'Baby we were born to run!'

As I type that ever so famous track by Bruce Springsteen is blasting out. As you probably have now guessed, I'm in a great mood. Today I set myself the challenge of the KM Rep session (6 x 1k @ 10k race pace ie. 3:40- 3:50/km off 1 minute recovery.). I almost needed some reassurance that I'm still in-form. It has been drizzling a bit today and there is a bit of a wind - of course it's very different to the wonderful sunshine we've had but to be honest, I'm glad it has cooled down a bit. So after a few strides and stretching I was good to go:

Rep 1: I set off steady and I hit the first hill of the run - probably the biggest and steepest too. It's a real toughie but then there's a nice downhill straight away as I instantly lose the height I'd only just gained. Then it's flat all the way - I feel really comfortable, but the pace is not blistering by any means so it's hardly surprising I don't feel pushed. 3:48.

Rep 2: Under the railway bridge and then up the second hill of the run - another steep incline but it's shortish and flattens off reasonably quickly. Over the canal I go and then it's a really steady downhill run before a flat finish on a newly surfaced road. No quicker, no slower than the last one. 3:48.

Rep 3: I am now determined to up things now I've got two of the main hills out of the way. This rep is mainly flat apart from a climb with a false summit - it's nothing on the other two but all the same it's enough to drop the pace. I'm starting to open up the legs now though and am confident I'm moving faster. How right I was - my extra effort counted as I get a pleasing 3:38.

Rep 4: This is an awkward point now. I'm over halfway and I've turned to run for home (back the same way I came.) That's all well and good, but the last time I did this very same session over the same course, my fastest rep was the same as the time as that of Rep 3. Never mind that I thought. I push on hard, I'm now flying and the leg speed feels incredible. Unbelievable 3:26.

Rep 5: I feel home getting nearer. I feel to be really shifting but I have to contend with that drag I descended in Rep 2 - It's a hell of a lot harder going up it. I'm then saved by the descent down the hill I had to climb in that rep though and I finish strongly on the flat. Things just get better 3:25.

Rep 6: This is it - the final push! I can see the hill I'm going to have to climb, but for now I'm going well on the flat. Suddenly I hit the hill and it's a killer. The pace drops by a chunk but then it's all downhill and flat to home. I open up the legs. I know it's not going to be anywhere near the last 2 but I still want a grand finale. It's not a bad effort 3:32.

So there you have it! I'm really pleased with that session and it's a good feeling comparing it with the other time I did it!

January April May

1. 3:49/km 1. 3:50/km 1. 3:48/km

2. 3:45/km 2. 3:41/km 2. 3:48/km

3. 3:48/km 3. 3:47/km 3. 3:38/km

4. 3:41/km 4. 3:38/km 4. 3:26/km

5. 3:45/km 5. 3:40/km 5. 3:25/km

6. 3:39/km 6. 3:40/km 6. 3:32/km

Today's average was 3:36 - 7 seconds better than last time. Happy days! One last thing - those shoes and the new socks are absolutely awesome!

Triple Chocolate Truffle Trifle!

Yep, what a mouthful - that's what we were serving at a function at work last night! Anyway, I thought I'd better let you know how things are progressing. The calf turned out to be alright and so I managed a session on Monday. I also spoke to my Dad's friend, who is an orthopedic surgeon, but is also trained in physiotherapy. He reckoned it was just bad circulation and recommended some compression socks. I therefore put my compression socks on for Monday's session in a hope that they would improve things, but they made it worse instead; they must be too small! Apart from my legs feeling dead, I had a good session - it was the 4 blocks of 10 minutes off 2 minutes recovery.

1. 6:36/mile.

2. 6:52/mile.

3. 6:58/mile.

4. 6:48/mile.

Overall not bad times to say it was all off road on fields in very hot conditions with lots of hills chucked in! I came back and ordered some Skins Compression Socks which have come today and feel much better, nowhere near as tight and much more comfy, so I will be trying them out today.

