USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 18

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 2nd March - 5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:43:33).

Monday 2nd March - 6 mile run, Jesmond Dene. (00:53:45). PB!

Tuesday 3rd March - 5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:42:00).

Tuesday 3rd March - 5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:45:52).

Wednesday 4th March - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:41:30).

Thursday 5th March - 6.5 mile run, Kenton, Fawdon loop. (00:53:44).

Thursday 5th March - 3.5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:27:57).

Friday 6th March - 17.4 mile run, Gosforth to Shotley Bridge. (03:10:44).

Saturday 7th March - 1 mile run, Tynemouth Beach. (00:09:20).

Saturday 7th March - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).
Saturday 7th March- 12 x run up the steps. (00:27:11).
Saturday 7th March - 8 mile run, Tynemouth to St Mary's Lighthouse and back. (01:15:42).
Sunday 8th March - 7.6 mile run, Treadmill. (01:09:12).

A good reaction to Friday's 17.4 miles.

Regular readers will know that my Saturday morning training for the last 18 weeks has included Beach Bootcamp and running up the steps in King Edwards Bay, Tynemouth. This week was no exception and Beach Bootcamp was once again taken by Dave Fairlamb and for the first time Mark Fleming. There were loads of people there today and splitting the participants into 2 groups worked really well. Dave took the Cardio element on the beach with Mark dishing out the orders for some strength work on the promenade.

I've said it loads of times before but if you fancy a good workout and an energetic start to the weekend then you should give Beach Bootcamp a try. It starts at 9 am every Saturday opposite the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth. There are sessions on other mornings too. See www.davidfairlambfitness.co.uk for details of those ones or for contact details. 

Out of the 18 classes I've done so far, today's session was definitely the warmest. It's going to be brilliant in the Summer months when it gets really hot! I'll have to get my Borat Bikini ironed in readiness! As well as being the warmest, today's Bootcamp flew by the quickest. I thought we were only about 20 minutes into the session when it came to doing the stretches at the end! Yet again, Bootcamp was the usual brilliant all over workout. It also served, as I'd hoped, as a great loosener after yesterday's 17.4 mile run. 

After Bootcamp, it was onto the steps in King Edwards Bay with 7 of us doing various numbers of efforts. I managed my planned 12 lots of steps incident free. The pain, the jelly legs and the nausea at the end are no longer evident these days as was the case when I started training 18 weeks ago. Let's see if that's the case when I try and beat my best of 20 next week though!

Finally, after the steps today I managed to run 8 miles on top of the 1 mile warm up before Bootcamp. This would have been slightly longer if the tide had not been so far in at St Mary's Lighthouse. Anyway, that took my weekly mileage up to 62.4 only 7.7 short of the target of 70 miles this week! 

Not only was today a good workout but it has taught me a few things. Firstly, I get a much better recovery and subsequent run when my nutrition is right. Let me tell you that my nutrition has been spot on this week with no chocolate or crisps and plenty of porridge and fruit. The second thing I've learned is that I'm actually developing quite a good engine. The first 34 miles this week were done at an average of 00:08:24 per mile. The 17.4 mile run with hills caused no problems and I had a brilliant session today with no real evidence of having run 53.4 miles this week. There has been quality throughout everything that I've done this week. I couldn't be more pleased! Speaking of quality, Fraser Scott took some brilliant photos today of the session on the steps. He is an awesome photographer. If you have an up and coming wedding or family do then why not check his website out at www.fraserscottphotography.co.uk.

Very close to a successful week 18!

I took a different route from Gosforth to Shotley Bridge tonight and it turned out to be 17.4 miles! That didn't matter as I was looking for at least 17 which is just about my range on an unsupported run. There was a fabulous climb from Team Valley all the way to Burnopfield which didn't turn out to be too bad on the legs at all. I'm now just 16.6 miles short of the planned 70 this week. 

It's Beach Bootcamp in the morning followed by 12 lots of steps and a 9.6 mile run. I'll not be going full pelt at Bootcamp and just like 2 weeks ago I'll be using it as a bit of a loosener. If I get through all of that then all I'll be left with is 7 miles on Sunday which will probably be done in Derwent Valley somewhere with a few climbs thrown in for good measure!

It's going to be tough tomorrow with 53.4 miles in my legs already but I'm so close to one of the best weeks of training ever. It's had everything so far; pace, hills, distance but most of all quality throughout and backed by some good nutrition. It's time to maintain that level of quality over the next 2 days and bring a close to week 18 of training for USA 2011 in some style.

36 done, 34 left.

I'm on fine form this week with 36 miles done so far at an average pace of 00:08:24 per mile! This is top form indeed by my standards and I should give myself a good chance of getting the planned 70 miles in with a 17 mile run home from work tomorrow afternoon. That will just leave 9.4 miles to do on Saturday after Bootcamp and Steps and 7.6 in the Pennines on Sunday. Easy peasy!

Katy has done more than her fair share of school runs this week to allow me to get all of the running in. I'm on a low mileage week next week so I'll be increasing my school drop off/pick up responsibilities. This approach will be vital going forwards when I'm scheduled to run over 100 miles every other week. I won't hesitate to pull the plug on this mileage though, the minute that I feel it is affecting Katy and Jack. It's going well so far so fingers crossed!

I'm also pleased to report that the quality of my food intake has increased. I'd let things slip in February but I've not had chocolate, crisps or a bacon sarnie for 8 days now. I've had a lot more fruit instead. Taking a punnett of plums into work has made for numerous double entendres. They are a filthy lot!

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 17

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 23rd February - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Thursday 26th February - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Saturday 28th February - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).

