June... That turned out alright!

June was a big month of racing for me in terms of results and length of races.  On the first weekend of June I took on my first ultra, the Dartmoor Discovery race which is a rather hilly 32 mile race over the roads of Dartmoor.  Then the second race of the month was Mont Blanc Marathon on the last weekend of the month, which was my first mountain run.  In short the former was an overall win and the latter was an age group 2nd.

Following London I managed to get back to some consistent training steadily finding some speed and getting in some trail runs a couple times a week.  I also headed out to the Alps for a few days at the end of May to spend some time training on the race route and just generally getting use to running in the mountains.  

Dartmoor Discovery was a race that I heard lots of positives about prior to starting and very much lived up to this.  For me this was a chance to get a long run in of close to 4 hrs in with some undulations to try to build up some strength for the mountains.  Early on I let a group of 3 or so go up the road and I just tried to keep a steady pace without taking to much out of the legs.  Just over the half way point I had reeled in the leaders and was feeling alright so just tried to keep a steady pace and execute a decent long run.  Over the last couple miles or so I began to flag probaly partly due to the distance and the fact I had not taken on board any extra energy.  In the end I finished in 3'51'41 with average HR of 157bpm, but had a rest day to look forward at the athletics in Birmingham.

Mont Blanc marathon was what the previous couple months had really been about and did not disappoint.  Prior to the race I had a few days with family spending time in Chamonix town and hiking around the valley.  This time was valuable to appreciate the mountains and to sample the race atmosphere in the town.  On the Friday evening there was the vertical kilometer along with a steady stream of 80km competitors finishing in the town with the buzz of full restaurants and supportive family's waiting to see their loved ones finish.  

The marathon took place on the Sunday morning leaving town at 07'00, with over 2,000 competitors there was a frantic start which was not help by me doing the typical brit abroad trait in the start pen joining the cue without pushing through to a better starting position.  This meant I had to push harder than planned in the early stages of the race to get closer to the sort of position I had hoped to be in, moving up to 50th by the 17.2km mark.  At this point I was feeling good, taking on a steady climb of the Posettes, but then as I descended from the high point of the race I sprained my ankle forcing a tentative time descent.  I then got in some steady running struggling up the next climb as one of those low points which are inevitable in endurance racing, although carried this on with a yet another tentative descent, rapidly loosing places.  After the dark periods getting up to towards the finish I heard Manol (another Bournemouth runner), behind me looking a lot fresher than I felt pushing on to the finish.  After 5hrs 15mins of racing I eventually made it in the finish to find out I had finished 93rd, but more pleasing 2nd in the Espoir category.  Which translate to English literally as hope, which I think sums up wonderfully what it means to be a young athlete in a sport where physiological development over a number of year is key.  Within the Espoir category the other competitors were all French with a team Salomon athlete from Australia dropping out mid race.

The whole experience of being in Chamonix on a race week was awesome and coming away with a trophy for a 2nd place finish after competing in a international field  was a great experience one which I look forward doing more over the coming years.  

For the remainder of the summer I am going to just get out and enjoy some steady training doing smaller races potentially running 3 marathons in 3 months to end the year if my body is feeling good.  The thought post race was to possible to go to a GB mountain running trial in Wales in August which would be a great chance to show what southern based trail runners have to offer but with no U23 category and a slack return to training I am going to give it a miss for this year and consider gaining experience going to trials next year.  This year there will hopefully be one more trip to Chamonix in September, again staying in a hostel making it less then £200 for 5 days making it all too much of a temptation.

London Marathon: A whole lot bigger than I thought

With this year being my first go at London as a Spring marathon it was always about going to experience the atmosphere with the performance always being secondary.  Although it would have been nice to produce a PB and a result that really showed the fruits of my early training it was always going to be tough.  Finishing in 2:42:22 and 373rd was actually quite satisfying considering the weeks which had come before.  The highlight was seeing Paula Radcliffe out on the course overtaking me around the half way point, great to see arguable the best British runners of over any distance.  Of course not forgetting all the support on race day and after, thanks all.

