If that was an 'easy' week, I'm in trouble...
Ok, so 12 weeks to go, and have run 12 miles in one go ... some kind of balance there, it seems!
This week was the 'easy' week which occurs as the 4th week throughout the training plan - the idea being that 3 weeks are spent building (endurance/stamina/speed/blisters/bruises) then a week is allowed to consolidate what has been gained.
Accordingly there were only 3 sessions on the schedule - 40 minutes cross-training, 40 minutes easy run, and the 'long run' at the weekend.
The cross training session was fun - done at 7am on Monday morning, a fairly fullon cardio-session in the gym. Tuessday night was an SLH night, and it was bitterly cold. Once again, I ended up with Jake, and a new guy called Bruce. I really struggled initially, oddly, the pace wasn't fast, but my legs were tired, and the road was hard! We did the Foxley lane circuit - didn't stop, but was really dragging, not helped by the fact that Grandpa Cloggs wanted to chat the whole way, and I was too near dying for this to be an option! Felt a lot better at about 3 km (always do, weirdly) and ended up running on ahead, and doing an extra mile - 6 miles in 53 mins - not as fast as last week. Not sure why that was so much more difficult than Saturday's run, apart from the colder weather, and the fact that it was the end of the day maybe?? I reckon breathing in the cold cold air means you have to work harder!
Technically, that was me done until the weekend - not quite how it went, of course - did a very gentle 3 miles at Banstead Woods on Thursday - it was pratically dark by the time I was finished, which was, perhaps, not clever! Friday went to the gym. Didn't do any cardio, cos was trying to be good, but did possibly more strength/core stability stuff than I should have done, (blaming Jim Burdett for this, because if we hadn't been so engrossed in conversation, I would have stopped at least 30 mins before I did!) Ended up with fairly achey legs, which was probably pretty dumb, given what was planned for Saturday....
So, BWTT on Saturday, could have run it, as I was on 'Administration' - which is a job which happens after the run is over - didn't though, largely because had longer run later on in mind - would like to do the parkrun at some point before the marathon, and have a go at the pb if possible... maybe halfterm week! Did seem to spend a fair amount of time running around the course given that I wasn't running - firstly to get the cones from the registration table, and then to collect the mis-placed sign from the public carpark and bring it back to the halfway point - my walking boots don't make good running shoes, it is worth noting - too heavy! Back to the Mint afterwards, and photos, results etc all sorted (results promptly unsorted themselves when the computers were shut down, and Sue spent her afternoon dealing with them - superhero status!) and after much debate as to a flat route( - hah. no such thing, I'm starting to believe, in the North Downs.) Didn't want to run around the airodrome 8 times, so in the end drove down to the public carpark, then ran up Park Road - thought I'd do it at the beginning this time - and into Banstead, out to Woodmansterne, back up to Banstead, out towards Oaks Park, (that was the halfway point) back up (owwww), through the village, round the Hourseshoe, along Holly Road to the roundabout, up towards the Ford garage, back down, and along Holly Road to the carpark. 20km in total! The first 9 miles were fine - I even really enjoyed quite a bit of it - although the hills were very hard work indeed - my glutes and quads have been well and truely punished! The final three miles were much harder - I was running on empty, and really needing liquid/food etc.. carb gel - orange flavour - was consumed pre-run, and I'm thinking possibly am going to need to start comsuming during run as well - which means will need some means of carrying ... hmmm. I feel a trip to sweatshop or simply sports coming on ... yay!! (Have voucher for sweatshop, although it's harder to get to)
When I got home I went through my training schedule from the summer, and this run was only the 4th time I've run further than 12 miles, and the first time I've run that distance on hills - quite nasty hills too... should stand me in good stead for the Hastings Half! I can also say that my legs felt worse than than they have ever done after a run ... but I'm told it gets easier, so will not be downhearted! Was unable to do much beyond stretches on Sunday, but all ready for action again today! The bantam had a storming race in canterbury, well done Chris! Proof that it does pay off, if you stick to it - will remember this at mile 11 next week!
Blisters are fine, and my feet/calves not too bad, cardio getting better, a fairly good week all in all...
The next few days are going to be very hectic - 5 runs on the schedule, 4 of which will need to be done during the week, and as I have no run time on Sunday, the long run will have to be on Saturday, which means I should take Friday fairly easy... Have theatre trip, parent's evening, yr 9 option's fair (!?!) and performance exams to contend with after school as well - wah!!
The runs are fairly short - 30 mins easy run, 30 mins hilly run, 30 mins interval session and 25 mins tempo ... but there are a lot of them! I did the easy run this morning, ran 15 mins away from school, then back again - ran to Sainsburys, just over 5 km in total! To begin with very heavy legs, but this improved, and I actually enjoyed it, although the pavements were slippy and it was COLD!!! Felt great when I got back to school, am slightly stiff now, but all in all, works! The hilly run will be Tuesday at slh - and will probably be longer than 30mins, because that is the nature of the beast, and I will hopefully get a tempo run one evening at Banstead - the interval session could be at slh, or just up at the airodrome, if I can get out of school whilst it's still light ... wah again!! will just have to the best I can...
Nuff waffle!!
Time to go do some work.
Milage this week - 18 and a bit, in 2 runs!
