of a day’s drinking and eating to follow. Charlotte and I arrived at our hotel the evening before, and like all good athletes, immediately began focusing on the following day’s events: being able to visualise what’s in store can only be helpful – and so, with this in mind, we found the pub we were planning to spend the next day in, and began sampling their beers. In fairness, we had only intended to have one – but the champions’ league final was on, and one thing led to another….anyway, we did at least get back to the hotel at a reasonable time, although unfortunately their bar was still open, and …

A great weekend, though not particularly from a running perspective

So not ideal, but it meant we turned up on race morning with very little expectation of setting quick times, and thus avoiding a lot of the pre-race nerves that we both normally suffer with. I was convinced it wasn’t a race with PB potential anyway, due to the huge number of entrants – second only the London Marathon in terms of what I’d experienced before – and I was anticipating congestion throughout. In fact, this wasn’t the case at all, the start being brilliantly organised in waves based on your predicted times, and so providing you were near the front there was no reason why you would be held up at all. Charlotte managed a new PB, and whilst my own time was some way outside my best, I am convinced I can do it quicker next year with the right preparation. But that wasn’t why I entered – and it was great to experience a race atmosphere similar to the Marathon, but with 20 miles less to run.

A busy month of racing came to an end with the club time trial, and another great turnout of over 70 runners. Andrew and I take it in turns to organise or run, and this month it was his turn on the stopwatch, but I didn’t feel I was in shape to go for a time, so instead paced Charlotte, who achieved a big new PB and a first ever sub 24min time. One of the things I have discovered over the last year is the pleasure you can get from running with others, helping someone to a new PB is the next best thing to getting one yourself. And getting more involved with the club in terms of helping organise the time trials, etc, has been a great way to get to know more club members, and to feel more a part of the club. Big thanks as always to our volunteers, without whom this can’t go ahead each month.

Haverhill Running Club seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment. We have always been a friendly, welcoming club – but it’s great to see so many people attending training, time trials, and local races. To get over sixty runners at the first Kevin Henry fixture in Impington was fantastic, but unbelievably we got even more - about seventy five - at the June fixture in Newmarket, running near the famous Rowley Mile racecourse. As I type this, we are only a week away from fixture number three, hosted by Saffron Walden, and another big club turnout is on the cards.

The bulk of this blog first appeared in the club newletter, which can be found on our website, www.haverhillrunningclub.com. The next blog will follow shortly and will deal with two very different race experiences in Bury St Edmunds. In the meantime, if you enjoy reading running blogs, please have a look at those of my friends:

http://throughthefieldsofmersea.blogspot.co.uk/
http://longroadtoboston2016.blogspot.co.uk/
http://fruittlooprunner.blogspot.co.uk/

Back in love with running

 

Ok, so firstly, in no way am I blogging so soon after my last post simply to avoid doing what I ought to be doing today, ie job-hunting. That is not the case at all. Important to get that straight.

Kevin Henry Series

Right, so I am blogging because I am on a high after yesterday evening's race, a 5k that forms part of the Kevin Henry Series. This series is a local inter-club event comprising 5 races, held over the Summer each year, from May - September. Well, Summer - ish. Each one is hosted by a different local club, all of whom compete over the series : yesterday was the first one of the year, held by Cambridge Tri, at Impington.

The scoring rules are straight-forward, in a complicated kind of way. Top 6 male athletes and top 4 female athletes from each club all score points based on their finishing position within their gender.

Simples

So the first male athlete home scores 1 point, the second scores 2, etc, and the same process for the ladies. The lower the score therefore the better. If, like me, you don't finish in the top 6, then your time and finishing position become irrelevant in terms of the competition, but you score a point simply for competing. Each point earned in this way is then subtracted from the score compiled by your top 6, so the more attendees from your club, the lower your final score will be.

Traditionally, or at least since 2012 when I've been attending, we have had relatively small turnouts at these races, with the notable exception of our own, in Kedington. I shall blog about this race later in the Summer, but it was the first race I ever did for the club, and has a horrific hill that didn't combine well with the KFC I'd had about an hour before.

This year, Sian-Marie from our club has been pushing hard to get people involved - I may also have banged on about it a bit on our facebook page. Haverhill Running Club has a rightly-earned reputation for being a friendly sociable club, and everyone's priority is to keep it that way. However, along with a few others, I feel we should push to be a bit more competitive too - and the nice thing about this series of races is that everyone who runs can help contribute to lowering our score, irrespective of what level they are currently at.

So it was fantastic to see 63 club members at Impington last night. Included within this number were a fair few new members, who have been coming along to training sessions and time trials, but who were competing in their first ever club race. This was great to see, and I hope they will all be back for the next race in June.

Personally, I did okay. My Gold target was to hit a new pb for 5k, which has stood at 19m44 for nearly a year now. Silver target was to get under 20mins, which I have managed 5 times previously at parkruns and time trials, but never in a club race. For this occasion, knowing I am pretty much back to my best, and that this course had big pb potential, I didn't set a Bronze target.

