Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? Seem to spend so much time tweeting about my marathon training, I forget to blog. But it's been an eventful few weeks, so much to capture.
I went through a brief period of non-dedication to the cause, mainly due to a few days away in Norfolk/Suffolk. I defy anyone to carry on their marathon training while stuck on a boat in the Norfolk Broads - I would have had to do 200 laps of the tiny deck while wearing a life preserver. Luckily, it was a low mileage week, so I was able to do a couple of landside maintenance runs at least.
Since I got back, I've had to start doing the really long runs - 17 miles, then 18 miles and now 2 weekends' worth of 20 milers to look forward to. The long runs just mess with my head - it's not really about training your body to be out there for hours, is it? It's about training your head to be out there for hours. It's about keeping yourself motivated even though you know you have been running for ages and you haven't even made it half way through yet. It's about keeping going, even when you think 'oh sod it, I could just turn right up here and head home, not bother'.
I'm counting on Berlin being like New York, with lots of support and distractions all the way round, so that I don't have to deal with this kind of negative thinking. It's not going to be like the towpath along the Thames, where it's a constant battle to stay out of the river while the population of West London tries to knock you over on a bike, bite you with a dog or just generally push you out of the way by walking 4 abreast and not sharing the towpath with other users (or do the people of Chiswick just not know how to share?). I'm not going to have to make regular stops in newsagents to pick up Powerade or water refills, the lovely organisers of the Berlin Marathon have sorted all that out for me. I'm also assuming that at no point I will have to witness a squirrel being hit by a car, which is surprisingly stressful. Who'd have thought?
I'm also hoping that Berlin is like New York in that it will all fly past. I even remember at one point during the NYC marathon that I thought 'oh, this is all going to be over so soon' with a sense of disappointment. You might argue that this is a classic case of insanity kicking in mid-marathon but, if it is a fantastic experience, I do think a (very) small part of you doesn't want it to end. I keep reminding myself that the training is the hard part, the race is the fun part, but it's quite a difficult psychological trick to pull off.
The training was definitely the hard part on Tuesday morning of this week, when I took to the streets at 7.15 to survey the wreckage of Monday night's riots in Ealing and West Ealing. Two burnt out cars at the car hire place at the top of my street were just a taster of things to come, as I picked my way through a sea of discarded jewellery boxes and broken glass on the Uxbridge Road. Virtually every window seemed to have been hit by a brick, with many shop windows destroyed. The poor old electronics shop, Seba, has been there for decades - my best mate from school had a part time job there when we were teenagers - and has survived the competition of the internet and bigger chains. Now he's been looted by a bunch of kids and I hope he can recover. Ealing itself had borne the brunt of the arson attacks, and shopkeepers were lined up along the high street surveying the damage to their businesses. Photographers, tv cameras, fire engines - it was not your normal Tuesday morning run. And I can only hope I never again have to run past a total of 7 burnt out cars on a run ever again. The smell was awful, and the sadness was palpable - the streets were lined with disbelieving residents, trying to work out if what they were witnessing was actually real or just some horrible, daylit, nightmare. It is the single worst run I have ever had to do.
By the time I got back to West Ealing, the streets had been swept clean, and the police had moved on. Businesses have repaired damage and reopened where possible. But today a man has died as a result of injuries sustained during the attacks - not all damage can be repaired or insured. I think it's going to be quite a while before people get over what happened here on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Showing posts with label berlin marathon training diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label berlin marathon training diary. Show all posts
Friday, 12 August 2011
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
10 weeks and counting
I am now entering week 9 of my 18 week training plan - almost halfway through, only 47 more runs til Berlin.
The mileage is starting to rack up now, although this week is a low mileage/respite week, so my longest run is only 11 miles.
Get me, only 11 miles. The madness of marathon training is that you can say 'only 11 miles' without any irony. And, of course, that you genuinely think 'ooh, only 11 miles'. It's a testimony to how bonkers the whole marathon training process is that is gets you to a point where you genuinely think 11 miles is quite short.
