Bristol - New Balls PB

So I did my second half marathon in seven days on Sunday - not nearly as impressive as a couple of friends of mine that trumped me by doing the Mallorca Ironman on Saturday though. That's just crazy. Anyway, it was the Bristol half marathon yesterday and I was determined to go under 2 hours. I was contacted by BBC Radio Bristol via Twitter and asked if I would take part in a phone-in on Friday morning which I was happy to do. You may find it's still available on-line if you're interested. I'm on after Elton John at about 41 minutes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04699s4

After my little stint on the radio I got the train to Bristol. My friend Matt had arranged tickets for the rugby that night and after a few beers I returned to his house in the early hours of Saturday. Not perhaps ideal training ahead of a Sunday race (although honestly I only had three pints and it wasn't that long past midnight when I got in). Others had a few more and were out a little later (Matt, Neil, Cormac & Morgan) although in fairness none of them were running.

Having got bogged down in traffic in Copenhagen I wanted to make sure I got a better start at Bristol. However, I still didn't really push as far forward as I should've in the start pen but it didn't matter too much as the start was in four waves so runners were more spread out. The starts are always congested but once past the suspension bridge it got a lot easier. I could see a lot more road and needed to as it had rained before the start and the roads were wet with puddles I needed to avoid. I had decided that I needed to go for every gap on the out and back section down the Portway as I was expecting it to get more congested as we came back into town on the narrower streets, many of which (as it turns out) aren't in the greatest condition.

I got lots of comments. The usual mix of astonishment and incredulity. It rained heavily but briefly on my way back down the Portway creating more standing water on the course. I was able to avoid the obvious puddles but many of the road surfaces had a thin layer of water on them which absorbs some of the power out of the bounce making it harder work. At about 7.5 miles, not long after I'd crossed a bridge and shortly before I had to cross another one I had a little wobble and suddenly my left foot slipped on the wet road and I hit the tarmac. Hard. Someone handed the balls back to me (thank you, whoever you are) but I had to take a few seconds to compose myself. It was only seconds though and I carried on. Aside from that, I picked the balls up for three things;
1. Where the road was flooded all the way across and everyone was crowding to take the shallowest line.
2. Through the section of old cobbles (I dribbled on the new cobbles).
3. Around Queen Square which has a gravel track.
It's actually more difficult running holding the balls as it disables my arms.

I didn't look at my watch once. I just ran at a pace that felt good. I occasionally asked the runners near me for a pace check but that was all. As I got close to the finish it got a little trickier as I was caught between very tired runners that had spent everything and those that were spending their reserves and sprinting for the finish. The crowd support was great though. I crossed the finish line in 01:57:04 which is five seconds quicker than I did Silverstone in. I can do it faster though and I'm sure I can go under 01:55:00 quite easily in good conditions.

It was only after I finished that things began to ache. I wasn't too bad in the pub for a couple of pints but I then went back to my friend's house and after lunch I had a short nap. When I woke it really hurt just to stand upright as I had landed on my rib cage when I fell and my lower ribs were really bruised. I've also got bruised and scuffed knees and an elbow to match. Coughing and sneezing really hurts still.

So all in all it was another weekend of valuable experience. Thank you to the organisers for letting me take part and thank you to Ben Andrews who put a nice video clip of me on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKynh7ljvLM/?hl=en
I'm not signed up for any more races until Silverstone in March but I will find others to do before then, even if I just run them without balls. But for now, I'm going to have a couple of weeks off.

Have you checked YOUR balls?