Ashdon 10k

The only possible problem would be how much my previous race at the Ashdon 10k, on Bank Holiday Monday, may have taken out of me. This race also had an excellent turnout from the club, and probably at least half of us did both, so this wasn't going to be an easy excuse to use with club colleagues.

A great turnout at a great local race, with great cakes afterwards. I can thoroughly recommend Ashdon 10k for the demanding off road terrain through farmer's fields, the tough undulating course, and the chocolate cake and apricot flapjack.

Didn't catch the guy in front but in truly chivalrous fashion we both overtook the lady

Ashdon was off-road and hilly, and was never going to be a pb for me - I was very pleased to get home in just over 45mins, coming in 27th place overall and 4th home for the club. We had 3 runners in the top 10: Bryan got 9th place, Martin - who picked up a trophy for first 50+ runner (as did Cheryl for the ladies) came 5th, and there was an excellent 2nd place finish for Andy, with whom I organise the monthly time trials, and who is in excellent form at the moment. For me this was a race I wanted to do for 2 reasons - mainly because it is always well attended by the club, and as such is a nice social occasion, but also just so I could get used to running the distance again ahead of the next 2 I have booked.

Pacing the Race

Back to yesterday then. The race was very straightforward, being two laps of a farm on concrete track, followed by a straight run to the finish. The lap was essentially a big square, so a combination of good surface, no twisty turny bits, and perfect weather conditions (the rain held off for the duration of the run and the temperature was fine) meant that there was no reason not to get a decent time. My pacing strategy was straightforward too. A 20 minute 5k needs 4min kilometres. I have recently begun resetting my Garmin watch to metric when I run a 5k, whereas for all other distances I still prefer to work in miles. However, since the watch still records lap times each mile, I get a beep and a display showing my mile time as well, so I can work in both. The plan then was to try to keep to 4min kilometres for the first 4, and then push on for the last kilometre to get that pb -- a 3m43 last kilometre would suffice, and I have managed 3m15 in training (albeit as part of an interval session with breaks in between.)

So first kilometre, and I went off too fast, as always. Very hard not to get carried away at the start of any race, and with this series being extremely competitive, being all club runners, it meant that even standing a little way off the front I was still surrounded by fast runners, and found myself swept along at their pace. I went through in well under 4mins, and realised I needed to slow up a little to ensure I didn't burn out too quickly. So for the second kilometre I hit 4mins pretty much dead on, before slowing a little in kilometres 3 and 4 before pulling it back in the last one. My watch records the lap times as follows:

Mile 1:            6m14                                    pace per kilometre: 3m52
Mile 2:            6m37                                    pace per kilometre: 4m07
Mile 3:            6m29                                    pace per kilometre: 4m02
last 0.1miles :   28 seconds                            pace per kilometre: 2m57

So a finishing time of 19m48, comfortably under 20mins and only 4 seconds off my pb. Next time I will try to go a bit steadier for the first mile - this is a mistake I make regularly at parkrun too, and although it is nice to go through the first mile ahead of schedule with "time in the bank" this invariably leads to a poor mid-section of the race. The other thing I must work on is my pre-race warm-up : Charlotte and I ran perhaps half a kilometre beforehand, but I have been told you want a good ten minutes warm up prior to attempting a fast 5k, and that should include some "strides" to finish with, ie getting your body used to the speed you intend to start at -- this is something I tend to neglect, and it will be interesting to see if this helps. I worked out today that I have raced over 50 times now at this distance, with parkruns, time trials and KH races, but I still have a lot to learn.

Interestingly enough, Charlotte was also exactly 4 seconds outside her pb, and we both finished 8th for the club in our respective gender categories. Well, I thought that was interesting anyway. I think that our post-race reactions were also quite interesting - I was pretty pleased, although I feel I can definitely get quicker, whereas Charlotte was far from happy with her performance. Providing this is channelled correctly, disappointment with a performance can be a good thing -- I think I am probably getting close to what I am capable of, and that knocking a few seconds off here and there is the best I can hope for, whereas both Charlotte and I believe that she can improve by some way still : and she has the ability combined with the determination to do just that. We both have our targets to have reached by the end of the series, and I'm pretty sure we'll both get there.

Next up

And so on Sunday May 11th, the next challenge awaits - the inaugural Haverhill 10k.

Photo taken before some wag drew a "C" in front

This is part of a family fun day that also includes the Haverhalf, but I opted for the shorter distance to fit in better with my priority for the Summer, which is to get my 5k and 10k times down. Having done Ashdon 10k last Monday, and with the Bupa 10000 in London on May 25th, this will make 3 10k races in total for May, plus the 6k Newmarket Heath race I ran on the 1st, the KH as waffled on about above, and the next time trial at the end of the month which  I hope to be able to run in - if I can rope enough people in to volunteer.

