Now for a rather more personal list. The time is how much quicker the second half was compared to the first half.
#5 Dublin 2009 - 5 minutes (2'13 + 2'08 = 4'21). Bit of a cheat this one as, being totally wiped out from Beachy and Greensands the previous two days and not enough sleep, I'd fallen asleep on the run and had to have a bit of a nap in an ambulance at about 11 miles to get me through it. Not recommended.
#4 Barcelona 2009 - 2 minutes (1'52 + 1'50 = 3'42'30). This was my first sub 3'45 and the pacing was perfect, this race started at 30k. Could probably have run the whole thing a bit quicker.
#3 Florence 2009 - 5 minutes (2'00 + 1'55 = 3'55'14). A easy long slow run of a marathon. I went through the first half in 2 hours on the nose then started racing from 16 miles, passing 1,769 runners in the second half, a whopping 39% of the field.
#2 Seville 2010 - 3 minutes (1'50 + 1'47 = 3'37). By the time I got to 30k, I had 1 hour and 1 minute to equal my existing PB, exactly 8'00 minute miling. I've no idea where it came from but I beat it by a fraction. Hardly worth it, but an exhilarating final hour.
#1 Jersey 2010 - 9 minutes (2'05 + 1'54 = 3'59). Nowhere near my best overall time but the clear winner on the negative split front. I think this proved to me that even though my legs were unbelievably over-trained, over-raced and my head was sick to death of marathons, I could still beast myself on occasion.
(Luckily, I don't have the stats for the positive spits ;-) )
Monday, 7 March 2011
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Ok, if you're racing a marathon, the scenery doesn't matter in the slightest as you won't be able to see it. Hence, tomorrow I'll list the fastest courses I've run / best PB potential. Here are some ideas for marathons to treat as long slow runs. (When my computer's fixed I'll try to find some photos)
Best scenery
#6 - Mauritius. Roads lined with bougainvillea, mountains, ocean, kids with huge grins and finishing on the beach. Stunning.
#5 - The Cornish. Bodmin Moor, a charming valley bottom and cute hamlets.
#4 - Dartmoor Discovery. Dartmoor, wide open views over the tors, ponies on the route, fab ancient stone bridges and more cute hamlets.
#3 - Snowdonia. Snowdonia National Park, innit.
#2 - Connemara. The biggest open spaces I've seen in the UK and virtually noone there. Monumental, forbidding and utterly beautiful.
#1 - Langdale. I love the Lake District, even in spite of family caravan holidays there several times a year, usually in the cold and wet. This is one of my favourite spots in the world - burnt orange bracken on the fellsides, huge hills (that you have to run over), cute fat brown sheep and a great pub at the finish.
Best city scenery
#5 - Hamburg. Loads of stunning lakeside to run along through some very well off parts of the city.
#4 - Florence. For the start overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
#3 - Barcelona. Starting under the National Art Museum, with a fine stretch along the beach.
#2 - Porto. You get to run along the sea and the river for the bulk of this race, and over a stunning bridge. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.
#1 - Rome. Easy choice. You start and finish at the Colosseum, run through the Vatican, pass so many ancient and important sites that it's not the cobbles tripping you up, it's the fact that you're looking anywhere but the road. Simply superb.
Best scenery
#6 - Mauritius. Roads lined with bougainvillea, mountains, ocean, kids with huge grins and finishing on the beach. Stunning.
#5 - The Cornish. Bodmin Moor, a charming valley bottom and cute hamlets.
#4 - Dartmoor Discovery. Dartmoor, wide open views over the tors, ponies on the route, fab ancient stone bridges and more cute hamlets.
#3 - Snowdonia. Snowdonia National Park, innit.
#2 - Connemara. The biggest open spaces I've seen in the UK and virtually noone there. Monumental, forbidding and utterly beautiful.
#1 - Langdale. I love the Lake District, even in spite of family caravan holidays there several times a year, usually in the cold and wet. This is one of my favourite spots in the world - burnt orange bracken on the fellsides, huge hills (that you have to run over), cute fat brown sheep and a great pub at the finish.
