A good year... so far

To date, as a running year, a year in which I have ran, 2017 has been a bit of a success. Well it was 'til Sunday, but I did a mile today with only mild discomfort, so I 'm not broken too bad...

Not that I was feeling well at the time. Cheers cameraman!

However prior to this, records have been a'tumblin'. I went pretty much the whole of 2016, running poorly, I lost speed as I stressed about my debut marathon so much I went too far prepping for distance and struggled to recover. 

Now 2017, to date I have set new a PB at every attempted distance:

1.  8 miles in 63:03 - Liswerry 8 in Janruary - ok that was my first 8 mile event...
2. 10k in 47:13 - Cardiff in March - 57 seconds off my previous best in Swansea in 2015
3. 5k in 21:38 - Bryn Bach Park also March - 38 second off my time on same course in 2015
4. Half Marathon in 1:45:40 - Merthyr again March - 5:16  under my previous on a far easier Cardiff course

This also means my about page has been semi constantly updated! Admin!

My Run Britain handicap has gone from 15.6 (31/12/16) to 12.1
 

This brings me on to the one remaining in tact record. My Marathon best. This stands at a not embarrassing but not impressive 4:09. I have come to thinking this can be beaten, not round Snowdon, but May 7th and Llanelli. I have training to get in, hence me testing out my leg asap.

Could I do a full set of PB's in a year (1/2 a year even)...

I'm sure I'll mention it.

Race Report - Merthyr Half Marathon

Twas a warm morning for this mornings Merthyr half marathon. Hardly a cloud in the sky, which both equaled lovely day and phew, bit warm in equal amounts.

Merthyr college was buzzing as I lined up... for the 4-6 500m race...

With my boy...

Then the daughter went in the slightly chaotic 1km for her age (7-9, or 7-11?). She had the opportunity to cut a lap, but being the good girl she is pushed round and did the extra (or correct amount even), when not everyone felt the urge!

Then it was the main event. Coughing had mostly stopped, felt ok and decided to attack a little from the outset. Was going well, the course was tough with a wicked climb as the all new for 2017 turning point. The predicted congestion wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected... yes all went well!

Me, running like I was being chased for the majority of the race, genuinely better than I expected, or had any business thinking about beforehand. About mile 8... twinge in leg, didn't think much of it, probably just a misstep. Mile 11, feel a pulling in my leg, just below the knee. Press on... almost there. Then distaer, sharp pain and I pull up, trying to keep moving. But I knew this was an issue. Got going until 12 or so same again, then again in the last mile.

All those precious seconds each time, probably costing me a couple of minutes on my time. Plus all the pain and discomfort.

So how did I do, target wise I said:

Baseline:
1:58:00 (9:00 min/ml)

Achievable:
1:55:00 (8:46 min/ml)

Would be nice, but maybe beyond me this time:
1:50:00 (8:23 min/ml)

and I did:



A new PB by 5:10 and my first time under 1:50, but frustrating as I think about what could have been...

I'm also going to stop setting targets as I clearly have no idea what I'm doing.

Massive thank you to the sports masseuse in the college after the race who largely fixed my leg. Still hurts now and probably will for a few days, but she made a big positive difference, even if she described the area as... crunchy! Right leg has always been an issue!

Race Day Preview - Merthyr Half Marathon

First half marathon of the year!

Nice easy trip as this one is my homeland, my home town, my place of residence. Merthyr Tydfil. The 13.1 miles will cover from the College down the taff trail on what can only be described as an undulating course. Also a narrow course, oh so narrow.

Also Amman United rugby star Shane Williams will be starting the race!

Thinking about it, I'm not 100% looking forward to this one. I've had a bit of s phlegm-y cough all week and, did I mention how narrow the course is?

While narrow, it is pretty scenic, the taff trail is a nice run and if it stays dry it'll be warm enough with tree shade at regular intervals. The course has changed this year and misses out the wonder of a long set of steps half way. Instead we'll be waving at the steps as we turn at the top.

