Cash-o-meter
The totaliser is looking very healthy today thanks to the kind people of St. Stephen’s church. I received some great words of encouragement and talked to a few marathon veterans that I wasn’t aware of. Equally valuable, if a little unsettling, were the comments like “Have you got good knees? My friend ruined his knees doing the marathon.”
Moving on
I missed my midweek session this week due to packing for our imminent house move, so today I treated myself to an extra half a lap, making a total of 8.75 miles – officially the furthest I’ve ever run in my whole life, ever. That’s a whole third of a marathon. Can I really treble my endurance in five and a half months?
Anyway, it was really rather good, apart from the old left hip making its presence felt a little. I got through about a pint of water which I’m sure really helped (I’m getting the hang of drinking while running – it’s not that difficult), and I really did feel very good afterwards.
So what have we learned? Stick at this mileage for November and then up it by another half lap (about 15 minutes) in December. Hydration is good. Try and fit in the midweek runs while moving house, but don’t lose sleep over it. Progress is being made.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Anyway, it was really rather good, apart from the old left hip making its presence felt a little. I got through about a pint of water which I’m sure really helped (I’m getting the hang of drinking while running – it’s not that difficult), and I really did feel very good afterwards.
So what have we learned? Stick at this mileage for November and then up it by another half lap (about 15 minutes) in December. Hydration is good. Try and fit in the midweek runs while moving house, but don’t lose sleep over it. Progress is being made.
Weekly update
Another week, another 10.5 miles on the clock. My now regular weekly fartlek session slipped to Friday for various reasons, mostly laziness. Again, it was quite enjoyable and satisfying, although completed in about a minute longer than last week. One does feel like some sort of Proper Athlete when one is jogging along the street and then one bursts into a sprint.
I’d left the weekend’s long run until the last possible moment, Sunday night, and was thus forced to go out in the rain. So it was on with the fully non-breathable waterproof jacket and distinctly non-technical-fabric cap. I also heeded my own advice and took some water – unfortunately the best bottle I could find was half a litre, a little cumbersome.
It was a mild night and the rain soon stopped, so I ditched the hat and jacket pretty quickly as I was starting to sweat like a heavyweight boxer. Carrying them along with my barrel of water was a little awkward and I think was responsible for the sore neck that developed after a while. I got to practice my drinking technique – drinking from a bottle while running and breathing hard isn’t that easy – although I think that come race day I’ll follow Hal Higdon’s advice and walk through the drink stations.
Overall it was a comfortable run, although quite slow. I definitely feel that mentally I’ve got the 7 mile distance licked. I might up the distance in a few weeks and see how it feels.
Monday, October 18, 2004
I’d left the weekend’s long run until the last possible moment, Sunday night, and was thus forced to go out in the rain. So it was on with the fully non-breathable waterproof jacket and distinctly non-technical-fabric cap. I also heeded my own advice and took some water – unfortunately the best bottle I could find was half a litre, a little cumbersome.
It was a mild night and the rain soon stopped, so I ditched the hat and jacket pretty quickly as I was starting to sweat like a heavyweight boxer. Carrying them along with my barrel of water was a little awkward and I think was responsible for the sore neck that developed after a while. I got to practice my drinking technique – drinking from a bottle while running and breathing hard isn’t that easy – although I think that come race day I’ll follow Hal Higdon’s advice and walk through the drink stations.
Overall it was a comfortable run, although quite slow. I definitely feel that mentally I’ve got the 7 mile distance licked. I might up the distance in a few weeks and see how it feels.
What's it all about?
At least writing this diary gives me something to think about while running. Yesterday's 7-mile meditation was "long-distance running: what's it all about?"
I'm coming to the conclusion that it's not about not getting out of breath, or how fast your muscles will take you, or about the strength of your heart and lungs, or even much about toughening up your joints to survive 40,000 impacts without a rest.
