Monday 31 July 2017

Project 2:20 - Berlin or Bust: Week 2 of 10

M 9 miles HA (6:51mm), 6.5 miles (7:33mm)
14 miles including 20 mins, 4X3mins, 15 mins (6:18mm)
W 6 miles (7:30mm), 10 miles (6:35mm)
T 9 miles HA (6:50mm), 5 miles (7:48mm)
F  11 miles (6:39mm), 4 miles (7:15mm)
S 6 miles (7:47mm)
S 20 miles including 17 Progressive (5:50mm)

Total 101 miles (6:46mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1009 Vs 1090 beats per mile
Weight 146.5lbs Vs 147.6lbs
Body Fat 12.18% (17.85lbs) Vs 12.92% (19.06lbs)
Lean Body Mass 83.37% (122.43lbs) Vs 82.72% (122.07lbs)
Water 62.42% (91.44lbs) Vs 61.5% (90.7%)


I had been hoping to build on the mileage a bit this week but as it turned out I did exactly the same as last week. I felt pretty smoked on Saturday so just did an easy 6 to make sure I could give my Sunday run a decent effort. Mike kindly reminded me that last week I was a bit of an idiot trying to do two hard days with only one easy day between. It could well have been that that was finally catching up with me!


A shorter Vlog this week

As I mentioned on last weeks Vlog I wanted to do the same Marathon Session as I had done on the Treadmill last week, but this time on the road to get a gauge of where my fitness is. I did this on Tuesday so three days after my long run. It went OK with the first 20 minutes coming in at 5:38 per mile. I then probably did the efforts a touch too hard averaging around 5:10 per mile. It was then on to the final 20 minutes at marathon effort but I quickly realised that I could bitten off more than I could chew and I started to slow so cut that short at 15 minutes. Mike often reminds me how important it is to not dig yourself a hole so on reflection I'm actually quite proud of myself for being sensible on (at least) two occasions this week when it may have been easier to take heed of my obsessiveness and grind the sessions out!


This week also saw the re-introduction of some Heat Acclimation runs and I will continue to do a couple of these a week. I was a proper sweaty mess after the first attempt!




Aerobic efficiency has taken a big leap forward to 1009 beats per mile with a few runs coming in at sub 1000 beats per mile. This is a good indicator for me that I am starting to show some signs of fitness. It's all down to consistency and the past few weeks of just getting out there and getting it done goes a long way to bringing this number down.


I have also dropped a bit of weight and over a pound in body fat so need to keep up with that as I am still rather lardy. If I can run well when lardy, I should fly when I'm actually at race weight so maybe there is a benefit to training quite chunky in the short term?!?!



Monday 24 July 2017

Project 2:20 - Berlin or Bust: Week 1 of 10

14 miles Fartlek (6:00mm)), 5 miles (6:57mm)
T 10.5 miles (6:40mm), 5 miles (7:39mm)
9 miles Fartlek (6:37mm) 5 miles (7:29mm)
T 10.5 miles (6:42mm), 5 miles (7:40mm)
F 6 miles (6:27mm)
S 20 miles Split Progressive (6:15mm)
S 11 miles (6:32mm)

Total 101 miles (6:37mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1090 beats per mile
Weight 147.6lbs
Body Fat 12.92% (19.06lbs)
Lean Body Mass 82.72% (122.07lbs)
Water 61.5% (90.7lbs)


As some will know, I have set up a YouTube Channel and Facebook Page to ease my narcissistic tendencies. If you would rather watch me chat through this week's diary then please feel free to watch the link below, subscribe, like, comment and all that palaver. For those that rather read what I've been up to then please just go to below the video.






My first week of 10 in the build-up to Berlin went pretty well on the whole. I had a couple of sessions and a split progressive long run. It was also nice to be back into three figures, mileage wise.


Monday, I jumped on the treadmill and did 20 minutes, 4X3minuts, 20 minutes and set the 20 minute efforts at 17.3kph and the 3 minute efforts at 18.3kph. It was a tough workout but a classic introducer session to the harder ones to come. I then did a fartlek on Wednesday and was intending to do 15X1minute hard (20kph) on the treadmill but it quickly became clear that my legs had not recovered sufficiently from Monday and Tuesday's mils so instead cut it to eight efforts. This was a sensible thing to do and on reflection I probably should have done this session on the Thursday.


