Wednesday 12 June 2019

Santander 100k

I feel like a fraud, setting out my dreams for all to see only to fall massively short. I'm sad to say that I picked up a double dose of tendinitis a few weeks ago which meant a big block of missed running. Just as I was starting to believe again that I could do something respectable at the 100k distance.

Santander is not going to happen. Yes one can never have a perfect build up to any race but if I am to run well at a race so far I need to go in confident that my body will hold up. Unfortunately, I just don't have that confidence.

I am now in a position where I have compacted my issues by seriously falling off the waggon with my diet and my fitness has returned to a very low level. I'm really rather down about the whole thing. This year promised to be great and things had been going so well, I'm just gutted that I have absolutely nothing to show for my hard work earlier this year.

It's going to be difficult to get back on the horse and get going again knowing where I was just a few short weeks ago. Part of me wants to give up. Is it all really worth it? I love to train and I love to feel myself get fitter, I love to race but the heartbreak of not even coming close to my goals is starting to bite. Maybe I'm just never going to be good enough.

It may be a long time before I blog about my running again. For now I hate it and love it in equal measure. My best friend, my greatest foe, my lover, my nemesis. I cant bring myself to put my running shoes on but I also cant imagine never running again. Time will tell and hopefully heal. I want to be able to accept that I may never be as good as I wanted to be. But for now that's quite a hard pill to swallow.

Tuesday 7 May 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project Santander

I wrote last week how I thought I just wasn't ready to break 2:20 at the marathon. This may have been true but as it turned out I was either still ill from the virus I had had a couple of weeks before, or I was in the process of incubating a new one. Last week I was very under the weather with more typical cold symptoms as well as a bit of vertigo which was a bit weird. It may also explain the hallucinations I had around 14 miles at London where I inexplicably saw the same person six times (three lots of twins, or sextuplets divided by three if you prefer)! At the time, I was a little freaked out by it and I chose not to put it in my post race blog as it felt like a bit of an excuse and also my initial reaction was that I just wasn't ready. But here's the thing, I know from a fitness point of view I was. I have never been as fit. My mental state was primed and as I said I was so relaxed. I know I have that 2:20 in me and it will come. I will however need everything to come together on the day. One day it will.

For now however, I have other dreams to chase. I am revisiting the Ultra world and having a stab at the Santander 100k in June with the aim firstly to finish and secondly to post a solid time that will put me in contention for a spot at the Anglo Celtic Plate next year. It is the World Championships next year and so it would be a dream to qualify for the GB team so the hard work has to start now. The UK ultra running scene is currently in excellent shape. Good friends Steve Way, Anthony Clarke, Lee Grantham and Robert Turner are all World Class ultra runners and should be on the plane to Winschoten, Netherlands next year. Charles Harpur also posted an incredibly impressive 6:44 winning the ACP this year. I certainly have my work cut out. But I'm up for it and I believe I have the talent, physiology and work-rate to realise my dreams. That said I am yet to complete an ultra, so maybe this is another case of 'Cherriman has bitten off more than he can chew'. I dropped out of the Meridian 100k two years ago at around 85k after some rookie mistakes, so this time I want to ensure I get round and post something solid to move forward with to next year.



The legs felt fine on Monday last week, basically like I'd done a hard long run and not raced a marathon. I took that first week back cautiously (61 miles) especially with the lurgy still in my system. I also enjoyed the time to not give two shits about what I ate or drank. I ate all the food. And drank all the drink. And then I had seconds. And thirds. Our grocery bill for last week must have been in excess of £300.

Drinking all the drink

So Santander 100k, a classic race. One that has seen amazing races over the years with GB Ultra great, Don Ritchie returning on many occasions. The date is 15th June. I have a huge base from my London build up which will support me over the next few weeks. I don't plan to change much at all. Mileage will be high, the long run will be longer, mid week sessions will be easier given the tough weekend long run but essentially, this is a simple sport; the more you can do while staying on the right side of injury, burn out and illness the better. That is my plan.

The Late Great Don Ritchie (6.7.1944-16.6.2018)


Monday 29 April 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - The Race

2019 London Marathon - 58th UK Championship (2:28:18)

They say the marathon is a cruel mistress. Whoever 'they' are, they're not wrong! I was hoping to just have to do some minor edits to the post I wrote back in December but alas it wasn't to be.


I'm not going to make any excuses. It just wasn't my day. I hit the start line with what I think is the most consistent block of training I have ever done prior to a marathon. I was so relaxed, I even slept for six whole hours on Saturday night. The usual nervous dodgy guts I have on race morning were nowhere to be seen. Hell I didn't even have to take any Imodium to padlock the back doors shut! Today was going to be my day. I could feel it, in fact I could just about taste it.


The gun goes and as Championship runners are no longer afforded a warm up area it was imperative the first mile was easy. It was. In fact everything about the first 5k was exactly as I had dreamed. Feel the effort, ease into it. A few people had asked me before the race what I thought I would run, 'ask me at 3 miles' was my reply. It's a good job no one did ask me the question then as I would have said about 2:20! Never have I felt that easy, even that early. Everything felt perfect. Just as I had planned, just as I had dreamed.


On I go and get to 10k still thinking this is perfect. I was almost smug in how I felt. I've mastered this marathon malarkey, I live and breathe it, I am a guru of the marathon. As soon as these thoughts started creeping in, my legs decided they'd had enough. By eight miles I knew I was in for a tough day. There was no way I was dropping out today, however. I needed to finish this one. For all the miles I had run, for all the months of frustration when out injured, for all the support my family and friends have afforded me in the pursuit of my dreams. This one was getting done. Just make sure it's under 2:30. That's still solid. And that's what I did. I got round in my second quickest London. Was a better time there on the day? Probably, but I almost certainly didn't want it enough, when it was clear that the race of my dreams just wasn't going to happen. To put myself in that hole when the legs weren't having it would have been futile. Sometimes we just have to accept that we are not going to be good enough on the day. With all time goals off the table I took the opportunity to stop in Parliament square for a quick cuddle with Mum, Hania and the girls. God I needed that at the time!



About to be swallowed by the Pride

As anyone that reads this blog will testify, I am quite analytical when it comes to my training. I honestly cant fault anything I did in the build up. I wouldn't have changed a thing. What went wrong? Having had a day to mull things over I'm coming to the conclusion that actually nothing went wrong, I'm just not ready. Yet. The time out, the missed successive marathon campaigns that had become a biannual occurrence had reduced my ability to smash it this time. I'm a better runner than yesterday's result suggests but on the day I wasn't. And that's what counts.

Am I disappointed? Weirdly no. I am so privileged to be able to run and race marathons. So many people would love to run the time I ran yesterday. Some people cant run, some people cant even walk. I am so so lucky that I have my health to be able to pursue these arbitrary dreams when others are less fortunate.

There are no short cuts when it comes to marathon training and one usually gets what their training deserves. Did I deserve more yesterday? Maybe. However, if there's one thing I've learned about being a marathoner is that it's not actually the end result that matters, it's the sheer love and joy of the process. The pursuit of becoming an expert. That's what drives me, that's what I love. I will be better next time. And better again after that. This is just the beginning.