Best city scenery
#5 - Hamburg. Loads of stunning lakeside to run along through some very well off parts of the city.
#4 - Florence. For the start overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
#3 - Barcelona. Starting under the National Art Museum, with a fine stretch along the beach.
#2 - Porto. You get to run along the sea and the river for the bulk of this race, and over a stunning bridge. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.
#1 - Rome. Easy choice. You start and finish at the Colosseum, run through the Vatican, pass so many ancient and important sites that it's not the cobbles tripping you up, it's the fact that you're looking anywhere but the road. Simply superb.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
100 up in Malta
So after all the rain on Saturday, there was enormous amounts of standing water about, Malta doesn't seem to put much emphasis on drainage. Within the first few miles there was a huge puddle that had us teetering along the edges like precious brats who don't want to get their shoes muddy. The best was later on, a small pond covered the road for about 100 metres. The resourceful Maltese had placed a low dry stone wall along this road complete with concrete lid, about 30 centimetres wide, perfect for balancing along to keep your feet dry though the climb up, the fallen down bit in the middle, the road sign to duck under and the jump off weren't most ideal if you were racing flat out.
I of course wasn't racing flat out but did get predictably carried away with the downhills. I knew I'd probably blow up a bit, just like last year, but this wasn't about time really, sub 4 was all I wanted for my #100. So the first 15/16 miles averaged about 8 minute miling but the pre-race tea was proving extremely diuretic, and distracting. At 25k, I just had to stop in a handy field. This field also contained a horse who seemed quite curious about his visitor and decided to wander over to have a closer look. Maybe it doesn't get many runners visiting him.
By this point, you start to feel like you're in an Escher drawing. You start at Mdina at the top, then run around in extremely confusing loops, doubling back on yourself, visiting the stadium over and over again, running the same patch of road in different directions, seeing the Mdina fortifications from every possible angle. Trying to figure out where the hell you've been is futile. But there is lots of downhill, and the sun came out, and the half runners were frequently very encouraging, and the road was wide enough to get around the walkers and for the 1/2 runners to pass.
I was really enjoying the run, the sun on my back, the downhills, the congratulations thanks to the "100th marathon today (yes really)" on my back. Running past a brass band playing the Brazil theme tune was also pretty memorable. A great race to finish on, and in stark contrast to the cold grizzly grey of the London 50k last weekend. By the last 7k I was bushed (they don't get easy no matter how many you do) and there were a few walking breaks, however Anna Seeley caught me up and dragged me into the finish, thanks Anna! She mentioned it was a fine coincidence we ran part of her first marathon together and now part of my 100th. 3'42 was better than hoped for, by a long way, and my 7th fastest ever. I'm definitely fitter and better rested than 4 months ago, even with Wokey 1/2 and the London 50k in my legs, so the 3'30 is the next logical goal. Yeah yeah, about bloody time.
There was a superb reception at the finish, Helen had won the ladies' race and Mark had smashed his PB. There were other PBs and excellent performances too so the Laurent Perrier went down very well indeed, even in paper cups from Burger King. Standing in the sunshine with my mates, waiting for the other finishers and drinking champagne was just what I hoped for. It goes without saying that the party later on was fairly messy, but I was honoured to have so many people there, from Fetch, the 100 club and from the 10 in 10. There were as many sore heads as there were sore legs the next day. Gaddafi missed a trick though, there were a few people heading to Blighty via Malta from Libya, all he needed to do was get hold of a marathon t-shirt, hobble off the plane and everyone would think he was just another beardy old bloke who runs marathons. The Libyan refugees were probably slightly taken aback by the juxtaposition of an SBS emergency extraction from the desert and a bunch of rather worse for wear runners mucking about like children. I've never had an announcement on board a flight before, so it was a pretty special surprise to hear the congratulations over the tannoy. It was even more of a surprise when the chap got very confused and also awarded me the win, poor Helen!
