Lessons in acclimatisation and to the next phase

Greetings from Bangkok where it the hot season. Average daily temperatures average 35c/95f with high humidity. The emphasis, then, has been on grinding out some easy-paced miles and keeping the HR below 140 in this the final base building week of Copenhagen Marathon training.

I've been monitoring HR behaviour very closely during this trip as in previous trips I've never worn a HR monitor and I suspect that I may have pushed too hard, too soon and too often. HR drift is more pronounced in SE Asia (SEA). In cooler climates, my HR stays fairly constant until I reach 11-12 miles then it drifts slowly upwards. In SEA, HR drift occurs from about 3 miles onwards.

This point is well illustrated even during easy-paced training runs where, for example, during a training run of half marathon duration HR drift from start to finish is approximately 11 BPM in the UK whereas in SEA HR drift was 25 BPM. This figure can be improved, however, as one becomes more acclimatized to the hot and humid conditions, as demonstrated during today's 7.46mi run which showed a big improvement when compared with last Sunday's 7mi run.

In my last post I said I was considering entering a race on March 11th, either travelling to Sihanoukville (Cambodia) to run in a half marathon or running in a Bangkok 10k race. In the end I decided not to run in either race as I didn't see the point of entering and not racing and apart from anything else I am not sure I would be able to control myself with the adrenaline flowing on hearing the gun fired. Pushing myself into the anaerobic zone is not a good place to be at the end of the base building phase.

So right now I am in good shape and this week signals the start of the hill resistance phase which, according to Lydiard, is about developing speed and starting to develop the anaerobic capacity. It is also about developing resistance to the leg muscles, in particular the white fast twitch muscle fibres that are mainly responsible for giving better speed. I enjoy this 4-week phase of marathon training as I can now start to add some intensity to my workouts.

Uphill springing will stretch the muscles and tendons to mimic what is experienced during races and assists in adding flexibility and speed. I'll also be paying attention to running form as I develop leg power, flexibility, and a good economical running style. The theory is that with good speed development, the runner can run at relatively the same speed more economically.

This week has been a decent week with 50+ miles banked. I have to be very satisfied with this in the midst of the hot season in SEA. and I am looking forward to reaping the benefits when I return to early Spring and cooler conditions in the UK.

There have been some notable performances  in the last couple of weeks. Over in Ireland, both Thomas (1:01:13) and Grellan (1:02:45) excelled in last week's Ballycotton 10mi race. Bob (3:08:22) ran a strong race in the Tokyo Marathon on 26th February and Scott ran a noteworthy 2:52 in today's hilly Kyoto Marathon.

CPH training March 5-11
Mon 5 Mar - 8.05km/5mi in 39:28 @ 4:54km/7:53mi pace [early evening/35c] HR142
Tues 6 Mar - 11.35km/7.05mi in 60:00 @ 5:17km/8:30mi pace [midday/36c] HR132
Wed 7 Mar - 21.1km/13.1mi in 1:51:34 @ 5:17km/8:30mi pace [early evening/35c] HR138
Thur 8 Mar - 11.27km/7mi in 1:02:24 @ 5:32km/8:54mi pace [late afternoon/29c] HR135
Fri 9 Mar - 8.05km/5mi in 43:35 @ 5.24km/8.43mi pace [late afternoon/35c] HR129
Sat 10 Mar - 10km/6.21mi in 52:32 @ 5:15km/8:27mi pace [late afternoon/36c]  HR132
Sun 11 Mar - 12km/7.46mi in 1:01:51 @ 5:09km/8:17mi pace [late afternoon/35c] HR128

Week [Sun - Mon]: 81.82km/50.84mi

SE Asia bound

Greetings. I must admit to feeling a touch of jealousy this morning as I was supposed to be running in the Tokyo Marathon. A broken head and ribs in early January ended my participation in this year's race and as I write this I've not heard any news about how Bob or Yamada did.

The focus this week has been on re-building the endurance base with some easy-paced miles. The mileage is down on last week but that's largely due to midweek stomach bug that hit me after Wednesday's 15-miler and prevented me from running on Thursday. I was feeling fine by Friday when I ran 12 miles and followed that up with another 12 miles on Saturday. This morning I set-off early and ran into central London along the canal towpath completing 33km/20.5mi at 5:13km/8:24mi pace. The HR during this run was very low averaging just 128. Despite missing a day due to the stomach issues, it's been a another decent training week with 104km/64mi completed.

