Stability Through Motion

It’s supposed to be simple. Don shorts, T-shirt and shoes, run for 26.2 miles with a watch to check your pace, take on some fuel and water enroute, and Bob’s your uncle, or ‘Bob was my uncle’ as an American friend once put it.

Throw in some gale force winds, driving rain, then put on some previously untested running leggings and a fuel belt that hadn’t been worn for six months. Cue stomach pain on every much-looked-forward-to downhill section. I had to remove the gel belt and carry it all the way, but there was little I could do about the shorts and leggings. And the stomach pain meant I didn’t take on any fuel during the race, and very little water. Memories of Antwerp there then. In hindsight I should have removed the leggings and shorts and run half naked. Cold? Certainly, but better that than the pain on the faster downhill stretches.

Given all that, I’m happy to say I beat last year’s time and came in at 3:28:49, but miles off the 3:20 hoped for. My splits for the race tell it all. Too hard into the wind up to Pen-y-Pass, in pain on the lovely downhill stretch that followed, then giving up the ghost soon after Beddgelert in the tedious lonely section to Waunfawr. If I could have dropped out then I would have. It was lonely, endless road, mostly uphill, even though the wind was behind us.

I know a lot of folk struggle in every marathon, and thereby perhaps feel an incredible sense of achievement at the end, but I hate struggle! I run to enjoy it, and last year I did just that here - with energy left at the end, and a smile on my face. This year was just hard work, working through pain, and a pain that seemed to have nothing to do with running - not the legs, not the heart or lungs, just my bloomin’ stomach!

First half completed in 1:37, which was pretty much on target, second half in 1:52, ten minutes off target, and slower than last year. To my shame, I WALKED up Waunfawr hill - something I didn’t do last year, but was very glad to this year. Then, at the top, the winds tore my running number off my Tshirt, and I encountered a tortured scene of runners clutching their hamstrings or calves in agonising cramps, runners falling over on the slippy grassy section downhill, or being literally blown to the ground by the gusts of wind.

In fact at that point I was laughing, knowing I would finish sub 3:30 I cheered up no end. Sprinted to the finish to meet a smiling Bob (not my uncle, but really a Bob) and get back for a hot shower and food.

I set off with a plan to pace with Ru, a woman met on the Runners World Forums. We stuck together until the top of Pen-y-Pass, when she shot off downhill and I discovered my stomach was going to give me trouble. I found out later that she was 2nd lady with 3:18! Brilliant result, and she stars in the S4c (Welsh television channel) coverage of the race.

I’ll post pictures when they turn up - relying on official ones as I didn’t carry my camera phone for once.

So, top marathon tip: the same one as always for a marathon - don’t try anything you haven’t already tried! In my case, too-tight leggings.

Click on the top image for the S4C coverage of the race.

Time: 3:28:49
Position: 95th out of 1133 finishers.
Category position (men over 40): 23rd

My first race over marathon distance, though not really a race, was the Downland Challenge in July this year. A tiny event running 30 miles out and back from Clayton (near the Jack and Jill windmills on the South Downs Way) and Rodmell, further east on the SDW.

Since I’d already run 28 miles with no significant damage a couple of weeks earlier, I was hopeful this would go well, although I knew the South Downs were a tougher proposition than the Ridgeway. Much much hillock-ier, lots of up and lots of down and hardly any flat. What I didn’t bargain for was the heat - 28 or 29 degrees most the day, and cloudless. Ugh.

I might have made it round in the heat, it’s difficult to say because I’d made the mistake of tying my shoelaces too tight earlier in the day and walking round in my running shoes. By mile one I was already noticing the effect and stopped to re-tie the laces. Too late ! The damage was done. By mile 20 I was hobbling down the hills, the very bits I was most looking forward to at that stage, nice freewheeling breezy downhill stretches were agony to me.

TOP TIP: check your laces before you set out on a run - loosen them around the bridge of your foot, especially if it’s a hot day or a long run.

