P.I.T. #2: 27th January 2013

My last "Point in Time" ended on Jan 22nd with a 2M streak saver. Sadly this one starts again the same way...

Jan 23rd
Another late night, 2M, treadmill streak saver! Double UGH! Maybe I need the break and I'll come back fresher and faster. Combination of snow, ice and mental slump (caused by snow and ice).

Jan 24th
Was due to break the rut with Lydia asking me if she could do 12M with me (she has never run more than 10M before) before going to track in the evening, but she wasn't feeling great so we only did 4.5M in 53:00 (11:29 pace).
9.5M session on the track.  1M w/u, drills, 2M in 12:34 @133bpm (max 141); 3 x 2km in 7:00 (@146, max 154), 7:01 (@149, max 154) and 7:05(@149, max 153). Legs shot so did 4th 2km @6:16 pace and then another 1M @6:16 pace (94/lap) with "The Tank" after he did his 4th rep. Then 800m jog down.
Not best pleased. Had hoped for some decent progress, especially after the previous easy days.  Definitely aerobic (probably right under AnT), but still struggle with running 5:36 pace.  Need more work at this pace to get the speed endurance up.  And some faster VO2max running to get more comfortable at faster speeds.

Jan 25th
12M on NDW to Charing in 1:49:37 (9:02 pace) @100bpm. Snow is becoming compacted and icy up on the Downs - can't wait for it all to go.  This weekend perhaps...
5M plod in the cold and dark with Lydia - kept short as she's not feeling well. We turned around after a nasty coughing fit. 52:57 (10:28 pace)
I seem to have the same bug - sore throat. Not had a proper sickness since 2010, so I doubt it will develop into anything serious, but icky, tickly throat can raise HR...

Jan 26th
Was at a coaching course all day and snuck in another streak saver with Lydia in the evening - 3M.  Neither of us 100% - my throat is a bit worse and her cough still there. 33:11 (10:55 pace).
In two minds about the race tomorrow now - on the one hand the three days of streak savers create a down week for recovery and a kind of taper for the race (although it's only a "C" race for me); on the other hand this throat is not great and not getting much better.  Whereas it is no real problem for training a 10M race may not be ideal treatment.  But as I've already entered online and paid, I suppose I'm doing it...

Jan 27th
Barretts Canterbury 10M (Kent County Champs)
Started with a 2M warm up.  Didn't check all the data until tonight - very glad I didn't.  8:59 pace; 103bpm. HR way too high.  Still under the weather. And talking of weather, the snow has all gone and it is mild (10C).
My stated goal for the race was to break the hour.  I suspected, from the track workouts, that my anaerobic / lactate threshold was around 5:35-5:40 pace on a track.  But I knew that I didn't have the speed endurance to hold that very far - certainly not to 10M and probably not to half way.  In addition I knew there was a hill or two on the course. So I wanted to pace it so as not to slow too much in the latter stages and allow for a few hills - I figured the pacing would call for 5:50 or so and the hills would take it to 6mm pace.
Had I known what the course was like (two decent hills, undulating most of the remainder, poor surface underfoot in a lot of places) and what the conditions would be (very windy - downhill into the wind at on point was like running uphill), I would have adjusted the goal by a few minutes.  And that poor HR on the w/u would have led to further adjustment.  Ignorance is sometimes bliss...

Here is the raw data (time; avHr, maxHR; elevation gain (in ft) / elevation loss):
Mile 1 - 5:39; 141, 150; 36/23
Mile 2 - 5:45; 150, 153; 30/10
Mile 3 - 5:47; 150, 153; 36/43
Mile 4 - 5:35; 148, 151; 0/56
Mile 5 - 6:14; 150, 155; 98/33
Mile 6 - 6:06; 149, 152; 56/39
Mile 7 - 5:53; 145, 151; 23/125
Mile 8 - 6:28; 149, 153; 98/0
Mile 9 - 6:21; 146, 148; 3/16
Mile 10 - 6:11; 145, 151; 20/85
Total = 59:59 @147bpm (155max), 404ft elevation.

Did a longer 5M cool down (43:50, 8:46 pace, 107bpm) with team mate Matt "The Tank" Britton afterwards - he had promised me 8M but bailed.  During the race, I was catching him at halfway when, at a 90 degree turn, he saw how close I was and immediately went shooting off like somebody had put a firecracker where the sun doesn't shine! So much for team camaraderie! I'm guessing that's where my extra 3M of cool down went...

