Running Royalty delivered, plus considering the Bideford Half

I mentioned in a previous post that I had been in touch with Amby Burfoot about getting a signed copy of his book.  We exchanged a couple of emails, and he posted the book out to me and it arrived yesterday, with the below message.

I must say, I'm really gobsmacked by this as Amby Burfoot did all the correspondence and posted the book out himself (his signature was on the postage label).

The book arriving put a little spring in my step on yesterday's run.  I did just over 8 miles in target half-marathon pace and felt good.  I purposefully "held back" a little bit at the start and finished the run strongly which is what I am really hoping to do at Bideford.  The splits were:

1  8:10.7
2  7:50.7
3  7:49.4
4  8:06.2
5  7:56.6
6  7:56.8
7  7:51.5
8  7:44.8

I've been trying to find a reliable profile of the Bideford Half Marathon course that I'm running this weekend, but I've been struggling a little bit.  I haven't noticed this before, but I've found a few courses on the Garmin Connect site of last year's race; however, the profiles seem to vary quite wildly for the same course.  It seems the profile feature on some watches isn't that accurate; certainly the second diagram can't be correct unless the person was swimming the course and then climbed out on the 10-mile mark!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154859150

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154828856

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154918112

Diagrams 1 and 3 do seem fairly similar, with Diagram 1 being a "smoother" profile, which is similar to the profiles that get generated from my own watch, whereas Diagram 3 seems more "jagged".  I wonder if the differences are to do with how often the different watches measure the elevation?  There are still some differences though, particularly around mile 7 where diagram 3 shows a steep decline and the incline at mile 9 on Diagram 3 seems a lot steeper.

Broadly, it looks like I'll be keeping the below in mind:

- take it easy until about mile 2.8.

- there is a hill at around 2.8-3.2 mile, with the corresponding descent from 3.4-3.8 mile

- from about 4 mile to mile 10 it is fairly flat, with a hill at 6.2 miles.

- there is a descent from mile 10 to 11

- it is fairly flat (but tending to an incline) from 11 to the finish, with a small hill at about 12.2 and 12.4 miles.

I got an email from the Bideford Half organisers...apparently, there are 34 Teignbridge Trotters that are currently in the race!

A quick 5-miler

After a strange week where I haven't really overly enjoyed my running, I had the final session of the week which in my plan was down as "5 mile easy".  I took it relatively easy yesterday and although I did have a couple of beers yesterday I wasn't feeling too bad this morning and was "up for" a run.  However,  it was very cold and there was even some light snow in the air, so the signs weren't pointing towards it being a particularly great run!

I covered my Garmin and decided to go for a quick tempo session to see what I could do.  For the 5-mile effort, I managed 07:30 min/mile which is pretty good for me.  So, all in all, I've finished this week's running on a relative high so I'm pleased.

I am due to run Bideford Half Marathon next weekend, and it's billed as another quick course.  I think there are around 30-40 Trotters attending the event, and I am secretly hoping for another PB but it will depend on how it goes on the day (as always!).  As I have been so tired this week and little bit "off" the running, I was thinking about playing the training by ear up until the half and I'm still going to do that.  My plan currently has so I'll see how that goes:
- 10, including some tempo
- 2 lots of 5
- 13.1 on race day.

I did have to move things around a bit on my plan, because the Half Marathon next weekend didn't fall in with the planned long run that weekend for which a 20-miler is scheduled.  That is the reason I did 20 on this week's LSR as I knew I wouldn't be able to get that mileage in next week.

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had been in touch with Amby Burfoot with regard to him sending me a signed copy of his book.  Well, he has emailed me saying that he has posted the book, so hopefully that will be with me soon!!

20-mile LSR

I woke up this morning and was feeling a bit better, so went out for my LSR.  I ended up getting 20 miles in the bag, so I've got to be happy with that!

I did it in an average pace of 10:10min/mile, so that is pretty much in the LSR training range, although it was tiring.  I felt I could have run on, but I'm not really sure if I could have gone quicker overall.  It was also very cold, which was off-putting but as today is Friday it means I've got my LSR out of the way early this weekend!

