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The German ‘Training Camp’

Part of what makes an autumn marathon different from a spring one is that, for most, factoring in family holidays around training is going to be a likelihood. For me this year this was a week with my brother and his family in Ismaning, a town just north of Munich in Germany proud of its agricultural heritage, in particular its cabbage and potatoes.

Much as I’d loved to have spent a week enjoying nothing but the produce of the land and good company, training had to continue. The opening run was the day after we landed, made far harder by one or three too many glasses of wine and the weather, which was extremely sunny and around 32C by the time I staggered out of the door. On the advice of my brother I headed to the River Isar which has an immaculate gravel cycle path and is largely tree lined, offering some respite from the heat. I headed to the English Garden, used their toilet facilities at one of the famous Beer Kellers and headed back. It was hard going but pleasingly not impossible, eleven and a half miles covered in 6:42 per mile average and a couple of Strava segments to take back home with me as souvenirs.

Friday was spent in the joys of Play Mobil land, a magical place for young kids that became something of a trial of endurance thanks to weather even hotter than the day before. We were grateful for the large thunderstorm on the drive back home, although that in itself brought challenges – namely staying on the road.

The break in the weather meant it was a mere 22C or so when I headed out on Saturday morning. Feeling refreshed after a day off I soon found myself in my running as I again hit the River Isla. I headed in the opposite direction, away from Munich and planned to head down and back for four miles at marathon heart rate to make it a ten mile run in total. The results were very pleasing, averaging the entire run at 6:08 per mile and sub six minute miles for the final eight of them.

Sunday saw wet and dreary conditions as my brother and I headed out. He would join me for just 4km before I headed back onto the River Isla path and into Munich for a spot of sightseeing. Having been more or less the only runner out on the hot days, there were many runners on this far cooler day. Indeed the German runners, who my brother informed me have a penchant for overdressing, would have me convinced it was a a winters morning, some wearing three or more layers, hats, even gloves. The reality was it was 20C by the end of the run and, once the rain had cleared, ideal for running.

After a slow first three miles, I settled into a pace of around 6;45 pace, which felt comfortably aerobically but I had a few niggles with the left hip and groin which made the going a little tough. It got harder as I hit central Munich – the cycle path twisty and even a little hilly in places. I turned around at just over ten miles, the 6:45 miles slowed to 6:59 at 13 as I began to labour. Still seven miles from home I decided attack was the best form of defence from fatigue and began to up the effort, knocking out successive miles of 6:52; 6:38; 6:35; 6:27; 6:35; 6:04 and 6:12 for the twentieth and final mile. It was a pleasing end to what had been quite a challenging run.

Monday saw a decent evening 10k recovery run on the loop by brother had run on the Sunday. The legs loosened off sufficiently to knock off two sub 6:40 miles to close.

Tuesday saw a day off running and saw my brother and I head off on the much talked about cycle ride planned for weeks in advance. Nearly scuppered by a couple of pre-ride punctures we finally headed out for a very pleasant 70 mile ride. I was on my brothers racer, he was on his touring bike used mostly for commuting. His racer was a little large but perfectly rideable and I took the lions share of the work at the front – only fair considering I was on a faster, lighter bike. It was only on the hills I gave myself leave to stretch myself, enjoying thankfully pain free ascents for the first time in a while.

The final morning saw an 11 mile ride I mapped out on my Garmin the night before, taking in parts of runs before and venturing further afield to a rather picturesque lake, the emergence of which a very old man, as naked as the moment he was born, from a swim, left an indelible mark on my mind. It was an easy paced run, pleasing then that it averaged 6:51 per mile.

The last run in Germany was also the last for a while that I wasn’t suffering from a cold picked up mid-trip. A small price to pay for an enjoyable and productive week away.

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The Next Attack At Sub 2:45 Will Be….

Those who follow my progress on Strava (which, is not many) will have noticed the past couple of weeks have seen two or three runs where the term marathon HR has been mentioned. The desire to test my marathon pace has not been out of idle curiosity, although I’ve always valued the positive training merits of a good marathon paced training run. For the past month or so I’ve toyed with the idea of taking part in an Autumn Marathon – something I’ve never done before.

