Had a good week this week, ran a half-marathon PB, felt no worse for the effort afterwards and was able to train well all week.
Saturday 23rd January - Rest Day
Had a rest ready for the following day's half-marathon.
Sunday 24th January - Santa Pola Half Marathon
As I said earlier in the week, this was a great race for me, now I'm really looking forward to the next couple of races and trying to push the PB down even further. I'd like to have a go at a 10k soon too, I did the 2nd 10k in 41:08 and in the five 10k races I've done up to now I've only gone quicker than that once.
21.1km 4:13min/km 1:28:50
Monday 25th January - Rest Day
After the hard work of the day before I gave myself a well earned rest.
Tuesday 26th January - 1,000m Swim
Went to the pool at 9am, expecting it to be fairly quiet, I was wrong, I won't make the same mistake next week. No after effects from the half, the only thing slowing me down was the number of other swimmers in the lane.
1,000m 28minutes
Wednesday 27th January - 12km Run
In the next few weeks i'll be gradually building up the length of my midweek and Sunday runs, did 12km this time. It was quite slow, mainly due to the strong wind that was blowing.
12km 4:30min/km 54:06
Thursday 28th January - Football
Played football for an hour, my team lost convincingly and I missed I think 4 good opportunities to score.
Friday 29th January - Track Session
Went to the track for some sprints, ran 1200m as a warm-up before 3x200m runs and 2x400m. Finished off with a gentle 1km.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Santa Pola Half Marathon - Breakthrough Race
Last Sunday saw the start of my racing year, and it was a great start as I achieved my failed 2009 target of a 1:30 half marathon at the first time of asking. From the start line to the finish line my time was 1:28:50, Santa Pola is a popular race with close to 7,000 runners so infinitely there is some delay in getting to the start line, my time from the gun to the finish line was 1:30:04.
Santa Pola is a quick course, most of it is running alongside the beach, so inevitably its completely flat, but at the same time I was slowed up over the first few kilometres by the sheer number of runners. It will be interesting to see what happens in my next race in Orihuela with fewer people but more ups and downs. But one of the great things about Santa Pola was that it was good preparation for London in terms of being faced with lines of people in front that you have to patiently find a way through. London will be 30,000 runners rather than 7,000 but the streets will be alot wider so all in all its fairly similar. In truth its really frustrating being held up, but you have to be patient, you waste important energy that you will need at the end of the race if you keep fighting to get through all the time.
The delay is borne out by my 5km splits:
5km 23:23 23:23
10km 20:45 44:08
15km 20:52 1:05:00
20km 21:05 1:26:05
21.1km 3:59 1:30:04
The first 5km time includes the time to cross the start line, so taking that out its 22:09, so still a minute slower than any of the subsequent 5km splits.
All in all it was a great day, a PB on a nice course running by the sea with plenty of cheering on of runners by what seemed like the whole town with live music at various points on the course, great place, great course, great people and great result. I'm already looking forward to going back next year!
Here are a couple of pictures from the day, the University half-marathon team, I'm hiding at the back, and me at about 15 kilometres.
Santa Pola is a quick course, most of it is running alongside the beach, so inevitably its completely flat, but at the same time I was slowed up over the first few kilometres by the sheer number of runners. It will be interesting to see what happens in my next race in Orihuela with fewer people but more ups and downs. But one of the great things about Santa Pola was that it was good preparation for London in terms of being faced with lines of people in front that you have to patiently find a way through. London will be 30,000 runners rather than 7,000 but the streets will be alot wider so all in all its fairly similar. In truth its really frustrating being held up, but you have to be patient, you waste important energy that you will need at the end of the race if you keep fighting to get through all the time.
The delay is borne out by my 5km splits:
5km 23:23 23:23
10km 20:45 44:08
15km 20:52 1:05:00
20km 21:05 1:26:05
21.1km 3:59 1:30:04
The first 5km time includes the time to cross the start line, so taking that out its 22:09, so still a minute slower than any of the subsequent 5km splits.
All in all it was a great day, a PB on a nice course running by the sea with plenty of cheering on of runners by what seemed like the whole town with live music at various points on the course, great place, great course, great people and great result. I'm already looking forward to going back next year!
Here are a couple of pictures from the day, the University half-marathon team, I'm hiding at the back, and me at about 15 kilometres.
Monday, 25 January 2010
This week's training (Jan 16th - Jan 22nd)
Saturday 16th January - Rest Day
I was in the UK, going to watch the Spurs play out a disappointing 0-0 draw in the afternoon, did really have time for any training.
Sunday 17th January - 6km Run
Made two schoolboy errors that meant I didn't run as far as I wanted, firstly I left my gloves in my Dad's van after the football, my hands were about ready to drop off when I finished running and secondly I forgot to ask my sister where the key would be to get out of her house so I couldn't set out as early as I'd have liked. When I did get out it was a fairly slow run, partly as a result of icy paths and partly because of my freezing cold hands.