I think it's about your whole body being able to take half a day's exertion without everything turning to jelly and you collapsing in a heap. It may sound obvious, but it seems the key to this training is not so much strengthening muscles and joints, but simply building endurance, core strength. I feel like right now, I could probably run a half marathon, but would be completely shattered at the end. By April, I've got to be able to do that and then get up and do another one.
I think I will only really start to understand what long-distance running is about after Christmas, when the serious, regular mileage starts to kick in.
Note to self: take some water on next week's long run. I haven't bothered so far, but by the second lap I was feeling dehydrated. Everyone says it's important, so I'd better get used to it.
Friday, October 15, 2004
I'm coming to the conclusion that it's not about not getting out of breath, or how fast your muscles will take you, or about the strength of your heart and lungs, or even much about toughening up your joints to survive 40,000 impacts without a rest.
I think it's about your whole body being able to take half a day's exertion without everything turning to jelly and you collapsing in a heap. It may sound obvious, but it seems the key to this training is not so much strengthening muscles and joints, but simply building endurance, core strength. I feel like right now, I could probably run a half marathon, but would be completely shattered at the end. By April, I've got to be able to do that and then get up and do another one.
I think I will only really start to understand what long-distance running is about after Christmas, when the serious, regular mileage starts to kick in.
Note to self: take some water on next week's long run. I haven't bothered so far, but by the second lap I was feeling dehydrated. Everyone says it's important, so I'd better get used to it.
Do check out the ads
Please while you're here, take a minute to click on some of the ads over to the left of the page. They generate revenue based on the number of clicks, and from initial figures they look like they could make quite a good contribution to the fund. Plus you'll get to buy some great long distance running related products!
Thank-you sponsors!
Big thanks to some generous sponsors who have got the fundraising ball rolling and pushed the totaliser beyond a fifth of the target already. You know who you are! I'll try and do you proud...
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Leks and Farts
In which I reveal a liking for toilet humour.
Tonight I decided to try a spot of fartlek. Maybe I should have read the article before I tried it.
Actually, it went really well. I did my normal circuit of 3.5 miles and ended up doing 7 cycles of fart and lek (as I like to think of them). I was able to fart quite hard - until the "I would really like to slow down quite soon" point, rather than the "I must stop now or my lungs will burst" point - and then lek at a moderate jog until I was reasonably comfortable again (although not totally relaxed). I think distance-wise the leks worked out about twice as long as the farts. It was only in the last two cycles that my leks slowed to a really slow jog in order to recover.
So all in all it was a very good cardiovascular workout, and gave my legs much more of a stretch than normal, and the time passed very quickly. AND, much to my surprise (based on previous attempts a while back), I recorded a PB for my circuit. Which all serves to increase my over-confidence... something is bound to go wrong soon.
Update: Etymology here.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Tonight I decided to try a spot of fartlek. Maybe I should have read the article before I tried it.
Actually, it went really well. I did my normal circuit of 3.5 miles and ended up doing 7 cycles of fart and lek (as I like to think of them). I was able to fart quite hard - until the "I would really like to slow down quite soon" point, rather than the "I must stop now or my lungs will burst" point - and then lek at a moderate jog until I was reasonably comfortable again (although not totally relaxed). I think distance-wise the leks worked out about twice as long as the farts. It was only in the last two cycles that my leks slowed to a really slow jog in order to recover.
So all in all it was a very good cardiovascular workout, and gave my legs much more of a stretch than normal, and the time passed very quickly. AND, much to my surprise (based on previous attempts a while back), I recorded a PB for my circuit. Which all serves to increase my over-confidence... something is bound to go wrong soon.
Update: Etymology here.
Training Pant
This week it was on with the training pant and long-sleeved top as the autumnal weather drew in. On Thursday I went for my first run in the dark since last winter, which turned out to be really nice. I felt like I flew round - actual running, not jogging - although the stopwatch only showed an average time.
