Nah then – where were we?
2019 is four months old.
Looking solely at the races I’m targeting, I’m two down with three to go – and
they’re all between tomorrow and mid-August.
In my
previous post, ahead of the Zurich Maratón de Sevilla, I
said that it could “quite possibly [be] my last shot at sub-2:55’”. That timeeluded me; what didn’t elude me was having an awesome time with fantabulous friends and running my second
most relaxed mara PB attempt after Chester, where I’d PB’d last October in 2:58’05”. A PB that
lasted only 133 days, as on February 17, I crossed the finish line of Europe’s
flattest marathon in 2:56’05”. Not bad for a fat lad from Sheffield, if I say so mi’sen…
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With
Lorraine, Ben, Mike and Sarah at the pre-race expo in Sevilla, and with
Mike after the race as we sorted out some tapas and beers for the team.
I could get used to this smiling before and after races malarkey...
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Well, after weeks of
rigorous speedwork and monastic self-denial in palatable pleasures leading up
to Sevilla, ahead of Manchester I…
…let myself go,
basically. I ran for the fun of it, with no tangible structure to my outings.
No hill reps, no parkruns… just a couple of runs that may look like speedwork
because they’re on a mile loop, but were really just tempo runs that didn’t see
me venture more than half a mile from my front door… 27 half marathon distance
or longer runs in six weeks, logging over twenty miles on fourteen of the twenty-four
days between 23/02 and 18/03… oh, and I put on three kilos…
…now, in my last post I’d
also written:
“if I narrowly miss out [on sub-2:55’] in mid-Feb – I might give
it one last go in April… whereas, if Sevilla doesn’t turn out to be a repeat of
Barcelona, by early Spring I could well have switched to Ultratraining mode,
and potentially even not travel to Manchester”.
So: did I head Up North
(West)?
Whilst I did contemplate
not bothering, I didn’t do so for long. The question as to whether or not run
was resolved pretty quickly; it was answering how to set about doing so that
took a little longer. Three things helped me make up my mind:
1. My heart rate stats
for Seville. Granted: my HR stats are a law upon themselves. Something
about me (either genetics or my anti-epilepsy medications) have always kept
them lower than you’d expect for someone of my fitness. Not least when I wasn’t
anywhere near as fit as I am now… That and I didn’t wear my HRM strap in
Seville, so it’s only my Fenix3HR’s opinion that I spent 22’03” in my moderate
109-136bpm zone and 2:30’40” in my tempo 136-150 zone, only venturing into
threshold mode for 3’06”. And wrist-based HR technology isn’t the most
reliable… still, when it has been patently off its rocker it has generally
spewed out unconceivably high numbers… when they’re low (and consistent)
they’re typically credible…
2. Stuart McNeil’s
comment on the topic, who shared my inkling that I could have pushed more. He’s
most likely correct. But then, when I’m out there racing, I always have to
strike the balance between pushing hard and not pushing myself over the edge,
as high HR in races has been known to engender epileptic seizures…
3. A conversation with Raul Reismann, a
complete stranger as we walked off the plane at Bristol Airport on the Monday
morning and now a Strava connection…
His attire gave away that
he’d run the marathon, as confirmed by his gait in descending the stairs off
the plane. We’d already chatted a little before then, but it was only on the
long walk to passport control that we delved further into the details. A walk
long enough for me to share what my goal had been, as well as how the race had
gone, and that I was happy with that as a lifetime PB. He thought I could go
faster… and, given his credentials, as well as Stuart’s, it would have been
rude to ignore them.
So, there I was:
delighted with my time in Andalucía, confident I’d paced it right (I’m always
aware that pushing too hard might result in a DNF), yet unable to dismiss the
possibility that I might fare even better on a fast course I know. But I was
equally unable, least certainly unwilling, to extend my maratraining window
beyond Seville: partly because I wanted to break free of its shackles (I don’t
follow strict plans, but I do ensure every week includes certain types of runs)
and partly because on May 4-5 and June 8-9 I’ll be running two 100-milers, Thames Path 100 (for
the first time) and South Downs
Way 100 (for the third), which bring their own, different training
requirements. That left me with three options:
a) cancel my Premier Inn
reservation and stay home, maybe slipping in some back-to-back long’uns
b) find someone to pace
c) run for the fun of it
until race day, then give it a go
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| A devoted Radio 6music fan, a selfie outside their Media City Studios was a must... |
Ultimately, I went with
c. In effect, I experimented in aiming for a sub-3 marathon having broken most
of the rules I’d followed ahead of Seville. I was prepared to blow up ten miles
into Manchester and just jog it. It was a chance to experiment and I seized it.
