Why run 2012 miles?

As many of you know I have been doing a little bit of running this year. Those of you who have been following the blog (http://belmontroadrunner.blogspot.com) or follow me on twitter (@mgossage) will know what I've been up to as I have hauled by tired, lazy and on occasion sickly self around the streets of Bristol, often early in the morning or late at night, to keep up with my commitment to run every day through 2012 with the aim of reaching 2012 miles before the year is out...all in the name of charity, or multiple charities in this case!

Well, as the weekend approaches I am preparing to take on the Edinburgh Marathon, the first time I have run that distance for five years, and without a days rest from running in the 148 days leading to it.

So this is just a quick note to explain why I'm doing what I'm doing.

I've chosen to run for the five charities I regularly support because it was just too difficult to choose between such worthy causes. The Grand Appeal provide life saving beds for premature babies, the most vulnerable people on the planet, whilst Merlin ensure that after the emergency relief teams leave war torn or disaster ridden places, the medical infrastructure can be rebuilt so that communities can survive. I've had friends touched by Cancer who have praised the work of the Macmillan nurses, always on hand to comfort and advise through the most traumatic of times and others who have benefited from the campaigning and research provided by the British Heart Foundation. And finally Shelter, who again I am supporting through my practice and offering consultation to home owners in return for donations that help fund the fight against rouge landlords, lobby for affordable housing and help to educate on the importance of the a good place to live. How could I choose?

I know that these are tough times, but all and any donations are greatly appreciated...and if you sponsor me and manage to predict my race time, you are in with a chance to win a prize donated by specialist running store Up & Running Bristol

Running can be tough, but every time I get a hour to do what I want to do...even if sometimes I don't want to do it...I am thankful that I have a home, I have my health and I have the luxury of time to do it.

Just a selection of the excellent crowd from the Up & Running Shop runs

The wonderful 'mile'ers' up at Newcastle station after the OneShow1000 relay

And when I can do it surrounded by friends...well that's about as good as it gets!

Edinburgh Predictions ?!?

The countdown has begun and I'm now into the final week before my first marathon in five years.  I sort of know what to expect, but that doesn't stop the nerves from building and the worries from rushing around my head.

Have I run enough? Have I rested enough? Did I go far enough? Should I have done more hills? Which shoes shall I wear? Vest or T?  The permutations between PB and DNF are endless, and each carrying with them varying degrees of satisfaction, disappointment and associated physical and mental pains.

The facts however are simple enough to dig out of my training history, so here's some info for all you stat freaks.  Let me know what you make of it and give me your best predictions.

My Base
My mileage covered this year so far is around 770 miles, averaging almost 40/week and that is a much better base than I've every had before.  The only real problem being that as you can see below, I peaked in February and the past few weeks have had much lower mileage than I would have hoped for.

Weekly Mileage split into HR zones

My Distance
Although I gradually built up and sustained a good average mileage, long runs have not been as long as I would have hoped.  Looking back, although I have 21 runs over 10 miles, only 5 of these stretch to 15!  I don't think I'm going to be that comfortable past the 17/18 mile mark.  Let's hope the crowd will encourage me at the end.

Daily Distance (miles)

My Pace
This has gradually crept up through the year and one of the great benefits of recording all my runs using my Garmin and SportTracks is that I can now see improvement in average pace across all my running, not just events.  In effect I have shaved almost two minutes off my min/mile pace and this has given me a new 10k PB of 47:49 over an undulating and waterlogged GWR Towpath course as well as decent 1:52:35 for a gruelling Forest of Dean Half. 

Average Pace (min/mile) over the year so far

My Predictions

So how might my recent times translate into predictions?

Well, using the infamous RunnersWorld calculator I get the following marathon time results:

• Based on a 20mile training run: 4hrs 17min
• Based on Forest of Dean Half: 3hrs 53min
• Based on my recent 10k PB: 3hrs 39min

So, with an average of 3hrs 57min it looks as though I may actually break the illusive 4hrs!  But I don't think that's going to happen this time....I'm not going to hold my breath.

If I've learnt anything from previous races it's that there are just too many variables, so I'm going to set my sights on a new marathon PB of sub 4hr 30min and hope I can keep on target and the lack of long runs doesn't bite me where it hurts!

