Hello All,
I have created this quick video to help people who want to get into running, or get back into running following a long break away.
Please feel free to share it with anybody who you think might find it useful.
TTFN
Snooky
Month: April 2017
Marathon number 2 of 13 is in a few days time, and I am having a PANIC!
On Sunday 30th April I am running the Three Forts Challenge, a 27.2 mile off road marathon. The second of the thirteen marathons I have planned over the next twelve months. This is going to be a hilly one people!
From the title of this blog post, you would be right in thinking that I am a bit nervous about this race. This assumption would be perfectly valid. In fact, I had an anxiety dream about not finishing the race last night.
This is not due to the distance, or due to the hills. It is due to the cut off time. I did not check this when I booked; however upon reviewing the race website over the weekend I noticed that the race must be completed in 6 hours. That is 27.2 miles (or 43.5km) of tough hilly off road racing in 6 hours. Bearing in mind that it took me over 5 hours to complete the totally flat Brighton Marathon just 3 weeks ago, and you can start to see why I am feeling nervous.
Over the weekend I met up with my friend Tom, who is running the Race to the King (my 53 mile June Ultra-marathon) with me. We went out for a 3 hour run on the South Downs, starting and ending in Amberley. The terrain is extremely similar to what I will face at the marathon. The Three Forts Challenge has 1050 metres of elevation spread across the race distance. On Sunday, we covered 22.7km in 3 hours, with 554m of elevation.
Using simple mathematics (thank you Mr Hyden and GCSE Maths), we can work out that if I match the exact same pace I managed on Sunday at the Three Forts Challenge in 6 days time, I will cover 45.4 km in 6 hours (allowing for 1108 metres elevation).
So the race itself is 43.5km in 6 hours with 1050 metres of elevation, and I am theoretically capable of 45.4km in 6 hours with 1108 elevation. Easy, right? Nothing to worry about. I will be back with plenty of time to spare (well at least 10 minutes).
Except sadly there is plenty to worry about. I will need to stop at aide stations and get water and perhaps some food. Though this will not take long, it will eat into my time. As will the inevitability that I will not be able to maintain the same pace I would run for 3 hours over 6 hours. This is twice the distance, twice the hills and twice the time on my feet. Alas, I am more confident of returning from the race on Sunday with a DNF (Did Not Finish), than a medal.
This will mean two things. One, I will need to fit in another marathon over the next 12 months to make sure I hit my challenge of 13 marathons in 12 months. Two, the realisation of how far away I am from being able to run 53 miles non-stop (on the exact same type of terrain), will hit me like a tonne of bricks.
That’s it for this blog post. Very cheery I am sure you will agree. I am going to finish my glass of wine, watch a bit of TV and then go to bed. Perhaps overnight I will metamorphosize into Scott Jurek, or Charlie Engle, or one of my other ultra-running heroes? Or perhaps I will turn into somebody who simply doesn’t bite off more than he can chew and knows his limits.
Whilst both of these outcomes is equally unlikely as the other one, what I do know is that the human body is capable of some remarkable things when it is pushed. The Three Forts Challenge will push me, probably right to the edge, but one thing is for certain. If I don’t make the 6 hour cut off time, it will not be through a lack of effort!
TTFN
Snooky
Am I getting slower………….and is this a good thing?
I have read time and time again, that to get better as a long distance endurance athlete you need to run/cycle/swim more slowly.
The idea is that I should be exercising at an intensity that I could hold a conversation with somebody. That my heart rate is up, but not up too much. That I am in “Zone 2”, meaning that my heart rate is in that sweet spot for maximising aerobic capacity.
I usually run my training runs with a heart rate monitor, so keeping track of my heart rate is relatively easy. Using a calculation taken from the Don Fink book “Be Iron Fit’, and having achieved a maximum heart rate whilst running of 191bpm (just after crossing the line at the Great South Run following a sprint finish), I know that I need to keep my heart rate under 162bpm to stay in the magical “aerobic zone”.
Borrowing further from Rich Roll, who mentions in his excellent book “Finding Ultra” the need for him to slow down his training speed to get fitter for the mega endurance events, I have concentrated on keeping my heart rate at around the 140-145 mark. This feels about right to me. I am not out of breath, feel like I can run forever at this pace but am still getting a reasonable workout. At least I think I am. But there is one problem. I am getting slower.
Using good old Strava (click the link to follow me), I can keep an eye on my runs and track if I am getting quicker or not. Almost universally, I seem to be getting slower. Despite now running 5 days a week and concentrating on keeping in Zone 2, I am definitely getting slower.
I keep telling myself that perhaps this is not such a bad thing. Perhaps you have to get slower before you get quicker. After all, I am not trying to break any world records. That being said, it would be nice to at least feel that I am fitter and faster than I was two years ago. I simply must be fitter. There is no way you can do the amount of training I have done over the last two years and not get fitter. I have done an Ironman for God sakes. The problem is, the evidence just does not show this.