A Banstead morning ... gotta love it!
Love..
Nickixxxx
This week was the 'easy' week which occurs as the 4th week throughout the training plan - the idea being that 3 weeks are spent building (endurance/stamina/speed/blisters/bruises) then a week is allowed to consolidate what has been gained.
Accordingly there were only 3 sessions on the schedule - 40 minutes cross-training, 40 minutes easy run, and the 'long run' at the weekend.
The cross training session was fun - done at 7am on Monday morning, a fairly fullon cardio-session in the gym. Tuessday night was an SLH night, and it was bitterly cold. Once again, I ended up with Jake, and a new guy called Bruce. I really struggled initially, oddly, the pace wasn't fast, but my legs were tired, and the road was hard! We did the Foxley lane circuit - didn't stop, but was really dragging, not helped by the fact that Grandpa Cloggs wanted to chat the whole way, and I was too near dying for this to be an option! Felt a lot better at about 3 km (always do, weirdly) and ended up running on ahead, and doing an extra mile - 6 miles in 53 mins - not as fast as last week. Not sure why that was so much more difficult than Saturday's run, apart from the colder weather, and the fact that it was the end of the day maybe?? I reckon breathing in the cold cold air means you have to work harder!
Technically, that was me done until the weekend - not quite how it went, of course - did a very gentle 3 miles at Banstead Woods on Thursday - it was pratically dark by the time I was finished, which was, perhaps, not clever! Friday went to the gym. Didn't do any cardio, cos was trying to be good, but did possibly more strength/core stability stuff than I should have done, (blaming Jim Burdett for this, because if we hadn't been so engrossed in conversation, I would have stopped at least 30 mins before I did!) Ended up with fairly achey legs, which was probably pretty dumb, given what was planned for Saturday....
So, BWTT on Saturday, could have run it, as I was on 'Administration' - which is a job which happens after the run is over - didn't though, largely because had longer run later on in mind - would like to do the parkrun at some point before the marathon, and have a go at the pb if possible... maybe halfterm week! Did seem to spend a fair amount of time running around the course given that I wasn't running - firstly to get the cones from the registration table, and then to collect the mis-placed sign from the public carpark and bring it back to the halfway point - my walking boots don't make good running shoes, it is worth noting - too heavy! Back to the Mint afterwards, and photos, results etc all sorted (results promptly unsorted themselves when the computers were shut down, and Sue spent her afternoon dealing with them - superhero status!) and after much debate as to a flat route( - hah. no such thing, I'm starting to believe, in the North Downs.) Didn't want to run around the airodrome 8 times, so in the end drove down to the public carpark, then ran up Park Road - thought I'd do it at the beginning this time - and into Banstead, out to Woodmansterne, back up to Banstead, out towards Oaks Park, (that was the halfway point) back up (owwww), through the village, round the Hourseshoe, along Holly Road to the roundabout, up towards the Ford garage, back down, and along Holly Road to the carpark. 20km in total! The first 9 miles were fine - I even really enjoyed quite a bit of it - although the hills were very hard work indeed - my glutes and quads have been well and truely punished! The final three miles were much harder - I was running on empty, and really needing liquid/food etc.. carb gel - orange flavour - was consumed pre-run, and I'm thinking possibly am going to need to start comsuming during run as well - which means will need some means of carrying ... hmmm. I feel a trip to sweatshop or simply sports coming on ... yay!! (Have voucher for sweatshop, although it's harder to get to)
When I got home I went through my training schedule from the summer, and this run was only the 4th time I've run further than 12 miles, and the first time I've run that distance on hills - quite nasty hills too... should stand me in good stead for the Hastings Half! I can also say that my legs felt worse than than they have ever done after a run ... but I'm told it gets easier, so will not be downhearted! Was unable to do much beyond stretches on Sunday, but all ready for action again today! The bantam had a storming race in canterbury, well done Chris! Proof that it does pay off, if you stick to it - will remember this at mile 11 next week!
Blisters are fine, and my feet/calves not too bad, cardio getting better, a fairly good week all in all...
The next few days are going to be very hectic - 5 runs on the schedule, 4 of which will need to be done during the week, and as I have no run time on Sunday, the long run will have to be on Saturday, which means I should take Friday fairly easy... Have theatre trip, parent's evening, yr 9 option's fair (!?!) and performance exams to contend with after school as well - wah!!
The runs are fairly short - 30 mins easy run, 30 mins hilly run, 30 mins interval session and 25 mins tempo ... but there are a lot of them! I did the easy run this morning, ran 15 mins away from school, then back again - ran to Sainsburys, just over 5 km in total! To begin with very heavy legs, but this improved, and I actually enjoyed it, although the pavements were slippy and it was COLD!!! Felt great when I got back to school, am slightly stiff now, but all in all, works! The hilly run will be Tuesday at slh - and will probably be longer than 30mins, because that is the nature of the beast, and I will hopefully get a tempo run one evening at Banstead - the interval session could be at slh, or just up at the airodrome, if I can get out of school whilst it's still light ... wah again!! will just have to the best I can...
Nuff waffle!!
Time to go do some work.
Milage this week - 18 and a bit, in 2 runs!
A Banstead morning ... gotta love it!
Love..
Nickixxxx