Building bridges

Had a pretty good run at the Bridge tonight. I'm not really that fussed about the time - and I was within 2s of my pb - again. Yes, it would have been nice to go under 18 but I know it will come once I start focusing the training. I'm not really doing sensible training at the mo, mainly just speed work and short interval and then racing on the weekend. I'm not doing any tempo runs at the moment and it showed tonight as I faded a bit in the latter stages. I was basically running slightly beyond the limit but it will come. I have my race calendar set until the start of March and after that? Well that's when I will start to hone the training to include hills, tempo and long runs. That's when I will be looking to start going quicker.

Easy Monday

A brand new week beginneth and with it, new hope for the long and winding race ahead.... [slap] Each new dawn brings fresh opportunities.... [slap, slap].... ah, that's better. Must keep taking the pills.

Took an easy day today, just a quickie down the gym (be careful) and then home to plot the Long Mynd race on my shinny new map. From studying the route and the multitude of hills I have developed a cunning plan. A plan so utterly cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel but I shall call it - a hang glider. Can't see any mention prohibiting them in the rules....

Run bike: part deux

I actually managed to put my money where my mouth is for once and did the session I planned for - now that doesn't happen very often (attaches gold star).

Sean, fresh from his great run at the Midland Cross Country Championships - where he was part of the Silver medal winning U17's, worked me over this morning. I was aiming for an easy run and it started out that way. However, once we got onto the tow path he just kept cranking up the pace. We were ripping it up along there - well I was ripping it up, Sean seemed comfortable and I'm sure he could have cranked it up a notch or two more but I was thankful he didn't! We were out for just under the hour and all in all it was probably a much more beneficial session than an easy run would have been.

Then it was transition time again. Managed to knock a good few minutes off the change over this time compared to yesterday. I whipped it out for all to see - the bike that is, on with the wheels and attached the breaks in the blink of an eye (a very slow blinking eye that is). Then on with the padded shorts today - for biking/saddle reasons if you know what I mean - and off into the wide blue yonder - well Leigh Woods anyway.

Put in slightly less time today. Only 1:24, but long enough to be satisfied. The hills I selected today were even steeper than yesterdays. I was really puffing on a few of them and pumping the legs like you wouldn't believe. I certainly got some good lactic burn and managed to hold it together through the pain to get to the top without dropping down the gears or slowing. The legs were like jelly at the top but I pushed on all the same. Trying to go as quick as possible and recover a bit at the same time before hitting the next hill.

The weekend has been good training and close to five hours worth of run and bike in total! I could get to like this combined training. Since the bike uses the muscles differently to running I recon I could do this every week without it affecting my running. And the great thing about the bike is that it didn't seem like I was out there for 1:30 at a time. Whether it's the faster speed I don't know but the time seemed to go much quicker than with running.

Anyway, my thoughts are now turning to next weeks fell races. I say races because I'm tempted, although I know I shouldn't even be thinking it, to run both the Saturday race (3M) and the Sunday race (11.5M). I'm a complete novice at this fell lunacy and not really sure how to approach all this navigate your route stuff but I'm good with maps so what the heck - after all, I didn't get where I am today without being almost entirely insane!!!! And if I do run the shorter race I shall take it easy - top twenty will do (only kidding).

Run bike....

Didn't manage to get out for that run yesterday - but I made my penance today and in any case I needed to get a bit of bike work in ready for my mountain bike duathlon on the 18th Feb. Haven't been on the real bike for a few months and so thought I better get some training done! It's only three weeks away and I'm racing both weeks in between so I'm not going to have much more chance.

I've entered the long event which is a 2 mile run followed by 10 miles off road on the bike followed by another 2 mile run. It says on the entry details that first timers should not enter the long one and do the 1m/5m/1m instead because it's a tough race - but it ain't worth getting out of bed for that!

Anyway, I put in an hour run around Ashton Court and Leigh Woods and then back to the car for the transition (getting the hang of these fancy terms already!) to bike. I hope I make a quicker transition in the real thing but then I guess I won't have to get it out of the car and put it back together first!

