Going over the dark side (at least, temporarily)!

Commonwealth Games

Before I make my big revelation (well, it's not that big!) the Commonwealth Games marathon is on later today and Steve Way is running in it.  The BBC have done a great piece on him, and I think it sums him up well and I truly find what he's achieved inspirational.  

I am wishing Steve well today and will be wearing my "Don't be Shit" T-shirt, whilst watching the marathon later today.  

Shhh, I've bought a road bike

I've finally thrown in the towel on my achilles injury and done something I should have probably done weeks ago - I've put myself on a strict "no running for at least a month" training program, in a bid to try and get it cleared up.  I've come to the realisation that me even plodding for only 20 miles a week is not the way to go.  My last run was on 9th July and I am not running until at least 9th August.  If the achilles is still not right, it'll be another month.  In fairness, the rest does seem to be doing it some good so fingers crossed, but I've written my plan here in black and white and I won't be deviating from that.

In an attempt to try and keep myself from going completely bonkers and also to try and retain some kind of fitness, I dusted off the old hybrid bike and got a few rides in on the road on that.  I bought the hybrid in 2010 as a compromise between a road bike and a trail bike and it is fine, but it is a compromise.  I am naturally drawn and prefer the roads and longer distances so after about 8 rides out on that I decided to look into getting a road bike.  After a lot of online research, asking questions of my running club mates (many of who also cycle) and trying various bikes, I bought one and picked it up on Thursday.

I went for a Specialized Allez Sport in Satin Black/Charcoal (batman black, as I like to think of it...!) and love it.  I've had a couple of rides on it; one a short ride home after picking it up and a second longer 33-miler taking in some hills for good measure.

Honestly, I wish I'd done this weeks ago as I'm really enjoying it.  Compared with running, I find I don't mind going up roads that I may not know and exploring a bit as even if I have to turn around after 2 or 3 miles, it's easily doable on a bike where as with running that would be a right pain.

Stating the obvious, you can also go further and see more things.  Yesterday's 33-mile was done in around 2hr15min whereas in around the same time for an LSR I would have probably only done around 13 miles.

I have also discovered Strava....and have become pretty much instantly addicted!  I had obviously heard of Strava before, but always used Garmin Connect for my running.  However, the Strava site accepts uploads directly from Garmins and the site is far, far better than Garmin's in my opinion.

On Strava, I think the best function is "segments" where the site automatically splits your ride up into sections that other riders have done.  You can then see where you lie in the overall leaderboard.  I.E, below is probably one of my favourite sections at the moment as it is a great piece of road and Strava shows me I'm currently 96/367 individual riders, so tracking your times and having some friendly competition with others is very easy!  Interestingly, I noticed Garmin Connect has recently launched a similar feature but there is only one other rider who has done this section, compared to Strava's 367.

I am not saying I am never going to run again as I am hoping I will be, but currently the cycling is hitting the spot for me.  As I am hoping to return to running in the future, I won't be changing the name of this blog :)

As I've mentioned, my wife and I are expecting a baby at the end of September and I know that is going to be a massive change to our lives and everything in it and I'm not underestimating that, and we're both incredibly excited and looking forward to meeting him/her.  When the baby has settled in I'm thinking of getting a Turbo Trainer set up in the garage so I can stick the bike on that and get some cardio in.  Even if it's only 3 or 4 30-min sessions a week once we're up and running with the baby over the winter, that will be better than nothing.  I was having a slight concern about ballooning in weight once the baby is here so I think the road bike on a Turbo is the way to go.  At least it'll keep me out of the boring gym, whilst being in the house and not miles away in case I'm needed.

A few updates

Not much running
Since getting around the half successfully the other week, I've been away for work for 3 nights in Cardiff and decided to get 3 small runs in, as Cardiff is a very nice place to run.  The hotel I was staying at was right opposite a huge park (where Cardiff parkrun is), which itself is along side the River Taf.  On two nights I ran away from the City and then one the third night I ran down to Cardiff Bay.

I really enjoyed this, but I'm sad to say that the achilles flared right back up again.  For the "old me", 3 small runs in a row is nothing so I've come to the realisation (probably about 2 or 3 months too late!) that I need a complete break as the type of running I'm resigned to at the moment (mainly plodding, and very short distances) isn't what I want to be doing.  So, in order to try to keep my sanity and some level of fitness, I've dusted off the old bike, signed up to Strava and been out for a few rides.  I must say, I'm really enjoying it so far although the weather has been perfect for cycling and I'm currently not sure if I'll brave the wind and rain if/when it arrives.  I've decided to give cycling a go though for a whole month with absolutely no running, and then to reassess.

Pod
I've also been to the podiatrist again since my Half and he is now referring me to get the achilles scanned.  He mentioned bursitis and a scan should spot if that's the cause of the issue.  I have obviously heard of bursitis before, but this is the first time it's been mentioned to me about my injury.

I have a strong feeling that he was almost expecting to have to refer me for a scan, but he had to try me on the insoles first.  I don't know how long it will take to get referred, but I suppose it could take a few more weeks.  He has also given me some different inserts to try (rather than lowering the front of the foot these raise the heel, which is what I thought I was going to get in the first place) so it all seems a bit trial-and-error at the moment which is very frustrating to be honest.

