Train in vain

Many of my posts mention the weather. In Britain, talking about the weather is pretty much a given, so we shouldn’t be too surprised with this.

I talk about the weather because it’s the main thing I can’t control when planning what workouts I’ll do in the week. Since setting up my site I’ve written about a scorching summer, a mild autumn, and some strong, bitter winds in the past few weeks.

But there’s many other factors that affect what I do and when. The big one is work. For some reason I’m compelled to go to work all day rather than carve a massive section out of it to run ten miles away. There’s also family, but I can be a bit more flexible with them. As long as I can get up early enough and tiptoe downstairs quietly enough and get out the door without waking anyone then I’m ok!

Even just the drive to do something can be a barrier and while I sing the praises of exercise and the positive impact it has on our wellbeing, sometimes life can be overwhelming. On bad days, just getting out of bed can be hard enough, how can we expect ourselves to jump out of the front door in a brightly coloured top and run around the park smiling at anyone you see. 

A lot has been written about young people unable to find jobs, unable to buy their first house, being told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Things are different now, and the toll of our digital lives on our mental health emerges. The digital world can be a wonderful place, but our 24/7 reliance on screens perhaps isn’t.

I’ve been wondering how we can accept our good days and bad, embrace them as part of our journey through life, and try to step back and see the bigger picture. I’ve written about how I need a goal to get motivated – a half marathon or 10k race with a pb to beat.

At the start of this year, I weighed more than I wanted to and decided, as a new year resolution, I would downsize my body. I weighed myself every day and recorded it in Garmin (I also kept the data in my own spreadsheet because I’m a bit of a nerd), and focussed on my seven day average, rather than the daily numbers. My weight went up and down all the time, but the overall trend was downwards, which boosted my confidence no end.

Can we learn from this? Is there a way to track our trends over time – specifically our fitness, or our progress towards a goal, simply by taking the data we have and using it in a less granular way, a step back to see the bigger picture. 

Does anyone have any thoughts on how we can do this and ensure positivity prevails, even in the face of some miserable days in our path?

The hardest run to run

We’ve all started things we’ve never finished, for me that’s the job around the house that I’ve overcommitted to. My limited DIY skillset is fine for an Ikea wardrobe, or putting up shelves (straight-ish. Never put anything that might roll on a shelf and it’s probably ok), but beyond that jobs will get started, but have no guarantee they’ll get completed. I am always keen to have a go, but sometimes I can underestimate their complexity, or the specific tools required for the job.

But let’s not dwell on part hung curtain rails hanging out of crumbling walls, no! Surely we go out running to get away from all this internal bother.

Do we ever start anything from a fitness perspective and not finish? Fitness is not a do it once and it’s complete, so the answer is always yes. And no. We aim for a never ending cycle of continuous improvement – running a little further, lifting a little more, jumping metaphorically through a slightly higher hoop over time. Starting something without finishing, for me, a goal driven person, would be entering a race and then not competing in it. A DNS. Very frustrating if it is injury related, very disappointing if it’s because of a lack of fitness. But that’s life, these things will happen. 

The thing that I started and didn’t finish recently is my training through the Garmin Coach on my watch and the Garmin Connect app. I’ve written about this before, and the reason behind it was that I didn’t feel confident running four times a week, and when asked if I wanted to run a bit further, I always opted out of it. Coach Greg would send me out on a five minute warm up, a ten minute run, an optional extra ten minutes, and then a cool down. I’d only ever do the first ten, although if it was pitched as a twenty minute run, I’d happily have done it. 

I tried the Garmin Coach again recently, to check the type of things that would feature in a 5k training plan. I’m not planning on sticking too close to it, but as an example, some useful thoughts on tempo runs came up straight away. There’s always space to learn and gain insight from different sources.

But we need to talk about the fitness test at the start of the Garmin Coach. When you sign up with a coach, the first thing they get you to do is a 5 minute benchmark run. Five minutes doesn’t seem too bad, but when you’re running as fast as you think you can go for that time, it hurts. And it hurts everywhere! 

The problem is (once again) psychological – why would you need any sort of pacing if you’re only going for five minutes? Also, as this is a benchmark run, it feels really important to show that coach what you’re made of – which translates as “go as fast as you possibly can”.

But you do need pacing, and the coach probably doesn’t care that much if you’re a little bit slower – after all, it’s an app which will base your training plan accordingly.

After going flat out for those five minutes, finishing the benchmark run feels like an achievement in itself. But it’s a run so hard it can almost turn into the leaky shower door – a job started but not finished!

