13 weeks to go.

Well thirteen is certainly unlucky for some. I'm feeling a bit down about Jim's injury but undoubtedly nowhere near as down as Jim himself.  Gutted would be nearer the mark but he has pledged to blog his road to recovery.  It is a sad fact of life with runners that injuries happen, I read somewhere that in any year 60% of us will get an injury of some kind, it's just really unlucky for Jim that his is such a bad one.  However I have no doubt that he will be back stronger than ever and his blogged rehabilitation will hopefully be of use to other runners reading this and having to go through something similar.  Although a trip to the consultant (probably this week) will tell us more we are preliminarily pencilling in the Cardiff Half in October as Jim's "comeback" race.  Anyway, on a brighter note I went out on my new 6.4miler (Linky linky) in my new Asics Kinsei 3 shoes.  God I love them!  They felt really great from the off and no new shoe roughness at all.  Brilliant!  The run itself went pretty well too, it was pigging cold but after a very gentle warm up I went for a steady pace but deliberately throttled back when it came to the uphills, no point in going mad today.  I finished in 1:02:22 or 9:45 mins per mile so really happy with that.  I felt strong in the leg and lung and really enjoyed the run tonight.  It's a rest day tomorrow and then I'm going to do the same route again on Wednesday, hopefully a bit quicker.  TTFN. (S)

Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.

Well that's not strictly true.  It was more like slow, slow, slower, slower still, speed up a bit towards the end.  But that's OK because it's kind of what I was intending anyway.  It was yesterday (Saturday) afternoon and I hit the Downs for an eight mile cross country run.  It was pretty nippy when I set out so gloves and hat were the order of the day (it's going to be weird reading that in a few months when it baking hot), but I soon warmed up and experienced the odd sensation of sweat running into my ears via my iPod earphones.  Strange.  I took it fairly easy, I'd set the training partner on my Garmin to 10:15 pace but as the footpod has been calibrated to my road shoes it was only ever going to be an approximate guide.  I was reading an article in Runners World the other day about training at race pace for the last few miles of a long run to simulate race conditions so I kicked on for the last two miles and was around the same pace as the first two miles, so fairly happy with that.  In the end the run took me 1:22:56, Map My Run said it was 8.02 miles but the Garmin said it was 8.18, so I've plumped for the middle ground and called it 8.1.  Strangely that brings me slap bang in on 10:14mpm, which was the target anyway!  Sorry for all the figures there, runners in general and me in particular are fairly anal when it comes to stats.  And it is true that I have an "I Love Spreadsheets" mug. So there we go, Week 4 completed, 4 runs again and 21.6 miles done.  I'm very excited because my new Asics Kensei 3 shoes arrived yesterday so they'll get their first outing on tomorrow's run!  God I really do need to get out more don't I!  A bientot mes petits lévriers.
NEWSFLASH!!!
Grave news has just reached Blog HQ that my dear training and race partner Jim has suffered a serious injury that more than likely will rule him out of The Great West Run.  He will blog the details himself in all their gory glory, but I wish him the speediest possible recovery. (S)

Good evening Curate, that's a lovely egg you have there.

So tonight was the same hill session that I've done a couple of times over the last fortnight.  And it was a bit of a curate's egg of a session, that is to say good in parts but not so good in others.  The good bits ironically were the hills, they are definately getting easier, to the point that I'm now planning on how I can get more out of the reps.  Initially it's just been about getting up the hill ten times without collapsing, now I'm considering paying more attention to the actual time it takes to complete that bit of the session.  The bad bit was my calves afterwards.  They cramped up so spectacularly on the mile home that I actually had to stop and spend a couple of minutes stretching them out before finishing the run. The only thing I can say is that it was pretty cold out there tonight so that probably didn't help, but either way not good.  However, overall not a bad run, 3.73 miles in 40:12 so better than last week's hills.  Onwards and upwards my little pamplemousses! (S)

We love sweaty, sweaty muldoon, dear old sweaty, sweaty muldoon..

