Week 7 / 10

I spent most of the week basking in the after-glow of running the Getafe Half Marathon in 1:19. Not surprisingly I was a little bit tired afterwards and so I decided to delay my day of hard training until Thursday. That consisted of 4 series of 15 minutes at just below my anaerobic threshold which basically meant running at Half Marathon pace. I did them at 3:45 per kilometer (16 kph - well, actually 16.5 kph according to my optimistic treadmill) all except the last one, for which I had to slack off a little bit for the second half. Still, it was a pretty good workout with my heart rate at 173 bpm as it was during most of the Half Marathon.

On Friday I really was tired. I "only" had to run 70 minutes but I found it more tiring than usual; several people commented on how tired I looked afterwards and some people noticed I was virtually limping from fatigue. But this is what always surprises me about Triathlon training: you can be completely knackered one day and, after changing sport, be as fresh (or fresher) as if you'd had a day off. On Saturday I did a 2 and a half hour cycle ride at a fairly good pace for these parts of 30 kph on average, making my heart rate a little higher than the zone I was supposed to be training in. I decided to take the Triathlon bike for a spin so I swapped the wheels with my other bike and changed the brake pads over to the ones suitable for an aluminum braking surface. This time I didn't have any problems with nuts and bolts working themselves loose but I did have problems with water bottles being randomly launched into the middle of the road. Considering that one of them was filled not with water but with a spare inner tube and puncture repair kit, I had to keep a close eye on them the whole time, especially as I had no-one to "rescue" me this time if I got stuck. I worked out that the particular Camel Bak water bottles I was using are not compatible with the X Lab seat post bottle holder (and, to be fair, I seem to remember reading something about this in the instructions).

After my ride on Saturday, my legs were as good as new for the long run on Sunday. It was a nice treat to run in a group of runners of a similar - and in some cases significantly better - level, most of whom will also be running the Marathon in Seville. It was also a nice change to run at a much more leisurely pace than I have been doing my long runs lately, of 5:05 per kilometer (just under 12 kph). My heart rate was significantly below my aerobic threshold, an average of 138 bpm. Even so, it was a good session, nice company and a picturesque route. What a difference it makes not only to run with other people but to run along a route where hundreds of other runners are also doing their workout. I have run up to 35 kilometers virtually without seeing another soul before. With only a few weeks to go before the Marathon, I can expect little training effect but I do think it is important both mentally and physically to do these long runs. At this stage in the game, the intensity is not as important as time on my feet.

The ageing (tri)athelete

They say that a man has the face he deserves when he is 40 years old. I suppose the same can be said about his body.

I'm coming up to the big 4-0 in the next few months so I guess this topic has been a bit on my mind lately, if only on a subconscious level. So, it wouldn't be a coincidence, then, that I have recently read several articles on the subject - one even in the Economist this week. According to this article, there has been a recent flurry of activity on the subject of autophagy - which comes from the Greek for "self-eating". Rather than some kind of perverted sexual act, this refers to a process the body uses to break down and recycle damaged cells. Evidence from tests performed on the usual suspects - rats - seems to indicate that this process, triggered by regular exercise, helps combat the effects of aging.

I also stumbled upon this article from another blog, where I found this striking photo:

It is originally from an article by 2.52 Marathoner and physiotherapist, Laura McIntyre.

Then last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I dipped into the Runners's Lore by Tim Noakes and started reading a section on running ultramarathons as you age. By his own admission, it was strange that the main thrust of the article (in a book about running) was actually to encourage older runners to mix up running with increasing amounts of non-weight bearing sports such as swimming and cycling. Anecdotally, the author reported that he had noticed as the years wore on, that the aches and pains in his muscles would become a more or less permanent accompaniment of his running mileage. He said that research was (at the time of writing) currently being undertaken in Cape Town University as to whether muscles had a limited number of "repair cycles". This would imply that a runner in his 40's who had been running since he or she was 20 might suffer a similar slow down to a 60 year old runner who took up running at the age of 40. Selfishly, I hope he is right. It's certainly food for thought and perhaps a good reason to move towards triathlon as we get older. However, an important point he made was that we should not base our expectations on those "outliers" who run sub-3 hour Marathons well into their 60's, or complete Ironman's in their 80's. While part of what makes them an outlier might be due to the small population of similarly aged athletes, some of it will be due to extraordinary genetics. After all, we wouldn't expect to be able to run as fast as Haile even if we did the same amount of training... Still, I just hope I can find a way to keep being active until the end credits roll...

