Obstacles and Antibiotics

This week was always going to be the first real obstacle in my training plan.  I was lucky enough to be invited to Barcelona for the week with a work training course, and was excited to be part of what had the makings of a great week of working hard, playing hard, and spending time in a city I've been to and loved before.

We'd factored this into the training, planning for this to be an 'easier' week, dropping the mid-week training down a small notch, and the weekend back-to-backs down slightly too.

But, sometimes, even planning for obstacles is not enough to stop you coming unstuck.  I wasn't feeling myself on Monday on the journey to the airport, and through Heathrow to Barcelona, and by the time I clambered into the fabulous comfy bed that night, things were not well. Diagnosis by Google had me imagining all sorts of troubles, wondering if I had travel insurance or would end up in some dodgy Spanish hospital surrounded by people who didn't speak english (your imagination runs wild when you're away from home and unwell!!)

To cut a long story short, I think adrenaline got me through the week.  The training days were long, and for self-preservation (and the fact the hotel gym didn't open before 8, we had no free time in the evenings, and it was too 'risky' to run alone in the dark....and that I was 'burst', and in pain...blah blah) I did no training, and opted for the early bail out each night ('luckily' one of the team who is about to have a baby was also happy to chum me back to the hotel each night)...and the 'early' option was 11:30/12...so not exactly that early!  I did miss out on some great fun it would seem though, which wasn't ideal.

Anyway, docs yesterday, by which point the pain was back to being excruciating again, and I'm on antibiotics for a few days, and on the couch perfecting my resting technique!
And I'll live, which is more than I'd decided I would last Monday at 3am on Google!!

So, not the optimum week in terms of training, but mentally, an early opportunity to deal with the need to adapt and over-come....some folk had a week off before they started their training this year, I'm just having mine in week 3!  Who says that's a bad thing??!

Mind Over Matter

Sometimes the negativity is all in your head!  I've been beating myself up a wee bit this week...there's been plenty work stress, some expected, and the rest totally left-field and unnecessary...but hey, deal with it and move on...nothing like a wee crisis to fire the jets up....and I've also been a bit down on myself about training.  

The motivation wasn't really there this week, but on reflection, I've put in some pretty decent training!

Tuesday night was tempo night - a road 6 miler that PT Boy decided to join me on....no hiding place there then!  I grumbled along to myself as I chased him round the streets, but ran almost a minute faster than I did the same session on my own last week...with an average pace of 8.37 min/mile (which is pretty fast for me!)

Thursday I ran 'steady' with my sis-in-law...a tempo run for her, so the shoe was on the other foot!  I coached her round, and ranted all my work stress out in the process.  Same route as Tues but at 10:10 min/mile.

Having been away to London with work on Friday, the Saturday long run was always going to be a challenge.  Food and hydration when travelling weren't great, and being greeted by the dreich conditions in the morning didn't inspire me.  

View of LochArd on a better day! (clarkhamiltonphotography.com)

Clark was joining me with Cori dog, and the plan was for me to do 25 miles, and they would do 17/18....I was making excuses before we started, but knew that miles had to be run.  The first 8 were ok, the rest were pretty stinking....sleet, wind, and the 'protective trees' have mostly been felled on the outer sections of the route, and the path churned up by trucks.  I suspect I also wasn't eating/drinking enough in the early stages, and ultimately we agreed to call it a day at 20 miles as we were both soaked through and frozen to the core (which only an afternoon in front of the fire in my PJ's fixed!).  

HOWEVER.....in hindsight, at an average pace of just over 11 min/miles, this was actually a pretty decent pace for me over that distance, so I'm taking that as a success!

Today I still wasn't feeling hugely inspired....oh, great, another grey, wet day.... But I felt I should get another run in to finish the week as I might not get anything done mid-week next week as I'm going to be in Barcelona with work (well, somebody has to....).

I had the option to run on my own, get the head back on my shoulders.  So, with the favourite kit on, and 2 WHW podcasts to listen to (including finally listening to my interview on episode 51), I did a nice wee out and back 10 miler at Braco wind-turbines.  AND....it felt GOOD!  It's decent terrain...uphill all the way out, and nice runnable descent back...ending the week nicely with 9:51 ave min/mile for the session.

So I've decided it's been a pretty good week, the pace has been pretty good for me, weekly mileage up to just over 42 miles in some less than positive conditions and moods, and a weights session in the gym too.  These races aren't going to run themselves...there's no hiding place....get out there and train!  There are millions out there who don't have the luxury of choice!

It's only January!

There's been a flurry of activity on Facebook this last week or so, as everyone attacks the new year with gusto and resolutions.  It's hard to not make comparisons, wondering if I'm doing enough/the right things, combined with the stresses of going back to work (straight into my team's busiest point of the year), and regaining the focus on the diet.

But I've done ok keeping focus - I have a plan that's going to get me to the start line in the best shape I can be, and I've started as I mean to go on.

Training is going well so far.  I've started back in the gym, and while the weights aren't very heavy, the effect is felt!  This week's reminder, is don't expect a session full of squats and lunges, not to hurt 2 days later when you try to run 20 miles on the WHW!

