Running Outside The Box

End of winter training

2012-03-06T14:43:00.000Z

Training during Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb was all about getting lots and lots of base mileage under my belt (average 280 per month) .The vast majority of my runs have been on tarmac and dull dull dull. Speed is OK and my slow heart rate runs (70%) are coming in about 8 - 8:30 min miles which means long slow runs are enjoyable!

I now knock out the boring runs during the week so I can get to fun on the trails at the weekend. I’ve had 2 big(ish) sessions over the last few weeks - a four hour run with George and Gavin and a 3.5 hour run with Mike. Both were in sections of Feteresso forest which I’ve never set foot in before and it really does wonders for the soul :)

I’m just seeing the upcoming ultras as a day out running on trails that I don’t normally frequent (with great chat and beer as well!) rather than any sort of achievement. I’m really looking forward to the Highland Fling and Cateran Trail as I’ve never been on them.

I decided to abandon my PB attempts at marathon and HM. I’m too bloody lazy and why would you want to half kill yourself on the road when you can soak up the hills/trails?

First up is the D33 next weekend. Aberdeen to Banchory and back. It is also the week of my 40th birthday AND St Paddys night so I’m sure a few ales will be had..

Thoughts about 2012 and racing

2011-11-29T11:27:00.000Z

It's that time of year again where the race season is over and its time to knuckle down for some serious base building over the winter months. Time to think about races for next year.

I *almost* put an entry in for the 2012 WHW race but common sense prevailed. Firstly, I was not 100% sure and I’m guessing you need to be pretty certain before entering. Secondly, even though I had ran a qualifying race (two in fact) I still haven’t ran the Highland Fling and that is a bit of a mental hurdle for me. Lastly, I have a number of other running goals to consider and running a *huge* race in the middle of the year would likely make them unachievable in 2012. My rough race plan for 2012 is:

March 11th Inverness HM PB attempt
April 15th Lochaber Marathon PB attempt
April 28th Highland Fling Ultra
May recovery
June/July PB attempts over 2 or 3 races (10k/10M/HM)
August 4th Devil O The Highlands Ultra
Middle of August: walk West Highland Way with my dad.

Then I can choose either an autumn ultra (Glenmore or Glen Ogle), autumn marathon PB attempt (Loch Ness, Toon Moor) or autumn HM PB attempt (Aviemore Half, Glen Clova, Fraserburgh). Or create my own autumn challenge outwith races?

I would have to sacrifice running the D33 to go for the earlier PB attempts and not run the Cateran Trail Ultra to get my speed up for summer racing. This way I’ll hopefully get some shiny new PBs as well as a couple of *good* attempts at ultras.

WHW Walk Photos

2011-11-25T20:27:00.000Z

My Dad is a keen walker and trains hard to walk one road marathon and one trail marathon each year. This year he completed the Belfast Marathon and the Causeway Coast Marathon (in third place no less!). For his 70th birthday this year he came over from N-Ireland and we went for a 2 day walk from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William (staying over in Kinlochleven). The weather was terrible even for October. At least there were no midgies! I took a lot of photos and here are my favourites.

It was interesting to get time to look around more in comparison to running the Devil O The Highlands. I certainly appreciated having a better camera than my wee mobile phone cam that I used during the race.

My Dad totally enjoyed it and we are hoping to walk the full distance over 5 days at some point in 2012. Preferably in full sunshine and during season so we can use a baggage service!

River Ayr Way Ultramarathon 2011

2011-09-27T11:38:00.002+01:00

I decided to run the River Ayr Way (RAW) ultra to complete 4 races in the SUMS series and also to have another >65KM race under my belt which could help in applying for the West Highland Way race in 2012. Vikki also seemed keen to run it so we set off on Friday after tea to Ayr.

We stayed in a lovely b+B (http://www.millerhouseayr.co.uk/) and went out for a quite pre race beer in the local pub. Stupidly this turned into 4 pints of San Miguel which gave me a poor nights sleep and a lethargic hangover when I woke at 5:30am. It didnt help that I was feeling the lurgy earlier on that week and was weak already. This probably explains why the rest of this report is a bit moany!

We turned up to the Citadel Sports Centre at 7:20 with 10 minutes to spare before the bus turned up to take us to the start. There was nobody there! We checked the place out and bumped into another runner who was in the car park. Vikki checked her email and found out the website and email said different things! We were supposed to be at Dam Park Stadium (I knew from facebook the finish had been changed to here). Luckily the other runner had a car and we sped round to the proper pick up point. Moral of the story is always read the race directors emails in the run up to a race (although it would be nice if information was consistent for idiots like me!).

