Merry Christmas everyone!
I did a tempo run this morning, the first bit of sustained speed I've done for 5 months. It was tough but I'm glad I could do it.
Without the power of massage I doubt I would have been able to run this morning. I've been relying on my massage therapist to keep me going over the last few weeks as I've built back up quickly. With Xmas upon us I've had to rely on my own self massage to keep me going.
My calves were the first to complain, but I was able to keep them nice and loose with some regular gentle massaging (Molton Brown massage oil - fragrant!). Then after the 9-mile Sunday run my knee was aching because of a tight quad. More Molton Brown and a bit of vigorous massage and it was all fixed. (It's tough doing an intense massage yourself - it felt like quite a workout.)
Then yesterday I stepped off the bottom stair to be greeted by an intense pain in the ball of my left foot. It was a slight concern as I've never had anything like that before, but I realised it was most probably a tight muscle in my foot trapping a nerve; the foot muscles don't get used during cycling so they have presumably took a bit of a beating since my return to running. I iced and heated during the day and tried rolling a tennis ball under my foot, but when I did my core exercises in the evening I was still getting pain. I got the oil out and had a real good go at the sole of my foot. I could feel a mass of tight muscle back towards my heel and a slightly crunchy feeling in the middle of foot. A few minutes of vigorous fiddling later and the pain was gone.
This morning I applied a heat pack and did some more gentle massage before my run as my foot ached a bit. The run felt fine - my foot had a rather warm feeling to it but there was no sign of pain or soreness. Massage rules!
I won't try to teach massage techniques on this blog - you can google "self massage" if you want to. What I will say is always use oil, massage towards the heart (or you could damage your veins by creating a back pressure), and don't press hard on any trigger points you find, just keep moving firmly over them until they ease. (You may want to google "trigger points" too.)
Happy seasonal massages!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Speed returns
I've spent a few weeks now building up gradually on the treadmill. I've been doing some low key speed sessions on the treadmill and building it up gradually so that my return to the faster stuff wouldn't be such a shock to the system. So last night it was time for my first proper speed session (even though it was only my 3rd outing on tarmac!).
The details:
10x400m with 155m jog recovery:
1:42 effort, 57s recovery
1:46 effort, 57s rec 127bpm minimum during recovery
1:44 effort, 57s rec 128bpm
1:42 effort max 148bpm, 57s rec 133bpm
1:42 effort max 149bpm, 58s 131bpm
1:43 effort max 150bpm, 58s 134bpm
1:40 effort max 152bpm, 60s 134bpm (training partner picked it up a bit)
1:43 effort max 151bpm, 62s 133bpm (me leading once more)
1:42 effort max 151bpm, 72s 122bpm (longer rec to let HR drop to 125bpm)
1:41 effort max 153bpm
The higher HRs are the maximum I reached at the end of the interval. The lower HRs are what it dropped to during recovery. The HRs compare pretty well with the last time I ran this 8 months ago, but my times were only 4 or 5s slower, so I'm pretty pleased with that. My calves are a bit sore today, but tonight's gentle 4 miles seemed OK. It seems I've kept my cardio fitness going quite well, but I just have to get my legs used to the pounding again.
The details:
10x400m with 155m jog recovery:
1:42 effort, 57s recovery
1:46 effort, 57s rec 127bpm minimum during recovery
1:44 effort, 57s rec 128bpm
1:42 effort max 148bpm, 57s rec 133bpm
1:42 effort max 149bpm, 58s 131bpm
1:43 effort max 150bpm, 58s 134bpm
1:40 effort max 152bpm, 60s 134bpm (training partner picked it up a bit)
1:43 effort max 151bpm, 62s 133bpm (me leading once more)
1:42 effort max 151bpm, 72s 122bpm (longer rec to let HR drop to 125bpm)
1:41 effort max 153bpm
The higher HRs are the maximum I reached at the end of the interval. The lower HRs are what it dropped to during recovery. The HRs compare pretty well with the last time I ran this 8 months ago, but my times were only 4 or 5s slower, so I'm pretty pleased with that. My calves are a bit sore today, but tonight's gentle 4 miles seemed OK. It seems I've kept my cardio fitness going quite well, but I just have to get my legs used to the pounding again.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
I'm back!
I've been somewhat quiet on this blog for many months now. That's what injury does to me. I don't like blogging despair and despondency, and there's been a bit of that lately. However, things are getting better so hello again!
As you have now gathered, I got injured. The short headline is I damaged a stomach muscle pole-vaulting. The longer version is it's a little more complicated than that and could in fact have been mostly a back problem.
Back in July, after 3 hard races in the space of a week, and during a full 70-mile week of marathon training I decided to try pole-vaulting. Initial impressions were good - I can pole-vault! The following day though my hip flexors were sore, to the point that I was having trouble lifting my left leg. If I'd taken a few days rest then I think that would have been the last of it, but of course I kept the training going as it didn't seem to affect my running. After a full week of training I ran a 20-miler, suffering what I thought was stitch for just about the whole way. Maybe it was that run, or maybe the crunches I did in the gym the following day, but I'd seriously damaged my psoas minor. I tried a few days rest, I tried running on grass, I tried doing just drills (heel flicks, fast feet, and high steps didn't seem to hurt - it was only the forward stride which was the problem), but after a couple of weeks I realised I was going to have to stop running completely to allow it to heal.
It's easy to blame the pole-vault, but it's not that simple. The day before the pole-vault session I ran a 5000m track race. During the warm up I remember commenting to team mate Gina that I had stitch before I'd even started. Stitch had been an increasing feature of my races but as always I'd try to massage it away, sometimes successfully, or just ignore it and carry on. I didn't actually tear anything during the pole-vault and the soreness I felt the following day was on the left hand side, not the right where the stitch problems and subsequent injury problems were.
Once I'd accepted the full seriousness of the injury then the real frustrations set in. I couldn't run - that was a simple fact. The sharp burning sensation in my crotch was worrying, presumably caused by the psoas minor locked in spasm across the right hand side of my pelvis pulling my symphysis pubis (the pubic joint between the 2 halves of the pelvis) apart. Walking was painful too. I could walk up and down stairs OK but every step forward on level ground was accompanied by pain from the psoas minor. I could cycle without pain, but everything else seemed to aggravate it. Rest just seemed to make things worse as the muscle just tightened.
The psoas minor runs from your lower back, just under the ribs (T12/L1) to your pubic bone and is mostly deep inside under several layers of abdominal muscle. You can massage the very top of the muscle in your back, or the very bottom of the muscle (actually the tendon) near your crotch, but you can't really get at the bulk of the muscle, making treatment a problem. An annoying aspect of all this is that 40% off the population don't actually have a psoas minor! There was me thinking that we're pretty much all muscular copies of each other and there are a whole load of folks, men and women, out there who don't have this muscle to injure! I read various reports on the internet about how this injury can be worse than achilles problems and how some people resort to surgery to have the tendon cut, effectively removing the muscle. This didn't help - there's no way I was going to resort to surgery!
Through all this, my old back problems came back - not helped by the cycling which always affects my back. I needed to do my core exercises to help the back, but any form of abdominal exercise hurt the injury. I was receiving regular physio to my back and stomach but independent of this I discovered that if I really dug my thumb into the vertebra around the origin of the psoas I could get some relief from the psoas spasm/pain. The idea that somehow the injury was back related started to form, but as the pain was in my crotch and the back soreness was quite a distance away, I wasn't entirely sure.
I went to spectate the Toronto marathon. I had tried to get my money back from my 'Sports Direct' holiday insurance, but apparently coverage for 'Cancellation due to injury' only applies to injuries serious enough to stop you travelling. I'd read all the small print and thought I was covered - another lesson learnt there. I made the most of my trip but it was tough watching the marathon from the sidelines having travelled all that way - at least my trip to Niagara Falls the following day made up for what was a pretty lousy weekend. Perhaps the hindsight highlight of the trip though was a chance encounter with a chiropractor at the marathon expo. I described my symptoms, suspicious of the fact that my back problems were part of the overall problem and the chiro seemed certain that he could fix my problem with just some back manipulation. He reckoned the nerve supplying the psoas minor was being trapped and not allowing the muscle to relax, explaining that you need a nerve supply to both tense a muscle and also to relax it. I ought to book some sessions with him. Shame he was in Toronto!
I returned to the UK with renewed hope that treating my back was the way forward. I enrolled in a back class and went to see a chiropractor, in addition to the physiotherapy I'd been having every week since the injury. There was no miracle cure but I did start to notice improvements. The first few back classes were a little disconcerting at first with the pain, albeit slight, that I was getting during the abdominal exercises, but a few weeks later I was able to do the class without pain. I returned to the gym and discovered that I could use the cross trainer. In fact the only exercises I couldn't do in the gym were the treadmill and lunges. My spirits lifted at the realisation that I could do full gym sessions with aerobic exercise that was closely related to running. After a few more weeks of gym I was able to tolerate brief spells on the treadmill provided I kept the gradient flat and the speed low.
All these improvements came when I started with the chiropractor. The chiro will of course tell you that he fixed me, but of course I was still having physio and going to the back class and then gym. I suspect the treatment wouldn't have been effective without the exercise - it's a whole synergy thing.
It has now got to the stage where I have run 3 miles on grass without pain. I ran onto the tarmac afterwards and realised I still have a little way to go yet as the hard surface still jarred a lot. I think I'll wait another week or 2 before declaring myself injury free but I think I'm back now.
Only 4 months 7 days 19 hours to go until the London Marathon!
As you have now gathered, I got injured. The short headline is I damaged a stomach muscle pole-vaulting. The longer version is it's a little more complicated than that and could in fact have been mostly a back problem.
Back in July, after 3 hard races in the space of a week, and during a full 70-mile week of marathon training I decided to try pole-vaulting. Initial impressions were good - I can pole-vault! The following day though my hip flexors were sore, to the point that I was having trouble lifting my left leg. If I'd taken a few days rest then I think that would have been the last of it, but of course I kept the training going as it didn't seem to affect my running. After a full week of training I ran a 20-miler, suffering what I thought was stitch for just about the whole way. Maybe it was that run, or maybe the crunches I did in the gym the following day, but I'd seriously damaged my psoas minor. I tried a few days rest, I tried running on grass, I tried doing just drills (heel flicks, fast feet, and high steps didn't seem to hurt - it was only the forward stride which was the problem), but after a couple of weeks I realised I was going to have to stop running completely to allow it to heal.
It's easy to blame the pole-vault, but it's not that simple. The day before the pole-vault session I ran a 5000m track race. During the warm up I remember commenting to team mate Gina that I had stitch before I'd even started. Stitch had been an increasing feature of my races but as always I'd try to massage it away, sometimes successfully, or just ignore it and carry on. I didn't actually tear anything during the pole-vault and the soreness I felt the following day was on the left hand side, not the right where the stitch problems and subsequent injury problems were.
Once I'd accepted the full seriousness of the injury then the real frustrations set in. I couldn't run - that was a simple fact. The sharp burning sensation in my crotch was worrying, presumably caused by the psoas minor locked in spasm across the right hand side of my pelvis pulling my symphysis pubis (the pubic joint between the 2 halves of the pelvis) apart. Walking was painful too. I could walk up and down stairs OK but every step forward on level ground was accompanied by pain from the psoas minor. I could cycle without pain, but everything else seemed to aggravate it. Rest just seemed to make things worse as the muscle just tightened.
The psoas minor runs from your lower back, just under the ribs (T12/L1) to your pubic bone and is mostly deep inside under several layers of abdominal muscle. You can massage the very top of the muscle in your back, or the very bottom of the muscle (actually the tendon) near your crotch, but you can't really get at the bulk of the muscle, making treatment a problem. An annoying aspect of all this is that 40% off the population don't actually have a psoas minor! There was me thinking that we're pretty much all muscular copies of each other and there are a whole load of folks, men and women, out there who don't have this muscle to injure! I read various reports on the internet about how this injury can be worse than achilles problems and how some people resort to surgery to have the tendon cut, effectively removing the muscle. This didn't help - there's no way I was going to resort to surgery!
Through all this, my old back problems came back - not helped by the cycling which always affects my back. I needed to do my core exercises to help the back, but any form of abdominal exercise hurt the injury. I was receiving regular physio to my back and stomach but independent of this I discovered that if I really dug my thumb into the vertebra around the origin of the psoas I could get some relief from the psoas spasm/pain. The idea that somehow the injury was back related started to form, but as the pain was in my crotch and the back soreness was quite a distance away, I wasn't entirely sure.
I went to spectate the Toronto marathon. I had tried to get my money back from my 'Sports Direct' holiday insurance, but apparently coverage for 'Cancellation due to injury' only applies to injuries serious enough to stop you travelling. I'd read all the small print and thought I was covered - another lesson learnt there. I made the most of my trip but it was tough watching the marathon from the sidelines having travelled all that way - at least my trip to Niagara Falls the following day made up for what was a pretty lousy weekend. Perhaps the hindsight highlight of the trip though was a chance encounter with a chiropractor at the marathon expo. I described my symptoms, suspicious of the fact that my back problems were part of the overall problem and the chiro seemed certain that he could fix my problem with just some back manipulation. He reckoned the nerve supplying the psoas minor was being trapped and not allowing the muscle to relax, explaining that you need a nerve supply to both tense a muscle and also to relax it. I ought to book some sessions with him. Shame he was in Toronto!
I returned to the UK with renewed hope that treating my back was the way forward. I enrolled in a back class and went to see a chiropractor, in addition to the physiotherapy I'd been having every week since the injury. There was no miracle cure but I did start to notice improvements. The first few back classes were a little disconcerting at first with the pain, albeit slight, that I was getting during the abdominal exercises, but a few weeks later I was able to do the class without pain. I returned to the gym and discovered that I could use the cross trainer. In fact the only exercises I couldn't do in the gym were the treadmill and lunges. My spirits lifted at the realisation that I could do full gym sessions with aerobic exercise that was closely related to running. After a few more weeks of gym I was able to tolerate brief spells on the treadmill provided I kept the gradient flat and the speed low.
All these improvements came when I started with the chiropractor. The chiro will of course tell you that he fixed me, but of course I was still having physio and going to the back class and then gym. I suspect the treatment wouldn't have been effective without the exercise - it's a whole synergy thing.
It has now got to the stage where I have run 3 miles on grass without pain. I ran onto the tarmac afterwards and realised I still have a little way to go yet as the hard surface still jarred a lot. I think I'll wait another week or 2 before declaring myself injury free but I think I'm back now.
Only 4 months 7 days 19 hours to go until the London Marathon!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
SCVAC finals Ashford
I wasn't taking part in the finals due to injury (I'll blog an injury update shortly), so I went along as supporter and photographer. The team did really well, leading at first, to eventually finish 2nd to Blackheath.
