Weekly Update w/e 26.02.12 - 8wks to VLM12

Mon - REST
Tue - AM 6 miles (7:05mm) / PM 6.78 miles (7:16mm)
Wed - AM 6.23 miles (6:55mm) / PM 8 miles (6:53mm)
Thu - 13 miles (6:38mm) inc. 7 miles tempo @ 6:13mm
Fri -  5 miles easy (7:47mm)
Sat - Eastbourne parkrun 18:29 (5:56mm) 1st/82 | 2.53 miles WU/WD
Sun - 23.35 miles (7:06mm)

Total mileage – 74.0 miles (7:02mm)

"Someone who is busier than you is running right now."

Nike

Legs felt pretty good after Wokingham, the usual soreness in the legs generally from a race effort but they quickly got back to feeling normal through Tuesday & Wednesday's steady running. Thursday was the second long tempo run of the schedule, a 7 mile section again, but it felt much harder than the last session three weeks ago. Pace came out the same, but I had to work much harder for it. That's ok though. This session will usually always be preceded by a rest day (moved to Monday this week to recover from the race) and it was only 4 days after the Half so I'm taking confidence that I can still hit that pace in those circumstances. In the next few weeks the tempo section increases to 8 > 9 > 10 miles, and I'll be making it the key session of the week.

Eastbourne's new parkrun is a winding course around a flat park, about 70% hard path and tarmac, the rest on grass and mud. The latter was really tricky going in the rain, I was dancing about all over the place in racing flats trying to maintain forward motion at a respectable pace, but in general I reckon it'll be a fast course when the ground is dry and hard. Of course, that's not based on the time I ran, but there we go. I'd love to say I was coasting round, but I was pushing plenty, it just wasn't coming out very fast. Still, winning was fun, Lyndsey walked away with another shiny new PB (making my moaning about the mud seem even less valid) and we went for a great, lazy breakfast with Lyndsey's family after so a good Saturday morning all round.

Sunday's long run on the schedule was supposed to be 16-18 miles, but I wanted to try something long and steady because I've been starting to think endurance might be the weak link at the moment. Thankfully, 23 at that pace felt really manageable. Legs were tiring towards the end, but could have done another 3 miles at the same pace so that feels like a good place to be right now. Lyndsey gave me a fair telling-off when I got back though for throwing in a random 23-miler (as I have an impressive history of ruining entire marathon build-ups with arbitary very long runs) so with confidence in my stamina restored, I'd better make sure I follow the scheduled long runs from here on in...

This week will be more of the above hopefully, with long reps added on Tuesday and probably more of a cut-back towards the end of the week as we're doing the 'Thanet 20' in Ramsgate, Kent, next Sunday.

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0, 50, 74

Weekly Update w/e 19.02.12 - 9wks to VLM12

Mon - 4.50 miles easy (7:17mm)
Tue - 8 miles (7:00mm)
Wed - 8.08 miles treadmill (6:54mm) inc. 5km Tempo @ 6:11mm
Thu - REST
Fri - 11.67 miles easy (7:26mm)
Sat - 4.08 miles (7:36mm)
Sun - Wokingham Half Marathon - 1:20:51 (6:10mm) 99th/2185 | 1.38 miles WU/WD

Total mileage – 50.9 miles (6:59mm)

"The will to win means nothing if you haven't the will to prepare."

Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

I'm really happy with how this week has gone, but more than that I'm relieved. Relieved that the calf strain turned out to be nothing and relieved to now have a race time in the bag that hints towards the form I already thought I was in.

Monday's first run back was a nervy experience as the calf still felt really tight. So I stretched it, spent another 24hrs worrying and then tried it again Tuesday night at club. Thankfully, it already felt much better by then and I really enjoyed running strong and pain-free again. Wednesday I took the opportunity to try out what 3 miles of Sunday's race pace might feel like having missed a week; and the answer was pretty dam tough! Still, I kept the faith and hoped the fitness would come through for me on race day.

By Sunday my legs felt good and the weather had shaped up pretty much perfectly for a good run - dry roads, light winds and cold. There was a big turn out from my club and both my Wife, Lyndsey, and my mate, Rob, were also looking for PB runs so the scene was set nicely. I'd already decided to set out no faster than current PB pace (6:15mm) and I was happy to find after 3-4 miles that felt pretty comfortable. I ended up running with a guy I've got to know from 26.2RRC (a Surbiton club) and it was good to have somebody to talk to and manage the pace with on the way round. Both aiming for 1:21:xx, we were picking people off the whole way round and by 10 miles we knew that, barring a spectacular blow-up, we had that time in the bag. In the final 3 miles the pace started to feel harder to hold, so I dug in deeper to make sure I didn't throw away a good time - and ended up with final miles of 6:02 & 6:03 so well pleased with that!

