2019 - will one thread be enough for the whole year?

[marathondan]

It's the Easter holidays, and my first diary post of the year. That tells most of the story in itself. But this isn't a tragedy; things are starting to look up. Work -- which, 3.5 years in, I can't really refer to as my "new career" -- continues to batter me physically and emotionally. But I do feel I've turned a bit of a corner since Christmas, and am starting to get into something of a groove. Maybe after about 10 years I'll be quite good at it. Corner or not though, it's still very difficult to find the time and energy to run during the week.

But... it's spring. Suddenly getting out for a few miles sounds appealing rather than a chore. This is definitely a better time of year to dust off the cobwebs than November, as required by a spring marathon. I have my eye on an event I haven't come across before, the New Forest Marathon. It's apparently been going for 35 years, which must make it one of UK running's best-kept secrets. Feeding the dates into the spreadsheet reveals that I need to be on-plan by the start of May. Which means the goal now is simply to get comfortable running three times a week, up to an hour at a time.

Going well so far -- pure junk miles, apart from the odd Parkrun, and once when I felt the strange desire to run a tempo session. Quite often I've headed out and felt like the motor is only running on three cylinders. Then I look down at the Garmin and remember that my marathon pace has dropped a full minute per mile over the last decade. So I do need to recalibrate my expectations somewhat. Then again, yesterday I posted my fastest Parkrun for two years. So those junk miles are slowly but steadily having a small effect.

Jan 21 miles, Feb 20, Mar 33. Year to date: 79
Very, very modest numbers. But the important thing is that they trend in the right direction.

PS - no fancy dress.

[OutAlongTheRiver]

All very best - consistency of effort each week seems to be what has worked so far for me ....

[The Beast of Bevendean]

The New Forest marathon is highly thought of. A runner in my club who has now retired from running, with over 160 marathons under his belt, considers it the best of all he's ever done. His knees are buggered, mind you

[Antonio247]

I'm glad you have more time in spring to train more and feel like doing the New Forest marathon in September, Dan. Best of luck!


Saludos desde Almería.

[marathondan]

A quiet optimism rises as the start of the official training plan approaches. Over recent weeks the goal has just been to get back into the habit of running three times a week. To retrain the mind out of the excuses mindset. This week I felt sufficiently enthused to complete the full routine of easy, tempo and interval sessions for the first time. The interval session was conducted old-school, after dark around the field, counting steps rather than trying to read times. Yesterday I strung together 2.5 sub-8 miles in gusty winds, with considerably less effort than I was expecting. As ever, it's a joy to see the simple correlation of effort and results. I've even got within 30s of my Parkrun PB, a mark that I thought was probably out of sight forever.

This has been my lighter week of the fortnightly teaching cycle, so I'm under no illusions that every week will go this well.

The main uncertainty ahead is the left heel, and whether the swelling and resulting debilitating soreness will recur this year. So far there is the tiniest of twinges, but not a problem at all yet. I will religiously stay off the tarmac this year, and amazingly for me I've already bought a new pair of shoes - before the training starts, not half-way through when I get injured. It remains to be seen if the increased support from new kicks outweighs the fact that I will have a fresh, stiff ankle collar rubbing on the heel.

Jan 21 miles; Feb 20; Mar 33; Apr 47. Year to date: 121

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Great to see - hope progress continues!

[Antonio247]

Glad you're feeling optimistic, Dan. Best of luck with your training and goals!


Saludos desde Almería.

[marathondan]

So I'm into the formal training programme, heading for the New Forest marathon in September. As always I'm following a bare-bones plan with injury avoidance being the number 1 goal. Work continues to batter me emotionally and physically, so thus far I've failed even to achieve the modest goal of three runs a week. However, experience has shown that there's no point sweating about this -- just keep on trucking, and take the opportunities as they arise.

These are very early days, still in single-digit distances, so there's not really all that much to report. The runs are workaday - around the old field, sometimes out into the Thicket, or least excitingly, half mile laps around a Windsor park while the youth football teams set up their goalposts for the morning's fixtures.

The all-import question then is: what aural stimulation has been keeping me going on these less-than-thrilling forays? Here are the latest audio hits to keep me plodding:

Welcome to Night Vale - I've finally caught up with all 150 or so episodes of the surreal podcast, so am limited to one new edition per fortnight. The Blood Space War features heavily in the community news these days. Hundreds of citizens have left the town to fight an unknown enemy, often returning decades later, younger than when they left.

No Such Thing as a Fish - trivia banter, written and presented by the researchers of QI. I expected them to be somewhat up themselves, but actually it's excellent. Basically QI without the egos and scripted jokes.

Beef and Dairy Network - superb spoofery, highly recommended. Brought to you by GrazeX, the number one low cost nutritional grass replacement sand.

And -- just occasionally -- trying to improve my mind with BBC Inside Science and the Physics World podcast.

