graemeruns

[graemeruns]

London Marathon 2019

It’s never easy running two marathons close together, and in my case, because I had put everything into the Manchester marathon and was not able to run for a week after, the three week recovery between the two races was not enough. I managed to build up some miles again in the second week post-Manchester, and enjoyed a fast parkrun at Lloyd Park where I knocked 5 seconds off my course PB there, but then I was into the taper again. In my final week I always do a marathon-pace effort in the shoes I intend wearing on the day, but just 4km wearing my On Cloud X lightweight racers aggravated my calves again, so I decided not to wear them for London. Shoe choice then became a dilemma: I thought I would wear my Mizuno Wave Sayanoras, then after referencing my training log and discovering that I had never run further than 13 miles in them, ditched that idea and resorted to my Mizuno Wave Riders. I’ve worn these in road marathons before, but at 312g they are quite heavy, and I would have preferred something a bit lighter. Still, there was no way the 13mm heal-to-toe drop would overuse my calves, and the cushioning would be nice too.

Friday, expo day; Saturday, taking it easy doing stuff around the house; Sunday, up before my alarm, usual pre-marathon breakfast of porridge and toast, and off to catch the 8:05am train from West Wickham station. For once, I wasn’t at all nervous, because I had no pressure to do well. The weather was cool, although fairly breezy, but very decent conditions for running.

There was quite a gathering of Striders and other local club runners on the train, so the 20 minute journey to Lewisham went in the blink of an eye. Then there’s the 25 minute walk to the start, which meant I was there before 9am. This year, London marathon had split the Good For Age competitors among all starts, and I was on my own in the Yellow start. There were definitely some Striders and other runners I know in there somewhere, but I couldn’t find any of them. It was pretty chilly when I handed my bag in at 9:20, and so began 50 minutes of waiting for the start; I actually entered the starting pen at 9:40 thinking that it would be warmer surrounded by other people, which it was, but after 20 minutes of standing I was noticing how much my hamstrings were already aching. It wasn’t a good beginning to the race!

Despite getting in the starting pen quite early, it still too me 2 minutes to get over the line after the gun went off. I was keen to get going, and warm up, but the aching hamstrings were not helping. I set about trying to maintain a good pace; with no idea how much I had recovered from Manchester, I hadn’t really decided what pace to aim for, but just to run as naturally as my body felt, with the hope that I might be able to sneak in under 3 hours. I covered the first 10k in a satisfactory time of just over 41 minutes. The next 10k was quite a bit slower, in 42:40, but that still meant half-way came up in around 1:28:30, so if I could maintain this slower pace I could be on for something close to 3 hours. However, I was already feeling very drained; I remember at the time thinking it felt as hard as the last few kilometers of Manchester a few weeks earlier, but there was still a long way to go. At 25k I was still slowing, and soon after this Andy from Striders overtook me. I thought about trying to hang with him for a while, but by now my legs were very heavy, and the effort to catch up and try and hang on for a bit might ruin me completely, so I let him go. (Andy finished with a new PB of 2:58:24).

By the 20 mile mark my hope of a sub 3 had gone, and now the time really didn’t matter, and it was all about getting to the finish as quickly as I could muster to end the pain. I covered the remaining part of the marathon averaging a fairly pedestrian 4:45 - 4:50/km, but my heart rate was hovering around 160bpm, which is the top end of my marathon-pace range, so I was doing about as much as I could. My time over the line was 3:06:38 (you can see my run on Strava here). Everything considered, I was absolutely OK with that: I had done what I could, tried a plan, but my Manchester recovery just hadn’t been enough. There’s a lot of people who would be absolutely thrilled with that time, finishing within the top 3000 of 42500 runners. For me it was just the end of another race, and time to analyse the damage done.

I find it fascinating how your body reacts to different scenarios. It was easy to compare both my marathons because running conditions had been very similar: cool, overcast, with a breeze (though a bit windier in places at London) and mostly flat. The main differences were: freshness, shoes and congestion. Let’s take one at a time:

1) Freshness: Manchester had definitely taken more out of me than I thought. Once I had started to run during the recovery weeks I felt very sluggish, and the weekend two weeks after the marathon where I ran a fast parkrun followed by the Sunday Striders off-road run had wiped me out for 2 days. Then I did a marathon paced run of 4k that made my calves sore again. All of these were mistakes when you are due to run another marathon so soon, and definitely put my recovery back. In hindsight my runs in-between the events should have been at an easy or recovery pace.

2) Shoes: the last minute choice to change to my marathon training shoes from my On Cloud X was probably the right thing to do based on the hammering my calves at taken at Manchester. I did some research before London, and tests have show that for every 100g extra a shoe weighs slows the runner by around 0.8%, which is around 1.30 minutes for a 3 hour marathon. 1:30 is a lot, but when you aren’t sure whether you will run sub 3 or 3:20, it didn’t matter. What I find interesting is, because I got tired by half-way, my running form must have fallen apart and the high heel-to-toe drop of the shoe forced me to overuse my quads, ‘dragging’ my legs forward rather then activating the hip and hamstring in a pendulum motion. Result: extremely sore quads afterwards, and bruised toes from heel-striking rather than landing mid-forefoot. My calves were completely unscathed though!

3) Congestion: not a huge issue, but even getting to the water stops this year was difficult if you were on the wrong side of the road. There were also far fewer water stations this year (apparently this was on purpose to reduce waste, but I must have missed the email) and far too many Lucozade and gel stations. So, for the first time at London, I think I got dehydrated this year, because I ignored some water stations thinking there would be another in the next mile, but there wasn’t. I even had a cup of Lucozade at one point I was that desperate!

So that’s my summary of the Virgin Money London Marathon 2019. I’m not saying this based on my performance, but I genuinely didn’t enjoy any of it this year. I don’t like crowds -  I can get panicked and stressed around too many people, and this year I found the marathon overbearing - the number of runners, the crowds, and the noise, was just too much. I actually covered my ears during some of the ‘cheer’ zones. Having run it 4 times now, I will give it a break next year - I have already entered Brighton Marathon 2020. I’m excited already to think of going back to where I ran my first ever marathon in 2014. My over-ambitious plan is to try and run it 25 minutes faster than I did 6 years previously - 2:49:23. Is it too big an ask at my age to run four and a half minutes quicker than my recent Manchester time? Maybe, but I think I just need a plan, and, as some of you will know, there’s nothing I like better than a nicely structured, good old fashioned training plan.

#Manchester marathon London marathon marathon

[graemeruns]

Manchester marathon, and the journey to a PB

I think, by now, most people I know expect that I am going to run the London marathon each year, so a fair few that I talked to were surprised when I told them that I was actually going to run the Manchester marathon first, and then London three weeks later. To be fair, their surprise was not unjustified, as I entered Manchester as a late decision; I was already three weeks into my London marathon 18 week training plan when I had this major concern that the following four months of hard work could all end in disaster if the weather turned out as hot as it was last year at the end of April. With Manchester being at the beginning of April, it also fell nicely at the beginning of the school Easter break, so it didn't take long to decide to enter it and have a week away near Manchester at the same time with the family. My wife, Yasmin, set about the task of finding us somewhere to stay, and all I now needed to do was compress by 18 week plan into 15, and we had a target set.

I had decided to be even more aggressive with my training this year, base it on the 55-70 miles/week plan from Pzitzinger and Douglas' book "Advanced Marathoning", but with all rest days being recovery runs, and tweaking it using my own experience of how I like to train. Since Abingdon marathon in October last year, I had kept my mileage ticking over at around 40 miles/week, so was hoping that this base fitness would help me as I moved into my new marathon training plan. Two weeks before the plan started I increased my mileage to 47, then the following week 50, so that 60 miles in week 1 would not seem too much of a step upwards.

Loosely, my training plan went something like this:

Monday - 3-4 mile recovery run (8:45 - 9:00/mile pace). I really needed these runs to be as-slow-as-you-can go recovery otherwise they would be counter-productive. Tuesday - intervals or tempo (6:20/mile) - around 10 miles in total with warm up and cool down. These were sometimes moved to Wednesday if I was still feeling tired from the weekend, in which case they would be an easy 9- 10 miler (7:40 - 7:55/mile pace). Wednesday - medium long run, 15 - 17 miles, usually as a double run because just finding the time to run it in one go was too difficult. Sometimes these would be a workout and a recovery run later in the day if I had moved the workout from Tuesday. Thursday - easy run - around 10 miles. This is about 7:40 - 7:55/mile pace. Friday - 3-4 mile recovery (8:45 - 9:00 pace) Saturday - parkrun, of course, as fast as possible! I think I ran to and from nearly all of them to some get extra mileage in (usually 9 - 11 miles total). Sunday - Long run - 16 - 23 miles (7:40 - 8:15/mile pace). In all honestly, I didn't run as many 20+ mile runs as I'd have liked, as two of the Sundays were used for tune-up races. But I did do seven runs over 17 miles (the longest being 26 miles which was a bit too far!). My legs were also usually tired from the previous days' parkrun too, so running on tired legs was something I got used to, and I think is crucial for the latter parts of the marathon.

