Home Truths

This post will not be an easy one but its part of what I need to do to re-install the right habits in my life.

I do not do this often these days but I weighed myself last night - 14st 1lb (197lbs or 89kgs depending your weight currency).
Not only is this a stone and a half more than my 100km race weight from just six months ago but more shockingly, its half a stone more than my weight from this time a year ago.

Whilst the lack of exercise is a big factor, if I am honest the bigger factor was the excess snacking, and even more so in December and early January.
This was a reason I did not want to start recording food consumption until now, as there was a surplus of snacks from the Xmas period.

Whilst my January 10k a day plan has not been anywhere perfect, it is still on the best post 100km month to date, so if nothing else I am more active this month - it will have helped to stem the damage a little but without some control on what I eat, it is too small of a difference to turn the weight tide.

In terms of Garmin, my calories burned are 1900+ 265 per 10k steps.
Today I have done to date 14,500 steps so is worth about 400 calories but interestingly MyFitnessPal has reduced that 400 to 300.
Food today has been 2 slices of medium white toast with jam on one and peanut butter on the other,
Kale and Apple soup with 2 slices of medium white toast, Chicken Mangalore Herb Curry with white rice, and for snacks during the day, one large apple, one tangerine, one blood orange  and a costa cappuccino - I am 250 calories under what I am allowed by MyFitnessPal, so if I feel the urge for a snack then I've scope for some extra fruit (banana) and/or veg (carrots).

Dreadful night's sleep last night - was too warm in the house and during the night, the neighboring pond was invaded by ducks who were very noisy, plus I was playing minecraft before I went to bed and all my mind kept drifting into was minecraft -  looking at the sleep data on my Garmin, I had three instances of deep sleep, all lasting no more than about 40 minutes each with the rest being very light sleep.

One week early - Tomorrow, I go to phase two

Whilst it has not been a perfect three weeks in January with this week being a lowest step count week of January so far, it is time to move things on.
Originally I planned on this to be from the beginning of February, I am going to restart recording my food and drink consumption on MyFitnessPal from tomorrow.

It is clear that broadly speaking, on a non-running day I burn approximately 1900 calories a day, so that is my February target to keep my calorie consumption to 1850, with an allowable increase on a running day in proportion to the level of activity.

So as it stands with one week to go until the end of January I am at an average of 8700 steps a day, which is 1300 lower than I wanted but will still be clock in the best post-100km month over the last six months (currently 7800 steps a day in December 2015).

Race minus 3 and a half days - Trying to stick to the plan in the last few days, Paperwork, Weather, Fruit & Nuts!, and Fundraising Video

With fairly minimal running this week, sticking to my calories is become a challenge.
Today my appetite was fired up, and I just needed to eat and eat this morning, plus I was tempted by peanuts this evening.....
It does feel a little like the lull before the storm at the moment - once I am driving from Norfolk to Oxfordshire on Friday, it will feel a lot more real - packing starts tomorrow night.

I now have received by email my car parking pass, and shuttle transfer form, as I will be parking at the start point of the race, and will then need a shuttle bus back at the finish back to the start.
It is the booked shuttle that in effect set my maximum time to complete the race - 23 hours (7am Sunday) as if I missed it, the next shuttle would not be until 4pm!

Looking on the Met Office app, the current forecast for Saturday is 19 to 21 degrees, dropping down to about 14 to 15 degrees by midnight (when I aim to finish).
These temperatures are very do'able for me, and I am very thankful that we do not have last weekend's stonking high-20s weather.

I have decided to take a 150g bag of dried fruits and nuts (indulgent because some are covered in yogurt and chocolate) - 700 calories in the whole bag, and will be used to top up where I want something different to what is on offer at the aid stations.