At the pick up point we met Andy and Donald and was introduced to Colin Knox. After the panic I enjoyed the usual pre race friendly banter. Then Andy told me that there were only 5(or 6?) drop bag checkpoints now (as per email) as opposed to the 8 listed on the website. This threw me as I had been banking on 8 stops for food. Grrrrrr- I doubled up some bags and reckoned I'd just wing it en route. This was my own stupid fault again (website says one thing, email another) but by the time we got to Glenbuck for the start I was feeling pretty negative. I think it was at this point it dawned on me that I would not be getting home until about 10pm and the though of running till teatime and then driving for 3-4 hours dragged me down.

When the race began I was a little saddened to see how many people were listening to ipods. I can understand some people need them later in the race when they need a lift or a boost - but from the very start? And it wasn't one or two people either. Normally I don't frown on this sort of thing but a lot of the course is narrow single track and we did have a few issues during the race where we had to overtake on the verge (rabbit holes etc) just becasue folk couldn't hear us.

The first 5 miles or so felt terrible. I was having a tough time and thought the route was uninspiring. Then, after the first checkpoint it really changed. The course became quite beautiful and had a lot of fun forest/woodland
sections. As usual there was quite a lot of fun banter with other competitors and within an hour or two I had become much more positive.

At time the route was very very mucky and very overgrown. However it was a lot of fun and certainly something I would consider running again. I found it a lot tougher than expected possibly due to lurgy/hangover/mental attitude and was willing the finish line to come for the last 3 hours. Perhaps it was also the fatigue of having run the Devil and Speyside recently. However, even feeling like this, there was still a lot of enjoyment to be had. There were a few sections where we wondered if we were still on course but overall the marshalling and signposts were superb.

The race had a stadium finish and we made a real effort to overtake a few folk. I've got to say I enjoyed the finish. The object was to run with Vikki and finish strong. I am not sure I finished strong but did feel an
achievement at actually crossing the line.

Overall, I would reccommend the race and certainly think I learned a thing or two. It also helped me to decide not to run the WHW race in 2012. I'd rather have a lot more "middle distance" ultra experience (40-60 miles) under my belt and possibly at my own pace now.

Lastly, my mum had sent me some dried seaweed for the bath. This was supposed to be a relaxing substitute for bubble bath or something. It was certainly oily and interesting although it made me smell like a harbour.

Speyside Way Ultramarathon 2011

2011-08-28T16:16:00.001+01:00

The goal for this years Speyside Way Ultramarathon was to finish the 36.5 miles with a smile on my face, feeling strong and knowing I could continue running rather than “feeling like a burst sofa” (to quote Al). To that end I was going to be running with Alan Stewart and Tommy who were attempting an ultra for the first time. As I’d rather be running for a longer time to get the experience of time on feet (not often you can say that about a race!) we had agreed on a pace of about 10 minute miles. Hopefully we’d get in about 7 hours.
We camped in Buckie on the Friday night and it was pretty uneventful apart from being woken up 12-2am by drunken teenagers. We’ve all been there and done that, plus I probably would have had a restless nights sleep anyway. At least the rain held off and the tents were dry to pack away at 6am.
The race start was well organised and we were bussed to Ballindalloch where there were additional portaloos this year - really appreciate that so great job by the organisers.

Me, Tommy, Mike and Al

Before we knew it we were all lined up at the start. Al, Tommy and myself were wanting to start with Jonathan Mackintosh. Before that I managed to say a quick “Best of luck” to a few of the elites (Lucy Colquhoun and Paul Giblin I think). Saw Al and Tommy about ¾ down the line so went to grab Jonathan who was behind the gate. At that point I was confused to see all the runners trotting past me. Then the penny dropped - the race had bloody started! Arhahhhhh - quick sprint back to Al and Tommy and we were off. Unfortunately we didn’t see Jonathan until the end.

Al and Tommy

The first 12 miles flew by and were pretty uneventful. We paced about 9:30-10min miles. We did a lot of walking on the uphill section through the forestry and the three of us were feeling good and still pretty strong.

I was keeping the lads right by having stops every 30 mins for food/electrolytes/water.

