Whatever you do, don’t skip the loo!
An intriguing title I’m sure you will agree, but a very applicable
one indeed.
What drives me to that kind of statement? Well yesterday (Thursday
26th) I woke up with my alarm at 4:15 as normal, BUT, for some reason
went back to sleep and ended up waking again looking at my watch only to see
the time sitting at about 4:50!
4:50!!?? Holy ****!!
I recently
drafted yet another revised training plan, this time based around the
ultra-running champion Sage Canaday; who is currently training for his Olympic
trials qualification race in a few weeks. I have taken all of the runs that he
has been logging in Strava since the beginning of his training, and drew up my
own calendar leading up to the London
Marathon. All I did was knock a few km off here and there depending on what
type of run he did; for example, if he ran an 18km easy session, I listed put
that down as a 15k session. If he logged a 30k session made up of different
types of sessions moulded into one I would plan a half marathon distance built
up of different types of runs too.
So far the
idea has been working brilliantly, and I’ve been knocking personal best times
around like skittles. Someone at work recently pointed out that I shouldn’t be
surprised at how well I’ve been progressing if I’ve been trying to replicate a
pro runner training for the Olympics! Guess not when you think of it like that!
The main
thing for me recently has been to not slip up, not to adjust the plan; and to
stick with it. To wake up late on a day that I have a 10k planned for the
morning before work; and then another in the evening after work; put that
entire plan at risk. I know it sounds anal, but I can’t afford to mess up my
morning routine in the slightest. If I leave my house even 5 minutes later than
normal it can add about 20 minutes to my drive due to the influx of traffic
that seems to suddenly appear after 6:30AM.
So I woke up
late and had to get my behind into gear so that I could get a good 10k session
on the books. I shot out of bed, whipped the gear one, shovelled a banana down
my throat and dashed out the door. I got about 2km into the run when suddenly
it happened. I won’t go into too many details, but let’s just say that my
stomach suddenly reminded me that I forgot to do a very significant part of my
morning routine, “rumble, rumble; gurgle, gurgle”; it grumbled at me.
From that
moment on the stride was very much shortened; no, there hadn’t been any
accidents; not yet; but I didn’t want there to be either. Every turning point
on my route was preceded with a very serious mental debate as to whether or not
I should just turn home and pack in the run. Yes I could go home and then dash
out again but that would break my rhythm etc… and I knew that once back indoors
I wouldn’t want to go back out again.
Each debate
was met with the same answer; “I feel fine now, just take the turn and get on
with it; it’s only a few more km to go and then you’ll be home!”
Each time I
thought that though I would be grumbled at once more about 3-400 meters down
the road. I pressed on, and on, and on; until finally back home and through the
door.
What was even
more annoying was that I didn’t even think to reset my Garmin, so all my data
was lost apart from the overall time and distance of the run itself. How
annoying; but; at least I didn’t skip the run, and I got the 10k done under
difficult circumstances. I will never complain about the wind….headwinds that
is….again.
So that was
that, run number one for the day done, but it did mean that I needed to really
make up for it when I got to my evening session, and make up for it I did. I
ran that second 10k after work like a man possessed and set a new personal best
of 45:39; a whole 2:04 quicker than my last 10k PB. Like I said, I seem to be
knocking personal bests around like skittles lately. I bust out a new 5k PB of
21:24 on the 21st, set a new distance PB of 30k the very next day,
as well as setting myself a new 15k PB of 1:11:26 on Wednesday just gone (25th).
Overall my
training for the Silverstone half marathon; and then the London marathon; has
been going so well that the idea has begun to creep into my head that I might
just be able to pull off the unthinkable; get a half marathon time of around
1hr42, and then even a marathon time of around 3hrs30! My initial targets were
1hr45 and 3hrs45 respectively, but a fellow bug pointed me to the runners world
pace calculator which says I should be able to achieve 1hr42 and 3hr33. Another
bug (FYI – I am part of an online running community called TheRunningBug,
where we refer to one another as “bugs”, or “BugMates”) then dropped the seed into my head that I
could start to realistically look at 3hrs30! Damn you Ian! Damn you! Lolol….
Once an idea gets put into my head it starts to germinate and take root. My
brain is like a gill net, catches onto every little idea and doesn’t let go!
This is not a good thing because if I do start believing in those kinds of
times then I get really upset with myself if I don’t achieve the target.
Still; like I
said; with the performances I have been achieving lately, these little ideas
are forming very golden trimmings!
