19 Miles after 3Wks Out

I'm finally running again. I went to the gym on Tuesday and did an hour on an elliptical trainer and then went back on Thursday with the intention of trying out a treadmill to see if that cushioned my ribs sufficiently for a run. It didn't and I was frightened that the pain would be doing me damage so I did an hour on a bike instead. So I was able to do a good bit of CV work this week but it's no substitute for running. Still concerned about the pain the impact of running was giving me, I called my osteopath on Friday for some reassurance. She agreed to squeeze me in at the end of the day for another check. The upshot of that was that it's ok to run on the pain I'm experiencing. I won't be doing any further damage but I could still be feeling it for another couple of weeks. With this confidence I did Parkrun on Saturday morning. I started slowly but as I got into it the pain eased as my osteopath said it would and I was able to lengthen my stride and finish at a good pace. Happy I was running again I needed to get a good long run in today. Having had three weeks out from running I decided not to take the balls out and just get a solid 19 miles in the bank this morning. Of course this Sunday was Mother's Day so I had to drag one child out of bed and the other away from his Xbox to give Tara her presents and breakfast in bed. Following that I had to spend all morning unblocking the kitchen sink which involved emptying out cupboards, removing the dishwasher and washing machine and ultimately took a good couple of hours to fix.
Finally at 13:00 I got out of the house to run. It was very sunny today. A nice spring day but too warm for my liking (for running in anyway) but if it can do this in March it could certainly be like this in April. Personally I'm hoping for a traditional grey London day on 23rd April.
I did three loops local to my house so I wasn't too far from home if anything went wrong. It took me 02:52:00 to do 19 miles and I was barely out of breath at the end but my legs were not too happy about it. I need to whip them into shape in the coming week. They need to wake up and understand we're not done yet!
I think I saw three fellow PWRs whilst out today, who tooted, waved and pretended to dribble basketballs respectively. It does give me a little boost.
Next Sunday is my last long run at Bluewater that I'll be doing with the balls. A couple of Petts Wood Runners are coming with me and I'm going to have to get up at 4am for the 05:30 start so this week I'm going to try to get to bed earlier and get up earlier to adjust my body clock a bit so that 4am on Sunday is less of a shock.
I got my Final Instructions magazine and notification of my running number from VMLM this week. My running number is 55748 which indicates I should be at the Red Start but after a quick exchange of emails with my VMLM contact he was able to confirm that I will be moved to the Green Start. I'm not sure if that means I will get a different number but I should be getting another letter about it soon.
Now it's lighter in the evenings I should be able to get out into the park after work to do some ball skills which is relaxing after a day of looking after other people's children, and of course, this Friday I'm in Runner's World!

Hot & sunny today (the weather, not me)

Walking & Cycling

I had hoped to be able to run 18 miles this last weekend, preferably with the balls but that didn't happen. My ribs are being sooooo slooooow to recover. I tested them out with a very cautious lap of the park behind my house on Friday night. I managed to complete the half mile loop without the pain making me stop, which is progress but it confirmed for me that a long run is still out of the question. So I went to watch my son play rugby on Sunday whilst many of my fellow Petts Wood Runners were putting in between 18 and 22 miles. Some of them even ran 20 miles of the VMLM course (cutting out Docklands). I would've loved to do that.
So, a little depressed on the way back from rugby it suddenly occurred to me that I can still walk! It's the jarring of running that's hurting my ribs. Surely it would be better for me to do a fast walk and be on my feet for three hours than to just go home for an afternoon nap in the beanbag? Now enthused at the prospect of being able to do something, I got changed and set off for a walk in my new Brooks Glycerin 14s that I didn't get to wear at Silverstone! Now I'm not used to going out for this sort of walk and I overdid the layers. I very quickly had to put my waterproof jacket in the backpack and remove my hat and gloves. I covered 12.53 miles in 03:00:26 which is an average of 14:24 per mile. Not the sort of stats I wanted to be writing about at this stage but at least I was out there. However, walking creates a very different footstrike to running and my heels didn't like it much. Too much heel in a walk.
Having had a bit of a chat on Facebook with our track coach at PWR (thanks Mike), he suggested I could get on a bike at the gym and to a bit of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). So I made enquiries this afternoon and tonight I've been at the gym! Something I haven't done for years. I thought I was going to have to sign up for a month (or until the end of April as we're past the 14th of the month) but when I got there it seems you can just pay your money and get on with it. Things have changed since I worked in the leisure industry. You used to have to fill out a health questionnaire and book an appointment with a fitness instructor for a 40 minute induction to show you how to use everything. Not these days it seems: '£8.75 please. Off you go!' (not her exact words but that's essentially what happened). That's great but you then have to walk into a gym full of much younger and better looking people and pretend that you know what you're doing. The machines have changed a lot too. I managed to get my recumbent bike working without looking like a numpty and did a 3 minute warmup. I then did 20 sets of 60 seconds hard peddling at high resistance followed by 60 seconds of recovery peddling at low resistance. This became 50 seconds hard and 70 seconds recovery after about 10 minutes but I was pleased to be able to do something. I admit I was feeling a little wobbly when I got off the bike. This is all new stuff to me. I'd much rather be pounding the pavement but before I left I had a little go on an elliptical trainer to see if that would bother my ribs. It didn't, so I might go back tomorrow for a session on one of those.
I don't have any pictures of this walking and cycling so this weeks image is me on a bike when I was two.

