9 miles steady

Well the Siberian weather was fun for a day. Now I have had enough of the disruption and am longing for a day where the temperature rises above one degree centigrade!

The plan said 9 miles with 5 x 600m but I didn’t think doing speed work in the snow was sensible. So I just ran at a steady effort, with the pace around 7:40 once the climb up to the trail was completed.

Tomorrow I will have to be sensible and stay off the bike. I can cope with extreme cold or extreme wind but not both together.

White is alright for me

Another easy day with a 6 mile run into work. The only unusual thing was that everywhere was white. We don't often get proper snow in the North West of England but this was proper winter wonderland stuff.

The car drivers weren't feeling the love with stationary traffic everywhere but I had a great time bouncing through the snow, enjoying the still, bright winter morning. I did manage to slip over once when I got a bit carried away while crossing a road but even that didn't dampen my enthusiasm.

I have to say that the ride back from work was rather less enjoyable. I was just about surviving the cold when it started snowing heavily, with the wind right in my face. That was painful!

7 miles recovery

The weather forecast may look scary but life goes on and this will soon blow over.

Step 1 of taming the beast was completed with an easy 7 mile run home from work. It was cold but still and actually a very pleasant evening. The legs were happy and the run went quickly.

And that's how this training lark goes. Another run squeezed into life without undue fuss or ado. I save petrol, feel great afterwards and sleep like a baby.

The beast of the east can rest in peace

I think there is a tendency to obsess about long range weather forecasts and miss the present good conditions. While some have been going on about a "Beast from the east" coming our way in the form of a Siberian weather front I have enjoyed this cold-but-dry continental weather. The stars have been out every night and the mud is finally drying up.

This morning was once again cold, bright and dry. My legs were on their best form and 16 miles flew by in 2 hours. My energy is back and the recovery week has worked its magic. After an off week I am now ready to refocus for the final push - five more 70 mile plus weeks until the taper. This should include my first ever 90 mile week ending in a training marathon.

There are some races and speed workouts scheduled so it is time to finally get those legs moving fast again. Good times.

Back to my first love

Like many runners these days it was a parkrun that got me back into running. My local parkrun is only 2 miles away and one of the better ones in my opinion. Undulating and curvy with plenty of mixed terrain, dog walkers and crazy geese it is always well attended and there are always loads of club mates there.

An extended 4 mile warm up felt nice and then just time to strip off a layer and get to the start line. Due to icy conditions the course was altered slightly and the marshals admitted that they were not sure how long the race was now but it would be somewhere "about" 5k.

As normal everyone charged off at the start and I was probably in around 25th place after 100 metres. I soon started to work my way through the field though and by 2k I had overtaken the two club mates that I wanted to beat. By this time the field was pretty spread out and there was a good 20 metres between me and the guy ahead. My legs felt good though and I just did my best to keep the foot on the gas and my club mates behind.

They gradually dropped behind and I finished in the same 11th place I started the second half of the race in. I was surprised by the time of 20 minutes flat as I knew I was going faster than that but concluded that the revised course was long and hopefully I did at least a 19:30 5k. But most importantly I enjoyed myself and felt energised afterwards. Hopefully this short "off" period I have had is over.

A two mile jog home made it nine for the day.

Friday double, no gut trouble

Whatever storm overtook my guts yesterday departed just as swiftly today.

A 6 mile steady run into work and then another 4 miles recovery at lunch successfully completed without any need to wonder where the nearest bush is.

Which means I can go back to moaning about the weather. An easterly wind has started blowing cold air in from Siberia and it looks like it is going to blow for the next two weeks or so, bringing in freezing weather every night. Great!

I can remember winters where we just had a couple of frosts the whole winter. Not this time. The combination of cold weather and increased miles has tested my motivation at times. Not that I would ever give up mid plan. But I do think I will do things differently next winter. Maybe just do a 12 week plan. Maybe get a turbo trainer and do a bit less running.