Sunday 21 April 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 11 of 12

M 60 mins HA (6:49mm), Easy 60 mins (7:47mm)
T 70 mins inc. Track Fartlek (6:19mm), Easy 50 mins (7:44mm)
W Easy 80 mins (7:54mm), Recovery 40 mins (7:57mm)
T Recovery 35 mins with a few strides (7:19mm)
F 75 mins inc. aborted Salford 10k (6:38mm)
S 70 mins HA (6:34mm), Easy 50 mins (7:01mm)
S 105 mins inc. 10 miles Easy Tempo (6:23mm)

Total 100.3 miles (6:59mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 986 Beats Per Mile Vs 955
Weight 142.73lbs Vs 142.4lbs
Body Fat 10.62% (15.15lbs) Vs 10.84% (15.44lbs)
Lean Body Mass 89.4%(127.6lbs) Vs 89.16% (126.97lbs)

Fitness 92.1 Vs 93.9
Fatigue 91.3 Vs 102.5
Form 2.5(Neutral) Vs -7.8 (Neutral)

I was hoping to be able to write a smuggish yet humble post this week about how I'd turned up at Salford and absolutely obliterated my 10k PB. As readers will know I even went to the extent of asking for guesses on what I might run! You can tell who think's they're in good shape when they're asking for predictions! It wasn't to be, but more on that shortly.

Last week was a bit poor and things didn't quite feel right as I wrote about before. I had put it down to being away from home on holiday and perhaps a bit of tiredness from the Manchester training run. What i didn't factor in was that I may have had a very low lying virus. In fact that didnt dawn on me until Wednesday evening when I was absolutely wiped out. I slept for ten and a half hours when I usually sleep about seven. I could have done with more too. Perhaps it was my body readying itself for a big effort on Friday? The doubts returned. Don't dig yourself a hole! Should I even bother showing up? I am a rather obsessive all or nothing kind of person and part of me was torn between doing the right thing(not racing) or saving face(racing) after saying I felt I was in with a good chance of beating my PB! Thursday afternoon I felt a lot more energetic but my run wasn't good. The legs felt out of sync and ploddy. Sod it, lets just go and see what happens. On Friday I actually felt fine physically and was ready to give it a good go. I kindly got a lift with colourful Alex Bellew from Renaissance Athlete Mick Hill. Line up on the start line, but I'm a good five rows back. With a rather muted 'go' we were on our way. Sort of. I was absolutely stuck. I could see the leaders pushing off into the distance. If I had any chance of a good time I needed to be in that group. Mick would have been a great person to try and hold on to, having run a very impressive 31:41 last week at Brighton. It was only five seconds into the race and it was already too late. I know what I'm like if I redline too early, I would have blown. OK - settle, try and get there gradually. It takes me until nearly 1k to catch up with clubmates Mike Burrett, Alex Bellew and Liam O'Brien. I try and push on and bridge the gap to the lead group but I'm just too far behind. At 2k it is starting to feel hard, like it should in a 10k. That's fine I tell myself. I'm making no progress, completely stranded. No one to aim for and no one to race with. On I go. By the time I get to 4k I've completely lost it mentally and decided I'll throw in the towel at half way. My brain telling me, it's a sensible thing to do given the virus, you have an even bigger effort to make in just over a week's time. I go through the 5k marker with the timer calling out 15:45. Aerobically and physically I was about how I should feel at that stage but I'm already pulling to the side of the road shortly after. I'm disappointed in myself. I call myself weak and ask what chance have I got next week if I can give in so easily? I march up and down for a few minutes before doing another lap at something resembling a moderate effort. Was it the right call? Probably. But I am still really disappointed  in myself because I know I am in 10k PB shape and this was a good opportunity to do that finally. Sadly on the day I just didn't have the minerals. I promise myself that I will not crumble next week. Having had a couple of days to mull things over yet more, if I had run 15:45 in a 5k the week before a marathon I would have actually been quite pleased so every cloud and all that!

No man's land having already mentally thrown in the towel. Photo Credit: Jerry Watson.

Other than that the week was OK. Another reduction in miles as to be expected and a couple of other decent sessions! Tuesday's track fartlek was actually really encouraging and I thought my legs had returned. Today I have started restricting my carbohydrate intake and will do so until after my run on Thursday. With that in mind I started the depletion with a run of 16.5 miles with 10 miles at an Easy Tempo pace (5:47mm). This felt incredibly comfortable with HR averaging 162 so about 11-15 beats to play with in respect to my Marathon HR. 

Body composition has improved a tad. That said what I found really interesting is that my weigh in's on Wednesday (my most under the weather day) and Thursday according the body composition scales I was retaining a huge amount of water. I suspect this was to help flush the virus away but who knows? Body water has returned to 'normal' levels for me now though and I do feel absolutely fine. Hopefully that is my last bug before the biggy and in some ways I can be happy that I've already had it! Aerobic efficiency is a bit worse but this is likely due to the virus so I'm not concerned about that.

As I have started the taper it isn't surprising to see the 'fitness'  and 'fatigue' has dropped a bit (fatigue drops quicker than fitness) but form (the balance between the two) is creeping up. The aim for this coming week is to heavily reduce the miles ahead of Sunday and try to hit a training stress balance (form) of 20-25 without losing much more than 10% of my peak fitness of 95. 

So what shape am I in for the marathon? I will be putting a blog together that will appraise my training block relative to previous build ups to give me a good feel for where I'm at. Whatever the outcome the plan will be as it should always be; turn up and run the best marathon you can on the day with the conditions and variables you're dealt.


Monday 15 April 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 10 of 12

M Rest
T 70 mins Easy (6:42mm), Easy 55 mins (7:14mm)
W 70 mins inc 15X1min (60s) (6:23mm), Easy 50 mins (7:25mm)
T 60 mins Easy, 40 mins Moderate, 5 mins Easy (6:42mm), 35 mins Recovery (7:52mm)
F 70 mins HA (6:41mm)
S 125 mins inc. aborted session (6:19mm),Recovery 45 mins (7:35mm)
S 70 mins HA (6:41mm), Easy 75 mins (7:16mm)

Total 113.9 miles (6:50mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 955 Beats Per Mile Vs 971
Weight 142.4lbs Vs 142.48lbs
Body Fat 10.84% (15.44lbs) Vs 10.29% (14.66lbs)
Lean Body Mass 89.16% (126.97lbs) Vs 89.7% (127.8lbs)

Fitness 93.9 Vs 95 Vs
Fatigue 102.5 Vs 117.3
Form -7.8 (Neutral) Vs -10.9 (Optimal)

Have I pushed too far? Have I tried to do too much? Do I still believe in my process? Is there an easier way? A more optimal way. These are all questions that have run through my head this week.

Last week I ran 2:36:27 at Manchester and while I didn't race it, it felt tougher than I would have liked. I've run quicker marathons around my favourite tempo loop at 5am without a number pinned to my chest. Maybe I'm not as fit as I thought? Sod it, carry on. You can't really control the outcome, you can only control what you put into it. What does sub 2:20 mean anyway? All you can do is your best. Keep going. Get back to focusing on the process. Do the things that have worked for you in the past. Look at all the great sessions you have done, not the crap ones that have left you wondering.

