The Business End

8 Days to Go

The big day looms ever closer, this time next week I'll probably be entertaining thoughts of an early night before the race when in reality I'll be lying awake all night. Before then, I reached another milestone with my final session of speed work of the whole programme.

To the general bemusement of my running comrades, I decided to enter the annual BRAT 5k that takes place around Rowheath. People wondered why on earth I was doing it a week before the race but there was method in my madness. 'The Plan' called for 8 miles running with 3 x 1500 hard reps, so I thought that an actual 5k race would be an adequate substitute.

There is also the fact that this particular race and I have unfinished business. It was the first proper race that I ever ran - only a few weeks after joining the club and only to try and impress a girl. After wheezing my way around for the first time and cursing myself for my stupidity I developed a special hatred for the event - compounded by the subsequent three years when I failed to dip under 20 minutes on each occasion.

This year, the race again lived up to billing with a hard slog over two laps leaving me absolutely knackered at the end. That said, I did manage to knock twenty seconds off last year's time so a good psychological boost for next week. No doubt despite my protestations I'll be back again next year - who knows, I might even learn to pace it properly rather than going all guns blazing at the downhill start and frantically trying to hang on at the end...

One more 12 mile run booked in for Sunday and then it's basically all over bar the shouting. Time to start packing.

Overthinking...

16 Days to Go

This is already getting ridiculous, I'm only three days into the taper and I'm already climbing the walls metaphorically speaking. It certainly wasn't this bad last year. Monday's club run was a nice, steady effort - apart from the first two miles which I did at a daft pace in order to catch up with Mike and friends. Not sure why I did this - it's obviously of no benefit, and there are lots of other nice people in the club to run with!

After a day off yesterday apart from a trip to gym, tonight brought another rep session. The plan of 5 lots of 600m runs was successfully executed over at Rowheath with extra points for dodging both the showers, a man flying a kite and the inevitable group of the youth. Managed to do the 8 miles and make it back before 7 o'clock which was a rare triumph.

Despite this activity, the mind is still racing ahead to the big day. I keep catching myself checking the weather forecast for Reykjavik - which is entirely useless since the race is still over two weeks away. There's meticulous planning and then there's a descent into outright madness! Hopefully Saturday's race at Stourbridge will help to burn off some nervous energy. 

It's either that, or start planning my Iceland itinerary...

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...

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!

Running Whilst Ginger

53 Days to Go

A pretty uneventful rest of week running wise, I needed the period of recovery after recent efforts and it seems that most of the runs were roughly the same pace - which either means that I'm not overtraining or I've become defiantly one paced. Time will tell...

The biggest difficulty this week was the delayed onset of summer and the warm weather. For a ginger person like myself, it's never pleasant and even worse when exercising. The sweat begins to pour off me almost as soon as I leave the house so carrying bottles will probably be the order of the day from now on. I might even scare the neighbours by switching to a vest for my runs out.

A quick swap of the schedules for this week thanks to juggling work and tune-up races. According to 'The Plan', the first of two tune-up Half Marathons should be in two weeks however due to having to work that weekend I've instead opted for that old perennial the Birmingham Black Country Half Marathon this Saturday. I've therefore switched two weeks of the schedule - giving me a mini taper prior to the race. 

On one hand, the fact it's down the canal and therefore pretty flat in a similar way to Reykjavik means that it should be good practice. On the other hand, if the warm continues as anticipated then it could be less a race and more a war of attrition!

"A tide in the affairs of man..."

Week 10 - 58 Days to Go

A couple of days off from my weekend exertions so now back into training with abundance. Yesterday was the seemingly simple matter of an eight-ish mile recovery run. Unfortunately, the practicalities of running in warm weather when a bit ginger haunted me in abundance and it was a hard old slog - although bizarrely checking afterwards appeared to be almost exactly the same time as  the last occasion I ran the particular route. Strange indeed.

Today was tempered by the double whammy of a washing machine diagnosed as broken beyond repair and confirmation of changes at work. How this will affect me I am yet to find out, except that it will almost certainly hamper my ability to do my job. Roll on the end of the Masters course when I can hopefully secure alternative employment...

I tried to take my mind off things with the run - supposedly nine miles with 6 x 800m reps in the middle. Thanks to my woeful judging of distances, the choice of doing it on what passes for the track of Rowheath meant that by the time I got back I'd actually done about 10 and a half miles. Oops. 

On the plus side, the reps were consistently paced and no-one was about when I did them to laugh at me!

Rest Day tomorrow. I'm in two minds whether to head to the club or simply gym it. Variety is the spice of life after all...

