Year of running 2015

The end of 2015 a time to look back, reflect and celebrate. I have enjoyed looking back over my year of running, have a read through and explore any previous posts if you wish.

Looking back over 2015 my year seems to split into distinct sections:

Early part of the year, starting off injured with calf trouble and not running much due to starting a new job and buying our first flat. 

Mid part of the year, marathon training and marathon running. Firstly learning through how not to train and running my slowest ever marathon at Vanguard Way in August and then running my marathon PB at Chelmsford in October. 

Spring, improving over three half marathons while still struggling against injury and not coming anywhere near PB territory as a result. Tunbridge Wells 1.51, Hampton Court 1.48 and Run Hackney 1.42 were all great races which I really enjoyed.

End of the year, shorter mileage but faster training for a sub 20 minute 5K which didn't end up happening but the emphasis on speed work at the end of 2015 will see me in good stead for 2016.

Overall 2015 has seen me run in excess of 1000 miles including 2 marathons, 4 half marathons and one 24 hour relay. On top of the events I have also experienced running in different places on my travels including Manchester, Birmingham, Reykjavik and Venice. 

There are many ways to summarise the year and every blogger more or less will be doing it in some shape. I have decided to follow the format of Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC who is hosting the 'Year in Running 2015' link up again, so here we go....

Best race experience:

The obvious choice is my marathon PB at Chelmsford marathon in October and more specifically feeling strong in the final miles. 

Making a friend with a fellow runner in the second half of the Vanguard Way Marathon was also a great experience as it was great to pass the time chatting as we ran.

Best run 

I suppose my 5K PB of 21.00 had to go down as my best performance but there are few other training runs that go down as being enjoyable as well as successful in other ways. 

Recently I headed out for my first long run in 2 months and tried to get into the mentality of a long run of just taking your time and enjoying the run and the surroundings you pass.

There was also a long run back in the summer as part of marathon training where I covered around 26K and really felt great and enjoyed the experience of running long and running strong.

It's funny how certain runs and certain sections of runs stick in your memory. 

Best new piece of running gear 

The two pieces of running gear I have bought this year that have made a big difference to my training are my zipper sweatband and my tuvizo vest.

My zipper sweatband I spotted on Amazon for about £1 and is a simple but incredibly effective piece of kit. Basically it is a sweatband with a zip in it that then allows you to easily carry your keys or cash. Simple but effective, genius! 

And then my tuvizo vest is a high vis piece of kit that keeps me safe in the winter darkness. Its easy to wear, light and doesn't bother me at all when running and has fast become a piece of essential kit for dull and gloomy mornings or dark winter winter evening runs.

Best running advice received this year 

Not so much a piece of advice more a motivational saying 'Pain is temporary pride is permanent'. It was on a banner during the Chelmsford marathon and really hit me and had stuck with me as motivation both in races and for training. 

Most inspirational runner 

Two rather cheesy answers for this one I'm afraid. 

Firstly so many runners from #ukrunchat, social media or from blogs I read. There are a few that stand out as true inspirations but I don't want to name names as there are so many great runners and it is the strength of the community of runners that is the true inspiration.

Sickening I know, vom fest over. 

Secondly, this is probably also a bit cringe worthy but since moving into our new flat I often walk past the field at the end of the road popular with dog walkers and there is one particular dog that always catches my attention. It's a young spaniel who as soon as he is let off the lead sprints around the perimeter of the field with such exuberance it always makes me smile. He just goes for it ears flapping in the wind and tongue hanging out of his mouth with a slightly crazed look in his eyes as he sprints across the grass. 

It reminds me to enjoy life and enjoy running and not be bogged down by training plans and split times. Or maybe it just remind me of my own running style! 

Favorite picture from a run or race 

I didn't buy any race photos this year and there haven't been many great photos of me running. 

The ones that spring to mind as being my favourite running photos are these three: 

Running the last lap for #ukrunchat #teamred at Spitfire Scramble. You can read about my race experience here. 

A photo with my running buddies from Asics Target 26.2 Tony and Chris, at one of our regular Hackney Marshes parkrun meet ups. This year it has been great to have the camaraderie, support and advice of these guys. 

Surely the most fun I have ever had running, fancy dress running Bacchus half marathon with my brother in law Tom. I think the photo captures the race really well, so much fun! 

Race experience you would repeat in a heartbeat

It goes without saying that I would love to do Bacchus again as it was so much fun but at the same time you know you can never recapture the same experience again. I know a lot of runners have the rule of never repeating the same race in consecutive years just to keep things fresh and to have new experiences and I think that is a good idea in most cases. 

So in that case I would pick the feeling of running strongly in the final miles of the Chelmsford marathon. I hope that I am able to recapture that feeling and finish future marathons wherever and whenever they may be just as strongly. 

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words...

First part of the year frustrating, painful and injury filled. Middle part of the year The word would be progressing and successful. End part of the year would be summed up with not as good as I would have hoped, struggling to see progress. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you had a successful 2015 and I wish you many happy miles in 2016!

5K sub 20 race report (I wish)

So if you have been following my weekly (ish) training updates you will know that since the start of November I have been aiming to run a sub20 5K.

