Nine weeks down, nine to go. I still haven't missed a training session. I've had to shuffle some around a bit but not actually missed any which is better than I've managed on any other training plan. And I'm running more days per week than on any other training plan I've followed.
This week is my last speed intervals session. I was supposed to run it this morning but due to me staying up all night on Sunday to watch the Oscars (an annual thing I do, sad I know) I had to shuffle my running days this week back by a day so will run it tomorrow. Next week strength training replaces speed which means running longer intervals but at a slower speed (although still faster than marathon speed).
My long run this week was 15 miles. The intensity of the week runs means I'm running the long run on tired legs which I suppose is the purpose of the whole plan. On Saturday's I'm running either 8 miles or 10 miles and then running a long run on the Sunday. It's pretty exhausting. Anyway, on Sunday I ran down the Thames path to Hammersmith Bridge (which is a beautiful bridge by the way, not quite as pretty as Albert Bridge but it's a close second), crossed over to the other side and then back along the other side. It's a great run and one that I don't do too often so is nice to reacquaint myself with it.
Over the years that I've been running I've noticed more and more people on the streets running. It seems as though running is in. Maybe it's because it's a cheap exercise. Maybe it's to do with social media (i.e. I see my friends are running, maybe I should too). Maybe it's because we are more informed about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle than ever before. Or more probably a combination of all to varying degrees. What's encouraging is that I'm seeing more people earlier in the year while it is still cold in the morning. This makes a change from the usual fair weather runners that I tend to pass during the spring/summer months when it is nice and light and warm early in the day. I hope it continues.
I weighed myself as normal this week but for some reason it did not link up with the internet correctly so I can't display it. Suffice to say that my weight has dropped to 79.5kg. It's not much of a loss but is better than a gain. I'm still 1.5kg away from my ideal target and have 9 weeks to do it.
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Tuesday 17 February 2015
New old routes
One of the problems with training regularly is that it becomes harder and harder to keep it fresh. Sometimes you don't want to; for instance, on Tuesdays I run my speed intervals pretty much around the same loop because a) I know it's relatively flat, b) there aren't going to be any tricky car junctions to cross and c) it helps to have an idea of how far I need to run for that interval.
But on Sunday especially it can be nice to go out for a long run along a relatively new path. The trouble is that the longer I've been running then the fewer new paths there are for me to find. So I have to improvise and head out without a clear idea of where I'm going to go. This doesn't necessarily mean I find new paths to run but it does mean I end up mixing regular routes to create a new one. A sort of mish-mash if you will.
That's what I did this weekend. On the Saturday and Sunday I had to run 10 miles each day. So for Saturday I intended to run a regular 10 mile route, got to about 3 miles and then veered off and made the rest of it up off the cuff. Over the years of running around here I have acquired an ability to know the distances between places within a 5 mile radius of my house. It came to a point that my wife ran a loop around where we live but didn't know the distance. She told me the route and I guessed 3 miles. She then checked her iPhone app that she had used and it said 2.99 miles. That's not a bad guess!
On Sunday I ran a circuit of the two parks I ran last week and then headed down to another park nearby and a ran a circuit of that as well. It added up to about 5 miles in total for the two park circuits and then the same again for the distance between them. 10 miles done and a new route remembered for future use.
This sort of improvisation is going to be needed a lot over the next few weeks up to the marathon as I have a lot of similar distance runs to go on (8 and 10 milers).
My weigh in this week was a pleasant surprise since I hadn't changed any weight last week. This week I have dropped another 2kg. Not sure how although the only difference I could tell was that I weighed myself an hour or two later than I had previously, but I don't think that would be enough to make that much difference. Still, let's see what it is next week. It may just be a blip.
But on Sunday especially it can be nice to go out for a long run along a relatively new path. The trouble is that the longer I've been running then the fewer new paths there are for me to find. So I have to improvise and head out without a clear idea of where I'm going to go. This doesn't necessarily mean I find new paths to run but it does mean I end up mixing regular routes to create a new one. A sort of mish-mash if you will.
That's what I did this weekend. On the Saturday and Sunday I had to run 10 miles each day. So for Saturday I intended to run a regular 10 mile route, got to about 3 miles and then veered off and made the rest of it up off the cuff. Over the years of running around here I have acquired an ability to know the distances between places within a 5 mile radius of my house. It came to a point that my wife ran a loop around where we live but didn't know the distance. She told me the route and I guessed 3 miles. She then checked her iPhone app that she had used and it said 2.99 miles. That's not a bad guess!
On Sunday I ran a circuit of the two parks I ran last week and then headed down to another park nearby and a ran a circuit of that as well. It added up to about 5 miles in total for the two park circuits and then the same again for the distance between them. 10 miles done and a new route remembered for future use.
