Some of my readers may know that I am a runner.
Some of you may know that I am part of an online community called The Running Bug (TRB); and some of you may know that; back in July; I was picked to lead one of four teams in a month long competition called the Puma Points Challenge.
Well that challenge flew by, my team came third, and I finished second in the captains race, and now we are being asked to do it all again through the month of September!
Yes; that's right; TRB and Puma are throwing a rematch at everyone, and they want all the captains to take the helm once more. I can say that each of us has been more than happy to take up the request, and with more experience; and training; in the bag, I think that this time it is going to be a lot more of a neck and neck race.
The best thing of it all is that TRB and Puma have been kind enough to enter each of us captains into the Great North Run, what an amazing privilege.
So September 13th I will be up North with my fellow captains racing it out in one of the most famous half marathons in the world, and I; for one; am uber excited!
I have plenty of half marathons already scheduled into my racing calendar for the rest of the year, as I chase a personal target of running a sub 90min half marathon before Christmas. I actually ran the first event of my half marathon season last weekend where I ran the Kimbolton half marathon in a time of 1:36:31, it wasn't my quickest time, but there were a number of factors which made it more difficult, and given that I have come down with a killer cold a mere two days after the race, to me says that my body must have been in shut down mode, which is possibly why I didn't run as well; or comfortably; as I would normally have wanted to.
Now normally I would advise people to be eating well, hydrating properly, and making sure that they are getting all the right forms of training in for at least 6 - 8 weeks prior to an event such as a half marathon, and if I had the time I would be doing the same thing, but I don't have the luxury of time given that this was not a race that I had originally planned for. My next big half marathon is actually at the end of September where I am planning to run the Ealing half marathon; exactly 6 weeks after the Kimbolton half! The Ealing half is another special event for me as it was my first ever half marathon event that I had taken part in.
I wasn't exactly going to turn down the opportunity to run in the GNR though was I?
So what am I going to be doing in the way of training for a half marathon that is a mere three weeks away?
Well, thankfully, I have the benefit of already having a good base fitness, and; dare I say it; I find it fairly easy to pop out and run a half marathon distance on a weekly basis. There is a difference though between just going out to run a half marathon, and running a half marathon in a competitive time.
Unfortunately I am currently still fighting off the cold obtained after Kimbolton, my first illness in a long time actually! I am hoping to be back to full fitness by Monday the 24th of August, which means that I will have two complete weeks to put in some intense training, and one full week to taper.
Let's look at the two weeks intense training that I can schedule for myself; what should I be focussing on? The most important thing for me at the moment is to build on speed; but my speed isn't going to suddenly improve over a mere two weeks of training, but that doesn't mean that I will not include speedwork into my training.
So the first thing to note is that I will be running about 6 days a week. I will start the week with a nice little 5k; easy paced; run just to get the legs warmed up for the next day. I will also throw in some core work by doing a crossfit tabata workout in order to maximise my day. These workouts will help to build my overall stamina, and strength.
Tuesday will involve an interval session to build on my speed. Something like a 6x200m or 4x600m session. Again, I will throw in crossfit workout after.
Wednesday will be a longer run, maybe a 10 or 15k, but at a much easier pace. I wont bother with any core work here as my body will most likely be asking for a break at this point. For me though, running a light session is my idea of a break, I like to save Sundays for full rest days; unless it's a race weekend where I will have a full rest on the Saturday instead, or; depending on the event; I will go for a very light and steady 5k jog just to keep the blood flowing.
Thursday will be a tempo session to help build on my running stamina. A 10k run where the first 2km will be at an easy pace to warm up, 6km at tempo pace, and then the final 2km to cool down. I will also put in another core session on this day, but not with the same intensity of Monday or Tuesday.
On Friday I'll run another easy session, 10 or 15k again, followed by another crossfit workout.
Saturday is big run day. Normally I would be running a half marathon or longer. I'll practice my race pace for about 50% of the run and then just taking it easy for the other 50%.
Sunday is rest day, no workouts, no running, and treating myself to eat whatever I like really.
