52 Weeks, 50 parkruns, A year of, running, races and fun with family & friends.

Our first year of parkrun - what a year it's been. 

As I haven’t blogged for a while, (I never did get round to writing the post about the HighPeak 40 that I said I would), I thought I’d better not miss another major milestone. And tomorrow is a pretty major milestone for me – it’s the anniversary of our first parkrun!

For any of my running friends, in fact for most, if not all of my friends and family, it probably feels like running, and parkrun have been a big part of my life for a long time now. I'm very well aware that I have something of a reputation (undeniably deserved) as a bit of (OK a complete) running addict and parkrun fanatic.

Believe it or not, it actually was only 52 weeks ago, on 12th November 2011, that James, Kieran and I first ventured down to Colwick Park for our first parkrun event (event #21 there). Little did we know then what a life-transforming day that would be, as we arrived at the almost deserted car park in the centre of the park, about 30 mins before the 9am start of the run.  

James & Kieran before our first parkrun

 A few minutes before the start, friendly faces began to appear, and soon enough the run was underway – we’d not been to check the course out before, and despite always living only around 5 miles away, we were quickly running through parts of the park that I’d never seen before.

The first of dozens of backwards running parkrun pics :)

Colwick Park in November - still pretty, even on grey autumn days

The perfect event to enjoy with friends and family, and to make new friends too. 

Within a mile of the start of our first run, I was having the time of my life, and it was clear the boys were loving it too. By the time we crossed the finish line, I knew we'd become regular attendees at Colwick, but I can't pretend that I had any idea then, just how much parkrun would become a fixture in our weekly routine. 

The boys and I finished together in 40th, 41st and 42nd places (out of 102 runners), with times of 25:25 and 25:26, which considering the boys had only run their first mile with me 2 weeks before was pretty stunning. It's also hard to believe that parkrun that day was my 1st organised running event, ever, and it was only a few weeks before (after I'd done my first Triathlon), that I'd started to enjoy running at all...

Here's my RunKeeper trace of our first parkrun. http://runkeeper.com/user/MikeW30/activity/59581255

Since that momentous first parkrun a year ago, so much has changed for me, the boys and others too, and I can say with confidence that the past year has been the most interesting, exciting and happiest of my life so far. 

I've been incredibly lucky to have been able to run at parkrun with friends old and new, and to make many new friends through running, but nothing makes me prouder and happier than that as well as James and Kieran being  regular parkrunners now, my Mum and Dad are too: something that I would never have thought possible (and I know they wouldn't either) this time last year. 

In fact last week we were official pacers at Colwick parkrun and had a fantastic time, hopefully we'll do that again soon, as it was a really rewarding experience. 

A family of parkrun pacers

There have been so many rewarding experiences at parkrun over the past year, it's impossible to list them all here, and I know there will be many more in the future, as it takes something major for me to ever not run, or volunteer at a parkrun now. In fact, over the past year, there have only been 2 Saturdays when I haven't been at a parkrun - the first was in January, when Colwick parkrun was cancelled for the first and only time so far, and the 2nd was in September, when my first Ultra (HighPeak 40) started on Saturday at 8am (so there was no way I could do a parkrun at 9am too!). 

So many great runs, so much fun. 

Only missing 2 parkruns over the past year means tomorrow will be my 50th parkrun event, although it will *only* be the 47th time that I've run, as on 3 occasions I've been a non-running volunteer (once Timekeeper and twice Run Director). I've also been an official pacer 3 times, including once with Terry, a really inspirational blind runner at Colwick, so in total tomorrow I'll have recorded 47 runs and 6 times volunteering in 52 weeks! :) 

Over the past year I've been to 10 different parkrun events, 7 in England, 2 in Scotland and 1 in Wales, I've set 8 PBs for 5K, starting with a 21:49 at Colwick and then getting down to 19:35 at the incredibly fast Northampton parkrun course (still my best run, ever), in July.  

My fastest time at my home event at Colwick is 20:04, so my next target there is to get under 20 mins, which I'm sure I'll do one day. One of the many things that my parkrun experience has taught me though, is that I enjoy running with friends and family (and pacing people I've never met before), more than I do trying to set a new PB every week. 

Through parkrun I've been inspired to try other new events too and over the past year I've run my first 10K race (the day after my first parkrun), and I've now run 5 more since, I've done 2 half marathon races (and I've signed up for several more), my first 2 marathons (Manchester in April and Chester in October) as well as my first Ultra, the aforementioned HighPeak 40 in September. I've also (today) signed up for my biggest challenge yet, the 53 mile Highland Fling race along the West Highland Way next April. 

A big Thanks

As I've rambled enough already as usual, I'll sign off this post with a big "Thanks" to everyone who's supported me and run with me over the past year, especially my parents, my kids, my other half Sarah, the Colwick parkrun event team and all of the parkrun family, all my running friends and Twitter friends. I'm looking forward to many more years of happy parkrunning - and hopefully to getting a "50" t-shirt very soon and to be very close to my 100 shirt by this time next year. 

And really finally, here's a small selection of the 100s of pictures I've taken at parkrun events over the past year. 

