Thursday, September 11, 2008
GSR 2008
Near perfect conditions and ran 1.36,35 which was a couple of minutes faster than I thought I could go. In fact a PB by almost 3 minutes! It was good starting in the White section. The faster runners really pull you along and I ran the first 10 miles quicker than I would have normally. The race went past really quickly. The first 2 miles were a bit tough but it was fairly easy until the last mile where I struggled a bit. I looked really tired in the "Marathon-Photos" images! Check out this website for some more good pics.
1st 2 miles in 15' 30".
1st 8 miles in 59' 50".
Finished 757th out of 7054 finishers which was inside my target of top 1000.
This time is quite consistent with my Marathon PB of 3.23. It's common to say 1/2M x 2 + 10mins.
Should find out if I've got a London entry at the start of October. If not, then may do the Fling.
1st 2 miles in 15' 30".
1st 8 miles in 59' 50".
Finished 757th out of 7054 finishers which was inside my target of top 1000.
This time is quite consistent with my Marathon PB of 3.23. It's common to say 1/2M x 2 + 10mins.
Should find out if I've got a London entry at the start of October. If not, then may do the Fling.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
GSR
This Sunday is the GSR Half Marathon. I've run this twice before clocking about 1.51 in the 2005 heatwave and 1.39 in 2006. I'm going to try and run a PB which will be tough. I'm in the White start section which will mean running with more speedy athletes than previous years!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Lochaber Marathon 2007
3:26;02
The race went really well and pretty much to schedule. Conditions were almost ideal with a temperature of around 13C and light drizzle during much of the race. There was a bit of a breeze which was helping for the 1st mile and against for the last mile but generally a side wind for the rest. I had set out for a 3:28 schedule but ran the first 2 miles a bit fast in 15,05 (7,25 + 7,40). I got into a good pace after that at just under 8mins/mile and eventually turned in 1:42;40. I kept this pace until 20 miles but then had to start working a bit harder to maintain the pace. Also around this point I started passing other runners which gave me lots of encouragement. By 23 miles I knew I would break 3;30 which was my main goal. I pushed a bit harder on mile 25 and went for it on the last mile. I estimate that I probably passed about 20 runners in the last 6 miles with 12 of those being in the last 2 miles. I eventually finished in 95th place out of 402 finishers so I was really happy with that.
At the end of the race I had really bad cramp in my legs which I've never experienced before when running. It's only now cleared up on Thursday.
It was good having my family with me for my first marathon. This was actually the first time that my wife, Gillian, had seen me run. She will be running the women's 10K in Glasgow in about 2 weeks time so I need to give her as much encouragement and support before her race as she did for me.
I also wanted to mention a couple of friends who completed their first marathons recently. Frank Tooley ran the Paris Marathon in 4:06 and Robin Mitchell finished London in 4:56. They both struggled with injuries during their training and I know that they both had much harder conditions that we did in Fort William. Hopefully they will both persevere with their running and do more marathons in the future.
Now I need to plan my next race! I'm thinking Loch Ness in October and possibly the Lairig Ghru hill race on the 24th of June.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Tapering down now
I had a good 16mile run on Friday in 2hrs 3mins so that's well under target M-pace. I ran a slight negative split and felt strong at the end.
I took it easy over the weekend and ran 8 miles on Monday lunchtime and another 8 miles today with some long intervals. I felt a bit tired at the end so it's maybe time to start taking it easy. It's very difficult to force yourself to taper if you enjoy running so I might just do some shorter runs over the next few days.
I took it easy over the weekend and ran 8 miles on Monday lunchtime and another 8 miles today with some long intervals. I felt a bit tired at the end so it's maybe time to start taking it easy. It's very difficult to force yourself to taper if you enjoy running so I might just do some shorter runs over the next few days.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Training Update
It's been an awful long time since I last posted but I'm happy to say that the training has gone well and I'm looking forward to the race in 17 days time!
