Just a brief blog. One week ago today I ran the Valencia Marathon and for those that run long distances you know there is a good chance that a day or two later you will be walking like a robot as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) says hello.
Well, I think I have made a scientific breakthrough as I have not suffered any DOMS unlike the London Marathon where a couple of days after the run, stairs were my nemisis.
After the Marathon on Sunday, once I collected my medal, I had a little stretch and then had to walk quite a bit first to find Mich & Max and then to get back to the hotel. This was temporarily interupted for a sit down and a few beers. The after having a shower and relaxing for an hour or so, I donned compression tights and then went for another walk for about an hour before having Paella for dinner with a glass of rijoca.
The next day I was walking most of the day as we walked round the city before flying home late evening.
The rest of the week, I have had very mild aching legs and no real pain at all.
So my conclusion and 6 step guide for preventing DOMS is:
1) Stretch gently and walk for 30-45 mins straight after the run
2) Have a couple of beers
3) Wear compression tights and walk for another hour
4) Have a good meal plus glass or two of red wine
5) Sleep in compression tights
6) Walk for at least a couple of hours the next day
or to help, just remember S.W.A.T (Stretch, Walk, Alochol, Tights)
Until next time
TJH
Sunday 25 November 2012
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Valencia Part 3 - The Weekend Away
This is a bit like Star Wars where the prequel comes after the the main event, or maybe like Pulp Fiction where the order of everything is a bit jumbled up
VALENCIA THE WEEKEND AWAY
Myself, Mich & Max flew out to Valencia on Thursday evening. Two hour flight. The Metro also runs from the airport, so we only had to get one train, nice and easy. #Tip1 A single ticket costs 4Euros, but you can buy a ticket that has 10 journeys for 21Euros. Also, one ticket can be used by multiple people. We saw a group of French students take advantage of this fact. I felt sorry for the fella holding the ticket though who hand to stand at the gate swiping the ticket to let all his mates through.
A 10 min walk saw us arrive at our hotel (Silken Puetra Valencia), and a simple check-in. Mich sorted out Max for bed, whilst I went for a wander to buy some bottled water and a bit of grub.
Friday morning, we walked down to the Expo being held in the City of Art & Sciences; a collection of modern buildings with some amazing architecture situated in an oasis that runs through Valencia.
Collection was very simple and you collected your goody bag as well which was a smart drawstring gym bag itself, plus a quality technical t-shirt and a buff. I am not talking about complimentary polishing here, if you do not know, a buff is a material tube that can be used in a multitude of ways. In fact my Union Jack bandanna is actually a buff! The timing chip was incorporated in the number (which seems to be becoming more popular now days) so you had to scan that to check that it was registered correctly. Sad I know, but I had to take a photo. Oh I wasn't the only one either!
With collection all sorted, it was time for excursion number 1 a trip to the Valencia Zoo, known as the BioPark. Quite simply, an amazing Zoo the enclosure are huge and no unsightly metal fences and it is very well designed. Being in November, hardly any crowds either yet still t-shirt weather. A few pics that I took of the residents can be found here. Valencia BioPark
Late afternoon, we had a wander round the old city before having dinner and an earlish night.
Saturday was Max's 3rd Birthday, so Mich decorated the room whilst he was asleep with balloons and a banner and after opening his cards and some of his presents, we didn't take all of them on holiday, 20kg limit on baggage you see, we went for some breakfast before planned excursion number 2, a trip to the aquarium, known as Oceanografic (apparently Europe's largest aquarium)
Before we went there though, I stopped off at Mestalle home ground of Valencia Football Club to purchase tickets for the weekend's game versus Espaynol. Whilst trying to buy the tickets, I was asked which country I was from, which I though was a bit strange? then I was asked for my passport which was back at the hotel (luckily less than a 10 min walk away), so once back with my passport, tickets were finally purchased. It was only as I walked away, I noticed that the tickets I had been sold were for the Champions League game versus Bayern Munich for this week. Cue arranging a refund (and the realisation of the question about which country I was from) I then had to go to a different ticket window to buy tickets. The bonus was that the same seats cost 25Euros each instead of 40.
It was quite a walk to the aquarium, probably about and hour. But once we got there again you couldn't but be impressed. A huge shark tank with underwater tunnel, beluga whales, penguins, sea lions every species of fish you could think of, including (very important for a 3yo) Nemo! At 3.30pm we made our way to the show arena for the 4pm Dolphin show. Max loved this as did Mich and I. They actually had 10 dolphins performing at the same time which made for a spectacular show.
After the show, we decided to have a stroll back to the hotel and look for something to eat. We had seen a couple of restaurants near the football ground so made our way in that direction, having already passed our hotel and only being a few minutes from the ground I looked at a TV in a cafe window and saw the abbreviation in the top corner VAL 0 - 0 ESP with 10 minutes on the clock. Mich said maybe it was a repeat of a previous game, but as we went round the next corner, we saw the floodlights on and heard the crowd noise. I thought the game was Sunday evening when it had in fact kicked off at 6pm on Saturday. #Tip number 2 check the date of the football game!
