Less than a week to go and it's all gone to the dogs

Less than one week to go: the distance training has now finished and I am well in to the taper period. I still run 4 times a week, but gradually shorter distances and at a slower 'super plod' pace too.

The fear of injury or illness is now at the forefront of my mind and at times I feel sick with nerves. Quite frankly I want to get the marathon over and done with now.

I decided a while back to mark my marathon milestone by raising some funds for the Dogs Trust charity. But I decided only at the last couple of weeks to request sponsorship, when I knew that I had done the training, and as far as I could establish, I would indeed be on the starting line.

I have 2 rescued lurcher dogs, Tom and Alice, who are very dear to me. They were abandoned, left tied to a tree in a field in Ireland back in 2004. They were found, but then placed on the 7 day 'death row' by the organisation that had found them. Thankfully, they were saved in time and brought to the UK and ended up living with me.

Organisations such as the Dogs Trust work hard to find new homes for abandoned dogs and never put down a healthy dog. My research has found that the Dogs Trust spends money raised wisely, but I think that's because of the level of responsibility they have. I would love to show my support for this organisation, so that more dogs like Tom and Alice can have a future. Thanks for your kind support... http://www.justgiving.com/Nick-Bowler

My race number arrived the other day (not sure why my race number is so low?!?). And I've signed up for social media updates too - so my result and my half way split times will be automatically posted on facebook.

I also had chance to pop up to Chester and drive the marathon route alongside my fellow Chester runners Larry and Richard with chief marathon logistics manager and supporter Laura. So a few hours of collective worrying about the route (It may start and fnish in the same place, but it looks uphill all the way) has meant the reality is here (especially when seeing the road signs giving advance warning of the forthcoming road closures).

So the next week will be spent avoiding people with colds, studying the race pack cover to cover. Re-checking the hotel booking, counting my gels, checking the weather forecast, clearing down the memory in my Garmin and so on. The countdown continues...

Chiens enragés et des hommes anglais sortir sous le soleil de midi (Mad dogs and English men go out in the midday sun)

So with the marathon training mileage now building up nicely and progress going well, the plan called for a short run and so some fellow parkrunners (Larry, Eric, Jeanette, Louis with fellow Tough Guy volunteer Adrian) headed off to Derbyshire for the Wilne 10k. It's a really well orgainsed run and I had previously used it as part of my 2011 comeback.

My August parkrun PBs had filled me with hope of a good time and I was confident that a 10k PB could be possible. The run went really well, my pace was quicker as the race went on (I kept telling myself that my pace was too fast, but I just kept on going). In the end I took over 6 minutes off my 10k PB to record a time of 51:12 - wow, I never had expected that!

Eric, myself and Larry all looking rather chuffed after our triple 10k PBs (Jeanette got a PB too!)

Thanks to George & Louis Satterthwaite for the photo.

The following day I headed off to my parents' house in France for a sort of holiday. There may be a change of location, but the marathon plan calls for the mileage to increase again. Every day involved either a run or a cycle (or both!) culminating in a 21 mile run in hot conditions through the Burgundy countryside.

Eric had suggested that I did the run as a build up run, so I split it into 5 mile sections, starting at a minute slower than my marathon pace, increasing the pace every 5 miles to finish at my marathon pace. However, it went much better than I had thought, even with the hot sun and 26C temperature, so much so that my 21st mile was at a cheeky 8:28 mins per mile, so my confidence was sent sky high! If I could repeat that run at Chester, it would make for a cracking day. Running through the French countryside was pleasant with the highlight being a smiley small dog who accompanied me for around 200 metres down a village main road before getting worried about being far from home. The dog kept looking at me, happy about running, but not quite sure why we were doing it. I think I may have had the same feeling too!

Soon after I returned back to Blighty for my biggest mileage week of 2012. 37.5 miles ending with a 20 mile run split into 2 parts as I ran from Redditch to Blythe Valley to cheer on a gang of fellow parkrunners in their 10k race before returning home. Well that's it as far as the plan is concerned, it's now time to taper as the race takes place in just 3 weeks time!

Mental Strength Comes in White Hats!

Following recent success with the interval runs, I stuck with them throughout August and reaped the rewards with 2 further 24 minute times at Brueton parkrun. (Yes, believe it when I say I ran at Brueton parkrun for 3 weeks in a row!)

In terms of the weekend long runs, I was a bit concerned that running so hard on a Saturday would affect Sunday, but after a few miles in to each run I was fine. I did my second run at 15 miles - again maintaining a pace just under marathon pace all the way. Seems easy enough on paper, but still 11 miles shy of the full marathon distance. On a mid-week catch up with a couple of fellow Chester Marathon first timers, we confessed our mutual fears of not being able to move up through the longer training distances let alone complete a marathon itself.

I guess the main challenge for a marathon first timer is the mental approach; i.e. gaining the belief it can be done without any similar experience to draw upon. It's only 7 weeks away now and with 2 weeks of tapering at the end of the plan, it leaves just a handful of opportunities to do the longer runs in the time that remains.

Is it a lack of confidence or just being in uncharted terriotory? I've trained better than the plan throughout May, June, July and August, so why should I fail now? The plan says it can be done, so surely it must remain a possibility - cue inspiration and a change of tactic.

The confidence boost can be achieved by controlled pacing and a stronger finish in each of the training long runs. However maintaining my current sub marathon pace beyond 15 miles is not a reality - to find this extra 11 miles I need to run smarter. My first 17.5 mile run fell on a hot day - time for a new tactic. Eric had suggested that I break the run into sections and apply a pace to each section.

So armed with my white hat and an application of my special sport sun cream to keep the sun at bay, a set of gels on my fancy new gel belt, a bottle of water, an emergency mobile phone and money to buy drinks as I go round, I set out on my 17.5 mile run - initially running the first 5 miles at a minute per mile slower than normal (just inside 12 mins/mile), then take the pace back to the usual long run pace just inside 11 mins per mile (for another 5 miles) and then go back to the slower pace again for 5 miles. At 15 miles assess where I am and decide the finish, with the preferred option to be the stronger finish if at all possible. I did and it worked brilliantly. After 3hrs and 17 mins of running, gels consumed and drinks money spent, I made it home for my well earned recovery milkshake. Job done.

Speed is the secret to marathon success!

My training this far has been dominated by running mid and longer distances at or near my marathon pace. This is fine from the point of view of building the miles up, but there is far more to it in order to get to 26.2 mile success - i.e. I need to be able to run with less effort.

From various discussions with experienced runners and a bit of reading too, the way this is achieved is by being a faster runner. My stride, speed, and stamina should all improve as a result of including speed workouts in the training. That doesn't necessarily mean to jump to the track and start some fancy sessions; that is more suited to the experienced runner. For me, it is just simply the case of building core fitness and this can be done with interval training and 5k/10k races.

