HM Week 3 - Project Catchup

The old adage is that you shouldn't feel guilty for missing a run, it won't hurt in the long term. This wasn't how I felt about the 70 minutes of easy running I'd skipped on Sunday morning in lieu of a lie in before we headed to the south coast.
As touched on in the last update, squeezing in four runs last week would be tight. In the end I had some good fortune, meetings got moved around, giving me Friday morning back. Now though I write this on a Monday morning when I'm fighting off the lurgy, fearful already of missing my targets for week four before the week has even started.
The week started with a weigh in and was closely followed by some hushed expletives as to not wake anyone. After weeks of rest before Christmas and the predictable festive binge I'd found myself over the 14st barrier for the first time since May and thoroughly unimpressed with myself.
It used to be the sight of 15st on the scales that would press me into action, now it's 14. I really have no excuse to be getting that heavy, it won't help my pace return if I'm having to carry extra weight with me. I decided it was time to eat more sensibly during the week, indulging on the bad stuff only at weekends....

The Run(s)

Monday afforded me some daylight. I'd booked the day off as leave when we were considering staying on the south coast for longer. This gave me both a lie in and the chance to run without a headlamp. 70 minutes of easy running made for some funky route planning, insufficient time to get to Rickling or Stortford, so I'd have to be creative. Only now does it dawn on me that a lap of Elsenham would have ticked most of the boxes.
Instead I found myself on a much used summer route, the Lime Kiln Lane loop, from there I stayed on the main road until the Birchanger turn and headed back uphill to Forest Hall Park. Maintaining pace was fairly simple, the uphill push as unpleasant as you'd expect, I felt reasonable though. A few zig zags of Stansted and I was home and straight onto the foam roller, easing out the quads.
I could have gone out on Tuesday morning, unsure why I didn't in retrospect. All the running kit was laid out ready, I suspect the weather kept me in bed!

Onto the roller after Monday's easy effort

It wasn't until Thursday that I was on my feet and ready to start what was effectively the week's first run according to the plan. I'd swapped the order so it was time for some tempo, surely the heart monitor would come into it's own here? With time of the essence I opted for a quick five minutes warm up. The tempo routine was simple, 3 minutes at tempo, 2 recovery. I managed the prescribed five sets in the usual state, never as slow as I should be whilst recovering and never as fast as I could be during the tempo. The feedback was that I hadn't suffered enough, will need to push more on future runs!!
On Friday I managed to haul my ass out of the house with less faffing and another easy saunter around Stansted with the aid of my headtorch. I'd somehow managed to put my Garmin into lap mode, so found myself having to calculate what my total time was. To aim for 35-40 minutes mean around the six kilometre distance at easy pace.
All I needed was a long run on Sunday to leave me at even par and back on track for Cambridge. My usual pre run procrastination was dragged out even more than usual with a realisation that illness was on it's way. I could feel the build up of gunk on my lungs and took the unusual step of drinking a cup of tea before heading out of the door. Tea and original Lucozade are two signs that I'm ill. I put faith in the hot tea to melt through the catarrh on its way south!
I didn't feel too impeded so finally got myself out of the front door at twenty to eight. This long run would be 80 minutes in length, and opportunity to head out to the equally loved and hated Manuden to Rickling route. Other than a near constant hacking up throughout, I felt pretty good. Taking the run from the Manuden end certainly makes it a challenge. You climb up Mount Manuden as I've named it on Strava. The fun doesn't stop there though, you reach the crest and think that's it, only for a short downhill straight into another climb. It's another kilometre before you stop ascending. My pace was fairly consistent, only slowing for a particularly hairy section before Rickling, lots of ice to negotiate.
The rest of the run went to plan, trying to keep a rhythm on a horrendous pavement that the local authorities don't feel the need to maintain. I kicked into a faster pace before climbing up Pennington Lane, still had plenty in the tank after an hour of easy which was pleasing. I got home in 81 minutes, just slightly over target, though my fastest on this route is 76.

The Eat

I couldn't really indulge after the long run, the rest of the day I attempted to hibernate, fighting the lurgy. After a breakfast of eggs, avocado and salmon, nothing else in the day really had much inspiration. 