Another point here is that throughout the week I will be drinking about 2ltrs of lemon water a day, a healthy breakfast each morning followed by healthy lunches; normally power packed salads filled with things like kale, spinach, beetroot, goji berries, tuna etc...; and dinners. I also include two snacks into my day between priority meals each day. This keeps my body working constantly, making sure that I am getting everything I need from the different essential nutrients that help to prevent injury, keep my joints healthy, and promote overall good health etc...
This schedule is going to be amended very slightly as I do actually have another event before GNR. Saturday the 5th will see me taking part in a bit of fun as I head out for the Cambridgeshire Spartan Sprint 5k Obstacle Race. This was another added treat to my already busy schedule as a friend donated her free entry voucher to me. I can't turn down free events, especially ones with such cool appeal to them, and I look forward to being able to call myself a Spartan!
I will carry out week two in exactly the same manner as week one; apart from the Spartan event on the Saturday obviously, I will be running my long run as originally planned.
It's taper week; week three; where things change a little; well; a lot really. Normally people tend to reduce their mileage, and intensity by about 70-80%; but I find this to be counter-productive for what my body likes to do. Instead I reduce the intensity by about 50%, and I only reduce my mileage by about 60%.
Where a lot of people like to take the break, and give their bodies a rest, I like to keep myself running
as I find that it keeps my legs working at the desired rate to cope well with the intensity of race day. I do give myself more rest days, but only one more really. I will run Monday and Tuesday, rest Wednesday, then run Thursday and Friday with my final rest on Saturday. This will make sure that my body has had ample time to work, and still be nicely rested for race day on the Sunday.
So what about the Friday run, and Saturday rest; the 48hrs leading up to race day? Well Friday will more than likely be a 10k easy run. There won't be anything intense about this run as I just want to be keeping the muscles alive and active; none of my runs in taper week are run at any serious intensity actually, they are all completed in an easy and comfortable pace. I'll have to go to work on the Friday; obviously; and will probably have a nice light pasta dish for dinner. Saturday will be complete rest day, so no running, and no working out on core etc... It will also involve a good old train ride up to Newcastle and checking into my hotel. Hopefully I'll be able to get another light pasta dish in me for dinner in order to make sure that I get the carbohydrate energy into me for race day.
I always try to just take it as easy as I can the day before a race, making sure that I am nice and relaxed for race day morning. I look at previous runs, I use apps like Strava to check the race route, see if there are any route segments etc... this shows me where the hills are, what the route looks like etc... I also use another app called VDot02 Calculator, which shows me what pace I need to run at in order to hit the target pace I want within the race.
I also use Saturday to get my kit prepped and ready. I am super anal about preparation, which means that I lay out everything I will be wearing or eating etc... check it, pack it, and then repeat the process. Yes; it is almost as though I have an obsessive compulsive disorder; but it's the best way I find to make sure that my nerves are at ease as I hate to think that I have forgotten anything, especially when I am going to be in an unfamiliar place.
In regards to what I am wearing; I try to be as light as possible, so it will be one of the Puma racing shirts that I was kindly given, along with my Puma race shorts. I will obviously be wearing my obligatory red cap and sunglasses as this has become my most recognised feature lately. I also wear Compressport calf guards to keep my legs nice and tight whilst I run. And then my shoes. Puma treated me to a very nice pair of trainers from their minimalist range, the Faas 100 V1.5. They weigh in at around 190g per shoe (size 10.5), which means that they are my second lightest shoe, and they really are a great pair of shoes to be fair. I can't thank Puma enough for them after I pretty much slated the other shoes that they gave me. Those others were simply not the right shoes for my style of running, but the Faas 100 is certainly a good shoe, but I will cover them in a more accurate review in a blog post I have been working on in the background for some time. And that's it...I wont be taking anything else out with me really, run light, run fast!
