Having posted only a few day earlier in this blog that running was a dangerous sport I would like to reiterate that point. I mentioned that children were the biggest menace to runners but would like to change my mind as to the number one danger.
Running on Tenby beach this afternoon I was approached by a yapping dog and decided to slow to a stop until the owner had caught up and got it under control. However in the blink of an eye the dog decided that my lower right leg look like an attractive slab of meat and proceeded to attack. I can tell you that being bitten is a rather unpleasant experience and it hurt like hell. At first I was in total shock, then saw red and contemplated kicking the dogs head clean off…
Blood started seeping down my leg, soaking my socks and into my shoes. The owner came rushing up and apologised profusely before I limped back to my girlfriend house.
Luckily I had had my tetanus booster the day before and was able to treat the wound with antiseptic. I hope it will be fine and I should be back on my feet tomorrow for a 2 hour long run but its just another case of external factors effecting running performance.
I just hope that I don’t come face to face with a lion while out running Kenya, that really would signify the end of the project.
Saturday, 29 December 2007
HOW TO RUN THE SAME TIME TWO DIFFERENT WAYS
Since the big success of the Amsterdam half marathon (1:13:45 - 3:30 per km for 21.1km's) I have really worked hard on my speed in the last 2 months culminating with a 5km race. Today's race was a rather frustrating realisation of my lack of speed endurance, as I ran the same time for the race as I did in September. I had been training very hard so as to be capable of running at 16:15 pace which is 3:15 per km. The problem being that I can maintain 3:30 per km quite comfortably over the long distances and in my current shape I can probably get this down to around 3:25 per km but rather foolishly I ran the fist 2km at 3:12 pace and subsequently started to slow over the last few km.
Its not a bad result but it does reinforced the need for good pace judgment in races. In the time frame that I have left before the London Marathon how much will this 5km speed improve? Will I ever be able to break 16:15? Have I reached my VO2 Max or will I beneift from this speed work later on down the line.
Who knows? The good thing is that running in the Marathon, VO2 Max is not the most important factor, endurance is and I seem to have that part under control. I wonder how much difference running in Kenya will make, drop a few pounds, running more distance?
One thing that it does confirm is that its clear that I don’t possess a natural talent for running. Based on my half marathon time I should be able to run around the 16 minute mark. Considering that I am in much better shape now then in October maybe even faster.
I will find out the answer to that on the 10th of February in the half marathon, a better predictor of my potential marathon time.
Its not a bad result but it does reinforced the need for good pace judgment in races. In the time frame that I have left before the London Marathon how much will this 5km speed improve? Will I ever be able to break 16:15? Have I reached my VO2 Max or will I beneift from this speed work later on down the line.
Who knows? The good thing is that running in the Marathon, VO2 Max is not the most important factor, endurance is and I seem to have that part under control. I wonder how much difference running in Kenya will make, drop a few pounds, running more distance?
One thing that it does confirm is that its clear that I don’t possess a natural talent for running. Based on my half marathon time I should be able to run around the 16 minute mark. Considering that I am in much better shape now then in October maybe even faster.
I will find out the answer to that on the 10th of February in the half marathon, a better predictor of my potential marathon time.
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
RUNNING... A CONTACT SPORT?
Running is an incredibly simplistic sport. All you need is a pair of trainers, or in some cases just your bare feet. In running all you have to do is get from A to B in the shortest amount of time possible by putting one foot in front of another.
Sounds easy but somewhere between point A and point B you might encounter a few obstacles. It takes me to the point of this blog which revolves around the question of running being a contact sport. Staying with the family over the Christmas period I wanted to keep up my training and on Christmas Eve I decided to go for a steady 10 mile run around the picturesque Virginia Water Lake. Rounding a corner I saw that the water from a drainage ditch had over flown onto the tarmac path and due to the recent drop in temperature had frozen solid.
