Why a runstreak doesn't work for me

What did the twelfth day of Christmas bring me? Sore shins and tight Achilles it seems. What started as a way to catch up on missed runs turned into a run streak and has ended with me jettisoning the idea. It has at least confirmed something that I knew already, I need rest days. 

Run #1

The weekend started with a bit of parkrun tourism. We were due to meet with Paula's folks in Southwold so I wanted to take in some tourism en route. We originally thought we were meeting near Thetford Forest so a bit of replanning led us to Ipswich instead. 

It turns out this was the penultimate Saturday at the current location for the Ipswich team and they were met with a lot of parkrun tourists and a record attendance. The course was two laps, with a 30/70 split between gravel path and grass. It would be fair to call this my least favourite type of run, soft and heavy grass!

I started reasonably well, expecting a 25:00 on this course due to it's nature & no faster. My first kilometre was around the 5:00 mark, four more of these & I'd hit my target time. The course then started to go around a watery area, with some nice big puddles to avoid, single file traffic almost & I could feel myself slowing to the pace around me. Once out of that section I realised the rest of the lap was off road. An up & down to get to a lap of a football field, followed by another up & down to get to the same point, then a lap of the cricket field.

Struggling through Ipswich parkrun

I already felt like toast before the first lap ended & despite a downhill start to lap 2 didn't have any great momentum. My five minute splits were now up in the 5:20/km range & although everyone around me appeared to be struggling, I felt like I was going backwards. By the off road section of the second lap both Achilles were painful. The only slight bonus being less shin pain due to running on grass.

Ipswich parkrun - A weak finish

I could barely muster a sprint finish & crossed the line in a resigned fashion, 26:34 being my worst result since February & probably the most disheartening given I'm only one month removed from a PB that was 2:35 quicker. I've had a good year with parkrun, 19 events more than doubling my total to 35, but this was not the way to sign off a year.

Slower & Slower & Slower.....

The course was unforgiving, probably quicker on a dry day, but not one for an attack on a PB. Despite all of this the event was well managed & run. Will be worth a return to the new course at some point to see how it compares.

The Eat #1

From Ipswich we carried on up the A12 to Southwold to meet with Paula's folks. This meant that at least two seaside staples would be ticked off: chips & ice cream.

Billionaire's Shortbread from Two Magpies

Chips were scheduled for lunchtime at the pier so we marched up to the town centre itself. We stumbled upon The Black Olive Deli & acquired some cheeses, olives & scotch eggs for consumption in the evening. Two doors down was the Two Magpies Bakery, where I decided immediate sustenance was needed in the form of a festive sausage roll & cakes for afternoon tea were picked up.

Two Magpies Bakery, Southwold

Of course one of the reasons to visit Southwold is pay homage to the Adnams brewery & distillery. They have an excellent shop local to us, but the one in their native town boasts an even wider selection of goods. I'm not an overly keen pint drinker, but the Spindrift blonde ale is always worth picking up. Mrs H added some Cider to the basket & then we found the World's best gin. Although Santa had been kind enough to add 3 gins to my collection, it would be rude not to sample the gin & perhaps make a purchase.

Gin before midday is always an interesting prospect, but you could taste straight away why it had medalled so well. This meant a bottle had to be added to the basket & with some Chorizo Jam  to be saved for a later occasion.

Fish & Chips on the pier, followed by ice cream made for an excellent day, shame the run at the start had to spoil it.

The Run #2

Sunday was going to be a day for simply maintaining the run streak, getting an easy mile under my belt. We were staying at the High Lodge resort near Southwold & to wake up to a nice frost made me a bit nervous about the lack of layers I had packed.

An early morning frost at High Lodge, Suffolk

I threw on an extra t shirt underneath my long sleeve top & decided to run from our lodge to the entrance of the golf course. My father in law had told me it was only half a mile......

After 1.4km & with the entrance at least a further half kilometre away I decided to turn back! Although I was running easy, I had not intention on it getting out of hand! Despite the easy pace my shins were painful throughout & that pain stayed with me throughout the day as we headed up to Norwich to take in the delights of Alan Partridge's home town.

Even after a mustard bath (courtesy of the Colman's shop) to ease my pain I still felt wretched in the evening.

A mustard bath anyone? Known for being anti inflammatory

The Conclusion

On the drive home (was going to include a lap of Norwich whilst singing to Roachford but Paula vetoed this!) I pondered my current situation. My run streak stood at 11 days, yet the easy days weren't worthwhile. Getting out for just one mile seemed like a lot of effort for little reward. If anything I was getting reduced returns as I went. My legs feel more & more tired, both Achilles are displaying signs of tendinitis & both shins are painful. The fact that every injury I experience points to tight calves should be a message.

At first the run streak was a means to catch up on lost runs. Then it became something to do over Christmas to keep the festive calories off. Given that my weight has gone up 3lbs in a week I think it would be fair to say that as plans go, it was a poor one!

So with all of that in mind, this run streak is done. It was worth trying, always nice to change up training a bit, but this change has turned out to be negative. I'm now going to take a couple of days off until the NYD parkrun in Chelmsford, ice & stretch regularly. I've learnt what I knew already, that I need rest days to allow for everything to recover.

This isn't sitting in a field waiting for Paula to pick me up, but it is a realisation that when something doesn't work, it's better to change it than risk further injury.

The 7 days in a row achievement from Nike+, for the first & last time!

Runstreak: Day 9

Nowt much to report today. The Run was what runstreakers call a rest day run. The goal being to register a mile to maintain the streak.
So that's why I did. Just under 2 miles mid afternoon to escape my working from home.
Tomorrow I take this streak into double figures......

