On Tuesday I did my first run in a while, a short two miles, and my thighs have been reminding me since......
Tomorrow, I do another run, so two in one week!
I do not want to wait until January to get running again, and I've figured that running this month will help stem the annual Xmas calorie excess damage.......
It was never my intention to have this big of break and with the abandoning of healthy eating as well, fitness and body-shape wise, I have paid a price that now be looked back as a bit of big blip,
Thursday, 3 December 2015
Monday, 16 November 2015
Time to reboot my running
I have made the decision not to run the Norwich Half this Sunday due to a series of chesty colds and bugs over the last four weeks.
To go effectively from almost no running over the last four months to rockin up for a half in less than a week would be irresponsible, however I will re-start my running this Saturday.
I have one of those rare opportunities to attend a parkrun this Saturday, so now I just need to decide which one I want to do - I have done Old Catton once and Gorleston a few times, so I am thinking I will do Mudbarton.......sorry I meant Mulbarton.
I could do Eaton Park but I want to save that one for when I am back in full fitness, and ready to take on a colleague's PB.
I have been using the last week or so, to tackle other areas of my health, namely cutting back on snacking, and trying to get better quality sleep.
I now need to pick up the mental well-being part, and come Saturday onwards, the exercise aspect.
Expect the posting to start ratcheting up from Saturday onwards.
To go effectively from almost no running over the last four months to rockin up for a half in less than a week would be irresponsible, however I will re-start my running this Saturday.
I have one of those rare opportunities to attend a parkrun this Saturday, so now I just need to decide which one I want to do - I have done Old Catton once and Gorleston a few times, so I am thinking I will do Mudbarton.......sorry I meant Mulbarton.
I could do Eaton Park but I want to save that one for when I am back in full fitness, and ready to take on a colleague's PB.
I have been using the last week or so, to tackle other areas of my health, namely cutting back on snacking, and trying to get better quality sleep.
I now need to pick up the mental well-being part, and come Saturday onwards, the exercise aspect.
Expect the posting to start ratcheting up from Saturday onwards.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
The four well-being pillars are out of balance - time to get them under control
Mental, Physical, Sleep, and Nutrition.
There are those who believe that to operate at your best (whatever you are doing) there are four "pillars" that need to be broadly in harmony.
1) Sleep - Seen as the big one, as a decent amount of sleep will provide the right basis for wanting to do well in the other three areas during the day i.e. poor and/or little sleep might reduce your willpower to not eat sugary junk food, or to not do some exercise, or to read/study.
Seven to eight hours sleep per day is seen as optimum but it also need to be quality deep sleep, and mindfulness, which seems to be the in-thing, would be an area to look at to help you de-clutter and slow your mind down prior to going to bed. Going technology-free about an hour before bed apparently also helps.
For me, I probably have had the right amount of sleep but of a poor quality.
In fact having just looked at my garmin data, when I was training for the 100k run, my average sleep was about 7hrs, and since then it has been 8hrs, so I am sleeping more but feel worse for it.
Fundamentally, the sleep is not deep enough making me more prone to wake, and then need the loo (post-cancer treatment made my bladder weaker than it already was), and more recently our new cat wanting to be fed at 6am and hasn't moved on from British Summer Time.......
2) Mental - The brain needs to be fed as much as the body, but with words not food.
Setting time aside to journal, plan ahead, read, listening to relaxing music prior to going to bed etc.
I was very good at this but I have struggled to get back into the swing of things - I take a lot of books out of the library but I rarely read more than two of them.
I also felt like my mindset at work has been quite negative but somehow still getting the work done.
3) Physical - Whilst I was training, I was doing an average of 400k steps a month, now it is just 200k.
Or to put it another way, my average per day now is 6.6k compared to 13k previously.
The amount of running at the moment has dropped to less than one run per week - not necessarily a problem if you are being physically active without running but mine has been little running (not due to injury) and no alternative activities.
