Are you going backwards, or are you going forwards?

Day:         53

Distance: 8.31km

Time:       40:29 secs

Calories:  639

It's an early start (out the door at 6:20am) and the training plan has dictated a fartlek run consisting of "40 mins 2 mins easy 8 mins fast x 4". Given previous posts you could be forgiven for thinking that I'd be dreading this run and normally you'd be right, but last night I finally put together a fartlek playlist and I was looking forward to trying it out.

Compiling a playlist for a fartlek session is quite difficult as the majority of songs lasting for around 2 minutes in my itunes library are 200mph punk numbers. I have a pretty limited number of slow 2 minute long songs to choose from. The second problem is, essentially, the reverse of the first. There aren't a whole lot of fast songs which last for 8 minutes, so I'm left trying to beat match a number of fast songs so as to create a vaguely consistent tempo.

The first 10 minutes began with British Sea Power's slow-building opener "All in it", which lasts for 2:13 secs. This set me up perfectly for the 'slow' tempo start to the run before the Vaccines, Idlewild, The Ramones and The Rakes crashed the party and got me running at a 'fast' tempo for 8 minutes. Run Keeper underlines the effectiveness of this mix as I was running at 6:25 mins/km in the first minute, but when "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" by the Vaccines kicked in in the third minute I was propelled forward at 3:52 mins/km - a pretty impressive change in tempo. While the tempo wasn't constant for the entirety of this 'fast' section most of those eight minutes saw me record an average speed around or below 4:30 mins/km.

The second 10 minutes began with Mark Kozelek's cover of AC/DC's "Love at first feel". This acoustic beauty gave me 2:12 secs of respite before Blur's "We've got a file on you" informed me that it was time to pick up my pace. This was followed by "Oh Yeah" (The Subways), "22 Grand Job" (The Rakes) and "I wanna be sedated" (The Ramones). Again, the effectiveness of the music mix is clear to see as for the two minutes of 'slow' running I was averaging 6 mins/km. For the 8 minutes of 'fast' running that followed this I was able to maintain a pretty fast pace, although I can see that I definitely slowed down for the last couple of minutes (the last minute of this section took 5:41 mins/km).

Relief was on hand at the start of the third section as Michael Cera and Ellen Page (the stars of "Juno") serenaded me with a cover of the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone else but you". The 'fast' section was run to the sound of the View ("Wasted Little DJs") and Arcade Fire ("Month of May"). By this time it really felt as though I was running through treacle and the difference between the slow and fast tempos seemed, if not exactly non-existent, certainly less pronounced. So, I'm pleased to look at the stats on Run Keeper and see that there was still a clear difference between the two paces.

The final quarter began with Bill Withers singing "Ain't no sunshine". It's a good song to slow the pace down, but I hadn't realised how bloody repetitive it is. In one chorus (?) alone he repeats "I know" 26 times. Twenty six. I thought my ipod was skipping.

It was with some relief that the Libertines' "I get along" kicked off the final 'fast' section of the run. This was followed by "Readers and Writers" by Idlewild - which I've already mentioned on this blog as being a song that really helps to fire me up. This was trumped by the final song on the playlist, "White Riot" by the Clash - one of my all time favourite songs. As soon as that urgent two chord riff started up I felt completely re-energised and this is demonstrated by Run Keeper which shows that those last two minutes were conquered in 4:11 and 4:51 mins/km respectively.

So there we have it. Proof that a fartlek playlist can be done and can be very effective. I've got some more of these runs coming up in the next few weeks and now I've got this playlist sorted I may even look forward to them, more so when I've found a replacement for "Ain't no sunshine".

If you can't stand the Deep Heat ...

Day:         Three
Distance:  8km
Time:        44:44 secs (though I walked for the last two mins)

The second run of my training plan called for "45 mins off-road/hilly". I'm training in London, which presents a couple of difficulties for this kind of run. Firstly, there aren't any large parks/wooded areas in SE1 where I work, so any kind of off-road run is somewhat difficult. Secondly, there aren't too many hills in the area either unless you count Tower Hill, which I don't.

Despite my best intentions to follow my training plan to the letter I had to get innovative and sort out a different route instead, so I ran the Vauxhall Bridge Loop. If nothing else, it's the right kind of length.

This run was notable for two occurrences in particular, one mildly embarrassing the other slightly worrying. As I noted in a previous post, I like to run to music and today was no different. As I came over Vauxhall Bridge and started running along the South Bank The Libertines' "I get along" began playing. If you don't know this song I've attached the video for it below. This is a good song for running as it "angries up the blood" (to quote Grandpa Simpson), but the incessant chorus of "get along, get along, get along, get along" demands a spirited singalong. The quizzical looks from passersby suggest that my singalong (complete with air drums) was more spirited than intended.

The second occurrence of note was that towards the end of the run I felt a twinge in my left ankle/achilles area. Not wanting to do myself any mischief at this early stage of training I decided to walk the final stretch (about 2 mins) and then proceeded to slap the Deep Heat on liberally. As I haven't played football (or any sport for that matter) regularly for years, I'd forgotten just how hot that stuff is! Still, I'm hoping that rest + Deep Heat = no lasting problems, but I think I'll take it easy on my next run.