For my 40th birthday a friend gave me a trio of single malt miniatures. I promptly drank the first one and promised myself to save the other 2 for special events.
The next one fell when I finally (after several hard years of studying) got my Open University diploma in computing I had been working on.
The final one is still sitting in my tea/coffee cupboard and has been mocking me since 2009!
This last bottle of liquid heaven had been saved for when I finally manage to secure a GFA place at London. For me that's a 3:15 time.
Back in 2009 I was in great form, I was hitting PB's most races and got a 3:16 time for the last race in the year. Next year I thought - but no, well into winter marathon training I landed awkwardly going down a slope and something pinged in my right foot.
Basically for the next 2 1/2 years this has flared up and down pretty much prevented me from getting proper fit again.
Now in 2013 things started to look up. Endurance is back, speed was getting better but still somewhat off the pace. Winter training has gone great and now my last marathon last week netted a time of 3:17:32 which is my second best time ever.
My next marathon is in 6 weeks and I have a half in between which should help with the speed, so with everything crossed I delve into a period of speed work and endurance maintenance in prep for what I hope is a sub 3:15 and a well earned drink that has been sitting there for the best part of 5 years.
CTP out.
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Monday, 10 February 2014
The value of the taper.
Having just completed a marathon in a great time (for me) compared to my last marathon which was 4 weeks before on exactly the same route in very similar conditions, I notice the biggest difference was the training I had done leading up to both races was very different.
For both races I had the same mind-set when I set out - that was to maintain a steady target 3:15 pace (about 7:26 mpm) and see how things developed.
For the first marathon I had put several long runs in and was attempting to condition myself to run on already fairly tired legs.
In the 4 weeks leading up to this race I have recorded the following long runs: 21m, 23m, 31m. Other runs included several 9-12m steady runs and the usual interval and tempo runs, only reducing things 6 days before the event.
Here are the splits for marathon 1:
1) 1m - 7:47
2) 1m - 7:40
3) 1m - 7:23
4) 1m - 7:10
5) 1m - 7:18
6) 1m - 7:19
7) 1m - 7:26
8) 1m - 7:28
9) 1m - 7:23
10) 1m - 7:30
11) 1m - 7:40
12) 1m - 7:46
13) 1m - 7:53
14) 1m - 8:05
15) 1m - 8:07
16) 1m - 8:07
17) 1m - 8:15
18) 1m - 8:13
19) 1m - 8:20
20) 1m - 8:20
21) 1m - 8:24
22) 1m - 8:39
23) 1m - 8:45
24) 1m - 8:32
25) 1m - 8:32
26) 1m - 8:19
27) 0.12m - 52
You can see that from mile 11 onwards my desired pace of sub 7:30 was no longer possible. The resulting time was 3:27:12
Now the 4 weeks between the 2 races I just did 1 long run (20m) a few interval and tempo runs but really slowed things down from a good 10 days before race day number 2.
Here are the splits for marathon 2:
1) 1m - 7:25
2) 1m - 7:21
3) 1m - 7:16
4) 1m - 7:17
5) 1m - 7:16
6) 1m - 7:16
7) 1m - 7:24
8) 1m - 7:19
9) 1m - 7:19
10) 1m - 7:15
11) 1m - 7:22
12) 1m - 7:20
13) 1m - 7:25
14) 1m - 7:25
15) 1m - 7:30
16) 1m - 7:32
17) 1m - 7:32
18) 1m - 7:32
19) 1m - 7:45
20) 1m - 7:48
21) 1m - 7:58
22) 1m - 8:06
23) 1m - 7:58
24) 1m - 8:01
25) 1m - 8:06
26) 1m - 7:52
27) 0.16m - 1:14
For this I maintained a sub 7:30 pace until mile 15 and even after this I didn't slow to + 8:00 pace until mile 22. The finish time of marathon 2 was: 3:17:32.
