The Rules of Running, and Duddingston

Today I read The Runners Rule Book by Mark Remy which I highly recommend.  It'll take you 1 hour to read - max - but it is very funny.  Anyone who runs will love it.  Highlights include sensible advice like;

• Rule 1.14 - For Pete's Sake, Stand Still at Red Lights.  Sharks die when they stop moving, runners do not.  
• Rule 1.68  - Imagine the worst.  You normally eat oatmeal before a run but those leftover chalupas look tasty.  Best case - You eat the chalupas and finish your run.  Worst case - You eat the chalupas and 2 miles into your run you are doubled over feeling as if Satan himself  is travelling through your lower intestine with a pitchfork made of fire and dipped in taco sauce.  Final Call - boil up some water because you're taking the whole grain train to Quaker town.   
• Rule 2.20 - "Lookin' good"...and 10 Other Lies Runners Tell Each Other. 

Finally, todays run was a new route (Rule 1.58 - A Route is a Route when 2 or more runners in your group can identify it by name without any confusion or further description).  I ran to Duddingston.  Basically it's like the Arthur's Seat route but without the hard uphill bit!  It was a good 11km run and I felt good.  Averaged 4.56km a minute without really pushing so that's good.  

And finally, here are some pics that Jess took on Friday's OCP run. Excellent!

Park Run

Just a quick update.  Ran the Park Run today in 21:52.  That's 32 seconds slower than last week but the exact same time as two weeks ago.  I really couldn't be bothered today.  I think I am a bit flat after yesterday's landmark (also I was a bit hungover).  Celebrated the landmark a bit but then this morning was the realisation that I had to get up and keep going.  I am not finished.  I am not even nearly finished.

"This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning."

Ah well.  Here are couple of pics of Kata and I soaking up the rays at Silverknowes after the race.

Kata told me today that I have a lot in me (potential running wise I assume) and that I had to record that she said that in this blog so as we can presumably look back in a year or so and she will be able to prove she was right.  Let's hope so!

50 Days!

Today was my 50th day of consecutive running.  Only 315 to go!  By a happy coincidence today is a Friday so I was able to celebrate my 50th day by running to OCP for a couple of pints.  Thanks to Kata, Rachel, and Jess for joining me.  It was another glorious day.

Running for 50 days in a row is a decent achievement but nothing amazing in the grand scheme.  It's only a milestone on the project.  Next milestone is day 182 and then 365.  I might mark day 100 if I can find a '100 Today' badge.  :-)  On that topic, the barmaid in OCP congratulated on my birthday but when I told her that it wasn't my birthday, she laughed and said, "I was going to say....".  However, the guy in Caffeine coffee shop also congratulated me and when I told him it wasn't my birthday, he screwed his face up and said in  confused voice, "Oh.  Right."  I mean fair enough I can see the confusion - I am after all wearing a 50 today badge, but COME ON!!!  Really???!!!

Some observations on turning 50 then....

1. It got a lot easier after day 8.  
2. I am running a faster pace without thinking about it.  I probably average 5 minutes per kilometre on a training run, as opposed to 5:30 when I started.  
3. I am running a PB every race.  Turns out training helps.  Who knew?  There will come a time when I innevitably don't run a PB.  It might be tomorrow at Park Run. 
4. I am losing weight and more clothes in my wardrobe are becoming available to me. 
5. I could probably live with a maximum of 3 pairs of shorts and t-shirts.  The washing cycle means I sometimes wear the same gear twice in a row because it's at the top of the pile. 
6. Eating before running is still a bad idea.  I run better hungry. 
7. Coconut water rocks!
8. Keeping the running streak going is great motivation in itself.  Two or three times I have only went running because I 'had' to, then got in about 7km and enjoyed it.  
9. Running in the heat is really hard.
10. Advice from The Oatmeal that has been a great help to me.  "When you are really tired and you feel like giving in, try to disengage your brain and listen to your body.  More often than not your body is fine and could keep going no bother, but it's your mind that's telling you to give in, stop, start walking."  This is so true and I have used this technique to great effect many times. 
11. I've had no injuries.  Had a blister from the Red Moss hill race and one time I thought I was getting shin splints but they came to nothing.  I have only been doing normal, hamstring, and calf stretches and it's been great.  No pain, no injury.  Even no pain after the half marathon.
12. Wear comfy socks that come up to your ankle.  They don't look as cool as the small, invisible ones that just come above the top of your trainer, but they are much better blister and comfort wise.  Comfort is more important than appearance when running, but appearance does matter.  I mean I'm not a cyclist!

That's all I can think of now.  Looking forward to day 51 at Park Run.

