2016 My Year of Running

So it's that time of the year to look back and reflect on the year that is coming to an end.

              

On reflection I struggle to summarise the year as successful as I didn't achieve my aims of smash any PBs but at the same time I look back on a year of running which I have probably enjoyed more than any other. 

In summary the highlights for the year were that I ran my first ultra (110K at Spitfire Scramble in August) and I became a dad! Two pretty awesome achievements!  

2016 looked something like this....

The first quarter was dominated by half marathons, three in three months, but my first running event of the year was a UK fitness bloggers 5K in support of RODS on 30th January. Great fun and great to meet some online friends in person. 

The run earned me my first but of bling in the shape of this rather cool little number. 

The very next day I celebrated my birthday with a half marathon, not the PB I had hoped for due to illness over the New Year period but an enjoyable run none the less.

February saw another half marathon and an improvement on my time but my sights were set on a great run and PB attempt at my third half marathon of the year in March.

March saw my entry into the North London Half Marathon promising the 'greatest finish line in the world' with the final few hundred metres being inside Wembley stadium. I felt in PB shape but a dodgy back the day before put pay to that idea meaning I ran the first few miles in trepidation missing out on PB pace, still my second fastest Half Marathon time wasn't too bad. It was actually really beneficial to run the same distance a couple of times in quick succession so I could work on my race strategy and targets. 

May saw the first marathon of the year with my first (but not last) running of the excellent Halstead marathon. I felt in or around the best marathon shape I had ever been in but the hottest weekend of the year quickly sapped me of any PB possibility. Still I received  a nice lobster skin tone and a giant medal for my troubles. 

The start of July brought around the years big event, the St Petersburg Marathon in Russia, my first marathon abroad and my biggest event in terms of participants.

I never felt in brilliant shape so wasn't expecting a great time, hot and humid conditions punished me and the other runners meaning a difficult race but a terrific experience.

Unexpectedly the Spitfire Scamble in August became an even bigger event the I anticipated, instead of running a few laps as part of a team I ended up taking the plunge and running solo covering 11 laps and 110K in total. In hindsight easiest my best and most enjoyable running event I have taken part in. 

The summer ended with a highly anticipated run at the Bacchus marathon, in fancy dress with my running buddies. I wasn't really in marathon shape but a brilliant event, so much fun and a great way to run my slowest marathon ever! 

Then come October thoughts of running went out the window as life changed completely with the arrival, all be it slightly earlier than anticipated, of this little chap.

So come my last race of the year, a 5 miler in a local park I had only managed a handful of runs in several weeks and although I felt pretty rusty my legs were fresh and energised. 

The Harold Wood Running Club 5 mile event was a great event to end the year with as it started less than a mile from the flat, took place around the parks where I usually train and gave me the opportunity to meet a few online running buddies in person. 

The best thing of all was being able to hang my finishers medal around the little chaps neck when I got home. 

So the year ends with a massive change to life and running but one I wouldn't want to go back on! 

I suppose my competitive side is disappointed to not have a PB this year, unless I manage to pull one out of the bag at New Years Eve Parkrun, but looking back on ten events, three marathons and my first ultra all packed full of fun and great experiences is no bad thing at all.

I hope your 2016 has seen you enjoy your running and achieve your goals and 2017 brings you plenty of happy miles! 

St Petersburg White Nights Marathon Race Review

On the 3 July 3016 I embarked on my first marathon abroad as I ran the St Petersburg White Nights marathon. The aim of this post is to share my experiences of this race and my experience of running a marathon abroad without turning into the running equivalent of Karl Pilkington's an idiot abroad.

First things first why was I taking part in this race? My visit to St Petersburg was part of a trip to Russia to visit my brother in law and some time running buddy Tom who is currently working in Russia. Several potential dates for the trip had been muted but when Tom suggested the opportunity to run the marathon as part of a trip that sealed things.

The White Nights marathon is so called as it takes place during the White Nights summer period in St Petersburg where as the name suggests the nights are white and light with the night not turning dark until around 11pm with the sun reappearing again at around 2 or 3am. However despite the white nights title the marathon was very much the usual day time affair with the race starting at 9am. 