4) Nutrition - Eat well and you feel well, you then have the energy to do what needs to be done.
This one out of the four has been terrible for me recently - eating for the sake of it, to excess, lots of crisps, sweets, less fruit and veg and so on.
Ok, a lot of doom and gloom negativity but this is about me being honest with myself and accepting that I need to draw a line on this, and day by day get those pillars back into balance.
Interestingly despite my lack of blogging recently, I have been thinking about creating a second blog, yet to be named, that would focus on healthy eating and home-cooking.
There are those who believe that to operate at your best (whatever you are doing) there are four "pillars" that need to be broadly in harmony.
1) Sleep - Seen as the big one, as a decent amount of sleep will provide the right basis for wanting to do well in the other three areas during the day i.e. poor and/or little sleep might reduce your willpower to not eat sugary junk food, or to not do some exercise, or to read/study.
Seven to eight hours sleep per day is seen as optimum but it also need to be quality deep sleep, and mindfulness, which seems to be the in-thing, would be an area to look at to help you de-clutter and slow your mind down prior to going to bed. Going technology-free about an hour before bed apparently also helps.
For me, I probably have had the right amount of sleep but of a poor quality.
In fact having just looked at my garmin data, when I was training for the 100k run, my average sleep was about 7hrs, and since then it has been 8hrs, so I am sleeping more but feel worse for it.
Fundamentally, the sleep is not deep enough making me more prone to wake, and then need the loo (post-cancer treatment made my bladder weaker than it already was), and more recently our new cat wanting to be fed at 6am and hasn't moved on from British Summer Time.......
2) Mental - The brain needs to be fed as much as the body, but with words not food.
Setting time aside to journal, plan ahead, read, listening to relaxing music prior to going to bed etc.
I was very good at this but I have struggled to get back into the swing of things - I take a lot of books out of the library but I rarely read more than two of them.
I also felt like my mindset at work has been quite negative but somehow still getting the work done.
3) Physical - Whilst I was training, I was doing an average of 400k steps a month, now it is just 200k.
Or to put it another way, my average per day now is 6.6k compared to 13k previously.
The amount of running at the moment has dropped to less than one run per week - not necessarily a problem if you are being physically active without running but mine has been little running (not due to injury) and no alternative activities.
4) Nutrition - Eat well and you feel well, you then have the energy to do what needs to be done.
This one out of the four has been terrible for me recently - eating for the sake of it, to excess, lots of crisps, sweets, less fruit and veg and so on.
Ok, a lot of doom and gloom negativity but this is about me being honest with myself and accepting that I need to draw a line on this, and day by day get those pillars back into balance.
Interestingly despite my lack of blogging recently, I have been thinking about creating a second blog, yet to be named, that would focus on healthy eating and home-cooking.
Monday, 7 September 2015
Did ya miss me?
I've not done much running since the big event back in July but having done the Norwich 10k last week, I got out yesterday for a light-effort 3 mile run.
A bit cold but the sun came out.
The reason for it being a light effort run was because I was doing a recon of what blackberries could be picked either that day or soon.
They seem to be late this year but maybe I am getting my timings wrong.
These might be sloes.
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Race Day Part Ten - My Reflections on the three months up to and including the Race To The Stones race
What prompted me to write about the whole experience of training for my first ever ultra was the lack of blogs that mentioned their training in the run up to doing the Race To The Stones race in the past - I could find plenty that were about the race itself but not how they trained for it.
Being a new challenge, and for most people including myself, a distance in the realms of madness, gave me all the enthusiasm to stick to a training plan, and not hit a training wall - when I trained for my first marathon, I hit that training wall about two weeks before the race, and as soon as I completed the race I didn't run again for nine months, due to being exhausted trying to balance home, work and training.
It was a great talking point at work, where I am surrounded by colleagues who are physically active, doing cycling, running, triathlons, iron mans, and white collar boxing.
