Torbay Half Marathon completed in 1:43:36

I'm really pleased to say that I completed the Torbay Half Marathon yesterday in a course record time of 1:43:36.  I'm happy with this time as it is a strong course record for me with my previous best on this course being 1:55:16 from 2007.  Also, last year I struggled around in 2:00:16 so this is nearly 17 minutes quicker (i.e., about 1min 20seconds per mile, which is quite a big improvement).

It was a great race for many reasons:

• As well as me running the event, my wife, sister-in-law and my father-in-law were all running the race and we all finished the event being really happy with our respective times.
• It was the first relatively large event that I ran where a large number of club mates were also participating.  About 40 Teignbridge Trotters did the event and there were lots of other Trotters out on the course cheering everyone on, which was great and really added to the atmosphere.
• Prior to the race I had arranged to meet up with an old school friend and his brother.  I hadn't seen the school mate for probably nearly 20 years, although I do see his brother occasionally when I'm out running.  It was great to meet up for a couple of beers after the race with them and hopefully we'll do it again soon.

I'm skirting around the subject, but as I mentioned in a previous post I wanted to do well in this event and I wanted to beat my sister-in-law.  We had a bet on which said the loser would buy a round of drinks after the race and  I'm pleased to say that I managed to beat her (it could be said that I annihilated her...) quite comfortably with my 1:43:36 against her 1:48:19.  This is the first time I've managed to beat her and it's good that her time of 1:48 would previously comfortably have been good enough, so it does show that my training is paying off.  She did really well too though, and she's already challenged me for a rematch on this course next year.

In terms of the preparation for the event, I think I learned a few things from it.  I have tracked my calorie intake in the run up to the event on MFP and although it was (obviously) way over for the days prior to the event I felt more prepared for an event than ever before.  Basically, if I was hungry I ate more or less what I wanted, with the focus on carbs.  For example, on Saturday afternoon I found myself feeling peckish and even though it was only a couple of hours until our evening meal I bought a large cheese baguette.  I think this mentality and approach really helped.

Also, the event itself went well.  The splits for the event were 8:20, 8:05, 7:53, 7:43, 7:48, 8:01, 7:37, 7:49, 7:48, 7:39, 7:43, 8:28, 7:39.  It was a slow first mile as it always tends to be at these relatively big events (1500+ finishers) but this suits me really as it forces me to start off steadily.  The 8:28 for the 12th mile is due to a hill so although it may look like I was drastically tiring there, the hill is the reason.  Looking at the Garmin I negative split by about 20 seconds so I'm pleased with that too!

Weather conditions were more or less perfect I'd say as it was cool with a bit of drizzle in the air for some of it.  For about 2 miles (2 lots of 1 mile from Torquay back towards Paignton) there was a bit of a headwind but it was manageable.

It's unfortunate that it's not a PB (1:42:02 at Bideford from March is my PB) but I'm still really pleased as I think Torbay is a tougher course.  Yesterday was the end of the the first week of my Autumn marathon training plan, so I'm starting in good shape for that I hope.

So, all in all, a great event...made even better by me getting a couple of cheeky beers in at my SiL's expense!

2nd parkrun (and the small matter of registering for my second marathon this year).

This morning I got my second parkrun in as many weeks competed, and I'm pleased to say I trimmed nearly a minute off the time from last week on the same Killerton course.  The time this week was 22:05.  Looking at the results for the event (I'm told I mustn't call the parkruns  races....) I noticed that there were 14 SM 35-39 (my age category) and I finished in 5th place so I'm quite pleased with that really.  Overall I was 36/174.

The fact that I had completed the course last week really helped.  I purposefully stood closer to the start line so I didn't get held up as much as last week in the first few hundred metres.  Also, knowing the profile of the course help and I ran quite a good race I think, although I did tire in from about 2.5 miles.  I don't think I could have gone any quicker today, so I'm pleased with this as a realistic time and it gives me something to aim for now.  It was also great as my wife came along for her first parkrun and came second out of six in her age category, in a time of 25:25.