I've been experiencing real training boredom recently, as I mentioned in my last post, and I think the 5 times a week thing is still bothering me. But I suspect the real reason is not the fact I am bored of running just that I am so busy with non-running activities that I am starting to get a bit panicky about my time management, and turning that into resentment of running. It is difficult to fit your marathon training in, and I still look back on my last marathon experience and maintain that the training is way, way harder than the race itself.
Perhaps that is why the training is so gruelling. It's not just to prepare you physically, because of the challenge the marathon presents. But it's to prepare you mentally, to get your head ready for the length, the solitude, the mood swings that you experience while you run.
Despite the training boredom, I managed a 15 mile run without too many issues this weekend. I was out on the roads for a long time, due to two run breaks to shelter from torrential rain (I can safely say I have never been so pleased to see the M4 flyover in all my life as I was on Sunday afternoon). The first break was at Richmond swimming pools, and I made the mistake of taking a toilet break while it rained. I had forgotten the basis rule that soaking wet running tights are FREEZING cold when you pull them back up onto bare skin. It's July for god's sake, the whole point of me doing an autumn marathon is that I get to train in good weather, not the cold, wet and wind. But no, I live in London, therefore I find myself on a Sunday afternoon in July wrapped up in waterproofs and soggy knee length running tights, wishing I was wearing a hat and gloves. On the plus side, Beloved told me when I got back that I looked 'remarkably fresh, considering' and I strutted round like a soggy lycra-ed peacock for a good half an hour on that compliment.
One thing that is happening during this training that happened during my New York training is definitely the food cravings. Mad food cravings persist in any run over 10 miles, it doesn't matter how much stuff I take with me. On Sunday, at mile 11, I was overwhelmed with the urge to write to the Berlin Marathon organisers and ask them to make sure there was a stall at the end of the race selling spätzle with cheese on, because that is really what I will fancy eating when I've run 26.2 miles. Of course, I have no idea what I will fancy eating in 10 weeks time (well, apart from an ice-cold Coca Cola), but it helped me pass away a good two miles on Sunday dreaming of various German foodstuffs and deciding which one will be most desirable after the marathon. At least it's not Arctic Roll and Birds Eye potato waffles - I've obviously got much more cosmopolitan in my food cravings since 2009!
Anyway, must run and send that Jim'll Fix it style email to the Marathon organisers. Mmm... spätzle...
LON
The mileage is starting to rack up now, although this week is a low mileage/respite week, so my longest run is only 11 miles.
Get me, only 11 miles. The madness of marathon training is that you can say 'only 11 miles' without any irony. And, of course, that you genuinely think 'ooh, only 11 miles'. It's a testimony to how bonkers the whole marathon training process is that is gets you to a point where you genuinely think 11 miles is quite short.
I've been experiencing real training boredom recently, as I mentioned in my last post, and I think the 5 times a week thing is still bothering me. But I suspect the real reason is not the fact I am bored of running just that I am so busy with non-running activities that I am starting to get a bit panicky about my time management, and turning that into resentment of running. It is difficult to fit your marathon training in, and I still look back on my last marathon experience and maintain that the training is way, way harder than the race itself.
Perhaps that is why the training is so gruelling. It's not just to prepare you physically, because of the challenge the marathon presents. But it's to prepare you mentally, to get your head ready for the length, the solitude, the mood swings that you experience while you run.
