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...

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

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.

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.

Dogs, hills, long runs and the London Marathon options (plus 100th post)

Dogs
I got a 10-miler in on Tuesday at a steady 10 min/miles.  One part of it is a long stretch of flat gravel path section that is used by runners, walkers, cyclists, dog walkers and runs along the back of a local racecourse.  Anyway, I use it quite regularly and there is one chap who has a small dog who I've seen a few times.  This dog isn't dangerous (in fact, it looks a lovely little thing), but it runs very quickly up and down this long path whilst the owner saunters along.  It was turning dark, and a cyclist was coming along at what I would have considered a sensible pace and had all the winter gear on.  The dog was legging it up towards him and unfortunately the cyclist ran over the dog.  There was a lot of yelping but the dog was fine.

I'm getting to the point, but the dog owner absolutely lost it with the cyclist ("If I see you here again I'll throw you over the f'in fence" type of thing).  The cyclist had stopped and I jogged up next to the cyclist and didn't say anything, but then the dog owner started having a go at me as well!  Something like "And you - you need to slow the f down as well!".

I initially felt a warm burst of pride that he thought I was running too quickly, but I quickly realised the chap was delusional!  I just calmly pointed out that it was a shared path and that I saw the whole thing with the cyclist and felt the cyclist was going at a safe pace.  The dog owner wasn't happy though!

In all seriousness, over the last 12-15 months since I've been running more regularly, I quite often see altercations between different groups of people.  On this occasion though, I thought the cyclist hadn't done anything wrong and the dog owner was very over the top in his reaction.

Hills!!
Wednesday night is the club night that I usually do and there is a choice of sessions to attend.  This week was one of my favourite sessions, known as Pitt Hill.  It's a hill-repeat session where you run hard up the hill (and also along a flat stretch) and then a long jog recovery.  We jogged from the club house and then did one loop as a warm up, and then 5 intervals.

I know these things are as only as tough as you make them, but I always feel like I've had a good work out on these sessions.  The instructions are to run hard up the hill and went it levels out keep pushing until a certain point.  When it levels out, you're absolutely knackered, your lungs are bursting, your legs feel like jelly and you really just want a little lie down, but it's only another 50m so you dig in.  There's always some friendly competition as well which helps, and then there is a long jog recovery (about 3.5mins), before the next effort.  The jog recovery for me is very slow, but that means I can attack the next effort which is the point of the session.

The times don't mean very much, but I pressed the lap button and the efforts were quite consistent which I was pleased with, and each effort being about a 1/4 of a mile.

1          1:51.9             0.24

2          1:48.2             0.23

3          1:51.5             0.23

4          1:50.8             0.23

5          1:54.2             0.24


Long runs
I did a 12-miler yesterday, going out at 10min/miles.  I often do something like this and the pace is always a close approximation but yesterday's session, according to my Garmin, was precisely 10min/mile over the 12 miles.  Little things!

London Marathon
This weekend is the first extra chance I have to get in to next year's London Marathon, following the failure to get in via the public ballot.  I am in the club's ballot for a London place, and the ballot takes place at this weekend's Xmas party, so I'm looking forward to that.

Also on Saturday is the last of the "run 8 parkruns in a row for a chance of a London place" promotion.  The odds of getting a place via that route are very slim though as they have 2 marathon places, but currently over 4000 people still in with a shout.

I have entered various other competitions (Lucozade, Holiday Inn etc) and this week Timex had a promotion, which I had to give a reason with no more than 100 words as why I wanted the prize, which included Timex's new GPS watch.  I wrote:

I am a regular poster to the Runner's World forums and a subscriber to the magazine.  The London Marathon and I also have unfinished business as the last time I did it (2010) I crawled around in 5:15, when the course well and truly beat me.  Some decent training, together with the Timex Ironman Run Trainer for extra motivation, will hopefully see me do much better.  When all my clubmates see my shiny new device and see me knock minutes off of my PB, I’m hopeful that they will all go out and buy the new Timex device too.

100th post on this blog
This happens to be the 100th post on this blog.  Looking back, I've waffled a lot, but I'm pleased with keeping the blog going.

A pretty good training week following the Half last week, plus a chat with a quick runner

I feel I have done some good sessions this week, following the disappointment of the Half mast week.  On Tuesday I went out and did 9 miles at my target Half Marathon pace, which was a nice confidence booster after last weekend.  I'm still convinced I've got a sub-1hr40min in me, but I've got to get it done as I know "talk is cheap".

Wednesday was a "reccie run" of the Ladies 10K I'm marshalling at this morning and the purpose of these runs is for the ladies to run the course, and the men to know their marshalling points.  My wife is thinking about doing the race this morning so I'll be on the look out for her.