As for nutrition on the day, I train first thing in the morning, about 4:30am every day, this means that I don't actually eat before I run. Instead I have a high protein breakfast after my run and workout each day. Due to the fact that races are at a much later time than when I train, I might have a little bite of something to eat, but it really depends on the importance of the race, whether I am actually hungry or not, and MUST be at least an hour before the event start time. If I do have something to eat it is normally a toasted whole-wheat bagel with organic peanut butter and sliced banana (the greener the banana the better). This little breakfast gives me the right amount of slow release carbs that suit race conditions perfectly, also the reason why I choose a banana that is green over a ripe one as a ripened banana will release its natural energy quicker than one that is unripe.
I don't carry water with me for a half either, if I do need a drink I will normally grab one from the last water station on the route, if at all! I don't train with water in order to keep myself as light as possible. The only thing I take with me on a race is two SiS Isotonic gels. I will have one right at the start of the race, allowing the energy to carry me through the first quarter of the distance, saving my own natural energy for the middle half of the race. I then save the second gel for the 16th km. This allows me to use the added kick for the final 5k and give myself a strong finish.
So that is me, and how I will be prepping for race day, and how I deal with the day itself.
Ideally I would like to aim for a PB, I always go into every race aiming for a PB. I like to consider myself a competitor now, and dont just go to events to take part, I go to events to try and get myself into the best finish position I can possibly obtain, in as quick a time as I can.
Given that I never actually had this race scheduled, I haven't thought about a finish time but my current PB for a half is 1:32:37. I think that aiming for a 1hr32 flat finish would be good as this will not only give me a good time, but also a new PB. Obviously, if I can run quicker than that I will, and if I can hit my Christmas target of a sub 90 finish time then I will be over the moon, but I already have my eyes set on hitting that in another upcoming race so just improving on my current PB will be nice enough for me.
I hope that gives you a decent little insight into how I go about prepping for race day, and what it means to me.
Thanks for reading, and good luck to all competing in the GNR, or any other races that you may be running ever.
Remember to check for updates on the challenge through this blog as well as other social media:
Twitter: @RunDorsettRun
and Instagram: MRDORSETT_UK
Look out for the hashtags:
#TeamMomentum
#pumapoints
#therunningbug
#GreatNorthRun
#OneProudCaptain
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Running through July....
Wow, well July kind of flew past as quickly as the rest of the year really, but it held more memorable moments than most of the rest of the year combined!
If you follow my ramblings, you would have read about something called The Puma Points Challenge. This was an initiative set up between Puma and the online running community, The Running Bug (TRB).
All members of TRB were separated into four different teams, with each team receiving its own nominated captain. All TRB members were given equal opportunity to apply for the positions and in the end I was one of the lucky few to be given the chance to lead a team.
My team; Momentum.
For me this was huge given the recent realisation that I am not a bad runner, I am not a bad motivator, and I absolutely love to try and help others progress in the world of running, and general health improvement. This is what I would love to be doing with my life, helping others to achieve what I have achieved over the last year and a half. This challenge was something that I could use as a stepping stone to see if I would actually be at all decent at getting the best out of people, and helping them reach their targets.
I think that; overall; I was largely successful, even though we didn't actually "win" the challenge.
So what was the actual challenge, and what did it entail?
Well; as said, there were four teams and each team needed to obtain as many points as possible within a four week period, starting on Wednesday the first of July.
How did we score points?
There were a number of ways to score, but essentially the point was to run as much as possible, and perform other exercises in order to get more points and maximise overall fitness.
When you use TRB there is something known to users as "Bugmiles". These bugmiles are basically the runs that you head out on day in day out. It is a way of logging your efforts on a daily basis into the website in order to keep a track of your performances and progress. Bugmiles can be viewed by other members of the site, and can be commented against too. It is a really good way to get advice on different elements of your running due to the fact that there are so many people on the site ranging from the complete first time runner, to the full on; serious; professional; athlete, and there isn't anybody who isn't willing to offer up their bits of knowledge; and experience; asking for nothing in return.
The community as a whole is brilliant. It is a way for people to gain motivation, inspiration and build on the performances that they struggle to achieve daily. I know for certain that without the running bug, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today in my ability as a runner, nor would I have the knowledge I now have.
