Year Gone - Come Year

Year Gone
Target of one half marathon was exceeded 100% - as I did two.

My running mileage in the year was 927.5. Did not set a target.
Next year target 1000 - 20 miles per week.

Correction:- my 2011 mileage was only 851.5. The higher figure was mileage since I got my Garmin in November 2010.

One-mile self-timed monthly time- trial - improved by 5 sec over 5 months.
Next year’s target improve by 12 sec over 12 months? Probably does not work like that.

Weight loss past year only 1lb.
Target 2012 - half a stone.

Yule Log
Last year we had a white Christmas and the snow and ice curtailed my running so that I had a gap in my December running of 18 days.

This year we have had wind and rain, I have had to work, and the gap of 8 days in running feels a long time.
Only done one training run this week.

December Routine
My runs have got into a bit of a rut in that I do 7 miles within 70 minutes or 6 ½ within an hour.
Weather and mood changes have provided the variety.

Difficulties Overcome
Douglas Adams seems to have hit the nail when he highlighted the effect of difficulties to be overcome resulting on an improvement in performance - the effect of increasing deafness on Beethoven’s output.

Not in the same league but pertinent - the effect of weather on my runs.
Being able to choose the time of day for my runs means that I can find a slot in the weather that suits me - the dry and sunny patch between the early morning and late afternoon showers.
But - my run in the wind and rain was faster and felt better than the same run on a dry sunny day.

Sharing Running
On 185th Run got to first "way point" quicker than usual so pressed on slightly to get to half way in good time.
On return leg got chatting with another runner and leant about local gym and wear in shoes.
First occasion that I have run and chatted at the same time! HR remained below 170 at max 168.
Parted company at 3rd way point and set out with renewed vigour uphill to home.

Result - enjoyable run in good company and completed within 1 hour target time.
What could be better than that?

Resolution No 5
Do some 5k races in 2012.

When One Door Closes - Another Opens

"Everything on this blog is true.  I should know - I made it up" Westonbloke

Pleased or Sorry?

Big Issue
I did not get a place in the ballot for the London Marathon (VLM).

Am I pleased or sorry? Relieved or disappointed?

Background
Last year when I told friends I had entered for the Bath Half a number of them said “London Marathon next year then?” A comment which I duly pooh-poohed at the time.

Reasons
But it is a logical progression. Another year - another challenge. Onward!

And if one is going to attempt just one - then London is the big draw.

Especially in 2012. Even without a direct link to the Olympics - 2012 is the year when the eyes of the world will be on London.

So when the ballot opened of course I had to enter. Who wouldn’t?

Looks like everyone else felt the same and went for a place.

Which in my case I have not got.

The VLM Commiserations Magazine
Last week I received a magazine - written for and directed at those who had been unsuccessful in the ballot for places.

There must be an awful lot of us if they print a special magazine.

Options
Now I have to make up my mind what I want to do. Choices are:-

1. Do nothing - accept philosophically that it is not for me next year
2. Enter another Marathon that may still have places
3. Talk to the charity I was to have supported - and see if they have any places
4. Buy a guaranteed charity place - but commit to raising mega money
5. There is no Option 5 - it is only there to make up the number.

So. What to do?

Pink Pig Found in Battersea Dogs' Home

NAMING OF PARTS
This is the lower sling swivel.
And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings.
And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got.
The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
Henry Reed.

The SMLE MkIII* was manufactured without a magazine cutoff or a piling swivel as these had proved to be tactically obsolete and had a significant cost in mass production. The training Corporal would have had a Mk III with these features but the recruits would have been issued with the newer Mk III*.

Just thought you would like to know that.

Buzzing

I am an addict.

Before I started out on this venture I was among the majority who regard “joggers” with a silent pity and contempt. Clearly from the agonised looks on their faces and the strenuous puffing sounds they emit the activity cannot possibly be enjoyable.

I was rather more in awe of runners. The guy I met skiing who had done almost every major Marathon on the planet - including London and New York - some more than once. He told me he just had to run every day. Well he was tall and skinny and to my way of thinking build like a runner. Nifty skier too.

Another exception to my theory was my Service colleagues who were required to meet minimum physical standards to keep their job. They ran most lunchtimes to maintain a certain level of fitness by regular exercise rather than lapse and then work extra hard to get it back again. Being stuck in offices as desk jockeys that was a real risk for them.