6.2km 4:40min/km 28:45
Monday 18h January - Rest Day
Tuesday 19th January - 10.6km Run
After the slow run on Sunday I pushed things pretty hard on my regular 10k route, mainly to try to get comfortable with a quicker pace before a half-marathon race in the coming weekend. I was about 40 seconds off my best time for the lap, but I was fairly pleased with it.
10.6km 4:11min/km 44:29
Wednesday 20th January - 1km Swim
It seems I've finally resolved my goggle issues so could get back to enjoying swimming more. I started off quickly but tired toward the end.
Thursday 21st January - Football
I wasn't going to play, since I had a half-marathon coming on the weekend, but decided it was worth the risk in the end. Didn't play very well, and my team got well and truly thrashed.
Friday 22nd January - Track Session
Did 1km jog to the jog, a 5k on the track in 4:05min/km pace and then 1km jog home. It was a comfortable run round, again getting me comfortable running at a good pace for the half marathon.
Hopefully I'll find time in the next couple of days to blog on how the half went, until then....hasta luego.
I was in the UK, going to watch the Spurs play out a disappointing 0-0 draw in the afternoon, did really have time for any training.
Sunday 17th January - 6km Run
Made two schoolboy errors that meant I didn't run as far as I wanted, firstly I left my gloves in my Dad's van after the football, my hands were about ready to drop off when I finished running and secondly I forgot to ask my sister where the key would be to get out of her house so I couldn't set out as early as I'd have liked. When I did get out it was a fairly slow run, partly as a result of icy paths and partly because of my freezing cold hands.
6.2km 4:40min/km 28:45
Monday 18h January - Rest Day
Tuesday 19th January - 10.6km Run
After the slow run on Sunday I pushed things pretty hard on my regular 10k route, mainly to try to get comfortable with a quicker pace before a half-marathon race in the coming weekend. I was about 40 seconds off my best time for the lap, but I was fairly pleased with it.
10.6km 4:11min/km 44:29
Wednesday 20th January - 1km Swim
It seems I've finally resolved my goggle issues so could get back to enjoying swimming more. I started off quickly but tired toward the end.
Thursday 21st January - Football
I wasn't going to play, since I had a half-marathon coming on the weekend, but decided it was worth the risk in the end. Didn't play very well, and my team got well and truly thrashed.
Friday 22nd January - Track Session
Did 1km jog to the jog, a 5k on the track in 4:05min/km pace and then 1km jog home. It was a comfortable run round, again getting me comfortable running at a good pace for the half marathon.
Hopefully I'll find time in the next couple of days to blog on how the half went, until then....hasta luego.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Training weeks - 2nd January to 15th January
I've been slow to update my blog recently, not much time to do much recently (apart from the odd game on the Wii!). While I've got a moment, here goes:
Saturday 2nd January - Rest Day
Sunday 3rd January - 10.6km Run
First run back in Spain, it was good to be back in the warm! It was more or less the pace I'd need for a 90 minute half marathon, the few days rest didn't seem to affect me too much.
Monday 4th January - 21.2km Bike
I'd missed my bike while I was away, I was eager to take her out on my return, I took her down to the beach and back. It wasn't the fastest, but it was good fun.
21.2km 2:58min/km 1:03:07
Tuesday 5th January - 1km Swim
Went for a morning swim, was a fairly slow kilometre, but I guess I was still easing my way back after the holidays.
1,000m 30:00
Wednesday 6th January - 12.1km Run
Picking up the mileage I did a 12km morning run, again went on my target half marathon pace, all felt good.
12.1km 4:15min/km 51:30
Thursday 7th January - Rest Day
Friday 8th January - Track Session
Went down to the Uni athletics track to do some sprints, ran 1.2km as a warm-up, then 5x200m sprints, followed by a 1km warm down run. I'm no Usain Bolt, but I enjoy having a go at sprinting now and again. I do 200m in about 30 seconds, only 11 behind Usain.
Saturday 9th January - Rest Day
Sunday 10th January - 25.7km Run
My first proper long run for about a month, and my longest training run I guess since March of last year. It was an enjoyable run, it was like baby bear's porridge, not too hot, not too cold, it was just perfect for running. The pace was more or less on my ideal marathon pace, hopefully I can maintain it as I lengthen my Sunday long run in the next few weeks.
25.7km 4:32min/km 1:56:40
Monday 11th January - 1km Swim
Late night swim, with the pool surprisingly busy. Continued the on-going battle with my goggles, I'm hoping i've resolved the issue now, we'll see what happens next time.
