The Running Boffin

Follow the steady metamorphosis of geek into forest gump Check out my about me page and Race recap page for more. My race performances and handicap progress can be found on my runbritain profile. PBs 1 mile - 6:08 5 km - 18.59 5 mile - 34:58 10 km - 39:25 10 mile - 1:08:37 HM - 1:28:51 Follow me on

[therunningboffin]

Rough ultra prep plans

Last year and this year are going to pan out very similarly - hopefully with the same results!  Basically the main focus being winter marathon training then summer ultra training. I think I did pretty well in my ultra last year - I came 9th, had fun, didn’t break myself and enjoyed the training. I’ve had a look back on last years training from the marathon in April to the ultra in September and I plan to use what went well and do the same thing and more this year - this year being 5-6 miles longer and because I always want to do more!

I think ultra training is pretty simple really. Basically its lots of distance + lots of elevation if the race is hilly (most are!). Last year I got lots of long runs in and did some back to back long runs. I also got plenty of elevation in. I’d say I probably could/ should have gone longer though, both in distance and time on feet.

Last year

19th April to 13th Sept - 21 weeks

15 longs runs

Min 24 Max 34 km

Avg 29.7 km

8 were trails 

Longest time = 3 hr 25

3x back to back runs.

57 total 

60 total 

65 total 

These were always hilly on a Sunday then a flat commute to work 

I also did a long walk - 40 km 

Ways to improve on this training in 2016 

10th April to 17th Sept -23 weeks. Doing the same long walk again in July

More long runs - use my yearly Eddington score for comparison 

Longer runs - higher average and max

Greater overall elevation - this is also a yearly goal

More back to back runs

Longer on my feet - do a run thats over 4 hours

More trails (more than 8 long ones and more mid week trails too) 

I’ve put the changes to this year in a rough order of priority. I think trails is less important because The High Peak 40 seems to have a lot of road and path sections but I will be using them for the elevation and strength training. I have 2 more weeks this year and last year I took 2 weeks off to go away so plenty of time to improve on last years training. I’m already ahead of last year in terms of Eddington and I plan on keeping most of my weekend long runs to 30 km so I should be able to improve on last years endurance.

Ultra training is the best !

The difference between ultra training and marathon training is I read Pfitzingers marathon plan and I shudder - mid week long runs, long marathon pace runs, long LT runs. I read this and smile - all I see stretching out for the whole summer is getting up early on a weekend and disappearing off in to the hills. Bliss.

[therunningboffin]

Goals for 2016 and training thoughts

After preparing and thinking about the marathon leading into the training block, training for maybe 18 weeks, doing a marathon then recovering for maybe 3 weeks I’ve been pretty much focused on the marathon for about half a year! Thats a heck of a long time and coming of the other can feel a bit goal-less and free-wheeling. The lack of structure at first is brilliant - ignoring pace, going up in to the hills instead of focusing on tarmac, running less! This has also coincided nicely with longer days and better weather which is why I think I’ll always prefer a spring marathon if its a flat one. Training for a flat marathon typically means a lot of boring road work and fits perfectly with having something to focus on when the evenings are dark and cold. You’ve then got summer to hit the trails, either for fun or to prep for trail events in the autumn.

That all been said, I’ve started getting some plans together for the rest of the year. Nothing as crazy as a structured plan but some sort of focus and direction.  I’ve not booked a lot of races yet and the only one I’ve booked that will take some specific work so far is the High Peak 40 ultra in September (MORE TO COME!) - again though, this will fit nicely into my love of trails in the summer. I’m planning on booking some short races I think too so I can focus on building on my winter endurance with some faster training.

I’ve also been thinking about my goals for the year because I’m very goal oriented with my running. Here’s what I’ve got:

PBs in all major distances - 5 km or parkrun, 10 km, half marathon and marathon

More total distance than last year

More ‘sessions’

More elevation than last year

Fun further than I’ve ran before in a single run

So the first one should be do-able. I’m still getting quicker and I’ve got one down already. Not sure if i’ll actually book a 5 km race or just try and beat my parkrun time. 

