Weekly summary - 5 and 4 weeks to go

Oddly, 2 of my lowest mileage weeks despite the middle bit being the hardest batch of training I've ever done. I'm hoping I'll see the benefits later, but with several days now of elevated heart rate and a sore soleus that has forced a rest day today (Tuesday 26th) I'm wondering if it's just too risky to go all out on a training camp. Would I have got more benefit from 2 weeks of high mileage with some good quality tempo runs?

I have no regrets doing the camp as it was a great chance for some quality time with a coach and a fantastic holiday. Provided I bounce back quickly then it will all have had a benefit. Hopefully by tomorrow my leg will feel good and my pace and heart rate will be back to normal. After just 1 day's rest though my mileage will be low for the 3rd week in a row. I must not chase mileage, I must not chase mileage, I must not chase mileage, I must not...

Monday 11th Sept	4.7 miles	am: easy run 112bpm
Tuesday	9.9 miles	am: 4 easy pm: 5.9 offroad hilly club run	v pleased with pace. Splits: 7:45 7:47 7:45 7:15 7:14 HR splits: 116 131 137 142 144. More indication that I'm well on target (mara HR=145)
Wednesday	4 miles	am: easy run
Thursday	Rest		Travel to Lanzarote
Friday	10.2 miles	am: 5.5 miles offroad 118bpm pm: 4.7 miles track session	8*400 off 30secs at 10k pace 1:42. Nailed it! Actually felt really easy. 10k pace probably a bit generous 1:42 1:42 1:43 1:43 1:42 1:44 1:41 1:40
Saturday	11 miles	am:3.5 easy 113bpm, pm: 7.5 miles tempo 2*15min off 2 mins	10k race as tempo 2*15min off 2 mins. 43:59, 2nd woman. Rep 1 mile splits: 6:47 143bpm, 7:19 150bpm, 0:58 (6:48) 148bpm. Rep 2 mile splits: 6:46 145bpm, 7:20 149bpm, 0:56 (7:24) 149bpm
Sunday	18 miles	2:31 8:26/mile 121bpm	Club La Santa long run: 2 9 mile laps of hills and heat. Managed to pick up to marathon pace at end despite HR not being at MP. 8:42 110, 8:52 122, 9:33 121, 8:56 122, 7:20 118, 8:26 119, 8:57 120, 7:41 115, 8:42 118, 8:32 115, 9:05 121, 9:51 124, 8:21 124, 7:27 119, 8:08 130, 8:16 131, 7:24 126, 7:32 134
Total	57.8 miles

Monday 18th Sept	5.5 miles	am: 3.5 easy pm: 2 miles hill session	10 minutes of Kenyan hills - steady up and down at threshold pace
Tuesday	16.3 miles	am 13.1 miles half mara pm: 3.2 miles v easy 109 bpm	HM: 1:40:47 135bpm 7:42/mile Club La Santa Half Marathon run at marathon effort. Hot and hilly - struggled to maintain marathon effort. Got lost turning up blind turns round lagoon. 3rd woman. 7:10 124, 7:33 133, 7:28 136, 8:10 141 (hill) 8:57 140, 7:54 136, 7:11 137, 8:07 138, 8:04 136, 7:32 133, 7:37 134, 8:13 136, 7:47 137
Wednesday	6.2 miles	am:3.2 easy pm 3 miles 8*200m max speed	3 person paarlauf 5k race. Team won in 16:08. Very tough session! No HR data - Keith took our watches away!
Thursday	6.7 miles	am: 6.7 easy offroad	ridge run - v hilly, beautiful views and Saharan conditions
Friday	Rest		v tired - lost a night's sleep to travel
Saturday	Rest		Still v tired - lots of sleep
Sunday	9 miles	Easy run, stop start	Was going to be a 20-miler, but thought better of it, with HR a lot higher than it should have been
Total	43.7 miles

Club La Santa

I've just come back from the toughest week's training I've ever done, at the 2:09 Events marathon training week in Club La Santa on Lanzarote. It's been tiring, so tiring that I've just taken 2 rest days (!!), but it was very rewarding. Under the direction of coach Keith Anderson I did what seemed like 7 hard days in a row, but as each session was different I was able to withstand the workload and come out uninjured (if a little tired!).

