A year in numbers

Wow what a year, a year which saw me run distances I could have only dreamed of only a few years ago. A year seeing me become 33rd in the IAU world rankings, run through the night, see hallucinations, run the last 40 miles of a 85 mile race with a badly bruised tendon and swollen foot, a year seeing me raise over £1200 for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Here are my numbers at at glance which average just under 10km a day:

Highest Month	236 miles
Lowest Month	93.8 miles
Highest Week	93 miles	August (pre Ridgeway)
Lowest Week	15 miles	April (post Crawley)
Mileage Total	2156 miles

Mist and Mud

So the big thaw begins with the snow rapidly melting from the paths and trails, hoorah. Mrs J and I noted today that although the temperature was mild there were pockets of mist hanging over the stubborn patches in the low lying areas and woodland nearby.

My plan tonight was to run 14 miles and get my training plan back on track after the Christmas break. I set off for my run with hand and head torch with a view of going to the club via some woodland paths and soon found it was nigh on impossible due to the various temperature inversions mentioned above causing me to slow down and then to be met by pools of mud, glorious mud, I can deal with mud.

Getting to the club I went on a road run with some of the regulars but my legs were a bit dull tonight and was no way in the mood for a race finish but I finished strongly and happily. I then got it into my thick skull that I would run home via the woods along the course of the local stream and then found myself in the most precarious position as my head torch spotted I was in a completely unfrozen section of ice very near to where I stumbled yesterday!!!! With this my return was slowed as I then hit a thick patch of mist, then mud and then enormous puddles of ice melt.

Let us just say that my body is really tired now, drained would be a better way of describing it. Rest day Wednesday, a time to eat and recover ready for Thursday's tempo run.

A telephone conversation

Mrs J was on the telephone this afternoon talking to her brother over in Canada and went something like this:

"Jerry? Yes he is OK, looking a bit tired at the moment"
[inaudible question]
"Yes, he is off to the running club later"
[another inaudible question]
"Yes, I have a feeling he is training for some ridiculous long race next year"

I have a feeling she knows something is afoot but I think it is about time I let the cat out of the bag and mentioned GUCR to her...wish me luck!

OMG

I have been doing some research tonight on the Grand Union Canal Run we are doing in May 2011, the whole focus of our training and I saw a blog that read:

"...I could no longer think just about this moment, I had to think about getting there. 45 hours, 145 miles, 500,000 steps, 20,000 calories, one sun-rise, maybe 2 sun-sets. It was almost like someone has just rudely put these obstacles in between me and my finish...."

The more I read about this run, the more incredible it becomes, did I really enter this?

Homemade sports drinks part two

After discussing a method of getting rid of old carb gels left over from various races I have undertaken and not used I decided to make a sports drink but was inspired by Chris Carver's comments on the way he makes a cheap alternative (recipe here nearer the bottom of page)

So tonight, whilst cleaning up the kitchen I had a go at my own using Chris's as a basis.

Jerry's homemade sports drink

The amount of orange squash (cordial) can vary, I am not a lover of strong tasting squash. I use LoSalt due to a lower sodium content but includes a potassium alternative

Ingredients
100 ml Orange Squash
400 ml Warm water (boiled in kettle and left for 10 minutes)
1/4 teaspoon of LoSalt

Instructions
In a jug pour in the water and salt stirring until it is dissolved now add the squash. Pour into a clean 500 ml running bottle and shake.

So as you can see the only difference is the type of salt and works out at approximately £0.15 per litre, not bad considering some supermarket alternatives work out at £0.80 per litre.

Back on trails

After yesterday's forced lay off ( I was awoken by Mrs J being sick at 4.00 am) I got up at 6.00 am this morning and hurried around getting my kit on for today I refused to be late to our usual rendezvous point.

Hearing that the main access road to the woods was like glass I decided to go an alternative route along my road and up a sharp, steep hill. My body doesn't work for the first mile of any run let alone that hill...phew I was on my way. I was very pleased to note that I arrived 5 minutes early but got worried when I noted George was unusually behind time and was just about to text him to confirm when I saw him at pace running up the road. Another phew at least I didn't have to stand around much longer.

Good run today but hampered by the melting ice that was even making the trails hazardous seeing us skiiter and skate which is worrying as we are promised more snow tonightg which will only freeze the wet paths and roads again.

One thing I was amazed at today was a lady running at pace through the woods towards us who kindly warned us (a bit late for this run as we were 12 miles into it) that "The paths were very icy!!!" and then went on to show that she was running in spikes that attached to her running shoes. Thanking her for her kind warning we went on but we agreed that she was obviously dressed for a much shorter run (no fluids, windproof and a dog) so they would possibly be more comfortable under 5-6 miles, still impressive though.

A very non-running Christmas

I am quite happy to report that I had a very non-running Christmas with my presents being clothes, sweets and a book.

Well, I say that but my sister bucked the trend when I was handed her present and inside was a lovely brand new bright yellow running shirt. I have to say a very nice running shirt, very light weight, loose and VERY bright yellow. It will be christened tomorrow when we go out for a 2.5 hour run somewhere or the other to burn off this Port and Stilton.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers and followers

I will be tucking into the Port and Stilton very soon raising a glass to you all.

