2005 mileage total

2005 total mileage: 2258 miles


This is the first time I've ever totaled up the mileage for a year, but I know that it is the highest I've ever done. It was worth it: I achieved a lot this year. More of the same next year hopefully!

Here's how the mileage was distributed:

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
178	205	167	133	181	176	254	253	191	136	146	238

December mileage

December total mileage: 238 miles


Only 15 miles short of my highest ever monthly mileage from July and August. Going well!

Weekly summary - 16 weeks to go

5 days late, but here's the summary for last week:

Monday	Rest
Tuesday	8.0 miles	Steady run over local hill	Quite a hard run!
Wednesday	11 miles	slow run 64%MHR 10:16/mile	Very slow! Rather tired after previous night's hard run
Thursday	5.2 miles	Easy recovery
Friday	7.5 miles	Slow run
Saturday	17 miles	Slow club run	Felt great, despite the very early start
Sunday	Rest		Xmas day
Total	48.7 miles

Merry Xmas

I woke up this morning with 'Have yourself a merry little Xmas' by Coldplay going through my head. I was annoyed that Radio 1 had advertised that you could view a Coldplay gig by pressing the red button - but could I find it? No way! How very dare they!, but I digress...

I switched on the radio and what was playing?: 'Have yourself a merry little Xmas' by Coldplay. Now what are the chances of that happening? I can hardly claim a Xmas miracle, but it was quite spooky!


I ran 17 miles yesterday. I set out at the unearthly hour of 6:45am to run 8 miles to meet my club friends at 8am and do their usual 'Sunday' run. Having the streets to myself in the early morning darkness was lovely. Then the countryside and the hills, lots of slopes to cruise down - I like hills - they're my friends. I felt great! I'm well on top of my mileage. The full english breakfast afterwards didn't help the weight control though. (I did enjoy it - it is Xmas!)

Today will be a much deserved rest day - unusually, no Xmas run!

Merry Xmas

Weekly summary - 17 weeks to go

Time to start the weekly summaries! I'm vaguely following the Pete Pfitzinger/Scott Douglas 18-week 70-mile schedule from 'Advanced Marathoning', but I'll be deviating from it a bit more than I did last time, along the lines of my 60-mile plan post, and also to fit a few more races in than I did during my Cardiff Marathon build up. Here's a link to the schedule - I think it is the same as the one published in the book.

Monday	Rest	As scheduled!	It seems odd to start a schedule off with a rest day!
Tuesday	8.1 miles	Steady run 7:52 143bpm 83%MHR	Massage a.m.
Wednesday	7 miles	easy recovery 65%MHR
Thursday	5.8 miles	3*1-mile reps, 90s recovery, last rep 7:22 147bpm ave, 153bpm max
Friday	9.5 miles	Easy recovery 64%MHR	Big twinge in left calf! Otherwise OK
Saturday	5 miles	Gym sesh: Slow run on treadmill 10kmh plus weights
Sunday	17.4 miles	Long run over 300ft hill 9:15/mile 123bpm ave 71%MHR
Total	52.8 miles

Hills

I used to fear hills - I hated them with a vengeance. Some of my early injuries followed hill sessions. I'd get calf strains, overtaxing them uphill. I came to associate hills with injury and avoided them - making injury from club hill sessions even more likely.

Things are different now.

With Boston looming, I've been doing more and more hills. Well, mostly the same hill actually. There is one big hill about 5 miles from home. It's a 300ft ridge which provides, depending on the route, a steady 2 mile ascent and a steeper 1 mile descent. It used to be my idea of hell!

Today, I felt cold and tired, and figured I might turn around after 5 miles.

Then the sun came out...

I felt good, and decided to do the climb and descent I've just described. Uphill was fun in a strange sort of way - beautiful views. I can now run it at a reasonable pace without my heart rate going above 75%MHR - I'd have had to walk it a year or 2 ago. Heartbreak Hill in Boston is losing its mystique - I ran my Heartbreak Hill simulation on the way up. I passed Shelly on 'Heartbreak Hill' - we are making a habit of passing each other on our Sunday runs!

Downhill was great fun. 1 mile of fast running. I think I've cracked the downhill technique. I feel very comfortable. Again, useful Boston preparation, as Boston has lots of downhills.

In the end I ran 17 miles. Fun! Here's the profile:

A shoe rant!

Why oh why do shoe manufacturers keep tweaking their brands? I have to keep switching shoe brands each year and I'm getting sick of it!

I always have more than one shoe on the go - I feel it is probably healthier not to stick to one shoe at a time. It also appears necessary so that I have a shoe to fall back on when they do the dirty and tweak a shoe so much that it becomes unwearable. Aaagghh!

I have plenty of shoes at the moment: Asics Cumulus 6, Mizuno Waverider 8, Asics Kanyon, Walsh PB, Mizuno Wave Precision, Nike Pegasus, but it's the Cumulus and Waverider which are my work horse heavy mileage shoes.

I've had a long history of the Asics Cumulus. I'm a wearer of orthotics, and they appeared (past tense) the ideal shoe for orthotic wearers (neutral, stable, well fitting). I started with the Cumulus III (they seem to like roman numerals) when I first got my orthotics. It was a nice shoe! The following year they brought out the Cumulus IV, with the usual tweaks. Unfortunately for me, one of the tweaks was to add a piece of PVC trim across where my little toe was. The result: I couldn't wear them! They caused horrible blisters on my little toe. I tried getting the shoe stretched, but in the end I had to bin them. Time to find another brand. I opted for a Saucony road/trail hybrid. Not ideal, but they were comfortable, and they lasted me for my first London Marathon.

The following year came the Cumulus V, and I thought I'd try them once more. Bingo! Gone was the PVC toe trim, and back was the comfort. I bought a total of 3 pairs over the year. Nice shoe.

Cumulus VI arrived and in their wisdom Asics chose to add 30g to the weight of the shoe. That's a lot! On the assumption that tweaks are improvements, why would you make a shoe heavier? I decided to seek out a lighter shoe and found the Mizuno Waverider - nice shoe. I stuck with the Asics as well though, splitting the mileage, and soon saw the difference the extra grams give you. Fast though the Mizunos were, they didn't last as long as the Asics - at least 100 miles less. Still worth keeping both brands going though - Mizunos for speed, Asics for mileage. I also bought a pair of Mizuno Wave Precision - the racing version - even quicker, and a blister free Cardiff Marathon!

So having replaced the Mizunos with a new pair of the same, a month later it came time to replace the Cumulus VIs with the Cumulus VIIs. Aaaagghhh! They've done it again!

Here is Mr Pig modeling my old Cumulus VI:


And here is a shot of the new Cumulus VII:


I'm sure you can see how different they are. The moldings round the upper are all different, the sole is different, and they've tried to make the upper more akin to a sock. This is a completely different shoe! Granted, it's lighter - it couldn't be anything else really - but it's not suitable for orthotics: your feet move around a lot in the shoe, and it doesn't feel like the orthotic is being held against your foot properly. A minor point, but on a freezing cold day, the wind was whistling through the mesh across my feet - this is probably a good thing, but it felt really odd.

I decided not to go with the new model. It just felt wrong on my foot, and I probably would only notice orthotic related problems after too many miles to take it back. Apparently Asics know about this problem - they are now aiming the shoe more at true neutral runners rather than orthotic wearers.

So I had to comb the shop for yet another brand of shoe.

I finally came up with the New Balance 1060, which felt closest to what the Cumulus VI used to be. I hope it works out!




I wonder what changes New Balance will make next year?

Hayling 10

I raced the Hayling 10 today, and tried to stick to the 7:30 pace I said I would. It was tough! I'm claiming I had a bad day, but I'm not sure I'll get away with that.

It was cold - around 3 degrees initially. I agonised over what to wear, but went for vest and lycra shorts ( a bit of cover for my cold quads) with hat, gloves and some rather fetching arm warmers a la Constantina Dita-Tomescu. From the start I felt comfortable, but I could feel that all was not well with my stomach. I felt bloated. I'd had too big a breakfast, and knew that this didn't bode well - stitch is always a looming spectre with me.

I kept to my pace plan for the first few miles, running shoulder to shoulder with young Richard, doing his first 10-miler, who'd been told to run with me (!) - he was certainly sticking to his task. After 3 or 4 miles though, the rumblings of stitch were starting to surface, and I had to try to belly breath and lean in to it. I just about managed to keep it in control. I was doing better than Richard though who now started to lag. He finished well though, not far behind.

I was warmed up now though and tried to hit spectator Sara in the face with my hat - drat - missed!

5 miles and we turned back along the seafront for 2 miles of running into the wind. It wasn't too strong, but it did make a difference. I slowed to nearly 8:00/mile in those 2 miles. It was drizzly and cold too!

Now why did the guy in the grey and yellow sweatshirt keep surging? He came belting past me at 6 miles then slowed down. I caught him 3 or 4 times and each time he'd put in a ridiculous surge. Had he been reading too much about elite racing tactics? I beat him by a fair bit in the end, so perhaps he'll learn a lesson.

As we turned away from the wind at the end of the seafront, the running became a lot easier and I sped up once more. I felt good! Then I felt really bad! Dreadfully bad stitch hit me like a punch in the gut. I really wanted to stop! I did all the things I could think of - breathing, leaning, massage, pushing my fist hard in my gut, and slowing, but it stayed with me to the finish. It got a little easier and I got back on pace by the last mile. Why do I get stitch so often? I'm very careful not to drink within 2 hours of the start. I think on this occasion though I simply had too much breakfast. Lesson learnt?

At the finish my watch read 1:17:07. A PB by nearly 3 minutes. So I'm pleased right? Well I ought to be, but I know I can go faster. My heart rate dropped during the stitch as my pace slackened. The result: an average of 154bpm - the same as at Lordshill - I didn't managed to go any quicker HR wise.

