There are plenty of enjoyable sports available to choose from- cricket, tennis, tenpin bowling, snooker….. So, as I stood on the start-line of the Trafford 10km in sideways sleet and hail, I wondered ‘why the f*&k did I choose 10km running?’.

Even within the sport of running 10km is a cruel distance. You can’t run steady like in a half marathon. It isn’t over quickly like a 5km. No, you have to run in horrible discomfort for the best part of 40 minutes. If you are racing in the UK anytime between October and April then you can factor in some shocking weather too.

I have to be honest. Over the last month I have thought about abandoning this sub-35 minutes challenge. I had flu. Yes, proper flu not man-flu, which meant no exercise for 13 days. Then a busy 2 weeks of work travel. All of this meant very little progress and when I ran a recent Borders league race for Helsby at Birkenhead Park I could only average 6 minute 13 seconds per mile for 5.3 miles. That’s only just under 39 minute 10 km pace. In other words, way off the goal of sub 35 minutes. Who would really care if I gave up? And do I really care if anyone cares? I could just ride my bike and do the occasional jog for fun…..

The thing is during some recent runs I started to get ‘that feeling’. The feeling when you go for a run and it starts to feel easier. When you realise that just the tiniest bit of fitness is coming back; that the mile times at jogging pace are starting to drop. That’s when the running addiction comes back. You start wondering what times are possible. You get angry with your current level of fitness and the fire in the belly reignites. There’s no way that I am giving up. There’s still 6 months to go.

Trafford 10km was the first 10km in my schedule. I entered it ages ago, impressed by the fast times from last year. After 2 decent weeks of running nearly every day I thought that sub 38 minutes was a realistic goal. The aim was to run as close to 6minute miles as possible.

During my 2 mile warm-up jog I could tell that there were some seriously good athletes there. You can just tell by the way the top runners move and how lean they look. I positioned myself in the first 70-80 athletes in the start pen but when the gun went off I couldn’t believe the pace that everyone took off at. An absolute stampede. I had that feeling of knowing that I had gone off too hard but not being prepared to slow down.

The first mile felt way too hard and I was expecting to see something in the range of 05:40 on the watch so when I saw it was only 05:58 for the first mile I immediately thought ‘if that’s what 05.58 feels like, how the hell am I going to keep up 06.00 per mile?!’.

During mile 2 the sleet and hail started. We were running through huge puddles of water on the road. I was working too hard for so early in the race. My watch vibrated and showed 6.00 exactly for mile 2. Some runners started to go past me.

During mile 3 I can remember thinking that it felt like I was pacing myself for 5km (3.1 miles) not 10km and that I could gladly stop here. The rain was still lashing down.

I decided before the race not to let any negative thoughts take hold and to immediately challenge them. During mile 4 a voice in my head started to tell me to slow down; that I hadn’t done enough training to be running at this pace. I shouted it down and pushed harder. My strategy now was just 1 mile at a time. Get to 5 miles then to 6 miles and then suffer through the final 0.2 miles. Little rises in the road started to take their toll. I was using the resulting downhills to recover rather than to push on. The group in front started to get away. I was in no-mans land. My breathing was too laboured for this point in the race.

Even when I am unfit, one thing I have always been good at is ‘putting myself through the mill’. Going ‘into the red’. I remember having ringing in my ears and nearly blacking out during a 10km about 10 years ago! I always feel confident I can push past my fitness. 5-6miles really hurt. I started to look for kilometre rather than mile markers. Just get to 9km I told myself! The run in to the finish seemed to take forever. I crossed as the finish clock turned 37:30. My exact time 37:29. Although my slowest ever 10km time, I was really pleased that it was significantly under the goal time of 38 minutes. I had remembered the the answer to my question in the first paragraph- the euphoria that follows pushing yourself to your physical limit.

The quality of the field was unbelievably high. The winning time was 29:26. 112 people ran under 35minutes. I was 173rd out of 1226 and 29th out of 130 Veteran 35’s. Laura Weightman broke the women’s course record with 31.59. Being part of such a brilliant field was inspirational. I drove home thinking about how I can knock more time off.