The Lore of Running

I recently got this book back from a friend who I had lent it to some time ago. I'd forgotten just how good this book was. I remember when I first met Jonathan, I said something about books on running and he was a little dismissive. When I mentioned the Lore of Running, he agreed that was a different case altogether (I noticed that he had it on his shelf).

What has surprised me is that, everything that I have learned about running in the last four years, even my foray into the apparently trendy world of minimalist footwear - it's all in there, if you look! There is a very interesting chapter on energy systems and fatigue which asks some questions about the practice of carbo-loading and admits that current sports science is unable to explain how Mark Allen and Dave Scott were able to run a Marathon in 2:40 without becoming hypoglycemic. There is a brilliant chapter chronicling the best runners and triathletes of the last century and their training methods, often with excerpts from their training diary. I think the only area that could be improved or expanded upon would be on running technique and biomechanics.

If you haven't got this book and you are at all interested in learning more about running or at least making sure that the time you invest in it is put to good use then really, you must buy this book. It is in a class of its own.

Rock 'n' Roll

I've wanted to run in the International edition of the San Silvestre Vallecana race held on New Year's Eve ever since I started running again, just over four years ago. It is another goal which has gone from being something that seemed unattainable to not being a "big deal" without me even realizing it. In fact, in 2009 I had the requisite sub-38 qualifying time of 37:45 in a 10k race I did in Fuenlabrada that year, but I was disappointed to discover that it wasn't one of the very few "homologated" races that the RFAE had certified.

This year I really am in two minds as to whether to run the International Sansi or the Popular one with my family. The last one, I ran with my wife and a friend who was accompanied by his two small kids for about 3 kilometers. I think my kids would really enjoy it. It is actually feasible if not a little ambitious to do both as the International race starts a couple of hours after the Popular edition. Although I'd want to run the International one as fast as I could so I could use the first few kilometers of the Popular one as a warm up with my kids, go back with them to the start on the metro and deposit them with a friend / family member who could look after them while my wife finishes her race and I prepare mine. Sounds a bit complicated already, especially for a New Year's Eve.

Anyway, the first step is to actually qualify. I've already broken 38 minutes in a 10k twice this year - technically, the first time was actually on the last day of last year on a unhomologated course and the second time was during a Half Marathon. There are actually very few homologated races in Madrid and some of these are too late in the year to guarantee entry to San Silvestre, for which the subscriptions open some months before. Looking on the website there was the option of travelling hundreds of kilometers to a race which, quite frankly, I can't be bothered to do (I'm already schlepping half way around the world for my races this year). The other option is to run the 10k in Madrid that starts alongside the "Rock 'n' Roll" Marathon - previously known as Mapoma. I've never run the Madrid Marathon - definitely something for the bucket list - but I have run half of it as a training run. The atmosphere is fantastic. It isn't, however, the flatest of courses.

So I've put myself down for the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid 10k on the 22nd of April, two days after my 40th birthday and - what is more of a potential hindrance - a week after the ICAN Half Ironman in Marbella. Well, if I am able to maintain my current form, running 10k sub-38 is like a medium intensity (CCM) run so it should be doable.

Hopefully my wife will also run. It looks like the sort of race that she would enjoy although, this time, she's on her own...

Progression in Half Marathon times

I think this is pretty self-explanatory...

It is all in your mind - Media Maratón de Getafe race report

My pulse rate cheat sheet

I wasn't too confident that I would be able to make Jonathan's prediction that I should run a 1:20 Half Marathon come true because I had been having mild stomach cramps all weekend. Could be nerves but I doubt it because this race is not one of the "big ones" this year. But Getafe Half Marathon is extremely popular because it is the fastest course in town and it offers good money to the overall winners. 4,000 people (and their cars) descended on the otherwise sleepy Madrid suburb making it quite difficult to find a parking spot. For an otherwise superbly organized event, it is a shame that there is no special parking laid on. I don't remember the event being so hectic last year but I arrived a little on the late side to get my chip and race number, visit the bog for the 4th time (this year I remembered to bring my own toilet paper), leave my stuff in the cloakroom and do a quick warm-up.

I have this very silly theory for why I seem to do better in local races that I drive to than in big races that I have to travel to by train or plane. And it's not the obvious explanation that it might be because I am more nervous about the big races or due to tiredness from traveling. No, it's because I sing in the car on the way to a race. You know, loud embarrassing singing that would definitely not be happening if there were anyone else within earshot of me. I reckon that this warms my lungs up and gets me psyched up for the race ahead.