Just wish me luck, and please if you can, visit my sponsorship page and help support the charities I'm running for.

Running a Rollercoaster...

This week has been pretty intense.

It started with the disappointment of missing the London Marathon Ballot entry on Monday, a pain that was soothed by the unexpected completion of my first long run in some time on Tuesday, which was quite a relief as I was starting to worry I wouldn't have time to build up to a decent 20 miler before the Edinburgh Marathon on 27th May.

With that out of the way I knocked out a really comfortable recovery run on Wednesday before reality came crashing down with Thursdays Hill session that left me feeling drained and floppy...not a good pre-race preparation for my first 10k race of the season.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was quite stressed before the start of Friday's 10k due to a far from ideal build-up, and so was over the moon to get around with a new PB.  And with a steady two on Saturday, the week was looking liking being an epic week!

Until today!

I didn't sleep very well last night for some reason and although I had planned to get out early, it was around 9:45 by the time I actually managed to get out the door.

I had decided that after a sudden upsurge in miles this week I wouldn't be pushing the pace to marathon pace, but instead would just run by my HR, keeping below 149 and in my aerobic zone.  My legs were feeling quite heavy and I didn't have anything to prove with pace.

After around 2 miles I could already start to feel some discomfort in my shin; the right leg this time.  It didn't seem to be getting any worse and so I continued, HR was keeping me at a slower pace, but I was sure it would be okay.

What I hadn't counted on was the sun.  It was over-cast and around 7/8C when I left the house in my leggings and shower proof jacket.  By the time I reach 10km the clouds were parting and it was beginning to get rather warm!

I hadn't planned to take any water with me although I did have two gels.  This was an obvious mistake and I ended up asking for a cup of water from a KFC over at Cribbs Causeway retail park!  To their credit they didn't make a fuss and I was hugely grateful...11 miles in and that could have been a show stopper.

As it transpired my downfall was to come a few miles later as my legs just realised they had given me too much already this week.  No amount of Gel/ Water or promises of Holly's massage would keep them going and around 15 miles I knew I was beaten.

I'm not going to get too upset though.  This was the first 50+ miler week for twelve weeks, and given that it included both my longest run and a 10k PB I don't think I have much to complain about...other than a grumbly worry that my shins may yet come back to bite me if I'm not careful!

My focus now is some quality tempo sessions and a taper in preparation for Edinburgh.

My 2012 mileage total now stands at 715 miles (1144km*) 

that leaves just 1297miles to go.

On Day 127 of my streak I can report that I'm 16.5 miles ahead of schedule, so fingers crossed I will be able to bank

*I'm more than half way to my original goal of 2012km

Soggy, squelchy, super towpath 10k

Well I couldn't resist a quick blog about tonight's GWR Towpath 10k.

I've spent the last few days trying to finalise a research proposal and hence have been a little stressed, so when I realised I hadn't quite enough time to get it finished today and had to rush back to get ready for the race, well you can imagine I wasn't in the best of moods for the start.

I was also still mentally and physically tired from a week of tough efforts. An impromptu 20 miler on Tuesday that started off as a 6 mile tempo run that I extended; just because it was a lovely evening. A 5+ mile recovery run on Wednesday and then Hill reps on Thursday left my quads and calves feeling like jelly.

Still, a snickers and a bag of jelly sweets at tea time and I at least thought I'd get around without coming last!

Given the recent cold spell I chose to run in my leggings and a t-shirt under my vest. Okay, the t-shirt was actually there to help contain my man flesh, although I really not know how those whippets managed vests when there is no fat on them to keep themselves warm! Anyway, I digress.

Since I managed to convince Jen to drop me off, I could spend the short drive calculating times and paces and trying to get a handle on how to try and feel more positive.

I decided that I would push for 8 min pace and if I had to slow down at the end, hopefully I could keep it under 52 mins.

As we set off I got carried along with the pack and soon realised that I needed to ease off as we were running sub 6:30 pace. The first up, around the flyover ramp soon saw to that and I dropped it down to a health 7:20ish.

As we exited the park and picked up the tow path I found myself being over taken by quite a number of the quicker runners but held on to what felt like a strangely steady pace, albeit with a thumping HR at almost 180BMP!

