Short run – Page 11 – Foster Runs

February 25, 2014February 25, 2014

Upstairs, Downstairs and in the Master’s cabin

It’s an amazing three and a half months now since November 10th when I last ran outside. It seems unlikely that I would choose to get back out there on a day where the weather was turned up to full, but there it was… Daren was back in town and very little, weather-wise, would stand in the way of my catching up with him.

We met upstairs at Jack & Jill (as opposed to downstairs at Clayton Rec ground) and our run almost instantly turned into a retreat for a cup of tea… the wind was shocking! Daren is the master of a boat (though I’m not sure that he or the owner would thank me for calling it that) and as such is well used to weather of all kinds, so for him to put his hood up gives a reflection of how bad it was!

Undaunted (well, a little) we faced into the biting wind and got on with our run.

The usual route was taken, which is basically a sublime roller coaster ride down to Pyecombe, up to Woltsonbury, down to Clayton, up the tank tracks to Home Hill and back down to the windmills. An early comment from Daren made me realise that I was running around puddles… he pointed out that by the time we reached Clayton we would be coated in mud, so there was little point avoiding the puddles at this stage. The new game was ‘running through puddles’!

We paused at Wolstonbury for the view before slip-sliding down the other side.

As we neared Clayton, we reached the path that is eternally muddy, even in the full scorch of summer. Today the mud was glutinous and wall to wall so his early assessment had been correct… the best way was through the middle!

This picture is a little shaky because I was laughing… Daren is up to his knees in a muddy puddle and that wasn’t the worst of the mud by any means!

We ran on through Clayton and reached the bottom of the tank tracks, aka Daren’s Nemesis. This path takes the direct route up the scarp slope of the Downs, but we kept pushing and managed to reach the top without stopping. The downside of reaching the top was that we came back into the wind, low laden with stinging rain!

The upside was that it was all downhill back to the cars, so we made light work of it. Strangely enough I got wetter in the few short minutes it took me to remove my muddy shoes and running longs than in the whole of the run… the wind was blowing the rain horizontally into the car, a little like sitting in the surf on the beach.

6.25 miles dispatched in a respectable 1.16 is a shade under 5 mph… not at all bad bearing in mind the conditions.

I enjoyed it so much that I’m inclined to run outside again.. well, maybe when someone turns the weather down a little!

February 23, 2014February 23, 2014

Working downstairs

Another post containing two runs, this time because out of the last ten days, I have spent two days lecturing or in meetings and eight days working at my desk marking (fortunately really interesting) strategy papers.

On average I spend twice as long marking each paper as I’m paid for (to reach the standard required by my client), but it’s at least pushing me slowly up the experience curve. HA… of course I’m not always as upbeat as this, but my current task is now complete so I’m currently basking!

Last Sunday I was basking too, this time eating breakfast in the garden for the first time this year… fine weather indeed for the middle of February and all the more so bearing in mind that in the deluge two days earlier, the stone garden had looked more like a river bed!

On the sunny Sunday though I had decided to run a for a little longer and push through to 45 minutes. I had clearly expected to write my blog post later that same day so I made no notes on the board… and thus, other than vaguely remembering that it was hard work, I have little to say about it. I covered 5.36 miles, an average of 7.14 mph.

I saw this excellent example of positive PR in the paper this week… it seems like a visit to the cafe at South Downs Nurseries Garden Centre in Hassocks is to be recommended if you’re looking to shed your walking stick!

I’m feeling more generally upbeat this week because, for the first time since the autumn, there was a glimmer of light in the sky when I got up at 6am. I love the speed that the mornings lighten from here as Spring hastens to take hold.

I’ve been waking up with a painful leg for the last few mornings, probably because, despite being disciplined about getting up to walk around between papers, I have sat at my desk for something like 50 hours in the last week or so. I really pity office workers… at least I generally get a real mix of working environments.

So today, having completed my mammoth marking task, I was happy to take to the machine once again. Not wanting to overdo it I started at 7 mph and increased by 0.2 each quarter mile until I had completed a mile. Then I returned to a base of 7.2 mph and repeated, all the way through to a final quarter mile at 8.2 mph.

Nothing strenuous, but good ground-floor foundation reinforcement!

4 miles took me 31 minutes 38 seconds, an average of 7.58 mph and because I worked up to it slowly, I was not exhausted at the end. However, with my leg in mind (only painful laying down) my legs got an extended cold shower for their effort!

February 9, 2014February 9, 2014

Hard going four me

It would have been really easy to have skipped my run today as I was enjoying reading and also had a crick in my neck, but I managed to usher myself onto the machine before I had the chance to escape.

I started at the same speed as last week, 7 mph and 7.5 for the first two quarter-miles, but then increased to 8.5 and 9 mph After the first mile I was 17 seconds off the 8 mph pace and after repeating it a second time, whilst making the speed increases a little early, I was only 13 seconds adrift.