Oh, and I've entered my second marathon of the year.  I entered yesterday evening and I'm in for the Dartmoor Vale Marathon in October.  The course is very local to me, so although it is a tough course and a potentially demoralising race as it's a two-lap course, I decided to give it a go.  I need to get some hill training in though; the below is a the profile of the half marathon from when I did the race last year.  The full marathon is more or less two lots of this route, apart from the last mile or so which splits off towards the finish.  The section where it rises from 200ft to about 480ft in about mile is particularly tough.

Autumn marathon?

I did a 13 mile LSR last night; it was supposed to be 14 miles, but I somehow miscalculated the route and only noticed when I got home!  Anyway, it ended up being 11 miles at 10min/mile pace and then for the last two I purposefully stepped it up and did them in 7:40 and 7:31, which I was really pleased with.  I was tired at the end, but felt good.


Part of my LSR yesterday included a loop of the Torbay route.  Before I joined Teignbridge Trotters the vast majority of my training was on that route.  I used to park at a leisure centre as I was a gym member (I've since ditched the membership) and run from there.  I think a relatively large number of Teignbridge Trotters are invading Torbay again for the Half.  Last time I checked I think there were 30-odd Trotters entered so it should be a good event.

I'm planning a slow 6-8 tonight after work, and then hoping to get to a parkrun tomorrow for the second time in two weeks (my first ever parkrun was last week).

I've found myself looking at other marathons.  I was very tempted with Florence marathon in November as I know a couple of people who are doing it.  It looks a great place, but I can't really justify the time off work for it and flying out Friday and back Monday would mean two days off work, and being a teacher my wife couldn't come either.  So looking at UK ones I looked at Bournemouth but at 50 quid, that's a rip off so I'm definitely not doing that!  Isle of Wight looks interesting, but I hear they sometimes get traffic issues getting over and back.  Therefore, top contenders at the moment are New Forest in September or Dartmoor Vale in October.  I fancy the New Forest one as it gets good reviews, but timing/training wise it may be a few weeks too early.  Dartmoor Vale is local to me so logistically is much easier, but there's a massive hill on the course.  I have done the Dartmoor Vale Half a couple of times which means for the marathon course I'd have to do the hill twice, so not sure on that.  On the halfs I've done I remember thinking "Hmmm, I couldn't face doing this course twice!".

I've got plenty of time to book something, but it's strange I find myself looking at another one now.  After my marathon in May I had told myself I wouldn't look to do another one until next year but I find myself researching ones for this year anyway...

A couple of interesting sessions

I was really pleased with the session I did yesterday.  It's an 8-mile route where I do 2 miles warmup, 5 miles at quicker than half marathon race pace and then 1 mile warm down.  It was a lot cooler yesterday than it was on the weekend and for the 5-mile block I managed 7:28, 7:26, 7:18, 7:15, 7:24 which is an average of 7:22.  One week earlier, on more or less the same course when it was hotter I only managed 7:50, 7:39, 7:40, 7:36, 7:45 which is an average of 7:42.  I'm really pleased with that and I now have a bit more confidence going into the Torbay Half, as long as it remains cool.

On the Shades thread on Runner's World there is currently a lot of talk about Base Training (BT).  There are various methods of doing BT but the simplest seems to be the Maffetone method of building a good aerobic base, based on a heart rate that is the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF).  Someone on the thread has seen some great results from this.  When he started, he could run at 12 min/mile at his MAF of 142bpm.  After sometime, at the same 142bpm he was running 8:30 min/miles, so it means that he was going a lot quicker for the same level of exertion.

From the Maffetone site:

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments: 

1. Subtract your age from 180. 

2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile: 

a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.  

b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5. 

c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same. 

d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

So, for me I'm 37.  I don't have any injury and I more less fall into section 2)c).  Therefore, 180-37 gives me a MAF of 143, meaning my MAF zone for base training is between 133 and 143 BMP.   This means that all training should be done between these zones (without exception), which equates to quite a low heart rate for most people which can be off-putting as the pace is slow.

There is more about this here and a good blog post from an ultra runner here.

Anyway, I had an easy 5-miler planned today and I thought I'd give it a go to see what pace I'd be running at if I did try BT.  I'm afraid I didn't manage to stay in the 133-143 range for the whole run but I was relatively pleased.  A screenshot of my HR together with the route elevation is:

You can see I started off too quickly but got into the routine okay.  The average for the run was 143, so I was relatively pleased.

