Week 13 day 5 - 20 mile race/ run

Rested for 2 days before the 20 mile training run in Halewood Liverpool.

This was a timed official run by the same people who did the Delamere 10krace, only £5 so very cheap but well organised, water at 3-4 places and a gatorade at about 17 miles. Route was the old railway line Halewood to Aintree, now a forest nature reserve of sorts, 10 miles there and back

Nice bowl of pasta the night before + cheesy garlic bread...(hey works for me, don't knock it, its got me this far). Idea for me at least was to try as close as possible to marathon race conditions, equipment, sweets, hydration, etc, so try most things. Maybe not at full pace, but maybe 15-60 seconds off per mile.

I have a checklist of things before every run greater than 13 miles, like vaseline, running belt, tissues, jelly babies, clothes, things for eating/ drinking after. Currently 10-11 things on it. Now 13 :)

All fine. Forgot something major and obvious NOT on the list at this time.

Coming out of the Wallasey - Liverpool tunnel about 10-15 minutes away from home, realised I had forgotten my trusted Garmin GPS watch and heart rate strap I have used on every run. Not enough time to turn back.
This is a bit like having a car without a speedometer, you regularly check you are running the pace you want, maybe even beeped at you're running too slow or even too fast.

So a bit scary. Really did get a bit wibbly and anxious, but only for a few minutes. Ways around this and actually a good test of me/ my limits.

Running smoothly should be natural to me now with all the training, so good pace without pushing to the limit, comfortable heart rate, a bit like feeling the revs in a car at particular gears and guessing rough speed, and also using the time on my ipod every 4-5 miles, also asking anyone I passed to work out approx time per mile. Like they used to go in Olden Days. :)

Race went off at 10am, and got a decent pace going quickly, met someone with a garmin at 3-4 miles and found I was doing under 8 min miles so backed off a bit. Could still see them and 4-5 others maybe 250-400 metres ahead of me though. Very nice surroundings too, forest, old railway tunnels.

Half way, 10 miles done in 1hr 25-26 mins approx. Pretty much back on my pace. A few twinges from legs so stopped a couple of times and stretched quads & calves. Picked up pace, and got a nice speed going, gradually drew back in the 5-6 people I'd seen ahead for 7-8 miles... by 15 miles had caught up 3 of them, by 16 miles all of them and went past them.

Saw Mrs FRC at 18.5 miles giving out drinks to everyone but just after directed down the wrong route by a group of lads who switched a sign to go left not right... added on another .2 or .3 of a mile, maybe 1-2 minutes but luckily did link onto the course still.

Anyway, ended up doing the 20.2-3 odd miles in 2hrs 46m 50 seconds, so under 4 hours is looking good - remember this was fairly flat course and some big hills in Liverpool course.
Still meant I finished the second 10 miles in approx 1hr 20-21 so a negative split, faster for second half than first, something tough to do allegedly, so happy with that, I can tough it out and very competitive if someone to catch.

Refuelled with my now traditional chocolate shake (carbs & protein) and 500-1000 ml of water, and then got to West Kirby for porridge with fruit, lots of tea + water, poached eggs on toast. Job done - for now. October awaits, only 6 weeks to go now.

Week 13 Day 1-3

Day 3
Football, always a good test.

Later on, nice easy run to Wallasey and along the sea front. Very relaxing, but still a good 8 miles.

Tomorrow & Saturday are rest days before the 20 mile bug run.

Still,  have done 35 miles running in last 5 days before that so mileage is good.

Day 2
Trail run 9.5 miles, mixed terrain... All good for building stamina up. Tested new running belt out, and hand water bottle.

Lovely going through Bidston hills & forests, and around. Harder effort but nice surroundings make such a difference, you don't realise how far you have gone or how hard you push up hills and paths.

Good company too from Mrs FRC.  Needs to work on her breathing and warm up routine first 10-20 mins.. whatever the magic method is for her.

Day 1
Aimed to do 10 miles but ran out of time if also doing a class... probably a mistake.. felt rushed, should've just aimed for specific hill run and done that.
Managed to 9 miles to West Kirby not the route originally planned to Heswall, then back to gym for body conditioning class, but again rushed with a meeting later so cut short.

Hmm.. knees sore and hip too, so dosed with ibuprofen and hot bath. Need to be careful and avoid injury!

Week 12 day 7 end of week

Day off so a few things planned. Lots of time on my feet and a little bit of rest, races do seem to take it out of me in the 3-5 days after, even sore hips if have been banging feet down hard.

Ran to the gym for 9am (1.25miles there), 30minute hard circuit class with Mike pretty good, woke me up. Combat class with Cath at 9.30 also good. Shame I can't usually get to these.. pensioners getting all the good stuff. :)

Jog back home (another mile+), just enough time for light breakfast at home then jog out to stables for horse riding, 2.5 miles there.