My average mile pace was 6 minutes 4 seconds per mile. To run sub 35minutes I need to run 5 minutes 38 seconds i.e. 26 seconds per mile faster. That is a huge improvement required in 6 months. I wouldn’t get good odds from the bookies.

However, I still feel really positive. The reasons are that I have run 37:29 despite:

-no track work or any interval training at all

-very low weekly mileage

-being ill

-eating and drinking too much!

The plan is to address all of the above. In particular to start to hit the track for some 10km-specific sessions, as well as add easy running to build the volume up. I still have 10kms in the diary before my big 4-0 in September. Plenty of time.

Next up, Cheshire 10km in 2 weeks time. With a decent couple of weeks of training maybe I can get closer to 37:00. Onwards and upwards!

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 28th Jan– recovery jog after Borders League yesterday (6.2 miles in 53mins)

Tuesday- Interval session at 6.15am (6 x 2.5minutes). Total of 6.1miles in 48mins. Evening train down to Reading.

Wednesday– Recovery run at 6:15am in Reading avoiding ice patches. 5 miles in 43mins

Thursday– OFF- too icy on the roads in Reading to run. 5hr train home from Reading in the evening.

Friday– started feeling ill. By evening in bed with a banging headache and a fever

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday (!!)- all in bed ill. Turned out to be proper flu. Absolutely miserable. You know you are ill when you can’t even open your eyes to watch Netflix!

Today- out of bed. Still feeling spaced out with the remains of a chesty cough. Back to square one with the running. FFS!

*Warning- there are some boring calculations in this blog entry! 

Hey folks!

It’s the 27^th January which means I now have just under 8 months to run 10km in under 35 minutes before my 40^th birthday on 14^th September. Or if I really want to scare myself I can look at it in weeks….. 33 left!

My current performances are WAY OFF where they need to be, and highlights how much of a challenge this goal really is. A few months ago I naively thought I could combine both running and cycling and still hit this goal. What was I thinking? Sometimes you just need a reality check to slap you across the face like a cold wet fish.

The soaking wet fish which caught me flush in the flabby chops was our local Helsby half marathon last weekend. I ran a time of 1:29:10 which is an average pace of 06:45 per mile. To put this in perspective in 2014 I ran the same race in 01:16:04s which is an average pace of 05:49 per mile. In other words close to a whole minute quicker per mile in 2014 compared to this year.

Today I ran a hilly 6 mile race (albeit in very strong winds) in 38:32 which is an average pace of 06:22 per mile. To go under 35 minutes I need to be running pretty much the same distance at 05:38 per mile, which would be a massive reduction of 44 seconds per mile.

Using the excellent Daniels VDOT system which predicts equivalent times for different distances (see the table below) I estimate my VDOT at 53, which means at 10km of 39:20. To hit my goal I need to get to a VDOT of 61. That is quite a considerable jump.

So, the key question is how am I going to knock over 4 minutes off my 10km time in only 33 weeks? Here is my cunning plan:

Diet & weight

I currently weigh 82 kg (at 6’1). That is way too heavy to achieve my goal. My best times in my 20’s were run at under 75kg. I was unbelievably 71kg at one point. People would come up to me and offer me food. Now, I am realistic enough to know that I am 10 years older and unlikely to ever be that light again. However, I am quite sure that I need to be no heavier than 75kg.

The effect of weight on running is enough to drive an eating disorder. It has been shown that you can run 2 seconds per mile quicker for every lb you lose. So if I lost 7kg (15.43 lb) and went down to 75kg I would be running each mile 30 seconds quicker, which would result in 03:06 off my 10km. That would take my current 10km estimate of 39:20 down to 36:14. And that’s assuming the same fitness level.

Last week I had my body fat measured by sport scientist Simon Cushman.