In April 2015 I was well over a stone (7kg) heavier than I am now, but I ran the Brighton Marathon in 2015 a full 4 minutes quicker than I ran it just a couple of weeks ago. I am lighter than I was in 2015 and am almost certainly fitter, but I am slower. All of my runs on Strava are tracking slower too.
If anybody out there is reading this and has experienced something similar, please get in touch and let me know. I am especially intrigued to know if you did eventually get faster, or if I am destined to be the slowest fit person in England.
I really hope it is not the latter.
TTFN
Snooky
Marathon 1 of 13 – Brighton Marathon – race report
It’s 4:30am and my alarm has just gone off. Must be time for the Brighton Marathon.
The first thing you might wonder is why the hell have I gotten up at 4.30am for a marathon that doesn’t start until 9.30am. Well I would like to say it is because I like to be super organised, but the real reason is a much longer story. To save you from all that, lets just say that I was supposed to stay locally to Brighton for the marathon, but due to one of my kids being ill and a few other unforeseen circumstances I had to stay at home in Portsmouth. So the early alarm call was to give me time to drive to Brighton and get parked before they shut the roads at 7am.
So following my drive to Brighton I was all parked up at 6.30am and meeting with Nicky from Chestnut Tree House for a taxi up to the marathon start, which is at Preston Park. Whilst loitering around on the street waiting for her, there was an unusual mix of people about. Littered amongst the lycra clad, bag carrying marathon runners were a few guys and girls who were just getting home from their night out. I fondly recalled that I used to be one of those revellers. Now I get my kicks from getting up early and running marathons. Funny how times change.
Anyway, soon enough I had met up with Nicky and some of the Chestnut volunteers and was on my way in a taxi to the start.
We were soon set up in our spot by the clock tower, and in dribs and drabs my fellow runners started to arrive. Some were running the 10k, with others running the marathon like me. As I watched everybody go about their pre-marathon rituals, pinning numbers to their vests and chatting about how much training they had done, I was delighted to see so many runners supporting the charity which I love. Chestnut and St Barnabas had over 300 runners this year, which is hugely impressive.
Soon I was deep into conversation (well mainly banter really) with Mark, Martin, Dave and Josh who I have all met through Chestnut. None of us are expert runners, but we are all equally dedicated to Chestnut / St Barnabas and fundraising for such a great cause. It was lovely to talk to them before the race. Martin was only supporting, as he has London Marathon in a couple of weeks. Mark was running the 10k with Dave, Josh and I all running the marathon.
Soon it was time to make our way down to the start corrals and await the off. There were a lot of people around. Having not run at Brighton in 2016 I was amazed how much more busy the event had got since 2015. There were literally 10’s of 1000’s of runners in all shapes and sizes. I said goodbye to Dave and Josh (who were in a different starting group to me) and made my way into the yellow starting wave. Each wave is seeded depending on your predicted finish time. I had gone for a very ambitious 4-4.30 finishing time group. A 4.30 marathon would probably be my best possible effort, but nothing ventured nothing gained……..right?
Once the white and green waves had gone, the yellow group shuffled slowly towards the starting line. There was a real buzz in the air, with people cheering and shouting. Despite this, I had an overwhelming sense of sadness wash over me. I run to raise money for Chestnut Tree House. Chestnut care for children with life shortening conditions. The children they care for rarely make it to adulthood. I was thinking about those kids, what their lives must be like and the wonderful work that Chestnut do to enrich them and a tear formed in the corner of my eye. It is an honour to run for Chestnut, and the weight of this honour fell deeply on my soul at this moment.
Slowly as we inched closer to the start it was time to start jogging and over the line I went. 2 years ago I started the marathon far too fast and paid the price, so I started nice and slowly at my target pace of 6:30 per km. We were off and running, and as we made our way round the park and off towards Brighton the sun was shining and it was a great day to be a runner. I felt fit (despite my lack of training) and was excited about the race.
Sticking closely to my pace through the first 5km, and then past 10km I was running well and feeling good. The crowd was noisy and all was well. Rather amusingly, due to wearing a back pack you could not quite see my name properly on my top. As you can see from the pictures, it looks like I have Nooky written on my top rather than Snooky. This lead to many smiles from me as the crowd shouted out “go on Nooky”. Some people were a bit quizzical about me having Nooky on my top, but never the less the crowd were cheering and shouting my name.
All of this was brilliant. All except for one thing. It was very very hot. For so early in the morning (around 10:30am at this point) it was really warm. The forecast had been for up to 23 degrees. I had no idea how hot it was, but it was easily 20 degrees at this point and was only going to get hotter.
As we proceeded out onto the seafront for the long slog towards Ovingdean, the heat became very real indeed. There was a light breeze blowing into our faces, but the sun was relentless and I was ploughing though my water bottle and topping it up at every aide station. Others were clearly suffering in the heat too, and you could hear the mutterings of other runners all around, all saying how hot it was. Having almost no experience of running marathons in the heat, I decided to keep my pace steady, concentrate on drinking a lots of water, and keep on going.
