Ham Running

From the moment I started this training programme, I knew that this was the week that was going to scare me most. Why? The Sunday run is twenty miles. Twenty miles.

I always fell apart between eighteen and twenty miles last time out – and I really don’t want to do that again. I want to get to twenty miles, and know that I could keep going for another six. That is, after all, what it’s all for.

After the frightful weather on Sunday that forced postponement of the Alloa Half, the weather changed. By Tuesday, it was warm and sunny. The run round Linlithgow Loch was beautiful!

---

Wednesday saw a long run, and I decided to run home from work. By the most direct route it is around six miles to work, so by going along the canal and adding a small loop at the end, I was able to make it up to eight miles without too much difficulty. I was running into a fairly strong headwind all the way, so I was quite glad to reach the house!

---

Having run from work on Wednesday, I had to run back to it on Thursday. Marie drove me to a spot on the canal where it would be five miles to the office, and I ran from there. This time the wind was at my back, and it was a much more pleasant experience.

---

On Friday, I had a sports massage. This was at Life Fit Wellness in Falkirk. They were advertising a flash sale with two massages for the price of one, if the second one is taken within four weeks. Oh well, okay then… Carolyn was the massage therapist, and she bent, stretched and twisted various muscles in my legs – I came out feeling lighter and definitely more easily able to move. I also booked a further massage for the week after the marathon – I think I’ll be needing every ounce of tender care I can get by then!

Anyway, I would recommend this once in a while – it was lovely and I definitely felt the better for it.

Perhaps it was the effects of the massage that made me run much faster than I normally would on Saturday. Perhaps it was that the weather was glorious, and I was able to go out in vest and shorts. I don’t know. But I went round in 8:32 – much faster than the 8:55 / 9:00 per mile that I am aiming for in the real marathon!

---

And so dawned Sunday. I took Jenni to work, then went to the University to start my run. I had worked myself into a bit of a funk by this point, and so I procrastinated. Was I going to wear shorts or tights? T-shirt or vest? I went to the loo to change, and then went back to the car. I did a yoga warm-up, and still found ways to delay the start. But eventually I realised I had to get going, and I set off.

The first part was round the top half of the loch, down to the Uni entrance gates and then back up to do the loop that the marathon takes up towards Innovation Park. That brought me back down to the entrance gates and from there I headed east – helped along by a nice little tail wind from the west. As before I headed for Alloa via Tullibody, stopping off at the Causewayhead and the Alloa Leisure Bowl loos on the way. As I approached the Leisure Bowl, the rain had started and I began to worry that I would end up getting chilled in my light vest and short running shorts, but the rain didn’t come to much and so I was able to continue.

Past the Leisure Bowl I climbed the hill and turned right instead of the usual left, thus taking me onto the Tillicoultry road. This put me pretty much on the route of the Alloa Half Marathon – the one that was postponed last week – for the next six or seven miles. The road sweeps down to the Hillfoots road in Tilli, and at the junction I stopped to try applying some more Body Glide. That was a mistake; the Body Glide was near to finished and warm, having been in my waist pouch throughout. It simply snapped as I tried to apply it. Oh well, only eight miles to go.

I carried on along the Hillfoots road, and now that lovely tailwind was a 15mph headwind. My thighs were chafing. I began to not like this run. My mind was drifting into reasons why I could stop and walk. I knew that this was wrong – I ran 18.5 miles just a couple of weeks ago – I could do this. It probably took another couple of miles to convince myself, but by the time I departed from the route of the Alloa Half – when the Half turns left to go to Tullibody but I went straight on to go towards the Uni – I was feeling better. I knew that I wanted to finish this route; more than that I knew that I could!

The climb up to the back entrance to the Uni was neither harder nor easier than usual, and I decided to finish with a bit of a flourish, building some speed for the final couple of hundred yards. I reached the car and touched it as I stopped the tracker. I had done it – I was delighted!

What did I learn from it? Well,

1) I ain’t gonna wear race-day split shorts for the race. I chafe when I wear them, and it’s not nice
2) I’ve got to be ready for the doldrums around mile 14 – 17
3) If I can run twenty miles on my own in a headwind with chafed thighs, I can do 26 with a crowd to cheer me on! Subject to any injuries, I KNOW I can do this.

