back to running school - week 1

Running school started on the 9th July at EIS with Phil Williams and Dave Oldfield at the front of the class and most of the squad sat nervously on chairs around the EIS cafe. We had a quick chat through the thinking behind the 10 week training programme - with Phil explaining how the programme would focus specifically on improving our 5km times so that Sheffield RC could field a strong 6-stage squad at the Northern Athletics Relays in September. I covered the background in my previous post.

We then went outside to go through the drills we would be using throughout the programme. These split into two basic groupings. The first group were core drills - designed to strengthen the core (yep!) These included: walking lunges, high knee walks, cross overs, rom dead lift walks, medicine ball high knees, step ups, and zig zag hops. We rehearsed the drills and I was surprised at how much they pushed my heart rate up. I was also privately pleased that I wasn't the only one that looked like a clumsy fish out of water!

The second group of drills were power drills. These included: short hill sprints, zig zag hops, bounds, mini hurdles. fast feet, parachute sprints (literally pulling a parachute into the wind), and downhill sprints. I gulped a bit at these because I have avoided doing sprint work for years because it shreds my legs for a couple of days afterwards. Obviously the reason it hurts is because I don't do the short stuff often enough for my body to have adapted to the stress. I am going to have get through that. It might also finally give me some kind of sprint finish too. I do have a vague memory of being a pretty decent sprinter (28 years ago).

We chatted through what signing up to squad training means - attending at least 3 group sessions per week, following the plan, avoiding unscheduled races or major deviations from the plan that will limit the benefit that we'll get from the programme, and so on. We also sorted some administrative stuff out - shared google calendar with the training plan on it, whatsapp group to sort out meeting places for group runs, and so on.

The first week started on 13th July - although I started practising some of the drills during the previous week. Week 1 was planned as a 'low' load week but it was severely disrupted for me and most of the squad by the Doncaster Town Centre 5k race on Wednesday 15th July. Despite the unglamorous location, the Vets and Open races are local favourites and each race tempts out some of the best local runners; most of whom seem to afford it some respect and have a proper go at it.

I lined up in the Vets 5K race at 7:30pm and set off pretty hard with a front pack that included the incredible Anthony Whiteman - the UK's top ranked veteran runner (and still a very competitive senior runner). I stayed with the front pack for nearly the first mile at what seemed like a pretty comfortable pace before the front three started to pull away leaving me and Doncaster runner Simon Wright running together. We worked with each other throughout the race - exchanging 4th place a few times. I controlled my effort much better than at Damflask but I did have a coasting few minutes at the start of the third lap as I tired. In the latter stages of a 5K you should never be able to answer "no" to the question of "are you trying hard enough?" But I'll let myself off because I managed to stay ahead of Simon during the final 400m and record a big 5km personal best of 16:22.

The senior race was a great watch - with Anthony Whiteman fresh from winning the vets race in around 15:30, taking the senior race too - dipping under 15 minutes. Not a bad session - warm up - 2 x 5km at sub-5 minute mile pace off 15 minute rest - warm down.

It was also great to see seven Sheffield RC runners dip well under 17 minutes. The target for the project clearly is for these runners (and several hovering just above 17 minutes) to knock some chunks off their times over the summer. If we could get down to a mean average of 16 minutes for our top 6 we could make a decent impression on the northern relays. Also reminded me that I will have to work pretty hard to stay in that top 6.

Competitor Name	Chip Time
Will Beauchamp	00:15:33
Joe Sweetnam-Powell	00:16:01
Alex Plant	00:16:04
Mike Tanner	00:16:11
Joe Fowler	00:16:22
Stuart Little	00:16:39
Alex Collings	00:16:47

I was looking forward to chatting through the race at the squad's group run on Thursday but I ended up wrestling with a pre-teen temper tantrum at home and missed the start of the group run. So I headed out for the prescribed zone 2 run - a relatively comfortable, if boring 10 miles.

Friday's session was another zone 2 recovery run, which I decided to split am / pm to keep the mileage up whilst still leaving me fresh enough for Saturday's hard hill session.

Saturday's session was supposed to be core drills, 4 x 60m sprints, 8 x 2 min hill efforts, 10 minutes tempo. But I couldn't fit the session in amongst Lola's events at the Northern Premier Athletics league in Birkenhead. Nor could I find a long enough hill near the athletics stadium. So, I split the session into two chunks. The first was core drills, 4 x 60m sprints, jog to hill, 5 x 90s hill efforts, 3.5 mins tempo back to stadium to watch Lola win the long jump. I then jogged back to the hill, did another 5 x 90s hill efforts, jogged for a bit and then finished off with 8.5 minutes tempo. Returning in time to make sure Lola was ready for her 4 x 100m relays. I am no coach but the session seemed close enough to the prescribed one.

