The Southend Half Marathon was the first race that I did, 4 long years ago. A lot has changed in those four years. Lauren is now my wife, we own a house, I can drive, I've changed jobs, Lauren's been promoted but one constant throughout it all has been my running. In that time I have had some great highs, as well as a sprinkling of lows when results have not gone the way I would have wished. Today's Southend Half Marathon marked my 65th event (including 26 parkruns) and it was also my fifth consecutive running of the race. My results have been as follows:
2009 - 2:17:48 - First event, 5 weeks training, 5 mile longest run.
2010 - 1:45:40 - Arm in plaster cast after breaking my arm ice skating.
2011 - 1:32:09 - PB at the time and still a Course record. ITB gave up on crossing the finish line.
2012 - 1:58:02 - Exhausted from Ultra Marathon and a shocker at Edinburgh Marathon Two Weeks before.
2013 - 1:43:15 - Injured after Brighton Marathon so very light on training.
So a mixed bag of results at Southend, but the focus of this blog is the 2013 instalment of the Southend HM. Since I last blogged about the Brighton Marathon, I managed to injury myself, my first proper injury. Straining the tendon connecting my knee to my Quad in my right leg. This hampered me greatly in the two weeks post Brighton meaning a few short runs each week totalling just 10km each week. I grudgingly visited my physio and was told at least two weeks of no running which I did reluctantly but knowing it was for the best. The next week was a couple of gentle runs to ease my body back into it before the final 3 weeks into Southend where I have started to do something approaching reasonable training. The majority of which was back to back runs with Luke of 12 miles and 10 miles over the Bank Holiday weekend. The remaining training was 5K or 5 Mile steady runs and a parkrun or two.
This lack of quality training in the build up lead to me struggling to come up with a realistic target time, initially post injury just happy to get round in 2hours. As the training picked up in the lead up, 1:50 seemed to something I could shoot at, but anything faster than that was just dreaming. Thus my time today of low 1:43 has really got me happy. It has far exceeded my expectations and even though it is a minute a mile off my HM PB it really does rank right up there in terms of my Half Marathon performances and I have had 16 goes at the distance!
So now you know the result, you may decide to cease reading the blog, but if you do wish to carry on reading the blog to it's conclusion I will fill you in on some of the days details. My prep before the race included a 30th Bday party in Cambridge, so I was on Diet Coke for the evening and drove Lauren and I home and had us in bed around half past midnight. I opted for Steak and Chips for dinner rather than my usual pasta dish, I nearly regretted it as well, with the steak definitely more on the rare side of medium rare!
Waking up tired, but with no other ill effects I drove us to pick up Giuseppe and then headed to the start around 9am, an hour before race start. But as is so often the case at Southend, traffic was heavy and slow moving on the way into the Garrison and Lauren took over the driving as Giuseppe and I headed for the start on foot. Lauren drove to the Kursaal ready to see us at miles 4 and 9. The congestion worsened and so as was the case a few years ago the race start time was put back to 10:15. This was frustrating, particularly given the cooler than expected weather. But Giuseppe and I met up with our boss and had a chat before we let him get off to find a good viewing spot.
The race did eventually get going just after 10:15 and as is the norm the tight, narrow, first mile made the going tough and the first Km was my slowest of the race. Once the first few miles are navigated and you find your way to the seafront, the roads widen and things settle down a little. I was taking it very easy, comfortable with people moving past me as they went off fast. I got into a nice ryhtym and felt good early on, the pace hovering around 5:00km after the initial congestion. This soon moved downwards, and by the time I saw my cheer squad of Ian, Graeme, Mum, Dad and Lauren at mile 4 the average pace was more like 4:50 per km. This is where it remained for much of the remainder of the race. With it being on the seafront, gradients weren't a factor, but there was a decent breeze which particularly effected miles 4-6 and 9-11 but I managed to maintain fairly consistent splits regardless.
I turned around at mile 7 ready for the 2nd loop and saw Giuseppe running really well and gave him a wave. It was at this point that my race got harder though. The legs were that bit heavier and the light, effortless rhythm of earlier was starting to fade, but the pace stayed around 4:50 as my effort level increased. The cheer squad was depleted on the second lap with Lauren, Mum and Dad still cheering me on and taking some great photos. I turned for home at mile 9 and headed into the wind. The fatigue was starting to set in, and my mind was constantly working through calculations of how badly I could fade and still achieve a 1:50. I had been on for a 1:42 for much of the race, but with 5K to go I wasn't particularly targeting that as I could feel my body straining. Giuseppe and I high fived as we crossed over a final time. I then turned left off the seafront and up the only incline of note on the course and on towards the finish. This final two miles or so is always tough for me, mentally and physically and it really was a case of just turning my legs over and getting myself to the finish. Do that and the time took care of itself.
It was then off the seawall and onto the road again as we headed into the final 400m, and the finish couldn't come fast enough! I ran through the line strong and received my medal and some much needed water. Water was the only thing I took all race, no gels or lucozade but I didn't miss them. I did also manage to get a cereal bar in me prior to the race. I rang Lauren and we managed to find each other and headed back to the finish to wait for Giuseppe. He had a tough last few miles but made it home in around 2:11 just outside his target time of 2:10 but 50 minutes ahead of last years time. We all headed home, very pleased with our mornings work.
Lauren and I enjoyed a BBQ at my parents, and I am about to go and take a nap after this weekends exploits. Thanks again to all my on the day supporters as well as those that tracked me on Runkeeper. What a fantastic invention that is! Until next time, keep running....!
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Monday, 15 April 2013
Brighton Race Report
At times this race felt like it would never arrive and there were times in January and February where I hoped it never did. Thankfully March came and so did some training and with each week I have felt I was getting stronger. The long training runs never really came, with a longest of 15.5 miles. I ran well at Silverstone 6 weeks out from Brighton and ran even better at the 10km in Canterbury 3 weeks later and so felt momentum building as race day approached.