2 hours in the midday sun, glorious and very good on my hamstrings. All along the way to West Kirby and back. Horses loved it too.

Walked back to Hoylake for some well deserved lunch small mixed grill with baked potato, plus a guinness..  (all good for iron I'm told) and pick some stuff up from the running shop.

End of Week 12 - only  7 weeks to go! EEK!.

Mileage per week still good, lots of running in the tank. Just learning to read your body and back off, not to run yourself literally into the ground with injuries training too hard.

Week 12 day 5+6

Day 6
Trail run 9m through Bidston woods again... really nice to do this.

2000 m rowing at gym. Tried bottle belt but not for me. Also problems with my carbohydrate tablets fizzing up 2-3 minutes after you drop them in and the bottle top opening.. not great so these probably wont be used at marathon... too messy?

Day 5
Felt tired so backed off a planned 14-15 mile LSR (Long slow run) , walked to west kirby instead so 10 miles.

Breakfast there, recharge a little. Walk back in time for the Liverpool match on TV.

Week 12 day 3

A fairly normal thursday, football at lunchtime, lots of sprinting, shuttle runs then a run in the evening after.

With the trail 10k the previous day, stretched the legs out a bit with a 7.5 mile easy run through Wallasey and along the seafront... perfect weather, sunsetting as we ran along.

Felt good in the day after but more tired into day 4.. that big surge of energy and feel good endorphins only lasts so long. Tired by day 4 so cancelled a medium run planned for day 5.

Week 12 day 1 & 2 - Delamere Forest 10k - Hardest race ever

Day 2 Only a 10k but wow, what a 10k. Literally the hardest run I've ever had to do.

Delamere Forest so a trail run... completely different to flat city 10k. I didn't realise this so even more of a test.

Also hills... little ones, okay, lots and big ones too almost 1km up twice. Steep up, then steep going down rocky paths at very fast speed.

Up one hill in 9 min mile pace, down the other side in 6m 45 pace... really pushed hard all the way. Mrs FRC also doing it.

I ended up doing the 10k in 48m 30"... supposedly I can knock off as much as 3-5 minutes off compared to a 10k flat... I haven't done one of these in 4-5 years - last one was 47m 40...so would show a huge improvement.

I can go a lot faster for longer now. 7-7.15 min miles or less are very possible so I could get close to 43-44 minutes - training is definitely paying off.

Mrs FRC finished in 1hr 8m 30s and was chuffed also, really tough race.

Nice medal and mug for doing it too.

Day 1
In view of the 10k race on Wednesdy, wanted to keep this day's efforts light so only 5 miles easy/ recovery through to ArrowePark with Mrs FRC.

Watched her heartrate to give us an idea if something topping out , or in terms of warm up.. very useful.

Checking it later on garmin website, seemed to be about 8-9 minutes light jogging so much less than you would expect.

5 miles some uphill and trail, stretching the legs out.

Body conditioning class after at 7pm, shorter than normal and good range of exercises. Weird effects though, we did some leg lifts lying on side, hip raises lying on you back... all fine, then standard press-up... couldn't do one... felt like my hips and bits in between were hollow... very weird sensation and unnerving.

Week 11 day 6+7

Day 7
With different weekend, finished the week off with a 1 hr boxing circuit class on monday. Usually can't get to this class so interested to try it. Pretty good, but nothing I can't handle. Fair bit of boxing, and arms heavy by the end.

Another week down, one less to go, now 8 weeks and counting.

Achieved my first run greater than 20 miles this week so major achievement.


More than 40 miles run this week, including my 700th of the year, everything going well.

A few aches and pains, left hip and calves a bit tight but hey.. no pain no gain.

Day 6
Marathon Workshop on saturday and working sunday so less time than normal, no circuit class possible.

However managed to get a run in with Mrs FRC later on, a warm up 4 miles, split up then some 1/2 intervals x4, meet up again for 3 miles, then 6 x 1/4 mile intervals.. super fast at the end. Sub 6 minute mile I found later on.

Liverpool Marathon doesn't have any sports drinks -  only water and a gel at 17/18 miles. Picked up some isostar tablets to try with future exercise sessions, replace a sports drink with just 2 tablets. Might work for the marathon. Also some Clif Blok shots... like little hard jellies with decent shot of carbs. More on these in future days.

Week 11 day 3+4 , 700 miles so far this year!

Day 4

Just to stretch the legs out after these week's efforts, slow recovery run with mrs FRC. 10.5 miles around upton, and Royden Park... with 3 miles to go, stuck our meal in the oven and carried on for another 3 miles.

Didn't realise till later that this included my 700th mile of the year - so far. Considering I might've only done 500ish last year... I'd done 500 by June, so another 200 miles in 6 weeks.. Phew!

Day3
Wasn't sure about how I would feel after my longest run the previous day.

