Things are getting exciting

It is a big week this week in the world of my running and extracurricular activities and although I have three days off I have a lot to pack in.

On Wednesday I have my interview as an Olympic Games volunteer in London which I am both nervous and very excited about. I have no idea what they are going to ask me but it will be a great experience.

Then Friday I travel up to Oxford and stay overnight ready to run from Oxford to Henley-upon-Thames. To think that 18 months ago this would have seemed impossible, today it is so doable but I still have doubts...is that a bad thing?

Saying that, not all is running but also a lot of work from College who have passed me 40 scripts to mark which I will do over the next week

Quote of the day

"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Blood and ooze

So there I was, happily plodding around the local streets with some friends this morning running a cheeky little 12 miler. As is always prevalent on these group runs there was general conversation covering many topics and a lot of joking to pass the miles away.

It was not a particularly hard run and so the pace was a little faster than my normal slower long runs about half way into the run I was on the road and scuffed my foot on the tarmac and it caused me to stumble and as I did so feared that I may hit the kerb so dodged which made me lose my balance and I went tumbling over onto my elbow and knee, the latter taking the full brunt.

So there I lay, by mobile phones in one direction, my bottle in the other and my satsuma rolling down by my legs.

First thoughts were "Oh, I hope I haven't squashed my satsuma!"

I felt my knee hurt a little but got up and carried on running but got told to walk so I did for about 100 yards and then we continued back to base. It was then I pulled up my leggings and found a lump the size of an egg with lots of blood and ooze....it just shows that leggings are not just there to keep you warm as I would dread to see the state of my leg without them.

All seems OK, no joints bruised just a sore area that I will allow to dry out today. It is just so irritating to do this just 5 days before my 50 mile Thames Trot.

I can but I won't

This drop in mileage is driving me crazy, I have this totally irrational feeling that I am being lazy. This week has been a Cycle Down week where the mileage naturally drops in my training plan and has been perfect as we enter next week's lull before the Thames Trot.

Today for example saw my wife and I going to a local shop to buy a mirror for the newly decorated living room which required me to buy some keyhole plates to fix it to the wall so instead of driving the 4 miles to the DIY shop, I ran it. For all intents and purposes it was supposed to be a gentle little run which actually saw me run the whole distance there and back in 64 minutes at 8 min/mile pace!

Off to do a 12 mile road run with a few people from my running club tomorrow which I hope will be a casual pace, the upside is it starts at 8.30 am so at least I get a little lie in tomorrow :-)

The world's gone mad!

...those were last words of an email from Dick, the organiser of the Grand Union Canal Race, to me this evening!

As I reported last week I had placed my GUCR cheque in the post to Dick and it was just a matter of waiting for the confirmation. Dick contacted me as there was a little confusion with my payment which we settled very quickly and he confirmed my place in the race.

I jokingly mentioned that I hoped Henk van der Beek (organiser of Caesar's Camp 30/50/100 miler) was going to play some good Country and Western at his check point and this was the point that Dick mentioned that glorious quote:

The world's gone mad!

So wonderfully ironic from a man who organises the craziest of events :-)

New Shoes

After some good feedback I was finally prompted to get some new shoes from my usual running emporium tonight much to some lecturing and berating from Mrs S about having to save money but she gave up as I sneaked out the back door!

Trouble is with going to these shops is they never seem to have the current model you have and always press the latest "improved" version which have a completely different cut and new lacing system. I have to say though, the assistant who served me was very patient as I ummed and arred about the shoes, pulled them on and off, adjusted the lacing put them back on, shuffled about grumbling and moaning and then finishing her ordeal by me jogging around the store ( I hate the treadmill)

So I have bought some Mizuno Waverider 14 shoes (pictured) and so far feel pretty pleased with them as they have a lot of room in the toe box and seem to fit nicely around my problem toe. However, I nipped straight out of the shop to the Chemist and bought 5 metres of zinc oxide tape just in case I have problems over the next 3 runs.

Shoe conundrum - I have a plan!

Getting ready for my run tonight I pulled my kit on and walked to the door so that I could sit on the step outside and put on my running shoes my Mizuno Waverider 13. Tonight I went to the front door and found the black sole on the heel was loose and in danger of coming off if I was not "careful"

I first wore these back in August 2010 just before the Ridgeway Challenge and have done ~640 miles in them so far! I personally think that manufacturers design shoes so that they deteriorate at about 500 miles, especially around the sole and heel area. So far these shoes have held out, they have been relaced so that my toe tendon doesn't rub (injury from Ridgeway) and have been brilliant trail shoes even though they are primarily road shoes.

The conundrum is that I have the Thames Trot 50 mile challenge next week and still have 38 training miles of runs to do before this, as usual I have a plan!!!

The Plan (or a should I list)

1) Not use them until the Thames Trot and run my training miles in my secondary shoes?
2) #1 above but take a pair of my retired shoes with me to change into at a check point?
3) Buy a new pair and hope that the 38 training miles will be enough to wear them in?
4) #3 above but take my 640 mile shoes with me to change into at a check point?

