Shakepeare Marathon ....... OR

The Last Long Run Before the 10-in-10...!!!!

OK - in reality I had about 4 plans for the race, and it depended variously on how the legs felt, how I was running, what the weather was like etc.
But in the context of Lorna and I having recovered from hard run races quickly of late, it was an ideal opportunity to run this as a pretty serious race effort!

I started too far back at the start which meant there was rather a lot of jinking about at the start - (stoopid boy), but once it thinned out a bit, running was reasonably elbow-free.

Plan A was simple - Aim for 6:50ish min/mile See how you are going in the first five miles, and reassess.
And keep reassessing until you get to the end!
I was running smoothly and easily, and really enjoying the ride. I was reeling in plenty of people and only occasionally being passed by folk who'd clearly started further back than they should have.
After about this distance, I could see a runner I know from Fetch some distance ahead. It took 'til after 9 miles to catch up to him. By this time we were on the Greenway, which I LOVED running along. Flat - nice surface - and perfect for just concentrating on minimising effort for the pace.

Then we split from the Half course for the second lap.
Half Marathon came up just before a Water Station

1:29:51

And on viewing the video on YouTube I was in 54th place!


Oooh! That's OK.
I knew that I was running at about that pace.
And I was feeling pretty good.

The updulations on the second lap slowed me slightly more than on the first lap, but generally I was making that time back on the downs.
The extra section that takes you further down the Greenway seemed to be all downhill - it was fabulous, and an opportunity to let the legs run that little bit quicker, for no extra effort.

And I was looking forward to the flat easy section along the Greenway for the second time. Somewhere along here 21/22 miles (I think) I saw a vest and pair of calves that I recognised ahead of me. Ian was running really nicely. I drew alongside with some inane comment like "Is this a Mr M I see before me?" Why couldn't I think of something better than that..??
We swapped a couple of comments, and then got back to our own runs, clearly both on course for quite significant Personal Bests!!

I tired a little in the last 2 miles, but was REALLY pleased with the way I held form. Waved madly for the second time at Alex who was taking pictures (and as I was in my Club vest, was not sure that he'd spot me)
The run into the finish along the river bank was a delight.

Second Half

1:29:52
Giving me a chip time of 2:59:43.
SUB 3!
And 22nd place overall!!

WOW!

The best thing was that I was waking about quite freely, chatting to folk, and getting some food and drink. I went to get my clothes from the clothes store and then to get a coffee for Lorna, who I estimated would be finishing around about that time.
Any event that gives free coffee and tea to the runners at the end of a marathon is a pretty damn fine one IMO.

She had finished! Already!!!!
In an outstanding 3:36. THAT brought about the biggest smile of the day for me

So this race marked the end of the 'hard' training for the 10-in-10, the plan now is to keep the legs turning over, and make sure they are in optimal condition for the 8th May!

I can't wait.

Thanks, Lizzie :o)

Fame at last!

My mother writes one of the local news columns in the Kilmarnock Standard, and she contacted Lizzie Struthers, one of the sports reporters, to find out whether she would be interested in featuring the 10 Marathons in 10 Days Challenge, the local interest angle being that I grew up in Kilmarnock.

I'm delighted with the article that Lizzie has written :o)

Leon and I have both made an excellent recovery from the Shakespeare Marathon. I was a little unresponsive in the quadriceps department on Monday, but was running normally again by Tuesday.

Looking back at Shakespeare, I am very pleased with my finishing time, and even more pleased with ... LEON! Come and tell these good people what you did on Sunday! But I'm most pleased with how easy it was. I had to tackle some head-stuff in the first ten miles or so, but physically I was never out of my depth and at the end the people I was passing were commenting on how effortlessly I was running. I only felt as if I was working at all in the last two-and-a-half miles, and even then I managed to maintain sub-8.30mm pace and a respectable finishing sprint.

D'you know what? I think there's a sub-3:30 lurking in this old body :o)

Meanwhile, it's nearly 10-in-10 time. Eight days from now, I'll have finished the first marathon. I'm starting to think about things I haven't bothered with until now, like what running kit and additional food to take, how many pairs of F-Lite 230s I'll need (I shall probably alternate F-Lites with my least old pair of Vaporflys), and - as someone who is always busy, this is a serious consideration - how I'm going to cope with not having work or domestic chores to occupy me when I'm not running. I wonder whether there are any surgeries in Hawkshead or Windermere in need of someone to do a little afternoon surgery ... ;o)

The Three Final Trials :)

I've been a lazy rascal again, except that this time, really, I haven't. Between work and running and domestic responsibilities, I've actually been extremely busy. But here's a short update.

A couple of weeks ago, I set myself a specific objective for each of our last three big training runs.

1. The Hawkshead Trail Race - to race it properly rather than just enjoying the scenery, and to run up all the hills.

2. Our final Windermere Marathon course recce - to run all the way up the three major hills (Mile 8, Mile 22, and the nasty little fiend at the end). Everything else didn't matter.