This will be a good test, but entry depending I'd imagine I'm more likely to post decent times in Swansea or Cardiff later in the year.

So... targets:

Baseline:
1:58:00 (9:00 min/ml)

Achievable:
1:55:00 (8:46 min/ml)

Would be nice, but maybe beyond me this time:
1:50:00 (8:23 min/ml)

1:58 is last years time, so that needs to be done I think and I think 1:55 is possible if I run well enough. Now I've been rubbish with target settings so far so I've made the top one very unlikely. 1:50 would tie a PB, which was set in Cardiff, a much much easier course. 

It's a 10am start and I'll be around from 9ish supporting my kids in their races, so come say hi! Also looking like my last one in a Merthyr vest, for a while at least. May actually go for a tank top!

Tired...

I like to think when I run etc I give it 100%. Maybe this isn't always the future, after a busy weekend with a 12 mile 8 min/mile run and a 5k PB, I'm tired.

Come gym time today the legs were heavy and the heart wasn't in it. So I took the rest day.

I can live with that,  got a massive 6 days til my longest race of the year (still only a half I suppose) and if I turn up there still tired, I'm going to have a very long day ahead.

On the plus side my Run Britain handicap has continued it's downward trend, now reaching the all time low (in a good way) of 12.2. Apparently to better this further on the weekend I'll have to set a comfortable new half marathon PB (Currently 1:50:50 on an easier course).

Maybe next race hey!

I'm off to contemplate if I should renew my Running Club membership for another year. Massive benefits... tight financial time, so it may have a month or two off... We'll see...

Milestone alert #2!!

Ticking off the boxes today!

Firstly I'm now officially a member of the Parkrun volunteer family. As I mentioned in my last post today I headed to Parc Penallta, the sprog ran 17 mins for 2k and I stood at marker 10 as a Marshall. Next time I'll be on timing duties!

It's all learning ahead of the big launch!

Next up I then laced up my trainers, dropped my daughter at drama class and decided to run home (she was getting picked up, I'm not mental). I'm comfortably over confident at the moment and am probably rushing a bit which is hurting me down the line. But I managed (with a record 2 pee stops and a stop to see if I could adjust the route):

I did back out of attempting the final hill to my house and went to the shop to but pepsi (max) instead then got a lift, But considering I thought it was 9.7 miles...

Feeling wise, yeah was ok, I was overly aggressive, I felt a bit tight after and had 1 knee niggle, but it's fine. Half marathon next week, god knows what I'll do there.

This run achieved a further thing. For 2017 I have passed 200 miles <insert party music here!>

The actual total appears to be 201.2 miles. Based of a target of 650 for the year I'm almost a third of the way there! Plus I'm up 2 PBs!

'Race' Report - Brynbach Parkrun #232

Further confirmation I'm aware Parkrun isn't a race!

I once again donned my compression top, worn half to death trainers and headed to the national and international institution that is ParkRun. Brynbach Park in Tredegar is just about my nearest (for now...) so I headed over to what is a pretty flat, lapped route!

I decided to attack at the start and see where I could make it stick, see if any of the recent speed training was working and well...


One very happy camper when I finished.

The reasonably aggressive start became almost a rhythm and, apart from one flap on the last lap which cost me a few seconds. But equally I 'd like to thank the guy who was on my shoulder at the finish. Ensuring he stayed behind me got me a few seconds back I'm pretty sure.

So far this year I've set 5k, 10k and 8 mile bests (ok it was my first 8 mile race... still counts) and have a half... next week. Could I get that ticked off as well?? I doubt it but who knows.

There were photos, including one I liked, but they're the victims of some extreme watermarking and I'm not shelling out money for parkrun photos!

This weekend is a parkrun weekend. I'll be headed to Penallta Juniors with sprog in tow, to make my volunteer debut. Looking forward to it.

