Marathon 4

Marathon 4.... same course as last time, this time in 4:05 (just over 9 minutes faster). About the same over the first half - but kept things together a little more on the second half. I have no idea how you can train for the brutal hills of the second half (the net elevation gain is 900 feet over the marathon), other than doing much more training than I can justify!

Not much blogging's been going on of late - but sermons are still being regularly uploaded.

Staggered up the hill...

Here's the elevation profile of today's marathon:

I did it, but there was quite a bit of walking from 20 miles onwards! I'm not sure if it was "hitting the wall"; my legs felt reasonable but I felt quite faint. It was fairly hot and I had some cold, so I think that weakened me a bit.

First half was about 1:47, second half about 2:28, for a total of 4:15. A run of two halves!

A run up a hill...

The picture above is, all being well, miles 6-26 of my next marathon, on Monday.

We start at an altitude that fit people feel out of breath at if they have not acclimatised (7000 feet above sea level is about 2100 metres) - and then go up! And up, and up.... Net altitude gain somewhere around 900 feet. It's that final steep ascent beginning in mile 20 (i.e. mile 15 on the above graph) that looks like the make-or-break time. I've never run that bit before, but you can see it's as steep as the bit at the beginning of the graph which I have run, and that bit is very steep.

Other than finishing, my first target is to beat my Dublin marathon finishing time - 3:40 on a flat course at sea level. My training times have not been quite as good as before that marathon, but pretty close. If it's a really hot day it won't be possible, but we'll see!

Ninety-nine ten

One commenter a few months ago said he liked it if pastor-bloggers talk about some of their "outside" interests as it humanises us. Well, I needed no excuse to mention running again...

Today was the number three out of my "big five" of planned runs, climaxing hopefully in a marathon in about 4 weeks. (The big five are three twenty-milers (two down so far, one remaining) for the endurance, a "raced" (against the clock!) half-marathon to test my speed, and the marathon itself).

Today was the half-marathon. Because of injuries and travel arrangements, I haven't been able to race one since September 2007 - and that was objectively my best run ever: 1:36:40 (7:22 per mile). Everything went well on that day: perfect weather (cool, with a tiny bit of drizzle to prevent the body needing to spend much energy sweating), fresh legs, well-timed. Anyway, that was blogged back here.

Matching that performance would be tough, even given the 4 months of injury-free training this year since my January marathon. I don't know what a true equivalent performance would be; Eldoret is at a 7000ft altitude, and it is more hilly than the Derbyshire Dales - there's very little running that isn't up or down, and the slopes can last for dozens of miles. (Not uniform - every mile may be a net up, with almost no flat, but there can be some downs along the way). In any case, my best 10-mile time in training was 2 minutes behind what I did then. Today's course was up for half the distance, then turn round and come back down.

At half-way I thought I still had a chance, but the extra gears needed in the second half were not there - I accelerated some, but not enough for 1:36:40. The result was 1:39:10 - exactly 2.5 minutes slower. It did still include (by 30 seconds) my fastest 10 miles ever in Kenya (though assisted by a 200 foot net elevation loss!). I'm still really pleased; when I did that 1:36, it was the absolute limit of what I thought was possible, and had set a target of 1:40; which today I did meet, so no complaints.

According to the 1.06-exponential formula used to calculate an equivalent performance (raise the ratio of the distances involved to the power of 1.06) that could translate, all things being equal, to a 3:26 marathon. 1:36:40 translates to 3:21, but the actual result was 3:40 - though an injury got in the way. I think the formula is a big optimistic though once you go over 20 miles - it's a different ball game at that stage. And all things won't be equal: for reasons I won't bore you with, the planned marathon involves 21 miles of near-continuous uphill. I'm not quite sure what happens if you try such a thing, but I wonder if it could be more morale-destroying than 3 miles on Chesil beach. All being well, we shall see!

By the way, what are the benefits of spending 100 minutes running in a large circle? For me, I need less sleep, sleep better when I do sleep and have significantly more energy during my days. As well as finding it mentally relaxing which is always welcome when one's work does not involve many other mindless tasks.

Marathon: Ouch!

My blog gets encumbered with my occasional running notes, because I haven't got a better place to put them yet!

Today I ran the Portland (Dorset) coastal trail marathon (http://www.endurancelife.com). This means lots of steep climbing and descending - some bits quite technical and tricky - and on the exposed coast mostly. This was my 2nd marathon (the first was a road marathon in 2007). Great day, lots of fun, especially so because lots of family were there too. It didn't start so well; I woke coughing at 4.49a.m., and when I eventually turned on the light to get up I found there was a power cut which also meant there was no heating - Brrrr! The briefing took a long time and I had to queue for the toilet, which also meant I set off having done no stretches and was beginning to feel as if my cold had spread out of nose/throat into my head at large. But on the plus side, the weather was basically perfect for January: mild, no rain and as little wind as you can get when running on the channel coast. My Runner's Knee from 5 weeks ago (the last run of more than 7 miles) did not make an appearance, and the trail running kit all worked really well.

After coming off Chesil Beach

The first mile includes a 500ft climb. Not too long later there's one so steep that I did it hands-and-knees when coming up the second time. The course is the half-marathon course done twice, each of which is basically a lap of the "Island" of Portland in Dorset (including round Portland Bill at the tip), and then 1.5 miles on Chesil Beach. 200 entrants. Chesil Beach is excrutiating - it's large pebbles which give way under foot; very heavy going, and murder for your quads. After coming round the first time (2 hrs 15 mins), I thought I had bitten off too much by not entering the half marathon. But gratifyingly those around me were now slowing down too. After the first 3 miles of settling down, I was overtaking someone each mile or so - but from half-way someone was overtaking me about every 400 metres until I stopped the rot!