I always looked forward to our works game of 5 a side, so tried my best, and actually not too bad. Someone didn't turn up so was actually 5 v 4 with me on the side with 4... so even more running to do. :)

Can easily burn 500-600 calories with all the sprints and shuttle runs so tough.

Week 11 day 1+ 2 Longest Run Ever (again)

Was aiming for a big run Wednesday so nothing too heavy Tuesday, certainly no running to keep the legs fresh.

Warmed up with a 45min spin class, good sweat, bit of rowing in between then body conditioning class after. All fine but did notice some pain in my hip still on a few exercises, a side lateral raise and a combined crunch. Will check with physio and chiropractor that it doesn't indicate something to worry about.

Day 2 Wednesday
With the aim of doing my first 20+ mile run, took the afternoon off, bit of pasta and garlic bread at lunch then a bit of a snooze.

Raining outside but no way I was not doing this. Running jacket on, a few quid for drinks and a bag of jelly babies.
I got nearly everything right (see later), good paced miles around 8m 30 or less, and powered on. Windy too in places, especially on West Kirby seafront  that looked so nice a week or two ago. Stopped for drinks 3 times and finished well in just under 3hrs for 20.7 miles... Really happy with that.

Full details of the run here. Click the splits tab to see more.

Hip a bit sore towards the end so very careful stretching 3-4 times over the 3+ hours out on my feet.. Need to careful not to jar something in training. Could trigger tendonitis again if not careful.

Discovered later that my bum back had rubbed me badly on my back...  Its not a running one, so definitely something I need to sort out. Pretty good apart from that. Answers on a postcard if you can translate what the tattoo says....

Week 10 day 6 end of week

Managed to do my regulation 30 miles again this week but differently.

9 miles around wednesday's race, 11 miles friday after a personal trainer sesssion, and 9 miles Sunday.

Checked out Bidston Hill Observatory today and the woods around.

Lovely run through the first wood past the observatory., then onto taylors wood, round both of them then back though the other side.

Wonderful views all round, including Liverpool skyline and lots of different terrain to cope with.

I never even knew there was a windmill there at the top

7 miles with 2 miles later on, some nice fast hills down to finish off.

Then the boxing circuit class after, really tough, great workout from Scott. Only found out later that I hit my maximum heart rate in this class, 198, which is definitely not 220 minus my age.

Week 10 day 4 PT session + run

Change of plan late on, just expected a long slow 10-13 mile run with Mrs FRC
My Personal trainer had a cancellation in the afternoon so was available at 5pm unexpectedly. Managed to just get there in time.

Really tough session, lots of kettle bells, rowing, bench press, lots of arm work - crunches & scissor kicks at the end just about finished my stomach muscles off.. hard.
 No pain no gain, if correct then I'm flying.

Then a short 15 min break and onto a 9 mile recovery run with Mrs FRC.
Not easy but found this comfortable with a drink 3 miles to go.

Tea cooking in the oven whilst we ran so finished the day off nicely.
I'm inside my BMI range right now..another 4-5 pounds to have lost 2 stone since November..

Week 10 day 1-3

Okay, planned to do the Wirral Seaside Run again this week so slight change of plan, lower the running around Wednesday.

Day 1
No running today, so something light.

Spin class, first I've done in 2-3 months.. fairly good, but could've done with more sprinting and hill climbs. Did get a good sweat on though right in the sunshine so not bad.

Then Cath's body conditioning class, good as always. Maxing the arms out this week.  Nice to see a few more men in the class, 4 counting me this week when usually on me and one other. Think they thought this would be easy and definitely not.


Day 2
3m/5k race on seaside at Moreton. Even took the afternoon off to rest a bit.

Managed 21m 5 secs but still couldn't find 10-20 seconds in the middle where I zoned out a bit. Something to work on. Mrs FRC also did the race in 28m 30s..

Did meet up with 2 friends from LJMU also doing the marathon so jog/ walked back with them the 3miles back.

Mrs FRC still energy to spare when we got to the car so added on another 3m jog so 9 miles in total.

Will work on my speed the next 4-8 weeks see if I can finally crack sub 21minutes.

Day 3
Football, no other running planned. Lots of energy - think I finally got the balance right.

Week 9 day 6 end of week

Circuit class as usual, great class by Liam... really good hard effort especially after yesterday's long 18 mile plus run.

Sadly his last Sunday circuit though... great shame. Not sure why there is a change in timetable now. BOOO!

Since January If I've not done a LSR (long slow run) on the Saturday then I'd usually do something before or around the circuit class.

This has given me a big boost in stamina, pushed myself a lot harder, but got great results.

Scott will be taking over, runs a good class, more towards boxing side than circuit so will see how it goes.

Did finally need a snooze in the afternoon, pretty good considering I didn't fall asleep yesterday with the effort.

In late afternoon, healthy tea. very colourful.