None to write home about this year, yet. Lots last year though – at the beginning and end of the year. Some of the pics we took below that I like…
[slideshow]
The UK daily tabloids – the Daily Express in particular – keep predicting arctic conditions to come every week (for about the last 4 weeks) with blizzards everywhere.
A white Christmas in 2011 in London? Unlikely.
11 miles yesterday at a slowish pace. Along the Thames again and over Richmond Bridge. Very chilly and wet, so even more layers on – could only just move the legs!
Have done a fair few 10 milers and 12 milers but not an 11 before. Shouldn’t make any different but 11 sounds odd – ha ha. 8 minutes 30 seconds per mile pace – so slower than planned marathon pace and it now feels wrong to run at that pace. Feels like the pace running is paying off. Happy days.
A dodgy foot this feet – apparently suffering from Plantar Fasciitis – inflammation of the plantar fascia in the foot (a band of tissue running from the heel to the middle foot bones). And yes it hurts. Funnily enough more when not running.
Advice from the doctor is rest – easy running hopefully along those lines – plus stretching and a nice info sheet printed off by the doctor. A trip to the physio later this week for more help and to see if some new custom in-soles are needed.
Bought the current ones about 3 years back and they’ve been one of the best running investments there is. Had a problem when training for the marathon in 2009 when at about 16 miles (on the longer runs) my knees would hurt. Saw a physio and did some proper foot and running analysis and they fitted me with some in-soles for my shoes designed for my feet. Worked a treat. Suspect now they need replacing and shoes may do too. Brooks GTS11 are my current shoes – had the GTS8 ones before and loved them. GTS11 are the latest ones.
One more longish easy run planned this week – on the way to the physio – and then a fast 5km on Friday. And more running next week – first one on Boxing Day morning.
Another good running week last week. 10 miles on Monday, followed by 1/2 marathon on Wednesday (over 2 minutes faster than my last Royal Parks Foundation 1/2 time in October) and then an even quicker 10 miles on Friday (40 seconds faster than Monday). Speed work is definitely paying off – though need to ease off for a bit now and increase mileage. Still over 5 months to go until the big day in April.
Pace is king in my world now. And it’s absolutely about setting your initial pace right. Too slow and you’ll never pick it up. Too fast and you’ll fatigue too early and slow down dramatically in the latter part of the run. So yes, it’s a very fine balance. It’s also what you mentally set as your planned pace. I like setting it faster and then coming in just over that. Last 10 miler this week was great. Back from good old Tumble Tots – where little Mr. Noble had done some tumbling, rolling, climbing and jumping – and through Bushy Park (and back dodging some huge stag that look very mean). Again managed to pick up my face in the last 1 mile or so, with a nice finish.
Talking of Bushy Park, the Parkruns there continue to amaze me – 840+ runners last weekend. Unless you know about it, you’d never realise that there are over 800 people meeting up for a fun 5km run first thing on a Saturday. Very cool. And I’ve said before, definitely need to get back and do some more. Definitely helps with speed.
But multi-layered? Oh yes, it’s that time of the year – cold and frosty. Running gloves and hat on and then a number of layers on me to keep warm. Still in the shorts though! Amazingly, however cold it is, as long as I’ve got gloves and hat on (to cover the exposed bits) within a few miles you’re nice and warm and the odd cold gust isn’t a problem. If the weather forecasts are to be believed – minus a big number and arctic conditions – the layers will be going up even more.
And a great running week finished off with carols at the Royal Albert Hall in London – an official Noble Christmas tradition. With some more carols helping raise money for Whizz-Kidz in the evening. Now it feels even more like Christmas.
Thankfully no major downpour of snow this year, like last year when we almost didn’t get to the Royal Albert Hall and in actual fact about half the people were unable to get there due to bad weather.
3 easier runs this week with one long one and a trip to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park.
Just a test – spotted this on Twitter earlier today and it looked pretty cool, embedded Tweets. A link to my Tweet about the 4 seconds post…
A lot can happen in 4 seconds wp.me/p1ZYTK-1Q #londonmarathon
— Jason Noble (@gweilo97) December 13, 2011
Quite clever and just a few clicks away. Perfect to capture any of your favourite Tweets very quickly.
More on running tomorrow after another 10 mile session.
Having knocked a whole 40 seconds off my 5km times last week, I was raring to go this week and improve on other distances. First up was 10 miles through Twickenham and along the Thames to Richmond Bridge (and back). A lovely run and ground I’m familiar with – from almost 3 years of daily running commutes to and from work in Richmond.
The plan was to go for 7 minutes 30 seconds per mile – 30 seconds faster than the planned marathon pace. I managed to do 8 miles at this pace last week, so 2 more couldn’t be hard, could it? Got off to a slower start – about 7:45 per mile and kept it around that level, edging up to 7:56 at one point and then back down to 7:48 ish.
Having concentrated on pace runs recently, I’m convinced it’s all about getting your starting pace right. If you start too slow, it’s very difficult to improve. The so-called split run (where you do the second half faster) is actually very difficult to do. The first 1/2 mile or so is critical and where you need to get the pace right. With 35,000 other runners in the London Marathon this is even more challenging, as you’re not running at your ideal pace from the go. This needs some thinking about – if I want to achieve my 8 minutes per mile pace.
Although I did set off slower than planned today, I finished a whole 4 seconds faster than 2 weeks back when I did the same run. Not a lot – particularly over a longer distance – but it made me think what can you actually do in 4 seconds. A lot according to a quick Google search (side note – Google still my favourite search engine by a long shot; you know they’ve got something right when your 5 year old understands the concept of “Googling” something)…
It’s also the name of a marketing company that I have no connections with and until tonight hadn’t heard of. But it’s a cool name and I like their site and what their aims are!