1km 30:00
Tuesday 12th January - Rest Day
Wednesday 13th January - 10.6km Run and Football
It was an incredibly windy morning, which the run very hard work and much slower than normal, my slowest 10k in months. Thankfully the wind died down before the evening's football game. I played poorly for my most of the game, but managed to salvage something, scoring two in the last five minutes as everyone else tired.
10.6km 4:36min/km 48:52
Thursday 14th January - Rest Day
Friday 15th January - Track Session
Before going back to the UK for the weekend I did a bit of work at the track, rather than sprints as the previous work I tested my stamina a bit more by doing a series of 800m runs rather than 200m. I started with a 1.2km warm-up, then 3x800m runs, all in about 2:50, then finished with a 1km jog back home.
Next week I'll run my first half-marathon of the year, hopefully I can continue to make progress after the PB at the end of 2009.
Saturday 2nd January - Rest Day
Sunday 3rd January - 10.6km Run
First run back in Spain, it was good to be back in the warm! It was more or less the pace I'd need for a 90 minute half marathon, the few days rest didn't seem to affect me too much.
Monday 4th January - 21.2km Bike
I'd missed my bike while I was away, I was eager to take her out on my return, I took her down to the beach and back. It wasn't the fastest, but it was good fun.
21.2km 2:58min/km 1:03:07
Tuesday 5th January - 1km Swim
Went for a morning swim, was a fairly slow kilometre, but I guess I was still easing my way back after the holidays.
1,000m 30:00
Wednesday 6th January - 12.1km Run
Picking up the mileage I did a 12km morning run, again went on my target half marathon pace, all felt good.
12.1km 4:15min/km 51:30
Thursday 7th January - Rest Day
Friday 8th January - Track Session
Went down to the Uni athletics track to do some sprints, ran 1.2km as a warm-up, then 5x200m sprints, followed by a 1km warm down run. I'm no Usain Bolt, but I enjoy having a go at sprinting now and again. I do 200m in about 30 seconds, only 11 behind Usain.
Saturday 9th January - Rest Day
Sunday 10th January - 25.7km Run
My first proper long run for about a month, and my longest training run I guess since March of last year. It was an enjoyable run, it was like baby bear's porridge, not too hot, not too cold, it was just perfect for running. The pace was more or less on my ideal marathon pace, hopefully I can maintain it as I lengthen my Sunday long run in the next few weeks.
25.7km 4:32min/km 1:56:40
Monday 11th January - 1km Swim
Late night swim, with the pool surprisingly busy. Continued the on-going battle with my goggles, I'm hoping i've resolved the issue now, we'll see what happens next time.
1km 30:00
Tuesday 12th January - Rest Day
Wednesday 13th January - 10.6km Run and Football
It was an incredibly windy morning, which the run very hard work and much slower than normal, my slowest 10k in months. Thankfully the wind died down before the evening's football game. I played poorly for my most of the game, but managed to salvage something, scoring two in the last five minutes as everyone else tired.
10.6km 4:36min/km 48:52
Thursday 14th January - Rest Day
Friday 15th January - Track Session
Before going back to the UK for the weekend I did a bit of work at the track, rather than sprints as the previous work I tested my stamina a bit more by doing a series of 800m runs rather than 200m. I started with a 1.2km warm-up, then 3x800m runs, all in about 2:50, then finished with a 1km jog back home.
Next week I'll run my first half-marathon of the year, hopefully I can continue to make progress after the PB at the end of 2009.
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Past achievements and future objectives Part 3
After a bit of a delay I'm now going post my aims for the next 18 months, the subject of the blog is my progress towards my first marathon but given the competition for time and energy with other goals, such as academic success and other sporting goals, it seems wise to make a general list of goals here.
1. Finish my first marathon in a time I can be proud of.
This is a very vague target, and it has been the target since I started this blog (as you can see from the banner text). I guess this is a good moment to settle on what I would be proud of. I think anyone that runs a marathon in less than four hours has done something pretty special. I would imagine that anyone of my age that plays sport regularly and isn't majorly overweight with two or three months training could get round a half marathon in under two hours, but to keep up that effort for another two hours is a major undertaking.
Though four hours is good, if I'm honest, and trying not to be cocky about it, I think I am better than that so now to look at it from the other side, find an impossible benchmark and work back from there. A 3 hour marathon would be great, it would mean being in the top 1,000 runners, but given that as yet I haven't managed a 1hr 30 half marathon right now it would be an impossible goal. So going smack bang in the middle of the two, I think if I finished in 3hr 30 I would be happy, based on last year's results it would put me in the top 4,000, and it would mean running 5:00 per kilometre, which is a pace I'm fairly comfortable with. Given the pace of my training runs, I would say 3hr 15 isn't impossible but still very ambitious. So after all that babbling on I think I've got a conclusion:
My time to be proud of: 3hr 30
My time to be delighted with: 3hr 15
2. To reach my target for marathon fundraising of 1,000 pounds for UNICEF.
3. Successfully complete this academic year and make a good start to my thesis.
I knew before I came over to Alicante that should I be successful with my studies, I would get a PhD when I was the wrong side of 30, I have to have as an aim to make sure I do get it, and in the shortest time I possibly can.