Saucony Kinvara TR Review

And without further ado - my first running shoe review: Saucony Kinvara TR 

After 200+ miles, Kinvara TRs still look quite bright!

After my first attempt at writing a review of the new Saucony Kinvara TR trail shoes, ended up being a post about  why I shouldn’t be reviewing running shoes , I'm going to try to be a bit more of a "proper" shoe reviewer this time and actually write a useful review. Just to clarify, the Kinvara TRs aren't available in the UK at the time of writing (mid August 2012), and I was incredibly lucky to be sent a pre-launch pair to review. I haven't been paid for this review, or given any instruction about what I should or shouldn't say. I've just run in the shoes, a lot, in the 6+ weeks that I've had them.

Having run 200+ miles in the Kinvara TRs now, on a varied mix of on-road, gravel paths and muddy trails, I can definitely say they are amongst the most surprising running shoes I've tried so far, and amongst the most comfortable.

Not just Kinvara 2s with an off-road sole.

When I first read the information about the Kinvara TR, I assumed it would feel very similar to the Kinvara 2, but would offer much better off-road grip thanks to a sole designed for off-road use. In fact, the Kinvara TR feels very, very different to the Kinvara 2 when you first put it on.

 The first sensation I had when I put the the Kinvara 2s on, back in February, was that my feet had been "released". The Kinvara 2 has a very light, thin upper, that hardly restricts your foot at all - giving a very different, and very natural sensation, almost like not wearing shoes at all. The Kinvara TR on the other hand feels much more like a "normal" running shoe to me, but a very snug and comfortable one. For me the feel is fairly similar to my Brooks Racer ST-5s, which have been my "go to" long-run road shoes, as they are reasonably light and fast, but a bit more cushioned than the Kinvara 2 or the Brooks Green Silence shoes that I use for shorter distances. 

Very bright, and pretty light: 285g / 10oz - UK size 10 / US size 11

Light, and very bright. 

The first thing that everyone notices about the Kinvara TR, at least in the colour variant that I have, is that they are bright, very bright. My training partner Stuart (Capt. USA) calls them my "Health and Safety shoes" and I can see why - they definitely aren't for the shy and retiring :). When I put them on, I was surprised to feel that they were light, but not as light as I was expecting. It turns out that they tip the scales at 285g (10oz) in my UK size 10 (US size 11). My Kinvara 2, Brooks Green Silence, and my other trail shoes, the Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, all tip the scales at around 240g (8.5oz) so the Kinvara TRs are noticeably heavier.

Again the best comparison for me is with my Brooks Racer ST-5s, which are almost exactly the same weight and for me have a similar fit. I have pretty wide feet, and some brands of shoe don't work for me at all as a result, but I've found that Brooks and Saucony in particular suit the shape of my feet. The Kinvara TR is a better fit for me than the Kinvara 2 (which was only just wide enough) and doesn't feel like it's struggling to accommodate my abnormal feet in the same way that its road-going predecessor sometimes seemed to. 

Getting them dirty for the first time - many of my runs in the Kinvara TRs have been mud-fests 

The Kinvara TRs are billed as Minimalist shoes, and for anyone used to "traditional" running shoes, which have much more structure, cushioning and weight (most are 300g+ if not 400g+ in larger sizes), they will feel light and free, but for me, they are at the heavier end of what I'm comfortable running in (but not too heavy). 

Comfortable on road, as well as off...

A lot of the running that I do is on-road, or a combination of road and trail, and on my first run in the Kinvara TRs, I was immediately struck by how good they felt running on the pavement. This is in marked contrast to my Inov-8 X-Talon 212s, which just feel "wrong" running on concrete / tarmac (which I know is not what they are designed for at all). 

In fact, the first long run I did in the Kinvara TR was entirely on the road, when I ran a 14 mile leg of the Real Relay in them, just a couple of days after getting them. I loved the experience, and the shoes were absolutely fine on the harder surfaces. 

Since then I've logged around 400 miles in total, and around 1/2 of those have been in the Kinvara TRs - which have become my "go to" shoes for any run which is either all trail, or part trail, part road. I've been on some pretty muddy, steep and wet off-road sections, and they've taken everything I've thrown at them in their stride.

I planned to get this review done a couple of weeks ago, but being tardy in my writing has actually worked really well, as today I gave the Kinvara TRs their ultimate test so far...

20 Hilly & wet miles in the Peak District, wearing Kinvara TRs

Andrew shows the way to Mam Tor - the final climb of the day

Today's run was one of the toughest and most fun I've ever done - running the first half (20 miles, 2800ft of elevation gain) of the High Peak 40 event that I'm going to try to run next month! 

I was lucky to not have to run it on my own and was accompanied on a day of adventure and flapjack eating, by my very experienced running uncle: Chris, and 3 Twitter running friends: Andrew (who's done the High Peak 40 three times already), Matt, who I hope to be running with on event day itself, and Martin, who's also training for his first Ultra marathon.

The High Peak 20 running crew

The route for today's run was a great test of fitness, and equipment, especially our shoes, as there was a real mix of terrain. With everything from long downhill road sections, to incredibly steep (walking only) rocky uphill sections, through wet, muddy fields and gravel paths, if you could think of a surface to run on, we probably encountered it today.