Lets look at the tune-up races:

Wokingham half marathon. This fell 9 weeks into in my calendar on 24th February. I wanted to have a go at my current half marathon PB (1:23:44) in this race, so I dropped the workout that week, cut back the mileage a little and rested the day before. The day was perfect, being cool and bright with only a little breeze. After a bit of a congested start, I was able to get into my rhythm and run consistently around 6:20/mile, which would get me a time under 1:23. My 5k splits were good: 19:42, 19:42, 19:48, 19:54, but slipping just a few seconds in the last 10k meant I crossed the line just short of my goal in 1:23:09. But I'd given it everything, so was content with the result. You can see my run on Strava here.

The Big Half. This race fell just 2 weeks after Wokingham. The previous Sunday my long run had accidentally ended up as 26 miles, and this meant I took a couple of days early in the week to recover, and what with running a steady parkrun on the Saturday as well, meant I was not that fresh for the race. The weather was cold, wet at the start, and very, very windy. Overall, it was a bit of a disaster really, as I queued so long for the loo I started too far back, which required a lot of weaving through slower runners, and while this probably didn't cost a huge chunk of time, the speeding up and slowing down was using an unnecessary amount of energy. I ended up running a negative split because of this, in 1:26:05, which was a bit disappointing, but deep down I knew I wasn't flat out and that this was closer to marathon pace than half marathon pace, so took that away as a positive. It had also given my potential marathon shoes a good outing, so the decision what to wear for the marathon had been made too. You can see my run on Strava here.

My training plan also includes some marathon paced runs. Always run on a Sunday on tired legs, these can be tough but honest workouts. Striders had arranged for a group of us to met at Kenley aerodrome for exactly this sort of training, so the 13.1 miles I ran there at marathon pace two weeks before Manchester was my final big effort. It ended up around 1:27:30, approximately 6:40/mile pace, and I felt fairly comfortable during the run. This was a good confidence boost for me, and gave me an indication of what to aim for on the day. A big thanks to my Striders mate Martin for being my running pal for that effort.

Fast-forward two weeks and I'm at the start line. We had booked accommodation in the lovely village of Old Glossop at the base of the Peak District. Travelling to the race start had been fairly easy - a 25 minute drive to Didsbury East where I parked and boarded the tram to Trafford Bar, the nearest tram stop to the start. The whole journey was just over an hour, and quite stress-free. I didn't hang about though: this year they were expecting around 20,000 people to run in the various races, and it was quite crowded, so I quickly dropped my bag off and made my way to the start line, which being the 'A' start, was also the furthest away; even so, I was in the pen with 15 minutes to go. The weather conditions were near perfect (8 degrees, overcast with a little breeze) and I was raring to go.

When I race marathons I like to plan my pacing based on 5 mile intervals. It's easy to remember just 4 split times, and an overall average time per kilometer (at this point I should apologise for mixing miles and kilometers, but I do tend to think in both when running). My intended splits were:

5 miles in 33 minutes and 10 miles 1:06 (average 4.06/km), 15 miles in 1:39:30 (average pace now falls slightly to 4:07/km due to natural slowing), 20 miles 2:13:00 (average pace now falls to 4:08/km) Which leaves just a 6.2 mile (or 10k) sprint to the finish, which I'd hope to cover in around 42 minutes, and will mean I have run a 2:55 marathon. That was the goal, though I really thought 2:56 - 2:57 was more likely.

At 9am on the dot we were off, and being so near the front I was across the line almost immediately. There's the usual overtaking, and being overtaken, that goes on in the first few kilometers as runners find their pace. I went through the first kilometer in 4 minutes dead. "Hmm, that's a bit fast", I thought, "but it's probably just because it's the first kilometer". I went through the second kilometer in 4:03: "Hmm, that's still a bit fast". The third kilometer took 4.01, then 4.03, then 3:56, passing 5k in a little over 20 minutes. I was in a real dilemma - the pace seemed far too fast, but I just didn't seem to be able to reel it in. It didn't actually feel that fast, and my heart rate was averaging around 142bpm, which is pretty low for me.

Kilometer 6: 3:59, kilometer 7: 4:04, kilometer 8: 4:00 - I went through 5 miles in a little over 32 minutes, much faster than intended. But I couldn't slow down - somehow I was being pulled along by the runners around me. So it was at that point I did something I've never done before: I threw away my pacing plan and decided to stick it out at this faster pace and see if I could hang on at the end. I'll either crash and burn, or run a very fast time.

The Manchester marathon route is pretty flat, although there are some long gentle inclines where you unexpectedly lose time, and the first time that happened (at kilometer 17 when I ran a 4:10) I immediately worried that this was where the slowing up starts, but then I ran 3:58 in the next kilometer, so equilibrium was maintained.

I passed half way in 1:25:55, much faster than intended (and quicker than the Big Half!). The simple maths said that I just had to run a 1:30 second half (4:14/km) to achieve my 2:55 goal. But I know marathons - they aren't that easy to predict.

Between 25 - 30k I was still running well, averaging about 4:09/km pace, and 20 miles came up in 2:11:40; I was over a minute up on my time. The 20 mile (32.2km) sign is my friend: it says “you’ve now completed the 20 mile 'warm-up', and it's just 10k to the finish, which you will run as fast as you possibly can”. But in the latter stages of a marathon it is never as simple as that: I was tired, and I had a lot of pain in my right foot*, which was worse on the inside camber of the road, so I tried to run in the middle of the road. This did help ease the pain a little, but in the grand scheme of things it was not a big issue, and it wouldn’t prevent me from getting to the finish line, which I’d like to see soon, please. (* It turned out to be an enormous blood blister on my 3rd toe).

Yasmin and Chloe had made the clever decision not to get up at 6:30am and travel to Manchester with me, but instead got the train into Manchester later and were going to be just past the 25 mile sign. It's amazing how much of a boost seeing someone familiar is, and just looking forward to that point in the route gives you something to focus on. After waving frantically at them and trying to smile, with 1 mile to go I just got my head down and headed for the finish - which is quite torturous because you can see the finish line from 500m away. It looked a long way!

With 200m to go I realised that I was closer to sub 2:54 than anything around 2:55, so found a sprint from somewhere but it wasn't quite enough. I crossed the line in 2:54:02, a 4 minute 25 sec PB. I had surpassed my expectations, and, to be honest, was a little shocked to have run quite that fast! You can see my run on Strava here.

A week later, and recovery has been slow. My racing flats did the job, but I attempted a run the Saturday after the marathon and my calves were still very tight and sore, so I will be giving them some more rest. I've enjoyed the break from running though, as it does take over my life in a big way when marathons are looming. For the 13 weeks proper training I did for the Manchester marathon (not including the 2 taper weeks), I averaged 63 miles/week, and there were 3 weeks in there where the mileage was reduced due to upcoming races and a niggle. But attaining a PB at half marathon and marathon at the age of 51, I am not complaining at all. I love running, and there were few runs or workouts I didn't enjoy. It was worth every moment I spent doing it, and you know what, I think I can go faster!

#manchester marathon; running; marathon

[graemeruns]

Multiple update time: Reigate half, Sittingbourne 10 and Abingdon marathon

Oh dear, it’s been 3 months since I last wrote anything on here about my running, so now’s the time to get up to speed with what has been going on. 

After the Caterham half (detailed here) I looked at the goal races I had lined up and drew up a training plan. I actually only had two races booked in my calendar: the Reigate half marathon in mid September, and the Abingdon marathon five weeks later. So I decided to loosely follow the marathon training plan I used for my first ever marathon in Brighton in 2014, with Abingdon as the eventual finale and Reigate as one of the marathon tune-up runs. I always find training difficult in the warm summer months and during the school holidays, but this plan was doable because it shouldn’t mean excessive mileage (the greatest week being 55 miles, but most weeks between 40-50 miles). It also only meant five running days per week, so two days to fully rest and recover and not create any further injuries. I was hoping that training when it was warm would mean that the cool autumn races would be much easier too! 