Then my subconscious started to pull rank and I soon found myself running at 6 mph. It’s a funny thing, that energy-preservation override and more than once I pushed the speed up a little, only to find it come back down again.

4 miles took me 31.29 in the end, an average of 7.6 mph, which is actually not so bad. I just need to remember to start more slowly next time, whilst Kim pointed out that I had no fuel in advance of the run, so I really was running on empty.

So far I have managed to curb the urge to sleep this afternoon, first by going shopping for a Japanese cherry blossom tree and later by putting some vibrant music on whilst we prepared the stew for tonight.

In the end I didn’t get as much reading done today as I would have liked and the neck crick is still there, albeit less prevalent, but it was really nice to have a more relaxing Sunday after missing all those ones in January.

February 2, 2014

Short

I seem to be short on time, all round, at the moment… but correspondingly high on frustration for some reason.

Hmmm… I can’t help feeling that there’s a link there somewhere…

Anyway, I did manage to fit a run in earlier today, albeit on the machine again. Starting from 7 mph I increased the speed each quarter mile… 7.5 to 8 to 8.5 mph… before going back to 7 mph and repeating for the next mile. In the final quarter mile I slowly ramped up to 10 mph before finishing, exhausted.

As a result I managed to complete 4 miles in 31.03, an average of 7.74 mph.

The picture above is a neat guitar pedal that my big Bro sent me. I haven’t managed to figure out how to use most of its features, but it has a very simple 40 second recording facility that allows you to either play along to a riff that you’ve played into it, or record further layers on top.

What this really means is that I have been driving Kim mad playing short melodies again and again and again and again and.. well, you get the picture. Thank you Bro!

January 26, 2014January 26, 2014

Two more runs

The recent inconsistency of posting to this site reflects my sense that the current working week, consisting of consultancy, lecturing and all the necessary background preparation that goes with both, started on the 1st January… and that I’ve yet to encounter a weekend.

Not that I’m complaining, as the work is challenging, varied and fascinating. It’s just not conducive to a serious blogging proposition with its requirement for a predictable flow of posts… not that FosterRuns.com is a serious blogging proposition, despite its six+ year history!

Since I’m only pausing before the next pressing task on the desk, I’ll be brief.

Last weekend I opted for some intervals. Working from a base of 7mph I managed to cover 4 miles in 31 minutes 38 seconds, an average of 7.65 mph. I clearly could have gone faster as I ramped up the speed to 10 mph towards the end.

This morning I followed the same basic pattern but shortened the 7 mph rest periods and generally got the speed up earlier on in the run. As a result my conscious mind kicked in and I struggled towards the end, limping through the final mile at 7 to 7.5 mph. Despite this I was only 5 seconds behind last week, with a time of 31 minutes, 43 seconds, at the end of 4 miles.

That’s all for now folks! Normal service will hopefully be resumed next week… whenever that happens!

December 28, 2013

More fast tempo

Before I forget, Sunday 22nd saw me doing yet another fast tempo run on the machine.

Once again I completed 4.01 miles in 30 minutes, adding to the time I have spent running at 8 mph lately. I’d write more but I’m working on my iPad at the moment which is driving me nuts by not allowing me to select any of the words in the last sentence written. Oh for a back button and some arrow keys to move around with ease.

December 15, 2013

Ambivalentempo

I can’t quite put my finger on why, but a slightly odd week and weekend made for a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards my Sunday run today… as in, there was no reason not to run for a change!

Taking full advantage of this ambivalence, I set the machine to 8 mph and sought to repeat the fast tempo run I did two weeks ago, hoping that my legs would get used to this new pace.

It was hard work, but as before there was no single part of my body or mind which stood out to make me stop, so I completed 4.01 miles in 30 minutes.

That’s all for now folks! Have a GREAT week!

December 11, 2013December 11, 2013

Playing catch-up

I’ve had a day of playing catch-up… slowly clearing the office white-board of to do items. What has been interesting is that as fast as I have completed tasks and removed them from the board, so new (and generally more complex) things have appeared to take the space.

I’m now working to clear a note that says ‘3.51 miles in 30 minutes’, my short run on the machine on Sunday.

One of the challenges with setting a high bar (8 mph last two weeks) is feeling the need to compete with yourself to better it. I just wasn’t in the mood so I set the machine to 7 mph and had an easy session.

’nuff said?

Now, I wonder what’s going to come in to take that little space?

December 1, 2013

Fast tempo

I remember being in Mrs Simpson’s class at Woodingdean Primary School, which would make it the early seventies, when I first tasted a Kiwi fruit. The combination of this memory and the fact that I’m a Chinese Wood Dragon meant that Waitrose had a pretty much guaranteed sale when I saw this Pitahaya or Dragonfruit on the shelf. It’s actually the fruit of a cactus called Hylocereus and it was such a new line that the staff hadn’t even had a chance to try it, so we had to look on-line to see how to prepare and eat it.

