A good week culminating in the Trimpell 20

 A good week culminating in the Trimpell 20 mile race, I put this in my plan to perfectly time with my incremental increases on the long runs, over the last few weeks going up 17,18,19 miles.

On Monday, I did a turbo session followed by a brick run, I had my right foot strapped up, it felt okay so it gave me the green light to do my 31K (19 Miles) run on Tuesday.

The LSR went well overall, at about 20k into the run, the troublesome right foot started to ache, not in the ankle but on the inside, which is sometimes a bit weak for me. 

On Wednesday I picked my mate Steve up and headed down to Wales to do what we thought would be a "pan flat" route from Pensarn to Llandudno and back, then head north to Rhyl and back., about 60km all in all.

A strong headwind greeted us as I had brought my mountain bike shoes (they look similar to my road shoes). Unfortunately, I had to make do and use trainers, so I lost all the advantages of "locked-in feet."

Not all went to plan as there are roadworks on the route, we got a bit lost and when we hit 15Km, it was time to turn back. Somehow we did not pick up the cycle path and head back on the main road,  which was not so bad as the cycle route was busy with dog walkers and bimblers. 

Steve is getting back into training so it was a shame the "pan flat" route turned into a hill session at about 22km. Steve had done well but there was no need to push more and we decided that once we got back to the car at Pensarn, we would throw my bike into the car for a quick transition and do my brick run. 

Steve coached me from his bike and I bolted onto the promenade to do 1.5km out and back; annoyingly, the headwind was still there, so I pushed hard with the deafening wind in my ears. Steve did a great job shouting out the pace, encouraging me, pushing me to keep the 3k under 12 minutes. Which I managed to do, coming in at 11:41, given I did 19 miles at 5:10 pace the day before, the legs felt good and my chest not too bad.

As I was racing at the weekend, I tapered down to get my form spot on, so minimal running and a sprint brick session.

Trimpell 20 Race Report

The weekend had been predicted to be a wet one, the drive up to Lancaster was full of low clouds, rain and sunshine. There were 3 accidents on the motorways between home and the race, but timing and apple maps meant we missed most of the delays and rocked up with plenty of time.

I started my warm-up and realised

a) Had not started my watch

b) forget to put on my HR strap

So trotted back to sort it out, my wife took this amusing photo

Adjusting the strap

It was a mass start, I positioned myself near the front with the hope of getting some free air and was happy for folks to overtake me as they went. At the same time, there was also the Golden Ball 10 mile mixed in, so you had people going a bit quicker than us 20 milers!

The first few kilometres, I was a little giddy and the target pace of 4:50 min/km was not going to happen, I was doing 4:04,4:14,4:24 and so on. The course was all on the cycle path that runs along the River Lune and relatively flat, it consisted of a short 5k loop to the south, with a dead man turn and back to the start/finish, then a big loop to the north.

500 meters into the race

The tarmac was still wet at this stage, and as you can see from the photo above, the expectation was for a wet race, which is far better than hot... you can't have everything in life...it was a hot one. I always wear shades if I can as we have glaucoma in the family, to reduce the risk, I protect my eyes as much as I can, it was a bonus being sunny; I didn't see many other people doing the same? 

The course then starts to climb it is subtle enough on the first lap and at 9KM reaches a plateau, on the second lap, it felt more and lapping always is tough to do as you know what is coming! 

There was plenty of water on the course and with the sun being out it was a case of drink, water over my head, drink, water over my head! 

At about 11Km you leave the cycle path, head out onto the road for about 1km, and then loop back onto the path and back to the start/finish. If you are a 10 miler, this is heaven, for us doing 20 is a realisation of what you have to do again. As you meet back up to the path you have crisscross with the runners about to go on the road, a bit of synchronised passing is required!

Up till about 21km, I felt strong. The pace had been manageable somewhere around 4:30 - 4:40 pace, gradually I slowed down, a blister was coming through, and the pain all over was worsening. Typically at 18 miles, your body and mind can "Hit the wall" it was getting close to that, I hated every step, people started to stride past me. But, I soldiered on and clocked the kilometres down, safe in the knowledge my 2hr 35 minutes target could be achieved. I was surprised that I actually came in 45th and 2:28:43.

Could I have run another 10k in 45 minutes to complete a marathon of 3:15, no but 55 minutes probably? However, I did the first 10k in 44 minutes, which was my peak speed a year ago, so to repeat that at the end of this race... not likely! 

I have a few more weeks to practice and perfect my pace and race strategy but I should be on track for 3:25 at Manchester.. hopefully.

Not a negative split as the textbook says but I don't think I have done that; for my 2011 London Marathon, I was running a fairly consistent pace and achieved 3:09:08, so if I am a bit slower at the end, then so be it!

No sprint finish this time, the legs just wouldn't cope but did the last 200 meters in 4:11 pace.

Keep safe!

Mark

Rochdale 10k

In a season where the races are all coming in thick and fast, it was the turn of the Rochdale 10K on Tuesday 10th August, a race that had been postponed due to COVID and the restrictions at the time. The weather was pleasant for a change!