The week leading up to Brighton was unusual with a lovely 3 days in Benidorm for a friend's 30th. I spent it getting burnt, eating junk food, drinking beer and doing drinking games but did also manage a 5km along the seafront one morning which was fantastic. The next few days were spent relaxing with Lauren at her mum's before I drove us home to Essex, a quick night in our own bed and I was then saying bye to Lauren and heading on the train to Brighton. Lauren has been my Chief supporter for most of my races but she had been asked to be God Mother to her friend's kid and so the lead supporter duties were handed on to my brother Luke who handled them brilliantly. More on that later.
Having got the 8:06 train from Rayleigh to Brighton, via Stratford and London Bridge I arrived in Brighton about half 10. In just two hours I had succeeded in losing my credit card and the return part of my ticket. Thankfully I had managed to retain the Out part of my ticket and so made it safely to Brighton having succeeded in cancelling said Credit Card. It was then a short walk down the hill to the Brighton Centre to collect my race number. This was much less painful than Berlin where you had to walk a mile for the pleasure of collecting your race number. I poked my head in got the number and then ducked out of the nearest Exit, back up the hill to the train station ready for leg 2 another couple of hours to Canterbury. I managed to get a good feed halfway as I was seriously flagging and arrived in Canterbury about 2pm to be collected by Luke and driven back to his and Amber's place. Amber was the perfect host, and the place was spotless for their new house guest. We decided to head to the pub before Amber's enormous Spag Bol and I had a couple of pints of Coors whilst we watched the footy. The planned early night went out the window as we stayed up late to watch Tiger finish his round at the Masters and I crashed on the very comfortable sofa at 11pm.
Luke and I were up at 5am a quick wash, change and breakfast and we were on the road not long after half 5. Luke did the driving as I did my best to stay awake. The progress was slow going even on the main roads as roadworks meant we were going 40-50mph and average speed cameras for much of it. We did make it to our Park and Ride early though and were straight on a bus headed for Preston Park and the race start. We arrived just after half 7 and so had plenty of time to go to the loo etc and get ready for the off. Luke said goodbye about half 8 as he headed for his first viewing point at 3 miles, whilst I stayed to watch Batman and Robin doing aerobics and saw Elvis have his picture taken. I then headed down to my Red start pen and was stood next to a guy in a nappy, I'm not even making this stuff up!
At 9am we were set on our way and the long wait was finally over, now I had 4 hours or so to find out just what I was made of. The first km was slow going as the path narrowed and we briefly came to almost a complete stand still but the roads soon widened enough that you could get into some kind of rhythm. The 5:30 first km was soon followed up with a couple of km's just shy of 5mins. By the time I saw Luke for the first time I had gone through 5km in 25:30 and was bouncing along and feeling fresh. I had even found time to use a portaloo just before 4km. It was good to know I would be seeing Luke again in just over a mile. I was trying to rein myself in but I couldn't slow my initial pace and so settled into pace just slightly slower than 5min km's and saw Luke again at 4.5 miles and he cheered and waved and told me he'd see me in 10 miles. Something that should have been uplifting, but after seeing him twice in the first 5 miles, 10 miles and nearly 80-90 minutes of running seemed a long wait.
We were headed West, yeah West sounds right and away from the pier and the crowds. This is by far the hilliest part of the course as you bounce up and down some fairly decent climbs. It was also a good opportunity for me to see some of the really rapid guys and girls at the front who were being paced by pacers or lead bikes as they flew past me headed back to the town centre. I went through 10km in just over 50:30 as my early pace remained. The roads felt narrower, particularly as people had different ideas of how to tackle the hills, with people you had been running stride for stride with for the best part of an hour now desperate to take you over just to come in front of you and put the brakes on. The race was far too long for me to worry about it though and I just rolled with peoples odd habits.
I went through 15km in 76:15 a slight slowing of the pace but nothing very dramatic, but something inside me knew all was not well. The pace I was going 3:30 and a PB was on but 3:45-3:50 was my most ambitious pre-race prediction, there was no LEJOG bike fitness to save me this time! I got to 20km in 1:42 and change and then crossed the half way point in something like 1:48. For much of the 5km leading up to half way I was holding on to see Luke but I knew walking was going to come into my race real soon! I made it to Luke at 14 miles without walking but after seeing him and heading on the road away from the seafront I broke into my first walk break. I tried to keep it structured walk 100m then run for maybe a mile before another short walk break in an effort to manage my poor underprepared legs. I was helped with plentiful water, Gatorade and Shot Block stations. By the end of the race I was popping those Shot Blocks like smarties. I'm not sure if it was mental or whether they really helped but they did give me a boost.
I had told Luke I was clinging on at 14 miles, but when he saw me at 18 miles he later told me I looked a lot better than he had expected. I told him the wheels were coming off and I was hoping for 3:52-3:53. I then headed along the seafront towards the Power Station and the final turn around point. The walk breaks were now becoming more frequent and unstructured but I was still trying to keep them short. The first hour and a half was quite pleasant but I was now acutely aware that this was going to be a grind all the way to the finish. I got a nice pick up as I headed for the Power Station seeing a guy I know from Southend Parkrun who was headed for home, I had him down for 3:30 and it turns out he got home in 3:28, I saw him after the race and he was well chuffed with that. I eventually got myself to the turn around point and grabbed some water and a last stash of shot blocks before the 5 mile run back along the seafront. In all the fun of writing the blog I have forgotten to write my 25km, 30km and 35km splits. Suffice to say the speed was going backwards at a rate of knots but I was still happy I would finish comfortably inside 4 hours.
The crowds along the seafront were incredible and the organisers had got it working much better than the first time I ran the Brighton Marathon where the crowds got a bit too close for comfort, Tour De France style. I was desperate to run the last 5km without stopping, but my body was shutting down and I was lucky to manage a km of continuous running. The saving grace was that my run/power walking was near as spit the speed of those around me who continuously ran. I saw Luke a 5th and final time with about a km to go and after giving him a run and a wave I caved and walked again. Apparently he chased after me and urged me on, but at that late stage I was oblivious to the world. I think I did manage to slow jog the final 800m and ran over the line with the clock showing 3:55 nicely inside 4 hours. The official chip time was 3:55:42.
