Archives for January, 2010
Posted on Jan 31, 2010 under Training Diary |
Nice little 10 miler today with a half-decent 8:33 average pace. This is a bit of a leap into the unknown right now as my prescribed training plan finished with the first race and with the first three races pretty close together it’s difficult to work out what to do. I’m going to maintain the routine of doing a midweek speedwork/interval session and a long run every weekend but the long runs I’m just going to play by ear. After the March event things will be a bit easier to plan as all the subsequent races are around a month apart and all around the same weekend each month so once I find a routine that works I can just keep recycling it. However, if anyone knows of a better approach I would be grateful for the advice.
In terms of recovery, it certainly doesn’t feel like I ran a marathon last week as everything is completely back to normal. Having said that, I was somewhat surprised at just how easy I found doing 10 miles today compared to when I did it the first time several weeks ago!! I’ll probably go for 16 miles next weekend (slow & easy) and then take it fairly easy before the marathon the week after.
Posted on Jan 28, 2010 under Training Diary |
Well that’s my first post-marathon speedwork session out of the way. A 5 mile run with 3 miles at a sub-8:00 pace which I found no trouble at all to maintain so I’m feeling pretty much back to normal. The legs were a bit stiff the day after the race, especially going down a flight of stairs but after a short recovery jog on Tuesday they were feeling much better. The most noticeable thing after the race on Sunday was how quickly I became dehydrated for about 24 hours afterwards. I’d consumed a significant amount of water after the race and throughout the remainder of the day but next morning felt like I’d been on a night out! It wasn’t until Monday evening that I felt like everything had settled down so I’ll be watching for that next time.
Anyway, I now need to think about the lead up to the next marathon which I have pencilled in for the 14th of Feb. As you may have seen from the races page, I don’t have an official event that month so my plan is to do an out & back on the Grand Union Canal Half Marathon route, which I have completed a couple of times. This is a nice flat course (apart from going up & down the locks) and I’m going to take it steady as my next official race after that is pretty close at the beginning of March, which is unfortunate timing but after that everything is reasonably evenly spaced out.
On a final note, I just looked at the cumulative reports on my Garmin Foreunner and since I started using it in November I’ve logged a total of 237.6 miles! It’s actually slightly more in reality as it went flat on an 8 miler about 2 miles in so probably closer to 245 miles in reality. Looking ahead to the races and the training in between I’m going to see if I can crack 1000 miles by the end of 2010 as a little side challenge 
Posted on Jan 28, 2010 under General News |
A few people have asked me why I didn’t apply for one of the many charity places in the London Marathon when I was rejected from the public ballot and this has become the subject of several arguments so I thought I would just write it down and be done with it…
Firstly, let me say that I fully support the whole idea of running for charity – that should hopefully be obvious! However, what I do not agree with is misrepresenting my own support, which I personally believe I would be doing had I chosen to go down the "charity place" route. Why? – well let me try to explain:
Let’s say I choose to run for, I dunno, the Samaritans. I will be asked to raise a minimum of £1500 or thereabouts, which seems to be the norm for these "golden" places. However, the Samaritans will have had to pay around £500 (or more) for that guaranteed place which will effectively have to come out of the money I will then be raising. Hence, if I am asking people to donate to this specific charity then I should, in all fairness, be telling them that around 30p in every £1 they give is going to paying the race organiser and not the nominated charity. Now I appreciate that the London Marathon gives a lot of the fees away to good causes themselves, which is all well and good, but if I am supporting a specific charity then that’s where the money from my sponsors should be going in my opinion.
At the end of the day, this essentially comes down to whether you are running to support charities, or supporting charities because you are running. In either case though, I would always prefer to enter a race on my own terms and be confident that all of the funds that I raise go towards my nominated good causes. This isn’t a criticism of London specifically, I think it’s the same across all of the big prestige races. In some ways I think they are being devalued as races as a result and becoming principally a fundraising event for all except the elite runners, who effectively run a separate race anyway.
I’m more than happy for people to "put me straight" on this, but until I’m convinced otherwise I’ll not be running London (or any similar event that operates a "golden ticket" policy) on anything other than a standard entry.
Posted on Jan 25, 2010 under Race Days |
Just picked up the official results for yesterday, which you can download here. My official time was 3:54:53 in the end, which probably equates to the fact that I didn’t hear the start call so my watch began when I saw the front row move off! Still, it’s only 3 seconds out!
Posted on Jan 24, 2010 under Race Days |
Well that’s the first one out of the way and I managed to do it in 3:54:50 so I achieved the sub-4:00 time I was hoping for. The race overall was good, quite well organised and we certainly had good weather for most of it aside from about half an hour when a bank of fog rolled in out of nowhere dropping the temperature considerably. The rules were very strictly imposed too as the local police had demanded this was a “no iPod” event for safety reasons and this was quite evident when one guy in front of me who’d decided to ignore the ruling did not hear the police van slowly driving behind him for a while which subsequently overtook, parked up and then pulled him over and issued a threat of disqualification!! Aside from that there were no more incidents that I was aware of but the police were making regular runs on the route, as were St John’s Ambulance (on bikes) so it felt like everything had been well thought out. I later heard from someone that a runner had died on the route last year so that probably explained it.
