Week 12 variation

Week 12


This week included various forms of cross training. I had an interesting chestnut beer from l'Ardeche in front of the TV for the Top 14 French rugby final on Saturday after a day spent, mostly lounging in a bathrobe, at a spa. At the spa I discovered a few things I want to do when I finish the marathon. I might not go in for the aqua aerobics again but there was a massaging super Jacuzzi that relieved pain everywhere in my body, particularly the water jets on my feet. That was awesome. The rest of the day I was stuffing myself at the buffet or sun bathing. I did take a few dips in the pool but did not accomplish any real swimming.

On Sunday I participated in a breast cancer run 'MontpellieRienne'. It was a good laugh and a good cause but it did nothing for my training. I had to walk behind a lot of strollers and old people walking 5 abreast. At some points I was almost standing still. I made a few short dashes to get around people when I saw openings so that I could catch up with my girlfriend who, being smaller, had managed to worm far ahead amongst the throngs pushing through the narrow medieval streets of Montpellier.

On Monday I did my long run. Looks like Monday is the last day of the week for me now. I only did 14km this time. I decided not to push it after all the week’s activity and it was getting latish. I need to try to make that long run a morning run. I wonder if the time of day you run has a big impact. I know I don't like to run too late or it prevents me from sleeping well but is there an ideal physiological time to run or is it best to vary the times. In reality most people are just happy to be able to slot it in whenever they can but I wonder if the pros have a theory beyond the strictly practical not running on a full stomach or just before bed time?

Next week my goal is to try to do one proper fartlek for at least 25 minutes and do a long run of 18.5km.

The week in review:

6k run (30 min, inc 10 min fast)
5k run (25 min, inc 4 times 60m sprint)
4.5k rowing machine (20 min)
Aquagym (20 min)
4k run (23 min)
14k run (1h 20 min)

Drinks: 4 reds, 1 white, 1 beer.
Chestnut beer. It was good but I have had better.
Domaine lasvabre -Les Demoiselles -Pic St. Loup 2006 red. Very impressive this. It went down a treat with my lamb. I had this at a fancy restaurant and I was not disappointed though it does leave a significant amount of sediment, at least I didn't have to do the dishes.
Clos Fantine -Faugères 2006 red. Love this stuff. Unmistakably Languedoc wine with its heavy herbs and berries flavours. We had duck breast from one of three whole ducks that we purchased on the farm and carved up last October in Gers.
Club Des Sommeliers -organic white chardonnay. Functional.
Mas Des Brousses -red. This is one of my wine bar old reliables. It did not disappoint and went down well with all the sausage cuts and cheese tapas.
Jardin Suspendu -red. This one went down even better than the Mas Des Brousses. It was also my signal to leave because it went down so well I could have stayed and ordered a whole bottle for myself but this was a school night. I am dying to go back and have another; I just need to find a gullible friend that I can lure back to that wine bar.

Week 11, longest run so far.

Wk 11
1.4k swim (25 min)
5.5k run (32 min)
8k run (45 min, inc 3 times 4 min fast)
4.5k run (25 min)
17k run (1h 40min)

I just finished the 17k. I tried the run 10 minutes -walk 1 formula while I took sips from my water bottle. I am fairly certain that this is the longest I have ever run in my life and I am going to have to do more than twice that distance in September. This is a terrifying thought. Week 11 is a bit of a cheat since I started on a Monday and included the following Monday of this long weekend. I would not have otherwise been able to fit in the long run. On Thursday I tried to do some fractioned runs but got tired and decided it would be easier to continue for 45 min at a reasonable pace. It ended up being more running than I intended so I was a bit too tired to do a long run this weekend so I did a little run and took advantage of the long weekend to do my big run today. Weirdly, my hand is what hurts the most now.
Drinks for the week:
This week I went for the French tricolour
Picpoul de Pinet (white), a great value white wine that always pairs well with shell fish. I enjoyed this one with some Moules Mariniers. Brilliant.
A semi de-alcoholised rosé from Domaine de la Colombette, Coteaux du Libron. Sounds weak tasting I know but it actually went down a treat on a sunny 30 degree day whilst enjoying my organic milk fed lamb liver covered in sesame seeds. The vintner extracts a portion of the alcohol to run his farm equipment. I didn't notice any change to the taste but with only 9 percent alcohol I could enjoy an extra cold glass in the sun without falling asleep.
I had some Champaign yesterday and I have to admit that it is not my favourite drink.
For some specific training I am getting ready to drink organic Bordeaux. I have never heard of this one before, Chateau Moulin de Romage, 2008. Let you know how it goes with the steak.