But for now I might need to work on some strategies for keeping my hands warm when cycling.

Runners' Diarrhoea

There is a well known saying: s*** happens. Well today it really did.

I have been feeling a bit off these last few days but without any cold symptoms. I guess I should have suspected a stomach bug. There is something about the repetitive motion of running that can cause your bowels to move. Sometimes they cannot be stopped. Sometimes you are in a rush to get home or are not near a toilet or park. Sometimes you wish you were wearing a nappy (diaper.)

So that was today's 6 mile run. Hopefully life will revert to the mean tomorrow.

5 miles on the treadmill

I spent the morning feeling a bit off but 5 very easy miles on the treadmill at lunch didn't make things any worse and I perked up a bit in the afternoon so hopefully I can shake off this bug without compromising training too much.

I don't plan to do the prescribed 74 miles this week and feel OK about that - it is a  recovery week after all and I haven't missed any days so far. I should manage 65 and then will be ready to plunge back in to some bigger weeks.

According to the news there is some awful weather front blowing in from Siberia but the weather this week has been rather nice - mild and still. I don't see the point in worrying about next week's weather anyway - it's not like I can do anything about it! Each day has enough worries of its own (to paraphrase someone much wiser than me.)

12 miles followed by wipeout

Writing my blog entry last night I had particular trouble keeping my eyes open. I put this down to lots of training and not enough sleep and made sure I got a decent kip.

This morning I felt more-or-less OK and the 12 miler went well, averaging 7:43 minutes per mile.

However as the afternoon went on I felt more and more wiped out and a bit nauseous. I managed to avoid being sick but spent the evening glued to the sofa.

I have an easy 9 miles scheduled first thing tomorrow morning but it is hard to see that happening. Hopefully I'll be able to do a recovery 5 at lunch time.

I have had days before during marathon training where I have just completely run out of energy but haven't been sick. Hopefully tomorrow will be a new day.

8 miles easy

I didn't expect to be recovered from the big MP effort on Saturday and I wasn't. The legs weren't especially achy but they had no bounce. I was supposed to be doing some strides today but they will have to wait until later in the week - all I could manage was some pickups, maybe to 6 minute mile pace.

It was very wet as well so I was happy to get this one done and look forward to some better legs tomorrow.

9 miles recovery

9 miles is a bit further than I would normally run the day after a very hard session but I wanted to do 80 miles this week so 9 miles it had to be.

At least I didn't have to go fast and the legs were happy to trot along at almost 9 minute mile pace.

A short swim in the evening and that is almost 14 hours of aerobic activity this week and 2 gym sessions.

So that is three 80 mile plus weeks in a row. My legs are bearing up remarkably well but will no doubt be grateful for a recovery week next week - no sessions and "only" 74 miles.

18 miles with 12 @ marathon pace

Long tempos. Aaagh. P&D seem to love them. Hopefully they will one day bring out a third edition of the book with slightly less intimidating sessions.

I was planning to get this done first thing but it was very wet so I procrastinated until the rain stopped. Finally, after lunch, with the weather looking pretty pleasant, I got out there to give it a go.

The plan was to split the session into 3 separate runs so I could use the average pace metric to guide the tempo section.

So 4 miles warm up, up to and along my favourite trail. The legs didn't feel too bad but hardly fresh. After a quick breather and comfort break it was time to get started.

You can never really be sure if you are going to have a good day until you get started on the fast bit. With that in mind I was very happy to bang out a 6:31 first mile. The speedy miles kept coming with the first 8 being below 6:40 and the heart rate staying below 150. The only problem with doing the run at this time was the amount of traffic on the trail; mainly dog walkers but also hikers, cyclists and horse riders. In general there is enough space for everyone but I tend to get grumpy towards the end of tempo runs and start getting cross with people.

Towards the end of the tempo run someone tried to get out of my way but only succeeded in walking in front of me. I muttered loudly "Oh come on!" and weaved around him. Not cool on my part. Being courteous is more important than losing a second or two.