Yesterday was a steady 6.5 miles on the cross trainer to try and get some real climbing strength in the legs - I felt really good and felt to really go well on Level 15 (the hardest!). Today I have my KM Rep session in my new socks and new road racers. Let's see how it goes!

Yep, the weather is better than me!

First race. First test. First chance to shine. As I set off in sweltering heat and glorious sunshine this morning, I still had a good feeling. Traffic jams held us up and arrived 15 minutes before my race. Ok, not ideal preparation but still feeling confident. I'm however worried at the lack of warm up I've had.
Then we're off. Up the track and onto the fell - I take the lead after passing a few fast starters, but my calves soon stiffen up; I now wish I had warmed up properly. The calves burn and I begin to feel dehydrated, but I'm still in a strong second. Then there's a pull in my calf. I stop, I collapse and I feel fear. The race passes me by and I'm dropping down the field. As I get up, my legs feel weak, almost struggling to hold me up. I walk down the fell, now a straggler of the field. There's a knot in my calf - bad cramp due to dehydration or a pull due to a lack of warm up? The former I hope.
Now I'm home with a great bag of peas on my achy calf. What happened between the story above and now is a bit a mystery - I sat, feeling almost confused and worried. I was fearing the worst - that the whole season ahead would be destroyed. I have so many plans for the season ahead and it's been derailed at the first hurdle. I failed badly - I wanted to win the race, end of. The more worrying thing is the damage that has been done. I will access the situation tomorrow - I hope it was just bad cramp but there again perhaps I'm forever the optimist.

I've got a good feeling about tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my second race of the fell season. Whether Mearley Clough can be classed as a race however is debatable. I'm therefore really looking forward to tomorrow. Coniston Gullies, in the Lake District is a typical BOFRA Race. Short, fast and steep. I've also got a great feeling about the race. I've come off a solid week's training and now feel ready to race. I'm going to hydrate really well today as it's going to be stupidly warm tomorrow.
I've also ordered some new road shoes ahead of next week's 10k, which I have to admit I'm really looking forward to. Road racing has never appealed to me until lately, where I have become curious as to what I could do on a 10k. Check out the sleek, lighweight racers (pic) I'll be sporting next week. Good luck to everyone who's competing this weekend. I hope we all run at our best and even if you're merely having a training run, enjoy it!

Well I've found my achilles heel!

Literally, rather than in terms of that good old cliche that we all know. Of course I do have my weaknesses (my achilles heels) but today it was all about that region beneath the calf.
After a rest day yesterday to try and get over 7 days straight running (!) which saw me pick up 40 miles for the week, I felt compelled and enthusiastic. So energised in fact, that I was going to do a 10k as a sharpener with the hope of ducking under 40 minutes. Yeah, right! I hit the road and immediatley I felt a severe pain in the achilles region. I carried on but to no avail. I needed to get off the roads ASAP so I went onto the canal with the hope that less impact would ease the pain. This had no effect as I was on a very rocky part of the towpath. I eased down the pace before getting off road onto nice soft grassy terrain. The pain went and I could run at a very good speed again. I therefore limited the session to fields for the remainder and clocked up 6 miles in total.
Still, a run is a run. Thank god the race on Sunday is all off road. One final thing, has anyone else been sweating buckets? It seems really warm to me at the moment.

The big 4-0!

