Lakeland 50, Strava, and the Bigger Picture

L50
Three weeks out and it is fair to say I won't be setting the trails alight in the Lake District at the end of the month, but I will do what I can on the day.   I'm hoping for a decent enough run but I won't be finishing the in the sort of time I had initially hoped at the start of 2015.  Too much has happened and too much hasn't happened for any kind of magic to happen.  Sometimes life simply chooses a different path and you just have to go with it and look at the bigger picture. (And I'm still having gear issues! Argh!)


Strava
I have been using Strava as a training tool/log for quite some time.  Strava is a fantastic tool to use as part of your training. It is stat-geek heaven! Today I made a quip online about somebody using a means other than running to log a 1:40 minute mile - I don't think even Usain Bolt ran at that pace for his 100m world record! Discussion ensued between those who like Strava and those who dismiss its positive attributes.  I think Strava is great.  It can really help motivate you in many ways, especially if you don't have your own coach (officially or unofficially), or maybe your can't attend your local running club (due to personal commitments).  It allows you to not only view/review/analyse your own training, but you can also see what other runners are doing: see what sessions they are running or what routes they are training on and hopefully learn and improve from this information.

Of course there are people on there who are only out to try and get fastest times on segments or set course records but who cares?  That's no different than somebody (reasonably) fast turning up at lots of 'small' races just so they can be sure of bagging the race win or the course record.  Or everyone and anyone claiming their race is the hardest/longest/hottest/coldest etc.  Again, who cares? There's nothing wrong with that - perhaps that is what motivates those people to go out and run. Each to their own.

People can do what they want.  Maybe Strava is just another way to 'shout' about what training you've done. If that's your motive, then that's fine too. It's no different than people posting about all their runs on social media, or writing blogs about their running (eek!)  We all have our own ways of motivating ourselves or keeping a record about what we are doing.  However we do it, it shouldn't matter.  I love looking through running photos on Instagram for example.  I don't care how fast or how far somebody has run, I just love seeing photos of all the beautiful places people get to run in and see what fun they are having whilst doing it.  It's inspiring, just like seeing a local route come up on somebody's Strava feed that I have never been on: it makes me want to go out an explore it. What a brilliant thing!  What is better than inspiring others?   Kudos! Oops, was that a rhetorical question? He he.

Beautiful places for inspiring runs.

Each of those runs is logged on Strava ;-)

The Bigger Picture

So, I'm not worrying too much about the Lakeland 50.  Whatever happens it will be a good experience, and good preparation for doing (fingers crossed) the full Lakeland 100 in 2016.  And it will be good miles in the legs ahead of my other 50 miler later this year.

I have another BIG project for next summer for which preparations have already begun.  In fact they began months ago (from a seed of thought that was planted years ago).  It is something I am both excited and scared about.  That fear is why I am doing it. I want to push beyond what is comfortable and do something that inspires me, something that is a big adventure and a big challenge.  I am never going to be a speedster on the roads (or trails).  You'll not see me run a sub 40 minute 10K.  I have focused on speed and short distances in the past.  I made improvements, and I'm sure I could get faster (to a point) but I don't have the speedy genes.  So for a number of years (particularly since I became a mum) I have been thinking about running in a different way.  That's not to say I won't still try and get faster, or do short distances, but there has to be something 'more' for me.

And 2016 is definitely going to be MORE!

Fail to plan, plan to fail

When creating my training plan for the Fling I approached it much like I have approached my marathon training plans - a period of mileage build-up, followed by a  short recovery.  Without some sort of recovery built in to the plan I know that with my current level of fitness/ability I am likely to come down with proper injuries (beyond my constant hamstring niggle).

Knowing what life events would be coming this past week, and the extra ones that have been piled on top of these, it made sense to make this a minimal mileage recovery week.  As it turns out, this has been a very difficult week for various personal reasons but it ended on a  high with my little boy having his 1st birthday party.  He's had a difficult couple of months so it was lovely to see him having such a fun time with all his family.

The week has closed out with an extra surprise however.  For the first time since having our children we decided to go to our running club's annual awards dinner.  I'm so glad we did because I got a complete shock to find out I had won DRC's Memorial Marathon Award for the best performance in a marathon in 2014.  It was so unexpected.  I got quite a shock to hear my name called out.  I have always worked hard in my training, but no matter how hard I train, I will never be part of the Sub-3-Hour Club.  It was so nice to have my hard work acknowledged.  2014's marathon project after having Daniel was really tough, and for a long time I thought my efforts were futile.  But I kept at it, kept pushing, kept training, and even when I thought I had missed my chance (in Majorca) I came back with one last shot; and NAILED it!  I am extremely grateful to the committee for this honour.  It means the world to me.

