Category: Running

For posts about running

‘Early’ morning run

This morning, for the first time in ages, I managed to get myself straight up and out for a run. Earlier in the year, when I was training more rigorously for the Somerset Flat 50 Miler, I was fairly regularly out running before breakfast, but since then I have become rather useless at getting out early.

Today I was out at about 7:25am and ran for just over 4 miles – a loop around the estate, across to Central Park, along the upper path towards the city centre, down and around into the trees and back to the football ground and then home again. It was a crisp, clear day with the low sun providing some warmth and sparkle. I was surprised that there were so few people around. Actually, that is not entirely true, there were a lot of people sitting in cars in queues of traffic along the main road, but there were relatively few people out in the park, walking dogs and heading to work. There is something quite invigorating in being out and about exercising before most people are moving. I hasten to say it, because it’s perhaps not really the best feeling to have, but it always makes me feel a little smug…

I got home, did some stretching (boy is my left glute stiff/sore at the moment) showered and, in a nod towards the imminent arrival of winter, opted to make porridge for my breakfast, topped with chopped banana and a slice of honeycomb from a local bee-keeper. All of this meant that I am a little late into work (deliberately) but it has to be said I’m feeling pretty good right now!

1000 miles run

12 miles into the New Forest Marathon last Sunday I passed the 1000 mile mark for this calendar year. This is the second time I have reached that total, having completed a total of 1008 miles in 2015. In that case I think it was pretty much the last day of the year that I hit four figures so I am really quite astonished to have reached the same total (actually I have now run 1014 miles this year) by mid-September. With 3.5 months of the year still to go I will probably get my total annual mileage up towards 1200 miles taking into account the fact that as the nights draw in and I become less focused on training for events my mileage per week is bound to drop a bit. Looking back at my monthly totals it is obvious that it was my main training months in the early part of the year, ahead of the Somerset Flat 50 Miler in May, that have boosted my annual total. I tailed off a lot in June and July (post-ultra) but picked up a bit in August. For the record I ran 946 miles in 2016, 691 in 2014 (my first full year running) and 372 in 2013 although I only started running in April that year.

I think I’d like to try and hit 1200 miles next year by completing at least 100 miles each calendar month. That seems like an achievable but challenging target to me.

New Forest Marathon

Yesterday I ran the New Forest Marathon, my 7th marathon and 10th race of at least marathon distance. We had driven across to the New Forest on Saturday evening, not arriving until after 9:30pm, and stayed in an AirBnB room at Lymington. The final part of the journey was interesting because at night the New Forest area is really, really dark which made navigation quite tricky on the minor roads (the directions for the place we were staying were to look for the telegraph pole with two white lines painted on it – quite tricky with just the car headlamps to see by!). Anyway, after a typically restless pre-marathon night, it was up at 6am for pre-race preparation and the drive to the event. Everything went smoothly enough.

Going into this run I had no idea how I was going to do. The last proper long run I had done was the Mendip Marauder 30 miler in early August, 5 weeks ago, and in between I think I had managed one run of 14 miles and one of 11 miles plus some shorter outings. I knew that I was relying on the residual fitness I had from the spring/early summer period and that it was pretty likely that it would be more of a struggle than I hoped. I think I was hoping that I would get into race zone and be inspired by the scenery.

My marathon PB is just under 3:56 which is almost exactly 9 minute mile pace. Consequently, I decided I would aim to start off, for the first 8 miles, trying to average 9:10m/m pace. The plan was that if that went okay I would try to lift myself to 9:00 minute mile pace for the next 8 or so miles then lift it again to 8:50m/m for the next 8 and then see what was left in the tank for the last couple of miles. The first part of the plan went okay. I made it to 8 miles in decent shape and on course despite some very wet conditions underfoot and started to wind the pace up a bit. My average pace came down to 9:08 by about 10/11 miles but I was finding it hard to find the energy to push on. At around mile 12/13 we hit a longish uphill slog. It was not at all steep but it seemed like it was incessantly up and it was also quite windy. My pace dropped first into the 9:40s and then below 10m/m pace. I was grumbling. My brain decided that the course wasn’t fun, the scenery was boring and there was no support to tap into. Around mile 14 I decided that it simply wasn’t going to happen (whatever ‘it’ was) and I grumbled to myself quite a bit more. I decided that I’d be happy to do 10 minute mile pace for the last 10 miles and that would see me to the finish in around 4:15. But it still wasn’t going well and somewhere around mile 17 I even walked a bit on a hill (for a ‘flat’ course there seemed to be a remarkable amount of uphill but that might just have been my head playing tricks on me). As I walked up the hill a younger guy came up alongside me, also walking, and we started talking. He was tackling his first marathon and it soon became apparent to me that he was finding it a bit of a struggle, largely because he was getting a lot of cramps. I gave him a salt tablet, we chatted some more, he stopped to stretch, I waited for him, and soon my race became one of seeing him home.