My aims at sub20 was part of a challenge with my running buddies Chris and Tony to see if we could hit this mark by the end of the year.

If you have read any of my previous posts on this you will know things haven't quite gone to plan and I haven't improved as I had hoped I would.

From a 21.00 PB back at the start of the summer I have struggled to get anywhere near the 21 minute mark, let alone go under never mind get anywhere near 20 minutes and sub 20 has just been a fantasy.

On Saturday the three of us headed over to Hackney Marshes Parkrun which is a great course for a fats time as it is so flat and a simple there and back course. It is so flat that even the Garmin feedback of the course having a 10m elevation is a thought that is scoffed at!

There was no talk or no confidence of a sub20 attempt, Chris was not feeling well after a dose of flu, Tony had struggled with any quality training due to work commitments and I knew I was in no shape to rival this time mark but maybe a PB was on the cards maybe?

The end results were somewhat mixed, firstly I won the race out the three of us which gave me a tiny amount of satisfaction but my finishing time was 21.25, nowhere close to my PB, however it is my second fastest parkrun time so another little victory. 

The problem was that I had ended up running over 5K, too much weaving around on the course, strava reported a pace of 4.11min/km which would give me a sub 21 5K if I hadn't zigzagged around so much!

Further investigation later showed that strava also reported that I had in fact ran a sub 21 5K, clocking 20.57, so a 5K PB but not a parkrun PB. 

Overall the sub20 5K attempt has been disappointing as despite solely focusing on speed work and running faster over a shorter distance I don't feel I have felt the benefits of this and seen anywhere near the results I had wanted. I know from feedback from other runners that there are a lot of improvements I could make to my speed work training so this is something I will take away to work on.

My other realisation is that running shorter distances faster is so much harder than marathon training! It hurts, its hard and its horrible! 

Anyways onwards and upwards, thanks for all the support and encouragement as always. Not too much rest for me over Christmas, as always more time off work equals more time to run and my first event of 2016 a birthday Half Marathon at the end of January is fast approaching!

Merry Christmas all and happy running in 2016!

The end of my failed sub 20 5K training

So here we are after seven weeks of dedicated training, my sub 20 5K attempt will be tomorrow. 

If you have been following my progress you will know that sub 20 ain't going to happen tomorrow, it's just not on the cards.

I've trained hard and really tried to focus on improving my speed but it's just not happened. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself and I'm not going to beat myself up, it's a challenge I have aimed for and not quite achieved and I would much rather try for something and not achieve it than not try at all. 

I am still hopeful of a shiny new PB which would mean breaking the 21 minute barrier which is a great time non the less.

The reasons for me not quite hitting my target are quite clear to me:

• I have been too busy and not been able to dedicate enough quality time to training, but hey that's life!
• My diet has not been great, again being busy doesn't help and a few trips away haven't helped either.
• With my training I know some of my sessions haven't been as tough as they could have been, many of my 200m interval sessions should have been 400s and my 400s 800s.
• I also feel that my body has not responded to training that well, maybe it's feeling a bit older, poor diet or not enough rest or probably a mixture of the three. 

Since my last training update here's what I have been up to...

On the 6 December I embarked on my longest run since my marathon in October, a 14K new route exploring the local area of Harold Hill and Noak Hill. It was great to get back into the long run mentality and just enjoy running for a long period of time and taking in the scenery of the new route. The highlight of the run was spotting a Buzzard flying above me before perching in a tree just across the road, I was too bust staring I didn't really get a good photo as you will see below. When I was younger I had a keen interest in birds of prey so this was a real highlight of my running career. 

In terms of speed sessions I have tried several different sessions:

• 400m hard with 200m recoveries
• 800m sprints with 2 minute recoveries 
• 1K hard aiming for sub 4.30min/km with a K at easier pace
• 1K aiming for sub 4 minutes and the continuing into a few more sub 5 minute Ks

I will be honest and say I enjoy the longer tempo type sessions where I running for longer sustained periods of time as opposed to the sprint intervals sessions.

Running in Venice

The real highlight of my running in recent weeks was popping out for a run while on holiday in Venice. Initially I decided I had to run while on holiday as I had decided to do a runstreak through December, although I actually forgot about the trip to Venice when deciding on the runstreak. But then I thought why the hell shouldn't I run on holiday? 

So on a glorious sunny afternoon headed out for a run navigating the waterways, tourists and piazzas of this historic city. I ended up running a 1K hard alternating with a 1K easy session covering 7K. It was a great experience to run in such an iconic place that provided a stunning back drop especially on such a sunny day. 

My run took me over 14 of Venice's famous canals via stepped footbridges many of which still had ramps put in place for the recent Venice Marathon as my route took me along the last mile or two of the marathon course. 

A great experience to add to my list of running highs as well as a great way to burn off the overindulgence's in pizza, wine and limoncello during the holiday! 

Santarun 

Last weekend I ran a 5K that was definitely a run not a race. I joined 550 other people including a group of family members to run around the annual Dagenham santa run, Essex dressed as Santa for this festive fundraiser for Saint Francis Hospice. 