During the second set of hill reps I concentrated hard on holding the form I have been practising in the drills: pushing back the elbows, driving my feet through the ground from the glutes, and keeping my knees high. I also tried towards the end of the rep to breath fast and hard. This is quite a departure from my usual 'cover the ground as fast as possible whilst panting like an idiot' approach. I was surprised to find that focusing on form actually helped me get up the hill a second or two quicker. The tempo runs after the hill reps took my heart rate right up into race effort, but they ticked by at around or under 5:30 pace. Overall the session felt like a 'proper workout' - and it felt different enough to my usual training to make the new project feel 'real'.

Most of the squad met up on Sunday morning for an easy zone 1 / 2 run. I topped and tailed the session to keep the mileage up and enjoyed running super-easy in good company. The 15 miles ticked by comfortably at 7:30 pace - with heart rate averaging about 114bpm. Quite a departure from the Sunday runs before my marathon (typically 6:40ish at 134bpm). The idea behind the easy run today is to get the most out of the tempo session tomorrow. Let's see!

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.

rest, recover... race

So, what's next?

The first couple of weeks after the marathon were a bit weird. I was glad to finally rid my head of the endless deliberations and nervous thoughts that had plagued and distracted me for months. I was also well pleased with what was undoubtedly (and statistically!) my best ever race performance. I did feel a little bit lost without having a big target race to aim at, but, at the same time, I felt 'free' of the expectations I had placed on myself.

Recovery

My recovery plan was simple: take it slow, gently ease back into a few miles, enjoy good food and beer without worrying about 'race weight', cross-train a bit in the gym, and do no pacey running at all for a couple of weeks. Wait for the bounce to come back and then think about what to aim at next. Maybe try and get that 5K time down over the summer, somewhere a bit closer to 16 minutes?

Recovery running started on Tuesday evening about 54 hours after the marathon finished with a very light jog down the canal whilst the kids were at athletics. Jesus, I was bloody tired. At the end of the second mile, I was shot and if I wasn't two miles from where I needed to be, I would have stopped. The third and fourth mile were unpleasant and painful. Stupid mistake number 1. 

The next afternoon (I know...) I did 20 minutes very easy on the gym bike, and 1.8 miles on the treadmill. Shot, again! I remember literally saying to myself "what f**king good is this doing, you idiot?" Stupid mistake 2 made, I got off the treadmill and did nothing for a few days apart from walk the mile to and from work. I did feel a pang of jealousy whilst marshaling the South Yorks 5-mile road league round Bradfield that evening though - looked fun.

The following Bank Holiday Monday, after 5 days of rest, I was feeling a bit more lively, so I headed out for one of my favourite loops into the countryside - a 9.5 mile round trip round redmires (Roper Hill). Felt pretty good actually, not too stiff and nice to be out again enjoying running across the hilltops over Sheffield; it is actually a really nice thing to do.

And, then someone objected to being overtaken coming down porter valley and before you can say 'grow up you're nearly 43', the pace dropped well below 6 minute miles and I'm hammering down the valley like a 20 year old fell runner. Stupid mistake 3. My quads were not recovered enough for that kind of descent - muscle soreness arrived the next morning.

The rest of the week saw a return to daily running and a total mileage of around 65 miles which I have maintained since. It was Friday - nearly 2 weeks after the marathon - before I got any sort of bounce back in my legs though.

What is this 'racing'?

Two and a half weeks after the marathon, I felt ready to try a hard run, so I dropped in on the final 5 mile road league fixture of the season at Oxspring. I settled in early with a pack of people who I would expect to race with and ran sensibly enough. During the continuous descent of mile 5, my legs started to wobble, and, not being one for getting downhill very quickly, I dropped behind the pack a bit to finish 10th overall in a new 5 mile PB of 27:32. I should have been happy, but I knew I was 15 - 20 seconds slower than where I should have been. More recovering to do I reckon.

A few days of light recovery running later, I was on the start line of the vets masters relays in Sutton Coldfield. Fabulous venue for relay running, and always a great event. A review of the race, which I won't repeat here, is available on the club website. The run was hard, but I felt fitter than at the 5-miler and clocked 16:14 for the undulating 3 mile course. I was particularly pleased to kick the last mile in 5:16. It felt like I was getting the benefit of all of that marathon training whilst finally escaping from the fatigue caused by the race itself.

The next week saw a return to my usual training cycle, which I won't bore anyone with here (all of my training is on strava).

Weight for next time...

I have had quite a bit of contact and positive feedback on this blog, asking me when I am going to update it again, and whether I am going to write a bit more about my improvement over the last few years, tips on weight loss, training etc. Flattering to think that anyone finds my ramblings, which I write as a pretty self-indulgent public diary, at all interesting. There are also far better runners than me blogging about training (I like Jason Cherriman's open and honest blog for example).

I did actually sit down to write this blog because I said a couple of months ago (vlm training week 12) that I would return to the subject of 'racing weight' when I had a bit more time. And so I shall, but not here because I have rambled on for a few hundred words about recovery and getting back to racing.

