Back in business

I thought I may have really blown it. I have been feeling jaded. Would doing the ultra-marathon ruin my marathon attempt?

I have had a week of gentle running, beering and unhealthy eating. Today I need to get back and training. I felt mentally tired from work and it is cold and rainy outside.

I decide to run to Hayes and back. I put the Pirahnas on for the first time in a while. I always forget that whenever I head South I head uphill. The River Ravensbourne which flows down through Hayes ultimately ends up in the River Thames. Same with the river Beck. I struggle a bit to get going. My body is conditioned for distance. I takes me 40 mins to an hour to warm up these days.

And I do Warm up. I reach Hayes station, turn round and then fly back on the downhill. I can't run race-pace outside of races and this was a long way short of 10km race pace. In the end it is 45 minutes of running.

At home I am intrigued. I measure the distance on GMAP pedometer and it is 9.2km. That would normalise at a 49 minute 10km. Not bad.

I am back. Time for the final marathon push.

9.2km 44:58 (4:54/km)

Park Run flashback

I'm still on easy-street recovering from an ULTRA-Marathon (sorry, had to drop that in)
But I love Park Run. The running is good, but also the atmosphere is good. Lots of people from my running club but also lots of friendly other people. The fantastic organisation sets the tone of the event.

I decide to go and cruise. And that's what's good about Park Run, you can just go and enjoy.

I set off. Initially I feel a little stale but then get going. I am no where near my usual pace. Any time I feel attempt to pick up the pace, I resist. After the first lap, I realise that halfway has passed. On a 5k, halfway happens pretty quickly.

The mud is giving me nasty flashbacks to the ultra. I hate running in mud. It saps the energy, makes a mess and there is always the danger of falling flat on your bum.

I am following Robert from our running club. The truth is I don't think I will catch him. As we pass Race-HQ, his dog spots him and runs up. He tries to ignore the dog, scold it, threaten it. In the end he gives up and has to stop. Another place secured.

I had lanced the pus-fulled blister last night. The toe feels fine but once again I still feel a little jaded. I really hope I can turn this round.

400m to go, someone sails past. I can't be bothered to race. I glance behind and check no one else is stalking. All clear. I then even put in a token sprint with 100m to go.

The rest of the day I feel better for the run. It's knowing when to stop "recovering" and start training again that's taxing me now.

5km 25:03

Still recovering and HUNGRY

The legs still feel jaded. There is still a slight hint in the hamstring, but nothing to worry about.

I had been out last night smoozing (okay, boozing0 with my big boss over from NY. I had to be in early at work. However I got the wrong last train back and ended up in the middle of Kent. A very expensive cab journey ensued. I eventually got home and had 4 hours sleep before having to get up for work.

I get to work and the London Stock Exchange decides to stop operating. Eventually at 2 O'clock I am free for lunch. I am not feeling too bad and I decide (for no reason at all) to head down towards Borough High Street.

I am wearing my old previously "favourite" running shoes. We are good, old friends so I would never criticize them but I have moved on. As I get to Borough market I am hungry (as it had gone 2pm, I'm still recovering from the weekend and well, I was boozing last night) At Borough FOOD Market people are eating a range of Sausage Bagettes, Bacon Rolls etc.

Just past the market I turn and head back. While I feel jaded my form feels good. Still, I need to get some form back ahead of the Brighton Marathon. I just hope that this crazy ultra-marathon hasn't blown that.

The other key think is that I can hear Spring coming. There's some cold, hard days to be had yet, but I can feel the breeze of Spring coming down the tunnel.

4km 30:00

Back and running

After Saturday night's little 32.75mile jaunt, I spent the week resting and eating. The level of soreness was similar to that when I ran a 5km race after 6 months in NY when I was the wrong side of 94kg.

I may have gone to the club Tuesday night and ran with group one but it was my wife's Birthday. In terms of injury by today, I have a slightly sore hamstring and a pus-filled blister on my toe. Not too bad to stop me doing the most gentle of jogs.

