Neil Dobson

I think the Icelandic volcanoes are doing their best to beat me!
I travelled out to Jersey last week and got back on the evening before all the airports shut – phew what a relief!

So with the tonsilitis from a couple of weeks ago now safely overcome (with only a little disruption  to training) and all my travelling completed until after the big day, I am all set to go with just a few training runs left, right?

No, wrong!

As Keith & Ian will know from our final 12 mile easy run on Saturday, I was feeling ill with a bad chest from around Friday and it gradually got worse over the weekend (maybe it’s all that ash in the air!!). With no sleep and lots of very painful coughing, I was getting very concerned about the marathon so decided to take Monday off work & head to the doctors – turns out I have bronchitis! Am now on antibiotics for a week and advised to rest & stay warm.

I don’t know yet what this means for me in terms of Sunday. I am still hopeful that the penicillin will have kicked in enough by then for me to be able to take part – even if I am unlikley to achieve my goal.

At least I have all the hard training in the bag now. Missing a few light runs this week is not going to be the end of the world.

Finally, I would like to wish you all the very best of luck for Sunday. Remember – do not be over-ambitious at the start. It is better to start slowly and save your energy for the last 6 miles. Try to take the worry out of the day & get yourself organised well in advance.

If anyone has any last minute questions about the race / preparation etc. please feel free to ask. I may not be a fantastic runner but I have taken part a few times now and am happy to relay some useful hints & tips.

See you Sunday I hope!

Best wishes
Neil D

I haven’t blogged for a few weeks but training has been going well. Most weeks I’ve completed around 45 miles with the top week at 53 culminating in a strong 22.5 miles.

I am so fortunate that most of my long rins have been with fellow runners – thanks Keith & Ian for your company and inspiration! Most of the long runs have ended up a little ahead of target pace & although the hills have been tough, there haven’t been any disasters.

Last week was quite intense during teh week with a fast 10 miler and interval session over 9 miles. I was however sensible enough to have an easy 7 miles on Thursday and then a very easy 4 miles on Saturday to prepare for the half marathon race on Sunady.

I drove all the way round the M25 at 7am Sunday to reach the destination of the Lucozade race your pcae 1/2 marathon at Dorney Lake near Windsor. It is the setting for the Olympic rowing regatta in 2012 & the course was 4 laps of the lake – very flat & pretty uneventful but a new bit of scenery!

I am delighted that I smashed my PB. I had decided to see if i could hang on to the 7.5minute pacer for as long as I could & hope to finish around 1hr42m. He went off too quickly and I held back completing the first two miles in exactly 15 minutes – my pacing was better than his!

It was quite windy and we all seemed to slow a bit on mile 3 with the wind in our faces and I clocekd it at 7:40 but I was astill close to the 7.5 pace group. With the wind behind me on mile 4 I picked up the pace a bit and started closing in on the 7.5 group. I was with them at mile 6 and then went passed them and ended up going much quicker in the second half. In fact, mile 13 was 6m52s and I was 1m35s in the second half finishing in 1hr36m09s – over 8 minutes inside my PB!!! I am delighted and now have teh confidence that teh extra training has really paid off this year.

Long run again this Sunday – this will be teh last 20 miler so I really hope to get the strategy nailed…

Splits for the half:

7:30 / 7:30 / 7:40 / 7:15 / 7:26 / 7:18 / 7:25 / 7:22 / 7:15 / 7:15 / 7:22 / 7:13 / 6:52 / 41s

Neil D

My mid-week running has certainly started to improve recently. After last Sunday’s good long run I was worried that the mid-week runs may suffer a bit. fortunately, meeting up with Neil Lock on Tuesday kept me motivated – with the terrible weather it would have been easy to miss that session.

We had a good run as Neil has already pointed out & I enjoyed it. It’s the first time for over a year that I have had any company on a run in London. Hopefully there will be more to come!

Last night I did the same route, this time tracking it by GPS to assess the accuracy of my shoe sensor used the previous night. I soon discovered that the shoe sensor had clocked us a lot slower than we really were. It had tallied a total of 6.6 miles at 8.20 per mile but last night I clocked it at 6.93 miles – much more realistic.

I had a good run despite the usual heavy back pack & came in at an average of 7.39 per mile. It was quite tough although I was surpirsed to see that my heart rate had not reached my anaerobic zone during the run. This means I need to push myself harder in order to get a proper ‘Threshold run’ in now, which scares me a little!

I am going to head out for another quality session later although I am not sure whether to do hills, intervals or a speed session at the gym! I really should plan better!

