Sneaks come out at night 15k

This was a new race and took place in Druid Hill Park n 16 August. It began at 6.30pm and was in the high 80s at the start line.
The first few miles went well but the heat was certainly having an effect on pace.

1. 6:40 - 173bpm avge
2. 6:58 - 176bpm avge
3. 7:09 - 172bpm avge

As is obvious, the pace declined as the effort remained the same and a few of the early hares had disappeared behind me. I was now largely running on my own with two runners in red and yellow singlets about a fifth of a mile ahead.
The course involved two double backs that we would encounter three times and gave me an opportunity to see the battle for the ladies' race about twenty seconds behind me and helped distract me from my isolation. The remainder of the course was essentially three loops of the park lake.

The pace continued to slow and stabilise, but I neither passed nor was passed by any runners.
4. 7:27- 173bpm avge
5. 7:15 - 173bpm avge
6. 7:25 - 172bpm avge
7. 7:32 - 173bpm avge

I was concerned that an effort of 92% of MHR was too much but did not feel any worse as the miles passed so resolved to stick with it.

Shortly after mile seven a runner in a green singlet passed me and initially I thought he was someone on a training run as I had not seen him before. However, as I drew level again I saw he had a race number and I let him go about fifteen feet ahead of me and had given up on him; however as I slowed he did too and that was enough to encourage me to dig in a little while longer.
Mile eight in 07:24 and we were slowly closing in on the runners in the red and yellow singlets I had given up on about four miles before!
As I closed on green singlet he put in surges that I matched every time despite the urge to give in, but his surges never lasted more that ten or twelve seconds that kept giving me motivated to maintain contact. This duel allowed us to pass the two runners in red and yellow singlets who looked like they were suffering.
Mile nine in 06:55 - less than half a mile remaining and as I reached the base of the hill that encompassed the final third of a mile I made my move and moved past green singlet on his right and surged up the hill, remaining conscious of the need to put in a good long surge of at least thirty seconds to break him. It was hurting now and a few audible grunts and groans were emanating from me but the sight of another runner kept me going and I passed him in the last couple hundred metres to finish in 01:06:48 and 11th place. I am very satisfied with this performance but would love to know what I could have done if the temperature was thirty to forty degrees less.

The ladies' race was an excellent duel between the top three with the lady in third for most of the race finishing second, the leader for the race's majority finishing third, and the girl chasing her for the majority ultimately triumphing.

2400 test 3 July

Another overdue post from my last 2400 test. The next one is scheduled for tomorrow! I will presently create a graph to demonstrate progress, but things seem to be continuing to move in the right direction. It's been a while since I have seen a sub six pace for any distance, nevermind 1.5 miles.

1.50 11:38 (07:45) 128bpm average
1.50 10:34 (07:03) 143bpm average
1.50 9:47 (06:31) 153bpm average
1.50 9:14 (06:09) 163bpm average
1.50 8:42 (05:48) 171bpm average

Baltimore 10 miler, way overdue race report

This is one of the most popular running events in Maryland and had about 4,500 participants. It took place in Druid hill park on 16 June (hence the title!), which is nice and would be my first opportunity to race there.
Mercifully the 7am start meant the temperatures were a tolerable 68F at the start, but would ascend to the mid 70s by the race's end.
The race started a little late and proceeded east out of the park and through a smaller park adjacent to The Johns Hopkins University campus.
Soon after the second mile we turned onto Greenmount Avenue, that reminds many of the grittier scenes from The Wire TV series.
By now I was settling into my pace well and was running at about 91/92% of MHR and trying to hold myself back. Soon we were doing our one lap of lake Montebello. I had always wanted to include this in a training run but getting to it involves running through some very scarey parts of town unless you take a seven mile detour via Druid Hill Park.
It was here that I first encountered...let's call him Mr. Showoff. He came blazing by me near the five mile mark, as we neared completion of our lap of Montebello, moving quicker than six minute mile pace. Spectators' roars spurred him to greater efforts and he soon disappeared.
Now we were doubling back onto 33rd street and back towards Johns Hopkins and it was a long slow drag up the not very steep but relentless hill and here I began overtaking quite a few, including Mr. Showoff.
The temperature was definitely higher but I was increasingly confident of going under seventy minutes. Mr. Showoff also remained confident and he flew by me again at the eight mile mark and elicited the same whoops from spectators.
Back into Wyman Park, adjacent to Hopkins and I reeled in another few runners that I had been very slowly closing in on for the previous two miles and this really gives you a great mental and physical lift.
Final mile now and I felt confident enough to increease the effort; anyone can hurt for a mile. Shortly after the mile mark I passed a lady who I remember losing contact with in the early miles and and as I passed she reacted and passed me again before I further increased the effort and passed her again; this little duel was a great distraction from the pain and effort and helped a third of a mile pass a little quicker. Last half mile and who should I encounter, but Mr. Showoff, looking very unsteady on his feet and coming to a standstill with his hands on his knees and shaking his head like he was trying to rid himself of dizziness. He would try to get moving again as I passed but he came to a halt but thankfully remained upright.
I crossed the line in 01:09:03 and very happy with the effort and the time. While almost five minutes slower than my personal best I feel I am moving in the right direction again and the conditions would have had a mitigating effect. A good race, interesting course, and the post race offerings of two beers, gels, fruit, water, and other food was the greatest I have ever encountered. Unfortunately fools who thought it appropriate to make off with entire boxes of gels and more than one premium (a nice white quarter zip top with the race logo), marred things a little and spoilt it for others. Onwards and upwards!