So, I made the sensible decision to pull out at the last available checkpoint, 7 miles from the end. A nice guy in a truck gave me a lift back to the start where I refuelled and chatted. I wasn’t the only DNF (Did Not Finish) by any means, many suffering from the heat alone, but I was really annoyed that something so simple as lacing could trip me up (hah hah!). The same shoes with the same lacing had never given problems before, but I guess the heat just made my feet swell. A week without running at all followed, but I’m now convinced that, lacing aside, hot July runs in the middle of the day are not a good idea for me.

I run because I love it, to reach that floaty feeling you get sometimes, that you could just drift along for hours with a small pack on your back, admiring the scenery. OK, sometimes I run too to feel the adrenalin rush, and speed past people when I can. But I don’t run so I can suffer draining heat, cramps, pain, blisters, excessive sweating etc.

To get back to the point, this means I will never ever ever run the Marathon des Sables. You can hold me to that. It’s just a pointless exercise in will and determination over pain and chafing.

I should mention, and give free promotion, to my carb-bar of choice on long runs, the only other thing I eat apart from jelly babies, the O-bar

I’ve tried all sorts, but this is great, not too sweet, easy to eat on the run (apart from getting the wrapper off), and, anyway, I like it!

Oh yes, you can get them in the Co-op at least.

Most people who run for a year or so eventually give in to the idea of technical, or wicky fabrics. Quite why they are technical when they’re just polyester is a mystery. Basically they smell more but get rid of moisture (aka sweat) much more quickly than cotton. Technical wear also dries really quickly when you wash it. Once you’ve tried them, you don’t go back.

Tops - I wear a lovely range of wicky short sleeved shirts, mostly blue - very conventional. Once or twice wore a wind proof jacket, if going very slowly, but as with trousers, I just get too hot after 10 minutes to stand it unless I’m really plodding.

Shorts - most comfortable are definitely the longer lycra ones though I had to overcome some embarrasment the first time I put them on.

I don’t seem to have anything in between these and a tiny pair of racing shorts, which are extremely cool in hot weather, but also a bit revealing! Even in the winter I don’t think I’ve ever had to put on long leggings - shorts all year me, you great southern softies!

Socks - thick technical running socks do the job. No blisters, ever, though this is more related to shoes I should think. I think they’re Hilly brand, but I look for ones with no seam if possible.

Shoes - change them every 500 miles or less. I wear pretty neutral running shoes, well-cushioned, since I’ve got orthotics already for my feet. Currently alternating between a pair of New Balance Off Road M781FC shoes which gave me loads of grip on muddy paths in the spring, and Asics Cumulus (2006 model), which are lighter and cooler but slippy on wet grass. It’s hard to find shoes which aren’t too narrow at the toe, because I’ve got this extra long second toe - Morton’s Toe?. The nail usually goes yellow/black by the end of marathon training because of constant banging into the end of my shoe. It has yet to fall off completely, but going down hill definitely doesn’t help.

Accessories - accessorise, accessorise, accessorise girls!

• A little bag that straps onto my arm for holding a phone, a bit of money,keys and maybe an MP3 player and some jelly babies.
• A Salomon (sp?) rucksack for carrying my 2 litre water bladder, more clothing, shoes, bike helmet etc etc. Really really comfortable, nothing bounces around in this one, plus it makes you look like some intrepid ultra-runner even when you pop out for a 2 mile jog, or maybe it makes you look like a plonker, it’s all a matter of perspective.
• headband - my newest accessory, I’ve got a white one and a navy one, to keep people on their toes. I dithered about a bandana, but need to take a vote on that one. I see they’re in this year on the tennis court.
• watch - my lovely new Timex watch that counts laps/splits, which is a great boon. I used to have a heart rate monitor but lost it on my Brecon run. They’re definitely worth getting hold of, though they can get a bit obsessive. People run according to their heart rate zones

Calves: really really important - for the Romans amongst you, the gastrocnemius (the big fat one) and soleus (much less popular muscle) are the ones you’re dealing with here. Everyone does the lean against a tree stretch, mostly because trees don’t complain as much as people. If you lean against the tree with your knee bent, you’re stretching your soleus. Congratulations. I hold these stretches for 20 - 30 seconds each leg.
I also found that not just stretching, but strengthening the calves works a treat. The principle behind this is that the achilles tendon can get sore and overstressed, but that the calves can take a great deal of the burden off them if they’re strong. Running, however, doesn’t seem to strengthen very much, I mean there aren’t that many burly muscle bound marathon runners. So, if like me you have an aversion to gyms, you’ll be glad to know you can strengthen your calves at home.

