Even though I'm micro-blogging elsewhere, this post is exclusive to this blog.
Right - update and details. I managed one gym session and one midweek run last week. Both were good quality and having moved offices on Friday I felt I had enough physical exertion for workdays. Yesterday.....well....EIGHTEEN FRIGGIN' MILES! That was a big step - well many many steps as it happens. A big leap in terms of distance and time (3:30) but my legs feel fine. I'll be stretching some more today and off to the gym tomorrow.
The run itself was an interesting set of ups and downs. Saturday Feb 21st was the first 'spring like' day of 2009 for us. I actually caught some sun on my head! Getting colour back is nice. At the start of the run I was seeking out the sun for the warmth but towards the end it was more a case of seek the shade for the cool. Over 11 miles I was starting to get tired of the new carb drink I tried this time. I made it a bit strong so a weaker formula next time. Lots of 'cakey bakey' bars for the long runs as well as tissues is good. North of 12 miles I started to sample 'the wall' but a cakey bakey got be back in form and 'zoning' out for the last two miles was actually okay. On balance, a good run - 150bpm avg and >4k calories.
This week should be interesting. Gonna be a busy work week so I'll see what I can fit in. Minimum I should aim for 2 gym, 1 midweek run of 10k (6 miles) and then I'll spend the next two weeks focusing on 14-16 miler runs on the weekend.
20 miles in March...
Sunday 22 February 2009
Sunday 15 February 2009
Getting back on it
This post is brought to you by the great fresh taste of all my sponsors so far - love you all!
Anyway, dedication over and done with let's get down to the update. It's good for once. It seemed like I was getting into a rut but finally I got a great weekend of weather, no/less illness and well.....no excuses! Not that I was looking for excuses but picture the scene:
07:00, warm, snoozing, Sunday morning. It's okay outside but it isn't warm. The cats are just starting to be a pain in the arse. What do you do? The first option is always 'do nothing'. The ramifications of the nothing option are further cat annoyance, no sleep for me or Marie and ultimately a late run, probably in the dark. The other option is just to get on with it.
So, I took the latter option - not the easy option though. Breakfast was a power shake and black coffee - yummo! Breakfast was a cold affair as I elected to go for shorts today. So, I got all my other usual morning routine stuff out of the way (I'll spare you the details) and 09:00 comes around. Time to push through the energy gel disgustingness and get out of the door. I was thinking before I wrote this post, it would be neat to get the Garmin to plot another graph line of consciousness during run. The lower heart rate and even pace moments would be near slumber where the peaky, uneven pace sections would accompany elevated heart rate and higher states of awareness. The more aware I am of the pain of running long, the harder it gets to zone out into the even pace nirvana.
I found it [the zone] a few times today but I think having not had a long run for two weeks and getting over being ill has knocked my cardio fitness as well as putting me out of practice in terms of maintaining a pace and zoning out. It needs practice. I'll focus on this more so next week.
I have a theory. Whilst new routes are fun - the first time you run a new route - it sucks. You don't know how far round the route you are to gauge relative effort levels required to finish the workout. I'm going to stick with my Pinner/Harrow lap for my long runs. I know where I stand with this route. It's fairly flat with just the occasional incline and knowing the route makes zoning out more likely. I just hope I don't get bored.
We'll see.
Last week:
Mill
Gym
12.5
This week:
Mill
Gym
6
Gym
Rest/stretch
Rest
14+ (ideally 16)
Fingers crossed.
Anyway, dedication over and done with let's get down to the update. It's good for once. It seemed like I was getting into a rut but finally I got a great weekend of weather, no/less illness and well.....no excuses! Not that I was looking for excuses but picture the scene:
07:00, warm, snoozing, Sunday morning. It's okay outside but it isn't warm. The cats are just starting to be a pain in the arse. What do you do? The first option is always 'do nothing'. The ramifications of the nothing option are further cat annoyance, no sleep for me or Marie and ultimately a late run, probably in the dark. The other option is just to get on with it.
So, I took the latter option - not the easy option though. Breakfast was a power shake and black coffee - yummo! Breakfast was a cold affair as I elected to go for shorts today. So, I got all my other usual morning routine stuff out of the way (I'll spare you the details) and 09:00 comes around. Time to push through the energy gel disgustingness and get out of the door. I was thinking before I wrote this post, it would be neat to get the Garmin to plot another graph line of consciousness during run. The lower heart rate and even pace moments would be near slumber where the peaky, uneven pace sections would accompany elevated heart rate and higher states of awareness. The more aware I am of the pain of running long, the harder it gets to zone out into the even pace nirvana.
I found it [the zone] a few times today but I think having not had a long run for two weeks and getting over being ill has knocked my cardio fitness as well as putting me out of practice in terms of maintaining a pace and zoning out. It needs practice. I'll focus on this more so next week.
I have a theory. Whilst new routes are fun - the first time you run a new route - it sucks. You don't know how far round the route you are to gauge relative effort levels required to finish the workout. I'm going to stick with my Pinner/Harrow lap for my long runs. I know where I stand with this route. It's fairly flat with just the occasional incline and knowing the route makes zoning out more likely. I just hope I don't get bored.
We'll see.
Last week:
Mill
Gym
12.5
This week:
Mill
Gym
6
Gym
Rest/stretch
Rest
14+ (ideally 16)
Fingers crossed.
Monday 9 February 2009
A rubbish week off.
Well, I haven't been ill like that for sometime - unless you count hangovers. I spent the whole week doing nothing other than the occasional stretching or BOSU session.
I'll be getting back on the horse this week. Mill tonight, gym this week and a long run on the weekend for sure.
I think the biggest effort this week will be getting the begging letter started!
More to report soon.
I'll be getting back on the horse this week. Mill tonight, gym this week and a long run on the weekend for sure.
I think the biggest effort this week will be getting the begging letter started!
More to report soon.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Eww - worst weekend EVER!
Maybe the title is a bit OTT but that was a 100% crappy weekend. No training. Ill.
Fingers crossed that this weather gets better for WHM this Sunday.
Out.
Fingers crossed that this weather gets better for WHM this Sunday.
Out.
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