Saturday Evening Update

Chickened out of running in the rain this morning, decided to leave it to the afternoon. Then realised we had a birthday BBQ to go to, so left it til the evening. So after a few wines, a beer and a delicious pork bun from the hog roast, decided to go for a long run at 8pm. Surprisingly still managed 9km and two big hills without stopping to throw up.

9.28km,   1hr 7m 06s,  average of 7m 13s per km.

Not great, but worth doing. Leg seemed ok, see how it is after an eight hour round trip drive to Nottingham tomorrow. Playing poker at Dusk Till Dawn.

Cya.

Undulating

Definitely my word of the day . . . undulating. Which strangely enough describes this morning’s run. Decided I needed a change of scenery, so headed inland on a loop that took me from Charmouth up to Wootton Fitzpaine, across to Whitchurch Canonicorum (don’t you just love these names?) , then back down to Charmouth.

Lots of ups and downs to keep me puffing, a total of 315m of ascent altogether over a run that turned out to be a fraction under 10km. All on tarmac lanes through the beautiful Dorset countryside. Didn’t push to hard, heart rate only got up to 170bpm near the end when I sped up a bit to ensure I kept my average under 6m per km. Seems like a good tarmac loop to use as a long run when the off-road stuff gets too muddy again.

9.84km,  58m 44s,  5m 58s per km average.

Probably out again on Saturday to do some hilly stuff.

More Shade Vicar

Wow, that got a bit hot a bit quick. Suddenly it’s summer and 20+ degrees.

Short run from home up (the nice and shady) Stonebarrow Lane, along to the end of the car park and back again. Just under 6km, one whopping great hill. Wasn’t feeling 100% as I only ran on Tuesday, so tried to take it easy and keep the MHR at less than 170. Not easy up a 1 in 10 incline that lasts for a kilometer. Anyway trotted up the hill at what turned out to be 30s slower than last time up the hill when I was trying a bit harder. Will try and get out about every three days now if sore leg allows. That should help with the stamina and leg strength. On the other hand it could make my leg worse. One or the other. Also, running (ok . . . jogging) back down the hill makes my shins hurt.

5.87km, 37m 41s, average of 6m 25 per km.

43 days to 2010 Charmouth Challenge.

11 days to Juneathon. Not done it before, certainly can’t run every day, so it will be a mixture of running and situps I think.

Exhausted

Circumstances conspired for me to head out for a longer run a day before I planned, but that’s fine. Decided I’d do my regular long training run and compare it to last autumn’s times. It was a nice sunny day and I fancied being up in the sun rather than trudging up Stonebarrow Lane in the shade as originally planned for today.

Did the run as planned, all 9.13km of it including two of the three big climbs. Total of 426m of ascent if the gadget can be believed, beginning to think it’s not that accurate on elevation, but it’s close enough. Started out ok, got to the top of Golden Cap in 31m 16s which is slightly faster than previous. Managed to get up there without walking, although I was jogging extremely slowly near the top. After that it just got harder and harder, didn’t help that I’m not used to running in warm weather. Must remember to take drink with me when I do that one again. Found the second climb back up Stonebarrow a real effort, and was feeling a bit wobbly by the time I finished. Took a long time for the old ticker to get back down to a reasonable level.

Finished in 1hr 6m 18s, not my best, but acceptable. Determined to start getting out more often before tapering off leading up to the Charmouth Challenge which is now 46 days away.

Good Friday Run

Needed to get out for a think, so decided that today was a good day for a run. I’m still being cautious because of this dodgy thigh muscle, but I figured it’s six days since the last run and therefore time to get out again. Next run will hopefully be in five days, then back to twice a week.

Following on from my last blog, I decided that I would try and do a comparison run. So I drove up to Stonebarrow car park and did my old medium length training run. 7.22km but with just the one hill. ie. Starting from Stonebarrow car park, along to Chardown Hill, down to St Gabriels, then back along the coast and up Stonebarrow Hill. There’s a picture of the route somewhere on one of these pages.

It’s a fabulous run this time of year, loads of trees and bushes bursting into life, bluebells and wild garlic all out in flower. Sunny and dry, but not too hot yet.