Boxing Day tempos

After a day of gluttony yesterday, today's schedule of tempo running was very much needed.
I sat through the Boxing Day test match highlights, in a way thankful that we weren't there! The moment they were over I headed out into perfect running conditions. The aim of today was five sets of tempo. 4 minutes at tempo pace with 2 minutes in between at easy pace to recover. This gave me scope to get to Elsenham & back. The roads and pavements were quiet, only two other runners seen. I found myself feeling like I was struggling at a higher tempo pace, yet my Nike watch was suggesting all was fine. I think I had a bit of a lull during the third and fourth repetition, yet recovered to finish the set with decent pace.
These speed work sessions are key to increasing my comfort levels at faster paces and hopefully also provide stamina for the long runs. This morning everything went reasonably well. The run streak is extended to 8 successive days, I've never been this consistently active and hope to continue it into 2014.
No eat to write home about. Today we'll be clearing up left overs from our past two days of hosting.
This weekend sees a change of plan. We're going to be further east than planned, so my parkrun of choice is likely to be Ipswich.

Xmas food & run double bill

In an attempt to not fall asleep in a post Xmas lunch food coma I thought I'd add a few notes on my running and consumption over the festive period.

Xmas Eve Run

With stormaggedon forcing me to work from home on Xmas Eve I decided to head out after completing some morning training. By early afternoon the worst of the weather had passed and I was able to enjoy a bit of sunshine. The kilometres were just easy paced, but it allowed me to maintain a run streak into a sixth day. The calories burnt also gave me some free consumption in the evening! Completing the run also brought me past the 3000km mark. Not a bad effort in 3 years and 7 months. That's 300,000 calories approximately or as I prefer to measure 6000 fingers of Kit Kat!!!

Xmas Eve Eat

We were joined by both sets of parents to celebrate Xmas Eve. We laid on a full spread of food, including some homemade sausage rolls and a cheeseboard including a mere 9 varieties!!
The highlight of the cheese board had to be a blue of Dolcelette style, Blue Murder from Scotland (even better when you say it in Scotch), I picked it up from the exceptional Rippon Cheese near Victoria station in London. The sausage rolls benefited from a bit of chutney included and a sprinkling of smoked salt, crushed garlic, dried onion and seeds over them. Very moorish and plenty left over!

Xmas Day Run

Once presents with Mrs H had been exchanged I headed out for some lazy Christmas morning km. I had intended to take on the loop, yet more heavy rain overnight left me running 10 minutes only to need to U turn, there's no point taking on large puddles and ruining the feet.
After the U Turn I made a small loop around Stansted, passing my in-laws on their Christmas walk. Another 5km banked, no great pace, but miles in the legs. Now my run streak stands at 7 days in a row.
My only concern at present is a bit of pain in my shins. It could be the start of shin splints, I need to give it some research to see how best to treat them.

Xmas Day Eat

What better way tocelebrate Christmas than to gorge on food? I got back from the run and served up Eggs Benedict for four, a well earned  fuel for the earlier effort.

After an hour or so to relax it was time to prepare Christmas lunch. The two rib of beef had been picked up from the Butchers at the weekend. To complete the spread we added roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots and parsnips, leeks, green beans, peas, stuffing and some rich gravy. The meat was perfectly rare and the rib tasted great. 

If that wasn't enough we'd bought in desert. After putting in the effort for the roast it was time for a hassle free follow up. A Choux ring of epic proportions was shared between all. Now it's time to sleep it off, allegedly tomorrow is a tempo day....

The commute double up

Sometimes it's nice to shake up a routine. After four consecutive days of running I fancied adding a fifth. Normally an early shift makes a morning run a non starter.
Today, with the weather due to turn nasty later in the day I decided to jump straight out of bed into my running garb and combine my commute with a run. This meant to a run of two halves. First a short saunter down to the station, 1.22km in 8 minutes. Not much faster than my usual walk to the station in all honesty!!
The change in routine also meant avoiding the tube and heading straight into Liverpool St.
My GPS had synced even before leaving the station, so I was straight into a step from the forecourt, no hanging around for those pesky satellites! I never take a direct route to Westminster, too much traffic and consequently stopping if you stay north of the river.
Instead I headed south as quickly as I could, although a poor decision to go via Southwark Bridge rather than Millennium had me stuck at lights for an age. Once over the river it allowed me to drop onto the riverside path. This was perfect. No traffic! This meant my pace increased from plod to easy and I was soon heading into Westminster with views of the Eye and Parliament. 5km in 32 minutes isn't going to set the world alight but it was a nice start to the day. Running with a backpack is always a challenge, whether it adds a huge amount of time is doubtful.
Number six tomorrow?

A frustrating weekend

How about a nice 5k PB to go into the Christmas period on a high? Would be great wouldn't it? No concern about that extra three turkey legs, the entire pack of After Eights or the gluttonous amounts of Mulled Cider.
Well, that happened this weekend. Just not for me though.
Instead the weekend presented me with a mixed bag of crap running, good running, silly fines and some unexpected comedy.

The Run #1

Saturday morning meant a trip to parkrun & a return to Oak Hill. Our friend Joel was aiming to take on the 30:00 barrier for the first time, whilst Fergie was pacing him & seeing if an luminous orange Christmas jumper would be sufficient to divert planes from their course to Heathrow. I fancied taking on my PB, the course at Oak Hill is gentle, no major surprises.
I felt my start was reasonable, a 4:55 first kilometre, just outside of where I'd want my pace to be.
I then appeared to hit a wall. The remaining 4k were just a shambles. I was sluggish, heavy, felt like I was running through treacle. Even berating myself on the 2nd lap did nothing. It appeared the more effort I put in, the less I got in return.
The result was a 25:32. My worst parkrun since June. It would be easy to blame the weather, the take away the night before, a crap night's sleep, a combination of the three. But ultimately I was just crap.
Luckily there was some good fortune amongst us. Joel not only broke the 30:00 barrier, he emphatically smashed it with an awesome 29:22 effort. New years day in Chelmsford is next on the agenda for both of us.
To compound the misery we then received a parking ticket on the way home! Turns out 15 mins of free parking is not something Enfield offers!!!!

Some Comedy....