Turning around at Ovingdean and back towards the pier to complete the half marathon, I was still feeling good but was very worried about the heat and the impact it might be having on me. For the relevant pace I was going, my heart rate was about 15-20bpm higher than it should have been. I took this as a sure sign that the weather was taking it’s toll on me and was starting to fear that I was running into trouble. Sometimes, it sucks to be right.
Running relatively strongly past the 15 mile marker I started to suffer. I was so hot. Ridiculously hot. It must have been in the mid 20’s (or it certainly felt like it) and I was struggling. There was no choice but to start a walk/run strategy. Giving my heart rate a chance to slow down a bit whilst walking was a good idea, and God. knows I needed a bit of a rest. I continued this strategy through the 18 mile mark, started to feel a bit stronger and picked up the pace.
All the way round my friend Sarah (who was there supporting her girlfriend Liz) had been bumping into me and she gave me a little pep talk as I approached the dreaded power station section. My hip flexors had given up by this point (as they often do) and I lamented to her that perhaps one day I will get them sorted. Haven’t managed this yet in 3 years of endurance racing, but you never know.
As I got to the power station the heat started to become very real. There were fellow runners conking out everywhere. People were laid on the ground. Many were repeatedly being sick and there were St Johns Ambulance people all over the place. Those volunteers do a great job, but I definitely did not want to see one up close. I knew my wife would be worried about me running in the heat, so I gave her a call at this point. Usually I would not have my phone whilst running, but I have been practicing wearing my race backpack that I will use on the ultra marathon, so had my phone close at hand.
Cat was very glad to hear from me, and as I walked along talking to her she reminded me that this was my first marathon of 13 this year, and all I needed to do was finish not “kill myself” on the first one. I took her counsel well, and proceeded with my walk run strategy round the power station. As we got to mile 22, I tucked in behind a couple who were running together. The man had an M-dot tattoo on his left calf, meaning he had completed an Ironman triathlon in the past. I have a very similar tattoo myself, so decided that I would stick with him and he could pace me to the finish. Sticking close behind the couple for a couple more miles, I then walked the first half of mile 24 before deciding to run to the finish.
As the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”, and I could not maintain the run for that long. I was clearly way more dehydrated than I had thought, so after one more brief walk I ran the final mile and crossed the line in 5:07.
Bearing in mind the ridiculous heat, I was very pleased with the time. Sadly I felt absolutely awful when I stopped running and had to make my way to the Chestnut Tree House tent in the event village for a well earned packed of crisps and a nice cold coke. Following on from this I felt OK again, and reflected back on what I now consider to be my hardest ever marathon. I have run much hillier races, an also run a marathon at the end of an Ironman after swimming 2.4 miles and cycling 112, but Brighton this year was definitely physically my toughest.
I guess I just don’t do too well in the heat. Still I have learnt some valuable lessons from this marathon, and will take these with me into my next marathon, the Three Forts Challenge, on the 30th April (3 weeks time). This will pose a whole new set of problems, with over 1000 metres of climbing over the 27 mile course. Let’s hope it’s not so hot!
As always, I would like to say a massive thank you to the amazing Chestnut Tree House supporters who turned up in the heat to cheer us all on. Also a huge thanks to my wife Cat, who was busy spamming Facebook with updates as my race unfolded, trying to get the sponsorship money flowing.
So with one marathon under my belt, and 12 more to go (including two ultra marathons), it is time for me to sign off and get my head into gear for the next short burst of training before the 30th. Hope you are all well.
TTFN
Snooky
PS – if you can please share my website using the buttons below or in the column on the left I would be hugely grateful. I really want to raise as much money as I can for Chestnut and everybody who shares this on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media will be helping raise much needed money for this hugely deserving charity.
Thank you.
I feel my epic journey has finally begun
This morning I sent out my first Facebook post to start the ball rolling on my fundraising for my 13 marathons in 12 months challenge.
It is always strangely nerve wracking trying to raise money for charity. In 2015 I set a very ambition fundraising target and managed to hit it (see article here). This year I am trying for even more. To better what I achieved in 2015.
You never know whether people are going to be inspired to donate or not. You cannot tell whether your story is interesting enough, or people will care as much as you do about the charity you support.
All I want is to do Chestnut Tree House proud. It truly is an amazing place, full of inspirational people and some of the loveliest people I have ever met work for them. The care that they provide is second to none, and without them there would be 100’s of children with life limiting illnesses that would receive nothing. No care at all, during what must be an awful time in their lives.
Fingers crossed this fundraising goes well. Fingers crossed people are inspired. Fingers crossed that me, one man, can successfully run 13 marathons in 12 months and raise a bucket load of cash for a very deserving cause.
Follow the link below to see more about my fundraising, or click here to read about it on this website.
Humbly yours.
Snooky
Snooky's Adventures 