Tom Roper's Running Training

Sun and mud: fourteen miles

Today's long run, the end of a more successful week of training than some, took me to Firle Beacon again, up Beddingham Hill, the ridge above Norton and Bishopstone and back along the sea front. There was a light wind, sun and much mud, particularly in the second half of the route, which crosses some fields. On the north side of the top of the ridge there were still small patches of snow.

Time: 2:34:23
Distance: 14.02
Pace: 10.55

Total miles this week: 21.35

Eleven weeks till the London Marathon
Two weeks till the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon
Five weeks till the Hastings Half Marathon   

Eight fast 400m on Seaford front, late afternoon

All runs should be as pleasant as this: late afternoon, beside a rough sea, with a chilly wind and a pink sunset. The waves broke over the path at Splash Point; at the other end of the beach, the earth-movers were finishing for the day.

Time: 40:34
Distance: 4.22
Pace: 9.37

First 400m: 2:14/8.57
Second 400m: 2:09/8.37
Third 400m: 2;11/8.45
Fourth 400m: 2:19/9.18
Fifth 400m: 2:17/9.10
Sixth 400m: 2:19/9.19
Seventh 400m: 2:11/8.47
Eighth 400m: 2:19/9.18

Just for fun

My workplace being closed yesterday, I ran at about 4 pm, for no training reason, just because I enjoy running in snow. In general it was easy enough: the pavements were mostly clear, and the top of Seaford Head snow-covered, but not difficult. The descent of Seaford Head, near the toboggan runs, was very tricky however, though I stayed upright.

Time: 35:22
Distance: 3.11
Pace: 11:22

First run in February

I ran thirteen miles on Sunday, the first run of the month. I enjoy the way the months break up the training schedule. January is behind me, February is short, then there's March and finally April, the month of the marathon itself. It was cold but I chose to wear shorts rather than my long trousers which chafe. I went out to Bo Peep, up and over Firle Beacon to Firle Bostal and back by way of Blackcap Farm, Norton and Bishopstone. On the more exposed sections the wind cut like a knife, and a few flakes of snow passed my vision. I could see how, if a lot of snow had come, I could easily have got into trouble. It was not as muddy as last Sunday: in some places the ground was frozen.

My breathing was better, my pace improved and my legs held up well, though I must confess to walking a couple of inclines towards the end.
Had I gone the longer Beddingham hill route, that takes the runner back along the ridge above Bishopstone, and then along the sea front, I dare say it would have made for fifteen miles.

I went to collect my number for the Sussex Beacon half-marathon in the afternoon, but found them packing up when I arrived. No matter, it will come in the post.

Time: 2:23:18
Distance: 13.35
Pace: 10.43

Total miles this week: 17.43

Twelve weeks till the London Marathon
Three weeks till the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon
Six weeks till the Hastings Half Marathon   

Absence of rosy-fingered dawn

I don't usually get the chance for to run before work, but commitments today allowed me to go out just after 6, and though I had the breathing problems that bother me at the moment during the run, afterwards I felt really well. I wish I could do more morning runs but I'd have to get up at 4.30 am and, though I'm a lark rather than an owl, that seems a bit much.

I ran three fast mile sessions on the front in murky conditions. The data will follow as I compose this away from the Forerunner, and I had to truncate some of it to be able to catch my train. Rosy-fingered Dawn, ροδοδακτuλος 'Ηώς, did not appear over the sea, I'm afraid, but this is Seaford; instead, it seemed slightly lighter towards the end, but not by much. The fleet of earth-movers, which used to be a frequent sight of morning runs when training for previous marathons, were not about their task of moving Seaford beach from one end to the other, only for the storms to redistribute it again. There was a brisk easterly wind.

I understand the weather forecast suggests it will become colder again.

Time: 42:35
Distance: 4.08
Pace: 10.26
First fast mile: 9:49
Second fast mile: 10:18
Third 'fast' mile: 11:13

Floods, mud, blood and lambs

I waited for the weather to improve yesterday before I set off on my long run. By 2 pm it was clear that it wasn't going to get any better, so off I went, in heavy rain and a strong wind. I should have done 13 miles, but in the event, with breathing problems, and some very heavy going, I contented myself with just over ten, going out of Seaford to High and Over, across the downs to Bishopstone and back along the front, pausing at the sailing club to tip water off the cover of my son's dinghy. I had some encounters with brambles, so returned with legs covered in a paste of mud and blood.

It was not without pleasures though, for just after High and Over I came upon a field of lambs, and there was fien view of the Cuckmere valley, mostly underwater. It's not been my best week: I di a shortened speed session on Tuesday, and missed a seven mile steady pace run on Friday, so this week's total is low. But on to week four.

