TRAINING UPDATE: Feeling tired

This post comes with a mixture of feelings. I seemed to have gone from feeling unstoppable and speedy to lethargic, achy and well, quite frankly, a tad moody at times.

The last few weeks have certainly been interesting in terms of my training. Following on from the success of my last update (here), my running went from strength to strength during my training sessions. I found myself tackling more hills and even hurled myself out of bed on a Sunday at 6.30am to fit in a run before work. This is very unusual for me.

In terms of my swimming and cycling, these have been consistent. I'm not any slower but nor am I faster. It has come to my attention that I really struggle to 'push the pace' when swimming. I have reached a point in my training where I have a speed that is comfortable and manageable over longer swim distances. This is the fastest my body wants to go and I am happy to accept it. The swim in my triathlon won't be my shining moment so I just need to concentrate on getting through it with energy to spare.

Cycling has recently been on the back burner, with just my daily commute and the very occasional longer ride at the weekend. Over the Easter break, I did manage to join a fellow training companion for a cycle along the canal to Hertford. We cycled almost 50K in total, which was super good training for me. It was also the first time I tried out my cleats on a long ride and I must say they did feel very comfortable (even if I did fall off 10K in - shh it never happened).

In general, I can't complain with how my training is going. Trying to juggle workouts around work, wedding planning and generally having a life is getting harder, especially as my big day draws closer. I'm the busiest I have even been with hours, days, weeks flying past. I haven't really stopped since coming back from Christmas and I think my body is starting to protest about this. So much so, that this week my energy levels have depleted.

I started to notice a decline in my efforts when I went out for a 10K at the weekend. I went with my partner and we took on a hilly route at a casual pace. What was alarming is that I found this tough and I was running a good minute or so slower than normal. This worried me. I also got the worse stitch at mile five and had to stop for a couple of minutes for it to subside. When I got home, I felt a little upset but decided to shake it off and tried again on Tuesday, this time doing my normal mini brick session (cycle home and then a 5K run). Tuesday was a particularly warm day and I think us Brits are trying to adjust to the hotter weather (goodbye thick leggings and woolly hats!). About half a mile into the run, I began to feel really heady and thirsty. My legs were lifeless and putting one foot in front of another was proving to be a real effort. Two miles in, I had to stop as again I had a really awful stitch.

What on earth is wrong with me? Two runs suffering pain and exhaustion. Something isn't right and with my first ever duathlon only a week away, it is unnerving that I am feeling this way. I guessed I might be really tired in general but the other morning, I did wake up feeling a bit groggy with a scratchy throat and snotty nose. The start of a dreaded cold - which would make sense why I feel so poo.

Despite these symptoms, by Thursday I went out as normal to do my fortnightly speed session. I was going to sweat it out! It was warm again so I opted to take a drink with me which helped a lot. I chose to carry out a pyramid session and ran around Alexandra Palace and surrounding residential areas. By the halfway point I had found a decent pace - still slower than normal but a big improvement from Tuesday. I average exactly seven minute miles, which is just over my ideal 5K pace.

(above: before and after my hot and sweaty speed session)

Talking about 5Ks, I haven't forgotten about my challenge to go sub 21 (see here). It really is still on the agenda and I was close to trying it out the day after my birthday (the original deadline I had set myself). The only thing is that I may have had one too many gins the night before and didn't get up in time for parkrun. I know - I'm useless but it was my birthday after all...

The sub 21 will happen. I am sure of it. All my speed work and hill training is definitely helping me work towards this goal and I'm hoping by the Summer, it will be ticked off my list. I did have great success at my local parkrun ever so recently. It's a tricky course and I managed it in 22.26 so I am super keen to try out a flat 5K to see if I can make the 20s. 

This weekend I am away on wedding business so I will need to fit my training in around venue visits, florist meetings and of course a big fat lunch with the Best Man and Bridesmaid (this is a necessity). I'm hoping to do a brick session on Sunday - using my parents indoor bike and then heading out for a 30 minute run. After this, I will have a quiet week, resting up for my duathlon on the 18th. Judging by how tired and achy I'm feeling, I'm going to need it!

I'll keep you posted!

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: 5K PB Progress

For my regular readers, you will be aware that just before Christmas I set myself a 5K PB challenge, which you can read about here. My plan was to start focussing on this over the festive period (with the luxury of having some time off work to plan specific training sessions that were also triathlon friendly) however that all went to pot when I fell really ill for my whole break. Sucks I know.

