20 minutes

Well it's an improvement, but not much of one. I ran for 20 minutes non-stop on Thursday but by the end I was getting very sore. So it's 5 weeks out from the London Marathon now and I can kiss goodbye to a sub 3.10 time which was looking quite comfortable 3 weeks ago. I am still intending to make the start as I do not feel that I have lost enough fitness to not finish, but of course it is whether I can get even a moderately long run in before then. If I can run 13 to 15 miles beforehand without my hip and back getting stupidly sore then that should be fine, but I will now be treating the race as an easy training run and hopefully search around for a marathon in the summer. There's not many of them about at that time but I am sure that I can find something and go for the good for age time that I want.

Despite having barely turned a wheel this year it's the first tt of the season next week, a 25. I'm really looking forward to it. I am expecting very little and again, it's going to be a training session and a catchup with friends more than anything. Whatever happens, it will be a season's best.  :-)  The Kingston Phoenix have a great list of tt events and I intend to use them as my training in preparation for the Dambuster tri in the summer.

You can probably tell, the mojo isn't flowing too well at the moment. There's so much else going on at home and at work that my hobby is taking a backseat. Normally, I'd be a bit stressed about it but I have to remind myself that it is just a hobby. Should I make the start line of London then I am going to go and run a marathon and enjoy the atmosphere of one of the greatest events that occurs in the capital. What's not to like about that?

I have been eating a lot of hot cross buns, which of course means Devizes to Westminster time.It will be the first Easter in three years where I have not been involved. I have had the odd pang, wishing I was doing it again although the weather this year would have made it very difficult to train. I do also wonder if I would have this back injury if I had carried on paddling, which is the best core workout ever.

4 minutes

I tried to go out for another run this afternoon and I managed a paltry 4 minutes before having to turn and walk back. My back's been a bit better over the last couple of days so I thought I might be able to do a short one, but almost as soon as I started I knew that there was no real change. I found some great exercises on the Kinetic-Revolution site which I have been using to strengthen my glutes and hamstrings but they are not going to make a difference overnight.

It looks like I am going to have to re-evaluate my goals for the marathon. At the moment it's just about getting to the startline. and anything else is a bonus.

Tick tock

So I'm stretching, icing, strengthening and anything else I can think of to sort out this hip injury, and guess what? It's making absolutely no difference whatsoever. Clock's ticking.......

Doing the dirty dog

No running all last week. Bah. The pain in my lower back just wouldn't go away and in fact got worse despite a complete rest.  It has been so frustrating. My running had gone so, so well and the last run I did, the 21 miler had been done at sub 3.30 pace with a last couple of miles at sub 3 pace while feeling very easy and with no inkling during the run of what was to come. My cold cleared up within a few days and on Thursday, despite my back and bum cheek feeling very achy I tried a gentle run. I ran a total of 10 metres before knowing it was a lost cause and got straight back in the front door. :-(

It seems to be my glutes which have been asked to work too hard and do too much. I guess with hindsight doing an 18, 20 and 21 mile run on three consecutive weekends was simply more than I could cope with although at the time everything was tickety-boo. I don't think it's actually that serious but it is taking a while to heal up. I've been having ice-baths, stretching and I have been doing some gentle glute strengthening and stability exercises. It's no surprise that they are very weak. One of the exercises I have been doing is 'the dirty dog'. Basically, on all fours and then you cock your leg up like a dog having a pee. My kids were in stitches watching me do it and they have considerably stronger glutes than me.

It has upset me that this has happened. It was all going so well and this has disrupted my training at precisely the point I should be putting in my last big block. I also had to dns the VO2 duathlon yesterday. However I was further ahead than  I thought I would be and I had already put in 3 good quality long runs. If I can get this shaken off by the end of this week then I think a sub 3.10 should still be on the cards. If not.......

I went out this evening and ran 8 minutes before I had to turn and limp / walk home. It's touch and go again.

A tale of two runs

Friday's run was meant to be a 9 mile marathon paced effort and it was but it was really hard work. Another early start and a very cold morning were not conducive to a hard, sustained effort. I was also stupid in not wrapping up properly so I got cold very quickly and my mojo was at a very low ebb. I got the session done but it was thoroughly unenjoyable. Saturday morning was my long run with the aim of getting 20 miles done and Simon was going to accompany me. He's still not feeling 100% but he has the remarkable ability to be able to go out and do a long endurance session on very little miles, but that said he has been very consistent with his biking over the winter which shows. I took was thoroughly wrapped up with time; full Lycra, snood, hat, gloves. The absolute works.  I looked like an extra from Ice Station Zebra.

