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Week 2: Battling the weather

Simon — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:12:07 +0000

I’ve been battling against the weather this week. First, it’s been bitterly cold most mornings and those plunging temperatures bring frost and icy conditions. It wasn’t so bad on Monday, but on Tuesday, It was obvious that only the roads had been gritted, not the promenade. I had fallen over once just walking to my usual starting point, so with my route looking more like an ice rink, I had to abandon my run because it was just too dangerous.

Then on Thursday there I started my run in a light rain, which I can handle. However, this soon turned into a horrendous freezing cold shower as I tried to run around the headland. The winds are always bad around there because it is so exposed, but this time they beat me and I turned around. I still intended to complete my planned mileage along a different route, but as I got to the Sea Life Centre, about two miles in, the rain was still pounding me and the wind was not giving up.

So, again, I decided to abandon that run as well. By the time I had walked home, I was thoroughly soaked (my jacket not being waterproof enough to survive the onslaught of the rain), my jogging bottoms clinging and chilling my legs and the rest of me absolutely frozen.

I don’t really like training in winter and this week has proved just how difficult (and disappointing) it can be.

The road to Dublin

Simon — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:12:16 +0000

Last week saw the end of my base training schedule. Now I need to crack on with the actual marathon training so I have a hope of meeting my 5h30m target. Unfortunately, the classic British summer weather meant that my first day of marathon training was not a good one.

Now I don’t want to sound dramatic, but today’s run was definitely not fun and involved an element of suffering. It was grey and overcast when I set out and it didn’t improve at all. First, it started spitting, then it turned into a full-on rainstorm. Even though I had foreseen this and taken my coat, this soon became wet through with the rain, making every movement cold and uncomfortable.

So all of this combined to make what should have been an easy 3 mile/30 minute easy jog into a gruelling slog. Each step felt like I had already ran a marathon before it. Hopefully the weather will improve in time for my next run on Wednesday.

Good Friday: Wet and Windy

Simon — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:37:17 +0000

Today’s training session was just that: wet and windy. This was my second “Tempo” session, where the idea is to run for a set period, then rest for an equal period and repeat the cycle a given number of times. So today it was six three-minute sessions. Just minutes after I started, the weather changed from cool and bright to horrible driving rain and what felt like gale force winds. So the first thing I had to do was change my route and run with the wind rather than against it. The weather hadn’t finished changing yet though and the rain turned to hail, which forced me to take cover at the Royal Albert Cafe.

So, after about 10 minutes waiting for the rain to abate, I set out again. My new route would take me round the headland, past the South Bay and finishing near the Spa. I knew that the wind would be bad around the headland, as it is windy even on calm days. Today, however, it nearly blew me off my feet. It got so bad, that I could feel the wind pushing me of course and almost pushing me over. So I had to walk until I got to the South Bay, which was a little more sheltered.

One amusing thing was watching tourists determined to enjoy their walk around the headland, even if it meant being blown off their feet whilst pelted with freezing rain.

Running round the South Bay was fairly easy until I reached the Spa roundabout, when it started raining again. I continued on, running right up to the Ocean Room, where I finished my run for today. Walking back was eventful too: Walking up the South Bay Gardens towards the Spa Bridge a storm of hailstones forced me to take shelter again.