Teetering on the brink

Gotta have a plan.

So another solid week's marathon training bar one session, the most important one, the long run. Simon and I were due to run 2 laps of Richmond Park early on Sunday for a steady 15 miles, but within a few hundred metres I knew it was not going to happen. My left hamstring and calf were very tight and the early start and ineffective warm up were taking their toll. After 5 minutes I had to stop and stretch again but I could feel it was only helping so much. I found on the flat and downhill it was ok-ish but on uphills seemed to get worse. After another couple of stretch stops we got back to the car and stopped with 7.5 miles on the clock. Not a disaster, but not what was planned. The first seeds of doubt being sown. I felt guilty that Simon had taken the trouble to drive all the way over to pick me up and I probably could have struggled around, but that's what it would have been, a struggle, rather than a gentle aerobic long run.

I also had in the back of my mind that I had to run the following night to qualify for my London Marathon place and it would be pretty rubbish if I turned up and then couldn't actually run. Three of us from work travelled up from leafy Surrey to the City and ran with 20 others around the Thames path taking in some fabulous sights while dodging commuters and tourists. I took it very gingerly for the first 2 miles and my leg felt much better. So did I take it easy? Nah. Got my head down on the way home and caught up with the guys at the front. :-) 

So it looks like I am going to have to be careful and really focus on some strength, stretching and core exercises, so the rest of this week is going to be a rest week, still running but dropping the intensity of some of the sessions. I have my marathon programme on the fridge and the fact I can see a good few weeks ahead helps me to keep the bigger picture in mind. Best a rest now than a full blown injury in the near future.

I have the Watford half on Sunday, which will be my first race this year and my first real test of my marathon preparation so far.

And relax.......

Thankfully I got it wrong. I will be able to do the training run next Monday to qualify for the London Marathon team. Phew.

I celebrated tonight by going out and running some Yasso 800s. Bart Yasso found a simple correlation between an 800 metre track session and the runner's marathon time. If you want to run a 3 hour marathon then if you can do a track session that involves running 10 x 800, with each rep in 3 minutes and with a 3 minute rest interval, then you should have it in you to complete it (on the understanding that you are getting your long runs and mp runs in too.) apparently, this should work for any marathon time. Want to run a 4 hr 20 marathon? Then do your 800s in 4 minutes 20 seconds with an equal rest. Simples.

So some 20 odd years after last stepping onto the Kingsmeadow track in anger I went to run 7x800 in 3.10 with a 3.10 rest. The idea is that one works up to the 10 reps over a number of weeks. My times were 2.58, 54, 49, 51, 49, 52, 54. So, is this good or bad? Good, I guess in that my reps were considerably more speedy than planned but bad in that my pacing is obviously all over the place. I think it also confirms what I already knew. Speed work I can do, pure endurance which is needed for a marathon? Not so much. :-/
 I'll attempt the session again with 8 reps in a fortnight and try to even them out to 2.55 and shorten the recovery. Tomorrow will be a rest day and lots of stretching.

Damn you, snow

I've had a bit of a kick in the teeth today as I was meant to go up to the City to do a training run that would guarantee my London marathon place. Understandably the run was called off due to the icy conditions on the pavements, but I cannot do the rescheduled run next week which means I don't get my place. So it looks like I am going to have to try to find another spring marathon. Somewhat vexing but not the end of the world. If all goes to plan, and so far it is, then next year will be a dead cert with a 'good for age' slot.

In the meantime, today was a relaxed 5 mile run in ankle deep snow. It was good.

Winter running

I have had a really solid 2 weeks' training, albeit all of it running. #Jantastic is helping to get me out the door but actually my motivation has been very high anyway, desperate to get run fit again. Aiming at five runs per week, one of the reasons that cycling's taken a bit of a hit is that I am having a full rest on the other two days. Normally, there would be a relaxed bike or swim but for the time being I want to give my legs the chance to be as fresh as possible while loading on the training intensity and volume. I have started to discover again the sensation of running relatively fast while not feeling unduly fatigued. Turns out the training works.

I'm still getting used to my garmin, although I am enjoying using it as a training tool. On Thursday I went out for what was meant to be a marathon pace run for 8 miles. I am looking at 3hrs 10 at the moment which is 7.10 minute miling. The garmin 410 has a virtual training partner which can be set to a certain pace and you effectively race the partner. So, off I went with it set to 7.10. After a minute or so I checked the watch to see that I was too slow so I sped up. Another 30 seconds and still down; what the....? Before I knew it I was barrelling along thinking 'This seems a bit fast.' It was. All of a sudden I was 20 seconds up on the watch, running along at 6.50 pace. :-/  I was enjoying myself and it felt good, so I kept with it, slowing up slightly in the last 2 miles. 9.5 miles done feeling better than I have had in a long time. That contrasted somewhat with today's run. I had to be up at stupid o' clock to get my run in before the forecast snow materialised but with it being so cold, so early and so slippy, it was just about ticking off some miles safely. With 5 miles of the 14 to go I thought about upping my pace, but couldn't. My legs and in particular my hamstrings were still in bed.

The man dressed as a banana

I really enjoy listening the the Marathon Talk podcast. I have always found it entertaining and informative and I particularly like the interviews. I am usually plugged in when on the turbo while doing my lower intensity sessions or I listen in the evening before going to bed. During part of the podcast this week Martin Yelling was talking about having a reason to train and get out of the door and this was quite timely as one of my reasons for getting my head down and doing some hard work towards a spring marathon is the man dressed as a banana. I have actually been thinking about him quite a bit over the last week or two. Let me explain.

I have always considered myself a serious runner; not a jogger. Most of my runs have a purpose. I do a warm up, I run, I do a warm down. Most of the time I know what I am doing and I am confident in my ability to coach myself. I may not always do the right thing as my ego sometimes gets in the way, but in the main I know what I am doing. And when I race, I run as hard as I can. I may languish in mid-pack mediocrity but I try hard and enjoy racing when my body allows. So in 2008 when I last did the London Marathon,while it was my first attempt at the distance and my build-up had not been perfect I felt confident enough that 3.15 would be well within my grasp. I got it horribly wrong. The wheels fell off, the wall was hit, whichever metaphor you want to use, and while I was hobbling, walking and barely jogging the last 7 miles, that was when the man dressed as a banana overtook me.

I cannot even begin to convey the depth of my despair when this bandy-legged bloke, dressed as a giant fruit went past me like I was standing still ( I *was* virtually standing still). Me, a serious runner and for many years a club runner being left for dead by a comedy fruit. It was compounded some minutes later when another man dressed as a cannibal, complete with a giant bone through his nose and rubber spear went past, swiftly followed by a celebrity chef. (Gordon Ramsay, if you're interested, although he detonated himself some 3 miles later and I was able to overtake him at a walk just before the line)

So , the man dressed as a giant banana is my motivation. I really don't want to be behind any comedy running fruit or vegetable in April. I don't think that I could handle it and therefore my running motivation is high and running has been going pretty well. I am back on track after the blip of my cold over Christmas. I am mixing it up with some speedwork and longer runs, although still only at 10-12 miles so not excessively long. This morning I had a good ride out with Simon and I ended up doing 42 miles including 4x10minutes tt efforts with a 3 minute recovery. Simon and I took it in turns to take the front. I was quite weak when the road kicked up which is something that no amount of turbo work can improve.

Onwards.