Wednesday 30 September 2009

Another 13 done.

Things aren't going to plan this week but I'm doing as much running as I can, when I can. I've managed 2 x 13 mile runs so far. I'm pleased to say that I'm getting quicker! Last Thursday was my first attempt at a 13 mile course around the streets of Fawdon, Gosforth, Sandy Lane, Longbenton and Jesmond. I was still heavy legged from the previous Sunday's 37 mile run and it took me 02:15:54 to get round! I tried the route again on Monday this week and managed a slight improvement at 02:07:13.

I didn't get away from the office until gone half 4 tonight and had planned to do the route again. However, I knew I would have to improve on Monday's time otherwise I'd miss the start of the match! And improve on that time I did with a sub 2 hour time (01:57:57). I'm not sure where the extra pace came from today. I'm putting it down to the fact that I didn't want to miss the start of the match. I made it to my seat with 4 minutes to spare!

Sunday 27 September 2009

62 miles done in week 47

Last Sunday's epic 37 mile run probably told me as much about where my training is at than any other run I've done during this campaign. One week on and I still find it hard to believe just how fresh I felt at the end never mind how far I'd ran and how long I'd been on my feet (unsupported and with a backpack). I appreciate that it wasn't the fastest pace I'd ever ran but it was one hell of a distance.

The following day I managed a 6 mile run around the Town moor. Up until that point I hardly had an ache or pain to speak of. However, 1 mile into that run, as expected, the agony started. I had to really battle hard to keep the run at sub 10 minute mile pace. The faster I went the greater the burn in my quads. I had a rest on Tuesday and managed the same 6 mile run on Thursday albeit 7 minutes quicker. This time the pain was in my calf muscles. On Thursday, I managed a half marathon distance and I'm pleased to report that the pain had gone but there was still evidence of Sunday's run in my rather heavy legs.

I called it a day at 62 miles this week, choosing family time over running this weekend. I'm still very pleased with what has been achieved though with an average distance of 15.5 miles per session. This is way and above what I should be doing at this point in the schedule. I'll be bringing that average down this week with some shorter, hopefully faster, runs.

I'm going to try that 37 mile run again in November. The aim, of course, will be to do it quicker than last week. If that and the following recovery runs go well then I should be ready to try my first attempt at back to back 32 mile runs in January.

All in all this has been a pleasing week and it's done wonders for my ever growing confidence. There is still so much running to do though. This is just the tip of a very very very long iceberg!

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 47

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Sunday 20th September - 37 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Blyth. (09:40:28).
Monday 21st September - 6 mile run, Town Moor. (00:59:36).
Wednesday 23rd September - 6 mile run, Town Moor. (00:52:54).
Thursday 24th September - 13 mile run, Fawdon, Longbenton, Heaton, Gosforth Tour. (02:15:54).

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 46

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Thursday 17th September - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Monday 21 September 2009

Sunday's 37 miles now online

I've now uploaded Sunday's route to Garmin Connect. It can be viewed by clicking here. Press play to see the animated journey.

And if that wasn't enough you can view the video diary of the run on YouTube by clicking here: part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.

Sunday 20 September 2009

37 miles done!

I called it a day at 37 miles this evening. It took 09:40:28 to run that distance with only one 15 minute break. 4624 calories were burned during the run and only 1500 - 1600 put in today. Most of those calories were from energy gels. I'll put up a full review early in the week. But for now, my confidence is pretty high after coming through this tricky test virtually unscathed.

Friday 18 September 2009

Another tweak to the schedule.

Up to now, I've not been afraid to change things around a bit in the USA 2011 training schedule. The present time is no exception.

Despite running a fair few miles so far I'm not 100% happy with the way things are going. That's not too say I'm too unhappy, though, as I genuinely feel as though my stamina, strength and resilience have improved greatly. Confidence has never been higher too!

Already, I'm far better equipped than I was during the 874 mile run from John O'Groats to Lands End in 2007. That's no consolation mind because the experience I gained during that run, the 3 times I ran the 134 mile C2C route and the 84 mile Hadrian's Wall path tells me that I've got to run to a much much higher standard if I'm to successfully run from one coast of the USA to the other. It's a high standard I've been striving for, for almost a year now. At one point I was well ahead of schedule. I can safely say now that I'm starting to fall behind a bit.

But it's not all doom and gloom folks. A tweak, albeit a major one, is all it needs to refocus and get things back on track. My current routine of a running week followed by a gym week followed by a running week etc etc will be abandoned. I now intend to have two high mileage running weeks followed by a quality low mileage week. It is in the low mileage week that I'll slot in the personal training sessions with Mark Fleming and Beach Bootcamp with David Fairlamb.

The weekly target in the high mileage weeks will still be 90 miles and I think 30 miles is quite sufficient during the low mileage week. By my calculations that'll be 300 miles per month. That's more like it!!

Things will get off to a flying start this Sunday with a 10 hour run from Shotley Bridge, down the Derwent Walk to Blaydon, over the Scotswood Bridge, all the way down to Tynemouth then on to Blyth and beyond. This is a run I intend to repeat every few months. I should learn a lot from it as well as from the run the following day! I'll be taking my new Flip HD camera with me and it'll be interesting to see the inevitable deterioration over the 10 hours on video! Watch this space!

