Sunday 31 January 2016

New longest run

Another long run done, about 15.5 miles!
On Tuesday night I had to abandon my run due to tight hamstrings. Physio on Thursday was painful but effective it seems. Delighted with progress!

Sunday 24 January 2016

Longest run

Since the last update I managed a 10 mile run last Sunday which was fairly comfortable, the route was a completely new one and I ran the vast majority of it on my own.  I had a good run on Tuesday night but Thursday night my legs felt tired, possibly due 2 runs in quite cold conditions.  In light of the fact my legs were feeling tired and I had a 14 mile run planned for today I decided to not do parkrun and instead go to the spa to give the legs a heat and ice treatment session.  The jacuzzi was the hottest it has ever been in my memory but the ice brought the legs back down to temperature pretty quickly.  I got plenty of rest but think I should have hydrated and eaten more yesterday.  I was a bit nervous about the run today, a) because it was uncharted territory b) I was testing my fuelling strategy today (a gel pack every 8km) and c) my legs were still quite tired and I was running with someone who wanted a 5min/km pace.

I think the fuelling strategy needs adjusting, before and during the run. At around 15km I was feeling like I wanted to walk a while, by 20km I had a stitch that didn't relent but I was spurred on by the half marathon PB I could see on my watch.  90 days to go until the big day, in fact, in 90 days I hope to be reflecting on another longest run ever feeling even more satisfied after completing my first ever marathon.

Physio is booked for Thursday night so my usual run will be moved and I think I will schedule more regular maintenance visits!

Saturday 16 January 2016

Europe

Having spent the week travelling in Belgium, Holland and Poland for work, maintaining a decent diet and good level of training has been hard.  However, I did managed a couple of trips to hotel gyms, so everything has gone entirely to pot.  I found running in different trainers and on a treadmill to be hard work, what seemed like a fast pace was slower than usual but was far more difficult.
Back in the UK now and long run Sunday is set for about 10miles - hope to get back into the swing of things quickly!

Sunday 10 January 2016

Longest run

It's seems like years ago that I ran the Bristol half marathon but in reality it was just a few months.  Today I ran my longest run since that day in September, very different for a number of reasons.  1) no stitches 2) no water/gels 3) wetter/muddier/colder 4) no cheering/clapping supporters 5) feeling more confident about running that distance.

On the day I was nervous having never covered the distance before, I ate breakfast and grabbed every opportunity for water or energy gels along the route. Today, the only concerns I had were was it going to stop raining and not being 100% on the planned route.

As it turned out the route was ok in terms of navigation, stuck with the crowd for the first half then picked up the pace a bit for the second half. The bit around the lake was hideously wet and muddy from which my feet never recovered. I hate wet socks at the best of times but after only a few km into a 20km was a nightmare. Squelching, cold and wet. The last 10km was actually run in sunshine, a pleasant surprise and it warmed up enough for me to feel my fingers and my ears.  The countryside was looking good except for the large areas of flooding, high water levels in ditches/fields.

I'm travelling next week so I'm trying to get my trainers cleaned and dried before my early flight, I have no idea whether I'll find somewhere to run/train on Tuesday but Thursday's hotel certainly has a gym.  10 miles next Sunday should be ok based on today's performance depite the uncertainly of training this week.  

Wednesday 6 January 2016

3 weeks later...

Well it's time for a long overdue update...

As you can see from the activity feed over there on the right, I have been making good progress with my running including back to back PBs on 9 mile runs.  I'm really pleased with how things are going so far but now the training really ramp up.  It's all about staying fit, not taking any unnecessary risks and listening to my body.  I have a great team behind me; my wife, my PT, a sports therapist and a sport masseuse.

I set up a TeamSense group on Strava to help myself and others stay motivated, encouraged and included - we're all on the same journey so it's great to see how others are getting on.
A good session on the exercise bike tonight doing a hill program, 14+km in 30 mins and a good stretch so I'm all set for tomorrow night's run.

Fundraising currently stands at £1,545.01 which is fantastic and I'm hugely grateful for the support!