Normally the early autumn months for me are where I target a half marathon or two. This year, because of the way the F1 calendar has panned out, all the best options for a quick autumn half have been ruled out. I was banking on being able to take part in either the 2015 Manchester or London Marathons, but with the provisional 2016 F1 calendar revealed I can do neither of those, so a spring marathon looks unlikely.

So, with the recent flush of unprecedented good form surely representing my best chance yet of cracking the hitherto elusive sub 2:45, I’ve made the decision to enter an Autumn Marathon. That marathon will be the 2015 MBNA Chester Marathon, held on Sunday 4th October, which was twelve weeks away at the start of this week. There are other marathons available at that time of year but, based on highly positive reviews from runners whose opinion I trust, and having sung its praises to others who have gone on and entered, I thought it only right that Chester should be the marathon of choice.

That makes this week the first week of marathon training. I’ve made a decision that unlike my previous attempts I’m not going to train specifically for the marathon. Instead I’m going to continue broadly on the lines that I have been doing for the past couple of months as they seem to have yielded great results. This is, broadly speaking, a diet of cycling; elliptical trainer and other gym CV equipment; the odd swim; and, of course, a fair amount of running. There is no grand twelve week plan, more a macro day by day, week by week, training intention based on how I feel – which worked very well for me this time last year.

Normally the opening weeks of training would be lots of long slow runs building up mileage with the odd marathon paced run thrown in. However, the coming weeks and those just past have seen me enter a few shorter races, which require more speed specific training. So there has and will be more interval sessions than normal (with marathon heart rate runs playing more of a role than the Rotterdam 2014 effort) and less focus on working towards big weekly mileage. I anticipate a lowering in volume for a week or two over August with holidays, before working towards the early October marathon with some long runs hopefully thrown in somewhere.

So far this week training could hardly have gone better (running wise anyway). Monday was meant to be an interval session of 3 minutes at half marathon heart rate and 3 minutes at marathon heart rate, x6 with a recovery in the middle. I was relying on a workout I devised on the Garmin website and transferred to my watch. Suffice to say it didn’t work out as planned (Garmin got very confused) and so I just ran eight miles at marathon HR after a two mile warm up. The ten miles was clocked at 6:02 pace; the 8 miles at marathon pace worked out at an average of 05:44.

If I, by some very unlikely chance, was able to replicate this over a marathon, I would come home in 02:30:13. What is more plausible is that, if I stay injury free and healthy, 06:17 miles will feel much easier than they ever have in a marathon. Indeed my easy HR runs have seen me running just a few seconds slower than 06:20 pace, so indications are very good.

Tuesday saw the only blip of the week where I was meant to take part in a Witham Wheelers time trial, but punctured just as I was ending my warm up. Thankfully a very kind fellow club member took pity on my total mechanical ineptitude and fixed the tyre at an unbelievably fast rate. It was though just a tad too late to take part in the time trial. I decided to save my energy and run a revised Wednesday long run of 14 miles, mostly off road on trail or the canal path from Woolsthorpe to Grantham, where I took off at marathon heart rate and closed each of the final six miles in sub six minutes. Truly unprecedented times for yours truly.

Yesterday was a glorious club run in idyllic conditions again over a mostly off road route to try and get me in shape for my first half marathon of 2015 – a trail race in Somerset in a couple of weeks time. It was one of those evenings where it felt truly great to be out running.

This morning saw a sweaty two hour effort on the elliptical trainer, a relatively easy effort ahead of this Sunday’s novelty sporting activity – a hilly sportive in Yorkshire, which I am looking forward to and dreading in equal measures. For now – rest after a very good six days of training.

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Promising Times

Following the Time Trial in the last post, I ran an easy 8 mile the following morning and then an hour on the elliptical trainer in the afternoon in between covering the F1 Post GP test at Barcelona. The left hip and groin continued to give concern which continued into Thursday’s long club run with GRC, which saw the hip ache for much of the run. It wasn’t enough to slow me but the ache was similar to what I experienced when the second sacrum fracture occurred, so it wreaked havoc on the mind as I feared the worst with every stride.

Thankfully no ill did materialise and the body was grateful for a scheduled rest day on the Friday. I woke early on Saturday morning to head to Melton Mowbray Country Park for a second stab at the parkrun held there. I arrived a little later than planned and so could only do just over a mile for a warm up. The nagging pain in the left hip was still there; I prodded quite firmly in the lower back and felt a release in the hip area. We were called to the start and was delighted to feel no discomfort at all from the moment we set off.