Get back (to where you once blog on)

Here we are again, following a two week break on holiday with the family I feel less fit than when I left, slightly wider round the middle, in need of another fortnight away in a health spa, but all the more better for it! Running, writing, app development have all taken a back seat in favour of sun, good food, and multiple trips to the bar. 

But it’s now time to get back to where we were before we went away… so what was that then? Dusting off the notes from last time, it looks that I was committing myself to smashing a ten year old personal best time of my local Parkrun. No harm in that then, best get back to it. 

I’ve decided on a couple of goals to get me going: with my target time at 21:40 (really?!), I’d like to run a Parkrun in a few weeks to set a benchmark. First up though will be an initial 5km run this week with the aim of consistent splits of 5:20/km, ie 26:40 in total. Not sure if I can hit that now so may take a few runs to get there – must start somewhere though.

Right now I feel a stiff and generally not in great shape but will write on that first run back later in the week.

It’s great to get away but also good to come back and pick up on life. In my case this is back to running, back to writing, and especially getting all the updates from across all the other sites I follow here, looking forward to reconnecting.

And we’re off…

I mentioned in my last post that I’ll be taking a break from the blog for a couple of weeks. Having now firmly pritt-sticked my new running goal in place, I’ll look to reflect on this over my short absent period and look at how I can embed the learning from my last race into this new goal (basically a bit of revision from my notes to myself posts 1 – 4 ).

Exciting times as we head into the dark, damp, dreary period of winter training. Let’s get going… in a couple of weeks of course!

Thanks for reading, I’ll be back soon for more of the same, and of course will look forward to reading what everyone else has been up to too.

Confidence is a preference…

If you look back over my recent posts you’ll have seen my yearning to go back to running for fun, going back to a time when I can run with music blasting in my ears, without a care for pace, distance, or direction. 

Regretfully, this doesn’t appear to be the case in reality. There are two things going on here:

1. I haven’t been for a single run “for fun” since I completed my target 10km race a couple of weeks ago
2. There are a series of photos taken of me a few hundred metres from the end of that race, and in those pictures I am smiling; possibly even grinning.  

Point two here is interesting – the race was fun! The race was hard, but I was enjoying it. I had no music on, I cared a lot about my pace and where I was, I was focussed on getting that time. 

While I would like to go back to running for the sake of running (and I really do), I’ve come to the conclusion that I need a good boot up the bum in the form of a goal to get me there. 

This week I’ve been thinking about what that goal could be, what is a realistic goal that is going to inspire me as much as the 12 year old 10km pb challenge has done?

To answer that, I looked up some of my old records. And one stood out. 

Parkrun. I haven’t been to Parkrun for a long time (I think I wrote about this previously, life is different for me on Saturday mornings these days), but when I last did, I set a time. A good time. Possibly too good of a time. 

Ten years ago I ran the 5km race in 21 minutes and 40 seconds. It feels like a pace far above what I could hope to achieve now. But it is there isn’t it; it’s a goal. I’ve just beaten a twelve year old record for my 10km time, so why not this. 

Sounds like it’s time to start a meticulously detailed training plan again – perfect!

And the results are in…

The race is run, the results are in. The months of training, improvement, learning, bodily abuse (forcing myself to eat healthily and cut down on alcohol are bodily abuse, right?) are at an end. The goal was to beat a personal best time for an organised 10km race I run every year, a pb that has stood since the first time I ran it twelve years ago. And today was the day of the race.

So what happened? Did I manage it? Well, yes, yes I did. And not only by a second or two, I managed to chop off a full minute and fifteen seconds! My finish time was a shade under 45:30, far beyond my expectations at the outset. The ghost of twelve years is no more, here’s to the future ghost of 2022!

Obviously I was pleased with my performance, and lucky that everything came right on the day. Indulge me as I take us through some of the highlights.

The journey there was uneventful, parking no problem, registration took seconds. The weather was perfect: cool but sunny, breezy but not windy. No immediate concerns from the off.

All my thinking leading up to this had been around ensuring my pacing was correct. A few weeks ago I ran a 10km race but I went off too quickly and suffered in the second half, so didn’t want to repeat that. I’d already worked out my target splits based on last years race – it’s a hilly course so some kilometres are naturally slower than others. 

Before I headed out to the start, I sat in my car and jotted the target times on the back of my hand. This is something I hadn’t practised in my training, how hard could it be? Very hard, apparently. My pen was a bit rubbish and it ended up taking me ages. Next time, get a decent pen and maybe write the times on my hand before leaving the house!