Monday I took a rest day. It wasn't planned and although the legs felt fine to be running, even after covering over 28 miles the previous day, I was on annual leave and decided to have a sleep in. We were going away in a hired motorhome for a few days to the Peak District. I promised myself I'd get my run in after we'd packed up. That then drifted to 'I'll do it when we get there.' And as is often the case if I haven't got my run in first thing the day drifts away and then it's too late. There are 24 hours in every day. I only need to find about two of those hours to run. On Monday I failed! Oh well. A rest day is never a bad thing I'm told and maybe it'll do me some good in the long run.

The rest of the week I just got things done but it never felt quite right. I do find it difficult to run when on holiday. Perhaps just because I'm not in my routine of run, eat, school run, work, run, eat, work, eat, eat, sleep, etc. The holiday was brilliant and it was lovely to spend some quality time with the girls doing something different, but my training did seem to be a bit of a damp squib.

I did a session of 15X1min(60s) on the Wednesday on a trail, so although the surface wasn't brilliant it wasn't particularly bad either. And it was a bit downhill! I did this in the hope that it would wake up the legs a bit. I ran them at an average of 4:47 pace which is about bang on 15 minute 5k pace. Recoveries were around 6:40 pace so not slouching either. It was on the face of it a good session and again proves I am fit. Maybe I'm just wanting to get to the start at Blackheath and get on with things.

The second session was planned for Saturday and a repeat of what I did a couple of weeks prior: 30 mins, 4X5mins, 30 mins. My legs still felt 'dead', perhaps because I had got my Friday run in which was a HA quite late and maybe, just maybe I hadn't manage to replace enough electrolytes. I knew on the warm up that my legs weren't really in a place to run fast, so I took it relatively easy but then knocked the session on the head 10 minutes into the last 30 minute effort. Sometimes it's just not worth pushing on and I was nervous about digging myself a hole. In hindsight it was a curious run in that my aerobic efficiency was brilliant. Just about the best it's ever been, I simply couldn't get the legs to turn over at the pace I wanted. I guess that's what a taper is for though to see some of that freshness come back.

So the aerobic efficiency has improved a bit and getting to peak levels for me. Body composition is much the same although I'm showing as having a bit more fat this week. I think this is because I only did two HA runs and as the core body temperature rises has a complimentary effect on the scales, which improves the averages.

Just two weeks to go now and with a bit of focus on getting my hydration sorted properly will see my legs return for a hard effort at Salford on Good Friday. Feel free to comment to predict my time!

The rest day on Monday seemed to improve my freshness, although I'm yet to feel it yet! So do I think I've pushed too far? No. I do feel good. I know I am as fit as I have been before. Have I tried to do too much? Maybe. As a runner wanting to get the best out of myself the desire to push on is always greater than the desire to hold back. A way I plan to alleviate this over the next two weeks is to really not force the pace on my easy days at all. I may even drop a few of the HA runs that I had planned given the long range forecast doesn't look too bad. Do I still believe in my process? Absolutely yes. I do. Of course there are doubts that creep in from time to time. I wouldn't be human if there weren't but I know what works generally and more importantly specifically for me. Is there any easier way? Maybe! But lofty goals require immense hard work and with the limited amount of natural ability I have, 'more and harder' is just about my only remedy.






Saturday 13 April 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 Week 9 of 12

M 70 mins Heat Acclimatisation (6:49mm), 70 mins Easy (6:46mm)
T 70 mins HA (6:41mm)
W 110 mins inc. 10X1mile (0.5mile float) (5:52mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:14mm)
T 95 mins Easy (7:03mm),
F 70 mins HA (6:44mm), 50 mins inc. 10 mins, 5X2mins (60s) (6:03mm)
S 70 mins HA (6:44mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 5X30s accelerations (7:30mm)
S 175 mins inc Manchester Marathon (2:36:27)

Total 130.3 miles (6:31mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 971 Beats Per Mile Vs 969
Weight 142.48lbs Vs 142.56lbs
Body Fat 10.29% (14.66lbs) Vs 10.92% (15.57lbs)
Lean Body Mass 89.7% (127.8lbs) Vs 89.04% (126.94lbs)

Fitness 95 Vs 90.8
Fatigue 117.3 Vs 107.7
Form -10.9 (Optimal) Vs - 11(Optimal)

What a week that was! Almost certainly the biggest and hardest of the campaign. The introduction of my Heat Acclimatisation runs and three sessions along with some big filler mileage meant I nudged over 130 miles again.

The heat acclimatisation runs are really not nice, especially the first couple. I put four layers on, three of which were thermal, thermal tights, wooly hat and two pairs of gloves.


I need to do these as I do feel they prepare me for any adverse conditions that may pop up on the day but also they're very good in other areas such as improving one's ability to retain electrolytes, increasing blood plasma volume and reducing perceived effort at all intensities, irrespective of conditions! I do these runs on the treadmill in the garage and do my best to make a cloud. Of course I cant particularly regulate the conditions in the garage but I do like to see what happens over the course of a run. The below picture is my hygrometer that was reset before I started. Humidity increased from 63-86% and the temperature from 9.1 degrees to 12.6. Whilst I may not have had so much of an impact in the change in the room temperature I am certain that the humidity was down to me. I should really take my core body temperature at different parts of the run to really know what's going on but I draw the line at buying a rectal thermometer.



Over the course of four HA runs this week I saw significant improvements in aerobic efficiency for the runs demonstrating how quickly one adapts from this kind of stress. There will always be a cardiac drift in these runs as my core body temperature continues to rise throughout the run and conditions in the garage worsen but the more that drift is reduced will show how well adapted I have become.

Cardiac drift of my fourth HA run

I was keen to get a feeling for planned marathon pace so decided my Wednesday session would be 10X1mile with 0.5 mile float recoveries. The intention being to run the recoveries at a moderate pace so I wasn't entirely recovered before going into the next one. They average 5:18.5 mm for the efforts and 6:11s for the recoveries, meaning I averaged 5:36mm for the 15 miles. Another pleasing session in this build up.

Friday I did a short fartlek session of 10 mins threshold, 5X2mins (60s). Again it was pleasing to see the threshold pace come in at 5:04mm and the efforts averaging 4:50. I really hope this means I can average 5:04 or better at Salford as it will leave me with a very overdue PB of around 31:30. In honesty I should be capable of running much quicker than this anyway.