Despite the training boredom, I managed a 15 mile run without too many issues this weekend. I was out on the roads for a long time, due to two run breaks to shelter from torrential rain (I can safely say I have never been so pleased to see the M4 flyover in all my life as I was on Sunday afternoon). The first break was at Richmond swimming pools, and I made the mistake of taking a toilet break while it rained. I had forgotten the basis rule that soaking wet running tights are FREEZING cold when you pull them back up onto bare skin. It's July for god's sake, the whole point of me doing an autumn marathon is that I get to train in good weather, not the cold, wet and wind. But no, I live in London, therefore I find myself on a Sunday afternoon in July wrapped up in waterproofs and soggy knee length running tights, wishing I was wearing a hat and gloves. On the plus side, Beloved told me when I got back that I looked 'remarkably fresh, considering' and I strutted round like a soggy lycra-ed peacock for a good half an hour on that compliment.
One thing that is happening during this training that happened during my New York training is definitely the food cravings. Mad food cravings persist in any run over 10 miles, it doesn't matter how much stuff I take with me. On Sunday, at mile 11, I was overwhelmed with the urge to write to the Berlin Marathon organisers and ask them to make sure there was a stall at the end of the race selling spätzle with cheese on, because that is really what I will fancy eating when I've run 26.2 miles. Of course, I have no idea what I will fancy eating in 10 weeks time (well, apart from an ice-cold Coca Cola), but it helped me pass away a good two miles on Sunday dreaming of various German foodstuffs and deciding which one will be most desirable after the marathon. At least it's not Arctic Roll and Birds Eye potato waffles - I've obviously got much more cosmopolitan in my food cravings since 2009!
Anyway, must run and send that Jim'll Fix it style email to the Marathon organisers. Mmm... spätzle...
LON
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Who's laughing at who?
Given that my last two posts have failed to upload after a long time writing them, I've sort of given up temporarily on blogging. Work is so hectic, and running 5 times a week with increasingly higher mileage is so time-consuming, I haven't had time to waste on failed blog posts. Needless to say, I've been training, I've had ups (fast times, waved at by a cat, called 'sexy'), I've had downs (chased by 2 dogs and a rat since last post) and lots of bizarre food cravings. You know, the usual.
But IT problems are solved, and I've decided to use my training runs as modes of transport to help the time management over the next few weeks, to ensure I make it out of this manic July unscathed. Next week's long run will be my journey home from a 4 hour meeting in Vauxhall (which should ensure all pent up meeting stress has disappeared before I get home) and today's 7 miler was my run home from a tax seminar in Twickenham.
There is nothing better than a run where you have lots of fun stuff going on in your head. Last night, I went to the cinema and watched Bridesmaids - it made me laugh so much I cried for most of it and as a result, I looked awful this morning. My eyes were extremely puffy, from weeping with laughter and from not being able to sleep because I was still laughing at the memory of scenes from the movie. As a runner, I was particularly taken with scene where the bride-to-be ends up going to the toilet in the street - it somehow made me think of Paula Radcliffe all those years ago in the London Marathon!
I was still feeling vaguely hysterical and extremely giggly when I got to the tax office this morning. It didn't help that the tax office itself was vaguely comical. Friendly staff, but the whole set up vaguely shambolic and then this woman appeared to take us to the workshop that reminded me of a female besuited version of Sloth from the Goonies. Although unlike Sloth she did have hair. Which she hadn't washed since the Goonies was released in cinemas, it seemed.
As my fellow business expenses students turned up, it all got even more ridiculous. One solicitor woman turned up with her mum (!) and another guy introduced himself as someone who was thinking of going into 'import/export' which just reminded me of all those episodes of Seinfeld when George Costanza pretends he is 'in import/export' to impress people. I spent most of the first 30 minutes trying not to laughly randomly at things that weren't really funny but, in my heightened state of post-movie hysteria, were putting me in a dangerously giggly state. I was particularly tickled by the brash Cockney in a flash suit, with a flash watch, who seemed determined not to pay any tax ever in his entire life and spent the whole time asking questions that would ensure he got away with zero profit. Although the guy that wanted to claim for a trolley he'd owned for years was quite a favourite too.
