16 miles with a hangover in super hot weather testing my full ultra-kit for Race to the King.
Mile five up the woods hayfever kicked in like a motherfucker.
Eyes streaming tripped over a root and faceplanted.
Wasn't feeling it.
Still got through it. Bit of walking. The time on feet was important. As were the hills.
Bring on the King.
Monday 4 June 2018
Thursday 17 May 2018
Important advice no runner can afford to ignore
The
PAST PARTICIPLE of RUN
is
RUN
It's not "ran". You don't say "I have ran the London marathon", it's "I have run the London marathon".
PAST PARTICIPLE of RUN
is
RUN
It's not "ran". You don't say "I have ran the London marathon", it's "I have run the London marathon".
Anyone else live in always uphill bizarroworld?
When I leave my house for a run
When I'm returning home from my run
Wednesday 16 May 2018
Bracknell Half - Lemsip Special
The Bracknell Half has been running for 34 years.
I've lived in the area for 40 years.
Seems odd that I've never run it before.
Oh hang on up until a couple of years ago I wouldn't even run to the end of the road. Forgot for a second. It makes sense now.
Anyway this was the first year I'd give it a try. I'd heard it was hilly but so what? I plod round these roads all the time, I knew what to expect, and feeling confident following my first ever sub 2 at Thorpe back in February I was confidently predicting a new pb. Didn't quite go according to plan.
Initially I'd planned to run at least 5k every day for the duration of May, but by day 10 I realised I was pretty fatigued and if I wanted to enjoy the half I'd better take a couple of days off. Cue the world's shortest taper.
Day 11 and my throat is feeling a bit scratchy. But I've got tickets to see the incredible Brothers Osbourne in Camden and that's going to be a party and a half. Made the most of that.
Day 12 and I can't even drag myself out of bed. Hangover didn't help but we are talking proper manflu. Start dosing up on Lemsip and preparing myself for the disappointment of not being able to even start the race. Get my kit together but don't really believe I'll run.
Day 13 is race day. Wake up feeling not toooooo bad so I Lemsip up, leave the house at the last minute telling Serena that I'll probably take about 2 and a half hours so she won't have any rush to meet me for lunch.
I get to the start which is in Bracknell's newly redeveloped town centre known as The Lexicon. After my standard fifteen or twenty trips for a wee before the start (it's not just me right? Is it?) I shuffle my way to the back of the pack as I'm really not feeling it and definitely don't want to go off too quickly.
At 9am we set off and of course I immediately need another wee. Well stupid bladder will have to wait until I finish or run past a big enough bush.
We head from Waitrose up through the pedestrianised area in town and out through one of Bracknell's many underpasses. Start to think I was a bit cautious in opting to start so far back as the bottleneck meant we basically started walking. My Garmin told me my predicted finish time was around 2h20m but I'd mentally checked out of any targets and just decided to enjoy the run in sunny but not too hot conditions. Good job too as it's not a fully roads closed event so you have to stick to the pavement and getting past people in the first couple of miles is a chore, especially as there is a slow uphill section in the first couple of miles. I wasn't paying attention to my watch but I was playing ping-pong with the 2h15m pacers so I had a vague idea what I was on for my the time the second mile marker came around.
The course itself is nice if unremarkable, although maybe that's because I'm so familiar with the area. What does stand out though is the level of local support. The route runs close to a lot of residential areas and it's very much a locals event so people were out along almost the entire route offering support, jelly babies, and kids wanting high fives. Top tip - if energy is flagging mid race high five a child.
It's also worth mentioning the marshalls, there were apparently 250 of them making sure we didn't take any wrong turns or get hit by cars as we ran across junctions. Bracknell can feel like a bit of a maze so having them out on course pointing the way was essential. The organisers had also ensured that there were more than enough water stations dishing out paper cups of water and wet sponges. I always carry my own hydration but the sponges in the later sections as the day warmed up were very welcome.
And guess what? By mile 10 I wasn't feeling the effects of the manflu at all and I dared check my Garmin (I knew I'd dropped the 215 funbus ages ago) - couldn't believe it I was close to hitting a 2 hour finish. The final 5k would need to be solid by my standards but with Maiden's Rime of the Ancient Mariner kicking in I figured I was up for it. Didn't figure on there being a couple of extra uphill sections to deal with though, nothing major but enough to put a drag on your pace, ah well it was worth a shot, really enjoyed the run anyway and considering the fatigue and the lurgy it was a good day's running...
...