I chose a fairly rugged route to try and simulate the type of terrain I may meet in the real race and made sure it took in quite a few good hills. I was out there for an hour and a half and covered about 30km. Converting that to 10 miles would put me around 50 minutes - providing the real bike section isn't massively much harder than my route today. So, providing I can hold my own with the runs - I mean on the run sections - I recon I should be able to claim a top 50 spot. Don't know if this is realistic or overly cocky but who cares? Better to have aimed high and flopped than never tried at all.

I shall put in the same training session tomorrow. A run with Rick and who ever else turns up followed by an hour to an hour and a half on the bike.

Even chillier....

Well tonight was even more chilly than yesterday. Only the hard men and women of our sport would turn out for training on a night like tonight and so it was that our small but elite group of die hards entered the fray. Have to thank Keith for braving the cold to time us.

It was a repeat of last weeks session, four sets of one zoo lap followed by a short lap with about 90s recovery. I managed to run almost identical times to last week on the back of Tuesday's and Wednesday's sessions which I ran really hard, so I'm well pleased.

Haven't decided if I'm going for a long run tomorrow - I'd like to think I can shift my toned, athletic butt off the couch after work. What do you think? You know, you've got to let me know.... Should I stay or should I go?

Track glorious track

Conditions were pretty good tonight, fairly calm if a little chilly but as I say, the cold won't kill you (well, maybe it could kill you, but what the heck we risked it - and if it did you wouldn't need any bleach!). The boys were all out tonight, Nick, Sean and Harry with the exception of Ben, due to what I hope is only a very minor set back for him after his win on Thursday. So fingers crossed for a speedy return for you Ben and chin up.

I felt a bit tired from yesterday's session on the Prom but still well up for it tonight. I don't intend to shirk training from now on. I have been guilty in the past of taking it easy during a session. Sometimes not completing the entire session and other times slowing and not working to the limit. But 2007 is my year of taking it to the limit - and not just one more time but every time. This year, even when I have had doubts half way through a session, I have gamely battled on, as was the case tonight.

We ran three 600's (1:54, 1:54, 1:53) followed by four 400's (72, 75, 75, 74). It was during the 400's that my legs gave up and it became a battle of will as much as a physical one. After the first 200m of each lap my legs began to burn with lactic acid but I pushed myself on. Although the laps were a bit slower than last week it was still maximum effort. After the 400's came three 300's to finish (53, 53, 51). I began to feel a little sick after the first three hundred but it soon passed and determination drove me on to complete. On the final one I was chasing Harry hard and as we hit 50m to go I thought I was going to catch him but he could hear my asthmatic war cry as I approached (aka my dodgy breathing) and managed to hold me off by, ooh, I would say, a good metre and a half. It certainly helped pull me along to a final flourish though, 51s. Probably as fast as I've gone on a three hundred.

Now off to recover ready for my trip to the zoo tomorrow....

Better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail...

I tried contact lenses for the first time today and stuck them in for tonight's training session on the Prom. Have to say that they weren't uncomfortable at all and really quite easy to shove in. Taking them out is going to take a bit of practice though. It took me several attempts to get the little devil's back out! After just one use I think they're going to work out great. Vision was much clearer than with the ol' glasses - didn't have any of the distortion I normally get when the gogs bounce around under the rush of great, huh, cough, speed that I'm traveling. So, my overall impression of contacts after my first time is a big thumbs up. And you know what? I might actually be able to see where I'm falling next time I come down a mountain in the pouring rain!

On to tonight's training. It was another quick one for me. We ran 2 large, 2 medium and 2 short reps with somewhere in the region of 90s to 150s recovery proportional to the length of the rep. My big ones, I'll rephrase that, the two large reps were both just outside 6 minutes in 6:03 and 6:01. That's 13s quicker than I've gone before. I ran the medium reps in 4:03 and 4:01 which again is a 14s improvement on my previous quickest. The short ones were slightly slower than my fastest but still pretty good, 2:26 and 2:29.

