Last Marathon of the Year

This weekend I completed my last marathon of the year, but it didn't go all to plan.  You might remember that my goal for the year was to run 4 marathons and 4 ultra marathons.  By ultra marathon I had originally intended this to mean 4 ultra marathon events, which were going to be:

XNRG two day Isle of Wight Ultra in June
XNRG three day Thames Path Ultra in September
London to Brighton in October
XNRG three day Ridgeway Ultra in November

The first two ultra events were completed successfully enough.  I then decided not to run London to Brighton as it was going to be just one week before the planned row of the English Channel, which I hadn't even contemplated doing at the start of the year.  I didn't want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize the row, especially as I was doing it with seven of my clients.  I was going to argue that I replaced an ultra with rowing the Channel, which was a pretty awesome event in it's own right.

So I had already pretty much decided to only do three ultra running events.  My four marathons were then going to be Paris, Greensands and the Broadmeadow Double, i.e. two marathons in one weekend.

As you know, in running the Greensands marathon I picked up an annoying little injury to my peroneal muscles on my right leg.  This put me out of action for a few weeks and meant missing the Ridgeway Ultra.  I was really looking forward to this event, so was very disappointed at having to cancel it.  I thought I was all fixed, but the injury flared up again yesterday after completing day 1 of the Broadmeadow Double.  I decided to strap it up and sleep on it and make a judgement this morning as to whether or not I should run.  

As soon as I got out of bed I knew that I wasn't going to be running anywhere today.  The course of the marathon was basically three 8 to 9 mile loops that kept returning to the race HQ.  So I wrestled with the idea of just trying to run the first loop, knowing I could easily pull out at 8 miles. But I realised that this was going to be a stupid and pointless venture that wouldn't achieve anything other than making my injury worse.  So I went to the race start to tell the organiser that I was withdrawing and I then returned to Cambridge and spent the afternoon completing my Christmas shopping.

However, I considered the runs that I have done this year and I feel I can argue that the original goal has been fulfilled, if you look at it in the following way.

Runs completed in 2012:
Paris marathon
Isle of Wight - day 1 - 38 miles
                      - day 2 - 31 miles
Thames Path Ultra - day 1 - 27 miles (let's call it a marathon)
                                 - day 2 - 33 miles
                                 - day 3 - 32.5 miles
Greensands marathon
Broadmeadow marathon

So that is 4 marathons and 4 runs that were longer than 30 miles.  So who's going to argue that I didn't achieve my goal?

I'll be writing a review of Broadmeadow marathon a little later.

Autumn Turns To Winter

Once again I’ve been neglecting keeping my blog up to date, leaving myself several weeks to write about.  Since writing about my long autumnal run on 11 November the weather has definitely turned more wintery.  Looking back over my diary it would seem I’ve only been running about four times each week.  I include Sweaty Betty nights in this total, but I’m not including any runs I do with clients.

The weekend after my last entry we visited our good friends Kate and Ron in Derbyshire, who live on the edge of the Peak District in the charmingly named village of Tintwistle.  Weekends with Kate and Ron usually involve eating very well, more alcohol than I normally consume and long walks to clear the head and refresh the soul.  They are fortunate enough to have great walks right on their doorstep.  The Pennine Way passes the village heading north to Black Hill and south to Bleaklow, two names that conjure up just how wild and unforgiving the landscape can be in this part of the country.  From our friends back garden there are views up the valley along the length of four reservoirs.  The reservoirs provide great running routes that avoid the need to go up.

On the Saturday we headed out for a walk in the rain, which is the price you have to pay for living in the Peak District.  There is a reason why our friends have four reservoirs outside their back door.  Fortunately, it was nothing more than a persistent drizzle, which did clear up in the afternoon.

The next day we woke to clear blue skies.  We quickly got through breakfast so as not to squander the opportunity of making use of the great weather whilst it lasted.  I headed out for a run whilst the others went for a shortish walk before lunch.  I ran half the length of the reservoirs and then headed southwards and upwards to Bleaklow.  The initial climb is incredibly steep and had me walking up fell runner style with hands on knees for added push.  Once near the top I had the sun right in my eyes, making it almost impossible to see where I was putting my feet.  The path was very narrow, slightly cut into the surrounding soft ground and containing lots of pointy, sharp rocks that I tripped over on several occasions.  After a couple of miles I decided the running was too treacherous so turned back to the reservoirs.  I then ran to the far end of the reservoirs and back to our friends’ house.  My total mileage was just over 12 miles, but it had taken me 2 hours to complete.  I got back in time for a stretch and a shower before Kate and Ron served up a delicious Sunday dinner.

In the week that followed I mainly did runs that took me around Cambridge Airport, with the aim of testing my tempo pace.  I concluded that I’m a little off my pace from earlier in the year.  Not surprising given that I’ve been neglecting any speed work from my running routine since about June.

Last weekend I went for a 20 mile run on Saturday morning.  I left the house just after 8am to discover icy pavements for the first time this winter.  It was certainly a very cold start to the day.  I headed out to the Roman Road again, which had completely changed in character from just two weeks ago.  It was damp, muddy and grey, rather than crisp, clear and golden.  Still I completed the run without any drama and then spent the afternoon in the pub watching rugby with a few mates, followed by a curry in the evening.  This is why I ran on Saturday morning rather than Sunday.  It was a precaution more than anything.

This week has been more of the usual.  5.5 miles Monday morning, a total of 8 miles on Wednesday as part of the Sweaty Betty running club, then 6 miles yesterday.  Tomorrow I plan to run about 10 miles.  This is tapper time, as I’m running the Broadmeadow double marathon next week, which will be my last two marathons of the year.