At first sight Club La Santa seems like any other holiday resort hotel:

but other hotels don't have an athletics stadium, olympic size swimming pool, tennis courts, football pitches, squash courts, water sports lagoon, boxing ring, basketball court, sport hall, gym etc, etc, etc... There are organised sessions of yoga, pilates, aerobics, tai chi, runs, bike rides, etc, etc, every hour of the day. If you want sport and fitness you can grind yourself into the dust at this place (did I mention I was tired?)

The week was a marathon specific program under the guidance of Keith Anderson, fell runner, Commonwealth Games marathon runner, and coach. Keith did an excellent job, taking the twice daily running sessions and giving evening talks on training and nutrition. Keith was also available to discuss individual training plans and advise on how best to handle the week.

Keith taking a track session:


The week looked like this:

Fri am: offroad easy 5 miles
Fri pm: 8*400 off 30 secs at 10k pace - Keith asked for 1:42 and I nailed it - 1:42, 1:42 1:43, 1:43, 1:42, 1:44, 1:41, 1:40

Sat am: easy 3.5 miles on road
Sat pm: 10k race run as 2*15min off 2 min at threshold 149/150 bpm (6:45-7:15/mile depending on gradient). Overall 43:59 - 2nd woman. Nice session!

Sun am: 18 miles steady in 2:31 with some harder effort in last 5 miles - v hot and hilly!
Sun pm: Stretch and relax class with instructor Mette - the 'Goddess of Calm' - amazing woman

Mon am: 3.5 miles easy on road
Mon pm: short Kenyan Hills session - 10 minutes of effort, just 2 miles run

Tues am: Half Marathon race in 1:40 run as marathon effort, but actually 10bpm below mara HR due to hills/heat/fatigue. 3rd woman
Tues pm: 3.2 miles really easy (shag run?)

Wed am: 3.2 miles steady (7:56/mile 124 bpm)
Stretch and relax with Goddess of Calm
Wed pm: Kayak race - ouch my arms!. Also had a quick windsurf.

Keith and James winning the kayak race:


The kayaking was followed by an eye-balls out 8*200m 3 person paarlauf, run as a relay race. My team won the 'challenge' in 16:08 for 5000m (Paula R would have run 16:03 if running at her WR mara pace!!). Hardest speed session I've ever done!

The changeovers were done very seriously - would you expect anything less from me?:


It was nice to take the anchor leg:


We had 3 people in each team, so Keith sold this to us as a 12*133m session, each of us taking 1/3 lap. We started with each of us positioned at 3 points round the track. As soon as we started we realised the fundamental flaw, in that the 3rd runner was going to have to run 266m, the first runner now having vacated the start position. Some hasty repositioning of the marks followed, to make an 8*200m session. Strange how much further 200m seems when you've started out to run 133m! At least Keith was able to learn something along with the rest of us!

Thurs am: 7 miles off road ridge run - hilly! Felt like running through a desert over the back of the ridge - amazing landscape.
Fitball session (gym/swiss ball) very good core workout.

Friday: Rest (Did I mention I was tired?)

Despite the insane 200m sesh, Keith reckons I need to concentrate more on getting regular threshold runs and marathon pace efforts. I'll have to be a bit more selfish and not fit so regularly into the club sessions.

It's a fabulous week and I was surprised at how much abuse my body could take. Not the biggest mileage, but still over 70 miles and I've never had so much quality in one week. I have a bit of shin soreness on my right leg where I got a bit of tightness in my calf (either gastroc medial head or flexor/extensor hallucis - not sure), but apart from that my legs feel OK.

One major target was not to put on weight - not easy when you put me in front of an all-you-can-eat buffet! I may have put on a pound, but it's not looking too bad - big sigh of relief!

I chose the half board option, not realising that this tied me to the one restaurant for breakfast and evening buffet. There were only 2 others in our party who chose half board, which made it a little awkward, and I ended up paying to eat in other restaurants on a couple of occasions. That said, the food was good, and the buffet format made it easy to make healthy choices (although the lack of space due to building works was a pain).

A great week and a great bunch of people:


Did I mention I'm tired?