Yes, I've done plenty of parkruns and run 10k races; that isn't the new bit. The key is to be able to hold a consistent fast pace for a period of time and this will build both fitness and strength. So for the last 5 weeks my midweek 5 mile plod has now become a 5 mile interval run. I do 4 lots of half mile fast paced efforts with 4 'slow' recovery half mile efforts in between and then finish off with a 1 mile plod warm down.

Just by my home there is a triangle of roads suitable for this, decent width pavement and one part is a cul-de-sac so is relatively quiet. It does have a chip shop on it, so I am conscious of being watched when I go past again and again and again and get a waft of fish and chips each time I go by.

I start off with a slow half mile, then my Garmin watch chirps and I spring in to action for a half mile and then back to another slow half mile after that to recover. My aim was to be able to have maintained the same pace across all the fast half miles. I managed the first 2 at just under 8 mins/mile and the last 2 at just over 8 mins/mile; not bad for a first go. I've done the same once each week from then on and each time my fast pace has become quicker, right down to my first two efforts this week being at under 7 mins per mile. Wow!

Just to see what the impact is, I returned to my old friend, the 'hilly 5k' - a fast and furious 5k on a very challenging and undulating route. My time fell from 27:30 to 25:15 in just 5 weeks! Amazing improvement for this difficult route - so how would this translate in a time at Brueton parkrun? Surely my 25:50 parkrun PB was seriously under threat now!

So the opportunity came for me to run at Brueton parkrun and so I did, with some excitement, but not sure whether I could make a faster pace last over 5k. It's a bit different to just doing that over half a mile! I set a target pace to run just under 8 mins for the first mile and take it from there. Off I went inside target pace and at 1 mile I felt OK. The second mile was more difficult and a bit slower too, but again just inside 8 mins/mile and by this time I had moved up the field, so what the hell - let's keep going and see if I can last the whole distance! The third mile turned out to be my fastest mile and with my final time just a touch over 24 mins I had taken nearly two minutes off my parkrun PB. I can't believe it - but it appears that my marathon training coupled with these half mile intervals have made me a faster runner! Let's see how all this affects my long runs in August (with 2 at 15 miles and 2 at 17.5 miles) - will I be able to last the distance?

A canalside PB

Following the success at the Arden 9 mile run in June, the next step was to get back into training ready for the next challenge, the Birmingham and Black Country Half Marathon.

However, an opportunity to run the pilot event of a brand new parkrun came my way and as it was for the forthcoming new parkrun in my home town of Redditch, it would have been rude to have not gone along. So a Wednesday evening parkrun took place at Arrow Valley Park and to make the most of the miles I decided to run to the park as well. It's a great park and the route is essentially 2 laps around the lake. I enjoyed the run and managed to finish in 4th place, by far my highest ever parkrun finishing position! But when there are only 13 runners, the numbers are in my favour!

I finished the week with a 12 mile run inside my target marathon pace of 11 mins/mile. A great confidence booster ahead of the half marathon and took my mileage total for June to a massive 122 miles!

And so the half marathon day came - this is a run with a difference; it is a point to point run from Wolverhampton to Birmingham and being down a canal path the runners go off in small groups in a time trial format rather than a mass start. I started in the final group of the day with Larry and I had the intention to run a consistent pace of 10 mins/mile to achieve a new half marathon PB. The wet weather in the weeks before the race meant that the canal path was covered with puddles and had in many parts turned to mud. The conditions did make it tricky to keep momentum steady and whilst I was able to maintain my pace, I did begin to think early on that my higher energy expenditure to keep to the pace would mean that I would fade later in the race. In the end I kept inside the target pace throughout the whole run, meaning that a fabulous new PB of 2:10 was achieved. Brilliant!

The following week required a shift in my running because Sunday was dedicated to volunteering at the Tough Guy event, where people wade through mud and run through fields on fire in the name of fun! Knowing this event was on the calendar, I decided to make the most of Saturday and run back home to Redditch after parkrun!

After starting on pavements, I ended up running through 2 swampy fields, climbing gates, avoiding a sheep blocking the way on a narrow path and managed to get lost too! By the time I had arrived home after over 3.5hrs of running, my Garmin said that I had covered 18.4 miles for my longest ever run. And when this is added to the Brueton parkrun Junior Olympic Park torch relay that I did that morning (see picture below - yes, I am the runner 'in character' as a torch security officer!), it meant that my total mileage for the day was just over 20!

Hot pants make you run faster!

There may still be over 100 days to go until the Chester Marathon, but as well as doing the training - sorting out the kit is just as important. When I started running I had my gait checked so that I could buy a suitable pair of trainers. I've stuck to the same ones (subject to model changes) since that time and just started using my lastest pair this week (I had bought 2 pairs in a New Year half price sale).

However, in that time, my running style may have changed - so I decided to get to gait checked again this week and sure enough the conclusion was that my current pair are no longer the most suitable for me (my left foot anyway). So I now have another new pair of trainers - maybe if all goes well, these will become the marathon trainers! With my existing pairs a new insole is all that's needed, so they can still be used.

Whilst I was in the shop I wanted to get some more shorts. I usually do training/Winter races in long running trousers and they fit the bill well. But in Summer, they're not the best on warmer days and so the shorts come out - but chaffing is a marathon runner's enemy. Plenty of Vaseline is the usual answer, but there are other things that can be done too. I boldly tried on a new red pair of Nicaraguan compression shorts (to wear under a regular pair of shorts) with a view of wearing them at the following day's Arden 9 race. They also apparently keep thigh muscles warm so that they reduce muscle strain and fatigue - and may even enhance performance!

Bit of a risk maybe trying something new out on a race day, but I was prepared enough to take them off if need be!

The next day came and the bright red shorts went on and I have to say they worked a treat for the entire 9 mile race. The Arden 9 is full of fast club runners and is a Warwickshire League Race too, so to the likes of me, it is very competitive. On looking around at the other runners before the run, I could not find anyone who I thought would be slower than me, so fellow Marathon first timer Larry and parkrun friends Kevin and Paul headed towards the back for the start.

Off we went and at a brisk pace too before soon settling down into something more appropriate. My target for the day was to run just under 10 mins per mile to get a sub 90 minute time overall. But I felt comfortable at around a 9:15 min pace and just kept going and going, so much so I was gradually working my way up the field. An added bonus was that I ran with a water bottle; I normally do this in longer training runs anyway and I don't get on well at water stations. I struggle to take on a cup of water without virtually stopping altogether, so my pace and rhythm is disturbed and a few times the water has gone down the wrong way with unpleasant fits of coughing etc. A water bottle means I can take on water gradually and when I want it too - so when it came to the water stations I simply carried on through, overtaking people choking on their cups of water.