Right, technical time. What is my equivalent 1 hour heart rate? The Runner's World race pace predictor says that I'll do 7.89 miles in 1 hour dead. That's a pace of 7:36 compared to my Hayling pace of 7:43. My pace vs HR relationship is a 40secs/mile pace improvement for every 10bpm HR rise. So that's an extra 2 bpm if running for just 1 hour. So my lactate threshold is 156bpm - again the same as Lordshill. Consistent!

I still think I can go faster!

To compound my 'disappointment', my friend and team mate Ruth had a fantastic run - she was 5 minutes ahead of me. Another good team result I hope: Gina way out ahead, Ruth second point scorer, and me in third. (No results as yet)

I still think I could have done better!

Oh well, off to the pub for a commiseration drink and to bid Sara farewell for her 6 months in Oz. Bob then dropped the bombshell. I had won a bronze medal in the over-40s in the Hampshire championships! That's my first ever prize outside the club!

OK, maybe I had quite a good day after all!

It's not all about slow running

I got a pleasant surprise at Lordshill. Finding that the policewoman conducting me across the road shouting "Go Susie" was actually my training buddy, was pleasant enough, but that wasn't it. Finding I had a sprint finish in me after 10 hard hilly miles, run at an alarmingly high heart rate, was the surprise, and quite significant in what it implies.

I had a surprise in the Cardiff Marathon along the same lines. My pace held up for the whole race. After 26 miles I felt fresh, and was able to sprint round the Millennium Stadium like a mad thing.

These 2 events could be dismissed as 'superior endurance brought on by high mileage training', but there is far more to it than that. I think for the first time since starting my methodical base training, I am seeing evidence that my Lactate Threshold is going up.

OK, here comes the science: Lactate Threshold (LT) is a point on the lactate vs heart rate curve, defined by a specific level of blood lactate (4 mmol/litre I believe). This is of course largely meaningless to the majority of us who don't have access to a laboratory. What it means in reality is it's the point above which you will start accumulating lactate rapidly, get 'the burn', and start to run out of steam quickly. In terms of measuring it, it's generally taken to be the maximum average heart rate you can sustain for an hour of racing. (We'll come back to this point later)

LT is an important notion when it comes to training. For me, it's easier to measure than maximum heart rate - just go out and race. I think it is more relevant to one's training than maximum heart rate. Quoting training paces as %s of maximum heart rate is as much a generalisation as the formulae used to estimate maximum heart rate. It's all very well saying that marathon pace heart rate is 80% of max, and training to that, but in the case of a well trained athlete, marathon pace could be much higher (I believe as high as 90%). The difference is the higher LT of the well trained runner. Training at a level relative to your LT gives a pace far more relevant to the individual and their current state of fitness.

This is all very well but what does the LT mean and why is it so important?

At this stage, I'll issue the usual caveats of me not being a sports scientist, and not being a qualified coach. I'm an enthusiastic amateur. Got that? Good!

Us base trainers bang out loads of slow miles. It gets results! We see our pace improving month by month. We run slowly. We run aerobically. We are developing aerobic capacity. Right?

Well no. Not as I see it.

You'll often hear me say "It's not all about slow running". Slow running certainly has an effect. With plenty of slow running, pace at a given heart rate will improve, but for me this is all about running economy, not about aerobic capacity (although we may be talking semantics here!). For a given heart rate, ignoring possible improvements in the stroke volume of the heart, you are using the same amount of oxygen and hence burning the same amount of fuel as the slightly less fitter you of a few months back. If you are now able to run faster, then it is simply that running at a given speed isn't using so much power as it used to: your running economy is improving. To me, aerobic capacity is something more than this: it is all about the ability of the slow-twitch muscle fibres to burn lactate, and consume oxygen. I'll explain.

We all know that we have fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibres; well you probably do if you’ve found your way to this article. We may all know that fast-twitch fibres produce lactate as a by product of their function. What we might not know is that slow-twitch fibres can use lactate as a fuel, burning it aerobically to power us along. As we run, there is a balance between fast- and slow-twitch, with the slow-twitch gobbling up all the lactate produced by the fast-twitch fibres. As we increase our speed though, the balance starts to shift in favour of the fast-twitch fibres (our anaerobic system), with the slow-twitch fibres (our aerobic system) overwhelmed and unable to mop up all the lactate. Lactate levels rise, and rise ever more sharply as speed increases.

I see aerobic capacity as the ability to mop up lactate. The higher your aerobic capacity, the higher the heart rate you are able to run at without accumulating lactate. In other words the higher your lactate threshold.

So now we see another way to improve our performance. If you can train in a way to raise your LT, then you will be able to race at higher heart rates. We have a double whammy speed improvement: not only is all the aerobic running making us faster for a given heart rate, we can then sustain a higher heart rate and hence go faster still.

You’ll certainly get an improvement in running economy from slow running. It is just possible you may see an improvement in LT from slow running, but far less likely. To see improvements in LT you need to train nearer to your LT, ie faster. You need to run at paces where you are creating lactate, and forcing the aerobic system to work to burn off the lactate. With just slow running there’s not sufficient lactate to provide this type of training stimulus, hence: “It’s not all about slow running”.

The classic way to improve LT is to do Tempo Runs. These are runs where you run the middle few miles at a pace near to your LT. There is a difference in opinion though as to what the best pace is. I’ve been following the Hadd method, where you always run below your LT, keeping it strictly aerobic. Within the framework of the Hadd principles of daily running, the idea of pushing up the LT from below makes sense: the softly softly approach. Other methods have you running much faster, pulling up the LT from above. This may be more ‘optimal’, but you need to ensure this is compatible with the rest of your regime: these runs can be quite tough!

An indicator Hadd uses of improvements in LT, is the ability to sustain a pace and heart rate for an hour. Once you can do your steady runs at a solid pace without any cardiac drift, then it’s time to move your training HRs up a notch: an indication that your LT has risen. Trouble is, during the summer, with the heat, and my love of off-road running, I haven’t had a chance to verify my lack of cardiac drift (although my pace at my steady HR has noticeably improved). Hadd also uses his ‘Hadd test’ to estimate LT. Unfortunately, I’ve not been doing too many of these either, largely for the same reasons. As I race fairly regularly though, I have been trying to get in indication of LT from my races.

I've tended to race according to heart rate. This is not a bad way of doing it if you know what heart rates you need to run at. My marathon HR tends to average out at 145bpm over the whole race. 142bpm seems a sensible level to start out at: my 'marathon pace'. At London earlier in the year, I went off at nearer 145bpm and paid for it at the end - I faded markedly. At Cardiff I made sure I stuck to 142bpm - I breezed in.

I have been using heart rate to train by, according to the Hadd principles. I do regular steady runs, marathon pace, around 140bpm+. As my training has progressed, my pace at this heart rate has got faster and faster, from 8:50 18 months ago, to 8:20 6 months ago, and now around 8:00. The training has been going well and these improvements are great. I also do tempo runs and long intervals at 145bpm+. Finally I think I am seeing, from racing, that my LT is improving and I should be racing and training at higher HRs.

My LT at the start of the year was no higher than 154bpm. This was what I averaged for the well paced all-out Stubbington 10k. My ability to carry a pace for an hour would mean my LT is a beat or 2 below 154bpm. Here’s a way of estimating it: the Runner's World race pace calculator has me running 12.16km in 1 hour dead, based on my Stubbington time. 12.16km/h is 7:56/mile. My 10k pace was 7:46. My current pace vs HR relationship is 40secs/mile for every 10bpm increase, so a 10 second drop in pace is just over 2bpm. Hence My LT was probably 152bpm. OK?

Racing faster than this always seems a bit scary, so I was quite alarmed at Lordshill to find my heart rate up at these levels. How could I sustain that for 10 miles? I have to confess I held back a little! Even so, my average heart rate for the race was 154bpm. I was running for well over an hour though (1:19:55), so let’s try to predict my LT pace again. The Runner’s World calculator predicts I would run 12.28km in 1 hour dead given that 10 mile result – faster than Stubbington, despite the hilly course – a clear improvement over the course of the year. My 10-mile pace is 8:00/mile and my ‘LT pace’ is 7:52. A pace improvement of 8 seconds is a rise in HR of 2bpm. My LT estimate is thus 156bpm, a 4bpm rise over the course of the year.

Thing is, these estimates/predictions are a bit self-fulfilling. Knowing what I believe my LT to be, or indeed my marathon HR at some 10bpm lower, I tend to race at those HRs. The result is I felt I could have gone faster at Cardiff. I held back at the start to try to keep my HR down to 142bm (152-10). Likewise at Lordshill, when I saw my HR shoot past 154bpm, I held back, fearing I would blow up in the hilly final stages.

So the plan for tomorrow’s flat and fast Hayling 10, is to go out at a speed closer to what I used to consider my 10k pace and try to hold it together for the full 10 miles. If I’m right that my LT is now higher, and in fact higher than even the 156bpm predicted from my Lordshill result, then I should be able to do this. It will feel very fast, but I’m going to try to sustain a pace of 7:30/mile, to bring me in nearly 5 minutes faster than Lordshill. Do or die!

I’ll let you know how I get on. It’s going to be a cold one!

Moody

I had a run today along the beach in the cold air and glorious sunshine. It was a lovely day, but I was in a funny mood. I seemed to feel, and to some extent be, the target of the world and his pet. I'll sum it up by my random thoughts as I ran:

• Ankle socks? I bet she can't buy tights big enough!


• No, he's not "Alright" he's growling and clawing at my heels!


• My god, I thought she was wearing a hat!


• Ha ha, very funny, but I won't die of a heart attack in my forties


• I really hope that stupid extendible lead breaks, so I can give that rat a good kick


• Did you really have to scream like that? I said excuse me!

