Easier day - with plenty of carbs

16M double; general aerobic & recovery runs
10M am general aerobic run at ~6.45min/M
6M pm recovery run at ~7.00min/M

A steadier day today here. No reaction to yesterday's efforts. And no headache now.

A couple of easier runs. Both in the hills above the apartment. We saw Wami Biratu out for a jog (an ex-Ethiopian great from Abebe Bikila's time).

The food is hearty. My belly is full of various carbohydrate-based foods. Above is some breakfast. I couldn't tell you what it is, but it tasted like a cross between porridge and brown rice (with chilli)!

Nice to have sorted internet too.

A hard session!

16M double; tempo session & recovery run
11M (18K) am tempo session at ~5.45min/M
5M pm recovery run at ~7.00min/M

We were woken at 6 this morning for my first hard session of the trip. The deal is that the club has a minibus (the one that picked me up from the airport) and rounds up all the athletes three times a week for the hard sessions.

The coach (Mersha) was on board and set out our plan once we'd arrived at our training location.

I wasn't entirely clear on everyone's plan, but was told it was an hour long run and I should run at 4.30min/K ish.

From fairly early on it seemed that the others were aiming for something a fair bit faster, and I was feeling ok and decided to stick with them. I ended up running it as a tempo run and came out with an average pace of 5.45min/M over the 18K (11M) course. A table I found in Lore of Running suggests that the 2300m altitude makes the correction per mile 20-25 seconds. Given the rocky terrain (though it was a road) and my new arrival at altitude, I was chuffed. The coach was too, and told me I 'could join the group'. I was ahead of a number of the local guys (though I don't have a clue how hard they were trying... I was running my guts out).

The afternoon was fun too. Another young athlete who has now moved on from the Running Across Borders group to train with the Ethiopian National Team came over. He is a very fast 5000 and 10000 runner. Perhaps no coincidence since he is Bekele's 1st cousin...

Gudisa and I ran a nice 5 or so miler in the evening. I had a splitting headache. Either due to the altitude or the morning's exertions. But it seemed to fade in the evening.

A month at altitude begins. Gently.

4M pm recovery run at ~7.30min/M at 2300m

I managed a bit of sleep on the flight. I was collected at the airport by the driver for Running Across Borders - the club I am staying with and training with while I'm here.

Running Across Borders is a charity that aims to set young Ethiopian athletes up to make money from their talent. The group is made up of about 15 athletes, mainly men.

I am staying in an apartment owned by the organisation. I am being hosted by Gudisa (above, in the apartment), a 19 year old who seems pretty speedy: 10K PB 29.40 at 2300m altitude... He also has great English and will be my shadow it seems while I'm here. At the apartment we also have a cook (Meseret). The food seems good so far: bread, eggs, pasta and rice have all featured so far.

We went for a gentle run this evening. Didn't seem to bad. I was more out of breath than usual, but nothing terrible. We ran straight from our front door off into the hills above the city. It's a great location.

Rest - and travel to Ethiopia

Rest

Only time for packing and a bit of house-sorting before I headed to the airport today. Overnight flight. I arrive Monday first thing in Addis Ababa.

128th in the National - after a fast start

11M incl 12K National Cross-country Champs (128th; 7th Highgate; Team 5th)

Just a quick note... I'm on the plane about to leave for Ethiopia!

The National was another great day. An unbelievable and unrelenting course. 1700 in the men's race. And great support.

Like a number of us in Highgate, my error was to go off too hard. I paid for it, but still came out 44 places higher than last year.

The team came away with 5th. Not far from a medal, and we know it wasn't for lack of commitment.

Hopefully I can build on a good past 2 months in Ethiopia. And hopefully I'll be able to blog from there too...

Can't wait. Even if I'm sad to be leaving home for so long.

Gentle

7M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M with pack

I was in Romford today for clinic, but skipped the usual run back into town. It's the National tomorrow. And who knows what kind of performance we can muster. Can't wait.

Recovery

10M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run at ~6.45min/M
3M pm recovery run at ~6.45min/M

Not much time today, so just to and from work.

Hill reps

17M double; hill rep session & recovery run
11M am incl 18x400m up/down hill reps off 35s
6M pm recovery run at ~6.30min/M

I managed a pretty good speed session this morning up and down Parliament Hill. It's a new hill, so it's hard to judge my pace. But it felt solid. I ran home and then to work (via another loop on the Heath).

Good planning meeting with Ron after my evening recovery run.

