Club session, LSR, results analysis and some rambling before the BH weekend!

It's nearly the bank holiday weekend, so I'm planning on relaxing a bit and enjoying some time off work which will be really nice.

I have quite a bit to talk about today!

Wednesday club session
I got a tough club session in yesterday evening.  It was 5x1m intervals with 2mins recovery.  I haven't done this session before, and my legs were aching afterwards but I'm glad I went.  It wasn't a "perfect" session in that I slowed a bit at the end, but I'm pleased as all the splits were a fair bit under 7min/mile.

1 06:49

2 06:43

3 06:40

4 06:54

5 06:51

This week's LSR
Following the above club session, I'm in two minds about when to do this week's LSR.  I have a 20-miler to do and I could a) try and to it after work or b) do it tomorrow AM?

If I do get time to do it after work, it will be on tired legs from the session last night.  I think it's probably a good thing to try and run an LSR once in a while on tired legs, so I may give it a go and see how I get on.  Also, if I get it out of the way this evening it will mean that I can enjoy the beer festival more tomorrow!

Exeter "wrap up and run" 10K
The results are out for the 10K I did on the weekend, and I'm pleased with the results.  Out of 550 finishers I finished 87th, which I think is my best relative position.  However, although there were lots of quick runners, there were also quite a few fun/charity run/walkers so that has to be kept in mind.  Even so, I'm pleased.

Also, for my age category (M35) I finished 13th out of 36 which I am sure is the best age category position I have finished in.  Onwards and upwards!

Runner's World Sports Psychology web chat 
Every so often, Runner's World have an expert on a particular subject where forumites can ask question sand the expert answers them in the form of a web chat.  This week, there was a sports psychologist and I posed a question about what to do to help avoid nerves on the start line of an important question.

My post/question:

I also suffer with nerves alot before a race that I want to do well in (i.e, if it's an event I've been training hard for and my goal is a PB).  However, the other day I did a 10K and got a PB and wasn't nervous at all on the start line.  I think this was because it wasn't a main goal for me, but I was still expecting I would do well.  However, if it hadn't gone well I know I would have genuinely brushed it off and moved onto the next race.  I do have a routine at the start of each race (which I also practice on my LSRs) around food, loo, stretching etc but even this doesn't help on the start line of an important event.

I know the obvious answer is to try relax at the start of my important races, but I find that easier said than done.  Therefore if you any tips on this it would be appreciated.

A couple of other people asked similar questions and there were some useful tips, including:

• Expect anxiety if you have had this before in similar events.   
• Imagine how you will preform, how you will manage the day, how you will execute your strategy. 
• Recall all your good training. You're ready, aren't you!   
• Food wise, eat what you'd normally eat, try not to over do it, or eat anything that a nervous stomach will not like.  Go easy on fibre - as your stress hormones reduce your ability to digest and increase the need to evacuate (bowel movements).   
• Nerves are normal, they prepare you to fight or take flight.  The marathon is a long 'flight'.
• Tell yourself beforehand that you are going to do your best, stuff may happen, and if it does you will do your best at the time to handle it. 
• However things go, you will be proud of yourself, live to fight another day and seek other goals. This is one, but not the only goal for you in running, activity and life!  Go for it.

Exeter "wrap up and run" 10K

I'm pleased to say I did really well in the 10K today and my results are here.

With a 43:40 chip time, it's quicker that I've ever ran a 10K (by 6 minutes!) but it was down hill for the first 2K.  I reckon this is more like a 45 or 46min time and based on that it would still be a 3 or 4 minute PB so I'm really pleased overall.

Today was a bit odd, and another "lesson learned" for me.  I've written before that I usually get extremely nervous before a race, but I think I should qualify that in that I get really nervous before a race that I really want to do well in.  I've had this race on my calendar for a couple of months, but it wasn't an 'A-race' for me.  As such, I felt much more relaxed than usual on the start line, although I still went through all my usual preparations before a race (getting up a couple of hours early for food, stretching etc).  For this race, I had decided to go out quick and see if I could hold on knowing that if I blew up it wouldn't be the end of the world for me; really I was treating it as a training run, but I admit I was quietly confident.  If only I could take that confidence and not being nervous into other events, but I suppose that comes with experience.

