This week has been a week of decisions.
There's a fine line between running to your best ability without a) causing yourself an injury and b) running becoming a chore rather than something enjoyable. This week I felt my training schedule was coming close to ticking both boxes.
On Tuesday I was due to run some intervals but didn't feel right as I left the house at 6am. My hip was still hurting from the long run on Sunday and I didn't feel right in the head. It had all the hallmarks of over training. I ran about half a mile down the road and stopped. I sat on a wall and thought about what I was trying to do. My plan has been to run a marathon in under 3 hours 30 minutes. I wondered if this was a step too far considering that my previous best was 3 hours 44 minutes and that I had been injured only a couple of months ago. So, I cancelled my session for the day and decided to re-think my goal.
I decided that I would reset my objective for the marathon and would aim for sub 3 hour 45 minutes with the intention of beating my previous personal best. So I uploaded a new training schedule into my Garmin watch. This schedule was still based on pace rather than heart rate and the biggest difference I noticed was that although the training schedule required the same distances to be run the pace that they were to be run at was significantly slower.
New schedule in hand I started the training on Wednesday morning. This was a 9 mile run at a slow pace. I was much happier with the new schedule as it took some pressure off me. That was until I finished the run and realised that I had paced it at exactly the same pace as before I had changed schedules. Basically I could have run the same run using the old schedule and probably would have thought that it was tough but just because I had changed to an "easier" training schedule I enjoyed the run even though both would have been run at the same pace. This made me think that it was all psychological and hatched another plan.
This time I decided to revert to the 3 hour 30 minute schedule but instead of training by pace I am going to train by heart rate. This means that no matter how I feel my pace will be limited by how well my heart is pumping. As I improve then my pace will improve although my heart rate will stay the same. That is this week's plan anyway! With only six weeks to go until the marathon I haven't got time to be messing about with the schedule.
Staying over at friends for a barbecue on Saturday evening meant that I had to run my long run on the Saturday morning rather than the Sunday. It was meant to be a half marathon race but I couldn't find one locally being run on the Saturday morning so I had to go out on my own and just knock out a fast half marathon time. I managed to go sub 1 hour 40 minutes which I am pleased with and I think that under race conditions I could have gone up to 5 minutes quicker. That's what I like to think, the truth may be somewhat less. Here's the Garmin link to the half marathon.
This week I have to run another 20 mile long run. I will be running this on a Friday because I am away for a friend's 40th birthday weekend. I am hoping it doesn't go as badly as the last 20 miler that I did!
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Marathon Training - Week 9
An enforced break from blogging whilst I have been away on holiday.
Managed to miss only three training sessions whilst on holiday. Due to being on a fly-drive of the western parts of the US I had to move a lot of the sessions around to match up with locations and temperatures. This meant that I had to do an 18 mile run on the Friday morning that we were due to fly out to LA. I followed this up with 5 miles near the LA airport hotel, another 4 miles in Lake Havasu City (amazingly hot, even at 6am), 10 miles in Williams near the Grand Canyon, 7 miles in Las Vegas (up and down the Strip), 5 miles in Sequoia and another 5 miles in Yosemite. I then did a 20 mile long run on the Tuesday in San Francisco where it was much, much cooler. Considering that in the afternoon we went sightseeing (on segways no less) and went out drinking in the evening I felt fine. My last run was a 5 mile run, in Oxnard, near LA. It was meant to be an 11 mile run but I had stomach problems and had to cut the run short!
Running abroad was both a challenge and exciting. The challenge was trying to fit all the training into the schedule. This involved getting up early (around 6am) so I could get back to the hotel in time to check out and drive to the next location. It also meant that I had to be aware of what I was drinking the night before and couldn't exactly hit the town, but since I was doing pretty much all of the driving I didn't want to be driving in a foreign country on the "wrong" side of the road with a hangover! The exciting aspect was in the variety of the running. In one holiday I have run in the Yosemite and Sequoia national forests, up and down the Las Vegas Strip and across the Golden Gate Bridge. I got to see things that I didn't have a chance to when sightseeing.