Felt ok, but very consciously was not forcing the pace. Kept up a steady rhythm and never had to walk on the uphill bits. Did it in what felt like a reasonably comfortable 45m 52s, which when I looked it up was an amazing 1m 10s inside my previous best on this loop set last Autumn.

So what conclusions can I draw from this. Well I guess my overall fitness is improving which bodes well for completing the Charmouth Challenge. It also means that even though this inner thigh muscle is sore most of the time, and very sore for 24 hours after a run, it’s not actually hampering me that much. Interesting.

So that’s it, back out next Wednesday. Probably the same loop but will tag on the run up Stonebarrow Lane from home.

Juneathon sounds interesting. Might have to join in on that one.

Captain Sensible

I suppose if I was really sensible I’d just stop for a while, or go and see someone about the leg. However, my version of sensible was to go out for a fairly easy run yesterday morning up Stonebarrow Lane, down to the end of the car park and back again. Leg got a bit sore, but I’m getting used to that.

Despite the lack of miles recently, still managed to get up the hill without having to walk it. Now that we’re living down in the middle of Charmouth there’s not much point in driving up the lane to the car park, might as well just run from home. Might drive up there one day though so that I can do some comparison runs against the time from last year.

Yesterday was just under 6km at an average of 6m 11s per km, including 8m 46s for the km that was all up hill.

Still pleased with last weeks Portland 10k. I worked out that it was 230m short as they missed out a bit of the course near the end. No idea why, but I could see it on the map that was filed with the official course measurement website. Maybe there was a problem with the road or something. I enjoyed it, and will definitely be back next year.

I can’t count the sub 50 minute time as a PB as the course was too short, but have decided to count the time I recalculated for the full distance. So from now on I will count my official PB as 51m exactly.

As for this year, well it looks like the plan is to run as often as my leg will allow up to the Charmouth Challenge in July, then after that maybe take a month off to see if it heals. If I’m lucky and don’t push too hard it may heal before then. Definitely going to do the race, but 1h 30m target is looking doubtful.

If anyone’s interested, the Gadget data from Portland 10k is recorded here.

Portland 10k – Round the Rock 2010

I’m injured, I’m unfit, and I can still kick arse.

Decided to run, I think we all knew I’d do that didn’t we? Leg muscle was tight and uncomfortable again yesterday, but not bad enough to call it off. Forecast was dire, but I’m getting used to that too.

Got there early enough to have a drive round most of the course, fairly straightforward loop round the uphill bit of the island, with a small extra loop to make up the distance near the start.

All seemed well organised, cost me £9 including the extra for registering on the day, so that was very reasonable. Sun came out for the half hour before we started, but soon went in again. At least the forecast rain stayed away.

Made my normal back of the pack start, working my way forward to find people running at the pace I wanted. Had intended to aim for about 5m 30s kms, but as leg was not too bad started off with 5m 10s and 5m 6s. I could feel it pulling a bit, but not sore at that stage.

Didn’t take long either to be aware that the kilometer timings on the Gadget were coming up well after the kilometer markers. So either the first kilometer was short, or maybe the Gadget isn’t as accurate as I’d like to think. Will keep an eye on the Runners World race reviews to see if anyone else mentions it.

Kilometers 3 to 5 were all downhill and I was getting a good tow from someone, so did 4m 40, 4m 40, and 4m 35. After that it was four kilometers of steady uphill, 5m 20, 5m 31, 5m 43, before turning for home.

Leg started to get sore after about 7 or 8k, definitely slowing me down a bit after that, but I knew I was well ahead of schedule so kept going at the best pace I could even though people were starting to come past me for the first time.

Stopped the gadget at least 10m after the line, but still only showed 9.77km. Not sure what to make of that.

Organisers were super-efficient, results were printed off and on the wall about ten minutes after I crossed the line. My official gun time was only one second different to my recorded time.

So for the record . . .  I came 58th . . . in (officially) 49m 53s. Easily a personal best, and amazing considering my leg injury and level of fitness.

If it was short, and I’m not saying it was, but an extra 230m at my final km pace would have added another 67s giving 51m dead, 1 second inside my previous best.

So there you go, I think I’ll take their word for it. 49m 53s. Thank you very much.

Having trouble walking now. Probably be in trouble tomorrow.