Grindleford Gallop 2016

You only write when you're winning...

I have been wondering whether to update my blog with a race report on the very marvelous Grindleford Gallop, but it has been so long since I have published anything about running that I was worried about being accused of breaking my silence only to blow my own trumpet. 

But, I reassured myself (read: kidded myself) that I needed an account of the race on file to look back on in previous years. More of a training log than a racing blog. Blah blah. If I was as smart with technology as my youngest daughter I would insert some animated gif thingy here of a bald bloke blowing his own trumpet.

It's not that I haven't been motivated to update the blog mind - I've done all kinds of exciting running stuff and experienced some highs (2nd at Clowne Half Marathon in November with a new PB and a decent day out at the National XC Champs) and some real lows (dragging myself around Yorkshire XC, rubbish running at the XC Berry Park relays, and having a pretty crap Percy Pud 2015 too).

Clowne HM - cutting it fine with 1:14:57

The thing that has stopped me updating my blog has been how crazy and busy life gets when (a) the kids are at big school and taking control of their own lives (which ironically means they need you to ferry them about, find their missing socks, and listen to their tortuously long stories about school girl bickering); and, (b) work is frankly nuts and any evening writing time is spent on endless papers about the state of the domiciliary care market in Sheffield. If I was more awake, I would find a link from home care to running. But I can't think of one that is publishable.

Anyway - the run up to the race...

The Yorkshire Champs XC in early January was a pretty sorry experience - I weighed in at around 72kg and felt the excesses of Xmas with every laboured splodge through the ever deepening, claggy mud. I watched people who I consider to be peers disappear ahead into the distance, and I found myself running with people who I have not run side-by-side with for a year or two. I even fell on my arse in front of the crowds.

I had purposefully rested over Xmas and stopped worrying about diet etc - but it was clearly time to pull myself together and start planning for the next challenge. I set my sights on the National Veterans' XC on March 13th. The idea being that I would go and have a proper pop at this race, which acts as a kind of qualifier for international vet selection. Basically, I wanted to assess how far off I would be next year of securing an England XC vest as a V45 newbie in 2017.

The first thing I focused on was food. Weight makes a massive difference to me. I know it is a sensitive subject for many, but if you're serious about running faster, then carrying excess useless fat around is not a good idea. I have blogged on this subject before so I won't go into detail here. Suffice to say that after 80 days of logging every item of food and maintaining daft amount of discipline, I was back down to race weight.

I also stepped up my training. With half an eye on lowering my half marathon PB again in May, and half the other eye on my 2:45 pace-making duties at London Marathon in April, I decided to major on ramping up the mileage and getting longer threshold runs in. I knew that I would probably be better prepared for the short 5-mile Vets XC Champs with more shorter track work, but I decided to introduce this gradually in Feb once I had got my strength and base fitness back up a bit.

Everything was going well by mid-February - weekly mileage was back up around 70, and I was particularly enjoying my weekly Tuesday 10 mile threshold run with John D (and a revolving cast of other SRC runners prepared to do 10 miles in 60 minutes around Attercliffe on a cold Tuesday evening). The regular long Sunday group runs with marathon training running mates was also a good session (15 - 20 miles at 6:40 pace being typical).

Then disaster struck: A mistake in our calendar meant that we had not spotted that my target Vets XC Champs race in March clashed with our youngest daughter Isla's theatre group production of Alice in Wonderland. Isla had been rehearsing for the play for months 

I am sure that in the 1980s, I would have been booking the hotel in Bath regardless, and patting Isla on the head and telling her that I would look forward to hearing all about it, but it's 2016 and men are apparently now allowed to prioritise their families above their running exploits. And it was fun anyway - Isla's the tallest pink haired dancer in the video here.

To be honest, I had also spotted the silver lining - the opportunity to defend my title at Grindleford Gallop on the 12th. I had won and really enjoyed the Gallop last year during my run up to the London Marathon. The distance (21 miles), terrain (trail and a bit of fell), and the feel of the race (friendly with lots of cake at the end) seemed to really suit me.

So, I switched target races and started planning my title defence at the Gallop. Although I had limited time to study the entry list and stalk the entrants on runbritain, I spotted a few major threats... 

First up was Stephen Pope from Totley AC who I knew from local races and from the Gallop in 2014 when he absolutely flew past me during mile 3 only to go the wrong way down Monsal Trail during mile 9 and then get kicked in the jaw by a horse on the climb out of Baslow. I thought Stephen would have the edge on me but I fancied making a race of it.

Second was Steve Franklin, also from Totley AC, who had kept me company in 2015 but had faded after mile 14 when I wound it up a bit. Steve had beat me at the Yorkshire XC by a good two minutes, and I knew that he had been putting in more mileage this year. Another obvious threat.

Third was Matthew Battensby from Bristol AC (damn his local connections). Matthew had won the last couple of Eyam Half Marathons and had some decent recent race times including a 32:00 10km. I was pretty resigned to finishing behind Matthew - whilst hoping that he got lost obviously!

Fourth, and most intimidating, was Tim Hartley, a ridiculously talented veteran runner from Notts AC / Barrow. An article on Tim on the Highgate Harriers website does a better job than I can here of setting out just how good he is. Tim had beaten me by well over 2 minutes at the Nationals XC (finishing alongside some sub-31 minute 10km runners and 2nd V45 to Ian Hudspith) and is still knocking 5km in low 15 minutes. I was expecting to lose to Tim, although I was wondering how his stamina would last out given his focus on relatively shorter races.

Race Day

In a welcome repeat of last year, I shared a car to Grindleford with Helen Pickford, who was planning on having a decent go at the 3 hour barrier. I warmed up gently on the field, said hello to a few familiar faces, and sought out a suitable bush (400 runners and 4 portaloos is not an equation I could balance).