After heading into work to clear some paperwork I was reunited with Mrs H for a trip to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Yes, New Year's Eve. At the BBC no less. We were attending The Horne Section NYE show for Radio 4. Somehow we ended up in the front row. We then seemed to attract the attention of our host, Alex Horne. For a listen of our awkward, yet bizarrely funny experience on the radio, tune into Radio 4 on NYE at 2330, or NYD at 1500 for an extended version. I suspect my mother will be asking for a CD to send to all of the family!!

The Eat

We finished the evening by bracing Oxford Circus and some crazy rain & diving into Ping Pong. Over some dim sum we had a giggle at the silliness of the evening. Mrs H is still convinced I played a part in us being in the front row!

The Run #2

Could Sunday rescue the weekend? This was the forth consecutive day of running and it nearly didn't happen. I got myself into my kit, opened the curtains to see rainmaggedon. After a quick scan of the forecast I went back to bed for an hour and headed out in near perfect conditions at 9am.
The plan was 70 minutes of easy pacing. What a difference 24 hours makes! Today I had no issues with rhythm, breaking in a shiny new pair of Adidas Supernova Sequence 5's as I went. The time required allowed me to merge two of my favourite routes, the loop & a trip to Elsenham.
Time & distance wise it was my longest outing since Copenhagen. I felt reasonable throughout, a good way to put the parkrun debacle to bed and look forward rather than backward.

I might even head out for a run tomorrow to make it 5 in a row......

Project Catchup #2

To allow for maximum confusion, today being Friday, I completed Thursday's run this morning.......
4th run of the week and we've not even reached the weekend! The plan for today was five sets of 3:2 fast:easy splits, bookended by some easy time for warm up and warm down. With time being a key factor, I chopped the easy sections to 5 minutes at the start and about 4 at the end to take me home.
Despite it raining heavily last night, the skies had cleared, meaning for not ideal conditions underfoot. It is day's like this that baselayers come into their own, allowing me to stay warm without the need for lots of unbreathable layers.
I was happy with my pace on all five fast intervals. Wasn't perfect, but enough of a push to be more than satisfied with the efforts. After a lung-busting game of squash yesterday it was the perfect follow up.
With the Oak Hill parkrun tomorrow it appears that apart from a 60 minute easy run I have caught up with my schedule. A good week so far.

Project Catchup

One of my many poorly conceived ideas was to run streak my way back to parity on my training plan. Sadly this came to a halt after a run streak of 2 days. A dead on 9am meeting yesterday meant I couldn't complete the 60 mins I wanted and take a slightly later train. The later train always runs into issues and I end up in the office past 0900. Not to worry, I packed my running gear with the intention of a lunchtime run following a morning of meetings.
Unfortunately the last meeting included lunch and after four hours of meetings my enthusiasm for a run had evaporated.
I then decided to take an early train home and run to my swimming lesson. Not quite the hour I desired, but miles in the bank. A three and a half hour commute not only nixed the run, but also the last swimming lesson of the year. I'd like to thank the driver who decided to take on a level crossing. Even after that cleared the winds decided to add some trees to the line for good measure.
All in all, yesterday was a write off. 60 minutes easy lost.
The good news is that I completed Saturday's run on Tuesday and Tuesday's run today (Thursday).
On Tuesday I escaped the office at lunchtime and took on some pacing. 20 minutes of steady, 10 fast, bookended by easy. Running in London always added extra challenges, such as traffic lights and steps, on the whole though my pace was excellent and I was able to move through the gears with ease.
This morning the target was 40 easy, followed by a quick turnaround to make the train. I was a bit ploddish to start with. Pace wasn't with me, not a huge concern as the goal today was to bank miles, not effort.
Tomorrow will be time to take on Thursday's run, despite it being Friday. Then the weekend brings a trip to Oak Hill parkrun and an easy Sunday. This will leave Project Catchup at -1. Perhaps a cheeky run on Monday????

Where has the running gone?

The lack of content in the past week is sadly a true reflection of my running. Ready for a list of excuses?
Thursday - into work early to resolve a couple of issues
Friday - incapable of running early morning following a lack of sleep post Xmas party
Saturday - car being serviced at 0830, sleep catch up left no time to get out
Sunday - was all dressed ready to run. Then my work phone rang and a 4 hour trip to the office buried that idea.

So by week 2 my Helsinki plans have been momentarily derailed. Hence why this morning I donned the 010's, the floro jacket and got out to pick up where I left off last week.

This meant some hill sprints. The plan was to take on ten repetitions. I headed out and after waiting nearly 5 minutes just for my Nike GPS to try and work I eased into a pace. Having had nearly a week off I decided to take 10 minutes to warm up and got myself to the bottom of one of the local hills. After the first climb I realised that ten reps would be out of the window and to just keep going as long as possible. I aborted after the fifth climb, easily the weakest set of hills I've done.

As poor as I felt, it was better to be out there running than have another day of inactivity. My current plan is to make up on the missed days and get back to normality.

With the absence of running over the weekend you'd think that I'd perhaps cut back on the eating? Think again!!

On Saturday, with our car at the garage we headed into Bishops Stortford. This meant I could get a Knead Food sausage roll. Normally we get to Stortford in the afternoon and I miss out on the awesomeness. With time to kill we got a chance to take a seat, relax and take on the epic KF Sausage Roll. This was the first time I've ever used a knife and fork for a sausage roll, yet when it is essentially half a pig wrapped in pastry, cutlery is required! Didn't need to eat until the evening!!!

On Sunday, having got back from work it was time to get creative in the kitchen. Cheese on toast is always popular in our house, I decided to take this to another level with an attempt at Welsh Rarebit. I used a Hugh Fearnley Whatshisname recipe off the beeb website. Using some honey mustard, Innis & Gunn beer and some very mature cheese I put together the cheesy goo. If anything the dish was spoilt by having too much topping! Mrs H wasn't a fan, but I consumed so much I had a cheese headache (similar to brain freeze).

A big weekend of food, now a big week of running to follow.

