I don't like Mondays, but I liked this one!

The last few weeks, the last few months even has seen a steep decline in the number of articles on my blog. That's not to say I haven't been running, far from it, I have been running more than ever. 

Recently I have really struggled to find the motivation and brain power to write anything, I have had plenty of good ideas and have on several occasions started to write things but have just lacked the will to get anything published. The only reason I can think of for this is my new job which I started earlier this year which certainly takes up a bit more mental energy as well as more of my time. 

So what better way to get my motivation reignited than on a Monday, but not just any Monday, a Monday off work. Not only a Monday off work but a Monday off work started off with a run. 

Monday marks the start of the working week, along with the dread of embarking on five days of work that hangs over the working population like a dark cloud on a Monday morning there is also a ray of optimism that every Monday brings. A new week, a chance to start again, a whole range of new possibilities for how the week might turn out.

It depends how you look at it, you can choose to treat it as an opportunity or fear it as a dreaded curse. I summed up these kind of thoughts and feelings in an article I wrote for Running Junkies last year which can be read here if you so wish.

Any way back to today, I am now less than two weeks away from the Vanguard Way marathon and although I have trained hard I am not feeling particularly marathon ready. The reasons for this is mainly due I think to poor diet in recent weeks as well changing my training to bring a greater focus to each run and to really concentrate on pacing. Despite this added focus I feel more confused about my pacing, how fast I can run and how I should pace my marathon, but anyway that's a story for another article which I will hopefully write shortly! 

This morning I found myself at the house of my brother in law and running buddy, not to mention frequent character in my blog, Tom in Tunbridge Wells following an excellent day at the cricket yesterday watching Essex v Kent at the Nevill Cricket Ground in Tunbridge Wells. Despite a day sat in the sun drinking a few amount of alcoholic refreshment and an evening spent sampling some of Tunbridge Wells fine drinking establishments not to mention a late night curry we were still keen to venture out for an early morning jaunt. 

What followed was a 7K speedy canter out of Tunbridge Wells along a bridal path out towards the Sussex border providing some great views over the South East. It was quite a hilly little run with at last three decent testing climbs and a few gentle downhills. 

It was still a humid morning with a thick covering of cloud following early morning showers, a light drizzle provided some nice refreshment without getting us too wet.

On a clear day the views but be spectacular but today they were hidden from view, the moody weather conditions not wanting to unveil what lay beyond.

I must admit I struggled at first, the steepness of the run, the beers and ciders consumed yesterday along with Tom's rapid early pace all proved rather challenging.

Hope you are happy with your increased presence on the blog Tom?!  

The frustration I have running with Tom is that where as I like a thorough warm up routine prior to setting out running Tom is more of a throw on some running kit and head straight out the door type of guy. It's just the way our bodies differ and I must say I am envious to be able to just run rather than needing to stretch muscles and increase blood flow before contemplating heading off. So it took me a good 3 or 4 Kms before I felt warmed up, anyway that's my excuse for struggling to keep up with Tom on the first half of the run! 

Back at the house Tom cooked up an excellent post run breakfast, a Jamie Oliver inspired concoction, sweet corn pancakes topped with tomatoes, avocado, pancetta, syrup, natural yogurt and a squeeze of lime juice. It sounds far too much for one dish but all I can say is, it works!

What better way to start a Monday?! Certainly better than being stuck on my desk ploughing my way through the weekends email. So with an invigorating run under my belt I am looking forward to my training ahead this week, of course it will be scaled down a bit as I start to taper but it will be enjoyable none the less. 

I hope your Monday and your week got off to a great start, whatever you have planned make the most of your week and have a great weeks training!

Every second counts

I'm You could be mistaken for thinking that only shorter sprint races come down to split second finishes. Sure Usain Bolt needs to make every fraction of a second count as he hurtles through 100m in a matter of seconds but the margins surely are not that tight over long distance races?

Well two recent experiences made me remember that in every race every second counts.

