Category: Running

So on Wednesday evening I headed out for the SRC run. As I had to run 8 miles, and it is only 1.5 miles there and back, I mapped out a longer route there- just under 4 miles in the end. Not many people turned up at all! It ended up being 3 of us and the run leader. Luckily we were running at a similar speed (well, we have a teenager who comes along and runs rings around us- out and back to stay near us), and the run leader is a really accomplished runner- he did Frankfurt in the autumn in 2.25- so we ended up chatting a lot about marathon training. Some of our discussion points:

How does he fuel for runs? I explained that I could run quite far on empty, and prefer running before food, but I knew that I would need to eat something before the marathon. He talked about the body having around 2000 calories in storage, so that gets a typical person 16-20 miles. This is why most people hit “the wall” at around that distance, as the energy source in the muscles has run out. He trains himself on less food- e.g. one slice of toast, and then on race day will have more (I think he said 4 slices?) to give himself a bit more of a boost.

What is his take on gels? I personally feel that the sports nutrition industry has a lot to answer for. I have seen people taking gels before parkruns! I think that running magazines are obsessed with fueling before runs, and refueling straight after- drinking every few minutes etc. He mentioned again that once the glycogen in your muscles runs out, unless you are efficient at burning fat you will need a source of energy, but probably only after about 15 miles (to pre-empt the 16-20 mile limit)- not every 25 minutes as I saw someone suggest the other day. Today I bought some of those Bear yo-yo’s as I think I have had them before and quite liked them- I’ll have them in my pocket for Sunday to see how I get on with them.

What was his take on the 3 hour training limit? (I have always avoided time training plans as I don’t feel that I can run far enough in the time, plus doing a half an hour run is not that easy to plan, compared to a 3 mile one or whatever). He felt that 20 miles should be a minimum, and he tends to get up to 22 mile runs in his training. We were chatting about being mentally ready as well, and he knew people who had not run as far and then struggled on the day as they had not practised nutrition.

What did we think of the “news” this week that said that running at a high intensity was bad for you? Well, I had just listened to the More or Less podcast that picked apart the study and it was a load of nonsense! I just think it is a shame that scare stories come out like this so frequently and put people off exercise, or validate people who just sit about all the time.

What training sessions does he do? He was saying that his long run at the weekends is never less than 15 miles now, so he is pretty used to long runs. He also does interval sessions on a track, and was recommending hills at the end of a longer run too- I could see the sense here that taking on a hill mid-run can feel tough as you still have to get home, but if it is right at the end then you can tell yourself to give it your all because you are nearly done. I don’t do those sorts of sessions, but I felt like I had a bit of variety- parkruns are where I try and push myself and keep some sort of speed in my legs, rather than just plodding at the same speed the whole time, and the SRC runs are those comfortably hard sessions where I run faster than I do on my own.

What I found useful was that I could not really compare myself to his training, because he pretty much runs twice my speed, so it was just interesting to hear what he did.

It was a really enjoyable run, and I was pleased that despite being tired from Monday’s 16 miles, and from running nearly 4 miles there, we kept to under 10 minute miles for the 5k we did together. I then ran home, and had got to about 7.8 miles so ran up and down the road to make it up to 8.

I found it a real confidence booster- a few months ago this would have been the length of my long run, so to be able to do that in the evening in the middle of the week showed me that I have been progressing with my running.

Dinner was veggie and bean bake, with the best bread ever, M&S San Francisco style sourdough. They sell it at the bakery, and it is so delicious- chewy and with such a good flavour. I had a slice with dinner, and then saved some to toast for lunch over the next few days.

If you love sourdough, and want to treat yourself, then I suggest you to give it a try.

I think next time we run I would like to find out about what sort of strength work or flexibility stuff he does as well.

Do you like running and chatting? Or chatting about running?

First up, hooray for half term!

Second up, a weekend away meant that my long run had to be on Monday instead of Sunday. The joy when we got home on Sunday afternoon to a broken boiler, it certainly threw a spanner in the works! We have an immersion heater, but it has never worked (and we have had people look at it) so no hot water either. Brrrr it was chilly! Anyway, I phoned home and although my parents were out they said I could use their shower- phew.

So, on Monday I was up early and had some porridge. I bought some of those berry chia sachets after trying one the other week, because I thought it would be an easy thing to pack when we go away for the race. I added a tsp peanut butter, and had a peppermint tea. I let this go down for a bit, but probably too long, before heading out at about 10am. I lined up some podcasts (the rest of one marathon talk, a new one, a Richard Herring podcast and then the parkrun show), and mapped out a route. This time I decided on a large figure of eight instead of multiple laps. I am not sure what I prefer.

Anyway, the run was tough. It started off OK, and I didn’t let myself look at my Garmin at all- I didn’t want to know pace, or how far I had gone, or how long I had been running for. I wore too many layers- I think as our home was so cold I felt colder before I began, but after a mile my gloves were off and didn’t go back on. I also kept feeling really hungry- it was like the breakfast had woken my stomach up. It was my normal size of breakfast, and at work I don’t then have lunch until nearly 1pm, so it is not as if I am used to a snack in the morning or anything.

Until about 12 miles I felt OK, but then I started to feel pretty rubbish. At one point I stopped to stretch out my legs a bit, and then about half a mile later I stretched on a fence and had to lean on it for a bit because my head felt funny- not quite light headed, but something strange. Bleurgh. The final few miles had a few walk breaks in there, because I just could not keep it going. The podcasts kept my mind off it for a bit, but I was also wondering what persuaded me to sign up for a marathon. Where are the next ten miles coming from? 