Just before the turn into Fochabers I felt a pain in my arm and looked down to see a wasp stuck in it and buzzing like a mad thing. I realised there were at least 2 more round me. I’d like to think I acted in a “manly fashion” but I know I let out a very feminine yelp and resembled Kate Bush dancing in that Wuthering Heights video. Tommy was out in front having a wee chuckle and 2 lady marshalls were giggling. When I reached them one said “Why not use a docking leaf?”. I replied it wasn’t a nettle but a wasp sting. She looked concerned, paused and then said “Well, at least it’ll take your mind off your sore legs for a bit” and burst out laughing again. Must admit this raised a big laugh from myself :)

Got through Fochabers and Tommy started to slow. He got a spasm in his right leg and was struggling. He told Al and myself to go on but we wanted to stay and spur him on as much as possible. Also met another chap who was doing a walk 1 min, walk 4 mins strategy. He seemed in chipper spirits. This was his first ultra and he’d picked up a spasm in his left leg! I told him he should be proud that he has managed his energy levels so well and it was just his legs letting him down - at least he’d “done everything right”. Seemed like a nice bloke and was happy to plod it out to the end. We played cat and mouse racing with him for the next few miles.

Tommy was struggling and I suspect it was a combo of sore legs and enegry depletion. Took the right turn after Fochabers and spied in the distance that the other spasm chap had taken a wrong turn. I sprinted after him and caught up after 3-4minutes. Nice to see there was still a bit of speed left in the legs!

Al and myself decided to run on at the 28(ish) mile mark. I don’t think we were helping by trying to spur him on and he’d be better to run his own race from that point instead of trying to keep up and feeling bad about it.

For the next few miles we were doing 8:30-9ish pace. Got to the sea and Al asked to pick the pace up! We ran 8 min miles for a bit and then realised there were only a few miles left. I think we both wanted to overtake folk if we could so ran 7:30 pace from mile 34(ish) to the end. I was really proud that Al managed this comfortably in his first Ultra! I think we overtook 5 or 6 folk at this point.

Al storming it

Came in at 6:39. I was happy to have spent a reasonably long time running and still felt strong. Good signs :)

Mike met us at the finish. He had stormed yet another ultra - 5:01 and 10th place. What a lad!

Next up the lad with spasm leg came in (6:55ish?) and we shook hands and had a giggle about the diversion. Tommy came in at 7:09 looking sore but pleased with himself. He was pretty positive about being back next year. Then Jonathan was in at 7:23. He looked a broken man but he had PBd. As Al said to him on facebook - “it's easy to run when you're feeling strong and hard when you're struggling so you should great character and strength getting round”. A fantastic effort.

So I managed to achieve my goals and enjoyed the route. Last year I finished swearing my head off. This year I was smiling and joking. Huge respect to the organisers for getting everything spot on. The race just gets better and better. I’ll be back next year.

The River Ayr Way Ultra (44 miles) is next. Same goals - have fun and finish strong. Also, avoid wasps.

Lessons learned:

- I had Choc Soya milk and 25g almonds at the 2 + 4 + 6 hour marks. The idea was to give my stomach a rest from carbs and feed it some protein and fat. This worked remarkably well and was very refreshing.

- For the rest of the time I used shot bloks. A great carb to weight ratio but I think I want to experiment with “real food”.

- I used SCaps rather than Hammer caps this time. I think they worked better due to higher sodium.

- The addidas Kanadia shoes hurt my right heel. Not killer sore but it feels slightly bruised today. Maybe it is time to invest in new trail shoes?

- We took the downhills easy. My quads are thanking me today.

Dairy free diet and number counting

2011-08-18T18:01:00.000+01:00

As a quick recap: 2009 got psoriasis on sole of foot, ruined my running, tried multitude of creams and potions, finally saw specialist May 2010, Sept 2010 tried new cream, Oct 2010 went vegan (decision was unrelated to foot), got the "all clear" early 2011.

In May this year I gave up veganism and "downgraded" to vegatarianism. Then my psoriasis returned. First to my fingers, then my scalp and finally my foot. I reduced dairy for a month or so (to no effect) but when I had to superglue my foot in order to run I decided that I needed to cut out dairy altogther. Within a week of
becoming vegan again my psoriasis had 100% vanished from my fingers and had almost gone
from my scalp and foot! That may not be a fool proof conclusion in scientific terms but in my eyes: eating dairy=get psoriasis=no running.

That's been 4 weeks now and I am used to the diet again. In fact I quite enjoy it especially working out the cal/carb/protein amounts required for the training I do. I run 10 miles every day except Sundays where I run a wee bit more. Average is about 70-80 miles per week. Food wise I average about 2500 cals a day with 400g carbs and 100g protein. Additional cals/carbs tend to come from beer! I take 2 vitamin supplements daily, mainly to cover B12 requirements.