An easy weekend

A successful end to the first of twenty six weeks on the road to Helsinki. In terms of training I think it's the first week I've managed all four planned runs. There was a slight change yesterday as I decided not to work so the planned parkrun was deferred and replaced with an easy run.
The weekend afforded me some daylight, allowing me to rediscover the local routes normally unavailable due to the shroud of early morning darkness.
Yesterday I was back on the loop. A nice, undulating 7km lap of Stansted. I intended to run easy, but found my pace to be good throughout. This meant I was able to push the pace in the final uphill part of the run.
Today I decided to take on a lap of Elsenham. Again the pace was meant to be easy, this didn't seem to be the case though. I seemed to have rhythm and every five minute section was more in the steady range, 5:30-5:40 per km. In fact I was back in Stansted even earlier than planned. As I was intending to run for an hour this meant adding distance. It was only in the final ten minutes that my pace slipped slightly, negotiating the last climb home.
As weekends go, it was an excellent one. To have two runs in which I had plenty of capacity for pace and a good rhythm made for a very positive couple of days. They'll be ups and downs along the journey to Helsinki, it's these good days that need to be remembered.
With a successful weekend behind me it was time to indulge on some food. This evening we entertained Paula's folks and treated them to a speciality of mine; a slice of Americana. We laid on a spread of pulled pork (slow cooked in beer for nine hours), three cheese Mac & Cheese, slaw & some spinach blanched in garlic to ensure at least some greenery!!! I might need to double up the sprint sessions next week to make up for the stodge!!

Tempo time

A short but sweet review of my tempo training this morning. I woke up at my new 0535 wake up time and made sure to find my gloves as the frost had taken a hold overnight. Despite the temptation to just watch the Ashes I felt it would be better in the long term to get some tempo training under my belt.
The plan provided the blueprint, 10 minutes easy followed by six sets of 2 tempo / 2 easy. Then another ten easy to wind down. My first three tempos went well, I found the pace to be good. I then started to favour my Achilles. With that in mind I stuck to the six tempo plan, yet got home as soon as possible to stretch out once completed.
My tight calves are continuing to cause issues, I need to stretch with the good times, not just the bad. I'm still having to wear trainers to work as the tightness is also cause the base of the Achilles to flare.
Decent pace but the need to ice, stretch and roll is always there. Kidding myself into believing that I was injury free was foolish.

Helsinki training day #1

Day one of a twenty six week training plan. Not a day to miss. I've managed to book a squash game for 9am though so I'd need to ensure I was out and back in time to make an early train.
With that in mind I fell out of bed at 0535 and put myself into my runners. The plan starts easy, just 30 minutes easy. I got myself out of the front door at 6am and went on a loop of Stansted. My pace was easy, if anything on the slow side. I was just happy to be out and rather than push the pace I wanted to nurse a slightly dodgy Achilles.
So that's day one done. Not a run I'll remember at the end of the Helsinki efforts, yet banked miles for the future.

2014 Training Plan

One day removed from the MoRunning 10k & a lazy Sunday has given me an opportunity to put together some plans for the first half of 2014.

The aim for 2014 is to finish the Helsinki City Run with a sub 1:50 half. With this in mind the 26 week plan includes:
10 parkrun events
71 hill sprints
3 10k events
2 half marathons
1 10 mile event

The plan also includes plenty of rest! Here's hoping the calves don't betray me!

MoRunning Greenwich 10k - Team BBQ on tour

November 30th. The last day on my 11 week training plan that was designed for PB hunting. A group of us assembled on a (very) cold autumnal morning. We'd already lost one of the team to parkrun duties, one to injury and another to illness. Even amongst the seven that remained we had a list of illnesses, injuries, aches and pains, plus we'd all seen the hills of Greenwich! For Joel it was his first 10k a he wanted to get round and not be a victim of the hills. It was my 19th, 3 years since my first and my last race of a turnaround year.
Once the entire team were moustached up we made our way to the start line to take on 2 laps of the park. Having experienced the hill of doom uphill during Run to the Beat, I was relieved to see us heading down it!

The Run

I'd taken into account the undulating nature of the course and realised that a PB, though nice to have, would be unlikely today. I started well, felt very relaxed and almost easy paced. When you're running fast yet not feeling any effort is required its a nice position to be in. Once we turned at the base of the hill to turn that decline into an incline I was suddenly feeling the effort!! My pace remained steady and quick through to 3km. It was between 3 & 4km that the course served up a double helping of hill.
A short but relatively steep ascend was followed by about 300m of shallow descend before turning for a 500m climb including a sharp sting in the tail. My 4th kilometre was 35 seconds slower than the 3rd and most of my 5th was spent recovering.
I crossed the line for a first lap of 25:45. Just maintaining this pace would be a nice 51:30. The problem being I was already feeling empty!! I tried to push at the start of the 2nd and was feeling reasonable through kilometres 6, 7 & 8. Though my pace had dropped slightly I dragged myself up the first hill. Suddenly the recovery descend seemed even shorter than the first lap and back we turned on ourselves for a leg sapping final ascend. Unlike in September I managed to complete the climb without resorting to a walk, I was full of sympathy for those that did though. I felt heavy legged and light headed by the end of the climb. This time the 9th km was a further 15 seconds slower than the 4th. At least this time just a kilometre remained.
I allowed myself some time to recover. The PB was out the window, a sub 52 was impossible so it was time to just salvage what I could. With the 50 minute mark approaching I managed to get Real American on the iPod and decided to kick. I was able to lengthen my stride and push for the line, crossing in 52:50 to collect my Moustache medal.
Team BBQ results:
Paul - 43:27
Andy - 44:31
Sean - 47:05
Chris - 52:50
Emily A - 53:59
Emily M - 1:01:04
Joel - 1:05:43

The Eat

Once post race coconut water and milkshakes were consumed we congregated at Wahaca in Westfield Stratford for a feast of Mexican Canteen food. Joined by some equally hungry non runners we consumed a vast array of tacos, tortillas and quesadillas. I'm sure every dish we consumed had some kind of melted cheese involved, always a winner!
The only unpopular dish appeared to be the Herring taco, a Scandinavian / Mexican fusion. I suspect there isn't a huge market for this particular mix of cultures.
It was debatable whether there was any room for dessert but it didn't stop us ordering. Many chose Churros, having run a 10k though, I opted for the Marathon Sundae!