Well done girls!
Well done girls!
Friday, July 20, 2007
2 week summary - 11 weeks to go
I've missed a week of summarising so here're the previous 2 weeks:
|
| a.m. | p.m. | ||
| Miles | Notes | Miles | Notes | |
| Mon 02 Jul | Rest |
|
|
|
| Tue | 0 |
| 4.1 | easy recovery 08:54/mile 114bpm. |
| Wed | 0 |
| 5.6 | Promenade 5k. 4th place, losing a finishing straight sprint. very windy!Splits/ave HRs: |
| Thu | 2 | Gym sesh | 6.1 | jogged club sesh at Staunton park 09:27 /mile 102bpm. |
| Fri | 0 |
| 13.6 | long run. Bit tired towards end. Blustery wind 08:22/mile 122bpm. |
| Sat | Rest |
|
|
|
| Sun | 5.9 | easy run round Stansted 10:42/mile 106bpm. | 0 |
|
| Total | 37.3 |
|
|
|
|
| a.m. | p.m. | ||
| Miles | Notes | Miles | Notes | |
| Mon 09 Jul | 0 |
| 6.1 | SCVAC Hants & Surrey 5000m. 2nd A-string, 4th on track. 20:05.4 |
| Tue | 0 |
| 2 | easy jog at the track after pole vault session, plus some drills 08:45/mile 119bpm. |
| Wed | 0 |
| 11 | First time I've done a midweek 11-miler in under 90mins! Warm! 08:10/mile 125bpm. |
| Thu | 2 | Gym sesh | 8.9 | long handicap, run at mara pace. Paces between gates: |
| Fri | 4.5 | easy run along seafront 09:20/mile 106bpm. | 4.9 | Beaulieu social run 09:36/mile . |
| Sat | 7.1 | Lactate test session - bit disappointed as there were some dodgy readings: | 0 |
|
| Sun | 20.1 | Easy paced run up to Rowlands castle, with a loop through Chalton and a lovely forest loop to finish. 09:10/mile 116bpm. | 0 |
|
| Total | 66.6 |
|
|
|
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Pole vault!
I discovered yesterday evening I can pole vault!
After a few drills, I sailed over the opening height first time, with coach Lynne commenting that that was all I had to do to score points. She then started talking about the height I needed to do at the southern finals and had me thinking "ooh, that sounds a bit tougher - maybe I won't be scoring after all". It then turned out she was talking about the height I needed to win it! I sailed over the bar within 20cm of that height, and definitely feel I could challenge that with another session.
I only had a couple of failures as Lynne put the bar up, and again, and again...
I feel I could have gone the extra 20cm as I didn't have any failures on the final height, but I was getting a bit tired by then. Waaaheeey!
It was such a buzz - I've not had that adrenaline tingle since my wave-sailing days - that bar is not dissimilar in feeling to approaching an 8ft wave at speed - total commitment required.
I've a few sore bits today - left lateral deltoid, right brachialis - but nothing I can't work on in the gym.
Wow!
You'll note I haven't quoted any heights - I'm being coy for now - Isinbayeva has her spies out and I don't want to give anything away before Beijing.
After a few drills, I sailed over the opening height first time, with coach Lynne commenting that that was all I had to do to score points. She then started talking about the height I needed to do at the southern finals and had me thinking "ooh, that sounds a bit tougher - maybe I won't be scoring after all". It then turned out she was talking about the height I needed to win it! I sailed over the bar within 20cm of that height, and definitely feel I could challenge that with another session.
I only had a couple of failures as Lynne put the bar up, and again, and again...
I feel I could have gone the extra 20cm as I didn't have any failures on the final height, but I was getting a bit tired by then. Waaaheeey!
It was such a buzz - I've not had that adrenaline tingle since my wave-sailing days - that bar is not dissimilar in feeling to approaching an 8ft wave at speed - total commitment required.
I've a few sore bits today - left lateral deltoid, right brachialis - but nothing I can't work on in the gym.
Wow!
You'll note I haven't quoted any heights - I'm being coy for now - Isinbayeva has her spies out and I don't want to give anything away before Beijing.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
SCVAC League Hants & Surrey Division Portsmouth 5000m
First the headline: We beat Winchester and have made the southern vet finals in Ashford. Hooray for Havant!
I found myself running as A string runner tonight, with Gina, whom I've never beaten, as B string. I started confidently, perhaps too confidently, leading Lucy Elliott, British international, round the first bend - out the corner of my eye I thought she was Jan, also from Winchester, with whom I've had some good tussles. I was sensible enough to let Lucy run off into the distance as I established my own pace. This left me leading the remainder of the pack round the track for the next 7 or 8 laps. It was quite tough into the wind down the back straight - a good effort needed in the F3-4. Everyone was careful to shelter behind me - the other Winchester runner Sue thanked me for that afterwards - cheers! ;-)
I realised I was outside 20 minute pace at this point. In a really nice gesture, Gina then took on the pace setting, deliberately to try to get me under 20. Gina led for a few laps but then the other 2 Winchester women started to pull away from us and with 600m to go I started to wind it up and pulled away from Gina.
I finished 4th on the track behind the 3 Winchester women, but was only 10s behind 2nd place Jan so I'm quite pleased with that. I was 2nd A-string, finishing ahead of Gina (for the first time!) who was 2nd B-string.
Poor Ceal was running as A-string for Portsmouth - there wasn't a W60 race, but due to absences she wasn't even W50! She got a 93.5% age grading for her performance though, which after an earlier 200m is pretty good going - no doubt a UK leading performance!
A mention too for Marilyn who scored well in the W50 class behind Jan and Jane. She had just done the 800m but even so managed to top 80% age grading. We vets like to keep tabs on our age gradings - it's something to hang on to as we get slower. Here's a link to an age grading calculator.
For my part I guess I can tell everyone I finished 2nd to Lucy Elliott after leading her in the first part of the race?
There's a tinge of disappointment failing to get under 20 minutes, finishing in 20:05.4, but the wind was a factor, as presumably were the 2 races the previous week. It was still a big PB though, so I need to learn to be satisfied with my performances!
Splits:
93s 130bpm
99s 148bpm
98s 151bpm
96s 153bpm
97s 155bpm
97s 157bpm
97s 158bpm
96s 158bpm
96s 158bpm
97s 158bpm
97s 156bpm
141s 156bpm =94s/lap (focussed, so missed the final 200m split)
20:05.4 153bpm ave 78.2% age grading.
Interesting how once again my HR dropped at the end despite an increase in pace. I felt absolutely wrecked on crossing the line - major effort.
I found myself running as A string runner tonight, with Gina, whom I've never beaten, as B string. I started confidently, perhaps too confidently, leading Lucy Elliott, British international, round the first bend - out the corner of my eye I thought she was Jan, also from Winchester, with whom I've had some good tussles. I was sensible enough to let Lucy run off into the distance as I established my own pace. This left me leading the remainder of the pack round the track for the next 7 or 8 laps. It was quite tough into the wind down the back straight - a good effort needed in the F3-4. Everyone was careful to shelter behind me - the other Winchester runner Sue thanked me for that afterwards - cheers! ;-)
I realised I was outside 20 minute pace at this point. In a really nice gesture, Gina then took on the pace setting, deliberately to try to get me under 20. Gina led for a few laps but then the other 2 Winchester women started to pull away from us and with 600m to go I started to wind it up and pulled away from Gina.
I finished 4th on the track behind the 3 Winchester women, but was only 10s behind 2nd place Jan so I'm quite pleased with that. I was 2nd A-string, finishing ahead of Gina (for the first time!) who was 2nd B-string.
Poor Ceal was running as A-string for Portsmouth - there wasn't a W60 race, but due to absences she wasn't even W50! She got a 93.5% age grading for her performance though, which after an earlier 200m is pretty good going - no doubt a UK leading performance!
A mention too for Marilyn who scored well in the W50 class behind Jan and Jane. She had just done the 800m but even so managed to top 80% age grading. We vets like to keep tabs on our age gradings - it's something to hang on to as we get slower. Here's a link to an age grading calculator.
For my part I guess I can tell everyone I finished 2nd to Lucy Elliott after leading her in the first part of the race?
There's a tinge of disappointment failing to get under 20 minutes, finishing in 20:05.4, but the wind was a factor, as presumably were the 2 races the previous week. It was still a big PB though, so I need to learn to be satisfied with my performances!
Splits:
93s 130bpm
99s 148bpm
98s 151bpm
96s 153bpm
97s 155bpm
97s 157bpm
97s 158bpm
96s 158bpm
96s 158bpm
97s 158bpm
97s 156bpm
141s 156bpm =94s/lap (focussed, so missed the final 200m split)
20:05.4 153bpm ave 78.2% age grading.
Interesting how once again my HR dropped at the end despite an increase in pace. I felt absolutely wrecked on crossing the line - major effort.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Portsmouth Promenade 5k
A few days late with my race report, but I've been waiting to see the results for confirmation of my series position.
It was yet another windy promenade race, this time F5-6. It was mostly a problem coming back in along the prom, but with the prom snaking round there were times going out too when we were into the wind. After a gale force Victory 5 last December, a near gale first 5k in May and a fresh breeze for the D-day 10k, wind appears to be the main spoiler of what could be a very fast flat course.
The hope before the race had been to dip under 20 minutes for the first time, but I soon realised that the wind was going to make this a problem. I started promisingly though with a 4 minute first kilometre but from then on I tried to just tuck in behind the other runners and save what energy I could.
For the next couple of kms I was tucked behind first a City of Portsmouth woman, and then ran a threesome on the return down the prom with women from Stubbington and Winchester. I always feel I have a disadvantage into the wind, being quite tall. I was trying to shelter behind other runners, but with hindsight I should have had the confidence to push on past these runners.
At 4km I felt strong and was able to push past the other 2 quite easily. My target was then an Aldershot Farnham and District woman 100m ahead. I was able to slowly reel her in over the last kilometre until by the time we entered the park for the finish I was just behind her.
It was here I made a tactical error!
I was aware that I wasn't far outside my PB and didn't want to waste any time sitting behind the AFD woman. With only 150m to go just how much time did I think I was going to lose? I ran past her immediately on catching her and pushed on for the line. On seeing me, she kicked hard for the line and I didn't have a reply. I finished just behind her.
What I didn't realise was that sprint was for 3rd place! I should have held back and kicked hard close to the line to take her by surprise. Club mate Kevin was spectating and immediately afterwards commented on my tactical blunder - it was quite obvious!
The significance of losing 3rd place didn't fully come to light until I saw the results yesterday. I'm now 2 points behind 3rd place in the series. In the next race I have to finish 2 places ahead of my nearest rival. If I'd won that sprint I would have just had to beat her to get 3rd place in the series. Now I can't race her, but have to push on ahead and try to put some distance between us.
I'm not entirely sure how the prizes are allocated for the series, but I'm 2nd W45 with no chance of catching Jane, leader of the W45s and 2nd in the series. There are only prizes for the first runner in each category. I hope I don't get the situation of a prize going to a younger slower runner!
It's going to be a very competitive next race. Should be good!
Splits/ave HRs:
3:59 141bpm
4:05 153bpm
4:11 156bpm
4:12 156bpm
4:00 158bpm
20:30 153bpm ave
4th woman, 2nd W45
It was yet another windy promenade race, this time F5-6. It was mostly a problem coming back in along the prom, but with the prom snaking round there were times going out too when we were into the wind. After a gale force Victory 5 last December, a near gale first 5k in May and a fresh breeze for the D-day 10k, wind appears to be the main spoiler of what could be a very fast flat course.
The hope before the race had been to dip under 20 minutes for the first time, but I soon realised that the wind was going to make this a problem. I started promisingly though with a 4 minute first kilometre but from then on I tried to just tuck in behind the other runners and save what energy I could.
For the next couple of kms I was tucked behind first a City of Portsmouth woman, and then ran a threesome on the return down the prom with women from Stubbington and Winchester. I always feel I have a disadvantage into the wind, being quite tall. I was trying to shelter behind other runners, but with hindsight I should have had the confidence to push on past these runners.
At 4km I felt strong and was able to push past the other 2 quite easily. My target was then an Aldershot Farnham and District woman 100m ahead. I was able to slowly reel her in over the last kilometre until by the time we entered the park for the finish I was just behind her.
It was here I made a tactical error!
I was aware that I wasn't far outside my PB and didn't want to waste any time sitting behind the AFD woman. With only 150m to go just how much time did I think I was going to lose? I ran past her immediately on catching her and pushed on for the line. On seeing me, she kicked hard for the line and I didn't have a reply. I finished just behind her.
What I didn't realise was that sprint was for 3rd place! I should have held back and kicked hard close to the line to take her by surprise. Club mate Kevin was spectating and immediately afterwards commented on my tactical blunder - it was quite obvious!
The significance of losing 3rd place didn't fully come to light until I saw the results yesterday. I'm now 2 points behind 3rd place in the series. In the next race I have to finish 2 places ahead of my nearest rival. If I'd won that sprint I would have just had to beat her to get 3rd place in the series. Now I can't race her, but have to push on ahead and try to put some distance between us.
I'm not entirely sure how the prizes are allocated for the series, but I'm 2nd W45 with no chance of catching Jane, leader of the W45s and 2nd in the series. There are only prizes for the first runner in each category. I hope I don't get the situation of a prize going to a younger slower runner!
It's going to be a very competitive next race. Should be good!
Splits/ave HRs:
3:59 141bpm
4:05 153bpm
4:11 156bpm
4:12 156bpm
4:00 158bpm
20:30 153bpm ave
4th woman, 2nd W45
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Weekly summary - 13 weeks to go
A bit late getting this summary together - this is for a week ago.
The weeks to go count has skipped a couple of weeks because this is now the count down to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September 30th. I've not booked yet, but I am fairly certain this is the one I am now doing.
The weeks to go count has skipped a couple of weeks because this is now the count down to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September 30th. I've not booked yet, but I am fairly certain this is the one I am now doing.
|
| a.m. | 0 | p.m. | 0 |
|
| Miles | Notes | Miles | Notes |
| Mon 25 Jun | 2 | Gym sesh - now up to 61kg deadlift! | 6.2 | Easy run. Felt pretty tired at first, but warmed up and finished well. 08:38/mile 112bpm. |
| Tue | 4.5 | easy run along seafront past ferry 09:22/mile . | 7.3 | 12x400m off 45s, 2min rest after first 6 reps. Alternate reps into wind - tough to maintain pace. |
| Wed | 0 |
| 11. | Steady run in the rain. Got some proper soakings from passing cars! 08:14/mile 118bpm. |
| Thu | 0 |
| 4.1 | Club short handicap, jogged. Felt awful! Probably hadn't eaten enough after previous night's 11- miler 08:50/mile . |
| Fri | Rest |
|
|
|
| Sat | Rest |
|
|
|
| Sun | 6.6 | Pubrook Ladies 5mile 7th place. Splits: | 3 | easy run - stitch! 08:59/mile 116bpm. |
| Total | 44.7 |
|
|
|
Sunday, July 01, 2007
So close: The Purbrook Ladies 5
I was so proud of the team today!