Weekly summary - 6 weeks to go

My legs were feeling a bit iffy following the half marathon last Sunday. They seemed OK on Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday were feeling rather tight. I think if Mike hadn't attended the mile reps session on Thursday I might have just jogged it. As it was though, I had a really good session, and my legs were fine afterwards. I often err on the side of caution but in this case I should have had more faith in my ability to take the training.

I'll have to cut back a little next week to make sure I'm fresh for the Lanzarote trip. I'll keep the midweek run to under an hour (I've been doing 90 minutes recently) and take a rest day (!) on Thursday.

Monday	4.5 miles	am: 4.5 miles easy 114bpm
Tuesday	5.3 miles	pm: very easy club run jogging at the back
Wednesday	11 miles	am:4 miles easy pm: 7 miles steady 118bpm 8:23/mile	Legs feeling a bit sore
Thursday	11.3 miles	am: 4 miles easy pm: 7.3 miles 4*1-mile at 5k pace 3min recovery	times: 6:40 6:42 6:30 6:36 max HR 158bpm. Did session with Mike Gratton
Friday	11 miles	am: 4 miles easy pm: 7 miles 8:15/mile 115bpm	Felt good - legs feeling better after some soreness following the half mara
Saturday	7 miles	easy run
Sunday	20 miles	8:15/mile 125bpm 72%maxHR	Surprisingly warm. Felt good
Total	70.1 miles

A hot one

I did my first solo 20-miler of the current campaign today in 23°C of unbroken blue skies. I ran well finishing in 2hrs45mins for an average pace of 8:15/mile and an average heart rate of 125bpm 72%maxHr. This is the fastest I've run a long training run so far (at a low heart rate). I felt so strong at the end, running sub 8:00/mile for the last few miles. That's the best I've felt at the end of a 20-miler.

I've been getting a bit of cramp lately, at night in bed but also during the day. It could be down to dehydration at night as it is usually when I've come in from training, eaten, and gone straight to bed. The cramp during the day though would seem to be a lack of minerals. I have a good diet, so I'd be surprised if I'm lacking potassium, calcium or magnesium, some of the usual culprits of cramp. I don't eat much processed food, don't tend to add salt to my food, so the suspicion is that I'm lacking sodium.

At the risk of grossing you out, here's some evidence that I'm losing a fair bit of salt during my runs: the salt marks on my neck after today's run:


I've made sure I've been drinking plenty of sport drink, and sprinkling salt on my salads, so hopefully I've seen the last of the cramping.

Incidentally, Lucozade Sport doesn't contain salt (sodium chloride), just sodium citrate as an 'acidity regulator'. I'm not sure if you need actual salt to provide dietary sodium, but I wonder if Lucozade Sport provides sufficient, if any, electrolytes. SiS Go contains sodium chloride and seems a better product, offering balanced electrolytes, so I'll stick with that.

I'm off to Lanzarote next week for a marathon training camp at Club La Santa, so I need to make sure I'm OK in the hot weather. Hopefully today was good acclimatisation.

A brief moment of glory

Here I was shoulder to shoulder with an elite athlete. I felt strong but could I hold out to the finish? I was pushing hard and just had to maintain my pace. Would I prevail?

We turned the final corner and before us lay 400m of tarmac. 400m to define perhaps the greatest moment of my athletic career.

We searched each other for signs of weakness. I felt strong. I sensed that maybe victory was mine - my opponent would not get the better of me this time round.

200m to go and up ahead I could see my team-mates waiting on the line, relaxed, bathed in sunshine - a stark contrast to the shaded battle of attrition going on down the road from them.

Hold your form. Keep running strongly.

It was then that I heard the words that will live with me forever:
"...must...slow...down..."

I crossed the line victorious. In front of my team-mates I'd beaten the 50-something over-weight recently-injured former-elite Mike Gratton, London Marathon winner 1983.

OK, it was the third of a set of mile reps, and not exactly a race, but I'm getting as much mileage out of burning off Mike as I can. We take what we can get!


Mike was visiting the club to give us a talk about endurance training. He joined in our mile reps session beforehand. I did 4 reps of 6:40, 6:42, 6:30 (the glory rep) and 6:36 off 3 minute recoveries, max HR 158bpm (about the same as last time, but my HR was lower and I felt stronger). Mike did the first one storming off ahead of me, but then needed 10 minutes recovery before his second and last rep - my third (to be fair it was his first interval session in a long time!). It was fun Mike - thanks!