It was a top weekend all round (ok, apart from the terrible weather on Saturday and some awful food). I'm so glad so many people were there to share it with me, and I'm so glad I didn't stuff it up by trashing myself beforehand, or getting knocked over by a bus, or DNFing, or missing my flight, or any of the other million things that could have gone wrong. Sunday wasn't just for me, it was for everyone who's helped me get to the end of 2,620 miles (and some ultra change): my family, the 100 club, the 10 in 10-ers, a huge number of Fetchies and Mark. (Blimey, this is turning into an emotional, over wrought Oscars speech) Anyway, you're all fabulous, and I couldn't have done it without you.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
The London 50k - #99
There's a shortage of road marathons in the UK in winter and a surfeit of shorter traily ultras, largely along stretches of the canal ranging from 30 - 50 miles in length. Not having the chance for a whistle stop trip abroad for a race, the London 50k was billed as the lowest fat, shortest ultra on the calendar, plus, falling one week before Malta, provided massive incentive to finish. Unfortunately, after 15k of suburban streets and tarmac paths running through commons, we reached the first bit of mud through Wimbledon, not so bad but pretty greasy. After the wide open skies of Richmond Park, a nice bit of river and the Sunday evening historical-drama-worthy Syon Park which I'd never even heard of, Brent Canal was the beginning of the end. It got steadily grimmer through Ealing and Hanwell, what may have been Hangar Hill and other parts of London I've never heard of. The mud, too, was thicker, stickier and slippier, I fell over once, got covered in it and spent the next few hours looking like I'd been reclining on the side of a hill like those sunbathing lemurs in Madagascar. But in mud rather than on a sun-drenched rock.
At 37k, I entirely hit the wall. A run-walk thing worked for a bit until the big muddy hill presented itself, after that I just couldn't be bothered. It was cold but I walked the rest. Geordie Richard was very good company and offset my mood by being really very grumpy, especially when we missed the turn near the finish. Without him my mood would have been terrible. By the time we'd finished, we'd done a shade off 54k, had wet feet and were pretty cold. My hands were frozen solid and in no other circumstances would I have been glad to walk into the warm fug of the Quality Hotel (you know when a hotel's called Quality it's going to be anything but). My shoes went in the bin, they were too knackered to provide cushioning on the road and too roady to provide grip on the mud, it's a difficult call on this race. So it was pretty unpleasant, and slow, and left my right ankle very sore, but it did act as a sort of swansong for off-road long-distance races, I'll never do another one again.
So, it's all go for Malta on Sunday. Looking like there'll be at least 50 people in the bar which is fantastic, I'm very touched so many people are making the effort to be there. Just 4 days to not break my leg first.......
At 37k, I entirely hit the wall. A run-walk thing worked for a bit until the big muddy hill presented itself, after that I just couldn't be bothered. It was cold but I walked the rest. Geordie Richard was very good company and offset my mood by being really very grumpy, especially when we missed the turn near the finish. Without him my mood would have been terrible. By the time we'd finished, we'd done a shade off 54k, had wet feet and were pretty cold. My hands were frozen solid and in no other circumstances would I have been glad to walk into the warm fug of the Quality Hotel (you know when a hotel's called Quality it's going to be anything but). My shoes went in the bin, they were too knackered to provide cushioning on the road and too roady to provide grip on the mud, it's a difficult call on this race. So it was pretty unpleasant, and slow, and left my right ankle very sore, but it did act as a sort of swansong for off-road long-distance races, I'll never do another one again.
So, it's all go for Malta on Sunday. Looking like there'll be at least 50 people in the bar which is fantastic, I'm very touched so many people are making the effort to be there. Just 4 days to not break my leg first.......