Throughout the run, the Kinvara TRs were incredibly comfortable, and gave good cushioning and support, and my feet felt really protected on the many sections with sharp, loose rocks. They also gave good traction on the uphill sections, and the many gravel and muddy downhill sections. The only slight criticism I had was that on the really steep and slippery rocky downhill around Rushup Edge, I was struggling for grip more than the others, and didn't always feel totally in control. I suspect this may well be due to the lugs starting to wear down (after a lot of road running), rather than any inherent lack of grip from the shoes. 

After today's run, I'm feeling more confident that I can complete the entire High Peak 40 race - though I also know that I'll be using the Kinvara TRs as my shoes on the day - rather than my Inov-8 X-Talons, which wouldn't give enough cushioning for me over the 9 hours I'll be using them, and aren't designed for roads, which make up a chunk of the route. 


Summary: Surprising, Comfortable & adaptable. 

And that's it: after getting on for 2 months of running in the Kinvara TRs at least 2 or 3 times a week, often more, I've been continually surprised by how different to the Kinvara 2s they are, and how many different types of runs I find myself using them for. For entirely off-road runs, especially those with really muddy / slippery sections, I'd still choose my Inov-8 X-Talons, but for any other off-road run, particularly those with on-road parts too, I pick the Kinvara TRs every time. 


I guess that the biggest recommendation I can give for the Kinvara TRs is that I'll be running my first ultra marathon in them, and if anyone asked if I'd recommend they do the same, my answer would be an emphatic, "yes". 

Please let me know if there's anything more you'd like to know about the Saucony Kinvara TRs, or the other shoes that I've run in over the past year (I've been through quite a few!) - and if there's interest from readers of this blog, I'll happily review my other shoes too, even if the manufacturers don't ask me to...

Mike
P.S. Thanks to Andrew, Matt, Martin & Chris for a great run today. 

Saucony Kinvara TR Review (pre-review)

My first running shoe review - Saucony Kinvara TR and why I probably shouldn't be reviewing running shoes :)

I'm not sure where to start this review, as I'm not an experienced runner, I'm not an experienced blogger, and I'm not really an experienced anything that's relevant to writing running shoe reviews! 

The Kinvara TRs - just after they arrived on my desk at work :)

I've read a few running shoe reviews in my time, and although I only got my first pair of running shoes almost exactly a year ago the Kinvara TRs are actually my 10th pair of running shoes, so I guess I'm not totally unqualified.

I have developed something of a reputation amongst my friends and family as a running shoe hoarder, as hardly a month seems to pass without a new pair of running shoes appearing in the porch at home, or under my desk at work.

I've been fortunate not have to purchase all 10 pairs, as one was a parkrun prize and the pair  I'm eventually going to get around to reviewing were very kindly sent to me as a pre-release review sample by Jonny Quint of Saucony UK, complete with a hand-written compliments slip.

A pair of unreleased new running shoes for me to review? Me?? 

Although my friends & family seem to think I have an addiction to buying new running shoes, I'd like to point out that I bought 2 pairs online (my original Asics Gel Kayano 17s and my first off-road shoes, the New Balance MT-271s), before I had any idea what kind of shoes I needed, or liked to run in, and another 2 pairs were replacements after unfortunate accidents befell their predecessors.

An accident-prone shoe destroyer, reviewing shoes?? 

I managed to destroy my first pair of my favourite long run shoes, the Brooks Racer ST-5s just a few days before my first marathon in April this year (and I'd been planning to run in them on the big day), when I decided to get them washed and dried in plenty of time before the race.

My chosen method of washing them was the same as it had always been for getting running shoes clean: I put them in a pillowcase and stuck them in the washing machine with a load of  other washing, started the machine and went to work. I ran home from work that day, and arriving tired, was initially bemused by the massive pile of smashed glass on the kitchen floor.  After checking the window was still in one piece (it was), my eyes were drawn to the bright orange trainers poking out of the front of the washing machine, and it quickly became clear that they had somehow, literally destroyed the glass-fronted door of the washer. 
 

Big chunks of torn running shoe & shards of broken glass, yikes!

Although most people would have been worried about the washing machine and the inevitable expense of sorting it out I was immediately concerned with only one thing - what was I going to run the marathon in?? Fortunately I had a voucher from Sweatshop for a new pair of shoes for £25, and they had 1 pair of size 10 Racer ST-5s in stock in the Nottingham store where the staff know me by name, given how frequently I'm there... 

So that was one pair of shoes that I kind of *had* to replace, the other was a different, and almost even more disastrous incident, the day before my first half marathon at Silverstone in March. I'd decided that I needed to wash the shoes I'd chosen for my first big running challenge, so put them in the washing machine - no problem I thought, they'll dry quickly, so I hung them on the washing line. 

Unfortunately it was early March, and the shoes were still wet when we left for the drive to Northampton, where we were staying the night before the race. "No problem" I thought, "I'll dry the shoes on a radiator in the hotel room.". After a quick inspection of the very basic room however, it was immediately obvious that there was no radiator in the room - and the only source of heat was a lamp. Rather stupidly (in hindsight, very stupidly), I figured that putting the shoes on top of the lamp to dry them was a good idea - after all, they were very lightweight, my new favourite shoes by far, and would surely dry very quickly...