I had entered the Reigate Half in 2017 at the ‘early bird’ price and it had always been my main aim this year once recovered from my injury; it had been useful to have a long term goal to focus on when I started back running in April. After my Caterham half disappointment my training needed to focus on building up the Sunday long runs (all after a fast paced Saturday parkrun) and also ensuring I tried to get one tempo or interval session in during the week. I was also determined to listen to my body, so if I felt too tired for one of the sessions, I would change it to something else, but make sure that I still got the miles under my belt. By the time the Reigate half came round on 16th September, I had managed 5 runs between 16 - 20 miles, and felt a lot more prepared than when I ran Caterham 2 months previously.

This was my first time running the Reigate half. The organisation was superb, and the communication, event village, baggage tent and parking was faultless. The course itself was all on closed roads, and I’d been warned it was quite hilly. In fact there were only really two hills - in the first mile and the last mile - but everything else was all slightly undulating; I never felt like I was on the flat at any point. My race plan was to go out at 4min/km (6:25/mile), and see how long I could keep that up. In the end I managed that pace for the first 8 miles, then started to slow, crossing the finish in 1:26:34. My whole run, however, had been slightly hampered by the hill in the first mile: going up it had been slow, so I had rocketed down it and that had made both my hamstrings sore, like a minor strain, which remained for the rest of the race. It probably didn’t slow me down much, but it certainly wasn’t nice to run with. Nevertheless, I was content with my time, and finished 1st in the V50 age category, which was an added bonus despite there being no age category prizes. You can view my race on Strava here.

After Reigate there were now five weeks until the Abingdon marathon. In the next two weeks my long runs consisted of a 16 miler with 12 miles at around marathon pace (4:13/km or 6:46/mile), and a 20 miler. The following week I decided to do a final tune-up race and entered the Sittingbourne Striders 10 mile road race. I had run this race in 2015 in a time of 64:30; you can read about that encounter here, which explains the course in detail. This year I was hoping to run a bit quicker and something in the 63 minute range. The weather was cool and conditions very good apart from a fairly stiff breeze in places, and this came to the fore midway through the race at the highest point of the circuit. I ran well, and, more importantly, enjoyed the race; I enjoy few races these days as I’m usually thinking of pace, splits and times rather than the event itself. The fact that I didn’t hit my goal time, but finished in 64:22 (which was a small PB) didn’t really bother me. Oh, and I was third too, and received a £10 Sweatshop voucher and a trophy for my troubles. 

You can view my efforts on Strava here.

Now there were two weeks left before Abingdon, so I tried to do a mini taper, but failed really because I had put myself down for the Surrey League Cross Country the following Saturday, and ended up with a 41 mile week. So in the end it was more like a 1 week taper, with a half-hearted attempt at carb loading two days before the race. I examined the training I’d done over the past 17 weeks, and the mileage worked out at an average of 43 miles/week. Compared to 2015, when I finished the London marathon in a time of 3 hrs 06 minutes on an average 52 miles/week, and 2016 when I finished in 2 hrs and 58 minutes on an average of 57 miles/week, the training was certainly on the light side. Saying that, I’d got some good long runs in, and was sure that the warm weather training would be beneficial now the temperature had dropped. I was also weighing in at the lightest I had been for some time, which could only help. Realistically, I didn’t think I could get under 3 hours again, but thought I could be close, so my plan was to run the first 13.1 mile in 90 minutes and see how it went from there.

5:10am on Sunday and I’m up before my alarm goes off. I’d sorted out everything the night before, but it still took me the best part of an hour to eat and get ready, so soon after 6am I was in the car and away. I hadn’t been looking forward to the drive much, and it took me about 1 hour 45 minutes, taking it easy as it was dark and also foggy in places, with the outside temperature about 8 degrees - perfect running conditions though! Parking was in a local school, for which there were plenty of spaces, and the event all took place at the local sports arena, so everything (toilets, baggage, snacks and coffee, and space to warm up) were all close to hand. I spotted the local scouts were selling flapjacks for 50p, so bought some to add to my pre-race banana as I was already feeling peckish from my breakfast 2 hours previously. I stayed dressed until 15 minutes before the start, did one lap of the track just to get the legs moving, and settled in waiting for the starter.

Abingdon marathon is a marathon for serious marathon runners. You won’t find many charity fun-runners here. The only real reason to run it is because it is flat and fast, and the race was packed with lean racers who were certainly not new to this game, looking for that elusive PB that perhaps they had missed at the hottest London marathon earlier in the year. It was 18 months since I last raced the distance, and I was quite nervous whether I’d be able to complete it on the limited training I had done. When the hooter went, there was the usual excited racing off by some runners who forgot that it wasn’t a 5k, but I soon fell into my own pace and let these runners gradually come back to me. 

The route heads out to the east at first to Radley, onto a footpath through Radley lakes (covered in low mist) then back to the west, twisting through the narrow streets of Abingdon town, where we were greeted with some generous support. The route then headed south out of Abingdon, along the River Thames, until it turned sharply to the west again, just before 10k, for the first of two loops through the local villages, each loop approximately 14k. It then headed back towards Abingdon town again, through western part of the town before turning back to the finish at the athletics track.

My memory of races is usually vague, but there were some parts that stuck in my mind:

There was the heavily panting runner who was taking up the whole path through Radley lakes by running in the middle (it was easily two-abreast if you ran to the side). That slowed me down a bit, and I genuinely worried that he could safely run 10k let alone a marathon. 

There were the three runners who drafted behind me for many miles, using me as a slight windbreak against the breeze. I didn’t get annoyed because I was running my own race, but it would have been nice for them to have taken turns at the front. I dropped them both later in the race.

There was the point after about 5 miles when I said to myself “Why am I doing this? It all feels quite hard, and I could just stop and go home early”. That was a strange emotion so early on, and I think I was focusing too much on the remaining distance. I calmed down by telling myself it was just a long training run.

There was the lady runner who caught me somewhere around the 18 mile mark, and it urged me to concentrate on my pace, which must have been slowly dropping. I ran with her for a few miles before she gradually pulled away and finally finished a minute in front of me. 

I remember the joy at seeing the 20 mile marker, and knowing it was only 10k to go. If I could keep my pace up I would finish in a respectable time. Although I was starting to struggle to turn the legs over, it was only in the last 5k that my pace really started to slow. 

As you run through Abingdon town with only 3k to go, you have to negotiate a twisty underpass, and climbing up the short steep far side was torture!

Finishing on the athletics track with a fast 300m sprint where I overtook a few people, including the triathlon legend Annie Emmerson. It was a great conclusion to the race.

So how was my race overall (which you can view on Strava here)? Well, I passed half-way in just over 90 minutes, and proceeded to lose another 3 minutes over the second half. My 10k splits were 42:28, 43:05, 43:43 and 44:34, so no big collapse, just a gradual slowing, although I did get my pace back on track for the final 2.2k which I completed in 9:33. My finish time was 3:03:23, which is my second fastest marathon time, albeit 5 minutes slower than my PB. I placed 152 out of the 744 finished, of which the first 124 ran sub 3 hours. Now that is a quality field of marathon runners!

Would I recommend it? Absolutely - the results speak for themselves! The race has a capacity for 1200 and does sell out, so enter early. It usually opens in mid February and is full within 6 weeks. I got a medal and a t-shirt for my £43, as well as some very sore legs for a few days, followed by a nasty head cold as my immune system wasn’t up for keeping anything at bay!

Next race is the Brighton 10k in 3 weeks. I’ve not run a 10k this year yet due to my long time absence with injury, so it will be interesting to see if I can remember how to pace myself over that shorter distance. I’d like to aim for 38 minutes but I need to shift this cold first and get some speedwork in to see if I have any hope of that. Whatever the outcome, it’s great to be back running well again.

[graemeruns]

Caterham Rotary half marathon 2018

At last I have decided to do a proper post about my first real race this year. OK, I have competed in the annual Striders’ handicaps, which is a race against the clock really, and is free with no bling to bring home, and of course I have been back parkrunning, but as we all know that is a run, not a race. So I thought it was about time I ran a race again, and just to liven things up I foolishly decided that this should be a half marathon (my favourite distance) rather than a 10k. In hindsight, I got that a bit wrong.

So two weeks ago I entered the Caterham Rotary half marathon, a race I have run twice before, so I’m familiar with the undulating route (which many would call hilly). Two years ago, off the back of a winter full of marathon training, I managed to complete it in 1:28, finish 7th and win my age category. This year, however, the race had been included as part of the British Masters Half Marathon Championships, so that was not going to happen even I ran the best race of my life. But I was rather hoping I could get a sub 1:30 if the weather was kind to me.