4. Summit on one of the seven summits.
This may need a little bit of explaining. The seven summits are the highest peaks in each of the seven continents, the list is as follows:
Asia - Mount Everest 8,848m
South America - Aconcagua 6,962m
North America - Mt. McKinley 6,194m
Africa - Kilimanjaro 5,892m
Europe - Elbrus 5,642m
Antarctica - Vinson Massif 4,892m
Australia (in Papua New Guinea) - Puncak Jaya 4,884m
The mountains on the list that I'm mostly likely to attempt in the not too distant future are Aconcagua (its summit is on the border of Chile and Argentina, the mountain is trekkable from the Chilean side and I have another good reason to go to Chile) and Kilimanjaro. Neither of the two are easily accessible, but they are a good deal more accessible than the other five.
5. Finish a second marathon or complete a triathlon.
I've read the warning many times in marathon advice literature that its wise to be prepared for a come down, and when you get to the finish you enjoy the massive high of finishing, but then it hits you after, so what am I going to do now? I figure after London I'll give myself a month without doing much before picking a new target based on how I enjoyed the marathon and how my swimming and cycling progress.
6. Not to become so running obsessed that my girlfriend gets sick of me!
7. To climb all the mountains higher than 1,000m in the province of Alicante.
I've done one so far, and as far as I know there are six. My main problem for this is finding someone else that wants to go up them with me, preferably someone with a car as most of the routes start from the middle of nowhere.
8. Run a half-marathon in 1:29:** .
Its a meaningless target, but its one that is fixed in my head so I'll make sure I get this year.
I think that just about covers everything. Fingers crossed in eighteen months I can come back to look at this list and say I achieved them all.
1. Finish my first marathon in a time I can be proud of.
This is a very vague target, and it has been the target since I started this blog (as you can see from the banner text). I guess this is a good moment to settle on what I would be proud of. I think anyone that runs a marathon in less than four hours has done something pretty special. I would imagine that anyone of my age that plays sport regularly and isn't majorly overweight with two or three months training could get round a half marathon in under two hours, but to keep up that effort for another two hours is a major undertaking.
Though four hours is good, if I'm honest, and trying not to be cocky about it, I think I am better than that so now to look at it from the other side, find an impossible benchmark and work back from there. A 3 hour marathon would be great, it would mean being in the top 1,000 runners, but given that as yet I haven't managed a 1hr 30 half marathon right now it would be an impossible goal. So going smack bang in the middle of the two, I think if I finished in 3hr 30 I would be happy, based on last year's results it would put me in the top 4,000, and it would mean running 5:00 per kilometre, which is a pace I'm fairly comfortable with. Given the pace of my training runs, I would say 3hr 15 isn't impossible but still very ambitious. So after all that babbling on I think I've got a conclusion:
My time to be proud of: 3hr 30
My time to be delighted with: 3hr 15
2. To reach my target for marathon fundraising of 1,000 pounds for UNICEF.
3. Successfully complete this academic year and make a good start to my thesis.
I knew before I came over to Alicante that should I be successful with my studies, I would get a PhD when I was the wrong side of 30, I have to have as an aim to make sure I do get it, and in the shortest time I possibly can.
4. Summit on one of the seven summits.
This may need a little bit of explaining. The seven summits are the highest peaks in each of the seven continents, the list is as follows:
Asia - Mount Everest 8,848m
South America - Aconcagua 6,962m
North America - Mt. McKinley 6,194m
Africa - Kilimanjaro 5,892m
Europe - Elbrus 5,642m
Antarctica - Vinson Massif 4,892m
Australia (in Papua New Guinea) - Puncak Jaya 4,884m
The mountains on the list that I'm mostly likely to attempt in the not too distant future are Aconcagua (its summit is on the border of Chile and Argentina, the mountain is trekkable from the Chilean side and I have another good reason to go to Chile) and Kilimanjaro. Neither of the two are easily accessible, but they are a good deal more accessible than the other five.
5. Finish a second marathon or complete a triathlon.
I've read the warning many times in marathon advice literature that its wise to be prepared for a come down, and when you get to the finish you enjoy the massive high of finishing, but then it hits you after, so what am I going to do now? I figure after London I'll give myself a month without doing much before picking a new target based on how I enjoyed the marathon and how my swimming and cycling progress.
6. Not to become so running obsessed that my girlfriend gets sick of me!
7. To climb all the mountains higher than 1,000m in the province of Alicante.
I've done one so far, and as far as I know there are six. My main problem for this is finding someone else that wants to go up them with me, preferably someone with a car as most of the routes start from the middle of nowhere.