Cycling 43 years ago.

PB at Silverstone Half

Well, that's what I should be writing about today. Instead, all I have to report is that I haven't been able to run since my last post. I was on top of the world last Saturday following the fast time I put in around the park. I was feeling great and full of confidence that I had a very good chance of putting in a sub 01:50:00 finish at Silverstone. Then Sunday night happened. A bit of horseplay before bed with my 9 year old son and out of nowhere he punched me in the side with such force he sublaxed a rib causing two ribs to cross over, pinching a nerve. I had the rib put back on Monday by my osteopath and she said I should be ok to run on Wednesday - so not such a huge problem then. However, come Wednesday there was no way I could run and I was still in significant pain on Thursday. I went back to the osteopath Thursday night and although all my ribs were where they should be, a bit of light poking and prodding revealed bruising of the intercostal muscles, diaphragm and abs. I've been icing them every hour since where possible but on Saturday night I had to admit to myself that there was no way I was going to be able to run at Silverstone today. Gutted does not begin to describe it. Guinness were there taking publicity shots ahead of the marathon and I really wanted to put on a show in my final race before the big day. However, my osteopath was very clear that if it was hurting and I ran on it I would be delaying my ultimate recovery. As much as it hurt to let go of todays race, I have to consider the bigger picture. Hopefully I'll be running again in the coming week and able to put in 18 miles around the park with the balls next weekend, although I'm currently living in fear of the next sneeze as they're still causing me terrible pain.
Rest is quite possibly the hardest part of training.

He tests my love sometimes

New Unofficial PB

The hamstring feels good. I've been exercising & stretching it and today I ran for the first time with out bandaging it - and to be honest, I didn't even think about it until I was on my walk home.
I was contacted this week via Twitter by a Runner's World editor who wanted more info about my record attempt for a feature in the next edition of RW. I sent her some stuff, she sent me a draft, I filled in the gaps and edited it and I'm going to be in the May edition (UK) which is out on 31st March. It's going to be 200 words and a photo. I might have to renew my subscription! We have left a gap in the article to put in my PB for a half marathon with the balls as I'm running the Silverstone Half next weekend. So naturally I want to put in a good time. With this in mind I went out today round Norman Park to see how long I could maintain a 08:30 mpm pace. It turns out I can do a whole half marathon at that pace which I did in 01:51:16 - averaging exactly 08:30 minutes per mile. My fastest miles were one and two which were both 08:19 and my slowest was mile ten 08:42. Mile ten could have been one of the ones where a dog tried to tackle me. Two dogs had a go today which delayed me slightly.
Around mile 12 I caught up with another runner who said "Hello Kev!" when I pulled alongside him. I confess I didn't know who he was and wasn't able to get a good look at him as I was concentrating on the balls. My running club, Petts Wood Runners, has got so big recently I assumed it must've been another PWR but it turns out it was Robert Elbourn, the stranger I overtook a few weeks ago who took the trouble to find me online and sponsor me. Thanks again Robert and good luck with the Brighton Marathon. I hope the 18 miles you were running today went well. On the subject of sponsorship, if you would like to send me a good luck message with a few quid for my charities (Orchid Cancer and Demelza House Children's Hospice) feel free to follow this link! www.virginmoneygiving.com/kevhowarth
So I left Robert and powered up the final straight to finish the 13.1 miles I wanted to run today. I still had enough for a good sprint finish and felt pretty good at the end. Dare I try to go sub 01:50:00 next weekend? We'll see. Should be safe for a sub 01:55:00 though.
I walked home thinking about Silverstone and found my new race shoes (Brooks Glycerin 14s) waiting for me in the porch. Happy days!