Haverhill promises pb potential, being flat and not particularly congested (unlike the 10000 later in the month in London.) My 10k pb, set back in December 2012, stands at 42m40. If I can maintain 4m15 pace throughout, therefore, I will beat it comfortably, and the way my running is going at the moment this really should be do-able. I shall of course blog about this in due course. 

Bouncing back from the London Marathon

It has taken me a while to get round to blogging about my London Marathon run, mainly because it didn’t go according to plan and I didn’t want to publish a predominantly negative report. Three weeks on, and it’s much easier to take the positives out of what was a truly amazing experience.

Pre-race build up

So the night before, due to a mix up I won’t bore you with, I discovered I didn’t actually have a hotel room booked in London after all. This didn’t turn out to be a major problem, plan B simply involved getting up a bit earlier and driving to Redbridge Tube Station, from where I was able to hop onto the underground – and all went smoothly. I hooked up with Charlotte at London Bridge Station, and we travelled the last part together, which was a lovely way to begin the day.

There is no way I would have found myself so calm and relaxed at the Blue Start in Blackheath had it not been for Charlotte. Partly because she’s such good company, but mainly because she stopped me getting on the wrong train and ending up in Greenwich.

There is always an element of nervousness related to the unknown when you compete in a race for the first time. This Thursday I ran an off-road 6k race in Newmarket, but having done this event last year I knew exactly where to go, where to park, where the toilets were, what the course was like, etc – and I was able to concentrate fully on the race itself. For the marathon, I had been stressing somewhat about getting to the correct start point on time, the legendary queues for the toilets, etc – but in the end, everything went really well and I found myself with the same air of confidence that I’d had throughout training. Having bumped into some Colchester based friends on the tube, Nina and Paul, and Jean and Darren, we then managed to find another friend Chris at the start, and then a couple of fellow HRC runners – Mark and Dave – just before getting into our starting pens. Having given different finish time predictions when entering, Charlotte and I were in different pens, but we could both hear Mo being introduced to the crowd before the roar signifying the race had begun. Back in pen 6 we began a calm walk towards the start line, and only 6 minutes later I was off and running.

For the non-runners amongst you (just remind me why you would be reading this again?) there is a small chip which you attach to your shoe-laces that registers as you pass over a timing

mat placed at the start line. This is common to many races – certainly nearly all big events use this system – and another mat at the finish ensures you get an accurate race time, irrespective of how long it may take to reach the start line, clearly an issue in a race where 36000 runners have to file through the start. London is the first race I have ever done which also recorded times every 5km, with another mat at the halfway point too. This allows friends and family to follow your progress “live” via the internet, if they so wish, and also allows you to analyse your 5k “splits” afterwards, to see how well you paced yourself.

The first few miles

And so the first few miles went by, and it was immediately apparent to me this was going to be unlike any I had ever run before. I remember, in both the 20 mile races that I ran in training, those first 2 or 3 miles were psychologically hard because of the fear of how far there was left to go. This proved not to be a problem at London – I was far too busy   

a) enjoying the huge level of support, and trying to spot friends in the crowd  

b) looking forward to running past the various famous landmarks : Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, etc

c)  trying to ensure I didn't trip over the people in front or get stood on by the people behind

Ultimately this congestion, which doesn’t ever really seem to dissipate, makes it hard to pace yourself evenly. Although in theory everyone else in your start pen should be running at a similar speed, in practice there appeared to be a massive variation in pace, most people appearing to be much slower than I wanted to be, and so for perhaps the whole of the first half of the race I found myself overtaking, weaving in and out of fellow competitors, and unable to settle into a decent rhythm. Consequently, whilst my pace was slower than I had intended, I think I expended a lot more energy in getting to halfway, and certainly felt a lot more tired, than my 1hr53 time suggests (more than a minute per mile slower than what I would consider to be a comfortable half marathon pace.)

Targets

I had decided on three targets at the suggestion of my friend Angela, who does the same – and smashed her Gold target and pb at Manchester the week before. You can read her blog here: http://longroadtoboston2016.blogspot.co.uk/

So Gold was 3hr40, Silver 3hr45, and Bronze a very straightforward (or so I thought) sub 4hr target. However, as my training progressed, I foolishly began to believe I could manage closer to 3hr30, which in fairness my two 20 mile race performances did suggest was feasible. 

On the day, my plan was to run at 8m30 pace for the first 10 miles, then see if I could push to 8min pace for the next 10, and then push harder still for the last 6.2 miles. The big unknown was how much time I would lose in the crowds at the start, and I made the decision not to try and make up any lost time, but simply to accept it as something I couldn’t do anything about.