Since landing back in the UK I have been following my running schedule closely. The difficulty has been trying to adjust to jet lag. On Tuesday I did not sleep at all overnight so just went out and did some speed work at 5:30 in the morning! I have noticed that as the week has gone on my heart rate is about 10 bpm more than it should be. I'm not sure if this is due to the jet lag, overtraining or just an anomaly. This morning I went for another 20 mile long run. It was a bit of a struggle to say the least. A number of issues conspired against me. Firstly I had a serious bout of insomnia last night (not jet lag related, just pure insomnia). Secondly I had plotted a route through Richmond Park. Richmond Park is beautiful and I saw lots of deer and parokeets but it is not at all flat. This pushed my heart rate right up and also meant I expended more energy than normal. I had to stop with 10k to go just to pop into a garage to buy some water. Now, I'm not sure if this is a continuation of the issues I noticed at the end of the last week or just a one-off based on the circumstances described. Anyhow, by the end of the run I was as shattered as I normally am after running a marathon. And this was at a slower pace. I am going to have to monitor how I feel during this week's training very closely indeed. If I think that I am overtraining then I will have to reduce my levels of training as well as reset my expectations for the marathon. I'm hoping it's a one-off!
On a more positive note I haven't gained any weight from being on holiday. So every cloud etc. etc.
Anyway here's my run from this morning, if you drill into it you can see how my heart rate shoots up quite significantly once I started climbing the hill to Richmond Park.
Managed to miss only three training sessions whilst on holiday. Due to being on a fly-drive of the western parts of the US I had to move a lot of the sessions around to match up with locations and temperatures. This meant that I had to do an 18 mile run on the Friday morning that we were due to fly out to LA. I followed this up with 5 miles near the LA airport hotel, another 4 miles in Lake Havasu City (amazingly hot, even at 6am), 10 miles in Williams near the Grand Canyon, 7 miles in Las Vegas (up and down the Strip), 5 miles in Sequoia and another 5 miles in Yosemite. I then did a 20 mile long run on the Tuesday in San Francisco where it was much, much cooler. Considering that in the afternoon we went sightseeing (on segways no less) and went out drinking in the evening I felt fine. My last run was a 5 mile run, in Oxnard, near LA. It was meant to be an 11 mile run but I had stomach problems and had to cut the run short!
Running abroad was both a challenge and exciting. The challenge was trying to fit all the training into the schedule. This involved getting up early (around 6am) so I could get back to the hotel in time to check out and drive to the next location. It also meant that I had to be aware of what I was drinking the night before and couldn't exactly hit the town, but since I was doing pretty much all of the driving I didn't want to be driving in a foreign country on the "wrong" side of the road with a hangover! The exciting aspect was in the variety of the running. In one holiday I have run in the Yosemite and Sequoia national forests, up and down the Las Vegas Strip and across the Golden Gate Bridge. I got to see things that I didn't have a chance to when sightseeing.
Since landing back in the UK I have been following my running schedule closely. The difficulty has been trying to adjust to jet lag. On Tuesday I did not sleep at all overnight so just went out and did some speed work at 5:30 in the morning! I have noticed that as the week has gone on my heart rate is about 10 bpm more than it should be. I'm not sure if this is due to the jet lag, overtraining or just an anomaly. This morning I went for another 20 mile long run. It was a bit of a struggle to say the least. A number of issues conspired against me. Firstly I had a serious bout of insomnia last night (not jet lag related, just pure insomnia). Secondly I had plotted a route through Richmond Park. Richmond Park is beautiful and I saw lots of deer and parokeets but it is not at all flat. This pushed my heart rate right up and also meant I expended more energy than normal. I had to stop with 10k to go just to pop into a garage to buy some water. Now, I'm not sure if this is a continuation of the issues I noticed at the end of the last week or just a one-off based on the circumstances described. Anyhow, by the end of the run I was as shattered as I normally am after running a marathon. And this was at a slower pace. I am going to have to monitor how I feel during this week's training very closely indeed. If I think that I am overtraining then I will have to reduce my levels of training as well as reset my expectations for the marathon. I'm hoping it's a one-off!
On a more positive note I haven't gained any weight from being on holiday. So every cloud etc. etc.
Anyway here's my run from this morning, if you drill into it you can see how my heart rate shoots up quite significantly once I started climbing the hill to Richmond Park.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Marathon Training - Week 5
Only five days of running this week because the training schedule allowed for an extra rest day after last week's 10k race. Still managed to clock up 40 miles in total with a 15 mile long run this morning.
This week sees me jiggling with my training schedule to allow for my flying to the States on Friday. This means I am going to be doing my long run of 18 miles on the Friday morning. My next rest day will be next Sunday which means 8 days straight of running. Could be quite tough but at least I'm hoping it will make sure I fall asleep on the 11 hour flight to LA.
This week will also see me doing some hill training on Tuesday morning. It's probably the most boring of the training types but helps build strength and will be the biggest test of my calf muscles so far. It's held up well to all my training up to this point so I'm quietly confident, although this could be the very definition of hubris!
