All The Gear, No Idea!

Hey there! This week I had a four night run in work which pretty much rules out 5 days of the week for any long distance running. I can get away with doing a strength/weights session before a night shift, some times it even helps to perk me up if I've not slept well during the day, but I'd be nodding off halfway through my shift if I went for a two hour run before work. So the schedule for the week was long run, rugby and a couple of gym sessions. 

So, after finishing last weeks post I got myself ready and headed out for my scheduled 15-16 mile run. Since I'm now doing more than the odd jog now and then I've started to accumulate bits and bobs of running gear. Along with the trainers I got last week I have, so far, collected a selection running clothes (including some leggings, which I enjoy wearing a little too much); a hydration pack; a bumbag/utility belt; a head torch (for night runs) and  three multifunctional head band things. 

For anything over an hour I like to take my hydration pack with me to make sure I don't go thirsty. I also was using a recently purchased bum bag/utility belt to carry my iPod and 3 High5 Isogels (www.highfive.co.uk) So with all the gear and no idea I set off and quickly found myself with a problem. After only a mile or so I noticed my hydration pack had sprung a leak and my lower back and thighs were soaked. I was using a replacement bladder I'd just bought because I'd melted the last one trying to clean it with boiling water! There was only about 150mls left in the pack so I drank that down and pondered what to do. I didn't fancy running in wet pants and with nothing to drink for the next 2 hrs but seeing as the wall run is split into roughly 15 mile stages I thought I could easily find myself in the same situation on the day and can't really just turn round and go home, so I soldiered on (I know, I'm a real tough nut!). But then it got really bad... my iPod stopped working! It had gotten wet from the leak and halfway through Olly Murs' Troublemaker, the music stopped. Thankfully a minute or so later it came back on,  and I was able to carry on enjoying the latest offering from Mr Murs featuring additional vocals by Flo Rida. 

Anyway the rest of the run went fairly smoothly apart from taking the wrong turn to get on a canal path and ending up in a canal boat repair yard. It was a new route for me, quite flat going out and back from Runcorn along the Bridgewater canal and through Walton gardens. The weather wasn't bad, dry but with a chilly breeze. I had planned on taking the energy gels every 4 miles and did feel like I had a bit of boost 10-15mins after taking and generally felt stronger at the end of the run compared to my last weeks 13 miler. The recommend use is to take three an hour so I'll probably try that next week to compare. Thankfully I had ordered the Isogels which are more of a liquid consistency rather than the standard thicker energy gel which you need to drink water with so it wasn't too hard to stomach without a drink. 

So along with learning the new route I learnt a couple of things to change for future long runs: 

- More than one water source, in case of leakage or some change so I could buy a bottle of water would be a sensible idea; 

- Take spare energy gels in case I tire more quickly or need to take them more often;

- Keep iPod away from water! 

- And don't buy cheap hydration bladders!

The next day we entered the start of the sixth major ice age so our rugby match was cancelled on the Saturday, I hit the gym instead after having a quick snow ball fight! There is quite simply nothing like rings training! I Indulged in a rather large Sunday dinner at mothers before starting my run of nights in work, managed to squeeze in another good gym session on Tuesday and a kettlebell workout on Thursday. 

Next up 18-20 miles off road on Friday! 

Training plans

As my original aim for this year was to complete a marathon, I have looked at various different marathon training plans from different online sources such as runners world, the London marathon website etc. Most of these give you an example of a 10-12 week, day to day plan, including various different types of training: fartlek, hill sprints, long slow runs, short fast runs, interval running, core stability and so on. Typically they have you training on 5-6 days a week. The internet also provides a range of ultra marathon training plans which are along the same lines. 

For people working Monday-Friday 9-5 they're  probably a really useful but for many people, myself included that sort of plan just doesn't fit with real life. My normal working week includes three or four 12hr shifts sometimes days, some times nights. I also play rugby on a Saturday and train to attend training in a Tuesday and Thursday night. Along with this my wonderful fiancée and I are planning our wedding for this summer, so all in all not a lot of time left for 6 training runs a week! 

On the flip side to this I found an interesting story about a guy who does ultra marathons but doesn't really do any running. I heard about a guy who does Crossfit and spends more time working on his heavy dead lift or back squat than he does thinking about how many miles he's done this week or what sort of pace he's doing. He ran two 50 mile races months apart and only went for one 7mile run in between!(www.liftheavyrunlong.com)

Ill probably have to do a few more than 7 miles but I like the idea of having strength training as a big part of the build up, I guess the stronger your legs are the less it takes out of you in hilly sections for example. 

So my plan then is to do one long run per week, I think this is important not only for the obvious physical reasons, but mentally be conditioned to spending hours running is going to be important too. Along side this I'll be doing a hill sprints session, fast pace 10k or interval session usually no longer than an hour, Ill also try to keep up with two gym sessions a week which focus on strength and core stability and finally get to rugby training as and when I'm available. 