On holiday this week

I'm on holiday from work this week, but I'm still aiming to get the 4 runs done including the LSR. However, the break from work has made me realise that I was very tired so I've been taking it relatively easy and getting some rest, which has been nice.

On Monday I got a 9-miler run completed in the morning and on Wednesday I attended the club session and did a 11*350m interval which was extremely tough.

I'm aiming for two more sessions this week including a 15-20 miler but if I'm not feeling like it I'll cancel the runs and start again with the training next week.

18 mile run this morning....a good end to the running week, and a great start to a week's holiday!

I mentioned in my last post about the need to slow down on my long runs - I've even put a separate page on my blog so my paces are there for everyone to see!

Well, I'm pleased to say that I did the run in an average of 10:07 min/mile, which is pretty much bang on my LSR pace, so I've got to pleased with that.  I purposefully picked it up a bit on my last 2-miles (under 9min/mile) and I'm pleased that I felt strong at the end.

I tried a couple of other changes for this morning's run:
- although I have ensured I've been well hydrated all week, I have been wondering if I've been under-hydrating on the day of an LSR.  This morning before I set out I chugged down nearly 3 pints of water, as well as my coffee and shredded wheat.  I did need a pit stop at only mile 2 but other than that it was fine.  Obviously a slow 18-miler is much different to a race pace Half Marathon, but I'm hoping this change will do me well, particularly when the temperature start increasing.  I think I did "bonk" a bit at the event last weekend and I definitely didn't today.
- I binned the flapjacks in favour of 8 Jaffa Cakes, and I must say they went down a treat.  I just took them in a pocket and they were easy to eat and digest.

This all means that I've done 36.5 mile this week...if I include last Sunday's Half Marathon it's nearly 50 which is a record I think.

I put two Marathon Talk podcasts on my iPod Shuffle today and I timed it so they ran out just as I was finishing.  It all means that I'm still at 100% for Jantastic, and we're 50% through the challenge now.

Plus, my wife had made some pancakes for when I got back.

So, all in all a great run - I'm mark it as a 10 out of 10!  Even better is that I'm now on holiday for a week.

A brush with running royalty, plus other things

A few weeks ago, Marathon Talk interviewed Amby Burfoot.  For those who may not know, Amby Burfoot won the Boston marathon in 1968, has been involved in running his whole life and is editor at large of Runner's World (US).  In running circles, he is pretty much royalty.

Anyway, on that Podcast it was mentioned that Burfoot has a book out and if you email him he'll sign it with an appropriate message and post it.  Yesterday, I went onto the website and emailed the address.  I was expecting an assistant or department to email me back, but the email came from Burfoot himself (within only a couple of hours)!  I do feel a bit bad as he said he won't be able to deal with my request for a couple of weeks as he is on holiday....I'll let him off that!

Another book that was mentioned on Marathon Talk was back in episode 77 (I'm still going through the back catalogue).  It is a book called "Chasing The Runner's High" by Ray Charbonneau and it was only a couple of quid for a Kindle copy.  I'm only about half way through it, but I'm enjoying it.  It's not about running technique or anything - it's just about a guy who is a runner and it's some of his stories along the way and a lot of it rings true with me.


I've been really struggling with my training paces and Shades from the Runner's World thread that I frequent has helped me out with the paces I should be running, following my half time on the weekend.  In an attempt to make sure I stick to them I'm putting them on a separate page on this Blog for all to see.

Easy  9:30 to 10:00
Long 9:30 to 10:30
Tempo 7:45 to 8:00
Marathon pace 8:21

OK - the Marathon Pace seems a long way off, but I guess it's something to aim for!  The important thing for me from seeing those Easy and Long paces in black and white is....I must start slowing down on those LSRs!

