My Longest Run

Yesterday, I decided to test myself. I wanted to see how long and far I could run maintaining a pace of ~7min/km.

To my satisfaction, I comfortably managed 10 miles. I continued and found I was starting to stiffen-up by about 12 miles, after which I started having niggling tenderness in my knees and ankles. By 14 miles, I'd slowed down to a walk so I stopped my Garmin watch. I had been running for 2:47:31.

A screenshot from my RunKeeper profile.

I was only 1 mile short of completing the entire circuit of Rutland Water at a running pace! Just over a year ago, walking that route almost finished me! It's almost unbelievable to me how much improvement there has been in my fitness and stamina over just 9 months.

I'm glad I ran the circuit yesterday. I've proven to myself that I can cover the distance required for the Great North Run. I now have 47 days to get just a little stronger. I'm sure yesterday's run will have helped no end!

Sub-25:00 5K ≠ Impossible [UPDATED]

A momentous day!

I have finally, after 8 months & 23 days of parkrunning, crossed the 25:00 barrier!

Not quite a true reflection of my performance!

At the end, I forced myself to sprint up the hill to the finish line, at which point I promptly fell into a heap on the cool grass. A number of seconds passed as my heart rate fell. I sat up, looked at my Garmin and was horrified. I'd forgotten to stop the timer!!! When I pushed the start/stop button, it read 24:58.66.

How long had I been laying on the grass? At most, I reckoned thirty seconds. I had no choice but to await the official results. The only certainty was that I had succeeded in running a sub-25:00 5K!

Then it came:

Lies!!!

Not possible. I started my timer exactly when the race started, I was late stopping it by several seconds. I beat 25:00! This was only the second time the volunteer at the finish line has been in charge of timing. My best explanation for the discrepancy is that the timer was started several seconds before the race start was actually announced.

I'm claiming today as having achieved my goal of a sub-25:00 5K because I know that is what I did today.

I will erase all doubt at my next parkrun!

UPDATE 29/7/12:


Vindication! The glitch was noticed and rectified. New official time = 24:28!!

Grabbed off the parkrun website

With Regret... You're Fired!

I decided to take up running in October 2010. I got a couch to 5k plan, I bought some gear including a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10 shoes.

My faithful Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10's

On my first run-walk session, I made the classic mistake of sprinting instead of running, hence running myself into the ground. That experience led to all my gear being consigned to the bottom of my wardrobe for 12 months.

Then in October 2011, I joined the beginner's sessions hosted by my local running club, saw the error of my ways and became a runner. My Brooks have taken me from run-walking to running, through ten parkruns and a 10K.

Here enters the influence of a book. Specifically 'Born to Run' by Chris McDougall. I dabbled in trail running and minimalist running in Vibram FiveFingers (VFF's). I entered a trail race and bought some Adidas Kanadia TR4 trail shoes. Recently, I've been doing more trail running than road running while gradually increasing my mileage in my VFF's.

There is a fundamental difference between my Kanadia's, VFF's and Adrenaline's. The Adrenaline's are 'stability' shoes with padding designed to eliminate unstable motion as the foot lands. Neither the Kanadia's nor the VFF's have this. So, as I've grown used to the trail and 'barefoot' shoes, my gait has subtly changed.

I first noticed this on a jaunt around the town bypass a couple of weeks ago. Toward the last 1/3 of the loop, my legs started to hurt and I felt myself fighting the shoes. The Adrenaline's were trying to force my feet to land in a way that had become unnatural for me. Instinctively, my legs tried to override this effect causing an ache in my ankles, shins and knees.

As an experiment, this morning I did the same run in my VFF's. No pain was experienced at all (although, as this was my longest ever run in VFF's, I felt the onset of blisters at the base of my big toes). Also, I was over a minute faster.

A screenshot of my bypass run data. The far left is in VFF's, the rest were in Adrenaline's.

So, today with regret, I've made the difficult decision to retire my trusty old Adrenaline's. It has become clear that they no longer suit the running style I've grown into. Minimalist footwear is the way forward for me.

I'm grateful to the Adrenaline's for getting me through my first hundred miles and establishing 'The Running Bug' in me for many years to come.

My Second 'Barefoot' parkrun

Proof I was there in my VFF's!