The Recovery

Plenty of stretching is required to get my calves and quads back to a functional state. Armed with a glass of Sacred gin I've treated myself to an hour in the bath, soaking in some Natural Hero hot ginger bath oil.

The Conclusion

Having not managed many long runs since Copenhagen I think I got a par result today. In the latter half of the run I could feel a lack of stamina / miles in the legs. This alongside a lingering manflu made it hard to push in the second lap, despite the slathering of Vicks vapour rub applied. Though my pace has improved greatly in the past three months, I need to ensure stamina also builds as the focus returns to half marathon training.
Tomorrow I'll start to construct a 5 month plan. A plan that will take me to the start line in Helsinki and hopefully a 1:50 half.

Where's all the running gone?

No runs for a week? Have I fallen off the wagon? Has someone kidnapped my trainers? Have I taken up yoga full time?

Don't worry folks, there is nothing to be concerned about. I'm taking a complete week off ahead of the MoRunning 10k on Saturday. It wasn't intentional but a combination of poor weather, manflu and a hectic work schedule have given me a week of nothing.
I've been tempted to run a couple of times, yet the nagging manflu has ensured this wasn't going to happen. I'm trying to get the illness cleared up ahead of Saturday rather than worsen it.
Saturday should be fun though. The culmination of 11 weeks where I've been at my fastest.

In the absence of run, here's some eat. A home made pizza with a creme fraiche base. Awesome.

parkrun - Sponsored by Lemsip

Sometimes the sanity of runners can be called into question. Why would someone who worked until 3am then get up at 7am, leave a comfy hotel room and go running with a bunch of strangers on the other side of London?
One good reason to leave the hotel was to escape the Ashes coverage. It seems the trend for old school has made it to cricket & the England team are doing their best 1990's impression! The other reason is to try and shake off my cold / illness, it's been a week already & I'm bored of it! As I checked out of the hotel just before eight I realised I'd need everything to go in my favour just to get to the event in time. I'd failed to grasp that Valentines parkrun was an hour away from where I was staying. Luckily the tubes ran perfectly and after a gentle jog to the start I found myself at the event with plenty of time.
I even bumped into some friendly faces which allowed me to not be a parkrun loner for once!

The Run

Excuses on the table before we start.
1 - Lack of sleep. Working until stupid o'clock meant very little sleep yesterday. Two blocks of short sleep is nothing like a decent night.
2 - Illness. I'm a coughing, spluttering & sneezing mess right now. A pre race dose of Lemsip was required just to make myself passable.
3 - Lack of Breakfast. Poor preparation on my part, hadn't picked up a banana or something to eat yesterday. So this left me running on fumes.
With all this in mind I just wanted to finish. No expectations today, just get round & get home. There was a 24:00 pacer, but I realised shortly after the slightly farcical start that trying to stick with him would be suicidal. My pace for the first couple of km appeared to be around the 5:00/km mark. Being another new event I had no idea whether the course would measure short or long. One benefit of being a two lapper was seeing myself come through the first lap in sub 25 pace and knowing that it was just about finishing.
I can't say I particularly enjoyed the run. I struggled for rhythm at times and felt low in terms of energy. I could feel my pace deteriorating in the 2nd half but didn't fight it too much. At one point I kept kicking my own heels, a sure sign thaty stride wasn't great today. As the finish line approached I could hear someone behind me trying to overtake so pride kicked in and I gave it a last 100m push.
Once the race was over I was free to continue coughing away, one chap asked if I was ok, especially as running is meant to be good for you!
Overall a 24:37 is a time that I'd have bitten your hand off for 6 months ago. Today it felt so so. A mark of my improvement perhaps that I can have a bad day and still return a sub 25:00. The course is near perfect. A slightly narrow start means you need to bide your time. Other than that it is flat tarmac, definite PB potential.

The Eat

A slice of millionaires shortbread from the excellent Knead Food in Stortford was my reward for the effort. Missed out on one of their epic sausage rolls though, too late in the day. If only Bishops Stortford had a parkrun!

The Conclusion

Feeling good about the last week of this training cycle and the 10k on Saturday. Seven parkrun events in 10 weeks, unheard of for me and I've enjoyed seeing my pace return. If I can shake the cold who knows what I'm capable of next week.

Just easy

Sunday came & went without a run, trying to rest a troublesome heel was the priority. After a poor night's sleep and the build up of man flu I decided to keep to my Tuesday easy run schedule.
The temperature seems to have dropped off the scale in the past couple of days & I instantiated regretted not finding my gloves before heading out. I did at least slather on the Vicks vapour rub beforehand to try and ensure I could breath! I was aiming for 30-40 minutes at an easy pace and my timing seemed fine. After 20 minutes I was able to sleep a couple of gears and up my pace, before bringing it back to easy.
The run was nothing special, just a good way to shake the cobwebs.
More important was the assessment of my physio in the evening. I explained the heel pain and my fear of it being PF returning. He explained it was one of two things. Either it was a simple abrasion issue, caused by footwear, or it was due to a tight calf muscle causing the base of the Achilles to flare. Seeing as the pain is reasonably consistent across footwear, the latter option seems the most likely. I just need to stretch regularly to loosen off the calf.
Hardly a surprise to see my notorious calves cause another injury, at least this one is ok to run on, just makes walking painful!!

The sub 24:00 man

Well that was an unexpected result. Having been up until past midnight following the wrestling at the o2, heading to bed after a rather large G&T, consuming no breakfast & a left heel that has flared up, the last thing I expected was a PB!! There was even a chance this run wouldn't have been official. I forgot to pack my regular emergency running bag that includes £10, parkrun bar codes, toilet paper etc. My wallet was also devoid of a parkrun bar code, I was in danger of breaking the mantra DFYB (don't forget your bar code). Normally an extra bar code sits with my railcard, no dice this time!!! I quickly downloaded a bar code & luckily our hotel were able to print it for me, though at a full A4 page there was no guarantee it would scan.