Monday, 14 February 2011
Wokingham half marathon - a 6 minute PB
Wokingham looked like a good opportunity for a PB but it's hard to estimate my pace these days. I thought I might shave a bit off the existing 1'44'44 but not enough to get excited about. However, my comfortably hard pace turned out to be 7'30s, very pleasing, given my 6 week old 10k pace is closer to 7'40s. 9 miles passed at this surprisingly speedy pace without any incident (apart from going through what would have been a fat 10k PB), my legs felt loose and fresh, and reasonably bouncy, and my breathing wasn't too hard. Miles 10-12 are back up the gentle decline from the start, and into an increasing headwind, I lost 10-20 seconds on each of these miles but that wasn't too much of a worry, plus mile 13 was back to 7'29. I didn't like the two sharp left hand turns to the finish at all (not a criticism of the route, it was generally excellent, and an all round first rate race) but finished reasonably strongly in 1'38'55.*
I was incredibly pleased about this, at no point have I ever contemplated getting anywhere near breaking 1'40 for a half, let alone running at 7'33 pace for the whole thing. It also predicts a 3'23 - 3'30 marathon time which is a huge confidence boost. My motivation to train and enjoyment of running had gone out of the window over December / January and, shallow as it is, a good result really helps me think it's worth putting the effort in. I clearly haven't reached my full potential yet. A nice base of almost 100 marathons, no injuries and rejuvenated enthusiasm should set the spring up to be a good few months.
Well done to all the other PBs and strong performances yesterday. There were loads of them. Thanks to the shout from Lully too. There was a great turn out in the pub later, I was proud to be wearing a Fetch vest (yes, just a vest, in the wind and rain, in February. I'm well 'ard.)
*This is my garmin time. Provisional chip time is 16 seconds quicker but I suspect they will be amended downwards, as it seems like provisional times started from the second mat on the way out. My garmin clocked 13.10 miles from the first mat, and most people report a 10-20 second discrepancy between their watch times and the chip times. If the finalised results give me a 1'38'39, then I'll be even happier, but I'm not counting on it.
I was incredibly pleased about this, at no point have I ever contemplated getting anywhere near breaking 1'40 for a half, let alone running at 7'33 pace for the whole thing. It also predicts a 3'23 - 3'30 marathon time which is a huge confidence boost. My motivation to train and enjoyment of running had gone out of the window over December / January and, shallow as it is, a good result really helps me think it's worth putting the effort in. I clearly haven't reached my full potential yet. A nice base of almost 100 marathons, no injuries and rejuvenated enthusiasm should set the spring up to be a good few months.
Well done to all the other PBs and strong performances yesterday. There were loads of them. Thanks to the shout from Lully too. There was a great turn out in the pub later, I was proud to be wearing a Fetch vest (yes, just a vest, in the wind and rain, in February. I'm well 'ard.)
*This is my garmin time. Provisional chip time is 16 seconds quicker but I suspect they will be amended downwards, as it seems like provisional times started from the second mat on the way out. My garmin clocked 13.10 miles from the first mat, and most people report a 10-20 second discrepancy between their watch times and the chip times. If the finalised results give me a 1'38'39, then I'll be even happier, but I'm not counting on it.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Gloucester marathon, #98 (it was #49 last year)
And here's the report from #98, two weeks ago. Yesterday I ran a 1/2 marathon and rather enjoyed it, it was long enough to feel like a decent amount of exercise and to require a bit of strategy (ie. bombing off straight away) but not so long to bore you. Hmm, 100 halves next???
Gloucester was number 98 and I'm well on track for Malta. Luck has definitely been on my side, there have been a few people who've had to struggle through injuries to get to a planned 100th and I currently (touch wood) have no niggles at all. Just proves that it is possible to run 52 marathons in a year without damaging yourself more than the usual overtraining symptoms.
The marathon was pretty uneventful, it was an easy paced race until the last few miles where my legs started running away with themselves for a speedy finish and a reasonable time of 4'06. The closer you get to the 100, the more tempting it is to look back over them, but you don't want to count your chickens too soon. Now it feels pretty certain that I'll get there. It's good to have an event I'm a little unsure of as my 99th (the London 50k) to add a bit of pressure and interest to it, and the desire to put in a decent race at Malta has picked up my enthusiasm a bit. My favourite maras have been the stronger ones so that's good enough incentive to do some proper training.
