The last 24 hours have been hectic. We are in Louisville, Kentucky as Julie is Maid of Honor for her best friend, Erika and her husband to be, Mike Friedburg. Julie has been rushing about with the girls doing things and I have been trying to be helpful but also stay out of the way and get a little rest in between runs. I had a good second run yesterday and felt pretty strong and loose on the hilly terrain of the nearby parks. As soon as I got back and had done my drills and strides, I had to shower, change and then head straight out the door with all the girls in the car to go to the rehearsal dinner. We arrive right on time at Z's Fusion, a really nice restaurant in the downtown area. I met Steve Slattery (international steeplechaser) there with the rest of the University of Colorado team that were featured in the book "Running with the Buffaloes". Everyone had had a pretty crazy night the night before as it was Mike's bachelor party so I just tried to keep up with the stories of the night being retold.
We sat down to a great dinner (I had the steak of course) and just chatted for the rest of the evening at our table. I was glad of this as I was pretty tired and didn't want to be on my feet. From there we moved down the road to 21C, a hotel/bar/art museum that seriously cool. I had actually seen a bunch of the art before but not up close so it was a great experience. The highlight, for me, was the mens bathroom where you pee against a glass wall that looks out at the guests and passers by. Its a 2 way mirror so they can't see you but it still does enough to make it hard to produce anything! We sat at the bar for a while as I got more and more tired. I was the designated driver so being up so late without copious amounts of alcohol was pretty tough. I slept very well when we got back.
We woke up in the morning when our bodies told us too (9.30am) and Julie brewed up a big pot of coffee while I chowed down on a PowerBar and some PowerBar Endurance drink. After some coffee and answering emails, I drove out to the back side of Seneca Park where there is a flat, one mile grass loop that I was planning on doing most of my long run on so that I could grab my drink every 3 loops. After one lap I was bored and ran a hilly two mile loop that I had found the day before so that made it a little easier on the brain instead of 22 loops. I felt pretty tired for the first 9 miles until I had a caffeinated PowerBar gel and that perked me up a little. The only problem was that as I ripped it off of the bottle, it split down the side and half of the gel went down my chest (I was t shirtless) and I was now very sticky. It started to dry on my chest hair which wasn't pleasant but what made it worse was that my earphone cord was stuck to the hair and my chest. It was pretty annoying but at least the cord wasn't flapping about anymore so I just decided to leave it and get on with my run. I made a decision to skip the next drink as I wanted to run over to the other park close by and get a loop in there. It was very hilly but I knew the route pretty well from the past couple of days runs so I knew where to ease off and where I could roll a little. I got back to the car for my next drink at 15 miles and then just did a few more combinations of the 1 and 2 mile loops. It actually started to get pretty cold and windy in the last 10 minutes of the run so once I was finished I quickly got into my warm ups and got straight to my post run drills and stretching. I was pretty happy with the 22 miles I ran but I knew I was going to suffer later if I didn't get to put my feet up before the wedding.
I got back and showered off all the gel that was all over me and headed out to pick Julie up and grab some food. Just as we headed to get a sandwich, it started to rain and the clouds came over head. This wasn't good news for the wedding as the whole ceremony and reception was supposed to be outside. There is a back up plan to do everything inside so I guess they will have to do that. We got back to the house so that Julie could get ready and I could hopefully rest. FAIL. I had to write out Julie's speech onto note cards and then take her and another bridesmaid back to the venue. Luckily it is only 5 minutes away so I drove back and writing this has been the only time I have managed to get my feet up today. I guess you have to make sacrifices on special days like this for your loved ones so i'm not too bothered. I haven't told Julie yet that I have decided to stick to the training program and do a 25km tempo on the morning of our wedding. Greg offered to change it to mid week but I figured I could get up early and get it out the way and have a rest before I need to be anywhere that day so hopefully that works out! I think I will offer to be the driver again tonight as I have to get an hour run done in the morning before church at 8am as we have a brunch to go to at 10am. Its going to be a long day as we leave Louisville at 5pm (a second run before then also) and get back into Phoenix at 8.30pm. That means we won't get up to Flagstaff until about 11pm so I'm just looking forward to getting a lot of good sleep when I get back.
I'm now looking at the clock and realizing that I have to be at the wedding in 15 minutes so I'd better get into my suit pronto. I'll try update tomorrow if I have time but I probably won't get time until Monday to do so.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
This is a 3 day update as I have been busy travelling and haven’t had time to get any updates up. I get back to the house on Monday so I can get back to daily updates then.
