The plan for today was to get up at 6 am and run ten miles before work and then another ten after work at 1 pm.
The morning alarm managed to wake me up but it failed to get me out of bed. I mean it was still dark. Whose idea was that?
So to make up the twenty miles I chose to double the length of the post-work run.
And it really was a fantastic run. I left work in Ladbroke Grove with no real plan of where I was heading. I had the intention of being on my feet for around three hours. Other than that I was busking it.
I headed south and west from Ladbroke Grove through Holland Park and Shepherds Bush towards the river at Hammersmith. I was vaguely thinking I might head downriver and cross over at Wandsworth Bridge when I realised I had never gone along the north bank in the opposite direction. So that's what I did.
I headed upriver, through West London and away from the centre. It's interesting that the further away the river gets from central London the more like a river it is. In some parts there were houseboats and boating clubs and boatbuilding and repair yards all along the banks. Anyway I just kept running, not forcing the pace at all, just running how I felt, and stopping now and again to scratch my head and puzzle out signposts and diversions. I got lost at one point and ended up following the Grand Union Canal, then I had to cast about to find the river again.
I crossed the Thames to the south side at Richmond Bridge and headed up Richmond Hill towards the Richmond Gate of Richmond Park. That's right, I got as far as Richmond.
I turned right into the park and took the long way round to Roehampton Gate. By the time I got home I had been running for three and a quarter hours. That's gotta be 20 miles.
It's been a long time since breakfast. And I had run out of porridge so I hadn't had my usual start to the day. 20 miles is a long way to go on three Weetabix.
Time for lunch.
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Monday 30 March 2009
Hard Week Easy Week Training and Runner's High
OK. So the week before last I managed 120 miles in a two-ten-milers-a-day-for-six-days deal. Then after a weekend off I did six ten milers over six days making a 60 mile week. That does makes sense as a kind of hard week/easy week strategy. But it also means that this week is due to be a hard week. I've had Sunday and Monday off (I really believe in rest and recovery) so I reckon it's time to do two ten milers a day for six days again.
Now when I did that last time I was having a week off work. This week I'm working, albeit part time. However, if I set the alarm for six and do an early ten I should be ready for another ten by the time I finish work at 1 pm. That sounds easy if you type it real fast.
No worries. I'll just float along an a raft of endorphins.
Speaking of which, I read a really good article this evening about a recent (last year) experiment which confirmed for the first time that endurance running leaves the brain awash with endorphins.
There has been speculation for some time that this was the case but no practical scientific confirmation.
It had been argued by some that the sense of wellbeing experienced after a long run was a subjective feeling, perhaps the result of the satisfaction of a goal achieved. Having experienced runner's high on a regular basis myself I was pretty sure that the powerful feeling of elation had to be the result of a biochemical imperative.
Now that has been confirmed. Endorphia is a real place.
Now when I did that last time I was having a week off work. This week I'm working, albeit part time. However, if I set the alarm for six and do an early ten I should be ready for another ten by the time I finish work at 1 pm. That sounds easy if you type it real fast.
No worries. I'll just float along an a raft of endorphins.
Speaking of which, I read a really good article this evening about a recent (last year) experiment which confirmed for the first time that endurance running leaves the brain awash with endorphins.
There has been speculation for some time that this was the case but no practical scientific confirmation.
It had been argued by some that the sense of wellbeing experienced after a long run was a subjective feeling, perhaps the result of the satisfaction of a goal achieved. Having experienced runner's high on a regular basis myself I was pretty sure that the powerful feeling of elation had to be the result of a biochemical imperative.
Now that has been confirmed. Endorphia is a real place.
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Edinburgh Festival 2009 Programme Copy Deadline
Out the door at 7.45 this morning for a thoroughly enjoyable ten miler. Feeling fit and fast and utterly fearless.
Honeyed porridge is followed by a shower, a two hour nap and a second breakfast of the two eggs, sausage, tomato and toast variety.
I decide to forgo a second run in favour of getting my Programme Copy Form completed in time for the Edinburgh Fringe Society discount deadline. The deadline is this Friday and the discount is considerable.
I find I haven't got all the venue details I need and after spending some time searching through old messages decide to email Peter Buckley Hill. PBH runs the Free Fringe through which I'm getting my Edinburgh venue. He's a busy man at this time of the year so I approach him reluctantly. He gets back to me with the info I need within twenty minutes. Many thanks, Peter.