They didn't dry quickly enough however, because before long they'd caught fire! Sarah suddenly asked "can you smell burning?",  I quickly realised what was wrong - and got the shoes out of the window, hoping that the hotel fire alarm wouldn't go off.  It didn't, which was both relieving (because it would have been very embarrassing) and concerning, (as there had been a lot of smoke, so it should have gone off really), in equal measure...

Fortunately the only real damage to the shoes was that a big chunk of the tongue of one of them was now missing, which meant I could still run in them without too many problems. 

 Saucony Kinvara 2 - loved them, set fire to them! - Oops!

Those shoes, were my favourites, the lightweight, minimalist, make you run fast and free, light and happy: Saucony Kinvara 2...

It was an exchange of positive tweets with the inspirational @MartinBown - who tried the Kinvara 2s on my recommendation, then set a big PB the first time he ran in them, which lead to Saucony's UK arm sending me the as yet unreleased trail (TR) version of the new Kinvara 3s for me to try, and write about. 

I'm pretty sure if Saucony had known about me setting fire to my first pair of Kinvara 2s, they wouldn't have sent me the review pair out. I hope I haven't scuppered my chances of future review pairs from them or other firms by admitting to destroying shoes (but I'm guessing I probably have!) :)

I may also have scuppered my chances of becoming a running shoe reviewer by not actually writing a review yet - this post was originally intended to be all about the Kinvara TRs, but as usual, I've written way more than I intended to and run out of time. 

So, the next post (very soon) will be a proper review of the Kinvara TRs, and I'll end this post with a taster three word summary of my thoughts about them: 

Bright, Comfortable & Surprising. 

One year on, a year of fun, fitness & friends

I felt it was about time I wrote a new post, as I haven't for months, and also because today is the 1st anniversary, of my 1st run in my 1st ever pair of running shoes. 


That year has flown by, and I can't believe that this time last year, I'd never even run 5K, and I never, ever thought I'd call myself a runner and be comfortable, delighted in fact, to be called a runner by others. 


The reason I bought my 1st pair of running shoes, wasn't because I wanted to be a runner, and I really had no desire at all to run regularly, or to run long distances. At the time, I just thought I should have some "proper" shoes, if I was going to have any chance of getting through the triathlon that I'd signed up. That triathlon, the Broxtowe Sprint was to be my big challenge after losing 5st earlier last year, and was suddenly only 4 weeks away and my very limited, painful, running training had all been done in squash shoes!


My first pair of running shoes were Asics Gel Kayano 17s, which I chose after researching online, and I thought they were just what I needed to get me through the scary 5K that I'd have to somehow have to stagger through at the end of the triathlon. 


Since that first run: http://runkeeper.com/user/MikeW30/activity/46109016 which was just over a mile long, I've managed to run another 2,070 miles, to complete my 1st triathlon, 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon, and I've run at least 5K every day, for the past 255 days. 


I've also been lucky enough to try lots of other running shoes, including 2 free pairs, one of which, the Saucony Kinvara TR, aren't even launched yet. I don't want to talk about shoes though, or distances, or races, or PBs, but about why I enjoy running so much, and why I don't plan to stop any time soon. 

For me, the love I've found for running over the past 10 months or so (I didn't start to enjoy it as soon as got my running shoes, one day a few weeks later, something just "clicked"), comes down to fun, fitness, family & friends. 



Fun
Over the past few months, running has gone from being something I never thought I'd be any good at, and never really enjoyed, to a major part of my life, that I can't imagine being without.

I can't imagine being without it because for me, running has become really good fun - it's taken me to many new places, I've discovered footpaths almost on my doorstep that I never knew existed, and beautiful scenery in many parts of the country that I would never have been to, or noticed in years gone by. 

FitnessRunning has also helped my fitness, and although this time last year I was probably fitter than I'd ever been, I'm now feeling fitter than ever pretty much every month, and every time I don't think I can improve any more, I somehow seem to be able to.

I've no idea how much longer I'll be able to keep getting faster or going further, but I do know that I'm already a lot fitter than I ever thought I could be, and I'm feeling so, so much better as a result. 


Family & Friends
The most important aspect of my new love for running isn't the fun, or the fitness though, it's the new friends I've made through running, and the friends, family & neighbours I've grown closer to thanks to running.

I won't try to name everyone here, but I do know that without the constant support of my parents (who also take part in parkrun regularly now, something they'd never have imagined doing a year ago), there's no way I could have run as much as I have.  My sons James and Kieran, who have done amazingly with their running, and my brilliant other half Sarah, who's now training for her first half marathon, (having never run a mile before last December), have made everything so much easier and more enjoyable too, as running with them is amongst my favourite things to do.

My regular training partners Ellie & Stu (Captain America) and Andy Next Door, have also been a crucial in keeping running fun for me, as I enjoy running with others so much more than training solo. 