I met up with Luke who was really pleased with my mornings work, and I have to admit I was too. I don't want to harp on again too much about my completely self-inflicted lack of preparation but I will just say briefly that my next marathon will more than likely be my last for a while. Pete is maddened by what he sees as my lack of application when I have some running ability, and I totally agree with him. I am looking for an Autumn Marathon this year, perhaps the Robin Hood Marathon in September where I will look to average 30 miles a week in the 13 weeks leading up to the race in a bid to find out what I really am capable of over the Marathon distance. That maybe 3:15 it maybe 3:25 and a large part of me doesn't really mind which it is I'd just like to prepare adequately and the result will just flow out of that. I read something recently and the jist of it was "The will to win is useless without the will to prepare." I have one and not the other, I hope to show this autumn that I have both. Well done for reading. Will write again soon. Thanks again to Luke for supporting, Amber for hosting so beautifully and to Lauren for allowing me to continue my stupid hobby, love you lots.
The week leading up to Brighton was unusual with a lovely 3 days in Benidorm for a friend's 30th. I spent it getting burnt, eating junk food, drinking beer and doing drinking games but did also manage a 5km along the seafront one morning which was fantastic. The next few days were spent relaxing with Lauren at her mum's before I drove us home to Essex, a quick night in our own bed and I was then saying bye to Lauren and heading on the train to Brighton. Lauren has been my Chief supporter for most of my races but she had been asked to be God Mother to her friend's kid and so the lead supporter duties were handed on to my brother Luke who handled them brilliantly. More on that later.
Having got the 8:06 train from Rayleigh to Brighton, via Stratford and London Bridge I arrived in Brighton about half 10. In just two hours I had succeeded in losing my credit card and the return part of my ticket. Thankfully I had managed to retain the Out part of my ticket and so made it safely to Brighton having succeeded in cancelling said Credit Card. It was then a short walk down the hill to the Brighton Centre to collect my race number. This was much less painful than Berlin where you had to walk a mile for the pleasure of collecting your race number. I poked my head in got the number and then ducked out of the nearest Exit, back up the hill to the train station ready for leg 2 another couple of hours to Canterbury. I managed to get a good feed halfway as I was seriously flagging and arrived in Canterbury about 2pm to be collected by Luke and driven back to his and Amber's place. Amber was the perfect host, and the place was spotless for their new house guest. We decided to head to the pub before Amber's enormous Spag Bol and I had a couple of pints of Coors whilst we watched the footy. The planned early night went out the window as we stayed up late to watch Tiger finish his round at the Masters and I crashed on the very comfortable sofa at 11pm.
Luke and I were up at 5am a quick wash, change and breakfast and we were on the road not long after half 5. Luke did the driving as I did my best to stay awake. The progress was slow going even on the main roads as roadworks meant we were going 40-50mph and average speed cameras for much of it. We did make it to our Park and Ride early though and were straight on a bus headed for Preston Park and the race start. We arrived just after half 7 and so had plenty of time to go to the loo etc and get ready for the off. Luke said goodbye about half 8 as he headed for his first viewing point at 3 miles, whilst I stayed to watch Batman and Robin doing aerobics and saw Elvis have his picture taken. I then headed down to my Red start pen and was stood next to a guy in a nappy, I'm not even making this stuff up!
At 9am we were set on our way and the long wait was finally over, now I had 4 hours or so to find out just what I was made of. The first km was slow going as the path narrowed and we briefly came to almost a complete stand still but the roads soon widened enough that you could get into some kind of rhythm. The 5:30 first km was soon followed up with a couple of km's just shy of 5mins. By the time I saw Luke for the first time I had gone through 5km in 25:30 and was bouncing along and feeling fresh. I had even found time to use a portaloo just before 4km. It was good to know I would be seeing Luke again in just over a mile. I was trying to rein myself in but I couldn't slow my initial pace and so settled into pace just slightly slower than 5min km's and saw Luke again at 4.5 miles and he cheered and waved and told me he'd see me in 10 miles. Something that should have been uplifting, but after seeing him twice in the first 5 miles, 10 miles and nearly 80-90 minutes of running seemed a long wait.
We were headed West, yeah West sounds right and away from the pier and the crowds. This is by far the hilliest part of the course as you bounce up and down some fairly decent climbs. It was also a good opportunity for me to see some of the really rapid guys and girls at the front who were being paced by pacers or lead bikes as they flew past me headed back to the town centre. I went through 10km in just over 50:30 as my early pace remained. The roads felt narrower, particularly as people had different ideas of how to tackle the hills, with people you had been running stride for stride with for the best part of an hour now desperate to take you over just to come in front of you and put the brakes on. The race was far too long for me to worry about it though and I just rolled with peoples odd habits.
I went through 15km in 76:15 a slight slowing of the pace but nothing very dramatic, but something inside me knew all was not well. The pace I was going 3:30 and a PB was on but 3:45-3:50 was my most ambitious pre-race prediction, there was no LEJOG bike fitness to save me this time! I got to 20km in 1:42 and change and then crossed the half way point in something like 1:48. For much of the 5km leading up to half way I was holding on to see Luke but I knew walking was going to come into my race real soon! I made it to Luke at 14 miles without walking but after seeing him and heading on the road away from the seafront I broke into my first walk break. I tried to keep it structured walk 100m then run for maybe a mile before another short walk break in an effort to manage my poor underprepared legs. I was helped with plentiful water, Gatorade and Shot Block stations. By the end of the race I was popping those Shot Blocks like smarties. I'm not sure if it was mental or whether they really helped but they did give me a boost.
I had told Luke I was clinging on at 14 miles, but when he saw me at 18 miles he later told me I looked a lot better than he had expected. I told him the wheels were coming off and I was hoping for 3:52-3:53. I then headed along the seafront towards the Power Station and the final turn around point. The walk breaks were now becoming more frequent and unstructured but I was still trying to keep them short. The first hour and a half was quite pleasant but I was now acutely aware that this was going to be a grind all the way to the finish. I got a nice pick up as I headed for the Power Station seeing a guy I know from Southend Parkrun who was headed for home, I had him down for 3:30 and it turns out he got home in 3:28, I saw him after the race and he was well chuffed with that. I eventually got myself to the turn around point and grabbed some water and a last stash of shot blocks before the 5 mile run back along the seafront. In all the fun of writing the blog I have forgotten to write my 25km, 30km and 35km splits. Suffice to say the speed was going backwards at a rate of knots but I was still happy I would finish comfortably inside 4 hours.