I started to fade a bit in the last 4 miles, with mile 10 the slowest at 6:48. This included a U-turn which never helps the mile split. Over the last 2 miles I increased the effort as I tried to empty the tank. The HR crept above 150 for the first time and I was rewarded with two miles in the low 6:40s.

So, 12 miles averaging 6:38 minutes per mile. That may well be my fastest ever MP run, although I can't be sure as I normally do the MP section as part of a bigger run. Either way I am very happy to produce that in the middle of a 80 mile week. Things are looking up!

The dreaded Friday double

After two MLRs in a row it was no surprise that my legs weren't very sprightly today. One of my hips in particular was quite stiff and there were random twinges in parts of my legs. Just a normal marathon training day then.

I didn't push either run and they both averaged about 8:50 pace. This is super slow and on the second run my HR averaged below 120. As normal the aerobic conditioning is looking good but the legs are mashed.

I normal find that one recovery day is enough to bring the legs back to life. Let's hope so; got a marathon pace effort tomorrow!

15 miles steady

Once again I had Thursday afternoon off work to get the medium long run done in daylight.

The run home from work is normally 6 miles but I have found a way of adding enough detours to make it 15 miles, including a couple on my favourite trail.

Today my legs were working well and so was the watch! The first 8 miles were at a comfortable effort and were mostly well under 8 minute miles. Then after some uphill miles to the trail the pace dropped to about 7:10 as I increased the effort.

15 miles averaging 7:40 pace will do fine.

13 miles steady using Apple Watch

I had a 13 mile MLR planned for first thing this morning so it was time to check out running with my new Apple Watch series 3.

It started off well. I enjoyed the fact that the watch automatically lit up when I turned my wrist so when running in the dark I didn't have to wait for a street light to be able to read my watch.

More importantly the mile splits were coming at the right time (I was on my favourite trail and knew when they should come.)

So, two miles up to the trail and then 4.5 miles at easy effort, coming out at 7:50 pace. So far so good. When I turned round I increased the effort and expected the miles to be about 7:20 pace. However they were more like 7:40. I assumed I was just having a slower day but gradually realised that the watch was measuring the miles long, meaning it thought I was going slower than I actually was. This was pretty annoying and I ended up having to do a little detour to make the run 13 miles when in reality it was over 13.1 miles.

Most reviews have said that the GPS accuracy is OK so hopefully this is just a teething issue. Thoughts so far below:

+ve

- Lights up automatically when you turn your wrist - no more waiting for a street light to read your watch when running in the dark.
- Get 4 metrics and time on one screen
- Looks better than most (all?) Garmins
- Can record swims
- You can copy music onto the watch to listen to when running without your phone.

-ve
- Didn't measure the distance right this morning ;-( Hopefully giving it time to connect to GPS before starting the workout will help.
- Doesn't tell you when satellites are found
- Mile splits quite hard to read
- No lap pace in workout app

6 miles with strides

I would hesitate to describe my short efforts today as "strides" - my legs were too tired for sprinting. They were more like "pick-ups" where I managed to run a bit faster for 100m or so. I guess you can't increase your mileage to new levels and also expect to be running fast.

I generally am not very interesting in equipment - one of the reasons I like running is that you need so little of it. But I did get an Apple Watch today - series 3 (non-cellular.) It looks nicer than the old Garmin and I don't want to be a two watch guy so I am going to try to make it work.

The first real test will be tomorrow on a 13 mile MLR. I will initially avoid using third party apps and try to get on with the built in workout app. However this does not seem to have lap pace so we'll see if I can get used to it.

9 miles dark and slow

I suspect I have moaned before about my Monday runs after work. Tired legs, darkness and tired brain all make it a bit of a slog.

Today was no different. At least it was "only" 9 miles. The pace held up at 8:20s and I consoled myself with the thought that this will be the only run of the week that is all in the dark.

I will leave you with a limerick I wrote when I was injured.

