This blog is mainly to help me and Ron (my fabulous coach) keep track of what is going on in my training. Good days. Bad days. Successes and failures. Aches and pains. That sort of thing. But please come visit once in a while to see how we're getting on!

Thursday, 31 October 2013

Three miles!

3M am slow jog to walk

Better than yesterday, but still very tight

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

A mile!

One very slow mile... but encouraging signs in terms of my legs' general well being: though I can only jog, I don't think I have any sign of injury.

Sunday, 27 October 2013

A disappointing run in Frankfurt

27M incl Frankfurt Marathon in 2h25m15s

It wasn't a good running day for me today. I can't be sure why yet. But it just felt harder work than it should have from fairly early on. It's hard to gauge, but the winds were strong (up to 59kph ) and I probably should have backed off any planned schedule and run more by feel. Though the wind was ba , I don't think I was on the same plain as I was at the Great North, where everything came easily. I can tell I wouldn't have run well even in good conditions. Just as the weather didn't stop me having a stormer at the Great North.

I had hoped to go through half way in 69.00-69.30 but figured that with a fairly stiff breeze, I would just have to see what groups formed on roughly the right sort of schedule and play it by ear. Through 10K I was in a group of five bang on what I had hoped and feeling ok, though not super-easy as I did in my really good run in 2011.

Between 10K and half way the group sped up and split up and I was left in no-mans land heading into the wind. I didn't respond too badly psychologically until I was dropped by the women's lead group at about 24K, having gone through half way with them in 71 minutes, which tells you how much I had slowed in the second 10K.

From 24ishK to the end was a real mental battle. For a good stretch of it I was considering bailing, but couldn't let myself. I kept the pressure on, but it's hard when your heart isn't there and I lost more and more time. The nail in the day's coffin was the killer turn back into the wind for the final couple of K. I felt like I was almost at a stand-still, despite moving not too badly.

It's days like today that remind me how much I should value the great days I've had. And hope that more come.

I'm going to take a semi-enforced breather now. I'm taking over full-time childcare duties for two months from this coming Friday, something I'm really looking forward to and which will provide excellent distraction from sore hamstrings and a sore running pride. I will have to work out how training will fit into this new reality and what follows, which will involve plenty of nursery pick-ups and drop-offs.

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Nearly at the start line... feeling lucky!

Rest

I'm feeling lucky! Lucky to be here as fit and as fast as I've ever been.. Fresh at the end of a fantastic block of training. Without a hint of injury or the colds that I've had hanging around since the Great North. And lucky in the sense of the over-zealous, 'this is what I've killed myself for all those months for and I'd die if I were anywhere but here' mind-set that I run best with: cheesy, brings a tear to the eye lucky....

Just the sort of lucky feeling you can to turn into a passionate attack on each passing second when the race really starts at the 20 mile marker.

My plan? A PB for sure. Anything over 2.20 would be disappointing. Depending on conditions and the groups that form, I will head out to go through half in 69.00-69.30.

It says it will be windy. But they predicted a storm for the Great North and that was just a recipe for me to collapse over the finishing line sobbing with satisfaction at how much I had taken of my PB.

69 something should be an ok split. In London in 2011 I ran the first half in 70.30 and my half marathon PB was two and a half minutes slower. Admittedly, that was a day where normal rules didn't seem to apply. But like at the Great North Six weeks ago, I've got that feeling again.

I'll see you on the other side....

Friday, 25 October 2013

Four or five

4-5M am recovery run

I felt great on my little jog this morning. It was pretty early, so I kept to the lighter parts of the Heath and the surrounding roads. My legs are full of (nervous) energy. And I've slept well all week, so I'm feeling fresh in the head too.

Thursday, 24 October 2013

Just five

5M am recovery run

My legs are starting to feel really up for Sunday now. And it's time to start the carbo loading...

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Six

6M am recovery run

The taper continues... six easy miles around the Heath and in the way to work this morning.

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

A touch of race pace

8M am incl 2M at 5.12min/M

As usual on pre-race Tuesday, I wanted to run a bit of a dress rehearsal. So I pulled on my racers and headed to the track to run two miles at race pace. They came out at 78 second laps, i.e. ~5.12min/M, without too much concentration which is encouraging. Race pace will be a bit slower than that (5.12 is 2.16 pace.

Monday, 21 October 2013

Ten. And some visualisation

10M am steady run

I am out in Chelmsford for clinic today. My usual run on Monday in marathon week might be 10 miles on the course itself. So instead I settled for some visualisation.