I love this race. It's a tough one, hilly, but it's such a great atmosphere. It's nice to do a road race where you can start on the actual start line. Once the gun goes, you know exactly who you are racing and where you are in the race and it makes for some really good racing. That's my perception from the sharp end, but I guess from my past experiences it's nice to do a friendly race where you are not self conscious and don't have to worry about all the sweaty men rushing past you.
Have you ever seen such a relaxed start as this? Proper racing!:
Before the start, I'd had a good look at the start list and realised we had a strong team with Chris and Gina. I was eagerly telling Chris that we had a chance to win the team prize. This was till I spotted Shona at the start. With Kath that makes 2 Winchester elite ladies. Guess I spoke a little too soon. Oops!
Not surprisingly Kath and Shona left the rest of us standing at the start. That's 6mins/mile worth of standing - they can certainly shift, those two. I slotted in behind team-mate Gina and Jane from Havant. I would dearly have loved to have tried to keep pace with them, but I was aware of the need to tread carefully in the first mile: with a steady uphill opening half mile, followed by a steep downhill, it's very easy to overdo it before the mile's out. I kept in touch with the two of them though but realised that perhaps I wasn't going to catch them.
I had a bit of a tussle with a Norwich woman at the first mile mark, running shoulder to shoulder, but she had the measure of me and pulled away as the road once more turned uphill.
The course is a tricky one. It never really levels out. It seems to be always either uphill or downhill, with some tricky little steeper bits, and a strength sapping long uphill in the 4th mile. Not a course for PBs then, except if, like me, it's the only 5-mile you've been doing in the last 3 years!
We were so lucky with the weather. It remained dry for the entire race. We even had some sun for a mile or so.
Hills are not exactly a speciality of mine, being tall and relatively heavy, but I wasn't doing too badly. I kept Gina in my sight all the way, and watched as the Norwich runner caught her. Someone shouted that I was well ahead in 6th place with just over a mile to go. I wasn't going to glance back, but I could judge from the marshals' applause that there was someone behind me and it sounded like she was getting closer. I should be able to hold her off for the remaining mile though.
Well no actually.
As we crested the last hill before the final down-up into the finish, Chris, my team mate, came past me. That girl loves those hills! I made an effort to stay with her but it wasn't to be. It was bitter-sweet, as I would have loved to beat her, but what a finish we had in prospect with Gina, Chris and myself in close order, finishing 5th, 6th and 7th. Victory power!
At the finish Chris revealed just how much effort she'd put into getting past me. Well done Chris! My turn next time ;-)
The excitement grew though as word went round that we'd beaten Winchester! Surely not! Victory AC isn't the sort of team that beats Winchester. With Kath 1st and Shona 2nd, it all came down to where the 3rd place Winchester runner finished.
Shona 2nd, and Kath 1st:
Alas, it seems Victory AC isn't the sort of team that beats Winchester. Their 3rd runner Hannah finished 14th, meaning they beat us by just 1 point! Next time maybe?
We did really well though with Gina picking up a prize for 5th, Chris getting 1st W35 prize, I got 1st W45, Marilyn 1st W55, and we got bottles of wine for 2nd team.
Special mention for Emma, whom I waited for at the end. I ran with her down the last slope before ordering her to give it all on the final uphill 200m, telling her to catch the woman in front. She did! She caught up a big gap and finished a place or 2 higher. Well done Emma. Well paced!
The prizes. No, I'm not wearing anything underneath:
Marilyn W55:
2nd team prize:
The squad, most of us anyway:
Finally, this is my favourite photo, despite it being another team (the host club in fact). A gaggle of dead Pompey Joggers:
Thanks to Pauline, the race director, for the photos.
Finally a report from me wouldn't be complete without splits and HR data. Here they are. There might be a little fatigue evident in the low HR figures, but it's always difficult to maintain a high HR on a hilly course. I think I generally paced well, but maybe I did slow a little in the last mile - Chris will probably claim I did anyway.
Splits and ave HRs:
6:18 146bpm
6:41 154bpm
6:48 153bpm
7:30 153bpm
6:50 151bpm
34:09 (unofficial) 152bpm ave
A PB of course!
I love this race. It's a tough one, hilly, but it's such a great atmosphere. It's nice to do a road race where you can start on the actual start line. Once the gun goes, you know exactly who you are racing and where you are in the race and it makes for some really good racing. That's my perception from the sharp end, but I guess from my past experiences it's nice to do a friendly race where you are not self conscious and don't have to worry about all the sweaty men rushing past you.
Have you ever seen such a relaxed start as this? Proper racing!:
Before the start, I'd had a good look at the start list and realised we had a strong team with Chris and Gina. I was eagerly telling Chris that we had a chance to win the team prize. This was till I spotted Shona at the start. With Kath that makes 2 Winchester elite ladies. Guess I spoke a little too soon. Oops!
Not surprisingly Kath and Shona left the rest of us standing at the start. That's 6mins/mile worth of standing - they can certainly shift, those two. I slotted in behind team-mate Gina and Jane from Havant. I would dearly have loved to have tried to keep pace with them, but I was aware of the need to tread carefully in the first mile: with a steady uphill opening half mile, followed by a steep downhill, it's very easy to overdo it before the mile's out. I kept in touch with the two of them though but realised that perhaps I wasn't going to catch them.
I had a bit of a tussle with a Norwich woman at the first mile mark, running shoulder to shoulder, but she had the measure of me and pulled away as the road once more turned uphill.
The course is a tricky one. It never really levels out. It seems to be always either uphill or downhill, with some tricky little steeper bits, and a strength sapping long uphill in the 4th mile. Not a course for PBs then, except if, like me, it's the only 5-mile you've been doing in the last 3 years!
We were so lucky with the weather. It remained dry for the entire race. We even had some sun for a mile or so.
Hills are not exactly a speciality of mine, being tall and relatively heavy, but I wasn't doing too badly. I kept Gina in my sight all the way, and watched as the Norwich runner caught her. Someone shouted that I was well ahead in 6th place with just over a mile to go. I wasn't going to glance back, but I could judge from the marshals' applause that there was someone behind me and it sounded like she was getting closer. I should be able to hold her off for the remaining mile though.
Well no actually.
As we crested the last hill before the final down-up into the finish, Chris, my team mate, came past me. That girl loves those hills! I made an effort to stay with her but it wasn't to be. It was bitter-sweet, as I would have loved to beat her, but what a finish we had in prospect with Gina, Chris and myself in close order, finishing 5th, 6th and 7th. Victory power!
At the finish Chris revealed just how much effort she'd put into getting past me. Well done Chris! My turn next time ;-)
The excitement grew though as word went round that we'd beaten Winchester! Surely not! Victory AC isn't the sort of team that beats Winchester. With Kath 1st and Shona 2nd, it all came down to where the 3rd place Winchester runner finished.
Shona 2nd, and Kath 1st:
Alas, it seems Victory AC isn't the sort of team that beats Winchester. Their 3rd runner Hannah finished 14th, meaning they beat us by just 1 point! Next time maybe?
We did really well though with Gina picking up a prize for 5th, Chris getting 1st W35 prize, I got 1st W45, Marilyn 1st W55, and we got bottles of wine for 2nd team.
Special mention for Emma, whom I waited for at the end. I ran with her down the last slope before ordering her to give it all on the final uphill 200m, telling her to catch the woman in front. She did! She caught up a big gap and finished a place or 2 higher. Well done Emma. Well paced!
The prizes. No, I'm not wearing anything underneath:
Marilyn W55:
2nd team prize:
The squad, most of us anyway:
Finally, this is my favourite photo, despite it being another team (the host club in fact). A gaggle of dead Pompey Joggers:
Thanks to Pauline, the race director, for the photos.
Finally a report from me wouldn't be complete without splits and HR data. Here they are. There might be a little fatigue evident in the low HR figures, but it's always difficult to maintain a high HR on a hilly course. I think I generally paced well, but maybe I did slow a little in the last mile - Chris will probably claim I did anyway.
Splits and ave HRs:
6:18 146bpm
6:41 154bpm
6:48 153bpm
7:30 153bpm
6:50 151bpm
34:09 (unofficial) 152bpm ave
A PB of course!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Weekly summary - 16 weeks to go
I thought I'd start blogging my weekly training again, seeing as we're getting within a training programme's distance of the marathon. Which marathon? Not sure yet, but probably Leicester.
Now that fetcheveryone has started exporting training data, I've written a spreadsheet that converts the fetcheveryone format into my blog format, so it should make life easier each week putting the summaries together. The spreadsheet is a bit particular to my training and style of recording data, but if anyone wants a copy then let me know. You might need a bit of knowledge of Excel formulae to understand how it works.
Now that fetcheveryone has started exporting training data, I've written a spreadsheet that converts the fetcheveryone format into my blog format, so it should make life easier each week putting the summaries together. The spreadsheet is a bit particular to my training and style of recording data, but if anyone wants a copy then let me know. You might need a bit of knowledge of Excel formulae to understand how it works.
a.m. | p.m. | |||
| Miles | Notes | Miles | Notes | |
Mon 18 Jun | 2 | Gym sesh | 4.5 | easy run 08:58/mile 111bpm. |
| Tue | 0 | 7.8 | Off road tempo. Effort laps:7:24 135bpm, 8:10 139bpm, 7:54 143bpm, 7:21 138bpm, 7:41 140bpm. overall: 08:00/mile 127bpm. | |
| Wed | 4.5 | easy run offroad 09:10/mile 111bpm. | 6. | easy run. Fell over on left knee again. Grazed knee, arm and side 09:13/mile 109bpm. |
| Thu | 3.7 | easy run 08:57/mile 108bpm. | 5.9 | 6*797m, 90s recover: 3:15 141bpm max up 3:10 144bpm max down slight headwind 3:11 149bpm up 3:10 149bpm down 3:10 153bpm up 3:07 152bpm down |
| Fri | 2 | Gym sesh | 4.6 | easy run offroad 09:02/mile 106bpm. |
| Sat | 18.2 | ran to club barbie 14 miles, pause 30min, then group run of 4 miles. Bit tired 09:22/mile 114bpm. | 0 | |
| Sun | 8.3 | Easy club run 09:26/mile 104bpm. | 0 | |
| Total | 67.4 | |||
Sunday, June 17, 2007
South Downs Marathon and Relay
We had fun yesterday in the South Downs Marathon relay.
There was a last minute panic (well, last 12 hours actually) when a team member dropped out, but Marilyn stepped in and saved the day.
So it was me on the first leg (arguably the toughest), Steve on the second leg (arguably the easiest), Marilyn on the third leg (arguably the toughest, but I think she wins that argument), and Louise on the fourth leg (no argument).
There was a little bit of adrenaline at the start when we only got together as a team, with chip and numbers, with 10 minutes to go, but once the number and chip were on all was good. I was pleased with getting under an hour for my 7.5 miles. I'd gone off a little fast trying to keep up with the lead woman, but once I'd adopted a more sensible pace all was good and I finished strongly.
Steve was next up, running a good pace, and here seen finishing in some quite dark conditions, just before the first of the downpours of the day.
Next up, saviour of the day Marilyn, finishing in much brighter conditions:
Louise did a great last leg, having talked down her chances beforehand. I think she was quite relieved!
We finished in 3:43:55 in 28th place out of the 79 teams that started. Not a bad result! I'd like to know how we compared to the women's teams, having been classified as a men's team. I think we finished between the 2nd and 3rd women's teams, but the results so far published don't make the distinction.
Special mention to Craig, who was originally going to run before breaking a metatarsal a few weeks ago. He wasn't the last minute dropout - he gave us several weeks notice, and did the driving on the day. Thanks Craig!
Meanwhile in the marathon proper, the men's winner was Stuart Mills in a phenomenal 2:51:06. That time will take some beating!
The women's winner was Annabelle Stearns in 3:22:00. She was 6 minutes ahead of last year's winner Dawn, seen here:
Dawn's other half John also finished 2nd. The perfect couple!
At the other end of the field, Ruth finished her 59th marathon having endured some torrential downpours. Here she is finishing with Jo:
They were followed swiftly by Victory's finest Carol and Nicola. Carol got the first W60 prize and an interview with a reporter from the local paper. Well done Carol! (It matters not how many other W60s there were in the field). Well done too to Nicola for sticking with Carol after her glute problems at mile 10.
Well done too to the other Victory runners: Neil, Nick and Malcolm. Neil lost 15 minutes getting his hand patched after a nasty fall, finishing in 3:54. Malcolm had a great run in 4:21 - much faster than last year's scorching hot marathon. I'm guessing Nick had a better time this year with a 5:50, having stayed conscious this time!
Despite the brief bursts of torrential rain, it was a really good day out!
There was a last minute panic (well, last 12 hours actually) when a team member dropped out, but Marilyn stepped in and saved the day.
So it was me on the first leg (arguably the toughest), Steve on the second leg (arguably the easiest), Marilyn on the third leg (arguably the toughest, but I think she wins that argument), and Louise on the fourth leg (no argument).
There was a little bit of adrenaline at the start when we only got together as a team, with chip and numbers, with 10 minutes to go, but once the number and chip were on all was good. I was pleased with getting under an hour for my 7.5 miles. I'd gone off a little fast trying to keep up with the lead woman, but once I'd adopted a more sensible pace all was good and I finished strongly.
Steve was next up, running a good pace, and here seen finishing in some quite dark conditions, just before the first of the downpours of the day.
Next up, saviour of the day Marilyn, finishing in much brighter conditions:
Louise did a great last leg, having talked down her chances beforehand. I think she was quite relieved!
We finished in 3:43:55 in 28th place out of the 79 teams that started. Not a bad result! I'd like to know how we compared to the women's teams, having been classified as a men's team. I think we finished between the 2nd and 3rd women's teams, but the results so far published don't make the distinction.
Special mention to Craig, who was originally going to run before breaking a metatarsal a few weeks ago. He wasn't the last minute dropout - he gave us several weeks notice, and did the driving on the day. Thanks Craig!
Meanwhile in the marathon proper, the men's winner was Stuart Mills in a phenomenal 2:51:06. That time will take some beating!
The women's winner was Annabelle Stearns in 3:22:00. She was 6 minutes ahead of last year's winner Dawn, seen here:
Dawn's other half John also finished 2nd. The perfect couple!
