Running forward

Time flies, more than three months since my last post and my last race. Had planned to run the Maidenhead 1/2 in early Sept., but somehow while in the USA for last half of August I lost motivation to run more races. Had been running a lot lately, six in 2016, but my interest in racing waxes and wanes. Also lost motivation to run with Hillingdon AC... I don't know, weekends are sacred and I just wasn't looking forward to heading out there on Sunday mornings. But I haven't lost interest in running. My plan for now and foreseeable future is 20 miles per week (over five days).

While in USA I aquired two more pairs of my all-time favourite running shoes, the Mizuno Hitogami 2. Had a pair on my feet for most of the rest of the summer.

More on Wycombe

For all its flaws, at least the photos from the Wycombe Half came out pretty well. I like the retro look of the Hillingdon AC vest.

I gave the race a mixed review at Runner's World. I said I enjoyed it and gave it a 4 out of 5 overall, but I did answer 'no I wouldn't run it again' and I cited the extra distance as the biggest flaw. My review was the 9th on the site, and of the eight that came before, seven said 'yes I'd run it again' and one said 'maybe'. However since my review, all five reviewers have also said they wouldn't run it again and most have also cited the extra 0.5 miles. I didn't mean to start such a negative trend but I guess it's a good thing if people are speaking their mind about it. I feel a bit bad for the organizers as I thought it was a good event in many ways, but getting the distance right is really the first rule of any race.

2016 Wycombe Half

Just finished this race in what seems like a very slow time for me, 1:45:40. But I can explain!

First, this was a very tough course with lots of huge, long, steep uphill and downhill sections. The hilliest race by far I've ever run. I've run the Wycombe Half five times since my first one seven years ago, more than any other race, but they completely changed the route this year and now it's a totally different race. It used to be on the roads around Wycombe, now it's mainly on the grounds of West Wycombe estate. A pretty, bucolic course, just very challenging. The rain and muddiness didn't help matters either and much of the course was much more like trail/fell running than road racing.

Second, Garmin measured the distance as 13.61 miles, so that's half a mile longer than it should have been. I asked another runner what his watch said and it was 13.65. So the course was way too long. If it had actually been 13.1 miles my time would have been about four minutes faster, because my GPS pace was 7:46 (not 8:04 as suggested by my official time). I've run lots of races where the course was a little too long or too short, but I've never done one that was this badly measured.

How hard was this course? My time placed me at 51st out of 385 (87th percentile). If I had run as fast as I did at the St Albans Half a month ago, I would've placed 11th (97th percentile). If I'd run my 2010 time on the old Wycombe Half course (1:29:09), I would've placed 4th in today's race. But that would never happen because of all the hills.

Another factor that could have slowed me down today was I may still be recovering from the race I ran last Sunday. Usually I wait at least a few weeks between races. But I really don't know if that was a factor at all, and if it was it would certainly be a distant third behind the hills and the extra half mile.

Anyway despite my official time I'm glad I ran this and I really like the medal. Would I run this race again? I'm thinking probably not. It has a special place in my heart because it was the first race I ran when I got serious about running, way back in 2009. And the 2010 race was my fastest ever half. But it's a totally different race now, and I guess I'm not so into all the hills, and I'm certainly not into the extra distance! Hopefully they'll sort out the distance issue (I'm sure a lot of people will complain about it) but still, not sure I'll be back.

2016 Bushey 10k

Finished this yesterday in just under 43 minutes, a pretty good time, a bit faster than my 10k in May. This one had some big hills and I could feel it in my calves after the race, but today I feel fine and I ran 5.25 miles. This was my first race as an HAC member so I wore the vest and socialized a bit more than usual. Was socializing so much actually I forgot to take a hit on my inhaler. This worried me at first but I don't see much evidence that it negatively affected my performance. Whole family came and kids did chip-timed fun runs.

