Do some empty miles?

I had to make a hard decision. This was the first time that I had the possibility of achieving a 200km month.

It would be great to have achieved it, although there isn't a Strava badge this month,  but in the end the evening weather was foul. Should I have made the effort? No, it would have been empty miles just for a number. I'd done the training I wanted to do so I needed to save myself for saturday. My almost-coach is keen that every run should have a purpose and I don't think a number counts.

Against the grain

A few runners have mentioned Tim Noakes' anti-carbohydrate stance to me over recent weeks. The issue had largely passed me by until a recent hospital review mentioned that due to previous illness I have a slightly increased risk of metabolic syndrome. Two events didn't feel like a coincidence.

According to conventional wisdom my current diet and lifestyle mitigate this substantially but what if a contemporary 'sensible diet' is not as healthy as it's made out. This is where Tim Noakes comes in:



Perhaps my dyspepsia is carbohydrate-induced and could I recover faster on a fattier diet?! This is controversial stuff and goes against my diet for the last 25 years.

Just one more km

My pace on my 'Dore Loop' has improved substantially over the 10 months or so that I've been running it. In fairness, early on the roads were snowy, but even ignoring that I've progressed steadily and what used to take just over an hour is now below 58 minutes. So this evening's goal was to add around 1km to the route, acknowledging that the time will then exceed an hour and then to work on it for 6 months or so to get it within the hour. I'm hoping to achieve this by picking sections and working on them to improve my pace until the sum of the whole route is faster. 

When I set out the weather was mediocre at best but I was glad of wearing my 'good' jacket as at the extension along Baslow Road sleet started and continued until I reached Dore village. The extension was a little over 1km but was forced upon me by the railings in the centre of the road.

I wad very pleased with my performance as even with this addition I achieved an average pace better than 5min/km.  

Aiming for a slightly easier long run

After 4 weeks of achieving 40km plus per week and some longer long runs, today was a slightly easier and potentially slower long run. I ran my Blacka Moor half marathon loop fairly steadily but was 7 minutes slower than my best time just before Christmas. I think this is due to the heavier routine that I'm committed to at present. On the fast week I'd only run 2 easy 5km sessions during the week whereas this week I've done 17km of which 12km was fast and tough. So I'm bound to be a bit more weary! This is a crucial stage in the plan presently, to keep above 40km a week whilst avoiding injury. This should form a solid base for the 100km.

The sky was clear when I left home and when I returned, but 'atmospheric' inbetween.

I was also a little too hot this morning. The forecast suggested that early on would be OK with rain coming in later.  After my soaking a few weeks ago I wasn't taking chances and so wore my waterproof jacket. In  combination with the winter-weight tights it was too much. At a few points I was tempted to take it off but then I suspect I would have been cold very soon and had to put it back on. Overall I'm satisfied with the pace as it was better than 6min/km and generally felt pretty relaxed.

So fast!

This evening I made the plan to go at a steady pace and aim for a good time up to Hathersage Road. However from the start my pace felt spot on, breathing well, good cadence, good speed and no irritating wind or rain. I arrived at the start of the ascent feeling relatively fresh and took on the hill with a bit of effort. Not so fast as to wear myself out at the bottom, but hopefully fast enough to be fast but slow enough to be able to maintain the pace to the top.

I managed that very well and achieved a time well under 13 minutes. I still had energy so kept up the effort towards home. At the 10km mark the time looked to be a record which gave me the incentive to keep up the effort on the final 2km easy descent.

Altogether  I earned an amazing 12 Strava awards, mostly PB's on segments but also my best 5km and 10km times too!

Somehow everything was in alignment and I wonder if this will be an occasion that will never be bettered, or one that shows potential to be repeated. I suppose I'll know over the next few weeks. The last time I made dramatic progress on this loop I was 'powered by cake' (19/11/13) and it might be notable that I'd eaten a slice of the fruitcake earlier this afternoon. Maybe that's the key factor?  Anyway, much use of the roller was needed when I got home and I'll have to keep it up over the next few days.

Running backwards

Today I took the Round Walk backwards, that's Brincliffe Edge at the beginning rather than at the end. I don't know whether the change of direction or the fairly busy week had an adverse effect, but whatever the reason, the whole route felt very tough, as if it was all uphill! The average pace mirrored the apparent effort being 6:12 min/km which is a little slow for me below 30km now although in fairness, this is my longest single run since mid September's ill-fated 20 miler.

I'm not too upset, it's been a longish week (49km now) including a short run last night, and also the fourth week of over 45km. I think next week should be a bit slacker to allow some additional recovery.

There aren't any photos or videos as the weather was grey and drizzly all the time that I was out and that has an adverse effect on anything. After last week's experience I wore my proper waterproof and was comfortable for most of the run. Occasionally I was too hot and occasionally a little cool (when I needed to slow to a walk) but overall fine.

Using a plan

Today's plan was to take my usual Tuesday loop via Dore but to have some specific aims. These were to try for good times on the Millhouses 1km and the ascent to Wyvern Gardens. The time on the rest of the loop wasn't to be important.

The 1km attempt was fairly rapid but still 6s slower than my PB whereas on the hilly 0.5km I gained a new PB by a 2s margin. The time for the whole loop was slightly longer but not major and so I can take this as a successful trip. For the next time I take this route I need some new aims.

I've avoided using my bum bag for a few runs as I suspected that it might hurt my stomach (vaguely, was it my guts or abdominal muscles?) but today decided that I'd try it again. Although the bag didn't cause clear discomfort it wasn't especially comfortable and I found it unstable on fast descents. Even in the absence of clear evidence I think I will be abandoning it. I just don't want to use the rather pricey UltrAspire pack for routine runs.