At around 4 miles in I caught up with runners who usually finish ahead of me and so I started to wonder whether my pace was going to get into trouble a few miles later on. On passing one improving runner, Linda Whitehead, I said to her 'just ignore me Linda, I'm going too fast! You'll catch me later on!' But I still kept going and going. At 10km my watch read a time of 57:00 (I've never even run a 10k race in this time before, so I knew I was surely going to struggle later on) and at the one hour point I had done 6.52 miles - again I had never done this distance in an hour before. Then I realised there was less than a 5k parkrun to go and hey, we've all done plenty of them, keep going, keep going! The muddy terrain around the lake slowed me a bit and the hill at 8 miles slowed me a bit too, but once that was done, I went on down the hill for a long sprint finish to the end, still passing people on the way! Final time was 81:45 on my watch, way inside the sub 90 min target time - what a great day ;-)

Triple Success!

With 15 miles as my longest run to date completed, the next Sunday was a different affair - rather than plodding around at my marathon pace, it was time for a faster paced effort at the Great Midlands Fun Run in Sutton Park. This is an 8.5 mile route on a very undulating course - you're wither going up a hill or down a hill; very little is actually flat!

A popular run with 7000 participants had a wide mixture of people - fast runners, fun runners, walkers and so on. Once the race got underway, it was a bit chaotic as the fast runners were coming through whilst walkers at the front were holding others back, but by mile 2 it was pretty much sorted out. With an undulating course I found tracking my pace more tricky, so gave up on the Garmin after a short while. Instead I opted to run the hills conserving energy going up and pushing for pace on the down. At around 6 miles there is 'cardiac hill' - not the steepest of hills, but a fairly large hill to get up. Once at the top it was nearly 2 miles downhill to the finish, so I upped the pace a bit in my quest to chase down Ruth Paulin who had been in my sight all the way from mile 4, but I couldn't get any closer. Then came along Paul Cooper who caught up with me - running togther seemed to increase my pace further and then when Paul was asking 'When do we sprint?' with less half a mile to go resulted in the sprint coming sooner rather than later - so much so that our last half mile averaged out at 7 mins/mile pace meaning that on the line I dipped to beat Ruth Paulin, sorry Ruth!

I finished in just over 1hr 20mins, nearly 5 mins quicker than my target time - so thank you Paul for a great run in to the finish and a position within the top 1500, so for someone used to being low down in the field, it was nice to be in the top 20% for a change!

Onto the next week and back to normal with a couple of 5 mile plods at around marathon pace and a fast and furious hilly 5km. Sunday saw my second attempt at a 15 mile run. Last time I included an unknown section cross country which turned out to be not that good for running on, so this time I followed a familar route out towards Ragley Hall. Target pace again was the 11 mins/mile marathon pace and the end result was fantastic - very consistent throughout the 15 miles, up and down the hills too. I did feel a bit off between miles 9 and 12, but surprisingly did not have an adverse effect on the pacing - even though at the time doubts had crept into my mind about completing the 15 miles. But I proved the doubts wrong and continued on and by mile 13 I was actually feeling the best I had the enture run - so I upped the pace slightly to the end to finish in 2hrs 43 mins (10 mins better than last time). A really good run and a confidence booster too as well as a lesson learnt: I'm sure come Chester that there will be times when I don't feel too great during the marathon, but I just have to have faith that I will get through it and can carry on to the end.

Enough about me as there is great need to refer to my co-runners at Chester, Larry Chambers and Richard Westwood. Larry has just had an incredible week where he has set new PBs for 1km, 1mile, Cooper, 3miles, 5kms, 10kms, one hour and half marathon - so the full set of PBs on Endomondo! This has all come from the result of hard work, both when he is running and when he's not running. Richard on the other hand, continues his improvement even further - as well as running great times in training, it all came together at the Llandudno 10 mile run today where he did the 10 miles in a breathtaking consistent pace averaging arounnd 8:20 mins/mile for a 1hr 23 mins time, which is simply awesome!

100 up!

Fresh from my training half marathon covered in my last post, I appear to be getting used to running a higher mileage. Normally I only run around 15 miles at most per week, so taking it to 25 miles plus per week seemed quite a task. But gradually I have added the miles bit by bit and run distances and paces that suit me. Thankfully it has tied in well with the training plan - I do my fast hilly 5k, 2 lots of 5 miles and a long run at the weekend.

And so it has continued - I didn't get the chance to run at the parkrun pacer day, but that didn't matter as the following day, Sunday, I had my first go at running a distance longer than a half marathon - 15 miles at my target marathon pace. It had been a very hot week 25C plus most days and that day was no different. I started early at 7:30 a.m. to hopefully avoid the worst of the heat. Well my run only lasted 40 metres, because weighed down by a phone and a gel as well as the front door key, my brand new shorts were weighed down a bit too much for my comfort - so a quick return home and a change into a more sturdy pair of shorts was required.

My second attempt was more successful, a lot of the run was a completely different route too, so added to the interest. It did include an unfamiliar cross country section for about 2 miles, but it turned out to be unsuitable for running and the run became a run/walk - however it was good to go somewhere new.

The heat became very noticable after only 5 miles (thankfully I had applied some sun cream suitable for runners) and by mile 11 I had run out of water. Fortunately there was a couple working in their front garden and on the first sight of me at the top of the driveway holding an empty bottle, they did their good deed for the day and refilled it with pleasure.

I completed the 15 miles and so another landmark had been reached. I continued the rest of the week as before making the final run of May the session that took me over 100 miles for the month for the first time ever! Wow!

Into June and the running continues. But first a bit of a 'break' with another stint of volunteering at Brueton parkrun over the Jubilee weekend. A few of us embraced the theme...

To add some further variation to the week's running, I took part in a local fun run at Astwood Bank. As well as the 2.5 mile fun run itself I wanted to make it into a long run so ran to and from the fun run to make a combined total of 10 miles. The weather was very wet and the fun run was not that well attended, so I think I managed to sneak into a top 10 finish!

On the Tuesday, my usual hilly 5k was replaced with my first proper attempt at a build up run. An out and back 8 mile route, with the first half just under my marathon pace of 11 mins/mile, then turn around and do the next half at 10 mins, finishing with the last two at 9:30. I had tired legs at the beginning and was not sure I would be able to up the pace, but I did and went much better than the plan too. Happy days ;-)

Half way there... if only!

After last week's Knowle fun run, this week was about getting the miles in. Tuesday was the return the usual hilly 5k run - my legs still felt a bit tired after Sunday's fun run (understandable as I really went for it at the fun run), but I still put in a very good time of just over 29 mins.