Managed to avoid Marathontalk so far. No doubt I will succumb when the long runs get long.

[OutAlongTheRiver]

Good to see - if we do make it to the New Forest half marathon in September we shall have to find you! Very best wishes for building towards that target.

[marathondan]

Have parted with the readies for 8th September - it's on.

I hit 10 miles for the first time this weekend, and it was slow and a bit painful. It was on the back of the hottest day of the year, which might account for the sluggishness. I timed the run to avoid all contact with the CL final between my two most hated teams - sounds like it wasn't one for the neutrals anyway. The following day I was pretty creaky. I think my days of evening runs are waning; I much prefer mornings these days - so long as it's not a recumbent day, just moving around makes for an excellent extended cooldown.

On the audio, Richard Herring's RHLSTP podcast. I used to read his blog avidly when I had a lot of time on my hands. Now returning to the podcast after a few years' absence. Comedians interviewed by a comedian, long form. There are some cracking heavyweights in there like Rob Brydon; also interesting chats with people I've never heard of. Got halfway through Les Dennis, who talks effortlessly and fluently; a surprising delight to listen to.

Starting to feel like things are properly underway now. Seems it doesn't get any easier year by year.

Year to date: 180 miles. Jan: 21, Feb 20, Mar 33, Apr 47, May 50

[marathondan]

Cracking brace of runs over the weekend. 5 miles hard on Friday evening; lungs bursting, legs burning, inwardly cursing that I hadn't started my mileage buildup sooner. I was way off my target pace of 8MM for all but the first mile. Consequently it was tempting to give up... but I battled on and banked a great session. I can put some of the lack of speed down to the terrain - the grass is waist high around the field, and the dog walkers are doing a frankly weak job of keeping the paths clear for me. It's been a while since my legs have ached that much straight after a run.

So I expected that Sunday's 10 mile slow effort on tired legs would be disastrous. I woke early, so was out of the door by 6.15am. I took it very slow, enjoying a mix of Beef and Dairy Network and No Such Thing As A Fish on the audio. The pace felt very gentle, but these runs are meant to be done slower than race pace, and so it ended up being very comfortable, and more excellent miles in the bank. The post-run buzz lasted all of... an hour or so, then I started feeling very sleepy. Great to have it in the bag before breakfast though.

This week: will I manage three runs?

[marathondan]

Got another tidy couple of runs in, but failed on the third. Will just have to get up early and get it in first thing - no more excuses.

Well, I say tidy. The tempo run was again a desperate attempt to stay under 8MM, which I managed for a couple of miles but then blew up. It occurred to me that this has been my target tempo pace since 2005, when I first found out what a tempo run is. 14 years is a long time to be trying to keep up the same pace. Time to relax it to 8:15 or even 8:30, I think. Either way though, it was still a good, hard effort, which is what really matters.

[marathondan]

June finished in flaming fashion, and I rounded it off with a decent 13 mile slow run. I'd got to bed at 1am after driving back from Essex, but  set the alarm for 6am, determined to get out early as the temperature was due to hit at least the mid 20s. The run was decent enough, not the quickest, but that's not the point of a long run. These days, marathon race pace is about 9:45 for me, and these runs are meant to be done slower than marathon pace -- something I never really got in the old days, but a reassurance for me now when slow training pace tends to be around 10. Half of the previously-mentioned waist-high grass had been recently mown, but not yet baled, so there were faint traces of paths, but those sections were somewhat akin to running on snow.

I still haven't managed a week of three runs. There are only three weeks left of school, so maybe I will concede defeat and wait till then. However, there are only 10 weeks till the marathon...

Year to date: 247 miles. Jan: 21, Feb 20, Mar 33, Apr 47, May 50, Jun 77

[marathondan]

A couple of gifts from the running gods this week. Firstly, the mowers, balers, loaders and trailers have been out in force in the field, so the surprisingly treacherous waist-high grass has been replaced with hard-packed stubble, perfect for my Friday evening tempo effort. I made all but one of my miles on plan at 8:30 miling.

Then this morning I stepped out for an early 15 miler to be greeted by, not prematurely baking sun, but glorious drizzle, which kept up for most of the two and a half hours. It was a gentle and comfortable effort, a bit of back stiffness, but generally very good and pretty much bang on 10MM, not counting a couple of drink and snack stops. That's three weeks without a step-back now, so I will be glad to drop down to 10 miles next weekend.

You may remember the problematic heel - a region of swelling that got into a mutually destructive relationship with the collar of my left shoe. There is the tiniest, tiniest tenderness there, but so far it seems I've successfully managed it by religiously keeping off the blacktop, and lacing my left shoe looser than my right. Possibly also by not running as often as I really should be.

