Took Monday and Tuesday off as I was pretty tired after the back to back runs last weekend, did a nice 6.5m loop round Hyde Park on Wednesday, Thursday was the clubs 5k summer race series (19:27, thought I'd got a pb for the course by a few seconds, but turns out I was slower by a few seconds) which I ran out and back from making it 9 or so miles for the evening. With UltraRace Peaks now 3 weeks away this weekend was the last real opportunity for some proper distance training so did a hilly 21 miles on Saturday followed by a flat 12 miles today in the sun. Felt OK on both and took them pretty easy around 8 minute miles, but was pleased that I paced them pretty evenly and felt like I could have run and run at that pace.
This months total distance is 187 miles, definitely the most training I have ever done- lets hope it pays off in a few weeks time.
In the world outside of running it is the Great British Beer Festival this week and I shall be there on Friday; can't wait!
Sunday 31 July 2011
Sunday 24 July 2011
Carshalton to box hill and back to back runs
Tuesday saw hill training and Thursday a run through the mud and rain but the training focus for this week was too longish runs back to back over the weekend.
Saturday was a brilliant run from Carshalton to Coulsdon and Farthing Downs and then on to the North Downs way taking in Reigate Hill and Box Hill. It was at least 21 miles (hard to map it out on the trails) and about 3,500 ft of climbing- the worst of it in the last 5 miles or so. It was a great run; perfect weather, great views, hard hills and I only went off route once- what more could you want? A double cheese burger from Rykers at the end before getting the train home that's what! Never has a burger tasted so good!!
Today was somewhat less scenic with two 7.5 loops round Sutton and Croydon but I was surprised that my legs didn't feel too heavy after spending over 3 hours on the trails on Saturday and the 15 miles flew by.
Plan to do another similar set of runs next week and that will be the bulk of the ultra training out of the way...
Saturday was a brilliant run from Carshalton to Coulsdon and Farthing Downs and then on to the North Downs way taking in Reigate Hill and Box Hill. It was at least 21 miles (hard to map it out on the trails) and about 3,500 ft of climbing- the worst of it in the last 5 miles or so. It was a great run; perfect weather, great views, hard hills and I only went off route once- what more could you want? A double cheese burger from Rykers at the end before getting the train home that's what! Never has a burger tasted so good!!
Today was somewhat less scenic with two 7.5 loops round Sutton and Croydon but I was surprised that my legs didn't feel too heavy after spending over 3 hours on the trails on Saturday and the 15 miles flew by.
Plan to do another similar set of runs next week and that will be the bulk of the ultra training out of the way...
Monday 18 July 2011
Recovery...
Last week as a week of recovery, 4 miles on Tuesday wasn't too bad, 4 mile on Wednesday almost made me sick and 7 miles on a sunny day through central London to Batersea and back reminded me why I love running. Went out for a muddy 14 round Banstead woods and Oaks park that reminded me more why hitting the trails is more fun than the road.
Next weekend I need to do some back to back long runs to prepare for the peaks 40, now about a month away. Thinking of going off the usual routes and running from Carshalton to Box Hill via the North Downs Way on Saturday (over 20 miles) and staying closer to home on Sunday (maybe three 5 mile loops).
Next weekend I need to do some back to back long runs to prepare for the peaks 40, now about a month away. Thinking of going off the usual routes and running from Carshalton to Box Hill via the North Downs Way on Saturday (over 20 miles) and staying closer to home on Sunday (maybe three 5 mile loops).
Monday 11 July 2011
Croydon Ultra 30+4 miles
So yesterday was my first ultra and the experience was mixed.
The first 15 miles were brilliant, well marked and mapped out country side running south of Croydon- my kind of running. I ran in a group with a guy I had met before at the Midsummer Munro, a guy from Marlow and a runner all the way from Washington DC (he hadn't come over specifically for the race!). We chatted and kept the pace reasonable although relatively brisk. Good times! At the half way point I popped to the loo at the club house and was back on my way at just over 2 hours.
The second half was less brilliant. The idea was you got onto a cycle path and took this all the way to Catford, but it wasn't that simple. The route description was significantly less detailed for this section and there were no route markings apart from the cycle path signs. It all went wrong when a group of about 4 of us couldn't work out which cycle path we were heading for. We chose the wrong one and ended up on a route going round the houses which added another 3 or so miles on to the route. We did manage to get back on route in the end after meeting up with a few more confused runners and a phone call to the organisors. Things went relatively well after this point until the turn around/water station. The problem- we couldn't find it! We found it in the end, although wasted a lot of time and another mile or so in the process. Speaking to other runners many gave up looking and turned around and managed to get some water from local pubs/residents and headed back.
At least, having found the turn around point I knew my navigation worries were over. Unfortunately at this point the wheels fell off and felt pretty rubbish and could only manage a walk, run, shuffle combo. Me and the guy from Marlow ran/walked together until we got caught by some other runners. I just couldn't keep up with them but was determined not to let them out of sight. After a couple of miles of run/walk/shuffle I was feeling better, if a little sick, and managed to pick up the pace to catch them up and in the end passed them.
So, what are the conclusions from this. Getting lost was rubbish and very demoralising; I was not alone in this, but in the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world. Check out the magic forest's race report for a very similar experience. What else? I know, ahead of the 40 miler in August, that I can cover 34 miles; so with some further training to consolidate I should be able to cover 40 "no problems". Despite feeling very grumpy when we were lost the atmosphere with the other runners and race organisers was great and I had fun (in general!!) across the race- especially in the first half.
