Change of plan...

At the start of the year 2012, I asked myself the following questions in regard to the Belfast Marathon;

- Can I go faster than last year?

- Do I have the time to devote to the training?

- Do I have the motivation to get out the door and train 5 days a week, for 16 weeks?

As time went by, I realised that I was not going to go much faster than last year, that work was making finding the time difficult, and overall, the motivation that I had the previous two years, simply wasnt as strong.

As a result, I am taking part in the Belfast City Marathon, in a relay team, and will be running the 7 mile leg and possibly more, if i can manage it!

As depressing as the decision was to make at first, I have taken the positives from it;

I am now training as a "runner", building the run into my daily life, and improving cardiovascular strength, by training for shorter distances, at a higher pace.  My downfall in the past two years has been to stop training after my "Goal Race" has passed, and motivation has diminished.   The marathon will again become my goal race, but I am hoping that by that stage, the training will be a lot more natural to me, and not a shock to the system as it has been the previous two years.

I am hoping to compete in Belfast again, and also London if I get the chance.  For now, my short term goal is to improve my 5k and 10k times, and beat previous years PBs, while improving overall health and conditioning.

Two mottos ring in my head each time I step outside for a run now....

Better never stops


Running IS living

Training plan??? What training plan???

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” 

Since my last post, I have had to readjust my training quite significantly, due to a slight illness...I ran last Monday and Tuesday, but felt pretty terrible doing so, and so took the next two days off altogether, in order to regain some sort of condition back.  By Friday, I was feeling a good bit better, and so did my tempo run, without the 15 minute warm up and cool down, instead having 5 minutes of each, at either end of my tempo run.

Following the paces laid out by the McMillan pace calculator, based on my last 5k performance, I was going along very nicely and enjoyed the tempo run  -  in part, I think, due to the new "Brooks Racer ST5" running shoes I had bought that day...payday of course....

Apart from being a lovely striking orange colour, they weigh a lot less than my current training shoes, and less still with the orthodic insoles being removed.  It remains to be seen if this will have a negative effect on my joints and gait, or if the small level of support in the shoe is enough to ensure I can get through races without issue.

Certainly I felt faster, and my legs fatigued a lot less than using the normal trainers, due to the quite substantial drop in weight.

To compare, I did a similar speed tempo run on Sunday, again, on the treadmill, but with no minute break in between the 10 minutes and with the older, heavier trainers.  This felt a lot tougher, and was very short of breath at the end - a problem which also affected me on Monday night, as I did an easy 6 miles, averaging about 10.10 per mile - the latter stages had me struggling for breath, as if there was an issue with my lungs - perhaps the end of the infection that had been lingering since last week.

Anyhow, I have learnt that training plans are made as a rough guide only, and are best when they are adapted to the individual runner - based on goal, ability, current performance and current condition.  Therefore, after my 4 miles easy tonight, I may do 14/15 long run tomorrow, or maybe a 3x10 minute tempo run again.  Which one I choose simply depends on how I feel on the day.

This is an approach I have been using more and more this year, and is outlined in much more detail in the book I am currently reading, "How to run fast - 5k to the marathon".  As I am racing at pretty much all the distances between 5k and marathon before the end of May, this book, with its training advice and how to coach yourself best, by listening to your body, should be benificial to me in my goal of becoming a better runner.

ParkRun number 2....and 75 days to go...

Well since the last time I updated, I have completed my first 12, and then 13.1 mile runs of the training schedule so far, making up the 2hour and 2hour15min runs that were scheduled into my training plan.  So far so good then, apart from a slight cold and cough that seems to be hanging around...

Also, last Saturday I managed to complete my 2nd ParkRun, improving on my previous time by a whopping 74 seconds.  This still falls way short of my best at this distance...but in mid february, on a tough course, a 27.04 is pretty acceptable for me.  Darryl Blair also ran this and finished in about 16 minutes...which helps to show you where you are...

Last night I was able to complete a 6 mile easy run, and the plan is to do the same tonight, while on Wednesday the tempo runs start...

Tempo runs confused me also, but the basic principle is quite simple...

15 minute warm up - 3x10 minutes at tempo pace (9.10m.m) 15 minute cool down

So basically an hour of running, with the 30 minute warmup and cooldown, and the 30 minutes in between being "comfortably hard" running, with rest in between.

I will report back as to how this goes, later in the week...

Week...5? or 6? I cant remember....