Wednesday was a 5 mile plod at around my target marathon pace and in honour of Eric, I did a simple 5 mile pyramid run on Friday: starting at my target marathon pace of 11 mins per mile, then after 1 mile switching to a 10:30 pace, then to a 10 min pace for mile three, back to 10:30 for mile 4 and the last mile at 11 miles. It went surprisingly well, I'd not done a pyramid before really, but I managed to keep very close to the required pace. Will have to do more of those.

Saturday was my 100th parkrun - no plans to run due to forthcoming long run on Sunday (see below), so I volunteered for the 79th time instead as safety cyclist; it's a great role, don't know why more people don't come forward to do it?

I'm ahead of the training plan at the moment and the longer distance runs are yet to come, but with not doing a long run last weekend and hopefully running at parkrun next weekend at the Club Day pacer hunt, this weekend was ideal for the long run. The last long run was 10 miles long, so I thought about doing my first ever training half marathon. My half marathon pace was my guideline and it went great, 11 mins per mile for the first ten miles with little variation, but then I met a steep hill (Easemore Road) and this took it out of me and a slowed to 12:20 pace - then the remainder of the run was uphill. I managed to return to the 11 mile pace for the final mile, making my total run time 2hrs 26mins. Now, given my target marathon time is 5 hrs (minus 1 second), finishing the training session with a few mins to spare on the half way mark is a big confidence boost about the preparation. I can run at my target pace for half a marathon - just got to continue this for another half marathon - gulp!

It's all in the planning

Browsing through the internet, I have seen that there are many many marathon training plans available - even some marathons have their own training plans, typically with separate plans for beginners and experienced marathon runners. There are specialist plans by experienced marathon runners and others by running magazines publications too. The Runners World website has an interesting collection of marathon training plans as they are set for a goal of a range of finishing times and indeed there is one that covers my target time of 4hrs 59 mins 59 secs (well, it's a 5 hr training plan really - but I hope that the training required for one second less would not be too different!)

My issue with training plans is that they assume quite a bit about the runner and appear to be quite rigid. Monday do this, Tuesday do that - which is fair enough in some respect, but there is a lack of flexibility to the regime. From talking to some runners I feel they get too obsessed with the plan, they don't look at the bigger picture of how they are currently feeling and what impact the training is having on them. The obsessed have a day off from training, but then feel guilty for it. For me, that seems like taking the enjoyment out of it.

I know I'm not going to follow a plan rigidly, but would benefit from an influence from a training plan; after all I am after a goal to complete the marathon and within my dream time if possible. The My Asics Plan is a good compromise - it's more dynamically driven by requiring more up front information about the runner and devises a tailored plan accordingly. Unlike the other plans I have seen, it starts off by asking for gender and age - I think that means the younger ones can get away with less training and get a bigger improvement in performance. It then asks what running I can currently do - I may be new to marathons, but I do have a few half marathons under my belt and surely that must count for something in working out what I can achieve and the level of training I can/need to do. So I declared that I can do a half marathon in 2hrs 15mins. At this point I should declare that I do have a lifetime ambition of a sub 2 hour half marathon - I've seen it done and I want one, but that's for another day (idea for a new blog? One's enough thank you!).

The plan then asks what my target time is and I duly specify 4hrs 59 mins 59 secs - it's quite satisfying that it does allow me to specify this time exactly, knowing how important it is to me!

The plan then asks how many days per week I wish to train. The minimum I could specify is 3 days - I have a lot of improvement to make here, so it just doesn't seem enough to do 3 days. I've run 4 days a week pretty happily in the past with 5 days being too much for me to recover from, so I think 4 days it will be. And with consideration to the busy lives we lead, it finally asks on which day I will have the most time to do a long run - Sunday.

I clicked the magic button and hey presto - a training plan, just for me is presented. It starts off with a week of conditioning, then a month of 'getting faster' then quite a period of running further distances, before tapering off for the big day itself.

Where I will differ from the plan is the execution of it. I can agree with the plan that Sunday is generally my long run day with the distance gradually getting longer, so that's OK for me as the plan has Monday as a rest day too. I know from experience that if I do run the next day after a long run, problems occur. I can squeeze a couple of short runs before I leave for work, but that means starting the run by 5:45 a.m.. I generally cannot do Tuesday evening, so Tuesday morning can be my hilly 5k (mentioned previously - it is tough, but I do really benefit from it - read on to find out why!). Wednesday and Friday evenings are my best bets for a 'mid-distance' 5 mile or 10k required by the plan.

As for this week's running, an opportunity for me to run at Brueton parkrun arose this week; so I grabbed it with great anticipation - my last Brueton run was in late March and although a slower one for me, was significant in that it confirmed my pain free return to running. So this time, with a few of those now famous hilly 5k's behind me, I hoped to show some improvement (maybe sub 27 mins?) and instead of starting as usual at the back, I was two thirds of the way down the huge field of 182. Off we went (still on the Winter Course) and I ran at an ambitious PB pace to start with and managed to hold on to it until lap 2's rise up to the tennis courts where it all started catching up with me - for the last 500 metres I was able to recover the pace before finishing in a confidence boosting 26:02 on my watch - only about 20 seconds off my Brueton parkrun PB. Magnificent!

My legs certainly felt the parkrun effort, so I turned Sunday into my rest day, opting to do my long run on Bank Holiday Monday. Plan was to do 10 miles. Whilst my speed is clearly returning to my shorter runs, my longer distance running is still way off - so a great opportunity to have a go at running closer to my target marathon pace (11 mins or so per mile). I haven't ever planned to run at this pace before, so I do need to get used to it. I did the first 5 miles at 10:30 - 10:45 pace and the second 5 miles at 10:45 to 11:00 pace. I did it, but certainly knew that 10 miles was my limit that day.

I did a couple more 5 mile runs during the week, before the highlight of May's running calendar, the Knowle Fun Run. It went brilliantly for me; I ran consistently and posted a time of 41:25 which is a massive 10 mins off my time from last year's time of 51:11, but sadly the course is about half a mile shorter this time (about 4.67 miles compared to 5.2 miles)!

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

April 2012 will probably go down as one of the wettest months in history and it's important to still keep running during adverse conditions - especially for me at this time, I'm still coming back from injury with a way to go and interruptions to the schedule are not welcome. So this week was an exercise in sticking with it.

Like last week, my schedule is for 4 runs a week - Tuesday is now an early morning hilly 5k; the character building run through the Headless Cross and Webheath districts of Redditch. This is a constant up and down - a kind downhill at first, but then your energy is taken away from you as the steep uphills come in succession. Then its a final 1 mile final slog uphill all the way back. The challenge is to complete the route without stopping - and that I did, with a time of 29:00 being an excellent result.