It was then all about the weekend and as the pre-long run/session anxiety set in I realised it was going to be a proper slog! Especially when I woke up to Biblical rain. This one I had told myself I should od on the road though as the treadmill really cant replicate what you get from the road in terms of impact. I decided that I would do it as a split progressive long run on a my flat tempo loop. Having toyed with the idea of doing a hilly 22 miles at a steady rate I figured it would make more sense to do something a bit more specific to the marathon and get some decent chunks in at high aerobic paces. So I did a 10 mile chunk at 6:07mm, three minutes jog and then 5 miles at 5:47mm. The 5:47s felt tough, about marathon effort so I certainly have some work to do over the coming weeks! This sort of session should bring my aerobic fitness on a chunk though so I hope to see some quick returns over the coming days.



My body composition has improved slightly which is good but I do have a long way to go to get into racing shape. The picture on the left shows me at the start of the week and the picture on the right shows me early April when I was in great shape before London. Of course I got ill and then had to reassess my Spring targets. Dave Archer, a chum of mine kindly commented 'so what you're saying is, you've never been thin?' :-) I do believe that I could get a bit leaner than the second photo but want to ensure I don't do it at the expense of getting ill (again) or injured.




Thursday 13 July 2017

Project 2:20 - Berlin or Bust

M 8 miles (7:00mm)
T 10 miles (6:42mm), 5 miles (8:16mm)
10 miles inc. 3X15mins (6:19mm)
T 11 miles (7:03mm), 5 miles (8:27mm)
F 8 miles (7:10mm)
S 17.5 miles (7:14mm)
S 10.5 miles (7:07mm)

Total 85 miles (7:08mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1160 beats per mile
Weight 148.9lbs
Body Fat 13.42% (19.98lbs)
Lean Body Mass 82.23% (122.43lbs)
Water 60.7% (90.38lbs)


Last week I blogged about my plans and dilemmas for this Autumn and having had some great feedback I came up with a plan. The advice generally pointed towards me giving Berlin a fair crack of the whip but I couldn't get Winschoten out of my mind and trying to achieve the standard for the World Championships next year. Mike & I discussed briefly and I felt that I really wanted to give myself the best opportunity to qualify for the World 100k championships.  I decided that I would rather try to get the standard now if I can as there aren't too many opportunities to run a fast 100k and Winschoten is definitely the place to try. That said, having had a further week to mull things over I have now changed my mind! So flaky I know! Instead, I will be focusing all my attention on one last big effort to break the 2:20 barrier for the marathon before moving on to longer distances. Berlin is the place to do it. I should still have a couple of opportunities in the Spring to run a fast 100k.


The training that I do over the next few weeks will therefore be building back the miles, and trying to regain some of that marathon fitness I have had in the not too distant past. Hopefully the stars will align this time to allow my dreams to come true. I feel I could have gone under 2:20 at Berlin in 2015 had it not been for getting a stitch and last year at Toronto, I was definitely in shape to run 2:20 had it not been for the conditions on the day and possibly being slightly affected by jetlag.


So my first week back and on the whole it went pretty well. I managed 85 miles and one session of 3X15minutes on Wednesday. In a weird way I like feeling unfit as you get to see improvements with virtually every run. Aerobically I feel in a poor state of fitness and this is displayed by high heart rates in all of my runs and the resulting poor 'aerobic efficiency' This week it averaged 1160 beats per mile and if I am fit it will typically be in the range of 930-950 beats per mile! I haven't been paying too much attention to my heart rate on my runs and in fact rarely do as I rather run to feel so for my main runs I have been running at a 'moderate' intensity and for my second run have been running really easy/recovery type effort.


The first week of my plant-based diet has gone well too. I have set up a separate blog for this too if anyone is interested in reading. www.plant-basedobsessive.com Unfortunately I haven't been 100% plant-based but more through bad luck than 'failing'. I noticed that the muesli that I regularly eat has 'skimmed milk powder' in it so will finish the box and then move on to a type that definitely has none in! I also had a couple of bottles of Theakston's Old Peculiar which I learned is also not Vegan as they use Isinglass (part of a fish's bladder!) as part of their process. I was relieved to learn that all bottled beers produced by Black Sheep do not use isinglass in their process so that will be my go to tipple form now on! Another vegan friendly brewer is Brewdog and I am a big fan of their craft beers. Although as I get closer to the race I will certainly not be drinking!


So there we have it, I have settled on a plan and I am somewhat relieved as I can now start the prep fully focused on what lies ahead. I will likely follow a very similar plan to Berlin '15 & Toronto '16 but I will probably avoid the Special Block this time around as I don't believe it is entirely necessary, certainly not for an amateur like me and it could well have been my undoing at London this year, pushing me over the edge which resulted in me getting ill.



Thursday 6 July 2017

Autumn Plans/Dilemmas!

