Frustration and Inspiration

Not an overly enjoyable week for training, but an uplifting end that reminds me why I'm doing this.

After a week of short distances I was looking forward to a couple of easy runs in the week & some mileage on Sunday. I didn't start any form of training until Wednesday. Monday was reserved for decorating, sometimes real life gets in the way of training. Tuesday night had been one of those days of being a hostage to the M25 that by the time I was home I found myself utterly disinterested in doing anything of note once I got home. Instead I found myself wanting to carry on watching The Jinx, an import from the USA about Robert Durst & his intriguing life. I've not been captivated by a TV show for quite some time & I would recommend tracking it down if you can (Sky Atlantic / Now TV in the UK), I even subscribed to Now TV just to watch it. Don't google Durst though if you do want to tune in, you'll spoil the entire show!

A Braintree 5k

Wednesday saw me running past my childhood home. My sister was across from the US for a fortnight whirlwind trip around all the family & friends. So whilst Mum prepared dinner, we headed out for a loop of the Fairview estate in Braintree. My only experience of running around this estate would have been as an Air Cadet or when running a very short distance to a friend's house. The estate certainly felt steeper and far longer when we were growing up. In fact we were both surprised to get back to Mum's house with only 5km clocked (just under, I had to run past the house & exaggerate a U turn to clock the extra metres on my Garmin!).
It was quite a surreal experience to run around Braintree. I knew the routes, but not completely as having last lived there 15 years ago there has been some building work & evolution. Our old house hasn't changed a bit, though having moved in 1998 I was hazy on some of the features. We didn't veer off course sufficiently to check out our first house, though neither American Clare or myself really have any memories of the place as we moved just after she was born in 1985. The cadet centre was still there, a happy memory & a place that I owe a lot to in terms of forming me & learning as I grew up. What use'd to be Steve's Video, a small shop & a pub now appear to be a Pizza Hut takeaway, no 50p wrestling video rentals now then!

Such a special pair of siblings

Lunchtime Shenanigans

Needing to be in London for 8am for the majority of the week is rather inhibiting on a morning run, I can cope with half five starts, but a half four just to run locally seems a bit extreme. On Friday I instead packed my running gear & got out for another loop around Battersea Park. I was greeted both on my way & way back by a pair of gents enjoying the sunshine & some strong lager with the words Jog On, though one of them had a slightly better routine & at least asked for a piggyback!
My intention was to take on a bigger loop of Battersea, but I had some kind of stomach stitch, just above my left hip that nagged, causing enough pain to shorten the route. Although Battersea is delightful, the hordes of dog walkers (those walking multiple dogs especially) make it quite an hairy experience for those of us that don't consider dogs to be a man's best friend.
Once out of the park my heart rate returned to normal & I was heading back to Westminster, gritting my teeth & hoping for the pain to subside slightly. An easy 8km banked, not a comfortable run, but good to spin the wheels.

