I would like to have strong words with whoever decided to hold the London Marathon in April. Sure, it’s a good time of year to run…not too hot, not too cold, but it means training throughout the winter when the nights are cold and wet and the winds are howling. It’s not exactly the kind of weather that makes you want to enjoy the great outdoors!
In my last few runs I have battled winds of 60mph, traversed treacherous fields of ice and been soaked by sleet. I like to think this is character building. Others may just take it as a sign that I have finally lost the plot.
There are of course advantages to winter running. You don’t feel like you’re constantly on the brink of collapsing through heat exhaustion for one (a feeling I became very familiar with whilst training for the Robin Hood Half Marathon). I find long distances much easier in the cooler weather and the promise of a hot cup of tea when I get home almost certainly means that I run faster, if only to prevent the onset of frostbite!
I don’t feel I’ve made a huge amount of progress in the last couple of weeks due to general laziness, but this isn’t anything to worry about as my training plan doesn’t start until mid January. This gives me a few weeks over Christmas where I just need to increase the regularity of my training so that my body becomes accustomed to the fact that it is going to run a marathon whether it likes it or not. This and the amount of Christmas food that will be consumed in the coming week will hopefully give me the incentive to brave the wind and rain and to become a super speedy racing snake!
Yesterday’s run: 7.6 miles
Today: 4 miles
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Manning Up.
So…I’ve majorly failed at blogging recently, but things should improve from now on!
Over the last few weeks I’ve been struggling a bit with motivation…the runs I’ve done have on the whole been pretty good. I definitely feel like my fitness is improving, but it’s pretty hard making myself go out for a run in the freezing cold and rain (it’s cold here up north!). However I know this is no excuse, basically I need to man up!
I’ve settled on a training plan for the marathon which will start towards the end of January. It’s a pretty hardcore one to be honest, I may be being a little bit over ambitious! The plan involves doing 6 days of running a week, which is perfectly possible, but will probably hurt quite a lot!
My plan up until then is to basically run as much as possible, five or six times a week so that when I start the hardcore training plan my body doesn’t just fall to pieces!
Another problem I am having whilst in Leeds is long runs, I find these easy enough at home because I know the area pretty well, however up here I’m always a little concerned I’m going to get lost when I go for a long one! If anyone knows any longs routes around this area please let me know!
Anyway, off for a short run now and hopefully a long one tomorrow! I’ll let you know how it goes!
xxx
Over the last few weeks I’ve been struggling a bit with motivation…the runs I’ve done have on the whole been pretty good. I definitely feel like my fitness is improving, but it’s pretty hard making myself go out for a run in the freezing cold and rain (it’s cold here up north!). However I know this is no excuse, basically I need to man up!
I’ve settled on a training plan for the marathon which will start towards the end of January. It’s a pretty hardcore one to be honest, I may be being a little bit over ambitious! The plan involves doing 6 days of running a week, which is perfectly possible, but will probably hurt quite a lot!
My plan up until then is to basically run as much as possible, five or six times a week so that when I start the hardcore training plan my body doesn’t just fall to pieces!
Another problem I am having whilst in Leeds is long runs, I find these easy enough at home because I know the area pretty well, however up here I’m always a little concerned I’m going to get lost when I go for a long one! If anyone knows any longs routes around this area please let me know!
Anyway, off for a short run now and hopefully a long one tomorrow! I’ll let you know how it goes!
xxx
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Currently the tortoise not the hare!
Hi! Welcome to my first actual post!
I’m hoping that blogging will help me to keep track of my progress and what techniques are working for me. I figure that if I have to write about my runs, it will make me get out and actually do them and also encourage me to push myself harder so that I keep improving!
So here goes…
Progress so far:
A couple of weeks ago I was on a real roll with my runs, I was comfortably running 10 miles and feeling great, this week the story was not so pretty!
Thursday I did 3.1 miles, with an average pace of 9.56 minutes per mile (this is pretty shoddy, my usual average is 9.30 minutes per mile!)
Today I was planning on doing a long run, but the legs weren’t feeling it! I did 4 miles with an average pace of 9.48 minutes per mile, so still not great.
I think this is probably a sign that my running schedule needs to be much more consistent, besides those two runs, until Thursday the most exercise I had done was lifting cups of tea to my face (need to keep on top of my Law!) and it really shows!
So my plan for this week is as follows:
A long run tomorrow, hopefully today’s run will have loosened up my legs! And then hopefully go along to a local running club on Tuesday and Thursday. Training with other people should keep me motivated and encourage me to do more interval and speed training which will be vital if I want to get a good time in the marathon!
I’m hoping that blogging will help me to keep track of my progress and what techniques are working for me. I figure that if I have to write about my runs, it will make me get out and actually do them and also encourage me to push myself harder so that I keep improving!
So here goes…
Progress so far:
A couple of weeks ago I was on a real roll with my runs, I was comfortably running 10 miles and feeling great, this week the story was not so pretty!
Thursday I did 3.1 miles, with an average pace of 9.56 minutes per mile (this is pretty shoddy, my usual average is 9.30 minutes per mile!)
Today I was planning on doing a long run, but the legs weren’t feeling it! I did 4 miles with an average pace of 9.48 minutes per mile, so still not great.
I think this is probably a sign that my running schedule needs to be much more consistent, besides those two runs, until Thursday the most exercise I had done was lifting cups of tea to my face (need to keep on top of my Law!) and it really shows!
So my plan for this week is as follows:
A long run tomorrow, hopefully today’s run will have loosened up my legs! And then hopefully go along to a local running club on Tuesday and Thursday. Training with other people should keep me motivated and encourage me to do more interval and speed training which will be vital if I want to get a good time in the marathon!
Sunday, 30 October 2011
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