London Marathon

So, did the London Marathon today in pretty warm conditions and I am disappointed to report that my attempt at sub–3 failed spectacularly. First few miles were OK, but approaching halfway across Tower Bridge, it felt like I had raced a half–marathon. I tried to hang on for a bit to see whether it was just a wave, but by half–way I knew it had gone and changed my plan to shoot for a PB at least. Quickly realised that this wasn’t on either, as people streamed past me down the Highway on the way into Docklands and wondered whether at least 3:10 was on. By 18 my body was screaming at me to stop and walk, I threw away my pace–band in frustration and the new aim was to dig deep and just get to the finish without walking. This, I managed to do, although felt pretty terrible for the last 6 miles or so and I really had to grit my teeth to keep going. Some others obviously had a bad day too, because although people continued to pass me, I caught a good number of people whom I recognised from their flying past me with a spring in their step 10 miles before on the Highway.

Cramp hit in the last mile and I had to stop 3 or 4 times to stretch out my right calf, before resuming a painful slow jog (was damned if I was going to walk, even if I was overtaken and beaten by a man dressed as a gnome in the last mile or so!). Not quite the day I had been looking for and a pretty sorry outcome given all the hard training I have done over the last 6 months and the 10K and half–marathon PBs I have bagged along the way. Have spent the afternoon feeling very nauseous — dehydration and exhaustion I guess. These are what the numbers of a bad race look like:

Labels: diary, training

Reading Half

So, did the Reading Half today. Excellent weather for running, so no complaints there. Didn’t feel as strong as I had hoped, though. Maybe something to do with the sore throat I’ve had for the last few days. But who knows. I could just be a bit tired from the training (stuck to my usual schedule except for taking Friday and Saturday off). I just about managed to sustain the 6:20/mile average split on the Garmin that was my initial plan, but I couldn’t find the bit extra in the second half that I had been hoping for. It was very hard work for the last five miles. I must have run around a bit more than necessary, too (it was pretty crowded, especially in the early miles), so the 6:20 split over the watch distance of 13.22 gave me a gun time of 1:24:21 and a chip time of 1:23:59 (ha!). Running those numbers:

So all in all, not the triumph for which I had been secretly hoping, but in the event that there are no disasters in the last four weeks of training (and when the skin grows back on the soles of my feet — what the hell is that about?!), that benchmark means that it is probably worth having a crack at pacing the marathon for a 3 hour time (2:59:59!), although it’s right on the wire.

Labels: training

Marathon training - obsessive analysis phase

I am running the Reading half–marathon this weekend. I am hoping to use my time as a good indicator of what to shoot for in the London marathon in a month’s time. This article deals with the correlation between half times and full times. In my only other marathon attempt I ran 3:04:21, with 1:31:07 at the halfway point, having run a 1:26:10 half–marathon a month before. Those numbers stack up as follows:

That suggests that my performance on that occasion was bang on what would be expected by the analysis set out in the article. Accordingly, in order to justify having a crack at a 3 hour marathon, I need to get around Reading in sub–1:25. The marathon split should then be relatively even, but allow for about 8 seconds a mile to be lost on average from 18 miles to the end. I am under no illusions here. The experience of friends suggests that following this plan on the basis of those numbers, I am still more likely than not to fail to break 3 hours. But those numbers would mean that it is worth at least having a crack. First question: can I go sub–1:25 at Reading (no mean feat in itself)?

Labels: training

10K

The last 10K of the six race series today, in good running conditions. My official time was 38:27, which looks right based on my watch time at the finish line. Another personal best, and this time I am sure I actually ran it! The watch reckoned I got to 10K in 38:10 and the full distance was about 80m over (as with other races in the series). A good race, with my target 6:10/mile pace (monitored via the watch) maintained throughout, speeding up a bit for the last couple of kilometres. A good series, too, with steady improvement over the six months from the 41:15 starting point giving an official PB in every race (with some doubt about the accuracy of the official time in the penultimate race, as already noted).

Labels: training

Another Regent’s Park 10K today. Cold, windy and hard work, having run over 16 miles in a little under two hours yesterday on the marathon training schedule. According to the official results, another personal best with a time of 38:41. The timing on my own watch suggests that is optimistic and the time was just outside my personal best. Another significantly sub–40, though.