On the audio, Richard Herring's long-form interviews on RHLSTP continue to entertain. A couple of weeks ago there was Rosie Jones, a standup I hadn't heard of. She has MS, and thus speaks pretty slowly, and I almost gave up on it, but am glad I didn't as she has some hilarious things to say and will undoubtedly confound your expectations if you have 70 mins of commuting or suchlike in which to give it a listen.

This morning though was Adrian Chiles, well-known I'm sure to patrons of this forum as a football presenter and Baggies fan. He's a great raconteur, funnier than many standups, but he dropped in the most hilarious and bizarre piece of unsolicited overshare. It take a lot to get me to laugh out loud, but I had to stop running as I was laughing so hard. If you don't listen to the whole thing, drop into the interview at about 1:07 - you'll never look at Chiles the same way again.

   

[marathondan]

A decent July comes to a close, but with the arrival of the inevitable blip.

Notching up week 12 of 18 in the training plan, I ground out the longest long run so far, 17.4 miles, in less than spectacular fashion, feeling fatigued and coming in outside 4:30 marathon pace. So far, so average - I was due a step-back week, so weariness wasn't a disaster. But the following morning, the lingering problem Achilles - thus far keeping its head down - was super-sore, and remained so for several days. With a few days in the Fens coming up followed by a week in Gozo, I had resolved to squeeze in a few more quality sessions before taking it easy in the Mediterranean heat. However, this sounded risky, so I decided to take a complete break for 10 days. So that's 5 un-highlighted spaces on the training plan. I'm long past fretting about such things; the bigger picture is what matters.

The tendon is now much better, but I have no doubt that it will continue to grumble, and occasionally yelp, for the rest of the programme. I have two more weeks before I'm due to taper; the Achillles might not survive both the long and the fast sessions, so I think I should prioritise the long. I really must have a 20 miler in the bag before toeing the line. And having had a good break, I can probably reduce the taper a bit - if the old body is up to it. 

19 miles are due tomorrow - I'm currently weighing up whether to get straight back on the horse, or delay for another day. Mitigating factors are (a) sleep deprivation from driving home through the night from Stansted, (b) giving platelets tomorrow - which doesn't affect one in the same way as giving whole blood, as they give you the red stuff back, but they do skim off a pint of plasma at the same time, which means a pint less liquid in the body.

29 days to race day.

Year to date: 343 miles. Jan: 21, Feb 20, Mar 33, Apr 47, May 50, Jun 77, Jul 96

[marathondan]

I'm logging this one for posterity. I ground out the 19 miler this morning. Four laps around the field and thicket. The first three were decent. The last one was terrible. The legs were leaden and, despite the attentions of the feelgood playlist to briefly lift my spirits, the final miles dragged by at something approaching 12 minute miling. I was home by 10.30am, but it was a good hour before I was fit for anything else - I was dizzy, nauseous and needed a lie down before I could make it to the shower. I've felt better after full marathons.

I did encounter a couple of friends and stopped for chats on the way, but even knocking 10 minutes off my time for that, the equivalent race pace came in at 4:43 - around the time I've run in a gorilla suit in the past.

Hopefully this can be put down to the two week complete absence of running (and replacement with daily beer intake). I can't see myself being ready for a speed session in a couple of days' time, however. I think the next outing will have to be a recovery run.

After a really comfortable race at Richmond 2 years ago, I was hoping to be in good shape for a 4:15 finish this year. Next week's 20 miler will give a clue as to whether this is a blip, or whether I really have slowed down that much in two years.

27 days to race day.

[El Gordo]

Great work, Dan -- I've just been catching up on your latest campaign. Several things to respond to:

I feel for you regarding the 'physical and emotional battering' of teaching. M endured it for 17 years, and I have a very good friend (was at school with him) who has been a teacher for nearly 40 years. He lost his hair after about 5. So I know something of the travails -- if only as a horrified spectator. I don't want to sound patronising but I'm genuinely full of admiration for teachers, and especially those who enter the profession in mid-life, driven by conviction and simple decency, rather than the more usual result of post-graduate dithering (though they're to be commended too). Anyway, well done. If RC and this forum had retained its earlier liveliness, I'm sure we'd have learnt more about the experience.

As for the New Forest Marathon/Half, I always had this earmarked back in the ancient days of 2003-2005 (at least that was it was mentioned it in the blog), though it was the half rather than the full that appealed. I always fancied more exotic locations for marathons, mostly, I think, as I needed to get M's buy-in for the several months of training -- and the promise of a long weekend overseas somewhere was more likely to secure her cooperation than anything more local. I may have missed it, but it sounds like you're not running for charity this time? And no outlandish costume? Anyway, more congratulations are in order as you seem to be managing your training as well as ever.