The slightly undulating towpath was quite a challenge in places. Soft grass gave way to sloppy mud which in turn was replaced by puddles of ever increasing size. At one point I'm sure it must have been around 20-30 meters of solid flooded path, up to 6" deep in places I discovered!

Still, these challenging conditions didn't take the smile off my face when I reached the turn around in 23minutes.

Now I just had to pull off a reverse split...or maybe not.

Heading back towards the start the mud was made more difficult by having other runners coming towards you. I slipped a number of times but nothing serious and soon found I was at the back end of a break away pack that maybe had a minute on those behind us.

My aim was just to hang in there. As we approached the 7km mark I realise I had never run so far at this pace before and just wanted to see how long it would last.

There were three runners in front of me, could I catch them?

One of the things I love about these events is the fact that despite the fact that most of the participants don't have any serious expectations of winning, there are races to be had at all levels along the course.

As we approached 8km the pace had dropped a little and was hovering around the 8min mark. A short uphill gave me the opportunity to power past the first three and set my sights on another small group around 60m ahead.

By this time I was starting to feel a little funny. I felt as though I couldn't clear my throat and was dry retching a little.

We approached the 9km marker and up the flyover ramp I managed to take two of the runners in front of me as they slowed for what is probably the steepest bit of gradient on the course.

Almost vomiting as I turned to head down the other side (apologies to the marshall if i made you feel nauseous) and now it was back through the park with the finish line in sight; my final quarry just 30m ahead.

But kicking to try and catch was met with a strong response that I just couldn't match. With only 10-15 meters to go I was spent. The foot came off the gas and I coasted across the line in under 48minutes.

UPDATE.....Official gun time was 47:49....A new 10km PB!

I'm pretty pleased with that! (as you might have guessed)

The race was very well organised and I want to say a huge thanks to all the marshalls, time keepers and other race officials who made it possible.

I had to dash off at the end (after a bit of a chat with some fellow runners of course) but hope next time to head back to race HQ for a well deserved pint!

If you live in Bristol and haven't tried this series you are really missing something. The Bristol 10k might have the bells and whistles, but the Towpath and other local club run events are grass roots running and great fun for all involved.

Edinburgh marathon....bring it on!

I think it may be time to start thinking about some new kicks...maybe next month...

100 Day Streak...Done! Am I runner yet?

579 Miles so far! (as of Monday) #run2012miles

Well, Monday saw me break through my 100 day streak barrier in a run against the elements as well as a test of my mental fortitude.  It got me to thinking about my aim to become a runner and how that was progressing.

Running has been something I've enjoyed on and off for around 10 years.  In fact it was the 2002 London marathon that I began training for first after being challenged to enter by a friend at work (Bodkin it's all your fault!)  Unfortunately I had a freak injury involving a blackthorn that required my shoe to be cut off my foot (under gas and air!) only a few weeks prior to the race; I deferred to 2003 but was hooked on long distance running!

After that I seemed to get into the cycle of 3-4 runs a week through December to April, Spring Marathon and then nothing through the Summer/Autumn.  I finished my MA and professional exams in 2005 work started to take over more any more and then 2011 turned into a horrible year that left me in a depressed state, over weight and no longer even walking much.  When however I found out I had been successful in securing a role as a 2012 Gamesmaker I decided that things needed to change, this Olympic year would be different.  When to that was added the news that I would become a father too, well, it certainly looks now as if 2012 is likely to become of the best years of my life.

So, running was to become my route to a positive and healthy future.

My motivation for building the streak was multifaceted and has changed a little along the way. Like many things I embark upon on it didn't have a whole lot of reasoning behind it, but sort of emerged out of the mire of ideas around running 2012 miles* in 2012. I realised that every day that I didn't run the requisite 5.5miles would mean another day of increased mileage. Logically it seemed the best way to stay on top of this would be to run every day.

So the streak sort of emerged out of the challenge. But I also realised it would help serve another purpose. What better way could there be to becoming a runner than to get out and run every day?

*BING* I could do that! I would finally break through the jogging barrier and start to feel more comfortable wearing a club vest.

Not to say that my first hundred days of daily running have been challenging would be misleading, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it might, and it could have been a lot worse.

Yes there have been some days where I have not  been very well and shuffled around a mile or so in some form of deranged fugue, but these days have taught me when to listen and modify my efforts to my capabilities. 