Amazing how quickly the time goes when you finally get the peace and quiet to capture your thoughts... Lola spent hours this evening before bed noisily banging about the house moaning about her mobile getting dropped in the sea earlier today (can I have an i-phone 5s dad?) Deb is out re-living her youth at a De La Soul gig in town. Tomorrow involves an early treadmill session, and then a drive to Preston where Lola is competing for City of Sheffield in the Northern Premier athletics league (75m, long jump and 100m relay). I'm hoping she gets a PB for the 75m and the LJ - it might be enough to get her to forget, for a few minutes, that her phone is swimming with the fishes. I'm hoping the excitement will help me continue to ignore that niggle in my upper left leg. It's not been right since before London. Might need to admit defeat at some point and book into the physio.

London Marathon - in my head

And, so, it's the final week of tapering. The plan for the week was pretty straight forward: 4 to 5 miles per day Monday to Thursday with a few accelerations to keep the legs awake, day off Friday (train to London and walk round expo), few strides on Saturday in Greenwich, and the big race on Sunday. What I didn't have a plan for, nor experience of, was the psychological and physiological impact of cutting back the miles in the week running up to a marathon.

My body had coped reasonably well with dropping from 80+ miles to 64 and then 47 over the previous couple of weeks, but the drop to a few miles a day was just too much. My legs were screaming at me. The ghost of every niggle and tweak I have ever had came back to haunt me. The left glute pain from the previous week seemed twice as bad and was now shooting down my left hamstring. My calf muscles felt like lumps of lead - and seemed primed to cramp at the slightest provocation. Even my old knee injury was winking menacingly at me. I was getting properly concerned about whether my legs would survive the first few miles. 

By Thursday I was going stir crazy and in a reasonable amount of pain. Whilst my energy levels were over-flowing, I literally couldn't sit comfortably due to muscle soreness - and given that I spend most of my time at work sat in meetings, I was getting wound up and tense - probably making everything worse.

Phil W at the physios spent half an hour on Thursday evening working out the tensions in my left leg - and I managed to walk home freely without any pain. But, by Friday morning the aches were back and the train down to London with Deb and club mate Tim Fletcher was pretty uncomfortable. As Deb and I walked round the marathon expo I was determined to start the race, but much less confident about finishing it. Just in case I did do the 26.2 miles, I properly filled up on free energy bar samples (the Cliff peanut butter bar was the winner for me).

Deb and I spent Saturday moseying around Greenwich and Bankside - using the river boat to get around and avoid the underground and the crowds. We bumped into Gareth Lowe and Darren King in Greenwich - both of whom had come down to watch the marathon. Gareth, who would have been a serious contender for first vet 40, had had to drop out of the race with a back problem, which meant our best aggregate time for a husband and wife battle would have to wait for another day. Gareth's top tip for the race was to eat some salt and vinegar crisps the day before, a suggestion that I needed little encouragement to try later that afternoon.

A pizza and pasta lunch at Zizzi and a snooze in the sun on the grass in Greenwich park proved a useful distraction from my sore legs. I was also starting to rationalise what was going on a bit more now - telling myself that the pain was just the feeling you get when your legs have run themselves into exhaustion for weeks and you then turn down the miles and stuff your body full of glycogen. Every now and then I managed to convince myself that this was true.

I had not been sure about doing the strides in my plan on Saturday - wondering whether I would be better leaving it given the muscle pain. However, I was really pleased we went out. It was only a mile or so up and down the river path with a few strides, but after about 2 minutes of running I felt fine. My pain disappeared, I was running fast effortlessly, and my head cleared. Game on.

Saturday evening was better mood wise as a result. It was though a ridiculously dull affair considering that we were alone in London for the weekend without the kids. Dinner was fresh egg pasta and sweet potato with fresh tomato sauce, plenty of water, a daft Simon Pegg film involving an amusing alien, and regular chat on social media as club mates and friends across the capital twitter-face-booked nervously. We were in bed by about 11 and got a surprisingly good night's sleep.

Sunday morning started at 6:45 with breakfast: a pint of electrolyte drink, and a bowlful of oats, granola and milk. The usual race routine followed - shot of beetroot juice 2 hours before race start, granola bar 90 minutes before, caffeine one hour before, and, oh shit, we're walking up towards the start with 37,000 other people!

I had to say goodbye and good luck to Deb about an hour before the race as she was starting in the spacious and sufficiently toileted start area with the speedy club runners. Her privilege was hard earned as she ran a qualifying (sub 1:30) half marathon time last year. My 1:15:08 half marathon last year was 8 seconds outside the men's qualification time meaning I was in the 'good for older runners' section with around 1,500 others. I got changed in the packed marquee and dumped my bag on the baggage truck and quickly regretted it. The old disposable t-shirt I had put on top of my running vest was nowhere near enough protection from the cold breeze blowing across Greenwich Heath. I was bloody freezing. I did a few minutes jogging to warm up, but then ended up in a 25 minute queue for the toilets. By the time I got into the cubicle I was shivering, but at least I was out of the cold wind. I sat there for some time doing what runners do before a race and managed to warm up a bit and get my head in gear.

By the time I got out of the cubicle, it was 10 minutes to race start and the runners' pens were packed. I nodded nervously at a few club mates and hopped over a couple of barriers to get nearer to the start. The marshals stopped me getting as close to the front as I wanted - but I was only about 15 rows back having skipped in front of over a thousand people. That'll do I thought: it's a long race and a slow first mile to warm-up will be no bad thing.

When the gun went off the pack moved quickly over the start line and we were off. It was a narrow road to start on and people were weaving around clumsily trying to get towards the front. I moved through the crowd but only when I could make progress without wasting energy running sideways. The first mile passed in 6:10 - only a few seconds behind my target pace of 6:05 (for a sub 2:40 finish).

My plan for the race was to use my heart rate to limit my effort - especially early on in the race. I was aiming for around 144bpm, which was a few bpm less than my heart rate during my first marathon in Liverpool when I had really struggled for the last few miles. But, my heart rate monitor was having one of its bad days - telling me my heart rate was about 187bpm when I knew from feel that it was closer to 140bpm. My Miolink HRM seems to cope very badly with sudden changes in heart rate (like at the start of a race or reps) but I could have really done without it misbehaving today. I reset the monitor a few times but it would just not settle down. In fact it was mile 7 by the time I got an accurate and stable reading.

Whilst I was turning the monitor on and off, the second mile passed in 5:53. I decided to give up on the heart rate monitor, and run on feel - breathing easily out every 5th step. The third mile passed in 5:44 meaning the first 5K had passed in 18:24. Hmmm. still too fast. I concentrated hard on letting the people around me pull away.

The 4th mile is when the 3 different race starts merge together and the excitement of the fast oldies joining the speedy club runners, coupled with some descent, means it is always going to be quick. Beep went the watch as I passed through the 4 mile marker - 5:35. Aaaaargh! Sort it out!

Maybe it was the initial adrenaline fading, or maybe I did actually manage to control things better, but the next couple of miles started to click by in slightly more sensible times - 5:50 and 5:51. The second 5K split was still the fastest of the race though at 17:57.

By mile 7, my heart rate monitor had decided to work properly and I was able to check my effort level a bit more scientifically - keeping my heart rate in the mid 140s. This proved particularly useful on slight ascents, and in areas where the amazing crowd support was at its strongest (nothing like a shout out of "do it for the north, Sheffield" to make you run harder). The middle third of the race was underway now and I was running consistent splits of around 5:55 at target heart rate. My legs felt OK - although the occasional flashes of pain down the outside and back of my left leg were a reminder that something is not quite right. Just get me to the end I said to my legs - as if they were some other being.

The third 5K passed in just under 18:30 and I settled into a consistent rhythm, with all four 5K blocks from 10km to 30km passing within a few seconds of 18:30. My half marathon split was 1:17:27 - bang on for my unrealistic top-end aspirational target of 2:35!

Around 15 miles in I was aware of a commotion about 200m ahead of me - and I realised that I was gaining on the Paula Radcliffe farewell parade. Only a marathon runner of Paula's quality, in her 40s, could jog round a marathon at this pace with a massive smile on her face.

As the last 6 miles loomed, I was starting to experience some doubts about my legs. The shooting pains down my left leg were a bit more regular, and my troublesome calf muscles were starting to hint at a full-scale cramping rebellion. I was also, for the first time in any race, actually cold and getting a bit shivery.

Unsurprisingly, my mind was also wobbling a bit and I was struggling to concentrate. I was supposed to be taking one of the gels provided at mile 21 (having had 3 of my own so far) but I was not sure at times what mile I was on or whether I had missed the gel station completely.

Thankfully the gel station appeared at mile 21 and I took a sickly sweet lucozade gel. The miles were still ticking by steadily, but I had started to consciously hold my pace back a bit as my calves were doing their about-to-cramp tingling thing. The seventh 5K block was about 30 seconds slower than the previous four - 18:56. And the miles were starting to nudge above my 6:05 target pace. I was getting passed by stronger finishers at his stage, and i was no longer gaining on Paula, but there were at least an equal number of 'last few miles casualties' strewn along the sides of the road; stretching their shot legs out in the hope that they could continue, or sat head in hands under the care of the volunteers from St John's. 

I managed to keep my head together enough at the mile 24 marker to do some sums and worked out I was on track for sub 2:38 if I could manage to stay under 6:20 pace. Mile 24 beeped in at 6:02. Come on!