Today saw me man up and run arguably the hardest session of my week; the hill session. I had a General Studies exam this morning and then went off to my Grandma and Grandad's so the session was to be done on Ilkley Moor. I know the Moor quite well, having run there plenty of times. What I couldn't think of however, was a climb which lasted 10 minutes. I therefore decided to go for a 5 minute hill session, so it was 5 minutes hard up @ threshold, descend fast and then rest 1 minute.
Rep 1: Really really steep start which my thighs don't like. I maintain a good strong run and finish strongly with a good turnover of leg speed as the climb flattens off.
Rep 2: Same position again - steep, rough and rocky terrain. My thighs die on me so I stop for 10 and stretch before carrying on. I finish strongly again, but am I going to be able to complete this session?
Rep 3: I'm half way there after this one. I take a different route to the stream where the reps finished on the first two, and get there in 4:30 on a really strong rep which was probably longer than the first two despite ending up in the same position.
Rep 4: I'm on the move again - this time on the so called ski slope. I waltz up here and can't find anymore paths which lead uphill. I'm left to fly over undulating terrain for the remainder of the rep. Feeling as though I will get all 6 down now.
Rep 5: A really steep and tough rep - possibly the steepest climb on the moor up from White Wells towards a forest on the hillside. Strong effort and I continue to maintain a good form of running.
Rep 6: Hanging on in there for the final effort - it's been a long week with lots of hard stuff and it's coming to and end. Not a bad way to finish, in fact, quite pleasing.
Overall I'm delighted with today's session. I haven't managed to get 6 reps in before now, 5 is my total. I finished off with a 2 mile warm down which will easily take the distance for the day to 8 and the week to 40! Bingo!
I'm going to do a 10k a week on Friday at Colne which will be a good test. It's very hilly so not one for a fast time but it's local and a 10k is a 10k. Just need to get some road racers sorted now!

A brainstorm!

After getting in from work at 2am this morning (an 11hr shift!) I haven't felt too active although I've managed plenty of revision. Still, I wanted to do my hill session today to get my 40 mile week. I felt uncomfortable doing a session as hard as this however after a late night and bad preparation (not really any proper tea last night etc).
I then had a thought - the training week started at Mearley Cloughs last Tuesday at 7.15pm. If a week lasts 168 hours, surely I have until 7.15pm tomorrow to complete the week's training? Baring this in mind, I have just done a very easy few miles with strides etc. today and will pay a visit to the Moors above Ilkley tomorrow for the hill session where I will hopefully be much better prepared!

An injection of speed!

Well, not much of an injection but to me it felt fast. To the track runners, Cheeseman et all, my times will be laughable. My excuse is the terrain I did my speedwork on: a field which was being grazed by sheep. I still have to admit they'd probably be streets ahead but there again, whatever your speed, working on the movement in those legs is vital.
The Fartlek session yesterday ended up being much more structured. I decided to get some definite distances and therefore the session was: Warm Up, 4x 600m, 4x 400m, 4x 200m all off 200m recovery. Not the standard Fartlek but all the same, similar principles in which effots are short, bursts with an injection of speed.
The times were as follows:
600s:
2:11 (a bit slow but saving some in the tank!)
2:07 (Getting there!)
2:06 (Just pipped last time's effort! I'll take that!)
2:01 (Nailed it!)
400s:
1:21 (Pedestrian! Need to step on it!)
1:16 (Much better, still not quite got the legs shifting fully.)
1:17 (Slower, and all the efforts had been getting progressivley faster.)
1:10 (Thankyou very much! Just what I was looking for.)
200s:
0:36 (Not a bad effort, still not even at the same pace as the last 400.)
0:41 (Oh dear oh dear, poor is the only way of describing this one.)
0:34 (More like it - possibly an even faster last one?)
0:34 (No faster, no slower. Rounds off a brilliant session.)
So there you have it. A really good sharpener of a session which tested my speed from start to finish. Hill session next and hopefully the one that plunges me to 40 miles!

Improving by the day!

Well things just seem to be getting better and better at the moment. After being on a real downer last week, I now feel to be flying and going from strength to strength, day by day. Today's long run ended up being 50 minutes timed by the stopwatch, over fields, towpaths and a bit of road. I started off on the flat feeling very flat, but soon got into the rythm with the beat of the music on my Ipod and started to cruise a little. After getting home and feeling in an excellent frame of mind, I used MemoryMap to get the distance and it came out at 6.5 miles altogether. This was very pleasing, particularly for a long and steady run. Roll on tomorrow for some Fartlek!