So; again; how did people actually score points in this challenge?
Well; the scoring system worked as follows:
For every bugmile; or activity; that was logged you earned 10 points.
Every run that exceeded 3 miles earned you 25 points.
Any run exceeding 30mins earned you 50 points.
Three runs in a week was an additional 100 points.
Over 10 miles was 200 points.
Beating any PB (personal best) record was a hefty 500 points.
The bugmiles element was created as a way of tracking how well people did with running, so TRB needed a way for its users to be able to record the "other" activities that they were able to score from; so a way of being able to record things like core sessions, swimming, cycling etc...
For this the bugmiles option was to be used again, but because other activities were not to be recorded in the same manner as a running session they needed to be logged with a zero mileage entry but still given an overall workout time with a comment stating what the activity was; IE: cycling, swimming etc... These activities were rewarded with the standard 10 points for logging the activity, and then the additional 30 minute time bonus, or 3 in a week bonus.
Obviously with the big points being based around PB times, most of the emphasis from people competing was to try and best their times as much as possible. This was not a bad thing at all as plenty of people pushed themselves to make the extra effort each week in order to try and beat their own times over the four main disciplines; 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon.
The beginners out there had so much potential to score big with constant 5k personal bests, but the more advanced/experienced runners had more chance of regular scoring opportunities given that a new runner will run an average of three times a week, whereas an experienced runner might run five or six times a week at least. Add to that the fact that an experienced runner is much more likely to run 10 miles in a session day in day out and you were presented with the opportunity to score big on that front too. Overall a fairly level playing field really when you stand back and look at it all properly.
In the end my team came third, but this was not a case of not "winning" at all as I saw so many amazing people achieve so many great things. The amount of people that I have met through this challenge that have inspired me to push myself even further has been brilliant. It also proved that I do have that little something that is required to inspire others to do well. I tried as hard as I could to provide all the knowledge I have on different elements in order to be able to answer questions that people on my team had. I tried to post about nutritional elements, things about running form, the differences between the types of shoes we use, how to pace yourself properly, breathing techniques; as much as I could to help the people on my team to progress.
It wasn't about the challenge anymore for me, it was about getting people to achieve the things that they thought impossible.
It was also extremely good to see so many people connecting with one another, forming new friendships, and being encouraged by one another to continue to do well.
There was also a mini captains challenge going on at the same time as the main team competition. It wasn't an official competition, but TRB placed us all in our own mini league table so naturally this brought out the competitor within each of us just that little bit more.
Each of us scored our points exactly the same as everybody else and by the end of it I managed to finish in a very respectable second place. The young lady who won the captains challenge was a young lady who; at the start; felt that she would be struggling to compete against the other three captains as she saw herself as the most novice of all four of us. She wasn't wrong, but; as I said to her at the beginning of the challenge; the potential for a beginner to score consistent high points was exactly that; high! She proved me right in every way as week in, week out, she pushed herself, and pushed herself, setting new personal best after new personal best. This pushed me to try and better my own times as; at the time; I felt the only way for me to beat her was to score my own personal best records; and I succeeded too. I managed new personal best times for each of my main distances, 5 and 10km, and then a half marathon best of 1hr 32mins 37seconds. I only realised late in the challenge that the more 10 mile efforts I put in, the more points I would get; instead of constantly trying to break my personal bests. In the end I was beaten fair and square and I was absolutely chuffed for her.
Take nothing away from the other two captain though too, as they both performed exceptionally well given their own circumstances and situations. The one captain had only just completed a full IronMan event over in Austria about a day or two before the start of the challenge, and he needed about a week to get back into the groove of things. This put him on the back foot right from the word go, but he put in a mammoth effort in trying to get back up into contention.
The other captain had recently come back from injury, and was forced to take things a lot easier than she would normally have liked to, but that didn't stop her from trying to motivate her team as much as possible, and urge them to do as best as they could.
