On Monday I entered the Turkey Trot half marathon. Yes, really. When I filled in my details on line I did think 'what the hell am I doing!!' But over the past 2 weeks since the Great North Run I haven't really done much exercise and I feel like a sloth. I liked what running was doing to my body, I liked that I slept well every night and I liked the feeling of achievement when I finished a session.
So I'm going to do another one. This time it's personal, looking back at the GNR I think I could have shaved a couple of minutes off just by stopping moaning in the last 2 miles! (Flino would agree!!). I need something to focus on to stop me wittering about everything else. I've had a couple of weeks rest and now I'm back on it.
I'm on a train at the moment on the way back from a meeting in London. When I get home I'm going to run 4 miles. Even if it's raining.
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Friday, 28 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Last long run
Last week was hard. Hard to fit my training in, hard to make sure Frank was getting the attention & time from us that he deserves, I was up early every day and I am well known to be incredibly grumpy when I'm tired.
I ran on Monday - did my planned 35 minutes. Then on Tuesday I was meant to do 2x4 miles at 9 minute mile pace with 5 minutes recovery. I didn't do it but planned to do the session on Wednesday. I thought I'd run home from work & fit it in then. I can't remember now why that didn't work out but I ended up not running. By Thursday I was irritated and angry with myself for not doing the planned session & I was due to do intervals. So I ran from home to Pride Park (3 miles). Did the interval session (5x3 minutes at 7.30 minute miles with 90 seconds recovery) and then ran home. It wasn't what was on the plan but it was the best I could do.
Yesterday I ran 12 miles. Flino came with me to be my pacemaker - he's brilliant at running almost perfect splits. Compared to last week's 11 miler yesterday's run was a breeze! We ran up through Mackworth, onto the cycle track to Mickleover and then down the old railway track to Etwall, once we'd done 6 miles we turned round and came back again.
The first 3.5 miles are a steady uphill so I had to work hard at keeping to my pace. Once we got on the railway path it flattened out & we ran along having a conversation about great it will be when Frank is big enough to come out running with us. I didn't have my watch on, I wanted to just run for 2 hours without thinking about pace, miles or time.
We reached the halfway point and I was feeling pretty good. Flino did a great job of keeping me motivated and the time seemed to be flying by. I had a wobble around 10 miles the end seemed to be just too far away but other than that I managed. I felt tired, of course, at the end but much better than I did at the end of last weeks 11 miles.
I ate some soup when I got home, had a shower and then went to sleep for an hour. Later on I made Cottage Pie - it tasted amazing by the time I got to eat it. So I had 2 portions. And a Magnum. The week didn't seem so hard after all.
I ran on Monday - did my planned 35 minutes. Then on Tuesday I was meant to do 2x4 miles at 9 minute mile pace with 5 minutes recovery. I didn't do it but planned to do the session on Wednesday. I thought I'd run home from work & fit it in then. I can't remember now why that didn't work out but I ended up not running. By Thursday I was irritated and angry with myself for not doing the planned session & I was due to do intervals. So I ran from home to Pride Park (3 miles). Did the interval session (5x3 minutes at 7.30 minute miles with 90 seconds recovery) and then ran home. It wasn't what was on the plan but it was the best I could do.
Yesterday I ran 12 miles. Flino came with me to be my pacemaker - he's brilliant at running almost perfect splits. Compared to last week's 11 miler yesterday's run was a breeze! We ran up through Mackworth, onto the cycle track to Mickleover and then down the old railway track to Etwall, once we'd done 6 miles we turned round and came back again.
The first 3.5 miles are a steady uphill so I had to work hard at keeping to my pace. Once we got on the railway path it flattened out & we ran along having a conversation about great it will be when Frank is big enough to come out running with us. I didn't have my watch on, I wanted to just run for 2 hours without thinking about pace, miles or time.
We reached the halfway point and I was feeling pretty good. Flino did a great job of keeping me motivated and the time seemed to be flying by. I had a wobble around 10 miles the end seemed to be just too far away but other than that I managed. I felt tired, of course, at the end but much better than I did at the end of last weeks 11 miles.