Hurtling around the corner came a young girl of around 6 years old on a brand spanking new pink bike. She was swerving manically in an attempt to master the art of cycling in a straight line. Cautious of this young child I moved over to one side giving her room to pass. Before I knew it she decided to steer directly at me. Out of control she slammed on the breaks, skidding on the ice towards my legs. Just in time I jumped over her to avoid the collision before helping her to her feet and back on the bike. The thing about this incident is that it not the first time I’ve nearly been badly injured while running.
In the two years since I started this project I have encountered more dangers through running than any other sport that I have taken part in including Skiing and Rugby. The worst offenders are children and animals. Children on scooters are a serial menace to runners, swerving unpredictably without even contemplating look around they can strike at anytime. I have also been chased my rabid dogs in Lanzarote, attacked by a man while running down the side of Hyde Park who tried to punch me in the face (possibly hired by the posters on the lets run forum), had food thrown at me, been spat at, verbally abused, nearly run over numerous times by over eager drivers, had a old woman throw herself in front of me during a marathon (long story... not dissimilar though to suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, but it’s got to be children who are the biggest danger of the lot. Running in my experience can be a sport fraught with danger.
Sounds easy but somewhere between point A and point B you might encounter a few obstacles. It takes me to the point of this blog which revolves around the question of running being a contact sport. Staying with the family over the Christmas period I wanted to keep up my training and on Christmas Eve I decided to go for a steady 10 mile run around the picturesque Virginia Water Lake. Rounding a corner I saw that the water from a drainage ditch had over flown onto the tarmac path and due to the recent drop in temperature had frozen solid.
Hurtling around the corner came a young girl of around 6 years old on a brand spanking new pink bike. She was swerving manically in an attempt to master the art of cycling in a straight line. Cautious of this young child I moved over to one side giving her room to pass. Before I knew it she decided to steer directly at me. Out of control she slammed on the breaks, skidding on the ice towards my legs. Just in time I jumped over her to avoid the collision before helping her to her feet and back on the bike. The thing about this incident is that it not the first time I’ve nearly been badly injured while running.
In the two years since I started this project I have encountered more dangers through running than any other sport that I have taken part in including Skiing and Rugby. The worst offenders are children and animals. Children on scooters are a serial menace to runners, swerving unpredictably without even contemplating look around they can strike at anytime. I have also been chased my rabid dogs in Lanzarote, attacked by a man while running down the side of Hyde Park who tried to punch me in the face (possibly hired by the posters on the lets run forum), had food thrown at me, been spat at, verbally abused, nearly run over numerous times by over eager drivers, had a old woman throw herself in front of me during a marathon (long story... not dissimilar though to suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, but it’s got to be children who are the biggest danger of the lot. Running in my experience can be a sport fraught with danger.
Monday, 24 December 2007
TO THE KENYAN HILLS
Since the Amsterdam half marathon my training has been going very well except for a few interruptions due to illness. The trip to Lanzarote was a fantastic experience but by the end of 3 really hard weeks training I was pretty exhausted and ready for a rest. On my return a huge number of editing jobs had built up that had to be done before Christmas and consequently I have not been able to update the website as frequently as I would like and for this I apologise.
On the 3rd of January to the 27th I am off to Kenya to train but more importantly document/attempt to explain why contrary to the decline of top end marathon running in Britain there has been a huge increase in the numbers of world class marathon runners in Kenya. In 2006 over 500 Kenyan runners ran under 2:20 compare this to the 5 runners in the UK this year and you can understand why the Kenyan athletes are so dominant on the international stage.
Another interesting fact that was bought to my attention was that Britain’s top Marathon runner Jon Brown has decided to swap countries to Canada after having his lottery funding terminated. Britain’s second best runner Tomas Abuy who ran a fantastic time for the Dublin Marathon of 2:10 has been told that his time will not count for the qualifying for the Beijing Olympics because he did not tell anyone that he was going for it. This leaves Dan Robinson the only British runner to have qualified having run under 2:15 in the London Marathon 2007. The good news is that this leaves the door open to another 10 or so runners who will be hungry for a place, thus hopefully having the desired effect of improved times this April.
