For a few weeks I had been somewhat looking forward to last week. The schedule looked on paper to be relatively forgiving baring the weekend LSR. There were no sessions scheduled for the Thursday and in fact every run had the word ‘Easy’ by it. Jackpot!

However, on Wednesday I was about to realise perhaps things were indeed easier but they were still runs none the less. The relatively short 5k I chuckled about as I took to the treadmill, simples I thought! However, 20mins later, sweating like anything it was actually bloody tough and I couldn’t have pressed the stop button any quicker.

Thursday was similar – an easy 6 miles scheduled so I jogged back from Stratford. As I was on the tube on the way to the start I was telling myself ‘yesterday was a blip -today really will seem easy’. From the first 100m I realised once again that wouldn’t be the case and it was going to be a more challenging than expected run home. To give me a little bit of credit I did have my camelback on which adds about half a stone to my weight which doesn’t help matters!

I entered the house feeling dejected. In what felt like a few short seconds my three easy days were over – and none of them felt easy. What was that about?! After a few texts with a woman in the know I was informed this was to be expected following heavy training. That said she also informed me I could be coming down with a cold. I tried to have an early night and similarly on Friday my allocated rest day.

Once again due to plans and arrangements my LSR was shifted to Saturday and I was scheduled to run 2hr15. I sorted my kit out on Friday night, gels etc. I’m trying to get back into the SIS Tropical gels having been suggested it possibly isnt the best idea to only take the caffeine ones as I did in Dublin. Laura had to do something for her school in Bromley so I decided to go with her and run towards my nan in Kennington from the other side of the river.

I was also fortunate to have Olly company for a portion of my run. I ran a few times with Olly last year, meeting him in Greenwich and once again we met in Blackheath and following a quick handover of wallet etc we were on our way to London Bridge. I am normally pretty meticulous with gMap Pedometer and plan my route out however today I knew that I was likely to come out short so would have to do laps at the end.

The south side of the river is much less enjoyable to run along than the north. On the other side there is a footpath that runs all the way from docklands with only a few deviations for new properties this is not the case on the south! Mental note to self there!

The run itself went ok. The 16 miles turned out to be 17 but mainly because I forgot to restart my watch at Blackheath. My heart rate was up on last weeks LSR and I failed to take on a third gel which may have helped during my final few miles and where I really did slow down!

As I finished and whilst consuming a recovery shake I started to ponder more about the week that had passed. Why had things seemingly been so bad? I think the problem stemmed from my brain giving the wrong message to my body. It was a recovery week NOT a rest week. For some this may amount to the same thing, for me I now know the difference!

Recovery week done, back to sessions this week and the likelihood of having to do some shuffling about due to another busy week of commitments.

Till next time.

N

Last week on the HavensRunner site I wrote a post about my Thursday session. This was a hill session and it was the first of it’s type I had ever done. Rightly so I was anxious about what I was about to put my body through – I had no doubt this was going to be hard, it was just the question of how hard!

Throwing on my new trainers for their second run I headed towards a local hill which I had run on many times before. However, for obvious reasons I often opted to run down this mountain rather than up, finding alternative less demonic routes back to my flat. On Thursday I was aiming for it and I wasn’t going to do this hill once I had it scheduled to run it 6 times! I jogged down the hill for about 3miles (figuring that I wouldnt do much faster than an 8min mi average for this session) psyched myself up turned round and went for it. Feeling an enormous sense of pride once the two mins was up I turned round and jogged back. I think it was during the first jog back I started to realise that I had 5 more of these to do and short of giving up and calling a day there was no easy option!

6 reps later i was beaten and I jogged back home glad it was over! Connecting my Garmin I was presented with the following heart rate graph – i think it’s clear from this even if my splits weren’t entirely consistent the effort I put in each time was!

Friday was my rest day and I loved it, but deep down I know the only reason I’m resting is to prepare for the next run and baring a little jog on sat, Sunday was my LSR. The schedule had me down for 1hr50 and at this stage it’s all about time on my feet. Setting off towards Stratford I was going to check out how far along the Olympic Park is…

If you live in London I would recommend you head upto Stratford. The park is an amazing sight and with the Olympics just over a year away I’m very excited to get in there and experience it! I digress…

I covered 13.75 miles in 1hr53. Tried out another gel type (Powerbar Strawberry and Banana) which weren’t too bad. This gel did not have the consistency of most of the other gels I have had. It was much thicker and less gooey. It tasted ok though! The run went well with no real issues or concerns. I tried to keep my heart rate down below 160 which I did so that was good! All in all a promising LSR covering a respectable distance.

