Reading in all the information for the GNR it says that by now I should be able to run 8 miles with ease as part of my ongoing training program, and if I can’t do that I should consider deferring my place till next year.
If I was completely truthful about my ongoing training I would probably say that I should defer, I can’t recall a single training session which has covered 8 miles.
I don’t intend on deferring though. I know I can cover that distance without dying, hell I know I can cover the full half marathon distance in a satisfactory time, and I am a much more accomplished runner than I was way back in March when I completed the Ironbridge Half, my only problem is my shin pain the following morning after a big session and I am going to take steps to address this with Kinesio taping (when the tape arrives) and by adjusting my running gait (with some limited success so far).

With all that said though I do think I need to focus 100% on this half marathon now. Every email and press release I read that I should respect the challenge of the GNR, and so far I haven’t.

Last night after work I ran the Wrekin. This is the same route as I had taken on Friday night where I run around the back of the hill, up the steep side and then over the top following the main route back to the car park. The route is about 4 miles long and climbs up about 1,300ft. I wanted to nick a minute or two off Friday’s time of 43 minutes.

I set off at a solid pace and all was going fine until I hit the steep section. There were a couple of people climbing up that bit too and as I ran past them I knew I was doomed. This section reduced me to a walk last time, and I knew it would this time but now that there was an audience I ran for longer than maybe I should have. When I did finally have to stop running I was buggered. I felt a bit sick (I’ve never run myself so hard that I thought I would be sick before) and had a horrible stitch and as a result the people I jogged past nearly caught me up. More haste less speed and all that.

After I reached the top it was a quick jog back to the bottom and was relatively easy as gravity did most of the work. All in I did it in pretty much the same time as Friday. So much for going faster.

Yesterday I declared I wanted to beat my pb time of 0.35.50 from the gate at the bottom of the Wrekin, to the trig point at the top, and back again. The distance of the route is 2.7 miles climbing 1,335ft. I had actually set my sights on a sub thirty minute time.

The weather was pretty grotty, rain and close cloud, but it served to keep me cool so was probably a blessing in disguise. I set off, and remembered the first time I had run this there was the wall that we hit at two minutes of jogging, I was starting to tire at two minutes again but there was no wall this time.

At about 7 minutes I was past halfway house and although I was breathing hard, my CV was strong. My lover calves were suffering though and I was forced run at a slower pace all the way to the top. It took me 19 minutes to get to the trig point.

I had a quick 30 second breather and then set off as fast as possible to the bottom. Running uphill I was slowed by muscle fatigue, but for whatever reason all aches disappeared and I was able to run at full pelt, I had to put the brakes on a bit though otherwise I would have fallen.

Rounding the corner below halfway house (which according to google maps is 0.4 miles to the gate) I looked at my watch and saw that I was at 29 minutes. I threw all fears of a turned ankle to the wind, and sprinted.

Final time, 30m 55s. A new pb for running the Wrekin but even so, I was a bit disappointed. 290 days worth of training to shave off just 5 minutes from my time.

Getting to the bottom my calves were done, the back of them hurt as though they had been smacked a few times with a cricket bat. I blame the three days of running without rest as the reason for the total leg exhaustion. I also developed a bit of a hacking cough and am even now coughing up sticky spit. I slept like a rock last night and loads of muscles ache today, the run up the hill has all of my core muscles and my shoulders aching as well as the legs.

The weekend has left me pretty bushed.
Saturday it was early morning interval training with my dad. My dad is of the old school of training regimes. Whereas I like to try and find the latest scientifically proven techniques to get fitter, my dad quotes Roger Bannister’s training routine from the 1950’s. Basically it involves pain. We had a quick jog of about half a mile to the athletics track as a warm up, then ran 400m circuits in 90 seconds or less (which I think is about 9 – 10mph) which is pretty fast, not a sprint but close on. After a 400m circuit we had a couple minutes break, before doing it again. Sounds easy? I thought so.

400m is a horrible distance. Anaerobic respiration seems to kick in at about 200/300 metres so the final straight has everything hurting. Two minutes is enough to allow the breath and heart rate recover but the muscles don’t get back to 100%, so then the next circuit around is just that little bit harder, the thigh ache just increases each time round. It also doesn’t help that my dad seems to run faster than me, (and I also think we were racing each other a bit) so I was always pushing myself faster than I would have been comfortable with.

The plan was to do the same as Banister did when he was training to break the 4 minute mile (though he was doing his circuits in sub 60 seconds not 90s) which was ten circuits of the 400m track with a 2 minute break each lap. We managed four before we could take no more. I am going to do this again next weekend though (with five circuits in mind), it is something different to my usual training and everyone says that variety is the route to improvement.

Sunday I was going to go for a cycle but I had tickets to Silverstone so I cancelled. But then by the time I got back from the race track there was still plenty of light left in the day so I did take the bike out after all. I cycled to Nigel’s which is 21 miles away and it took me a couple of minutes over an hour and a half to get there which was a reasonable pace.