By the time I ran home, I was still laughing at it all. Not just replaying the scenes from the film, but musing on how there's nowt so queer as folk. Mind you, I'm sure my fellow students and staff from the tax office are still laughing at me getting changed into my running gear in the loos after the seminar ended...so hilarity is all in the eye of the beholder.
But IT problems are solved, and I've decided to use my training runs as modes of transport to help the time management over the next few weeks, to ensure I make it out of this manic July unscathed. Next week's long run will be my journey home from a 4 hour meeting in Vauxhall (which should ensure all pent up meeting stress has disappeared before I get home) and today's 7 miler was my run home from a tax seminar in Twickenham.
There is nothing better than a run where you have lots of fun stuff going on in your head. Last night, I went to the cinema and watched Bridesmaids - it made me laugh so much I cried for most of it and as a result, I looked awful this morning. My eyes were extremely puffy, from weeping with laughter and from not being able to sleep because I was still laughing at the memory of scenes from the movie. As a runner, I was particularly taken with scene where the bride-to-be ends up going to the toilet in the street - it somehow made me think of Paula Radcliffe all those years ago in the London Marathon!
I was still feeling vaguely hysterical and extremely giggly when I got to the tax office this morning. It didn't help that the tax office itself was vaguely comical. Friendly staff, but the whole set up vaguely shambolic and then this woman appeared to take us to the workshop that reminded me of a female besuited version of Sloth from the Goonies. Although unlike Sloth she did have hair. Which she hadn't washed since the Goonies was released in cinemas, it seemed.
As my fellow business expenses students turned up, it all got even more ridiculous. One solicitor woman turned up with her mum (!) and another guy introduced himself as someone who was thinking of going into 'import/export' which just reminded me of all those episodes of Seinfeld when George Costanza pretends he is 'in import/export' to impress people. I spent most of the first 30 minutes trying not to laughly randomly at things that weren't really funny but, in my heightened state of post-movie hysteria, were putting me in a dangerously giggly state. I was particularly tickled by the brash Cockney in a flash suit, with a flash watch, who seemed determined not to pay any tax ever in his entire life and spent the whole time asking questions that would ensure he got away with zero profit. Although the guy that wanted to claim for a trolley he'd owned for years was quite a favourite too.
By the time I ran home, I was still laughing at it all. Not just replaying the scenes from the film, but musing on how there's nowt so queer as folk. Mind you, I'm sure my fellow students and staff from the tax office are still laughing at me getting changed into my running gear in the loos after the seminar ended...so hilarity is all in the eye of the beholder.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Low five
I'm in week 5 of the training, still running 5 times a week. I'm pretty much fived out, I think.
Two years since my last marathon training, I'd forgotten just how much of a time suck it actually is when you start running longer distances. What with trying to juggle setting up my own business, and this last fortnight sorting out my parents' 40th wedding anniversary party stuff, it's becoming even more of a feat to fit in all the miles.
I'm managing ok, don't get me wrong. But it is that long-forgotten feeling of it taking over your life. Your social life - every social occasion has to be checked against runs scheduled, even a weekend away has to be planned with scope for a run built in. Your home life - every shop contains the requisite amount of protein and carbohydrates, one shelf fully stacked with energy gels and recovery shake mixes, the permanent presence of lycra drying somewhere on the premises. Your love life - all those early starts for long runs really put an end to a long lazy lie in with breakfast in bed, all those evening runs putting an end to nights out midweek.
And as the mileage starts to stack up, now I'm just waiting for the germs to kick in. I'm resigned to the fact I'll get a stinking cold, just like I did when I trained for New York 2 years ago, because I think it is just the body's reaction to the vast increase in weekly mileage. It's just another memory that's coming back to me, another long-buried recollection from the marathon training last time round.
To counteract all these negative memories, I'm putting a photo of me crossing the finish line in Central Park on my desk to remind me of the overwhelming positive feeling you get when you complete the 26.2 miles. That smile tells a thousand stories and puts all the aches, pains, sniffles and increasing laundry bills into perspective.
