Looking forward to my first marathon abroad

Two weeks today on 3rd July I will be running my first marathon abroad! 

For my ninth marathon I will be running the St Petersburg White Nights marathon in Russia. Any marathon is a challenge in itself but running a marathon abroad presents its own set of unique challenges.  

Too be honest I am not sure exactly what to expect, I know it will be different, but how different I just don't know. I suppose the main things I am considering are:

• Will the language barrier present any difficulties during the race? What if I don't understand instructions or get lost due to misreading signs? 
• How different is the race organisation going to be from what I have come to expect from UK races? Will it be well organised and all run smoothly allowing me to run at my best?
• I am very much a creature of habit and a lover of routine especially when it comes to my running so how will I cope with being away from home, being in a different country, and a different culture? 
• What affect will this have on my running? Who knows...

Why Russia and why St Petersburg I hear you ask as opposed to the usual foreign forays into overseas marathons that UK runners usually make to Paris or Berlin? The reason is that my brother in law and occasional running partner Tom is currently living in Russia and this presented an opportunity of a life time too strong to turn down, so when he suggested how could I not give it a go?!

So what are my main concerns?

• Heat and humidity - Despite the perceptions of Russia being of a cold country in the summer it is likely to be very hot and humid, not ideal running conditions. Just read how I got on running the recent Halstead marathon on the hottest weekend of the year. 
• Holiday festivities - The marathon will fall in the middle of a week long holiday in Russia and while I take any marathon fairly seriously I am not going to give up having fun on holiday. So we will see what affect what I am sure will be an enjoyable holiday will have on my running and if any indulgences into sampling local food and drink (especially the famed Russia vodka!).
• Being out of my routine - As I have mentioned I am a creature of habit and I am concerned that being away from my usual routines will have a negative impact on my running although I am conscious of this being a mental issue to overcome rather than anything physical.

So have you run a marathon away from home or overseas? How did it go? What are your tips?

Even better have you ran a marathon in Russia or have you ran the St Petersburg marathon? It would be really great to hear of your experiences, please get in touch!  

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

Urban Massage Review

I was lucky enough to receive free entry into the North London Half Marathon via Urban Massage who were one of the races sponsors. You can read how I got on here: (spoiler - I had a great run and recorded my second fastest time).

As if a free race entry wasn't enough I was also lucky enough to receive a free massage! It was like my Christmas and Birthday coming at once! 

So in case you didn't know know Urban Massage are a massage provider with a difference, not only do they offer a wide range of massages and treatments they send a therapist straight to your home or workplace. With their extensive range of over 300 therapists they also pride themselves on being able to provide you with a massage appointment within a few hours offering a high standard of flexibility and convenience to customers. 

You can also choose your own therapist allowing you to pick someone with the right experience and expertise so you can tailor your treatment to meet your requirements.

So how was my massage? 

I naturally opted for a sports massage (although Urban Massage do provide the usual array of massages from thai massage, deep tissue and reflexology) which I booked in for an evening after work. 

Pre massage I went through the usual anxiety you get when you invite a stranger into your home, after a frantic 15 minutes cleaning the flat I was sat ready and waiting for my therapist. 

Soon enough Andreas turned up for our appointment, after a quick chat I was pleased to hear he had experience in endurance training and had completed several marathons in the past and was now focusing on long distance cycling. 

Before I knew it a full size massage bed had been erected in the flat and Andreas had unpacked a range of fresh towels from his holdall in a sight similar to a scene from Mary Poppins. 

What followed was a generous hour of an incredibly beneficial sports massage that really soothed my muscles after the ravages of several weeks of marathon training.

I found Andreas to be very knowledgeable not only on his understanding of muscles but also on common running injuries and ailments as well knowing about general fitness and running issues. 

I was also happy with Andreas's assessment that other than a bit of tightness in my hip flexors my legs were in good condition. 

The session was finished off with Andreas demonstrating a stretch I could use to help elevate my hip flexor tightness and some general advice on how I could maximise my running conditioning through stretching. 

As we chatted the towels were rolled up, Andreas packed his bag and before I knew it the bed was folded up and put away and my flat was returned to being a normal flat as opposed to a massage treatment room. 

Now here is the best part, you know after a massage when you feel all relaxed and chilled out? The last thing you want to do is to get on a busy train home right? Well all I had to do was grab a protein shake from the kitchen and sit down on the sofa with my feet up ready to enjoy the rest of my evening. Perfect! 

I would recommend considering Urban Massage for any massage you were thinking of booking as the convenience their service provides is a great benefit.

Thank you to Urban Massage for providing me with a free massage in return for a review. Although this massage was received free of charge all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. 

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!