Labels: training

10K

Another Regent’s Park 10K this morning. Chilly conditions, with a bit of frost around the park, but with another month of training under my belt, I went well with what should be a new personal best. The official time is awaited, but the satellite watch clocked me at 38:47 for 10K. It reckoned race distance was about 80m further. It would be nice to dip under 39 on the official time, but I suspect I will be just outside that, by my calculations. Still, a good morning’s work.

Update 08/12/08 @ 17.00: Official results are now out: 38:58! Pleased with that.

Labels: training

Regents Park 10K

Did the second in the series of Regent’s Park 10K races today. Conditions were much better than last time and having done quite a bit of training since the last one, I was pleased that I felt really good. Got around in an official time of 39:33, thus achieving a long–standing goal of cracking the 40 minute mark.

Labels: training

Regents Park 10K

Did the first in the series of 6 10Ks in Regents Park yesterday, in horrible wet conditions. The official results are now out and my time was 41:15, which is another personal best by the enormous margin of 6 seconds. So, the bench mark over course is set, 76 seconds to find in 5 months.

Labels: training

10K

Did a 10K race in Victoria Park on Sunday. The results are now out and my official time was 41:21, as I had expected having timed with my own watch (excuse — not training). That’s my new official personal best, my previous best in a race being 41:48 in 2005 (excuse — weather / over–long course). The goal remains to get round in under 40 and to that end I have signed up for a series of six 10Ks around Regents Park, taking place on the first Sunday of each month starting from October. The target time is a big ask for me: although 8 seconds per kilometre quicker doesn’t sound like much, I have now had three attempts at getting under 40 minutes, having decided in November 2004 after my first one that this was the goal, but have not managed it yet (excuse — crowds) (although I guess three tries in four years isn’t exactly a lot).

Labels: training

I just saw a bloke in the gym wearing one of those No Fear T–shirts which said “Fear is in the eye of the beholder (don’t let it be you)”. I know that the whole No Fear concept is pretty stupid at the best of times, but isn’t this another level when it comes to total nonsense? Beauty is in the eye of the beer–holder, that much is certainly true.

Labels: training

Running Shoes

As a result of having my gym bag nicked a couple of weeks ago, I had to invest in a new pair of running shoes. Because they didn’t have my usual Brooks Glycerin in my size at Runners’ Need, they put me up on the treadmill, assessed my gait (mild over–pronation) and sold me a pair of Saucony ProGrid Omni 6. They look quite nice and are superficially comfortable, but having put 50–odd miles on them now, I must say that I am not getting along with them at all. Every time I go out for a run I come back without skin on the soles of my feet. I had thought that it might be a wearing–in issue, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Never had this problem with the Brooks, either. I think that I might have to put the Sauconys down to experience and go looking for another pair of Glycerins.

Update 28/10/07: Just got back from doing 12 miles or so and am pleased to report that my feet are fine. These shoes obviously just take longer than most to wear in.

Labels: training

Stick to Hyde Park

I’ve been away on a work conference in Eastbourne for the last couple of days. The conference was fine, as these things go, but one evening after the sessions, I thought it would be a good idea to clear my head by taking a quick jog and visiting the famous Beachy Head. Big mistake. I got up as far as the famous suicide drop without incident, on a pleasantly warm Autumn evening. But then the sun went down like a brick in a swimming pool. Living in central London, I had forgotten that it actually gets dark at night in some places. Apparently, where this phenomenon occurs, the transition from light to dark happens quite quickly. Who knew!? How dangerous!

Anyway, this left me running backwards and forwards in the blackness trying to find the path back to Eastbourne without inadvertently plummeting off the edge of the cliff. It was getting quite scary. Also, the headline would have been bad: — “Conference so dire that delegate leaps from Beachy Head”. In the end, after running halfway back to Eastbourne along what I had thought was the path only for it to disappear into featureless scrub dropping off towards the sea, I decided that I’d had enough and struck out inland in the direction of a light, eventually happening upon a pub, from which I called for a taxi.

Labels: training

Training

Blah blah, trying to get fit for the New Year. As well as giving up booze for the month of January, I shall mostly be following this basic fitness programme of my own devising for general all–round fitness. For historical reasons, it is known as the “Lensfield programme” and it’s guaranteed to make you as fit as a boatie.

Labels: training