Recovery

17M double; recovery runs x2
10M am recovery run at ~6.45min/M
7M pm recovery run at ~6.45min/M

Another day disrupted by other plans. So I just ran a couple of recovery runs. My first was 10 miles in the Cambridge countryside. The second a more familiar route around North London. Some speed tomorrow hopefully.

Rest

A day of kind of in scheduled rest. Good for my legs I'm sure, but mainly a symptom of being too busy and moving house.

Summary of week ending 19/02/2012

Mon 13/2 - 19M double; 7M recov & 12M general aerobic runs
Tue 14/2 - 17M double; 7M recov & 10M incl 20x400m up/down hill off 35s & 1M
Wed 15/2 - 20m double; 5M recov & 15M gen aerobic run & core strength ex
Thu 16/2 - 7M recovery run at ~7.00min/M
Fri 17/2 - 18M double; 7M recov & 11M medium long tempo at 6.00-5.20min/M
Sat 18/2 - 17M double; 10M & 7M recovery runs
Sum 19/2 - 18M crescendo long run at 6.30-5.55-5.15/5.40min/M
TOTAL - 117M

A fast long run (with my Garmin)

18M crescendo long run at 6.30 (0-6M), 5.55 (6-12M) & 5.15-5.40 (12-18M)

My Garmin has been in a bad way for a while. The strap broke just before Odense, so I had to race with it taped on. Then it stopped recharging. I was on the point of getting a new one when it woke up last week.

So this was my first Garmin-timed long run in this marathon build-up. It was definitely better than any I managed last year. And it was run off 5 hours sleep and a pre-bed Yazoo plus some sips of Lucozade.

As usual, I took a couple of miles to find my rhythm. But by the second segment, it didn't require too much to pick it up to 6min/M. In fact, I'm confident it felt easier than last spring, when I definitely had to consciously get more onto my toes.

By the transition to the third segment I was feeling it a bit in my quads (though it wasn't pain, just pressure, and my breathing was easy). I stepped on it from there - initially for a couple of miles along the river and then uphill and across various thoroughfares up to Dartmouth Park. I haven't got a great feel for how fast this segment will be, but it's definitely uphill. And fairly steeply so in parts. But I was pleased with my pace. I had figured at hitting 5.30ish, bit ran the first (flat) couple at 5.15. And then averaged about 5.40 for the rest. Really pleased. I was liberated by the uncertainty of the final 4 miles. I just ran hard, without caring what the watch might say. I was really huffing from St Pancras and was pretty much gone on the final uphill stretch up Highgate Hill. Good stuff.

A light week now ready for the National Cross-country Championships on Saturday on home turf at Parliament Hill.

Oh, and I fly to Ethiopia next Sunday! Can't wait.

17 recovery miles. And a 1 mile house move.

17M double; recovery runs x2
10M am recovery run at ~6.45min/M
7M pm recovery run at ~6.45min/M

A day for recovery. A coupe of gentle ones around the Heath. The first included a lap of the National Course.

Most of the day was spent moving house. Only 1 mile. But lots of boxes. I'm even closer to the Heath now.

Fairly long tempo

18M double; recovery run & medium long tempo
7M am recovery run at ~6.45min/M
11M pm tempo run at 6.00-5.20min/M

Today was nearly another crap one running-wise. But I managed to get away just in time for a fairly decent length tempo run (I would have liked it to be >12 miles but 11 had to do). I ran home (fast) to drop my bag and then ran on the roads around Primrose Hill, Hampstead, Highgate and Dartmouth Park.

Speaking of which, we move to our new house in Dartmouth Park tomorrow! I'm off to have takeaway and champagne sitting on the floorboards right now.

Unscheduled light day

7M pm recovery run at ~7.00min/M

I had meant to do a hard long run this evening and took the tube in to work to rest my legs in preparation. But work intervened - a very long clinic followed by a very long ward round. So I just ran gently home. A proper session tomorrow hopefully.

Steady

20M double; recovery & general aerobic runs & exercises
5M am recovery run at ~8.30min/M
15M pm general aerobic run at ~6.45min/M
Core stength exercises (six cycles)

A day for a bit of a steady aerobic training. Nothing flashy. Legs not bad after yesterday. More Ottolenghi to refuel.

Fitted in some late night core strength exercises.

Twenty 400m hill reps (and a mile hard)

17M double; recovery run & hill rep session
7M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M with pack
10M pm incl 20x~400m up/down hill off 35s & 1M hard

Today I switched the track for a hill rep session so I could cook some Ottolenghi soba noodles for dinner. They both turned out ok.