The days that I've gotten out early and then felt extra chuffed with myself for doing what I know many others haven't, such as running in the snow, the rain and the freezing dark mornings have been special, but so have those unexpected long ones where I've just pushed myself a little further away from home and taken in some new parts of Bristol that I hadn't seen before.

The funny thing I've noticed is that it is on the days when I don't plan but throw in an extra loop, or decide on a little fartlek to up my HR a bit that I seem much happier.  It would seem as though my body is just like the rest of me; it doesn't like being told it has to do something.

I've learnt that slow and long seems to be the way forward.  It is only recently as I've started to push myself a little harder with more effort sessions and hills, pushing my HR and pace up that I've started to worry about injury.  Taking it steady and looking for consistency before growth have kept me on track.

But I also wouldn't have been able to do this without the people I've surrounded myself with, both in the real world and online through forums and blogs.  I used to think that distance running was a solitary sport; an assumption far from the reality out there!

Not only am I fortunate to have an understanding family and very supportive wife, who doubles as emergency rescue for the odd long one that gets called off mid-run, but I've got to know a great deal of new people around the world at all sorts of different levels who have been both a wealth of knowledge and a huge support on the days when it isn't going so well.  There's some fantastically inspirational people out there and if you run, you always have something in common to talk about!

Then there's the @UpandRunningBS6 crowd.  Having just recently started to cut my teeth on efforts I'm hugely thankful for the challenging and enjoyable sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays with a great crowd.  The friendly chat takes the edge off the hard work and I certainly push myself harder than I would on my own.

Which reminds me...maybe I should try and get back along to Westbury Harriers at some point over the summer....would that help clarify for forward motion nomenclature?

So am I a runner yet?

Well, I'll let you decide that, but how many of you went out for a two hour 'jog' in Monday's weather?

*this started as 2012km, but soon grew to the greater challenge!

Ahead of the curve...but falling behind!

Apologies are needed.

Sorry.

It has been almost three weeks since my last blog, and boy what a lot has happened since then. Hopefully you'll see why I've kinda had my hands full.

First up is a status update.

My wife and I are pleased to announce that we are expecting our first baby in September. Obviously we're pretty chuffed with this news and those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook will have known for a whole now. I'm both scared and excited; the rough proportions of these two emotions vary on a daily basis. We are almost 14wks in and so just at the start of the second trimester.

I thought I had loads of reading to do with my running, but that's nothing compared to fatherhood! I almost wonder if Amazon have a vested interest in the pro-life lobby...there is certainly a wealth of stuff out there and that's before we even start on all the accessories!

So although I'm hoping to keep running every day I can certainly see its going to be very difficult come September. In fact, given our ETA of 18th Sept, my entry into the Kielder marathon on October 7th may start to look risky. Oh boy! (or girl!)

That aside I've also been very busy at work and have had a stinky cold that has left me feeling that sleep is far more preferable to yet more Internet.

So happy news aside I am focusing on trying not to feel too sorry for myself.

Yes I only ran 30 odd miles last week...yes I may have even less in the bag this week, but what does it matter?

I've run every day and even when I'm feeling crappy have found a quick couple of KMs is perfect for raising my spirits. I've come to distinguish between physical exhaustion and mental exhaustion, and also to realise that through my running I'm training to combat both of these foes.

I understand myself enough to know that I take on too much and have a tendency to get stressed about things when they don't go exactly to plan, but what I'm not very good at is taking the advice of those who are there to help keep me on a steady course.

But I am trying...

Change is a gradual process, and I'm lucky to have some wonderful friends and family to help shape me into someone who understands a little better not only my own limits but also my own potential.

This quote sort of sums it up...

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” -Anatole France

So although I've dropped off a little from my 50+mile weeks, I know that it is temporary. I believe I can do it and won't stop dreaming that we will also raise loads of money to make a difference to some amazing people.

I have some time off work next week...I think I'm going to have to start formulating my plan!

Muwhahaha......

cough...splutter...thud!
(I'll shake this cold first though!)

Spring is in the air

February felt like a tough month.  It started very cold and although the threat of snow wasevery present it didn't quite materialise in Bristol and so there was little excuse for not getting out and starting to build on the success of January.




