February

[marathondan]

All fairly tickety-boo here; not much blogworthy drama going on. The month kicked off with the customary short fartlek, then an unconventional (for me) 6 am, 6 mile tempo session. Sunday night saw a long slow run about 50m shy of the half marathon, by my online measurements.

I tend to avoid early morning runs, having settled into a late night routine. I'm normally up at 5.30 anyway, so that doesn't leave much time for running, and I'm convinced that the rest / elevation benefits of running directly before bedtime are great. I made it round with the minimal of mental duress, but I noted that the total time was only 2 minutes quicker than when I ran the route back in November, at a supposedly easy pace. I need to remain focussed during the shorter tempo and fartlek sessions, to extract maximum quality from them. There's no place for junk miles in the less-is-more programme.

The almost-half-marathon was equally satisfactory. My post-Christmas cold has lingered on for a month or more, so I avoided the ski mask et al; it would just have been too unpleasant. Slipping into the zone on dark and lonely streets, at a time when otherwise I'd be curled up with a book or heading for an early night to prepare for the week ahead, my battery of Radio 4 podcasts took me into an almost meditative state. From first-hand accounts of the daily struggle to live in places like Nicaragua and Yemen, to pioneering new approaches to cancer treatment, to contrasting the respective impacts of Presidents Obama and Lyndon B. Johnson, to speculating on the possibility of extra-terrestrial intelligence, our complex and confusing world was laid out before my ears, and my mind was sent spinning.

But the miles were clocking up, home was drawing near, and saving the world would have wait for another day (how convenient). With a couple of miles to go, I flicked over to a selection of 80s hits to see me home. Katrina and the Waves fuelled a sprint finish up the home straight in inimitable fashion (the choice of song somewhat ironic given the lateness of the hour), but it was Michael Stipe's plaintive cries (does he have any other style?) which seemed to best capture the lonely reflections of the long-distance plodder:

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

I came in comfortably under the 2 hour mark (1 minute faster than last year, consistency fans). There were a few back twinges, but not as noticeable as last week. My spreadsheet tells me that the 500 mile light has come on on my current Asics, so I guess it's time to get the next pair down from the loft. Seems such a waste. I think the project for summer '10 might be to try and remodel my gait, and join the growing band of flat-fans. But there's the small matter of a marathon before that.

Step-back this weekend - 10 miles. Nice.

[El Gordo]

Steady as she goes, Dan. You seem to be doing everything right.

Nothing can possibly go wrong now...

[marathondan]

Nothing can possibly go wrong now...

Indeed. Now, I'll just put this gorilla costume on.... Aaargh! Why did I do that?

[glaconman]

Yes, you're a smooth operator Dan. It's just the fancy dress that could get abit messy.

A friend of mine was telling me about a race he ran where you got a gorilla costume with the entrance fee and, consequently, the whole field ran as gorillas. I think it was in aid of gorilla preservation or some such.

Could you run 26.2 miles exhibiting the physical behaviour of a gorilla? Now that would certainly change your gait

[marathondan]

I guess that's the Great Gorilla Run. There are a few veterans of the London race (tragically - for me - only 7K) on the RW forum, so I asked for some advice. Unsurprisingly, the problems are body temperature and the latex mask sticking to your face. The first I think I can deal with by running slower. The second will require an engineering solution. Basically I'm looking at five hours of slow-roasted torture. But all in the name of cheridee. I still haven't publicly committed to doing this yet, but I'm hoping to buy a costume next week.

[glaconman]

Could you change the mask to include ventilation and hide the upgrade with face-painting?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I just find this whole gorilla thing impossible to even contemplate. How do you *not* die from heat exhaustion?

[marathondan]

Could you change the mask to include ventilation and hide the upgrade with face-painting?

Almost certainly. I'll be taking a scalpel to various parts of the mask and costume to introduce some vents. And yes, buying some boot polish as well.

I just find this whole gorilla thing impossible to even contemplate. How do you *not* die from heat exhaustion?

That is still a possibility. But I 've run up to 10 miles in several layers head to toe, and found that by slowing my pace by 2 mins per mile the body temperature isn't too much of a problem, once you get used to it*. The only really horrible bit is the constant recirculation of breath inside the headgear. But with some vents, that might even be better in the real costume.

And it's Brighton in April; I'm hoping for temperatures no higher than the high teens.

But that's still 10 degrees higher than I've been training in. I'm trying not to think about that.

--------------------
* After 9.5 miles. Ha ha, I am funny.

[marathondan]

8 weeks to go.

Bagged just short of 15 miles last night, bang on the money in a shade under two and a quarter hours. The legs began to suffer a little towards the end, but I was able to push on at a steady pace, and step it up to a fast pace for the last three quarter mile. I guess that on my restricted training regime, I can’t expect to feel completely comfortable over that distance, but given the satisfactory finish time it seems that any problems were only mental.