So I left Mich and Max standing outside the cafe whilst I ran back to the hotel with the empty pushchair, up to our room, to then find both key cards were not working. Eventually I got back to Mich (after muchos expletives) for her to tell me that Valencia had scored (muchos expletives again) Whilst we were trying to get in the ground, we heard a muted cheer and I mentioned that maybe Espaynol had scored. Eventually we found our seats with 35 mins on the clock. The 2nd half was a poor game of football to be honest, Iv'e seen better at The Den ;-). Oh, and Millwall fans wouldn't stand for all the theatrics even from Millwall players! The game was not helped by a referee who didn't seem to have a clue and he then awarded an 89th min penalty to Valencia (it was never a pen) Delgado who had come on as a sub stepped up and notched. So at least we got to see a goal even if it wasn't from open play. On the way back to the hotel, I purchased Max a Valencia scarf (his now adopted Spanish team) and we popped into a specialist beer shop to buy Mich a couple of beer (no drinking for me with a Marathon to run the next morning) The owner saw the scarf and signalled 2-1 with is fingers. Having forgotten about the muted cheer I promptly replies in my fluent spanish "No Dos, Zero" I even posted on Facebook that I had seen Valencia win 2-0. It was only today looking at the results in the paper that I saw Valencia DID win 2-1. El Raymondo, muchos stupido! Oh well, at least we got to see over half a game :-) Incidentally, I am not sure the ground would pass health and safety checks in the UK.
Sunday was Marathon day (see part 1)
Monday, our flight wasn't until 21:15 so we had the whole day to play with. We had previously seen a unique play park so as this was also Max's B'day weekend we went there. It is simply a 50ft fibreglass Gulliver. Again I am sure H&S in the UK would have a heart attack, but Max and all the other children seemed to be fine. In fact the only person who was close to having an accident was a hobbling and aching me as I followed Max around.
After a nice tapas lunch we again went for another wander round the city. Before going back to our hotel checking out and making our way back to the airport.
Valencia is a great city and excellent if you have kids and I would definitely recommend it for a long weekend away
Well that concludes the trilogy
Until the next time
TJH
VALENCIA THE WEEKEND AWAY
Myself, Mich & Max flew out to Valencia on Thursday evening. Two hour flight. The Metro also runs from the airport, so we only had to get one train, nice and easy. #Tip1 A single ticket costs 4Euros, but you can buy a ticket that has 10 journeys for 21Euros. Also, one ticket can be used by multiple people. We saw a group of French students take advantage of this fact. I felt sorry for the fella holding the ticket though who hand to stand at the gate swiping the ticket to let all his mates through.
A 10 min walk saw us arrive at our hotel (Silken Puetra Valencia), and a simple check-in. Mich sorted out Max for bed, whilst I went for a wander to buy some bottled water and a bit of grub.
Friday morning, we walked down to the Expo being held in the City of Art & Sciences; a collection of modern buildings with some amazing architecture situated in an oasis that runs through Valencia.
 |
| I wouldn't want to be the window cleaner! |
Collection was very simple and you collected your goody bag as well which was a smart drawstring gym bag itself, plus a quality technical t-shirt and a buff. I am not talking about complimentary polishing here, if you do not know, a buff is a material tube that can be used in a multitude of ways. In fact my Union Jack bandanna is actually a buff! The timing chip was incorporated in the number (which seems to be becoming more popular now days) so you had to scan that to check that it was registered correctly. Sad I know, but I had to take a photo. Oh I wasn't the only one either!
 |
| Ooh look, it's me! |
With collection all sorted, it was time for excursion number 1 a trip to the Valencia Zoo, known as the BioPark. Quite simply, an amazing Zoo the enclosure are huge and no unsightly metal fences and it is very well designed. Being in November, hardly any crowds either yet still t-shirt weather. A few pics that I took of the residents can be found here. Valencia BioPark
Late afternoon, we had a wander round the old city before having dinner and an earlish night.
Saturday was Max's 3rd Birthday, so Mich decorated the room whilst he was asleep with balloons and a banner and after opening his cards and some of his presents, we didn't take all of them on holiday, 20kg limit on baggage you see, we went for some breakfast before planned excursion number 2, a trip to the aquarium, known as Oceanografic (apparently Europe's largest aquarium)
Before we went there though, I stopped off at Mestalle home ground of Valencia Football Club to purchase tickets for the weekend's game versus Espaynol. Whilst trying to buy the tickets, I was asked which country I was from, which I though was a bit strange? then I was asked for my passport which was back at the hotel (luckily less than a 10 min walk away), so once back with my passport, tickets were finally purchased. It was only as I walked away, I noticed that the tickets I had been sold were for the Champions League game versus Bayern Munich for this week. Cue arranging a refund (and the realisation of the question about which country I was from) I then had to go to a different ticket window to buy tickets. The bonus was that the same seats cost 25Euros each instead of 40.
It was quite a walk to the aquarium, probably about and hour. But once we got there again you couldn't but be impressed. A huge shark tank with underwater tunnel, beluga whales, penguins, sea lions every species of fish you could think of, including (very important for a 3yo) Nemo! At 3.30pm we made our way to the show arena for the 4pm Dolphin show. Max loved this as did Mich and I. They actually had 10 dolphins performing at the same time which made for a spectacular show.
 |
| I know there is only 7 in this pic, but there were 10, honest! |
So I left Mich and Max standing outside the cafe whilst I ran back to the hotel with the empty pushchair, up to our room, to then find both key cards were not working. Eventually I got back to Mich (after muchos expletives) for her to tell me that Valencia had scored (muchos expletives again) Whilst we were trying to get in the ground, we heard a muted cheer and I mentioned that maybe Espaynol had scored. Eventually we found our seats with 35 mins on the clock. The 2nd half was a poor game of football to be honest, Iv'e seen better at The Den ;-). Oh, and Millwall fans wouldn't stand for all the theatrics even from Millwall players! The game was not helped by a referee who didn't seem to have a clue and he then awarded an 89th min penalty to Valencia (it was never a pen) Delgado who had come on as a sub stepped up and notched. So at least we got to see a goal even if it wasn't from open play. On the way back to the hotel, I purchased Max a Valencia scarf (his now adopted Spanish team) and we popped into a specialist beer shop to buy Mich a couple of beer (no drinking for me with a Marathon to run the next morning) The owner saw the scarf and signalled 2-1 with is fingers. Having forgotten about the muted cheer I promptly replies in my fluent spanish "No Dos, Zero" I even posted on Facebook that I had seen Valencia win 2-0. It was only today looking at the results in the paper that I saw Valencia DID win 2-1. El Raymondo, muchos stupido! Oh well, at least we got to see over half a game :-) Incidentally, I am not sure the ground would pass health and safety checks in the UK.