Long run reward

Trying to be good in the week failed, a colleague wanted a McRib and I was still yet to experience one. Let's just say the McRib is one of those things where the anticipation is greater than the pay off. I'll stick to my usual in the future (or even try to abstain)!
Whilst in London on Saturday I did try and intriguing burger from the Burger Cocktail restaurant, a Giraffe / Tesco sub chain. The regular pattie was topped with a mac and cheese breaded pattie. I'm not sure if it worked, all for the innovation though.

I did reward myself on Monday with a visit to Knead Food in Bishop's Stortford. The decadent sausage rolls they sell felt like a well deserved treat following 11 clicks earlier in the day!

Monday's reward

 The Conclusion

I'm back on track, though in essence I can get through a half marathon with just the easy runs under my belt. How quickly I can complete it will come down to the tempo sessions.

HM Week 2 - Forgetting the tempo

It should come as no surprise that within two weeks of my half marathon training plan starting I've slipped behind. I would make an awful juggler. It doesn't help that I've not printed the plan yet, so a copy resides on my work laptop. I then get into the office to see what I've missed doing for the day.
Even today, the Tuesday of week 3 I opted for a day off, only to realise I have a squash game tomorrow so wouldn't be running. No bother, I'll run Thursday & Friday, except that I have a meeting to drive to on Friday! I'm currently considering hill sprints at Notley after my Run Director shift on Saturday.
Last week (5/1) already included one deferred run, so the plan was to run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday. Or something similar, 4 runs essentially.
I started the week well, though stretching 60 minutes of running around Stansted in the dark made for some laps of Forest Hall Park. It was a tough slog, my pace was woeful as I embarked on my longest run since November. 2015 will be about endurance rather than speed though, I wasn't going to push myself here.

Staying safe in the dark hours

Tuesday is decided to go with a restart of DDP Yoga instead, straight back to the beginning with the Diamond Dozen. The resultant clicks in my shoulder and back suggested this was a good idea and I need to keep it up with further sessions and trying to move on from the most basic of move sets.
Wednesday was Tuesday's run if that makes any sense, 30 Easy. I had a new toy to play with, my heart rate monitor had arrived. A January sales bargain, it was time to gather even more data. Combined with the Strava premium subscription, this would provide me with even more feedback on my activity.

More stats than you can shake a stick at

Of course a half hour saunter around Stansted won't tell you much. I averaged 154 beats per minute, no idea if that is good or not at this stage. My suffer score, a Strava thing to indicate how hard the exercise was showed a low 48 (Fergie's Berlin Marathon was up in the 500s).
Thursday was meant to be a tempo day. Unfortunately no one had told the weatherman, it was raining cats, dogs and a whole damn zoo outside. Though I'm less of a fair weather runner these days, I wasn't getting out of bed for a soaking (still got absolutely soaked on my way to work later in the day).
Friday was a non starter, a squash game earlier morning meant I got my tempos in a different format. Shame I didn't have the HRM to hand, would have provided a far higher suffer score!!!
Two days of the weekend and two runs to get in. Luckily I'd planned both. Though not a tempo, I was going to take Sean & Emily for a tour of the Forest as they were visiting to assist with the Run for the Run. I'd then do seventy easy before we headed down to the south coast on Sunday.

Six go mad in a forest

I'll blog further on Saturday, it deserves more of a write up. Six of us made it around the proposed summer course and also managed to avoid the worst of the weather (mainly due to my faffing). We were joined by fellow Core Team member Karl, Paul & Emily were also in attendance after also volunteering.
The mudclaws purchase was vindicated straight away. Though the course would never be run in conditions experienced in Saturday, I was able to put a lot of faith in my stride, even in places where my NB trails were struggling. Sadly they weren't the same shade of bright yellow they began the run in, but pristine trail shoes aren't something you should aspire to.
The heavy underfoot conditions were tough on the legs though. My calves were burning up by the end of the 5km having been given a thorough work out.
I went to bed with weary legs & mind, plus the knowledge that I had Monday off of work. With that in mind I opted for a lie in.

They used to be so pretty....

So at the end of week two I'd completed three runs, though one was a carry over from the week previously. In truth I'd run four times in week one after the NYD parkrun double, but it isn't a training plan unless I'm in deficit. With a marathon approaching in 2015 I'll need to be more flexible, look at running at either end of the day, lunchtime etc to ensure I'm not skipping vital runs.
I doubt it going to be close to PB time in Cambridge. An ongoing argument with my scales suggests I need to drop a fair whack of weight to get close to where I was in the summer. Combine that with the time off I've taken and I don't see a quick half on the cards. 