Consequently, looking at the stats, the first half really wasn’t too bad. It was pretty clear to me as I approached Tower Bridge that the 3hr30 wasn’t going to happen, but I still hadn’t ruled out Gold, or at least Silver, although as already stated, I already felt far more tired than I should have by that stage. My mile splits up to mile 15 were all below 9min miles, so comfortably within 4 hour pace, as follows:

Mile 1:   8m40

Mile 2:   8m46

Mile 3:   8m23

Mile 4:   8m22

Mile 5:   8m35

Mile 6:   8m46

Mile 7:   8m47

Mile 8:   8m27

Mile 9:   8m42

Mile 10: 8m42

Mile 11: 8m24

Mile 12: 8m40

Mile 13: 8m41

Mile 14: 8m46

Mile 15: 8m47

I think the heat on the day played a big part in what happened next – which was that, far from pushing on in the second half, I began to struggle simply to keep the same pace up, and at about mile 16 I could feel myself getting close to cramping up, meaning I made the decision to abandon Gold and Silver, and merely try to complete in under 4 hours.

Cramping up

When you sweat you lose vital salts from your body, and unfortunately on a hot day the natural tendency to drink more speeds up this process. The way to combat this is to take on board gels/sports drinks to replace these lost electrolytes. I think I probably should have had my first gel earlier than mile 10 – but I also think I just have to accept I am not good at running in hot weather, having had very similar experiences at Edinburgh Marathon last year and at the Grunty Fen Half Marathon too. 

By mile 18 I was cramping badly, and had to begin alternating between walking and running since the pain was too much. There’s not much you can do once the muscle cramps set in, and the horrible realisation, as I passed mile 20 in exactly 3 hours, that I wouldn’t even beat my Bronze target, left me thoroughly fed up and miserable. All I needed was to do the last 6.2 miles in an hour, fully 15 minutes more than I would normally need for a comfortable 10km, and the frustration was that I didn’t feel exhausted, I wasn’t out of breath, and I just desperately wanted to be able to run properly again and at least get under 4 hours. But alternating between running and walking as I was, I couldn't even manage 10min miles. I did actually stop to ask the St John’ Ambulance guys for some help around mile 22, but in all honesty their response - “it’s only 4 miles to go mate,” - whilst not exactly helpful, was really all they could say.

Mile 16:  9m36

Mile 17:  9m07

Mile 18:  9m17

Mile 19:  10m56

Mile 20:  10m38

Mile 21:  10m02

Mile 22:  12m55

Mile 23:  13m44

Mile 24:  9m46

Mile 25:  14m19

Mile 26:  12m11

The signage along the way helped keep spirits high

Fantastic Support

Of course, realising things were going so badly meant that I can’t honestly say I enjoyed the race, certainly not the second half – and I also became slightly disorientated towards the end: I had some friends from the Commando Runners who had come to cheer us on, and it took me ages to register who it was screaming “IAN!!” in my face (sorry Laura) let alone to focus on who else was there in the group (about 8 friends were there supporting us all.)

Similarly there was a group of Haverhill Running Club supporters who called out my name towards the end, and I couldn’t work out who they were at all. But it was nice that so many friends came out to support us all, and the atmosphere throughout the race was totally unlike anything I have ever experienced before. On reflection, whilst the hot weather didn't help us runners, I am so glad the supporters had a nice day and could enjoy watching the event.

The Finish Line

Pretty sure this was a lie

Beforehand, I had visions of charging down the finishing straight at The Mall, dipping under my target and punching the air in delight. Having first stopped my watch of course. The reality was somewhat different. I can’t honestly say I enjoyed crossing the line, given that I was merely shuffling at this stage.
When they put my medal around my neck, it fell behind the running number I had pinned to my vest, and I didn’t feel inclined to get it out and have a look – nor did I go and have my official finisher photo taken. I merely collected my bag and headed for the meeting point to wait for Charlotte. She was wasn’t far behind, recording an impressive 4hr40 for her first ever marathon, despite her ongoing knee injury and having a bad stitch at around mile 22 that she managed to get through to finish strongly. She was rightly proud of her achievement, and seeing her and her family at the end helped snap me out of my grumpiness.  We then met up with a few more club runners who had all run well, and had kind words for me that further improved my mood.



26.2 miles is a long way, and it IS a great medal

Interestingly, the reaction from friends and work colleagues afterwards has been very different to that following other races I have done. London clearly resonates more with non-runners, with people seeming genuinely impressed that I have completed the London Marathon,

even though I have raced the same distance before and indeed further. Of course, non-runners will have no real interest in my time, and whether or not it’s decent, whereas I think a few people at running club are surprised I didn’t do better than 4hr19. However, I have had nothing but positive and encouraging comments from everyone at HRC – it really is a very friendly and supportive club, and I am always proud to wear the club vest. I also know I will get plenty of help and advice the next time I try. You can find out more about the club by visiting their new website, at www.haverhillrunningclub.com

 

What next?

Although I posted “never again” on my facebook status later that day, in reality I knew it wouldn’t be long before I started thinking about trying another marathon. Much like Mo, I am unprepared to leave it like that. (Sadly, that’s about the only similarity between Mr Farah and I.) I had originally intended to compete with fellow club members in the Istanbul “Eurasia” Marathon this autumn, but I have now decided to put this back to 2015, preferring my next attempt to be more local, more low-key, and cheaper. All I want to do, if I can find a suitable race later on this year, is get round in under 4 hours – which I really ought to be able to do. Once I have managed this, I believe psychologically the distance will no longer worry me, and I can then work on getting my time down to something more commensurate with what I can manage in training.