So its now gotten to that stage where I don't even know what week of training I'm in....comes with not following a structured training plan!

Monday saw me running 4 miles at an easy pace to replace the football that has now disappeared from my weekly schedule until May.  Tuesday was a steady 5 miles, which felt quite good, as I had learnt my lesson and wore a hat to keep warm...and it was appreciated by my head, most certainly.

Tonight will see me running an easy 6 miles...."easy" and "6 miles" going in a sentence together shows the progress over the past....well...since week 1!

10 miles is a long....long....LONG way....

Today I had quite the normal day - up for work, driving to Lisburn and Ballymena putting out fires everywhere I went...so to speak...and looking rather dapper in my suit and sporting a newly acquired £25 (or £30) haircut.

Feeling quite good about how my day had gone so far, and indeed how my running was going, I decided to swap my long run to tonight, instead of the 5 miles planned, and get it out of the way.

I should probably mention at this stage that, but for a rather healthy wrap from the Streat today at around 1130, I havn't ate anything or indeed had anything to drink in that time...and it really told me on me around mile 6 or so tonight.

The run started quite well, but by mile 2 I was beginning to really feel the cold, moreso than I have done before, and as the temperature is sitting around -2 this evening, it wasn't too surprising...but I had the mindset of 10 miles tonight...or its a failure.  And no one wants to go into the weekend feeling like a failure...

Unfortunately by mile 9, I was struggling to stay awake while I was running...a feeling I had never experienced before.  Strangely my legs were quite okay, but my body felt like it was shutting down, and I was desperate for a sugary drink, or simply water and some sort of food...and at the same time as questioning why on earth I was undertaking such a demanding and tough training programme yet again, for the longest and hardest race distance there is...I never once contemplated stopping or cutting the run short.  This was clearly a triumph of mind over body I believe.

Although how much of my mind was actually functional was questionable.  Upon returning to the house I slumped on the sofa and mumbled about my immediate need for water and something sugary.  Concerned about my well being, my parents obliged and I took about 30 seconds to compose myself before I thought straight enough to speak to them, utter confusion had taken hold, whether by way of tiredness, fatigue, pain or just spending almost two hours in sub 0 temperatures, wearing a t-shirt and shorts...and gloves.

Either way, I am delighted to have completed this run, and look forward to my 5 miler tomorrow...sort of.  I think in future weeks I will ensure my long run is properly fueled from the start....and now, to bed.

94 days to go....

Yet another training week half over...and feeling quite good after 6 miles last night at a good pace.  Unfortunatly the weather is extremely cold currently, but so far no signs of any injury so I am hoping that continues.

Today sees my last blast at football until May - partly for avoiding injury, partly due to the fact that it gets in the way of running, as the two are very different exercises, and whilst the legs get used to constant, slow, long running, and cope with this, throwing in fast, sharp football matches is not the best idea when I want to cover distance and not put too much additional strain on the muscles and ligaments.  So here it is, a football for the last time for a while....

Tomorrow I plan to run 4-5 miles, and on Saturday the long run will hit 10 miles this week, marking the longest so far, and over half the total distance I will complete in any long run before the Marathon itself. 

Tuesday 31st January....

Well after a short 5 day break from running, including two days of football, I was back on the roads and feeling quite good this evening with 5 miles under the belt in little over 51 minutes.

The weather is getting much colder, and is set to continue to drop...which isn't a problem for most areas, but certainly the wind and cold air attacks the face pretty badly, which gave me quite the headache tonight whilst running...but looking forward to 6 decent miles tomorrow evening, and then 5 on friday and 1 hour 45 minutes on saturday, hopefully equating to 10 miles in distance.

At this stage of training, after one month from 4, I feel that in terms of endurance and distance I have progressed very well, hitting 20 miles plus each week until week 4, when I took a rest week, with only 15 miles covered.
Speed wise I'm not too confident so far, but plenty of time for that.

Plans for february include -

• 24-30 mile weeks
• Going from 5 to 6 days of running each week
• Completing another ParkRun - improving on previous time
• Covering 13 miles - 2hr15 or 2hr30 run
• INJURY FREE!!

If I can stick to this, it will set me up quite well for the Larne Half in March, and I will begin to see if I can set an achievable target for the Belfast Marathon but....a month is a long time!

As an aside, somewhat off topic, I would like to express my delight at tonight's football results; namely the win of the champions Manchester United, and the defeat suffered by Manchester City - shall run tomorrow with added vigor due to this....