Wednesday evening was a 4 mile run in heavy rain and Friday evening was a 5 mile run in rain, leaving the worst till Sunday - the finale of the Centurion Grand Prix. This is a monthly 5 mile run around Babbs Mill from November to April. Today was the worst of the lot - the rain had turned sections of the route into mud and water had collected into various ponds too with some having no route around. The wind was strong and the rain was still coming down too. Skipping around everything in a tentative manner at first bacame a waste of time, my feet were wet through anyway and so I eventually ploughed through everything to record my slowest time of the season - I'm not worrying about times, it's not important.

Inspired

The great thing about running is that you are inspired by the people around you; those who you know well and the stories of others who have run - their efforts give you momentum to achieve too. Today was London Marathon day, the biggest of them all. So I sat down and watched the day unfold on TV and on the internet and what a day it turned out to be!

The story of Jane Tomlinson is one that has always stayed with me; she had terminal cancer and spent the last years of her life raising huge amounts of money by running marathons, triathalons and the like. Her determination to succeed was amazing and when the TV showed library pictures of her in tears in awe of the support she was getting whilst running the London marathon brought a lump to my throat. So off I went and did an 8 mile run - the furthest I have run for a long time; it wasn't a good time at all, but it's the distance that matters at the moment. My total mileage each week is now increasingly nicely - up to 17 miles now and split across 4 days per week. Friday's session was a hilly 5k run - it is a challenging one (a killer in fact) that I have always felt has benefited my running the most. I'll be doing this run once a week from now on and use Sunday as my long run - 8 miles today is progress from my 10k last week and it will be good to be able to do 10 miles + again soon.

Back at the London Marathon, I arrived home from my run in time to see the elite women's finish - I was looking out for Liz Yelling, friend of Brueton parkrun and VIP guest at Brueton parkrun PLUS in June 2011. Her comeback from injury 12 months ago in attempt to make the Olympics didn't quite happen today - but the way she was in the final stages of the Marathon waving and smiling shows her underlying character. When I had the privilege to have a night out with her and some others from Brueton parkrun last June, her message was clear, it's about enjoying running more than anything else. Respect to you Liz, I was so impressed by how passionate she is about parkrun and how important she believed parkrun is to running and the health of the nation - certainly puts the Brueton parkrun critics to shame.

A fantastic feature of the London Marathon is that runners progress can be tracked online with 5km split times. So the next few hours were spent watching progress of a group of people I know from parkrun and most of all Eric Robathan who was running his first marathon and I have been following his training progress all the way through. It's down to Eric to give the full story of his experience, but the excitement, anguish and final sheer joy whilst I tracked Eric certainly made for a rollercoaster experience, even though I was 100 miles away. Eric, to pull it back like you did in the final stages of the run to post a time under 4 hours is awesome. And all that after falling over 9 miles into the run. I found the whole experience of following Eric and the others truly inspirational. Even though these runners are far better than I am or ever will be, they made me feel that my own marathon can be achieved if I do put the work in and play it right on the day....

Which comes to the most important lesson of the day for me - pacing. Eric had a pace in his mind to follow and that's what I need to do; to find my marathon race pace and learn how to run at that pace too. Browsing through the split times of some London Marathon runners, I could see clearly how they went off too fast and exploded on the way round - that 20 mile wall that you hear of I suppose. Yet I saw others who kept it steady all the way and posted some great times. One person, who's name I forget ran around 11 minute mile pace all the way and although at half way may have appeared slow to some came through to post a time around 4 hours 50. My aim for Chester is simply to get round, yes and on the day anything can happen. But I need to have something to work against in training and on the day too, otherwise I could have a great first half only turn to disappointment by the end. In my mind, I always seem to settle on the figure of 5 hours, well 4:59:59 really. I don't know if I can achieve it - only the next 5 months can give me some indication on that. I did read somewhere that if you can do a half marathon in 2:15, you can do a 5 hour marathon. Well, my half marathon time is 2:14, so could it be possible? For now, I have to say yes and believe that I can and will do it. Thanks Eric.

Get out of the way, fast runner coming through!

After the success of my run at the St Patrick's Day Brueton parkrun, it was important to not get carried away and increase the mileage too soon. So instead I introduced some rowing and cycling into the week. I got the opportunity to run at Brueton again the following week, this time's incident involved an important pre-run matter meaning I didn't change into my trainers until 100 metres into the run! I stopped my watch whilst changing them and the final result was a very pleasing 27:21.

With the clocks going forward later in March, it meant that the mid-week post work 'Freedom parkrun' could be restarted and I've done three of those now already. At the end of the month I had another chance to run at parkrun whilst away in London to watch my fellow Chester Marathon runner Larry Chambers run at the Olympic Park Run (Note two words for Park Run with capital P and R). London is full of parkruns, with more opening all the time due to funding from Boris Johnson's office. I chose Mile End parkrun which was only in its 9th week and being on the tube line en route to the Olympic Stadium. Larry volunteered as photographer and Trish ended up self appointing herself as Event Director when the volunteers encountered problems with the stopwatch. The Mile End parkrun is in a small long and narrow park and has a unique feature in that the middle of the park is lifted up on a bridge over a road - you have to see it to believe it! It makes for a very undulating course, so this was a parkrun for hill training. 25th position out of 47 finishers and a time of 28:54 was a great result.

OK, so all this proved that I can do 5k distances pain free, albeit at times a few minutes off my best. Now to increase the mileage - my first training 10k followed at Easter, followed by a 10k race soon after - the fabulously named 'Wright Hassall Regency 10k' in Leamington Spa. This is a very popular and highly acclaimed race that actually incorporates the Leamington parkrun route (run in reverse direction). 2000 runners took part and with narrow paths for a large part of the first 5k, I got caught up with slower runners and held up by walkers in groups 2 or 3 abreast. I became concerned that I would be expending a lot of energy trying to get past people and indeed it felt at times that a lot of effort was required. I reached 5k at around 31:20, so not within my target of an hour for the whole run, but with the route moving from park path to road, the opportunity to up the pace was there to be taken. In order to still finish within the hour I would have to run the last 5k at a near to parkrun pace and with nothing to lose I decided to give it a go. All went fairly well, but at 5 miles it was looking a bit too tight, and a further increase in pace for a sixth mile at 9 minutes followed by a 7:20 minute pace sprint for the final 0.2 mile meant that I made it to the finish in 59:45 for a really, really good result. Super, smashing, great.