A few weeks back I ventured over to Hackney Marshes Parkrun to meet up my Asics bootcamp buddy Chris Brammer.

We were keen to have a decent run on what is an excellent flat course of PB potential. I was not in the best of shape for any speedy sprinting and Chris was understandably wanting to run well within himself as he had the Paris marathon in a weeks time and subsequently he was therefore in much better shape than I. (He went on to smash his PB and run his first sub 4 marathon by the way!)

I ventured that I could probably crack a sub24 run and this was well within Chris's limits so using his Garmin he paced me round with a view of completing in under the 24 minute mark.

Boom! We crossed the line in 23.59! 

It was a tough race to keep pushing for the whole race but I was glad I did as I would have been disappointed to miss out on 24 minutes by just a few seconds.

My second every second counts experience came at the Hampton Court Half Marathon. The first things to say about this race is that their medal is amazing:

Henry VIII doing a mobot as part of a reassuringly weighty and thick high quality medal, what more do you want?! 

I also got a photo with the king himself and you can read my write up of my race here. 

I ran the race with my brother in law Tom who fresh from beating me at the recent Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon was eager to trump me again, full write up available here.

I didn't end up seeing Tom at the start so wasn't aware of where he had started in relation to me and then at the end had no idea not only of his finishing time but of how his finish time equated to mine.

I found him soon after the finish and we tried to work out if him finishing around a minute before me meant his time was actually quicker than mine in relation to when we both started off. Neither of us are that up to date with our running equipment so no snazzy Garmin or GPS data to inform us who had triumphed.

It wasn't until later that evening when the official times were posted that the evidence showed how close the margin of victory was to be.

One second! 

The thinnest of thin margins!

So close but I was still glad to record a victory after Tunbridge Wells although in reality I know there is no victory in a one second difference. 

So what is the moral of my tale? Give 100% in every second of every race as you never know when you might need that valuable second to help you beat a rival or break a PB!

Tunbridge Half Marathon 2015

My first run of 2015 The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon was taking on a grueling and hilly 13 miles amongst the scenic villages in and around Tunbridge Wells.

The race was the scene of my triumphant PB run last year but this year I knew such a performance would not be on the cards. 

The early part of 2015 has seen me move into a new flat and take on a new job which all in all has disrupted my training somewhat. Added to this my troublesome calves which have been playing up since Christmas.

The race was always going to be a struggle and just about getting round rather than aiming for a certain time, but in the days leading up to the run I was doubtful of running at all. Being busy with the flat move logistics had meant having to squeeze in runs to my schedule where possible and with time being constrained I was in the bad of not warming up or cooling down properly leading to my calves getting worse. 

On the Friday before the run I was so concerned at not being able to run the race on the Sunday I started making inquiries with local sports massage establishments to see what they could offer at short notice. I managed to squeeze in an early morning appointment at a local physiotherapist where I received a gentle sports massage to try and ease the tightness but without causing too much damage to prevent me from running the next day. 

Come the day of the race I just about felt well enough to run but didn't feel particularly fighting fit to take on 13 miles. 

I was running with my main running buddy my brother in law Tom who was raring to go for this years race after having to sit out last years event through injury, as this is his local event he was more keen to run and do well. 

We headed off at a gentle pace meandering our way through the other runners. It was nice to enjoy a bit of a company and a bit of a chat. Around a mile and a half a bottle neck of runners going into a tight corner meant that we got split up, it was also a slight downhill bend which Tom decided to take full advantage of and put his foot down and accelerated away. Not being in the greatest shape I knew I couldn't speed up to catch him so I watched him run around 50m in front of me, however every time I looked up he had sprinted further into the distance.

After 3 or 4 miles my calves felt better and I felt like the race had started so I started to concentrate on my strategy. 

I was conscious of not pushing to hard and making sure I just finished in one piece and I was of course spurred on by trying to catch Tom up.

This year I found the hills much harder than last year but the genius of the race organisers of positioning bands and musical entertainment at the summits of hills was incredibly motivating. 

