Running in Mud can be like being in a Glam Rock Band

Little Horringer Farm

Mud, mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me follow, down to the hollow
And there let me wallow in glorious mud

I fancied a run off road this morning to make a chance from beating the pavements. Close by to where I live there if a farmers field that I often run around as I head out to Ickworth Park near Bury St Edmunds. However I haven't run this route for several months as I was injured with plantar fasciitis. 

This morning was lovely and bright for the first time during Janathon although there was a strong gusty wind as well. I made my first mistake by not wearing my Inov 8 roclite shoes which are ideal for cross country having good treads for grip. Instead I was wearing my normal road shoes a pair of Brooks Glycerin 7's.

Inov 8 Roclite

The field I normally run had been recently ploughed and after the melt of the snow fall the ground could only be described as sticky.
I then noticed that the footpath around the field had gone. Yes the farmer in his enthusiasm had  also ploughed up the former footpath that has been there for many years. This meant double the work and the uphill section of the run was on recently ploughed field.

I only got a short way before the layers of mud on the bottom of my shoes gave me a time warp moment back to the early 1970's as I could have been running with wedged high heel shoes on or have been in a glam rock band such as Slade. When did Noddy Holder have to run across a field! Specially for all you Janathoners the aptly named My Mama we're all crazy now- well we will be after 31 days of running.

I slowed to a crawl but breathing hard made it to the top of the field and after running through large puddles I had some respite with a downhill section where the path still remains.  


Just 3 miles today the mud was lovely but it was hard work.


Janathon totals to date are 

Janathon Day 1 - 5 miles
Day 2 - 5 miles
Day 3 - 4 miles
Day 4 - 4 miles
Total 21 miles

Lower Back Stretching

Newmarket Rd Bury St Edmunds

Today's Run - 4 miles
Janathon Day 1 - 5 miles
Day 2 - 5 miles
Day 3 - 4 miles
Total 18 miles

Physical Condition - Fairly Good- a couple of aches and pains this morning. A slight ache in the lower back must have been walking a little stranger than normal as Sarah noticed. Also a slightly tight left  hamstring though not painful. Neither of these were painful and didn't prevent me running but may be an early warning of sciatica. As I have had this before I know  this can be agony so something I want to avoid.

Gibraltar Barracks

Mental Condition - Very Good - still early days isn't it. Four consecutive days of running isn't something I have done since February last year when I did 6 days in a row but so far keeping runs short.

Today's run was an out and back run  turning at the 2 mile point next to the Gibraltar Barracks in Bury St Edmunds. I quite like this as a regular route to run and because I run this often it provides a gauge as to my fitness and speed , timing it as I do. It was certainly a notch cooler this morning and I had resort to hat and gloves. With running I always find that it is my hands which suffer most in cold weather and as long as I keep these warm I am OK.

With the run over I just had time for a quick look at possible exercises for the lower back and found these. They are now on my schedule for a while at least. I am definitely in the camp of being poor at doing stretching.  There is a lot of advice out there and more recent advice seems to be to avoid static stretching before a run when your muscles are cold and to stretch after your run.

On many of my runs I pass the building in the photo which is the Gibraltar barracks built in 1878. The Suffolk Regiment was based for long periods in Gibraltar during the 18th century particularly during the siege by the French and Spanish. So when a new barracks was built in Bury St Edmunds, it would have seemed appropriate to name it after one of the Suffolk Regiments main campaigns.

The regiment was formed in 1685 originally to fight off a rebellion by the Duke of Monmouth.

The Suffolk regiment saw action at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690 and Dettingen in France in 1743.

One of its major campaigns was at the Battle of Minden in 1759 when the Suffolk Regiment won a major battle attacking French positions without aid of supporting artillery against cannon fire. Apparently soldiers plucked red and yellow roses from hedgerows to wear in their hats and every since this battle is annually remembered by a parade. Just along the road the local pub has been called the Minden Rose.