Well shiver me timbers and grapple me grape nuts, I decided to take an additional rest day yesterday after doing something strange to my knee when out with the dogs on Sunday afternoon. Well, there is something to be said for a great Arsenal victory last night and changing ones tunes on one's ipod.

The mighty Magnum have replaced my last lot of tunes and what an effect! I mapped a 5.25 mile run last week, fairly flat, with a few undulations, and on 15th did it in 1.04.59 .....well tonight thanks to the great Bob Catley I did it in exactly an hour!! I have to say I was inspired by Steve's lamppost spurts (I am sure you can get arrested for that) and tried lengthening my stride as well as speeding up going down hill. Nasty when you push it when it makes you feel a bit queasy but it soon passes.

Loving being back on the legs and getting fit again, there's a kinda buzz about it. Don't think I will ever get to iron man status Darren! You never know. I'd love to be able to tell all of the overweight and unfit middle aged men how easy it is to eat healthily and exercise to get fit. And boy does it make you feel good. Stress and depression fizzle away, burn it off. Grrrr. Far too much testosterone kicking around now. Calm down tiger....

I can also report another THREE pounds lost this last week, giving a grand total of 8 pounds so far, so I have hit the first half stone lost woohoo!! Yes I have been here before, and following the slimming world diet agian, but not going to the meetings. No intention of going back to being big again, some of my 'new' old clothes are starting to fit again phew, and I feel less wobbly. Good news all round.

OK well over to 'Quick Legs Magraw' Stevie-boy for his next speedy update I guess - toodle pip old sport!

She wore, she wore...

She wore a yellow ribbon,

She wore a yellow ribbon in the merry month of May,

And when,

I asked,

Oh why she wore that ribbon,

She said its for the Arsenal and we're going to Wembley,

Wembley,

Wembley,

We're the famous Arsenal and we're going Wembley!

OK so I know this is a running blog and not a footie one but as I said from the off it would be the musings of a couple of 40 somethings, who both just happen to be Gooners.  So it would be remiss of me not to make a passing reference to the boys reaching their first Wembley final for 13 years after finally seeing off the Tractor Boys 3-0 at the Emirates last night.  Hurrah for that and fingers crossed for February 27th! 

Well back to the running and I went out on my Tadworth Court long route tonight (clickeroo for the route) 4.77miles which I did as a tempo run.  I didn't feel as good as Monday, a bit tighter in the chest, a bit heavier in the leg but pushed on and it wasn't too bad at all, finishing in 45:40.  Unlike my charging tiger of a mate Jim, I'd forgotten my earphones and left them at work, so no inspirational music for me, just the sound of my own asthmatic wheezing, vigorous snotting and incomprehensible jeers from a small group of adolescent hoodlums hanging out at the bus stop.  I know there's very little to do in Tadworth if you're a teenager so a few insults hurled at an overweight, balding middle-aged man shuffling along in a dayglo yellow jacket and lycra would be too good an opportunity to miss!  Bless their cottons.  Tomorrow I'm back on the dreaded hill session, so let's hope it's like the first week and not like last week's effort.  Laters gaters. (S)

14 weeks to go.

You know, there are days, like the other Thursday, when it just doesn't happen, you feel sluggish, tired, under the weather or simply not up for it.  And then there are days when it all just clicks and you fly.  Today was one of those days.  I did my old 5 miler (clickity click here), I wasn't pushing particularly hard (48:38) but it just felt really good.  I love those runs when you feel the benefit of previous workouts and I really had that feeling tonight.  My breathing felt the easiest it had to date, my legs felt strong and I had the sense of actually holding back at the more demanding parts of the route.  It's a rest day tomorrow but then the training schedule has an around 4 mile (route to be decided) tempo run.  Looking forward to it! (S)

Easy like Sunday morning...