The crowds along the seafront were incredible and the organisers had got it working much better than the first time I ran the Brighton Marathon where the crowds got a bit too close for comfort, Tour De France style. I was desperate to run the last 5km without stopping, but my body was shutting down and I was lucky to manage a km of continuous running. The saving grace was that my run/power walking was near as spit the speed of those around me who continuously ran. I saw Luke a 5th and final time with about a km to go and after giving him a run and a wave I caved and walked again. Apparently he chased after me and urged me on, but at that late stage I was oblivious to the world. I think I did manage to slow jog the final 800m and ran over the line with the clock showing 3:55 nicely inside 4 hours. The official chip time was 3:55:42.
I met up with Luke who was really pleased with my mornings work, and I have to admit I was too. I don't want to harp on again too much about my completely self-inflicted lack of preparation but I will just say briefly that my next marathon will more than likely be my last for a while. Pete is maddened by what he sees as my lack of application when I have some running ability, and I totally agree with him. I am looking for an Autumn Marathon this year, perhaps the Robin Hood Marathon in September where I will look to average 30 miles a week in the 13 weeks leading up to the race in a bid to find out what I really am capable of over the Marathon distance. That maybe 3:15 it maybe 3:25 and a large part of me doesn't really mind which it is I'd just like to prepare adequately and the result will just flow out of that. I read something recently and the jist of it was "The will to win is useless without the will to prepare." I have one and not the other, I hope to show this autumn that I have both. Well done for reading. Will write again soon. Thanks again to Luke for supporting, Amber for hosting so beautifully and to Lauren for allowing me to continue my stupid hobby, love you lots.
Monday, 1 April 2013
On The March!
So after a very slow running start to 2013 it was great to have a decent March. It was set up for a good month, with 5 weekends as well as a Bank Holiday. The only way to make it more perfectly suited for a big mileage month would be to have had it also including Bank Holiday Monday. I had hopes of a record mileage month at some points but in the end had to settle for just short of 102 miles. The average pace was also well inside 8 minute miles, helped by 5 races as I did 3 parkruns, a 10K and a Half Marathon. I ran 16 days out of 31 so 3.5 runs a week which is approaching a good level of consistency. Would like to see 4 runs a week in April, but may depend on how quickly I recover from the Marathon.
Speaking of Marathon! I have beaten the mileage I did in the lead up to my PB Marathon a mighty 148 miles in the 3 months leading up to the race as well as beating the long run of a Half Marathon by running 25km on Easter Sunday. With two weeks still to go I expect to do another 25 miles or so before race day. All of that would appear to stand me in good stead. My PB however was run off the back of the LEJOG fitness built up on the bike in the summer followed by PB's at Bristol and The Great North Run in the Half Marathon. Thus my expectations for Brighton are far away from a PB, I am looking to run somewhere between 3:50 and 4:00 which I think is very attainable.
Once Brighton has been safely negotiated I will then use the good training and racing from March and the Marathon to push me forward into my heavy race programme with 10K's and parkruns aplenty and the Southend Half Marathon before the scary 24hour Ultra at the end of July. Lucky for you loyal readers this should leave you with plenty of Blogs to plough through. I will write again after the Marathon, till then readers, happy running.
Speaking of Marathon! I have beaten the mileage I did in the lead up to my PB Marathon a mighty 148 miles in the 3 months leading up to the race as well as beating the long run of a Half Marathon by running 25km on Easter Sunday. With two weeks still to go I expect to do another 25 miles or so before race day. All of that would appear to stand me in good stead. My PB however was run off the back of the LEJOG fitness built up on the bike in the summer followed by PB's at Bristol and The Great North Run in the Half Marathon. Thus my expectations for Brighton are far away from a PB, I am looking to run somewhere between 3:50 and 4:00 which I think is very attainable.
Once Brighton has been safely negotiated I will then use the good training and racing from March and the Marathon to push me forward into my heavy race programme with 10K's and parkruns aplenty and the Southend Half Marathon before the scary 24hour Ultra at the end of July. Lucky for you loyal readers this should leave you with plenty of Blogs to plough through. I will write again after the Marathon, till then readers, happy running.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
42 races to go to my Century
So I have been in the running game for nearly four years now and in that time I have managed to amass 58 races (including parkruns)
22 - 5K's - Parkrun's at Middlesbrough, Southend, Cambridge, Brighton and Bromley. The highlight being my PB of 19:21 at Middlesbrough back in March 2011.
9 - 10K's - Races at Southend, Leigh, Billericay, London. The highlight being a run in London with Amy for Cancer Research.
1 - 10 Miler. Great Run at a great race finished in the top 5% at the BUPA Great South Run and saw Ben Fogle. Made Lauren very happy.
15 - Half Marathon's. Southend (4 out of 4), Bristol, Great Bentley, Silverstone, Great North, Norwich, Bath and Cardiff. My favourite distance and lots of good races. Including 4 of sub 1:35. Highlight being the PB of 1:30:05 at the Great North Run and my 2 seconds on BBC TV.
2 - 15 Milers. 2 times Benfleet 15. Miserable cross-country. Not really my bag.
1 - 20Miler. My one and only 20miler near Colchester. Ran fairly well given my condition at the time but a weak PB and a distance I would like to revisit.
6 - Marathon's - Runs at Brighton, Rutland, Stratford-upon-Avon, Chester, Berlin and Edinburgh. A distance I have consistently failed to get to grips with, particularly with the need to run long and slow in training. Keen to improve but still not keen on training.
1 - Ironman - Incredible experience at the Outlaw in Nottingham off very little training. Having only swum half the distance in training, never swam in open water, only cycled half the race distance in training. I did manage to run well though and came home in just over 16 hours.