We arrived in Moscow on the Wednesday with the marathon taking place on the Sunday. Thursday and Friday provided the chance to do plenty of sightseeing in Moscow before we boarded a sleeper train at midnight on Friday night which would take us the several hundred miles overnight north to St Petersburg.

Having a marathon as part of a holiday did take a bit of focus away from the race. I knew I was running on the Sunday and although I kept to my usual pre race schedule of a run on Thursday and a mile or two on Saturday I don't think my mind fully appreciated I wasn't just running on Sunday but running an actual marathon!

My build up to the race had been OK with my main focus being on enjoying this unique opportunity rather than taking the race super seriously. Having ran Halstead marathon at the beginning of May some two months previously I kind of believed that I would carry my fitness over and therefore I didn't focus as much of my training on 'marathon training' as perhaps I should have. Needless to say I felt this during the marathon and struggled with a bit of stamina and definitely felt I was at least one long slow run short of where I would have liked to have been. 

The more immediate build up to the race was probably far from ideal. Travelling naturally tires you out and we had hit the sightseeing pretty hard packing a lot in and racking up plenty of walking miles in the process. Coupled with a few nights of not sleeping that well due to being in a new bed, the nights being so light and rather hot and humid I wasn't in perfect condition but didn't dwell on these things and just tried to focus on running as best I could and enjoying the race experience. 

The actual race

The day of the race was expected to be hot, and I mean hot, 30degrees hot! I knew this race was going to be a warm one and after my bad experience of hot and humid running at Halstead I was somewhat apprehensive of running in the heat. I felt pretty prepared though as the UK had been pretty warm in the few weeks before the race and I had tried to get out to run in the hotter middle part of the day as well this in addition to the the several hours a day walking around sightseeing which I felt had helped acclimatise me somewhat. Nothing can prepare you for running in the heat though! I think the race temperature varied from around 28 degrees up to highs of around 30 degrees and was the hottest race in over ten years! 

My first observations of the differences between this race and UK races were apparent at the start line. Half an hour before the race start and there was already a lot of running going on, people running in circles near the start area and people running up and down adjacent roads. There was a 10K happening as well as the marathon but the amount of pre race warm up running was definitely more than I can ever remember seeing at a UK race.

One thing that remains constant at races everywhere is the pre race queue for the toilets! Our apartment was only a 20 minute walk from the start area but we arrived with the aim of giving us enough time for a toilet stop before taking our places at the start. The queues were enormous though, under estimating demand for toilets seems to be an international problem. Luckily we spied what can only be described as a 'toilet bus' a large bus decked out with toilet cubicles. There was a charge for this 'premium' service and there was only a line of half a dozen people waiting so we handed over our rubels and joined the line. The facilities were not any better than the portaloos but we were happy to not have to endure a lengthy wait.

The time soon came to line up for the race start and Tom and I both managed to squeeze into the cramped starting pen somewhere between the 3.30 and 4.00 pacers as we both felt we had the potential for a 4 hour marathon in us if things went our way. 

I was expecting a prompt and efficient race start but the start was delayed by several minutes and so we waited in the cramped pens with temperatures already hitting 28C.

The race was soon underway and I had planned to take things easy for the first few miles, this decision was taking out of my hands though as the course was so congested with both 10K and marathon runners sharing the route for the first 7K. 

I happily set into a rhythm and tried to take in the sights of St Petersburg and all the beautiful buildings. 

The first noteworthy point came at the 5K water station, there were no signs to say it was approaching and this caused a near stampede as runners swarmed the first set of marshals handing out water. It was the scariest running experience I have ever had, a gentle paced run suddenly turned into a shouting frenzy of runners sprinting to get their hands on some water. I wisely swerved the masses and grabbed some water towards the back of the station. 

The 7K point soon came and the 10K runners departed which made the course far less congested. 

With the heat increasing and the sun blazing runners unsurprisingly headed for the side of the road offering the most shade. This along with the roads being so wide led to the majority of runners often being so far away from the racing line which was marked with a blue dotted line. I generally tried to stick to the racing line where practical and often found myself running 10 or 20m away from any other runner, almost like running in my own race, which I enjoyed! The disparity in runners racing lines must have led to some very long and very short marathons! 

