The Last Big Run before The Big One!

My current training plan included one more run than my wife's plan. I ran the Perth Trail Series night run at Yanchep.

It's a flat, 12km circuit, around the lake. Ghost themed, since the trail is known as the Ghost Trail. Limestone and sand, mostly. Well organised, plenty of fun.

On the drive to Yanchep, there were drops of rain. A flash of lightning, to the north... close to Yanchep. One very heavy -- but short -- shower of rain. The weather was fine, warm and humid at the start. Pleasant for standing around. Perfect for running.

As usual, I started my run near the back of the pack. I knew there were runners behind me. I knew there were many more runners ahead of me. We all -- that is, the people I could still see -- settled into our night running pace.

After three or four kilometres I was running with a group of three women. Two of the women were clearly faster, they would sometimes slow down or stop, to wait for the third. The third runner was slower but kept going.

Their pace was "slow" -- but faster than mine!

The three women ran faster than I wanted to run... but I wanted to keep up! So I pushed, just a little bit. And kept up. Sometimes close, sometimes back a bit, always behind.

At one point I was close enough to apologise for tailgating. That's okay, said the "slow" woman, I (she) was prepared to apologise for not letting me past.

At some points -- I could have passed. The women slowed, noticeably, when the path was rocky and treacherous. They slowed, just a little, on uphills. I slowed on the uphills but not as much. The rocks barely slowed me at all. (I should mention: my pace is always slow, I was not sprinting over dangerous ground!)

On some of the rough sections, I could have passed my three pace-setters -- but I did not! Why not? More of that later.

Compulsory gear for this run was water, a head torch and spare torch or batteries. I used a hand torch and carried a head torch as my spare.

I find that the hand torch is much better than a head torch, for walking (or running) through the bush. The head torch shines where my head is pointed. I find that I do a lot of looking with eye movements, it is not natural to always turn my head. It is much easier to flick my hand from side to side as I flick my eyes.

I run -- or walk -- on rough surfaces with a constant scan of the ground ahead of me. I focus a few metres ahead. By the time my feet reach my point of focus -- I know where they will be placed. Occasionally, though, I will glance down -- with more movement of my eyes than of my head. Again, it is easier to flick a hand torch towards my feet, rather than my entire head.

The "slow" woman of my group had a further problem with her head torch. She said (with apologies to her for my eavesdropping), that the band of her head torch was annoying. It hurt her head. (I think that at least one of the faster runners supported this.) So the "slow" runner wore her head torch around her neck... which would be the worst possible place for using the torch to see where she was running!

The torch around her neck bounced. The beam bounced from side to side. There was no consistent relation between where the torch was shining and where the runner wanted to look. This would have made running in the dark -- amongst rocks -- a very unsettling experience.

Nevertheless, these three women set a challenging pace for me to follow!

Until, right at the end...

For the last kilometre we could hear another group of runners coming up from behind. Finally, with just a couple of hundred metres to go, they caught up. And began to run past!

We can't let them do that! I cried... and ran ahead! We were nearly at the end, I was not going to let these people come from behind. I ran... I finished... ahead of both "my" group of three and the group from behind.

I had intended to stay behind "my" group across the line. But I was not ready to let more people have an easy time of overtaking. And I still had energy for a run...

What?! End of the run and I still had energy to spare?! Why?!!

If I had energy to spare at the end -- why did I not run faster?!

It's my mind, again.

On the clear track, my three pace-setters were running fast enough to keep me challenged. Or so it seemed: perhaps that, also, was my mind wanting me to go slower.

On the rough track -- I could have run past. I didn't. Because I was worried that I would not be able to keep ahead. Yet I ended with enough energy for a last-minute effort... I did have energy to spare, I could have passed and stayed ahead.

Bad mind!

I'll remember that.

Next time :-)

And yet: It was my best run of the trail series. I finished ahead of about twenty people! Thanks largely to the luck of following a group who ran at a "fast" pace that I could maintain, with just a bit of effort. To that group of three women: Thank you!

Next time, though...

I will watch my energy. Watch my speed relative to other runners. I have less trouble with rough track in the dark, less trouble than some others. I can take advantage of that!

If I can pass -- I will. If I am then passed -- too bad, I tried.

I will do better.