Steve Way and the Commonwealth Games
In my last blog entry I mentioned Steve Way and that he is representing England in the Commonwealth Games.  Well, as I read his brilliant blog regularly and feel that he is a "normal" runner who has worked very hard (read this brief biography about his from the Guardian, but in summary not all that long ago he was an unfit, 16.5stone smoker), it seem a large number of the running community are getting behind him and are wishing him all the best for the Games.

A friend of Steve Way has organised some technical T-Shirts with Steve's motto for running (and life, I suppose) on the front.  I thought I'd get one as it seems a pretty good motto to me.

Torbay Half Marathon

I'm pleased to say I got around Torbay Half Marathon yesterday in a time I was pleased with in the circumstances.  I haven't raced since March due to an achilles issue, but had entered Torbay back in January as it is my local race and one that I try and attend if possible.

As part of my role as Teignbridge Trotters Press Officer, I got all the Trotters together before the race  and my wife took a team picture.  That is below.

I purposefully started right at the back of the 2000+ strong field to stop me going off too quickly, and I got into my stride ok after a couple of miles.  I saw Steve Way on the course, and also in the queue for the loos (how's that for a claim to fame?).

I got around in 1:57:04 (unofficial) and I'm genuinely pleased with that.  It was a bit of a confidence booster really because I've been struggling since March and this is the furthest I've ran for a while.  It's a bit sobering looking back as last year I did 1:43 on this course and in March I did a 1:38, but yesterday genuinely wasn't about PB chasing.  It was about seeing if I could run the distance with no major issues, and I really enjoyed the event.  I'll see how I feel in the next couple of days to see how the achilles are before saying for sure if this event was a success for me, but as I'm typing this I'm cautiously optimistic.

This is a picture of me and a mate who I was running with for a mile or so....

Mentioning Steve Way, in case anyone isn't aware, he is a great British runner, who was third Brit at London, recently broke a 100K record and is representing England at the marathon at the Commonwealth Games.  Reading his blog is mind-boggling....on the day of the race he did 20:22 miles, including the Torbay Half in 67:49, and then did a further 6  miles that afternoon.  This was part of a 132 mile week, with an average of 6:02min/mile.   I think it's safe to say he's a class act, and I was looking forward to being on the same course as him, albeit miles behind!

However, I was getting on my high horse, again, yesterday.  It was only with my wife though, and she's used to it!  I think this chap is a phenomenal and he was wandering around at the start and no one knew who he was.  Even the announcer at the start of the race didn't mention him as someone to look out for (she did at the end, but said he was representing Great Britain at the Commonwealths, which is wrong, as he's representing England).  I know she was only announcing what she was given to read out, but still.

From his blog of the day, him and his wife and dogs camped in a camper van the night before the race.  This is a chap who is representing his country in a few weeks time!

I know there are loads of other athletes doing great things in sports I haven't got a keen interest in, but is it a bit strange that generally they're unheard of?  Or am I on my own in thinking this?  My wife just thinks it's because I'm interested in running that I've heard of him (which is obviously true).  Also, she said the fact that he works hard isn't enough to capture interest of the public, and reluctantly I have to agree with her.  However, I still find what he's doing inspiring and I'm hoping he does well in Glasgow..

He has a range of "Don't be shit" shirts to support him through the Games, and I've ordered one...

Here he is in the final straight.

Teignbridge Trotters - 32-mile Dartmoor Discovery road race

Glossing over the fact that I'm still injured, my wife and I marshalled at the Dartmoor Discovery yesterday, which is put on by my awesome club - Teignbridge Trotters.  I was time keeper at the marathon point.

I drove over to Princetown to pick up the race clock, which had been set running with the correct time.  I had to get this to the marathon point and tie it to the scaffolding that had already been set up.  Now, this clock has a massive piece of cord that has a large start/stop button.  I was treating this thing very delicately as if I'd accidentally stopped the clock, it would have been a bit embarrassing if the leader thought he'd gone through the marathon point in 1:23mins, or something!  Anyway, the clock was up and running with no issues, so that was good.

My time-keeping mate had turned up, so we divided up our roles.  Basically, we both had pieces of paper with race position written down from 1 to 240.  My role was to record the runners' race numbers, and his role was to write the time.  It worked really well I think, so that was good.

Weather-wise, there were just two very small showers, so that was fine and I had plenty of time to tuck into the free packed lunch that was provided to all helpers.  The organiser said he caters for 150 helpers, which I think is a pointer to how many people are required to help at this massive event.  Off the top of my head, there are the following:

- dozens of marshals across the course.
- several timekeepers at various points on the course.
- catering at the finish.
- massive scaffolding put up at the finish line, plus some at the marathon point to hang the race clock.
- someone goes around putting yellow arrows on the 32-mile course, at points where there may be confusion.
- drinks stations, some that have personalised drinks and food that have to be ferried to the correct position.
- Sweeper vans.
- People to clear the course.
- Radio people (Dartmoor Radio Club) who are there in case of issues, as mobile signal is non existent in places.  In some places they put up their own massive aerials.
- Medical care (Dartmoor Medical Services)
- Lead bike
- organising shirts/hoodys/jackets available for sale.
- organising finishers t-shirts and medals.
- someone (not me, on this occasion) who writes the race report for the local press.
- PA system, with someone announcing runners as they come through.
- Time keeper.
- Results processing and publishing.
- Course measurer.
- Liaising with authorities to put the race on.
- I have probably missed lots of other roles, but you get the point!  This is a massive undertaking.

