Great Eastern Run

Last Sunday was the Great Eastern run otherwise known as the Peterborough Half Marathon. It was a great race last year which I did with several friends. This year I ran with my friend Chris again and my friend Lee was also there supporting his girlfriend Anne.

Again I really wanted to try and get a PB and beat 1:30 for a half marathon. Again I promised myself the new Peter Kay book as an incentive but again I didn't quite manage it. I got 1:32:19 which is 0h:0m:07s slower than my time last year. I was still 255th out of 2780 people though and the fastest runner of my department (and quite a few people went) for the 2nd year in a row (http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/leisure/events/great_eastern_run/results.aspx) so I guess I can't complain.

I think the course was slightly different than last year though it finished in the same place. I still enjoyed it though and I tried out some of the new Skins compression socks, which seemed to work quite well. They cost a lot but worth the cash I think.

You can see pictures at

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=23172009M1&LastName=JONES&BibNumber=989&Mailing=23328

Ely run tomorrow and then I turn 31 on the 23rd. I'll be in Lingfield for a family do so may have to do the old long run there on the Sunday.

Signed up for the Stevenage Half Marathon on 1st November as well.

Cheltenham 10km

On the 3rd Oct I did the Cheltenham 10km. I had to get up quite early to get over in time for the 10am start but I was hopeful I could get a good time. The run was run entirely on roads within Cheltenham Race course, starting in front of the grandstand there was opening loop of the TV/emergency vehicle road circuit inside the race track, a return past the front of the grandstand and a short out & back section before a second circuit of the race course circuit at the end before finishing in front of the grandstand again.

The weather was cold and windy so I ran in my running jacket and gloves. I really pushed hard to try and get a PB but the wind (which certainly made the undulations seem worse) and course (very soft ground) were against me and I only managed 00:44:56 (http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/results.aspx?raceid=925) Still that did make me 36th out of 327 people. I had promised myself I would treat myself to Peter Kay's new book if I broke 40 minutes though.

In the afternoon I went for the Aquasphering session that my friends kindly got me for my birthday last year. This involves getting in a large inflatable ball with water in it and being pushed down a hill so it's like being in a washing machine. My friend Paul came in with me but unfortunately my experience with cold water last week seems to have made more of an impression than I thought. I had a bit of a panic attack in the sphere and really didn't want to do it at first. I got over it though and after I had finished I got dry and went for a really nice meal with my friends, many of whom had come a long way to see me. I really enjoyed that. The next day I ran the Ely run and did a lot of training in the week for the Peterborough half marathon that is coming up soon.

You can see pics of this race at http://www.perfect-timingphotography.com/eventshow.php?sid=3b8d8a9b31e63b5d6b8880c1e4a52063&e=20091003_Cheltenham%2010km and put in runner number 588.

Great East Swim Disaster

The Great East Swim this last Saturday did not go so well I am afraid. I have done quite a few swimming events this past year. I also did last year's Great North Swim (which was really good) and this year quite a few triathlons as well as the Great Big Open Water swim at Dorney Lake, which was 3km. Unfortunatly I had had to send back my triathlon hire wetsuit the week before this swim so I had decided to use my old surfing wetsuit.

However, disaster struck when I discovered that I have lost weight recently and I when I put on my wetsuit I discovered it was loose around the neck and arms. Not good as it kept in no heat at all and made it harder to swim but I thought it would not be too bad, especially seeing as there were several people swimming without wetsuits at all. Unfortunately the weight loss also seems to have affected my ability to deal with cold water. As the swim went on I got slower and slower and colder and colder. Eventually I was shivering and shaking so much it was obvious to the safety kayakers that I was in serious trouble. Although I really didn't want to I asked for help. I don't really remember that much of what happened but I was pulled out of the water put in a boat and rushed back to shore and then taken to the medical tent. By this time I was shivering so much I could not even say my name to the first aid people and was having trouble focussing on anything. I'm not a trained medical doctor but I am a trained first aider and so I recognise the early signs of what I suspect was hypothermia. I have never been that cold before and not being able to speak was quite scary. The medical staff were fantastic though. They had in in front of a heater, talking to me and calmed me down and although it took me quite a long time to recover I was eventually able to get myself home to Cambridge.

I am obviously bitterly disappointed to say the least. I really enjoyed the Great North Swim last year and had hoped to do all the great swims this year. Unfortunately work commitments meant the Great East Swim was the only one I could do. Having not finished the only event I could make I was absolutely gutted. I guess the important thing is to not lose the lesson and to do better next year. I will be back and I will do every Great Swim event I possibly can.

PS; If you go here

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/galleries/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=Galleries&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED27%20Sep%202009%2022%3A05%3A17%3A040

and look at pictures 14 and 15 you will see me in a shorty wetsuit looking very cold (having just come out of the practise) this was a hint of things to come.

2 in two days

I ran not one but two (count em) marathons a couple of weeks ago (12th and 13th Sept 2009). The Three2go Lee Valley Trail Marathon (http://www.three2go.org.uk/) down in Ware on Saturday and then the Nottingham Robin Hood marathon on Sunday (http://www.experianfestivalofrunning.co.uk/). Pics from the latter are online at http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/CPUK/2009/Robin%20Hood%20Marathon;match=11979 as well as a video of me limping over the line.

The Lee valley marathon was nice, I got lost on the way there and started 13 minutes behind everyone else but managed to catch up and not come last. The run itself was through some very nice countryside and I was happy I was able to do the distance after being in Japan. I had a bit of pain in my right leg at the end but did not think much of it. I also had a bit of trouble getting back to the start to go home but it worked out in the end. As soon as I got home I had to have a quick shower and jump on the train to Nottingham. That worked out quite well and my cheap as chips hotel was right near the station.

I started the Nottingham marathon OK but the pain in my leg from the day before soon came back. By half way I was in quite a lot of pain and considered pulling out and just doing the half marathon but I was determined to keep going. The pain eased off after a while but I had to do a sort of limp/run for a while but I did not stop or walk even when I got to one section by a lake where you had to go up and down and double back on yourself for a couple of miles (very depressing sight). I finished in around 4 hours and I could not walk afterwards but I felt very pleased with myself, until I saw this - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8256589.stm.

Great Yorkshire Run

I went to Sheffield this weekend for the Great Yorkshire run. This is a 10km round Sheffield. The friend I was supposed to run with let me down and cancelled by text on the morning of the race which I was really annoyed about. The race itself was good. I stayed at my Dad's in Manchester had a very nice weekend with family and drove over to Sheffield on the Sunday morning. I parked near the Don valley Stadium and got the tram in. I'd been wanting to try the Sheffield tram to see how it stacked up against the Manchester one (quite well as it happens). I missed my start time but just went in the next wave 7 minutes later so so worries.

The race was not quite as big or nice as the Great Manchester run but I got a time of 43:51 which I was quite pleased with, not quite as fast as the 43:12 PB I got in Manchester earlier in the year but then the last 400m of this one were uphill.

To get there from my Dad's this required a drive through the Pennines. It was really, really nice country side sort of heathland and valleys and reservoirs and I wished I could have stopped to look round. I like that kind of countryside, To quote one of my favourite quotes

"I love all waste And solitary places; where we taste The pleasure of believing what we see Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be"

Shelley

I was thinking that perhaps I will go could go back there and do some hiking next time I am in Manchester.

Pics to follow when I get them.

Now back to training for the marathon this weekend. I hope I can do it. I have not done any long runs for a bit due to being in Japan but I ran for 1:36.03 this lunchtime with no problems so I hope I should be OK, I just may be a bit slow.

UPDATE

Pics are here
http://media.greatrun.org/index.php?page=search3&st&race_id=58&runner_no=6462

Results are here
http://raceresults.greatrun.org/results.aspx?race=132
just do a search for my name.

Bedford tri

I did the Bedford triathlon at Olympic distance as well recently. For a change I had some company in the form of Mark from the Cambridge tri club. It rained on the way their but was not so bad for the race. The swim was in the river Ouse, which made a change. Got covered in water weed and was very slow but still fun enough.

Here is the start of my wave for said triathlon. I am here somewhere towards the back

Wellington Harbour City Marathon

I went to New Zealand in late June/early July after being invited to a conference there. Had a great time looking round nd doing the parachute jumping, white water rafting and bungy jumping that NZ is famous for.