I arrived at training on Wednesday morning ready to take on the 12 mile steady state that was originally planned for the morning workout. I had felt fine on my second run the night before and woke up feeling almost 100% so I was looking forward to getting back on the marathon program. I left early so I could get a 5 minute jog and then stretch in before the others arrived. Once I got out to Greg’s house, he decided that we should back off of the workout as I would still be feeling the after effects of being ill. He said I should just run 6 miles at a pretty easy pace and call it a day. I was a little bummed not to be getting in the distance but I knew he was right so I was fine with his decision. Once I had warmed up with the guys, I set off on the workout alone (Fasil and James were doing one of their last marathon workouts of 2kms) on the 6 mile steady state around a 1.1 mile loop we call mountain shadows. Greg wanted me to run at around 5.30 pace and so I set off very conservatively and was surprised how easy the first mile of 5.17 felt. I was running with the brakes on and I felt as though I was doing an easy run so I was happy with that. This continued until around mile 4 and although I kept the same pace, it became a little harder as my lack of energy crept in. I finished up fine for the 6 miles in 32.04 and then warmed down with the guys followed by some more stretching. I got home, had a shower and some breakfast and then spent the next 90 minutes trying to sleep but to no avail. Julie and I had slept so much over the past couple of nights that I think I was simply sleeped out. This was probably a good thing as I had a lot to do before Julie got off work and we headed down to Phoenix. I rushed out to the mall to get some suit trousers and then quickly packed my bag (we’re heading to a wedding over the weekend) before heading out for a run on the trails before Buffalo park. It was such a nice day so the run was really enjoyable. I really didn’t feel tired from the morning so that was a good sign that my strength is coming back. I didn’t have time to do any drills or strides after the run as I had to quickly shower before picking Julie up from work and heading down the mountain to Phoenix.
I woke up yesterday morning at 4.50am so that I could get 10 miles in before we left for Louisville, Kentucky for our friends, Erika and Mikes wedding. It was a really nice temperature outside and not the oppressive heat that I am used to running in when I am in Phoenix. I did a few loops of my regular running routes and then quickly showered and ate before we headed out to the airport for our flight at 8.15am. Luckily I now work for Greg and his online coaching business so I’m able to work as long as I have my computer and an internet hook up. This allowed me to design a few training programs on the flight and kill some time before catching our next flight in Memphis.
We arrived there around 4.50pm and made out way to the rental car area. I had booked a car from National and I was pleasantly surprised when they told me that the car I was supposed to get wasn’t back yet so would I mind if I got a free upgrade to a Buick Lacrosse or a Chevy Camaro…Um, Camaro please! Julie looked at me very strangely as she had no idea what either of the cars were. She quickly got the gist when we got to the car and there was a shiny transformer ready to be driven off. We headed out to Cherokee Park where Erica was having a BBQ with her family and friends and the first thing I noticed was how many runners and cyclists there were. This made it easy for me to quickly get changed and follow the hoards around the park to get my second run in. It was, however, very hilly and I was tired from the start (probably from the early morning and travel also). I just jogged around and tried to familiarize myself with the area as I would probably have to do my long run here on Saturday. I stopped after 50 minutes and guzzled down some food at the BBQ before we headed off to Erica and Mike’s house. It turned out it was just half a mile away from the park so at least I had somewhere to run all weekend. We all showered and headed out for a quick celebratory drink before crashing hard in bed.
I woke up this morning to bright sunshine blasting through the windows. There were no curtains so it was nice way to wake up but when I looked at my watch it said it was 4.30am. I was a little annoyed as I wanted to sleep a lot longer until I realized that I hadn’t put my watch forward yet and it was actually 7.30am. Better… Julie and I headed out to a local coffee shop to wake up a little before I went out for an 80 minute run around the area. I wanted to scout out a flatter option for my long run and finally found a 1 mile loop at an adjoining park that would make my life a little easier tomorrow morning. It’s going to mean a lot of loops but there are a few detours I can take to make things a little more interesting instead of the dizzying thought of 22 loops. I felt pretty tired for the first 30 minutes of the run until the coffee kicked in and I started to feel a lot better. I finally shifted out of first gear and got rolling on the hills before heading back to the house. The girls were all heading out the door to get their nails done so that left me with an quiet, empty house to fall asleep and rest in for a few hours before I head out for a second run. Erica informed that they don’t have an iron in the house so hopefully I won’t look too tatty at the posh restaurant we’re going to.
I think there is a pre wedding long run tomorrow morning (both Mike and Erica were good collegiate runners and are now bike nuts) for the guests and friends so hopefully I can persuade someone to give me my drinks and gels on my run. If not, I guess I will just stick to the mile loop and grab my drink from the car every 3 laps.
We fly back on Sunday evening to Phoenix and then either have a late night drive up the mountain or a very early start as both Julie and I have to be at work and training at 8am.
I may not be able to update the blog over the next few days as we’ll be busy with the wedding but I’ll certainly have something up on Monday. I hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoys the autumn weather!
I arrived at training on Wednesday morning ready to take on the 12 mile steady state that was originally planned for the morning workout. I had felt fine on my second run the night before and woke up feeling almost 100% so I was looking forward to getting back on the marathon program. I left early so I could get a 5 minute jog and then stretch in before the others arrived. Once I got out to Greg’s house, he decided that we should back off of the workout as I would still be feeling the after effects of being ill. He said I should just run 6 miles at a pretty easy pace and call it a day. I was a little bummed not to be getting in the distance but I knew he was right so I was fine with his decision. Once I had warmed up with the guys, I set off on the workout alone (Fasil and James were doing one of their last marathon workouts of 2kms) on the 6 mile steady state around a 1.1 mile loop we call mountain shadows. Greg wanted me to run at around 5.30 pace and so I set off very conservatively and was surprised how easy the first mile of 5.17 felt. I was running with the brakes on and I felt as though I was doing an easy run so I was happy with that. This continued until around mile 4 and although I kept the same pace, it became a little harder as my lack of energy crept in. I finished up fine for the 6 miles in 32.04 and then warmed down with the guys followed by some more stretching. I got home, had a shower and some breakfast and then spent the next 90 minutes trying to sleep but to no avail. Julie and I had slept so much over the past couple of nights that I think I was simply sleeped out. This was probably a good thing as I had a lot to do before Julie got off work and we headed down to Phoenix. I rushed out to the mall to get some suit trousers and then quickly packed my bag (we’re heading to a wedding over the weekend) before heading out for a run on the trails before Buffalo park. It was such a nice day so the run was really enjoyable. I really didn’t feel tired from the morning so that was a good sign that my strength is coming back. I didn’t have time to do any drills or strides after the run as I had to quickly shower before picking Julie up from work and heading down the mountain to Phoenix.
