Half a Marathon onward ...

[OutAlongTheRiver]

And still they come ... three halves down (Almeria, Moyleman and Sheffield), and at least four more to go.

Sunderland Half lies immediately ahead on Saturday 12 May, all booked in, with a visit to Doncaster parkrun en route.  This is my partner's hometown, so an emotional return for her since she hasn't been the city for 20 or so years. (Plus it could be weekend of League One playoffs involving Sunderland ....)

And we have also now in prospect:
- the South Downs Half - close to Uppark, Petersfield - on 15 June (not yet firmly entered that one yet)
- the Wales Half - on 7 July - entered due to my sister raving about the area on recent holiday there
- the Cardiff Half - on 6 October - entered due to the fact we now have family in the city ....

We may or may not identify good ones for August and for September .... we shall see.

The Sunderland training will follow the same plan as between Moyleman and Sheffield.  Updates will follow!

[The Beast of Bevendean]

Henfield Half? 18th August. Not one I've ever done, though the course sounds nice: http://www.henfieldjoggers.co.uk/event/h...arathon-2/

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Henfield Half? 18th August. Not one I've ever done, though the course sounds nice: http://www.henfieldjoggers.co.uk/event/h...arathon-2/

Cheers - nice find! And perhaps the most inexpensive one I've ever seen

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Training update ... 24 April

Heat! I really don't like it. So Easter weekend was a bit of a wash out for running. Following the Sunday 14 April half marathon outing (in 4 degree C temps), we did a Wednesday recovery run of c 5km slowly along Seaford seafront, with front of the quads a bit twingey due to the sustained downhills of the half.

Then Friday (even after a remarkably fun-filled 60th bash for Mrs Sweder on Thurs eve) we trotted up to Caburn and back, with a 10km therefore done. And Saturday morning a nice trip to Preston Park to celebrate Cam Moyle's 300th park run.

I attempted a c 22min run (hoping to duck under 22) - but the heat and post-half legs left me a shade over at 22:15. This was a PB for the run - and a measure of progress that I was slightly disappointed by the time!

The heat which then hit Sat-Mon and a dash north and back to Sheffield for a niece's 18th birthday put paid to any more running for this period. This meant my long-run was wiped out.

So I resolved to follow what I think is best advice and just press on with training schedule and not try to catch up. So Tuesday evening saw us head back to Seaford for a tempo run - with 3 x 1.5km at c 4:45 pace.

Speed run on Thursday ...

So fewer miles done, but back on track

On, on

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Public commitment time (well it's worked before).

In last weeks before 12 May Sunderland run:

- trying to get back to best running weight (drop of only 2kg needed)
- no alcohol

Will add in updates to run blogs on progress.

[Charliecat5]

Public commitment time (well it's worked before).

In last weeks before 12 May Sunderland run:

- trying to get back to best running weight (drop of only 2kg needed)
- no alcohol

Will add in updates to run blogs on progress.

I need to lose 5kg... any advice welcome (if it involves not drinking beer, advice is not welcome).

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Public commitment time (well it's worked before).

In last weeks before 12 May Sunderland run:

- trying to get back to best running weight (drop of only 2kg needed)
- no alcohol

Will add in updates to run blogs on progress.

I need to lose 5kg... any advice welcome (if it involves not drinking beer, advice is not welcome).

The big difference when I shifted weight from Sept-Dec was cutting out the stuff I liked but I knew was loaded with calories:
- crisps, salami, bacon, olives, cheese ....

And having more vegetables and salads when I could.

And having smaller portions of things

And getting used to feeling a bit hungry each day ...

Fortunately since I don't like cakes etc then cutting out biscuits, chocolate etc wasn't an issue

And doing it in pretty systematic way and checking weight every day or so

[Seafront Plodder]

I need to lose 5kg... any advice welcome (if it involves not drinking beer, advice is not welcome).

@Charliecat5...I've an idea, cut down from drinking beer in pints and start using those poncy schoon....oh.

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Tuesday 30 April update

Oh, I should have read my own blog and remembered how I hate the heat!

After a good tempo run on Thursday, and a curious park run Saturday (more below), Sunday saw a lovely Twitten Run outing and then 13km later in the day. Wrongly thinking it would be cool along the tree-covered flattish Cuckoo Trail, I wore a double layer (long sleeve under short sleeve Sheffield HM top). And gloves ...

We set off at reasonable and steady 5:!5-5:30 pace ... and by 6km we had had a nice chat to fellow runner who was training for Derby half ... and then turned to head back.

And I started to feel a bit hot ... gloves came off .... Still hot ... neckwear off ... and still not cooling ... started to feel uncomfortable.

