It may come across a bit hypocritical of me to talk about hydration during races as this is one of the areas I am investigating following the Marathon. However, when I’m not running I do try my best to keep my fluid intake as high as possible. I have a few neat gadgets to help (surprise surprise) and also throw some electrolytes into the mix…

Hydracool

This is one of the most impressive bottles EVER. It has a cog in it that rotates every time you draw water from the bottle and measures how much you have taken in. It has a 24 hour timer and you can programme it to say how much liquid you want to consume and it will display percentage info etc. Pretty damn cool and geektastic

Vapur

I got these a few months back and have come in use especially when I have done a run following a commute. I fill up one of these bottles, clip on the side of my bag and by the time I have got to my destination it should be empty and weigh nothing so no hindrance in my bag during my run. They can also be chucked in the dishwasher and freezer the first is a bonus as keeping bottles smell free is a challenge in itself and the later I’m very much looking forward to in the summer as the weather warms and I’m out running in the sun! They come in various sizes and colours and whilst I’m no rambler/climber (insert any other sort of out door sport here) I can imagine a whole magnitude of uses for these handy water pouches.

Nuun (Electrolytes)

I try whenever possible to take at least one of these a day regardless of training regime. They are zero calories and add good salts to the body. I’m not going to preach about knowing the full benefits of electrolytes but for one it forces me on a daily basis to have at least 500ml of fluid as sometimes I need the prompting to not just drink tea! I do believe they have a help with muscle recovery, crucial when endurance training!

On that note it’s probably time for me to take on some H2O

N

I suspect for almost everybody out there training towards a  spring marathon the past weekend saw you out pounding the pavements and putting some big miles in the leg bank. It was no difference for me as I had a 2hr30 run scheduled, the longest to date for 2011.

On Saturday I went for a service with Chris D at the sports clinic. Whilst I didn’t have any serious injuries I’m aware that it’s best to have a massage once a month or so when heavily training to flush out the rubbish that has built up in the legs. One hour later I was out and my legs felt refreshed and ready for the LSR on Sunday.

This weekend was another Training Run organised by Havens Hospice in Southend. Benfleet RC put together a number of routes covering all magnitudes of distances and at 830 in the morning everyone leaves on mass. Whilst waiting in Little Havens there is always an aura of anticipation! For a number of people there embarking on their first marathon this would be the longest run to date and this is a worry. This was me 3 years ago and I know the feeling! Fortunately, these training runs bring people together and allow people to see they aren’t alone!

As mentioned I was out to do 2hrs30 and based on previous runs I wanted to do roughly 8:15 splits if possible. I was prepared to slow it a bit to run with company as I saw no point in travelling to Southend and running on my own! Fortunately I managed to drag 2 runners along with me, Paul and Kanan(?!?!). I have run with Paul before, in fact we both started training for the 2009 marathon for Havens. Since then it seems we have both improved in pace leaving the 9min/mi group we both ran with in ’09 in our wake!

I am fairly confident when I say I pushed them harder than they were expecting. These guys are training for a sub 345/350 and for 18 hilly miles we hit an average split of 8:17. At 18 miles that would put them over half a mile ahead – let’s not forget though it’s all about the last 6miles and not the first 20!

The run was perfect and as 18mile sessions go it was certainly up there with one of the best. Two very good training sessions with havens this year and even though the weather for the  second was grey an dismal the cheeriness of those out more than made up for it!

With the Roding Valley half on Sunday week I believe my schedule has a ‘mini taper’ meaning my LSR this coming weekend is not so ‘L’ – at 90mins I will be looking to do 10-11 miles and just enjoy it!

Hope everyones training is going well and to plan!

N

Following on from my test with the Motorola Defy a few weeks back I decided to chat with Vodafone and see if I could get any other phones to have a play with and review. As with the other phone review this one is less about how good the phone is as an actual phone but more about the added extras in particular those aimed at sports men or women.

On first impressions I was surprised how heavy the phone felt given its size. It looked like it should be quite light! It also didn’t look like a typical smart phones and it certainly wasn’t to my taste. The aluminium effect seems a little dated now! That said I didn’t really care too much what was on the outside it was more about what was under the hood!

Firing it up I was presented the Symbian OS which was very alien to me. I wanted to download Sports-tracker one of the few apps available for runners on Nokia phones. However, this was not going to be a simple task as it is on iPhone and Android OS. Firstly where is the App store or Market place?! After digging a bit I found it in the ‘ovi store’ – jackpot! Find app, click install, let’s go for a run! Sadly not, didn’t install – try again, didn’t install this pattern went on repeatedly until I was close to sending it back untested.

