Almost There...

23 Days to Go

I've made it to the final week of hard training before experiencing the twin dreads of any runner. On Monday it was getting lost - an impressive achievement considering there was a group of five of us and we were running in Birmingham where we all live. Still, made it back to the club having only run about two miles more than planned. Just remind me in future to ignore anyone offering an 'interesting' detour during a club run.

Tonight, brought an even worse fate - getting caught short whilst out on a run. Luckily I'd decided to do my reps over at Rowheath rather than Cannon Hill owing to the likely crowds post-cricket, so could just dip over to the Pavilion for my ablutions before resuming the 1km repeats. I don't think they were particularly quick (probably out that down to post-work malaise) but it's the thought that counts eh?

Tomorrow I think that I'll do the run home from work. It will probably be my last one for a fair old while which makes me feel a bit sad in an odd way...

As an aside, I noticed last night that there was a Reykjavik Marathon Strava group which of course I immediately joined. Sadly it was a bit underwhelming - comprising me and a bloke from Wallasey. Just hope that there's a bigger turnout on the day!

Towards the End of Things...

26 Days to Go

Almost there! Tomorrow is the start of the final week of hard training. To be honest, it's really only the thought of the imminent tapering that is keeping me going. It was a hard slog this weekend, not only with running but also having to drive up and down the M6 to fulfil my social responsibilities.

Switched my long run to Saturday morning and managed 18 miles (this was the prescribed distance - not sure I could manage the 14 at marathon pace though) on a simple route along the canal into town and back. I managed to dodge most of the bad weather - although I should really have taken my phone so I could have snapped some of the many Owls that it has now become my mission to visit.

An important lesson was learned on the way back as by mile 16 I was really struggling and convinced  that my pace was dropping off somewhat drastically. However when I finally stumbled home and looked, the running had stayed pretty consistent. It just goes to reinforce how important the psychological aspect of any race is - particularly stupidly long ones like marathons!

After that it was a dart up the motorway for Martyn and Jen's housewarming in Warrington. A really nice day and a good catch-up with the crew and assorted children. It must have been a good night as I woke up in the kindly provided guest room with one of their cats effectively asleep on my head. At least it kept me warm!

Strange times indeed. 

Groundhog Day

30 Days to Go

Wednesday is usually when I run home from work as the easiest way to fit in a run of a decent distance during the week. This means that I have the following conversation with someone in the office when I walk through in my running gear on the way out:

"Off for a run are you?"

"Yep, I'm running home."

"Really? How far is that then?"

"About ten miles."

"Well good luck with that then."

Since I only have a week and a half left before the taper begins, next week will probably be the last time I do it, so the two or so people who haven't had this thrilling conversation yet should probably form an orderly queue. 

The run itself was quite good - and done at a fair old whack. I even did a cheeky extra detour to Cannon Hill to make it up to 13 miles. It's probably not surprising, considering I could hardly claim to have been overworked today - very difficult to be motivated when you've spent the day say in a windowless office on your own. Seriously, this is the second day in a row. If it happens again tomorrow I'll just assume everyone else has been sacked in the latest round of cost-cutting, or the long mooted office move has actually happened when I was off on Monday.

Worryingly, I did spend a portion of time on Street View having a look at portions of the marathon course.

This is not the behaviour of a rational man...

Back in the Club

Week Fourteen - 32 Days to Go

Like 50 Cent almost said, tonight I was at the club for the first Monday run in about three months. I felt a bit like the new boy at school as there were lots of people who I'd never seen before in my life! Luckily, Mike Scotney was back from his holidays so I could have a bit of a catch-up and have someone to run with. I got back into the swing of things pretty quickly - mainly because the main topic of conversation was the amazing medal I received from the Windmill Half yesterday. I can see a coach trip to next year's race so that everyone else can get their hands on one...

The route itself was good old Cannon Hill Park - which I seem to run all the time with all this training. By now I'm half convinced that I could probably do it blindfolded. I was hoping for a nice easy run, but it worked out at about 7:15 pace. Mike blamed me, but I'm pretty sure he was in front for most of it! Either way, good to be back and running with a group.

Back to work tomorrow which promises to be as fun as running into a gale force headwind. Pretty sure that everyone else is off so no doubt a large pile of effluent is sat on my desk awaiting immediate action. I haven't even got leftover food from Ramadan fast breaking to look forward to! 

I would normally say what my running plans are for the rest of the week, however since I've been away all weekend and left the 'The Plan' at home, I'm not exactly sure. As I'm building to the end though, I'm not exactly expecting a pleasant surprise...

Last Big Effort

33 Days to Go

Final big warm-up race today and like the Black Country Half a fortnight ago, the weather put paid to a really quick time. I headed up the Fylde Coast to sunny Lytham to take part in the Windmill Half Marathon and although the temperature had dropped from the last few days, there was a really strong headwind to contend with.

The course was almost pancake flat, so good practice for the terrain at Reykjavik, but the wind was about 20 mph and thanks to the race being two laps meant that just over half of it was run straight into it. It became pretty apparent after about six miles that this wasn't going to be a PB day - in fact checking Strava afterwards, the wind-less sections were well ahead of my best time, but were cancelled out by the windy ones. 