If you'd asked me four weeks ago what the objective for autumn was, it would have been a simple answer; race the Winschoten 100k in September and get the Team GB standard for the 2018 World 100k Championships which will be held in Croatia. However after a bout of illness that wouldn't shift and inconsistent training I decided to have a full two weeks off to try and let my body recover. However, given the break and being back running now feeling the most unfit I have felt in years I am debating what I should focus on as my A-Race! I have a few options; Winschoten (10 weeks), Berlin Marathon (12 weeks) or Yorkshire Marathon (14 weeks). I am also entered for Gdansk Marathon which is looking like it may well be a steady effort as opposed to an all out attempt given it's only six weeks away!

Option 1 - Winschoten 100k
The standard for next year's World Championships is likely to be sub 6:55 and I feel I have this in me. As readers will know I ran my first ultra at this year's British Championships but was unsuccessful in completing the distance. I got to 85k before I called it a day. I learnt some valuable lessons and if I can rectify the mistakes I would hope to get the required time to represent GB at next year's World Championships. There is no doubt that I will have my work cut out. Firstly the standard in GB ultra running right now is pretty phenomenal. Lee Grantham ran a genuinely world class 6:42 at the British Championships and Steve Way ran a staggering debut 5:48 at the 87k Comrades Up run this year, finishing in a brilliant 9th place.




These two guys have to be first on the selection list for next year's Championships given their performances. The qualifying criteria has yet to be published and so it is unknown how many (if any!) athletes will be taken but if I am to have a chance I need to be at least on a par with these types of performances. It is highly plausible that some other athletes fancying a pop at selection will also be giving the distance a go.

Lee Grantham is currently ranked no 1 in the World this year over 100km thanks to his run in East Yorkshire in May. I am so pleased (and a little bit jealous) of him for this fantastic achievement. Running that sort of time in a World Championships would get you very close to the top of the podium in most years.

Option 2 - Berlin Marathon
Given the break and starting from scratch again, this is probably my preferred option and it is also tempting in that it will allow me the opportunity to have one big go at the sub 2:20 before properly moving on to concentrate fully on ultras. 12 weeks is also far away enough to get in very good marathon shape.

Option 3 - Yorkshire Marathon
This is where I had my breakthrough race in 2014 and knocked about 6 minutes off my previous PB having plateaued for a bit so it is very tempting to go back and see if I could get close to 2:20. It isn't quite as fast as Berlin due to some undulations and the depth obviously isn't as strong but I know the course and area well and it would also be nice for my family to come and watch. Of course if I did do this as my target marathon, I could probably afford to run Winschoten 100k as well as they are four weeks apart.

Writing this down has been quite carthartic as I think I am coming to the conclusion that Option 3 may be the best solution. It will give me the opportunity to try and get the standard for the World Champs as well as a reasonable chance of a marathon PB at York providing I recover sufficiently. I could then do Gdansk and Berlin as training runs. I would be grateful for any thoughts that any readers may have so please do comment.

One thing that I have been toying with of recent months is whether to really give this plant-based diet a proper crack or not. I have I admit had many lapses back into meat and dairy and I always end up feeling the same - CRAP! I am becoming more and more convinced by the evidence to suggest that a plant-based diet is by far and away the best for one's health. But bigger than that the environmental impacts of animal agriculture are far more shocking than I ever realised (I highly recommend watching the film Cowspiracy - it will shock you and not in a gruesome way). Eating a plant-based diet is by far and away the single most important thing you can do to help save the planet. Aside from that I have also been reading about Carnism and how eating meat has become the norm but when you break it down to basics, it is quite ridiculous. Why for example is it perfectly acceptable to eat a pig but not a Labrador? If you have a spare 20 minutes, watch this YouTube video by Dr Melanie Joy. Just like Cowspiracy, it's incredibly enlightening.



So, I have decided that I am going to be following a completely plant based diet from this day forward. This is simply not up for debate. As many of you will know, I can be rather obsessive about things and for me it seems to be either 'all or nothing'. I will update on how things are going in a Bridget Jones stylee. I may even post some food pics!

Current stats
Weight 150lbs
Body Fat 13.7% (20.7lbs)
Lean Body Mass 81.85% (122.85lbs)
Water 60.4% (90.7lbs)


It may be silly to target a specific race weight but I know if I can get to 140lbs or just under I tend to be running at my best at that sort of weight so I have a while to lose about 10lbs. I suspect the first five or six pounds will drop off fairly quickly, the rest will be a little more tricky! I have put some target stats below, based on what I was carb-depleted pre-Toronto last year.


Target Stats
Weight 137lbs
Body Fat 8.6% (11.78lbs)
Lean Body Mass 86.86% (119lbs)
Body Water 67.8% (92.89lbs)