My first problem during the race came at around 17K (at this point I was still going along at around 4 hour pace) when the uncontrollable urge to empty my bowels started to appear. 

I had seen some portaloos for the race earlier so consoled myself with the thought that there would be more along the route shortly. Several hundred metres passed and no toilets, I asked the Marshall at 18K, she didn't seem to understand English and her reply started with a harsh sounding word beginning with a 'N' which I took as a negative answer to there being any nearby toilets. I had to take some walking brakes to help control the urge and this obviously slowed my pace. We passed through some parkland areas and I scanned the area as I ran for any sign of suitable facilities but nothing, at 19K I again asked the marshall, he looked around and shrugged his shoulders, not a good sign. Things were getting desperate, I was confident there would be a toilet at either the 20K drink station or near the 21/22K point where the race crossed past the starting area but could I hang on till then? 

It's OK I managed to make it to 20K where I found relief in a foul smelling portaloo by the side of the course. Now I felt like the race could begin again after a difficult few miles. I cracked open an energy gel and started to assess my objectives which I summarised as follows: 

• The heat was starting to get too much and I knew it would only get worse, finishing in one piece was the real aim now.
• A four hour finish time was off the agenda 
• My gold standard objective was a sub 4.10, but that was dependent on an awesome second half of the race. My silver objective was a 4.15 with my bronze target being to beat my debut marathon time of 4.26. Additionally I tried to motivate myself further by convincing myself I had to finish in under 4.30 in order to have a respectable time.

All these objectives were set without me having any real idea of my actual race pace as I was running completely naked from all timing technology, my only barometer was that I knew that the 4 hour pacer was still behind me, how far though I didn't know!  

I passed the half way mark in 2.05 but knew this was gun time and I wasn't sure how far behind gun time I had started. 

On I pressed through the 20-22K mark which provided a brilliant carnival atmosphere with lots of support as the course passed by the race start area. After that the course went through some quiet back streets and the battle began as the heat intensified.

The next mile or so were difficult until I decided to unleash my trump card by taking on a caffeine energy gel. Once this kicked in I started to find running a bit easier and was moving at a decent pace. 

The course took us back through the more central parts of St Petersburg and with it shaded streets which made things feel easier. At some point after the half way mark the 4 hour pacer had passed me but I still felt I was only 5 to 10 minutes behind 4 hour pace with some faster splits following my caffeine injection. 

The caffeine was starting to wear off as I approached 30K which coincided with leaving the shaded streets and heading out onto a soulless dual carriageway which would eventually bring us back towards the finish. 

I had been warned of this difficult stretch of the race on twitter by @pawsonkeyboard who had previously ran the event. A big thank you for all you advice and support it was really helpful! 

Despite knowing about this challenging stretch of road it didn't make it any easier and the fact that it was accompanied by heading back into the blazing sun was just a double whammy I couldn't cope with. A lot of walking followed before I pulled myself together to adopt a walk/run strategy which comprised of walk to a lamp post run to the next one, walk one lamp post, run two lamp posts, walk one lamp posts, run three lamp posts then trying to keep a 3:1 run/walk lamp post ratio going for as long as possible before an extended walking period and repeating the sequence again. 

The section of 30K to around 38K dragged big time but eventually I was in the final stages. It was during this section that the 4.15 and 4.30 pacers passed me which provided a depressing mental equivalent to a kick in the balls. The race was now all about keeping it together to finish in one piece with the most respectable time I could muster. I think in these kind of situations I have found your body gives you two options, one is to stop and call it a day, two is to keep going at whatever pace you are able to squeeze out of you weary body.

The finish

Luckily I managed to squeeze enough out of my achy tired legs and dehydrated heat affected body to get to the closing mile or two where I was greeted by so many cheering supporters. I obviously didn't understand any of their support or encouragement but they provided the required adrenaline boost to spur me.