VMLM Expo

You might or might not be aware that a small event known as the London Marathon was in town last week. I have a distant relationship with the event, they reject my advances & only seem to deliver bad news to me. Yet despite how they treat me, I keep persisting, maybe one day they'll invite me to the party.
Like a glutton for punishment I decided to see what I was missing out on at the Expo event. Excel is relatively easy to get to from central London when everything behaves itself so I took a detour on the way home. The vastness of the Expo was on a level I've never seen before. Copenhagen Half & Helsinki City Run had probably the best setup I'd seen previously, but nothing on the scale of London. Part of this is through necessity, 40,000+ runners after all, part of it is a drive for more revenue. I wasn't complaining about the commercialisation of it all though as I was like a kid in a sweet shop! I'd wanted to visit to meet the Scimitar Sports team. We've chatted over twitter plenty over the past year since they launched the Um Bongo vests that have become my trademark race wear. Since that time I & my friends & family have sent a lot of money their way, I think Alec has most of their shirts! I caught up with John & chatted about various ranges they have coming their way, alas no Creme Egg offering is on the cards as Cadbury are a tough nut to crack. I also picked up a new Um Bongo shirt, an alternative for when a vest would be a bit ambitious. They're a great company who are looking onwards & upwards, but still keep things personal, even creating an XXS size specifically for Emily from Team Um Bongo.
Right next to Scimitar was Run Breeze so I found myself stocking up on plenty of their socks to take me through the marathon training season. On some kit it is worth experimenting, elsewhere, stick with what works. Since picking up a pair of Run Breeze socks at the Pride 10k in 2013 I've suffered far less blisters & have regularly stocked up whenever I see them at events (they're not in retail outlets at this time, purely online).
I had one last motive to tick off as part of my visit, it was time for a new pair of trainers. I will generally get 500-600km out of a pair of road shoes, with five months of marathon training ahead of me and both my Asics & Saucony's just over the 300km mark I knew I'd need at least one more pair to take me to Berlin. The Expo had every brand you would expect & quite a few you'd not normally see. I like both of my pairs of neutral road shoes, they offer different things, so I wanted to throw something else into the mix. Though the Saucony Kinvara 6 London Edition was interesting, having two pairs of super light low profile shoes might be more than I can handle, likewise the £110 price tag was a bit on the high side.
I've liked the look of the Mizuno & New Balance ranges for a while & wanted to take a closer look at both to see what would suit. On passing the Mizuno stand my potential trainer of choice came into view. A new Mizuno Wave Rider 18, in striking multi coloured & white Osaka special edition. They had a more regular colour scheme, but why be conservative when you can instead be awesome?
I gave myself a lap of the Expo to consider other options.
I wasn't convinced by the NB range, especially as my trail shoes from them always feel a bit tight & narrow. In between hunting for trainers I got chatting to the guys behind the excellent Like The Wind magazine. A high quality running publication, not the same reviews on a six monthly basis, just well written & illustrated pieces on running. I walked away from them with their London special & am looking forward to giving it a read.
My lap of the expo provided no serious alternatives to the Mizuno so I headed back to try some on. I'd been lining up alternative to buy online, but the benefits of being able to try pairs on & use a treadmill (even though I'm not used to running on them) was vital here as the size 9 I'd usually opt for felt a bit on the small size. One I'd slipped on a pair of 9.5's & given them a quick try on the treadmill I knew I had a good addition to the trainer rotation for Berlin. They appear to be halfway between the super light and low profile Saucony & the more supportive Asics.

Mizuno Wave 18's Osaka Edition. Too shiny to run in?

With the credit card melting it was time to head home, despite not being on RD duty I was still assisting with event setup in the morning so couldn't afford to be out too late!

My VMLM Expo Swag!

Frustration

Sunday morning the alarm was set for half five like a normal work day, the running kit was laid out & yet I found myself resetting the alarm, grabbing some extra sleep rather than enjoying early morning miles. Something hadn't felt right on the outside of my left ankle (always my left side, always!) since after the Wednesday run. I was fine through rowing & exercise bike time on Thursday & during the run on Friday as well, yet walking around post exercise something didn't feel right. I'd been parking the ankle on ice since Thursday, trying to understand quite what was wrong. By Sunday morning it still didn't feel completely right so I opted for some more sleep before a long & exhausting day ahead.

Inspiration

Running is just as much in the mind at times for me as it is physically. I can let injuries anxieties get in the way at times, wrap myself in too much cotton wool & injure myself anyway. Thankfully on Sunday I had just the pick me up I needed. The week previously I'd decided I'd like to head into London to savour the atmosphere. Alongside Harlow ED Vicky we promoted an event to our relatively young parkrun communities in the hope that we could get a good group down to support. Alas the last minute planning probably cost us as Vicky & I were the only ones present at Shadwell tube a the agreed meeting time! We wandered to a familiar stop along The Highway that I'd chosen back in 2013 as well, plenty of space & you get to see the runners at just after 13 miles & coming back at 22.

The weather was perfect for runners, a bit too cold for supporters & I was soon adding layers! As the elites made their way through halfway we were joined by Steve, already a stalwart of Hatfield Forest parkrun & now the only parkrunner to join us on a social!
At marathon time everyone focuses on how the runners prepare & perform on the day, no one thinks about what you need as a supporter. We all went out far too hard, cheering, clapping, whooping at anything that moved early on to the point that we were gassed out by the time the masses from four hour pace onward arrived. I was having to pace myself, selectively cheering folk as my voice was already struggling. What an amateur, no decent supporting strategy, didn't I realise this was a marathon, not a sprint? I needed to have saved my A game for further down the field, these quick folk are probably moving too quickly to even hear my yelling!