And it turned out… OK.
No PB. But, considering I
was three kilos heavier, I was happy to only be 63” slower, following Seville’s
2:56’05” with a 2:57’08”. And I
was delighted to clock a good time having trained hard yet without any major
focus or preoccupation. The suitability of the training is questionable at
best: but, with 616.6mi in seven weeks, including 476 miles over thirty days
before I slipped in some semblance of a taper, I knew I was putting in the
effort.
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| Flying as we approached the finish line. I would buy this, if only my head were all there... |
Sheffield was just
awesome. The course, the crowd… hi-fivin’ one of my sons on the way up a hill,
the other on the way down… drawing (allegedly) a bemused look from Sheffield
United’s skipper Billy Sharp as I hi-fived some kids near him (I didn’t spot
him – whereas he spotted… the tutu!)… and this the day after presenting United
manager Chris Wilder with a RunnerBlades shirt at Bramall Lane before supping a
beer with fellow members and witnessing United…
…no. Not win. Draw 1-1. Against Millwall.
Not our finest hour. But that’s OK: we’ve made up for it since… and…
Meeting Wilder was an honour. During my days at University I
used to work at Bramall Lane on matchdays, and had an Access All Areas pass I’ve
walked into the Away dressing room after a Cup match to ask Alex Ferguson -as
he was then- if Mark Hughes could come with me. I’ve supped post-match beers
next to Joe Elliott and Sean Bean. I’ve even played on that pitch. But April 13,
2019 was special.
About five years ago, I began a hashtag for Blades that ran. I
imaginatively came up with
#runnerblades. Some may reverse the combo, but a) it flowed better with
#twitterblades and b) I never was a huge Pistorius fan. The hashtag became
a Strava club, which
now unites over 150 Unitedites. And a couple of years later it became a running
shirt, for which Luke designed the logo and of whose ordering Ian took care. To meet Wilder
pitchside with Ian and Alan to
present him with a RunnerBlades shirt was truly special.
Although he did seem a little baffled when Al
told him I’d spent 36 hours running up and down The
Humber Bridge, asking me, quite simply: “Why?” To which I replied, as I’ve done many a time since last August, “Why not?”
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| With Ian (third from left) and Alan (far right) and our latest RunnerBlade recruit, Sheffield United Manager (and 2018-2019 Championship Manager Of The Season) Chris Wilder. I've been on that pitch countless times, even played on it... but this topped all those moments! |
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| Before, during and after Sheffield HM with fellow RunnerBlades. In the after-shot, from left to right, Andy, Mick, some idiot and Luke, who let the team down by wearing his other club's vest... but made up for it by smashing his PB! |
So – what next?
. . .
My next three races will
be my remaining target events for the year, if only because their distance
demand respects: Thames Path 100
(04-05/05), South Downs Way 100
(08-09/06) and Hell On The Humber (36hr) (16-18/08).
Of those, at the start of the year the one I planned on targeting was South
Downs Way, as I’ve never run Thames Path before and you can’t really target
HOTH – least, I can’t… it’s both too tough a physical challenge and too much of
a fun event to predict or target… I’ll just get plenty of training miles in
beforehand, turn up in Hessle and see how it goes.
Now, as for Thames Path…
…let’s say I’m treating
it as a bit of an experiment.
Which isn’t to say I’m
treating it lightly. It means I know I’m in decent shape. I’ve slowed down my
runs of late and been able to record some pleasing heart rate stats. However,
whilst I’ll have run almost 1,500 miles in 2019 by the time I line up in
Richmond on Saturday, I’ve only twice gone beyond 26.2 miles: and both of those
two instances were two weekends ago, when I ran to Burnham parkrun on the Saturday and then
on the Sunday ran
the first fifteen and a half miles of the same route before turning round and
heading home. This is not unusual training for many ultrarunners, including
many far better than me: but, if only to reassure myself, in the build-up to an
Ultra I’d usually look to run back-to-back long ones for at least four
weekends, say 20+20, 26+26, 31+31 and 40+40. A single 31+31 weekend represents
a marked change from that. But then so did my training for Manchester, and that
went alreyt. So: what if I could train for both marathons and ultras with
20-milers, varying the intensity and the overall mileage around them in a way
that still allowed me to record good times but without overcomplicating things?
