I'm itching to go running fast

10 miles this morning. Legs are still a bit battered from descents earlier in the weekend so pretty easy pace, didn't time it. Actually I didn't run the proper 10 mile route - I went a slightly different way which was a little bit further. I also ran/jogged/walked for about an hour with Scamp prior to my proper run so not a bad day for mileage though no effort input really. Tomorrow will be reps as usual - don't know what format yet.

Back home I had a dozen different tasks needing attention in the garden and many more inside the house. I couldn't really be bothered with any of them. I watered the tomatoes so they wouldn't die then spent time napping in the hammock Janet bought me for Christmas. (very comfy). The sun went behind a cloud and I finally found a bit of motivation to get on with a spot of tidying up. But it didn't take much to see me stop again to blog my latest thoughts.

I'm just feeling a bit aimless really. I know I planned this period between London marathon and the beginning of the next training phase to be an informal period of training but I keep thinking back to 2009 when I had my 40th birthday route to plan (and run) then the 50 mile event. Both big milestones. Both the furthest/longest I had ever covered.

So what now? What new challenge for 2010? Run even further? I have been looking at the Hadrians Wall path - its 85 miles and fairly flat - finishes only 15 miles or so from home. Most days I see people walking the route as it uses a bit of my 10mile route through the park to Crosby. A definite possible, although I have never heard about anyone running it before.

Iain Kelly has the intention of doing the Cumbrian Traverse later in the summer, possibly early July. This would fit in very well at the end of my informal training period whilst helping my endurance base as I begin the long runs that comprise road marathon training.

And what about the Bob? Well it's a definite NO for this year. To be honest I don't have an overriding yearning to do it, though since Saturday I have given some thought to how I would go about it and a largely unsupported round would be my preference. ie - do legs one and two alone(with food stashed) then arrange for someone to accompany me from Dunmail, halfway to Wasdale and (presuming I was looking good for a completion) ask if they'd mind awfully going to Honister before they went home. That's probably a ridiculous notion. It would certainly require me to have gained an unprecedented knowledge of all 42 tops as well as to have become a proficient navigator. Not actively working on these areas currently, it's all very much pie in the sky. For me the BGR would be about proving my physical ability to complete the round so sometimes I think about letting technology take the strain and getting a GPS to 'guide' me. Not sure if Iain and Stu would ever go running with me again after that though!

But this will make me slower

Stop the presses - hold the back page - drop the dead donkey.
Stu Stoddart has completed the Bob Graham Round in 21hrs 07 minutes!!!

Well done Cowboy, great achievement.



Saturday came far too early - 5am I was up. 6am left the house. 6:45 arrived at Keswick to be given a lift to Dunmail Raise where I was to meet Stu as he finished leg 2.

We didnt have long to wait as he was ahead of schedule and looking good as he lead his overnight pacers down off Seat Sandal. No sooner had he sat down than we were off again, the stiff climb of Steel Fell a tough opening
to this middle section of the round which includes Englands highest point. Stu had some trouble with cramp in his legs but despite this we stuck to the schedule he had prepared for himself, even knocking off a minute or two on occasional summits. The cramp must have gone away (or he just stopped moaning on a bout it) because when he was striding out up the gentle slopes he was really moving quite fast - certainly faster than I could comfortably walk and I was forced to do the odd little jog to keep up. The steep hills were a different matter and by Bowfell he was having a real bad spell. This was good for me as I finally had the opportunity to stop for a much needed 'call of nature' and also to search in my backpack for some food, then catch up again before the summit. The summit which incidentally he only 'lost' a couple of minutes despite the problems.

We encountered a problem at Broad Stand when Iain, our navigator and a skilled climber was unable to scale the rock to rig up a rope to assist mine and Stu's ascent. It was just too wet and greasy for Iain to get a firm enough handhold so he shouted down that we should forget this option. We had to lose a lot of height that then needed to be regained as we took the Foxes Tarn route. After this we dropped down thousands of feet to Wasdale, enjoying the climbing temperature's and improving views as we dropped out of the clag, riding the scree in the gullies

Wasdale is where I left Stu to carry on with his epic day. I was nowhere near as tired as I expected to be, and as ever, I pondered whether or not I could do the BGR myself one day.

This morning I made up for yesterdays early start by staying in bed for a total of 10 hours. I walked the dog long and then ran an easy 7 miles.

So will this

5 miles hard - under 30 minutes


Just prior to leaving the house I had to take down my garden umbrella lest it blow away in the wind. So I knew we were in for a tough time during one half of the run. By we I mean me and Darren, who I met near the start point.