I am looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday again. I am aiming for at least 16 miles and I think Ian & I will be aiming for @8.30 per mile again. I know there are a few of you aiming for @4 hour marathons so please do run along with us.

Keep going team. You are entering the hardest training zone now and with only 65 days to go, the final 26.2 miles are in sight!

Best wishes

Neil D

Yesterday was another great run along with Keith & Ian. We scheduled a 16 miler along Southend seafront and came in at 2hours17 – an average pace of 8.21 per mile which we were all pleased with. As ever, Keith (who is training for a 56 mile event) had already run a few miles before he met us & he ended up doing a full marathon! 16 is plenty for me at this stage!

It was particularly pleasing to be able to power home for the last section of just over 1 mile in 7mins52s. I feel okay today although on the run i was still concerned about my hamstring problems. It lasted though & running with good company is so much  more enjoyable. It’s going to make any solo long runs feels very hard now though.

I lost my running watch recently which made me really have to plan my runs much better but at least it got me into good habits. I am pleased to now haev my replacement Polar watch and to see my heart rate has definitely improved on the long steady runs. A sub 4 hour marathon is looking  a little more likley than previous years – providing my leg holds out.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday at the Havens run. I will be looking for a 16.5 – 17 mile route at @8:30 again. Let’s hope the weather holds out!

Neil D

There are a couple of questions on the blog at the moment so I thought I would encompass them into this post rather than leaving lots of comments:

1. Refuelling – this is always tough to get right & there are lots of differences of opinion. The elite runners tend to have their own specially formulated drinks and nothing else – the key is that they are only racing for a little over 2 hours though so they do not deplete their glycogen stores. For us mere mortals, I would personally recommend that you experiment to get what is most comfortable for you. There are two golden rules though – do NOT PANIC and start trying it NOW – you cannot leave it until race day.

   It is likley that many of us will become pretty depleted of glycogen during the run and this makes us create energy much less efficiently (hence the feeling of ‘teh wall’). However, a lot of coaches still believe that gels etc do not work as they only provide calories sufficient to last about a mile or 2.

   Personally, I recommend the use of Lucozade from now on during your long runs as that is what is supplied on the day. If you need extra energy, try a carb gel (Lucozade / SIS  (Go)/ Maxim are the best I have found). To use these properly, you need to take them every 6 miles or so, maybe a bit less, with water & you still need to take Lucozade to help with electrolytes etc.

   If you cannot stomach the gels, my personal favourite sweets are Sports beans. They’re very sweet but they do give you a lift.

2. So, on to trainers. Absolutely I recommend having two pairs on the go – as soon as possible. You must ensure your race day trainers are well broken in (at least 100 miles in them) but between now & race day you will clock up maybe 300-400 miles (more for some) and most trainers will only last a total of @500 miles. By alternating them, not only will you prolong their shelf life, they also get a change to dry out & for the gel to recover. It also may help avoid the disaster of your only pair breaking down close to race day! I always have two identical pairs on the go, although some people do recommend using slightly different styles so taht your muscles work slightly differently. I am of the opinion that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it! Run in what you are comfortable in and stick with it – it’s one less thing to worry about.

So, on to the weekend. Keith, Ian & I headed out at 7am on SUnday and did just over 15 miles (well Keith did about 22!). The conditions were excellent & the seafront was quiet! We ran at around 8.26 per mile which felt realtively comfortable. I was pleased considering I had had a hard workout at the gym on Saturday. I am off to the Isle of Man this week so no doubt I will be doing some hill sessions on a very cold seafront!

This weekend I will probably aim for 16 miles on Sunday. It may either be an early start again or late in the afternoon, depending on my son’s rugby match. Let me know if you want to join us.

Keep running, keep strong & get out there – the biggest part of this challenge is in your mind.

Regards

Neil D

I have to say what a perfect day Sunday was for a long run & thanks to Keith & Alex for running with me.

We set out at 9am for a 15 mile run from Little Havens taking in the seafront & the usual dreaded hills such as Belton way on the return leg. It was almost perfect running conditions and how nice it was having someone to talk to! (or talk at!!).

We intended to keep it at a steady pace and for once did just that finishing in 2hours 5 minutes (8m27s pm) although Keith went on to run a total of about 22 miles!

It was also great to see a number of Havens runners along the seafront – mostly looking happy!

It was a shame a couple of runners had to change their plans but hopefully we will assemble a group over the next few weekends. I am not sure what time I will head out this Sunday as it depends on my son’s rugby match – I may head out early (7:30am) or leave it until the afternoon. Again, let me know if you want to join us.