I don’t doubt that he, Greg, would have finished anyway (perhaps not though), but helping him through that last 9 miles gave me something to focus on and a purpose for the race. We had a great time chatting away, sharing snippets and stories. He was an fund-raising event coordinator for a hospice in Sheffield so it was certainly all in a good cause. A few times he told me to go on ahead if I wanted to but when I checked, he said he was more than happy for me to stick with him and thankful for the support. I don’t think he realised at the time that helping him get to the finish was also helping me do the same! We encountered his parents en route a couple of times and then, finally, in the finish straight his excited girlfriend before we crossed the line together in 4:29:57. My reaction was to shake his hands and say well done. He looked at me and said ‘Can we have a hug?’. It was very sweaty… but also a great moment. We walked through the finish area, said a few last words to each other and parted on our separate ways.

And that was the New Forest Marathon. At one point it was looking like a bit of a disaster really – an ever-slowing, boring and pointless trudge to the finish for a time I would be somewhat disappointed with. But then my little ball of consciousness did its random dance with his little ball of consciousness, like two eddies temporarily swirling together in a stream, and the world came alive. Yes, this was a relatively slow run, yes it was a bit boring from a scenery point of view and yes it was a trudge, but it certainly wasn’t pointless and, I suspect, that shared experience with a random stranger is one that I will look back on with fondness forever.

The only picture I took from the event was when I got home later in the evening. For some reason I seem to have adopted some kind of crazy ‘power pose’, but I’ll share it here anyway:

Captain Ultra and the See-Saw of Vulnerability

I mentioned in my entry yesterday that I am running the New Forest Marathon on Sunday and with that in mind this seemed like a good time to post a short cartoon strip that I wrote a few months ago, prior to tackling my first 50 mile ultramarathon. The cartoon was inspired by an episode of the Train Runner Nation podcast which discussed how prior to a big event it can seem that you are loading up more and more issues and stresses relating to the run which weigh you down and can make a successful outcome seem impossible. When running the event, if self-doubt creeps in, you may never reach the point where you can overcome this adverse load and a DNF (Did Not Finish) may result. The knack is to keep believing and digging into your inner strength beyond the point that you thought possible until a pivot point is reached when the balance tips and the adverse load smashes down and the race is beaten. As I listened to the podcast on my way home from work, I really liked the visual analogy that was developed, and so I drew out my cartoon almost as soon as I arrived home – it was great fun to produce, and, from my limited experience, does capture the reality of preparing for and completing an endurance event pretty well.

Come Rain or Shine

Last Wednesday I went out for a run in the rain. It was heavy rain and by the end of the run (just 30 minutes) I was throughly soaked. Yesterday morning I went out in the rain again, this time to complete just over 14 miles, and although it wasn’t raining for the whole duration I still had to suffer a good amount of the wet stuff. To make matters worse it was towards the end of the run (last 3 miles or so) when I was tired and heading uphill towards home. I also went out for a short walk yesterday evening, just to a local shop and again it was raining and I got wet.

I am trying to avoid using rainy weather as an excuse not to get out and about and especially as an excuse not to run. I want to expose myself to inclement conditions more so that they ease to be an obstacle to action. I often think that I have been incredibly lucky with the weather for all of the significant race events I have done and I know that at some point this luck will break and I will be faced with running a marathon or some such in the rain. I have decided I should prepare for that eventuality.

So, from now on I am trying to adopt the frame of mind that if I have planned to run at a particular time and the weather is poor I will still run. Moreover, I am going to try not to take too much account of the forecast weather when I plan my runs for the upcoming weeks. It can’t be a bad thing to broaden my comfort zone and after all, it’s only water.

Mendip Marauder 30 Miler

I just wrote quite a lengthy post describing my running of the Mendip Marauder 30 Miler ultramarathon a couple of Saturday’s back but unfortunately the post didn’t upload properly and my efforts were lost. I don’t think I have the time or energy to recreate the whole thing again so I will just record here that the run was from Wells in Somerset to Uphill beach just south of Weston-Super-Mare along and several times across the Mendip Hills ridge. It was a tough route with over 4000 feet of elevation gain (so quite a lot of walking mixed in with the running!) and I completed it in 7 hours 15 minutes – a time that I was reasonably pleased with.

It was a sunny day but fortunately there was a cool breeze which took the edge off the heat. The views were absolutely stunning, especially looking south from the Mendip Hills towards the Somerset Levels (with Glastonbury Tor and Brent Knoll visible) and the Bristol Channel coast beyond. Despite it being a very tough run, I really enjoyed the day and the peace and solitude it afforded me. I have no doubt in my mind now that running ultramarathon is simply something I have to do now…

Here are some pictures from the day…

View from above Draycott towards the Somerset Levels with Brent Knoll in the distance:

Views from the western end of the main Mendip ridge around Waverley Down and towards Crook Peak:

On Uphill Beach with the finishers’ medal:

My Running Week 2014 #17

This was a big week for my running as on Sunday I did my first ever Half Marathon (Plymouth), something that would only have been a vague dream a year ago.

Prior to the HM I had an easy week and just did a couple of slowish short runs of 3.4 miles on Monday and Friday down into Hartley Vale, through Linketty Lane up to Widey and back through Crownhill and the Manadon roundabout to home. I spent the whole week expecting to succumb to a bad cold that was doing the rounds at home and so the only thing on my mind was to keep healthy and make sure that my legs didn’t seize up.

