What a bummer; it’s snowed overnight again. About half an inch which will soon melt, but is a nuisance and completely unexpected. I must start checking the weather forecast as I suppose it was only unexpected to me.
The long run is scheduled for two hours and forty minutes. I reckon that equates to about nineteen miles if it’s hilly or closer to twenty if it’s flat. I’m aiming to run down the A660 to the roundabout above Otley and then come back up the hill past my house. I’ll then carry on and do two circuits round Eccup rezza and then back home. That way I can drop a couple of bottles in the front garden and keep hydrated without carrying a load of fuel around with me.
Decide on the road shoes rather than trail shoes as 90% of the run will be on the road. It’s a lovely day with hardly a cloud in the sky and the snow melts quickly where the sun can get at it. Downhill to Otley is easy with just a couple of slippery bits where there’s a covering of mud on the path. Uphill is hard work and I have to stop to re-lace my shoes when I get back to our house. I’d scrubbed the road shoes at the weekend and taken the laces out and not put them back in the way they’d been before. It’s funny how a little thing like that is enough to make them feel uncomfortable. I must remember not to mess with my laces just before marathon day.
Up the road and through Golden Acre park which is full of geriatrics enjoying the relatively good weather. When I go off road to go anti-clockwise round the rezza I hit problems in the first field which is just gloopy, claggy mud that sticks to the shoes and soaks the socks. A bit of a waste of time washing the road shoes at the weekend. Back on the made path it’s easier underfoot. It’s Siberian on the far side of the rezza where the sun can’t get through and the wind seems to pick up as it blows uninterrupted across the rezza.
The second lap round the rezza is a real drag and my legs feel really heavy. The massage from yesterday evening is now just a distant memory. I slow considerably until I get back to the A660 when I make a conscious effort to pick up the pace. I know that Mick’s schedule for all future runs has me starting slowly, picking up the pace in the middle section and finishing more quickly. He says this is more a mental test than a physical one, but I’m not so sure.
Finish the run in 2 hours 41 minutes and I reckon it was 18.8 miles. When I get back it’s a mad scramble to do all the post-long run things. Neck the recovery drink, get out of sweat-soaked kit, cold water on legs, warm shower and some snap. Apparently (yes, I know that all sentences that start with the word “apparently” are either urban myths or just plain wrong) any food you can get down within twenty minutes of your long run has no calories. Effectively you’ve got a free hit, so obviously I never want to miss out on that.
For the first time after a long run I don’t need to go for a lie down, which I’m taking as a positive sign. Also I’ve set off for the run at roughly the same time as the VLM starts – a tip picked up from someone on Marathon Talk. This won’t always be possible, but it did feel more civilised than the early morning long runs I have been doing.
Although I’m knackered I join the VARR boys and girls for the evening training session and social. We jog down Kirkstall Road towards town and turn off just after TGI Friday’s. We do short intervals on a side road; twelve one minute sprints with a one minute recovery. I more or less manage to keep up and am still reasonably strong at the end of the session.
Ten of us roll up to Sheesh Mahal for a curry before going home. Polishing off Liz’s leftovers after finishing my own meal was probably not such a good idea in retrospect. I’m up in the night with indigestion.
Still, a good day’s training and for the first time I’ve done two running sessions in a day. It was good to do some speedwork as well and get the legs moving at something quicker than marathon pace.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Monday, 1st March – 55 days to go
Blimey, it’s March already. That marathon date is looming larger. Today is a rest day before tackling a long run tomorrow – “2 hrs 40 min easy”. The weather has bucked up, wintry sunshine and plenty of activity in the rookery opposite our house. Can I see these as signs of Spring?
We have an hour at Tony’s in the evening. After warming up I’m straight on Tony’s folding table for a massage. Level 1 again today – there are no niggles just an underlying heaviness in the legs. Liz concentrates on exercising her dodgy shoulder while I just lie there and do bugger all. Afterwards the legs feel considerably lighter; not exactly pumped full of helium but no longer full of lead.
I’ve been pondering over what time I ought to be aiming to run the VLM. Indeed, I’ve been considering whether it would be better to not set a target and aim to get round reasonably slowly and just enjoy the experience. I know from Marathon Talk that there is some fairly detailed splits information available on each London Marathon finisher from previous years. I download information about 3:15 finishers and 3:30 finishers in 2009 and stick it into Excel. First interesting thing; the splits are at the 5k marks throughout the race plus the half way mark. Clearly there are mats to run across each 5k that recognise your chip, I’d imagined that all markers would be mile markers with no reference to kilometres. Only two out of the thirty runners recorded negative splits. Times for almost everyone fell away significantly for the last 12k. The 3:15 runners ran more closely to a 3:15 pace than the 3:30 runners did to a 3:30 pace so I guess consistency pays off.