And I've managed to get all my scheduled runs done too - adhering to the instructions of 'tempo', 'steady' and 'easy' for a change!

Diet wise, I'm mainly back using the Slimming World principles (I love the fact that I need never be hungry!), and I'm tracking my eating on the myfitnesspal app, with a view to thinking about better balancing the carb:protein ratios.  I've stopped drinking (aside from a couple of wine's on one night out)...and the effect is that I've dropped about 4-5 lbs so far this year (based on a mid-festivities weigh in as the starting point!).

I'm also re-acquainting myself with the discipline of rest - if this is going to work, I need to be more forceful, and less guilty about recovery - rest days and afternoon naps are back on the compulsory list!!

The highlight of the training runs so far was yesterday's Glee run - a 20 miler out and back from Tyndrum (to just before the Falls of Falloch).  The best weather of the year (and for about the last 2 months!) and some great inclines and descents in the snow.  Some good chat, and new friends.  It's the section of WHW I've been on  least, so it was a good reminder of the forest section behind Crianlarich!  I did need to remind myself several times on the out and back that it's still only January, and there's plenty of time to build the fitness and endurance!  Don't peak too soon!!

So, feeling pretty good so far, 55 miles run year to date and 3 gym sessions.  Longest run 20 miles, with a 6.4 back to back today to test the tired legs.

And on that note, it's time for some zzzzzzzz....

Planning & Support ...the review of 2013

2013 was pretty epic, and I'm not going to go over it all in detail...some of the most important bits are in my previous blog posts!

The stats were pretty good too - I hit 1,600 run miles on 31st December - up 36% vs. last year, with longer average run distance, slightly lower heart rate (with slightly slower average pace), but also over 50% more elevation....and my longest run (at almost 95 miles) was a tad further than I'd ever run, or believed I could!

There are 2 factors that stood out most for me though, and this is why I believe it was a pretty good year:

(1) having a plan
(2) having support
 
The Plan

So, the idea was to put myself in a position that would maximize my chances of getting into the ballot for the 2014 WHW race.

Key to this was meeting the entry criteria by choosing wisely which ultras to run. Having completed my first Devil in August 2012 I was keen to do it again, as I'd felt I could improve....and having enjoyed that, the next obvious step was to do the Fling, taking the mileage up, and experiencing the first half of the WHW route.  What a great event  - and with pretty perfect running conditions I had a great run!

Glenmore 24 was the next 'obvious', but sh!t-your-pants scary decision.  I gave it much contemplation in the run up to the entries opening, and with my heart in my mouth put the entry in quickly when it opened (and then went out for a run!).  For me, this was about running through the night, in a relatively 'safe' environment and to still be running when the finish horn sounded.  A decision I'll never regret - what a race!

With these the key races for the year, with Strathearn Marathon thrown in for good measure (it's local and great), that mapped out my year.  I'd hoped to run D33 in training for the Fling, but (unfortunately) a work trip to Madrid made that too tricky to fit in.

I'm lucky in that I'm married to a personal trainer - kinda helps when you need to work out how far, how hard, and when you ought to be training.  So, the plan was built, and I tried my best to stick too it (albeit, it had to flex for work, weather etc)

The Support

So that flows nicely into my second point - the support.

Clark, pretty much without question is the most awesome support I could ask for.  Aside from clearly writing a training plan I could achieve and would help me succeed, he has stood about for hours in some pretty hideous conditions, and been 'fine' when abandoned on several weekends when I buggered off for hours on end (often many more hours than forecast) to go training.  And always there, with the hot cuppa, the bath run, and the motivation and encouragement I needed to achieve my goals.  He knows when to push me, getting me out the door on more than one occasion that I needed to MTFU, and just as important knows when to ease off, and encourage me to rest.  All that, and fitting in his own training, and rehab from a variety of injuries and set-backs, that I can't help but feel guilty sometimes (brought on by me, not him!).

In addition to this, what a support network has grown...or I have become part of.  There's too many people to mention by name (for fear of missing someone, or upsetting others).  People, friends, family, who have provided support in a variety of forms this year...and I don't just mean directly to me.  Folk have driven the length of the country to just 'be there' at races; stood around in storms cheering, ringing cow bells or taking photos; pulled cars or people from ditches and through rivers; dished out hugs, tears, cakes, sweeties or Red Bull as needed; picked us up and patched us up when bleeding, being sick, or generally feeling sorry for ourselves; motivated us to MTFU (when often they are injured, ill or struggling); and organized training runs, where no-one is left for dead, so that we can gain experience of different race routes or navigating through tricky conditions.  Much of this has spawned through Facebook (proving to the disbelievers that there is a benefit in social networking) - people, who at the start of the year I knew only as 'virtual' friends, are now a huge part of my life...and are now a reality...to share the joy, the sweat, the tears with on a weekly basis.

It's been said on many an occasion that 'you can't do it without support' and I whole-heartedly agree....so with that set to continue to go from strength-to-strength, and another good plan, I'm on to 2014!

Bigger, more sh!t-your-pants scary than last year, but achievable! 

The head is in the right place and the body will get there (just give it a chance to get over the Christmas over-indulgence first). 

2014 plan looks a bit like this.......

March







April










June

September