On my previous vegan phase I did get asked what I ate from other runners so here is a breakdown of yesterdays menu:

1 litre Soya milk throughout the day
breakfast: massive green salad with nuts and cranberries
second breakfast: Chick pea/pea/olive oil/chilli/lemon salad
snack: bagel with jam
snack: banana
lunch (after run): porridge with sugar followed by 2 mugs of sweet tea
snack: apple and a pear
tea: chili with rice and extra kidney beans followed by 2 mugs sweet tea
snack: porridge with sugar
supper: toast with peanut butter and jam

Anyway, here's hoping the psoriasis is gone. Then I'll probably stop bloody banging on about it ALL THE TIME ;-)

Devil O' The Highlands 2011

2011-08-09T09:14:00.000+01:00

I have ran 2 ultramarathons before and had crumbled quite badly in both near the end. After the four hour mark they had gone to hell in a bucket. This was clearly a pacing issue as I was trying to race them and couldn't keep a marathon pace up beyond marathon distance (DOH!). My only goal for the Devil Ultra was to finish strong with a smile on my face. To that extent, Vikki kindly agreed to let me run with her and hopefully this would be mutually beneficial - she would stop me storming off and I might push her to run more sections than she normally might have. Ian and Laurie were our support crew and a fantastic job they did as well.

In the end it worked out perfect. To be honest I could not believe that 6, then 7, then 8 hours had passed and I still felt top of the world. I am so chuffed about this that I'm still sitting here with a grin on my face

Needless to say I will be back again next year as I found it absolutely superb. I do, however, want to take note of lessons learned:

- running well within your limits makes for a far better expreience.
- running well within your limits allows you to go much much further.
- walking (either enforced on hills or by choice) for sections helps later in the race.
- food I am happy with: shot blocks for running, soy milk/soy pudding/bananas for checkpoints.
- if you need to poop then do so ASAP. Don't hold it in.
- I got sore sides (kidneys?) in the last few miles. I am not sure what caused this but I think too much liquid and/or electrolytes (too much or too little?).
- you are not immune to midgies and there is a reason why support crew are wearing those funny hats. I now look like I have chicken pox.

Disease ridden and banging the Devil

2011-07-29T14:59:00.000+01:00

Best laid plans and all that! Those that know me will be aware that I am *slightly* prone to changing my mind about races and all things running. The amount of times I've signed up to a race/run/plan and then backed out is a bit of a running joke. After starting my high mileage plan in March I decided to abandon all ultramarathons and concentrate on racing shorter distances. This has paid off by getting under 40mins for 10K and under 90mins for HM.

The next stage was to carry on with Hadd training and try to achieve a sub 3hr marathon. I was hoping that would have been at Loch Ness this year.

But (and there was always going to be a but!) my psoriasis came back. It has slowly started to get worse since I resumed eating dairy in May. However it got really bad when I was on holiday in Ireland and to my horror it had returned to my foot

No need to panic though - I have gone back to a fully vegan diet in the last week and seen significant improvement. I have also returned to the creams and potions supplied by the NHS specialist. Things are looking better and I've only needed to superglue my foot together once

Here's the rub though. I've realised that I may not be a consistent runner forever. God knows whats round the corner and maybe this time next month I'll be on the injury bench for months until the pox dies down a bit. So while I still have the chance, do I really want to remember my running as a means to an end - regimented training and a struggle to hit a self imposed timed goal? When I thought about my mates running on the West Highland Way next weekend having a whale of a time with fantastic scenery I was simply jealous. That is what I'd like to remember if it all goes pear shaped.

So change of plan. I'm running/jogging/bimbling the Devil O The Highlands Ultra next weekend (well, I'm on the reserve list) and also Speyside Ultra at the end of August. I have no time in mind and am running it with Mrs_Shanksi - I want to take it easy, enjoy myself and have a whale of a time with mates. I'll continue with the Hadd training because I really enjoy it and it is superb for my fitness. Long may it continue

Hiatus

2011-06-21T09:17:00.000+01:00

I've not put any updates here since the D33 race as I've been taking a small hiatus from long distance running. My injurys last year meant I've been left with less than optimal running fitness and I made the decsion to abandon ultra running at least until I had retained my form up to marathon distance.

Progress is slow but I am feeling fast again. I am training daily with Mike using Hadd methods and have developed my areobic base considerably in the last 4-5 months. Heart rate training at 300(ish) miles per month has yielded good results. I've set a new half marathon PB of 1:29 (from 1:35) and new 10K PB of 38:53 (from 40:29).

