Antony Golding

Well, 2009 has been and gone and it was by far my most successful when it comes to my running. In brief, I ran more than double what I did in 2009, and broke my personal best times in 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon distances. Great!

Overall, I ran 1,100.23 miles during the year, up from 527.31 in 2008. My initial target for 2009 was 1,000 miles which I achieved during November because of my marathon training plan, so I upped the target to 1,100 miles. I achieved the following race times during the year:

• 22 February
  Great North West Half Marathon
  Finished in 1 hour, 32 minutes, 36 seconds – new PB
• 15 March
  Mizuno Trafford 10k
  Finished in 41 minutes, 0 seconds – new PB, then superceded by 13 September run
• 17 May
  Great Manchester 10k Run
  Finished in 42 minutes, 24 seconds
• 5 July
  Rochdale 10k
  Finished in 42 minutes, 24 seconds
• 6 August
  Reebok Manchester Sizzlers 5k
  Finished in 19 minutes, 41 seconds – new PB
• 13 September
  Trafford 10k
  Finished in 40 minutes 13 seconds – new PB
• 27 September
  Swinton Half Marathon
  Finished in 1 hour 33 minutes 5 seconds
• 6 December
  Las Vegas Marathon
  Finished in 3 hours 21 minutes 53 seconds – new PB

I also achieved a personal target by running every day in June, a total of 130 miles in 30 runs. I’ve always tried to have a full day off between runs since training for my first marathon in 2005. I suffered numerous ailments when trying to stick to even a beginners training plan which had just one day off per week. I realise now that my running inexperience and using inadequate equipment were to blame for my aches, pains and injuries back then, and now have no qualms about running multiple days in a row. In fact, due to bad weather at the end of December, I only just managed to achieve my revised 1,100 mile target by running 34 miles in 4 days (8 miles, 8.58 miles, 9.31 miles, and 7.95 miles).

Updated personal best times

• Marathon
  Las Vegas Marathon, 6 December 2009, 3 hours 21 minutes 53 seconds – new PB by 20 minutes 54 seconds
• Half marathon
  Great North West Half Marathon, 22 February 2009, 1 hour, 32 minutes, 36 seconds – new PB by 3 minutes 16 seconds
• 10k
  Trafford 10k, 13 September 2009, 40 minutes, 13 seconds – new PB by 47 seconds
• 5k
  Reebok Wythenshaw Sizzlers 5k, 6 August 2009, 19 minutes, 41 seconds – new PB – no previous 5k races entered

2010 targets

I failed to hit two of my 2009 targets. I wanted to run a half marathon in less than 1 hour 30 minutes, and a 10k in sub-40 minutes. I was very close on the 10k time, missing out by only 13 seconds in my last 10k race of the year. I’ll be taking part in the same Trafford 10k in February, and sub-40 will still be the target. I believe this race offers the best chance of breaking 40 minutes as it’s a fairly flat course apart from a few small bridges, and I’ve ran it before so know the route.

I’d have run the Great North West Half Marathon in Blackpool again, but unfortunately this takes place on the same day as the Trafford 10k this year so my first half marathon of the year will probably be at the end of March at the Liverpool Half Marathon.

I’m still planning my other races for the year, but I’m sure there’ll be a lot of 5k races as there’s a local (and free) parkrun which takes place each Saturday. I’ve been waiting to get my marathon training, and the current bad weather, out of the way before taking part, but I’m sure I’ll do a couple in January to kick off the year.

Declaration: I will not take part in a full marathon this year. Please shoot me if I post about any such plans.

Finally, my distance target for 2010 is 1,500 miles. I had a pretty full running year in 2009 and still finished 400 miles of 1,500 but it’s certainly a goal I’d like to achieve.

External links

• My yearly total from dailymile
• My Garmin Connect GPS statistics (since September 2009)

As previously alluded to, I took part in the 2009 Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon on 6 December. I continued my streak of finishing each marathon faster than I ran the last. My finish time was 3 hours, 21 minutes, 53 seconds – almost exactly 21 minutes faster than Vegas last year (which I finished in 3 hours, 42 minutes, 47 seconds). To say I’m happy with my finish time is an understatement!

The marathon course had been changed from last year and the event had a new organiser. I had high hopes for the course, but despite spending more time running on the Strip than previously, the bulk of it was still pretty awful. Promised as “fast and flat”, it certainly wasn’t the latter. There was a steady climb from the 8 mile point all the way to 20 miles. The elevation chart from my Garmin GPS watch below proves the point. The course then went in the opposite direction and the last six miles were mostly downhill but with a couple of killer bridges to get over in the last couple of miles. They felt like a cruel punishment after running such a distance.

The hills weren’t my only issue with the course. Although it wasn’t as mind-numbingly boring as last year’s, once the runners headed off the Strip there just wasn’t anything ‘good’ about it. It was an extremely bland “away from the strip, turn a couple of times, away even more, then back on yourself to the finish” route that went past numerous impressive spectacles – there was a McDonalds, I’m sure I even saw a dry-cleaners, and then I saw lots and lots (and lots) of walls belonging to the houses/apartments/ghettos behind them.

It’s probably a little unfair to criticise the course so much. Away from the Strip, Las Vegas really does’t have very many other attractive sights that would be suitable for a running course. It would have been nicer for the full marathon to be run entirely on the Strip in the same way that the half-marathon was, but I’m sure the road-closure logistics would make this a nightmare. I’d still propose it for next year’s event as the sights there certainly make for a more interesting running experience, especially when the body and mind start their inevitable fatigue.