Week #4
Total = 67M

Thoughts on the race
Where to start with the race?  Well, firstly, I was delighted.  It was a good result while under the weather that suggests better progress than I had thought (maybe I was under the weather for  track on Thursday too).  Can't read too much into each mile split as, even with elevation info, you cannot see the crazy wind nor the road surface.  What you can see, however, is the HR dropping in the second half and especially in the last 2M.  And that was, in a nutshell, what happened.  I started out much faster than I expected and felt very comfortable both aerobically and biomechanically (always a surprise!) for the first half.  The HR inevitably dropped on the 4th mile which was downhill, but otherwise I was good for the first half - longer than I had expected to be and at a faster pace.  On the first big hill in the 5th mile I hit my highest HR in the race and was probably bang on AnT / LT - what was really encouraging was how comfortable I was feeling just a few bpm lower.

In the second half, bit by bit, my lack of speed endurance (the ability to hold a pace) started to show.  The lower HRs were indicative of me just not being able to continue to work the legs hard enough.  Over the last 2M in particular the wheels came off, so to speak.  And I got passed by 3 people in the last 400M!  No gears left, legs not going any faster and very comfortably aerobic! I finished 15th overall (out of 771 finishers) and was 4th Vet (40+) - missing out on a County medal by less than a minute.

Overall, though 40ft/mile is nothing compared to my ultra races this coming summer, it was fairly hilly and definitely nothing vaguely close to PB chasing territory.  Add in a muddy, potholed farm lane for decent sections and some really nasty wind and you had a slow course.  At least 2 min, I would estimate, maybe even 3, probably 2.5 - which puts me at PB levels or thereabouts (57:36 from 2005).

Positives I take from the race:

• Achieved target time despite conditions and course
• Good training session for future progress - will help me get more used to holding this kind of tempo effort for longer.
• I am likely in 5:45 pace shape for 10M when in good health and on a fast course - much better than expected.
• My speed at threshold and my ability to hold it for longer should both continue to improve with training
• I am feeling as comfortable biomechanically at that kind of pace as I ever have done.

Actions to take following the race:

• Keep working at AnT and speed endurance on Thursday nights with the club.
• Get some VO2 Max work and some hill reps done to enable pace to continue to improve.  Had this scheduled but got lost in snow and ice, plus my inability to get to club training on Tuesdays due do daughter's ballet lesson. No excuse now snow has gone.
• Get the mileage back up after "down week".

8.5M and the wheels are coming off

Next race is another County Championship - the Deal Half Marathon in just 2 weeks time.  Another hillier course, I am hoping to run around the same pace (6 min/mile).  To hold the same average pace for a race 3 miles longer would require a chunk of progress, but I think it is achievable so long as it is not too much hillier.
Then, after another "C-" jaunt at the Gravesend Cyclopark, comes my first "B" race of the year and a third County Championship, the Thanet 20M, which is a much faster course and 5 weeks away, may afford me a chance to crack the magic 2hr barrier if things keep progressing.
And all this is working towards my first "A" race of the year - a crack at a sub 75min Half Marathon (5:44 pace) in April at Paddock Wood (a more reasonable 13ft/mile of elevation).  A tough target, to be sure, but one that I think I am on track to have a decent chance of realising.

The glass is half full tonight.

P.I.T. #1: 22nd Jan 2013

After introducing the "Point in Time" approach to blogging my training in my last post, here is the first instalment, taking us from the start of the year to the present day.  It'll be a long one...

2012 ended with a so-so marathon pace (MP) session, but I was in pretty good fitness, a decent weight and mostly healthy (physically anyway).   In the final days of last year I had been getting in a mixture of VO2 max workouts and long runs (inc. 20M @6:53pace and 30M@7:40pace).   The most notable difference in the last few months had been a distinct lowering of mileage.  This was partly as I focused on getting faster, but mostly just due to not having the mental strength to double on the dark evenings.  Either way, the one good sign was that, while I have had to maintain high mileage to maintain weight in the past, this time I even lost a few pounds.  I will post later about health/nutrition, but I feel so much more free from the shackles of bad food than I ever have done.


