BarGolf.net

I had a half marathon down on my training plan from day 1 this year and this one is particularly convenient as it starts just a couple of miles from my house. Part of my motivation was too see if I could hit a target that would legitimise my following of the ‘ambitious’ athlete demographic in my training manual (as opposed to ‘Training To Finish’ or ‘Performance’).

I was hoping to run under 1h50 but secretly I really wanted to hit 1h45. This would mean running 8 minute miles consistently. This seemed like a reasonable goal, although on the long runs I’m no where near this speed – but on my tempo run I usually hit a couple of miles at or below that. To be fair my run training so far this year has been good, a mixture of long base endurance running (all around 13 miles at a time), some shorter quicker tempo runs (home from work) and the occasional speed workout on a Thursday morning. I was hoping I’d lock into an 8 minute mile ‘groove’ early on and would be able to hold it. I’d done some rough numbers so I knew what I’d need to put in if I fell behind.

Come race day I was quite nervous. I always feel this way before any race, the short cycle ride up to the start calmed me down nicely though – as did the cold rain in the air.

From the off the going was quite busy – it always feels like it’ll be slow until everyone gets sorted out – but invariably it’s usually quicker than you think. In this case the first mile came up in 7:50, which is pretty much what I expected. I carried on and was surprised to see the next mile at 7:45, then more surprised to see mile 4 at 7:47! Things were going well I’d not even noticed mile 3. I started to worry that I might be going too quickly to sustain it, although I felt I could run quicker. I didn’t slow up, but I also didn’t push on.

I’d arranged with Laura to pass her and Jodie as the route came close to the house around mile 8. My quick sums said this would take 64 minutes, so be there at 11am. I was a little worried she might miss me as I was running around 7:45 consistently, thankfully they hadn’t cut it fine and I got a brief cheer on and high-five.

Miles 9 and 10 came easy. I’d been unsure about what to do nutrition wise as my normal long runs are unhurried and I carry a bottle of carb drink. As it happened the water stops were ideally located and a few sips were all I felt I needed. I’d packed some Powerbar Ride Shots in case I felt things flagging. By mile 10 I wasn’t sure I needed anything, but with the uphill section coming and the delay on the carb intake I popped one ‘just in case’.

My miles remained consistent right up until the last one which was where the route climbs back to the start location. This was the only mile I dropped off my pace (to 8:12) – so not too bad considering.

All done, 1h43 minutes (well, 1h42m59s on the chip timing), averaging around 7:45 pace. The thing is – at no point did I feel like I’d really pushed myself (except possibly on the hill at the end). I was happy to hit sub 1h45m. Maybe in hindsight I should have chosen a tougher target. Would 1h40m been possible? Part of the problem was not knowing how I’d hold up in the second half of the race. So next time I have a tougher target – but looking forward to my 70.3, I’m confident that my training plan is working and that my goal isn’t unreasonable.

General training levels have gone up by mixing in at least one ride to and from work into the week, plus heading off to the pool on a couple of lunch times for some distance or drills. I had a bit of a break by heading up north to visit family, but at least got a few decent walks in – although my walking boots seemed to trouble my heel a little.

The early morning Saturday OW swims at Brogborough are good as they mean I get something done on Saturdays before I have to look after Jodie, this week I was great as I had ample time to get a mile done and still be back home by 8.30. Since Jodie had a Tennis taster at the gym I also got time to put a 45 minute run in on the treadmill and make sure my heel was okay from the walking.

I finished off the weekend with an Olympic Distance brick session (40k Ride, 10k Run). This was good and bad. I tried out a couple of things. Firstly some SiS gels (The Smart1 caffine / carb gel at about 12mi on the bike, then an Isotonic Carb Go gel at around 22mi ready for the run). I think I prefer the Smart1 although the other was okay too. In a OD Tri I think I’d probably pack a couple more. I also took 500ml of SiS PSP22 on the ride, again this was pretty good.

The other thing I tried was not wearing socks. I think I should have researched this a bit more as this didn’t go wholly to plan. On the ride I had no problems at all even though my dhb R1 bike shoes aren’t Tri specific. The run started off okay except for a tiny bit of grit in my left shoe that kept me distracted, but it was my right that got worse. The first 5k was okay, but after that something started to rub on the inside edge of my foot, then toward my end – possibly because I was changing my gait the heel back to rub too. Probably talc in the shoes would help, I might see if I can identify the seam that was rubbing and coat it in something too. Anyway, I’m sat here typing with two blister plasters on – so a painful lesson learned.

Finally getting my arse in gear. Got a mile swim done in the pool on Monday lunchtime, the usual 5mi (quickish) run home after work on Tuesday. Wednesday rode the 7mi to and from work on the hybrid (note to self – needs a service, metal on metal grinding is not good). Thursday another 45 mins in the pool doing various drills, would have gym’d on Friday (but didn’t) and then this morning met up with the TeamMK guys for my first OW over at Broggie (Brogborough).

Tomorrow I hope to get another long ride in and a quick run afterwards.

The good thing about this week is that none of these activities required a massive change to my usual day. I’m hoping this can work as a basis for a routine week and then I can look to increase the distance (take the long way home) or fit an extra run or ride in where possible.

Didn’t get an extra run in during the week – however I did manage two swims, 800m and 1000m. I need to get up to about 2000m for the 70.3 (which is actually 1900m – but I figure an extra 100 will be wasted veering off course in open water). For both swims I tried to keep breathing on every 3rd stroke, i.e. breathing on both sides. The second swim I settled much more naturally into the stroke – but was definitely feeling fatigued at around the 900m mark.

I did get a 5mi commute home cross country run in – and built up to 6.5mi today. I felt like I could have gone further but I stuck to my plan of building up gradually following my dodgy knee episode.

I’m thinking I need to start looking for a new pair of running shoes – these ones have done a shade over 400 miles. I could have got some today, but then I remembered I still haven’t signed up with TeamMK and I’ll get a 10% discount from Sweatshop when I do. Also I’ll be able to start bothering them on their forum with dumb questions.

So.. A week has gone by with very little activity. Not a great start, but on the other hand recognising the problem and avoiding exacerbating it now should be beneficial. I chose to forgo any running during the week, and even skipped my usual Tuesday run home. Today I went out for my first run since last weekend’s knee pain (no doubting commitment as it was bucketing it down). The good news is that my knee was fine and I handled a short 5 miler at 9m20 pace without any problems.

I had hoped to pick up a bit of biking and swimming this week instead – but unfortunately failed to do so. Basically tiredness. This usually happens – if I get slowly into a routine I’ll be fine as it becomes normal, it’s just starting the routine that’s the trick. I did have a fairly long swimming session on Friday, but didn’t do as well as the previous week.

This week I need to try to get at last 2 swimming sessions in and to put in another couple of 5 or 6 mile running sessions. Let’s see what happens.