One run at a time

Today was my first proper Sunday morning long run.

Portsmouth is a surprisingly small city, and finding even an 8 mile route to run took a bit of effort, my route was effectively a lap from north to south of the eastern side of the island. Plenty of seafront promenade and coastal cycle path was included so it made for a nice run with not only plenty of pleasant waterside views, but also a good portion of the run was spent not having to worry about roads, kerbs, crossings or traffic.

The weather was pretty much perfect today, a nice cool 4 degress, sunny skies and barely a breath of wind. Wonderful stuff.

I'd set off with intentions of making the 8 mile route I'd planned the night before in a time of 70 minutes, optimistic perhaps with Christmas memories still fresh in the waistline, but I always figure, if you're going to set a target you may as well stretch yourself a bit.

So with Green Day's live album beating away in my ears I set off at a smidgen over 8 minute mile pace for the first couple of miles, before settling down to a surprisingly consistent 8:30 pace for the remainder of the run. No negative splits today, but I'm more than happy with a nice steady pace like that.

Overall I hit 8.1 miles in 1:07:29 and not only smashed my 1:10 target, but also did so with an extra .1 of a mile thrown in for good measure too, happy days!

When I got in, I was greeted by my wife presenting me with a nice freshly made banana and Vienetta milkshake. I can tell you, that was the most appreciated, and most delicious, milkshake I have ever had. Milk is allegedly just as good as a protein shake after a long run so I can claim it was healthy and good for me too.

Sticking that time and distance into my marathon time calculator, it throws out a lovely sub four hour finish time of 3:54:12. Unfortunately marathons aren't run with mathematics, they're run with sweat.

It's intimidating to think that 8 miles is barely scratching the surface of the marathon distance, even after 8 miles it is still the best part of another 10k race on top of that until you reach the iconic half way point of tower bridge. Good job I'm not thinking of the marathon like that.

Instead I am targeting one Sunday long run at a time, and I have to have faith that the training plan I have compiled will get me there. For the next few weeks, all I will be targeting is a small increase on distance from the week before. Once I'm up to about 15 miles, I'll then be looking at a half marathon race, as well as the final push up the gruelling training run of 20 miles a few weeks before the marathon itself.

For some reason it's not recommended to bother training the last 6.2 miles. I guess you only need to run one marathon so why waste the effort in training?

Additional to that I am also heading out a couple of times each week for shorter runs (usually around 5-6 miles) and also throwing some hockey training and matches too to provide me with my interval type training. All good fun.

Return of the blog

I'm sure the internet is full of blogs that have been left to go damp and smelly in an unwanted corner, and those that aren't forgotten about completely are almost exclusively full of apologetic posts lamenting the lack of any update in a while.

Well this post can be added to that list. I am sorry I have neglected this blog.

OK, with that out of the way, I can fill you in on what I have been up to since the last update in the middle of October.

My trip to Scotland turned into quite a few trips to Scotland, interspersed with some sort of nasty stomach bug, all in all I didn't achieve much running in the run up to Christmas. I did manage two or three runs up in Scotland with some nice views across the local Loch, and a handful more during my weekends at home, all mostly 3 milers. Nowhere near the sort of running I was planning though.

Unfortunately most of the time up North was spent working a 12 hour day which didn't leave a lot of time after work, barely enough time to check in with the wife before dashing to the hotel bar to get some food in before they stopped taking food orders. Call me lazy, but I also didn't really fancy waking up at half five in the morning to go out before work either.

Good job I'd entered a 10k fun run on the 15th December to keep my pre-christmas training on track then...

It was a 10k Santa fun run along the beach at Southsea, and I had originally entered it with intentions of beating my previous 10k race time of 50:04. However with the complete lack of any substantial training, the effects of quite a few weeks living on expenses, I decided instead a better goal would be to get round and just enjoy the run with Mike who had also entered.

We both got round in about 58 minutes, but it was never really about the time, it was more about the fun we had on the way round, and of course, the mince pie at the end!

The less said about the sour cream and chive pretzels we also got the better.

It was an excellent race and well organised, so I will definitely recommend it to anyone, they do both a 5k and a 10k if you're not sure you'll make the 10k 'hardcore' distance. (About the only time I've been described as 'hardcore' in my life!). The organisers of this event also have a half marathon in the lead up to the marathon so I'll certainly be looking to enter that.

So, with Scotland done and dusted, and Christmas out of the way it's almost perfect timing for the start of what I have been calling my 'official' training as I start on my 16 week training plan.

I've been out on quite few runs since the Santa run, sticking to the plan quite well so far and have my first proper Sunday long run coming up, a mere 8 miles. This is where the fun begins! For anyone interested in the details of all my runs, there's a link at the top of this blog.

For Christmas my wife bought me a running survival pack, a water bottle, some granola, some ice packs and an ankle strap, I wonder if a stretcher would of been more appropriate. I've also purchased a running hat and some gloves to give me no excuses when the cold weather really kicks in so there's no stopping me now.