Marathon Award and Handicap 5km Series Award - SQUEAL!!

Having had this recovery week from running I am now looking forward to Mileage Madness March. (Imaginative I know!).  I want to try and get some really solid mileage in, with a few more back-to-backs, long runs and (hopefully) 53+ miles each week. 53 miles may sound an odd number but that's the distance of the Highland Fling so it seems kind of apt.  I know others will be doing a far higher mileage but it is important not to overdo it.  Everyone needs to find a balance of pushing themselves a bit harder and  a bit further in training so that they can make improvements in their race performance, but this has to be balanced with their own current ability.  There's no point breaking yourself in training if it means you won't even make it to the start line.

I have two recce runs scheduled in for the race route during March.  I am looking forward being back on the route.  I haven't seen any of the improvements to the trail that have been made in the past couple of years.  In fact I haven't run on the southern half of the West Highland Way since I ran the full race back in 2010!  I can't believe it's been that long! Having children has a way of making you lose track of time!

Birthday boy - sooooo cute!

Back-to-back runs

This weekend I completed my first back-to-back run for my Highland Fling training. When you enter the world of ultra-running you will regularly hear about people doing back-to-back runs as part of their build-up to a race.  Some runners swear by them, especially as you increase the distance that you are racing, others don't really view them as having much benefit and stick to one (extra) long session.

 I've never really done them wholeheartedly before but it is one of the new training techniques I'm trying to apply this year.  Everyone has different views on what constitutes a back-to-back session. Huge mileage runners will possibly say you need to do a minimum of 2 x 20 miles on subsequent days. Others will say you need to just be in double figures on each day.

Here are my own rules for back-to-backs:

Both runs must take place within a 2 day time window.
Both runs must be double figures.
One run must be a minimum of 15 miles.
Total mileage for the two days must be 30+ mile.

This weekend I did 22 hilly trail miles on Saturday.  I ran this a lot stronger than I expected and blasted the final 2 mile descent to ensure my average pace was sub 10m/m.  Today I did a road run which I expected to be of a similar pace to yesterday due to the tiredness in my legs, but after an easy first mile my legs were feeling remarkably strong and I was able to sustain sub 9m/m for my run despite the shocking weather.  Overall it has been a really positive weekend of running, and helped me go over 50 miles for the week.  This is the first time I have managed this all year so I am really pleased.

The countdown is on...

My first, and one of only two races I have entered this year is the Hoka Highland Fling at the end of April.  It's only 9 weeks away and I feel completely behind in my training despite my best efforts.  With all the things life has been throwing at me lately I've been struggling with my health, my time available for training and general motivation.  

Support crew modeling race apparel.

I have tried a few new things to try and maximize the benefits from what I am able to do with my training time but I think it will take time before I can see if these are working or not.  The main problem I have is sleep, or lack of it.  The past 3 1/2 years have been a constant struggle against sleep deprivation and sleep disruption of varying extremes.  Such is the lot of some parents. It's not for a lack of trying to get sleep via sleep training of the wee ones but even the health visitors were at a loss.  On top of your own tiredness, you get really tired of people passing comment or 'blaming the parents'. Sure, sometimes it is through bad habits, but sometimes it can be a medical thing, and sometimes you just have children who are resistant to 'training' and will sleep through when they are ready.  This is a perfectly natural state of affairs.  Those parents (like us) just have to try and plough on through and hope it gets better sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately for us ultra-runners sleep is crucial for effective recovery, and therefore crucial for effective training.  When your physical and mental batteries are never above 70% max, you are not going to be able to produce the best results because you cannot train for the best results.  I have a time target that I would like to achieve at the Highland Fling but given my current circumstances I know that realistically I need to reevaluate this target. It's hard to do that though, and I fear I will be disappointed even if I do set myself a new time. Perhaps I should look at this year as a transition year - doing what I can, when I can, and hoping to come out the other side a stronger runner ready to tackle new things in 2016.  It's hard to know how best to move forward at the moment.

The key is obviously to enjoy my running and when I am on the trails, in the mountains, or running with my friends I am having fun.

