Archive for January, 2008
« Previous EntriesFinal push
Thursday, January 31st, 2008I am well into the final week of hard training. I started off doing 21 kms on a hilly forest trail carrying a full backpack. I managed a steady 6 min/km all through the run, which bodes good. But the TM is four times as long…
Today I plan two sessions. 6 fast kms on the treadmill at lunch followed by 12 slower kms this evening with the back-pack again.
The dress-rehearsal will be a 28 km forest run on Sunday with the backpack and headlight on. After that just slow jogs and rest until Feb 16.
No Comments »Confessions on a treadmill
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008Still a little tired this week following my 50 miles at the weekend so have tried to keep things light. I still managed a couple of gym sessions, some circuits and a couple of shorter runs through the week. Just trying to keep my body moving without putting too much strain on it, it seems to have worked. It was nice to have company on Tuesday on a run with Nigel and Jerry which makes you forget about the sore legs. I do have one slight confession – it was cold and frosty on Thursday so I did my run in the gym on a treadmill. I am not normally so wimpy but used the excuse that I am training for the MDS and needed to get all hot and sweaty.
1 Comment »Checking out the course
Monday, January 28th, 2008Over the last couple of weeks training has gone pretty well.. Although on the 19th a strange thing happened.. How this sorts itself out on the day I do not know exactly and look from advice from those who have gone before..
The day started off well when my running partner and I did an afternoon 6 miler with the intention then of doing the last two checkpoints on the real course.. The 6 miler went fine and so we went out had dinner with friends and then after a while we set off to find checkpoint 4..
On arriving and parking up we set off only to find that large parts of the route to be flooded.. Nothing too bad but detours none the less… That was until you go the Motorway bridge near Staines, once under the whole area was flooded and so the only option was to do a complete U-turn and scoot through the hotel grounds and then run through Staines until we could access the route again..
The rest of the route was passable, just something folk need to be aware of for the day. If it was flooded there it more than likely would be the whole way up too…After that the rest was a doddle although we only went to checkpoint 5..
Monday was a rest day, Tuesday saw me do an 8 miler with a lot of heavy kit on, Wednesday rest, Thursday 10 miler and that was it as I was very lazy. This week will be more brutal and I expect to push out quite a few miles by the end of it. Culminating in doing 12 miles on Sunday or there abouts as we will be doing Finish to CP 5 as a run then 5 to finish as a tab…
Hope everyones training is going well and only three weeks to go to the big event.. See you all soon…
No Comments »Peak training
Friday, January 25th, 2008Just three weeks left to the race. Allowing 10 days for tapering means there is only a week and a half left for hard training. This week has been good so far. I have done three quite fast runs between 15 and 20 kms each. The first 5 kms are always hard. But after that the feet start moving and I come in to a good nice stride.
This next days will be crucial. I plan two more long runs to move my weekly total up to 100 kms. If the legs and feet fell ok I will top up the training with a 70-80 km week before I taper.
No Comments »Long training run
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008We drove up to Reading on Saturday to run the first 50 miles of the Thames Meander as a training run. I kept my pack deliberately light as I wanted to use the run for training purposes. Unfortunately due to the weather and the floods the first 20 odd miles were under water. So after going in chest deep a couple of times and wading up impassable riverbanks and back a couple of times I took to the roads until I got to Maidenhead. From there I was able to mainly follow the path to Shepperton and 50 miles. Hopefully the floods will have receded in the next four weeks as finding a different route on the spur of the moment via road was not much fun. However I was pleased with the run and my time.
Got up Sunday and went for a short run on the tracks behind the house. Was very stiff to start with but warmed up after a few miles and felt better and a lot less stiff afterwards. I am an advocate of recovery runs the day after a long run and they usually aid recovery and loosen things up as long as I don’t overdo it. Having said that it is easier said than done when you wake up with stiff legs.
No Comments »Rain and wind
Monday, January 21st, 2008Awful weather today. A hard wind was blowing and heavy rains all day. I still managed 20 kms on forest trails full of mud and small ponds. I was drenched and cold to the bone afterwards and very happy that the run was over.