Thanks to Rhona for the pic

Not sure I'll do another 10K this year as they are too bloody fast. The plan is to do 2 half marathons over the summer (Dyce and Moray) to try and get closer to 1:25 and then my main race is the Loch Ness Marathon in October. My PB is 3:23 so I'd like to hammer that.

Then, I am hoping to test the waters with a longer run again. Hopefully I should cope better with a larger areobic base and some strength in the legs. At the moment I am thinking about a longer run late October/early November but will wait to see what Mike's plans are. Whatever happens I'll still be trying to use Hadd methods as they have worked out really well for me. Here is the plan for those who are curious:
http://www.counterpartcoaching.com/hadd.pdf

A huge congratulations to all the WHW runners at the weekend. Massive well done to Mike for his 21.5 hour finish - the man is a machine!

Dee33 2011 - summary and thoughts

2011-03-21T09:51:00.000Z

The Event:

First and foremost it must be said what a superb event this is. George Reid has something to be really proud of here - well supported and marshalled, run like clockwork without a hitch, friendly, and it feels like a *fun* event. The route is 16.5 miles along the Deeside Way from Duthie Park (Aberdeen) to Banchory then 16.5 miles back. To begin with, it isn't very scenic (unless you have a thing for looking at council estates) however it soon opens into a decent rural run over track. For 189 runners it never felt too congested which was excellent.
It was great to see some new and old faces. Definitely a friendly bunch and lots of pre-race chat kept the nerves in check. I really can't recommend this highly enough - a great day out!

Summary of my run:

- I ran with a new tshirt AND a new waist pouch. I had never worn these before the race. I'm not sure why I was so stupid but the combination was a good one and it worked out well for me!
- I have been training with Mike for the past month and a half. We had agreed that we would run the first 10 miles at 8:30 min miles and then the rest at 8 min miles. Personally I knew I could hold this pace until at least the 20 mile mark but was not sure how things would pan out after that.
- When the whistle went, it felt like a very fast start. We soon settled into a pace but were a little quicker than the 8:30 min miles as planned. With hindsight I should have slowed at this point and stuck to plan.

- Here are my splits (minutes per mile/heart rate bpm) for the race. There were toilet/water refilling/checkpoint stops at miles 8,17,22,25,26. In total I took 6mins 37secs for these necessary stops which I think I'm quite happy with.

- Basically I ran hard with Mike for the first 27 miles. We came in at the marathon point about 3:36ish. About mile 27 I had stopped for a gel and knew I'd needed to slow down. Mike ran on and I was happy to fall back to try and death march the final 6 miles.
- My death march wasn't as slow as I'd thought. Then at mile 31 Ian Beattie overtook me and I was determined to try to stay on his heels as long as possible. This really helped.
- My last mile wasn't too shabby considering the state I felt I was in.
- By my watch I came in at 4hrs 41mins which is pretty much the time I was after. Really can't complain about that.

Lessons learned:

- Even though it feels tough towards the end, it does not take much to help performace. For me, a little bit of competition seemed to stoke the fire.
- Running with a water bottle at 250ml meant I could run lighter. However, it also meant I had to stop at every water station which was a faff and lost time anyway.
- If you run at marathon pace (or as near as dammint) then you'll probably only be able to run a marathon- DUH!. With hindsight I'd rather have ran slower but stronger the whole distance than a decent marathon with a 6 mile shuffle.
- I felt sick after the 3:30 mark. I think I need a lot more variety in my food rather than just tortilla wraps and gels. Perhaps it was the heat but I need to think of extra food types to eat.
- A walk/run strategy during tough times isn't as slow as I thought and certainly isnt failure.
- In future I want to be less concerned with fast pace/heart rate and more concerned with enjoying myself!

The next race on the agenda will be the Highland Fling on 30th April. It is 53 miles over the first section of the West Highland Way. However, before I enter I want to run longer (both distance and time) just to make sure I can. To that end I think Mike and myself are going to run for a day in the hills sometime during the Easter holidays.

Thanks to those on facebook who I've nicked the piccies from :-)

D33 this weekend

2011-03-16T08:27:00.000Z

It has been a while since I updated this blog. As this weekend is the first big run of the season (Dee33) it is a good time to reflect on the differences between what I planned to train and what I actually did train! Before Christmas I drew up a training plan to take me to the first race whilst minimising injury. It was a fairly sensible approach which I followed in January with the exception of skipping the longer runs. However, my knee was getting bad again and I was starting to doubt my ability to train for ultramarathons.

