Up and running

After a weekend off, today I am feeling better. I decide to venture out on a lunch time run in the aquas. The ankle feels good at the start.

I run down to Blackfriars via Paternoster Square. Down the Thameside Path to the Tower and then back via Leadenhall and London Wall.

I'm a little sluggish from the weekend excess but I run well. At the end the ankle still feels good. There is some tightness in the calf but it's not concerning me.

I don't think I will run the time I could of a few weeks ago in the Brighton Marathon on Sunday. I am probably 3kg overweight and the injury disruption has just taken me off the boil. I'm sure I'll break the four hours, so it will be job done.

5km 28:08

Back and injured

The ankle has been sore. Me-being-me I can't resist a lunch time jaunt down the Embankment. But my ankle is sore and not right. I could run a marathon on it, but it would be messy.

Spring is here, and I'm fretting on the ankle.

5km 30mins

Back and Running

A couple of evenings of muscle icing lay behind me. I was tempted to go out with the club last night but my wife talked me out of it, suggesting a little more rest.

Today I feel much better. Nothing in the Hamstring and not much wrong with the ankle. The problem with being injured is that you become hyper-sensitive to every ache and pain. Is the feeling in my ankle injury or usual ankle-random-weirdness which I would ignore?

At lunch time I run to St. Katharine's dock and back. I knew it would rain today but the further I get into the run, the heavier it gets. Still, it's good to be running.

It's hard to tell how much fitness I have lost with my time off. However the pace felt satisfactory. Hamstring is back to full fitness. Ankle has weirdness but it probably always has. I could run a marathon with it.

The sub 4-hour marathon is definitely back on. The thoughts are now to what running to do before the big day. I don't want to risk injury but I don't want to lose my edge. Hmmmmmm

5km 29mins

Broken

The ankle has been hurting and the hamstring awkward. This is potentially disastrous for the marathon.

I have been resting since last Tuesday's gentle jog with the club. Today, I decide to test out the body with a gentle lunchtime run.

I head down towards Blackfriars and straight away it does not feel good on both the ankle and hamstring. I hope to run them off but they stay with me all the way down the river to the Tower of London.

The body may be broken, but I am still nimble as I dance through the crowd at Leadenhall. I slink dispirited back down London Wall.

The run and the lovely spring day was the easy bit. The worry of the ankle and the hamstring the hard bit. A visit to the physio is on the cards.

5km 30 mins.

PWR Recovery Run

I decide to follow Martin's advice of taking in a recovery run after the weekend's action. So tonight I run with PWR. I toy with group 1 to keep it really slow, but in the end decide that group 2 at 9.5 min miles will meet my needs.

And it's a good steady, even run. We go up over Summer Hill and back round to Petts Wood. I have a good chat with Laura, who is running though her early pregnancy. I then sit middle of the pack for a steady run. The group has a good friendly atmosphere.

I'm in the aquas to help massage the legs. The legs feel fine but there is a persistent pain in the ankle. I could run the marathon with it, but best keep an eye on it.

I do like the social aspect of running a club, and tonight was a great social run

5.1 miles 56:47

Sore legs at the Reading Half Marathon

This was my race for 2010 and I trained and focussed on it. This year it is a step on my way to the sub-4 hour Brighton Marathon.

But I've been training hard and am in good shape. As you can see from the blog, I have not run at all this week as I have been recovering from the Dunsfold 20.

The start of the race is really well organised. People are put in ability bands. This year I have moved up a band and into the band below elite (Sub 1:45)

The race starts late (sounds like problems on the course). It is crowded at first but I soon settle into my 4:45 target pace as the field spreads out. I have already scouted out the race profile. The first 3 miles are uphill, then flat until 5.5 miles and then 2 miles of climbing. From there it should be all downhill.

The first 3 miles I manage to keep the pace at 4:45. I can afford some slippage and make it up later. But I don't slip. There is a problem though. My legs hurt. In reality I don't think I have recovered from last weeks Dunsfold 20. My hamstring really hurts. I consider stopping to prevent injury ahead of the marathon. I decide to keep going.