The Suffolk Regiment were involved in many campaigns in many parts of the world including India, New Zealand ,South Africa and of course during the 1st and 2nd world wars.

However all that remains now of the Gibraltar Barracks Site is the Keep. The rest of the site has largely been built over with the Bury Sports Centre and College facilities. I can remember as a child often playing on this site when there was the remains of a shooting range. At one end there was a large sandpit against a brick wall with lots of bullet holes. At the other there were shooting positions often built into the ground so that only your head was above ground level. Playing with friends you could often find bullets mostly spent but some seemingly still intact.

Are Runners Respected or laughed at?

Day 3 of Janathon and my quest to run 31 days in a row throughout January and so far so good. Calling it a quest makes it sound like a bit of a journey and a parallel perhaps to Frodo although I am not carrying a ring, just the extra 2 kilos following Christmas.

Today on reading another Janathoners blog post I thought about how runners are viewed by the general populace? Are runners respected or laughed at? I can recall the times when cars have passed by and passengers have wound down the window and shouted or screamed and yeah that can come as a shock and make you stop in your tracks. I have also had car drivers on a wide road deliberately drive through a puddle and lots of laughter and waving from the passengers as they zoom off leaving me soaked with the taste of puddle, not good. I guess we have run past a group of people who feel a need to call out to you 118, hup 2,3,4 , the London marathon was last week mate. More recently since the smoking ban inside pubs I have had one or two challengers from smokers outside pubs - you want fresh air breathe this in mate as one guy said as he exhaled a deep breathe in my direction to gales of laughter.

The other side of the coin might be the silent majority. Most people I suspect don't have an interest in running or taking part in any physical activity at all. This is fine and we all have interests which make us a minority in some form or another. Steve Runner on his podcast Phedippidations often talks about the running community. He often suggests that by lacing up your shoes and getting off the coach of doom that by our actions and being seen we may just sow a seed of thought and  inspire 1-2 people to take up running.  Any of you have any interesting things shouted at you?

These days I often wear my IPOD so I don't hear any shouts of encouragement or abuse!

This morning I listened to the Bravery


My run took me in the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds. Very quiet this morning, weather overcast but good to see so many runners out and about. The 14th century Abbeygate has been closed since before Christmas following a number of masonry falls brought on by the coldest December for many years. Along with the footfall following a very successful Christmas market and the passing traffic the Abbeygate is suffering from wear and tear.

What to do with your Christmas tree? For many it is a trip to the dump to recycle but clearly for some it is just to throw it out on the path and leave it to some else to clear up!

The Big Lebowski & a White Russian

After yesterdays first Janathon run we relaxed in the afternoon by watching another in the boxed set of Coen Brothers films - The Big Lebowski. of those I have seen my faves so far would be the Hudsucker Proxy , Blood Simple and  No Country for Old Men.

The Big Lebowski stars Jeff Bridges who plays Lebowski but is known as the Dude. The Dude  is a big fan of White Russian cocktails and there is hardly a scene in the film where he isn;t downing one! After watching this film Sarah and I both had a craving for White Russian and after a  quick google  to remind our selves how to make one we found we had the right drinks to mix one. There are several variants but basically it is half vodka a quarter coffee liqueur (Tia maria is fine) and a quarter fresh cream or milk. Pour on to ice a little stir and yeah a nice way to celebrate the new year and completing day 1 of Janathon.

Day 2 of Janathon no colds and no injury so no excuse not to get up and run. This morning was a notch cooler and I regretted not wearing my gloves for the first 15 minutes until I warmed up. I ran another 5 mile loop around Bury St Edmunds and listened to Ramblings with Clare Balding in this particular episode she was walking in the Pentland Hills near beautiful Edinburgh and for 30 Min's I was transported to Scotland and the run was almost forgotten.