Triumph and Disaster

61 Days to Go

The end of a pleasant week off, and I'm currently sat in my front room trying to drag out the last few hours before my return to the house of fun. All in all, it's been a good week with doing as little as possible being just what was required. Some good news on Friday with the release of the first year Uni grades where I just scrapped a first! Maybe the latest University tables, where Birmingham has dropped a few places are onto something.

Of course, you don't want to know about that - you want the latest instalment of the running adventures... 

Two solid training runs, and thanks to some spectacularly bad planning, two races (on consecutive days) were on the agenda. Friday evening brought my favourite race of the year - the Blakedown Bolt, 10k of multiterrain around the Clent Hills. It's a small race, but there was a good turnout from the club and thanks to the recent good weather conditions were almost bone dry underfoot so it was on for a good time. 

In the end I was about 90 seconds quicker than last year, probably buoyed by a combination of the enhanced training and being chased down by a particularly quick ginger chap (if nothing else, I am determined that I should be the fastest ginger runner in any race!) who is one of those annoying people who seems naturally fast without any training. As usual, I enjoyed it - even the ridiculous hill and stile combination at mile five.

With less than 24 hours rest, I then had to tackle the final Fourmidables Event, which necessitated another drive into the wilds of Shropshire - again the heavy rain. With the results of previous races meaning that, barring a catastrophe, I was guaranteed to finish second senior male - I could ease off a bit. We started in driving rain and annoyingly my Garmin decided not pick up a signal for the first half mile so I couldn't really pace myself properly.

Over the first two miles, I passed a steady stream of runners before the course went defiantly off road for the next section. The heavy rain meant that it was extremely slippy underfoot but I managed to stay ahead of the chasing pack - even lucking out when I crossed a field just in advance of a herd of cows, forcing those behind me to stop and wait. 

After a short climb, the rest of the course was pretty much steady or downhill but nevertheless I felt it in the legs after the day before and was glad to cross the finish line at the Gnosall Carnival to a smattering of applause. I have to say that I was impressed with the old-school nature of it - there was even a coconut shy and a tug of war competition. 

Impressively, I managed to get slightly lost on the quarter mile walk back to the car park which meant that went I finally got home, a well-earned rest was on the cards.

Today should have been a long run, but erring on the side of caution after two straight days of hard running, decided that it would almost certainly be an invitation to an injury so took to DIY instead. Despite my recent triumphs, I was brought back to earth with a bump after arriving back on Saturday to discover that my washing machine had decided to break. My rudimentary skills couldn't do anything so it looks like a repair bill is coming my way...

Sadly, although I may have improved the running in recent months, it's not by enough that a professional career beckons. Looks like I still need the day job to bring the money in. Speaking of which, sleep beckons before my triumphant return to the workplace. It could be a long day.

Rest and Recuperation

Quite an easy week so far - not in terms of the running, where I've been maintaining some high mileage - thanks to having a week off work. Thanks to my Masters course, this is probably the first bit of leave I've had in about eight months whenI haven't had essays or required reading to occupy my  time. I must admit to feeling slightly bereft waking up on Monday morning without any required tasks. Bereft, but not exactly unpleasant!

Running wise, it's been pretty straightforward. The free time has allowed me to follow 'The Plan' to the letter - which involved the usual Monday gym session before Tuesday's recovery run was split into two separate sessions in the morning and afternoon. It felt alright doing it, but I'm not exactly sure of the benefit. I guess time will tell...

Today I managed just shy of 14 miles, on the good old Rea Valley route. It was a hard slog due to the muggy conditions which are of course one of the hazards of marathon training through the summer. Still, made it round at a consistent pace.

Tomorrow is a nice easy day, helping out with the marshalling of the club beginner's course final race,  and then the social evening (if I remember to take some cash!). All of course just the warm-up for Friday's main event, the Blakedown Bolt - my favourite race of the year!

Normal Service Resumed

Week Seven - 79 Days to Go

First post in a while after an enforced absence - last week was a mandated recovery week, which meant less running. Handily this was a good thing as on Monday I sat my first and only exam for my Masters this year. Having not had the pleasure of a written exam for about 13 years, it was a fairly terrifying experience - compounded by the fact it all took place in an old gym which gave me flashbacks to my GCSEs!

Anyway, out of the way now so nothing else to occupy my spare time apart from training and rehearsals for my stage debut (here on the 6th July). Yesterday I went out and managed a five mile threshold run along the canal. As per usual, I was for too quick - which made for an undignified spectacle on the last mile. Even more concerning was that the five miles finished just by a children's play area - the one place you shouldn't really stand around panting and sweating profusely....