How it all began

I started doing some little jogs last autumn because of a fall. It was my first "sports" injury of any lasting impact. I fell from a granny style electric bicycle while doing a wine tour in cote de Mont Ventoux. I tore a ligament in my hand and it has been incredibly slow to heal. Almost a year later and I cannot lift weights and I can't swim too hard without taping my pinky and ring finger together or I feel it for days after. I know what you are thinking.. and no I had barely started the circuit, at the time of the incident I had a fimble full of white wine in my system at best.
The jogging was the result of a limited selection of activities I could do to get in shape this year and some vague talk between my brother in law and I over the prospect of doing a crazy marathon in Bordeaux.

Barolo and wine runner's lexicon

I just missed an opportunity to go to Rome because I am still waiting on my "carte de sejour", French for permission to go in and out of the country as I please without getting deported. Fortunately, I have been before and my girlfriend and her family were kind enough to bring me back some Italian treats. Yesterday was a multi course Italian meal with Barolo wine and no running. Today, I drank Minervois from my trusty bag in a box with some left over pizza pie and fusili in pesto. I continued with some goat’s cheese, Basque Iraty cheese with black cherry fruit spread. The finisher was left over Tiramisu and a small pot of coffee from my Italian coffee maker. Then I went for a 1.4k swim (25 min). Dinner tonight will be steak, Swiss chard and sweet potato. Probably I will drink the Minervois again to see if it has matured since lunch time. I'll have a couple squares of dark Italian chocolate to finish.
I have been reading up a little on how to prepare for a marathon. The shortcoming of the literature that I have found is that it is based on people who are only doing one event... running. So I have decided to use the same techniques for preparing for the drink stations. I may use some terms that you are not familiar with so I have created a mini lexicon:
I will refer to drinking other alcohols as "cross training". For example, on Sunday, I watched a rugby match while drinking a fabulous Basque amber ale- that was cross training, in case you missed it.
"Specific training" refers to when I am drinking Bordeaux.
"Endurance training", I suppose, would be a massive night out but this seldom happens anymore, not that my endurance has deteriorated. It is my recuperation phase which has become critical and drooling on my slippers for days on end is not going to help me finish 42.2k.

The first 10 weeks in brief

I am training for le marathon de Medoc in September which requires me to drink 23 different Bordeaux wines and run 42.2 Kilometres. Ok. Perhaps I am not actually required to drink all 23 but I think I should make a concerted effort or it would be just as well to do some other more conventional marathon.
I have never run in any competition before, however my alcohol consumption skills have a much more solid foundation. I am going to try to turn this to my benefit.
I am in year 17 of my drinking preparation and week 10 of my anticipated 27 weeks of running before the marathon on September 11.
In this blog I will attempt to document my jogs and wine consumption. I welcome advice and encouragement. I have kept a written record of my main physical activity (including the raising of glasses) so I will put that down here for further reference


Wk 1
1k - swim (25 min)
3k - rowing machine (10 min), 600m swim (12 min)
5k run (28 min), ski machine (5 min)
3.5k run (24 min)

Wk 2
5k run (27 min), bike 2 times (15 min)-warm up/cool down
5k run (25 min,inc 4 times 4 min fast), bike 2 times 20 min-warm up/cool down
3.5k jog/walk (35 min), bike 2 times (15 min)
7k run (45 min)

Wk 3
3k run (20 min), 1k swim
3k run ( 20 min, inc 4 times 4 minutes fast)
6k run (31 min)
7k run (40 min)

Wk 4
5k run (20 min),bike (2 times 20 min), ski machine (15 min), 500m swim (10 min)
5k run (30 min)
8k run (50 min)

wk 5
5.5k run (33 min)
6.5k run (25 min, inc 4 times 4 min fast)

Wk 6
2k run (15 min), cardio (15 min)
5.8k run (26 min)
12.4k run (1h 27 min)

Wk 7
6.5k run (40 min)
3k run (20 min), cardio (20 min)
1.5k run (10 min), cardio (30 min), ski machine (8 min)
8k run (50 min)

Wk 8
5.6k run (30 min, inc 5 times 4 min fast, ski machine (12 min)
4k run (30 min)
12k run (1h 7 min, inc first 10k 51 min)

wk 9
4k jog (40 min)
6.5k run (45 min)
13k run (1h 15 min)

Wk 10
6.5k (45 min)
cutting down and uprooting a tree (35 min)
15k (1h 20 min)

wines consumed wk10: coteaux d'Aix en Provence, Chateau Flaugeres- Montpellier, Minervois, Pic St. Loup, Vaceyras = all red and all yummy.