The plan for the beginning of 2013 was to try and crank the mileage back up and maintain the speed then, if I adapted okay, keep progressing the faster stuff while holding a higher mileage.  I had been doing 50-80mpw at the end of 2012, but have always found 100-160 to be my favourite zone; 140-160 has always been a sweet spot from which great things come.  We'll see...

Jan 1st
15.5M in 2:06:15 (8:07 pace) @103bpm - very easy run.
4M easy double with Tim (15) and his pal Dec (14) (another quality runner in the making) as they did hill reps.  I let them shoot of after the warm up and ran with my youngest daughter Lydia (11) to ensure it was a recovery run. 2 reps of Liverton Hill done by all. Well, all except Mat Brooks who bailed on us due to a hangover...

At this juncture, let me point out a couple of things.

1. Yes, 15.5M can be an easy run. I'm not naturally fast, but I have discovered that with the right approach and the right shoes I can maintain a lot of miles. It's my gift, so to speak, and so it's what I do when I can.
2. Yes, 103bpm.  I have a low resting HR (31bpm is personal best) and a low maximum (no idea - I don't run hard enough to find out), so I get some silly HRs for some easy runs.  At my best fitness in 2010 I did lots of sub 100bpm runs to see how fast I could get at such a HR.  Got it down to 7:40s over 10M.  I distinctly remember thinking, "I could do this all day!" and then, "How long could I do it for?"  I knew I'd be doing ultras at some point.

Jan 2nd
15.5M in 2:09:06 (8:18 pace)  - HR data sporadic (100bpm?) - feeling the return to mileage a little already. Letting the legs lead pace-wise.
YRG Fatburner workout video (will post about these later, but this series of workouts are what Arthur did - great for old, inflexible, weak runners too).
5M treadmill run - slow and easy - watching "Unbreakable" again (90% of treadmill runs are spent watching that movie).

Jan 3rd
Got to meet Nick Clark and run 10M with him. 1:18:06 (7:51 pace). HR not working properly - corrupt data.  Great time but longer and faster than I'd normally run before a track session. Wasn't going to miss the opportunity though.

Track night. 10M total. 1M w/u; 2M @6:40 pace; 4 x 1M (1min rec.) in 5:41, 5:41, 5:42, 5:38; 2M @6:24 pace; 1M c/d. Legs tired, but strong. Very pleased with this session.

Jan 4th
15.5M in 2:08:51 (8:19 pace) - started out slower and picked up as I loosened up.  The key to high mileage is keeping as easy as the legs want on easy days.
7M with Lydia in 1:09:30 (9:50 pace) - easy for us both. The girl's getting good again.

Jan 5th
15.5M in 2:07:51 (8:16 pace)

Jan 6th
23.5+M in 2:39:50 (6:46 pace). Short w/u and c/d with 3 laps in the middle: #1 50:39 (6:42), #2 50:24 (6:40), #3 52:02 (6:53 pace).  Very pleased, despite slowing slightly at the end: first 100+M week for months and I do my 2nd fastest long training run ever. Another step forward in the journey.
6.5-M with kids - first 1.6M with my youngest son (Joe), Tim and Lydia. Tim did a little bit more but wasn't feeling great. Lydia did the rest with me.


Week #1 (inc. Dec 31st 2012)
Total = 143M


Jan 7th
16M in 2:14:30 (8:25 pace). Legs tired, but plodded around okay.
7M in 1:10:41 (9:59 pace) with Lydia

Jan 8th 
15.5M in 2:07:03 (8:10 pace).  Really starting to feel like I'm adapting to this increased mileage now. Was ready for a longer run today.
Rare opportunity to visit gym and do some weights - took it! Not ideal the day before a race, but then it's only a C race at best.
7M in 1:00:27 (8:34 pace) - relaxed and easy. Started slower and picked up as I loosened up. Threw in an effort on "concussion hill" - sharp climb, flattens out and dips ever so slightly - 38 secs of effort flat out.

Jan 9th 
7M in 58:48 (8:21 pace) - another effort on concussion hill (37secs). Feeling ready for race tonight.