My pre-race soundtrack has been in my head since I played it on Saturday and I can feel my emotions building, ready for battle. I run well in a high of feeling lucky to be racing and (over?-)confidence in my ability to outperform expectations. The field looks great for Sunday, including a good number of friendly faces from the British scene. I feel that will provide good company and just the environment to produce another 'how did you do that with your shit 10K PB?' performance.... I can't wait!

Sunday, 20 October 2013

Eight (on a Sunday)

8M am recovery run

The taper must be here... only eight miles today. I had thought of running again in the evening, but we had too much fun in Cambridge, and I suspect a short recovery run will not be the making of next Sunday's race.

Saturday, 19 October 2013

An acceptable cross-country performance

10M pm incl 8K Met League cross-country race (24th)

I didn't run the best today. Part of that was down to a supremely rubbish start... which was all my fault and down to me being chicken and trying to avoid breaking something on the bottlenecky downhill rutted slippy first 400m. Despite being well positioned before the gun, I was about 70th after 400m and spent the first lap going slow in file trying to get around people. At least that meant that I spent the whole race gaining places, but it must have lost me about 20-30 seconds. And to be honest, I didn't really feel I had that much in me late in the race either. Lack of hill training? Hard session on Thursday? Hopefully one or other of those is the explanation rather than anything relevant to next week's marathon.

Friday, 18 October 2013

Rest

A planned day of rest... Though it'll still be less than 48 hours between my pyramid session and the Met League race on Saturday. My legs are feeling it...

Thursday, 17 October 2013

A pyramid session

16M double; recovery run & pyramid session
7M am recovery run
9M incl 400-600-800-1K-1.2K-1.2K-1K-800-600-400 off 45-90s jog

I squeezed in a pyramid session (my first for a while) down on the Embankment after work today. My latest cold is on its way out andhas left me croaky after talking all day in clinic, but didn't seem to slow me down. I felt pretty good. Hopefully my legs will be in the mood for some cross-country come 14.35 on Saturday. It's Met league season and I'm using the first round as my final little sharpener pre-Frankfurt.

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

Two easies, either side of a busy day.

Now that I have dropped my mileage, I'm really looking forward to my next session. A bit more speed tomorrow.

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

K reps

16M double; recovery run & K rep session
6M am recovery run
10M pm incl 8x1K off 90s jog

I ran a kilometre rep session in Regent's Park again this evening on my way home. I've run this session quite a few times, though often with ten rather than eight reps, and I think I can definitely feel improvement... my legs were moving well tonight.

Monday, 14 October 2013

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

My legs aren't suffering too much after yesterday. Only a mild tightness to my calves. I bumped into Ryan and ran home with him - a nice change from the usual.

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Shorter reps!

16M double; 400m rep session & recovery run
10M am incl 16x400m in 72-77s off 45s jog
6M pm recovery run

I ran a shorter rep session this morning in the wind and pouring rain. Not my fastest, bit it did feel like it got my legs turning over nicely. Increased cadence is not something that comes naturally to me.

I felt great on my evening run. Unlike the morning, the skies were clear and I was cozily wrapped up in leggings and long sleeves.

92 miles for the week. My sharpening and tapering continues next week...

14 days to go. Today's excitement came from watching Dennis Kimetto and Emmanuel Mutai pulverise themselves/each other in Chicago.

Saturday, 12 October 2013

Rest

A planned day off!

The most active I got today was to press the refresh button on Twitter to keep updated on Highgate's storming run for 6th in the National 6 Stage road relay.

Friday, 11 October 2013

A really good 18 mile crescendo run

19M am incl 18M crescendo at 6.45min/M (0-6M); 5.40 (6-12M); 5.30-5.15 (12-18M)

This felt really good. My legs were fresh after two recovery days and I had time before setting out to drink coffee and some Lucozade, so I felt in good shape to hit it hard.

My first segment was nice and slow, though speeding up towards the end.

My second segment, from 6 to 12 miles, was a mild battle as usual to up the pace at the beginning. But by a mile into it, once I reached the open stretches of path in Hyde Park, I hit a really good section of relaxed, almost easy, running at 5.40 pace. Like last Sunday, I felt easy all the way to the final step up in pace.

The third segment, from 12 to 18 miles was from Hyde Park Corner, down Birdcage Walk, up the river to Vauxhall and then along the river to Bankside, across the Millennium Bridge and up to Waterloo Bridge. It's all pretty good and clear running and I found I was really able to speed along. 5.30 pace felt pretty good - I was pushing but not panting - so for the last 3 miles I pushed the pace up a bit, first to 5.25 and then for the final mile and a half I managed 5.15. I was pretty spent at the end, but not slowing.

I've never run such a good 18 miler. I think I'm still in good shape. Now I just need a good sharpening little taper before race day...

