Fitter, stronger

Day:         46
Distance: 9.19km
Time:       49:51 secs
Calories:  708

It's looking likely that this will be the first week in which I don't manage to fit in at least four runs. This means that I need to choose between two different types of run from the Guardian's training plan. Do I go with the "60 mins including 8 x 1 min hill climbs" or the "50 mins 10 mins steady 25 mins tempo 15 mins steady"?

I decide to go with the latter, on the assumption that the prescribed changes in tempo will be more beneficial to my fitness. I used to go to circuit training at a local gym and I always remember the trainer's insistence at these sessions that circuits "will make you fitter, they will make you stronger". While this is not circuit training, the changes in tempo mean that it's in a similar kind of ball park.

It all started so well. I was pleased to find that the heaviness in my legs that I felt on Tuesday's run was no longer there as I set off with the sound of "Bubbles" by Biffy Clyro in my ears. Run Keeper shows that in the first ten minutes I was averaging around 5:45 min/km. As dictated by the training plan, my pace quickened considerably after the first ten minutes. For the next ten minutes I was pounding the pavements at an average speed of around 4:30 per km - quite a step up from the 'steady' pace I had started with.

Everything was going swimmingly until around 4 kilometres in when I hit Chadwick Road (where I used to live, incidentally), which is basically one long hill. The two previous kilometres had been nailed in 4:41 min/km and 4:35 min/km, respectively, while the kilometre that covered Chadwick Road took around a minute longer (5:34 min/km) and this was supposed to be part of my "25 mins tempo". Even though the hill did eventually end I was unable to regain the pace that I had been running at previously and, to make matters worse, around 30 mins into the run I developed a stitch. This is the first time in nearly 7 weeks of marathon training in which I've had a stitch. I'm not sure what brought it on, but I managed to run it off after a couple of minutes.

Suffice to say, by the time I got back to the flat I was shattered and looked like an absolute sweaty mess but I think this run and, in particular, the inclusion of the hill will have really helped make me both fitter and stronger. At least, I hope it will have.

The National? Grand.

Day:        44

Distance: 6.92km

Time:       40:23 secs

Calories:  550

I wasn't able to get out for my Monday night run as I was working late, so that meant an early morning wake up call was the order of the day today. Like last week I planned to get up and out by 6am. I distinctly remember peering out from under the covers to see the electronic display on my alarm clock at 05:54. The next thing I knew was at 6:30am when the alarm on my phone went off and I realised I'd been dozing whilst listening to the music on XFM which was supposed to wake me up. So, for this run I was out the door by 6:40 - not as early as last week, but still pretty good.

In previous posts when I've talked about going out for 'easy' tempo runs I've bemoaned the lack of slower songs on my running playlist. I've even floated the idea of creating a playlist specifically for these runs to help me run at a slower pace. I never have got round to that, but I now wonder whether I even need to because inspiration struck last night.

My great musical discovery of 2010 - courtesy of my mate Dan - was the National and, in particular, their "High Violet" album which was released last year. The album is damn near perfect, from the opening shimmer of "Terrible Love" on there really isn't a moment in which they falter. It also happens to be fairly slow and, perhaps more importantly, steady. There are no 200mph riffs on this album, and that was why I thought it would make it a suitable soundtrack for a 40 minute run at an easy tempo.

I was right. The aforementioned opener got me started at a nice easy pace of 6:20 secs per kilometre. The analysis provided by the Run Keeper app shows that "High Violet" helped me to maintain a remarkably steady pace for the entire 40 minutes. Overall I averaged 6:15 secs per kilometre, with the fastest km taking 6:04 secs and the slowest taking just 17 seconds more. That all seems pretty consistent to me and, so, I must conclude that as well as producing the stand out album of 2010 the National have also produced a priceless running aid for these slower runs. 

Despite this great discovery this wasn't a great run. My legs didn't ache after Sunday's run (which was good), but there was a definite heaviness this morning that I was unable to shake (which was not good). If the scheduled run had been longer than 40 mins I think I would have struggled to manage it all. Hopefully, this run will have helped to loosen my legs up in time for the next run which will be 60 mins long and should include "8 x 1 min hill climbs".

Before I go I'd like to leave you with a video of the National performing a completely acoustic version of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" from their gig at the Brixton Academy last year. When I say 'acoustic' I should explain that I don't just mean they put down their electric guitars, the amps were all turned off, no microphones were used, the band came to the front of the stage and a reverent hush fell over the crowd for the duration of the song. I had the great pleasure of being there and in a show that enthralled from beginning to end and this spine-tingling encore was the moment that made you feel privileged to be in the crowd. Unfortunately, because this is the last song on an album with a running time closer to 48 minutes I didn't experience the joy of running to this heartbreakingly beautiful song.