The Comeback Continues: A Pain Free parkrun

The third trip to the physio mid-week confirmed that I am now able to start running again, albeit a gentle reintroduction. College was unexpectedly cancelled on Thursday evening, so what better than a cheeky 2 mile assessment instead to see how things where. The two miles turned out to be quite tough going. I tried to keep a steady sub 10 minute mile pace and found it difficult on the return leg of my route back up the incline. But I did it and that was the main thing.

So Friday night came along and with a healthy looking volunteer roster, Saturday would be a parkrun day for me! Number 3 of 2012 - target for this year is 18 parkruns (compared to just 7 in 2011). Martin Hancock was the day's Run Director, so my job beforehand was to make sure that the finish team were up to speed. Target today was to complete the 5km route in one piece (and not lose my St Patrick's Day hat or choke on my newly acquired ginger beard). A steady pace would be required and a sub 30 minute time would be a bit too much for me at this time.

Photo by Kev Baldry

The run began with me at the back with a slow start. Once the 1km marker appeared I then thought about upping the pace a little bit, looked at my Garmin and no display - it had died on me. Oh well, not to worry, I'm not after a time anyway. So off I plod at a comfortable pace. All was going well until I got to dodgy corner on lap 2 - a car was working its way through the runners en route to the Parkridge Centre. The driver looked rather worried, so I stopped running and marshalled him through, costing me 60 seconds on my time. Anyway, off I went again, thanking the marshals as I went through as a good parkrunner does. With 400 metres to go there were about half a dozen people only 25 metres in front of me, so I started to pick up the pace a lot more and then at 200 to go turned it into a full sprint and took the lot of them - very satisfying (sorry!).

Overall a successful run, but no idea of my time. I thought it was about 32-33 minutes, but the official result was a surprising 29mins 28s. So I am very surprised how well I did - I felt really good on the run and felt no discomfort. Hours later there was no after affect or sore hip to notice. A great day indeed - the comeback continues.

With the success of my parkrun on Saturday, Sunday had the temptation of another run. But that would be too much too soon, so to satisfy my need to do something a trip to the bottom of the garden and a 500 stroke row on the rowing machine was the non-impact exercise to keep me going.

Turning a Corner

The trips to the physio seem to be paying off, the exercises are certainly making a difference. At the second visit to the physio, the magic word 'run' was used when giving permission to proceed. Yes, the full rest is officially over and now a gentle running phase can now begin - can't go mad or for too long a distance, but a gentle run/jog is now on the schedule.

So what better opportunity than the Fradley 10k. Another event that I had booked pre-injury; I was praised for my approach to the last 10k (jog/walk), so a gentle jog was the way to go in Fradley. Shame really as this is where I set my 10k PB back in 2010 (57:23) and today was supposed to be the day when that record was broken. But that will have to wait until another day. Plan was to start at the back, jog slowly at the beginning and take it from there, I'm in no hurry (though sub 75 minutes would be nice - sometimes you just can't help yourself!). But times soon went out the window, I just wanted to run comfortably and that's what I did - I found a nice pace, just taking me along, no pressure.

I didn't look at my watch, no point really, too focussed on wanting to run comfortably. But I soon warmed up and found I was having to hold myself back - no need to push it, just enjoy it. The last thing I want to do now is have a set back. At 4 miles I did have a sense that the hip injury was there, so switched to a walk every half mile or so. By 6 miles that sensation had eased, so for the last 0.2 miles I ran, just to get the satisfaction of overtaking as many as possible on the way to the finish. I stopped my watch on the line and hey - sub 63 mins for a non-running 10k! 

After the run I did a few stretches and then stretched more before driving home. No real effects from the run for the rest of the day (just tired legs) and then no worse the next morning. Fantastic, it couldn't have gone much better! Who fancies a cheeky short run in the week?

Let's Get Physio!

After the half marathon in Wrexham, I felt sore for the rest of the week, so no running took place. Then Friday came and my appointment with Kerry at the Studley Physiotherapy Centre (but located in Redditch rather than Studley!).

The main thing was that wearing shorts was the correct attire, so I was off to a good start! I described my running - how long I had been running, number of miles per week etc etc. She asked whether I had bought new trainers recently, changed running surface and so on. There's been no change really, so not much information. Then came the physical assessment - first the gait, then a few stretches and then to the hip problem itself. Onto the couch and my leg was moved into different positions with does this hurt? 'no' and then one was 'Does this hurt? 'OMG YES! That is excruciating!' The conclusion quickly arrived at is my hip-flexor is the problem.

The good news is that it is not damaged, the issue is more that all of my leg muscles are too tight and this is leading to this kind of problem. So the remainder of the 40 minute session was to establish the initial stretching regime I am to follow - three main stretches to start with, including one for my forever sore shin which is that way because the muscle in front of the leg is overdeveloped for the muscle behind it.

I left fully reassured that recovery is on the way - it would take a few weeks and proper running is out of the question (a few gentle cheeky 2 miles here and there are allowed).

Armed with this information I decided to go ahead with the Hotelympia 10k in London Docklands featuring Steve Cram. This is a flat as a pancake course and the second fastest 10k I have ever run (57:51 in 2010), but my 2012 time would be 1hr 31 - a PW because I did a jog/walk, but I felt OK after 2 miles and brilliant afterwards. A worthwhile day and the next morning I saw Jedward at breakfast in the hotel.

The following weekend was the Centurion Grand Prix. I'm not ready for that yet and the uneven surface may not be a good idea at this time, so I gave it a miss - favouring a cheeky 2 mile run near home. I started off at a steady pace, but after one mile the hip was giving me a few reminders why I had not been running properly for the last 8 weeks, so from 1.5 miles I did a walk/run. I'm pleased with that, progress is being made and more importantly, a few hours after the run, I am not in pain. Next physio appointment is on Wednesday.

I'm a bread winner!

This weekend was supposed to be the assessment of how my marathon training was going, more from a fitness point of view and consistency in pacing. The Village Bakery Half Marathon in Wrexham is a new race for me, but a one I thought was well placed to see how I was getting on. But, the last 5 weeks have been a disaster - running just five miles in that time does not a training schedule make.

So why did I still go? A number of reasons, hotel and race was booked and paid for, it was a rare opportunity for a weekend away, I was also meeting up with friends; and perhaps a kick start to better things? Well, maybe - didn't seem much point not going - and as it is a 2 lap course I could always do a DNF if I really had to.