Despite this setback, I've been doing some work either side of Christmas to kick start this journey. In the last week of training with my running club before we all set off out of London for the holidays, a few of us opted for a 400m relay in pairs with each person running 12 laps to reach just under 5K. I love doing stuff like this as I'm my most strongest over super short, speedy sessions. After finding out the athletics track was closed, we decided to map out a route for the session at Primrose Hill. The lap was a little undulating so all the more challenging. When we were paired up, we set off with me going first in my team. I noticed on my Garmin that the lap was in fact around 500m, so we decided to drop the quantity down to 10.

I found this session harder than expected. First off, it was freezing and secondly, the lap was rather bumpy and uneven making it even harder to keep a fast pace. Still though, the plan was to push hard and thats what I kept doing. It was nice to have the recovery breaks when my partner, Alice, was out in the field on her turn and overall I felt like I was doing a good pace. I suffered a slight technical glitch after lap eight when I forgot to pause my Garmin an despite this happening I still managed to finish the whole session under 20 minutes!

Looking at my splits, if I take off the 20 seconds (roughly) that I left my watch running on my rest after lap eight, I actually managed to keep a sub seven minute pace for each mile, which I was super pleased with. This is my ideal 5K pace if I want to go under 21 minutes and, at this time, I am still finding it quite hard to get my head (and my energy levels) around this. 

As I mentioned above, shortly after this speedy session, I fell ill with an awful cold which then developed into a nasty chesty cough and one that lingered for almost a month. I took a whole week off training as I could barely walk from the sofa to the kitchen without wheezing and I was worrying all my hard work would be wasted from this break. In the second week, I managed to jog 5K (and I mean jog, borderline crawl) a couple of days and I did get the hump thinking about how I was going to get my strength and speed back. 

That said though, it returned much easily than expected. By the first week of January, I kicked off the New Year with a five mile run and finished with an average pace of 8.17. Not bad considering the cough was still lingering (the coughing fit I had when I finished this run wasn't pleasant but who cares, I managed to run!)

By the weekend, I plucked up the courage to attend my local parkrun after a fellow running pal persuaded me to join her. We both were guilty of not going for a long time (the last time I graced this particular course was 18 months previous) and despite strong gale force winds, we braved the undulating/hilly 5K at Finsbury Park. I personally find this parkrun ghastly. I hate the inconspicious hill that looks, yeah steep but rather short when in fact it is beastly and tortuous on the quads. To make it even worse, you also have to head up it twice. Add in the horredous stormy winds and you have yourself quite a challenge when your almost two years out of parkrun shape. 

I finished in 24.30, a minute slower than my PB on this course. Secretly I was rather pleased as I was expecting far worse but it has made me see I have a lot of work to do if I want to achieve my dream sub 21. I most definitely won't be getting it at this parkrun but I do have another course in mind to target this time.

Finally, my latest 5K focussed drills were a couple of days ago on the track. Myself and a few fellow club runners boshed out a fartlek style session of 10x 200m, jogging 200m in-between each set. It was harder than it sounds as when you run each set, you practically sprint. By having no static rest periods, it was tough to keep going but I'm glad I did it. This again set me an average pace of 6.22 so I am able to get more and more familiar with the type of pace I need to hold for my 5K target. 

Overall, I'm still a long way off and whilst the horrid cough has pushed me back ever so slightly, I cannot use it as an excuse. I'm glad I have started up this training focus again and I'm hoping for a few more parkruns and HIIT sessions to get my legs more and more comfortable with speed. 

Lipstick Runner.

Operation Bridal Bod: Week 12

(L-R: Week 1, Week 4, Week 12)

Three months into my plan to get wedding ready and I am feeling really good! After a slip up at week eight (which you can read about here), I made it my mission to get back on board both the diet and fitness wagon. Looking back at the last month, I feel like I really have! What's been great is that I haven't necessarily felt like I have been dieting. An extreme case of 'being skint' has lead to purchases of tinned soup, bananas and porridge, with dinners then being freezer food (which I know isn't great) but having no money has meant no subconscious mid afternoon sweet treats have been purchased from Tesco Express.

Looking back at week four, I was on a roll. I had dropped 5lbs and keeping my running up in training for Cabbage Patch 10. Then once the race was over, I slipped. Lots of social engagements led to eating out, drinking and feeling too tired to exercise. A bad patch but one I have definitely learnt from. I have since picked myself up, especially on the exercise front as I have just completed my first full month of triathlon training! 