Anyway, I settled into my chair eagerly awaiting the first runner, who was rumored to be on for extending his course record.  Soon enough, he came into view and he just looked so smooth and in control.  He went through the marathon point in 2hrs46 – honestly, I can’t really say how phenomenal this seems to me.  Make no mistake; this is a tough course, but he looked like he was jogging.  The second placed man, who is also a good runner, has the Trotters records for when he was a member and has won this race before was 15-minutes back.  The chap ended up breaking the course record with a fantastic 3:29.

Here is a quick pic of him going through the marathon point, with “my” magnificent clock showing the correct time and me and my time-recording mate by the side of it (my wife took this and got shots of most competitors).

We settled into our roles – in hindsight, I had the slightly easier role as when runners were bunched up he had more to do.  He occasionally missed a runner out, so we were constantly checking to make sure we were on the same race position.  Many runners who had their race number obscured knew this, and shouted out their number as they passed which was great, so I feel this all went off without a hitch.

In terms of spectating, it was a great position.  I saw the ecstasy of people knowing they had completed the marathon inside the cut off and could therefore walk the rest if they had to.  I also saw the misery of others when they reaslised they still had 6-miles to go.  Many runners looked like they were cruising, but many others looked like they were struggling immensely.  Some runners just had their head down, whereas others wanted to stop and chat for a minute or so before carrying on.  One thing I did notice was how many people seemed to speed up when they saw the marathon point, get through the line and then stop and walk, or stretch.  I’d say about 25% did this.

The clock ticked past 5hrs15mins (the cut off) and there as no one in sight.  Two people had been there for an hour or so, and it was their job to inform runners that they had missed the cut off.  Unfortunately, this happened for two people who took it well in the circumstances but it was upsetting for them.

I took the race clock down, and my wife and I headed back to Princetown carefully overtaking many runners who were in various states.  We parked up and cheered home the last 30 or so people and I must say that was really heart-warming.  There were Dads who grabbed their young kids and ran with them through the finish, there was a mother and daughter combo (Trotters) who ran in together who were ecstatic, and there were many who looked like they needed a stiff drink!

So, all-in-all, a great experience for me, at an event that is organised by a fantastic running club.  I’m left wondering “Can I run this, one day?”.  We’ll see...

A few thoughts

Update on my running....this shouldn't take long!
I haven't blogged for a while.  The main reason is that this is a running blog and unfortunately I've been doing zero running!

In my last post I mentioned an achilles issue and I've been stretching that regularly on advice of the physio.  However, I think probably due to the relative inactivity over the last few weeks (i.e., going from 40+ miles per week to zero) I also developed a knee issue.  The knee issue has cleared up, but for the last few days I've had quite a bad cold so don't feel able to run anyway.  However, I am hopeful that after the cold has cleared up I will be in a position to restart some kind of structured training, where I aim to keep the stretching going and build the mileage back up slowly.

This is the longest I've been out and it's incredibly frustrating as in someways I was running very well, after getting under 1:40 for two half marathons.  However, looking back I know I had been running through this achilles issue for some time (months?) so I think probably things had caught up with me.

I had to pull out of several events that I had race entries for (a 20-mile race, a fast 10K and also a marathon in May), but unfortunately it was for the best.

VMLM and my "press and publicity" role
As well as all this injury talk, I have been keeping the "press and publicity" role up with my club, which included a race report that I wrote for the London Marathon.  I am enjoying the role and also enjoy seeing my reports in the local press.

Speaking of VMLM, it's all kicked off this week as it emerged that a runner seemingly cheated in this year's VMLM.  It hit the front page of The Sun and then was promptly picked up by other news sources later in the week.  Being a reader of the Runner's World website I saw the story "break" on there first as some amateur detectives did all the digging on data that is publicly available on the VMLM website.  In short, it appears that the runner ran the second half of the race quicker than Mo Farrah (and substantially quicker than his first half of the race) even though the pictures show him walking.  The data for that runner also show that he missed some timing mates, so the implication is that he jumped the fence at around half way, or went under an underpass somewhere and rejoined having missed several miles off of the course.  His case wasn't helped when he was shown bragging with his medal on his facebook page.

As part of this, some cracking stories of other cheats came out and this story is very long, but worth a read.

Going onto next year's VMLM, the merry-go-round started again today as the ballot opened and closed in around 10 hours, which is a record.  I managed to get a place in the ballot, so we'll see what comes of that.

Fooooood!
With my injury and lack of miles (I've done a few gym sessions, but it's nowhere near the same) I have been really worried about ballooning in weight.  Miraculously, I have managed to stay below 13st which I'm pleased with as 13st is a big benchmark for me and took my quite a while to get under.  I did my recent Half PB at around 12st10 so although I have put 2 or 3 pounds on I know I can get that off again once I get back running.

I have also been toying with the idea of going towards a more paleo-style diet.  Since I've been taking running more seriously, I was aware that there was a different approach available, which totally threw the more usual "carb-based" diet into question.  I was always uncomfortable with the idea of stuffing gels down me on a long run and the basic idea of "going paleo" for a runner is that the body of even an elite athlete has far more energy stored as fat than it does as glycogen, so why not train your body to use fat as opposed to glycogen?