As always it was a great atmosphere and a lot of fun raising funds for charity, a great event to remember the joys of running and the great support and camaraderie it can create.

My failed runstreak attempt

At the start of December I did embark on an advent running runstreak but this kind of petered out mainly due to tightness in my calves and knowing I need to listen to my body and take some rest. I still managed 15 days of exercising every day which included 12 days of at least 30minutes running on each day.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow at least the weather is looking good as the weather is still so mild. We will see how it pans out time wise but I am really keen to bag myself a PB! 

Good luck to everyone running this weekend! 

Week 5 of sub20 5K training

Firstly I will be honest, sub20 is not happening, well not anytime soon. If you are reading this blog for advice on how to run a sub20 5K this is not the place for you I'm afraid. However if you by some weird choice of reading materials are looking for a blog about how not to improve your 5K time and run a sub20 5K then welcome this is very much a blog for you!

The start of December this week has seen me embark on an #adventrunning challenge. I am aiming to achieve the standard advent running goal of 30 minutes of exercise, in my case mostly running on every day between the 1st and 25th of December, yes that's right, running everyday on the run up to Christmas and also running on Christmas Day itself. Running on Christmas day I know is not everyone's (including my wife who is yet to be fully happy with my running endeavours) idea of fun but whats 30 minutes before the festivities kick in?

At this time of year it seems everyone is embarking upon an #adventrunning challenge or a festive related #runstreak of some sort. I suppose it is a bit tedious that everyone on social media seems to be doing the same thing and runstreaks are not the unheard of phenomena that they once were.

There seems to be a fair amount of criticism against runstreaks so I thought I would just explain the reasons why I am running everyday for almost a month:

• To challenge my own perceptions of what my limitations are 
• To help offset my festive indulgences 
• To keep me motivated to run during a busy time of the year 
• To get stronger and fitter from the increased amount of running 
• To get into the mindset of having running as an integral part of my schedule ahead of marathon training 

So on to what my training week this week has consisted of:

Monday - Rest day - bracing myself for the runstreak ahead

Tuesday - Runstreak Day 1. 31.45 minutes totaling 5.9K.

Another early morning 6am session consisting of a mile jog to the park, 4x300m sprint intervals followed by 4x200m hill sprints lit up by my head torch.

It was a good session where I felt strong and faster than I have in previous early morning sprint sessions.

The main talking point of the session was a fight I had with a bush, I say fight I ran into it and it attacked me with its prickly thorns, so more of an assault really. How did this happen I hear you ask? It was very dark and I was too busy checking my splits on my phone while jogging on a recovery run.

Honestly, it really is a worse injury than the photo conveys

Wednesday - Runstreak Day 2. 32.11 minutes totaling 6.6K

A 0.8K Warm up followed by a 5K session of 400m sprint/200m easy and 5 minute cool down jog.

Another good session that felt pretty good and I certainly felt some improvements in speed and strength but seriously hampered by lunchtimes pineapple upside down cake.

Thursday - Runstreak Day 3. 37.47 minutes totaling 7.7K

Working form home again I took the opportunity for lunchtime run and followed the same route as I did last week and aimed to knock a few minutes off my time.

I ended up taking over 2 minutes off my previous time with a 7K run in 32.47 which is 4.36min/km, I found this a very pleasing performance as it was a really hilly and tough route and I felt much more comfortable running at a higher pace for a sustained period.

Friday - Runstreak Day 4 - 30 minutes 5.3K a gentle recovery jog, saving my legs for tomorrows parkrun.

Saturday - Runstreak Day 5 - 21.55 parkrun plus plenty of time warming up & cooling down.

I headed off to Ilford Parkrun to put my legs to the test to see if I could translate my good training sessions into a good race time.

Ilford parkrun is my 5th parkrun venue and represents the nearest most convenient flat course at my disposal. Set in the lovely surroundings of Valentines Park its a pretty flat 2 lap route which is probably a little too twisty and turny to be super fast but is an enjoyable route.

My only grievance was the start of the run not kicking off until 9.07! I know its not a big deal and things can easily run behind time but I am quite a stickler for good time management.

The race itself was again a disappointment in terms of race time as I finished with an official time of 21.55. My 5K time was actually about 21.30 as the course went slightly over 5K, this is something I think I need to address as it is not the first time I have ventured a couple of hundred metres over 5K which is an important aspect to address when aiming for a specific time.

My race performance was OK, a first kilometre split of 4 minutes exactly followed by splits between 4.13 and 4.18 upset only by a 4th split of 4.28 caused by a shoelace malfunction.

Again as with my last parkrun at Hackney Marshes the weather was not ideal, although the rain held off it was still pretty windy which would have had an affect on times.

During the run I felt like I was really racing and pushing hard and it is becoming obvious to me now that I am obviously just not fast enough and not doing the right kind of training to deliver me the sub20 time I crave.

I still have two weeks until my sub20 showdown with my running buddies Chris and Tony, so there is work to be done, lets see what I can achieve!

Thank you as always to all the support and advice on my running from blog readers and from Twitter and especially from the incredible #UKrunchat community.
This blog covers my training week of 30 November to 6 December