I was in fourth for the opening 100 meters or so but took first position by the time we reached the narrow bridge and set off up the steep hill for the first time. I formed a group of three who soon split from the rest of the field. The other two were unwilling or unable to take the pace so after the first mile (5:26) I made it my intention to try and make a decisive break so they couldn’t use me as a wind break on what was a fairly windy day.

The Melton parkrun course is a busy, twisty, two lap affair made up of sections of off road, gravel paths and part footpath. It meant there was little opportunity to pour over the Garmin data during the run. So aside from the mile splits and an occasional glance at the (pretty high) heart rate, it was a rare case, for me, of running to feel.

At the start of the second lap I still had my two shadows in tow. As we hit the big hill for the second time I knew that would be my point of attack and I pushed hard. It worked, for by the time I reached the summit I had a four or five second gap. There was to be no more looking back and I pushed on down the gradual descent on the other side.

It was there I suffered cramp in both lower quads. It was a similar cramping to what I experienced on two occasions post Christmas last year. I put it down then to Christmas excess and dehydration. I think I can claim I was dehydrated too at the parkrun. I also noted that on each occasion I’d eaten spicy food the night before, so there maybe a connection there. The pain was quite severe. If I had not been leading or if I wasn’t on for a good time, I probably would have stopped. However the lure of both a first place finish and a good time willed me on. Mile two was covered in a slower 5:46, but I dug deep to keep pushing all the way to the finish, clocking 5:36 for the third mile and crossing the finish line first in 17:25.

To put this time in perspective, it is a course PB for me by 1:29 and is currently the second fastest time run by anyone at Melton. It is my equal third fastest parkrun on any course (My best is 17:20 at Coventry, then 17:21 at Peterborough). Both those courses I consider to be much quicker than Melton, which is hilly, twisty, and half off road. I was very pleased with the time; a little less happy with the cramp in my legs.

This ruined plans of a long warm down, instead it was an effort to walk back to the car, which I had parked in a hurry and couldn’t quite remember where it was. Thankfully by the end of the day the worst of the effects of cramp had worn off and I looked forward to cycling with Witham Wheelers the following morning.

The Sunday morning club ride was a lot of fun. It was a group of around 20 riders and I, from the off, was feeling quite strong, taking turns at the front into a headwind. At around 30 miles I joined a group of four who formed an informal breakaway to the coffee stop. I struggled at times to stay on their wheels, but I was a lot stronger than I was four months ago. Following a tea and Bakewell Tart, the run home began gently enough but soon the pace picked up and I was again comfortable in staying somewhere near the front of the pack and taking turns. At times I could have gone faster but we were under instructions to keep the group together as best we could.

We were split a little by a level crossing, so the final miles I wasn’t in the front group. I saved my efforts for the final hills in the Belvoir area and was pleased to clock the tenth fastest time on Strava up Countesthorpe Hill and the second fastest time on the drop back down into town from Barrowby. Seventy eight miles was covered in a shade under 19mph and I felt as fresh at the end as I did at the beginning, which is very encouraging.

Monday was a bit of a shambles. I was supposed to row, run and swim at the gym, but I was delayed getting there and then forgot my swimming trunks, so could only manage the row and run. The treadmill run though was pleasing – eight miles covered in a progressive manner in 55 minutes, culminating with ten minutes at 16-17 km/h. Not being able to swim (and test my new goggles) is not great preparation for the upcoming triathlon, but at least it is only 400 meters of swimming to be covered, which I should be able to do on a minimum of training. To make up for the lost exercise, I put in an easy 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer in the evening.

Yesterday’s Time Trial with Witham Wheelers also didn’t quite go to plan. It was meant to be a lap of the road race circuit (Around 12 miles), but a lack of marshals (And competitors) meant at the last minute the TT reverted to the usual ten mile effort. I was cold and wet, my feet numb, and I struggled to keep up the heart rate over the course and nearly came a cropper on a couple of the wet bends, both covered in loose gravel. My Garmin time of 26:47 was therefore pleasing under the circumstances, as was the post ride brick run – 5k covered in 20:00.