I ran the same route up Primrose Hill as last Thursday. This time the uphill rep was into the wind, but my splits were similar to last week (69-73s). I didn't quite feel the freshness in my legs I had last week (which was after a couple of virus-enforced light days). And I really had to work to keep the splits even. Like last week, I focused on form not time on the way down. Sprinting on spent legs feels like good practice for cross-country.

I had limited time, so stuck to 20 reps this time and then ran the last mile home hard.

Easier

19M double; recovery run & general aerobic run
7M am recovery run at ~7.15min/M with pack
12M pm general aerobic run ~6.30min/M

My legs aren't too bad after yesterday. Not full of energy. But still with a bit of spring. And no niggles. Today was easier. Ahead of another big week.

Summary of week ending 12/02/2012

Mon 6/2 - 17M double; 7M & 10M recovery runs
Tue 7/2 - 12M double; 7M & 5M recovery runs
Wed 8/2 - 5M recovery run
Thu 9/2 - 19M double; 7M recov & 12M incl 30x400 up/down hill off 35s
Fri 10/2 - 22M double; 7M recov & 15M tempo run at ~6.00min/M with pack
Sat 11/2 - 16M double; 10M & 6M recovery runs
Sun 12/2 - 25M long run with last 2.5M hard
TOTAL - 116M

25 - on pretty tired legs

25M pm long run with last 2.5M hard

My legs have taken a beating towards the end of this week. Both Thursday and Friday were properly hard days and yesterday my legs were the most tired they've been in this marathon build-up. I delayed my long run today until the afternoon to maximise my recovery (and spend the morning in an armchair).

My quads were still pretty heavy when I set off and I spent the first few miles trying to decide if it was best to head back and run long tomorrow instead.

By about 8 miles, I was feeling better and decided to do 20 or 22 miles. The only reason I ended up running 25 was that I miscalculated.

I ran the first 22 or so fairly even paced - about 6.15-6.30. From about 18 miles I was feeling fairly ropey - a bit like I have both times at 16 miles in the London Mararthon. I lay the blame at James Bond's door - I had to stop for a couple of minutes while they shot a scene on Vauxhall Bridge (just before my dip).

But I came back to life after a couple of miles and managed to pick up the pace pretty well for the last 2.5 miles, up Primrose and Haverstock Hills and then down to the flat.

Time to flake out on the sofa now.

Tired legs

16M double; recovery runs x2
10M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M
6M pm recovery run at ~6.45min/M

My legs felt really heavy today after the last two days' exertions. So I just dragged myself around some recovery miles.

Romford to Kings Cross - hard

The way out

















The way back

22M double; recovery run & medium long tempo run
7M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M with pack
15M pm medium long tempo run at ~6.00min/M with pack

My legs could feel yesterday's hill reps. But they still had some spring, so I ran hard back from Romford. Good training with my full (5kg) pack.

I had an amusing encounter with a couple of stoned girls at the top of Primrose Hill at 6.45 this morning. They said they had walked there from Lewisham and wanted to know when sunrise was.

30x400

19M double; recovery run & hill rep session
7M am recovery run at ~7.00min/M
12M pm including 30x400m up/down hill (ups at 68-73s) off 35s

My viral interruption is over and I'm feeling pretty good. I have struggled to find a good hill for reps for some reason recently. It must be mainly through lack of local knowledge as there's definitely no lack of hills around here.

This evening I found a good stretch up Primrose Hill (from near the Regent's Park entrance to the top of the hill) for a 400ish meter rep. I ran it alternately up and down, like I used to in Brockwell Park. With 35 seconds recovery been reps.

I managed to keep the reps pretty even, though I was dying by half way and the last few were a real push. My slowest was my first (73s)and my second slowest was my last (72s). Most of the reps in between were 69 or 70s. My quads feel good now.

I didn't keep such a close watch on my splits for the down reps - it was dark and I had snow into my face by the end, so I concentrated on good form and stride length rather than all out effort.

I also had my bloods done earlier in the week before my trip to altitude (to check I've got enough iron on board to take advantage of it). It all looked good. I'm going to take iron supplements from now until my return to make sure I stay iron replete despite the extra demands and the change in diet I'll have while I'm over there.

Still feeling crap

5M am recovery run at ~8.30min/M

Ran to work this morning but felt crap all day, so skipped a second run. I'm probably being over cautious, but I'm paranoid about running hard with a systemic virus (head cold, ok; feeling generally shitty, not ok). Back to it tomorrow hopefully.

