This weekend I will be mostly running

So this weekend I will be mostly...

Running....

For the third year I am taking part in Spitfire Scramble but this time instead of being part of a team I have taken the plunge and am running as a solo runner.

My aim is to cover 100K in the 24 hours which will be my first stab at an ultra.

I will be honest and say I am not sure what to expect, running so much further than I ever have before, going solo instead of being part of a team and pushing myself as far as I can go are all challenges that I will tackle.

Can I cover the distance? 

On the one hand when I think that in previous years at Spitfire I have covered almost 60K and felt fine then why by slowing the pace down a bit I should easily be able to cover a bit more distance, but then again the thought of running two and a half marathons just doesn't seem feasible! I cant say I have ever felt like running another mile after any marathon I have completed let alone another marathon and a half!

What are my tactics to get me through?

I have a schedule of how the 24 hours are going to plan out in terms of my running and rest periods. I have planned out my scheduled start times for each lap and how long my rest periods will be so I know what I need to do.

I know staying hydrated will be key as well as taking on enough calories to keep me running. The plan is to take on something after every 10K lap whether that be a gel, some dried fruit or something more substantial if I can take it.

Other than that my tactics are consistency, coffee beans, trying to get a few hours sleep somewhere in the middle and trying not to feel like a hamster going round and round on a wheel!

I am hoping it will be fun and I will embrace the challenge of running longer and further than ever before.

Any last minute tips and advice for a first time ultra runner? If you are also spitfire scrambling this weekend good luck and I hope to see you there! 

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! 

Day 7 One week completed!

Today's run: Afternoon - Longer - pavement (and at times water!)- 6.32km - 32.47mins

Wow what a week, seven days of running done 43.17km distance covered and over 4 hours of running completed, quite a week!

Today's run was always planned to be an afternoon run the constant rain throughout the morning meant I kept pushing my run back hoping the rain would subside. Not that I am adverse to running in the rain its just that I would prefer to go out and enjoy my run when its not raining and as I have already ran in the rain a few times this week I was hoping bright and dry weather conditions. 

It was not to be though, it was rainy, it was wet and pretty horrible!

I headed out along the footpath through the Ingrebourne Valley country park. The river Ingrebourne was swollen and flowing high up its banks to a point I have never seen before, not only that but the path was sodden in places and got to the point where it was so flooded I had to detour. 

The detour took me through a less scenic housing estate but it did provide me a decent incline to run up for several hundred metres. 

I was so wet by the time I got home and was glad to jump into a warm shower and pop on a nice big hoody before settling down for a relaxing Sunday evening. 

After seven days it seemed like a logical time to reflect on my runstreak so far: 

The reasoning behind my challenge can be found here, the basic aim of my challenge is to try and raise awareness and funds for Pancreatic Cancer during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. 

The week started off with a longer run of 8.52km as I started my challenge off with a bang. In all honesty I wasn't sure how I was going to fare with all the running. I didn't feel in the greatest shape, my diet has been pour and the weekend had seen me eat and drink more than my fair share of goodies and alcohol celebrating my wife's birthday. I was also concerned with my calves, which have always been my problem area where running has been concerned. They were experiencing a lot of tightness and pain in the front of my legs before running and mostly during my runs as well making runs painful and not very enjoyable.

Day 2 saw me hit the gym in the morning and then head out for a evening hill session where I covered my minimum target for the challenge of 5K. I felt OK in myself considering I had trained twice and was running on the back of a longish distance form the day before.  

Day 3 was my real challenge as I was determined to combine my usual Wednesday evening boot camp I attend with a friend with my running. This meant I had to head out for a run before work so I was out pounding the pavements before 6 am. An experience I really enjoyed and I look forward to repeating soon. Boot camp in the evening was really a struggle though as I to find any strength or energy in my legs. 

On Day 4 I gave myself practically 24 hours since my last training session on the previous evening before running. I headed out in the evening for what I presumed would be a slow and steady 'plod' around. Actually I found it to be a great run where I felt stronger and fitter than I could ever have imagined after training so hard in the previous few days, this was the run where I really started to feel the positive affects of consecutive days running. 

It was Day 5 where the week changed and took on a whole different meaning. I receive the exciting news that I had been shortlisted to the final 50 runners of all the thousands that had applied for Runnersworld magazines Asics target 26.2 challenge. If its not something you are aware of it is a competition to find 5 runners to run towards their targeted finish time in the Paris Marathon in 2015. The prize is not only VIP entry into the Paris Marathon but loads of assistance with training plans and advice from specialist coaches. What an absolute dream to be part of! The days run then felt like the most important run of my life as I felt such a sense of pride and excitement as I went out running. I felt like Mo Farah or some other successful Olympian feeling 12 feet tall bursting with pride but I know I didn't appear any different to anyone I passed despite how I felt inside. 

Yesterday and Day 6 was a classic Saturday run, heading out running before relaxing in front of an afternoons sporting entertainment on TV. This is the run I have found hardest as I struggled to get going and felt pretty tired and lacking in energy. 

Thank you for reading, any tips on how to train effectively during a runstreak would be greatly received, happy running everyone!  

Day 4 Starting to feel the strain

Today's run: Evening - Long(er), slow(er) and steady - pavement - 8.12km - 42.33mins

First off I must say I am loving this runstreak at the moment! Although I am only just starting off I am really enjoying the continued focus of running everyday and it is having a great affect on my running and I am probably enjoying my running as much if not moret han ever!

Today's run I was expecting to be tough after yesterdays morning run and evening boot camp session but in actual fact it wasn't too bad at all. 