The Eat

The food this week has touched both the sublime & the ridiculous. I had a day of meetings on Thursday & found myself near Piccadilly. This led to a first time visit to the Japan Centre. The first of many I think, this place was all kinds of awesome. It was nearly 4pm & I still had lunch so I opted for a massive bowl of salmon sashimi and boiled rice. The portions were huge & though the rice wasn't really of much interest, the fish was of excellent quality. I picked up some Pocky sweets & some wasabi paste to take home & was pretty happy with my visit.

Mega sashimi

The weekend saw a return of Burger Saturday. This week I combined a six ounce beef patty with Leerdammer cheese, then wrapped parma ham around a mozzarella melt & an onion ring. Add in some good quality Stokes ketchup and a gherkin and you have all kinds of awesome. I need to keep the food cheats to just the weekend though, my ongoing disagreement with the scales is starting to get repetitive!

Burger Saturday!

All about that pace

I make no apologies for the pun. It tickled me when it came into my head, even if it does mean I now have that Bass song as an ear worm.
That's to the festive parkrun rules Saturday saw me complete my fifth event in ten days. Just think how quickly I could achieve 100 club status if we had more public holidays! This would also be my third volunteering effort during that time, extra brownie points for me.
The first Saturday of every month is pacer day at Chelmsford. I'd volunteered twice previously and on both occasions ended up working overnight so having to pull out. At the third time of asking I would be donning the 30 shirt and trying to lead folks to a PB. Regular readers will know my success rate at pacing stands at 50%. Perhaps 66% if we remove the Takeley 10k where I was clearly too slow for Alec and told him to go on after a kilometre. I'd brought PBs to Emily & Joel, but also seen Fergie collapse (Edmonton 10k, still one of the more popular posts on this blog). I was confident that I could keep my success ratio increase on this occasion.

A variety of pacing options

I'd picked 30 minutes as it appealed for the simplicity of it. Six minutes per kilometre, no longer division required and even with my lack of training recently, a very achievable pace. The rather dank weather conditions had kept many away, but there still seemed to be a crowd of 250 assembled for the pre run briefing. Anyone that did score a PB would also have the opportunity to ring the PB bell, a new concept for Chelmsford and one that I shall be stealing! Perhaps a PB klaxon instead though (or clown horn)? 

The Run

Before the run started all of the others were paraded in front so that everyone could see who their pacers would be. Anyone wanting pacing would start to the right of the main start line, where we'd all lined up in time order. I was slightly concerned that the 31 guy behind me was already talking about potentially going faster than me, not sure that was the point!
It was tough to hear the run start over at the pacing area so suddenly we all saw the main field running. It meant I couldn't start my Garmin ahead of time to ensure I'd definitely be on pace. I appeared to have around half a dozen with me, the weather had certainly left some in bed for the day.
Progress on the first kilometre was slow, naturally as you're further back in the field and there were some nice large puddles that everyone wanted to avoid. We went past the marker at 6:08, so I kept everyone informed that we were over and would need to increase the pace for the second click. It was logical to do so, everyone was into a rhythm by this stage and the third kilometre included a muddy section that could slow people down. So at the 2km marker we were back in credit after a 5:46 split. I checked to make sure everyone was ok and still with me and we carried on, crossing the bridge and onto the grass & mud.

Leader of the pack...

The 29 pacer was at a decent gap ahead, I was using lampposts to ensure at this stage there was a decent 25-30 second gap. True to form, Mr 31 was far closer to my tail that I'd have liked.
The third kilometre also included a short climb in Admirals, this appeared to reduce the group around me as I tried to maintain pace. A 6:02 third click had us pretty much on the money for pace and after negotiating the downhill field in Admirals it was back into tarmac for the always longer than expected return to home.
The fourth kilometre is usually where I become unhinged in my parkrun efforts so I was aware that this could be make or break for my group. I kept talking, at 3.5km we were pretty much dead on 21:00, so I encouraged everyone, nine minutes and we're done.
By the 4km marker we were slightly under time, my fault as the smoothness of the surface had been conducive to a 5:51km. I now had just two ladies actually keeping with me for pacing and I was giving updates every 200m. As we passed under the viaduct, the finish line is in sight, though a nice 600m lap separates you from it. We had nearly four minutes to complete this as my runners had naturally sped up into the final lap. At this point one pushed on and I stayed at the side of my one remaining runner.
Entering the back straight I encouraged further, plenty of time to bring in a sub 30. As we turned the corner I sauntered home, no silly sprints for me this week. My job was to get people to the final corner with a sub 30 in sight and I'd achieved that.