Happy with that. Even though I don't look it.

Bluewater Sorted

It's been another month since my last post. What have I been up to? Well I've done a couple of 20 mile runs with the Bickley Station Harriers (a little sub group of Petts Wood Runners that go out on Sundays). It felt good to get that distance under my belt. I didn't do them with basketballs but it still feels good to get familiar with a relatively fast paced 20. I've been up at the school gym practicing ball skills and I ran the Tunbridge Wells half marathon last Sunday. I had a tiny twang in my right hamstring at track the Thursday before where I still ran but at no more than 80%. I didn't realise there was a term for it but I'm suffering terribly from Maranoia (mental anxiety found in marathon runners, characterised by the irrational belief that last-minute disaster is imminent). Basically I'm terrified I'm going to injure myself. So having had this little twinge and knowing I had a race on the Sunday I booked my legs in for a sports massage. After having a chat with our club coach (and sports masseur) Mike, I decided not to 'race' the Tunbridge Wells half but just to run it at a comfortable pace. It's a very hilly course and not one for attempting PBs anyway. I was enjoying the scenery and running comfortable sub 8 minute miles when I began to notice my hamstring tightening. Then, just before 10 miles, another 'ping!'. Not a terrible pain but enough to make me walk the last three miles. I had my legs carefully massaged again at the finish and saw my Physio on the Monday night. Sparing you the details, I was taped, bandaged and given exercises to do and was able to run again on the Wednesday night. I have to moderate how many miles I'm doing but it's not as big a problem as I was worried it might be.
I ran 4 miles on Wednesday, another 6 on Thursday and on Saturday I took the balls out for 6.69 miles which I did in 57:49 averaging 08:39 per mile. All back to normal next week I think.
In other news I went to Bluewater shopping centre last weekend to walk a lap and see if my Garmin would work indoors - it did! But it turns out that a lap is only just over a quarter of a mile and not the half mile I was lead to believe it was. This means I'm going to have to do in the region of 80 laps to cover 20 miles. And I'm probably going to have to stay on the upper floor if I want my Garmin to work - I can't imagine it's going to work on the lower floor (I forgot to test that). Whilst I was there though, I popped in to the management suite to see if my contact in Security was there. Fortunately he was so I was able to introduce myself. He's happy for me to do the 20 miles on 2nd April as long as I start at 05:30! And miraculously I've found three people so far that have expressed an interest in getting up at silly o'clock to come and run with me. This will be a great confidence boosting run just before I begin to taper. I want to take advantage of the perfect conditions to run 9 minute miles.
I have the Silverstone half marathon with balls on 12 March so I'll probably run a half marathon with balls round the park next weekend. I want to get a balls PB at Silverstone which means going sub 01:56:39. I want to get below 01:55:00 and as close to 01:50:00 as I can.

80 laps of Bluewater Shopping Centre coming up - 02/04/17

Darn Parkrunners!

