I've started so I'll finish...

We'll it's been a couple of weeks since I last put any thoughts down here...but it hasn't been because I've not been running!  Far from it in fact.  I've managed to squeeze 33 runs into January, covering a total distance of 182.42 miles in 34 hours!  Yes that is the distance of 7 marathons and over a whole day of my year spent running so far.

I now feel that the goals I've set are achievable if I focus on not running too fast and listen to my body when it says to have an easy day.  Ticking of a month of solid running feels good...and the next month is a short 'un so what trouble could that possibly offer! (famous last words?)

Given that I've been out of action for so long prior to starting this adventure I'm quite pleased with the progress so far.  But for now, it's off to bed.  I'll have a closer look at some of my stats tomorrow...but as they say, sleep is an important part of training*...so let's get stuck in.

*more on sleep to come...I've got myself one of these: zeo mobile sleep monitors

So I'll keep you posted on whether I'm getting good quality sleep and how it impacts on recovery and training.

Cold and Hard

Although I was in fairly high spirits yesterday, I somewhat rushed my run as I was desperate to get back home to indulge (well watch others indulging) in my other major past time, Astronomy.

Yes, I'm a stargazer and wanted to watch the BBC Stargazing live programs.  So going out and running myself ragging whilst there is a crisp clear night that we could be spending over in Wiltshire photographing galaxies was quite frustrating.  Somehow I need to get myself back into early morning runs and maybe join the @6amclub on twitter.

I think the 6am'ers may be onto a good thing there as I think there might be a psychological advantage to running as it's getting lighter.  I struggled to get out today between jobs and decided, somewhat foolishly to head out after the BBC programmes.  It felt hard and cold with the sun as a distant memory and the cold dampness making my bones ache whilst the pavement started to crinkle and glisten underfoot. 

Aside from the coldness, the other mistake I made tonight was having a large  HUGE bowl of pasta only around 2 hours before I set out.  The running is making me constantly hungry and so I thought this carbo load would be good.  Turns out I could practically feel it bouncing around still.  Not that plesant as I was trying to up the pace a little

I may try a transition tomorrow and shuffle my day a little so that I can run late afternoon, aiming for an early start on Thursday. 

Still, no matter how that last one felt, it doesn't take away from the fact that I'm up to 91mile so am getting close to the first century mile marker!  It does make me feel gutted not to have gotten into the London Marathon though.  This mileage would have served as a fantastic base to build on.  Let hope I can keep it going for Edinburgh and start to push the long run up a bit through Feb.

Run number 016: 8.8km
Run number 017: 5.04km

Plans, Schedules, Targets...Performance reviews..!

Is it just me or does running (or maybe it's just training) sometimes feel like hard work?  I mean, I love this thing that I do and I know that because I keep doing it in the full knowledge that it will never be something that I will excel at... Mo Farah I am not! 

In fact a few of my nearest and dearest will know I had to take a whole week off my London Marathon training back in 2007 when I decided to see how long I could run at Paula Radcliffe's race pace and ended up falling off the treadmill!*

But I digress....

It occurred to me whilst out on a longer run on Saturday that I needed to try and pick some target races so that I would have something to keep my motivation going and get me out the door each day.

There's so much happening in the running calendar that I'm somewhat spoilt for choice..5k's every week at the Bridge Inn series look good, as does my local parkrun at Ashton Court.  Then there's a vast array of 10k's and half's, enough in fact for me to be scheduling these in every weekend and costing me the earth in transport and race fees....£23 for a 10k...do me a favour!   With those sort of expenses my logic says that if I just go out and run a 10k route every week for three months I could treat myself to a new Garmin just in saved race entries.  I know, I know...that's not the point...but still...twenty-three whole English pounds!  Kinda makes me want to help Parkrun take over the world!** 

Then there are the marathons*** and ultras (as if 26.2 miles isn't enough)

I wish I could run in  more of these as there really are some spectacular courses to choose from.  I hope maybe I will be ablt to complete all world majors including the ultimate...Qualify for Boston!  But in reality, trying to work, albeit part-time and teach and renovate our flat...I'll aim for Boston as a Vet, or super Vet maybe!

So out of all of this I needed to find a way to choose what and where to run. 

Well, the inspiration came when out of the blue I called up a friend on Saturday and asked if he fancied a short jog on Sunday morning.