2400 test treadmill

More progress but there is the caveat emptor that it was on a treadmill. Running on a treadmill is obviously different from outdoor running.
1. The momentum of the belt can drag you along and renders running at a certain pace marginally easier than outdoors.
2. There is obviously no wind at all or even minor undulations.
3. The accuracy of some treadmills can be off and I have read that a GPS is more accurate than a treadmill's electronic readout.

However, it is considered common practice to elevate the mill 1 per cent to better replicate outdoor conditions; I still have my doubts but even accounting for this the progress indicated below remains very encouraging. Additionally my next 2400m test will take place on the same treadmill and should provide a rock solid benchmark for my fitness in another four weeks. It should be noted this test took place on Tuesday 3 June.

1.50 11:50 (07:53) 133bpm average
1.50 10:39 (07:06) 144bpm average
1.50 10:06 (06:44) 152bpm average
1.50 9:25 (06:17) 163bpm average
1.50 8:57 (05:58) 170bpm average

MCVET 10k

There were three reasons for running this race: the $25 price was reasonable; I could walk to the start line; and MCVET is a deserving cause.
The race began at 0830 and already the humidity was in the high 80s and the temperature was in the high 70s. I decided to abandon any attempt at a sub forty time. In the first mile I made a conscious effort to hold back and all those streaming past me made it hard not to go with them, but I have had too many bad experiences in the heat to make that mistake again.
The first mile split was 06:35 with a HR of 171, indicating I was definitely working hard. By now we were approaching federal hill park and the field was slowly settling down and I was catching some of the early hares. The course double backs on its self on key highway, about 2.5 miles in and my second mile split was 06:57. My own slowing pace showed just how suicidal some of the hares' pace had been.
The course then turned right onto Pratt street and past the USS Constellation and right again onto President street, towards Harbour East. Here I looked at my Garmin and saw a pace average of 06:54 and thought,'hey, I'm maintaining pace pretty well'; and just then the Garmin bleeped to record the third mile split of 07:13! Blast, I had been looking at the total distance average pace and not the current mile average pace. From that point on I ignored the pace and the Garmin, save for a few glances to make sure the HR remained in the low 170s. It was at this point, with the pressure of the watch banished, that I began to enjoy myself and just concentrated on maintaining effort. Well into mile four I overtook a few more of the earlier hares who I had been stalking since I resolved to ignore the watch. A turn around on fleet street back towards Little Italy and I was soon to complete mile five in 07:12; mile four was 07:06, so I had settled down to a sustainable pace. As we approached the final 1.2 miles, turning right back onto President street, I could see a couple more runners up ahead. The field was quite strung out now and I had been running on my own for about a mile.
I slowly closed in on the runners in front and remembered the first runner I encountered from the race's beginning. I decided to make my move as we turned right from Pratt street onto the hill on Calvert. My thinking was that the combination of me overtaking him on a hill and putting in a surge would break any morale to respond. His constant looking over his shoulder as I approached indicated he was running on empty. As I put a surge up the hill I realised the next two runners were within reach. As I reached the top of the hill I took a look over my shoulder to see the runner I had overtaken was slowly falling away and I turned my attention to the two in front.
With about half a mile remaining I moved into a controlled sprint as we moved downhill and turned right onto Lexington street and towards the finish; I soon passed the next runner and moved into a full sprint in the last quarter mile to overtake the next runner. The crowd at the finish line warned him of my impending approach and as he looked over his right shoulder he tried to respond but it was always going to take too long for him to get up to speed before we crossed the finish line and I finished a few seconds ahead of him in 43:16.
This was a personal worst by over two minutes but I was satisfied with a well executed race. If Jeff Galloway's estimations about the affect of heat on performance are correct then the heat and humidity undermined my performance by at least 10%, giving me a cooler performance time of 39:20. Looking at the results revealed that two of the three runners I overtook in the last three quarters of a mile were in my age division and making that move in the last mile got the bling below.