I woke up yesterday morning at 4.50am so that I could get 10 miles in before we left for Louisville, Kentucky for our friends, Erika and Mikes wedding. It was a really nice temperature outside and not the oppressive heat that I am used to running in when I am in Phoenix. I did a few loops of my regular running routes and then quickly showered and ate before we headed out to the airport for our flight at 8.15am. Luckily I now work for Greg and his online coaching business so I’m able to work as long as I have my computer and an internet hook up. This allowed me to design a few training programs on the flight and kill some time before catching our next flight in Memphis.
We arrived there around 4.50pm and made out way to the rental car area. I had booked a car from National and I was pleasantly surprised when they told me that the car I was supposed to get wasn’t back yet so would I mind if I got a free upgrade to a Buick Lacrosse or a Chevy Camaro…Um, Camaro please! Julie looked at me very strangely as she had no idea what either of the cars were. She quickly got the gist when we got to the car and there was a shiny transformer ready to be driven off. We headed out to Cherokee Park where Erica was having a BBQ with her family and friends and the first thing I noticed was how many runners and cyclists there were. This made it easy for me to quickly get changed and follow the hoards around the park to get my second run in. It was, however, very hilly and I was tired from the start (probably from the early morning and travel also). I just jogged around and tried to familiarize myself with the area as I would probably have to do my long run here on Saturday. I stopped after 50 minutes and guzzled down some food at the BBQ before we headed off to Erica and Mike’s house. It turned out it was just half a mile away from the park so at least I had somewhere to run all weekend. We all showered and headed out for a quick celebratory drink before crashing hard in bed.
I woke up this morning to bright sunshine blasting through the windows. There were no curtains so it was nice way to wake up but when I looked at my watch it said it was 4.30am. I was a little annoyed as I wanted to sleep a lot longer until I realized that I hadn’t put my watch forward yet and it was actually 7.30am. Better… Julie and I headed out to a local coffee shop to wake up a little before I went out for an 80 minute run around the area. I wanted to scout out a flatter option for my long run and finally found a 1 mile loop at an adjoining park that would make my life a little easier tomorrow morning. It’s going to mean a lot of loops but there are a few detours I can take to make things a little more interesting instead of the dizzying thought of 22 loops. I felt pretty tired for the first 30 minutes of the run until the coffee kicked in and I started to feel a lot better. I finally shifted out of first gear and got rolling on the hills before heading back to the house. The girls were all heading out the door to get their nails done so that left me with an quiet, empty house to fall asleep and rest in for a few hours before I head out for a second run. Erica informed that they don’t have an iron in the house so hopefully I won’t look too tatty at the posh restaurant we’re going to.
I think there is a pre wedding long run tomorrow morning (both Mike and Erica were good collegiate runners and are now bike nuts) for the guests and friends so hopefully I can persuade someone to give me my drinks and gels on my run. If not, I guess I will just stick to the mile loop and grab my drink from the car every 3 laps.
We fly back on Sunday evening to Phoenix and then either have a late night drive up the mountain or a very early start as both Julie and I have to be at work and training at 8am.
I may not be able to update the blog over the next few days as we’ll be busy with the wedding but I’ll certainly have something up on Monday. I hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoys the autumn weather!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Blog season starts again
I'm back to blogging now that i'm starting my next marathon cycle in preparation for the Fukuoka marathon on December 5th. The start of the program was yesterday and it turned out to be a day off as me and 9 other friends and team mates all had a stomach flu which kept us all in bed. Julie also got it and somehow managed to stay at work for half a day before being sent home. I on the other was either in bed or lying on the sofa watching TV. I had been waking up during the night and running to the toilet but didn't feel too bad but once we woke up, Julie was sick and she suggested I get a finger down my throat to see if it made me feel any better. I literally walked into the bathroom, saw the bowl and started something that replicated a volcano. It did, however make me feel a little better and I thought I could muster a jog. As I was putting my shoes on though, I started to feel achy but decided to press on as the weather was great and I thought the fresh air would help. I jogged to the trail in front of the house and at 38 seconds stopped and walked back. Now the pain started to kick in. I forced some cereal down my throat and tried to sleep in front of the TV. I didn't have much success with this so I finally got round to watching this years London marathon. It was really interesting how things panned out at the front of the field and I took a few notes on how the leaders handled different situations. Julie finally came home and we managed to take a nap which helped a huge amount and made me feel at least half alive. For the next 2 hours I was running around town trying to get all my forms and documents together for my visa for China. The guys at UKA had been sending me forms but they had all gone to my junk mail and I just happened to catch one before I deleted it. I was a bit panicked as I only had a couple of days to get everything as the Chinese consulate is shut for 10 days due to a national holiday. This means i'm still cutting it close but hopefully it arrives in time. Just as I arrived home, I started to feel bad again so we had some soup and bread, lots of water, watched an episode of Chopped and then headed to bed at 8.30pm.