I'm also going to start pushing for sponsors a bit harder now too so be prepared for that. As far as I'm aware I'm the only runner representing the charity Send-a-cow at the London marathon so every penny raised will be important to allow them to carry on their excellent work. They've also been in contact to sort me out a running vest so I'll be excellently cow patterned on the day.

My sponsorship is currently up to £66 which is really good giving the complete lack of any real pushing of it on my part, but still a long way off my £750 which would be enough to, quite literally send a cow. For more information on the charity, or to sponsor me, use the links at the top of this blog.

I'm also well aware that a certain someone also promised to sponsor me once I update this blog... no pressure.

Music, agony and negative splits

Woke up early and headed out for my first Sunday morning run after skipping last weeks. Although I was only heading out for a nice 'little' four miler today, Sunday is going to be my long run day, so it is important I get my legs into the habit of heading out first thing on a Sunday, whilst still aching from my Hockey playing antics the day before.

I thought I'd try out something a bit different and run whilst listening to music this morning. Not sure of what to pick, I stuck on Paloma Faith and headed out.

I've never tried running with music before, and I've never really seen the appeal, always preferring to keep an ear out on my surroundings, for enjoyment, but primarily for my own safety. After a few strides, my left headphone dropped out and no matter what I tried, it just wouldn't stick. Maybe I have funny shaped ears.

So, one ear on Paloma, one ear on the road, and four miles to cover.

The weather was damp, but a lovely fine drizzly misty sort of rain, almost perfect for running to keep you cool.

Have to say the music helped immensely, the first two miles flew by, and the final two felt easy too. Even took a detour to go a bit further, and run up over a railway bridge, about the closest thing we have to a hill in Portsmouth.

At this point, Paloma was repeatedly singing away as I was running tired into the wind, uphill "...this is agony, this could end in tragedy, pour yourself a Rum and Coke...". Cheers for that. Really helped.

Anyway. Got home and analysed my times on Endomondo. 4.29 miles in 36:35 was a more than reasonable time and I was very happy with that.

Better than that though, I had, for the first time in my life ever, negative splits! For the running uninitiated, this is mile times which get progressively quicker as you go.

I'm no expert, but I like to think of this as some sort of holy grail, personally I was just happy they were all reasonably consistent. My mile times have been all over the place recently, with the exception of the treadmill run of course, and I suspect the steady beat of the music helped, so I will definitely be trying it out again.

Interestingly, Endomondo also displayed average paces against each of the songs I listened to. I'll be keeping a record of all of the songs that made me run quickest, and compiling them into one awesome running playlist. I'll be running like Mo Farah with that!

Next week I'm off to Scotland for work, so I'll be packing my trainers and a headlamp, as I intend to be heading out into the elements for at least a couple of three milers. Just have to go easy on the expenses or it could get tricky.

Smashing targets and pre-race races

Well, I went out on another lunchtime run with Mike today, determined to beat last weeks effort of a touch over 30 minutes, we made it round in 28:04 so that was a target well and truly smashed.

Well done us. I even cajoled Mike into a bit of a sprint finish at the end.

The thought crossed my mind today that it would probably be a good idea to sign up for some races pre-marathon, although I'm not a race virgin, it would still be of benefit to practice the race day routine, and the to perfect the art of maintaining a steady pace despite the pressures of running in a crowd.

I've been trawling through the web and there's a few half marathons I've found leading up the marathon:
-Silverstone Half Marathon
-Fleet Half marathon
-RNLI Coastal Half Marathon (Portsmouth)

All of these are popular events, and are deliberately well timed for the London marathon. Still not sure about which one or two of these I will do.

It goes without saying that for a Formula 1 fan, running around the Silverstone track will be an amazing experience, but it is a bit of a drive to get there. The RNLI one is a good course that has been well received by a few friends of mine who have run it, but it is a little wet/muddy/off-road in places. Think I'll give it a go though. Oh and the Fleet half... no idea what it is like. (Any comments on it would be appreciated if anyone has run it!)

I also thought it might be a good idea to find a nice 10k run to target about December time, as a nice little race to keep me on target, and focused on training. Last year I ran the RNLI 10k a few weeks before the great south, and was gutted to finish with a time of 50:04, agonisingly close to the 50 minute mark. It was the run I've enjoyed the most though, largely helped by perfect running conditions, dead flat and no wind, but it was also very well organised.

Imagine my joy when I found another 10k run, organised by the same people on the 15th December. I will definitely be running it, and I've even convinced Mike to run it with me, which will be awesome as I will have a training buddy for this race.

...Oh, and we have to dress up as Santa.

Should be fun. Feel free to sign up here if you want to join us!

The joy of treadmills

Well, my training plan has deviated already.

A trip away from home for work meant that I wasn't able to do my first planned Sunday run. The common marathon advice is that it is OK to miss the occasional run, but not the long run. Oops.

Sunday is going to be my long run day once I get into it properly, for now, I need to get my legs into the habit of going out for a little jog so they're ready for the step up in training. Although it is not a disaster at this stage to miss that run, it is not something I want to get into the habit of!