Even these people thought it was an exceptional challenge to do, and one referred to it as the "Death Run" - although he would have had to pick all my work if that were to come true....
Training, whether it is for an ultra, a 5k, or another sporting event should be about making mistakes, so that on race day you don't make those mistakes - anyone who has perfect training is missing the point.
As an example, one of my disasters was getting lost the first time I did a run in the Halvergate Marshes, to the point I ended up in the middle of a locally notorious single-carriage stretch of road known as the Acle Straight - this definitely taught me to more aware of the signs, and knowing my route.
I did all of my early morning training as fasted training sessions, with the exception being the Sunday long run where I would run fasted for about 90-120 minutes before starting to take on food.
This approach is something I will continue for future events, as it does teach your body to manage on what it already has.
I discovered a love of doing long runs in the countryside off-road, and this is something I want to continue doing - what I need to do is plan in advance doing these run/walks as otherwise the Wherrymans Way route will be my only option, and that was getting a bit samey near the end of the training.
I lost a stone in weight and hit my lowest weight in about 20 years - I had two "aspirational" shirts hanging up that I bought about two years ago in a sale and are of a slim fit style - both were worn comfortably on the week back on work after the race.
As for race day itself, the key thing I would do differently is be less cautious when it came to what I was capable of, particularly in the first half of the race. The second half I discovered I could run a lot more uphill and downhill, and it was less strain than trying to speed walk - I had not done any speed walking training and so those muscles were not ready but my running muscles were.
To be fair to myself, it was my first ultra and so being cautious was sensible but if there is a next time, I will be more confident of what I am capable of.
It was a very well organised race, hence the cost is noticeably more than a standard 100k ultra race - you are pampered with Aid stations every six miles allowing you to stock up on food, water, and go to the loo (without the need to find a secluded place along the race route) - it also encouraged a wide range of running and walking abilities, so again unlike most ultras, it's cut-off times were very generous.
This year circumstances fell perfect for me to do this race, so I took the opportunity that presented itself. Next year it may not be possible but if the "planets do align" again then I will seek to do a new challenge, maybe the Norfolk Ultra, or a new race by the RTTS organisers called Race To The King which is a mere 52 miles, or something entirely different - maybe I might take on doing a solo non-race of walking/running the whole of the Wherrymans Way from Norwich to Great Yarmouth (about 45 miles) - the choices out there are endless.
The blog will continue, as I have currently two races to do this year (10k road race end of August, and half-marathon in November), and whilst I have enjoyed a break from running since the race, I intend to re-start this weekend.
I hope you enjoyed my blogs about the Race To The Stones over the last three or so months, and here's to new adventures going forward.
Being a new challenge, and for most people including myself, a distance in the realms of madness, gave me all the enthusiasm to stick to a training plan, and not hit a training wall - when I trained for my first marathon, I hit that training wall about two weeks before the race, and as soon as I completed the race I didn't run again for nine months, due to being exhausted trying to balance home, work and training.
It was a great talking point at work, where I am surrounded by colleagues who are physically active, doing cycling, running, triathlons, iron mans, and white collar boxing.
Even these people thought it was an exceptional challenge to do, and one referred to it as the "Death Run" - although he would have had to pick all my work if that were to come true....
Training, whether it is for an ultra, a 5k, or another sporting event should be about making mistakes, so that on race day you don't make those mistakes - anyone who has perfect training is missing the point.
As an example, one of my disasters was getting lost the first time I did a run in the Halvergate Marshes, to the point I ended up in the middle of a locally notorious single-carriage stretch of road known as the Acle Straight - this definitely taught me to more aware of the signs, and knowing my route.
I did all of my early morning training as fasted training sessions, with the exception being the Sunday long run where I would run fasted for about 90-120 minutes before starting to take on food.
This approach is something I will continue for future events, as it does teach your body to manage on what it already has.
