Ballot time

The London Marathon is done!

Let's start the whole process over again!!

Tomorrow begins my annual process of signing up to the London Marathon ballot.The week long, dilution to the point of no hope, of places for the British entry in the World Marathon Majors series. 

Back in the day it capped at 125,000 entries, making it unlikely but as it's now 5 days long it gets around 250,000 making it as likely as me waking up tomorrow able to run the 'goof for age' time. I can't... by over an hour...

The only reason I can really think for this change is the hope more and more people choose to donate their entry fee, even if they don't get in. Increased cash through the door. Running clubs also get a very small allocation of places based on their size (1 for up to 100 members), but as I haven't got one of them anymore...

Yes, there are always charity places, but the raising of £2,000 + makes that the most stressful thing ever plus many charities charge the runner double the normal entry fee on top. This isn't always their fault as it sound like the organisers charge charities crazy amounts of money for the privilege of having a place.

So come the morning (or at some point during the week) I'll enter, already knowing it's a waste of bandwidth. Then I'll browse through the charity places, before deciding I can't do it. Then I'll forget about it til next year. Where I'll probably do the same.

To run or not to run....

11 days to go...

11 days until the Great Welsh Marathon and my jaunt between Llanelli and Bury Port. Today I tried a much delayed long run, not as long as I would have as it's too close, but I thought 15 will do it. Give me the confidence that I'm going to do at least a passable job.

However, what I didn't realise is how close Bryn Bach Park is to Merthyr.. as a result I ran there, across a tiny stone covered road, which frequently had me stood at the side of the road waiting for cars to pass.

I have no idea what's going on with my face.

By the way, if it says go slow due to loose stones on road, LISTEN, I got battered by tiny tiny little rocks so many times...

Back on topic, I ran there and looked at my watch to be dismayed so see a mere 4.5 miles... undeterred I did a unplanned 2nd lap of the lake and headed back, same road, same issues... after a slight detour under ASDA I was about to return o the start and... still short. So I added another hill, then another loop, then I realised the run had become so disjointed there was no point anymore.



So I'm short on mileage... badly short, should I still run Llanelli, or more likely run it 'to get round' not to try and PB. I don't know, but I better decide soon.

While running I was very comfortable today, easily within myself, but I'm quite the distance away from being there...

Merthyr parkrun #1

Early in the month you may remember my presence at the trial run of the all new Merthyr parkrun. If you don't, that's a link, so you can instantly become 'up to speed'. Oh and sorry for the old capitol P there, I wasn't as knowledgeable at the time.

Well, it's happened. Merthyr parkrun is live, it's a thing, every Saturday morning from now on (within reason), on the Taff Trail behind the leisure center you will find it. Good times!

Event number one went well, maybe better than I expected.155 brave souls, from as far as Poole and Twyn, turned up to try the... undulating... (pretty much) 5000 meters ably assisted by 20 or so yellow jacket wearing volunterrs. Nobody got lost, fell, wasn't timed (I was a timer!), exploded or anything bad at all!

High Viz Heroes and Blue Leader!

For those of you who don't know, parkrun is a weekly free timed event, aimed at getting as many as people possible active. It's a great initiative and it's running in 100s of locations all over the country now.

As someone who has run a few (17) parkrun events myself, the opportunity to become the member of a core team was really appealing and I've fallen on my feet with it being so local and having a pretty good team. The Event/Race Director is local author/celebrity Hannah Phillips with the core volunteers coming from the local running groups such as RunWithUs and MRC.

Oh and me, like my facebook page ppppppplease.

The help from parkrun has been excellent, we've been kitted out, tech'd up and supported all the way (and still ongoing). The course is a pretty one, with the bare minimum of laps going on, so it's interesting too. Where else can you get a waterfall (in the right weather conditions) and a call centre on the same 5k?

I encourage anyone to come and give it a go, it doesn't matter if you're fast, slow, a walker or anything. It's an all inclusive event and the Merthyr team will always give you a warm welcome. Don't want to run, there's always the need for more hands on deck as a volunteer!

Just please don't bring a dog or a pushchair as the course isn't suitable!

If you want more info, you can find everything you need here (website) or here (if you prefer the book of faces).

I have a feeling this will be the start of something good for the community!

Race Report - Bryn Bach 6 mile / Lap the Lake fun run

I've always been a reasonable fan of old Parc Bryn Bach. My 5k PB is round it's very flat parkrun (although I do prefer Merthyr and Penallta as runs), it's free toast is legendary among... certain individuals I know and generally, it's a nice, big, green park.

It's quite nice!

So when a run comes up around it, I do occasionally like to participate, even if I'm pretty confident the flat parkrun will not be representative of the conditions!!

Got Andrew Cooper in the background! Hi Andrew!

So, 286 others joined me behind the café thing and we were off on a 6 mile (not 10k) jaunt. The hill isn't a devastating one, but going up it twice still takes it's toll (I think I lost 40 or so secs the 2nd time up). The rest of the course is reasonable, up and down a little but scenic, clean and well organised marshaled. Ideal!