So I ended about 45 seconds off my PB, but I wasn't too disappointed given the conditions. Most importantly I managed to pace things properly, wasn't overtaken by anyone, and finished strongly. Two more weeks of hard training and then the blessed relief of the taper. Overall, I'm feeling quietly confident of a decent showing on the big day.

Actually, the best thing about today was the amazing medals they were giving out to all finishers. I'm pretty sure that you'd have to go a long way to find a better one..

Getting There Slowly

38 Days to Go

I made it through the weekend, not sure how but I did. The decision to try a 20 mile run after work on Sunday was admirable but completely stupid. Dragging myself along the Rea Valley path to the general bemusement of the public wasn't particularly pleasant - but at least I was sensible enough to go the opposite way round to normal so that I had to run down Church Road rather than up it.

On the plus side, I've found that mowing the lawn is a good warm-down exercise!

The weekend took it out of me so despite finishing the acting, I didn't head to the club on Monday or got the gym and instead just fell asleep for two hours. I did make the committee meeting, and it was nice to get a bit of praise for my recent results, although in a way it's putting added pressure on me for a good time.

Not much else exciting running wise this week. Some form of tootle out tomorrow, a spot of marshalling on Thursday and then a trip back up north for the weekend. I plan to have a relax and a few shandies with friends, run the second tune-up half marathon in glamorous Lytham and even have a bit of a run around the old haunts if time permits. 

Work wise, confusion still reigns. It appears that I still have a job, although I am not exactly sure what it involves anymore....

Getting the Monkey off your back...

42 Days to Go

It's getting closer. Just as Monday's play became a horribly tangible reality a few weeks ago, so the Marathon begins to loom ever larger. I was shocked at work today when I looked and saw that the race is now only seven weeks away.

Luckily today has been a successful, if busy one. The play was absolutely amazing, fluffed lines and missed queues aside (to be honest, no-one in the audience really noticed). Hopefully we will be doing something else as a group - I've even embraced the modern world and joined a WhatsApp group with some of them! Handily, the proposed day for more acting shenanigans is Wednesday - which means that I can finally return to Bournville for both club training sessions!

Another big milestone reached this week, with my first proper sub-40 minute 10k race at Droitwich for the third Worcestershire Midweek Series event. To say I was surprised is a bit of an understatement, particularly after I only remembered about the race on the morning. I also didn't have the best warm-up with the longest jog from the car park to the start that I've ever seen and a course that was a lot more undulating than advertised. Despite this, I managed to drag myself round in a great time - probably spurred on by the approaching Bournville pack and a man who appeared to be twice my age!

After a first ever Yoga session at the club last night (which taught me two things - I don't stretch enough, and that yoga bloody hurts) and a dash out after work tonight, I'm set fair for the weekend. Unfortunately this means two days of work and what is down in the schedule as the longest run of the whole training programme! Assuming I make it to Monday morning in one piece, I think I'll be in a good position to place a time estimate for the big day - especially with the last big warm-up race in the diary for next weekend. 

As an extra bonus, I'll be likely in so much pain come Monday from all this running that it might distract me from the meeting scheduled for the afternoon to finally reveal the future details of my employment. Bad news can always be digested much easier with lactic acid build-up...

The heat is on...

48 Days to Go

Blimey, it's been hot!

I managed 13 miles home from work on Tuesday evening after deciding it was likely to be the coolest  evening this week - that said, I still managed to down a litre bottle of water on the way back. Just as well, otherwise it would have been a particularly unpleasant experience. Wednesday was supposed to be a VO2 max workout, but a combination of the hottest day of the year and final rehearsals for the stage debut (Tickets still available) rather sensibly put paid to that.

After a nice strength workout at club on Thursday, and a quick blast on Friday, the stage was set for the Birmingham Black Country Half Marathon on Saturday. It's a straight point to point along the canal from Wolverhampton back to Brum with the flat terrain pretty similar to Reykjavik so a decent choice for a tune up race.

My plan was to try and maintain slightly quicker than the planned marathon pace - which with the temperature in the mid twenties was going to easier said than done. When I signed up for the race, I was mindful that previous years have seen the race extended to about 14 miles due to a repair enforced detour, so set a conservative estimated time in anticipation. As it happened, the canal was now fully fixed so the race was back to the right distance but my estimated time was useful as it gave me a constant stream of people to run at.

The race was tough in the conditions, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that the marathon in eight weeks will be run in temperatures at best half of what they were today. My overall time of 1:30:58 was pleasing as well - it meant that I was slightly quicker than marathon pace as intended. The mileage was pretty consistent as well, with most within five seconds of each other. The only outlier was the one involving running through the infamous canal tunnel at Coseley. 300m in the murky darkness is faintly terrifying.

So just a long run to brave tomorrow and then another week of training ticked off. My reward in the evening will be a trip to gig for the first time in months and then the play on Monday. Having a social life again following the Uni course is taking some getting used to!