You are allowed 40 words of copy in the Fringe Programme and this includes the show title. I thought I was ready but I've now decided to change the title from "Endorphia" to "The Road to Endorphia" because I feel that makes the idea of a journey clearer. Now I've got to lose three words from the show description. In fact, four words because I've decided to include my website address as part of the show description and that counts as one word.
This is what I end up with:
Running from John O'Groats to Lands End Joe found his Thousand Mile Journey taking him via the mythical land of Endorphia. How real is Runner's High? How high is it? Did Joe reach Lands End? www.joedonnachie.com
Ho hum.
Well, you can make changes after submission right up till it all goes to the printer so it's not the final word. I'm pretty pleased with it though. I think.
Honeyed porridge is followed by a shower, a two hour nap and a second breakfast of the two eggs, sausage, tomato and toast variety.
I decide to forgo a second run in favour of getting my Programme Copy Form completed in time for the Edinburgh Fringe Society discount deadline. The deadline is this Friday and the discount is considerable.
I find I haven't got all the venue details I need and after spending some time searching through old messages decide to email Peter Buckley Hill. PBH runs the Free Fringe through which I'm getting my Edinburgh venue. He's a busy man at this time of the year so I approach him reluctantly. He gets back to me with the info I need within twenty minutes. Many thanks, Peter.
You are allowed 40 words of copy in the Fringe Programme and this includes the show title. I thought I was ready but I've now decided to change the title from "Endorphia" to "The Road to Endorphia" because I feel that makes the idea of a journey clearer. Now I've got to lose three words from the show description. In fact, four words because I've decided to include my website address as part of the show description and that counts as one word.
This is what I end up with:
Running from John O'Groats to Lands End Joe found his Thousand Mile Journey taking him via the mythical land of Endorphia. How real is Runner's High? How high is it? Did Joe reach Lands End? www.joedonnachie.com
Ho hum.
Well, you can make changes after submission right up till it all goes to the printer so it's not the final word. I'm pretty pleased with it though. I think.
Monday 23 March 2009
Monday Afternoon Ten Miles Richmond Park
In the afternoon, while I dozed, there was rain. So it was cooler and cloudier when I went out just after four for my second ten miler of the day.
Physiologically, though, it was a much more pleasant run. My muscles warmed up nicely and there was only the merest of tendon twinges in the left achilles and just a hint of soft tissue tenderness in my feet. Going uphill I savoured the toughness of the climb and on the downside I opened up and let myself fly.
I must have seen a hundred or more deer. There were crows by the dozen, and jackdaws and magpies and two woodpeckers and ducks and smaller birds I couldn't identify and one lone squirrel. There was blossom blowing in the breeze and some trees were budding and others were beginning to green.
Later in the run the clouds were starting to clear and there was warmth again in the low sun.
I did the run comfortably in 90 minutes and I'm feeling good. Now I'm going to shower and soon I'll dine on baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans and smoked fish.
Physiologically, though, it was a much more pleasant run. My muscles warmed up nicely and there was only the merest of tendon twinges in the left achilles and just a hint of soft tissue tenderness in my feet. Going uphill I savoured the toughness of the climb and on the downside I opened up and let myself fly.
I must have seen a hundred or more deer. There were crows by the dozen, and jackdaws and magpies and two woodpeckers and ducks and smaller birds I couldn't identify and one lone squirrel. There was blossom blowing in the breeze and some trees were budding and others were beginning to green.
Later in the run the clouds were starting to clear and there was warmth again in the low sun.
I did the run comfortably in 90 minutes and I'm feeling good. Now I'm going to shower and soon I'll dine on baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans and smoked fish.
Monday Morning Ten Miles Richmond Park
My usual ten mile run is the following:
About four minutes from the house I turn into Priory Lane and head along its long straight length towards Richmond Park's Roehampton Gate. Once inside the gate I turn left and follow the track roughly all the way around the perimeter. One circuit of the park is about seven miles and a third. From home to the park is about a mile and a third each way so the total is roughly ten miles.
For about a week now the weather has been warm and springlike. This morning is the same. There's a bit of a chill as I leave the house at eight thirty but it warms up as I run.
Last week I ran 120 miles in six days and rested Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't a completely inactive weekend. On Saturday I had a long walk and a frisbee game. On Sunday I had another long walk around the West End looking for a new shirt for Karola's wedding which I failed to get.
