Bring It

Had my first solo run for almost two weeks this morning: Gladstone Park. 5 miles (8k) in 36 min, so only one minute under par and it felt so good. Got a twinge of shin pain a mile in, but a good stretch dispelled it entirely and it didn't return.

Feels so good to be road worthy again. With nothing besides last week's group run and a gentle six miler with Hayley around the Heath, mid week, and with Prague ever closer, I was beginning to feel like this:

(I'm not a dog, though) 

(In anything but the vaguest metaphorical sense.)

I'm just glad that taking the time off put-paid to the pain. My commiserations go out most particularly at this time to Katie and her achilles tendon. The best advice I've had to offer is the need to discipline one's rest so that one is genuinely healed before running in earnest one again. I ran more in the first week of this year that I have for the entirety of the remainder of the month, but it has paid off.

I'm going to alternate long runs, short runs and rest days this week. By the end of this week/start of the next, I want a shot at 10 or more miles. I want to be running the full 20k before the halfway mark to Prague.

"I actually enjoyed that"

We managed to get 4+2+1 out on Saturday, which was an improvement on last time's 4. Yet again, a fun time was had by all, including Dave who "actually enjoyed" it.

The Heath was the destination and, while always amiable, was particularly nice in the morning frost.

Our route was only six miles, but it constituted good exercise.

Only minimal leg pain for me - the combination of the best part of a week's rest, a toned-down pace and a few pills did the job. I'm going to do two or three runs this week with a view to being back up to the regular 5-8 miles at full pace next week. I want to get a couple of routes into double-figure mileage the week after. I'm eager to get back target.

Yet again, there were a fair amount of people who we would have liked to have had with us to really reinforce the"group" in "group run". Hopefully we'll be able to keep stepping up the numbers for next time.

Write-off

I did a two mile run yesterday. Even that was enough to get the legs smarting. I've written off all further attempts until Saturday's group run, where I will shoot-up enough painkillers before running to get me through regardless.

This really is quite unfortunate and highly detrimental to a training routine that was meant to be getting into its stride by now!

I did a ten mile bike ride instead this morning. I averaged 20mph on my first lap of Regent's Park. It's nice to know that decent cardio in the mornings is still well within the scope of my current routine. Unfortunately I won't really be able to go anywhere other than Regent's Park, as the roads are always horribly packed in the mornings.

Here's wishing study legs for Saturday's run. We've had a lot more commitment for it this time, so hopefully we'll be able to make it a good one.

Running, Resting and Resenting

Quite bad leg pain today. My calves were fine but my shins were worse than ever. They don't seem to correspond directly to the symptoms of shin splints, but they are painful. I set out for a longer run today, but had to cut it short, managing only three miles.

I sustained a sub-7.5 min/mile over the six and a half miles to Regent's Park and back two days ago. I was hoping that the day's rest I've had in between each of my last three runs would have been enough. Evidently not. Thursday was tolerable, but today just wasn't happening.

Regent's Park was nice, though. Always a pleasant park to run in. I haven't been there for perhaps as long as six or seven months.

Pre-Emptive Abort

Argh - no run this morning. It was deliberate though. I really started hurting on yesterday's canal run, but the pain in calves and shins was gradually growing from about Friday, so I don't dismiss it as a one-off.

Not my calves.

As I've never maintained six runs per week, the unexpected is to be expected, but my desire to not develop an injury is enough for me abandon my six-days resolution without hesitation. What I suppose I'll have to do is run four times weekly with a short-run / long-run / rest-day pattern just to ensure my muscles have sufficient time to recover. This is far more on a par with how I've more habitually run in recent years. A far more familiar formula.

I just need to shake the feeling that I'm wimping out...

Route Canal

Short runs before dawn are always going to be a limited combination, given that all nearest parks don't open till day break. Still, the canal always offers an enjoyable ride. One day I'll have to capture it in darkness with something better than my camera phone.

Four-and-a-half miles at a somewhat painfully slower eight-and-a-half minutes per mile (11 kph). See above post.

Return to the Dark Side

Stepped outside at 6:30 for a run to Primrose Hill this morning. A lot of parks don't open until 7-7:30, but I know from experience that Primrose Hill is open all night - I've been there as early as 4:30am.