So fast I was a blur

I crossed the line myself in 29:20, attributed to a faster final kilometre as my pacees sped up and the Garmin suggesting we were 50m short, which would account for all of 15 seconds.

The Eat (and shop)

To say I was cold and miserable after leaving the park would be an understatement. I should add that I was only miserable due to the persisting drizzle that had soaked me. I was taking a much travelled route to Greggs when I recalled that Run Active had a sale on and they were next door.
You have to get the order of things correct here. Don't load up in Greggs and then go into a running shop, they might not have discovered the nutritional qualities of pastry and you'll waste half an hour telling them about the hotter than the sun sausage roll actually burning calories using it's incredible heat.
So I went in to browse shoes first. Browse, honest. I'd been eyeing another pair of trails with Great Notley, the Forest and Endure 24 in mind. The New Balance are a good entry level trail, but conditions at Notley have called for something more extreme. What a coincidence that Run Active have a sale on all trail shoes then! The inov8 mudclaws were only available in precision fit, but after chatting with the staff it seemed a worthwhile exercise to try some on.
With saturated socks this meant another purchase was also necessary! Turns out the mudclaws fitted very nicely, I just opted for half a size up. And with a swipe of the credit card we'd seen another expensive parkrun adventure! If Mrs H isn't going to forgo a lie in to run or spectate then she's accountable for the spending, that's how it works right?

Hello pretty....

With some garish yellow shoes bought it was time for some replenishment. I popped into City Diner (formerly of Starburger fame) and got myself a chocolate thickshake. They use the same machines as Run for the Eat's #1 restaurant, Wimpy so I was onto a winner. Then just opposite was Gregory's the Baker and their equally loved sausage rolls. With a running shop, milkshake outlet and pastry emporium all based together, this end of the High Chelmer shopping centre appears to have been designed with me in mind!

The Conclusion

Pacing is fun and something I've got lots of enjoyment from. This was slightly different to running with a friend as you're not set on achieving a goal for just one person. If you're with a friend you can adjust pace to accommodate their needs. The idea here was to just maintain pace, only in the last kilometre did I step up with those that remained with me.
Of course as volurunning it counts to both the volunteering total and run count, so a good recommendation for those less inclined to give up a run. 

Double Trouble

2014 started with a parkrun, logic would suggest 2015 would follow suit. Why not start with two? The rules of parkrun allow for two events to be registered by a runner on a single day, the only trouble is finding a couple of events timed appropriately that aren't too far apart. Realistically the start times need to be 90 minutes apart, though some London events you could manage with just an hour between.
The other part of the logistics to work out is where would you run, how far are you willing to travel to complete the double. The good thing is, parkrun completely get into the spirit of the occasion and events work together to make sure doubles are possible. In 2014, there weren't many options available in Essex, so Chelmsford went ahead at the normal time of 0900. This year there are now a huge number of events possible.
Back in October I was involved in some of the planning, just in case we were live (newsflash, we're not). On a day when I was meant to be studying at home a rolling messenger conversation between Great Notley, Chelmsford, Maldon, Basildon, Harlow, Colchester, even Ipswich if memory serves me correctly ran for the whole afternoon. You see just because one combination works, doesn't mean others can't be considered. The rules allow for a start to be between 0830 & 1030, very few go early, it's New Year's Day after all. So based on a running time of 45 minutes, you need to be able to get to the second event start line in another 45. So think of the possibilities; Colchester & Ipswich, Maldon & Chelmsford, Great Notley & Colchester, Harlow & Chelmsford, Chelmsford & Great Notley.
With the location of Great Notley, it made most sense to pair with Chelmsford, though Colchester was reachable (and achieved by some in attendance), the drive across to Chelmsford is the shortest possible. You then have the question of what way round to run things. Chelmsford first, or Chelmsford second? Logistically Chelmsford is an easier setup and can be run with no signage and minimal marshaling. Though Notley experienced a sign free event between Xmas and New Year, with plenty of doubling up tourists expected, a full event would be required.