In that respect, I did a slow 8-miler last night (I was supposed to do a recovery run on Monday, but I didn't get to do it).  I'm pleased to say that I averaged a slow and steady 09:43 and the splits were fairly consistent.  It did feel slow, but I think that's the point.  I have an 18-miler planned this weekend, so I'm aiming to do a similar, consistent slow and steady pace on that.  If I can get a LSR in and feel good afterwards, I know that will be a confidence booster.

Summary
 1:17:48.6 8.00 9:43
1 9:51.2 1.00 9:51
2 9:41.8 1.00 9:42
3 9:45.0 1.00 9:45
4 9:40.7 1.00 9:41
5 9:44.4 1.00 9:45
6 9:41.0 1.00 9:41
7 9:39.3 1.00 9:39
8 9:41.9 1.00 9:42

Still so many questions about this running malarkey

Running is simple, right?  It's just putting one foot in front of the other after all.  Then why does it sometimes still seem quite a complex activity, with so many variables?

So, what questions have I still got?  A few are below:
- is my fuelling/hydration correct?  I don't think it is, and I need to work on that especially for a marathon.  Before the Half Marathon I weighed myself and I was 12st10lb (which is a good weight for me, by the way!).  After the event, I stuffed myself with kit kats, creme eggs, orange juice, crisps and water and when I got home I was 12st6lb.  What has caused that weight loss.....fluid loss?  If so, those fluids (including salts) need to be replaced.  How am I going to do that on a marathon?  I don't know yet, but I'll work on it.
- what time can I expect at the marathon in May?  Sub-4:30?  Sub-4:15?  At a push, Sub-4:00?  Why does this matter...surely I should just go out and try my best and see what happens?  I will of course do that on the day, but I'm still tinkering with my training paces (LSR especially, which I know I tend to run too quickly).
- after all the preparations I made in terms of food/fuel, why was I still peckish on the start line?  I think this is because I usually run at 8am and I had eaten as if I was running at 8am.  However, with the race starting at 9am and having to leave at around 8am to get there I had my food at home.  Should I look at what I can eat in the car on the way to an event?  Maybe.

What is interesting is that I think the vast majority of runners (whether they are in the middle of the pack like me, at the sharp end contending for places, or nearer the back on their own personal challenges) all continually think about these types of things.  My wife was spectating on the weekend, and people were calling out to runners asking how they were doing.  Every runner, without exception, was moaning about something.  No runner said they were doing really well and were happy….it was all, "I'm too hot", "I'm too cold", "This course is rubbish", "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty", "My knee is hurting" etc etc.  I know when I'm running I have so much going on my head and I'm arguing with myself about various things.  What a funny bunch we are!

On reflection of my Exeter Half time, I am now happier....a PB is a PB after all!!  In June 2012 I struggled with a 2hr Half, October 2012 I did a 1hr 50 (breaking a 5 year old PB) and on the weekend I did a 1hr 47 so I do know that is a really good improvement.  I wish I had reacted differently on the start line, but I didn't and I can't change that now.  There's always the next event, which for me is just three weeks away.

I do have a bet with myself.  If I do not go out too quickly on my next Half Marathon, I will treat myself to a large mixed grill and a few pints afterwards.  I must not go off too quickly at the next event.  I must stick to my plan, get to half way more or less on target (not under target) and reassess how I am feeling at that point.

The Half that wasn't a Half....

Well, I've been going on about a half I have had planned this weekend in the last few posts.  I was well prepared for it in terms of hydration, rest and food and I felt good, although I was feeling a bit peckish on the start line.  Unfortunately, 5 minutes before the start I was told that due to flooding the course was going to be shortened to only 12 miles!!  This was confirmed on the start line by the person on the tannoy.  I shouldn't have let it, but this affected me right at the start and I went off too quickly.  In hindsight, this was a stupid reaction but at that point I was thinking "Sod it!  It's not going to count as a half PB, so let's see what I can do".  However, from about mile 8 the road markings (and my Garmin) suggested that if anything it was going to be over distance....and it was!  It ended up being 13.22 miles.

