Training round up for my second marathon

Two weeks after my marathon and now six weeks until my next one I have been working hard to hit the next race harder and faster!

My training in the last two weeks has included a lot more strength training and circuit training in my attempts to be even fitter and stronger.

Heres a leg circuit I have done a couple of times recently to work on strengthening my legs: 

I have also done a bit more gym work including more weights and mixing up ab exercises, upper body work and some leg exercises into circuit routines.

The main exercises I have been focusing on are press ups, squats, lunges, crunches and leg raises.

Over the last fortnight a main focus has been on building up my press up capabilities as this has been something I have let slide recently. So on top of my training I completed a press up streak of 100 press ups on seven consecutive days, a pretty good achievement for me and I feel so much stronger from it already. 

Diet wise things have slipped a bit as I have enjoyed not watching what I have been eating so carefully.

A few foodporn highlights from the week include :

An awesome ham and BBQ pizza

A delicious strawberry and banana smoothie

And my epic post run Sunday brunch breakfast wrap last weekend

Today's run

Today was my first longer run since the marathon as I completed 27.5km on a route out along the London Loop to Purfleet. This is a route I have been very keen to run as this was the route I had planned to run a few weeks before the marathon but had to abandon after 2kms due to my foot injury striking.

My route took me through my usual course through the Ingrebourne valley country park but further out to Rainham village, over the train tracks, through Rainham marshes following the London Loop trail all the way out onto the Thames. 

These pictures are the view from when I came out onto the river, firstly looking East out towards the Thames estuary, if my camera was better you would make out the Dartford crossing. 

The second photo is then looking West towards the City, again if the photo was better quality you could make out the skyscrapers in the far distance.

Unfortunately I had picked a poor day for this run as it was very overcast and cloudy not to mention windy and battling the wind coming off the river was challenging to say the least!

A few highlight along the route include the sculpture of the diver in the photo below which is supposedly the only sculpture actually in the Thames. 

My personal highlight though is the concrete barges which were used as part of the D Day landing in World War ii, they inspire and fascinate me every time I see them and I continue to be perplexed by the lack of interest and information available on them and the lack of recognition they receive. 

My half way turnaround point was the RSPB bird sanctuary at Purfleet which is the base for bird watchers on the Rainham marshes and an excellent provider of refreshments and tasty cakes. Not today unfortunately as today I only had time for a quick toilet break before turning around and heading home. 

After 2 and three quarter hours and over 27 kilometers I was pretty knackered and was in need of some refuel nutritional sustenance which I consumed in the form of a tortilla wrap with peanut butter, jam and banana, delicious!

As always thanks for reading and I welcome any comments, feedback and suggestions, thanks!

I am now on bloglovin as well, its great way to keep up with your favourite blogs, well worth a look if you haven't already checked it out. 

This weeks long run and a recovery experiment

This mornings run summary, 22K, boiling hot, not a cloud in the sky and my destination was the World War II concrete barges moored near Rainham.

So I set out at around 8.30am to try and get out before the weather got too hot. It was still pretty hot though a really nice summers day without a cloud in the sky.

My route was through Ingrebourne Valley following the London Loop route 23 all the way to Rainham and onto the River Thames.

Out on the Thames in a bay just beyond Rainham Village are around a dozen discarded World War II concrete barges that were used as part of the D Day landing. 

I really wanted to do this route this weekend following the D Day anniversary earlier in the week.

The engineering feat of constructing these barges and floating them across the channel to France has always astounded and amazed me and seeing these barges up close is always an impressive experience. 

I have done some internet research on the barges and why they ended up there and what their history was. All I have found out was they were used to transport water and fuel over the channel.

They marked the halfway point of my journey and after a bit of reflection I turned around and headed for home. 

My run back was great I felt so good and strong and managed to keep going at a good pace for most of the way home.

I covered 22K in 2hours and 2minutes which I was very happy with. 

When I got home I had a new recovery experiment to try out: 

Ice bath!!!

 

I felt I needed something extra to boost my recovery during my training for my three up coming marathons so I decided to try out an ice bath.

I filled up a bath with cold water and added cold water from the fridge as well as ice.

I am not sure how cold it was and it really didn't feel that bad, I am not a great fan of really hot baths or showers anyway so that probably helps me cope with colder temperatures. 