This morning was a lot better after sleeping for 11 hours. We didn't feel great but at least we could get on with our days without too much pain. I managed to get out for a very slow 90 mins on the trails which made me feel good mentally but as soon as I got out of the shower after the run, I started to get chills and couldn't stop shivering. I managed to get a little food down before heading to bed to try and sleep it off. It took a long while but I think I managed about an hour of sleep and then it took another 30 mins to actually get out of bed. What did make me feel better was a nice cup of Yorkshire tea that I had brought back with me. I'll try and get out for another run later to see how I feel and hopefully I can do the scheduled 12 mile steady state run tomorrow morning.
Last week's race (Great North Run) was a disaster for me. As good as I was feeling in the lead up and as mentally ready as I was, the last 12 hours before the race really messed things up. For no apparent reason, I fell asleep at 11pm and woke up 12am and was then awake until the start of the race. This meant that it was tiring just trying to warm up, never mind racing fast. I also made the mistake of drinking too much coffee before the race just to try and get my body at a normal status and this lead to me being dehydrated throughout the race. I started to feel dizzy and confused at around 5 miles and it took a lot of mental strength to make it to the finish. I'll learn from the experience and try to never let that happen again.
The next few days after the race was just all easy running and recovering. I had a good night out with friends in Edinburgh and then hopped on the plane the next day to Phoenix. I stayed the night there with Julie's parents as I didn't want to drive up the road tired and got a good nights sleep. It was so good to finally get back to Julie and stay in my own bed again. It really wasn't a long trip back to the UK but it felt like a long two weeks.
Saturday's long run was really encouraging for me as I felt really good and ran fast without pushing myself at all. We ran at a place called A1 and it is an out and back run with 7 miles up hill, a hilly 7 mile loop at the top and then 7 miles back down to the start. Everyone else was running a lot shorter so I put my ipod on and just got into my own pace from the start. I felt like I was cruising the whole was never trying to run fast, I was just going with how my body felt. I ran the 21 miles faster than I ever had and didn't really feel tired afterward. This let me know that I am pretty fit and ready for the training that awaits me.
So day 1 of marathon training was seriously bad, day 2 a little bit better, hopefully everyday from here on out will just keep getting better and better. At least I got the flu on day one rather than right before the race.
This morning was a lot better after sleeping for 11 hours. We didn't feel great but at least we could get on with our days without too much pain. I managed to get out for a very slow 90 mins on the trails which made me feel good mentally but as soon as I got out of the shower after the run, I started to get chills and couldn't stop shivering. I managed to get a little food down before heading to bed to try and sleep it off. It took a long while but I think I managed about an hour of sleep and then it took another 30 mins to actually get out of bed. What did make me feel better was a nice cup of Yorkshire tea that I had brought back with me. I'll try and get out for another run later to see how I feel and hopefully I can do the scheduled 12 mile steady state run tomorrow morning.
Last week's race (Great North Run) was a disaster for me. As good as I was feeling in the lead up and as mentally ready as I was, the last 12 hours before the race really messed things up. For no apparent reason, I fell asleep at 11pm and woke up 12am and was then awake until the start of the race. This meant that it was tiring just trying to warm up, never mind racing fast. I also made the mistake of drinking too much coffee before the race just to try and get my body at a normal status and this lead to me being dehydrated throughout the race. I started to feel dizzy and confused at around 5 miles and it took a lot of mental strength to make it to the finish. I'll learn from the experience and try to never let that happen again.
The next few days after the race was just all easy running and recovering. I had a good night out with friends in Edinburgh and then hopped on the plane the next day to Phoenix. I stayed the night there with Julie's parents as I didn't want to drive up the road tired and got a good nights sleep. It was so good to finally get back to Julie and stay in my own bed again. It really wasn't a long trip back to the UK but it felt like a long two weeks.
Saturday's long run was really encouraging for me as I felt really good and ran fast without pushing myself at all. We ran at a place called A1 and it is an out and back run with 7 miles up hill, a hilly 7 mile loop at the top and then 7 miles back down to the start. Everyone else was running a lot shorter so I put my ipod on and just got into my own pace from the start. I felt like I was cruising the whole was never trying to run fast, I was just going with how my body felt. I ran the 21 miles faster than I ever had and didn't really feel tired afterward. This let me know that I am pretty fit and ready for the training that awaits me.
So day 1 of marathon training was seriously bad, day 2 a little bit better, hopefully everyday from here on out will just keep getting better and better. At least I got the flu on day one rather than right before the race.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
9/16/20
Below is a short video clip I did for Mizuno a couple of days ago, discussing training and the Great North Run
Click Here
Click Here
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9/11/10
I've been doing a terrible job of updating this blog but now that I'm back in Scotland for a little while i'll try and get some more entries in.
Training has been going well and looking back over my training log it looks as though things have been consistently going well for a long time now so i'm looking forward to putting that to good use with a good race next week.