I discovered a love of doing long runs in the countryside off-road, and this is something I want to continue doing - what I need to do is plan in advance doing these run/walks as otherwise the Wherrymans Way route will be my only option, and that was getting a bit samey near the end of the training.
I lost a stone in weight and hit my lowest weight in about 20 years - I had two "aspirational" shirts hanging up that I bought about two years ago in a sale and are of a slim fit style - both were worn comfortably on the week back on work after the race.
As for race day itself, the key thing I would do differently is be less cautious when it came to what I was capable of, particularly in the first half of the race. The second half I discovered I could run a lot more uphill and downhill, and it was less strain than trying to speed walk - I had not done any speed walking training and so those muscles were not ready but my running muscles were.
To be fair to myself, it was my first ultra and so being cautious was sensible but if there is a next time, I will be more confident of what I am capable of.
It was a very well organised race, hence the cost is noticeably more than a standard 100k ultra race - you are pampered with Aid stations every six miles allowing you to stock up on food, water, and go to the loo (without the need to find a secluded place along the race route) - it also encouraged a wide range of running and walking abilities, so again unlike most ultras, it's cut-off times were very generous.
This year circumstances fell perfect for me to do this race, so I took the opportunity that presented itself. Next year it may not be possible but if the "planets do align" again then I will seek to do a new challenge, maybe the Norfolk Ultra, or a new race by the RTTS organisers called Race To The King which is a mere 52 miles, or something entirely different - maybe I might take on doing a solo non-race of walking/running the whole of the Wherrymans Way from Norwich to Great Yarmouth (about 45 miles) - the choices out there are endless.
The blog will continue, as I have currently two races to do this year (10k road race end of August, and half-marathon in November), and whilst I have enjoyed a break from running since the race, I intend to re-start this weekend.
I hope you enjoyed my blogs about the Race To The Stones over the last three or so months, and here's to new adventures going forward.
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Race Day Part Nine
With nightfall, I packed away the IPad I had ran with in my hand for over 14 hours.
It was at this stage fuelled by the sugar in my tea, and a determination to go for it, I choose to run in the dark with my head torch and hand torch - the running beast was unleashed!
A number of walkers were surprised to find someone running past them but they always cheered me on as I flew like someone possessed up and down the trail. The "pedestrian" lady particularly shouted lots of encouraging support as I passed her.
Mid-way in this stage, I would pass the first of two pairs of power-walkers, the first being two unsociable women. The second pair were male, built like the proverbial brick outhouse, and almost certainly army types - again unsociable, and I would play leapfrog for about two miles as the route got technical in places, including a jammed gate that meant you needed to climb over it but eventually I would pass them for a final time as the terrain became like my Wherryman's Way training runs, and that was the last I would see of them, as I picked up the pace into the last Aid station before the end.
Again I had hot cup of tea with a large spoonful of sugar, grabbed some grub, and started on the last seven-ish miles, which continued with nice terrain to start with, then it turned into very stony ground where I needed to make a stop to empty tiny stone chips from my shoes - always interesting trying to balance on one leg whilst doing this in the dark having run about 57 miles ......
After few miles of this stony ground I was really hoping for better terrain but with 2.5 miles to go, I would have to endure nearly two miles of the worst terrain ever - I can only describe it as if a large tractor or monster truck had churned up the path and it had set rock solid - completely un-runnable, and barely walkable.
Eventually after forever, I got pass this and could hear music from the finish but before this you run into Avebury, run past the turning to the finish for there is a loop to the Avebury Stones, which at 2.30am in pretty much darkness is hard to see - I was going to head back at 5am for the sunrise but the heavens opened at 4am.
With the loop done, I headed to the finish line, stopped half a km from the end to strip off the mid-layer, so for any finish line photo, I could have my race number visible - as it was, there was no photo taken but a dozen people cheered me over the line at 2.40am, some 18 hours and 40 minutes after I had started.