At the other end of the field, Ruth finished her 59th marathon having endured some torrential downpours. Here she is finishing with Jo:
They were followed swiftly by Victory's finest Carol and Nicola. Carol got the first W60 prize and an interview with a reporter from the local paper. Well done Carol! (It matters not how many other W60s there were in the field). Well done too to Nicola for sticking with Carol after her glute problems at mile 10.
Well done too to the other Victory runners: Neil, Nick and Malcolm. Neil lost 15 minutes getting his hand patched after a nasty fall, finishing in 3:54. Malcolm had a great run in 4:21 - much faster than last year's scorching hot marathon. I'm guessing Nick had a better time this year with a 5:50, having stayed conscious this time!
Despite the brief bursts of torrential rain, it was a really good day out!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Southern Vets League Woking: 1500m
I did my best age-graded performance ever last night:
1500m 5:26.7 - 79.6% age graded
I finished 4th, winning the B-string race.
This was the closest track race I've done. I went out with the second group as Winchester elite Karen H went haring off in the lead as per usual. We did the first lap in 86s with my team mate Bev leading the pack with a Woking woman behind her, Winchester Jan (w50) and me following very closely. We then slowed a bit and we bunched right up in a tight box formation 2 abreast. I wondered about taking the lead but lacked the confidence to do this, so just sat there on the shoulder of Jan. I clipped her heel as we slowed - oops. 2nd lap was 89s - slower than I'd intended. Things then started to wind up a bit but we remained a tight pack right up to 200m. I then took Woking but Bev was already pulling away and she put in a very good sprint down the straight. I thought I could stick with Jan but she was too strong and I finished 3rd of the pack of 4, in 4th.
Despite the PB and the best age-graded performance so far, I'm a bit disappointed I didn't go for it on lap 2 as I might have knocked a second or 2 off and got the magic 80%. I might even have got a higher place, but it's hard to say. I did a negative split but I didn't have any kick at the end - just maintained my pace.
HR data/splits - I didn't get a 3rd lap split:
400m 86s 140bpm ave 150bpm max 5:44/mile
400m 89s 152bpm ave 153bpm max 5:56/mile
700m 152s 156bpm ave 159bpm max 5:47/mile
I know I'll be told my HR is too low, but I'm not sure you can read too much into such a short race. My HR went higher after the finish but I don't have the data as I hit stop on the watch.
Team-wise, we were leading right up to the last 2 events but lost out to Winchester. We still have a chance of making the finals though as we've only had 1st and 2nds, whereas Winchester have had a 3rd place.
Ceal was there in the 1500, running as a 50-year-old in a super vet Portsmouth team where their W35s were both over 50. I'm not sure how Ceal got on, but she lost out to the much younger Jan.
Marilyn was in loads of events including the 1500m, getting plenty of points. I wish I could have watched her triple jump - I think she won it.
Poor Neil looked done in at the end of the match having done the 1500m and 5000m and then the 800m leg of the medley relay (200m, 200m, 400m, 800m). He was soaking wet at the end of the 5000m, it being a very warm, humid night.
Loads of other good performance from Amanda, Dee, Shelagh, in fact everyone, but I don't have the results to hand.
Next round coming up on 9th July in Portsmouth. I'm doing the 5000m - a very painful experience, but hopefully one I'll only have to endure for less than 20 minutes. Who knows, maybe a double milestone: sub-20 and 80%+? Fingers crossed.
1500m 5:26.7 - 79.6% age graded
I finished 4th, winning the B-string race.
This was the closest track race I've done. I went out with the second group as Winchester elite Karen H went haring off in the lead as per usual. We did the first lap in 86s with my team mate Bev leading the pack with a Woking woman behind her, Winchester Jan (w50) and me following very closely. We then slowed a bit and we bunched right up in a tight box formation 2 abreast. I wondered about taking the lead but lacked the confidence to do this, so just sat there on the shoulder of Jan. I clipped her heel as we slowed - oops. 2nd lap was 89s - slower than I'd intended. Things then started to wind up a bit but we remained a tight pack right up to 200m. I then took Woking but Bev was already pulling away and she put in a very good sprint down the straight. I thought I could stick with Jan but she was too strong and I finished 3rd of the pack of 4, in 4th.
Despite the PB and the best age-graded performance so far, I'm a bit disappointed I didn't go for it on lap 2 as I might have knocked a second or 2 off and got the magic 80%. I might even have got a higher place, but it's hard to say. I did a negative split but I didn't have any kick at the end - just maintained my pace.
HR data/splits - I didn't get a 3rd lap split:
400m 86s 140bpm ave 150bpm max 5:44/mile
400m 89s 152bpm ave 153bpm max 5:56/mile
700m 152s 156bpm ave 159bpm max 5:47/mile
I know I'll be told my HR is too low, but I'm not sure you can read too much into such a short race. My HR went higher after the finish but I don't have the data as I hit stop on the watch.
Team-wise, we were leading right up to the last 2 events but lost out to Winchester. We still have a chance of making the finals though as we've only had 1st and 2nds, whereas Winchester have had a 3rd place.
Ceal was there in the 1500, running as a 50-year-old in a super vet Portsmouth team where their W35s were both over 50. I'm not sure how Ceal got on, but she lost out to the much younger Jan.
Marilyn was in loads of events including the 1500m, getting plenty of points. I wish I could have watched her triple jump - I think she won it.
Poor Neil looked done in at the end of the match having done the 1500m and 5000m and then the 800m leg of the medley relay (200m, 200m, 400m, 800m). He was soaking wet at the end of the 5000m, it being a very warm, humid night.
Loads of other good performance from Amanda, Dee, Shelagh, in fact everyone, but I don't have the results to hand.
Next round coming up on 9th July in Portsmouth. I'm doing the 5000m - a very painful experience, but hopefully one I'll only have to endure for less than 20 minutes. Who knows, maybe a double milestone: sub-20 and 80%+? Fingers crossed.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Speed
I haven't posted any training for a while, so here's some...
I have a 1500m on Monday night and felt the need to get my legs turning over quickly in preparation - neuromuscular training rather than cardiovascular - there's no way I could make any CV improvements in just 3 days. So on Mike G's recommendation I tried the following session:
10 x 50m builds, 100m timed sprint, 50 m walk recovery:
22s
21s
20s
19s
19s
19s
18s
18s
17s
17s
Max for the session was only 150bpm.
I finished with a 300m pace rehearsal for Monday, 100m splits 22,21,21.
I was right up on my toes running tall with good knee lift. This was as much a session for training form (in spikes) as it was for developing speed.
I jogged down to the same track used for the D-day 10k, carrying my spikes, and jogged back again. I might make a habit of doing low key lunchtime track sessions as little 'extras'.
Now here's a thing...
I've seen a formula (oh how we love formulae!) which says that you add 4s per 400m for every doubling of the distance. Now this probably breaks down when you get anaerobic, but...
Taking 17s as my 100m time, which will err on the slow side as I could easily run faster than that when fresh, then that is 68s/400, so my paces might be:
200m 72s/400 36s/200
400m 76s(/400)
800m 80s/400
1600m 84s/400
which makes the 87/88s per lap I was aiming for in the 1500m seem a little cautious. Maybe I should go for it! 5:15-5:20 seems a possibility.
I know it's a tad extreme extrapolating 1500m from 100m rep times, but the 100s were very controlled. The McMillan calculator seems to agree with me, which incidentally predicts a marathon time of 3:14:51, the magic mark, from a 100m time of 17s.
Predicting marathon times from 100m times? - you're 'aving a laaarrf!
I have a 1500m on Monday night and felt the need to get my legs turning over quickly in preparation - neuromuscular training rather than cardiovascular - there's no way I could make any CV improvements in just 3 days. So on Mike G's recommendation I tried the following session:
10 x 50m builds, 100m timed sprint, 50 m walk recovery:
22s
21s
20s
19s
19s
19s
18s
18s
17s
17s
Max for the session was only 150bpm.
I finished with a 300m pace rehearsal for Monday, 100m splits 22,21,21.
I was right up on my toes running tall with good knee lift. This was as much a session for training form (in spikes) as it was for developing speed.
I jogged down to the same track used for the D-day 10k, carrying my spikes, and jogged back again. I might make a habit of doing low key lunchtime track sessions as little 'extras'.
Now here's a thing...
I've seen a formula (oh how we love formulae!) which says that you add 4s per 400m for every doubling of the distance. Now this probably breaks down when you get anaerobic, but...
Taking 17s as my 100m time, which will err on the slow side as I could easily run faster than that when fresh, then that is 68s/400, so my paces might be:
200m 72s/400 36s/200
400m 76s(/400)
800m 80s/400
1600m 84s/400
which makes the 87/88s per lap I was aiming for in the 1500m seem a little cautious. Maybe I should go for it! 5:15-5:20 seems a possibility.
I know it's a tad extreme extrapolating 1500m from 100m rep times, but the 100s were very controlled. The McMillan calculator seems to agree with me, which incidentally predicts a marathon time of 3:14:51, the magic mark, from a 100m time of 17s.
Predicting marathon times from 100m times? - you're 'aving a laaarrf!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
D-day 10k Portsmouth
This was the first time I've done this race, previous years having clashed with other commitments. It is held on the Wednesday nearest to D-day, which this year happened to actually be D-day: 6th June.
The course starts at the Mountbatten Centre with 2 laps of the track before heading up the promenade, following the Promenade 5k course, looping round Hilsea Lido and returning for another lap of the track before heading out again for a second lap round the Lido. The course can be quite exposed, as we discovered for the 5k, and though the wind was lighter there was still a stiff breeze on the outward journey along the prom. The temperature was around 19°C when we started, so not too bad in the cooling breeze.
After a good bit of chin wagging with some familiar faces at the start, I spotted some more of the usual suspects on the start line and realised I was in for a bit of a race. I started off sensibly though, letting my first target Paula run away a bit, and letting my team mate Graham provide the pacing. After about 1km we overtook Paula and caught my other team mate Dave, who was having a hard time - I think he pulled out at half way.
I was then caught by Bev my Havant track team mate, running for her first-claim club Stubbington, and we ran together for a couple of kilometres. I would have been content to just keep pace with Bev but I managed to get the confidence to push on and away from her. It's all very well having these little battles - they're certainly fun - but ultimately you have to run your own race and make your own pacing decisions. With hindsight I'm glad I pushed on.
By half way I'd dropped Bev and was able to push past Graham and on back up the promenade. Up ahead I could see 3 more women and I knew I had to catch them if I was to be in with a chance of a prize. I tried to remember my racing tactics and make each overtaking decisive so that they couldn't latch on to me. In fact, as they were all in a line I pretty much ended up overtaking them all in one go - that's decisive! It resulted in my fastest kilometre but I felt strong so kept pushing for the finish, helped by a couple of men who had seemingly made the move with me.
I heard a marshal shout that the 3rd place woman was 70m ahead. I couldn't see her, but did he really mean I was in 4th? Good news indeed.
I felt a couple of people on my shoulder and kept expecting to see a woman push past me in the run in. Unusually for me I had a quick glance over my shoulder, but there were only men trying to pace off me. One overtook me and I used him to lift me for the final push for the line.
I crossed the line 4th woman and 1st W45. I'm very pleased with that: my best result ever for such a large field (450 runners). Kath Bailey won with Karrie Blake, last year's winner, 2nd. I finished ahead of all the W35 and W40 runners (with the exception of W35 Kath) so it's a shame I wasn't given the W35 prize - I'd have been quite happy with that! I hope the W35 and W40 winners didn't get more money than me. (I've already admitted to being a pot-hunter - well it is nice to win)
I was a bit slower than I'd hoped, in 42:45, but everyone seemed to think they were a bit slow. There was quite a bit of breeze and it was still quite warm, so maybe that's the explanation.
I was pleased with how I ran - absolutely even 5k splits 21:22, 21:23. I wondered if maybe I could have gone off a bit quicker, but as I was pushing hard in the last couple of kms for a dead even split, then maybe I paced it right. It's certainly much easier picking people off one by one than trying to defend your position.
My splits:
1 4:13 139bpm
2 4:15 150bpm
3,4 4:22 152bpm
5 4:09 153bpm
6 4:25 157bpm
7 3:58 159bpm
8 4:24 158bpm
9 4:30 158bpm
10 4:05 158bpm
42:45 ave 153bpm
The uneven splits could have been due to the wind on the outgoing half of each of the 2 laps, or it could have been the fact that the km markers were on lampposts so were all +/-30m
Very pleased, and £15 better off!
The course starts at the Mountbatten Centre with 2 laps of the track before heading up the promenade, following the Promenade 5k course, looping round Hilsea Lido and returning for another lap of the track before heading out again for a second lap round the Lido. The course can be quite exposed, as we discovered for the 5k, and though the wind was lighter there was still a stiff breeze on the outward journey along the prom. The temperature was around 19°C when we started, so not too bad in the cooling breeze.
After a good bit of chin wagging with some familiar faces at the start, I spotted some more of the usual suspects on the start line and realised I was in for a bit of a race. I started off sensibly though, letting my first target Paula run away a bit, and letting my team mate Graham provide the pacing. After about 1km we overtook Paula and caught my other team mate Dave, who was having a hard time - I think he pulled out at half way.
I was then caught by Bev my Havant track team mate, running for her first-claim club Stubbington, and we ran together for a couple of kilometres. I would have been content to just keep pace with Bev but I managed to get the confidence to push on and away from her. It's all very well having these little battles - they're certainly fun - but ultimately you have to run your own race and make your own pacing decisions. With hindsight I'm glad I pushed on.
By half way I'd dropped Bev and was able to push past Graham and on back up the promenade. Up ahead I could see 3 more women and I knew I had to catch them if I was to be in with a chance of a prize. I tried to remember my racing tactics and make each overtaking decisive so that they couldn't latch on to me. In fact, as they were all in a line I pretty much ended up overtaking them all in one go - that's decisive! It resulted in my fastest kilometre but I felt strong so kept pushing for the finish, helped by a couple of men who had seemingly made the move with me.
I heard a marshal shout that the 3rd place woman was 70m ahead. I couldn't see her, but did he really mean I was in 4th? Good news indeed.
I felt a couple of people on my shoulder and kept expecting to see a woman push past me in the run in. Unusually for me I had a quick glance over my shoulder, but there were only men trying to pace off me. One overtook me and I used him to lift me for the final push for the line.
I crossed the line 4th woman and 1st W45. I'm very pleased with that: my best result ever for such a large field (450 runners). Kath Bailey won with Karrie Blake, last year's winner, 2nd. I finished ahead of all the W35 and W40 runners (with the exception of W35 Kath) so it's a shame I wasn't given the W35 prize - I'd have been quite happy with that! I hope the W35 and W40 winners didn't get more money than me. (I've already admitted to being a pot-hunter - well it is nice to win)
I was a bit slower than I'd hoped, in 42:45, but everyone seemed to think they were a bit slow. There was quite a bit of breeze and it was still quite warm, so maybe that's the explanation.