I had the pleasure of meeting each one of the other captains as the Great Newham 10k event mid July. One of the perks of being awarded a captaincy spot as we were all given a place in the event courtesy of The Running Bug and Puma. At the same time we were lucky enough to be given full Puma kit which included a couple of pairs of new shoes too. Unfortunately I didn't get on with the shoes as I run in minimalist style trainers, and the pairs that we were sent were anything but minimal. They made my feet feel really tight and under pressure. They gave me a pain that felt like I was getting blisters. And they were extremely heavier than what I was used to. When I met one of the ladies from the Puma team at the event she asked what my problems were with the trainers we had been sent. I don't think that she was expecting the tirade but she made out that she really appreciated the feedback, as well as my honesty.
To be fair to Puma they did try to improve the situation by offering me another pair of shoes before the event started, all I had to do was search online for something within their range of shoes that would suit me more and notify them of the name; they would then send those out to me.
I looked for the most minimal shoes I could find, and received them a few days later in the post. Unfortunately though, these too were not to my liking; more minimal than the other pairs yes, but they still had all the same problems that I had experienced with the original shoes sent out.
When speaking with the Puma lady at the Newham event she explained that the pair I had asked for were not actually their most minimal at all and that she would arrange to have another couple of pairs of trainers sent out to me. What; more new shoes? I explained that I wasn't on the hunt to try and poach more freebies out of them. She knew that that wasn't the case, but she wanted to send them to me in order to get more honest feedback in relation to their minimal range from someone who was clearly passionate about the subject. I wasn't going to complain to be honest, on one hand I will never turn down free gear, and on another it was just another step towards my involvement within the running world; hell yeah; I'll review more gear for you, not a problem!
I thought it was really good of her too because it showed that Puma really are trying to listen to their customers, and also appear to be wanting to develop their minimalist range; a style that is fast becoming more and more popular as people discover that minimal running is actually better for you in every way; but that is a completely different kettle of fish, and there isn't enough time to write about that at the moment too!
So the challenge ended. People achieved some great things in the four weeks that we were all being as active as possible. New bonds were formed, new goals were created, and I got to end my 10k season on a high note by running in a race that saw me finishing in one of the most famous stadiums in the world as well as running on one of the most hallowed of running tracks in UK history. What an amazing four weeks!
In honesty I thought that the lady from Puma had forgotten about the shoe conversation as some weeks had passed since our meeting and I hadn't heard from her; or TRB; at all in regards to it. Then suddenly the wife sent me an email last week stating that a package had arrived from Puma; another two pairs of shoes, both different, one very minimal pair and one that could only be described as an entry level minimalist shoe.
I can say that the pair that are very minimal are absolutely lovely and I have totally taken to these shoes as a fave pair on the shelf, but you will be able to read a proper review in an upcoming blog post based around my trainer collection; which has suddenly grown from three pairs to nine! Yes, the wife is not impressed at my current shoe rack monopolisation!
On top of all of the positive things that made up the main bulk of the month I discovered that the entire month of July has proven to be my most successful running month ever.
I keep a track of everything running related. I have an excel spreadsheet for keeping all of my PB records. I have a spreadsheet to record the difference between last years' monthly running figures and this years' efforts. I keep a record of everything I do in Garmin, Strava and The Running Bug itself. I have literally turned into a running stat geek, but I absolutely love it!
When it comes to PBs' I keep a record of the 5k, 10k, 15k, half marathon and marathon distances. Although 15k isn't a recognised distance in the racing world, I like to run this in my half marathon training plans, and therefore keep a record of my times for personal reasons.
When I looked back over my records I noticed that only in the months of January and March had I beaten all four distances when it came to setting new PBs'. In July I beat all four of them.
I also ran things like my quickest mile, my quickest 10mile, my quickest 100m etc...
At the same time I ran more miles in July than ever before; covering a very respectable 171.97 miles in total; that's 276.76km for those that don't work in miles. This meant that; on average; I was covering nearly 43miles (70km) a week, which is near enough 10km a day basically!