Due to time constraints this week I found myself having to do back-to-back longish runs, which I haven't done before. Anyway, I did 10 flattish miles (9min/mile) on Friday night after work and then tagged along for a club run on Saturday morning where I got 15.5 in (10min/mile, including regrouping), with plenty of hills. I'm quite pleased actually as I felt ok and feel I've got my long run 'out of the way'.  I know it's not the same as say a 20 miler but I'm happy and I did have 2 or 3 cheeky beers on saturday afternoon!

On the club run yesterday I got talking to a runner who in his day was quick (2hr34 marathon). It was fascinating talking to him and I know techniques may have changed since his day as his PB was 30 years ago.  Basically though when I asked what his key sessions were, he did LSRs at 1.5min/mile over his goal pace and did extremely tough (his words) four or five by 1 mile intervals where the intervals were maybe 30-45 seconds quicker than his goal pace.  This session was great for the mental side of things as well, knowing he could push through the pain and maintain a pace.  Those were his two main weekly sessions, plus a 10 mile "time trial" where he knew the mile markers (this was before GPS), which was also tough.  He did reel off his other sessions, and I didn't spot any rest days although I may have missed it.  He was doing 65ish miles a week at this point.

Interestingly, he said it wasn't initially a conscious decision for him to do his LSRs at the pace he did. He kept very detailed notes and when he went back over them at one point he noticed the 1.5 mins slower than goal pace calulcation, so stuck with it.

He also said that what worked for him didn't work for others that were at his kind of level in his club, and vice versa. He just did what worked for him. For example, he trained himself not to take any water at all when racing a marathon as he said taking water slowed him down. People at his club said he should be taking water as they thought he'd do even better, but he tried it and it didn't work for him. When he did ultras, he did take "liquid food" but I'm not sure what that was.

He did share my view about the shame that there were no British men who turned up for the recent World Championships and he put the blame squarely with the "suits" who run athletics, who he doesn't think care enough about road running and do little to bring athletes on.

I felt a bit embarassed talking to him about my goals when he asked me (sub-4 mara and sub 1:40 half) as they are very slow compared to his times, but he was great and unassuming and just happy to chat about things.  His main goal at the moment is to do 1500 miles this year (which he is on target for), and I beleive he is doing the Club Championship and chipping away at a timed course he runs regularly with the club.

He did write a great piece in the club magazine a few months ago so I'm going to dig that out and have another read through.  The level of hard work and dedication to get to these sort of times is amazing.  I just worked out what a 2hr34 marathon would be - that is averaging under 6 min/mile!  Unbelievable.

Torbay 10K, and a bit of a look back over the last 12 months

I got to the Torbay 10K start line in good shape so was raring to go at the 6pm start.  I've done this course a few times before and know there can be a bit of a bottleneck so I stood in the first quarter of the field hoping that would mean I'd have a clear run out, which worked out to be the case.  I also don't feel I held any quicker runners up, so I stood in about the right spot for me I think.  The conditions were good - it was dry, but not too hot and there was a bit of a breeze.  This "bit of a breeze" was a headwind for maybe 1 mile of the course, but it wasn't too bad.

I know the course very well and I had promised myself that I would go out steadily and leave something for a strongish finish and the first mile was done in 7:10, which was actually a bit quicker than I had anticipated but I felt okay.  The second mile includes a reasonable hill but then miles 3, 4 and 5 are basically flat and I had planned to use this part of the course to settle into a rhythm and see how I felt, knowing that the 6th mile includes an  uphill section, before a fast downhill section to the finish.  I was gasping at the end and the last 200m were very hard, but I kept a reasonable pace so I think that means I paced the race well, which I'm pleased about.

Looking back, I think that it all came together and I managed a chip time of 45:31 so I'm pleased.  This isn't a PB (my PB is on an easier course than this), but it is a strong course record as I've knocked over 4 minutes off of the time from last year, which at that point was my PB.  It was after this race last year that I decided to join a running club, and I'm really glad I did.  I'm sure Mo wouldn't do this, but we did have a couple of beers and some pizza to celebrate!

My wife also did great and managed a PB as well, so she was really pleased.

The last 12 months
It was immediately after 2012's Torbay 10K that I decided to join the Teignbridge Trotters and I'm so glad I did.  It feels like the right time to review the last 12 months as I know my running has come on so much, plus I've met loads of people through the Club which is very friendly and welcoming.  My PBs in 10K, Halfs and the marathon have tumbled in the last 12 months, and I've lost about 1.5 stone in weight and about 5% in body fat (according to my scales, which I'm not sure how accurate they are on the body fat %), which has helped as well!

