Tag: running

I move slow and steady…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

Four weeks ago I decided to enter the Peterborough Half Marathon and attempt to beat my PB, currently standing at….

Since then I have been following a training plan, tweaking it in places, running a few races in between, but pretty much sticking to exactly what I am supposed to be doing. It seems to be going ok, except that my target pace of 7.22 min/mile seems REALLY fast. Now I will say at this point that I knew this would be the case; I set my PB a few years ago when I was younger, running more and entering more races. I knew it would be difficult: it is a 'proper' challenge. But recently I'm beginning to think that it might be a bit of a struggle to actually beat the time.

Last weekend I ran the Grimsthorpe 10K, it was a warm morning, it's a tough course, multi terrain: concrete, grass, gravel, track, in fact at one stage, as we approached the lake, I was half expecting to have to run on water. I completed it in 46.12…

But the important stat is the average pace: 7.26 min/mile. Actually slower than the pace I need to run for the half-marathon, and this was only 6ish miles, and I was absolutely knackered at the finish. I have to run double that distance! Now, as I said earlier, it is a tough course, but all the same it's got me thinking. Is this challenge achievable?

So we eventaully get to the part why I called this post 'I move slow and steady'…..

It seems that whenever I go for a run I always seem to be chasing a target time or target pace. Club training sessions are really hard work, even 'steady' paced runs are done with the idea that I should be running pretty close to my target race pace. I haven't really had much chance to 'enjoy' the running. So you can imagine my delight when I looked at the training plan and had a couple of days running at an 'easy' pace. Now I'm not entirely sure what my 'easy' pace should be, I think I read somewhere that I can run them at a minute slower? So what I did was run them at a lovely 9 min/mile pace (probably far too slow) and really enjoyed them. It was great to just run. If I wanted to run fast downhill, I did! If I wanted to drop the pace for an uphill section, I did! If I wanted to jog slowly, I did! If I wanted to pick up the pace for a bit, I did! I just really enjoyed it. So from here on in I'll be running a few more 'easy' runs. I'm not giving up on achieving a PB in the half-marathon, just going to try to do it with a few more 'enjoyable' runs thrown in.

 

The dos and don’ts of the long run…..

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

Sunday, the home of the long run and the staple diet of the road runner. So today I planned to complete a run of at least nine miles. This I did, 10.76 miles in 1 hour 31 mins, a reasonably steady pace that is a long way off what I'm hoping to run the Peterborough Half in, but 10 miles all the same.

After today's run I thought I would impart some words of wisdom to help other runners execute the weekly long run and help avoid this morning's unnecessary complications:

DO take some water with you if you are running for more than an hour.

DON'T strategically hide it in a tree so that you don't have to carry it around only to forget what tree you hid it in and then realise it has fallen down requiring you to fight through brambles to retrieve it.

DO get your run in early.

DON'T stay in bed too long so that when you finally get out for your run the sun is out and it starts to get really hot.

DO have a playlist prepared.

DON'T after hearing Stereophonics on the radio set your iPod to play all their albums, because after 'Word Gets Around' they started to get a bit crap causing you to stop and put on something else to stop your ears bleeding.

DO remember that wherever you run you share the path with other people.

DON'T stress yourself out when you met the fat family and their equally fat dogs who think that it is their right to take up the whole path and refuse to move even an inch to the side.

DO try to eat a sensible breakfast and allow time to digest.

DON'T scoff down four chocolate brioche rolls, guzzle down two cups of tea and run out the door.

Tomorrow: REST DAY

CUSHTY!

 

Peterborough Parkrun

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

At last I have a local Parkrun, well not exactly local, still 20 miles away, but it will definitely become a regular fixture of the weekend. I've done a few of these events over the last year and they are always great fun and really well organised. My first experience of Peterborough Parkrun was no different.

It takes place at Ferry Meadows in Nene Park and is basically a couple of laps of the lakes, and because it is slightly out of the city centre, there is not a Chav in sight.

Results email…..

I was slightly disappointed with my time of 20.20. I ran 19.57 at Tilgate Parkrun last weekend, and that was a hilly course in places. This morning I worked hard from the start, but come 3km my legs felt very tired, I tried to up the pace for the last couple of kilometres but couldn't get under 20mins. But that does give me a target when I visit Ferry Meadows again next week.

 

Unexpected happenings….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

Sunday, the home of the long run, and because I'm staying at my sister's, an opportunity to run somewhere completely different. As much as this is great, it makes a welcome change from running around Bourne Woods, it does bring a sense of the unexpected. Tonight's run had unexpected happenings by the bucket load.

I set off just after 7pm with the intention of running 6 miles at a reasonably good pace. As I ran out of the estate road close development I had a rough idea of where I was going to go, a very rough idea, but in idea all the same. I headed out to the right, no path, but only a quiet lane, so chances of being wiped out by a speeding car were very small.

Suffice to say, within a mile I nearly got wiped out by a car so headed for the public footpaths that take you across the countryside. A short dash through some woods took me to a lovely looking footpath with a stile and manicured grass that looked very inviting….

I stopped to take in the view: rolling hills, wildlife and setting sun….

Continuing down the 'footpath' lead me to a gate, that I climbed over. I did think that climbing over gates on what should have been a public footpath did seem slightly strange. But they are a strange lot down south so I wasn't too perturbed. As I made my way across the field in the direction of the footpath arrow, I came across a herd of sheep, they seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see them.

I continued along the edge of various fields following the very vague 'footpath' signs. Although one farmer had made the effort to indicate the way my creating giant arrows on the ground.

