I've been meaning to write another entry for a long time. It's been on my to do list and it keeps getting trumped by urgent things - work, in particular, has been "getting in the way" - how dare it?! So here goes...
The BIG NEWS is that we've entered the Transalpine Run 2012!!!! Check out www.transalpine-run.com and there's also some really cool footage on You Tube. I think we were a bit too keen to get our names down for this one - we knew that entries opened on 1st December but we didn't have a time. So both of us were sitting there refreshing the entry page every 5 minutes until entries opened. It still has entries now so I think this behaviour was probably a little unnecessary!
We're both really excited about it. But also quite scared - well I am! It's a "long" year this year - what that means is that we will be covering 8 marathons in 8 days... over the Alps! Will training in Richmond Park cut it?!
Getting our entry in has got our motivation going which is great. Not least cos preparing for this race is going to take me into training volumes I haven't experienced before. On one weekend recently, we ran 36k on the Saturday and 24k on the Sunday. We were both actually quite pleased with how we coped. But it did highlight that we will need to plan our weekend nutrition much more carefully. Sneaking in a milkshake after Saturday's run, followed by afternoon tea with friends and then bread and soup in the evening isn't quite going to cut it!
Our favourite training run to date was a trip out to the Surrey Hills on the first weekend in December. We parked in Westcott and ran the Greensands Way to Peaslake. We know the area well from cycling but not all the off-road paths through the Hurtwood. So we decided that sticking to a long distance trail would be a good starting point for navigation. It was a good route with some decent climbs and some great views. The latter were helped by the weather being completely uncharacteristic for December - we were still running in shorts and t-shirt.
Our approach to this run was different to training for marathons and other road races or triathlons. Over the next 9 months, it's all going to be about time on our feet and building up leg strength and endurance. So it was more of a walk-run and there was no pressure on time or heart rate. It was just about being out there and enjoying it. I'm looking forward to that aspect of our training - it will be about going to some beautiful places together and exploring. So we're having fun getting ideas of where we can go and do some tough multi-day sessions not too far from London. Any ideas welcome...
Today we ran the Portsmouth marathon. What I really noticed about the race was how civilised it was. The route was really scenic and all of it was off road. A significant amount was single track and it was completely varied - from beach front to trail to running along the beach to slipping and sliding through mud and puddles. It wouldn't be a race for anyone focused on even splits but I enjoyed it. It felt like we were all on a Sunday run together! The low-light for me was when I went over on my ankle at 15 miles. I'm now sat on the sofa with an ice pack on it. It was quite a nasty fall and I was really impressed by how many people stopped to check how I was. I won't name any names but there are certainly some marathons I've done where this wouldn't have happened!
My ankles are a bit of a worry for the Transalpine. They've been weak for ages and I've been doing exercises to strengthen them. Looks like I need to do some more though! And think about whether / how to tape them up or wear supports for off-road runs. I taped the right today cos that's a lot weaker and then went over on the left! Not ideal.
And the highlight of the race? One of my friends commented afterwards on how good my technique was at the 26 mile mark. I've been working on technique for the past year and so this was a real compliment. I know how I see my running style in my head but for someone (who's a super-good runner himself) to say that it actually looks like that in reality shows that all the hard work is paying off!
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