F5 Refresh feed

Almost 12 months ago my little boy Daniel was born, and I've barely had a minutes rest since.  You think life is busy when you have one child, then along comes number two and, if you find the time, you ask yourself how you ever thought you were busy when there was only one child! ;-)

Whilst on maternity leave I had a major digital clear-out of my blog and social media and I was looking to make a fresh start.   I have been back at work for months now and I have still not got around to that fresh start.  This is so symptomatic of life as a working, ultra-running parent of two. Life is 100% crazy, but when you see those little faces smiling up at you, you wouldn't want it any other way.  Who wants easy, predictable and mundane anyway?

Most blog posts from here-on will probably be about as short and sweet as this one: I don't have time to be typing out 'Paradise Lost' every week.  My time is spent with my family, working, and running (and that is literally it!) but hopefully it will still be worth a read.


My two time managers! #lovefamily

 

A year in one post - 2014, and what's yet to come

So, what have I done so far?

I ran 1 mile on january 1st.

I had baby #2 at the end of February.

I took a few weeks to recover before starting back, and I was much better at listening to my body than after pregnancy #1.  Also, this pregnancy and labour were less traumatic than the first time round which really helped my recovery.

To measure my improvement and 'journey' towards getting my fitness back I have been doing the DRC monthly 5km handicaps (just as I did when I was pregnant).  They are a great way to just keep an eye on things. I ran my first one back in May in 26:20 and I've gradually got faster each month so that in the November edition of the race I ran a new 5km PB of 22:32.  Compared to the old days this is a soft PB as it's roughly the same pace as my 10km PB.  But a PB is a PB and never to be sniffed at.

I set myself a 'comeback' goal just as I did after having Annabel.  Again, the target was to run a marathon PB.  I starting building up the miles but in June I suffered from Metatarsalgia (bruising of the bone in both my feet). This was essentially caused by too many miles whilst my ligaments were still being affected by pregnancy/post-pregancy hormones. (A luck of the draw situation really).  So 3 full weeks of no running was then followed by a month of running exclusively on the treadmill.

A holiday in the Lakes then inspired me to set one of my target races for 2015 - the Lakeland 50.  What an awesome event.  I can't wait to be part of it next year.

I then ran my highest ever training monthly mileage (200+) in September ready to taper for my marathon target race in October.

The Majorca Marathon was a total no-go.  The weather was stupid-hot - 31 degrees celsius!! I've never run in anything like that so I decided beforehand to just go for a finish, and not a time, and to find another marathon to run.

November brought the Autumn Shakespeare Marathon.  I started back at work the week before; I had suffered an awful head and chest cold for the 10 days prior to the race and I had to make a 5 hour journey down to the race the afternoon before and I really wasn't as race-fit as I had been going to Majorca.  It really shouldn't have happened but I managed to gut out a new PB.  I think because I knew it was my last chance to achieve my post-baby target I simply was not going to come away from that race without a PB, and despite puking and getting a stitch I still managed to pull it off.  There's something to be said for being in the 'last chance saloon' situation for getting a performance out of you.

As mentioned above, I also ran the November 5km handicap race (6 days after the marathon) and achieved another PB.  That one I definitely did NOT expect.  Hopefully I can get one more good time at the December race.

In December I am running one final proper race for the year.  It's a bit of a mad one really considering Daniel won't even be 10 months old but I'm making a wee trip over to Barcelona with my friend SG to run a 12 hour track race. I have no idea what I can expect from myself, but SG has promised to shout lots of abuse at me if I start trying to throw the toys out of the pram.  Team Consani are heading out there too, as are a few other Brits so it should be an exciting weekend.

For 2015 I only have 2 races planned so far - the Highland Fling on April 25th and the Lakeland 50 on July 25th. I did half think about entering the West Highland Way Race (entries close in 3 days) but I just don't think I can give it my best possible performance in 2015.  Perhaps by 2016 I will feel strong enough to tackle it again.  But I am also thinking about the Lakeland 100 for 2016, and I can't do them both - I'm no Richie Cunningham!!

2016 will definitely be about the 100 Miler as I need to run one in order to qualify for the Western States 100 lottery.  Western States is such a tough race to get into as it's one of the most prestigious ultra races on the planet and everybody and their dog want to race it, but there are only 369 places each year.  So once you qualify for the lottery (by running one of their qualifying races or by other means) the chances of actually getting a place are slim to none, at best, unless you are super lucky.  Their system though favours the persistent, and each year that you apply, you get a better chance of getting in.  So as of 2016 I will need to make sure I run a 100 Miler each year so that I can keep entering the WS100 lottery, and hopefully, before  turn 40, I will get that coveted entry! Fingers crossed.

So there you have it, a summary of 2014 and my plans for probably the next 5 years, all in one blog post! How terribly efficient of me!