As far as my own training, I am ticking away still but realise that getting much faster than 2:30 for London is just not going to happen, no matter how positive my attitude is. I am really enjoying the training again, running better than ever and looking forward to the half marathon on the 10th of February which I think will be my only 100% race in the build up to the Marathon.
While I am away in Kenya internet access will be limited so I might not be able to get back to everyone who writes to me but I will defiantly write on my return. For all those that are in touch with messages of support, questions about the documentary and training advice thank you very much for taking the time to write. If anyone else has any questions please feel free to get in touch.
When I do get the chance to use the internet I will write on this blog about the trip and how the training and documentary are going.
Have a very Happy Christmas and New Year and a very prosperous 2008!
On the 3rd of January to the 27th I am off to Kenya to train but more importantly document/attempt to explain why contrary to the decline of top end marathon running in Britain there has been a huge increase in the numbers of world class marathon runners in Kenya. In 2006 over 500 Kenyan runners ran under 2:20 compare this to the 5 runners in the UK this year and you can understand why the Kenyan athletes are so dominant on the international stage.
Another interesting fact that was bought to my attention was that Britain’s top Marathon runner Jon Brown has decided to swap countries to Canada after having his lottery funding terminated. Britain’s second best runner Tomas Abuy who ran a fantastic time for the Dublin Marathon of 2:10 has been told that his time will not count for the qualifying for the Beijing Olympics because he did not tell anyone that he was going for it. This leaves Dan Robinson the only British runner to have qualified having run under 2:15 in the London Marathon 2007. The good news is that this leaves the door open to another 10 or so runners who will be hungry for a place, thus hopefully having the desired effect of improved times this April.
As far as my own training, I am ticking away still but realise that getting much faster than 2:30 for London is just not going to happen, no matter how positive my attitude is. I am really enjoying the training again, running better than ever and looking forward to the half marathon on the 10th of February which I think will be my only 100% race in the build up to the Marathon.
While I am away in Kenya internet access will be limited so I might not be able to get back to everyone who writes to me but I will defiantly write on my return. For all those that are in touch with messages of support, questions about the documentary and training advice thank you very much for taking the time to write. If anyone else has any questions please feel free to get in touch.
When I do get the chance to use the internet I will write on this blog about the trip and how the training and documentary are going.
Have a very Happy Christmas and New Year and a very prosperous 2008!
Sunday, 18 November 2007
LOOK ON THE POSITIVE SIDE
For the last 4 days I have been in bed with the flu, this was no ordinary flu, this was man flu!
I read about an American runner called Le May - when he was at the peak of his training he would avoid taking public transport and sometimes even his family. Is this extreme? If you are not into running you might think so but after spending 4 days in bed feeling like death I am coming around to his way of thinking.
Due to the recent change in weather in the UK everyone gets ill; it’s only a matter of time before it hits you. After a particularly gruelling track session on Tuesday evening I went around to visit my girlfriend who had not been feeling too well, instead of me looking after her she had to look after me. I was totally exhausted and that night my immune system must have been hugely weakened as I woke feeling awful.
Waking in the middle of the night to find your sheets drenched in sweat that smells like TCP due to all the medication you have been taking is particularly unpleasant, coughing until your lungs are red raw is excruciatingly painful especially as due to my asthma they are highly sensitive. I remember going into a pub once before the ban and coming out feeling like I had smoked a packet. The only thing that you can do is take you medicine, rest and wait.
It has put my training back a bit but I have decided to look at this minor setback as a positive thing. I am prone to training too hard at times and maybe jumped back into hard training too soon after the Amsterdam half marathon while my calf muscles were still very sore. The way I am viewing it is that if I had not picked up the flu I would have probably picked up another injury, so the forced break although frustrating is not the end of the world. To look at it another way my legs are feeling amazingly pain free this evening.
I read about an American runner called Le May - when he was at the peak of his training he would avoid taking public transport and sometimes even his family. Is this extreme? If you are not into running you might think so but after spending 4 days in bed feeling like death I am coming around to his way of thinking.