Time for a rest

Yesterday's night run was a tough little number with some very steep ascents which the two of us did not shy away from. I am still amazed how even though we are very fit how in recent weeks with our new training regime how much my base fitness has improved especially my cardiovascular work.

You can see in the picture added with this post a cross section of one particular ascent we ran taking us about 100 ft (~30 m) in 0.3 miles ( 560 m). We happily ran up this hill chatting about the map directions and before we knew it were at the door of George's mate not even out of breath.

I have come to realise that this also comes down technique and the way I run up these hills, shortening my stride, relaxing my shoulders, leaning into the hill and ignoring the pain of the lactic acid build up.

Enough of running dear readers, I am resting up for two days and will be out again on Boxing Day

Got your number

Training schedules, what are training schedules? Training schedules normally stipulate how far you have to run, how fast and what techniques are required to get to you peak fitness as efficiently as possible. Should we be slaves to these charts and lists? If so when?

It is a difficult one especially when you cannot guarantee the conditions you run in and so after my mammoth drive today being cooped up like a Christmas turkey I was desperate for a run and was really chuffed when, on my return, I found I had received an email from George asking about the road conditions....This means "Do you want to go for a run?" Of course it means "Yes, we have 12 miles to run" I replied.

Road conditions tonight were horrendous, the snow melting but refrozen on the pavements and the journey the rendez-vous taking an extra 10 minutes as I skated up my normal hill to the start. I still had no idea what route to take, especially with the conditions.

Meeting George he mentioned that "You know I won the Virgin London Marathon race number in the Lottery, well I have to collect it from Nigel's house tonight" So now we have a destination...all we had to do was find a route.

What do we do but decide to run to Nigel's house cross country, madness yes, George no torch me with my headtorch but the snow was on the ground, the cloud low which allowed at the ability to navigate through the woods and trails without the aid of a light...who is to stop us.

In my book Thursday is tempo night so I was very happy to dig in and run the course with our local knowledge of trail paths. I have since found out that the distance to Nigel's house was 3.8 miles as the crow flies but we ran 7 miles on woods and ice our course was a bumpy, lumpy one.

After getting George's number we ran back to his house on roads, the both of us on fire, as we bruised the pavements at a blistering pace.

Mission accomplished, George got his cherished VLM marathon number, we get a good run in and I get a night trail run in....mission accomplished, a win-win situation. Who needs training schedules?

Was it really that long?

I have had the pleasure of a 250 mile (~400 km) road trip to pick up an elderly relative who is staying for Christmas, I did not relish the idea of the journey but was lucky enough for my girls to join me and have a good few conversations about this and that.

As we joined the M4 motorway that takes you past Heathrow Airport to Bristol I noted that the distance to our turn off was 87 miles, the distance of the Ridgeway race I took part in back in August. I told the girls to look out and we could get a feel of exactly how far I ran/walked/limped and crawled during the run. It was astounding when you compress the journey into just over an hour and a bit.

Ever so often the girls would say "What were you doing now?" and I would say "Having a hotdog with extra mustard and ketchup on the side" or "Drinking a cup of tea with 4 sugars" or "Drinking vegetable soup with jam sandwiches"

I think they think that all I do on these races is I eat and drink...they are not wrong.

I am still astounded that viewing the distance like we did just showed the enormity of the tasks ultrarunners undertake, I know secretly my girls were amazed.

Sometimes Everytime

Some really great memories of some epic races in the 1980's, Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Mary Decker just to name a few. A great written commentary, enjoy.

The cracks are showing

I have worked out that in the last 30 days I have run ~150 miles not the highest distance I have run in that period but every run has been resulted in my feet being very cold or being wet for a number of hours.

For a few months I have noticed that I am getting calouses on my heels which I have dealt with by way of a pumice stone however, the mileage is paying its toll on my poor little feet as I have found today. As you know the weather has been bad here in Kent and the snow and ice has remained on the ground for quite a while now but has melted in central London where I work. I have been walking to the station in wellington boots renowned for their lack of support and cushioning, my daily walk is about 5 kilometres in total. This morning, before I left for work, my feet were fine but by the time I arrived I found my heels were painful and then discovered that both heels were cracked, I reckon this happened as I sprinted across the road to avoid being hit by a bus.

So here I am potted and stumped, I have rubbed down the remaining calouses, rubbed baby lotion into the various fissures (stop sniggering at the back Jones), taped up the heels and put on some socks.

Lessons learnt
From now on after every long run I am going to ensure that after my shower or bath I am going to check my feet, oil them up and tape any sore areas. Nobody told me when I started this journey that this was what happens but this is my weakest point but worry not dear reader, I will be running tomorrow night, oiled and taped.

Some Night Run Pics

As I mentioned in my earlier post about the night run we went through Downe village and past Downe House, the residence of the famous English naturalist Charles Darwin. I thought I would publish these pictures of myself and the decorations in the village. It was surreal to see the trees appear through the fog as we ran past the church.