8. Run a half-marathon in 1:29:** .
Its a meaningless target, but its one that is fixed in my head so I'll make sure I get this year.
I think that just about covers everything. Fingers crossed in eighteen months I can come back to look at this list and say I achieved them all.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Past achievements and future objectives Part 2
Today my plan is to go through my running and mountaineering milestones in 2009 before setting targets for the next 18 months before I turn 30.
January 2009: Half Marathon Santa Pola
My 2nd half marathon in Spain went much better than the first but was still a couple of minutes off my PB, I finished with a chip time of 1:34:41 and a finish time of 1:36:12. I'm running there again in a couple of weeks and hoping to take full advantage of the flat course to push for another PB.
March 2009: Half Marathon Murcia
When I ran in Murcia I had been putting in lots of miles as I built towards the London marathon and it appeared to be paying off as I knocked 38 seconds off the PB I'd set in Bracknell eleven months earlier. Unfortunately it was a false dawn, two days later attempting to do a ten mile training run I had to stop after six miles with an injury that would rule me out of the marathon.
April 2009: London Marathon - Failed
A trip to the Doctor's established that I had a tendonitis, with four weeks to go before the marathon he prescribed Ibuprofen and two weeks complete rest. After the two weeks I still couldn't run, I kept waiting for the recovery all the time knowing that the longer I went without training the harder running a marathon would be. It didn't recover in time and I went to London and watched as thousands of runners passed by, it was a real low point.
June 2009: Monforte Del Cid Half Marathon
This was my worst experience over all the races I've done. After returning from London I had a couple of trips to the physio and within a couple of weeks I was out running again, gradually building my mileage up again but I hadn't really had the time to get to a level where I could be confident of performing well in a half and it turned out I was right not to be. I finished in a little over 2 hours, a combination of the lack of training and difficulties coping with the heat led me to resort to walking as earlier on as the 6th kilometre. From that moment on it was just a case of taking in as much water as possible at every water station and trying to summon up the energy to run as much as I could.
July 2009: Mulhacén 3482m Summited
After completing my exams I set off to climb the highest peak on the Iberian peninsula (mainland Spain and Portugal). Its really a great mountain, one I'd like to go back to do again in not so much of a hurry so I can go up some of the neighbouring peaks. It was a two day trek with a stay in a good refuge where we got a really good feed.
August 2009 Alps
Breithorn 4164m Summited - Trekking to above 4000m is always a difficult task but I'm not quite as proud of completing this peak as I could have been. We took the cable car up to the glacier and started the trek from a little shy of 3500m. It was mainly intended to get us acclimatised ready for an attempt on Mont Blanc.
Gran Paradiso 4064m Summited - Gran Paradiso is the highest peak completely in Italy. This was a proper trek over two days, it should have been much more enjoyable than it was, the guide was a disaster. We had 5 people on a rope with one guide and when one of the group said she could go no further, she was suffering with a cold, he took her off the rope and left her on her own on the glacier for the next 4 hours while the rest of us went on up the mountain. It would have been frustrating to have to go down but it would have been the right thing to do, instead I went on feeling guilty that I hadn't said anything and having lost all respect for the guide. After arriving to the top we returned to find the girl uncontrolably shaking, which went completely unnoticed by the guide. Thankfully she was ok, and we got down without a problem.
Mont Blanc 4810m - Not Attempted
My trip to the Alps was with the aim of scaling the highest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc. In the end we didn't go up, the weather wasn't kind to us, with heavy snow forecast for the time we were due to be setting out we took our money back and left Italy as quickly as possibly so as not to dwell too long on the disappointment. With hindsight it was probably a good thing, going up with a guide we had lost all respect for would not have been a good idea, especially if conditions were changeable.
September 2009: Maigmo 1296m
My first peak in the province of Alicante and my first peak achieved solo, I set out on my bike from my flat at an altitude of 100m, then covered 24km cycling up to 1000m of altitude. From there it was a fairly straightforward walk for half an hour to the summit, unfortunately it was a bit cloudy, hopefully I'll be able to go up again on a clearer day. I had a small crash on the way down, apart from that incident it was a fun little adventure.
November 2009: Elda Half Marathon
When I returned from summer hols at the end of August I picked up with the running to avoid the problems I'd had the previous year, I left my preparations for Elda late and suffered for it and it meant for the rest of my preparations for London were hampered, I was constantly picking up niggling injuries until the point when the tendonitis came and I couldn't run at all. I came into Elda well prepared having done runs of 22km+ in the six weeks before and it showed when I finished just 3 seconds off my PB.