By Feburary I'd had enough of being sensible. I decided to have a "last hurrah" before throwing in the towel and increased the weekly mileage considerably (from 25 miles per week to 60). I also did a couple of 20 milers as well. Contrary to common sense, my knee slowly started to get better! On 21st Feb I switched to a Hadd training programme. Hadd is a high mileage plan goverened by very specific heart rate training. It has always appealed to me and has a dedicated following over on Fetch. This is my current weekly training (with % max heart rate):

Monday: 1hr @ 72% - recovery run
Tuesday: 1hr 15mins (1hr @ 82%)
Wednesday: 1hr @ 75%
Thursday: 1hr @ 78%
Friday: 1hr15mins (1hr @ 82%)
Saturday: 1hr (or longer) @ 72% - recovery run
Sunday:90-120 mins (or longer) @ 80%

I am now on week 4 of Hadd's plan and already feel a massive increase in fitness. I'd be confident of attempting a personal best at any level of race just now (especially marathon) and this is a good position to be in just before a major race. My only concern is that I have just ran 3x20 milers in preparation and this may be too little in terms of long endurance, however the other side of the coin is that I have been running every single day for a month so am accustomed to "tired legs". We will find out on Saturday. I hope my knee behaves!

Plus I am 14lbs lighter than my previous ultramarathon which should help a little..

Training Plan for Dee33

2010-12-16T11:37:00.000Z

This is the plan I have drawn up for the first Ultra of the 2011 season (Dee33). Distances are based on John Kynaston’s plan.

I will already have a decent base before starting this plan (tempo running and a number of long runs in Nov/Dec 2010).

The weekday hard sessions are the type that I find beneficial. Tuesday will be run at Half Marathon race pace (around 7-7:30 minute miles). Thursday will be longer tempo runs but done at marathon race pace (around 7:50 min miles). Wed and Sat will be done at ultramarathon race pace/recovery pace (8-9min miles) and the Sunday run is just run at whatever I feel like on the day.

I have incorporated hill sessions to prepare for Ultramarathons following the Dee33.

A fistful of Spinach

2010-12-09T10:27:00.000Z

Well, I'm as surprised as anyone but for the past few months month I have been vegan. Apart from a wee wobble last week but we won't mention that!

I had been reading the excellent "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall and was intrigued by the section on diet. Scott Jurek, one of the most accomplished ultra runners, thrives on a simple vegan diet and Dr Ruth Heidrich turned vegan after cancer and became an ultrarunner. The book made me think about trying to eat a little more healthily.

This initially prompted me to try a smoothie as a meal replacement - not to lose weight (as the calories equaled my sandwich anyway) but to increase my intake of raw fruit and veg. To start with I had a pre-workout smoothie (spinach and pear) followed by a post workout smoothie (orange and ginger). This worked really well for my running and I started to feel a lot better generally. I also lost a little weight without feeling hungry.

Then I decided to have a smoothie for breakfast as well (bananas and nut). I felt even better. Although I lost a little more weight I was never starving or feeling run down - in fact quite the opposite. And my running felt much better as well.

At this stage 3 out of 4 meals were vegan so a few months ago I decided to go all the way and see how I felt. It has worked out very well for me - trimmed a little flab, my running is going really well, I feel generally great about everything and I am loving my food at the moment. I have also discovered how to make a wicked curry.

In terms of health it has really clicked with me. I don't feel I'm lacking and don't feel hungry. In fact I feel superb. It has been a great addition to the training I am doing.

An average day looks like this:

Breakfast - large salad with nuts, beans and corn.

mid morning snack=fruit

pre-run lunch = banana smoothie

post-run lunch = pear + spinach smoothie

mid afternoon snack=fruit

tea= large vegan meal

supper = toast and/or porridge with raisins and nuts

plus about 8 cups of tea!

stu-pid-i-ty:noun = acting like Dave

2010-11-02T13:42:00.001Z

Last week was a tough week for decisions. I had received confirmation for 2011 London marathon a few weeks ago. I've done it before and loved it but it does not really fit into my race/training plan as it is sandwiched in between Dee33 and Highland Fling.

So I thought long and hard about deferring it to 2012. I could pay now and run it in a year and a half. But did I really want to do that? Commit to a race that far in advance when I dont even know if I will want to run it? I am running more and more off road these days and the massive events like London are becoming less appealing.

I had until Friday 5pm to pay. By Friday lunchtime I still hadn't decided.

Then at 3pm I made the call. I was going to pay and defer until 2012.

Phew!

Then I forgot to pay it......

Week in review

2010-10-31T09:46:00.000Z

This was my first week of high intensity/low mileage training based on the Furman plan aimed at keeping injury at bay whilst maintaining fitness.