Half way there

Day:        42

Distance: 19.6km

Time:       1:57:00 secs

Calories:  1,553

It's the end of Week 6 of the training plan and this tablet of stone which I have been blindly following has gone a bit vague.

Up until today the plan has been very specific - it's "30 mins steady" here and "45 mins easy off-road/hilly" there - but all it says today is "10 mile or half marathon race". No mention of tempo and, more surprisingly, a choice between two different distances. For the sake of clarity a half marathon is 13.1 miles, which is 31% further than the other suggested distance. That's quite a difference.

To run 10 miles the week after I ran 12 miles seems somewhat counter intuitive, so I opt to follow the same route that I took this time last week. This time I was joined by Jim who will be running a half marathon in exactly 5 weeks, so it's good training for both of us.

It has been decidedly cold all week long, so it was a nice surprise to step outside today and be greeted by blinding sunlight. That's not to say that it was a hot day (it wasn't), but it was perfect weather for running. The cold helped to keep me cool and the sunshine made it feel like a real pleasure to be outside and in green spaces like Brockwell Park. I wouldn't complain if the weather was like this on the day of the actual London Marathon.

So, as I've already mentioned this run concludes the sixth week of the training plan. That means that I'm now halfway through the 12 week plan and I'm pleased to report that I'm still enjoying the training. I had thought that it was going to be a real chore. I had heard many marathon runners talking about how it takes over your life and, to an extent, I can see that as you need to put a lot of time and effort in each and every week. For example, this week I've trained on five out of the seven days and have committed nearly 5 hours to training. However, I'm managing to fit this training around the rest of my life and my wife isn't yet complaining about becoming a "marathon widow" so I wouldn't say that it's completely taken over my life. That said, whilst I'm writing this I'm also looking at the upcoming weeks and the ever increasing time commitments - so maybe I'll have changed my mind in a few weeks time.

One thing that is helping me to keep going (other than the running playlist and my desire to achieve my stated aim of completing the marathon in 3:40) is all the kind donations that I've already received on my JustGiving page. I only sent the link out on Tuesday and I'm already 27% of the way to my target of £1,000. A massive thank you to everyone who has already sponsored me and for those who would like to help me get a little closer to my target please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Darren-Yaxley-marathon. 

Friday night, Saturday morning

Day:        41

Distance: 7.64km

Time:       42:09 secs

Calories:  606

When thinking about writing this post I had "Friday night, Saturday morning" by the Specials running through my head. In particular, the lyrics "I like to venture into town/I like to get a few drinks down" and chorus which repeats the simple line "I go out on Friday night and I come home on Saturday morning" capture, pretty accurately, my Friday night. You may recall that previous Friday nights have seen me going for a run while others have been hitting the pubs and clubs of this fair land. However, you may also recall that 'Lent' is now over and as this Friday came at the tail end of January it gave me the opportunity to meet up with some of my "best good friends" (to quote Forrest Gump) and enjoy some good company, good banter, good beer and a red hot curry on Brick Lane.

Like Terry Hall in the aforementioned song, I came home on Saturday morning. Unlike Terry Hall, I had to get up at 8:30am, with a somewhat fuzzy head, in order to head out for a 40 minute run at 'easy' tempo. As I was running solo I was listening to my running playlist and, as I've mentioned before, it's just not designed for runs of this nature. I started the playlist off with Frank Turner's "The Road", which whilst not exactly plodding isn't a Ramones-esque thrash either. The tempo picked up markedly on the next song when Funeral Party's massive 2010 single "NYC Moves to the Sound of LA" kicked off with its infectious blend of bass and cow bell - this, ladies and gentlemen, is not a song you can run slowly to. Don't believe me? Listen for yourself.

I think this run has finally convinced me that if I want to listen to music whilst running (which I do) these 'easy' runs I'm going to have to set up another, slower playlist. I still want quality music that I enjoy listening to, but I'm going to have to tone down the distorted guitars and find songs with fewer beats per minute.

Alarm clock Britain

Day:        39
Distance: 9.07km
Time:       51:29 secs
Calories:  701

It's 6am. Yes, that's right A.M. As in Ante Mendiem. My wife wasn't even aware there was a 6am, yet here I am up and ready to go for a pre-work 50 minute run. Oh, and my legs, shoulders and pecs are still aching from Tuesday's interval training. Brilliant.

Not only am I up before the sun today, but it would also appear that I'm up before most living souls. I don't think I passed more than 10 people during the entire run and two of those were fellow runners. So, why am I putting myself through this? Well the simple explanation is that the training plan demands that I fit a run in today and as I'm going to see the rather wonderful Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain tonight it had to be before work.

Despite the very early start and the growing collection of aches and pains once I started running I was absolutely fine and enjoyed being up and about before most people. I had wondered whether the aches would mean I'd need to curtail this run, but once I was in the 'zone' (helped along initially by Blur's "Parklife") any thoughts of turning back were forgotten.