I’ve not set a specific goal for total distance because it is a bit crazy to just keep completely eclipsing the year before. I hope to match last year at least though. Last year I averaged 10 km a day for the year which I think is more than enough miles and I would probably benefit more from some of these being more quality.

As I’ve just said I’m going to try and get more sessions in. I’ll probably count this based on what I consider a ‘workout’ on strava. My definition is a bit flakey but roughly it is a run where I decided on a pace for a distance and therefore can either pass or not. So this would be intervals and tempos. I also include specific hill work - not just venturing into the hills but up and down a hill. If its boring or painful its probably a session :)

More elevation! - I’m convinced now that my form towards the end of last year had a lot to do with the elevation I chased in preparation for my first ultra so I’ll be trying to get some in wherever I can. This is also one of those nice goals thats more about where you run than particularly putting more hours or effort in.

The last goal will be likely covered by a 40 mile ultra but I wanted to add it because these goals could be something to come back to next year. 

Oh and more explorer squares, a lot more explorer squares

[therunningboffin]

An obsession with explorer squares!

Been meaning for a while know to write about one of my biggest running obsessions - explorer squares.

From the first time I ever saw a run drawn on a map I’ve been obsessed with running activity maps and heat maps. These are effectively all your runs drawn onto a map at once. Its a great way of looking at everywhere you’ve ran - either training locally, going to races or travelling. I played around with some tools that used Nike+ data when I was primarily using Nike+ then after I moved everything to Strava and Garmin I messed about with race shapes and this tool. Then, (mostly through looking for heat map data tools) I discovered the amazing Veloviewer. Veloviewer is a site by Ben Lowe and costs £9.99 a year. I don't pay for strava premium and feel I get everything I’d want in terms of data. Its also continuously being updated.

One of my favourite obsessions (along with Veloviewers Eddington score feature !) is Explorer Squares. My first mini-obsession with activity maps was trying to explore new roads, effectively colouring in as many roads as I can or connection runs together in an endless sprawl. 

Isn’t it beautiful !

Later, the site added a feature called explorer squares. This is a way to effectively measure your map coverage. Basically it divides a map (of the world I guess ?) into 1km ish squares. Your explorer score is how many of these squares you’ve done an activity in. Theres also the largest square of these squares you’ve managed to cover (in blue below) - mines 10x10 explorer squares. 

If you’re listening Ben I’d also like a continuous square metric - how many squares all attached to each other and percentage of the country covered :)

Paint it green

Theres leaderboards, distributions etc but I’m mostly interested in just increasing my own score (for now :) )

Explorer squares are great because they encourage finding new routes between places and venturing out to new areas. I’ve had some great runs where I’ve decided to head off in to the hills in a direction i’ve never been because I can reach a few extra squares. Its nice both competitively and personally to have a goal that doesn't require running more or faster. Its also really neat having a record of everywhere you’ve been - if you’re like me and pack running shoes before anything else you've basically got a travel log! I’ve actually been thinking about how amazing it would be to have this sort of data for everywhere I’ve ever been.

Both Chris and I are obsessed though. Often the first thing we’ll ask after a run/race is “how many explorer squares?”. There’s also been tactically planning of lunch runs at work to “bag a few squares”. There is no way as yet to visualise the borders of the squares you haven’t visited yet but I’ve been known to take screenshots, draw my own and work out the perfect route to grab squares!

A tactical explorer route bagging extra squares by diverting down side streets!

There’s even been the discussion about whether we can ‘blockbuster’ our way across the UK leading me to look more than once at the very challenging Hadrian's Wall in a day Ultra.