Since I last posted at New Year, I've run a total of 416 miles. I ran 109 in Jan, 155 in Feb and 127 in March. My training has generally been a split of ~8 mile runs at lunctime and 5 20+ mile runs at the weekends. Overall, I've not done quite as much mileage as I'd hoped but probably more than I expected so I'm fairly happy. My only concern is the lack of 10-18 mile runs which I had been doing before Xmas. I was finding running in the dark evenings really tedious and that's why I have done virtually all my training in daylight this year.
Review of Long Runs
3rd Feb
I ran from Milngavie train station to Drymen and back on the WHW with Michelle McCormick. This is about 24 miles and I ran to and from the train station which is about another 1 & 1/2 miles. We took it fairly easy running about 9m20s per mile pace and walked most of the steep uphill sections. Michelle is running the WHW race this year and this was her first training run on this section of the route. She's done quite a bit of hill running and has a Marathon PB of 3.30 so it was good to run with someone of similar ability. After the run I felt pretty tired but a few hours later I felt really knackered.
18th Feb
On a sunny Sunday morning, I ran a similar route from my house in Jordanhill to the Beach Tree Inn on the WHW. This was 22.7 miles and I ran it at my target M-pace of 8mins/mile. I stopped a few times for drinks but ran at a consistent pace throughout. After the run I felt better than the previous run.
11th March
19.8 miles around the West End of Glasgow. I ran at M-pace again but it was a bit of a struggle as I'd been ill a couple of days before.
24th March
I went back to my original 3 mile loop which I used to run around the West End when I started running 3 years ago. The weather was sunny and fairly warm, potentially similar to actual race conditions. I ran 7 loops in total in 2hrs 40mins so averaging 7m 45s per mile pace. Last lap was the fastest as I pushed quite hard in the last mile. After the run I felt tired but generally OK. This run has given me lots of confidence for the race knowing that I can maintain sub 8min pace for 20 miles plus. Another positive aspect of all my long runs is that at no time have my legs "gone" or I feel that I've hit the wall. I've also felt much better after the more recent runs. When I did 20 miles at the end of December I felt as if I had been run over by a bus.
I'm planning to run 16 miles tomorrow morning which will be my last longish run and then really take it easy for the last 2 weeks before race day. Maybe 3 runs each week of 5-8 miles.
I still need to decide on race strategy and won't finalise that until the morning of the race when weather conditions will influence my pace. My biggest fear is an unusually warm day, say >18C, which will take me into unkown territory. At the moment and if the conditions are good, my current plan is to target around 3.28, turning in around 1.44. I'll run the first few miles at 8,00 and then settle down to 7,55 pace. This pace should feel a bit slow from miles 5-15 but will leave plenty in the tank for 20+. I think my absolute best case time in my current condition is about 3.25 but targetting that is probably not advisable.
Since I last posted at New Year, I've run a total of 416 miles. I ran 109 in Jan, 155 in Feb and 127 in March. My training has generally been a split of ~8 mile runs at lunctime and 5 20+ mile runs at the weekends. Overall, I've not done quite as much mileage as I'd hoped but probably more than I expected so I'm fairly happy. My only concern is the lack of 10-18 mile runs which I had been doing before Xmas. I was finding running in the dark evenings really tedious and that's why I have done virtually all my training in daylight this year.
Review of Long Runs
3rd Feb
I ran from Milngavie train station to Drymen and back on the WHW with Michelle McCormick. This is about 24 miles and I ran to and from the train station which is about another 1 & 1/2 miles. We took it fairly easy running about 9m20s per mile pace and walked most of the steep uphill sections. Michelle is running the WHW race this year and this was her first training run on this section of the route. She's done quite a bit of hill running and has a Marathon PB of 3.30 so it was good to run with someone of similar ability. After the run I felt pretty tired but a few hours later I felt really knackered.