Next time :-)

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And then -- more Ghost Trail special effects: It was a 40 minute drive home. With rain, mostly very light. And -- all the way -- lightning. Flashing in the sky, all the way home. With one flash and boom -- together -- to welcome me home!

A very enjoyable night run.

Half Training for Stratford

I am currently (April 2016) "in training" for the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon. April 24th, I will be in the marathon. My training... is for the first half.

I will be in the marathon. My wife will be in the half marathon. My wife follows a training plan. I follow my wife's training plan. So I am following a training plan to run a half marathon.

Oh dear.

Still... There is a cut-off for the marathon. I must finish a loop -- the half marathon loop -- within two and a half hours, or be sent off. That is, if I am too slow, I will be sent to the half marathon finish rather than on to a second loop.

On the bright side: I am training for that first half of the marathon! If I can do the half within the allowed time, then I will be allowed to complete the full marathon. There's a cut-off for the complete marathon, of six hours. My slowest ever marathon was just under six hours. I should be okay.

So I'm only half trained. Why?! And, what do I do towards a full marathon training plan??

I do try to do more than my wife. I run faster and harder, on most training runs. About 10% faster and harder. I look for hills, where my wife avoids them. It's not much.

Marathon training should involve twice as much training as half marathon training! Perhaps not that much more. A lot more, at least. I should be running -- a few weeks before the event -- thirty or more kilometres on my long runs. I run less than twenty.

Here's the problem: I do not go training.

Rather, I do not have the drive, the self-motivation, to go training by myself. My wife goes for a run, I go for a run, with my wife. My wife goes for a two hour run. I go out with her, for a two hour run. On the days when my wife does not go for a run... I do not go for a run.

I tried! For a couple of weeks I went out by myself, running fifteen kilometres each time. Before I could build up the distance -- I stopped.

When we go for a fun run, I do enter the longer courses. The last few months, we have entered the Perth Trail Series runs. Five runs, I entered all five, in the long course. My wife does the short course -- or just the regular runs of her training plan. I get the extra distance. With the extra hills.

Those hills are essential to my excuse for a marathon training plan. Hills add stress to legs, this equates to extra exercise for the same horizontal distance. Extra effort, almost as good as extra distance. So I claim :-)

I also -- for a few weeks -- ran the "half" training runs with a backpack. I carried a 12kg backpack as I ran, running for the same time as my wife. Same logic as for hills training: extra weight, extra effort, builds extra running strength in my legs.

The Trail Series runs are also part of my marathon training. As I see it.

This is the third year that we have entered Perth Trail Series events. The first two years, each event was treated as a targeted fun run, with extra training, peaking, tapering, then the run. This year, each run is just a part of my programme. Just a regular Sunday run. A bit longer than usual, a bit tougher than usual... It's almost the equivalent of the longer runs that I should be doing for the marathon!

Okay, the Trail Series runs are no longer than my runs on the half marathon training plan. They are a lot harder: hill climbs and gravel tracks. And I run harder than on a normal training run. (Though all the people who beat me may find that hard to believe.)

On the trail runs, I try to keep myself going. To do more than just jog along. I try to keep up a faster jog. To not slow down when I feel tired... because I know that I can keep going.

The trail runs are tougher. More exercise for the legs and heart and lungs. They are also exercise for the mind. I'm not a fast runner. Even at my slow pace -- my mind wants to go slower.

On April 24th I will be in the Shakespeare Marathon. I am following a training plan for a half marathon -- with some, minor, extras. Physically, I believe that I can finish.

I'm training for a half marathon. Running further and faster than my wife (usually). Where possible, I add a few hills. Gentle hills, where I live. I have also added a few trail runs, with more and steeper hills. Is this enough for the full marathon?

I have also added some mental effort. An attempt to shift my attitude, from "taking it easy" to "this is easy, I can keep going". Will it work?

I have several targets for this marathon. They are, in order of importance: To finish; To finish within the six hour limit; To get a PB (several minutes under five hours). And -- my long term target -- to run a marathon in four hours 30 or less... All without any injury.

I'm confident that I will finish. I believe that I will be "well within" the six hours. I will be surprised if I beat five hours. I think that four hours 30 is still beyond me.

I will see how I go. See how I run a marathon after a half marathon training plan. And -- perhaps! -- adjust future training plans accordingly :-)