But such is the effect of heat on my brain, I didn't think to take off any layers. Indeed part of my brain thought - this might be quite good acclimatisation for hotter days to come.

Totally foolish and by the time I actually took off the top layer, then I was overheated ... and plodding along, unable to even reach 6:30 per km.

I was almost staggering by the end and only Paula's guidance made sure I was OK.

Big lesson and reminder that I am much better off risking getting cold (which I rarely feel and recover from very quickly) and not risking being hot.

Hey ho ....

Saturday parkrun along the seafront at Seaford beach the day before was a much better experience. The winds were predicted fierce westerly, meaning on the way out you would be boosted along, and on the way back seriously impeded. And this was the first time the park run were going to be using pacers ... I had volunteered to do 25 mins.  Testing out the wind, it looked like adding between 45s-1min between the pace out and back - as we tried to keep steady 6 min effort pace (which turned into 5:30 going east and 6:30 going west). I also chatted to the 30 min pacer - and he was going for a similar 45s difference.

So I resolved to go 4:35 out and 5:25 back ... setting off we were soon finding 4:35 quite hard to stick too, since the wind pushed us to more like 4:15. But I stuck to my guns ... no-one was actually taking any notice of my pacing since the crowd was quite a lot down, and I had only a yellow high-viz  without a number.

At the 2.5km turn, the 5:25 pace seemed OK to hit, but it soon became clear that this would mean more sustained power was needed ... so I dug in, more out of pride than necessity. I passed a few who had gone out fast, but who found the wind in their face just too much. A couple - who I knew did 22 or 23 min times normally had opted to walk for a section ... it was brutal.  I kept passing and being passed by Brian Courage (new MM director) who was not enjoying the buffeting (who would!)

I dug in again and - perhaps having held back on the first half - I managed a fairly steady pace, and reached the line with 15 seconds to spare - there was BC just behind and I ushered him through ahead of me, reassuring him a sub-25 (normally a thing of ease for him) awaited! We had to shoot off early so no celebratory coffee ...

The next day the Twittens were a much less windy, and a joyous bounce around the course for me - having missed them.  The later in the day we headed for the Cuckoo trail ... and its heat and discomfort as relayed above.

But today - Tuesday - was a much happier outing around the paths of Regents Park with a 4 x (fast 750m/ jog 500m) set to get back to the Asics plan.

And looking at the stats as I head home, I find I have completed a total of over 140km this month - making this the fifth month in a row where I have passed that mark.  

Consistency, the hobgoblin of little minds and the secret of good run training ...

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Early training update, by virtue of the fact I am ill in bed .... and this will be brief

Runs this week have been consecutive days - Friday, Saturday, Sunday ... then collapse Sunday evening

There were warning signs in the Friday outing, with the initial 1.5km session of 3x being sluggish, and only corrected with some mental fortitude.

Then Saturday was Seaford Park Run - and we didn't feel like a 10km trot beforehand (another warning sign). We took it "gently" so pleasing to do just over 24 mins. Winds but nothing like the repeat of last Saturday.

Then Sunday twittens were good, but also felt tougher than they should have done. Slow trot up Caburn for a c 10km immediately after and it was obvious we were struggling to get round

So took flu remedy and slept and now (Monday) still in bed

Fingers crossed resting for a few days and gentle/no outings (it's a taper week anyway) - will mean we're still good to go for the half in Sunderland on Sunday ....

[Antonio247]

Hope you get well soon, OATR.

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Thursday 16 May - post-run write up ... part 1

Well the good news is - we were well enough to do the run. And all the rest is also good news, since it was an amazing weekend all told. This is a slightly expanded write up, since the visit to Sunderland was more than just the run. It was my partner Paula's first proper return to the town which she left at the age of 10, so it was always going to be an emotional and moving visit.

The journey up from Lewes is around 340 miles or so - so we broke the journey in two stopping overnight just south of Doncaster, close by Tickhill where here parents live (and by pure coincidence, where my parents used to live in the 1960s and where my brother and older sister were born).

We had spotted that Clumber Park Parkrun was not far away, so that became our pre-run 5k warm up (as per the Asics plan) - and that turned out to be a wonderful one. This was the 300th outing - so there was a festive atmosphere. And the park itself is a huge former deer park of the Dukes of Newcastle, with the country house demolished in 1930s, leaving the array of brick outbuildings and church now National Trustified, with a vast serpentine lake. It boasts the longest double lime avenue in Europe with 1296 limes dating back to the 1840s.

The run starts and finishes by the cricket pitch with a wooden and thatched pavilion (and incidentally where I remember watching cricket as a four year old).
We were a little nervous since this would be first outing since being struck down with flu and I had spent most of Thursday in bed, working but feeling too tired to actually get up! Fortunately, with a cheer from the crowd for my shout of "Brighton!" when asked if anyone had travelled there, we set of in good spirits and ended in a comfortable 25 mins or so.

