Bury St Edmunds Circular Run -Horringer School /Hospital /Cullum rd /Newmarket rd

Given a choice I always prefer to run early in the morning. I am a morning person by nature and I like to fit my runs in soon after I wake. I don't eat before I run I just have a coffee before I hit the road.

The great thing about this is you can get in your run often whilst the rest of the family are still asleep.  Running out on the roads or trails is also better early in the morning as you encounter less people,less traffic and less dogs.

Running first thing early in the morning means for me there is no conflict. By this I mean that later in the day there are often more choices; more places I have to be;meals at lunch and evening time and the problem of not running for 2-3 hours afterwards. For me this all adds up to more temptation not to run.

However today it was 5pm before I got out of the house for a run. This morning there was a large car boot sale to attend to at 8am so no run. After returning from this I then felt the need for breakfast and not running. Mid day it was warm and sunny and I tend to avoid this part of the day to run so 5pm was when I got out of the door.

After a large pizza I still noticed this when I ran and it took me a while to get in to my stride. I tend to know early in a run how it it is going to go whether it is going to be a stormer full of energy running like the wind,  an OK run but not a lot of extra push or a tired going through the motions kind of run.

Today was an OK run . I did 8.11,8.39,8.43,8.17,8.25,8.29 and 8.24 for a total of 59.12 for 7 miles.

Fornham Circular Seven Mile Run

I got in a seven mile run this morning around Fornham. It was a fairly standard run at an easy pace before setting off for the football at Portman Road. Ipswich Town v Scunthorpe Utd in the Championship. Both sides struggling at the wrong end of the league fought out a dour game spoilt by the tactics of the away who constantly wasted time.

However they got what they deserved in the end as Ipswich won 1-0 scoring in the 2nd minute of injury time. The goal coming from Conner Wickham who is just 16 years old.

Seven Mile Circular Run Fornham Suffolk

After yesterdays 13 miles I was a little tired and I had to talk to myself at least twice before I decided I was running. Half the battle I decided was to get changed into my running gear but I have been beaten before at this stage and not then gone out of the door.  However I convinced my self to go as I know I definitely cannot run tomorrrow night as I am at the football.

This convinced me along with the thought that I would run slow around the villages in Fornham Suffolk. The weather continues to be dry and cool and tonight there was a breeze and I wore hat and gloves.

Although I was feeling a little tired my time for the 7 miles was actually the quickest this year. I did 1hr and 36 seconds for the Fornham Circular Run for an average of 8.39 miles. None of my miles was particularly quick the fastest being an 8.23 and the slowest 9. That seems to be the biggest difference between previous runs over this route as I have tended previously to slow on 1-2 miles and run a 9.20 or 9.30 miles.  My time today was a full 2 minutes quicker than when I ran this route on Jan 25th and nearly a minute quicker than on 22 Feb.

 What I take from this is that slowly both the longer runs and the tempo runs are beginning to pay off and I am seeing some small improvements in my times.

For Music Monday my offering this week is a song that is guranteed to make you run a minute a mile faster ! The legendary one and only Ramones - I don't wanna grow up

Fornham Suffolk - Seven Mile Circular Run

This was my 6th day in a row of running and I was pretty tired. I completed the run, the first of week 6 which actually sees me have a little respite after 5 weeks of increasing mileage. There are no quality runs at all this week by this I mean no long run and no tempo or speed work. The total mileage this week is consequently down and I hope to feel the beneficial effects of this and complete a few more push ups which have suffered over the last week as I haven't done as many.

My 7 miles today were completed in 1hr 1min and 43 seconds. It was cold breezy and we had a mixture of sleet and snow showers.

Last week I bought from Amazon a copy of Rosie Swale-Pope book and I am just a few chapters into this. Her husband died of prostate cancer and to remind people to go to doctors for check ups she decided to run around the world as by staying at home doing the weeding  in her backgarden no one would have noticed.


So in October 2003 she set off from her home in Tenby, Wales on a solo run around the World. A five year journey over 20,000 miles using 53 pairs of running shoes and storey to tell. Sheer madness yes but also very inspiring and truely a journey of a lifetime that most of us will never do or even contemplate doing.Sleeping alone in the middle of a Siberian forest with temperatures down to -60 is not everybodies cup of tea.

Ickworth Park Suffolk - Seven Mile Run

I tried to pick the best time to run and listening to the weather forecast this suggested lunch time onwards. It certainly appeared that way as I set out towards Ickworth Park for an easy 7 miles. This is day 26 of my 11 week half marathon training programme and after being cooped up in the car for a lot of yesterday in a trip to the Birmingham NEC I was glad to be able to get out for a run.

Half way into the run the weather which had been breezy turned from a drizzle to hail and this was fun as my visability reduced and the ground around me turned a little white. The breeze soon took the dark black clouds away to be replaced by bright blue sky and a little sunshine.