That's the last race before North Dorset Village marathon, so I now have to get stuck into the training over the next few weeks with the priority on getting those LSRs completed at a slow pace.

A nice run yesterday and a 10K tomorrow

I got a nice mixed paced 5-miler in after work yesterday.  It's the first time in a while that I have run with music, but for some reason I just fancied it  yesterday.  Rudimental's "Not Giving In" was on my iPod and it was great to run to.

I googled the song afterwards, and it is a cracking video as well.  It's basically about two young Pilipino   brothers who are very close, but at one critical point in their lives they choose a different way of life leading to one of the brothers ending up shot.  The lyrics are pretty simple, but it put a spring in my step on my run.

This time, I'm gonna be stronger I'm not giving in,

This time, I'm gonna be stronger, no, I'm not giving in.

I have the Exeter "Wrap up and run" 10K tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a PB at this distance.  However, I'm getting my excuses in early as I got an email from the organisers saying "Please be aware that the route is going to be very wet and muddy, so make sure you dress accordingly".  It looks like it could be a bit of a mud-fest!

Back in the groove?

After writing yesterday that I hadn't had the best of weeks, and that I was thinking that this would be the first week that I wouldn't get 100% in Jantastic I pulled out a great run after work today.  I did 15 miles (which was my Jantastic mileage goal for this week) in 9min/mile with the final two miles being 08:14 and 08:21so it is a real confidence booster following the Sunday run which didn't go so well.

I know this is not an advisable pace for an LSR (it's at my target marathon pace) but I was feeling good so decided to go for it, and I think it was the boost I needed after feeling at a bit of a low for the last few days.  It's also still a few weeks away until the marathon so I still have plenty of time to do LSRs at the correct training pace. I've got a 20, 15, 22 and a 14-miler planned and then a 20 week taper before the marathon date.

Interestingly, I have actually put on some weight over the last few weeks which is annoying!  I was 12st10 a few weeks ago whereas this week I was 13st1 so it is a fairly sizeable increase in weight, even though I have been increasing the mileage in that time frame.  I have been eating a bit more these last few weeks as I have been more hungry but I need to keep an eye on this and try and get the weight back down under 13st if I can.

Exeter "wrap up and run" 10K

My race number arrived today for Sunday's "Wrap Up and Run" 10K, which is in support of Age UK.  It's a fast course, so I'm looking for a PB at this event with my current PB standing at 49:39.  If I can get close to 45:00 I'll be pleased so we'll see how it goes.

As has become usual for me, I've been looking at the course profile and it is a fast course.  Below are three profiles from last year's event:

 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161444182

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161318360 












http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161295616

As can be seen, it is a fast course with no major hills so it'll be interesting to see how I get on.  The majority of it seems to be on the same route as the Exeter Half Marathon I did a few weeks ago, although the start is in a different place in the city centre.

I haven't had the best of weeks so far and I've only done one 4-mile run so far.  I did a 20-miler on Sunday and it knocked me about a bit so I've been taken it a bit easy so far.  I was supposed to be doing a 15-miler today but I had a bad stomach ache so decided not to run today.  I'm hoping to do 15 tomorrow, an easy 4/5 on Friday or Saturday and then the 10K on the Sunday however the weather doesn't look great.  There is a chance I will miss my 100% Jantastic score this month which is a shame. My current status is:

A 5x1K with 2mins recovery Club session last night

I mentioned back in January (7 weeks ago) that I had a really good session with the Club.  That was a 6x1K session with 200m jog recovery.  I had a similar session yesterday with the Club, but it was a 5x1K with 2-mins jog recovery so although not identical they are similar.

I remember thinking 7-weeks ago that it was a strong session and that I was improving, but the session yesterday was even better which shows that I am still improving which is really encouraging.