Then to Sunday, which for anyone that read last week's blog could have been my attempt at breaking 2:20.. In the end I decided that I would just use it as my last proper long run for London. It was great to be toeing the line of a marathon for the first time in two years. There is just something magical about a marathon. The excitement in the air at the start. The nervous glances, the smiles of trepidation. I had been deliberating how to run and had a few options. In the end all went out the window as a few miles in my guts were playing havoc and my legs were a little tired from not tapering at all. I usually take imodium prior to races just to make sure the doors are well and truly padlocked shut. I also realised perhaps foolishly that a marathon is actually quite a long way. The brain is quite good at forgetting at painful experiences. Take childbirth as an example! Thankfully I wont have to go through that, and I'm certainly not comparing a marathon to childbirth but I'm pretty sure that if a woman truly remembered what it was like the first time then they wouldn't choose to do it again. Ever! So I ran 2:36:27 with two toilet stops feeling pretty comfortable but not as comfortable as I would have liked. I don't know if it was due to not fully racing that contributed to the boredom that I endured but hope I will be a bit more 'switched on' when London comes around!

Trying to not be bored.

It was great to see a few people on the course supporting and I had a few pleasant chats with folks along the way, including a Swedish chap Niklas who knocked 20 minutes off his PB and got the standard to run in the Swedish Championships. Also another couple of worthy mentions; Leeds City V45 clubmate Jonathan Walton running a spectacular 2:28:36 PB off a mini taper from some big miles. And Anthony Clark of Bournemouth finally cracking the 2:30 barrier.

So that's most of the really hard work done and I do feel like I am in the shape of my life from an aerobic and speed point of view. Next week will see a slight reduction in miles before the taper really kicks in the following week.




Monday 1 April 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 8 of 12

M 60 mins Easy, 40 mins Moderate, 5 mins Easy (6:41mm), Recovery 40 mins (7:54mm)
T Easy 70 mins
W 110 mins inc Session (6:06mm), Recovery 40 mins (7:23mm)
T Easy 100 mins (6:53mm), Recovery 40 mins (7:50mm), 50 mins inc 20 mins Threshold (5:08mm)
F Easy 85 mins (7:44mm), Recovery 40 mins (7:56mm)
S Easy 70 mins (6:44mm)
S 115 mins inc 30 mins, 4X5mins, 30 mins (5:46mm)

Total 130.8 miles
Aerobic Efficiency 969 Beats Per Mile Vs 994
Weight 142.56 lbs Vs 142.92 lbs
Body Fat 10.92% (15.57 lbs) Vs 11.18% (15.98lbs)
Lean Body Mass 89.04% (126.94 lbs) Vs 88.94% (127.12lbs)

Fitness 90.8 Vs 87.2
Fatigue 107.7 Vs 100.7
Form -11 Vs -15 (Optimal)

I've felt like a seed from a gherkin this past few days. WTF does that mean? Well I've been in a bit of a pickle. I mentioned last week how I felt like I had had a bit of a breakthrough week and confidence was growing. It was growing so much that by Tuesday I was thinking about bringing forward my sub 2:20 attempt to Manchester this coming Sunday. Things had been really starting to go so well. I was seeing fitness that I haven't seen in two years and I thought I could well be ready. A quick check on the weather for Manchester and it looked like conditions might be perfect. More mulling over.... I remembered back to 2014 when Steve Way found himself in the shape of his life a week before London whilst building up for the British 100k championships. Steve made the decision to do an incredibly short and sharp taper and walked away with a three minute PB and got the standard that would allow him the opportunity to represent England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. I asked Mike, Steve and a few close friends what they thought of the prospect of me going for it at Manchester. The feedback was generally to go for it. I promised myself I would see how Wednesday's session went and if it went like I wanted then I would go for it. Perhaps Fate was looking over me that morning as I chased dreams around Victoria Park as she quite royally messed about with the GPS signal and so I actually had no idea how fast I was running! I wanted to do 6X12 mins at target pace, so this is 5:20mm. Usually I run to effort and HR in training but it was important to try and hit a pace and see how it felt this time if Manchester had any legs. In all I managed 3.5 efforts at this pace (notwithstanding the likely GPS errors I leaned about when looking at the trace later) before reducing the session, knowing that I wasn't quite ready. The effort had been too high for the 'pace'. So at least that was put to bed. Or at least until I started looking at the trace and realising that I could well have been running much faster than 5:20mm. In which case 3X12mins, 6 mins at say 5:10mm would have been a good session! Anyway, it got me thinking some more but really my decision to not go for it at Manchester had been made. Mike agreed to save my beans for London. Either way it was a good session as I was working at some very strong aerobic paces.

I have in the past done a Canova Special Block where you do two hard sessions (Session 1 - 16.5 miles (5:49mm) Session 2 - 11 miles (5:53mm))in one day but for me this was too much, they did completely wipe me out so I adapted this slightly. Following on from Wednesday, I did a decent length (14.5 miles) easy run Thursday morning, a recovery (5 miles) run at lunch and then a decent threshold run in the evening. Even on tired legs the 20 mins at threshold came out at 5:08 per mile. So it confirmed that I was very fit and possibly ready! Maybe I'll see how Sunday goes.....

Friday, the legs felt it. They were like lumps of lead. So a really ploddy couple of runs ensued. I haven't really had many dull leg days this build up so I was certainly due one and in honesty given the 51 miles, quite a bit of which had been hard, I had run in the previous 48 hours it was completely understandable. Even Saturday's run felt a little out.

Sunday I was in a much better place and did the classic 30 mins at MP, 4X5mins, 30 mins session. I reverted to effort on this one as I was keen to get a good one banked and to be honest by the time the last 30 minute effort comes round, as hard as you can go is probably a reasonable approximation of current Marathon Pace. The first effort came in at 5:21mm, then averaged 5:07s for the five minute efforts. The last 30 minute effort came in at 5:26s. So in total I covered 15 miles in 80 minutes of effort which is bang on 5:20 per mile. Maybe I am ready..... No stop it Jason. Don't go there. Decision has been made! I then relaxed a little as my mind had started to get into race mode.

So a big week in terms of miles, sessions and a psychological roller-coaster in terms of the thoughts of should I or shouldn't I bring forward my attempt. I will be at Manchester on Sunday but using it as my last proper long run. I just hope the Marathon Gods continue to shine on me and anyone doing London and there are no last minute hiccoughs.

Body composition continues to improve as does my overall fitness. I doubt there will be much more improvement in fitness over the next couple of weeks before I start to taper and of course the fitness will retract as I freshen up in the taper and try to perfectly time my training stress balance.

This coming week I am going to start my Heat Acclimatisation protocol of putting shit loads of clothes on and running on my treadmill at a constant pace. This is in the hope I will see some powerful adaptations that come from this type of training. Also it will come in handy if London turns out to be a sweatfest like it was last year. I highly recommend Christof Schwiening's blog for an overview of this.

The above chart is available on the link above. 