At last-progress

At last-progress. I have been very remiss in updating the blog and this 2400m test took place at the end of April and took place at about six am. I think that might explain the very slow initial 2400m.
The progress in the remaining 2400 segments is undeniable and the final two 2400 segments might have been better had I been able to get my HR up; I suspect the early start and the effect of Circadian cycles prevented my body from working to its true potential.

The reduction in mileage to less than fifty per week and the inclusion of a weekly Yasso sessions, along with a tempo and marathon effort run on alternate weeks has yielded very positive results.

25 April
1.49m - 13:35(9:06/m) - 133bpm avge
1.49m - 11:17(7:34/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 10:27(7:01/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 9:46(6:33/m) - 162bpm avge
1.49m - 9:21(6:16/m) - 168bpm avge

29 March
1.49m - 12:40 (08:30) 136bpm
1.49m - 12:06 (08:07) 145bpm
1.49m - 11:13 (07:31) 156bpm
1.49m - 09:54 (06:39) 166bpm
1.49m - 09:08 (06:07) 174bpm

Nippy postscript

As soon as I crossed the finish line I resolved that Hadd was being kicked to the kerb. I do believe Hadd can benefit you but this depend on whether there is a dissonance between your marathon times and you shorter race times, where your shorter distance PBs indicate you should run a much quicker marathon and demonstrates an under developed aerobic base. On reflection this was not my situation. I had a poorly developed base late last year but that was primarily the result of severe overtraining and four months of Hadd has now left me under trained, but with a good base from which I should make good progress pretty quickly.
For the next few weeks my approach will be to drop my mileage to less than fifty miles per week; include a 'Yasso' session every week; and a tempo and marathon paced effort on alternate weeks. Standing my training on its proverbial head should make the next 2400 test interesting.

Nippy Nor' easter half marathon

The day before this I realised it would be my first half since September 2010! I was able to show up fifteen minutes before the start, collect my number, walk two minutes to the start and join a queue of three for a port a loo - that's my kind of no fuss race! In the first mile I needed to reign in my pace; in the first third of a mile the Garmin showed me running at close to six minute mile pace. I let the hares go and completed the first mile in 06:36. Shortly into the second mile I overtook probably half a dozen of the first mile hares. Mile two 06:39 and mile three 06:42. By now I was running on my own but could see a group of about eight a quarter mile ahead who were slowly pulling away. During the next few miles I had increased the effort but was slowing; my HR was hovering around 92/93% of maximum. As I approached the turn around and halfway point my pace slowed into the high 06:50s and I knew the second half would be miserable. It was now obvious that I should have been much more disciplined in keeping the HR below 90%. Long story short: I was running on my own for the next couple of miles and then in the final 5k a number of people overtook me. This was actually something of a blessing as it gave me people to try and hang onto and prevented me from completely throwing in the towel. By now my splits were well north of seven minute miling and I crossed the finish line in 01:32:19 to avoid a personal worst by thirteen seconds! Amazingly in a field of over 200 I managed to place eighteenth; had I been in the kind of shape I was in in late 2010, early 2011, I would have finished third - if, buts and maybes.

Plateau & the end of Hadd?

Latest 2400 test tonight and some strange results; at last I saw significant improvement at the 135bpm effort but I have actually gone backwards or remained pretty much static at the higher efforts. In the intervening five weeks I increased my sub LT runs to 82%, I wonder if that played a role in these statistics. It's time to reassess my approach and consider amending my approach but I'll take a few days to consider things; in the meantime Saturday's half-marathon should be instructive.

29 March 2012
1.49m - 12:40 (08:30) 136bpm
1.49m - 12:06 (08:07) 145bpm
1.49m - 11:13 (07:31) 156bpm
1.49m - 09:54 (06:39) 166bpm
1.49m - 09:08 (06:07) 174bpm

23 February 2012
1.49m - 13:38(9:09/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:19(8:15/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:00(7:23/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 10:00(6:42/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:13(6:11/m) - 171bpm avge

19 January 2012
1.49m - 13:43(9:12/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:30(8:23/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:10(7:29/m) - 154bpm avge  
1.49m - 10:07(6:47/m) - 163bpm avge
1.49m - 9:20(6:15/m) - 174bpm avge