I’m fired up now, and ready to go for it – for the first time I have confidence that I’ll be able to get to the end of the run, and run the race the way I want to.  That makes me feel great!

---

 

That was an interesting week!

It started well with five miles round Linlithgow Loch.  Actually, I added a wee bit onto the start and end of the Linlithgow Loch run; a loop past Bonnytoun Farm.  this section will be familiar to anyone who has done the Linlithgow 10k; it’s the hilly stretch that makes you loathe your life just as you come off the back of the Loch.

This route did have a problem, though – the road was flooded!  Not only that, but there was a horse and rider further up the road, and they seemed to be very keen to avoid being in contact with a runner in a fluorescent yellow jacket.  So to be safe I  turned back and went back down to the main road at the start of the route.  They were gone by the time I had run round the Loch, so I was able to run my planned route as I went back towards the office

---

Wednesday saw a repeat of the route sans frisky horses.  This was after work – it was lovely to be running in the evening without a headlight!  And I was able to wear shorts again!

---

 

Thursday after work, I took a different route – going out to join the canal at the Park Bistro, and running along the towpath back into town.  From there, straight back out to the office and that was my five miles done.  I celebrated with some stretching and some core work.

---

Friday and Saturday were both rest days, and then it was time for the Alloa Half Marathon. 

Except, it wasn’t.

On the Saturday evening, the organisers sent out a message saying that the half had been postponed.  The weather forecast was absolutely dreadful, with conditions being described as the return of the “Beast From The East” that caused so many problems a couple of weeks ago.

Their decision was vindicated by the scene at the muster area this morning, when the race should have been starting.

So, I missed my run today.  It’s not great, but it’s not the end of the world.  It’s one LSR – better to miss that than to slip and get injured.

I’m so looking forward to the coming week!

Wow!  That was the first week where I have ever run forty miles.  Even at the height of training for my last marathon I didn’t put in so many miles in a single week.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way.  This was supposed to be thirty-seven miles.  But as you will see later on, things didn’t go quite to plan.

I was on holiday on Tuesday, and so ran that four miler from home.  The highlight of that run was getting up Wallacestone Brae without having to stop.  It’s a pretty brutal hill – a short but steep climb from the canal broken at a road; a short relief downhill and then a long slog.  250ft increase in elevation in 0.7 of a mile fair takes it out of you!

---

Wednesday was when things went wrong.  I was in Galashiels with my daughter, her pal and Marie, my wife.  While Jenni and her pal were doing their thing, Marie was going shopping and I would go for my long midweek run of seven miles.  So I dropped Marie off at the shops, went back to a car park at the southeast of town and went for my run.

The route had me going west along this long, narrow town, turning north across the river, east to the far end of town, across the river again and then south and east for the final mile.

I set off – weather conditions were by no means perfect – and made my way round to the final bridge.

Which was closed.  As in, “no, you can’t cross here”.

I had to double back and climb back into the town before finding a road that would take me down into the town centre, and then I could carry on back to where I was planning to finish – this took the run from seven to nine miles.  All this in snow that varied from light to “where does the pavement end?”

When I got back, Marie had sent as text asking me to join her for lunch as soon as possible.  So, still in running gear, I went to find her.  We sat in a bar, about to have lunch, when I got a call to go and get Jenni.

I collected her, and soon after that, her pal.  Still in my running gear, we set off for home.

It was then that someone asked to go to Ikea.

---

Thursday was much easier – a run round Linlithgow Loch, preceded by the loop that the 10k uses, but in reverse

---

Saturday’s long run was an out-and-back along the canal, plus a couple of miles getting to the canal and back.  It was a beautiful morning, with blue skies and even some sunshine!

---

And then on to Sunday.  Fifteen miles.  That’s a lot of miles – well, for me anyway.

I started from Stirling Uni as usual, and took the usual route out and to the east.  Along Airthrey Road / Alloa Road to the A91 / A907 roundabout.  From there along the old road to Tullibody and up the hill of Stirling Road.

This time I didn’t turn down the Menstrie Brae, however – I kept going to Alloa.  I realised that part of this route was the final few miles of the Alloa Half Marathon, which I shall be running in a few weeks.  I even stopped in at the Leisure Bowl for a quick pee!