Not a hope. The weather was, as it tends to be sometimes in July, quite warm: 21 degrees, windless and  sunny. If it had been 21 degrees, overcast and with a cool breeze that would probably have been bearable, but it wasn’t, so I adjusted my plan and thought sub 1:32 would be ok, which would be just quicker than I completed the inaugural race back in 2014. 

The race began, and starting further back than I should have meant a slow jog for the first hundred meters and then a good deal of overtaking to get up to speed. I fell in behind a group who were clearly aiming for 90 minutes, and felt ok for a while, ticking over at about 6:50/mile pace. 5k came up in 21:15, and 10k in 42:40, but that’s where it started to go wrong. The group I’d been with had now opened up a sizable gap, and I was left running alongside a V55 vet, and when another V55 runner attempted to overtake him, he upped his pace and I was left on my own. Both my hamstrings were already very tight and telling me it was time to stop, but I had told myself before the race that if everything went wrong I still needed to complete the distance just to get the miles in, even if at an easy pace. So I gritted my teeth and carried on.

I stopped at one water stop for 10 seconds to get all the water down me, and walked a small portion of the steepest hill, but other than that I didn’t stop and walk, which I’m pleased about. Other runners were having walk breaks though, so it’s fair to say the weather was claiming a number of casualties. Having changed my game-plan mid race to sub 1:35 I managed a more respectable pace for the last 2 kilometers, spurred on by being overtaken by a V45 lady (who I out sprinted at the end) and threw myself across the line in 1:34:57. I felt a little better for that small victory! I finished in 54th place, 11th in my age category.

I’m disappointed with my pacing. 42:40 for the first 10k was probably too quick and this resulted in 47 minutes for the second 10k, which is embarrassingly slow. But I shouldn’t be surprised: I’m only just back to running 15 miles at an easy pace, and have only managed three runs over half marathon distance this year, none of which have any part of them at the sort of pace I was attempting. So, for once, I over-estimated my ability, assuming it would all just fall into place like it usually does. Not yet. Give me another 2 months and I’ll be ready for the Reigate half marathon on 16th September. I’m already praying for a cool autumnal day, maybe a drop of rain and a slight breeze, and assume a whole bunch of veteran 50 year old’s don’t turn up for that one!

[graemeruns]

The blog is back

So after a 6 month absence, I intend to start blogging again when I get the time. I am back running five days a week, not quite at my best, but not too far off it, and really enjoying it at the moment. So far, I have competed in no races at all this year because of my injury, but have a couple in the pipeline in the next few months. In which case, there has been very little to blog about anyway. 

Keep checking back and I will update this site when I have something interesting to say!

[graemeruns]

Graeme doesn’t run

If you’re wondering why I haven’t updated my blog lately, it’s because I am not running much. In fact I will probably not be running at all for some weeks now.

About 2 weeks prior to the Brighton 10k in November, I felt some discomfort in my left shin. Worryingly this discomfort did not come along suddenly, but I just noticed it whilst out on a run. Over the coming days it did not go away, and gradually got more noticeable. After the Brighton 10k, it was really sore, and painful to walk on, so I decided to rest for 6 weeks (bar a few short leg tester runs that probably weren’t useful). I was pretty sure I knew what the issue was: a stress fracture of the shin (tibia) as I had suffered from one before in 2012, and the dull ache was familiar, as was the points on the shin that were very painful when pressed. However, the leg passed the ‘hop’ test: 10 hops on the leg produced no pain. I was also getting some pain high up at the front of the shin close to the knee when bending the leg or walking up stairs.

After 6 weeks rest, the leg felt a lot better, so I started to build mileage up with the intention of still tacking a 12 week training plan for the London marathon. However, after two weeks of 33-35 miles per week running, I was in pain again. I had clearly started back too early and done too much too soon.

The problem with diagnosing stress fractures is that they are so small they do not tend to show up on x-rays until they have started to heal. MRI is a better method of identification, but I didn’t expect my GP would send me for one of those, so saw no point in going to see him. I’m a firm believer (right or wrong) in self diagnosis; I’m yet to see a specialist and I’m still sure it’s a stress fracture (or maybe two) and rest is all that can heal it. I don’t want to pay for someone to tell me that.

So that’s what I’m doing: resting again. The chance of running London this year is virtually zero, but I don’t care - I just want to be able to run pain free again. And when I can do that, I will build up slowly and eye the Spring and Summer road league. I will also need to address what may have caused the injury in the first place. It probably isn’t a coincidence that it’s the same leg that I had suffered with plantar fasciitis for 18 months - at least that has gone now with the rest, but I need to change something so that it doesn’t come back. But the most likely candidate is the multiple speedwork sessions I did before the Brighton 10k to get me into PB shape. That is probably the real culprit, and I will learn from it.

Check back in a month to see how I’m getting on.

[graemeruns]

Brighton 10k 2017

7:15 am on Sunday 19th November and I was heading to the start of my second Brookes Brighton 10k. When I previously ran it in 2014, I posted a time of 39:07, which was a huge personal best for me, and remained my PB for a couple of years. Since then, I have only run faster than that twice, both times at Elmbridge 10k. My current PB of 38:39, set this year, was a good improvement, but my real goal was to break 38:30, so that was the aim at Brighton.

I had actually followed a six week training plan for this race. Six weeks isn’t long, but I hoped it was enough to hone my speed a little, which had dropped off a bit recently. The training plan also gave my running a bit of well needed variety, and it included interval training, tempo runs, steady runs, as well as easy and longer runs of 12-14 miles. Weekly mileage was mostly around 33 - 40 miles, so also not too time consuming. I dropped one of my longer Sunday runs to race at the Beckenham trail 10k, just because I wanted to do something that was a bit of fun; sometimes my running can be all training and not enough enjoying the sport I love.

I rested both on the Friday and Saturday before the race, and ditched the intended interval session in the final week because experience tells me you do not make any improvements that close to a race and just risk injury or tiring yourself out. I wasn’t at all sure whether I was in the right shape to run under 38:30: most of my interval training had been slightly slower than I was hoping for, and certainly some of  tempo runs were much harder than I had expected too. Was I about to be disappointed with my effort?

Fortunately, the weather fairies had played their part, and the weather on Sunday morning was almost perfect for running: there was just a slight westerly breeze, and it was cold (4 degrees celsius) and bright. Having parked a 20 minute walk away from the seafront, I had not noticed quite how cold it was during the walk down to the start, but once there, hanging about chatting to the other Striders running the race, it soon became apparent, and I stayed dressed warmly as long as possible, before a short 1/2 mile warm up and then getting to my pen. I was in the 36-40 minute pen, which was right at the front, so there was only a short delay getting across the line. My plan was simple: I needed an average pace of 3:50/km to achieve my goal. If I was a second or so quicker than that at the start, and I felt comfortable, then that was fine, but I didn’t want to fade in the second half, so mustn’t go any quicker.

The route for the 10k is flat, but not pancake flat and does undulate a little. It goes out to the west for the first 3.5km, heads back to the east, past the start, for 5km, then turns back to the finish for the remaining 1.5km. That meant that we headed into the breeze at the start, and it was noticeable but not really an issue when still feeling fresh. My pacing is usually very good, and this time it was as clinical as usual. I went through 5k in 19:09, dead on target, and although I dropped a few seconds in kilometer 6, I made them up again in the next kilometer which has a slight downhill section. I was starting to hurt now though, and it was all I could do to keep my pace the same, just dropping a second here and there, but hoping I’d be able to dig deep and find some reserves for the final part which headed back into the breeze. In fact, I didn’t have much left at all, and could only muster a 3:44 final kilometer, so I guess that shows I had run the race as perfectly as I was able to. I crossed the line in 38:19, a 20 second PB, and had attained my goal. You can see my run here on Strava.

I think I can say that I have learnt how to race 10ks this year, just by entering more than normal. I purposely set out to try and improve my Personal Best, and over two races I knocked 47 seconds off my time. That doesn’t sound much, but racing at nearly 5sec/km faster is actually quite a hard thing to do. I’m happy, but I’m sure sub 38 is out there for the taking, so watch out 2018, I expect I will be back!

[graemeruns]

That time of year again.