LON
Two years since my last marathon training, I'd forgotten just how much of a time suck it actually is when you start running longer distances. What with trying to juggle setting up my own business, and this last fortnight sorting out my parents' 40th wedding anniversary party stuff, it's becoming even more of a feat to fit in all the miles.
I'm managing ok, don't get me wrong. But it is that long-forgotten feeling of it taking over your life. Your social life - every social occasion has to be checked against runs scheduled, even a weekend away has to be planned with scope for a run built in. Your home life - every shop contains the requisite amount of protein and carbohydrates, one shelf fully stacked with energy gels and recovery shake mixes, the permanent presence of lycra drying somewhere on the premises. Your love life - all those early starts for long runs really put an end to a long lazy lie in with breakfast in bed, all those evening runs putting an end to nights out midweek.
And as the mileage starts to stack up, now I'm just waiting for the germs to kick in. I'm resigned to the fact I'll get a stinking cold, just like I did when I trained for New York 2 years ago, because I think it is just the body's reaction to the vast increase in weekly mileage. It's just another memory that's coming back to me, another long-buried recollection from the marathon training last time round.
To counteract all these negative memories, I'm putting a photo of me crossing the finish line in Central Park on my desk to remind me of the overwhelming positive feeling you get when you complete the 26.2 miles. That smile tells a thousand stories and puts all the aches, pains, sniffles and increasing laundry bills into perspective.
LON
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
It's not always fair weather
It's been a while since I posted - too busy training to blog. This five day a week plan is certainly time consuming, and I'm not sure I could have managed it if I had not been made redundant and taken a freelance route.
I've had a real contrast in my training since my last post. First, I had a week in Spain for a long-deserved break - my first time off since I lost my job. It was lovely to get away but I had forgotten how hard it is to train in the heat. Essentially you have to run very early, or very late - it's not very sociable to be heading out for a run at 10pm when you're on holiday, as it really messes up everyone else's dinner plans, and part of the holiday was to actually catch up on some sleep so I found that most of my runs took place about 11am or 7.30 when it was still at least 25°. It seems weird to be so hot and sweaty while out running at 7.30 in the evening but it's a nice change to experience.
Which is more than can be said for the Spanish dog population. Clearly the new must-have accessory in small town South East Spain is a small yappy dog. Everybody has one. Every dog is aggressive and highly strung. Every dog is freaked out by someone exercising in the heat. And every dog yaps at you. And when one dog yaps, every other dog within a 250 yard radius joins in. Every run set off a cacophony of yaps, where individual Yorkshire terriers try to pretend they are Rottweilers, so in retrospect it was probably a good thing I wasn't running too early in the morning otherwise I would have had the whole town up.
And it's not just the yapping. It's the dog poo. Yappy dogs do very skinny long poos, and Spain does not scoop poop. So every single run has to be done eyes down, watching the pavement for little brown hazards. It's not as if you risk treading in the doggy do - it's so warm, every turd is dried out and hard within seconds. The real risk is kicking them a fair distance and whacking a passing pedestrian with one - as I found out the hard way.
In a way, it was a relief to get home to some new running hazards - this time, puddles and downpours. British summer time seemed to disappear for a week, deciding to christen me with a very heavy shower every time I left the house. Long runs are particularly soul destroying in the rain and it really got me thinking 'What if it's like this in Berlin?'
I've only run one marathon and that was in pretty ideal conditions. What if it pees it down in Berlin? (it did last year, and someone I know who ran it said it was a nightmare)
Will I really be able to run 26.2 miles in heavy rain?
I've run a half marathon in particularly heavy rain and it was no fun. My time was slow (admittedly I was injured too) and I'm now crossing everything very tightly that the weather gods are kind to me on September 25. I'm such a wuss. Failing that, let's hope that Berlin's reputation as a fast course helps knock the miles out in spite of the weather
Here's hoping...