Sunday was Marathon day (see part 1)
Monday, our flight wasn't until 21:15 so we had the whole day to play with. We had previously seen a unique play park so as this was also Max's B'day weekend we went there. It is simply a 50ft fibreglass Gulliver. Again I am sure H&S in the UK would have a heart attack, but Max and all the other children seemed to be fine. In fact the only person who was close to having an accident was a hobbling and aching me as I followed Max around.
 |
| Laying down, just like I wanted to be doing |
Valencia is a great city and excellent if you have kids and I would definitely recommend it for a long weekend away
Well that concludes the trilogy
Until the next time
TJH
Valencia Part 2 - The Journey
If you have read Part 1, you may be thinking 'bloody hell Ray, you haven't won an Olympic medal' I admit it may seem that I am dramatising this heroic achievement. I am also aware that there were 4,835 people in front of me so my time may not be that special. If I may I would just like to explain why this meant so much to me.
As some of you may be aware, I was fortunate enough to be selected by Men's Running magazine to be part of 'Project 26.2' where they selected 5 men running a Marathon and provided all the help and guidance you could need to achieve their goals. I didn't think my goal was too ambitious bearing in mind that I had done two marathons 13 & 15 years ago and had managed 04:30 with basic and probably not very structured training.
So I had a physio, nutrition running apparel and a qualified coach (Nick Anderson) that set me a programme to achieve my goal. I was taught about core strength, interval sessions, speed session, recovery runs. During this training I managed a 01:38 Half Marathon and a 20 mile race in 03:01. So my training was definitely showing the benefits. This in fact in hindsight was probably my downfall. Everything was going so well, I was over confident that I would achieve a sub4, in fact I changed my target and was going for a 03:45. Oh was I brought down to earth with a bump. Having done 16 miles in the London Marathon at a consistent average of 08:35 min/miles the wheels slowly began to fall off and the rest as they say is history.
I was gutted at the time and despite getting a new PB, I felt I had let a lot of people down. So this time I was determined not to make the same mistake.
Within a week of what I saw as a failure I was looking for a Marathon for the latter part of the year to attempt a sub4 again. Valencia was my chosen race.
I followed a similar schedule to what I had done for the London with slightly less races (Nick had raised his concerns that I was maybe doing too many races and needed to take some of these slowly) In truth, I probably didn't do as much as I would have liked and even had an enforced 10 days without any running due to illness right when I was due to do a long slow run. However, by following Nick's concepts and actually doing what I should have done in the London Marathon on race day, I achieved a sub4!
Could I have gone quicker? Maybe? but I learnt that for the majority of runners, the Marathon needs to be treated with due respect not only with the training and prep but the actual running on the day.
If Nick happens to be reading this, I am sure he wouldn't say this to my face as he is too much of a gentleman, but I am sure he is thinking 'Yes Ray you div, if you had stuck to the plan and done this in the first place you would have more than likely had a sub4 in the London Marathon'
Well, valuable lesson learnt When I was having my post race beer with Mich my wife, I said "Thank God I have got that sub4" she replied, "Yes but what is your next target going to be" She know me too well :-)
For me that is the beauty of running. Unless you are Mo Farah or Patrick Makau there is probably going to be somebody better or faster than you. So your race is always you against the clock, or you against yourself. Irrespective of everybody else in a race you can set your own goal whether it be to get round and finish, finish without walking, a sub4 or a PB?
My next goal? Simple, beat 03:58:47 :-)
TJH
As some of you may be aware, I was fortunate enough to be selected by Men's Running magazine to be part of 'Project 26.2' where they selected 5 men running a Marathon and provided all the help and guidance you could need to achieve their goals. I didn't think my goal was too ambitious bearing in mind that I had done two marathons 13 & 15 years ago and had managed 04:30 with basic and probably not very structured training.
So I had a physio, nutrition running apparel and a qualified coach (Nick Anderson) that set me a programme to achieve my goal. I was taught about core strength, interval sessions, speed session, recovery runs. During this training I managed a 01:38 Half Marathon and a 20 mile race in 03:01. So my training was definitely showing the benefits. This in fact in hindsight was probably my downfall. Everything was going so well, I was over confident that I would achieve a sub4, in fact I changed my target and was going for a 03:45. Oh was I brought down to earth with a bump. Having done 16 miles in the London Marathon at a consistent average of 08:35 min/miles the wheels slowly began to fall off and the rest as they say is history.
I was gutted at the time and despite getting a new PB, I felt I had let a lot of people down. So this time I was determined not to make the same mistake.
Within a week of what I saw as a failure I was looking for a Marathon for the latter part of the year to attempt a sub4 again. Valencia was my chosen race.
I followed a similar schedule to what I had done for the London with slightly less races (Nick had raised his concerns that I was maybe doing too many races and needed to take some of these slowly) In truth, I probably didn't do as much as I would have liked and even had an enforced 10 days without any running due to illness right when I was due to do a long slow run. However, by following Nick's concepts and actually doing what I should have done in the London Marathon on race day, I achieved a sub4!