No Comments »Some short runs
Monday, January 21st, 2008A pretty boring week as regards training. A couple of gym sessions, a circuit class and a couple of short runs was the sum total of my efforts as I kept it fairly easy ready for a long run at the weekend. One run I had to do in the gym as the weather was foul, not something I would normally do but I fed up with being soaked.
I have been trialling some of the dehydrated foods for the desert from Expedition foods and most are OK. I am not planning on taking any cooking equipment to the MDS so also tried them cold – not to be recommended as they taste awful cold! I may have to rethink my strategy if I’m to have some decent meals.
No Comments »Hill running
Friday, January 18th, 2008Training Diary 13th January 2008
No back to back long runs this weekend. On Saturday I had to take my wife Clare into hospital for a minor operation so an early start was needed. Whilst she was there I just went for a short half hour run around the woods behind our house. I did however put on several layers of clothing to get some appreciation of heat and was sweating like a rhino when I got back. As I had to be around for the rest of the day Saturday I spent the time sorting out gear and making lists of kit and food etc to further prepare myself for the TM and MDS. Only about 5 weeks to go now I have just realised.
On Sunday I had to stay close to home so I ran up and down every hill in a two mile radius and found a couple I’d not done before. I ended up covering about 12-13 miles and felt fairly tired at the end. I also missed my first Dorset road league race for 2 years or so at Milborne St Andrew today which was a shame. However I am glad for a less energetic weekend. Will aim to do 50 miles in one go next weekend covering some of the same paths as the Thames Meander, hopefully by then the torrential rain will have eased.
No Comments »Training at altitude and at other places along the way…
Thursday, January 17th, 2008Unlike Paul who spent most of December 07 roaming the Himalaya’s, last week I spent 7 days in Davos, Switzerland participating in a winter fitness training camp. This little trip came about because last year I discovered that running training does not necessarily mean more of the same.
Prior to last year my race preparations consisted of running further more often, which sometimes included back to back running. This where you run say 17-25 miles on a Saturday then run 12 miles on the Sunday, the idea being that your legs get used to the pain! Last year though the light dawned. It dawned at my first taste of a spring warm weather training camp in the Algarve. Here we ran to a structure; 8AM 5-6 gentle miles both on and off road before breakfast. 3.30PM Yoga or stretching prior to some track work and cross-country hill loops. Here I came across words such as time trials, strides, thresholds, Kenyan hills, recovery runs, easy runs etc. This was a new language to me and with came the realisation that I had never actually ‘trained’ for running, let alone train for races. Wow! Anyway, to cut a long story short, following this revelation, I decided to invest in some personal coaching which led me to another, this time Autumn, warm weather training camp in Provence, a 4-day international challenge in Cyprus at the end of November and then on to the winter training camp in Switzerland. See how it goes? Get the bug, spend your money. Or as they say in Bali ‘No money, no honey’. Oh no, sorry, that’s for another type of activity altogether.
So my training now consists of following a professionally prepared weekly schedule that includes all those funny words above, gym work and now altitude training using cross-country skiing, snow shoeing and Nordic walking to improve my fitness. The underlying philosophy of this training is, by the way, the belief that to improve your game, you need to improve the quality of your training, not just run more of the same.
It remains to be seen… on the 16 Feb 08 I guess.
No Comments »A varied week
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008Training Diary 11th January 2008
Feeling a bit tired this week after a couple of long running weekends so have tried to vary it a bit.
Monday was a short gym session where I avoided the treadmill.
On Tuesday I went down to see one of my other running friends, Nigel, who dragged my tired legs around the streets of Ferndown for 7-8 miles. I would not have managed either this speed or distance without him as my legs were feeling the 50+ miles from the weekend but ended up feeling pretty good.
Had a lazy circuits session on Wednesday but on Thursday I felt more energetic so I did my first night run of this training program. This involved 10-11 miles through the hills and woods in pitch black with only my little head torch. Thankfully the badgers and the deer stayed home tonight (they have a tendency to jump out at me in the dark). However this was probably because of the heavy rain we had had and I ended up in far too many puddles and mud patches. Having said that I felt good and enjoyed myself thoroughly and it also served to help my night vision ready for the TM and MDS.
I finished off on Friday with another trip to the gym.
I am intending to have a shorter weekend as I want to do a longer run the weekend after.
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