A fellow runner posted up a VirginMoney Giving video with Stephen Fry, where you add your details and it feels like it been done personally for you - absolutely brilliant, and here is mine;

https://www.myfundraisingfilm.com/view/4600a7ab-a1b3-49bd-b3dd-7e8946e1580d?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_campaign=myfundraisingfilm

Race minus 10 days - Warm run, on a food bender, and running mantras

I did the first of two mid-week runs this morning in the warm 6.30am 20 degree celsius weather in the centre of Norwich towards Whitlingham Broad and back, including going up Bracondale in springy steps - normally I struggle with Bracondale but today it was comfortable.

Food-wise today was a disaster - too many ice creams, and too much extra stuff.   Tomorrow I will redress the balance, and have a more clean food day.

With pretty much most of my physical training done, I am now thinking about any mental training I need to top up on over the next 9 days, particularly with a view to running/positive-mind mantras to focus on in the final 24 hours.
I may make that tomorrow's blog or save to Friday but if anyone is reading this, and they have their own mantras they are willing to share, feel free to put them in the comments.

Race minus 15 days - Weight target achieved

Last night when I weighed myself, I beat my target weight by 0.5lbs which is great.
Now it might be water related and nip up a little but I am hoping to broadly maintain it around this level.

I didn't do yesterday's run today - an extra day's break will not hurt especially as I am doing 8 miles tomorrow and 15 on Sunday.

Calories
Breakfast 252 (Muesli and Milk)
Lunch 250 (Green Salad and Cheese)
Dinner 566 (Pizza and Garlic Bread)
Snacks 837 (Lots of fruit plus two ginger biscuits)
Total 1905.  Allowed 1840 + 215 earned from 9000 steps = 2055, so deficit is 150.

Race minus 16 days - Today's run deferred/dropped?, and weight stabilises

I took the decision not to run this morning, in order to allow my body some more recovery.
I have not ruled out running those 6 miles tomorrow.

After dropping 4lbs in 4 days, no doubt water related, my weight nipped up a pound and since then settled around being 2lb above the target weight.
I suspect by race day I might lose those final two pounds, providing I remain careful about the food I am eating, particularly as tapering is when classically runners tend to put weight on.

Calories;
Breakfast 252 (Muesli & Milk)
Lunch 317 ( cheese roll)
Dinner 498 (Chicken Jalfrezi and Rice)
Snacks 732 (Banana, Orange, Peach, 2 Apples, Large Nectarine, Cappuccino, Jelly Pot)
Total 1799 - Allowed 1840 + 231 Earned (10000 Steps) = 2071 meaning a 272 calorie deficit.

Day Two Post-Illness Recovery, and Why You Can Never Trust The Weighing Scales.

Today's calories were;
373 calories for breakfast (muesli, milk, and a banana),
280 calories for lunch (Lunchbox full of salad with a very small amount of sundried tomatoes in oil, gherkins and two boiled eggs)
330 calories for dinner (Granola Square - I was not at home, so no main meal)
813 calories for snacks (Peach, Apple, Orange, Banana, 4 Malted Milk Biscuits, Multigrain Breakfast Bar, and a Naked Pecan Pie Bar)
Total is 1798 calories.  I allow for 1840 calories, plus I earned 138 calories from the 7000 steps I did today - net deficit is 182 calories for the day.

Last night I weighed myself, and in the space of two days I had lost 2.25 lbs, which makes me think the 4.5lbs increase I mentioned in yesterday's blog was probably higher than reality.  I will continue to weigh myself each day to check how it changes over time.

I had an awful night's sleep - it was too warm, and I kept drifting in and out of sleep, so the optional short run this morning was sacrificed to get an extra hour's kip - tomorrow, I will be getting up to hopefully do six to eight miles.

From Tomorrow's blog through to the big day, the blogs will have a 21 days to go countdown style heading.

Shattered! The price of too many unhealthy food choices?

There have been too many days of recent where fresh cream cakes, homemade millionaires shortbread, homemade chocolate truffles et al have been eaten, with total disregard to managing my calories.

