Hills and Halfs

There is nothing quite like running up a big hill to make you question your life choices. Who chose this route? What kind of idiot sticks in a massive incline just after the start of a run? Who plans a run which finishes up a massive hill when I am already knackered? However, when the answer to all of these questions is me, then perhaps there is something else going on. And for the record, no I am no some kind of secret masochist.

I would like to say that I am a few solid weeks into a great training plan ahead of a half marathon race in three weeks time, but the preparation for the race has not been smooth and as a consequence I am trying to catch up. This does not mean that I am chasing missing miles or anything like that, I am just trying to get my long runs done as I planned them, even if I am not as fit as I would like to be at this point.

“slogging through things”

Having had to have a few days off running last weekend having had a dental procedure, this week was always going to be about just slogging through things. Thankfully the toothache has now eased and any pain I suffer when I run is purely in the rest of my body, but it does not make things any easier. The lack of consistency in my training in recent weeks – or as I wrote about last week really throughout the whole year – means that, rather than gradually building towards a distance, I feel like I am constantly taking one step forward and two steps back.

A good example of that would be my regular plan to run a half marathon distance every month. While my usual weekend running would be around a 10k or so, the week before the half, I would aim to run perhaps nine or ten miles, which would be solid enough to remind my body how hard the extra distance would be, and it would also set me up to think that just adding an extra few miles onto the end of that would be achievable.

“a run which is very tough indeed”

What has happened lately is that I am not getting in that kind of distance before attempting the half, so that I would go from running perhaps five or six miles, straight up to more than double that distance. And that is not easy. My body – and to be frank, my mind – needs to come to terms with the challenge that I am about to put it through. And if it is not quite ready for that, then the outcome is a run which is very tough indeed.

That was certainly the case this week. I ran five and a half miles with my jogscotland group on Thursday, then it was back to the half marathon route I had planned to run with my friend Jeanette last weekend. As the race I am doing in a few weeks is – to use polite parlance – undulating (which most runners know is code for a route which is like climbing a steep mountain with no crampons or ropes), the route I had planned factored in some challenging climbs. Hence my statement at the start about what kind of idiot plans a route like that. This is why I planned a route like that.

A couple of lumpy parts added to the fun…

So with this type of elevation in the plan, my friend Jeanette and I set off on the run. There is no way to sugar coat any of this, the hill at about three miles and the hill at the end were just going to be really hard. They just were. Full on, big climb, there is only one aim in mind and that is just to get up and over it. It was never going to be pretty. It was never going to feel good. It was just going to be a hard slog. And so it was.

This is where resilience comes in. This is where it is about focusing on achievable goals. The next set of lights. A lampost further up the road. A junction. Something to break up the misery of thinking “how the hell am I going to reach the top of this?”. Something to distract from the top of the hill which remains out of sight for quite a bit of the hill itself. This has been a technique I have used really since I started running, and one I encourage anyone in my running group to follow. It is about resolving in your mind to achieve small things, because the accumulation of those small things results in a big thing. Getting up the hill.

“get the chance to recover”

The other thing to consider in hills is that the elevation within the hill is often variable. Some parts are steeper than others. For the first big hill of this route, the steepest part comes at the start. So for this one, for me, there is a big boost which comes when you know that you are past the toughest part. Things will still be hard to get up the rest of it, but you know the absolute worst bit of it is behind you and your body has coped with that, so you know it can cope with the rest of it, challenging as it may be. And then of course, not all of the route is uphill. Once you get up the hill you get the chance to recover just by keeping going.

Not all of the run was on a big hill, with Jeanette about seven miles in

For the second hill, unfortunately, it has a steep part at the start and remains pretty consistentely steep other than a small part about two thirds throug, before becoming steep again with the steepest part right at the end. This is very challenging and I was ready to bail before I got to the top, so thanks to Jeanette for keeping me going to get all the way up to the end to achieve the half marathon distance.

But it is also as well that I mention that my preparation for the race was less than ideal. Mainly because the night before was the first match of the European Football championships where Scotland played Germany. And I watched it at a beer festival with my brother and a friend, and a few hundred others.