Writing this later in the afternoon I must say I am really feeling the benefits of the ice bath. I can honestly say I have never felt this good after a long run. I have no stiffness or achy feeling in my legs instead a kind of numbness in my muscles and feeling of nothingness.

I feel like I could easily train again tomorrow or even today, I wont be but itsgood  to know I feel so well and have discovered a good way to increase my recovery.

My attempt at running section 22 of the London Loop

After running part of this section earlier in the week I finally decided it was time for me to run the whole section. Its taken me some time as I have probably been aware of the London Loop and this local section for around 3 years and it is something I have always been interested in and that I have read about a lot. 

Inspiration

My decision to finally give it ago is thanks in part to a blog I found this week which inspired me to finally get myself in gear and tick it off my ever expanding wish list of routes I plan to run.

For my long run this weekend I needed a special course, something new, interesting and challenging as I knew the run would be a mental battle. A battle between my mind really wanting to continue building up my stamina with a long run and my body rebelling as it struggles coping with a bank holiday weekend of excess alcohol consumption and copious amounts of my homemade barbecued burgers. 

The blog is by a writer called 'Diamond Geezer' and the particular article can be found here . I would recommend giving his blog a good read as it is very interesting and informative, especially his articles about walks in London and the origins of some of Britain's great roads.  

Starting off

So for London Loop section 22, the official start is by Upminster Bridge tube start but after running a few Kms through Upminster I connected with the route here at its first off road section.

Its a very uninspiring start and looks like the start of an urban alleyway sure to be crowded with knife welding teenagers but surprisingly it opens up onto several fields of crops.

The path initially is a narrow little muddy track leading down the side of one of these fields. 

The route does provide a few idyllic snap shots to rival any picturesque countryside and the first of these is a little tree covered bridge over a ditch in my picture below:   

When I ran here only a few days below the paths were rock hard and bone dry but after a typical weekend of pretty consistent rain the paths have become squelchy and greasy and slippery to run on. 

After some barely passable tricky little paths around fields, under trees and through woods the path eventually opens up into a lush green and grassy meadow.  

The meadow is short lived though and soon brings you to the river Ingrebourne upon which the route is meant to follow although you barely see it, notice it or cross it. As per my previous blog the Ingrebourne is much more a trickling stream as opposed to a flowing river. 

This section is the last off road part of the route as it leads up into residential Cranham. It is an excellent little section through, slightly uphill flanked by trees creating a natural alleyway. Under foot is treacherous though as the path is made of gravel and largish stones and the path seems to have been long since washed away by rain water gushing down from the roads higher up int the Ingrebourne. 

I will spare you the photos of residential Cranham, not that it isn't a nice enough area with well kept houses just that residential roads are residential roads and nice houses are nice houses. 

Coming out of Cranham and heading towards Pages Woods I was disappointed to be running along the side of a busy carriageway instead of through the fields by the side of the road, its a shame the route couldn't have been rerouted through a more pleasant landscape.  

Heading into the unknown

As I headed into Pages Woods for the first time I was pretty impressed with how well kept it was and how green and lush a pleasant environment it was. I was struck with a certain uneasy feeling as it felt slightly eerie, underused and underutilized. It had the feeling of a closed down playground long since deserted and long since forgotten. Realistically I think it is more the case it is under advertised if you like and the result of being out of the way and less accessible and popular than other local green areas such as Weald country park. 

One of the trails led me past this sculptured wooden bench which although nice was odd as it was all on its own and didn't seem to have any relevance or anything else associated with it in the wood. 

Taking a turn for the worse

This is then where things literally took a turn for the worse. 

I was aware from reading up on the route that it was poorly signposted and directions were very sketchy in places and this I found to be very true. 

Several times I had to make educated guesses as to where to go and had to follow my sense of direction and my background knowledge of where the route was heading to guide my way. 

At one junction in the path I took an educated guess which turned out to be wrong which led me out of the woods and towards Harold Court Road. I still wasn't convinced I was heading the wrong way some time later when the path took me across a road and onto a marked bridal way. 

As the London Loop conjoins with other recognized pathways and bike routes sometimes there are only signs for the other routes that follow the same way without specific London Loop signs. I went wrong in one of these instances as the path split into a junction and the only clear signpost was for a bike route which I thought was heading in the correct direction. 

