Monthly Archives: March 2012

Figuring out how fast you can run

Leave a reply

A very cool online running calculator that I found from McMillan Running, that looks to give good estimates of times and paces for different distances…

When I say looks to work, I mean when I enter my recent distance paces – when run under race-ish conditions – it gives times (and paces) for other distances that match up with what I’m doing and aiming for for the marathon.

Entering the time from my 1/2 marathon on Friday…

And this gives “Equivalent Performance Times” of…

So bang on for what I’m aiming for for the marathon – just under 3 hours 30 minutes.  So in theory all on track, with just under 4 weeks to go.  The calculator also gives your optimal training paces – which also tie in very nicely with what I’ve been doing (particularly for the longer runs)…

A recovery weekend this last weekend (no running or karate) and the last week of long runs this week (x3), with a 20 or 22 miler on Friday, then it’s time for the taper for the last 3 weeks.

But a visit to Legoland over the weekend for their Star Wars Invasion Weekend – nothing short of awesome!  And the little Nobles enjoyed it as much as daddy.  Little Darth Vader got to meet big Darth Vader…

 

 

 

Another barrier cracked – 100 minutes

Leave a reply

Back under 100 minutes for the 1/2 marathon today.  A good result and my best time since the end of 2008 – and my third fastest 1/2 marathon.  Still a bit off my best time of 1:33:53, in the first Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in 2008, but getting there.

A week of more fast runs this week:

  1. 10 miles with 4 x 1 mile intervals
  2. 6 miles with 5km fast
  3. 10 miles at (slow) recovery pace

And then 1/2 marathon on day 4.  Not much rest this week so far but good runs and under 100 minutes for the 1/2 marathon after 3 consecutive days running.

A great day to run today and the perfect weather, no more long sleeves and hat needed.  Sun out and blue skies.  Nice!

Rest day tomorrow, as in no running but a Lego-tastic day planned, at Legoland Windsor  for their Star Wars Invasion Weekend, complete with the guys from the UK Garrison (part of the 501st Legion) and a squadron or two of Stormtroopers and the rest of the gang.  Happy days!

The longest run

Leave a reply

All sorts of theories about how long your longest run should be in your marathon training and 20 miles looks about the normal maximum.  Very very few plans suggest running the full 26.2 miles – at least the plans for the non-professional athletes out there.  I’ve never quite understood why, and surely it’s more about you knowing what your body can do and how much recovery you need.  There’s nothing magical that happens when you cross the 26 miles barrier, and it’s about training your body to cope when you hit the wall and its physiological challenges.

I did a few 20 milers back in my training in 2009 and one 22 miler.  This time round, I wanted to go a bit further – in terms of max. distance – and do less of the long long runs.  Last time round the difference between the longest training run and the actual marathon was huge – both in terms of doing the run, the physical and mental effort to finish and the recovery period.  I’m convinced it was starting off too fast, getting caught up in the buzz at the start, and then hitting the wall at about 18 miles.  Not fun.

So the plan was for 23 miles early this last Saturday morning.  Up at 7am, breakfast and even a small coffee (something I never do before running normally) and out for 8am, and at planned pace of 8:30 to 9:00 minutes per mile.  Good starting pace and managed to hold it for 10 or so miles, before slowing down slightly.  Great route as well – up past Hampton Court Bridge and up the tow path – it just goes on and on.  A bit of rain on the way and no rainproof gear on so got wet.

This is how far 23 miles is…

Good old Garmin battery warning came up just after starting and then it died completely just 0.6 miles from the finish.  Rubbish.  Very frustrating as it normally warns you several times that it’s running out.  A lesson learnt though – make sure it’s fully charged before the long long runs.

The breakfast coffee shot had an effect and I had to have a little stop on route.  But maybe a small coffee could work on marathon day – breakfast normally 2+ hours before, so plenty of time for stops before.  And took an energy drink on the run this time and had a drink every couple of miles ish from about 6 miles in.

The results?  A good finish – even managed to pick up slightly for the last mile and then a nice strong finish for the last 1/4 mile.  Pace about 10% slower than planned marathon pace – which is bang on target.  More energy drinks and some bananas when I got in, and stretching.  Managed karate training on Sunday morning and legs working fine.  Now 2 days after and all good.  The training plan looks like it’s working.

More fast runs and interval training this week with one 1/2 marathon somewhere (and looking for sub-100 minutes this time).

 

Probably the most important workout for marathons?

Leave a reply

Last week was a week of shorter faster runs and I decided to try something new – having read a good post from Twitter about mile long intervals.

2 miles warm-up run, just faster than planned marathon pace, then 1 mile fast (about 1.5 minutes per mile faster than marathon pace) followed by 0.5 mile recovery (about 30 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace) and then repeat the 1 mile / 0.5 mile interval 4 times and then finish with a 2 mile cool down.  10 miles in total.

That was the plan – the first one started a bit too late in the day and had to be back, so had to cut the final 2 miles off or down.  8.3 in total and great average pace – not surprising really with 4 faster miles.  Did the same again a few days later – with the full 10 miles – and a great great run.  Average pace up as well.

Nice way to train, the longer mile intervals get harder during the run – no surprises really – but it’s a good routine.

Lots of articles around about interval training and the longer mile intervals are known to be good for marathons.  Even referred to as the “single most important workout for marathon training“.  More planned for me next week.

Why dad needs the new iPad for his 70th birthday

Leave a reply

Mum and dad set off for their new life down under 2 weeks ago now and it was dad’s 70th birthday just after they arrived.