Following the other week's cancellation, I've finally done a 'barefoot' Braunstone parkrun, my 'home' parkrun.

At Braunstone, the route is mostly on a tarmac path, except for part of the midway hill which is a dirt track. As such, it was a little less forgiving to the feet than the soft, muddy, dirt trail at Conkers.

Despite this, I managed to run quite comfortably keeping the late Caballo Blanco's mantra of "Easy, Light, Smooth, Fast" in mind.

Another PB! 25:04.84 according to my Garmin!!

I was elated at the end to look to my GPS watch to see a time of 25:04.84! That's 2:09 faster than my previous best at Braunstone and 27s faster than my effort at Conkers the other week!

I was even more elated when my official time was posted, exactly matching my own estimate!

A screenshot showing my official time.

There is no doubt in my mind now that I'm significantly faster in my VFF's. Now, only a mere 4 seconds off crossing another goal off The List!

Me approaching the finish line. (Something very odd happened to my hair along the way!)

Caught on Film

It appears my antics, and those of my fellow parkrunners, have been posted to YouTube for all eternity!

Outward Bound

I appear about 25 seconds in. I'm towards the left of the frame wearing a red t-shirt, holding a blue water bottle.

Return Leg

I'm right at the start of this one.

My First 'Barefoot' parkrun.

As promised, today I ran my first parkrun in Vibram FifeFingers (VFF's) 'barefoot' shoes.

Unfortunately, due to flooding after Friday's monsoon conditions, my usual parkrun at Braunstone Park was cancelled.

Instead of backing out of the challenge, I decided to visit one of the other parkrun venues within a 50 mile radius of my home. I chose Conkers parkrun because they insisted on their Facebook page that they would run. This is the first time I've visited another parkrun venue and I must say Conkers was very well-run and welcoming indeed.

So, how did I get on?

Before the race, a couple of runners commented on my VFF's. They were genuinely curious. Certainly a conversation starter which was good for me being billy-no-mates at a new venue!

The conditions were, in a word, muddy!

The state of my feet after the race. Fortunately, VFF's are washable!!

Despite having to leap over/run though/slalom around puddles, I felt good. When I turned the first corner, I was somewhat apprehensive about the hill I was faced with as I hadn't tackled significant inclines in VFF's before. I needn't have worried, the hill was surprisingly easy.

I've decided that my theory about wasting energy compressing padding in normal shoes must be right as the whole course felt significantly easier.

I didn't go out today chasing a PB. My aim was to be careful as the course was unfamiliar to me and this would be the furthest I'd ran in one go wearing VFF's.

So, the outcome?...

Fastest ever parkrun!

I clocked my time at 25:32. My official time was 25:31, 36th out of a field of 86. By far my fastest ever parkrun, 1:42 faster than my previous best! 

I felt strong at the end, so much so that I reckon had I been less conservative at the start (owing to an unfamiliar course) and hadn't had to weave around puddles, I'd have been several seconds faster. That sub-25:00 time is looking much more achievable!

My feet felt fine afterwards, no aches or pains at all. I have decided that all my future parkruns will be in VFF's. Also, I'll try out some of the other parkrun venues to add variety as my experience today was very positive.

Proof I've Not Been Totally Idle

I may not have been blogging or tackling those 30 Day Challenges, but I've not been completely idle.

As proof, I offer this photo of my race number and finishers t-shirt from the Wymeswold Waddle 2012 which I ran on May 13th.

It was a 5 mile road race, 2.5 uphill and 2.5 down. Downhill was more fun! My official time was 51:48.

For my next trick, I intend to run parkrun in my Vibram FiveFingers on Saturday. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

I fell off the wagon.

I allowed work to get in my way.

I abandoned my 30 Day Challenges.

I'm sorry :-(

I guess I got carried away and took on far too much too quickly. I'll revisit the 30 Day Challenges in the future but right now, I've got to focus on the challenges that are of greatest importance to me.

To that end, I'm going to focus on a running goal from The List.

In honour of the blog's title, the goal I've chosen to tackle is: "Log a cumulative mileage of > the circumference of Earth". The world will then indeed be mine!
According to Dailymile, I'm only 1/153th of the way there so I better step it up!