Copenhagen Race Day

What an amazing experience. I learnt so much from this race and I've got so much I want to record about it, forgive me if this drags on.
Firstly I'm really happy that I managed to get to the start line relatively fit. Since having had over 9 weeks out with my knee I had only managed a couple of outings with the balls, the longest being 10 miles just the week before. So I was a little uncertain how I would perform on the day, hence I decided to start towards the back of the 1:45 - 2:00hr start pen I was in so I didn't get in anyone's way. This turned out to be a bad idea. Almost immediately I realised that I was getting stuck behind runners I ought to be in front of and there was hardly any opportunity to overtake. As such I ended up getting blocked in with other runners passing me and going through gaps I couldn't fit through. Probably less than a kilometre had passed when I found myself getting squeezed into a tighter and tighter space. With nowhere to go I ended up tripping over and losing both balls. I dived to try and save one in front of me and ended up flat out on the floor. It's all a bit of a blur but I do remember someone retrieving one of the balls for me and helping me up. I was so embarrassed as the race had hardly started but I just had to get up and get on with it. It was only after I managed to regain my composure that I began to think of how Mo fell in the 10,000m in Rio and got up to win. It made me smile and gave me further confidence.
The roads never really thinned out. They were often quite narrow and largely unfenced. Regular bottlenecks were created by parked cars and traffic islands which would not have troubled most other runners but caused me considerable inconvenience as everyone bunched up. Pedestrians and cyclists were regularly crossing the road in front of me. Trying to find a clear patch of road between all the other runners was tricky. I need to be able to see what the road surface is doing so I can avoid road markings (where paint has been put on top of paint, on top of paint etc) and steer clear of patched bits of road where there are joins, cracks and holes.
Being so close to so many other runners is mesmerising when you're looking at their feet with all those heels and white socks flashing. Add to that the shiny confetti and streamers at one point and it's really hard to keep focussed.
I had to pick the balls up and run holding them through three of the water stations. The first one was mad. I wasn't stopping but suddenly there were people criss-crossing in front of me trying to decide if they were going to the left or the right for water and changing their minds. It was a proper melee and people were just dropping plastic cups in the middle of the road. I decided I wasn't going to risk losing a ball again so just picked them up. It has given me serious food for thought.
I didn't drink as much as I would've liked to, as in order to do so on the run I have to allow one ball to take a bounce on its own while I put the pipe in my mouth. I simply daren't do it for much of the race as there was so little space and room for error.
I bounced one of the balls in a discarded gel sachet and got sticky all over my hand and the ball. This really alters the feel for a while until the sticky gets covered in dirt. Then I found myself trying to dribble through another water station where the floor was wet which rehydrated the sticky again.
I realised that I needed to pay closer attention to where the corners were coming up as I needed time to position myself in the road on the outside of every bend to avoid the crush of the inside line. Suddenly looking up and realising I'm on the inside line as everyone starts getting closer is very unnerving. I knew there was a section of cobblestones and had been out practising over a similar set the night before. Having picked up the balls through some of the water stations I was determined to dribble over the cobbles but as I did so (I had to slow down) I was overtaken by the 2hr pacing group which then created an impenetrable wall in front of me.
I barely looked at my watch. I figured I was pretty much resigned to going with the flow. The race seemed to fly by. People were cheering. Many were laughing, lots were taking photos and filming. I had my chest camera on and at Silverstone I recorded the first and the last 3 miles but I realised that it was still running at mile 10 having started it just before the race. I knew it only had a 2 hour recording life and I wanted to film the end so I decided, as this was just a bit of training fun, I'd stop to change the battery so I could film the end. Rather ironically I then turned the corner to hear a DJ blasting out Culture Beat's dance tune Mr Vain!
As I turned the final corner and could see the finish line I decided I had little to lose. I had plenty left in the tank so I decided to weave my way past as many people as I could. It wasn't easy but it was kind of fun. Only after I'd finished did I realise that I'd missed my target of under 2 hours by nearly three and a half minutes. Initially disappointed I came to accept that it was a good time given the conditions.
According to my Garmin data I ran 14.18 miles in 02:03:34 which is an average of 8:45 per mile (and more than a mile more than the official 13.1 mile distance!). My fastest mile was mile 4 and apparently done in 6:33 which I can't quite believe. And my slowest mile was mile 11 which I'm pretty certain was the one where I stopped to change the camera battery and completed in 9:52.
A handful of people stopped me before and after the race to take pictures, to tell me that they'd read about me or to just ask what I was doing and wish me luck. Everyone I spoke to was very nice and supportive.
I am incredibly grateful to the race director, Lars Nissen for letting me run. It really was an immensely valuable experience and very enjoyable. I hope to return next year, perhaps with others from my club, Petts Wood Runners, to run it normally and to enjoy the sights of the race that I couldn't look up to enjoy this year.
Next stop Bristol - which will be a completely different race and one that I will be bitterly disappointed in if I do not finish significantly under two hours.
A massive 'thank you' to my wife and children for coming to support me in Denmark. I think they enjoyed it too but we're all very tired.