Thursday, 10 October 2013

More recovery

13M double; recovery runs x2
6M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

I changed my plans for today late in the day because I had stomach ache and wasn't in a state to run a session. In retrospect, I think I was just hungry. Anyway, it might be a good plan as I am now going to try to run my last long run tomorrow morning. That will give me two extra days between it and race day - probably overkill as it's the difference between 14 and 16 days recovery, but it can't hurt.

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

I was feeling pretty good by my evening run. My legs are in a good state at the moment. Pretty resilient.

Tuesday, 8 October 2013

K reps

16M double; recovery run & K rep session
6M am recovery run
10M pm incl 10x1K off 90s jog

My legs are getting over Sunday now and with a bit of encouragement they managed a really good session in Regent's Park this evening. I feel I'm developing more speed again as I slowly introduce more rep sessions and decrease the volume in each of them. Ten K reps is still respectable, but I can push a lot harder than I could when my equivalent session was ten mile reps.

Under 3 weeks to go... I'm looking back at my build up before my 2.22 in April 2011 and thinking that I should try to mirror that (other than the two days off I had to take off 2 weeks out when I strained my hamstring hurdling a dog in the Regent's Park 10K).

Monday, 7 October 2013

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

My legs are a bit sore for the first time in a while. Not in a bad way, just slightly tight all over. I'm pleased really, it tells me that yesterday was a really solid session. I went slow to and from work today. No dramas.

Sunday, 6 October 2013

23 mile hard crescendo run

23M am crescendo run at 6.45min/M (0-7M); 5.45 (7-15M); 5.30 (15-23M)

This will probably be my last hard, properly long run before race day. I'll have time for one more at 18ish miles maybe, but nothing like this.

I did it properly and pre-fuelled (early morning Yazoo), primed myself with coffee and Lucozade and took some more Lucozade at about 14 miles. My last session was on Thursday morning, so that also helped me feel pretty good from the get-go... even if the first segment didn't come out very speedy.

Once I decided to pick the pace up at 7 miles, I found I was running comfortably at under 5.50min/M. Sometimes by the time I get to the next pick up in pace (at 15 miles today), I find that I've already been straining a bit to maintain my pace, but today I was cruising really nicely at under 5.45 pace. And I found I was able to keep a nice relaxed style/rhythm while upping things to 5.35 pace and then while I slowly increased it to 5.30ish.

I had a bit of a stitch threatening for the last two miles. Not sure why. Other than that, I was pretty pleased with the run. Not an eyeballs out effort (mainly down to the stitch making me back off a bit at the end), but the final 16 miles were all at 5.45min/M or less and I was managing to build the speed as the miles passed.

A good end to a 120 mile week.

Saturday, 5 October 2013

8, easy

8M am recovery run

Eight nice slow ones around the Heath and the Heath Extension this morning.

Friday, 4 October 2013

Steady

16M double; steady run & recovery run
9M am steady run
7M pm recovery run

I had clinic in Romford today, so I split my journey and ran to and from Stratford. My pack was pretty effing heavy for some reason and it was hard going, particularly in the morning.

It'd be nice to top things off with a really good long run over the weekend.

Thursday, 3 October 2013

A fairly good tempo

22M double; medium-long crescendo/tempo & recovery run
15M am incl 11M crescendo at 5.45-5.10min/M
7M pm recovery run

I had to really drag myself out of the front door this morning for this one. I was sleepy tired rather than physically tired, but I really wasn't relishing this. I ran gently down to work to drop off my bag and then picked up the pace as I headed down to the river and along to Battersea Park and back. As usual, the initial pick up in pace left me struggling to get the Garmin down to something half decent, before things got a bit easier. By the middle of the run I felt pretty good, cruising along at about 5.25min/M without too much of a push. Somehow though, I ran out of oomph a bit right at the end and my last mile started promisingly (just above 5min/M) and then fizzled out. I probably pushed too hard. And it is only 36 hours since my K reps. I had a headache by the end of my day at work and ran home very gently.

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Steady

22M double; steady run & recovery run
15M am steady run
7M pm recovery run

I got up early for a steady couple of loops of the Heath before heading to work this morning. My legs could feel last night's session.  But given recent experience, I should be OK for my medium-long tempo tomorrow morning... which I am almost looking forward to (though only because it's these sessions I credit with my PB at the Great North).

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

K reps

15M double; recovery run & K rep session
7M am recovery run
8M pm incl 10x1K off 90s jog

I ran my evening session on the grass loop in Regent's Park tonight. I had just enough time to squeeze ten of them in. They felt good and fast. Hopefully these last four weeks will let me build more basic speed to add to what I feel has been a pretty good endurance-focused last two or three months.