... except ...
...
As I entered the Lexicon for the final L shaped stretch through the town centre the support from the crowd was brilliant and I found myself sprinting to the finish line. Honestly if you asked me to run 100m on fresh legs I doubt I'd be any quicker. I was flying. It was like I'd robbed Fenwicks and was making my escape while being chased down by the rozzers. I was Mo Farah, Daley Thompson, and Zola Budd rolled into one...
...Chip time 1h 59m 58 sec! I'd only gone and nailed my second ever sub 2!!
Feels good man.
And in case you're wondering I didn't even need to stop for a wee in the end, although was was tempted to nip in and use the facilities as we ran past my gym. Glad I didn't though or I'd never have seen this sweet Strava notification.
I've lived in the area for 40 years.
Seems odd that I've never run it before.
Oh hang on up until a couple of years ago I wouldn't even run to the end of the road. Forgot for a second. It makes sense now.
Anyway this was the first year I'd give it a try. I'd heard it was hilly but so what? I plod round these roads all the time, I knew what to expect, and feeling confident following my first ever sub 2 at Thorpe back in February I was confidently predicting a new pb. Didn't quite go according to plan.
Initially I'd planned to run at least 5k every day for the duration of May, but by day 10 I realised I was pretty fatigued and if I wanted to enjoy the half I'd better take a couple of days off. Cue the world's shortest taper.
Day 11 and my throat is feeling a bit scratchy. But I've got tickets to see the incredible Brothers Osbourne in Camden and that's going to be a party and a half. Made the most of that.
Day 12 and I can't even drag myself out of bed. Hangover didn't help but we are talking proper manflu. Start dosing up on Lemsip and preparing myself for the disappointment of not being able to even start the race. Get my kit together but don't really believe I'll run.
Day 13 is race day. Wake up feeling not toooooo bad so I Lemsip up, leave the house at the last minute telling Serena that I'll probably take about 2 and a half hours so she won't have any rush to meet me for lunch.
I get to the start which is in Bracknell's newly redeveloped town centre known as The Lexicon. After my standard fifteen or twenty trips for a wee before the start (it's not just me right? Is it?) I shuffle my way to the back of the pack as I'm really not feeling it and definitely don't want to go off too quickly.
At 9am we set off and of course I immediately need another wee. Well stupid bladder will have to wait until I finish or run past a big enough bush.
We head from Waitrose up through the pedestrianised area in town and out through one of Bracknell's many underpasses. Start to think I was a bit cautious in opting to start so far back as the bottleneck meant we basically started walking. My Garmin told me my predicted finish time was around 2h20m but I'd mentally checked out of any targets and just decided to enjoy the run in sunny but not too hot conditions. Good job too as it's not a fully roads closed event so you have to stick to the pavement and getting past people in the first couple of miles is a chore, especially as there is a slow uphill section in the first couple of miles. I wasn't paying attention to my watch but I was playing ping-pong with the 2h15m pacers so I had a vague idea what I was on for my the time the second mile marker came around.
The course itself is nice if unremarkable, although maybe that's because I'm so familiar with the area. What does stand out though is the level of local support. The route runs close to a lot of residential areas and it's very much a locals event so people were out along almost the entire route offering support, jelly babies, and kids wanting high fives. Top tip - if energy is flagging mid race high five a child.
It's also worth mentioning the marshalls, there were apparently 250 of them making sure we didn't take any wrong turns or get hit by cars as we ran across junctions. Bracknell can feel like a bit of a maze so having them out on course pointing the way was essential. The organisers had also ensured that there were more than enough water stations dishing out paper cups of water and wet sponges. I always carry my own hydration but the sponges in the later sections as the day warmed up were very welcome.
And guess what? By mile 10 I wasn't feeling the effects of the manflu at all and I dared check my Garmin (I knew I'd dropped the 215 funbus ages ago) - couldn't believe it I was close to hitting a 2 hour finish. The final 5k would need to be solid by my standards but with Maiden's Rime of the Ancient Mariner kicking in I figured I was up for it. Didn't figure on there being a couple of extra uphill sections to deal with though, nothing major but enough to put a drag on your pace, ah well it was worth a shot, really enjoyed the run anyway and considering the fatigue and the lurgy it was a good day's running...
...
... except ...
...
As I entered the Lexicon for the final L shaped stretch through the town centre the support from the crowd was brilliant and I found myself sprinting to the finish line. Honestly if you asked me to run 100m on fresh legs I doubt I'd be any quicker. I was flying. It was like I'd robbed Fenwicks and was making my escape while being chased down by the rozzers. I was Mo Farah, Daley Thompson, and Zola Budd rolled into one...