Speaking of crazy fast folk, fellow Forest core team member Paul whizzed by, appearing to be running at a 3 hour pace. He'd not told us what his target was beforehand, we knew he'd be quick, just not sure how quick. He looked to be enjoying himself, realising as he passed us that he was the Paul we were bellowing at, turning slightly to give us a smile & a wave. Sam from our core team was also running, though I didn't manage to spot him & I hadn't given him advance notice of where I'd be for him to claim a high five.
Once the four hour groups came through I started to offer out the sandwich box I'd filled with jelly babies, jelly beans & jaffa cakes. Cheering random folks on gives them a bit of a boost, offering them free sweets makes you an absolute hero! Both Vicky & I had boxes of sweets available & we were regularly getting runners head over to grab something to keep themselves going. It was nice to contribute this way as thanks to our awful pacing we were all struggling with the whole supporting side of things. I was now resorting to a less subtle offering of the sweet box & keeping my cheers selective to Bishop's Stortford runners, parkrun folk I recognised & people with awesome outfits.
It was getting damn cold & once we saw Paul come through on his return, got a bit of a smile & a wave we decided it was time to find a pub.

Being on the south side of The Highway makes Wapping station an easy exit point & soon we were up in Shoreditch, wearing flannel shirts & oversized glasses, heading to Spittalfield's market (some of that might not be true). After finding the most important thing, a toilet, it was time for #2 & #3 on the list, food & drink. As we wandered into Spitallfield's I noticed Bleecker St Burger, the one time food stall, now permanent offering. Everyone else was game for a burger so it was time to visit one of London's premier burger joints for the first time. I kept it simple with a bacon cheeseburger, accompanied with angry fries & a Brooklyn Lager. Steve opted for an identical order, Vicky went for the black pudding topped burger, which sounded all kinds of funky. The burger delivered, excellent quality, very juicy & cooked medium rare. The angry fries just didn't work for me, the sauce was overdone & the hot sauce wasn't really hot just peppery (I'd have probably disliked a hotter sauce though), if they had the option for just blue cheese on it's own as a sauce that would have been a better choice.

All in all a bizarre week, barely any mileage & the frustration of feeling injured. To finish the week by taking in the London Marathon reminded me of why I want to run a marathon myself.

Cambridge Half

I don't think I've ever been quite so relaxed about an event. I was almost apathetic, indifferent to the Cambridge Half. The original aim had been to target 1:50:00, training, illness, fitness and carrying too much weight meant that wasn't going to happen. Not having a target freed from worry. Mentally I found myself with an uncluttered mind for the first time in months.
Joel had enquired as to what I was aiming for, I casually stated a sub 2 would be nice, but I wasn't fussed, miles for Larmer a week later would be good. He had toyed with an attempt at 2:15 and I'd offered to pace, but he didn't feel overly confident so we parked that idea.
On the morning of the event I quickly checked what a sub 2 pace would be; 5:41/km, gulp, quicker than anything distance wise I'd managed for a while, but races always give you a little performance boost.
After a midweek run around the forest with Simon at Hatfield Forest parkrun summer course record holder Jack, I felt in decent shape. I found my groin / abductor playing up a bit, but not enough to stop running (doesn't hurt whilst running). I should really get that checked before Berlin training starts in earnest.
I was that ambivalent to the race that it wasn't until around half nine in the evening that I found the race pack! With a half five alarm set I managed to get all of my stuff together, no double or triple checking either, this was like a new me!
It had been nice and warm during the day as a group of us had installed permanent signage for Great Notley parkrun. It was nice to sign off my time there by contributing.
After a quick bath, yes the bath is finally back in business!!!! I was off to sleep, ready for what would be my 15th half marathon in the morning.

Pre Race

Chuffing cold. I was absolutely chuffing cold wandering Midsummer Common. I'd followed the instructions and got there early. I had nearly two hours to kill after the park and ride dropped us off. I need to get myself some nice elasticated jogging bottoms to take to races, my knees were knocking with cold and I was far too lazy to take my running shoes off and put jeans on. Nearly five years a runner and still learning this stuff.
I parked myself next to the Erdinger Alkoholfrei Beer stand to catch folks as they came in. Fellow HFPR core team colleague Sam was also running, aiming for a 1:54 so I'd not be running with him!
Fellow Um Bongo cohorts Joel and Fergie arrived, Ferg outdoing me in the cold stakes by being in only his running gear! We queued up for 20 minutes for a tea to get halfway down the line and realise no one really wanted a tea by the time we'd get to the front of the line! For once I wasn't full of nervous energy, so constantly rejoining the toilet line wasn't necessary. Bag drop was a nightmare, thankfully Nic had the buggy and was happy to hold bags. As ever an event was slightly underdone in terms of toilets and bag drop volunteers. As I was in a good place this wasn't playing on my anxieties though.