As we started mile 25, the course ducked steeply under a bridge and my calves reacted badly to the shock - cramping briefly. I nearly stopped to stretch them out but I was worried that I would not be able to start again. I was absolutely shattered and doing everything I could to stay relaxed and keep moving. I shortened my stride a bit to reduce the stress on my legs. Perhaps I should have come up with a more motivational thought at this stage, but the best I could manage was 'just warm down for a couple of miles'. Mile 25 responded to the cramp and negative thinking by slowing to 6:27 pace, with mile 26 passing in 6:24 as the crowds picked me up a bit.

The last 800m or so was a bit of a blur as the elation of finishing took over and the pace picked back up accordingly. I started to gain on a few people that had come past me earlier but I genuinely didn't give a toss about gaining places - my eyes were fixed on the clock and making sure that it started with 2:37 when I crossed the line. My eventual finish time was 2:37:42.

As I walked a few hundred metres to collect my baggage, I nearly blubbed  - I was mentally and physically exhausted. Thankfully, a sit down in the meeting area, with protein drink, soreen, lucozade, and some chocolate biscuits from the goodie bag sorted me out and I started to feel pleased with the result. By the time Debbie came through to meet me, I had got my head back together enough to help her do the same.

Deb finished her first marathon (and first run over 20 miles) in a fantastic 3 hours and 11 minutes, but she unsurprisingly found the last five or six miles very hard going - traumatic even. The rest of the day was mainly spent eating, drinking, and chatting - in the pub, on the tube, and then on the train back to Sheffield.

Taking the day off work on Monday to catch up on the home admin stuff I have neglected for the last 3 months was a very good idea, although I used an hour of the precious time to capture my experiences here!

VLM Training Week 15 - Taper Tension

"Hmmmm" pretty much summed up my sentiment on Monday morning (13 Apr). With 13 days to marathon day, I was having a rare rest day, but it wasn't the thought of resting that was troubling me. It was the sore muscles in my legs.

The soreness did not really fit with my perceived effort the day before when I had run hard(ish) round Sheffield Half Marathon; it felt more like Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness than 'day after' race fatigue. I am guessing therefore that it was the full blast few miles at the national relays on the Saturday that were to blame - with the hard 13-mile run delaying my recovery. If I hadn't been recovering so quickly in the last few weeks, I would have been more worried.

My plan for the week following rest day was to drop the overall mileage down to around 45 miles, and focus on 'specificity' (a word I can write but can't say) - doing more of my miles at marathon pace - getting a feel for the leg speed and effort level and preparing psychologically for 26 miles of it! I was also planning to log every bit of exercise and food on www.myfitnesspal.com to make sure I managed by calorie intake down in line with the reduced mileage (whilst getting enough protein for some much needed muscle repair).

Tuesday was not a specificity session - it was the last scheduled club intervals session and I had 4 x 1500m at 5K pace (off 2 minutes) in the plan. This was to be the final speed 'sharpener' session - with 12 days to recover before the big day.

The continuing work round Don Valley meant we had to use an alternative hilly 1200m(ish) route - so we stepped up to 5 reps to compensate. At the end of a comfortably hard first rep, I hit my stop button and saw the lap pace over the 4 minutes had been 5:10 min/mile - about 10 seconds quicker than my usual 'full on' Tuesday interval pace. I made a conscious effort to calm the remaining 4 reps down, but they still went by at 5:20 pace. I would have been buoyed by the pace, but tapering does funny things to your mind and I was more concerned that I had overdone the session. I also had a nagging tightness in my left glute and hamstring - a long standing niggle having an inconveniently-timed flare-up.

I was away with work Wednesday to Friday, but managed a quick gym visit first thing on Wednesday morning. I did a bit of bike work to warm up, and then 4 miles on the treadmill with two miles at marathon pace - felt good this 'specificity'.

After the conference in Staffordshire on Wednesday evening I jogged out for a 7-miler to explore the surrounding roads and trails - using a quick search on strava to find the routes most used by local runners. The roads were too busy at rush hour to run on comfortably, but I found a nice XC route between the conference centre and a nearby village. With a decent level of bounce in my legs, I picked up the pace and did the last few miles on rough ground at around marathon pace (6 min/mile) - with the help of a bit of descent. Nearly stepped in a sheep's afterbirth - but it beats smacking the tarmac as speeding commuters fly by.

The conference dinner on Wednesday was more challenging than the evening's XC terrain. The tables were full of free bottles of wine, and the first course didn't come out until 8:30pm by which time I was starving. The main course - a rather stingy portion of pea risotto came out at 9:30pm with a tiny cheesecake to finish at gone 10. If being the only sober one at the table wasn't frustrating enough!

I made my excuses and went back to my room for a protein flapjack and an early night. I would have been last at the bar 10 years ago (although I would have probably talked myself into a new job by midnight).

