Boom!

Habitual running is a lot about goals, both short term and long, the latter which can span years. Round numbers lend themselves for goals. Some of them are arbitrary like the "Three hour marathon", "90 min' half" not to mention things like "four minute mile" (which I will never be able to do). Often when you start (or restart) running, you might knock off landmark times quite quickly and need to reset them, or adjust the long term ones to the new information you gain from your efforts.

As a runner, I run and race any distance between 5km and a marathon. 5km is the most accessible distance for most amateurs and as I've mentioned before there is literally no reason to enter "races" when you can race it at a ParkRun on any given Saturday morning for free. As a runner who prefers the longer distances, I only sparingly race 5km, and had been very reluctant to give up or interrupt a long run on a Saturday morning to go to a ParkRun. So my relationship with the 5km distance started mainly in my own personal runs, then a race or two for the Run Auckland Series, with a sprinkling of ParkRuns, in fact in my eighth year of doing ParkRuns, I have only done it 24 times! But of those 24, seven have been this year. Almost all of them have been "sandwich long runs" where I run about 10km to the venue, race the 5km and then run home, which is exactly what I did yesterday. 

My battles with the distance are reflected in my moving Personal Best:

2017:  21:22

2018: 20:20

2019: 19:54 (first time breaking 20 minutes at a ParkRun)

2020-2022: No ParkRuns due to Covid and not much running

2023: 20:23 (only one attempt)

2024, though, was a big year where I was truly fit and was training for speed and I was fully expecting to go under 19 minutes at some stage. My times over various locations, however, were: 19:44 (new PB), 19:36 (new PB), 19:23 (new PB), 19:42 and finally a casual 21:28 at Western Springs.

2025, I've been even fitter, and until yesterday my times were: 19:51, 19:25, 20:10, 19:17 (new PB in June), 20:16, 20:05... 

When you have been running for a long time the improvements in PB tend to be gradual. That I moved from 19:44 to 19:23 over 7 months and was a 21 second improvement is not unexpected. 21 seconds at race speed is a lot.

Yesterday though I did what I always did, I ran the 10km to Ōwairaka, arriving about 5 minutes before start. Then we were off. I felt for a speed that felt sustainable and ran over the "the big, beautiful bridge" an Ōwairaka feature, which you have to run over, run for about one km and then come and run back over, so pacing can be a little tricky. Racing is always better than running alone because you have people to pace you, and also the ability to make targets of the people in front. Both before and after the turn around point, I made the move to grind past some of the people in front of me. One of them tailed me though up the bridge and eventually past me, then I got him at a corner, and then he got me on the straight. I usually faded towards the end but perhaps because I had this guy on me and had a little left in the tank, I went at him and past him with less than 50m to go and scampered in for 4th. 

The time? 18:44. I had just ripped 33 seconds off from my previous PB, not just scraping under 19, but healthily under. It was almost unbelievable to myself and weird to think only three people were in front of me. (To be clear they were under no threat - I would need an extra 20 seconds to catch third.)

The ridiculous thing of course is that clearing one ceiling just leads you to the next one. Since ParkRuns are almost never flat, I might do what I did in 2024 which was to see what I can do on a flat track, but that's for another day/month/year. The marathon in two weeks is my priority and I want to make sure that my expectations there are also in check and met.

Twin projects

It's been about 6 months since my last blog, which really reflects what has been a pretty intense period, where my school moved campus, a busy period of care with mum, ambitious running load and a new linguistic project, which detracted from writing. I had a draft for a while to talk about the similarities between Trump's MAGA movement and Mao's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, but I didn't finish it and the situation in the States moves far too quickly for a slowly gestating blog post.

My linguistic project was to learn a completely unfamiliar language (or two) in my forties. Part of this is because it is something I have always enjoyed yet have not really done, and another is to see what works as an older learner, like many students are. My two target languages are Vietnamese and Farsi (Persian). Vietnamese is the language with the easier access to resources so I have been using what is available to me to learn as much as I can over the last two to three months.

I might not be the best example having learned several languages before and may have the "neuron pathways" that allow me to connect faster with unfamiliar words, grammar and pronunciation. So far I have found that I can learn it for reading and listening at quite an easy pace. The harder thing will be when I have a class or tutorial to start speaking, which has been the more difficult aspect for me. One of the tools I have used most was one that I had derided in the past, Duolingo. I had tried it in the past to keep my Korean language fresh but immediately thought it was using European language expressions and grammatical sense on a non-European language and gave it up. 

