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.

	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

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!

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.

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!

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!

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?:

• 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!