Also, I just signed up for the Wycombe Half which is in six days. I'll be going out the night before so hope I don't regret it, but I have a soft spot for this race, it was the first one I ran when I started running seriously in 2009. I also have my eye on the York 10k on 07 Aug. (we'll be in York that weekend on holiday) and the Maidenhead Half in early Sept.

HAC again

Ran again yesterday with the Hillingdon AC and enjoyed it. Same route as last time (the 'Denham Eleven'). Last Wednesday I picked up my vest from the clubhouse, had to drive through ridiculous flooding (as in 2 feet of water) to get there. That was the infamous day of the Brexit referendum, one of the things we chatted about while running yesterday.

My two runs so far with the HAC have been at about the same pace I would have run them on my own, but they felt like less work because I was with other people. The run yesterday was nearly 11 miles but I hardly noticed the effort, it was nice and a bit strange. The first 6 miles in particular flew by without me even realizing. It's apparent that these runs have been slightly easier for me than for my partners so I think to make it harder for myself I'll get in the habit of running both to and from the clubhouse; distance from home to clubhouse is 2.5 miles so that'd add 5 miles to my Sunday runs. Won't run with them next Sunday however as that's the day of the Bushey 10k. Will be wearing my vest though.

Hillingdon Athletic Club

I'd been thinking about joining the HAC for a while since moving to Eastcote, and finally did so today. Their clubhouse is about 2.5 miles from where I live. I ran there this morning and joined a group for their 9:30 run of 10.7 miles in the countryside. Enjoyed it, came home and joined online, and ordered a team vest. Maybe if it comes in time, and I decide to run the Wycombe half on 10 July, I will wear it for that. I'm happy to finally have the opportunity to run as part of a team. Will it improve my motivation and performance? Remains to be seen, but feels good to join up.

New Gear & Bushey 10k

Just entered the Spire Bushey 10k on 03 July, about three weeks. It's only 7-8 miles NE from Eastcote and it's a Purple Patch event (those are usually good). Also has a pretty sophisticated set of chip-timed fun runs for kids. I first heard about it when a guy handing out a flyer for it caught my eye right after I crossed the finish line in St Albans. Somehow Charles ended up with a flyer for it too and he showed it to me last night when I was putting him to bed. He asked if he could do the kid's run, and that's the first time he's actively asked to enter a race. So I'm looking forward to it -- may try and beat 42 minutes. It'll be my fifth event in five months, so after 1.5 years of no races I've become as active as I've ever been.

Also have been stocking up on gear. For the past few days I'd been noticing some yellow Adidas Adios Boost shoes in the Runner's World Eastcote display window. I want to support this store, more so than any other local business, because I love that it's there. I've also been wanting to try some Adidas with their new boost material. Supposedly the fastest marathon shoes in the world. So I went to buy them on Saturday. When I got there I discovered that all their clothing was 50% off, apparently they're trying to clear out some stock to make room for a refurbishment. So in addition to the £110 shoes I spent £61 (on £122 worth of gear). Then I went back today and spent another (£110 for £220) worth of gear. A lot for me to spend on running clothes but I got some nice items from some great specialist brands:

2 Craft shorts

1 Adidas shorts

1 Ronhill shorts

1 Adidas tights

1 Craft sweatpants

1 Inov-8 fleece-lined cap

2 Montaine wool blend long sleeve shirts

1 Mizuno short sleeve shirt

1 Montaine rain jacket

I ran in the Adidas for the first time today. They felt good, not phenomenal but good. They're very light but have much more stability than most of my shoes, so they'll add some diversity to my shoe rotation which will be good for avoiding injury.

2016 St Albans Half

Ran this today, family came and did fun run. Bottom line is I did well and am happy about that. Official (i.e. as listed online) time is 1:36:56, a 7:24 pace, my 9th best half time ever (out of 12). However this official time is certainly about 20 seconds too long (more on that below) and in reality this was my 8th-fastest half. Regardless it's a good time for this challenging, hilly race on a very rainy day. My most recent half (Hillingdon 2016), a much flatter course, was 1:38:32. So I can't complain.