One day off (running) and come Tuesday morning I was back out again pounding the streets. 8miles between Bank Station and work (Shepherds Bush) at a slow very easy pace. Whilst it didn’t feel easy my heart rate was low averaging low 150bpm. Just keep on reminding myself it’s all about miles on the feet!!

Till tomorrow no doubt when I’m back out again!

N

It’s far too easy sometimes to get caught up in a schedule and not entirely enjoy what you are doing and the reasons why you are doing it. This weekend, in particular Sunday was not one of these times.

Before getting into Sunday I wanted to quickly write about my warmup run on Saturday. At Xmas Laura got a bike in the hope she could come out with me when I was running training. She could be my company on some of those runs where I’m out on my own. On Saturday she joined me on my little prep jog before Sunday’s LSR. We headed to Gunpowder Park in Lea Valley and for 30mins I ran and she cycled beside me! A great way to do those kinds of runs

On Sunday morning, getting up at some ungodly hour (for me), Laura and I jumped in the car and headed for Little Havens in Southend. The charity had organised a training run and as I’m involved in the Havens Runners project as well as having run the London Marathon for them in 2009 and 2010 I went down to join them.

I was scheduled for a shorter run than normal ‘consolidating my miles’ this week and was require to run 1hr20 or about 10miles. Fortunately to cover all bases the Havens team had created routes to cover all abilities and distances.

As more and more runners turned up it was clear that this was going to be a busy run which was nice and at 830, we set off down towards the sea front. Laura was armed with her camera ready to snap away as the group of runners exited the site. The pictures really show how good the turnout was!

This is not the first training run I have done with the Hospice, however it is the first time the weather has been kind. The sun was out and whilst it is still cold it was glorious running conditions.

Forming a small pack at the front Paul M, Neil D, Ian R and I set off at an 830 ish pace up and down the many inclines. However, unlike many of my previous runs here in Southend this felt pleasant. My heart rate stayed low and I could hold an easy conversation – most would say a perfect LSR pace!

At about 6 miles is where I separated from the others in the pack who were carrying on to do an extra couple of miles but just before that I witnessed the spectacular sight of the sun over the sea front from high. It was a glorious sight – far from the normal gailing winds and lashing rain I remember from the past.

The turn around point is on Belton Way which is a pretty big hill. This hill has always been a bit of a nemesis for me. I remember ‘running’ it for the first time in 2009 and it was horrid. This time I would destroy it and with my increased fitness I duly did. That’s not to say it’s not a killer hill but all of a sudden it’s passable! Will have to go try that *mountain* in fattened again soon although I think that is still top steep!

At the top of the hill I noticed another havens runner so dropped back to run with them to the end. I figure these runs are supposed to be with company so what’s the point in running 30meters in front of someone for 3miles! Great bit of company saw the remaining, relatively dull bit of the route fly by and before long we were back at Little Havens tucking into a bacon sarnie

All together a perfect run. No niggles, pains or concerns and a bit of beautiful scenery to top it all off! Thanks to Havens for organising it. I hope some of the other Havens Runners enjoyed it as much as I did!

The afternoon was spent in front of the tv. I put on Chariots of Fire which I had sky+’ed months ago this followed by Spurs V United, a roast dinner and bath topped off what was to be a lovely day all around! Shame it can’t last and it’s now back to work again…

Till next time

N

Its been a whole week since my last post which is poor performance on my part! However, I have been mentally busy and on top of this last Friday I started coming down with a cold which I have been fighting to get rid of!