I don’t have to commit to a target until the day of the race, but I’d feel more comfortable with a defined target so I don’t go off too fast and can aim to maintain a steady pace. It sounds daft but a kilometre target of 4:39 seems less daunting than a mile target of 7:27. I think I’ll stick with 3:15 as a notional target for now and then just see how the training goes.
We have an hour at Tony’s in the evening. After warming up I’m straight on Tony’s folding table for a massage. Level 1 again today – there are no niggles just an underlying heaviness in the legs. Liz concentrates on exercising her dodgy shoulder while I just lie there and do bugger all. Afterwards the legs feel considerably lighter; not exactly pumped full of helium but no longer full of lead.
I’ve been pondering over what time I ought to be aiming to run the VLM. Indeed, I’ve been considering whether it would be better to not set a target and aim to get round reasonably slowly and just enjoy the experience. I know from Marathon Talk that there is some fairly detailed splits information available on each London Marathon finisher from previous years. I download information about 3:15 finishers and 3:30 finishers in 2009 and stick it into Excel. First interesting thing; the splits are at the 5k marks throughout the race plus the half way mark. Clearly there are mats to run across each 5k that recognise your chip, I’d imagined that all markers would be mile markers with no reference to kilometres. Only two out of the thirty runners recorded negative splits. Times for almost everyone fell away significantly for the last 12k. The 3:15 runners ran more closely to a 3:15 pace than the 3:30 runners did to a 3:30 pace so I guess consistency pays off.
I don’t have to commit to a target until the day of the race, but I’d feel more comfortable with a defined target so I don’t go off too fast and can aim to maintain a steady pace. It sounds daft but a kilometre target of 4:39 seems less daunting than a mile target of 7:27. I think I’ll stick with 3:15 as a notional target for now and then just see how the training goes.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Sunday, 28th February – 56 days to go
Just a recovery run today. I want to get yesterdays’ long run out of my legs as quickly as possible as I’ve brought forward this weeks’ long run from Sunday to Tuesday. I’ve slept in one set of compression kit and have the other set ready to wear during the day. That sounds really decadent – two sets of compression wear, but they’re not Skins just the finest that Aldi provide – wouldn’t look out of place at a Trekkie Convention.
I run a gentle three miler up to Hilton Grange and back. It’s a reasonably pleasant day a little warmer than of late and no sign of wintry showers. Quite a few people about by the time I get out the door. I have to steer clear of the potentially murderous hooves of five horses/ponies on the run. Loads of walkers wrapped up warm and the occasional runner. I no longer refer to runners as “joggers” and always now check out their running styles. Every runner today is more businesslike than me and seems to be moving considerably quicker than I am. I’m only a little concerned by this, but I am looking forward to some shorter sessions where I am running quicker than my marathon pace.
The body feels ok. No specific pains, but a general tightness and aching. I have decided to work my way through another of our running and fitness books “Look 15 Years Younger Yoga Plan” by Barbara Currie. I have to say straight off I have absolutely no wish to look fifteen years younger and don’t think I could achieve it without major surgery; it was the only yoga book in the shop that wasn’t written by a “celebrity” or didn’t have photos of young people on the cover and inside. Old Barbara could do with a little advice from her chums as there’s a real danger that she’ll go too far down the Barbara Cartland path, but she’s a game old bird and you should see what she gets up to on page 146.
I’m very much at the beginner stage when it comes to yoga. In fact I haven’t made it past Chapter 4 of this book in the twelve months since we bought it. The first four chapters have some excellent fifteen minute workouts and have definitely contributed to getting some flexibility back into the old bod. My balance isn’t what it might be – a bit like James Nesbitt in the Yellow Pages ad where he signs up for the intermediate class. I doubt that I’ll ever follow all the routines in the book as Babs fairly quickly moves into poses that I couldn’t possibly take up, but I do find it a useful book.
I run a gentle three miler up to Hilton Grange and back. It’s a reasonably pleasant day a little warmer than of late and no sign of wintry showers. Quite a few people about by the time I get out the door. I have to steer clear of the potentially murderous hooves of five horses/ponies on the run. Loads of walkers wrapped up warm and the occasional runner. I no longer refer to runners as “joggers” and always now check out their running styles. Every runner today is more businesslike than me and seems to be moving considerably quicker than I am. I’m only a little concerned by this, but I am looking forward to some shorter sessions where I am running quicker than my marathon pace.