As an idle youth outrun, outgunned and generally out-sported by my schoolmates - among whom I was always the youngest if not the smallest - I was never athletic, or even fit. Consequently the Forces never had a lasting appeal. Other than the uniform for attracting the girls. In those days the USP for recruitment was - in the words of Monty Python - “For the Sport and the Travel, Sah”.

But now my jogging has taken a serious turn - and I find that I must get out several times a week. Rather like my former colleagues I don’t want to lose the level of fitness I have gained. For one thing it feels better than the previous fat(ter) me.

So I have signed up for 2 more Half Marathons - Bristol this month and Bath again next year. Don’t worry , I am not asking for sponsorship.

Not yet.

Getting a buzz from running

Alas! in truth the man but chang'd his mind,

Perhaps was sick, in love, or had not din'd. - Pope

PPE

Post Project Evaluation
Not Politics Philosophy and Economics - as taught at the Colonel Gadaffi School of Islamic Studies (LSE). Not the London Stock Exchange (LSE) the other one.

Has my project achieved its aims?

What went well?

What could have been better?

Aims
The primary objective was to complete the Bath Half Marathon within 3 hours. In seeking this outcome the project had 5 elements:-

1. Physical - training plan to get fit enough to meet the objective
2. Mental - motivation to complete the task
3. Risks - avoiding injuries and other potential blockers
4. Charity - raising money for a good and popular cause
5. Publicity - blog and newspaper pieces.

Results
The primary objective was bettered - by 25% on target time.

The training plan worked well and resulted in:-

1. Reduced weight - from verging on obese to within OK for BMI
2. Lower blood pressure - from high enough to be of concern to good
3. Lower cholesterol - from high to slightly above average and a greater reduction than medication could have achieved
4. Reduced standing pulse rate - from average to low
5. Reduced heart rate when running - but I still exceed my "theoretical" maximum.

The effect was an improvement in both stamina and speed.

Mental preparation also contributed to the success. An unexpected side effect has been to make me more active and assertive in other pastimes and pursuits. Not all my friends are pleased.

Risks have been avoided or mitigated. I was not prevented from competing by injuries or ill health.

Fundraising was modest only about one-third of the ambitions target. This may be because the charity was considered by some to be a bit specialised with potential benefits limited to the male population. Or it may just be that I did not hustle - or indeed hassle - for contributions.

Publicity could have been better - both to alert potential donors to the charity and to keep up to date with events. A piece was published in the local paper but was among many similar. Links to a Facebook page or regular Tweets could have been effective in widening the audience.

Costs

It is usual for a project to go over time and over budget. This was impossible - the deadline was the date of the event on 6th March and there was no costing. That is a failure in the plan - costs should have been considered.

As so happened the cost of the running clothing and equipment was about the same as the sponsorship money raised. So on a pure-cost basis not economic. Except that the kit can be used for other events.

And on a cost-benefit basis I have received the health benefits of the exercise.

Next

Time to move on. What next? 

No Balls on This Site

"Its not Brown - its Balls" Michael Haseltine

Pommies Paddled in Perth

Today is Antagonise an Aussie Day.
When you meet an Aussie shout “By an innings and…”

Make the most of it. It won’t happen again in my lifetime.

Tell an Aussie that the design is by Sir Ralph Freeman

There are some events so rare and significant that you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about them.

My childhood heroes include Peter Twiss, Peter Collins and Peter May. Most of you will have to google these names to find out who they were. Ba-bang, brrm-bbrm, thwack as it would say in the comics.

My knowledge of cricket is tiny and my cricketing ability at school was nil. They placed me in the field where I could do least harm and I never got to bowl and rarely to bat. My then undiagnosed short sight was a reason for my lack of proficiency.

It was only this week that I learnt why it is not a good idea to try and hit every ball and also the difference between “retaining” and “winning”.

In Sydney ask "Are You Being Served?"

Why are we drifting so far off topic? Motivation-motivation-motivation.

There is a lot of bull along the lines of “You can do anything you want to - you only have to try”.

No you can’t - ask Ikarus, or Captain Scott.

But you can improve. Planned, applied, timely and relevant training makes a difference.