So, on Sunday morning I did the Plymouth Half Marathon. I had a target time of 1 hour 50 minutes and despite a somewhat congested start I was running along nicely in the opening 4 miles or so at ~8 minute mile pace, well within the pace I needed for a 1:50 time. The route then started the slow climb up Billacombe Road and it surprised me here to find myself overtaking people who were already walking – bad race planning/pacing on their part. I maintained a good pace through the next few miles and then entered the Saltram House estate and deliberately made full use of the downhill stretch it presented. At around 8-9 miles I found myself passing the 1:45 pacers and at that stage I thought maybe that time was possible but they went past me again at about 9-10 miles and I didn’t see them again on the remainder of the route. I did slow somewhat in the last 3 miles or so and the final mile of the route was tough with a nasty little hill to finish. I completed the run in 1:45:51 which surpassed my expectations and will be good enough to earn me a bronze certificate from the Plymouth Musketeers (to match my bronze for 10k earned a few weeks ago). It was a great experience, with over 4200 runners (I placed between 800th and 900th) with quite a few people I knew cheering me on along the route which was nice.

Here is a nice picture of me near the start of the race:

Plymouth Half

My Running Week 2014 #16

I managed three runs this week – one longer slower run and two short fast ones.

The first run was on Monday morning when I set out to do 10-11 miles at a steady pace as my last long run before tackling the Plymouth Half Marathon. I tried a new route from home, down through Hartley Vale, under the A38 via Linketty Lane then up to Plymouth Garden Centre, along Transit Way, across to Kings Tamerton, through Ham, over Central Park, around the park and home. It turned out to be a pretty tough run with some decent hills (much hillier than the Half Marathon route) and I completed the 10.7 miles in just under 1 hour 35 minutes or 8:51 minute/mile pace. Given the route I was happy enough.

Then, on Thursday, I did the 5k ‘Timed Run’ with the Plymouth Musketeers. This is a regular run in which everyone runs the same 5k loop down into Ernesettle and then back up Biggin Hill to the start. It was my second time on this run and I achieved a time of 24:47 which was about 2 minutes quicker than my last attempt several months ago. Coincidentally, on both occasions I finished 13th overall!

On Saturday morning I did the Plym Valley Parkrun for the 18th time and set out to achieve a Personal Best on the back of my new 5k PB achieved at the Worcester Woods Parkrun the previous week. I did achieve a PB for the route (23:12) but missed out on a 5k PB by just 4 seconds. I have a couple of 5k targets within close reach now – an overall 5k PB and a sub-23 minute time, both of which I hope to achieve in the near future.

My Running Week 2014 #15

We were away from home (mostly near Newcastle) so my running was a little different from usual this week, although as has been the pattern for quite a few recent weeks, my running consisted of just two runs again.

On Thursday morning I did a slow (10:18 pace) 7 mile run along the Tyne Valley from Newburn to Wylam and back along a section of the Hadrian Cycleway. This was all very flat and on a good surface. I had spent quite a bit of the previous three days either sitting in a car or pounding around shopping centres so it was great to get a lot of tiredness out of my legs and get moving again.

On the way back home from Newcastle we split the journey, stopping on Friday night at Droitwich so that on Saturday morning I did the Worcester Woods Parkrun (5k). This was my first piece of Parkrun tourism. The course was certainly flatter than the Plym Valley Parkrun but it was tricky at times. First, with over 350 runners the start was very congested and I had to work hard to move myself through the pack so that I could run freely. The route then did two loops skirting around and through a patch of woodland on a path that was very windy, rather narrow for the number of runners and not without the occasional hazard underfoot (e.g. tree-roots). The first half of each loop was more downhill such that the second half was quite a stiff climb. On emerging from the woods for the last time the finish was a downhill sprint across a field for a couple of hundred metres. I ran hard all the way round, looking for a new 5k PB, and so I was pleased to come in at 23m08s (7:29 pace), 46 seconds under my best time for the Plym Valley Parkrun. One interesting statistic was that I completed the two loops of the woods in almost identical times – 10:08m and 10:09m – so I was obviously running very consistently throughout the race which is pleasing.

My Running Week 2014 #14

I completed just two runs again this week, the Plymouth Musketeers group run on Thursday evening (Central Park route with the 9 minute/mile group covering a whopping 6.6 miles in total) and a second longer run on Saturday afternoon after returning from work at an Applicant Day.

The Saturday run was a 10 mile up and back run along the Plym Valley trail. I set off thinking I would do a mile or two at a slow pace and then try to do 10 miles at 8 minute 30 second pace but quickly decided that I would do 10 miles in total and, having done a slow first mile (9:17 pace), try to get my average pace for the run down to 8:30. As the route took me higher I rapidly found myself running in low cloud which added a nice ethereal quality to the run. I turned around just before the Leighbeer tunnel. It was a good run and I easily managed to get my average pace down to the target level. It was not as quick as I hope to go in the upcoming Plymouth Half Marathon (my first run at that distance) but it was a good average pace on a route that is definitely uphill to the turn.