I entered the month with 182.37miles logged on SportTracks and hoped I would up the mileage a little and knock out 200 in the shortest month of the year.  Well even though it was 2 days shorter I was able to total 219.21miles for the month last night, feeling pretty good bringing the total to date up to 401.58miles

Milestones and Promises... #run2012miles

After the barrier breaking epic that was last week...(I think my auto DM weekly round up called it Stellar!) I knew I was going to have to take it easy and I could hear my body groaning right from the off on Monday.  In summary...

Mondays run was far from ace
Tuesdays run was full of pace
Wednesdays run lacked get and go
Thursdays run went slow fast slow
Fridays run had a frightful mile
Saturdays run just brought me bile
But the route that was run on at the end of the week
Made me glad for this challenge, there's no place for the meak

So that sees me through day 50 of my running streak and the fact that it wasn't the longest or fastest, the wettest or the coldest got me thinking about what makes a streak special, and more importantly why I feel I should carry on doing it at the expense of hard training sessions that need more rest afterwards. 

Well I'm not sure why other people do streaks, some say it's a good base training, others think this is just mad, but what I've noticed is that it is forcing me to try and understand and listen to my body a little more.

In the past when training for events such as the London marathon I have religiously followed the programmes given to me by others.  These are inevitably generic, and although they often come with a number of caveats, warnings and some might say promises (Get you round, Intermediate, Sub 3-hr!) none of them are designed for me and none of them really should be followed to the letter.

Whilst the times, targets and techniques outlined in many of these programmes are very well researched, have a very good grounding in respected training practices and may even on occasion work, they do also encourage a rather one dimensional aspect to training, that could if not compensated with a gooddose of level headedness leave you feeling like you're always chasing goals and feeling guilty if you don't manage to meet your daily quota.

I think the key thing here is motivation.

If this long to-do list motivates you to get out and train, then it must be a useful tool.  However if you don't listen to your body and either push yourself too far because you're being told to, maybe causing you to feel too tired and miss a session later in the week, or cut a run short when you have plenty in the tank then I'm not sure you are going to getting as much from your efforts as you possibly good.

By having the goal to run every day, I'm forced to listen to my body on a daily basis and make judgement calls as to when I can go longer and when I just have to put in a mile.  The motivation is there to get out even when feeling lazy or under the weather and whilst I may only do a mile or two to keep the streak alive, it's a mental victory that I will be able to call upon when the going gets tough at the later stages of longer runs.

I have also found that because I'm listening to my body (with my Garmin, quite literally my heart!) I'm able to tailor runs that push me when I need it but enable me to tick over and recover in between.

So whilst others may say it is a daft idea to run every day, I have to say that I have never loved running as much as I do at the moment.  I'm never going to win any races, but I win every day I get out there and keep the streak alive.  It's a baby at the moment, but as it grows I'm sure I will become quite proud of the achievements we will have shared along the way.

It works for Ron Hill...

So, who fancies meeting up on Easter Monday for day 100?

Happy running!

What a week...bed will feel good tonight!

Those of you who check out my reports on dailymile will know that this week started with a bit of a mental challenge. Feeling low in all sorts of ways made it very hard to keep motivated, but the continued support of the #run2012miles team and those around me got me out when feeling rubbish. So I must send a huge shout out to the team for keeping me on the road.

After Monday's run I decided that I must have overdone it last week with my epic 60+ miles, so this week I decided not to set myself any distance targets and take it easy. Even so, this didn't stop me thrashing out a quick ish 10+miles on Tuesday when I joined the group run from @Up&RunningBS6 and chalked up my fastest 10 in ages!

Of course, this left me suffering a little and I was back on plan B for the rest of the week, with another tough cold and dark morning run on Friday squeezed in before heading across to London.

But catching up with some great friends and heading along to the bushy parkrun gave me a burst of enthusiasm that propelled me around the course for my fastest 5k (25:29) in almost 5 years. I even then managed a quick swim, although that was mainly to stop me extending the run further as if I'm honest my legs were out of juice and it was quite a chilly morning (they announced -7 at the start of the run!)

I tried not to moan too much but figured I would have to get out early this morning if I was going to ensure my running didn't dominate our weekend and decided I should probably keep it to around 10 miles to not risk feeling rubbish or injuring my already stiff legs.