My long run plans for the Sunday were thrown out of the window and instead I did a gentle couple of local miles slow and easy. I was out for just 30minutes and it felt tougher than usual guess that was to be expected! Monday, still recovering I worked from home so as to save my colleagues from my germs – although to be honest I think I picked up the cold from one of them so I’m not sure why I bothered

Tuesday was my next scheduled run day, 6 miles ‘easy’ this turned out to be one of those very very bizarre runs. I was expecting the worst, not feeling 100% but I was fast and finding it easy. I can only assume this was down to the rest I had since Thursday evening. In what was to be a complete accident I did a 6mile run with an av pace of 07:24 min/mi pretty zippy!

Wednesday I was out with Rich and Ath who also ran the Dublin Marathon. We did a run along the Thames from Horse Guards up to Tower Bridge and back at an 8:15min/mi pace. Lovely run! The Thames at night has some amazing views which are easily missed especially on faster sessions! Had fun

Uh oh Thursday time!

10mins easy jog, 10mins at MP, 3mins jog rec ( 5x 2mins faster with 2 mins easy ) 3mins easy jog, 10mins at MP again. 10mins easy.

How was it Thursday already! A very tough session made worse by the fact that about 2mins after leaving work the heavens opened and all of a sudden there was TORRENTIAL rain! It absolutely chucked it down…The session was hard, as expected – my heart rate went through the roof which is good. I had to cut short the 10 mins easy at the end to about 5 because of time constraints. Haven’t checked out the Garmin yet as the transfer stick is at home – one to analyse at the weekend!

Today is rest day, before heading down to Southend on Sunday to run with the other Havens Runners on there campaign towards the London Marathon, looking forward to it!

Big news fell into my inbox and around the web yesterday – Nike are releasing a GPS watch powered by TomTom. The Nike+ SportWatch enters the market to compete alongside the Garmin, Polar and Timex range currently in production.

Nike already have a MASSIVE community of runners who used its devices on Apple products. They have had the benefit of creating very slick interfaces which work in perfect harmony with the Apple ethos.

The Nike+ SportWatch GPS is designed to be simple and intuitive with only three buttons and a Tap Screen for navigation. During the run, the new Nike+ SportWatch GPS captures location information while showing runners their time, distance, pace, and calories burned on an easy-to-read screen featuring a customizable layout. Throughout the run, the GPS receiver works in tandem with the shoe-based Nike+ Sensor to deliver highly accurate pace and distance data. This sounds much like the Garmin Footpod/GPS model but typically the other systems increase the price to have the extra footpod setup. The benefit of the footpod is that sometimes you have to run in a gym or out of satellite range – this way wherever you go you get readings!

The features seem vary similar to all other devices, heart rate monitor, backlight, history. What I’m hopeful is that some time has been spent on the user experience which is something that I often think that my garmin struggles with. The touch screen feature will be interesting to see when my hands become sweaty or are in gloves!

If I’m totally honest I wasn’t expecting Nike to release a fully fledged GPS watch, I have had a few conversations in the past how I had expected them to create a simple watch that hooks into Smart Phones (iphones/androids etc) hence using the phones GPS receiver and processing power but giving the runner the extended information in an easy to read fashion. I would have thought this would be relatively cheap to create vs what they have outputted.

It will be interesting to see how well this does in the market. Nike/Tom Tom are entering a very competitive arena and from the press info I have I’m not sure its going to be suitable for tri-athletes, no mention of waterproof,  so really is a tool for the runners of which how many will give up there £1.99 Nike+ GPS app for something that is likely to be over £100 (realistically nearer £200 I’d have expected).

Regardless of the negatives I’m very interested to see what Nike/TomTom bring to the field!

Not wishing to spend every run on the dreadmill I took to the streets again last night. I planned for a 40min light run covering 5 or so miles. The pavements where I live are in that slushy/icy stage which is still to dangerous to run in without some form of spikes so I chucked on the stableicers again and set off.

I tried to stick to relatively busy roads where I knew roughly the ice would have mostly melted and as it turned out I had no slips. Somewhat by accident I added a few hills to the route – I should know this is going to happen – I ran away from London and into Essex!

As I said last time it’s much harder running in the snow, my heart rate was high even though I was traveling relatively slowly. I still have symptoms of a mild cold which probably isn’t helping matters either! Regardless of this the run went well and I had wrapped up so well this time I was actually pretty hot when I got back!!