In the weeks before London training was not going well injury hinder all hope of getting in the last few key sessions but on race day I knew I had to but that behind me, forget about it and go out and produce the best I had.  Early in the race I ran with Steve (Way) from Bournemouth which was great fun and pulled me through the early miles in a decent time (5 km splits of- 17:59, 18:02, 18:13, 18:21).  Then from around the half way point it all started kicking off (in my legs) and I began to struggle to hold anything near this pace leading to a second half which was nearly 9 minutes slower than the first, in marathon running this would normally be considered a bad race, maybe it should be, but it was fun.  In hindsight I probably put the previous few weeks training a little bit too far behind me and should have listened to my body a little bit more on the day.  Although a marathon is always going to hurt at some point and I can look forward to this being much later in future London marathons with proper build up.

Felling a long way off my best it is time for some consistent training to try and get back there.  The last couple days I have felt my legs being closer to fully fit which is a big confidence boost for up and coming races,  The next key race is Mont Blanc marathon (28th June), with a 32 mile racing (Discover Dartmoor- 6th June), being a key run in the build up to this.  For the next few weeks training will be one long trail run at weekends and one slightly quicker mid week trail run, building up to 80 mile weeks again.  Consistency is key!!!

100 miles in 5 days and the aftermath...

Well self pittying my rather sore right quad while I should have been doing a London key session I thought I would take the chance to update this...

With a week off work I thought I would take the chance to spend some time away on the coast running along the coastal path.  Looking at a map and using the online distance calculator on the South West coastal path website I thought that Exmouth to Studland would be a good distance and reasonably easy to arrange.  This led to the following days:

Day 1: Exmouth - Beer
Time: 3 hours 42 mins,Distance: 21.20 Miles (10'29 min/mile),
Ascent: 1081 m, 1 hour 43 mins
Day 2: Beer - West BayTime: 4 hours 1 mins,
Distance: 21.54 Miles (11'13 min/mile),
Ascent: 1250 m, 2 hours
Day 3: West Bay - WeymouthTime: 4 hours 2 mins,
Distance: 23.94 Miles (10'07 min/mile),
Ascent: 652 m, 1 hour 32 mins
Day 4: Weymouth - LulworthTime: 2 hours 2 mins,
Distance: 10.64 Miles (11'28 min/mile),
Ascent: 595 m, 1 hour 4 mins
Day 5: Lulworth - StudlandTime: 5 hours 3 mins,
Distance: 29.30 Miles (10'21 min/mile),
Ascent: 1570 m, 2 hours 19 mins
Total:Time: 18 hours 52 mins
Distance: 106.6 miles (Driving: Bristol to Birmingham 88 miles, Bristol to London 118 miles)
Ascent 5209 m (Sea level to the Matterhorn 4478 m, Sea level to Scafell Pike 978 m)

This being my first attempt at multiple days of big mileage I was glad to be able to take my time and run where I could run and walk where I could walk. Most enjoyable was taking running back to its most simplistic running from A to B while enjoying the journey along some dramatic coastline.  With the biggest learning being fueling myself more during and after each run.  Also getting started each day hoping my legs would start to feel better as I got started, inevitably this happened but was rather difficult sometimes.  The most pleasing part of the whole trip was getting through the miles and finishing well with a sub 5 hour marathon over undulating terrain.

Prior to this I set a new 10 mile pb of 55 mins 15 secs on a hilly road course at Lychett 10 this was off the back of some solid training for London with 4 weeks of averaging 80 mile weeks.  Originally I was unsure on targeting 2 hours 30 mins at the London Marathon in April but this has started to make it look possible with some solid training.

For now I am focusing on recovering from last weeks adventure and getting ready for a consistent 7 weeks training up in till London on 26th April.  In the meantime I have Reading Half marathon which doubles up as British Half Marathon Championships where I am looking to target a top 3 U23. However to an extent this is very much out of my control so going to keep smiling, keep the routine, keep training and race sensibly.

2015 Races

Races 2015 -

22nd March - Reading Half Marathon (British Half Marathon Championships)

?12th April - Taunton Marathon?

26th April - London Marathon

6th June - Discover Dartmoor (52km)

28th June - Mont Blanc Marathon

???

Trail marathon - Bonking in a cabbage patch

For the last 10 weeks or so I have been building up to running the marathon at the Dorset leg of the Endurance Life coastal trail running series.  This meant getting back into a decent amount of training with the additional long term arrangement of doing this alongside full time work.