Good run though!

15 miles and a bit of Boston

Talk about the Boston Marathon and everyone talks about Heartbreak Hill. It's a killer hill, the fourth in a series, that comes at 20 miles into the race. I like to be prepared, so have been trying to work out what it's like compared to hills I run in training. I found my hill, and today I ran down it during a gentle 15-miler. OK, it would have been more useful to run up it, but there's plenty of time for that. Actually, killer hill? Naaah!

OK, here's the science. I found a very useful profile of the course (easier to use than the pdf map from the race organisers) using a route mapping tool, based on Google maps, put together by a running club - the Houston Area Road Running Association.

Unfortunately I can't use the same tool to profile my training route, as there doesn't appear to be any height data for the UK yet! All is not lost as I have my GPS software. I've managed to size the outputs of each to the same scale so that I can overlay and compare them.

First up, here's Heartbreak Hill, the blue line, compared with Portsmouth's steepest hill: Glebe Park Avenue (I thought that would be a good place to start, given Heartbreak Hill's reputation):

Not bad - half the gradient, twice the length.

Next up, there's Portsdown Hill Road. It's a 300ft climb, steadily uphill for nearly 2 miles. It goes up the same hill as Glebe Park Avenue, which joins it half way up. The first bit, up to the A3M bridge, is rather steep, but from the bridge onwards it's not too bad. There's a crest about half mile from the bridge where there's a slight downhill before the road continues upwards. I've overlaid Heartbreak Hill on this half mile section from the start of the bridge to the crest:



Bingo! Now I know how to visualise Heartbreak Hill. I'll add Portsdown Hill to the end of some of my long runs.

The 60 miles per week plan

I've been thinking about how I can progress my training for Boston. Having tried the Pete Pfitzinger/Scott Douglas schedule it's been valuable in teaching me a few lessons:

Mileage is good! I can cope with 60-70 miles per week, but at that mileage it's easy to overdo it

Schedules can't fit everyone - the good bit is that they encourage you to run when apathy might have held you back (a problem I don't have!), but the bad bit is you might end up running with niggles and picking up injuries when you'd be better backing off a bit. There were times when I was too tired, and I don't think I was getting the best from the training

I can do a long slow run the day after a speed session - 2 hard days in a row - something I've never done before. I think the key here is keeping variety - don't do 2 long runs or 2 speed sessions together

The schedule gave me fantastic endurance: lots of long runs and 15-mile midweek runs are the way to go

A schedule can be a lonely time if you stick to it and avoid doing club runs - most of our club runs are way too short

I can't justify this, but I felt I could have done with more marathon pace sessions

So for Boston, I'm going to do my own thing, but incorporating elements of the schedule I used for Cardiff. I want to achieve the following:

Get comfortable running regular 60-70 mile weeks

Stick with aerobic runs (base training) for at least the first 3 months

Have at least 1 marathon pace/steady run per week and another faster session

Try to fit in around the club sessions of a group run on Tuesday and an interval session on Thursday

15 mile midweek runs

Weekly gym sessions

Weekend long runs at least 15 miles with lots of 20-milers (fortnightly?)

I can't get everything into 1 week, so here is what a typical fortnight looks like. It's not a schedule as such, but a 'principle'. One thing I need to do is know when I'm overdoing it and back off if need be:

Monday	4	Recovery
Tuesday	7	Gym session am, steady marathon pace club run pm
Wednesday	15	Slow
Thursday	5	Recovery (with club - need to ensure I don't get pulled along too fast!)
Friday	8	Tempo - middle 3 miles at half marathon to 10k pace
Saturday	5	Recovery
Sunday	20	Slow
Monday	0	'Rest' - gym session
Tuesday	11	5 slow am, 6 steady pm with club
Wednesday	6	Recovery
Thursday	7	Intervals with club - long reps (aerobic)
Friday	12	Slow
Saturday	6	Recovery
Sunday	17	Slow

Each month I'll incorporate a recovery week where I drop the mileage a bit and maybe add a rest day or 2 (that's proper rest - not gym sessions!).

I'll build gradually to this through November, hold this through mid-December onwards, and maybe add some sharpening/VO2max sessions in March.

League running: The Lordshill 10

I had a new perspective on racing today. I did the Lordshill 10 in a time of 1:19:55 (unofficial), a PB by over 7 minutes (told you I would!). I was pleased with the time, but the best bit is I was 33rd lady, my best position ever, and along with my 2 team mates Ruth and Gina ahead of me, we finished 2nd ladies team. Gina was 3rd lady - brilliant! Given the foul, wet and windy, weather and the hilly course, I was very pleased with my performance.

The race for me was characterised by my tussle with a runner from another club. I spent the first 7 miles about 50m behind her. As the race went on I was passing other lady runners, but it was still Viv (I found out her name afterwards) whom I was trying to reel in. At 7 miles came the big hill and I finally caught her. I also overtook one of my male team-mates walking up the hill - poor Mark had some bad stomach problems and had to later visit a bush!

Viv and I were clearly well matched. It was interesting to compare us. On the steep bits, both uphill and downhill, I seemed to have the edge. On the flat, we seemed fairly matched. As soon as we turned into the wind though, Viv had the edge: maybe it was simply that she was shorter and had less windage? With each hill I would overtake her, but on the intermediate bits she would get me back as the wind held me in check. I was behind with only a few hundred metres to go, but in the run-in I was stronger and outsprinted her.

My only race used to be with myself, but increasingly I can engage in these little battles with other runners. Being a road-race league event makes these little tussles important. Each place gained is an extra point for the team. I now regularly score points for the team (first 3 to count for the A team) and it really adds to the experience. It's good to be racing for the team not just yourself.

I realised the significance of my battle after the race. Apparently, we were only a point ahead of the 3rd place team. Without my battle for the extra placing, we wouldn't have finished 2nd!

What a great race!

New marathon, new title

Cardiff is over, and the Boston Marathon is 23 weeks away. Considering there's a 24 week training schedule in the Pfitzinger/Douglas book that doesn't seem too far away!

First item of business is a change of blog title. Of course, I've done a marathon since Cardiff, but I thought "Running towards Beachy Head" might have got the Samaritans on my case.

Lordshill 10 tomorrow, then the rest of November building my mileage back to 50-60 miles/week. I think I've recovered well from Beachy Head, and I predict at least 5 minutes off my 10-mile PB tomorrow. How's that for confidence?!

The Beachy Head report

"Are you Tracy?"
"Susie says she's really sorry, but she's running on without you, to try to get under 6 hours"

This is what greeted Tracy at the 3rd checkpoint, about 16 miles into our little stroll around the Beachy Head marathon. After promising to walk round with her, I'd left a message with a marshal, to try to ease my guilt, and run on without her, the red mist clouding my judgement. My final attempt at absolution would later see me adding an extra 4 miles on to the end of the marathon: well I'm not scared of ultras anymore!

It always happens! I learnt a while back to exercise extreme caution when tempted to use races as training runs. I always have to create little targets for myself. I run PBs instead of steady pace. I try to out-sprint the finishers in 10-mile races, while I still have another lap to go to do my 20-mile 2-lapper. I decide I have to beat my team mentor up ahead and score points for the team, when I have a marathon in a few weeks. No matter how level-headed I am on the start line, a change always happens in me and the red mist descends. Races for training really don't work for me.

The first 13 miles or so had gone well. Brendan Foster could, as usual, have said "Perfect weather for distance running", and incredibly, have been correct. Cool, cloudy and very little wind. I'd walked most of the way with Tracy, and she'd even got ahead of me a short way after I walked a few miles with the awesome Plodding Hippo. PH was struggling somewhat, on her 27th marathon in 3 years, and the 4th in the last 2 months. She got round OK, but today she was Strolling Hippo.

I left 'Hipps' and caught Tracy back up to be greeted by the gurning mugs of my support angels Gill and Margaret at checkpoint 2 (thanks girls!). I walked on with Tracy along the ridge and we were soon at half way in just over a respectable 15 minutes/mile pace. 6 hours 30 minutes seemed a reasonable target at this stage.

Tracy seemed OK so far, but my heel ached a bit and the side of my leg felt a bit stiff. I felt I needed a rest, and so started to run for a bit (for any non-runners reading this, you might have to get a distance runner to explain that to you). I felt good, much better in fact, so carried on for a bit.

I'd soon reached checkpoint 3, and realised that my average pace had speeded up considerably. I'd made up 15 minutes in only a few miles. I'd intended to wait for Tracy, but I realised I'd now have to wait 15 minutes! The cogs started to whirr and the plan formulate.

I'd made 15 minutes on 6:30 in the last 3 miles (mostly downhill), so surely in the last 9 miles I could make up another 15 to 20 minutes and finish inside 6 hours? In order to get my name on the results sheet I'd have to be inside 6 hours. As club statistician, this seemed to matter. It might also help if I ever have the opportunity to join the 100 marathon club. Don't laugh - I've only done 5 marathons and already these thoughts are entering my head.

So the plan was made. What about Tracy though? I'd promised to get her round. Oh the pangs of guilt! I explained my hesitation to a nearby marshal, and this, dear reader, is where we came in.

I decided to press on with my plan, but after a steep hill and 2 flights of stairs realised that this might not be as straightforward as it had seemed.

Apart from regular clouds of red mist, another thing that happens to me during distance races is mental gymnastics. I've become quite practised at my 26.2 times table. By various means I worked out that an average pace of around 13:30/mile would bring me in under 6 hours.

So I've done the first 17 miles at an average of 14:30 so I need to knock off another minute by the finish, but that's a minute spread over 26 miles, so 26 minutes gained over the last 9 so 3 minutes per mile better than 14:30 so 11:30 from here on in. Have I got that right?

