kerplooey

Hard work… hard, drudgery… grim… that’s the only way I can describe my run this morning. Really hard work to run just under 10 miles. Yesterday did the same distance, although another route, and it wasn’t as bad, but this morning was harsh. Almost yakked at the end of the run, as if I just run a marathon.

So, as you’d expect, trying to identify the cause. First port of call was ‘overtraining’, but I’m not convinced that’s it as I’ve done very little running for the last two weeks, almost rest weeks, and I haven’t been overly tired. My knee’s been hurting but niggle hurts, not debilitating hurts.

Could just be it wasn’t a good day to run. Mental effort got the better of me. I am actually wondering if it’s not the lack of cross-training over the last 4-5 months. Non-stop running, very little else. Time to find a pool and get on the biks… I’ll just have to keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

Still got the adventure race lined up but not booked in yet, nor have I sorted out my bike, let alone ridden it. If I do enter it will be a ‘for the fun of it’ race, which those ones often are. Running/cycling around the wilderness in the probable cold and rain. Actually sounds like fun.

I may even go catch a few zzzz’s now as well…

Et bien…

Well, a week away from work, not necessarily a week of rest as would’ve been preferable, but still a week’s opportunity to get outside in the fresh air and enjoy the gorgeous weather in the South of France… I wish.

It’s been absolutely chucking it down since the week started, getting colder, signalling the start of autumn/winter. Of course, this hasn’t stopped me getting out running, just means I come back a lot wetter than before. Been running but it’s not been easy. Not sure if this down to a general lack of motivation, but the runs haven’t been easy, even though they haven’t been anything that I’ve not done before.

It could also be partly down to the countryside and running which although initially stunning, has quickly become monotonous. Lots of really really long straight roads (one today was about 4 miles without a turn in sight) and right now, it’s a bit dangerous running off-road as it’s hunting season and I’m not in a hurry to get shot.

Still, got in a nice 14 miles this morning, feeling heavy legged and a little out of it for the rest of the day. It looks like it’s time to get back on the diet band wagon…

The aftermath and the darkness

Well over a week later and feeling has properly returned to my legs/feet/body/mind. The afterglow of getting through another marathon has now faded away and I’m somewhat ‘event-less’ aside from the possibility of another Open Adventure race in the beginning of December in the Lake District.

The running since the big race has been patchy at best, down to a mixture of lack of motivation, not enough time and generally darkness being with us. Seeing that the clocks go back an hour this weekend, the challenge of getting out and running will only get harder.

The next challenge though is going to be trying to keep up the long distances, if only in a relaxed “no cares in the world” way. Saying that, next week is a week off for me, the first since the summer holiday in the first week of August and it’s about time too. I will be relaxing and doing not much if I can possibly help it while also taking the opportunity to start to get the running going again.

And in the meantime… I will keep on playing with my new toy, a Mac Pro notebook, and quite frankly, loving it so far! There’s a whole gadget thread I could start here, but I will hold back before my true inner-geekness comes out.

3h30 goodness

And another one ticked off. Another notch. Another mark on the wall. And more creaky legs for a week or so…

Yesterday was the Marathon Des Villages in Cap Ferret, France. The weather was almost perfect for a race, nice and sunny, not too hot though with a nice breeze to keep you cool. And more importantly, I just about did the time I wanted to do, 3h30:03 was my time by my Garmin, almost a perfect 8 min/mile pace. 

It felt much better than my first marathon experience on the whole, although from the start I was continually battling to keep positive. This time round though, made sure I physically stopped at all the drinking/food stops, ate some bananas, some gels, and took on water and lucozade sport. The infamous ‘wall’ was a lot less obvious and I was able to stagger through it and even finished with a sprint at the end to get as near to the 3h30 mark as I could.

Being honest with myself, I’m sure I could shave some more minutes off that, mostly because it didn’t feel exactly smooth all the way around like it does on those perfect running days where it just feels so easy. This could be a leftover from the previous marathon 5 weeks earlier or simple over-training (which I was scared about at the beginning of next week). However, only a few minutes is what I could gain. That’s marathon’s done for me as I’ve not got the urge to put in the considerable extra effort to take off another 10+ minutes of my new PB. So, happy with that.

Anyway, very nice run, lovely surroundings, excellent support from family and friends (which made an unbelievable difference at the difficult stages of the run), friendly smiling people and a nice medal. To make things better for supporters, in France they put your name and where you’re from on the number bibs so that you get loads of random strangers cheering you on by name, which is a little freaky at the start but greatly appreciated by the end! Recommended marathon… will do it next year methinks.

And next…. well, going to have a month of just going easy, back on the bike as well, enjoying the lack of any real training plan before starting a new load of base training. I have eyed an Open Adventure 5 race in the beginning of December which may fall perfectly. It’s just another target…

Oh, and just got this in the inbox for next summer… very tempting… BreadkBasket Ultra

The Return of the Taper

And it’s the final taper time again. A nice easy week, and in fact last week’s was pretty restful too, only doing a couple of 11 mile runs, although I couldn’t stop myself upping the pace usually running quicker than my target race pace. Had the usual niggles but now put these all down to ‘runners niggles’ that will always be there until I’m wheelchaired.

All I need to do now is make sure that I sort out nutrition for the run. Start taking it on board at mile 10, so that I feel like the michelin man by the end of the race.

Anyway, looking forward to this weekend’s run by the sea.

Running on the ground

One more long long run later and still feeling good. No injuries. No obviously obnoxious or screaming niggles. Times looking good (20 miles @ 7:44 pace and a very nice 8 miles @ 7:07 pace today). Stamina’s feeling good. 

