now .. and next year

Just a short post today because, as you probably know, I haven't been running for almost three weeks now. At the start of this week the right ankle was still periodically aching but with each passing day that became less and less.  Today has been the best day since the injury.

At the start of this week I began strength and core work, being careful not to do anything to further damage my ankle or hinder the recovery.  It now seems very likely that I can begin cycling on Sunday ... that's never been my favourite form of exercise but I guess at the moment it's necessary.  More fun than swimming though.

At the moment it's unlikely that I'll be able to run for at least another seven to ten days.

That hasn't stopped me planning next year's racing and training though.  Many of you will know that I had planned to enter the Barcelona 24 hr race when I arrived home from Poland.  Well ... for the second consecutive year that has had to be abandoned.  Maybe next year ... or maybe it just isn't meant to be.

So, next year.  The World Championships will be held in Steenbergen (Netherlands) in May and UK Team Management have already informally suggested that those who ran in Poland should also run in the Netherlands.  I may have trouble proving my fitness though ... we'll see.

And then, in August 2013, I plan to be in Abingdon, Oxfordshire at the British Ultra Fest.  I know that Pam Storey has long wanted to stage a six day and 48 hr race in England and it seems that she's finally succeeded by getting together with Alan Young and Abichal Sherrington.  Should be good fun.

And then, maybe, if all goes well, I'll be off to Barcelona, at last ...

Now that I've got some time out from running I can properly review what I've done over the past year or so and ask myself some serious questions.  Did my training work ?  Could I have done anything better ? What are my weaknesses ?  etc, etc

Answers please to me at the usual address ...

speed work, races and the BBC

Speed work today.  Lots of short reps ... well, ten anyway.  Not easy with a gale force wind blowing so that some reps were 20 seconds per mile (12.5s/km) faster than others but with less effort !!!

A good training session though and I hit my targets for AVERAGE pace which I'm pleased about in the conditions.  Also working hard on form as mentioned in the previous post.

I'm pleased that Pam Storey appears to have finally got her ultra races off the ground with the news that she's planning to stage a 48 hr and a 24 hr race in Horsham, near London in August.  I really would love to take part in the longer of the two but it is a bit close to this year's World 24 hr Championships - early September in Poland.

That's if I'm selected of course.  And therein lies the problem ... UK Athletics have not yet announced any selection criteria or guidelines.  Plenty of stuff for other international events but nothing for this when common sense dictates that the longer the race the more notice the athletes should have so they can plan the rest of their season.  Long races means long recovery.

Perhaps the powers that be have decided not to send a team to Katowiche.  Stranger things have happened ... but I just wish they would tell the athletes.

There's been a good article on the BBC website recently about sleep and how humans evolved to take sleep in four hour blocks and not eight hours at a time which most people believe.  Of course ultra runners - especially multi day runners - have always known that short periods of sleep are best.

Continuing with the BBC, an episode of Horizon next Tuesday may prove interesting.  It's entitled The Truth About Exercise.

future championships races (but not this year)

My rehab is progressing well after a so-so day on Saturday when my left knee ached for 30 minutes or so every once in a while.

Renewed my acquaintance with the 2I's* and yesterday was fine and today has been really good too.  This morning I managed alternating running and walking for 55 minutes and my knee still feels great.  I've stopped doing a couple of exercises though which may have been making the situation worse, standing quads stretch for instance.

Also, I've decided to add walking to my training schedule.  Ultra runners actually walk quite a bit during extra long races so it does make sense to include a bit of training for that side of the race.  I know a few others have done this (William Sichel for example) but for some reason I haven't ... until I began reading the biography of Arthur Newton referred to in a previous post.

Recent news from the IAU website:  venues and dates have been chosen for the following major competitions:

World 100k Championships ... Apr 2012 ... Seregno (Monza-Brianza), Italy
World 24 hr Championships ... Sep 2012 ... Katowice, Poland
World 24 hr Championships ... May 2013 ... Steenbergen, Netherlands

A couple of things to aim for then but Pam Storey may not be too pleased.


* ice and ibuprofen

Tony Mangan and the weather

Congratulations to Tony Mangan on completing the first 1000 km on his World Jog.  It took 31 days and included a flight across the Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland.  Obviously he has a long way to go in his quest to run around the world in 1000 days.  His blog does make a fascinating read though.

I know it's been cold where Tony is at the moment and it's very cold where I am too ... unseasonably so in fact.  More details here.  Running has been perfectly OK except for the extreme cold which has seen me wearing three pairs of gloves, a hat and two tops (along with the usual other stuff ...).

The forecast for where I live is:


Of course the runners in Monaco are having better weather during the No Finish Line 8 day race which started last weekend.  Pam Storey is taking part and looking to complete 400 km.  After 148 hours she's managed almost 276 km so unfortunately it's unlikely she'll manage her target.  She's raised a fair amount for charity though and I'm sure Alan Young will be looking after her.

all the best to everyone

I know I've got a big event going on this weekend - see this page for details - but other ultra runners I know are also racing this weekend and I wish them all the best in their endeavours.