I've run very little in the dark this academic year, thanks to a timetable that allows me late starts in the morning. In previously years, however, I've had to get up regularly at 5:30 in order to have time to get in to Uni and running in the dark always feels nostalgic if I haven't done it for a while. My favourite time to run is, of course, just before dawn. Getting back before it's light does get rather miserable if done too often.

I managed the five miles in 34 minutes - a very comfortable 6.8 min/mile (=14 kph). It feels good to be up early, rather than running in the stress prime time commuting.

42

I ran 42 miles (67 km) last week. I've done 40 miles weeks before, but I don't ever recall exceeding that, even on weeks when I've ran half-marathon distances.

Running six days a week is rare, of course, for me. The idea of "rest days"between longer runs is a wonderful excuse to flake out. It remains to be seen how long my new-found resolve will keep me going 6/7. Ideally until Prague, but I don't know if I've got that much consistency to muster.

I anticipate some shorter runs this week on account of time pressures. I'm going to aim for at least 30 miles (48 km), though.

The Big Freeze

It's over, apparently.

Big spike in temperatures today, set to stay for at least the next two weeks it seems.

Yesterday's run was the coldest of the year at -9 oC, with ice, fog, a bit of snow falling; but we're comfortably back up above freezing now.

It's a shame - I quite like the cold, especially as it generally entails a reduction of wet (is always preferable if you're a cyclist), but I suppose the reversal of weather does favour the runner.

"Group" Run

A disappointing number of people were unable to attend, but running with any number of people is always a motivational experience and this run was very worthwhile.

After a nice stretch of frozen canal, David, Zinta and I arrived at the fog-shrouded Scrubs where we met Helen.

Return trip along the canal.

We managed a healthy 9 miles in total.

Replenishment of calories at the conclusion, courtesy of Louise, Zinta and Helen.

We plan to get plenty more people out to the next one - probably in two weeks' time. I encourage everyone who can to participate.

Dawn with the Dead

I needed a slightly shorter distance today to give my muscles a fighting chance to cope with tomorrow's planned group run, after yesterday's exertion. I took the chance to explore one stretch of the canal we will be visiting - one that is out of the way of my usual itinerary. I got off by Ladbroke Grove to explore the Kensal Green cemetery. I've been there once before.

I quite like running through cemeteries, especially in the morning when they're deserted. I have frequented some 8 or 9 over the past three years.

An avenue of floral bling - a palette cleanser between gothic and neo-classic tombs.

Scary tree tomb wants a haircut.

Achieving 7 min/m (=13.7 kph), the Breakfast Dilemma, and thermodynamics of the human body.

Here's chart I whipped up at the request of those working in Kilometres. I like to use minute-miles as that seems to be a fairly standard and common benchmark for running speed. The world record for a half marathon is 58:33 (Set in The Hague in 1986 by Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya) which is under a 4.5 minute mile. This is mind boggling when you consider that the fastest mile that's been run on record is 3.7 minutes. Mr. Wanjiru was only running only 50 seconds slower per mile, but over thirteen times further.

Today I beat my 7.0 min/mile target by a sniff. 4.5 miles in 31 minutes, equals 6.9 min/m and 13.9 kph. This took a lot of oomph and it's going to be very hard to sustain over a longer distance. I'm surprised how much extra effort is required to cut off each extra 20 seconds per mile. There's the best part of 11 weeks to go, however, so I've got time to work on it.

One issue I struggle with is the breakfast dilemma. I have always, as a rule, run first thing in the morning before breakfast. Running in this way is entrenched in my routine. As soon as I start getting into the theory of it all I start to lose the plot a bit - inevitably, the more I try to learn, the less I realise I understand. This aside, the basis I work on is that by running before breakfast, I'm burning leftover energy from the previous day and from there on, fat reserves.

I'm not too often in a position where I don't want to lose weight (I was in fact told my face looked fat post-Christmas by Warrick Kear last night at Institute) and so I welcome the above idea, generally ignoring the extent to which it actually might be erroneous.

Logic follows, however, that taking on board energy before running would allow me to run further and faster, therefore increasing my strength and stamina. One line of thinking suggests that it is muscle strength and fatigue that are my obstacles to running further at a higher speed, and that muscles will tire whether they are receiving energy from fat or from recently digested food; that I could therefore train on an empty stomach and still improve. I don't follow the theory further in (towards fast- and slow-twitch fibres, lactic acid accumulation and so forth). Maybe you have insights or links to useful articles? Do share them, if so.

