Thursday Training (Chest/Abs)

• 10 x 20 SB ball sit ups + 20 SB sit twists.
• 10 x 10 chest press with 9kg dumbbells + 10 chest fly.
• 30 sec on/off/on/off/on see-saw shredder with 9kg dumbbells.

Another Marathon? October? Pan flat? in Amsterdam? Oh go on then...

With exactly 1 month to go until Paris, I can announce that I will be running the 39th TCS Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday 19th October, 2014.

A lunchtime chat over Facebook with my former Plumstead Runners colleague Mel was all I needed for persuasion.  The words PAN and FLAT being those which sold it to me.  Hopefully it will be the course for me to set a sub 4:00 time.

No ballot and no faffing, just booked a place for €65 over the web in 5 minutes.  Doesnt get much better than that.  Will need to sort out flights and hotels but thats fairly easy.  Gatwick to 'Dam takes an hour by EasyJet to Schipol Airport then its a 15min train ride into Amsterdam Central station from there.  Easy peasy.

You can read more information about the Amsterdam Marathon here

Wednesday Training (Plumstead Runners session)

Despite Tuesday evening's quickish 10 miler, it was Plums night and it was also the monthly meeting so felt more than obliged to go.  It was in little doubt.  The legs felt a litte sore but nothing to stop me running at all.

Our esteemed chairman Richard Vero led us around a nice just over 10k route:

I have to say I did take it relatively easy. I had a nice chat with Lee and Ian on the way up to Bostall Heath and then got my head down for the second part. 

The Strava HR report looks spot on for the effort I put in... 

I have to say my right knee feels a little sore tonight.  Am now contemplating a couple of rest days before going again at the weekend.

Tuesday Training (10 mile road run)

Home from work with dry running kit on the washing airer, unlike the night before.  Happy Days.

A quick change into the kit, a quick realisation that I was out of High 5 4:1 so I had to dig down the two High 5 race packs I've got to find a sachet of some energy product, filled my bottle and off I went.

Originally was planning a short 10k tonight but opted to go for a longer 10 but at tempo pace, rather than a slow easy pace.

Excellent run. Having dug into the High 5 race pack before setting off, I nicked an energy gel and took it at 6 miles. Was fab knowing I'd averaged 8:48 min/mile pace for the 10. My Half Marathon PB of 1:56 was set at 8:53 min/mile pace so the fitness from this time last year is at another level now. Had I took some more gels on board, I probably could have run a damn site quicker too but was feeling a little empty by the end but I definitely could have run another 3 miles at that pace, thats for sure. Once Paris is out of the way, I think it will be time to run another Half Marathon to try and get that PB down a little more.

A quick check of the data on Strava told me exactly what I needed to, that my HR was pretty much spot on my tempo pace and not one jump into the red either...

I think the one thing that really did surprise me though was that I've actually run 10 miles quicker twice before back in 2013, today's effort is starred.

I'm not convinced that the quickest 10 miler was more hilly than todays course.  Thats the difference in GPS between the Forerunner 405 and Forerunner 620.  I would need to run exactly the same course for a complete comparison but I do get varying results on an exact course match.

You only have to look at the Garmin data of other people's Paris Marathon runs to see that the elevation data is different from each and every Garmin.

However, very pleased with tonight's effort.

Monday Training (Muscle Build - Session 31)

Ooops, I need shooting.  After Saturday evening's late run, I chucked my kit in the washing machine, along with the kit I used earlier in the day with Izzy.  When I went to run last night, I discovered my running kit was still in the bloody washing machine more than 24hrs later and the Ariel tab was still sitting at the bottom so I knew I hadnt switched it on.  Called myself a cockwomble (my new favourite word) and opted for the Gym instead as I really didnt fancy running outside in shorts.

I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to break in my new Brooks Glycerin 11s which had just been sitting in the corner staring at me and it was about time I gave my upper body and abs a good beasting.

So off to the Gym I went...

Warm Up

3 x 1km treadmill (in the new Glycerin 11s)

1st km - 12.5km
2nd km - 0.5km at 12.5kmh, all out at 16kmh for as long as poss then back to 12.5kmh
3rd km - 12.5km


TRX

Crucifix (3sets x 10reps)
Shoulder Press (3sets x 10reps)
One Armed Press Ups (5sets x 10reps)
Bicep Curl (3sets x 10reps)
Tricep Curl (3sets x 10reps)

Abs

10 sets (20 SB sit ups + 20 SB sit twists)

No leg weights

Cool Down

2.5km treadmill

Although it wasnt running, I enjoyed the session.  My enthusiasm for the Gym has died a bit recently, what with being pre-occupied with trying to get as many miles as possible in the legs before Paris.