Wowsers! I actually spent a lot of time apologising to my team because I didn't think I was giving enough of an effort for them through the challenge, but looking at those figures, I think I was doing more than I thought! What is good about that is that I felt like I could have easily given more which is only good news for the training that I am planning on putting in next year when I start to work on the next phase of my running life by taking on the world of the ultra marathon!
All in all the month of July is one that will be tough to top really, but The Running Bug have already made it public that a rematch is planned, and that it is due to start in September. They have also sent word that they wish all the captains to maintain their positions at the head of the teams, and that we are being entered into yet another race on their behalf; The Great North Run; one of the most famous half marathons in the UK, and one that I am very much looking forward to.
So there we go; July in as much of a nutshell as I could make it really. I really did enjoy that month, but there is so much going on throughout the rest of my year as I start my half marathon season on August 16th with the Kimbolton HM. I then take on a host of other half marathon races; five more in total; in an attempt to reach a target of running a sub 90 minute half marathon time before Christmas.
I look forward to documenting the rest of my year, and I hope that you all achieve everything that you yourselves have set as goals for this year.
Live; love and be grateful for everything you have.
If you follow my ramblings, you would have read about something called The Puma Points Challenge. This was an initiative set up between Puma and the online running community, The Running Bug (TRB).
All members of TRB were separated into four different teams, with each team receiving its own nominated captain. All TRB members were given equal opportunity to apply for the positions and in the end I was one of the lucky few to be given the chance to lead a team.
My team; Momentum.
For me this was huge given the recent realisation that I am not a bad runner, I am not a bad motivator, and I absolutely love to try and help others progress in the world of running, and general health improvement. This is what I would love to be doing with my life, helping others to achieve what I have achieved over the last year and a half. This challenge was something that I could use as a stepping stone to see if I would actually be at all decent at getting the best out of people, and helping them reach their targets.
I think that; overall; I was largely successful, even though we didn't actually "win" the challenge.
So what was the actual challenge, and what did it entail?
Well; as said, there were four teams and each team needed to obtain as many points as possible within a four week period, starting on Wednesday the first of July.
How did we score points?
There were a number of ways to score, but essentially the point was to run as much as possible, and perform other exercises in order to get more points and maximise overall fitness.
When you use TRB there is something known to users as "Bugmiles". These bugmiles are basically the runs that you head out on day in day out. It is a way of logging your efforts on a daily basis into the website in order to keep a track of your performances and progress. Bugmiles can be viewed by other members of the site, and can be commented against too. It is a really good way to get advice on different elements of your running due to the fact that there are so many people on the site ranging from the complete first time runner, to the full on; serious; professional; athlete, and there isn't anybody who isn't willing to offer up their bits of knowledge; and experience; asking for nothing in return.
The community as a whole is brilliant. It is a way for people to gain motivation, inspiration and build on the performances that they struggle to achieve daily. I know for certain that without the running bug, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today in my ability as a runner, nor would I have the knowledge I now have.
So; again; how did people actually score points in this challenge?
Well; the scoring system worked as follows:
For every bugmile; or activity; that was logged you earned 10 points.
Every run that exceeded 3 miles earned you 25 points.
Any run exceeding 30mins earned you 50 points.
Three runs in a week was an additional 100 points.
Over 10 miles was 200 points.
Beating any PB (personal best) record was a hefty 500 points.
The bugmiles element was created as a way of tracking how well people did with running, so TRB needed a way for its users to be able to record the "other" activities that they were able to score from; so a way of being able to record things like core sessions, swimming, cycling etc...
For this the bugmiles option was to be used again, but because other activities were not to be recorded in the same manner as a running session they needed to be logged with a zero mileage entry but still given an overall workout time with a comment stating what the activity was; IE: cycling, swimming etc... These activities were rewarded with the standard 10 points for logging the activity, and then the additional 30 minute time bonus, or 3 in a week bonus.
