How quickly do you lose endurance!

During the past two weeks I have steadily been building up the mileage with 26 miles done last week and 28 miles completed this week. Of course all runs are finished off with the obligatory partial squats. Runs for this week are below.
  • Sun - 10 miles pre breakfast 01:35:52
  • Tue - 5 miles fast run 39:31
  • Thu - 8 miles hill repeats 01:14:59
  • Fri - 5 miles recovery run 47:28
Physically and mentally I think I have adapted well to 4 runs per week with different running distances and intensity. We have the long run, a killer fast run, intense and fast (hill repeats) and a comfortably brisk run. Apart from calves that do require constant stretching the rest of the lower body has been recovering well.
Some runs are done before breakfast (I do get some strange looks from drivers at 5.30am) and some are done whenever I can schedule them in around domestic chores and spending time with the family.

Tonights run was a little different to previous weeks as one of my friends who is coming back to fitness wanted to come out tonight with me on my normal 5 mile run. It was a good chance to catchup and also I tend to do all my training on my own.
One thing that was interesting to see as we ticked the miles off was that as we jogged at a pace averaging 9 1/2 minute mile my friend was struggling with 3.5 miles gone. He hadn't been for a run of any distance for about 6 weeks and it was quite shocking to see how quickly your body can lose its endurance over a relatively short period of time.

On the other hand I was cruising at this pace and asked my friend if he minded (which he didn't) that I take off with 0.5 miles to go and push the pace to a sprint finishing off with 400 partial squats.

I think that tonights run was enjoyable as it allowed me to catchup with a friend but it also made me think that, as my training mileage gets longer and longer the risk of injury will rise and any significant time out would have an impact on losing my speed / endurance. Therefore its so important to listen to your body and keep it guessing to help build speed, endurance, strength and most important of all keep it flexible and supple using a pre / post stretching program.

Stepping up to 30+ miles a week next time so that should be fun as I haven't done that in months. Have a good weekend all!

Richard

Training / Diet / Injury

Hi Everyone.

I haven't posted for a while and the main reason for that is that I have been re-evaluating my training program due to the fact I want to properly prepare myself for next years challenges and to minimize injuries going forward.

About a month ago I decided to take my training forward. After a recommendation from a fellow ultra runner to incorporate the services of an Online coach I decided to take the plunge and signed up for 3 months training.

Well I have to say that after a month of coaching I got to say my training, diet and enjoyment factor have all taken a leap forward. I am enjoying my training like never before and my diet has improved dramatically in order to help with the recovery process. Each run I feel stronger and stronger even though a lot of them now are done before breakfast at 5.30am. This is what I did this past week:
  • Sun 8 miles - 75 mins (Long run)
  • Tue 5 miles - 42.5 mins (Fast run)
  • Wed 6 miles - 57 mins (Hill Repeats)
  • Fri 5 miles - 44 mins (Moderate fast run)
So doing about 24 miles a week. 26 miles planned next week and 28 the week after.

I am really wanting to get out there and do some other races before Xmas but with only 4 weeks to go it will have to wait until the new year. In the meantime the training will continue and eventually I will need some new shoes as my current ones I coming to their end.

Looking forward to a peaceful weekend with not much going on at all. Bliss.

Have a good weekend
Rich


It has been a while


Hi everyone.

It has been sometime since my last post and that been mainly due to a very busy domestic schedule spending time with the family and slowly coming back from a suspected stress fracture in my left foot.

However I am now back in training and decided it was about time to book my first event for next year. So I decided to enter the Lakeland 50.

Having always wanted to go to the Lake District I thought why not see it the best way possible and throw in a challenge. There is a 100 race option as well however I thought that it would be a wiser decisiong to do the 50 mile race. It still has 10,000 feet of ascent / descent, involve map reading navigation and running into the night all of which I have never done.

Really looking forward to this event but I will need to up the mileage, plan in some more events before then as it is in July and purchase some some new additional kit (backpack, headtorch etc).

Until next time

New Challenges

During the last few weeks I have been trying to actively rest and recover from the 50 mile challenge due to the fact I had a suspected stress fracture in my left foot.

Fortunately I have returned to training this week and over the coming weeks look to bump up the mileage and perhaps book in a couple of events.

During this time I have constantly thought to myself what am I going to do next year??

Although I haven't decided definitively yet what I want to do the idea of a race longer than my first ultra is strongly weighing on my mind.

The race in question is the 85 mile Ridgeway Ultra Challenge. Heard really good things about it this year so it may well feature next year once I get my head around it.

