The rest of 2010 - between marathons

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Yeah, me too. Here's just a little patch of mine:

Rather more colours and highlighting and bolding than mine I must say ... actually, to be honest I've stopped spreadsheeting my runs for the last year or so, which is very liberating. But there is a tug at the nerd-strings whenever I see something like yours EG.

However, now that I've stopped logging my runs into the spreadsheet I can hardly start again as there'd be this huge hole in the data, which would invalidate everything, so ... oh God [sobs uncontrollably]...

I'm calling Spreadsheeters Anonymous.

Just one more little pivot table then I'll stop ... promise ... please ... no no, not the needle ...

[Sweder]

I'm calling Spreadsheeters Anonymous.

I had to Google that as none of it made any sense.
Sadly I made a typo and had to erase the history on my laptop to eradicate traces of some very dodgy websites.

I'm super-basic on run recording, using Sportstracks to upload Garmin data and ... err ... that's it. But each to his own. Weirdos.

[marathondan]

However, now that I've stopped logging my runs into the spreadsheet I can hardly start again as there'd be this huge hole in the data, which would invalidate everything, so ... oh God [sobs uncontrollably]...

Yep, there's no going back now. Incomplete data is worse than none at all. (Not true, but that's how it feels to the statoholic.)

However, all is not lost. Next time you set yourself a new challenge that you want to train for, you can start again. It will be a beautiful, self-contained data set. And you can create a whole new spreadsheet, adding all those features that you missed out last time...

You know you want to.

EG -- Awesome workbook, dude. We are not worthy.

(Don't know why it made me come over all Wayne's World though.)

[marathondan]

Another week in the bank.

Monday night started with a therapeutic tempo session. My return to my normal place of work has not been a festival of mental stimulation. A lack of real work has meant I’ve spent my first couple of weeks updating course materials (which frankly could be best improved by the “Del” key) and producing something known cringingly as “Wow! presentations”.

So, Mondays being Mondays, I wasn’t over-chipper as the day drew to a close. It was only when the Tesco Direct man arrived that I noticed the outside conditions – inky blackness swathed in a curtain of heavy rain. Thank goodness it’s him out there I thought, rather than me. I’m glad I’m slumped on the sofa in the warm, in front of Come Dine With Me: Big Brother Special (I kid you not: I was at a low ebb alright). Then the penny dropped.

So as soon as the month’s groceries were stashed, I changed into as few clothes as I could decently get away with and headed into the night. The goal was a mile’s warmup then two miles under 7 minute pace. I didn’t quite manage that, but I was able to better my target race pace. It’s going to require a special performance from the race day fairies to sustain that pace over 10K, but we’ll see. Anyway, the run wasn’t really about achievement – as well as my dull day (and frankly I’ve got nothing to complain about), this morning’s in-car Beyond Belief podcast about disability was also playing through my mind – it was just a joy to be out there, in my favourite conditions, and able to spin the legs and lungs. Running is the answer (to certain questions, at least).

Another 7 hills reps in the bag on Friday. I still don’t enjoy them, but as is normal afterwards my mind filters out the hardship and I’m left with the feeling that overall they’re a good thing. Only one more session left to go; I will be glad to at least take a break from them.

And finally the traditional Sunday night long (only 5 miles) easy session rounded the week off nicely. A repeat of the same to come next week.

[El Gordo]

Yep, there's no going back now. Incomplete data is worse than none at all. (Not true, but that's how it feels to the statoholic.)

I still mourn the disappearance of my London/Chicago Marathon spreadsheet of 2001/02. Even more sorrowful is the loss of the prequel data, the 8 months I spent working my way up to 3 miles non-stop. I cut my running teeth at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds, and would love to be able to review those figures and compare the weight loss trends.

Incomplete data is like bereavement.

Some of you just won't understand.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Incomplete data is like bereavement.

Some of you just won't understand.

I understand completely. The day I decided to not log a run (for the first time ever) was truly difficult. The fact that I only nonchalantly mentioned it in my posts here does not convey just how huge a moment it was for me - it is like a bereavement because you know that there is absolutely completely and undeniably nothing you can do to undo that decision, and that henceforth your data will forever more be incomplete.

There should be an organisation somewhere that can help us. Please.

[marathondan]

Well 'tis better to have logged and lost than never to have logged at all. I was so naive in my early running days, that I didn't make any records of my runs - sometimes I didn't even run with a watch. (I know!)

So now I have to use my imagination, and rely on my subjective memories of those early, tentative plods along the Grand Union Canal. I have to recreate images of the late spring sun on the water, the boat-dwellers who called encouragement, the grumpy fishermen. I have to work to recall the psychological growth that I underwent in setting myself a physical challenge for the first time in my life.

