2013 season review

This may seem like an odd time to do an end of season review given that I've still got several races to do before the end of the year. However, my season was meant to end with the RAT on 17th August. And so I thought it would be useful to explore why that ended up being my first (rather than last) race of the year.

My number one learning is that I should have never ever ever thought I could keep up ultra training while moving house. Especially when that house move involved selling a flat, buying a house that needs a not insignificant amount of work, moving to an entirely new area, extending my commute by about 25 mins in each direction and meaning I no longer have the option of running from home to work.  I massively underestimated the huge impact this would have in me.

We did decide not to do any racing until after the move and our first race wasn't until 2 months after the move. But that was a 20 miler and with a 50k scheduled for a month after that and my first 100k a month later it definitely added an extra layer of stress that I didn't need.

I've also learned some useful lessons about training for long single day events. Knowing that long training runs are key we scheduled a lot of these. So many that there were points when we were running around 30 miles every Saturday. During the heat wave I just don't think this was sensible - I took myself into some very dark places and don't think I helped myself psychologically as I didn't enjoy many of these sessions. I also had to dig so deep that I struggled to get good consistent sessions for the rest of the week. Next year I'll schedule a long run every 3-4 weeks rather than every weekend. And follow it with a rest week.

Consistency has been the main issue for me this year. I've been ill quite a bit (mainly due to stress) and with time needed for admin related to the move this means I've never really got to the point where I'm in a consistent routine. I believe that this sort of consistency (e.g. 3-6 months of averaging 50-70 miles per week) is key to ultra running success. It also helps me to keep my weight down.

My main objective for next year will be consistency. I definitely feel more settled now in terms of our new home and my commute. And I've had a rethink in terms of how I structure my week. I've recently realised that I can get off the train at Clapham Junction and do a 9 mile run to work through the parks and along the river. It's a nice route and that's important to me. My plan is to do it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday mornings. Then on Friday I'll work from home and have a rest day before the weekend which will include an hour of yoga.

That's been a good learning from this year - I've bought some yoga DVDs and have been using them whenever I can. Being able to do an instructed yoga session at home and in my own time has made this much easier to fit in than going to a class.

On that note, we're buying some gym equipment for our front room. I did quite a bit of leg work over the winter this year and aim to get to the gym at lunch time for 30 mins 2-3 times per week to do core exercises. This helps me to maintain my form over the longer distances and builds my small stabilising muscles (e.g. knees and ankles). By having some basic weights and a wobble board at home it'll be easy for us to do this together in the evenings.

We're also looking at buying mountain bikes. This is something we always promised ourselves we'd do when we moved out of London. And we're both keen to start cycling again. It should be great cross-training, prevent us from doing massively high running mileage year round and will also be a good way of recce-ing running routes - for example the South Downs Way which we've entered as our "A race" for next year.

One of the main reasons for picking this race is that it's close by and we'll be able to train on terrain that's the same as we'll be racing on. We both loved the transalpine run but will be hard-pressed to "race" any of the big mountain races as we just can't train on similar terrain where we live. While we'll definitely look to spend time abroad training, we realised this year that we both got enjoyment from being able to race the RAT and be competitive.

 We've now got a couple of marathons scheduled before the end of October and then we'll be buying our mountain bikes and doing some shorter faster runs over the winter before we start ramping up for the South Downs Way and hopefully learning some of the lessons from this year...

It's all about the back (Hannah)

Last year I had a significant period out from training due to a sharp ankle pain – after lots of work with my osteo (John and Paddy at Montserrat Clinic in Putney), my acupuncturist (Charles Bourne – www.bourneacupuncture.com) and Martin Felix (super-sports-masseur who’s been keeping Brett and me on the road for the last six years – www.martinfelix.co.uk) it became clear that the original cause of the problem was tightness in my back.  This was translating into a skewed pelvis and the problems that filtered out of that all the way down to my feet.

So the solution was lots of back stretches and work on spinal flexibility.  I realised that if I have 30 mins to stretch then at least 20 mins of this should be spent working on my back and hips.  And if I only have 10 mins to stretch then I’m best to spend all of this working on my back and hips.  This is complemented by a pilates session with Nathan on Monday evenings which forces me to do stretches, mobilisation work and core exercises that I might otherwise avoid.

As I’ve mentioned before, I was struggling with a tight left glute / hip back in February this year which put me out of training for a bit and caused me to DNF in a marathon.  After lots of treatment my back came out as the root cause again.  This time the main problem is the side of my back – and since I discovered that I’ve been able to do something about it and am running happily again.  I now do mobilisation work before I run (several reaches over to each side and great big circles with my arms and hips), side stretches after I run (sometimes on the power plate to increase the intensity) and spend a lot of time with a microwaveable heat pack (aka a “huggy”) tied to my waist – I know I’ve been training hard when I manage to sleep the whole night through with this strapped to me!