Time: 1:51:33
Distance: 10.11
Pace: 11.01

Thirteen weeks till the London Marathon
Four weeks till the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon
Seven weeks till the Hastings Half Marathon   

Twelve miles with the Jog Shop

Having got wind of it through the Running Commentary forum, I ran for the first time with the Jog Shop Sunday morning Marina running group, choosing the twelve mile option when we reached Saltdean and divided. I found the pace hard to match as we went over Telscombe Tye, along on the downs, travelling some of the route of the Mince Pie Ten Mile, and then up the Snake and home by way of the racecourse. I now have a better understanding of the geography of that area. It was a good discipline to run with a group and have to move faster than usual, but I feel the effects today. Conditions underfoot were muddy, and, though the promised high winds didn't appear, there were strongish winds in some of the more exposed parts of the course.I see that I climbed 1289 feet in the course of this. It was fun to run with others, and I was pleased to run into some old running chums.

I should have run a five mile steady pace run as well on Friday, but a cough prevented me. I am more or less recovered, but it may explain why I found yesterday difficult. Looking back at my training for Beachy Head, I was running 11- minute miles at the same stage in the programme then, so yesterday's 10.13 pace is good. Is it harder work running an unfamiliar route?

Time: 2:05:53
Distance: 12.3
Pace: 10:13

Total mileage this week: 16.46

Fourteen weeks till the London Marathon
Five weeks till the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon
Eight weeks till the Hastings Half Marathon   

Speed session on Seaford front

I ran a speed session on Seaford front last night, to prove that it is possible to run after work, even though tired. It was he last chance to do this and still allow some recovery time between this and the other two runs in this week's programme. I had to truncate the warm-up and cool-down a little to fit it in, and ran four fast .75 miles, with 200m recoveries in between

Time: 40:40
Distance: 4.16
Pace: 9:46

First .75 miles: 6:59/9:19
Second .75 miles: 7:01/9:21
Third .75 miles: 7:18/9.45
Fourth .75 miles: 7:18/9.45

On the deficiencies of my Garmin Forerunner

I'm beginning to get really fed up with my Forerunner 205. I have used it for a couple of years now, and before that had a 301. I have also used older heart rate monitoring devices, though without GPS. My training now depends on the Garmin, and I cannot imagine training successfully without something like it. But it is very unsatisfactory.

Here are the features I want in a runners' GPS device.

• It needs to pick up a GPS signal quickly. I do not live in a heavily wooded or highly urbanised area, but yesterday morning I had to wait three and a half minutes for it to pick up a signal. This is not unusual. When I bought the 205, I did so because it was advertised as being quicker to find a signal than the 301 I owned before. The reverse is the case.

• When I plug it into my Mac, I want it to be instantly recognised by the computer and Training Center launched automatically, just as, when I attach my camera or iPhone, iPhoto or iTunes are automatically started.

• It needs far better battery life. It is advertised as having. ten hours. This might have been true of my 301 but the 205 has been much worse, ever since i bought it. I'm lucky to get five or six hours before it needs recharging. The only advice Garmin support could offer was to do a reset, which I have done many times, but to no noticeable effect.
  

• I want something far more sophisticated than Training Center to manage my runs. Apart from the clunky look and feel of the application, I want to be able to manipulate data within the application, for example to sort runs by distance, date or any other factor simply by clicking on the arrow at the top of a column, as one does in any other application.

• I want it to import and export data much more easily, to and from a wider choice of file formats. In particular, it's crazy that every year Runners World publish allegedly Garmin-ready schedules, but in a file format that Training Center for the Mac doesn't recognise.

• Scheduling runs needs to work. The other week I constructed a whole sixteen week programme as preparation for London. When I transferred it tot he Garmin only the runs scheduled for Tuesdays went across. Why not integrate it with iCal, so I can schedule my runs in iCal and transfer them to the device?

• For the older runner like me, the screen, if one has more than one data element displayed, is very hard to read. And the buttons are not easy for arthritic fingers. Similarly, I am by no means deaf, but I find the alert sounds very hard to hear, yet there is no way to adjust the volume.

Sheep shearing

Today I ran the first long run of this campaign of training for the 2009 London Marathon. The weather had improved, though windy, and I chose to run up to Firle Beacon and back, this being about ten miles. This is not far, and I shall be running double the distance later on in training, but it will do for a start. The Garmin misbehaved, of which more in a forthcoming post, and the run was hard, but the views were magnificent. As I reached Bo Peep, I came upon some penned sheep, controlled by a sheep-dog. One by one, they were taken to two shearers, who trimmed the fleece around their bottoms. After their treatment, they made an odd sight, with the clean shorn fleece around the bottom contrasting with the grubby wool elsewhere.

I also ran three miles the previous evening.

Sunday
Time: 1:50:21
Distance: 10.08
Pace: 10:38

Saturday
Time: 30:36
Distance: 3.01
Pace: 10.01

Total mileage this week: 17.13

Fifteen weeks till the London Marathon
Six weeks till the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon
Nine weeks till the Hastings Half Marathon