Fortunately its not just me that seems to be obsessed

https://explorersquare.wordpress.com

http://karlandersson.se/2015/04/27/veloviewer-explorer/

http://www.monaxle.com/2016/01/23/cycling-goals-for-2016-with-added-veloviewer-explorer-tiles/

http://www.darkerside.org/2015/12/veloviewer-map-exporer-not-just-for-cycling/

Those cyclists have got it easy though !! :)

Anyway, I really recommend having a look, its a great record, encourages variety and is a lot of fun.

[therunningboffin]

It's been a while !

So while planning out my runs for the year I realised I’ve not posted anything on my blog that no one reads Anyhoooo, though I've done a couple of small races I've basically spent the entire time since my last post training then running a marathon. Yep, another weeks of dark cold runs through the winter with the treat of a marathon at the end. Not quite the week by week updates I did last year eh! I'm going to do a longer post with how it went, where I feel I'm at and what I want to do going forward but I got a PB of 3:05:57. Probably a larger PB than it initially seemed too due to the debacle of a ~2 min short course last year ! Ok that's the awkward, I've not posted in a while post done! I'll be back soon ;)

[therunningboffin]

5 Amazing running weeks!

Since my last update I had an amazing 5 weeks during which I:

Ran my first Sub 40 10k - 39:25

Ran my first Ultra - coming 9th (6:10 ish)

Ran my first sub 1:30 HM - actually sub 1:29 !!! (1:28:51)

I’ve been writing this post since the first race and now just collected it all together into a MEGA POST due to being slack at updating!

The main goal and the goal for all my training essentially since Aprils Marathon was the Ultra - coping with the both 35 mile distance and the hills. I discussed this prep last time and coming towards tapering I felt that my training had gone really really well. The only thing I would have changed if time would have permitted would be some longer (probably slower) runs - perhaps up towards 40 km or something like that. This would have got me a bit more used to the time on my feet.

Salford 10 km

For some reason I booked a 10 km race the week before and ultra with an eye on a PB and a secret goal of sub 40. I say secret goal because I wouldn't have even admitted it to myself before hand and also I had to focus on not getting injured first and foremost. On the day I felt fantastic though - I never have felt so comfortable in a race before. I was chugging along at 4:00 /km and it felt almost easy. Looking back its hard to believe this was the pace I struggled to get under for 5 km for so long. I kept glancing at my watch and my pace was steady at 4:00 and my average was steady at 4 km. I felt so comfortable at 8 km I decided to drop the hammer and push. At 9 km I knew I’d made it under 40min so I really gave it some and enjoyed a sprint finish to come in at 39:25 - cue a fist pump after crossing the line !! 

I’ve done a few of the Sports Tours events now (Tour of Tameside, We Love Manchester, City of Salford, and Grand Aintree) and I really like them - great organisation, great medals and swag and not too busy - they're good for taking the family to as well.

Concentration !!

Pacing

Recovery after this was merged with a necessary taper for the big one !

Gritstone Grind Ultra (35 miles)

Just 1 weeks later was the complete other end of the spectrum with an ultra! Preparation was 3 days rest and a really good nights sleep the night before. The family left me alone for the night so I could sleep well and wouldn't wake them in the morning which helped a lot.

Gear I  took

Camelback - I borrowed a camelback from Chris for the race and very glad I did - filled with water and a pinch of salt. This was refilled twice during the race

Food - I took with me some grapes, nuts and a chocolate mint cake and thats it food-wise because there were 3 feed stations.

A pak mac

A space blanket

Extra socks

Tissues

Plasters

Bodyglide - not packed but applied EVERYWHERE ! (Bodyglide has been a revelation of recent note - put it on my feet too)

PRO TIP - BODYGLIDE YOUR FEET

Testing the Camelbak

There is quite a lot of navigation involved - its all signposted for wakers but looking back at previous runners there were some obvious wrong turns and missed check points. The check points were manual clip so I made a note of the approximate distance of each one and some notes so I didn’t miss them.

Check points! ( - = Food, C = cooker hill, R = Ryles Arms, T = Teggs Nose, W = White nancy, L = Lyme Park!)