There are some discrepancies as the route we run on is not a measured course, and in fact yesterday's was approximately 100m longer than the course we ran 7-weeks ago.  However, both sessions were on the same basic loop (which is running around a flat industrial estate).

The splits from the efforts on yesterday's session are below, with the "Distance" in miles and the "Av Pace" in min/miles:

Split    Time     Distance      Av Pace

1          4:14.4   0.65             6:33

2          4:15.7   0.65             6:31

3          4:08.7   0.65             6:22

4          4:09.6   0.66             6:20

5          4:03.5   0.64             6:18

Average pace: 06:24

The splits from the session 7-weeks ago 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

Average pace: 06:53

Like I say, it's not a direct comparison because the sessions weren't the same, but it's interesting non-the-less.  For the efforts, my average pace has improved by 29secs/mile in those 7 weeks, which is really encouraging.  My quickest pace 7-weeks ago was the last one (06:24) and I know I was very tired after that split (our club record holder was dragging me a long).  However, that same time was my average yesterday!

Also, it's good to see that my paces were increasing through the session and I was able to put a bit of a spurt on the last one, although I again had nothing left at the end.  So, all in all, another good session and I'm pleased.

An extra run today

I got an extra run in today, which makes it the fifth run this week and the sixth in 8 days.  Also, the extra session takes me to over 41 miles this week and (with the Half Marathon from last week) it takes me to over 54 in 8 days.  I am wary of pushing it and getting injured, but I feel fine so I was happy to get the extra run in tomorrow knowing that it may end up being a rest day tomorrow.

I am due to do a 9-miler tomorrow but according to the weather forecast it's going to feel like -5 with gale force winds which I don't really fancy!  Today wasn't ideal conditions as it was quite cold and rainy but it was a good session.  There is a new cycle path that has opened near me so I ran along that and got 7.33 miles in.  I did get a bit lost getting back onto the main road so that slowed me down but I averaged 8:02 min/mile so I was really pleased with that.

Getting my long run in on the Friday this week maybe a good strategy in the future, but it is dependent on what time I manage to finish work on a Friday.  I have a few thoughts on this:

1. It gets the run out of the way early in the weekend!
2. I am obviously tired after a long run, but there is the potential of getting sleep soon after the long run, whereas that isn't possible if I do it early on a Saturday or a Sunday.  Anything over 18-ish does make me feel tired and can have a negative impact on the rest of the day if I do the LSR on a weekend morning.
3. Doing the LSR on the Friday this week has enabled me to get a 5th run in this week.  Although I may not be able to do that every week (not wanting to risk injury, being too tired, not enough time etc) I do know that a 5-day a week training schedule can be more beneficial.
4. Getting the long run in on a Friday does mean that I won't go out with the running club on their weekend LSRs.  Having said that, it has been a good few weeks since I've been with them on an LSR anyway; I think the last time I went out for an LSR with the club was on the Xmas social run on 28th December.  This is a shame actually, as I do enjoy the runs with the club.  However, I am finding that I am more able to control the pace I want to run at when I run by myself.
5. Doing the LSR on a Friday does mean that I don't practice my morning fuel routine.

North Dorset Village Marathon preparation

It's a long way off (9 weeks training remaining), but I thought I'd have a quick look on Garmin Connect of some profiles.  When I did the same for Exeter, there was some discrepancies between people's profiles so I want to check out a few and think of some kind of average.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175721311  (733ft elevation gain)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175703353  (899ft elevation gain)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188262724  (659ft elevation gain)

There doesn't seem to be much discrepancy this time, but I think I'll keep the first one in mind as it seems quite a smooth profile and is roughly in the middle of the three elevation gains.  

This is an important month for my training

This is a very important month for my marathon training, so I hope it goes well.  Time will tell.

I got a 4-mile recovery run in yesterday and felt fine, if a little achey.  This morning I'm fine and think I could got for a long run if I wanted to.  That's good as it means I have recovered pretty well from the weekend's efforts.