10km race in Gravesend on the Cyclopark courtesy of Nice Work.  I had planned to run with the Matt "the Tank" Britton for as long as could and then slow down as little as possible in the latter stages when he inevitably dropped me. But "The Tank" no-showed. In a last minute change of plan I said to Tim that we should not go out too hard and just wait see what developed at the front.  Within the first 400m or so I said to Tim's friend Dec (who had ran an excellent 17:38 PB in the earlier 5km), "we've got this!" as we ran past him.  I was comfortably aerobic and the only person around me who wasn't clearly in the red was Tim.
My thoughts immediately turned to my recently written New Year's Running Resolutions and in particular #10: "Finish a race in first place (equal), arm in arm with my wonderful son, Timothy."We soon got into a lead pack of 5 and within a lap we were down to 3.  I expected to be clear by 5km, but the third runner, Dan Walsh, was chasing a PB and doing really well to cling on.  At this point I was trying to simply hold place (which was sub Lactate Threshold and pretty comfortable), but once we had a small gap on Dan it was clear that I was going to have to slow a bit if I wanted to finish with Tim.  Resolution #10 has been a dream for years and it definitely trumped any notion of holding pace for a slightly faster time, so it became a question of making sure we dropped Dan without dropping Tim.  After plenty of geeing up and encouraging, Tim, not in the greatest of shape right now, did what was required and we crossed the line in 36:59 arm in arm.  A dream realised!
Lydia and Joe ran as well. Joe struggled in the cold, but finished okay, while the ever improving Lydia ran a new PB of 54:57.  Great job, Looby!
As for me, I definitely could have run under 36min and I could've kept the pace going for another lap or so.  Pleased with that after all the miles. (8M total for the night).

Coming into the finish line ticking resolution #10 off the list

Jan 10th
10M in 1:19:10 (7:52 pace).  Surprised to see the pace pick up after the race / tempo run last night - legs leading the pace as always.
7M in 58:05 (8:15 pace).

Jan 11th
5K(ish) reps @MP (marathon pace).  Best done with a HRM, but mine is still playing up, so I estimated it. #1: 18:58 (6:10 pace), #2 18:53 (6:08), #3 19:11 (6:13).  15M total. Wasn't really up for any kind of effort today, but chugged it out.  The pace is feeling more comfortable biomechanically (which has been a real issue for me historically) which is a plus; bit annoyed at the third rep though. Just mentally not there.
8.5M with Lydia in 1:26:21 (10:12 pace) - lovely time together.

Jan 12th
12M - first 7M alone (other than Buddy the dog who is with me for most of these runs) in 56:10 (7:59 pace) and then the other 5M with Lydia in 50:27 (10:04).
5M on treadmill which I hate. 42:41. Easy plod.

Jan 13th 
Longest run ever - 37.7M! Having done some mostly flat 30M runs at the end of 2012 to get me ready for proper ultra training, this was the real beginning.  I took the course up onto the North Downs in places and got it from 10ft of climb per mile to 30ft/mile - three times more hilly, but the 50M races and, more importantly, the 100M are all 100ft/mile - three times hillier still! And, of course, three times longer too! Early days, but here it begins...
4:57:12 (7:53 pace) - very happy with that. 8mm pace had been my best case scenario! Felt comfortable throughout (apart from first few miles) and definitely could have run for a good while longer.  So, early days, but a very good start!

Week #2
Total = 155.5M


Jan 14th 
10M on North Downs Way (NDW) n 1:27:35 (8:53 pace) - Snow has arrived and hillier route hence slower pace. Slow plod, but felt relatively good after yesterday.
5.5M in 59:35 (10:45) with Lydia. We were going to do 7M but cut it short as she wasn't feeling great.

Jan 15th
Okay, I hate snow. 5M treadmill (which I also hate). 42:00. Done. Ugh!
Was supposed to do a workout today, but couldn't face it on the treadmill.  Did a kind of progression run for 7.5M mostly involving incline rather than speed. Got HR up more than usual, all aerobic though - incline tested the legs sufficiently.  On the plus side, I watched all of "Unbreakable" yet again between both runs.

Jan 16th
16M on NDW in 2:30:04 (9:18 pace). Hillier as I go further out (83ft/mile now). Lots of snow, ice and mud.  Consoling myself that conditions will be better in July.  Trying to embrace the conditions like a true ultra guy would, but not so much as to do a double in the evening...