As can be seen above, I was up at the crack of dawn! - The race started at 8am but I had to drive to the finish then be driven on a coach to the start!.

I set off fairly steady and there was quite a bunch of people together at the start while things settled. I skipped the first food checkpoint entirely - seemed a bit unnecessary at 15 km ! The race then flattened out for a bit and I found myself with a sherpa of sorts who was quicker than me but knew the route so I took the opportunity to get my average pace down and followed him a bit. After about 15 miles (and then right to the end) I then ran pretty much on my own other than a few walkers. There was a huge element of the unknown going in to the race but I had an idea that i might be able to average under 7 min/km so I had set this as a rough target. I also knew the second half was tougher (both hillier and due to fatigue) so at the half way point when I saw I had averaged 6:19 / km I worked out I could ‘afford’ to do 7:41/ km in the second half. Yes I was doing maths the whole 6 hours lol - I think it kept me sane! 

Most of the actual race is kind of a blur now but I certainly remember feeling really bad at about 20 miles. It was right after a really big hill (the big red bit below in the profile!) and was probably not the best time to take stock of how I was doing and whether I thought I could finish. 3 or 4 miles later I felt a bit better and when I got to the final food station and was told I was “8 or 9th” I got re-motivated a lot. There was one more hill to go at this point which I mostly ‘power-walked’ up and at the top of this I was still just a shade under 7min/ km (Avg). It was mostly down hill now too so I just kept it steady. During the last 1 km I got cramp in both legs which didn’t easy with walking/ stopping so I just ran with cramp which wasn't pretty or fun! I finished in 6 hrs 10 min (6:44 pace) and came 9th! - very pleased. It felt a little weird running a point to point race for a change but I was glad to get to my car! Looking back I averaged 168 bpm heart rate - this is higher than my standard general aerobic training runs but I ran that for 6+ hours ! 

Afterwards I was stiff, starving and dehydrated. The last gave me the nicest tasting pie I’ve ever had and a lovely brew! The following week I was pretty stiff. but surprisingly I was less knackered than my marathon, which I am assuming is the difference between constant tarmac and mixed terrain.

No medal but the race is exceptional value at £19

Me at the finish !

All the hills!

Thanks Smashrun !

Think I hit my step goal today ! 

The route

Congleton Sting in the tail half marathon

So 3 weeks later I had booked a half marathon. Probably not smart and I wasn’t feeling 100% on the day but going in I was really hoping to finally go under 1:30. They had changed the course since the year before but I was still hoping to get some good insight as how much I have improved 1 year later, particularly going into another marathon plan to race Manchester marathon again in 2016 (again 1 year later).  I risked racing in my racing flats - something I haven’t done for a HM but have done for 5 km and 10 km and I love how fast and light they are. I ran this with my run buddy Chris as we are pretty much on a par now running wise and we set off at 4:15 pace with the plan to maintain this and get under 1:30. After 10 km I felt more fatigued than I felt in my recent 10 km race which was ran at sub 4:00 /km pace so I think I was still feeling a little ultra-tired. We pretty much nailed perfect pacing throughout and running with someone really helped me I think. I struggled a little in the marathon being on my own for long stretches so if I’m anything near 3:00 shape come April 2016 I’ll consider pushing the pace and following the 3:00 pace group even if it means dropping off later.

During the race I certainly felt hill strong - hills are one of my strengths, probably due to weighing nothing and having ran hills a lot in prep for the ultra 

Monthly elevation totals - notice the massive increase this year! 

After blitzing the last (sting in the tail) hill, my final time was 1:28:51 ! Really really please with that - a 4:36 min improvement over last years time and good confidence booster going into my second marathon training plan.

Knackered but happy on the finish strait!

So thats it - I had 5 great weeks! A belated post but its been good to look back on what I achieved during this time. Its been a really good end to a great summer of training with just winter runs to look forward to now :(

[therunningboffin]

Just overtook last years me in total yearly km. Could put my feet up now for the rest of the year !