On the start line, I couldn’t see Stephen Pope anywhere, but I chatted to Steve F and Matthew B, who was sporting a matching pair of Saucony Kinvara Trail shoes. I explained that my Kinvaras had got more comfortable when the holes appeared above my big toes. Typical pre-race nervous babble. I chose not to brag that my Kinvaras had won every race they had run – including last year’s gallop, two gruesome twosomes, the Penistone Hill Race, and the Midsummer Dash. Not major races, but not a bad record for a pair of shoes approaching retirement.

The race started as chaotically as ever with 400 runners doing the mad dash to the narrow stream crossing. I got through the gap and into the fields with reasonably dry feet and in the top ten or so. I was slipping all over the bloody place though – the ground was definitely soggier than last year and I was losing places as we went up the muddy bank. I knew that my super-lightweight kinvaras would be great once we got on the trails, but they were not coping with the mud at all.

My plan was to run the first 15 miles at marathon effort and see if I could stay near the leaders, and then attempt to switch up to half marathon effort through Chatsworth and on the beast of a climb out of Baslow. My hope was that my endurance would get me home in a decent position and give me a shout of a top 3 if the speedy competition didn't get too much of a lead on me.

The first mile went by in around 6:40 and a decent group of us hit the bottom of the first monster climb together. This climb is where the over enthusiastic / deluded runners typically drop away, and as we got half way up the hill I was in a breakaway pack that I would spend most of the race with – Steve F looking as strong as ever, Matthew B looking young, fresh and fast (particularly on the tarmac and descents), and Tim Hartley who seemed comfortable as anything. Around 30 metres behind was a strong looking bloke in a green t-shirt who I didn’t know (turned out to be Wayne Bulcroft - an infrequent racer fresh from a 1:15 half at Brass Monkey in January).

I was tipping a few bpm over my marathon heart rate (147bpm) going up the latter half of the hill and I was wary of the advice I had received from Gallop veterans about how many people ruin their race on the first climb. But, I felt comfortable so I rolled with it.

As the leading pack coasted down the hill to the first checkpoint in Eyam, everyone looked really comfortable. I got to the dibber first and glanced at my watch – we were about 30 seconds faster than last year. Fine with that - felt good and I knew I was a bit fitter this time.

The pack stayed together up the climb out of Eyam towards the moors – swapping the lead regularly. After about 4 miles I tried to avoid a deep puddle on a gravelly farm track by running up a muddy bank, but I slipped badly, banged my knee, elbow, and the side of my head, and ended up sat on my arse in the puddle. So much for trying to keep my feet dry. Matthew B gave me a hand up and I ran on more embarrassed than hurt. The dribble of blood down my knee would look good in the photos I thought.

I took a gel at mile 5 at the same location as the previous year – I didn’t want it, but the Gallop is all about having fuel in the tank for the last few miles and I had decided to copy my nutrition plan from last year when I finished strongly. Sip of water at each checkpoint, gel at mile 5, caffeinated gel at miles 11 and 16, and a gel on Froggat edge at 19 miles so I didn't bonk down the steep descent to the finish and break my legs.

During the fields and (many) stiles up towards Longstone Moor, the pack rotated around regularly. I got the feeling everyone was waiting to push on, and that Matthew and Tim were holding back because they were nervous about the distance, or, more likely because they needed to stay with people who knew the route well. Tim had already nearly gone the wrong way twice whilst in the lead.

note photo credit - sportsunday

We passed through checkpoint 2 in 41:38 - about 80 seconds faster than last year. I checked my average heart rate for the last mile -  late 140s - and reassured myself that I could keep that level of effort up for two and a half hours. So I relaxed and pushed on.

As we crested Longstone Edge at mile 7 and turned right towards checkpoint 3, I was properly enjoying myself - a sure sign that I was not over-exerting. The view was absolutely spectacular as the sun broke through the mist over the valley, and the front pack was moving nicely together over a very runnable wide grass path. Steve F had set the pace over the moor, but Tim was now increasingly at the front of the pack. We dibbed at checkpoint 3 and turned left down the steep descent towards Longstone village. At this point Matthew B's young legs moved him to the front as we started to make some rapid progress at around 5:20 pace.

I was now almost exactly 2 minutes up on last year's time when I had finished about 20 seconds outside the course record. I was increasingly confident that I would break the course record this year, but the burning question was how many others would do the same? Nobody seemed at all fatigued after 8 miles or so of hard work.

As we ran through Longstone I felt strong and pushed the pace a bit towards the Monsal Trail - taking Tim with me. I hit the trail a few seconds ahead of Tim with Wayne, Steve and Matthew a few seconds behind. Strava flyby captures the moment nicely (Tim is the monkey)! I had a nasty bit of stitch developing from the hard descent but it wasn't bothering me too much.

photo credit Jonathan Nason

The Monsal Trail is 2.5 miles of boredom but it is easy running and has a slight descent. TIm took the lead for most of the trail and pushed on. I was monitoring my heart rate regularly to make sure I wasn't getting too excited, and was pleased to be holding around 143bpm at a comfortably hard 5:40ish pace. I lost a bit of time at the checkpoint dibbing and having a drink, but Tim and I had now built up a 10 second gap. I followed Tim down the last half mile of the trail as he pushed on pretty hard, and we opened up a 15 second gap on the others. I wondered whether this was the moment that Tim would go for it - 9 miles to the finish. I also wondered whether I would shout out if Tim missed the right turning behind Bakewell station. Thankfully he saw the sign and turned right so I avoided a test of my morals (I think I might have failed)!