For some reason I also signed up for the Wellington Harbour city marathon. I was very nervous the night before this race and I don`t know why. It was my tenth one and it went quite well. We started out quite early, before dawn so I go to see the sun rise on the way round :-)

This is an out and back course and also included a half marathon and 10km option which was annoying on the way back when you got overtaken by people just doing the half. The scenery was fantastic on the way out of Wellington, just one fantastic bay and stretch of coastline after another. I ran with my head permanently facing left on the way out but avoided this on the way back (after a near miss with several other runners and a lamp post).

A very enjoyable race overall and afterwards I had an excuse to go to a great vegan cafe I found in Wellington and stuff myself on their great food and sweets :-)

UK Ironman 70.3

Hi all,

I`m sorry I know I have been bad at uploading things here for the last few months. I have just been relly busy.

I am in Japan at present. I am supposed to be working in a lab here but there is less to do than I thought so I am taking the chance to job hunt and catch up on other non-work stuff.

So the next race I have to tell you about is the longest I have ever done. The UK Ironman 70.3 triathlon. This is half ironman distance so a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and then a half marathon. It was over tough ground in Somerset and the swim had to be done in an hour, the bike had to be done in 4.5 hours, as did the run.

I was pretty nervous before this race I can tell you. I was not sure I would be able to do it and seriously considered pulling out. In the end I didn`t though. I thought it was worth at least giving it a go. I`m very glad I did as I had quite a good time. The weather was nice and although I only just made the cut off times for the swim and bike sections I was OK on the run. The bike section was particularly hard, very hilly and a hell of a long way. I didn`t know when I booked in to do it but apparently the UK Ironman 70.3 is the toughest in the world! It took me 7 hours 40 minutes in all. I would have been a bit quicker but I had a bit of a toilet emergency after eating nothing but energy gels and bananas for 7 hours. It`s quite tricky to get out of a tri suit fast in a portaloo and answer the call of nature while outside all you can hear is people shouting "you can do it" as they cheer there friends and family round. As usualy I was at the race by myself so noone to cheer me on but I did meet a couple of nice people at the B and B, both students and they both beat me but what the hey I am a lot older and on a vegan diet.

Overall not a bad experience, there is nothing like doing a 56 mile bike ride and then realaising that you still have a half marathon to run. Still it was a very well organised race and it ran like clockwork. So although I was not the fastest round I was not the slowest and I did not get pulled out of the race like some did. I would do this again and am even wondering if I could do a full Ironman.

Pic from Blenheim

Some kind soul on Facebook uploaded a few pics from Blenheim. I put this one up so you could see how miserable the weather was.

Blenheim Triathlon,

Well that was a horrible weekend. Saturday was the Mazda Blenheim Triathlon at Blenheim palace just outside Oxford. I did this event last year as my first ever triathlon and had a great time, the weather was good and the course fantastic. I remember enjoying the cycling course so much I didn’t want to get off for the run. Unfortunately this year was totally the opposite.

Last year it took ages to get to the site as the traffic was so bad, this year we decided to all leave early but this meant meeting at 6.30 for a 7am get off, which meant I had to get up as 5.45 to ensure I have time for a leisurely breakfast and was not rushing too much.

The weather forecast had been for rain in Oxford all week and unfortunately that is exactly what happened, it was horrible. I had waterproofs to cycle down in so that was not so bad. As it happened the trip to Oxford also wasn’t so bad. I didn’t have to drive my car as I’d agreed to drive a minibus back after the race so I got to sleep in said bus on the way down. It kept raining all the way there though and the field we parked in was quite a soggy mess by the end of it. The weather seemed to have put quite a few people off so the traffic was not too bad and we ended up having two hours to waste. It just seemed to get colder and wetter as time went on and I put my wetsuit on just to try and keep warm. Eventually it was time to rack up the bikes and get down to the swim start.

After the safety briefing we all got in the lake, the marshals told us it was warm in the water, and surprisingly it was, the problem was that as soon as the swim was over we had to peel off our wetsuits and keep going in damp tri-suits with a cutting wind and rain and no hope of getting dry. There was a 400m uphill run from the swim exit to transition and I was so cold by the time I finished this that I couldn’t get my wetsuit off or my bike shoes on. I eventually managed it and even passed some other people on the way but it was hard going, the wind was in your face for a lot of the race and the wind chill and damp made it really hard to keep going, at least for me. The only plus point was where woman told me that;

“You sure have nice legs”

This cheered me up for a bit. Unfortunately the legs, nice or not, were not working that well. I actually considered pulling out at several points but I decided I should keep going. The three laps of the course passed very slowly and it was not much fun, eventually it was back to transition and the run.

The run was only 5km but it was still wet and cold and I still couldn’t get my shoes on I was shivering so much. Still I got going eventually and though I was very slow I didn’t stop and made it all the way round. However, on finishing I discovered that Oxford had won both the men’s and the ladies Varsity match :-( and that I had come quite close to last, though luckily not quite, there were a few (younger) people behind me. I have one thing I always try and do at a race, whatever type, which is to try not to be last and to beat somebody younger than me. So far so good in that respect so far.

As this triathlon is sponsored by Mazda there was a Mazda publicity building near the start and I went in to warm up with free coffee and tea, there were chocolates and fruit out as well. As a Vegan I couldn’t have the chocolate, which was annoying but I did get a few bananas and a free Mazda mug which is quite nice. One woman took pity on me saying I looked particularly miserable and cold and bless her she went out and got me a space blanket to help keep me warm for the walk back to transition to get my bike.

Once I had got all my stuff on I was still wet and cold but not quite so bad. Unfortunately the Vegan thing meant I couldn’t join in with the others getting burgers etc to warm up but that was OK. We got the stuff loaded up and then I got to drive a minibus back to Cambridge via a quick stop over in Oxford. Well, I say quick but we got stuck on the ring road for a while. Driving the bus was cool. I’ve never done that before and although I was a bit nervous it seemed to go OK. It’s funny really, I’ve been more involved in clubs and sports stuff with the student clubs in Cambridge than when I actually was an undergraduate. The undergrads here are really cool and treat me like an equal, not the old timer I sometimes feel like (especially with the hair issue) so it’s all good. I hope we might be able to get a few more people to help the club out next year and do a few more events as a club.

Once back in Cambridge I put my bike back together and went off home for a hot bath and a big feed. It had been a hard day and I knew my time was rubbish but it could have been worse and I did feel that I had earned my nice new Cambridge University Triathlon club hoody and T-shirt, which is good as it took me long enough to sort out the order and distributing it was a nightmare. I still have stuff left in the lab that people have not picked up. Still I am still thinking that I like Triathlon as a sport and I’ve already entered another one (at Olympic distance) in July. It’s only over in Bedford and includes a river swim, which will be a new one.

I hope you all had a good weekend?

Oli

Sorry

Hi everyone,

OK, OK I know I’ve been rubbish at updating recently. I’m sorry about that. It turns out keeping a blog is harder work than I thought and I’ve had a lot on at work and with training recently so have not had as much time as I had hoped for it.

I ran to Ely from my house near Cambridge station this past Sunday, it’s a good 18 miles and goes through some lovely country side. I tacked a bit on the end and ran round the town for a bit to get my total training time up to three hours.

I also did the Great Manchester run last month. This a 10km, a distance I don’t do very often in races at least. Manchester is my home town so I always enjoy this race. This time I had my Dad and my youngest brother and a lot of friends from school doing it so it was a lot of fun. I had wanted to finish in under 45 minutes for this, which is the target I just missed out on last year. In the end I got a new PB of 00:43:12. I was fairly happy with this though I think I could have done better if I had rested up a bit more before the race and pushed a bit harder during it. Still there is always next year.

Pictures are at

http://media.greatrun.org/index.php?page=search3&st&race_id=46&runner_no=421

This weekend is the Mazda Blenheim triathlon, this was the first triathlon I ever did (last year) so I’m looking forward to going back. I’ll be in the Cambridge team again so hopefully we can beat the dark blues of Oxford. I’ll try and get a race report online when I can.

Till next time

Oli

Prague Marathon

Well, that's my fifth marathon this year done. I've been back from Prague a week now. It was a great trip. I flew out on the Saturday (very early) morning, lost my guidebook at the airport but found my way across town via bus and metro to my hostel (very nice) checked in and then walked over to the marathon expo. Picked up my number without too much fuss and then had the day looking round Prague, which was nice. I've only really been through Prague and that was once, very quickly about 9 years ago. It's a very very pretty city so if you get the chance I would recommend that you go.