I nearly cut it short- to about 14 miles, but the thought of the Jantastic miles mainly kept me going, and also if I can’t manage that on a training run, how am I going to cope on race day? It took me just over 3 hours in the end, and of course my first thought was “2 hours to do the last 10 miles”. I think I need to start slower, and also I might put in some walk breaks earlier on so that they are planned for.

As soon as I got home I changed into dry clothes, and had some lunch and a drink, before packing up my shower bits and heading home. I didn’t feel so bad after that, and my brother made me a cup of tea while I was showering so that helped to warm me up too.

The guy who came to look at our boiler needed a part, so we had to have another cold evening before it was finally fixed on Tuesday.

So, lessons I have learnt this week: I can run after eating porridge, but maybe I need to leave a smaller gap (this was due to trying to find a person to come and look at the boiler though). I probably need to take something with me on a run. I know I don’t like gels, and I don’t want anything sweet like (e.g. jelly beans) as they make my mouth feel weird. I have some fruit puree that I might try- I think I got it after the 15K race I did, and that might be OK to eat while running. I do think that eating beforehand helped me feel better later in the day. I am prone to energy crashes, and I didn’t have a big lunch (sourdough toast and some grapes)- I did have some nuts and a cereal bar later on in the afternoon, but I wasn’t raging after the chocolate like I can be after a long run.

Also these arrived in the post today! After getting my club vest last week, I didn’t want to get safety pin holes in it. One of my running friends has used these before, so I decided to treat myself.

I have already fixed the number onto my vest- I am ready very early! It seems very secure, but I am not sure whether to pack a spare safety pin just in case.

I am meant to be doing 8 miles later, but some of that will be with SRC so I want to try and do 4 miles on the way- it’s not easy sorting out a route that ends there!

So, for a few years now I have been going to the local Sweatshop for a run every week, and I really enjoy them. I have met some great friends there, learnt about local races, run with my brother and speed myself up.

I really love running on my own- it is a great stress reliever and some time for me to think. But I have also really found benefits from running in a group. A while ago I was contacted by someone who used to run with Sweatshop, about joining her running club.

The trial went well, and so I have been going fairly regularly (minus when I had my cough) for a few months now.

I even got my vest today! So excited about this!

I went there Tuesday night. Sometimes we run in a group, and sometimes in pairs, but this week I was a bit on my own- we did a loop and every now and then the front runners looped back- I couldn’t quite keep up with them, but I was a bit ahead of the next lot, so I was running on my own, and it got me thinking about how my running has changed over the last few years. When I first started running, I ran by myself, with music to over the sound of my breathing. In my first half marathon (I ran most of it with my brother) I kept headphones in one ear with music playing quietly to keep the sound of my breathing out- I would never do that now! Running with SRC helped to wean me off headphones- I felt it was a bit rude to run with people but with headphones in, and I knew that I struggled in races a bit to run without music, so tried those runs without. As I run there and back I decided to do that without headphones either, and to my surprise it was fine!

With my dad suggesting I give parkrun a go (and me totally loving it), over a few years I have moved from 3 runs by myself per week, always listening to music, to one parkrun (either with my dad and brother, or by myself but no headphones ever), a club run, again, never any headphones here, an SRC run chatting with running buddies, and then one long run by myself with my podcasts for company.

I suppose it turns out that I love the motion of running, and being in the fresh air, and the feeling of accomplishment, and if I run with other people, that love is shared with them somehow.  I am not ready to give up my long lonesome runs (and I think mentally, I need that time alone for myself, and to prepare for races) but I have really been enjoying where running has taken me at the moment.

I bought the club vest a few weeks ago and one of the lovely ladies posted it through my door today, and the first thing I did was try it on!

Yup, I can’t take a good selfie, but you get the idea! So excited!!

It even has this detail on the back! Totally love it!

Last night the run ended up being just shy of 5 miles, and in the final mile I was really feeling it. My poor legs were getting stiff after those 15 miles. My cold seemed to get worse, and I found the air really cold to breathe. Today I have been coughing a lot again (a child did cough in my face on Friday, a perk of the job…), I got home late and with an awful headache so I gave Sweatshop a miss. I was meant to be doing 8 miles, so the plan was to leave early, do 3 miles on my own, then run with them, and run home, and hope it was about right, but it is not a good idea. I don’t want to make myself more ill and then have to take more time off. Tomorrow I am booked onto pump, so at least that is inside. I won’t reach my Jantastic target this week, but there is always next week (and a joker).

Do you prefer group activities or being solitary?

Any thoughts on this? My feelings after my last marathon were that I needed to do another 20 mile run, as I only did one, which went fine, but then I really struggled in the actual race. I think I need to learn what food suits me to eat while I am running, and I can really only practise that on very long runs. The plan I looked at suggested a shorter harder run on Saturday (which is why I usually do parkruns) and then a longer run on Sunday when you are a bit tired from the day before. I suppose doing a medium run on Saturday (e.g. 8 miles) and a longer one of under 3 hours (under 16 miles I think for me) might help replicate the tired legs a bit more? I did find I was totally shattered on Sunday, and that is only going to get worse as the runs get longer.

If you have trained for a marathon, what have your longest runs been (hours and miles)?