2 December 2011
1.49m - 13:37(9:08/m) - 134bpm avge
1.49m - 12:39(8:29/m) - 144bpm avge
1.49m - 11:19(7:35/m) - 156bpm avge
1.49m - 10:23(6:58/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:28(6:21/m) - 172bpm avge

Third 2400 test

23 February 2012
1.49m - 13:38(9:09/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:19(8:15/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:00(7:23/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 10:00(6:42/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:13(6:11/m) - 171bpm avge

Things are still moving in the right direction, although the pace of the 135bpm effort stubbornly remains the same as it has since I began Hadd. Additionally, the differential between 145 and 155bpm remains more than fifty seconds. I have concluded that both of these stubborn trends indicate that I probably need to increase the effort on my sub LT runs from 80 to 82% MHR.
My next 2400 hundred test will hopefully demonstrate the efficacy of increasing the sub LT effort and will play a significant part in my decision to do a spring marathon or not and also the pace at which I will race the Nippy Nor'easter at the end of March. The long term trends are quite pleasing and if I can continue to take about six second per mile off my 165 and 175 efforts every five or so weeks I will be quite happy. Interestingly I struggled to get the HR up to 175 on the final 2400m effort. I also felt that the 165bpm effort was more sustainable than it has been; I felt that I could have kept going at that effort for at least ten miles while this effort in December felt more like 10K pace. 

Stats, half-marathons & 'Natty Boh'

Not much to report since my last post. I have been 'Hadding' away and have not seen much if any improvement in my steady state 80% runs (averaging out just south of 8:00 min/mi). However, this week I managed back to back one hour recovery runs at 74% MHR that exceeded seven miles, with respective average mile splits of 08:26 and 08:27. I am hoping this is a sign of a developing aerobic base and that while my 80% runs have not been getting faster I could maintain their pace for considerably longer.

I also signed up for a half-marathon, the 'Nippy Nor'easter', which takes place on the National Central Railroad trail. It's not a certified course and proceeds are in aid of the 'Back on my feet' charity. The registration fee of $28.50 is hard to beat and my ongoing unemployment means I am especially discriminating in what races I will do! I had planned on the B&A trail half marathon, which receives rave reviews; however, the race filled up quickly and at $50, while not expensive, was more than the 'Nippy'; maybe next year.

My wife received a new digital camera from her parents for Christmas. I took it with me on a run recently and below are some pictures from my usual running route.

 Pagoda at Patterson park, just across the road from our house

A view of Brewer's hill from the Pagoda. The building in the distance is the old National Bohemian brewery and the famous 'Natty Boh' on the roof, a caricature synonymous with 'Balmer'. 

First Mariner bank HQ at Canton and the start of the harbour boardwalk which constitutes the majority of my runs. 

 The Maryland Korean war memorial at Canton waterfront park

Domino sugar factory from the south east, frequently depicted in The Wire television series from the Harbour's opposite side. 

Historic Fell's point. This is a social part of town with lots of pubs and restaurants. Most of the buildings are from the 18th and 19th centuries - old for America I suppose. The building on the left is a now abandoned police station famous for being the police station depicted on the TV series, Homicide: life on the streets.

Hadd update and second 2400 test

I completed my second 2400 test this morning and below is how the results between the first and second compare. 

19 January 2012
1.49m - 13:43(9:12/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:30(8:23/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:10(7:29/m) - 154bpm avge  
1.49m - 10:07(6:47/m) - 163bpm avge
1.49m - 9:20(6:15/m) - 174bpm avge

2 December 2011
1.49m - 13:37(9:08/m) - 134bpm avge
1.49m - 12:39(8:29/m) - 144bpm avge
1.49m - 11:19(7:35/m) - 156bpm avge
1.49m - 10:23(6:58/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:28(6:21/m) - 172bpm avge

A bit disappointed but not surprised. Interestingly and disappointingly the difference between the second and third intervals remains fifty-four seconds min/mi. The fourth interval provides some encouragement, being eleven seconds min/mi faster for two bpms less.

Not sure what to make of it but I will continue for another few weeks on the Hadd approach; I will abandon it if I do not see significant improvement in the pace of my sub LT runs in the next three weeks. Notwithstanding what I do in the future I think there's a benefit to keeping the pace of recovery and long runs below 75% MHR. 

Not rockin' my world

Regular readers of this blog will possibly know I am not keen on the 'Rock n' Roll' marathon concept. Disclaimer: I have never run one and so cannot comment authoritatively; their their prices mean I will never have the opportunity. However, I had always thought they were well organised events for what they were; well the Las Vegas marathon last week was a disaster of epic proportions: CEO and his wife win their age division group with implausible times; mass food poisoning; incorrect medals and people passing out from overcrowding. A news report outlines some of the problems and the Facebook page is alive with recriminations.