I was pleased with how I ran - absolutely even 5k splits 21:22, 21:23. I wondered if maybe I could have gone off a bit quicker, but as I was pushing hard in the last couple of kms for a dead even split, then maybe I paced it right. It's certainly much easier picking people off one by one than trying to defend your position.
My splits:
1 4:13 139bpm
2 4:15 150bpm
3,4 4:22 152bpm
5 4:09 153bpm
6 4:25 157bpm
7 3:58 159bpm
8 4:24 158bpm
9 4:30 158bpm
10 4:05 158bpm
42:45 ave 153bpm
The uneven splits could have been due to the wind on the outgoing half of each of the 2 laps, or it could have been the fact that the km markers were on lampposts so were all +/-30m
Very pleased, and £15 better off!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Dulwich 10k
Well this race had been billed as the great showdown between me and my good friend Slow-Coach, however her 'Slow' billing is becoming increasingly less justified, whereas her 'Coach' billing is fully justified after the beasting I got at her hill session the day before.
Saturday was the aforementioned hill session. This was going to be a nice easy session in Greenwich Park, focusing mainly on technique.
Easy?
After an initial warmup, drills, and basic running technique work we took to the hills. 6 long steep repeats later and my legs were jelly. Then came the downhill technique work with some hair-raisingly fast descents and I was barely holding it together. So why did I choose that moment to try my steep downhill 'gazelle' technique? Ouch! The technique involves jumping each time your one foot hits the ground, then taking a quick tiny step with your other foot, then repeating the whole thing again. It has worked well for me on previous occasions, but I don't usually try it with jelly legs. As I came haring down the hill and hit the flat tarmac path halfway down, my legs buckled. I managed to miss the tarmac and rolled onto the grass, with what I think was quite a well controlled fall, but my knee hit the ground hard resulting in some bad bruising.
No time to wallow in self pity though as what came next was an uphill/downhill relay: teams of 3 passing a baton up and down a hill so that each runner does 2 uphill runs and 2 downhill runs. Great fun but incredibly manic. My knee was sore but OK to run on. It was good fun, but I was well and truly finished at the close of the session.
My thanks go to Slow-Coach for a great training session - really well thought out. It wasn't the best way to prepare for a 10k though!
I could relate the tale of an afternoon of culture at the Antony Gormley exhibition, but this is a running blog. Go see it though - it's fantastic.
And so to the Dulwich 10k. This is a low key event, part of a summer series of races for local London clubs. I was running as a guest. It's very informal: names are taken at the start, £1 is collected, you line up, run 3 laps of Dulwich Park and the pavements of the road around the outside, and remember to grab a cloakroom ticket as you cross the line, so that your place and name can be registered.
It was a lovely day. Both Saturday and now Sunday were hot and sunny. The park was beautiful in the hot sunshine.
Slow-Coach set off purposefully with me pacing just behind her. I would dearly have loved to just sit there and then outsprint her at the end, but I was mindful of the D-day 10k in 3 days time, and not wanting to overdo things. As it happened though I had no choice in the matter as my legs were not going to cooperate. That Saturday hill session was the culmination of several hard days of training and as I suspected I didn't have anything left. I was content to just leave Slow-Coach to pull away after the first lap and for me to cruise in a minute or 2 behind her. She was 2nd woman in around 43 minutes. I was 4th woman, if the shouts of support were accurate, in 44:46 - quite slow, but considering my average HR was only 142bpm, well below marathon effort, I'm quite pleased with that. I'll count that as a good marathon pace to threshold training effort.
Next up was the kids race. Slow-Coach Junior was running in this - what a fantastic run. He showed great maturity at the grand old age of 12. He let the others go sprinting away from him and then patiently reeled them in well before half way. He then pulled away from them and won by a huge margin. Brilliant effort. We were all dead chuffed!
I was tucking into a sandwich when I got a call to stand in on the 3rd leg of the fun relay. This was something of a surprise! I handed my sandwich over to the nearest available sandwich minder (tip: don't put an unwrapped sandwich in a rucksack with tracky bottoms!), and tried as best as I could to warm up and get my aching (and bruised) legs back in working order.
It was great fun! I've never run such a short distance: it was about 500m per lap, marked out by cones on the grass. It was such a close race. I took the baton in 2nd place for Serpentine and just about managed to hold the gap on the 1st place runner from Ealing and Southall. Our final runner was closing on 1st all the way round the last lap but couldn't quite close the gap. We came 2nd with nothing separating the 1,2,3. Another case of jelly legs for me, but such great fun.
A fantastic weekend!
Things that I've learnt?:
Saturday was the aforementioned hill session. This was going to be a nice easy session in Greenwich Park, focusing mainly on technique.
Easy?
After an initial warmup, drills, and basic running technique work we took to the hills. 6 long steep repeats later and my legs were jelly. Then came the downhill technique work with some hair-raisingly fast descents and I was barely holding it together. So why did I choose that moment to try my steep downhill 'gazelle' technique? Ouch! The technique involves jumping each time your one foot hits the ground, then taking a quick tiny step with your other foot, then repeating the whole thing again. It has worked well for me on previous occasions, but I don't usually try it with jelly legs. As I came haring down the hill and hit the flat tarmac path halfway down, my legs buckled. I managed to miss the tarmac and rolled onto the grass, with what I think was quite a well controlled fall, but my knee hit the ground hard resulting in some bad bruising.
No time to wallow in self pity though as what came next was an uphill/downhill relay: teams of 3 passing a baton up and down a hill so that each runner does 2 uphill runs and 2 downhill runs. Great fun but incredibly manic. My knee was sore but OK to run on. It was good fun, but I was well and truly finished at the close of the session.
My thanks go to Slow-Coach for a great training session - really well thought out. It wasn't the best way to prepare for a 10k though!
I could relate the tale of an afternoon of culture at the Antony Gormley exhibition, but this is a running blog. Go see it though - it's fantastic.
And so to the Dulwich 10k. This is a low key event, part of a summer series of races for local London clubs. I was running as a guest. It's very informal: names are taken at the start, £1 is collected, you line up, run 3 laps of Dulwich Park and the pavements of the road around the outside, and remember to grab a cloakroom ticket as you cross the line, so that your place and name can be registered.
It was a lovely day. Both Saturday and now Sunday were hot and sunny. The park was beautiful in the hot sunshine.
Slow-Coach set off purposefully with me pacing just behind her. I would dearly have loved to just sit there and then outsprint her at the end, but I was mindful of the D-day 10k in 3 days time, and not wanting to overdo things. As it happened though I had no choice in the matter as my legs were not going to cooperate. That Saturday hill session was the culmination of several hard days of training and as I suspected I didn't have anything left. I was content to just leave Slow-Coach to pull away after the first lap and for me to cruise in a minute or 2 behind her. She was 2nd woman in around 43 minutes. I was 4th woman, if the shouts of support were accurate, in 44:46 - quite slow, but considering my average HR was only 142bpm, well below marathon effort, I'm quite pleased with that. I'll count that as a good marathon pace to threshold training effort.
Next up was the kids race. Slow-Coach Junior was running in this - what a fantastic run. He showed great maturity at the grand old age of 12. He let the others go sprinting away from him and then patiently reeled them in well before half way. He then pulled away from them and won by a huge margin. Brilliant effort. We were all dead chuffed!
I was tucking into a sandwich when I got a call to stand in on the 3rd leg of the fun relay. This was something of a surprise! I handed my sandwich over to the nearest available sandwich minder (tip: don't put an unwrapped sandwich in a rucksack with tracky bottoms!), and tried as best as I could to warm up and get my aching (and bruised) legs back in working order.
It was great fun! I've never run such a short distance: it was about 500m per lap, marked out by cones on the grass. It was such a close race. I took the baton in 2nd place for Serpentine and just about managed to hold the gap on the 1st place runner from Ealing and Southall. Our final runner was closing on 1st all the way round the last lap but couldn't quite close the gap. We came 2nd with nothing separating the 1,2,3. Another case of jelly legs for me, but such great fun.
A fantastic weekend!
Things that I've learnt?:
- Don't believe someone who says you'll be fine for a 10k as the hill session is a nice easy one focusing mainly on technique.
- Don't try out dangerous downhill techniques on tired legs.
- I look good in Serpentine red!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Southern Vets League Basingstoke: 3000m
My first track race of the season was last night, running for Havant AC.
It had rained all day, was raining when we arrived, but the rain held off for the event. It was rather cool and the track was covered in puddles, but the conditions were OK for me.
The cool conditions may have been a factor in several muscle strains and tears though. Poor Rob pulled up in the 200m with a torn hamstring and Tom Buckner pulled a calf muscle in the steeplechase. I felt sorry for Tom as the announcer declared "And here we see ex-international steeplechaser Tom Buckner still showing good technique, despite his lack of pace". Cheek! Tom scored some good points though, but I think team captain Pete was a bit disappointed by the several DNFs dragging the men's score down.
Meanwhile, the women were doing somewhat better.
I watched Vicki and Amanda show everyone how it was done in the 800m and then it was my turn in the 3000m.
I had a good race, winning the B race, pacing well and knocking 14s off my PB. Teammate Bev took a half lap lead over me early on, but from there I seemed to keep pace with her. I tracked Winchester woman Jan for much of the race, but she pulled away on the last half lap. At least I didn't get lapped by (Winchester's) Karen Hazlitt this time, but she had done the Great Manchester run the previous day (in under 35 mins). You may ask how I finished behind 2 Winchester women and still won the B race - I don't know - I assume one of them was guesting. I did however lap another Winchester woman and lapped my W50 team mate Marilyn, who provided a good target in the finish straight. I just had to lap you Marilyn - sorry!
I finished in 11:42.4.
The age graded result was 78.7% (the older you get, the more you rely on age grading to tell you how you've done!)
Here are the splits:
92s 124bpm
94s 151bpm
94s 153bpm
93s 155bpm
93s 157bpm
94s 158bpm
94s 158bpm
46s 157bpm
You will notice that the last 200m is a slightly lower ave HR even though it was as fast a pace as the opening lap and faster than the penultimate lap. My HR dropped by 2 or 3 beats in the finish straight despite me pushing hard for the line, and presumably picking up speed (chasing Marilyn!). I can only assume this was some weird effect of going totally anaerobic and dropping the need for oxygen? I'm not sure, but it might be something to research.
It was a fraction slower than I'd hoped, but I had a fairly full week/weekend and didn't taper for the race. I'm pretty pleased with the result.
In the women's match we were winning by the time of the final event, the discus, which was still going on when we left. Well done team!
It had rained all day, was raining when we arrived, but the rain held off for the event. It was rather cool and the track was covered in puddles, but the conditions were OK for me.
The cool conditions may have been a factor in several muscle strains and tears though. Poor Rob pulled up in the 200m with a torn hamstring and Tom Buckner pulled a calf muscle in the steeplechase. I felt sorry for Tom as the announcer declared "And here we see ex-international steeplechaser Tom Buckner still showing good technique, despite his lack of pace". Cheek! Tom scored some good points though, but I think team captain Pete was a bit disappointed by the several DNFs dragging the men's score down.
Meanwhile, the women were doing somewhat better.
I watched Vicki and Amanda show everyone how it was done in the 800m and then it was my turn in the 3000m.
I had a good race, winning the B race, pacing well and knocking 14s off my PB. Teammate Bev took a half lap lead over me early on, but from there I seemed to keep pace with her. I tracked Winchester woman Jan for much of the race, but she pulled away on the last half lap. At least I didn't get lapped by (Winchester's) Karen Hazlitt this time, but she had done the Great Manchester run the previous day (in under 35 mins). You may ask how I finished behind 2 Winchester women and still won the B race - I don't know - I assume one of them was guesting. I did however lap another Winchester woman and lapped my W50 team mate Marilyn, who provided a good target in the finish straight. I just had to lap you Marilyn - sorry!
I finished in 11:42.4.
The age graded result was 78.7% (the older you get, the more you rely on age grading to tell you how you've done!)
Here are the splits:
92s 124bpm
94s 151bpm
94s 153bpm
93s 155bpm
93s 157bpm
94s 158bpm
94s 158bpm
46s 157bpm
You will notice that the last 200m is a slightly lower ave HR even though it was as fast a pace as the opening lap and faster than the penultimate lap. My HR dropped by 2 or 3 beats in the finish straight despite me pushing hard for the line, and presumably picking up speed (chasing Marilyn!). I can only assume this was some weird effect of going totally anaerobic and dropping the need for oxygen? I'm not sure, but it might be something to research.
It was a fraction slower than I'd hoped, but I had a fairly full week/weekend and didn't taper for the race. I'm pretty pleased with the result.
In the women's match we were winning by the time of the final event, the discus, which was still going on when we left. Well done team!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Emsworth to Basingstoke Charity Relay 2007
Last Saturday 12th May the club ran the Emsworth Basingstoke Charity Relay in aid of Motor Neurone Disease. I've just got Jan's photos. Here they are:
The girls team:
The boys A team:
Dave leads off the boys A team:
followed by Toby for the B team:
and Vicky for the girls
Amanda takes over from Belinda at Chalton:
Amanda then hands on to Susie. This is serious relay changeover stuff!:
Belinda to Marilyn at West Worldham:
Marilyn then hands to Shelly south of Alton:
It can be exciting stuff, but sometimes you're on your own:
The girls won their race against the other 3 (or 2?) girls teams. The boys A didn't manage to repeat their previous win, finishing 6th after some unfortunate navigation errors. The B team finished just behind us girls - sorry boys! (and girl).
We were so lucky with the weather - sun and no sign of rain, despite the soaking Basingstoke got earlier in the day. Great fun!
For a full description of the race, see the report from 2 years ago.
The girls team:
The boys A team:
Dave leads off the boys A team:
followed by Toby for the B team:
and Vicky for the girls
Amanda takes over from Belinda at Chalton:
Amanda then hands on to Susie. This is serious relay changeover stuff!:
Belinda to Marilyn at West Worldham:
Marilyn then hands to Shelly south of Alton:
It can be exciting stuff, but sometimes you're on your own:
The girls won their race against the other 3 (or 2?) girls teams. The boys A didn't manage to repeat their previous win, finishing 6th after some unfortunate navigation errors. The B team finished just behind us girls - sorry boys! (and girl).
We were so lucky with the weather - sun and no sign of rain, despite the soaking Basingstoke got earlier in the day. Great fun!
For a full description of the race, see the report from 2 years ago.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Portsmouth Promenade 5k
Again I raced with a target in mind, and again I missed my target. This time though I was not disappointed as I had a great race.
The target was 20:00, one of my aims for 2007, which I'm sure I'll get as soon as I get the marathon out of my legs. I finished in 21:04 which I'm reasonably happy with given the conditions.
