Half Year Report - PBs and PF

June 30th marked of course the half year point and also the date of the John Hartson Foundation Llanelli 10k.   First the 10k, as that went to plan!   Bit of a chilly morning and a blustery headwind for the first few km's but I set off aiming for something like 4.5 minutes per kilometer marker whilst thinking of trying to keep to that as best I could and hopefully better my PB set way back in 2010's Ammanford 10k.  I figured that with a new PB at both 5k and half marathon already this year then this would complete the hat-trick so to speak and even if I nearly died on that nasty little hill toward the end of the race as I did last time I ran the Llanelli 10k I'd have a bit of leeway to still come in ahead of 47:45.

2km - no bother!

As it was, I managed to stick to plan all the way through and the hill training and long runs helped no end in negotiating that tricky last mile this year.   In fact, looking at my Garmin stats post race, my mile splits were something like the most consistent

Up that bloody little hill about 8km

I've ever achieved :-

7:09, 7:13, 7:09, 7:06, 7:04, 7:19 and 7:00 for that final 0.2 mile.  A new 10k PB of 44:38 duly achieved.

So, onto the half year report and the year to date hasn't quite gone to plan.  If you've followed this blog since Janathon then you will know I had in mind the Tenby Marathon as

And back over the hill again - hurting now!

my first bash at the full distance but an injury to my right foot/ankle put paid to that.


I have however managed 668 miles to date so far but not without issues.  The old problem of plantar fasciitis has flared up in both feet again and whilst I think some of the pain may be down to this latest pair of trainers coming toward their 500 mile use by threshold there are issues to be resolved!  I've lived with this for a couple of years now though so know the regime pretty well.  The night splint, alternate iced water/warm water foot baths, rollers and zinc oxide tape are either back in use or in the case of the tape, on order.  Complete rest doesn't work for me as I'm on my feet all day at work anyway but it'll be easy runs in terms of speed for a while - other than races of course - and just try to manage my way through this once again.  A new pair of trainers will help but that will have to wait for the next pay day!

Schedule wise I'm still on a revised marathon schedule so looking at some 20 mile runs in the next few weeks.  If that goes well and the feet stand up (ooh... that was a bad pun!) then we may still be looking at an autumn attempt at 26.2 but if not there's plenty of shorter distance races to go for in the second half of the year.

Actually, the next race for me is only 2 weeks away and it's my hometown one - the Ammanford 10k.  It's a bit of a hilly one so unlikely to be PB territory this time but it's three years since I was last able to run it.  I actually ran most of the course during the 20 miler I picked up the foot injury on the other month so looking forward to having a go at it properly.

Will update the blog sometime after that race...

Not Gone To Plan

It's been a few weeks since I last posted on here.  The post Half Marathon euphoria of that sub-1:40 time in Llanelli had paved the way to thinking of a first full marathon in Tenby, not to mention of course the then impending Juneathon -  a warmer repeat of the January event that triggered this blog and formed the foundations of what had been a decent running year so far.

Indeed the first few weeks post April's half success went quite well as the marathon plan was undertaken and achieved on schedule until the first of 3 planned 20 milers.  The distance itself wasn't an issue.  In fact I felt better doing the 20 miles than I had at either 16 or 18 in previous weeks however I probably shouldn't have chosen such a hilly route.  2 miles from home and something went twang in the top of my right foot... a new place for an injury for me!

A slow test run the day after confirmed that a significant downscaling of planned runs was necessary and that therefore is what I did.  Now 2 weeks of next to no running, or nice slow jogs on pretty flat routes has seen the right foot recover nicely but "Sods Law" being what it is the slow down seems to have triggered off a flare up of the old Plantar Fasciitis issues in my left foot - clearly a change of plan was and indeed is in order.

First thing to bite the dust was Junathon unfortunately although many of the names seen and contacts made in January are going great guns and already half way through this latest jaunt.  I however felt in no condition to commit to a month of consistant exercise at the start of the month.  The second thing to get postponed was the marathon plan meaning no Tenby trip for me either and a delay to putting myself through a marathon for a while.