After that it was up a couple of pretty noticeable uphill stretches.  I was grateful to reach the top and head downhill towards the Collylands roundabout, which is graced with another Andy Scott sculpture – River Spirit.

From there it was a little bit of a slog to get to the Hillfoots Road in Alva.  A left turn there, and I just kept going.  Soon I was in Menstrie, rejoining the route I have run a couple of times previously.  From there you just keep going, and soon you come to the B998 / A91 roundabout.  Then it’s just the usual slog up to Innovation Park, and a run through the University until the miles are made up.

---

So, how do I feel?  Longest ever week and all that?  In truth, tired but not bad.  I’m “aware of” my ankles this evening, but they’re not sore.  They’re tired, and maybe a little stiff, but not sore.

This coming week will be a fall-back week, and I believe I’ll be missing the Saturday run.  That will take me down to 26 miles.  After that, however, we step up to 41 and then a massive 44 miles in a week – that will be the longest week of the entire training routine.

Seventy days to go until the marathon.  That’s beginning to sound like quite a small number.

With week seven, things start getting pretty serious.  The training plan calls for thirty-six miles of running this week.  Let me put that in context – last time I did a marathon, back in May 2012, the week with the most running in it was thirty-seven miles.  That was the week with my longest run.  And this time, we’re hitting that before we even reach the half way point.

And I didn’t even manage one of the runs that week last time! 

As usual, the week started with a rest day on Monday, and on Tuesday I was taking Cameron to the gym.  The weather was horrible, so I elected to do my four miles at the gym

---

Wednesday was a proper run, however,.  I left the office and joined the canal behind Tesco, then ran as far as the aqueduct.  Then I turned round and went back to the office.  No picture here, it wasn’t that kind of day.  If nothing else, it was too cold to stop and tkae any pictures

---

Back to four miles for Thursday, a simple run along the canal.  I seem to be spending a lot of time on the canal this week

---

Friday was a rest day, so Saturday saw a longer run.  Once again I ended up on the canal, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the portion along some delightfully rural roads just a couple of miles from the house. 

This was supposed to be at marathon pace, but I managed my speed pretty poorly and ended up doing the seven mailer at 8:41 per mile.  Running at that pace will pretty much guarantee I hit the wall on the real thing!

One thing I was made very aware of last time was how important stretching after a run is.  I am not saying that doing stretches will guarantee that I will get to the marathon date uninjured, but I am sure that missing out on these stretches would ensure some form of injury

---

Sunday called for a fourteen mile run.  Now I’m not going to lie, I was scared of this one.  I haven’t run over 13.1 miles since the Edinburgh Marathon in May 2012, and so this was pretty much uncharted territory.

To make matters worse, our plans changed and so I found I wasn’t going to be doing the run in Stirling, but would be doing it from home.  So, coffee-free and with a few gels in my waist pack, I set off from the house to find – once again – the Canal.

Learning to use gels is, I think, going to be important to me.  So I had one just before I left the house, and consumed two more through the run.  I think that, in truth, I should have had three – but I only managed the two.

Going coffee free is proving to be very beneficial.  I don’t seem to need to stop at the roadside quite so often!

Anyway, the first  half of the run was lovely.  The wind was at my back and I was running easily.  I felt good as I reached the Linlithgow Canal Centre and turned round.  On the second half of the run I think I was starting to get bored with the whole thing, and I started speeding up.  And since the wind was in my face, that made the whole thing much harder.

The climb from the canal to the house is not massive – it’s about 100 feet – but given that it was at the end of the run, I’m quite happy that I managed it without having to stop.  The longest climb in the real marathon is about 200ft (from the A84/A873 junction to Dunblane) but that is done over six miles and so, I hope, should be tolerable.

And so my total for the week was 37.3 miles.  That is over three miles longer than my longest week in 2012.  Whatever else I might be doing badly, at least I am putting in the miles!

Another week, another few miles.  Fewer than usual, as this was a “step back” week.

Most marathon training plans seem to be based around a strategy of increasing mileage for a couple of weeks, then an easier week to let your body rest a bit.  Then they continue on from where they left off, increasing the mileage overall.

This week ended up being more of a “step back” week than planned, as I had to make a trip to Nottingham on Tuesday / Wednesday.  I managed to make my Tuesday run, but didn’t do the Wednesday one.  The Wednesday one is the longest weekday run, so it was a bit of a shame to miss it.