Could I have gone quicker? Maybe? but I learnt that for the majority of runners, the Marathon needs to be treated with due respect not only with the training and prep but the actual running on the day.
If Nick happens to be reading this, I am sure he wouldn't say this to my face as he is too much of a gentleman, but I am sure he is thinking 'Yes Ray you div, if you had stuck to the plan and done this in the first place you would have more than likely had a sub4 in the London Marathon'
Well, valuable lesson learnt When I was having my post race beer with Mich my wife, I said "Thank God I have got that sub4" she replied, "Yes but what is your next target going to be" She know me too well :-)
For me that is the beauty of running. Unless you are Mo Farah or Patrick Makau there is probably going to be somebody better or faster than you. So your race is always you against the clock, or you against yourself. Irrespective of everybody else in a race you can set your own goal whether it be to get round and finish, finish without walking, a sub4 or a PB?
My next goal? Simple, beat 03:58:47 :-)
TJH
Valencia Part 1 - The Marathon
As you may have gathered, I quite enjoy my blogging now. A way of keeping an online diary and documenting my thoughts, opinions and experiences. A single Valencia Marathon blog would be pretty lengthy so I have split it into three parts or a trilogy if you will so you can choose what you want to read
Part One - Valencia: The Marathon
Part Two - Valencia: The journey to sub4
Part Three - Valencia: The weekend away
VALENCIA - THE MARATHON
Let's cut to the chase. If you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter you will know that I achieved a sub four hour Marathon. Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, you read that right, the Jogging Hippo ran a sub-4 Marathon! I ran it in 03:58:47, so not much below 4 hours, but I honestly couldn't care less :-) It is a definite case of mission accomplished.
I had set my alarm for 7am Sunday morning, but awoke around 6am and couldn't sleep. Weather reports all week had forecast rain and Saturday night there had been thunder storms, but a glance out of the window and a check on the Internet suggested it may now just be overcast. Which was fortunate as I hadn't packed one the marathon runner's essential piece of attire, the 'black bin liner'
My other faux-pas (not sure what the Spanish equivalent is) was that I had not packed any safety-pins. I assumed that they would be with my number and didn't really check properly until I got back to my hotel room on the Friday evening. With an abundance of pharmacy's in Valencia. I didn't envisage too much trouble obtaining these. However, my first attempt showed this wasn't going to be the case. My miming of running a marathon and pinning a number was obviously not up to scratch as I was offered nasal strips and plasters. I resulted on drawing a picture. The lady behind the counter immediately knew what I was talking about but then said 'No' they don't sell them. I then text Ian (a fella I see from time to time at Millwall, more about him later) asking what the Spanish was for safety pins. His girlfriend is Spanish. Whilst waiting for a response, we found a poundshop, although I suppose in Spain it is a Euroshop and just as I found my quarry, I received a text with the same word. So Spanish lesson time, if you need safety pins, you need to ask for 'Imperdibles'
Once I eaten my breakfast (bananas and cereal bars) and sorted myself out (getting dressed, plasters & Vaseline, if you know what I mean) I left my hotel at five past eight and was actually in the orange pen at the start by 08:35. This is where my initial plan went out the window somewhat. I had found out by chance that Ian was also running the Valencia Marathon, he had run the Berlin, his first Marathon in 03:57, git ;-). So we suggested trying to meet up amongst the 7000 other runners by making a beeline for the 4 hour pacer. It seems that the orange pen was for International runners, as when the person on the PA started announcing all the different countries taking part, it seemed all the cheers came from the Orange pen. Incidentally it was announced that there was only 45 runners over from the UK.
With the orange pen seemingly the international pen this meant that the 4 hour pacer was in the Blue pen with about 1000 people between us! However, due to my now traditional "you look daft" (my wife's words) Union Jack bandanna, Ian managed to locate me.
We had a chat and Ian said he was aiming to beat his 03:57. I said I was just aiming to beat 4 hours. At 9am there were fireworks which we thought indicated the start of the race. 5 minutes later we still had not moved. I thought maybe it was a staggered start, but then we were asked to all move back. This is the first time in an event that I have actually had to go backwards? I actually started my watch as I crossed the start line at 09:09. I knew Mich would be waiting for me at the 10k mark. Ian and I ran together chatting away and Ian said I was probably keeping him is check, as I was conscious not to go off too fast (bitter memories from the London Marathon).
I said to Ian before we got to the 10k mark, that Mich might be concerned that I was behind schedule as I told her the approximate time I should be there. I saw Mich and Max and managed to high-five Max as I ran past and after passing I heard Mich shout "You had better get a move on" I laughed as I said to Ian "There you go, my official time keeper thinks I am behind schedule already" I then said to Ian, "Listen mate, I don't want to ruin your schedule, if you want to push on, go for it" so we wished each other good luck and he kicked on.
The weather was not as expected and it was showing 19/20 degrees. Water stations were every 5k, so I was taking a gel just before each water station and then making sure I had a few swigs of water shortly afterwards.
The support was top draw with lots of bands and music along the whole course and one point there was a group of locals about 20 of them all dressed as Sponge Bob Square Pants and at another point there was about 40 odd people dressed as cows? I am not sure why, but they were very vocal and it brought a smile to my face.