The run starts and finishes on an industrial estate and out into the countryside. We were dropped off at the start by Laura Westwood and waited around - I really couldn't be bothered whether I ran or not; if someone has said 'let's not bother' I would have quite happily gone along. But no-one said it, so I ran. We made it to the start and from the off I fell to the back as I could feel my hip from the first step. After half mile, I started to settle into a pace at around a steady 10:30, but it was not to last. Each mile after mile 2 was a gradual decline. At 5 miles came the end of the first lap and I was tempted to DNF, but decided against it moving on to the water station. But my legs soon went wobbly, so from 5 - 10 miles I ran/walk and from 10 miles to the end it was very much walking rather than running. I managed to put something together for the finish, just so that Richard and Laura had something to cheer - I did pip 3 runners to the finish line. The legend that Laura is brought a flask of tea - that was fantastic, especially as there were no drinks at the finish.

My final time was a PW 2:42, nearly half an hour off a PB, but considering what has happened so far in 2012, I'm pretty chuffed I managed to complete the course. Richard ran brilliantly in a new PB of 1:55 and Larry, with multiple niggles and issues (and struggling to run for a mile before Sunday's race) somehow managed to get through in 3:11. We all got a Welsh fruit loaf for our efforts.

Afterwards I ached (though the hot bath relaxed my muscles) and today, Monday I ache still. Once the aching has stopped, I'll see how I am - Physio is booked for Friday, so hopefully I can turn a corner.

Cheeky Cheeky!

Sunday is the day that I do my long runs - get up early, sort out the dogs, then head out for a 10 mile or whatever run. The nearest I can do at the moment is a log run - restocking the log supply next to the wood burner. With Endomondo packed with runners that I know out and about doing their stuff - 10 miles here, 12 miles there, I felt rather left out of it all. So as part of my ongoing assessment of my current position, I applied some ibuprophen gel in the afternoon and then sneaked out for a cheeky 2 mile gentle run. My word, my leg was sore from the start - it eased very slightly, but 2 miles was going to be the maximum I could do. There was no way I could run any faster or further than that. I'm glad I did it though - let's see how things go from here. 7 days to the half marathon.

Remember Me?

And I'd bet you'd forgotten all about this blog. Sadly, there's been a reason for the time between the previous post and this one today. That hip issue referred to before is still troubling me, so much so that all running had to stop, because it was too painful, even walking was a problem. (Next I'll be saying that smiling makes my face ache!).

So in that time I tried to switch to a cross-training approach. In the garage sits a rowing machine (note to Jeanette Robathan - whenever I say I'm going for a row in the garage, it does not normally mean that I am on my way to have an argument at the petrol station!!). And very good the rowing machine is too, but trying to use it in the last month has not been good for the injury, so that approach was abandoned too. However, circumstances at Brueton parkrun on 4th Feb meant that I needed to step in to do the safety bike role that week. And although I had to cycle at quite a pace, there was no reaction from the injury - bingo! But then the weather turned for the worse and snow came too - no cycling yet for me.

For the next Brueton parkrun on Saturday 11th Feb, our volunteer roster was looking very healthy indeed, so my chance to perhaps try a gentle run, just to see how things were became the plan for the week. Come Thursday, the snow came and the overnight temperatures dipped further below zero too. Friday's partial thaw was enough to generate quite a bit of surface water on the paths in the park. The winter finish was a write off and the registration zone we are permitted to use was a thick block of ice. The snow on the grass had turned to big lumps of ice too - no cross country then. So after 82 events our first cancellation was announced and communicated on the parkrun website, by email to that event's volunteers and by a series of postings on facebook and twitter. What next? My original plan was to run a parkrun and that's what I was still going to do. My local parkrun is technically at Worcester, I've never had a chance to do it and as it is a trail run through the woods (rather than a Brueton like tarmac affair), it had a good chance of going ahead. They announced on facebook they were still on and off I went to join them as a parkrun tourist (if it is possible to be a parkrun tourist at your local parkrun!).

A gentle run at Worcester parkrun then took place - the steady pace I naturally settled on turned to be my proposed target pace for the Chester Marathon around 11:15 per mile - very interesting. Final time was over 33 minutes (nearly 8 mins off a PB, but who cares?), today was all about assessment of the injury. I did sense that the injury was there after 400 metres, but it was not uncomfortable at all. Felt OK immediately after the run, but started to feel a bit sore after 2 hours. Ibuprophen gel was recommended to me by an experienced runner, so that was applied for good luck. So all in all a good day and that is my second parkrun completed against my target 18 runs for 2012.

In 8 days time, I should have finished Wrexham's Village Bakery Half Marathon - gulp!

Hips and Hills

I had pre-entered the Not the Roman IX 12k race in Stratford and paid my £14 entry fee. So today I wanted to get something for my money. Attendance and course completion was the order of the day.

Turned up with plenty of time, registered OK - there's a 1km walk to the start, so being able to wear a coat to the start on this chilly day (about 2C) and have it waiting for me at the end was a good feature from the organisers.

Started the run well, first 3.5 miles is uphill, so challenging but felt good throughout - that hilly 5k reaping its reward, but my week's illness started to take over and my energy sapped away - felt really strange because I felt good running and was not tired from it. Then the sore hip started to remind me it was there and so eventually the run became a run/walk before picking it up for the finish. 75 mins 8 seconds on my watch for the 7.5 mile distance, so quite respectable really considering. It was good to be out there, just hope that I don't regret the rest of the coming week for having taken part.

Ilness and Injury

Last Sunday's success turned into Monday's misery as the day began with a sore hip and manflu and that's how the rest of the week continued. So no training at all has taken place. Been so tempted to just do a little session, but full rest has been required.

Come Saturday, the hip has improved and the manflu has peaked - so decided to go ahead with tomorrow's Not the Roman Nine 12k event in Stratford. Not worried about posting a slow time - just that I've prepaid and would like to do something even if it results in a DNF.

Grand Prix Success!

One of the main features of the winter season is the Centurion Grand Prix 5 mile monthly series over six months. I find it good for building a faster pace into a 10k run. Today was race 3 of 6 in this year's series. The course is three laps on track and tarmac around a lake and is usually wind affected on the far side of the course, but not too bad today compared to last month albeit a bit muddy in places.

Target for today was to attempt a sub 44 min 5 mile PB. I latched on to a small group of runners who were going around my 8:45 target pace, but they slowed down after two miles and I slowed with them until I decided to break out to try and keep up with the target pace. I continued a steady pace to finish in 44:18 - not the sub 44 mins I had hoped, but my fastest Centurion GP run to date and showing good improvement too (I ran 50:58 in Jan 2011). Larry ran today as well, achieving a third consecutive Grand Prix PB to post a time of 56:02. A good day all round.

Thanks to Tom Morris for this photo

parkrun day and it included me!

First official Brueton parkrun of the year and I was there running, thanks to Eric & Jeanette, the core volunteer team and the other runners who came forward to help out today. I've read and heard all over that a 5k parkrun makes for a great feature in a marathon training plan, so I'm looking forward to fitting these in to my schedule in 2012. I want to do 18 parkruns this year (compared to just 7 in 2011) and believe this is perfectly achievable given the experience of the core volunteer team so long as there is a steady flow of runners willing to play their part in helping to make our event happen.