Thursday started nice and early with a gentle and really enjoyable XC run. Left glute still tight though and I was miles away from a tennis ball or foam roller! Thursday evening was the scheduled conference run (what a great idea). Seven of us set off for a gentle 5-miler, but I ended up running most of the 5.5 miles with a bloke from Coventry (2:52 london marathon runner a few year's ago following his divorce, now around the 3:10 mark!) Again, nice and easy. Thursday evening was conference dinner hell again. However, having had a decent sized lunch in anticipation, I coped better with the small portions and soberly skipped pudding for an early night.

I said goodbye to the trails on Friday morning with a gentle 5 miler - with 1 mile at marathon pace. Specificity.

The plan for Saturday was to have a proper 'calibration' run - testing with reasonably fresh legs on flat ground my pace across my marathon heart rate range. To explain: I expect my heart rate to increase during the marathon as I tire - from about 144bpm to 152bpm. This is based on what I have read, data from my long Sunday runs, and my own bitter experience at Liverpool Marathon last year. I do wonder whether people who try and hold the same heart rate for a marathon are setting themselves up to fail - surely, scientifically, a constant heart rate for a marathon doesn't make sense? It must often lead to a poor second half of a race?

Anyway, with the kids at their usual Saturday activities, Deb and I went out to Damflask to use the gently undulating back end of the Percy Pud route to test our legs. We both did 3 x 10 minutes off 3 minutes at marathon effort. Deb ran to pace (7:09 min/miles) and I tried to run at starting heart rate (144bpm). Deb was metronomic but it took me until the end of the third 10 minute slot to settle my heart rate down to 144bpm (after an unscheduled sit down rest at The Plough). Still, the session worked well - I felt comfortable and confident across the 144bpm to 150bpm range (my half marathon effort level is about 155bpm). And, I was consistently inside my target pace of 6 min/miles. As it turned out, it looks like 144bpm is going to deliver something more like 5:55 pace on the flat. That would do nicely on the day!

Sunday's run was an easy 5 mile jog out. Enjoyed it and the exercises I have been doing to free up my glute are starting to work (thanks Phil W). A 5.5 mile hike with the kids with a good catch up on spome great Manchester Marathon results for my club mates, topped the week off nicely. Just got to keep the head together for 7 days now - it'll be my data under scrutiny next week!

One thing that is bothering me is Deb waking up with a really sore throat this morning. A stinking cold now would not be good for either of us (and she needs to keep her bloody distance for a week if she gets ill).

VLM Training Week 14 - know (your) half measures

Three weeks to go - and that means it is taper time. So open the taper rule book at page 1 and follow the instructions. Easy!

Only it isn't. Because there are lots of different opinions about what kind of taper works best. There is the 'carry on as you are but cut your mileage by X% in week one, then Y% in week two etc' option. There is the 'drop your mileage but do more short pacey stuff' option, and the obviously conflicting 'cut your mileage and cut out all speed work' too. Race 3 weeks before. Don't race 3 weeks before. Race but only up to 10K etc etc. Aaaagh!

The only common ground everyone seems to agree on is that tapering should involve cutting your mileage. The general consensus also seems to be that keeping at least some pacey strides going will keep you fresh. My humble opinion is that the mileage needs to come down to allow muscles to recover and niggles to face, but fitness and sharpness need to be maintained. So, I'm going with (approximately) 25%, 40% and 60% reduction in miles respectively over the last 3 weeks. But I'm going to make sure I do enough reasonably pacey stuff to stay fresh and confident. During the last week, I will do active recovery (basically walking) every other day, and easy 3 - 4 mile runs with strides on the other days.

So how did week 1 of the taper play out? Well it started on Monday morning in Cyprus with a textbook active recovery run with Deb -10km along a beautiful coastal path at just under 8 minute miles, with heart rate averaging 108 bpm. The evening run was a slightly quicker jog out to the shop the long way round. Just under 4 miles at 7 minute mile pace - heart rate around 116 bpm.

So, by Tuesday morning, I felt fresh despite running 30 miles over the previous 2 days. 'Recovery running Monday' - it could catch on. Tuesday morning's planned 7 x 760m off 90s session was my last sub-5K pace intervals session and it was hard work in the swirling wind. But average pace on the reps was not far off 5:10 - so I felt lifted and tired by the session in equal measure. The evening session was handed over to the kids as the whole family jogged to the local school's gravel track for a mini fartlek session - got my arse properly kicked by Lola on the sprints, but, again, felt strong when the pace lifted even if I could not get near Lola as she banged out a few 29 second 200m reps!

Wednesday morning was another active recovery run with Deb - just over 7 miles at around 7:20 pace - heart rate nice and low at 113 bpm (my heart rate range is very low as my max heart rate is only 164 bpm). Wednesday evening's session was a low to medium threshold (137bpm) run on the treadmill - 10km in around 37 minutes. Felt like hard work and my heart rate climbed throughout the run - probably because of the heat and cumulative fatigue.