This time round, I recognise that there is variability in the quality across languages and time has served to improve them. Secondly, it is very good for vocabulary acquisition, which is a good place to start, and also sound recognition from the listening. I am enjoying it and will try to use it until there is a better way for practice. 

Running-wise, since my last post, this period has been the most intense of my life. Probably that's a sentence I could have put in almost any previous post because there is a ramping up effect at work. Since April where I managed to improve my 5k, half marathon and full marathon personal records, I went into a 10km race series for the first time since 2019. It is good to alternate goal distances during long training periods so the body gets different stimulus to improve. I was pretty competitive in the series, almost always in the top 10. In one race in Te Atatū I finally broke 40 minutes for a 10km race, and was pretty happy with my training trajectory. I was looking to break 40 again in the final 10km race but the day before while attempting a box-jump in the garage at home, I fell backwards and gained a suspected broken wrist instead. It knocked me out of racing and put my training on hold for 10 long days. Fortunately, a second x-ray confirmed it was not a fracture but a sprain, and with the cast removed, I could get back to training. The finale of the series was a half marathon. 10 days without training should not have decreased my fitness to any extent but I still felt like it took some time to get back to the freshness I had before, and in the half marathon, I went too fast, struggled, missed a turn (costing me about 20-30 seconds) and then eventually dragged myself home just under 1:30, which was not what I had expected. 

After the series I had no particular races in mind. But a person on Facebook needed to offload their Auckland Marathon entry, so I decided to help and thus I have a new goal, which is now just 3 weeks away from completing. Knocking on a fair amount of wood, my training since the cast came off and up to the marathon has been the smoothest of any lead-in and a few training runs have been immensely confidence building. I am used to having things "come up", whether they be niggles that knock out key weekends, or incidents like last year's "face plant" which happened four weeks before the Auckland Marathon and affected my peak weeks. Christchurch Marathon lead-in was fairly smooth, although I was not quite hitting my targets. For this lead-in, I am averaging about 100km a week, which is nailing my plan, and really lifting the bar in the training runs. So I have reasons to be confident. 

I hope this isn't the last post for the year. I will aim to update the progress of these two projects and maybe talk about the Mao/Trump analogy.

Christchurch Marathon Race Report

Just after 9:35am on Sunday morning, I had the realisation that I was not in fact going to achieve my stated goal for the Christchurch Marathon of going sub-3 hours. To be clear, I knew this over a month ago, at Maraetai or two months ago at the Coatesville Half. But it was at about 9:35am, just over two hours into the race that the reality of it was becoming very apparent. In between those races and that moment, there were a few factors that gave me reasons for hope. 

The first factor was that my training had gone almost perfectly through the peak weeks. I had done the mileage, avoided injury and nuisances, and had generally started to "peak". I have had weeks of feeling that high pace was not difficult to reach and easy to sustain. I would accidentally hit really high paces without realising it. 

While the Waterfront Half was poorly timed, and I didn't have to race it, I was lifted by the Personal Best time, and while it wasn't a time that indicated I could do a sub-3 time, it showed I wasn't far away. The "maths" for translating a half marathon time to a possible full marathon time is to double it and add 10 minutes, which would lead to a time of 3:01:55.

And finally, the usual technology messing with the mind: my Garmin watch's analytics had indicated that my Race Prediction's time for a marathon had plummeted since those half marathons. In February, it said 3:08 was my time under optimal conditions; in early March, 3:07, in late March 3:04. After the Waterfront Half, 3:01:15, and on the morning before, 3:00:59. (Amusingly, the day after it now says 3:00:27.)

To achieve a sub-3 time, you need to average 4:15 per kilometre, or 21:15 for every five kilometres. You can see how the races went by the times for each 5km below (the time between the circles).

My 30km in 2:08:05 is faster than my previous best 30km by 5 minutes - it is a huge improvement. But still slightly behind the eight-ball. Then, everything after that point was slower than everything that came before it. 

Why? Well, number one was that I wasn't fit enough to maintain those speeds beyond 30km. I was giving what was a sustainable effort but only getting slower paces. I was hitting the wall despite feeling that I was well fueled. Particular muscles were just worn out and not responding despite my entreaties. 