We did a hilly loop that took us up to the back of Bocketts Farm and Denbeighs before running for a couple of miles out to Dorking and then back to Leatherhead, with a couple of  5km loops near Simon's house. The only fly in the ointment was the fact I had to stop at 15 miles for what could only be described as 'gastric issues'. :-(.

The good news was that my last 3 miles were comfortably my fastest and I felt really strong despite taking no energy on board for the rest of the run. Well, I felt strong until the afternoon when my nose started to run and a sore throat flared up, I presume brought about after my cold run on Friday. Thankfully, this week is a rest week, so I am hopeful that I can take it easy and recover.

A man on a bike

Today was my second ride out on a bicycle this year. After all the work I put into #Turbovember I have hardly turned a wheel and today it showed. I could reel off a myriad of excuses regarding rubbish weather, ill children needing dropping off at grandparents and lack of mojo, but ultimately I have enjoyed getting some running fitness back and with the London Marathon looming large, with the enticing goal of a 'good for age' time within my grasp, biking and swimming have taken a hit. But I need to start doing something now if I am to achieve a pb at the Dambuster tri and I would also like to get my tt times down as I have blogged before, so I need to get a a couple of sessions in to make that a reality.

When I arranged to meet Simon earlier this week the sun was shining and it looked like Spring was here. Que this morning; barely above freezing, a stiff wind and no sun whatsoever. Jeez... Simon promised me a steady pace. He lied. After 30 minutes I was humping all over my bike trying to keep some semblance of forward motion as we took in some of the less demanding Surrey Hills. Despite Simon still not feeling 100% from when we did the Watford Half, he still left me for dead. It was not made easier by the fact I couldn't get into the granny ring and no amount of twiddling the barrel adjuster could get it to shift.

We got lost on the way to Peaslake where we were going to defrost and have a cup of tea at the post office and ended up God knows where, before finding a road back to Holmbury St Mary. It was an embarrassingly slow 45 miles. Proof positive that run fitness does not equate to cycle fitness. This weekend I intend to get the commuter bike back up and running otherwise the tri season will be over before its really begun.

Still here

For the past six weeks I have consistently run five times per week as part of my #Jantastic running and my build to the London marathon. Last year it all ended at approximately five weeks when my foot flared up with  a vengeance and at times it has seemed that my old legs might let me down again, but this time it's been my hamstrings and lower back which have been wound tight. However, last week, a funny thing happened . The aches went away. I was disconcerted, sure in the knowledge that my muscles were due to tear themselves to bits, but they didn't. I had my best week's running in a very, very long time. I can only put it down to my body adapting somewhat to the training stress at last.

An interval session, a 9 mile tempo run and a few easy 5 milers were capped off with a 19 mile run on Saturday morning. Up at 6am and on the pavement by 6.15 I  was expecting my legs to be tight and sore again, not liking the early start, but instead of the awkward hobble-shuffle I was pretty fluid from the off. Running to an easy rpe I took it steady for 15 miles and then picked it up over the last 4, mainly because that was what I had planned to do but also because if I didn't get to the loo pdq then I was going to have a lot of explaining to do. :-/   I covered those last 4 miles at around 7.05 pace which was good, but the real positive from it and the 18 miles I had run the previous weekend was not a hint of me running out of fuel. Yes, I was tired but not the king of tiredness you get from glycogen depletion. It looks like the speedwork and threshold work is really paying dividends on my long run. :-)

It was the Kingston Phoenix Awards Dinner on Saturday night. I was given a couple of gongs for some handicap wins last year while Simon didn't have enough arms for the amount of trophies that he won. It dawned on me I have not turned a pedal in anger in 6 weeks *embarrassed face*. I've got a duathlon to do next week. Maybe I should think about dusting off the Van Nic.

Watford Half Marathon 2013

After having a rest week I was looking forward to this, my first race of the year and my first running race since Luton in November 2011. I was hoping that the really achy legs I had been suffering with would sort themselves out during my mini-taper and that I would enjoy the run and as it turned out, they did.  Having thought about it most of the week I was hoping to run a comfortable 1.35hrs, maybe with a negative split and finish strongly. That was the plan anyway. Simon was running too, although when he came to pick me up he looked like death warmed up; he'd had a cold all week and didn't look in any fit state to run but he was going to take it steady and see how it went.

My first, and as it turned out, only problem of the day was the fact that I had lost my race number and chip, which meant I had to go and get a replacement. This in turn meant that in the results I am listed as Deborah. :-/ The only blip (by my doing) on an otherwise excellent event. And the course was really pretty. Watford hardly conjours up images of rolling fields and rose covered cottages, but it really was. The course would be described as 'sporting' or 'honest'. Uphill to halfway and downhill from then on. A few short-sharp rises and some gentle rollers. It was a really good course.

