Wednesday 8.40 miles, Thursday Rest, Friday 7.12 miles, Saturday Rest, Sunday 10.80 miles, Monday 5.97 miles, Tuesday Rest, Wednesday Rest, Thursday Rest, Friday 13.26 miles, Saturday Rest, Sunday Rest, Monday 3.17 miles and Tuesday Rest => 48.72 miles
Well I hope everyone had a happy Xmas, I know I certainly did. Running had to give way to real life at times and I did not get in as many runs as I wanted, but Hey Ho Ho Ho! One sad point to report is that I picked up a slight ITB band issue on my right knee when I decided to turn a run into a half-marathon. Here is the story. So I am heading out on a sunny, but cold Boxing day. Feeling relaxed after a couple of days rest I headed out east towards Shoeburyness. It is a good route, even if you do hug the main road for a while. You reach a point on the run where you can cut back and head up towards the High School for Girls, this would give you a run of about nine miles. I decided to head on towards the shore and come back along the beach road. Swinging round at the turn the wind was coming in side ways off the estuary. There will be no headwind on the way back today. At this point around the eight mile mark I was feeling good and picked up the pace a little, even though the legs themselves were feeling tight and my lower back a little sore. By mile ten the head was still good, but my right leg was swinging awkwardly and pain developing in my right outer knee. Any sensible person would have stopped at this point or at the very least slowed down, but not I. Having had a similar issue with my left knee back in March you would think that I would have learned my lesson. The up shot is that during my run yesterday, Monday and after a two day rest at that, the pain began to develop again after a mile. I cut short my run straight away, but as I was a mile from home I decided to slow down and jog home. Slowing down reduced the pain considerably, so I continued at this level and topped out the run at a decent 5k. Last night the knee felt fine, no pain and free movement. This morning it feels a little tight, so I am going to stay off the running for a few days. When my official programme starts in January I will keep to the schedule - low mileage to start with and slower speeds, building up in weeks three and four. In this way I hope that the knee will heal and strengthen at the same time. I can also do some crosstraining to build up, glutes, quads and core. I have to get to the start line in April in one piece and I do not want to defer my place.So with no more running planned for this year the December total is 116 miles. I hope you have a Happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Here's to 2015.
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
A little bit of R n R (Rest and Recreation)
Wednesday Rest, Thursday 7.18 mi, Friday 6.40 mi, Saturday 4. 1 mi, Sunday Referee 50 mins, Monday 6.52 mi and Tuesday Rest => Total 24.11 mi
I have been juggling real life with my running. Everyone has to do this and I am no exception. However, as much as I enjoy my hobby or recreation, I also need to rest. I need that R n R. But resting is not something that comes easily and you have to resist the urge to run every day. The body needs some time to recover. So don't be too put out if you have non-running days because you just might be doing yourself a big favour. This week I had to travel up to London and by the time I got back there was no time to fit in any running. So this week I had two rest days and this cut down the mileage a little. But I felt better for the extra time off. The next week may not have a rest day as such, just the normal refereeing Sunday. So let's see how the body holds up? I may throw in some shorter, faster runs in the coming week to mix things up a little. The problem with the free running I've been doing this month so far is that the runs tend to become the same types of runs. In January, when the programme kicks in, I need to work harder on making the runs more distinct. The slow runs deliberately much slower and the faster runs crisper.
I have been juggling real life with my running. Everyone has to do this and I am no exception. However, as much as I enjoy my hobby or recreation, I also need to rest. I need that R n R. But resting is not something that comes easily and you have to resist the urge to run every day. The body needs some time to recover. So don't be too put out if you have non-running days because you just might be doing yourself a big favour. This week I had to travel up to London and by the time I got back there was no time to fit in any running. So this week I had two rest days and this cut down the mileage a little. But I felt better for the extra time off. The next week may not have a rest day as such, just the normal refereeing Sunday. So let's see how the body holds up? I may throw in some shorter, faster runs in the coming week to mix things up a little. The problem with the free running I've been doing this month so far is that the runs tend to become the same types of runs. In January, when the programme kicks in, I need to work harder on making the runs more distinct. The slow runs deliberately much slower and the faster runs crisper.