For old times sake I suggested we head to the Wrekin and then I had the intention of heading off home from there as it was a few miles in the right direction for me. (In the end, the day was running out and I feared some rain clouds that were forming so I got a lift back home leaving my bike at Nigel’s, with the intention of collecting it after work at some point this week).

There are some pretty cruel hills between Nigel’s house and the Wrekin. Slight gradients up for miles on end. I found it hard but glanced over my shoulder to see that Nigel was falling away. I hate having to re-start cycling uphill so I just carried onward to the top where I could stop, by the time Nigel caught up he was exhausted and the Wrekin was still miles away.

Heading up into a little village the road got so steep that we both had to dismount. Nigel was first to fail, but I didn’t make it much further before I could go no more. The thing was, in our youth we used to both be able to make it up to the top. Nigel blamed his advanced years, I blame lack of exercise. Getting to the top we were rewarded with some pretty exciting downhill sections though and this is why I love the Wrekin. Twisting technical tarmac roads all of which we sped at 30+ mph, exhilarating stuff.

The ride back to Nigel’s house was hard work, especially for Nigel. He had to stop a few times, and was complaining of pains down his legs that sound exactly like the Shin Splints I suffered with a while ago while running, he also complained about his thigh muscles hurting.

When I chose my bike I wanted it to be able to cover distances and maintain a high speed. These are things that Nigel’s bike isn’t designed to do. He has a mountain bike with high rolling resistance and little aerodynamic efficiency. Towards the end of the ride I did an experiment with both of us coasting downhill at the same speed, when I released my brakes I accelerated away while Nigel either was slowing down or at least not getting any faster.

To the Wrekin and back was 13 miles and I think it was a bit of a surprise to Nigel for how tough it was. It was always going to be harder for Nige on the mountain bike though. He did kindly drop me back off home and I have to admit that I was thankful for the save of the ride because my legs were tired too.

I also have a new injury. I’m going to sound like some kind of hypochondriac, checking online for any ache and pain and then coming back with some fancy name for my new injury but I don’t think I am one, I just sound like it.

This week it is ulnar neuritis at the wrist, or handlebar palsy. It is pain in my little finger and my ring finger. I was surprised to find that this injury is quite common. I thought I had knocked my hand or something and was going to find hundreds of different references when I did internet research on it. Instead I found quite a specific reference to pain caused by holding the outside of the drop handlebars of a bike (which is my favorite riding position). The fix seems pretty simple. Adjust my seating position, hold the bars differently, strengthen core muscles.

good time

Ran the Wrekin a couple of hours ago. I pushed so hard my legs actually stopped at one point about half way up and I was literally unable to move them for a few moments.

Though I was aiming for sub 35 minutes I was more than happy with my time of 35minutes and 50 seconds. I even allowed myself a mini fist pump when I stopped the clock.

I have decided to abort the gym on saturday becuase of the arm injury so I think this wil the last report of note for the weekend.

Heartburn Hill

Nigel and I ran the Wrekin last night. And when I say we ran, we ran some of it.

Stood at the bottom, did some stretches, set the stopwatch and charged upward… Two minutes and eleven seconds later the running stopped and the gasping started. I thought I was fitter than this. We strolled (at a strong pace to be fair) for about five minutes before having another jog upward but again two or three minutes later (I can’t be more accurate that that this time, I didn’t look at the watch as my vision was blurred), we stopped running again.

I had a really bad sucking pain in my chest, and that horrible sticky metallic tasting spit that seems to fount from some unnamed pain gland in my mouth. Nigel reported that his heart was pounding in his ears and his chest was a bit tight. Well at least it wasn’t just me who was suffering. It was a small consolation though considering the other unfit soul on this hill was going to be my crewmate.

I was a bit disappointed with my recovery rate actually. As we walked a bit further, Nigel suggested another jog but I was unable. Considering he still smokes, and I haven’t for some time, I can only blame it on the fact that my lifestyle (desk job) is less active than Nigel’s.

We did run again on the flatter final stretch from Heavens gate to the trig point where we took a quick 3 minute break to take in the scenery, and to let my heart rate fall a little bit.

After that we were fine, and managing to run all the way down from the top (again I didn’t time the descent but will make a note of it next time), slowing only at the really steep bit as our knees were taking a bit of a pounding.

Quick assessment of the damage I inflicted on my body, I can report that I have developed a bit of a chesty wheeze/cough when I laugh and my right hip hurts a bit. Suddenly April 2010 doesn’t seem far enough away, is 17 months long enough to get this surprisingly decrepit body ready?

I had an idea that it would take about 30 minutes and I suspect that had we run the whole lot it would have. Instead we managed a time of 0.43.20

Goal: Run the Wrekin next time sub 40 minutes. Aiming for 35 minutes.

[Additional] A bit of online research has indicated that I could have been suffering with symptoms of dehydration. Next time I will run with a bottle of water in hand, that could well help.