More Zen comments

Ian

All I want to say is; Stuart did 2.59.11 (I nearly hugged him), Jane did 1.58.38 (I did hug her) and I have a bad back.

Enough said roll on next week

Milly back in training

Well nicely over my op. My first run was very hard only a couple of miles was glad when she turned round. Back into it nicely though wish we could go a bit further am getting a bit bored with short runs. Have chewed a bit of furniture to give them the hint that I am bored and need more exercise. Hopefully they will get the hint soon. He has hurt his back so am just getting grumpy walks with him and she has run some run she keeps going on about and is "resting". What about me I say. Need to go and chew some more furniture.

Edinburgh Half - Jane

Was very nervous before the start, needed the loo about a zillion times but the weather was overcast and raining so looked promising. Had a slow start (for once) but then did three quick miles before I ran to a portaloo as needed the loo again (must get over these nerves) then settled down into a comfortable pace another two quick miles around 7/8 miles then back to a reasonable pace. Felt comfortable all the way round but seemed miles after passing the Racecourse to the turning point. Great having people, especially, ian cheering everyone on - really makes a difference. Managed to run under two hours which I never thought I would do so am fairly pleased with myself (ian says I am going on - but am not really and as Theresa reminded me he had alot of air time over his elite marathon time!!). Feel alot more confident about the marathon and my running capabilites which is a good thing as was feeling as though I wasn't getting anywhere. So have learnt today that I can run faster than I thought; still hate gel bars and need to find smaller ones as I need them and cooler weather suits me better. Going to have more wine now...

Ian's Blog No 2

Update from Ian

Another good weeks training. Five easy miles on Monday then on Tuesday, which is one of my core days, I ran an easy treadmill 4 miles at lunch time and a long hard 10 mile run up Doon Hill with Richard and Stuart from the Club in the evening. On Wednesday I had a busy day at work so only managed to run in the evening but did a good 8 miles off road. Four easy miles at lunchtime on Thursday was followed by a hard track session in the evening. One mile warm up then 4 x 600 then 8 x 300. I again did my long run on Friday evening. 13.17 miles at 6.40 pace was a hard but very satisfying. The week was finished off with an easy 5 miles on Sunday. So a 50+ mile week sets me up nicely for the Edinburgh Half next Sunday which Jane and I have managed to get an entry for.

Zen like focus

"But the most important thing is to run a sub 3 hour marathon nothing else matters, partner, blog even the dog, nothing is more important that this."

Words of wisdom from a master of his art who is well on the path to true running enlightenment (not sure Jane and the dug will agree.....)

Afraid I do not yet have the zen-like focus Ian has at the moment, hopefully it will come. I've been poorly disciplined since basking in the glory of completing the E2NB 20 miler race couple of weeks ago, only managing the core weekly schedule of club run + intervals + weekend run - barely scraping by with 30 miles/week. I need to play catch-up big style and FAST. Completed the Loch Leven half marathon yesterday, a decent PB in not so great windy conditions may have given me the motivation to get the mileage up again - but not before sitting on my arse the rest of the weekend. A forthcoming week's fishing commencing next Saturday in the Outer Hebrides with the fishing guys, accompanied by lashings of coronary-inducing breakfasts and high alcohol intake, is most definitely not part of the plan, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. The running kit will be packed for the week, however, and no doubt met by the usual looks of disapproval and mild derision from the other 3 non-runners.

My focus at the moment will be on pace consistency, crucial for a good, measured marathon. Made a reasonable attempt at pacing at yesterday's half, fairly happy with the splits which gave me a bit of reserve energy in the dying stages of the race:

Split Times Loch Leven 2010

1 7:17
2 7:10
3 7:25
4 7:20
5 7:32
6 7:07
7 7:10
8 7:33
9 7:24
10 7:16
11 7:43
12 7:25
13 7:25
14 0:53

Summary 01:36:47

Dog

Milly here:
Not done much running over the last month, with the people putting me in prison (sorry kennells) whilst they went on holiday and then to cap it all they got stuck so I had to go and stay with the old folk with their big boxer, Charlie. It was a bit scary at first and I wasn't sure what was happening but got lots of treats and walks but no runs. Then the people got back and if being in prison (sorry kennells) and staying with Charlie the big scary boxer wasn't enough they shipped me off to the VETS for an operation to remove my girlie bits. So no running for me and even had to stay on the lead!! Was allowed a short run tonight so hopefully will get a bit of my fitness back but was a bit out of breath I can tell you. going back to sleep in front of the fire.....