The muddy climb up to the back of Chatsworth is unrunnable in places so I had my planned caffeinated gel during a quick walking break. As I got about half way up I spotted Wayne, Matthew and Steve passing Tim and I over to the left. No idea still how I made such a daft mistake but we'd gone the wrong way! Tim scrambled across to join their path, but I suspected that the path I was on would finish in about the right place so I stayed on it and eventually found a rough trail that linked back to the route without too much fuss. Still we had lost the 15 second cushion and fallen a further 25 seconds behind - one little mistake, 40 seconds lost, shit! I could see Wayne was now setting the pace with Steve at the front.

It took me about a quarter of a mile to close the gap on the leaders, and then without really thinking about it, I just continued the momentum, grabbing a 10 second lead by the time we hit 13 miles and turned out of the fields onto the trail down towards the fields at the back of Edensor. I didn't realise at the time, but strava flyby shows that the chasing pack closed the lead back down to around 5 seconds as we flew down the muddy field towards the steep steps down onto the chatsworth estate. However, a reckless descent down the steps and a lucky break with the traffic on the road meant I soon regained my 10 second cushion. As I hit the congested gravel trails through Chatsworth - I felt determined if a bit tired, so I decided to have a go at seeing who had the legs after 15 miles for a hard mile. I pushed up to around 5:50 pace and set my sights on building a lead and getting a sweet drink and another gel at Baslow checkpoint.

looking pleased with the breakaway - photo credit: Jonathan Nason

By the time I got out of Chatsworth, Matthew and Tim had hit the wall and were around 2 minutes behind, Steve had responded to the increased pace but was still around 50 seconds behind, and Wayne was about 20 seconds behind Steve. I took a swig of sweet squash at the Baslow checkpoint, squeezed down a caffeinated gel, and dashed a little recklessly across the road towards the pig of a 1.5 mile climb out of Baslow towards the Eagle Stone on the edge.

I saw Mike Sport spectating early on in the climb and asked him how big the gap was - he said he couldn't see anyone and then corrected himself when Steve came into view. I reckoned I had got about 40 and 60 seconds lead with 5 miles to go. I settled into a hard effort and pushed up the hill - only slowing down to give a horse a wide berth. By the time I got to the Eagle Stone I had wobbly legs but I was on my own and had a 2 minute lead - having broken the segment record I set last year by about 20 seconds.

I recovered pretty quickly and ran hard along the edge, taking care not to do anything daft with my legs, which were threatening cramp whenever they were asked to do anything vaguely awkward. I squeezed down my final gel and concentrated on running freely and keeping my average pace for mile 19 below 6-minute mile pace - I was pretty confident that my lead was too big at this stage to get caught, so I had started to concentrate on making sure I broke the course record.

The descent down off the edge and into Grindleford was as daft as ever, but I felt strong as I the trail flattened out and I picked up the pace to finish the last half mile at around 5:30 pace. I dibbed in to clock 2:22:24 - beating the course record of 2:24:32 set in 2010.

I sat on a chair near the finishing line feeling pretty pleased with myself whilst chatting to the brilliant marshals and volunteers. I waited to see whether Steve had held 2nd and was pleased to see him coming over the bridge a few minutes later. Wayne followed a couple of minutes later with Darren King having a typically strong finish to grab 4th. Tim and Matthew finished 10th and 12th respectively.

After eating some soup and absolutely tonnes of cake, I cheered Helen breaking 3 hours, collected my vouchers, and returned home in the mood for a few beers. Thankfully the bar was open at the theatre showing Isla's stage production and they had bradfield brewery stout in chilled bottles. What a result - I'll take 3 of them in with me please!

back to running school - week 10 - the first target race (and the bonus one)

Monday of the big countdown week - with a double-header of races planned for the weekend. The big one was Saturday at the Northern 6-Stage Road Relays in Blackpool. The bonus Sunday race was leg 2 of the Sheffield Way Relay - a great race between local running clubs with 5 pairs from each club running 10 miles each to complete a full 50 mile route around the city.

After a short jog to work on Monday morning, I set off back home again in the evening feeling good. The plan said a few miles with some surges, so I went with that - although some of the surges were a bit longer than they should have been because I was feeling fresh. I also admit to being tempted into running quicker by the sight of a pack of local club runners on an easy run through Porter Valley. Really must grow up.

Tuesday's session was a jog to the track followed by a relatively light session of 3 x 1000m off 5 minutes rest. I was careful to run with a bit of control - trying to avoid the typical sprint finish and conserve my old legs. I was happy with a consistent 3:04 for each rep though.

Wednesday is usually rest day, and as usual, I completely failed to rest. I did however keep well under 120bpm for mile or jog to work and the 8 mile trot home. I felt fine throughout and afterwards.

Thursday's session was a proper taper speed session - 10 x 1 minutes at around 5:30 pace, with a minute jog between. It felt good running easy at pace on the grass and I even managed to keep the total mileage for the day to less than 5 miles.

By Friday I was feeling pretty fresh - although still mindful of the usual niggles and pains down my left leg. The aches and pains seem to shift around randomly between my glutes, hamstrings and outside thigh. I did some brisk walks but avoided running altogether. The weekend was going to be hard enough.

I had about the worst night's sleep in the world on Friday - probably should have gone out for a run after all!

Saturday morning's alarm arrived much too quickly. I managed to get Lola out of bed (who was running in the U13 girl relays for City of Sheffield) and we were on the road for about 9am. It was a nice drive over to Blackpool in the sunshine - with all kinds of crap modern pop music filling the car. We were both in a pretty good mood though. I was probably bouyed by having hit my sub-70kg weight target just in the nick of time for the race - meaning I was about 2.5kg lighter than a month ago - enough to take around 20 seconds off a 5K time. I was also feeling pretty bouncy after my day off.