Podcasts? I’m addicted to them, though my choices are more down to earth than yours. I grew to appreciate them, and audiobooks, after I left the UK, when I had to deal with not being able to listen to BBC radio when driving. I started to download my favourite programmes -- regulation bourgeois Radio 4 fare like Start the Week, Moral Maze, Any Questions, Desert Island Discs... and this later grew to include various political pods like the New Statesman, Spectator, Guardian, FT, Times, blah blah. More recently my obsession has extended to the football podcasts, the best of which are Guardian Football Weekly, The Game (Times), Audio Football Club (Telegraph), and the “Totally” family. In fact, I’ll attach a screenshot of the current line-up (once I can remember how to do that).

   

They’re great audio accompaniments to exercise, as you say. I’m not running these days but I have phases on my rowing machine and Ski-Erg. I’m in one at the moment, trying to reach a couple of targets. One is to reach 1 million metres. Am currently on 824,921 which isn’t as impressive as it sounds since that goes back about 4 years, when I bought the Erg. I’ve had long periods when I’ve not used it at all, but I always come back to it as it’s a great piece of kit. The more usual target people go for is to complete 1 million metres in the rowing season which runs May 1 - April 30. I did almost nothing until July so my seasonal total is only 57,000m -- which means having to do an average of 3,600m a day between now and next April. That’s actually very doable if I could be sure of getting in, say, 5 sessions a week from now until the end of the season -- but I know that I won’t.

Erm, I’m rambling on a bit here. I’m thinking I should restart the blog to allow me to waffle on about such things. Might give me the motivation to get my million before next May, though I have to concede that indoor rowing may not make compelling reading. I suppose I could sprinkle in a few hikes and football matches.

Anyway, I’ve totally hijacked your thread about the marathon. Sorry! Best of luck with it, Dan, and keep us updated.

[marathondan]

That's a fine pack o'pods, EG. I don't have any commute these days and it's only the long, slow efforts where podcasts work for me during exercise. As the long runs get up to 3 hours and more they do get a bit boring, so it's good to have some entertainment. It's a great time for ears to be alive.

The >800k on the Erg does indeed sound impressive. I'm sure I speak for everyone (not just on the forum -- I mean in the entire known universe) when I say we'd like to see the return of your blog. For anything to be an interesting read, there does of course need to be some jeopardy -- there was no shortage of that in your running days, of course (not least: has he left enough time for the drive to the event?). Hikes and football matches? Hikes to football matches? Hikes in football match prices? All sounds like good blog fodder to me.

You're right that there will be no fancy dress this year and also no fundraising. After pushing beyond my limits last year, I just felt like doing it for myself and trying to enjoy it. There have been times this season where the training has felt very tough and I've wondered whether I should start rattling a virtual tin after all. Even in this age of ultras and mass participation of tough-mudders, there is still something magical about the 26.2 miles that compels people to put their hand in their pocket. So I might still do that at the last minute.

Now back to the training report... since the disappointing 19 miler, I have -- not for the first time -- been reminded what an amazing body I have. Yeah, I know! I was utterly exhausted and everything creaked, but after a couple of days I was fighting fit again and have since banged out a solid interval session and then this morning 10 miles at tempo pace. I have oft opined that this is the most satisfying run of the campaign, as a few months ago I couldn't run 10 miles at all, and now I can smash (most of) them out at a high effort.

Just the 20 miler to go, and it will be taper time. Given the two weeks' holiday break, I'll push on a little more during the taper. 3 weeks to race day.

As for the physical and emotional battering... sorry for that becoming my catchphrase but it does neatly summarise the draining aspects of the job -- whether that's stomach muscles aching from raising my voice all day, or desperately trying to avoid unleashing a torrent of verbal abuse at a persistent offender. Despite all this though, I still maintain that it beats the hell out of sitting at a desk all day, and I find it hard to believe that my daily routine just used to consist of pushing a mouse around for 8 hours. Now I get paid to play Countdown and explode hydrogen balloons. The coming term will contain huge challenges on a daily basis, and I will often feel like quitting, but overall it does feel like I'm living the dream. The yearly teaching cycle is beginning to feel a bit like my yearly marathon cycle. There seems to be something about my personality (bloody-minded, perhaps, to use an old-fashioned phrase) that suits both.

[The Beast of Bevendean]

Ah, podcasts. I feel a diatribe coming on. I will take it elsewhere. But you have my undying admiration too. As part of the wreckage that is my career, I worked for three years in an FE college in South London. They made me redundant, but I was on the point of walking out. My duties included manning the totally pointless knife detection barrier from time to time.
But good luck for the New Forest. It's a popular race with members of my running club

[marathondan]

Yes, there are plenty of pointless exercises in school. I'm constantly in tension with the institutional nature of school, which doesn't sit well with my easy-going nature. But to paraphrase Churchill: school is the worst way to educate children, apart from all the other ways that have been tried. (Secondary school costs about £5000 per pupil per annum. I keep trying to work out if the money could be spent more effectively.)