Happy running!
3 great runs this week. Nice 8 miles on Monday faster than marathon pace. A long 16 miler on Wednesday – about 30 seconds per minute slower than marathon pace. And then a fast 5km – knocking 40+ seconds off my last time (on the same route) – and a mile and a bit cool down on Friday. The speed work and interval training is working – and more needed. The 16 miles felt hard – I had planned to do a split and pick up the pace on the 2nd half but it didn’t happen. Great route as well – up past Hampton Court Bridge and along the footpath by the Thames – more awesome scenery. Longest run I did that way back in 2009 was around 22 miles – so another 3 miles up the path still to explore (assuming I do similar distances for the long runs this time). I am a fan of long runs where you go out a certain distance along a route and then back the same way.
Average pace picking up as well which is good. The 5km at the end of the week was great – 40 seconds off the last time and felt very good. Need to get back and do the Bushy Park parkrun one Saturday morning soon – they really help pick up your pace.
Week finished off with an early Christmas dinner at mum and dad’s in Bedford with Auntie Anne and Uncle Lol – all the trimmings plus mum’s brunch the morning after. Perfect!
1/2 marathon distance planned this week and at a good pace.
So close – an 8 mile run yesterday at 25 seconds per mile faster than planned marathon pace (should have been 30 seconds but slowed down after first 5 miles). Great run into Bushy Park and some huge stags around – with massive antlers on them. Very impressive to see. It’s fantastic running through Bushy Park – much bigger than you realise and great natural scenery in the middle of West London.
And home to what must be the biggest parkrun of all – 9am every Saturday morning throughout the year, 750+ runners (plus volunteers) doing a 5km run fun. Some in under 15 minutes as well – awesome to see and great fun to run as well (a fine way to start a weekend). Haven’t done now for a good few months, on the to list for the New Year. See the Bushy Park page on the Park Run website for more info.
It’s getting to that time of year again when running gloves are a must-have accessory, if you like to be able to use your hands after running! Starting a run and then after 2 miles having completely numb hands (plus the rest) is not fun. I’ve managed to collect a nice all-weather set of running clothes over the last few years – for sun, rain, wind and snow (all thicknesses and all lengths). And got a nice pair of Nike running gloves from my little sister for Christmas last year. Running hats also very important – particularly when running into wind. Cold wind on your forehead also not fun.
3 good runs this week, with interval training yesterday over 5 miles. 6 sets of 400 metres at 80-90 seconds faster than planned marathon pace, with 6 sets of 400 metres 80-90 seconds slower (plus 1.5 mile warm-up and the same cool down at the end). Great run – really enjoying the speed work.
The next piece of running kit that comes out soon is the high-visibility jacket – bright luminous yellow, for late runs in the day.
The vast majority of my running kit over the last few years has come care of the guys at Sweatshop in Teddington. And no doubt a few more visits coming over the next few months – new shoes next on the list (and some more decent multi-layered running socks).
Weekend resting from running – with karate for the cross training tomorrow. Calf now back in order (and not hurting) after last Sunday’s training session!
We’re all going to get days when we’re not feeling 100% for any reason and it’s bound to affect running performance when we do. Ran today instead of yesterday, normally mid-morning time and a planned 12 miler along by the river towards Hampton Court.
My pace for the first 6 miles was good – slightly faster than 8 minutes per mile. But it then crept up and finished a slower second half, with overall average 8 minutes and 5 seconds per mile. Not much more but frustrating. But it was just faster than my pace for the last Royal Parks Foundation 1/2 Marathon back in September.
And still managed to pick up pace for the last 1 mile or so – which always feels good. Trying to do that after 26 miles is a bit more of a challenge!
10 miles at marathon pace last week was very do-able but not today, only 2 miles more but much harder run.
If you’re genuinely not feeling well, depending on the symptoms, common sense advice is not to run (or do other exercise) and let your body recover. Some good advice found at Examiner.com
Morning run followed a lunchtime coffee or 2 – good old Caffe Nero of course – with an old primary school (year 2) friend I’ve not seen since aged 7 – 35 years ago! Fantastic, great to catch-up and amazing due to the wonders of Facebook how much you already know or think you know about old friends you’ve not seen for a long time! Lots of reminiscing about days in good old Hong Kong and school days back at Kowloon Junior School.
All the theories say that cross training is a key part of marathon training, with suggestions of swimming, cycling, rowing and weight training being some common ones. For me it’s Shotokan karate – my other passion. The challenge is (a) fitting all the running in around the scheduled class times at our dojo and (b) training hard at karate but remaining injury free.
A great session yesterday morning but took a hit on my right calf – think dead leg in your calf that lasts 2 days! Took it easy ish on the 8 mile run today and all good. It hurts more when moving from sitting or stationary, but fine when actually moving around. A bit more ice on it tonight and a massage later.
As strange as maybe it seems, karate provides great cross training. Balance, core stability work, strength exercises, stretching and breathing. Just need to go easy on partner work and sparring. The plan is to reduce the karate training in the run up to the marathon next April, to avoid injuries full stop!
Interesting post here on cross training in karate on KaratebyJesse, though more geared to cross training in other martial arts or styles. Principals the same!
And do feel free to take a look at our club website or even pop along to train with us, one Friday evening or Sunday morning at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham.
