The rest of 2011 - between marathons

[marathondan]

Not much happening here, but I'm fairly relaxed about it.

I read this today and it gave me a little boost. Nothing earth-shattering, just one of those nice pieces that leaves me nodding and smiling to myself.

Then something told me to pack my kit and come into work half an hour early tomorrow. I think the canal path and hill might be quite special at 6am. Let's see if it inspires me.

[marathondan]

Goal setting as motivation:

Wooburn Park 10K - September
Marlow Half Marathon - November - last run 5 years ago, how time flies...

[ladyrunner]

Then something told me to pack my kit and come into work half an hour early tomorrow. I think the canal path and hill might be quite special at 6am. Let's see if it inspires me.

Did you make it out this morning Dan?? It was a lovely sunny morning for a run down here in Brighton .

[marathondan]

Did you make it out this morning Dan?? It was a lovely sunny morning for a run down here in Brighton .

No I didn't, sadly. I was up for 2 hours in the night (mosquito in room of fly-phobic 3 year old, annoying whining noise wakes her up, ensuing annoying whining noise then wakes her sister up, 3 yo has to come into our bed, 5 yo then at our door every 5 mins complaining this isn't fair, etc...). Having seen the clock click over to 3.00 am, I didn't think a 5.30 am start was a good idea.

HOWEVER, I did go out in the evening for a short loosener. But more importantly, I now have a spreadsheet with an 18 week plan of 3 runs a week, taking in a 10K in September and up to Marlow Half in November. Having got May (miles banked: 16) and June (miles banked: 10) out of the way, I now have nothing major on the calendar and I should be able to get back into the swing of things. Two weeks of gentle jogs, then into the tempo and hill sessions.

[glaconman]

Good to hear it. The world is a better place now Dan, the-man-with-plan, actually has a plan.

Are you still into your FIRST, 3-run-a-week, plan? One long, one tempo, one interval, as I remember.

[marathondan]

Good to hear it. The world is a better place now Dan, the-man-with-plan, actually has a plan.

Are you still into your FIRST, 3-run-a-week, plan? One long, one tempo, one interval, as I remember.

Yes indeed, order has been restored to the universe.

The plan is FIRST-like although that's by coincidence rather than design. You are quite correct about the sessions, go to the top of the class (oh, you're there already). After successful 10K training last summer, I will again do the interval sessions on a hill.

The Marlow HM course is pretty hilly, and last time I ran it the downhills were more problematic than the ups, so come HM time I will also practice my downhill technique. That should startle the commuters even more than the sight of my beetroot bulk lumbering up the hill.

Any descent tips you fell / down runners would like to offer in the next couple of months would be much appreciated. (Bear in mind the race will mostly be on tarmac - no, "don't enter" is not that useful a tip, thanks. )

[marathondan]

Amazing what the combination of a good plan and a bit of spare time can do for motivation.

Once upon a time, right now I'd have been moaning about what a struggle it is to get back into running after a sparse couple of months. But it struck me recently that training is like building a house. I need an objective, I need a plan, and I need to start at the bottom.

Right now I'm laying the foundations. It might be a bit boring, there's very little to show for it, and it's tempting to skip it and get straight to the more interesting stuff. But without this bit, I know that the whole structure will come crashing down in a few weeks time.

So, three unremarkable, short, easy trots accomplished this week. The same again next week, over slightly longer distances, before I get my trowel out.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Looking good Dan, you're definitely the man with a plan!

Any "possibles" for August?

[marathondan]

I've decided July and August are too hot for races.

It's the inaugural Maidenhead half in early September, but unfortunately I'll be travelling that day. A shame, it would have been nice to get in for the first year, particularly as they are offering a personal race number that you keep forever.

So I will be doing a local trail 10K in Sept, as mentioned further up the thread.

[Sweder]

I've decided July and August are too hot for races.

You are clearly no longer in the British Isles.

[marathondan]

I've decided July and August are too hot for races.

You are clearly no longer in the British Isles.

No, still here. Having run both 10K and HM in July in recent years, flogging myself in the heat and still ending up with a disappointing time, I decided it's not worth the effort. Then again, maybe I need to change my mindset, and just enjoy these events rather than going for a time.

However, I'm happy with the way the rest of the year looks now: a bit of hill work through the summer evenings, a pleasant village 10K as summer winds down, then a hilly autumn HM before launching into London 2012 training.

Quite modest but rewarding goals, I feel.

[glaconman]

Interesting points Dan.

Having done the Oxenhope Straw Race again this year on a stinking hot day I can testify that heat can play a real factor. Even after choosing a white turban to deflect the heat. Having said that, if it's just running that's involved (ie take away the straw, beer and turban) then heat doesn't usually deter me. Maybe I'm lucky in that respect.

But I would have thought that for somebody like yourself, who's been running for a while now, that just getting round a 10k, without racing for a time, wouldn't be that satisfying.

