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Late lunchtime

This morning Bill Faust and I had volunteered to be part of a Career Speed-Dating event for year 9 students at local Oathall School, which turned out to be a really fun event.

As a result I didn’t get a chance to do my normal Monday morning short run, so instead I took a late lunchtime and ran then instead… I’ve just jumped out of the shower!

I started at 7mph, but after a mile increased it a little, and then a little more until I was running quite happily at 7.6mph.

3 miles whizzed by with little effort in 24.47, an average of 7.27mph.

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Sociable Sunday

Kim and I saw Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland last night, which was very strange.  Having seen Avatar a few weeks ago, I am already captivated by the whole 3D experience and physically ducked or flinched several times during the film and the 3D adverts that preceded it.  But there didn’t seem to be sufficient development of the characters involved , as typified by the Mad Hatter’s occasional lapse into a broad Scot’s accent, which kept leaving me with the feeling that I had missed some important bits.  Was there a prequel that I should have seen?  Overall, worth seeing, but slightly, er… vacuous.  Sorry Tim!

This morning dawned sunny and COLD!  Rather than run from Woodingdean, I had arranged to meet Cliff at Falmer and run off-road and since there was virtually no traffic on the road for either of us, we were both standing shivering by about 8.45am… as was the pond, which you can see below was partially frozen.

Pete then turned up in his car (a double surprise!) and I was then treated to the spectacle of two grown men comparing their prototype appendages ahead of the Brighton Marathon… if this sounds a little vague, then it’s supposed to, as I am sworn to secrecy.  I did get a photograph of one of the said items…

… although whilst Cliff is holding it, he is also carefully hiding it behind the black fabric.  Designers eh!

Since none of the others deigned to turn up (very sensibly, in view of the temperature) we set off up the Falmer Road, around to Newmarket Copse and then up to the top of the ridge.  The wind was fweezin and comments were passed the couple of times I snuck into Cliff’s slipstream, so I had to grin and bear it!  We went along as far as Swanborough Hill before heading south, down towards Balsdean pumping station.

At the bottom I suggested that we run up to the reservoir on the top of the hill before returning and continuing on our way, but was vetoed by my older friends.  I’m sure that I saw the sheep, with their newly-born lambikinis in tow, smirking at this display of wimpishness!  Mind you, neither I nor the sheep have a 50-mile race coming up in less than two weeks time… on that basis maybe they should be given the benefit of the doubt!

We took the path affectionately known as The Snake, for all its twists and turns (and today slightly slippery top layer), up to the top of Woodingdean and from here we doubled back up to the radio mast, Pete insisting on racing a cyclist up to the top of the hill.

For all you bottom fetishists out there, the following photographs are purely designed to illustrate that I’m a messy runner… that can be the only explanation, because we ran along exactly the same paths!

From the top of Castle Hill we dropped down to Newmarket Copse and then back to Falmer, which we reached at the one hour 40 mark.  Alas, I was certain that I needed to do more, so I left the others next to the cars and pressed onwards.

I ran over the A27 and up the road towards Mary’s Farm, cutting off left on the other side of the hill to reach the back of the University of Sussex… where I was frankly disappointed by the amount of rubbish laying around where the students presumably had held a party (what a grumpy old man I am… but clean it up guys!).  I ran through the campus and then across the bottom of Stamner Park before running to the bottom of Coldean Lane.

I crossed under the road and ran through the housing estate and then through Falmer School grounds, memories flooding back from the years I spent there as a child… although I have to confess mixed emotions about the evocation that has been placed over the doors, which read ‘Welcome Proud of Falmer‘.  I think I get what the authors were trying to say, but I bet this was designed by committee and I’m sure my old English teacher would have put a red pen right through it with a comment to the effect of  ‘could do much better‘.

I continued on towards the football stadium, but just past Falmer Station was forced out on to the main road when the path ran out.  I carefully snuck along the side of the road, took my chances with the traffic at the junction and then ran into the tranquillity of the old village (well, half of it, since the planners long-ago cut it in half), going all the way around the pond to add a few minutes to my time… and hence getting a rare shot from the other side of the pond.

The time was 2.32 and with a distance that I’ve just worked out as 15.5 miles, the speed averaged out at 6.12mph.  Sad to report that the initial 10.8 miles, completed with the guys and hilly as it was, was much faster at 6.48mph and the balance a tardy 5.87mph, but the distance was the overall aim today so I’m happy with that.  I have another 20-miler planned next week, so watch this space!

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And Five on Friday

Lately I seem to have been becoming a more reluctant runner and a conversation with the Big Man (Mr DP) yesterday highlighted to me the reason why.  Where once the running used to be about fun and socialising, it now has a clear purpose.  And since each of us has our own running program, mileage targets, time constraints and other variables including at least two different race dates, it’s not so easy to run together.  Realising that I feel a lot happier… I know that there is a peak of fitness to achieve at a certain point in time and then I’ll be able to use that extra strength to enjoy myself even more than I used to before!

Even so, after ten icky miles yesterday and slightly achy knee joints this morning, I was not raring to get on the machine.

