Week ending 29th December

A quick recap of the week. 29 miles completed and a great circuit session at Fighting Fit in Cardiff. Tuesday - 10 steady wet miles on the road in 1h18. Post storm shin deep puddles made for cold wet feet. Thursday - 7.8 steady muddy trail miles in 1h5 Friday - 4.2 miles interval session like last week, 4x3 minutes at 16k, with 2 minutes recovery at 12k with 5 mins warm up and down. Followed by upper body weights. Saturday - circuit session at a fighting Fit in Cardiff. Awesome fun. Sunday - 7 miles easy road miles at -3 centigrade in Cardiff in 54 mins Another solid week, and 29 miles in the tank.

Week ending 22nd Dec

A tough week family wise, but with a positive end, and Claire's dad improving. Running wise I had to make the most of a few windows and trained accordingly. Tuesday - 8.5 miles steady around the new Centre Parcs in Bedfordshire. Muddy. Wednesday - 20 minutes Tabata. Thursday - 13.5 miles easy/steady around Ashridge and the Beacon. Made the most of a school window, and decided it best not to go hard, and get time on my feet. Time was 1h53mins and my legs ached and I felt tired Saturday - 4 miles on tread mill, 5 min warm up at 12k, 4x 3 mins at 16k with 2 mins recovery, and then 5 mins warm down followed by leg weights. Sunday - 30 mins cardio cross trainer and bike for 15 mins each, followed by upper body weights. 26 miles for week with some weights, cross training and weights thrown in Felt like I wanted to do more and know from past experience that I have to build effort steadily. It will stave off injury and keep me fresher for the harder training weeks to follow.

Week ending 15th

What an awful week with my father in law John having a massive heart attack and in intensive care. Thinking of you John and sure you will pull through. Running wise I have got 20 miles in the tank. Not quite as the marathon schedule said but got things done. 4 miles at 7.30 pace on Tuesday and then aborted 10k on Wednesday morning at 3 miles, followed by weights and some bike instead. Ran 10k steady on Saturday on the road and then an easy 7 miles on the trail on Sunday to make 20 for the week. The same again next week if the diary allows.......

8th December

A week with zero running..... Exercising last weekend with a cold wasn't a great idea, and I felt worse this week. Decided to have a few days rest and then traing this weekend. On afriday night, I felt I'll whilst at the pub and spent 36 hours on the toilet. I have never ever visited the toilet so much. Feeling better this afternoon, i decided to write my training plan for the marathon. Starting on Mondnay 9th December I have 18 weeks until the marathon, and will encorporate one half marathon race, and two road training races, with Gade valley harriers of 17 and 20 miles. During the training period I will run another 20 miler and a 22 miler. I rally wanted to get 3 20 mile or more runs in for this race. I am excited, and hope my last couple of weeks of inactivity will be a blessing in disguise, and have to remember to take the first few weeks easily and get back into my running slowly. 18 weeks is a long time. I need to stay fit rather than ramp up to quickly and become tired and potentially injured. Let's get it on!

1st December

What a weird week. A singular mile run this wekk today in the gym to test the still sore/pulled left calf. Felt quite good. I followed it up with some planned skipping.punch bag intervals, and the calf did not like it. Getting better slowly but may well take another few days before a gentle 5k is on th cards. Big news is I am running the London marathon! The running club get three places each year and I was lucky to get picked in the ballot at last weeks club AGM. I now have 4.5 months to prepare for April 14th 2014. I am going to run the berko half in early march looking for a PB towards 1h25 which I believe is realistic. I then want to focus on a minimum 3h15 (B goal), with an a main goal of 3h05. I need to lose weight, which is essential to a good performance. A minimum of 11st5, ideally 11 stone. Consistent steady training is 100% necessary, without ridiculous increases in weekly milage. Quality not quantity, but with good focus some longer runs. Good eating habits are essential especially during the Christmas break. I am considering getting a coach too to help set a plan and keep focus during the cold dark months where motivation can wain. To be continued!

25th November

A week of very little exercise. Considering I ran the Half last Saturday my legs felt stiff especially my calfs until Wednesday. I went to the gym in the evening and within 1.5 miles of a tempo effort my calfs really tightened up, showing they had not recovered..... I did tabata on Thursday and Friday to get some exercise in, and then ran our club handicap 10 miler today. Within a mile I could feel the calfs, and by 4 miles they were hurting. By the end they were really tights, as were my hamstrings too. I ran somewhere around 1h14m. Considering my leg condition and my over weight body, the time is not to bad. Fit, traind and litre I believe a 1h5 is in the legs! I good stretch this evening and some icing to start the recovery. I am going to take the next 5 days off running and then try a gentle 4 miler on the weekend. The next month then is going to be getting steady miles in the legs, weights, intervals and some focused weight loss. I need to build some endurance as I have been racing, recovering with little proper training. Next race is is a club cross country in 2 weeks and the last I will do this year.

Week Ending 17th November

After last weeks tiredness, I decided to rest until I felt better. On awednesday evening I felt somewhat better and did 20 minutes tabata and whilst not my best effort I did OK and felt mentally relaxed. I decided to go for the half marathon in Leighton Buzzard on Saturday morning, and ran 1h34m41 for 38th place. I ran without a watch and expected somewhere around 1h37 to 1h40, so was pleasantly surprised with the time. However it sold itself as a trail race, and being a proper off road runner, I have a differing view of off road. So 9 miles of tarmaced canal towpath was ruinous for my calfs and hip flexors in my innov8's. A lesson learnt. Could have ran a couple of minutes better in road/trails shoes instead. A light gym session to loosen the legs and some weights today. On the way back!