Although I felt a bit stiff this morning I felt I had recovered well from yesterdays exertions. The double session yesterday definitely made me feel the strain, the early morning run was a drain having to run so early in the morning and my energy for the evening boot camp session was pretty drained. 

Boot camp last night consisted of a lot of skipping, I am not a great fan nor actually a great skipper. Although it is a great cardio exercise I unfortunately do not possess the right levels of coordination for it to be a particularly effective exercise and I tend to usually both look and feel like a hyperactive spider in a constant state of half running, half falling in a perpetual cycle of almost tripping over all of his legs. 

The main circuits of last nights training was a split circuit of two sections, firstly using an exercise step, 30 seconds of tappers, bomb jumps and side lunges (all leg intensive exercises designed to build dynamic power) followed by alternate skipping sets repeated 4 times. The second circuit was then again using the exercise step this time a combination of 30 seconds of incline pressups, tricep dips and decline pressups again intersected with skipping and again repeated 4 times. 

So all in all 8 sections of skipping! I was sick of holding the damn skipping rope come the end!

My energy levels particularly in my legs were clearly diminished on my usual performance and I could feel my legs at times just not having anything left to give. I know its all good as pushing tired legs to keep going when they have had enough will only make them stronger. 

I started off aiming to progress slow and steadily but soon warmed up nicely and felt stronger as the run went on. 

My route was planned to take me around 7 or 8km and in the end I completed 8.12km with a decent pace of just over 5 minutes per km with a strong and fast finish.

As well as the obvious physical challenges running for so many consecutive days posses there are also the more practical implications such as needing a high amount of kit.

Earlier this week I was forced into doing an emergency batch of washing made up almost entirely of running socks! Almost 50 socks all washed and ready to wear most of which to be fair have seen better days!

So thats day 4 done and I am already feeling the benefits of my more intense training as I feel stronger, faster and fitter.

Finally getting out for a proper long run

On Sunday despite my niggling big toe injury I headed out for a long run and managed to complete 29.3Km!

I was so relieved to be able to get a good distanced long run in before my fast approaching marathon in two weeks on 3rd August. I was also thankful my toe allowed me to complete the distance and has showed no signs of worsening since the run.

My aim was to try and cover 20K and then if my toe held up to try and push into the higher 20s towards 30.

My long distance stamina isn’t where it should be as it has been two weeks since I complete 20K and three plus weeks since I completed anything longer.

I did find it a struggle and my legs started to wain a little around the 14K mark but I dug in and completed a distance I was really pleased with.

I was also able to successful practice my race preparation and race strategy. My pre-race schedule looked something like this on Sunday morning:

My carb loading strategy worked well and I felt well fuelled throughout the run, I was also able to get some much needed experience of using my new hydration pack on a long run.

I also took along a fee energy gels and took four during my run which helped maintain my energy levels. I was happy with how they helped my performance and was satisfied I was able to digest them with no stomach issues.

The run has to go down as one of the most enjoyable runs I can remember. Firstly the relief at being able to run after injury, secondly with not being sure how far I would be able to run being able to run such a good distance felt great!

It was also such a great summer’s morning, warm and bright even though the sun hadn’t quite pierced through the clouds fully at 8.30am when I started out.

It was the kind of day where summer felt in full peak after a few days of really hot and humid weather, the grass was all sunburnt and straw like and the ground mostly dry and crisp despite some heavy downpours a few days previously.

Running through fields in the country park I was often running through a vibrant cacophony provided by what seemed like a million grasshoppers/cricket providing at times an ear piercing backing track to a lovely summer morning. At times it was a relief to leave a fielded area to get reacclimatised with the silence and you then realise how loud the cricket orchestra had been.

Post run I feel great although I have painful blister on my right heel and sore, damaged nipples which will take a few days to heal over. The run has reconnected me with why I love to run, the feeling of pushing yourself towards your limit and the physical and mental excellence you are rewarded with as a result.

I can’t wait to get out and run the marathon on 3rd of August and am looking forward to many more long runs as I train towards the following two marathons after that.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are enjoying your running and your training is progressing well.

3 marathons in 3 months update

So time to evaluate how I am getting on working towards this challenge.

Less than two months to go until my first of the three marathons. Having only completed two marathons in the last five or six years to do now be doing three within three months is a massive step up and a demanding challenge I am fully aware of.

So how has my preparation been going? 

I have covered around 50K in each of the last two weeks including one 21K run. I covered the half marathon distance in 1hr 55 which although 16 minutes over my personal best was still something I was pleased with as I took it steady and felt good and strong both at the end and afterwards. 

I have also been focusing on doing more core and ab work as well as trying to stretch and roll wherever and whenever possible. 

I have done some speed and intervals work with the view to beat my current 5K PB at parkrun in the next couple of weeks.

Current training plans

Tomorrow is Run2work day so I will be running part of my commute to work tomorrow as part of my training. I will probably cover around 8K and am looking forward to the demands of running in a different environment with my backpack on to add an extra dynamic.

Healthy Eating

My diet for the most part had been really good especially my lunches at work.

Todays was cous cous, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, chopped apple and raisins.

The last few days I have been on my staple of brown rice with a variety of differing vegetables. Yesterday I added some variety and bit of fun by turning a boring bowl into my own mini burritos!

My snacking has also been very good and I am loving my dried fruit and nuts. I have also been having plenty of fruit bowls for snacks in the evening. 

As I get closer to my next marathon I keep thinking over my last marathon which was a real struggle. I want to learn as much as possible from that experience and try to banish any demons still lurking in my mind with a great marathon run this time out.

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.