Still has time to take a couple of photos. This one is a memorial to Ouida

Its design is to provide a drinking trough for dogs and horses. Her real name was Louise Rame and she was born in Bury St Edmunds in 1839 died 1908.This memorial stone was placed in 1908 from funds raised by national newspapers . Apparently several thousand people came from all over the country came to pay tribute to this author who was one of the most popular novelists of her age.

Has anyone ever read one of her stories? They appear to be romantic tales perhaps a bit Catherine Cookson and include Under Two Flags (1867), Moths (1880), and In Maremma (1882). Her stories for children include Two Little Wooden Shoes (1874), Bimbi (1882), and the Dog of Flanders (1872).

One of her quotations was "A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run."

She made a lot of money from her books but apparently squandered it in London at Langhams where she held large parties. Apparently she wrote a number of her books at Langhams surrounded by candles writing with a quill on purple paper. She died in near poverty in Italy.


The 2nd photo is another from the Water Meadows in Cullum Rd Bury St Edmunds. 

That's day 2 of Janathon completed and hope everyone taking part is faring well so far.

My New Years Resoloution Is to go for a Streak

This morning I stepped out of the front door and went for a streak. I was largely unnoticed as half the country battles with morning after hangovers. Still there was the odd twitching of a curtain and I could feel eyes upon me.

What kind of nutter goes out for a streak on New Years Day especially when it is drizzling? I do and I wasn't alone as I know that another 150 or so folk around the World who are joined together by something called Janathon are also planning to streak.


To be fair to call it a streak would indicate that I have either taken my clothes off or I have run on consecutive days for a period of time. I cannot claim either at the moment. However my aim is to run every day and blog about it throughout January and this I think would qualify me for the latter of the two types of streak. However I guess the rules of Janathon don't mention any need for wearing clothes so as long as you run and you don't get caught I guess that would also count. Any Janathoners want to comment on this ? try it ? and if so don't forget the photos!

The reason for me talking about streaking was the realisation that I have probably never run for more than about 10 days in a row so to try and do 31 is a challenge that I will probably not achieve though I am going to have fun trying. Of course everything is comparable and some of you will know of Ron Hill who hasn't missed a days running since December 20th 1964. Yes 46 years and around 17,000 days of non stop running so how hard can 31 days be? Well hard enough I know.

There is even a United States Running Streak Association with many members having a running streak of up to 40 years. A quick look at their rules to qualify you need to run at least 1 mile every day and to be listed on their website you need to have completed a 1 year streak.

The first day is always the easiest and my 5 miles around Bury St Edmunds Suffolk were completed in around 45 minutes with out any problems. The photograph is an area of water meadows which are prone to flooding near the Greene King Brewery in Bury St Edmunds.

Janathon 2011

I have signed up to Janathon 2011. What is it? Well it is the colder version of Juneathon which I failed miserably at earlier in 2010 due to injury. one the wiser what I am talking about?

Along with 150 others or so I have signed up to try and run and blog about it every day in January 2011.If you are interested the rules are to be found here  . You don't have to run you just have to exercise in some way every day so swimming and cycling also count.It is totally free to enter.

It isn't really about the winning and I haven't even looked at the prizes but yes there are some for those that stick it out the longest. For me it is more about the opportunity for social networking having some banter and fun and exchange of blog posts as we slip and slide our way for January. I am hoping the virtual link up with other participants will help me get through January and be in a  fitter state.

Mentally I believe it has also come at the right time for me as I was made redundant recently from a job I held for the last 15 years and I am now searching for new employment. This is why my blog posts have been sporadic of recent weeks as I have come to terms with being unemployed for the 1st time in my life.

So Janathon is ideal for me as I have come to realise that I shouldn't feel guilty about going for a run whilst I am also looking for work. It is a case of remaining fit and ready for when a new opportunity arrives.

There is a Janathon 2011 Facebook page just key in Janathon in the facebook search box.