Today was meant to be that turning point back to the correct ways but my long-run yesterday seems to have taken a bigger toll on my energy levels today than other long-run Sundays have on a Monday.
Temptation was all to easy in the end, and a salted caramel muffin from Sainsburys resulted in an unnecessary 450 calories being consumed - a lot of better food could have been eaten instead for that many calories but lets hope it ends today, and tomorrow does not become day six of poor food choices.

I should have also got more sleep last night but choose instead to catch up on some TV, and do some ironing - tonight I will be a bed by 10pm, so I get 7 hours good sleep before I am up for day 1 of 3 consecutive mid-week six milers, with rucksack.....
So far rucksack has only been used on long-runs but from now on, I will use it each run, so my upper body learns to be more used to it, and maybe it is a light form of strength training?

Given my training schedule is about to ramp up in the toughest two weeks before taper, having a five-day food binge was not sensible, but maybe I needed it to let some steam off ahead of the final push.

Healthy Eating "suspended" for a couple of days - my first fresh cream cake in months tasted wonderful

Running is progressing to plan but both today and tomorrow, my food consumption will be intentionally less healthy than usual.

A colleague had brought in birthday cakes, and I decided to treat myself to a fresh cream apple turnover - It was eaten slowly and every bite was savoured - it tastes delicious!

Tomorrow, I am bringing into work homemade chocolate truffles and homemade millionaires shortbread for a different colleague who is moving onto pastures new.  In addition, we are heading to an Aussie Pie shop in Norwich called the Flaming Galah!, and I have never been there, so this will be a good experience based on how popular it is at work.

Weekend onwards, I will revert back to a more sensible food regime through to the big day in just over five weeks (gulp!).

My Approach To Training For My First Ultra

One of my work colleagues was enquiring about my whole approach to training for the Ultra, not just about my running but my recording of food eaten on MyFitnessPal, so I thought I should share my answer in case it is of interest to anyone else.

In terms of my four to five runs a week I do them first thing in the morning typically starting at about 5.30am to 6.30am, and I do them having not eaten anything, known as a fasted run.

The reason I do this is based on forcing my body to learn how to burn it's carbs and fat stores more efficiently, so on race day when I do fuel up pre-race, and depending on distance top up at regular intervals, it learns to make the efficient use of the fuel I provide - that's the theory and based on the recent Sunday long runs, I am mastering the ability to keep sufficiently topped up so I do bonk late in the run.

The exercise aspect is only one part of my approach, with the other being how much and what I eat each day, and for that I use MyFitnessPal to help keep me on the straight and narrow.

A typical mid-week running day, I allow 1800 calories plus the calories earned from the run, which seems to be about 700 to 900 calories.

When I get back from my run, I have a cup of milk then a large bowl of cereal, typically muesli but currently Shreddies (as they need using them up) with a similar amount of milk = 500 calories.

Lunch will be soup and roll, salad with cheese or some meat, or last night's dinner leftovers, so anything from 400 to 600 calories.

During the day, snacks will be mainly fruit based, such as banana, apple(s), pear, orange etc plus breakfast bar style food = upwards to 500 calories.

Dinner will be about 800 calories.

Total = 500 + 600 + 500 + 800 = 2400 calories based on the maximums.  Given my "allowance" is 1800 + 700 = 2500, then it is all about right, and typically I will be 200 to 300 calories each of these days.

I eat less on non-running days with Monday being an exception as the Sunday long run makes me very hungry the following day, so I tend to merge Sunday and Monday together.

I hope this makes sense.

Week 9 completed, looking good, time pressured 20 miler, the backpack, and a look ahead to the dreaded Week 10

Week 9 I did five runs that added up to 41 miles (20 done today), and it is becoming clear that whilst I have no scope to do much more, particularly mid week, it is actually (surprisingly) very manageable.