Sunday 24 March 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 7 of 12

M Easy 90 mins (7:06mm), Recovery 30 mins (7:52mm)
T 115 mins inc 4X18mins (6:03mm), Recovery 40 mins (8:14mm)
W Easy 105 mins (7:23mm), Recovery 40 mins (8:05mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:02mm), Recovery 40 mins inc 5X30s Strides (7:51mm)
F 90 mins inc 10X2mins(90s) (6:33mm)
S Easy 90 mins (7:20mm), Easy 50 mins (7:17mm)
S Easy 30 mins (7:04mm), 60 mins inc Northern Relays Short Leg & 4 mile Easy Tempo (5:51mm)

Total 125.1 miles (7:00mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 994 beats per mile
Weight 142.92 Lbs Vs 142.83 lbs last week
Body Fat 11.18% (15.98lbs) Vs 11.37% (16.25lbs)
Lean Body Mass 88.94% (127.12lbs) Vs 88.63% (126.4lbs)

Fitness 87.2 Vs 83.4
Fatigue 100.7 Vs 100.6
Form -15 Vs -18.7 (Optimal)

A bit of a breakthrough week for me this week. Confidence has gradually been growing as I can feel myself nearly ready for London. I knew there would be no long run this week as I had the Northern Road Relays on Sunday but I was keen to keep the mileage high as there is no point backing off at this stage of the game. My midweek session went well with 4X18 mins at cMarathon Effort. The efforts went 5:32, 5:30, 5:28 and 5:25 with only the last one feeling like true marathon effort. It's such a nice feeling to do these sessions feeling like you have something in reserve as frequently I have finished them grunting for Yorkshire.

It was then onto a short Friday session of 10X2mins within a 90 minute run. The aim was to keep these really controlled and something around 10k effort. I was shocked to see the pace averaging 4:53 pace. I'm not daft enough to believe that this is a true reflection of my current 10k pace, considering I don't think I've ever run a mile in 4:53! That said, the important point is I wasn't straining for them, they came naturally as I focused on keeping a high turnover. I'm now really looking forward to the Salford 10k on Good Friday as I will be a few days into my taper by then and it'd be nice to finally get a time that is closer to my actual ability for the distance. Looking back, I haven't broken my 10k PB (32:05) since 2013!

Then onto Sunday! We had stayed at my mother in law, Bozena's in Manchester Saturday night to celebrate her birthday so I had done a nice easy run to Heaton Park where we won the northern relays in 2014. It was nice to remind myself of the bumps on that course. The relays this year were at Birkenhead Park however so we nipped down the M62 for a morning in new Brighton with my family in tow. It was bloody windy and the tide was in so we didn't really get much time on our deck chairs. We did pick some shells and scrabble around on the rocks for a bit though, being careful not to twist my ankle. I thought I'd save that for my warm up!


By the time I arrived the A-Team were flying on to victory and had an unassailable lead. Leeds City legend, Mike Burrett took the anchor leg. I was in the B-team and also anchoring. Despite my best efforts I managed to miss the changeover by about 10 seconds though. For some reason, I just wasn't expecting another Leeds City Legend Alan Buckley to be finishing so strongly! I soon got my skates on though and got my head down. Leeds City coach, Phil Townsend informed me there was a Tyne Bridge guy about 15-20s up the road so I made him my target. I soon reeled him in. I felt so strong, but inside absolutely cursing myself for not being at the start on time. That would mean I'd have to run even faster to beat my team mates' times! As many readers will know anything shorter than 26.2 is a bit of a struggle for me!  But today, I felt great absolutely brilliant. I pushed on, running strongly and seeing that there was a couple more people I could over take before the finish. I had no idea whether they were on the same leg as me or not, but it didn't matter, use them as a target. Focus the cross hairs and pop them off one by one. I crossed the line taking the B-team up to 9th overall and first B-Team! Official time was 12:03 which was good enough for second fastest Leeds City B-Team runner. Having done a bit of Strava Analysis it seems I missed the start by about  nine seconds so worth an 11:54 which I'm actually really chuffed with. I then quickly did a four mile Easy Tempo to get some more miles in before the trip back across the Pennines.

Coming into the finish.

I don't want to sound or even feel smug as there's still a long way to go. But I honestly feel this is going to be a special year for me. I think I can finally start to be the runner I always dreamed I would be.

It was interesting to see that my weight actually went up this week despite losing some fat. That means my body has built some lean body mass which is no bad thing. I think my nutrition is in a really good place and although I doubt I'll get down to 9% BF before London I actually feel stronger, maybe not fitter just yet, than I ever have before.




Sunday 17 March 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 6 of 12

M Easy 90 mins (7:30mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:06mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:39mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 5X30s accelerations (7:34mm)
105 mins inc. 5X2miles (0.75M Easy), Recovery 35 mins (7:53mm)
T Easy 30 mins inc 5X20s strides (7:31mm), Easy 95 mins (7:12mm)
F Easy 90 mins (7:36mm)
S 145 mins inc. 10M Moderate, 10M Easy Tempo (5:55mm)
S Easy 100 mins (7:36mm), Easy 35 mins (6:57mm)

Total 125.4 miles (7:05mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 1001 beats per mile
Weight 142.83 lbs
Body Fat 11.37% (16.25lbs)
Lean Body Mass 88.63% (126.4lbs)

Fitness 83.4 Vs 79.7
Fatigue 100.6 Vs 92.3
Form -18.7 Vs -4.4 (Optimal)

Shagged. Absolutely shagged. Not sure if it is the relentless wind or the lashing rain that has contributed to my tiredness or just 'mid-marathon training syndrome' this week but it's been a struggle to get out there some days. With the alarm going off and hearing the window straining under a shower of rain bullets it would have been so much easier to say 'forget it, I'm too old for this shit'. But something stirs, something ignites me as the alarm goes. I count down from five and then jump out of bed. Just a few more weeks, you've come so far, keep going, this one is going to be it! I knew I was due a week where tiredness would be all consuming and the doubts would creep in. Can I pull this off? Why does it matter? It doesn't. It's not important at all but it kind of is. To me. I still want to be able to look back and see what I achieved. Whatever I end up running on the 28th April it will be the culmination of all these weeks training and frustrating months injured prior. I know things are going well, really well. If anyone would have told me I'd be anywhere close the fitness I'm in right now, three months ago I would have bitten their hand off like a ravenous piranha. So I have taken it on the chin this week, this is what marathon training is all about, learning to endure. I will gain so much from the week just banked, that when the going gets tough on the Embankment I am well equipped to throw some punches of my own.

Last week's Spen 20 must have taken something out of me, not least because as I write this I am only just getting full feeling back into my forearms! It was so cold! Did I mention that last week?!?!

Anyway, the plan was to get back into the miles with a couple of sessions. The wind was even more repugnant on Wednesday so I opted for my session of 5X2miles on the treadmill at 1% gradient. I'd much rather stare at the back of my garage door for an hour and forty five minutes than be battered left to right like George Foreman was in the Rumble in the Jungle. The session went well with me gradually picking up the pace throughout. The last one was by far the hardest however and I was almost certainly above threshold at this point. They averaged 5:26.5 per mile pace. Of course running on the TM is not the same as outdoors but with a calibrated footpod and with the TM set at 1% to mimic the effect of air resistance it probably wasn't too far off being 'true'.