Pre Race - Smiling far too much

On my way to the start it said hello to a couple of folks I'd recognised from our parkrun fundraiser. It was great to start seeing folks from what will be our Hatfield Forest community.

The Race

There appeared to be three two hour pacers, yet they'd decided to run as a group, which is bizarre as you usually split them up a bit within a pen to stop massive bunches of runners. The start was very prompt and within a couple of minutes I crossed the line, the pacers already blasting off. I wasn't going to try and hang with them, I knew 5:41/km would deliver me across the line in two hours and I had no idea how the race itself would go.
You'll often hear of people starting too fast, it has certainly been the case for me in other races. I'm now finding though that once a race has a decent number of runners (4,500 at Cambridge) you'll generally find yourself slower than expected in the first kilometre due to everyone being quite compact. I've tried to start at pace before and found myself getting wound up and frustrated. This was almost the zen race so I just accepted it for what it was.
The first kilometre was also slightly uphill, no point over exerting and I wasn't surprised to get through just shy of six minutes, 18 seconds in deficit. Here the experience of this being my 15th half allowed me to relax, just get into a rhythm and everything will sort itself out.
Another second over in the second click, but that was a good indicator that I'd already settled into a pace. Cambridge was as flat as I could remember and after some ring road fun we were treated to the first entry into the city centre.
It was barely half nine and I was already searching out shade, the sun did indeed have it's hat on, hip hip hooray, unless you're a runner of course! Some tight turns throughout the city made the course challenging for a pancake flat one, the only hill of note during the first lap was merely a steep bridge!
I felt good and by five kilometres was on track and consistently under target pace. An elongated out and back gave me a chance to see Joel on the course. A bit more on the course here. OSB the organisers had put together a nearly nice loop that included three visits into the city centre. Here a combination of supporters and bemused tourists gave a big event feel, as did proper barricades with the title sponsor branded across them. Compared with the Helsinki City Run, this felt very much like an event being embraced by the city.
After the third city section we were heading back out towards Midsummer Common. A brief chat with a parkrunner from Wimpole was rudely interrupted by some clown purposefully barging through people and then giving the finger. Sadly in an event of nearly five thousand people there's always going to be one arsehole (I did spot his runner number later on, just saying OSB....). On the whole it felt like a very sociable event.
I soon found myself at the start of the second lap and thanks to some consistent kilometres under target by around a minute. I was into my supply of High 5 gels by this point, though feeling good I was guarding against my trademark 10 mile fade.
Instead I found myself maintaining pace, slightly slower than 4-10km, but still either just over or under target pace. In fact, my pace held up throughout and I found time to chat with various other runners as we wound through the city. The support was absolutely fantastic.
As I approached Midsummer Common for a second time I felt good, but ready to call it a day. I'd managed my fuel tank nicely as I entered the final click, spotting Fergie to one side.

Finishing strongly. And colour coordinated for once....

The finish was misleading, you entered the common only to be diverted away for a bit of an out and back. So near, yet so far!
I didn't feel a sprint finish would achieve anything, but the gun time clock was counting up to 2 hours so with the crowd also counting my last stride was a little leap to secure the gun time sub 2.

The Conclusion

A pleasantly surprising result, 1:57:42. My pacing and energy had been good throughout and my expectations had been surpassed. I even saw fellow core team member Sam just ahead of me in the finish funnel. He'd clocked a time only 40 seconds quicker than me & looking at our times, I was slowly reeling him in as the run continued. I'd managed to come in just behind the pack of two hour pacers, they must have been around three minutes under pace, which would have been too much for many looking to pass that threshold for the first time.

Sam & I more pleased with the medals than alcohol free beer

I was very pleased with the effort. The long runs during this training cycle had all been of decent quality. Though the speed work had been minimal, once I'd skirted round the bad weather at this time of year & the coughs & colds that come with it, I'd trained relatively well for this half. This was the first time I'd been going into a half not feeling under prepared. Usually I find myself missing a couple of crucial long runs & getting to the end on fumes. During this cycle I'd had a few long slow runs over the 10 mile mark, running time rather than distance & over much more elevation than you could find in Cambridge. Given the preparation there is a lot to be happy about with this result. Sure, I could look back at what was meant to be a 1:50:00 attempt, but my focus changed very early on. This run turned into another long run practice before the Larmer Tree Half. A completely different run, except for the 21.1km distance.

