My favourite photo

Thanks to the work of a photographer at the Pride 10k, I have this gem of me crossing the finish line:

I love the expression. There are few photos of me smiling whilst running. There are many photos of me looking grumpy whilst running. There aren't so many that sum up the effort & pain involved though.

Hill sprints

Yesterday was meant to be a run day. Yesterday was meant to be the monthly handicap canter at work & a great chance to gauge my progress since last month. But no, I forgot my towel, my foot hurt, <insert useless excuse here>, etc, etc.
So I swapped work shifts & forced myself out for a run this morning. Then, as if to punish myself I woke up thinking "I've not done any hill sprints for a while, perhaps that should be today's plan". I mean really, what a muppet my inner monologue is.
I have many candidates for sprintable hills in the vicinity of the house, I usually choose one down a country lane so that the chances of someone seeing me completely gassed on the downhill recovery or straining everything on the uphill sprint is minimal. A light & easy 10 minutes jog took me to my mark, where I proceeded to sprint up & walk / jog / crawl down for a set of 7 sprints. The hill I found is well known to me, about 2km from home & always a bastard. I found out today that it also has two different angles of ascend, a slightly steeper angle that kicked in about halfway up. My contempt for the hill increased with every sprint, how can 45-50 seconds of sprint really be that hard? The distance involved is probably only around the 200 metre mark after all!!
And yet, like after every sprint, tempo or fartlek session there was a nice feeling of achievement. A feeling of having pushed myself further than a normal run.
One big run planned for Saturday & then a couple of quiet weeks with the small tasks of half marathons at the end of them. The culmination of two training plans & nearly 6 months of work. Nearly back to my best, nearly better than my best.
The question is, what follows Copenhagen?

More eat!

Just eat on this one update. Chuck some homemade breadcrumbs around a chicken breast, cook up some streaky, add a little bit of cheese. Slice a ciabatta, smother half with mustard and the other half with either garlic mayo (or add a bit of avocado to make a funky guacamole) and slap the ciabatta around the chicken.
What you have is this epic sandwich......

120 Easy

Today called for 120 minutes of easy running. Think the plan originally was for a 30/30/30 tempo bookended by easy but after last week's failure to register significant distance I felt it was more important to get a longer run in.
The Run
We started on the same route that I pulled up lame on last week and it was quite nice to go past the tree of woe!! The hamstring felt tight again, both that & my left glute were proving painful on downhill stretches, it took about 7km to run off the pain & loosen up.
Mrs H & I said our goodbyes just before the hour mark, she decided to run straight home whereas I felt the need for more distance. Bishops Stortford and the run to / from provided plenty of undulation, something that'll pay dividends in both of my planned HMs.
My last km was my fastest, always a nice way to end a run, 115 minutes banked.
Need to stretch out and ice up the remainder of the day, changing the plan slightly to give myself tomorrow off, ahead of the work canter on Wednesday.
The Eat
Having run the best part of two hours surely everything I eat is free? The scales even suggested I'd dropped under 14st, though post run weigh ins don't count!!
Today's brunch consisted of pancakes & bacon with lashings of maple syrup, appreciated by both Paula & myself.

Oak Hill parkrun

There is always a parkrun dilemma in our house. Is it worth forsaking a lie in, travelling at least 30 min in either direction just to run a 5k? I'm sure my parkrun account of 26 since 2010 would be far higher if we had a local event.
Sadly we don't, but this allows us to be parkrun tourists. Of those 26 runs, 14 different locations have hosted us. I've even considered moving our Copenhagen flights to take on a parkrun in a different country.
Yesterday we travelled to Oak Hill in north London, where our friend Fergie is a regular. The event was celebrating its 2nd birthday so the opportunity for cake persuaded us not to hit the snooze button!
Oak Hill is also where I made my debut for my cricket team back in 1996, although the pitch I played on seems to have been retired.
The Run
My much scribbled over CPH plan had Saturday marked as a parkrun PB attempt. After a week that included a near 10k PB and a slight hamstring injury I had no idea what to expect. Fergie had guaranteed me a fast course, but could I guarantee a fast Chris?
I started reasonably quickly, my splits for the first 3k were good. Throughout I felt a mid 25 was the likely outcome, especially when I seemed to tighten up at the start of the third lap. A mid 25 is something I'd have settled with having not run properly all week. As the final turn approached I looked at my watch and it was still showing 23 something, being a parkrun tourist I'd judged the course incorrectly so kicked too late. To cross the line at 24:31 was a big surprise, being just 10 seconds over my PB tells me that despite a bit of ring rust the training over the past has given me some pace back.
Now looking to break both 5k & 10k PBs before the end of the year!
The Eat
At a birthday party you expect cake & Oak Hill was no different! A slice of parkrun cake for both Paula & myself was a nice reward for the run!