Call his Ute a "Dinky truck"

There is no way that I am going to win the Bath Half Marathon - a winning time is just over an hour. For me it would be stretching it to complete the course in double the winner’s time. But I know I can complete the course in less than 3 hours.

Call his house a "bungalow"

As the weather improves - such an optimist - and Spring approaches my weekly training plan is:

• One longish slow run
• A couple of shorter faster runs
• An as the mood takes me run
• Three rest days in between

Eight weeks to go. Geronimo!

Chat Up his Sheila on Bondi Beach

Goals and Targets

For those tasks we regard as difficult it is always useful to have a clear idea of what needs to be done. Then seek to achieve whatever we have set ourselves.

Hence the image of aiming. For goals - hit or miss. Or targets - which provide a scale of achievement according to distance from the centre.

“I believe this nation should commit itself to the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and bringing him safely to earth.” - JFK.

This is often cited as an example of a SMART objective - one that combines the essential elements:-

• Stated
• Measurable
• Agreed
• Realistic
• Time bound

In the work situation Agreed and Realistic are often overlooked, Measured and Time bound fudged, and Stated misread or misunderstood.

Simple targets are best. Some might describe this as a clear target - but that is a technical term for one that has been missed!

My Targets
The Bath Half Marathon race rules require entrants to be able to complete the event within 4 hours. So crudely this gives me a “hard target” (that is one that must be achieved) of 4 hours.

How realistic is this? Well on the basis that I completed the Dew Pond Run - all uphill - and with no preparation or training - in under 2 hours then it should be possible for me to complete double the distance, more or less on the level, within double that time and after 5 months preparation and training. But 19 years on?

The roads will be progressively reopened 3 hours 15 minutes after the start of the race. It seems to me a good idea to try to finish before then so as not to breathe exhaust fumes. So this gives me a target of 3 hours 12 minutes. The lost 3 minutes is to allow for slow-starting at the back of the field. 4.2 (or 7 metric). An achievable speed for me?

Then there is the concept of a “stretch target” - intended to be difficult and maybe out of reach. On that basis rounding down to 3 hours makes sense for my target time.

Planning for Endurance
At present on my Beginners Programme I am running no more than 16 minutes in 4 minute blocks. By the end of the month I should be on 20 minutes running without a break.

Within 5 months this must be built up to being able to run for the full 3 hours. A suggested programme of increasing stamina is to add 5 minutes each week. After 5 months this would mean runs of 2 hours duration. Still short of the full 3 hours target.

As always time is insufficient and the plan takes too long.

Among the advice is that one should vary the runs - some longer and some shorter but faster. And include some rest days in between.

Milestones
One way of measuring progress is by waypoints on the route. It has been recommended to me - by a runner - that I should enter for a shorter run - say 10Km - before the Half Marathon.

A trial run

In theory this would:-

• Give me experience of running in a crowd
• Measure my progress
• Be a closer target easier to hit

The confidence gained in achieving the intermediate goal would help towards the end one. Or?

Far for Bath

On Planning

"No one starts a war - or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so - without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it."- Karl von Clausewitz.

But we all know someone who did just that.


My journey towards the Bath Half Marathon began with just a sketch plan in my head. It has grown since but even so remains faithful to the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid.

A plan needs to be flexible - to cater for those Known Unknowns - and have a contingency - for those Unknown Unknowns. It is also sensible to examine the “Do Nothing” option - the costs and risks involved - rather than just drift into it by inertia.

It is handy to break the plan down into sections, such as:-

• Physical - training plan
• Mental - motivators
• Risks Assessment - injuries
• Charity - sponsorship
• Publicity - blog.

These link together - an injury will require changes to the physical training plan and renewed motivation.

So the plan will need to be re-examined in the light of experience using the classic feed-back loop:-

Plan - Action -Assessment - Revise plan.

But there is a danger of imitating Rimmer in Red Dwarf by spending more time preparing the plan than following it. Microsoft provide a useful tool for this - you can spend hours mucking about with MS Project® - if you like that sort of thing.

The opposite is where the plan becomes shelf-ware - completed, put aside and forgotten.

Once in preparation for visiting an organisation I looked up the plan they had on their website. It was informative, if a bit dated, and my questions were based upon it. This left them baffled as nobody else at the meeting knew they had a plan. In due course their project went over time and over budget.

No surprise to me.