Anyway, enough of the excuses.  The first 8-9 miles went well (in terms of how I was feeling), I needed a pit stop in mile 11 and ended up doing the 13.22 miles in 1:47:49...this is averaging 08:09 min/mile and any way I look at it, that's a PB (if not "officially"), so I've got to be happy with that.  For some reason though, I'm not happy....I think that realistically I'm still shy of the sub 8min/mile half pace which is frustrating me!  I even said on here that I expect my time would be more like 1:48, but the confusion at the start put me in a bad mood!

Also, the last 2 miles were slower (by some margin) than the first 2, which I know is not a good thing, although I did pick it up a bit on the finishing straight.

It was a flat course, and the rain did stop at the start of the event.  It was funny, because at mile 4ish people were taking tops off as it was hot, but the temperature dipped and mile 9ish onwards it was very cold.

Because I went off too quickly, I haven't really learnt anything in relation to pacing a half marathon event, or what my training paces should be for the marathon that is in 12 weeks time.

Oh well....I'll take what I can from it.  Onwards and upwards!  I have another Half Marathon at the start of March, so I'll see how that one goes.

Sat AM before the big event

The Exeter Half is 3 laps around a canal.  I was thinking this setup would be of help to me as I'd have a good indication of what the course was (including things like wind conditions) each time around.  Plus I was thinking that after each 1/3 I'd have a good idea of if I was on target (this is less important as I'll have my Garmin anyway).  However, I've read that some people suffer with boredom on these courses and maybe not do as well as they'd hoped.

I guess it's about trying to keep focused on your pace (if looking for a PB, which I am).

In other news, I slipped off the bottom stair in my house last night, and tweaked my shoulder.  I wasn't drunk, honest!  I did some stretching and massage, and it seems 100% fine this morning but I was concerned for a few minutes.  It goes to show that I (being a finely tuned performance machine....), am pretty finally balanced.

Off topic, but I'm hovering over the "Submit" button to buy a couple of tickets for the Premier League Darts which is in Exeter on 28th Feb.  I used to love watching darts as a kid, and caught the opening games on TV this week.... It does get a bit raucaus at these events, and the fact it's sponsored by a crisp company and a money lending company doesn't bode well, but I'm thinking about it!

Another guilty secret of mine is that I love poker.  Not playing, but watching it on TV!  I record all the poker shows on TV.  For me I love the personalities, the fact that over time it is basically a maths game...and obviously winning $10m at the World Series of Poker would be pretty good!  I love the lingo as well....
"He's flopped the nuts" = he's got the best possible hand on the flop.
"Pocket rockets", or "American Airlines" = pocket Aces,
"Cowboys" = pocket Kings,
"The Ladies" = pocket queens,
"The snowmen" = pocket eights,
"Anna Kournikova" = Ace King (I.E., it looks nice, but doesn't play very well), etc etc.

In the same way that a lot of people follow football very closely, my game is poker.  I am going to say it's a sport because it does get televised on the sports channels   My wife thinks I'm absolutely nuts, and looks at me like I'm going mad but still.

Speaking of my wife thinking I'm going mad, after reading Shade's Noddy's guide to marathon preparation I bought some teacakes, microwaved them and had them without any spread yesterday.  I think she nearly dialed 999 for me, but I just blamed Shades!

The big build up - Exeter Half Marathon this weekend

I now have my place in the Exeter Half Marathon after I transferred a number from a fellow Trotter who can no longer do the race.

Since my PB of 1:50:16 back in October I've shed a few pounds and also I feel I'm generally fitter/quicker so I'm hoping for a PB this weekend.  Getting my excuses in early, but the weather forecast doesn't look good currently, as there is the chance of snow and windy conditions according to the met office forecast.  Obviously if I get any PB I'll pleased, but the real test will be if I can sneak under the 1:45 time, which means averaging 8 min/miles for the race.  I expect I'll come in more around the 1:48 time, but we'll see how it goes on the day.