We met up at his place and set off around the streets where we live using the time to catch up a little.  He'd been suffering from some knee pain and I'd knocked out my longest run of the year to date around 12 hours previously so we kept the pace down and just enjoyed being out in the crisp clear and cool morning air.  The Garmin kept buzzing out the km's and before we knew it we had not only had a hour of good company, but also bashed out 5 miles....Further than either of us thought we would be capable of.

So this got me thinking that maybe what I need to do is not focus so much on finding target races, but focus on finding target friends to run with, people we might not have seen as much as we would have liked during 2011.  If they run then I'll coax them out for a jog; if they don't then I'll maybe enter some races near to them and see if I can drag them out supporting!

Either way, it would certainly seem more like fun and less like work if I get to catch up with friends at the same time....and maybe we'll get some nice high carb pub lunches in too! (I did say I like to eat too!)

So I'm going to try and make at least some of my runs a little more sociable (life permitting!) and not stress so much about training hard for fast times in short distances.  Maybe those will be next years challenges!

I'll keep you posted of where I'm heading and if you fancy meeting up at any of the races/runs then drop me a note/tweet or whatever.

Run number 013: 11.44km
Run number 014: 17.66km
Run number 015: 8.13km

2012 mileage to date: 131km or 82miles...Which is almost exactly the distance door to door from home in Bristol to my parents house in Birmingham!


*Embarrassingly it was around 3 minutes...!
**Here, have another link to your excellent organisation! - Parkrun
***And just a quick point here...a Marathon is 26.2 MILES...please don't endorse the stupidly pathetic attempt at parting silly people with their money and participate in kilomarathons...You won't impress anyone my running a distance that barely gets you to the wall and that most marathoners do every week...sorry a sore point at the moment!  Not to take anything away from those taking part a personal challenges.  I know from experience that getting up to this distance is tough.  But so is going the extra 10 miles and therefore being about to say you ran a marathon....rant over!

How slow can you go...(say it with me)...How sl...

When friends and family members who are getting into running ask me for any pointers, one of the first things I normally tell them is to slow down.  Running too fast and pushing yourself over into the anaerobic zone is a common problem for many runners.  One which leaves them feeling exhausted and often lethargic because they are simply pushing too far.   

Why is it I can't take my own advice?

My understanding of any form of training is that it is about balance, and those who train using heart rate zones will know that the most efficient training for fat burning is within the recovery zone of around 60-70% of your working heart rate. 

Generally I've always aimed to combine workouts within the following zones:

• Recovery: 60-70&
• Steady aerobic: 70-80%
• Efforts: 80-90%

I won't go into all the figures as Brian Mac does an excellent job on his website, but for me this is gives me a recovery run target HR zone of between 143 & 156 bpm.

So if I want to burn fat that is where I need to be aiming...and now for the shocking part!

At the moment, I'm so out of shape that I'm hitting these bpm at around 12min/mile pace.  This doesn't mean I'm not capable of running faster, just that running faster is moving me into aerobic exercise and encroaching on the Anaerobic zone that will leave me sore in the morning...and I don't have time for that at the minute!

Since for now the target is building a strong base, I'm going to really try and stick to keeping my HR down, even if it means I'm being overtaken by purposeful mums with strollers!  I may start to pick up again when February comes around and I have to start my Edinburgh Marathon training in earnest!

As my family will tell you, I can on occasion be fiercely competitive (one of the reasons Monopoly gets hidden away at Christmas!), which makes slowing down very difficult for me.  So I need someone to compete with me at who can run the slowest mile during January...whilst still maintaining a running gait (of sorts!).

Find me on dailymile.com or tweet me @mgossage #2012in2012 if you fancy giving it a go!

Lets build some bases!

Run number 011: 6.7km out around the Gladiators ground up to Gloucester Rd and looping back home
Run number 012: 4.1km out and around GCCC again, shorter loop home.

Running with a smile.

Now that the majority of my runs seem to be taking place in the evening rather than pre-dawn I tend to see a lot more people out and about.

Last night for example as I looped around the Down's there were quite a number of large groups gathering or just setting off for their group runs. There were also still a number of dog walkers out and the occasional office worker returning from having put in an extra hour or so, but they all (with the exception of a friendly elderly couple) had one thing in common....they all blanked my 'good evening'!

Have things gotten so bad that it's no longer acceptable to great a fellow runner or pedestrian with a friendly salutation? Some could be forgiven as they were obviously engaged in iPodery, but (and this is aimed at the runners mostly) are they feeling so grumpy that a simple hello or even a grunt of acknowledgement is out of the question?