Calf dips: Stand on a step (or on the fireplace if you don’t have steps, like me). Turn the fire off first. Then standing on both legs, raise yourself up on tip toes. Remove one leg. That sounds a bit odd, okay, take one leg away from the step so you’re standing on one leg, blimey writing is hard work. Bend your knee so the heel of your foot is well below the top of the step. Then standing on both legs again, raise yourself back up. The point of this is that it is ‘eccentric‘ activity. It certainly is, so do it alone if you can.
Anyway, there’s a much better description at the Peak Performance web site. The same site then goes on to describe Walt’s SAS exercises, which I mentioned before. Really advanced people strap heavy rucksacks on their backs and then do the dips. I used a rucksack full of someone else’s books before it was confiscated.

How am I even able to run, now I’m so incredibly old?

Okay, I’m 37. Well, it’s all thanks to dutiful stretching. I am without doubt the most inflexible person I know, ballet school at the age of 11 notwithstanding. The podiatrist I visited said I had something like 11 degrees of movement in my hamstrings, which really doesn’t sound very much.

All of this no doubt contributed to my bout of Achilles Tendinitis last year, oh, and training for a marthon, hmm. But - stay cheerful, if you’ve got niggles, pains, aches, strains and stiffness, you CAN do something about it. I’m progressing to some yogic stuff now, but i’m so unpliable that I’ve already given up on yoga once in my life. On to the stretches. I’ll do these in a couple of posts, since there’s quite a lot to say:

There are arguments over whether to stretch BEFORE and/or AFTER running. At least for me, what’s worked and seems sensible is getting warmed up before doing any stretching. This may be less important for long slow stretches than for fast ‘dynamic’ ones, which I don’t really do. So, on a long run I usually stop after 10 minutes and do a bit of stretching, run some more and if you feel the fancy take you, do some more stretching! It’s also a good opportunity to get the camera phone out and take some snaps. It’s what you see racers do all the time - jog about a bit, then stretch, then race (not taking photos). Then get home, drink, eat some malt loaf, shower if you have to and get to the stretching.

Hamstrings: bend over a chair. That’s an easy one. The podiatrist gave me this one, though are many many variants. Just get a good book, lay it down on a chair, then bend over the chair, keeping your legs straight. Start gently but keep it up for about 15 minutes, stretching further but not so that it’s ever too difficult. This is also the kind of thing you could do at work, in a meeting, on a plane. However, clinical introverts like me tend to do it at home. When I haven’t got time for that, I just lie on the floor and stretch one leg over the other at 90 degrees to my body (or as near to it as possible, ie 11 degrees for me) against a sofa. If you haven’t got a sofa, go get one. Keep the leg straight, and stretch for 30 seconds plus, then switch legs (hint - you’ll have to turn around to do that).

To be continued . . .

I just can’t get enough of it. Anytime before 9am you can find me bent over a chair. If you must know that’s because there’s a hamstring stretch which involves bending over a chair. This makes it hard to watch TV or read a book properly, mostly I just have to do nothing, which is really really annoying. I used to enjoy meditation, but I just don’t have time for that now. If only I didn’t have to bend over chairs. The other favourite is something called Walt’s SAS. Very macho sounding, except for the Walt bit. Someone should find out if there’s ever been anyone called Walt in the SAS. Anyway, this involves standing on one bent leg and moving the other one about elegantly in a sort of circle. Actually it involves a lot of falling over, as even after 6 months of wobble boards, SAS and calf dips (another time) my left leg is totally useless for balancing on. TBC.

I put my kit out by the back door, shoes at the ready, MP3 player ready, and key in the door. That way I can just stumble into my shoes and hit the road still rubbing sleep out of my eyes.