All the advice is to go about the change slowly, so that is what I am doing.  For the last few weeks I've changed my lunchtime meals as I've removed bread (and crisps!) from that meal and replaced it with boiled egg per cheese, some salad (carrots, tomatoes, celery) and some mixed nuts.  Over the last week or so I have started to remove cereal (porridge) from my breakfast and have replaced it with things like sweet egg omelettes (cooked in butter) or fried eggs (cooked in butter) and avocados.  It is hard at first, but I think it's maintainable.  The evening meals will be much more more tricky to change though, for two reasons.  Firstly, I currently base my meals around potatoes, pasta and bread so this will take some time to change and will be difficult too adapt.  Secondly, my wife and I try and eat together all the time and she isn't currently convinced that this is the way to go.

Some more physio

I had a reasonable 20-miler LSR last Saturday and I was in for the Gloucester 20 this weekend but I've decided to take some time off and try and get my achilles sorted out.  They have been bothering me for some time (months, probably) but I've been running through it but it's been getting worse so I saw a physio today.

She has given me a different stretch to do, and I must say I could immediately feel the stretch 'hitting the spot' so I have my fingers crossed.  She has asked me to go back next week and she will consider referring me to a podiatrist if necessary but wanted me to try the stretch first, which is obviously fair enough.

The new stretch is similar to one that I do already where you stand on the edge of a step, lift both heels, lift up the "good leg", and drop the "bad leg" slowly so that the heel is below the level of the step.  She told me to continue to do that, but also suggested bending the knee whilst doing the stretch and this is what hit the spot.  In hindsight I probably should have thought of this myself, but never mind.  She warned it wouldn't get better overnight, but to persevere with doing the stretches longer term.

I asked her if I should stop running and she didn't exactly say "yes", so that's good, although she said "take it easy".  I am going to at least take today and tomorrow off and see how it feels on Friday.  My last run was Saturday....I'm climbing the walls now!

On the Runner's World forum the below link was also posted which has some useful roller techniques to help with dodgy achilles.
http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/warnings-signs-for-achilles-problems/

I was looking forward to Gloucester 20 as it would have been a good test to see how I was doing on the longer distances, but I'm fine with my decision to DNS.

Bideford Half Marathon, plus a role in the Trotters

I did Bideford Half in 1:39:06 yesterday, so I'm happy to go under 1:40 for the second time in 2 weeks.  I was on for a PB at half way, but I just couldn't hold it but I did all I could on the day so I have to be pleased with that (and I am!).  The first half of the course is harder than the second half and I knew this, but I just couldn't hold the pace I needed in the final 3 miles.  Average pace was 7:33, whereas my PB from a couple of weeks ago was 7:30 so pretty consistent really.  My time today was 3 minutes quicker that last year on the same course, which was my then PB.

I'd say the conditions were good and I know a few people got PBs as it is a quick course.  I also had some pancakes afterwards, to help aid recovery....

My club's AGM was on Wednesday and the current "Press and Publicity" officer had decided to stand down fro the role.  The role seemed right up my street, so I put my name down to be considered for the role and I'm pleased to say I was nominated.  The role is to keep people up-to-date with what is going on in the Trotters in terms of events that people participate in.  In summary, it involves sending regular (where possible, weekly) updates to a couple of local papers and also keeping the club's website up-to-date with news.  I remember when I was looking to join Teignbridge Trotters that I thought the club’s website was very good as it was very up-to-date in comparison to many.  I see the Press and Publicity role has helping with that, by ensuring that the content is relevant and current.

Anyway, my first report was uploaded today and it's available here.

An approach I can appreciate, plus some physio

I have mentioned a few times on here that I read a lot on the Runner's World forums and I enjoy the banter and posts by a lot of people.  From a running point of view, I think it's fair to say that there are a lot of differing opinions about what is the right or wrong approach to training and I guess it's also fair to say that I am guilty of confirmation-bias!  I.E., I seek to read stuff about running that broadly confirms what I already think....

Over the last 18 months or so, I have come to the firm belief that running the majority of training miles at a steady pace is the way to get faster overall.  I am not saying speed session aren't important because they are, but overall I think running steady is what has helped give me my recent improvements.  By "steady", I mean 60-90 secs per mile slower than marathon pace; I think many people mean steady as marathon pace (or even quicker!), which I think then means people get very tired, which can lead to injury and under performing on marathon day.

Anyway, as part of this confirmation-bias I came across this on Runner's World from a guy who in his time was a very quicker marathon runner.  It is an interesting idea!  He is contactable on Twitter via @gobi_one

When marathon running I peaked at 130 miles a week. 

A simple reality is miles make champions otherwise Paula/Hallie etc would all do 30 miles a week with perfect sessions and be brilliant. 

Here is one for you:
- Benchmark by running 5kms HARD
- Run 40 miles a week all easy with NO speedwork
- Run 5kms HARD
- Repeat until you stop getting PBs
- At this point you have to decide, do I have time to run more?
- If yes repeat the process on 50 miles a week
- If no then start looking at "icing" (intervals/tempo/progressive/alternates) 

It is a journey

Anyway, I have been suffering a bit with sore achilles so I decided to take myself off today for a sports massage which hurt.....A LOT!