Well, wouldn’t that be
nice…
…and it would be
particularly splendiferous if I could reach Oxford less than twenty hours after
leaving Richmond. It’s a tough ask: only 12 of the 314 starters managed it in
2018. Which, apparently, was a particularly hot day. OK: so what about 2017? 26
out of 297. Better. And 2016, the year both the male and female course records were
set, thus suggesting good conditions? 25 out of 207. Hmmm…
…whichever way you look
at it, it’s a big ask. This is only my third point-to-point hundred miler,
although the West Highland Way Race wasn’t
far off (95,
96 – you choose…) and I’ve run 105 and 132 over 24 and 36-hour races
respectively. Nevertheless, this isn’t my comfort zone, or area of specialty.
Not sure if I have one, and indeed I love being able to love running any
distance: but, on balance, the distance over which I most back myself to
deliver a good performance has to be 26.2. Still: with my Ultra-focus on South
Downs Way, I have the chance to give Thames Path a go without putting myself
under pressure. And sometimes that’s when the good stuff happens. At least I’ve
checked a few Strava records of Thames
Paths of yore, so I know I should expect my Garmin to measure the course as
103 miles long (indeed, 103.5 now that a detour’s been announced in the week
leading up to the race!), rather than reach the 100-mile mark in 19:59’ only to
find out I’ve got the ‘best’ part of an hour left to go… because I might be
able to run 3.1 miles in eighteen minutes something on a Saturday morning, but
not with a century of miles already in the legs…
There you have my Ultra
thoughts for the year. Beyond those three long’uns:
I’ve yet to sign up for The 401 Festival Of
Running (Portishead), which takes place just a mile down the road on
the following weekend (24-25/08): and, unless I find someone with whom to run,
I probably won’t bother. I care nothing for medals, although I have to admit
that the idea for those who complete all four races this August to make up the
26.2mi distance is attractive, not least since I do live here: a wooden cube
into which slot the four individual medals, whose design is inspired by the
local landscape. But that won’t influence my decision, although I’ll probably
head down to meet with familiar faces; and, if I were really stupid, I’d sign
up for the summer edition of The Green Man
Ultra, a 45-mi circular route around Bristol, having run the winter
edition (same route, opposite direction) in 2015 and having signed up for the
winter edition of 2020. Hopefully the memory of the pain during last year’s 401
Half Marathon, a week after HOTH, will ensure I don’t…
…but I’m all signed up
for Chester
Marathon, my annual “season finale”. Now that will definitely not be a PB
attempt this year, which is what it accidentally turned into in 2018. Least not
for me… form permitting I’d love to offer my pacing services to someone who I
suspect will read this at some point, but only if I’m feeling confident…
…and I’ve also signed up
for T-Fast 42km,
a.k.a. Turin Marathon, since it takes place on the Sunday at the end of our half-term
week near Genoa. Seems rude not to try and race in Italy, even though, the last
time I tried, the race (a Half Marathon in the town where I grew up) was
cancelled due to stormy weather… indeed, logistically it would have made more
sense to do Nice-Cannes again,
as it also takes place on October 3 and Karen and The Boys will be flying out
of Nice on Saturday, October 2… but… but…
…but I look up to the
four SportyMaps prints
in my office, with my first four sub-3s, all PBs at the time, and I see they
were recorded in France, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain respectively… and I
kinda like the idea of having a shot at adding another country to that list…
and it makes sense for me to try and add Italy…
…it’ll be a different
experience, racing in Italy. Because in Italy, just like in France and Spain,
the vast majority of runners race marathons. It’s about achievement, not
participation. Maybe it’s the Italian in me that is still surprised at being
awarded a medal for completing a run… maybe that’s why I care little for medals
and house them in a shoe box in the loft, only to get a couple out in December
and try to sneak them on the Christmas tree when nobody’s looking…
…anyway: that’s 2019. That
and crewing for Mike at this year’s
WHWR: not before time, after the ballot stood in the way of his dream for a
couple of years! Or there could be a couple more marathons in November if I can
sweet-talk Karen into letting me nip over to Cleethorpes in November for a weekend. But what’s my
five-year plan?
“Five-year plan? What’s
he on about?”
