Long Run Substitiute

I meant to do a long run yesterday but it wasn't going to happen with the weather and I felt like I had a virus. I wasn't going to take my running kit to work but in the end decided to.

At home time I am fully up for the run home.  The first few miles are hard and then somewhere along the line it starts to feel good.  Really good.  The last few miles are an absolute joy.

It feels good to be back on it.  Work to be done, but good to do a longer run.

9 miles1:18:06

Water Fountain to Water Fountain run

I love having dinner with the kids.  Tonight I round of with a large serving of Rice Pudding and a large glass of white Rioja.  This isn't so good when I come to do my evening run.  I want to get out and catch the light, so I get the kids in bed and head.

My form feels good but my cold is still there.  My shoes also seem to be leaking in water from the slightly damp floor.

Eventually I reach the top water fountain, touch it and head back on the downhill leg.

All I need now is for this code to go away and the weather to pick up

4.5km 23:42

On the mend from a cough

I really want to get back on it, I'm over the post marathon slump.  The only problem is that I have come down with a nasty, nasty cough and cold.  Today I am hung-over, but I want to run.  I have a route round Millwall Docks planned.

At the changing rooms I see Matt.  I tell him that one day we should do the Millwall Dock Route.  Most times he runs the same route.  He heads off.  I get changed and head out.  As I get a quarter way round and the route is shut.  I try and run round it but there is no way.  So I turn round and head the other way.  It's lovely and I am running well.  The marathon may not have gone well, but something about all the training has pushed me on.

Suddenly in the distance I see Matt heading towards me.  I guess he has hit the same road block.  I ask if he minds if we run together.  We head back together.  I love running, but I love running with company.  And we chat.  Given that I am coughy and hungover, the run and company feels really good.

We are soon back at the office.  I shower and then at my desk, the runner's high kicks in.  I'm revelling in my Marathon failure.   Next target, 3 Bridges Relay.

4km 24:03.

Dandelion Run

A 5km run with lots and lots of stop and starting.  Probably took me an hour and half to run the 5km.  That's because it was the Dandelion run.  I know what that means and that is all I will say.

5km 1:30:00

Beckenham Loop on the way back

I've been at a friends lazing in the sun all day, drinking wine and eating cake.  The kids are virtually asleep in the car on the way back so it is a case of putting them into bed.  I toy with getting some beer and vegging further, but the summer short race season beckons.

I put on a simple pair of shorts and a t-shirt and head out.  I decide to instigate a new route, the Beckenham loop.  Down to Beckenham Cinema then back round past Waitrose, past Westgate road before turning back towards my home.

The first part of the run uphill is hard and I am out of breath.  I have had a cold and badly smoked a cigar the other day.  I get some drunken comments from some idiots on the High Street which I ignore.   Then after I pass the cinema, I start to really enjoy the run.  My running form is still good, probably polished by all the marathon training miles.   By the end I am really loving it.

I know there is a sneaky half bottle of chilled wine back at home.  Really glad I went for the run.

5km 31:00

Back on it

I'd decided to take a couple of weeks off running after the marathon.  I even biked to to work.  I have an urge to run and train and push.  But that would be bad.  So a couple of weeks off.  Today I go for a gentle, gentle run down the river towards Wapping.

It felt good.  Ran on some of the marathon route.  I'll come back and do it properly one day.  No tiredness in the old bones or muscles, but I still need to recover and come back stronger and resist the urge.  Next week I think I may run a training cycle I want to burn-in, but do it easy, easy, easy.

4.5km 26:29

London Marathon 2013

I meet up with Richard and we travel to Blackheath.  He is dressed as Abraham Lincoln.  I do lots of wees before the race.  I eventually line up and am ready to go.  I realise that a lot of the runners around me are probably going to be slower.  It appears that everyone blags their time to move further forward.

The first couple of miles I only lose 30 seconds off my 8 minute/mile target.  After a while I fall in with one of the pacers running 8 minute miles.  He has a backpack with a flag hanging out of it.  It is still cool but the sun it out and shining bright.  I think the pace is running 15 seconds a mile to fast.  I later realise that he is running bang on 8 minute per marathon mile (A marathon mile is a bit longer because of weaving and other runners)

The main issue is that I am struggling.  I'm only a little way in and it doesn't feel all to easy.  About 10 miles I decide to have a gel.   This picks me up and I feel better.

I soak in the atmosphere over Tower Bridge.  I see two separate groups of my clubs supporters.

But now the sun is taking its toll.  I am sweating lots.  I can feel it in my legs.  I doggedly keep with the pacer.  In fact there is a pacer also doing 8 minute miles in front and so I catch up to him and run between the two pacers.  Then as we start to come in to docklands around mile 17 I know the game is up.  The first pacer I was following goes past and I gradually fade away.

I decide to slow down and enjoy.  Just jog the run in.  Though my earlier pace has done a lot of damage.  It's still really, really hot with the sun beating down.  I mange to run the rest of the way but the pace slips to 11 minute miles at some points.  Only the fact that I know there will be friends and family supporting me stops me walking and keeps me going.  Once I pass them it is only the thought that people will shout at me if I start walking, so I keep going.

In the end I reach the finish and it is 1:45:57.  This is 3 minutes slower than last year.  Despite all my extra training, the loss of about 4kg in weight the same thing happened, race pace abandoned at mile 18.

My three things for further investigation are:
1. Was it the heat?  Not sure if that would of caused the legs to be so sore. I had been training in 1 and 2 Celsius temperatures in the dark.  I had run 25 miles on one bottle of Lucozade sport.  Today I had countless bottles of water and drink and was still thirsty.  I was just not adjusted to the temperature.  From what I can see everyone struggled.  The records say it was only 16 Celsius, but it felt hotter in the sun and I was sun burnt at the end.
2. I wonder if some of the soreness in the legs could be attributed to the wearing of racing flats.  My training were done in more cushioned trainers.  I wonder if running a marathon would be better done with some cushioning.  I had no problem with this during training
3. Was the pace just to tasty?   Maybe I could not cope with 8 minute miles?   Running even slightly faster than your limit in a marathon will cause bad things to happen.  Maybe I need to have a go at running a marathon and an even or negative split pace that I am sure I can do?

I'm not giving up on the 3:30.  This has just made me more determined.  Just annoying if I am tied to the vagaries of the weather.

26.2 miles 3:45:57