One thing I did notice is that quite a few of the local runners had people cycling along side them handing them their gels and water. This got me thinking that maybe I should get Mich to cycle along with Max sitting in a trailer handing me my gels and water. I might run this past her, although I expect a two word answer with the second word being 'off'
At 16 miles I did my first mental check. This is because it was at 16 miles in the London Marathon that I started to think that something wasn't quite right. I knew I was running at a sensible and within target pace and I felt quite good. At 18 miles there is a stretch of about a mile that goes through an underpass. There were speakers that were blasting out music that any nightclub in Ibiza would be proud off. The one tune that was playing as I entered the underpass was the bongo song, if you don't know what one I mean, click below for a listen.
Top Tune!
You could see this euphoric music brought a smile to everybody's face. I even felt like putting on some white gloves, start raving and get the whistle posse going! The downside to this was that satellites and tunnels don't really work well together, so average mile pacing went a little bit out of the window for a mile or two.
At 20 miles, I was feeling a bit tired but OK but I didn't want to get too confident as I know 'The Wall' can be hit at any time. Now was the time to start the mind over matter battle. I told myself that all I had now was a 10k run, something which I have probably done over 100 times.
At 23 miles I started to feel it a bit, but now I told myself I just have over 5k to do which is the Parkrun distance and despite slowing my aim was to keep under a 09:30 min mile which I was sure would still get me my sub4
In the last 10 miles I also saw Mich and Max twice more which I wasn't expecting and that was also a nice psychological boost.
Despite my pace slowing, during the last 3 or 4 miles, I was passing quite a few people. In the past and paticularly during shorter races, I have taken pride in passing and beating others (my competitive nature) but I took no pride seeing people struggling and suffering in the last few miles as I had been in that position myself just over 6 months previously.
With 1k to go, going by watch I was pretty sure, barring a disaster I would achieve my goal. The final couple of hundred metres is on like a jetty/pier construction with water either side which definitely makes for a unique experience.
I saw the clock was showing 04:01 which I was a bit confused about as I was expecting it to show something in the region of 04:08 or 04:09 as I hadn't crossed the start line until 09:09. As I crossed the finish line with arms aloft I stopped my watch on 03:58:49 and I was so happy and relieved that I had broken 4 hours.
I then instantly felt absolutely and completely exhausted. As I walked down the finishing funnel and collected my medal along with a whole load more goodies (whole bag of oranges, a gym towel, various drinks & pastries) doubts started creeping in. Why wasn't the clock showing 04:08/9. Did losing reception on my Garmin bugger up my timing? But I was sure I had kept under a 09:09 min mile average and my watch time of 03:58:49 surely had to be right?
After 10 mins or so I found Mich and Max waiting for me. Hugs and kisses plus me saying "I think, I am pretty sure I have done it"
There was then the debacle of getting out of my sweaty running gear and putting fresh clothes on in the public with Mich holding aforementioned gym towel trying to protect my modesty.
We then took a slow walk (after all I had just run a Marathon) back to the hotel, so slow in fact that Max actually fell asleep in his buggy which meant an opportunity to find a bar and sit outside supping a few cervezas.
It wasn't until later that evening after having a meal and some rijoca that I got official confirmation that I had indeed achieved a sub4.
Note above how I came 1st for Petts Wood Runners. Pretty impressive when we have approx 250 members. I won't let the minor detail that I was the only PWR running get in the way of my glory :-)
My garmin stats are below
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245159408
Incidentally, Ian got a new PB of 03:53:56. Well done mate!
TJH
Part One - Valencia: The Marathon
Part Two - Valencia: The journey to sub4
Part Three - Valencia: The weekend away
VALENCIA - THE MARATHON
Let's cut to the chase. If you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter you will know that I achieved a sub four hour Marathon. Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, you read that right, the Jogging Hippo ran a sub-4 Marathon! I ran it in 03:58:47, so not much below 4 hours, but I honestly couldn't care less :-) It is a definite case of mission accomplished.
I had set my alarm for 7am Sunday morning, but awoke around 6am and couldn't sleep. Weather reports all week had forecast rain and Saturday night there had been thunder storms, but a glance out of the window and a check on the Internet suggested it may now just be overcast. Which was fortunate as I hadn't packed one the marathon runner's essential piece of attire, the 'black bin liner'
My other faux-pas (not sure what the Spanish equivalent is) was that I had not packed any safety-pins. I assumed that they would be with my number and didn't really check properly until I got back to my hotel room on the Friday evening. With an abundance of pharmacy's in Valencia. I didn't envisage too much trouble obtaining these. However, my first attempt showed this wasn't going to be the case. My miming of running a marathon and pinning a number was obviously not up to scratch as I was offered nasal strips and plasters. I resulted on drawing a picture. The lady behind the counter immediately knew what I was talking about but then said 'No' they don't sell them. I then text Ian (a fella I see from time to time at Millwall, more about him later) asking what the Spanish was for safety pins. His girlfriend is Spanish. Whilst waiting for a response, we found a poundshop, although I suppose in Spain it is a Euroshop and just as I found my quarry, I received a text with the same word. So Spanish lesson time, if you need safety pins, you need to ask for 'Imperdibles'
Once I eaten my breakfast (bananas and cereal bars) and sorted myself out (getting dressed, plasters & Vaseline, if you know what I mean) I left my hotel at five past eight and was actually in the orange pen at the start by 08:35. This is where my initial plan went out the window somewhat. I had found out by chance that Ian was also running the Valencia Marathon, he had run the Berlin, his first Marathon in 03:57, git ;-). So we suggested trying to meet up amongst the 7000 other runners by making a beeline for the 4 hour pacer. It seems that the orange pen was for International runners, as when the person on the PA started announcing all the different countries taking part, it seemed all the cheers came from the Orange pen. Incidentally it was announced that there was only 45 runners over from the UK.