That kind of sentimental trivia is no substitute for staring at hard, cold facts on a screen.

[marathondan]

That kind of sentimental trivia is no substitute for staring at hard, cold facts on a screen.

WAIT A MINUTE!

Is it not written: "The spreadsheet was made for man, not man made for the spreadsheet"? (The prophet Higdon, ch. II, vs. 12).

Have we got it all wrong? Is the tail wagging the dog, which is being chased by the horse that is behind the cart, causing the baby to fall out with the bathwater?

Nah.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Is it not written: "The spreadsheet was made for man, not man made for the spreadsheet"? (The prophet Higdon, ch. II, vs. 12).

Well, [confession time] many is the time I have gone for a run just so that I can add "one more line" to the spreadsheet, or get "that average closer to the median line" or even to "just improve the 6-run moving average a tad".

So, it might be sad, but at least it got me running.

[El Gordo]

Well, [confession time] many is the time I have gone for a run just so that I can add "one more line" to the spreadsheet, or get "that average closer to the median line" or even to "just improve the 6-run moving average a tad".

Genius.

My God. Here comes another column on spreadsheet 1 worksheet 4.

[marathondan]

6-run moving average. EEK. I missed that. We are indeed in the presence of greatness.

Then again EG, your method for tracking weight is also mightily impressive. I thought about explaining it to my wife once, but I felt that her regard for me as a human being might decline slightly if I did. If you have embedded a VBA macro for performing that little averaging routine, I may explode with excitement.

I categorise my runs by pace (easy, tempo, fartlek, etc) so would have to maintain a moving average for each type of run. Excellent.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

...I categorise my runs by pace (easy, tempo, fartlek, etc) so would have to maintain a moving average for each type of run. Excellent.

This is getting exciting guys!

[Sweder]

Does anyone here just drink beer & watch footie between runs?
Anyone?

Hello?





Echo (echo) ...

[El Gordo]

Then again EG, your method for tracking weight is also mightily impressive. I thought about explaining it to my wife once, but I felt that her regard for me as a human being might decline slightly if I did. If you have embedded a VBA macro for performing that little averaging routine, I may explode with excitement.

I'm actually in greatly slimmed-down weight-tracking mode at present. Usually, I used to log weekly and monthly averages. Weekly means weighing myself every day, removing the highest and lowest figure, then calculating the average of the remaining 5 days. I then examine the trends on a graph. In fact, I should reinstate this system. It's done with functions, though I do have secret VBA-driven buttons to move me around the sheet.

The trouble with being a number slut is that enthusiasm for the pastime is high when I'm losing weight, or doing plenty of exercise, but tends to tail off when I enter a fat, lazy period.

[El Gordo]

Does anyone here just drink beer & watch footie between runs?
Anyone?

Hello?





Echo (echo) ...

Stay clear, earthling.

[marathondan]

OK, enough already. Urban hill reps tonight, in the dark. No rain forecast, unfortunately.

[marathondan]

Running Free 10K, Dorney Lake

OK, enough already. Urban hill reps tonight, in the dark. No rain forecast, unfortunately.

The above rallying cry came to naught. A wave of apathy swept in, inspired by tedium at work, and I managed just a couple of short looseners in the time leading up to the race. So the taper started a bit early: probably not a problem.

Dorney Lake, 2012 Olympic rowing venue and home of Eton College rowing club, has become a mecca for triathletes, combining a mile of straight open water and an ultra-flat 5K oval of tarmac. Most of the events held here seem to be commercial enterprises, and the majority of the companies involved seem to originate from the tri or cycling sector. However, the circuit is also attractive for PB-hungry runners, and so, at least as an add-on, many of these companies have started offering 5K and 10K runs.

Unlike my last visit to the venue a couple of years ago, the organisation was smooth, although with only around 200 runners for the 5K and 10K races it wasn’t an enormous task. Somehow the pre-race feel is slightly different from the traditional club-run events. Or maybe I just have an innate fear of corporate logos.

I had around 5 minutes for a quick warmup jog – for any distance longer than 10K I feel this is a waste of energy – and comfortably necked half a litre of water, suggesting I might have been a little under-hydrated. The loo queues were mercifully short, and then it was time to strip to my singlet and head for the start line. Conditions were good: autumn had definitely arrived at last, the air was cool and with the odd drop of rain, the only problem being the stiff westerly wind which showed no sign of abating. On such an exposed course, that might not be too welcome.