We then jumped in the car to head north - and within a couple of hours we were sitting down to coffee and cake with a very old friend of Paula's family in a village between Durham and Sunderland. Co-incidentally, she owns the Durham Brewery, a craft brewery which she set up in the 1990s and which one of her daughters now runs. We are already planning a return trip for August for their 25 anniversary celebrations ...

We were staying close by in an Airbnb cottage - so safely installed there, we headed off to recce Sunderland. The weather had turned from a week-ago forecast rain and wind into the most glorious May sunshine, and we walked along Roker beach and looked out to the Roker lighthouse in anticipation of the next days.

           

We then took in the two family homes which Paula had grown up in on the south side of Sunderland ... and got ready for our pre-race prep that evening, which  now involved taking in Sunderland AFC's biggest game of the season - first leg of their league on play off semi final. The Stadium of Light occupies a lovely position above the Wear, across the iconic Wearmouth Bridge, and with swelling crowds we walked across the Bridge from the Ship Isis pub.  Sitting in the heart of the Roker End stand as the action flowed and passions spilled was remarkable. A brilliant volleyed winner. An undeserved red card. Belief from the fans. Abuse of the away team. This had everything. All pre-run prep should be this exciting

Write up on the actual run follows!

[OutAlongTheRiver]

The Sunderland Half Marathon .... write up

           

Having been struck down with flu earlier in the week we made no plans for achieving a particular time:  "get round and enjoy it" was our mantra. Indeed it was only with the parkrun 5K the day before that I had any expectation I would even be OK to get round. Our race strategy therefore was:  start at a pace we feel happy with, check what that is and see if we can stick to it ...

We made an early start to the event and were in the main Keel Square in the centre of Sunderland with more than an hour to spare. We thought it would risk being too cold ... we sat in Caffe Nero to keep warm. But there was bright sunshine and very little wind, so in fact the priority would turn out to be hydration. 

We saw off the 10K run start (apparently led off by Daley Thompson's gold McClaren ...) and then made our way to the "1:50 to 2:10" flag (a nice broad timeband!) in the starting pen.  There were around 1,200 folks taking part, so a relatively small crew compared to the Sheffield and Almeria numbers.

Some pep talk and then the delight of having Sunderland runner Aly Dixon (who represented GB at marathon in 2016 and now also in an upcoming 50km race) say a few words. This was probably the first run I was doing which was also being competed in by an Olympian. Indeed, it was great to be toeing the line with runners from famous north east clubs, including Gateshead Harriers (of Brendan Foster fame).    

The first 5km loops around the centre of Sunderland - passing buildings Paula remembered from her childhood like the Musuem & Library, and Sunderland Empire - all in their Victorian splendour, despite the serious economic decline Sunderland has suffered from its heyday as one of the shipping and glass making capitals of the UK.

The first water stop gave us pouches of water - a great innovation since there was no top to unscrew, and they reseal automatically. So we carried them with us as we ran, using them to cool off as well as drink.

A longer loop went up past parks which Paula used to play in and then the furthest reach - literally at the point of turning at c10k was the end of the street where her dad grew up and where her Grandma lived up to the 1990s.

We had set out at c 5:20 pace and soon settled down to 5:15 or so. We felt comfortable at this relatively quick pace, and by 10k had clocked 52:30.  At this rate (if maintained) we'd get close to sub 1:50

But as we reached the centre again - and crossed the iconic Wearmouth bridge, the heat and the illness told, since we slowed to 5:40 pace, and along the Wear I feared we would go slower and slower. But we rallied and as we headed past the famous Roker Pier and looped in Roker Park we stayed at this new pace.

To keep ourselves going we started a rhythmic chant of "Ha'way the Lads" echoing the crowds from the night before (whose non-stop songs and chanting had been mightily impressive).

And before crossing back over the Wearmouth Bridge again, we looped around St Peter's, one of the oldest churches in the UK - which dates to 674AD and the era of the Venerable Bede based here and in Jarrow.

We pushed on - with other folks around us also feeling the heat - and crossed in 1:52:23 - just a minute outside the time we had recorded in Sheffield, and 4 mins faster than Almeria (a very similar route).

We donned our t-shirts and took obligatory pics, then repaired to the Central Fire Station - now selling a fine selection of beer and burgers, with 15% discount on everything if you showed your race number (a fine innovation indeed).

All in all a tremendous half to have done - we are already pencilling a return visit into our 2020 plans

[marathondan]

Excellent work, both! Enviable consistency, both in training and racing.