I wrote a bit yesterday about my preparations for the Anglesey ultra; mostly in terms of what I've bought for it and what I intend to eat. Today I'll bang on a bit about my approach to it and about what I think will happen. If anyone is reading this for tips to help their own ultra-marathon experience then you should probably look away now or at least take all this with a pinch of salt (or other electrolyte) because I've never done this before. My preparation might be fine. Or it might be recklessly incompetent. I should have a fair idea which it is by this time tomorrow.
To start my preparation, earlier in the week I began carbo loading. That is eating lots and lots of carbohydrates at every meal. So the result is that now, on the eve of the event, I am feeling a bit heavy and sluggish. But that's no bad thing considering what I face. Actually, I should be honest with you. I didn't start carbo loading earlier in the week. I started carbo-loading in 1976 and now, after 25 years of preparation I should be just about ready. I've had an early tea tonight of liver, spinach and swede mash. No real science about that, I was in tesco and liked the look of them!
Sleep wise it hasn't been a good week. In particular last night was a really disturbed night and I have been tired all day. But I'm not too worried because hopefully that fatigue will allow me to sleep early tonight. I intend to be in bed by 8pm with lights out by 8:30. My alarm will be set for 3am so hopefully I can get something over 7 hours tonight.
As for right now, well once I've finished writing my blog I'll pack my bag. Then I'll decide that I've packed it wrong and pack it again. And again. And again until the final time when I decide to leave it as it is without realising that something crucial has rolled under the sofa and will be missing tomorrow despite my certainty that I packed it. It is by such events that my life remains continually on edge. I have my torch batteries charging, my phones charging, and my watch charging. The Sat Nav is programmed and the car is full of fuel. I am scarily organised for this!
So, a 3am alarm call tomorrow. I'll have some Barocca with water to start my hydration off the right way and hit the road for 3:30. Even with a few inevitible toilet stops this should get me there for about 6am. Enough time to light my cooker, make some black coffee and be ready to go for registration at 7am.
The race goes off at 8:15. I haven't found any information about cut off times but I think I will make an initial grab for a 9 hour finish so I come in before the head torch is needed. Assuming the 33 mile distance is correct that makes for an average of about 16:20 mpm. I intend to walk up the hills and run down them and over the straights. It's quite an undulating area so I hope that this tactic will give me enough rest. If not then I will walk some straights too. I will aim to run around 12 mpm pace; nice and slow and certainly sustainable. The sections I walk (realistically probably walking most of the last 5 or so miles) will be around 18 mpm on the uphill and 15 mpm on the flat with some run/walking. I'm estimating 1/3 of the course to be uphill and that would give me 11 miles at 18 mpm, probably 15 at 12 mpm and then probably 7 run/walking at 15 mpm. The arithmatists amongst you will see that this would bring me in around 8 hours; with an hour spare for toilet stops etc to meet my 9 hour target. I have a bad feeling that last place beckons but to be honest I don't care. If I finish it then I have won it in my own mind.
If I get a mobile signal I might tweet some updates as I must carry a phone for safety. If you're interested in my progress then follow @miffjacobs (or click the follow button on the sidebar - it's easier). I won't bother with a hashtag because I know I'll forget it so just check my feed. I have noticed that once I'm beyond about 18 miles my brain starts to become like mush and I can't work out my split times. It'll be interesting to see what happens to me tomorrow and I probably won't enjoy reading the tweets back on Sunday!
Right then, time I got that bag packed and thought about settling for a very early night.
Keep everything crossed for me to tomorrow folks. I have a feeling I'll need all the luck I can get!
Peace, out.
Pity My Feet is a training and fitness blog that chronicles the misadventures of an aging demotivated wanna-be athlete with a penchant for making bad exercise related life choices. Currently in training for Iron Man Wales 2014. Don't ask why.
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Friday, 20 January 2012
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Friday 9th December 2011 - 8 miles tempo
After the weekend's exertions and Tuesday morning's 10 miler I started to feel sharp pains in my lower legs. This got worse through Tuesday until by the late evening I was getting stabbing pains through my legs with every step. It was a little better on Wednesday morning but was still painful so I decided to bring forward the Friday rest day. It seemed to work a little but Thursday also was painful. This, coupled with an inconvenient work schedule, made me decide to take a further rest day.