This was the first year of the Croydon Ultra, and there is certainly room for improvement. I think it could be a really good race if they could sort out the route description and marking for the second half. I think the route was maybe a little ambitious for the number of organisers/marshals available. One option could be to make it two laps of the first 15, which whilst would make it a little repetitive and have more hills, would give them a lot more room to run a smoother race. I also thought it was a bit strange having both faster and slower runners setting off at the 8 o'clock and 9 o'clock starts. By restricting the early start to just the slower runners would had more people running the route at the same time and in theory less chance of people getting lost. Either way without people like Ian stepping up and organising races there wouldn't be any races- so well done on him for setting it up and I hope the event goes from strength to strength and becomes part of the South London running calender because there were many great aspects of the race and its organisation.
So the final result- a disappointing time of 5:54 but I came in at 7th, so I was pretty pleased with that, a second top 10 for the year!
The first 15 miles were brilliant, well marked and mapped out country side running south of Croydon- my kind of running. I ran in a group with a guy I had met before at the Midsummer Munro, a guy from Marlow and a runner all the way from Washington DC (he hadn't come over specifically for the race!). We chatted and kept the pace reasonable although relatively brisk. Good times! At the half way point I popped to the loo at the club house and was back on my way at just over 2 hours.
The second half was less brilliant. The idea was you got onto a cycle path and took this all the way to Catford, but it wasn't that simple. The route description was significantly less detailed for this section and there were no route markings apart from the cycle path signs. It all went wrong when a group of about 4 of us couldn't work out which cycle path we were heading for. We chose the wrong one and ended up on a route going round the houses which added another 3 or so miles on to the route. We did manage to get back on route in the end after meeting up with a few more confused runners and a phone call to the organisors. Things went relatively well after this point until the turn around/water station. The problem- we couldn't find it! We found it in the end, although wasted a lot of time and another mile or so in the process. Speaking to other runners many gave up looking and turned around and managed to get some water from local pubs/residents and headed back.
At least, having found the turn around point I knew my navigation worries were over. Unfortunately at this point the wheels fell off and felt pretty rubbish and could only manage a walk, run, shuffle combo. Me and the guy from Marlow ran/walked together until we got caught by some other runners. I just couldn't keep up with them but was determined not to let them out of sight. After a couple of miles of run/walk/shuffle I was feeling better, if a little sick, and managed to pick up the pace to catch them up and in the end passed them.
So, what are the conclusions from this. Getting lost was rubbish and very demoralising; I was not alone in this, but in the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world. Check out the magic forest's race report for a very similar experience. What else? I know, ahead of the 40 miler in August, that I can cover 34 miles; so with some further training to consolidate I should be able to cover 40 "no problems". Despite feeling very grumpy when we were lost the atmosphere with the other runners and race organisers was great and I had fun (in general!!) across the race- especially in the first half.
This was the first year of the Croydon Ultra, and there is certainly room for improvement. I think it could be a really good race if they could sort out the route description and marking for the second half. I think the route was maybe a little ambitious for the number of organisers/marshals available. One option could be to make it two laps of the first 15, which whilst would make it a little repetitive and have more hills, would give them a lot more room to run a smoother race. I also thought it was a bit strange having both faster and slower runners setting off at the 8 o'clock and 9 o'clock starts. By restricting the early start to just the slower runners would had more people running the route at the same time and in theory less chance of people getting lost. Either way without people like Ian stepping up and organising races there wouldn't be any races- so well done on him for setting it up and I hope the event goes from strength to strength and becomes part of the South London running calender because there were many great aspects of the race and its organisation.
So the final result- a disappointing time of 5:54 but I came in at 7th, so I was pretty pleased with that, a second top 10 for the year!
Saturday 9 July 2011
30 miles tomorrow
A week of some serious tapering, mainly involving drinking beer and eating tapas in Spain. Went for a quick 5 mile run on Thursday after we got back and a 2 mile jog this morning. My main concerns for the Croydon Ultra tomorrow is getting lost, but all being well I'd be really pleased with sub 4 hours, happy with sub 4:30, content with sub 5 and perturbed with anything longer than that. The plan is to take it easy for the first half which is a bit lumpy, and then if I'm feeling good put some effort it in for the second flat half which goes out and back to Catford via a cycle path.
Either way I'm really looking foward to it and (fingers crossed) this time tomorrow I'll be close to have completed my first Ultra....
Either way I'm really looking foward to it and (fingers crossed) this time tomorrow I'll be close to have completed my first Ultra....
Saturday 2 July 2011
A change of distance
As it is only a week until the Croydon Ultra I decided not to do another super long training run this week, and for a change head over to Roundshaw Downs Park Run. To make it fit in more with my ultra training I jogged out there (about 3.5 miles) and after the race ran back via an extended route of 5 miles, so including the race it was a nice 11 or so miles. The race went pretty well, this is only my third time racing at 5k and I smashed my time for Roundshaw by 50 seconds and my PB for 5km by 10 seconds coming in 6th at 19:35. I was in 3rd at halfway but as usual I couldn't quite keep up the pace and got passed by 2 guys I had been running in a group with and another guy who ran one hell of a negative split passing all 3 of us in the last 2km.
May go for another run tomorrow, otherwise its time for a bit of a taper ahead of Croydon where, as long as I finish, a PB is guaranteed! I'm looking forward to the race, my main concern is getting lost and adding too many extra miles to what it already "quite far".
May go for another run tomorrow, otherwise its time for a bit of a taper ahead of Croydon where, as long as I finish, a PB is guaranteed! I'm looking forward to the race, my main concern is getting lost and adding too many extra miles to what it already "quite far".
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