I don't mind running in rain
But I don't like running in pain
So tonight I will swim
Put my life on a limb
And do my best to stay sane

15 miles and 82 for the week

Yay! My biggest week ever and I ended it feeling strong with a 7 minute mile.

I decided to play a game called stick to the prescribed pace and see how it feels. It turned out that it felt pretty easy. 8 minute miles were very easy in the first half and 7:20 miles felt pretty good in the second half.

So 82 miles for the week and my legs are still in one piece and I managed to shake off the cold pretty quickly.

Bad Boy week 2 - tick.

Last cross country of the season

I am not sure why the muddiest cross country course of the series was scheduled for the end of winter instead of autumn but as a result it was waterlogged as normal and resembled a quagmire for at least half the loop.

So no fast splits today, just a tempo effort and a lot of mud. Despite the conditions I quite enjoyed myself. Thursday's 22 miler was undoubtedly still in my legs as I struggled to get my HR above 85% and into the LT zone. Never mind, it was a lot more fun than attempting 6 tempo miles by myself and the cake afterwards wasn't bad either!

My cross country results this season have been a bit disappointing as I have regularly been beaten by club mates I managed to beat last season. I plan to get some proper shoes for next season, do some targeted training and try to taper more for the races. Then hopefully I'll arrive ready for battle.

More shuffling on sore legs

I sometimes wonder if the recovery runs the day after a big effort are harder than the workout itself.

Maybe not but shuffling around on sore legs isn't my favourite form of running.

As normal I had to try to maintain a decent pace on my run commute this morning to get to work on time. That was 6 miles at about 8:30 pace which didn't feel too bad.

Then at lunchtime I got out into the wind and cold for another 4. I had enough time for this run to be a bit slower and once again it went as well as could be expected.

Due to the timing of the runs it worked out at 32 miles in just over 24 hours.

Hopefully my legs will have more life for a cross country race tomorrow. I have used this race to replace the 6 mile tempo on the plan so I will have to give it a decent effort.

Training or torture?

Is torture good marathon training? Does spending the last 40 minutes of a run desperate for it be over constitute good mental and physical preparation for a marathon or is it just unnecessary suffering?

I wish I knew the answer. I do know that the last 5 miles of my 22 mile run this afternoon were a bit of a sufferfest.

The first 9 miles were nice, mainly sub 8 minute miles at a comfortable effort. But maybe I could have taken them easier.

Miles 10 and 11 were uphill to my favourite trail so by halfway my legs weren't exactly fresh.

According to my training book (Advanced Marathoning) you are supposed to push on in the second half of the long runs so that the pace is about marathon pace + 10%. This is 7:20 miling for me. Two days ago this felt ridiculously easy. Today not so much.

The 3.5 miles to the turnaround point were just about on pace and felt OK. After the U-turn there were 7.5 miles to go on a route I know very well. Normally this would be no problem but with 14.5 miles of fatigue in the legs it wasn't much fun. Miles 16 to 20 were on pace but my legs gradually felt more and more fatigued until running at that pace could only be described as tortuous.

The last 2 miles were downhill but equally tortuous and the pace did fade a bit here. However 22 miles in 2 hours 51 minutes is decent (average pace 7:45.)

So... that was tough. I have only one more 20 mile + run to do by myself and I may take it slightly easier. I also have a training marathon which should be fun and I am using a half marathon to do the 20 miles with 14 @ MP session.

Seven miles easy

For once the forecast was right this morning. The prediction was -4 degrees C and that's what we got. Definitely cold but not windy and actually a nice morning once the sun came up.

I had my good legs again so 8 minute miles felt easy and all was well with the world.

I am gonna do the 22 mile run tomorrow to avoid having to do it the day after XC. I'm a bit apprehensive about it but will try to rein myself in during the fast half and by the second half I should be cruising along my favourite trail.