There is a another benefit to all this running in that in the last eight weeks, I have lost 10lbs in weight and now need to lose another 3.5 lbs to set a new lowest weight - I have been recording my weight on and off for the last four and half years when at that point I had hit a whopping 16st (224lbs).  My present weight is 12st 10.25lbs (178.25lbs) and the current lowest record is 13st 7lbs (175lbs).
Anyhow, I am getting a lot of comment about I look slimmer these days - my missus reckons I am vanishing up my own backside..... - and to finish this section I have two "aspirational" shirts ironed and hanging up, waiting for me to fit into them, and I hope after Race to the Stones, I will fit into them for work.

Now today's 20 mile run became a little more time pressured than I had originally planned when I overslept by one hour and I had a deadline to be home by.  As a result today's run was more like a training session for a marathon rather than a run-but-take-time-to-enjoy-the-views-ultra.
As with all runs to date, it is a fasted run and I comfortably did the first ten miles around various farm fields, and facing the quarter-mile nettles of doom along the river like last week's long run, before then taking on water and to start with jelly babies.  At mile 12, another batch of jelly babies and water, then at mile 14 a large banana and water, mile 16 was a breakfast bar, mile 18 more jelly babies.  At no point was I feeling like I was out of energy, so nutritionally I had nailed it.
One thing I did do to help with breaking down the 20 miles was I noticed I was doing just about 48 minutes after four miles and quickly calculated that if I could keep to an overall rate of four miles every 50 minutes (12.5 minutes per mile) I would get the run done on time.   This was useful as I could add up batches of 50 minutes in my head and along with your subconscious being in full flow it kept the brain active working out if I was meeting this target. In the end I did it with a few minutes to spare at a rate of 12 minutes 20 seconds per mile.
Apologies, no photos due to this - will try to take some mid-week as I found a nice area that has a lot of environmentally friendly areas for wildlife just outside of Reedham.

That 20 miler was with a full backpack (with two full bottles of water as well), and out of interest I thought I should weigh the bag to work out how much weight I was carrying for the whole run - total weight was 7.5lbs, or just over half a stone.
I do need to start packing it with the stuff I will have on race day rather just stuffing it with lots of clothing - time to look at what I need on race day (will blog another time).

Finally a look ahead to the dreaded Week 10 - 3x6 miles (Tuesday to Thursday) and my only day off on a Saturday but Sunday is 26.2 miles, yes a full marathon.  Total mileage will be 44 miles.

9 mile Sunday Run, time to use sun cream, and being more practical about healthy eating

Today I took a leisurely run from home to Limpenhoe to Cantley, then along river to Reedham before returning home - just over 9 miles.

This weekend I truly mastered the the art of running slow enough for it not to be classed as an easy run, the sort of pace where you could just keep on going.

One mistake was not to put any sun protection on, so I now have the "caught the sun" look this evening - time to apply it each run from now on, unless of course it is bucketing it down.

With my weight unsurprisingly continuing to drop at the rate of about 1lb a week, one of the causes is the calorie gap caused by all the running - today I burned about 1200 calories - and this is creating upwards of 1000 calorie deficit, particularly on Sunday long run days.

So yesterday I had a chocolate Rice Krispie cake (150cal) that I made to use up some Rice Krispies that no one was eating, and today I had two plus a small choc ice!  Despite a hearty dinner, I am still below my calories but the gap will at least be smaller.

Photos of long run below;

Fields at the start of the run

Pubic footpath that diagonally cuts across three different fields before you then one more field away from Limpenhoe

Reedcutter Inn pub (Cantley) at the start of the route along the river to Reedham

The first bit passes the Sugar Factory in Cantley

A quarter of a mile of uncut path involving a lot of stinging nettles - a definite don't think about it, just run through as fast as possible and man-up when the stings kick in....

Derelict windmill with a working one in the distance

Reeds that have cut and left to dry.

Reedham Ferry Inn

Converted windmill into a "house" aka Jonathan Creek

End of the river route for me as I then turn into Reedham before heading home.