So on to today's run (note the word race is not used). Current PB is 25:50 achieved on the Knowle & Dorridge Club Day last November when I hung on for dear life to the 26 minute pacer (and cried for the last mile). The pacer, Kevin Boake was brilliant that day encouraging a group of us all the way around - he sent me a very kind email afterwards saying that I could progress in to being a 23 minute runner. I've dined out on those words since!

Not a PB breaking day today, but a good reflection of my gradually improving post Christmas form. Final official time was 26:37 from starting at the back (or 26:26 if I started my watch on reaching the start line). Bit of a weak second mile, but recovered well for the finish.

Under Pressure (for time that is)

A big challenge for success in this marathon is that of having time to do a decent schedule. So this is where an early start is required (at 6 a.m. before work) and a favourite workout of mine is needed - the 'hilly 5km' utilising some of the many undulations of Redditch in a short period of time.

It is out and back course which starts outside my front door. First mile is downhill to get the juices flowing, then the next .55 mile to the turn is an up, then down, then up again and another down and of course after the turn it's the reverse. So it makes that 1.1 mile quite a testing part of the route to do. Once that bit's done, then it's a final 1 mile uphill to the end. So by the time I get back to the front door, I'm totally bushed.

In terms of times to complete this route it is obviously a lot slower than a parkrun, but a really testing course and I usually feel better for doing it.

I'm Not Alone

I'm not alone in all this. There are two other people who are taking in part in their first marathons at Chester too. Larry Chambers and Richard Westwood are both taking the plunge too and it's great that we are sharing the experience together, right from now to the finish line in October.

"Right from now", isn't quite right - we've done parkruns together (both at Brueton and in Heaton, Manchester), the 2011 Knowle Fun Run (we were three quarters of the infamous 'Z Team') and more recently we all ran the Conwy half marathon last November. Loyally supported by Laura Westwood throughout - supported, more 'rescued' when I crossed the line at Conwy in a bit of a state.

So being a trio will enable us to help each other along throughout this process. Larry and I tend to do races together, but train separately; whilst Richard, being based in Wrexham is not quite a training partner - but we'll do our very best to encourage each other along. No more so than when our trio is taking part in Wrexham's Village Bakery Half Marathon next month.

Being signed up to the free Endomondo website will help us (and others) track and comment on each other's progress and facebook is always good for a quick catch up too.

Strong Winds and RICE!

Not much time today, so decided to join the Store TwentyOne weekly run club for their short after work run. It's a challenging 2 miler - first mile is downhill, so it's fast and furious - then turn around and run back up the hill. Great session when time is limited and gives good variation to the other runs in the week.

The weather conditions played their part too with strong winds and rain adding to the session - running uphill into the wind made breathing very difficult.

The run today was my first wearing a compression sock on my right leg which does get sore from time to time. It's not feeling brilliant now, so for a precautionary measure, it is subject to the RICE technique this evening - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Usually does the trick.

Day 3 and Resting Already!

That's right, third day of the New Year and I'm having a rest from running! I always try and have a rest day after a race - running the day after has never worked out for me, even when 'recovery runs' are advised, I usually end up being worse off for going out and picking up a niggle or something that takes a while to get over. I think in due course I may change this to a cross training day on the rowing machine or bike, but at this stage it is a rest. I have run on 5 days in the last 7, including 2 sessions in one day and also 3 days of races - so I have done a lot since 27th December for someone at my level. Stepping up the amount of running too quickly will only result in injury and set me back - steady progress is required.

Which moves me on to training schedules - I've had a look at some marathon training schedules and they vary in length; typically 16 and 24 weeks. They are generally classified by type of runner - Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. I am no way an Advanced runner, Beginner schedules don't seem to be enough to build the level of fitness and training I think I need and Intermediate ones just don't fit what time I am able to give to training.

The Asics 'My plan' seems quite good though. You specify what you have achieved (half marathon in 2:15) and time you want to get (full marathon on 7th October in 5 hours - optimistic, but hopefully realistic for training to). Also specified is the number of days that you can run and what day you are most likely to do a long run. From all this it devises the plan giving distances and paces too. The results seem quite reasonable at this stage - only problem is it doesn't want me to start running until April! But I can take the idea of it and spread it out. Sticking to the plan is going to be impossible anyway, with work commitments and other regular stuff going on, so I am only using it for guidance purposes only. I'll use the free Endomondo website to track what I'm doing as I have a Garmin 405 to record my activity.

No time to wait - the training has already begun!

2nd January and it's my second run of the year. Yesterday I did a New Year's Day parkrun Freedom run at Brueton to clock up a 5km start to the year and boy was it tough. I really wanted to stop at 2 miles and it wasn't if I had been running too fast - just a combination of too much partying and too few hours sleep. But I crawled round to 28:42 - really pleased that I did actually finish the run.

So onto today's race, my first time at the Coventry Godiva New Year 5 mile race. Races tend to be a bit clubby at this time of year, so it was going to be a fast race (for some). I, on the other hand am happy to run at the back with the view of measuring success in terms of actually completing the run and adding to the week's mileage (particularly with how difficult yesterday ended up). So off we went and I got swept away with the crowd at an optimistic 8:45 mins/mile pace. I stayed at this rate for two miles and then started to fade to a 9:30 pace, but it seemed that the people in front of me had also slowed a bit too, so why not have a go at picking a few of them off? And so I did and my pace picked up with it and the last mile was 8:12 largely due to a full sprint in full view of the spectators at the finish to get past a club runner - get me! 44:05 was my final time and a 16 second improvement on my 5 mile PB. A great day as Larry got a 56:19 PB too.

New Year's Day Registration

I've been running for just about two years now and if I am doing this running lark, then to complete the story a marathon should be in my list of achievements. Can I do a marathon? I have absolutely no idea - I've done a few half marathons and improved my times too - sub 2:15, not bad but would love to do under 2 hours. So I know I can do a half - but a full marathon is a completely different discipline and dragging myself around a half marathon is only getting away with it in all honesty.

It's been quite a while I have been thinking about entering a marathon, 18 months or more in fact. 'I want to do one before I'm 40' is what I've been saying with no idea why the age is relevant at all. Perhaps setting a deadline turns it into something more real. The year 2012 is when I do turn 40, so entering a marathon just before my 40th seems to be the way to go. The Chester Marathon has had good reviews and sounds like a good course and is nine days before that 40th birthday. With the race selected, New Year's Day was my personal deadline for entering as I will need the whole year to get ready. So today I did it - I entered the 2012 Chester Marathon!