Unscheduled recovery

12M - double; recovery run x2
7M am recovery run at ~6.45min/M
5M pm recovery run at ~7.00min/M

I was planning a speed session this evening but felt shitty with a virus. Nothing much, but enough to make me not want to risk going all out. So I just ran home gently (via the Inner Circle where the lads were meeting up for what sounded like a killer session - 8-10x1K off 60s). Hopefully I'll run a hill session tomorrow.

Recovery

17M double; recovery run x2
7M am recovery run at ~7.30min/M
10M pm recovery run at ~7.30min/M

Recovery today. My legs weren't bad once I got off the snow. And I'm niggle free. Need to keep it that way through this high mileage block.

Summary of week ending 05/02/2012

Mon 30/1 - 14M double; 5M & 9M recov runs at ~7.00min/M & exercises (6 cycles)
Tue 31/1 - 17M double; 7M recov & 10M incl 6x1K (3.04-3.11) off 200m & 6x60m
Wed 1/2 - 18M double; 5M recov & 13M steady at ~6.20min/M
Thu 2/2 - 13M double; 7M recov & 6M incl 2K-1.6-1.2-0.8-0.4 off 90-90-60-60
Fri 3/2 - 23M double; 5M recov & 18M incl 14.5M crescendo medium long run
Sat 4/7 - 10M recovery run & core strength exercises (6 cycles)
Sun 5/7 - 25M cresccendo long run
TOTAL - 120M

25 in the snow

25M long run (as crescendo as the snow would allow)

I was going to keep it a bit shorter and sharper today, but the snow made me change things around a bit. I was in Oxford and ran four and a bit laps of Port Meadow (with a detour down to Folly Bridge). It was 25 miles.

The snow wasn't too deep - about 2 inches - and was a good running surface where it was fresh. Ideal for my Innov8 trail shoes. What slowed me more than anything was that it was melting. The tow path in particular was really slushy. My feet were soaked by the end.

I slowly increased the speed and pushed as hard as I could for the last loop (6 miles). The surface (and perhaps the aches left from Friday's effort and my exercises yesterday) meant that it wasn't as good as a road long run. And it was my hamstrings and glutes that felt the pain mainly. But it was still a good one. And not a bad way to end another really solid week.

Yes, I'm still on the post-long run endorphin buzz, but I am enjoying my running more than ever.

Two laps of the National course

10M - recovery run & core strength exercises
Core strength exercises (six cycles)
10M am recovery run incl 2 laps of the National x-country course

A recovery Saturday. I just ran once today and ran slowly - time to recover from my tempo run of yesterday and prepare for tomorrow's longy. Hope the snow won't hamper it.

I included a couple of laps of the National cross-country course on the heath. I'll try and do some faster laps of it over the next couple of weeks to get it in my head for the race. After Highgate's classic performance in the Southern's, I'm even going to taper for the National. Yes. Taper!

A cracking (medium) long tempo run

23M - recovery run & medium long tempo run
5M am recovery run at ~8.30min/M
18M pm incl 14.5M crescendo medium long run

This is the sort of day I didn't manage last year. I've read loads about the benefit of these sorts of session - long tempo runs. Around or a bit over a half marathon in length and run at close to race pace. They are a bit different from my long runs, which start gently and slowly build so the last third or so is close to full throttle. These ones are fast from the beginning (but still getting faster towards the end).

I ran it along the river and around Battersea Park from work. I made my way fairly gently down to the river and then hit a good pace straight off. From mile 2-5 I was running at 5.45 pace. From 5-8 I was at about 5.30 and from there I went close to full throttle - something like 5.10-5.20. The 14.5M back to work averaged 5.36. I hit a really good rhythm and was surprised by how little yesterday's speed work had affected my legs.

It wasn't that I didn't know about them last year. But I was almost always too tired to manage them. I seem to be more resilient this year... for now.

Speed (on Groundhog Day)

13M double; recovery run & speed session
7M am recovery run at ~7.00-6.15min/M
6M pm speed session incl 2000-1600-1200-800-400 off 90-90-60-60s jig

Not much time today between a long busy day at work and a birthday celebration. So I went for a bit of briefish speed along the Northbank as my evening run. It's a good session this one. Even if it is quite short.

Dinner at the Bull and Last was nice. Massive beef, cep and and oyster pie (between two). Johnny Borrell was there in the most ridiculous jeans.

Steady

18M double; recovery & steady runs
5M am recovery run at ~8.30min/M
13M pm steady run at ~6.20min/M

A steady day. Slow on the way in to work followed by a good brekkie at the Fleet River Bakery (a deux). Then a steadier 13 in the evening. Slow on the way home with my pack and then a bit more rapid around the roads circling the Heath.