Track me in Copenhagen

...if you want live updates. If you know me I'll be cluttering up your Facebook feed once I've finished anyway! There is a Copenhagen half marathon app available, through which you can track my progress on Sunday. My race number is 8105.
I thought I'd better put in some decent mileage with the balls this weekend to give me the confidence I need to complete the race on Sunday, so I set out just after 11am yesterday to do around 10 miles. I'm not very confident in my Garmin data this week though as it kept getting lost under the trees and I'm sure it added an extra half a mile to my stats making me look a bit better than I was, but getting the numbers out of the way first: 10.68 miles in 01:34:17 which makes an average pace per mile of 08:50. Like I said though, I wasn't quite that fast. Good enough though considering I've only got to tack another Parkrun on to the end.
It was another full dress rehearsal but this time with a little adjustment I made to my hydration pack. Obviously I don't have a spare hand to drink with whilst dribbling but I haven't found it easy getting the drinking tube to my mouth and away again whilst moving. This is because the tube sticks to me and the straps that hold it in place. Once I'd pulled it up to drink from, it would slap me in the face once I'd finished. So I've taken a couple of key-rings and threaded them with short bits of drinking straw that will roll as the hose is pulled through them (look at the picture!). This means I can pull the hose up to my mouth and when I let go of it with my teeth, gravity will slide it back into place. It worked well until the hose slipped though the top ring. I've now added a hairband to the tube to prevent this from happening. I'll test it properly tomorrow.
It was hot yesterday. Fine when running in the shade but nasty in the sunshine but the good news is that the latest weather forecast for Copenhagen on Sunday is cooler and cloudier. As long as the start isn't too congested I ought to be able to meet my target of sub 2 hours.
The race organisers have published a short piece about me. Google makes a bit of a hash of translating it but it's all good PR. They also want to interview me in person on the day but if you want to see what they've written so far just search for 'Copenhagen half marathon' in Facebook.
I'm taking it fairly easy for the rest of the week. I'll post again after the race.
#kev2balls

Can't be stopping to drink!

Copenhagen 2 : Bristol 3

So it's just 2 weeks to Copenhagen and 3 weeks to the Bristol half. My Bristol race pack arrived Saturday but I have to pick up my Copenhagen stuff at the expo on the Saturday before the race.
I'm going to be brief today. I ran six miles on Wednesday with balls, averaging 8:54 per mile and today did a normal ten mile run averaging 8:40 per mile. I'm not as quick as I was before my knee trouble as evidenced at track night on Thursday. We did 5 intervals of 1k with a 200m jog recovery in between each. My collective time for the 5k was 20:20 which is more than a minute slower than my Parkrun PB which made me realise what I've lost whilst injured. However, I'm still hoping to finish Copenhagen in under 2 hours.
Having had a chat with our coach at Petts Wood Runners I have agreed with him that trying to run the Abingdon marathon at the end of October is just asking for trouble at this point, given how little time I have to train. The intensity required could easily set my knee back, so I've managed to sell my place on to someone on the waiting list.
I'm going to do a bit of swimming this week, a few ball skills, club night, track night, Parkrun and one final long run on Sunday before Copenhagen.
#kev2balls

I'm Back!

And it's just as well as Copenhagen is just over three weeks away. I actually did my first run for nearly 9 weeks on 8th August - just 3.5 miles but the important thing was it passed without incident. Since then I've been on holiday and did a 6.55 mile run in Portishead (half a half marathon!) and a couple of 7.5 mile runs in hilly Wales. The swimming I've been doing seems to have helped me retain a bit of stamina but I've still got some work to do.
I took a couple of new balls on holiday and did a few ball skills whilst away but I realised that I'm going to need to put a few miles in with them to get them in perfect race condition. Brand new balls need bedding in.
Club night at Petts Wood Runners was hard work this week. I ran in group 9, up from group 6 that I ran in before I went on holiday which I found a little too easy. I usually run in group 10 but I'd never keep up at the moment. It was really hot this week and I wasn't the only one that found the heat a challenge. I think I'll stick with group 9 again next week.
I've been doing lots of strengthening exercises that my physio gave me and they've been really helpful. My hamstrings are much better now and I'm trying to build up my glutes as there's really not much to speak of in that area.
I'm putting together all my race gear ready for Copenhagen and yesterday went out for a quick dress rehearsal in everything I'll be running in in 3 weeks time. I have a new top and shorts and tried to get some wear into those new balls with 3.38 miles round Norman park. I also had 4 little flags in my hydration pack that I wanted to make sure weren't going to interfere with my running. I bought 2 Union Flags some time ago so that other runners in Denmark would know I was British. I found at Silverstone that I attracted a lot of attention and people would comment and chat to me so I figured flying the Union Flag would stop people trying to talk to me in Danish. I'm happy to talk to people (briefly) but I'd rather not have to start every conversation with "I'm sorry, I'm English". And on that theme, following 23rd June I felt the need to buy a couple of European Union flags because I don't want 20,000 Danes to think I'm a triumphant Brexiteer.
I don't have the data with me but I know I managed the 3.38 miles in less than 9 minute miles. It was quite hard work but I'm putting a lot of that down to the extreme heat as the last lap got a little easier as the sun went down and I wasn't running in direct sunlight.
Hopefully it will be a little cooler this coming week so I can comfortably put in some longer runs. I'd still like to finish Copenhagen in under 2 hours but it will be close. I'll be able to call that one better in a couple of weeks.