I've had a real contrast in my training since my last post. First, I had a week in Spain for a long-deserved break - my first time off since I lost my job. It was lovely to get away but I had forgotten how hard it is to train in the heat. Essentially you have to run very early, or very late - it's not very sociable to be heading out for a run at 10pm when you're on holiday, as it really messes up everyone else's dinner plans, and part of the holiday was to actually catch up on some sleep so I found that most of my runs took place about 11am or 7.30 when it was still at least 25°. It seems weird to be so hot and sweaty while out running at 7.30 in the evening but it's a nice change to experience.
Which is more than can be said for the Spanish dog population. Clearly the new must-have accessory in small town South East Spain is a small yappy dog. Everybody has one. Every dog is aggressive and highly strung. Every dog is freaked out by someone exercising in the heat. And every dog yaps at you. And when one dog yaps, every other dog within a 250 yard radius joins in. Every run set off a cacophony of yaps, where individual Yorkshire terriers try to pretend they are Rottweilers, so in retrospect it was probably a good thing I wasn't running too early in the morning otherwise I would have had the whole town up.
And it's not just the yapping. It's the dog poo. Yappy dogs do very skinny long poos, and Spain does not scoop poop. So every single run has to be done eyes down, watching the pavement for little brown hazards. It's not as if you risk treading in the doggy do - it's so warm, every turd is dried out and hard within seconds. The real risk is kicking them a fair distance and whacking a passing pedestrian with one - as I found out the hard way.
In a way, it was a relief to get home to some new running hazards - this time, puddles and downpours. British summer time seemed to disappear for a week, deciding to christen me with a very heavy shower every time I left the house. Long runs are particularly soul destroying in the rain and it really got me thinking 'What if it's like this in Berlin?'
I've only run one marathon and that was in pretty ideal conditions. What if it pees it down in Berlin? (it did last year, and someone I know who ran it said it was a nightmare)
Will I really be able to run 26.2 miles in heavy rain?
I've run a half marathon in particularly heavy rain and it was no fun. My time was slow (admittedly I was injured too) and I'm now crossing everything very tightly that the weather gods are kind to me on September 25. I'm such a wuss. Failing that, let's hope that Berlin's reputation as a fast course helps knock the miles out in spite of the weather
Here's hoping...
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Rain - what rain?
My attempt at running 5 times this week is already under threat. I have only run once so far so I am fast running out of time to fit in 5 runs - maybe I'll have to go all pro and do two runs one day!
Although I do think I should get major bonus points for my run last night. Working temporarily again in Central London ( and hating it) I thought I would make the most of my change in location and run back from the office to Paddington Station via a loop of Regents Park. Sounds lovely, doesn't it. Unfortunately, I picked the only hour this week that it actually rained to make this run.
Regents Park is lovely, but I am convinced that the rain falls heavier there than in a built up area. Is greater exposure to the sky proven to make you even more soaked? By the time I exited the park my eyelids had filled up so much with water I was genuinely concerned that my contact lenses might wash out of my eyes, leaving me unable to read the departure board at Paddington and ending up accidentally on a train to Swansea with nothing but wet kit, a fiver and an Oyster Card. The last time I went to Swansea, I was verbally abused by a drunk and pushed out of a taxi by a drug addict, so I was in no hurry to get back there.
Unfortunately this meant that I left the park by the first available exit over the west side, not really paying any attention to where I was. Regular readers of this blog are familiar with my tendency to get lost on runs and last night's was no exception, although the heavy rain should have been inducement enough to get the route right. I ended up on a lovely little detour of chi chi St Johns Wood, but luckily years of being a cricket fan meant I was able to orientate myself from Lords, and headed off in the direction of Paddington proper. There were even road signs to reassure me.