I'm a little sorry to have done it because it won't be easy to make up those miles but I think it's important not to push myself over into an injury that might leave me unable to train for weeks. I fear that I'm flirting with the dreaded shin splints. If I got those now it would knock me out until after Christmas and I definitely can't spare that time!
But tonight I felt a little more confident and decided to do the 8 miler that was in the schedule for Thursday. This way I will end the week just 6 miles down on the schedule and having effectively only missed on training session.
I did the route that I've favoured lately, down the hill to Tallarn Green, on a bit further then turn around and back the way I came. Up the hill. I'd set myself a goal pace of 10 mpm and although normally the Thursday sessions would include some speed work I had decided not to bother with that because of the continuing pain in my shins.
My first mile was 9:45 and felt tough and slow. Also slippy on the ice that was forming on the lanes. I picked up a little in mile two (9:04) and decided that although I wouldn't do any speed work I would run up all the hills. This would a) give me some strength training and b) get me to the pub earlier.
Mile three was 8:45 as I felt some strength come into my legs. I felt like pushing it a little to see how much strength really was there and I got to mile 7 without having dropped over 9 mpm since mile two. With one mile to go I decided to test my determination and my ability to push forward even when tired and I upped the pace once more with a last mile of 7:55 mpm. Which is like lightening for a tortoise like me!!
I've still got a lot of pain in my lower legs. I fear at some point I'll have to take a full week out to let them recover properly. But not yet eh?
Peace, out.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg
TODAY
Distance 8.03 miles
Time 1:10:59
Kcal 919
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 30 mins
TOTAL
Distance 271.61 miles
Time 46:47:51
Kcal 29,186
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 3:35 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £486.53. Thank you Olly for the generous donation :)
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Remember that you can now donate by sending a text to 70070 saying (without quotes) "MIFF70 £5" but replacing the £5 with any amount you wish to donate. I've tested it to make sure it works and it's EASY EASY EASY!!! Try it!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet
I'm a little sorry to have done it because it won't be easy to make up those miles but I think it's important not to push myself over into an injury that might leave me unable to train for weeks. I fear that I'm flirting with the dreaded shin splints. If I got those now it would knock me out until after Christmas and I definitely can't spare that time!
But tonight I felt a little more confident and decided to do the 8 miler that was in the schedule for Thursday. This way I will end the week just 6 miles down on the schedule and having effectively only missed on training session.
I did the route that I've favoured lately, down the hill to Tallarn Green, on a bit further then turn around and back the way I came. Up the hill. I'd set myself a goal pace of 10 mpm and although normally the Thursday sessions would include some speed work I had decided not to bother with that because of the continuing pain in my shins.
My first mile was 9:45 and felt tough and slow. Also slippy on the ice that was forming on the lanes. I picked up a little in mile two (9:04) and decided that although I wouldn't do any speed work I would run up all the hills. This would a) give me some strength training and b) get me to the pub earlier.
Mile three was 8:45 as I felt some strength come into my legs. I felt like pushing it a little to see how much strength really was there and I got to mile 7 without having dropped over 9 mpm since mile two. With one mile to go I decided to test my determination and my ability to push forward even when tired and I upped the pace once more with a last mile of 7:55 mpm. Which is like lightening for a tortoise like me!!
I've still got a lot of pain in my lower legs. I fear at some point I'll have to take a full week out to let them recover properly. But not yet eh?
Peace, out.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg
TODAY
Distance 8.03 miles
Time 1:10:59
Kcal 919
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 30 mins
TOTAL
Distance 271.61 miles
Time 46:47:51
Kcal 29,186
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 3:35 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is at £486.53. Thank you Olly for the generous donation :)
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Remember that you can now donate by sending a text to 70070 saying (without quotes) "MIFF70 £5" but replacing the £5 with any amount you wish to donate. I've tested it to make sure it works and it's EASY EASY EASY!!! Try it!
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Tuesday 6th December 2011 - 10 mile easy
I got re-tweeted by Robert Pires last night!!!! I'm still buzzing about it. I tweeted him the link to the blog and to say what I'm doing and he re-tweeted it to his 63,000 followers. The hits to the blog went through the roof and I gained a few new twitter followers (never mind my feet - pity THEM because they get to hear me moan on about how sore my legs are!). Hopefully one or two of them will be inspired to sponsore me and help me to my target of £9,500 for Mencap.
Speaking of twitter, I also added a "Follow me" widget to the blog. It should be on there now if I managed to do it right. At Christmas I'll spend some time sorting out the blog and making it look swish and professional. For now though it's a bit like my running. Ugly but functional. Hopefully I can replace "functional" with "effective" soon!