I lined up more or less where I thought I would place, as usual, miscalculating for the fact that so many people bunch up at the last minute. The gun went off and the first kilometer or so was a mad scramble to run at a decent rhythm with so many people around who had clearly overestimated their abilities. In fact I spent pretty much the entire race overtaking people, I think I was only overtaken by one person the whole time.

This was the first time I ever ran in the same race as Jonathan so I was determined to do him proud. I set my watch up so I could see my pulse rate and the time I had been running but I specifically did not want to know the GPS measured distance; instead I went by the markers by the side of the road. It required relatively simple maths skills to run at 3:50 per kilometer - I just had to keep track of how much under the minute I was at each milestone (kilometerstone) and try to be 10 seconds below that at the next one. I found it pretty easy to keep rhythm and I just kept an eye on my pulse rate to make sure it didn't go too far above the guide written on the back of my hand.

I passed the 10k mark in a net time of 37:36 which is a personal best time for me for a 10k race! I was already about half a minute ahead of pace and I was feeling good. I was so "in the zone" that I didn't notice my family shouting for me the first two times I passed them.

When I got to the 15 kilometer mark I started to breathe a little harder and, by the 16 kilometer mark, I was now breathing my trademark "locomotive" style. A couple of friends running on the other side of the road called out my name, presumably because they recognized my distinctive breathing. Now I was very confident I would break the 1:21 mark, leaving the challenge of breaking 1:20 for another day. I'm not sure whether I was running faster or other people were fading, but I was certainly having to make a big effort. I overtook one guy who slapped me gamely on the back and said "Go machine!". Once I got to the final 96m straight, I could see from the clock that I was in with a good chance to break 1:20! I summoned up energy for a final spurt by shouting and swearing at the pain and discomfort and ran through the arches with a time of 1:19:45 (net 1:19:37)!! Unbelievable. According to the splits on my Garmin, I ran the second quarter Marathon just a couple of seconds faster than the first quarter.

It just goes to show that, sometimes, it is a question of believing you can do it (consciously and subconsciously). I think that the speed work I have been doing lately in the way of series has shown the "central governor" part of my brain that I can sustain a pace of very nearly 16 kph for 21 and a bit kilometers. Very happy with that performance.

Now I just have to translate it into an equivalent Marathon time...

Youness - with whom we went to Morocco - came in fifth overall with a group of international standard runners. Jonathan missed breaking 1:13 by four seconds. Everyone else I talked to seemed to be pretty happy with their performance. I got a feeling, that 2012 is gonna be a good year...

Lactate test

After they had finished with me last night I looked as though I had just narrowly won a fight with a vampire, with streaks of blood standing out violently against the fluorescent yellow of my jacket. To measure the lactate levels in your blood, the only way to do it is by extracting blood. As timing is the key - we are interested in how quickly the body is able to metabolize or "clear" the lactate - the trick is to prick a hole in the subject's ear, thus providing a steady supply of drops of blood to analyze.

I wouldn't normally have my lactate tested before a "B" race like the Half Marathon I am running this weekend in Getafe but, in this case, one of the students of the Universidad de Europa where my trainer is based, was looking for victims - I mean subjects -´to form part of a study for a doctoral thesis. Normally each test requires a patch which costs around 7 euros, so I thought I might as well take advantage of a free test. Perhaps the real reason was that I knew that I would get a "discount" on my otherwise hard Tuesday night training session! (I still had to run 10 minutes at my anaerobic threshold afterwards, which I did at around 16,8 kph).

The protocol was one I was fairly used to. I had to run a kilometer round a track at a prescribed pace. In order to make sure I kept the right pace, I had to ensure that a watch I was provided with "beeped" every time I passed a marker. More than keeping pace, it was important to avoid sudden accelerations and better to err on the side of going too slow, otherwise my lactate levels could blow up prematurely. The first two kilometer runs were at a pace supposedly below my Half Marathon pace, at 4:00 per kilometer (15 kph). The second two, I ran at 3:45 (16 kph). At the end of each kilometer, I would take my pulse (155, 156, 166, 170) and Iker would extract a drop of blood in order to measure my lactate levels.

Afterwards I had a chat with Jonathan. Based on the lactate test and recent training, he said that I should try to run the Half Marathon at a pace of 3:50. That means running it in 1:20, or a two minute improvement on my best time!! As it is a "B" race, I think I can afford to take the risk. Sometimes you are more limited by what you think you can achieve than you realize.