Due to the recent change in weather in the UK everyone gets ill; it’s only a matter of time before it hits you. After a particularly gruelling track session on Tuesday evening I went around to visit my girlfriend who had not been feeling too well, instead of me looking after her she had to look after me. I was totally exhausted and that night my immune system must have been hugely weakened as I woke feeling awful.
Waking in the middle of the night to find your sheets drenched in sweat that smells like TCP due to all the medication you have been taking is particularly unpleasant, coughing until your lungs are red raw is excruciatingly painful especially as due to my asthma they are highly sensitive. I remember going into a pub once before the ban and coming out feeling like I had smoked a packet. The only thing that you can do is take you medicine, rest and wait.
It has put my training back a bit but I have decided to look at this minor setback as a positive thing. I am prone to training too hard at times and maybe jumped back into hard training too soon after the Amsterdam half marathon while my calf muscles were still very sore. The way I am viewing it is that if I had not picked up the flu I would have probably picked up another injury, so the forced break although frustrating is not the end of the world. To look at it another way my legs are feeling amazingly pain free this evening.
Sunday, 11 November 2007
CONFIDE IN YOUR DIARY
Since starting the project almost 22 months ago I have used various methods of keeping track of my training through the use of a diary or training log. The success and length of these logs has varied hugely with some entries lasting a matter of days due to the complexity of the information. Before long you miss a few days, forget what you did and lose interest.
When I started training again back in July this year I decided that to keep my focus, attempt to identity the early signs of over training and most importantly what works I kept a diary for 90 days leading up to the Amsterdam half marathon in which I ran a big PB of 1:13:46.
In the past I have laughed at people who kept diaries, why worry about the past when you can look forward to the future. However to understand where you are going you need to know where you have been. I kept things simple with five entries;
1) Resting heart rate
2) Weight
3) Food
4) Exercise - including distance
5) Over all comment
By the end of the first month I read back all the entries and started to see a pattern emerging. I could see instantly where I had performed well in my training, what I had eaten before hand and what areas needed work on.
A friend down at the track told me a story of when David Bedford was at the peak of his training. One evening he was relaxing in the bath after a hard week. Tallying up the number of miles he had run for the week he suddenly realised that he might be a couple short of his target, instead of just accepting that he might have made a mistake he jumped out of the bath and ran another 6 miles just to make sure, before getting back in the bath.
Using a diary can be a great motivational tool, however beware as you can become a slave to your diaries desire for the distance box to tally up.
When I started training again back in July this year I decided that to keep my focus, attempt to identity the early signs of over training and most importantly what works I kept a diary for 90 days leading up to the Amsterdam half marathon in which I ran a big PB of 1:13:46.
In the past I have laughed at people who kept diaries, why worry about the past when you can look forward to the future. However to understand where you are going you need to know where you have been. I kept things simple with five entries;
1) Resting heart rate
2) Weight
3) Food
4) Exercise - including distance
5) Over all comment
By the end of the first month I read back all the entries and started to see a pattern emerging. I could see instantly where I had performed well in my training, what I had eaten before hand and what areas needed work on.
A friend down at the track told me a story of when David Bedford was at the peak of his training. One evening he was relaxing in the bath after a hard week. Tallying up the number of miles he had run for the week he suddenly realised that he might be a couple short of his target, instead of just accepting that he might have made a mistake he jumped out of the bath and ran another 6 miles just to make sure, before getting back in the bath.
Using a diary can be a great motivational tool, however beware as you can become a slave to your diaries desire for the distance box to tally up.
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
AMSTERDAM HALF MARATHON
14 weeks after restarting my training I stood impatiently at the start line waiting for the gun to go off signalling the start of the ING Amsterdam half marathon. A huge amount rested on this race - it was a life line for the project - one last time to prove myself. If I every needed to get a result this was it.
The training in the last 8 weeks building up to the race had been a huge success. There were only two sessions which I should not have done when fatigue started to raise its ugly head, but for once I had not been so stubborn and taken the advice of coaches and fellow runners with the advice to “train hard but train smart.”