I've achieved my race weight of 78.3kg three months before the start of the race. I now need to reduce my body fat content by another 2%. Not sure how I'm going to do this without losing more weight. I may need to alter my diet further. To be honest though, travelling around the States for two weeks on holiday will probably see my weight go up more than down.
This week sees me jiggling with my training schedule to allow for my flying to the States on Friday. This means I am going to be doing my long run of 18 miles on the Friday morning. My next rest day will be next Sunday which means 8 days straight of running. Could be quite tough but at least I'm hoping it will make sure I fall asleep on the 11 hour flight to LA.
This week will also see me doing some hill training on Tuesday morning. It's probably the most boring of the training types but helps build strength and will be the biggest test of my calf muscles so far. It's held up well to all my training up to this point so I'm quietly confident, although this could be the very definition of hubris!
I've achieved my race weight of 78.3kg three months before the start of the race. I now need to reduce my body fat content by another 2%. Not sure how I'm going to do this without losing more weight. I may need to alter my diet further. To be honest though, travelling around the States for two weeks on holiday will probably see my weight go up more than down.
Here's my 15 mile long run from this morning. I ran a new route down the Grand Union Canal to Notting Hill and then ran back along the Uxbridge Road towards Ealing. I've looked at the breakdown of the stats and I managed to keep my heart rate under 140 bpm for the first 10 miles, then it moved significantly towards the 150 bpm range. I think this is due to not taking on any water or fuel. I'll take some running gels with me for my 18 mile run on Friday.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Marathon Training - Week 4, Richmond 10k
This week's training culminated in the Richmond 10k. My first race since the Cardiff half marathon last October and my first race since getting injured last November and missing four months training. The course started at the far end of Old Deer Park and ran up the road towards Kew Bridge. Then it veered onto the path alongside the Thames toward Richmond before doubling back on itself and finishing back where it started in Old Deer Park. I would guess there were about 500 entrants which meant that the pack had spread out nicely by the time everyone reached the Thames path where it was two abreast at most for much of the way. It was overcast and cool with a light breeze, perfect running conditions.
I managed to finish in an unofficial time of 44 minutes exactly which is under the 45 minutes I was aiming for so am well pleased. I thought I had a chance to beat my PB (43:06) and ran the first 5km exactly to plan but my lack of fitness told in the second half and I had to concentrate on just finishing within the 45.
Apart from that my running this week has gone well. I did my first session of track work on Tuesday with some 800 repeats and followed this up with an 8 miler on the Wednesday and a 3 mile threshold run on Thursday with a 1 mile warm up and cool down either side. Monday and Saturday were the usual 4 and 5 mile easy pace runs respectively.
I'm off to the States a week on Friday and have managed to re-arrange my training schedule so that I'm able to pretty much run all of the sessions I'm required to. The only sessions that will probably drop out are two hill training sessions. Only because it may be tricky finding hills to run them on depending on where I am. I may substitute those with six or seven mile steady pace runs, or just miss them out altogether since I am supposed to be on holiday after all! The one run I am really hoping to do is a twenty miler when I am in San Francisco. If I do no other running on holiday but this one then I'll be happy. My girlfriend is happy if I do the runs early in the morning before she gets out of bed so they shouldn't impinge on the holiday that much. I'm just a bit wary of the temperatures that it might reach when I'm in places like Las Vegas. I hope it's not too hot first thing in the morning.
Here's the Richmond 10k run from this morning. Note - no podcast. I'm trying to run races without listening to anything, it should help me understand how I feel during the race itself.
I managed to finish in an unofficial time of 44 minutes exactly which is under the 45 minutes I was aiming for so am well pleased. I thought I had a chance to beat my PB (43:06) and ran the first 5km exactly to plan but my lack of fitness told in the second half and I had to concentrate on just finishing within the 45.
Apart from that my running this week has gone well. I did my first session of track work on Tuesday with some 800 repeats and followed this up with an 8 miler on the Wednesday and a 3 mile threshold run on Thursday with a 1 mile warm up and cool down either side. Monday and Saturday were the usual 4 and 5 mile easy pace runs respectively.