December 2009: Aspe Half Marathon
I finished 2009 on a high, with a PB in Aspe, a chipped time of 1:31:21 and in good form that I'll hopefully be able to maintain into 2010.
Tomorrow I'll move on to post my objectives....
Hasta luego
January 2009: Half Marathon Santa Pola
My 2nd half marathon in Spain went much better than the first but was still a couple of minutes off my PB, I finished with a chip time of 1:34:41 and a finish time of 1:36:12. I'm running there again in a couple of weeks and hoping to take full advantage of the flat course to push for another PB.
March 2009: Half Marathon Murcia
When I ran in Murcia I had been putting in lots of miles as I built towards the London marathon and it appeared to be paying off as I knocked 38 seconds off the PB I'd set in Bracknell eleven months earlier. Unfortunately it was a false dawn, two days later attempting to do a ten mile training run I had to stop after six miles with an injury that would rule me out of the marathon.
April 2009: London Marathon - Failed
A trip to the Doctor's established that I had a tendonitis, with four weeks to go before the marathon he prescribed Ibuprofen and two weeks complete rest. After the two weeks I still couldn't run, I kept waiting for the recovery all the time knowing that the longer I went without training the harder running a marathon would be. It didn't recover in time and I went to London and watched as thousands of runners passed by, it was a real low point.
June 2009: Monforte Del Cid Half Marathon
This was my worst experience over all the races I've done. After returning from London I had a couple of trips to the physio and within a couple of weeks I was out running again, gradually building my mileage up again but I hadn't really had the time to get to a level where I could be confident of performing well in a half and it turned out I was right not to be. I finished in a little over 2 hours, a combination of the lack of training and difficulties coping with the heat led me to resort to walking as earlier on as the 6th kilometre. From that moment on it was just a case of taking in as much water as possible at every water station and trying to summon up the energy to run as much as I could.
July 2009: Mulhacén 3482m Summited
After completing my exams I set off to climb the highest peak on the Iberian peninsula (mainland Spain and Portugal). Its really a great mountain, one I'd like to go back to do again in not so much of a hurry so I can go up some of the neighbouring peaks. It was a two day trek with a stay in a good refuge where we got a really good feed.
August 2009 Alps
Breithorn 4164m Summited - Trekking to above 4000m is always a difficult task but I'm not quite as proud of completing this peak as I could have been. We took the cable car up to the glacier and started the trek from a little shy of 3500m. It was mainly intended to get us acclimatised ready for an attempt on Mont Blanc.
Gran Paradiso 4064m Summited - Gran Paradiso is the highest peak completely in Italy. This was a proper trek over two days, it should have been much more enjoyable than it was, the guide was a disaster. We had 5 people on a rope with one guide and when one of the group said she could go no further, she was suffering with a cold, he took her off the rope and left her on her own on the glacier for the next 4 hours while the rest of us went on up the mountain. It would have been frustrating to have to go down but it would have been the right thing to do, instead I went on feeling guilty that I hadn't said anything and having lost all respect for the guide. After arriving to the top we returned to find the girl uncontrolably shaking, which went completely unnoticed by the guide. Thankfully she was ok, and we got down without a problem.
Mont Blanc 4810m - Not Attempted
My trip to the Alps was with the aim of scaling the highest mountain in Western Europe, Mont Blanc. In the end we didn't go up, the weather wasn't kind to us, with heavy snow forecast for the time we were due to be setting out we took our money back and left Italy as quickly as possibly so as not to dwell too long on the disappointment. With hindsight it was probably a good thing, going up with a guide we had lost all respect for would not have been a good idea, especially if conditions were changeable.
September 2009: Maigmo 1296m
My first peak in the province of Alicante and my first peak achieved solo, I set out on my bike from my flat at an altitude of 100m, then covered 24km cycling up to 1000m of altitude. From there it was a fairly straightforward walk for half an hour to the summit, unfortunately it was a bit cloudy, hopefully I'll be able to go up again on a clearer day. I had a small crash on the way down, apart from that incident it was a fun little adventure.
November 2009: Elda Half Marathon
When I returned from summer hols at the end of August I picked up with the running to avoid the problems I'd had the previous year, I left my preparations for Elda late and suffered for it and it meant for the rest of my preparations for London were hampered, I was constantly picking up niggling injuries until the point when the tendonitis came and I couldn't run at all. I came into Elda well prepared having done runs of 22km+ in the six weeks before and it showed when I finished just 3 seconds off my PB.
December 2009: Aspe Half Marathon
I finished 2009 on a high, with a PB in Aspe, a chipped time of 1:31:21 and in good form that I'll hopefully be able to maintain into 2010.
Tomorrow I'll move on to post my objectives....