Tonight was my now customary run home from work, and as is now also customary the weather was very pleasant. It was so nice (and to be honest I felt in such good shape) that I added an extra mile and a bit on the end to make a half marathon distance. The pace was pretty consistent, save for the inevitable road crossings and having to negotiate a small army of ducks in Highbury Park. It seems the recovery week has done the trick, so far 'The Plan' is doing the business.

The next few days are planned to be easy runs, building for the weekend. For reasons I can't really remember, I've entered a 10k race in Worcester on Sunday morning. However, I think that I may be giving it a miss - although I think I'm in the kind of shape for a sub-40 minute time, it probably won't be any use for the training regime which calls for a 18-plus run on the Sunday. Besides, the Droitwich 10k is booked in for a few weeks time. Hopefully post-marathon I can reap the benefits of the training and post some quick times over the shorter distances.

Poor choice of words for a blog about marathon training but best not to walk before you can run!

"Crisis? What Crisis?"

Week Five - 93 Days to Go

Although willing to be proved wrong, it seems my fears at the back end of last week may have been misplaced. The two runs so far this week have been great, with a surprisingly good showing tonight at the Hagley 10k. I don't think that I'm psychologically cut out for running - being one of life's natural pessimists added to the inevitable niggles that come from training leaves me thinking that I am permanently on the verge of falling apart...

Anyway, back to tonight and the first race of the Worcestershire Midweek Series. I had wanted to try this last year but it sadly didn't fit in with my marathon training. This year however I thought that a few Wednesday night races would break up the training monotony so travelled over to Hagley for the first event.

I  must admit, it is a nice part of the world. Seemingly quiet and rural it reminds me a bit of home - albeit infinitely more hilly. The race was two laps over mainly bridle paths utilising parts of the Stourbridge Stagger/Stumble course. Armed with some inside knowledge that the best option at the start was to go hell for leather due to the race quickly turning left onto a narrow path, I was initially worried that I'd be able to maintain the pace. I think familiarity with part of the course helped and as I finished the first lap in just over 20 minutes started to focus on ensuring that I was the first Bournville finisher.

Lap two was certainly tougher, with the field spread out there were fewer opportunities to catch your breath behind a slower runner on the single file parts and the long uphill sandy section had been significantly churned up. Nevertheless, I managed to weather the storm and after engaging in a futile battle with a much quicker runner, crossed the line in 40:14.

My initial delight and slight confusion in seemingly almost running a 10k PB on a multi-terrain course was soon halted when I realised that the race was about .15 of a mile short of the full distance. That said, despite not admitting to any obsessive qualities, I later worked out what the time would have been over the full distance and it would easily have knocked a minute off my best multi-terrain time.

So overall, a pleasing couple of days training wise. I wish the same could be said for work - a 10-6 shift tomorrow will hopefully allow me to get back for training at the club barring any traffic madness. Based on my last late finish on club night however, I may be lucky to make it back before nightfall...

First Day Back

Week Four - 101 Days to Go

Just a quick entry tonight, I have been woefully neglecting reading for the solitary Uni exam in a few weeks, instead I've spend the night aimlessly browsing the internet and posting unnecessarily vague announcements on Facebook.

The rest over the weekend appeared to have done the trick, the nine miles this evening felt alright (apart from the first couple obviously) and I finished it off with some 100m strides along the old Cannon Hill gravel pitch - much to the amusement of a group of rude boys and a bemused father playing cricket with his kids. Humiliation is part and parcel of running, probably due to the ill advised lycra.

Checking good old Strava afterwards I noticed it was at a quicker pace than last week, even with the extra mile, so quite pleasing. The real test will come tomorrow with the big run back from work. 'The Plan' calls for 14 miles. I think it's doable, but with the mileage increasing steadily, and with the prospect of the longest run so far pencilled in for Sunday, I feel this week will either make or break me. 

Fingers crossed. See you on the other side. 

The Hump of the Week

Halfway through week three of 'The Plan' and two longish runs in the bag - although it was particularly poor planning on my part that tonight's 13 mile effort coincided with my having to work until 6 o'clock...

The day started with us being graced with a visit from the newest member of the Senior Leadership Team. Management Bingo full house was declared when she vowed to spend a significant amount of time with us (translation: "I will only be here to deliver bad news or when one or all of you drop in the shit" - which on current form will likely be quite soon). After that it was knuckling down to the usual spreadsheets and things.

The run home was surprisingly pleasant, with the gale force winds having subsided and just cloudy grey skies overhead. I do have a sneaking suspicion that the weather in Reykjavik this August will be quite similar.

I managed to keep a nice steady pace, although the last few miles through Cannon Hill were a bit of a slog - probably due to the late hour. At the moment I'm glad that the training is through the summer as excessive long runs in the dark would probably break me.