Monday - 1 hour cycle at the gym. This was at a high intensity and I averaged about 85% max heart rate. Quite a tough session and I wore my knee support to help. 10 minutes core exercises in the evening.

Tuesday- my knee was sore at the back (a new one for me!) and I think it was due to wearing the support whilst cycling! Ran 5x3min repeats at 90% heart rate (average 6:45 pace). Did 6miles total.

Wednesday - rest. Knee and legs feel like they have been worked hard so happy to let them recover. 10 minutes core exercises in the evening.

Thursday - 10K tempo run - 44:45 with an average heart rate of 85%. Felt really good with no knee twinges at all.

Friday - 1 hour cycle at the gym. 10 minutes core exercises in the evening.

Saturday- Brilliant 11.5 mile trail run around Cheyne Hill and Fetteresso forest. Slightly mis-timed as we ended up running off road in the dark with one headtorch between four!

Sunday- Rest

Overall pretty happy with this. I'm feeling my fitness is creeping up and my knee isn't giving me too much bother.

The last few months

2010-10-26T13:39:00.000+01:00

Octobers big race was the Loch Ness Marathon. This has to be my favourite marathon due to the scenery, low numbers, course profile (HILLS!) and social event. Myself and Mike Raffan went up with my pal Al (aka "mamemeister"). I knew Al from a few retro videogames forums where he had asked about the sensibility of running 26 miles after watching the London marathon on the TV in April. He did not take much persuasion to enter Loch Ness which gave him just 4-5 months to go from zero to marathon runner. I had a lot of fun being a virtual coach :-) The trip to Loch Ness was excellent - lots of beer, laughs and an enjoyable event. Here is what I wrote at the time:

"To go from nothing to marathon fitness in 4 months is nothing short of amazing. It has been great fun for me to give advice to Al since April and be a "virtual coach". It was also a pleasure running alongside him yesterday on the big day as he is such a great bloke - friendly, decent and down to earth. We had a right old laugh this weekend.

Although he got a cracking time for a first attempt (4:16) I was personally impressed with the fact he had a really strong race. He ran fast but always within his limits. At no point in the last few gruelling miles did it fall apart and you could tell from the determination on his face that he was not going to let the distance beat him. He really did himself proud.

And we did a sprint finish over the line :)"

Mike, Al and myself.

Mike also got a huge PB at Loch Ness of 3:26. Fantastic stuff.

Since then I have been considering my options for next year and how I finish this one. I am drawn to trail runs, especially the longer events, however the waters were muddied by getting an entrance to the London Marathon next year. I have decided to pay for it but defer running it until 2012 thereby allowing me to chase my goal of 5 Scottish Ultras in 2011.
I have also decided to use this period of training to cut back on mileage (without compromising fitness) and properly heal my knee niggles. In fact I abandoned a 26 mile run on the West Highland Way with mates last weekend for a more sensible shorter local run. My foot psoriasis is healing a lot after getting some new cream from a specialist. Training for the rest of the year looks a bit like this:

M 1 hour cycle with core exercises
T Intervals or hill session (around 6 miles)
W 1 hour cycle with core exercises (or Rest)
T 6-8 mile Tempo run
F 1 hour cycle with core exercises
S 10-13 miles trail running
S Rest

Then I'll be looking to increase my long runs in the New Year to prepare for the Dee33 in March.

Also trying to lose a good bit of weight. This is ongoing and looking promising.

Speyside Way Ultramarathon

2010-10-26T13:33:00.000+01:00

Eek - I have not updated this blog for quite a while! One of my goals for 2010 was to run a series of ultramarathons. However, once I got injured the goal simply became "run ONE ultramarathon". I managed to complete Speyside in August - a 36.5 mile race on road and trail in the North West of Scotland. This is what I wrote shortly after the event:

"The Speyside Way Ultra was a beautiful race which was brilliantly organised. I'd recommend it heartily to anyone wanting to run an ultra.
I had a shocker though. Up to 27 miles I felt peachy and loved it. Then every footstep was pure murder and it was a brutal slog to the finish. I've tried to analyse why it went so wrong for me and here are the reasons I've deduced:
- Fat: I am too heavy and need to loose at least half a stone. This takes far too much of a toll on my legs and knees.
- Training: my training wasn't good enough. I only did 11 weeks specific ultra training with no back to back runs (2x27 milers as my long runs). Due to injury this year this was on the back of very little base training. I think this was my major problem. Also a 27 miler 2 weeks before the ultra was perhaps a bit much - it should have been 3 weeks before. Everyone is different but I needed more training.
- Food : I had solid food the whole way with only 2 gels. I found that after 3 hours solid food was a no-no. In future I need sarnies until 3 and then gels/block shocks for after. Also going to switch to Nuun rather than taking electrolyte tablets as they were too much of a faff.
- Schoolboy Error: going off too quick and overestimating fitness (DUH!)
- Negativity: when things went wrong in the last 10 miles I found it very hard to recover mentally. I found it tough dealing with the fact the race was 36.5 rather than 35 miles. I was cursing everything at the end of the race and vowed never to step foot over 26.2 miles again.
Lessons for me to learn there"

What a LARD ass!

