BHAG

Well as another year starts our minds turn to the goals we want to set ourselves for the up and coming year.  As I realized last year, I didn't actually commit any of mine to paper, so it is understandable that they fell by the wayside.  Having said that I did achieve a number of things and took myself out of my comfort zone, thanks to a last minute Thunder Run entry and the XC season.  But  I didn't pushed myself, in terms of pace, which is why I have been spending some time putting together my marathon training plan for London.

Last year a local marathon legend developed me a marathon plan which saw my achieve a goal of getting the qualifying time for London however, I seriously disliked the long rep's (5 minutes) and I started to loose a bit of my running mojo; I was just going through the motions which is never good. 

So this time I have decided to create my one plan, using some of the excellent sessions from last years  plan and adding some of the things I like to do as well to keep me engaged. I am going to be my own experiment and lets see what is going to happen!! 

As for my goals, they are here , they do scare me a little but you need to do things that scare you at times, so here goes......

Recycle or start a fresh ?

As December roles around, I'm already thinking about next year's goals and what should they be. This got me reflecting on those goals I had set for this year and I can't actually find any! 

I was convinced I had set some but it looks like I never committed them to blog paper.  So, is this like the tree that falls in the forest if no one see's it does it make a sound?  As I didn't write them down, was I really committed to them?? 

Ok so my unofficial targets were:

1. Set a new PB for the Marathon
2. Get a qualifying time for automatic entry in to London (GFA), 
3. Silver medal at the Potters arf, which means finishing under 1:45 on a very very hilly course
4. Go under 23 minutes for Hanley parkrun 
5. Set a shiny new half marathon personal best

Did I achieve all or any of these? 

Well, I set a new marathon PB of 3:43:28 ( goal 1) which gained automatic entry to Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 (goal 2).  Read all about it here

The rest sort of fell by the wayside, but perhaps we have unearthed the reasons why I didn’t achieve them because I did commit them to my blog, which meant I had nothing to prove and no-one to hold me accountable!

So my the big question is do I a) recycle these goals for 2015 or b) set these to one side and think of some new ones? It is clear I need goals but perhaps it would be an idea to stage them, rather than setting them all out in one go, use them to build on and improve my running??

Best get my thinking cap on

Edinburgh Marathon done and dusted

This is the short story…

So after all my worry about my fitness before Edinburgh Marathon and my resetting of my goals, I only went and got a new marathon personal best and a London Good for Age (GFA) and Boston Qualifying (BQ) time.

This is the long version – stop and grab a cuppa before you start.

In all honesty my training in between Manchester and Edinburgh had felt like an uphill struggle, I felt very disappointed that I had not bounced back as well as I had last year between London and Edinburgh.  I had such high hopes of achieving a London Good for Age (GFA) time, but each time I laced up my trainers my stepped out, it turned out to be another disappointing run and it was really knocking my confidence.

So the morning of Edinburgh came around all too soon, I had reassessed my goals and said that I was happy with a sub 4 hour marathon, well sort of happy! It is safe to say that the weather matched both my mood and prospects, the rain has started to fall and it steadily got worse.  Sean was happy and looking forward to his half marathon, he told me to go off and find somewhere warm to wait until the start of my race ( I think I was killing is pre-race buzz)

Firstly I found shelter in a bus shelter, but soon got bored and thought I may as well  head to my starting pen and then there glimmer of light in the distance “Starbucks” sign shone out like a beacon. As I pushed through the door, the warmth hit me and the queue was small and free WIFI RESULT. Twenty minutes later after a couple of trips to the facilities and a full fat tall latte with a caramel shot I felt ready to tackle to walk to my pen and bonus the rain had stopped!

My plan was to set out and run 8:30 for the entire race, this should get me a 3:44:30 marathon time and a London GFA  – what is that I was meant to be going to a sub 4 hours, well yes but you know how it goes…… the 1^st couple of miles would be the determining factor.

As it was the I found my pace which was around 8:15 which was well ahead of my required pace, now here is the problem the rule of thumb with marathons is start slow and get quicker (this by the way had been my strategy at Manchester).  The worry with going to fast at the start is that you can blow up in the last few miles, really fall apart and up losing your race goal.

However I felt good and I decided I was not going to over think it, just go on feel and see how things pan out. As it was I was having  a really good run, feeling surprisingly strong and focused.  Before I knew it we were heading passed Musslebourgh Race course and off up to the BIG Stately Home, it was at this point I saw Sean coming back long towards his finish and I gave him a shout out and carried on.

Now this is a LONG stretch not a particularly bad part it is just a little long, the only hope on the horizon is that you often get to see the race leaders coming back the other way, which helps to take your mind off things. 

Head down and concentrated on each mile I was in, trying hard not to over think about my pace, how much further I had to go or if I would run out of energy. 

Before I knew it we were running in to the Gosford House grounds and I focused and made sure that I didn't drop the pace (which happened last year), so my plan was to work on catching the people in front of me to keep me going.  Passed the home and now back out on to the road and the end was really in sight and all I had to do was keep going.

As the final miles ticked by my pace did start to fall off to around 8:30 ish, which was the pace that I should have been running all along, so all was good. There was time banked and this was my safety cushion just in case my pace really fell away, in the later miles.