With the orange pen seemingly the international pen this meant that the 4 hour pacer was in the Blue pen with about 1000 people between us! However, due to my now traditional "you look daft" (my wife's words) Union Jack bandanna, Ian managed to locate me.
We had a chat and Ian said he was aiming to beat his 03:57. I said I was just aiming to beat 4 hours. At 9am there were fireworks which we thought indicated the start of the race. 5 minutes later we still had not moved. I thought maybe it was a staggered start, but then we were asked to all move back. This is the first time in an event that I have actually had to go backwards? I actually started my watch as I crossed the start line at 09:09. I knew Mich would be waiting for me at the 10k mark. Ian and I ran together chatting away and Ian said I was probably keeping him is check, as I was conscious not to go off too fast (bitter memories from the London Marathon).
I said to Ian before we got to the 10k mark, that Mich might be concerned that I was behind schedule as I told her the approximate time I should be there. I saw Mich and Max and managed to high-five Max as I ran past and after passing I heard Mich shout "You had better get a move on" I laughed as I said to Ian "There you go, my official time keeper thinks I am behind schedule already" I then said to Ian, "Listen mate, I don't want to ruin your schedule, if you want to push on, go for it" so we wished each other good luck and he kicked on.
The weather was not as expected and it was showing 19/20 degrees. Water stations were every 5k, so I was taking a gel just before each water station and then making sure I had a few swigs of water shortly afterwards.
The support was top draw with lots of bands and music along the whole course and one point there was a group of locals about 20 of them all dressed as Sponge Bob Square Pants and at another point there was about 40 odd people dressed as cows? I am not sure why, but they were very vocal and it brought a smile to my face.
One thing I did notice is that quite a few of the local runners had people cycling along side them handing them their gels and water. This got me thinking that maybe I should get Mich to cycle along with Max sitting in a trailer handing me my gels and water. I might run this past her, although I expect a two word answer with the second word being 'off'
At 16 miles I did my first mental check. This is because it was at 16 miles in the London Marathon that I started to think that something wasn't quite right. I knew I was running at a sensible and within target pace and I felt quite good. At 18 miles there is a stretch of about a mile that goes through an underpass. There were speakers that were blasting out music that any nightclub in Ibiza would be proud off. The one tune that was playing as I entered the underpass was the bongo song, if you don't know what one I mean, click below for a listen.
Top Tune!
You could see this euphoric music brought a smile to everybody's face. I even felt like putting on some white gloves, start raving and get the whistle posse going! The downside to this was that satellites and tunnels don't really work well together, so average mile pacing went a little bit out of the window for a mile or two.
At 20 miles, I was feeling a bit tired but OK but I didn't want to get too confident as I know 'The Wall' can be hit at any time. Now was the time to start the mind over matter battle. I told myself that all I had now was a 10k run, something which I have probably done over 100 times.
At 23 miles I started to feel it a bit, but now I told myself I just have over 5k to do which is the Parkrun distance and despite slowing my aim was to keep under a 09:30 min mile which I was sure would still get me my sub4
In the last 10 miles I also saw Mich and Max twice more which I wasn't expecting and that was also a nice psychological boost.
Despite my pace slowing, during the last 3 or 4 miles, I was passing quite a few people. In the past and paticularly during shorter races, I have taken pride in passing and beating others (my competitive nature) but I took no pride seeing people struggling and suffering in the last few miles as I had been in that position myself just over 6 months previously.
With 1k to go, going by watch I was pretty sure, barring a disaster I would achieve my goal. The final couple of hundred metres is on like a jetty/pier construction with water either side which definitely makes for a unique experience.
I saw the clock was showing 04:01 which I was a bit confused about as I was expecting it to show something in the region of 04:08 or 04:09 as I hadn't crossed the start line until 09:09. As I crossed the finish line with arms aloft I stopped my watch on 03:58:49 and I was so happy and relieved that I had broken 4 hours.
 |
| A smile cleverly disguised as a grimace |
I then instantly felt absolutely and completely exhausted. As I walked down the finishing funnel and collected my medal along with a whole load more goodies (whole bag of oranges, a gym towel, various drinks & pastries) doubts started creeping in. Why wasn't the clock showing 04:08/9. Did losing reception on my Garmin bugger up my timing? But I was sure I had kept under a 09:09 min mile average and my watch time of 03:58:49 surely had to be right?
After 10 mins or so I found Mich and Max waiting for me. Hugs and kisses plus me saying "I think, I am pretty sure I have done it"
There was then the debacle of getting out of my sweaty running gear and putting fresh clothes on in the public with Mich holding aforementioned gym towel trying to protect my modesty.
We then took a slow walk (after all I had just run a Marathon) back to the hotel, so slow in fact that Max actually fell asleep in his buggy which meant an opportunity to find a bar and sit outside supping a few cervezas.
It wasn't until later that evening after having a meal and some rijoca that I got official confirmation that I had indeed achieved a sub4.
 |
| Chip time aka 'Tiempo Real' is all that matters. |
Note above how I came 1st for Petts Wood Runners. Pretty impressive when we have approx 250 members. I won't let the minor detail that I was the only PWR running get in the way of my glory :-)
My garmin stats are below
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245159408
Incidentally, Ian got a new PB of 03:53:56. Well done mate!
TJH
Monday 12 November 2012
Park Running
Despite me being a regular Parkrun participant, this is not about Parkrun. This brief(ish) blog is about something which I do far more infrequently, in fact only the 2nd time since I left school. But something I will be doing more often. I am talking about Cross Country running.