It was becoming clearer that Chelmsford should be the later of the two events, especially when you factor in Maldon Prom & their proximity to Chelmsford. It made sense for everyone to converge on the county's capital, the largest parkrun in Essex as a finale to the NYD double.

NYD is a special day for parkrunners, especially the tourist community. All events are encouraged to advertise their intentions so that runners from both near & far can make plans accordingly. Though my double would be at two of my local events, much tourist chatter could be found regarding the possibilities of visiting two new events in one, bonus parkrun day.

Once the plans were pencilled in, I offered my services to the GN core team to assist with the event running. This lead to me being the tailrunner on the day, able to both volunteer & run, a perfect start to the year. On top of this I gave the First Timers / Tourists Briefing. For those present, apologies if it appeared slightly rushed, I was being made aware that we had time constraints! It did give me a moment to realise a good order to run briefings in. Bring the tourists & first timers together, provide an overview of the course first, then send the tourists on their way & talk directly to the first timers. That way the experienced tourists get the information they need & the briefing is relevant to all.

I still seem to speed up when talking to a group of people, nothing I can't coach myself out of. I think this was the calmest I'd been at a briefing, not bad seeing as it was the biggest one I've had to deliver so far given the high number of tourists from both Chelmsford & Colchester. I also got an opportunity to welcome a school friend to parkrun, I might be a bit too much of a parkrun enthusiast at times, but it is always fun to see friends enjoy their first parkrun experience.

The Run #1 - Great Notley - Tailrunner

This was going to be a challenge of a different kind. My usual parkrun exploits when in decent condition are usually in the low 23 to high 25 mark, 4:35 - 5:10km would be a fair spread of my 5k pace, course dependent. My easy paced runs when training hover around the 6:00/km mark, when I paced Joel at St Neots, we ran at just over 6:30/km. The tail at Notley usually comes in between 40 - 55 minutes depending on the course conditions & with the hill now treacherous following a marathon the day before, I suspected we'd be at the slower end of the scale.

One of our Endure team mates, Paul had tailed in the past & advised that keeping running is the key. To me, it would be disrespectful to do anything other than run unless the person at the back of the field is themselves walking. You have to match the action of the slowest person on the run, walking whilst they run would not be appropriate behaviour in my mind.

I lined up at the very back of the field & gave the RD the thumbs up once all runners on the path had passed me, with the start line being moved for the winter it was always likely we might have late runners, especially with the event needing to start dead on time.

Starting off at the back of the field.

Once we were under way I started running, just dropping my pace so I was a couple of yards behind the back of the field. Before we'd even made the first corner I noticed another runner, so hung back as they were evidently a late starter. As soon as he was through I started up again, only to notice another regular, making his way to join me having run to the event! I stopped once more & then joined him, though in my mind I was panicking about making Chelmsford as he started walking! Thankfully it was just a breather & he was on his way.

So after half a kilometre I joined Dan, one of Notley's Core Team, I'd be his company on the way round. Dan is aiming for a PB on Saturday, but conditions were not on our side on this New Years Day morning. We passed through halfway in decent time, but the hill of doom was going to be walked, both up & down. My job as the tailrunner isn't to cajole anyone to run faster, just provide assurance on the course & encouragement, no one should feel they are the slowest person on the course, for that is the tailrunner's job. As we made our way down the hill we were passed by two ladies, After saying hello, I presumed they'd headed out for some early morning PT, a great new year's resolution. It wasn't until we spoke to a marshal later on that I found out they'd be late arrivals & we in fact catching up! Of course I couldn't have mitigated for this, once we are through the first corner I can't see any new arrivals!

Tail running

Dan's decision to walk the hill of doom was very sensible, I felt the descend was actually more dangerous & lost my footing momentarily on a couple of occasions whenever I ventured from the very perimeter of the path. Once on level footing we started to run again, we'd be on for a 50 minute finish, which would give us just enough time to get across to Chelmsford without having to set any land speed records!