At the start of the race I lined up somewhere between the 40 and 50 minute markers; these were a bit close together for my liking and I felt a bit contained with the other runners. When we set off I ran within the pack but found some space for my stride, it wasn’t long before we naturally stretched out and I had a good amount of personal space for the majority of the race. I managed to keep the right pace I’d planned and as the pack thinned I could focus on the times I wanted to run. The third km was a slower target pace, and I felt good dropping down and letting people overtake me, maybe I’d get them at the end!

Through all ten kilometres I kept to my pacing strategy, feeling relaxed and comfortable as I went. Sticking to a target pace isn’t that straightforward and I came in a few seconds under target each kilometre. By the time I came to the 8km marker I knew I was well under my target time, I just needed to keep the consistency to the end. The ninth kilometre was hilly, but I dug deep and hit that target too, and as I came through the final half kilometre the course levelled and dropped down the other side, leading to a fast finish in front of a reasonable sized and kindly vocal crowd. 

It was exhausting but felt extremely good. Once I caught my breath I saw and spoke to a few of the runners I’d been running alongside throughout the race. One of them told me he was running twenty miles today, the 10k run we’d just completed was just a short part of that. And he beat me. I decided not to talk to him any more!

This was a massive personal achievement that has been in the making since I finished the same race twelve months ago. I knew it was possible with the right levels of training, and have come out with (let’s face it) a new target to beat next year. And how do I feel about that?

Bring it on! 

Notes to myself (part 4)

The final part of a four-part series of my top ten training tips I’ve picked up this year. 

Part one can be found here. Part two here. Part three here.

Lesson 9: Workout/life balance

The balance of training and everything else in life is more important than anything. And the key word there is balance. Running is great for having a positive effect on mental health, but that can’t be at the expense of neglecting other areas of life. 

This year one of my friends got married after a two year covid induced delay to the proceedings. I went on his stag do and the wedding was a wonderful few days stay away. Both of these events created rich memories for me, but the training plan was completely shot for a while after both.

So the training plan has to reflect that. I’ve said my training focus is always around a specific race. The learning here is not to programme hard up to it, but put flexibility for things like this to happen. Accept that an overall two week period could be lost, so build that in. What does recovery look like? How do I rebuild after a break? Adaptability is the key.

Lesson 10: Write about it!

The worst part of running outside of running is washing your training gear. Running kit stinks! The best part of running outside of running has been writing about it. 

Community is so important and I count myself lucky to have a wonderful local community. Running communities, particularly free ones like Parkrun, are great institutions that couldn’t operate without the network of dedicated volunteers to help organise and mange them. This year I’ve also now taken  the opportunity to be part of an online community and I’ve enjoyed every minute of that engagement.

The process of writing is mentally stimulating and cathartic; the process of publishing is exciting: I generally schedule my posts and forget about them when the scheduled time passes and then scramble to do a last second final final final proof before it’s committed to the vast internet vault. I find that this approach injects a delightful adrenaline boost into the publishing cycle.

I’ve enjoyed reading other people’s experiences and some amazing efforts far beyond what I could ever do. I’ve offered my personal advice to the community and taken advice back, everything is about learning and sharing, and there’s something wonderful about that. 

To everyone who has given this blog their time and thought, I thank you. In the grand scheme of the world these musings are of minor importance, but your interaction with me has kept me going and given me positivity where I might previously have given up some time ago.  

Thanks again for reading. My next post will be Sunday and the day of the big race where we’ll find out how far I’ve really come on my training journey. Wish me luck!

Notes to myself (part 3)

Part three of a four-part series of my top ten training tips I’ve picked up this year. 

Part one can be found here. Part two here.

Lesson 6: Active recovery 

The least said about this the better. I’ve never done a recovery run – I’ve written about doing a recovery run, but if you’ve read the post we can all agree I still haven’t done one. 

This is a gap in my training. Perhaps it’s not a big gap, I don’t know. Maybe it’s an important part of training. At the moment I am not confident in running more than three times a week. This is all about avoiding injury through over-training. I should explore how active recovery can help me with this, both through increasing my training levels and building that confidence back up.

Lesson 7: Focus on the basics

Running form is vital for efficiency and the avoidance of injures. Running form is the first thing out of the window when the going gets tough. 

Mentally focussing on form isn’t easy, but is part of the basics to get right. Similar to breathing (lesson 2), we all need to breath, but do we breath correctly?

This year I’ve looked at foot strike pattern and ground reaction force, vertical oscillation, stride patterns, posture, and my overall running cycle and it has all helped me to focus on what I want to do. Every detail is part of the goal to beat my previous best time around a specific 10km course. Every detail is making me a better runner.

It’s also over-thinking things, and I’ve said I want to get back to the free-spirited running with music playing, tuning out to the world once the race is done. But let’s focus on that race first…! Details, details, details!