I'm going back to Asia on Wednesday (Thailand and Cambodia). Whilst there, I'll grind out some miles by the beach, on the islands and in Bangkok's parks. This strategy has worked for me in the past. It's the hot season in SE Asia so it is unrealistic to expect to run 70 miles-a-week, 50 miles is more realistic. There are a couple of races - a half in Sihanoukville (Cambodia) on 11th March and same day a 10k in Bangkok (thanks Rop for the info), one of which I may enter, although if I do I won't be thinking about running a fast time.

Copenhagen Marathon Training - Week 4 (20-26 Feb)
Tues 21 Feb - 8.05km/5mi in 41:05 @ 5:06km/8:13mi pace [night/London/9c] HR135
Wed 22 Feb - 24.15km/15mi in 2:02:21 @ 5:04km/8:09mi pace [morning/London/9c/very windy] HR135
Fri 24 Feb - 19.32km/12mi in 1:36:54 @ 5:01km/8:04mi pace [morning/London/12c] HR135
Sat 25 Feb - 19.32km/12mi in 1:36:02 @ 4:58km/7:59mi [morning/Manchester/5c] HR132
Sun 26 Feb - 33km/20.51mi in 2:52:16 @ 5:13km/8:24mi pace [morning/London/8c] HR128
Week [Mon-Sun]: 103.85km/64.52mi

Building-up nicely

This week was about getting some distance back in my legs and completing a 20-mile run, something that I haven't done since late august 2011 in the build-up to September's Berlin Marathon. It's been a very decent training week. I've shaken off the heavy cold which bothered me for about 10 days and I've accumulated 119km/74mi during week 3 of Copenhagen Marathon training.

I wasn't interested in speed this week, just banking plenty of miles and getting the heart rate back to where it should be. I've made progress on both counts. The annoying cough which bothered me last week and in the first half of this has gone and I am feeling in pretty good shape as I write this. There are three more weeks of base-building before the hill work starts w/c March 12th. Meanwhile it's plenty more easy miles for me.

Finally, congratulations Thomas who had a grand day out in Donadea at the official Irish 50k Championship, and to Stephen who went sub 1:45 for the first time in the Brighton Half Marathon, despite the best efforts of the organisers, who apparently measured the course long, by about 400m would you believe. 

Copenhagen Marathon Training - Week 3 (13-19 Feb)
Mon 13 Feb - 16.1km/10mi in 1:22:43 @ 5:08km/8:16mi pace [afternoon/Blackpool/7c/24mph/39kmh wind] HR132
Wed 15 Feb - (1) 21.11km/13.12mi in 1:49:02 @ 5:10km/8:19mi pace [morning/Blackpool/8c/wind 23mph/37kmh] HR132 (2) recovery jog 7km/4.35mi in 41:24 @5:54km/9:31mi pace [evening/Nike Run Club Covent Garden/10c] HR117
Thurs 16 Feb - 13.24km/8.23mi in 1:06:10 @ 5:00km/8:03mi pace [evening/London/9c] HR129
Fri 17 Feb - 20km/12.43mi in 1:41:51 @ 5:05km/8:11mi pace [afternoon/London/11c] HR132
Sat 18 Feb - 10k/6.21mi in 53:10 @ 5:19km/8:33mi pace [morning/London/9c windy] HR125
Sun 19 Feb - 32.2km/20mi in 2:43:45 @ 5.05km/8:11mi pace [morning/London/5c] HR136/RHR46
Week [Mon-Sun]: 119.65km/74.34mi

Vital signs

Last week turned out to be a rescue job. The fever, headaches and dizziness which developed at the start of last week had wiped me out completely by midweek and had progressed to an annoying tickly cough by the end of the week. When I woke-up on Friday morning there were only 15.5 miles in the bank. Fortunately, the fever had slowly subsided and I was able to run 7 miles on Friday afternoon. I can't have looked a picture of good health, coughing like Tevez a dog as I made my way along the promenade.

Apart from the cough I felt pretty good when I woke-up on Saturday so I threw any remaining caution to the wind and ran a planned 26km/16.16mi at a constant 5:04km/8:09mi pace without any energy bars or water. On Sunday I ran 13.7km/8.5mi at a very easy perceived effort to boost the weekly total to 76km/47mi.

Despite the cold, the vital signs are looking very good: Resting Heart Rate [46] is almost back at last summer's low of 44 and I am now running 5:00min km/8:00min miles at around HR130. I expect this to improve further as I move through the base-building phase. The cough is the only issue at the moment as it becomes aggravated when I run at higher intensities [either elevations or increased tempo]. Once the cough has properly subsided [hopefully this week], the next step will be to do an evaluation run to benchmark my present fitness and act as a baseline for the remainder of the Copenhagen (20/5) training cycle.