So, how did I do? Targets were:

Baseline:0:52:00 (8:40 min/ml)

Achievable:0:50:00 (8:20 min/ml)

Would be nice, but maybe beyond me this time:
0:47:00 (7:50ish min/ml)

and I did:


1 minute (according to my watch, gun time was 46:12, no sign of a chip yet) under top target. Think I handled the hills quite well after a couple of weeks of minimal training. Pretty confident I'll at least make the trip to Llanelli now, even if I'm not exactly going to light up the field! Very happy!

Once that was all done, it was a coffee, a welsh cake and back out for the fun run. 2.6ish miles with the daughter at a far more casual pace of course.

Race Day preview - Bryn Bach 6 mile / Lap the lake Fun Run

I've been quiet, mainly as I've been busy but like the bad smell which flows from me, I haven't gone away!

More posts to come on the small subject of Merthyr parkrun (note the correct capitalisation), which launched this very day (assuming I finish this post in the next 15 minutes) with a pleasing degree of success.

But back to me putting one foot infront of the other. Tomorrow I visit Tredegar to take part in the Bryn Bach 6 mile race, also running the fun run with the oldest. I've let the training slip big style, so I'm not expecting much tomorrow, but it'll be nice to get a few miles in.

Bryn Bach Park is pretty flat, but I'm not overly familiar beyond the parkrun course, so we'll see.

So... targets:

Baseline:0:52:00 (8:40 min/ml)

Achievable:0:50:00 (8:20 min/ml)

Would be nice, but maybe beyond me this time:
0:47:00 (7:50ish min/ml) 

This is also my first race out of club kit... Oooooh choices.

I'm not bothered about time, so the targets are loose, but it's good to have a plan after all. Be nice to get a few miles in and see if I all apart, the motivation is there but bus busy of late.

Llanelli marathon, is down as a maybe, I've not trained anywhere near enough, so may go for a trot round and get the tshirt etc anyway. Paid now after all!

Run Report - Merthyr Parkrun Trial

Before I start, note the cahne from 'race' report to run report. This seems better for parkrun!

The day finally came, the trial run of Merthyr parkrun (fitting with correct branding) took place on a warm and sunny morning on the Taff Trail near the Leisure Center. The trail was dry and semi deserted, the runners were here... great stuff.

Look how official I look! (Right)

The course is a tricky little one, the term is undulating, but as this is Merthyr you'd have to do laps of a car park to get a flat one. Nobody wants to do laps of a car park... I assume.

It's all tarmac apart from a wooden bridge, so easily accessible. Yeah it's a challenging one but a good one. The trail is quite nice to look at, it has a big bridge, a sculpture, a call centre... In the right conditions it'll even have a waterfall!

Was the trial without issues? Of course not, otherwise there'd be no point in doing it! The course was a little short, which I verified by running it myself afterward, but this is sorted! I was sad it was short as I clocked it under 20 mins, I've never been under 21 1/2!




It was 2.79, that's very harsh Strava!

The core team are a good bunch this has potential!

Tonight I will re run the course to get an extra verification of the length and then it's a few weeks until:

Merthyr Parkrun #1

 



I'm not putting the date up, or the website etc as I don't think I'm supposed too yet.

Unaffiliated

As Billy Joe Armstrong once sang, and probably wrote, "I'm a walking contradiction".  After spending an entire post banging on about the benefits of joining a running club (or social running group), I have now become unaffiliated.

Hanging up the Merthyr vest for now

All memberships with Welsh Athletic running clubs expire on 31st March. After which time, it's renew or get out!

Now, does this mean I have changed my mind, do I now think running with a group is a massive waste of time? Nah! The issue I have is purely financial and I hope to have it sorted within a few months!

However, this does open up possibilities. Do I renew?  Do I look at a different club? Do I look at a social running club instead (lacks the affiliation and race discount, but Merthyr has one)? Do I even round of the year and hang up the trainers? Was going too last year when running poorly.

Running clubs, drop me an email and I'll start reviewing applications for my services....

Anyway, the leg is 80% there I think, still sore but I've been back in the gym, so I may try a run tomorrow lunch time. Get a 'quick' 3/3.5 miles in then hope to go long on the weekend.

20? Yeah 20 miles is a great way to spend a Sunday!

There's also something going on Saturday, but it's supposed to be a secret I think. Apart from all the people who already know.

I'll post about that soon enough

March Monthly Summary!

Month 3 of 12 of the year of 2017 is done and for me I think I've continued my decent start of the running year.

I've also maintained consistency to the opening of these posts!

My continuing mission towards an annual total of 650 miles has continued on target. To hit this I need to be averaging 54 miles a month or roughly 14 miles a week.

Easy... so far...

This month I ran a grand total of 77.4 miles up 6 miles from the February total. This includes 3 races, a Half Marathon (also longest single run of month), a 10k and a parkrun, all 3 of which ending in PBs. They made up 29% of my month!

Good month, got to be happy with the form all the way up until the half, which has left me injured. Injured with roughly 5 weeks to go til a marathon... great... 

So far... (miles)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Total
78.5	71.4	77.4	227.3
12%	11%	12%	35%

Anticipating a poor month while I shake off this injury, but need to do a long one in preparation at least... Compression bandage received in the post... it'll be fine.