Rage Gains

So I was expecting to run the Wimbledon Common Half today. Was really looking forward to it, particularly hoping to spot a Womble or two.

Now I knew that 30,000 cyclists were due to ride round London today, all earnest faced and lycra clad (seriously why do so few of them look like they are enjoying themselves?) and I knew there would be road closures so I set off stupidly early to cover the 25 miles from my house to the event parking.

Not early enough it seems. Despite the best efforts of Google Maps I just couldn't find a way through in time to make the start. I was so pissed off. Especially as this was the first half I would have done where I didn't have some sort of nagging issue going in so pb potential was high.

Ended up running round Dinton Pastures in Wokingham instead. Covered 10k in a time that (for me) was pretty rapid. Burned off the rage, so now I can get on with my day which involves lunch with my parents and then cooking up a big old pot of Carne Gobernada.

Fwiw I'm not anti cyclist, I enter the ballot for the Ride London 100 every year, and more people on bicycles the better. I just didn't pay enough attention to mitigate the risk of being caught I  the road closures. Still think a lot of the hardcore Sunday gear collectors need to look like they are enjoying themselves a bit more though ;)

The Gypsy Shit Benchmark

I'm fortunate enough to have a Bracknell Parkrun 5 minutes walk from my back gate. This means I have to have had a really heavy Friday night not to attend.

Now the thing about Bracknell is it's always been considered one of the tougher Parkrun courses locally and it got even harder in January this year when they changed to a new layout with extra technical woodland and spongy woodchip underfoot. Now I like the new route much better but it did take me six months to get inside the PB I'd set on the old course.

So I've been thinking for a while, especially since I did a bit of Parkrun tourism and easily destroyed my Bracknell time, what time I would get if I ran the old course now? Thing is it was 3 dull laps that I've just not been able to bring myself to try on my own. Maybe one day we would get an organised run round the old route, just for old time's sake. Well that day was today.

But why?

Well we've had a lot of traveller activity in the area this last week. Honestly I've never seen such a concentrated collection of white vehicles in one place. What is it with the white cars? Anyway at one point during the week they decided to take over Great Hollands Rec where the Parkrun occurs and a cancellation was likely.

Fortunately they moved on / were moved on by the authorities in time for the Parkrun to go ahead. Unfortunately they have used one of the new parts of the course (if you are on Strava the bit known as "Allotment Drop") as a toilet. Didn't fancy checking it out in person but based on the descriptions on the Facebooks it sounded like rivers of human shit down there. Nasty.

Sooo the organisers had no choice but to run us round the old route which avoided Shit Mountain for the most part and gave all of us that were doing Bracknell last year the chance to see how we've improved in the proper context.

I'm pleased to report that I cruised to time 2 minutes faster than I was running the same course at the end of last year. The problem is when we switch back to the normal route next week it will probably take me another 6 months before I dip under the Gypsy Shit Benchmark.

Oh well. Goals.

In other news my amazing new running vests have just winged their way from China. Led Zep and a collage of band logos. These can go in rotation along with my all over print Number of the Beast running vest which gets random people throwing horns as you jog past them. Reckon I'll get a good 5 seconds per mile boost from these new ones. Especially when combined with this playlist!

Metal. \m/ \m/

Getting Faster

When I was training for the Brighton Marathon my work schedule was a nightmare, with 5 hour total commute times most weekdays. I made sure I did at least part of them on the Brompton to get cardio but we all know cycling doesn't translate to running too well.

"Don't worry too much" I was told by more experienced marathon runners "forget a target time and just make it all about the long runs in training". This was kind of ok as I got through the mara and although I was slower than I'd hoped I was reminded by a spectator a couple of miles from the end that just the act of finishing a marathon makes you amazing.

Fortunately as I get ready for next month's 50km in Bath I'm now working just a few miles from home so I've no excuses not to stick to the training plan. This means a lot of extra speedwork in the middle of the week, particularly intervals.

Experienced runners will know this already but if you are more of a novice like me you might not realise how much of a boost you get from this type of activity. Essentially I've found it has resulted in a lot of seconds coming off my easy run pace without really feeling like I've altered the amount of effort I'm putting in.

Within a month of doing my midweek intervals (either 1 mile with 60 seconds rest times 5, or 10 minutes with 2 minutes rest times 3) I've knocked 100 seconds off my Parkrun time and I'm pretty sure there was more in me that day.

I've also found that the nature of intervals means you adjust where you set the "shit this is too hard I need to walk a bit" needle as you get used to pushing thorough that last 60 seconds of a ten minute interval.

Try it. Works well.

OK so I'm reviving this blog, no more 5 k every day, lots more miles and some things to say

So it's been far too long since I've updated this blog. In fact the last time I posted was just before I tackled the Brighton Marathon back in April. What a scorching hot day that was! I finished it albeit an hour slower than I hoped for so I'm signed up again for next year because I've got unfinished business there!

So why am I suddenly reviving this blog now?

Good question, it's not like there aren't already a million blogs by running enthusiasts out there and most of them are far more accomplished runners than I. What the hell have I got to say that hasn't been written about in a thousand different ways already? Even the original concept of running 5km every day has been done and done and done. So why bother?

Well mainly as I'm well into my second year as a "runner" I'm pretty much committed, it's not a hobby that's going anywhere soon, not least because I keep signing up to events. I'm also thinking having my own log of my progress in more qualitative and subjective terms than the pure quantitative data in Strava and Garmin Connect might be interesting. And finally (and I suspect this is why there are so many of these blogs) when I'm out on the long runs (24 miles tomorrow btw) I sometimes need something to occupy my mind. Thinking "what would I write about this run" could be just the tonic. I've previously found myself drafting unwritten blog posts while plodding through the long miles.

So before I start getting back into this writing malarky a quick recap

• I started this blog to track a personal challenge as a very green runner to run 5km every day during October 2016 in aid of Cancer research. Read the old posts if you need any more detail than that.
• During that time I decided it would be a laugh to enter the Brighton Marathon so that's what I did.
• Shortly after the Brighton Marathon training started in anger (yep the traditional New Year 16 week programme) I thought to myself "be funny to do my first half, first full, and first ultra marathon in the same year" so I signed up for the Two Tunnels Ultra in Bath. I'm currently training for that one.

And here we are, hooked on running, planning on writing about it from the perspective of a really unremarkable athlete. Here are some stats to prove it

• 1 Mile: 7m 43s
• Parkrun (5km): 25m 04s
• Half Mara: 2h 14m
• Mara: 5h 21m

If I remember I'll update these to chart my progress. Sometimes the online running community seems to be full of people banging out 6 minute miles on a slow day so maybe writing from the perspective of someone still learning might be interesting. And I've learned a lot, I've got half formed posts on running shoes, Tough Mudders, playlists, hydration packs, your first big races, being right at the back of the field, n00b training, and how to recover from injuries as a 40 something with shagged knees amongst other things.