Fri 10 Feb - 11.27km/7mi in 55:46@4:57km/7:58mi [afternoon/Blackpool/2c] HR129
Sat 11 Feb - 26km/16.16mi in 2:11:45@5:04km/8:09mi pace [morning/Blackpool/0c] HR135
Sun 12 Feb - 13.7km/8.51mi in 1:10:49@5:10km/8:19mi pace [morning/Blackpool/4c] HR127

Week [Mon-Sun]: 75.97km/47.21mi

U-turn

Just when I was getting used to being back in the North West, I am about to do a U-turn and return to London full-time. When I first returned to the NW back in July, I was only required to attend meetings in London one or two days a week, the rest of the time I could work from home. But all good things come to an end and recently I have been required 4 days-a-week in London, essentially living in a hotel whilst there. Of course, after a while, this along with the travel and expense of living away from home becomes completely unsustainable.

The good news is that my public health clients have moved to put my working arrangements on a more secure footing (at least in the short-to-medium term) by extending my existing working arrangements. This means that I will be returning to live in London in the near future.

After one of the mildest winters in my living memory, winter finally arrived last week with temperatures dropping to -13c in some parts of the UK. In Manchester the temperature dropped to -5c and the first snow of the year fell last Saturday. I was at the City v Fulham match and an intense 30-minute snow storm during a bizarre second half meant the game was almost abandoned. The snow was so heavy that for a few minutes I could barely see the far end of the pitch from my seat.

In terms of running, my rehabilitation continues and therefore last week was pretty uneventful. I totalled 89km/55mi running on six days. The ribs are not troubling me much at all, only at higher intensities and occasionally waking me during the night. After a late-night 7 miles on Monday, I rested on Tuesday before completing another 13 miles on Wednesday. On Thursday I ran 7 miles ahead of back-to-back long-ish runs on Friday and Saturday (partly in a attempt to beat the snow which had been forecast for the weekend). On Friday afternoon I ran 12 miles and was out again very early on Saturday morning for 11 more miles before heading up to Manchester where it was impossible to run as the snow had quickly turned to deep slush and ice once the temperature had briefly crept above freezing point.

I woke early on Sunday and took the first train back to London only to find that London was covered in 3-4cm of snow. It was dry snow, though, so I was at least able to run 5 miles as there was plenty of grip. Primrose Hill [left and below] was occupied by hundreds of children and families who were sledging and enjoying the snow. I always like to see public open spaces well utilised.

On Monday the snow had turned to ice and [thinking recent head traumas] it was unsafe for me to run outside so I headed for the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre where I ran 10 km including 3km at 4:21km/7:00mi pace. I felt unusually fatigued afterwards and it was no surprise when I came down with a heavy cold overnight. After the recent injury setback, my  recent training has improved my conditioning to the extent that my HR is returning to its ideal training norm (RHR45) so I was cool about taking a day off on Tuesday as I didn't want to tip the balance by overdoing it. It worked to some extent and I was able to run 15 easy km today with the HR in a very happy place. I'm also having to deal with an annoying tickly cough and am still feverish so the weekly total might be on the low side this week.

My 2012 race schedule is becoming clearer. As well as running in the Copenhagen Marathon on 20th May I will also be running in the Beijing Marathon on October 21st. This is due mainly to the fact that I will combine my marathon participation with a visit to my brother and his family who are living in China. I've entered a half marathon 3 weeks before Copenhagen (Rotary Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon) and 3 weeks before Beijing I'll run in the inaugural Ealing Half Marathon (West London) which passes my former home and along many of my former training routes from when I first started road running in 2008.

Updated 2012 Race Calendar
Sun 15.4.2012 - Newham Classic 10k
Sun 29.4.2012 - Rotary Shakespeare Half Marathon
Sun 20.5.2012 - Copenhagen Marathon
Sun 27.5.2012 - Bupa London 10,000
Sun 30.9.2012 - Ealing Half Marathon
Sun 21.10.2012 - Beijing International Marathon 

Recent training
Tues 31 Jan - 11.27km/7mi in 55:59 @ 4:48km/7:59mi pace [evening/London/0c]
Wed 1 Feb - 21.1km/13.11mi in 1:45:30 @ 5:00km/8:02mi pace [afternoon/London/0c] HR132
Thurs 2 Feb - 11.27km/7mi in 58:37 @ 5:12km/8:22mi pace [morning/London/-2c] HR132
Fri 3 Feb - 19.32km/12mi in 1:34:47 @ 4:54km/7:54mi pace [afternoon/London/0c] HR135
Sat 4 Feb - 18km/11.18mi in 1:31:40 @ 5:06km/8:12mi pace [morning/London/-4c] HR130
Sun 5 Feb - 8.05km/5mi in 46:12 @ 5:44km/9:14mi pace [afternoon/London/1c snow] HR126
Mon 6 Feb - 10km inc 8km in 37:15 [0-5km in 24:10 (4:50/7:46 pace) / 5-8km in 13:05 (4:21/7:00 pace) plus 2km w-up/c-down [morning/London/treadmill] 
Wed 8 Feb - 15km/9.33mi in 1:18:24 @ 5:13km/8:24mi pace [morning/London/-1c] HR127