Anyway, looking back. In a way, doing the 100 so quickly with 34 in 2009 and 52 in 2010 has meant there have been a lot of races that I can barely remember. Most of those are LDWA style events. Now, I'm not slagging them off, they serve an excellent purpose for time on your feet, more challenging running, cheap entry fees, low key atmosphere yadda yadda yadda, I just don't like them and wish I hadn't done so many. They make my 100 feel slightly false, like I've cheated. More importantly, it would be nice for each marathon to stand out in some way and have its own character. It's hard to differentiate when you're averaging one a week.
Wokingham 1/2 marathon next weekend to see if there's any speed at all in these legs, then the London 50k, then Malta. Very very happy to see so many people plan to be there.
Gloucester was number 98 and I'm well on track for Malta. Luck has definitely been on my side, there have been a few people who've had to struggle through injuries to get to a planned 100th and I currently (touch wood) have no niggles at all. Just proves that it is possible to run 52 marathons in a year without damaging yourself more than the usual overtraining symptoms.
The marathon was pretty uneventful, it was an easy paced race until the last few miles where my legs started running away with themselves for a speedy finish and a reasonable time of 4'06. The closer you get to the 100, the more tempting it is to look back over them, but you don't want to count your chickens too soon. Now it feels pretty certain that I'll get there. It's good to have an event I'm a little unsure of as my 99th (the London 50k) to add a bit of pressure and interest to it, and the desire to put in a decent race at Malta has picked up my enthusiasm a bit. My favourite maras have been the stronger ones so that's good enough incentive to do some proper training.
Anyway, looking back. In a way, doing the 100 so quickly with 34 in 2009 and 52 in 2010 has meant there have been a lot of races that I can barely remember. Most of those are LDWA style events. Now, I'm not slagging them off, they serve an excellent purpose for time on your feet, more challenging running, cheap entry fees, low key atmosphere yadda yadda yadda, I just don't like them and wish I hadn't done so many. They make my 100 feel slightly false, like I've cheated. More importantly, it would be nice for each marathon to stand out in some way and have its own character. It's hard to differentiate when you're averaging one a week.
Wokingham 1/2 marathon next weekend to see if there's any speed at all in these legs, then the London 50k, then Malta. Very very happy to see so many people plan to be there.
100 Club AGM marathon - #97
Still catching up... The 100 Club AGM was a few weeks ago now, here's the report, written pretty soon after the event.
The 100 Club AGM is 5 laps of an outer loop and an inner loop, nice for breaking down the distance and making the time pass quickly. Unfortunately, it's been 4 weeks since my last marathon and a misplaced motivation has meant my longest run since was just short of 11 miles. And that was being dragged round by Mark. It was quite clear I was knackered after only 2 laps, so the third and fourth were a bit of a trial. However, having watched 127 Hours yesterday, it was pretty straightforward to maintain perspective. All I was doing was getting round 26 miles, not exactly being stuck under a rock for 4 days before cutting off my own arm, and then dealing with the dehydration, fever and shock to abseil out of the canyon and stumbling god knows how far to find help. Top film by the way, go see.
Anyway, I was knackered but at least the time didn't matter, 4 hours 32 was fine for #97. I can't wait for Malta, and I'm not sure I'll run another marathon again after the few I've got booked (the usual April suspects Brighton & London, and Stockholm in May as I've wanted to run it for ages). I haven't enjoyed running for a long time and am finding it next to impossible to train; on more than one occasion lately, I've got up, put my kit on, had a cup of tea, and gone back to bed. It's cold and dark and boring and just too much effort, but that's not really an excuse. The problem really is I don't have anything to work towards. Last year it was the 10 in 10 which is a proxy for your first marathon really, it's way more than you've ever done before, the training dominates your life and it feels like a huge achievement when you get there. Unfortunately, that sense of achievement is very shortlived for me, and I need a bigger and better fix. Hence loads of marathons, and hence, really, the 10 in 10. I loved the training, loved the side effects of it and loved pushing myself to my limits. But I can't go further than the 10 in 10 with a full time job and the desire to spend time with my friends, my boyfriend and my family, the 10 in 10 was almost too much and that was with such an undemanding job that I could piss about all day recovering. I actually have to apply myself now and it's quite tiring.