18th Feb
On a sunny Sunday morning, I ran a similar route from my house in Jordanhill to the Beach Tree Inn on the WHW. This was 22.7 miles and I ran it at my target M-pace of 8mins/mile. I stopped a few times for drinks but ran at a consistent pace throughout. After the run I felt better than the previous run.
11th March
19.8 miles around the West End of Glasgow. I ran at M-pace again but it was a bit of a struggle as I'd been ill a couple of days before.
24th March
I went back to my original 3 mile loop which I used to run around the West End when I started running 3 years ago. The weather was sunny and fairly warm, potentially similar to actual race conditions. I ran 7 loops in total in 2hrs 40mins so averaging 7m 45s per mile pace. Last lap was the fastest as I pushed quite hard in the last mile. After the run I felt tired but generally OK. This run has given me lots of confidence for the race knowing that I can maintain sub 8min pace for 20 miles plus. Another positive aspect of all my long runs is that at no time have my legs "gone" or I feel that I've hit the wall. I've also felt much better after the more recent runs. When I did 20 miles at the end of December I felt as if I had been run over by a bus.
I'm planning to run 16 miles tomorrow morning which will be my last longish run and then really take it easy for the last 2 weeks before race day. Maybe 3 runs each week of 5-8 miles.
I still need to decide on race strategy and won't finalise that until the morning of the race when weather conditions will influence my pace. My biggest fear is an unusually warm day, say >18C, which will take me into unkown territory. At the moment and if the conditions are good, my current plan is to target around 3.28, turning in around 1.44. I'll run the first few miles at 8,00 and then settle down to 7,55 pace. This pace should feel a bit slow from miles 5-15 but will leave plenty in the tank for 20+. I think my absolute best case time in my current condition is about 3.25 but targetting that is probably not advisable.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Review of 2006
In 2006 I ran a total of 901 miles, so an average of about 18/wk. December was the biggest at 112 miles and June the least with 44 due to the birth of our daughter in late May.
Longest run (and also the last run) was 19.8 miles.
Most enjoyable race was the Helensburgh Half Marathon which I did in 1hr 40' 54". I felt great throughout the race and passed many people in the last few miles.
Most enjoyable runs were in Lanzarote in January and the couple of ocassions I ran on the West Highland Way.
Most exhilirating run was up and down the Cobbler, my first real hill run!
Longest run (and also the last run) was 19.8 miles.
Most enjoyable race was the Helensburgh Half Marathon which I did in 1hr 40' 54". I felt great throughout the race and passed many people in the last few miles.
Most enjoyable runs were in Lanzarote in January and the couple of ocassions I ran on the West Highland Way.
Most exhilirating run was up and down the Cobbler, my first real hill run!
Long Run
I ran 19.8 miles on Saturday afternoon in 2hrs 41mins. It's my longest run to date and overall it went OK. I hadn't really planned to run on the Saturday but it was forecast to be the only decent part of the weekend so I went for it. I ran out Great Western Road and back along Dumbarton Road which must be about the flatest road in Glasgow.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Running Update
Since my last post, I've run 43 miles in 5 outings. The longest was 10.5 miles last night which I took easy at my target Marathon Pace. It felt pretty good running at 20-30secs/mile slower than usual.
I was planning to get in a long run this weekend but that's not going to happen. Too much to do!
I'm averaging about 30miles/wk at the moment so getting up to more than 40 is going to be tough in the New Year. We've bought a new house which needs a fair bit doing to it so that will be another thing to get in the way of training in January. Overall, I'm still reasonably confident of running 3:30 but only if I can get in some long runs.
I was planning to get in a long run this weekend but that's not going to happen. Too much to do!
I'm averaging about 30miles/wk at the moment so getting up to more than 40 is going to be tough in the New Year. We've bought a new house which needs a fair bit doing to it so that will be another thing to get in the way of training in January. Overall, I'm still reasonably confident of running 3:30 but only if I can get in some long runs.