...Chip time 1h 59m 58 sec! I'd only gone and nailed my second ever sub 2!!
Feels good man.
And in case you're wondering I didn't even need to stop for a wee in the end, although was was tempted to nip in and use the facilities as we ran past my gym. Glad I didn't though or I'd never have seen this sweet Strava notification.
Thank you Bracknell, definitely one I'll be including in my list of regular races from now on. It starts a couple of miles from my house, rude not to.
Sunday 6 May 2018
Don't concentrate on the finger
Anyone who has seen Enter the Dragon will be familiar with this quote from Bruce Lee
It's a great metaphor for running. You can obsess about pace too much and forget the simple joy of just getting out there and exploring. I realised recently that a lot of runners seemingly concentrate on the finger all the fucking time. Strava makes it even worse. You see these fuckers on there making excuses for their "slow" pace in the run name all the time.
I was the same for a while, broke myself of that habit early though.
Yeah I'll have some finger races, really concentrated to get a sub 2 half at Thorpe this year (nailed it by 17 seconds), and if I manage to get an uninterrupted 16 week plan completed before Brighton next year I'll be setting a marathon goal but for the most part don't forget that you can make running fun and fulfilling without chasing a pb or feeling that you are training for something.
Look at me. I tend to be grinning most of the time when I'm out for a run. Especially on days like today when it's sunny weather and a long weekend. Smiley twat that I am...
Thing about this playlist is it has everything from Disney soundtracks to Norwegian black metal. Shuffle it and you could be singing along to Tina Turner then all of a sudden some narly death metal kicks in and you choose the hilly path. Brilliant. At one point today I found myself sprinting up a really steep hill to the Rocky soundtrack and yes I punched the air and span round at the top.
Took some photos too. Can't do that if you are segment hunting.
Sunshine, woods, music. Would have been a shame if I'd just focussed on the finger.
It's a great metaphor for running. You can obsess about pace too much and forget the simple joy of just getting out there and exploring. I realised recently that a lot of runners seemingly concentrate on the finger all the fucking time. Strava makes it even worse. You see these fuckers on there making excuses for their "slow" pace in the run name all the time.
I was the same for a while, broke myself of that habit early though.
Yeah I'll have some finger races, really concentrated to get a sub 2 half at Thorpe this year (nailed it by 17 seconds), and if I manage to get an uninterrupted 16 week plan completed before Brighton next year I'll be setting a marathon goal but for the most part don't forget that you can make running fun and fulfilling without chasing a pb or feeling that you are training for something.
Look at me. I tend to be grinning most of the time when I'm out for a run. Especially on days like today when it's sunny weather and a long weekend. Smiley twat that I am...
So what's the secret of this running nirvana? Simple. Just switch off and run. Today I had a vague idea where I was planning to head but I set out with no goal in mind, just let the music, weather, and feel dictate my pace and direction. So load up the "Really Long Runs" playlist and off we go.
Thing about this playlist is it has everything from Disney soundtracks to Norwegian black metal. Shuffle it and you could be singing along to Tina Turner then all of a sudden some narly death metal kicks in and you choose the hilly path. Brilliant. At one point today I found myself sprinting up a really steep hill to the Rocky soundtrack and yes I punched the air and span round at the top.
Took some photos too. Can't do that if you are segment hunting.
Sunshine, woods, music. Would have been a shame if I'd just focussed on the finger.
Saturday 28 April 2018
Revival of the daily 5k for May
So a colleague who just completed her first marathon was inspired by the 5k every day for a month concept that kicked off this blog and how I described it as the thing that made me love running. She decided to try it herself this May.
From conversations in the office the whole thing has ballooned and now we have a little crew of us doing it - and yep I'm back in the streak game from May 1st!.
When I did this in October 2016 my total for the month was over 200km. Wonder what I'll manage this time? Training for Race to the King ultra while running every day should see the miles rack up.
In other news my mile times are consistently back in the low 9mins so I'm more or less fully recovered from Brighton. Got the Bracknell Half mid May, hoping to shave a couple of minutes off my pb and get solidly inside 2 hours after hitting 1h59m43s back in February.
Sunday 22 April 2018
Running dreams
So, last night I had this dream about all sorts of disjointed plots. A weird holiday in a brutalist architected city, old friends, poltergeist activity, excess baggage, and a side plot about running hill reps on an old dirt road called Devil's Highway.