It feels great to be posting a new PB by 1min+ just a few weeks into the new year, but its not half as impressive as Rob's PB by over 3mins and Lyndsey's by over 7mins! A good day at the office for all then, marathon training back on track, looking forward to getting stuck into some higher mileage again this week...

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0, 50

Weekly Update w/e 12.02.12 - 10wks to VLM12

Total mileage (running) - 0 miles
Total training time (stationery bike) - 4hrs 7mins, from 4 x sessions

Oh dear. This week hasn't gone at all to plan. Although, I guess there is at least a slightly comical irony to the best week of the build-up so far being immediately followed by the worst.

My calfs were ridiculously tight on Monday after the weekend's running, but I'd planned a rest day anyway so thought nothing of it. But when I tried to run on Tuesday morning, I came to a halt after just a few strides with a fairly fiery pain in my right calf. I was a bit surprised, but I didn't worry too much, just got on the stationery bike and did some of that instead. I had sports massage booked Wednesday evening anyway. Tony (my Physio) gave the calf a good working over, and various poking around and thorough stretching didn't seem to unearth anything particularly worrying.

When my planned Thursday run started and finished as quickly as my Tuesday one, I did throw my toys out of the pram a little bit. It took me that afternoon to calm down and get my head round the fact that this was going to mean at least one complete week of lost running. Since that point, I have hit the cross-training with some enthusiasm and I have, thankfully, felt the calf improving day-by-day since. I can't feel it at all now except for a tightness still when I'm stretching it, but I've been doing the strengthening exercises Tony suggested and I feel pretty confident now that it will be good to go tomorrow. I even did a test run up and down my road before going to the gym earlier and everything felt nice and solid with no pain, so definitely looking good.

The coming week on the plan is lighter in terms of mileage than most because it leads up to the Wokingham Half. As long as I can get back to steady running ok this week, I'm still going to do the race. It feels less likely that it'll be the full blooded form-test that I had planned, but I'm still keen to run it as a marathon-pace run or something similar if that feels more sensible come next Sunday.
So hopefully, tomorrow night's first-run-back will go well and I can put this week behind me. 10 wks to go still is ages. As long as I can get back to running this week, I'm not worried... ; )

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63, 0

Weekly Update w/e 05.02.12 – 11wks to VLM12

Mon - 5.58 miles easy (7:43mm)
Tue - 11.33 miles (6:36mm) inc. 6 x 3mins hard, 2mins easy - 5:47mm ave. rep pace
Wed - REST
Thu - 13.01 miles (6:37mm) inc. 7 miles Tempo @ 6:12mm
Fri - 5 miles treadmill easy (7:33mm)
Sat - 1.26 miles w/u / 3.11 miles Nonsuch parkrun 17:37 (5:42mm) 2nd/163 / 5 miles w/d
Sun - 20.04 miles (7:39mm)

Total mileage – 63.4 miles (7:10mm)

"There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people."
Bill Bowerman - co-founder of Nike

Week 1 of my 12 week schedule done. It’s gone pretty well, possibly the best week I’ve done actually since getting back into proper training (I’m marking that point as the week after Brighton 10k, late Nov last year). Within it, I also capped off 259 miles in January, my biggest month ever.

Tuesday’s intervals ended up being done within an 11-mile run to Club, because Lyndsey was working late and had to go straight there. Made the best of it though and changed the 6x800m on the plan to 6x 3mins hard, 2mins easy. They came out at average 5:47mm pace, which probably wasn’t quick as they should be but in the circumstances I was happy enough.

Fitting in quality session no.2 on Thursday also took a bit of creative thinking as we were going to my Sister’s for (Her) birthday takeaway. So I plotted out a 13-mile route from our house to Surbiton and got on with it. Tempo section was 7 miles, which will progress up to 10 as I work through the schedule, and going into it I figured 6:20mm would be best-case. To come away with a 6:12mm average and a final mile of 5:54 (I felt good!) was really encouraging and I’m looking forward to building on this session in future weeks. If I could only do one type of session, long tempos would be it. Can be very tough but gets you fit!

Two other runs worthy of comment. Saturday’s parkrun at Nonsuch was the first time I’ve raced that course (it’s our local nowadays and mostly I’ve volunteered there). I was denied the win in the final half a mile unfortunately, but that time is my 2nd quickest ever, just short of my 17:34 PB from 2009 (!!). Would be great to see that get some revision in this marathon campaign.

Racing that parkrun in XC spikes on rock-hard frozen ground ensured my calves felt pretty ruined getting up on Sunday morning. That, combined with the snow, made the first 20-miler of the schedule a pretty arduous experience. All pace goals went out the window and we just settled on trying to get round it. Which we did, largely thanks to my club mate Tom’s determination; so thanks to him for dragging me round. Tick it off, bring on wk 2...

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48, 63