But I haven't ran for two days and my muscles are resisting. They don't wanna play. They remember last week and they don't want any more of that shit.
It's my front calf muscles. Particularly my right. It's as stiff as a board. And as I run it's painful. I stop when I get inside Roehampton Gate and rub and fist massage my right calf. And it is freakishly board-like. You could hammer a nail into it and I swear it wouldn't bleed.
Anyway I keep going because it's clearly just stiffness, there's no trauma. It slows me down considerably but I stick it out and about forty minutes later it is perfectly fine.
The route is mostly flat but there are two testing hills and one minor one. The park has trees and deer and ducks and sometimes if I'm lucky a Grey Heron. There are other runners and cyclists and dog walkers. I've ran it often with the sun high in the sky, I've ran it in a low sun at dawn and dusk and more than once I've run it very early in the morning under the light of a big fat moon.
Today the sun and my muscles get warmer as I run and it is just perfect.
Usually the ten miles takes me under 90 minutes. This morning because of the slow start with the muscle problem it took me all of 97 minutes. I feel fresh at the finish and breakfast on porridge and honey. Yum yum.
About four minutes from the house I turn into Priory Lane and head along its long straight length towards Richmond Park's Roehampton Gate. Once inside the gate I turn left and follow the track roughly all the way around the perimeter. One circuit of the park is about seven miles and a third. From home to the park is about a mile and a third each way so the total is roughly ten miles.
For about a week now the weather has been warm and springlike. This morning is the same. There's a bit of a chill as I leave the house at eight thirty but it warms up as I run.
Last week I ran 120 miles in six days and rested Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't a completely inactive weekend. On Saturday I had a long walk and a frisbee game. On Sunday I had another long walk around the West End looking for a new shirt for Karola's wedding which I failed to get.
But I haven't ran for two days and my muscles are resisting. They don't wanna play. They remember last week and they don't want any more of that shit.
It's my front calf muscles. Particularly my right. It's as stiff as a board. And as I run it's painful. I stop when I get inside Roehampton Gate and rub and fist massage my right calf. And it is freakishly board-like. You could hammer a nail into it and I swear it wouldn't bleed.
Anyway I keep going because it's clearly just stiffness, there's no trauma. It slows me down considerably but I stick it out and about forty minutes later it is perfectly fine.
The route is mostly flat but there are two testing hills and one minor one. The park has trees and deer and ducks and sometimes if I'm lucky a Grey Heron. There are other runners and cyclists and dog walkers. I've ran it often with the sun high in the sky, I've ran it in a low sun at dawn and dusk and more than once I've run it very early in the morning under the light of a big fat moon.
Today the sun and my muscles get warmer as I run and it is just perfect.
Usually the ten miles takes me under 90 minutes. This morning because of the slow start with the muscle problem it took me all of 97 minutes. I feel fresh at the finish and breakfast on porridge and honey. Yum yum.
Sunday 22 March 2009
What This Blog Is About
This blog is about a run from John O'Groats to Lands End I plan to do in June 2009. It is about the planning and preparation, the execution, the aftermath. It is also about the one man show partly based on the run which I will be performing at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2009.
The run will be unsupported which means I won't have a van and a backup team. I'll be on my own. I also want to run mostly cross-country rather than on road. And that means the total distance covered will be upwards of a thousand miles.
Just now, ten weeks before the start of the big run, I'm feeling OK about my physical fitness. Last week I ran 120 miles, two ten milers a day for six days. My resting heart rate is usually around 40 beats per minute and all last week when I took my pulse first thing in the morning it was always in the low forties. That means my cardiovascular fitness is looking pretty good. About four weeks ago I had to take a week off running because both of my achilles tendons were swollen and hurting. Now, after a week of heavy running, other than a slight twinge in my left achilles tendon and general muscle soreness in my thighs, my joints, connective tissues and muscles feel pretty robust.
In terms of logistical preparation I know roughly what I will be carrying with me. I have my lightweight tent and sleeping bag I used on last summer's run from Inverness to Glasgow.
Because of weight considerations I won't be carrying with me the maps which a walker would consider essential. I still have to research and make a decision about GPS technology.