The race itself was quite tough. Or at least I found it tough or some reason. It was very very hot and I lost a lot of moisture. The course was nice and pretty flat, the cobbles were a bit tough on the knees though. At one stage I was on course for a sub 3.22 finish but then I started to slow down and at about 35km I blew up a bit but managed not to stop or to walk, which was good. I then perked up a bit and finished in 3.33. Could have been worse I suppose. I found not one but two restaurants that served vegan food. One had everything vegan. I went there for lunch after the race and pigged out. That was fun.

My friend Randeep also made this for me



More pics are here

http://www4.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/GKDE/2009/Prague%20Marathon&bib=475&search=1

Next up is the Great Manchester run, (10km) tomorrow. I've run this every year they have had it. This year my Dad is running as are my younger brother and several friends. It should be a really good day. I just hope the weather holds.

Triathlon time

Tri Nations vs the UK (2/5/09)


Well, since this is supposed to be a blog about running and triathlon I’m happy to report I did my first triathlon of the season. It was the tri Nations Vs. the UK (the UK won – eat that NZ, Oz and SA) at Dorney Lake, out near Eton no less.

At first I was regretting entering this. It was on Saturday morning so I had to get up at 5.30 to eat and drive down there for registration at 8am for a 9.10 start (I was in wave B). However, I found the place OK and the drive down was nice.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about this race. I have not been doing much swimming recently, (though I’ve done a lot of bike and run training). However the swim itself was only 400M and I did have a wetsuit. One brave soul was without which turned out to be because he had some issue with his suit which meant it was out of action. Anyway well lined up for the safty briefing for the race and then jumped into the water. It was cold but not too bad once you got used to it. Then we were in the familiar territory of treading water waiting for the canoists to move out of the way and the klaxon to sound. Soon they were counting down and then all of a sudden off we went.

Now, I’m not the best swimmer, not that I’m bad I perfectly capable, I’m just not that fast. Usually that is not a problem in triathlons. The ones I have done so far I’ve just started out going nuts doing front crawl with the nutters at the front and then after getting kicked, punched and swum over gone and hung out at the back doing breast stroke and then made up time on the bike and run. Unfortunately this time this tactic did not work so well. This was a small field and an early season event so even though I swam a good time for me I was way behind on the swim and never managed to make up the time on the bike or run legs. Still I was not last and I really enjoyed the race.

On existing the swim it there was a stiff breeze which meant cycling in my tri-suit was very cold. I had to do four laps of the lake and then two laps of the run course. It took 1.29.13 hours. Not a bad result but with T1 and T2 times of around 2 minutes each I really need to do a bit better

You can see pictures here

http://www.iesphotography.co.uk/Pixaria/gallery/Swim_Tri_Nations_The_Fix_Dorney_Lake/image/394/ This is me on the swim

http://www.iesphotography.co.uk/Pixaria/gallery/Run_Tri_Nations_The_Fix/image/707/
This is me on the bike

http://www.iesphotography.co.uk/Pixaria/index.search.php?sid=1066&img=1
This is me on the run

The good thing is that I really enjoyed it and have the triathlon bug back!!
Also if you go to http://www.thefixuk.co.uk/TRINationsTriathlonResults09.htm and look at the banner picture you can see me just to the left of centre as well as find out my results.

Plodding along

I ran the Bungay Black Dog marathon last Sunday The provisional results are at http://www.bungay-marathon.co.uk/downloads/2009BungayMarathonProvisionalResults.pdf
I'm afraid this was not my best marathon, it was a two lap course with hills for the first 6 miles of each lap and I got a time of 3:40:08 which puts me 88th out of 249 people. Not as good as Blackpool but not as bad as the Boundary run. My friend Chris ran the half marathon option and did really well so that's good.

Not much to report this week. I missed the London marathon yesterday since it clashed with my Dad's 60th birthday party which was held in Cornwall. It would have been nice to do both but it was pretty much impossible. Maybe next year.

Training continues to go well. I've cut down on the swimming but increased the bike work and the vegan diet is also working out OK. It's my first triathlon next weekend out at Dorney lake. I'm hoping the weather improves.

Till next time

A run down memory lane

Hello all,

I hope everyone had a good Easter? I know I did. I went up to Manchester to stay with my Dad and step mother and step brother for a few days. I think I needed the break. I’ve been really tired and worn out this last week, ever since the Blackpool marathon. Basically the day after the race I did a 2 hour work out and went for a 1.5 mile bike ride in the evening. I didn’t run on the Monday but the bike ride must have done me in since running on the Tuesday and Wednesday was really hard work and I felt really tired. By Thursday I had no energy left and only managed a half hour run  I was pretty miserable but I had the weekend to look forward to. I drove up (or rather down – although Cambridge is south of Manchester by tradition one always goes down from Cambridge and comes up to it no matter which way you go) on the Thursday night. Friday I just had an hours workout at my Dad’s gym with a mix of cardio and weights (about 50:50) and Saturday and Sunday I did nothing, that’s right, nothing. This was the first Sunday since well before Christmas that I have not done a long run and I think it was worth it. I felt much better on the Monday and went for an hours jog round home and up to my old school. I was slightly perturbed to find the old primary school had been knocked down and a block of flats put up in its place but it was nice to run round all the old streets. The old florist on the corner was still there and the park where we used to play football on a Friday. On coming back from that I entered my first triathlon event of 2009 which will be the tri-nations vs. the UK event at Dorney Lake on the 3rd May. It should be a good one.

Tuesday I was back at work and did a two hour workout an hour’s run at lunch and an hour’s bike ride in the evening. I also went to see the local LA fitness with a view to using their pool rather than the local one (the former is much warmer). I’m not sure if it is worth the money yet but it was a nice pool and club.

This Sunday is the Bungay Black Dog marathon. I’m not sure how my knees will hold up for this but there is only one way to find out.

More next week…

Blackpool marathon - new PB!!

Yesterday was the Blackpool marathon (http://www.blackpoolmarathon.com/) up in the North West of the UK. It was actually a really nice weekend. I was getting very tired at the end of last week so I did no running on Friday and drive up to Manchester to stop off at my Dad's. I did no exercise at all on Saturday and spend a relaxing day vegging out on the sofa reading and eating a bit too much but I figured carbo loading would be good. On Sunday I was up at six for breakfast and the drive over to Blackpool. I found somewhere to park fairly easily (though it was a bit expensive) and then headed over to race HQ to drop p my stuff off. Baggage storage was a room in the Hilton hotel where I also bought some vegan friendly running gels and energy bar. There was a chap outside giving away free Lucozade gels which were going like mad as soon as he put them out.

The race itself was good. For some reason I was very apprehensive before the start. The race was two laps of an out and back course which went along the Golden mile and hen along the sea front. I didn't enjoy the first lap that much but after I had my first energy gel at mile 13 my body seemed to get in gear a bit more and things went better. I went faster, enjoyed the scenery and as the sun was out I even got hot and bothered for the first time this year. There was no chip timing for some reason (they wrote your time down when you crossed the line) but according to my watch I got round in 3:22.38 which is about two minutes of my personal best (set in Berlin last year) of 3:24.07 so I am quite happy with that.

After the race I limped back the hotel picked up my stuff and heading back to the car for the long drive back to Cambridge. I was quite tired but made it home OK. Next week I only have a 10k race planned but I may do a longer run as preparation for the Bungay marathon in two weeks.

Have a good week all and please feel free to add your comments to the blog. I'd like to know who is reading this and what thy think.

Aches and Pains

Ok, so first up those of you looking for the Reading race report please see below. A report from Blackpool will be up some time next week I hope.

I've managed a fair amount of training this week but my legs are very tired and today I actually had to stop running while out even though it was nice and sunny out. I didn’t hit the wall really but I just had no energy. I had felt like going running was a bad idea as I went to get changed but decided to try anyway. I didn’t get very far. The same thing happened in the pool last night, I just ran out of energy. I don’t know if I have just done too much in these last few weeks or if I am not eating enough (or maybe both) but my legs feel a bit like lead and with the Blackpool marathon coming up I’m wondering if I should just cut right back and rest for a couple of days, carbo-load and see how things go. I’ve also got blisters on the end of a couple of toes that could do with healing up before Sunday.

Blackpool is supposed to be a fast course so it would be nice to be able to perform to the best of my abilities. On the other hand I do want to keep exercising and losing weight so I’m not sure? You are supposed to taper for a marathon anyway and I can’t keep being so low on energy in the week as my training is starting to suffer a bit so I’m not sure what to do. Also, I can’t go running tomorrow anyway as I have a lunchtime meeting and then I’m heading over to Blackpool via Manchester in the evening. I would usually always have the Saturday before a big race like this as a rest day but now I’m thinking maybe I should do a quick run then to make up for today. I don’t know. I’ll have to rethink training from now on I think so I can be more effective over the whole week. Any comments?

Reading half marathon

I know, I know, I was supposed to have this up a few days ago but I’m afraid it’s been a busy week.

This last Sunday (29th march 2009) was the Reading (pronounced Reding for any American readers) half marathon (http://www.readinghalfmarathon.com). This is a big race (almost 12000 entries). This year was the third year in a row I have run and the forth time overall as Reading was the very first half marathon I ever ran back in 2003. I was very slow in that run. I was not doing as much training at the time and had never done the distance before. I was running with my friend Ian who was training for that year’s London Marathon and was in great shape. We set off together and at first I was OK but I should have started slower and conserved some energy (this is where experience of the distance counts) and about half way round I started to drop back and eventually had to ease off. I even ended up walking part of the way after hitting the wall. I was quite gutted at the time but still pleased to finish and have my first ever half marathon medal. I still have it at home, it has a Lion on (as this is a Reading symbol for some reason) and I still maintain is one of the best medals I have ever got at a race.

These last few years have been better. I’ve always run this race with at least one or two friends, Ian in 2003, Chris and Gregor in 2007, Chris, Gregor, Jules and Claire in 2008 and Chris and Helen this time round in 2009. We had a very early star this year though. Chris had kindly offered to drive and had booked a car park spot. The trouble was that there is usually so much traffic on the way to this event that this year they decided they wanted people parked up by 8.30am. This obviously meant leaving Cambridge quite early. We agreed to leave at 6am which given the clocks went forward the night before felt like 5am. In the end Chris (understandably) had a bit of trouble getting up and we left around 6.30am but I had still been up since 5:45. I had a bit of kip in the car on the way there as it was warm and comfy and I was tired. I did my best to stay awake but I just couldn’t quite manage it. Luckily Chris was kind enough not to mind too much, though I did feel guilty.

In the end we got to the Reading fairly early and parked up with no real problems (which was good). I had brought breakfast with me (some bread, raisins and porridge oats made up with cold soya milk a banana and an apple) as I figured it would be better to eat it closer to the actual start time than when I got up (it also meant I could stay in bed a bit longer). After that we headed over the race HQ, looked in the Sweatshop tent (not very good really) and met up with Helen and James, we chatted for a bit and then we dropped our kit off and headed for the start.

Being so close to the London marathon and a very well organised race Reading gets quite crowded. This is not usually a problem for me, though I gather people right at the back don’t like it. The only issue I had was that right at the start when the commentator was trying to get people to line up, he actually told people to push there way through. This was in my mind a very silly thing to say when you have 12000 people on one stretch of road!

Once the race got underway it was all OK. I did not feel this was my best race though  My legs felt heavy and tired and I wondered if I may have over-trained for it (over 21 hours of exercise since the previous Saturday). Still I got a chip time of 1:32:32 which is quite good and a new PB for Reading. I did the race in 1:41.42 in 2008 and 1:44.20 in 2007 (the less said about 2003's race - my first time at that distance and woefully ill prepared - the better). As regular readers will know my very best time for half marathon distance is 1:30.4 set in the Milton Keynes half marathon a few weeks ago. That race was a lot flatter and less crowded than Reading. I still have the magic 1:30 barrier to break but I am already signed up to a few more races so you never know.

They gave us a neat goody bag and a nice medal at the end. Unfortunately, as a Vegan I could not eat any of the generous amount of goodies in my goody bag (a banana or other fruit would have been good but not essential). Luckily my friend Helen got a slightly different set of items in hers and kindly gave me one of them which I could eat.

After the race we all headed to a pub with a Helen’s housemate and her friend and had a nice lunch. I had a bit of trouble getting vegan food (and got a few odd looks in the process) but eventually settled on a baked potato with beans and salad and a very generous side order of chips which did the job. It was a bit scary at the bar, several middle age women wanted to admire (and feel) my medal and there was on chap who insisted his daughter was vegetarian even though she apparently ate fish and chicken! I think I ate too many chips (and also had a home made vegan pizza for tea) but I figure pigging out after the race is almost as much fun as the event itself so I don't mind too much. If it is good enough for Chrissie Wellington (http://www.chrissiewellington.org) then it's good enough for me. You can see pictures of the event by going to http://www5.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?job=Sports%2FCPUK%2F2009%2FReading%20Half%20Marathon and searching by my running number which was 843 (there are also group shots from 2007 and 2009 below).

I feel asleep again on the way home but it was all good.

I'll be back for this race next year if I can.

2009 (Oli, Chris and Helen)




2007 (Gregor, Oli Chris)

Busy day

Well it’s the weekend today. I’ve had a busy week in terms of training, pretty much the same as last week really but with a bit less swimming and a bit more cycling. Luckily my hip seems to have almost fully recovered now and so I went out at 6.20 am for a 1.5 hour run today (usually Saturday is a rest day). I ran my old favourite route round Lingfield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingfield,_Surrey) for a change (as I’m visiting my Mum as it’s mothers day). It’s always nice going out seeing other runners as you go and saying hello. Since then I’ve been working on job applications and related paperwork. It’s a shame as it’s been such a nice day but these things have to get done I guess.

Not much more to report running wise this week really I’m afraid. Things seem to be going OK training wise and I haven’t had any real issues with the vegan diet. Mum has bought a load of vegan stuff but I’m eaten most of it already (I’ve been very hungry this week for some reason). Next week is the Reading half marathon which I am really looking forward to. It’s a good course and a fair few of my friends are running it so I will have company. I’ll have a race report up around this time next week for your perusal.

Until then…

Aching legs

Phew, I think I might have been overdoing it these last few weeks. Last Sunday was the Milton Keynes half marathon which took 1.5 hours. In the week I managed five 1.5 hour workouts, one hour long swim, two hour long bike rides and four 1 hour long runs. It would have been five runs and two swims but Friday was comic relief and everybody in the lab dressed up as pirates to raise money (see picture below – I'm in the red bandana, I even had to go to a staff meeting in that get up). We has a pirate pub lunch which I was keen not to miss (even though the only vegan thing on the menu was salad (minus the dressing), so I didn’t go running, and in the evening I was feeling really run down so decided to go home and veg out rather than going swimming. Still, all together, the week gave me 16 hours of training. In fact it was probably closer to 17. This is because my workout, runs swims, bike training etc tend to be 3-10 minutes over an hour. I usually just round these small points down but if you add them all up over the week it actually comes to around another hour of training, plus there is the daily commute to work and back by bike, so all in all I get my exercise fix I think.

I usually have Saturdays off and then do a long run on Sunday (if there is no race on) but this week I’m going to London on Sunday to meet some friends, so I decided to do the long run on Saturday instead. I managed three hours around Cambridge. It was hard going at first as I felt very tired but after an hour or so I seemed to perk up and it was easier. I half felt like I should keep going for a bit longer but I did have other stuff to get done today so decided to stick with the three hours.

I’m also a bit worried about my legs. They feel very heavy recently and in addition, last Tuesday I decided to do some bike training and cycled out towards Girton (a village north of Cambridge). At one point I had to go over a narrow road bridge, there was a bus coming the other way that didn’t see the point in letting me past so I had to swerve but in doing so I hit a pothole and was throw off the bike, rolling to a stop literally right in front of the bus. It was quite an experience and I bruised my left hip and knee and did some small damage to my bike (though amazingly my new phone was left unscratched). It’s been really painful and I’ve had trouble lying on my left hand side this week but I’ve still managed to keep running. Hopefully it will sort itself out soon.

I may try a hours cycle tomorrow as well. I will need to burn off as many calories as I can as I’m meeting my friends for a chocolate making experience day in London. Although I’m vegan I can have some of the dark chocolate and a few other bits and bobs so it should be fun. I would be good and make a few chocolates for Mothers Day next Sunday but Mum does not like chocolate so that one is out.

Milton Keynes half marathon - new PB!!

Well the vegan diet must being going reasonable well as I got a new personal best time for a half marathon this weekend; 1:30:43. I had really wanted to break 1:30 and thought I may just have done it but as I’ve knocked 2 minutes off my previous best time and was 265th out of 3038 people I don’t think I can complain too much. I think part of the speed must be due to the fact I ate quite a lot on Saturday, including a vegan cheesecake (which was really nice).

The actual race was not the most well organised in the world. For a big event of about 4000 people and sponsorship from Nike I wasn’t that impressed. The baggage storage was just a big room in the race HQ where you just left your bag, nobody was really watching them and there were no labels with the race pack, I made my own but seeing as there was nobody checking them I suppose it was unnecessary. The race start was just one big queue in a narrow road with no time zones and the finish funnel, while OK when I went through, apparently got very crowded later on as it was too narrow to cope with the number of people coming along at about 2 hours. All things you would expect experienced race organisers to have foreseen. Still with a new PB I’m fairly happy.

The weather was good for the most part but very very windy. It also rained at one point but that was after I had finished and was safe and warm inside race HQ happily eating a banana.

The only very thing I did was that after the race I went for a shower, to keep them from getting wet. I hung my shorts over one of the pipes over the shower thinking

"must not forget those"

Of course I did forget them and so they may well still be hanging on one of the pipes over the showers in the men’s changing rooms in said pavilion. I shall have to see if I can get them back.

I ran the race with my friend Chris who despite not having as much time for training as he would like managed a very respectable 1:57. Much faster than I think I could on that amount of training. After the race he very kindly invited me back for a meal at his house and made an absolutely delicious, vegan friendly, Thai curry with vegetables and marinated tofu. We also had vegan friendly Swedish Glace ice cream (http://www.fayrefield.com/gallerySwedish.htm) and his wife Caille had also bought in Vegan friendly luxury dark chocolate from Morrisons (bless her) which were really nice. I also got to look after their 7 month old daughter Analena which I really enjoyed. Over all I had a really great day, good time, good food and good company. What more could I ask? I would still like to beat 1:30 for a half marathon but I have Reading coming up at the end of the month so maybe I can try again then?

Boundary Run Marathon

Yesterday was the Cambridge Boundary Run marathon (http://www.cuhh.org.uk/competition/boundaryrun/. I've been wanting to do this race for a few years now but it's always clashed with other races. This year it was fine though so I booked myself in a while back.

It was quite a nice day for it and Cambridge is pretty flat so the only thing I was worried about was getting lost. The route was quite well marked with paper signs and flour arrows though and the Cambridge Hare and Hounds Running Club (of which I am a member) had done a great job of organisation. There were also a lot of people up until the half marathon stage so it went OK up until mile 23 when the marker vanished and I followed another runner the wrong way (and managed to lose my map) I got back on course eventually but I messed up my time and probably ended up running further than we needed to. I'm just a bit upset I was so slow (it took me over 4 hours and the ultra last week was only 5). However, I was really feeling said ultra in my legs after the half way point. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try again next year.

I also met a lady from the Vegan runners club (http://www.veganrunners.makessense.co.uk/index.html) who was also at Draycote last week who kindly gave me some tips on veganism. It seems like she does a lot of races so perhaps I'll bump into her again in the future?

I'd also like to thank the guy I ran the last 4 miles or so with who kept me going when we got lost and when my legs really started to hurt.

I think I might try and have an easy week this week and then really go for a good time at the Milton Keynes Half next week.

Going Vegan

Many might think I am mad (since I have only been a full veggie since the new year) but I've made the choice to go fully Vegan. It is partly for health but my reasons are mainly ethical.

I started eating more Quorn and less meat a while back now, for health reasons to start with. However, the more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that I would never be able to actually hurt or kill an animal myself and so it was hypocritical of me to eat them. It is very easy to distance oneself from it when you shop in a supermarket but last year when I was training for the London marathon I kept running in the countryside here in Cambridge, past cows and sheep and pigs and thought more and more about how much I like animals and didn't want to be responsible for hurting them (how can I eat bacon and burger when I would never eat most other animals?) and so I started cutting down more and more on animal products but I was never able to completely stop altogether. I'd be eating a veggie diet for most of the week and then doing something like a bacon sandwich when I was out. I kept wanting to take the next step but the smell of a cooked burger or bacon always was too tempting. It was the same when I tried going veggie once before, back when I was about 12 or 13.

With the new year I decided it was time that I stop being hypocritical and just do it, so I committed to going fully veggie, or at least lacto-ovo veggie (I've still been eating milk and dairy recently). As I had already largely removed meat from my diet it has not been too hard so far and my training has not suffered at all. There are many vegetarian sportsmen and women from sprinters to weightlifters and I once met a veggie farrier who was built like a tank so you can clearly do very well on such a diet if you are careful.

At first I didn't really think about milk and eggs though, I thought they did not really cause animal suffering but I was curious as to why Vegans don't eat them so I looked it up and when you read about it, well it turns out they do. If you have a dairy cow and you want to milk it then it has to get pregnant but you don't want the calf taking the milk so you get the cow pregnant and then mostly kill the calf (especially if it's male) for veal as you have no other use for it (you don't raise dairy cows for meat and you only really need one male per herd (if that). So, the calf suffers and the cow may also suffer as you've taken her baby away (I'm not sure if you can prove that though). Dairy cows apparently spend a lot of their time pregnant or lactating, don't live as long as normal and are often killed once they stop producing milk. So even if you are as nice as possible to the cows while you do all this you still have to cause some suffering. I understand that it's a cruel world out there and that that is just how it is but I hope you can at least see where I am coming from?

With eggs (even free range), although the hen lays them (mostly un-fertilised) anyway, if you are a farmer you need to have some of the eggs fertilised so as to get more hens to maintain the flock. However, of those you let be fertilised, about half will be male and these are no use to you and so are killed off. In this way, eating milk and eggs does contribute to animal suffering. You also can't tell where the eggs in things in cakes and biscuits have come from many are just the cheapest you can get so are battery farmed, even Quorn used to use battery eggs and so was avoided by many vegetarians.

I've only been Vegan for a week but so far it is going well. The more I thought about the above the more I thought it was something I really wanted to do. It seems hypocritical of me to eat some animal products when I won't eat meat, if you see what I mean? So I've been experimenting with using soy, rice, oat and almond milk and cutting out eggs and honey etc. It has actually not been too hard so far (e.g all the big coffee chains will so Soy milk latte's etc) and I've actually been forced to be a lot more innovative in my cooking which has been great as I now have a much more varied diet. I also feel better since cutting down on the dairy. I have also tried vegan soy yoghurt (lots of this in Sainbury's) and vegan cheese and other non-quorn based meat substitutes like tofu, tempeh and bean curd (you can't eat Quorn as a vegan as it has eggs in it). Many of the supermarkets are very good about labelling things that are Vegan so I have been able to adjust my purchasing habits as well and reading the labels to double check everything has helped me balance the nutrient content out. There are also several excellent health food shops in Cambridge where I can buy lots of Vegan stuff. You can also get vegan chocolate quite easily, a lot of dark chocolate is OK anyway but even milk chocolate can be made with soy milk etc. (you can get this in Sainbury's in their "Free from" range)

I was also worried about running and getting enough iron etc but books like "Becoming Vegan" and websites like http://www.veganrunners.makessense.co.uk/index.html have shown me you can do it. While you do have to be careful to get enough iron and vitamin B12 you don't necessarily need to take supplements as long as you eat enough of the right foods. If you are sensible about it (and I plan to be) then it is perfectly OK.

Of course you could argue that all forms of life are equally valid and since plants are alive it can't be any better to eat them than to eat animals. Either way it is ending of a life that is not yours to control. However, having worked on and taught plant physiology and biochemistry I am convinced they cannot feel pain or suffering as some animals do. I am therefore happier eating them than I am eating animals.

I'm not trying to force my opinions on anybody else and I don't think meat eaters are evil or anything like that. What you eat is a personal choice for you and nobody should judge you for it. All I know is that this is something I want to do.

I also plan to buy things like vegan shoes (http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/) as my old stuff runs out.

I almost came a cropper on the first morning when I discovered that Sainbury's own brand muesli is not vegan as it contains milk protein? and their own brand porridge is also not guaranteed vegan as there is a note on saying it's "not suitable for milk allergy sufferers due to the production process". Bit annoying as I had a half full box of muesli and an almost new box of porridge (both of which I quite like). Kellogg's all-Bran is also not vegan as the vitamin D comes from an animal source. At least Sainbury's are Vegan friendly and make an effort to label everything that is vegan and/or veggie friendly unless it is really obvious that it is (e.g. nuts) and at least it should not be hard to find vegan versions. I did find a very nice vegan cheese recently though it's called sheeze and is made in Scotland, it's much more like cheese than the other one I've been eating though it doesn't melt very well.

The longest race…

Phew, well yesterday was a long one, the 2nd of the marathons/ultra-marathons that I planned for 2009 (even if the first did not go to plan - see previous posts for details). My car was fixed this week and I picked it up Saturday morning. It seems to (touchwood) all be in working order at present and got me over to just outside Rugby for the Draycote Water 35 mile ultra marathon with no problems.

Yes that’s right yesterday was a 35 mile race. The longest I have ever run. I was expecting to take about 5 and a half hours but I actually managed it in 5 hours and 3 minutes and 36 seconds and came 37th out of 91 people so I was quite pleased about that. I was dead at the end of it though, even though I’d had an energy gel, a vegan energy bar etc. on the way round. I was really happy to finish and limped back to changing tent to get my stuff. There I started chatting to a chap who was just using this race as a warm up for a 45 miler run in a few weeks, at night, with only self navigation to get him and his team round!! He was about 45/50 as well. Good luck to him is all I can say.

Ultra runners are an interesting bunch, (NB having only run two ultras I don’t class myself as an ultra runner yet) they seem to be one step beyond even marathon runners. It's funny but the only other time I have come across the term "Ultras" is in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space universe. These are series of hard science fiction space opera novels. My housemate bought me one (Revelation space) and I quite enjoyed it. In the book Ultranauts are a faction of transhuman spacefarers who look a bit different from the standard human form with many (but not all) having opted for extensive mechanical modifications, and with many weird hairstyles. Ultra runners may seem to have mechanical limbs to run for so long at such speeds (the guy that won on Sunday did it in under 4 hours) and many also seem to have hair that is a bit different from the norm so maybe it’s not such a bad link.

Anyway the race was good. It was 7 and a bit laps of Draycote Water a large reservoir out in Warwickshire near Rugby. The scenery was pretty and the weather was OK. Saturday had been really nice so I was thinking I might get away with running in just a T-shirt and shorts but, having been in the scouts, I went prepared with extra tops and my running jacket. When I got there is was OK but in the changing tent the wind really picked up and for a minute it felt like the whole thing was going to fly away. I hurriedly put on the extra cloths I had brought. The start was on time and my jacket and gloves kept the wind off which I was very glad about. I even saw the famous Mike and Phil (http://www.fetcheveryone.com/micknphil) on the way round. The race course was open to the public so I had to dodge cyclists, children, other runners and even one guy rollerblading while pushing a pushchair. This latter activity seemed a bit dangerous to me considering the path was at the top of a raised bit of ground so, if he had slipped, said pushchair could have gone a long way and he would have had a hard time catching it. Still, each to their own, maybe I just worry too much?

The course was fairly flat with only a few undulations but these got harder and harder each time you went round. I felt knackered at the end and I am having a rest day today to let my legs recover. I have the Cambridge boundary run next week so I don’t want to do a repeat of last time I had an ultra and a marathon in close succession and be knackered for the marathon, so I shall try and take it easy this week. I don’t think I could run very far at present anyway and I think even going for a swim would be asking for a bit of trouble in terms of letting my legs recover so I think I may just wait until tomorrow for that. I did have a bit of a workout this morning but that was mainly arms and upper body so not too bad.

I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I need to go running in my new shoes this week. My 2nd pair of faithful Brooks Beast’s have fallen apart totally now (after less than a year of use). They have been on the way out for some time now and I probably should not have run in them yesterday but I figured it was a bigger risk running so far in new shoes than in knackered ones that I at least knew would not give me blisters. However, the padding and cushioning on the old pair has gone the same way as the first pair of Beast’s that I had and I don’t think I can run in them again without risking my ankles. We’ll see how it goes but it's the new shoes for me from now on.

A good race

Had a great race yesterday out in Bungay (Suffolk/Norfolk border). It was the great East run, a 20km run. Fairly flat except for some big (ish) hills at the start and finish.

For a change I had company at this race which was really nice. Doing this particular event was the brainchild of my friend Chris (who also very kindly drove us there) and I’m very glad he suggested it was great to catch up and it was also one the most fun races I’ve done in a while.

The run started at 11am so we had set of from Cambridge at 8am to allow plenty of time. We found the place quite easily though and the parking was well signposted so we were there before half nine. We found race HQ and got changed and then put our bags away in the storage area and then, well just hung around for a bit until the race start.

It had been sunny on the drive down but it was a bit overcast coming up to 11 and also cold. They tried to get us all out early but as I was cold I decided to wait inside until closer to the start time to line up. I’m glad I did as it was quite nippy waiting for the gun to go off but I met a few people from work in the line up so had a quick chat to them while waiting.

The actual race was really nice, it rained a bit and was windy but the countryside was very pretty, the route well marked and well marshalled and fairly flat (apart from a few hills at the start and at the end). There was also a great goody bag including a medal plus a free beer and soup at the end. This was a really nice race and I hope I can do it again. I couldn’t drink the beer as it was an ale and theses tend to not be vegetarian but that is no big worry and the soup was vegetarian. Having a few friends there also made it much more fun than normal. It was great to catch up with Chris. We’ll be doing the Milton Keynes half marathon as well next month so that should be really good.

Training in the last week has gone pretty well. I did 20 miles last Sunday and went running, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I was quite tired by Thursday so had a rest on Friday and had only a half hour swim (the pool was very cold) but with the workouts and other swims I still had a good weekly exercise total. Now I just need to work out how to balance things for next week's very long run.

Funny faces

Training is going well this week despite the weather. the half marathon on Sunday (~1.5 hours), 4 1 hour runs, 2 1 hour swims and 5 1.5 hour workouts gives me 15 hours of training. I would have done another run today but the streets are a bit of a deathtrap at present and my trainers are still soaked from running through slush yesterday. I did enjoy the run in the snow on Monday it was very scenic, even though I slipped over and hit my knee (in the same place I hit it when falling off my bike earlier that same day.

Following on from last week, if you fancy a laugh go to http://www.sportcam.net/ and click the Watford half marathon links and search using runner number 1307. I don't know how I pull these faces.

I tried out the altimeter in my t6c watch at Watford. It works by pressure changes (as it's a hard factor to calculate from GPS) and is not the most accurate feature as it keeps telling me I am 30m below sea level but I re set before the race and the graph it came out with (see below) matches well with the profile the race organisers sent me

Made it this time

Well, 2nd time lucky I actually made it to this weekends race (now the first of my 2009 season) which was the Watford Half marathon (http://www.watfordharriers.org.uk/WhindexF.htm). I had to get the train at half 6 in the morning (which meant getting up ever earlier and having breakfast in the dark so as not to wake sleeping housemates) but it wasn’t too bad and it was a smooth trip out there via Kings Cross and Euston. The weather was cold (around 0 degrees C) and windy but not as bad as it could have been. I found race HQ OK and was actually there quite early so sat around and read my book for bit.

I headed out around 10:20 for the start at 10:30. I was in two minds whether to run in my running jacket or not but in the end I decided I may as well as it does keep the wind off. It’s a Cheap Flora London marathon one which I bought last year after my first marathon. I quite like it. It’s not the most fancy but it was a very good price and it’s tough. It’s also nice to have in one when you bump into other people wearing them at races (which happens a fair bit). Anyway we all lined up and off we went. I wasn’t sure what the race would be like as I’ve never been to Watford but it was actually quite scenic. You go round a park and then out into the Countryside. Annoyingly once I had decided to keep my jacket on the sun came out so I got a bit hot (but I was glad of it at the end of the race when the snow and wind picked up). In fact I wish I could have spent more time looking at the scenery, but alas we were going to quick to really appreciate it. It's kind of like that advert for some opticians or other where the chap is wandering around in the forest and takes a picture with his eyes every so often. That would be really cool, but I digress.

My overall time was 1:34.01 (according to the provisional results). It is not my best time for the distance but not my worst and it was a very hilly course so maybe it is not so bad. It puts me 316th out of 1958 so I guess I can be happy with that (top time was ~1:08). Actually I was a bit disappointed as I was flying round the first half of the course and for a minute it looked like I might break 1:30 but I flagged in the latter half even though I tried to give it my all. I think I should have taken some gels or something to keep me going as I only really had water. I did take some of the Gatorade they gave out on the way round but it was so cold it almost felt like it was burning my throat. Well OK that might be a bit of an exaggeration but I did not like the sensation so didn't take more than one or two gulps. It started to snow very gently near the end but not really very much but as I say I was glad of my jacket then. I went straight back to race HQ and grabbed my stuff and headed for the station afterwards anyway just in case and made it back to Cambridge by 3pm (which even gave me time to get to Sainsbury’s and get the shopping in).

Training in the week leading up to the race was also good. Three, ~hour long runs in the week; three, hour long swims and 5, 1,5 hour long workouts, plus the 30 mile run last week gave a total of about 17 hours in training. Not too shabby. I would have done 4 runs in the week but I had a couple of things come up that I couldn’t get out of (and didn’t want anyway as one was a friends leaving do and one got me a free lunch in Clare Hall).

We’ll see how it goes this week. Hopefully I will be able to continue to avoid meat; I’ve been getting a real desire for a fried breakfast recently.

Till next time happy running everyone.

Car trouble

Well… my 2009 racing season has got off to a particularly bad start. Regular readers of this blog will know I was done to run the Gloucester 50k this weekend. I had a race entry sorted, a hotel booked and just needed to drive over. Unfortunately this last step proved the problem. I left Cambridge on Saturday around 4.45pm, it was a bit late but I still had plenty of time to get over to Gloucester but I didn’t make it very far out of Cambridge; in fact I only made it as far as Trumpington High Street before my car developed a fault. At the minute I’m driving an Alfa Romeo 156 selespeed which was a kind gift from my Dad after he upgraded to a Spyder. The car is great but it has a semi-automatic gear system which means all the gears are controlled by an onboard electronic control unit (ECU) even if you use the gearstick. Unfortunately mine has developed some kind of fault and keeps getting stuck in gear it’s done this a few times recently but has always corrected itself. It’s due an MOT next month so I was waiting on that to check the problem out. However, on Trumpington high street it got stuck in neutral and wouldn’t move, leaving me no option but to switch on the hazard lights.

I knew I was in trouble when an old lady who looked about 80 came over and asked if I needed help pushing the car to the side. I thanked her and told her I’d be OK and got the car to the side of the road and called the RAC. They were pretty good and came an hour and a half or so later. Unfortunately the prognosis for the car is not great. The chap said the only thing we could try was unhooking the ECU from the battery and then disconnecting the battery, apparently losing power resets said ECU and so should remove any faults. At first this seemed to work and I even still had time to make it to Gloucester. Unfortunately I had only got as far as the petrol station a hundred yards down the road when it got stuck in neutral again. The RAC man (who had followed me just in case) sorted it again but advised that I had probably better go home. There didn’t seem any point in risking getting stuck half way to Gloucester and so I reluctantly agreed and set off for home. To his credit the RAC man followed me all the way back. Three or four times the same problem reoccurred but this time it got stuck in first or second so I was able to keep going and each time the problem fixed itself after a short while. However, it seems likely there is some form of potentially quite serious fault with the car and I didn’t think I should drive it until I’ve had it checked out. Apparently there is an Alfa specialist in Sawston which is good although how I’m going to get the car out there is another problem altogether.

Anyway, after all this excitement it was too late to hop on the train to Gloucester and too late to grab a hire car. I thought about trying to get a hire car or train very early the next morning and driving over for the race but in the end I thought better of it. I’ve driven long distances to race events on the day in the past. For the Great North Swim I even got up at 4am drove up the lake district, did the mile swim and then drove home again, however I felt almost dangerously tired all the way there and I’ve never performed at my best when I’ve done an early start. So, very reluctantly I realised I was going to have to pull out of the race and so phoned the race organizers and hotel (who said it was too a late to get my money back).

To cheer myself up I decided to make myself the bean curry I’d been waiting to try out from the recipe in my vegetarian cook book and it actually turned out quite well. However, I was left in a bit of a quandary. I’d told everyone at work I would be running 30 miles and I’d carbo loaded and reduced my training as if I was going to do so. I figured I’d better go for a long run the next day so the work was not wasted.

I awoke on the Sunday at 8am to the sound of rain against my window. “Just great” I thought “I can get wet as well as knackered”. I decided to go back to bed for an hour and then see what the weather was doing. At 9.45 it was still raining but I decided it wasn’t too bad and I did have a waterproof so I thought I’d go anyway and see how far I got. I’d run 24 miles round Cambridge two weeks before so I figured I could try and do that again at least.

Things actually went quite well I did the 24 mile route but on the river section I went all the way up to Waterbeach rather than turn round at the lock. I ran a little way around Waterbeach and then headed back. A detour back through town and a lap of the park opposite the house gave me a grand total of 30.25 miles on my GPS system. I had done it. It took me longer than the last time I ran 30 miles (and that time it was cross country) but this time, as it wasn’t a proper race there were no gels or bananas or biscuits as I went round as I only had water with me. On the plus side I was home in time to get the weeks shopping in and go out for a meal with my friends and see Jimmy Carr at the Corn exchange which was really good.


Negative

I missed the race which I had been looking forward to.
I lost the race entry and the hotel fees.
I missed out on the “official” start of my quest to do a marathon a month in 2009.
There is still a potentially serious (and expensive) problem with the car.
Running long distance the day after a bean curry is not the best idea in the world.

Positive

I still ran 30 miles at the weekend so technically am still on track.
I got the car home without too many problems and didn’t need a tow from Gloucester (which would have been very expensive)
I still got to see Jimmy Carr
Using no Gels or sports drinks means I burnt off more calories overall


This is a screen grab from my training software that came with my T6C watch. I used GPS to ensure I really did 30 miles (see below for proof).

Week 3...

Another good week, similar in terms of training load to the last two, the swim on Friday was 62 lengths at Parkside rather than the usual 82 so I could finish in time for dinner with friends) but yesterday I swam 106 lengths to make up for it. I decided I might as well while the pool was at a reasonable temperature. Parkside Pools seem to vary quite dramatically from warm to absolutely freezing and the pool temperature indicator near reception bears no relation at all to what the actual pool temperature is. I’m a real wuss with cold. If I get in when it’s cold I stand around for ages rather than just putting my head under the water and getting on with it. I really should try and be better about this.

Weights in my room are no problem with weather and so far I’ve been very lucky running outside, a lightweight waterproof stops the wind and light rain and keeps my train ticket and railcard dry and sweat free (which were problems with my old wrist wallet). The waist mounted water bottle I bought for the Doyen of the downs race is also working really well and my Suunto t6c watch is great. I really like the extra dimension it brings to training, even if I probably don’t make full use of it.

This week I will cut back a bit on the swimming and running by a couple of sessions so I can taper for the big 50k race in Gloucester on Sunday. I’ve got to do a reasonable time so I can get back for a meal out with friends and a Jimmy Carr show in the evening.

Hunger pangs

Well it’s started the cravings. I’ve been a veggie for over three weeks now and doing OK. It’s been a bit weird. At first I didn’t miss meat at all, I guess because I didn’t each much anyway. This week has been a bit harder though. A couple of times when I’ve been out training I’ve run past places cooking/frying bacon and/or sausages and the smell is really tempting (the houseboats down by the river are quite bad for this). I’ve found in the past that, when running, my sense of smell seems to get better (possibly because I am breathing in more deeply) so smelling any kind of food would make me hungry. So far though I have not given into temptation so that is good. Also I was a bit worried my favourite sandwich (the brie, tomato and rocket baguette in Eat) would turn out to be made from non-veggie brie, meaning I couldn’t eat it. Going and getting one of these for lunch is a favourite activity of mine on a Saturday when I am loading up for the big Sunday run or race. Actually, I have to confess, I forgot to check this out the first time I bought one after Christmas but thankfully, when I did, it said it was suitable for a vegetarian diet so I guess I am OK there for now, unless I go vegan.

I’ve also had to be extra careful checking things in the supermarket; many things that you wouldn’t think had animal products actually do have them. For instance, Flora ultra light margarine has pork rennet in it so I can’t have that anymore. I’ve replaced it with a soy based spread which tastes OK but actually has more fat in it (so I am trying to eat less of it). I also decided, that being a veggie, I should also stop buying leather and animal based clothes. I’ll use the ones I already have as far as I can to avoid waste but anything new will be non-animal. To this end I bought a pair of shoes from http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/. Everything this company makes is vegan standard. I’d highly recommend it. The shoes are very comfy, stylish (or at least I think they are) and a reasonable price. Customer service was also very good. They have a lot of other stuff on the site so if you get a second it’s well worth a look.