Margin for error

Rather than the planned Fartlek, today saw me partake in a KM rep session. I decided on 5 reps beforehand, as my legs are still feeling the effects of Tuesday's steep descents at Mearley and a wise decision this proved to be.
Rather foolishly I had failed to check the battery on my Forerunner 205 and so I had a short panic attack. Fear not I thought as I rooted out my old Foreunner 301 which is a much larger unit as you can see on the picture, and also lacks the GPS quality of the 205. Still, it would measure my reps out, but how accuratley is debatable.
After my usual warm up of strides and bounds, by which time my 205 would have located its satellites, the 301 was still messing around deciding which part of the sky it was going to hook onto. I had had enough of waiting and so decided to set off with the Garmin showing a very weak connection.
I paid the price for this. As I look at my post session analysis graphs on Training Centre, the Forerunner had me down as doing over 5:30km/h for the first part of the rep. This is significant in the results:
1st KM: Feel nice and comfortable although my legs feel slightly jaded and there is a real headwind. The pace feels fast but sustainable. As the bleepers go, I am astounded to see 3:56 on the clock. With the benefit of hindsight, the weak connection at the start of the rep may have meant progress wasn't recorded properly and so the time was a lot slower than expected.
2nd KM: It's a Rep starting on a steep hill - not a nice sensation, particularly for the calves. Then down and flat, before an uphill finish which really tests my attributes, not to mention a brute of a headwind throughout. Not a bad effort though, 3:46.
3rd KM: I make a bold move to go onto the canal, and spend the first 10 seconds negotiating some steps which really slow me down. I hit the canal and really start to put the burners on, seeing a fellow runner coming the other way. PUSH PUSH PUSH! I continue to go for it and feel incredibly strong. What a Rep - 3:34 on an off road stretch, well strictly speaking anyway, although it is flat!
4th KM: Back onto the roads this time, with the cars of the A65 whistling past me. I focus on my own run and have little time to admire the River Aire. Soon I'm crossing the bridge and I'm back alongside it, running into a headwind and really starting to feel the burn now. I sprint as I hear the bleepers - 3:33!
5th KM: The final rep and it's all into a headwind. I desperatley keep checking the Garmin and before I know it I'm into the last 300. But then, what's this? A van pulls out and blocks my way through, so I have to wait for a couple of seconds for it. This spurs me on and I push for the imaginary line. There goes the watch, thank god - 3:40 including van stoppage time!
What a great session. I followed this off with a 2 miles warm down, taking the daily total to a pleasing 6 and the week to 17 so far. Tomorrow is the nice steady long run before a trip to the Galpharm for the first leg of the Playoff Semi Final. Come on Town!

Wrecked thighs!

My thighs felt incredibly stiff this morning and have done all day. I am even having trouble walking downhill and so I just had a nice steady 2 miles on the cross trainer to try and loosen them up a little. Fartlek tomorrow where my legs will hopefully be in better shape.
I've found my bag too. The £250 worth of kit is safe thank goodness. I think I'm having problems with my compression socks - everytime I wear them whilst I run my calves seem much stiffer and lactic acid filled than normal. Surely this shouldn't be happening - anyone got any comments?

New shoes!

I've got some new fell shoes for the fell season and I wore them straight out of the box for Mearley last night. They needed a bit of breaking in as they didn't feel quite right - they certainly needed to mold to the shape of my heel a little. I wore them again tonight for the session and they felt amazing - light, responsive and generally a great all round terrain shoe. What are they? The asthetically updated Inov8 Mudroc 290 - still doing the same job as the shoe released in 2003 quoted as the 'Ultimate Off Road shoe', but with a bit of a make over. I can't wait for these dogs to rip up the BOFRA racing circuit!

Garmin renound for navigation? Hope my forerunner can find its way home then!

