Tempos, hills and intervals....

I'm attempting to increase my pace with a view to getting under 4 hours for the Snowdonia Marathon and sub 3:30 for the Athens. So, as well as regular long runs - 15 miles last Saturday - I've also been throwing in plenty of sessions designed to improve my speed. These include hill-sprint sessions at the Devil's Jumps, tempo runs of about 10k on Hankley Common and interval training at the military running track in Aldershot. And all of this seems to be doing some good because I'm starting to notice a gradual improvement in my overall pace.

I'm also increasing my monthly distance and for the first time I exceeded 200 miles, which is a bit of a mile-stone. I'll have to careful not to pick up any injuries though as there are only about 8 weeks to go before the Snowdonia Marathon and it'd be a shame to injure myself now through overtraining.

West Cork

We had a great 3 week holiday at the cottage in Union Hall. Jenny and I spent the first couple of weeks alone and were then joined by James and Richard for the last week and by Jess for the final few days. The weather was really good apart from a couple of days of rain and we made good use of the boat with plenty of waterskiing and trips to Sherkin Island. We also made good use of the windsurfer and kayak.
On the running front, I kept up the training with daily 7 mile runs through the West Cork countryside. Jenny came with me for all but one or two runs and managed to cope really well with the hilly course. We also hiked up Hungry Hill on the Beara Peninsular with James and Rich.
So al in all a very relaxing few weeks despite all the physical activities!
Now back at work but maintaining the training momentum with some good sessions over the last week or so including hill training at the Devil's Jumps (new pb of 1'38" for the sprint to the summit) and 26k around Hankley Common last Saturday. I also smashed my 10k rowing time and got under 40' for the first time.

Gibbet Hill 10k

It was off to Haslemere last week for another go at the Gibbet Hill 10k race which, as the name suggests, is a hilly course starting in Wey Hill and climbing to the top of Gibett Hill and back down again. I was joined for the race by James and his mate Tom, who was doing his first race having only started running a couple of weeks beforehand.
I was aiming to try to beat my record of 49'21", which I'd set two years ago.
It's a pretty informal race but with a high percentage of local running club members taking part it can be quite competetive. And so it was a short walk to the start, a few words from the starter and we were off.
The first mile or so took us along a quiet road which climbed out of the residential area and into the countryside before a marshall signalled for us to turn onto a bridleway and the start of a serious climb to the viewpoint at the top of Gibett Hill. By this time I'd left James and Tom to their own race and tried to make my way through the field of runners, many of whom had started at a strong pace but were struggling with the climb through the forest.
The top of the climb came at about three and a half miles after which the next mile and a half was pretty flat. As I approached the final mile back down to the finish I noted that I'd been running for just over 40 minutes and was in with a very good chance of beating my pb. So I pushed hard and virtually spinted down the road towards the finish. Somehow the last mile and a bit took over 8 minutes but I still managed to cross the finish line having knocked 50 seconds off my pb. Job done.

Back to the training...

Since the Picnic I've been back running regularly over at Hankley Common. I've also been trying to mix things up a bit with visits to the gym, cycling (road and off-road) and swimming. The gym sessions are designed to increase my upper body strength - in particular my arms. I was surprised at how much my arms were aching after the Picnic marathon - running up hills requires good strength in the the arms and shoulders. I've also been back on the rower for some longish sessions. My latest efforts produced a 40'52 10k and a 5k in 20'13. I need to get under 40' and 20' respectively and also test myself over 2000m.

The Picnic...

was no picnic. It was damned hard. I got very bad cramp at the 18 mile point and was very close to pulling out - mainly because I was at the bottom of 200 odd steep steps and every time I tried to lift a leg up to place my foot on the next step my legs cramped up completely. Eventually I managed to sidle up the side of the steps thus avoiding having to raise my legs too high and temporarily holding the cramp at bay. It took me about 20 minutes to get to the top though and when I did I tripped over a root and fell to the ground at which point the cramps came back with a vengeance. I couldn't even stand up, it was that bad. I had to crawl along the ground to a nearby tree and haul myself up using the lower branches for support. The rest of the race - the next 8 miles - was spent trying to overcome the frequent cramp attacks which were particularly viscous on the up-hills - of which there were many!

I finally finished, to my great relief, in 6 hrs 23 mins. I was 80th out of about 120 starters many of whom dropped out at the half-way point.

I'm planning to have another attempt at the Picnic when it's run again in 2011 - hopefully I'll be able knock a few minutes off my time (maybe even get under 6 hours) and next time I'll be carrying some electrolyt drink with me which should help with the cramp problems.

Tapering for the Picnic

The Picnic Marathon is only 4 days away now so I've had my last run until Saturday's race. I started last week with a long Sunday run of around 14 miles and then took it easy on the running front with a few morning runs, a couple of swims and a 30 minute session on the rower. At the weekend I just did a 4 mile run with Jenny and then an 8 miler on Sunday. I've been using my Mizunos for most of my runs over the last couple of weeks because I think that at 850 miles the New Balance shoes are beginning to lose a bit of cushioning and I was noticing some soreness in my achilles and underneath my heel. That seems to have cleared up now so it looks as though I'll be starting the Picnic free of injury. The only slight concern is that the forecast is for very warm weather on the day of the race so I'll need to take plenty of water + electrolytes to ward off the cramps!

Turbo X trail race...