Just as the man said, today was an easy one.  After the footie (including a cracking hatrick from RVP) and a lovely meal with Mrs R. last night, I decided that today should be a nice gentle longer run.  As I'm slowly building up the mileage I went for the Sheep Walk/Langley Vale cross country route (click here for route details).  Just a tad over 6 miles in 1:02:47 (10:27mpm), took it nice and steady and held back on the tougher sections, after all it was supposed to be an easy one today, and have to say I enjoyed it!  So Week 3 done, four runs again and 17.76 miles.  Nice. (S)

One hill, two hill, three hill, four!

Well I cannot get the server to accept my pictures for the blog - Steve is there a secret? After a week of being away with work in Glasgow, dinner in Janie Oliver's Italian on Wednesday evening, followed by last night's dinner of 5 pints of Young's Special Ale, meatballs and liver and bacon I knew as I awoke this sunny morn it was time to don the running gear. The weight loss is still going ok, am sub 17 stone and have hit the half stone lost marker, onwards and upwards.
Talking of upwards, I decided it was time to take in some hills, of various difficulty, and mapped a route in my head to do today. 4 hills, with various levels of difficulty. Hill one starts gradually and then is steep and short and went fine. A nice down hill stretch ensues, the great Willsbridge Hill, which I will return to when I run up it next (a killer). Hill two, Cherry Gardens, a long steep hill of half a mile, but went fine. Hill three and gradual climb, goes on and on and on, but again was ok, 5 miles in now, and I decided to add another hill, Greenbank, a hill schizophrenic hill of various stages and steepness, getting worse as you get to the top. Phew that was it, I was done, and a nice downhill mile and a bit back home.
This was my longest run in ages, 7.2 miles in 1 hour 28 mins, 12 minute miles again, happy with that at this stage. Half would be done in 2.5 hours, which was my initial estimate, but one I have more miles under the belt that will drop.
The sun was shining, the breeze was cool, and my mind cleansed itself of the week and entered that wonderful blissful state, when your breathing it regular and controlled, you are hot and in the zone, yeh this is the life!Bit achy now but that's the joy of knowing you have had a good long run.
Yes, this is the life.

Now that's a bit more like it.

After yesterday's disappointment I was keen to get back on the horse and put things right.  Today was the run I should have done on Wednesday, when I was stuffing my fat face with, albeit very nice, fish and chips instead.  It was Monday's route but with a bit more pace injected into it.  I wouldn't exactly say that I was fartleking, but I was consciously trying to pick up speed for little bursts between lampposts.  From the outset it was obvious that it was going to be a lot better tonight, my legs felt fresher, my chest wasn't tight and the annoying pain in my side was conspicuous by its absence.  It did make a brief appearance at about the mile mark but a few deep breaths on the opposite foot strike (as you do to alleviate a stitch) seemed to do the trick and it soon passed.  In true runner style I could moan about the aches I get in my ankles and lower leg, but I won't.  I finished strongly and completed the 4.06 miles (not sure what happened to the other 0.02 miles there were on Monday) in 38:41, or 9:30 mins per mile.  I'm much happier with that and after a healthy dinner of roast chicken breast and salad I allowed myself a Friday treat of half a Crunchie.  What a rock and roll devil I am!  Mind you, I'm off to the footie tomorrow afternoon and then I'm taking Mrs. R out for dinner in the evening (when I fully intend to get some vino tinto down my neck) so it won't hurt me to go easy tonight.  Oh and I did have "Boy's Lunch" today so I can't really complain.  Going to give the legs a bit of a rest tomorrow before hitting a bit of cross country on Sunday, so TTFN and I'll catch you the other side of the weekend. (S)

Got to take the rough with the smooth.

Well its not always going to be great is it.  And tonight was one of those nights.  I decided to go out and do the same hill session I did last Thursday,  I was feeling confident and after last night's little hiccup, raring to go.  But it was hard work; my legs felt heavy, I developed a pain in my side that really slowed me down and the cold night air was tightening my lungs .  Ironically the side pain dissipated about ten minutes before the end of the run, just as my legs finally loosened up, and so the last mile was actually fun!  The rest wasn't to be honest and the 3.6 miles took me a laboured 40:48.  It was a relief to get the run over with but by the time I had got out of the shower and warmed back up I was already looking forward to tomorrow's session.  I think I'm getting addicted. (S)

Oh go on then, just one little Spring Roll.