A good quality medal

One item of concern was that my constant partner since August was again present. More groin pain, mainly before the run & afterwards. Something must be wrong, it's time to get this checked before marathon season starts.

The race itself was very well organised. As ever, some more toilets would make sense, especially with the amount of space on offer at Midsummer Common. Plenty that were queuing would have either missed the start or be running round with full bladders. The PA was clear, though way too loud in the post race village, was like someone rudely shouting over everyone! No official photos either. £18 per digital image is just extortion. Surely at even half the price you'd sell plenty, it is a self defeating pricing policy.

The Eat

Despite a Steak & Honour van in the race village, I had eyes for only one thing. Once Joel had joined us after a 2:19, it was time for a visit to the ice cream van. Sadly £2 for a 99 Flake is par for the course at events these days, but I couldn't care, Mr Whippy was needed after what turned out to be quite a warm run. The organisers had laid on alcohol free beer as well for every finisher. I tried to enjoy it, but firstly alcohol free takes the one main point of beer out and two, a big gassy pint isn't what the doctor ordered.

Mr Whippy all round!

I'd reserved my Cocio chocolate milk for the journey home & asked Paula to pick up some good burgers whilst out for my evening sustenance. Served in a brioche bun, with baked parma ham, brilliantly melty dutch cheese, avocado and some thousand island sauce, I'm getting good at putting these burger combos together.

I has burger. Very good burger.

No rest for the wicked though, I had an afternoon of parkrun sign making before I could allow myself a chance to relax.

You don't see the signs because you're blind...

HM Week 8 - Almost there

Better late than never? I could have easily penned this update straight after my visit to Brentwood parkrun on the Saturday afternoon, instead kept meaning to get to it as the week went on, but found myself getting progressively busier. Now, nearly two weeks after the event, here comes my ode to Brentwood....
In summary, week eight of my half marathon plan was another successful progression. I finally did a bit of tempo work with a fartlek run around London one lunchtime. I'd hate to think what a fartlek run looks like to a passer by. Some nutcase sprinting, walking and the jogging in-between, probably looks like a complete non runner clueless to how you're meant to run. The session was hard work though, those walking rest periods never feel long enough.
No major aches though so it was a case of good workout banked and move on.

Brentwood parkrun

February 21st had been marked in the calendar for some time. The event had launched in December, but I'd kept volunteering at Great Notley before Xmas so the opportunity to head across hadn't been there. January was a hectic phase of run and race directing. I'd caught up with Event Director Leigh over email and discussed when he'd be around as I was eager to meet him and absorb more parkrun experience. The third Saturday of the month worked and I'd also persuaded Alec to make the trip, he did make to the inaugural and had been talking it up ever since.
Our events share an ambassador & Gerry had mentioned how similar we were to Brentwood, the major difference being their course added hills to the mix. So I was prepared for tough, or was I?
Leigh had spotted me and once his RD duties allowed we exchanged a brief hello, we'd catch up after the run. The drive down to Brentwood had been really straight forward with both motorways being clear, the event was easier to get to than some closer on the map. They'd been some rain during my journey and I was hoping it was heading in a different direction to me.
This would mark the parkrun debut of the mudclaws, unless you count pre parkrun tours around the forest. I was glad for the addition of seal skinz socks as the course was the muddiest they'd seen it!
After a short but sweet briefing we wandered up to the start area, where Leigh started us with the church bells still ringing for nine o'clock. It was quite a sight for a dog walker who suddenly had around a hundred people hurtling down hill towards them! The first half kilometre was all downhill, first on a field, then on hardstanding paths. After crossing a bridge the course turns right and once you're through a field you find yourself climbing all the way to 2km. The gradient wasn't too bad, but the distance of the climb made it hard work.

