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.

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.

1. 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)
2. 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.
3. 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!

This was 2 years ago today

And now I'm on the train home after completing my 4th marathon yesterday.

If you've ever said "I can't do running" so did I and I was wrong. What I meant was "I can't run like other people seem to".

That parkrun took me 42 minutes btw - you don't need to have any talent to enjoy running.

Marathon 4 in the bag

So that's my fourth marathon done if you include last year's 2 tunnels ultra (which of course I do). Numbers 5, 6 and 7 already booked with 5 & 6 happening on the same day in June.

What am I thinking? 18 months ago I'd barely laced up a pair of trainers since school and now I'm planning to run 53 miles.

Anyway I'll save you the detailed race report. Marathon running is hard and that's why I enjoy it. 

Brighton was especially emotional for me as last year's was my first 26.2 but the achievement was overshadowed by my partner Serena being admitted to hospital a couple of days before the event with a kidney infection that turned out to be cancer. Fortunately she recovered and was able to join me in town for the weekend this year, but it goes without saying that last year was a stressful time and running was a helpful distraction at times.

The whole thing hit me a bit around mile 9 as a runners high kicked in, the soundtrack on my headphones, the sunshine, the memory of how worried I was running that same route a year ago, and knowing that Serena would be there at the finish line this year. I definitely shed a tear or two at that moment.

So there we go, Brighton marathon has become pretty special to me, and not just because it was my first. Don't think I'll ever have a good time through the power station segment but I've already signed up for 2019 and with another year's running under my belt who knows?

It's Brighton Marathon Weekend!

Sat on the train heading down to Brighton for tomorrow's marathon and I remembered that I have this blog.

It's pretty timely really as although the five k every day concept was what kick started my running it was training for this race last year that really made me feel like a "runner". Whatever that means.

I found it a bit of a struggle keeping this updated beyond the intended purpose of logging my 5 k every day runs as there are so many more experienced runners out there producing so much quality content  What could I add? Well it just occurred to me that adding the voice of inexperience is valuable too.

So here are some random thoughts from my first year as a runner, a year in which I completed 2 marathons (slowly) a 50km ultramarathon (slowly), ran a trail half marathon on the hottest day of the year (very slowly!), and finally broke the 2 hour barrier for a half. In no particular order 10 chunks of wisdom

1. Don't worry about pace - goals are good but running should be enjoyable. Save the pb hunting for big races.

2. Running is fun. If you aren't finding it fun slow down and run until you enjoy it.

3. Parkrun is brilliant. Do them as often as possible.

4. Running Commentary Podcast is also brilliant. Listen to it while running.

5. Read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

6. Endorphins are addictive

7. Your brain will work better

8. You can run much further than you think. Especially if you stop and take in the view from time to time.

9. If this patient zero sniffy fucker across the aisle infects me with whatever lurgy he has I'm not going to be happy.

10. You can learn a lot from the online running community, but you can learn a lot more just by getting out there and finding your running mojo.

With a bit of luck I'll keep this updated a bit more often, especially as I'm working my way towards the 53 mile Race to the King in June. Or maybe I'll forget and won't update until I head down to the Brighton marathon next year.

Either way be cool

Dan