I had prepared myself for a final assault on the last two kilometers where I was going to squeeze everything out of my legs to finish as strongly as possible but as I tried to increase my pace a debilitating sensation shot through my back. It didn't feel good so I was reduced to a walk, every time I tried to run faster than a hobble the pain returned so I just did what I could to keep moving until the adrenaline over powered me in the last few hundred metres and I ran through the finish. 

I crossed the finish line with a official time of 4.42.44 coming 1496th of 2311 male finishers. I was pleased I was around 40 minutes faster than Halstead in May but somewhat disappointed it represented my slowest city marathon. However it was a PB for marathons abroad as well as being a PB for me for marathons ran in Russia! You have to find the positive somewhere! 

In summary I feel privileged to have ran the event in a spectacular city in a race that not many runners from Western Europe take part in. There were not too many differences with a UK race and there were no real criticisms with the race organisation although there are places where this could be improved but then there are in most races. 

Overall I was blown away away with the friendliness and support from the Russian people, runners and supporters a like. I don't think I have exchanged high fives with as many spectators during a marathon as I did during this race. There were several occasions during the race where members of the public had gone out of their way to provide water to runners which was happily appreciated by runners. There were also two or three instances during the race where I was struggling where fellow runners gave me a tap on the back, a thumbs up and a smile and/or words of encouragement. In any race it is always great to experience support and camaraderie from other runners but in this instance it felt even more special that people were supporting me even though I was unable understand them. Despite the language barrier the sense of friendship and support for a fellow competitor was clear to see and this is probably the overriding memory I will take away from this experience.

Here's my Russian tourist board bit, I would recommend anyone to visit Moscow and St Petersburg if you get the chance they are amazing vibrant cities. The White Nights marathon I would similarly urge anyone to take part in if you get the opportunity, its a super flat course with strong PB potential if the temperatures stay down and is a great alternative to the usual European circuit. 

So with that challenge done and dusted I am turning my attentions to marathon number 10 in September which will be Bacchus and hopefully a new 10K PB over the summer.  

My Bank Holiday Weekend of Running

Bank Holiday weekends are great, three days off work, which can only mean one thing; three chances to run! Needless to say I made the most of the three opportunities! 

All in all it has been a great weekend, here is what I got up to running wise and a few other bits...

Saturday - Harrow Lodge Parkrun

Over the summer I have planned to visit all my local parkruns and this was one of the weekends I had planned to visit somewhere new. Then I heard that Harrow Lodge were planning to raise awareness for a local boy and God son of one of the race directors who had recently died of Sepsis by supporting #Orange4Sepis. With orange being my favourite colour and having the chance to be involved in a great cause I head over to what used to be my local parkrun. 

It turned out I hadn't visited in almost two years and I found the tough cross country course really challenging and finished about a minute slower than my course PB. However the course has changed since I was there last and I think it has definitely got tougher! 

Despite being disappointed with my time I was impressed with my placing of 13th and coming first in my age grade! WhooHoo!!!

The post run brunch at Healthy Roots was a great way to celebrate too! 

R

Gluten free protein pancakes with lean grilled bacon and avocado, absolutely fantastic and a great way to refuel!  

Sunday - Westminster Mile

The first time I have ever raced a mile and the first time I have ever been involved in an event like this. 

I loved it, I enjoyed the challenge of racing a shorter and faster distance and I really enjoyed the inclusive atmosphere of the overall event. It was great to see so many activities alongside the running available in Green Park and I loved how the event really seemed to be about encouraging people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to get involved in activities and running. 

As for my mile effort I was really pleased with an official time of 6.11! 

Alongside challenging myself in the mile I also got the chance to race against my two running buddies Chris and Tony to a 60m sprint race complete with starting blocks and everything. 

Great fun! And even more enjoyable as I came out the sprint victor!

I think I will write up a specific post about Westminster Mile in due course but for the moment I would highly recommend a really fun event that covers a great route and has a great medal! 

Sunday Afternoon - England v Wales at Twickenham

After the running fun was over I head over to West London to enjoy an afternoon at the rugby having won tickets to the game a few weeks ago.

A burger a few beers, chilling out in the fanzone and then watching the game a great way to spend an afternoon! 

