Back in training

After doing the West Highland Way Race back in 2010, I think it took me about 2 months to recover properly. I was running again within 4 days of the race but did not feel I could train properly for many weeks after that. Part of this was down to a lack of motivation (Drive Reduction Theory) after I had achieved my goal for the season and partly down to the obvious trashing my legs had taken.

As I sit here, only two weeks after the Lakeland 100, my legs feel so much better than I ever expected. There could be many explanations for this, though I can only guess which, if any, of these factors has made the difference, however, the important thing is that I am now ready to start training properly again. I still intend to make the first couple of weeks just easy/medium weeks but I hope to fit in at least one hard week before I go back to work in September.

The primary factor, I feel, must be that I am better conditioned this time around. I tried to make my training as specific as I could to meet the demands of the race and made good use of the fact that I could train on the course regularly. Perhaps, since the operation, I am not compensating for an injury as I run and therefore my gait is that little bit less stressful on my body. This point may simply be psychological as the part of my sub-conscious that has been protecting the damaged heel is now freed and lets me run more naturally.

I have to factor in the Hoka shoes because I do feel less trashed in them, especially when going beyond 30 miles. I know they are not pretty to look at and a big part of me wants to dislike them but I just can't. My legs feel better when going long in them and if that is just psychological - who cares?

The final element to consider in my recovery is the identification of new goals for the remainder of the season. There has been a slight change of plan forced on me which I have turned to my advantage. Simon, my mountain marathon partner, and I will be doing the RAB Mountain Marathon on 6th/7th October which is always a great event and run with a nice relaxed atmosphere. Unfortunately, Simon is away on business when the OMM takes place, so I have changed my plans and will race the Round Rotherham 50 miles trail race instead on 20th October. I have done this race three times before, though simply on a turn up and give it a go basis, not since I have focused my training on ultra running so it will be interesting to see what I can do now. Finally, to finish the year off and kick start the winters training I hope to do the Tour of Helvellyn on 22nd December.

With these events on the horizon, I feel motivated to get back into training and finish off what has been a great year in style. Today, I had a lovely couple of hours out on the trails, running out above Threlkeld to Scales and back along the river and railway.

Some parts of the route overlapped with sections of the Lakeland 100 course and I inevitably found my mind wandering back a couple of weeks, remembering how I felt at those points and how things panned out for me.

I am now spending a bit of time looking at the routes of the Round Rotherham and Tour of Helvellyn races and hope to get out and recce both of them over the next month or so. If anyone has done the Tour of Helvellyn before and can point me to a more detailed route description than the website gives, or ideally a map, that would be great. I am especially interested in the section through Glenridding to Greenside as there seem to be a number of feasible options.

It's a good job I can occupy myself with some training now as I have had a huge chunk of my life ripped off me. What am I going to do now the Olympics has finished? TRAIN!!

One year on!

I thought I'd put together this post, mainly for my own benefit, simply to remind me of the journey travelled over the last year.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my operation on the heel bone and Achilles tendon of my left leg. For those that do not know the full story (and to save you time scrolling back to read all about it), I had a spike of bone growing out of the back of my heel which had grown through the bursa sack and had started to grow into the tendon causing some partial fraying of the tendon. On the 10th August, I had an operation to shave off the spur of bone, remove the shattered bursa sack and smooth off the tendon.

The initial 3 weeks were spent in a plaster cast with strict instructions to avoid all weight bearing. This was incredibly hard, especially for someone like me with zero upper body strength. It was during this time that I started this blog and have found that doing a post has become quite therapeutic, putting your thoughts down in some kind of orderly fashion.

It was a great relief to have the cast removed and be placed into a pneumatic walking boot, which I initially still used crutches with, but was finally able to walk around, admittedly with quite a hobble, unaided.

Once I was in the walking boot, I could start to do some strengthening exercises using resistance bands but I really wanted to get to the point where I could do some kind of a physical workout. This came in the early part of October when I was able to use a cycle turbo trainer on a very light resistance and I managed to walk for 3 miles without too much of a limp. By the end of October I got the all clear to try some slightly higher impact work and managed to do a few jogs of about 20-30 seconds, videoing these to make sure I was running symmetrically.

By mid-November I could cover about 5 miles, running 75% of the time, but making sure I walked any significant incline. I wanted to make my first proper run something significant, so invited some work colleagues to join me so on 2nd December, in chucking rain, we all got together and jogged round a 5 mile down to the lake shore and then went to the pub for a celebratory drink.

In mid December I had a lovely run/walk on the West Highland Way and just before Christmas I took part in Keswick Athletic Club's handicap race and despite coming basically last, it was great to be back in that environment.

On New Years Eve, I suppose you could say I started the build up to the Lakeland 100 after I walked/ran over Scarth Gap to Black Sail Pass and back to start the recce process. January was the point of no return as I wanted to feel like I was approaching a training pattern, so settled into a series of easy weeks, just hoping to get the rhythm back. By the start of February I felt like I was into what I would call proper training, culminating in what I felt was a real significant moment when I ran from Balmaha to Tyndrum, becoming an ultra runner again, and covering the ground faster than I did the previous year when I felt I was quite fit!