I gatecrashed Deb's progression run on Thursday morning - 2 miles at 7:30 pace, 2 at 7:00 and two at 6:30 on the now very familiar coastal path around Paphos. Good session for Deb - although I wonder whether her target marathon pace of just over 7 minute miles is starting to look a bit soft. Thursday evening's session was a quick 4.5 miles on the treadmill with a few strides - just turning the legs over ahead of a long journey home on the Friday, which would also be my first day off in 4 weeks.

The day off fell at just the right time to grab a bit of rest ahead of the national 12-stage relays in Birmingham on Saturday. I won't go into lots of detail here, but the event was a fantastic experience and the club achieved its target of a top 50 finish, and all involved had a great time. It was especially satisfying to see so many of the club's improving runners starting to show their potential.

Personally, I was determined to run my long 5.5 mile leg sensibly - to limit the wear on my muscles (tapering being about sharpening up not over-training!). I also wanted to avoid the pacing mistake I had made at the northern relays when I went out too quickly. The race went well - sensible levels of effort for the first couple of miles, steady for the middle mile into the wind, and then into top race gear for the last two miles (5:22 and 5:19). I was happy with my time of 30:40 and my legs felt fine by the evening. Sharpen don't blunt etc.

[race effort face]

Sunday was the last long run in my schedule - 14 miles at steady effort. I decided earlier in the week to do this run as a non-racing participant in the Sheffield Half Marathon. I had also decided (after seeking advice on Saturday) that I should just run it on feel and enjoy it without pushing too hard. So, I set off a few rows back and relaxed into a steady Sunday run pace of around 6:30. Only it wasn't: the first mile beep said 6:06. A reminder of how easy it is to get sucked in to going out too fast. With renewed determination, I slowed down, chatted to a few people around me and was pleased to see the second mile pass in 6:30 - that's better. Little did I know that I had also climbed 133 feet during the 2nd mile - meaning the 2nd mile had been just as daft as the first. And so it continued basically. My only comfort was that I was breathing easy (every 5 steps) and I am sure that if my wrist based Mio heart rate monitor had not gone bonkers (again) it would have showed an effort level of well below race effort.

The wind on top of Ringinglow was really strong and I was getting increasingly frustrated with watching club mate Kevin Bartholomew 50m ahead battling the headwind and being too nice to tuck in behind someone else for a bit of a rest. He had quite a following at times - people using him as a windbreak. I decided to kick on to catch him up, have a word and shield him from the wind for a bit. I did the same for John D a mile or so later. With all the distraction I hadn't realised that I was starting to move through the field. I still felt relaxed and not at race effort though, so just decided to roll with it down the hills to Dore. The downhill miles were now ticking past pretty quickly 5:23, 5:24, but I felt fine - and I was supposed to be running to feel. So that's fine.

The support down through Ecclesall was excellent and I was properly enjoying myself now. Gravity was doing the hard work, my legs were turning over easily, and I was only a few miles from the finish of a really enjoyable run. My only concern was that I might have irritated my club mates by drifting in and out of the race and offering advice. I also realised that I was probably the club's leading runner in the race - and that felt a bit false somehow.

Anyway, concerns put aside for a bit, I took a caffeine gel with water at mile 10 (more to rehearse for London than anything else) and started to reel more people in as the field thinned out. As I went past Hunters Bar roundabout I could only see one yellow vest in the distance - from the posture and gait I guessed it was probably Kevin Doyle from Kimberworth Striders. I snuck up on Kevin and we chatted briefly before I decided the run would be even better if I nicked another place before the end; so, I set off up Charter Row and caught another (unknown) runner. Before I knew it, I was round the corner and trotting happily up to the Town Hall - the picture that Pete Robertshaw took with 400m to go sums up my mood up nicely.

Obviously a hilly half marathon at target marathon pace was not part of my plan! But it felt good, didn't tire me out as far as I can tell, and it has given me the confidence to taper properly over the next 3 weeks. I'm fit enough now - just need to be as fresh and sharp as possible on the day.

The run also made me realise that my heart rate monitor might not be reliable enough for marathon day - so I'll need a plan b. And, my shoes were uncomfortable for the last few miles meaning I might need to try an alternative. Maybe even my race shoes? But, that's a debate for next time.

VLM Training Week 13 - the Mrs is a hero

Suffice to say that Sunday's packing went pretty badly. Deb was finishing an urgent piece of work most of the day, and whilst I managed to get my running kit and the family gadgets together, my incompetence when it comes to packing for the kids, coupled with my fatigue, meant we had everything left to do on Monday morning. We HAD to leave at around 12:30 for the 2.5 hour dash down to Stansted for our late-afternoon flight to Paphos.

So, I was up early on Monday and only managed to squeeze in a half hour treadmill recovery run at the gym. I was amazed that Deb stood for it to be honest, but with a few weeks left to go, her tolerance for my focus (obsession) has increased. I am sure it will only be temporary but I am grateful nevertheless.