In the weeks leading up to the race I had been in contact with race director Jan Willem Mijderwijk about the possibility of filming from the back of a motor bike. Behind the UK and Japan there are a huge amount of hits on the Road to Beijing website from viewers in Holland and fortunately he agreed to the request.
Now all I needed was to finalise the arrangements, stay injury free and in good health.
I managed only one of the above! On the Thursday before the race I picked up a cold, (after not having any problems for the last 4 months) waking up on race days I did contemplate dropping out of the race. The same had happened for the Reading half marathon back in March when after 3 miles I effectively had to drop out. Accommodation, flight, filming etc from my own funds dictated that I would race but that I would run with how my body felt not what the watch said.
My other concern was the fact that 4 days before the race my cameraman’s passport was still in the post... 4 hours before the start of the flight was due to depart it had still not arrived and frantic measures were put in place to find a cameraman in Amsterdam.
Distance running and stress are not a good combination and even 20 minutes before the start I was still finalising the filming arrangements. In some ways this maybe helped because I forgot about my cold, how I was feeling and used the time I had left to really focus and get in the zone.
I can't remember the race that well but I started off at a slow controlled pace and decided to get to 15k before racing. I went through 5km in 16:20 which was way to fast but according to fellow Serpentine runner Darren McNeely who posted a very impressive sub 1:12 the marker was about 15-20 seconds out.
I felt pretty relaxed, running just inside the comfort zone and eased through 10km in 34:20 which was another personal best. By this stage I was starting to pass some of the slower marathon runners which in some ways gave me a big confidence booster but at times it was rather frustrating weaving in and out of the runners.
At 15 km I knew that I would start to struggle a bit due to not doing enough tempo runs but by this stage I was running with two other runners. I tried to relax and started to count... When I start to struggle my right hand twists inward and everything become tighter. This does not help with the stride, efficiency etc. so I have come up with a way of dealing with this problem, taking my mind of the discomfort by counting to 50 seconds every now and then when the pain hits worst and you think about slowing down and your body tells you to stop.
My basic philosophy behind it is that in the closing stages of a race when you are thinking about the finish line and starting to hurt, by counting to 50 seconds it is a long enough time to be distracting, it eats up another 250 metres but it is not so long that it becomes and effort to count to.
I know lots of other runners have different ideas of getting the best out of themselves mentally by playing tricks, using positive messaging etc. I can assure you that have tried them all, plus a number of other unconventional ones... whatever works for you.
The race finished in the Olympic stadium around 3/4 of the track - I had a good battle with another runner but by now the bile in my stomach was churning and made a desperate bid to escape.
I collapsed into the arms of Runners World Holland write Ramiro Ameneiro who I had only had contact through e-mail. I think I was just happy to finish and seeing a friendly face was great relief. I was delighted with the result of 1:13:46 which was a huge PB by 1:30.
The result was hugely significant as it shows me what is possible for next year. I am sure that I can run for this pace for the full Marathon in London next year with the right training, rest, taper etc. The question is how much further can I progress my half marathon time?
I was told about a book called the dip - it explains when you start a project, business, training etc it is fun, full of optimism and exciting but it soon gets to a point when it gets so hard that you want to give up. I was in that place at the start of the summer, I questioned if it was worth the pain, effort, disappointment - the answer was yes. I am very glad that I was mature enough to realise that then.
I would like to thank the race organisers at the ING Amsterdam half marathon for the generosity and help on the day. I can't stress enough that the project could not happen with people like Mr Mijderwijk help.
Thank you very much also to everyone who has taken the time to write wishing me the best of luck with the project, it is hugely appreciated.
Finally this is when the project can get really interesting. It give a good base for the documentary to really start exploring the reasons behind the decline in British marathon running. As far as my own running goals, I am under no illusions as to how hard the next 22 weeks of training are going to be but I can wait! Watch this space...