First parkrun for the mudclaws

I could still see Alec in the distance, his bright yellow HBO shirt meant he stood out quite nicely, despite the field becoming stretched.
Just after 2km we turned into a woodland area and the sparsity of the field made it hardwork to identify the route at one point. Underfoot conditions were soft at best as we navigated fields and round a deer enclosure. After crossing one of the tracks in the estate I was soon heading back down to the bridge. A short uphill would take me back to the finish. Sadly a short uphill would also cut a kilometre or so from the course, instead I turned left and headed down to a rare sight on the course, a marshal. Event Director has managed to create a very lean event, something I was envious of with quite a manpower heavy course myself.
The final kilometre was laid out in front of me after passing the marshal, a bit more flat, then what appeared to be gentle uphill, some flat, another little climb then a nice descend to finish.
On starting the climb I appeared to be reeling Alec back in, a rare occurrence these days. Unfortunately by the midpoint of the climb I realised why. This innocent looking hill was a breaker. Such soft underfoot conditions that progress would have been easier through treacle. I wanted to walk, I hadn't walked at a parkrun for a long time. I really wanted to walk, this was daft, why had I got out of bed?
I managed to get to the point where it flattened out and grabbed some respite. I'd kept going, no walking for me. Now all I had was a brief bit of up before the downhill to the finish. By the time I'd got to the photographer at the end of this last climb I'd realised the tank was truly empty. It wasn't so much a sprint finish, more a barely passable bimple.

Slightly muddy

I stopped the watch, grabbed my finish token and found myself at ninety degrees trying to collect myself. I was knackered, completely done.
I caught up with Leigh and we started talking all things parkrun, he was keen for feedback and I was keen for advice. A perfect combination. Not that I was overly coherent for the first few minutes!

Veloviewer of Brentwood parkrun. Figure of eight circuit.

The Conclusion

In the immediate aftermath I tweeted the following:

 

Shock and awe. A term used back in my uni days to sum up a military tactic. It could also lend itself to Brentwood parkrun. I was shocked at how much it took out of me. A mid 28 time is, based solely on average times for me alone, appalling. It doesn't however take into account conditions. The hills of doom at Wimpole & Great Notley haven't defeated me in recent history. The difference is, they are a momentary distraction. Brentwood is unrelenting. You start fast downhill, get a covering of mud, climb for an age, take on some more mud, bit of downhill (to take you back through the first mud), then climb some more. Want to sprint finish? Good luck, Brentwood will have emptied you.
I'm in sheer awe. The course was the toughest I've experienced. I hated it. I loved it. It left me wanting to curl up in a ball and find some nice flat tarmac. It left me wanting more. In most cases you'll find routes have a bit of give & take. On this occasion, potentially due to the conditions, it felt like 95% carrot, 5% stick. Will I be back? Absolutely. The course will be perfect training for Endure and a good gauge through the summer to my marathon training.
The entirety of the challenge enthralled me, this parkrun is an absolute gem and goes to the top of many lists. I'm sure it'll be kinder in the summer or when frozen, but part of me will have an eye on bad weather and hoping it coincides with future visits.

The week also included some parkrun sign making

The Long Run

So after a brutal parkrun and just before the first cricket net of the season would be the logical time to sneak in the longest run of my training cycle wouldn't it?
There was some logic to it, some method to the madness. After the first net I'm generally an achy mess, though working from home on the Monday would allow for a long run, I didn't want any excuses.
So at 0634 I was out, heading towards Bishop's Stortford on a bright Sunday morning. Having seen a route my core team colleague Paul had taken through Birchanger, I decided to head this way as an alternative to reaching Stortford.
My last proper experience of climb in the village was during the Birchanger 11k of 2011 (officially marketed as a 10k, but something appeared to go a bit wrong with the measuring wheel). I'd forgotten just how long the hill lasted for, a great start to a run after the exertion the day before!!
Once the A120 was negotiated I was into Stortford and found myself consistently at a decent 5:50-6:00/km pace. I passed the golf club and chose to head to the running club. I knew I needed around 10km around Stortford so the plan was to freestyle my way around. After getting back towards the town centre I picked a random left turn when the climb looked challenging and kept making random turns until I eventually found myself at the base of the hill to the rugby club. This was the intention, yet the journey there included parts of Stortford I'd never seen in nearly 5 years of living there in my past!
A tough slog got me to the rugby club, then the cricket club and back, almost towards Stansted. The route even allowed for a diversion around Lime Kiln Lane as I approached home.
A nice twenty kilometres banked, a good long run. Onto the roller, get showered, scoff some breakfast and then straight out of the door for cricket, no rest for the insane!!
After two hours of bowling (not risking the tendinitis by batting at present) I was reduced to bowling spin, albeit probably at a greater pace than my usual slow medium filth. I wasn't surprised to find myself falling asleep on the sofa by 6pm!!!

The Eat

It has taken so damn long to put this post together I'm struggling to recall the highlights! A visit to Five Guys on the Saturday night and a humongous steak on Sunday finished the week perfectly!

Going All in at Five Guys

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!