This is my second blog entry. With 21 weeks to go I've started my marathon training. Following the calf injury I picked up whilst on holiday I managed to get through a week of no running. This last week has gone really well. I started with an easy 5 miles off road run in the forest of Dalbeatie and came through that with no after effect. With my confidence boosted I ran an easy 4 miles on the treadmill Tuesday lunchtime followed by a hard fast run with Stuart at the Club in the evening. We set off at a steady pace a picked it up in the last 3 miles. A good 9 mles at 6.40 pace was just what I needed. On Wednsday I ran 5 mles at lunch and 6 miles in the evening. Thursday saw a 4 mile treadmill run at lunch time with the Club monhly 5 k time trial in the evening. I had a handicap of 17.45 and managed 17.31 which whilst not my best time was still pretty good. On Friday I decided to do my long run as the weekend was going o be very busy. I ran 14 miles at 7.4 pace. This is the longest run I've managed for some time and kept the pace steady at 7.04. Unforunately I felt a it of a twinge in my right achillies which is an old injury I've previously suffered from. I iced the sore bit and had a rest day on Saturday. Today I ran an easy off road 5 mles in 40 minutes and iced the achillies which doesn't feel any worse. So fingers crossed things should be ok. This is my first full week of marthon training. The core sessions on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings went very well and I just hope to be able to maintain this pattern of training.

The Girlies Training Plan

Janie here:
Our plan for the next few months (as soon as Alice (theresa) is recovered from falling down her rabbit hole) is the build up our long run by two miles a month. May is a 14 mile month, June 16, July 18, and so on. The idea to run up to three at the appropriate distance per month. So far I have only managed to two long runs a month. Last week I did 14 miles at the weekend and 16 during the week but was then tired for the rest of the following week so have only run a pathetic 13 miles this week. I am planning to do 2 x 3.5 runs, a track session, 7 or so miles on Tuesday and 14 over the weekend plus hopefully another 4 ish miles. Which would put me at over 30 miles which would be ok. May is a very busy month for us as loads of family stuff going on so weekends all very busy. The following weekend I am doing the Edinburgh 1/2 and following that am going to have two weeks of lots of shorter runs. But we shall see!! Hopefully Theresa will be able to start doing something this week but we have plenty of time and feeling a bit more like running again. Not sure I am cut out for this marathon training lark!