We are also logging all of our training miles at the RunningFree website. Quite an impressive site worth a visit if you are familiar with it. Loads of running groups, running tools etc

Beetons Way Hill Running Session

Instead of visiting the track at the moment I have been doing some hill sessions. The last couple of weeks the track has often been closed anyway but when it is icy it normally means running on the grass on the inside of the track.

Anyway after a year of poor training and much injury I have decided to build up my weekly mileage very slowly. Last week I did just 16 miles and I am upping it by a mile a week at the moment so 17 miles is the agenda this week.

Within this total I am including 1-2 better quality runs either a track or hill session and a longer run or a short tempo. The long run  isn't very long just 7 miles at the moment.

My run today was 2 miles warm up and warm down to get to the top of Beetons Way. Then the main hill session consisted of 10 hill repeats running hard up the hill and jogging back down again.

I run from the bottom lamp post after emerging from under the bridge to the lamp post at the top of the hill beyond the mini roundabout.

My repeat times for the hill climbs were 55,57,58,58,57,56,59,60,59,58. I was doing close to 50 seconds a year a go so I have a long way to go if I am to get back to that level.

I find this a hard session and the run home is a jog

First Snow fall of Winter

We had a small amount of over night snow leading me to dig out my Inov 8 Roclite shoes for this morning's run. The temperature in Bury St Edmunds has been sat around 0c or 32f for the last few days and snow has threatened but so far fell in the North East of England. Looks as if we could have some heavier snow showers later on this week and the cold weather is set to stick around until next Tuesday.

The Inov 8 Roclite shoes have a good studded tread pattern and I am pretty confident in running in these without slipping. As ever getting out of the front door is the hardest part of running in cold weather. The thought of the snow and cold is far worse than the actual experience which was pretty enjoyable. Only my hands were a little cold my thin gloves not being sufficient thermal protection to keep these warm.

Runability - New Specialist Running Shop

It has been some years since Bury St Edmunds has been fortunate enough to have its own specialist shop catering for runners. There are 1-2 general purpose sports shops but nothing which caters directly for the runner.

That's all changed now that we have Runability in St Johns Street Bury St Edmunds. Its down the hill on the right hand side more or less before you get to the fish and chip shop.The shop has only been open a couple of weeks or so and is still gearing it self up in terms of new media presence - website etc. However I paid a visit today as I needed a hat. It was really cold and frosty this morning and my previous hat had lost its elastication and kept falling off in strong winds. So I bought a Ron Hill beanie hat.

There is already a good range of running shoes for men and women and a gait analysis machine to help you choose the right type. Loads of  bright winter wear to keep you safe and lots of gels which again have been something often hard to find in Bury St Edmunds.

Hopefully all locals will pay a visit and support this new store as it is great to finally have a running shop in Bury St Edmunds.

Running Track Session at the west Suffolk Sports Centre

Two weeks ago I  I said that I intended visiting the track once a week every Wednesday from now on. Of course as soon as I said this I came down with a heavy cold and I missed last weeks track session.

However I made tonight's session and there was a healthy number of runners and spectators at the track.  As per usual I ran down to the track which is 3/4 of a mile and then warmed up further by doing 6 laps at a steady easy pace.

Tonight's session by the coach  included 2 sets of 4 x 3minutes followed by 2 x 3minutes and then a mile time trial. I am still getting used to being back at the track ( at least that is my excuse ) and so I dipped out after the 2 sets of 4 x 3 Min's. This gave me a total of 24 minutes of interval running at 10k pace which I ran at an average of 7.23 miles.

Two weeks ago at the track I did 20 minutes of interval running so my gradually stepping up of time on the track is logical and deliberately gradual. I did feel as if I could have done the extra 2 x 3 Min's but gave it a miss as I just want to avoid any more injuries at least this year.

Another Short Run

My run today was better than yesterday. For a start the weather was a lot better still breezy but no rain, still cool enough for gloves. My running was better I felt a little quicker and my breathing was better. All in all everything was better.