Week 2 – The training continues

Training went well this week. Last Sunday (the 11th) I ran just over 24 miles round Cambridge. Usually at lunchtimes I take one of three routes round Cambridge, by starting from my house rather than work and doing the three in one go with a lap of the park opposite my house at the end I ended up with a nice long run. The rest of the week I did one 1.5 hour workout a day (Monday to Friday), an hours swimming on Monday and Wednesday and Friday and well as four, hour long runs at lunchtime. I’ve also managed to avoid eating scones at work and snacks in the afternoon. Replacing these with fruit seems to help. OK so fruit can be as high in sugar as plenty of other things but so far so good. I’ think I’m well on the way to reducing the Christmas overindulgence.

Going Veggie

2008 was a year of firsts for me. My first Marathon, my fist triathlon, and later on my first ultra marathon and my first races abroad (including my first Olympic distance triathlon in Stockholm and first sub 3.30 marathon in Berlin). Contrived as it sounds, all this showed me that setting goals really can help make things you’ve wanted to do for years (as well as things you thought you’d never be able to do) a reality. This year I’m aiming to do at least one ultra marathon or marathon a month as well as few half marathons, 10k’s and triathlons. Of the latter I’m hoping to do my first Ironman 70.3 (half full Ironman distance) triathlon in June. I’m also going to try and do this on a fully vegetarian (and possibly even vegan) diet (well maybe not the vegan part…yet).

Why go veggie? I hear you ask; well it’s something I have been wanting to do for a while. I first started eating veggie food when I was at my at my Mum’s one weekend and the only food I could find was my sister’s Quorn burgers and sausages (my sister, to her credit, has been veggie for many years now). I found that I actually quite liked it and proceeded to annoy my poor sister by constantly the veggie stuff in the house even when meat was available. Meat replacements like Quorn are much lower in fat than meat and so when I decided to try and lose some weight back in 2006 I stopped buying meat at the supermarket and just ate Quorn instead – it worked quite well. I still had the odd burger/sausage etc when I was out though.

There is also an ethical dimension to this. In the past I have tended not to think too much about where my food comes from, although I don’t like the idea of animals suffering just so I can eat and I certainly would not be able to kill one myself. Anyway, this went on for a few years. Often I’d be eating a veggie diet for weeks and then getting sausage and mash or a bacon sandwich when I was out. I kept wanting to take the next step but the smell of a cooked burger or bacon always was too tempting. It was the same when I tried going veggie once before back when I was about 12 or 13. Anyhow with the advent of the New Year I decided now was the time to act and have committed to going fully veggie, or at least lacto-ovo veggie (for the time being I still eat milk and dairy but no meat (including fish)). So far it’s going very well, you have to be careful not to eat non veggie cheese (contains animal rennet) or food like jelly babies (which often have gelatin in them) but as I had already largely removed meat from my diet it has not been too hard so far and my training has not suffered at all. There are many vegetarian sportsmen and women from sprinters to weightlifters and I once met a veggie farrier who was built like a tank so you can clearly do very well on such a diet if you are careful.

My friends and family have been very supportive of this decision and I’ve not had any of the gentle ribbing I was expecting. I’m not trying to force my opinions on anybody else. I don’t think meat eaters are evil or anything like that. What you eat is a personal choice for you and nobody should judge you for it. All I know is that this is something I want to do. Will I go further and cut out all animal products? Well, we’ll see. I have tried vegan soy yogurt and it wasn’t too bad, and I really like the taste of Soya milk. If I can take vegan cheese I may just try it…

Week 1: Getting back into it.

Well, that's the first week of New Year training almost over and it wasn't too bad. I came back from Manchester on the 3rd of Jan and training started on the 4th with my standard Cambridge to Ely run. This time I used my new Suunto T6c and GPS pod to measure the distance and was pleased to find it came out to be just over 18 miles. I thought it was 20 miles when I first ran it this time lat year but I looked like 17 when I measured it with mapmyrun.com and that was what a few other people from the Running club thought it was. However, good as mapmyrun is it's hard to follow footpaths on it. If you use the overhead shots the trees hide the path and the paths are often not marked on the maps.

The run itself went well It too just over 2.5 hours to get to Ely Station and I had no reoccurrence of the calf problem I picked up in the Doyen of the Downs race which had been bugging me over the Christmas holiday, so it seems like the rest over Christmas was good in one way and didn't cause too much loss of fitness.

The route is great and reminds me why I love running, the views in early morning and late evening in the summer are simply mindblowing. You run along the river for most of it as well as proper cross country sections, up hill and down dale (well as far as you can in Cambridgeshire) and out into the wilds of the fens and often get covered in mud. There are so many different types of scenery. It's fairly flat near the end so you can see for miles In fact you can see Ely Cathedral from about four miles away once you get up to the dykes but most of the time you don't see any other people. It's just me and elements (and my iPod). The wind can be really cutting but it usually doesn't bother me too much. I managed to get straight on a train back to Cambridge as well so it was all good. Of course the only problem there is that having run for 2.5 hours the train gets you home in 20 minutes.

The rest of the week went well as well; on Monday I did a 1.5 hour workout in the morning, hours run at lunch and an hours swim in the evening. Tuesday was workout, run, Wednesday, workout, run and swim, Thursday I had a meeting at lunch and the pool is closed in the evening so it was just a workout that day but Friday was workout, run swim again. Today is Saturday which I usually have off so as to be rested for the long run on Sunday. I think it will be another Ely run this week, then another week like the last one. I only hope the pool is a bit warmer next week.

Here we go...

OK, the Christmas holiday is over and it's time for me to get back in training for the new year. I'll be doing a lot of races this year and if anybody is interested in tracking my progress this is where I'll be posting race reports and (if I get time) some of my training logs. I'm aiming to do one marathon or ultra marathon a month for 2009 as well as a few half marathons and as many triathlons I can fit in. I really like triathlon so I'm looking forward to the new season starting. i'm aiming to do Blenheim with the University club and a few others with the town club.

My first race of 2009 will be Gloucester 50K on the 25th of Jan http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=45692 followed by the Watford half marathon on the 1st Feb.

Reports from my last two races in 2008 are below as a taster.

Just before Christmas running was going well on the weekend of the 14th Dec 2008 I was in the
Hastings 100th Anniversary Marathon. My watch said I did it 3:25:59. A few minutes slower than my best time for the distance set in September 2008 in Berlin but I was still quite happy as this course was cold, wet and very hilly compared to Berlin which was warm, dry and flat. In addition I think I still had the 30 miler Doyen of the Downs (http://www.extremerunning.org/index.php?page=Doyen%20of%20the%20Downs) in my legs (the last six miles on Sunday were really painful) but all in all not a bad way to end the year. Especially I discovered that the runnersworld website lists sub three hours as an advanced marathon time :-)

The Doyen of the Downs race the weekend before last was the longest race I have ever done in fact. It was 30 miles across the South Downs. It was great. We started off in a small town called Arundel at 8am. Dawn was just breaking and there was frost on the ground. The countryside round there is so pretty it was almost like running in a snowglobe This is the first off road race I have done and it was hard, really different to anything I have done before. We ran along the river, through a forest, up some bloody big hills and through a bog (which I really didn't like). It was amazing watching some people on the muddy hills, they were so sure footed. I wasn't! I fell over a load of times and missed some of the markers, my trainers were so black by the end that I had to hose them down when I got home and but I did finish and a lot of people didn't or were too slow.

They had biscuits and bananas and water every five miles or so, which was good as one of my energy gels split when I tried to open it so I had less than I thought. I had a new waist mounted water bottle that I bought at the last minute as well, which worked fairly well. The nice lady at the guesthouse kindly let me go back and have a shower there even though I had technically checked out, she even let me leave my car in her drive while I went into town for lunch. How nice was that? One of the other chaps staying in the B&B is apparently going for the record
for the youngest person to run 100 marathons. He's 22 or something and has already done 30 and most about half hour faster than my best time. That's the thing with running, you can train and train but I think the genetic component makes up a huge chuck of it as well and there is
nothing you can do about that. Still, I do OK I guess.