This shows that I could maintain this pace for much longer and the only significant difference between the 2 races was the training leading up to them - the second having less hard sessions allowing me to recover properly. There is no way the speed sessions between the 2 races could have made up for this improvement, so it has to be the reduction in hard/long sessions.
The morale of the story - rest is just as important as hard training and recovering properly before a key race can make all the difference. In this case 10 minutes in the space of 3 1/2 weeks.
Happy resting everyone
For both races I had the same mind-set when I set out - that was to maintain a steady target 3:15 pace (about 7:26 mpm) and see how things developed.
For the first marathon I had put several long runs in and was attempting to condition myself to run on already fairly tired legs.
In the 4 weeks leading up to this race I have recorded the following long runs: 21m, 23m, 31m. Other runs included several 9-12m steady runs and the usual interval and tempo runs, only reducing things 6 days before the event.
Here are the splits for marathon 1:
1) 1m - 7:47
2) 1m - 7:40
3) 1m - 7:23
4) 1m - 7:10
5) 1m - 7:18
6) 1m - 7:19
7) 1m - 7:26
8) 1m - 7:28
9) 1m - 7:23
10) 1m - 7:30
11) 1m - 7:40
12) 1m - 7:46
13) 1m - 7:53
14) 1m - 8:05
15) 1m - 8:07
16) 1m - 8:07
17) 1m - 8:15
18) 1m - 8:13
19) 1m - 8:20
20) 1m - 8:20
21) 1m - 8:24
22) 1m - 8:39
23) 1m - 8:45
24) 1m - 8:32
25) 1m - 8:32
26) 1m - 8:19
27) 0.12m - 52
You can see that from mile 11 onwards my desired pace of sub 7:30 was no longer possible. The resulting time was 3:27:12
Now the 4 weeks between the 2 races I just did 1 long run (20m) a few interval and tempo runs but really slowed things down from a good 10 days before race day number 2.
Here are the splits for marathon 2:
1) 1m - 7:25
2) 1m - 7:21
3) 1m - 7:16
4) 1m - 7:17
5) 1m - 7:16
6) 1m - 7:16
7) 1m - 7:24
8) 1m - 7:19
9) 1m - 7:19
10) 1m - 7:15
11) 1m - 7:22
12) 1m - 7:20
13) 1m - 7:25
14) 1m - 7:25
15) 1m - 7:30
16) 1m - 7:32
17) 1m - 7:32
18) 1m - 7:32
19) 1m - 7:45
20) 1m - 7:48
21) 1m - 7:58
22) 1m - 8:06
23) 1m - 7:58
24) 1m - 8:01
25) 1m - 8:06
26) 1m - 7:52
27) 0.16m - 1:14
For this I maintained a sub 7:30 pace until mile 15 and even after this I didn't slow to + 8:00 pace until mile 22. The finish time of marathon 2 was: 3:17:32.
This shows that I could maintain this pace for much longer and the only significant difference between the 2 races was the training leading up to them - the second having less hard sessions allowing me to recover properly. There is no way the speed sessions between the 2 races could have made up for this improvement, so it has to be the reduction in hard/long sessions.
The morale of the story - rest is just as important as hard training and recovering properly before a key race can make all the difference. In this case 10 minutes in the space of 3 1/2 weeks.
Happy resting everyone
Friday, 24 January 2014
Eeek!
I am being sucked into the dark underworld of ultra running....
help me please....
I keep reading race reports/blogs and it is getting me more and more worked up....
I have an ever growing list of races I want to do - some achievable and some not so (more to do with money/time away from wifey)....
The "wish list" so far...
Hardmoor 110 (need to do a qualifying race first)
Hardmoor 55 (does this count for the above does anyone know?)
GUCR
Spine challenger
Spine race
Piece of string
Spartathlon
and of course MdS (despite Binks' blog on it)
strangely they all seem to have the word "brutal" in the race write-ups :-s
What does that say about me?
And I have not even done an ultra yet - so why I am even considering some of these I have no idea - ho hum...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
help me please....