Think that was only my second or third session since the beginning of February and my first on a Monday evening since pre-Christmas and I have to admit that I didnt recognise anyone in there at all, apart from Shane, one of the workers who said hello as we both left at the same time.

The Sunday spontaneous trip to WHL

What with my late run on Saturday evening, the plan was to have a lay in, get some housework done and then put the feet up and watch the football on the TV before meeting up with my mate Rich W later in the day for the Sunday 9 o'clock club.

Originally I was booked on a Leadership in Running Coach course in Sevenoaks but ended up having to swap to a course later in the year, more on that in the upcoming months.

So much for the lay in.  Wide awake at 7:30am.  Not good.

By 9:30am, I'd already had breakfast, showered, caught up with what I needed to admin-wise so made a start with the housework.  By 12 noon, I'd pretty much done my flat from top to bottom and it was looking good.  I hate housework but there's nothing quite like looking at your house/flat once the housework is done.  Such satisfaction.  Not like running a long run or anything like that but you know where I'm coming from.  You feel cleansed.  Tidy house, tidy mind and all that.

Anyhow, I put some soup on and made a sandwich.

As I was eating and watching the end of the Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports 1, my phone bleeped.  It was my mate Nav.

"Bored?  Missing Izzy?  Want to watch Spurs?  I've got a spare..."

Just at that point, Sky had just advertised the afternoon TV game.  Villa v Norwich.  Jeez, assuming all the games were kicking off at 4:30pm today because of the COC Final (Capital One Cup for those of you thinking I'm being rude!), I'd automatically assumed that it would be the Spurs game on.

There was no other thing for it.

Within 45 mins, I was on the train from Welling to Cannon St.  A quick walk to Liverpool St and jumped on the first train to Hertford East, stopping at Seven Sisters and White Hart Lane.  When I text Nav to say I was on my way back out of London, he said he'd met his friend in a pub called the "Elbow Room" at Bruce Grove, smack bang between Seven Sisters and WHL, on the Tottenham High Road.  Typically, the train wasnt going to stop at Bruce Grove, so I made my way up the High Road from Seven Sisters.

I think it would have made more sense for the pub to be called "Not even Elbow Room to move".  It was rammed.  As are most of the pubs around WHL on match day.  Met Nav and his mate, we watched the end of the COC Final then walked down to WHL.

We got in the ground just as we'd kicked off.  For some reason these days, which I wont go into here, the atmosphere at WHL is flat.  The expectation levels have increased in recent years, the pressure of top 4 qualification has increase, the Police/FA stance on the usage of the "Y-word" which I'm not going to go into here, all of which has had a major impact on the atmosphere.  Also, most importantly, the football has got a lot to do with it too.  Does Sherwood know his best side yet?  I'm not convinced nor is anyone else.  Ok, his hands are tied by the current injury list but this has to go down as one of the worst games of football I've seen at the Lane in well over a decade.  It really was that bad.  I can count on one hand the number of saves both keepers had to make.

Thankfully, the one effort that did count was from dear old Bobby Soldado, our mis-firing £26.5m centre-forward who hasnt been able to hit the back end of a donkey with a banjo in recent times.

He took his goal excellently in front of the adoring Park Lane end.  Adebayor played it into him, he took one touch to kill it and set himself then in the same movement, he flicked the ball beyond the reach of the 'keeper.

The look on his face said it all...

 

...the relief.  He'd finally scored a goal from open play in the league for the first time since Boxing Day.

Dear old Bobby.  His attitude speaks for itself and a lot of pro's can learn a lot from him in terms of attitude and application.  If anyone deserved a goal, it was him.  He's been working his socks off for the team and was getting little reward for his efforts.

He ran to the Park Lane to celebrate and the fans went pretty mental, the only occasion in the 90 mins where the atmosphere lived up a little.

Not a great performance but the 1-0 win keeps Spurs in touch with the top 4.  With Chelsea, Arsenal, Southampton and Liverpool to come in March, we're quickly reaching the business end of the season.  If we're still in touch after the next 4 league games then we could be in business again :)

Cheers for the ticket btw Nav!

After the game, we made our way back to Welling and I headed straight for the 9 o'clock club with Rich.  It was a good day.

Saturday Training (my first ever run with Izzy & a late 15 mile road run)

Saturday was one of them days which will live long in the memory.

A few months ago, I signed Izzy up for the Sport Relief Mile, which is being hosted by the Plums at Danson Park in 3 weeks time (23rd March).  Izzy has mentioned a few times in the last month or so that as Daddy is doing a run and is having to train for it, shouldnt she be doing some training too?