Tuesday, 9 December 2014
Ramping up the mileage and GPS woes
Fri 7.50 m, Sat 7.36 m, Sun Referee and Crosstrain, Mon 4.34 m, and Tues 7.12 m => Total 26.32 miles
It has turned colder, but remained largely dry here in England (Brits really do like to discuss the weather and I am no different). Perfect for increasing or ramping up the mileage. If you are a beginner then be careful about increasing your mileage too much as it can lead to injury. About a ten percent increase week on week is the accepted rule of thumb. However, I have a pretty good base fitness having completed a marathon back at the end of October. So, I feel confident that I can add in a few extra days and a few longer runs. Just be sensible about it. I was encouraged by two men either side of the Atlantic: Mo Farah tweeting away and Luke Humphrey posting on You Tube. I find it kind of special that an ordinary runner like me can be in touch with elite runners. I could never in a million years keep pace with these guys in a race, but they are willing to share their love of the sport and pass on a few tips along the way.
I have been doing some free running and really enjoying it. This is basically going out of the door with no set plan. I am just going with the flow. However, frustratingly there has been a problem with GPS reception on my android phone which has made my running app unusable. As much as I like the app and how easy it is to use, if it will not pick up and keep a signal then it is no good. I dug out my old Garmin 305 and after an evening of sorting out an issue with the Connect / Expess feature of the software it is now working again. I can upload data to my laptop and monitor my progress. It looks like this will be my frontline running buddy leading up to London 2015. Only the last two runs have been measured accurately and I probably ran about three miles on Sunday refereeing the under 14's. This would give roughly 30 miles for the week which is fine for now.
Is it important to have a GPS device? Well it is not essential, but I would like to knock ten or so minutes off my marathon time and get under 3 hours 30 minutes. In order to do this I will need to average 30 seconds per mile faster pace than at the Chelmsford Marathon. The apps and watches are a good tool to help you pace out your runs and achieve your goals. Did I say knock ten minutes off my time? Well I would really like to get a good for age time which for london would be 3 hours 20 minutes, but that would be a big jump, maybe too big a jump. Why is this a big deal? Because this would enable automatic entry to London the year after Let's see how the training goes.
It has turned colder, but remained largely dry here in England (Brits really do like to discuss the weather and I am no different). Perfect for increasing or ramping up the mileage. If you are a beginner then be careful about increasing your mileage too much as it can lead to injury. About a ten percent increase week on week is the accepted rule of thumb. However, I have a pretty good base fitness having completed a marathon back at the end of October. So, I feel confident that I can add in a few extra days and a few longer runs. Just be sensible about it. I was encouraged by two men either side of the Atlantic: Mo Farah tweeting away and Luke Humphrey posting on You Tube. I find it kind of special that an ordinary runner like me can be in touch with elite runners. I could never in a million years keep pace with these guys in a race, but they are willing to share their love of the sport and pass on a few tips along the way.
I have been doing some free running and really enjoying it. This is basically going out of the door with no set plan. I am just going with the flow. However, frustratingly there has been a problem with GPS reception on my android phone which has made my running app unusable. As much as I like the app and how easy it is to use, if it will not pick up and keep a signal then it is no good. I dug out my old Garmin 305 and after an evening of sorting out an issue with the Connect / Expess feature of the software it is now working again. I can upload data to my laptop and monitor my progress. It looks like this will be my frontline running buddy leading up to London 2015. Only the last two runs have been measured accurately and I probably ran about three miles on Sunday refereeing the under 14's. This would give roughly 30 miles for the week which is fine for now.
Is it important to have a GPS device? Well it is not essential, but I would like to knock ten or so minutes off my marathon time and get under 3 hours 30 minutes. In order to do this I will need to average 30 seconds per mile faster pace than at the Chelmsford Marathon. The apps and watches are a good tool to help you pace out your runs and achieve your goals. Did I say knock ten minutes off my time? Well I would really like to get a good for age time which for london would be 3 hours 20 minutes, but that would be a big jump, maybe too big a jump. Why is this a big deal? Because this would enable automatic entry to London the year after Let's see how the training goes.