3. The Shakespeare Marathon - to avoid talking myself out of a PB attempt.

In summary ...

1. What a beautiful event! And yes, I did. I particularly enjoyed running all the way up the Coffin Trail, some of it at barely faster than 3mph. I went round under the illusion that I was racing with the big boys at the sharp end, and had a reality-check at the end when I discovered that I was, in fact, 233rd out of 560 finishers. Leon chose to run with me, and watching him dancing over the rough downhills and trying to emulate his footfalls was very useful.

2. Mission accomplished, and if you take out the stops and add-ons, our running time for the marathon distance was less than 3:55. My third sub-4 marathon ever, and I did it in training on an interestingly undulating course. I was well pleased :o)

3. I could write a long race report with gremlins in it, but, as I said, I'm very busy, so I'll cut to the punchline.

3:37:11 clock time, 3:36:39 chip time. A PB by 7 minutes.

:o) :o) :o)

I'm ready. Nothing more to do now apart from recover and stay recovered.

Last Long run in training

This weekend Lorna and I are running the Shakespeare Marathon.
It will be the last long run we do before the 10-in-10 starts, and we are both really happy with the way that training has gone.
We have been running reasonably big weekly mileages sometimes without realising just how many miles we've accumulated, such has been the extent to which we've made Running a normal part of our daily life, as opposed to something we have been 'training' for!

My running technique has progressed fantastically well since the Pose Clinic in March - and teaching others has had a very beneficial knock on effect on my own running.

Last weekend we ran the Hawkshead Trail race. Lorna's remit was to 'run up all the hills' and I chose to accompany her. And what a good decision that was!
It was a BEAUTIFUL day, the Lakes at their VERY finest. Sunny, but not too warm and with a gentle breeze. Amazing! We also met a large group of our running friends there, so the social side of it was also spectacular.
Lorna ran beautifully - really strong on the climbs, and confident and quick on the descents. It was a real pleasure to run with her :o)

On the Sunday morning we parked up in the grounds of Brathay (Yes - we DID ask if we could!) to spend the next few hours running the Windermere course.
We'd planned to break it up into 3 sections, stopping at Newby Bridge and Bowness, the idea being to consolidate the details of the course, without working our bodies too hard.
And that was exactly what we did.
It was another stunning day, and we were running for a few minutes under 4 hours.
On returning to the car, my legs would have been happy to carry on, but we'd done what we set out to do, and getting home before the traffic became ridiculous became a more pressing priority!!

:o)

This week has been gentler.
Less mileage, and a couple of short faster runs for me (It was the quickest and easiest way to get home after dropping the car for a service, and then collecting it later) and we are having a small taper into Shakespeare on Sunday.

Looking forward to running it, as it's a race I've not done. We'll be playing host to a couple of folk too, and there will be a large group of our running friends at the race.

Should be good!

:o)

In the manner of Merlin (Disney version ... )

"Madam, I have NOT disappeared."

I have, however, been very busy, what with working more hours, and doing the infrastructure for the POSE running course as well as attending the Clinic and eavesdropping on as many of the coaches' training sessions as possible, and, of course, running.

The intention was always that Rhayader and Ashby would mark the end of our peak running week, though 113 miles was a higher peak than we had anticipated. For Leon to run a 20-mile PB at the end of a week like that was astounding. I did well enough too. 2:53:21 at Rhayader without really putting in any effort until the last mile-and-a-half, and 2:49:42 at Ashby.

That performance has introduced the notion of trying for a marathon PB at Stratford on 26th April. I know it only leaves 12 days to recover before the 10 Marathons in 10 Days Challenge, but I've become quite good at recovering and it may be my only realistic prospect of a marathon PB this year. We shall see!

Since the POSE Clinic, I've been more aware of my running and my average training pace has increased a little. When the video clip of me running at the start of the course was shown, Dr Romanov asked me what I thought my legs were doing, and I had to confess that when I run I don't think about my legs at all. I've been working on staying associated with my running form, and would like to think I'm looking a little tidier now :o)

Since that 114-mile week, we've cut back to the 60-70mpw range and haven't run over 2 hours at a time. That will change next weekend when we do the Hawkshead Trail Race on the Saturday and another leisurely recce of the Brathay Windermere Marathon route on the Sunday.

Meanwhile, Leon's 10-mile PB is due for an update. We shall attend to that on Monday. Mine is probably unassailable without specific training for relatively short distances, but I'll do my best.

5 Mile Challenge!

This has been a strange week.
It didn't feel like we'd done much training, and so I was very surprised on looking through my training log that by Friday I found that I'd covered 60 miles!

The focus for the weekend was TWO 5 mile races!
The first of those was the Midlands 12 Stage Road Races - I was running the 3rd Long (5.4 mile) Leg

The forecast showers and clouds didn't materialise, and the day was glorious. Sunny with a slightly 'sporting' breeze.