Generally he thinks I was in reasonable shape, but suggested some ideas to help:
- cutting down the top of the heal of the shoes I run in to prevent excessive rubbing.
- lots of massage with a golf ball on the sole of my foot.  This will hurt.
- doing a stretch to help with the front of my lower legs/shins, which are connected to the achilles.  I forget the name of the muscle he used now, but I'll look it up.  Basically, the stretch involves kneeling on the and sitting directly on my heals, and then leaning back to stretch out the front of the lower legs.

He did imply that he wasn't overly concerned about my achilles themselves as he couldn't feel much scar tissue there.  In fact, he commented that he would have expected more bearing in mind my age etc.

Other than that, he again reiterated stretching out my hip flexors to help with perceived tight hamstrings:
- squats
- stretching out the quads (lifting heal to bum, holding foot, and pushing out hips).

Hopefully I'll be in shape to run Bideford Half Marathon this weekend.....we'll see,

Exeter Half Marathon

I mentioned in my last post that I had suffered an injury, but the stretching and a couple of days off did the trick.  I also did all my runs at a very easy pace for two weeks, as I was gearing up for a race this morning which is my first "A-Race" of the year, and one I was hoping to do well in.

After the recent very bad weather, this morning was pretty much perfect running conditions.  The sun was out and there was no wind, so all was looking good for the race.  There was some frost on the ground in a couple of places on the lap, but by lap 2 of the 3 lap race that was pretty much gone.  So no real concerns there either.

I had planned to set off at 7:30 pace and I kept that in mind.  During the first 1/3 of the race I was purposefully holding myself back a bit but I went through in 33mins so I was more or less on target.  The second third was a bit tougher, but I was still on target for my sub-1:40, so all was looking good and at this point I was just trying to stay relaxed and concentrate.  It is fairly easy to lose concentration at this event as you find yourself in the middle of a line of runners and I find I end up running at their pace, even if it's a touch slow.  Anyway, I went through the second third of the race and I was feeling good.

The mile markers were slightly out which was worrying me a bit all the way around as it was quite tight in terms of my goal time and my watch has measured slightly over.  I did slow a bit in the last third which is frustrating, but I'm delighted to say I got around in 1:38:54 (this is my watch time so not official yet)!!  I'm really, really pleased as this is over 3-mins off of my previous PB!

The splits are 7:23, 7:26, 7:26, 7:24, 7:25, 7:24, 7:28, 7:28, 7:33, 7:34, 7:36, 7:41, 7:49 with the last bit of 1:18 (7:09 pace), so you can see I did slow which is annoying and shows I went off too quickly I suppose?  Interestingly though, according to my Garmin this works out at exactly 7:30min/mile, which was my initial target so I suppose it all came out in the wash in the end.  If you're interested, the Garmin trace is here, and you can see it's as flat as you can get.

This wasn't a Championship race so there weren't that many Trotters there (just 5 in total).  However, one "Trottette" did a massive PB by knocking 5 minutes off her time and went under 1:30, so she is delighted.  Well done her!

Not the best picture but this is me just before crossing the finish line.

The dreaded "I" word!

I've only blooming well got an injury.  Grrrr.

I mentioned at the end of my last post that I had a bit of a tight back.  It turns out that this is actually a hip issue is my left hip.  Reluctantly, I had to concede defeat with it and haven't ran since Monday of this week (I'm writing this on Thursday).  I also won't be running today, but I'm hoping to go get out tomorrow or the weekend.  I thought it had got better, but it's definitely not cured so I needed some time off I think

I have the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies (a good book by the way) and I think it is my Gluteus Medius or Piriformis in the left hip.

Interestingly there is the following at the end of the section I'm reading:

"To take better care of your piriformis muscles, be aware that unaccustomed vigorous activity places them in jeopardy.  At the other extreme, prolonged immobility can set the piriformis up for trouble.  If you find that your job or your lifestyle keeps you sitting all the time, get up on your feet and do something."

and

"Finally, don't let anyone tell you that rest will solve the problem of myofascial pain.  Inactivity is a classic perpetrator of trigger points"

Looks like I need to give up work then....

The recommended treatment is massage with a tennis ball against the wall.  It does seem much better today as I did 4 lots of quite intensive (i.e., painful!) sessions on the hip yesterday, as well as moving around as much as I could at work and it seems to have eased a bit.  I jumped out of bed without really thinking about it today, whereas yesterday I kind of had to fall out!!  

I did go to the club yesterday but only to hand a form in for the club trip.  I did get a pang of jealousy seeing them all there limbering up, but I'm hopeful I'll be back on it soon.

Speaking of the club, it's our AGM soon.  The 'press and publicity' role is up for grabs and I've stuck my name down for that, and have got the 2 required signatures to be nominated.  I fancy becoming a bit more involved in the club and this seems a good way.  The role involves writing a weekly report and sending it to the local press, and writing a weekly report for the news section of the website.  For the content, it involves nagging people for stories and pictures, which I'm quite good at!  Of course, I may not get the role yet, but I'm hoping I will.

Fulfords 5

Having never raced a 5-miler before, I did my first one yesterday.  I was using my 5K PB from Wednesday as the pace target and I pretty much nailed it today as I got 34:03 - McMillan suggested 34:09 from my 5K time.  I did have a "Garmin malfunction" due to human error though.  At the start line I must have missed the start button as I noticed after about half a mile that the time was still on 0.  I could still see my pace though, and I pressed the start button at the 1 mile marker so my Garmin only shows 4 miles.  However, the results have been published and I got 34:03 so I'm pleased.  The splits for those 4 miles are below, and the profile for the whole 5 miles, so not quite as flat I had hoped.