I keep reading race reports/blogs and it is getting me more and more worked up....
I have an ever growing list of races I want to do - some achievable and some not so (more to do with money/time away from wifey)....
The "wish list" so far...
Hardmoor 110 (need to do a qualifying race first)
Hardmoor 55 (does this count for the above does anyone know?)
GUCR
Spine challenger
Spine race
Piece of string
Spartathlon
and of course MdS (despite Binks' blog on it)
strangely they all seem to have the word "brutal" in the race write-ups :-s
What does that say about me?
And I have not even done an ultra yet - so why I am even considering some of these I have no idea - ho hum...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Must not book one till my September ultra is done...
Thursday, 2 January 2014
2013 roundup
Round-up of my running year - 2013...
Total miles ran: 1732
Total races: 20
5k - 10
5m - 1
10k - 2
1/2 marathon: 2
marathon: 5
Total hours running: 240
Average pace: 8:18 minutes per mile (7.22mph)
Weight at the start of the year - 72kg
Weight at the end of the year - 66kg
So - whats next I hear you ask?
Well so far this year I have booked 5 marathons and an ultra (100m)
I have more to book in the autumn/winter and there will be lots of short races in between.
and in a Colombo style - one last thing - I just watched some utube videos on the MdS - eek!
Total miles ran: 1732
Total races: 20
5k - 10
5m - 1
10k - 2
1/2 marathon: 2
marathon: 5
Total hours running: 240
Average pace: 8:18 minutes per mile (7.22mph)
Weight at the start of the year - 72kg
Weight at the end of the year - 66kg
So - whats next I hear you ask?
Well so far this year I have booked 5 marathons and an ultra (100m)
I have more to book in the autumn/winter and there will be lots of short races in between.
and in a Colombo style - one last thing - I just watched some utube videos on the MdS - eek!
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Putting things to the test...
Ok, so this weekend is the first test for how my different training has been stacking up. I have been doing plenty of slower than normal long runs in an attempt to get my endurance speed up. Many of the runs 10m plus have been at 9:00 - 9:30 pace (i usually do long runs at 8:00 - 8:30 pace) and the 15 - 18 milers have taken so much longer. My pulse for these long runs i try to keep in the 130's as an attempt to be better at burning fat while running rather than lactose.
This weekend is my first proper distance race since starting this 4 weeks ago (a half marathon) and i know its early days, but i am hoping to see even a tiny improvement on my SB.
As a by-product of all this slow fat burning running i am now the lightest i have been since April 2010 (65.6kg) so this should also help to improve things.
So here are the figures: My last half was in March where i did 1:36:51. I am hoping with this training and the weight loss i should be getting into the 1:35's any better than this will be a bonus.
will update this on Monday
thanks for reading
Chris
Edit...
Didn't go according to plan. It was warm and sunny and much hillier than i expected - ended up on 1:39:37 which i was not happy with. Oh well until next time :-)
This weekend is my first proper distance race since starting this 4 weeks ago (a half marathon) and i know its early days, but i am hoping to see even a tiny improvement on my SB.
As a by-product of all this slow fat burning running i am now the lightest i have been since April 2010 (65.6kg) so this should also help to improve things.
So here are the figures: My last half was in March where i did 1:36:51. I am hoping with this training and the weight loss i should be getting into the 1:35's any better than this will be a bonus.
will update this on Monday
thanks for reading
Chris
Edit...
Didn't go according to plan. It was warm and sunny and much hillier than i expected - ended up on 1:39:37 which i was not happy with. Oh well until next time :-)
Saturday, 17 August 2013
Racking up the miles.
So - training well under way now. Pushing 50 - 60 miles per week.
I have started dabbling in the "Hadds" method of training as i just want to get faster at distance. One of my main problems is that i am always trying too hard. This results in my training swaying towards the faster types of running.