The Run

Yet another Saturday where I've woken up in London. At least this one was by choice as we'd been to the WWE house show at the o2 the evening before. I now seem to have two maps I consult, a map of where the hotel is & the parkrun event map to see what events are in the vicinity. Today I woke up in Stratford so the nearest event would be Mile End, a short walk & one stop on the central line.
The moment I started walking my heel was making itself known to me, I'd have to make a call when running as to whether it would be right to continue.
After a pre race brief from Mary the Race Director we were ready to line up for the 94th running of the Mile End parkrun. I say we, yet Paula was on the sidelines, readying the camera rather than her Garmin. I seem to have developed a good sense of where I line up in the field, not making the mistake of being too far forward & frustrating faster runners & likewise not placing myself behind too many obstacles.

Line up for the start at Mile End

I set off not expecting much, I suspected the tank was empty so didn't feel I was pushing myself too hard, yet the 1st km was under 5 minutes! The second & third followed & being a two lap event I knew I could return a mid 24 if I didn't fade too much.

Airborne at the end of lap 1

The course has two minor hills that seem far harsher when running up them! The bigger of the two turned out to be a mere 7 metre climb!! I tend to slow in the final 2km of parkruns & today was no different, though not at all as exaggerated. Instead of powering up the hills on the 2nd lap I just stayed steady. I felt the pace was slowing, yet a glance at the GPS suggested I was doing just fine. Once the last climb was completed I pushed myself down the hill & continued to the line, realising that a PB was in grasp.

Finish line in sight

A further check woke me up to the reality, this could be sub 24:00. Suddenly it was worth every push & I crossed the line with an unofficial 23:58:44. Thankfully the world's largest parkrun bar code scanned & I collapsed myself onto a bench! Another personal best! A first PB away from Gunpowder since Cambridge in September 2011! A nervous wait then ensued as I fully expected the official time to round me up to 24:00 or 24:01 to take away that sub 24 away from me!



Luckily the text message came through confirming a 23:59, new PB & the desired sub 24:00!!

The Eat

Tourist fun on the Emirates Skyline

After some tourist fun & with a PB in the hutch I treated myself to a hot dog & chips & some running kit! That's not forgetting a shared side of mac & cheese!! There might have even been a cheeky cookies & cream cupcake snuck home for good measure!!! That food is hard earned! The running kit was a pair of 3/4 compression / cycling shorts. First time I've been able to find a men's pair. it seems manufacturers presume we want normal shorts or full length!

Courtesy of The Bumpkin, Westfield

The Conclusion

A very welcome & unexpected PB improvement today. It suggests that my speed & stamina are better than they have ever been. The only issue is a possibility of Plantar Fasciitis returning. Something is not completely right with my left foot & I need to ensure can recover this whilst hopefully still running.
The next target has to be a sub 50:00 for 10k. If I can maintain my parkrun pace into the 7th & 8th km then the 51:12 PB should be shattered, then it becomes a case of trying to break the 50 minute barrier.

 

Fartlek Fun

This blog post is appearing a couple of days late, life has been busy & it seems the blog suffered as a result. Thursday's are speed days for me. These sessions are designed to increase my speed & stamina.
The training plan prescribed a fartlek session for this week, rotations of sprint, walk, jog usually between lampposts. I headed out into the cold, suddenly autumnal morning & gave myself 5 minutes to warm up. Fartlek is something that is easier on urban routes & in the dark as it highlights the lampposts. This makes it ideal for the dark mornings.
Thursday was actually the first time I've completed the full allocated time for Fartlek. Usually I'm so knackered that I don't finish my full quota. Not so on this occasion, 30 minutes of constantly changing pace were banked before I slowed the pace back home. I don't feel I was holding back, so this was a nice result. Unfortunately my foot started to hurt towards the end & I gave it some ice as a precaution before heading to work.

Easy to Fast with the addition of some water

I tried & failed to convince Mrs H to join me on a run this morning. Unfortunately the comfort of bed & the drizzle outside conspired against that happening. It was a mild morning, unfortunately being autumn this usually means that there is rain about. This was the case at 0615 as I headed out the front door in my delightfully fluorescent Saucony wind breaker jacket.
Tuesdays are easy days on every training plan I put together. They are the first run of the week generally & as weekends usually involve running events or parkruns, easy miles are the best way to start the week. I also seem to be better at not forgetting a Tuesday run, my dedication to easy seems higher than to speed work!
I braced myself for an uncomfortable 45 minutes around the various estates in Stansted. The fine drizzle was at times refreshing, until you realised that it was soaking you just as well as every other type of rain! My pace was decent, hovering round the 6:00 - 6:10/km mark early on. I seem to have perfected low demand running, at least over short time periods. The test will be if I can sustain 6:00/km over 25km when training for the halves in the spring.
Everything was going rather well this morning. Then about 20 minutes in the rain started to fall with a bit more aggression. Suddenly the thought of staying out another 25 minutes became much less appealing & I upped my pace, heading directly home! The run was barely over 5km, about 32 minutes long, but it wasn't worth bringing on the dreaded man flu just to clock some easy miles.
Thursday appears to be Fartlek day this week. My training plan appears to be the gift that keeps on giving......

Two runs and a scoop of blue cheese ice cream

It's been a long but enjoyable weekend. What started with working an overnighter ended with a trip to an ice cream parlour that wouldn't have been out of place in a Malcolm Pryce book.
I found myself finishing work at the relatively decent time of 0130 & headed back to my hotel for a few hours of sleep ahead of a trip to Southwark parkrun. With three Saturdays in succession planned in the capital I've been identifying more new parkrun events to attend. Currently the plan is Southwark, Mile End & Brockwell. I was joined in Southwark by Dave, a fellow London Martian.