Yesterday was a rest day.  So I went out with my old pal Andy (the bloke who is singularly most responsible for me being into running) and ate my body weight in Chinese food.  But it's OK because I've worked out that I only need to run 27 miles today to work it all off.  Check back later to see how I get on!
Oh dear, I'm a very bad person.  I got home tonight, full of good intentions but let myself be talked out of going running (well I have got a slightly sore calf).  Bad enough but then I was persuaded to go up the chippy and get a fish supper.  Bad Stevie, naughty Stevie.  My training plan has me running tomorrow anyway, but now I'm going to have to go on Friday as well to do the session I missed tonight.
I signed up for the Seaford Half Marathon on June 5th today so no excuses, got to buckle down now. (S)

15 weeks to go.

Well here we are, Week 3 or 15 weeks to go and the week kicked off on a little bit of a downer.  After all the work of last week I have to admit I was a little disappointed that I hadn't lost any weight at all when I checked this morning.  Serves me right for a momentary lapse of a Crunchie and a whole bar of Dairy Milk last night.  Oh well, you live and learn!  Started off with a gentle 4 miler tonight (click here for run map thingy) and went round in 40:14 so around the 10 mins per mile mark.  My legs felt OK after yesterday's hills, a bit of ankle ache but nothing too bad.  Put the iPod on tonight and caught up with the excellent Marathon Training Academy podcasts, (click here for the MTA website) , something I've been listening to for quite a while now and will talk a bit about another time, but would heartily recommend! (S)

Sunday Spire.

After a couple of rest days I decided to get out and do my "Spire" run today.  It's a 5.81 mile cross country run that takes me the back way up to Walton on the Hill, under the M25 up to the church at Headley (the "Spire" that gives the route its name), back up "Dunlop Hill" (a notorious almost mile long uphill drag), through Walton, past Mere Pond and back to Tadworth via the RAT Woods.  Link to route map It's an old run of mine and because of its hilly nature and often muddy terrain I've used it many times as a marker as to how my training is going.  I've always found it a lot tougher than a normal road run of the same length, and any time under a hour is good.  Today, only a couple of weeks into my new regime, I clocked 1:00:43 so Thursday's hill session obviously paid dividends!  I was well pleased with that but as I sit here writing this several hours later my legs are feeling rather stiff and I know I've done some work today!  Anyway, that's Week 2 in the bag, four runs again and 15.85 miles completed.  Off to rest my weary bones now so goodnight one and all. (S).

5 on the 15th

5.1 miles - 1 hour 4 mins = good for me Sir!
Great to be back on the legs and shedding the pounds, not kilos, 2 runs in week one, aiming for three next week, gently does it now, gently does it...
Thought for the day........if a man speaks in the middle of a forest and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong.....discuss....

The hills are alive with the sound of...

SCREAMING!  Screaming quads that is, as this was my first hill session of the year.  The premise was quite simple, a mile warm up run to a convenient 100 yard hill I'd found, do ten reps up and down it and then the mile warm down back home.  It may have only been 3.41 miles in total (a relatively leisurely 36:23) but God it hurt!  Easily the toughest run so far, I was absolutely shattered by the time I got back!  I've been reading up on it recently and hill work is like doing speedwork, in terms of effort, although obviously not in speed.  As Runners World put it; "Training on hills improves leg-muscle strength, quickens your stride, expands stride length, develops your cardiovascular system, enhances your running economy and can even protect your leg muscles against soreness. In short, hill running will make you a stronger, faster and healthier runner. What’s more, the benefits are relatively quick to take effect. In as little as six weeks of regular hill training you can expect a significant improvement in your muscle power and speed."  Well that's good enough for me so I'm going to try and include some hill training every week from now on.  God help my thighs! (S).