Obviously with the big points being based around PB times, most of the emphasis from people competing was to try and best their times as much as possible. This was not a bad thing at all as plenty of people pushed themselves to make the extra effort each week in order to try and beat their own times over the four main disciplines; 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon.
The beginners out there had so much potential to score big with constant 5k personal bests, but the more advanced/experienced runners had more chance of regular scoring opportunities given that a new runner will run an average of three times a week, whereas an experienced runner might run five or six times a week at least. Add to that the fact that an experienced runner is much more likely to run 10 miles in a session day in day out and you were presented with the opportunity to score big on that front too. Overall a fairly level playing field really when you stand back and look at it all properly.
In the end my team came third, but this was not a case of not "winning" at all as I saw so many amazing people achieve so many great things. The amount of people that I have met through this challenge that have inspired me to push myself even further has been brilliant. It also proved that I do have that little something that is required to inspire others to do well. I tried as hard as I could to provide all the knowledge I have on different elements in order to be able to answer questions that people on my team had. I tried to post about nutritional elements, things about running form, the differences between the types of shoes we use, how to pace yourself properly, breathing techniques; as much as I could to help the people on my team to progress.
It wasn't about the challenge anymore for me, it was about getting people to achieve the things that they thought impossible.
It was also extremely good to see so many people connecting with one another, forming new friendships, and being encouraged by one another to continue to do well.
There was also a mini captains challenge going on at the same time as the main team competition. It wasn't an official competition, but TRB placed us all in our own mini league table so naturally this brought out the competitor within each of us just that little bit more.
Each of us scored our points exactly the same as everybody else and by the end of it I managed to finish in a very respectable second place. The young lady who won the captains challenge was a young lady who; at the start; felt that she would be struggling to compete against the other three captains as she saw herself as the most novice of all four of us. She wasn't wrong, but; as I said to her at the beginning of the challenge; the potential for a beginner to score consistent high points was exactly that; high! She proved me right in every way as week in, week out, she pushed herself, and pushed herself, setting new personal best after new personal best. This pushed me to try and better my own times as; at the time; I felt the only way for me to beat her was to score my own personal best records; and I succeeded too. I managed new personal best times for each of my main distances, 5 and 10km, and then a half marathon best of 1hr 32mins 37seconds. I only realised late in the challenge that the more 10 mile efforts I put in, the more points I would get; instead of constantly trying to break my personal bests. In the end I was beaten fair and square and I was absolutely chuffed for her.
Take nothing away from the other two captain though too, as they both performed exceptionally well given their own circumstances and situations. The one captain had only just completed a full IronMan event over in Austria about a day or two before the start of the challenge, and he needed about a week to get back into the groove of things. This put him on the back foot right from the word go, but he put in a mammoth effort in trying to get back up into contention.
The other captain had recently come back from injury, and was forced to take things a lot easier than she would normally have liked to, but that didn't stop her from trying to motivate her team as much as possible, and urge them to do as best as they could.
I had the pleasure of meeting each one of the other captains as the Great Newham 10k event mid July. One of the perks of being awarded a captaincy spot as we were all given a place in the event courtesy of The Running Bug and Puma. At the same time we were lucky enough to be given full Puma kit which included a couple of pairs of new shoes too. Unfortunately I didn't get on with the shoes as I run in minimalist style trainers, and the pairs that we were sent were anything but minimal. They made my feet feel really tight and under pressure. They gave me a pain that felt like I was getting blisters. And they were extremely heavier than what I was used to. When I met one of the ladies from the Puma team at the event she asked what my problems were with the trainers we had been sent. I don't think that she was expecting the tirade but she made out that she really appreciated the feedback, as well as my honesty.
To be fair to Puma they did try to improve the situation by offering me another pair of shoes before the event started, all I had to do was search online for something within their range of shoes that would suit me more and notify them of the name; they would then send those out to me.
I looked for the most minimal shoes I could find, and received them a few days later in the post. Unfortunately though, these too were not to my liking; more minimal than the other pairs yes, but they still had all the same problems that I had experienced with the original shoes sent out.