I haven't planned the route in detail. But I do know some things. For a number of reasons I have decided to start at John O'Groats. This is mainly because I know the route between Inverness and Glasgow very well. I have walked and ran that route, both northwards and southwards, a number of times and at different dates between April and July so that's 170 miles I feel confident about. Getting from John O'Groats to Inverness shouldn't be difficult and south of Glasgow I plan to follow the 40 miles of the Clyde Walkway as far as New Lanark. I haven't walked that route but I do know the area; it's where I grew up. So if I start at the top I feel relatively confident about not getting too far lost for the first 250 miles or so. That's about a quarter of the whole run so a good chunk to start with.
Food is a big challenge. If you want to run you can't carry very much. I had a rule on the Inverness Glasgow run last year not to carry more than two tins of food at a time. That meant relying a lot on finding food along the road in shops and pubs and so on. Very often I couldn't find the kind of food I wanted or needed and had to make do with whatever was available. There's a huge difference between a breakfast of porridge and a breakfast of sausages if you plan to run fifteen miles before lunch. I didn't carry a camping stove last summer because of the weight but I may do this year. Again I haven't decided yet.
So far I've been training without a pack. I'm going to have to start carrying one soon. I need a new bag but I don't know how big or how much I want to spend. I saw one I wanted in a shop today but managed to stop myself making an impulse purchase. I have a strong feeling I'm going to get it this week.
Anyway, there's a whole bunch of stuff to think about and prepare. In part, the blog is about having a space where I can think out loud about how the preparation is going. I welcome comments and observations, by the way. I have done a fair amount of trekking and running in some fairly rugged places but this is by far the biggest thing I have attempted so I'm open to suggestions. And questions.
That's it for the moment. More later. I'll go into some of the issues I've mentioned briefly above in more detail.
The run will be unsupported which means I won't have a van and a backup team. I'll be on my own. I also want to run mostly cross-country rather than on road. And that means the total distance covered will be upwards of a thousand miles.
Just now, ten weeks before the start of the big run, I'm feeling OK about my physical fitness. Last week I ran 120 miles, two ten milers a day for six days. My resting heart rate is usually around 40 beats per minute and all last week when I took my pulse first thing in the morning it was always in the low forties. That means my cardiovascular fitness is looking pretty good. About four weeks ago I had to take a week off running because both of my achilles tendons were swollen and hurting. Now, after a week of heavy running, other than a slight twinge in my left achilles tendon and general muscle soreness in my thighs, my joints, connective tissues and muscles feel pretty robust.
In terms of logistical preparation I know roughly what I will be carrying with me. I have my lightweight tent and sleeping bag I used on last summer's run from Inverness to Glasgow.
Because of weight considerations I won't be carrying with me the maps which a walker would consider essential. I still have to research and make a decision about GPS technology.
I haven't planned the route in detail. But I do know some things. For a number of reasons I have decided to start at John O'Groats. This is mainly because I know the route between Inverness and Glasgow very well. I have walked and ran that route, both northwards and southwards, a number of times and at different dates between April and July so that's 170 miles I feel confident about. Getting from John O'Groats to Inverness shouldn't be difficult and south of Glasgow I plan to follow the 40 miles of the Clyde Walkway as far as New Lanark. I haven't walked that route but I do know the area; it's where I grew up. So if I start at the top I feel relatively confident about not getting too far lost for the first 250 miles or so. That's about a quarter of the whole run so a good chunk to start with.
Food is a big challenge. If you want to run you can't carry very much. I had a rule on the Inverness Glasgow run last year not to carry more than two tins of food at a time. That meant relying a lot on finding food along the road in shops and pubs and so on. Very often I couldn't find the kind of food I wanted or needed and had to make do with whatever was available. There's a huge difference between a breakfast of porridge and a breakfast of sausages if you plan to run fifteen miles before lunch. I didn't carry a camping stove last summer because of the weight but I may do this year. Again I haven't decided yet.
So far I've been training without a pack. I'm going to have to start carrying one soon. I need a new bag but I don't know how big or how much I want to spend. I saw one I wanted in a shop today but managed to stop myself making an impulse purchase. I have a strong feeling I'm going to get it this week.
Anyway, there's a whole bunch of stuff to think about and prepare. In part, the blog is about having a space where I can think out loud about how the preparation is going. I welcome comments and observations, by the way. I have done a fair amount of trekking and running in some fairly rugged places but this is by far the biggest thing I have attempted so I'm open to suggestions. And questions.
That's it for the moment. More later. I'll go into some of the issues I've mentioned briefly above in more detail.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