To make up for the missing Sunday run, I took the opportunity to hit the gym in the hotel I was staying in. The treadmill had a 5k setting and so it seemed rude not to. the run was largely uneventful in itself, but I was made massively aware of the ease of which you can keep a steady pace when there's a machine to do it for you.

With the help of the treadmill, I did the 5k in a time of 24:18 which is about 7:50/mile pace which I was well happy with. Will be out for another lunchtime run tomorrow, whilst I don't expect to get anywhere near this time, I will be aiming to beat the time Mike and I set last week. I haven't told him this yet.

On this trip, I was  questioned on what my target time was for the marathon. Although my main aim is purely to survive the route, I will inevitably have a target time in mind once I am closer to the event. That's just the way I am with running, competitive at all times, even if only against myself.

I was introduced by a colleague to the formula of doubling a half marathon time, and adding twenty minutes. Having not yet completed a half marathon, I used some arbitrary maths to extrapolate my great south run times (10 miles), to then be doubled and added to, I found those times would give a finish of four hours twenty, disappointingly over my hopes of a four hour finishing time...

Although not committing to a finish time I did make the following statements about the following finishing times:

Five hours - "I would be WELL disappointed with a time over five hours"
Four hours - "I would be WELL happy with a sub four hour time"
Three hours - "If I come in below three hours, I'll be asking for a recount!"

Tonight, I did a quick change to my running tracking spreadsheet, and modified the predictor for various distances from a straight multiplication, which I always knew was flawed, to the following formula:

Marathon Time = Time x (26.2 / Distance) ^ 1.06
(taken from here)

Best of all, this multiplies up my 5k time to a predicted marathon finish time of 3:52 ish. Happy days.

Dogs aren't great pacemakers

Yay, run number two done and dusted, this is almost starting to feel like a habit!

Got back from work as it was turning dark, so I kitted the dog out in her high-viz vest, and chucked on my high-viz jacket too. Wish I hadn't, it was roasting.

Here she is modelling her 'running' vest, looking very lovely.

Whilst combining the dog walk and my training run in one seems like an excellent time saving idea, it isn't without its drawbacks.

The dog has no idea how far I am going to go, and so inevitably sets off far too fast with all the excitement. Well, too fast for me at the moment anyway. I dare say she could probably maintain the pace quite easily.

Additionally, she has an annoying habit of wanting to stop for two or three 'Paula Radcliffe' stops along the route. Not a problem, these things happen, but she doesn't slow gently, she just stops, on the spot, anchored to the pavement. Yanking my arm off as I try to go from steady jog to stationary in the length of a not very long dog lead.

Anyway, it's not all doom and gloom. I got round the three miles in a little over 28 minutes which is good for now, and as a second run, it wasn't as hard as the second run usually is. Also, part of the run includes a lap of the dogs favourite field. It was really nice being able to let her off lead, and watch her rummage around and enjoy herself freely. At first she found a discarded water bottle and carried it for a while, before swapping it out for an luminous yellow mountain dew energy bottle.

Presumably it matched her outfit better.

Anyway, looking quite a sight in all high viz yellow, we passed a family on the way back home and it was there that their little girl made my day...

"Look mummy it's so cute, that dog's carrying his drink bottle!"

What a great idea.

First run, done.

So, with my training plan in place, today was the first day of running on the plan, and so off I set during my lunch break for a nice gentle 3 mile run. I struggled round it in about 30 minutes, but it was a run, and it got my legs back in the habit of going one foot in front of another. This little lunchtime run will become my staple leading up to Christmas, and will get me back into the habit of running, and the mentality of keeping a steady pace.

As an added bonus, my friend and colleague Michael has agreed to join me on these lunchtime runs so that should keep me motivated not to flake out if the weathers a bit dodgy, or I can't be bothered.

Legs not feeling it too much tonight which is a bonus.

Tomorrow, assuming I get home before it gets dark, I'll have the dog for company for an evening 3 miler. I've not broken the news to the dog yet.

The hardest part is the first step

It seemed like such a good idea at the time, or at least I assume it did.

As I get sent a picture of the "You're In!" cover of the magazine, indicating that I was successful in the ballot of the London marathon, I had one immediate reaction. Joy.

It's surprising how long it took to turn to fear, but turn it did. 26.2 miles is a long way.

I've never run a marathon before, and at the age of 29, the furthest I have run competitively is 10 miles, twice, and a handful of 10Ks. So, lots of training and learning to do. Seemed like a good idea to get a blog going to record this whole process, for posterity, for motivation or maybe even for distraction.

It has now been three days since I knew I was running the marathon, and I've not so much looked at my trainers yet. Why? Well a combination of a hockey ball to my ankle and the common cold have put paid to me getting cracking with any sort of exercise on my first weekend. Good job my training plan doesn't start till Tuesday then isn't it!

My head is buzzing with all sorts of things to put here, my training plan, my background, my motivation, my charity, my hopes, my fears... I'm sure I'll get round to blogging them all eventually. For now though I'll leave you with www.virginmoneygiving.com/davidjohns just in case you are feeling generous.