This this morning I went for my first 7 mile run at home - two laps of my normal circuit. As last week, I didn't really start to feel comfortable until about 40 minutes. Not sure what to conclude from that but it can't be a bad thing? Anyway, no nasty pains, just the usual slight muscle soreness this afternoon. And my lap time was actually faster than on Thursday.
My only slight worry was that I can see myself getting bored with the training by Christmas - let alone April. I guess the answer might be variety, so I'll see how I'm feeling in a few weeks and then maybe vary things a bit. Also I really need to get started on raising some of that great big £1250, which should hopefully keep me focused. I'll try and start work on my office colleagues this week and then think about organising a big mailout to my friends.
In other news, I've entered the Reading Half Marathon on March 6th, which will provide a good challenge as I've never run that far before. I've slipped in into the training plan.
Monday, October 04, 2004
This this morning I went for my first 7 mile run at home - two laps of my normal circuit. As last week, I didn't really start to feel comfortable until about 40 minutes. Not sure what to conclude from that but it can't be a bad thing? Anyway, no nasty pains, just the usual slight muscle soreness this afternoon. And my lap time was actually faster than on Thursday.
My only slight worry was that I can see myself getting bored with the training by Christmas - let alone April. I guess the answer might be variety, so I'll see how I'm feeling in a few weeks and then maybe vary things a bit. Also I really need to get started on raising some of that great big £1250, which should hopefully keep me focused. I'll try and start work on my office colleagues this week and then think about organising a big mailout to my friends.
In other news, I've entered the Reading Half Marathon on March 6th, which will provide a good challenge as I've never run that far before. I've slipped in into the training plan.
The training has begun
Well, it really began a month or so, but this week I upped the mileage in accordance with the training plan. Yes, I’ve already missed a midweek session – my excuse being that I didn’t look at the plan until Thursday. Not too important at this stage.
On Saturday morning I went for a jog around the suburbs of Birmingham with my brother-in-law Ian, and the weather confirmed that autumn is definitely here. The idea was to do an hour, which should be roughly 7 miles. It was quite grim to start with – probably not helped by unfamiliar surroundings, and running with someone else which I’m not used to. After a while, the doubts started setting in:
"I’ve only done half an hour, think what four and a half will be like."
"What am I letting myself in for?"
"Why am I doing this?"
However, after about 40 minutes I settled into a rhythm and the various worrying twinges settled down into dull aches. As it happened, our route took in a running track and I was able to time myself at about 2:20 for a 400m lap, which sounds appallingly slow but is actually about 9:20 for a mile – certainly faster than it felt. Based on that time I’ve put 6.5 miles in the log, which must be about right.
Admittedly, I was very glad to stop after an hour, but I felt good afterwards and there was only a little soreness the following day. Today, I’m (almost) raring to go for my shorter, faster midweek session.
Hopefully, by the time the dark, rainy nights of mid-November arrive, I’ll be able to draw inspiration from this rather than just laughing.
On Saturday morning I went for a jog around the suburbs of Birmingham with my brother-in-law Ian, and the weather confirmed that autumn is definitely here. The idea was to do an hour, which should be roughly 7 miles. It was quite grim to start with – probably not helped by unfamiliar surroundings, and running with someone else which I’m not used to. After a while, the doubts started setting in:
"I’ve only done half an hour, think what four and a half will be like."
"What am I letting myself in for?"
"Why am I doing this?"
However, after about 40 minutes I settled into a rhythm and the various worrying twinges settled down into dull aches. As it happened, our route took in a running track and I was able to time myself at about 2:20 for a 400m lap, which sounds appallingly slow but is actually about 9:20 for a mile – certainly faster than it felt. Based on that time I’ve put 6.5 miles in the log, which must be about right.
Admittedly, I was very glad to stop after an hour, but I felt good afterwards and there was only a little soreness the following day. Today, I’m (almost) raring to go for my shorter, faster midweek session.
Hopefully, by the time the dark, rainy nights of mid-November arrive, I’ll be able to draw inspiration from this rather than just laughing.