One more point of interest: as far as energy consumption is concerned, from calorie charts I have studied it is apparent that calories are burned in proportion to the distance run, without much variation  with the speed at which the run takes place - that's to say whether you run 5 miles in thirty minutes or in a full hour, roughly the same amount of energy is consumed getting you across that distance. This is different in, say, cycling where more speed results in rapidly increasing air resistance and energy expenditure.

Here is an approximate chart with varying body weight:

So my 4.5 miles today equals 522 kcal - that's less that I'm about to eat for lunch. 

At half marathon distance, though, I'd be topping 1500 - now that's some decent burning. 1500 is about equivalent to my base metabolic rate - how many calories I burn daily without the morning run or my cycle commuting.

Hills of Punishment

The Heath is great. It lacks the outright size and beautiful vistas of, say, Richmond Park, but I maintain it is probably the most compelling place to run in London.

I pulled a full circumbobulation in the quest for distance. The best way to clock up miles is to get lost on the paths inside, of course. That just makes your route nigh impossible to measure. I suppose I should invest in a pedometer.

I approach through the lovely back-lanes from the West.

The woods of the West-Heath are a very nice destination in an of themselves. On the left of the path is Golder's Hill Park and to the right lies the Hill Garden and Pergola (the Heath's best kept secret), both subjects of runs in the near future.

Frozen ponds in the middle of the wood.

A trip along the Heath's perimeter road (Spaniard's Road) and back on to it from the North brings on out on the Kenwood estate. Superbly scenic, grey morning notwithstanding.

The side of Kenwood House

The variety of the Heath holds continual appeal. The southern portions all the way along are quite highly frequented, but so much in the way of lonely glens, dells, paths, trails, ponds and hillocks are offered to those who venture further in.

Wide open spaces.

The contours of the Heath are one of my main reasons for loving it. It is a brilliant landscape. This is of course a two edged sword because the gradients are absolutely torturous to anyone trying to maintain a half-decent pace. I ended up running almost exactly 10 miles in 77 minutes which equates to both 7.7 miles per hour and 7.7 minutes per mile. Very neat figures, but the hills took their toll. My personal best over long distance is 13 miles in 97 minutes which is a 7.5 minute mile. Interestingly enough, that was almost entirely along the canal. The non-flat and non-uninterrupted undulations of the Heath clearly make for extra arduous training.

My favourite Hill of Punishment.

400 meters of joyful-joyful.

Masochistic cyclists only need apply.

High

I achieved runner's high at what turned out to be the eighth mile of my run today. It's not particularly uncommon for me, but it's been a while since I had it last.

It's not, for me at least, some abstract or metaphorical feeling, but a specifically discernible state of body and mind. It is distinct from an adrenaline rush, though the two can be present simultaneously.

I find its triggers are both psychological and psychological, but the main prerequisite is that of having pushed myself - generally for a reasonable period of time (i.e. 40, 50, 60 min +), as opposed to simply sprinting flat out for a few minutes. Fatigue, pain and muscle ache become subdued and one has the ability to push harder, uninhibited, which further increases the rush. It certainly entails what is referred to as a second wind, though it might be the third or fourth . The hormone spikes, or whatever they are, also tend to occur in conjunction with particularly energetic and compelling tracks cycling through on the shuffle. I need to write a long post some time upon the bond between running and music.

Unfortunately my high died off during a thirty second wait for a traffic light to turn red so that I could cross the road. Always nice to get one towards the end of a long run, though.

Gladstone Park has stones; is glad.

It was a cold, murky, black & white sort of dawn. Not so much as a sniff of sunrise. Nothing but a firm pre-established and granite-like resolve to run could have got me out of bed. All too often, if I'm not 100% committed to a run the next morning when I go to bed at night, it just doesn't happen. 

The first half mile was particularly horrendous today. Subzero air in your lungs is just not what you want during sudden physical exertion within the first 15 minutes of being awake.

The stones of Gladstone park.

Naked lady statue attempts to wash herself unconcernedly in the frozen lake.

Someone carved a tree

With a determined effort to move faster, I managed the 5 miles in 35 minutes. Covering a mile in 7 is exactly where I want to be. It's going to take some work to maintain that, however.  I'm going to try and keep the speed up over an 8 mile route tomorrow.