Neil D

Last Sunday’s group training run was great. The conditions were ideal & it was great to run with a group for a change & even better that 5 of us stayed together almost the whole way round. I was a little disappointed to find the last few miles quite tough. We had gone at a reasonable pace though (@8.20 per mile) including the hills & my initial intention of carrying on after the 12.5 miles was probably a little optimistic. I decided not to push it too hard (my sensible head comes into play occasionally – especially after previous injuries) so I called it a day at the 12.5 mile point.

I had a disaster in Gibraltar this week & lost my running watch – I hadn’t realised how much i relied upon it & have felt naked running without any guide to my pace or heart rate ever since!

Nevertheless, I went out a did a lonely half marathon today & was pleased to come in at just over 1hour 46. The last couple of miles (uphill again) were tough and I probably went quicker than I had intended but I seem to be recovering okay.

Next Sunday I am hoping that a few of us will get out for a long run in the morning. Ian & Keith I hope you can still make it & we would of course welcome anyone else who fancies it. Maybe we will aim to start at 9am (ish) for @14-15 miles along a seafront route? Details still to be decided & hopefully we can get a few along so there is a pace to suit everyone (I will be hoping for @8.30 miles).

Do comment on this post if you want to join in & we can go with the consensus.

Best wishes, Neil.

Hi All,

It’s been a while since I posted anything but generally training has been going well. I was particularly pleased with clocking up 40 miles in the week after Christmas.

However, since then I have had the same challenges as everyone else & been severely hampered by the weather. That said, I did manage a couple of runs in the snow in the Isle of Man last week (see attached). It certainly is harder work running on unstable ground!

I have now bitten the bullet & rejoined the gym in order to cram in some treadmill training. I find it very difficult to fit visits to the gym in but now I am paying out again I will just have to force myself! I visited Rayleigh Leisure Centre last night & was somewhat pleasantly surprised to be dragged into a treadmill class for half an hour that ended up with my pulse rate right up at my maximum! It was hard but actually good fund & a pleasant diversion from miles & miles of road running.

By the way Ian, sorry I haven’t emailed to arrange weekend runs but my phone crashed & I lost most of my contacts. Place a comment on this blog if you see it & we can sort something out. Otherwise, I hope to see you on Sunday.

Keep going everyone.

Neil D

Hi All,

It was great to meet so many of you on Sunday and good to see the excelletn spirit starting to build already. We will need that camaraderie in the cold months to keep motivated & disciplined.

I enjoyed my run on Sunday. The course makes a nice change & weren’t we lucky with the weather! I was intending to go a little slower as I had tired legs due to training for the previous 3 days. It was only after about 10 miles that I discovered I was running with a super fast athlete who has finished the marathon in 3 hours 7 mins! Nevertheless, it went roughly to plan & I didnt overdo it. After suffering injuries every time I’ve run the marathon before, I am determined to be sensible this time!

I am now regularly completing about 30 miles per week over 4 or 5 sessions. It would be great to get some company for the longer weekend runs though.

I generally do a steady 6 mile run on a Saturday morning starting from Rochford Hundred Rugby club (I run whilst my son is doing his rugby trainign) at around 10:30am. On Sunday’s I tend to fit it around the boys rugby & aim for a 10-12 mile run at @8:30-9:00 minute mile pace either in the morning or aroudn 3pm. If anyone fancies joining me, please let me know. It would be great to get a small group going who can regularly meet up for training runs.

Well it’s a day off from training today. Tomorrow I aim to run into work (@5 miles steady) which means an early train (6:00 – 6:15) & then a tempo or interval run on Wednesday evening. Not sure how I am going to fit one in on Thursday yet so I may have to delay that until Saturday.

I hope you are all well and efeling good after yesterday’s run. If I don’t see or hear from you before, best wishes for Christmas & good luck to anyone who is going out for a boxing day run!! Neil Dobson.

Hello All.

Although I am not new to running, I am new to blogging, so I hope this works!!

I started running in 2007 following the tragic death of our friends daughter. It inspired me to run for Haven’s & I am delighted to be doing it again.

I hope plenty of you get involved in blogging as it would be great to find other people to run with & to organise some smaller group runs.

Any of you already clocking up the miles alone, know how lonely it can get doing the long runs on your own!

Having been injured during the summer, I am just trying to regain my fitness and have got back to running around 4-5 times per week but the longest I have run recently is 10 miles. I will soon be looking to increase but I want to do this steadily to avoid further injury.

I will be aiming for a sub 4 hour finish after narrowly missing out with 4:04 last April. If anyone fancies weekend runs at between 8-9 minute mile pace, please do let me know.

I really look forward to meeting you all at the training runs – no doubt there will be some familiar faces there also.

Good luck & best wishes to all of you.

Neil Dobson