It’s that time of year again where I start a short six week training plan with the Brighton 10k in mind. Last year the training went well, only for the race to be called off due to treacherous weather conditions: it was so windy that none of the road barriers would stay upright, and the race couldn’t go ahead without road closures. The previous year, the conditions were awful too, windy and pelting with rain, and I made my own decision not to bother with the journey. This year, my thinking will be the same, and I will enjoy the training leading up to the race, but if there’s no chance of a PB, I will stay at home.

My target for Brighton is sub 38:30, but hopefully closer to 38:00. 10k training is very much about speedwork, and I can find it difficult to get the motivation to run hard, so a training plan is a necessity otherwise I’d probably plod around at a comfortable pace most the time. Speedwork gets you out of that comfort zone, and gives me an opportunity to practice my grimacing and gurning. Actually, what one should be doing when running fast is to concentrate on all the aspects of good form: running tall, a slight lean from the ankles, good cadence (ideally around 180 steps per minute), using the quads to lift the legs up rather than the hamstrings to drag them forward, and the essential 90 degree arm swing. I know that’s what I should be doing, but my concentration usually lasts about 30 seconds before I revert to my usual, not particularly pretty, lumbering form. At least my leg turnover is usually ok.

I’m trying to do some of the club cross country this year, and actually looking forward to them, and before anyone mentions it, the obligatory 2 hours in the pub afterwards has nothing to do with it at all! For the past few months my running enthusiasm has taken quite a dive, but I feel now that I have a training plan to work with, I’m itching to get out there into the cool autumn weather. Mind you, the weather has been clement so far; once the chill winds, driving rain and mud to your ankles appears I may not be so keen!

Last weekend I ran the local Croydon 10k, for the 12th time! Having enjoyed some pasta and, perhaps, a little more than a bottle of red wine while watching a film on Sunday evening, I wasn’t feeling my brightest in the morning! Looking at my past 6 weeks training I had only managed an average of 25 miles a week, so I had no expectations to run anything particularly fast. It wasn’t an enjoyable run: I suffered in the middle part along Grimwade avenue, got a stitch, and was passed by the first lady runner, but maybe that spurred me on, as I stuck to her heels after that and finally overtook her along the finishing straight. My time was 39:48, only 10 seconds slower than 2 years ago when I was in much better shape. So it shows that sometimes, when you have no expectations, you can run OK. 

Each year I set myself some running goals, which I publish in my Race section, and also make a few others up along the way for fun. One of them was to try and run more sub 19 minute parkruns than in the previous year, which is something I’ve done every year since starting parkrun. On Saturday 30th September I ran my 13th sub 19 this year, 1 more than last year, and it coincided with my 250th parkrun, 6 years 2 months and 2 weeks after my first ever in July 2011. That was a good day. I have a lot to thank parkrun for with my running development, from someone who could only dream of cracking a 45 minute 10k, to someone who has already run five sub 40 minute 10k races this year. I’m looking forward to the olive green 250 t-shirt and will wear it with pride!

[graemeruns]

Summer training never goes to plan

As usual, my summer training has gone pear-shaped. It happens every year, what with the long school holidays, trying to get a few days away, and generally having better things to do with the family other than running. In the past I’ve tried to train for marathons in the summer months, all unsuccessfully, but this year even trying to train for a half marathon has been difficult. I haven’t accomplished a single run further than 7 miles in the past 3 weeks, so I’ve decided to give Barns Green Half a miss this year and concentrate on some shorter distances. Maybe I can still pull myself together to do the Sittingbourne Striders 10 miler in October.

Sadly, there has been a period of bereavement in the family, with my mum becoming very ill after suffering a heart attack, and subsequently passing away a few weeks later. This meant me doing quite a deal of travelling to and from the hospital, with lengthy stays, and no time for running. I was not able to compete at the Ladywell 10,000 for this reason; in fact, she passed away the very morning of the race, and although I got myself together with all my kit and drove to the train station, it suddenly dawned on me that this was no time to try and run my first ever track race with lots of happy jubilant people cheering me on, so I turned around and went home. It was the correct decision: although my mum was a huge fan of my running, and would have totally approved of me doing it, she always used to ask me afterwards how well I had done, and I would have just been so sad post race that she wasn’t there any more for me to tell her about it, I may well have broken down big time. 

The break from running has been good though. My ongoing plantar fasciitis has improved a great deal, and with the weather getting cooler, I’m being optimistic about racing this autumn. I don’t appear to have lost any speed yet, and managed to post 18:45 at Dulwich parkrun last Saturday, which was OK although I was hoping I might be a bit quicker being quite rested and having lost a few pounds with the stress of the past 3 weeks. Having not reached any of my specified running targets so far this year, I think my goals have now become much more simple: enjoy running, be competitive, and try and get as many V50 first places as possible now that I’ve slipped quietly into that category. My first actual race one will be dedicated to my mum. 

Never forgotten.

[graemeruns]

Some updates, and a new PB

It’s time consuming maintaining a blog, so although I have a few good results to report, this update will be short.

Since the Ranelagh Richmond 10k I have run a few parkruns, including a 1st place finish at Riddlesdown, and my best time there for a year (18:33). It was a good result considering I had no one else within a minute of me. I also posted a decent time the following week at Lloyd parkrun, just short of my PB there (19:39 - I must go back soon while it’s still dry and try harder), another sub 19 at Riddlesdown, and a good effort at Bromley where I started out at 10k pace and just got faster each lap, finishing in 18:42.

For one reason or another I decided not to enter the Elmore 7 this year, so apart from the final of the club handicap, where I ran a good time on a very warm evening (31:39), my only other race has been the Elmbridge 10k, which was last Sunday.

Last year at Elmbridge I surprised myself with a 1 second PB, and that time (39:06) has been my 10k PB since. Last Sunday, on a cool and calm day, I hoped to improve on that time, so, with the usual congested start, I started off at a controlled pace, averaging 3:54/km (6:17/mi) for the first 3 kilometers. I really wanted to be running a 4 or 5 seconds quicker than that, but found the towpath surface a bit tricky, with some puddles and mud that I didn’t want to slip on in my racing flats that have hardly any grip. As soon as we hit the road section, my pace naturally quickened, and the next 2 kilometers were faster at 3:49/km (6:09/mi), reaching halfway in around 19:20. Back onto the towpath again, into a slight breeze, and my pace dropped back to 3:55/km. With 2 kilometers to go, I increased my effort, treating the final part as the end of a 5k parkrun, crossing the finish line in 38:39, a 27 second PB. I was pleased with my effort, and had really enjoyed the race. I’m pretty sure that if I concentrate on going out a little harder I can knock another 20 seconds off that time, but at the moment I’m still learning to race 10ks, though think I’m starting to get the hang of it!

I now have a few weeks of no racing, so will add a few more parkruns to my tally on Saturdays (I only have 7 more to run until I reach 250 and the coveted t-shirt!). I’ve penciled in the Wimbledon Dash 5k on 13th August, which is the last race in the Surrey Road League, and also the Vets AC 5m race at Battersea on the evening of 22nd August, just because I have never raced 5 miles before and would like to record a benchmark time for it. In between the races and parkrun, I have started a half marathon training plan with a view to running Barns Green Half at the end of September. The course is probably too undulating for me to have a crack at a PB there, so I’ll be aiming for something under 85 minutes. For further information, all my upcoming races are recorded in the Races 2017 section on my blog.

[graemeruns]

Too much racing

Since my last update, I’ve been pretty busy racing. First there was the local Beckenham 2.6 mile relays, a lovely low-key club event which is always a fun evening. Five days later it was the Vitality London 10k, the first mass-participation 10k event I’ve ever taken part in, and probably my last. Six days after that it was the Dorking 10 mile race, which forms part of the Surrey Road League, and last Sunday it was the Richmond 10k, a fast, flat course which takes in the Thames towpath, on what turned out to be a sweltering hot day. Pop into the mix a couple of Stiders’ very own club handicap races, and overall I’ve been trying to run quickly at far too many events. Very unlike me!

So where to start? Well, at the Beckenham relays I started off too conservatively, and ran my slowest ever time there, albeit it only by a few seconds: 16:05 (3:50/km or 6:12/mile). It was still a great evening though, and Striders managed to put out 12 teams, so a lovely team event.

Then the Vitality London 10k, billed as being fast and flat and taking in some great London tourist attractions. I guess it was flattish, but with 12400 runners it was so congested you dared not look up to admire the London skyline for fear of tripping over someone. The pen system was dreadful (Pen 1 was for anyone running from 30 to 50 minutes!) and I lost so much time in the first few kilometers dodging people that the best I could do was get under 40 minutes and at least run ok in the latter part of the race. A decent negative split I suppose!

