Training Weekend in the Lakes

Our planned weekend in the Lakes seemed to come around quickly, as in my last blog May generally seems to be hurtling around as the 10 in 10 challenge begins to appear over the horizon. Normally the build up to a marathon is a carful balance of carb loading and rest. Whereas the build up to my double marathon weekend in the lakes was far from that, a hectic week in work, squeezing runs in and not the greatest amount of sleep all led to us arriving in the Lakes at about 9pm Friday night, quickly checking into our lovely lodge at Brathay and heading into Ambleside for some food, luckily finding the Queens Head hotel still serving food.

I set my alarm for 7:30am Saturday morning, I'd wanted to get up a little earlier but arriving and eating late meant I'd adjusted my plans slightly , after sorting my kit and a couple of porridge pots I was away at 8:30am for Marathon day 1. It was a cool but dry morning, pretty much perfect running weather, just after Hawkshead a cyclist appeared at the side of me, noticing my Brathay shirt introduced herself as working for the Trust and training for the Brathay 262 event in June. It was nice to have a chat for a few minutesand exchange kudos. The rest of the run went well enough and I was really pleased to get to mile 21 where I'd hidden a bottle of Lucozade behind a wall the night before, it was still there!  I felt some discomfort in my left IT band area which I tried to massage out at about mile 23- 26 but overall no dramas and a nice steady pace tapped out which I intend to run in May

Once I got back went through the usual recovery process of stretching , recovery drink and foam roller treatment before heading into Windermere to pick Sarah up who'd been having her own adventure exploring Ambleside, Windermere and Orrest Head.
I'd left my Garmin charger at home which I was really annoyed about as the whole point of my two laps was to practice steady pacing. As a result we reluctantly headed into Kendal to try and buy one with no luck, lesson learnt for May, check list required! Another lesson learnt is eating, when Adam part of the Brathay support crew told us we need to be taking on about 6000cals a day I thought 'easy' eating is something I am really good at, however I was struggling to stomach anything more than a few bites of lunch, which was worrying me a bit, as a result I was suffering a little from on of my migraines . Once I got back to my room I had some medication and was able to force down Greggs Roll and was feeing much better.
We had a lovely night in Bowness for Sarah's birthday at Jacksons Bistro , appetite was back and I was able to get though all three courses....back on form.

The clocks went forward overnight so I was robbed of an hours sleep however was still up and at it again by 8:30am, Another crisp cold perfect running morning.  I had to track todays run on my phone as my battery was flat on the Garmin, which meant I had to wing my pace a little bit was no visual confirmation how fast, or indeed slow I was going. I turned on audio updates, which was helpful but not as reliable as a watch. Overall I paced pretty well, perhaps a little slower than planned but not by a great deal, plus I did stop to take pictures of deer a couple of times.

The main drama of todays run was almost being hit by a passing car whilst running into Bowness along the eastern side of Lake Windermere , most normal considerate people gave me plenty of room, just one Tube in a Corsa passed millimetres away from me, really made me jump and districted me for a bit as I was nervous for a few miles. I spent the next few miles working out which side it was safer to run on, towards or away from traffic?

Overall I have to say, really happy to get a couple of laps of the lake under my belt, with the exception of forgetting my Garmin charger and the tool in the Corsa I had a great weekends training and fantastic Birthday weekend in the Lakes with Sarah. Good confidence booster for me to get around with no issues as such. Learnt a couple of lessons about food intake I think also.
Next on the agenda is our charity night at the queens in Hyde this Easter weekend, and no doubt some more running before I take on the Manchester Marathon on April 8th.

Time of writing just one month and 14 days until May 11th and day one of 10 in 10, holy crap balls

Is it me or is May the 11th coming around really quick?

Feeling like things are really coming back together in March, through illness, treacle running and toe issues I'm feeling much better. I estimate I missed around 100 - 130 miles of running during February, those are gone and I won't try and recover those miles, I'll just pick up where I left off (well, as much as you can I guess)

I managed a good couple of weeks running in the build up to Wrexham Marathon on March 11th, I've binned the 'taper' thing, which essentially means winding down the miles as a marathon draws near, I think the word taper is banned for 10 in 10 runners, part of the training is getting used to running most days and running on tired legs at times, within reason of course. I ran a long run of just under 20 miles the week before , with a further few runs during the week of 5 - 8 miles each.

On marathon day my plan was to stick with the 3 hour 15 min pacer, which I did reasonably well up until mile 21 where I blew a gasket, I wasn't overly surprised to be honest after a few weeks out, in fact I was pleased I lasted as long as I did which gave me some confidence I've been lacking. If you look at the below chart you can see the precise moment I blew up from 21 onwards.

Running in that blown condition beyond 21 miles is good 'character building' I thought, as there is no way I'll get through 10 Marathons without blowing the odd gasket here and there. I also run the day after Marathons now, as also this is something I will need to get used to and fast (incidentally it's horrible) So overall very happy I'm getting back on track. My next big test comes weekend 24th and 25th of March where I'll be running the Windermere route I'll be running 10 times in May twice over the weekend, this will be my first ever back to back Marathon Distance.

 Nice bit of bling from Wrexham Marathon Running Festival, nice event if anyone fancies an early season event, they do a 20 miler and a half also.

Nice to wear my new T Shirt from Sponsors Acre also, had a few nice comments and words of encouragement and luck from fellow runners out on the road.

I've definitely got the mojo back now, really looking forward to the lakes in a couple of weeks, and Manchester Marathon in early April.
Huge thanks to all that have sponsored me this month, it's going really well with everyones support, both in sponsorship and encouragement. A special thanks to Mum and Dad for sponsoring me this week, and Sarah for doing all the work in the background organising the fundraising event later this month, makes me proud to have such great support behind me.

At time of writing just 1 month and 27 days until Marathon 1 on May 11th (is it me or is this coming around really bloody quickly??)

It's a funny old game is running...........

Running is a funny old game, at times you feel indestructible, on fire, confident, then all of a sudden it feels like you are running in treacle. Everyone has their own way of dealing with this I guess, my plan is just keep running, eventually it comes back.

After a few weeks of watching other runners completing multiple marathons, some which will be running the 10 in 10 with me as part of Class of 2018 I'm slowly grinding back from a sustained period of treacle running.....recovering from illness but just finding it bloody hard work. This weekend I feel like I've finally smashed through a barrier, or out of the treacle as I imagine it. I tend not to react too well to too many days off running, I know again everyone is different, but I need to run most days to stay 'in form' so to speak, even if it's a short steady run, I've realised this is best for me. It might be a mental thing, but it works for me.

Had a good run over this weekend, ran into Manchester to avoid the worst of the snow which worked well, although on my way home I ran through pretty deep melting snow for the last 4 miles which was brutal, or character building as I like to call it. Nice to get some good miles in the bag as it's Wrexham Marathon this Sunday March 11th, I'll find our how much of a dent my layoff has put in my plans Sunday I guess, watch this space.

I'll be wearing my new T-Shirt courtesy of sponsors Acre Recruitment at Wrexham Marathon so look out for me any fellow runners!
So here we are now, 66 days at the time of writing until May 11th when I run my first of 10 Marathons around lake Windermere.
If March goes to plan should be a good month of training, with Wrexham Marathon , plus I am running the Windermere route twice over the weekend of 24th/25th as me and Sarah are having a weekend in the lakes for her Birthday, staying at Brathay none the less. (she puts up with a lot...)

Finally, fundraising is at almost £1700, so I am really pleased with that, we have a charity night planned for anyone who can make it also in my local town of Hyde over the Easter Weekend.
Check it out!