I knocked out a 3 miler in 26.38 which is just under 9 min miles. LIstened to the Zenrunner on the podcast over at Planet Tinkoff.

Wet & Windy Monday Run

After much procrastination and delay whilst I watched never ceasing wind and rain I eventually decided that I needed to get out for a run regardless of the conditions. I have just got over a week when I have had a head cold which has laid me low as far as running is concerned.

However today I finally felt better and with just the weather to contend with I decided to do a very short run. It was a hat , gloves and tracksters kind of day. It was windy enough that I lost my hat at one point and from then on I had to regularly pull down on the hat to keep it on.

I did just 2.5 miles as I felt really rusty not having run for a week. But the main thing was venturing out for a run on such a wet and windy day rather than the distance.

The Mile Run Challenge

Buoyed up by the track session last night I decided to have another go at improving my mile time. Last time out I managed a mile in 8mins 10 seconds.

I again stopped along Newmarket Road at the junction with Oliver Road in Bury St Edmund's . I switched on the ipod and tuned into the Ramones and did my mile. As I mentioned before the mile distance crosses many road junctions before finishing just beyond the Falcon Pub. I got stopped by cars once or twice at junctions but managed  7.51 seconds. Yeah a slight improvement

I registered my mile at the Konkura.com website

Running Track Session at the West Suffolk Sports Centre

My first visit to the West Suffolk Sports Centre since March was as expected a bit of shock to the system! But it provided a bit of a wake up call that I wanted as now that I am running again regularly and without injury I feel the need to improve my speed.

I am lucky enough to live just .75 of a mile from the West Suffolk Sports track. This will play host to the Rwandan Olympic and Paralympic teams in the run up to the 2012 London Games.

On a mild October night with no wind or rain I jogged down to the track and renewed my membership of the Saint Edmund Pacers club. If you don't belong to a running club I would strongly recommend it . I warmed up for a few laps. and wearing a thermal top I was too warm before I started the actual coached session.

I decided to ease my way back in slowly to the coaching and just to do half the session which consisted of 2 sets of 4 x 3 minutes at 10k pace followed by 4 x 2 minutes at 5k pace  with a minute recovery in between. I sat at the back of the pack and was consistently able to keep pace with the group of runners for each of the intervals. I was tempted to do the second set but I felt a slight tightness in my left hamstring and I had never planned to do it. I settled for an easy jog home.

The aim now is to try and include a weekly Wednesday session at the track into my training as this should improve my speed over the winter months. It certainly helps to run with a large number of like minded souls!

Brooks Glycerin 7

After my recent post in which I mentioned that I was in the market for a new pair of running shoes I am glad to say that I have ignored my own advice and gone for a pair of Brooks Running Shoes!

I have bought a pair of Brooks Glycerin 7's. Yes they are not the latest model as you can now buy Glycerin 8's but I have never been one who needs the latest model the day it is released. I need to secure what I perceive as value for money and only time will tell on this score.

I judge value for money in running shoes on a number of factors but the number one is the no of miles I get from the shoes before the heels wear away. As a neutral heel striker , with high arches who under pronates ( yeah I have tried to run and land more mid foot and I have told myself I am doing it but the evidence on the wear of my last shoes just shows I don't!) I need a heel that will last and give me at least 400 miles.

Secondly I want comfort and from my first few runs in the Brooks Glycerin 7's the shoes were comfortable and don't pinch anywhere. You know how when you open new running shoes you require a pair of scissors to cut off an increasing number of information labels attached to the laces. If you are like me you cast a cursory glance at this before binning as I don't profess to understand the scientific bits ( rather like those shampoo adverts !).  However I was drawn to the use by Brooks of a material called BioMoGo which apparently is the world’s first-ever bio-degradable mid sole which has to be good for the environment.