I know the online time is too slow because it lists both my overall time and my net (i.e. chip-timed) time as 1:36:56. This could only be true if I started right at the start line, which I didn't. It's as if my chip wasn't working so they just went with my overall time. According to Garmin I ran 13.16 miles in 1:36:40 (a 7:21 pace). I remember taking a few seconds after finishing to remember to stop my Garmin. This suggests my actual finish time was probably about 1:36:36, and that I took about 20 seconds to cross the start line, which sounds about right.

What went wrong with the timing? I'm not sure but they also screwed up my registration so maybe that has something to do with it. When I registered I signed Jade and kids up for the fun run and myself for the half. But when I picked up my number pack it was inexplicably in Jade's name. This meant they had to discard my pack and issue me a new number and chip manually, on the spot. Maybe something was off with the chip they gave me. I have no idea.

In any event at worst my official time was off by 2-3 seconds per mile. I can live with that, especially since my official time was better than I expected. I'd felt so sluggish leading up to this race that I expected it to be my slowest half ever. I was thinking this even up through the first half of the race. But mile after mile I just kept shaving seconds off my pace and I had so much energy towards the end. My two fastest miles were 11 (6:40) and 12 (6:47), which says a lot. During the last two miles I was passing so many people going up the hills -- sometimes steep hills really bring out my best.

Update 27/06/16: The race site now shows my actual net time, 1:36:29! Something possessed me to check it again today, 15 days post-race, and I was surprised to see the correction. This is 27 seconds faster than the original mistaken time, and a 7:22 pace instead of 7:24. It's also only 3 seconds slower than my 2014 time in the same race. And I was right when I said above that in reality this was my 8th-fastest half (out of 12).

Bath

Gave a talk in Bath earlier this week so had a chance yesterday morning to run along the Avon river and adjoining canal. Beautiful town and running route. Feeling a little sluggish these days however, and with the St Albans half coming up on Sunday, have decided to do some tapering. So four miles in Bath and three miles today is all I'll do before Sunday.

2016 Stockley Park 10k

I ran this one week ago and enjoyed it. Was aiming for 45 minutes (that's what race predictor site expected based on my recent marathon time) but finished in just over 43. Course measured slightly short (9.88 km) on my Garmin, but was still pleased with my time. Kids ran fun run and had a good time, which has inspired me to register for St Albans Half and fun run which happens in three weeks.

More Post-London

As London recedes further in the rear view mirror just a couple more things to say about it. A great thing about it was that my family was there. My third London marathon but the first time my family has braved the crowds to cheer me on, and that meant a lot to me. They were there on the sidelines at two points and I was able to pick them out thanks to their bright yellow balloon.

After I finished the marathon I noticed some Mizunos a guy was wearing, they had this cool swirly pattern and a sole that looked minimalist yet rugged. I don't think a pair of running shoes has ever caught my eye like that but the design of these shoes just seemed really unique and compelling. Then weirdly, just a few seconds later I noticed another guy wearing the same shoes in a different colour. When I went home I went online and discovered they were called the Wave Hitogami 2. Not the latest thing (they've already been superseded by the Hitogami 3) but I was able to buy a pair and I love them as much as I thought I would. Ran a 10k in them yesterday (more on that soon) and have been thinking about getting a second pair just to stock up. They're not as minimalist and flexible as I'm used to but they're light, super-comfortable, and they have this really springy midsole structure that seems to just propel you along.

After London

Have been thinking about post-London racing plans. No plans to run another marathon and don't know if I ever will. But I do plan on continuing to train about as much as I did in preparation for London (in fact a bit more: higher average weekly mileage, over five days a week instead of four). And I plan on continuing to compete in shorter races, especially half-marathons and 10k's. Stockley Park 10k is in 2.5 weeks. Maybe I'll focus more on speed in my training and races, and if I get significantly faster—like, fast enough to qualify for London again—maybe I'll start running marathons again. That would be great because I'd love to be that fast again. On the other hand I've run ten marathons and ten is a nice sensible number, easy to remember! 