I returned to the UK last Saturday as I was racing in the Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield on the Sunday. I didn't know how this would work out for me as I haven't ever flown in the day before (usually i'll fly 2 days before so as to have a rest day once I get to the venue but that usually means I sleep well the first night and not a wink the next). Surprisingly I didn't sleep much the night before the race but it actually didn't seem to affect me as I felt pretty good in the morning and just replaced lack of sleep with coffee. I went through a whole pot of coffee when I went down to breakfast and that seemed to work a treat. The race course is an out and back and for about the first mile you are running downhill. I had run this course a couple of years ago so I knew what to expect and to not get carried away for the first half of the race. We quickly got into a good rhythm with Chris Thompson leading a group of 5 of us through 5km in 14.08. This felt very easy so I was thinking that I could run a pretty significant PR if things continued this way, even with the long hill at the end. Well that was quickly dispersed from my mind when we made the turn around and hit a really strong wind. I hadn't noticed how strong it was as it was just pushing us along for the first half but as we ran back to the town, it felt as though we were running at a snails pace. I hit the front for a little while as everyone was looking at each other to lead and I didn't mind as I had tucked in for the first half. I say that, but after 1km of being in the lead I quickly got sick of it and stepped off to the side to get someone else to lead. The lead changed hands a good few times before Chris made a move with 2km to go and 3 of us followed. Everything in my head was telling me how little running time I had left and just to be strong on the long steep hill at the end but it didn't work as I was dropped on the first of the hills with a mile to go. I finished up well and came 4th in a time of 29.08 which I was fine with but Chris and Mottram had run 28.50 so they must have been attacking each other over that last km. It was good to catch up with everyone there and get my legs moving quickly so soon after my flight so the race served its purpose well. A few hours after the race, I jumped on the train up to Edinburgh and stayed with my best man, AC so we could catch up and talk shop for a while. To help tackle the effects of jet lag, I had to stay up as late as possible that night so we ended up chatting until 4am!
I woke up the next day at 1pm feeling really fresh with no soreness in my legs from the race. After heading over to AC's restaurant, Illegal Jacks and saying good bye, i jumped on the bus to Perth to stay with my dad for a few days. He picked me up from the bus depot and dropped me off in town so I could run the 8 miles from the city to his house over the back roads. I hadn't done this run in about 8 years so it was good to get out there again. Its a really hilly run and this was perfect as that made sure I was running slow enough to recover from the race the day before. The road runs along the hilltops so you can see over the valley so that made it very enjoyable. The next day wasn't so nice. I woke up to torrential rain thundering on my window and about 10m visibility. I sat in the kitchen with a coffee hoping that it was going to calm down outside by the time I decided to run. It didn't! I figured I was going to soaked either way so headed out with the hope that I would make it back without turning into a prune. I got through about 25 mins of the run without too much trouble as it was fairly shaded with trees but after that it became very miserable. I didn't have a cap on (a beanie instead - big mistake) so I had to shade my face with both hands just enough to see that the rain was horizontal. I nearly turned around but was determined to get out to 50 minutes and turn then as I would have the wind with me after that. Those last few hundred meters were just dire. Anyway...I got to the turn around and coasted home as the wind pushed me back to the house in 43 mins and I could finally dry off. Needless to say that I fell asleep for a good 2 hours after that and waited for my dad to get home from work so we could go to the gym and do my second run there. I just kept to it an easy 4 miles as I started to feel a little light headed and then lifted afterwards. It felt good to get the weights done as i'm pretty sure I won't get into the gym for the rest of my trip home.
I headed through to St Andrews the next day to stay with Ronnie (my old coach) and get some running on the golf courses and beach done. I always love coming back to do that run as its really scenic no matter what the weather. i met my mum and campbell in the evening and had a good dinner with them down town. Somehow the jet lag kicked back in that night and I didn't fall asleep until 3.30am. This meant I just slept late and did my first run at 12pm. I would have done my workout but I felt pretty tired so just kept it easy and decided to do the workout later on once I got through to Edinburgh. I was going back through to hang out with AC and to meet a friend of mine from school. The work out went well (1 min hard, 1min easy fartlek) even though I was feeling tired. I was moving quickly and covering a lot of ground so that gave me confidence for next weeks race. I caught up with an old school friend and training partner, Jonny Seeley over a pint and he filled me in on all the details over everything thats been going on over this way while i've been gone.
Saturday morning I slept in a little and then headed out for a 90 minute run with the last 2 miles hard. It was a weird run as I kept having to stop and pee but at least that meant that I was hydrated. I didn't feel great for the first half an hour but once I hit the canal and headed back towards town I felt miles better and starting moving well. I got to the Meadows (a popular training area in the city) and started my pick up. I didn't push it too hard and felt pretty easy doing it. I finished up there as there was an east of Scotland training day going on so I said a few hi's and then got on with my drills and stretches. then jogged the 5 minutes back to AC's apartment to get showered and changed. I'm now just sitting in the restaurant with my feet up before I head back through to St Andrews for another few days.
This weeks training won't be too hard with the race on Sunday so i'll just be resting up and strolling around St Andrews for most of the time. I have a photo and video shoot with Mizuno on Tuesday so that should be good and then i'll head down to Newcastle on Friday.
I hope everyones training is going well and i'll update you all later on in the week.
Training has been going well and looking back over my training log it looks as though things have been consistently going well for a long time now so i'm looking forward to putting that to good use with a good race next week.