The Dorking 10 miler was one I had been looking forward to. It’s an undulating course and I thought I would run well at it, but the realisation was that my marathon stamina had dropped off and the last 2 miles were very tough. I finished in 66:15, which was disappointing, despite being 3rd Strider.

Lastly, on Sunday it was the Ranelagh Harriers Richmond 10k, a race where people usually get PBs as it’s nice and flat. With the forecast of 25 degrees and clear blue skies, when I awoke at 6am I still wasn’t sure that I could be bothered heading to Richmond for the race, but as I was awake, had packed my gear the night before, and it was far too warm to get back to sleep, I did bother. In a way I’m glad I did, because although I couldn’t even break 40 minutes, I did what I could in the heat (which I always run badly in), and this meant trying not to go out too fast and to gauge my race so that I finished strongly, and in fact my last mile was my quickest, so I certainly learned from the experience. 40.33 and 133rd - pretty dreadful really, but there are some class runners in these Surrey road league races!

What’s next? Well, a bit of a break from racing, some parkruns and try and get some proper interval training in. I’m still on a mission to run a 10k under 38:30 this year, so on a whim entered the Ladywell 10000m track race on 3rd September. I’ve never raced on a track before, so would like to be in good shape for it. It’s seeded, and there are pace-makers, so there will be no excuses if conditions are good. There will be other races in between, such the Elmore 7 and the Elmbridge 10k, but I won’t be entering the Bewl 15 this year  - I’m just not in 15 mile race pace form at the moment. I’ll save that for another year.

[graemeruns]

Sutton 10k 2017

Following the London marathon I didn’t run at all until the Saturday after. Despite feeling completely ruined when I crossed the finish line in The Mall, in the days following I was actually not as sore and stiff as I had been after Paris, which I’m sure is down to better hydration at London. I had managed to add another couple of black toe nails to my collection, but other than that I wasn’t feeling too bad at all. By Saturday I was itching to run a hard 5k again, so I tried to at parkrun, but after 2k my left hamstring started to complain, so although I didn’t give up, I didn’t push as hard as I could have done. Still, I won’t complain about 19:07 just six days after a marathon, but it was probably a bit foolish to run that hard so soon. I appear to have got away with it though.

Last week was a deliberately easy week, with nothing further than 10k. I again ran at parkrun on the Saturday, but kept it to a conversational pace in preparation for Sunday’s 10k at Sutton. I’m keeping the parkrun tally going: now at 235, I was hoping to get to 250 before my 50th birthday in August, but silly things like marathons have got in the way, so there’s no great rush to reach the magic number now.

The Sutton 10k has become one of my bugbear races, or as I like to call it, one of my ‘failures’ (I have two other failures that I’m thinking I may try and rectify this year: the Bewl 15 mile and the Barnes Green half - if you search through my archives you’ll more than likely find them mentioned!). In three previous attempts I was yet to run under 40 minutes at Sutton. It’s not a particularly tough course - I think our local Croydon 10k is harder - but it doesn’t lend itself to fast times due to a number of sharp turns, which on a course of just over two laps, means you negotiate each twice. and the worst dog-leg turn, three times. Last year it was too hot for everybody and I posted my slowest time of 40:38, and in 2015 it was very windy, and what with a diversion over some lumpy grass, I posted 40:02. So there was some history that I wanted to clear up once and for all!

I was pretty calm about the race though. For me, conditions were perfect for running (9 degrees, overcast, with a slight breeze) and I felt no real pressure as I had no idea how my body was going to cope after both the marathons, so I could only do what my body allowed me to. I determined to start off a little conservatively and try and run even splits, for no other reason than it is a much more comfortable way of running. And it worked well; after a flood of people passed me at the start, from 3km on I was starting to pass people. 5km came up in 19:35, then I seemed to get stuck in a limbo with 4 other runners who were just running a little slower than I’d like, so had to make a big effort to get past and open up a gap. 7km in, where I am usually hating a 10k, and I was enjoying it, so my conservative start was paying dividends. In fact, my pacing, for my current fitness level, must have been just about perfect, because as a runner sprinted past me in the final 600m I had nothing much left, and after I’d crossed the line, in a very pleasing 39:17, knew that if I’d tried any other racing tactic today, I wouldn’t have been any faster, but it sure would have been less enjoyable. 

The final effort to the finish line

A string of Striders

So, one ‘failure’ now resolved, two more later in the year to deal with. My next race is the Vitality London 10k on Bank Holiday Monday in three weeks time, a fabulous looking event that takes in many of the famous sights of London, and is fast, flat, and not at all twisty, so my goal will be something around 38:30. I’m totally confident I can run that if the weather is in my favour; if it’s hot, I’ll do what I can and just look forward to a nice cold beer afterwards. I’m determined to try and enjoy my racing this summer rather than get hyped up about performances: after all, nobody really cares but me, and sometimes I care far too much.

[graemeruns]

London Marathon 2017

This year my build up to the London marathon had been very different from previous years. In both 2015 and 2016 I followed a well drilled 18 week training plan with London as my only goal; this year, as those who follow me on Strava will know, not only did I have a much shorter than usual training period due to an on-going plantar fasciitis foot injury, but the training was actually scheduled for the Paris marathon that I ran two weeks ago. This meant I had 14 days just spent trying to recover for the London marathon, with no real training in between. Some people can handle that sort of short recovery time, others can’t. I’d never tried running two marathons at race pace so close together before, so would find out which one of those people I was.

Following the Paris marathon things took a turn for the worst when I attempted to run 4 days afterwards, and found my left hamstring still very sore. Thinking it just needed more rest I cut the run short and tried again the following day. The hamstring was better, but gradually got worse during the run, and was quite painful by the end of 5k. So I rested it over the weekend, popped ibuprofen, used the foam roller and stretched it, and tried again on Monday. Nope, I managed just 150m before I turned back. This was now looking quite serious, and I was becoming doubtful I’d be able to run the London marathon just 6 days later.

My foam roller has never seen such action before, and what with more ibuprofen and stretching, I tested the hamstring each day, and by Wednesday had managed 4 miles with no pain. Resting it fully Thursday, then a few short jogs to the station and back on the way to the marathon expo on Friday, it was feeling absolutely fine, but I’d only covered 4 miles in a single run, so I had no idea whether it would last 10 miles let alone a marathon distance. 

Usually I choose not to run the day before a marathon, but this year I decided I needed my parkrun fix and ran an easy pace there with a one mile marathon effort in the middle. The hamstring was no problem, so I would attempt to run on Sunday. To say I was a little nervous was an understatement: not nervous this year of not achieving the goal I’d set myself, but of the possibility I wouldn’t make it to the end and have to pull out due to the hamstring. It really was a journey into the unknown.

There are three main starts at the London marathon, and this year I had qualified for the Fast Good For Age start, at the front of the Red start. This is basically for those males who have run between 2:45 and 3 hours in a marathon in the past 2 years (any females with that sort of time will be in the Championship pens, at the front of the blue start). When I arrived at 8:50 it was quite roomy, and did gradually fill up, but was still less congested than the Green start where I had been for the past two years. The difference I discovered though, was because everyone was effectively in Pen 1, people started queuing at the front of the pen from very early on. I wasn’t too bothered about being at the front, so took the opportunity to make a last minute loo stop and ended up right at the back, which did mean it was a couple of minutes before I went across the start line. 

I knew I had to have a very open attitude to running the London marathon this year. Notwithstanding the hamstring issue, I had never raced two marathons so close together, and always thought I would struggle with the later race. However, having been disappointed with my Paris run, I was hoping I’d still be able to have a crack at something close to 3 hours again at London. So, the plan was to start out at sub 3 hour pace, and see how it went. If I couldn’t sustain that, then anything faster than Paris would be acceptable; if that became too difficult then just getting to the finish line was the goal. Finally, if the hamstring really started to trouble me, I would retire because otherwise I could end up putting myself out of action for weeks, if not months. 

At the start I felt great, and the first 5k was dispatched in a fairly easy 20:53. By 10k I was still running at 3 hour pace and reached that landmark in 42:25, but I was just starting to slow in each kilometre by a few seconds. I tried to rally at 11k, but after that the pace again started to fall, and by the time I’d crossed Tower Bridge and reached half-way I was two and a half minutes off 3 hour pace. That would still be a decent time though, if I could sustain it, but my heart rate was once again at what I expect it to be for a half marathon, and I knew there was no way I could keep that going for another 13 miles. The inevitable happened: I was at what is called lactate threshold, and my body was not able to remove the lactate quickly enough, so I started to slow. 