Bank Holiday Monday - Long Run time!

With my next marathon fast approaching I need to get back to a few long runs so despite my legs feeling a bit worse for wear from the weekend I headed out with the aim of covering around 15 miles.

The distance wasn't the main objective as I feel I need to work on my long runs. Rather than trying to maintain a much slower than marathon pace run or trying to match (and in my case usually crash and burn) marathon pace I am focusing on finishing the session stronger and faster. So for today's run my aim was 15K at comfortable pace of around 6 min/km pace and then to finish with a faster pace. In reality this transpired to 15K averaging around 6.10 min/km and then 7K at sub 4 hour marathon pace of around 5.35 min/km with two slower Ks to finish. It certainly felt a much tougher session than a 'normal' long run and time will tell if it proves successful in improving my marathon time.

So I certainly made the most of the three day weekend and I hope you did to? 

Halstead Marathon Race Review

May 8th was a lovely day across most of the UK, temperatures in the mid 20s, bright strong sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. A brilliant British summers day, a lovely day to spend in a beer garden, out for a country walk, sitting in the garden, lounging by a pool, relaxing with a cold drink, a lovely day to do anything a part from run a marathon. 

And what was I busy doing on May the 8th? Yes you guessed it I was running a marathon, my 8th marathon, a marathon that I had trained well for, a marathon I was in good shape for, a marathon that had the potential to bring me my long awaited sub 4 hour finish. Unfortunately as it turned out a marathon that almost reduced me to tears, turned my skin a lovely shade of beetroot and really challenged my resolve to finish.

The day started off so well, my running buddy Tony picked me and gave me a lift to the small picturesque Essex town of Halstead around a 40minute drive from where I live. With a race start at 10 am it was quite a leisurely start to my morning and I rather enjoyed being chauffeur driven to the race start, thanks Tony! 

Arriving at race HQ we found a busy mass of eager runners and a well drilled large number of marshals and organisers. Parking was achieved with military efficiency thanks to the assistance of local cadets and number pick up and bag drop off were similarly completed with minimal fuss. 

We sat inside the sports hall for as long as we could to stay away from the heat outside as the temperature was already rising, but before long it was time to venture outside to conduct a brief warm up and to line up with around 400 other runners to take on 26.2 miles of Essex countryside. 

My thoughts before the race start were of excitement at the race that lay ahead as it is regularly rated as a top ten race in the UK by readers of Runners World, trepidation as to what affect the heat would have on my race performance but anticipation as well at what I was capable of as I knew I was potentially in good shape to run a good time.  

I had scheduled in the first few miles to be gentle at a little outside 4 hour pacing and these were achieved with little effort or note other than a procession of classic cars that rolled past runners on their way to a classic car show, quite a surreal site.

After around mile 3 the first warning sign reared its head via a pain in the ball of my right foot. Its a pain that I have experienced a few times during periods of high training mileage but never during a race. My taper had been the most restful of any marathon preparation so I thought it was odd to get this pain and probably not a good sign.

I tried to put it to the back of my mind and pressed on with the race, soon enough the first 10K was up which I completed in around 56 minutes, perfect 4 hour pacing!

It was at around this point that I started to become very conscious of the heat and it started to creep into my mind that the weather might play a large part in my race performance. 

After around 12 or 13K I decided to try and shift up a gear to take the pace into sub 4 hour territory which felt OK for a short while but soon felt too taxing in the heat. Meanwhile the pain in my right foot began to worsen to the point that it was affecting my running. 

I kept on at a good pace probably just outside 4 hour pacing feeling comfortable until around mile 11 when things took a turn for the worse. Quite quickly things didn't feel so great and the heat was really starting to hit home. Over the course of a few hundred metres I went from feeling OK to feeling like I had run over 18 miles and I was in the later stages of a marathon. I don't know about other marathoners but there is a certain level of fatigue you start to feel at around the 18 mile stage and I start to get a shaky, tingling feeling it was then that I knew I was in trouble and the remaining 15 miles were not going to be pretty. 