Tonight, on the anniversary of my 1st, 1 mile run in a pair of running shoes, I ran a 10K race, with 2 friends: Rob who I met through parkrun, and David, who I met through Twitter, and ran a time (44 mins 15 secs), that I never thought I possibly could when I first ran that distance last October.

I wasn't bothered about the time tonight though, it was the experience: running with friends, taking pictures, thanking the marshals and supporters that I enjoyed. That's what I'm looking forward to over the next few weeks and months as well, when I'll be running my first Ultra Marathon (the very scary High Peak 40) with Twitter running friends Matt and Andrew, my next marathon in Chester with Simon & Chris, and Sarah's first half marathon (the Robin Hood). 


Tomorrow morning, I'm back at Colwick parkrun for my 27th run there (and my 33rd parkrun i in total since I started last November : http://www.parkrun.org.uk/athleteresultshistory?athleteNumber=205486 ), and I'll be meeting a new friend, Martin, and running with him for the first time. I'm sure that first run of my 2nd year of running will be just as enjoyable as all the others over the last few months, and I'm really excited to see what the next year will bring, the people I'll meet and family and friends I'll run with.

Hopefully I'll be able to write a few more, and some shorter blog posts too :)

A bit longer than planned & 150 Not Out!

Despite my previous post suggesting I'd keep up with the blogging, (though not every day), it's actually been 80 days since my last post!


That's definitely a bit longer than planned, and I really do plan to start writing more regularly again - hopefully weekly, or at least every couple of weeks. 


"A bit longer than planned" could apply to many things that have happened since my last post, not least when it comes to running, which is something I have managed to keep up with over the past 80 days. I've still been running at least once a day, every day since I last blogged, in fact I'm up to 150 days of consecutive running 5K or more every day, and have no plans to stop any time soon.  


I've managed to just about avoid injury (I had a calf strain that troubled me for a few days and that led to some other minor niggles) and illness (apart from one minor cold), and generally I've been very lucky. I'd always have said I was "lucky in life", but since I started getting into exercise, and running in particular, I've felt even luckier than ever, and I'm certainly enjoying life more than ever. 


Rather than trying to recount everything that's happened over the past 80 days (my daily posts in January were long enough, I can't imagine what a post detailing 2 1/2 months would be like!), Sarah suggested that I just try to mention the highlights, definitely sensible advice, but where to start? 


The biggest highlight since my last post is definitely completing my 1st half marathon - at Silverstone last month. The whole experience was brilliant and the run itself went way, way better than planned. I'd started training with a goal of just getting to the finish, then it became finishing in under 2 hours and I actually ended up almost finishing under 1hr 40! My official time was 1:40:07 - which I was amazed and delighted with especially as it was pretty hot for the time of year (17C) and really sunny throughout!. 


Stuart and I ran together most of the way and he finished just behind me. Ellie & Jono ran brilliantly as well, with Jono making it all the way round despite having a fairly serious knee injury that meant he wasn't able to do any serious training for weeks before. 


Here are some pictures of us on the day.

Waiting and Hydrating!

Shades on - it was a scorcher!

Happy with our medals after!

I loved the whole experience of running a big event, and was very proud of how everyone did - I was also amazed and delighted that we managed to raise over £500 for the charity we ran for - Get Kids Going!

In the run up to the Silverstone Half Marathon, I was planning that if it went well, I'd gradually build up to a full marathon, and would probably aim to make my local event - the Robin Hood Marathon, my first 26.2 mile race. Then, a couple of weeks before running my first half, it was announced there would be no full marathon in Nottingham this year! (for the first time in over 20 years!)

I voiced my frustrations on Twitter and was immediately overwhelmed with running friends suggesting different full marathons I could do later in the year. One that caught my eye was the Greater Manchester Marathon - but there was only one problem - it was at that point only 9 weeks away and only 7 weeks after Silverstone!

Eventually, with a lot of encouragement from my Twitter friends, I decided to sign up, despite most formal running advice suggesting I would be silly to attempt it. Now, what seems like a very short time later, that 9 weeks has become 9 days - and my first marathon is now next Sunday: 29th April 2012!

Training for Manchester has been going pretty well - we've had a very similar routine to before Silverstone, and I've gradually built up the miles for my long runs, and have done 3 runs of 20 miles or more. The first 2 were pretty tough, but last weekend I managed to run 22 miles in the lovely countryside around Sarah's and still felt really good at the end, and that gave me a lot of confidence.

On all 3 of my 20+ training runs, I've been incredibly lucky to have support teams on bikes, passing me food and water, and that's probably my biggest worry for next weekend - that I'll be be going further than I ever have, and won't be able to say "water please" any time I feel I need to... Fingers crossed I'll be OK!

With all the running I've been doing, my cycling and especially my swimming have taken a back seat, so although I'm well ahead of where I planned to be towards my target to run 2012Km this year, I'm well behind my overall target to run/cycle/walk/swim over 5000 miles in 2012.

That hasn't stopped me from entering more events though - I'm going to be doing my first Sprint Triathlon of the year in 3 weeks time (2 weeks after the marathon) and my first Sportive bike ride, ever (the "Tour of the Peak") in 5 weeks time (2 weeks after the Triathlon). 

Here's a summary of where I'm at so far for 2012 (and where I'd need to be to be on target) . 