I'm not committing to doing this yet as it means lots of slow miles for a period of several weeks but it's interesting doing a quick test to see what it's all about.   To be honest, I'm not sure if I have the patience for it but I'll definitely be keeping it mind.

First 5K parkrun, plus MFP.

I'm pleased to say I did my first parkrun yesterday, and it was really good.  I've heard lots of good things about it through my club, and also they are very popular on Marathon Talk, so I thought I'd give one a go.  My nearest one is the Killerton parkrun near Exeter.

For those who don't know, there are various parkruns that are run every Saturday in locations all of the UK (and the world, in fact).  It's a free, timed event and it's really well organised.  Basically, as a runner you register on the parkrun website and you get allocated a bar code.  This bar code is personal to you and to get your results display on the parkrun website against your name, all you have to do make sure you take this bar code with you each time you run any parkrun.  Many people print out and laminate their codes, so I did the same.  At the end of the event, you also get given a timing token.  This timing token, together with your barcode, is what the organisers use to display your results.  After the first time registration you can just turn up to any parkrun that is being ran across the country on any weekend.  Even if you don't have your barcode, you can still run but your name will not be present in the event results - against your position there will be a name of "unknown", with no time present.

Anyway, back to my parkrun.  Killerton itself is a National Trust site so has all the facilities available with ample free parking, toilets and a cafe for after the run.  The Killerton course itself is mixed terrain with some inclines, but it's a nice pleasant course.  I got around in 23:01 (parkrun send a text an email with your results) which I was pleased with, especially as I had completed a 16-mile LSR the night before.  It's something to aim for anyway, as I'm sure I can knock a few seconds off of that based on my 43:40 10K PB.

I will definitely be doing the event again.  It's just a shame it's 25 miles from my house as it's a bit of a drive to get to for just a 5K.  If there was one nearer I would definitely look to do them more regularly.

The other reason I snuck this session into the week's plan is because it meant that this week I have completed 5 training sessions, which (apart from the December running streak, which doesn't really count) is only the second time I've done that.  I ran nearly 39 miles (38.91) this week which is the biggest weekly mileage since training for my marathon.

I mentioned the 16-mile LSR I did on the Friday.  I did this after work, and it was very hot.  I purposefully kept this at my LSR pace (10 - 10.5 min/mile) but intended to try and run a couple of miles towards the end at my half marathon target pace (8 min/mile) but I struggled, partly due to the heat.  This isn't a good sign for Torbay Half in a couple of weeks, but I'll give it my best shot on the day.

I've also been using MFP for the whole week, and I've been honest with what I've consumed and exercised.  I need to average 1800 calories per day to lose 1 pound a week.  I've decided to take an average of the calories over the week (MFP provides facilities to track calories over a week), as this helps average out any days where more food is needed (i.e., on an LSR).  I think for this week I am just about going to be under the target across the whole week, even taking into account that I went to a beer festival yesterday, which isn't the best way to keep a track of calories and eat healthily!  Still, I enjoyed the festival and didn't eat or drink a huge amount and even with the beer festival I'm going to be close to the required calories over the course of a week.  I'm going to keep MFP going and see how I get on over the next few weeks.

MyFitnessPal and running

I had a great holiday and I am pleased to say that I came back from holiday only 2 pounds heavier than when I left, which is a first!  Also, I've been getting some runs in and I'm feeling pretty good.

In the build up to the marathon training, from a weight point of view I briefly went down to 12st10 but settled at around 13st in the training and that is the weight I ran the marathon in.

So, turning on to the next challenges with my running, I think I need to see if I can drop a bit more weight.  I'm pleased with my weight for everyday things but think I could drop some more to help with my running.  I've read that for every extra pound of fat you carrying you can shave 1min 35secs off a marathon time, which is quite significant.  Plus there are other benefits in terms of less stress on joints etc.

I have therefore started using MyFitnessPal (MFP).  I have had an account for a long time, but I never really got into it.  However, I can see why lots of people use it, including a couple of people from the running club.  Personally, I won't really use the "social" side of the app/site because it's more aimed at people who are overweight whereas I know I'm not overweight for normal activities.