A little charity run

I don't think there's a nicer way to spend a Thursday evening than with your kid in teh fresh air. Generally however, this doesn't involve a 5k round Merthyr College and a medal.

This week it did!

Thursday morning and the beast that is Facebook informed me that there was a timed 5k in support of Charity (Phab Kids and Kidney Wales) happening that night. Now I wasn't in a 'racing' mood after a fairly brutal-by-my-standards Club session on Wednesday and having been to the gym already Thursday.

Wednesday had involved 4 pretty much flat out miles (as you reasonably can 4 times) of:

• 7:09
• 7:08
• 7:02 (pictured - mile time was 7:02 anyway!)
• 7:14 (Fell away last 250 yards)

Then a cool down where I decided to try and take the 'Zola's Sprint' segment (200-ish yard 'sprint') which I got in 22 secs!

That's quite the effort, but when I saw the run, advertised and organised by Run With Us I thought... the daughter loves a medal and needs the exercise... let's do it.

So off we went and a while later she was holding her medal. The whole thing was well organised and Run With Us seemed like a nice group, was my first time running with them, and even then I was some way behind them!

The group seemed friendly, and well organised, if you're local and are looking for a relaxed atmosphere run, worth giving them a look!

Club night - in a supportive mood!

Not every run is about slamming 5:30 miles through the evening sunshine. Sometimes it's good to sit back and help runners a little earlier on their journey.

Sadly I have no qualifications and haven't got a Scooby Doo how to do that.

I do however, offer myself as a 'Support Coach' if needed on club nights. This basically I means I help, back mark make sure nobody gets lost and the like, As we've been doing more technical sessions, with proper coaches who know what they'r doing, lately I haven't been required, but last night, a coach shortage threw me into business end of things.

As a result I (think I) helped out, helped someone run the furthest they'd ever gone and hopefully made a vaguely positive difference!

The route was:



You can't argue it's a different type of satisfaction to a quick run or a PB. But it's good and a type of rewarding I could get used too.

In other news, following the weekends exploits in Coopers Field have reduced my RunBritain handicap to it's lowest ever value.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not clear on how this works, but I know it's getting better!

Race Report - St David's Day 10k

It once again was a damp old morning. I wonder if I'll get a dry race this year...

Bute park was my venue as I ran the St David's Day Run 10k 2017! 6.2 miles around the paths of the park with, thanks to recent weather conditions, had a few... sizable puddles.

What was it like?

The race itself is undoubtedly flat, really flat... in the right conditions it would also be pretty scenic, taking in playing fields, the River Taff, Sophia Gardens, a nice bridge... Reasonable facilities on site (food etc) although once again due to the weather, the area was essentially a bog, my trails shoes would have struggled to get between the portaloos and the start!  There were puddles on course as I mentioned, I was pretty much ankle deep on at least 2 occasions. But that's what running socks are for? Volunteers too all happy and supportive!

However, overall I found myself frustrated as much as enjoying the run. Races in Cardiff (particularly this and the Cardiff 10k last year) all seem to have one of the same issues, congestion.

I understand the races desire to be large, I also understand the desire to give everyone who wants to run the chance to do so. However, some of the routes chosen aren't up to this. The paths today were narrow and had 1700-1800 people crowded on to them. I'm not the swiftest as you must know by now, but even I had to run off the path to get round people, got stuck unable to pass, got run into by people with headphones on who had little awareness of their surroundings...

This s partially my fault as I wasn't early to the start (portaloo queue, shipping daughter out after the 1k) so started too far back. But at any point, it looked busy. Maybe introduce pens based on start time and stagger the start slightly? I'll probably pass on this one next year.

Nice medal though!

How did I do?

Not half bad!

My ambitions were:

Baseline:
55:00 (8:51 min/ml)
Achievable:
52:00 (8:22 min/ml)
Would be nice, but maybe beyond me this time:
49:30 (7:57 min/ml)

And I did:


My chip time was 47:13 for the 136th fastest chip time (243rd place) a 58 second PERSONAL BEST!