I'm off to the States a week on Friday and have managed to re-arrange my training schedule so that I'm able to pretty much run all of the sessions I'm required to. The only sessions that will probably drop out are two hill training sessions. Only because it may be tricky finding hills to run them on depending on where I am. I may substitute those with six or seven mile steady pace runs, or just miss them out altogether since I am supposed to be on holiday after all! The one run I am really hoping to do is a twenty miler when I am in San Francisco. If I do no other running on holiday but this one then I'll be happy. My girlfriend is happy if I do the runs early in the morning before she gets out of bed so they shouldn't impinge on the holiday that much. I'm just a bit wary of the temperatures that it might reach when I'm in places like Las Vegas. I hope it's not too hot first thing in the morning.
Here's the Richmond 10k run from this morning. Note - no podcast. I'm trying to run races without listening to anything, it should help me understand how I feel during the race itself.
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Marathon Training - Week 3
It's been a long while since I've run 40 miles in a week but this week I did just that. My calf has held up well to the demands I'm making of it although on Thursday I had to run 4 miles at a steady pace and could feel my right hamstring tightening all the time. It's always on my right side. Whether it's a foot injury, my calf, my knee or my hamstring it is always the right hand side that any pain or tweak is felt. Must be down to my biomechanics I suppose. I had a rest day on Friday, ran an easy run on Saturday and a 13 mile slow run this morning and have had no hamstring pain so I'm hoping it's just my legs getting used to the extended distance and time on my feet. On Tuesday I will be doing interval training so I'll find out then if there's any hidden issues!
When I was marathon training last year I ended up losing four toenails in the process. This isn't as bad or as painful as it might sound. With repeatedly pounding the pavement the flesh beneath the toenail hardens and desensitises. Eventually the toenail itself falls off. This year I am predicting at least four more will go. My little toes already appear to be on their way out. I'd give them both no more than a month. I will update as and when they eventually go.
This morning I went on a run down to Richmond via Kew Gardens and back up to Ealing via the Grand Union Canal. It's a route I've run quite a few times before but not since at least 8 months ago, so it was nice to run it again. I managed to take a quick photo on the way:
Next week my mileage will be less as I will be running a 10k race on the Sunday. I've entered the Richmond 10k and was hoping to finish in around 45 minutes. This may be optimistic, but to be honest anything between 50 minutes and 45 minutes would be good. Under 45 minutes would be excellent considering that I'm coming back from injury. We'll see.
Here's my run from this morning. I'm pleased with my average heart rate of 75% although it didn't feel quite as easy as the statistics make it look!
When I was marathon training last year I ended up losing four toenails in the process. This isn't as bad or as painful as it might sound. With repeatedly pounding the pavement the flesh beneath the toenail hardens and desensitises. Eventually the toenail itself falls off. This year I am predicting at least four more will go. My little toes already appear to be on their way out. I'd give them both no more than a month. I will update as and when they eventually go.
This morning I went on a run down to Richmond via Kew Gardens and back up to Ealing via the Grand Union Canal. It's a route I've run quite a few times before but not since at least 8 months ago, so it was nice to run it again. I managed to take a quick photo on the way:
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| On the path next to Kew Gardens heading toward Richmond |
Here's my run from this morning. I'm pleased with my average heart rate of 75% although it didn't feel quite as easy as the statistics make it look!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Marathon Training - Week 2
38 miles this week culminating in a 11 mile long run this morning. The training week is starting to take shape. Monday is a short easy run, Tuesday interval or threshold training, Wednesday is a medium distance run, Thursday tempo run, Friday is a rest day, Saturday is a short easy run and Sunday is a slow long run. Each week the long runs get longer or are interspersed with races (10k or half marathons).
In two weeks I have to run a 10k race as my Sunday long run. I think I'll run the Richmond 10k as it's pretty close to my house and I've already run the route that it takes. It'll be the first race I've run since the Cardiff half in October and the first 10k race since the Swansea 10k in September. If I can get under 45 minutes or thereabouts I'll be pleased.
I bought myself some "proper" running shorts this week. I already have proper running shorts, i.e. they wick away sweat and are light and comfortable but they aren't "proper" running shorts. My "proper" running shorts are very short and have a split up the sides to allow the legs to move completely unhindered and allow the air to circulate properly to cool the thighs down (or something like that). What I do know is that they are very short and the first time I wore them outside I felt a little bit indecent. This feeling passed quite quickly which either says something about the shorts or a lot about me!
Went for a nice run down by the Thames this morning from Kew bridge towards Hammersmith and back along Chiswick. I took my new compact camera with me which I keep in the rear pocket of my running shorts (in a sandwich bag to protect it from sweat!). I managed to take a few shots of the river first thing in the morning:
Here's my run from this morning, I managed to keep my average heart rate really low so was well pleased. Next week I will be talking about toenails and how many I think I will be losing!