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A new PB! By 2 mins and 38 sec over my previous 10km race almost a year ago

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People who Runch - this stuff is very useful. 

When I manage to squeeze a run in at work I can skip the shower and not stink meaning I can run a bit longer.

[therunningboffin]

New gear

I bought a pack up coat from decathlon for taking on the ultra and for taking on long runs over winter. It has some pretty decent reviews and I didn’t want to spend a lot on something I’m hoping to not use !   - £5.99 ! 

I’ve replaced my knackered trail shoes (had a few slips in them recently and they’re starting to split) with the Innov8 Mudclaw 265s. These seemed to be lightest they do and look super grippy. I might post my thoughts if I get around to it.

Finally I’ve had to get some body glide for chaffing. You don’t want to know the specifics but despite getting some very nice shorts recently that have helped, I’m still having issues on the 3hr + runs. Nothing major as yet but don’t fancy running the second 3+ hrs on the trail run in pain so giving this a try.

[therunningboffin]

Training catch up - ultra marathon edition!

Haven’t posted for quite a while. My last check in was a look back at my marathon in April. Since then I’ve been almost completely focused on training for my first Ultra-marathon (!). The race I’m doing is the Gritstone Grind. The event is 35 miles so its on the low end of the Ultra distance but it will be a very different run compared to my marathon because of the elevation and terrain. The greater manchester marathon is all tarmac and the UK’s flattest marathon (I clocked it at 59m elevation total). The Gritstone Grind is about 1800 m of elevation and almost entirely off road.

Training

So how do you prepare for a 35 mile trail run? I’ve taken a simple approach - (1) run a lot (2) hit the trails (3) hit the hills. So move my long runs off road and start paying attention to elevation. I got my weekly LR distance back up to around 30 km fairly soon after the marathon (about 4 week) and have kept it regularly close to that. I’ve done most of these longs runs on trails and tried to get my elevation well over 500m and topping out over 1km. As the course is local to me, many of these have been done on the route itself - practising the specifics and learning the route. I’ve also tried to include hills in as many of my mid-week runs as I can. Its been quite a fun change up from the marathon plan - focusing on elevation instead of distance and exploring trails routes.

A change of focus - lots of elevation!

I also walked the 3 Yorkshire peaks, which took about 10 hrs and hopefully was a good bit of practise for the long slog.

3 Peaks - from veloviewer

Finally, I have done 3 pairs of back to back long runs to try and simulate running on tired legs. The first of these was done on the trails on the Sunday and the second was a commute to work on the Monday which is quite flat. Ideally these would have been the other way around or both would be on trails but I couldn’t fit this around my life so made so.

1 - 27 km + 30km

2 - 30 km + 30 km

3 - 34 km + 31 km 

Pairs of back to back runs

Feeling pretty good about how my preparation has gone so far and looking forward to it! I’ll post again with the kit I’m planing on taking with me and (perhaps stupidly) I’ve booking a 10 km race the week before.

[therunningboffin]

New 5km PB! Sub 19! So chuffed @ukrunchat #ukrunchat

[therunningboffin]

Road trip to Christleton 5km

[therunningboffin]

Pfitzinger and Douglas - Advanced Marathoning training reflection

 My experience with P&D

I posted an introduction to this plan way back last year. All my runs are here and I’ve written about each week which are all in my archive. I had chosen the lowest mileage plan but decided to try and tackle the higher mileage plans for the long run. This pretty much panned out as I hoped. It did mean I was a bit above mileage but I maintained the periodicity of increasing mileage then recovering. 

Mileage

This was quite a step up from my previous years mileage and will hopefully serve as a really good aerobic base throughout the year.

Me vs previous me

I ended up enjoying most of the sessions and I learnt a lot. I learnt about what I can cope with in terms of continuous training and back to back training sessions. I learnt about pacing and what LT/VO2max etc feel like. I also learnt that I really enjoy following a plan. I certainly think having a plan helps with making sure you are training hard and doing the right sort of training sessions. This doesn't necessarily need to be a prescribed plan and I might try using some of the things I learnt to help build and tweak plans in the future. I’m just not convinced that I would have done some of the hard training sessions if they hadn't been written for me in advance.