Me, John and my brother Gary at the festival

So who knew that a few half pints of beer before a big run might have an impact on performance, eh? The point here is that I knew that this would make the run tough, but as a hobby runner, I was not going to turn down the chance of a great night with friends and family. I was going to enjoy myself, and then put up with the consequences afterwards. It was not a particularly late night, and I was mindful of what was ahead (I had a lot of water when I got home and drank a lot during the run). But I can assure you, I will not be doing this the night before the race itself. I will save the beer for the celebration afterwards.

The plan next weekend then would be another half, and again, a hilly one, but a different route this time so I can enjoy the misery of other climbs and different scenery. Once again, my midweek running will be disrupted as I am traveling for work, but I will be taking my stuff with me and should get a few miles in while I am away. And then the same idiot who planned the route from yesterday will get another chance to tell himself what an idiot he is for heading up another side of a mountain….

Stop and start

Finding consistency in running – whether I am training for an event or not – is something I really look for. So far this year, it has been an elusive quality. Every time I seem to feel like I am making a bit of progress, something comes along to get in the way. This week has been another example of that. Frustrating? Yes. But I hope this time it is a very short-term thing.

My plan this week had been to run with my JogScotland group a couple of times during the week, and then get back to a long weekend run, with a half marathon distance run with one of my friends. The initial part of all of that went to plan. Two nice JogScotland runs all done, and I began to plan my route for the Saturday half.

“this would be hard going”

I have a half marathon race coming up in four weeks time, and I know that the first half of the race is hilly, so I deliberately planned a testing route with a few climbs within it. I have been really struggling with hills for months now, so I knew that this would be hard going, but good preparation for the race itself. As the second half of the race is predominantly downhill, my big focus was going to be on getting through those hilly early stages.

But then Friday happened, where I had to have some dental work done, and at the conclusion of it, my dentist told me that I should avoid physical activity for a few days. At the back of my mind I thought, “should I mention that I run or just leave it?”, but I posed the question about running and he said that that was a total non-starter for a few days. I am not sure what I was more disappointed about, having the dental procedure to start the day, or being told not to run. Either way, it was a pretty bitter pill to swallow. I had the pain from the dentist, then the lingering pain of not being able to run added on top.

“I have had to do it almost despite myself”

This kind of thing really does seem to sum up how things have gone this year. Though I need to appreciated that I have achieved a lot, I have had to do it almost despite myself. Illness through the early part of the year disrupted the ultra training. Then there was the injury in my thigh I picked up. And while generally I ignore the weather, the poor Spring and now early summer has not exactly been conducive to encouraging my out the door. Going back to October last year when I hurt my ankle in the Bennachie Ultra Trail race, and I was out for a number of weeks, it does feel like a long time since I had a clear spell with no issues.

I know in the grand scheme of things, this a temporary issue, and I should be back running by the end of the week – so my plans are not cancelled, they are merely postponed – but it is frustrating. Healthwise, I am totally fine, this is only a minor setback, and it is for my long term health so I have to accept it for what it is.

One positive about Friday morning was, pior to the dental appointment, I had an hour or so to kill after dropping my wife off at work, so I made good use of the time to go for nice long walk, mostly to take my mind off what was ahead!! The walk took me along the banks of the River Dee, then up into Duthie Park before a short spell on the old Deeside Railway line. This spell in the part and the line was the start and finish of the ultra route. I can tell you, it was a heck of a lot easier walking along it on Friday than it was attempting to run after thirty three miles!! But at least it did bring back some memories from an amazing day,which if you are interested about, you can read here.

The sight of the old platforms in particular really brought back thoughts of those final few miles; clocking off each old station in turn, perhaps seeing them in the distance and running to them, or getting to them while walking and running through them, all the while just chipping off a bit more from the overall distance. Still cannot believe I managed it to be honest.

Talking of positives, one bit of good news I did get this week was that I received my new Running Leadership in Fitness coaching license, enabling me to continue leading our JogScotland groups for another three years. I did the various tasks needed to renew the license a couple of months ago, but had not received my updated license to replace my one which expired at the start of the month.

My updated license from Scottish Athletics

Giving something back to the club which helped me so much has been, without a doubt, one of the most positive things I have done in recent years. To be able, hopefully, to help and encourage others in their own running journey and perhaps inspire them to achieve something they never thought possible, gives me an enormous amount of pleasure. And it is great that I will be able to do that for another three years at least. Wit this kind of volunteering, maybe I can make a difference to some people’s lives, in a small way at least.