Lola got her 3km out of the way in around 13 minutes - and was furious about her time for about an hour. I said that she couldn't train for months for sprints and jumps and then expect to compete at the front of the long distance races. I am hoping that the experience persuades her to come out on a few runs with me over the next few weeks so she can get stuck into the XC season!

The rest of the squad arrived at about 1pm and there was the usual banter and warm ups as we surveyed the course and the conditions. It was still sunny and warm - actually a bit too hot for comfortable racing. There was a slight edge to the atmosphere too: months of build up to a race puts a bit of extra pressure on, and you could sense it in the air as people wondered how they would do against their own goals and how they would compare to their training partners. We'd soon find out.

Our first leg runner was Will B, who knocked out a cracking 20:53 over the 4.07 miles. Will brought the team home in 23rd place - just inside the qualifying 25. This was a great start as we knew that the first leg would have more than its fair share of top runners.

My race started smoothly - not too crowded but still plenty of company to run with. I went through the first mile comfortably holding my tempo breathing pattern, and the 2nd mile passed without too much bother too. As my breathing started to shorten at halfway, I switched to my race effort breathing pattern (breathing out hard every 3rd step) and pushed through mile 3 and into mile 4. Unusually for me, I looked at my watch at this point and saw that my average pace was 5:21. This spurred me on to gasp through the last 800m to the finish - clocking 21:45 and 5:20 average pace. I was well pleased with that - well over a minute faster than 2 years ago and not far off my 5K PB pace on a twisty, turny course. And, I had managed to gain a place too - taking us up to 22nd (should have been 20th but I lost the sprint finish to two track-loving whipper snappers!)

The whole team then proceeded to do the business - with a string of decent runs bringing us home in 17th position - easily qualifying for the nationals on the 3rd October. Our second team were 8th B team - showing that increasingly have the strength in depth to make a dent at the 12-stage relays next year. We even picked up a bronze medal for 3rd yorkshire team.

The drive home was easy enough and Lola was good company (as long as I let her choose the music). I was feeling the effort in my legs thought and was looking forward to kicking back at home for the evening.

Saturday night was another shocking night's sleep - a combination of the adrenaline rush from a good race, coupled with my nerves about me or one of the other runners getting lost on Sunday's Sheffield Way Relay.

It was bright if a little chilly when we arrived at Grenoside Woods at the start of the 2nd leg. Deb was running with Claire S, and I was with Alex P. I wasn't quite as nervous as I had been a few weeks ago about running with Alex as we had run about the same time at the northerns the day before.

The first male team from Dark Peak came storming up the hill at about 9:38 - meaning they had covered the first leg at a decent pace. Alex and I paced around nervously wondering how much headstart the leg 2 runners would have on us. Soon after, the Kimberworth and Steel City Striders runners also handed over their batons. Just as I was beginning to get really worried, our leg 1 pair (Ben and Gareth) came bounding up the trail. It was 9:48am meaning the (pretty handy) Dark Peak pair had got 10 minutes head start on us. Uncatchable but we knew we needed to make a dent in their lead to give our other runners a decent chance.

We set off down the hill at pace - with my excitement spilling over into a daft war cry about 'catching rabbits'. The trail is pretty rough but runnable and the first beep of the watch confirmed the first mile in 5:13. The 2nd mile finished in the bottom of the valley (5:24). As we started the 700ft ascent up to Kirk Edge Rd, I felt the energy flush out of my legs a bit - a timely reminder that Saturday had taken quite a bit out of me. I hung back a bit and let Alex power up the hill. I was breathing hard and was worried about blowing up. The course is basically a tale of two big bloody hills with some semi-runnable hard descents. Not for taking lightly.

As we got towards the top of the first hill, we were back together and running well. I had got into a nice climbing rhythm and the brow of the first climb was in sight. We caught the Steel City Striders team somewhere around this point.

The drop down into Loxley valley was a nice break - but you can't let your concentration drift as the ground is uneven and the brambles unforgiving. As we reached the fishing pond that signals the start of the second 700ft ascent, I was feeling pretty good and increasingly confident about having a go at the leg record of just under 1 hr 5 min. Halfway up the second hill, Alex dropped back a bit, but not so much that I slowed down - just taking a breather really as I had done on the first hill. I took over gate opening and closing duties, meaning we stayed pretty much together.

Before we knew it, we were heading down the final 2 mile descent through rough fields, over stiles, and squeezing past farm vehicles. As we hit the final mile, I picked the pace up to around 5:25 and kicked for the finish - opening up a bit of a gap on Alex who was feeling the weekend's work a bit. As usual though he had a decent bit left for the glory finish and we handed the baton over side-by-side - finishing the leg in 1:02:40 - and smashing the course record. That'll do I thought. The day finished nicely in the Nether Edge Bowling Club with a post-face buffet, awards and a few beers. Made all the sweeter by the team victory. The ladies finished 2nd.

Great weekend's work. Now back to it and ready for the nationals...

back to running school - weeks 8 and 9

Week 8

After Sunday's hard 15 miler, I was glad that the scheduled Monday tempo run (31 Aug) was going to be a progression run. My legs were a bit stiff, but the easy warm up on the undulating trails round Damflask soon sorted things out, and the group moved nicely through the gears from 7 min/mile pace for the first mile to a bit under 6 min/mile pace for mile 4. As we hit the little bridge at the end of the lake, we started the final hard mile. I switched up to a race breathing pattern (blow out hardish every 3 steps) and picked up the pace to around 5:35 - meaning I ended the session in front on my own (I wasn't too unhappy about it!)

