Juneathon – Day 20 – Getting harder?

Shouldn’t running get easier with practice? I seem to find each run harder than the last. Just did a longish two hill run rather than the three-hiller I did last weekend, but still managed to run out of energy on the second climb back up Stonebarrow Hill. Ended up walking a few short sections and slow jogging a few more. Oh well, only two more weeks of this self-inflicted torture and then I can stop for a while.

My projection for the Charmouth Challenge is still somewhere around the 1hr 35m range. As I said before, a cool day would be a bonus. It was warm today rather than hot, but that was plenty enough for me. Couldn’t find my runners drink bottle with the handle, so went without. When I run 10k I don’t usually stop at the drink stations, but for this race I’ll definitely be stopping at both.

11.29km,  1hr 19m 45s,  average 7m 3s per km. Two big hills.

In a rather loose connection, Italy are playing today so had Ciabatta rolls for lunch. Well it’s Fathers Day and I fancied steak and chips for tea! Trust me, I earned it this morning.

Juneathon – Day 15 – Recovered

Ok, feeling human again after the weekend’s exertions. Arm feeling better too.

64 sit-ups today.

Brazil tonight, so it’s Bahia Shrimp in Coconut Sauce.

Only 19 days to Charmouth Challenge, so that’s only about five more runs before then.

Juneathon – Day 13 – A Hill Too Far

I have never, ever been as exhausted at the end of a run as I was this morning. I’ve done plenty of 10k races where I’ve tried really hard over the last kilometer, but I’ve never been as physically spent as I was this morning.

I decided that I needed to prove that my leg muscle and general fitness was good enough to get me round the Charmouth Challenge route. So that’s what I did. Started at the school, followed the route round and up all three climbs, then jogged down the lane back home.

13.28km, 1hr 38m 29s.  Total elevation gain 444m. That’s like a third of the way up Ben Nevis starting from sea level!

I walked for the first time near the top of Golden Cap, then after that walked increasing amounts near the top of each subsequent hill. Although I have to admit once I slow down that much there’s not much difference between my walking and slow jogging pace. In fact my Garmin thought I was going so slow it says that at various times I stopped for a total of four and a half minutes. I may have lingered over the stiles, but not for that long. The important thing was that I got back to the top of the third climb in just under 1hr 23m, and I think it takes about 9 minutes to get from there down to the finish at the school via the currently closed coastal path. So I’m looking at about 1hr 32m for the race, and I’d be perfectly happy with that, even though I’ll still be in the slowest ten percent.

I really hope that it’s not too hot on race day. It was about 18 to 20c today, and I really suffered. It took me a long time to get my heart rate back down after I finished, and I’d really used up every bit of energy I had, almost to the point of keeling over. Bit of a state.

I really will have to pace myself on race day if I want to finish.

Spicy Algerian Meatballs for tea. No sit-ups.

Juneathon – Day 8 – Another murky day

When I sit at the computer at home, looking over the screen out the window I can see Stonebarrow Hill. It’s a permanent reminder of what I’ve chosen to take on. Except today I can forget all about it as the hill has been hidden in the mist and rain most of the time.

Leg not feeling too bad, so looking forward to a run tomorrow morning. I spent some time looking up on the internet what I might have done to it and it’s mostly likely a mild strain of the adductor magnus. But that’s just a bit of a guess as I’m just your average hypochondriac and I can’t afford to go and see a sports physio about it. Looks like it just needs rest, so that’s what I’ll have to do . . . but after the Charmouth Challenge on July 3rd.

Usual exercise today 64 sit-ups, 16 push-ups. So far managed to steer clear of biscuits and crisps. Managed a banana this morning. Have to say the abstemious bit seems somewhat pointless given that I stuffed down a huge pile of fish and chips on Friday night, but hey, that wasn’t in my don’t eat it list. Fortunately neither was beer, chips and cake! Well ok, with the big race only 25 days away maybe I should start cutting back on the lardy stuff. Maybe I should send Breandán my last Portland Dough Bun?

Don’t know what Juneathon is?  Click Here.

Juneathon – Day 6

As my leg always feels a bit better after a nights rest, decided to go for my run first thing this morning. Wanted to do two hills, so ran from home up Stonebarrow, along to Chardown Hill, short cut down to the coastal path, then back up Stonebarrow. Took a chance and came back down the coastal path to Charmouth. This bit is officially closed due to danger of landslides and it was a bit scary jumping from lump to lump over the big cracks, but I survived to tell the tale. Don’t think I’ll try it again.

The run in general was hard work, probably because I went out without eating anything.  8.56km,  60m 47s,  average of 7m 6s per km. Rough guess is that the rest of the Charmouth Challenge loop adds on maybe another 35 minutes, so we’re looking at around 1hr 36m for the race.

Also did the usual 64 sit-ups this afternoon.

No crisps or biscuits. Half and apple and one grape (nasty squigy things).

One Portland Dough Bun left. Do I eat it, or airmail it to Ireland?

Juneathon – Day 1

So, Juneathon starts here. It’s been a dull and mostly damp day here in darkest Dorset, but managed to sneak in a run this afternoon after most of it had blown over.

I wish to make it very clear that there is no way I’m running every day, I’ll leave that to you superstars out there, my poor old legs won’t take it. I think it will probably be a mixture of running and sit-ups, possibly with a few push-ups and walks to the pub thrown in for good measure. Incidentally I’ve only recently been able to do push-ups as the pain in my wrist from slipping-up on the ice six months ago has only just about gone.