One thing I do need to remember when tail running is to be less chatty. Just because the pace I'm doing isn't taxing me, it doesn't mean that the person I'm running alongside isn't suffering. After all, when I'm at the top of my pace & Paul is pacing me, I'm not much conversation myself, at times I can barely make it past grunting.

I crossed the line in 50:33 & after getting scanned it was time to head to Chelmsford for the second half of the double.

The Logistics

At this point I should provide a bit more back story on how this double was achieved. Alec, my brother in law was also interested in doubling up, so it made sense to try & share transport. Logic would have suggested that as we live further away than him, that I'd drive. But that logic didn't apply once I'd agreed to be the tail runner. So Alec got up earlier, drove out of his way to Stansted to pick me up. I couldn't even do the decent thing of remember any change for the car park. It'd got it out ready & everything, but rules dictate that I always forget something & this time it was £2.50.

The logic made perfect sense as Alec had the car running ready for me once I'd may my way from the finish area. It wasn't quite a case of tights on the head & Drive Drive Drive, but it was a parkrun getaway vehicle.

Luckily spare change was the only thing I'd forgotten as I slipped the mud caked trail shoes off & into a bag. They were followed by the soggy socks & sweatband & I towelled down the feet for a complete pit stop.

I was then into nice fresh socks & lacing up the Saucony Kinvaras for the first time in a while, everything has been trail of late. Had I two pairs of trail shoes I'd have opted for them, Chelmsford has just enough mud to keep them interested. Upon arrival in Chelmsford I ditched my jacket & shirt for a new long sleeve shirt & we were on our way.

My regular human clothes were already packed into the boot of the wife's car, she was due to meet us for breakfast afterwards & I'd planned ahead.

Once in the park I checked in with Gerry, the Event Director who had himself been present at Notley. He'd announced beforehand that the tail from GNPR was also running at Chelmsford.

The Run #2

I had no plan in my mind for how I'd run the second of two 5k. My legs felt ok as the tail running hadn't overly taxed me so I could have run hard. I set off with the intention of just enjoying it, get round & get some much deserved breakfast.
I was comfortable & had spotted Len from Great Notley in front of me as we left Central Park. I pulled myself up alongside & we spent an enjoyable half hour chatting. As my mentor for parkrun Event Directorship, it was great to just chat on a nice easy run together. Given my recent hiatus, a PB was never on the cards so why not enjoy the sociable side of running. It was certainly an aspect to running I hadn't embraced properly until 2014, to start a new year being sociable made perfect sense.

Len was more enthusiastic than I was......

For the second of the two runs I was in road shoes & this only caused an issue twice for me. The section between 2-3km was a bit treacherous, nothing like the Great Notley course, but far from ideal in roadies. The second occasion was in the finish funnel as a result of my own stupidity. By keeping to an easy pace, I had plenty in the tank. As we turned off the path towards the finish funnel, I challenged Len to a sprint. What followed was quite possibly the best sprint finish of my running career. I surprised myself with just how much pace & power I had. Not only did I drop Len straight away, but I calved through a few more finishers. If this had be caught on film in its entirety it would have been a fun watch, all I have is an awesome picture showing me straining everything to get across the line.

The Sprint Face!

The issue with a sprint is that you then need to decelerate through the funnel. This is a challenge at the best of times, I've seen plenty of runners go through the funnel, unable to stop themselves. I have also myself experienced the complete opposite, a complete halt the moment I crossed the line in Helsinki having put everything into a run. Add the sprint to a mud bath of a finish funnel and you have an issue. On two separate occasions I had to right myself in order to not go over before I'd left the funnel. Sprinting is for fools, that's the lesson learnt.

The Eat

Double up means double to food yes? Before leaving Chelmsford I'd consumed the obligatory Gregg's sausage roll (Dunkin Donuts was closed) & then supplemented that with a double cheeseburger. Not sated, it was time for Welsh Rarebit once home, though I need to work more on my method for this dish, not quite getting the combinations right currently.
I promise that in 2015 I'll eat less crap, just need to empty the house of it at the moment....

The Conclusion

A fine way to see in 2015. Two enjoyable runs with company, some volurunning included into the mix. The first time I've managed to score a NYD parkrun double & hopefully something I can repeat in the future.