Tuesday's session was one that I would have dreaded a month or two ago: drills, short sprints, and then 8 x 400m flat out with 2 minutes rest between each. Thankfully, I have got more used to the hard, short stuff. Not a lot better at it to be honest, but used to it at least. 

The session went well although my continued efforts to regain control over my diet / weight meant I was a bit hungry and I had a shocking 7th 400m rep when my energy seemed to just flush from my legs with 200m to go. Still, the reps averaged between 69 and 70 seconds, which is a couple of seconds quicker than in previous attempts. Bizarrely I found that focusing my eyes on the top of the tree in the distance beyond the finishing line seemed to help me cope with the inevitable trauma of the final 100m.

Wednesday in running school is 'rest day', which I have managed to adhere to once in the whole 9 weeks. A gentle 7ish mile trot up the porter valley is a bit like a rest isn't it?

Thursday was a classic Dave Oldfield SRC speed session: 8km of hard efforts starting with 1600m, then 2 x 1200m, 3 x 800m, and finishing with 4 x 400m. Rests shortened with the reps from 4 minutes to 1 minute. All distances are approximate as they are round a field in Darnall. Not that time and space are in anyway warped in that part of the city.

I managed to get out for an easy lunchbreak run on Friday, giving my legs a bit more recovery time ahead of the hill session scheduled for Saturday, . Just as well because Saturday's session was hard work. It was basically loads (14?) hard 1-minute hill efforts, quickly followed by 5 x 30s hill sprints. At least we then got a 10 minute walking rest before the usual 1.5 mile hilly time trial. I actually felt pretty good throughout the session - perhaps feeling the benefit of carrying a few pounds less than a couple of weeks ago. I even managed to catch Alex P on a few of the reps - although any improvements I make seem to be more than matched over the shorter reps by Alex C.

Sunday's run was an easy 3 miles on my own and then a nice social 12 miles with Trevor, Gareth and Kev B along the reopened canal towpath to Rotherham and back. The pace was just under 7 minute miles - until the last couple of miles, when Kev B always puts his foot down. I wasn't mature enough not to respond so the last mile went by in about 5:45. I think there is a lot to be said for Sunday runs with a hard finish.

Week 9

Whilst I considered the training during the first few weeks of running school a bit 'soft', the gradual increase in the quality work had left me in doubt that a lower-mileage / higher-quality approach can take more out of your legs. My average mileage for the last few weeks has been around 60 miles per week, compared to 80 in the months before London Marathon. But, if anything, my legs were probably more tired - my hamstrings in particular almost constantly aching.

My heart against pace calculations, my watch's VO2 max estimate (up to 65), and rep times, were all suggesting that the training approach was working for me - but I had no idea how this would play through to a race situation over any decent distance. It was also all a bit complicated because I had put on nearly 4kg of extra weight (8lbs) after reaching my low of just under 11 stone (69kg) before London. My basic conclusion after (too much) analysis was that I was probably fitter, but that the extra weight was masking the improvement.

Thankfully, operation food control was now in full swing and I was managing to maintain the ridiculous amount of discipline needed to avoid the biscuits, (extra) beer, kids leftover meals, second helpings and so on needed to live within my calorie target of 2,000 calories per day (net of calories burned doing exercise). Meeting this target should deliver a weight reduction of around 0.25kg per week. However, as the graph below shows, I was managing to exceed the target most days, so the weight was coming off a bit more quickly and by Monday I was bang on 71kg having lost 2kg (4.4lbs) in around 2 weeks.  

Monday's tempo session at damflask has quickly become my favourite session of the week and this week's session was a nice 2 x 15 minute at tempo pace off about 5 minutes rest. I ran the session with Alex P, which meant the tempo segments of the run were a bit quicker than usual - around 5:45 pace. But it felt comfortable and there is something a bit special about weaving through winding trails at pace. Deb, Lola and Isla all came out for a run round the dam as well - as the kids prepare for the XC season. Nice to hear the odd shout out from across the water.

Tuesday is track day [shudders] and I knew this was probably going to be the last hard session before we started to wind down for the big day on the 19th (the Northern 6-Stage Road Relays we have all been training together for). The session was 2000m, 1609m, 1000m, 800m, off 5 minutes rest. I had to run to the session from work due to a late meeting, so I missed the drills and strides (funny how quickly you feel weird if you don't do drills before a quality session!) But, the session went well - following the usual pattern of me doing relatively well on the longer reps (6:28 on the 2000m and 2nd or 3rd of the group), before falling to the back over the shorter stuff (2:29 on the 800m). Still, felt good.

Wednesday's rest day was a bit of a fail as I ended up showing clubmate Gary Baker the first leg of the Sheffield relay. I had promised to take it nice and steady but I hadn't reckoned on Gary attacking all of the hills like a madman (all 1,200 feet of ascent over 9 miles). Still a nice run in good company and a lift back to EIS from Bev to collect the kids from athletics.

Thursday was the club mile time trial evening. I was firmly focused on the 5km qualification at Hillsborough Parkrun, which we were going to use to select the team for the Northern 6-Stage, so I had already decided not to have a go at my mile PB of 4:58 from a few months ago. Instead I helped a few club mates round by doing the pace making duties for 7 min/mile then 6 min/mile, and then the first two laps with the 5 min/mile group. Really enjoyable evening.

Friday's run was a short and slow 4-mile recovery run. I felt absolutely shocking - legs like lead, breathing hard, and a bit confused as to why. I put it down to over zealous food control and made sure I picked up the protein and calories intake for the rest of the day.

I had about the worst night's sleep ever on Friday night - with the qualification race on my mind, coupled with Isla's first school XC race of the season, complications around Lola's recent change of school, and the logistics of a Saturday that would see us spending most of the afternoon in Cudworth at the inter-counties were Lola was sporting a South Yorks vest for the first time (representing our great republic in the 100m and 100m relays, which are always about 3 bloody hours apart).

I needn't have worried. Isla had a great first race despite a pretty lazy summer - finishing 6th, and looking like there was more to come. Lola looked great in the 100m. And, the qualification parkrun went really well. I felt strong, light, and in control all the way round, running 3 evenly paced laps to finish in 16:56 - a big PB on the Hillsborough Parkrun course in less than ideal conditions. Members of the training group took the first 7 positions! It was good fun.

about 400m into the 3rd lap (alex p is about 15s ahead!)

about 400m into the first lap 

Sunday started nice and early with a relaxed 12 miles from Infirmary Rd up to Bradfield and back - most of it with Joe SP.

Next week is all about maintaining a bit of quality, getting some freshness in the legs, and then attacking the 6-stage relays on the Saturday like a madman. Last time we did the Northerns we scraped qualification for the national 6-stage relays (top 25 clubs). This time we will be disappointed if we don't get in the top 15.

back to running school - week 7 - food patrol

After a tiring and hilly 26 miles weekend, I walked into work on Monday (24 Aug) in the sunshine. Monday evening has become running school's 'tempo' day round the Damflask trails and the evening session followed what is becoming a familiar and enjoyable pattern: one mile warm up from the dam wall followed by just over 5 miles in 30 minutes of threshold / tempo on the gently undulating trails (5:54 pace). The session was a bit shorter than the 35 minutes of effort the previous week and I found myself almost disappointed to finish the run before completing the two laps. I was feeling pretty strong despite my muscle fatigue and could have gone on for another mile or so. I guess the point of not taking it to the limit is to ensure that our legs are fresh for the hard Tuesday track session.

My pace and heart rate (146bpm av) was a bit quicker than in previous weeks - probably because Joe SP was pushing the pace at times. My heart beat 862 times on average for each of the 5 tempo miles. This compares to 871 beats per mile the last time we did the same session on the same route a few week's ago. This measure is not that scientific but I'll take it as an indicator of improving fitness!

Monday also meant a full on return to food control - having reached my heaviest weight (73kg) for a good while during August. A combination of factors were contributing to my weight gain, in no particular order:

• holiday beers
• continuing my marathon training eating habits despite doing 20 less miles per week (around 2200 extra calories less needed per week but still eaten)
• cutting down from around 3 litres of diet coke per day to between 330ml and 660ml - and probably substituting in the odd biscuit or two to replace the habit
• eating more with the kids over the summer - meaning 'tidying up' of leftovers and being there when they ask 'what's for pudding?'
• More optimistically, a bit of muscle gain due to the increased emphasis on strength in my training

I have been through 4 or 5 phases of 'weight adjustment' before as I have worked down from 95kg to my preferred race weight of just under 70kg. So I know pretty much exactly what works for me. My basic rules, again in no particular order are:

• Log pretty much every calorie I eat and burn. This means spending about 15 minutes per day logging non-running exercise and all food and drink (manually or by barcode) on www.myfitnesspal.com. All of my running exercise is auto-loaded onto garmin connect from my watch and I set garmin connect and myfitness pal up to link automatically. I always use the calorie data calculated by garmin as it is worked out using your heart rate and is more accurate (and a lot less optimistic than myfitnesspal and strava which both over estimate how many calories I burn)
• Set a weight loss goal based on how much body fat I am planning to lose. This is the techy bit. Basically I work out my body fat percentage (using a tool like this) - preferably using a few different methods to get an average. I usually use a 9% - 10% body fat target (elite male endurance runners get down to 6% but let's not get carried away). I then work out how much I would weigh if I lost the amount of body fat to get down to my target level. My weight minus the weight of the fat I want to lose becomes my 'target weight', which I enter into 'myfitnesspal'
• I then use myfitnesspal to set a daily / weekly net calorie limit to achieve my target weight - never aiming to lose more than 0.25kg per week. So an 8-week plan would be required to lose 2kg. I then make sure my net calorie intake (food calories minus exercise calories) is always within the weekly limit - accepting that there will be fluctuations day to day (I typically have a major calorie deficit on long run day, and a slight calorie surplus on lighter running days)
• I also use myfitnesspal to make sure my reduced calorie intake is still providing me with enough protein to aid my muscle recovery (at least 100g per day) Although some amazing vegan runners point out that race horses don't eat any protein at all - they get it as a by-product of breaking down vegetables in their gut
• When I stick to this plan, the weight comes off almost exactly as predicted by myfitnesspal. However, I have to say it is not an enjoyable experience. I am basically denying my body the calories it needs to stay at the same weight, so I naturally feel hungry for a few hours of most days. I also have to be careful to time my calorie intake so I have energy available for hard training sessions
• My disclaimer for all of the above is that this approach works for me. It won't work for everyone and getting too controlling about your food intake can be a slippery slope to poor health and, at worse, eating disorders that can ruin lives. This is something I am especially wary of as a father of two talented female athletes

Anyway, back to training...

I cocked the timing of Tuesday's food up a bit and work pressures meant that I ended up running tired, hungry and late (and therefore way too fast) to the hard Tuesday night track session. The session was loads of drills, 5 x 60m sprints and then 8 x 300m off 2:30 rests. I ran the reps at around 49s - pretty much the same as the previous time we did this session a few weeks ago - despite knowing that I have got a bit stronger since. Disappointing - especially as everyone else seemed to be going a second or so quicker.

Wednesday was official rest day, but it was a sunny day so I jogged the 1.3 mile commute to work and then ran back the long way round via Rivelin, clocking an easy and relaxed 9 and a bit miles. Thursday was supposed to be a light 40 minute run but I wanted to recce leg 2 of the Sheffield Way Relay before the route slipped back out of my mind, so I caught the bus out to near Oughtibridge and ran most of the route back to Rivelin Dams. The hilly fields took a lot out of my legs - even at a relaxed pace. And the final 100m sprint up a steep field to escape the bullocks that were cantering on my tail had my heart rate up to near max!

With a parkrun time trial or hard track session planned for Saturday morning, I gave my tired legs a rest on Friday with a light jog commute and an easy 5 miles home.

By Friday night, the squad had received word that Saturday morning was a 'go and hammer a parkrun and enjoy it session'. I was a bit disappointed given that my legs were still pretty shot, but I woke up on Saturday morning feeling OK and I knew my usual pre-race routine would pep me up further. After a quick protein muesli bar and some caffeine, I drove down to Hillsborough Park and did a mile warm up, and a few drills and strides on the grass. I think sub-consciously I only go to Hallam Parkrun if I think I have a chance of a PB - the traffic is insufferable (and a bit dangerous).

I was hoping that there would be some well-matched runners at Hillsborough to keep me going and was pleased to see young Joe SP on the start line. We ran the first couple of laps together before I pulled away a bit and finished in 17:12. Joe hadn't done any race prep and was wearing his clunky mileage shoes.

I was disappointed with my time - I went out for sub 17 minutes and had calculated from my split after two laps that it was in the bag. Don't know what went wrong there - but maths when running within 4bpm of my max heart rate is not easy! I am not sure I could have gone any quicker. On the plus side, I felt like I actually sprinted the last couple hundred of metres. People watching probably wouldn't have realised it, but it felt different to me - more powerful and more comfortable in the 'land of anearobia'.

I was going to do a light track session on Saturday evening with Lola but she ended up staying out too late (with us) at a BBQ. Nothing like buffet food to test food control discipline. I gave myself a 'B' for effort.

I managed to get out pretty early for Sunday's long run - driving the 10 minutes to Ladybower dam, and running the full 15 mile loop around the reservoirs. About a mile into the run I felt good so I gradually increased effort throughout the run - spending most of the latter miles well into threshold heart rate. Average pace for what turned into a long progression run was 6:27. It was a pleasure to run in fine scenery with barely a soul in sight - my peaceful reflections only being disturbed by an intimidating pack of some of Sheffield's finest runners coming the other way as I hammered down the slightly descending downhill mile 11 at around 5:40 pace.

If Saturday was a 'speed test', Sunday was definitely a test of stamina. Fair to say I still have a lot more stamina than speed! The run almost made me nostalgic about marathon training - not that 2016 will include any such thing! My emerging target for 2016 is to focus on getting some decent results nailed down at the major cross-country and road running events in preparation for an attempt to win an England vest in 2017 when I turn 45. It would be shame to have only got nearly good enough wouldn't it?

back to running school - week 5 and 6

Monday morning brought slightly fresher legs for the 1.5 mile jog to work (no shower-required commute rules: no sweating, breathlessness, or HR above 105bpm). I jogged home before the evening's tempo session and made the short drive to damflask to meet most of the training group. The session was basically a mile warm up, 30 minutes at tempo, with a mile warm down. It passed without any incident (apart from Joe SP getting taken out by a daft labrador). I was not that happy with the stats, as my heart rate was a few beats per minute too high at 145bpm for the 6:06 average pace. Hopefully this was just the knock-on impact from a hard week, rather than evidence of the drop off in endurance fitness I have been worried about since dropping my mileage.

Tuesday's session was back to the short stuff - loads of drills, some 60m sprints, and then 4 x 800m reps with long rests. I managed to keep the first three 800m reps at 2:25 (three PBs I think), but the last one was a notch slower at 2:26. Hard work as ever, but I felt like I am starting to get the hang of how to breath at a faster pace and this seems to allow me to extend my top level effort for an extra 200m or so. 

Wednesday was 'rest day', but I ended up dropping Deb off at the start of a hot and sticky recce of leg 2 of the Round Sheffield Relay (with Claire S), and committed to having the car and cold water waiting for them at the other end. To kill a bit of time I decided to jog slowly out from the end to meet them, and ended up doing a very easy 7.6 miles. Thursday's session was SRC speedwork on the 'field of dreams' with coach Dave O. The session was basically the back end of a pyramid session (1600, 1200, 800, 400) with short rests and 2 x 200m sprints between each rep. I was happy with the effort level at the session but Alex P was way ahead of me - suggesting I am in for a torrid time when we run as a pair in September (Round Sheffield Relay) and October (at the brilliant gruesome twosome half marathon).

I had Friday off work so managed to squeeze in a recovery run am / pm double totaling just over 12 miles. We were due to go away on Saturday afternoon, but I snuck in a quick set of drills and a parkrun progression before we set off - maintaining tempo effort for the first two laps of hillsborough parkrun and then stepping up to race effort for the last lap to finish in 17:26. Again, I wasn't that happy with the pace given my heart rate - but at least I had finally built up the courage to get on the weighing scales that morning to find that I am 3kg heavier than when I ran London. That will explain the drop in pace then! I followed the parkrun progression with 10 x short hills sprints, focusing on maintaining form. A 2-hour drive later and I got a bonus 2 x 3-mile recovery walk in Hemingford Grey (off a pint of beer by the river - sod the weighing scales).

Sunday was a pretty hectic day as we were driving an hour from the hotel in Hemingford Grey to pick the kids up at 10am near Thetford (after their week at XUK activity camp). Still, with Deb needing to get some miles in, we were up and out at 6:50am for just under 8 miles before a tasty hotel breakfast. I ran the first couple of miles easy with Deb and then moved into low threshold for two and a bit laps of the amazing Hemingford Meadow (1.7 mile loop of grass path in stunning riverside surroundings). I hadn't planned a threshold run but having walked round the meadow on the Saturday evening, I just fancied running it hard. Apparently the meadow becomes a lake for a few months of the year so my strava course records might just last a bit longer!

Hemingford Grey Meadow (the big one above the road)

After collecting the (exhausted) kids we drove to the Youth Hostel at Blaxhall and I nipped out for an easy explore around the nearby Rendlesham forest. Found loads of great sandy trails - although you have to love the moment you realise you are going the wrong way down a 'red' mountain bike trail. I just about managed to navigate back home again without being taken out by a mountain bike, making extensive use of the compass on my garmin 620. I felt pretty good, so picked up the effort for the last couple of miles.

Rendlesham Forest - endless network of sandy trails

Langham Road - quiet training lane (with bonus leg sapping humpback bridge)

In the last few weeks, Monday has become 'tempo' day. The prescribed session to start week 6 was a variation on the theme - basically a 5-mile progression run. I had scouted some quiet country lanes (above) earlier that day whilst driving. I had decided to ignore the pacing guidelines and manage the progression element of the run using breathing patterns - something I use a lot to regulate effort. So I started off easy (breathing out easily every 6 steps) and progressed through to a hard last mile (breathing out hard every 3 steps). You can find out more about running to breathing pattern here (LINK). I don't believe the hype about breathing patterns preventing injury but a quick look at my heart rate and pace stats whilst using this technique should convince anyone that breathing patterns can really help regulate effort.

Tuesday was another quality session - warm-up, core drills, and then 3 x (600m, 400, jog, 400m, 400m jog, 200m) off about 4 mins. I used the same country lanes as the day before, carefully marking out 3 consecutive 200m stretches and using these for the whole session. Deb joined me. We were both pretty traumatised by more of the dreaded short stuff and the 600m was 1:48 of pure pain (just 3 seconds quicker than my 11 year old daughter's 600m time). But, and this is a big BUT, for the first time in 25 years, I actually felt like I was sprinting strongly at times - elbows jabbing back, knees springing up, heels flicking back. Whilst my times were still woeful, way behind the youngsters from the training group who were doing the same session on the track in Sheffield, it felt good to feel the benefit of the drills and sprint work. And, to cap things off, I woke up on Wednesday without sore legs suggesting that I am finally adapting to the new regime. I was so pleased, I took Wednesday as a genuine, proper day of rest. Well, apart from a very easy 17 mile bike ride with the kids.

I had spotted a 5k race in Ipswich on the Thursday (part of a series). It looked small and friendly enough to use as a hard training run. The winning times previously looked pretty slow, but the runbritain handicap was generally between 1 and 2 suggesting a course like Hillsborough Parkrun. I drove there on my own and found a course that was more Concord than Hillsborough - twisty paths through formal gardens, and proper 'Sheffield' hilly. I warmed up, did my usual pre-race drills, and set off with about 150 others. I ran the first mile pretty easily at the front with two other lads. By the time we were approaching the end of the first lap (of two), there were only two of us running hard up a pig of a hill. As we turned into the second lap I could hear that my running mate's breathing was going wrong so I pushed hard for 200m and opened up a decent gap. I continued at full race effort (158bpm) for the rest of the race and finished a good minute ahead. I couldn't quite believe my watch said 17:34 at the end - I had worked within a few beats per minute of my maximum heart rate for most of the race and had hoped to get much closer to 17 minutes despite the hills. The bottle of wine and the news that I had broken the course record cheered me up a bit. I jogged for mile to warm down, and to prevent my right calf cramping up.

Friday was the end of the short break in the youth hostel - and also meant a very long drive from East Anglia to the back end of South Wales where Deb's mum and dad were waiting in their boat to take the kids for a few days. Deb and I got out for a light farewell jog round the forest before breakfast and then set off on what turned out to be 9 hour journey. I was cheered up slightly on arriving at Neyland Port to find a fabulous riverside path that looked like it went on for miles. Perfect for a pre-breakfast leg loosener before the long drive up to Sheffield the next day I thought. Absolutely ridiculous torrential rain the next morning put pay to that plan.

After 6 hours of traveling back to Sheffield on Saturday afternoon, we both fancied stretching our legs so we headed out to Derwent for an evening run - hoping we had picked a gap in the torrential rain that had followed us from South Wales. We were both pretty fresh legged having had 36 hours of rest since the last (easy) run. And, we had done basically nowt but sit in the car all day. Deb decided to do a long low threshold run (about 7:10 pace on the undulating Derwent trails) and I decided to run alongside her (romance not being dead after 20 years together), apart from miles 3, 6 and 9 when I would stretch my legs out at tempo. The 11.5 mile session went well and I felt strong on the tempo sections. More importantly, the late evening, stormy skied, scenic setting was absolutely spectacular - well worth a short drenching and a  nice reminder that the Sheffield area is a great place to run.

Sunday's run was much slower but much harder as we jogged out in the searing heat to the start of our recce of Round Sheffield Relay leg 2. After a sweaty, hilly recce, we ran back into Hillsborough through the Rivelin valley to get the car from Hillsborough corner. I left Deb at Rivelin cafe with a cold drink (she was absolutely exhausted) and finished off the 15 miles before scooping her up on the way to the supermarket for supplies (note to self: never go to supermarket whilst hungry and thirsty after a long run - it's expensive).