Well it turned out to be quite a special run. For most of the loop around Bushy Park and Hampton Court I just had the deer and the chilly air for company, although a few marshals started to appear as they were setting up for a 10k race. Dog walkers and a few other runners materialised around 8:30 but I was almost out of the park then and on my way to Richmond.

I took a loop that I think was used mainly by mountain bikers, keeping close to the walls and enjoying the challenges of the frozen wheel ruts and plenty of roots to navigate. The loop ended up being slightly longer than planned, but I was feeling okay so carried on regardless.

As I jogged through Teddington towards the lock a few more folk appeared; off to a coffee shop for a latte or just getting the dog exercise before church maybe? But quite a distinct lack of runners...it wasn't THAT cold was it?

This soon changed as I crossed over the two bridges at Teddington Lock and started off towards Richmond bridge along the Thames. The entrance to the locks was frozen solid and made an incredible pinging sound as you bounced stones off the surface. I just wish I could have recorded it, but I don't tend to take a camera with me.

I was passed in both directions by all sorts of runners pounding the towpath, in shorts, leggings (and even down jackets! Sweaty or what!) and since my pace had slowed quite a bit by then it was lovely to exchange a few 'good mornings' and a big 'thank you' to the team out picking litter from the river bank.

By the time I reached Richmond bridge the day was in full swing and it was obvious that this was going to be a 15+ mile effort. I returned back to Teddington along the opposite bank as much as I could but found it quite frustrating that past Twickenham I had to resort to the pavement along a fairly busy A-road. A real pity a the rest of the run had been lovely.

I'm not sure if everyone appreciated it, but the royal parks are quite an amazing asset to our capital city. It's quite something to find such lovely an large open spaces in one of Europe's largest and busiest cities.

By the end of the run I'd clocked up around 17miles, bringing my weekly totals to around 52 (although I haven't downloaded them yet).

So quite a week. Started off badly, was going to be an easy one and I end up with my fastest 10miler, fastest 5k and my longest long run all in a 50+ week.

If only they could all be like that!

The best laid plans of geese and men

Today was always going to be a bit of a rush. Up with the @6am club and trying to squeeze a 5mile recovery run in before a 8:50 train to London may have been optimistic given my late interval session at the gym yesterday (they were locking the doors behind me) and me not feeling 100% nor sleeping well this week. But the only other option would have been to scratch my streak and well, I don't think I am going to enjoy telling people that I ALMOST ran every day in the year we hosted the Olympics. It's a bit like saying Paula Radcliffe almost won an Olympic medal....

Well I certainly know that Paula will do her absolute best to take the Olympic gold and I know that I need to do my best to keep my streak alive.

Anyway, I digress.

So bag packed I decided to drive to the gym, do a loop around then I could shower, change and drop the car home before walking to the station. The fact that we currently don't have a bathroom (bad time of year for DIY I know!) makes the gym leg of this plan a necessity. Otherwise I'm sure I'll upset a few of my fellow astronomers when I take my seat at Astrofest later today. Perfect I thought. A little late out the door but arriving at the gym at around 6:45 I estimated that I could probably get a hours run in and still get back for around 8:15; plenty of time to walk to the station!

The white stuff that had appeared over night wasn't going to deter me from executing my perfect plan...and anyway it was easily cleared of the car and the drizzle that was now precipitating would take care of the rest.

It was whilst stuffing my locker with my change of clothes that I realised flaw number one in my plan. No Garmin. Not a major issue some might say, except if you want to demonstrate beyond all doubt to the naysayers that you did indeed run every day! The failure to pick up this much loved bit of kit was made all the more embarrassing by the fact that I was wearing the quick release strap firmly around the outside of my running jacket. A bizarrely minimalistic accessory that was somewhat devoid of and useful function.

I was going to have to run home. Not a massive inconvenience, but would certainly add some interest to the mix explaining to MHW what a numpty I had been!

But worse than that I would probably run it too fast because I was ever so slightly nervous going out with a time piece.

Needless to say the run itself was fairly uneventful and after a 30sec pit stop back home I was able to complete another 4 miles to make up the early morning 5. It wasn't anywhere nearly as cold as it had been and so although there was some drizzle, some icy rain that stung my cheeks and some confident looking snowflakes, I was wet but not as chilled as previous runs had left me.

