Can 26 miles be easier than one?

I have to admit that I´ve been having trouble setting my goals for this year. To be honest it´s probably a reluctance on my part, due to failing to get to the Valencia Marathon in November. I know the reasons why I didn´t get there and I believe I´ve changed my attitude accordingly, but I still can´t quite decide where I want to take this running lark.

I´m not a runner who can just run for the sake of it. I do really enjoy it, but the best bits involve racing and running with others so my goals involve races and that´s that. It always seemed logical to just go on and on, distance wise, so the marathon seemed the next step up. As Valencia is on my doorstep I always thought that would be where I would get to eventually. However, I´m beginning to have second thoughts about what I want to achieve and reckon that on a scale of 1 to 10 laughs-wise, this would rate up there with the best of them.

It´s only a mile for gawd´s sake. Just one poxy mile. And it´s gotta be easier than 26, doesn´t it? I even had a look at the results from the last few years and I´ve just got to run a fast training pace to be up there with the leaders. I´m light as a feather as well so it should be a piece of piddle really.

I´m tempted anyway, but I still can´t make that final choice. I wish someone would just tell me what to do.

Beautiful Burgos

After a crap start to the year, running wise, I´m finally on 10 days of relaxation with the in-laws in Burgos, Northern Spain. To say it´s different to Alicante is like saying the sun is not the moon - the two are worlds apart. As I write this a blizzard is falling outside and hopes of us being stuck here forever begin to surface.

It´s in this context that I´ve started to run properly again. Not having to worry about work, or getting the kids into their routine has freed me up and I´ve been able to get out again. This time, I´ve been taking it easy as I am coming back from yet another over-training injury. I set myself a golden rule of no more than 40 minutes and that I would stop if I felt any twinges. I´ve also been religiously doing the exercises for the lower back shown to me by my physio and am starting to feel like Bruce Lee. It´s good to be back.

What has helped immensely is Burgos itself. It is truly a beautiful place to run. There is parkland galore near to my in-law´s house and coupled with the fresher weather and a spikier attitude, my running has been thoroughly enjoyable. You could do a lot worse than visit here.

It´s also got me believing in Maffetone again, which is no bad thing. I´ve always insisted when I´ve been injured that it´s only happened because I haven´t followed my own rules (or to put it another way, Maffetone´s). However, that doesn´t stop you getting down when things do go wrong and you start to doubt yourself. None of that now though, my running has gone superb and I´ve gone from a 9:58 mile at a HR of 135 two days ago to a 9:13 mile today. It´s all to do with keeping within your limits, eating properly and knowing your body. Now I just have to keep it up.

As for going Ketonic, I´m going to delete that blog and bring it on in here. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference I notice in my well-being when I eat properly. I feel great, to be quite frank. It´s been hard to keep to the diet, especially when you´re a guest in someone else´s house but I´ve managed to take charge a bit and I´m on track. My in-laws look particularly impressed with my Chicken Broth so maybe I´m managing to spread a little happiness as well. Not that I give one really.

Back to basics

I´m going back to basics this week. I´m on holiday in Northern Spain so have a new environment to run in, which is perfect for coming back after injury. I´ve already been out three times this week for sessions going no longer than 40 minutes, including my warm-up and cool down (working on Maffetone principles). This is a good habit to get into because my very busy life means I should be able to fit these into my weekly schedule without too much difficulty. I´ll also look to keeping my LSR to 1 hour max and build up very slowly from there.

Lots of rain, refreshing breezes and no twinges. Just like being a teenager in Wales again.

I bloody love/hate running!!!!!!!!!

When I think of running I think ´Arse´. Well at least, at the moment. I´m injured again and it´s no fun at all, when all my plans are being laid to waste.

I can see all the other no-hopers out there and I´m quite impressed to be honest. They´re running when I´m not after all. But even though I still can´t help thinking that they´re doing it all wrong, it´s me who´s sitting on his arse in the house.

I bloody hate running sometimes, especially when I´m not doing it.

Lessons learned

So, I didn´t do the marathon in the end. As per my previous blog, I did the half-marathon in Alicante and absolutely knackered my self. Then I went out training and in a fit of stupidity, decided to go barefoot for about 40 minutes. One hairline crack of my metatarsal later and there was no running for six weeks.

When will I learn? I am not a superman, or at least not yet, and I have to take it easy and build things up slowly. I was angry during the half marathon because I really struggled from about 7k onwards, but that was only because I went out way too fast, not because my training hadn´t been good. I calculated that I would have broken 1:30 if I´d maintained the same pace as I made during the first 5k. That´s just ridiculous and it´s all my fault (I have to say, it felt bloody good though during the first 7k, when I was leaving people trailing in a wake of Standing-dust).

So, what now? My impatience has cost me my goal for this year, although it has maybe shown me that my goal wasn´t all it was cracked up to be. It leaves me with a burning question:

What is so special about the marathon?