Jan 17th
10M on NDW with Lydia and Buddy in 1:43:55 (10:32 pace) - her first 10M for 18 months! And how come she doesn't slow down in hills and snow as much as I do?
Track session. 8M total. 800m w/u; 2m @6:16 pace; 3 x 1M (1min rec.) in 5:36, 5:36, 5:38; 2M @6:16 pace; 800m c/d.  Too icy, even with track spikes on. Had to cut the session short on the faster stuff as I was really starting to slip and it was getting uncomfortable. Very frustrating. On the plus side though the reps were slightly faster than 2 weeks ago and felt a chunk easier too.  Feel like I'm moving forward.

Jan 18th
20+M on NDW all the way to Detling. Now climbing 2000ft = 100ft/mile = same as on ultra race days! YAY! 3:08:50 (9:20) in -2C, snow and horrid wind chill. Water bottle nozzle froze! 105bpm (new HR strap arrived!)  Pretty easy run - didn't feel like a long run physically or mentally, which I guess is a good sign for the ultra season ahead.  Really embracing this weather now, but no doubles when it's like this.

Over looking Hollingbourne on the way out - it was much whiter on my return

Steps! UGH! Like a snowy rollercoaster out there.

Buddy waits for me on some of the steps that make the NDW much tougher than the elevation suggests

Jan 19th
Did the YRG Fatburner Plus workout video this morning - much tougher than the Fatburner. Ouch!
10M on the NDW with Jenny and Lydia (and Buddy) in 1:47:23 (10:49 pace) at 91/92bpm. Used Yaktrax Pros - very icy wouldn't have got round without them.  Pleasant run.  first 10M for sometime for my wife who has struggled with chronic fatigue for years due to Lyme's Disease.  Utterly delighted for her!

Jan 20th
29M on NDW in 5:22:02 (11:06 pace) @103bpm.  Heavy snow and -1C. Broke Yaktrax on the trail. Then struggled with them falling off for the remainder of the run - very frustrating. Should've taken them off for the trail and put them back on for the road sections.  Fed up with the weather now - beautiful, but a real pain for running.   Fell over a few times too.  Legs were fine though and it is my longest run time wise. Getting used to running for this long which is good I guess.  2900ft of climbing = 100ft/mile again.

Looking up from Detling onto the Downs.

Steps (again!) up through Westfield Woods - my favourite sections of the NDW thus far.

Week #3
Total = 121M  
Lower mileage due to weather, but pleased with the effort this week.


Jan 21st
12M on NDW to Charing in 1:55:06 (9:30 pace). No HRM. Easy plod with Buddy.  Legs okay. Conditions suck - fed up with the snow now.  Really fed up. Novelty long gone.  Want to do doubles and speedwork on the road.

Jan 22nd
UGH!  Just didn't have it mentally today.  Token 2M done on the treadmill just before midnight to maintain running streak (since Boxing Day) - a real "streak saver" run.  Heart just not in it today.  Need to get some miles done tomorrow and get back into it...


So that's where I am at. Phew!

Overall very happy with the progress.  The weather is for a short season; it will pass in time.   Just need to keep the fitness in place until it goes.  But ultra training is under way and going well. So far, so good.

The ABCs of race prioritising

There is something special for a runner when he or she pins a number on.  It's as if our VO2 max increases, our lactate threshold rises and our endurance extends all with that simple act.  But all races are not equal.

We all have our own various ways of categorising races; ways of delineating their priority in comparison with each other.  Some people have "A" races and "B" races (most common), others do it somewhat differently.  What I want to share with you is my own form of categorisation that I use.

ABCs

An "A" race is one of the big ones.  Typically there will only be a few of these each year/season. If you have 10-12 "A" races, then they are probably not "A" races. These are the big few - the ones that really matter.

The way I approach an "A" race is that, when planning my training for the days preceding the race, I ask myself: "Will this help me race better on the big day?"  If the answer is "yes" then that is how I will train.  Other considerations such as maintaining fitness, acheiving mileage goals and looking ahead to future races all become irrelevant.  The only thing to consider is how to be the best you can be on race day. Ultimately, we are talking about the tricky topic of tapering (one for a future post, no doubt) - that act of resting up to get the body ready to rumble without resting so much as to lose fitness and perform less well.  However you do it, the goal is to be ready to perform as well as you can on race day.