It’s nice to see so many people involved, and at all sorts of levels. It’s like having new years resolutions that you only have to keep up for thirty days! So in that spirit, I’m going to try and give up biscuits, cut down (not cut out) the crisps, and try and eat some fruit which I normally avoid in favour of the far more tasty biscuits and crisps.

Today’s run was 9.86km in 57m 22s, average of 5m 49s per km. That was the undulating tarmac lane loop that I did for the first time last week.

Biscuits: Zero

Crisps: Zero

Fruit: One banana

32 days to Charmouth Challenge.  Eeek!

Back in action?

First run for two weeks this morning. This inner thigh muscle is still not healing. It feels like someone has taken it out, shortened it by an inch, and then put it back again, it’s that tight. Had to go into Exeter on Monday, and just walking around town it got more and more sore.

So today just did a light four and a bit km at 5m 34s per km pace. I could feel it pulling but it was never bad enough to stop. Now I wait and see how it feels tomorrow and Saturday before deciding whether or not to do Portland 10k on Sunday morning. I think it’s likely I’ll do it and just jog round in an hour. I really want to do it as I used to live there as a kid and I think the route goes past our old house.

After that I have to decide what to do. Charmouth Challenge is only two months away. So do I take time off to try and get the leg to heal, but end up too unfit to make a decent run of it?  Or do I carry on running, keep the fitness up, but then the leg never heals and could get worse?  I think I’ll see how I am next week. If it’s still bad I’ll use the £40 I won at poker on Tuesday to go and see a sports physio.

Watch this space.

Now that’s better . . .

First off, did do a short run on Wednesday. But it was short, hilly, muddy and boring, so couldn’t be bothered to inflict it on you.

Today however, was glorious. So consider yourselves well and truly inflicted. Did the usual winter 9km loop in a fairly average time. But the sun was out, blue skies, no wind and fantastically clear air. From the top of Golden Cap I could easily see 20 miles or more west along the coast to Portland, and the same to the east past Lyme Regis and along round the bay. After a couple of months of cold grey days it was a real revelation. I reminder of what I really enjoy about running. Running on the coast paths is just the best thing ever. Yes, it was still muddy and a bit chilly to start, but in the sheltered spots with the sun on my back it could have been summer.

Started off a bit quick, set new records for the first three kilometers, and that’s despite five hours of sleep as I was up watching Amy Williams in the skeleton bob. Only really lost time on the muddy bits. So a good run. The sort that leaves you smiling.

So long run today, short one probably Tuesday, medium run next Friday, then a short run midweek before the Southbourne 10k the following Sunday. Really looking forward to that as I’ve said before, and really hope to run as close to 50 mins as possible.

Monday

Sorry, feeling tired and couldn’t think of a suitably witty and elegant title for today’s blog post. However, I feel that ‘Monday’ is suitably minimalist, truthful and to the point. I’ll try and do better next time.

Planning to run Monday and Friday this week as will be out all next weekend. Will try and do identical courses on the two runs; the first without the Orbana drink that I’m supposed to be trying, and the second run with it.

So today did exactly 9km (did a little extra near the end to make it up to an exact figure) in 63m 55s, for an average of 7m 5s per kilometer. Did Golden Cap and Stonebarrow, so total amount of ascent was 537m. Tried to pick a drier route, but very sloppy and sticky in places, especially around some of the stiles and the narrow paths between some fields. Managed to jog up GC again without grinding to a halt which is good, but have realised that my current ‘winter’ route involves a more gradual climb and a flat bit to recover as I run through the woods on Langdon Hill. So that’s why I’ve still got something in the tank when I get near the top.

There’s also an element of willpower involved. It would be very easy to walk the steep bits, but I get a bit stubborn sometimes and refuse to do so. The gadget helps, unless I’ve exceeded my max heart rate why should I walk? If my body has something left, use it. I don’t want to get the end of the Challenge and feel that I didn’t give it everything, so that’s how I want to train.

Sunday long run, new PB

Glad to say, looks like I’m still improving. Did the longer run today 9.15km with two big hills (total ascent on the run according to gadget is 438m) in 1hr 5m 4s, That’s just under two minutes off the time I did four weeks ago when I last did this loop. Have to say that like Wednesday conditions were ideal; cool and almost no wind. Didn’t even have to pass any dogs. Plus I wasted about 30s sat on my backside sorting out my trainer and sock. I think I wasn’t laced tight enough and that caused the sock to ruck up round my toes coming down from Golden Cap. It was really hurting so I had to stop and sort it out.

The two areas where I gained the most time were on the first halves of both climbs, if that makes sense. It’s like I can maintain a good pace for further up each hill before I run out of strength and revert back to the slower hill climbing pace. Looking forward to more improvements before next summer and The Challenge. Definitely on schedule I think.

Met an interesting guy yesterday at the Charmouth Literary Festival, John Bryant. He’s written a number of  books about the London Marathon, the history of the marathon, and the quest to break the four minute mile. He was also coach to Zola Budd! I think he’s run The Challenge in the past, have to tap him up for some coaching tips if I see him again.

Two weeks to Ilminster 10k, five to Boscombe 10k. Target for Ilminster is still 55m. If I can do that I’ll count it as a modern day PB on the grounds that I can’t remember my true PB from about eight years ago other than it was about 52m 30s!