Eventually I went on the sports tracker website and sent the phone a link to the app, the ovi app opened again and it appeared I was in the same place again. One more try I thought – and for some reason this time it installed and worked. On sunday it would join me on my long run. I downloaded the most recent MT podcast onto it – using the really poor Nokia web browser (why is it so poor still!?!), charged it up and come Sunday morning it was in my pocket joining me on 14 miles to the Olympic stadium.

At Stratford I took it out and took some snaps on the camera which was relatively seamless and all the while the running app sat in the background logging data.

When I got home I compared my watch with the phone and (in this case) credit where credit is due the two were in 1/100 of a mile difference. Not bad I thought. Ignoring the initial ‘teething’ issues the phone had done well and I was prepared to box it up and send it back.

Unfortunately for the Nokia and Sports Tracker I didn’t get round to sending it back so queued it up with some music and used it on my Tuesday Morning run into work. This time the results were poor and very very unreliable. The 8miles my gamin logged where dwarfed by the sports trackers 9.11m, however i knew which one was more reliable! When I logged onto the Nokia site it transpires I did some swimming in the Thames which I didn’t realise!

This got me thinking about the other phones I had used and the consistency of data. Fortunately with both the Nokia and Moto I had ran upto stratford due to luck more than good testing plans. I believe both were pretty accurate in these runs but less so on runs that were in a busier area. I always assumed it was due to high buildings and losing signal which causes the differences but looking at my little swim along the Thames I wonder whether it maybe something else. Purely speculating and based on no fact I wonder whether these apps work really well when plotting on a ‘road’ rather than a path or trail. The software can build in logic if each point sits on a road on it’s map as it can be a lot more precise in it’s calculations, possibly!

Whilst I deliberate and ponder in my head I suspect it still is to do with building coverage. In somewhere like central London where there are lots of tall buildings it would make sense for the app to lose signal from the satellites and the less points it can plot the less accurate the reading will be.

So at the end of all that highly scientific waffling would I go out and get this phone. Unfortunately not, I wasnt a fan of the OS, didn’t like it’s appearance too much and the sports-tracker app results left a lot to be desired!!

Once again thanks to Vodafone for supplying me with this phone to play with! Hopefully a blackberry next thus completing the range of major smartphone OS’es.

To compare the runs here is the Sports Tracker Link and the Garmin Connect Link for the same route.

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!

I think Fridays are going to rapidly become the best day of the week for me when it comes to running unless this schedule changes. After 3 days of back to back sessions I was genuinely happy to put my trainers away for a day. Doesn’t bode well for the next 99 days though does it?

It has actually been a while since I have written a running blog, ironic given the nature of the site! This doesn’t mean I haven’t been out there, in actual fact in the last 3 weeks my schedule has once again ramped up massively. Having looked at my garmin dashboard in 3 weeks I have covered 80 miles, done 2 long runs of over an 1:30 and done 3 variants of interval sessions.

Historically I have tried to avoid the interval sessions as these are what hurt the most, 3 weeks in it still feels the same. On the first week I did 5 x 3min on/2min off which made me cry a little, last week I did 2 x 10mins on/3min off again I shed a little tear and last night I did a ramp session 10mins steady,10min controlled pace then 5mins as fast as poss. Last night I didn’t have anything left to even begin to weep! I will admit I made the experience a touch harder for myself by not taking it particularly easily on the Wednesday night with the Serps so even before I started I was hesitant!

Anyway as the title suggests Friday is the day my legs love me and why not. I figure im mostly going to sit around and take the pressure off them. Give them a little treat before Sundays long run! 1hr 45 scheduled so guessing aiming to do around the 13mile kind of distance – hopefully with some company if possible!

Some (most) may consider me mental but on Sunday following the settling of the snow I chucked on my kit and went for a run. I wanted to give the stableicers I bought a while back a go and figured a gentle jog couldn’t do me any harm…

Wrapped up in lots of layers at the top and wearing my a400 skins to cover my legs I left the flat. After my Garmin was hooked into the satellites (which seemed to take an eternity this time) I started to move. I had no issues whatsoever with grip, at no point did I feel I may slip however the combination of snow and the stableicers certainly tested different muscles in my legs.

I took a 6 mile route I have done countless times but never in snow. It was much tougher and more testing running on this surface. I struggled to maintain a sub 8:30 pace which seemed slow considering what I have been running recently and my heart-rate suggested I should be moving much faster!

6 miles later I was back home, reasonably dry and pretty warm all things considered. I had a nice run and the scenery was so different and much much nicer when covered with a couple of inches of snow!

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!