The body feels ok. No specific pains, but a general tightness and aching. I have decided to work my way through another of our running and fitness books “Look 15 Years Younger Yoga Plan” by Barbara Currie. I have to say straight off I have absolutely no wish to look fifteen years younger and don’t think I could achieve it without major surgery; it was the only yoga book in the shop that wasn’t written by a “celebrity” or didn’t have photos of young people on the cover and inside. Old Barbara could do with a little advice from her chums as there’s a real danger that she’ll go too far down the Barbara Cartland path, but she’s a game old bird and you should see what she gets up to on page 146.
I’m very much at the beginner stage when it comes to yoga. In fact I haven’t made it past Chapter 4 of this book in the twelve months since we bought it. The first four chapters have some excellent fifteen minute workouts and have definitely contributed to getting some flexibility back into the old bod. My balance isn’t what it might be – a bit like James Nesbitt in the Yellow Pages ad where he signs up for the intermediate class. I doubt that I’ll ever follow all the routines in the book as Babs fairly quickly moves into poses that I couldn’t possibly take up, but I do find it a useful book.
The Third Photo
The Lucozade Sports Scientist attended parkrun Leeds on 27th February. Unfortunately, I was using the parkrun as the middle section of my long run for the week so didn’t have time to stop and seek advice on nutrition and hydration (and blag a few freebies). Liz volunteered to stop by at the Lucozade stall when she finished her run.
Imagine my surprise when I got up from my post-run kip to find a veritable treasure trove of goodies all kindly supplied by Lucozade to assist me with my training. I speculated that Liz must have taken along a full range of cunning disguises and practiced a variety of regional accents in order to have scavenged such a hoard. But no, she’d just explained where I was with my training, what I was intending to do and the Lucozade lady had been very accommodating. I guess the different approach must be a male/female thing. Liz has definitely got the job at future events.
In my defence, I will actually purchase Lucozade products (when I’ve used up the freebies) as part of my training. Having been daft enough to go out on a long run without proper hydration last week I’m planning to take proper measures in future.
Seems an awful long time since Barnesy told us that, “Isotonic means it’s in balance with your body fluids”. What on earth does that mean? Mind you I spent many a happy hour trying to boot a tin can into a waste bin like Barnsey did in the ad. Seems even longer since Lucozade was something your mum brought you on the (very rare) occasions you’d persuaded her you were too ill for school. It certainly is a world in motion.
Saturday, 27th February – 57 days to go
Off to a bad start as either my alarm fails to go off or we sleep through it. Woken by Liz’s back up alarm twenty minutes later than intended. I have my cuppa and a double breakfast. Slice of toast with beans followed by a small bowl of porridge. I’m trying to follow the advice of the Lucozade guy on Marathon Talk and avoid the wall. I don’t want to run on a full stomach, but I don’t want to run out of fuel either. Liz mixes up a couple of bottles of Lucozade Sport as I set off.
Today’s long run is supposed to be “2 hrs 30 mins easy”, but will be in three stages and will incorporate parkrun in the middle. Eighteen miles with eight prior to parkrun and seven after. I run to Dyneley Arms and back and pick up my bottle from where Liz has left it for me in the front garden. No problems on the run into Woodhouse Moor, just a nagging anxiety that I may not make it to the start on time. In the end, I arrive about five minutes before the start and stow my empty bottle. I run round parkrun on my own and get a little swept along by other runners. 22:30 was definitely a couple of minutes faster than I intended. Make a mental note to watch my speed when other runners are around and run my own race.
I was going to give my bar code and number to someone else to process, but the marshals are on top form today and soon have our details on their laptops. A quick drink, pick up a fresh bottle that Liz has brought down for me and I’m off heading for home. The run up Otley Road was pretty awful. I just couldn’t seem to get going. Coming up to the Ring Road I virtually ran myself to a stand still. In retrospect I should have walked some of the way. I think it must be a man thing the not walking, but it’s pretty silly when you reach a certain level of tiredness and your pace slows considerably. I walked the steeper uphills when I did the Great Langdale Half Marathon last year and felt that that benefitted my overall performance. Similarly, in the Calderdale Way Relay I had to walk some of the steeper bits (sorry Adrian) and felt that taking the opportunity to get my breath back helped me go faster on the level and downhill bits.