Felt good too, I was held up at the start, can see that in my miles times (negative splits yay) but there's every chance this helped my pace in the last couple of miles. Very happy overall with the result!

Once again proving  I have little idea how to get a target...

Race Day preview - St David's Day 10k, Cardiff

I know I did the last one on the day, but I'll have to leave early tomorrow so not doing that.

Anyway...

Sunday will be my second non-parkrun race day of 2017. In quite a busy day for South Wales racing I will be taking on the St David's Day (but not exactly on St David's Day) 10k in Cardiff. 

Oldest sprog will also be going in the 1k!

Also tomorrow is the Newport Half Marathon, so best of luck to everyone doing double my distance!

Anyway, Goals for the day:

Baseline:
55:00 (8:51 min/ml)


Achievable:
52:00 (8:22 min/ml)

Would be nice, but maybe beyond me this time:
49:30 (7:57 min/ml)

I think sub 50 is possible. I went through the 10 in Lliswerry under it, but not sure tomorrow, on what I'm anticipating being a crowded course, as all Cardiff based events seems to be (hated Cardiff 10k last year, so so many people in such a small starting area).

So me, my lucozade sport, and my carb gels (fresh from Tesco today) will be ready tomorrow. See anyone running it there! Reminds me, need to charge my watch...

It's a Marathon not a Sprint... literally

As I may have mentioned, last year was my marathon debut, my first jaunt over 26.2, my premiere jog around Pheidippides fabled distance.

It was a tough but enjoyable old day, I thought I was running well, picked up a knock to my foot from someone rushing to overtake, was enough to cause a rub, then a bit of blood, and I struggled home.

Still hit 4:09 and set a PB, as if that was in doubt, as it's my only attempt.

Well not anymore, as well as already having my name down for the Snowdonia Marathon, in 63 (I think) days time I'll be participating in:

The course is described as scenic and flat. I'm happy to just take the flat part. It could look over Shreks swap apart from that, I'll be blind with sweat within 600 yards anyway.

Notice wise, this is quite close, but I've been doing some longer distances anyway, so I'm confident I'll be ready. Really confident, if I keep saying it...

But it's done now, and the excitement can start to begin. This will also represent my first (and second) visits to the kingdom of Burry Port:

  

A 10k awaits me (tomorrow) and a half marathon (26th), so the build up is there waiting. 63 days, look out Llanelli, here I come... eventually...

February Monthly Summary!

Month 2 of 12 of the year of 2017 is done and for me I think I've maintained a decent start of the running year.

As I've said before, this year I've set myself a target of covering at least 650 miles (did about 5-hundred-and-something last year) meaning I need to be averaging 54 miles a month or roughly 14 miles a week.

Well last month I hit the target!!

I ran a grand total of 71.4 miles (including 0.6 strava has yet to acknowledge as it crashed yesterday), DOWN from 78.5 in January. 

This total included 1 very snowy parkrun (4% of the total) but no races, I'll make up for that next month! 



My longest single run was a decent 18.8 miles (26% of my total). A quarter of the total is stilla  bit much for a single run...

Up and down month, felt like I was running well, then sickness strikes and the last full week of the month is a write off, otherwise I'd image I'd be 80+ miles and a best month of the year. Can't help being ill though, I just need to get over it and realise that 71 miles is still a decent effort.

So far (all in miles)...

	Jan	Feb	Total
Month	78.5	71.4	149.9
Progess	12%	11%	23%

149.9 isn't annoying at all. If I'd seen that sooner I'd have gone round the block...

Still ahead of the calendar progression for my progression (17% against 23%) so I think I'm ok. Still considering the Great Welsh Marathon, so if I do sign up the increase in mileage for that should keep me up there!

Let's do this 2017... or something motivational.