I’ve also been exploring a bit around my new home and found some lovely runs in beautiful settings, http://snipurl.com/3wmy9. You can go for miles around here, not see a soul or be bothered by a car… you do have to watch out for the farmers out hunting as it is hunting season, so there’s the bizarre image of me running through the pine trees and whistling really loudly half expecting to be attacked by a pack of hunting dogs or shot by with a badly aimed shotgun blast. Still, exciting.

And it’s taper time now… 2 weeks until the next marathon and seeing as I’d like to do better than last time, nothing too long or strenuous, nice and easy up until the 12th October. Taper on…

The Dark Night

Not a strong desire to be a violent vigilante and wear a costume, nope. This is the time when it dawns on me that summer is coming to a close. No more nice long runs in the evening, enjoying the sun going slowly down, with enough time to grab a drink outside after the run. Nope, it’s into running a little faster than usual as the sun disappears and you find yourself squinting in the dark to see the path beneath your feet, praying that there’s no random stranger round the corner to ask kindly “for your money and keys please…”. (ok, the paranoia sets in a little in blackness on the canal tow path…)

Anyway, autumnal light concerns aside, back up to speed and distance running. Did a long 18 miles last Thursday (the forementioned quick step back through the darkness) @ a nifty 7:43 mile/min pace. This time I actually ‘nutritioned’ up during the run and it made a great difference. This week I’ll be running either a 20 or 22 mile run so hopefully should see if I can break through the wall.

A few other nice runs, mostly in my new home village. Beautiful weather, running through pine trees and vineyards, you really can’t get much better. Each run feels good, no real niggles, picked up the pace a little for 8 mile runs (7:13 min/mile pace).

Marathon is over 2 weeks away and I feel quietly confident although I have now looked at the course map, and it includes two climbs over dunes, with a particularly vicious/malicious climb up 40 or so steps on the 21st mile. Doh…

Foot wars

Finally got over the marathon, which has taken a good week or so. I pretty much kept away from running last week, apart from one slow 9 miler in the middle of the week which felt like I was running through treacle. Spent most of the week tired, grumpy and generally miserable. Marathons… great but the come down is a downer!

Anyway, back at it again now, especially as my next event is the Marathon Des Villages on October 12th. I felt that as I’m already running at distance, I would go for another race before ‘hibernating’ for the start of the winter. Perfect timing, as I will be able to learn from my ‘in race’ nutrition mistakes and hopefully get a second PB… 3h30 would be nice, but I don’t want to tempt fate.

I was all ready to run on Saturday when I had one of those really annoying injuries which stop you running, only temporarily at least. I stubbed my little toe and almost ripped off the toenail. Pain… and any wearing of shoes made it worse. Then I got blisters on both feet in the strangest places (top of 1 toe, and between two others). And then skin is dropping off all over. Enjoying the imagery?

I ended up running through the pain, and hey presto… the pain goes, that or my feet are now numb to the pain. Ran two glorious 8 mile courses yesterday and today in the sun… at pace 7:16 mins / mile. Next run will be a long 18 miler, nice and slow with nutrition on the way.

Feeling good. Bring on another marathon.

Kerbloooeeyyyy

Done and dusted. One marathon down and in the bag. 3h40 to complete the marathon, a couple of glasses of wine, and some unexpected physical/mental reactions to the effort. All in all, an extremely useful learning process. I was initially disappointed with that time, hoping for something under 3h30, so was not as excited as I’ve been in other events. Then I got the final results yesterday and realised that I came 262nd out of 7197 runners, and that cheered me up.

What happened? Well, I hit the proverbial wall around 18-19 miles. I’d been doing a nice steady 7:55 – 8:00 minutes/mile pace up until the 18th mile and then it started to slow down drastically by the last mile to just under 9:00 min/mile. On reflection I put it down to having a pretty hectic week at work in the run up to race day, late nights all around and not eating particularly appropriately. My ‘in-race’ nutrition was pretty pathetic too. Only water until I took a gel around 20 miles, which was too late and with gels I wasn’t used to. What I should have done is take on food and gel much earlier on to push through the wall.

So, of course, what to do about that? Well….

Entered another marathon which takes place on the 12th October. My mileage is still up there, so after an easy week now, will be doing more long, endurance runs, in the run up to properly tapering beforehand. The training doesn’t end yet…..

Anyway, would just highly recommend the Marathon Du Medoc. Beautiful scenery, lots of enthusiastic support, the wine tasting ‘en route’, and the friendly atmosphere of the 7200 runners, most of whom are dressed up. Will definitely be doing it again next year!

Calm before the storm

So this it it, the last few days before my first marathon. I’ve got a couple of runs lined up but nothing more than some short intervals and a short ‘refresher’ run. I’ve got all the usual nutrition bits lined up and ready to go – porridge & honey & bananas for breakfast, lots of pasta for most of the week, and gels for the run. I haven’t yet got my race number so I have to sort that out either the night before or get there a little earlier on Saturday before the race.

All in all, I’m feeling pretty confident. No worries about finishing, anything I do will be a personal best, so as long as it’s under 4 hours I’ll be content. The knee is holding together, feet have been a bit painful, but nothing that has stopped me getting ready for the race. I may come away with a few more aches after, but a good bit of rest will sort that out.

I did, however, run the Nike+ 10k worldwide run thing, although on my own, not at one of the city runs. I realised, I hate 10k’s… the whole fast run is just no fun… endurance is much easier to manage I find. Anyway, did it in just under 42 minutes which is a PB for me in an ‘event’ sort of way. A nice little surge before this weekend.

I do like taper week though… so nice and easy and relaxed. No early morning or evening runs… you can just relax, let your body recuperate. Although I have to persuade myself not to run this morning which wasn’t exactly difficult…