On Sunday I took part in the first of this year's Turbo X races at Bracknell. I was ill-prepared for the race having been out for two runs and a mountain bike ride the day before. In theory you're supposed to rest the day before such an event but nevermind, I just got carried away.
The weather on the day of the race was very warm and sunny. The course was pretty tough with loads of hills and of course the mandatory muddy bogs to wade through. Having had such little rain recently it was a surprise to find just how wet and muddy some parts of the course were. It was all good fun though and a good way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. I finished the race in 1 hr 56 - the distance was said to be between 10 and 12 miles.
It took me almost as long to rinse the mud out of my kit when I got home. And I must remember not to wear a white running top at these events in the future!
Check out the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P22Z65wTWCs

Speechless..

Whether or not it was the drenching and cold bath from last weekend, or just bad luck, but I developed a sore throat and cough during the following week and felt pretty rough when I awoke on Thursday morning. So I decided to have a rest from running for a couple of days. The following morning matters were even worse and I had completely lost my voice. The first time that's ever happened to me! It was pretty weird being at work and not being able to communicate with anyone apart from through little messages on post-it notes. Friday night I ventured down to the Spotted Cow in the hope that a couple of pints of beers would loosen up my larynx but it was not to be. Luckily, though, I woke up on Saturday morning with a partially restored voice which I took to mean I was on the mend. I'd planned a long weekend run of 20 miles or so but decided to allow myself time to recover properly and opted for back to back runs of 8.5 miles on Saturday and the same on Sunday. I also went out mountain biking with Jenny on Sunday evening. The weather over both days was brilliant, 25 c and hardly a cloud in the sky - a definite improvement on the previous weekend.

Drenched...

I'm keeping up the regular weekday runs which are between 4 and 6 miles daily but trying to get out on a long-ish run every weekend. This Sunday I set off with Jenny for a circuit of Hankley Common and then ran home via Frensham Pond, Bourne Woods and the North Downs Way. And it absolutely poured with rain for the first hour and a half. I was completely soaked and was past caring about getting any wetter so enjoyed myself splashing through the middle of the deepest, muddiest puddles I could find!
I'd more or less resigned myself to running the whole way in the rain but the sun did come out eventually and I started to dry off and warm up a bit as I crossed Frensham Common.
After 10 miles or so I was running along the Tilford Reeds bridleway when I heard voices behind me about 200m back. I realised that the voices were undoubtedly those of the 'Farnham Runners' out on their regular Sunday club run. I didn't want to be overtaken by them so upped my pace a bit. After a few minutes I could tell that they were still behind me but not gaining on me any more. By now the competitive streak was coming out in me so I upped my pace a bit more and the voices soon drifted off into the distance. And that was the last I heard from the Farnham Runners! The rest of the run went okay and I managed to get home in under two and a half hours. Total distance was 14.3 miles.
Unfortunately our central heating boiler was broken so I was forced to have a post- run cold bath! Brrrrr! Good for getting rid of the lactic acid though (so I'm told) and sure enough I was free of aching muscles this morning so maybe it does work.

North Downs Way 23 Miler

With the Picnic Marathon looming on the horizon I decided it was time to test myself on a longer run of 20 miles plus, and what better test than to have another go at a stretch of the North Downs Way path which runs from Dorking to Farnham, a distance of 23.5 miles. So I packed my rucksack with energy bars and a couple of bottles of water, made up a new playlist for the i-pod and set off on bright, sunny Saturday morning. I got a lift to Guildford station from where I caught the 8:48am train to Dorking Deepdene. After a very relaxing 15 minute train ride I was strolling up the London Road out of Dorking and after about a mile I was at the point where I could pick up the North Downs Way. So I started the stopwatch, switched on my i-pod and to the sound of Lykke Li's 'I'm Good, I'm Gone' I set off up the path leading to the top of the North Downs.
After a few miles I was to encounter the first of many groups of teenagers out on a days hike, carrying large rucksacks and bedrolls. It must have been a Duke of Edinburgh Awards day or something. As for my rucksack, it was getting a bit annoying. I had a water bottle jammed into the bottle holder at the side of the pack and I'd stuffed another one into the main compartment for later. Unfortunately it was soon bouncing around the inside of the bag and banging into the small of my back with every step I took. So I retrieved it from inside my rucksack and opted to carry it the rest of the way. The leg from Dorking to Newland's corner is about 8 or nine miles and seemed to go on forever but the occasional view across to Leith Hill made it less monotonous. Once I'd passed the cafe at Newland's corner and countless more groups of young D of E hikers, I dropped down into the valley and immediately up a sandy path to St Martha on the Hill, a church which stands on the top of a wooded hill with fantastic views across Surrey. From there it was mainly downhill to Guildford and after crossing the River Wey I was soon heading out towards the village of Puttenham. This was to be the fourth time that I'd attempted this run and on the past three times I'd always taken over 5 hours to get back to Farnham. So I was keen to get below 5 hours for the first time. As I jogged through Puttenham I realised that I was making good time and providing I kept running and didn't slow too much, I'd get in under my target time. So I munched on an energy bar (the first of the run) and battled on. By now I was starting to feel a bit achey. I wasn't so much tired but my back was getting a bit stiff and my hips were aching a bit too. As I approached Farnham Golf Course I stopped briefly for a stretch to loosen my back up a bit. That seemed to help somewhat and I was soon back on my way and with just two miles to run I knew that I was definitely going to get back within the 5 hour limit I'd set myself. As it was , I completed the run in 4 hours 49 minutes. The next time I'm aiming for a sub 4 hours 30 which I think is do-able.