Practically speaking, in my case, I'd be careful not to rest to much. I've learnt over the years that my body thrives on plenty of easy miles and so I'd not drop the mileage too much.  I would ease back on both the intensity and the duration of any hard workouts.  But, as I said, more of that in a post on tapering some day.

Now if we drop down to "C" races, these are the races that are more like workouts.  The results don't really matter so much, they are there to see your progress, to assess your fitness or simply to get a decent workout in.

The way I approach "C" races is that, when planning my training for the days preceding the race, I ask myself: "Will this detract from the bigger goals?" If the answer is "yes" then I accept that I may not do as well as I could in the race but I keep my eyes on the prize: the future "A" races.  I will continue to train with the big goals in mind and treat the "C" races more like a workout.

Lydia enjoying the local road relays (a bunch of C- races) for the fun of it!

Practically speaking, I would rest up for a "C" race in a similar way that I would for a decent workout.  For example, tonight is my first race of the year: a 10km on a closed circuit cycle track and most definitely a "C" race.  I have been working on increasing my speed endurance at faster paces in training and this is a chance to see how I am getting on.  So, if tonight were a track session, I would be doing my easy "double" recovery run in the morning (I usually do it in the evening) for 5-7M.  Tonight is a "C" race so this morning I did an easy recovery run of 5-7M. Simple.

"B" races are trickier.  You have to walk that middle ground between "A" races and "C" races.  They are more important than "C" races and you want to be more rested up, get a clearer picture of your form and perform better.   But they are less important than "A" races and you don't want to risk losing fitness and detract too much from the greater goals.

Tim racing himself into shape with a B- 10km a few years ago

Practically speaking, training before an "A" race can change a typical training routine for a week or, occasionally, even 2 or 3 weeks while, as we have seen, a "C" race does not affect it at all.  For  a "B" race I would adjust training for just 1 day typically; 2 days maximum.  My sons and youngest daughter are racing with me tonight and for them this same race is a "B" race, but perhaps closer to "C" than "A".  So they all had an easier day's training yesterday so that they come into this race a little bit fresher.  In comparison, yesterday I did a total of 22.5M in two runs and even did some weights too. No resting up for "C" races!

The extremes: A+ and C-

You can, of course, continue to distinguish races even within those three main categories; as I said, the kids' race tonight is close to a "C" than an "A" and so we could split "B" races into "B+" and "B-".  The "B+" races would be the 2 day adjustment races typically and the "B-" races would be the 1 day adjustment ones, though this of course would be affected by training, fitness and other factors.

The other two further distinctions that I find handy are at the extremes: "A+" and "C-" races.  For me, tonight is definitely a "C-" - I opted for the longest option for my morning run and, when the rare opportunity arose, squeezed in a bonus weights session yesterday without a care for the race ahead of me.  It is a glorified workout with the benefit of the competition, the timing and the all the small scale pomp of number pinning and the like.

The ultimate goal is the "A+" race.  You only get one per year. if you have two then at least one of them, truth be told, is an "A" race.  It is the "big dance"; it is what you are thinking of each training session; it is what gets you out the door when you are tired and it is dark, cold and wet; it is what you dream about; it is what all the training is working towards. It is D day.

Nailing the big one: winning my A+ race of 2005, the North Downs 30K

Summary and Conclusion

So here is the summary of my categorisation of races:
A+  - one race - all year works towards this big goal
A    - 3-5 races max - you turn up tapered and ready, adjusting the training wherever necessary to ensure that you do.
B    - races you want to do well in and allow modest training adjustments so that you get a good result; B+ races will have more training adjustment, sacrifice to the "A" race goals and resting than B- races.
C   - the "filler" races that you do to test yourself without any major alteration from the training plan.
C-  - glorified workouts with numbers, timing and more company than usual.

The advantage of thinking to this degree about race categorisation is that you ensure that you are forced to consider why you are racing, what you hope to acheive and what you are (or are not) prepared to sacrifice for it.

I will be referring back to this post throughout the year as we do our races.

And, in case you wondered, my A+ race is the North Downs 100M in August :)

View from the back of the field

The next three paragraphs may seem unrelated at first, but stick with it and all will be clear...