Max HR and 2400 test

As Hadd training involves training by HR a max HR test is required before commencing training in earnest. A Hadd HR test involves a fifteen minute warm up, an 800 metre all out effort followed by a two minute rest and a 400 metre all out effort. This test gave me a max HR of 189. Interestingly this is four bpm than the last max HR effort that I did in September.
One of the benefits of Hadd training is the objective biofeedback it provides on each run that over time, I hope, will evidence a trend of increasing pace for the same effort. To help monitor and evaluate progress Hadd prescribes what he calls 2400 assessments every six weeks, with the first at the beginning of training. A 2400 test involves running five intervals of 2400 metres with ninety seconds of complete rest between each interval. Each interval, involves running at a steady HR, increasing by increments of ten bpm. The last and fastest interval should not exceed your potential martathon HR by five bpm; Hadd defines max marathon HR potential as max HR minus 15-20 bpm. It is also crucial that you conduct every 2400 test in similar conditions to prevent prejudicing or doubting the result of successive tests.
On 1 December I completed my first 2400 test and the results were as follows.

1.49m - 13:37(9:08/m) - 134bpm avge
1.49m - 12:39(8:29/m) - 144bpm avge
1.49m - 11:19(7:35/m) - 156bpm avge
1.49m - 10:23(6:58/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:28(6:21/m) - 172bpm avge

The point of reference for these tests is the miles per minute pace rather than the time it takes to complete each interval. Hopefully, every six weeks your pace for each 2400 interval should increase for the same HR. The in pace between each interval are 39, 54, 37, and 36, respectively. Interestingly the gap between the second and third interval is significantly wider than the others; consulting with a number of Hadd acolytes this is quite common and indicates that the runner is indeed inefficient at this aerobic effort and should benefit from Hadd training. If the training is effective the gaps between the second and third interval in particular and all to a lesser degree should narrow and of course the pace should increase for the same HR effort. I suppose I'll find out in six weeks.

Hadd training

This year has proven a tough one, redundancy and apparent long-term unemployment, (unless I accept the increasing plethora of money laundering middleman offers I receive from careerbuilder.com the longer I remain out of work), forced emigration, and two poor marathons. Whatever about everything else I have a definitive plan for getting my running career back on track in 2012. Some years ago a coach began offering advice on letsrun.com. He was very conscious of his privacy and did not want those with whom he shared his ideas to have the ability to individually identify him and let that prejudice their attitude to either him or his training approach - sensible man. This coach referred to himself as John Hadd. Hadd's approach is similar to that of Arthur Lydiard; lots of slow aerobic base building miles. His basic argument is that unless you have developed an excellent aerobic base you will compromise your ability to run at a progressively faster pace that does not cross your lactate threshold; eventually if you continue to ignore the aerobic base and train faster than your aerobic base allows for adaptation to appropriately occur you will experience burn out and an increasing dissonance between your shorter race times and your longer race times. To explain his ideas Hadd used the example of 'Joe', a talented athlete who had not runs for years but who wanted to get back into shape and run a personal best for the marathon. Hadd extols the virtues of slow running to allow the development of Mitochondria in the cells that convert glucose to energy. This aerobic capacity building allows you to run faster at all efforts, even where you might never or rarely run at those efforts. The analogy he uses to explain this approach is that of a toothpaste tube; to get all the paste you need to fully and progressively squeeze upwards. If you squeeze only near the top of the tube you will initially get some paste but the remainder will remain in the tube, no matter how hard you squeeze near the tube's top. Consequently in Hadd training there is little or no running of intervals, tempo runs or even marathon paced running. It's not quite as simple as that but generally a Hadd schedule looks something like this: run everyday for at least an hour, where recovery runs do not exceed 75% of max heart rate; two quality workouts each week, preferably on Tuesday and Friday, building up to ten miles at 80% max heart rate; and a long run on Sunday of between two and three hours at recovery pace. As your aerobic base develops you should slowly see your speed increase for all efforts. With time and when you are comfortable doing ten miles at 80% MHR without any cardiac drift or slowing, you can slowly edge the effort for these runs up towards 90% of MHR, which he reasons is the absolute max of HR that an exceptionally well trained runner could run a marathon. The discussion of this training approach in great detail is archived on the Let's run website. A summary of the web forum is also available. This is a summary of the online thread and so is not the best written piece, being somewhat disjointed and repetitive but is well worth the effort. Hadd's untimely death in September revealed his true identity as John Walsh, a Briton based in Malta and founder of the Malta marathon. He insisted on his anonymity and only those who he worked with as coach, gratis, knew his identity, and as a condition of his coaching services they never revealed knowledge of his true identity until after his death. Appropriately his none de plume of Hadd is Maltese for anonymous. Looking at photographs of him it is hard to imagine that the man who looked like the embodiment of Scottish martial prowess and someone whose image you could imagine on a Victorian recruitment poster for a Scottish or Irish regiment could die so suddenly of a heart condition. I am hoping I might do his legacy some homage by making a success of my running in 2012; success in other areas would be nice too, but alas Mr Hadd cannot help me with that.

