I thought I'd check in with a quick update. So with London Marathon PR and the Fellsman behind me I hit the ElliptiGO to rack up some active recovery miles. I love the ElliptiGO as you really can continue to train and build strength whilst recovering because of its zero impact nature. So the week following the Fellsman I clocked up 200 miles on the GO. Which included a great 80 mile ride to Hyde Park and back. I hooked up with a big group of fellow ElliptiGOers as we saw off two adventurers - Dave and Squash (@davecorn) who are doing a 3,000 mile ElliptiGO ride across Europe! Amazing to be able to have the luxury of time to take on such challenges (and the sponsorship backing!).
Yet I have my own lifetime sponsor in my wonderful wife who allows me to also follow my ambitions and put in the miles in my quest to become a better Ultra runner. Its all too easy to forget the dedication our other halves have to putting up with our antics! I just hope to make it all count as the big day approaches. I don't know where the last 4+ months have gone. Its just 7 weeks until Western States which is both extremely exciting and scary!!
So what am I doing in these final weeks before the dreaded taper begins. Well quite a lot actually.... The big test and key 'training run' is the North Downs Way 50 which is this Saturday coming. I love this trail having done the NDW100 twice now so am familiar with the terrain which is a nice advantage. I plan to run this one full on but get my pacing right. I want it as even as possible as I learjt alot from London and want to see if I can translate this to a longer trail race. Hence I plan to set off and stick to a 8:45mpm pace (2 mins slower per mile than London pace) and hopefully hold this pace from beginning to end. I don't want to get involved in 'racing' others for position but hope that by playing it cool and not slowing down (most will!!) that I will still have a shot of placing in the top 10. We shall see.
As thoughts turn ahead to WSER I've been looking and concerning myself with how I'm going to cope in the heat of California in late June. 100+ degree temps are common place. Sauna sessions is one strategy to get the body use to heat and adapt accordingly. But I've also heard about heat training on a treadmill on a podcast I was listening to. Brits training for MdS often go for this tactic so I investigated further. And the outcome is that I'm booked in with Kingston University Sports Science department next Tuesday to do a 1hr+ run in their heat chamber. They heat it to 35+ dc and you hit the treadmill and run hard whilst they (the lab scientists) monitor your core temp and fluid loss. If the session goes well and I feel that I get something from it (mentally and physically) I plan to complete a further 5 sessions in the chamber in the final two weeks before WSER. This is the optimum adaption time for the body to get use to and adjust to the intense heat. I'm really excited about including this in my training as its nice to bring a bit of science into it and not leave everything to chance....
Yet I have my own lifetime sponsor in my wonderful wife who allows me to also follow my ambitions and put in the miles in my quest to become a better Ultra runner. Its all too easy to forget the dedication our other halves have to putting up with our antics! I just hope to make it all count as the big day approaches. I don't know where the last 4+ months have gone. Its just 7 weeks until Western States which is both extremely exciting and scary!!
So what am I doing in these final weeks before the dreaded taper begins. Well quite a lot actually.... The big test and key 'training run' is the North Downs Way 50 which is this Saturday coming. I love this trail having done the NDW100 twice now so am familiar with the terrain which is a nice advantage. I plan to run this one full on but get my pacing right. I want it as even as possible as I learjt alot from London and want to see if I can translate this to a longer trail race. Hence I plan to set off and stick to a 8:45mpm pace (2 mins slower per mile than London pace) and hopefully hold this pace from beginning to end. I don't want to get involved in 'racing' others for position but hope that by playing it cool and not slowing down (most will!!) that I will still have a shot of placing in the top 10. We shall see.
As thoughts turn ahead to WSER I've been looking and concerning myself with how I'm going to cope in the heat of California in late June. 100+ degree temps are common place. Sauna sessions is one strategy to get the body use to heat and adapt accordingly. But I've also heard about heat training on a treadmill on a podcast I was listening to. Brits training for MdS often go for this tactic so I investigated further. And the outcome is that I'm booked in with Kingston University Sports Science department next Tuesday to do a 1hr+ run in their heat chamber. They heat it to 35+ dc and you hit the treadmill and run hard whilst they (the lab scientists) monitor your core temp and fluid loss. If the session goes well and I feel that I get something from it (mentally and physically) I plan to complete a further 5 sessions in the chamber in the final two weeks before WSER. This is the optimum adaption time for the body to get use to and adjust to the intense heat. I'm really excited about including this in my training as its nice to bring a bit of science into it and not leave everything to chance....
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