This post is inspired by Andy Bowen and his 1,000 mile shoes

Food, food, food

...aaarrrgghh have I been hungry today.

I woke up hungry so I had some breakfast, get on train and I am hungry. I get to work and I am hungry, come back from lunch and I am immediately hungry....I think you are getting the picture dear reader.

There is only a certain amount you can eat and I keep feeling my mileage has dropped very slightly so I can only think it is my accumulative average and working late that is causing this calorie requirement.

What I have been good about though is not to snack on unhealthy stuff but had fruit handy on my desk at work which helped a little it is just so irritating to be thinking about food all the time.

Klaatu barada nikto

After such a dreadful running experience on Sunday I was determined to have a better one at the running club this evening and I think I pulled it off.

Every new year there is an influx of new runners to the club as the marathon season begins who are most welcome but their excitement masks their experience as they turn the group runs into a race. I have learnt from this and have made a point in the past few weeks to run with one of the slower groups to treat them as a recovery run from my weekends.

Tonight I plodded out to the club, taking my usual off road route and enjoyed a nice comfortable 10 km run with a 1 km long hill which nature built to try and get you to walk...I attacked that hill and happily got to the top, turning to see that the nearest runner was about 200 metres behind me.

We returned back to base and I ran off home happy with my efforts tonight...I think I can let my Sunday monster can be put to rest

Klaatu barada nikto=I die, repair me, do not retaliate

One for the trail

Air Guitar Heaven

Back after popular demand, some music specifically designed for hill and/or tempo runs, best played when you are by yourself far way from any other people so that you air guitar to your hearts content....as always play it loud.

How to make my Garmin's battery last

I have only once been able to keep my Garmin 305 battery to last 12 hours when I switched off all the alarms and got rid of smoothing allowing to measure my laps for the Crawley 12 hour race in April 2010. So how are going to manage with 2 Garmins on a 45 hour race....answer A SolarMonkey and SolarNut if all goes to plan.

I have been planning to get one of these gadgets for a little while and was really pleased to find that I had a little extra cash in my College pay cheque this month and when I popped into the local electronics emporium saw one with my name on it.

I had a little play with it yesterday and was very pleased to see how quickly it charged my Garmin from about 90% to 100% charge, now I have to see how long it will take to charge from 0% and how many times it can do it without requiring the SolarMonkey...all good fun.

When runners crash and burn

I awoke this morning feeling pretty good after last night's cross country run and got my kit together so that I could drive down to George's house so that we could drive nearer the countryside to enjoy the North Downs.

There was no plan for the run as it would be an out and back so we could go where we wanted and follow any path, which we did and soon found ourselves heading for Sevenoaks. At about the 3 mile mark I began to feel really unwell, I was sweating profusely all over, my stomach felt tight and my legs were beginning to wobble, I was hitting the wall.

I ate a chewbar I had in my back pack which seemed to make my condition worse so in my wisdom I had a carb gel but before it could take effect found myself leaning on a roadside bin feeling as though I was about to faint, after a few minutes things settled and we continued on our way but no way was I going to be able to complete 20 miles in my current condition.

We got to Knowle Park and entered the grounds and was really pleased to see the deer herds were out in the open and made a good distraction. After a quick break of a satsuma and a drink in the shelter of the House we carried and I asked if we return as I was now really suffering.

So there is was, a shortened miserable run that taught me I must have a proper break in between back-to-backs and if not get proper nutrition in me before I set out.

Night Run II report

What a great turn out for the second night run last night! After picking up Duncan and Robert who live locally to me we turned into the busy pub car park and were lucky to find a parking space. When we got out and started donning our gear we soon noticed that it was somewhat cooler and windier in this part of the valley ridge.

As if by magic other runners started to appear from the far reaches of the car park and from behind trees and buildings, almost surreal but we soon collected our kit and on the strike of 8.00pm nine hardy fellows left the car park onto what promised to be a tough, hilly and very muddy run in the dark.

Although I devised this route and run on many of the trails I was still taken aback by the gradients we were running it all seems less in the daylight. My theory is that although we are used to running them we cannot get a sense of length or steepness and just run at it without aspect. The participants are now experienced enough to shout out obstacles or trip hazards and laughed to myself as I heard "Tree roots!", "Steps!" or "Low branches mind your heads!" but by far the funniest one was "Wheelbarrow!", some sod had left this rusting hulk on a pathside presumably because it was to steep to push it any further.

Great running conditions but it wasn't helped by a cloudy sky which completely obscured the waning moon but we had enough candel power between us to light up Wembley Stadium so we plodded on. I was very pleased with my navigation but the secret was that I had a mental list of key points on the route and knew which direction to turn but it came apparent that just making a slight deviation meant that you could go off path very easily which was then I relied on my pack mates to look out for waymarkers and shout if they saw them, it worked well.