(**If you're slightly squeamish, please don't read the next bit).
I think I may lose a toenail though.  I did lose the same nail that is causing issues after London 2010 and it is a bit sore today as well.  I've been advised to Lock Lacing, which will help the laces stay tight and help avoid movement in the shoe.

(**You can carry on reading now...).
A I mentioned, this is an important month for me with a couple of  20 milers in the plan.  I may actually up one of those to 22 if I feel I can.

The rough plan is:
w/c 4th March
5 mile easy
Club speed/hill training
8 mile easy
16 mile LSR
Total:  about 34

w/c 11th March
9 mile easy
Club speed/hill training
6 mile easy
20 mile LSR
Total: about 40

w/c 18th March
5 mile easy
15 mile mid-week long run
8 mile tempo
10K race
Total: about 34

w/c 25th March
10 mile easy
Club speed/hill training
5 mile tempo
20-22 LSR
Total: about 40-42

If I do that lot, it'll be around 163 miles (including the half I did on the 3rd), which I think will be a record.  In a way, the 10K race has come at the wrong time for me as that week's mileage is down a bit on what it should be, but I think it should work out okay.

I'm still on 100% for Jantastic, which I'm pleased with.  The March challenge is to specify how many runs a week I'll do (I've said 4 again) and  say what the longest runs each week will be (I've planned the above and input that into the Marathon Talk website).  The extra challenge for March is to say what I'll do a set distance in.  For that, I'm using the 10K race and I've said 46:30, so we'll see how that goes!

The morning after the night before...

Well, it's the day after my PB and I'm still really pleased.  I'm trying not to overanalyse it too much, as I went faster than I thought was possible for me on the day.  However, after my Exeter Half 3 weeks ago I posted a few questions and frustrations I had, and I'm going to update a bit on that below on a few items that I think helped me get my PB.

Fuelling.  In Exeter, I ended up feeling a bit hungry on the start line which can't really be a good thing.  In the run up to Bideford, I had two lots of pasta on the Saturday as well as teacakes and plenty of water throughout the day.  On the morning of the run, I had my usual shredded wheat plus I added a couple of pieces of toast.  During the run itself, although I didn't particularly feel that I needed them I forced myself to eat 2 or 3 of the Jaffa Cakes I was carrying with me.

Water.  I had plenty of water in the days leading up to the event and also around 1.5 litres on the morning of the event (plus coffee).  This all obviously had the effect of me needing to go to the loo a few times before the start but I didn't feel thirsty on the run itself.  In fact, I probably only had about half of the drink I took with me.  It was quite a cold day though and I did take a couple of sips from the water that was provided on the course which was very refreshing and cold.

Understanding of the course:  I think spending time understanding the course profile by looking on Garmin Connect as well.  I had some key bits in my mind and even though it wasn't a hilly course, knowing where the major inclines were helped even if it was only a rough estimate.

Resting and B&B.  It was a bit of an extravagance as I know that many of my Club mates travelled up to Bideford on the morning of the event but I think travelling up on the previous afternoon and staying in a B&B less than 2-minutes walk from the start line helped with my nerves a bit,  It also meant I could go about my business on the morning without worrying about getting to the start line.

Negative split.  This is obviously the main thing to take away from this event, and it is something that I promised myself I would attempt after Exeter went so wrong.  I remember purposefully slowing myself down when I saw a few people I know run away from me in the early miles and I purposefully stuck rigidly to my plan.  This is clearly shown in the splits from yesterday, and is something I am definitely going to do again.  This is the massive "lesson learned" from this race.

Regarding the negative split, I am still not really sure that size of a split is totally the best thing.  Could it be that I was slightly too conservative in the first half?  I really don't know, but finishing strongly is a much better way to feel than blowing up at mile 10 which I have done many times.