Harrisburg marathon review

A quick race review of Harrisburg. The race itself was excellent and has enormous PB potential. The volunteers were the best I have encountered anywhere, such that depending on plans for 2012 I would seriously consider volunteering at this race if I am not racing it myself. The course is relatively scenic, especially along the river's edge and the two portions on trail were a welcome change from hard surfaces, but with plenty of traction. The event being less than 1,000 marathon runners is logistically uncomplicated - comparatively, and I love being able to show up twenty minutes before a race to pick up a race number and walk the 200 metres to the start without any fuss or shoving or general air of panic that envelops many race starts. The number pick up is in a heated pavilion adjacent the start and allows you to stay warm minutes before the start. Free coffee was also available for runners and only 25 cents for others. 
The post race bounty is phenomenal; fruit, yogurt, bagels, coffee, and other foodstuffs; only Cologne has come close to this. The medal and tech t-shirt this year were an improvement on what I had seen on the web in previous years and I have already worn the shirt on a slightly chilly day when doing a max HR test this morning. All the above for $60 is excellent value, especially so when you look at the $95 that some half-marathons in Maryland think they can charge. Being unemployed I simply cannot afford that and even were I in employment it would take something really special to get me to shell out that kind of coin, and by special I don't mean the gimmicks that come with 'Rock n' Roll' events; thank goodness for races like Harrisburg. I hope to race this again and significantly improve on my time and do the race and course justice this time.

Harrisburg Marathon 2011

Me about to cross the bridge across the Susquehanna river and towards the finish line.

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania; it is also one of the largest cities to file for bankruptcy, which it did recently, even making pages of The Economist in a commentary about city finance and the polarisation of US politics. My wife is from the small town of Mechanicsburg which is a few miles west of Harrisburg and so this race was a good way of combining a trip to her parents with a marathon and is only a ninety minute drive from Baltimore. The race has also received consistently excellent reviews from Marthon-guide.com. Since adopting a HR approach to my training and using Pfitzinger and Douglas's HR bands, rather than target paces, my training paces have slowed and I had felt better than I have in a while. I felt I had made good progress. A few weeks before the race I did seventeen miles with the final ten miles at 87% MHR; these miles averaged 06:42, this was considerably better than a similar effort a few weeks before that came out at closer to 07:00 min/mile and for an additional percentage point in effort. I had my doubts that I had the aerobic base to maintain 86/87% MHR for 26.2 but resolved to go out at sub three hour pace see how it felt. The race began at 0830hrs and conditions were perfect and I quickly settled into 06:4x pace. However, by mile eight I knew it was not going to be able to maintain the pace and decided that I would forget about sub three, which I always knew was going to be a big ask and backed off to 07:05 pace for the next few miles. During mile ten I had to duck into a port-a-loo and do both a number one and two; this is something I have never needed to do in a race but I did initially feel better for it. By halfway I was not feeling good and the slower pace that was initially comfortable was now increasingly uncomfortable. As we passed the halfway point we ascended up a short sharp climb and I slowed further. My pace was now in the 07:20s and my legs were turning to concrete. This was frustrating as while I thought a sub three pace might be tough to hold I did not think it was suicidal either and I had sensibly backed off after eight miles. By mile seventeen, as we entered the Harrisburg Area Communinity College campus, many runners were passing me. There was a turnaround at this point and the final nine miles would be a double back on much of the first half of the course and many of the runners passing against me, at least half a mile ahead, were previously in the same group that I ran with in the first eight miles; this was not a confidence booster. By now I was doing the maths to calculate at what pace I would need to avoid a personal worst and would have taken 03:15 without any hesitation. The final six miles were something of a death march and runners were going by me in groups of two or three now. By mile twenty-two I resigned myself to a personal worst. My pace was now north of nine minute milling. At mile twenty-five I was about to walk when I heard the shouts of encouragement from my wife, mother-in-law, and friend visiting from Ireland; this prevented me from walking. I tried to increase the pace but any injection of pace never lasted more than a fifth of a mile. I reached the finish mile in 03:23:22; a bit if a disaster. However, I refuse to be too discouraged and have decided upon a reasonable and informed, I hope, plan to rectify my very poor 2011 racing year. Discussion of that will follow in another post shortly.