Hasta luego
Past achievements and future objectives Part 1
I thought the start of the new year would be a good time to set myself some targets, while at the same time it seems a good moment to review how far I've come. I started out running at the same time as I got interested in mountaineering, the running was intended as a means to improve my fitness so I could cope better with spells at altitude but after a couple of months the running took over. This entry will review my past peaks and running milestones, while tomorrow I'll list some future objectives.
October 2007: Climbed my first mountain, Mt Snowdon 1038m on the Watkin Path, its a fairly straightforward walk but has the biggest change in altitude of all the routes up the mountain.
November 2007: The walk up Snowdon was intended as training for the following climbs in Ecuador.
October 2007: Climbed my first mountain, Mt Snowdon 1038m on the Watkin Path, its a fairly straightforward walk but has the biggest change in altitude of all the routes up the mountain.
November 2007: The walk up Snowdon was intended as training for the following climbs in Ecuador.
- Illiniza Norte 5024m Summited - To date this is the highest mountain I've summited on. I don't remember much about it, apart from some very nice views and that the refuge we slept in was extremely basic.
- Chimborazo 6267m Failed - This was the main objective of the trip, the peak is the furthest point from the centre of the earth, but we came up short. Setting out in the middle of the night from a refuge at 5000m we made it up to about 6000m when we decided to turn back. I could hardly breathe at all while my colleague could no longer feel his fingers from the cold. We enjoyed great views coming down, and arriving to 6000m is no mean feat, but ultimately we were disappointed.
- Cotopaxi 5897m Failed - Cotopaxi used to be considered the highest active volcano in the world, until peaks further south in the Andes were found to be active volcanos. My friend had already summited on Cotopaxi so I played the lottery of signing up to go up with a guide in a pair without knowing the other person, it was a lottery I lost. I was paired with a 40years+ German guy, my first worry on the mountain was after dinner at the refuge when I saw him pop outside at 4800m to smoke a cigarette, the air is thin up there, smoking isn't going to help matters. However, the moment when I saw my chances of summitting pretty much disappear was at 2am, all set to head out into heavy snow I saw my German friend wearing a pair of jeans, a bog standard pair of jeans. Added to that he didn't have any gaitors. The guide questioned his attire, he said he didn't have anything else, the guide said...."oh, let's go". We set out and unsurprisingly the guy got soaking wet and after about 3 hours we turned back as he was showing signs of suffering from hypothermia. Admittedly the weather was bad, and there would have been no guarantees had I not been paired up with someone so underprepared, but it was incredibly frustrating to see my chances of summitting blown before I even got started.
March 2008: Reading Half Marathon
After returning from Ecuador somewhat disappointed I got straight into training for my first half marathon. Things started slowly, but I quickly improved, I finished my first 10k race in 47 minutes, then just a month later I ran the 21.1km of Reading at about the same pace, ending with a chip time of 1:36:56. I ran another 10k three weeks later in 41:30, at the time I was really confident that the progression would continue.
April 2008: Bracknell Half Marathon
Eager to make further progress I signed up to do my second half marathon just seven weeks after Reading, and I knocked over four minutes off my time in Reading, finishing in 1:32:44. From that point the rate of progress has been considerably slower, in the 20 months up to now I've managed to improve my PB by just a minute.
July 2008: Three Peaks Challenge
The three peaks challenge involves climbing the highest peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis 1344m), England (Scafell Pike 978m) and Wales (Snowdon 1038m) all within the space of 24 hours. The mountains are all fairly comfortable walks on their own, but the fatigue from doing all three, put together with a lack of sleep made it a difficult undertaking, but we managed to finish with about half an hour to spare. The great thing about the challenge that by getting sponsored I managed to raise over £500 for WaterAid.
November 2008: Elda Half Marathon
After moving to Spain in the summer of 2008 I planned to continue training as I had been before I left the UK, however in the first few months I had real difficulty finding the time and as a result I was completely underprepared when I ran my third half and my first in Spain. I finished in 1:49:13 and for the first time in a race had to resort to walking for some parts of the course.
I'll have to take a break here, I'll continue with 2009's successes and disappointments tomorrow.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Training over Christmas and New Year
I guess its normal that training loads reduce a bit over the festive period, but I'm fairly disappointed with the amount I got done. Now I've returned from my travels I'm hoping I'll be able to pick things up again so I'm ready push for another half-marathon PB at the end of January.
Saturday 19th December - Rest Day
Had a rest to prepare for the next day's half-marathon and to recover from the previous night's celebration of the end of the semester.
Sunday 20th December - Aspe Half-Marathon
A new half-marathon for me, enjoyed it and got a new PB.
21.1km 4:21min/km 1:31:45
Monday 21st December - Swim 500m
Just a short swim to get the legs moving again after the half. It was at a slow pace, mainly due to my ongoing fight to get my goggles to stop leaking water.