I put the aquas on and venture down the Thames towards Waterloo Bridge. I run really gently. Not too bad. The worst thing is the injured pride as people fly past me. I resist the temptation to pick the pace up.

I get to Waterloo Bridge, stop for a minute and head back to the office

I am definitely jaded but enjoy the running. I have heard of people doing the marathon and then not even thinking of running for months and months.

Maybe another week or so of recovery and then back to the Marathon focus

4km 30:00 Very slow and gentle

Getting on with it at the Moonlight Challenge

I am not sure why I entered this 32.75 mile ultra-marathon as part of my first-marathon training. I suspect it was Jerry weaving his Pied-Piper magic. I had decided to drive down to keep things simple. I was feeling fairly confident. Sure, it was further than I had ever run but I had put in the training. My worst biggest concern was staying awake on the drive home.

On the journey down, as we head East we suddenly hit rain. A combination of drizzly and soaking rain. I hadn't really planned for this. We arrive at the small village. I get out the car and it is cold and miserable. We go into the pub and the friendly administrators sign us up. It is a Gazebo in the side of a pub. There are picnic-benches to leave your kit on, which you can access on each 6.5 mile lap.

These are my favourite kind of events. Run professionally by amateurs. The organiser do all to help you, but trust you to get on with it. No nanny-statism.

The cold and rain is getting to me. I am scared. My confidence saps away. Jerry and then Matt seem to pick up on this. There are lots of other wiry looking runners. At most running events there is usually a range of fitness levels. Here everyone looks super fit and organised. Everyone with a head-torch.

The pre-race briefing is short and to the point. The race is started with a firework and dead on 6pm. Jerry zooms off. I follow Matt for a while, but then look at the Garmin and realise I am running 5"45/km, far too fast.

I am now feeling a lot less scared. The first 400m is on the road, and then we turn on to a concrete road through the farm. So far, not too bad. It is raining but not too hard.

Then we hit the mud. I have my long-distance running flats on. And I slip, and slip and flail. This I do for half of the next 32.75 miles. Running 32.75 miles is a challenge, but tractable. Slogging through the quagmire which saps every ounce of energy from you is something else.

I try various tactics. The hump in the middle of the tractor tracks, is still too slippery, even with a little bit of grass. There is grass on the side of the track, but there are also sharp brambles and the danger of slipping off.

Fortunately my Seal-Skinz socks prevent my feet from getting wet. I can tell my shoes are soaked, and yet my feet are dry as a bone.

I complete the first lap, enter the Gazebo and announce to the counter "Number 40". This I continue doing on each lap. I also grab various carb gels, drinks and Wham bars.

As I run I break it down in to 10 minute treat-sections. One 10 minute, I'll have a slurp of drink. Another an energy gel. Another, maybe a quick wee. A couple of times the 10 minutes start to really drag. I then realise the Garmin has stopped. I punish myself by starting the timer but still insisting on waiting the 10 minutes.

Every couple of miles there is a tent with a Marshall. Some points the course crosses itself, so they send you off the right way. They also have water and rubbish bags. Every so often I stop, to deposit rubbish or get some water, chatting with the Marshal.

At one point I joke with one of the Marshals:
"Am I winning?"
It back-fires as he thinks maybe I am delirious. I have to convince him otherwise.

It is hard, but I keep going. There is no attachment to thoughts of pain, or struggling. I just get on with it and keep going.

On the second lap I nearly go wrong. I spot a light going the other way and realise my mistake. Me and three other runners go wrong at another point, another runner saves us by calling us back. I spend the remaining laps, focusing on not missing these turns again.

I have my super-bright light, but the rain, drizzle and mist reflect the light back. I end up frequently turning it down to the lowest level.

On the fourth lap, I see Matt at the start/finish. He has stopped at 20 miles. I warn him he will have to wait for me to do another lap, but he seems pretty content. By now I am seeing hardly any other runners. No light behind me or in front of me. The only time I am seeing life is at the checkpoints, and occasional points at crossovers.