Harrisburg marathon 2011 by westley1977 at Garmin Connect - Details

The Odyssey: Ragnar Pennsylvania

Shortly after moving here my wife's cousin's husband invited me to participate in a 202 mile relay. The Ragnar relay involves twelve runners, six each in two vans running 202 miles from Lancaster PA to Jim Thorpe PA over thirty-six legs. The relay begins in the city of Lancaster and through the city of Reading, Amish country and a number of small towns. The six runners in each van run consecutively and hand over to the other van, and so each van leapfrogs the other until the thirty-six legs are complete. As the event's website pits it, 'run, drive, sleep?, repeat!'
The race began at 0630 in the dark and cold of Lancaster's Stauffer park. During the second leg we saw the bizarre sight of an Amish woman of at least seventy years talking and running alongside a Ragnar competitor! As 'runner three' in van one my first leg of 8.2 miles began in bright sunshine. I decided to run at sub three hour marathon pace and see how it felt. The first six miles were rolling hills heading east through the town of Strasburg along route 741. The weather was perfect - cool and bright. The first six miles fluctuated between 06:40 And 06:51; a heart rate in the 170s was definitely not ideal for so called marathon pace; it felt more like something between marathon and half-marathon pace. The last two miles were significantly uphill and my heart rate increased into the mid 170s and the pace declined. The average mile splits were 07:02 for 8.24 miles.
When we completed our initial six legs we handed over to the other van and had a number of hours to pass at a high school. Here we had lunch and relaxed for a while in the bright sunshine. My next run, leg fifteen, was through the city of Reading during rush hour, which is the poorest city in the United States; running through this town I could definitely believe it; it reminded me a little of Sheffield where I used to live, except only worse. This leg was 4.5 miles and I ran through some 'interesting' parts of town. It being after 1730hrs the race organisers required that I wear a high viz jacket and head lamp even though it was still quite bright; this did nothing to prevent curious glances and stares from the locals. The legs through Reading were quite confusing and some orienteering skills were definitely advantageous; my teammate Frank D, who completed the leg before me got lost and he and two other runners spent quite an amount of time before they found me at the checkpoint.


Me, ready for the off in America's poorest city.

The first two miles through downtown were tough, the paving here was worse than it is in Baltimore and it felt more like running on a single track trail than through a city centre. The final two miles were up Hill road; never was a road more aptly named! This was two miles of steep hills and my HR went above 90% MHR to maintain close to ten minute milling pace! I saw very few runners on this leg. I did see one ahead of me during the final mile but I could not close him down enough to pass him and I was just glad to hand over to Rick for a further 1.8 miles of climb to the top of the mountain. At the next checkpoint, to cheer Rick in and prepare Linda P to assume running duties from him, is where I first thought of Homer's Odyssey and Odysseus' journey to Ithaca and all the characters he encountered; here Frank D and I encountered an odd character sitting on a walll - half stoner/hippie, half hipster. It transpired he was drafted in at the last moment by a friend involved with the race organisation to manage the checkpoint. He did not have much of an idea of what to do so Frank and I accepted his request for help and gave our advice on how to manage things. He then told us his life story and how his friend knew which pub to find him in earlier that day because since his fiancé left him he's either in the pub getting smashed or in his tattoo parlor, whereupon he proceeded to showcase and explain his fiancé inspired tattoos! Thankfully we got called away to get back in the van so we could provide support for Linda P on her leg!

Soon we were at exchange twenty-four where we could sleep and await the arrival the other van who were running legs nineteen to twenty-four. The sleeping quarters was a school's basketball hall. Not much sleep was had, especially with the bright lights in the hall and the guy snoring who sounded like he was cutting logs with a chainsaw! At one point there must have been well over 150 lying on the floor in sleeping bags.



I am under the bag on the right with the yellow high viz jacket over my head to try and block out the light.