I returned to the UK last Saturday as I was racing in the Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield on the Sunday. I didn't know how this would work out for me as I haven't ever flown in the day before (usually i'll fly 2 days before so as to have a rest day once I get to the venue but that usually means I sleep well the first night and not a wink the next). Surprisingly I didn't sleep much the night before the race but it actually didn't seem to affect me as I felt pretty good in the morning and just replaced lack of sleep with coffee. I went through a whole pot of coffee when I went down to breakfast and that seemed to work a treat. The race course is an out and back and for about the first mile you are running downhill. I had run this course a couple of years ago so I knew what to expect and to not get carried away for the first half of the race. We quickly got into a good rhythm with Chris Thompson leading a group of 5 of us through 5km in 14.08. This felt very easy so I was thinking that I could run a pretty significant PR if things continued this way, even with the long hill at the end. Well that was quickly dispersed from my mind when we made the turn around and hit a really strong wind. I hadn't noticed how strong it was as it was just pushing us along for the first half but as we ran back to the town, it felt as though we were running at a snails pace. I hit the front for a little while as everyone was looking at each other to lead and I didn't mind as I had tucked in for the first half. I say that, but after 1km of being in the lead I quickly got sick of it and stepped off to the side to get someone else to lead. The lead changed hands a good few times before Chris made a move with 2km to go and 3 of us followed. Everything in my head was telling me how little running time I had left and just to be strong on the long steep hill at the end but it didn't work as I was dropped on the first of the hills with a mile to go. I finished up well and came 4th in a time of 29.08 which I was fine with but Chris and Mottram had run 28.50 so they must have been attacking each other over that last km. It was good to catch up with everyone there and get my legs moving quickly so soon after my flight so the race served its purpose well. A few hours after the race, I jumped on the train up to Edinburgh and stayed with my best man, AC so we could catch up and talk shop for a while. To help tackle the effects of jet lag, I had to stay up as late as possible that night so we ended up chatting until 4am!
I woke up the next day at 1pm feeling really fresh with no soreness in my legs from the race. After heading over to AC's restaurant, Illegal Jacks and saying good bye, i jumped on the bus to Perth to stay with my dad for a few days. He picked me up from the bus depot and dropped me off in town so I could run the 8 miles from the city to his house over the back roads. I hadn't done this run in about 8 years so it was good to get out there again. Its a really hilly run and this was perfect as that made sure I was running slow enough to recover from the race the day before. The road runs along the hilltops so you can see over the valley so that made it very enjoyable. The next day wasn't so nice. I woke up to torrential rain thundering on my window and about 10m visibility. I sat in the kitchen with a coffee hoping that it was going to calm down outside by the time I decided to run. It didn't! I figured I was going to soaked either way so headed out with the hope that I would make it back without turning into a prune. I got through about 25 mins of the run without too much trouble as it was fairly shaded with trees but after that it became very miserable. I didn't have a cap on (a beanie instead - big mistake) so I had to shade my face with both hands just enough to see that the rain was horizontal. I nearly turned around but was determined to get out to 50 minutes and turn then as I would have the wind with me after that. Those last few hundred meters were just dire. Anyway...I got to the turn around and coasted home as the wind pushed me back to the house in 43 mins and I could finally dry off. Needless to say that I fell asleep for a good 2 hours after that and waited for my dad to get home from work so we could go to the gym and do my second run there. I just kept to it an easy 4 miles as I started to feel a little light headed and then lifted afterwards. It felt good to get the weights done as i'm pretty sure I won't get into the gym for the rest of my trip home.
I headed through to St Andrews the next day to stay with Ronnie (my old coach) and get some running on the golf courses and beach done. I always love coming back to do that run as its really scenic no matter what the weather. i met my mum and campbell in the evening and had a good dinner with them down town. Somehow the jet lag kicked back in that night and I didn't fall asleep until 3.30am. This meant I just slept late and did my first run at 12pm. I would have done my workout but I felt pretty tired so just kept it easy and decided to do the workout later on once I got through to Edinburgh. I was going back through to hang out with AC and to meet a friend of mine from school. The work out went well (1 min hard, 1min easy fartlek) even though I was feeling tired. I was moving quickly and covering a lot of ground so that gave me confidence for next weeks race. I caught up with an old school friend and training partner, Jonny Seeley over a pint and he filled me in on all the details over everything thats been going on over this way while i've been gone.
Saturday morning I slept in a little and then headed out for a 90 minute run with the last 2 miles hard. It was a weird run as I kept having to stop and pee but at least that meant that I was hydrated. I didn't feel great for the first half an hour but once I hit the canal and headed back towards town I felt miles better and starting moving well. I got to the Meadows (a popular training area in the city) and started my pick up. I didn't push it too hard and felt pretty easy doing it. I finished up there as there was an east of Scotland training day going on so I said a few hi's and then got on with my drills and stretches. then jogged the 5 minutes back to AC's apartment to get showered and changed. I'm now just sitting in the restaurant with my feet up before I head back through to St Andrews for another few days.
This weeks training won't be too hard with the race on Sunday so i'll just be resting up and strolling around St Andrews for most of the time. I have a photo and video shoot with Mizuno on Tuesday so that should be good and then i'll head down to Newcastle on Friday.
I hope everyones training is going well and i'll update you all later on in the week.
Friday, August 20, 2010
9/20/10
Below is the race report from the Beach to Beacon 10km that I raced a couple of weeks ago. I meant to post it when I got back from the race but we still haven't got internet in our house so when I go somewhere for internet it tends to be just to do some work.