Running: 840 miles.  Target to date: 379 miles (so I'm way up!)

Walking: 91 miles

Cycling:  245 miles

Swimming: 0.25 miles

Total:         1211 miles   Target to date: 1516 miles (so I'm way down!)

Running streak: 150 days (started 23/11/2011)

So I'm going to literally get on my bike over the next few weeks and months to have any chance of hitting my overall target! 

Right, this post is already far longer than it was supposed to be, so I'm going to sign off now - before I go, I just want to say a big "thanks" to everyone who's helped me over the last few weeks and months, I really appreciate the support I get from friends and family, and my online friends too - especially the Twitter running community. 

In particular I want to thank my amazing parents, and my brilliant other half Sarah, who have been totally supportive throughout, my kids: James and Kieran, who've made incredible progress with their fitness and running too, and my training partners Stuart and Ellie, who've been with me virtually every step of the way. 

I'm definitely planning not to leave it as long until my next post, and hope to do one very soon after my first marathon, if not before it! 

Thanks again to everyone and apologies for another very long post! :)

Mike

It's over! Time to rest - but not to stop...

And that was that for Janathon...


I was hoping that tonight's final #Janathon run would be a group affair, as Andy Next Door and Paul Across The Road had both planned to come with me. Unfortunately, they couldn't make it, so it ended up, for once, just being me, myself and my thoughts. 


I made up the route as I went - I only needed to run 3 miles to bring up 200 for the month of just running, and also knew it would take me over 3500 total miles since I started using RunKeeper last April... 


I ended up running a bit further than planned down Spring Lane, and my pace and form were a bit up and down at times as the footpath was very bumpy and their were no street lights to navigate by. I decided to run back up the road, but that wasn't much better, as every time a car came towards me, I had to jump back to the footpath (a few feet from the road), as I wasn't wearing particularly reflective clothing and didn't want to end #Janathon with a crash!


By the time I got home 26 minutes or so later, I'd added another 3.5 miles to my January total, to go with 1.5 miles of walking at lunchtime. I didn't push too hard, so I was reasonably happy with the pace, given how tired my legs felt before, during and after the run. 


As I ran, my thoughts were mainly about the rest of the year, and what I'd like to achieve, but I also did allow myself to reflect on just how far I've come over the past year, and how January has gone, and I have to admit, I couldn't be much happier! 


During January, I've run further than ever before (200.5 miles, previous best was 152 in December, and in January last year I ran 0 miles!), walked further than ever (nearly 33 miles) and I've managed a grand total of 317.67 miles (walking, running, riding and swimming combined). 


That means I'm well ahead of my target of 2012Km of running for 2012, but well behind where I need to be to hit my overall self-propelled target of 5012 miles. This month has shown me that to hit the overall target, I'm going to have to be on my bike a lot from March to October (when there's more daylight) and I'm worried that may mean that I have to cut back on the running to achieve the overall total miles. 


For now though, I'm planning to keep running every day (I'm up to 70 days in a row now) while I am enjoying doing it, and physically able to do so - and worry about how to fit everything else in once the evenings are lighter. 


One thing I definitely won't be doing every day any more, is writing this blog - over the month I've had conflicting thoughts about whether to keep it up or not (it takes a lot of time!), but the positive feedback I've had from lots of people has encouraged me to not stop completely. I will definitely be taking a break from writing though, at least for a few days, and then will probably pen posts again when there are exciting things to report (PBs, races, new running team members, etc.), rather than promising to do it weekly, monthly etc. 


And that's pretty much that - other than to report that I broke my #Plankaday record again today - 7 minutes 5 seconds !! I'm planning to keep that challenge going (though not planning to do it for that long every day), and I'll be continuing with #Pressupathon and #Situpathon too, they are starting to get tougher now! 


Finally, just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who's supported me this month - my parents, James and Kieran, Sarah, Ellie & Stu, all my Twitter and Facebook buddies, and everyone who's commented on this blog - all the kind words, encouragement and support are massively appreciated. 


Here's the final summary for January: 



Running: 200.44 miles
Walking: 32.86 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0.25 miles
Total: 317.67 miles
Running streak: 70 days (started 23/11/2011)



Thanks again, and until the next time.


Mike

The longest, fastest and most painful run ever!

Wow....

That's about all I have the energy to write, but if one run deserves more description than that, it's the one we managed tonight. 

There were 6 of us on the run - James, Kieran, Stuart, Jono and for the first time, Gary (who often runs with us on Saturdays at Parkrun). 

We were planning to do 10.5 miles, as we're building up to the Silverstone Half Marathon on 11th March, by adding 1/2 mile a week to the long run. We hadn't pre-mapped a route, so I suggested one that I thought could work and we set off. 

The first 3 miles were fairly uneventful, we got into our running and other than briefly stopping when James got a bad stitch after 2K or so, which fairly quickly passed, not a lot happened. 

I'd told the group that I wanted to get a #MagicMile split in (I haven't mentioned it before, but #MagicMile is your fastest individual mile in January, and I hadn't really gone for it for a full mile this month) and decided that mile from the top of Woodborough Rd near Sainsbury's Local, down into town would be the best one (as it's pretty much all downhill!). 

