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!