Despite me warning him that he might need his extra-large callipers, I was shocked to discover that my body fat is 12.5%. I was expecting it to be much higher. However, it turns out that I have very little fat on my limbs (thigh, calf, tricep) and so virtually all of it was on my belly. Classic skinny-fat physique! This means that I do have potential to get quite a bit leaner. Being only 12.5% at 82 kg makes me wonder how possible it might be to get down to 75kg. I am wondering whether I might also need some muscle mass loss too. I have put some muscle on my chicken legs over the last 5 years through my cycling.

My plans to shift the weight are quite simple, but easier said than done:

-cut out the crap i.e. crisps, chocolate, biscuits etc

-cut out the beer. If I do occasionally have a drink then have a vodka and lime or a Gin and slim-line tonic.

-eat low(er) carb. For example replace porridge for breakfast with avocados and scrambled egg. Salads for lunch instead of sandwiches etc. This has worked well for me in the past. You do need carbs on higher intensity days but can lower carbs and calories overall on easy running days.

If all of that fails then I will have to become a ‘breatharian’ :-0)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inedia

Training

There are whole books on 10km training so I will keep it brief. I will discuss this topic in more depth in another post. Getting fitter isn’t really rocket science. Key elements are:

• Consistency- I need to run every day
• Volume- I believe I will need to run 50 miles per week minimum. Probably 60 mpw in fact. I might even need to gamble with some 70-80 mile weeks as I get closer to September. Plenty of easy jogging to supplement the harder sessions
• Intensity- 2 sessions per week i.e. a shorter intervals session (e.g. 400m’s) and a longer intervals session (e.g. mile reps)
• Regular racing- get used to pacing, pain management, measurement of progress
• Recovery- massages, stretching, compression socks etc
• Conditioning- press-ups, planks, weights

I am going to speak to Chris Morgan for more specifics. He coached me in 2013/2014 towards a 01:16 half and a 02:46 marathon.

Lifestyle

My greatest barrier over the past 5 years has been my work schedule and in particular the amount of travelling involved. I need to:

-put my runs in my work diary so I know exactly when they are.

-keep running kit in my car so I can always get out for a run.

-stop staying up so late reading so I can get up early and run in the mornings

-I might even have to do a bit less client work this year so I can fit the required training in

Right. Enough talk! Time to put in the work. See you out on the road or at the races! You can follow my training on Strava and I will now post weekly training updates on this blog.

Hi folks,

So this was in danger of turning into the world’s worst blog, as I haven’t posted since Oct 23rd (6 weeks). You must have all been beside yourselves for 6 weeks desperate for a post to read? Erm…

Anyway, in summary my training has gone like this:

w/c 29th Oct- ran every day, logged 50 miles and the bottom of my foot started hurting. Did I focus on recovery and rehab? Of course not I just gave up and immersed myself in working really long hours and drinking beer.

There’s something about being your own boss that can create real workaholic behaviours. That’s a blog for another time. In fairness in the last 6 weeks I have worked in Budapest, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Dublin. Oh and also in Derby, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton and Maidenhead. So training has been difficult to fit in. As usual I have been very consistent in my beer drinking and eating out! I’ve also had to suffer the pain of toothache and subsequent root canal treatment. Having a piece of material that seems like it was ripped off a tent pushed down your mouth is the closest to a panic-attack inducing experience I have had since I stood on the scales back in August.

So basically no ‘athletic’ progress since the last blog. More like ‘pathetic’ progress.

I have considered just giving up on the goal to be honest and just doing the odd jog and bike ride for fun. But then I had a word with myself. Well actually a few words and they are nearly all unprintable.

So I’m going to start again now. I’m finishing up for Xmas on Friday 14th Dec and am going to take a good 4 weeks off (other than the odd work phone call) and start again on 14th Jan. That gives me a solid 4 weeks of training opportunity. I will be mostly jogging, trotting, shuffling and wobbling some miles and also sitting on my turbo trainer watching netflix. To show my extreme dedication I am considering giving up beer. Don’t get too shocked. I will replace with Gin & tonic!

I have also entered some races. The 2019 schedule goes like this:

January 20th- 4 Villages half marathon. I am bound to post a time in this which is absolute toilet given it is only 6 weeks away. I will do well to finish it to be honest.

