Sniff sniff sniff

5 days to go and sniff sniff sniff. I have a cold. Three months of training and I have a cold. It's not a major one, yet, but God Dammitt... I'm on the vitamin C, zinc, Echinacea, paracetamol and ibuprofen. Oh and multivitamins. And fish oil.

No more running now. I was going to do a few little joggettes, but better not risk it.

I hate the taper. It lasted three weeks for the BG and by the time that came along i just wanted to kiiiiill them all. This is only a week, less even after la santa, but grrrrr....

Time to reflect on the training. That'll help...

Long runs (13M+):

21M - 2:45 - easy run. very very easy, felt lovely and easy and could have easily gone on
20.5M - 2:32 easy paced, about 7:35 pace - great run
20.5M - 2:34 easy paced, about 7:35 pace - great run
18M - road and trail around Tattenhall - steady, hilly, good run
17M - +5M shortly afterwards - Sandstone Trail A
17M - boiling hot, 3:20 - with stops, Howgill fellrun
16M - Sedbergh Hills race - 2:56 of tough fellrunning
16M - road and riverside trail run, felt good
14M - terrible run along the Dee!
13M - Lancaster half - 1:23:04 (short? probably a 1:24/5 run)
13M - Club la Santa Half

That's 11 long runs. Listing them like that makes me feel better. For an already fit runner (I had just come off supporting some BGRs so I was doing OK), 12 weeks is a good build up period for the marathon, so I'm happier.

This marathon has seen more quality work, including regular track sessions. The long runs have been faster than for pervious marathons. There's every reason to expect a pb, cold notwithstanding. But somehow, I feel like beating 3:14:52 is a tough ask.

I think it's because I'm not up for it as much. I was really up for London. I was focussing on it. This time, I want to do well but it's not the same. This could go one of two ways. 1 - i stay relased, unfussed, run cool and calm and conserve energy - have plenty left towards the end and get a cracking time! 2 - When it starts to hurt and you need to dig in and really want it, I don't respond and just canter in with a so-so time.

I think the prospect of a pb and the determination i learned during the BGR will push me on. I hope the atmosphere at Berlin does too.

I'm going to stay positive, relaxed, focussed and go for it - after all, what's the wurst that can happen?!

PS Tune in head - Aqualung - Strange and Beautiful

God loves a Tri-er

Back home and the taper starts here. It's going to have to, because, yes, I'm bloody injured.

I'll make Berlin, no worries there. The injury isn't some sinister tear or fundamenal problem that's pounced late on. This, or should I say they are a collection of bruises, grazes and cuts to my wrist, hip, shoulder and elbow which all combine to be a souvenir of my first triathlon at Club la Santa.

It was thw swim I was dreading, but that passed as an uneventful, if a little slow, 400 metres. The bike, which i'd done well on all week in the road trips and Duathlon, threw me off!! I was climbing hard and the chain slipped across about 2 gears at the back and the jolt was enough to kick me off. I was pushing hard and landed on my hip and elbow with a real thud.

A few Spanish motorists slowed down to have a look as I sat there, realised I wasn't local, and sped off!!! I was hurting, esp the hip. I got up after about 3 mins of shocked sulking and got back on the bike. Meanwhile, Alison was getting further away after kicking my ass in the swim.

The rest of the bike went well, and so did the run - a good training session, with a fast flourish at the end!



The week at La Santa was great. Four good bike sessions, duathlon, triathlon, a good steady half marathon, swimming and stretching.....all good. Just need to heal!

So the taper starts here. 9 days to go. 10 miles on Sunday, a few 5 mile runs and one short speed session and i'm there. In one week's time, it's off to Berlin!

Gute Reise!

A dubious PB and trouble in the sun

Greetings from Club la Santa, Lanzarote!

I should be out in the sun, catching some rays and living it up! Why aren't I then? Well cos I'm an idiot and after 2 days of biking, swimming, running (and crazy golf!) the heat has really got to me. Sitting drinking water with a 140 bpm heart rate aint good. Sunstroke i think... :-(

The idea of this break was to put in a good final burst of training before coming home and tapering for 10 days pre Berlin. The first two days were great, lots of swimming in the Olympic pool, 2 fabulous bike rides through the volcano strewn wastes of Lanzarote and some efforts on the track. Even pilates found its way into my world and I loved it´- chilled me out and stretched bits i didn't know i had.

But today is a day off. A sports massage (this place really does have everything) and a stretch class and that's about it (apart from Crazy Golf, obviously). It just feels like all the training and stupid stresses of work and life are all catching up with me. Whatever happens at Berlin, I think I need to change and stop becoming so stressed. For now, it's time to reflect on the training and build some confidence.

And recently the omens have been good. 1:23:04 for a dubiously short half marathon at Lancaster is still a good return. I suspect it equated to a 1:25 run, which is good going on already tired legs.

Tomorrow i'm doing a duathlon (run, bike, run) and then a half marathon after that - a training run really as it's too hot to go for a time. Then a mini triathlon before coming home and I should be ready.

Here's hoping....

w/c 25 August - loadsamiles

I think this is the most miles I've ever run in a week, about 75.

I feel OK, although it's clear that i wouldn't race too well on these legs right now. I guess this is the peak week and I should be feeling like a fitter and faster runner. But I don't. I feel tired, always hungry (and craving crap food) and slow. My long run, a two-phased 23 mile off road effort was sluggish wihout being difficult, and i'm finding that mile one doesn't feel as fresh and easy as it normally does. The good thing is, mile 20-odd feels the same, not much worse, so I guess a good long rest will have be bursting to run well with bags of endurance.

It's the Lancaster Half Marathon on Sunday. I really want to do well, perhaps more than in any race for a while. The last big goal was the BGR, which wasn't a race. Since then, i've enjoyed doing various races but I've never really done one that really mattered to me like this. I really think I'm out of practice. Racing is itself an art. I've trained plenty, done loadsamiles and mixed up the speedwork and long miles, but there's been precious little racing and now's the time to add that particular bit of the jigsaw.

The Lancaster Half is a bit of a landmark. I don't know what to aim for at Berlin. This will help me work that out. If I am to realistically aim at sub 3, i need to be well under 1:25. We'll see...

Training:

Monday - 11 miles, easy
Tuesday - 9.5 miles, 2 figure of eights at Burwardsley. Ran well
Weds - 8 miles at the track. 5 * 1km, all about 3:43, with last one a bit quicker. Good even pace, good speed endurance, felt really good.
Thurs - 11 miles, easy paced run with running club. Felt a bit tired
Fri - 10.5 miles - easy paced run
Sat - rest
Sun - 23 miles - 18 miles on the Sandstone trail, 1900' climbing and then an easy 5 miles with Ian on Steve's feb treasure hunt. Tired and slow from mile one, but kept on chugging and really quite enjoyed an autumnal run on the trails.

Summary - 75 miles, really tired after all that. 6 runs.

Tune in head - The Chain, Fleetwood Mac (dummmmm, dum dum dum, dum dum, dum dum, dum dummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!)