By mile 17 I was just about managing 8minutes/mile pace but my heart rate was still higher than it should have been. Then to make matters worse, my troublesome hamstring started to hurt. I held out for another mile before I stopped and walked a bit. After a period of running a little, then walking a little, my heart rate came down but the hamstring didn’t feel any better, so I seriously considered stopping at the next DLR or tube station and retiring. As I was on my 5th or 6th walking break I asked a policeman what the quickest way was back to Embankment, but he apologetically told me he had no idea, so I carried on, thinking I would ask the next marathon official I saw. The hamstring was holding out though, so clearly the run/walk strategy was working, and I really wanted to finish rather than give up, so I kept at it, and although it felt incredibly slow, I was still able to tick over at 8:30 - 9minute/mile pace. 

It had been hard to keep going, but by the time I reached Tower Bridge for the second time my heart rate was down to something controllable and, knowing there was only about 4 miles to go, I plodded on and managed to get to the end with only one further walking stop on an incline. I felt completely broken as I crossed the line and hobbled onward, not wanting to stop moving for fear of seizing up. Those last 8 miles had been the hardest I’d ever run before and I was just pleased it was over! You can see my run on Strava here.

So, the lessons learnt: 

1) I would probably be fine to run anything up to a half-marathon 2 weeks after a marathon, but another 26.2 miles is too much. The running guides generally tell you that you need 1 day recovery for each mile raced, and I would agree with that - or at least that you need 1 day per mile to recover to race the same distance again. 

2) At London, by making sure I took on water at every opportunity, and cooled myself down running through the showers and pouring water over my head, did at least result in me being nowhere near as stiff and sore as I was after Paris. Dehydration is definitely an issue for me.

3) Strength and conditioning - I need to do more. I was really lazy with it this year and next time I must ensure it becomes an integral part of my training.

4) To run a marathon well, I need to do the long 18 week programs so that I do more than just long distance. I didn’t do enough lactate threshold runs this year, or intervals. It wasn’t necessarily my fault due to the various injuries, but to be my best I really do need to put in the hours.

So what’s next? I’m looking forward to training and racing shorter distances, which means less long runs and more interval sessions and lactate threshold runs. My next race is the Sutton 10k on 7th May, so I need to ensure I’ve recovered properly for that. I said this last year, but my 10k time is poor, and I really should be able to achieve something in the low 38 minutes. It probably won’t be at Sutton, but a different goal from marathons is a nice one to have!

[graemeruns]

Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris

I had never considered running the Paris Marathon until I was fortunate enough to win a free place, courtesy of Running Heroes, a running community that is free to join and has regular competitions that you can enter just by doing a bit of running. As it happened, the race fell in the school holidays, so it provided the perfect opportunity to have a short break with the family and enjoy the many sights that Paris has to offer. We travelled out by Eurostar on Wednesday, spent Thursday morning climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and surveying the views below (the left hand road is Avenue Foch where you can see the marathon baggage tents already erected at the finish),

before heading along the Champs Elysées, taking in the art at the Musée d'Orsay, and finally travelling by Metro to Paris Expo Porte de Versailles to pick up my race number (here’s me looking like a cardboard cut-out before the count-down clock):

On a wall the organisers had printed every one of the 57,000 entrants’ names, and it was a task to find mine despite it being in alphabetical order:

On Friday we spent the day in the Louvre, and Saturday at the Eiffel Tower, which really is quite tall! 

In those 3 days I had done my research of where the race start was, where the baggage tents were, how to get to the start (our studio apartment was only 15 minutes walk away, which was good) and worked out when I wanted to leave. So, after a somewhat poor night’s sleep (as is quite usual for me before a marathon) I was up at 6:15am for my usual breakfast of porridge and bread and jam, dressed, packed my bag and headed out the door dressed warmly. It soon became apparent that I didn’t need to be dressed for spring; although it was cool in the shade, there was already warmth in the sun, and the forecast had been for beautiful blue skies, so I was starting to anticipate a rather hot run.

All of my previous marathons have been run in the UK, and I have to say we are rather good, whatever the size of the event, at organising these sorts of things with military precision. Not quite the same in France! I had been led to expect signage in English as well as French, and thought the baggage drop would be clearly marked, but it wasn’t and I had no clue what I was doing, so just followed the long stream of runners right the way to the far end of Avenue Foch, where we then went through security and I had to work out which tent my baggage needed to be stowed following some code on my baggage label. That had taken 20 minutes, so it was already 7:50 before I started heading all the way back the way I’d come, past the Arc de Triomphe (no road closure here, there were still cars trying to weave their way through hundreds of runners, sometimes aided by a policeman’s whistle), now jogging a little because my pen, the 3 hour group, was due to leave at 8:22. Then I hit a bottle-neck where those trying to get to the 3:00 and 3:15 pens were merging with those trying to get into the 3:30 pen, and a proper London tube crush ensued. Emerging through that, like a cork out of a champagne bottle, I eventually found my start with just 10 minutes to go. You can never give yourself enough time, but the 45 minutes recommended by the marathon guide is clearly not enough. 

At 8:13 the wheelchair racers started the marathon off, followed by the elite and championship runners at 8:20. My group was next, but it was started in two stages: the left hand side of the Champs Elysées before the right hand side, so being on the right side I spent 2 minutes longer waiting for the klaxon. That meant there were already lots of runners in front of me, and although it didn’t matter in the end to me, if you are a 2:45 - 2:55 runner you would be wise to make sure you line up on the left side of the road.

Just before the start I was wished good luck by a West 4 Harriers runner, and during the race came across a few other local clubs, although I can only remember a Wimbledon Hercules runner now. Considering there were supposed to be 7500+ runners from the UK participating, I saw very few.

And off we went. The first few kilometres were fairly slow, with a fair bit of accelerating and decelerating as I either got blocked or passed people. By 5k I was already down on my anticipated time by about a minute, so I started to realise that this was what my pace was going to be today, as my heart rate was already higher than I’d have liked. Then both my calves started to tighten up; I’ve had this before in training runs and have not managed to put my finger on why it happens: maybe not enough warm-up (none today!), maybe the fact I hadn’t run all week and should of had a light run on Saturday, I really don’t know. Anyway, it wasn’t helping!

By 5 miles I felt like I had already run 15. My legs just felt heavy, and my usual marathon pace where my heart rate is around 150 was feeling very hard and remained at 4:22/km - about 12s/km slower than it should have been. I can only put this down to the heat. There was a little respite at 6 miles where we entered the Bois de Vincennes, the largest park in the city which appeared to have its own micro-climate, and was cool and damp. But the Paris route is not flat; it gradually rises and falls by small amounts quite a deal, and this was another factor that was causing me some mental anguish: all of a sudden I could be feeling great and in the groove because of a slight downhill, but every small incline was a struggle and my heart rate shot up. And I was only at mile 8!

Up until this point we’d been heading out to the east, but now the course turned back towards Paris. I wasn’t really taking much notice of anything other than the fact I was only 1/3rd of the way in and was not feeling any better. My watch was still saying 4:22/km, so I was keeping a steady pace, but I felt so rubbish that the thought of a DNF started to invade my mind. In my pocket was a Metro ticket and 10 Euros, so it would be easy to step off at the next Metro station and head back to the baggage area and just collect my bag. What did keep me going, though, was the thought of my wife, Yasmin, and daughter, Chloe, waiting for me at the 30km point. It was a target, and although 42.2km sounded a long way off, 30km seemed possible, so if I can get to there I can decide whether to give up or not.

I reached half way in around 1:32:15, so still keeping to 4.22/km, and would have been a reasonable time if I wasn’t already shattered. I hung onto that pace for a bit longer and then I started to drop a few seconds here and there. I completely missed Notre Dame, which is annoying because it was one of the attractions we hadn’t visited during our sight-seeing and was on my list of must-sees. The route soon started to go through a number of underpasses, which was a descent and ascent that I didn’t need but at least shielded me from the sun for a little while. By the time I reached the Eiffel Tower, and started looking around for my supporters, my pace had slowed to 4:40/km. Amazingly, I did spot Yasmin and Chloe among the crowds, and was mighty pleased to see them for that brief time. I even managed a smile!

I didn’t step off the road at 30k and give up but it was all a bit downhill from there on. My pace had dropped to 4.55/km, which I would have been happy to finish with, but whereas my heart rate at that pace is usually a very comfortable 125 bpm, it was currently hovering around 160 bpm, which is what it usually is during a half-marathon race at 3:56/km! So I started to take walking breaks to bring it down; I was actually a little worried it was so high (I am getting on a bit after all!). The walking breaks worked, and I was able to run 1-1.5km before I had to stop and walk again. The walking probably lost me 3 or 4 minutes overall, so it was no big deal, but I’ve never walked in a road marathon before so I was pretty unhappy about that!