It is full of vitamin C, antioxidants etc (that is, it’s healthy, so long as you don’t eat the pink outer skin) and is a little like a Kiwi in both taste and texture… close enough in many regards to make the less expensive Kiwi a more appealing prospect. Nice to try though.

I’ve had a couple of manic weeks and didn’t get around to writing last weekend… more specifically as a result of having to mark twenty 3,000 word essays on different aspects of entrepreneurship. I used the same excuse for not running last Sunday, but that didn’t mean that I had no exercise… in fact, I had really stiff legs for most of last week!

The reason for this was Clive’s 50th birthday party on Saturday night. There must have been 200 people there, of all ages, but it was the Falmer class of 1982 who dominated the dance floor with their totally weird gyrations. Still young enough to have the stamina to dance all night, old enough to be really embarrassing to anyone under 30!

It probably counts as the most fun I’ve had all year!

This week I’ve had the first normal weekend since July. Weekends in August & September consisted of recovering from heavy weeks in Cambridge, finalising modules for my Brighton Business School course and then driving off on a Sunday evening. Those in October and November have consisted of reading and preparing for Brighton, UCL or Terbell lectures.

Aside from catching up on sleep, my ‘normal’ weekend has consisted of minor chores such as cleaning the windows with Kim, washing the cars, stretching out a painful shoulder from these activities etc and more enjoyable things like reading, playing guitar and so on.

This morning’s run fell in between these two categories. To build on my good work two weekend’s ago I decided to attempt a tempo run at 8 mph… that is, running at the same speed for the whole duration.

The machine needs a little time to get up to speed, so despite running at 8 for the first two miles I was about 12 seconds behind at the halfway mark. As a result I ran the next mile at 8.1 and the final one at 8.2 for good measure, clearing 4 miles with seconds to go.

It was hard going, but at least the discomfort was balanced in all areas, with nothing standing out to put a stop to proceedings. Whether this training regime will result in a faster latent running speed outside is yet to be seen, but it’s an interesting (if not wholly enjoyable) exercise.

4 miles in 30 minutes, 8mph average.

Next week is looking a little quieter at the moment and although this is ot good, there is still time for new challenges to arise! Have a great week peops!

November 17, 2013

Stretch goal

I’ve had yet another hectic week: bearing in mind that we tend to evaluate things based on the high point and the ending, this was a GREAT week. I had a series of interesting conversations: with students at UCL; with employees during a change management intervention; and with the engaging children of the client concerned. I also managed to save a client a steep fee through bootstrapped recruiting. The week then ended on a real high, teaching twenty extremely hard-working Terbell PostGrad students… thank you for leaving me with a really BIG smile on my face at the end of the day guys!

One of the concepts that I teach (and utilise) on my Team Dynamics module for Terbell is Matthew Syed’s Purposeful Practice. Syed’s concept, drawn from his experience of becoming a Commonwealth Table Tennis champion, involves constantly seeking to fail at what you’re doing during your practice sessions. His model asserts that by constantly pushing the limits of our mental and physical boundaries, we slowly increase the envelope of our abilities.

Two Sundays ago, whilst thinking about hypothermia and other stuff during my run, I was also pondering whether it would be possible for me to run four miles in 30 minutes… I had managed 3.77 miles, but I recognised that the gap was not insignificant.

My run in Brighton last week, where I maintained an average of 7 mph for 35 minutes, made me realise that my recent focus on speed over distance was actually paying off… even though it was time constraints (and laziness) rather than a training focus that had driven my choice of machine over muddy track!

So my goal, as I climbed onto the machine this morning, was to push the current limits in order to see whether this translates into an overall ability to run yet faster… Syed’s hypothesis is that it will.

I warmed up for half a mile at 7 mph before increasing the speed to 8.1 mph and settled into running at this increased tempo. I quickly realised that the fan was not blowing the air at me and that I had left my water bottle in the kitchen but, whilst not ideal, I did not let these irritations distract me from my task.

I consciously leveraged two insights: one from my childhood, where a Scoutmaster (who was a Police Diver) taught us to expel the lactic acid build-up in our lungs, by huffing out all the air between breaths, to prevent the stitch; the other from The Bok (Nick Broom’s appropriate pseudonym), who taught me to relax my hands, arms and upper body (and even my jaw) when running fast, in order to allow more energy to go to my legs.

I could see that I was adrift of my target after 3 miles so I started increasing the speed by 0.1 each minute to close the gap… I really started to feel the impact of the extra speed above 8.5 mph.

Still clearly adrift with a minute to go I ramped up to 10 mph, sprinting through the discomfort to hit my goal… but had I done enough?

I had! 4 miles in 30 minutes and an average of 8 mph… well done Foster!

Of course the irritating thing about Syed’s approach is that you can’t rest on your laurels, so I’m sure that next week will involve yet harder work! At least there’s a whole week to enjoy in the meantime!