1 - Ultra Marathon - At the Two Ocean's in Cape Town. Rained for most of the 6 hours I was out there. Ran well early but the hills and fatigue at the back end cost me dear so final two hours was huge effort.
All that in 47 months. Not a bad little body of work. My PB's at 5K, 10K, 10 Mile and HM are all pleasing although I would like to improve on them all. The three of concern are my 15 mile, 20 mile and Marathon PB's. The 15 miler was cross country and so I need to find a road 15 miler to get that where I need it. The 20 miler is soft and should be bettered fairly easily, whereas the Marathon needs a concerted effort on my part to follow a structured programme to get my PB in line with the other distances.
As discussed in previous blogs, a method to compare times across different distances is WAVA which is expressed as a percentage. I would like to get all of the main distances to a minimum of 60% and so for the distances we are talking about I need the following:
15M - 1:53:00 (Current 2:06:41)
20M - 2:34:20 (Current 2:50:28)
Mara - 3:28:10 (Current 3:34:28)
I hope to achieve all of these in the spring of 2014.
By the time of the 5 year anniversary of my first race at Southend Half Marathon which will happen in June 2014 in addition to the 60% WAVA target I would also like to have run in 100 events. So in addition to my 58 races I need to find another 42. These look to be as follows:
- 28 parkruns to get me up to my 50 run parkrun t-shirt.
- 1 Ultra (The Thunder run 24hr race already booked)
- 2 Marathon (Brighton 2013 already booked and probably Shakespeare Marathon in 2014)
- 1 20 Miler (Probably Essex 20 in spring 2014)
- 1 15 miler (Road 15 miler in spring 2014)
- 4 HM (Southend 2013 & Great North 2013 booked and then Great Bentley 2014 and Southend HM 2014)
- 4 10Km (BUPA 10K 2013 & Canterbury 2013 booked and Billericay 2013 and BUPA 10k 2014)
All of which leaves one race still to be decided. I think I will probably engineer it so that Southend HM 2014 is the 100th race. The one big unknown is if I can run 28 parkruns which is about 1 in 2. I think after that it will be a case of reassessing what I want to achieve and the challenges and goals that I set myself. So all in all I have a busy 15 months to get me through to summer 2014 but the fitness and motivation are slowly returning.
22 - 5K's - Parkrun's at Middlesbrough, Southend, Cambridge, Brighton and Bromley. The highlight being my PB of 19:21 at Middlesbrough back in March 2011.
9 - 10K's - Races at Southend, Leigh, Billericay, London. The highlight being a run in London with Amy for Cancer Research.
1 - 10 Miler. Great Run at a great race finished in the top 5% at the BUPA Great South Run and saw Ben Fogle. Made Lauren very happy.
15 - Half Marathon's. Southend (4 out of 4), Bristol, Great Bentley, Silverstone, Great North, Norwich, Bath and Cardiff. My favourite distance and lots of good races. Including 4 of sub 1:35. Highlight being the PB of 1:30:05 at the Great North Run and my 2 seconds on BBC TV.
2 - 15 Milers. 2 times Benfleet 15. Miserable cross-country. Not really my bag.
1 - 20Miler. My one and only 20miler near Colchester. Ran fairly well given my condition at the time but a weak PB and a distance I would like to revisit.
6 - Marathon's - Runs at Brighton, Rutland, Stratford-upon-Avon, Chester, Berlin and Edinburgh. A distance I have consistently failed to get to grips with, particularly with the need to run long and slow in training. Keen to improve but still not keen on training.
1 - Ironman - Incredible experience at the Outlaw in Nottingham off very little training. Having only swum half the distance in training, never swam in open water, only cycled half the race distance in training. I did manage to run well though and came home in just over 16 hours.
1 - Ultra Marathon - At the Two Ocean's in Cape Town. Rained for most of the 6 hours I was out there. Ran well early but the hills and fatigue at the back end cost me dear so final two hours was huge effort.
All that in 47 months. Not a bad little body of work. My PB's at 5K, 10K, 10 Mile and HM are all pleasing although I would like to improve on them all. The three of concern are my 15 mile, 20 mile and Marathon PB's. The 15 miler was cross country and so I need to find a road 15 miler to get that where I need it. The 20 miler is soft and should be bettered fairly easily, whereas the Marathon needs a concerted effort on my part to follow a structured programme to get my PB in line with the other distances.
As discussed in previous blogs, a method to compare times across different distances is WAVA which is expressed as a percentage. I would like to get all of the main distances to a minimum of 60% and so for the distances we are talking about I need the following:
15M - 1:53:00 (Current 2:06:41)
20M - 2:34:20 (Current 2:50:28)
Mara - 3:28:10 (Current 3:34:28)
I hope to achieve all of these in the spring of 2014.
By the time of the 5 year anniversary of my first race at Southend Half Marathon which will happen in June 2014 in addition to the 60% WAVA target I would also like to have run in 100 events. So in addition to my 58 races I need to find another 42. These look to be as follows:
- 28 parkruns to get me up to my 50 run parkrun t-shirt.
- 1 Ultra (The Thunder run 24hr race already booked)
- 2 Marathon (Brighton 2013 already booked and probably Shakespeare Marathon in 2014)
- 1 20 Miler (Probably Essex 20 in spring 2014)
- 1 15 miler (Road 15 miler in spring 2014)
- 4 HM (Southend 2013 & Great North 2013 booked and then Great Bentley 2014 and Southend HM 2014)
- 4 10Km (BUPA 10K 2013 & Canterbury 2013 booked and Billericay 2013 and BUPA 10k 2014)
All of which leaves one race still to be decided. I think I will probably engineer it so that Southend HM 2014 is the 100th race. The one big unknown is if I can run 28 parkruns which is about 1 in 2. I think after that it will be a case of reassessing what I want to achieve and the challenges and goals that I set myself. So all in all I have a busy 15 months to get me through to summer 2014 but the fitness and motivation are slowly returning.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Silverstone Half Marathon Report
Sorry for the lack of blogging. It has gone the way of my training of late. Jan and Feb have been record low mileage months compared to the previous 3 years a combined mileage of just 64 miles. With this inadequate prep my expectations headed into the Silverstone Half Marathon were low. I wasn't quite sure where to set my targets off that training but after a gentle 10 miler with Luke and Pete the week previously at around 9 minute miles I felt sub 2hours was the slowest I should go with a target of 1:50 being my ideal.