As for the route, it began with a 4-mile figure-of-8 around the local roads of Quedgeley before branching off onto a large loop for three laps. Lap counting was by means of coloured wristbands that you handed over on each lap and then when you had no more you branched off again for the last mile to the finish. For the Garmin Forerunner data for the race click this link to see the route as I did it and on there you may well notice that the distance is showing up as 26.49 miles. I noticed on each lap that my Forerunner was bleeping out the miles earlier and earlier before the roadside markers, which was unusual because it was spot on during my last half-marathon and generally within a few yards of Google maps when I plot a route beforehand. I asked several of the other runners at the end with a mixture of Garmins & Polars whether they’d noticed the same and we all agreed that give or take a few yards we’d all recorded a longer distance! I’m not that bothered however as if it was too long then it makes the time I crossed the line seem even better
T-Shirt and Memento
As for my experience of the race, it all seemed to fall into place with the training. I probably went off a little too quick at the start but soon settled into an 8:30~ish pace that I maintained for quite a while before starting to slow down about half way on the second lap. As the third lap began my mental arithmetic still showed me on-course for a sub-4:00 time so I picked it up a little bit just to make sure. As I passed 22 miles I necked the last of my SiS Go-Gels as the fatigue was making it’s presence felt and then at 23 miles I wished I’d packed more of them as I hit the wall. Suddenly putting one foot in front of the other became immensely hard and I almost dropped to a walk when something inside said “in your dreams pal!” and I pushed on towards a red letterbox at the next corner I’d set as my next goal. When I passed that I was feeling a bit lighter on my feet and within about another mile I was through the barrier and feeling more energised, which was boosted when I saw the 25 mile mark and the turn off towards the finish. The last mile did feel longer than a mile I have to say but as I saw the end in the distance and looked at my watch I knew I was going to come in under 4 hours and that was the final urge to the finish.
Instead of medals the race mementos were those little glass blocks with the 3-D images (of runners) inside so more of a trophy to put on display than a medal you shove in a drawer so I was quite pleased with that.
Overall, it was an enjoyable race but not one I would really recommend as a first marathon purely because there isn’t the crowd atmosphere of one of the big races to urge you on through the difficult bits. As a club run or a race for the seasoned marathoner looking for something to do in Jan (well there’s not a lot) I couldn’t really find fault and it’s one I would certainly consider doing again.
Anyway, that’s it, only 11 more to do now… I’ll do another post with the official results and photos (if any) when they are published. I really appreciated all the messages of support I got via text, Facebook, email etc before the race and the congratulations afterwards, it makes it all the more worthwhile so thanks again.
Posted on Jan 23, 2010 under Training Diary |
Well tomorrow is the big day! Last night I went for a short, easy run just to keep things ticking over and to get my head around tomorrow’s race. It’s like a step into the unknown now as this will be the furthest distance I’ve ever attempted and having only hit "the wall" once in training I’ve no idea what’s going to happen during that last 6 miles so I’m just trying to think of ways to approach it mentally at the moment. I’ll be glad when tomorrow’s race is out of the way because aside from the whole having to run 26 miles thing I just want that mental tick in the box that says "yes, it’s doable".
Gloucester Marathon
Tomorrow’s route doesn’t look bad at all though, even with the fact that it’s 3 laps the terrain looks fairly flat and it should be quite scenic. I’ll be wearing my Garmin Forerunner so I’ll have a full log of the race itself to upload afterwards.
The only thing I’m really dreading tomorrow is the drive home as it’ll be about 2.5 hours so there may be a few "leg stretch" stops on the way to keep everything from seizing up!!
Anyway, not a lot else I can do right now other than take it easy, keep hydrated and try to think of something interesting to do with the pile of pasta I will probably try and consume tonight, definitely no alcohol though and, unusually for me, probably an early night too.
Thank you for all the messages of support that have been coming in this morning via Facebook etc. I’ll try and get my post-race report up on Sunday evening.
Posted on Jan 20, 2010 under Training Diary |
Just a 5 mile tempo run tonight, counting down to the weekend and the first of the 12. Pacing was spot-on target and I felt there was plenty left in reserve in the last mile when I slowed it down. I’m looking forward to seeing whether all these speedwork sessions are going to pay off during the race – especially as this first course has a couple of gradients to contend with.
After tonights blast I’m taking it easy for the rest of the week with just a quick 2 miler planned for Friday to keep me ticking over. Tonight’s run data is here and it’s been good to start logging some proper data again after all that treadmill time!
Posted on Jan 15, 2010 under General News |
After a rave review from a friend of mine over Christmas I decided to go for it and enter the Berlin Marathon in September (now confirmed). I’m looking forward to it as it’s rated as one of the flattest Marathons in the world so apart from the downhill dash of Edinburgh in May I should be aiming for a PB if that is the case. Anyway, still need to sort out flights and accommodation but will probably make a long weekend of it.
Now I’m just contemplating Dublin instead of Abingdon the month after… this is starting to get expensive
Posted on Jan 15, 2010 under Training Diary |
The joining instructions for the Gloucester Marathon arrived in the post this morning, all getting very close now as it’s only one more week to go. Reading through the notes it seems like an ok route although I’m not ecstatic about the fact that it’s 3 laps. Still, it’s mainly countryside so it should be easy to lose track of the landmarks and just plough on.
I think I might actually get back out on the roads tomorrow too, the ice is melting fast now so I think I can wave goodbye to the treadmill and start getting some fresh air again. It’s not been too bad though as running on the machines has really helped to refine my perception of pace so I’m going to put that to the test on Saturday when I do an 8 miler on the open roads.
Posted on Jan 14, 2010 under General News |
Got a mention in my hometown local paper last night. You can read the article here which has attracted some attention from a few old friends. I’m expecting a mention in one or two of the local papers where I live now too and I got an email today asking if I would talk to one of the national running magazines so it’s all a bit exciting at the moment – especially if it brings in a few more donations
If you are a regular reader of my blog and have a page of your own please consider putting a link to mine as it will help with my page ranking on Google and hopefully connect me with more readers – cheers.