Following an easy run this morning over some hills and trails, the plan now is to consolidate ahead of Monday’s BUPA 10k in London, which will be quite easy as I will be flat out working for the most part on the Monaco GP, which is always one of the busiest F1 events of the year. I’m hopeful if I can stay injury free and avoid a repeat of the cramping episode I suffered at parkrun, I could put in a half decent performance on Monday. It will be the first time I’ve raced in anger since last September, so it will be interesting whatever happens.

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75 Days to VLM – Week 4 Training Summary

After the most pleasing run on Sunday evening there was a bump down to earth come Monday night. After I finished work and helped get the kids to bed, I changed into my running clothes and opened the front door, only to see that it was snowing heavily! I’d not looked out of any window for an hour or two and how the weather had changed.

It may have been a snow shower that only lasted an hour or so, but it wreaked a little havoc with my run. I had on my well worn pair of Nike Lunarglides, which have never had the grippiest of soles and are now almost entirely slick. As the wet snow began to settle, traction became tough at times and I was unsure of my footing. Moreover the inside of my left shin, which had nagged occasionally on the previous couple of runs, now hurt a little more persistently. There was also the right glute/piraformis which wasn’t feeling great and nagged in a manner that wasn’t dissimilar to how it felt a week or so before the sacrum fracture of last year. I hadn’t planned on running far, 4.8 miles was all I managed before calling it a night.

Tuesday evening was scheduled to be nine miles at marathon pace (HR). The left shin had continued to ache sporadically through the day and I wasn’t going into the run with the greatest of confidence – especially as the right glute still didn’t feel great. I was scheduled to meet up with Janis again; I just finished work in time to join him as planned. The first few miles didn’t feel too bad, but it was noticeable I was triggering my marathon HR max alarm rather more frequently than the previous week. After a 7:00 opening mile, we ran 6:18; 6:18; 6:14 and 6:11. Although the pace was quickening I was becoming more and more anxious about the run. The left shin was aching more than it had done at any other point, and, as the temperature plummeted, the accumulation of ice was significant to the point where it was dangerous in places.

The pace slowed to 6:32, then a 6:46 seventh mile, my struggles not helped by a somewhat dodgy stomach. As I continued to feel like I was treading water and as we were running past my house, I made the decision to call it a day at just shy of seven and a half miles. Janis, who was a natural on the icy roads and paths, continued on his way. I disappeared into my house dejected.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I made a bid to halt the seemingly relentless onset of serious shin pain. I massaged the pained area and the calves. More importantly I ran through a number of exercises – walking on my heels, writing the alphabet, balancing on one leg with my eyes closed (Much harder than it sounds). Early in the evening I went on a short run – just two and a half miles, to assess the state of the shin. The conclusion was, that with a slight nagging pain for around half of the run, it wasn’t prudent to attempt running any more that evening, and so I put in a steady hour on the elliptical trainer.

Later that evening my training partner Janis messaged me to let me know he was heading off to Norway on Saturday for a couple of months! I think we were both disappointed we weren’t going to train together for a while, but the opportunity for him to earn more money in a beautiful country with more favourable working conditions was a no-brainer. So, after a couple of weeks enjoying the company of a talented runner, I was back to where I had been for much of the past eighteen months or so.

Thursday had been planned as a three strong intervals session with myself, Janis, and 2:32 marathon runner Alastair Pickburn. Janis had pulled out as he had been scheduled to work a night shift (although ultimately he could have run in the evening after all). Alastair and I had pinged back and forth numerous messages on Strava, worked out a session and a place to run it, only for Alastair to cancel on the Tuesday because his scheduled work trip had been cancelled.

With the weather still cold and icy, especially in the evening, I opted, now I was running alone, to do the session mid-morning. Running with the dodgy shin was a calculated risk, I opted to wear a shin compression sleeve I’d bought many years ago and worn occasionally, and with the seldom worn Nike Lunarknit trainers (they seem to promote Achilles discomfort). Which one did the trick I’m not sure – maybe it was the stretches and massage – but the shin barely grumbled over the session which came in at half a mile shy of ten miles.