Sometimes it all falls into place

I wasn't really looking forward to today's 12 miler. I had a bit of a sore throat and a foggy head. It was really cold outside as well. However once I got started I realised that I had my best legs today.

Once I had jogged up to the trail and locked in a comfortable effort the pace came out as a surprising 7:50. The snow was gently falling and there was almost no wind. The odd rabbit and bird made it quite idyllic.

In the second half I pushed on a bit as normal and was mightily surprised to see the pace nudging down towards 7:00 minute miles. This was possibly the most comfortable this pace has ever felt.

So 12 miles at an average pace of 7:35 and HR of about 132. And more importantly it felt good.

7 miles recovery

After spending over 2.5 hours running in the cold yesterday I guess I shouldn't be surprised to wake up with a sore throat today. However I am pretty good at shaking these ailments off and can always just jog my miles this week is necessary.

I definitely wasn't feeling energetic before my run home from work but the miles passed quickly enough and my legs soon locked into a gentle 8:20 pace.

Thanks to a school appointment in the afternoon I am going to give myself the luxury of driving in to work tomorrow when the temperature is forecast to be about -3 degrees C and do my run in the afternoon in glorious 1-degree-above-freezing dry weather!

20 miles steady

The marathon long run. Find a 2.5 hour slot in your day. Push a bit in the second half. Spend the last five miles wishing it was over. Then spend the rest of the day feeling wiped out.

As you may have guessed I am not a fan. I think if it was summer and I didn't have a certain amount of stress in my life I would enjoy then more. As it is it was a case of getting it done when I could.

Thankfully the weather was pleasant this afternoon. Cold but dry and still (apart from a quick hail shower!) The first 10 miles were all comfortably under 8 minute / mile pace when flat. I didn't exactly feel on top form but after a stressful weekend that wasn't surprising. The target pace for the second half was 7:20 and on the whole I hit it without too much trouble. It was a long time to be running though and I can't help feeling guilty about the fact I had put so much physical and mental energy into my hobby when my family have their own needs.

Still, I don't spend my evenings in the pub drinking away my income so I guess there are worse past-times.

80 miles done for the week. First bad boy ticked off.

The randomness of life

I have to say that almost nothing stops me getting my run done. However when that run is 20 miles you can't just squeeze it into a small gap in your day. Today I was going to do those 20 miles in the afternoon but due to unforeseen circumstances I had the kids until 9 pm and I wasn't going to embark on a 2.5 hour run then (although I have heard of people doing that!)

Luckily I have the option of doing the run tomorrow so I just did another easy 6 today. I will end up a few miles short for the week but 80 miles is nothing to be ashamed of. The weather should be better tomorrow in any case and after two easy days my legs should be feeling lively.

6 miles easy

Just the normal run commute today. As ever I didn't have time to run slowly, but thankfully the legs felt OK and 8 minute miles were fairly comfortable.

In other news, I have entered the Wrexham Marathon in March. This will take the place of the 24 mile run in the plan. I didn't really fancy doing a run of over 3 hours by myself and have always wanted to do a marathon as a training run. It will be interesting to see how much easier the final miles feel when you have done most of the marathon at easy effort. Hopefully there will be a lot of overtaking involved!

At almost £40 this is not a cheap run but I figured it will be more fun than most marathons as there won't be the pressure to get a PB and hopefully there won't be the soreness afterwards.

Tempo redemption

It is amazing what a difference a good night's sleep can make.

Yesterday I was struggling to produce a 6:25 mile at the start of the tempo section. Today I could bomb along at 6:15 pace quite happily.

So yes, a good run today. 8 miles easy effort from work to my favourite trail, 2 miles tempo averaging 6:10, 1 mile jog, 2 miles tempo averaging 6:15 and then 2 miles jog home for 15 miles averaging 7:40 pace.

This is the first time in this training plan that I've managed to hit the desired pace in a tempo run. It seems that I am struggle to run hard in the dark first thing in the morning. This never used to be a problem but I think doing tempo runs in daylight is a sensible way forward.