(above) That is me on the right

(above) One of the village trees bedecked in lights


(above) The church in the centre of the village

Night cross country run

What a brilliant time we had tonight, absolutely brilliant. There are good runs and there are great runs, this was a great run.

This club does things completely different to my normal one, somebody shouts "Chris is taking one group, Fred the other and Peter the other one" then everyone gravitates to one of the run leaders and then run off, I wasn't sure who to go with so followed George and Michael.

Within 4 minutes we were on trails and we didn't leave them for the next hour or so as we cut across the local golf course, the snow over the top of our shoes. I know the area really well but this guy could navigate it at night and also in the fog and he knew it so well he was picking the pace up at about 8-8.30 min/mile pace.

At one part we came to a field cutting across it following the line of overhead power cables, the pylons poking through the fog like tripods from War of the Worlds the cables humming as they arced against the mist, surreal is not the word.

We soon cut back down the woods and into a small village where the occupants had done a fantastic effort of adding lights to the trees and adding lit reindeer models by the road, really pretty.

Off on pace we cut off road again and were asked the question "Around the edge or through the middle?" I shouted out the latter as we ran across the middle of a ploughed field (covered in snow) at 8.00 min/miles skitting and skating across the ruts, crazy but fun.

Great run tonight, legs feel great considering I ran 30 miles at the weekend which just shows the training is really paying off now.

Frustration

This weather is now getting ridiculous and my training plans are going to pot as it is just too hazardous to run on the roads with the continuing drop in temperature as we expect it to be -4° centigrade tonight.

I had planned a 12 mile run tomorrow evening with two groups, one 6 mile at 7.00pm and then 6 miles with a group who were coming later to the club. That was until I was informed club night was cancelled for health and safety considerations....GGGGRRRR

That is until I got word that my other club were going to do a night trail run....awesome and depending who turns up will depend on the distance run. So Mrs S has informed me she is not working tomorrow night and I can take the car....tee hee night run here we come.

Race Database

Here is an interesting little project that has come my way, to assist in the creation of a database that will be used by my club Race Director to assist him to administrate the clubs annual 10 km race.

The requirement is to import data from the Runners World download file of applicants and input postal applications. Looks pretty straight forward with a simple schema and a nice little bit of brain work for me as I am going to write it in OpenOffice which is a licence free and available for free with the benefits that it is a very commonly used piece of software.

Nice to put a little bit back into the sport.

Kid in a candy store

I have to make an embarrassing admission dear reader, I couldn't find any socks this morning before my run so grabbed the first pair I could find. These socks were a particularly old pair that I sometimes use for work.

So let's put 21 miles, snow, ice and wet feet and wonder why I have got blisters on my big toe and index toe with my feet feeling generally sore all over.

Now visualise a bored husband walking through the shops with his daughter and wife feeling tired and hungry because he hasn't eaten since his 21 mile, cold and wet run that morning. Now imagine his wife getting fed up with him grumbling and him being told to bugger off to the sports shop to look at stuff.

Yippee I went off and had a look around and have bought 3 pairs of socks and a nice new hat (my current one is an ex-Army woollen thing that shrinks in the wash). Now I can have warm ears and comfortable feet for a change.

I hate mornings

I was awoken today by our cat howling like a Banshee at 6.00am an infuriating 8 minutes before the alarm was due, this in turn awoke my wife who then visited the toilet and came back to bed, my 8 minutes of duvet time was now lost so I trudged downstairs.

The plan was to meet George at 7.00 am and then together we would run down to meet Michael at 7.30 am but first I had to navigate a local road which rises 100 feet in just under half a mile, not the steepest hill on a map but when it -5 centigrade and covered in snow it is very hard work as I slipped over the ice.

Once this was navigated it was a tough but straight forward run in and around the trails, paths and byeways with much laughter and good natured banter. The weather has frozen already wet and rutted mud under the snow to create an ankle twisting route.

I am really pleased as this was the end of the first of many back-to-backs we will be undertaking and we were both very pleased with our level of fitness to be able to do this.

Homemade sports drinks

Over recent weeks with the decision to cut down on calorie intake on long runs and a definite reduction in the use of over-rated carb gels. I have found I have about 20 in a lunch box in my kitchen cupboard and in my sports bag about to go past their sell by date.

The problem I have found with gels is that you are advised to use one every 20 minutes with a good few gulps of water this causes a big influx of glucose to the system. Sometimes you can actually feel it doing its magic more with your mental faculties as your brain takes up the glucose that it would have been craving. Each satchet is about 75 pence (cheapest) and I used to go through the box load .

So what to do with this surplus? I decide on an experiment for tomorrow's run andmade my own sports drink with them

Recipe

1. Warm some water in a kettle ( do not boil)
2. Pour 250 mls of it in a 500 ml jug
3. In this warm water squeeze one carb gel and stir until dissolved
4. Once dissolved add cold water to fill the jug.
5. Leave to cool

Just add this to your ordinary sports bottle, if you want to make it isotonic add one of your favourite tablets such as Nuun. Be careful of the flavours I am lucky as everything I use is orange flavoured but that bit is up to you.

Not the cheapest drink on the market but it saves wasting unwanted gels...enjoy