It was very windy! It was blowing a force 7, by my reckoning - not quite a gale but pretty hard to run into. We had much of the last 3km into the wind and it cost a lot of time.
My enjoyment of the race was saved though by my battle with Tina. I overtook Tina at the start, then she overtook me at 1km and I took her back shortly afterwards as we ran shoulder to shoulder round the Lido. She then took me at 3km as we struggled with the wind and she held the lead until the final run in. Helped by a couple of faster guys providing pacing targets I managed to get back to about 10m behind her as we weaved around the paths in the park. As we entered the final straight I still didn't think I was going to be able to catch her, but somehow I found an extra gear and pulled back 10m in a sprint for the line. I finished just ahead of Tina and turned what could have been another moan about weather conditions robbing me of a time, into a rewarding true run race.
Thank you Tina! I love this sort of racing and don't get too many chances to have such a close battle. I finished 2nd W45 which is far more important than the time as this is a 3-race series. I hope the rest of the series is as good as this one!
The splits:
3:54 147bpm wind behind
4:06 156bpm mostly behind, some buffeting
4:20 159bpm mostly in front
4:28 159bpm headwind all the way
4:11 158bpm some headwind
I think I paced reasonably well, but maybe I did fade a little in the last km as my HR dropped slightly.
I look forward to the next round in July where I will hopefully have a fresh, marathon-recovered, pair of legs and a proper crack at that 20-minute barrier (in windless conditions?)
We may have had a good team score as Gina finished ahead of me in 20:24ish (I think) and Sacha coming in behind me. We had at least 4 men running: Neil, Graham, Toby and Bob. Sorry if I didn't spot anyone else. Thanks to Marilyn and Kevin for their support.
The men's race was won by James Baker, with Sophie Morris of Windsor Slough and Eton winning the women's race with a time quite close to Lucy Elliott's course record - pretty good in such windy conditions.
The target was 20:00, one of my aims for 2007, which I'm sure I'll get as soon as I get the marathon out of my legs. I finished in 21:04 which I'm reasonably happy with given the conditions.
It was very windy! It was blowing a force 7, by my reckoning - not quite a gale but pretty hard to run into. We had much of the last 3km into the wind and it cost a lot of time.
My enjoyment of the race was saved though by my battle with Tina. I overtook Tina at the start, then she overtook me at 1km and I took her back shortly afterwards as we ran shoulder to shoulder round the Lido. She then took me at 3km as we struggled with the wind and she held the lead until the final run in. Helped by a couple of faster guys providing pacing targets I managed to get back to about 10m behind her as we weaved around the paths in the park. As we entered the final straight I still didn't think I was going to be able to catch her, but somehow I found an extra gear and pulled back 10m in a sprint for the line. I finished just ahead of Tina and turned what could have been another moan about weather conditions robbing me of a time, into a rewarding true run race.
Thank you Tina! I love this sort of racing and don't get too many chances to have such a close battle. I finished 2nd W45 which is far more important than the time as this is a 3-race series. I hope the rest of the series is as good as this one!
The splits:
3:54 147bpm wind behind
4:06 156bpm mostly behind, some buffeting
4:20 159bpm mostly in front
4:28 159bpm headwind all the way
4:11 158bpm some headwind
I think I paced reasonably well, but maybe I did fade a little in the last km as my HR dropped slightly.
I look forward to the next round in July where I will hopefully have a fresh, marathon-recovered, pair of legs and a proper crack at that 20-minute barrier (in windless conditions?)
We may have had a good team score as Gina finished ahead of me in 20:24ish (I think) and Sacha coming in behind me. We had at least 4 men running: Neil, Graham, Toby and Bob. Sorry if I didn't spot anyone else. Thanks to Marilyn and Kevin for their support.
The men's race was won by James Baker, with Sophie Morris of Windsor Slough and Eton winning the women's race with a time quite close to Lucy Elliott's course record - pretty good in such windy conditions.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Heart Rate Kinetics
I had an epiphany recently. It wasn't exactly a road to Damascus moment, but for someone obsessed with all things heart rate, it was another step towards my cardiac enlightenment.
For years I've recorded heart rates of each run, and plotted curves looking for trends and signs of improving performance. I'd always tended to ignore the first mile though, as it takes time for the heart rate to stabilise and provide any data that could be interpreted meaningfully.
Then the other day I read an article on VO2 kinetics, which indicated that maybe that first mile's data may not be so meaningless after all.
I've always understood heart rate to be a good indication of oxygen demand and lactate levels. While heart rate monitors are good for this in aerobic exercise, eg marathon pacing, there are times when they are not so useful, namely high level exercise and short duration events (intervals) where the HR hasn't stabilised.
To see how the HR ramps up at the start of the effort, here's my heart rate plot of the first kilometre of the Eastleigh 10k:
In this plot you can see the HR curve increasing exponentially up to a value of 146bpm by the end of the first km. As there isn't a stable HR level to pace off, I'd always assumed the initial data was best ignored.
However, a Peak Performance article reveals that this data may be useful after all.
The thing I'd never quite understood is that if HR indicates oxygen demand, then why is the oxygen demand apparently less during the opening minutes? Surely if you are running aerobically at an even effort then oxygen demand should be constant? I'd assumed that HR wasn't a reliable indicator of oxygen demand until after a few minutes when you'd warmed up.
The revelation came seeing a VO2 plot in the pages of Peak Performance of the initial minutes of high intensity exercise. This was a plot of the actual oxygen consumption, measured using a face mask and oxygen analyser, rather than a heart rate plot. The thing was though that it looked the same as the above. Oxygen demand increased exponentially just as HR did. Heart rate wasn't such a bad indicator of oxygen demand after all.
So if the effort is constant, but oxygen demand isn't, what's going on?
It takes a while for the muscles to 'warm up' and for the mitochondria to all come on line and process the much needed oxygen. This means that for the first few minutes of exercise there is an oxygen debt. In the absence of an adequate oxygen supply the muscles are forced to produce energy anaerobically, and this means:
Lactate!
Ah, music to my ears!
Clearly then, the faster the muscles get up to their maximum oxygen uptake the better, as there will be a smaller oxygen debt and less lactate build up. Any build up of lactate early on will have a major impact on subsequent performance as the muscle's efficiency is reduced. The smaller the oxygen debt the better.
This whole process of oxygen uptake is known as 'VO2 kinetics'.
So how do we maximise our VO2 kinetics? The most effective way is a good warmup. Allow me to demonstrate.
Here is a HR plot of a treadmill session I did on Saturday. The blue line shows 4 minutes of effort at 14.5kph. It was a little dodgy going straight to 10k pace without a warmup so I did at least do some mobility exercises. I was careful to keep my HR down though so that I was performing from cold. After the first effort I had 5 minutes of standing recovery to get my HR down quickly. The green plot shows a second 14.5kph effort of 4 minutes following the 5 minute recovery. The first effort had thus acted as a warmup. The red dotted curve I'll explain later.
A word of caution: these are HR plots not VO2 plots. HR will give a fair indication of oxygen uptake as the greater the demand for oxygen the faster the heart has to beat, but HR and VO2 are not the same - heat can affect HR as blood is pumped to the skin for cooling and causing a restricted oxygen supply to the muscles. Here though, with short efforts and a full recovery, it is likely that both efforts are being done in similar conditions with similar oxygen transport.
Having said that, clearly the green plot shows a faster increase in HR. The slope of the 2 curves is initially similar, with a small lag on the blue curve, but then there is something of a blip on the blue curve and the gap between the 2 increases somewhat. It is a fair bet that the oxygen debt for the second curve is less than the first. Personally, the second effort felt a lot more comfortable. I've noticed this effect too when running fast intervals - it takes 2 or 3 efforts before my legs feel comfortable, despite them all being the same pace.
The dotted red line in the above plot is a mathematical plot - an exponential curve with a time constant of 25s. What this means is that every 25s the gap between the current HR value and the value it is tending towards, 147bpm in this case, is halved. My time constant is thus about 25s.
Clearly the smaller one's time constant the better. The PP article made it clear that a good warmup will influence this, but also that endurance training can improve the time constant. Current research does not show what sort of training might have the best influence though.
I was intrigued to learn that the person with the fastest measured VO2 kinetics is Paula Radcliffe with a time constant of 8-9s. Whether this is down to training or genetics is unknown. Maybe I should try 140-mile weeks and test again.
Of course my time constant is measuring HR kinetics and not necessarily VO2 kinetics - they may not be the same, though I can assure you I don't have a VO2 time constant of 9s!
So what more can I learn from this data? It appears that we have a way of quantifying the effects of a warmup. I wouldn't call 4mins of 10k pace followed by 5mins standing, the best warmup. What I want to do is repeat this test with my usual warmup of 10mins jogging followed by some 30s sprints picking up the pace. In order to influence the oxygen uptake one has to warmup around threshold pace or faster in order to generate a bit of lactate. It's important to have a bit of recovery before the race (or test) though, as otherwise the warmup might impact the performance. I think my standard warmup fits the bill, so it will be interesting to see how it affects the test.
Can I improve the effectiveness of my warmup? With the track season coming up, I hope I can. Watch this space for details.
Reference: Peak Performance Number 245: Oxygen kinetics - start smart for a mean finish!
For years I've recorded heart rates of each run, and plotted curves looking for trends and signs of improving performance. I'd always tended to ignore the first mile though, as it takes time for the heart rate to stabilise and provide any data that could be interpreted meaningfully.
Then the other day I read an article on VO2 kinetics, which indicated that maybe that first mile's data may not be so meaningless after all.
I've always understood heart rate to be a good indication of oxygen demand and lactate levels. While heart rate monitors are good for this in aerobic exercise, eg marathon pacing, there are times when they are not so useful, namely high level exercise and short duration events (intervals) where the HR hasn't stabilised.
To see how the HR ramps up at the start of the effort, here's my heart rate plot of the first kilometre of the Eastleigh 10k:
In this plot you can see the HR curve increasing exponentially up to a value of 146bpm by the end of the first km. As there isn't a stable HR level to pace off, I'd always assumed the initial data was best ignored.
However, a Peak Performance article reveals that this data may be useful after all.
The thing I'd never quite understood is that if HR indicates oxygen demand, then why is the oxygen demand apparently less during the opening minutes? Surely if you are running aerobically at an even effort then oxygen demand should be constant? I'd assumed that HR wasn't a reliable indicator of oxygen demand until after a few minutes when you'd warmed up.
The revelation came seeing a VO2 plot in the pages of Peak Performance of the initial minutes of high intensity exercise. This was a plot of the actual oxygen consumption, measured using a face mask and oxygen analyser, rather than a heart rate plot. The thing was though that it looked the same as the above. Oxygen demand increased exponentially just as HR did. Heart rate wasn't such a bad indicator of oxygen demand after all.
So if the effort is constant, but oxygen demand isn't, what's going on?
It takes a while for the muscles to 'warm up' and for the mitochondria to all come on line and process the much needed oxygen. This means that for the first few minutes of exercise there is an oxygen debt. In the absence of an adequate oxygen supply the muscles are forced to produce energy anaerobically, and this means:
Lactate!
Ah, music to my ears!
Clearly then, the faster the muscles get up to their maximum oxygen uptake the better, as there will be a smaller oxygen debt and less lactate build up. Any build up of lactate early on will have a major impact on subsequent performance as the muscle's efficiency is reduced. The smaller the oxygen debt the better.
This whole process of oxygen uptake is known as 'VO2 kinetics'.
So how do we maximise our VO2 kinetics? The most effective way is a good warmup. Allow me to demonstrate.
Here is a HR plot of a treadmill session I did on Saturday. The blue line shows 4 minutes of effort at 14.5kph. It was a little dodgy going straight to 10k pace without a warmup so I did at least do some mobility exercises. I was careful to keep my HR down though so that I was performing from cold. After the first effort I had 5 minutes of standing recovery to get my HR down quickly. The green plot shows a second 14.5kph effort of 4 minutes following the 5 minute recovery. The first effort had thus acted as a warmup. The red dotted curve I'll explain later.
A word of caution: these are HR plots not VO2 plots. HR will give a fair indication of oxygen uptake as the greater the demand for oxygen the faster the heart has to beat, but HR and VO2 are not the same - heat can affect HR as blood is pumped to the skin for cooling and causing a restricted oxygen supply to the muscles. Here though, with short efforts and a full recovery, it is likely that both efforts are being done in similar conditions with similar oxygen transport.
Having said that, clearly the green plot shows a faster increase in HR. The slope of the 2 curves is initially similar, with a small lag on the blue curve, but then there is something of a blip on the blue curve and the gap between the 2 increases somewhat. It is a fair bet that the oxygen debt for the second curve is less than the first. Personally, the second effort felt a lot more comfortable. I've noticed this effect too when running fast intervals - it takes 2 or 3 efforts before my legs feel comfortable, despite them all being the same pace.
The dotted red line in the above plot is a mathematical plot - an exponential curve with a time constant of 25s. What this means is that every 25s the gap between the current HR value and the value it is tending towards, 147bpm in this case, is halved. My time constant is thus about 25s.
Clearly the smaller one's time constant the better. The PP article made it clear that a good warmup will influence this, but also that endurance training can improve the time constant. Current research does not show what sort of training might have the best influence though.
I was intrigued to learn that the person with the fastest measured VO2 kinetics is Paula Radcliffe with a time constant of 8-9s. Whether this is down to training or genetics is unknown. Maybe I should try 140-mile weeks and test again.
Of course my time constant is measuring HR kinetics and not necessarily VO2 kinetics - they may not be the same, though I can assure you I don't have a VO2 time constant of 9s!
So what more can I learn from this data? It appears that we have a way of quantifying the effects of a warmup. I wouldn't call 4mins of 10k pace followed by 5mins standing, the best warmup. What I want to do is repeat this test with my usual warmup of 10mins jogging followed by some 30s sprints picking up the pace. In order to influence the oxygen uptake one has to warmup around threshold pace or faster in order to generate a bit of lactate. It's important to have a bit of recovery before the race (or test) though, as otherwise the warmup might impact the performance. I think my standard warmup fits the bill, so it will be interesting to see how it affects the test.
Can I improve the effectiveness of my warmup? With the track season coming up, I hope I can. Watch this space for details.
Reference: Peak Performance Number 245: Oxygen kinetics - start smart for a mean finish!
Monday, April 30, 2007
London Marathon: Technical report
First up, here are the splits compared with my 'perfect marathon' at Abingdon.
