Dry days ahead.

After Sunday's drenching and another one the day after running to work I have decided to delay buying some new race shoes and go for a new rain proof jacket instead. I remember a few years ago when I bought my gore-tex jacket that is in present use and came to the conclusion that it was one of my better buys and worth every penny seeing as running in the worst of the British winter weather was no longer a problem. Unfortunately after about 150 washes all the weather proofing has vanished and the material is now that thin it wouldn't keep you warm in a sauna. It's on par with suffering with injured feet by running around in some worn out old trainers that were once your favourites which you convince yourself they are still as good as new even though most of the tread has gone and it's down to the foam in places, oh ! and one of your toe's is starting to poke out of the side of the shoe.

So I reckon I'm going for the Original Mountain Marathon Kamleika Race Jacket.

With all the treadmill running I'm doing at the moment it even looks like I've been out in the rain when I've finished due to being drenched head to toe in sweat.

At the moment I'm still improving with the weight training and running on the treadmill, but as of yet I can't say I have noticed any difference when I'm out road running. I suppose the Thirsk 10 will solve that mystery.

The dog has become real friendly recently and snuggles up close at every opportunity, probably due to the severe hair cut I gave it. I gave it a crew cut with a bald chest, it's not what I had intended so you wouldn't want to ask me to cut your hair.

Danger Zone.

As I said the rain wasn't going to stop me venturing out for today's long run and with Rob Addyman for company we took on my idea of running the Osmotherly Phoneix Fell Race route which is approximately 18 miles. The first 4 miles in the rain was no problem as you would expect but once we started to climb upto the summit of Carlton Bank things changed severely. On looking out of your window from home you wouldn't of thought it could be that bad. But gail force winds drove the freezing cold rain hard into us, having to run most of the way through streams that had been caused due to the amount of rain fall, the wind was that strong we were having to run at a leaning angle to counter act the side wind. Onwards we went until it was time to switch direction which I convinced myself would make things better but in fact it was worse as we battled head on into the wind. Climbing towards the summit of Cock Howe I was absolutely freezing and after talking to Rob I started to question my own toughness as he seemed to be almost enjoying it. My main focus was getting off the top of the moor as fast as possible as my hands,body and face were absolutely freezing. The miles seemed never ending and finally we reached the road section which was slightly sheltered by the walls and hedge rows. Thank God for that was my first thought as we took the slightly shorter option of sticking to the road back to Square corner. With a good tail wind and being slightly sheltered everything now seemed a whole lot rosier and smiles once again came back to our faces. The final off road section back to Osmotherley was a breeze compared to what we had just endured as we finished in 2 hours 26 minutes. Seventeen point two miles so we only missed just under a mile but considering the weather I was more than happy with that. Seeing as Rob mainly does Triathlons he definitely impressed me today with his running. He will be tackling a few of the winter fell races it's just a shame he won't be wearing the Yellow and Blue vest of the Harriers.
All I need to do now is thaw out and watch the New York Marathon in comfort.

All round.

This morning instead of an easy 5 miler I opted to stick to my new idea and have another go at the all round training. Weight training for 1 hour, stepping machine work 15 minutes and the treadmill for 30 minutes to finish off. I just have another two weeks left to get into top form for the International Masters Cross Country Race, I wish I had a little bit more time to fit some race specific cross country racing in and to test which spikes are better, the cross country shoes or the middle distance shoes. I may have to forget next weeks long run and do some cross country training instead. Who knows ?
I'm really looking froward to the Thirsk 10 mile and there should be plenty of Top runners heading this way to do battle. I will try and not do any test runs so I have no idea what sort of time I could expect to run as in the past I can usually estimate within 30 seconds what I am capable of.

Rest Days Researched. The Results Are.......

Having just returned from a four nights short break I can conclude that from extensive research by myself that taking rest days and easy days away from hard training do not make you feel fully refreshed but instead makes all your joints stiffen up and leaves you with a sluggish feeling. To shake off this feeling I immediately went to the gym and got stuck into a hard treadmill session and I now feel pleasantly totally knackered, which is more a feeling I'm used to.
I have planned a long run off road Sunday with Rob Addyman that has had some good results fell running over the last few years, I will be trying once again to get him to sign up for Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers as he would fit straight into our front line of attack. The weather forecast is torrential rain for Sunday but I can't say that will deter me in the slightest now I'm keen as ever.

Early bird and Adios.

