December running

I've been nursing my right knee a bit over the past two weeks. I think I overdid it on a 10-mile run the week before last. It was hilly, on road, and I was tired. I thought I could push through - and I did - but since then my right knee has been stiff and swollen after runs or even after sitting in my office. I had a few knee twinges before this 10-miler, so I'm a little uncertain about the cause.

All this said, my consistency and fitness are coming back.

To that end, I was keen to get a few easy miles in on Saturday morning. A run through the soft ground of the woods beckoned.

The light was low, and the day was short.

In the woods there was the sound of the winds on the bare trees, the branches rubbings against one another, and the skittering of leaves under foot. I took it easy, but on flat stretches picked up the pace a bit. I did 16 minutes out, and 15 back.

I could feel my knee, but it was bearable. I'm not sure if activity or rest is the best bet now for it, but I really don't want to rest.

Running without a clear goal

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth. Henry David Thoreau, Walden

The sun is lower in the sky here in Scotland, and the shadows are long. The temperatures have been mixed; we've had some cold nights, but during the day it has usually been mild.

November can be a slightly bleak month, but the light can also be wonderful. It seems like a time to take stock of the year, and plan for the next year.

Running-wise, I'm trying to get back to consistency. I'd like to be around 30 miles a week, with at least one swim in addition.

As the year winds down, I've started thinking of goals for next year.

I could do another marathon. I will do some hill races.

At the moment, the only clear goals are:

1) To break 1:30 in the half marathon.

2) To do the Isle of Jura hill race.

These could be enough, but I rather miss the structure of a marathon training cycle to get through the winter months. Also, the miles I put in for marathon training pay dividends for everything else. I'll do a half in March, so that could be a sufficient goal.

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After some disruption from travelling, I am trying to get back to normal sleeping. The long dark nights are helping.

Running on Cape Cod

I'm in the U.S. for a few weeks this summer, combining a holiday with some teaching on a summer course at Woods Hole. This is a small, bustling town on the ocean, with ferry service to Martha's Vineyard.

My running in the past week has been sporadic, as I was visiting family in Cleveland and recovering from jet lag. Now, with two weeks in the Cape, I'm hoping to get back to more structure.

This morning I was up at 6, before any other members of the family. I wanted to squeeze in a 10-miler along the bike path from Woods Hole to the larger town Falmouth.

After coffee, toast, Facebook, and the New York Times, I dressed and headed out. I headed a bit up the road on which the Falmouth Road Race takes place, and then up onto the bike path. This path leads from Woods Hole to Falmouth (and perhaps more).

There were a surprising number of runners out! Young, older, and some very old. Lots of people were on bikes, too.

I followed the bike path through the woods, past salt marshes, and emerged at the beach. It was overcast, and there was a breeze. Parts of the beach were closed off for nesting birds.

The path took me into Falmouth, and here I peeled off to do a loop through town. I ran past the town green, and the many shops on the main street. I headed towards the beach, past trim, wood shingled houses.

It felt very much like summer in New England. I thought about how enjoyable it would be to relax with a thick Stephen King novel, or listen to the Red Sox on the radio in the evening.

As I headed back, the breeze gave me a boost, and my pace picked up.

And when I got back home, everyone was still in bed!

Swim, bike, run

This was my second sprint triathlon, and third triathlon overall.

I racked my bike early, and was impressed by the bikes of the other triathletes. My bike isn't anything special (aluminum frame, carbon forks), as I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a bike that would mostly hang in the garage.

I had a cup of coffee, and a bit of a pastry while waiting for the race to start. The swim was run in heats, so I watched the first swimmers. I checked out the transition areas to see where I'd be entering and leaving.

My heat assembled. There were five of us in my lane, and we did two lengths to warm up. The race started. I was second in line. Someone tapped my foot to signal that they wished to pass within a few lengths, and then we settled into our positions for the remaining laps.

In my first race, I'd gone out too fast, and was out of breath for much of the swim. This time, I relaxed, and tried to focus on taking big strokes. I'd been keeping up my swimming even while training for the London marathon this past winter, and had upped my training a bit in the six weeks betweem the marathon and this triathlon.