Undeniably though, my forte is always likely to be the shorter distances, and since Marathon Day I have run three sub 20m30 parkuns, including equalling my Colchester course pb this morning with a time of 20m07. Last Thursday, Charlotte and I ran the Newmarket Heath 6k, a race along the gallops used by the race-horses when they train. It is hilly, off-road, and was a deliberate decision to take myself out of my comfort zone, and having left my Garmin at home, I ran purely on feel, and was pleased to keep up a decent (and I believe consistent) pace throughout, with a time of 22m45, which means I am very close to where I was this time last year, before illness and injury began to affect my times. I am running pretty much pain free at the moment and feeling very positive about my racing again. Charlotte smashed her time from last year by 30 seconds, and there is a lot more to come. Attending races with her makes them even more rewarding and enjoyable. 

Next up we have the Ashdon 10k, again off-road with some nasty hills, followed by the inaugural Haverhill 10k, and then back to London for the Bupa 10k, back racing Mo again. I believe Ashdon will be too hilly for me to trouble my pb, but I am feeling positive I may be able do so in Haverhill – the time to beat is 42m40. The Bupa 10k is more for fun – and will involve staying in London for the weekend to celebrate my 40^th birthday. Yet another benefit of being a runner – I am looking forward to turning 40 since I move up to a new age category, and will be competing as one of the youngest in the 40-44 group, whereas up until now I have been at the uppermost limit of the 18-39s.

Although I am keen to improve as a 10k runner, my favourite and best distance will remain 5k, and my favourite events of the year are fast approaching – the Kevin Henry 5k Series. 5 local clubs each host their own event, 1 a month throughout the summer. Top 6 males home from each club score the bulk of the points, and my aim is to get my time down significantly over the next few months so that I might score for the club, and hopefully get under 19mins by the end of the year in the process.

If I can manage that, and somewhere along the line quietly complete a sub 4 hour marathon, then it will go down as having been a successful year, with hopefully more to come in 2015.

Camels, Tapering and the Virgin Money London Marathon

Pleasant Distractions

A lot of non-running related matters, all good - highlights being beginning a fantastic new relationship and getting final confirmation of my diploma coming through, and so beginning the search for a new job - have meant I haven't blogged for a while. I haven't run a lot recently either, which in the build up to the London Marathon may seem like a bad thing. In fact it's fine - but more later, first I need to report on last Saturday and the small part I played in a World Record Run.

Camel Run

So I was honoured to be asked by my good friends Rob "front end" Saunders and Lorraine "rear end" Collins, to be part of the support crew for their world record attempt at Colchester Castle Parkrun, where they ran the 5km route dressed in a pantomime camel costume.

In ancient Roman times, Colchester was known as Camulodunum

This stemmed from a fancy dress run at Christmas and the realisation that by going slightly quicker they could get into the Guinness Book of World Records.

To do so, they had to make a formal attempt to get under 30mins, involving copious amounts of paperwork, proof that the course was accurately measured, at least two separate videos as evidence, and the whole thing to be witnessed by a public notary. Along with another friend, Gareth, I was appointed an official camel pacer. On the day, Gareth took over the role of clearing the way, and ensuring fellow parkrunners didn't get trampled by our marauding camel, and I concentrated on keeping the time and pace consistent throughout, whilst also giving verbal instructions since vision was limited from inside the costume. Especially at the rear end. Apart from the last quarter mile or so, when Rob began making some alarming noises suggestive of imminent vomiting, all went well, and they achieved a superb time of 25m30 - hopefully a record that will stand for some time. The atmosphere around the park was great, loads of "come on camel" type cheering all the way, and I believe I can speak for all members of the entourage, including Angela, Cath and Graham following with their video cameras, when I say it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. However, I have never known Lorraine so quiet.

The award for cheesiest grin goes to.....The day had begun with my being unexpectedly awarded a trophy - this was the parkrun's first anniversary in Colchester and so lots of awards were given out, including to fellow Commando Runners Danny (Male Points Winner) Jen (Best female junior) and Kerry and family (Best volunteers.) Regarding my own award, for "Male Parkrunner of the Year", I understand this was awarded on the basis of embodying the ethos of parkrun - ie, in part for my running, (on a good day I tend to make top 20 but I am far from being one of the fastest ) but also for volunteering regularly, pacing, guiding, etc. I suspect that being friends with most of the core committee members (who made up the voting panel) didn't do me any harm either! 

On Sunday, a number of Commando Runners (this is a running group I am a part of that is based primarily in the Colchester area, though not exclusively) competed in marathons. Angela had a fantastic run at Manchester, getting under 3hr40 which guarantees her a good-for-age place at London next year, and is only 5 minutes outside the time she needs to qualify for her dream race in Boston. Danny managed a sub 3hr25 debut marathon in Brighton, the first step on a journey I suspect towards the holy grail of amateur running, a sub 3hr marathon. Lots of other friends also managed great times at Brighton, and these runs have only made me more determined to do well myself at London.