I was due to be running the third long leg, so headed over to Sutton Park an hour and a half after the start of the event to be sure of arriving in plenty of time, and I arrived just as Lorna was heading out on her leg

Had a chat with the folk from the Club in our tent, pinned on numbers, and made a half-hearted attempt to warm up. (I'd already run gently to the start area - so I wasn't too concerned about it!)

The runner before be headed off for his short leg and I ambled to the start pen about 10 minutes later to await his return.
In the start pen I bumped into Peter, a "V Older Than Me" and had a bit of a chat.
I was hoping that he'd set off before me, so that I'd not suffer the indignation of being overtaken by him.

He didn't....

Hmmmm

A great deal of the first half was uphill and into the wind! I managed to pass another runner on my leg in the first mile, and set my sights on a Solihull vest a short way ahead, I dragged him most of the way back to me on the steepest climb, and we held station side by side for the next half mile or so.

When the gradient started to climb again, I saw him drop back to my shoulder, so I put the hammer down and drew away from him.
The section that is the Long-Bit was tough - into a decent headwind, and apart from one little downdulate, climbs steadily to the turn.

At the turn I could see a guy in a Red Vest about 300m ahead who I thought I'd try and pull back to me - a big ask, I thought. And shortly after turning I caught Peter's eye as he headed to the turn.

Too close for comfort, I thought. I was sure that I'd lose that place to him!
I was descending better than Mr Red Vest and pulling back reasonably well. I wasn't sure that I had enough distance to catch him though.

A Short Leg runner came thundering past and when I turned Left at Keepers Pool and glance back, I didn't see Peter. As long as I didn't do anything foolish, I should be able to hold him off, I thought.

By the bottom of the final hill of the last 300m I was only a couple of metres behind Mr Red Vest. As I came onto his shoulder he kicked harder than I could, and he finished about 2m ahead of me.

I worked hard for that! It's 5.4 miles and my time was 32:37

My Mile splits were:
6:09
6:12
6:15
5:56
5:49
6:07

So I was very happy with that!

Got to meet up with loads of folk afterwards, which made for a fantastic day
Given the chance, we'd have stayed longer, but we needed to get home to make sure that the children hadn't been experimenting with fire or somesuch nonsense

I expected Lorna to drag me out kicking and screaming for a little run later - and she didn't disappoint

I even caught the sun, despite the prophylactic Factor 30!!!

And so that brought us to Sunday, and the Centurion Grand Prix 5 Miles, a fabulous friendly little event organised by our Club.

Lorna's girls declined the chance to come racing this morning, so Lorna, my 3 kids and I all piled into one car to go racing.

We arrived in plenty of time, and registered and ambled down to the start of the 2K for the kids.
My eldest son positioned himself at the front while I went to the back with my younger son and daughter
Lorna went off to warm up with a Club mate.

Very proud of my kids today.
My eldest paced himself really well to make up a place in the run in to finish 7th just a second outside his BP
My daughter ran beautifully (again) and got 12:37
And my younger son was awesome. Worked his little legs off, put in an incredible effort and averaged sub 11min/miles to break 13 minutes - 12:45 - Brilliant

That warm up told me that my legs were little fatigued, but otherwise in good shape for the race, and I lined up with Thomas in anticipation of Part II of our little 5 Mile head-to-head of the weekend (the first being yesterday, where I came out ahead by less than a minute)

He went off like a man possessed! And the first mile was a little 'hot' But I thought I'd see if I could hold on to him, and see how my legs coped.

I pulled ahead at about 2½ miles, and was pleased with the evenness of the pace I was running.

I was catching another runner in the second long lap, and we both got held up by a rather 'large' gentleman and his handsome canine companion at the one bottle neck there is on the course. Cost us both at least 5 seconds, I reckon - and meant that the Tipton guy just in front got away from us.

He picked up his momentum quicker than I did, and I couldn't catch him on the run in. But all in all I was delighted with my run.

Splits were:
5:52
6:02
6:04
5:59
5:57

And gave me

► 29:55 ◄

Which is a new PB - and my first time under 30 minutes for the distance - and a reasonably creditable 10th place.
Fantastic

Very happy with that!

From a pure running perspective, I was happier with the *way* that I ran today, too.

My lovely wife also ran really well - didn't try to hammer it, and was just a few seconds outside her PB too

The most pleasing factor about this weekend is the fact that I'm clearly running strongly on fatigued legs, and am recovering well from significant efforts.
This was always a focus with our training for the 10-in-10, and we appear to have been getting it right.

The plan now is to start winding the miles back - with still decent maintenance miles, but to ensure that when we stand on the start line for marathon Number 1 on 8th May, that we are properly rested for the challenge ahead.

Getting more and more excited about it