I'd been in touch with Mike to tell him how my session went and he mentioned that one of his other runners did a 20 mile run with 10 moderate, and 10 easy tempo. I had been dabbling with the thought of doing something similar at the weekend so thought I'd give it a go with some easy miles before and after. Again the weather was hideous, but at least the wind had died down to a 'slovenly' 15 mph. I went through the first 10 miles in 60:46 and the second 10 in 57:31, so I averaged 6:05 and 5:45s for the splits. The first half felt pretty boring if truth be told and I kept wanting to up the pace but knew it would get tough later on. I wasn't wrong although it wasn't really until the last three miles that I started to grow some weighty legs. So most of it felt fine, but doing these runs fasted it was inevitable that after c1hr 40 of running fairly hard my body would start to wonder when it was going to get some energy. If you click on the link above you will see that my HR rose gradually from 14 miles onwards, reaching just below marathon HR in the last mile. I suspect this was due to me running low on my glycogen stores. I had a gel in my pocket 'just in case' but I was keen to do it on empty as I know the training stimulus is so magnified when you can. I had taken a couple of gels at Spen last week to make sure I could still stomach them so I really didnt need to on this run.

I picked up an interesting book this week called Run with Power by Jim Vance. As most folks will now power is everything in cycling from a training and racing perspective and running is gradually catching on to the trend. I'm only half way into the book but so far it has helped me understand that there may be other improvements I can make for optimal training. In fact on Sunday, I tried a couple of different strategies for my runs. Running at much higher cadence than I usually do. My cadence at marathon pace tends to be around 165-167 steps per minute and for easy runs it is in the region of 160. This is very low. In upping my cadence I hope it will help with my efficiency. It certainly felt odd to be taking such shorter strides on these runs and I certainly had to concentrate as it felt rather unnatural. The aim with power meter training is obviously to try and get more speed per watt! The power in Watts generated from my Garmin 645 and HRM-Run strap is a fairly arbitrary figure but as anyone that reads my blog will know, I like to see trends in my training so will start to look at this in a bit closer detail. It may even give me more metrics to obsess over!

So a good week, in fact no a great week. I actually feel more rested now having done 125 miles than I did for most of the week. It may also have something to do with some more runner-friendly weather being forecast this week.

Fitness is increasing and Form is moving back into the optimal zone. Aerobic efficiency is down but as I said, I think this is largely due to the tiredness I have experienced. Also, the fact that runs outside have mainly been in terrible conditions and those on the TM, even recovery runs with 1% incline seem to be coming in slightly less efficient than they would outside.




Sunday 10 March 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 5 of 12

M Easy 60 mins, Moderate 40 mins , 5 mins Easy (6:47mm), Recovery 30 mins (7:59mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:15mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:12mm)
W 115mins inc. 24mins, 18 mins, 12 mins, 6 mins, 3 mins (3:00) (6:24mm)
T 75 mins (7:14mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:05mm)
F Rest
S Easy 90 mins (7:19mm)
S 140 mins inc Spen 20 (5:54mm)

Total 105 miles (6:52mm)
Aerobic Efficiency 978 beats per mile Vs 1005 last week

Fitness 79.7 Vs 78.4
Fatigue 92.3 Vs 100.2
Form -4.4 Vs -27.2 (Neutral)


The ability to adapt in a marathon cycle is incredibly important. With the best will in the world, one can write a training plan of what they want to do but only one thing is guaranteed; you wont do everything that it says. And nor should you. This week has been a classic 'bump in the road' that is so common in a build up to a target race.

I felt great at the beginning of the week, like things were really starting to come together and was excited about Wednesday's session. I was in London Tuesday and Wednesday with work and planned to get up and do laps of Victoria Park. Although I managed to do this, the session was very hard and the resultant paces were nowhere near where I expected. I ran these to effort rather than a defined pace, and it's a good job. As I'd have been done after the first effort had I tried to hit my hoped for paces. The session which is usually one of my favourites was 24 mins, 18 mins, 12 mins, 6 mins, 3 mins all off three mins jog recovery. The aim is to gradually get quicker throughout the session starting at just a bit below marathon effort. This came in at 5:46 pace, the 18 at 5:39 pace, 12 at 5:34, 6 at 5:25 and 3 at 5:13. Following the session I couldn't help wondering why it had been so tough. Had the cumulative fatigue started to catch up with me? Was I coming down with a virus? In truth even the warm up felt harder than it should. I then noted that Tuesday had been a particularly busy day and so I totted up how much food I had eaten and quickly realised that that was the problem. I simply went in completely underfuelled for the session. My aerobic efficiency on this run was 1011 beats per mile which was the worst of the week by far, when usually these sessions represent my most efficient! I made it the plan therefore to get back on top of my nutrition and have a really good feed. Thursday went much better and was back to 'normal'. I was still tired though so decided to have a complete rest day on Friday. Again this was unplanned, but sometimes one has to make an executive decision no matter how tough it is on the psyche!

The second hard run of the week was to be my long run incorporating the Spen 20. This race takes in much of the same route as the Liversedge Half I did a few weeks ago and so I knew it would be very hilly. I had never planned to race it all out as I am nervous about doing really hard 20 mile races in a marathon build up. So my aim was to run at a HR around 170 for the whole thing, around 5bpm below my marathon HR. This is therefore a very decent aerobic pace but not redlining by any stretch. Despite my car key dropping out of my shorts in the first mile and me having to go back for it and dodge all the oncoming runners, I was quickly back into the groove and got back on terms with the leading group which included mate Scott Harrington of Otley AC. All was going well in the early miles despite the horrible conditions. Little did I know that they were going to get much much worse! I hit 10 miles in around 57 miles and was gradually getting in a position to take the lead. I had perhaps foolishly discarded my gloves by this point as my hands felt like blocks of ice. They got worse however as all of a sudden we were greeted with a massive snow storm with flakes the size of tennis balls.




I pushed on still feeling OK, but now my hands were completely numb with stabbing pins and needles. I shook them vigorously trying to get the blood back into them. All of a sudden I noticed that I couldn't maintain my effort and my pace was slowing. I tried to run faster, but it seemed my body was preserving itself. My HR dropped and despite really trying I simply couldn't get it back up (ooo err misus). So what ensued was me running at what felt like a really really easy pace but unable to go any quicker. I genuinely think I was mildly hypothermic by this stage. At around the 15 mile mark the eventual winner Lewis Gamble-Thompson (New Marske and training for Manchester Marathon) came past me up a hill and continued to go away. From there, I made the decision not to give chase, not that I think my body would have let me anyway! I finished in 2nd place, but first Yorskhireman (Yorkshire 20mile Champ woo hoo!).

Photo courtesy of Mrs Harrington


So a somewhat bizarre week and not exactly how I thought things would go! Interesting that the day off really did lift my freshness quite substantially and I'm hoping that I can crack on fairly swiftly from here given the race essentially ended up being a 'moderate' 20!

Key things learned this week:


  • Always make sure you're fuelled up the day before a hard long session! 
  • Don't be surprised when your body does something unexpected, in adverse conditions.
  • Keep the faith, this is all coming together nicely.