The review of the shoes on the Runners World site wouldn't have you rushing out of bed to buy these . In summary they state "Probably the best way to describe this shoe would be "solid but unspectacular". Our testers found it to be, at best, a pleasant ride and, at worst, inoffensive, with the cushioning and breath ability being the standout features. Our wear-testers say:
"An average shoe in most departments. I was most impressed by the breath ability of the upper which was excellent." - Ben Madsen"

Interestingly though readers reviews were better than the Runners World staff so hopefully I have made the right choice and I will alternate use of these with my other pair of Asics Gel Stratus 3's which are still going strong  after 300 miles.


I have used Brooks shoes before I had a pair of Addictions back in 2004-5 which served me well.

Interval Run

For the first time in many months I felt the need to wear a thermal top and Ron Hill trackster leggings this morning on my run. In fact I wore a second layer over my thermal top as although it was bright and sunny it was also breezy. The first real signs of winter coming early perhaps. The temperature I believe was 2c or whats that 35f or so.

This year we seemed to start Autumn early back in August to be honest and September it rained nearly every day at least it felt like it. We change the clocks in the UK at the end of this month by an hour and return to Greenwich mean time from British summer time. On the 31st of October we gain an extra hour for the week end which is great but from then on we are plunged into darkness from around 4-5pm in the evenings. For a lot of people this means going to work in the day getting home in the dark and you have to make the best of it though many suffer from SAD the seasonal affective disorder.









With the colder weather there has been an invasion of spiders in to the house setting up webs which I don't mean if they are successful in catching a few flies. I am using my Fitflops less frequently now as they are open toed sandals. They were fantastic and helping me overcome plantar fasciitis and if money allowed at some point I would look for a shoe or boot version for the winter. We are eating less salads now and we recently had home made soup so the warm comfort foods are back on the menu. We are also in that inbetweeny stage of sometimes surrendering to putting the heating on and then turning it off again when we are too warm.

As for this morning I felt I could have done with some gloves but apart from the first 5-10 Min's into the run I was OK. My session this morning was a 45 minute effort using the Adidas mi coach set to the heart rate monitor function.

I did 5 min easy warm up (blue zone) 5 Min's moderate (green zone)  and then a 5 minute anaerobic threshold interval I repeated this 3 times for a total of 45 Min's running. Total distance 5.04 miles which is slightly under 9 min miles.

This morning served as a reminder that I  must check out hats and gloves  for running.

 

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1.03.01

The Mile Run Challenge

After yesterdays long run my schedule called for an easy 30 minute run which I did. However as I mentioned in a previous post I am intending to self test myself by running some of the classic distances such as the mile, 5k and 10k during my training.

Today half way through my 30 minute jog I stopped along Newmarket Road at the junction with Oliver Road. I switched on the ipod music on shuffle and did a mile at a pace albeit slow, very slow! The mile distance crosses many road junctions before finishing just beyond the Falcon Pub. Depending on traffic you do have to give way to cars at 3-4 junctions so it is probably not ideal as a mile time measure. However I have run this route as a mile course for donkeys years.

I am not sure if I will ever return to my previous pace of even a year ago as at the moment I am much, much slower. However I am going to enjoy giving it a try.At least today I registered a mile time which was 8 mins 10 seconds. I can get a lot quicker than this and will do I hope!

I registered my mile at the Konkura.com website and hope that some of you who read this will also join Konkura and enter a mile time. If you are not familiar with Konkura it is a challenge website for many different running events but also many other sports.

The mile is an event which isn't often raced on the track these days as I believe the record has been held by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morroco since 1999. The mile record was held by English runners between 1979 and 1993 by a succession of great middle distance runners - Seb Coe, Steve Cram and Steve Ovett.  As everyone knows the 4 mile mile was broken by Roger Bannister another Englishman in 1954.


Seemingly the popularity of the mile has faded which is a pity if this is the case.

Looking back on my records I ran 5.52 for the mile in 2008 on the track.  But I haven't kept complete records so I don't know what my best ever mile time was. So my best recorded was 5.52.