While I ran along trying to figure out if I was on the right path or not I did enjoy this part of the route on the bridal way flanked by trees and greenery. 

I did however have the same feeling of eeriness and of being on a deserted and seldom used pathway although it did appear to be regularly used by riders from a local horse stable.

Once I got to the end of this bridal way I finally admitted I was going the wrong way.  

There were two paths on either side of the road I was on and neither of them bared any reference to the London Loop. 

At this point I took stock of my situation, I wasn't sure where I was heading and had ran further than I anticipated and at that present moment had no idea of how long in time or distance it would take me to get home. 

Thank goodness for modern technology!

I quickly fired up my sat nav on my phone and headed off in the direction of Harold Wood station. I don't like running with too much assistance from maps as it takes away from the freedom of running but in this instance it was wise to call on the technology I had at my disposal. 

On the right track 

My path now took me back over the Ingrebourne which I took as a good sign I was on the right path and onto a residential street. 

A few minutes through the suburban back streets of Harold Wood and I spotted my quarry, the magical little green sign of the London Loop.

My problem now was to decipher which way was the correct way, which way was route 22 hopefully heading to Harold Wood Station and which was route 21 heading away from Harold Wood and towards wherever it is that section begins from.

I quickly investigated a few hundred metres of one direction and dismissed it as being part of section 21 before confidently heading off following the other sign towards Harold Wood Station.

Sure enough after a following a few more signs and taking a few more back streets I spotted the welcome sight of the train station.

Now I had reached my destination I felt a great sense of both relief and achievement in my accomplishment both in terms of running and navigation! 

The return journey 

I again took stock of where I was, the sign ahead was the route I should have traveled to get here and would lead me back on the right route back to Upminster Bridge and home.

I checked mapmyrun and saw that I had already covered 11Km and although I knew it wouldn't be this far back as I was planning on both taking the more direct route through Upminster and not getting lost I still estimated it to be around 8Km to get back. My total distance would therefore be around 18-19Km which was the kind of distance I was aiming for but was also the furthest I was run in around 3 months, so I knew the journey back would be somewhat more challenging.

Soon after leaving the train station and safely navigating more of Harold Woods residential roads the route brings you out to the park.

Helpfully there is no signage or indication of which way through the park you are supposed to go. I decided to take the path round to the right and took the opportunity to shelter from the rain by running on the grass under the coverage of a row of large trees that lined one of the path ways. The opportunity to run on grass was also welcome and provided a nice variety as well as a little bit of extra cushioning to my weary legs.

The park seemed pretty well equipped for all manner of activities and included tennis courts, football pitches, children s play areas as well as body weight exercise machines designed to help combat out growing obesity problem.

The highlight of the park for me though was the cricket pitch and pavilion which I found quite picturesque for its location in a relatively urban and built up location.

Exiting the park took me back over the Ingrebourne and into Pages Woods for the return leg of my journey.

It wasn't very far until I came back to the ill fated junction where my wrong turn had occurred. 

In the picture below as I approached I should have just headed straight but instead followed the signage in the bottom right to head to the right instead. 

I can only presume there is a London Loop sign buried deep in the foliage to the left of the picture. I did take a closer look to see if I could see one and possibly make it more visible for future travelers heading this way but couldn't see any evidence of one in amongst the leaves and thorns. 

Following the path round the wood and up towards the car park was fairly steep an incline which my tired legs found more challenging than it probably actually was.

Exiting the wood I began my return into civilization along the road into Upminster and the sign below confirmed my thoughts that the end was soon approaching. 

The highlights of the return journey 

Heading back I took the direct route back along Hall Lane the main road back in to Upminster. Although not as interesting as the off road track I took on my outward journey it still provides some visual highlights. 

Firstly is Upminster Court as pictured below which is a grand old manor house once owned by a wealthy local land owner and industrialist which now provides a curiously interesting spectacle on your way into Upminster.

 The stone Japanese samurai type figures that stand close to the house appearing to stand guard are well worth a closer look by peering through the gates.

I know from previous experiences of walking this way that looking over and through the Upminster Court estate to the west provides you with a glimpse of the tops of London's skyscrapers such as the Shard, the Gherkin and the new Cheesegrater, but not on a grim murky day like today.

