My pace and heart rate (146bpm av) was a bit quicker than in previous weeks - probably because Joe SP was pushing the pace at times. My heart beat 862 times on average for each of the 5 tempo miles. This compares to 871 beats per mile the last time we did the same session on the same route a few week's ago. This measure is not that scientific but I'll take it as an indicator of improving fitness!
Monday also meant a full on return to food control - having reached my heaviest weight (73kg) for a good while during August. A combination of factors were contributing to my weight gain, in no particular order:
- holiday beers
- continuing my marathon training eating habits despite doing 20 less miles per week (around 2200 extra calories less needed per week but still eaten)
- cutting down from around 3 litres of diet coke per day to between 330ml and 660ml - and probably substituting in the odd biscuit or two to replace the habit
- eating more with the kids over the summer - meaning 'tidying up' of leftovers and being there when they ask 'what's for pudding?'
- More optimistically, a bit of muscle gain due to the increased emphasis on strength in my training
I have been through 4 or 5 phases of 'weight adjustment' before as I have worked down from 95kg to my preferred race weight of just under 70kg. So I know pretty much exactly what works for me. My basic rules, again in no particular order are:
- Log pretty much every calorie I eat and burn. This means spending about 15 minutes per day logging non-running exercise and all food and drink (manually or by barcode) on www.myfitnesspal.com. All of my running exercise is auto-loaded onto garmin connect from my watch and I set garmin connect and myfitness pal up to link automatically. I always use the calorie data calculated by garmin as it is worked out using your heart rate and is more accurate (and a lot less optimistic than myfitnesspal and strava which both over estimate how many calories I burn)
- Set a weight loss goal based on how much body fat I am planning to lose. This is the techy bit. Basically I work out my body fat percentage (using a tool like this) - preferably using a few different methods to get an average. I usually use a 9% - 10% body fat target (elite male endurance runners get down to 6% but let's not get carried away). I then work out how much I would weigh if I lost the amount of body fat to get down to my target level. My weight minus the weight of the fat I want to lose becomes my 'target weight', which I enter into 'myfitnesspal'
- I then use myfitnesspal to set a daily / weekly net calorie limit to achieve my target weight - never aiming to lose more than 0.25kg per week. So an 8-week plan would be required to lose 2kg. I then make sure my net calorie intake (food calories minus exercise calories) is always within the weekly limit - accepting that there will be fluctuations day to day (I typically have a major calorie deficit on long run day, and a slight calorie surplus on lighter running days)
- I also use myfitnesspal to make sure my reduced calorie intake is still providing me with enough protein to aid my muscle recovery (at least 100g per day) Although some amazing vegan runners point out that race horses don't eat any protein at all - they get it as a by-product of breaking down vegetables in their gut
- When I stick to this plan, the weight comes off almost exactly as predicted by myfitnesspal. However, I have to say it is not an enjoyable experience. I am basically denying my body the calories it needs to stay at the same weight, so I naturally feel hungry for a few hours of most days. I also have to be careful to time my calorie intake so I have energy available for hard training sessions
- My disclaimer for all of the above is that this approach works for me. It won't work for everyone and getting too controlling about your food intake can be a slippery slope to poor health and, at worse, eating disorders that can ruin lives. This is something I am especially wary of as a father of two talented female athletes
Anyway, back to training...
I cocked the timing of Tuesday's food up a bit and work pressures meant that I ended up running tired, hungry and late (and therefore way too fast) to the hard Tuesday night track session. The session was loads of drills, 5 x 60m sprints and then 8 x 300m off 2:30 rests. I ran the reps at around 49s - pretty much the same as the previous time we did this session a few weeks ago - despite knowing that I have got a bit stronger since. Disappointing - especially as everyone else seemed to be going a second or so quicker.
Wednesday was official rest day, but it was a sunny day so I jogged the 1.3 mile commute to work and then ran back the long way round via Rivelin, clocking an easy and relaxed 9 and a bit miles. Thursday was supposed to be a light 40 minute run but I wanted to recce leg 2 of the Sheffield Way Relay before the route slipped back out of my mind, so I caught the bus out to near Oughtibridge and ran most of the route back to Rivelin Dams. The hilly fields took a lot out of my legs - even at a relaxed pace. And the final 100m sprint up a steep field to escape the bullocks that were cantering on my tail had my heart rate up to near max!
With a parkrun time trial or hard track session planned for Saturday morning, I gave my tired legs a rest on Friday with a light jog commute and an easy 5 miles home.
By Friday night, the squad had received word that Saturday morning was a 'go and hammer a parkrun and enjoy it session'. I was a bit disappointed given that my legs were still pretty shot, but I woke up on Saturday morning feeling OK and I knew my usual pre-race routine would pep me up further. After a quick protein muesli bar and some caffeine, I drove down to Hillsborough Park and did a mile warm up, and a few drills and strides on the grass. I think sub-consciously I only go to Hallam Parkrun if I think I have a chance of a PB - the traffic is insufferable (and a bit dangerous).
I was hoping that there would be some well-matched runners at Hillsborough to keep me going and was pleased to see young Joe SP on the start line. We ran the first couple of laps together before I pulled away a bit and finished in 17:12. Joe hadn't done any race prep and was wearing his clunky mileage shoes.
I was disappointed with my time - I went out for sub 17 minutes and had calculated from my split after two laps that it was in the bag. Don't know what went wrong there - but maths when running within 4bpm of my max heart rate is not easy! I am not sure I could have gone any quicker. On the plus side, I felt like I actually sprinted the last couple hundred of metres. People watching probably wouldn't have realised it, but it felt different to me - more powerful and more comfortable in the 'land of anearobia'.
I was going to do a light track session on Saturday evening with Lola but she ended up staying out too late (with us) at a BBQ. Nothing like buffet food to test food control discipline. I gave myself a 'B' for effort.
I managed to get out pretty early for Sunday's long run - driving the 10 minutes to Ladybower dam, and running the full 15 mile loop around the reservoirs. About a mile into the run I felt good so I gradually increased effort throughout the run - spending most of the latter miles well into threshold heart rate. Average pace for what turned into a long progression run was 6:27. It was a pleasure to run in fine scenery with barely a soul in sight - my peaceful reflections only being disturbed by an intimidating pack of some of Sheffield's finest runners coming the other way as I hammered down the slightly descending downhill mile 11 at around 5:40 pace.
If Saturday was a 'speed test', Sunday was definitely a test of stamina. Fair to say I still have a lot more stamina than speed! The run almost made me nostalgic about marathon training - not that 2016 will include any such thing! My emerging target for 2016 is to focus on getting some decent results nailed down at the major cross-country and road running events in preparation for an attempt to win an England vest in 2017 when I turn 45. It would be shame to have only got nearly good enough wouldn't it?
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