Miles of Trials

Bristol

Sunday 26th February 2012

Today, for the first time in a long time my long run started from somewhere that wasn’t my front door. Well, that’s not strictly true as we drove to our start point a few weeks ago, but this morning’s long run was different in that it took place in another city. This weekend we visited some friends in Bristol, one of my favourite cities in Britain. The sun was out all weekend and the weather conditions were more befitting of a day in April than February; the run was spectacular. Fortunately my friend is also a keen runner, well versed in the Sunday ritual of doing a run whose distance in miles begins with the digit 2. No chance of missing my long run this week.

Starting in Clifton, we dropped down the hill for a couple of miles, into and back out of the city centre, before heading towards the suburb of Westbury. The first half of the run was through residential areas but the second half was where it started getting interesting. We came out of Shirehampton and turned left onto a ramp which appeared to just head towards another footpath. I then realised that this ramp took us right alongside the M5, the motorway that connects the south west with the rest of the country. A steady incline for about half a mile was followed by a descent of similar length and we crossed the river Avon with cars and lorries speeding past us. I’ve never run over such a long bridge before and the breathtaking view in both directions distracted us sufficiently from the soreness in our legs.

We passed a couple of small villages and before long we found ourselves on a path along the Avon heading back towards the centre of Bristol. There were no cars, buses, trains or any other vehicle in our way. Just a few hundred other people with exactly the same idea as us. We wound our way along the path, talking about important things, unimportant things, about running, about life in general. It occured to me that this is what running is all about. No watch, no goal, no idea what pace we ran the last mile at; just good company, good scenery and the sun in your face. Whilst we all gain pleasure from bettering our PBs and seeing our hard training pay off in races, running really offers much simpler pleasures than that. The act of running itself, for its own sake, and without any greater purpose, can often be enough to put the biggest smile on your face.

Turning a corner, we saw in front of us one of the most iconic and well-known structures in Bristol, Cifton Suspension Bridge, a stunning piece of engineering that passes right across the Avon Gorge. The sun was streaming through its famous arches as we approached and the bridge looked imposing as we passed underneath it. Nothing puts you in your place and reminds you of how small you really are like a massive bridge hundreds of feet above your head.

We crossed a much lower bridge and prepared for the inevitable, the climb back up to the top. Whilst the view was breathtaking in the metaphorical sense, the road back up to Clifton was breathtaking in a more literal sense. We were gasping for air at the top. From there we took in the view, passing the bridge from above this time, and ran the short distance back to Mark’s house. The rest of the day was spent enjoying Bristol at a rather more sedate pace, sightseeing and taking photos.

Runs like this are why I do it.

Better in the Long Run?

Sunday 16th January 2011

The key component of a marathon training schedule is the weekly long run. As far as I am concerned I can move other sessions around or even skip certain runs but the 18+ miler at the weekend is non-negotiable.

Heathens that we are, most runners choose to do theirs on a Sunday morning. This isn’t a deliberate affront to religious traditions, or isn’t intended to be at least – though the similiarities between running and religion are interesting. A post for another time perhaps. Personally, it is the most convenient day and doesn’t clash with work. I would find it very difficult to run for two and half hours having spent the day at work, or at least would struggle to put in a quality run. Sunday morning runs allow you to spend the rest of the day taking it easy, perhaps following the run with a gentle stroll in the afternoon, something I find helps my recovery.

Since joining my athletics club, I usually do the long run with a group of other runners, with all of us adjusting for the varying degrees of ability or fatigue by running off and coming back to the group or letting the others do the same to us. However, I am starting to question the merits of this approach. As I see it the long run serves two key purposes: to build and allow you to maintain a good level of endurance, and to train your mind to cope with the challenge of running a long distance. Unquestionably, the group long run serves the first of these purposes but what about the second? Are you training the mind enough in a group situation or should you be trying to develop the kind of toughness it takes to run 22 miles completely on your own on a dark January morning? Does an assisted effort prepare you sufficiently for when you get dropped at 19 miles and your calf muscles start knotting like a climber’s rope? At risk of sounding like Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, what is better in the long run?

As a conversation starter this morning I asked one of my training partners whether we should try running separately as a means of toughening up. He told me that as long as you’re pacing yourself right, you’ll end up in a group anyway – provided you’re in a large enough field, so you will be able to share the work. His point is a good one. Surely the idea should be to get your pacing strategy sorted rather than worry about how well prepared you are for running solo. On top of this you are still running those miles, be it on your own or not, and being in a group can undoubtedly help you maintain a good pace and level of intensity. Often when I run on my own I take my eye off the ball and lose focus. Maybe this is a fault that is unique to me or maybe it is an inherent human trait but whatever the cause, a mile run in 6 minutes is better than a mile run in 9.

I can see the merits in both. I like the idea of training the mind to cope with the rigours of a marathon race, and am equally convinced by the notion that you simply train better in a group. Whichever is right I can’t see myself changing my training too much. A good run with my mates is more enjoyable, which is really the point to all this running anyway.