By the time I reached the north end of Edgware Road, I realised I stood a chance of catching the 6.18 train back home. Spurred on by the thought of a hot shower and a dry towel, I accelerated and went for a lovely tempo run all the way back to Paddington. Running a race pace is a new thing for me midweek - I've never been able to achieve race pace outside of a race before, ever, and by the time I reached the back of Paddington Station I was breathing so heavily the entire population of W2 was staring at me like a lycra-clad phone pervert.
Still I made the train and managed to have a lovely journey home, where no one rested their paper on me, used me as a tray for their handbag or otherwise ignored my presence. I was so obviously someone to be noticed and avoided, with rivulets of rain and sweat dropping from my hair, my nose and in particular my sleeves. Showered, dressed and dried by 7, I think all in all the rain wasn't that bad a thing to happen.
Deluded
LON
Although I do think I should get major bonus points for my run last night. Working temporarily again in Central London ( and hating it) I thought I would make the most of my change in location and run back from the office to Paddington Station via a loop of Regents Park. Sounds lovely, doesn't it. Unfortunately, I picked the only hour this week that it actually rained to make this run.
Regents Park is lovely, but I am convinced that the rain falls heavier there than in a built up area. Is greater exposure to the sky proven to make you even more soaked? By the time I exited the park my eyelids had filled up so much with water I was genuinely concerned that my contact lenses might wash out of my eyes, leaving me unable to read the departure board at Paddington and ending up accidentally on a train to Swansea with nothing but wet kit, a fiver and an Oyster Card. The last time I went to Swansea, I was verbally abused by a drunk and pushed out of a taxi by a drug addict, so I was in no hurry to get back there.
Unfortunately this meant that I left the park by the first available exit over the west side, not really paying any attention to where I was. Regular readers of this blog are familiar with my tendency to get lost on runs and last night's was no exception, although the heavy rain should have been inducement enough to get the route right. I ended up on a lovely little detour of chi chi St Johns Wood, but luckily years of being a cricket fan meant I was able to orientate myself from Lords, and headed off in the direction of Paddington proper. There were even road signs to reassure me.
By the time I reached the north end of Edgware Road, I realised I stood a chance of catching the 6.18 train back home. Spurred on by the thought of a hot shower and a dry towel, I accelerated and went for a lovely tempo run all the way back to Paddington. Running a race pace is a new thing for me midweek - I've never been able to achieve race pace outside of a race before, ever, and by the time I reached the back of Paddington Station I was breathing so heavily the entire population of W2 was staring at me like a lycra-clad phone pervert.
Still I made the train and managed to have a lovely journey home, where no one rested their paper on me, used me as a tray for their handbag or otherwise ignored my presence. I was so obviously someone to be noticed and avoided, with rivulets of rain and sweat dropping from my hair, my nose and in particular my sleeves. Showered, dressed and dried by 7, I think all in all the rain wasn't that bad a thing to happen.
Deluded
LON
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Back in training
The last week or so has been all about pre-preparation for the Berlin Marathon. I've selected the training plan I'm going to follow - from Hal Higdon's Marathon book (which I am loving, by the way. Lots of self-aware, overanalytical American nonsense in there, but for the most part an excellent book about running marathons, with lots of practical advice too). My training proper starts on Monday 23 May, so in the meantime it's just about testing how much fitness I lost when I was not running with my foot injury.
I've had a few short runs and they've all gone well. The only real problem is the hayfever, and no amount of training is ever going to prevent that!
Today I entered a 10k race, as a test of fitness. I wanted to compare this morning's time with past runs in this event, to see how much fitness I had lost in the last month.
On the whole, not bad overall. I had a bit of stressful journey there, as I got stuck behind a series of slow moving vehicles, whose drivers insisted on driving way below the speed limit. Only the last of the four was a learner driver - the rest of them have no excuse whatsoever. Luckily I had allowed lots of time to get to the race start, but I was feeling frustrated and bad tempered before the race.