The reps, now known as the Pickburn Session, were held in conditions hovering around freezing point and in sleety, icy cold rain. The reps were 1 mile, 2 miles, 2 miles and 1 mile, with two minutes recovery between each rep. The first mile was covered in 5:37 and felt pretty comfortable considering it was in the slightly uphill direction of the A52. The first two mile rep was also fairly comfortable, completing it slightly faster at 5:36 pace. The second two mile rep was more challenging, running on lactate filled legs for the closing mile. It was therefore pleasing that it was covered in 5:38 pace. Struggling to recover, the final mile was a battle to the finish, it felt horrible and slow, but was happy to see it took just 5:31. The session over, the run home felt easy in comparison. I was encouraged to see that with minimal effort, I ran a 6:08 mile and a 6:20 paced final half mile. The first interval session of the year was a success.

Friday was scheduled to be a rest day, but I felt that, because of a lack of mileage, I should try and do some exercise. As the shin felt still a touch sore, I opted for another hour on the elliptical trainer, which seemed a good compromise. A double school run and an impromptu trip to the bike shop (To collect the wheel I couldn’t get the tyre on last week), meant around nine miles of walking too, so not that much of a day off.

The long run for the week was again on the Saturday, and, with Janis now departed, it was a run alone. The plan was 18 miles and to hopefully run at below seven minute mile average. I opted to run in the Nike Frees and again wore the compression strap as it had appeared to work well on Thursday’s session. There was thankfully no snow, conditions were fairly benign, although with temperatures only just above freezing, there were small patches of ice here and there.

I knew from the second mile that I was on for a good strong run, the legs feeling like they had plenty of power. The first mile (7:26) and the second mile (7:00) turned out to be the only miles that weren’t sub-7 minute miles. This included the third and fourth miles which included the long climb out of town, I knew that once this was tackled the rest of the run would feel easy in comparison. The miles seem to tick by with little in the way of effort. The only drama came in some unexpected shin pain. The inside of the shin was absolutely fine, the lower front part of the shin though began to ache at around nine miles and gradually grew in intensity. This was probably caused by the strap being a little too tight and compressing the shin a little too much. Thankfully, despite the discomfort, it wasn’t slowing my pace – the fifteenth mile being the quickest of the run at 6:24, and each of the miles from 13 to the end covered in less than six minutes forty seconds.

The eighteen and a quarter miles were covered in an average of 6:44. I was very happy, although the shin was very painful to the touch. The fact that I was able to walk quite normally meant I wasn’t overly concerned – I was happy that the inside of the shin was pain free and moreover the right glute/piraformis was also pain free, thanks, I think, to the Piraformis stretch which has you lying on your back doing the trick.

Sunday was a return to the Witham Wheelers reliability rides, a 46 mile hilly route was the order of the day. The rear tyre, now fully inflated and brand new, pumped up without issue just before I left. The front tyre though had it’s pin snap in the pump as I attempted to put a little extra air into the tyre. With no time (Or desire) to change the inner tube I made a quick decision that no air was leaving the valve and the tyre was pretty well inflated. I decided to risk the ride.

It was cold for the first hour or so of riding, but I knew that with sun due to make a welcome appearance it would warm a touch. I went out in the quick group, which were scheduled to ride between 18-19mph, but were touching 20 mph at the 20 mile point. I spent most of the ride sitting somewhere near the back, feeling a bit the efforts of the Saturday run, which I had expected.

At 20 miles we caught the slower group and there was a brief merging when horses caused a rapid slowdown. I took the opportunity to try and open the packet of jelly beans in my jersey pocket. As I struggled with this simple task, I lost the back wheel of the group, and with their pace increasing again as we hit a slight headwind I soon realised I had no chance of catching them. I thought there were several riders from the slower group ahead and expected them to drop back. As it happened there were just two and only one opted to join me in keeping up the pace as best as possible. I wasn’t riding particularly well and struggled at times even to sit in the wheel of the other rider, but i didn’t give up and was happy to come home in an average of 18.4 mph.

After a brief stop for tea and coffee cake, I rode home and donned the trainers for the now familiar post ride 5k brick run. Oh boy, did the legs feel like jelly! This was going to be a tough few miles. Pleasingly, despite feeling terrible and nowhere near as quick as two weeks ago, I was still knocking out sub 6:40 miles after the initial 6:51 mile. Even the rubbish miles were still relatively swift – and there was no shin pain at all.