About a mile later I caught up with Tony who had gone out at a slightly faster race pace than I but had similarly been struck down by the heat. When I met him he was walking and talking about how close he had come to pulling out so tough was he finding running in the heat. We managed to encourage each other to keep pushing on and alternated between a few hundred metres of running and marching at a brisk pace. After a mile or two we started chatting with several other runners and before I realised Tony had pulled away into the distance. 

I kept up with another mile or two of fast paced walking mixed with regular bouts of running. 

However my next low point occurred pretty soon at around mile 16 when I started to experience significant discomfort in my quads and thighs, they simply had nothing left in them. The thought of walking 10 miles in the heat was an awful prospect.

I will be honest and say I did walk the vast majority of the remaining 10 miles, I just didn't have the energy to run in the heat and my legs just felt zapped of strength and power. 

Most of the remaining miles were characterised by an ongoing battle between the good angel on one shoulder that was urging me to keep walking until I felt strong enough to run again and the devil on my other shoulder who kept trying to convince me that walking was not helping and a nice lie down under the cool shade of a tree would reinvigorate me to run the remaining miles. Luckily my will power prevailed as I knew that once I sat down it would be so hard to get up and continue. 

All thoughts of finishing times had gone from my mind and the battle was just one to get to the finish, I have never been in that position before other than in the final miles of Beachy Head Marathon where a combination of poor training and the brutal seven sisters hills almost destroyed me. 

Its funny how your mind works though as my mentality changed when I reached mile 24 where I managed to start some jogging and then again at mile 25 where I was able to almost run most of the remaining distance. 

The finish couldn't come soon enough and the off road hill in the final half mile I found particularly cruel! 

I crossed the line with little adulation as the only thing I had to celebrate was the fact I didn't have to run any more! 

My finishing time of 5.19 represents my slowest ever marathon and although Halstead is certainly a hilly challenging course its nowhere near as tough as Beachy Head or even Vanguard Way marathon which takes in part of the North Downs Way, it was just the heat which had defeated me on this occasion.

My disappointing performance has led me to some stern reflections which have resulted in the following conclusions;

• Firstly that I was in great condition and on a flat course in good conditions I could have rivaled a 4 hour finish, if it hadn't been so hot I would have been more than chuffed with a 4.30 finish at Halstead.
• I am too much of a typical Brit to perform well in the heat, I tire at the best of times when the weather gets hot let alone when trying to run a marathon.
• Lastly my running performance is significantly affected by my enjoyment of a run. I wasn't let down by my physical preparation or my mental attitude but as soon as I stopped enjoying running, because it was just too hot for me to run, I struggled to perform at my peak. 

Anyway enough of me moaning about a disappointing run how was the actual race?

It is very easy to see why Halstead is rated so highly, it is superbly organised and administered from the car parking, to the bag drop, the marshaling and the drink stations. Tony and I summarised it as an excellent example of a grass roots running event, the community really seemed to come together to support the race and really wanted to be proud of putting on a great event for runners to enjoy.

As for the course its certainly not PB potential as the course has one large hill and several decent climbs as well as always seeming to be on a slight incline or decline. However if you can handle the heat and the hills then the scenery and landscape are really spectacular. Rolling hills, patchwork fields as far as the eye can see, quaint thatched cottages in peaceful villages and quiet country lanes, every example of picturesque English countryside was on show and it was a pleasure to experience it on such a beautiful day. 

I have saved the best to last, for a modest entry fee the race provides an awesome medal, a generous goody bag packed full of snacks for the journey home and a really attractive T-shirt. 

If your looking for a spring marathon next year why not stay clear of the big city options of Manchester, London and Brighton and come and see what lovely Halstead has to offer. Th

Marathon crunch time

It's getting towards the business end of marathon training. I have about four weeks to go to marathon number eight, this is it now, a few weeks of the hardest training left then taper time.

Rather than giving you my unqualified advise as to what I think you should do to successfully train for a marathon, I'm going to tell you about my training in the hope that it will interest/educate/enlighten/guide/confuse/amuse you (delete as appropriate). 

First off this is my first spring marathon, the big negative associated with a spring marathon is the rain, the cold, the wind and the dark, training during the summer months for an Autumn marathon is much more fun!