Sometimes the sums can get a little tricky.

I was soon being greeted by Gill and Margaret at Cuckmere Haven, and quickly explaining my 6 hour deadline plan to them, pressed on.

7 miles in 90 minutes. Just under 13 minute miling. That's easy! Then came the Seven Sisters.

I was now on a mission. Mere hills were not going to stop me. I think some of the others I was passing, including Nicola, were a little surprised to see me running up the hills. I think my heart was a little surprised too! Any thoughts of a nice gentle stroll around the South Downs had now truly evaporated.

I managed to run over a few sisters, but 13 mins/mile was feeling a lot tougher than it sounded. Why do I always put pressure on myself in events? By Birling Gap, and the final checkpoint, time was tight, and then there was the small matter of Beachy Head to get over. I dashed past Gill and Margaret, dumping my tee-shirt and camera with them, shouted encouragement at Bob, whom I passed at the checkpoint, and raced on.

My GPS was counting down the miles for me. It wasn't until I reached the top of Beachy Head, with 1 mile to go, that I was finally convinced that I would make it and could relax. It was somewhere around here that the solution to my guilt feelings for Tracy began to take shape.

I ran down the last section, crossed the line, 5:55, quick celebration, quick drink, and to Gill who had just arrived at the finish:
"Let's get back to Birling Gap - quick!"

I walked the last leg again, with Tracy. I hope it helped her. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I confused RichK, taking photos at Beachy Head, who thought I had a twin. I ended up doing 30 miles. It was fun! Anyone for an ultra?


Will you forgive me Tracy?


Well done to all the Victory AC runners. Well done to Dave J in 29th place - only one girl passed you Dave! Well done to Dave W on his first marathon, finishing with Paul who, like Dave J, did the Clarendon Marathon 4 weeks ago. Well done Ian, Malcolm, Marilyn, Nicola and Bob. Finally, major commiserations to Pete, who for the second year running (or not!) retired with a dodgy ankle. Ooh!

Beachy Head Marathon

The team - some of them anyway

Straight into a steep climb at the start - that got the heart rate going!

The Beachy Head Marathon tradition - the piper

Plodding Hippo on her 27th marathon and 4th in 2 months!

Some big views from the ridge

The support team: Gill and Margaret at checkpoint 1

Alfriston

A big climb out of Alfriston and the reward at the top

Checkpoint 2 and Digimoments

Tracy arrives at checkpoint 2 at Bo Peep

And then it's on again along the ridge

and again some great views

The white horse near Litlington, checkpoint 3

The beautiful Cuckmere valley

A big climb out of the valley for a view of Cuckmere Haven and...

The Seven Sisters!

A little sister - easy running

and then a big sister - ouch!

Things were getting serious at this point so I handed my camera over to Gill at the final checkpoint at Birling Gap.

More words to follow...

Bells of Pattingham run

This was a week ago but I've only just got the result: 65:17 (just over 7 miles).

The weather was great - a beautiful sunny day. I'd intended to run it really easy, as it was only a week after Cardiff. In fact I felt quite good and ran a lot quicker than intended - 3 minutes faster than I've ever run it before in fact! Maybe this was a bit silly though, as I've felt quite tired this week.

Still, I got my horse brass for finishing so have kept up the complete set. I've been telling people that I "had to do it" because between me and my family we have the complete set going back to 1990, when the first run was held. In fact this isn't quite true as we are missing 1999, I now discover!!

Being my home village, this is one of the few races where I can walk from the door to the start line, so I have to do it really!

I wasn't running too hard though, and was relaxed enough to stop just before the finish line to allow time for my Aunt to get my camera ready! This was the result:

Audio soundtrack: "Come on, hurry up! I'm doing a race here!"

My first ultra?

A debate has opened up about the distance we ran on Sunday. On entering the Millenium Stadium, my GPS was reading 26.84 miles. Given that my GPS failed, as expected, to get a signal in the stadium, that puts the total mileage past 27 miles. A big difference! I’ll leave the analysis to the technical posting which will follow this report, but I do think that something was wrong somewhere. One can over-analyse, but I’d like to know what the problem was, if only to establish that I shouldn’t be so trusting of artificial aids!

The race report

One of the great things about races of this type is the camaraderie of it all. The advent of the internet and with it discussion forums such as Runner’s World have helped to bring the running community closer together. I can travel 170 miles to an event and have it feel like it’s close to home.

Having travelled up on the Saturday with friends Paul and Di, and having had the last big carbo-loading meal (or so I thought) with them, it was off to check into my hotel, the Holiday Inn, next door to the Millenium Stadium, close to the start line. I spent some quality time on my own, ‘focusing’, relaxing, reading, hydrating and texting, and went down to the restaurant for my final light meal, which turned into another major helping of pasta – three mushroom linguine – lovely!

I couldn’t help noticing a guy wearing a URWFRC (Unofficial Runner’s World Forum Running Club) baseball cap, sitting at another table with his family. Those caps are the “newspaper and carnation” of the running world. I knew “nrg-b” was staying at the hotel, so it was a fair guess it was him. I waited for an appropriate moment, and made my introductions. I was right about his identity. What a nice guy! What a lovely family! We chatted a while, I left them to finish their meal, and we met up again in the bar afterwards. Useful things those baseball caps!

Up at 6am to have breakfast (9am start, so need plenty of time to let it digest) - my usual cereal, self catering - and down to the restaurant for a coffee or 2. Again nrg-b was there and we chatted a while and made arrangements to go to the start together. Thanks nrg-b! You really helped keep me relaxed and keep the nerves at bay. I’m sure it helped my race go better – the Flora London Marathon (FLM) is always a nervy time for me, which I’m sure hinders my race.

We went down to watch Jamie Baulch start the Half Marathon at 8:15am (!! early!) and then started our own preparations. Again nrg-b was helpful as I was able to leave my warm-up clothing with his wife – thanks again! Nrg-b is a POSE runner. I won’t explain it here, but follow the link if you want more. This was the first time I’d looked at the technique close up. It’s interesting! I’m not sure if I want to take the time to learn it, but I’m always curious about technique and training.

I’d hoped to meet Paul at the start, and another forumite Plodding Hippo, but no sign of them. I did a short warm-up, some drills and strides, and we were ready. Far less frenetic than FLM!

Mr Baulch wished us good luck and we were off. I soon got into my stride and settled down to a nice steady pace, trying not to go faster than 8:00/mile on my GPS. About half a mile in I spotted a Dudley-Kingswinford vest, and the world was about to shrink even further. As I approached I shouted “Dud-lie” in a broad Black Country accent, and told her I was from Pattingham in Staffordshire. I was about to explain where that was, when she said she was doing the Bells of Pattingham run next weekend. So am I! I’d forgotten! Bizarrely, as she said that, a random man in a blue tee-shirt ran past and shouted that he too was doing the Bells run, and disappeared off into the distance. What are the chances of that? And how mad are we for all doing a race one week after a marathon?

My brief Dudley-Kingswinford running partner had completed the 50-mile Comrades Marathon a few months earlier. Respect! I had no idea I was to be an ultra-runner by the end of the day though! ;-)

I felt really good in the first few miles, and was able to keep my heart rate well down. I was running a comfortable pace of between 8:00-8:10/mile on my GPS, which was fine, but I had a few shocks as we passed the mile markers. I know that the markers tend to be stuck on the nearest lamp post, so can be a few metres out, but there were some serious discrepancies in the first miles. I know GPS can be dodgy sometimes, but how come my pace by the mile markers was varying by as much as 2 minutes/mile when I knew I was running steadily? After 6 miles my GPS was over a quarter mile adrift of the mile markers, and my pace was now looking a touch pedestrian. I picked up my pace a bit, but realised I wasn’t heading for as quick a time as I’d hoped. I was losing 20 seconds per mile. I was sure I was running the shortest route so what was going on? I’ve used the GPS in other races and never had it be so far out. It usually agrees closely with the course measurement.

The sun had come out now and taken the early chill away. Lovely day! Perhaps we’d have been better off with cloud cover, as it did get quite warm. We were also running into quite a fresh breeze at times, which slowed us a little, but on the whole the weather was pretty good. You always hope for ‘perfect’ conditions, but I hardly had grounds for complaint.

Before the race, I’d done a quick calculation to work out when I might hit the back of the half marathon field, who started 45 minutes before us. I had wondered if there might be a problem having to run through slower runners. I figured we’d hit the first of the walkers at about 7 miles. In fact after 4 miles I came across my first back marker – a panto dame ugly sister, who in fact turned out to be a woman – surely panto dames are men? Did she feel she was in fact genuinely ugly? Poor thing!

I’m fully in support of people of all abilities doing races, but I was surprised to be running over 11 mins/mile faster than her. The thought then occurred that I might actually lap her. I haven’t mentioned that the marathon course is 2 laps of the half marathon course. It never occurred to me I might be able to give a half marathon competitor a 45 minute start and still finish my marathon before they finished the half!

It was about here on the Cardiff Bay Barrage, with the incoming runners passing the outgoing ones, that I heard my name being shouted and spotted Paul a short way back - nice to see a familiar face. I was also getting occasional shouts of ‘Go Susie’ from the spectators, due to my name printed on my crop top. Not quite the tumultuous support of FLM, but welcome nonetheless – it all helps!

After the waterfront and magnificent new Opera House, we were weaving through back streets, and then into the park for a change of scenery and some welcome shade. This was the only place I had any trouble passing back markers, and even then I just had to step onto the grass to avoid them – no time lost. I gather some of the front runners had slightly more of a problem though.

The ‘grasscrete’ was interesting – we were warned about it in the race instructions – a little slippery and uneven, but not too bad. More of a problem was the cobbles in the castle. They make the, now defunct, London cobbles look smooth. I had to run on the grass. I wonder how the wheelchair athletes got on?