I keep clinging on to the 1:45. I know that if I can make the 7.5 mile point it should be easier. But it doesn't get any easier. Around 8 miles the pace seems to be slipping. The mind is willing, the lungs are powering but the legs are rebelling.

At around 10 miles, I stop looking at the Garmin and decide to run pace-blind and just as hard as I can. After the ultra-marathon I'm tougher. I can keep going. But when your legs aren't obeying orders, it doesn't matter how mentally strong you are.

As I near the stadium some idiot, talking on his mobile phone swerves in front of me almost taking me out. I don't know if he was alerting people in the stadium to his approach. The legs are already in a bad mood and having to swerve round him really annoys the legs. I give him a volley of verbal abuse. He looks shocked. And so he should.

Into the stadium I am able to construct a sprint until I make the line. I look at the time. It is faster than last year by a couple of minutes. I should be happier but I have been working so hard this year, I feel it could have been better. Still it's a PB.

I had not run at all this week, but was still jaded. I need to get my legs back and working before the Brighton Marathon.

When the results come out I finish 2196/12483 which pleases me.

13.1 Miles 01:41:22 (PB)

Dunsfold Spitfire 20

I pick Liz up as arranged at 7:15am. She is a good companion is happy to talk running and marathon like only another runner could. We are on the way to the Spitfire 20 miler.

We arrive at Dunsfold airfield and prep our kit. I was always going to run just in my vest and I brace myself for the cold.

They don't stand on ceremony at the start and unexpectedly the hooter sounds and we are off. I had decided to run this event at 3:30:00 marathon pace (5min /km or 8min miles)
I had a strange strategy for this race: I had wanted to blow-myself up, to really suffer pain and misery. This way I would not make the same mistake in the Marathon. The 5min pace would be a 3:30:00 marathon. A target maybe one day, but not really something I could do quite yet.

After a km I am easily warm enough in just my vest. I have my Piranha's on and it will be interesting to see how comfortable they are after 20 miles.

After a few km a lady runner from another local club goes past and (to me) patronisingly says:
"Keep going Petts Wood!"
This annoys me. She is wearing some distinctive clothing(which I will not divulge) which means I can easily identify her. I follow her for another 15 miles, before passing and dumping her. I am medalled up, having a drink by the time she eventually struggles home.

Most of the first lap I am comfortably sub 5 minutes. The last couple of miles are a lot harder. The second lap I struggle and then really blow. The sub-5 minute km average pace drifts out to 5:03. A couple of the bigger hills really take it out of me. However after the ultra-marathon I am stronger, I am more robust. I can switch off, and just keep running. And that is what I do. I keep going, not necessarily enjoying and experiencing, more detached and relentless.

I run past the Compasses pub, on the edge of the airfield. I had noticed this on the first lap and knew that when I reached it on the second lap I would be home.

At the finish I manage an extremely strong sprint given where I have been. I am surprised the second half is not ran massively slowly than the first half.

I go back to get changed and pick up my recovery drink. I make it back to the start to see Liz come home. I bellow at her to get her over the line and she does a decent sprint. Some fellow spectators look shocked. Alas she is 20 seconds outside her time for last year.

I had really enjoyed this run last year. This year it was okay. There was not enough water. They handed water out in little plastic cups which were half full. For a decent race you need bottles. The other problem (not the organisers fault) is the lack of supporters. I like running in front of a crowd as it keeps you going. There is no crowd at this event.

The Pirahna's were fine and I will definitely wear them for the Marathon. The sickly, sweet gels had not given me much of a boost and after the run I just feel slightly sick.

I had suffered, and struggled but it was over 14 minutes faster than last year. I set myself up to learn a lesson about pain and suffering. It's the Reading Half Marathon next week, then a couple of weeks later the Brighton Marathon. That is going to be the dream race.

20 Miles 2:41:40 (pb)