Monday 4 March 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 4 of 12



M Easy 60 mins, moderate 40 mins, 5 mins easy (6:58mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 4X30s accelerations (8:03mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:24mm)
W 125 mins inc 10X1M MP(0.5M easy) (6:14mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:36mm)
T Easy 100 mins (7:40mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 4X30s accelerations (7:52mm)
F Easy 90mins (7:31mm), Recovery 30 mins (7:54mm)
S 155 mins including Progressive 22 (6:24mm)
S Easy 90 mins (7:33mm)

Total 124 miles (7:07mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1005 beats per mile Vs 1021 last week
Weight 142.4 lbs Vs 143.63lbs lbs last week
Body Fat 11.22% (15.98lbs) Vs 11.66% (16.74lbs)
Lean Body Mass 84.33% (120.08lbs) Vs 83.89% (120.49lbs)
Water 63.46% (90.37lbs) Vs 62.93% (90.39lbs)


Fitness - 78.4 Vs 73.8
Fatigue - 100.2 Vs 96.1
Form - -27.2 (Optimal) Vs -25.8(Optimal)





They say patience is a virtue. Is it though? Does one become 'good' by being patient? Does one get 'lucky' by waiting around? Does one gain desirable qualities by doing nothing? No they don't, people have to commit if they want to get where they want. It doesn't happen over night so for that part I get the patience bit but without commitment and creating the opportunity in the first place you'll get nowhere. Fast. At the start of the year, I was super-fired up about this year's running. I didn't feel injured and I was excited about what was to come, but with it that means time and hard, repeated work. I knew I wouldn't see breakthrough's every day or week but if I could be patient and most importantly committed, then those breakthroughs would come. In time. It comes back to what I wrote about last week in that consistency is a runner's best friend. Not a single session, not a mileage target, not a race time in the middle of a build up. The're all parts of the jigsaw but the completed picture is one of how consistent the build-up happened to be. I believe I am creating that consistency in my own training by being disciplined with getting it done, not pushing too hard and just letting the training take effect.


Last week I mentioned that my aerobic efficiency didn't improve for the week but this week it has quite nicely. My easy and recovery runs are much quicker for the same HR & effort and this is not because of what I did last week but because of what I have done over the previous nine weeks, and to an extent the past 10 years! It's currently sitting at 1005 beats per mile which means I'm fit but not quite at my best, but I knew that. When it gets down to averaging around 950-960 per mile I know I will be in really good shape. Thankfully I still have 8 weeks to go! I will write a separate post soon about Running Economy and how I believe aerobic efficiency is the most easily measurable metric to observe this trend over time.


The first key session of this week was a 20 miler with 10X1mile at MP with half a mile easy recovery. It was perfect conditions; no wind to speak of, cool and as ever I did my session on the flattest loop near where I live. I took the first effort easy and it came in at 5:39, but then gradually picked up with the following nine averaging 5:27mm and the last one the quickest of them all at 5:22. Recoveries were not done at a complete jog either, averaging 6:55s. 5:27 is still a touch slower than marathon PB pace but that doesn't concern me in the slightest. They were all comfortable perhaps with the exception of the last one where I was starting to accumulate lactate.


I then repeated last week's progressive hilly 22 miler and it was pleasing to see that I was around two minutes forty quicker this week for an almost identical effort. My aerobic efficiency for this week's run was 986 beats per mile versus 998 last week.


Continuing to see improvements in body composition this week with a bit more fat lost. I seemed to have lost a bit of lean body mass too which is inevitable but I need to try and ensure I don't lose too much as this is generally helpful weight to have! I wrote a somewhat controversial post the other day about trying to achieve optimal body composition. I want to stress that the body weight itself is irrelevant, it's the composition that is important. I have noticed the day after a long run for example that my weight shoots up by a good few pounds. I was 139.6lbs after my long run on Saturday, but then 146 after Sunday's run. This just goes to show that the body is a brilliant adaptable machine. My body fat percentage was the same after each run but I was storing 5lbs more water. This is due to the body's response to the long run. Fluid will be retained to help with the recovery process and also because it was a long run, the muscles also drink up the carbohydrate to store for another time, this naturally creates weight gain, even if it isn't fat. I fully expect that the body will get back to homeostasis some point during the week.

Sunday 24 February 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 3 of 12

M Easy 105 mins (7:41mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:35mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:41mm)
W 100 mins including 4X15mins (3:00) (6:12mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:15mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:39mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:19mm)
F Easy 100mins (7:33mm), Recovery 30 mins inc. 6X20s strides (8:06mm)
S 155 mins including Progressive 22 (6:31mm)
S Easy 100 mins (7:41mm)

Total 120 miles (7:20mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1021 beats per mile
Weight 143.63lbs Vs 144.63 lbs last week
Body Fat 11.66% ( 16.74lbs) Vs 12.3% (17.8lbs) 
Lean Body Mass 83.89% (120.49lbs) Vs 83.31% (120.49lbs)
Water 62.93% (90.39lbs) Vs 62.03% (89.71lbs)

Fitness - 73.8 Vs 68.9
Fatigue - 96.1 Vs 86.4
Form - -25.8(Optimal) Vs -7(Neutral)


In 63 days this little chapter will have concluded. 63 days! Shit! 63 DAYS. Nine weeks sounds loads but 63 days sounds like nothing! Will I do it, wont I? Do I have enough time? Do I have too much? Life would be so simple if we could just rock up on the start line and know we were in the shape of our lives on that one day. It's never so simple. Not only is the marathon itself a curious beast but judging the build up and taper is enough to give anyone a headache.

I have tried to embrace my 'inner-Kipchoge' this week and trust the process. Kipchoge didn't wake up one morning as the Greatest distance runner of all time. He worked for it. Every day. If he had 63 days to his race, he wouldn't be panicking. Kipchoge believed in the process. He believed that it was the daily practice of repeating the monotonous things time after time that would get him there. Yes, he has an inner belief in himself. I do too. I am sure however that he has moments of doubt. Moments where he thinks he's bitten off more than he can chew. Whilst I am no Kipchoge and never will be, we can all learn from the greats. Everyone has set backs along the way, there are bumps in the road and no one thing will make any slightest difference to the outcome. Over time, consistency and progress will conquer all. I need to believe that no one session will make this campaign. I remember back to London 2015 and I struggled to hit just about every single session the way I wanted, but I still managed to get a PB.

Photo: Gettty Images

The two key sessions this week were 4X15 mins and my long run consisting of two laps of my 11 mile Lydiard loop. The 15 minute efforts went well averaging 5:36.5 per mile feeling not too uncomfortable. A useful reminder to keep the glycogen stores topped up the day before a session as I accomplished this session well compared to last week's effort where 5:43 pace felt almost impossible! The long run was done at an easy/moderate pace progressing to moderate/easy tempo for the last few miles. Putting in a strong aerobic effort. It felt really good to be running strongly on the bumps of south Leeds. I then spent the afternoon watching the enthralling National XC Championships at Harewood House and Leeds City's Men and Women winning on home turf! I was a little gutted not to be running but I would also have hated to have missed watching it! My voice is a little hoarse today after shouting on my team mates and many running friends from around the country. 

Weight has dropped by exactly one pound which I think is healthy weight loss. Extrapolating to the marathon I could get down to something around 135lbs which would hopefully be around 8% body fat. This would also represent my ideal racing weight.