The thing is, unlike most things from that dream, Devil's Highway is actually a place that runs right up into Swinley Forest. And it's actually about a mile from my house.
Well that's all the encouragement I needed. Off I went.
I know Devil's quite well, not only because I run round that part of Swinley Forest quite a lot in the summer but also because it was where we'd all meet up to *ahem* smoke mindbenders back in the day. So I'm familiar with it's undulations and knew there would be 3 decent sized hills for me to run up. As I ran a nice easy pace up to the start of the the Highway I decided my plan of attack would be get to the first hill, lay a marker down (jabbing a stick into the ground for the non-technical amongst you), sprint as hard as I could to the top of the hill, turn around and do a very easy pace back to my marker. Do this 3 times I each hill and I'd have gone for 9 blasts up some fairly rude inclines. After that just a little plod round Caeser's Camp in Swinley Forest and back home.
Wow. Sweaty workout that. If you saw Sir Mo at the end of the London Marathon today that's basically what I looked like after the third time up the third hill. Well like that but fatter, whiter, and with more hair. I was sweating and had to stop to catch my breath is what I'm saying. Also did some pissing about with the runselfie before uploading it to Strava to keep it in with the theme of the run.
Speaking of London I guess I need to resign myself to the fact that I'm never going to run that marathon.
The thing is, unlike most things from that dream, Devil's Highway is actually a place that runs right up into Swinley Forest. And it's actually about a mile from my house.
Well that's all the encouragement I needed. Off I went.
I know Devil's quite well, not only because I run round that part of Swinley Forest quite a lot in the summer but also because it was where we'd all meet up to *ahem* smoke mindbenders back in the day. So I'm familiar with it's undulations and knew there would be 3 decent sized hills for me to run up. As I ran a nice easy pace up to the start of the the Highway I decided my plan of attack would be get to the first hill, lay a marker down (jabbing a stick into the ground for the non-technical amongst you), sprint as hard as I could to the top of the hill, turn around and do a very easy pace back to my marker. Do this 3 times I each hill and I'd have gone for 9 blasts up some fairly rude inclines. After that just a little plod round Caeser's Camp in Swinley Forest and back home.
Wow. Sweaty workout that. If you saw Sir Mo at the end of the London Marathon today that's basically what I looked like after the third time up the third hill. Well like that but fatter, whiter, and with more hair. I was sweating and had to stop to catch my breath is what I'm saying. Also did some pissing about with the runselfie before uploading it to Strava to keep it in with the theme of the run.
Speaking of London I guess I need to resign myself to the fact that I'm never going to run that marathon.
- I'm not generally lucky enough to win a ballot place (I know this is superstitious bullshit and I have as much chance as everyone else but I never seem to win things like that so I'm claiming it as fact)
- I'm not fast enough to get a Good For Age time and I can't imagine that I ever will be. Right now I'm about 1h45m away from the GFA for my age bracket, and now that they've changed the GFA from guaranteed entry to entry into a different ballot essentially then see point 1.
- Charity places aren't really viable. The organisers charge charities so much for their entries that they then have to pass it on to the runners in the form of minimum fundraising contracts. Yes in theory I could get a charity place but having run a few marathons and an ultra already without asking for sponsorship people I know generally reckon a marathon is a stroll in the park for me (it so fucking isn't btw just look at my PBs and splits) and that perception would make fundraising really hard. I'd have to do it dressed as a fucking anvil or something to make people perceive it as a challenge worth sponsoring and that isn't why I run.
Seems like I'm quite bitter doesn't it? To be honest I'm not really, there are plenty of brilliant races around but I do get a bit envious of people who get to run "The Marathon". I'll keep doing the ballot and maybe one year it will come up for me, and if I really really really wanted to run it that badly I'd find a way to fundraise.
The folks I do feel really sorry for though are the GFA qualifiers. I can only imagine the years of dedication and the intensity of the winter training, not to mention the good fortune to stay free of injury when pushing so hard, to hit the current qualifying times and to go through that and not even know whether you have a guaranteed place - brutal. Even worse if you just sneaked in with a GFA in Brighton or Manchester this year thinking of London 2019 - well soz you are shit outta luck my friend as they changed the goalposts literally the day after those races.
So not only is the London Marathon a massive charity fleecing scam but it's quite happy to take the piss out of the very runners who feed it. Fuck you London, I still want to run you though!
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