A lot of this run took me of the road and on to the fields and pathways around Horringer and Ickworth Park. At times I was battling over thick mud and up and down hills.

My time for the 7 miles was 1hr 1 min and 54 which was a pb for the year, not that I was aiming or trying to do this and only represents a 5 seconds a mile improvement but as I pile on the miles I am looking for some small signs of progress.

I think all the training has also resulted in a reduction in my weight since Christmas as I am now down from 86.5 to 85 kilos. However as I am 5ft 9 inches tall according to the Body Mass Indicator Calculator I am overweight as I have a BMI of 27.6. Body Mass Index is defined as a person's weight divided by the square of a person's height, using the metric units kg/m^2.

It is also said that those who like to exercise such as runners may weigh a little more as they will have a stronger composition of muscle to fat. A number of gold medal winning athletes at the Olympics would be considered obese based solely on their BMI. A skinfold thickness measurement with calipers is used by some trainers and doctors when judging an athletes body fat ratio.

Online BMI Calculator

To get to a healthy BMI figure I would need a BMI under 25 and to do this be 76.5 kilos or 12 stone. That would mean losing 1 stone 4lbs or 10 kilos! Unlikely as I like a beer or two and I am not dieting in any way.

One of the alternatives to the BMI Calculator is the halls.md body mass index calculator. According to this they have slightly different definitions of weight.My BMI of 27.6 would make me marginally over weight - sounds a little better but not a lot!

Seven Miles around Fornham Suffolk

I ran tired today. I felt tired before I started but still get myself out of the front door which was the biggest battle. The weather was cool,grey and damp with a hint of rain. I was back to wearing a hat and gloves for this session which was day 1 of week 4 of my Half Marathon  training.
I am following the Runners World SMART Coach training schedule which this week calls for another increase in mileage from 36 to 39 miles all told if I do it.

My shortest run now is 7 miles where as that was probably my longest distance for most of the 2nd half of 2009.

Todays 7 miles saw my do a time of 1hr 2mins 31 secs. Not quick and at a slower pace than yesterdays 11 miles but not surprising as I have 30 miles in the last 4 days.

However I again ran within the easy 9.20 pace that was called for on the schedule.

It being a Music Monday a phrase coined by Kenley at the Essence of Running  I listened to the album by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs  - It's Blitz and it being such a dull day my track of the day is Dull Life



It was also time for me to do another session on the One hundred push ups programme. After my last session I have retreated a bit and decided to do  Day 1 of week 6 again and to choose the easiest of the 3 options available.

So I did a 25, 30,20,15 and then a 40 . Wow that was hard.

Half Marathon Training - Runners World SMART Coach Week 3

After work I managed to fit in my training on day 15 of my 11 week Runners World SMART Coach schedule. Week 3 has another 10% or so increase in the overall mileage and this was seen today as my Monday easy run has gone from a 5 mile to a 7 mile run at a 9.20 pace.

I felt pretty good today its too early to tell but certainly my stamina and breathing felt better than recently. I ran the 7 miles in 1hr  2mins 49 secs which is just inside 9 minute miles. Splits were 8.30,8.49,9,8.53,8.50,9.01,9.43

So far I am running slightly quicker than the called for pace on the easy runs but not hitting the pace for the tempo runs. I am altogether very much a one paced runner. Hopefully following this schedule with regular tempo runs I will begin to correct this.  My first priciple aim though is to improve my overall stamina to build more confidence on the longer runs that I do which at the moment are up to 10 miles. I begin to tire around 7-8 miles and tighten up for the last 2 miles at the moment. Thats what I am aiming for with this training schedule is to improve my stamina and get my base mileage up to a good level the cream on the cake being any speed improvement in time to come.

Following a new tradition created by Kenley over at the Essence of Running today is also Music Monday. Check out his blog for details and join in by offering up a song that helps motivate you when out on a run.  Here is my first offer from the great band Jimmy Eat World whom I had the pleasure to see and briefly chat to at the Milton Keynes Bowl in around 2005.

Here is the lyrics and video to 23.

I felt for sure last night
At once we said goodbye
No one else will know these lonely dreams
No one else will know that part of me
Im still driving away
And Im sorry every day
I wont always love these selfish things
I wont always live...
Stop it...

It was my turn to decide
I knew this was our time
No one else will have me like you do
No one else will have me, only you

Youll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
Im here and now Im ready
Holding on tight
Dont give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

Amazing still it seems
Ill be 23
I wont always love what Ill never have
I wont always live in my regrets

Youll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
Im here and now Im ready
Holding on tight
Dont give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

Youll sit alone forever
If you wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
Im here and now Im ready
Holding on tight
Dont give away the end
The one thing that stays mine...