Last weekend Julie and I went to Las Vegas for her birthday surprise weekend. We had a really great time and I did some good running while I was there so that was a bonus. We ate really well the whole time we were there and went to see Lady Gaga in concert.
This weeks training has gone well and i'm looking forward to get a good final 2 weeks of hard training before I return to the UK. I can feel the fitness coming back and my strength also as I have been on a good routine in the gym. We had a good time on Wednesday down in Sedona doing a 10*800m workout with most of them in 2.12 and finishing with a 2.02 (65, 57). That let me know that my speed hasn't disappeared. Next week will be a tough one with a long hill circuit on Monday (which I am always really tired after) and then coming back on Wednesday for a 5 mile tempo run.
Beach to Beacon Report:
This weekend I headed out to Portland, Maine for the Beach to Beacon 10km. The week leading up to it wasn’t great with me feeling tired pretty much everyday for some reason. I guess the body just goes through some phases sometimes so I ended up taking a day off when I was travelling out to the East coast. I actually had no choice in this decision in the end as I had to leave Phoenix on a 6 am flight to Atlanta. I was supposed to be landing into Boston at 4 pm but there were weather delays and we ended up circling the area for an hour. The pilot then came onto the radio to let us know that we would have to make a stop somewhere to refuel. We landed at a small airport and got up in the air again within an hour and I finally landed in Boston at 7 pm. After a little wondering about the airport with the elite coordinator for the race, Larry Barthlow, he ended up sticking me in a stretch limo for the 1 hour 40 minute drive to Cape Elizabeth. I was met at the drop off by my host family, the Milliards and we headed straight back to the house where I passed out pretty quickly as I had been up since 4 am.
The next morning I took a run along the course (our house was at 4.7 miles) and found out that the race wasn’t going to be too easy. The last 2km is up and down the whole way with a steep stinger of a hill with about 600m to go. The finish is at Fort Williams (a WW2 fort) where there is a lighthouse and you can see all around the surrounding areas. I got back and had a quick shower and breakfast before we headed out to the press conference. I met a few runners that I knew and caught up with Lee Troop who had been staying in Flagstaff just a month before. We were all introduced to the press and I quickly realised that there were some very stellar athletes in the field and it would make for a great race. There was Gebre Gebremerrian and Martin Lel for starters and then a plethora of other Africans that I hadn’t heard of but had some great credentials. I managed to get a massage after our photos were taken which help a lot with my tight back and glutes from the previous day’s travelling. I then spent most of the day getting some work done on my computer and going for a short walks on the small beach that was across the road from the house I was staying in. I had a great dinner with all the Milliards at night and headed to bed early as I would have to be getting up early again for the race.
I woke up at 5 am and headed downstairs to make some coffee and have a bagel and banana. Before I knew it, it was time to leave for the race and so we all climbed in the car (the Milliard’s son and daughter in law were running the race also) and were dropped off at the start line. Martin Fagan was already there and looking pretty cold as he didn’t bring warm ups with him. I gave him a jacket and we just chatted for a little while as everyone started to arrive at the elite area. I did my usual warm up routine of a short jog before I did some stretching and then heading off for a 15 minute jog.
The race started on a downhill so I was pretty surprised that were didn’t go through the first mile much quicker than we did (4.30). Almost as soon as we passed the clock, the leaders picked up the pace and Martin and I just hung onto the surge as it calmed back down before we hit the hilly sections of the course. The second mile was 4.40 and then the going got tough. The course basically undulates for the rest of the race and it’s really hard to get into a rhythm as you keep having to go up and down. I consider myself a good downhill runner but I wasn’t making any impact on those in front of me as the constant change in grade was killing everything I had in my legs. It was almost a bad thing that I knew what was to come over the last 2km as I think I held a little back so I could try and attack then. I did actually drop Sammy Nderaba (Catherine’s brother) and nearly caught another guy. With about 800m to go, the crowd gets really loud as they are lining the streets about 5 people deep. The course also starts to wind around the fort and the road gets thinner so you can’t see if you are catching anyone or not. I crossed the line in 28.58 for 11th place and just out of the prize money. The most positive note that I could take from the race was that even though I didn’t run particularly well, I was still able to break 29 minutes so that is a big improvement on the last few year where I was stuck at 29.15.
After warming down and watching the presentation, my host family and I walked back to the house where we all crashed for a few hours. I went for another run later on just to get the crap out of my legs and explored another part of town. I got back just in time to get showered and head out to the party that was being held on a private estate by a secluded beach. We were treated to a great Lobster dinner and some good beers so it felt really good to relax and have a good time.
The next morning was no fun at all as I had to get up at 4 am for my flight back to Phoenix. I did however set a personal record of how many naps I took during the day. I had a 2 hour nap on the first flight to Atlanta. I then slept for 30 minutes on my flight to Phoenix. Once I had driven back to Flagstaff I had another 2 hour nap! I then promptly fell asleep while watching a film with Julie later on in the evening. It was a really long weekend but I really loved it and will definitely be back in the future.
My next races will be the Great Yorkshire Run and the Great North Run in September. I am looking forward to going home for a couple of weeks and running well in the half marathon.