The Run #1

Southwark is one of the newer parkrun events I believe and attracts a field of just under 50. The park is a five minute walk from Canada Water so accessible from central London with ease.
I lined up hopeful I could return a sub 25:00, yet not overly expectant as the demands of working overnight and a lack of sleep had to be accounted for.
After five minutes my GPS watch advised me I was running at a pace of 5:29/km. This was a concern! I didn't feel in perfect rhythm but returning with a 27:00 run would have been disappointed. I focused and kicked back into life, suggesting to myself that the slow pace just proves you can't burn both ends of a candle and keep getting results.
With the run appearing to me a write off I just tried to get round. My next 3 five minute blocks were consistently quicker and the fear of a 27 was replaced with the realisation that a mid 25 would be a recovery.
I turned the final corner and realised my watch was still in the 23's, something wasn't right so I kicked for the line and stopped my watch with a bewildering 24:13. The course had measured 250m short!!! No wonder my pacing was out. After all of the concern I was only 5 seconds away from breaking my PB.
The Southwark course is a quick one. Three laps of tarmac, flat & a small enough field of competitors make this one to recommend for PB chasers. 

Southwark parkrun

Crossing the line in an unexpected near PB time

The Run #2

Saturday evening took us down to Hayling Island to see friends. I'd decided in advance to pack my running kit as a morning run along the coast would be the perfect motivation to prevent another lazy Sunday. Having run well the day before I felt that a nice gentle hour would shake the cobwebs & also create a calorie deficit to allow for a visit to the much fabled ice cream parlour before we left the island.

The beach at the south of Hayling Island

I offered our friends the opportunity to join me on a run, but for some reason they all preferred a Sunday morning lie in. So out I ventured, down to the amusements on the seafront & then onto the beach itself. Running on shingle is hard work! I tried to keep on the compacted sand as much as possible, but when negotiating some groynes I had no choice but to slug it out. The Saucony windbreaker jacket was well and truly needed as the gusts were unrelenting when running into the wind. Turning back provided no real respite as the lack of sunglasses made vision hard work. I was enjoying myself though, completing easy kilometres without feeling overly taxed at all. I completed just over 9km, a nice end to the week.

The Eat

Last time we'd visited our friends on Hayling our need to leave early meant we missed out on a visit to Pepperelli's. This time there would be no mistake, we surveyed the menu beforehand & made our choices before we'd even left our friend's house!

Pepperelli's is the kind of treat you only find at the seaside. A family run ice cream parlour with a seemingly limitless menu of flavours to try. The menu was even more vast than on their website! This lead to some last minute changes in decision. I opted for rum & raisin, millionaire's shortbread & turkish delight, all for a bargain £3. Paula opted for white chocolate chunk, fudge & clotted cream & toffee crunch. Once all nine of us had ordered I also asked for a single scoop of the most curious offering on the menu, Dorset Blue cheese.

Once everything arrived we all viewed the Dorset Blue with suspicion. Could a blue cheese based ice cream work? Anyone who wanted a spoonful took one & opinion was divided. To me, it was worth trying, an interesting way to present blue cheese & completely savoury. Some mouthfuls even had chunks of the cheese still fully formed. I didn't feel you could eat a whole scoop, but for curiousity it was worth a try.

The sweet ice cream was mostly excellent, only the turkish delight a slight disappointment, I should have stuck with my original selection. After devouring all three and a bit scoops I was glad for the run to start the morning!

Pepperelli's menu

His & Her's scoops

Dorset Blue Cheese ice cream

There should be a run here

What happened to speed work day?

Unfortunately events conspired against me. I woke up with the intention of running locally. The weather looked fine, I could get some km's in before work. But something wasn't right. I had one of those mornings where you stand in the bathroom staring into the distance for what seemed like 5 minutes. No idea what came over me, might have just been the body trying to top up on sleep. I couldn't shake the ponderous apathy so instead put my running kit into a bag and made plans with a colleague for a lunchtime run instead.
I then walked into a busy work day. Thursday seems to be a day of meetings & with that side meetings etc. People wanted my time so we missed our target of 1200 for a run. My colleague then had to deal with an escalation so we aimed hopefully at 1300. This time came and went and we agreed the run wasn't going to happen.
It was at this point I tried to organise myself into an evening run. Paula has just entered the Movember 10k so I suggested a gentle evening run to ease her back. I even left work early with the intention to run. I then made the mistake of hitting the sofa, a key failure! My enthusiasm for evening runs is never high, low energy levels and all the traffic just don't work for me. By this stage I also had a stinging shoulder pain, something that running was unlikely to relieve.
With this in mind we opted for two yoga sessions. So the run never happened, but at least it was replaced rather than ignored. The beauty of being flexible with my current plan is that I'm not going to chase the lost kilometres, I'll just put in more effort next time the motivation is there.

An easy lap of Battersea

The weather looked grim yesterday morning. Call me a fair weather runner but I just didn't fancy getting soaked before work. Rather than just sack the run, I checked the forecast and could see a lunchtime window of clear weather. This made the decision easy, into the work bag went my running gear & I headed into the office an hour early to allow a window.
The temperature was slightly milder than expected, this meant my new Saucony wind jacket was a bit warm. This didn't deter me from a nice 7km loop along the Thames, including a bit of Battersea Park. There was nothing special about the run, it broke up the day nicely though and easy miles are banked miles.
Speed work tomorrow, location will be decided by the weather!