I have kept to around 75% of my calendar plan and where I have made tweaks or missed sessions I have tried to make up for them elsewhere. Taking on swimming, cycling and running has been hard to adjust to but looking at my results, it has been totally worth it! Using my bike to commute is really helping me to pick up cycling skills, especially on long straights where I try to pick up pace (safely of course :)) and work flat out, pushing myself as far as I can go. Each week, I find my legs are getting stronger and I'm climbing the steep hill I face every morning faster. I even managed to get on a gym bike whilst visiting my parents where I practised the Sprint Tri distance of 20K. I found it quite uncomfortable cycling indoors as the room got so stuffy but was pleased to complete the session in 36 minutes. I'm hoping on the road bike I can shave off some time but for a starting point, I'm really happy!

For my swimming, it's, well, going swimmingly! Each week I alternate between technique practice and distance practice and I was astonished to find in my first distance session that I managed to lane swim 750m front crawl without stopping. I was chuffed to bits (below shows just how much).

With my running, as you all know I have decided to set myself a 5K challenge of reaching sub 21 minute territory (read about this here). I have only recently started this in the last week, tailoring my first training session to a track workout. Consisting of four sets of 800m followed by 400m, this workout was all about working to maximum effort at 3-5K effort and I managed to nail the exact pace I need to keep for a sub 21 minute 5K.

So where has this left my body overall? Well I am thrilled that say I have lost another pound (not much I know but it's still weight lost!) and I am now hitting the scales at 8st 13lbs. I cannot remember the last time I was under nine stone so to sneakily slip under this is huge for me! With 6lbs lost in the bag, my focus now is to not slip up with Christmas on the horizon. 

Already I have had to tell all my loved ones to not under any circumstance purchase any form of chocolate, biscuits, sweets or cake for me. I have even (with great strain) turned down my Mum buying me my traditional present of a Cadbury's selection box. However, what I avoid in the form of presents I will no doubt face on the coffee table at various family get togethers over the festive period. My willpower will most definitely be tested when I am in front of massive tubs of Quality Street, mince pies and cheese boards but I am going to try my absolute hardest to not go crazy. Note I am not saying I will completely avoid these treats. Christmas is a time to indulge a little and I will of course be eating Yule log and dipping into chocolate tins. I just won't be devouring whole packets.

You'll know how good I have been early January for my 16 week update. Let's hope for a good one!

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Targeting a sub 21 minute 5K

Throughout my journey to completing my first ever triathlon, I have decided to set mini targets along the way. One of them being a shiny new 5K PB. I haven't dabbled in this distance for over a year now and I think I have ran 5K about three times this year, one of which was a parkrun. 

The distance itself is actually great for all sorts of abilities. Whether you are new to running and making it you first target, or using it as essential strength building time during marathon training, everyone really should be boshing out a few 5K every now and then.

In the last four years I have been a runner, I have rarely chosen to complete the distance. Mainly because I always saw it as 'too short' and not relevant to my training but really, it can make a nice change to pounding the pavements for miles and miles. I am also a stronger competitor over shorter distances so why I have never seeked regular 5K PB has left me a little clueless. Still though, with a 5K in my triathlon, there really is no excuse now to set up some training sessions to improve my speed over the 3.1 miles.

Why 5K?

What's brilliant about 5K I guess is parkrun. One of the greatest events to be funded by the UK government, it's is a free 5K race for anyone to take part in. Taking place around the country at 9am every Saturday, thousands and thousands of Brits descend on their local parkrun to take part. The timed run is something many people I know dedicate their Saturday morning too and I really must pluck up the courage to squidge one or two into my training regime.

My current 5K PB is 21.58, which I achieved almost a year ago (above is where I achieved this at Newbury parkrun). If I was to go out now and run 5K, I'd be lucky to go under 24 minutes. Not good. So what time do I target? I feel like I could play it safe and aim for sub 22 minutes again but then part of me is thinking it's time to push myself and so why not try and aim for sub 21. I guess I am being an eager beaver but it would train me to work at 110%, which in turn will be very beneficial to me come further triathlon training.

Looking deeper into my reasons for this target, in all honesty I also am in desperate need of speed, endurance and most definitely a decent core, so fitting in some 5K tailored sessions will help tick these boxes. You could even say I am starting my New Year's resolution early!

The strategy 

How will I achieve this? Well I guess I am already halfway there in terms of tailored training with Thursdays spent at the athletics track enduring numerous sessions to get the body working at VO2 max and so I will definitely continue with this part of my normal training as it already helps with my speed. I will then make sure I balance our these intensive workouts with consistent running, aiming to do 3-6 miles for each run I do. I will try and do this twice a week, along with the cycling and swimming I already do as part of my triathlon training. Phew! 