In two weeks I have to run a 10k race as my Sunday long run. I think I'll run the Richmond 10k as it's pretty close to my house and I've already run the route that it takes. It'll be the first race I've run since the Cardiff half in October and the first 10k race since the Swansea 10k in September. If I can get under 45 minutes or thereabouts I'll be pleased.
I bought myself some "proper" running shorts this week. I already have proper running shorts, i.e. they wick away sweat and are light and comfortable but they aren't "proper" running shorts. My "proper" running shorts are very short and have a split up the sides to allow the legs to move completely unhindered and allow the air to circulate properly to cool the thighs down (or something like that). What I do know is that they are very short and the first time I wore them outside I felt a little bit indecent. This feeling passed quite quickly which either says something about the shorts or a lot about me!
Went for a nice run down by the Thames this morning from Kew bridge towards Hammersmith and back along Chiswick. I took my new compact camera with me which I keep in the rear pocket of my running shorts (in a sandwich bag to protect it from sweat!). I managed to take a few shots of the river first thing in the morning:
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| Old Father Thames first thing in the mornng |
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| Some swans enjoying the early light |
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| Houses along the Thames path. How much must they be worth? |
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| Chiswick House. I was running past and noticed the gate was open so popped in to take a photo. Nice place. |
Here's my run from this morning, I managed to keep my average heart rate really low so was well pleased. Next week I will be talking about toenails and how many I think I will be losing!
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Marathon Training - Week 1
My first week of marathon training at last. Six days of running and 31 miles (sessions of 4,4,5,3,5 and 10 miles). Only fifteen more weeks to go!
I'm glad to have started training. I love running but I prefer having a focus, it's much harder to skip a session if I'm tired or just don't feel like it when you know that all the training goes to how I will perform come October.
My longest run this week was 10 miles this morning (Sunday). The weather forecast was for scorching hot weather so I got myself out of bed at 6:30am so I could beat the heat. I've bought a small, light-weight digital camera so I can take photos when I'm out on a run. It's not too difficult to run with it and when I'm finished I can slip it into my pocket. I took a couple of photos this morning down by the canal. They varied in quality but I didn't stop running to take any photos so had to rely on a bit of luck and hope that they didn't come out too fuzzy. This one was the best quality, it's not too bad if a little bit fuzzy:
My plan has been to cut out alcohol as much as possible except for special occasions such as weddings or fancy meals out. This hasn't been entirely successful. At the moment I'm not drinking during the week which is good but then I'm drinking normally on the weekend which is not so good. The main problem is drinking on the Saturday night before my long run on Sunday morning. Last night I drank a bottle and a half of red wine and then had to get up for a 10 mile run this morning! I managed a decent pace but as the long runs get longer I don't think this strategy can be maintained nor is it particularly helpful for getting up early! I think I will allow myself to drink normally on Friday and Sunday and then restrict myself to two glasses of wine (or equivalent) on the Saturday. The rest of the time I won't drink. Maybe nearer to race day I will actually stop altogether.
My wieght-loss is going well. This morning my weight dropped below 80kg for the first time in over a year. Next step is to get it down to about 78kg and maintain it. I was calorie counting but since I've started running 5 or 6 days a week I've not had to worry too much about it. If I see my weight creeping up again and I may have to rethink what I'm eating and drinking.
Here's my 10 mile run from this morning. My heart rate is higher than I'd like it to be but I think that's down to the extra alcohol!
I'm glad to have started training. I love running but I prefer having a focus, it's much harder to skip a session if I'm tired or just don't feel like it when you know that all the training goes to how I will perform come October.
My longest run this week was 10 miles this morning (Sunday). The weather forecast was for scorching hot weather so I got myself out of bed at 6:30am so I could beat the heat. I've bought a small, light-weight digital camera so I can take photos when I'm out on a run. It's not too difficult to run with it and when I'm finished I can slip it into my pocket. I took a couple of photos this morning down by the canal. They varied in quality but I didn't stop running to take any photos so had to rely on a bit of luck and hope that they didn't come out too fuzzy. This one was the best quality, it's not too bad if a little bit fuzzy:
My wieght-loss is going well. This morning my weight dropped below 80kg for the first time in over a year. Next step is to get it down to about 78kg and maintain it. I was calorie counting but since I've started running 5 or 6 days a week I've not had to worry too much about it. If I see my weight creeping up again and I may have to rethink what I'm eating and drinking.
Here's my 10 mile run from this morning. My heart rate is higher than I'd like it to be but I think that's down to the extra alcohol!
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