It did make me wonder if some of them have sort of missed the point a little.

No matter how bonkers you might think it, running is fun!

Yes it may be occasionally (okay for me at the moment its mostly!) uncomfortable, but even a rubbish run in battering rain makes you feel alive, aware of your surroundings and gives you some time out to get things organised in your head.

It was suggested last night that all this time and effort I'm putting into running could be focused onto something 'more productive' such as finishing the work on my flat. But this again misses the point. If I'm taking time out to run, it makes the time between runs more effective and more importantly it makes me happy.

Last year was one of the worst years I've had in a long time and although not getting any running in wasn't the cause, I'm positive that it contributed to me not feeling better about the things happening around me.

This year I'm running every day and I'm also running with a smile. So if you encounter a tired but happy fluorescent clad plodder that surprises you with a hello, think happy thoughts and holler back!

So much for my sense of direction!

I might have to start actually planning my routes in future!  Today's run was supposed to be a steady 5miles with an extension to 7 if I was feeling good.  Well, the downs are certainly a lot larger than I remember, and being forced to run slowly past lots of parked up cars (slightly suss if you ask me!) was not my most enjoyable running experience.

I realised about half way around that this was going to be longer than planned and so started a beeline for the gym where I had parked up my car.  Notwithstanding a few twists a turns, along with a few more hills than I planned for, I managed to crawl back having completed another 9.5miles and pushed my mileage to date over the 50 mile mark!  Woo Hoo!

Run number 10: 15.12km starting at Horfield gym, out to Westbury then looping up to the downs and back.

Lets make this worthwhile...

Since my aim this year is to bag lots of runs and to achieve the illusive 2012in2012 I though the least I could do is try and raise some money for the charities I support, namely:

• The British Heart Foundation
• Shelter
• Wallace & Grommit's Grand Appeal
• Merlin
• Macmillan

So I've setup a Virgin Money Giving page here: www.virginmoneygiving.com/mg1

I'll have a think about some possible specific events to help with the fund raising, but all and any suggestions welcomed.

Are all addictions dangerous?

Today was supposed to be a slow mile, maybe two so that I could recover a little after the first week of training for some time; I couldn't stop myself once I was out!

I've become a bit of a clock watcher already!  I'll feel the km buzz and start thinking about adapting my route...what if I just got a few more km in...another 400m and that's mile three ticked off...I reckon I could strech this out to 5miles...6miles...maybe I should pick up the pace...? 

In fact the only things that kept me reasonably sensible were 1: I had to get back to eat..and I was feeling the grumbles in my stomach, and 2: I told myself I could try and add a few miles onto tomorrows effort!

Does this sound like it may be becoming addictive?  I hope so, lets just try and keep it in perspective and not let it take over too much!

Run number 9: 6.5km from BR out to Horefield along Kennington Av, up Ashley Down Rd along behind the Rovers ground and up Muller to Gloucester Rd, looping back down Ashley Down Rd to Sefton Park and home via North Road.... (I may cut these desciptions down since they can all be viewed on Dailymile if anyone is interested)

A run a day

For me getting through 2012 with a run a day is a challenge.  For Ron Hill it is just a way of life!

http://www.hillyclothing.co.uk/Ron-Hill-Blog/

With a streak of running every day for over 47 years, the man is a real legend!

One week down (35mi/56km), fifty-two to go!

So that's week one finished...and my highest weekly mileage since training for the Paris & London Marathon's in 2007.  I really didn't expect to log more than 30miles, but that has made me wonder if the 2012miles target is actually something I should aim for?  I'll keep that as my secondary target for now and see how tired I am by the end of the month.

Last week was easier to get my runs in as I was still technically 'on holiday', so this week will be a real test of how I fit in all these sessions.  I have a feeling something will have to give somewhere, but I'm not yet sure what it will be....already finding that a blog a day is probably not going to happen, but will try and make sure I keep you posted as I reach various milestones.

Anyway, last nights run really surprised me, I certainly am now an advocate for the slow and long approach to getting in the mileage.  I'd never have gotten around 10miles if I hadn't been disciplined enough to run at a slow pace.  If you look at my sessions on Daily Mile (I think you can just click on the training widget >>> but that seems to be not logging all my miles :/ ) you'll see that my current pace is way way down on my PB's for 5/10km's... in fact I think I'm slowing to almost HALF my 5k pace on the 3milers just to keep the HR down.  I'm obviously WAY out of shape at the moment!

