w/c 18 August -- Hurty legs

I never never never never seem to learn

2 months of roadrunning was never going to equip me for a long, tough fellrace. Despite running well at Sedbergh, my legs were sore as hell for 4 days afterwards, putting paid to any chance of quality this week. I still got the mileage in, but the quality of my training has suffered because I indulged myself a fellrace. The lesson is that tough fellraces and tough roadrunning training do not mix. I knew this but find myself relearning it, which i'm not happy about.

I missed the Capenhurst 5k on Weds cos it just hurt to much, so I did an easy 9M instead. I couldn't run hard on Tuesday or Thursday as I usually do. OK I got some mileage in, but I'm not happy at missing out on the type of trsaining that's going to get me moving fast around that marathon course.

The good news is that the long run, this time on Friday because of weekend commitments, went very well. An easy paced 21 miles with no hint of difficulty whatsoever. I've done the 20 milers fairly quick, but decided to ease back on this one and get some time out. So I dawdled, took in the smells and sights of the Tattenhall countryside, through in some strides, jogged a bit at times and just ran free and easy and without any effort. 21 miles doesn;t sound like it should be easy but it was.

The next long run will be harder. I'm going to do 22M, with the last 8M at or close to goal pace (about 7 min/mile) and the first 14M at abour 7.30. That'll tell me something, as will the Lancaster Half the week after that. Sub 1:25 is the goal....

Monday - 3M - loops around Marford quarry. Very slow, very sore legs after Sedbergh
Tuesday - 7M - easy run with Dave S and Alison off road. Legs really sore, esp quads. The run felt better as I went along, but it was slow
Weds - 9M - Run from home to Marford quarry. 7 * 0.8M loops very slow and very wet around Marford. Legs still very sore. It's clear my legs aren't in fellrunning mode
Thurs - 9M - off road with the club, again slow, but with some faster efforts. Ran well towards the end on the road.
Fri - 21M - Ran more slowly this time - averaged 7.50 min/mile and ran really within myself. Felt like I could have gone more quickly and kept going at the end. all about time on my feet on the roads. Ran for 2:44 and it really did feel easy. Mile 21 felt like mile 1 - a really good sign.
Sat - rest
Sun - 4M - easy jog up north at A's folks.

Totals: 6 runs, 53 miles.

Tune in head - I am a Rock, Simon and Garfunkel. :)

w/c 11 August - at last, some legache...

Before I started training for this marathon, I associated marathon training with having sore and tired legs every Monday. Funnily enough, I've not had that feeling this time around - well not until this week.

After the 20 mile road runs, I felt tired but not sore like I often did when training for the BGR. I put this down to being a bit stronger this time around generally, and also by virtue of the fact that I was mixing rest and training without too many junk miles.

So I lined up on the start line of the Sedbergh Hills race on Sunday feeling confident that I was in good shape with plenty of endurance, but slightly worried about the lack of climbing in my training (this race has 6000 feet of climbing in its 16 miles). I decided to do this race because I wanted to 'treat myself' to a long, classic fellrace during a campaign focussed on roadrunning.

It was wet, misty and windy; muddy underfoot in places and just plain tough. I ran 2 mins slower than last year when I had all the BGR climbing in my legs, and 5 mins slower than 2 years ago when i trained for this race specifically with climbing and a good taper. Weirdly tho, I think I ran just as well. I struggled with the climbing more than i would have liked and found the early stages tough but as the race went on and the ground improved, I got got quicker and quicker and finished strongly. It seems like the endurance and running speed is good, but the climbing is not surprisingly lacking.

It's Monday today and my legs bloody hurt. So do my arms and back. And body. Descending the stairs is a bit of a laugh. Still, it's strangely satisfying. It reminds me of the BGR training days: all sore legs and getting stronger by the week. Which begs the question:

Q: If this is the first time I've felt like this during this training programme, have I been training hard enough to really improve?

A: Yes, it's been smart training, with good mileage, good paced long runs, plenty of quality mileage and rest. This approach carries less risk of injury and a good build up for the last 6 weeks of training. I can pick it up now and put in a big 3/4 weeks and enjoy a good taper.

or

A: No, to improve significantly, which is the aim, I need to push harder than I ever have before. Right now, I'm going through the motions and am set to run a similar time to last time. I need to up the ante and pick it up.

Both are right, which means I've done OK so far but have 6 weeks to make it all count.