Back out on the road

Better news to announce today. After plenty of stretching, application of ice & a gentle swim last night, I decided it was time to test the hamstring.
I even managed to drag Mrs H out to trundle around with me. No targets in mind this morning, just an easy amble for nearly half an hour to see how the muscle reacted. There was occasional tightness on the run, mainly on uphill sections. Nothing overly painful though & after applying some ice afterwards I felt fine.
I'll continue to ice in the evenings & mornings, in theory I'm playing squash tomorrow & making an attempt at a parkrun PB on Saturday. Might even get that 2 hour run under my belt on the bank holiday......

Standing in a field waiting for a car

Was not how I envisaged today's run going. Today was meant to be easy, 120 minutes of easy running to simulate HM distance.
The Run
Almost straight away I felt something wasn't right, barely a kilometer in I felt a tightening in my left hamstring. I was also experiencing pain in my left achilles with every hill, be it up or down. The achilles is nothing new, I've been suffering from a bit of tendonitis for some time, a result of my dodgy calves. Hamstring pain is new though, one of the few muscles that I've not injured over the years!
For once I made a sensible decision, stop running now, get home & get to run another day. On a long run I carry a mobile with me so I made a call home & Paula picked me up. I spent the morning stretching & on ice. I failed to recognise the exertion yesterday, failed to respect the challenge. By cutting the run short I at least minimised the damage. Hopefully with the aid of the roller, ice and some stretching I might be back out on the road Tuesday. 

The Eat
Just because the run was abandoned doesn't mean that breakfast should be. What better way to start a Sunday than Eggs Benedict?

Pride 10k

What a difference a day makes. Managed about 5 hours sleep after working am overnighter & we headed east to the 10th anniversary Pride 10k.
The Run
I'd targeted today for a PB at the start of my Copenhagen training, yet with the British 10k not providing a suitable test I was completely in the dark as to whether a PB tilt was realistic.
So we lined up at the start, me targeting a 51 minute, Paula a 55. I started well, through 5k in just over 25 mins. If anything I was aware that my pace was unsustainable, but felt I should continue until I hit the wall. A 5:27 8th kilometre was the only real down point of the race, I tighten up & couldn't lift myself until the 8k marker. Despite a pickup in the 9th I'd left myself needling a 4:40 last km to break 51:00. It didn't quite happen & I crossed the line in 51:17.
A thirty second improvement on my last Pride 10k in 2011 & two minutes faster than the HBO 10k at the end of May. It was a pleasant surprise to have the pace & equally deserving to not score a PB. There's still more improvement to go, more potential, more miles. For now though it was an excellent confidence boost for the final month of HM training.

The Event
A sold out event but almost perfectly organised. The visuals queues for bag drop & toilets but everything moved quickly. Started as close to on time as possible & I've never seen quite so many marshals.
The finisher pack included a nice medal, much needed & unique towel, tote bag, water & some other bits. The option to have a bagel or banana afterwards was also great. 

The Eat
Our tired legs took us to The Street, Westfield where the Mexican market Wahaca played host. Cheap & tasty Mexican food, perfect to indulge in after a run..

Pride 10k T-10 hours

Less than 10 hours before the start of a race I want to push for a PB at. Why am I blogging? Why am I even awake?