Sharon Gayter is in Surgeres doing the 48 hour race and Pam Storey & Gil John are taking part in the Wessex 100 (LDWA event).

I've also updated the media page with a new newspaper article.

I wish I were racing too

I'm now well into my second week of proper training and it seems to be going well except that when I'm doing a paced run my actual speed is all over the place. It'll come back with practice though.

Good to see the Barry 40 results in last weeks Athletics Weekly - one ultra race which makes the results pages every year although there should be an in depth article about this race considering the number of world bests set there over the years.

All the best to Sharon Gayter and Paul Tranter who take part in the Marathon des Sables later this month and to William Sichel who's in Athens as I write this for a 24 hr race.

In the accompanying 7 day race Wolfgang Schwerk seems to be doing very well (839k after 5.5 days). I also notice that the Italian bloke who just beat me in the London 24 hr race (last October) is also doing very well - he's in 5th place at the moment with 677k.

I'm just jealous of you all, that's all. Still, it won't be long now before I'm back racing.

Hope everything goes well with Pam Storey too and her 12 hr & 6 hr races in Crawley - wish I could be there Pam.

Making Plans

Training (if I could call it that) is going very well at the moment. Yesterday's outing scored 98 and today's did likewise.

Time now to look at putting together a proper schedule starting from mid March ... things such as long runs, hill reps, tempo runs, intervals, etc. One question though: my races last year were 1 mile, 5.7 miles, 5.9 miles, 5 miles, 24 hours, 24 hours and 2 trail relays so how do I estimate what my 10k, 5k, 3k half marathon paces should be ? I also ran a 10k but that doesn't count because I ran 17 miles to the start before racing (ran home too after the race).

Using the World Masters Age Graded Tables and some clever stats I've decided that the above training paces should be (per mile): 6:26, 6:11, 5:52 and 6:38 respectively.

Also beginning to look at races - not entering anything yet (apart from the Hull 24 hr race). Those that interest me include:

Wakefield 10k, S. Leeds Stadium 5m, North of England 12 stage relay, Rothwell 10k, Bradford 10k, Harrogate League, John Carr 5k Series, Black Sheep Series, Meanwood Valley Trail Race, Wharfedale Off-Road Full & Half Marathons, Bradford Millennium Way Relay, Stainland 7, Mileta 10k, Wetherby 10k, Sutton 7.

The following ultras are also possible: Ridgeway 40, Fife 50k, Gordon Bentley 12 hr, Marlborough Downs Challenge, Dartmoor Discovery, Rochdale Canal Relay, White Cliffs 50, Self Transcendence 24 hr.

These things all depend on how my rehab continues to progress ... but things are looking good.

Just seen in Athletics Weekly that two ultra runners are standing for election to the Road Running Leadership Group: Hilary Walker and Pam Storey. As secretary of Otley AC and Race Director of the Otley 10 I believe I'm entitled to vote (twice). After reading the information on UK Athletics website I think I'll have to go with Hilary ... sorry Pam !!

PS can you tell I'm in a much better frame of mind that I was in early January.

Lots happening but no running yet

OK, here we go, quite a lot of things to talk about today.

Bought myself some bathroom scales yesterday. Will use to weigh myself before and after each run and this will help determine my fluid requirements when running at various speeds when taking into account different air temperatures and humidity. It sounds complicated but I'm sure it won't be and I'll get used to it after a few weeks. Obviously not using the scales yet but I will be by March.

Will have to buy some Sorbothane heel pads too for when I start running again - but how many miles before I need some new ones?

I'll have to email Pam Storey later today to let her know that I'll definitely not be able to take part in the 12hr race she organises at Crawley - sorry Pam.

Looked at Les Croupiers website yesterday to see who's taking part in their annual Barry 40 mile track race. Found that John Pares hasn't entered yet (2006 winner, 2007 runner up) but Paul Tranter has. Paul lives in Otley like me and has run in Barry twice before - the last time was in 2006 when the weather was probably the worst in the long history of the race. That was my first ultra and the doctor pulled me out at about 31 miles with a badly blistered right foot (I still have the scar!!!). Good luck Paul - I guess you'll be aiming for 5 hours.

My daily schedule has now settled down to:

• morning: 3 sets of 25 achilles stretches with a weighted back pack
• two hours after breakfast: 300ml colostrum drink
• mid morning: five or six minutes massaging right achilles with Deep Heat
• lunchtime: 20 minutes of strength and conditioning exercises every other day
• lunchtime: 45 minutes on exercise bike two days out of three (followed by icing my achilles for 30 minutes)
• early evening: five or six minutes massaging right achilles with Deep Heat
• about 8.00pm: 300ml colostrum drink followed by 3 sets of 25 achilles stretches with a weighted back pack followed by 20 minutes of stretching exercises

I've also started looking at compression tights which I believe will help recovery during and after ultra races - a good idea but at £50 a pair ...

Over on the left you'll see that I've started a list of web links. The first two are my club and my sponsor (The Divan Centre - the owner [Carl Walsh] is President of Otley AC). I feel really bad though because no sooner do I get myself a sponsor than I develop a pretty bad injury. I only hope I can justify his faith in me later in the year.