Tomorrow is a nice easy day helping out with the Beginners Group at club as well as fulfilling my democratic right to cast a meaningless vote in a safe seat at the General Election. At least it will give me the mandate to complain for the next five years.

Or eighteen months on current polling predictions....

The Long Weekend

112 Days to Go

I've finally made it to the first Bank Holiday of May, the last week may have seemed like it lasted for  about four months, but I still made it!

So the second week of training is almost over, with only a few minor changes due to seemingly never-ending car issues (thankfully now resolved). I managed just shy of 9 miles on Wednesday before my induction into the terrifying role of Communications Officer for my running club. It's a good job I've started this blog or I would have been entirely at sea. As it stands, I think I'll be able to survive until Christmas when I have to set up some online payments - then it'll probably be best to go and hide for a few weeks.

Yesterday was a gentle run at club, about six miles at 8 minute mile pace with Rich and Stu. Rich gave me a thorough debrief of his London Marathon experience - it does get quite sobering when someone else mentions that a sub-3 hour marathon basically involves doing 6.52 per mile for 26 miles. I must admit to living somewhat in a state of blissful ignorance, probably still being on a high from last weekend's exploits so it helps to focus the mind somewhat and help to set realistic goals. 

Today I managed about 9 miles down the canals, starting at a steady pace and building up towards the end - even managing to make it up Alcester Road without embarrassing myself! All in all, a productive week - now for a day off before tackling the Sheriffhales Shuffle on Sunday. It's the second race of the Four-midables Series and after the debacle of the first one, promises to be possibly the best marshalled race in the world...

Here we go again...

A rest day as prescribed on Monday, although I did head to the gym to try and stretch out the sore muscles after Sunday's exertions. In the evening, acting class started again for the final term. I spent ten minutes of it pretending to cook a meal in a variety of situations. As you do.

It's only the second week of training and already real life has started it's infernal meddling. The car was in for it's MOT which it unsurprisingly failed. My reaction however showed how the running has begun to obsess me - not "how much is it going to cost?" but "how am I going to manage my mid-week long effort without running home from work?". The first world problems of average club runners eh?

Today was eight miles with ten sets of 100m strides thrown in for good measure. The hardest part was finding somewhere of suitable length were I could accelerate unimpeded. Thankfully I had a brainwave of using the asphalt pitch at Cannon Hill. It worked like a charm - and with no-one around to offer a helpful critique...

Tomorrow I'll try to get some form of longish run in before I have my indoctrination into the role of Club Communications Officer. Soon all the passwords will be mine and I will control everything!

(I am aware this makes me sound like some sort of low rent Bond villain)

So Far So Good...

121 Days to Go

Two days of running under my belt now. Tuesday went better than expected - Kangaroo Court wasn't in session and my day at work was again enlivened by the presence of 'The Shadow' in the office. The man absolutely fascinates me - he appears to have coasted through the last 28 years of his working life , producing absolutely nothing tangible but has still managed to work in some of the most interesting areas of business. It should make me angry, but it takes sheer effort to get away with it and such audacity must really be applauded.

Hellish traffic on the way home increased my journey by about an hour so it was through the door, quick change and out for the first run - a threshold session. I must admit to a shiver of excitement as my Garmin ticked towards the three mile mark and the four scheduled miles at pace began. I chose Cannon Hill park again, reasoning that it would allow me space to get up to speed without having to constantly stop at junctions. Oh, the travails of city living!

The miles were consistent which was a good omen for Stratford. Even better was the fact that I was only harangued by one member of The Youth. He ran with me for about ten yards before giving up - likely due to the danger of tripping over his ridiculously outsize pants. I can only put the lack of interest down to either looking like someone they don't want to mess with, or being too quick for them. Either is fine in my book.

Wednesday and 'The Plan' calls for a weekly medium-long run. I thought the most sensible approach was to run home from work. In the end it worked quite well, the route isn't particularly exciting but seems to be a similar gradient to the marathon course which will hopefully benefit me in a few months. Plus, the thought of dripping my sweat over the more affluent areas of the Midlands appeals to my inner left-wing firebrand...

Again, it was a good consistent pace and the route means that I can add extra loops of Moseley and surrounding environs as the mileage demands increase. Overall then, an encouraging start.

Tomorrow we are having a rare visit at work from Management to give us the lowdown on the Brave New World we will shortly be embarking on. Like most of their proclamations, it doesn't fill me with much confidence. Then in the evening it's back down the club with a steady run in the schedule. I just hope that with the London Marathon on the horizon, someone will be there to run with me!

- As an aside, I saw this yesterday. I could get used to being above average at something!