Introducing Ian

Ian here:
Finally got round to completing my first blog entry. Apart from Brian I am the serious athlete in our merry band of four. The marathon is not about finishing it is about finishing in a good time. My history of running spans a decade or more. I first jointed Dunbar Running Club to get fit for the three peaks race. This is a sailing and running race on the West Coast fo Scotland. After completing, well not quite as we dropped out of the second race, two of these events I began to enjoy running and haven't looked backed since. Since then I have completed in more taces that I can remember. Cross county in the winter and road races in the summer. I have run at all distances from 5K to completing two marathons. I hae also completed a few triathlons, a couple of long ditances duathlons, Coriaich Challenge twice and the Highland Cross once. I also enjoy mountain bking and have had some age gorup success in the Glenress duathlons and have compelted the grueeling Bealch Na Bah 90 mile road cycle tour twice and enver again. I have also completed in the stupid Deerstalker race for the last three years and hope not to that again. ever.
But running is my thing. My marathon hisory is pretty short compared to others. Running 26.3 miles wasn't really on my agenda for a long time. I have rn a 34 minute 10k anda 76 minute half marathon although my good friend Stuart would challenge that the distance at the Edinburgh 1/2 in 208 wasn't accurate, but gealously is very ugly. I ran my first marathon in 2007 in London. it was a very hot day but otherwise perfect conditions. For anyone who has done this race they will know how fantastic the atmosphere is in and around ther oute. For those who haven't done London then do. I managed to finish in 2.56.31 and was very pleased. I struggled over the last couple of miles and found stairs up and down very difficult for a few days afterward but really enjoyed the whole experiece. In 2008 I ran my second marathon this time in Edinburgh. A few weeks earlier I had run the Dinburgh to North berwick 22 mile road raceaand finsihed really quickly almost but note quite ctching the lead runner so I knew I was in good shape. I finished Edinburgh in 2.44.57 which gae me an Elite entry to London. I have suffered ofer the last few years with problems with my feet and took a do or die attitute toward my third marathon training. Unfortunately I never made London in 2009 and missed my chance to line against the worlds elite runners. It would have been nice to sit next o Haile and compare training notes (like I'm in his league NOT)>
Anyway 2009 was pretty disastrous as far as training went. I ran avery poor Northumberland Coastal run and gave up for a couple of months afterwards concentrating on keeping fit by cycling. After this short break and some magic by a Podiatrist my feet and Achilles problems sorted themselves out and I started training again. The plan was to build up over 3 months to 40 miles a week at christams then 12 weeks of 40 miles up tot he end of March, move up to 50 mile weeks for April and the first part of My and finish with theEdinburgh 1/2 at the end f the month. This would then get me prepared for full marathon training over the net 16 weeks.
The plan has gone pretty well. The build up phase went well, 40 miles a week was a breeze and I managed to run a 60 minute 10 mile race at lasswade. I then started the 50 mile weeks. Finding the time has been difficult and a two week (the second week was forced on us deo the nice volcanic erption) holiday to France interupted my routine. I also picked up a left clasf muscle injury somehoe tso have not run since Monday and will continue to rest until at least next week now. We also missed the cu off for the Edinburgh 1/2 but I am working on that.
All in all I think I am in pretty good shape and things have gone to plan so far. I will plot out the sixeen week training programme in some detail based on the programmes I followed for the other marathons.
I will try to keep the blog up to date with my progress. But the most important thing is to run a sub 3 hour marathon nothing else matters, partner, blog even the dog, nothing is more important that this.

bad week

Janie here:
Ran 14 miles on trails at the weekend at Dalbeattie and felt great. Ran on Tuesday with the club which was a nice easy run along through John Muir Country Park and felt rubbish. Legs felt dead and felt couldn't run at all. Came home feeling that the marathon was just impossible. Thought wouldn't run on Wednesday as legs obviously tired. Ran the 5k timetrial on Thursday and did 25.27 which is a PB. Whats that all about????

Edinburgh to North Berwick 20 mile race

Brian here.

I've scraped together a bit more mileage in the legs last few weeks, a couple of 13 milers culminating in a 15 miler a week or so ago. Not really enough, in my mind, to embark on this 20 mile road race, so I said to myself i'd just treat it as a training run (aye right).

En route to Portobello (via North Berwick to pick up Anne and Stuart Hay), my pre race karma was affected quite badly by witnessing a roe deer taking its final gasps of breath on the roadside after bounding through a hedgeline and onto the road in front of a van coming the opposite way. Nothing could be done for the poor animal so we carried on.

At the race, the plan was to stick to a steady and consistent pace, and i'd worked out that 8 minute/mile pace over the course would bring me over the line at 2: 40. Nice in theory, but with a stiff NE headwind, and with much of the route being west to east on an exposed coastline, that could be tricky - so a bit of expectation management might be required. Anyway, hung off at the start at a comfortable pace, felt good at both the 5 and 10 mile points. 13 miles passed without incident, and the gentle, but fairly long 'ascent' into Gullane at about 15 miles took a bit of time out my legs, though still managed to pass 3 or 4 runners at that point. A further barb was in store as we left Gullane and approached Archerfield/Dirleton, where a further little hill took its toll. Leaving Dirleton, and refreshed by a water stop manned by Neil Jones from the club and family, managed to pass a few more runners on the straight approaching North Berwick. I got buoyed up at this point and managed to up the pace considerably for the last mile and a half - where does that come from?

Clocked in at 2: 39, very happy with that considering the headwind. Still need to check the split times to see just how consistent my pacing was.

Great race, and nice route along the East Lothian coast. Almost falls into the category of one of those races where it is better to travel than to arrive...........