The training plan actually called for a 60 minute run to include 6 x 1 minute hill climbs with a jog back down to recover. However, the route I took didn't have the requisite number of hills, so that part of the plan was largely ignored. As I ran a pretty similar route to the one I took last Friday (without the end loop), there was one significant hill on Lordship Lane in East Dulwich and, upon reaching the hill, I decided that I'd pick up the pace for that part of the run. I didn't job back down it afterwards as a) that would have looked weird and b) I'd have been going the wrong way to get home.

Speaking of which, by the time I arrived back at the flat the sun still hadn't risen and the aches in my muscles had returned with a vengeance, but I was filled with a real sense of achievement at completing more than 9km before breakfast on a very cold January morning.

As a parting note and for those of you unaware of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain I'll leave you with their cover of Baccara's "Yes, sir I can boogie", which I'm hoping they play tonight. In case you're wondering, no this 70s disco classic isn't on my running playlist. Typically, my views on Disco are in tune with Homer Simpson's (who famously sported a "Disco Sucks" bumper sticker on his car) but as it's the Ukes I'll let it slide.

This is Hardcore

Day:        37

Distance: Not all that far

Time:       40 mins

Calories:  Loads ... I hope

When I met up with Big Dave at the weekend he suggested that we go for a spot of interval training at his gym in Canary Wharf. I'm keen to mix up my training, so readily agreed to join him for this 40 minute class.

If you're unfamiliar with interval training the best way to think of it is as a legalised form of torture. At different points I felt dizzy or nauseous and at one particularly memorable stage I felt as though I was going to throw up. 

Having completed five weeks of marathon training I thought that I was pretty fit, unfortunately 'pretty fit' doesn't quite prepare you for the relentless onslaught of interval training. At the most basic level, interval training consists of high intensity bursts of speed followed by low intensity recovery periods - essentially an even more hardcore fartlek training session ... 

It starts with some fairly light exercises (a few squat thrusts, press ups etc.) and a low intensity run round the 5-a-side pitch we were training on, after that the sadist (or 'trainer' as he liked to style himself) introduced some high intensity shuttle runs with a small amount of recovery time between each set. The high intensity runs are followed by some more exercises (e.g. 20 press ups + 10 squat jumps) before the running and sprinting makes an unwelcome return.

I have never known 40 minutes to go by so slowly. Within 5 minutes I was red faced and sweating uncontrollably, 10 minutes in I was about ready to faint, at the 20 minute mark I was willing the clock to pick up speed and by the time 30 minutes had passed my legs had turned to jelly and I was unable to do the exercises properly (though I did manage all the runs). The session was brought to a welcome conclusion with a few stretches and a handshake from our tormentor.

Now, it might seem from this description that I didn't enjoy this session but I think Big Dave summed it up perfectly when he declared that it's something that you enjoy and appreciate in retrospect, but not at the time. You know that all of that effort must have done you some good and, having done a little reading on the subject, I can tell you that interval training can result in improved performance, greater speed and endurance. While I won't be taking an Interval Training class every week I do plan to fit more of these sessions into my training. Who knows, next time I might just feel dizzy and nauseous - now that would be progress.

Take it easy

Day:        36
Distance: 6.37km

Time:       38:46 secs

Calories:  490

After running just shy of 20km yesterday I decided to follow the training plan's advice and take it easy tonight. The slight problem with doing this is that my running playlist consists mainly of up tempo guitar music that is on there to fire me up and get me running quicker. There's not a whole lot of slower numbers on there to help set the right pace for tonight's run. For a lot of the run I found myself willing the music to slow down somehow. Obviously, I didn't always have too much joy in that endeavour - even if it was possible would you want the Ramones to slow "Blitzkrieg Bop" down? (note: the correct answer to that question is an emphatic 'no').

My training plan calls for an 'easy' run at the start of each week. Up until this point I haven't really seen the need to take it that easy, but now I'm undertaking 20km+ each Sunday I think I'm going to have a few more Monday runs like this where an easy run helps me to recover from a longer run. With this in mind, I should probably consider putting together a playlist consisting of songs with fewer bpm. The problem is that I'm genuinely scratching my head as to what I can put on there - Dylan? Laura Marling? Why do I automatically think of folk-tinged music made with acoustic guitars? As with the main running playlist, I'd love to hear any suggestions of songs to set a slow, but steady pace.

On a final note, I've decided to start fundraising for Diabetes UK. I didn't want to start shaking people down for sponsorship until this point as a) it would have been ridiculously early and b) people aren't exactly flush in January. As it's now less than three months until the big day and pay cheques will shortly be finding their way into people's accounts it now feels like the right time to pass round the electronic begging bowl. If you'd like to sponsor me please visit my JustGiving site - all donations will be gratefully received!