And like that it's officially summer for the kids in the UK. They only have a 6 week break from school and finished this past Friday. Maybe fun for them but this makes my life more difficult. I stop working during the week and only work Saturdays so I'm broke. I also have to entertain two kids all day long. And the toughest part for me personally, and selfishly I guess, is that running becomes much more difficult.

For the next 6 weeks, other than a short stint in the South of France, I'll mostly be tied to two children 5-6 days a week from 6am to 8pm. I say "mostly" because I've got Jeet Kune Do and Muay Thai a couple nights a week and Sunday my wife is around. Do the math. Outside of that time I've got about 10 hours to sleep and run. 

I've become pretty good at maximizing the time I've got though on Saturdays. I can wake up at 4-430am and run 10 plus miles. Then I've got about a 15-20 minute commute from where I park my car to my job which if I run I can sneak in 3 miles (6 total to and from work). Then most days I'll get an hour lunch break where I can easily get in 5-7 miles. That's a pretty solid day of running! It takes some planning, mainly I need a ton of food at work to eat all day, and a fair amount of coffee, but it makes for a good day. It's far easier for me to motivate at work than when I'm tired at home. I just get grumpy and just want to sit on my ass. 

Been hitting 50 mile weeks which seems to be the threshold where I really need to be careful with injury. It also seems to be where the benefits to ultramarathon distance races begin. It becomes a balancing act of sleep and miles for me. I want more miles but without enough sleep I won't recover. I'd love to have guaranteed 8 plus hours of sleep a night and the time to run 60 plus miles per week but that's not feasible. For example last night I ended up sleeping with my son for whatever reason while he kicked me all night. This also thwarted my 430am wake up and run for today! Nothing is consistent, I can't plan for anything. 

Another tough thing to manage with limited time is running pace. If I've got a limited amount of time to run and a mileage number stuck in my head it's likely I'll run faster than I should be. More miles with more speed is a recipe for injury. Too much too soon is the number one way people get injured. It's not your fucking shoes! Sorry, I work at a running store and everyone wants to blame shoes when it's usually their training. Going easy, easier than normal, annoyingly easy is the key to adding more miles. However with limited time it becomes difficult. 

A good thing to look forward to is when school does start in September I'll have possibly two nearly full days to run. Great for two long runs a week. If I hold the reigns back now, stay healthy, and slowly build miles these two days should set me up nicely for Autumn 100 in October. (100 mile race outside of London). 

Planning and mainly patience is the key. 

Been ramping my mileage up which has been fun. Focusing on going easier most days then adding in intervals one or two days. It's hard to go abnormally easy but very beneficial. The tough part is that it takes longer and with a limited amount of time to train balancing everything is hard. I need to be careful though as I increase, injury lurks! Shin splints start to build, feet hurt, my piriformis gets sore. Just need to be mindful of these things and deal with them, foam roll, stretch. Also I need to not be afraid to take an easier week and reduce mileage. Rest is where you get stronger and recover from the stress. I'm fully convinced though to be "fast" at the ultra distance all you need is real easy high mileage. Good luck with 80-100 mile weeks with a family who doesn't run though! I can only hope for the time! 

Wyre Forest Half Marathon went down this past weekend. It went better than I thought it would. Increasing mileage and having a race in the same week aren't conducive to racing well. I ran 15 miles Friday for instance, that isn't resting to race well! 

Anyway, it was really hot, and has been here for quite some time. People are bitchin' and moaning about it, it's hilarious, you can't please the British! Really hot being low 80's, however due to the northerly latitude the sun is a bit more intense than you'd expect. It's hot but I'm loving it! Far better than the shit ass winters here! 

I bumped into a guy named Paul, a running acquaintance. He's fast and has won the race before, but is coming off of an injury so is taking it as it comes, he says there's some fast people here today. There always seems to be a few randoms that show up! I'm just planning on running my own race since I'm not very well rested. The course is bone dry and many people are in road shoes versus trail shoes. I've got my Altra Lone Peak trail shoes. 

We are off and I'm in the front 5-6 person lead pack. A couple miles into it two guys from out of town are off the front, they're the guys Paul mentioned. They are 6 foot plus, rail thin, obviously younger, and likely very fast. Oh well, I'm running my race. I settle in to 4th, close behind 3rd. Paul eases off and is behind me, that's the last I see of him. There's one guy hanging on behind but he's suffering, I can hear it. I'm not worried. 

The race drudges on through the hot sun, despite being in a dense forest the race is actually very exposed and hot. Every water station I dump water on my head to cool my body off which makes a surprising difference in how I feel. The guy in third finally submits and I pass him, he's walking a small hill. I use this opportunity and a high I'm riding to push the pace a bit. I can't see the fast guys anymore. 

I motor on while the guy behind holds about 30 seconds or so back. For the first time in a long time I'm very conscious of my breathing. My legs hurt but my breathing is easy yet steady. I think about it a bit, why do I want to slow down? It's because my legs hurt, not because I'm working too hard. I begin to really focus on this in order to keep going and hold off any possible guys catching up. The pain can be pushed through, it won't slow me down, but as soon as I cross into a higher heart rate my body will slow me. I'm guessing this sensation late in the race is due to the longer, slower running I've been doing. I can push it harder towards the end. Whatever the reason it's pretty cool. I'm confident I've got third in the bag, not only third though but also first veteran (age 40-45). 

The final 2 miles are rolling and I press the small uphills going out of my comfort zone.  I'm all alone and onto the final 200 meters, a nasty hill, all 200 meters, right into the finish. I stay at an even pace and roll across in third. 

My family is there which is fun. We hang out for a while and they leave before awards as the wife can't take the heat! Besides her dad and his girlfriend are in the area so they are off to visit. I mill about for the awards and get £20, a plaque, and a bottle of cider. 

Overall a decent effort. I was happy with it. Life has been challenging lately and being among my tribe helps tremendously.  At home I researched the top guys, guess their mile PR? 4:08 and 4:18! Yep. Fast dudes! Their finishing time wasn't anything crazy, I've finished faster, I think they eased off and strolled it in. Either way both were nice guys and congrats to them. Unfortunately my friend Paul rolled his ankle and hobbled in, felt bad for him as he's already coming back from an injury. He'll be back soon enough. 

So what's next? Possibly the Worcester City Half Marathon, which my job is a small sponsor for. It's in September, is a fast road course, and has decent prize money, £400 for first! Maybe I'm dreaming riding this high from yesterday, but it would be fun to focus on it and see what happens. You never know! 

On with increasing miles and balancing life and running!