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.
Monday, 23 February 2009
Monday, 16 February 2009
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.
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.
Friday, 6 February 2009
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
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
Monday, 2 February 2009
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.
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.
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