We’ve reached the end of the first month of 2017, skidding to a halt in the midst of a changing world which twelve months ago many of us would find unfathomable. Twelve months ago I wasn’t up to much; staggering through a pretty hefty dose of the January blues and trotting around Stonehaven every so often if I could find the motivation. However I’m really pleased to report that this year I’ve had a great start to year in terms of training, and I think the tide is finally beginning to turn on the slump that I’ve been in for months. Here’s what went down!
Lunch Running – #Runch
We’ve been blessed with extraordinarily good weather in Edinburgh this January, making it easier than ever to log off from my computer and head out of the office for an hour or so of running. From my central Edinburgh location I’ve enjoyed tempo jaunts along the Union Canal, speed reps around the Meadows, and adventures on the ‘Inner Tube‘ routes out to the Coast. I’ve been aiming to get out at lunch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and most weeks managing two of the planned runs and shifting the other to an evening.
A need for speed
I’m getting faster again! I’m seeing my splits on ‘easy paced’ runs get shorter and that pace feeling a lot easier. The sense of relief at running becoming less of a struggle is amazing, and I’m so glad to be enjoying myself again. I’ve lost a little weight and got some of my running form back, and it all seem to be coming together again. It’s remarkable what some commitment and consistency can do.
Long Runs
There were four weekends in January and I smashed a Long Run on each of them. Week 1 was an 11 mile / 11 mile back to back on roads, Week 2 was 18 snowy trail miles in Stonehaven, Week 3 was a 20 mile solo road run, and Week 4 was a 26.3 mile micro-ultra at the West Highland Way Race training weekend at Balmaha. I was really pleased with the 20 miler as I maintained a good steady pace and finished strongly – I wanted to do this to test my road legs and my endurance to benchmark ahead of the D33. I completed it in 3hrs 16 minutes, which is pretty much exactly where I want to be for aiming for a 5 hour D33 finish. The West Highland Way run was tough and took me 6 hours, but it was a great (albeit wet) day out.
Trail Running
Two of my Long Runs have been in two of my favourite places to run this January. Here are some shots which I’ve shared on Instagram; are we following each other over there? If not, then head on over to @rhinomittens.
18 sunrise miles on snowy trails in Fetteresso Forest
26.3 miles on the West Highland Way by Loch Lomond
So the running has been good so far – a total of 156 miles ran, which is my highest monthly total since FEBRUARY 2015. My highest monthly mileage in 2016 was 104 in July, and whilst I ran 175 miles in February 2015, in the rest of that year my highest monthly total was only 135. This represents some serious change, and I am delighted to finally share this with you.
Other Things
It was the Stonehaven Running Club prizegiving ceilidh and I (somehow) achieved a bronze standard award for my running achievements in 2016. This means I completed 4 formal events of which 1 must be a minimum of 10k, and two of which must be over 55% WAVA. I completed 5 events and my two over 55% were a 25:03 parkrun in January which scored 59.03% WAVA, and the Stonehaven Half Marathon in 1hr 56m 28s, which netted a 56.59% WAVA.
I would like to aspire to achieve a Silver standard like I did in 2014, but rather controversially the standards have been made far more strict since then, which makes a Silver standard a bit more out of reach for your moderately average Senior runner. Ironically my best chance of a Silver is to stick to short events – 1 Mile, 3k, and 5k; so perhaps this summer I will do the Sri Chinmoy short races in the Meadows. And try not to throw up afterwards.
Mikeller Running Club
In my last post I mentioned that I went along to a new running group. but then I failed to follow up on the promised details. Apologies; I moved house recently and these things rarely go smoothly alongside normal life, and I also had some major PHP database issues with my website hosting recently, but that’s not very interesting to read about. Anyway; I went along to the Edinburgh branch of the Mikeller Running Club in January and really enjoyed meeting some new people. They are sponsored by the Danish brewery, meet once a month, go for a run, and then finish at their ‘Clubhouse’ (local craft beer bar) for a few drinks. Sounds perfect, yes? They also have Chapters all over the world where you will always be welcomed to join in if you’re visiting. The next run in Edinburgh is this Saturday, and you can find out more here.
So what’s next?
Other than my first 11/11 back to back, I haven’t completed any proper ultramarathon training back-to-back runs. This has been because I’ve noticed that lately I’ve taken a little longer to recover from Long Runs than I used to – this is hardly surprising as I’ve taken more than a year off from tough training. I’m not an idiot, and as much as I love seeing the miles clock up, I’m aware I need to be wise as I re-introduce training to my routine which my body has temporarily forgotten about. I’ve been feeling a lot more fatigued after Long Runs, and my legs have been stiff – which is quite normal for most people, so I’m not concerned!
In February I’m going to reintroduce back-to-back weekend runs and see how it feels. I’ve got another 11/11 easy planned this weekend, then three more weekends of 26, 28 and 20 mile Long Runs before a two week taper for the D33. The 26 is actually 26.2 and a trial of a trail marathon event Stonehaven Running Club is hoping to launch next year, and the 28 will be the traditional Stonehaven – Balmakewan road run, ending with lots of cake.
This will all be supported by lots of yoga, foam rolling, and sensible food and drink choices (I’m remembering how much better treats taste when you know you’ve solidly earned them, and I like it!). I’ve done a lot of work in the last month, so if I can do it all again this month then I’ll be skidding to a halt at the start of the D33 in great shape.
How is your training going?
When is your first 2017 race?
What is your favorite treat after a big effort? I love a big breakfast the morning after a Long Run
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