So, there can't be another running challenge that's bigger than the 10 in 10, getting quicker isn't a challenge as I don't care about it enough (it'll never make me stand out as I'm firmly mid pack and always will be) and the 100th is fast approaching. I need something different. This time last year was similar - I knew I had to leave my job as I was bored rigid, not progressing, not learning, with no chance of a pay rise or bonus, but I didn't want to stay in finance. I spent months considering other options before I was headhunted (to another job in finance, but this time with a shed load of cash to invest and a better package, so yes, I continued to be a sell out) so the answer was given to me. I don't know what to do now. Get a bike. Start climbing. Join a boxing gym. Take up fencing. I'm starting with dynamic pilates, on those machines that look like a cross between a medieval torture rack and a kinky bit of kit in an S&M club, it's a good combination of strength and stretching, but it won't be enough of an adrenalin fix. Canyoneering, without the self-amputation perhaps?
The 100 Club AGM is 5 laps of an outer loop and an inner loop, nice for breaking down the distance and making the time pass quickly. Unfortunately, it's been 4 weeks since my last marathon and a misplaced motivation has meant my longest run since was just short of 11 miles. And that was being dragged round by Mark. It was quite clear I was knackered after only 2 laps, so the third and fourth were a bit of a trial. However, having watched 127 Hours yesterday, it was pretty straightforward to maintain perspective. All I was doing was getting round 26 miles, not exactly being stuck under a rock for 4 days before cutting off my own arm, and then dealing with the dehydration, fever and shock to abseil out of the canyon and stumbling god knows how far to find help. Top film by the way, go see.
Anyway, I was knackered but at least the time didn't matter, 4 hours 32 was fine for #97. I can't wait for Malta, and I'm not sure I'll run another marathon again after the few I've got booked (the usual April suspects Brighton & London, and Stockholm in May as I've wanted to run it for ages). I haven't enjoyed running for a long time and am finding it next to impossible to train; on more than one occasion lately, I've got up, put my kit on, had a cup of tea, and gone back to bed. It's cold and dark and boring and just too much effort, but that's not really an excuse. The problem really is I don't have anything to work towards. Last year it was the 10 in 10 which is a proxy for your first marathon really, it's way more than you've ever done before, the training dominates your life and it feels like a huge achievement when you get there. Unfortunately, that sense of achievement is very shortlived for me, and I need a bigger and better fix. Hence loads of marathons, and hence, really, the 10 in 10. I loved the training, loved the side effects of it and loved pushing myself to my limits. But I can't go further than the 10 in 10 with a full time job and the desire to spend time with my friends, my boyfriend and my family, the 10 in 10 was almost too much and that was with such an undemanding job that I could piss about all day recovering. I actually have to apply myself now and it's quite tiring.
So, there can't be another running challenge that's bigger than the 10 in 10, getting quicker isn't a challenge as I don't care about it enough (it'll never make me stand out as I'm firmly mid pack and always will be) and the 100th is fast approaching. I need something different. This time last year was similar - I knew I had to leave my job as I was bored rigid, not progressing, not learning, with no chance of a pay rise or bonus, but I didn't want to stay in finance. I spent months considering other options before I was headhunted (to another job in finance, but this time with a shed load of cash to invest and a better package, so yes, I continued to be a sell out) so the answer was given to me. I don't know what to do now. Get a bike. Start climbing. Join a boxing gym. Take up fencing. I'm starting with dynamic pilates, on those machines that look like a cross between a medieval torture rack and a kinky bit of kit in an S&M club, it's a good combination of strength and stretching, but it won't be enough of an adrenalin fix. Canyoneering, without the self-amputation perhaps?
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