I’ve recently bought Pfitzingers new book - “Faster Road Racing: 5K to Half Marathon” - I thought this would be a nice follow on for during the summer. 

Thought on the plan

If anyone is considering P&D as a training plan I would HIGHLY recommend it. I’ve little to compare it to but feel it made me focus for my first marathon and took some of the guess work away. Also I’m very pleased with 3:10 for a debut !! Having the book to read alongside what you are doing is really good too. I read through the book first and made notes, then during the plan when a new session came up I would go back and read about why the session is important and how to do it properly. It’s a very well written book and because it is so popular there are tons of people online to talk to about the sessions. I was following people on strava doing the same plan and lurking on the runners world forums where there was a P&D post for Manchester itself. There is a good episode of MarathonTalk where Pfitzinger is interviewed that is nice to listen to alongside. 

I will most likely be following a P&D plan for my next marathon. I imagine doing the plan again is good for comparison during the training too. Would be great to compare performance on the long marathon pace runs for example

I’ve a blank training plan for the 18/55 if anyone finds that useful.

What I’d do differently/next time

1 - More hills. Pfitzinger himself has cited this as something he’d change but the book also mentions running on similar terrain to the race. I did a lot of hills leading into the plan for this reason but then stuck to mostly flat running (Manchester is the UK flattest marathon!). I think I would be stronger if I’d have mixed it up and maybe done hills/trails midweek and perhaps kept the long run flat for simulation. After all the training I feel very fit but not very strong.

2 - Strength training (see above!)

3 - A higher mileage plan. I managed with the higher mileage long runs and theres a part of me that wonders if I could have just gone whole hog with a higher plan. If I do go Pfitzinger again I’d definitely go for the next level up.

4 - Run a half marathon and 10 km tune up race! I wasn't sold on the idea of tune up races and still don't quite like the idea of non A-goal racing, i.e. not tapering and fully committing to a race but using it as a tune up. I didn’t realise though that even without tapering I’d have probably got PBs in both of these. I beat my HM PB in a long run and got very close to my 10km PB in an LT run. I also think they'd have helped a lot with being race strong not just fit. Instead, when I came to the big day it was almost 4 months since I’d raced hard.

[therunningboffin]

A very belated Manchester marathon wrap up

Finally making time to put something down about how I went on in my first marathon.

My race

Going in, I secretly wanted sub 3:10 but had 3:15 as backup goal - that meant 4:30 was my goal pace. I got the best nights sleep thats possible with a baby in the bed and got there very early the next day. I then did the 2 x 5 min warmups that Pfitzinger recommended. One goes from barely running to easy running and the second from easy to MP - stretching in between.

At the start I really should have stood ahead of the 3:15 pacer. I thought nothing of it at the time, expecting/hoping I’d just pass them but the trouble was the scores of other people around that pacer all bunched together. I struggled to get past for a few kilometres and probably worried about it more than I should - stressing as my average pace dropped above 4:30. 

Not a great photo

Digging in !!

Everything was great to half way and I felt amazing at the half way point. At this point I calculated I was probably on track for 3:08ish and looking back I actually had a good middle section too. I didn’t keep the pace up unfortunately and struggled slightly in the last 10 km. Energy-wise I felt very good but I didn’t feel strong. My thighs were very very sore and I had to stop and walk very briefly 4 times to easy off the pain. Each time I felt loads better afterwards though.

Pacing

Towards the end I found some people to run with and finally came in at 3:10:22 - even managed a sprint finish !

iTAB medal- proof!

Thoughts

Very pleased with that to be honest but I’m actually more pleased with how the training went. I know that the point of training is for the event but it will serve me very well this year I think and the race is kind of a reward for that. I’ve put in my biggest block of miles so far and learnt a ton about hard training and what I’m capable of. Little disappointed I had to stop a few times but I think some strength training next time might help me out - a few things recently are pointing at strength being a weakness. 