The big advantage for me though had been that my marathon, Halstead on the 8 May, comes a few weeks after several big events, Paris, London, Brighton etc. This means my training has been a few weeks behind the masses of people running these events and sharing their training on social media so I have been quietly lurking in the background watching and learning from other people's experiences. 

Six weeks out from a marathon seems like a perfect time to get new trainers, that and the fact my current pair have done well in excess of 500km. 

So these are the pair that are (notice there is now hopefully added in here, I am trying to engage in more positive thinking) going to take me to sub 4 hour glory. 

In the last few weeks I have been racking up the miles and on top of the three half marathons I have done this year I have completed two 15 milers and a 17 miler. I am planning two more long runs in the region of 20 miles so that should take care of getting enough mileage in.

The long runs have been paired with a decent amount of speed work as well with regular early morning track sessions over at Regents Park.

I reckon my training has been better than previous marathons with a definite case of my training having been smarter if not necessarily having been harder or longer. 

So what do I have to do now to get me to the marathon start line in tip top condition:

Sleep - Plenty of rest to maximise the benefits of training.

Protein - Increassing the amount of protein I am including in my diet so plenty of hummus, natural yogurt, protein shakes, nuts, peanut butter, milk and the old faithful chicken for me. Its also lucky that USN recently sent me a free goody box of products to try out and review.

So far I have tried out, pure GF1 a tasty, rich, creamy protein shake packing a whole 40g of protein, pretty perfect to help recovery after a long grueling run. 

Trying out new carb loading options - I recently read an account from a runner who reflected that while training for an event so many runners will priotitise eating well, cutting out refined sugar and processed food only to get to race day and then start consuming sickly energy gels down their throats to help power their run. This really hit home with me so I decided to try out some more 'real food' options. I stumbled across whitworths shots (other dried fruit snacks are available) as a great way to get some carbs on board while out running. So far they are working really well, the main difference being that they take a bit of time to chew and swallow as opposed to gels which just slip straight down your throat. 

Not eating any puddings - Cutting out sweets, cakes and other sugary snacks is usually on most runners pre race preparation list and I am no different as I have a particularly sweet tooth and the problem is heightened by the fact that I get free lunch and work. Not just free lunch, but free lunch with a great range of puddings, cheesecakes, fruit crumbles, sponge cakes all the good things you can imagine! Cutting these out is fast becoming a major challenge! 

So here we go 4 ish weeks to go, lots of hard work to go but only 2 weeks before things tail off and its taper time! 

If you are running any of the great range of marathons in the coming weeks I hope your training has gone well and you have a great run! 

North London Half Marathon

Today I ran my 13th Half Marathon at the North London Half Marathon, a race boasting to have 'the greatest finish line in the world' as the race finishes inside Wembley stadium. 

For me I was really excited to run this race as I don't tend to do too many mass participation races and the idea of finishing in one of the most iconic sports stadiums in the world really appealed to me.

I have been training hard in the last few months and having ran half marathons in the previous two months I was in good shape to hopefully run a PB. The elation of a PB finish in Wembley stadium, what's not to like? I have missed the chance of scoring a winning goal in a cup final so this was my chance of achieving a small piece of sporting stardom. 

My less than ideal race build up

The race didn't quite go to plan though, more to the point the race build up. Here's what went wrong:

Firstly my last effort run on Thursday night finished with a sore throbbing in the ball of my right foot. Later in the evening this led to some swelling in my foot and I struggled to be able to put any weight on it. Ouch! Some painkiller and some ibuprofen gel made a big difference though but it still didn't feel right during and after a gentle jog on Friday. I was apprehensive how it would feel for 13 hard and fast miles in North London. 

Secondly I managed to tweak my back on Saturday, I didn't even do anything to it like lift something heavy or fall over, I must have just sat awkwardly on the sofa when visit family as when I got up it felt so tight and stiff. Come the evening it had worsened and I was struggling to walk straight, I must have done something to affect a nerve as I was also getting sensations through my legs. So going to bed on Saturday evening I wasn't 100% sure I would be running in the morning.