Turning a bit towards my inner geek, Garmin Connect has some reports that can let you analyse lots of things and below are a few highlights .
- In the last year I've done 1564 miles, which is way more than I've ever done and is an average of 30 miles per week, every week.
- This shows I have been very consistent, which I think has been part of the the key and I'm hoping to keep that going, depending on injuries.
- According to my Garmin, I've burned nearly 250,000 calories!  Again, I'm not sure how accurate this is but it's probably in about the right area.  That is a lot of pizza that be consumed to make up for that shortfall....!
- For the majority of the last 12 months, I've done either 4 or 5 runs per week with 4 weeks where I planned only 3 sessions per week before an event.  There are just two exceptions to this.  The first week in January I picked up an injury so only did one session that week and for a holiday in April I only got two sessions in.  I think that is pretty consistent and has definitely helped with my running.

I have no real targets in mind, apart from to keep up the running with the club and to see if I can continue chipping away at those times.  I know I've been really lucky with injures this past 12 months and hopefully that will remain the case.  This time twelve months ago, if anyone asked I wouldn't really have called myself as "a runner".  This year, if anyone asked I do count my self as a runner and I have really got the bug!

One thing I think I need to do is start to become more structured in my training, which I will try and look at before a Spring marathon attempt where I'd like to go sub-4 hours. I think that is my main goal and I think is achievable on the right day.

20 mile LSR, a personal weekly record and marshalling at the Haytor Heller

Long run, and a bit of a look back over my training
I mentioned on my last update that I was hoping to get an 18-mile LSR done on the weekend, and I'm pleased to say that I actually managed 20 miles.  I started at around 7.30am and it was much cooler and more pleasant than earlier in the week, but I still drank 1.5L of water on the run as well as making sure I was well hydrated before the run!  For long runs, I always run with a 750ml bottle of water/TorQ Energy on a waist belt, and this time I parked my car on the route with another 750ml stored in the cool boot.  It wasn't a particularly inspiring route but I'm pleased I got the miles in.

I was a bit worried about how the long run would go because since my marathon at the start of May, I have only done one 16 miler.  I've done lots of 10-13 mile runs (and lots of shorter runs) but I was getting worried that I wasn't getting in enough long miles.  However, it seems I still have some fitness as the run itself was fine (apart from the amount of water I needed) so I'm pleased.  Also, since the marathon I've been consistent with the sessions I've been going as I've clocked up nearly 350 miles over 48 sessions since 7th May.

The main reason for pushing on from 18-miles to 20-miles was due to the fact that I knew this would take me to a new personal weekly mileage record of 45 miles in a week.  The majority of these miles have been in very hot weather and I am hoping training in the hot weather will stand my in good stead for when the weather starts to cool again.  This was off of 5 sessions a week, which I've now been doing for 4 weeks.  The fifth run per week is effectively the parkrun, which although only 5K is a good run out each week.

Below are my weekly stats since the marathon:

Time Period (w/c)	Number of sessions	Distance	Elapsed time	Calories
15/07/2013	5	45.19	07:45:11	6,288
08/07/2013	5	36.63	05:37:15	5,186
01/07/2013	5	34.04	05:06:00	4,851
24/06/2013	5	32.44	05:11:08	4,652
17/06/2013	4	29.92	04:13:30	4,279
10/06/2013	5	36.18	05:36:59	5,153
03/06/2013	5	38.9	06:19:31	5,524
27/05/2013	3	23	03:28:40	3,521
20/05/2013	4	31.96	05:02:00	4,945
13/05/2013	4	22.37	03:25:19	3,369
06/05/2013	3	14.1	02:15:19	2,183
Summary	48/77	344.75	54:00:53	49,950

I think that is pretty consistent, so I am really pleased with that.  The two "3-sessions per week" weeks are due to a) the week after the marathon where I reduced the mileage and did a recovery week and b) a holiday week, where I was just pleased to get any running in at all.  The w/c 17th June wasn't 5 sessions because that was the week of the Torbay Half Marathon where I had a lighter week in the run up to that event.  I've included the "Calories" column just as a matter of interest really, as I don't know how accurate those numbers are, but it is interesting non-the-less.

There are two things that I think I need to work on, or at least keep in mind, in the run up to the October marathon I have lined up.  Firstly, I need to incorporate some hill training as part of my longer runs.  This is because the Dartmoor Vale marathon is quite "lumpy".  I am hoping that after the summer season is out of the way I will be able to get a long to a few Trotter weekend social runs where there are often some hills thrown into those sessions.