Lesson 8: Go long or go home

Long runs are a staple of training plans. They build up time on your feet and are a great marker of progress as watch the additional miles build up over the weeks. 

I have a psychological barrier around the maximum distance I’ll go. I mainly run 10km and half marathon races, so my training plans are in accordance. I’ve run long distances running up to a half marathon, but leading up to the 10km this month, I’ve only managed to run for an hour – getting up to around 12.5km.

It would be good to focus on longer incremental distances at a slower consistent pace, whilst using other runs to build up different parts of my training programme. I think my problem is that I get impatient with slower speeds, so this combines well with lesson 3 – be consistent before being fast. 

Not something I’ve managed this year, but something to consider as part of my training arsenal in the future.

Notes to myself (part 2)

Part two of a four-part series of my top ten training tips I’ve picked up this year. Part one can be found here.

Lesson 3: Be consistent before being fast

I’ve found pacing has played a big part in my training. This came about through trialing the Garmin coach on my watch and while the training plan didn’t work out for me for a number of reasons, the way effort was controlled through pace stuck with me.

The learning around pace is to set a target for a run and stick to that. Increment up slowly over the weeks, don’t try to go quickly quickly. I have a tendency to set out at a chosen pace, but then feel good on the day and go a lot faster, quickly wearing myself out. My advice to future me is if this happens, recognise how I feel, complete the run as planned, register how I feel at the end and amend the training plan accordingly. 

Stick to the plan and adjust based on reflection, not on a whim halfway round the park!  

Lesson 4: Cross training

Cross training is great to include in the training plan, but I found I was struggling to see how it was improving my running. My focus was on form and the different running patterns I was eager to progress. 

My bike was always promised a service but never got one when we had the perfect summer for regular bike rides. Fixing this up to a roadworthy condition should’ve been a no-brainer.

I started strength exercises early on in my training and would have liked to keep this up. I focussed on specific muscle areas, particularly in my legs and core. This is certainly beneficial to the overall training, but only through perseverance. 

Lesson 5: Combination runs

This is summarised in my connection perfection post; something completely new to me and ultimately something I wasn’t able to explore fully. If there’s one thing to take away from this year, it’s to be more liberal when designing a training plan. 

Never again should I mark off the runs in a week with such definite labels as ‘long run’, ‘tempo run’, ‘hills’, ‘strides’; from now on it’s all about the combo. A tempo will not be a tempo unless it is preceded by a hill repeat. A long run is no longer a long run without a fartlek section.  

Whatever the combinations, the goal is variety. Variety for better fitness. Variety for more enjoyment. 

Notes to myself (part 1)

As I come into the last week or so of training for my 10k race, it’s a good time to reflect on what I’ve learnt so far and how I’ve approached my training schedule.

It was pointed out to me recently (right here on this blog), that if I succeed in beating a twelve year old personal best time this year, I will also succeed in setting a new target to challenge a future version of me. So this post, and continued over the next few, is intended to document some lessons I’ve picked up so I can review again in the future. 

In short, these are notes to my future self, open to all. We can laugh at that future self right now, reading this with ambition of setting new records. You’re too old, find something else to do, you’re not beating this years’ time, ha ha ha!

A brief disclaimer here – I write this to document some things I’ve picked up this year in my training that may be of use to others too. I have only tested my approaches out on me, it might not be appropriate for you or fit with your personal training needs. However, I’m always happy to talk through my experience if it’s of any help to anyone.

In no particular order (except perhaps for number 10), my top ten training tips from 2022!

Lesson 1: The befores and afters 

I wrote about dynamic stretching a few weeks ago. Along with the steady build up of runs and drills before setting out on the actual run, I feel I’ve had a lot of success with my warm up routine this year.

At the end of every run I’ve done some static stretching and drunk a protein shake which I feel has helped my recovery. While I can’t quantify improvement these changes have made over previous years, I have felt confident in my ability to run and recover in good time, so recommend this approach for future years.

Lesson 2: The breath of life

I wrote about my struggle with breathing form and reasoned that a large percentage of what was stopping me going further, faster, harder, was a combination of willpower and bringing oxygen into my body. 

Both these things can be worked on. For breathing, I’ve been doing regular breathing exercises. Perhaps this could come under cross-training (spoiler alert: number 4 on the list!)? Not sure about that, but ensuring correct diaphragmatic breathing whilst cross-training would be the important thing to note. 

I have underestimated how to get more oxygen into myself throughout years of training and something I’ll need to consistently work on. The lack of oxygen seems to hit me a lot earlier on a run than the point my muscles give up on me. This is an area in need of further research, future me take note!