So imaging my feelings when I got back to the gym and saw the signs declaring "NO HOT WATER"...gutted to say the least. But then somewhat philosophical. I was obviously meant to have a cold shower...and anyway surely that would suit my Spartan regime. In fact I started to convince myself so completely that this would in fact be the equivalent to the endurance pros and their ice baths that I was positively disappointed when it was its usual piping hot.

Great recovery, it was 8:15 when I left the gym so I'd managed to get my 5 miles in and just needed to swap out my rucksack contents and I'd be on my way.

Not being one who uses the car a great deal I obviously hadn't counted upon what is termed 'Rush Hour' traffic (although it didn't exactly seem as though many people were rushing)

Still I was almost home, in fact in the very next parallel street working around our one-way system when I noticed the flashing lights ahead. They were orange. Now whilst this might seem good that there were no emergencies being tended to, it became apparent that I wasn't going to be moving anywhere soon. At least until the lorry that was displaying these amber beacons had successfully of loaded the delivery of building materials it has just started to crane off. 8min wasn't going to be long enough...I needed to change my plan.

So, having noticed a parking spot a few cars back I switched on my hazard lights and slowly reversed, hoping that the line of vehicles behind me would do the same. Thankfully they complied and I was able to ditch the car (quite possibly my worse parking effort ever!) and run around the corner on foot.

Well thankfully the rest of the journey has gone to plan so far. I'm comfortably tucked away at the rear of the quiet coach supping my latte and writing this blog.

The weekend isn't going to be a high mileage one as we're catching up with some of our best friends and want to spend some time with them rather than out on my own. However I will be running my first parkrun with them at the original Bushy Park, so that should be fun and if the snow is around still a long run with Bernie on the bike may be called for. We'll see...but whatever happens I'm sure it will energise me a little and have me ready to pound out a few longer ones next week.

Oh I almost forgot...there were no Geese of any variety to be seen out this morning...they're obviously fair weather fowl and/or are too busy terrorising my friend John up in York. Check out the link to his blog in my profile (who I'm following) and you'll find many a fowl fact follows.

Keep on running all you #2012in2012 folks!

Well it seems to be working...so far!

One of the motivations for beginning this running frenzy was the plain and simple fact that I thought that it would help shift some weight.  This wasn't the main reason I should point out, that was a desire for sanity that had been lost through inactivity, but lets say that weight loss, being a happy side-effect of regular exercise was a fairly easy thing for me to aim at given that I'm not likely to be breaking any records any time soon!

Whilst I'm not exactly massive, I have since stopping running in Feb 2011 put on over 10kg and started to fill out a little too much.  So to get myself back into shape i decided a little running was called for....and it seems to be working!

Towards the end of last year we purchased a rather snazzy set of Withings scales that not only measures body fat %, but also automatically uploads the data to a website and a free iPhone app.

Now whilst scales that measure body fat are not exactly revolutionary, the fact that these wirelessly transmit the data to a website and allow you to link this to 3rd party software (such as SportTracks, Runkeeper or Training peaks to name but a few) results in a very convenient and almost seamless way of keeping track of these body metrics.

I'm not about to start diving into a full product review as Ray has an excellent in-depth review here and I agree totally.  This is a quality and useful piece of kit that really lives up to it's desire to look like an apple product.  It functions well and despite a few issues that Withings have had with recent server attacks, I haven't lost any data and their customer and tech support crew have been great at keeping users informed of what has been going on.

One of the great features is that the scales auto sense users by intelligently matching to previous weights, thus enabling multiple people to use the same device without any complex menu interactions or button assignments.

Anyway, the long at the short of it is that the running seems to be doing it's job. 

Weight in Blue, Fat Mass in Red

So through January both my weight and my fat mass have shown a downward trend.  I'm not quite sure why there are so many spikes, but suspect it is due to the variety of workouts and me not being brilliant and always maintaining optimum hydration.

Fingers crossed this will continue.  I know I need to start looking a little more at nutrition...and stop all of the biscuit and haribo munching that I can be prone to, particularly after a long run...but it's heading in the right direction, and along with the gradual increase in mileage I hope that this will continue to improve as the year goes on.

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!