As I moved into the second half of the course my thoughts turned to trying to catch my running partner Tom up, I wondered where he was on the course and how far ahead he was. I was chugging along with the aim of finishing in around 1.50 which I knew Tom was more than capable of matching and probably even going a bit quicker. 

As the miles past I expected to see him and overtake him but with every mile that I didn't pass him I was more concerned firstly that he was going to beat me by a sizable time and secondly concern that he might have pushed to hard and dropped it.

As the race entered the final stages with still no sign of Tom I had feelings of both feeling pleased that Tom looked on for a great finishing time matched with the anguish of fearing he had pulled out. As my own chances of a good time faded the thought of knowing Tom was achieving a good time kept me motivated and I hoped I wouldn't see him again until the finish.

When I got to the ten mile mark I found it tough as usually I would summon up what energy I had left and push for the finish line but not on this occasion. This time I went to look to see what I had left in the tank and the answer was 'very little!'.

I still didn't see Tom in the final miles and felt excited to find out how well he had done but was still concerned he might have pulled out.

After I staggered across the finish line feeling as bad as I probably have after any race I worked my way through the finishers area where I spotted a disorientated but jubilant looking Tom who had finished a few minutes before me and smashed his PB to run a blinding 1.48! 

I was kind of disappointed with my own time of 1.51 but at the same time I knew I couldn't have worked any harder during the race I just simply wasn't fit enough on this occasion. 

I couldn't be too downhearted as the memories of my own triumphant PB in the race last year came flooding back. 

It was great to revel in the enjoyment of someone elses achievements and a pleasant afternoon was spent recovering, refueling and suggesting how much faster than our PBs either of us could go. I suspect these predictions became more fanciful and less realistic as the beers flowed! A cracking Sunday lunch at the Duke of York pub was heartily enjoyed to wrap up a great race weekend.

Final Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon preparation

With the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon fast approaching I am in danger of not getting enough long runs under my belt.

Looking at my running log from last year during January and February I ran a half marathon distance 4 or 5 times prior to running the Tunbridge Wells race at the end of February.

This year I have ran a couple of 12Kms and yesterdays run of 18.5Km will be my only long run approaching the half marathon distance.

Obviously running the required distance so many times contributed to a great race and my subsequent PB run. This year I know I am not in the shape to challenge my PB time and although I know I haven't run enough long runs I feel I am generally a better runner, stronger and fitter than last year.

So for my long run I tried out a new route to keep me on my toes, I wasn't sure what the exact distance would be but knew it would be at least 15Km

I headed out towards Pages Wood which provided a great wintery back drop, however the gravel paths proved to be more mud then stone and were then quite squelchy and mucky to run on. 

Out of the park I headed through Harold Wood and started winding way back homeward. My route took me under the railway that connects London's Liverpool Street station with the Essex outback of Colchester, Chelmsford and beyond. 

I soon came across the highlight of my route that I had purposely Incorporated into my run, I thought some stairs would be great to build some extra strength and be a test of my endurance especially after running at least 12Km by this point. 

In the end I completed around 18.4Km in 1 hour 50 and am hopeful I will be able to complete the Tunbridge Wells half in a similar time. 

Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

I ran in the 2014 Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd March. 

http://www.twharriers.org.uk/racing/tw_half_marathon

It was my 6th Half Marathon and I managed to smash my PB by 7 minutes! 

To anyone looking for a great event to run this time next year I would definitely recommend taking part in this event. Great route, great scenery, great marshaling, great medal, great music from live bands and a pretty decent chance at a PB as there are plenty of downhills and also pacers are provided. 

I can also recommend Tunbridge Wells for some excellent pubs, cafes and restaurants which provided a very pleasant Saturday pre race which required a lot of will power to resist a drink or two!

I did very much enjoy my post race refuel though at Java cafe who have a great range of Egg Benedict specials. I opted for the Cumberland option which went down a treat!