Oh and whilst I can’t be certain as I’m not very good at celeb spotting, I’m pretty sure as I ran past Woodford Station I passed Arg from The Only Way is Essex. This would make a bit of sense as he does live in Woodford apparently! Sure, he’s no A lister but I don’t think I have ever spotted anyone else whilst out running!

On Sunday I somehow forced myself out of the door for a run. I don’t really know how this happened as when I woke up even though I had prepared my kit the night before had my routine breakfast almost everything was telling me not to bother! I think had I had done a few more miles during the week I would have had an excuse to use but because of the snow I hadn’t.

At 945 am I couldn’t put it off any longer and headed out of the door still uncertain what type of run I would do. During the first 10 minutes my body sulked, a high heart rate made it appear like the run was not going to be fun. However, shortly after things seemed to settle and I realised I was going at a respectable pace. Knowing I only had an hour I opted to push myself with some hills in further practice for next weekend. The route consisted of every hill I could think of bar one and all of them fairly substantial hills. There was one which was a steady incline for a long distance and the others short(ish) and sharp hill in chingford as well as other inclines.

Anyway – it turned out to be a tough but rewarding  session.

It may appear that I haven’t done much running recently and compared to when I was working towards Dublin/London my kit has remained quite clean! However that isn’t to say I have hung my trainers up completely. During the last 7 days I have had two very tough sessions however neither focused on endurance.

Last Wednesday following a late tip night at work I headed to Horsegaurds to meet Rich and head out for a 6mile run. I was feeling good so took the opportunity to push the pace faster than usual. Six miles at a sub 8min/mi pace and at least 3 of those closer to 7:15. It was a tough run, my heart rate was racing but it felt good especially over a relatively short distance.

On Sunday I pushed myself again with a hill session. As I live so close to London I rarely do these but thought it would be a good idea as the Stockport 10 which I am running in under a month is apparently pretty hilly! Heading to Longfield, Kent following a far from healthy brunch at Altitude 360 I kitted up at 4pm for a 40ish minute session. There are certainly some hills there and looking at the Garmin almost all of the first half was uphill. I tried to keep the pace brisk and as a result my lungs were burning! After about 6miles I trotted home – a tough but fulfilling run!

At the moment it seems not a day goes by without there being a new running app being released or brought to my attention. I can now name 6 apps I’m aware of for the iPhone and a number of these have been successfully ported to Android and some even to the Blackberry. The big question seems to be do these apps bring the demise of the GPS watches which are commonly attached to runners wrists?

Without much thought I suspect for the beginner runner this is a definite ‘Yes’, the Gamin/Timex watches are typically expensive pieces of kit. If you don’t know someone that has one I think you could easily not know about them or be put off by the cost and ‘scare’ factor. Whilst Garmin is a big brand it is nowhere near that of Nike and as I sit writing this post I know that almost 1 in 4 of the people I know has an iPhone or Android based phone meaning they can pick up a competitive app for practically nothing.

I have reviewed the Nike+ and Adidas miCoach apps previously on this blog and both offer a great foundation for the runner at a maximum price of £2, or so you initially think. Since getting my iPhone many years ago it has barely left my side, it allows me to stay connected on the go, check emails and write blog posts! Now it could come out for a run with me, but it doesn’t – why not? Even my 2 year old phone is worth a couple of hundred pounds and replacing it would cost more like £500. I wouldn’t dream of putting a laptop in my back pocket whilst running (ignoring the logistics of course!) and my phone is just that. I am a big sweater and also I’m not just a fair-weather runner, when it’s raining I can still be found running and I’ve yet to be presented with a casing I trust in rain, snow and sweat conditions. I know for a fact, even though the iPhone maybe preloaded with Nike+ you will get little help if your phone dies due to water damage! The other big thing is the iPhone isn’t the smallest piece of kit and logically it can’t sit in a useful place to see statistics. Some apps have integrated a voice split indicator, very useful but it’s not available when you instantly want to see it. Come mid run (and I have witnessed this) it’s amusing to see people fumbling around hoping to hit buttons on their arm before giving up, detaching the phone playing then reattaching the device.