We came out of the castle to the best crowds of the day, and on to the 13 mile marker. I had a shock! I’d intended to be at half way in just over 1:45, but was nearly 5 minutes adrift. I’d not really had a pace plan, other than to not go faster than 8 mins/mile and not over 142bpm for the first half and then try to maintain that pace as close as possible to the end. My initial confidence of getting way under 3:45 (London qualifying time) and 3:43:15 (club over 40 record) was being eroded somewhat. I was going to have to pay closer attention to what the mile markers were telling me, and not what my GPS was reporting. My GPS had my first half pace at 8:07/mile, but the mile markers had me at nearly 8:30/mile. I was going to have to do some mental gymnastics to ensure I kept my pace at a level that would bring me in on course for that club record!

The good news though was that I felt fresh and felt confident I could keep it going. I saw nrg-b as we passed the oncoming faster runners at the barrage. He commented afterwards how fresh I looked. I did feel good! Maybe I should have gone out a little quicker? Again I was alarmed at losing another minute or 2 as the mile markers did the same trick at the barrage as on the previous lap. It appeared I was heading for a time of around 3:40, with each calculation I did at each mile marker. So I was OK for time, but could I hold my pace?

At each water station I was now splashing plenty of water over me to keep cool. It had definitely warmed up a bit.

The familiarity of the second lap helped to keep me going. We entered the park for the second time and I saw another familiar sight: the ugly sister! I lapped her with a few miles still to go. She took over 5 hours to complete the half. I suppose completing a half marathon is an achievement, but 5 hours is barely walking pace. Is sauntering a better term, or maybe strolling? I wonder if these verbs have a notional speed attached to them: sprinting, running, jogging, power-walking, striding, walking, strolling, sauntering. Is that the speed spectrum? Have I missed any?

I suppose I’m being a tad harsh, possibly elitist. I’m assuming she was doing it for charity, so good for her. I was just surprised at how far along the spectrum she was. I guess I’ll get my come-uppance when I walk the Beachy Head Marathon in 3 weeks time!

With only a few miles to go now, I wonder if anyone could here me muttering “Come on”, “Push”, “Run Susie run” under my breath. I was still managing to churn out 8:15 miles according to my GPS, but I was still losing time against the mile markers. I still had a couple of minutes in hand so was looking good. The fact that I had all these positive encouragements going on in my head was a very good sign. The last few London marathons have been a slightly different affair, with lots of negatives thoughts: “I hurt”, “Is this effort really worth it?”, “why not walk for a bit – you’ll feel better”. The crowds in London help, but this time in Cardiff I had my own internal supporters group going on. I think better pacing helped me feel fresher at the end and keeping motivated is much easier when your legs are able to do what they’re told!

By the time we entered the Millenium Stadium I’m sure the runners I was overtaking must have been able to hear me shouting at myself. We had to keep to the narrow strip of tarmac around the edge of the pitch. It was tricky negotiating the tight corners. Cutting the corner was not an option as it was a couple of steps up onto the pitch. I wonder how the faster runners got on?

I crossed the line, threw my arms up and roared! I wonder what my finish photo will look like? I’ve never felt that good at the end of the marathon! 3:41:30. Achieving your two main targets – London ‘Good For Age’ qualifying, and club over-40 record – certainly helps with the sense of achievement, but then I’m sure the high mileage training gave me more energy at the end – energy to run, but also mental energy. Feeling totally spent at the end of a race certainly takes the edge off any celebrations. My last 2 marathons resulted in mere relief it was over at the end. This one was much more of a high. Did the 6 months of hard work give me more mental energy, or just make reaping the rewards so much sweeter?

I have to say it was a bit crowded at the end. A stadium finish is great, but how do you get all the runners out quickly at the end? After crossing the line I had to stop very abruptly. A St John’s Ambulance woman asked if I was OK as I wobbled around a bit. The advice is usually to keep walking but this wasn’t possible; worse still was the flight of steps I had to climb to get the medal. “You’re joking” I said as the marshal ushered me up through the rows of seating.

I got my medal and goodie bag and headed for a massage. I think I queued for an hour but it was worth it. I’ve had no stiffness in the days afterwards. The massage helped, but again the high mileage training probably contributed. Maybe I could have run it quicker, and not felt so fresh? While I was queuing for the massage, a non-competitor commented that she’d remembered me coming into the stadium, noticing that I was going at quite a pace. I must have been hammering along for her to remember me! Maybe I’d held back too much early on to have so much left at the end? Or is that simply a well paced race?

I missed Paul coming in, as I think I must have been on the massage table. I think he’ll be pleased with his 4:24.

I had wanted to wait to see Plodding Hippo come in, but was quite cold. My clothes were back at the hotel and all I had was a space blanket wrapped round me. I decided I had to go back and get warm. I exited the stadium and headed back along the course. As I neared the hotel, to my delight I spotted PH coming round the corner. I shouted her name (her real one!) and ran over to congratulate her on her 25th marathon. “I’ve already finished according to this” she said waving her GPS at me. She then stopped! I was horrified I was interfering with someone’s race and urged her on, running beside her. I only had time to agree that I felt it was tad far, and gave her my apologies as I turned back to the hotel.

I tried to have a quick shower and get back the stadium to see her again, but clearly a post-marathon shower is not something that happens quickly. By the time I got back to the stadium it was all over and the finish gantry was being dismantled. There was a lone runner finishing, and a few runners remaining upstairs having massages, but I didn’t recognise anyone.

So it was off to a local restaurant for my reward meal and Banoffee Italiano. Lovely!

A little piece of heaven in Wales

After some rather lengthy race reports posted by me in our club newsletter, this is what they are getting this time. I'll post my full race report tomorrow.

---

From the moment the fork parted the Amaretti crumbs I knew this was going to be special. The prongs descended through the luxurious zabaglione, on through the caramel sauce to the banana layer, and with a gentle 'dink' broke through the biscuit base. The flavours danced around my mouth as I savoured this heaven on a plate. The calories, the sugar, the saturated fat: forbidden fruit. My tongue was a naked body, writhing in ecstasy on satin bedsheets. Each forkful a slender slither; the tiniest morsel of food, extending the experience as long as was possible.

Sadly all such experiences are but single grains of sand in the hourglass of time. Already the goddess of puddings, borne by her muses, was dancing away, leaving me wanting more.

Medal? Schmedal!

3:41:30? Personal Best? 5th placed in age category? London 'Good For Age' qualifying time? New over-40 club record?

These are nothing.

Banoffee Italiano. This is what marathons were created for.


Well you said you just wanted the highlights!

Weekly summary - 2 days to go

Ready.

Monday	Rest		Massage
Tuesday	9 miles	Slow double 5 miles am, 4 miles pm
Wednesday	7 miles	Middle 2 at marathon pace 8:00/mile 140bpm
Thursday	4.5 miles	Easy recovery	Knee aching a bit from tight adductor
Friday	Rest		Pasta, pasta, PSP22 carbo drink, more pasta
Saturday	0 miles	Travelling to Cardiff
Sunday	26.2 miles fast
Total	46.7 miles

To train or not to train

I sit here writing this on Friday lunchtime, mind not on work, wondering if I should run this evening. My left adductor has been sore for a couple of days now. It will be OK for the marathon, but would running tonight help it recover, or hinder things? - it has after all been tugging on the insertion point below the knee, and my knee feels sore as a result - a rest might be better for my knee. I'm not running tomorrow, despite the schedule having 4 miles, due to the journey to Cardiff, and the need to set off early to meet my friend Paul, who has graciously offered me a lift.

Now what did I do before London in April? Here's where having a blog is really useful: instant access to training data. Now let me see...

Running towards London. Weekly summary - 1 week to go

Ah! I rested on Friday and had a short 2-miler on Saturday. I reckon 2 days rest won't do me any harm.
Now what's this?:
Running towards London. A great final session!

I noted at the time that the few miles I did at marathon pace were a real struggle! Exactly the same happened this week. I only did 2 miles out of 7 at full pace on Wednesday evening, but they felt really tough. My biometrics were OK (I can now write that with a straight face; it still sounds daft science nonsense, but is an accurate statement of the data recorded by GPS and HRM), in fact they were pretty good! 8:00/mile and only 140bpm.

What else can I learn from my blog?

Looking back at my last 13-miler, a week before the marathon, I can see a huge difference in pace:

Compare:London
with Cardiff

That's 25secs/mile difference, allowing for the 2 bpm HR difference. And last weekend was much warmer than April! That's a re-assuringly large difference.

The one thing I really needed from my blog were my heart rate figures from London - they aren't there! How very remiss! Fortunately I have them on my work PC. Here they are:

1	9:26	130
2	8:36	142
3	8:01	145
4	8:25	144
5	8:11	147
6	8:35	146
7	8:32	147
8	8:18	147
9	8:19	147
10	8:30	145
11	8:20	147
12	8:26	148
13	8:30	149
14	8:18	149
15	8:33	149
16	8:31	149
17	8:35	149
18	8:34	150
19	8:58	150
20	8:37	148
21	8:56	148
22	9:02	146
23	9:20	144
24	8:59	142
25	9:31	145
26.2	10:56	148

I definitely went off a little too quick HR-wise. I shall try to keep my heart rate down below 144 for the first half of the race. Hopefully it will be less crowded and I'll be able to run a steadier pace. Has my training enabled me to maintain a higher heart rate though? Hmm.