With the ups and downs of the week, just 45 miles were covered. They were though covered at an average pace of 6:40 per mile, which I believe is the quickest weekly average I’ve ever had. The intervals on Thursday and especially the long run on Saturday indicate that if I can control the injury niggles, things are definitely heading in the right direction and anything could happen in a couple of months time. For the meantime it’s hopefully more of the same – running, elliptical trainer, strength and conditioning, and a little cycling. It seems to be working well at the moment, so why change?

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82 Days to VLM – Week Three Training Summary

Week three of Virgin London Marathon training began on Monday with a rest day, albeit with seven miles of walking on the school run and a strength and conditioning session. Not exactly the Kenyan style of rest, but about as good as it gets in the real world.

Tuesday evening saw the first run of the week and, like the previous Tuesday, it was to be a marathon paced effort (eight miles) set to a maximum heart rate. This week however I was to run it with my new club mate and, for the time being at least, training partner – Janis. Although I was very grateful for the company – running at pace is so much easier when you are running with someone else, I was aware that setting pace to a heart rate can be problematic when not alone. The beeping of the watch alerting you to a HR violation is annoying to yourself and especially others, and the remedy to stop the beeping – to slow the pace, is not necessarily beneficial to your running partner. Fortunately Janis explained that he isn’t currently in training for any particular event and was happy to accommodate my disruptive changes in pace. He didn’t quite say it so eloquently – his English is improving, but still rudimentary, I nonetheless appreciated his generosity to rabbit me when required.

After a couple of miles warm-up (Most of it run solo meeting up with Janis), we leaped into marathon pace with a 6:15 mile. After a solid start we improved to 6:05, the beep on the watch figuring a few times as I hovered perilously close to my marathon HR maximum. The next three miles were metronomic – 6:11; 6:11; and 6:14. Entering the eighth mile of the run I began to struggle a touch – clocking a 6:25 as I tired a little and suffered with a pair of ferociously tight calf muscles. The next mile was slower still at 6:34, but it contained a fair stretch of uphill. The final mile of marathon pace conversely was either downhill or pancake flat and was covered in 5:57. This, Janis pointed out, was the sort of pace he would run his marathons in.

There followed a couple of miles warm down at easy pace (6:55 and 6:53) and the key run for the week was done. I was happy with the run, not so pleased with the tightness of the calves and a little ache in the right Piraformis. Happily though the left shin didn’t grumble at all.

Wednesday morning saw a proper recovery run with the legs very stiff from the night before. Breaking eight minute miles was tough as the left calf remained very tight and the hips ached – along with the left shin on occasion. At least the final mile was the quickest of the run, indicating that the recovery element of the run had worked.

Thursday was meant to have me out running in the evening, but snowfall during the day and then a harsh freeze which rendered the slushy bits to ice, meant that running would be too dangerous. I took instead to the turbo trainer, which I’d bought a day earlier and had fitted ready for this probable eventuality. I ran half an hour on it in the morning just to check it worked, then 25 miles in the evening, which took one hour twelve minutes. I wouldn’t pretend to say it was thrilling, but I could feel that it gave a damned good workout as I battled to keep the average above 20 mph. Moreover the still-tight left calf appeared to self-loosen, which was most pleasant.

I did though during the exercise render the rear tyre useless for any further use – the slow puncture it had became a full blown puncture and the worn rubber began to show ominous signs of canvas. On Sunday I attempted to replace the tyre, an event that predictably ended in failure and an enforced trip at some point in the week to the bike shop to sort out my woeful efforts at the most rudimentary form of bicycle maintenance.

On Friday morning and because of some pressing work matters it was necessary to attempt to run back home after dropping my daughter off from school. Not usually an issue, this was made significantly more challenging by the treacherously icy conditions for much of the 1.7 miles. Thankfully I was able to locate the studs that I’d used a couple of years ago to put over my running trainers. These gave excellent grip, so much so that I heard numerous people questioning how I was able to run so effortlessly on terrain so slippery.