The idea overall is for my track and running sessions to gel together, meaning that interval training will generate speed and muscle whilst consistent running will build endurance and efficiency.

More importantly, I need to fit 5K events into my diary and for this, I will most definitely turn to parkrun. By fitting these in, I will (hopefully) notice increased speed as my times get faster and faster with the aim to end up with that sub 21 minutes (20.59 here I come!). I did back in August take part in a parkrun and crossed the line in 23.09 so I am hoping I can land back around this sort of time and work my way up from there. Still though, hope is no guarantee so whatever time I do, I must accept it, be patient and build on it.

Key 5K training tips

For anyone who, like me, are also hunting down a 5K PB, here are some key training tips to remember when working towards smashing this distance...

1. Integrate speed work into your training. Opt for sessions that involve short bursts of hard running with small rest breaks. Pyramid sessions are great for this:

2. Hit those hills! This is rich coming from me, the Queen of hill dodging. I will however put my hands up and surrender to undulating courses and steep climbs. Hill training will really help to strengthen your core, not to mention your endurance. Head to a local park where you know a decent hill lies and again aim to do intervals running up and down the hill, followed by short sprints across flat ground. 

3. Master your stride. 5K is fast and requires lots of speed training so perfecting your stride will help to avoid injures and niggles. Lengthening your stride will also assist you in securing that all important PB. Short hill reps will help you achieve this.

4. Plank it. Like I have said throughout this post, a solid core makes such a difference when racing. To speed up the process of toughening it up, mix up your training with static workouts, such as planks. I have recently discovered walking planks to where you lean down on your elbows and push up so your arms are straight. It burns so bad but is totally worth it in the long run!

All of the above I will most definitely be adopting into my training regime (even the hills!). After all, I have a long journey to take to reach that sub 21 minutes, with the aim to hit this milestone by my birthday in April 2015. 

What PBs does everyone else have on the agenda? Are you aiming for a 5K personal record too?

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Parkrun Comeback

Training is starting to get exciting for me now. The last couple of weeks have been full of running and I even completed a week where I ran three times so overall, I feel like I am getting back to my old ways.

What has also been great is that I am now balancing out my workouts by combining running with swimming, cycling and core exercises. Running is starting to take priority now and with Cabbage Patch 10 approaching in around six weeks, I need to start thinking about my training plan and how to get the legs ticking over 10 miles again.

Looking back though since my last Training Update, a lot has been happening! I have been really busy with work, wedding planning and seeing friends, so cramming in exercise where I can has been essential. With running, I am starting to see an improvement in my speed and have also attempted running with a backpack again. I haven’t actually done this since around April/May and after booking in my bike for a service over a couple of days, I took the chance to run home from work on one of them.

The route home isn’t too exciting and scenic but is roughly around four miles, so is well within my capabilities at the moment. It was a really hot day when I did this and I did struggle a bit. I also got THE worse stitch, which is very unusual for me. I wasn’t sure if it was where the strap across my stomach from the bag was digging in, but it sure was painful! This caused me to slow down in the last mile but was still pleased to log another four miler.

The next day, I opted to meet my friend for swimming again. When I left the office to cycle to the gym around five miles away it was pouring it down with rain. Still a little nervous cycling in these kinds of weather conditions, I took a route along the Thames towpath and instantly regretted it once I was on it. So many cyclists, runners, dog walkers and fisherman. Wahh! I couldn’t take it and due to the wet, narrow path and uneven paving slabs, my back wheel kept skidding out.

I came off the towpath early and got a bit lost getting to the gym via busy central London roads and so when I did finally arrive, I felt very tense and shaky. The reason I have explained this particular journey is that I think it may have been one of the causes of what happened in the pool afterwards.

We worked to a routine which involved front crawl intervals, arm pulls, kicking with floats and so on and at around 1000m, I got the worse cramp! I’ve never had cramp whilst swimming and holy hell it hurt! It was in my calf and very much panicked me as I was in the deep end so had to drag my body over to the lane divider to pull myself to the side. I stayed here for a good 10 minutes to massage and stretch the calf. It remained very tense but the cramping had eased off and so I opted to try again. 300m later however, I got cramp in the other calf! Inconveniently it was again in the deep end so there a repeat of getting myself to the side to stretch out the other leg. Typical!