Stuart and I set off together for the fast mile as we reached mile 3 and were soon running at well under 6 minutes per mile (my fastest ever mile on the flat is 6:40), as we reached halfway (where the gradient flattens for a bit), I checked and we were still at around 5:40 pace. As we got down to the final section which was actually a bit uphill, I was frantically checking the distance as I was running out of steam, but we made it to the 4 mile point and I checked RunKeeper's split to see it say 5 minutes 34 seconds!

Stuart and I looped back up the hill to meet the others, and I think that messed RunKeeper up a bit, as the distance jumped, and I when I checked it later, the GPS traces were all over the place. I  edited the route on the PC just before writing this, and after I fixed it, the #MagicMile time was changed to 5:50 - which is still very, very fast for me, and I was totally shattered by the end of it!

The next mile or so was fairly uneventful, except that Kieran and I both started to feel like we needed a bathroom break, and Jono started to feel his knee playing up (he'd hurt it on our long run 2 weeks ago and it has been really troubling him since). I also began to feel pains from my ankles / Achilles, which I guessed was down to not being used to my new shoes (New Balance 1080s) that I picked up for a song yesterday in the Sweatshop Sale when Sarah was getting hers. 

We dropped Jono off at his house after about 6.5 miles as he couldn't face going any further (definitely a sensible choice), and headed down Mansfield Rd into Arnold. The pace began to slow as Kieran was really struggling with aches and pains, and as we began the final climb up Coppice Road, I was really feeling it too - my knees started hurting (which never happens), as well as both calves and my right Achilles in particular. Half way up Coppice Road we stopped to cross a road, and I made a big decision - I was taking the shoes off! 

The feeling when I removed them was great and I ran the last kilometre or so with them in my hands - feeling just like Barefoot Ted in Born to Run - free, natural, and so much better than with the shoes on, and some of the aches disappeared almost immediately!

When we reached home, RunKeeper suggested we'd run 11.6 miles, but after correcting the bit of the run that was wrong, I think it was more like 11.2 for me, a bit further for Stuart, and about 10.7 for the boys and Gary (who didn't run the extra up and the hill). For all of us (other than Stuart) it was definitely the longest run ever, and for Gary, it was well over twice as far as he'd ever run before - and that was before he then rode his bike 4 miles home! 

After the run I was shattered, and only managed a nominal 1:30 #Plankaday, but didn't worry about that, as I was, and still am buzzing from how well everyone did tonight. 

And with that, it's time to sign off - just one more #Janathon run and blog to go! 

Summary so far: 

Running: 196.91 miles

Walking: 31.34 miles

Cycling: 84.12 miles

Swimming: 0.25 miles

Total: 312.62 miles

Running streak: 69 days (started 23/11/2011)

More records and a long overdue swim!

Today has been another day filled with fun and exercise - one that's going to be difficult to summarise in a short blog post (well difficult for me anyway). Short this needs to be though, not just because I want to be posting this on the correct day, but also because I'm shattered and want to get some sleep! 


The first business of the day was getting Sarah some new running shoes as she's been running in standard gym class trainers until now. It's actually only 6 weeks since Sarah's first mile run (when I convinced her to run back from the pub with me after a long walk) and in that time she's made amazing progress. The service from Sweatshop was great as always, and after trying on several pairs, Sarah chose the Brooks Ghost 4s - impressed me, as she was hoping to find some pink ones and the Brooks were amongst the least girlie... 

Sarah's first proper running shoes.

We then took the new shoes for a test run - down the canal to the riverbank, along to the pedestrian bridge that joins Victoria Embankment to the West Bridgford side of the Trent, across it and then headed towards and under Trent Bridge. 


After passing by the City Ground, we did a loop along the riverbank and back... 

The Trent End at the City - with Trent Bridge in the background.

We retraced our route back up the canal and ended up with a total of 5.7 miles, which was over half a mile further than Sarah's longest previous run, and the first 5K today was also her fastest 5K ever too - 33:30. The shoes clearly helped, but I'm amazed how much progress she's made in just a few weeks - from "I will never be a runner" to running for over an hour today, without stopping once and very nearly completing her first 10K (that's next week's plan :)). 


This afternoon, my Mum joined Sarah and I for a lovely walk through the nature reserves and Woodland Trust areas near here, in a big and hilly loop that eventually ended up, after 6.5 miles at the gym/health club where my parents are members. Mum and Dad had received free guest passes when they joined the club, and kindly offered them to Sarah and I. We weren't able to stay as long as we would have liked (next time we'll stay longer!), but it was great to spend some time in the sauna and steam room and, for the first time in over 2 months, I went for a swim! I only did 400M, but felt pretty good and was really happy to have finally logged my first swimming miles (well, 0.25 miles) of the year. 


We then walked back home (another mile) and then had a very tasty evening meal of posh sausages, Crinkle Cut chips and beans - and I managed to get #Pressupathon and #Situpathon done while it was cooking. 


As usual this post has ended up longer than planned - it's very hard to summarise such a fun day in a small number of words, but I need to sign off now as I need to get up early for work tomorrow and then it's long run night tomorrow night!