I finished in 16:37. This was one minute faster than my previous sprint.

The bike was fine. I tried to get up to speed right out of the start, and then settle into a steady pace. I was passed by some, and ultimately passed others. All in, the 20k bike took 45:39.

I had a good transition for the run (38 s.), and was off. The run was two laps, with a steepish hill at the start. It was sunny and warm. I passed more people here than passed me, and finished the 5k in 23:02.

All in, I was 1:27:56. This put me in the bottom half of the field, but I enjoyed the event.

And now my bike is back hanging in the garage.

After the marathon - what next?

Since the London Marathon, I've been lacking a goal.

For the marathon I'd followed a relatively strict schedule, the Pfitzinger 55 mile plan, for four months. On the day, maybe because it was warm, maybe because I'd gone too hard in a 10k the weekend before, I didn't run as I felt that I could. That said, my fade at the end of the marathon probably only cost me about 5 minutes all in.

But I was disappointed. So, in the immediate aftermath of the race, it was tempting to just sign up for a fall marathon - like Loch Ness - and start a new training cycle.

But fall's a long way off. I am away a lot this summer with various teaching and family things, so my training might be difficult to fit in. But that's just and excuse: my real problem is that I could dedicate myself to marathon training for five more months, and maybe cut off five minutes from my London time, but so what?

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Prior to the marathon I'd signed up for a nearby sprint triathlon. So, this has been my proximal focus.

My problem with triathlon isn't running (obviously), and not swimming (which I enjoy as a complement to running). It's biking.

And I like biking. I just don't have a social structure that reinforces it. I ride on my own, and it is fine. On warm spring evenings after work, with the light on the trees, it's actually fairly good. I like poking around on roads that I haven't explored, out in the countryside.

But I haven't quite committed to cycling. I dabble. And I think I need to do more if I'm going to do more in triathlon.

*

So this was my week:

Mon: swim 1500m
Tues: run 4 miles in evening
Weds: bike 47 mins on turbo trainer (wife out for the evening)
Thurs: swim 1100m, 750 of which were hard to get an indicative time for the race
Fri: bike 15 miles + run 3.5 miles after
Sat: run 5 miles (3.1 of which were an all out - PB! - parkrun)
Sun: run 9 miles

I wanted to get another ride in on Sunday, but was out all afternoon. Maybe I'll try to ride tomorrow.

The London Marathon

I drove down to London on the Friday before the race with my wife and two children. The British motorways are often congested, and on this Friday they were particularly slow. Once a wreck happens, the traffic can back up for miles, and because of earlier accidents, there were numerous delays. We got off the motorway twice to avoid the worst of these, a strategy that was partially successful. In the end, a 7 hour drive took over 10 hours.

We arrived in Barnes, a suburb of London, and stayed with my wife's brother and his wife. Barnes is leafy, pleasant place, and the next day we could see that the trees were in full bloom.

We took the tube to the convention centre to pick up my number.

The marathon expo was well organised, and I picked up my number without having to wait. We then passed through some artificial mist to enter the merchandise area. There was a graffiti wall where people could leave messages, and my children enjoyed leaving a message for dad. The marathon labelled stuff was slightly pricey, but I bought some tights for next winter. I also picked up a powerbar for the race.

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The next morning I took an early bus, a crowded Tube train, and an overland train to the start. Runners streamed towards Greenwich park, and I settled in with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon danish. I'd eaten a bowl of cereal before I left Barnes, but I was still peckish.

I lined up between the 3:15 and the 3:30 crowd, and sat on the curb. The sun was bright, and I wore a cap and sunglasses. I could feel the heat of the sun as I waited.

Nearing start time, I stood and we were led towards the start area. Runners broke into a jog, we crossed the start line, and we were off.

Ahead, there was a sea of runners. I tried to stay near the three blue lines on the road, as these indicated the shortest route.

The first half was uneventful. My legs felt a little heavy in the early miles, but I thought that this would pass. My plan was to run 7:38 miles for the first 17 miles, and then 8:08 for the remainder. This plan took into account my likely slowing in the second half of the race. The crowds of runners were thick, but after the first mile I was able to run my pace. We passed Cutty Sark, where the crowds were huge. I ran into a friend at mile 9, and we chatted for a bit before I pulled ahead. I took a pee break at mile 13. Overall, I felt good.