Future plans

Two months of 2013 remain, yet I feel it's time to take stock of what I've achieved so far this year and make some plans for 2014.
If you consider the past twelve months rather than just 2013 then it had been a bizarre year. At the start of November 2012 I was having agonizing physio to try and recover quickly from plantar fasciitis in time to allow for the Reggae Half Marathon in Jamaica. I went into that half with barely any cardio and a desire just to finish.
Paula & I crossed the line together at 2:20, a combination of knackered knees, swollen feet & no lung capacity. Yet I was satisfied. Sure it was slow, but I felt I was over the injury.
In retrospect it wasn't until after the Barcelona & Milton Keynes halves in the spring that the mental wound of the injury was healed.
It was then that I embarked on a training plan that I'm reaping the benefits of.
Even now, I'm taking it relatively easy, no super long runs yet enjoying myself, enjoying my pace and feeling better about it.
With all that in mind it's time to start plotting my course for 2014. I've picked two half marathons for the spring; Brentwood in March & Helsinki in May. My focus for this year was a 1:55 half. Though this never materialised, aiming for it drove me to a PB in Copenhagen.
So for Helsinki I'm lowering the bar. I know with application I'm capable of 1:55, so 1:50 is the target. If I can put in the hard work, then who knows what's achievable. The potential is there to continue to make significant progress at all distances, from past experience I just need a plan to execute. The target is a hard one, but I think aiming again for 1:55 would be underselling myself. To seek a 7 minute improvement over a half marathon is drastic, it will involve dropping 20 seconds per km, averaging just over 5:00 per km. It might not be sustainable, it might be too quick, but why not try?

For this to happen I'm going to need some clear goals, like all of my goal setting they won't be mandatory, just a means to guide me.

Goal 1 - Weight

My weight loss has been decent this year, losing a stone since January. This needs to continue, the goal being to drop under 13st (182 lbs). That is still some distance & the eventual target is to drop to 12st (168). So far this year I have managed the weight loss without changing my diet, as has been demonstrated in various posts on this blog. To continue the progress though, it might be time to look at eating slightly better. One method I have to this is a long term one, make chocolate taste crap. This is something I expect Kraft to complete for me having bought Cadburys. Should this plan take too long, I should perhaps try consuming less. 

Goal 2 - Speed work

Continue the weekly speed sessions on a Thursday. The running plan has definitely given me more focus & the Thursday sessions that consist of fast running, fartlek or hill sprints are paying off. On top of this I'm going to try to up my commitment to parkrun. My 2013 goal was to attend once a month. This is something I've achieved & though I'd like to attend fortnightly I think that is a bit too optimistic. Instead I'm going to schedule myself a parkrun for every third Saturday & attend more where circumstances allow. If I can reduce my 5k & 10k times significantly then the potential for a 7 minute improvement is possible.

Goal 3 - More speed work

It's time to look at different speed work as well. Training with faster runners is something that will assist me in improving. Forcing myself outside of my comfort zone will lead to further improvement.

Goal 4 - Stamina

My issue in half marathons has always been 2nd hour drop off. A negative split is the hallowed ground & one I don't know if I'll ever reach at any distance. What I can work at is improving my second hour performance though. In Copenhagen I was on target for a 1:55, but lost drive (potentially due to illness) & dropped to a 1:57. It was still a PB, but taught me I need to train better. Perhaps in training I need to run beyond half distance, extend to 25km. Another option is to run an hour easy & then push for an hour. My long runs are something I need to look at in order to achieve the 1:50.

Goal 5 - Recovery

Time to inject some realism. I'm never going to be injury free, but I need to keep myself in decent condition. This means better post run stretching, better pre run warm ups. I suspect the yoga course I'm currently taking will also assist with this.

With all this in mind, I'm going to put some work into a full 5 month plan to take me to the Helsinki start line. The Brentwood Half will be treated more as a training race, to see where the potential is. At that point, 6 weeks before Helsinki I'll know just how realistic the targets are.

Food special

No running activity took place on Sunday. I woke from a near 12 hour slumber & decided that my glute was still painful & that a fartlek run would be suicidal as a result.

Instead of running, Yoga became the activity of the day for the third successive Sunday. Having missed my sessions in the week it was a case of catch up. Mrs H joined me in the lounge as we embarked on 30 minutes of stretching & cat avoidance. I think it is starting to benefit me, everything is clicking as I move & flex now, which should be a good thing. I still struggle with lunges & some of the more dynamic positions, but I'm not far into the programme.

The Eat

Do you ever walk past a shop window, see something & straight away decide that you must have it? That was the case with me on Saturday morning as we passed the butchers. A huge rib of beef was sat, waiting for someone to buy it. I enquired & took half of it home with me.

Before it went in the oven I oiled it up, seasoned & applied a baste of Dijon mustard & Worcester sauce. Whilst cooking we quickly found out that the smoke alarm works fine!

After taking it out to stand, you could see just how good the meat was. it came off the bone nicely despite being cooked rare. The variety of meat throughout was great, the taste as close to steaks I'd sampled at Hawksmoor as I could imagine at home.

The finished article, complete with smoky haze. Roasted potatoes & carrots, peas & some spinach pan fried in garlic. Awesome. Best £20 spent in a while! Even managed to dig up some Horseradish in the garden yesterday so could create our own sauce, that remains a work in progress.

It was a long weekend & this was a fitting reward.

Out for an hour

A hectic work week always curtails my running plans. I was hoping to parkrun yesterday, but at close of play on Friday I was asked if I could work at 5am. Like a dutiful fool I agreed, though packing my running kit just in case timing allowed me to sneak a parkrun on the way home. In the end the overtime went to plan and I was home nice and early. Too late to head back to bed, yet too early for a parkrun.
With that in mind I caught out a local run, taking advantage of the daylight to change my routes up around Stansted.

The Run

My longest run since the Copenhagen half, clocked just over 10km in an hour. Happy with the pacing as although I was easy and relaxed with my pacing, I increased in speed throughout the run. One of those fabled negative splits that I'd love to clock in a race.
It was good to get out and run for an extended amount of time. My only concern at the moment is a dodgy glute muscle on my left side. Mrs H might have to use the massage stick to assist my recovery and Natural Hero will be applied liberally!

The Eat

The weekends are always a dangerous territory, especially when I can expense a breakfast. Once Mrs H woke from her extended slumber we headed down to Yeomans in the village to sample the Brunch menu.
Once that was demolished there was no need for lunch. There was barely much call for dinner so I assembled a ploughmans. A selection of five cheeses including a garlic Cornish yarg & an intriguingly named goat cheese, Snofrisk.