Tubthumping Runner

Been a couple of weeks since I posted and in that time I've done a race, done some good training and had a great Christmas. In terms of the race, it went OK in terms of getting back racing and I finished 4th. The downhill sections were the steepest that I've raced and due to the torrential rain I was sliding. During the warm up I was feeling nervous about the downhill sections and leaves that had blown on the course causing me to slide in training shoes. My mindset changed from one of 'let's push hard' to 'get round in one piece'. I worked hard and it served some purpose in getting me racing hard again. It would have been nice to have run better but that's something we always say. The perfect race might happen now and then but this certainly wasn't one of my best. The 3 runners in front were much better on the day, in fact, they were much better. After the race I went to my cousin's café and was spoilt with free food and treats for the family

This morning I did my first run in company for a few months. I'd put a message on the club's message board inviting people to join me for a run to try and set up a Sunday run group. Martin James turned up and we did an easy 18 mile run, making the most of the hills. It would be nice to have someone to run with on the odd Sunday, even for 9 miles (1 lap) or 18. Having company made it much easier. During the week I did some decent fartlek and a Saturday session. Due to wind and cold yesterday I opted to do a session of 6 x 5mins in the forest off 2mins. I did fartlek Tuesday and a 14 mile run Thursday so my week has been a decent one. I did a short fartlek session of 6 x 2mins (see image ) and seeing as I'm not really focusing on speed and just building strength was surprised to be hitting 5min/mile and sub 5 on the efforts with a 1min jog recovery, especially seeing as some of the effort were up hills, in the rain and after a long day at work. I'm probably ready t

Had my first dose of sun in about 4 weeks today. Blinded by the light I wore shades. 2hrs in the sun. Getting fitter, moving forward, the future feels bright. Thankfully I've no niggles and am able to train sensibly. I don't really have any anecdotes from this week other than people questioning why I am doing so much running. To people who don't run, it might seem odd that you might go out in the rain, wind and harsh winter weather for 2hrs or more at a time. When asked 'Are you doing it for anything in particular?' I just say 'Yes, I'm training for the Mexborough fun run!' They think I'm serious and that's fine with me. The real answer is that I am training to be a world class masters marathon runner. Non-runners won't understand that, or see any purpose to my pursuit, but I enjoy getting fit, racing and getting the most from my training.  The future does seem bright. I start racing as a masters runner, I start a new job and I'm loo

Training wise it's been a good week. I'm currently still running on two legs with no niggles to complain about. Decent miles, some fartlek, the joys of speedwork on a Friday night (8x800m + 6 x 400m) and a Sunday run, which is now up to 16 miles. On today's run I just clipped off the miles on my hilly run. The first 4 miles are an uphill drag and during these first few miles I have to work quite hard on some decent climbs out towards Goldthorpe. I was feeling quite good as I hit a downhill section and my thoughts then began to drift. 16 miles is a long time out on your own and as I ran by a working mens club at around midday I could see a couple of blokes walking in with snooker cues. I began to think 'Imagine that. A nice pint in a nice club. Few games of snooker. Football on. Another pint. I bet they serve Landlord. Nice...Landlord...four of five pints, game of snooker...what am I doing running?' Snapped out of my mental lapse and got to 10 miles. These mental t

This week has been a tough one in terms of motivation. The nights draw in, no sun during the daytime and it's damp and cold. Still the weekend came around and I was able to do a decent session and a good long run. I'm building up the volume slowly and still pain free so all good. My long run is now at 16 miles which I did today so pleased with that. I don't feel too tired. It would be great to have the odd day of sun but I don't think we'll see it again until March. Weekly miles: 96 (not checked my weekly miles in ages) with a day off. Negatives: Losing toenails (consequence of training).                   Short lining splitting during session (embarrassing). Positives: I've strung 3 weeks of solid training together.                 My championship entry for London has been accepted.                                  

After Tuesdays fartlek session the plan was to do my first session of speedwork on Friday. This was after a month of easy and steady running. I do my speedwork on Friday evenings which allows me to feel relatively fresh for Sundays longer run. After not doing any faster work for a while I was not looking forward to it as it was going to feel hard. Working at an intensity that hasn't been used for a while was going to be hard and I was realistic about the session and target times. A colleague asked me what my plans were for the weekend. He had a very exciting time planned involving supporting his pro-footballer mate and I thought 'Good lad! Enjoy it!' My Friday night was going to be spent doing 6 x 800m reps followed by 6 x 400m reps off short recoveries. Straight home from work I had a quick espresso threw my kit on and was in a race to beat the dark. Warm up, strides and off we go. My breathing was working and I was 'opening the pipes'. My splits surprised me and I