When speaking with the Puma lady at the Newham event she explained that the pair I had asked for were not actually their most minimal at all and that she would arrange to have another couple of pairs of trainers sent out to me. What; more new shoes? I explained that I wasn't on the hunt to try and poach more freebies out of them. She knew that that wasn't the case, but she wanted to send them to me in order to get more honest feedback in relation to their minimal range from someone who was clearly passionate about the subject. I wasn't going to complain to be honest, on one hand I will never turn down free gear, and on another it was just another step towards my involvement within the running world; hell yeah; I'll review more gear for you, not a problem!
I thought it was really good of her too because it showed that Puma really are trying to listen to their customers, and also appear to be wanting to develop their minimalist range; a style that is fast becoming more and more popular as people discover that minimal running is actually better for you in every way; but that is a completely different kettle of fish, and there isn't enough time to write about that at the moment too!
So the challenge ended. People achieved some great things in the four weeks that we were all being as active as possible. New bonds were formed, new goals were created, and I got to end my 10k season on a high note by running in a race that saw me finishing in one of the most famous stadiums in the world as well as running on one of the most hallowed of running tracks in UK history. What an amazing four weeks!
In honesty I thought that the lady from Puma had forgotten about the shoe conversation as some weeks had passed since our meeting and I hadn't heard from her; or TRB; at all in regards to it. Then suddenly the wife sent me an email last week stating that a package had arrived from Puma; another two pairs of shoes, both different, one very minimal pair and one that could only be described as an entry level minimalist shoe.
I can say that the pair that are very minimal are absolutely lovely and I have totally taken to these shoes as a fave pair on the shelf, but you will be able to read a proper review in an upcoming blog post based around my trainer collection; which has suddenly grown from three pairs to nine! Yes, the wife is not impressed at my current shoe rack monopolisation!
On top of all of the positive things that made up the main bulk of the month I discovered that the entire month of July has proven to be my most successful running month ever.
I keep a track of everything running related. I have an excel spreadsheet for keeping all of my PB records. I have a spreadsheet to record the difference between last years' monthly running figures and this years' efforts. I keep a record of everything I do in Garmin, Strava and The Running Bug itself. I have literally turned into a running stat geek, but I absolutely love it!
When it comes to PBs' I keep a record of the 5k, 10k, 15k, half marathon and marathon distances. Although 15k isn't a recognised distance in the racing world, I like to run this in my half marathon training plans, and therefore keep a record of my times for personal reasons.
When I looked back over my records I noticed that only in the months of January and March had I beaten all four distances when it came to setting new PBs'. In July I beat all four of them.
I also ran things like my quickest mile, my quickest 10mile, my quickest 100m etc...
At the same time I ran more miles in July than ever before; covering a very respectable 171.97 miles in total; that's 276.76km for those that don't work in miles. This meant that; on average; I was covering nearly 43miles (70km) a week, which is near enough 10km a day basically!
Wowsers! I actually spent a lot of time apologising to my team because I didn't think I was giving enough of an effort for them through the challenge, but looking at those figures, I think I was doing more than I thought! What is good about that is that I felt like I could have easily given more which is only good news for the training that I am planning on putting in next year when I start to work on the next phase of my running life by taking on the world of the ultra marathon!
All in all the month of July is one that will be tough to top really, but The Running Bug have already made it public that a rematch is planned, and that it is due to start in September. They have also sent word that they wish all the captains to maintain their positions at the head of the teams, and that we are being entered into yet another race on their behalf; The Great North Run; one of the most famous half marathons in the UK, and one that I am very much looking forward to.
So there we go; July in as much of a nutshell as I could make it really. I really did enjoy that month, but there is so much going on throughout the rest of my year as I start my half marathon season on August 16th with the Kimbolton HM. I then take on a host of other half marathon races; five more in total; in an attempt to reach a target of running a sub 90 minute half marathon time before Christmas.
I look forward to documenting the rest of my year, and I hope that you all achieve everything that you yourselves have set as goals for this year.
Live; love and be grateful for everything you have.
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