Annual summary (major milestone reached - 300 total miles!): 



Running: 185.7 miles
Walking: 30.18 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0.25 miles
Total: 300.25 miles
Running streak: 68 days (started 23/11/2011)

One run, 5 PBs and a curry!

Today has involved less exercise than almost any other day this year - the plans for a bike ride this afternoon didn't materialise for various reasons, but it's still been a fun and successful day nonetheless. 


The day started with my 11th consecutive Parkrun (I've run the event every week since first discovering it in November) and it was one of the most memorable so far (though they've all been great!). 


Despite the warnings of rain/sleet overnight and a frosty start this morning, it actually turned out to be another beautiful morning, almost perfect for running. There were several regulars missing from our group this morning: Andy Next Door, Martin, and my Mum and Dad couldn't make it, Ian was cheering on from the sidelines, rather than running this week, and Mark joined my parents on the list of my friends / family who've volunteered as marshals - loads of respect to him for doing it, (the boys and I are volunteering for the first time the week after next as it's half term). 


That left 7 of us in our group this morning. James, Kieran and I, Ellie & Stuart (regular training partners), Gary from work, and for the first time, Jason, who I've been encouraging for weeks to join us, and who finally made it today. 


Having paced James (my eldest, who's 14) to a massive new PB last week, today I'd promised to try to do the same for Kieran (12) who had gone from having a PB 3 seconds slower than his big brother, to nearly a minute slower in one race last weekend. James decided to try to run with Gary (who's a very strong runner), so set off ahead of us, while Stuart (the strongest of all of us) stayed pacing Ellie a bit further back, while Kieran and I were in the middle. By the time we set off, Jason, who was walking with his dog, hadn't made it to the start, so ended up starting after everyone else, right at the back!


James and Gary quickly built a big lead over Kieran and I, but we weren't concerned, as we were bang on our target pace for the first mile (8:10), despite there being a really good turnout again this week and the first 1/2 mile being very crowded as we ran past people who'd set off too quickly and were slowing down. 

A typical view around 1/2 a mile from the start.

As we started the second mile, the gap to James stopped growing, as we upped our pace, and Kieran started to really get into his running - Gary, meanwhile had left James a bit behind, in his own quest for a PB. 


As we approached 1/2 distance, the views across the large lake were great, and I was able to capture a fairly decent picture of just how inspiring the scene was: 

The sun rises over the large lake at Colwick

We reached 1/2 distance in 12:20 - well on schedule for Kieran's target (under 25 mins), and continued to maintain the gap to James as we passed Mark, who was on marshal duty at the 2 mile point (I managed to divert off the course slightly for a quick high five!). 


As we started our second lap of the small lake, it was clear that Kieran was going to smash his PB, as long as he didn't hit the wall in the final mile, and fortunately there was no sign of that happening, despite our pace continuing to increase (our third mile was a 7:30). With 1/2 a mile to go, we saw Ian, Sarah and Max cheering everyone on from the sidelines (and I managed to divert for another high five), and by this point I was confident that Kieran was going to easily smash his previous best. 


And so it proved - after surging past a more experienced runner in racing flats with 200m to go, I told Kieran that if he kept going all the way to the line, I'd let him beat me, and that's exactly what he did - stopping our watches at 24:22, a massive 38 seconds better than his previous time! He was delighted with his run, James (who'd looked to be 15 or 20 seconds ahead of us all the way), was less happy with his performance, despite me telling him that I thought he could also have beaten his own record. Similarly Gary, who was aiming for a 23:00 run, was disappointed as he knew he hadn't made that time. 


We waited for Ellie & Stuart to make it to the finish, before setting off to take the boys to Music School. Just before we left, I called Jason to find out where he was, (and it soon became apparent he had no idea!), but fortunately he wasn't far away from the car park, so we gave him directions and headed on our way. 


I was confident that Kieran would have a massive PB when the official results came through at lunchtime, but had no idea about everyone else.  As it turned out, of the 7 us who started the race, this morning, 5 of us got PBs - and the only 2 who didn't were Stuart and I, who were acting as pacers (it's our turn to race next week!).

Here are the star performances:


Gary: 23:16 (new PB by 26 seconds)
James: 24:02 (new PB by 5 seconds)
Kieran: 24:22 (new PB by 38 seconds)
Ellie: 28:44 (new PB by 4 seconds)
Jason: 42:34 (new PB as it was his first event!) 


Both boys were rightly delighted with their performances, and I was too - there can't be many things more rewarding than running with your kids and seeing them set new records! :)


The rest of the day was spent relaxing with the boys and preparing for tonight's curry night - that involved lots of cleaning / tidying (something I've been neglecting a lot recently), before I could start on a cooking a mountain of food. 


I make curry recipes up as I go, but they always seem to be appreciated, tonight I concocted "Chicken Normal" and "Spicy Surprise", and everyone was very complimentary about how they came out (and I thought they were pretty good too)! It was already after midnight when the party wound down, meaning that I was a bit scuppered getting this post done on the correct #Janathon day - at least I've managed to get it written (semi-coherently I hope!) before going to bed, which is exactly what I'm going to do now!