I am no marathon hero; my 2:44 PB is okay but it's not as if I am some sub 2:20 stud (much that I wish I was).  On better days I still harbour dreams of cracking 2:30, but I know it will probably remain just that - a dream.  But the fact remains that my 2:44 got me 2nd place in a field of hundreds - that is just the standard of many marathons these days.  The vast majority are running well over 3hr; often several hours more.

Of late I have had an injury. My own stupid fault.  I can run mega-miles injury free, but I have to take real care at increasing the speed or else injury beckons.  I knew half way through the run that I was pushing it but declined to slow down.  The next day I paid for it and yet still could have eased off a bit and recovered within a few days, but again stupidity reared its ugly head.  Now I have a long term problem that I can barely describe let alone diagnose - have barely run for over a month.

Two Harbours, Catalina Island

View from the hills down to Avalon below

Catalina Island is beautiful; just stunning!  It is an island just of the coast of California and was once owned by the Wrigley family - they of chewing gum fame. It has barely any paved roads and is very hilly too.  I went there and ran the marathon as a training run last year while in the States for a conference and it just beat me up - there must have been no more than 800m of flat terrain in the whole race!  Getting one hour of sleep and very sea sick on the overnight ferry was deeply unpleasant, but the beauty of the place surpassed that all. Truly the most beautiful place I have ever run.

Typical Catalina views

These three tangled webs of thoughts came together last weekend when I was again in LA for the same conference and once again entered the Catalina Marathon.  Except I was injured and out of shape.  A week earlier I had accepted I'd not be able to run it, but then I went out to do a token 1 or 2 mile tester jog and found that my injury got no worse as long as I went no faster.  Having not done more than a couple of miles for weeks I covered a very slow 18M bumping into a great guy called Yong Park and chatting most of the way.  The next day I thought I'd really test it out - after all a marathon is a long way and Catalina is very hilly whereas the roads where I was staying were very flat. So I ran my first 30 miler (as you do). Even slower!  The previous day I had only managed just under 11min/mile pace; this day was nearer 12s.  It was easy - ridiculously, breathtakingly, "why am I even doing this" easy - but any faster and I was limping.  And, with my capacity to eat, I'd rather be moving.  My legs survived the 30 miles okay, but after 6+hr (inc. walking breaks and food/fluid stops) my skin hadn't - ouch! I bought a cap before Catalina...

2am: Leaving Long Beach past the Queen Mary

But I knew I could survive the race (probably) and it was just so beautiful out there last year that I thought I'd give it a go.  The plan was pretty simple - aim to double my PB (2:44 becomes 5:30ish), practise walking and eating on the run (in preparation for my first ultra later this year) and just enjoy myself.

Sunrise just before our 6am arrival

So I travelled down to Long Beach after the conference and stayed at my friend Kevin's house - he has raced Catalina 13 or 14 times and this year was no exception.  We awoke at 1:15am after a couple of hours sleep and after persuading Kevin to just ignore his dodgy stomach and man up we got onto the ferry at 2am, chugged out past the Queen Mary and into the Pacific.

Race start

Kevin got more sleep on the ferry; I felt surprisingly awake but lay down and rested some more.  3hr later we arrived at Avalon, the island's main town and the race's finish, where we picked up the racers who had taken the sensible option of staying on the island the night before.  Then it was another 1hr until, just after sunrise, we got to the other end of the island - Two Harbours - where the race was to begin.

At 7am the race got underway; after a few hundred metres we started climbing and we continued to climb, often very steeply, until past 2.5 miles before a brief dip gave way to further climbing.  I started out with Kevin towards the back and was soon passing tons of people who had gone out too fast.  You'd think people would know to take it easy at the start of a marathon, but we met one guy from Huntington Beach who had never run more than 11 miles before! He had no idea what he had let himself in for, poor guy, but he finished.

Clear skies and high temps

Race day was forecast to be mid 60s F, but it definitely got well into the seventies in the middle section.  The heat proved to be pretty tough, not only for those of us coming from British winters, but also for locals like Kevin who was more burnt than me (in my new cap) by the end though he comfortably pulled away early on while the sun was still rising.