I can feel a blister developing on my right toe but it never deteriorates.

On the last lap I thank the Marshals. I also say goodbye to all the landmarks.

As I approach the start/finish for the last time, I can't resist sprinting full tilt. This is crazy and a good way to get injured, but hey.

I have a huge smile on my face. Matt and Jerry welcome me back like a long lost friend. I get changed, have some soup and a coffee. I have a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. I am so happy with my attitude. Every time I stopped, for a drink or to navigate a muddy bog, I started running again.

In the end the drive back was not too bad though the mist and rain were on the motorway too.

6.5hours, 32.75 miles doesn't really do justice to the effort involved because of the mud. But I just got on with it

32.75 miles (52.5km) 6"29:00 Slippy Mud

Dawdling at the back of group 2

I'm tapering for the 32 mile run on Saturday. I like to get out with the club. I am sorely tempted to go with one of the faster groups for a myriad of reasons. In the end I am discplined and go with group 2.

Richard leads and it is a steady run round past Bickley. At Bickley we do some intervals. The whole group diligently runs them. At the end the big hill back up to Petts Wood is waiting.

A nice social run and just what I needed as I focus on the weekend. And the rain held off.

1"00 8.61km

Berry's Green Circular Run Walk

I'm still taking it easy but I love running in the countryside. The last couple of weeks I have been up at 5am for 4 hour runs. Today I fancy a quick hour or so.

I find my leaflet on the Berry's Green Circular Walk. These circular walks can be tricky to follow. I decide to try and pre-plot the route using some online maps into GPS format. I struggle. Google Maps does not have footpaths, Open Street Map has huge blank spots and in some places looks plain wrong. In the end I have ViewRanger and the 1:250000 OS maps on my Phone. I plot what looks like a good version of the route (my first attempt using ViewRanger)

I start soon after first light (no need for expensive flashy head torches today) I soon see a number of points I recognize from Jerry's fiendish night run. That was a great run, but the hills were to die for. But that's Cudham and that's how it was today.

The other problem today was the mud. In my road shoes I spent much of the time slipping. Which is energy sapping and you have to concentrate to avoid falling over.

In the end I start following the live map on the GPS route I had uploaded onto the phone. It saves me a couple of times when I go massively wrong. This seems to be a good way to do this kind of run, phone in one hand keeping me on track. Then it starts to rain. Fortunately I have a plastic sandwich bag and the phone works happily (including the touchscreen) in there. Maybe I need to get myself a case...

At one point I run across the North Downs way. I feel on top of the roof of Kent as I look down on Westerham. This is running at its absolute best.

As it turns out my GPS route was spot on in each and every case. All footpaths are shown on the OS map. Some are bare tracks through the middle of a field you would not know they were there. The GPS sees it all though. Once I have exhausted the Circular Walks it will be fairly easy to plot some great routes which I can then just follow. ViewRanger is the business.

On the final slog back to the car I see the Wheelbarrow we had all laughed at on the night run and stop to take a picture. It has taken me far longer to do the run than I had expected. It was also much harder with all the climbs and mud. But I loved it.

Lots of stops to stare and maps and scratch my head.

13.74km 1"55

Slippy Park Run

I'm still tapering for the 32 mile moonlight challenge. I have to work from home Saturday morning and sink quite a few coffees. I finish sooner than expected and realise I can make park-run.

My last outing I had finished one second outside Davids time. I decide to go for it.

I start off fast. I run neck and neck with Sabina from the club for a while. Then the problem start to become apparent. I have my road shoes on but it is slip, slippery-muddy. I flail my arms as I struggle to keep my balance.
"Get some trail shoes" yells Sabina. And she's right.

Thursday night's "team bonding" exercise also starts to take it's toll. The strong wind down the back straight saps my motivation further. Then all the coffee starts to slosh. My stomach aches and by the second lap I ease off.