It feels like everyone who is anyone has done a marathon these days. People from all walks of life manage to get through 26.2 miles without what appears to be too much difficulty. Some of them also dress up in stupid costumes. However, I do realise that there is a big difference between trotting through 26.2 miles and running the same distance to the best of your ability. But, that´s not the point. The point is that the marathon was something to measure myself by, to run that distance at a sustained pace which tested both my mental and physical capabilities to keep going. It was something that was hard. And at the moment I, clearly, am not.

So I´m now left without a goal, and just some vague plans. Do I go for Santa Pola again and try to get yet another PB? Do I try the HM in Aspe on Dec 23rd as it´s bound to be a pretty route? Do I aim for the Madrid rock n´roll marathon in April or the Rome marathon in March? Or do I go for the Valencia mountain marathon in April?

Or do I go for the Valencia mountain marathon in April?
Or do I go for the Valencia mountain marathon in April?
Or do I go for the Valencia mountain marathon in April?
Or do I go for the Valencia mountain marathon in April?

Don´t rush Mart...you can´t run that fast yet.

Alicante Half Marathon

 This was the third Alicante HM and had a much improved route this year, going through the centre of town and out past my house, returning to town via the cost and then doing a zig-zagging route through the centre. I didn´t think it was that hilly when I studied the route but I had my mind changed for me by the end. I found this one tougher than Alcoy which, for those that don´t know, is built on the side of a mountain and has considerably more metres of elevation.

I won´t go into my prep, suffice to say that after almost arriving at the start line I realised I´d forgotten my chip. One frantic taxi ride later, followed by an inadequate warm-up and we were off. I´d decided I wasn´t going to look at my Garmin during this race and try to run on feel. Consequently I set off stupidly fast, regularly clocking kilometres around the 4-4:20 mark. I felt bloody good though so thought I´d be ok. Then we hit the first hill. I didn´t push too much on the hill and let those I´d stormed past earlier take me over, thinking that I´d recuperate and come back later. However, it didn´t happen and I realised my legs were drained. From that moment on, I was getting overtaken regularly. I´d also decided not take gels but I did put together a honey and lemon drink to sip from on the route. This meant I was more or less running on my own reserves  but this was what I´d planned all along. So...from kilometre 8 to kilometre 21 my legs felt heavy and every stride was laborous, but my mind was strong and I was really pleased with my attitude. On some of the later hills I passed plenty of walkers and started to hold my own a bit more to stop people over-taking.

Finally, after a 3 kilometre climb to the finish I arrived in 1:46:46. I think if the course had been flat I would have hit 1:40 with no problem but you can´t be displeased with a PB. All in all, this was a tough old bird.

Time to back yourself

It´s getting to the business end of the experiment and I should be happy. After the most horrible summer of stress I can remember, which involved a series of bad lifestyle choices, which then culminated in one great one, I got myself back on track.

After not running throughout July and August I suddenly found myself 12 weeks away from a marathon with clogged lungs, blood sugar levels rising and falling like a rollercoaster, and little training in my legs. A summer in which I desperately tried to work out why I didn´t like my life had ended with a huge self-kick up the backside and a new found self-identity that demanded I put things right.

So...fags in the bin, sugar in the bin and running shoes back on. If I was going to get ready for the marathon I needed to change my running style and do something drastic to my endurance. So I thought the best thing would be to quit sugar. I´d heard plenty about the wall and how it comes on runners when their bodies need to change from sugar-burning to fat-burning during a race (I know I´m simplifying things here) so, no more bread, pasta, soft drinks, cakes, sweets, chocolates, potatoes and loads and loads of protein, nuts and veg with a little fruit here and there. I´ve not foresaken sugar completely. I´ll still have some honey in my green tea and in my yoghurt but that´s about it.

As for the running, it´s been a struggle. To take such a long break and then try to immediately put the miles back in my legs is just not practical. My feet and calves have really suffered. However, in the last week or so, with 6 weeks to the marathon, I´m noticing signs of improvement. I did a 2hr LSR on Sunday and I was ok to run again by Tuesday. There is hope.

Or at least there would be if it wasn´t for my childlike fantasy world in which I run races for guts and glory. Instead of concentrating on my training, I´ve entered a half-marathon this weekend. I promised myself I wasn´t going to but it´s in Alicante, my local town, and the route is such an improvement on last year I just couldn´t help myself. I´ll be running past my house and my office and am obviously going to win. At least that´s what my fantasies tell me. I realise this has a chance of knackering me to the extent that I´m not ready for the marathon but I just couldn´t help it. I´m impatient and what to check out where I´m at. How will my diet, my aerobic training and my new-found self-resilience serve me?

My six-year-old daughter said it best. ´Papi, run as fast as you can right from the start and keep going all the way round as fast as you can, and that way you win´? Child geniuses do exist you know.