Looking back (with rose tinted glasses) I think I was far too harsh about the race and I can safely say that I'll be back again next year.

PB - be damned

2010-08-09T08:21:00.001+01:00

One of my goals in 2010 is to lose a wee bit of weight - not much, just half a stone or so. Carrying less weight will probably go a long way to helping my knee. However, I've been at a loss as to why I've remained at a constant weight. Despite not overeating and also running a fair bit my blubbery bits have persisted. At the start of last week I found out my answer. I love peanut butter. I looked at the back of the jar for calorie content. Holy crapola! Then I learned 2 things:

- if I stop eating PB for a week I loose 3 lbs.
- PB would be brilliant to eat on a long training run or an ultramarathon where you need lots of calories crammed into a small space.

This weeks running.

2010-08-08T09:14:00.000+01:00

Mon 2nd August: 50 mins at gym lunchtime XTraining, 20 mins evening core exercises

Tue: 5 miles at Stonehaven Running Club in the evening - Interval sessions

Wed: 40 mins at gym lunchtime XTraining, 20 mins evening core exercises

Thu: 10K Tempo run at the beach at lunchtime

Fri: 10K Recovery Run at the beach at lunchtime, 20 mins evening core exercises

Sat: 11.5 mile trail run at Feteresso forest with Gavin Irvine at 7am

Sun: 7 mile recovery run around Stonehaven 7am.

After the previous weeks 27 miler on the trails with the guys I was feeling a little fragile this week - although it gave me a real mental boost running for 4hr 45mins. Monday, Wednesday and Friday were going to be cross training days at the gym to give my knee/foot (psoriasis) a rest. I hate the gym with a passion. By Friday I realsied that my knee was just as sore running 3 times a week as it is running 7 times. Great news - gym abandoned!

Tuesday's interval session at the club was brutal on my knee. I wish I'd done what George Reid was doing and tempo ran it instead. As it stands I think the 27 miler followed by this tough session did my knee no favours.

The tempo 10K on Thursday was also tough. I think I need to only have one hard session per week now (preferable tempo or hill training). Friday's recovery run was awesome as I'd forgotten my Garmin and was simply running on feel rather than by technology.

Saturday's run up the forest was the highlight of the week as it was offroad in great misty/drizzle conditions. We kept the pace far too high for my liking but we did walk the inclines. I've not been eating as much this week and was out of fuel within the first few miles! Still, a great weekend run followed by beer and BBQ round the Irvine household :)

Sunday was a gentle 7 mile jogette around Stonehaven. Nice and easy - I only looked at my Garmin for distance rather than pace (I have it set to only show miles ran). Again, I ran on feel. Turned out the average was 9 min miles which was encouraging.

I started core exercises 3 times a week. These were taken from "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas. Enjoyable and I feel they are helping my running posture.

Next week should hold a 30 miler on the Deeside Way (Friday) with Vikki and I will give stamina sessions a miss for the timebeing.

Bum Bag Blues

2010-08-07T09:39:00.000+01:00

This week I've been on a gear splurge. I needed new shorts and a new bag which had easy access to food when running. I ended up getting an OMM bum bag instead of a rucksack which was what I really wanted but I could not decide on model.

The bum bag was too bouncy and annoyed the hell out of me. However, I was looking at John Kynastons race reports on his blog. A damn fine read. I noticed from some of his pictures that he wears an OMM bum bag but at the front. Could this be my bag nirvana? Bum bag at front and small rucksack at back?

Tried it this morning on a trail run with Gavin Irvine. The bum bag can attatch to the lower strap of your rucksack (on tummy) so it is secure at the top.

It was still bouncing about a good bit though and tightening it only aggravated my skin which would lead to serious chafing on a longer run. A real shame because it is perfect for carrying food on distance runs.

Should have bought the bloody rucksack.

Obligatory first post

2010-08-06T18:33:00.001+01:00

Hopefully this will be a regular blog featuring my attempts at off road running, training preparation for ultra-marathons, race reports and other running related gubbins.