I collected my luggage bag, and headed for the showers where I would be for 40 minutes as I forgot to get the tie cut on my zips for the luggage. I spent 15 minutes stark naked trying to bust the zips, which I eventually did.
I had a final hot cup of tea with sugar, along with a chilli hot dog with all the trimmings, something I thoroughly enjoyed both.
The "pedestrian" women came in about 2.5hrs after me, and we congratulated each other.
I spent most of the next three hours chatting cheerfully to the female medic, with the endorphins crashing about about an hour before we left on the scheduled bus back to the start of the race.
On the bus I met an amazing women who completed the whole 100k, pulling a car tyre behind her, and this was not her first, as she had done many ultras and marathons pulling this tyre.
With no sleep in 27 hours, I drove the 20 minutes back to my hotel including 10 minutes on the motorway before getting about 4.5 hours sleep.
Having woke up, I decided the need for a cappuccino outweighed any sleep needs, so I shuffled the steep inclinations that passed as roads to the shopping centre where I did indeed get a cappuccino, a hot panini, and a cheesecake.
When you've run 100km and had just 4.5hours you will also look this knackered.......
I will do one update on the Race to the Stones, which will be my summary of reflections about the experience.
Race Day Part Eight
This was the start of a long ascent that I ran most of.
Eventually there was a sharp descent before I came out into civilisation.
I could have done with a curry....
By road, it is 5 miles until you get to the motorway but....
Half a mile along a busy A road, some of which had no grass verge to run along, we would get to....
The bridge over that motorway....
As you can see, dusk was upon me, and it would be about half an hour before nightfall. I was convinced that I could get to the next Aid station but I had forgotten to note the distance of this stage and I was unsure how far I had travelled this stage as well.
Time is running out on whether I could get to the next Aid Station before needing to get torches out.
Horses...shortly after this I came across a bench, and here I stopped to add a mid-layer and get the head and hand torch out.
The last photo on race day. At this Aid Station I had a cup of tea with a large spoonful of sugar - the most wonderful thing ever. I am now 14 miles away from the end.
I bumped into the "pedestrian" lady who had taken some of my advice to run whilst it was cooler ahead of nightfall. Hence she had remained ahead of me up despite me running, and again left the Aid station well ahead of me.
Saturday, 25 July 2015
Race Part Seven
The photo is a bit darker than it was at this stage, probably because it angled downhill - a sharp descent that some cyclists were struggling up - one where you needed to control how fast you went down it,
There was a path off the course to the Uffington White Horse but I had decided to push on as I wanted to cover as much distance as possible before night fall.
There was a steep descent just before this that I flew down as part of a good running section for me.
Thursday, 23 July 2015
Race Day Part Six
The above photo is a view back towards the camp. As I mentioned in my last post, I was mainly walking to start with, due to allowing the sandwich time to settle but the views were great if like me you love the countryside.
The terrain had mainly been smooth roads and then directly after that sign, the path turned very rocky and stony.
To add to the "fun" I caught up to a female runner who was talking loudly on her mobile whilst walking - I would have to put up with this for about 15 minutes.
Blessed relief as I completed this short stage.
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Race Day Part Five
Directly after the fourth Aid station, there were two horses, and from here on there was also a sudden increase in off-road cyclists to be aware of.
This was not too far from the half-way point. The terrain during this section was very hard underfoot, so where possible I sought to run on any grass areas.
Half-way stage reached.
The strawberry ice cream was yum! I'm not sure the sandwich touched the sides when I ate it, and the price of that was needing to walk a while to allow it to digest enough so I could run without bringing back up.
I should also add that from filling up one of my water bottles I ended up with a very chemically tasting water that despite several washes it took two further Aid stations before I could get rid of it from the bottle.
Cider for those staying over and completing the rest of the distance tomorrow.
I grabbed a banana here before I left to start the second 50km - I ran with it in my hand for about 12 miles! as I never got round to eating it, in part because I wanted to hold off until I was near to an Aid station, to put the skin in the bin.
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