It was pleasing to build the mileage to the sort of level that I want to maintain for much of this build up feeling strong. I am ensuring I am keeping the easy days very easy to give myself the best chance of hitting my planned sessions. I have linked a graph to my body composition metrics here or you can click on the tab at the top of the blog. 

Training stress balance is now in a perfect place to continue to get fitter judging by the elevate app and whilst aerobic efficiency didn't improve versus last week, I suspect there will be a few breakthroughs over the next three-four weeks. 


Sunday 17 February 2019

Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 2 of 12

M 95 mins including 7X1mile (1/2 mile) (6:22mm)
T Easy 100 mins (7:41mm), 30 mins Recovery (8:47mm)
W Easy 40 mins, 2miles moderate (6:57mm)
T Recovery 30 mins (7:59mm), 75 mins including aborted session (6:43mm)
F Easy 60 mins (7:14mm), 30 mins Recovery (8:06mm)
S Easy 105 mins (7:41mm)
S 135 mins including Liversedge Half

Total 103 miles (7:06mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1020 beats per mile
Weight 144.63 lbs Vs 145.5lbs last week
Body Fat 12.3% (17.8lbs) Vs 12.43% (18.1lbs)
Lean Body Mass 83.31% (120.49lbs) Vs 83.2% (121.1lbs)
Water 62.03% (89.71lbs) Vs 61.93% (90.14lbs)

Fitness - 68.9 Vs 64.4
Fatigue - 86.4 Vs 66.4
Form - -7(Neutral) Vs 0.9(Neutral)


Fitness trending up and fatigue starting to as well.

A busy week this week with work, travelling twice to London and once over the Penines to Manchester so I was worried about how the training might go. After last week's 71 miles I thought I'd be in a position to ramp up in terms of miles and if structured correctly could squeeze in three hard runs.

I did a big session of 7X1mile on Monday. I had been hoping to do 8 but I ruined the session if I'm honest and ran the middle few a bit too quick meaning an 8th would have been futile. I averaged 5:16 for the efforts which is decent but I would have rather eight  8 at 5:20s as more time spent around my current Lactate Threshold will help build the fitness quickly. That said I was very chuffed to be running so quickly as it's been a long time since I have done a session as quick as that!

I then moved onto Thursday with easy running in between and had hoped to run a repeat of last week's 20 mins, 4X3mins, 20 misn session but a bit quicker. Even before I started the efforts it all felt just a bit too hard. My breathing was elevated and I was probably carrying too much fatigue from travelling to London the day previously. I started the first 20 minute effort and it averaged 5:43 but felt way harder than that. I had been hoping it would be 5:40-5:35 feeling quite comfortable. I was worried about what the 3 minute efforts would transpire as. As expected they were tough too and I only decided to do two of them and then just run the rest at an easy pace. Even the easy felt hard though and I felt very low on glycogen. This was confirmed when I got home and weighed myself. I weighed in at 142.6lbs which was around 2 lbs less than my average weight for the week. When one is glycogen replete they will naturally be a bit heavier due to the additional water that is paired with each molecule of glycogen. I ensured that the mission for the next couple of days was to get enough carbohydrate in my system for the Liversedge half on Sunday as well as get some very easy miles in.

I won this race unexpectedly in 2017 and it remains my one last performance that I'm actually proud of! It is a really hilly (c1000ft of elevation) course and the weather on the day was horrific, snowing, gales. It was a base layer, gloves, mittens and woolly hat job! Even so I loved it, and I loved it today also. I went with my neighbour and close friend Chris who was a little anxious about the race as it was to be the furthest he'd run since Yorkshire Marathon last year. Needless to say there was no need to panic and he too really enjoyed the challenge of the course. I had no expectations of winning as I know I'm not in the form I was in 2017 and also Joe Sagar of Spenborough and Gareth Cooke of Penistone were both running. I knew they were in better shape than I am given recent race results. The first mile is rapidly downhill and even in my state of fitness I managed a sub five! I was only in about 5th position at this point with Joe and Gareth already way into the distance. I ran to feel, being careful never to go over my LT, until right towards the end. Around the 6th mile I caught up with Gareth Cooke who was sitting in second place. this was at the bottom of the second huge descent. Gareth had clearly been jogging it though whereas I had imagined I had a pair of heelies on and whizzed down the mountain. I still felt good however, but Gareth was obviously being very reserved. He quickly upped his pace and moved away. It was then a fairly lonely run to the end, but I enjoyed the challenge of the hills and the sights are magnificent at certain points. As I reached the 11 mile marker I decided that I would really try and empty the tank a bit so pushed on. the pace didnt get any quicker but I'd certainly moved up the scale in terms of effort. As I rounded the final corner, I was so chuffed to have put in a decent performance. I finished in something not too far over 75 minutes and in third place. The beauty of doing a half like Liversedge is that it cant leave you feeling mentally wobbly about what sort of shape you're in. Mile splits vary so much that your strava feed reads more like an interval session than a steady race effort! Big kudos goes to Joe for running 70:44 for the win. An excellent time on that course. I have no doubt he could run under 68 minutes on a flat course with company. It'd also help if he actually did some miles in training! ;-) 




Photos courtesy of Dave Woodhead


Weight has dropped a little over the week which is pleasing but also pleased to say I'm not doing anything too drastic. 

I feel in a really good place right now, with a 100 mile week under my belt and 10 weeks to go. With a bit of luck I could time this peak to perfection. I've just got to keep focused and not do anything stupid.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

Why Blog?



I’ve pondered for some time why it is that I blog. I haven’t done it forever and anyone that reads will know my posts have been far more sporadic than they used to be. This is not because I don’t have anything to say. I do. But there just hasn’t been any purpose to my running. Mainly because of injury. And without running what good is a running blog? 

I originally started my blog after following Steve Way’s and decided to largely plagiarise his format. It worked to give an overview of the week’s training and a place to put my introspective thoughts down in written form. I wrote it to support my own mental fragility that I wasn’t good enough or didn’t have the training banked to get the results in races I craved. I loved to see my own progress from week to week as I followed a clear plan.

Am I a narcissist? Maybe a bit. Depending on how a millennial is defined, I can just about claim to be one and as anyone knows that reads the popular press my generation are all about ‘me, me, me.’

Do I care about what people think of me? My training? Do people think I’m an idiot for my approach to training? Do folks think my anal scrutinisation of every aspect of my training to be dull, interesting, worthless? Do people think I’m a dreamer? Unrealistic? Talented? Lucky? Hard working? Inspiring? Do they ask: how can someone running 33:43 for 10k possibly have a chance, or even dare to believe he is capable of breaking 2:20 for the marathon in a matter of weeks?

Does any of this matter?

No.

I’ve always run for me. I’ve always blogged for me. I’ve made great life-long friends because of both these aspects of my life. It has helped mould me into the person I am today. For better or worse.

I am a runner. I am a blogger. I am a husband, a father and yes I am also a dreamer. I will chase my dreams, no matter how arbitrary they are. 

For without dreams we may as well be dead.