Anyway, Monday was the usual rest day and on Tuesday I left from the house.  Most of the run was either downhill or flat, but the final stretch – coming up Quarry Brae – is pretty brutal!

---

As I mentioned, I missed the Wednesday run and I didn’t even manage the Thursday run too – I had to stay a little bit late at work and just ran out of time. 

To make up for it, I ran on Friday instead.  I added a loop at the end of the loch that is part of the Linlithgow 10k, which brought the mileage up a little.

---

Saturday dawned dull and slightly rainy.  I had to do six miles at marathon pace today, and I decided it would be along the canal.  So I drove to Tesco and parked the car there, used its facilities and set out along the canal.  Fairly civilised, actually!

It was slightly rainy during the tun, but that’s fine.  I’ll take that over wind or extreme heat any day! (In Scotland, extreme heat means anything over approx 15℃)

---

And then Sunday.  “Just” nine miles.  Last week I did twelve, so this should be a breeze, right? 

Of course not.  It’s still nine miles, which is a decent run in anybody’s language.  I dropped Cameron off at golf, then went up to the canal.  I turned towards the north and ran out to the Kelpies.  From there, along a selection of footpaths until hitting the Stenhousemuir road, which I took until I met up with the canal again.  And from there, just back towards Camelon and the golf club.

I was listening to Audible’s “Mo Joe” podcast, and a lady on that said that a pint of milk gave all the protein that one needs after a long run.  So I pad heed to that, and had a pint after the run.  Of milk, of course.

Writing this the next day, I am aware of feeling quite tired.  My ankles, in particular, are feeling it.  I’m hoping that a bit more sleep will help sort me out – let’s see how things go.

Next week is a “step up” week – and honestly that rather scares me.  Let’s see how it goes.

Week five of eighteen of training, and it’s really just a case of working the process.  And maybe – just maybe – paying a little more attention.

Tuesday was fine.  It was supposed to be a three mile day, I ended up a little over as I ran round Linlithgow Loch.  Nothing much to say about this run, except it was wet and windy…

---

Wednesday wasn’t terribly clever.  I spent some time on Google Maps devising a nice six mile run to do after work, part of which involved joining the canal at a specific point.  Guess what, you can’t join the canal at that point!

So I ran along the road – luckily it had  a pavement, because it was pitch dark.  Eventually I was able to join the towpath at Philipstoun, but my six mile easy run had beome considerably longer.  So much longer, in fact, that I was desperate to get back and so I ran faster than I should have for an easy run. 

So, call that one eight miles…

---

Thursday saw me doing pilates at lunchtime, and watching as the weather just got worse and worse.  Eventually I decided to chicken out and do my short three mile run on the treadmill.  It was so sweaty, though – I do prefer being outside

---

On Saturday, the wind was blowing strongly.  Gusting over 40mph, I was to be found running along the canal for a six miler at marathon pace.  And my Apple Watch was playing up too; suddenly all my times were in minutes per km rather than minutes per mile.  So I spent much of the run trying to work out whether my speed was appropriate!

I also tried climbing the Wallacestone Brae.  I’m afraid to say it defeated me.  I have a lot more hill practice to do!

How windy was it?  Windy enough that a tree was blown over in the local park… I hope nobody was sitting on that bench!

---

And that just left Sunday, the long, slow run.  As with the past few weeks, I started from Stirling Uni, this time I simply added an extra lap of Airthrey Loch to get the distance up to twelve miles.

No snow, minimal rain – this time it was wind causing the problem.  The outbound portion of the run was fine, but the wind was against me as I came back west along the Hillfoots and up towards Innovation Park.

So, that’s another week down.  Next week is a step-back week, then the distances rise a bit – the LSRs in the following two weeks will be fourteen and fifteen miles.

I have, however, booked in for the Alloa Half Marathon on 18th March.  This is a beautiful run and I was very disappointed that I didn’t think I would have been able to take part in it.   However, I have re-checked the schedule and it turns out I can take part.  This will be the end of week 12 of my training.  My goal is to run the Half at training pace – ten minutes per mile – and just enjoy the scenery.

The week after that is seriously scary.