This sort of improvisation is going to be needed a lot over the next few weeks up to the marathon as I have a lot of similar distance runs to go on (8 and 10 milers).
My weigh in this week was a pleasant surprise since I hadn't changed any weight last week. This week I have dropped another 2kg. Not sure how although the only difference I could tell was that I weighed myself an hour or two later than I had previously, but I don't think that would be enough to make that much difference. Still, let's see what it is next week. It may just be a blip.
Wednesday 11 February 2015
Running in circles
On Sunday I decided to run 14 miles around two of my local parks. Five laps in total. I thought it would be a decent experiment mainly because every other weekend up until the marathon I will be running 10 miles on the Saturday and another 10 miles on the Sunday. I thought if I could get used to doing laps then I won't have to keep finding new routes every time I head off.
As it turned out it wasn't as repetitive or dull as I expected it to be. That's mainly because I reversed every other route to make it slightly more interesting but also because of the repetition I could switch off, listen to my podcasts and concentrate on my running.
On Monday I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredibly stiff (and painful) shoulder. It was still stiff first thing in the morning, so much so that I had to cancel that day's run and also work from home since I was unable to cycle. A constant supply of ibuprofen and a hot water bottle helped ease the pain over the day. The pain has reduced over the week but even as I write this on the Wednesday night I can still feel it although it has not stopped me running.
Even though I'm reorganising my training schedule a bit I haven't missed a run so far. It does mean that I will be running 8 days solid to catch up.
My weight loss has completely halted this week even though I have not drunk any alcohol. It must mean that my calories in vs calories out is now a zero sum game. To lose more I either have to run more or eat less or a combination of the two. Time will tell.
As it turned out it wasn't as repetitive or dull as I expected it to be. That's mainly because I reversed every other route to make it slightly more interesting but also because of the repetition I could switch off, listen to my podcasts and concentrate on my running.
On Monday I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredibly stiff (and painful) shoulder. It was still stiff first thing in the morning, so much so that I had to cancel that day's run and also work from home since I was unable to cycle. A constant supply of ibuprofen and a hot water bottle helped ease the pain over the day. The pain has reduced over the week but even as I write this on the Wednesday night I can still feel it although it has not stopped me running.
Even though I'm reorganising my training schedule a bit I haven't missed a run so far. It does mean that I will be running 8 days solid to catch up.
My weight loss has completely halted this week even though I have not drunk any alcohol. It must mean that my calories in vs calories out is now a zero sum game. To lose more I either have to run more or eat less or a combination of the two. Time will tell.
Tuesday 3 February 2015
It's snow joke
Today was the first day that we had snow in London this year. I was due to run a pyramid speed session and headed out the door positive I was going to knock it out of the park! About 100m down the road I realised that the conditions weren't exactly the best for running a speed session. I lightly jogged around a corner and almost went A over T. Ha, I thought, better cancel today's session. So, I headed home and took today as my rest day with the intention of shuffling my other sessions around a bit so I didn't miss out. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I will attempt the speed session, then Thursday will be an easy run and a tempo run on Friday. That should get me back on schedule by the weekend.
It's a pain but sometimes you have to be practical and if the weather isn't playing ball there's not much you can do but move your sessions around. It's the first time I've had to do this which is not bad going considering I am now just over a third of the way through the plan (6 weeks down, 12 to go).
My runs since last week have been pretty easy. My tempo run has increased by a mile but isn't any more difficult and on the weekend my long run was only 10 miles on the Saturday which is just under an hour and a half so I'm back in the house and eating my porridge before I know it.
I can definitely feel my legs getting stronger. Running decent distances 6 days a week is starting to pay dividends. Let's just hope that the weather this week doesn't put a wrecking ball through it!
My weight loss is still on track. It's plateauing as expected but still going in a downward direction. I've managed to hook my scales back up with the internet so can see my results more clearly. My waist hasn't changed much, it's just below 94cm at the moment.
It's a pain but sometimes you have to be practical and if the weather isn't playing ball there's not much you can do but move your sessions around. It's the first time I've had to do this which is not bad going considering I am now just over a third of the way through the plan (6 weeks down, 12 to go).
My runs since last week have been pretty easy. My tempo run has increased by a mile but isn't any more difficult and on the weekend my long run was only 10 miles on the Saturday which is just under an hour and a half so I'm back in the house and eating my porridge before I know it.
I can definitely feel my legs getting stronger. Running decent distances 6 days a week is starting to pay dividends. Let's just hope that the weather this week doesn't put a wrecking ball through it!
My weight loss is still on track. It's plateauing as expected but still going in a downward direction. I've managed to hook my scales back up with the internet so can see my results more clearly. My waist hasn't changed much, it's just below 94cm at the moment.
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