Anyway, this is a running blog so I should say a little bit about that. I did ten miles this morning; leaving shortly after first light. It's a beautiful morning to run, crisp and clear, and the views over to the hills was beautiful. There is snow on the high ground behind the Ceriog valley this morning and it seemed so close I felt I could almost reach out and touch it.
There's a down side to that beauty though. The ground is very slippy underfoot. I nearly fell a number of times and lost several minutes in a nightmare fantasy of running the Marathon des Sables with a broken collar bone. Luckily I didn't fall and made it OK.
Once more my split times prove that as I get older it takes me longer and longer to warm up. My fastest mile was mile ten (9:35). Mostly today I felt sore, stiff and weak after 33 miles at the weekend. I think really I needed an extra recovery day. However with a crammed schedule this week I'll be taking another recovery day tomorrow but then four straight running days until Monday. By which time I'll be a shadow of my present self ;)
Thanks for reading folks - especially anyone reading for the first time. I'm sorry to say that it doesn't really get any better than this but if you're interested in seeing what's involved in preparing for an event like the Marathon des Sables then stick around. You're more than welcome.
Peace, out.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg
TODAY
Distance 10.04 miles
Time 1:41:53
Kcal 1092
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 263.58 miles
Time 45:36:52
Kcal 28,264
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 3:05 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is still at £431.53.
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Remember that you can now donate by sending a text to 70070 saying (without quotes) "MIFF70 £5" but replacing the £5 with any amount you wish to donate.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Thank you to Robert Pires for helping me to promote my fundraising. (oooh get me!!)
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet
Speaking of twitter, I also added a "Follow me" widget to the blog. It should be on there now if I managed to do it right. At Christmas I'll spend some time sorting out the blog and making it look swish and professional. For now though it's a bit like my running. Ugly but functional. Hopefully I can replace "functional" with "effective" soon!
Anyway, this is a running blog so I should say a little bit about that. I did ten miles this morning; leaving shortly after first light. It's a beautiful morning to run, crisp and clear, and the views over to the hills was beautiful. There is snow on the high ground behind the Ceriog valley this morning and it seemed so close I felt I could almost reach out and touch it.
There's a down side to that beauty though. The ground is very slippy underfoot. I nearly fell a number of times and lost several minutes in a nightmare fantasy of running the Marathon des Sables with a broken collar bone. Luckily I didn't fall and made it OK.
Once more my split times prove that as I get older it takes me longer and longer to warm up. My fastest mile was mile ten (9:35). Mostly today I felt sore, stiff and weak after 33 miles at the weekend. I think really I needed an extra recovery day. However with a crammed schedule this week I'll be taking another recovery day tomorrow but then four straight running days until Monday. By which time I'll be a shadow of my present self ;)
Thanks for reading folks - especially anyone reading for the first time. I'm sorry to say that it doesn't really get any better than this but if you're interested in seeing what's involved in preparing for an event like the Marathon des Sables then stick around. You're more than welcome.
Peace, out.
JUST THE FACTS!!
Weight: 79.6 Kg
TODAY
Distance 10.04 miles
Time 1:41:53
Kcal 1092
Press-ups 0
Swimming 0 m
Sauna 0 mins
TOTAL
Distance 263.58 miles
Time 45:36:52
Kcal 28,264
Press-ups 380
Swimming 8000 m
Sauna 3:05 mins
FUNDRAISING
The fund is still at £431.53.
If you haven't already donated then take a look at http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet and help the wonderful work of MENCAP. Thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored already. I respect and love you all!!!
Remember that you can now donate by sending a text to 70070 saying (without quotes) "MIFF70 £5" but replacing the £5 with any amount you wish to donate.
Feel free to contact me with any fundraising ideas you have. You can email me at: miffjacobs@hotmail.com
Thank you to Robert Pires for helping me to promote my fundraising. (oooh get me!!)
DONATE
Please remember that I'm inflicting all this pain and misery on myself for a cause greater than just having a good story to tell over a beer. I hope to raise over £9,500 for MENCAP; an amazing charity who help those born with learning difficulties to live a normal life and to enjoy the same opportunities and choices that the rest of us take for granted.
Be an awesome human being today and click on the link below and help make someone's life better.
Thank you. You really ARE awesome.
http://www.justgiving.com/pitymyfeet
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