Splits 2-5:  6:48, 6:49, 7:07, 6:34 = 27:30.  So my first mile must have been 06:33

In summary then, I got a pretty big PB on Wednesday at a 5K where my average pace was 6:38min/mile and quite a strong run out yesterday where the average pace was about 6:48.  So, I've got to be pleased with this, and I am hoping that I am on target to get under that 1:40 half target that I've set myself.  The predictors show I should do this comfortably, but I don't want to be greedy!  1:39:59 will be fine with me!

This week it will be lots of very easy miles, and then an easier week the week after to prepare for my first Half of the year.  I was tempted to do a cross country race next weekend, but I've decided that I won't do that as I don't want to risk injury before my first "A-race" of the year.

I have picked up a slight back issue as my lower back feels quite tight.  I'm really wary of my back after having issues in the past, which is another reason for the easy mileage.  I am not sure if the two short races so close together have contributed but I need to be careful with that.

Brunel 5K, and a PB!

I donned a brand new pair of running shoes last night (it's a model I know, so there were no concerns there) and went along to the 5K time trial that my club had arranged.

I don't really know where it came from, but I knocked 53 seconds off my PB with a time of 20:36!!  I'm really, really pleased, if a little shocked.  To be honest, I was hoping to PB tonight but I wasn't expecting that much time to come off.

The route is as flat as you can get, but my previous PB from July was also on a very flat route so they're comparable.

My previous PB was from a flat parkrun in Barnstaple last July, so it's taken a while to get under that 21-minute barrier.   It's good to get a PB early in the year as it's a confidence boost to show I'm on track for a sub-1:40 for a Half, which is still my main time goal.

Mile splits were a little uneven (6:33, 6:48, 6:40 and the last bit at 6:01 pace) but I'm really pleased, with an average of 6:39min/mile.  It was great conditions for it though, and my new trainers seem to suit me well!

Reading back to my post from July, I commented that I was disappointed that my second and third miles were slower than the first, and that was still the case here and I did feel it in that second mile.  I finished strong though, so overall I'm pleased with how I ran it and delighted with the PB.

I find myself starting to ask why it well.  I did have a rest day on Tuesday, and I have been eating different types of foods with plenty of veg.  I'm averaging 10-12 portions of veg a day at the moment.  Whether it was those things, or the new shoes, or a combination of lots of factors, my time is there in black and white so I'll take it!

Braunton 10

I got the Braunton 10 done on Sunday, but on the Friday a message was sent out from the organisers with the below.....

As I am sure you are all aware, tomorrow is going to be "violently stormy" with winds gusting up to 70mph and torrential rain throughout the day.

Anyway, Sunday came along and I left early to get to the race start in plenty of time as race numbers had to be collected.  It was very wet, and there was a warning that one of the area of the course would be flooded but that the route would not be changed.

A quick reminder of the course profile, and this is a trace from my own Garmin.  The bit that was flooded was at the top of the second hill, and it was knee high.

I took the two hills relatively steady, hoping to crack on after the second hill.  However, on the 6.5mile - 8.75mile stretch it was into a strong headwind and there was no respite whatsoever from the wind - honestly, it was really tough going with sleet driving into your face and a fierce wind.  If the knee height water didn't drench me, that section of road with the rain totally did.  I reckon it conservatively cost 30secs per mile in that section, but in reality probably more.

The race was basically in 3 parts.  Firstly, there was a big hill from mile 3 to 4 and secondly another one from 5 to 6.  Then it was more or less level or down hill to the finish.  The trouble is that those 2 and bit miles into the head wind scuppered any consistency in the section where I was hoping to get a move on, but in the circumstances I'm really pleased.  I'm using this as a benchmark and I think/hope I'm on for a sub-1:40 for a Half, based on clubmates I finished around and their half times.  We'll see!

My splits were 7:54, 7:31, 7:28, 9:42, 7:07, 9:08, 7:34, 8:21, 8:08 and 6:45 so I finished strong, which I'm really pleased about.  Having never down a road 10-miler, it was a PB too.....

This week will be interesting as I have two Championship races.  The first is on Wednesday and is a 5K time trial on a fairly flat road.  I'm hoping for a strong outing on this after all those weeks of off-road parkruns I've been doing and if the weather conditions are good I'm planning on giving it a good crack and I'm hoping to get a PB.  Next Sunday I have a 5 mile race and I've never ran a 5-miler before.  It's supposed to again be flat, but is on the sea front and is prone to strong winds, but again I'm planning on giving it a good go if the conditions are right.

We'll see how those two turn out!

Braunton 10

Two posts in one day......

I am doing the Braunton 10 tomorrow, which will be first 10 mile race so I'm guaranteed a PB presuming I don't DNF!!

The race is part of the club championship and it's described as "hilly".  From the race website:
"The first of two steep climbs so cut out the chat and dig in. Beware there are several bends on the climb that hide what is a long drag upwards, but it does end somewhere!"

The profile does look quite tough, but after 6 miles it's basically down hill to the finish, which is good news.