I really need to get my arse in gear with some minor ancillary activities now – choosing a charity, getting that sponsorship email out, and the small matter of getting hold of a costume.

Only 4 runs of more than 2 hours left. That seems to be the threshold at which a training runs moves from “long” to “epic”. This is the hard work that gets rewarded on race day. Let’s just hope that race day isn’t 5 hours of living hell. Hey ho.

On the audio was a selection of old comedies trawled up from the hard drive: Hancock’s Half Hour, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, and Just a Minute. For the final stretch I switched to the now traditional 80s party hits medley – guaranteed to put a smile on my face and an extra few inches in my stride. The Housemartins’ Happy Hour powered me down the home straight (what a good place to be, indeed), but TdJ must go to Tim Brooke-Taylor doing The Streets’ Dry Your Eyes.

So, still on track… what can possibly go wrong?

[El Gordo]

Let’s just hope that race day isn’t 5 hours of living hell.

Ha ha! Welcome to my world.

On the audio was a selection of old comedies trawled up from the hard drive: Hancock’s Half Hour, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, and Just a Minute. For the final stretch I switched to the now traditional 80s party hits medley – guaranteed to put a smile on my face and an extra few inches in my stride. The Housemartins’ Happy Hour powered me down the home straight (what a good place to be, indeed), but TdJ must go to Tim Brooke-Taylor doing The Streets’ Dry Your Eyes.

Not dissimilar from the sort of stuff I bundle up to listen to sometimes. JAM and Clue have been my favourite radio half hours for most of my adult life. Have been to see both shows being recorded. Highly recommended if you can ever get there. A while ago, someone lent me recordings of JAM from back in the 70s when Kenneth Williams was the star. Just hilarious, and amazing how little it's changed. There was one memorable episode included where one of the team couldn't make it and Nicholas Parsons himself stepped in and became the contestant, with the producer taking the chair. Comedy gold, as they say.

And a thumbs up for the Housemartins. Love their stuff, and Happy Hour might be one of my Desert Island Discs, to prolong the Radio 4 theme.

Sounds like it's all going well, and as for.....

So, still on track… what can possibly go wrong?

..... I think we can confidently asnswer: "Nothing whatever". In fact, I will go further and say well done on a magnificent 4 hour Brighton marathon in that double thickness gorilla outfit. Shame it was the only one left available, but you did faff around a bit too long......

[marathondan]

Interesting that you should mention KW -- for me, he was also the star of the two Hancock episodes I listened to, ranging from a US Colonel sounding like Elvis on 33 rpm in "The Americans" to a daft postman in full "stop messing about!" mode in "The New Secretary".

I saw an ISIHAC recording at Wycombe a few years back - indeed, a fantastic evening's entertainment.

Regarding the costume - you're not wrong. All local physical retailers have failed to come up trumps (> £100 to purchase) so it's off to the virtual stores on eBay. There's a likely candidate, but there will of course be an element of risk with regards to quality, size and general suitability. ("It wasn't bright green in the picture!")

[El Gordo]

Interesting that you should mention KW -- for me, he was also the star of the two Hancock episodes I listened to, ranging from a US Colonel sounding like Elvis on 33 rpm in "The Americans" to a daft postman in full "stop messing about!" mode in "The New Secretary".

I saw an ISIHAC recording at Wycombe a few years back - indeed, a fantastic evening's entertainment.

Regarding the costume - you're not wrong. All local physical retailers have failed to come up trumps (> £100 to purchase) so it's off to the virtual stores on eBay. There's a likely candidate, but there will of course be an element of risk with regards to quality, size and general suitability. ("It wasn't bright green in the picture!")

One of the most interesting books I've ever read is The Kenneth Williams Diaries, edited by Russell Davies. A truly fascinating trawl through Britain from the 1940s through to the 1980s. I was indifferent to Williams before I read the book, but since then, hmmm, obsessed, I'd say. Not a vice I've admitted to over the last 9 years.

[marathondan]

Have done the deed and parted with the readies...

   

eBay says: "We hope you enjoy your latest purchase". We'll see about that...

[Sweder]

Have done the deed and parted with the readies...

eBay says: "We hope you enjoy your latest purchase". We'll see about that...

How much? A monkey?

[marathondan]

How much? A monkey?

Bargain actually... a pony.

Just back from a late night tempo run. The training now is all about me vs. the monkey. Stared him down at 8:12 pace over 8 and a bit miles. Ha, take that!