Unlike the race in October (Dartmoor Vale Half Marathon, which is hilly), this is billed as a pancake flat course so if it all comes together on the day I could do well.  It's funny though, because even with good preparation and improvements I think I've made recently, certain things are still out of my control. I.E., weather, how to handle a congested course and a case of runner's trots can all disrupt the best laid plans but this is the same for everyone so I'll just do my best, as always.

Shades from the Runner's World thread as said that she will look at my finish time and help with me my training paces for the marathon in May.  That will be good as it will then help me to properly focus on the correct LSR pace.  I have a strong suspicion that I'm still running them too quickly so if I see a great coach spell my paces out to me I think I will more likely try and stick to them.

Anyway, I've done my last run before the event which was a slow 5-miler with a couple of shorter faster sections, and it felt good!

Club session - 10x400m

I did the 10x400m session at the club tonight, and it was a tough one.  Splits are below (these are done manually by me pressing the lap button on the watch).

Split	Time	Dist	AvPace
1	01:51.5	0.28	06:37
2	01:42.7	0.27	06:26
3	01:36.7	0.26	06:16
4	01:30.6	0.26	05:54
5	01:29.8	0.26	05:50
6	01:29.6	0.26	05:51
7	01:31.3	0.26	05:54
8	01:31.9	0.25	06:02
9	01:34.9	0.26	06:08

    10 01:29:7  0.25     05:55

Avg: 06:05

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about doing 6x1K loops and what a good session it was.  The splits from that were:

Split   Time     Distance     Av Pace

1         4:10.7    0.59           7:04

2         4:11.5    0.61           6:55

3         4:12.4    0.60           6:59

4         4:09.7    0.60           6:54

5         4:10.7    0.59           7:02

6         3:53.4    0.61           6:24

Avg: 06:53

It's funny because when I was doing the session today, I didn't feel like I was going particularly quick (in comparison to the 1K session) but the times show that today four of the average paces went under 6 min/mile, with an average for the session splits being 06:05 min/mile.  I actually came home a bit despondent after the session today as I felt I found it unnecessarily tough, but the times show I was working very hard.  Onwards and upwards!

First run of the week and Febulous starts

I got a 7 mile run at target half marathon pace and it was okay, but not brilliant.  I think I'm not fully back to normal following the weekend's excesses!  It was good to get the first run of the week out of the way though, and I had pleasure in marking my first run of Febulous off!

I averaged 07:57 min/mile, so on track for the sub 1:45 PB on the weekend, all being well!  It's a tough ask for me to knock another 5-mins off of my 1:50 PB and it's not a given at this stage, but I'm in with a shout if everything goes well (weather, food, drink, race tactics, race crowds) etc.  As I'm sitting here writing this, I'll be a bit disappointed if I don't get a 1:4X time....we'll see how I get on.

Shades from the Runner's World thread has posted a "Noddy's guide to marathon preparation", which is really useful.  It talks about what to do in the taper work, things to keep in mind for the Saturday before the event, preparation for the day of the, the race itself and some important post-race things to do.  I've printed it out actually, and I will take it with me to my marathon in May!

So, tomorrow is a rest day where I'll do some more stretching and to try make sure I continue to get some liquids into me.  I am planning a club session on Wednesday, a slow/easy 4-5 miler on Friday and then the race itself on Sunday.

There looks to be some good sessions on the Wednesday night club session, so I'm not sure yet what I'll choose:

• Churchills 3 hills challenge - 45min continuous running, 2 uphill & 1 downhill
• 10 x 400m - Even paced efforts with 90 second recovery
• Lamp Post relays - Run warm up, lamp post reps and run cool down

It's not big and it's not clever!

I had a weekend off running and my wife and I had a weekend away, which was very nice.  We went out for a few drinks, saw a comedy show, had a nice meal out on the evening and a nice breakfast in the morning.

I did enjoy the weekend, but Sunday was more or less a write off due to the alcohol....!  I think I had 8 pints on the Saturday afternoon/evening and although the ales weren't particularly strong it really knocked me about on the Sunday.  It didn't help that we had some "noisy neighbours" at the hotel, so I didn't get a lot of sleep but it was the alcohol that was the main culprit for me feeling rough.