Bearing in mind that I wanted to run just inside 6 minute miling, a tailwind as we set out meant we had to aim higher to allow for a slower return leg in to the headwind. I thought 5:45 would be about right and at the 2 mile marker my watch showed 11:36. Spot on.

We turned when Darrens Garmin showed 2.5 miles covered and I timed the same 2 mile section on the way back. If it took 12:24 the average would be 6:00 so I was hoping to be only a few seconds over 12 minutes. I was amazed to be finished in 11:42. Only 6 seconds longer than with the tailwind, though it was marginally downhill back. This gives a four mile time of 23:18 (5:50 pace). Darrens Garmin showed a discrepancy between the mile markers but my time for 5 miles by his (it's) reckoning was 29:40 (5:56 pace). Under 30 minutes then, whichever I believe.

In about 6 weeks time this run will be a weekly occurrence and will build from 6 miles to eventually 10 miles, so I am pleased to have achieved the target pace today. Next week I may do 6 miles. The week after that will be a 10k event which I in which I think I should achieve 5:40 pace (35mins 13 seconds)

This will make me faster

4 miles of reps
1 mile - 5:50
1 mile - 5:30
2miles (running 2mins hard 1 min stationary recovery) - 9:58

Very happy indeed with tonight's session. Running faster like this will make me a faster runner. Seems an obvious thing to say but its a fundamental point in a training program that can easily be forgotten.

The first mile was more uphill than down, it was also headwind and I wasn't particularly well warmed up, so 5:50 is not a bad time at all. The second mile was still headwind (not strong) but more or less flat. I was surprised to run 5:30 as I wasn't really 'going for it' because it was the ensuing 2 miles that I really wanted to run as hard as I could.

Five 2 minute bursts with 1 minute stationary recoveries (stationary meaning I restart where I got to in the 2 minutes - rather than jogging or walking further on, but I do move around a bit - it's not a game of statues). As with the 3 mile session last Thursday this gives a time for the 2 miles. I knew I would run a fast time as long as I could maintain the effort in the fourth and fifth reps. They were the ones that proved really tough, as, just as expected, I was operating way way beyond my comfort zone. The one minute recovery seemed ridiculously short by the time I had covered the first mile back, but conversely, by the time I was properly into each effort they soon seemed to be over with too. With about a minute to go I realised I may well go under the magic 10 minute barrier and am utterly delighted to have ran 4:59 pace for the two miles. OK it featured 4 separate rests of 60 seconds but nevertheless it's a step in the right direction. I did once run a mile non stop inside 5 minutes. I probably never will again but it's nice to get a result starting with a number 4.

Thursday needs to be another hard session but at at a different pace to tonight so i'm thinking of doing 5 miles in 30 minutes. Or ideally in 29mins 59 seconds.

Yesterday (Monday) was a very short jog with Scamp - scarcely 4 miles - but it keeps me in the routine of running 6 days per week.

Sunday was an awful day for running. It was red hot, around 24 degrees C. After putting it off in the hope of rain I finally ventured onto my 13 mile road circuit. The first eight miles were good - sub 6:30 minute miling without trying and not too troubled by the heat. Unfortunately I forgot to collect a bottle of water I had placed near the 10 mile point. I had past it by 150 metres when I remembered but couldn't be bothered to turn around as I felt OK and 'only' had 3 miles to go. BIG MISTAKE INDI'. Those final couple of miles were sheer hell. I don't ever recall being so pleased to stop running as I was when I crossed my 'finish line'. 1hr 26m 15s is something like 6:37 per mile, so I lost a lot of time in those final miles, despite being overall downhill.

Saturday was back to the familiar pattern of 2 laps of Gelt. Darren was with me and we took it easy for lap 1. Two weeks ago we ran a short 33 minute lap for our second and I was confident I could beat that time by at least a minute on this occasion. I ran steady from the off and put in decent efforts whenever the gradient was against me, really powering over all the small, sharp rises. This was sufficient to drop Darren after 10 minutes, though to be fair he was complaining of still feeling the effects on his chest of a recent cold. 31:52 is a good time which I am pleased with. I would like to run a lap with someone faster than me to really test me and see what I could achieve at 100% with my current fitness.

No pertinant images with regard to todays post so this gives me a chance to go off topic and give some publicity to my brother Jason - taken on the way off Fairfield last Christmas time.

Less than 16 minutes

Last week I took something like 16:09 to complete the 3 mile route of intervals. Last night I ran it inside 16 minutes. 15.51 actually, which must be 5:17 pace per mile. Back in the day, my best ever time for this session was 15:05 (though I may have had just 60 seconds recoveries then - for now I'm taking 90 seconds). Things (speed) are going in the direction at least. I am about 15 seconds per mile slower than at my best ever. If I can reduce this to just 10 seconds per mile then I should regularly be back into the 34 minute 10k's (I used to run 34's on every route, even hilly ones, and on many occasions 33's if the course was a good one).