Big mileage

I also really enjoyed my marathon experience - I gave it respect but also I didn’t shy away from it. I was setting off at the same pace I set off on for my last half marathon but trusting in the training. I also got my predicted time very close too! Without those pesky stops I would probably got close to 3:09 I think. Should also add that I managed to get round on just sips of water. Non of this gel nonsense - something I had trained towards.

Afterwards

Couldn’t walk downstairs for a few days - seems standard :)

I’m pretty much now back to normal after 4 weeks. It took 2 weeks to get rid of niggles when running and pretty much 4 weeks to feel quick again. I managed to get very close to my 5km PB (3 secs off) at parkrun 3 weeks later so I’m pretty pleased with that. 

The event

Nothing really to add to the many positive reviews elsewhere on this even and I haven’t a lot to compare it to but I was surprised at the level of support. Really great to see so many people out and about. As a race is very well organised with no hiccups at all.

[therunningboffin]

Running milestone goals

There are these running milestones like sub 40 min for 10km and sub 3hrs fir the marathon. There are obviously slower goals (30 min 5km) and much quicker ones (like the elusive 2hr marathon !!) too. After finally going sub 20 5km I started playing around with the race time predictor on runners world to work out how far off a 40 min 10 km I am etc. By looking up the equivalent times at various milestones you can basically rank them in order of difficulty or order to tackle them. The times on the right are the equivalent times for other distances. So my next target should be the 1:30 half marathon and if I want to get under 40min for the 10km I need my 5km time to be under 19:11. This particularly quite useful if you do regular events like parkrun.

[therunningboffin]

P&D 18/55 Weeks 15 & 16 -including the Viper 369

Racing and Recovering !

The plan and notes are here. 

The book where the plan is from 

Blank plan

Sponsor me !

Week 15

Compressed my week towards the beginning to allow some rest for the weekend and this was made easier because I did my LR last week on the Friday. Enjoyed another interval session - this time 4x1200m. They are getting progressively longer each week which I assume is to get some race conditioning in. On Saturday I did an all day event - the Viper 9. 

Viper 9

This was a 9 hr event in 3 x 3 hr sessions as part of a team of 3. The aim was to get 5 laps in the first session, 6 in the next then 7 in the final session. The conditions were very poor and the course was very hilly so we missed getting the 7 in the final session but did manage 7 in the 1st, 6 in the 2nd and 6 in the 3rd. This gave us 19 laps (95 km) total. I myself did 8 laps and at just over 5 km each equalled pretty much marathon distance. Over 800m of assent too. It was a great event and really well organised but my legs took a battering! Due to the interval like nature I was hitting each rep at pretty much all out effort so it was like running the hardest parkrun course ever as hard as you can 8 times in a day. I had 2 massages during and my legs weren’t right for a week after ! Probably to be expected after not running any trails all winter and sticking to the roads but I definitely felt strong from an endurance point of view - I might be just too fit for how strong I am now!

The Viper course ! 

Total km = 84 

Week 16

First of the taper weeks! Crazy to think its nearly over - I’m going to miss the training plan actually. In fact I’m already eyeing Pfitzinger’s new book up for the summer ! 

Mostly sore this week - niggle after niggle so missed 2 sessions. I missed the VO2 max session and 10km recovery. So 2 sessions missed out of 5. I didn’t do the race on Saturday either but did get the long run in - 27km. I felt good during this and gave it some welly at the end because it was warm and my biggest worry for the marathon is a hotter day. Some faster running in the heat might be good practise.

I have a weird ache on the inside of my calf that is getting no worse or better  but I’m hoping it’ll go away. I seems to get better as I run so hopefully thats all ok. Stretching and rolling now until the big day !

[therunningboffin]

Running to the in-laws for my Sunday dinner