A summary is:
- it's an include to about 3 miles
- a steep hill from about 3 to 4 miles
- down hill from 4 to 5.2 miles
- a steep hill from 5.2 to 6.12 miles
- then down hill to the finish.

It is indeed very steep because when I compare this to the DMV marathon (which is itself steep!) this seems longer and possibly more severe.  DMV goes from 200ft to 400ft in about a mile and this goes from 200ft to 500ft in about a mile.

Having never done a 10 miler before, I'm not quite sure how to pace this one.  I plugged my recent 10K from Stoke Stampede into Macmillan and it suggests the below for 10M and 1/2 Marathon.

Bearing in mind that my A-race is a half marathon, I'd be really pleased if I can get close to 7:30min/mile tomorrow, but I can't really see it happening due to the hills.  We'll see.

Food!!

My wife and I have been tinkering with our food over the last week or so, with an aim of getting more fruit and veg in.  Our meals didn't need a massive overhaul anyway, but below was a fairly standard day of the last week.

Breakfast has stayed with porridge, honey and coffee, although I've added a banana.

Morning snack has changed to a handful of mangetout and either two carrots or half a pepper.  This used to always be an apple and banana, which I also used to have in the afternoon.  This will change depending on what is available on the shop.

Lunch has generally changed to 2 carrots, 2 celery, 2 hardboiled eggs, 2 tomatoes and a small amount of walnuts.  This is the meal that's changed the most.  It generally used to be sarnies (cheese or ham) and crisps, and this will change depending on what is available.

Afternoon snack has stayed at an apple and banana.

Evening meal hasn't really changed.  It's soup, some kind of roast, pasta or fish, all which have 2 or 3 veg in, and usually a glass of fresh juice.  When we wanted an "easy day" I usually just chucked some jacket potatoes in the oven; we're trying to stop this, and this week we've managed it.

Plenty of water throughout the day, but I did this anyway.  If I feel hungry on the evening, it's a jam sandwich or cereal and this hasn't changed although I do seem to be having these more often.

I haven't noticed any real improvements regarding feeling more energised, but I know this food is better even if it's still not perfect.  My weight has stayed stable over the last week (which is what I want), with the help of MyFitnessPal and obviously running.

3 hills challenge

I got along to the club session last night.  It was an interesting session that I haven't done before, called "3 hills challenge".

Basically, there are 3 hills that all start/end at the same point.  The session is to a) run hard down the first hill and jog recover up b) run hard up the second hill and jog recover down and c) run hard up the third hill (which is the steepest hill) and jog recover down.  Repeat this for 45mins.  A tough little session and my Garmin trace does look strange for this one.

Oh My Obelisk!

I got my second Club Championship race in yesterday, and I found it pretty tough.  It came under the "Long Off-road" category which was always going to be my weakest so I'm glad I've got it out of the way early in the year.  It means I don't have to do any other races in this category if I don't want to.

The race website says the course was 10 miles, the entry form says 11 miles and after a bit of investigation on Garmin Connect from last year's race it looked closer to 11.5 miles - my Garmin says 11:53.   In preparation, I'd done 4 sessions in the week (6 miles, 4.5 miles, 3.1 miles, 8 miles) all at a very easy pace so I was feeling relatively fresh on the morning.

This is the race profile, and it was very muddy in parts!

There were a large number of my club mates (31 in total) who did the event.  Although the course itself was quite nice with good views I did find it tough.  The first half is mainly uphill but the terrain on this part had some really muddy sections and I found it hard going under foot.  The second half wasn't so bad in terms of the terrain but I still struggled around in 1:44:58.  2 or 3 club mates beat me at this race, who I wouldn't necessarily have expected but it was good fun and it's another race completed which is the main thing.

Parkrun and First Chance 10K

First Chance 10K
This morning was the Exeter First Chance 10K, which is the first race that is a part of the Teignbridge Trotters Club Championship for 2014.  Yesterday (Saturday) I was really thinking that the race would be called off as a sponsor posted the  below picture which is part of the course.

However, late on Saturday the organisers posted that the race would be going ahead but at a later start time to miss the worst of the high tide.

I got to the start area this morning and it was annouced that the course would be changed, but it wouldn't be exactly 10K.  The organisers had said this would happen if it was particularly flooded, so I was expecting it anyway and my Garmin showed exactly 6 miles.  The ground was fine with no mud or really large puddles, but it was obviously very wet.  However, there were some really strong headwinds for a lot of the course and it was raining quite hard.  I don't overly mind the rain, but the wind was tough.  The profile of the course is as flat as you can get though, so that is one positive.

Anyway, after last week's 10K which I averaged 7:04 min/mile I had hoped to go off at 7 min/mile pace today with aim of seeing if I could sneak a PB if it had been a full course.  However, the first bit of the race was into a headwind so I couldn't do that and just ran to feel.  My mile splits were 7:11, 7:12, 7:09, 7:26, 7:03 and 6:52, which is an average of 7:09, and a time (according to my Garmin so not official yet) of 42:54.  It does mean that even if the course had been a full 10K I wouldn't have PB'd, but I'd say that is to be expected for the conditions so I'm quite pleased really.

Running as part of the club championship added another dimension to the race for me as well, and if I stay injury free and can complete it I think I'm going to enjoy it.  I overtook 4 club mates and had a 5th in my sights but couldn't catch him, and no one from my club overtook me today.  It's all friendly competition but I think I'm going to enjoy that part of it.  The next race is next weekend which is an 11 mile (approx) off road which I will struggle with in comparison to today, but I'll just do my best    I don't expect to come anywhere in the championship at the end of the year, but it means I'm going to do some different races which is what I'm looking forward to.