On Saturday 6th December I raced my first trial marathon finishing 4th in 4'00'17 which was not quite the end of the year I was looking for but was a day for a lot of learning abut myself and racing.  Racing over marathon distance on the road controlling the demands on my body can be done with relative ease, however this was a whole lot more difficult on trail.  In the early part of the race I ran with a club team mate which was great to get the the early miles out the way, but going on to the more undulating parts of the course it became a whole different ball game.  Feeling like I was just about holding my position I trekked over the steep climbs at one point producing nearly a 14 min/mile but pushed through to about mile 20 in 2nd position and then the fun started.  Firstly having to stop to answer a call of nature, a very spectacular location but is hindsight maybe wasn't that urgent and then nearly bonking in a cabbage patch (not a funny as it sounds, running speak for feeling really trash and nearly fainting).  At this point I slowed to take on some food and water but this was probably wasn't the greatest idea as I could barely digest what I had eaten.  This then led to me slowing over the closing miles and being overtaken twice (I only found out at the finish thought it was runners in the half marathon event, although don't think I could have done much to keep up with the eventual 2nd place finisher).  I was finally overtaken on the closing 1/4 mile or so on the beach but did not realize again, this I maybe could have done something about if I was a bit more switched on.



This block of training has really been a transition from student life, to the real world which is very much inevitable but was tougher than I expected.  The main challenges I found was the amount of mental tiredness from concentration at work leading to feeling physically tired and the hospital bugs which you pick up when working.  This lead to me feeling rather chesty and pretty awful at times, but managed to keep doing some training even if it was just running the 2 miles to and home from work.

Well on to the next races with the first big one being London Marathon and then 2 months later is Mont Blanc Marathon.  The thought of the these races and the next 7 months or so makes is exciting, the variety of being in a big city marathon one week and then a few weeks later being partway up a mountain is so cool.  I am making some changes to my training firstly introducing lighter weeks routinely to try to let my body recover and fight infection avoiding the big drop in weekly mileage and missing key sessions.  Also speeding more time running in the Quantock Hills to get in some more accent and decent as well as weekly key marathon sessions on a Tuesday and a Thursday morning tempo session hopefully on the local track.

Here are some totals from this block of training:
625 miles,
72 hrs

Race day... and recover!

As I write this I am very much enjoying a couple weeks off from training before working towards my next targets.  After a 2nd place finish and 61st overall at Challenge Weymouth last Sunday this completes a very satisfying last year, even in the tough blocks of training I can truly say that I have really enjoyed the whole experience. 

All smiles before

Not so all smiles

Relief!

Prior to the race on Sunday I drove the bike course with dad which was a absolute blessing to know the course with a largely down hill run in to T2. I also had chance to pop in the positively tropical waters in Weymouth bay with only very small waves. Waking up on race day race numbers were applied and transition bags packed I had some breakfast and headed down to transition to drop off my transition bags. Due to the wind and waves the full iron distance races started late with two laps of a modified run course. This delayed the start time of the pink wave which I was starting in leaving me hopeful that we would be doing a shortened swim, although this was not the case and after 47 minutes 10 (368 position overall for the swim) seconds I returned to shore and head into what was a slow T1 (9 minutes 1 second/ 499 overall for T1).  With the swim behind me and on my bike I thought this as my chance to get myself back up the field and did so being 4th quickest over the first 9km which was the climb out of Weymouth.  On a mission to make my way through the field I hydrated well on the bike got some food down me despite the taste of sea water being ever present.  I then arrived back into transition after 2:44.35 (64th position for the cycle) in the saddle, and produced a decent transition (T1, 1 min, 52 seconds, 102 position) to get out on the run course to produce a 1 hour 25 min 22 second run (13th Overall). This was a really testing run for such a flat course feeling strong on the first lap and half I pushed on but very quickly the wheels started coming of and I had to really knock down the speed just to get around. Walking through the last couple aid stations to get some flat coke on board was the arguable the best decision of the day getting my home in a total time of 5 hour 8 minutes 2 seconds, just 50 seconds ahead of 3rd in my age group.

I know this bit!!!!

