Wednesday 31 March 2010

Running quote

The marathon's about being in contention over the last 10K. That's when it's about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what's left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon. - Rob de Castella.

Quote and today's hard run.

A lot of people don't realize that about 98 percent of the running I put in is anything but glamorous: 2 percent joyful participation, 98 percent dedication! It's a tough formula. Getting out in the forest in the biting cold and the flattening heat, and putting in kilometer after kilometer. - Rob de Castella

This morning's 14mile run was a hard one for the following reasons:
- I did a speed session last night;
- I was running through a snow blizzard;
- I was tired; and
- I forgot to vaseline my nipples so they bled a lot.

Well, I love it really! It keeps me out of trouble. When I run the Chester Marathon this year I thought I would try and break the men's marathon world record. Not the current one. The one set in 1913 on 31 May which is the same date as the Chester Marathon and is my birthday. The record holder was Alexis Malkolm Ahlgren who broke the world record with a time of 2h36m.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart. - Mike Fanelli, club coach

Tonight I really didn't feel like doing a speed session. I think this was becauseI wasn't meeting anyone and because I have been training too much recently. Anyways I went out: 2.5 w/up/down. 400s X 8 average 72s which is about 4:48 pace.

I'm now about to tuck in to a nice pancake.

That's all fokes!

Sunday 21 March 2010

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that
commands your thoughts, liberates your
energy, and inspires your hopes."
- Andrew Carnegie

I have just heard that Eddie Izzard's body was just not designed to run. Flat feet, injuries, not enough training. But he ran 43 marathons in 51 days! Inspirational. Another inspirational thing in my life at the moment is the Marathon Talk podcasts. If you haven't listened to them here's the link: Link (roll over me to see where I go) .

After this weeks training my body seems to have held out with a hard week and I am now confident that I should run the Chester Marathon on 31 May 2010. Typical training:

Monday Bike 20 miles, swim 1mile (Cross training). Tues: am: 35mins easy. pm speed work (e.g 8X800s 2m40s). Wed: 10 - 16 miles or bike & swim. Thur: Same as Tues. Fri: Bike 20, Swim 1m, run 4m. Sat: Tempo run (5or4m at 5:45 pace). Sun LSR.