Quite. I’m glad that was
your reaction. Because, when I was asked what mine was last Saturday, I drew a
blank. If I were in my 20s and capable of a 2:40’ marathon, I’d have a plan.
But I’m 43 and happy if I never beat my marathon PB again, much as I’d like to
break 2:55’ and notch a few more sub-3s. So my plan is to…
Carry on having fun.
Carry on towards my stated ambition of running a marathon in my 70s. Carry on
keeping mentally and physically fit in the process. Carry on… regardless.
As things stand, if I
cross the finish line in Turin and in the other races I’ve entered, 2019 will
have featured four marathons and three Ultras. Maravan would make it six
marathons; Green Man would make it four Ultras. Long-term, it would be nice to
make my way into the “100
Marathon Club”. By the end of the year, without entering any additional
races, I should be at 36. Still a long way off being entitled to raise my bat…
but…
…it’s a (hundred)
marathon(s), not a sprint…
Sure: it would be nice to
say I’ve run a hundred marathons or ultras. But I want that goal to be a
byproduct of my running, not a focus. It’s the same with my PBs: some races
earn more focus than others, but I’ve never followed a strict training plan. I’m
sure I could beat all my PBs by targeting events and following structured
training schedules, even maybe take the occasional day off. But PBs are
byproduct of my enjoyment, and runstreaking makes me happy. If I can keep fit
enough to smile my way across another sixty-nine marathons (or longer),
awesome. But when the fun stops… stop.
And that’s something I
need to ensure I remember. With the rest of the family away, I will be home
alone on May 26, when the Liverpool
Rock & Roll Marathon takes place. I’ve run it for the past two years,
in 2017 as part of
Mike’s Stag Weekend and in 2018 pacing the Pickard
Brothers (one at a time). So I did have a couple of days of wondering whether
to travel up and notch up another marathon, maybe trying to pace someone to
sub-3. Then I regained control of my senses:
1. May 26 means three weeks
after one 100-miler and two weeks before another. In the words of one of
Liverpool’s finest comic creations, “sub-3 my @r$€”.
2. It’s a long journey
from Portishead. Why not do what I did last year while the family was away, and
go for a long point-to-point run, eat cake there and bus it back?
Which is probably what I’ll
do. One thing’s for sure: I won’t be going to Wembley on the Bank Holiday
Monday (27/05). No need. Because, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but…
And we’ve earnt promotion by boxing above our
weight through hard work and dedication. We’ve got plenty of decent players,
but it was the heart they put into the campaign, masterminded by our fantastic
manager, Chris Wilder, that sees us going into Sunday’s final round of fixtures
guaranteed of Premiership football come August and still wish an outside chance
of winning the League. Indeed, the latter part of last week could hardly have
gone better: on the Friday a
new Springsteen song dropped, ahead of his first new album in June; on the
Saturday we beat Ipswich
Town to all but guarantee promotion, courtesy of a goal difference that’s
thirteen goals superior to Leeds’; on the Sunday Leeds’ draw against Villa
made it official…
…ask anyone who knows me
and they’ll tell you that, beyond family and friends, my three biggest passions
are running, Springsteen and United. A new Springsteen song on the Friday;
promotion for the Blades on the Saturday…
…maybe I should have used
my GFA for London Marathon after all: the way things are going I might have won
it!
But that would hardly
have made for ideal tapering ahead of Saturday. And I’m genuinely getting
better at this tapering malarkey. Here’s hoping I can take some of that Wilder
passion and nouse onto the Thames Path this coming weekend. As Springsteen
sings on his new song, ‘Hello
Sunshine’:
“You know I always liked that empty road
No place to be and miles to go
But miles to go is miles away
Hello sunshine, won't you stay?”
So come on over sunshine,
on Saturday, along the Thames… just… not too much, eh? I’ll see you after the darkness on the edge of town. Because “I’ll be on that hill, ’cause I can’t stop... I’ll be on that hill with everything I’ve got…”
…well, actually the Thames Path is flat - but you get my gist.
…well, actually the Thames Path is flat - but you get my gist.
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Coverage of the RunnerBlades in the matchday program for
what turned out to be a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest. We may not have brought
good luck for the previous fixture, but we’ve won every match since.. three of
them! Or maybe four, depending on when you read this and how the season finale
at Stoke went. But hey, who cares? We are Premier League…
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