This week's training:

Monday - Rest, rest, rest
Tuesday - 8M, efforts on Maiden Castle and closed XC loop - really tough session
Weds - 5M track, 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m - all at 80 sec laps or quicker. Ran really well.
Thurs - 5M, took Trev's group, ran slowly with a couple of efforts in the middle
Fri - 7M, hilly route up to Llay, ran brisk pace 6.30 pace on the flat, 7.30 on the climb
Sat - 0 miles, planned to run, but got glued to the Olympics! Certain irony there - was not training cos I was watching people who trained instead of watching TV
Sun - Sedbergh Hills, 16M, 6000' ascent, 2:58. Happy to break 3hrs in those conditions but slower than last time despite strong last third.

Totals - 41M, 5 runs, 3 quality runs (inc 1 bloody tough fell race).

Song in head - Road to Nowhere, Talking Heads. Got me up that git of a climb on the Calf during the fell race. All good - better than bloody Toto.

w/c 4 August - A proper week's training?

Lots of things are said to be 'just like life', chocolates included. Training for a marathon is no exception - mainly cos you're never quite sure if you're doing it properly, even if it seems to be going well.

It feels like this has been a good week's training. It feels like I'll be stronger at the end of it than I was at the start of it because of what I did during it.

On the positive side, I ran a good number of miles (over 50), much of them being at a good pace. I raced well on Wednesday too, and felt strong for most of the week. The sessions were varied - off road, on road, steady, fast, hilly, flat, easy, hard.

One thing was missing though: Long

Sometimes, people in the groups I coach at Tattenhall ask me about training programmes. I'm no expert and so restrict my advice to the sage old stuff we all know, including the gospel that the long run is the cornerstone of any training programme. Miss any session, but not the long run.

I ran everyday this week, but after a long run every week for the last 7 weeks, I decided to do things a little diffrently. I decided to keep up the quality and get myself nice and tired before doing a 10 mile race on Sunday. The idea was rather than test how quickly I can run over ten miles (which would tell me nothing important right now given how far out from Berlin I am), I would instead try and simulate that last few miles of the marathon. What makes or breaks a good marathon, or any long distance event, is how well you can keep going at a good pace when you're tired. Can I keep going quickly? Can I stay mentally focussed? How would I hold up?

The tension here was missing the long run. The weekly long run seems sacrosanct. I actually changed my mind so many times this week but ended up doing the 10 mile race instead of the 20 mile road run my conscience was telling me to do. I stuck to the plan - after all it's only one week. This how I approached it:

Monday - 4M, run up Moel Famau (1000' ascent). Ran it hard - ascending from the lower car park to the top in 16 mins. That's quicker than during my Bob Graham training.

Tuesday - 5M, easy running at the club.

Weds - 7M, inc 5.1M Pie and Peas race. A lovely evening off road race, which I ran in 33.03. I've done this race 6 times before and this was my quickest time, but only by about 20 seconds. Conditions were muggy as hell. I felt comfortable. I worked hard and cruised home once I knew I was clear from those runners behind. I do wish I'd kept pushing and got under 33 mins, but I guess it makes the time easier to beat next time...

Thur - 8.5m - efforts at Tattenhall, short road efforts (3* 0.5M, hilly) and long off road efforts (2* 1.9M, very hilly and rough). Ran pretty well and climbed really well. Pushed hard.

Fri - 7M - Wrexham Industrial Estate. Oh what joy - the scenic delights. Pushed hard again, got around in 46 mins in the bloody headwind which seems to rack that place. Not flat out but was glad to stop.

Sat - 9.5M - Hilly circuit from home. Started steady and pushed hard again towards then end, 68 mins which is not bad going given those hills.

Sun - 10 mile race (actually 10.3!) plus a couple of miles warm up and a little cool down afterwards - so 13 in all. Did the 10.3 in 71 mins - pretty slow really, averaged about 6.55 mins/mile. Hilly course and legs quite tired, perhaps as tired as they might feel after 16 miles during the marathon? Didn't really have race head on and was pleased with the run, because if I can maintain that kind of pace from 16-26 at Berlin I'll be happy.

Totals: 7 runs, 54 miles.

There were 2 races in there, and 6 of those runs contained a significant quality element. I could have done less quality and more mileage, but less is more (see last week).

I think that constitutes a proper week's training, despite the lack of a long run.