I lined up around a quarter of the way from the front, and went off fairly sharpish from the hooter. After a couple of years of carefully considered marathon strategies, the 10K plan was refreshingly simple: start fast, and carry on until the finish.

We looped behind the boathouse and turned straight into the wind. OOF! – like running uphill. But I could immediately see that at least the wind was blowing the right way, and might even provide a psychological advantage: the first and third quarters would be run into the wind, the second and fourth with a tailwind. “This race is going to be won and lost in the third quarter” said the melodramatic imaginary athletics commentator in my head.

The pacing maths was pretty easy – for my target of 45 minutes, I needed 4:30 per km. I was pleased to see that I hit the first K some 15 secs ahead of schedule, despite the wind. I tried to find a steady rhythm and keep good form, and I was similarly ahead at 2K (which of course meant I’d run the second 2K slower). You can see the entire field throughout the race, and from the off it was clear that there was only going to be one winner – after half a lap he was probably already a minute ahead of the pack. I suspect that most quality club runners regard these more commercial events as second-class, and avoid them.

The turn away from the headwind was most welcome, and was made surreal by the presence of a jolly marshal in front of a hearse, apparently his personal transport. The race briefing had mentioned that there was an ambulance stationed at the far end of the lake, but I couldn’t see one. Maybe this was standing in for more serious medical cases.

The return straight was a difference run altogether. Without the cleansing head wind, the temperature was noticeably higher, and sweat ran freely into my eyes. I opted to regain some energy rather than try to get further ahead of myself, knowing that I would need to push hard through the difficult third quarter. At 5K I was still slightly ahead of target. I threw a cup of water approximately into my mouth, and we headed round the boathouse once more and into the wind.

Well, it was hard work, but I like to think I’ve learned a bit about keeping going over the last couple of years. For the first time I started to take account of my fellow runners, and engaged in the game of trying to hold off anyone who appeared at my shoulder. At 7K I was around 10 seconds behind schedule, but I knew that with the tailwind coming I had a good chance of making that up. I decided to let a couple of challengers pull ahead, and save a modicum of energy for the final push. I think it’s fair to say I’ve never been so glad to see a hearse.

Returning to the tailwind was a delight, but I still had work to do. By 8K I was back on schedule, and I knew there was a good chance that I was going to make my target. Regular readers may recall that I am obsessed with synchronising my breathing with my footfalls, and I now felt that I wasn’t getting enough oxygen to go any faster. So I upped my breathing pattern to 1/2, i.e. inhaling on one step and then exhaling over two steps. Effectively I waltzed the last 1.5K. Getting a full lungful of oxygen in one footstep requires quite a noisy gulp, and there were a few concerned glances over shoulders at the approach of this rasping, lumbering beast.

By 9K I knew I was safe, barring disasters, and so I just gave it all I had, finally stepping up to 1/1 breathing for the last 100m. I stopped my watch at 44:30, symbolically an even better time that I had been hoping for. (Although the official time adds 6 seconds for crossing line; we were wearing the “second class” timing chips which record the gun time rather than the nett time.) The winning time was 34:40, which I would say is slow for the course, confirming that the real whippets probably don’t both with these events. And yes, he was nearly 4 minutes clear of his nearest rival.

So, it seems the hill work did me a bit of good. It’s nice to reinforce that a bit of hard work can pay off, and this has also been a reminder of the fairly obvious truth that different distances require different styles of training. It’s also strengthened my view that entering events during the summer is a mug’s game; waiting till late September made this a much more enjoyable experience than my previous attempt at the distance in July last year. I’ll have to wait and see how my motivation levels are next summer, but doing some speed training in the summer evenings for an autumn 10K seems a nice counterpoint to an annual spring marathon.

Next: probably a couple of low-key months, then huzzah! for the marathon training from Christmas onwards.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Way to go m'dan! A mighty impressive run ... so you'd be on target for about a 3h30 marathon, yes? Maybe better?!

[marathondan]

... so you'd be on target for about a 3h30 marathon, yes? Maybe better?!

That's the theory... 20 mins faster than my PB, sounds doable. But what I've learned is that while it may be theoretically achievable, to run a 3:30 marathon one also has to train like a 3:30 marathoner. That means 5 good training sessions a week. I haven't got time for that, in both senses of the phrase. I'm far happier to sit in the "competent fun runner" category.

[glaconman]

Nice work Dan. Landing 30 seconds before your target means a big effort on the day I'd say. Well done sir.

My breathing is also my chief barometer. This can land you in deep water if you don't have the miles in your legs. But if you've done the training then I also find it's the best way to control pace and gauge effort.

Thought about a 10 miler? Think it's my fave distance. Well, the first 5 at any rate.