Another thing my blog doesn't tell me about last time, but I clearly remember, is the feeling that my glands were up all week before the marathon. It's the same this time round. I had assumed that it was a hay fever effect back in April, with the trees starting to bloom, but the fact that I have it again would indicate it's more directly related to training and lifestyle. It occurred to me that another thing in common, other than the effects of the taper, is that I'm taking echinacea. If I'm paranoid about picking up a bug prior to a marathon, then at the first sign of a sniffle I start on the echinacea. In fact I'd probably take it anyway in the week leading up to the race. Does it stimulate the glands? It is supposed to boost the immune system and the glands in the neck are all part of that, so maybe they are stimulated into overdrive? Whatever the reason, I've been paranoid for the last week with thinking I'm coming down with something. Maybe the echinacea is the cause?!

I think I'll rest this evening. When I get home I'll do the final week summary. I think I'd better get on with work!

Weekly summary - 1 week to go

1 week to go, or rather 4.5 days as I write this!

I've been running at the peak of my fitness - best ever! This is the best preparation I've ever had for a marathon. The only trouble is I've been completely paranoid the last couple of days, convinced I've got a sore throat - the sore throat seems to get better instantly the moment I leave work for home. Stress? I have been working very hard lately, and letting it get to me. I'm settling down now though and getting back on top of things. Just a few more days to stay healthy!

Monday	Rest		Massage
Tuesday	8 miles	Steady run 80%MHR-ish	Felt great!
Wednesday	5.2 miles	Easy recovery
Thursday	7.5 miles	Ran the club handicap race as 3 (and a bit) 1-mile reps	Fastest reps ever - kept overtaking the other (fast) runners!
Friday	Rest		Hadn't intended a rest, but work got in the way!
Saturday	7 miles	middle 5 at marathon pace 8:00/mile 141bpm 81%MHR
Sunday	13 miles	Slow run 9:06/mile 123bpm 71%MHR	Fastest ever 'slow' pace
Total	40.7 miles

Mr Pig presents...

Hi, Mr Pig here again, in what is now a Susie's blog tradition. Here's our latest piece of kit, the Mizuno Wave Precision racing shoe:



It's Susie's lightest shoe ever. It's only 15g lighter than the Mizuno Waverider, but any weight saving is worth it in a marathon. The only trouble is Susie forgot to wear them for her 17-mile run last week. They've done a few miles since, but today, at a mere 13 miles, was the last chance to give the shoes a decent airing. They felt comfy, but while there were no blisters, there were a couple of sore toes. What will 26.2 miles feel like? Susie must remember to smear plenty of Bodyglide (high tech Vaseline) on her toes next Sunday!

Weekly summary - 2 weeks to go

Generally a better week, with my ankle feeling better, although my calves were quite tight.

A quite intense week to follow, then an easy week and the marathon!

I'm in very good shape!

Monday	Rest		Massage
Tuesday	6.6 miles	Steady run 80%MHR-ish
Wednesday	12 miles	Slow run	Felt good!
Thursday	6.2 miles	Recovery run
Friday	17 miles	Slow run
Saturday	Rest
Sunday	8 miles	Club relay race
Total	49.8 miles

Gold medalist

After all my fretting about the state of my calves, me and my 2 team mates won our club relay race today!

The format of the race is teams of 3 picked at random from the entrants within the club. A handicap is then assigned based on our pace in the club's summer handicap series. The race is run around the local footpaths, with a few bits of road (pavement) to link them. There are 9 legs of between 2 and 3 miles, totalling 22 miles, each runner doing 3 legs. Everyone starts together, but first over the finish line may not be the winner: that depends on the timings when the handicaps have been deducted.

I had contemplated holding back and saving my legs, but as soon as we started, the red mist descended and I blasted it. It was fun but tiring! I'm not sure that was the best marathon preparation, with the associated injury risk, simply from hard running or turning my ankle on the uneven ground, but I enjoyed it. I'm knackered sitting here writing this.

John, the organiser of the race, and his wife Chris, laid on a nice buffet afterwards. They do a really good job of organising the race. We sat around in the garden waiting for the results; it was a really nice day, if a touch windy. John read all the times out working backwards through the teams, until he read out the second place team, and I realised I'd won! Well done team! Tony and Andy clearly did good jobs. We were obviously all giving it some stick, despite Tony also saying he was going to take it easy!

I won this event last year with different team mates. I suspect the fact that I've been improving so much lately gives me a favourable handicap.

I suppose the win justifies the risk. I was aware of how tight my calves were, particularly on my last leg, but I think I've got away with it. Tesco Express were yet again out of ice, so I was denied my ice bath. I have a massage tomorrow though, so it should sort out any potential problems. I have several hard sessions next week - the classic 'drop the mileage increase the intensity' tapering scheme, so I still need to be careful.

2 weeks to go! Nearly there!

More pre-race paranoia

I did 17 miles last night. That was the first long run I've ever done in the evening after work. I nearly managed to psyche myself out of it though.

I've been volunteered for our club relay race tomorrow. I keep saying 'volunteered', as I never actually told the organiser I was going to do it, but I know I'll enjoy it nonetheless. Given a free choice, I'd stick with my schedule and do a long run on Sunday as usual (but not too long as I am tapering). The schedule says race a short to medium distance on Saturday and do 17 miles on Sunday. The club handicap race on Sunday gives me the race opportunity, but although I've proved I can race then do a long run, I think doing a long run and racing the following day would damage my legs. The answer, I decided, was to do my long run on the Friday evening, giving me a full day's rest before the race on Sunday.

I spent all day Friday at my desk. At lunchtime, just as I was about to have a break and go for a walk, I foolishly allowed myself to get interrupted and spent lunch working at my desk, grabbing a bite of a sandwich as and when I could. I did spend a few moments stretching, but by the end of the day my legs were feeling rather stiff: my calves in particular rather tight.

I set out for my run home, and all I could think of was how tight my left calf was, convinced I was going to do some damage if I ran the full 17 miles.
"I never agreed to do this relay on Sunday"
"I'm team captain though - I can't pull out now"
"Maybe if I just do a few miles this evening, I can rest up, phone round, and try to find a replacement for Sunday"
"But if my calf feels bad now, will it feel OK for a long run on Sunday?"
"And then if I do my long run, I'm pretty much going to have to cross the path of my team mates as they do the relay - I'll feel really awkward"
"And it's not just the combination of long run and race that's a problem - the relay is off-road, and there's the risk of going over on my ankle"
"Why am I worrying about this and getting stressed? Stop now and call to pull out of the race"
"Mind you my calf hasn't felt any worse since I started out"
"I'm about to pass the start of one of my relay legs - I could just do a quick recce - at least I'll be prepared if I do do the relay"
"Well I've now done 12 miles - I might as well carry on for the full 17"

After a ton of self doubt and resentment, I finished my long run.

I've had a lazy day of rest to maximise my recovery for tomorrow. I think I'll be OK. It should be fun!

Weekly summary - 3 weeks to go

3 weeks to go! The last really long run has been done and now starts the taper.

As I mentioned previously, this week was a week of paranoia about my ankle. It all turned out well, but perhaps because I paid heed to the warning signs.

The schedule was for 68 miles. I missed half of the double on Tuesday as I had a massage and just didn't have time for a run. I then dropped half a session and missed one entire session. The result: I lost 25 miles!

I suspect I needed the rest!

Monday	Rest		Ankle feeling iffy
Tuesday	5 miles	Slow run	Massage am, run pm
Wednesday	5.5 miles	Aborted speed session	Ankle started aching as my speed picked up, so aborted session and jogged the rest
Thursday	Rest		Decided to rest, to ensure ankle recovered
Friday	8 miles	Steady run pace test	Ankle feeling much better
Saturday	5 miles	Gym session: Treadmill, rowing and weights	Still some aching in the ankle!
Sunday	20 miles	Slow run	Ankle fine!
Total	43.5 miles

Nothing but blue skies

I feel great!

I just had my best ever 20-miler. It took me 3:03 and an average heart rate of 126bpm: 72% of maximum. It was a glorious cloudless day: 11 degrees when I started and lifting to 19 degrees by the finish. I could almost hear Brendan saying: "Perfect weather for distance running". I was so fresh. Never has 20 miles seemed so easy.

I point all this out as you may have gathered from my previous post that I was concerned about my ankle. Pre-marathon paranoia! As I set out, I could feel the ankle aching, but by 5 miles the aching had subsided and I couldn't tell anything was wrong.

The air had a chill to it first thing. It felt great. I had a real problem keeping my pace down! I kept creeping under 9-minute miling and had to concentrate on keeping my pace above the 9:00 mark. Now that's how training runs should feel!

I still managed to have problems with dogs and children though - this time all in one go. At around 15 miles I encountered a family group of 2 adults, 2 children and 2 small dogs. They were straddling the entire width of the path. I moved to the right to go round the children, but they moved to block my way. I swerved back to the middle and the dogs wandered across me. As I side stepped around them I twisted round on my dodgy ankle. The result of this manoeuvre, apart from nearly colliding with the dad, was it started it aching again. Fortunately after another half a mile the aching had gone again, so no harm done apparently.

I think I'm going to have to rethink my tactics on avoiding dogs and children. I don't trust dogs; getting too close and possibly colliding or tripping over them is not something I'd risk. Children however are far more docile and don't have such sharp teeth, in fact some don't have teeth at all. I think the thing to do is hold my line and barge them out the way if they cross my path. A handy hedge would be a bonus for a soft landing after a deft shove. In fact my run often follows the foreshore and a duck pond. A quick shove into the pond or the harbour would be perfect. If the parents are in attendance to fish out their offspring, then no harm done. I gather kids can go without oxygen for several minutes without any damage at all.

Joking of course. I love children!


But I couldn't eat a whole one!

Less heat more speed

Friday night's run was an 8 mile run consisting of laps of my 1.5 mile course, doing my usual scheme of running at a steady pace and measuring pace and heart rate - a cardiac drift test - although I wasn't so concerned about my ability to run without drift, but more my pace for a given heart rate. This was the first cool evening for months and I was curious to know how my pace had developed during the summer. There was some fatigue still from my high mileage, so maybe there is still room for improvement before the marathon, but in fact I had a slightly easier week having dropped a speed session and taken an extra rest day, so I did feel fairly fresh.