Looking forward to next week, when the Sedbergh Hills fell race beckons - 16 miles, 6000'+ of ascent and descent and hopefully significantly under 3 hours!

Tune in head - the very very very awful Roseanna by the very very very awful Toto. Why God must you do this to me? For a man who is pathologically opposed to keyboard solos of any description this was a simply horrible moment from Saturday's run...

w/c 28 July - Less is more

How on earth do people train hard seven days a week? Six even?

I can do running every day. I can do running hard for some of those days. But running hard for six days, which was this week's aim, just proved a bridge too far. Instead, I ran four times, but I made them all count.

What stopped my doing six, which is to say what stopped me running on Friday and Sunday was fatigue. I adopted the old adage of listening to my body.

That's not an easy thing to do. Every runner knows that tension between mileage and self preservation. Between getting fitter and getting injured. Between pushing out of your confort zone and pushing beyond your body's physical limits. Listen to your body too much and you don't get much fitter and you become mentally weak and untested. Ignore the warning signs and you'll push too hard and tear a calf, a tendon and just wear yourself out generally.

Problem is, knowing the difference between warning signs (to be acted upon) and the edge of your comfort zone (to be pushed through) is never simple. It's as much an art than a science and being able to do it usually means you've erred on both sides before. Whatsmore, once you get better at spotting it, you're still never sure whether you're backing off or wimping out...

Despite all that, I'm left feeling that I got it right this week. The mileage seems small (43) and the number of sessions is perhaps one or two runs light, but 50% of that mileage was quality. Better 40 good and balanced miles with plenty of quality than 60 miles of junk.

I ran three tough quality sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I ran them well and felt strong, even when tired on Thursday. Saturday's long run also went well and was quicker than 2 weeks ago, despite the heat.

This week was a good training week. My legs are tired, but not sore. I felt strong on all the runs. I pushed to the point of being very knackered all four times. The runs were on three different surfaces (running track, road, trail). The sessions were mixed, with hard efforts on the track, speed endurance and tempo on the trail and marathon pace running on the long run. Plus there was rest, recovery and lots of eating.

Four runs was plenty. Less was more.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 7.8M - 2 mile warm up, 6 efforts on cornfield and Bulkeley woods. Ran hard and was close to Ian Lancaster for much of the session (I think he was backing off tho!).
Weds - 5.5M - Track session. 1000m, 800m, 400m, 1000, 600m, 200m, 1000m, 400m, 200m. Ran fast and stayed ahead of the Chester Tri mob. The 200m efforts were the killers for me.
Thurs - 8.8M - Trail session - 3*1.5M efforts on a hilly and off road loop. Ran really well and fast on tired legs, battling with an in-form Simo all the way and edging him out on the last effort. Pleased with the consistency of the speed and was bushed afterwards!
Friday - 0.2 miles. Yes, 0.2 miles. Got in from work and set off for a 7M steady run and just couldn't. I felt so heavy legged. Knowing a 20M run was due the next day clinched it - go home and rest up. Wisdom or wimping out? Time will tell...
Sat - 20.5M - 2:32. Used three 6.7 loops at Tattenhall, same as two weeks ago when I ran so well. I was 4 mins faster this time. This was especially good as I felt tired at the start. It's satisfying to be able to do 20 mile runs at this pace reasonably comfortably - I was nowhere near this pace when training for London two and a half years ago.
Sun - It doesn't count as training mileage but a lovely 5 mile jaunt around the Long Mynd doing navigation practice at a very very easy pace was just the loosener my legs needed. Heavy at first, but felt fine towards the end.

Total runs 4, total mileage 43.

It's 8 weeks to go now before the marathon. I feel like I'm in good shape so far out. There's some work to do to improve. Two things need to happen now to build on this great start. The first is to up the mileage by bringing in a tempo run on a Friday and Sunday. I can only do this by backing off on one of the three midweek sessions, probably the Thursday. I also need to knock the long run up to 22 miles.

The second is nothing to do with the running as such - it's about fine tuning. I need to find out what energy drink they use on the Berlin route and start using it now - I'd hate to find that I don't take to it on the day. I need to look into the race route. Are there any climbs? If so, where? Any exposed parts of the course, or really long straights?

There aren't many parallels to the Bob Graham training, but one of them is that preparation is the key. It worked then and I'm sure it'll work now.

Tune in head this week - Bodysnatchers (Radiohead), at last, a bit of class.