2016 London Marathon

Today was the day. It went well, finished in 3:26:51, 7:53 pace. That's one second per mile faster than Abingdon 2013, so I haven't slowed down as much as I thought. It's also faster than London 2014, Kent 2013, and Los Angeles 1999 (but slower than my other five marathons). I'm very happy with it. All the training paid off. A bit drained now so won't provide much more exciting commentary, like about how I was teased by the threat of calf spasms for the last 1.5 miles or so (the kind that got me at London 2014).

Haven't seen any official photos yet, but I do have a nice one of me waving at family at mile 23, taken by Jade.

Seventh (and Last) London Long Run

My training for the London Marathon peaked today, with a 22 mile run mainly around Chelsea and west London. This capped a 47.3 mile week, longer than usual because the Hillingdon Half was on Monday (and it served as my off-week medium run which I'd normally do on a Sunday). So my high-mileage week was counterbalanced by an easy 11-mile week last week, but still, it's reassuring that I could run so far in seven days with no problems, especially since the week started with a half marathon at race pace. I felt good today, as with my 21-miler two weeks ago I had fuel in the tank at the end, didn't feel depleted. My last mile was my 7th-fastest and well above my average pace (which was three seconds slower than for my 21-miler).

Started at Baker Street and finished at Hammersmith. The only site I'd planned to see today was the area around the Saatchi Gallery, where the Rolling Stones exhibit launches this Tuesday 5th April (we've got tickets for 16th April) and they've installed some big tongue logos.

2016 Hillingdon Half Marathon

First race in a year and a half. I saw this mainly as a training run and I wanted to participate because it's a good local race. My slowest half marathon ever (7:31 minute miles officially, 7:29 by Garmin), but I'm happy with that and was expecting to be slower. Getting back into racing shape. Apparently I finished 58th out of 311: 

http://activetrainingworld.com/upload/event/hillingdon/HalfResults.pdf

Course was fine except for dregs of Storm Katie meant high winds and sogginess. Nice medal and shirt. Four weeks to London and feeling good!

Sixth London Long Run

Finally made it out to Hampton Court Palace this morning. Started from Acton Town at 7:30, ran down to river, past Richmond (which is really nice), Kingston, and turned around at the Palace. Turns out today was the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon, so I ran a few miles of this route in the company of hundreds of other runners. Was back at Richmond by mile 21 and took the tube home from there. Great thing about today was how good I felt for the entire run. Mile 21 was actually my fastest, so I wasn't exhausted at the end and that bodes well for the marathon. This is the first of these London long runs where I wasn't suffering a lot throughout the final 1/3, so I think my body is getting well-adjusted.

First London Medium Run

I enjoyed running in central London so much last Sunday that I did it again today, even though it was a medium run (12 miles) Sunday. Another great run. Set off from Baker Street around 7:30. Highlight was running by Blake's grave in Bunhill Fields. Took in just about every major London landmark and ended up at Westminster station.

Fifth London Long Run

This was my fifth (of at least seven) Sunday long runs leading up to the London Marathon on 24th April. Like my last two long runs it was 20 miles. I felt pretty good throughout, although my pace was slightly slower than my last two 20 milers and by about 2/3 through I was definitely counting down the miles.

Thought I would leave from Richmond again like last time, to head the correct way this time towards Hampton Court. But the Piccadilly Line wasn't running so I caught the 7am Metropolitan line to Embankment instead. Was running by 8am and it was a great time to be running through central London, the sun was out and hardly any people around. There were a few other runners and they all seemed as happy as me to have the city to ourselves on a beautiful morning. Ran across Millennium and Tower Bridges, past Canary Wharf and then under the Thames to Greenwich. Discovered that there are a lot of quays in London that are nice to run around. Greenland Quay and the park nearby were especially good. Today's run was really a great experience, the best of these London runs so far, despite there not being a pub open anywhere near where I ended up (Bermondsey station in Southwark). Home by about noon.