The first couple of miles were a struggle - for the first km I was last! The sight of a group of pensioners ahead of me was enough incentive to kick on and start pushing myself a bit and I did manage to get in front of several runners by the 3km mark. And I was pacing nicely - really even times. My mile times were consistent with my mile times in the NY Half marathon in March and although for a 10k I would normally be a bit faster, I was pretty happy with that consistent pacing overall.
As the race went on, several other runners were starting to slow (pacing is everything, people!) and I managed to really move away from last place. By the 6km mark I was fairly convinced I was going to finish, and finish ok. I felt no issue in the right foot, despite chunks of the race being on uneven grassy surface, and the longer the race went on, the stronger I felt. Shame it wasn't a half!
I also finished strongly, with the last mile the fastest, and I am definitely taking that as a positive. I was probably about 2 minutes slower than when I did that race two years ago, but consistent with my 10k time in New York in March, so the verdict is: not too much of the fitness has been lost.
The new marathon training plan is 5 times a week. One more outing per week than my NYC 2009 training plan. The mileage looks good, however - testing but feasible. So I'm going to go for it. Essentially this means even less social life than ever before, but I'm hoping that my current redundancy-induced freelance working lifestyle means that I will be able to be more flexible and fit in more runs. Here's hoping.
This week I'm going to try and run 5 times a week as a test before I start marathon training proper. Will I be able to manage 5 times a week for the next 19 weeks? Is that really all it is until Berlin? I won't know until I try, but I'd be lying if I didn't feel a little bit daunted by the prospect of that frequency.
Still, I'm determined to give it a go, test myself and hopefully knock those minutes off my time on September 25. Time to dust off the Jaffa Cakes and hit the streets in earnest.
LON
I've had a few short runs and they've all gone well. The only real problem is the hayfever, and no amount of training is ever going to prevent that!
Today I entered a 10k race, as a test of fitness. I wanted to compare this morning's time with past runs in this event, to see how much fitness I had lost in the last month.
On the whole, not bad overall. I had a bit of stressful journey there, as I got stuck behind a series of slow moving vehicles, whose drivers insisted on driving way below the speed limit. Only the last of the four was a learner driver - the rest of them have no excuse whatsoever. Luckily I had allowed lots of time to get to the race start, but I was feeling frustrated and bad tempered before the race.
The first couple of miles were a struggle - for the first km I was last! The sight of a group of pensioners ahead of me was enough incentive to kick on and start pushing myself a bit and I did manage to get in front of several runners by the 3km mark. And I was pacing nicely - really even times. My mile times were consistent with my mile times in the NY Half marathon in March and although for a 10k I would normally be a bit faster, I was pretty happy with that consistent pacing overall.
As the race went on, several other runners were starting to slow (pacing is everything, people!) and I managed to really move away from last place. By the 6km mark I was fairly convinced I was going to finish, and finish ok. I felt no issue in the right foot, despite chunks of the race being on uneven grassy surface, and the longer the race went on, the stronger I felt. Shame it wasn't a half!
I also finished strongly, with the last mile the fastest, and I am definitely taking that as a positive. I was probably about 2 minutes slower than when I did that race two years ago, but consistent with my 10k time in New York in March, so the verdict is: not too much of the fitness has been lost.
The new marathon training plan is 5 times a week. One more outing per week than my NYC 2009 training plan. The mileage looks good, however - testing but feasible. So I'm going to go for it. Essentially this means even less social life than ever before, but I'm hoping that my current redundancy-induced freelance working lifestyle means that I will be able to be more flexible and fit in more runs. Here's hoping.
This week I'm going to try and run 5 times a week as a test before I start marathon training proper. Will I be able to manage 5 times a week for the next 19 weeks? Is that really all it is until Berlin? I won't know until I try, but I'd be lying if I didn't feel a little bit daunted by the prospect of that frequency.
Still, I'm determined to give it a go, test myself and hopefully knock those minutes off my time on September 25. Time to dust off the Jaffa Cakes and hit the streets in earnest.
LON
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