    

Morning of the race 

Sunday morning came around and my back felt OK so off we set for North London, big thanks have to go to the wife for getting up at 6.30 on a Sunday morning and agreeing to drive me to and from the race. I wasn't sure how my back would respond to running so it was going to be a 'see how it goes' kind of race. 

Additional niggles included a tight left thigh and a painful knot in my left calf which had worsened over the last few days, the joys of running! 

Pre race was the usual thing you expect with large races, queuing in traffic to get anywhere near where you want to go, queuing to park and then the final inconvenience of queuing for the toilet as I had the need to do an unmentionable before I set off. 

That left me very little time to warm up and then to squeeze into the starting pens, I could only manage to find a gap in the middle of the 1.45-2.00 pace group but I thought that would be good for my early pacing strategy. 

The race was soon underway and I gingerly set out to run the first few k's at a steady pace to see how my back felt and then reassess my race strategy from there. 

The first section of the race was quite congested as you would expect which helped my pacing. 

Despite starting and finishing at Wembley there was a realisation that North London wouldn't offer much scenery to view for the rest of the 13 miles. To be honest I was quite pleasantly surprised with what the race provided. After the first mile or so we were basically in the country with a road flanked by fields and roadside verges covered in daffodils. At around mile 3 there were a few thatched cottages (I know near Wembley in north London, who knew?!) and there was also the RAF museum we passed twice where you could see a few planes on display. Sure there were a few grim parts, some non-descript residential areas, some dull industrial areas but by no means a soul destroying backdrop. 

The half way point was marked by a lap around Saracens Allianz park which had a great atmosphere and running on the running track there literally put a spring in my step! 

It was at around the halfway point I knew that I had a decent chance of getting a good time as I had covered 10K in around 50minutes, my back felt OK although my foot felt sore but I decided to increase the pace for the next 5K. 

Being a there and back route I felt that the race went really quick, I am not sure if it was knowing the route back to the finish or the distraction of watching runners stream the other way on the other side of the road. 

In the last few miles I thought I was on for a time just outside of 1.40 but this turned out to be out of my grasp as I finished in 1.42.33. This is my second fastest half marathon time which is cause for celebration and seeing as I view my PB as a complete fluke you could say this is a kind of PB?! 

Race review

In terms of my review of the race as an event I suppose it would get a solid 7/10.  

My observations were that the course was very congested, I think because of only using half the road at any one time. The support on the course was very poor, not much of a turn out and any people out on the street were more bemused at the spectacle in front of them rather than supportive. Such a contrast with Run Hackney last year which had phenomenal course support. 

As for the hills the course is by no means easy and certainly has more hills than you would expect for a city event. The hill at around 10.5 miles is particularly horrible, one because of its place in the race and secondly because it's a sneaky one! As you start heading towards Wembley there is a gentle climb and then you can look down and see the stadium below you so you automatically assume it's all downhill from here to the finish but no the sneaky hill appears out of nowhere! 

The course is nowhere near as hilly as other events I have down before and pales in significance to Tunbridge Wells where I got my PB so I would actually say it's a reasonably fast course with decent PB potential. 

The end

So how did 'the greatest finish line in the world' workout? Not great if I'm honest, I knew it wouldn't be the greatest but thought it would still be pretty great but in reality it was only a good finish, but then I can be a hard man to please.

My reasons for this are that you run down Wembley Way (which was phenomenal, great support and brilliant to have the stadium in view ahead of you) towards the stadium but instead of heading into the stadium you run about half way around it before heading into the stadium itself. Even then you are running in the dark bowels of the stadium before finally emerging for probably less than 200m onto pitch level. 

I still enjoyed my small taste of sporting stardom in front of several hundred spectators despite a non PB finish. Finishing in the stadium certainly provides  some unique race memories and provided some great photo opportunities. 

Upon getting home I was really pleased with the great race goody bag, a cool medal and a brilliant looking Tshirt which I am looking forward to wearing soon.  

Thank you as always for all the support I have received in the build up to the race, next stop a marathon PB at Halstead in May...

I received my place in the North London Half Marathon courtesy of Urban Massage.