It's funny how as soon as you pin a number to your chest you're able to work harder than you previously thought possible. I deliberately didn't look at my garmin for quite a while, wanting to get myself tuned into how I felt again, rather than relying on it wholeheartedly. I wanted to get myself into an easy cruise where I was working comfortably and within myself. After a couple of miles I looked up properly for the first time as the field thinned out a bit to see one of the flag pacers just ahead and I realised he was the 1.30hrs pacer. Doh, too fast and a check of my watch showed I was running 6.50 miles. What to do? I felt really comfortable so I thought I might as well go with it and see what happens. I was overtaking quite a few fast starters and some of the people around me were working much harder than I so I presumed their wheels were going to fall off long before mine.

At halfway I was feeling it a bit and I had a mile of 7.07 as I climbed the largest hill and over the next couple of miles I began to reel in the 1.30 pacer and caught him at 9 miles. We had a quick chat, (apparently the side winds were proving tricky) before pressing on. My 'comfortably easy' pace was now becoming a 'comfortable hard' one as I got into a small group that began to push on. My 11th mile was the fastest of the race (6.11) as I broke away with another fella as we entered the park for the final coupe of miles. This fast mile took its toll and I could feel myself beginning to tie-up, although still overtaking a couple of people towards the end.

So how did I do? Well much better than I could have hoped for.

The stats are 164th/1703. 1:28:14 (1:27:56 chip time) That worked out as a 2 minute negative split. I am, as the saying goes, like a dog with two tails. I thought I might be looking at 1:31 ish on a good day but to go well under 1hr30 is well beyond what I was expecting and to do it relatively comfortably  is a massive bonus. Two things to work on, however. Hills. I need to build some proper leg strength. As soon as the road kicked up I slowed more than I really should be doing. And two, pure endurance. While I was still running 6.50 miles at the end it was very hard work and I just didn't have the stamina in my legs, so it's really important I get my long runs in and address this. I am delighted, but I still have a very long way to go.

Teetering on the brink

Gotta have a plan.

So another solid week's marathon training bar one session, the most important one, the long run. Simon and I were due to run 2 laps of Richmond Park early on Sunday for a steady 15 miles, but within a few hundred metres I knew it was not going to happen. My left hamstring and calf were very tight and the early start and ineffective warm up were taking their toll. After 5 minutes I had to stop and stretch again but I could feel it was only helping so much. I found on the flat and downhill it was ok-ish but on uphills seemed to get worse. After another couple of stretch stops we got back to the car and stopped with 7.5 miles on the clock. Not a disaster, but not what was planned. The first seeds of doubt being sown. I felt guilty that Simon had taken the trouble to drive all the way over to pick me up and I probably could have struggled around, but that's what it would have been, a struggle, rather than a gentle aerobic long run.

I also had in the back of my mind that I had to run the following night to qualify for my London Marathon place and it would be pretty rubbish if I turned up and then couldn't actually run. Three of us from work travelled up from leafy Surrey to the City and ran with 20 others around the Thames path taking in some fabulous sights while dodging commuters and tourists. I took it very gingerly for the first 2 miles and my leg felt much better. So did I take it easy? Nah. Got my head down on the way home and caught up with the guys at the front. :-) 

So it looks like I am going to have to be careful and really focus on some strength, stretching and core exercises, so the rest of this week is going to be a rest week, still running but dropping the intensity of some of the sessions. I have my marathon programme on the fridge and the fact I can see a good few weeks ahead helps me to keep the bigger picture in mind. Best a rest now than a full blown injury in the near future.

I have the Watford half on Sunday, which will be my first race this year and my first real test of my marathon preparation so far.

And relax.......

Thankfully I got it wrong. I will be able to do the training run next Monday to qualify for the London Marathon team. Phew.

I celebrated tonight by going out and running some Yasso 800s. Bart Yasso found a simple correlation between an 800 metre track session and the runner's marathon time. If you want to run a 3 hour marathon then if you can do a track session that involves running 10 x 800, with each rep in 3 minutes and with a 3 minute rest interval, then you should have it in you to complete it (on the understanding that you are getting your long runs and mp runs in too.) apparently, this should work for any marathon time. Want to run a 4 hr 20 marathon? Then do your 800s in 4 minutes 20 seconds with an equal rest. Simples.

So some 20 odd years after last stepping onto the Kingsmeadow track in anger I went to run 7x800 in 3.10 with a 3.10 rest. The idea is that one works up to the 10 reps over a number of weeks. My times were 2.58, 54, 49, 51, 49, 52, 54. So, is this good or bad? Good, I guess in that my reps were considerably more speedy than planned but bad in that my pacing is obviously all over the place. I think it also confirms what I already knew. Speed work I can do, pure endurance which is needed for a marathon? Not so much. :-/
 I'll attempt the session again with 8 reps in a fortnight and try to even them out to 2.55 and shorten the recovery. Tomorrow will be a rest day and lots of stretching.