Sunday was the 2nd event of the Kent Fitness League series http://kfl.canterburyharriers.org/
Whilst Petts Wood Runners are not formally part of the league, we can run as guests as long as we provide our name in advance.
The Petts Wood Runners men's captain Chris 'Typhoon' Turner had suggested and arranged this and his efforts were rewarded with 30 runners attending from PWR.
I arrived just gone 10am on an absolute glorious autumn morning with my support crew, my wife Mich and my little boy Max and we soon saw the PWR flag and made a beeline for this. We then, along with quite a few other bystanders watched 4 or 5 PWR's trying to erect our club gazebo. I would have helped, but too many cooks and all that.
Luckily, John (the club secretary) arrived to save the day and promptly explained that it was inside-out and within a couple of minutes we had base camp. Once everybody had gathered we had a bit of a chinwag and then had a quick team photo before making our way en-mass to the start.
We congregated at what most of us thought was the back and then realised we were at the front! Not a problem for maybe 4 or 5 of the group, but for most of us mere mortals a little worrying that we would be caught in the stampede.
The race was due to start at 11am, but there was a welcome delay as we paid our respects to our fallen countrymen and women with an impeccably observed 2 minute silence.
Then the klaxon sounded and we were off and it was a stampede. I tactically filtered my way to the middle of pack (can also be read as was overtaken by half the field) and tried to get into a rhythm, but this was a little difficult due to the muddy conditions and the twisting turning nature of the course. I was quite surprise when my Garmin beeped for the first mile, that I looked at my watch and I had run a 7:46 mile!
I pretty much tried to maintain the pace and slowly began to pick a few people off. The course was 3 laps and just shy of 5 miles. Near the finish, I kicked on and manage to overtake 3 or 4 people and then out the corner of my eye saw this chap about to fly past, this resulted in an all out full on sprint for the last 100 metres. He beat me by a whisker :-( However, after checking the results, I would like to point out that he was 6 years my junior, plus I didn't want to push it too hard with a Marathon coming up 7 days later. Well that is my excuse anyway :-)
Just after the finish line we shook hands briefly and then both returned to being bent over with hands on our knees gasping for breath. My official time was 38:58 (his 38:57)
http://kfl.canterburyharriers.org/xc_result.php?id=4138
but I didn't manage to stop my watch until 39:08 as I didn't have the energy to press the button.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/242380967
The PWRs were then rewarded afterwards with some Banana cake made by Sian and her little boy Sam (Sian, if you are reading this we now expect this every Tuesday night!)
Some of you reading this may think that it is a bit daft running this one week before a marathon. However, as I had an enforced 10 day break recently I thought this would be a good final workout. I will find out if it was a good idea on Sunday.
Until the next time
TJH
Sunday was the 2nd event of the Kent Fitness League series http://kfl.canterburyharriers.org/
Whilst Petts Wood Runners are not formally part of the league, we can run as guests as long as we provide our name in advance.
The Petts Wood Runners men's captain Chris 'Typhoon' Turner had suggested and arranged this and his efforts were rewarded with 30 runners attending from PWR.
I arrived just gone 10am on an absolute glorious autumn morning with my support crew, my wife Mich and my little boy Max and we soon saw the PWR flag and made a beeline for this. We then, along with quite a few other bystanders watched 4 or 5 PWR's trying to erect our club gazebo. I would have helped, but too many cooks and all that.
Luckily, John (the club secretary) arrived to save the day and promptly explained that it was inside-out and within a couple of minutes we had base camp. Once everybody had gathered we had a bit of a chinwag and then had a quick team photo before making our way en-mass to the start.
 |
| PWRs (with gazebo the right way in the background) |
The race was due to start at 11am, but there was a welcome delay as we paid our respects to our fallen countrymen and women with an impeccably observed 2 minute silence.
Then the klaxon sounded and we were off and it was a stampede. I tactically filtered my way to the middle of pack (can also be read as was overtaken by half the field) and tried to get into a rhythm, but this was a little difficult due to the muddy conditions and the twisting turning nature of the course. I was quite surprise when my Garmin beeped for the first mile, that I looked at my watch and I had run a 7:46 mile!
I pretty much tried to maintain the pace and slowly began to pick a few people off. The course was 3 laps and just shy of 5 miles. Near the finish, I kicked on and manage to overtake 3 or 4 people and then out the corner of my eye saw this chap about to fly past, this resulted in an all out full on sprint for the last 100 metres. He beat me by a whisker :-( However, after checking the results, I would like to point out that he was 6 years my junior, plus I didn't want to push it too hard with a Marathon coming up 7 days later. Well that is my excuse anyway :-)
 |
| Almost out of the frame due to electric pace (Yeah right!) |
Just after the finish line we shook hands briefly and then both returned to being bent over with hands on our knees gasping for breath. My official time was 38:58 (his 38:57)
http://kfl.canterburyharriers.org/xc_result.php?id=4138
but I didn't manage to stop my watch until 39:08 as I didn't have the energy to press the button.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/242380967
The PWRs were then rewarded afterwards with some Banana cake made by Sian and her little boy Sam (Sian, if you are reading this we now expect this every Tuesday night!)
Some of you reading this may think that it is a bit daft running this one week before a marathon. However, as I had an enforced 10 day break recently I thought this would be a good final workout. I will find out if it was a good idea on Sunday.
Until the next time
TJH
Thursday 8 November 2012
All about running but not much running!
Since my last blog, quite a bit has happened related to running, but alas not much actual running. In fact my first run was this morning. So here is a bit of a brain dump of what's been happening and my thoughts.