Last weekend Julie and I went to Las Vegas for her birthday surprise weekend. We had a really great time and I did some good running while I was there so that was a bonus. We ate really well the whole time we were there and went to see Lady Gaga in concert.
This weeks training has gone well and i'm looking forward to get a good final 2 weeks of hard training before I return to the UK. I can feel the fitness coming back and my strength also as I have been on a good routine in the gym. We had a good time on Wednesday down in Sedona doing a 10*800m workout with most of them in 2.12 and finishing with a 2.02 (65, 57). That let me know that my speed hasn't disappeared. Next week will be a tough one with a long hill circuit on Monday (which I am always really tired after) and then coming back on Wednesday for a 5 mile tempo run.
Beach to Beacon Report:
This weekend I headed out to Portland, Maine for the Beach to Beacon 10km. The week leading up to it wasn’t great with me feeling tired pretty much everyday for some reason. I guess the body just goes through some phases sometimes so I ended up taking a day off when I was travelling out to the East coast. I actually had no choice in this decision in the end as I had to leave Phoenix on a 6 am flight to Atlanta. I was supposed to be landing into Boston at 4 pm but there were weather delays and we ended up circling the area for an hour. The pilot then came onto the radio to let us know that we would have to make a stop somewhere to refuel. We landed at a small airport and got up in the air again within an hour and I finally landed in Boston at 7 pm. After a little wondering about the airport with the elite coordinator for the race, Larry Barthlow, he ended up sticking me in a stretch limo for the 1 hour 40 minute drive to Cape Elizabeth. I was met at the drop off by my host family, the Milliards and we headed straight back to the house where I passed out pretty quickly as I had been up since 4 am.
The next morning I took a run along the course (our house was at 4.7 miles) and found out that the race wasn’t going to be too easy. The last 2km is up and down the whole way with a steep stinger of a hill with about 600m to go. The finish is at Fort Williams (a WW2 fort) where there is a lighthouse and you can see all around the surrounding areas. I got back and had a quick shower and breakfast before we headed out to the press conference. I met a few runners that I knew and caught up with Lee Troop who had been staying in Flagstaff just a month before. We were all introduced to the press and I quickly realised that there were some very stellar athletes in the field and it would make for a great race. There was Gebre Gebremerrian and Martin Lel for starters and then a plethora of other Africans that I hadn’t heard of but had some great credentials. I managed to get a massage after our photos were taken which help a lot with my tight back and glutes from the previous day’s travelling. I then spent most of the day getting some work done on my computer and going for a short walks on the small beach that was across the road from the house I was staying in. I had a great dinner with all the Milliards at night and headed to bed early as I would have to be getting up early again for the race.
I woke up at 5 am and headed downstairs to make some coffee and have a bagel and banana. Before I knew it, it was time to leave for the race and so we all climbed in the car (the Milliard’s son and daughter in law were running the race also) and were dropped off at the start line. Martin Fagan was already there and looking pretty cold as he didn’t bring warm ups with him. I gave him a jacket and we just chatted for a little while as everyone started to arrive at the elite area. I did my usual warm up routine of a short jog before I did some stretching and then heading off for a 15 minute jog.
The race started on a downhill so I was pretty surprised that were didn’t go through the first mile much quicker than we did (4.30). Almost as soon as we passed the clock, the leaders picked up the pace and Martin and I just hung onto the surge as it calmed back down before we hit the hilly sections of the course. The second mile was 4.40 and then the going got tough. The course basically undulates for the rest of the race and it’s really hard to get into a rhythm as you keep having to go up and down. I consider myself a good downhill runner but I wasn’t making any impact on those in front of me as the constant change in grade was killing everything I had in my legs. It was almost a bad thing that I knew what was to come over the last 2km as I think I held a little back so I could try and attack then. I did actually drop Sammy Nderaba (Catherine’s brother) and nearly caught another guy. With about 800m to go, the crowd gets really loud as they are lining the streets about 5 people deep. The course also starts to wind around the fort and the road gets thinner so you can’t see if you are catching anyone or not. I crossed the line in 28.58 for 11th place and just out of the prize money. The most positive note that I could take from the race was that even though I didn’t run particularly well, I was still able to break 29 minutes so that is a big improvement on the last few year where I was stuck at 29.15.
After warming down and watching the presentation, my host family and I walked back to the house where we all crashed for a few hours. I went for another run later on just to get the crap out of my legs and explored another part of town. I got back just in time to get showered and head out to the party that was being held on a private estate by a secluded beach. We were treated to a great Lobster dinner and some good beers so it felt really good to relax and have a good time.
The next morning was no fun at all as I had to get up at 4 am for my flight back to Phoenix. I did however set a personal record of how many naps I took during the day. I had a 2 hour nap on the first flight to Atlanta. I then slept for 30 minutes on my flight to Phoenix. Once I had driven back to Flagstaff I had another 2 hour nap! I then promptly fell asleep while watching a film with Julie later on in the evening. It was a really long weekend but I really loved it and will definitely be back in the future.
My next races will be the Great Yorkshire Run and the Great North Run in September. I am looking forward to going home for a couple of weeks and running well in the half marathon.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Mizuno Link
Here is some work I did with my Sponsor, Mizuno back in April while I was the London Marathon Expo.
http://www.mizuno.eu/eu-eng/news/running/london-marathon/
http://www.mizuno.eu/eu-eng/news/running/london-marathon/
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