Lauren and I set off at around half 7 only for Lauren to realise she had forgotten her phone and so we did a quick about turn to retrieve it. This was a first for me and Lauren, I was driving myself to a race! With the added bonus that Lauren would drive back post-race when my legs were shredded. The trip up there was easy with it being so early there wasn't a huge amount of traffic and we arrived at half 9 ready for our 12 O'clock race, another very unwanted record, 2 and a half hours early takes some beating!
We met up with Luke and Amber who had set off even earlier than us for their longer journey. It was good to have some company and the girls got coffees as Luke and I tried to stay warm. There was plenty going on as we prepared for the start but not a lot that Luke and I could enjoy with just a few hours to the race. The beers and hot dogs would have to wait.
The time went pretty quickly as we chatted away, and with race time approaching we headed over to the spectator area to drop the girls off. There was a rather odd Marshall there who seemed to panic when we told him we were racing, and that we had to get over to the red balloons and the start immediately. There was still over half an hour till the race start and there were loads of runners all around us. We said our goodbyes though and then dutifully headed for the start. Luke and I got into the start area with plenty of time to spare and so had a walk around and found our way to the 1:30 and 1:45 pacers. Luke had his eyes on the 1:30 pacer and me on the 1:45. We talked running and were then spotted by an organiser of the Southend Parkrun and so had a good chat with him.
The sun threatened to come out as we began the race, and conditions were pretty much perfect for a good time. The race started and I was over the line quickly and into my stride. The race track was nice and wide and so there was no fear of congestion. Some runners were keen to hunt the inside line but I was happy to take it easy and so found open space when I could. My early pace was around 4:30 minute km way in excess of my 5:10ish km splits for 1:50. I felt comfortable and tried to slow the pace gradually.
In my wisdom I decided to wear a base layer under my running shirt as there was a bit of a chill in the air when we set off at half 7 but I soon realised I was going to get far too hot. So for a few lucky runners they got a strip show from me half way round the lap as I took both shirt and base layer off, put the shirt back on and tied the base layer round my waist all whilst running at my race pace.
I went through 5km on my Garmin in 23minutes dead, and it was only a few weeks ago that I run that in a stand alone 5km. It was still going well at 10km as I went through in 47 minutes exactly, again only 30 seconds slower than the last 10km race that I ran in November. It was at this point that it really began to get difficult. My pace was slowing, and I was settling into around 5min km and so my chances of the 1:40/1:42 that I thought might have been on early in the race now changed to holding it together and finishing in under 1:45. I had seen Lauren and Amber a few times already and they had given me a real boost. The race was good but there were definitely quiet spots out on the course. As I went through 10 miles I saw the girls a final time and gave them a smile, a wave and a sweaty base layer and got myself ready for the final stretch.
The last 5Km of the race were a real drag, quite literally. My feet that had been so light and bouncy in the first half of the race were now heavy and I was in a shuffle to the finish. I had done the 3rd 5km in just over 25 minutes so at least my fade was consistent, a minute every 5km to that point. The next 5km I managed in 25:45 and that just left the 1.1km to go. I was overtaken coming down the finishing straight by the 1:45 bus and it was then that I saw Luke, Amber and Lauren cheering me on and I tried to give them a final push. I managed to get past the pacer who was easing down to hit his target time and I went over the line in time to hit my revised 1:45 target. Official time 1:44:31. Really pleased!
It was great to be doing a proper race, and Lauren really enjoyed herself after our break from serious racing. Silverstone had its faults but it is definitely a race I will return to. I was pleased with how I gutsed it out, as I really was hanging on for much of the second half of the race and had ample opportunity to walk but didn't. My lack of training in January and February may have robbed me of a lot of my fitness but the more often I am racing the more I see improvements in my mental toughness which was definitely a weakness of mine. My biggest weakness at present is my inability to motivate myself for training particularly the long runs necessary for races over 10km. I'm not sure exactly what the answer is to remedy it.
One trend that I have blogged about previously, but I noticed again on Fetch for this race is how I perform well relative to my level of training. In the 10 weeks leading up to the race I ran a touch under 90miles a pathetic 9 miles a week. Fetch has some great data, and based on 539 race results the average 10 week mileage to achieve a 1:44:31 Half Marathon time is 225 miles and the bottom 10%, most work shy runners manage 126 miles on average. So I’m on the low side even for the slackers. In one sense I think it’s quite an impressive stat, and in another it’s a waste. Distance running is something that I have some natural ability, and so I am keen to do myself justice. Those are sentiments that I am sure you will find in previous blogs I have written and so I just need to apply myself to training in the hopes of doing myself justice in 2013.
A big thanks to Lauren and Amber for being such great supporters and a big well done to Luke on a great time managing sub 1:33, well deserved. Thanks for reading my lengthily race report, and if you come back soon there should be a blog on my plans to reach the magical 100 race mark by the summer of 2014.
Lauren and I set off at around half 7 only for Lauren to realise she had forgotten her phone and so we did a quick about turn to retrieve it. This was a first for me and Lauren, I was driving myself to a race! With the added bonus that Lauren would drive back post-race when my legs were shredded. The trip up there was easy with it being so early there wasn't a huge amount of traffic and we arrived at half 9 ready for our 12 O'clock race, another very unwanted record, 2 and a half hours early takes some beating!
We met up with Luke and Amber who had set off even earlier than us for their longer journey. It was good to have some company and the girls got coffees as Luke and I tried to stay warm. There was plenty going on as we prepared for the start but not a lot that Luke and I could enjoy with just a few hours to the race. The beers and hot dogs would have to wait.