Under the Weather
In addition to a hamstring strain (see below) I have also battled against an attack of potential Man Flu. Now as everybody knows, if it had turned out to be full blown Man Flu, I might not even be here now typing this, but luckily it was just a cold. I was planning on doing a longish run on Sunday but had a migraine attack and had a repeat attack on Tuesday which resulted in a day off work and no chance of me running with PWR in the evening.
Massage or Interrogation
After my 16 miler last Sunday, on Monday I woke with a very tight hamstring. Obviously I didn''t really have much of an opportunity of a warm down or stretch standing in a cold field and then trying to get a train, followed by one and a half hours in the car. I digress. So on Monday evening I had a sports massage and also repeated this again this Monday. Now I will tell you something, if ever I am captured by the KGB, they won't need thumb screws or have to attach electrodes to my knackers. All they need is to get a Sport Masseur to come in and start on my IT Band and I will sing like a canary! I thought I had a high pain threshold, but when it comes to a sports massage, I am a big girl.
Happy Endings
Briefly touching on my 'Halloween Horror experience' for the final time before putting this one to bed. After communications with the customers services and not really getting anywhere, I decided to go to the top and contacted the owner of the company and I am happy to say, I got the resolution I was looking for.
Planning Ahead
November 1st was the day that entries for the Adidas 24hour Thunder Run opened. So I entered a team of 5. The logic being that a lap of the course is 10k. If we average an hour per lap, we can do 24 laps, so four of us will do 5 laps and one of us will do 4 laps. Along with myself 'Ray' my fellow team mates (all from Petts Wood Runners) are 'Karien', 'Emma', 'Matt' & 'Eleanor'. If you take the our first initials you get the word 'KREME' So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you team 'KREME KRACKERED'
I also booked up a family weekend in Barcelona for next year, that just happens to coincide with the Half Marathon, which is nice.
Decisions Decisions
As you are probably all aware the NYC Marathon was cancelled. I tweeted at the time that I feel this was the RIGHT decision, but made at the WRONG time. I think most people knew that their wasn't much chance of the event going ahead due to Danny Zuko's girlfriend making a bit of a mess. My personal opinion is that New Yorkers are proud of being strong, brave and having a 'can do' attitude and maybe this is why they didn't want to make what would have been a braver decision to cancel the event earlier. Although the cynic in me thinks that maybe from an economical point of view it made sense to get as many of the overseas people into New York?
Final Prep
So with the Valencia Marathon only 10 days away and my prep being interrupted somewhat, I did manage to get a 10 miler in this morning by running to work, with touch-wood, no ill effects
STATS
I have a 5 mile X-country this Sunday and will go out with PWR Tuesday evening and then do a 3 or 4 miler Thursday morning before flying out to Spain.
Until the next time
TJH
Under the Weather
In addition to a hamstring strain (see below) I have also battled against an attack of potential Man Flu. Now as everybody knows, if it had turned out to be full blown Man Flu, I might not even be here now typing this, but luckily it was just a cold. I was planning on doing a longish run on Sunday but had a migraine attack and had a repeat attack on Tuesday which resulted in a day off work and no chance of me running with PWR in the evening.
Massage or Interrogation
After my 16 miler last Sunday, on Monday I woke with a very tight hamstring. Obviously I didn''t really have much of an opportunity of a warm down or stretch standing in a cold field and then trying to get a train, followed by one and a half hours in the car. I digress. So on Monday evening I had a sports massage and also repeated this again this Monday. Now I will tell you something, if ever I am captured by the KGB, they won't need thumb screws or have to attach electrodes to my knackers. All they need is to get a Sport Masseur to come in and start on my IT Band and I will sing like a canary! I thought I had a high pain threshold, but when it comes to a sports massage, I am a big girl.
Happy Endings
Briefly touching on my 'Halloween Horror experience' for the final time before putting this one to bed. After communications with the customers services and not really getting anywhere, I decided to go to the top and contacted the owner of the company and I am happy to say, I got the resolution I was looking for.
Planning Ahead
November 1st was the day that entries for the Adidas 24hour Thunder Run opened. So I entered a team of 5. The logic being that a lap of the course is 10k. If we average an hour per lap, we can do 24 laps, so four of us will do 5 laps and one of us will do 4 laps. Along with myself 'Ray' my fellow team mates (all from Petts Wood Runners) are 'Karien', 'Emma', 'Matt' & 'Eleanor'. If you take the our first initials you get the word 'KREME' So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you team 'KREME KRACKERED'
I also booked up a family weekend in Barcelona for next year, that just happens to coincide with the Half Marathon, which is nice.
Decisions Decisions
As you are probably all aware the NYC Marathon was cancelled. I tweeted at the time that I feel this was the RIGHT decision, but made at the WRONG time. I think most people knew that their wasn't much chance of the event going ahead due to Danny Zuko's girlfriend making a bit of a mess. My personal opinion is that New Yorkers are proud of being strong, brave and having a 'can do' attitude and maybe this is why they didn't want to make what would have been a braver decision to cancel the event earlier. Although the cynic in me thinks that maybe from an economical point of view it made sense to get as many of the overseas people into New York?
Final Prep
So with the Valencia Marathon only 10 days away and my prep being interrupted somewhat, I did manage to get a 10 miler in this morning by running to work, with touch-wood, no ill effects
STATS
I have a 5 mile X-country this Sunday and will go out with PWR Tuesday evening and then do a 3 or 4 miler Thursday morning before flying out to Spain.
Until the next time
TJH
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)