Future plans

As always, I finish a marathon and then say I’m not going to do another for a while. I really mean it this time. I did a long training program that was more difficult than a regular one. I followed the FIRST training plan which involved 3 hard runs per week – one interval session, one tempo run and one distance run at a faster pace than usually advised. I followed it religiously and it obviously paid off, but the weekend distance sessions were long and gruelling. I actually followed the plan for a 3 hour, 10 minute finish as my previous race times indicated that was the training schedule that I could carry out, even though I knew that actual marathon finish time was out of the question.

I think a couple of years of more ‘regular’ running is called for. No marathons, but I’ll be taking part in 5k, 10k and half-marathon races more often. In 2009 I’ve ran more miles than ever before, hitting my year’s 1,000 mile target a month early in November. I’m now aiming to get in 1,100 miles for the year which means running another 58 miles in 20 days. My target for next year will be 1,500 miles, but anything over 1,000 will be good, meaning I’ve had another consistent running year.

Next up is the Trafford 10k on 21 February, which I’ll be running for the third time. I’ve broken my 10k personal best time both times I ran this race, my current best being 40 minutes, 13 seconds. I’m still aiming to finish a 10k in less than 40 minutes and that’s my target for the race.

It’s been a while since my last entry and from the running perspective, plenty has happened. I’ve ran new personal best times for both 10k and half marathon races, ran every day for a month, and kept on track for my 1,000 miles in 2009 challenge.

My running year started with the Great North West Half Marathon in Blackpool in February. I had previously ran my personal best half marathon time of 1 hour, 35 minutes, 50 seconds in 2007 while training for the Paris Marathon. This year, despite the usual very strong wind, I managed a new PB of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 36 seconds. Still well outside my goal personal best half marathon target of 1 hour 30 minutes. I’ll be aiming to get closer to that target in the Swinton Half Marathon at the end of September.

In March, I ran the Trafford 10k, which has a nice flat course and the weather was almost perfect for running – sunny but very cool and not much wind. I finished in exactly 41 minutes, another new personal best time. I’ve got a goal personal best time of 40 minutes for a 10k race so I’m still outside that and haven’t come any closer in subsequent attempts.

I finished my most recent two 10k races, May’s Great Manchester Run and Tuesday’s Rochdale 10k, in exactly the same time – 42 minutes, 24 seconds. I was very surprised to finish both races the same because the courses were so very different. The Manchester race was mostly flat but the conditions were very windy, especially the last couple of miles which were running into the wind. The Rochdale run was very rarely flat, it was the most gruelling 10k race I’ve done because it was all hills. Why, oh why, is it that the downhill part of a course never helps you out in the way the uphill part of the course tires you out?

In June, I successfully set myself a personal challenge to run every day. I’ve previously never ran for more than 3 days in a row, because my legs, especially my shins, ended up very sore and I had to then rest them.

I set a daily goal of only runs of no less than four miles, which is shorter than the other runs I did consecutively. Despite having a month-long ache in my legs, I got through the challenge with no injuries and towards the end of the month ran a couple of six milers in preparation for the Rochdale 10k on 7 July.

And despite my last post here, I’m not only considering running the Las Vegas Marathon again in December, but to also do it as part of another personal challenge – four marathons in four weeks. More information to follow, perhaps!

Another marathon, another retirement! Number four was completed on 7 December 2008, this time the Las Vegas Marathon – my fourth in three years and a month. Just like after all of the others, I’ve decided to retire from full marathons and concentrate on smaller races such as 10k or half marathons.

The main reason for this is a simple one. Marathons are bloody hard work! Considering the long, hard training runs, the amount of time spent away from my girls when I was training, and the sheer exhausting nature of a marathon, it’s shorter runs for me from now on (until the next time I forget about all the pain I’ve endured and enter another).

I finished in Vegas in 3 hours 42 minutes 47 seconds, with a pretty good finishing position of 531 from 11,279 runners. This was my personal best time for a marathon, beating my 2007 Paris Marathon time by a full two minutes. Great!

Photos from the marathon are available in my Flickr set.

2008 statistics

During 2008, I ran a total of 527.31 miles. It was a very patchy year for my training with several months passing without more than a couple of runs, so 527 miles isn’t too bad. Considering the arrival of Mia in August too, my training in the last five months of the year has been pretty good.

The 2009 challenge

I’m challenging myself to almost double my 2008 mileage in the year of 2009. 1,000 miles is the goal, an average of 83 miles per month or around 20 miles per week. It’s an achievable target if I get a little more consistency and dedication to running. I’ll try, but it will be difficult. I start work at 7am, so running before work is out of the question. If I schedule a run for after I get home, it’s always a big challenge to leave my adorable daughter behind so soon after seeing her again. Running immediately after work but before getting home is the best weekday option, and I’ll be continuing the marathon ‘long run at the weekend’ plan.

I hope to take part in at least four half marathons and at least four 10k races in 2009. That should give me the necessary impetus to keep up my weekly mileage requirements. My first race is set – I’ll be taking part in the Great North West Half Marathon in Blackpool for the second time in February 2009. I got my best half marathon time in Blackpool in 2007, and I’ll be hoping to beat, or be very close to my 1 hour 35 minutes finish time from then.

A couple of extra challenges within the challenge are to finish a 10k race within 40 minutes, and a half marathon within 1 hour 30 minutes. If I manage either time, I’ll re-evaluate the challenge and try to reduce my personal bests further still.

And absolutely, definitely no more marathons. Well…

The time of year has arrived when 24 ways, the advent calendar for all web designers and developers, returns. From 1 to 24 December, a daily article containing ‘web design and development goodness’ is published.

The first installment, ‘Easing The Path from Design to Development‘, provides a useful reference on handing over a project from a creative designer to a web designer/developer, something which will have caused issues for many web coders.