So how about doing a mile and updating your blog and Konkura with your times?

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1.03.01

My long run at Barnham Suffolk

Welcome to Barnham

  I have always liked to run somewhere different rather than always repeat the same old routes and today for my long run I drove out to the Suffolk village  at Barnham. About 11 miles from Bury St Edmunds and close to the Norfolk border town of Thetford, Barnham sits off the main A 134 road for travellers heading towards Norwich.

According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is Beorn's homestead. There used to be a railway station here at Barnham which was opened in 1891 for passengers travelling between Bury St Edmunds and Thetford but this closed in 1960.

Water Lane

War Memorial

The population of Barnham according to the Domesday Book was 36 in 1086 and was 748 in 1981. There are two churches in the village though St Martin has been a ruin since the 17th century. I must admit not knowing where to look I didn't spot it on the run but apparently it is now used as an animal shelter. I did pass St Gregory church on many occasions during this run.

Barnham is a reputed site for a battle between King Edmund and the Danes in 1870.

The Duke of Grafton is the major landowner in this area and there was once a pub here with the same name but I don't know where this was located.

It is also said that Barnham was one of the sites between the Admiralty in London and Yarmouth on the coast for a telegraph system which was used during the Napoleonic Wars.

After a run around the village I headed out along the Elvedon Road and after a short distance picked up on an off road track at North Farm. At first the track was fairly good but soon turned in to a sandy pathway where I had to run in the grooves made by farm vehicles or otherwise run on the camber at an odd angle. This made for a harder run but was much more scenic. I was also running parallel to the old dismantled railway line.

St Gregory

I passed fields full of sheep and then pigs. A large field full of pigs was enclosed with a low level electric fence, however up in the distance a large pig had clearly escaped and managed to jump over or found a break in the fence. As I run towards it the pig turned tail and started to run away from me in short bursts. It soon tired of this and started to squeal loudly so my run became a jog as I debated whether to carry on. Initially I thought I would and the pig would shift of the path but there wasn't room and the pig had had enough of running and turned and completely blocked the path. I must admit rather than charge the pig to see if it would move I did a u-turn and backed away from it!  The pig won.

Old Railway Bridge removed

This was a pity really as my plan to do a circular run along the trackways was over and I returned to Barnham and then headed out on the road towards Euston village . This was my second 1 hr 30 min  run since returning from injury and I am finding that I lack the stamina after an hour. As a result my speed was reduced to a crawl for the last half an hour but the big plus was that I completed 10 miles.

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1.03.01

What new Running Shoes shall I buy?

Yes it is that time again when I need to invest in a new pair of running shoes and retire an old pair.

Unfortunately my experiment with using Saucony shoes or at least the Saucony Jazz 13's was a failure. I should qualify that the Jazz 13's may be a good shoe but they were not right for me and I will explain why. Not sure if you can make out the wear and tear on the shoe photos  in this post but to explain I think you can see that the uppers are as good as new and would last many more miles.  However  the heal wear was excessive and the black carbon sole has been worn away to show patches of yellow beneath. At this point I never run on using a pair of shoes as to do so will only lead to probable injury. There may be people who do and get away with it but not me.



Unbelievably I have only run a 108 miles in them! They were very comfortable and out of the box were immediately enjoyable to wear perhaps more so than most shoes that I have had which normally require 3-4 runs to get used to them. New shoes can often feel so springy and it just takes a few runs for you and shoe to become perfect partners. The Jazz 13's as I say felt like slippers and were a great fit.

As a runner I have high arches and under pronate as I run and the advice I have always had is that I need  a neutral shoe.As I tend to land on the outside of my heel this is where I found shoes wear out. I need shoes to have a hard carbon outer otherwise I can find the wear is too great.I can end up chucking shoes out even the rest of the shoe may be in good condition because the outer heel has become like a cliff edge.