The main factor to consider when looking at the above results is the heat. It was anything from 23°C to 27°C according to which report you believe. The heat pushes your heart rate up as blood is diverted from the muscles to the skin for cooling and makes the heart work faster to get oxygen to the muscles. Unfortunately you can't simply run at a higher HR because the restricted blood supply makes the muscles less efficient and lactate levels rise. Your only option is to slow down back to your usual HR level. This year's marathon was full of stories of people who tried to run at their normal pace and then had to slow dramatically when they lost the battle with their blood chemistry.
Apart from the effects of the heat slowing my overall pace, what disappointed me at London was the fact that I slowed quite significantly in the final miles, despite running cautiously, whereas at Abingdon I was strong to the tape. At Abingdon I only lost 90secs in the last half, whereas at London I lost 4 minutes. At London I couldn't keep pushing my HR up like I did at Abingdon, although my pace wasn't as slow as the difference in HR between the two races might suggest. Incidentally, the slow 25th mile in both races are in fact due to displaced mile markers rather than my pace, which was still around 8:00/mile according to my GPS.
I was telling everyone that I went off at too high a HR and paid for it at the end. To some extent this is true, as I was trying to maintain a 7:25/mile pace in the face of a raised HR, but in fact the HR splits for the opening miles compare favourably with Abingdon where my pacing was spot on.
Was it the heat causing dehydration and loss of performance in the closing stages? Maybe.
Was it the late start to the training and the loss of January to illness and lack of 20-milers causing a lack of endurance? Maybe.
Could it be that in the heat you have to be conservative and go off at an even lower HR to avoid overheating later? Maybe.
Could it be a lack of warmup which caused an early rise of lactate which caused problems later on? (I've been reading about VO2 kinetics and the importance of a proper warmup). Maybe.
Was my lactate threshold lower due to lack of marathon pace training runs or tempo runs, and so not able to tolerate such a high HR? Maybe.
Questions aside, I ran a sensible race. I took a sip of water every mile and sloshed the rest over me. I took a gel (SiS Go gel) every 4 miles. I felt spent at the end but not unduly distressed, just a little dehydrated maybe. I just seemed to lack strength in the last 3 miles.
I'm not going to obsess about my 'failure', which of course in many people's eyes is a resounding success. It always pays though to look at your performance and analyse what went wrong and what you need to do better. Regardless of how I ran the race, the main reason for being a lot slower than anticipated was the sudden heat, for which I was unprepared.
So what would I have done differently? Not much really. I could have taken it easier after Abingdon and avoided injury, but I doubt I could have avoided the illness. Maybe running Ryde 10 after a week in bed wasn't such a good idea though - it probably extended the illness. The injury and illness combined to restrict the time I had for the build up - this would seem to be the main problem apart from the heat.
I'll now work towards an autumn marathon to go for 3:15 again. As I felt before London I was already on 3:15 form in cool conditions, given another 6 months of injury free consistent training I should be able to get 3:15 comfortably. I hope so!
It's been 2 weeks since the marathon and my recover is going well, in that my legs feel OK. I have been rather tired since the marathon though - more so than for previous marathons I think. I've been getting at least 8 hours sleep per night, but by mid afternoon I'm falling asleep at my desk, and then falling asleep in front of the tele. Is this psychological, ie a lack of focus after the marathon, or physical? A bit of both I think.
I have a 5k race on Wednesday, so a chance to gauge my physical recovery. I think I should do well, although maybe not at my absolute best. Then it's back into full training for that 3:15!
| London | Abingdon | |||
| 1 | 07:43 | 135bpm | 07:59 | no hr |
| 2 | 07:27 | 144bpm | 07:27 | 144bpm |
| 3 | 07:06 | 146 | 07:36 | 146 |
| 4 | 07:23 | 147 | 07:53 | 148 |
| 5 | 07:24 | 147 | 07:22 | 146 |
| 6 | 07:45 | 147 | 07:48 | 146 |
| 7 | 07:39 | 145 | 07:32 | 145 |
| 8 | 07:32 | 146 | 08:36 | 145 |
| 9 | 07:40 | 146 | 07:30 | 144 |
| 10 | 07:37 | 146 | 07:38 | 146 |
| 11 | 07:38 | 144 | 07:44 | 146 |
| 12 | 07:37 | 145 | 07:39 | 146 |
| 13 | 07:39 | 145 | 07:38 | 146 |
| 14 | 07:37 | 145 | 07:40 | 147 |
| 15 | 07:37 | 145 | 08:02 | 149 |
| 16 | 07:37 | 145 | 07:48 | 148 |
| 17 | 07:46 | 145 | 07:32 | 151 |
| 18 | 07:34 | 146 | 07:55 | 151 |
| 19 | 08:02 | 146 | 07:58 | 152 |
| 20 | 07:53 | 144 | 07:53 | 154 |
| 21 | 07:57 | 145 | 07:48 | 153 |
| 22 | 07:56 | 144 | 07:50 | 155 |
| 23 | 08:00 | 145 | 07:47 | 154 |
| 24 | 07:43 | 145 | 07:53 | 154 |
| 25 | 08:30 | 144 | 08:24 | 156 |
| 26.2 | 09:54 | 146 | 07:25 | 158 |
| 01:38 | 160 | |||
| 10 km | 0:46:27 |
| 20 km | 1:34:00 |
| half | 1:39:07 |
| 30 km | 2:21:38 |
| 40 km | 3:11:21 |
| finish | 3:22:22 |
The main factor to consider when looking at the above results is the heat. It was anything from 23°C to 27°C according to which report you believe. The heat pushes your heart rate up as blood is diverted from the muscles to the skin for cooling and makes the heart work faster to get oxygen to the muscles. Unfortunately you can't simply run at a higher HR because the restricted blood supply makes the muscles less efficient and lactate levels rise. Your only option is to slow down back to your usual HR level. This year's marathon was full of stories of people who tried to run at their normal pace and then had to slow dramatically when they lost the battle with their blood chemistry.
Apart from the effects of the heat slowing my overall pace, what disappointed me at London was the fact that I slowed quite significantly in the final miles, despite running cautiously, whereas at Abingdon I was strong to the tape. At Abingdon I only lost 90secs in the last half, whereas at London I lost 4 minutes. At London I couldn't keep pushing my HR up like I did at Abingdon, although my pace wasn't as slow as the difference in HR between the two races might suggest. Incidentally, the slow 25th mile in both races are in fact due to displaced mile markers rather than my pace, which was still around 8:00/mile according to my GPS.
I was telling everyone that I went off at too high a HR and paid for it at the end. To some extent this is true, as I was trying to maintain a 7:25/mile pace in the face of a raised HR, but in fact the HR splits for the opening miles compare favourably with Abingdon where my pacing was spot on.
Was it the heat causing dehydration and loss of performance in the closing stages? Maybe.
Was it the late start to the training and the loss of January to illness and lack of 20-milers causing a lack of endurance? Maybe.
Could it be that in the heat you have to be conservative and go off at an even lower HR to avoid overheating later? Maybe.
Could it be a lack of warmup which caused an early rise of lactate which caused problems later on? (I've been reading about VO2 kinetics and the importance of a proper warmup). Maybe.
Was my lactate threshold lower due to lack of marathon pace training runs or tempo runs, and so not able to tolerate such a high HR? Maybe.
Questions aside, I ran a sensible race. I took a sip of water every mile and sloshed the rest over me. I took a gel (SiS Go gel) every 4 miles. I felt spent at the end but not unduly distressed, just a little dehydrated maybe. I just seemed to lack strength in the last 3 miles.
I'm not going to obsess about my 'failure', which of course in many people's eyes is a resounding success. It always pays though to look at your performance and analyse what went wrong and what you need to do better. Regardless of how I ran the race, the main reason for being a lot slower than anticipated was the sudden heat, for which I was unprepared.
So what would I have done differently? Not much really. I could have taken it easier after Abingdon and avoided injury, but I doubt I could have avoided the illness. Maybe running Ryde 10 after a week in bed wasn't such a good idea though - it probably extended the illness. The injury and illness combined to restrict the time I had for the build up - this would seem to be the main problem apart from the heat.
I'll now work towards an autumn marathon to go for 3:15 again. As I felt before London I was already on 3:15 form in cool conditions, given another 6 months of injury free consistent training I should be able to get 3:15 comfortably. I hope so!
It's been 2 weeks since the marathon and my recover is going well, in that my legs feel OK. I have been rather tired since the marathon though - more so than for previous marathons I think. I've been getting at least 8 hours sleep per night, but by mid afternoon I'm falling asleep at my desk, and then falling asleep in front of the tele. Is this psychological, ie a lack of focus after the marathon, or physical? A bit of both I think.
I have a 5k race on Wednesday, so a chance to gauge my physical recovery. I think I should do well, although maybe not at my absolute best. Then it's back into full training for that 3:15!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
This isn't me
My legs feel great, and I'm running tonight.
I thought you might enjoy this though:
Keep watching to the end!
I thought you might enjoy this though:
Keep watching to the end!
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Flora London Marathon
How do I write this without sounding disappointed with a new PB and club record?
3:22:22
Yet again I miss the 3:15 target, but this time the problem wasn't so much me. It was hot. Very hot!
It was lovely weather for the spectators though. I hope they didn't get too badly sunburnt. For once, I managed to spot a load of my supporters - I think that's the first time I've managed to spot anyone at all. Thanks to: Karen, Rory, Lars, Sara, Steve, Catherine, Rob, Ian, Carol, Pete. Did I miss anyone? Thanks folks - you really helped.
The target was 3:15 or 7:25/mile and in cooler weather the plan would have been to run 7:15/mile - something my training, and the much cooler Worthing 20 indicated I could do. From the outset though I realised how much the warm weather was affecting my pace. It was warm from the gun and I saw my pace dropping away after only a few miles, as I tried to keep my heart rate down. I think it's worth me explaining heart rate and running in the heat in a later posting, but you simply run at the same heart rate as you would in cool conditions. A heart rate monitor is a useful tool in the heat.
I may have been hot, but I had a much easier time than a friend of mine, whom I met a short distance in. I grabbed the hand of Tony The Tiger as I passed him - I wasn't sure how much he could see or hear - he was wearing the full, and heavy, Leicester Tigers mascot costume. He was raising money for Matt Hampson - a rugby player for Leicester Tigers who was paralysed in a scrum. Tony is a very quick (sub-3) marathon runner but he was going to have a tough run today. He eventually finished in 4:22 - far tougher than he'd ever imagined. Well done Tony.
By 8 miles I'd resigned myself to a 3:20 target: any faster and I'd risk blowing up big-style. It was at this point that I met Gordon Ramsay and enquired how he was doing. He said he'd be happy with 4:00 hours. I explained we'd been running at 3:20 pace and wished him luck. I was a lot faster than him at this point so he'd clearly gone off way too fast. He finished in 4:20 - oops!
At each water station I grabbed a bottle, took a gulp, and then doused myself with the remainder. It helped, and with occasional shade there were glimmers of hope that my pace might improve, but it was still getting hotter and hotter. I only ever took one bottle at each station. I gather some must have been taking 2 bottles though as, despite Dave Bedford's bullish claims that "there's more chance of drowning out there than running out of water", some stations did indeed run out of water for the tail-enders. Lynne, who took over 6 hours (hats off to you Lynne!) resorted to picking up discarded bottles off the road - not good.
I passed half way in 1:39:07, feeling OK but knowing that 3:15 was impossible and that I had a tough run ahead.
It was nice to see the elite men come past on the other side of the road. I spotted Martin Lel (the eventual winner) and Felix Limo (last year's winner) and there was Paul Tergat! I'd finally seen one of running's greats in the flesh. Where was 'The Greatest' though? Where was Haile Gebrselassie? I later found out he'd withdrawn with stitch affecting his breathing. It's a tough game this marathon running.
We got some relief from the heat as we passed through Canary Wharf - we even got a breeze which felt lovely, particularly when doused with water. What a contrast as we emerged from the shade back into the intense sunlight though. I could feel the heat reflecting up off the tarmac and my face was glowing, almost throbbing. How much further?
I passed Karen's friend Jane whom I'd met at the start. She too had been going for 3:15, but unlike me had stuck with her game plan. She was starting to suffer big style with the fast early pace. I would complete the remaining miles nearly a minute/mile faster than her!
I was now working out worst case scenarios in my head as we passed each mile marker - what would my finish time be if I can only manage 8:00/mile from here? I realised I'd missed 3:20, but was still hopeful of being well inside my 3:24 PB.
As we passed the Tower of London I got a boost with the familiar site of a Victory AC vest. As I approached I recognised Paul. As we neared Blackfriars I said hello and woke him up - I think his concentration was waning a bit. He took off into the distance. I thought he might have done me a favour as I now had a target to run me in, but I couldn't quite keep up with him. I kept him in sight along the embankment, but by Big Ben I'd lost him.
I gritted my teeth and gave what I had left up Birdcage Walk and into the world's best marathon finish area. Smile for the camera, job done.
I remembered Geoff Wightman's comments on last week's Boston Marathon and the torrential gale-force headwinds: it's bad but at least it's biblically bad, so we have something to talk about afterwards. I don't think the heat was quite biblically hot, but I'd set a PB and new club record in the hottest London Marathon ever. That's something I suppose!
Well done all the Victory people! Commiserations to Neil for a personal worst and a visit to the medical tent for dehydration. Congrats to James for a sub-3 PB - impressive stuff. Congrats too for PBs to Graham and Bob. Congrats for maiden finishes to Lesley, Alan and Paul (if you ignore his 2 Ironman marathons!!). Congrats to Paul B, Alex, Nick and Richard for simply finishing. Well done team.
3:22:22
Yet again I miss the 3:15 target, but this time the problem wasn't so much me. It was hot. Very hot!
It was lovely weather for the spectators though. I hope they didn't get too badly sunburnt. For once, I managed to spot a load of my supporters - I think that's the first time I've managed to spot anyone at all. Thanks to: Karen, Rory, Lars, Sara, Steve, Catherine, Rob, Ian, Carol, Pete. Did I miss anyone? Thanks folks - you really helped.
The target was 3:15 or 7:25/mile and in cooler weather the plan would have been to run 7:15/mile - something my training, and the much cooler Worthing 20 indicated I could do. From the outset though I realised how much the warm weather was affecting my pace. It was warm from the gun and I saw my pace dropping away after only a few miles, as I tried to keep my heart rate down. I think it's worth me explaining heart rate and running in the heat in a later posting, but you simply run at the same heart rate as you would in cool conditions. A heart rate monitor is a useful tool in the heat.
I may have been hot, but I had a much easier time than a friend of mine, whom I met a short distance in. I grabbed the hand of Tony The Tiger as I passed him - I wasn't sure how much he could see or hear - he was wearing the full, and heavy, Leicester Tigers mascot costume. He was raising money for Matt Hampson - a rugby player for Leicester Tigers who was paralysed in a scrum. Tony is a very quick (sub-3) marathon runner but he was going to have a tough run today. He eventually finished in 4:22 - far tougher than he'd ever imagined. Well done Tony.