Meadows 2 Mile

Todays race was the Sri Chinmoy Meadows 2 mile race.  This was day 48.  The last time I ran this race was day 20.  At 3.22 miles it meets the minimum requirements for the challenge, although this time I ran 2.05km to get there and then 2.43km back.  So all in all today I ran over 7.5km although I am only counting the 2 mile race.  Make sense?  :-D

Ran a PB.  The PBs are coming thick and fast and I love it.  On day 20 I ran this race in 13:35.  Today I ran it in 13:20 and to be honest I could have done better.  The last time I was chasing someone down in the last stretch, this time I was taking it kind of easy.  Well not "easy", but I could have ran faster.

It's good progress.  My fitness is improving (my stamina especially),  my weight is dropping, and most importantly I have ran 48 days in a row which is a mental challenge of my will power more than anything.  It's becoming a habit, just something that I do.  I couldn't have imagined this a week into the challenge where I couldn't imagine a time when my legs wouldn't hurt!

I'll post official results and stuff to this when they are available.

UPDATE:  Here are the results and a picture from the official site

Blackford Hill

Went for a run with Kata today on day 45 of my challenge.  It was a good distance of 11.6km and it gave me a view of Edinburgh I had never seen before.  I never even knew that Blackford Hill existed and it was unusual to see The Craggs and Edinburgh Castle from the other side.

Kata lead the run and although she had a rough idea of where we were going, we did basically make it up as we went along.  Running up the hill was tough.  I struggled with that.  I struggled a bit not knowing what I was doing next or where I was going.  It's mentally tough.  Also my 'Blerch' shirt chafed a bit - sore nips :-(  I think perhaps it's not a shirt for runs > 5km.

I'd definitely do this run again.  It's a great distance and a good challenge.  It'll be better next time knowing where I am going.

As usual it's great to run with Kata.  I really enjoy it and I hope we an do it regularly.  After Kata's PB on Saturday maybe she'll have her running mojo back? :-)

Tonight I plan to do speed sessions at Inverleith Park.  I am thinking, Speed Mondays, and Hill Wednesdays.  Let's see how I get on with that.  

N.B.  We had planned a run to The Pentlands but forgot that we had left the car out in town last night so we abandoned that and incorporated picking up the car into this run instead.  As a strange consequence, I was running in my Nike Free 'barefoot' shoes.  I had stopped running in these because they don't support my ankle.  Anyway, I ended up with chafed big toe as well as chafed nips.  A good reminder as to why the Nike shoes are for walking about only and not for running in.  

New 5k PB

Park Run yesterday and I beat my previous PB by 7 seconds!  I'm pleased with that.  I finished in an official time of 21:20.  Again at the end I was coughing and spluttering and I am sure if I work on speed then I can run even faster.

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/edinburgh/results/athletehistory/?athleteNumber=265952

Big congratulations to Kata too who also ran a PB in 22:07 which I think beats her previous best by 17 seconds!

They had Pace Makers at the are which helped a lot.  I hope that they continue to do that.  I ran after the 21 minute guy and kept up with him until about 3.5km so that was a great.  I actually thought that he started slow but a check of my Garmin after 1km confirmed a 4:08 time so it just FELT slow - it wasn't.  My fastest section was the 3rd km which I ran in 4:06.  The last two kilometres were 4:17 and 4:19 so it's pretty clear that I tired myself out for the first 3km.  Room to improve but feeling good and smug.

Holyrood Pyramids

Today I ran 6.76km in nearly 40 mins!

I have an excuse.  I ran to Holyrood Park and then ran up the side of Arthur's Seat a bit.  Ran up the hill for 30 secs, then 45, secs, then 60 secs, then 45 secs, then 30 secs, then 30 secs again, then I gave up!

Next time I will do two full sets.  Maybe I will make Wednesdays "Hill Rep Pyramids Day"?

I did an experiment.  Before I ran I weighed myself at 85.2kg.  I wondered what I would weigh when I got back.  By an amazing coincidence of rounding, I weighed 84.2kg.  I literally have no idea what that means.  I am certain I will be 85.2kg again tomorrow morning.

Arthur's Seat

I ran it.  I extended the run a bit as well to get it over the psychological milestone of 10km.

The run was easy.  I ran about an hour and a half after eating a baked potato with tuna and cheese.

It was pouring down and I got soaked, but all the same I extended the run.  Once I was saturated I couldn't get any more wet so I decided it made no difference.  

Awesome Summer is looking less awesome....

Gallery of Modern Art

Ran with Kata today on consecutive day number 38.  I notice that 4 out of my last 6 runs have been 3km something so I need to up it a bit.  Getting lazy.  Today I WILL run Arthur's Seat.  Look forward to my next post to see if I did!

I love running with Kata.  It's because of Kata that I run at all.  When I first started running with her I was pushed to keep going when I felt the pace was too fast because I didn't want to seem weak in front of her.  I bet most of the best things achieved by men have been in the course of trying to impress women!

So a short run through Stockbridge to Water of Leith and finishing at the Modern Art Gallery.  I really must go inside one day and check out the modern art.

Park Run

Ran the Park Run at Silverknowes on Saturday.  I was aiming for a PB which I didn't get, but I ran 21:52 and was 18 seconds faster than last week so that's good.  It's better to compare myself to last week than to last year.  It was 26th June 2013 when I ran a 21:27 and that remains the target.