It was around mile 23 that I decided it was time to break out the emergency jelly babies, I slowed to a walk and crammed in jelly babies like a woman possessed and washed them all down. Using visualization technique I imagined the release of sugar being turned into energy and making it was down to my legs and powering them along. 

Mile 25 and unlike Manchester nothing hurt, I was tired but nothing really hurt, the crowds started to get thicker and then the heavens opened and the rain started, but I didn't care I was on target to finish under 3:45 and I just needed to keep going and if possible speed up.

My only grumble is that my garmin and the mile markers didn't seem to want to sync up, so as my watch clicked over to 26.2 miles I was still 0.24 miles away from the finish…….GFA was still on the cards but there was no taking my foot off the gas, I  had to keep going as we turned on the to the grass I could see the finish gantry and clock, time was clicking down and my legs where feeling really heavy but there was no stopping… my mantra “just keep going” “keep going!”

With a small raise of my hand I made it over the finish and my official time 3:43:28! Looking at my photos on the home stretch it’s easy to see how tired I was, tired but elated. As I made my way out of the finishers enclosure Sean was there waiting for me, a little soggy around the edges but a very welcome sight, he congratulated on my time and my finish.

My words to him “now I have achieved a London GFA and Boston Qualifier, I never want to run a marathon again!!” Oh yes and I did remember my bra ;o)

Stats

Edinburgh on my mind

Since my Manchester marathon Edinburgh has been on my mind; 

"will I get a good for age time, how can I change my training to improve my time by 2:30 minutes"

I developed my training plans and reflected on my experiences from last year and I hoped that my fitness from Manchester would sustain me through. I was aiming to change my diet to help drop a few pounds and turn me in to a fat burning machine, however with Madrid half marathon in the middle it is fair to say that my plans did not go according to plan.

In fact I have really struggled, struggled with finding my pace again after Manchester, struggled with having the energy to run struggled with running under 8:30 minute miling for any length of time and struggled with motivation.

To top that off last week I was floored with a sickness bug which started on Thursday  and I have only just started to feel better (Thursday), the only silver lining to that story was that it helped me to achieve my new racing weight, but it is not a healthy way to do it!!

Now  Edinburgh is on my mind and it's only 3 days and I really don't hold out much hope for getting a good for age qualifying   time for London or Boston which is sub 3:45 however I am going to still run.I am feeling much better and I am going to be using UCAN nutritional supplement that should help with to sustain my running during the marathon and just hope for a good run, I tried it this week just before my last set of reps and it worked well, just tastes usual (lets say!)

The big debate now is Garmin or no Garmin, part of me wants to wear the Garmin for the stat porn but will I beat myself up when I fall off the pace? Although one thing is for sure, this year I will make sure that I pack my running bra! 

Decisions decisions 

Bonny Bouncy Scotland!

I have a brand new shiny marathon PB! Which is a jaw dropping 15 minutes off my time in London,  I finished Edinburgh Marathon in a grand time of 3:48:01. However it was not without its own mini drama’s from forgetting my sports bra, my watch falling off at mile 23 mile and swallowing a fly a 25 miles!

Needless to say I would not recommend anyone running a marathon in a wonder bra, the chafing is a bitch and it has really but a dent in my running this week.  I now understand how men must feel when they get joggers nipple and the tears that spring to your eyes when you step in to the shower…..running 26.2 is a walk in the park compared to stepping into shower with severe chafing!

On to the race unlike London I didn't suffer any dark moments during the race; I had set off with a plan of trying to get sub 4 hours and anything under that would be a bonus.  With my pace set for around 8:35 miles (those quick cookies among you will have already realised that this was way too fast for a sub 4, and have uncovered my real agenda of trying for a sub 3:45 good for age (GFA) target) I was well on target and even slightly below target for the large majority of the race.  That was until mile 18-19 where you head off around the stately home I found that this affected my pace, I have since listened to Marathon Talk and even Andi Jones who finished fourth said he found this bit tough, my mile splits slipped and I struggle to regain them again.  I carried on knowing that GFA  had gone out of the window but still confident that sub 4 was on the cards, then my watch (Garmin Forerunner 610) flew off my wrist and I had to turn around to pick it back up! This is a known fault with Garmin 610’s but luckily for me I found the pin as well as my watch, I scooped them up and carried on running for a mile or so.  But I wasn't confident about how long I could keep both the pin and my the watch safe and take on water; so I made the decision to walk while I put my  watch back together, a couple minutes later I was motoring again.

Then for some strange reason at mile 25 I thought GFA was back on the cards so I sped up and was eating up the tarmac like nobody’s business, so much so that I clocked my fastest mile 8:07!! However as I rounded the finish I could see that my watch said 3:47 and the gun time was 3:59, the pipe dream of GFA vanished, but I am still really happy with my result.

In hindsight I now realised that I could have pushed harder to find my pace again after the stately home so much so I have entered again for next year and fingers crossed I am going to nail 3:45.

Couple of things to note about Edinburgh Marathon,

1. Watch out at the end as the finish is on a field and although they do lay out a rubber finishing straight it is rather uneven
2. Do get the marathon buses back to Edinburgh
3. Don’t prepay, else you will have to walk at least the marathon distance again to get your bus.

What next

Well tomorrow we start Run for the Sun #rfts with Coach Jeff which is running every day in June, which should help to make sure I don’t get the post marathon blues and my other BIG target is a shiny new half marathon PB!