Then some tired and sore muscles became more vocal. One factor, which I don't want to be an excuse, is that I managed to roll my left ankle twice. It was an "unfortunately, fortunately, unfortuately" tale. The first time was on the first lap. There were several parts of the course that had us going from concrete to some (pitiful) grass and whether it was the change in surface, or the usual dodging around people, my ankle rolled. I righted myself and cautiously strode a bit. I had a concerned runner ask if I was alright and I said I was though feeling it a little. I kept running and he asked if it had settled and I said it had. On the second lap, around an "aid station" I again rolled it. Aid stations are where runners can get water (and often toilets and first-aid), if needed. But they can be perilous places. You have runners swooping in to grab water and streaking out. There is water on the ground, paper cups everywhere and it is generally a bit of chaos. For me, it was the paper cups that was the problem. While moving around people and obstacles I stood on some cups that moved underneath me and again my ankle rolled. I held my breath again as I took a few more strides and again it settled. The third lap was uneventful from that perspective but as I tired the discomfort increased. I slowed down a lot but it still was aching with each stride.

By the end, I came into the finish line without any illusions at a time of 3:09:01, a personal best but well slower than I had thought would be the case. I had thought that I would be able to hold pace until the later 30s and could afford a few slower kms if I ran out of gas (like I did in Hamilton last year). But it is improvement and I learned a few things along the way.

After crossing the finish line I was in a bad way. I was limping due to the rolled ankle, but completely spent, too. In nausea, I decided to lie on the ground, which was good except for the fact that I couldn't get up without my hamstrings or hip flexors cramping. It took time to finally get off the ground, attend to some needs, and then slowly walk to the transport home.

Even though I might have been sold some dreams by my watch, I know that I had a sub-3:05 time in me, and have that fitness even right now. My plans are becoming crystal now. I will do the recommended rest post-marathon and ensure my ankle and arch have no lingering effects; I'll volunteer at a ParkRun this weekend to "pay it back/forward"; I'll prepare a 10km training plan for the winter months that will transform into a marathon plan in Spring. I'll run as a pacer (if needed) at the North Shore Marathon, and see if I can relieve an injured runner of their entry in November in the Auckland Marathon, as I did last year. (There are always injured runners... and if not, I'll enter late.)

Auckland Marathon is more challenging than Christchurch Marathon as a course but maintaining my progress, it is still reasonably possible. I'll ignore my watch's optimism for the meantime and focus on the fundamentals of training well.

Breaking through

Last blog I talked about some of my self-doubts in my recent running performances. Most of this was fuelled by knowledge that I was training better than I had in 2024 but still had nothing really to show for it. Racing both half marathon and 5k distances resulted in no movement in my PBs (personal bests). In fact, on similar courses and routes I was performing the same if not worse. 

I didn't mention my one "excuse" for this, and that was almost all of those runs were not target races, during which I was cranking up training, and could be a reflection of some tired legs. I would usually train the week of these non-target races pretty much the same as any other week, with some challenging pace workouts, but with Friday off, a short run on a Saturday and then the race on the Sunday. 

The recent two weeks though were the taper period, where my training volume decreases from its peak before a big race. The biggest race is the Christchurch Marathon on 13 April, so to show you what a taper looks like you can see it this way:

- Week ending 23 March: 123km run

- Week ending 30 March: 100km run

- Week ending 6 April: 80km run, including the Waterfront Marathon.

- week ending 13 April 67km planned, including the Christchurch Marathon.

Today's Waterfront Marathon was after two weeks of much less training volume (but still some pace), and that should put me in good stead to run stronger. After all this training my Garmin watch was claiming I had it in me to run a 1:25:15 half marathon which sounded overly optimistic, but persuaded by that I was strategically thinking of aiming for 1:26, more in hope based on the previous performances than actual confidence.

This morning's conditions couldn't really be any better: dry, sunny, negligible wind and I got to the venue early for all the necessary pre-run stuff. Unlike last year, I got into the start chute early, too, which meant not much dodging and weaving in the first kilometre, and before I knew it we were off.