What lead to the Jazz 13's not being right for me? Well I just don't know but with my long term injury I did put on weight so I would have been a harder on the shoes. I do tend to mix my running between road and trail. As you can see from the photos there is plenty of mud on these but I have never had a pair which gave up the ghost after just 108 miles! Clearly Jazz 13's were not ideal for trail running.

I always try to alternate shoes for each training run so I still have my Asics Gel Stratus 3's which currently have over 300 miles of usage and are still fine. In fact this set me to  looking back on recent shoes and how many miles they have lasted as a basis for what brand I should buy next. My results are

Asic Gel Stratus 2's                     412 miles
Asic GT 2130                               449 miles
Mizuno Wave Rider                     423 miles
Asic Gel                                        427 miles
Asic Gel GT 2110                        516 miles
Reebok Premier Ultra 111          314 miles
Reebok Premier                           214 miles
New Balance 1060                       439 miles
New Balance 854's                      241 miles
Saucony MC5's                             356 miles
Brooks Addiction                          405 miles
New Balance 855                         406 miles
Saucony Trigon                            258 miles


I started recording the shoe I wore and the miles run in them from around 2004 so what does the stats tell me ? It is fairly clear that the Saucony shoes just don't suit me as well as Asics. I have consistently got at least 400 miles out of Asics. New Balance , Brooks and Mizuno were also in the main likely to give me 400 miles of running. From this I am likely to look at one of these brands for my next shoe.

I would be interested to know how many miles do you get out of your shoes before they wear out ?

I ran a 40 minute mainly green paced heart rate monitor run this morning. This is a medium paced effort and I think doing the race on Sunday acted a little as a kick up the pants as I ran 4.6 miles for around 8.45 pace. Still no great shakes but heading in the right direction as most of my previous training runs in the last month have been at 9 min plus miles.

5th Annual World Wide Festival of Races from Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

This morning I ventured out to run the 5th Annual World Wide Festival of Races. This was a race with a difference it being a virtual race and I merely went out of my front door to take part.

Although I was the only one taking part I was also aware that all over the world this week end I was joined by 742 other entrants from 42 different countries.

I had chosen to do the Zen Run 10k named after Adam Tinkoff who is better known as the Zen Runner. Anyone who listens to running podcasts will be well aware of the many podcasts that Adam has produced over the years including Shock of the News and Hear Zen Run.

I am still building up my base mileage after a long period of injury and whilst I am running pain free I have found in my training that I am generally running a minute a mile slower. This is largely due I think to having put on 14lbs or a stone in weight over the 3-4 months of inactivity. I have also been training according to my heart rate since I returned to training in a bid to listen to my body and so reduce the risk of  further injury.

I have built my mileage back up to around 25 miles a week but I certainly don't feel I have much stamina at the moment though I put in my first 10 miler recently. It is going to be a long slow road over the winter to regain full fitness but the first step is the hardest.

As for this morning I haven't been training very much at all at a heart rate zone above 151bpm which using the Adidas Micoach is yellow zone running. This is the anaerobic threshold where you feel the "burn" and is  hard paced running. All of my running recently has been at the more easy green and blue zone pace and my average heart rate for my running in September was 140bpm.

The weather was very good,warm and sunny with little wind as I set out on a circular run around the villages of Fornham.  I was happy with my time for this run which was 54.10 for the 6.2 miles which is an 8.45 pace. My heart rate averaged 150 . It was probably my slowest ever 10k and was slower than my normal training pace prior to injury back in April. I ran the Stowmarket Half in March at an 8.15 pace for a 1hr 48 min time and the Breckland 10k in 47.19 last year so it shows just how much my fitness and pace has declined!

Nethertheless the positives are that I ran a race (only my 2nd of the year) and after so much time injured I wasn't sure that I would run again. I can eat in to that time making some progress over the winter. I shall stick to something like a half marathon training programme to build stamina over the winter. I plan to build into this training some regular runs at the mile , 5k and 10k to test my fitness and progress.