[marathondan]

The outfit has arrived! I'm filled with childlike excitement. The mask is great, not too heavy and feels quite do-able without too much modification. The body is a bit disappointing; they've made no attempt to make it even slightly hairy, it's just a black pair of pyjamas. Which works in my favour of course. But it was a bargain basement price, so I didn't expect high quality.

When I started planning this caper, I decided that a half marathon race in full costume was a must, to properly race-test the costume, drinking techniques, gel storage, etc. Well, the dates for Watford and Wokingham have come and gone; Berkhamsted and Fleet are still possibles, but I think it's likely that I'll just go out in costume on an evening training run. My next step-back is 14 miles, that would be a good opportunity...

[glaconman]

Hmmm ... a shaved gorilla. Take a Pritt stick to your nearest barbers. Sounds like it's all playing in your favour though. What could possibly go wrong Dan?

[El Gordo]

The outfit has arrived! I'm filled with childlike excitement. The mask is great, not too heavy and feels quite do-able without too much modification. The body is a bit disappointing; they've made no attempt to make it even slightly hairy, it's just a black pair of pyjamas. Which works in my favour of course. But it was a bargain basement price, so I didn't expect high quality.

When I started planning this caper, I decided that a half marathon race in full costume was a must, to properly race-test the costume, drinking techniques, gel storage, etc. Well, the dates for Watford and Wokingham have come and gone; Berkhamsted and Fleet are still possibles, but I think it's likely that I'll just go out in costume on an evening training run. My next step-back is 14 miles, that would be a good opportunity...

I might know of a Reading Half place going spare....

[marathondan]

7 weeks to go

A slightly disappointing end to the month. Two consecutive weeks in which I missed my short training run, due the usual time pressures. At which point the training drops below the line from less is more to less is less.

Sunday night saw a 16-miler on the cards. It was a long time since my successful 8 mile tempo run on Monday night. The result was a hard slog. There was a disturbing lack of steel in the legs from around 10 miles onwards, and I was struggling at the end. In my defence I was tired; plying my system with strong tea before the off, and rolling home around 11pm when I should really have been in bed. It’s possible that I was also skirting the lower reaches of the wall; certainly my carb management strategy (two small handfuls of raisins) didn’t cut the mustard, and needs to be improved.

Still, allowing for a loo break (an advantage of running 5 mile circuits – you’re never more than 20 minutes from home) I came in at 4:05 race pace (in normal garb) so no huge cause for concern. I’m also still carrying the tail end of a cold.

I just checked last year’s entry for the same run – an advantage of doing the same thing year on year, and really the reason why I bother to log this stuff. While that was slightly more successful, the reported leg-pounding was all to familiar: “It became clear to me that it’s now all about the legs. Stamina-wise I was 100% comfortable, but from around 12 miles I could feel every step passing through my quads and hammies. Not stiff or damaged, just every mile piling a bit more soreness on the transmission system. So the real effort was overcoming that… let’s call it discomfort at this stage. Race day, I know, will bring a final hour of pure burning in those muscles.”

But one thing is clear – time to pop up to the loft and break out the shiny new Asics. My transmission system needs all the cushioning it can get.

Costume-wise, as a higher primate, I think the natural thing to do, to cover my nakedness, is to don some clothing. I think adding some running clothes (charity vest, shorts) over the costume will detract a bit from the non-hairiness of my monkey limbs. I understand that waxing is becoming more socially acceptable among adult male gorillas these days. Also it will assuage my guilt slightly over running in such a thin costume, after having promised a “full” gorilla suit. I don’t want to have to redo this bloody project because afterwards I feel that I didn’t do it properly.

TdJ: Green Day, Church on Sunday (an all-time inspirational fave), narrowly eclipsing Sir Brian of May’s touchpaper-lighting opening chords on One Vision.

88 miles banked for Feb, out of a planned 97. March should see well over the ton, then it’s taper time.

[Sweder]

7 weeks to go

I just checked last year’s entry for the same run – an advantage of doing the same thing year on year, and really the reason why I bother to log this stuff. While that was slightly more successful, the reported leg-pounding was all to familiar: “It became clear to me that it’s now all about the legs. Stamina-wise I was 100% comfortable, but from around 12 miles I could feel every step passing through my quads and hammies. Not stiff or damaged, just every mile piling a bit more soreness on the transmission system. So the real effort was overcoming that… let’s call it discomfort at this stage. Race day, I know, will bring a final hour of pure burning in those muscles.”

I agree it really does help to look back on previous campaigns. It can be reassuring, especially when you've struggled and gone on to do well.

Are you still doing all your miles on the hard stuff? Any chance you could get on the turf now and again to give the legs a bit of respite from the pavement pounding? Conditioning is one thing, systematic hammering quite another.

I like the idea of the vest over the outfit - very stylish