The first loop was as near as damn it 5 miles as planned if people wanted a short run which was the pub carpark again where we had a cup of water from the back of my car and then we went off again for the last 5 miles. This proved to be a very tough section with a lot of field crossing swith little or no way marking relying on my local knowledge of land marks and my map. One of my favourite field crossings was a over a stile and then into some woods, there is no prescribed path here which was classified as permissive and the trick was to run in as straight a line as possible until you hit the fence and then you turned right and ran along the muddy footpath. All I could see was a bedraggled bunch of runners with headtorches shouting warnings to each other in total shambles tripping over gorse, roots and branches...Evil Jerry

The enjoyment continued with us all chatting and laughing, getting muddier and more tired as the evening went on and I soon realised that the course was a little tougher than first expected so made the executive decision to take a shorter route back so that we could get a pint in before the pub closed, the pack agreed and I then asked Chris to take the lead as he would know the quickest route back which he did, back to a lovely warm, welcoming pub. We sat back, pints in hand and swapped war stories of the night, laughed and joked, a perfect ending to a great night run with not an injury in sight.

Role of Honour
Andrew,
Chris,
Clive,
Dan,
David,
Duncan,
Jerry,
Michael,
Rob

GUCR - Cheque in the post

...and there we have it, my confirmation that I want to run in the Grand Union Canal Race in May 2011. This is one of the more unusual entry processes I have been through, from expressions of Interest then filling in an entry form, going through the ballot process and then, and only then sending off the cheque.

That is exactly what I have done tonight, written the cheque and letter ready to post it first class tomorrow morning.

It is getting rather exciting but scary at the same time but it is done all I have to do is the training now!!!.

Night Run II

So Saturday is soon upon us and the second Night Run has been planned with what looks like a good turn out of runners.

I have devised a devilish little number 5 and 10 mile run with some goods ascents and descents around the woodland and paths of Cudham with a promise of a good pint of Kentish ale at the end for all deserving runners who have completed the run.

I have planned it so that the course is a figure of 8 which allows us to leave some water at the halfway mark and continue on it so required leaving the 5 mile runners to get the pints in :-)

I love my night running and can't wait until Saturday, tired or not.

Burnt out

Here is my theory:

1. 151 miles in 3 weeks, which includes
   
2. 31 miles cross country hill run 9^th January
3. 37 miles in two runs, one being a trail marathon
4. Working at College on Monday making it a 12 hour day
5. Then running 12 miles on Tuesday
6. Finding 10 colleagues being made redundant and a big question mark above mine

So I have a feeling, physical, mental tiredness with a little bit of emotional strain has layed me low, not ill but an ever-present tiredness. I decided against a 10 mile run tonight, it would have served no purpose, saving my energy for my long run weekend.

So enjoying a nice glass of red wine at the moment ready for an early night

Run down but not out

UUUrrrgghhh, I was at work today when I began to feel under the weather, nothing I can put my finger on but I was too cold with just a shirt and too hot with a fleece on. I ate some food and began to feel better but a headache came and went.

The same happened tonight but after by tea I fell fast asleep on the sofa waking feeling tired and still cold. Two ibuprofen and a hot bath has made feel a little better but an early night calls.

Connected - Short Film

Set in the distant future, Connected is a story about survival and greed with a post apocalyptic wasteland as its backdrop. Survivors of an unknown disaster shuffle through a desolate landscape, as it quickly becomes clear that not everybody has the strength to survive.

Not a running link but still a great piece of imagery, you can can to the whole site at ov43.com

Wheeze...cough...COUGH

This is a very common sound if you run with me these days and it is beginning to worry me. I first became aware of this back in 2009 when I went running for more than an hour and put it down to being dehydrated as it seem to get better if I took fluids on board. As George is the guy who normally runs long runs with me I mentioned that he should listen out for my cough and remind me to drink as I am normally oblivious to it after a while; ever so often on runs I will hear "You're coughing" or "You drinking because you are coughing?" or just "You drinking?" and invariably it works.

Tonight I left the house ready to run about 12 miles, 3 miles to the club, 3 miles back and 6 miles with the group. The weather was cool and I had a nice run enjoying the conversation that takes place but now I am home I have been coughing again and I can't shift it, even with plenty of fluids.

What could cause this?

...the pace continues

The training continues at pace and the miles tick off, one after the other, after the other. I felt quite tired after Sunday's long run mainly due to the intensity of the distances done that weekend but more likely due to the my drinking and eating was found wanting.

I awoke this morning feeling much better than I normally do and found myself doubling up 6 flights of stairs at the office and then when I was at College tonight, without thinking ran up 12 flights of stairs to my laboratory ready to teach for 3 hours! So the fitness and recovery are really showing now and my niggles seem to be reducing.

The plan has been altered slightly this week as I have the night run Saturday and then a long run on Sunday morning, one hectic week