As with every race, I start far too fast without even feeling it being fast, and then dropped myself to my planned pace, 4:05mins/km. Usually in training, I wouldn't usually go this fast for more than a mile, perversely after four kms, my pace started to pick up. Somehow during the middle stages, there was a 5km period that I ran in 19:51 (less than 30 seconds slower than my 5km race last weekend), and not long after that, I ran my fastest ever 10km stretch (39:50), faster than any 10km race previously. While this all happened I was worried that I'd pay for this speed towards the end, but while I was fatigued, I held on without a dramatic slowdown and cruised to the finish in an official time of 1:25:55. I am astonished at myself for being able to have a time starting in 1:25, it is a 1 minute 30 second personal best, and easily makes up for the frustration at the other events.

With the success in the bag, I can open up more about the dilemma of how to run this event. The conservative view is that one week before a marathon you shouldn't do an all-out race as there is a risk of injury, and also your body will take time to recover; that it would be better to use it as training with shorter efforts focussing on marathon effort rather than going hell-for-leather all the way for 21.1km. The liberal side might advocate for a race because at least you will truly know your form as close as possible to the race. I did choose to race this rather than use it as training, mainly because I felt I wanted to achieve and get confidence back. I now know I can run at speeds close to and under 4:00min/km and that is something that encourages me to think I could hold 4:15min/km for a marathon, which would have me doing a potentially sub-3hr marathon in Christchurch, or sometime soon. 

Anyway, I can finally celebrate a bit and get my head ready for my first marathon since November last year.

Consistency

Everyone who knows me reasonably well knows I'm a runner. Not all know that I only started really trying to be a regular runner in 2016 when I plotted to run my first half marathon. It was a learning experience for me, making lots of mistakes, learning about ITB syndrome (Ilio-tibial band), different kinds of run and the basics of hydration and nutrition on the hoof. 2017 was when I really started to race a bit more, running my first marathon and scrapping over 2000km for the year on new years eve, but it was 2018, just seven years ago when I really got the hang of it. One month I got to 400km which was unfathomable in 2017 where even in my runniest week of them all before my first marathon, I didn't break 300km. 2018 which is the first lump below was a fun year but not necessarily hitting goals. It ended with hernia surgery shortly after getting a 3:29 marathon PB. But it set the foundation for what for a long time was my best year, 2019, the second bump. It had me breaking 1:30 for the half marathon, 20:00 for the first time and brought my marathon PB down to 3:26 then 3:23. 2019 ended with me slipping on a boardwalk injuring myself and then Covid happened. There was only one solid year of running in 2021 with injuries and niggles blighting any consistency until late 2022.

The end of 2023 started the most consistent period of my running life, and consistency is one of the most key factors in running success. The body makes changes over time to be more efficient and stronger. With strengthening exercises and rest, it should be possible to run regularly without injury (apart from face-plants on concrete paths). 

The far right of the chart shows my training to prepare for Christchurch Marathon that will be in two weeks' time. It has some monstrous numbers: February I cracked 400km, and March will be over 480km with some running tomorrow, a new record month of mileage. 

This consistency has brought me to a new plateau: while my best before 2024 was 3:22 in the marathon, my three marathons were all 3:16 or under in 2024 including a 3:10 best; while my best half marathon before 2024 was 1:29:56, I have now run under that three times with a best of 1:27 and crucially never over 1:31 (even a "poorly paced run" has been a pretty good time). And in the seven 5km parkruns I've since Jan 2024, I've run six under the 20 minute ceiling that took me so long to break. (For the record, the only one over 20 minutes was done within a 33km long run and was a pretty respectable 21:28.)

But there has been something irksome in the numbers. I ran a 1:27 and a 1:28 half marathon in the middle of 2024 but have run all four halves since that between 1:29:30-1:30:46, metronomically consistently slower than my best. Since my 3:10 marathon breakthough in June 2024, my following two were 3:14 and 3:16 respectively. My watch tells me I have the fitness to break 19 minutes in the 5km but my parkrun times are as follows: 19:25, 19:51, 21:28, 19:42, 19:23, 19:36, 19:44; the 19:25 was yesterday morning and I felt pushed to my limit and with my current fitness should have been a PB, but wasn't. 

So I'm in a plateau despite the hard work put in. Next weekend is the Waterfront Half, which just like yesterday morning's race should by any measure be a good time, at least better than the same event last year where I got 1:28, if not a PB. And the marathon the following week should be better than the 3:10 that is my best in Hamilton. But both may not be, too. 

How the body performs can be so fickle. I hope that with a good taper and a smooth few days before, both will reach expectations.