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!