After what can only be described as the worst race of my life last night, I had a long hard think last night and today as to what I actually want to do this Summer with regards to running. It was either not run at all, run casually and not race, or stick with initial plans and train hard/race. After much ooing and arring, I came round and stuck with what I had planned. Last night's race was still well and truly in my mind at this point - the pain in my calves and thighs I felt, and the stiffness in my knees was enough to put me off. Still, I am not going to give up that easily and there is no way of getting over a bad run than going out and belting out one that is back at your best.
That is exactly what I did today. I haven't felt good since the start of this virus which, fingers crossed, has actually gone. It certainly seemed that way today. The weather was top notch and so I decided to go with the 4 blocks of 10 minutes off 2 mins recovery @threshold - a session I couldn't complete last week whilst being under the weather. Instead of the boring old laps, which I normally complete 7 of in 10 minutes, I varied things up and devised loops as I went on. Perhaps now I should tell you the bad news. I wanted to do KM reps on the School Track today and took my sports bag with me. I've ended up losing this bag, god knows where/how. Within the bag was my f-lites, my Garmin, my Skins, a pair of Adidas running shorts, a NikePro top and my compression socks. Real disaster so I really hope these turn up. Anyway never mind, at least I could train today; it just meant I wasn't going to have the data of the Garmin, instead relying on the standard stopwatch.
1st Rep: Cautious start, but fly up the hills with a great feeling in my arms, which I use to propell me along. Legs feel awesome too - did I race last night?
2nd Rep: Even better than the first one. Really feel good now and the vitality of running has been well and truly embodied within me once again.
3rd Rep: Still going strongly, but knees a little stiff after recovery and start to tire in the last couple of minutes.
4th Rep: A great feeling as the session is nearly over. I give it my all and push to the bleep of my stopwatch. To my great relief, this comes fairly quickly - what a feeling!
A really great day training wise - so good that it hasn't been dampened by the loss of my bag. I will find this tomorrow with a bit of luck. Well, touch wood, this means I'm back and fighting fit. Coniston (a week on Sunday) now looks very probable, particularly if I can get all my sessions in, as per a normal week. If lady luck smiles, a week pushing for 40 miles may be on the cards. Excellent.

Enough is enough.

Still the same as yesterday, and the day before. All lurgied up, having the occasional coughing fit and generally not right. Today was worse though by the fact that I tried to run and my legs are absolutley dead from the word go. Time to forget about training and concentrate on getting the illness right. Sedbergh is now pretty unlikely and if I do dare go for it, I will be miles off the pace as I won't have been able to train properly for two weeks. Good luck to anyone who is racing this weekend. I only wish I could participate too.

How long will this thing linger around?

I'm getting worried now. I've had this flu for a week now and yet I don't feel ill or anything. I just have coughing fits and now have a seriously banging headache. Do I stop training or, based on the fact that I feel completley fine, carry on training? Today I did the latter and went for another 1k rep session, this time with 4 efforts and into a strong headwind.
1st effort: 3:35 - nice and strong.
2nd effort: 3:36 - another nice one; thinking of going for the full 6.
3rd effort: 3:34 - a rapid last lap gives me a nice consistent result.
4th effort: 3:40 - I begin to die, coughing as I do so. Nothing left.
Not bad results but I still don't feel completley right at all. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Feeling pretty down about things at the moment. Training was going so well and now it feels as though it's all going to pot. Sedbergh 1 week away and I'm stuck wondering if I should train or not. God help us.

Maybe getting there?

Today I've decided this cold had had its fun and I was prepared to put up with its affects to get running again. I had my mind set on a km rep session, but I didn't want to put too much strain on it by doing the 6 whole efforts, which would be too much too soon. I decided therefore to do 3 reps on the track at school at a pace I could handle, without pushing things too much. The reps went as so:
1. 3:26 for the km. A good start, felt a little fast and cold feels as though it has taken a bit out of me. More in the tank but won't be as fast.
2. 3:33 for the km. Much more comfortable, restrained pace. Just wanted to finish with a reasonable effort.
3. 3:32 for the km. Not a bad finish, very comfortable once again. Without the cold I felt I could have gone faster and for longer.
So, an average of 3:30 - 35 minute 10k pace, on a grass track! Although roads aren't perfectly flat, the surface is faster so the times set bode well for that target. A good re-introduction after some tough times over the past few days. I needed a nice few miles in the tank, so 3 of the slowest I've ever done on the cross trainer helped me warm down. Please be completley gone tomorrow cold so I can do a full session?