They make a terrible mess of the path in the winter, those Parkrunners. Muddy sludge all over the top corner of the park. I'm joking though. I love Parkrun. It is a brilliant thing and long may it continue to grow. It does make it difficult for me though. The balls don't bounce well in it, it splatters mud all over my legs and shoes and makes a terrible mess of my hands.
It amazes me how different the conditions are on each side of Norman Park. On one side the wind whistles through you and it's cold, wet and muddy. On the other side there's no wind, the path is dry and in the sunshine it's much warmer. As I started on the muddy side I was immediately concerned that I'd underinflated the balls. They could've done with a little more perhaps but the main problem was the mud. On the better side of the park they weren't performing too badly.
Earlier in the week I'd been discussing with fellow Petts Wood Runners how I should approach this run. The last run I did before Christmas I was on fire. It felt really good and I did the 15 miles averaging less than 9 minutes per mile. I wasn't sure if I should let my ego try and keep this pace today or if I should deliberately slow it down. I don't think it's standard practise to do all your long runs at race pace - it's more about being on your feet for longer. Anyway, it was almost immediately clear to me that I wasn't going to be able to average under 9 minutes for the 17 miles I had planned today. I'll get to the stats later.
I measured how much water I put in my hydration pack today. I put 600ml in it. I need to get an idea of how much I need to carry for the marathon without carrying more than I need. I finished it at 16 miles. I stopped every mile for a time check, a bit of water and a Jelly Baby today. God knows what I ingested in the filth I'd accumulated on my hands each time I fumbled for a Jelly Baby.
At one point I found myself slowly catching up with a woman jogger. When I eventually got alongside her she said "I wondered what that stupid noise was". I laughed it off at the time but it was too late before I wished I'd queried "Stupid?". I don't think she lasted long.
I found it very tough today. I could've cut it short to make the average stats look a bit better but that wouldn't help me in the long term. I was set on 17 miles and it will have done me good to battle though to that today. I have to get used to running on tired legs. So to the stats:
I did the first mile in 08:42. My slowest mile was mile 17 which was 10:34 which will include stopping for water and Jelly Babies but the clock won't stop for that on April 23rd. I did 17 miles in 02:43:04 which is an average of 09:35 per mile. At that pace I would miss out on the world record by around 30 seconds. That annoys me but it was a training run and this is still well within my grasp. It's just not in the bag yet. I was so drained at the end that I have spent most of the afternoon in bed. I might give myself a light week this coming week. I think I need to recover before I try 18 or 19 miles.
STOP PRESS! My phone has just buzzed. Someone has sponsored me. A man called Robert Elbourn. Never heard of him! Not surprising though. This is the message he sent:

"OUTSTANDING you overtook me and I followed you for 12 miles today. You are well on for the record. I was following at 9.06 per mile"

How lovely! That's not the only sponsorship I got today though. Joe the cyclist stopped me and gave me a fiver after I explained what I was up to. It turns out he's done a bit of fundraising for Demelza House in the past too.
In other news, I heard from Bluewater shopping centre this week that they are going to let me do a 20 mile training run around the mall. I asked them a while ago as I read somewhere that a full circuit is half a mile. I thought it would be fun to do 20 laps on each level. Nice and flat too. No potholes. A nice confidence booster before the main event. Anyway, I've got to sort out the details with them and hopefully will have more info for my next post.



Splattered shoes

Sock mark form the mud splattering I got

 

Mucky hands. Took a bit of scrubbing

 

 

 

New Year, New Balls

...And by that title I mean when I get round to doing my first balls run of the year I need to start thinking about getting my record breaking balls worn in for the race.
It's been another month since my last post and we've had Christmas and New Year to deal with, during which time I had to take a nine day break due to illness (certainly not related to overindulgence). My first run of the new year was a track night which ended in 8 x 60m sprints. I was feeling pretty hot end enjoyed pretending I was a sprinter (having never been any good at it). I really threw myself into it - so much so that all that arm pumping made changing gear in the car painful on the way home. It also meant that I tore loads of muscle fibres in my quads, no doubt in an ultimately good way but I was genuinely feeling sore for a full week.
I've been in the gym at my son's school practising my ball handling skills this week and as the track was closed this week due to snow I had time to put together the following video:

I didn't do a balls run last weekend as I was still aching from track and was taking photographs at the Minnis Bay cross country race on the Sunday (although I did run 11 miles on the Saturday). I've been away for a family function all this weekend but did manage to get 15.65 miles in in Newton Aycliffe (without balls). Mostly road. Some of it icy. A bit of cross country thrown in, all in 02:11:57 which is averaging 08:26 per mile. I won't get to take the balls out this weekend either as I've got the Canterbury 10 on the Sunday which I ought to be able to do in somewhere between 70 and 75 minutes. So it will be the weekend of the 28th January before I have a go at maybe 17 miles with the new race balls - that's if it isn't snowy or icy.

I may have some other news to share before then and if I do I'll make another short post.