I was genuinely pleased just to get round the course and complete the distance but what I found most satisfying was my estimation of pace prior to the race which proved to be great guess work, as well as handling the troubles on the last lap to produce a damage limitation finish. Also consider that I could barely swim a length of front crawl this time last year and had to swim in decent size waves I was really impressed that my application  and coaching from my Joe got me through the tough conditions.

I can now also pass judgement on triathlon as a sport which I realize means so much to so many but was very interesting compared to running (only my opinion).  Firstly the time required for training and getting organised for training I found frustrating at times and must be hard for those with families, although was so nice to see a sport which allows you to finish with your family if you wished to do so, a really nice touch. Secondly the money... there was lots of this kicking round it appeared I am sure my bike was worth as much as one wheel on some of those being used.  I can honestly say I wouldn't change this yes it is frustrating when it clear makes a difference on performance level but in terms of participation it is a minor detail.  Although does make me appreciative the level playing field of running which is accessible to so many.  Finally the really friendly crowds, a moment which will stick with me for a long time is a family who were once someone race took the time to say to me that I had handled the race well, really made me smile at the end of a long day.

What next? Well next few years I will only compete in running events (injury permitting), which decision has been based my results within the last year and some vary enjoyable trail runs giving me chance to explore.  I look forward to this continuing with this particularly with the Quantock hills only two miles away from my new home in Taunton, I also look forward to some trips to Datmoor to get in some climbs.  Firstly an obvious target for next year is the London Marathon in April which will provide me chance to really see my speed on the flat but also look forward to racing on trail initially this December on the SW Costal path around Lulworth.  I am yet to decide on further race but hope to push on towards compete in the bigger races, heading out to the Alps at least once and potentially my do a ultra to build up points towards racing the CCC event at UTMB 2016.  Really just ideas at the moment but these only normally head one way with me and that the bugger it I will just do it way and think of the consequences after.

And the smile is back (well maybe a grimace)

Getting Closer...

One from the family album

Over the last few weeks I have been getting my teeth into the bulk of the training for the triathlon I am racing in September.  This has been pretty tough at times but have seen some reasonable improvements which has kept me going.  At times I have had to adapt and make do with the time I have had, but after all 'life happens'.  Over the last week seems my double sessions have become a swim, cycle or run followed by a couple hours walking round furniture shops.  Not what any good training plan would tell me but I'm not following one of them, been going free style.

Competing in a couple of races since last writing yielded a mixed bag of results.  Early on saw a 1 minute 48 second over 10 miles at Portland 10, arguably a tough course than my previous PB to (not many flat courses in the Dorset Road Race League).  This was yet another successful day for Bournemouth claim minimum points in the league for both women's and men's teams.  However racing over half marathon distance a few weeks later wasn't so successful, just managed to sneak under 78 minutes.  Legs were not really playing ball through this race lacked speed but felt reasonably strong.  Again more BAC success (well done guys, I could have had a lie in this time). Looking for another PB this was a bit of a knock but took this as overall training must be going ok, but we will have to wait until September to see if that is correct.  No more racing until the targeted race for now.

View of the Mendips, no wait I mean Spain

Training has consisted of a reasonable amount of running with cycling and swimming a couple times a week, usually totally around 140 miles and 12 hours of training. Spending a week in Spain on a family holiday gave me chance to get out on some trail running and get some decent assents in the legs .  Thought this was not much good preparing for a race with a flat run course, but seemed to have helped my all round strength particularly on the bike.  While back home I have been cycling in the Mendips for my big sessions which has seen me climb a decent amount on the bike.  Today I completed what is likely to be my last big weekend session due to a couple busy weekends ahead, but have taken confidence from decent distance and feeling strong for the majority of the 3 hour bike and 1 hour 30 minutes run.

With a slightly earlier taper than I had planned the weekday sessions are going to be kept at a reasonably volume may even try and get some speed back in the run legs.  Looking at today's session it seems that I have potential for a respectable finish but need to work on limiting my loses to the field on the swim so will try and increase the swimming, probably getting back in the pool when I move to Taunton (yes I will have a good moan about this, the swimming not the moving).  As race day gets closer rest will increase and will do some transition practice then it will be a case of fingers crossed.