Flying the flag(s)

Caged Lion

I haven't been able to run since my last post nearly a month ago and it's a source of immense frustration. I'll try to explain a little without turning this into a self pitying rant:

My Physio said I needed to get an MRI scan of my knee before she could help me further as everything she had tried didn't seem to be working. In fact I'm convinced the exercises she gave me made it worse. I saw my GP who said she'd refer me and recommend an MRI, but unless you're in danger of imminent death our wonderful National Health Service doesn't always move as fast as you might like. So I almost instantly got impatient and booked a private MRI, the results of which concluded: "Mild thickening of the patellar tendon at the inferior pole of the patella which is suggestive of a low grade patellar tendinopathy."  - which is good news. Only my wife now thinks I'm a big wuss with a low pain threshold.

When I say it's good news I mean that there's nothing catastrophically wrong but having seen her today for the first time since the scan was done, my Physio still thinks it will be three weeks before I can run again. She also said that this type of tendon issue can take up to three months to heal completely! This is very worrying in terms of my participation in the Copenhagen Half.

My Physio also discovered that I have very short hamstrings today. She thinks that failure of these to lengthen properly when I'm running is probably resulting in my knees being too far forward when my heel strikes the ground which is putting them under increased load and causing my current problem. So, for the time being, I just have hamstring stretches to do. I also need to get myself a Swim Pass and start swimming a lot more. I've been a few times but if it's all I can do for a few weeks I need to do much more before I lose all my stamina.

The pain I'm in does seem to have peaked. The stairs are easier and I can get my leg into the car without physically having to lift it with my hands now, but good grief! it's slow progress. I am going to the park in the evenings to sharpen up my skills with the balls which keeps me amused but I can't wait to get back out there running with them again. There's still plenty of time.

 

Blistered Balls or a Pint of Pimm's?

The answer is probably a bit of both. More of that later.
I've been at the physio twice this week. The second time earlier than planned as the exercises I've been doing for my knee seem to be making it worse. I can still run but it's aching more. So I thought I'd ask if completely resting my knee for a few weeks would speed things up, because now is the time I can afford to take a break. I'd much rather stop to let it heal properly while it doesn't really matter than have this linger on. Anyway, the physio says that's a good idea and that I can still swim or cycle. As I don't have a bike, I'm going to swim. The rules are 'any stroke but breaststroke'.
At the moment I have my knee strapped to lift the kneecap off the tender tissue underneath. The short diagnosis is 'housemaid's knee'. At the end of next week I'm getting a brace that will do the same job to wear whilst running.
So, my break conveniently coincides with the Euro '16 football, so instead of running I can sit back and watch England crash out of the tournament. Perhaps I should run.
I say I'm having a break but I am committed to a team running event at Crystal Palace on Wednesday that I'm not going to pull out of. It's only 5k. I'll rest after that. In any case, there are beers to drink at the finish line.
So there isn't going to be much to report on for about three weeks. I'm itching to do the 15 miles I had planned for tomorrow but I know I need to play the long game. It should pay off.
My other news this week is that the good people at Great Run have agreed that I can run the Bristol half marathon dribbling my balls. This is going to be great practise as the field is around 10,000. It's exactly a week after the Copenhagen half so it's going to be a busy time. The application form for Bristol asks "Do you have an interesting story that may be of interest to the media?". I ticked that box.
I'm going swimming tomorrow, I won't bore you with the results of that.

Oh! That title! I did a few ball skills in the park this afternoon. Not quite as sharp as I would've liked. I'm not sure if it's because my balls are getting so worn they're beginning to blister or because I had a pint of Pimm's at the school summer fair. Like I said - it's probably a bit of both.

My strapped knee - that I shaved rather more of than it turns out I needed to.