Which is tomorrow.....

Tapering

And so back to the fact that I haven't run much recently. This is deliberate, and is known as tapering. It is the part of a marathon training schedule all runners fear. Let me explain

Most marathon training plans are at least 16 weeks long. For London, this means beginning just before Christmas. I didn't do this. I enjoyed Christmas safe in the knowledge I would knuckle down in the New Year, and coming off a good base fitness level, 15 weeks proved to be fine. I haven't actually followed a specific plan, but have used one or two as a guide, including the excellent one drawn up by our club coach Trevor. Life tends to make it impossible to follow a plan to the letter, but I have ensured I have kept up my usual mix of runs each week, whilst using the plan to let me know how far my weekly long run should be. I booked in four races as part of my training, being an initial half marathon to help me decide what pace I should train at, two 20 mile races to give me experience of racing longer distances, and a final half to tell me whereabouts I was as I neared the end of my training. All went well, and with the exception of a lean couple of weeks after the second 20 mile race (the Essex 20) which took a lot out of me, being quite hilly and on a warm day, I have been fortunate that I have been able to train fairly well throughout. I had a slight niggle in my left ankle and calf after that race, compounded by a freak accident at work involving a car and an un-applied handbrake, but a couple of days of discomfort and then all was well.

And so, towards the end of all good training plans, you come to the taper. Essentially, this means dramatically reducing your mileage in the final two or three weeks before race-day, to ensure you go into the race with fresh legs. Since your body only reaps the benefits of a run about two weeks after you've done it, there is practically nothing to be gained from running in the last two weeks, other than to keep your muscles from tightening and, more importantly, to keep your mind right. Any runs done in this time should really be at a pretty gentle pace, and over much shorter distances. When you have become used to high mileage, it becomes surprisingly difficult to reduce your training level so dramatically. To go from a peak mileage of around 60 down to perhaps only 15 or so is strangely difficult.

Some runners begin to feel guilty that they are not running when they would be normally. Some panic that if they don't run, their fitness level will drop off. It is common to begin imagining illnesses and injuries. Every minor ache becomes a potential race-threatening major injury. Every cough of sneeze is imagined to be the onset of some horrible disease. It is known as taper madness, and can ruin your race if you let it.

Personally, I prefer to take the whole of the final week off completely, with the exception of a relaxed parkrun on the Saturday. This has worked for me ever since I began racing. Today I ran with a friend, Michael, who got a pb, despite having only run his debut marathon last Sunday in Brighton. The previous week, I only ran once - a 10 mile training run with fellow HRC runner Charlotte (also running London,) who needed to check where she was with a knee injury (all good fortunately.) Charlotte and I have begun dating very recently, and this has been at exactly the right time regarding the marathon, since it has given us both something else to occupy our minds, and has stopped the taper madness from getting to us. I should probably point out this is not why I am dating her, just a useful side effect...

Virgin Money London Marathon

I am going into tomorrow's race full of confidence and with few worries. Thursday I had my pre-race sports massage/physio with Becky, and all seems okay. Yesterday Charlotte and I met up with some more commandos - Nina, Paul and Jean - at the expo in the Excel arena, where you pick up your number, etc, but also a really great day out, making it all seem very real and imminent. And so I am ready to run only my second ever marathon.

Target 3hr40

Or maybe 3hr30. My training suggests I should be somewhere between the two -- my first half marathon of the training plan gave me the confidence to aim for 8m30 pace per mile, but as I've progressed through the plan, my times have improved, and I think 8m15 or even 8m00 is achievable. The race day strategy now is to start off at 8m30 pace for the first 10 miles, then up the pace to 8m00 until mile 20, and then see if I can "race" the last 6.2 miles (or 10k) to get as close to 3hr30 as I can. Whether or not this is achievable, I really don't know -- but good to go into a race with a demanding target, and I know that whatever happens, it's going to be an incredible experience.

I shall of course be blogging next week with a full report. To anyone else reading this who is competing tomorrow, in the VMLM or anywhere else - have a great race.

Learning from experience

 

I completed my first competitive race on my birthday weekend back in May 2012. Having spent a fair bit of time working up to a reasonable level of fitness on a treadmill, I moved to Hundon, near Haverhill, in March 2012. I began running outside for the first time in many years, and on the quiet country roads near my house I became seriously hooked. A local shop had an advert in the window for the Withersfield Half Marathon, and that gave me a target to train towards. 

I didn’t really know a great deal about running in those days – I just ran! However, looking back, my preparation actually wasn’t all that bad – my daily 5 mile route took in a couple of hills, and I also did a few training runs on the actual race route, so I knew what to expect.

I rather optimistically went for the small vest option, hence why I didn't join the front row for this photo

The race itself was very small – less than 70 runners. Despite this, a top ten finish was something of a surprise, and I was only 3 minutes outside the time I had set myself. However, whilst I was genuinely quite pleased, there was an element of disappointment because I had been bang on target right up until mile 10. A few days beforehand, I had overdone a training run and so went into the race with tired legs. The last 3 miles were hard.