Let’s talk about
the distance PB for a bit too shall we; especially since this was a major event
for me personally. The furthest I have ever run before was a 28.77km session. I
must be honest, I have been ridiculously nervous about the upcoming marathon,
not just because my fundraising is not going too well (*cough*cough* http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AndrewRunningMadDorsett ;@)
) but also because I have been terrified of the distance element. I know that
there is still a fair amount of time before the big day arrives, but 42.2km is
a long way to run, and when you’ve only just gone over the half way marker once
before, it becomes a little more scary.
I gave the wife the heads up that I was going
to be putting in a monster session, and that I did not know how long I was
going to be out; “as long you don’t wake me up when you leave I don’t care!”
…class!
I got everything ready; full hydration bottle
loaded with lovely cola flavoured electrolytes; the
last few homemade energy tabs tucked away in my pocket, and a sis energy gel
just for a last minute emergency energy booster.
I decided to do the “right” thing and go for
a little 5k warm up run first; I don’t see the point to be honest; I am unorthodox;
but then I don’t really run a warm up run like you should; I run a warm up run
like any other run really.
I set off on the venture pretty much as soon
as I got back from the “warm up”.
I didn’t really have a plan, all I knew was that
I wanted to run, run, and then hopefully run some more. I decided the best way
to achieve this was to head out in a direction that I hadn’t been for some
time; so I went the route of my old favourite Cromwell Golf Club way; a road I hadn’t been down for
months due to the dark winter mornings and lack of lighting around there. I
could go out, run a specific distance, turn around, get home and then head out
on my normal half marathon route. Running a plan like that would ensure that I
got the distance I wanted; if it went to plan that is!
I put an extra bottle of water in my car so
that I could come past on my way back from the first section of the run and
treat the car as a half way aide station, refill my hydration bottle and then
head back out again for the second leg of the venture.
I was so happy that I did go that route
because it is such a lovely; scenic road to take.
The kilometers ticked over bit by bit and
before I knew it I was at the 10k mark. I had thought that if I turned around
to head back at 10k then that would be 20 and would be able to then head out on
my more regular half marathon route which would essentially take me to 40km in
total roughly. But I didn’t want to turn around. I wanted to keep going; so I
did. I eventually turned around at about the 12 or 13km mark, still feeling
extremely fresh, and wanting to carry on further, but the traffic was beginning
to pick up and I found myself having to step off the road and stand on the
side; in the mud; waiting for the cars to pass. If there are one or two cars
coming toward me, and I know that there is nothing coming from behind then I
wouldn’t worry about staying on the road, but when I can hear cars coming from
behind, with cars ahead of me I know that they are not going to have a lot of
room to move aside for me. I try to be as considerate and sensible as I can be
when I run the roads with no pavements.
I had completely drained my water bottle only
a few kilometers from home, but didn’t want to stop as I was only at the 26km
mark. I knew that I only had a few more to do before hitting the distance PB,
but I knew that I had a little bit more than that so I turned to the SiS gel to
give me just that little bit extra that I needed.
I decided that stopping at home to refill the
water bottle would shut me down at this stage, and that I wouldn’t want to go
on further, especially if I had hit the distance PB, so I just carried on
through and hit my more regular 5k route option. At least I would beat my PB
and still extend it by a few more kilometers. Looking back on the entire run I
really wish I had stopped at the car now and filled my bottle. I think I could
have gone on much further. By the end of it all I had run a total of 30
kilometers and just went for a nice little cool down run around the block. All
in all I had completed 36 kilometers; 5k warm up, 30k LSR, 1k cool down. I
think it is very safe to say that I was completely over the moon with the
entire session, and if anything, it has fuelled my desire to run an
ultra-marathon at some stage.
This performance has really boosted my
confidence in regards to being able to complete the marathon in under 4hrs at
least. I’ve also been boosted by the fact that there were a number of little
stop starts due to the traffic, and the allowance of a few very short walking
breaks; yet I still managed to do all 36km combined in a total of 3hrs16mins.
If I can pull off a proper race performance on the day, the 3hr30 idea is made
so much more real. I just need to remember to fill that water bottle at specific
aide stations provided by the charity I am running for.
My little energy tabs I made worked wonders
too, I gobbled one at a time at roughly every fourth kilometer, and I really do
think that they made a huge amount of difference to my overall performance. I
will definitely be packing enough of these for the big day too. If I can avoid
using a gel I will do.
At the end of
all of this I guess it’s safe to return to the title. Remember; make sure you
are clear of all toilet requirements before you take on the run you have
planned; and then believe in yourself when running to targets, and train like
you’ve never trained before. The hard work begins to pay back what you put into
it eventually.