I came across a very strange looking bridge that crossed a stream. I was unsure if it was designed to help people cross or stop people crossing. But things were going well and a strange looking bridge was not about to put an end to my run.

At this point in the run the public footpath signs began to appear slightly less often, and when they were visible the direction of the arrow was not always clear. At one stage the signs were even hidden in the bushes….

Things were bad….but they were going to get worse. I was lost. I climbed various gates following what seemed like a public footpath, but was to turn out not to be a public footpath at all. At one stage I crawled under an electric fence in pursuit of what seemed like a public footpath, although this was just to end up as another dead end. I did find a track that I thought may take me back to a road, only to follow it for 400 yards before I saw signs telling me to 'beware of the dog'….

At this point I decided to turn round and head back the way I came. This wasn't as easy as it sounded, I had totally lost my bearings, and everything began to look the same. At one stage I even looked at the map on my phone to see if I could regain my bearings. It didn't help. All it told me was that I was in the middle of nowhere. I knew that already. Ironically, I found a big pile of crap….

Eventually, whether by luck or judgement I found my way back to the road. Albeit still a couple of miles from my destination. Finally, on a road again I picked up the pace for the final bit. Although I did stop when I saw the name of one of the cottages on the road….

….and when I saw this rather strange landscaping…..

I made it back, what started as a 6 mile run, ended up just short of 9 miles. But in terms of half-marathon training, it can only help.

Splendid indeed!!!

 

Tilgate Parkrun

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

I was a parkrun tourist today.

I'm visiting my sister in Kent and her closest parkrun is Tilgate Parkrun near Crawley. So we planned to set off at 8am to give it a go. When I say 'we', I was the only one planning to run it, but my sister and her two kids were coming for the ride. It's been a while since I've had little ones, so had forgotten just how crazy things can be when you're trying to get out the door, Grace is 22 mths and Stanley is 8 mths, so this morning was not a matter of get up and go.

A few things needed doing before we could leave: nappies changed; bottles drunk; breakfast eaten; changing bag prepared; pushchair sorted; clothes on; spare bibs in bag; snacks and drinks in bag; nappies changed; toys in bag; pushchair in car; kids in car seats; car seats in car; and we were ready to go, only a couple of minutes behind schedule.

Lovely setting for a run

Tilgate Park is about 15 miles away, despite having no idea where we were going we made it in good time, and after unloading all the stuff (and kids), walking in the direction of everyone else, we arrived at the start with ten minutes to spare. A quick warm-up and we were off.

As is usual with every other parkrun I have been to, it was well organised and well attended. The 5km course began near the boathouse and does a lap of Tilgate Lake before heading to Titmus Lake, up a short sharp incline (which is not particularly short, but definitely sharp), before turning back towards Tilgate Lake for a second lap, at which point I managed a high five with Grace as I sped whizzed ran past, before reaching the finish in 13th place in a time of 19.57.

After the run we headed to the fantastic looking playground at the top of the hill….

This playground may have looked fantastic, but the items in the playground had a dark side: they were slightly more tricky than they looked. Standard swings: no problems. Springy bouncy jeep thingy: fine, until a lad jumped on and began rocking the thing like it was traversing the moon. Slide one: no problems. Slide two: huge metal corkscrew slide, which was vey high, had one go but too scary to attempt again. Slide three: steeper than it looked, Grace even managed a bit of free fall at one stage whilst travelling down it. Scramble net bridge: tried but too difficult, one step on and feet fell through holes.

Grace loves the swings!
Me and Stanley

After the playground we settled on the grass for a little picnic, a little relax, and three 'little' trips to the bin.

Lovely morning! Cushty!

 

Running shoes….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

I have been thinking about getting some new running shoes for a while. My last pair of running shoes, Adidas Litestrike EVA, have done me well. Bought them over a year ago and in that time they have covered a fair few miles. I'm not entirely sure how often you should replace your running shoes…300 miles….500 miles? Then I remembered seeing this in Runner's World magazine asking how long your trainers usually last….

So a couple of weeks ago I began checking out new trainers. I looked online, browsed sports shops and generally faffed about. I am very good at faffing. The problem is I don't particularly like to spend a lot of money on trainers. I know trainers are the only real expense when it comes to running, but even so, over £100 for a pair??

Another thing about hunting for new running shoes are the names. It is amazing what the manufacturers are calling their shoes, a quick browse through the first dozen pages of a running magazine: New Balance 880v3; Mizuno U4ic; Brooks Ghost 6; and Nike Lunareclipse+ 3. I'm not fussed what they are called, although I would be very happy with a pair of trainers called Lunareclipse+ 3! How cool would that be?

So what was I looking for?

  • Price – around £40-45
  • Colour – wasn't particularly bothered, apart from black, I think black trainers look ridiculous
  • Weight – well I'd like a pair of the really cool very light trainers that cost £100s – but I knew I'd probably settle for something reasonably light, yet supportive.

So when out shopping yesterday, in Ely of all places, I popped into Paul Day's Sports. It was only a small, independent shop so wasn't expecting too much. In fact, they only had half a dozen running shoes to choose from. I began the long process of looking, picking up, turning over, weighing up, trying on, etc. After a fruitless ten minutes, and as I was about to leave, I looked down on the bottom shelf. There in front of me was the most perfect looking pair of trainers: Nike Flex 2012 Run iD Men's Running Shoes in Red. I looked at the price: £40. I weighed them up: reasonably light. I tried them on: perfect.

I bought them!

This morning was an easy 4 mile run…..no issues with trainers….in fact I ran like the wind!