Fourth London Long Run

This time I left earlier. Awake at 5.30, 6.57 Piccadilly Line to Richmond, running by 8.00. Meant to head west on the Thames path to get to Hampton Court, but accidentally went towards central London instead. Didn't go very far past Hammersmith, and most of run was between Richmond and Hammersmith. Went 20 miles, it was a good run but challenging towards the end (although not as hard as two weeks ago). Relieved that I got no trouble from my left achilles, I hadn't run for four days in order to banish some lingering pain there, and this strategy apparently worked.

Saw some new sections of the Thames path, much of them nice and scenic, if pretty muddy in parts. Finished at Hammersmith, stopped by William Morris pub (which is wonderful, I don't have posh tastes) before catching Piccadilly Line home. It was only a 30 minute journey and I was home by about noon. I'm getting the hang of these London runs and learning the best routes. Look forward to exploring more of the western sections, especially Richmond Park and Hampton Court.

Third London Long Run

So Sunday long runs in London are becoming a habit, like I intended them to. Yesterday I took the Bakerloo line to Embankment and lit off from there at 12:40 pm. Ran about 2.5 miles towards the city centre until I got tired of the crowds so headed back west, much of it on the south bank until I got to Battersea, then crossed back to the north bank and ran to Hammersmith and Chiswick. Ran along the river the whole way (as much as possible, at some points the Thames path was diverted from the riverside). Had a pint at the William Morris in Hammersmith before heading back.

It was a difficult, windy run, I was definitely ready to be done at the end. I feel OK today except my left achilles is a bit sore and I'll need to keep an eye on it. We leave for the Canary Islands in a few days for a six-day trip (including travel days), and I was planning on running three times while there, but I'll have to see how it feels.

Will also need to figure out what to do about the timing of these Sunday runs. Thinking that I should leave for them much earlier in the morning so that I can have them done and be back home by noon. That would solve two problems: the lack of time for family and everything else on Sunday afternoons, and the proliferation of tourists that make running in London less pleasant (the earlier you run, the less numerous the tourists). So will probably experiment with leaving much earlier, like I used to do when I was a lot more disciplined about that kind of thing.

Second London Long Run

Did it again this weekend, this time Piccadilly Line to Knightsbridge, ran around Hyde Park, past Buckingham Palace to river, then along river west of the city centre, out to Battersea Park and Chelsea, 19 miles total. It was good but really sore afterwards, which doesn't usually happen on long runs. So I guess my body is getting used to doing ~20 mile runs regularly again. Longest I've run since July 2014, over a year and a half ago. Afterwards, pint of Jack Frost at Fuller's pub, the Blackbird, next to Earl's Court station.

London Long Run

Am pretty focused on training for the London Marathon. In three months since last post I've gotten used to running around Eastcote (our new neighbourhood), but options are limited. This is especially true because it's been very wet recently so although there are some decent woodsy trail runs around here, everything has been very soggy and muddy. There's a nice public track 1.7 miles away, and I've been using it a lot. But my long runs are up to 18 miles now, and that gets boring on a track. And there are lots of sleepy residential neighbourhoods around here that, while good for shorter runs, get repetitive after a while. So in general have been looking for places to run that aren't boring, especially for Sunday long and semi-long runs.

So my solution has been to start doing Sunday runs in central London. I got an Inov-8 Race Pro 22 backpack to carry my gear (mainly warm clothes to change into).

I used it for my first London long run today and it worked great. I took tube to Baker Street and then ran 18 miles around Regent's Park, King's Cross, Camden Town areas. Took a few photos of interesting sights. Ended up at Euston Tap where I had a pint of Lagunitas Day Time IPA then caught tube back to Eastcote from Euston Square.

I think I'll stick with the plan to do Sunday runs in London. I wasn't blown away by the experience but it was more interesting than greater Ruislip, and with time I'll get better at choosing routes and avoiding very crowded sections. I just bought a book called 'Runner's Guide to London' that arrives tomorrow. Next time I'll probably try running along the Thames.