A nearby swimming instructor must have been watching me and came over to have a chat. She explained I may be dehydrated and my friend asked if I drink during swimming. Err no? Is it really important I do? Apparently, it is REALLY important you stay hydrated during swimming as, funnily enough, lack of fluids causes cramp. Learnt my lesson there then didn’t I? I also think the stress and tension from my horrendous journey to the gym was still lingering and may have possibly contributed to the cramp too.

The next day (Friday), I was in agony! My calves felt so stiff and sore and I spent the day hobbling around at work. I was really worried I had damaged myself but I did find the more walking I did, the more my muscles were loosening up. That evening I travelled down to the South West with my fiancé and future in-laws to visit our wedding venue for the weekend (the below view defines the beauty of where we are getting married!). Sitting in a car for two hours did cause them to seize up again but by morning they were feeling a tad better.

On the Sunday, I got up early and left the hotel to go for a jog along the Kennet & Avon canal that was nearby. The calves were back to normal (thank the Lord) and my Maid of Honour drove over to join me too, which was nice! As we were nattering so much, we didn’t really exceed nine-minute miles but we did complete 10K, which I was thrilled about! This is the furthest I have run since my injury and I honestly felt like I had really accomplished something this day. I even celebrated on the lock, with the cows!

The following week, I had a lot of work events on so sadly didn’t get to cycle as much as I had hoped. When I have launches to host, it does mean I am travelling around the city a lot, carrying god knows what whilst also dressed in my finest so having the bike for these occasions isn’t ideal. After one meeting however, I was based in Oxford Circus and so opted to run home from work that evening. 

(running on the go!)

The route was five miles long and the most glum of them all. Up Tottenham Court Road, past Warren Street to Camden and up north on busy roads during rush hour wasn’t the best; but again, I had my backpack and found this run a lot easier and faster! I reached my front door bang on five miles (don’t you just LOVE it when that happens?) with an average pace of 8.27.

By Thursday, I was curious to see if I could take on a speed session. Before my injury, I would head to my local athletics track every Thursday with my running club to do a HIIT session (high intensity interval training). This is where I am at my strongest and going over two months without any of these kind of runs has affected my performance. A little apprehensive to chuck myself back into track training, I opted to do a mini session up at Alexandra Palace by myself.

I chose to do a downward pyramid: 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m with a minutes rest in-between and aiming to hit a faster pace as I worked down. Starting off, I tried to ensure I was pushing myself but boy, did I find it hard. Finding the power to turn my legs around faster was tough but the further in I got, the faster I felt myself going. By the time I reached the 400m, I was on 2.5 miles and so I opted to do another half mile to reach three. When my watched beeped at this point, I had done my final mile in 6.50. I haven’t seen a sub 7 in a lonnnng time and I was ecstatic that I managed to hold this speed throughout the session.

By the weekend, I was on my travels again - this time back home to see friends for a BBQ. I knew I wanted to get a run logged during my time there and so I plucked up the courage to attend the local parkrun, with one of my best buds in tow! This particular one I love. It’s one single lap, relatively flat and pulls in on average 350 runners so there’s a great field of abilities.

I haven’t done a parkrun in yonks and this was my first time running in a large pack since Mizuno Endure24 and lining up at the start line, I did feel a little nervous! My aim was to get under 25 minutes (my PB is 21.58 and I knew I wouldn’t even get close to this). Starting off, I kept a mantra in my head to stay steady and don’t bomb it. I really didn’t want to burn out by mile two, so I made sure I held back just a tad. My first mile buzzed at 7.14, which I was really surprised with as I felt like I was doing eight-minute miles. By mile two I hit 7.20 so keeping the pace together. The plan was working and the final mile is a steady incline and we were running in the wind so having some fuel left in the tank really helped. Mile three buzzed at 7.44 and I dug deep for the last stretch to cross the line in 23.09! I was shocked I managed this and my time also secured me 4^th lady in a field of 337 runners, which was amazing!

(feeling chuffed with our results!)

I cannot describe how happy I was with this. I felt like I was back and feeling strong. I didn’t think I would get close to 23 minutes so knowing I have achieved this post injury is brilliant. I definitely celebrated Saturday night with far too much food and gins but now I am back up in London, it is back to training, this time my aim is to run 10K at a steady pace. Hopefully by the time I get round to writing my next training update, I will be well into my training for Cabbage Patch 10.

(yep - I pigged out. But it was SO worth it!)

Until then – happy running!

Lipstick Runner.