Around this time, I posted my thoughts on the psychological state of mind I was in and where I thought I should be; a post that made quite a difference to me and was a turning point where I became a runner in training rather than a runner recovering from an operation. (You can read the post here)

In March, I joined John for the first of our Lakeland 100 recce runs in the snow from Buttermere and these runs have formed the backbone of my preparation this year.

My first proper race for 14 months was the Highland Fling 53 miles race in late April where I ran a 40 minute PB which was great for my confidence and gave me the springboard I needed for the final push on to the Lakeland 100.

Highland Fling finish

I had a couple of excellent preparation weekends before my taper for the big race. I supported my father on the running sections of his bike/run along the 90 miles of the Two Saints Way in Staffordshire and competed in the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon which gave two very different ways of gaining time on my feet.

The whole year came to a head at 5:30pm on July 27th in Coniston when I set off on the adventure that is the Lakeland 100, finishing 25 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds later. My first words as I crossed the line were "I nailed it!"

Since then, I have had a couple of weeks simply doing some recovery jogs, but now feel that I am ready to start proper training again. I have been giving the remainder of the year some thought as I am wary of the demotivation I had after the West Highland Way race in 2010. I have 3 events in mind which will give me some variety and one in particular is going to be useful to try some strategies ready for next year's plans, especially with regard to the training tweaks I am thinking about. Watch this space!

A year in the life of an ultra runner. Phew!

Back in the land of training

It has now been two weeks since the Highland Fling race and I have completed my prescribed recovery period. Even last weekend, I felt that I could have done some more serious training sessions but I have stuck to my original plan of just doing a few very easy jogs over these two weeks and my legs feel better for it.

Today, it was time to get back into training mode and I spent a lovely hour and a half out on the hills, feeling good and running smoothly. The route along Glenderaterra is one of my favourites and part of the Lakeland 100 course so I feel like a frequent flier.

Tomorrow, I hope to get out and include some more substantial hills, particularly working on the conditioning of my quads for the big race (only 11 weeks away.) I have been giving some thought as to how I need to slightly tweek my training over these remaining weeks. On the build up to the Fling, I have done relatively little mountain running, however, this needs to change if my training is to be more Lakeland 100 specific.

The big building blocks are in place; two more long recce runs with John Kynaston and the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon. What I hope to do in the course of normal weekly training is to include a tempo run (60 - 80 minutes), a hill run (one climb/descent, 60 - 80 minutes) and a mountain run (multiple hills, 2 - 4 hours). The fact that I have decades of fell running in my legs means I don't have to go stupid at this but psychologically, knowing I have put in the hill work will help me come the end of July.

"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary", Vince Lombardi

Recovery week

After the exertions of last weekend, I had decided to give myself a couple of weeks recovery time, though I did not really know how much I would need them.

The two previous times I've run the Fling, I have kept things in check for much of the race, particularly when racing the West Highland Way only 7 or 8 weeks later. This time I gave myself more freedom to have a proper go, knowing that it is three months to the Lakeland 100, giving more time to recover and then build up to the big one. In 2010, I was training properly within 4 days of the Fling, however, that is not the case this year.

I feel that the recovery is going well and my legs feel fine; I just have a general tiredness and a desire to eat anything and everything. In some ways, it is quite useful having this tiredness as it is stopping me from kicking in with the training too soon and has reinforced my plan to take another week of easy jogging to, hopefully, complete the recovery.

Right on cue, Lorn Pearson posted an article on overtraining on her blog, which again reminded me to take things easy. At the moment, things are going in the right direction with regard to my Lakeland 100 preparation; confidence is up after the Fling, I've had a good four months of consistent training, the recces with John have gone really well and I still have the motivation to push on over the next three months. It would be a disaster to risk overtraining at this stage when recovery is obviously needed.

Today, Tracey and I had a drive out to Wasdale to make good use of the lovely weather, combining a run/jog/walk up to Blacksail Pass for me, a walk for Tracey and a picnic together after. Wasdale is gorgeous but what a pain to drive for 1:30 hours and end up only 11 miles from home!!

Looking up Wasdale Valley

My legs felt good on the long climb, though I made no effort to push the pace, simply taking in the stunning views. I had a good recce of the point where the main path crosses Gatherstone Beck as I have heard that this can be tricky in the dark and I estimate it will somewhere around here that I'll need to put on the headtorch in the Lakeland 100 race.

Heading towards Blacksail Pass

View from the pass

I have started to think about how I am going to make the slight shift towards a more Lakeland 100 specific training plan which I will share on another day, though needless to say, it is going to include more mountains than I did on the build-up to the Fling.

Finally, a quick congratulations to my stepfather, Paul, who became MV60 British Mountainbike Orienteering (long course) Champion last weekend. I'll be a happy man if I'm that fit at his age!