First race of the season under my belt

Sunday was the first race of the season and what a great race it was. 

The Feel the Burns race goes from Selkirk up to the Southern Upland Way and back to Selkirk. The climbs are hard and the descents are fast and in between the countryside is amazing. 

It's amazing to see how fast people can go down and up hill. I don't think that I'm either a climber or a descender. I'm an on the flat kind of guy. 

The weather on the day was ok but before there was lots of rain so some of the downhills were slippery as hell. There were also huge puddles and some pretty deep mud. 

I thought my time was decent for the conditions and at 2.10 for 13 miles + I wasn't the last Moorfoot and in the top half of the field. 

Rested on Monday as per my schedule. Did an outside run in the dark on Tuesday morning. It's amazing how slow you go when you can't see where you are going. 

Back in the gym today but couldn't get the speed going so went for going the distance. Had to push through hard to make it though. 

Now signed up for the Carnethy 5 on the 16th Feb. Need to be careful this time and not get injured. 

New Year New Running Season

So here we are in 2014 with a whole year of running ahead. 

Current highlights of the year are the Boston Marathon in April and the Great North Run in September. 

In between that are a number of usual races. Feel the Burns hill race in January, the Carnethy 5 in February and the Alloa (aka Hawaiian) Half Marathon. Then at the end of the year is the possibility of the Berlin of New York marathon if I can get a place. 

Ok so that's all of the boring plans out of the way what about training plans. 

Last year worked really well with a mix of indoor speed work in the gym from Tuesday to Thursday and outdoor work from Friday to Sunday. Monday will be a day off which is new for me but as I get older I need to rest. 

As well as the speed work outdoors I have incorporated hill work and not just running up and down hills. Proper hill work running in the hills which is going to be good for my balance and my ankles and I figure if I can run distance in the hills then the road should be easier. 

So how are things going just now. Well the Christmas excesses have added a few Kg which means I am off the pace. 

My indoor goals are 4:30 per Km and outdoor goals are sub 7 per mile. The only reason I have Km indoors and miles outdoors is that the running machine is calibrated in Km and I can'd be bothered to do the translation. Also outdoors are lot more difficult because of the wind and rain and terrain.

I'll keep you posted on how I get on. 

Dancing on ice

There is something about snow, me and running. I love to run in the snow. Not sure if it's the cold or feeling the crunch beneath my feet but it gives me a kick.

I remember a couple of years ago when there was huge snow running through Glentress Forest up to me knees in snow with a big smile on my face.

It was with this in mind I went out on Saturday morning in my Inov8's round the 13.5 mile course. The only problem with Inov8's is they have no support and when running on bits of the road without snow can jar the joints. However all in all it was a good run and manager 105 minutes for 13.5 miles which is satisfactory under the weather conditions.

Today I went out with my regular not so grippy shoes on for 6.2 miles. All was well including a couple of slippery paths along the Tweed and the Cuddy. I was surprised that the average time was only 7.40 because it felt faster. I need to download the info for analysis to get some insights.

More snow planned this week so insight work until Friday when I am going to go for 15 miles long run.

Achievements

In the world of marathon running there is what as know as the Big 5. These are the races which are recognised as the top 5 races in the world. This doesn't take into account the highest, coldest, hottest they are just regular big races which as a consequence are difficult to get into and some more than others.

There are 3 in the USA ~ Boston, New York and Chicago and 2 in Europe ~ Berlin and London.

All of them except Boston have an opportunity to go into a ballot system albeit it is quite small in some cases. Boston is the only race which requires a qualifying time. The great news is that this qualifying time is 3.30 which puts it within reach if I can get a good time in London.

New York is a difficult one but after not get into the ballot for 4 years there is a place available. Alternatively sub 90 minutes in a half marathon also qualifies. This is infinitely more achievable than the 3.10 qualifying time for marathon.

Berlin is impossible this year because it is the 40th running so maybe next year.

Having completed Chicago and London in 2010 and 2012 respectively it could be London 2013, Boston 2014 and New York 2014 which would give me a lovely set of 5.

Is it all worth it. You bet it is.

Awesome training run

I decided to start extending the distance for my long runs on Friday to see how I got on speed wise.

I stepped up to 13.1 miles and did a new route which is mainly flat but had a couple of interesting climbs.

I managed it in 100.5 minutes which is only 3.5 minutes off my personal best which was in the Glasgow half marathon last Sept. The thing to remember is a race is adrenaline fuelled and inevitably results in a faster time.

I am now more than convinced that I can now do my training runs at race pace and will test this again in my training run tomorrow.

Here we are again

So here we are again looking forward to the New Year and planning for the London Marathon again.

The difference this time is the weight difference. I have managed to slim down from 85Kg (13 St 5 lbs) to 75 Kg (11 St 11 lbs) with a goal of 70 Kg (11 St).

What this actually means is a difference in speed (pace). Imagine running or nor running as is now the case without 10 bags of sugar on your back or around your waist.

At the age of 50 I am proud to say that I ran a PB at the Glasgow Half Marathon (1.38.19) . Who would have thought it possible. I am now keen to run faster at the half marathon distance which seems to be my optimal distance. I am also keen to try and do something impressive at the marathon distance but only time will tell.

My plan is to train at race pace which is 8 min miles. This will be the first time that I have done this as in the past I have been over optimistic with being able to run faster than I have trained.

My objective is to run all of my training runs, regardless of distance, at sub 8 min mile pace. That is both the average pace for the complete run and every mile as well.

Currently managing 7.40 for longer distance up to 9 miles and 7.20 for shorter distances.

Have thought about training plans and have decided to focus on speed at distance and tempo runs.

Watch this space for how that works out.

Where has all the time gone

In the midst of marathon training now. At times I didn't think that I would get here. Thanks to Mark my leg is a lot better and I'm managing sub 50 minute 10K times in the gym which is really great and giving me a lot of confidence.

Long runs have been sore but that's because I ran around Glentress. Going to do a flat 12 mile run this Sunday to get a good feel of how things are doing.