Whilst it’s frustrating to have learned the same lesson as last year it’s helped to hammer home the importance of core strength and spinal flexibility.  And it’s helped me to run again which is the most important thing.  My mileages now are considerably higher than they’ve ever been before, regularly exceeding 100km per week.  So it’s not surprising that I’m getting a few niggles or that my body is reacting differently to how it has before.  The key thing is that I learn how to recognise these niggles, deal with them and keep them at bay.  I’m now happily running 100km weeks again and I recently did my first ultra – the Endurance Life Sussex Coastal Trail Series.  I loved it and will definitely be back for more.

So to summarise, what are the main things I do to keep myself running...

• I stretch for at least 20 mins after I run with lots of focus on back and hips stretches – the plough is a must, spinal rotation, side stretches, hip flexors, psoas stretch.
• Pilates once a week with Nathan at Virgin Active Strand – he runs a tough session which forces me outside my comfort zone in terms of both stretching and core.
• At least two more core / gym sessions during the week, incorporating a lot of time on the TRX.  And also calf raises, single leg squats etc.
• Regularly strapping a huggy to any tight bits of my body – when I’m working from home or before I go to bed.
• Leaving a tennis ball on the sitting room floor so I can massage my feet regularly and release any tension – I do this first thing in the morning and while watching TV in the evening.
• Seeing Martin for massage every couple of weeks.
• Osteo every three months or so to realign everything and in between if I have any particular problems.
• Acupuncture sessions from Charles Bourne, especially when it comes to dealing with any acute problems.

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Back on the bike (Hannah)

It's three weeks since I twisted my ankle and I'm still not able to run - I think I probably tore something and running the final 11 miles of the marathon on it wasn't very sensible.  But experience has taught me that I mustn't rush back into training or it'll be a problem that drags on for months.

So, other than a few walks, I spent the Christmas period resting.  And I think my body needed it - once it had realised it was time to rest I found myself sleeping a huge amount each night.  It's been a shock heading back to work this week but I do feel a lot better.

But the problem with catching up with myself and doing minimal exercise is that I've not been sleeping particulary well over the last few days.  Definitely time to start tiring myself out again!  So, I'm back on my turbo trainer, doing lengthy endurance sessions in the hope that these will help my running.  And I'm also walking lots.  I followed this approach last year when I had calf problems - but I'd definitely prefer to be outside running rather than inside on a turbo!

I've also been doing lots of balance work - to get the nerves etc firing properly again and to build up all the small stabilising muscles.  So I'm spending lots of time standing on one leg, doing one legged squats, balancing on the bosu, lunges, ...  I've been doing lots of googling on ankle strengthening and I found one article that suggested that, if you can't stand on one leg for 30 seconds with your eyes closed, then this indicates that your risk of going over on your ankle is increased.  So I've figured that I need to get to a place where I can stand on one leg for a lot longer than that!

Things are definitely improving so hopefully I'll be back running in the next week or so...  And definitely continuing with all the strengthening exercises.

New shoes (Hannah)

Brett bought me a very inspired birthday present and it arrived yesterday...  a pair of huaraches, straight from the fair hands of Barefoot Ted in Seattle.  So this evening we headed up into Richmond Park to try them out.
It was a stunning autumn evening - it had been a clear blue sky day so the evening light was lovely and warm, shining through the autumn trees and bouncing off the turning leaves.  There were also several bonfires burning - that and the chill in the air definitely made my body realise that fireworks season is almost upon us!

Anyway, onto the shoes...  they were great.  Fantastic barefoot feel, surprisingly comfortable and I didn't get little stones caught in them like you do with normal sandals.  I need to do a bit of experimenting with tying and knots but, as it was, I didn't need to stop and adjust them at all during the 5 mile run.  Probably won't go out and run a marathon in them tomorrow but it might be a good aim to build towards that...  I've learned from past experience (Vibram Fiver Fingers last year) that I mustn't get too excited and build things too quickly - a month out with calf and ankle problems was the result.  So I will continue lots of calf stretching and ankle strengthening exercises (one leg squats on the TRX and ankle raises) and build things slowly...

It was dark by the time we finished our run and there was a huge harvest moon bobbing over the park - perfect end to the working week.  Let's hope things are looking as beautiful tomorrow morning when we head out for our long run...