Run number 7: 6.6km out towards Man in the moon pub and around to the Green and back. (Birmingham)
Run number 8: 16.1km from Belmont Road out around my route to UWE, back along Gloucester road, up Kellaway and along to Redland and back.

Week 1 totals: 35 miles or 56 km

Yuck

I missed the bright clear day today and instead was forced to run through a murky evening with lots of moisture in the air.  Unlike previous evening runs where the moon lit my way, I decided I would struggle to see much around parts of the route without artificial assistance due to cloud cover.

I hope there are not too many of these runs, although I suspect there will be...!

Well I never thought it would be easy, so I guess it's one of those days where I just have to try and look to the end goal and get through it.

Picked up a slight injury today too.!  Stupid car driver obviously didn't notice the head-torch and practically run me off the road.  I stumbled into a pothole and now my left shin is a little sore at the extremes of ankle movement.  I think I may take it easy tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.

Run number 6: 8.2km around Hill Hayes to Norton then through Hullavington

Ummm...yummy!

Isn't it amazing how much better food tastes when you feel you've worked for it!

Well today I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to get out.  I've been rushed off my feet sorting out all manner of highly secretive things and the squally rain and winds this morning did nothing but batter my enthusiasm.  All day I've been putting off going out with legitimate excuses of work and, okay there were no other 'legitimate' excuses....but my legs are starting to wonder if this is going to go on for much longer.

I managed to drag myself out the door thinking I'll just run until I hear the 1km beep and then head home...but it felt okay!  In fact my brain started to tell my feet that every km I don't do today is another km to run when I'm even more tired tomorrow...and they kept on going!

But the best thing was getting back and having a fantastic lamb curry waiting for me (thanks to my amazing mother-in-law) only minutes after my cool down!  I looked at the huge potion of rice and thought I'd never get through it, but after just under an hours running it just evaporated.

Now I remember why I love running....because I also love eating!

Run number 5: 8.76km out and back from Hullavington towards Grittleton then off to Stanton

A chance encounter

It's not everyday you get to run with an Olympic torchbearer, but today I serendipitously bumped into another two runners just outside Hullavington, one of whom will be carrying the Olympic flame as it progresses through the West Country en-route to the games.

Spooky run

Well since I managed to get soaked to the bone walking half a mile in this morning I decided I'd hedge my bets and put off today's effort until I was on my way home.

Well a slight change of other plans meant that this ended up being late again with me not starting out until around 11pm! (btw, if anyone knows how to adjust my post time so that it's correct for uk then please tweet @MGossage)

Unfortunately this also meant I would be en-route to Hullavington again! Jen kicked me out of the car just before we got to Grittleton and I took off toward Hullavington along the main road.

The moon was out and it was pretty clear so I was chasing my moonshadow (insert butchered Cat Stevens lyrics here!)

It was about half way in that I wished I hadn't received the x-files box set for Christmas....even the slightest noise made me jump; I think I may have be quite out if my cardio zone by fear alone! In glad it was a route I know well, otherwise my imagination would have gotten carried away.

Anyway, I continued up to the school then back to Serendipity clocking up around 5.8km. First 2012 outing in shorts too!

As I'm here for a few days I'm going to have to stick to day time running I think!

Well that was close...!

It was starting to look as though I might actually fail on day two, but I've just got in from a leisurely plod home from the Architecture Centre.

I've been helping out down there all day (and most of the evening) having a big tidy up. I made an ad-hoc loop from Narrow Quay, past St. Mary Redcliffe, back into town and then home along Gloucester Road. Had to extend a little, but managed 5.77k.

Will post times at weekend when I download my Garmin.

So I guess it starts here...

I can't recall exactly when I set up this blog...it's probably in the stats here somewhere, but my running sort of nose dived from the minute I decided I wanted to get better!

Well, as the annus horribilis that was 2011 is now out of the way I thought I should try again to get my backside into gear and start pounding out the miles.

So, here's the plan....a run a day...every day for the whole year! (Trust me to pick a leap year!)

So that's 366 runs minimum planned for this year, so if I average just under 5.5km/ run I could knock out 2012 km in the year...and that ladies and gentlemen is my target... Maybe as I get a little fitter I might adjust this to aiming for 2012 miles, but let's not get carried away just yet, afterall today was the first run I've bagged in over 10 months!

Run number 1: 5km total out and back from Hullavington along Hill Hayes