But on I did get and after the distances I’ve recently endured, 5 miles seemed pretty straightforward.  42.26 is not fast by the standards of previous weeks, but I’m still being sensible after last weekend’s 20-miler and with the average at just over 7mph, it’s okay.

One other thought from the Big Man is rattling around in my brain though… why am I not outside.  I run on the machine for a series of reasons:  monitoring heart rate, getting used to running at a particular speed, avoiding the ice & snow in the winter, lack of pleasant local pavements to run on, time available and so on.  This has definitely had a positive effect on my long-distance running ability, as witnessed in the consistency of speed in my Woodingdean runs.

But Spring is upon us and that’s my favourite season for running outside so whilst I may continue to do some training on the machine, I will hopefully find time in the next few weeks to do some of my old cross-country routes too.  And since the Big Man is back in town for a while and there’s a rumour that the Bok has overcome some of his back problems, maybe there’s even a chance of the odd social run too.  Just the thought of it has made me smile!

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Icky ten

Kim has been in NYC for a week and having collected her from Heathrow early yesterday, I drove into London and didn’t get back home until late.  Hence my Wednesday 10-miler got turned into a Thursday 10-miler.  Based on my run earlier this morning though, I don’t think I like running on Thursdays!

Maybe it was as simple as allowing too much time to elapse between runs, so my legs had a chance to stiffen up, but I didn’t feel great on the machine this morning.  Maybe it was also in part that I listened to Radio 4, where I’m fast coming to the conclusion that the BBC is actually the LBC… The Labour Bias Corporation.

This morning’s Conservative target was Lord Ashcroft.  Maybe I’m an oddball for believing that Government is stronger for having real, global businesspeople within its ranks, rather than anodyne, career politicians with little or no business experience.  And maybe I’m also odd for believing that global business people should pay taxes back into all of the communities around the world that they derive income from, not merely some Colonial master.

But my real beef here is about the timing of these so called revelations… rather conveniently for Labour in the run up to the election.  The BBC/LBC was fast to interrogate (a better verb might be to hector) Conservative ministers about how long they have known about the situation.  But presuming that the tip-off came from within the Government, to whom the Cabinet Office reported at the time the initial agreement was reached, they were curiously silent as to how long Gordon Brown has been keeping this quietly up his sleeve.

Anyway, suffice to say that by 10 miles I was feeling decidedly queasy, despite having jumped off the machine to open the door to clear my rage and swig some water after 8 miles.  Despite also only having set the machine to 7mph or thereabouts for most of the way.

84 minutes, 32 seconds of mostly uncomfortable running.  And all in the knowledge that I must climb aboard again tomorrow to do yet another 5 miles.  Ugh!

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More?

After running 20 miles on the machine yesterday, I was unsure how I would feel about getting back on it again this morning.

But after the inclemence of yesterday,  the day that dawned was beautiful and with sun streaming through the window it was hard to feel anything other than upbeat.  With a hasty espresso to wake me up and a banana for sugar, I got straight on with it.

I started the machine at 6mph to give my legs a chance to warm up but quickly realised they actually wanted to go faster… I kept running onto the front board.  I increased the speed to 6.5mph and while I’m sure I could have run faster still, I thought prudence was well advised.  I actually experienced no discomfort at all, so the training must be having an effect.

I regretted not putting the fan on though… the combination of the heating, sun and my activity quickly brought me to a hot sweat, but I didn’t want to stop so I just had to endure it.

After yesterday’s Kiss FM session, this morning I opted for Radio 4 and endured some politician getting a browbeating from the presenter.  It was clear that the presenter just wanted a percentage number that could be used later in the news, but the guest was having none of it and managed to get away clean from the more telling elephant in the room.

He pointed out that there has been a 45% increase in public spending within local authorities since 1997 and that councils would easily be able to create efficiencies without cutting front line services.

Whether or not this is the case, this is like saying that ‘we think they’ve been pouring money down the drain for a number of years but we’ve not previously done anything about it because… ‘

Slightly hot under the collar, for more reasons that one, I completed 3 miles in 28.24, average speed 6.3mph.

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Jump Start Sunday

My plan had been to run the ten miles from Woodingdean to the old Shoreham power-station this morning.  And then to run back again.  But the forecast was for extreme inclemence, consisting of North-Easterly gales and heavy rain… and for once the forecast turned out to be right.  The thought of running the second ten miles into driving rain was not exactly appealing so I decided to stay home and listen to Martin Archer on Kiss FM, with his 3-hour Jump Start Sunday programme.

Of course this left me with a slight quandary: what to do while I listened.  I’m not exactly one for sitting down & listening to the radio whilst doing nothing and it’s difficult to play guitar or to read a book, so I decided to have a gentle run on the machine.

Beyond this, there’s not a lot to report about today… except that I ran for all-bar one minute 36 seconds of the programme and covered 20 miles.

After a three or four mile warm-up, my heart rate stayed around 155 before passing 160 around the 14 mile mark and  slowly creeping up to 165 by the end.  The machine reckons that I used 2659 calories.   I’m not quite sure exactly what to eat to replace these… I don’t think the shops sell anything with this many calories any more.  I had to demount at the half way point as the machine only counts to 99 minutes, but despite my bladder faking that it required attention, I ignored it and only walked to open the door before getting back with the programme.