By 8 miles I'd resigned myself to a 3:20 target: any faster and I'd risk blowing up big-style. It was at this point that I met Gordon Ramsay and enquired how he was doing. He said he'd be happy with 4:00 hours. I explained we'd been running at 3:20 pace and wished him luck. I was a lot faster than him at this point so he'd clearly gone off way too fast. He finished in 4:20 - oops!
At each water station I grabbed a bottle, took a gulp, and then doused myself with the remainder. It helped, and with occasional shade there were glimmers of hope that my pace might improve, but it was still getting hotter and hotter. I only ever took one bottle at each station. I gather some must have been taking 2 bottles though as, despite Dave Bedford's bullish claims that "there's more chance of drowning out there than running out of water", some stations did indeed run out of water for the tail-enders. Lynne, who took over 6 hours (hats off to you Lynne!) resorted to picking up discarded bottles off the road - not good.
I passed half way in 1:39:07, feeling OK but knowing that 3:15 was impossible and that I had a tough run ahead.
It was nice to see the elite men come past on the other side of the road. I spotted Martin Lel (the eventual winner) and Felix Limo (last year's winner) and there was Paul Tergat! I'd finally seen one of running's greats in the flesh. Where was 'The Greatest' though? Where was Haile Gebrselassie? I later found out he'd withdrawn with stitch affecting his breathing. It's a tough game this marathon running.
We got some relief from the heat as we passed through Canary Wharf - we even got a breeze which felt lovely, particularly when doused with water. What a contrast as we emerged from the shade back into the intense sunlight though. I could feel the heat reflecting up off the tarmac and my face was glowing, almost throbbing. How much further?
I passed Karen's friend Jane whom I'd met at the start. She too had been going for 3:15, but unlike me had stuck with her game plan. She was starting to suffer big style with the fast early pace. I would complete the remaining miles nearly a minute/mile faster than her!
I was now working out worst case scenarios in my head as we passed each mile marker - what would my finish time be if I can only manage 8:00/mile from here? I realised I'd missed 3:20, but was still hopeful of being well inside my 3:24 PB.
As we passed the Tower of London I got a boost with the familiar site of a Victory AC vest. As I approached I recognised Paul. As we neared Blackfriars I said hello and woke him up - I think his concentration was waning a bit. He took off into the distance. I thought he might have done me a favour as I now had a target to run me in, but I couldn't quite keep up with him. I kept him in sight along the embankment, but by Big Ben I'd lost him.
I gritted my teeth and gave what I had left up Birdcage Walk and into the world's best marathon finish area. Smile for the camera, job done.
I remembered Geoff Wightman's comments on last week's Boston Marathon and the torrential gale-force headwinds: it's bad but at least it's biblically bad, so we have something to talk about afterwards. I don't think the heat was quite biblically hot, but I'd set a PB and new club record in the hottest London Marathon ever. That's something I suppose!
Well done all the Victory people! Commiserations to Neil for a personal worst and a visit to the medical tent for dehydration. Congrats to James for a sub-3 PB - impressive stuff. Congrats too for PBs to Graham and Bob. Congrats for maiden finishes to Lesley, Alan and Paul (if you ignore his 2 Ironman marathons!!). Congrats to Paul B, Alex, Nick and Richard for simply finishing. Well done team.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Training summary: the taper
My taper was a 2-week affair detailed below. I was particularly pleased with Tuesday's 400m reps, as they were my fastest ever reps, running the last 6 faster than 6:00/mile, and still fairly comfortable. There then followed some marathon pace intervals in the club handicap race, although I probably ran quicker than marathon pace due to the terrain and the gates/bridges. Totton was a disaster in racing terms but actually proved to be quite a good workout - 6km hard plus 3 marathon pace 1km intervals - under the circumstances that was probably a better preparation for London than 10km flat out.
My final 3 mile run felt really comfortable and was quick despite the fresh headwind.
I'm as ready as I can be. This is the fittest I've ever been before a marathon. I'm currently concerned about the predicted warm weather, but I think this will be a good one. Bring it on!
My final 3 mile run felt really comfortable and was quick despite the fresh headwind.
I'm as ready as I can be. This is the fittest I've ever been before a marathon. I'm currently concerned about the predicted warm weather, but I think this will be a good one. Bring it on!
| Monday 9th April | 2 miles | am: 2 miles treadie plus weights | |
| Tuesday | 5.7 miles | pm: 8x400m 75s jog/walk 92s no HR 91s 146bpm 90s 149bpm 89s 151bpm 89s 151bpm 88s 153bpm 89s 153bpm 89s 153bpm peaked at 5:54/mile | Very pleased - fastest flat pace I've ever run! |
| Wednesday | 7.6 miles | pm:7.6 miles @8:42/mile 116bpm | Easy off road run |
| Thursday | 7.5 miles | pm: Club handicap race 60:32 131bpm | Ran the race as 4mins marathon pace 7:15/mile, 4 mins steady |
| Friday | Rest | Club annual dinner | |
| Saturday | Rest | ||
| Sunday | 7 miles | Totton 10k 45:25 149bpm | |
| Total | 29.8 miles | ||
| Monday 16th April | 4.5 miles | pm: offroad steady 8:28 123bpm | |
| Tuesday | 5.15 miles | pm: Easy off road club run 118bpm | |
| Wednesday | Rest | Hardly restful as spent afternoon at FLM expo and evening walking at the club social run/walk | |
| Thursday | 4.5 miles | pm: Really easy jog to club session then 2 400m intervals 7:15/mile | |
| Friday | 3 miles | 8:11/mile 118bpm into fresh headwind | |
| Saturday | Rest | Drive up to London | |
| Sunday | 26.2 miles | Flora London Marathon in ??? | |
| Total excluding marathon | 17.2 miles |
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Team: Totton 10k
I have a wonderful bunch of friends in Victory AC. I wonder if they realised how much they've touched me this weekend?
I had a dreadful race! We needed to score some solid points to avoid relegation from division 1. We were third from bottom but we were not mathematically safe by any means. We needed a good turn out and we got it. The pressure was off me - phew!
The weather was incredibly warm: 25°C to be precise - ridiculous for April. I hope it's cooler next weekend! We set off with Gina setting an amazing pace for such hot conditions with me following and Chris, Ruth and the rest of the girls behind.
I realised after a 4 minute first kilometre that I was going way too fast for the conditions. My heart rate was 158bpm as a result of the heat. I may have been capable of maintaining the pace on a cooler day but in this heat it was more like 5k pace. I was doomed to blow up if I kept going at that rate. So why didn't I slow down?
Each km split showed a slower time, but my HR remained high - idiot!
At the water station at 6km I was feeling dizzy and, with a mind on not harming my London chances, walked. Major guilt feelings! I got going again but felt awful and the sense of self preservation was getting stronger. When Chris caught me, I realised that my contribution to the team was dwindling and the desire to cool down got stronger.
I walked again.
Finally, having had another break, Ruth caught me in the last km and the pressure was finally off. I crossed the line in 45+ mins feeling shattered.
I'd let the team down. I was an idiot. I'd paced badly. I shouldn't have gone off at such a stupid cool weather pace. I'd walked, given in, a loser.
Everyone I spoke to was supportive though! So many said they expected great things from me next week and I was right to back off. Everyone totally understood my situation. They all made me feel really good. What a bunch! Thankyou.
We survived relegation. Marilyn won the W55 prize - she looked so relaxed at the finish - what a star! The world is good.
Footnote:
'The team' voted me "Club member of the year" at the annual dinner on Friday. I was dead chuffed. That is such an honour. I also picked up the "Most improved" and the "Colin Goater shield" (for most outstanding single performance), hogging the trophies somewhat. I worked hard for the latter 2, but the club member of the year is really special. Thank you so much.
Here are the pics:
If I'd known I was getting those trophies, I'd have made more of an effort:
I had a dreadful race! We needed to score some solid points to avoid relegation from division 1. We were third from bottom but we were not mathematically safe by any means. We needed a good turn out and we got it. The pressure was off me - phew!
The weather was incredibly warm: 25°C to be precise - ridiculous for April. I hope it's cooler next weekend! We set off with Gina setting an amazing pace for such hot conditions with me following and Chris, Ruth and the rest of the girls behind.
I realised after a 4 minute first kilometre that I was going way too fast for the conditions. My heart rate was 158bpm as a result of the heat. I may have been capable of maintaining the pace on a cooler day but in this heat it was more like 5k pace. I was doomed to blow up if I kept going at that rate. So why didn't I slow down?
Each km split showed a slower time, but my HR remained high - idiot!
At the water station at 6km I was feeling dizzy and, with a mind on not harming my London chances, walked. Major guilt feelings! I got going again but felt awful and the sense of self preservation was getting stronger. When Chris caught me, I realised that my contribution to the team was dwindling and the desire to cool down got stronger.
I walked again.
Finally, having had another break, Ruth caught me in the last km and the pressure was finally off. I crossed the line in 45+ mins feeling shattered.
I'd let the team down. I was an idiot. I'd paced badly. I shouldn't have gone off at such a stupid cool weather pace. I'd walked, given in, a loser.
Everyone I spoke to was supportive though! So many said they expected great things from me next week and I was right to back off. Everyone totally understood my situation. They all made me feel really good. What a bunch! Thankyou.
We survived relegation. Marilyn won the W55 prize - she looked so relaxed at the finish - what a star! The world is good.
Footnote:
'The team' voted me "Club member of the year" at the annual dinner on Friday. I was dead chuffed. That is such an honour. I also picked up the "Most improved" and the "Colin Goater shield" (for most outstanding single performance), hogging the trophies somewhat. I worked hard for the latter 2, but the club member of the year is really special. Thank you so much.
Here are the pics:
If I'd known I was getting those trophies, I'd have made more of an effort:
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Weekly summary - 2 weeks to go
The highlight of the week, apart from some rather fine intervals on Thursday, had to be my big run on Saturday. What a run! Glorious sunshine and stunning scenery. My friends were recceing the route of the Emsworth to Basingstoke Charity Relay so I seized the opportunity to do a point to point run and grab a lift back at the end. They were only recceing 2 or 3 legs, so I wasn't going to have any company - alas, I think I'm doomed to always run my big runs alone. It was nice to meet them at the end though.
The route I took is detailed on the above link, by clicking 'route maps'. I ran from near Warblington church to Vann farm near Selborne - legs 2 to 10. The 2 highlghts for me were legs 6, for the Queen Elizabeth Forest and the total feeling of summer, and leg 9 for the infamous Shoulder of Mutton Hill (the name is obscured on the map, but it is the continuation of the ridge marked as Ashford Hill). SOMH is so steep it's laughable. It's such an effort to even walk up. I've met people who claim they've run up it during the race, but I frankly don't believe them. It's a unique challenge though, and the view from the top is spectacular. I'm not sure it's what you want 15 miles into a run, but it certainly was the highlight regardless of the reason.
The taper has now begun: no more doubles! Totton 10k next week, which I have a good feeling about, and then a small matter of a marathon. Not long now!
The route I took is detailed on the above link, by clicking 'route maps'. I ran from near Warblington church to Vann farm near Selborne - legs 2 to 10. The 2 highlghts for me were legs 6, for the Queen Elizabeth Forest and the total feeling of summer, and leg 9 for the infamous Shoulder of Mutton Hill (the name is obscured on the map, but it is the continuation of the ridge marked as Ashford Hill). SOMH is so steep it's laughable. It's such an effort to even walk up. I've met people who claim they've run up it during the race, but I frankly don't believe them. It's a unique challenge though, and the view from the top is spectacular. I'm not sure it's what you want 15 miles into a run, but it certainly was the highlight regardless of the reason.
The taper has now begun: no more doubles! Totton 10k next week, which I have a good feeling about, and then a small matter of a marathon. Not long now!
| Monday | Rest | I think I earned a rest! | |
| Tuesday | 7.6 miles | am: massage | pm: Recce of club handicap route 8:01/mile 125bpm - low HR considering pace was interrupted by 12 gates and 4 bridges 7:35-7:45/mile between gates |
| Wednesday | 11 miles | am: 2 miles treadie + weights session - now up to 56kg deadlift | pm: 9 miles offroad 8:34/mile no HR data |
| Thursday | 11.9 miles | am: 4.3 miles easy | pm: 8x800m 60sec recovery 3:13 147bpm max 3:16 149bpm 3:15 152bpm 3:15 152bpm 3:19 151bpm 3:16 152bpm 3:15 155bpm 3:21 152bpm legs a bit tired, stitch on last interval, but generally went well |
| Friday | 4.5 miles | am: easy run offroad, no pace or HR data - freedom! | |
| Saturday | 19 miles | am: The Big One! Following Hangers Way from Havant to Selborne. Slow pace 10:30/mile due to the difficult terrain - often rutted from horses hooves in now hard baked mud | Nicest long run I've ever done! |
| Sunday | 7.5 miles | am: Very easy run with the club - ridiculously low HR 103bpm - it was reading below 100 for much of the run | |
| Total | 61.5 miles |
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Weekly summary - 3 weeks to go
A week of very hard running, following on from the Eastleigh 10k. I'm tired, but set up quite nicely for tapering.
My confidence is sky high after first the Eastleigh 10k and then the Worthing 20 - speed and endurance! I still have the Totton 10k a week before London, and am optimistic of going even quicker there.
I'm only going to taper properly for 2 weeks, with another full week and a 20-miler next weekend, but my mileage will drop slightly this week.
My confidence is sky high after first the Eastleigh 10k and then the Worthing 20 - speed and endurance! I still have the Totton 10k a week before London, and am optimistic of going even quicker there.
I'm only going to taper properly for 2 weeks, with another full week and a 20-miler next weekend, but my mileage will drop slightly this week.
| Monday | 4.5 miles | 4.5 miles easy offroad 113bpm | |
| Tuesday | 6.75 miles | am: massage | pm: 6.8 miles hill run - ran hard 7:28/mile 141bpm. Surprisingly warm 16°C |
| Wednesday | 12.5 miles | am:2 miles treadie plus gym/weights | pm: 10.5 miles 8:41/mile 114bpm mostly offroad |
| Thursday | 10.2 miles | am: 4.6 miles easy 9:02/mile 114bpm | pm 5.6miles club 3.6 mile handicap race 26:01 over bridges, through gates 7:14/mile 139bpm. PB despite low HR, but I was running about as hard as I could - tired! |
| Friday | 6 miles | 6 miles easy offroad 9:06/mile 109bpm | |
| Saturday | Rest | ||
| Sunday | 21.5 miles | Worthing 20 2:31:33 7:35/mile 137bpm | Club record despite running first half gently. Very pleased with the result! |
| Total | 61.5 miles |
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