Beautiful views were a constant from start to finish

Early on I realised I'd be seeing lots of people rather than running with one group. My injury would bother me if I ran fast, uphill or downhill mattered not to me.  So, somewhat inevitably, it was the downhills where pace naturally picks up that were the problem and many folks would come past as I carefully eased my way down, but then I would pass them all back and more as I ran almost exactly the same pace up the hills barely breathing (to the probable frustration of those I passed).  The hills and injury were starting to make my legs work in ways they weren't used to and it soon became clear that though my heart rate would barely touch "dead easy" all day, my muscles were going to take a battering. I had promised myself last year I would do some squats and leg strength work before ever returning here - I was starting to regret not sticking to that resolution.

Me (in the red) getting passed on the downhill by Ed "the jester" and Andrea "the cookie monster"

When racing a marathon you think about pace, fluids, fuelling, competition and such things; this was different - I was really having fun.  Meeting a whole bunch of friendly people, chatting, eating and enjoying the day.  It was a totally different feel further back the field - less intense and more relaxed.  Initial brief words of greeting and encouragement became sentences and conversations and by the end friends were made; the further we progressed the more we relaxed and the more fun we had.

Ed was promoting Sketchers new running shoes by dressing as a jester and carrying a board with him all the way - at the start he displayed it saying "26.2 miles to go", during the race it said "almost there" (which was mostly a lie) and at the end he came back to the 26 mile marker, crossing out the "26" and declaring ".2 miles to go"!  Andrea was competitive; her running speed wasn't the issue - eating the cookies before I got there was!  Which leads me nicely on to the feed stations...

The biggest...

... And the best!

Wow! Water and Gatorade I am used to and I have also done races in the past with a few jelly babies or similar.  But these feed stations were spectacular - far more similar to what I am told ultra race feed stations are like.  There were cookies with the fluids at almost every station and there were loads of them - no chance of getting dehydrated even on a hot day like the one we were having. The biggest feed station ( at the top of the biggest climb at mile 19) had fruit, pretzels, nuts, cookies and much, much more.  But the station before (at the bottom of the climb) was better still - homemade cookies and brownies.  I honestly think I consumed  more calories than I burned!

"COOKIE!!"

Back to the people.  Caleb had come from Boulder, Colorado, and knew the big name ultra guys from out that way - we chatted about ultras and such things to pass the time.  Nadia was more local but was in a similar situation to me - as a 3:20 marathoner she was taking it easy as she accompanied her Dad, Jorge, around his 32nd marathon.  She was on a mission to have fun and, fortunately, unlike me she had brought her camera.  It is she who took most of these snaps (Thanks, Nadia!).

Father and daughter, Jorge and Nadia

Jorge's entry into the world of marathon running was a fascinating story. Nadia had come to him at 14 years old and told him that she had entered the LA marathon.  He knew his daughter was too young to do that (not to mention undertrained), but she was determined so he simply ran it with her to look after her.  13 years later they must have run about 100 marathons between then since!  Classic! And I though my son was crazy...  And Ellen, who kindly chatted me to sufficient distraction to keep moving when my legs were completely shot in the final miles, had simply seen the words "Catalina Marathon" and entered knowing only that the race was 26.2 miles long and nothing of the hills or even the fact that it was an off-road race! (That kept me chuckling for a few miles)!

Buffalo on the hill

The other companion was one of the famous buffaloes - they were brought to the Island for a movie as I understand it and have been allowed to breed and roam around.  Last year one of my fellow runners, Christie, saw the buffalo - I was a bit further ahead and I missed it.  This year Nadia got a photo of it and, despite being only a matter of minutes away, I somehow missed seeing it again!  Maybe next time...

Jester Ed

 The last 3 miles were downhill (and very steep at that) - it would have been very fast if you actually had legs that worked still at this point.  Nobody near me qualified for that status!  At the bottom we came into Avalon where a last half mile of tarmac and the rare sight of civilisation came back into view along with Jester Ed's board and the finish line.  I was amazed how easy the run was and yet how hard it had been on my legs.  I will definitely do leg strength work before I do something this hilly again  - promise!

I finished a chunk under the 5:30 target, my injured leg had survived (just), I had walked, eaten while running, been on my legs for hours and reckon it had all been good ultra training.  But most of all I had great fun!

Catalina Island is the most beautiful place.  For running it can be unforgiving terrain, but its sights make it thoroughly worthwhile.  If you ever find yourself nearby in March, do yourself a favour and come and see this most beautiful of races!  Or maybe, like me, you find yourself tempted by the prospect of the Avalon 50 miler in January... :)