Two curious things:  Firstly, I set the machine to 6.7mph for the whole duration, but the time shows that I managed to average 6.726mph… I don’t have enough calories left for my brain to work that one out.  Second, somewhere in the combination of man-made-material running kit and a lot of movement, I always manage to create a little static… I was doubly shocked then,  when I managed to earth out via the leaf of the plant that hangs expectantly over the machine!

Alas, I have no landscape photos to share with you… this was all I could see!

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Slow and early

It’s late now, but when I climbed aboard the magic carpet to do my Friday run it was only just light.  More to the point, I was hardly awake… and maybe I just dreamed that I ran.  Who knows?

Because it was early and I was half asleep (and also because I’m building up to a long run Sunday), I couldn’t bring myself to stress my legs by making them do 8+mph, so I pootled along at 7mph for the first 10 quarter-miles and then increased to 7.5mph for the balance of 5 miles.

Although I really sweated it out, my heart-rate stayed below 165 and I finished in 40minutes 49 seconds. .. average 7.35mph.

It makes me tired just thinking about it, but maybe that’s because it’s late!  Zzzzzzz

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Wednesdix run

Once again, the prospect of a ten-mile run on the machine was not a welcome one.  I had planned to get it out of the way really early on this morning, but this didn’t happen because I sat up watching Deja Vu last night… and thus found it hard to drag myself out of bed!

Following the emergent pattern of my training, I started off at 7.7mph and celebrated each quarter-mile that I ran closer to my goal.  My heart-rate climbed slowly to 170 by about the 3-mile mark and at 5 miles I paused for a slurp of water, a stretch, some jelly-babies (I had skipped breakfast and eaten only a banana) and to open the door for some fresh air.  To be fair, this took 3 minutes, but I’m sure you won’t hold that against me!

With the machine now set to 7.8mph, my heart-rate took another mile to get from 124 back up to 170 and it stayed there until the 7.5-mile mark when I increased the speed to 7.9mph.  Between here and the end my heart-rate hovered around 172 to 174 which is higher than last week, but still acceptable given the pace.

What is interesting is that the simple stretch that Andy/Marina showed me has resolved the issue with my hip tendon, at least over this distance… although I was aware of it hovering in the background towards the end.  My focus in these runs is on making a positive and steady footfall, training my legs and my mind not to waiver, which has also helped overcome little niggly pains.

So 10 miles in 77 minutes 12 seconds (ignoring the break) is a speed of 7.77mph, which I think is a PB for me over this distance even though I wasn’t racing.

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Keeping the pressure on

In the context of training for a marathon, I have wondered more than once whether running three miles on a Monday really gives me any tangible benefit.

As if to answer my question by analogy and knowing that I have no fee-paying projects right at this moment, one of my colleagues called me this morning to pique my mental faculty with some interesting thoughts and ideas.  These ideas might not pay the bills, but they keep my brain muscle exercised in the way that my little Monday runs do for my legs.

So even though my legs took me 15 miles yesterday, I had a quick 3-mile run on the machine this morning.  25 minutes 47 seconds.

Now to do the same for my head.

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Race laden wind

It was the Brighton Half Marathon today and I crossed the finish line shortly after the winner had come in at 1.06.59.

Sad to report that I was going the other direction and at a much slower pace.

I had started from Woodingdean, bracing myself against a biting, rain-laden wind.  My hands were frozen within 30 minutes by which time I was running along the top of the cliffs into the wind.

But actually it wasn’t as bad as I had expected, with the force of the wind bouncing up off the cliff and missing me for the most part.

Despite the inclemency I had expected more people to be out, but I had seen only three by the time I reached the marina.  And then I saw where they all were, turning like a giant snake on the Marine Parade below me to head into the wintry wind towards Shoreham.

I ran on, dodging the confused race marshals to reach the Palace Pier at 52 minutes (pretty consistent in this) and then on towards the West Pier.  In this section the front runners started to pass me in the opposite direction and I had counted thirty by the time I reached my one hour turning point at the Peace Memorial.

I headed back along towards the Marina with the faster runners sliding past me with increasing regularity until I reached the Palace Pier again where I took a more direct route to the finish.  A little further on I came to the Martlet Kayak Club where Cliff and Paula were helping with refreshments for the runners.

Once back on the cliff-top I was treated to occasional blasts of wind from behind which carried me forward like an Elite runner, at least for a few paces.  I passed a few more runners along this section, battling against the wind towards me and it seemed to make them more sociable than normal.  As I reached Rottingdean I came upon a wet runner with a bedraggled dog and was delighted when I got closer to realise that it was Jane, complete with her bump.

With the wind behind me I was faster up the Falmer Road (than last week, at least) and I ran past the Downs Hotel and right to the top of the village…

… before dropping back down to the 15 mile (and a smidgeon) finish at 2 hours 13 minutes.  This is 6.77mph, a shade faster than last time I ran this distance two weeks ago, but somewhat slower than the 11.73mph average that the marathon winner managed!