Secondly, I am aware I haven't really been doing enough speed work.  This is at least partly due to the hotter weather, where it's harder to get the speed in without feeling quickly drained.  On the positive though, I am at least getting a parkrun in which is a good, quick run out and they are enjoyable too.

Haytor Heller marshalling
The other thing I mentioned in my previous post is that I was marshalling at the Haytor Heller, which is put on by my running club (Teignbridge Trotters).  It was a brilliant event in hot weather, and it's great to be a very small part of the running of these events.  The winner again did the event in under 40-mins which is just mind boggling and equates to around 6.5min/miles on what is very tough terrain.

I had a great marshalling point which was in a shaded area where the runners come down a path, over an old granite bridge and disappear up through the trees before a very steep incline.  After the event, I went back to race HQ where I had my complementary burger which went down very well indeed!

A hot week!

Everyone is enjoying the prolonged nice weather, including myself.  However, it's not good for running, but I'm doing my best to keep going.  I'm drinking plenty of water each day and I've completed each session so far this week.

Wednesday, was the "reccy run" of the Haytor Heller event which is put on by Teignbridge Trotters.  It's 6 miles on a tough trail course; I would say it's unrunnable for large parts of it, with large boulders/stones, very steep inclines/declines, a small river crossing etc.  However, I had a look at the course record, and it is under 40mins, which is actually quicker than I can run 6 miles on a nice, flat tarmac course which is a bit humbling.  The group that I was in ended up being the middle group, and we did stop a few times to let people catch up etc, but we took 90 minutes to do the course!  This was on a pleasant, dry evening, if a bit hot.  I can imagine it would have easily been 30mins longer if it had been raining heavily.

Generally, I don't like the offroad stuff but I did enjoy it last night even though it was very much a shuffle/walk/climb strategy that I adopted.  It was made even better that we all ended up at a hotel owned by a fellow Trotter near Haytor, which we had a meal and a couple of shandies.

I'm marshaling the event on Saturday so I hope I don't send the lead runners off in the wrong direction!  I can imagine it would very easy to do in the middle of nowhere on Dartmoor....  Below is the trace of my "reccy run".  The trace has gone wrong slightly, as the straight line shouldn't be there and is from the end of the route back to the hotel.

Thursday I did a 10-miler after work and it was extremely hot, but I'm pleased I got the miles in.  Also, I happened to find a crispy fiver on the floor, which helped give be a boost!  Tomorrow I'm planning a parkrun (plus the marshalling duties) and then I'm hoping to 18 on Sunday. I think the only way I'm going to get 18 in is if I get up early on the morning when it'll hopefully be cooler, so we'll see how that works out!

parkrun PB, plus a busy week planned.

I mentioned in a recent post that Barnstaple parkrun looked flat and fast.  My wife and I fancied a weekend away and we like the North Devon area so we decided to book into a hotel in Barnstaple with a view of doing the parkrun on the Saturday AM and relaxing the rest of the weekend.

I mentioned in that post that I thought Barnstaple would be fast and mentioned getting a 20.xx time.  Unfortunately, I was some way off of getting this time but I did manage a PB of 21:29.  It was only a 3-second PB, but it still counts.  It's interesting though as I genuinely though that Barnstaple would be significantly quicker than Killerton but it turns out I was wrong.

The splits were:

1 6:39.3
2 6:48.8
3 7:01.2
3.14 1:00.2 (Avg Pace: 7:04), with an overall average pace of 6:49.

Disappointingly, you can see that my second and third miles were significantly slower than the first mile, so there is something to work on there.  I would definitely do the Barnstaple parkrun again though, and I hope to keep chipping away at my time to see if can get that elusive 20.xx time.  To do that, I need to average around 06:45 for the 5K, although Barnstaple was very slightly long (according to my Garmin) which could be a slight issue for me.

Moving on to this week, I have got a slightly unusual week planned.  I am marshalling at a club event (the Haytor Heller) on Saturday and there is a "reccie run" on Wednesday which I am attending also, so I'll be doing 6-7 miles around Dartmoor on Wednesday evening.  It should be good, but I expect it's going to be quite hot and I don't love the off road stuff.  A fellow member owns a hotel near Haytor so we'll be going back to there for some food afterwards.

Other than that, I have the usual mix of  sessions planned with an 18 miler planned for the weekend.  We'll see how that goes, as I haven't really been enjoying this warmer weather from a running point of view.

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!

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.

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 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.

Running Royalty delivered, plus considering the Bideford Half

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- take it easy until about mile 2.8.

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

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

- there is a descent from mile 10 to 11

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

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