6 miler, some off-road

10.5 km

Nothing much to report, except again, to follow on from yesterday, a very very slow start.

Nice just to switch off the ipod and soak up the moment and rejoice in the freedom I have to run, what a privelege.

Remembered to do a little stretching after.

Return run... Another!

6 mile gentle

Very nice to just run gently without any specific goal other than the6 miles. It felt weird to have cumulated aches in the legs, different muscles from different exertions (200m sprints fri, 5k sat and 2 hours on technical trails yesterday). They are now just pleasantly twitching as I write this!



Was also fantastic just to switch off the running podcast and listen to some worship, immerse myself in that, talk to him, remember just how impossible it was to do what I amdoing now just a few months ago. With him, by him and for him.

Timed 5K, did I achieve my goal of sub 18 minutes?

Warmup 10 mins, timed 5k, 10 mins cool down
I went into it feeling pretty stiff from yesterdays sprints sessions (8 x 200m), and did and didn't succeed in breaking 18. My garmin said I did, and the running track said I didn't! I suppose garmin will always give the most favourable reading as it tracks your position precisely, and the track is probably closer to real life / race conditions, so I should probably go with that, 18:20 (otherwise, garmin gave 17:55). It's strange being in a position that so clearly indicates lower form than I have previously had, not a feeling I am used to!

200m Sprints

6 July 2012: 8 x 200m with 40 second intervals, plus some drills and jogging. Total dist. 6.3 km
Pretty good sprints session, although some good sporting and spiritual lessons learned. I think that when you do something like this for the first time then expectations have to be low, both in terms of performance and consistency.
My first 200m I bombed in 31 seconds, but within a couple of reps I was down to 39, although by the end of the “first” set I had managed to get the splits back to about 35-37 seconds. There was supposed to be a second set following a five minute jog break, but I SOMEHOW still managed to forget my inhaler, and I decided it unwise to do the second set and avoid taking my respiratory system to its limits.
Lesson 1: prepare kit the night before.
Lesson 2: on sprint sessions of 200m, aim for 35s.
It is very hard to hold back on the first rep. I remember I used to struggle with this with the hill sessions I used to do. The recovery time never feels enough!
Lesson 3: let God reign and shine into every part of my life.
Following on from my abandoning of the sprints session, I felt myself tempted in a destructive way. It required no small amount of wrestling and prayer (and turning off my sermon podcast!) to finally see God come back and win my heart. A couple of songs that came to me joyfully toward the end: “give light to my eyes.... I will not be overcome by my weakness, I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me” (Tree) and “be the king of this heart” (Matt Redman).

3 July 2012

3 July: 4 x 1 mile with 3 min recoveries.
A pretty good session in many ways... for an interval session! I was saying to David, my new trail-running friend on Saturday how I just don't like interval sessions very much, although I am starting to wonder if it's just partly due to the fact that I fade so much at the end with my current level of fitness. Today's was only my second in ages, and day 2 of my marathon training for the Luberon marathon, but I certainly faded: Mile 1, 5:55 - mile 2, 6:00 - mile 3, 6:02 - mile 4, 6:13.
In the recovery between mile 3 and 4, I became aware of my right big toe hurting, which I think may have happened before, possibly connected to my new running style, which avoids heel strike, and applying that to 6 min/mile pace.
Another thing to remember for intervals: TAKE MY VENTOLIN. Definitely felt some of that tightness come back toward the end of the intervals.
At several points during the running, which was still a bit pleasurable, and still fairly cool with clear skies, I was reminded of what I spoke of yesterday, and tried to sense God with me, and talk to Him about what was going on, see his pleasure and the beauty in his creation...
It's actually a bit of a shame that the only flat bit I have found near me is so noisy and full of commuter traffic and industry. I will make the effort once a week if possible to get to a track or find somewhere else.

Luberon marathon 2011

By a miracle, the knees were sorted, so the monumental planning that went into this race went ahead: I really did try to get everything right, even organising routes for my family and ensuring they had what they needed. Only of course everything did not go right. Cutting to the chase: I got a time of 3:15, sounds pretty reasonable? But a 17 minute positive split is probably not what it's about, right?! So apart from going too fast in the first half, what else? Inconsistent marshalling. Sometimes they were pointing in the opposite direction to the signs and generally left me genuinely praying that I was actually on the right route. At one point I definite was not. The wheels came off properly in the latter half as I encountered what seemed to be bigger and bigger hills and the temperatures cranked up toward 30, cramps, dehydration and even walking. Boo hoo hoo. What did go well (apart from my first half splits)? Wonderful Provencal scenery, diversity of landscapes and running surfaces ... and nutrition! Yes this was my one big success of the day, because unlike all of my other recent long runs, everything stayed where it was supposed to, and my emergency tissues lived to fight another day ;)

This was my second marathon, and yet unlike the Half, I feel i have yet to run one properly where I know I am in control of IT rather than the other way around. Role on spring season!