Week [Mon-Sun]: 89.01/55.30mi

Copenhagen next

Greetings. I am now almost fully recovered from the rib and head injuries which have forced my withdrawal from the Tokyo Marathon on 26th February. This week has seen a step change in my training following a period of 3 weeks where I could only muster 37 slow and painful miles.

Something happened during the course of last weekend's two days off running. After not sleeping properly for 3 weeks because of the broken ribs, all of the sudden I managed to sleep for 6 consecutive hours last Sunday night. Moreover, there was much less discomfort on Monday when I ran with Grellan, who was in the UK visiting his brother. Running much quicker (7:48mi pace) than I had been able to recently, we even managed a couple of passes over the top of Primrose Hill. Whilst the ribs were sore on the downhill sections, this was nothing compared with the previous week when running up and down the same terrain was just too painful.

The next step was to complete a double digit run - the first since Dec 25th - and this was duly completed on Wednesday when I ran 10 hilly miles taking in Hampstead Heath, Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill.  After Thursday's recovery run and a day off on Friday, I was ready to test the endurance by doing back-to-back double digit runs: 10.5 miles at 7:48mi pace on Saturday followed by a tough 13.1mi fartlek on Sunday. The plan on Sunday was to vary the heart rate between 120bpm and 155bpm throughout, sprinting up any elevations and randomly slowing-down/speeding-up/sprinting distances between 100m and 400m over the rest of the course.

The ribs seem to have coped with everything thrown at them this week: hills, intensity and longer distances and I've accumulated almost 55 miles in the process. I've also been able to do some limited Pilate's work which was impossible just a few days ago. Today's run is the longest since December 25th, when I ran 15 miles.

All this means that I am now ready to commence full-on marathon training. In a previous post I said I was considering either Belgrade (21/4), Trafford or MK (both 29/4) or Prague (13/5) but that would have given me only 8/9 weeks training before taper. The problem with that is that my endurance base and fitness have dipped over the last four weeks and if I want to run a fast time I will need at least 12 weeks full training to rebuild the endurance levels, build leg strength and speed. That takes me into May. I seriously considered Prague but I've decided on Copenhagen on 20th May as a couple of friends will also be running there.

Thus I have 13 weeks plus 3 weeks taper to get myself race ready. I'm really disappointed that the Tokyo Marathon (26/2) has come too soon for me, but Copenhagen in May is a very good alternative.  Bring on those slow endurance-building miles.

Training (23-29 Jan).
Mon 23 Jan [with Grellan] - 14km/8.7mi in 1:07:49 @ 4:51km/7:47mi pace [evening/London/8c]
Tues 24 Jan - 11.27km/7mi in 54:37 @ 4:51km/7:48mi pace [evening/London/9c]
Wed 25 Jan - hills 16.1km/10mi in 1:20:34 @ 5:00km/8:02mi [lunch time/London, Hampstead Heath/9c]
Thurs 26 Jan - recovery 8.44km/5.24mi in 45:00 @ 5:19km/8:24mi pace [evening/London/7c]
Fri 27 Jan - rest
Sat 28 Jan - 17km/10.56mi in 1:22:18 @ 4.51km/7:48mi pace [morning/Blackpool/0c]
Sun 29 Jan - fartlek [HR 120 - 155] 21.1km/13.1mi in 1:49:53 @ av. 5:13km/8:23mi pace [afternoon/Blackpool/4c]
 
Week [Mon-Sun]: 87.91km/54.6mi

Tokyo: over and out

Happy new year though not the start to the new year I was hoping for. After slipping on ice in St Petersburg (Russia) on New Year's Day, I am unable to run due to a head injury (requiring 5 stitches and a hospital stay), a broken nose and broken ribs. Because of the incident on New Year's Day, I will not be able to train this week or next. Prior to this I was already struggling to run normal mileage due to an injury to the calf area, although I thought that I still had a chance to run in Tokyo, as this injury had improved a lot over the last couple of weeks. As it turns out, the decision has been made for me. I'll now prepare for a European marathon in April or May.