Some thoughts on the Park Run...

1. The highlight was being overtaken by a guy pushing a buggy.  He later stopped to put the dummy back in the baby's mouth or something, and started running again and I still didn't catch him.  Good effort by the buggy baby guy.  Kata thinks that people pushing buggies should be made to run at the back 10 minutes after everyone else.  I second that motion. 
2. I ran wearing earphones.  I still think that helps.  The right music pushes me on.  I still think it's rude to wear earphones during a race, but I do't consider Park Run to be a proper race :-)  I think at a race where it's a big coming together of people sharing in one event, you should participate and play the game, not stick in earphones and run on your own.  It's just my opinion - still music helps. 
3. I need to work on speed.  I was running well again up unit about 4.5km and I felt strong.  I upped the pace to try to put in a good time and I felt really sick.  Couldn't breathe and kept coughing.  Much the same as last week but much much worse.  I was practically walking at the end.  I had to stick close to the fence at the edge so as I had somewhere off track to vomit if I needed to quickly.  One of the marshals asked if I was alright and then joked I had "too many red wines last night" which was ironic as for once I hadn't been drinking the night before!  :-D  Need to work on speed.  
4. Running is Marxist!  When I parked the car, the car in front was a Porsche 911.  I saw the girl that got out of the car later in the race (I overtook her - easier on foot than in the car) and she was wearing the same manky trainers and Nike/Adidas/Brooks/Ronhill/whatever gear as every other person running the race.  When running everyone looks the same and is doing the same thing.  You can't tell if someone is an investment banker or a chimney sweep.  Some runners will have gone to the opera that evening and some will have gone to Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie.  But for the duration of the race everyone was the same.  

OCP.....again.....

I haven't updated this blog in a few days.  Today is Monday and I am writing about last Friday.  The World Cup has been on and stuff.  Germany won in extra time - this WC has been all about extra time.

So on Friday we ran to Old Chain Pier again.  Pretty unremarkable except Jess took some cool photos that I wanted to show.  I ran to the pub, drank two pints of Ten Storey Malt Bomb (ha ha!) and bumped into Mark Burns who was also out for a run.

Here's the latest log.  

And here are Jess's photos (the amazing Summer continues to be amazing)....

A Bad Run

Today I ran for 3.33km because I felt so bad.  My legs were so heavy and sore even (shins/ankles).  It feels like cheating only doing such a short distance, but 3km is the minimum according to the rules so I suppose it's alright.  I really feel like I have to do a proper long run tomorrow to make up.

Busy day today and I went for the run at 7:30 about 30 mins after finishing dinner - spaghetti bolognese.  Probably I ran too soon after dinner.

I'll mark today down as a bad run and move on.  :-(

Harris Half Marathon

On Saturday I ran the Harris Half Marathon with the instigators of this challenge (Kata and Rachel) and some others from their running club, HBT.

Really enjoyed it.  I think 13.1 miles is a good distance - it's challenging without being ridiculous like say....a marathon!

It was a great event very well organised.  We were picked up in a bus at Tarbert that drove us to the start of the race.  We then ran the 13.1 miles (~20.08 km) back to Tarbert.  The bus journey out to the start made us realise just how far we were about to run.  Then scenery was beautiful.  Turquiose water and white sand.  Someone said it was a race of two halves which I agree with.  The first half the scenery was beautiful, the second half all I could really see through my sweat and sun-tan-lotion stained shades was the side of rocky hills.  And what hills!!!!  There was one from about 5 miles - 8 miles that was just never ending.  Every time you thought you were getting to the top, it was a false summit and it kept going.  Right at the end it got very steep.  At the very steep point I gave up on achieving a PB which up until then I was just about on course for.  I decided just to run and accept that it was a very challenging course  See the race details and elevation map here.  In the end I finished in 1hr 47min 11sec which was a PB by just over 2 mins.  I am very pleased with that.  I actually thought my PB for a half marathon was 1hr 47min something so at the end I was running full tilt to get into the 46 minutes (I failed).  Turned out I needn't have bothered :-)


Great day.  I felt strong during the race despite the uphill struggle and unfortunate headwind.  We went to the pub after as is the HBT tradition and drank there, on the ferry home, and back in Uig.

Plus the medal ribbons were made of Harris Tweed - awesome!

The race was day 30 of consecutive running.  Here's the latest log.

N.B.  Kata suggested I add to the blog some detail about what I ate and things like that.  It's a good idea.  I was very conscious not to eat too much before the race.  At this year's Genlivet 10k I over-ate at breakfast and running on a full stomach was not good.  So I had porridge and toast and some berries.  I didn't eat all of the porridge and I was a little hungry before the race, but I felt fine during the race.  I had one jelly baby at the 3rd water station which I felt like I needed.  I will never know if it helped or not unless I was to re-run the race without having the jelly baby.