The results were excellent. I recorded my best ever pace vs heart rate. I tried to stick to 8:00/mile. My heart rate never went above 141 or 81% of maximum, which is a few beats lower than my usual marathon pace (I may try to go off a little slower at Cardiff, at about 142bpm, as opposed to the 145bpm at the last 2 Londons). I'm hopeful this is an indication I can get close to 3:30 in the marathon, although clearly it's going to be very tough to keep to that sort of pace for the entire 26.2 miles. What it does tell me though is I'm at least 10 secs/mile faster than when I did London in April. With my anticipated better endurance, from the mileage, this should translate to a significant improvement.

1.5-mile continuous laps. 1 mile warm up/cool down not included

Lap	Lap time	Mins/mile	bpm
1	12:04	8:03	134
2	12:00	8:00	139
3	12:03	8:02	141
4	12:12	8:08	141

The one cloud on the horizon is the reason I had to cut back a little this week. I've had a sore ankle for a fortnight now. I aggravated it at the weekend when I stumbled over a small child who ran out in front of me as I ran along a narrow path. I didn't hit him, but my legs stopped instantly while my torso continued over the top of him, going into an instant touch-the-toes stretch. Not good! My leg felt OK for this timed run yesterday, but I could still feel a slight ache, as I could in the gym today. I'm hoping all will be well for my last 20-miler tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.

Weekly summary - 4 weeks to go

I thought the key moment of this week was going to be whether I could survive doing a race on Saturday followed by a long run on Sunday. In fact the long run felt OK - something of a non-event (despite more snarling dogs stopping me in my tracks twice during the run).

The key moment turned out to be our club 7.65-mile handicap race on the Thursday. I think it was one of those breakthrough moments when I see a jump in performance. I say 'think', because unfortunately my heart rate monitor went on the blink early in the week. I aimed to run the race at my marathon heart rate of around 142bpm. Such is my devotion to technology, I borrowed a HRM to do this. I think I managed to stick to my target HR, but as it didn't record heart rate I have no way of checking back on this fact. My pace for the race was faster than 8min/mile: a new PB of 60:40. Not bad for supposedly marathon pace! (I did sprint the last 100m though)

After a lot of hot weather lately masking my true performance, it's been difficult to measure any performance gains. The handicap race may have been the indication that all the hard work is paying off. If only I had the data to prove it!

Monday	8.9 miles	VO2max session: 5x600m 7:10/mile 90sec recovery	Felt good!
Tuesday	12.5 miles	Slow run	Didn't feel too good. HRM packed in!
Wednesday	5.8 miles	Recovery run
Thursday	8.5 miles	Club handicap race. 7.65 miles in 60:40. PB!	Steady run, slightly quicker than marathon pace. Breakthrough run? (see above)
Friday	Rest
Saturday	6.7 miles	Race: Test Way Relay	Went faster than intended, but it was a race!
Sunday	18 miles	Slow run	Couple of twinges, but felt great considering Saturday!
Total	60.4 miles

Test Way Relay - 10th September 2005

This was the race I was recce-ing in my How not to recce posts. It starts on Inkpen Beacon in Southern Berkshire and follows the Test Way down through Hampshire to finish in Totton, just outside Southampton. Teams of 8 run 1 leg each, averaging 5.5 miles each. Here's our ladies' team:

or at least some of them. It takes a while to run 42 miles, so others tend to join in half way and some leave early - all part of the organisational fun!

11am and the ladies and mixed teams start:

Marilyn ran as a guide for Sara. Not bad considering Marilyn had a leg of her own to do. 5 or so miles later:

Marilyn's still smiling despite a nasty tumble. She's always happy, particularly when there's a camera - you should see the photos we have of her up to her neck in mud beaming ear to ear. Meanwhile Sara is giving it everything.

and off goes Nicola on her leg.

Nicola shows Sara's not the only one giving her all, as she hands to me.

Nice arse...

...but are those abs or extra boobs?

Marilyn hands over to Zita, who also gives it some. Does she know she still has another 4.5 miles?

Shelly was just too quick for the camera. We've done 31 miles at this point!

Gill arrives in Romsey showing steel determination after a quality run. She hands over to Beth...

...who finishes in Totton escorted by the next generation. Just wait till the day Bart starts beating you Beth!

A fantastic day out in glorious weather, if a little humid early on for my leg. My highlights were passing the Eastleigh runner - I've never overtaken anyone in a relay before! I also ran my leg faster than our men's team! (Sorry Bob!)

Team highlights: we were'nt the last ladies' team. We beat one of the mixed teams too! We also didn't get caught by our men's team, who started an hour behind us. That's a pretty good result for us!

If you've never done a relay, do one! They're fun!

Weekly summary - 5 weeks to go

A tough week! It started poorly with the Bank Holiday. Being a holiday, I spent a lot of time out and about, resulting in less rest and less sleep than I'd normally have at a weekend. I felt very tired Monday evening, and decided it was best that I didn't go for a run, particularly the 11 mile scheduled speed session!

I felt considerably better Tuesday and managed 15 miles easily, but then it was late to bed and early to rise for a 6 miler. I then spent a very stressful day at work, making up for the lost time of the Bank Holiday. I sat all day at my desk, not stretching my legs, and not drinking enough. By the evening run my calves were very tight, but I figured a gentle 4 miles wouldn't hurt. Wrong! I tweaked my left peroneus longus (outside of the leg down to the ankle). I could feel it on Thursday, so decided to cut my run short. It felt worse on Friday, so rest was called for, plus a little self-massage.

This was all entirely avoidable, had I got more rest at the weekend, but in the end I was very sensible, and avoided any major problems. By Saturday my leg felt OK and I completed my long marathon pace run without problem. Mind you, it was agony in the heat - one of the toughest runs I've done. Shame I can't use the pace/heart rate data as any measure of fitness. I'm assuming Cardiff will be cooler!

Sunday this time was serious rest. Late rising, no gym, meet my friends for breakfast after their run, midday nap, watch a DVD, watch the Hydro-Active 5k on tele, another DVD, early to bed. Problem solved. Ready for next week!

Monday	Rest		Bank holiday - feeling tired - too much non-running activity!
Tuesday	14.7 miles	Slow run	Felt good, considering!
Wednesday	9.7 miles	5.9 miles am, 3.8 miles pm	Calves feeling very tight
Thursday	6 miles	Slow run	Taking it easy. Cut run short - leg feeling iffy
Friday	Rest		Paying the price for a stressful week and little quality rest at the weekend
Saturday	17 miles	14 miles at marathon effort	Very hot - pace dropped considerably, but kept HR at marathon levels
Sunday	Rest		Proper rest this weekend!
Total	47.4 miles

How not to recce part 2

“Hi Marilyn, it’s Susie. Where are you? I should have mentioned that I turned left at the road. I’m coming into a village now, but it’s too dark to read the road sign [sound of a car approaching in the background] – ah! It’s Hurstbourne Priors. Please ring me!”

If you missed part 1, let me quickly recap. After a flat battery incident, Marilyn and I had got separated recce-ing leg 3 of the Test Way relay. Marilyn was now waiting for me in her car at the end of the leg, and I was trying to get to her by road having abandoned the Test Way due to nightfall. I had also unwittingly added an extra 4 or 5 miles to my journey by picking the wrong direction to head off down the road. I have left several phone messages, each of a slightly more anxious tone.

I should perhaps mention at this point, that having now seen the changeover point in daylight, there was no way I was ever going to find it by road at night, as it’s in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t of course know this at the time and was particularly optimistic, heading into civilisation, that a helpful local could quickly point me in the right direction and reunite me with my ride home!

A minor complication in all these plans was that I had walked off the edge of the map over a mile back. I know some of you may now have a Monty Python-esque image of a cartoon Susie tumbling over the edge of an abyss having walked off the edge of the map, but the psychological reality of the situation is not so far removed from this. It is a little disconcerting walking in pitch darkness not knowing where you are heading and knowing that even if you could see the map you are holding, it may be of little or no value. It was rather reassuring then to arrive at Hurstbourne Priors, and the George Inn!

“Anyone any good with maps?” I said as I slapped the map on the bar.
“We are here”, I said pointing at the beer mat, “and I need to get here”. Pointing at the rendezvous point marked quite clearly by a circle near Middleton Farm.

With hindsight I should perhaps more accurately have been pointing at the beer glass rather than the beer mat, as I’d gone a lot further off the map than I realised, but let’s face it, showing someone a map which doesn’t actually have their village on it and gesturing somewhere to the right of it isn’t too helpful! At least everyone was in agreement that they had no idea where the rendezvous was, but if I was to head down the road to Longparish, they would have a better idea there.
“It’s only a short drive down the road – can’t be more than 3 miles away”
and seeing my rather crestfallen expression
“How did you get here?”

A conversation then followed along the lines of 7 miles of running not actually being that far, and no I wasn’t tired as I’d been running quite slowly, and yes I had done the London Marathon. It was then that I got an offer of a lift from a gentleman sitting at the bar, and without really too much hesitation, I took it! People have queried the wisdom of driving off into the night with a total stranger, but it was quite clear he was a regular, and he had offered in full view of everyone there. It seemed safe enough, so off we went!

We soon arrived at The Cricketers Arms in Longparish, and pretty much the same scenario played out as I slapped on the bar a photocopied map, which didn’t actually show Longparish on it. Theories abounded though about where the rendezvous was. We were definitely within a few miles of it. It’s just south of here. It’s just north of here. It’s a short walk down the road. It’s a short drive up the road. I thanked them all for their help, and decided to carry on down the road with my extremely patient chauffeur.