I had about 8 pints in around 9 hours.  In my previous "non-running" life, this wouldn't necessarily have been a huge amount for a 9-hour "session" so I think it shows my body is changing and it obviously didn't like the booze on Saturday.  I had plenty if fluid and got a reasonable night's sleep on Sunday so I'm feeling much better today and raring to go again.

On to this week.....

I am now entered into a half marathon on the 10th February.  It is a flat course, so I'm going to go for a PB.  We'll see how that goes!  Shades (from Runner's World) has said for me to go for the PB, and depending on the time she will help reassess my training paces (especially my LSR pace) to make sure I'm doing okay.

It's month two of Jantastic (Febulous), and after my 100% in January I'm aiming for it again in February so hopefully I'll stay injury free and keep on the plan.

Talking about the Runner's World forums, there are a lot of posts about people's first marathons and a lot of buzz/fears/concerns etc.  The forum has a competition where 6 (I think) forumites get some "personalised" training via the forum for a target-paced marathon.  I'm currently lurking on the sub-4 hour thread as if I get under 4 hours I'll be extremely pleased.  I'm in a bit if a dilemma as I've said all along that I just want to try and enjoy this one, and that is still the main aim!  However, I want to also do my best.  I think really what I mean is that I want to get through 18-20 and not blow up, but ideally run through the finish line with not much left in the tank...the proverbial "sprint finish" would be great.  We'll see!

4 mile (fast) recovery

I got a fast 4-miler recovery in today (following the 16-miler yesterday) and I felt good.

It was probably helped by the fact that I wore a new pair of running shoes.  It's not the most fascination picture, but the shoe on the right is an old one and the one on the left is a new one.  They are the same model, but different a colour different.  According to my Garmin Connect site I've done round 700 miles in my old ones.

It seems there is a relatively even wear on it, although the top left of the picture (that is the inside of my left heal) wears quite a lot more than the right.  I'm not really sure if this is "normal" or not, but I do know the shoe has quite a lot of support in that area.  I have a race next Sunday so I may wear my old pair for that, but then move permanently over to the new pair.  We'll see.

I did buy 3 more pairs of the shoes I wear (they are Asics GT-2170) as I do get on with them well.   Sportsshoes.com had a sale on, so I got 3 more pairs, and got 10% and free delivery via Quidco.  I do now have 6 pairs (7 with the my old 700-mile pair!).

With the 4 miles today (fourth run of the week) that is Jantastic completed at 100% :-)  February gets a harder challenge where you have to say what your longest run each will be, as well as how may runs a week will be done.  I'm up for it though!

16 mile long run after work

I got a long run in after work last night.  The run was okay, but I was very tired after it and was dreading the run all day at work.  However, I have had to rearrange the training days this week so unfortunately I had no choice this week.  I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to run at around 09:30 min/mile (ideally slower) and I'm pleased that I did it.

I averaged 09:31, and the splits are below.

1    9:32

2    9:32

3    9:28

4    9:34

5    9:29

6    9:33

7    9:41

8    9:30

9    9:27

10  9:19

11  9:47

12  9:48

13  9:33

14  9:26

15  9:34

16  9:43

I did struggle on miles 10-12 which was on a slight incline, and I was very tired after the session but I'm glad I went out.  Part of the tiredness I think was due to the fact that I was at work all day, so hopefully I'll be able to build the miles up slowly over the next few weeks.  Due to the decreased pace on some of the inclines, I wonder if I need to start doing some hill sessions?

Having said that though, February is a bit of a strange month and my plan doesn't show much of an increase in the longer-run mileage due to a couple of planned events.  The plan is:

w/c: 4th Feb.      13.1 mile (Exeter Half event where I'm hoping for a PB).

w/c: 11th Feb.    18 mile

w/c: 18th Feb.    15 mile long

w/c:  25th Feb.   13.1 mile (Bideford Half event).