His talk afterwards was very good - he's such a knowledge of athletic history in addition to his training expertise - well presented and entertaining too!

Shame that the usually graveyard-like leisure centre bar had a load of noisy footballers turn up half way through, but it went well.

So now the challenge, club-mates of mine, is to take what Mike was saying to heart and put some good training together. Over to you!

August total mileage

July total mileage: 315 miles

Year to date total: 2001 miles

My highest mileage month ever. 46 training sessions and 3 rest days. The weekly mileage was a bit up and down due to some races, but I've been pretty consistent with a minimum weekly mileage of 60 miles and peaking at 85 miles.

The best bit was that I was back at work and coping with the workload!

Weekly summary - 7 weeks to go

Not a bad week, but I maybe left the taper a little late for the half marathon. With the benefit of hindsight, I probably wouldn't have run much quicker anyway, as I would have still gone off at the same pace and would still have been slowed by the hills and wind, so as a compromise I probably got it right.

One slight problem to mar the week: I've been getting bouts of cramp overnight - particularly bad on Wednesday when I was woken up with my right claf in complete spasm. It instantly relaxed when I grabbed my foot and stretched, was OK the following morning, but is a concern. I'd put it down to dehydration: 11 miles without water, then home, eat and straight to bed. Maybe though I am lacking a mineral? My diet should be supplying all the potassium, calcium and magnesium, as I believe I have a very good balanced diet, but maybe I've gone a bit low on salt? I'll be a bit more generous with the salt and pepper on my salads and I'll see how it goes.

A slight cutback next week, ready for my trip to Club La Santa in Lanzarote for my marathon training week - can't wait!

Monday	9.3 miles	am: 5 miles easy (102bpm!!) pm: 4.3 miles easy	Couldn't resist a second run - bank holiday
Tuesday	10 miles	am:4 miles easy pm:6 miles intervals 10* 1-min hard, 1-min easy	paces: 6:41 6:25 6:02 6:27 5:46 6:56 6:06 6:49 6:00 6:48, max HR 140bpm. Running on a slope so alternating uphill/downhill
Wednesday	15 miles	am:4 miles easy pm: 11 miles steady	Feeling depleted for evening run. Rallied in middle of run, but ran out of steam at end 114bpm ave 8:22/mile
Thursday	8.2 miles	am: 4.2 miles easy pm: 4 miles jogging club handicap race in reverse	Feeling tired
Friday	3.8 miles	easy run, but nearly a 1-mile car push!	Feeling dog tired during the day, but perked up for friend's wedding reception - congrats Pete and Lesley! Late night, but alcohol free
Saturday	Rest		180 mile drive
Sunday	15 miles	Wolverhampton Half Marathon 1:34:47 147bpm	Disappointed at first but not bad on such a small taper, given the nature of the course
Total	61.3 miles

Philosophical: the Wolverhampton Half Marathon

I usually play a teasing game with race reports of leaving the result to the end. Will she catch her rival? Will she get a PB? etc. This time let's get straight to the finish:

I knocked 19 minutes off my 2 year old half marathon PB with a time of 1:34:47. I finished 7th woman out of 300 and 3rd over 40.

I'm disappointed.

Why?

I'd entered the race to get an assurance that I was on form for a 3:15 marathon. 1:34:47 only predicts 3:20 on the MacMillan calculator. All doom and gloom then! Well there are some pluses I can take away.

I've had a very hard few weeks of training and the taper for this race was an easy day on Friday and a rest day on Saturday. I felt very tired on the Friday and was still quite tired going into the race.

I was chatting to some folks on the start line and was warned that the second half of the race was much slower than the first. On my experience I'd have to agree. I was setting a good pace for the first 4 miles, feeling good, but then a series of uphill sections started which slowed me down considerably. Then we turned into a strong headwind on the exposed middle section of the course (much of which is uphill) and my pace suffered again. I was overtaking people all this time, so I don't believe it was the case that I went off too quickly. Looking at the heart rate data I think I paced fairly well, although my heart rate was a few beats down on what I'd expect for a half marathon, fatigue having its effect.