I ate some soup when I got home, had a shower and then went to sleep for an hour. Later on I made Cottage Pie - it tasted amazing by the time I got to eat it. So I had 2 portions. And a Magnum. The week didn't seem so hard after all.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Pace yourself
The Olympics have started, the opening ceremony was fantastic, I have had a drink (2 glasses of Proseco on Friday night and 2 G&T's at a party last night) and this morning I ran 10k.
The original plan was for me to do a 10k race today but the nearest event was in Wigan so Flino kindly offered to 'pace' me. Whilst I was eating my porridge this morning there was some discussion around the speed I should aim for...
Rob's suggested precision pace was 9.08 per mile. I decided that I'd do a mile warm up very slow jog down to the flat river path and then start the 10k. Flino offered to set the pace and run a little in front of me. All I had to do was to keep up.
We set off on the warm up, stopping just before a mile to do some dynamic stretches. Then it was on to the river path and the 10k began. The first 3 miles were ok, it was hot in the sun but I felt comfortable. The national BMX championships were on at Alvaston Park and there were people, bikes and dogs milling about all over the path which meant dodging, stopping and starting to make sure I didn't trip over.
When we turned around at 3 miles I began to have a mental battle with myself. I started to worry about running back past the BMX track, my shoulders tightened up and instantly my breathing become laboured. I was doubting myself.
We negotiated the park and I relaxed a little. I started reeling off names in my head of people I want to prove something to by doing this run (a tip I've stolen from Arya in Game of Thrones!) and it actually helped! My breathing slowed down and I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
The last mile was hard, I wanted to stop but Flino kept pushing me, telling me we were nearly finished. I gritted my teeth and sprinted the last 200 meters. I'd ran 10k in 58.08. These were my splits:
9.21
9.24
9.27
9.32
9.37
9.19
In the general scheme of things I know this isn't fast, but compared to last weeks 6 mile run, I was averaging 40 seconds per mile faster. This is the pace I need to run the half marathon if I want to finish in under 2 hours.
I've done 4 weeks of training now, I've ran 17 miles this week and 60 miles in the past month!
I weighed myself yesterday. 4 weeks of training, 60 miles and no alcohol. Hadn't lost a bloody pound. Oh well, on to month 2 of the plan....
The original plan was for me to do a 10k race today but the nearest event was in Wigan so Flino kindly offered to 'pace' me. Whilst I was eating my porridge this morning there was some discussion around the speed I should aim for...
Rob's suggested precision pace was 9.08 per mile. I decided that I'd do a mile warm up very slow jog down to the flat river path and then start the 10k. Flino offered to set the pace and run a little in front of me. All I had to do was to keep up.
We set off on the warm up, stopping just before a mile to do some dynamic stretches. Then it was on to the river path and the 10k began. The first 3 miles were ok, it was hot in the sun but I felt comfortable. The national BMX championships were on at Alvaston Park and there were people, bikes and dogs milling about all over the path which meant dodging, stopping and starting to make sure I didn't trip over.
When we turned around at 3 miles I began to have a mental battle with myself. I started to worry about running back past the BMX track, my shoulders tightened up and instantly my breathing become laboured. I was doubting myself.
We negotiated the park and I relaxed a little. I started reeling off names in my head of people I want to prove something to by doing this run (a tip I've stolen from Arya in Game of Thrones!) and it actually helped! My breathing slowed down and I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
The last mile was hard, I wanted to stop but Flino kept pushing me, telling me we were nearly finished. I gritted my teeth and sprinted the last 200 meters. I'd ran 10k in 58.08. These were my splits:
9.21
9.24
9.27
9.32
9.37
9.19
In the general scheme of things I know this isn't fast, but compared to last weeks 6 mile run, I was averaging 40 seconds per mile faster. This is the pace I need to run the half marathon if I want to finish in under 2 hours.
I've done 4 weeks of training now, I've ran 17 miles this week and 60 miles in the past month!
I weighed myself yesterday. 4 weeks of training, 60 miles and no alcohol. Hadn't lost a bloody pound. Oh well, on to month 2 of the plan....
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