The time went pretty quickly as we chatted away, and with race time approaching we headed over to the spectator area to drop the girls off. There was a rather odd Marshall there who seemed to panic when we told him we were racing, and that we had to get over to the red balloons and the start immediately. There was still over half an hour till the race start and there were loads of runners all around us. We said our goodbyes though and then dutifully headed for the start. Luke and I got into the start area with plenty of time to spare and so had a walk around and found our way to the 1:30 and 1:45 pacers. Luke had his eyes on the 1:30 pacer and me on the 1:45. We talked running and were then spotted by an organiser of the Southend Parkrun and so had a good chat with him.
The sun threatened to come out as we began the race, and conditions were pretty much perfect for a good time. The race started and I was over the line quickly and into my stride. The race track was nice and wide and so there was no fear of congestion. Some runners were keen to hunt the inside line but I was happy to take it easy and so found open space when I could. My early pace was around 4:30 minute km way in excess of my 5:10ish km splits for 1:50. I felt comfortable and tried to slow the pace gradually.
In my wisdom I decided to wear a base layer under my running shirt as there was a bit of a chill in the air when we set off at half 7 but I soon realised I was going to get far too hot. So for a few lucky runners they got a strip show from me half way round the lap as I took both shirt and base layer off, put the shirt back on and tied the base layer round my waist all whilst running at my race pace.
I went through 5km on my Garmin in 23minutes dead, and it was only a few weeks ago that I run that in a stand alone 5km. It was still going well at 10km as I went through in 47 minutes exactly, again only 30 seconds slower than the last 10km race that I ran in November. It was at this point that it really began to get difficult. My pace was slowing, and I was settling into around 5min km and so my chances of the 1:40/1:42 that I thought might have been on early in the race now changed to holding it together and finishing in under 1:45. I had seen Lauren and Amber a few times already and they had given me a real boost. The race was good but there were definitely quiet spots out on the course. As I went through 10 miles I saw the girls a final time and gave them a smile, a wave and a sweaty base layer and got myself ready for the final stretch.
The last 5Km of the race were a real drag, quite literally. My feet that had been so light and bouncy in the first half of the race were now heavy and I was in a shuffle to the finish. I had done the 3rd 5km in just over 25 minutes so at least my fade was consistent, a minute every 5km to that point. The next 5km I managed in 25:45 and that just left the 1.1km to go. I was overtaken coming down the finishing straight by the 1:45 bus and it was then that I saw Luke, Amber and Lauren cheering me on and I tried to give them a final push. I managed to get past the pacer who was easing down to hit his target time and I went over the line in time to hit my revised 1:45 target. Official time 1:44:31. Really pleased!
It was great to be doing a proper race, and Lauren really enjoyed herself after our break from serious racing. Silverstone had its faults but it is definitely a race I will return to. I was pleased with how I gutsed it out, as I really was hanging on for much of the second half of the race and had ample opportunity to walk but didn't. My lack of training in January and February may have robbed me of a lot of my fitness but the more often I am racing the more I see improvements in my mental toughness which was definitely a weakness of mine. My biggest weakness at present is my inability to motivate myself for training particularly the long runs necessary for races over 10km. I'm not sure exactly what the answer is to remedy it.
One trend that I have blogged about previously, but I noticed again on Fetch for this race is how I perform well relative to my level of training. In the 10 weeks leading up to the race I ran a touch under 90miles a pathetic 9 miles a week. Fetch has some great data, and based on 539 race results the average 10 week mileage to achieve a 1:44:31 Half Marathon time is 225 miles and the bottom 10%, most work shy runners manage 126 miles on average. So I’m on the low side even for the slackers. In one sense I think it’s quite an impressive stat, and in another it’s a waste. Distance running is something that I have some natural ability, and so I am keen to do myself justice. Those are sentiments that I am sure you will find in previous blogs I have written and so I just need to apply myself to training in the hopes of doing myself justice in 2013.
A big thanks to Lauren and Amber for being such great supporters and a big well done to Luke on a great time managing sub 1:33, well deserved. Thanks for reading my lengthily race report, and if you come back soon there should be a blog on my plans to reach the magical 100 race mark by the summer of 2014.
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Trends
With the end of the year fast approaching, I felt compelled to take a slightly closer look at my training throughout 2012 and the findings were interesting. At least for numbers geeks like me. 2012 is now 46 weeks in and I decided to split my mileage weeks as follows:
0-9.99 miles - 17 times (37%)
10 - 19.99 - 15 times (33%)
20 -29.99 - 9 times (19%)
30 - 39.99 - 4 times (9%)
40 - 49.99 - 1 time (2%)
Also out of the 17 very low mileage weeks, 5 of them I ran a big fat zero miles and another 7 weeks I only ran once. So that’s a quarter of the time I am doing very little running, I'm reluctant to even call it training. Out of the 5 zeros there was a week off post Ultra and a week off post Ironman, which I am probably entitled to and with all the best will in the world wasn't in much of a state to run. But that still leaves a lot of weeks with not a lot of productive running being done.
At the other end of the scale, what I think should be my bare minimum weekly mileage is 20 miles and I have done this 14 times a little under a 3rd of the time. When you bear in mind that includes 2 Marathons, an Ultra and an iron distance triathlon that is only 10 weeks where I have trained 20 miles or more. Also 2 of these weeks have occurred in the last fortnight, so at least that is a positive current trend.
I missed my first Southend parkrun this weekend, but there are other things in life. I did manage to get out for a short run on Saturday anyway and then did another 10 mile plus run today. So I am doing ok in my bid to get some miles in the legs and some consistency to my training, hopefully this continues into 2013 and the serious business of racing. All being well I should hit 100 miles for November and then train well in December and hit 800 miles running for the year.
I will blog again near to the end of 2012 and will have a more in-depth look at those running numbers, perhaps looking back to 2011 as well to see where that went right, compared to 2012's very wrong. Happy running love Stato.
0-9.99 miles - 17 times (37%)
10 - 19.99 - 15 times (33%)
20 -29.99 - 9 times (19%)
30 - 39.99 - 4 times (9%)
40 - 49.99 - 1 time (2%)
Also out of the 17 very low mileage weeks, 5 of them I ran a big fat zero miles and another 7 weeks I only ran once. So that’s a quarter of the time I am doing very little running, I'm reluctant to even call it training. Out of the 5 zeros there was a week off post Ultra and a week off post Ironman, which I am probably entitled to and with all the best will in the world wasn't in much of a state to run. But that still leaves a lot of weeks with not a lot of productive running being done.