Despite her Monday evening Swimming lesson and Gymnastics sessions twice a week, she still felt she needed to do some running too.

So last week, I suggested that we go for a gentle run this weekend so test her legs out.  Izzy's Mum conveniently packed her tracksuit and trainers into her case so we were all set.
 

The plan was to run a loop into the park at the end of the old dears road and then back round, comes up just short of half a mile.

Izzy learnt some valuable lessons in the first 300m or so. Dont ever go off too hard otherwise you'll end up with a stitch, especially when you havent done much running. I tried to tell her not to go off too quick but to be fair, most 8 year olds wouldnt know what pace to run. So as we got to the park, the look on anguish on her face said stitch. Thats easily dealt with. I told her to put her hands on her head and breathe slowly in as deeply as she could and then blow it all out slowly while I gave her a quick rub to make her feel better. Problem solved. 

We carried on, up a little slope in the park just to get back to the road, which for a child looks more than just a little slope, it more like a giant hill. She got up it no problem and with a gentle job back we'd done half a mile. I thought that was her lot and told her she'd done half and that was more than enough but she insisted on running it again, as she wanted to know what it would feel like on the day.

So we done it again. At the top of the hill, we decided to take a detour down the hill as it would give her legs a rest but then she insisted on jogging back up the hill to the old dears afterwards, rather than just walking it. When we got back, I told her she'd done 1.17 miles and you should have seen the look on her face. She was ecstatic and couldnt believe she'd done it. If I'm honest, I couldnt believe it either. 4 years or so ago, I couldnt have done what she'd just done. Felt so proud of her.

Sadly, as with most weekends, I had to take Izzy home at 6pm and with next weekend being a rare weekend of not having her at all, it hits me pretty hard. I was so down in the dumps on Saturday evening afterwards. I dropped the car back to my parents and I got the bus back to Welling. 8:30pm on a Saturday evening, no daughter, no social life to speak of, what is a single man supposed to do with himself? 

The idea of going for a run popped into my head. Why not? Ok, its not the tried and tested run at the same time as the marathon but I can still get some valuable miles in. Ah sod it, evening problem solved. Within 30 mins, I was ready to go. I'd already bought my Jelly Babies in advance when I went shopping with Izzy on Friday evening, so I was all prepared. Well, so I thought...

I hadnt planned a route, I hadnt decided on a distance, the only thing I knew I was going to run around about my marathon pace. So off I went.

I'd been happily sipping away on my bottle of High 5 4:1 when I got to Sidcup High Street around about mile 4 and I thought I'd have my first Jelly Baby. Unzipped the front zip on the bottle belt and doh! Had totally forgot to pack the sweets. Oh sh*t. I had no money on me to buy anything, didnt have my Oyster card on me to get me out of trouble if I needed it so it was decision time, either loop back now and limit the run to 8 miles or plod on. I'm a stubborn old sod so I plodded on. I felt good, I had no distractions other than a few floaty thoughts about missing Izzy in my head so it was a welcome distraction.

As it turns out, it was a great decision.  With only the High 5 4:1 fueling me, I knew I'd be ok but sometimes its just the head telling you that you need something more.

15 miles at 9:17 min/mile pace in 2:20 with a quick comfort stop in the bushes at Hall Place.   No Jelly Babies.  No gels.  Just some 4:1 which I'd only had about 400 ml whilst I'd been sipping some water from my other bottle.  What with the gentle 1.17 miles I'd done with Izzy earlier in the day, I'd done 16.17 miles for the day.

It was strange coming in the front door just after 11:30pm.  I must admit I got a few strange looks as I passed through Bexley Village from those who were out partying.  To be honest, I'd totally lost track of time.  I had been away in my own thoughts for the majority of the run and my head came back in a much better place than it was before I went out.

One negative though.  I'd developed a blister on my second toe on my left foot, the one next to my big toe.  Right on the tip.  I had hope it would go away but sadly not.  It was sore by the time I jumped in the bath but that was when I noticed the state it was in.  It was a blister, in a blister, in another blister and it literally surrounded my toe nail, which I've almost lost anyway.

So I made the decision to do some self-surgery.  Anywhere else on the foot I would have applied a Compeed blister plaster but where it was on the end of the toe, that would have been impossible.

Out came a needle and gently popped the side and instantly felt the pressure release.  However, as the blister had been there for over a week, the skin was stretched beyond the point it would repair it self, so out came the scissors and after a few snips, the loose skin was gone.  It was sore but nothing too bad.  I just hope it begins to heal up properly now otherwise the next few runs could be a bit uncomfortable.