Looking on the Cumberland AC website for the results of Tuesdays race it was nice to stumble across the result from 2003 when I won in 34:05. I didn't even remember running the race until I got to the venue and it all looked a bit familiar. It got me into thinking about how many races I did actually win. There was the Langdale Marathon, Carlisle Rugby Club 10k, Langholm Doctors Run, Moorclose, Chivers Challenge, and several of Derwent AC's low-key midweek events which formed a summer long series that I won two years in succession. There was also a Duathlon I won in about 2005 or 6. Glory days indeed.

One minor blip on the horizon has to be my sore right foot. About 4 years ago I had plantar fasciitus which stopped me from running for a short while. The issue was rectified by the remarkable skills of Mr Jerret, my local physio' who got me to run with some off-the-shelf orthotic inserts. Since then I have always worn them in my everyday footwear (workboots) and I have often noticed that when I don't wear them for a while (such as when on holiday), my foot hurts a bit. Since last summer it has hurt again, going from mild and scarcely noticeable to now being quite painful most of the time. Luckily it didn't hurt when running (although clearly, running made it worse afterwards), but now it does hurt when running so I have been doing the stretches I was taught, every morning, night and anytime inbetween where I am on a step. I also took a closer look at the inserts and after so many years they have actually become quite flat on the bottom - the little wedges stuck to the base to throw my landing foot in a slightly altered manner were no longer doing their job. I have ordered a new pair if inserts and am hopeful they will quickly resolve this issue - ideally before July when I will resume the 50-60 mile weeks.

Scamp stars top and bottom today. It was too hot for him in the van so I tied him under a shady tree. At dinner time he looked so cute I took a quick snap of his upsidedown-ness

Pluckys arse

Initially I was happy enough with my time of 35:48 for tonights 10k race. I had hoped to be nearer 35:30 but I thought I'd done OK. But then I received some criticism from Plucky who suggested my result was rather short of the mark and my aim of running sub 35 later in the year was also too soft a target.

Now clearly I would love to be regularly running 34 minute 10k's again but i am realistic and I know this isn't likely to happen when I train so specifically for marathons. I have no doubt I could get well into the 34s if I concentrated my efforts on shorter, faster workouts, but any 34 would be my fastest time in about 4 years or so, so I think the criticism is a little harsh.

If I enter 35:48 in a race time predictor it spits out a 2:44:30 prediction for a marathon, which is very close to the time I was heading for until I fell apart at 20miles in London.
Enter my actual time for London and it predicts 36:22 for 10k. My faster time tonight proves that I didn't run to my ability in London, especially as you would never really hope to run both a marathon and a 10k to your ultimate potential within just 3 weeks of each other.
Heres another result from the predictor. 34:59 for a 10k gives a marathon of 2:40:51. Both those times are within a few seconds of my ultimate aim for those distances this year, so I reckon my targets are spot on (and perhaps, ultimately out of my grasp this year).

Monaco GP Weekend

Saturday, after a long walk with the dogs I ran the 10 mile circuit. I wanted to run it in a similar fashion to the usual Saturday run through Gelt (easy lap/hard lap) so I took it fairly steady to the turn then upped the pace considerably for the return. Trouble was - a tailwind all the way out gave a reasonable time (33:08) with just a steady effort input. To come back quicker would take some doing into the stiff breeze. Running faster shouldn't have mattered of course, as long as the effort was increased. However, I ran very hard indeed to record 64:48 which I think must be 31:40 for the return 5 headwind miles. In July, when I begin my marathon schedule, I will be aiming to run 6:10 pace for 10, 12, eventually 18 miles. That would be 61:40 for 10 miles which I think I could have ran today (3mins 8 faster), although that would be the main session of the weekend with the other day being much less intense.

As it was, I ran my main session today (Sunday). Two laps of the Talkin circuit.
Lap one I had Scamp with me on a stretchy lead. He didnt slow me up at all (or pull me along) but for some reason I only ran 45:50 for the lap. Very slow. Lap two, and with Scamp back in the van I deliberately set off at pace. Running the downhills and flatter sections at effort then taking it much easier up the main climbs I recorded 42:55. More like it although sub 43 is the kind of time I will be looking to run for every lap once I'm in 'Loch Ness mode' come July.

Todays photo is of the Daisy who now has a new owner and a new name. Various factors led me to take the decision to rehome her. I miss her terribly but hopefully I've done what's best for her, me and Scamp.