Lesson one learnt: understand the importance of tapering before a race. Ideally, do not try out a new route the week of a race, get hopelessly lost, and end up running over 12miles before finally finding where you parked the car.

The most important consequence of that day, however, was my decision to join Haverhill Running Club, having seen a few members at the event. Whilst waiting for my application to go through, I ran my first ever parkrun (5km) in Cambridge, in a time of 21mins, and a 10km in Huntingdon, where I only just missed out on my 45mins target. So I joined the club with some half decent performances behind me, but with plenty of room for improvement.

First Club Race

Running is all about making the right choices

My first race for the club was the Kedington 5km, part of an inter-club series of races. This route actually ran right past where I lived, and I trained on these roads every day. I had already decided I was better suited to the shorter distance stuff, and was looking forward to putting in a good run. This was an evening fixture, and before the days when I understood the importance of not just what you eat before a race, but when you eat it. The route takes in a long, steep hill, which I had run many times in training, but on the night, it all but defeated me. My stomach was killing me throughout the run, and I was massively disappointed with my time. 

Lesson two learnt: do not eat a big dinner less than an hour before the start of a race. Particularly not a Zinger Tower meal. And whatever you do, don’t go large.

Are You Running or Training?

But despite this early set back, joining the club proved to be a good decision. I remember chatting to one experienced member who told me he only trained 3 times I week. I told him I trained 5 or 6 days a week – and he replied “train, or just run?” It remains the best bit of advice I have ever been given with my running, and from that day onwards I have tried hard to mix up my running sessions each week – ideally getting in a tempo run, a longer slower run, as well as (more recently) recovery runs if needed. I love to race and do so most weekends at parkrun, but Tuesday night speedwork sessions at running club provide me with that extra push that I can never quite replicate on my own.

Lesson three learnt: don’t just run. Think about what you hope to achieve each time you go out.

Entering Races

Not actually me, but you get the idea

I tried a lot more races throughout the rest of 2012, highlights being a 10km PB running alongside the Thames, and a couple of reasonable 10 milers too. I was again surprised and delighted to receive the “best new member” trophy at the annual club awards night, and my good start continued into the Spring of 2013, setting new PBs at all distances, including getting close to breaking the magic 70min barrier for 10 miles, and finally, after many many attempts, getting under 20mins for a 5km, which I then achieved a further couple of times. I also managed to finally record a half marathon time I could be pleased with, after a few attempts including a horrendous run round Grunty Fen on a ridiculously hot day where I barely made it home in under 2hrs.

Lesson four learnt: on a hot day, adjust your target. 

In the end, I finally conquered the distance simply by repeatedly entering half marathons until I got it right. At Cambridge, I got 1hr43, although found it tough – the following week, in my home town of Colchester, I almost hit my 1hr40 target, and finished strongly. This was a watershed race for me, the distance no longer bothered me, and a couple of weeks later I set what remains my Half PB – 1hr34m - at Stowmarket.

Lesson five learnt: if you find a particular distance psychologically difficult, keep doing it and you will eventually crack it.

Marathon: Too Soon?

These times all came about whilst I was training for my first ever marathon, in Edinburgh – again on my birthday weekend, so exactly a year after I had first begun competing. Unfortunately, this proved to be a complete disaster.

All my training pointed to 3hrs 30mins, and then about 4 weeks out, I developed a problem with my left knee. Physiotherapy and rest sorted this out, but I lost out of a fair bit of mileage, and was only fit to run again about a week before. Anxious to test out the knee, I made the decision to run the Soham half marathon, at marathon pace. All went well on the day, no reaction to the injury, and I had never felt so comfortable over the distance. But one week was simply not enough time to recover, and although the first 15 miles in Edinburgh were fine, and I was pretty much on target, running 8min miles comfortably, I soon began to run out of steam. At around 18 miles or so, already falling slightly behind schedule, I began to get cramp. First in my thighs, which was not good. Then in my calves, which was even worse. I was shuffling by this stage, and 8 more miles seemed impossible.

I stopped a few times, but had a determination not to walk, so simply stood at the side of the road until the pain went away, then carried on. But when the cramp spread to the soles of my feet, I knew I just had to give in and walk/shuffle/crawl my way to the finish. My time in the end was 4hr25, nearly an hour outside my target. I would imagine anyone watching me trying to change out of my sweaty clothes in the finish area would have found it highly amusing, but I couldn’t move any limb without it cramping up – even my arms – and for a couple of days afterwards I could barely walk. It took a few days too before I could take any sort of pride out of the fact that I had at least completed a marathon. And a few more before I decided I absolutely had to do another one, to put things right. I’m still not 100% sure why I cramped up, but I suspect a combination of getting my gel strategy wrong, possibly drinking too much on what was a very hot day, and perhaps general tiredness in the legs from the previous weekend, all played a part.