When 20 miles came I felt pretty finished; this is at Portland Bill and precedes 4 miles of climbing, the first of which is steep. It was refreshing to see so many beefy looking men reduced to staggering - it wasn't just me the first-timer! Once I'd got up the first mile (and through the mud-bath-like bits of the next section where running seemed pointless; as bad as Chesil Beach it was so sticky!), I resorted to running 0.2 miles and walking 0.1 in repetitions. Eventually I got up to running (well, jogging) continually again; then came Chesil Beach. Here, the method of 0.1 running/0.1 walking meant that nobody overtook me on the section, and I overtook about 5 or so; they were running less! One of my support party did comment that they had tried and it was really hard/painful work running on the beach, and that was without running 23 miles beforehand!

Chesil Beach - how your quads feel after this is indescribable... first time, 16 miles to go!

After that second encounter with the beach, there was only perhaps 0.5 miles towards Weymouth, then the turn around and about a mile back to the event HQ/finish line. Adrenaline and will-power (please please let me finish asap!) was enough to run this all the way. And eventually, the finish line:

About to finish

26.88 miles by my watch - the organisers do say that their courses can go over the 26.22 standard. All in all, it took me 5:06:33. I thought I might be near 4:30, but I had not appreciated just how gruelling such a marathon is. The results aren't out yet; this would have got me 66th last year though I'm not sure if there were 200 starters then like this year. The winner was in an awesome 3:27 - 7:42 minutes/mile is one thing on flat roads, but with huge climbs, twisty-turny technical sections and Chesil Beach it's pretty amazing.

Great day. I'm not sure I'd have entered if I'd known what a big step up it was from a road marathon, but as I finished it of course I'm really glad I did - a unique experience and fun to share with the family.

As you'd expect, marathon running is another of the great proofs of the reality of God. Ontological argument, teleological argument, marathological argument, 1 2 3. No species that could have evolved on a Darwinian basis would seek personal challenges to stretch himself, taking it on "because it's there". Running round in large circles has no point in itself. Neither is the ability to do such things of any particular value for surviving as the fittest - the couch potatoes live and breed just as much as the hill-runners. Trail marathoning is an activity exclusively for human beings made in God's image. And it was thrilling to enjoy his creation whilst doing so - especially seeing the vast ocean, the dark clouds and the intrusions of bright light through them. This was all in the first few miles, of course. After that my brain was not processing much more than "Mmmm, Lucozade." :-)

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow I hope to run a trail marathon, this one:
http://www.endurancelife.com/event.asp?series=29&location=77

I injured my knee 5 weeks ago but I think it's recovered, though I haven't done any runs beyond 7 miles since then. The weather and whether I'm going down with a cold are the main concerns - it rained a lot and was foggy today and visibility was down to the other side of the road!

Blog news - there's a widget in the top right on the website now that should allow you to receive new blog posts by e-mail, if you'd like that.

Love hurts

I love (amongst many other more important things!) running. Running hurts. Ergo, love hurts. You can stop rolling on the floor now, thanks.

Today I ran 20 miles for the first time in Kenya - aided a little by it being overcast and drizzly, which is a bit rare. I blogged two years ago that the way to really enjoy a bath is to run 20-odd miles before getting into it - it's still true!

When running such a long distance the temptation to give up comes most strongly when you've already gone a long way, and then you contemplate the whole way still to go. "There's that painful climb coming - and it's still 2 miles until I even get there - and it really hurts before I've even got to the bottom... then after that there's running into the wind... oh boy, oh boy."

And here cometh the application to the Christian life: don't do this. One day at a time, one challenge at a time, one bend at a time. God never promised to give us strength today for the rest of our lives. He promised to give us today's strength today (as long as we ask him for it!) - and then commanded us not to worry anxiously about tomorrow, because the problems of tomorrow can wait until they come.

If you ask, "have I strength for this" and look beyond today, the answer is "No", and unless you remember why the answer is "No", you might be tempted to give up. Even the biggest, most painful hills can be climbed as long as you just pick a point that's reasonably near and head towards that - and then rinse, lather, repeat. And somehow, rather surprisingly, eventually, you'll find yourself heading across the finish line - hopefully more comfortably than I did!

Back - again!

Back on January 3rd I wrote, "Today I ran 10 miles in under 80 minutes... the first time since October 2007. A good feeling - this is the level at which I'm getting a bit fitter, more in control of the running so that huffing, puffing and chugging increasingly become a thing of the past (except on the really long ones!)".

Well, today is a day I've waited some time for. Today I ran 10 miles in under 80 minutes (79:48) for the first time since March this year. In the meantime, a few things intervened. Mainly a metatarsal stress fracture, but also runner's knee, burglary and illness. God is good - those 8 months since March have seemed long! (My record, set in 2007, is 73:01, so there's still some way until I'm really back to my best!).

The Bible tells us that "the righteous man stumbles seven times, and rises up again" (Proverbs 24:16). Life in a fallen world is full of setbacks. I was motivated to go through them one by one by one by one until today - but that was just in some ordinary, temporal thing. Of course, the Bible verse is speaking of higher things. There are setbacks in the Christian life and in ministry. No question about that. The question is if we have the will and the trust in God's goodness to keep pressing forward even to reach the point we were at or hoped to be at yonks ago. It's either that or falling and staying there. "The righteous man never stumbles" is not in the Bible; "the righteous man stumbles seven times, and rises up again" is. If we can do this in lower things, why not in the things that are eternal too? How are you doing?