Dad’s an Apple fan at home – with a nice big shiny iMac but he’s never made the move to a tablet, preferring his little netbooks for trips away.  But with his 70th on the cards an iPad was looking a nice option – so he can keep up with the technology the grandchildren are using (not that he needs an excuse).  But the recommendation from me was to wait until they’d announced the new one before ordering – and even then we’d have to wait.

So the new iPad is here and it looks good.  One’s definitely on the cards for me as well, to upgrade the original iPad we’ve got.  What problem does it solve for me (to quote Stu)?  None that I know of but I’m a fan-boy and I know I need one.  And it looks great for dad’s 70th present.

What makes it even better for dad is a new app (iBGStar) that our neighbour Gray showed me a link to, that plugs into the iPhone or iPad and takes a real blood reading and then the app measures your blood sugar levels, to help keep tabs on diabetes.  Very very clever – assuming it all works as good as it says on the tin.

Now just need to wait until the shipping times come down a bit for the new iPads!

And this will officially be my first non-running blog entry – a major breakthrough.

2 seconds off

Leave a reply

A cracking 10 miler yesterday, complete with my bright yellow Adizero shoes.  Along my favourite 10 mile route down through Twickenham and along by the river towards Richmond and back.  And at a perfect time of the day – 12:30pm.

I wanted to crack the 1:15 barrier – which would be 8mph for more than an hour and for 10 miles.  Good starting pace, slowed a bit after 5 miles but picked it back up.  Always slow down at the turn – still need to figure that out and fix it.  Picked up the pace a fair bit with 1 mile to go – building up from the great mile interval training last week.  And managed to finished at 1:15:02 – a whole 2 seconds out.  Aaaaargh.  Sure there are roads I need to cross, and even with stopping and starting the Garmin each crossing, it still throws the flow you’ve got.  And the turn again!  And even starting off too slow will add a few seconds.  But so close.  Interestingly using rubiTrack – the Mac based software I use to track my runs – it says 1:14:56, along the same route, same distance.  Wishful thinking or a bug?

Next week – we’re breaking that barrier!

Running on empty

Leave a reply

I always try to run after food – normally an hour ish after breakfast or 1-2 hours after lunch or dinner.  And I’ve always found my energy levels pretty good like this.  For some longer long runs I’ll take energy drinks with me though most times not.  On the marathon itself, back in 2009, I found myself drinking the energy drinks along the route whenever they were available – my energy levels then just seemed to be shot to bits, so I needed the top-ups.

A good review of some of the more commonly available energy gels and snacks is here.

This last weekend I did an early morning 1/2 marathon and decided not to have breakfast – but did have a small packet of Jelly Belly’s sport beans (about 30 minutes before the run).  The run started well – and along one of my usual routes – but even before half way my pace had slowed far more than I’d wanted and the running was hard.  Managed to do 1:46 but it was no way near where I wanted to be.  For me breakfast is a must before the morning runs.

Not a fry-up though – as good as that looks.  A nice bowl of gluten free cereals and rice milk.  And no coffee before running – to save me having to go to the loo mid-way.

After my longer runs now, I alway drink a bottle (or 2 for long long ones) of Lucozade Sports Orange Body Gel – the same drink they hand-out along the London Marathon route.

What do you eat before you run?  And how long before?

The 20 miler

Leave a reply

First one this year – and for this marathon training – done this morning.  And did I forget how hilly Richmond Park actually is or what?  Slightly different route to the last long runs in Richmond Park – pretty much going the other way round the park.  Which turned out to be the hillier way round (is that a real word?).

It seems such a nice park when you get in and start running round, but there are many killer hills.  Elevation changes of over 50m along route and some very quick changes, i.e. short steep hills.  And then some long not as steep ones thrown in.  All good training.

Pace was around 10% slower than planned marathon pace – which is good – but just found out it was a slower pace than back in 2009 (though the route was different and hillier as mentioned, and I did a 10 mile run yesterday, so little time to recover).  Do need to leave longer gaps before the long runs.

Early start this morning – out for 8am – but then back before 11am and the rest of the day still ahead (and you’ve done a 20 mile run already).  Great way to start the weekend.  Hunger levels have been something else today!

Fast, sad, slow and long

Leave a reply

Fast – 10 miles on Tuesday just over 1 hour 15 minutes, a whole minute quicker than my previous recent best.  And in the Adizero shoes again – these babies rock!  Still slowed down on the turn around to come back.  Advice from my dad this week is why not do a loop instead, so you don’t lose the rhythm?  Good point.

Sad – my mum and dad emigrated this week (yesterday) all the way to Australia.  They’re on-route now – about 3 hours away I think.  Very sad goodbye – as it will be a while before we see them next.  Sad for the little guys as well, particularly Sophie who’s old enough to grasp what it means a bit more.  She wrote a lovely but sad card for them – with a little note saying she wanted them to stay.  But very very exciting for them – off to sunnier shores, walks by the beach, chilling and enjoying life and retirement.  And being close to my “little” sister and her gang.

Slow – a second 10 mile run today, not in the Adizero shoes and trying a loop (sort of).  But my time was way off Tuesday’s – over 20 seconds per mile slower.  Very strange.  Started off ok but after about 3 miles the pace dropped off.  You’ve got to get the starting pace right or else!  Great sign though…

Long – and then tomorrow’s my first 20 mile run in this marathon training programme and for 3 years now.  Looking forward to it.  Need to pick a route still – Richmond Park looking the likely option.  Slow and long again.  Planning on doing it early so back for late morning and then chilling the rest of the day.  No karate tonight – need to rest the legs a little bit ready for tomorrow.

And a few photos of mum and dad yesterday before they set off on their next journey.  Miss you guys like mad already!