Welcome to the world of a telecoms engineer! We work the silly hours so that uptime is maintained during those core business hours. This does mean that at 1am you find yourself trying to keep busy, especially when you're essentially babysitting a system, waiting for someone else's work to finish in order to check that your kit still works!

Some tomorrow, or today even it will be time to run the Pride 10k. Realised that I was wrong in a previous blog update, I did run sub 52 once last year. But it has been a barren period for decent 10k times & after the debacle that was the British 10k I'm looking forward to the race. Much smaller, much better organised & a known quantity.

It will be nice to wear my Xempo sub 52:00 orange shirt legitimately again!

Why Run? Why Run to a Plan?

After diminishing returns & every increasing HM, 10k & parkrun times I felt it was time to run to a plan.

Before March this year I used to run 3 to 4 times a week, generally at about the same pace & without any particular purpose. I'd enter a race, say I was aiming for it & might get a time I wanted. But in 2012 these times got slower. I ran my first HM in March 2012 & it was a respectable 2:01. I then ran an event specific PB 10k at the start of June, 6 days before my next HM & felt I should easily get a new PB. 10 miles into that HM the wheels came off, 2:07.

I then worked shifts over the Olympics, was told I could expense all my meals & started creating my own kind of Olympic legacy, around the waistline. I've yo-yo'ed weight throughout my adult life so to put on weight was of no surprise. The problem was, I had two half marathons planned for the autumn! Shift work played havoc with my training & culminated in me killing my calves. I knew as I lined up in Stockholm for the DN Half in September that getting round was the goal, a return of 2:04 was a pleasant surprise! A three week turn around & a great crowd actually led to a 1:58 Royal Parks Half. Still beaten by the wife, but this was mainly due to a toilet stop, poor race management. Confidence was back, I could break 1:55 next time surely?

As if to compound 2012's misery there were more low points to follow. A week after the Royal Parks Half we decided to run the Ware 10, a friendly local event. For the first km I didn't feel right, had no rhythm & watched as my wife sped off into the distance. By 3km I was walking, pain in my left heel. The dreaded PF had struck!

Overtraining, poor stretching, poor mechanics, everything had combined & I was a mere 8 weeks out from the highlight of our running year, the Reggae Half Marathon in Negril, Jamaica. 5 weeks of intensive physio, ice & golf ball rolling followed. The all clear was given with a mere three weeks to go on the proviso that I carried on icing, rolling, doing whatever was needed to try & keep going. This meant we headed to Jamaica with a realistic aim. It was going to be tough, but finishing was the only goal. My lack of cardio left me walking just past the hour & Paula ran on without me after another break. I then caught here up as her knee started playing up & we crossed the line together at 2:20, still my favourite running photo!

I decided that 2013 the running adventures would continue, Barcelona HM in February came & went, a 2:06 was something to be reasonably happy with as the weather also hindered my training. When the MK Half resulted in a 2:07 I realised it was time.

Time to either give up, or get better.

For the first time I started researching running plans. The problem with the majority of plans is that they focus on 5 to 6 runs a week. I know my limitations & the rest I need a times so I set about trying to find a 3 to 4 runs a week plan that I could adapt. Thankfully Lucozade have such plans on their website & with a quick bit of work I had constructed a nice 10 week plan to take me to the Hatfield Broad Oak 10k & a 16 week plan to follow for the Copenhagen Half.

The plans have paid dividends, my 10k time in New York at the start of April was just below 57 minutes, by the end of the plan I was able to return a 53 minute HBO 10k.

They have also introduced me to easy, steady, tempo, interval, hills & fartlek running. Strangely the hardest type of run is the easy. It takes discipline to run at a slower than natural pace, however lung busting the other runs are, easy running needs more focus.

So the target for Copenhagen remains a sub 1:55. I don't know how close I'll be, but it has been an enjoyable journey.

One month to go.....

When you start a 16 week training plan the end goal always seems quite distant, it can be hard to focus on something two weeks away, let alone 112 days away!