RRR and Rochdale Tri were out in good numbers, I had many a chat clubmates. For a nice change, my family were there for support and they seemed to enjoy the atmosphere.

The race starts and ends in Springfield Park, which has cars, speed bumps and potholes to contend with from the off. The race brief was given with folks spread apart, the race though, back to the usual scramble at the beginning.

Keeping to the right 

I exited the park still with the top ten runners or so and thought to myself, "oops, should not be here, that's my race ruined" so took a look at the watch and tried to keep to 4:00 min/km pace on the flat and 4:20 min/km for the uphill. Unfortunately, my heart rate was pretty much 180bpm for most of the race, so full-on, which you cannot/should not do for anything longer!

Garmin heat map of the race

In the picture above, you can see the route and the colours give you a clue about the relative speed.

Most of it is blue, which is the average speed and not necessarily that I am running slow; where you see green that is where I am going quicker. Red is the fastest bit, so looping out of the park and heading east it is green, heading north, it has a flat section then downhill so green again!

It is an undulating course with plenty of "rise and fall". The section to the left, which looks north to south, is straight. However, the pavement is mostly uneven flagstones, so I spent more time on the road!

On the way back into the park, you start to see the finish line, which you go downhill and sweep to the left; you have to keep to the right as the final left turn is sharp, then it is "hammer down" time!

I finished 28th and official time 40:46, RRR and RTC "give you wings!"

On Friday I had a mishap and twisted my ankle on an uneven path, I tried to shake it off but had to abandon the run at 7.5km, which meant a long 2.5km walk home. So my plans and LSR for Sunday had to give up, I am trying to keep the running streak so each day I strapped up the ankle and did a 1-mile run to keep my running streak going and assess the recovery.

This means shifting training around, the Manchester Marathon is looming and picking up injuries is a concern. The message is always to take care and don't get disheartened when you have a setback.

Next week I am racing in the Trimpell 20 mile race in Lancaster, so hopefully, I am back in business!

First proper timed Duathlon

Last week was all about the RRR club championship and the Ron HIl Hyde 7 mile race, which I still can't believe I did so well with the 29km run two days before. So this week, I had the same dilemmas about training for the Marathon and racing in a crowded season.

Tuesday, I had one eye on Sunday's Manchester Airport Duathlon, so I did a 20-minute bike ride followed by a quick run which, if you read my blog, then a few weeks ago, I mention the virtue of doing brick runs.

The brick run aims to train your legs in getting used to the change in demand, with slightly different muscles used in somewhat different ways. It is definitely helping, and "jelly legs" were kept minimal.

I had booked onto the Hopwood trot, which is a 5.5-mile trail race. I had till lunchtime to decide whether to race or not; I can't really load my body so much; my sarcoidosis seems to be making my lungs suffer at the moment, but nothing like a flare-up, thankfully. So on Wednesday, with a heavy heart, I did a cheeky 5k instead at marathon training pace. Watching the Strava notifications coming in and giving out kudos to what can only be described as a quality set of runs in a downpour. Not racing when your mates are... very hard to take.

Thursday, I had what is becoming a rare thing to run with the RRR group B, given they mainly had been racing the day before, I insisted we do just 10k and not at a hard pace. We finished the run and went into the clubhouse for the monthly social "Pint" it was great to catch up after so long, keeping distanced!

Friday morning was my re-arranged Long Slow Run (LSR), usually done on the weekend, but they have to shift with races and still be done. Once you start Long Distance training, you have to keep at it. Each session helps your body and mind adapt to the pressures of being out for such a long time; your feet must harden and better to get blisters now than when you are racing. I often describe it as getting hobbit feet, they get a bit gnarly and rough, but this resits the blister and toenails dropping off when you really don't want it.

So at 6:15am I trudged out and started my way around Tandle Hill Country park to get onto the canal. I have decided all my LSR now will use the same sort of route mainly because:

• When using roads, my lungs suffer from car emissions and it makes running super hard
• When training for a race, try and emulate the elevation and surface, Manchester is pretty flat, so is the canal towpath!

It went well, and my comfortable pace is getting a little quicker, sooner rather than later I need to fix my marathon pace and train shorter distances at that pace. I even managed to miss most of the rain, and it was cool, perfect running conditions.

Sunday was race day, the weather was atrocious. I was seriously considering not doing it. My wife, ever the pragmatic and supportive person said just go, and if you get there, it is terrible you can always come back. Sound advice and when we go there, it started to ease up.

The race is about 4k run, 34km bike and 2.4km run again, I was in the first wave of 10 and set off, the guy who eventually won was like a rocket and soon was out of sight. You have to head up the pedestrian path that goes under the runways at the airport, do a deadman turn and head back, the roof leaks for no respite from the rain as such and puddles to jump through.

Back into transition, I got the bike out and headed to the "mount line" it took way too long, and it is something to work on, I was at the far end of the transition area, so that's just unlucky and further to amble!

The bike route is two laps, I only shoved one gel in my pocket as I couldn't find the other. Ideally, I wanted more energy but managed without. I pushed hard on the bike, but I don't have the "aero" packages and often describe myself as a "Runner with a cycling problem"; my mate Bernie describes himself as a "Drinker with a Running Problem!". But Rochdale Triathlon Club is training me well and the bike skill nights are paying off for sure.