Saturday 28th February - 20 x run up the steps. (00:57:21). PB!

Day 4 (without chocolate)!

While my diet in January was very very good, it was really really bad in February. Unsurprisingly, the main culprit was chocolate! It wasn't unusual for me to have 3 bars a day some days, especially on days where I was running a lot of miles. This just won't do so I've decided to impose a complete ban on all things choclatey! It has worked for booze and I still haven't touched a drop since August 29th 2008. 

While I'm on, I'm adding crisps and Bacon Sarnies to the list of no go foods. Just like chocolate, the need for salty crisps after a long run was great!

There's really little else wrong with the food that I eat. Katy still cooks very healthy things for tea and this has been the case for a long while now. In fact, just today she made some cracking home made roast parsnip and onion soup. After 20 steps it was just the ticket! I'm going to look further into improving things with less bread and more pasta (wholemeal pasta of course). 

I haven't had chocolate, crisps or a bacon sarnie for 4 days now and there are 70 miles to run in training next week! The benefits and drawbacks of the improved diet will be seen very soon. In the meantime, there is absolutely no chance of a crumb of chocolate passing between my lips! There, I've said it!

20 is the new 12.

After a tough Beach Bootcamp session it was onto the steps with the usual gang in attendance. One by one they did their efforts until all that was left were Peter McCowie (pictured left) and myself. Peter's final total was 16 and I managed a new best of 20 (previous best was 12). Well done to one and all for completing their steps. Improvements are seen week after week from everybody who attempts the steps and David Fairlamb must be very pleased with the effort we all put in.

I must say that my day was made when I read the following message from an old colleague mate. For me, this is what it's all about and it's nice to see the run across the USA starting to have an effect on others already. This is one of a few message, stories or comments I've heard of recently.

"Hi Mark,
Just gotta say that you've been a bit of an inspiration for me over the last few months. I started to get myself fit last June and spend a lot of time in the gym, but recently I've been doing something which I've always found difficult and that's running. Being of 'chunky' build, it's no mean feat I can tell you!

I started with a struggling 2 miles last October but last week I did a 7 mile run and I'm gearing up for the big 10 miles tomorrow. Even at my fittest I could only manage about 3 miles so I feel like I've achieved a lot lately. In total, I've lost around 3.5 stone since June and most of that came off when I started running. It's unheard of, but I really enjoy running now and find it relaxing, especially at night, I can listen to my iPod and think without any disturbance. I'm thinking about the Great North Run as a landmark now and it would be great to run it with confidence. Keep up the hard work mate, I enjoy reading about your progress.".

So if you're wanting to lose a few pounds, why not take a leaf out of John's book. All it takes is a pair of trainers, a mile or 2 of road/path and the desire to put one foot in front of the other a few hundred times! Run people run!

Steps till I drop!

After tomorrow's Beach Bootcamp session I will be tackling the steps as per usual. As per last week, there is no long run to be done afterwards so the aim will be to get up the steps as many times as is physically possible. I'm hoping for at least 20 times which is 7 more than my previous best. Watch this space for news on how I get on tomorrow!

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 16

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 16th February - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:46:46).

Tuesday 17th February - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:42:44).

Wednesday 18th February - 5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:42:36).

Wednesday 18th February - 8.4 mile run, Havannah Nature Reserve. (01:17:13). 

Thursday 19th February - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:39:41). PB!

Thursday 19th February - 5 mile run, Treadmill. (00:44:10).

Friday 10th February - 15.75 mile run, Race Course. (03:02:37).
Saturday 21st February - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).
Saturday 21st February - 12 x run up the steps. (00:26:12).
Saturday 21st February - 9.4 mile run, Tynemouth to St Mary's Lighthouse and back. (01:31:15).
Sunday 22nd February - 6.5 mile run, Treadmill. (01:03:13).

Very close to a successful week 16!

Once again I have put words into action and after a sterling effort this week I've managed to get 49.15 miles in so far. Trainer and mentor Mark Fleming (pictured left) was in touch yesterday offering advice and encouragement and we are both hopeful I can reach the target of 65 miles this week.

I'm writing this, early on Saturday morning and there is little physical evidence that I ran home yesterday. I'm really pleased about that and that tells me a lot about my ability to recover. It was a cold and wet 15.75 miles from Gosforth to Shotley Bridge and I ended up running in the dark. 2 years ago when I was training to run from John O'Groats to Lands End these distances and conditions were very new to me. Now, however, it's just part and parcel of a day's running. I've developed an attitude of "just getting on with it" no matter what the weather wants to throw at me. Getting the mileage done is the main thing. I'm not that fussed if it's done in rain, snow or shine. As it happens, I wore only 1 layer (a Run Geordie Run t-shirt of course) for an 8.4 mile run on Wednesday in very mild conditions.

On Thursday, I recorded a PB for 5 miles of 00:39:41 (I put it down to the new Brooks trainers). I hadn't set out to do a PB but when you are in such esteemed running company as Jeff Oliver, Carlton Fletcher, Patrick Aynsley-Smythe and Carl Hudson you just tend to get a bit carried away. It is at this point where I say "I'll not be beating that one for a while"!

And so to today, where I will be on Tynemouth Beach at 9am for the regular Beach Bootcamp workout (Pop down if you fancy it). This will be followed by a sensible amount of efforts up the steps in King Edwards Bay. I managed a new record of 12 last week. As with previous steps efforts during my "running weeks" I'm anticipating a very tough time of it. It's not going to be pretty! Any energy I have left after that will be used on an 8.5 mile run from the Grand Hotel to St Mary's Lighthouse and back. That will leave 7.35 miles to be done tomorrow to make 65 for the week. Wish me luck!