In the last mile I was passed by the 3:15 pacer which was a kick in the teeth, so the finish line was a welcome sight when it arrived. From somewhere I still managed to up the pace for the last 400m, but it was a little late. I finished in 3:16:50. You can see my race and analyse it here on Strava.

At the finish I received a medal, t-shirt, and mystery object. I wore the t-shirt on the way home and one of the security guards at the Eurostar applauded me with a ‘Bravo!’ and asked me how I’d got on. The mystery object, I discovered later on at home, was ironically a waterproof poncho, one-size-fits-all!

All in all, my 4 nights in Paris with the family were excellent, and not something that would have been high on my list of destinations to visit without the marathon entry. The marathon itself was not one I enjoyed at any point; then again, I don’t usually enjoy the distance, so that’s not new! I know the reason why I run them is to test myself, but maybe I will need to start to question if it is the right distance for me. I rather like half marathons, and tend to be quite good at those. I’m entered for the London Marathon in 2 weeks time, and I will compete in it if I have recovered sufficiently and the weather looks favourable. After that, I need to re-evaluate my running goals and see if marathons still fits with them. 

Au revoir Paris, tu vas me manquer.

[graemeruns]

Countdown to Marathon de Paris

Training is over now. Last week I got some quality sessions in, including 8k based on heart rate rather than pace, and a fast 5k parkrun. The other runs were nice and easy. In total I covered just shy of 40 miles, which was what I had hoped I’d manage.

Last year I ran the Croydon Half based on heart rate only, and it was a great training method, but this year I wasn’t doing that, so I shelved the planned interval session and ran 8k of my 8 mile run at marathon heart rate, irrespective of hills or wind. The average pace evened out to be around 4.11/km (6:45/mile) which was satisfying. It felt quite easy too, which made the workout all the more worthwhile.

On Saturday I ran to and from Bromley parkrun again, and actually gave the parkrun my best effort, helped by a total rest day before. Conditions were very good, although there was still quite a stiff breeze, and I certainly lost some time in the last kilometre lapping slower runners. I crossed the line in 18:19, only 2 seconds shy of my fastest ever parkrun, which was a great result. I really do feel that I’m close to the fitness I had last year before London, on much reduced mileage (I have covered 120 miles less this year than I did at this stage last year), and still nursing my plantar problems. It’s fair to say I was pretty astounded by the parkrun result as I had no idea I was in the sort of shape to run as quick as that.

So that’s it now until Sunday. I’ll be doing little, if any, running this week, mainly because I want to rest my foot for as much as I can, and also because I don’t want to be bothered thinking about running when we’re in Paris with so many other things to do. The long range forecast for Sunday is looking a bit warm for me, who doesn’t run well in the heat, so I may have to back off and save the bigger effort for London on 23rd April, but I will see nearer the time. For now I need to plan my packing and make sure I take everything I could possibly need for the race.

Until after the marathon, au revoir.

[graemeruns]

Taper time

Despite saying last week that I would probably be running further than the planned 58 miles because I only wanted to do a 2 week taper, in the end I only managed 53 miles, so tapering has almost started a bit early. The fact I was 5 miles short wasn’t because I missed a session, but rather because I cut the length of a couple of runs. Still, I did manage (at long last) to get an interval session in: 6 x 600m with 400m recovery. It was still very windy, so I ran the intervals with the wind behind me and turned around to run the recovery phase into the wind. I did this same workout exactly a year ago, and was a bit faster then, so I’ve definitely lost some speed, and it also felt quite hard. I shouldn’t be surprised though, as I was running low 18 minute 5k times last year, and so far this year I’m 30 seconds adrift of that sort of pace. 

With this Sunday being Mother’s Day, I decided to do my long run on Saturday so that I wasn’t missing from home all Sunday morning. I’m very lucky that I have a big choice of parkruns within running distance from home, so I opted to run to and from Riddlesdown parkrun, the distance being around 6-7 miles depending on the route. Footwear was a dilemma, because I wanted to wear road shoes but Riddlesdown’s course is all trail, so I just had to keep my fingers crossed that it would be dry enough for road shoes. It was - just. If I’d had a choice of shoes I’d have gone for my light hybrid trail shoes, but road shoes were acceptable today.

I must say I found the run there really quite hard going; it is predominantly uphill and I was struggling to maintain a decent pace. Still, I’d left enough time to take it slow so it didn’t matter. By the time I arrived, I still wasn’t feeling racy, so started conservatively and eased myself into the run. There were many reasons why I wasn’t going to go flat out today, not least being the 6.5 mile run home, so I tried to keep a tempo effort going rather than taking it easy. The slow-ish start meant I was only 10:02 at halfway, so I put a bit of effort in to catch up with regulars Barry and Ian, who were tantalisingly too close not to chase, and recorded a negative split and another sub 20 minute run in 19:57, which was still fast enough to make the run home fairly tough. In total I ran 16.4 miles, but my plantar fasciitis was really troubling me on the return leg, so much so that I could tell I was not landing properly on my left foot, the result being I was unintentionally forefoot striking it, which left me with a very sore left calf later in the day, and a painful heel.

Sunday should have been 10 miles, but we’d had some friends over on Saturday evening for a takeaway and a few drinks, and with the daylight saving clock changes, coupled with sore calves and feet, I almost didn’t run at all, but in the end got out later in the day for an easy 10k. Today, being Monday, my calves are still sore, and I’ve had a good rest. The remainder of the week I will only run 5 times (taking Friday off) and will cover about 40 miles. The mad thought I had last weekend of running a half marathon this coming Sunday is unlikely to happen now, and although I could run the local Croydon Half at marathon pace, I probably shouldn’t: the heel is worrying me too much for that, and the fact I’ve got this far by managing it as an ongoing injury, it would be really stupid to risk the marathon now.

Nearly there, and just need to keep remembering the positive stuff. According to McMillan I’m on for 2:56:45 based on my recent half marathon. But as Jim Royle would say, “My arse I am!”

[graemeruns]

A happier week

It’s fair to say that last week’s running was a lot better than the previous week. After a three day rest over the weekend, I was feeling ready to run again by Tuesday, and set out at lunchtime for a pleasant 8 miler with some 100m and 200m strides thrown into the mix, and, trying not to ‘overdo’ it, this was 2 miles short of my plan. Wednesday was a double, with 6 miles easy and 5 miles progressive later on that totalled 11 miles, but again 4 miles short of my plan. Thursday was on target, but I threw 2km at 4:08/km (6:40/mi) pace into the mix, and although Friday was my usual recovery day, it wasn’t as far as I’d originally intended. Cutting back on the mileage a little, and adding a few more interesting workouts had certainly helped try and light my competitive fire again.

On Saturday the idea was to run parkrun hard so that I would do my Sunday long run on tired legs, but the strong wind had curbed any real enthusiasm, so I jogged to Bromley parkrun and lined up a few rows back to try and run it at tempo (for me this equates to 6:20 - 6:25/mile). This was probably a much more sensible option than trying to go flat out, but still gave my legs a good workout with the jog too and from for a total of 10 miles. In fact, although my splits looked like a perfect tempo run, the strong wind ensured I ran it a little harder than that.

Sunday, and I wasn’t going to join the main Striders’ marathon run, which was mostly off-road and hilly, as I wanted to stick to tarmac and see if I could up the tempo a little. I’d planned to run a 6 mile warm up, then 10-12 miles at marathon pace, with a 2 mile cool down, but I felt dead tired from the start, and it took me the whole first 6 miles to get my legs going. It was windy again and anything into the wind was impossible to maintain, so I quickly backed out of any marathon paced ideas and settled for just running quicker than I normally would on a long run. 19.25 miles later I was home, and was quite content with an average pace of 7:42/mile, made much harder by the conditions. 

Last week was a total of 61 miles; not quite 70 but I think it was the right decision to cut back a bit. This week my plan is to run 58 miles, but I think I may run a bit further as I only intended doing a 2 week taper for Paris. I’d still like to get another race in before the marathon though, and have a couple pencilled in, and one in particular is playing on my mind. I’ll keep that to myself, though, because no experienced runner should ever really be thinking of racing a half marathon just one week before their goal race. However, my whole build up has been different this year, so unless I try it how will I ever know!