Also under consideration are taking part in other ultra races in the early part of the year (Tring2Town) and possibly some marathons over the coming months. Hopefully I will get a place in London Marathon but if I don't there is plenty of other races to do instead.

That's all for

Rich

Inspiration

If you ever feel low on motivation to get out there and run take a look at this video to show what's possible in the world of UltraRunning. Some amazing scenery and races but mostly in the US :-)

The 50 mile Challenge - Canterbury, Kent

It has now been one week since taking on my very first ultramarathon (never done a marathon before either) and I have almost fully recovered from what can only be described as one of most enjoyable and toughest experiences in my life so far. It was called "The 50 Mile Challenge" - www.50milechallenge.co.uk.


My good friend Jamie drove me down to the event from my house and dropped me off at 5.15am just outside the car park. Many thanks for this Jamie as you did play a small but significant part in this whole adventure.



I found the "Gate Inn" pub that was to be the "Start/Finish" point for the challenge. I registered my name for the event and read the disclaimer on my health and fitness levels just in case I wanted to change my mind :-).


It was at this point I met Mike Inkster the event organiser who is a veteran of countless ultra marathons and endurance events (Gobi Challenge and Marathon Des Sables for example). He was very helpful and informative regarding the logistics for the event. I then went outside to arrange my race essentials that I had in my backpack (Mule Bars, Nuun Electrolyte tablets, Gatorade, Pretzels, Flapjacks, spare bottles of water, Running Jacket and IPod if required later in the race).

Having got a cup of much needed tea I started chatting to some of the other guys taking part about their race experience. Two great guys who I must mention, Barry and Dave had taken part in 26 marathons between them but this was their first ultra. They appeared quite shocked that I hadn't even completed a marathon (longest run was 17 miles in training).

The course was 6.55 miles long, and consisted of grassy tracks, tarmac paths and roads, each lap starting and finishing at the pub. The course was mostly flat, although the ground was very uneven. I had been concerned about the weather, as there had been rain predicted but it turned out for the most part to be a sunny day.


Things were feeling good after the first 2 laps (13.1 miles), I was eating and drinking well and I had pretty much got used to the off-road parts of the course but did feel that maybe later on in the race I would that my lack of off road (trail running) would start to take its toll on my feet particularly.

During the third lap however the field thinned out a lot and I started my run/walk strategy (standard 25 minutes run 5 minutes walk). My intention was to keep this up for as long as possible and then work downwards i.e. 10 minutes run 3 minutes walk, 5 minutes run 1 minutes walk and so on.


At the 23 mile mark (4hrs 30 minutes mark) I started to physically feel very empty and mentally I hit my first low point of the challenge. My feet hurt in particular especially my left foot which was feeling quite painful at that point and the weather started to turn nasty (wind and rain) so I decided to walk for about 10-15 minutes to recover and had a Mule energy bar something to drink. I then spotted Mike out on the course who said to me "Don't worry you are doing great in just over 2-3 miles you would have completed a marathon. Well done". This gave me a great boost and as I made it back to the pub I had completed 26.2 miles in 5 hours 10 minutes.


The rain moved on although the gusting wind remained and I started my fifth lap still feeling very sluggish and struggled through this lap at a much slower pace (a lot of power walking on this lap), the countryside that had been so great to look at now became monotonous and added to the mental challenge this even presented in the first place.


As I started the sixth lap I decided it was time to get the IPod out. I started to think about my daughters, wife, friends and family and felt a surge of emotion around the 34 mile mark combined with the music pushed me to pick up the pace (10.5 minute miles) and this lasted for the next 2-3 miles. Was this what people refer to as "The Runners High" who knows. As I completed the sixth lap (39.3 miles completed in 9 hours 15 minutes) I was feeling really tired and I had a couple of blisters on my left foot but then I saw my wife and daughters waiting to greet me.


Having seen my wife and daughters for the first time all day this was really uplifting and I decided to really plough as much energy into these last 2 laps as I could. The seventh lap was very hard as my feet were really uncomfortable forcing me to shuffle and walk slower than I wanted to. On the last lap I decided to leave the IPod in the bag and finish what I started no matter what pain came my way.




As I came into the finish line my family started to clap me and then I saw my boss from work who had come down to see me finish at the pub. I crossed the finish line in 12 hrs 31 minutes, collecting my medal and certificate.




It was a day of high and low emotions and I want to thank my family/friends who supported me and helped raise sponsorship for "The Shooting Star" Childrens Hospice. I look forward to the next challenge whatever it maybe. See you soon.