What I have to constantly remind myself is I am biased, I have already gone out and got an expensive Garmin so can’t really compare. If I didn’t have the watch and was starting running today I think there is a good chance I wouldn’t have bought one. Finding it difficult to justify the expense possibly opting for an app and making do with my old Polar Heart Rate monitor. I would accept a level of inaccuracy but wouldn’t know any different and I suspect by now I would have upgraded my phone just for this reason. However, which app would I be using? I think that’s for a separate ‘to follow’ post as otherwise once again this post maybe of dissertation length.

I would love to run a test on new runners to find out how people use these apps, I suspect that on the whole Nike will have got it spot on with it’s simplicity for new runners but fails to be of much use to those who need to dig a bit deeper into the data, it provides an app to use on the phone but not online. The adidas unique selling point is the coaching partner but how many people will bother with that – especially when the app is free! If you had to pay for the app it would possibly have a similar effect as paying for a gym in forcing you through financial guilt? The app I played with today (review to follow) seemed much more tailored to people who used Garmins. The website had lots of graphs, stats and information, the developers are clearly thinking for the future by offering API’s, widgets etc (something Garmin still lacks) stuff a coach or dedicated runner can analyse when they return from a run.

Would I stop using my Garmin? Not yet, I can be reasonably careless with it (although i shouldn’t as it is easy to forget how much it is worth!), it can take my heart rate and most importantly I can look at it easily whilst running. I can set up screens to show all the information I would ever need and by just lifting my arm I get these figures. Simples

N

It’s Sunday evening and this morning I ran The Royal Parks Half Marathon in London. Having booked into this run at the end of March it seemed a long time coming and since that point I have done a number of other runs. My training has been pretty busy recently but today’s run was not about PB’s it was about enjoying the VERY scenic course and being in and around lots of runners in London.

Rich and I had decided during the week we would attempt to run a negative split today, this would be a nice challenge and also test to see our fitness levels. If we could run the first half at a reasonable pace but maintaining a low heart rate and then build up the speed to the end it would prove that our training over the last few months had been good. Having dropped our bags off and done the necessities we made our way to the start pens and made no attempt to go near the front. We were to set off at a 8:45 pace and we figured midway through this pen would suffice. The start was efficient and within a couple of minutes we were off, it was very difficult to force the speed slower and not be pulled along by the runners who set off at a faster pace. Fortunately, the Garmins came to our rescue – if I was going on how I felt no doubt I would have been running a 7min/mi from the start, as it turns out we went through the first mile in 8:30 so not too bad!

The first 6 miles of the course is lovely, taking in a large amounts of the sites of London, as we weren’t going hell for leather I looked up and enjoyed London in all its glory – especially with all the roads closed and lots of runners with huge smiles on there faces (it was the first six miles remember!) We maintained a pace of about 8:30-845 and entered Hyde Park at around 6 miles in 51mins. At 6 miles we opened up looking to increase our pace and hopefully maintain this until the finish. Not quite sure why we started at 6 miles, hardly half way! Anyway, from this point the splits went to about 7:30 average with the fastest being the last mile at a super speedy 7:07 – not too bad considering!

As we approached the final few hundred meters I think both of us thought we maybe able to break 1:45 and we were mighty close, coming in 9 seconds behind. Considering we set off for a 1:50 and the first 6 miles were at at 1:51 pace to reclaim 6 minutes in the second half is pretty good and to be honest those 9 seconds are irrelevant as it wasn’t a “race” for either of us.

Other than the cost, I was really impressed with the event itself and actually don’t have any gripes at all . The market was great and my goody bag is stuffed with treats which is a jackpot. The medal is lovely, and different to all the other ones I have. I would love to do it again but am not sure whether I would want to pay out quite as much for a route that I tend to run on a weekly basis with the Serpies anyway!

All in all though a cracking run, good to take it at a pace where we could have a chat and genuinely enjoy the day. As always, it was great to have Laura (and at the end Rich’s girlfriend Liz) out on the course cheering on, sorry to all those who may have seen me and I ignored, I know there were others out! Well done Soo on completing your first half marathon, hope you enjoyed it a little bit, a sterling achievement!

Gun Time: 01:45:09
First Half Split: 00:55:29
Second Half Split: 00:49:40
Difference between splits: 05:49
Average Speed: 8:00 min/mi
Average Heart Rate: 156bpm.