I'm beginning to get some consistency with my pacing on these sessions. I'm hitting the point of maximum effort without slipping over the edge and having to slow, thereby loosing some of the potential gain. The last rep proved I was just at that point of knackeration (nice made up word) on that last rep which is how it should be. On another positive note the knee's been fine again today. All that twisting and slipping on Sunday seems to have done the trick - excellent.

Finally, I've decided I will not be racing this weekend. Instead I shall be putting in a some mountain bike work in preparation for my upcoming duathlon in Feb. And I've decided I'm going to race the Long Mynd Valleys fell race up in sunny Shropshire the week after. It's 11.5 miles with 5000ft of ascent and last years winning time was in the region of 1:45 so it looks like a stroll in the park!!! - groovy. Well, you know what they say, when the going gets tough - get in your car and go home :)

Finally, finally, well done to Ben R and Nick T for 1st and 3rd in last Thursdays Weston Prom Run. It's great to see Ben getting back to form and Nick chasing him hard. I guess all that time they're spending studying my running form at the track on Wednesday night is beginning to pay off - they can see exactly how they shouldn't be doing it!

Kneely but not quite

Today has been the first day since my long run just before Christmas that my left knee has not hurt at all - yippee! I don't actually know what I did during that particular run to cause the problem. All I know is that for the last few weeks, after every run I could feel discomfort for a day or two (and since I didn't break off from running for more than that it meant it was pretty much constant!). It was never particularly bad though and once I was up and running the pain went but today has been the first day without feeling the problem at all. I've been able to go down stairs without feeling any discomfort which is truly the first time since it happened. I was expecting it to be bad today after yesterdays race, it was killer after last weeks fell race but instead - nada. I know, I know I'm my own worst enemy because I should have rested up and let it get better but I'm of the 'grin and bare it' school of stupidity.

Anyway, I have had a rest day today except for an hour on the bike and half hour on the weights but that doesn't really count. I'm all ready for tomorrow's Clifton Prom session and I think I should be able to give it some. Oh, and just set a new sit up record for one sitting, 222 - nice.

The Massacre

Well I have to admit that The May Hill was much more of a massacre than I expected! It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. Well done to the race organisers for a great race with loads of marshals to make sure we didn't take a wrong turn - definitely one to add to the running calendar.

My recent run of good results continued as I finished in 12th place out of somewhere in the region of three hundred, I'm guessing (I was race number 332 and there were more entering on the day). It was a course which took in everything. A bit on the road, then some good firm uphill sections followed by some down right muddy sections. At one point I thought I was going to do a 'Vicar Of Dibley' - there was a large puddle in the midst of one of the muddy sections, the water came over my knees - I thought I was going to disappear!

And finally, I might have found a race for next weekend, Thornbury's Riverbank Rollick 8.1 - sounds wet - but then I got some good practice today.

Slip sliding away....

Knocked off work early to go and get myself a recovery ten miler. It were awfully muddy out there in Leigh Woods and Ashton Court today. I was flipping slipping all over the place. Additionally, I slightly miss calculated the route as it turned out to be nearer 11.5 miles. That's my longest since the start of December! I don't suppose it will have done me any harm though and I guess it's about time I started putting in some longer runs. Maybe I should think about getting back up to a weekly fifteen miler.

On the run the pegs felt unresponsive so I took it easy, no point in killing myself. I pushed on the hills though - everyone knows a leopard can't change his spots - and felt surprisingly good. Hopefully I will be feeling sprightly by tomorrow and then super sprightly on Sunday for the race.

Overall, this has been another fine week of training. Considering how broken my legs were at the start of the week I've managed two really good sessions on Wednesday and Thursday and a decent long run today. Have to say that Wednesday was the highlight, still can't believe I managed those 72s on such tired legs.

And finally, I still haven't managed to locate a race for next weekend so suggestions on a postcard to ....

Windy Thursday

Well my fence made it through last night but as I suspected from looking at its rather rickety form against the early morning dawn it didn't see the day out - what a bugger. Three panels down, one obliterated and two looking decidedly the worse for wear. Oh well that's a little job I've got to make time for.