Aware that the ice and snow was not long for the ground and that a slush / nothing at all combination is far worse to run on with studs than mostly ice and snow, I headed back out as soon as I could to continue my morning run. I headed out to Belton Woods and House, via Gonerby. Some parts were already free of snow and I struggled on the tarmac. The bits that remained white underneath were enjoyable, yet challenging, to run on. The pace of the 7.3 miles was hardly outstanding, but the effort put in was greater than a regular run and, once again, the right Piraformis was quite tight.

The long run for the week was again scheduled for Saturday, not this time because of a bike ride on Sunday, but because February 1st heralded the start of F1 testing and a long day behind the desk. Janis was up for an early morning (8:40 am) run of my choosing and I chose the Newton’s Fraction Half Marathon course, because 1. with the extra miles from my house it comes in at 16 or so miles which is the distance I had in mind to run, and 2. I thought Janis might like to see the course of a local race that he’d have a very good chance of doing well at should he wish to enter it.

Like most of last year’s long runs, I hoped the average would come in at or just under seven minutes per mile. This was going to be made a little tougher by a heavy snow shower during the run which made the going tough underfoot for around half of the course (I’d gone out without studs as the conditions were good as I’d left home). What the weather made tougher the companionship of a talented runner more than compensated – a third mile of 6:54 and the fourth 6:31 felt near comfortable. Janis commented on the good pace as he showed excellent aptitude for converting minutes per kilometer pace into minutes per mile and vice versa. He also reckoned I looked in shape to run 2:39 over a marathon. This was a big boost to morale!

The first big climb of the run, on Cliff Road up to Fanny’s Wood, was potentially revealing as I – for the first time – dropped Janis halfway up the climb. This was probably because I knew exactly what the hill entailed and knew how much effort to put in, but also showed that I am getting stronger. The subsequent Strava analysis proved this – it was just five seconds slower than my quickest ascent – set in September last year when I was in top form. On the long gradual descent into Denton, the snowfall battering Janis and me reminded my new Latvian friend of his homeland in wintertime. I couldn’t decide whether this was an endorsement of the Baltic country – it certainly made for challenging running conditions.

The next mile or two was one of those what doesn’t kill you moments as we faced heavy snowfall and a bracing cold northerly wind. The fact we ran a 6:44 mile was pleasing indeed. We then had the final challenge of the run – Casthorpe Hill. A layer of wet snow on the road made the climb harder than it already is. Janis this time took the lead up the hill and I settled in behind, doing what was necessary to stay tucked in behind. At the top Janis agreed with me that the Newton’s Half is a tough old race (this hill comes in at ten miles). At home Strava confirmed that I had equaled my quickest time for the ascent of the hill (set again last September). This was most encouraging as I felt I’d not put in that great an effort and the conditions were definitely not favourable.

The Newton’s Half does though enjoy a long gradual descent to the finish and after a 7:01 mile (Which included the Casthorpe Hill ascent), we enjoyed a similar downhill conclusion to our run, with 6:21, 6:27 and 6:29 miles back into Grantham. It was a most satisfying Long Snowy Run – 16.36 miles at an average pace of 6:45, and aside from a brief moment of shin ache, no physical discomfort.

For Sunday I’d originally planned to do a bit of a duathlon effort using the turbo trainer, but the puncture and subsequent failure at replacing the tyre put paid to that plan. I did though finish work a little earlier than expected so I headed out with an open mind as to what I was going to do. From the off the legs felt fresh, almost bouncy, and after the first mile and a half, it felt very easy to run under seven minutes per mile. After around five miles I felt good enough to reckon I could run the same amount again – so I did, finding myself near effortlessly running the final two miles in 6:34 and 6:28, averaging the 10.66 miles at 6:54 pace.

I seem to recall saying to someone last year that I prefer to judge my form not on how well the hard sessions go but how comfortable the easy sessions feel. This felt far more comfortable than any of the post hard run sessions I’ve done up to now in this training block, so I was happy with that. What I wasn’t so pleased with is that the left shin ached in the final mile and, more pressingly, the right Piraformis ached for much of the run and nagged well into the evening – clearly that muscle, or something around it, is irritating the Sciatic nerve. I wouldn’t normally be overly concerned except that this is in the ballpark area of my fracture problems of last autumn and I’m very keen not to repeat that experience again.

In conclusion, a good week of training in sometimes trying conditions. The week ahead will hopefully see more of the same but could be tempered over concerns with the right gluteal area. Only time will tell what pans out.