I got up early this morning to get my long run done before going on holiday, early than I thought as I forgot to put the clock back. It always pays to put the clock back a hour before going to bed so I don't forget but as usual I forgot to prevent forgetting thus forgot. A better Idea would be to put my watch back a hour mid way round my training run then I would finish in a new world record time. The course I ran today is not one of my favourites as I always find it extremely hard work as it is continuously up and down the whole way, the hills aren't too long but they are relentless in sapping away any energy left in my legs. I say it's not one of my favourite courses as I find it such hard work but on the flip side I will gain more from this run. (Picture of Newburgh Priory that is on route.)
I have a couple of long runs planned with company and a couple of cross country races planned and then it will be just about dare I say it "Christmas". With trying to concentrate more on training this winter than racing too much I still don't seem to have enough time to fit everything in.
The Adidas Supernova Glide training shoes have been that good I'm going to go for Adidas in the race shoe department as well very soon. Adidas Adios are looking firm favourites even more so as the latest ones are black, I was never that keen on my bright yellow and red Mizuno's. The Thirsk 10 should be a great excuse for getting some and should assist in knocking a few seconds off my time with the feel good factor.

All Rounder

Today's training was weight training for forty minutes then cycling for twenty minutes and finally running for twenty minutes. The overall effect probably won't do much for my running ability but it does wonders for my feel good factor and makes the next running session all that much more interesting. I have still got four pounds to loose in the never ending battle with my weight, but when those pounds do eventually vanish so will seconds if not minutes will vanish off my race times. (Hopefully).
I'm off to the west coast of Scotland on holiday this week which will restrict my training but no doubt a bit of rest will do me more good than harm. I'm still on course to be in top form come the International Masters Cross Country and two weeks after that the Thirsk 10 mile road race. I will be trying my up most to get under 51 minutes which should move me up nicely in the National V40 rankings to number one. The number one at the moment has run 10 mile in 52 minutes 07 seconds so I am capable of beating that. It would be nice to add the 10 mile No1 ranking to my 5 mile No1 ranking by the year end. Even if I don't manage to succeed having a target to aim for certainly helps with the mental side of hard training. Plus there is always my close rivals on my hit list that keep me focused, and I'm looking two tick a couple more off by the end of January if all goes to plan.

Spartan Treadmill Session.

The question is am I getting fitter or just training myself to endure more pain.

The ingredients for hell on a treadmill is as follows ;

Set yourself a real hard pace that you can just about manage for 2 minutes 40 seconds. After completing 2 minutes 40 you should be thinking that was bloody hard and how the hell do I expect to run ten of these. Take 2 minutes 20 seconds jog recovery and then go again full speed ahead for another 2 minutes 40. The session should be that hard that you are praying and hoping you can make it to half way. Once past half way start thinking there's less to do now with each stride than you have just done. Reps 7 and 8 are the hardest as there's still plenty to do as your legs start to go to jelly and you struggle even more to find oxygen. The knowledge of knowing rep 9 is the penultimate makes it slightly easier to begin with, as 40 seconds pass you should be thinking there is no way I can do this, the need to break the next 2 minutes into 30 second sections is the only way you can cope and just as your going to give up there's only 30 seconds left which you might as well do now you have got this far, finally bang ! the time is up and you can rest and prepare yourself for the easiest rep of all the final one. The thought of no more severe suffering after the last rep makes it that much easier. The final rest time is up and the you start your final rep, on passing the forty second barrier with two minutes to go and you suddenly realise how the hell is the last one easy. More and more you need to break down those final minutes into manageable sections, how can a minute suddenly seem so long, even ten seconds takes forever and then Finaly the finish should be within sight as the pain suddenly starts to fade and you complete the session. How the hell did I manage to do that and how the hell will I beat that next week makes you look forward to a few easy days.
My wife says I don't know why you bother going if it's that bad. But the worse it is the more the feel good factor lasts afterwards. So I tell myself.

Cautious Runners Ahead !

Today's training long run was slightly different in that I had company, Ste Hepples is moving up to the marathon distance and having not done more than 2 hours before he was slightly cautious about getting round the 22 miles in good shape, myself I was cautious about the pace as Ste Hepples is capable of running half marathon's in 64 minutes which is much faster than what I am capable of. But steady away at the start seemed to be a good starting point and before I knew it we were passed my first check point, 1 hours 13 minutes, "how we doing" asked Ste. "Bloody hell ! I can't remember ever being this slow" I answered. My best time being 10 minutes quicker and on average we were still 5 minutes plus slower. We just carried on with more or less the same pace and talking all the time, we soon whizzed through the next check point without me looking at my watch. Approaching 18 miles or there abouts we had recovered a whole lot of time without much effort and both of us were still bouncing along ok, a lot different than two weeks ago when I finished this course in a right old state in 2 hours 49 minutes. The last three miles felt really good to me and Ste was in no trouble what so ever as we finished in 2 hours 45 minutes. For his first serious long run especially on this hilly route I have no doubt what so ever he will run an absolute fantastic first marathon, sub 2 hours 18 minutes I predict. Myself I was pleased to of run the route today in 2 hours 45 minutes with such ease which keeps me in the right frame of mind for more hard training for the week ahead.
Rather than just doing an easy five miler tomorrow for recovery I'm opting to run the 7 miles to work followed by a lift home and then an all round gym session with weights, tread milling and cycling, with enjoyment being the main aim rather than pain.