Trying to stay positive then, dealing with yet another stumble along the way, but no more than a minor stumble this time, and at least the week ended with a bit of positivity. I should be back running towards the end of this week, so now the half marathon run is planned for next weekend. A good few days then to gird myself ahead of those challenging hills to come.

In the Long Run

There is just something about this race photo that I really like. Normally race photos capture me at my worst – a boiling, sweaty mess who looks like he might die if he takes another step, rather than the image I have in my head of me majestically glidng towards the finish line with a stride as fluid as an Olympic gold medallist in their prime.

But this one, while you could easily argue does not exactly capture me at my best, it does resonate with me. It is the moment I crossed the finish line at the Barra 10k last weekend, a race where I was just so relieved for it to finally be over. And I think that is what I like so much about it.

To me it shows many things. Joy at completing the event. Pain because it was very hard, but knowing that that pain will not last. A sense of achievement at another 10k done. It is also a bit of a study in the emotion of racing; the effort, the determination, the willingness to push on, and the reality of what it is like when it is very tough. I also like that it picks out the detail with the sun shining on my wedding ring, and the way I am framed against the sky.

That finish line feeling

I realise that racing is not for everyone – and even for me these days I am no longer obsessed about times or pace, I just want to enjoy myself and do my best. But there is something special about a race day, and being fortunate enough to be well and healthy enough to do them, that shoud never be taken for granted. We never know what is around the corner, so while I could easily argue that I did not particularly enoy the race because I found it very hard, I am immensely grateful to have had the chance to do it. And maybe that it is also captured in this image – gratitude that I was even on the start line at all.

That being said, I have also been lucky enough this week to get a couple of longer training runs in, and they have really confirmed how much I enjoy those types of runs, especially when it is with friends.

“keep my endurance running up and consistent”

It was a holiday Monday for me, so I scheduled in a half marathon distance run with my friends Susan and Maxine. Susan could not do the full distance but Maxine and I managed it. I am still managing to keep up with my plan to run a half marathon distance every month, which I find a great way to keep my endurance running up and consistent. To have that target, even if it is not a race, keeps me a bit more focused than I think I would be if I had nothing to aim for. It also means, that when it comes to formally training for an event, I have a solid base from which to work.

With Maxine about nine miles into the run

As it worked out, I actually ended up at fourteen miles, which I was really pleased about. I feel I have a bit of a mental block at half marathon distance, so going beyond that, and still feeling fine at the end of it was a big confidence boost. Coming only a couple of days after feeling so rubbish at the 10k event, it really helped me get over how hard that had been.

I did take a few days off after that run. Having run for three consecutive days – 10k, 5k, then 14 miles, I figured that a rest day would be the best idea and it was absolutely the right thing to do. Fitting in rest days – for me anyway – is an important component of my running. Rest days should be seen as part of the running journey, not something which is forced upon you to fit into a training plan. But rest days do not mean doing nothing, so I am trying to a bit more walking to take advantage of any time we get some decent weather, so a nice walk at the beach one evening kept me active. Walking is a seriously underrated form of exercise.

A gorgeous evening at the beach, even if the image does not show the chilly breeze!

Continuing on the theme of longer runs, I did an eight mile run with my friend Jeanette. This run I enjoyed so much because it absolutely zipped by. We had not run together for a while, so we were chatting so much, I barely noticed the miles. This is an ideal kind of run, and one which again emphasises the value of running with friends, someone to talk to and just take your mind off the distance which you are traveling.

With Jeanette running through woods towards the end of the run

The weather is still proving to be pretty inconsistent these days. The pattern of a couple of nice days followed by a few unsettled days seems to have been around forever, so while we should be moving towards the warmest days of the year, it certainly does not really feel like it at the moment. And next week looks like following a similar trajectory.

But as we topple into another month, that means another half to target, and that will be on the agenda next weekend. As I have signed up to a hilly half race in July, I think a bit of hill practice will be factored in, so that it does not come as too big a shock on race day. But I have five weeks to prepare, and my base is already quite solid. I wonder what the finish line photo will look like then?