Sunday 10th November

A pretty average week. Felt tired and worn out this week with a suspected virus. No feelings of cold, but no energy. Tried training on Tuesday and stopped as I had no juice during my run, and then doing weights. I felt better as the week progressed and decided to run club cross country in Oxford. We had a few people away and injuries meaning we only had 10 runners so I could not drop out if feeling rough! I used my new spikes as the whole course was on grass and trail, and very muddy. I learned very quickly that you could not lean back as their is no grip. I started more steadily than normal as you get dropped so quickly anyway and I new I would not be able to keep things going. A mile out to the local woods, and then a two mile loop with a big hill, and then repeated before a short run home. I felt tired quickly and was passed by a couple of team mates that I have finished in front of before..... I felt slow and was passed regularly except down hill which always seems to work for me. Not a good result. I also have felt really tired since then and am not sure that the diets half marathon next weekend is a good idea. I am also on a diet. As mentioned last week I had been 11st 5 pounds for my fasted half marathon and was 12st 8 pounds yesterday. My vest is tight and I am feeling slow. My target is 11 st for berko half in march. Weekly diet update every week now. Time to up my game.

I'm back!

Wednesday 6th November 2013 It's 19 months since I blogged. Amazing. I can't believe it has been so long. 2012 was a write off. I started 2012 as fit as I have ever been, and running with the club's fast group training for the Milton Keynes Marathon in May. I suffered a stress fracture of the thigh and had 2 months off running before coming back a couple of weeks before MK. As I wasn't running for charity I withdrew. I really felt I would run sub 3.10 and get a good for age spot in London and bag a 2013 sub 3 hr marathon..... I came back and started running reasonably, and then after a Saturday long run (with hill intervals) in June suffered some left knee stiffness, and thought little of it. The next day I ran again and the knee felt worse. I thoug that something might be up and thought I would give myself a few days off (felt quite proud of myself). I tried running the next Wednesday and 6 minutes in felt a very sharp pain below my left knee which stopped as soon as I stopped running, and I walked home. Same again the next Saturday. Not good. I saw a physio who diagnosed IT band syndrome. Atleast a a month's no running and lots of stretching. A preventable injury as I had suffered with my hip the year before and had been religious about stretching nd rolling. Coming back in May I had not bothered and payed the price! I tried coming back twice with the pain still there and spent some time riding my mountain bike and in the gym too. By the time I had got rid of it it was late October 2012 and began building the miles slowly. By mid December I had run two 20 mile weeks. Over Christmas I ramped the miles upto 35 miles a week and started thinking of a spring marathon. 35 a week for 3 weeks and the thigh pain started coming back. Happy new Year! 2013 Feeling pretty disillusioned I decided to have January off running and got into proper tabata style High Intensity intervals - squats, press ups, burpee's, lunges, mountain climbers, step jumps etc I had been on trips to Cardiff going to a cross fit gym and had really enjoyed it. It really gets the heart going. Coming back to a few short 10 minute runs in early Feb I felt no pain, and with surprising ease was running 6 minute miles. The interval training had really paid off, and stayed as part of my new mix of running, spinning and intervals. I ran a 6 mile trail race in late Feb feeling good, and decided to keep to 5-10k's and not go above 20 miles a week. Why bother going long if I start to get injured? I ran a adult PB of 18.34 for a hilly trail 5k in May, and some reasonable 10'k during the summer. I signed up for the Cardiff half marathon in October and decided to put some longer runs of 10 miles in, and ran the Dunstable Downs half in early September as a training run in 1.41 with some off course meaning I ran 13.5 miles. At 13.1 I was actually at 1.37.50 without pushing to hard. With all the star strength from intervals even the hills seemed easier. I had hoped for a PB in Cardiff and ran 1.31.50 so was a little disappointed as the course was flat and the temperatures ideal. I felt tired at half way and run 2 minutes slower in the second half. Not my usual focus on a negative split. I was also almost a stone heavier than when I ran 1.28.50 in berkhamsted 2011. If an extra stone is worth 7.5 minutes for a half marathon the perhaps I am really in 1.25 shape During the summer I had been running faster (6 min miles) and shorter distances meaning that I have been starting longer races a little to fast as 6.40 miles felt easy. However with the lack of endurance I can't keep that up. I need to focus on keeping the speed but also getting a good 10k tempo run and a 10 mile plus long run per week. I have started running with the club again in October and ran at the FRA relays in Snowdonia which was awesome. The hardest run in 3 years but brilliant. I am also going to run a full cross country season too! What's the plan moving forwards? I am not sure. I want to run a fast marathon and and I want to run ultra's too which don't really go hand in hand. I also want to run fell races too. I have 2 cross country's, the dirt half marathon next weekend and the club's Brenda Barlow 10 miler left in 2013. After this I will focus on 1 interval run with weights, a 10 mile ish long run with the club on a Wednesday and then a tempo 10k ish on the weekend, with a weights/cross training/HIT interval session on a Sunday. This will be my staple over the winter with a focus on Berkhamsted half marathon in March 2014 and a number of summer fell races. I am not sure if I will look at a spring marathon, and may well look at a summer trail marathon possibly a 50k, and then a fast autumn Marathon in a sub 3.10 to get a good for age for London. My big question is do I do MDS in April 2015? If I do then next Autumn becomes ultra time, and a long build up to MDS instead. That is a decision for summer 2014! Posts will be far more regular from now on. Shoes NB Pure Trail - 150 miles Adidas Boost - 100 miles Innov-8 roclite 285's - 40 miles.