Fighting fit (ish)

Back from Scotland at 7pm was the story of the day, after a very long and tedious journey which included being stuck on the A1 near Newcastle for what seemed an eternity. Consequently, I haven't got the rep session done and so that rolls on to tomorrow, when I'm back at School and so will be using the newly marked School track . The length of the track is 266 and a 1/3 metres which is bizzare (It's a mystery as to why) but I've found the problem with the Garmin was the memory (thanks Terry!) so I'll be using that tomorrow rather than the strangely measured track we have at School. It's a poor track - it's grass with lots of sand, it's rutted and has had rugby/football played on it in Winter but it's flat and perfect for tomorrow's session. It's what I've needed to do this session in the past couple of weeks. Come to think about it, I can't think why I haven't bothered doing this session there yet.
I woke up this morning with a bad cough/cold but the cough has now disappeared and the blocked nose is going. I'd also lost my appetite over the last couple of days and I seem to be finding that again. I just hope I won't be lacking in energy tomorrow. My legs feel really good actually so I hope tomorrow should be a success.

Technology...what a let down!

I've become quite dependent on the Garmin nowadays. Considering I paid £120 for it, I want to get my money's worth, quite understandably. For the hard sessions I've done lately it has been imperative. On the current schedule, I could probably do all of the sessions without it and with a standard stopwatch, except the km reps. If I have it though, which I do, I use it and it is completley essential for the session I had planned today.
I woke up with a different attitude to last night towards the rep session. I wanted to hit the country roads which, despite undulating, are really good to run on. So I got warmed up and turned the Garmin on...Off it went. I click the on button again...Off it goes. I couldn't believe it - I'd made sure the Garmin was fully charged when I set off so it's either well and truly buggered or it turned itself on in my bag and the battery has run down. I would find out if I had brought the charger with me! Yep I'm without a charger, and I haven't even got the backup plan of a stopwatch so today's session has been cancelled. I'd rather do this session later in the week and get it right. So, I've got 4 hard sessions to do in 5 days now - tough times!
On a more positive note, as I was already in my running gear, I went for a steady couple of miles on part of the route I was going to take. These miles made up for the couple I lost in the long run yesterday by doing 6 as opposed to 8. I actually felt very good today - I picked up where I finished yesterday's run; strongly. So tomorrow I still think I'll go for the rep session, although it depends what time I get home from Scotland to get the Garmin charged up!

The reason why I love Running!

Today was the long run - the easiest session of my week at the moment. Runs like these make you realise why you love running; you can enjoy the scenery and take in the fresh air without worrying about the next repetition or circuit. Sadly I don't get enough of these at the moment for my liking but train long and slow, and guess what, you will be good at running for long distances at a slow pace. That's why I limit this session to once a week - at my age I need to be able to run fast for a shortish distance.

Today's Long Run ended up being a leisurley 6 over fields, canal, farm tracks and roads. With the cold still lingring, albeit hopefully on its way out, I decided to limit myself to 6 miles today. This would hopefully not wear me out too much for the week ahead and more importantly to not allow the virus I've picked up run riot.

The stiff calves from yesterday continued to scream at me for the longest four miles of my life, particularly on the harder canal surfaces and even on the fields to some extent. I thought I would be spared this pain by wearing my road shoes with more support but no such look. Things changed in the last 2 miles as I neared home on the pennine way as the calves loosened up and I felt to have a real bounce in my step once again, finishing strongly and forgetting any troubles I'd had in the first half of the run. So, 6 miles in around 50 minutes.

Tomorrow I will probably be wondering why I do running as I struggle round the school playing fields here in Scotland for my 1km rep session, panting hard with lactic acid infected legs. Well this sort of session is the sort that counts in a race, and I want to be a good racer!

This maybe off road as opposed to my previous km sessions done on the roads at home but it is a well trimmed, flat as a pancake field which has given me some good times for similar, but slightly shorter sessions before. The roads round here are very hilly and I want to post some good rep times on some fast stuff, so call me a wuss for avoiding the hilly roads but I've had enough of this session being affected by hills, wind and road blockages! Times should be comparable to reps I did on the roads at home if not faster. Here's to a good session.