I manage a token sprint towards the end. Slipping in the mud really saps the energy. the time though is still reasonable (just sub 23 minutes) I vow to come back another day when it is warmer, less slippy, no wind and without gallons of coffee in me.

Still, after the run I stop and take the time for a chat and a coffee!

5km 22:58

Taking it easy in group 5

As you can see from the missing entry from yesterday, I took an extra day off as I could still feel Sunday's 4 hours in my legs. Tonight I head off for club night.

I need to be tapering ahead of the 32 mile ultra in a couple of weeks. I bravely decide to go with group 5. Initially it is good but there are some faster people here intent on pushing, pushing the pace. I decide that it's not worth mixing it up and stay rooted to the back. The pack splits and reconvenes, but in reality some of the faster runners should probably form a group 6.

I never really hit the heights of the other weeks group 5 run, partly because I am trying to be disciplined and partly because I can still feel Sunday.

At 5 minute km (8 minute miles) the pace is still pretty decent.

I saw Jerry before the race who is also doing the moonlight challenge(the 32 miles) We chatted about the logistics of the run. This has just built my excitement.

13.39km 1'06:00 5:00/km

Once again, the 3x3 Commons Circular Walk Run

It's my last long, long run before tapering for the 32mile moonlight challenge. Last week's 3 laps of the 3 commons circular walk run was so successful I decide to tackle it again.

Right from the start I struggle. As night time turns into broad-daylight I continue to suffer. I keep going, dreaming of last week when it was all so easy.

On the run back through Hayes I stop to get a drink from the shop. The guy says, do you want to buy another one for 20p? I say, "No because then I'll have to carry it..."

Today was more mental training than fitness training. Most importantly, I held on.

When I get home, I weigh myself. I am just under 80kg, which puts my BMI into the normal range rather than the usual overweight. Once I refuel and rehydrate I'm sure it will be back in the land of the feckless porkers.

33.13km 3:51:00

Massaging recovery run down to the half finished shard

My legs still feel tired. I have a four hour run planned for early Saturday, so I decide to go for a recovery run. A recovery run is best done in the near-barefoot aqua shoes.

And it was lovely to run in them. When my legs are sore, running almost barefoot seems to make them better. It as if not running in shoes loosens my legs and massages . Hard to explain.

I decide to go down across London Bridge and take a look at the new "Shard" building which will be the tallest in Europe outside Moscow. They are still building it but it already dominates the Skyline. At the base though it doesn't seem so tall. (The World Trade Center Towers always looked huge, even when you stood at the base)

I didn't really try to run fast today; I just played with more form. And most importantly it felt good.

4km 25'48

Hints of Spring

I biked to work yesterday on my fixed wheel bike. I could feel it today on my lunch time run. I start of okay but after 1km I start to struggle on my way down to the Wapping Canals.

I have my coat on expecting it to be cold. But despite the clear sunny skies it's quite mild for a winter's day. So at Tobacco Dock (half way) I tie it round my waist.

The final km I pick up the pace and dodge in and out of the lunchtime crowds.

I have a slightly sore calf muscle possibly from the biking.

On sunny mild-ish day like today, I can imagine how good Spring is going to feel when it arrives. Still, a long way to go yet. Not sure how conducive the biking is to good running

6 or 7km 37'10

Grey London Town

It's a grey drizzly day in London. I have a theory that London is a grey city and is at its very best on a grey day. The buildings are grey, the river is grey and often the sky is grey. A spectrum of every possible shade of grey.

I could probably get away without running given that I had done the 4 hours on Sunday. I want to run though.

I zip out on to the streets and I am off. There is no residue from the weekend so I pick up the pace. I go down to Blackfriars Bridge and across to the South Bank. I then run down to Charing Cross/Hungerford Footbridge. The pace briefly lulls but on the other side of the river I go again.

I flow down Victoria Embankment and back to the office.

When I get back to my desk, my colleague Ben asks if I spotted him. It would appear I was so focussed on my run that I had flown past without noticing him! Perhaps I was enjoying the grey too much.

6km 27'51