Run number one is doneth!!

JIm update - The shoes were donned and the hi vis zipped up and I hit the road for run number one! 3 pounds lighter than I was this itme last week, I realise that I will feel far more sprightly when I have lost a lot more. I started slowly, and flet as if I had lead weightsa around my ankles but that soon shifted as my breath got into rhythm and hey presto I was back on the raod again (singing Reo Speedwagon song). I aimed for a 2 miler round the block jobby, but did that and felt so good I tuened round and went back round again. Steve 'GPS Speed King' would have been way if front of me, but I managed 4 miles in 52 minutes, which I was very pleased with seeming as it was before the clocks went back since I have run last. So, I have begun, and loved it I have to say. The rhythm of the breath, the silence, beingovertaken by a jogger who was 80 (I swear!!), and the triumph of seeing home looming in the distance. Off to Glasgow tomorrow, up at 4.30am, I just hope that I can walk....will update from och aye the noo land......

16 weeks to go.

and starting Week 2 a kilo lighter on 91kg.   I decided to try and up the pace last night so pushed pretty hard (for me!) on my 3 miler.  It was raining again, which was nice, but I felt good and went round in 26:48 (8:56mpm) which surprised the hell out of me!  That's the fastest I've done for years!  Or maybe there was something wrong with my watch.  I suppose the proof will be if I get anywhere near that again in the coming weeks. (S)
Well its now Tuesday evening and I did go out for another run tonight and maybe the watch wasn't broken after all!  I did my Tadworth Court short course route (3.63 miles) in 33:02 which was a good minute and a half quicker than when I last did it in November, so happy with that!  Going to have a rest day tomorrow, after all rest days are just as important as training days and by a happy coincidence Arsenal are on the tele playing Ipswich in the first leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final.  Come on you Gunners!

Thanks Mo!

Watching Mo Farah storm to victory against a strong international field in the BUPA Edinburgh Cross Country was inspiring indeed.  On a tough course, several inches deep in snow, Mo surged hard on the hill up to the gloriously named Haggis Knowe, splitting the field and putting distance between him and the pursuing pack, eventually winning by a comfortable margin.  Motivated by his performance I pulled on my trail shoes this afternoon and headed off across the Downs.  It was cold today, with the morning frost still on the ground in places at 4pm, but it is days like these that I love running, feeling increasingly stronger and moving (reasonably) well, with the low winter sun beginning to set on a beautiful backdrop, the church spire at Headley silhouetted against the late afternoon sky.  I took it steadily today but with Mo in mind pushed up the hills and finished the 4.55 miles in 44:13 (9:45 mpm), pretty happy with the first cross country of the year.  So Week 1 completed, 4 runs, 11.85 miles done.  Roll on Week 2. (S)

Ah, I remember the good old days...

when I'd come home on a Friday night, after a hard week's work and commuting, and would settle down on the couch with Kerry to enjoy a relaxed evening with a couple of cheeky bottles of something red.  Quiet, gentle, chilled.  But not last night, oh no.  Not to be thwarted by arriving home too late to go to the gym Kerry had dragged out her Wii and done an hour of hard cardio, (which she backed up with a full session in the gym today, leaving her aching all over!). So I had no choice really, I had to go out and have a run.  I decided to up it very slightly, so headed off on my old trusty 3 mile route.   It was cold when I started and chucked it down for the last mile, but I really enjoyed it!  My breathing felt so much better after 4 days off the fags and I went round in 28:33 or 9:31 pace, so well pleased with that.  Felt good pretty much all the way through and finished strongly.  Happy!  Had today (Saturday) as a rest day and will go out and do something tomorrow.  Sitting here enjoying the BUPA Great Edinburgh Cross Country on tele so I reckon I could be pulling on the Trabuccos tomorrow! (S).

Ding ding, Round 2.