Progress! We arrived at The Plough which I recognised as a pub we had visited last year and which had the Test Way running through its garden. I now knew we were definitely south of the rendezvous, but how far south I still had no idea, as we were still off the map. I got a shock when I entered the pub – it was empty! There were just 2 people - both staff. At least there would be no conflicting directions! I was proved right in this. They had no idea at all! Their best advice was to go back to the Cricketers and ask there.

My chauffeur, whose name I never discovered (!), was brilliant. We got back in the car and drove back to the Cricketers Arms. Further enquiries were made with similar results. A guy even pointed at what was clearly marked as a dismantled railway line and insisted it was the A303. An establishment serving alcohol is not a good place to ask directions!

I realised that the rendezvous was at Middleton Farm so asked if anyone knew where that was.
“Middleton House is just up the road – you’ve come past it – it’s the big house with all the lights”
I was sceptical that Middleton House and Middleton Farm were one and the same (I was right) but conceded that we would give it a go. As we were leaving, a couple gave me their phone number, assuring me I had a bed for the night if all else failed. This whole experience was restoring my faith in human nature! By the way, the couple’s name was the Tipples. How appropriate!

On we drove. We knew we had to keep an eye out for Marilyn’s car.
“What car does your friend drive?”
“A red one”, I’m embarrassed to admit was my answer. I tried to think what she drove, and thought it might be an Astra. The true irony of all this is realised when you consider who I’m currently contracted to: Vauxhall Motors!

Not surprisingly, we were fruitless in our latest search, and I decided it was best if my chauffeur dropped me off back at The Plough. At least it was on the Test Way and was a pub I knew Marilyn had mentioned. As he left me, he got out his wallet and offered me some money. Bless him! I politely refused, and bade him farewell. What a saint!

Back in The Plough, the barman now decided that the rendezvous must only be just round the corner. He seemed quite certain, insisting that the pub was on the edge of the circle Marilyn had drawn around the rendezvous, which put it only a 100m or so up the road at the side of the pub. This seemed reasonable as I would be heading back up the Test Way, so I decided to give the dark countryside one more go. He was of course quite wrong about the distance – it was at least half a mile away – but at least I knew the direction was right.

At first I was OK as the light from the village houses lit the path a little. Soon though, I was right back at square one – the darkness was intense – I couldn’t see a thing. Back in the Monty Python world though, a big hand had just placed cartoon Susie back on the edge of the map. Not that I knew this of course, or could see the damn thing!

I gave up in my quest once more, and with visions of an overnight stay in Longparish, turned to head back to The Plough. Then the phone rang!
“Susie, it’s Marilyn, where are you?”
“I’m at The Plough”
“No you’re not, I’m there!”


A point to note is that when your mobile goes dead, you can’t access any of the numbers stored in it! Fortunately Marilyn had my number stored in her personal organiser, also battery powered, so could phone from the pub. All’s well that ends well, as someone once wrote!

And I’ll repeat once more: thank you Marilyn for an excellent adventure!

Weekly summary - 6 weeks to go

A good week, and well on top of the mileage. Mind you I feel a touch tired now after the bank holiday - late nights, long walks, and serious shopping - not conducive to good recovery!

The highlight of the week was our club handicap race. 27:00 - a PB by over a minute and a half. Allowing for the gates and footbridges we cross, that is around 7:10/mile. Very pleased with my progress! The down side though was the worst stitch I've ever had. As I pushed on in the last mile to try to overtake the last of the people ahead of me, the stitch hit hard. I was in agony as I crossed the line. I finished second - I couldn't quite catch the runner ahead of me. My handicap will now get increased, so next month I'll be starting much later - I don't think I will be finishing second!

Next week was supposed to be another 70 mile week, but I took the bank holiday as a rest day - sometimes life has to take over from running!

Monday	8.7 miles	included 5x600m @ 7:15/mile 5k pace	Lunchtime run - rain, lovely!, evening massage
Tuesday	14 miles	Slow run but hilly	Bit tired
Wednesday	10 miles	6 miles +6*100m sprints am, 4 miles pm
Thursday	5.2 miles	3.65 mile club handicap 27:00 + warm up/down	Terrible stitch! Good pace despite gates and footbridges (and stitch) - felt good though
Friday	6 miles	Easy recovery
Saturday	18 miles	Slow run 9:16/mile 71%maxHR	Good pace despite being quite warm
Sunday	0 miles	Gym session - X-trainer, row, weights, cycle	also 6 mile walk
Total	61.9 miles

How not to recce

Yesterday, I had a very nice 6 mile walk in the Hampshire countryside, recce-ing the route of the Test Way Relay. After an hour of gym first thing in the morning this wasn't the ideal way to spend a rest day, but it was a very pleasant relaxing (!?) afternoon in glorious sunshine. As we like a bit of drama on this blog, I thought I'd share with you the events of last year when I recce'd the same route. Here's the first part of the article I published in our club newsletter:

How not to recce

The Test Way Relay is held each year in early September. It follows the Test Way, a footpath roughly following the course of the river Test, starting at Inkpen Beacon and meandering down through Hampshire to finish in Totton on the South Coast. Teams of 8 run 1 leg each of 3 to 7 miles in length. It’s fun!

The key to running quickly is not getting lost! I can’t over-emphasise this point. In order to do well you have to recce your chosen leg beforehand, to minimise your reliance on map-reading skills on the day. Here’s my experience of recce-ing the third leg for the 2004 race.

My friend and team mate Marilyn had very kindly offered to drive me up to Stoke, north of Andover, to recce my leg from Stoke to Middleton Farm. Marilyn was concerned about her post-injury state of fitness, so was not going to run with me, but drop me at the start point, offer some support en route where the road crossed the Test Way, and then meet me at the end of the leg.

It’s a fair old drive up to Andover, and despite best intentions, I didn’t set off from the start at Stoke until about 7:15pm. Not to worry though: Marilyn would be meeting me along the way, we both had mobile phones with us, I had a map and my map reading skills, and as it was only 10km we would be finished well before dark. So I set off across the fields on what was a beautiful evening – warm, cloudless and still.

Marilyn had warned me about the first tricky navigation test, and I passed with flying colours, heading for the correct exit from the field and I was soon heading for our first meeting point about a mile in. It was reassuring to see Marilyn’s head pop out of the hedge, a quick stop at the car to apply insect repellent, and I was on my way again.

I was now heading to St Mary Bourne in the valley. As I ran I encountered small pockets of quite chilly air. I’d run through them and suddenly emerge into the noticeably warm air the other side, and then go goose-pimply again as I hit the next chilly pocket. I’d never encountered this before. If any meteorologist out there can offer the explanation of how this occurs, I’d be interested to learn.

Back onto the road through the back of St Mary Bourne, where I expected to see Marilyn, but she wasn’t there. Not to worry though. We hadn’t arranged definite rendezvous’s so I cracked on. I later learnt that Marilyn had had some trouble turning the car round in the narrow lane, had arrived late at the road crossing, and had headed back along the trail to meet me, even though I had already left and was heading in the opposite direction. Never mind, we had phones so could sort it out later.

At the next road there was still no Marilyn, but never mind, I pushed on up the hill. I later learnt that Marilyn had arrived late at the road crossing and waited for me, even though I had already left and was heading away from her up the trail.

I was making good progress, but the light was failing fast, and I knew that it was going to be tight whether I made the end point before dark. At the next road junction I was now a little concerned not to see Marilyn, but carried on anyway. I later learnt that Marilyn had arrived late at the road crossing and waited for me, even though I had already left and was heading away from her up the trail. [yes, I did a cut and paste on that last sentence!]

I decided now was a good time to call her to let her know where I was. No answer! Not to worry though! She was probably driving and couldn’t answer. I left an upbeat message on the voicemail telling her where I was and at what time. I was a little concerned though, as I had definitely felt the need for a friendly voice.

At the next, and last, road, with about a mile still to go, there was again no sign of Marilyn. [I’ll resist the temptation to cut and paste the same sentence here, but I’m sure you are getting the picture!] It was now starting to get dark, but I crossed the road, climbed the stile, and pushed on through the field. Trouble was, it was now too dark to read the map properly and I was heading towards some very dark looking woodland. I also couldn’t see where I was treading, and was worried about my footing (my friend Pete had gone over on his ankle on this leg, and badly hurt himself, I later learnt!).

I decided it wasn’t safe to continue, so called Marilyn to get her to pick me up from the road. No answer! I left a slightly more concerned message, then texted the words “Phone me!”. I later learnt that Marilyn’s battery had gone flat; in fact she didn’t get the voicemail messages until 2 days later after the Relay itself!

I should explain that the map was an A4 photocopy. With no colour, it was difficult to see which were roads and which were trails. In the dim twilight that remained, it appeared that by heading east along the road, I could take a right turn and get to the rendezvous only 1.5 miles away by road. Wrong! I was looking at woodland trails – which I was trying to avoid. What’s more, this right turn was actually off the map, and I was having to guess where the roads were. It was actually 4 or 5 miles to the rendezvous in that direction. And further, what looked like a trail on the map, in the opposite direction, was actually a road, and was the quickest route to the rendezvous less than 2 miles away.

It’s often better to make a wrong decision quickly than dither and not make a decision, so with night falling, with no money, no torch, in vest and shorts, a small amount of water, a mobile phone and a packet of tissues, I headed off along a very dark road in completely the wrong direction and off the edge of the map.

To be continued…

In next weeks report: my first ever hitch hike, sober people who can’t locate their own village on a map, an offer of a bed for the night, an offer of money!!, and lots of drunken people all pointing in different directions!

Thanks Marilyn for a great adventure! I in no way hold you responsible!