Thursday, 4 December 2014
Pre Marathon training December 2014
Mileage = Tues 6.53 , Weds 5.93, Mon 6.00, Weds 8.93 ( the last two readings have been blighted by poor GPS reception) => Total 27.39 miles
I have started my pre marathon training with hills being central to building up the fitness needed for the new year. I have not decided on the training plan that I will follow for the VM London Marathon next year, but I want to lay down a good base before Christmas. The great thing about hills are that you can run them in different ways; slow, fast, long or short. I do not have any monster hills near me but I do have lots of undulating roads and paths to explore. Last night was a long, slow grind uphill all the way from the airport to the High Street at Rayleigh. It was a nine mile round trip and taken at an easy pace. I have also run hill repetitions in the last week. These are fast, intense uphill runs followed by easy, recovery runs on the down hill sections. The sessions are all to a certain extent free runs at the moment. I can quite easily see how I feel on the day, go out and enjoy myself. After all, it is about enjoyment as much as it is about fitness. When the training schedule kicks in on 1st January 2015 the goals change. Fitness comes to the fore and enjoyment may arrive in a more twisted format. Having a schedule helps to keep you on track until you arrive at the start line in April. It gives you a reason, a compulsion to step outside the door. On the really bad days when you do not want to go running you can blame the schedule, but at least you will have the miles in the bank.
I guess I have a few weeks to decide what training plan to follow. I used the Hanson Marathon Method for Chelmsford 2014 and it worked well. I would like to revisit this plan at least one more time, because I do not feel that I gave it my all. My IT Band* injury in February 2014 really messed up the rest of the year and so I could not do all the sessions that the Hansons programme requires. It was not until the last few weeks leading up to the race that i could complete the six days a week sessions and feel the benefit of the cummulative fatigue central to the method. The alternatives all seem to start with fewer, shorter sessions during the week and a much longer weekend run, typically on the Sunday. Well I do not need to choose just yet, but I bought the Hansons book so I guess I should re-read it before January.
If you have any running related questions I am happy to help out, but I am no expert. I have simply absorbed a great deal of information from different sources which I am happy to share with you.
* Iliotibial Band Syndrome
I have started my pre marathon training with hills being central to building up the fitness needed for the new year. I have not decided on the training plan that I will follow for the VM London Marathon next year, but I want to lay down a good base before Christmas. The great thing about hills are that you can run them in different ways; slow, fast, long or short. I do not have any monster hills near me but I do have lots of undulating roads and paths to explore. Last night was a long, slow grind uphill all the way from the airport to the High Street at Rayleigh. It was a nine mile round trip and taken at an easy pace. I have also run hill repetitions in the last week. These are fast, intense uphill runs followed by easy, recovery runs on the down hill sections. The sessions are all to a certain extent free runs at the moment. I can quite easily see how I feel on the day, go out and enjoy myself. After all, it is about enjoyment as much as it is about fitness. When the training schedule kicks in on 1st January 2015 the goals change. Fitness comes to the fore and enjoyment may arrive in a more twisted format. Having a schedule helps to keep you on track until you arrive at the start line in April. It gives you a reason, a compulsion to step outside the door. On the really bad days when you do not want to go running you can blame the schedule, but at least you will have the miles in the bank.
I guess I have a few weeks to decide what training plan to follow. I used the Hanson Marathon Method for Chelmsford 2014 and it worked well. I would like to revisit this plan at least one more time, because I do not feel that I gave it my all. My IT Band* injury in February 2014 really messed up the rest of the year and so I could not do all the sessions that the Hansons programme requires. It was not until the last few weeks leading up to the race that i could complete the six days a week sessions and feel the benefit of the cummulative fatigue central to the method. The alternatives all seem to start with fewer, shorter sessions during the week and a much longer weekend run, typically on the Sunday. Well I do not need to choose just yet, but I bought the Hansons book so I guess I should re-read it before January.
If you have any running related questions I am happy to help out, but I am no expert. I have simply absorbed a great deal of information from different sources which I am happy to share with you.
* Iliotibial Band Syndrome
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