Love the running part

Crossing the road to start on the mount line

Just about managed to stop, steep downhill finish.

9th overall and 2nd in my Age Group

Edgars Team GBR wins, Chris Horner team GBR 6th

I came 4th on both times on the running segments, so I definitely need to get the bike work beefed up, best of all no jelly legs... brick runs!

Overall I am very pleased with the result and learning all the time!

Manchester Marathon training going well

It's been a while since I last blogged, and I have much to update you with, so starting with the latest is the Dr Ron Hill - Hyde 7 mile race.

This is part of the Tour of Tameside (ToT), a 4-day event with fell races, 10k and a half marathon; tough to do all 4, especially as Saturday is the half marathon,  Sunday is as a hilly 7-mile road race, with 4 lumps!

It is also one of the races that Royton Road Runners use in the championship, which entails around 12 events in the year. Your best 7 results count, so if you come first in your group, then 25 points, 24 for second, 23 for third and so on. I am in group two, which is for people running around 42 minutes for 10K, so above us are groups 1, championship and the fastest "Premiership".

So far, I have managed to do 4 of the races, this was to be my 5th, because of Covid, the 2020 and 2021 years have merged, with some events still postponed. This makes the race calendar very hectic and haphazard with so much to squash in. This has also had a knock-on with my preparation for the Manchester Marathon, which I am running in aid of SarcoidosisUK. I had planned to do some events in the lead-up, but that I will cover in the coming weeks.

The start of the race was back to pre-covid style with a mass start and not much social distancing. One fella coughed into my back, a disgusted look was thrown back at him; in regular times, that would have been bad manners, these days positively unwanted!

The race elevation looks like this:

I set off and quickly found myself darting around what could be described as a slow herd being pushed by a farmer! Thankfully, halfway up the hill, I got into free air and started to pick up speed and get into my rhythm.

Throughout the race, I saw pretty much the same people; we would be faster or slower on the hills, then the flats and downhills, regroup,  so it became a sprint to the finish. One runner, in particular, was annoying me by running right beside me, to quote my friend Bryan L. "breathing like a horse" i.e. heavy and fast. But, if you have ever raced me to the line, I revert to my sprinting youth and can crack out a decent finish. So, all those years as a junior on the running track are finally paying off!

I finished 34th on gun time, but 30th on chip time, 7 miles in 46:28. Somewhere in there, this set off all-time bests appeared (well, since records began after my 2009 - 2012 years).

In the last couple of months, I have been busy training. Unfortunately, the endurance cycling was proving too hard, I seem to be just fine running, but I struggle cycling. I have failed to finish anything seriously long and hilly.

As most running races had been cancelled, cycling seemed the best way to keep fit. Also, as you are naturally distanced from each other, they seemed more likely to go ahead once restrictions started to lift.

Both the Stockport Sportive and Tour of the Pennines, I was hampered severely with snowstorms which saw me retire with leg cramps, on the last one hyperthermia. Just try going up against big hills in two layers of lycra in a snowstorm… barmy.

So to address my lack of cycling skills, I joined Rochdale Triathlon Club, which has been absolutely brilliant in training me, supporting me with cycling skills and motivation. My shoulder is still being assessed, and I await an MRI as to why my left shoulder is so painful and weak. It is not sarcoidosis related which is a relief. Still, they can only say it is the rotator cuff moving very roughly through the joint. What is causing this cannot be seen with the MRI, so until that is fixed, I cannot swim so I am stuck doing Duathlons which triathletes sometimes refer to as "Dryathlon" as you don't get wet! 

So far, I have done a test Duathlon at Dunham Massey, it is a starter event designed to give you experience and all went well, apart from doing one too many laps on the first run! 

The transition to bike went well, and I pushed hard to make up time. Although this left me with severe "jelly legs", and it took a while to wear off, my running pace for the last leg didn't suffer too much, and I didn't make the same mistake and did two laps as I should.

Since then, I have been practising "brick runs", usually going from doing a bike session to running. This helps prepare your body for jelly legs in races, much like track work when running. Doing sprints with short recovery helps to train your body to tolerate and even remove lactic acid that builds up when you work your legs hard.

Last week at the RTC cycle track session, I stopped after about 1.5 hours of near-constant cycling, put my trainers on and ran the opposite way to the cyclists and happily the jelly legs was minimal, there are techniques like spinning in a high cadence as you approach transition which helps loosen your legs

So I am now in the latter stages of marathon training; the long runs are getting longer, my feet are toughening up like a hobbit. Mixing this with duathlon is not so bad as cycling is acting as cross-training where I can still do cardio but easier and slightly different muscle set/usage.

Coming up is a busy race month and the week before the Manchester marathon, I am taking part in the Oulton Park Sprint Duathlon, which is a TeamGB Age group (MV45) qualifier, if I come in the top 15 and nobody else bothers... I might be off to Spain next year for the European championships... wouldn't that be a dream!