The Hadds method relies on keeping the heart rate (HR) down at a low level which in turn keeps the speed down. The reason for this is that at a low HR a certain type of blood vessels is produced that work better for keeping lactate at bay. With more of these you will be better at keeping lactate at bay. So the theory is as you keep the HR at a low level, you get better at removing lactate, which in turn enables you to eventually run faster at the same HR (coz the HR increases to clear out the lactate, but if its already under control then it stays low - so you can gradually run faster with the same HR as before).
I hope that makes sense?
Anyway all my long runs (10m and above) are at 125-135 bpm which seems to be averaging around 8.30 - 9.00 mpm pace. Lets see how this changes over time. I will use Furzton as a target to see how this new approach works for me - earlier this year my 2 marathons were both 3:34 based on my usual (faster) training. If i run Furzton much faster than this time then it worked.
I am using my usual training plan (P&D) to structure run lengths - but speeds will all be dictated by HR - the only differences will be for the MP runs and any races i do between now and Furzton (Oct).
Races i have planned are some park runs (not real races i know, but useful for short speedy work). A 10k next weekend and a couple of halves. All these 3 races should also give me an idea if the Hadds approach is working based on race times earlier in the year.
Current SB's for these distances are:
10k - 44:05
Half - 1:36:51
Mara - 3:34:12
training between these times and the next ones will be Hadds based so it will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.
Cheers for reading
I have started dabbling in the "Hadds" method of training as i just want to get faster at distance. One of my main problems is that i am always trying too hard. This results in my training swaying towards the faster types of running.
The Hadds method relies on keeping the heart rate (HR) down at a low level which in turn keeps the speed down. The reason for this is that at a low HR a certain type of blood vessels is produced that work better for keeping lactate at bay. With more of these you will be better at keeping lactate at bay. So the theory is as you keep the HR at a low level, you get better at removing lactate, which in turn enables you to eventually run faster at the same HR (coz the HR increases to clear out the lactate, but if its already under control then it stays low - so you can gradually run faster with the same HR as before).
I hope that makes sense?
Anyway all my long runs (10m and above) are at 125-135 bpm which seems to be averaging around 8.30 - 9.00 mpm pace. Lets see how this changes over time. I will use Furzton as a target to see how this new approach works for me - earlier this year my 2 marathons were both 3:34 based on my usual (faster) training. If i run Furzton much faster than this time then it worked.
I am using my usual training plan (P&D) to structure run lengths - but speeds will all be dictated by HR - the only differences will be for the MP runs and any races i do between now and Furzton (Oct).
Races i have planned are some park runs (not real races i know, but useful for short speedy work). A 10k next weekend and a couple of halves. All these 3 races should also give me an idea if the Hadds approach is working based on race times earlier in the year.
Current SB's for these distances are:
10k - 44:05
Half - 1:36:51
Mara - 3:34:12
training between these times and the next ones will be Hadds based so it will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.
Cheers for reading
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Here we go again...
Well today i started full on training again for my autumn marathon (Furzton Lake - Milton Keynes). My actual 12 week training plan doesn't start till next week on Tuesday, but as i think i need to be a bit fitter i thought i may as well start early.
Anyway, this morning i did a steady 8m with 10 lots of 100m sprints to get things moving (5am start so nice and cool). I also cycled the 10m to work as we now have a shower there.
I aim to hit the elusive 3:15 at Furzton so i am using a plan based on 7 min mileing in order to get fitter than i need to. I know its not really the way to do it, but then my mind does not work the other way and i need to push myself all the time. I will probably burn out - and if i do i will rest.
Anyway, this morning i did a steady 8m with 10 lots of 100m sprints to get things moving (5am start so nice and cool). I also cycled the 10m to work as we now have a shower there.
I aim to hit the elusive 3:15 at Furzton so i am using a plan based on 7 min mileing in order to get fitter than i need to. I know its not really the way to do it, but then my mind does not work the other way and i need to push myself all the time. I will probably burn out - and if i do i will rest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)