Lesson five learnt: get your nutrition/hydration strategy sorted out during your long training runs. And accept that, over the course of your 16 weeks of marathon training, there is a good chance you will pick up a niggle or two, and don’t try and compensate for lost mileage by ignoring the taper.

And whilst we’re at it: don’t then try and run a 5mile race PB the following Friday. In my defence, this was a part of the Suffolk Grand Prix series that I was doing well in, and races where you represent your club are always my priority. But whilst I ended up 2^nd overall in the Male Senior Category (ages 18-39) for the series, Ipswich 5 was not my finest performance, and on reflection racing hard so soon after such a tough experience was not the brightest move.

Lesson six learnt: allow time to rest after a hard race.

 

Running with Discomfort

I still don’t know whether Edinburgh was the cause, or merely part of the cause, but I haven’t been right ever since, and that was over a year ago. What I first thought were medical problems were finally discovered to be running related, and despite regular physiotherapy and working hard on my core strength and my flexibility, every run comes with an element of discomfort, although some days are worse than others. For some time I was unable to get close to my usual times, so much so that I decided to stop racing shorter distances and train for an Ultra -- admittedly only a mini-ultra but 30 miles is still 30 miles! I needed something to focus my training on that would distract me from the fact that I was getting slower! This proved to be a good decision - I enjoyed the experience, and was quite pleased to get home in under 5 hours. I can't honestly say I have got the ultra bug - I have no desire to run anything further! - but suddenly a marathon doesn't seem quite so daunting, and most importantly, it helped me to enjoy my running again. And recently there has been some improvement – I’m sure partly because I have become better at dealing with it, but also through paying closer attention to diet, stretching, yogalates (I'll leave that to another thread,) regular physio and, of course, to training smarter. 

For almost a year, since I moved away from Haverhill, I have neglected my speedwork, primarily because they are very difficult sessions to do on your own. Since the start of 2014, with the London Marathon my big target, I have been making the effort to attend club training sessions most weeks, and I think a combination of this and a determination to do well in my club vest in London are finally paying dividends.

My 5km times are now back nearer to the 20min mark, and I have had two very encouraging 20 mile races as part of my build up, clocking 2hr45 for both, which points to a decent time come marathon day. I made the decision to “race” both of these 20 milers, and if I can replicate that pace over 26.2 miles in 3 weeks time I shall be pretty happy, with a time of around 3hrs 40mins on the cards.

I did have a bit of a blip after the Essex 20, feeling very tired for a few days, and then having a bit of a dip in motivation which I find hard to explain. Then a short training run ended in me limping back home after only 3 miles, convinced I had seriously damaged my left calf/ankle. A trip to Becky, my physio, reassured me that nothing was torn, and we put the problem down to the new shoes I have been running in, and a problem with the lacing of these which I have now sorted. 

Weekend Races

On Saturday I ran a decent parkrun, recording a time within 30 secs of my course PB, yet without feeling I had really worked hard.

I may be wearing my Stort 30 T-shirt, but still definitely prefer the shorter distance races. Parkun has become a regular weekly fixture for me, whether racing, pacing or volunteering. As a short fast hilly race, it is a great workout and as my marathon training has progressed, my Colchester Castle Parkrun times have come down accordingly.

And on Sunday, I ran the Stowmarket Half Marathon, my last race before I begin my taper. I set myself a target of 7m30pace per mile, equating to a finish time of 1hr38m15. All went well, except for a slightly poor 12th mile, but I found a bit at the end and finished only 3 seconds outside my target, making it my 2nd best Half time, and only the 2nd time I've come in under 1hr40. Exactly the nice confidence boost I needed ahead of the big day. This race is now without doubt my favourite of the racing calender - not just because I seem to run well there, but due to the excellent organisation of the event, put on by Stowmarket Striders, which just seems to tick every box for me.

London 2014

And so not long now until London. Hotel all booked: no race-morning travel other than a short train journey to Blackheath, therefore no ridiculously early alarm call. The day before I shall visit the expo to pick up my number, and then the focus will be on relaxing, finding somewhere nice for a pre-race meal, and getting a good night’s sleep. I was very lucky to get a club place for what is undoubtedly the biggest race of my running “career” to date, and feel a real responsibility to do the club proud. In a sense, everything so far has been leading up to this, and hopefully the mistakes I have made along the way will all have helped to prepare me better for this one big event.

My current thinking is that my “problems” may well be medical after all, so at some point I shall be trying a different doctor, to see if anything else can be checked out. However, I now feel confident that I am a much more intelligent runner than I was, going into races far better prepared, far stronger and more powerful, and if I can finally get pain free, I hope to be setting more PBs in the years to come, having learnt so much from all my experiences over the last couple of years.

If you enjoyed reading my blog, please check out those of my friends:

Angela : http://longroadtoboston2016.blogspot.co.uk/

Teresa:  http://throughthefieldsofmersea.blogspot.co.uk/

Nicki:   http://fruittlooprunner.blogspot.co.uk/