Im now in my third week of training and so far I've stuck to my plan, I've been working nights and had a couple of days away doing wedding planning, so as well as my gym work this is the running I've got in

 week 1:

- 10 mile

The first run of more than 10k that I'd done in a while, varying terrain some very muddy and plenty of rain. Really enjoyed it though had a full pack on my back as well, nice sense of satisfaction at the end! However I did start to get some pain in my right ankle towards the end which was a bit of concern but I put this down to wearing a cheap pair of trainers I've had for nearly two years... Time to invest in some new ones I reckon!

Week 2:

 - 10k  treadmill run 

- 13.5 miles hilly road route

Running on a treadmill is always an exercise in patience for me, I find it incredibly boring but sometimes due to my schedule it fits best doing treadmill run at gym after a weights session. I'm probably going to mix this up with bike sprints and rowing as well to keep it interesting/varied. 

As I mentioned earlier I needed some new footwear so on a friends recommendation I booked myself a gait analysis session at tri-active sports shop in Chester (www.tri-active.co.uk). They put you on a treadmill and film your feet to see what your feet and joints do when you run and then try shoes with different types of support to see what works best for you. It turns out I had quite marked over-pronation in both sides, left more so than right, and after trying 3 or 4 different shoes ended buying a pair of Mizuno inspire 9s. I've never had 'proper' running shoes before so it will be interesting to see how much if any difference they make. They way it was set up at the store they had a screen in front of you so you could watch yourself running, I was shocked by how much my ankles looked like they just collapsed inwards, but with new shoes they looked much straighter and also felt really comfortable. I'm never sure with these sort of things how much it's is psychological though, so Ill have to wait and see. I didn't have to wait long to try them out as I did my long run the same afternoon, a winding hilly route ending up at the rugby club in time to watch a 20 man brawl in the second team game. I did get a bit of stick for my fetching running leggings but the trainers had felt good, no pain in my ankle, however the arches/soles were a bit painful I guess from having more/different support in the new shoe. I Felt quite worn out by the end but I guess it's no surprise as I was running for nearly two hours and had not taken on any feul.  A couple of beers and some Cheesey chips probably wasn't the optimal post workout nutrition at this point but god they tasted good!

Week 3:

- 10k round local streets

- 15 mile flattish route

A quick warm followed by trying to run a reasonably quick constant pace for 10k, finished in about 44mins (roughly 7min/mile) which is 6mins off my pb but felt like I was working pretty hard all the way round, and enjoyed over taking a couple of other runners on some inclines. It's not really relevant as Its not like we're racing but I find it gives me a little boost passing another runner in any situation.

Next 15/16miles this afternoon - with some energy gels that arrived yesterday, ill let you know how I get on in my next post!

How I got myself into this mess!

Well, 69 miles, where to start? At the beginning I guess.

I’m not what I would call a runner, I go for runs as part of my general fitness routine and I’ve done a few events for fun or for charity but I don’t really train for running. My running career so far includes a few 10k’s, 2 Hell Runs and 3 half marathons and one of those took three hours and I was carrying a car!

I decided 2013 is the year to step up to do a full marathon, but having enjoyed the Brooks Hell Runner events in Delemere forest in 2010 & 2011 I decided to look for an off-road/trail marathon rather than a bog standard road run. This search then overlapped into the intimidating but exciting world of ultra running (basically any event longer than the traditional 26.2 mile marathon). There are loads of events on all through the year, many more than I thought there would be, meaning there must be loads of people out there pushing themselves along some ridiculous distances. So why not me? The more I looked, the more I got sucked in! Then late on Sunday 10^th March after a frustrating hour with a very slow laptop I managed to get myself registered for the Wall Ultra Run June 22^nd 2013. A one day, 69 mile route along the iconic Hadrian's wall from Carlisle castle to Gateshead Millenium bridge. I decided to raise money to support the events partner charity Cancer Research UK, not only as it’s a great cause but because knowing that people were sponsoring me for charity might serve as extra motivation somewhere down line when I start wondering what I’ve got myself into! So that was it I got my just giving page set up (www.justgiving.com/runchinmanrun)  and let the world know what I was doing through the magic of social media!

 

Whilst travelling recently I read a book by Haruki Murakami called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, a Jazz bar owner turned novelist and oh yeah, Ultramarathon runner! The book was a deep philosophical look at what running was as part of his life and how his approach to running reflects him as man. It was made up of essays he’d written as a sort of running diary over several years and this inspired me to have a go at putting down some of my thoughts about running. So this blog is to share my experience with anyone else who makes the amazing decision to enter an ultra run and also as a personal diary to look back on and enjoy in the future. It probably won’t be very deep or philosophical, I’ll mostly be talking about how much I’m suffering, but I also hope to share bits about my planning my training schedule, what sort of kit I’m using, what I’m eating and drinking (besides beer) and what some of my favourite running music is, along with any random insights about running that pop into my head.

 

I’ve got 14 weeks to go to the big day and I’m hoping to upload something every week, I have no qualifications as a running coach and everything I write is based on my own experiences and feelings so don’t take any of this as advice, I’m just doing what feels right for me!