Damn you, snow

I've had a bit of a kick in the teeth today as I was meant to go up to the City to do a training run that would guarantee my London marathon place. Understandably the run was called off due to the icy conditions on the pavements, but I cannot do the rescheduled run next week which means I don't get my place. So it looks like I am going to have to try to find another spring marathon. Somewhat vexing but not the end of the world. If all goes to plan, and so far it is, then next year will be a dead cert with a 'good for age' slot.

In the meantime, today was a relaxed 5 mile run in ankle deep snow. It was good.

Winter running

I have had a really solid 2 weeks' training, albeit all of it running. #Jantastic is helping to get me out the door but actually my motivation has been very high anyway, desperate to get run fit again. Aiming at five runs per week, one of the reasons that cycling's taken a bit of a hit is that I am having a full rest on the other two days. Normally, there would be a relaxed bike or swim but for the time being I want to give my legs the chance to be as fresh as possible while loading on the training intensity and volume. I have started to discover again the sensation of running relatively fast while not feeling unduly fatigued. Turns out the training works.

I'm still getting used to my garmin, although I am enjoying using it as a training tool. On Thursday I went out for what was meant to be a marathon pace run for 8 miles. I am looking at 3hrs 10 at the moment which is 7.10 minute miling. The garmin 410 has a virtual training partner which can be set to a certain pace and you effectively race the partner. So, off I went with it set to 7.10. After a minute or so I checked the watch to see that I was too slow so I sped up. Another 30 seconds and still down; what the....? Before I knew it I was barrelling along thinking 'This seems a bit fast.' It was. All of a sudden I was 20 seconds up on the watch, running along at 6.50 pace. :-/  I was enjoying myself and it felt good, so I kept with it, slowing up slightly in the last 2 miles. 9.5 miles done feeling better than I have had in a long time. That contrasted somewhat with today's run. I had to be up at stupid o' clock to get my run in before the forecast snow materialised but with it being so cold, so early and so slippy, it was just about ticking off some miles safely. With 5 miles of the 14 to go I thought about upping my pace, but couldn't. My legs and in particular my hamstrings were still in bed.

The man dressed as a banana

I really enjoy listening the the Marathon Talk podcast. I have always found it entertaining and informative and I particularly like the interviews. I am usually plugged in when on the turbo while doing my lower intensity sessions or I listen in the evening before going to bed. During part of the podcast this week Martin Yelling was talking about having a reason to train and get out of the door and this was quite timely as one of my reasons for getting my head down and doing some hard work towards a spring marathon is the man dressed as a banana. I have actually been thinking about him quite a bit over the last week or two. Let me explain.

I have always considered myself a serious runner; not a jogger. Most of my runs have a purpose. I do a warm up, I run, I do a warm down. Most of the time I know what I am doing and I am confident in my ability to coach myself. I may not always do the right thing as my ego sometimes gets in the way, but in the main I know what I am doing. And when I race, I run as hard as I can. I may languish in mid-pack mediocrity but I try hard and enjoy racing when my body allows. So in 2008 when I last did the London Marathon,while it was my first attempt at the distance and my build-up had not been perfect I felt confident enough that 3.15 would be well within my grasp. I got it horribly wrong. The wheels fell off, the wall was hit, whichever metaphor you want to use, and while I was hobbling, walking and barely jogging the last 7 miles, that was when the man dressed as a banana overtook me.

I cannot even begin to convey the depth of my despair when this bandy-legged bloke, dressed as a giant fruit went past me like I was standing still ( I *was* virtually standing still). Me, a serious runner and for many years a club runner being left for dead by a comedy fruit. It was compounded some minutes later when another man dressed as a cannibal, complete with a giant bone through his nose and rubber spear went past, swiftly followed by a celebrity chef. (Gordon Ramsay, if you're interested, although he detonated himself some 3 miles later and I was able to overtake him at a walk just before the line)

So , the man dressed as a giant banana is my motivation. I really don't want to be behind any comedy running fruit or vegetable in April. I don't think that I could handle it and therefore my running motivation is high and running has been going pretty well. I am back on track after the blip of my cold over Christmas. I am mixing it up with some speedwork and longer runs, although still only at 10-12 miles so not excessively long. This morning I had a good ride out with Simon and I ended up doing 42 miles including 4x10minutes tt efforts with a 3 minute recovery. Simon and I took it in turns to take the front. I was quite weak when the road kicked up which is something that no amount of turbo work can improve.

Onwards.