This had the effect of overtraining and Strava had a whinge at me, the balance of measured training versus having fun, which is my main reason for running and exercise in general. It also keeps you fit and some illnesses away, in my case the Sarcoidosis that hangs around in my lungs. If I don't exercise my lungs that the disease takes hold and the muck I have to cough up not great!
So to carry the fun theme, rather than do a standard Monday bike ride of 10 miles to ease my legs (The day after my LSR) I was challenged to do a hilly ride. Pretty soon my distance training will become a little dull as you should practice a route similar to the race you are doing. Edinburgh is flat at the start and downhill for the rest of the route, to the point, it is not a qualifying race for things like the Boston Marathon as the race and time you are proving your abilities has to pass a basic test of:
The start and finish are no more than a certain distance away from each other and the course is not "net" downhill.
Edinburgh starts in the city centre, heads down to the coast, follows the coast out to a housing estate where you loop back and then finish on Musselburgh racecourse.
So not close to the start and definitely downhill! But a great run and PB potential, the drawback is that it is usually at the end of May and very warm!
So back to the ride, nice and hilly and took in much of the Oldham Half Marathon route albeit a bit longer! The route takes in beautiful views of the countryside around Oldham, in particular, Uppermill which looked great in the sunshine (I managed to miss the downpours from earlier in the day)
Going downhill on Grain Road was a bit scary as the tarmac was wet and the heat tends to make the surface more slippy somehow so I got to around 35 mph but had to ease on the breaks before the bends and as it enters Delph really manage the brakes!
Tuesday was my sons birthday so took a break from training, Tuesday being my traditional Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) day which comes 2 days after a long run, if I manage my Monday session right I can usually avoid DOMS but as you get fitter and used to the long runs it becomes less of an issue.
I did have a quick run on the beach, knowing that Strava would map me running in the sea, which I actually saw for the first time ever!
Wednesday was my normal mid-week longish run, the sun was out and enjoyed a bit of speed for the first half, it always feels a bit of a slog coming back from Middleton, more hilly, smoggy and general grim part of the route.
On this picture, you can see Strava's summary giving the route and mile splits.
As a "premium" user I get an extra feature of GAP, this gives you a different pace based on the elevation.
In essence, it flattens the route for you, allowing you to see if you are consistent up and down the hills.
Very nice to get thanks for running hard up a hill... not so for taking it easy downhill as this shows, however, it shows consistency!
On Thursday I did my Crompton Loop as the weather has been foul recently, the “Lanes” are mostly mud after a good downpour.
My pace/HR is consistently reducing and Strava has a nice feature of matching your runs and giving you a trend
Friday arrived and the email I have been dreading came in, the Edinburgh Marathon is off! So a review of my training plan ensued and a revised plan is now in place, gone are the long long runs and refactored as Manchester Marathon being my goal, that of course may fall by the wayside and as a result, this will be a poor racing season. But in context, I would rather train alone and not race, than have this virus make more lives miserable!
So I went for a quick bimble on the bike to keep my legs loose!
Saturday morning I met Steve at Salford Quays, he is training for the Barcelona Ironman in October so this week “happy” to be open water as restrictions are being lifted. The one good thing to come out of the COVID situation is more people are keeping fit and getting out and about. He says that “uswim” can open the booking on a Wednesday and within an hour all slots are booked for the Saturday. There are 100 swimmers per hour and I don’t know how many sessions are put on through the day but he got an 08:00 - 09:00 place.
I rode down the Rochdale Canal to me him, the geese are very protective of their young at this time of year so plenty of hissing! I got a bit lost as usual so I arrived a bit late and after a quick phone call, a rendezvous was arranged. As he was on his road bike, the canal towpath no use to him, we headed to my house on the roads and I managed to keep up with him and even rode up the big hill back to my street!
To finish the week off I did the Oldham Half Marathon route, it is a beast of a course and something I was very involved with 10 years ago as Assistant Race Director. I have driven around the course, rode around it with the official measuring person (Vowing not to ever run this race as it is too hilly) and run some segments of it.
So with the news the marathon was off and not much to aim for I figured a good effort was required so that I have a yardstick to what:
a) My half-marathon potential is.
b) If I ever compete in it then some knowledge of how to race it (Don’t attack the Ladcastle hill, it ruins the next bit”) and a 1:40.11 time I would be please to take in a race, so a target if I ever do compete.
The Oldham Half consists of 7 basic stages, the back of my hoodie (from the event) has a good profile of the race
- Town Centre - One lap of the market area and then down to “Mumps” and onto the bottom of Ripponden Road. As with all races try not to get too giddy and manage your pace.
- Up Ripponden Road to Grains Bar - a long stretch of uphill, it has small sections of “flat” so you can get your breathe back and your HR down a bit, but has that effect of “not another hilly bit” about it.
- Grains Bar to Delph - Fast downhill, fantastic views and once you go through Delph it is flat and a beautiful village, shame you don’t turn left and miss going through the village proper! As it is you turn right and head to Ladcastle.
- Ladcastle - This road is one hell of a hill, very steep to go up and when you get to the top, the reward is breathtaking views of Uppermill. As you descend on the other side you go past the golf club, mind the bends and posh cars as they come up at you! On the race we have marshals and signs everywhere.
I took this picture on Monday when I cycled up Ladcastle, it is stunning and after a hill like that!
- Lydgate - Once you get to the bottom of Ladcastle you swing right and up to "the Farrah’s" pub, on our risk assessment this is one of the biggest outside the town centre. You have to cross over at a junction, not so bad when you are on your own, with hundreds of runners (spaced out by now) but now you have a big climb to Lydgate. It pays to have paced Ladcastle well, today it was a struggle to get my legs moving well today on this section. You then have a smashing downhill to the village of Lees, try to get your breath back as the uphill to Lees soon looms.
- Lees - Put politely, this hill stinks and you will be glad to get it over with, unfortunately, the rest of this section moves you into a less glamorous part of Oldham slightly downhill so get your breath back for the final (and first) section
- Back to the High Street - So when you have passed the areas of Clarksfield and Greenacres, you swing a left at the Fire Station and head towards Glodwick, it undulates and you can sense you are in the last mile of the race. Traditionally I view half-marathons as a 10-mile race with a 5K (parkrun) to finish. For the Oldham Half, it is more a 12 mile with 1 mile give it what you can, there is a sting in the tail of this race and it the reverse of the start (if you recall I warned about managing your pace for the first stage...) it is a big hill Oldham sits on and if you can manage a Linford Christie sprint at the end, then all the best to you.
So all in all a good week and chuffed with the Oldham half route.
Have a good week
Mark
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