Killerton parkrun
My wife and I did Killerton parkrun yesterday and the organisers has warned to expect mud!  My wife had bought a pair of trail shoes earlier in the week and this was the first time she would be trying them out, and she really enjoyed it and said the shoes helped a lot.  It was the worst conditions I've seen at the parkrun but I enjoyed, as did everyone else.  I slipped and slid around in 24:08 and although I found it tough it was a nice little limbering up session for the 10K today.

2013 Review

At the start of the year I posted a few goals for 2013, so as it's New Year's Eve it seems a good time to have a bit of a think back over the running year.

I've had some successes, and other things came in which changed the nature of my running a bit.

- Get down consistently below 13 stone.  I have done this comfortably, although I haven't obsessed about it.  It's just kind of happened, with a couple of tweaks to my eating/drinking and increasing of exercise.

- Be wary of my alcohol intake and go for "streaks" of being teetotal (probably between holiday times).  I'm afraid I failed on this except for the first few months of the year, although my intake generally has vastly reduced compared to previous years.  This has helped with the above weight goal.

- Crack a 1:45 for a half marathon.  This was my main time challenge for 2013, and I managed this twice, so I have to be pleased with that.  There were however two other races where I had aimed to go under 1:45 and I failed, so this 1:45 time still isn't a given for me.  On the other hand, I think I've got more in me so this is kind of a mixed bag really.

- My blog says "Get around a full marathon and actually enjoy it (unlike London 2010)!! A time of sub-4:30 would be great...", so I did actually do this with a 4:08, however off of a 1:42 half this is a weak time.  So, I'm pleased I got close to that 4hr mark, but I didn't break it.  I can't even really say I'll definitely do it in 2014, as I so far haven't entered any.

- Get under 45mins for a 10K.  I did this with a 43:40, so no complaints there, although I thought this was going to be toughest time target.  According to Macmillan, this is my "best" time, which is a bit strange and points to a lack of endurance at longer distances.  On a "fair" course, I did Sunday's 10K and also went under 45mins.

- Keep it going with the Trotters (running club).  I did this, and this is a big part of the reason for any running improvement I've had, along with the weight loss.  I also marshalled at 4 events, which I really enjoyed.

- Rack up 1200-1500 miles in the year.  This was more of a measure of consistency and to see if I could stay injury free (i.e., 30 miles a week on average for a year) and I managed this.  I've just checked Garmin Connect and I've done 1624 this year.  Now I know this isn't massive mileage by any stretch, but it's the most consistent I've ever been so I've got to be happy with this (which I am!).

- Keep my back healthy!!!  This was the last goal, but I noted it was also the most important and (touch wood!) I seem to have done that after big problems in 2011.


Two things that kind of crept up on me that weren't on the radar at the start of the year were a) parkrun and b) off road running.

Parkrun is just brilliant and I'll try and keep them going.  I've done 19 this year, with my first being in June.  For next year, I'm not going to put a target number on this as with the amount of races I'm hoping to do I don't expect I'll get that many done, but I do enjoy them and I will get along when I can.

Offroad has been a relatively late introduction to me.  My regular parkrun is off road terrain, but it's fine in the summer/dry.  However, in the rain it's a mud bath.  Due to this I bought some trail shoes and have since done 2 "proper" off road races.  I always shied away from off road, but due to me getting into it a bit means I can have a go at the club championship next year, which is one of my main goals.

As well as the club championship my other main goal is to see if I can get under 1:40 for a half, so we'll see how that goes.

So in summary, I think I've had a good year where I've enjoyed my running although I'm disappointed with my marathon time.  Although not quick, my lower distances are better than my higher distances (according to Macmillan), which can only be that I lack endurance, so that's something to look at.  I've had PBs at all my distances too, which is a good sign:
5K - 21:29
10K - 43:40
Half: 1:42:02
Marathon: 4:08:12

Post-Xmas post

A quick update since my last post is that I unfortunately didn't manage to get one of my club's London Marathon places, but I am first reserve in the unlikely event that someone pulls out.

Over the Xmas period, I managed to keep the running going so I'm quite pleased.  I also got a 10K race in yesterday!  It was called the Stoke Stampede in Taunton and it was a great little race and the conditions were perfect - it may have been a tad cold for some people, but it was perfect for me.  I managed to get around in 44:02 (this is my Garmin's time, so unofficial at the moment).  It's not quite a PB, but my PB is on a course where the first mile is down hill so I don't really count that.  This is a PB on a course that I would consider to be a fair one so I'm really pleased as I feel I've finished the year on a bit of a high!

Mile splits were 7:17, 7:14, 7:07, 7:01, 6:55, 6:45 with the last bit at 1:42 so you can see I got progressively quicker, although I definitely lost a few seconds in the first mile or so due to congestion.  This is an average of 7:03, and I had nothing left at the end.

I'm already looking forward to my next 10K which is next weekend on a very flat course although if it's windy the course can be tough as it's fairly exposed.  The next race is the first one that is part of my club's championship and it will be a good way to ease myself into that.  There are a large number of my club doing it so that should be good.