Certainly joining a club gives an even better angle to an event: racing other people. In this case even the clock takes a back-seat as you develop friendly rivalries to earn points for championships etc.

[marathondan]

Well, the magic spreadsheet hasn't quite turned out to be the miraculous motivator that I hoped for.

For a while, things were going very well. I even thought about changing my plans completely, and spending the summer doing some triathlon base training with an eye on entering an event next summer. I tried a 9-mile ride followed up with a 2.5 mile run, which was an interesting experience. I do very little cycling, so not only was I using unusual muscles, but I then went into a short run fatigued but not feeling fatigued in the usual places.

However, as always, the problem is the swim training. The swim is the leg that I'd need to put most improvement effort into, and getting down the pool is quite an overhead compared with pulling on the runners and plodding down the street. So I've cooled on the triathlon idea for now.

Then I slipped into a work-related funk, which turned my mojo to zero for a week or so - or maybe I'm always on the lookout for an excuse. Anyway, that demon was at least temporarily fended off with the loss of only a couple of sessions, and this morning after dropping the kids at school I went for my first hill session. At 9am it was already quite warm. I locked my bike as usual at Folly Way and then did 4 reps of around 400m (distance, don't know the climb). As always, the first one just seemed like a ridiculous idea, but I soon got into the swing of things and they weren't too bad. You certainly know you've had a workout.

So, not exactly on plan, but there's some running happening. Having you people here to recount it to helps, too.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well, the magic spreadsheet hasn't quite turned out to be the miraculous motivator that I hoped for.

For a while, things were going very well... but I then went into a short run fatigued but not feeling fatigued in the usual places.

Then I slipped into a work-related funk, which turned my mojo to zero for a week or so - or maybe I'm always on the lookout for an excuse.

No I can't relate to any of that at all ...

[Sweder]

Well, the magic spreadsheet hasn't quite turned out to be the miraculous motivator that I hoped for.

For a while, things were going very well... but I then went into a short run fatigued but not feeling fatigued in the usual places.

Then I slipped into a work-related funk, which turned my mojo to zero for a week or so - or maybe I'm always on the lookout for an excuse.

Err ... you're not me, are you?
It's like looking in a mirror. Sort of. Bah.

[marathondan]

Funny old world, isn't it? What bizarre lives we construct for ourselves. So many threads intertwining, one day one thread pulls hardest, the next it's another. We create these strange beasts to serve us - like a career, or this sprawling oddity we call "running" - and half the time the beast is driving the master rather than the other way round. I'm sure that people who appear to have it all worked out haven't really; they're just better at fooling everyone (including themselves). But I suppose the bewildering fog makes those moments of clarity and direction all the more satisfying.

While I can see that my annual marathon training is nowhere near a true obsession - see my current read, Robin Harvie's Why We Run, a tale of the 36-hour Spartathon ultra, for that - as a generally chilled out, take it or leave it, kind of guy it's about as intense as I get. By May, my brain is frazzled and motivation is at a low ebb. It would be great to keep on an even keel throughout the year, but then I wouldn't put so much into the marathon. So this boom / bust cycle seems the only way to go. Same goes for work, but that's another story, not for a runners' forum. Maybe the only solution is to run two marathons a year... Or perhaps I need a new challenge, and that triathlon would do the trick after all...

Talking of additional marathons, from next year the South of England will have another mass participation spring marathon. Looks good, so long as you don't mind the association with MK Dons...

[marathondan]

Went for a bike ride instead of the long run. Maybe because I'm restricting myself to 40 mins, when I knew the run would have been approaching double that. Enjoyable, though. But by the time I got home the light was fading, and next week I'll need lights. There's another problem: I'm a nocturnal runner; I can bank my miles when the rest of the family has gone to bed. Cycling in the dark, while not impossible, is certainly a less relaxing proposition.

But I think part of me is scared that I couldn't work up to completing a triathlon in a decent (for me) time. Another part of me wants to bully that part and poke it with a stick.

Part of me wants to stick to what I know: knocking out 10Ks and HMs in not-incompetent times, maybe getting a little better now and then.

But for sure, I won't be giving up on the thing that I now seem to know best: the marathon. The April Folly is a permanent fixture on the calendar for the forseeable future.

[marathondan]

Maybe the only solution is to run two marathons a year...

Just spotted that the highly-rated Abingdon Marathon is held 6 months after / before London / Brighton. Just down the road from me, at just the right time of year... couldn't be more convenient. Apparently it sells out in March though.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Maybe the only solution is to run two marathons a year...

Just spotted that the highly-rated Abingdon Marathon is held 6 months after / before London / Brighton. Just down the road from me, at just the right time of year... couldn't be more convenient. Apparently it sells out in March though.

...or you could join us in November for the Point to Pinnacle.

Just a thought!

[marathondan]

...or you could join us in November for the Point to Pinnacle.

Just a thought!

The company would be excellent, but frankly the idea of running a whole HM uphill fills me with horror. I only like (tolerate) hills if they go down again on the other side.