Also, I'm not really sure how it translates into a smaller event (i.e., a 10K for which I have at the end of March) where I feel I could (and probably should?) go out quick and try to hold on.  For my full Marathon in May I am specifically training for a fairly comfortable 9 min/mile pace but the same "negative split" rules still apply, except I think they are even more important in the marathon.  For example, getting to half way and pushing on probably isn't really advisable; if (and it's a big if) I'm feeling okay at mile 20 or 22 maybe I could look to step it up a bit then if I feel able to.

When I look back over the last few months, I know I have made some big improvements to my training and also (more importantly??) my alcohol intake.  In June 2012 I struggled to a 2hr+ Half Marathon at the Torbay Half, on a route I know very well.  I joined the Trotters in September and then in October 2012, February 2013 and March 2013 I got successive PBs culminating in yesterday's 1:42:02 time.  So, since June I have knocked 18 minutes off which is nearly 1:30 min/mile!  As I mentioned yesterday, my focus is now directly turning to the LSR miles for my marathon at the start of May (apart from a 10K I have at the end of March, which is not a priority), but I confess I have half an eye on seeing if I can sneak under 1:40 at the Torbay Half in June.  That's a long way off yet though.

Bideford Half Marathon, and a PB!

I ran the Bideford Half Marathon today and I'm pleased to say that I got a PB, so I am absolutely delighted.  Unlike the Exeter Half that I did 3 weeks ago (which overall I was disappointed with), this one couldn't have gone better.

My wife and I decided to make a weekend of the event, so we booked a B&B in Bideford, which was literally less than 2-minutes from the start line.  I'm not trying to put Bideford down as it looks a lovely place, but after a quick wander around the town it became apparent I wasn't going to get a decent evening meal so we jumped in the car and drove to the nearby Barnstaple where I knew they had a Prezzo restaurant and I continued my carb loading there.

On the morning of the race, we had breakfast (shredded wheat, coffee and toast) and as the owner of the B&B was also running the event we had quite a long chat about the funny little ways each of us has when it comes to running.  Unfortunately, I saw the owner at about mile 9 and he was limping in the wrong direction.  I later found out that he had hurt his knee so had to pull out.

I was incredibly nervous in the morning, but got to the start line in good shape and I was feeling fairly confident.  The disappointment I had in Exeter was still clear in my mind and I had a strategy which was to really try and negative-split the race to see if I could sneak under the 1:45 target.  I wrote after the Exeter Half the following:

 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. 

I'm really pleased to say that I stuck really well to this plan.  I knew I had to average under 8 min/mile to get under 1:45 and I wanted to run the second half faster the first half.  I purposefully held back a bit in the first half of the event and I got through mile 7 in 57min 03sec.  I found that I was feeling really good so from there I purposefully tried to step it up and I did it quite comfortably.  From mile 7, no other runner overtook me and I must have overtaken between 50 and 100 people myself.  At mile 9 I was on target for 1:45 and I'm delighted to say that I managed 1:42:02, so which ever way I look at that it's a strong PB....5mins+ quicker that my last effort at Exeter (which was also a PB).

The splits are below:

Split	Time	Cumulative Time
1	08:25.0	00:08:25.0
2	08:04.8	00:16:29.8
3	08:20.1	00:24:49.9
4	07:57.2	00:32:47.1
5	08:06.5	00:40:53.6
6	08:07.2	00:49:00.8
7	08:02.6	00:57:03.4
8	07:27.5	01:04:30.9
9	07:24.0	01:11:54.9
10	07:21.8	01:19:16.7
11	07:18.7	01:26:35.4
12	07:26.1	01:34:01.5
13	07:18.1	01:41:19.6
14	00:45.0	01:42:04.6
Summary	01:42:04.5

Looking at them is really interesting.  You can see that for the first 7 miles all but one of the miles was over 8 min/mile, and from then onwards I didn't go above 07:30.  This is a huge negative split, where I ran the second half of the race a full 4 minutes quicker that the first half.  I'm not actually sure if this is the best way to do it, but I do know for sure that I feel a lot better finishing strong as opposed to what happened in Exeter.

So, all in a great race.  There are no more halfs for me until June, so now the attention firmly turns to building up the LSRs for the marathon in May.