Now just a month remains until the Copenhagen Half marathon. By luck (or bad luck) I've also won a place in the Nike Run to the Beat Half. I'd remembered that previous editions of the race were October so entered the competition only the realise it was the week before. Never mind I figured, I don't win things....

The good news is, I'm feeling in the best shape running wise I have been. Not the quickest, but definitely the best. I'm undecided how I'll run the first half. It might be more sensible to aim for the PB at the first attempt just in case the recovery time is simply too short between the two races. Either way, I'm going to enjoy both......

The rest of the Copenhagen Half plan

50 Easy

Today's plan called for more easy running ahead of this weekend's Pride 10k. This is a break in the norm for me as Thursday is normally reserved for speed work. With that in mind I set off bound for Elsenham, a well known 9k lap back towards Stansted that provides a couple of hills depending on which way you run it.

Completed the loop in just shy of 52 minutes, at no point extending myself too much. The target for Saturday is a 51:00 10k, which with the route being three flat laps, could be possible. Last time I went sub 52:00 was in December 2011 with a 51:12 that remains my PB for the distance. That said, the Copenhagen HM training has been progressing nicely, my parkrun times are in the low to mid 25 minute area, which although some way off my best of 24:21 are on different, non comparable courses. The one big wildcard for Saturday is what condition I will be in. Working overnight so the level of sleep I get will be dictated by what time I get out of work! Might well be running on fumes!!!

Easy / Recovery

The quads quite rightly refused to participate in physical activity yesterday following my wicket keeping exploits on Sunday. This meant postponing the week's first run until today.

The run.....
My ever flexible 16 week schedule suggested 30 minutes easy. In fact everything this week is easy as the week revolves around the Pride 10k & a tilt at a PB on Saturday. Pace was a bit slower than my usual easy pace, wasn't much to gain from pushing. Got slightly over ambitious with the planned route but the beauty of just running in the village meant that it was easy to detour back, even if it was via a never enjoyable hill!

90 minutes & 40 overs

The plan....
The summer is often known as silly season, this is certainly the case for my training presently. Summer is when I combine running with cricket. Usually the plan is to run in the morning & play cricket in the afternoon. With HM training I'm running for up to 2 hours, leaving plenty of energy left for cricket if I refuel sufficiently. I usually bowl a bit, bat for a bit less and there is no clash, in fact my cricket is probably better for the increase in fitness.
Sunday was going to be different. Due to availability I was going to be keeping wicket.
The run....
We started the day early with a 90 minute run, ideally in blocks of 30 easy, 30 HM pace, 30 easy. In reality the tempo section was split, 25 mins in thr middle with a big end of race style push towards the end. Pace overall was slower than desired but with 4 weeks to go miles in the bank are the goal.
Didn't embarrass myself with the wicket keeping, though I'm still feeling the effects. 40 overs of keeping, 240 balls, 240 instances of getting into a crouched position have mangled my quads. Never have the foam roller & massage stick been so torturous!!! After an intense rolling session yesterday evening the plan was to run easy this morning. Realised this was wishful thinking! Plenty of walking and stairs required today.
The eat....
One benefit of playing cricket for a whole day is the right to big food that it offers. On Sunday I continued my pulled pork obsession. Prepared a shoulder joint, placed it in the slow cooker, covered with Desperados beer and left on a low heat. Coming back from a long day to a plate of pulled pork served up with mac & cheese makes it all worth it!

Tempo time

The plan for this morning was Oak Hill parkrun to support our friend Fergie who was Race Director for the day. Sadly the 7am start required for a parkrun often doesn't compute!

To make up for the lie in I went back to the Copenhagen plan, today called for tempos. 10-40-10 was the idea, in reality this became 10 easy, 15 tempo, 5 easy recovery, 20 tempo & 5 easy to take me home. Happy with the pace, sub 2 is definitely on for Copenhagen, hard work means a sub 1:55 could be possible.

Post #1

First blog post, 1 month out from the first of two half marathons in two weeks. Not the original plan.....