Now onto important matters. What am I having to eat tonight? - only kidding - I meant tonight's training up at the zoo. Bit of variation tonight which broke up the session really well. Instead of running eight single laps we ran one of the normal singles with 90s recovery and then a different, slightly shorter lap with more of a steady rise in it. Stir in a little wind/gale, a sprinkle of drizzle, repeat four times and there you have it. The two different laps really made the session pass much more quickly than normal. Like yesterdays session, tonight's was another quick and consistent one for me. 3:06 for the longs ones and 2:24 to 2:27 for the shorter ones. After yesterday and today I'm beginning to feel like all the effort is starting to pay off. My legs were still tired tonight but I made sure I completed the session. I feel I'm benefiting both mentally and physically from these hard work outs. Giving me more capacity to dig deep.

You beauty

That super spicy meat feast pizza before training did the trick. I was on fire tonight! Well maybe not on fire but certainly pretty damn fine - for me anyway.

I let the boys get on with it tonight. They were on the three 900's, three 500's and three 300's session but I decided that was too much and ran eight 400's and a single 300 to finish. It was meant to be nine 400's but I was that close (really need to see my fingers doing a pinch with 1mm air gap) to giving up on the 9th rep and turned it into a 300 instead of stopping. Had a bit of fun on the first rep - I gave the boys a shock as I hit the front with 100m of my lap to go (they still had 600m to go). They didn't know what hit them as the Davemyster came storming past. Once in front I was kind and let them know I was only doing a 400 so they wouldn't chase too hard - I'm not a totally evil bastard.

Unbelievably it was pretty much the fastest set of eight I've ever strung together! I've run 6 reps in 72s and tonight I again managed the first six at consistent 72s, the last two slipped a bit to 73/74s but I was really pushing hard to maintain the pace by then and the recovery on those last two was only 60s which was a bit short for me. In light of how tired my legs were - for they still didn't feel anywhere near fresh before the start - I'm really pleased. With fresh legs I recon I'm probably in the 70s zone for the session which is a definite improvement in speed from a few months ago.

I'm aiming to run tomorrow's session, need to find out where it is though. Then a long run on Friday, when I say long, maybe 10 miles, before a rest day on Saturday. Then I should be fresh for The May Hill Massacre 8M on Sunday. I don't recon it will be that tough but I'm hoping it's hilly enough that I can use my strength on the hills to get another high finishing position. Just have to wait and see how it goes I guess.....

Not so much mile reps as a big eight mile rep!

The legs are still not great and I almost missed training tonight. In the end I managed to haul myself over to Aztec. Not so much to do the mile reps - the legs just wouldn't have coped - more as a psychological boost - to make me feel like I'd done some thing. I decided to jog round and put in eight miles of easy running. The training session was really just an excuse to get out there and jog - without it I would have sat on my big lardy all night!

Anyway, I actually began to get a bit of pace in the legs by the end. The first couple were just a warm up in 8:30 and 8:00 then I ran 7:00, 6:48, 6:30, 6:20, 6:01 and then a final 7:40 cool down lap. I ran the laps continuously without recovery as I was going so slow. I was quite surprised I managed to get one run at six the way the legs felt before hand. I just hope I haven't put myself back by running that quicker one cause I hope to do a proper session on the track tomorrow. I guess I'll find out in the morning if the legs are still pants or not.

Well, I can hear the 'ting' of the cooker which means my quorn korma with poppadoms and nan bread are ready for the eating - proper athlete food.

Another rest day methinks

Well almost, my legs are still too sore to run, maybe even more sore than yesterday - curse doms ( that's delayed onset muscle soreness to you). Made it down the gym instead though. Put in 30 minutes on the Bike, which wasn't really that painful and I was actually able to hit it pretty hard considering. On a positive note my fitness level is great at the moment. The old pulse rate came zooming down between intervals so I'm certainly no where near fatigued or over training - which is nice. In light of that I'm happy to crank on with the training as normal this week and maybe add in some extra miles as I have somewhat let the mileage slip of late. Now I think it's time to start building it back up a bit. I want to be in good half-m shape in case I feel the urge.