I managed to pick up the pace beyond the ring road, but still seemed to take an age to catch and overhaul the octogenarian who we occasionally see running down Otley Road. I also struggled to overtake the guy walking along reading his newspaper and the lady carrying two carrier bags full of shopping from the Co-Op. I was mighty relieved to drop my bottle in the front garden and run the final half mile out and back to take me up to eighteen miles.
After a smoothie disaster I ran cold(ish) water over my legs and collapsed into bed for a kip. I understand that chilling the legs after a long run aids recovery by flushing lactic acid through the system. I’m never brave enough to get the water freezing cold, but I like to think I’m making the effort.
I ran the first eight miles in sixty three minutes, the middle three in 22:30 and the final seven in a disappointing sixty seven minutes. I’m going to have to plan my last three runs better as the schedule has me running the last bit faster than the first bit. I’ll need all the help I can get with that so will try and make sure I end up with a downhill run to home.
Oh no! When I check the parkrun results I find that Tony Audenshaw has been running. I’ve missed an opportunity to hear some of Tony’s Trials straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak. To be honest, I wouldn’t have recognised him as I haven’t watched Emmerdale since Archie and Seth used to have an entertaining double act before the Great Disaster.
When I consider my progress, I feel I’m getting closer to where I need to be in order to get round 26.2 miles, even if I don’t seem to be able to run at a pace that is close to my marathon pace.
Here’s how things look at the end of this week.
Weight 72.5 kg
Total Mileage 57.8 miles
Long Run 18 miles
Long Run Pace 8:28
Days without alcohol 12
Mileage has doubled from last week (28.5), but this is deceptive as there are two long runs included in this Sunday-Saturday seven day period. Pace on the long run has improved, but is still one minute slower than my target for the day itself.
Today’s long run is supposed to be “2 hrs 30 mins easy”, but will be in three stages and will incorporate parkrun in the middle. Eighteen miles with eight prior to parkrun and seven after. I run to Dyneley Arms and back and pick up my bottle from where Liz has left it for me in the front garden. No problems on the run into Woodhouse Moor, just a nagging anxiety that I may not make it to the start on time. In the end, I arrive about five minutes before the start and stow my empty bottle. I run round parkrun on my own and get a little swept along by other runners. 22:30 was definitely a couple of minutes faster than I intended. Make a mental note to watch my speed when other runners are around and run my own race.
I was going to give my bar code and number to someone else to process, but the marshals are on top form today and soon have our details on their laptops. A quick drink, pick up a fresh bottle that Liz has brought down for me and I’m off heading for home. The run up Otley Road was pretty awful. I just couldn’t seem to get going. Coming up to the Ring Road I virtually ran myself to a stand still. In retrospect I should have walked some of the way. I think it must be a man thing the not walking, but it’s pretty silly when you reach a certain level of tiredness and your pace slows considerably. I walked the steeper uphills when I did the Great Langdale Half Marathon last year and felt that that benefitted my overall performance. Similarly, in the Calderdale Way Relay I had to walk some of the steeper bits (sorry Adrian) and felt that taking the opportunity to get my breath back helped me go faster on the level and downhill bits.
I managed to pick up the pace beyond the ring road, but still seemed to take an age to catch and overhaul the octogenarian who we occasionally see running down Otley Road. I also struggled to overtake the guy walking along reading his newspaper and the lady carrying two carrier bags full of shopping from the Co-Op. I was mighty relieved to drop my bottle in the front garden and run the final half mile out and back to take me up to eighteen miles.
After a smoothie disaster I ran cold(ish) water over my legs and collapsed into bed for a kip. I understand that chilling the legs after a long run aids recovery by flushing lactic acid through the system. I’m never brave enough to get the water freezing cold, but I like to think I’m making the effort.
I ran the first eight miles in sixty three minutes, the middle three in 22:30 and the final seven in a disappointing sixty seven minutes. I’m going to have to plan my last three runs better as the schedule has me running the last bit faster than the first bit. I’ll need all the help I can get with that so will try and make sure I end up with a downhill run to home.
Oh no! When I check the parkrun results I find that Tony Audenshaw has been running. I’ve missed an opportunity to hear some of Tony’s Trials straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak. To be honest, I wouldn’t have recognised him as I haven’t watched Emmerdale since Archie and Seth used to have an entertaining double act before the Great Disaster.
When I consider my progress, I feel I’m getting closer to where I need to be in order to get round 26.2 miles, even if I don’t seem to be able to run at a pace that is close to my marathon pace.