January 27th- Borders league– If I (inevitably) do badly at this I will blame tiredness from the half marathon last weekend!

February 17th- Village Bakery half marathon. Looking at my current physique you might think I am sponsored by the Village Bakery but no this is an event in Wrexham with a mind-numbingly boring course. I hope to be a little bit less shit than at the 4 Villages half.

March 3rd- Borders league- I will use the same excuse as the previous Borders league but it will be less believable as I will have had 2 weeks to recover from the Village Bakery half

March 10th- Trafford 10km- There will no doubt be an excellent field at this event. Will be a good benchmark to see where I am at and how much improvement I need to make by September.

March 31st- Borders league- another one

April 5th-12th- going cycling in Italy with Amy. Will I lose weight from mega miles in the mountains or will I just over-eat pasta, pizza and ice-cream?

April 26th- Mid-Cheshire 5km- a rapid course only a couple of miles from my house!

May 27th- Vitality London 10km– thought I would enter a big event where I can get carried along by a big group!

Sept 8th- City of Salford 10km– I will find some more events between May and Sept. By this point I will have 3% body fat, be jogging 4minute miles and people will be asking me if I am part-Kenyan.

Plan to blog again soon……

A reasonable week as I start to build up the mileage slowly.

Total- 36.6 miles of running and a 50 mile bike ride. It went like this:

Monday– 5.3 miles on the road (7.46 pace)

Tuesday– 6miles hilly road run (7.53 pace)

Wednesday– No training. Was in London with work and my train home got delayed.

Thursday– 8.35 miles on the road (8.02 pace)

Friday– 6.8miles hilly off road (10.22 pace)

Saturday– 10 miles on the road (8.10 pace)

Sunday– 53mile club ride (3hrs23) with Amy and Frodsham wheelers (50miles)

Total hours of training= 8hrs32

Alcohol count- Only 1 pint of beer and 1 large glass of wine on Sat night.

Plan to start hitting 40 mpw soon. Then 50 mpw, 60 mpw etc….

Next week it will be challenging to get the training though in as I am in Dublin on Tues and Wed and then in London on Thursday!

Interesting article ‘Why high mileage beats interval training’

 

hadd marathon training

Just found this article by John ‘Hadd’ Walsh which I downloaded years ago. One of the best articles on running training I have ever read. I particularly like Part IV where he describes how he coached ‘Joe’. Great evidence for the importance of patient aerobic development through consistent high mileage.

Hello everyone.

You are now officially part of my journey from lazy fat bastard towards elite superstardom. Ok, well a sub 35minute 10km. That’s pretty much the same thing right? Feel free to encourage me or give me abuse along the way. Whatever you think will help me make some progress.

The reason I am writing about my training is that I am notoriously bad at sticking to any sort of training commitment or plan. Over the years I’ve decided to focus on triathlon and bought every bit of gear possible before then deciding running is more my thing and selling it all. Then bored of just running I decide to take up triathlon again and repeat the cycle. My wife Amy has given up even commenting. Even within each sport I have driven myself crazy trying to decide whether to focus on short distances or long distances, whether to focus on road running or trail and fell running. The choice of so many different events has paralysed me. If I choose one then I miss out on another. It relates to Barry Schultz’s Paradox of Choice. I’m sure it is all a form of procrastination to actually putting in the training for anything!

Ever since I took up running in 2003 I have only really had a few short periods of time where I have really committed to it. In 2009 (aged 29) I upped my mileage for a few months and ran 34.46 for 10km. Then in 2013/2014 I was excellently coached towards the Manchester marathon and ran a 01:16:04 half marathon along the way before running 02:46:54 at Manchester. After all that hard work the marathon course turned out to be short and so my time doesn’t even count as official. It is listed on the running results website ‘PowerofTen’ as ‘ShortMarathon’. What I’m getting at here is that I haven’t even scratched the surface of my running potential. Now aged 39 it is possible that I won’t ever beat those times again. But I’m going to give it a damn good try. In a conversation the other day about running times I caught myself saying that ‘I used to be a runner’. I felt old and I didn’t like it! Time to get serious!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton