back to running school - introduction

The start of a new running project with some fresh targets and ideas has finally got me back to updating my blog. I'll do a quick recap, introduce the new project, and then do another post to report on week 1 (with the usual techy training stuff). Subsequent blogs will cover the weeks of training - and the progress of the project overall. As ever, this should be interesting for those who like reading about running, and, errrm, not so interesting for everyone else!

The last month or so...

My last blog was on the weird weeks after London Marathon and my return to racing. Since then I guess I went into auto-pilot; reverting to something like my pre-marathon training schedule. This meant high mileage, am / pm 'double' recovery runs, quite a few harder tempo and progression runs, and so on. So, June was a pretty high mileage month - around 80 miles per week.

Towards the end of June, I was feeling good on my high mileage training - recovering super quick and feeling if anything fitter than before the marathon. I started thinking about another race to keep me ticking over whilst I worked out what to focus on next.

Only problem was I was a bit too, shall we say, 'heavy' for testing my racing legs out on a flat out road race. I find it too easy to over-compensate with the calories - even when I am running 80 miles per week. And, to be fair, post-London, I couldn't be arsed with watching the diet and making too much of a science out of what to eat. I had also enjoyed a fair few beers with friends. Priorities straight and all that.

In the end I decided to drop in on a small, local, hilly trail race - the midsummer mad dash. Deb and I both turned up on a lovely sunny June evening to the friendly start area with Isla along to offer support. We chatted to a few other runners and did a mile or so of warm-up (with Isla keeping pace easily!)

The race was just under 5 miles of hilly, rough trails. I set off pretty steady - wary of having 24 miles in my legs from the previous two days. At the top of the first (pig of a) climb, I had broken clear of the field, and that was basically the last I saw of them. The 'race' I had been after never really materialised and I ended up running a hard time trial. I won by around a minute. 

Deb didn't enjoy the race very much (understatement) as she was suffering from stomach cramps. But, she still finished 2nd lady and we left for home with a bottle of wine each. Isla helped set the buffet out after the race - a couple of cakes must have slipped off the trays into her pocket.

The following week was busy with work - trips to London, late meetings etc. But I still managed to get another 80 miles in - with a nice hard 10 mile threshold run along the Thames river path (squeezed between meetings) a particular highlight.

The next week had two short races that I had been looking forward to a lot. The first was the Damflask relays - 4 x 3.5 mile legs in Low Bradfield. This is probably the highlight of the Sheffield running calendar for me - a great race organised by the amazing 'elders' at Sheffield Running Club and supported by club members that turn out whatever the weather to marshal and make races happen.

The second race was a 'secret' track mile race in Barnsley - secret in that I hadn't told anyone I was doing it because I was nervous about being a bit shit over the short distance and I didn't want to put any pressure on myself.

The Damflask relays started well. I was well rested having calmed the mileage down a bit in the preceding days and I was on the first leg meaning I had some decent company to run with. All was going great until the end of mile 2 when I literally blew up in the searing heat - I just couldn't get my breathing under control and I lost 20 seconds on the pack I had been with. I pulled myself together for the last half mile or so but it was too late. With hindsight I went out too quick - thinking I could stay with people who I knew would probably put 20 - 30 seconds or so on me over that distance. I'll try again next year!

The mile track race at Cudworth was neatly sandwiched between the kids athletics events at the 'Barnsley Open'. I had already watched Lola get to the final of the 100m (she finished 4th) and I was feeling up for another attempt at the 5-minute mile barrier that had eluded me for a few years. There was a bit of a cock-up with the pooling and I ended up in the 2nd race. But luckily a young 4:24 1500m runner from Leeds had suffered the same demotion and he set off hard enough to keep me going. I stayed on his shoulder and the first lap went by in about 1:10. The 2nd and the 3rd laps were with hindsight a bit lazy at 1:16, and I was having to adjust my footing to avoid running into the back of my young running mate. I should have probably gone past him on the back straight of lap 3 but I ended up waiting to make my move until near the start of lap 4 - at which point he kicked like a mule and beat me by a good 5 seconds despite me running a 1:10 final lap. Luckily my watch said 4:58 so I didn't give a toss about the result. Another target hit.

The afternoon was topped off nicely by Isla winning the ball throw and Lola beating Yorkshire's number one high jumper with a winning jump of 1.40m (big PB).

Watching Isla's video of my mile race reminded me (again) that I simply don't run like the decent runners. The vast majority of people that win stuff look like they have been trained to run. Obviously most have! Indeed, I have watched Lola get coached from her initial 'lent over falling over her shoes style' to her current classic runners form. Decent runners drive back powerfully with their feet, they kick their heels up, punch the air with their knees, jab backwards with their elbows, bring all of their major muscles into play; they 'look' like they are floating along.

I just look like a stiff. My legs stretched out in front of me, my left leg going wonky as soon as it is out of sight behind me, next to no knee lift, my glutes are passengers when they should be propelling me along. I could go on. It's testament to the body's ability to adapt that I can run quickly for any length of time at all. Well that, and, to borrow a phrase from Steve Way, because I have a heart like a big diesel engine.

The New Project

So, this brings me nicely to my new summer running project. I am going to train to be a runner. Not by running endless hundreds of miles, but by going back to running school. This is going to mean lots of drills, a major focus on form, hill reps, short sprint work, strength stuff, and so on. I am going to try and stop counting the miles and move my training schedule to a genuine 'light and shade' approach - a decent base of easy zone 1 and 2 runs, coupled with harder shorter sessions and drills on fresh(er) legs to build my strength, increase my resilience to injury, and improve my form. 

I am not going to pretend that I can change my form completely though; I just want to see if I can squeeze a bit of extra benefit out of being stronger,  and bring a few muscles into play that are not pulling their weight. This should help me improve my relatively poor times over short distances, and will hopefully, in time, translate into quicker times over the long distances too.

The good news, and what should make the summer more interesting for me and this blog, is that I am not going back to running school on my own. A squad of Sheffield RC's runners are all going to give it a go - with the prize for the six fastest over 5km being a place in the Sheffield RC squad for the Northern 6-Stage Relays in September. This adds a bit of spice to the training - particularly for me as I will have to work very hard to get in that top six.