I saw my family just past mile 13. The route entered the Isle of Dogs, and I was looking forward to getting to 20. Once there, I thought, I could try to shave some time off of the 8:08 mile pace I'd planned.

*

I'm not quite sure how things went wrong.

I was taking water or sports drink regularly, but just sips. I also ate my miniature dougnuts and brownie that I'd brought as fuel, and later started in on my vanilla PowerBar.

In mile 21 I started to flag. By mile 22 I stopped looking at my Garmin - it was too depressing. I was slowing.

The crowds, meanwhile were terrific. I was starting to withdraw into my own world however.

At 23 or 24 I made a deal with myself. Every time I reached a mile marker, I would be allowed to walk for 30 seconds. I needed to eek out my last reserves of energy. At 24, I tried to just focus on the feet of the runner in front of me.

In miles 25 and 26, my breathing was rapid and shallow. My left iliotibial band was starting to hurt, and my stomach felt cramped. I was moving, but most runners were passing me.

At the 800 meters remaining sign, I kept running. I could not increase my pace. It seemed like a long time until the 600 meter sign.

Then I made the turn past Buckingham palace, saw the finish, and sprinted towards it. On crossing it, I immediately leaned on a fence to get my breath back. One of the marshals urged me on. My time was 3:34:57.

*

I gathered my back from the baggage lorry, and sat under a tree. I sipped a coke that I'd brought, but it was too sweet. I tried to put on my running trousers, but when I stretched out my leg my calf locked into a vice-like cramp. I got to my feet, and eventually to the trousers out. Then, I headed out of the park, and met my family near the Thames.

*

On the positive side, I'd finished, and the crowds had been terrific. I'd been looking for a 3:24, and felt that I had the preparation to run that. So, my dramatic slowing in the last miles was discouraging - but this analysis can wait until another blog entry.

The week before the marathon...

6 days until the London Marathon.

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Yesterday I ran the Grangemouth Round the Houses 10k.

I was hoping for a personal best at the distance. I achieved this last year in this race (after 10 years of not
beating my P.B. in other 10K races).

This year, because of my training for London, I had more miles in my legs.

But I was also one year older. Doubtless this doesn't matter too much in your 20s and 30s, but now I'm 48. I don't feel slower,
but the miles are perhaps a touch harder.

*

I set off fast. There was a strong wind at the back of the 700 some runners. Mile 1 was 6:28.

I turned the corner and headed into mile two. The route was comprised of a loop through the town of Grangemouth, and ended
on the track in the stadium.

Mile 2 was 6:41.

In mile 3 we turned into the wind. I was running hard, and just focusing on the road. I passed a runner who really breathing hard - had he set out at a pace that he couldn't sustain? 3 was 6:57.

In mile 4, D., a friend from the running club caught up. He's much faster than me, but offered to block the wind a bit as he was having an easy run before the marathon (which he is also doing). I was flagging a bit, and just watching his feet helped. I certainly would have slowed without him, and so I just stuck with him and counted down the kilometer signs. 4 was 6:54.

We made the turn back towards the start, and the wind pushed us along. Mile 5 was 6:34.

The final mile turned back into the wind before entering the stadium. D. surged on, and I just kept moving. At the back of the stadium, a runner was walking. He must have really went out hard to get this far in this quick, and then, with just 200 meters left, slow to a walk. Mile 6 was 6:55.

I entered the stadium and sprinted to the finish.

*

After the finish, I was slightly disappointed. I'd run as hard as I could, with a pacer even, and had missed my personal best by 1 second. However, when I got home I checked the results and found that I had indeed ran a P.B. - 41:30 - beating my previous time by 3 second.

At a stroke, I went from feeling slightly washed up, to still vibrant.

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Last week was as follows:

Mon: swim 1250 meters
Tues: run 6.4 miles
Weds: run 8 miles with 3 x 1600 hard
Thurs: rest
Fri: run 1.8 miles on treadmill; upper body lifting
Sat: rest
Sun: run 6.2 mile race, with 1 mile warm up and 1 mile warm down.