At the other end of the scale, what I think should be my bare minimum weekly mileage is 20 miles and I have done this 14 times a little under a 3rd of the time. When you bear in mind that includes 2 Marathons, an Ultra and an iron distance triathlon that is only 10 weeks where I have trained 20 miles or more. Also 2 of these weeks have occurred in the last fortnight, so at least that is a positive current trend.
I missed my first Southend parkrun this weekend, but there are other things in life. I did manage to get out for a short run on Saturday anyway and then did another 10 mile plus run today. So I am doing ok in my bid to get some miles in the legs and some consistency to my training, hopefully this continues into 2013 and the serious business of racing. All being well I should hit 100 miles for November and then train well in December and hit 800 miles running for the year.
I will blog again near to the end of 2012 and will have a more in-depth look at those running numbers, perhaps looking back to 2011 as well to see where that went right, compared to 2012's very wrong. Happy running love Stato.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Almost 50 Not Out!
I haven't written since my post Berlin Marathon run down, and lots of racing and not alot of training has happened since. I've just checked my training blog and out of my 10 runs so far in October I have done 5 races and 5 training runs. One encouraging thing to come out of this is that my average pace for this month is 7:41 min miles something I haven't come close to achieving throughout 2012, but rather than indicating that my form is about to turn I think it shows I probably need to train alot more!
I decided to skip the Great Southrun this morning which would have made it 6-4 to races. I have had alot on at work lately and have also been racing alot so thought Lauren deserved a bit of my time somewhere other than a car, and I'm really pleased with our choice. We did the Great South in 2010 and it was a great race all very efficent and well organised but even then it does take up most of your day for what is a 10 mile race. I did admit to Lauren that if I was in PB shape that the race would definately have got the green light, and even though my 10 mile PB of 1:12:05 is one of my weaker PB's I was still light years away from being able to challenge that this weekend.
The training runs I have completed have been a couple of failed attempts at run commutes home and a few tempo runs which felt good. Whilst the races have consisted of a Parkrun in Middlesbrough, the first 3 Southend Parkruns and the Leigh-on-sea 10K. I was in fantasy land when I hoped for sub 20 at Middlesbrough and came in over 21 minutes. This revised my expectations for the Southend Parkrun, I managed to do 20:45 but I'm happy now having run this three times that it's at least a 100metres short. My other times at Southend were very similar but my placing changed depending on who attended, with the highlight being 8th place at the 2nd event. I am now right up there in the points competition with my consistent attendance paying dividends. Trying to win that is now a big goal of mine, one I fear I may just fall short of.
The most pleasing result of the October series was the 10K at Leigh-on-Sea, it was pretty hilly with 2 or 3 good climbs before halfway and I managed to really turn the pace up in the final 2Km's to finish just outside 48minutes. Which is slow, relative to even my current race results, let alone my PB's, but I was really pleased with my run on a tough course in difficult conditions and I definately felt I had more to give in those final few Km's.
My goals for the remainder of 2012 will be to run well at the Parkruns I attend either in Southend or Middlesbrough, whilst also performinig well at Billericay 10K next Sunday and hopefully beat my Leigh-On-Sea time. As well as this and perhaps more importantly for 2013 is to get some decent training done and lay a foundation for finally running fast again in 2013, I hope to run nearly 200 miles in the final 2 months to bring my total mileage for the year to 800 miles and beat the 794 miles I ran in 2011.
O and the reason for my blog title? I have now run 49 races (if you include the 15 Parkrun time-trials) in the past 3 and a half years since my first run out on the 2nd May 2009 and will hit the big 50 this Saturday at the Southend Parkrun :-)
I decided to skip the Great Southrun this morning which would have made it 6-4 to races. I have had alot on at work lately and have also been racing alot so thought Lauren deserved a bit of my time somewhere other than a car, and I'm really pleased with our choice. We did the Great South in 2010 and it was a great race all very efficent and well organised but even then it does take up most of your day for what is a 10 mile race. I did admit to Lauren that if I was in PB shape that the race would definately have got the green light, and even though my 10 mile PB of 1:12:05 is one of my weaker PB's I was still light years away from being able to challenge that this weekend.
The training runs I have completed have been a couple of failed attempts at run commutes home and a few tempo runs which felt good. Whilst the races have consisted of a Parkrun in Middlesbrough, the first 3 Southend Parkruns and the Leigh-on-sea 10K. I was in fantasy land when I hoped for sub 20 at Middlesbrough and came in over 21 minutes. This revised my expectations for the Southend Parkrun, I managed to do 20:45 but I'm happy now having run this three times that it's at least a 100metres short. My other times at Southend were very similar but my placing changed depending on who attended, with the highlight being 8th place at the 2nd event. I am now right up there in the points competition with my consistent attendance paying dividends. Trying to win that is now a big goal of mine, one I fear I may just fall short of.
The most pleasing result of the October series was the 10K at Leigh-on-Sea, it was pretty hilly with 2 or 3 good climbs before halfway and I managed to really turn the pace up in the final 2Km's to finish just outside 48minutes. Which is slow, relative to even my current race results, let alone my PB's, but I was really pleased with my run on a tough course in difficult conditions and I definately felt I had more to give in those final few Km's.
My goals for the remainder of 2012 will be to run well at the Parkruns I attend either in Southend or Middlesbrough, whilst also performinig well at Billericay 10K next Sunday and hopefully beat my Leigh-On-Sea time. As well as this and perhaps more importantly for 2013 is to get some decent training done and lay a foundation for finally running fast again in 2013, I hope to run nearly 200 miles in the final 2 months to bring my total mileage for the year to 800 miles and beat the 794 miles I ran in 2011.
O and the reason for my blog title? I have now run 49 races (if you include the 15 Parkrun time-trials) in the past 3 and a half years since my first run out on the 2nd May 2009 and will hit the big 50 this Saturday at the Southend Parkrun :-)
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