Next up on the opposite side of the road is the Upminster Tithe Barn and Museum of Nostalgia. I am ashamed to admit I have not taken the time to visit this facility but have in the past been struck my the Tithe Barns impressive structure. To be fair I should have included a picture but I was too tired to run up the path to take one so you will have to make do with a picture of the sign instead.

Almost home

Soon enough I was back amongst more familiar landmarks as Upminster station came into view. I was struck by what a dire and grim structure the station is, or maybe it was just its appearance on such a dark and dank day? I was conscious of the positive affect the brightly coloured signage of the c2c train company has on the station adding a much needed splash of vibrancy to this part of the high street.

Onwards past the station I took the back streets through to Upminster Bridge, even if I had wanted to take the lazy option of jumping on the train I couldn't today as the District line was out of action due to engineering work.

Heading down the hill Upminster Bridge came in to view I was pleased to be nearly my finish line as I was cold and weary.

Coming down the hill the view of Upminster Bridge with a train whizzing over the top with St Andrews church in the background often makes for an excellent picture but again the weather today put pay to that.

Summary

finally I reached Upminster Bridge station with more than a fair amount of relief having completed my journey. 

Having covered 18Km my legs were understandably tired especially as I haven't ran this far in over three months. 

The run was pleasing though as I was glad to have finally got round to completing this section of London Loop after thinking about it for so long.

Choosing this route today had definitely served its purpose well as I really benefited from the extra stimulation of a nee route and new surroundings. The distraction of having to concentrate on some navigation and map reading also served me well as it took my mind off struggling stamina levels and provided an extra degree of purposefulness into my run. 

Trail running part of the London Loop

Yesterdays run was trying out a new route, new in the sense I hadn't run it before but it is a route I have walked several times before.

My route was a trail path 5 minutes away from where I live and the more scenic part of what forms section 22 (Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge) of the London Loop.

Anyone not familiar with the London Loop its basically a section of continuous walkways that circle London divided into sections. 

For further information visit: http://www.walklondon.org.uk/

I did once think of having the ambition of trying to cover all the sections as a long term objective, but writing this reminds me I haven't even fully completed my local section so thats another plan added to the to do list!

When you enter the off road section you are greeted with a view like this:

You could be forgiven for thinking you were out in the middle of no where but you are in fact well within the M25 boundary and only a handful of miles away from the bustling urban landscape of Romford and the industrial areas of Rainham and Thurrock. 

Most of the pathway is well worn by local dog walkers and ramblers walking the London Loop but it is fairly overgrown in places.

The path is quite uneven and technical in several places, in fact I almost smashed my face in about three strides into the route when I tripped on a rock. Nothing gives you an energy boost like a shot of adrenaline caused by almost seriously injuring yourself! 

Note to self: Always focus on your footing on unfamiliar new trails. 

The path leads you to follow the river Ingrebourne, its called a river but more realistically I would classify it as a stream as it is a small, narrow and shallow watercourse for its majority. 

Its nice to run alongside a waterway and to hear the gentle flow of water, unfortunately the river is too gentle and too far away from the path to be heard. Instead you do hear the noises coming from the adjacent golf course and I quite enjoyed hearing the 'piiiing!' of golf clubs driving balls onto fairways.

For the second time this week running trails my path has been blocked by a natural obstruction. The winter storms from earlier in the year seem to have taken their toll on the local trees.

The highlight of the route and the reason why I have walked here so many times before is illustrated in my next picture. 

There is a small free holding where someone keeps a pony and has also had an assortment of goats over the years. They are all very friendly and very keen to receive any spare vegetables or salad items!

This guy seemed particualy interested in checking me out as I passed by!

Workout summary

So my run covered just over 5K in around 31 minutes a real gentle pace mainly be design but also as the path necessitated it as it was barely accessible in places.

It was a consecutive day running for me which is something I have shyed away from in the past through fear of injury but something I need to keep up as I am more than fit and strong enough to run some good mileage on consecutive days.

The other notable outcome from this run was the impact trail running is having on my lower legs. At this time of year the vegetation is lush and subsequently nettles and thorns are rife! So I had quite a few battle wounds from this short run. I had forgotten how painful nettles can be! 

I tried to think of it as mental training, as any long distance runner knows as well as coping with the physical demands of a distance you will inevitably have to learn to cope with the mental challenges of overcoming pain and pushing youself out of your comfort zone. So nettle stings go some little way to strenthening my mental resolve for the psychological battles that lie ahead.