However there is a bright ending... a decent interval session last week was followed up today with a hilly 13 miles, my first proper long, slow distance run of the month and so far the reaction from the feet has been good.  It would appear that the weeks of reduced mileage, speed along with nightly use of the foam roller and a bowl full of ice water are paying off.  Race wise I'm being realistic at present with the next challenge the Llanelli 10k in a couple of weeks time and then probably the Ammanford 10k on the day of the Tenby marathon.  After that who knows?  I'm back on with a revised Marathon plan at least knowing that 20 mile is, or will again soon will be, with my capabilities and work commitments, injury reaction and general everyday life permitting we'll maybe look at a full distance event towards the end of the summer.

Until the next time....

March, April & The Great Welsh Half

Finally, a bit of time off work and the chance to update my blog.  I left it last time after a successful Llanelli Waterside Half Marathon and a PB of 1:50:14 which I was very satisfied with.

It took a week or two to decide on what to do next.  A trip down to London with my son to see the Status Quo "Frantic Four" reunion at the Hammersmith Odeon (or Apollo as they call it these days) followed by a bout of laryngitis (were the two connected?) meant a couple of weeks without a long run and just 20 miles over the two week period but maybe the enforced rest was a good thing?

Getting back to running regularly once the laryngitis had cleared culminated in a 15 mile run over the mountain to

Still smiling at 7+ miles

Ammanford and back (my longest run to date) as well as a couple of other decent long runs in 3 consecutive 20 mile plus weeks and therefore a decision to enter the Great Welsh Half Marathon on April 21st.  The first running of this event as a tag-on to the now annual Full Marathon which was two laps of the same course.

It was of course the same date as the London Marathon which meant a reasonably small field (157 finished the half and 259 the full) and practically no publicity save for local newspapers and radio.  Of course to my mind the BBC seem to think that running only occurs at the London Marathon and the Great North Run - and then only if a couple of newreaders are running.  Indeed, while I have nothing but the greatest respect for those that actually run either of the UK's biggest events, I think its a shame there's so very little coverage of other running events in the UK by the mainstream media as it would certainly go some way to promoting exercise for all wouldn't it? How many more would be encouraged to train for and enter their local 5k, 10k, half or even full marathon if they had a chance of getting their mug on telly? 

And this race proved a well organised event in many ways.  Memorable indeed was the paying tribute to those members of our worldwide running community sadly lost or injured in Boston with a moving and impeccably observed minute's silence before the off as well as the impressive support of the local community doing the marshalling and numerous water stations manned by local scouts together with an impressive collection of swag after the finish line with a tech t-shirt, a trophy each (albeit they all were engraved for the full marathon) and a welcome bag of food and drink.  The only niggle was a bit of crossing over and on-coming runner dodging necessary around the mile 3 turnaround but that wasn't really a big issue given the numbers running.

As for the race itself it went better than I could have hoped.  My aim was to try and match the 1:50 of March's half and if I could, get that PB down into the 1:40s.  I went off a bit quicker this time thanks to the lack of congestion on the traffic free, fairly flat coastal path route, clocking about 8:30 for the first mile and as it turned out that proved to be my only mile over 8 minutes.  The training must be paying off as at 4 miles (when the mp3 player goes on - Iron Maiden's "Maiden England" set for this race!) I was averaging about 7:45 a mile and decided to try to stick at that sort of speed as I felt comfortable.  By 12 miles I knew the PB was well in the bag and pushed to break the 1:40 coming home with a very satisfying chip time of 1:39:32 which put me in 26th place.  I never expected that!

Not so cheerful now eh?  12+ miles

Anyway, once the dust has settled and the aches have all but faded away the decision now is what to do next and it seems to me that I should now be aiming at a full marathon.  So, unless it transpires that I can't get the day off work, I'll be slogging my way around the Welsh Marathon starting and finishing at Tenby on the 14th July.  Wish me luck eh???