My final leg took place at a little before three in the morning. It began in a small town of McKeansburg. This was a nice little town and the local church was out in force with coffee, cakes and other food they were selling for the church's benefit. Best of all they had a large roaring fire. It was here that Odysseus encountered the last of his monsters blocking the path to Ithaca; a female member of the church struck up conversation with me and expressed with a sharp intake of breath her shock and surprise when she heard Ragnar would run night-time legs through her county; why I hear you gasp - well apparently Schuylkill County has the highest level of DUI in the nation! This is just what you want to hear when you are scheduled to run 3.7 miles in the dark! The final run was the best. I knocked out a hard effort and completed it with average mile splits of 06:28. This felt like 10k pace; last year this was a little slower then half-marathon pace! I did see a surprising number of drivers on this rural but thankfully wide road and none were swerving. For almost all of this I was completely on my own with only the stars above and off to my left the sound of the odd twig breaking; presumably a deer wandering about. Following me was Rick and then a couple of gutsy runs from Linda P, John P and Derrick, who was especially was feeling the affect of his excellent second leg performance.


Campfire where scary stories of DUI drivers were told!

When we completed our final set of runs we proceeded to the finish line and rested for a few hours before welcoming home the remainder of our team in the other van. We all crossed the finish line together in beautiful Autumn sunshine.
In short, a unique and fun experience that really just embraces the joy of running with other people in nice places; for most it is entirely about that rather than times or overt competition. I would certainly relish the honour of running with my eleven other teammates again and our two van drivers, the two Jeffs, who arguably had the harder job of driving, navigating, coaching, cajoling and coralling twelve runners over two days and 202 miles.

HR max test and fresh perspectives

Of late I thought my training might benefit from the incorporation of heart rate training. I hope that brining this into my training will help me train at the correct intensity and complementarily develop both my aerobic and anaerobic systems. So first things first, I would need to determine my maximum heart rate. There are numerous ways of doing this, some involving scientists and a treadmill. I went for one I found on the Marius Bakken website. My HR max 'target' was 190. Following a fifteen minute warm up I embarked on the first of five one minute intervals. Every minute for the next three minutes I aimed to increase my HR by ten bpm, reaching 180 at the end of the fourth minute. It was getting really tough now. The final minute is an all out effort to get the HR as high as you can. I maxed at 185. This seemed a bit low, considering that last year I saw 190 at the end of 5k; so, I went out in the afternoon and did the 'Hadd' HR test. This involves a good warm up, followed by 800m all out, a two minute recovery and 400m all out. This elicited a max HR of 183. I am unsure how advisable it is to two HR max tests in a day and whether it affects the results of any subsequent effort. One thing is certain- I do not fancy doing one again any time soon. Running until you think you will black out is not pleasant. So, 185 it is. I subsequently read that as your aerobic fitness improves it is more difficult to reach your true max HR and that if your fitness declines you will reach a higher HR quicker, and of course be moving at a significantly slower pace. The first real workout with this approach rook place last Thursday, a twelve mile run, with seven at tempo effort. The average pace for these miles was 06:43 and average HR of 163 or 88% max HR. I was happy enough with this pace considering the >90% humidity and 24C/74F temperatures. Interestingly, before the summer I would have considered 163bpm as only slightly greater effort than marathon pace - if even. However, these tempo miles definitely felt like half Marathon pace. I am a little hopeful that if the environmental conditions were better my splits could be twenty to twenty-five seconds faster. If this is correct, a big if, then it suggests that either I was overtraining in the past, or I am in significantly better shape than I was before the summer. If it's incorrect, then I am in poor shape. In short, I have no idea what kind if shape I am in, but the point of the move to HR training is to receive more objective feedback on my training and prevent either under or overtraining. If nothing else it will bring fresh perspectives to training.

The clock is ticking

Weekend commitments led me to switch my Sunday long run to Saturday, a fifteen miler. Normally I would begin a run like this at projected marathon pace plus 20 per cent and do the latter half at marathon pace plus 10 per cent. Today, I decided the good temperatures would be opportune to do an evaluation run to see what kind of shape I am in. The plan was, six miles easy, five miles at marathon pace plus 20 per cent, and the final four at marathon pace. The first five miles were north of 08:35 with a HR in the early to mid 130s, the next five miles averaged just south of eight minute milling with a HR in the early 140s - all good.
The final four miles at marathon pace began well; the first mile averaged 159 with a 06:36 split - little fast but it felt good. The second mile elapsed in 06:45, but it felt tougher than I would have liked with a 164 HR. Third mile in 06:47 and average HR of 166- not good, this almost felt like tempo effort. Final mile of 06:45 and HR of 159. Had I not been stuck waiting for a pedestrian light the HR would have been higher.
My legs have felt a bit heavy and tired since Wednesday, as a consequence of the first interval session of the training cycle, tearing up a floor on Thursday with a crowbar, and a not insignificant workout on Friday. However, I think I am clutching at straws to account for how tough this was; perhaps the five weeks of training between now and taper will pull things out of the fire? The clock is ticking...