Here’s how things look at the end of this week.
Weight 72.5 kg
Total Mileage 57.8 miles
Long Run 18 miles
Long Run Pace 8:28
Days without alcohol 12
Mileage has doubled from last week (28.5), but this is deceptive as there are two long runs included in this Sunday-Saturday seven day period. Pace on the long run has improved, but is still one minute slower than my target for the day itself.
Friday, 26th February – 58 days to go
Another rest day. This will be my highest mileage week ever and if I can deliver tomorrow I will have also done my two longest runs ever so I feel I’m due a break today.
I’ve had to re-arrange my running schedule to take account of the final cross country PECO race a week on Sunday. I will be missing my long run that Sunday so have brought that one forward to next Tuesday. In order to give me an extra day to recover from this week’s long run I’ve brought it forward from Sunday to tomorrow. Confused? So am I.
Again, Liz can’t make it for our session with Tony. Her carefully timed dental appointment falls apart as she has to wait for an hour while the dentist catches up with previous appointments. I make the most of it by having an extended massage after warm up and stretches.
The body is holding up ok at the moment with no injuries just a general feeling of tiredness in the legs. This is a level one massage as I don’t even wince as Tony digs his thumbs into my calves.
I’ve been working my way through “Running Past Fifty” by Richard Benyo. I bought this because it was the first running book I’d seen that was aimed specifically at my age group. However, reading it is not without difficulties; all the chapters are single words ending “ing”. Fair enough on “Pacing” and “Resting” and the like, but somewhat wearing with “Goaling”, “Drugging” and “Aloning”. Also, it is written for people who have been running all their lives and assumes a lot of knowledge that I don’t have as I’ve only taken up running in my fifties. Finally, the book gives lots of advice about not overdoing it and then almost every case study is some crazy old coot who runs a marathon every week or who has clocked up a hundred ultras in five years or something equally improbable. On the whole, a pretty disappointing read with little to take away and help me with my first marathon.
I’ve had to re-arrange my running schedule to take account of the final cross country PECO race a week on Sunday. I will be missing my long run that Sunday so have brought that one forward to next Tuesday. In order to give me an extra day to recover from this week’s long run I’ve brought it forward from Sunday to tomorrow. Confused? So am I.
Again, Liz can’t make it for our session with Tony. Her carefully timed dental appointment falls apart as she has to wait for an hour while the dentist catches up with previous appointments. I make the most of it by having an extended massage after warm up and stretches.
The body is holding up ok at the moment with no injuries just a general feeling of tiredness in the legs. This is a level one massage as I don’t even wince as Tony digs his thumbs into my calves.
I’ve been working my way through “Running Past Fifty” by Richard Benyo. I bought this because it was the first running book I’d seen that was aimed specifically at my age group. However, reading it is not without difficulties; all the chapters are single words ending “ing”. Fair enough on “Pacing” and “Resting” and the like, but somewhat wearing with “Goaling”, “Drugging” and “Aloning”. Also, it is written for people who have been running all their lives and assumes a lot of knowledge that I don’t have as I’ve only taken up running in my fifties. Finally, the book gives lots of advice about not overdoing it and then almost every case study is some crazy old coot who runs a marathon every week or who has clocked up a hundred ultras in five years or something equally improbable. On the whole, a pretty disappointing read with little to take away and help me with my first marathon.
The Second Photo
Another admission; this photo was staged. I was home alone when the postman delivered our envelopes containing the outcome of our Virgin London Marathon applications. I think it was the first week in October. It was clear from the outside of the envelopes that the contents were very similar but not exactly the same. One envelope (mine) said “You’re In” the other (Liz’s) said “Charity Places Still Available”. I opened my envelope to read confirmation that it was true, I had been offered a place and phoned Liz with the mixed news. She was very pleased for me and somewhat relieved that her application had not been successful. I left her envelope unopened as I read the contents of mine with some trepidation.
Neither of us actually felt ready for a 2010 marathon; we’d only applied through the ballot because we’d read that eventually they give you a place if you’ve applied unsuccessfully a number of times. We just wanted to start that process. Having been lucky enough to be offered a place I didn’t feel I could turn it down to wait for a better time or for a year when we could both run.
The magazines sent to both those offered a place through the ballot and those who weren’t offered a place were almost identical. The difference being that all the ads and articles in the “successful” mag start “Congratulations ….” and the ones in the “unsuccessful” mag start “Tough luck loser ……”.
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