Note : Pictures are copyright my wife Steph.  Thanks to her and daughter Katie (and Doug the dog) for the support and the excellent gel station at 7.5 miles!

February & Llanelli Waterside Half

Cut back a bit post #Janathon, extending my long run into double figures but making sure I had at least 3 rest days most week at the early signs of plantar fasciitis were beginning to show (aching feet in the morning etc) after the daily runs.  Total mileage for the month then dropped from 126 in Jan to a mere 90 in the years' second month. However, I felt good throughout the month getting some tempo runs in and generally finishing my long, slow, distance efforts feeling like I had a little bit left... so I entered a half marathon!

You may remember, if you follow me on twitter (@wgal_uk) that I have won a place in April's Merlin Half Marathon in Carmarthen but the Llanelli Waterside Half Marathon on March 3rd proved irresistible even at a steepish entry fee of £28.

Duly entered, March 3rd came around and the temperature at the race car-park was a "fresh" -4C.  However, once underway the value of the Janathon miles, the February long runs and those local hills all proved their worth and I managed to clock 1:50:11 finishing 682nd of 1658 finishers.  Now it was only my second half, the other being a trail half in Cirencester 2 years ago, but I didn't expect to knock 12 minutes off the time I clocked for that race. Indeed, I didn't expect to get anything like the time I got but everything went well... even the stiff breeze at mile 8ish to 12 wasn't as bad as some of the weather I've experienced on Llanelli Waterfront in the past!

So in summary, good miles in Feb and a nice, new, sub 2 hr PB at Half-Marathon distance... and still not injured!!  2013 is going okay so far!

Janathon Day 31 - That's Me Done!

That's it then... the challenge of #Janathon 2013 was "run every day - blog every day".  Sounded easy!   I added the proviso of doing at least 3 miles every day as I don't see the point going out of the door until I'm going to run for about 30 minutes which equates to 3 miles-ish.   Mission accomplished!

Finished the challenge with a gentle pre-dawn jog along my stock route to Rhosaman and back.  Something of an urban steeplechase this morning as it usually is on Thursday with bin bags and recycling bins to hurdle on every pavement.  In all honesty hurdling was beyond me but there was a bit of dodging to be done.

Tomorrow... is a rest day!

Day 31 stats...

Distance : 3.26 miles
Time : 34:43
Music : Rolling Stones - Grrr!  (Rocks Off to Undercover Of The Night)

JANATHON TOTALS

31 runs
Total Distance : 126.03 miles
Time : 20:57:54

Janathon Day 30

The work of a tired man, uninspired and somewhat past his prime... nothing to do with the late 70's output of The Rolling Stones (I haven't quite got there on my journey through their latest greatest hits collection yet) instead it describes my efforts this morning.

Yep - Day 30 proved a difficult one.  Up and out of the door at 6.45am again but just unable to get a rhythm going.  A buffeting from the wind probably didn't help and a long shift yesterday meant my feet were aching too. Was actually surprised to see my time not being as slow as I'd imagined. All in all a run to forget.

Day 30 stats...

Distance : 3.25 miles
Time : 33:37
Music : Rolling Stones - Grrr! (Can't Always Get What You Want to Angie)

Janathon Day 29

Running to forecast today... the weather forecast.  

I took a look at the hourly forecast for this area on the BBC weather page last night and it was all rain, with the exception of a window between 6am and 7am this morning where we could expect only drizzle.  That'll do for me then.

Kit readied last night I was up as soon as the alarm went off, paused briefly to ensure my teenage son had managed to drag himself out of bed and get ready for school and I was out of the door.

A slower run, necessitated by the dark and the drizzle on my glasses, I'm glad I got this one out of the way early.  I now have a good few hours to relax before work and as for the weather, well judging by how grey it is out there now the forecast for the rest of the day just could be correct.

Day 29 stats...

Distance : 3.26 miles
Time : 31.55
Music : Rolling Stones - Grrr! (Paint It Black to Sympathy For The Devil... wow - what a run of great singles that was!)