The travel down to Stansted was pretty stress free - until I realised that we had forgotten the driving licences we needed for the hire car we were picking up at Paphos airport. I thought it was sorted after a few phone calls but DVLA managed to send the required fax to the wrong number - the start of a farce that continued for the next 48 hours meaning we ended up getting a 30 euro taxi to our hotel and being without a car for the first day or so. But, I am drifting off topic.

I spent the plane journey watching episodes of Walking Dead and making adjustments to our training plans (as you do). I wanted to make use of the opportunity for us both to do more morning / evening training (doubles). I also wanted to build a bit more marathon effort work into the last few weeks of the plans - 'tune up' stuff to get us used to the target pace and effort..

Tuesday was scheduled for an evening session of long reps, but I was too keen to explore the Paphos coastal path I was planning to do most of my running on whilst away. So I headed out early for an easy 5-miler, looking for decent bits of path for 'intervals' later. The evening session didn't go as planned as the kids required supervising at the jacuzzi (don't ask). So I swapped in a hard treadmill 7.4 mile fartlek session in the gym overlooking the jacuzzi.

The kids are at the age now where they will happily get themselves up in the morning and get their own breakfast. There may be a time when they put down their tablets, clean up after themselves, and get dressed and ready to leave the house unprompted, but I am not holding my breath. Anyway, this means that Deb and I can go out for a run together before breakfast on holiday these days. So, Wednesday morning started with a gentle 10-miler up the coast with Deb at just under 8 minute mile pace.

My plan was to top up with a few more recovery miles on Wednesday evening, but we ended up eating out and going to the cinema (weather wasn't great). Skipping the evening miles was frustrating, but it did mean that I hit Thursday morning's session with fresh legs. The plan was to do a couple of easy miles with Deb and then do 5 miles at marathon effort (heart rate around 145 bpm) before meeting back up with Deb who was doing the same session and jogging a mile back to the apartment. After the easy two miles I kicked on but judged it wrong and found myself struggling to get my effort level right. My heart rate was too high at around 150bpm meaning my pace was up around the 5:40 / mile mark. After a mile or so of getting it wrong, I gave up trying to fight it and just decided to run the session hard. The 5 miles over a mixture of crazy paving and rough ground passed by quickly in about 29 minutes. It felt good to have a blow out.

Thursday daytime was spent sightseeing ("not more old rocks Dad") with a few hours on the beach in the afternoon. I managed to get a bit of sleep in the sun on the beach and by evening felt fully recovered from the morning session. I decided to up the tempo of the scheduled recovery run and tested the hotel's creaking treadmill with a 36 minute 10K. As I have increased my mileage over the last couple of months, I have found that I recover much more quickly than I used to. The relaxing snooze on the beach helped to!

I ran out with Deb again on Friday morning for a proper zone 1 active recovery run (might be my first ever) - a nice and easy 49-minute 10K with heart rate around 110 bpm. Friday evening was a 7-mile treadmill recovery at a more typical 125 bpm.

Saturday morning was a short, tune-up run with a couple of steady miles followed by a hard 1.5 mile push down the coast. I only managed to average 5:45 pace for the push due (I hope) to the strong headwind. I kept the evening run as a short recovery with half an eye on the final 20 miler of the training plan the following day.

The start of my scheduled 20 mile Sunday run was reasonably delayed by waiting for the kids to get up for the traditional chocolate egg hunt. When I got out at around 10am it was already 19 degrees and the sun was pretty oppressive. I was glad of the cool breeze blowing in off the sea. Six miles into the run, I bought some water from a beach shack, took a good glug, put my remaining euro back in my pocket and stashed the remainder of the water under a rock for the way back.

I managed to get pretty lost on the way out - ending up on some rough terrain and taking a detour through a plantation of triffids, but the miles were ticking by at well under 7 minutes and I felt pretty comfortable if a little hot. Navigation was less of an issue on the way back as I stuck to the coastal road for a bit longer. With a gel dispatched I was also feeling a bit more lively and the miles started to tick by more quickly - close to 6-minute mile pace on the tarmac. I retrieved my water at around mile 15 (not a moment too soon) and took a caffeinated gel to give me a lift for the home stretch. The plan was to push up to marathon effort for the last 3 miles to get a feel for how fast my tired legs would go with my heart rate at around threshold level - 145 bpm. I managed to set my effort level about right and I was reasonably happy to hold 6:10 pace on rough terrain and whilst dodging tourists. I am hoping that a decent taper and adrenaline on the day of the marathon will give me the confidence to go out on the day at 6 min/mile pace and finish in around 2:37. Starting to feel realistic?

At the end of the run, I was seriously hot, with the temperature now around 23 degrees. I popped into a shop to get some water but found that I had managed to lose my euro! It was a very thirsty jog back to the apartment - although the cold water hamstring and calf massage in the hydro pool was worth the wait!