Well last night I was good to my word and headed out again.  The weather was pretty rotten but if I let a bit of rain put me off I'll never get anywhere!  I decided to be sensible so did exactly the same route as Tuesday night (2.15 miles) but this time I did it in 21:41 (10:06mpm).  Again my chest felt tight, but it was a lot better than Tuesday, and experience tells me that as long as I lay off the rollies it will get better each time I pull on the lycra (ooh err missus!).  I was going to have a rest today but I'm now toying with the idea of going out again tonight, maybe even further!  We shall see, watch this space. (Steve)

All quiet on the West Run Front

Well here we are, lunchtime on Wednesday the 5th and I'm pleased to tell you that there is very little in the way of any muscle soreness to report.  Tonight is the mighty AFC vs Man City so today is officially a rest day.  Running will resume tomorrow. (Steve)

Get that elephant off of me!

Well that's the first one under the belt, 2.15 miles in 23 mins 14 seconds (10:48mpm).  Took it pretty slowly/steadily out along the switchback road on what race organisers would describe as an undulating route.  And blimey was the first mile tough on my poor old lungs!  No real running for 5 months and my chest felt like the proverbial elephant was sitting on it, but at the turn around point it started to ease and breathing wasn't so laboured on the way back.  Legs felt fine though, good old muscle memory!  The first run after a long lay off is always the worst, glad it's out of the way!  Probably won't be able to walk for a week now. (Steve)

Kilograms v Pounds

Well I couldn't tell you how many kilograms I am starting from, other than (in American accent) my starting weight on the diet metamorphosis is 243 pounds or in cock-a-nee Sevuntene Shtown and 5 pounds guvna!
God help me I will need to loose some now I have committed this to tinternet!
I too am recovering from the man flu (but I did have a temparature of 102 for three days nurse), and have boldly plotted my 9 mile run on map my run.com and thought about running this week. Yes thought. Hm when wil my lungs be better? Best wait and see how I feel tomorrow. Am back on the slim ast diet already, started yesterday so next weight in on Monday 10th...17 weeks of fun and frivolity to follow....happy reading! (Jim)

17 weeks to go.

Steve's progress.  Starting weight 92kg.
Monday 3rd Jan - I was struck down by man-flu over New Year so wasn't in a fit state to go running and well, today's the last day of the holiday isn't it!  So suffice to say that I didn't go running today, but I did have a very lovely sirloin steak with stilton topped mushrooms and chips. And some lovely red wine. And half my own body weight in chocolate.  So that was nice.  However, as I said, it was the last day of the holiday so it doesn't count.

The longest journey starts with the first step...

or so the old Chinese saying goes.  And it's no exception for me and Jim, except we will then have another 23,055 steps to go! For that, as the eagle-eyed, fleet of foot runners amongst you will have noticed is the number of yards in a half marathon.  This blog is, or hopefully will be, the training records and musings of two middle-aged in body but young at heart 40 somethings, preparing to run the Great West Run Half Marathon in Exeter on May 1st 2011.  With me (Steve) living in Surrey and Jim down in Bristol, the initial reason for this is to provide a central point where we can update each other on our training as race day approaches and give each other the kick up the arse to get our running shoes on and get out the door! And if it provides a little entertainment for any readers on the way then hurrah for that!

Jim will no doubt add his own description so I'll just sum myself up; badly out of condition, two stone overweight, haven't run regularly since September and ate, drank and smoked way too much over Christmas. Part of which I blame on Jim, but obviously not the best preparation for a half marathon.  Apparently.  "Apparently" because that has been the kind of preparation I've done for my last four or five "Halfs" and I've managed to stumble round them without major incident.  However this time will (again, hopefully) be different.  My darling wife Kerry has informed me that we're getting fit this year, plenty of exercise, cutting right down on the vino and that I've given up smoking (or else!), so who knows, maybe this time will be different and I will actually have four months of decent training and will emerge, butterfly-like, out the other side a honed, toned athlete!  We shall see...