Tuesday 15 September 2009

Video shoot!

I was asked to take part in a shoot for a video today promoting the good work that The Children's Foundation does in our region. There were a few shots of me running along various stretches of Newcastle Race Course and a short interview afterwards. The video will be used in an up and coming event and will hopefully persuade the good folk to put their hands in their pockets for this very worthwhile cause.

I was very pleased with how well I acquitted myself in the interview. It helps if you feel very passionately about the subject matter of course! After the interview, I was told "You can tell you've talked to the media before.". Not just the media! In fact, I make sure that everyone I come into contact with these days knows the full story about the next big run and the 2 charities I'm raising funds for.

The crew were off to film other aspects of the video after my stint and I'm looking forward to seeing the final cut. Being a part of something such as this and being able to help out in some small way is really thrilling indeed.

Monday 14 September 2009

Ahhhhhh!!!!! That's better!

After 400 miles or so I finally managed to get some much needed maintenance with a deep tissue massage in the region of my hamstrings and calf muscles. Within minutes of completion, I was able to walk pain free once more. By the evening time, I was itching to go for a run but I'm going to save myself until Sunday. I'm still planning on getting some Spinning classes done this week and a gym session with Mark Fleming. All in all, it's a nice easy week 46.

I've started giving some serious thought as to what my expectations are for this Sunday. i.e. The 10 hour run. I think I'll be happy with 35 miles (The longest distance I've ever ran in the past). That should be quite manageable in that time and it will give me something to beat in 6 weeks time when I next attempt this duration.

Tomorrow, I'm taking part in a video shoot for a promotional piece for The Children's Foundation. I haven't seen the script yet but I think I'm playing the part of "Fat Geordie Runner 1"! I'll let you know how my "Hollywood debut" goes, but, in the meantime I feel very lucky to have been asked to participate in such an event.

Sunday 13 September 2009

70 miles, all out!

With 1 day left in week 45, I'm afraid that I had to call a halt to my training. The sore ankles that I experienced back in May have returned with a vengeance. Despite troubling me all week, I still managed to get 70 miles done with an average distance of just short of 8 miles per session and over 10,600 ft climbed!!! The pleasing thing about this week was the fact that yet again I had the confidence to add an impromptu mile or two to some of the runs when I felt I had the time and energy to do so.

This is the kind of challenging and stressful week I've been after for a while now. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, "50-60 miles a week just isn't managing to stress me out to the extent I need". Well I must say that my body certainly felt the stress this week. It will have all been for nothing if I don't learn from it and put it right. The remedy for the ankle problem is a simple one; massage. I shouldn't have left it 400 miles since my last one and will be having them every 2 weeks from now on. I'm booked in for one tomorrow lunchtime. Can't wait!

Following the massage, I've got quite an easy week 46 where I hope to get a few Spinning classes done and a session in the gym. At the start of week 47 on Sunday, however, I'll face my toughest challenge yet with the first of a planned series of 10 hour unsupported runs. Yes, that's 10 hours heading west along the C2C route with a view to simply seeing how far I can get in that time. It's all about the run the following day though and seeing how I react. I expect a few more lessons to be learned.

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 45

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Monday 7th September - 7.3 mile run, Extended Race Course. (01:07:07).
Monday 8th September - 7.6 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Low Westwood and back. (01:18:37).
Tuesday 8th September - 7.5 mile run, Shorter Town Moor loop. (01:16:35).
Wednesday 9th September - 8.2 mile run, Town Moor loop. (01:16:24).
Wednesday 9th September - 7 mile run, Fawdon, Race Course tour. (01:20:13).
Thursday 10th September - 8.6 mile run, Town Moor loop. (01:22:06).
Thursday 10th September - 9.2 mile run, Extended Sandy Lane tour. (01:34:51).
Friday 11th September - 5 mile run, Fawdon, Gosforth Tour. (00:49:39).
Friday 11th September - 9.5 mile run, Gosforth to Rowlands Gill. (01:58:58).

Saturday 12 September 2009

70 miles done, 20 left in week 45

The behind the scenes tweaks that were put in place last week seem to have paid dividends. I've managed to run 70 miles so far this week with 1 day of running left. 90 miles is the target and I'm almost certain to succeed. I'll put a full review of the week on the site later.

Monday 7 September 2009

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 44

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Tuesday 1st September - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).
Friday 4th September - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).
Saturday 5th August - David Fairlamb's Beach Bootcamp. (00:47:02).

Wednesday 2 September 2009

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 43

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Sunday 23rd August - 15.4 mile run, Derwent Valley Hills. (02:42:33).
Monday 24th August - 11 mile run, Gosforth, Fawdon, Cowgate Tour. (02:02:35).
Wednesday 26th August - 6 mile run, Gosforth, Fawdon, Matthew Bank Tour. (00:49:30).
Wednesday 26th August - 13.1 mile run, Gosforth, Fawdon, Cowgate Half Marathon. (02:15:59).
Thursday 27th August - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:47:54).