In terms of a weight target, I'm looking at 12st7, but that is going to be difficult to get to.  I think getting from 14st to 13st will prove to have been easier than getting from 13st to 12st7!  Also, I am in the "healthy" BMI range, but I'm in the top third of that range.  The thing with BMI is that is a very wide range.  For me it is a range of 10.5stone to just over 14stone!  I know that 10.5 stone is way too light for me but 12st7 is in the middle which is partly why I've chosen that figure.  Being realistic though, I will be happy to get back to 12st10 and then reassess from there.

Today is the third day of using the app and site and it is good:
- it allows you to scan barcodes in and tell it the portion size for a meal.  I haven't yet found a barcode that it hasn't found the item for.
- for popular/regular meals you can group items together and name them.  This helps to easily/simply add a meal with one or two clicks rather than adding each ingredient/part of the meal individually.  So, if you regularly have, say, shredded wheat, milk and sultanas for breakfast you can set this up as a meal and easily add it each day.
- it has a mechanism of storing calories burned through exercise, which in practice means that you can safely eat more to offset the exercise.

For me, I started this at 13st2.  With a target weight of 12st 7 and a target weight loss of 1lb per week it says I should consume no more than 1810 calories per day.  This isn't very many, but is manageable, certainly with regular exercise.

For example, here are the stats from yesterday:
- Breakfast.  319 calories.
- Lunch.  584 calories
- Dinner.  803 calories
- Snacks.  570 calories

This is a total of 2276 calories through food.  However, I did a slow 5-miler yesterday and burnt 708 through exercise taking me to 1568 net calories consumed which is below my 1810 target.

I'll see how I get on with it over the next few days, but I think the good thing with it is that it makes you stop and think before consuming things absent-mindedly.  For example, I usually have a pint of milk with my breakfast, which isn't really needed.  "Only" having a half of pint of saves nearly 140 calories but makes no difference to me feeling hungry etc.

A great holiday!

My wife and I got back from a great holiday yesterday, where we packed a fair bit in but also got some time to relax and forget about work for a few days.  We went to a comedy show on the Friday (Jack Dee), a wedding reception on the Saturday evening and went so see Muse in London on the Sunday.  On the Monday we went to York for three nights, before travelling to Birmingham for one night and then travelled home yesterday.


For the first time ever whilst away on holiday I did some running!  I got a 6-miler in on a loop around the River Ouze in York and then a 6-miler along some canal paths in Birmingham in the morning.  So not massive mileage, but I feel I've kept things ticking over which is nice.  I'm pleased to say that although I enjoyed my holiday and ate/drank what I wanted to I only put a couple of pounds on.

The run along the canal in Birmingham was particularly good.  It's great having all those waterways within a stone's throw of the city centre.  York is very nice too....so much so that I'm considering the York Marathon next year, if I can get a place.  It sold out very quicly this year.

If you do ever find yourself in York, I can highly recommend a place called Betty's Tearooms.  It was my wedding anniversary whilst in York and we went to Betty's for an Afternoon Tea (we splashed out on champagne as well), and it was fantastic!  http://www.bettys.co.uk/bettys_york.aspx  I must admit I hadn't heard of Betty's before, but I do believe it is quite famous.  They were certainly doing a roaring trade with a queue out the door for most of the days we were there and the quality of the food and service etc was second-to-none.  As well as that, I sampled a good few York ales at various pubs around the city and there are some great places to eat and drink, as well as lots of stuff to do whilst there.

Also, this morning I marshalled at my first ever event.  My running club (Teignbridge Trotters) hold several races a year and this morning was the club's flagship event.  It's known as the Dartmoor Discovery and is a 32-mile event around the roads of Dartmoor.  The event itself is quite tough, with a few big hills to content with.

Having never marshalled before I was a bit nervous and my station was in the town of Ashburton.  Ashburton isn't what you'd call a busy town, but my station was on a road junction with a car park so I was pretty active ensuring cars stopped to let the runners through.  It all went off with no issues, and the organisers provided all marshals with a packed lunch which was great.  I was also able to keep an eye out for my fellow club members who were running the event and cheered them all on.