When I'd looked at the course last month I'd been a bit damning about it, using terms such as 'inner city squalor'. Having now run it, I don't think it's that bad - Wolverhampton is never going to match the London Marathon for sights - but West Park is really rather nice. Given the hilltop nature of Wolverhampton I don't think you could add any 'sights' without making it a much tougher course. I should mention that this is also a marathon event - the marathon being 2 laps. Quite a tough marathon course!

It was quite a warm day: 21°C and almost unbroken sunshine. Not ideal for fast times, but much better than the heat of previous years.

The addition of a kids fun run, a cycle race and a half marathon relay is something clearly aimed at making the race as inclusive as possible. The relay started 5 minutes ahead of us and I wasn't surprised to be catching people after only 1 mile. I'll accept that some people find 3 miles such a challenge that they have to walk it - we all need to start somewhere. What I find staggering though is that I was catching cyclists at half way; the cycle race having started 15 minutes before us. With a 15-minute head start I was catching cyclists after only 7 miles! Despite my own pace problems, I still think the course can only be described as undulating. When the back marker cyclists hit the 'hills' though, some of them couldn't get up them even in their lowest 'granny' gear. I passed kids, young women, middle aged men - a dozen or more cyclists from across the spectrum. What is wrong with the state of the nation's health that you can't beat a half marathon runner with 15 minutes head start on a bicycle? Staggering (literally!).

Not a bad race all in all. The organisation was pretty good. I gather there may have been problems at around 2 hours when there was a problem getting everyone through the finish funnel quickly - I didn't see this though. As I mentioned before, West Park is a nice venue and the facilities were good.

Here are my splits and ave HRs. You can see how my pace was affected by the hills and wind after the opening miles. My heart rate should have been around 150bpm. If I'd been fresher I would have found it easier to maintain this, although the hills and wind would still have had an affect.
6:49 139
6:55 147
6:59 148
6:52 149
7:14 148
7:07 148
7:23 148
7:13 148
7:35 147
7:13 147
7:38 149
7:24 147
7:24 151

Overall average was 147bpm, only 2 bpm above typical marathon pace, so more to come when fresh. I'm sure on a flat course I would have got close to 1:30. Thanks to all my online friends who have been trying to convince me of the fact that I'm well on course for a 3:15 marathon - it's much appreciated.


I must finally mention Mick'n'Phil again. I last encountered this whirlwind on 2 legs and 4 wheels in the Bramley 20. Mick pushes his son Phil round the course in a wheelchair. They've now done 200 races together. Phil provides the energy and his dad trails around in his wake (although his dad seems to insist he's doing all the work!) Well done lads. You're an inspiration.

A moral dilemma

I asked myself some questions this morning of when someone else's plight becomes sufficient for me to pull myself out of my ego-centric world of the schedule is king, and perform a selfless act for a fellow human.

I hate being stopped in the middle of a run to be asked for directions - really hate it. This morning, I was running a 'course' on my Garmin (virtual me from a month earlier) to check how my HR had progressed in the course of a month. I passed a woman in a car, to hear the dreaded "excuse me". This time though, it was followed by "could you help me push my car?". The moral dilemma started to play out in my mind as I summed up just how important today's HR data was compared to the plight of this woman. After what seemed to me like an age, but in reality was only a few steps, some threshold was reached in my brain, and I hit 'Stop' on the Garmin and turned round.

I quickly ran to the back of the car and started pushing, but when she started pushing too I asked why she wasn't getting in the car, the assumption being she was having trouble starting it. "I've run out of petrol - I just need to get it down the road". The scenarios being played out in my mind were now along the lines of the distance to the petrol station - almost a mile, the state of my calves and glutes after that distance, and how a gentle recovery run ahead of the half marathon on Sunday had just turned into a potential injury.

Not being able to start your car may be regarded as misfortune, but to run out of petrol looks like carelessness. I'd just run out of charity.

She must have heard my jaw hit the tarmac as she turned around and saw the look on my face. "Now we've got the car moving I'll be alright".

Damn right you will. I carried on my run as grumpy as hell. I hit 'Start' on the Garmin and continued the 'course'. I realised though that any comparison of HR data between the 2 runs was pointless so I gave up on the course and went straight home.

3.8 miles - not quite what I'd intended but it will do as part of the HM taper.

Grrrrr.