The training in the last 8 weeks building up to the race had been a huge success. There were only two sessions which I should not have done when fatigue started to raise its ugly head, but for once I had not been so stubborn and taken the advice of coaches and fellow runners with the advice to “train hard but train smart.”
In the weeks leading up to the race I had been in contact with race director Jan Willem Mijderwijk about the possibility of filming from the back of a motor bike. Behind the UK and Japan there are a huge amount of hits on the Road to Beijing website from viewers in Holland and fortunately he agreed to the request.
Now all I needed was to finalise the arrangements, stay injury free and in good health.
I managed only one of the above! On the Thursday before the race I picked up a cold, (after not having any problems for the last 4 months) waking up on race days I did contemplate dropping out of the race. The same had happened for the Reading half marathon back in March when after 3 miles I effectively had to drop out. Accommodation, flight, filming etc from my own funds dictated that I would race but that I would run with how my body felt not what the watch said.
My other concern was the fact that 4 days before the race my cameraman’s passport was still in the post... 4 hours before the start of the flight was due to depart it had still not arrived and frantic measures were put in place to find a cameraman in Amsterdam.
Distance running and stress are not a good combination and even 20 minutes before the start I was still finalising the filming arrangements. In some ways this maybe helped because I forgot about my cold, how I was feeling and used the time I had left to really focus and get in the zone.
I can't remember the race that well but I started off at a slow controlled pace and decided to get to 15k before racing. I went through 5km in 16:20 which was way to fast but according to fellow Serpentine runner Darren McNeely who posted a very impressive sub 1:12 the marker was about 15-20 seconds out.
I felt pretty relaxed, running just inside the comfort zone and eased through 10km in 34:20 which was another personal best. By this stage I was starting to pass some of the slower marathon runners which in some ways gave me a big confidence booster but at times it was rather frustrating weaving in and out of the runners.
At 15 km I knew that I would start to struggle a bit due to not doing enough tempo runs but by this stage I was running with two other runners. I tried to relax and started to count... When I start to struggle my right hand twists inward and everything become tighter. This does not help with the stride, efficiency etc. so I have come up with a way of dealing with this problem, taking my mind of the discomfort by counting to 50 seconds every now and then when the pain hits worst and you think about slowing down and your body tells you to stop.
My basic philosophy behind it is that in the closing stages of a race when you are thinking about the finish line and starting to hurt, by counting to 50 seconds it is a long enough time to be distracting, it eats up another 250 metres but it is not so long that it becomes and effort to count to.
I know lots of other runners have different ideas of getting the best out of themselves mentally by playing tricks, using positive messaging etc. I can assure you that have tried them all, plus a number of other unconventional ones... whatever works for you.
The race finished in the Olympic stadium around 3/4 of the track - I had a good battle with another runner but by now the bile in my stomach was churning and made a desperate bid to escape.
I collapsed into the arms of Runners World Holland write Ramiro Ameneiro who I had only had contact through e-mail. I think I was just happy to finish and seeing a friendly face was great relief. I was delighted with the result of 1:13:46 which was a huge PB by 1:30.
The result was hugely significant as it shows me what is possible for next year. I am sure that I can run for this pace for the full Marathon in London next year with the right training, rest, taper etc. The question is how much further can I progress my half marathon time?
I was told about a book called the dip - it explains when you start a project, business, training etc it is fun, full of optimism and exciting but it soon gets to a point when it gets so hard that you want to give up. I was in that place at the start of the summer, I questioned if it was worth the pain, effort, disappointment - the answer was yes. I am very glad that I was mature enough to realise that then.
I would like to thank the race organisers at the ING Amsterdam half marathon for the generosity and help on the day. I can't stress enough that the project could not happen with people like Mr Mijderwijk help.
Thank you very much also to everyone who has taken the time to write wishing me the best of luck with the project, it is hugely appreciated.
Finally this is when the project can get really interesting. It give a good base for the documentary to really start exploring the reasons behind the decline in British marathon running. As far as my own running goals, I am under no illusions as to how hard the next 22 weeks of training are going to be but I can wait! Watch this space...
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