Night-time Green Man Challenge

 With the London Marathon out of the way, and the 60 mile Ultra Trail South West (UTSW) upcoming in June, I needed to find an excuse to put in a decent long training run to get my legs ready for some serious endurance.

Preparing for ultras is all about getting time on your feet. One good long training session can really help set-up the legs for an ultra race.

So it was, that some discussion within TACH (Town and Country Harriers) about possibly taking on the 45 mile Green Man Challenge, but at night, became a reality.

I chose a date that was 4 weeks out from UTSW, and was lucky to get a clear and balmy night.

Alex Foster, fellow TACH member, also undertaking UTSW (and needing a long run) accompanied me, which was a relief because, without Alex, I would have got hopelessly lost, and also pretty spooked on my own.

We set-out at 10pm from Brunel's Suspension Bridge and headed through Ashton Court and on up to Dundry.

Alex and I knew that there would be few options to take-on extra liquid or nutrition, so I was carrying about 2.5 litres of water, a bottle of Lucozade Sport and assorted gels and bars. All in all this made for a very heavy back pack - All extra training I supposed!

The Green Man Challenge was kind to us that night. Yes we were hampered by long grass, stinging nettles and brambles, but we were also treated to clear and starry skies, warm weather and pretty much ideal conditions under-foot..

Despite these good conditions, Alex and I found the latter stages of the challenge a real struggle. Alex was having knee issues, and I was suffering from a lack of energy and some calf-pain.

During the last section from Blaise Castle, we resorted to setting targets (that next tree) to shuffle to before we started to walk again. We certainly didn't feel like hardened ultra runners - More like some sort of has-been Ramblers, well past our best. Still, we made it in the end.

The first night time Green Man Challenge was completed in 10 hours.

I was glad to get this out of the way. Now on to UTSW...

London Marathon 2012

Well, it's been quite a while since I've blogged. This is in part because, after the Brecon Beacons Summer 40 ultra, I didn't do very much - I took part in the Run Rider off road duathlon in Ashton Court, coming 8th out of 32 in the Veterans class, 14th out of 300 at the 20Km, off road, Mendip Muddle race, and a few other odds and ends. I did however manage to get one of the TACH running club's London Marathon places.

So early in the new year I had a focus - To get fit and fast for 26.2 miles.

 For training, I loosely used the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST) marathon programme, which focusses on only 3 runs per week plus cross-training. The advantage of this programme is that, whilst it is concentrated on high-intensity training sessions, the weekly mileages are low. This helps reduce the risk of injury. In reality, my training wasn't as successful as I'd hoped, because:

1. I was training really well in January/February. But then went skiing in February and this really upset my training

2. The combination of speed intervals, tempo and fast long runs was very effective

3. I didn't manage to incorporate very much cross training

4. I should have spent more time/money on stretching/sports massage, as road running is just bad for your body

5. I didn't do any races within my training window. This would have helped mentally with the preparation

6. I did too much road running, which was hard on my body

The race day itself was a mixed experience. On the positive side, I could not have prepared myself for the support all along the race route. On the less positive side, I didn't feel strong, my hip was painful for quite a lot of the race (but eventually loosened-up) and the last 3 miles were particularly arduous.

Still, I finished in 03:22:36, which was a PB by about 5 minutes over my last marathon in 2010 (the Shakespeare Marathon).

My splits weren't too bad - A gradual slowing throughout:

So overall, good to do, but road marathons are not for me. Would I recommend the London Marathon? Yes. It's such an occasion. Would I recommend road marathons generally? No. They are just so brutal on the body. I can't wait for my next long trail race...