Tuesday 22nd December - Rest Day
Wednesday 23rd December - Run 10km
My last run before departing for Christmas travels. It was fairly slow paced, I was still a bit lethargic after the half, but it was good to get round 10km and not to feel any aches or pains.
10.1km 4:27min/km 44:56
Thursday 24th December - Rest Day
Spent the morning packing and the afternoon travelling to Germany.
Friday 25th December - 7.3km Run
After watching my nephew Reuben open his presents, while his brother looked on almost oblivious to it all, I headed out for a run in the cold in Bielefeld. It seems now I wasn't just me that didn't fancy the cold, my GPS didn't seem to it much either:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21565331
For the first couple of km's I was following the main road, and not wildly running off it, but it seems that like me the GPS just took a little time to get used to the cold. Once I got going is was a good run, although it was a bit frustrating at times to constantly looking out for ice. Given the wild GPS points the distance measurement isn't too reliable, judging by the pace of my next couple of runs in the cold I guess it was about 4:30 pace.
7.3km 4:12min/km 30:32
Saturday 26th December - Rest Day
I say a rest day, playing with Reuben burned up a whole load of energy. Going out for a run wouldn't have been a good idea, I was still digesting the huge and delicious Christmas meal from the day before.
Sunday 27th December - 11.2km Run
I went out slowly for a longish run, it wasn't as long as it could have been, but I had to get back to play with all the toys!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21565316
11.2km 4:57min/km 55:17
Monday 28th December - 9.4km Run
I fell upon a nice lap that kept me away from the town centre, it was longer than I wanted to do at the time, but in hindsight it was good to do so much as I ended up not training for the next few days.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21565306
9.4km 4:32min/km 42:28
Tuesday 29th December to Friday 1st January - Rest Days
I travelled east to Berlin and found it to be a good deal colder than Bielefeld but I still had the intention of going out to do a couple of runs while I was there. When I arrived it was cold and icy, but all the pavements were well gritted so it seemed fine to run, but on my first night the snow came and it never really stopped while I was there. I wouldn't normally rule out running in snow, but I was having plenty of trouble staying on my feet walking in the streets near my hotel so I thought I wouldn't take the risk of injuring myself by pushing things.
Saturday 19th December - Rest Day
Had a rest to prepare for the next day's half-marathon and to recover from the previous night's celebration of the end of the semester.
Sunday 20th December - Aspe Half-Marathon
A new half-marathon for me, enjoyed it and got a new PB.
21.1km 4:21min/km 1:31:45
Monday 21st December - Swim 500m
Just a short swim to get the legs moving again after the half. It was at a slow pace, mainly due to my ongoing fight to get my goggles to stop leaking water.
Tuesday 22nd December - Rest Day
Wednesday 23rd December - Run 10km
My last run before departing for Christmas travels. It was fairly slow paced, I was still a bit lethargic after the half, but it was good to get round 10km and not to feel any aches or pains.
10.1km 4:27min/km 44:56
Thursday 24th December - Rest Day
Spent the morning packing and the afternoon travelling to Germany.
Friday 25th December - 7.3km Run
After watching my nephew Reuben open his presents, while his brother looked on almost oblivious to it all, I headed out for a run in the cold in Bielefeld. It seems now I wasn't just me that didn't fancy the cold, my GPS didn't seem to it much either:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21565331
For the first couple of km's I was following the main road, and not wildly running off it, but it seems that like me the GPS just took a little time to get used to the cold. Once I got going is was a good run, although it was a bit frustrating at times to constantly looking out for ice. Given the wild GPS points the distance measurement isn't too reliable, judging by the pace of my next couple of runs in the cold I guess it was about 4:30 pace.
7.3km 4:12min/km 30:32
Saturday 26th December - Rest Day
I say a rest day, playing with Reuben burned up a whole load of energy. Going out for a run wouldn't have been a good idea, I was still digesting the huge and delicious Christmas meal from the day before.
Sunday 27th December - 11.2km Run
I went out slowly for a longish run, it wasn't as long as it could have been, but I had to get back to play with all the toys!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21565316
11.2km 4:57min/km 55:17
Monday 28th December - 9.4km Run
I fell upon a nice lap that kept me away from the town centre, it was longer than I wanted to do at the time, but in hindsight it was good to do so much as I ended up not training for the next few days.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21565306
9.4km 4:32min/km 42:28
Tuesday 29th December to Friday 1st January - Rest Days
I travelled east to Berlin and found it to be a good deal colder than Bielefeld but I still had the intention of going out to do a couple of runs while I was there. When I arrived it was cold and icy, but all the pavements were well gritted so it seemed fine to run, but on my first night the snow came and it never really stopped while I was there. I wouldn't normally rule out running in snow, but I was having plenty of trouble staying on my feet walking in the streets near my hotel so I thought I wouldn't take the risk of injuring myself by pushing things.
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