11 km utility run, well kind of

5 km + 6 km, with a spot of shopping in between. Felt really good at points today, not as much prayer as I would have liked, but it's coming back. I feel really encouraged to keep pursuing the faith side to my running following on from watching Ryan Hall on CNN.

I have another jog planned for this evening with a guy I recently met who needs to lose some weight. Will be good to try and balance friendship with the fitness side.

2 x 3 miles

Warmup then 3 miles at marathon pace (4:23/ km), 6 min rest, 3 miles at faster pace (4:11/km), then jog home. Tot: 15 km.

knee felt a little tight at times esp during the second 3 mile slot, where I started behind schedule and was trying to pick it up against a strong headwind. Keeping the elbows in is starting to get a bit more natural, although after all of these months of rethinking footstrike I still found myself relapsing at the end of the 5k s into heel strike jogs, which I obviously overided. Maybe it will become totally natural one day!

Hill session

2 x 1 km jog.
Then, later, warmup followed by 6.4 km climb in 35 minutes exactly,
the first 2.73km in 13:08. I can't find my previous effort at this
hard hill climb. It was either 12:45 or 13:45. Was really tough at
times, and hot (28 deg) but managed to continue implementing Julian
Goater's cadence principle, ie just reducing stride and not allowing
fatigue to affect cadence. I think he's right!

The right knee is still making itself a bit known, although not as
much as Saturday.

It's really exciting to think that there is a good chance that I can
pursue the marathon on 7 Oct!

Got the "good" fatigue...

18.5 km in 2hrs

Following on from yesterday's success, that is running without stiffness, I decided to attempt a longer run today in the hills. Some very technical scrabbling sections and actually the slowness, combined with the length of time on my feet, may have actually re-triggered the stiffness in this knee. I feel less concerned though somehow. 

In terms of technique, I continued focussing on not letting my arm movement go lateral and keeping the legs moving at a good cadence even when I had to slow down my pace. But yet another aspect is creeping into my focus, and really I should work out a way of drawing this, to do with where my feet are in relation to my body LATERALLY when they strike the ground (I am therefore not talking about avoiding foot striking ahead of me). For reasons totally unknown, I have in the past set myself, somewhat unconsciously, the challenge of running along a single line (eg a painted road marking), telling myself I was totally centred if I did this and in perfect balance. But I think it's since watching the end of the ladies marathon at the olympics this year, where I watched one of the later finishers (from an eastern European nation I think) with a noticeable wide gait, if that's the right way to describe it. Bearing in mind Julian Goater's advice about the arms swinging in line with the direction of travel, surely feet that are driving inwards, effectively at a slight diagonal, in order to be on some central point, could this not be putting extra strain on my somewhat fragile knees while also being less efficient?

Trainingwise, was really very good to listen in to Episode 139 of MarathonTalk for some reminders on the long run. Tom Williams recommends something like a 22 mile, 16 mile and 10 mile distance for the three weeks preceding the marathon race day. I've only just got time to do this! Martin Yelling reminds listeners as well about the art (and encouragement) of starting a bit slower and speeding up at least to marathon pace, while, Tom adds, not overdoing it so much that the whole week is taken out by something that is getting just a bit too close to race exertion itself. I'm sure Ryan Hall would describe this more in terms of "not getting too close to the well". MT's suggestion is (that I will try next week) 2 x 3 miles in the second half of the long run at marathon pace. I think my marathon pace is 4:23/ km ("A goal") while I would really love to ensure an average an average 4:30/ km ("B goal"), which would get me just under the London marathon good for age time for the first time. To get these two 3-mile stretches right in the long run next week, one of the fields on my Garmin needs to be: "lap pace" (which actually means average lap pace).

The duo's key points for the long run

• do some sections of the second half at race pace
• do it by yourself
• no music
• practice race routine. There should be a link to mine on the right.
• Don't worry if feels hard. 

I'm not so sure about this last one, although I'll have to report back next week as it is specified as being in the second half. When everything comes together, like it did in the first half of last year's Provence Marathon (see here for the full report), it's easy to find the pace easy for quite a long time.

Here's a few pics of this morning's run, including a sunrise over Marseille.

From Evernote:

Fast, and on varied gradients!

4.5km in 20 minutes, hilly

Very excited to be almost back "up and running"! Praise God! Today I decided to take a risk. Go out after short jog in my court yard pretty quick. It felt like a risky idea, as I was still experiencing aching and stiffness on the flats and downhills as well as after the runs this week. The only explanation I can offer is that on the flats and downhills I was effectively braking and applying strain to my knee in this way. How unexpected!

From Evernote:

Steady resumption, ache is flat/downhill related

The last two days I have been able to go out for an 8 and 5 km run, and one thing is becoming clear: the ache is associated with flat and downhill running. The plan is to really concentrate on getting some good hard climbs in. The rather bizarre problem is to work out how to get back down each time!

− I should soon have a bus pass that will enable me to stink out the passengers and head downhill.

− I could also see about bike hire in town and ride the hire bike back downhill, although I'm not sure where this would work on a big enough hill.

− My wife works at the top of an 8 km hill, so I need to work out a way to run to her when she has the car.

5k, frozen ice cups and refrigerated ibuprofen gel: 1.0

Saw the doctor, which I was glad for, all the usual checks plus both knees symmetrical, and nothing externally noticeable. Due to the ibuprofen triggering some mild asthma, I am back on the gel version, but what a brainwave of the doc: keep it in the fridge, and apply just before and after running. The third application can be whenever.

So I did this, went out really slowly, totalled 5.3k in something like 33 minutes, it was 10 minute miling on average anyway. I was really focussing on running and improving my footstrike alignment, and circular "pedalling" the feet, relaxed shoulders, rapid cadence, aligned arm swing, head steady and possibly more. I have to say, when I read Julian Goather's chapter on running technique (see the Art of Running Faster), I was concerned that not only for new runners but also for me (even though I know I am still quite inexperienced) that this was a lot of advice to hold in balance at once. Like telling a learner driver to take on the city centre. But actually, I found I could rotate from one focus to the next, and that their was a natural relationship between this aspects, with one exception, which I had never noticed as an issue before: the arm swing. This would frequently revert to coming across the body. Since I didn't really bring the speed up much, as this definitely seems to be linked to the knee ache, I do wonder if this is something that aligns as the speed increases.

For the moment I am avoiding the knee support. I am wary of them as I know that once (2009, Belgium) I had one that actually made the knee ache more.

I praise God, for there is still hope for this marathon next month. I have been learning so much, I feel confident that some of the lessons learned could offset some of the fitness lost.