TRAINING UPDATE: Week 10 of half marathon training

I can't believe I am in the last days of my training. Wokingham is now only two weeks away and I have been in the final stages of race prep before I begin to wind down and taper. 

Week nine was an interesting one. I had ended week eight with a 10 mile training run. I luckily had my best friend join me and we tend to chat ALOT when we run together so the mile pace for this was a very casual 8.50. The following day, I didn't ache exactly but I did decide to give my body a rest from cardio and instead I did a small weights workout. I am now successfully using my 5KGs at least once a week which is huge progress given that I was struggling to lift them only weeks ago. 

(10 miles with my bestie!)

By Tuesday, I was starting to feel the familiar feeling of training fatigue. I always get this towards the end and I was also experiencing a very busy period in my job which doesn't help. Cycling home that evening, I couldn't be arsed to go out for my paced run and when I got in, I decided to skip it. However, as I started to get changed out of my cycling kit, guilt flooded over me and I fought the urge to slob on the sofa and told myself to get into my running kit and get out the front door. 

It was hard but I eventually was outside, Garmin set and starting off on a four mile paced run (it was meant to be five but sod it!). Despite feeling absolutely shattered, I decided to take a different route to  my normal one to change things up. This one turned out to be bloody hilly! My god it was so hard. Up and down, up and down. It was endless! Time managed to pass quickly though and I was super chuffed to see that I had finished with an average mile pace of 7.38 (faster than it should be!). I was ecstatic and so glad I had plucked up the courage to head out. 

Come the next day and elation had quickly turned to pain. I woke up with the most painful shins. Even to lightly touch them made me wince - it was horrid. Every step I took was agony and I found more comfort on my bike than actually putting my feet on the ground! By Thursday, it was even worse (it always is the second day isn't it?). I was worried I had come down with the dreaded shin splints but after much research, I think I had a bad case of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Still though, it was awful and I decided to skip training for three whole days. 

By Sunday, I was down to run 13 miles. Ugh the dreaded long run of my training plan. Luckily, my shins were feeling OK by this point but the weather outside was greatly putting me off. It was chucking it down with rain and I could see trees bending over backwards from the strong winds. Seeing my husband snuggled down in the duvet, I begrudgingly got out of bed and changed into my kit. I opted to wear my new Mizuno Breathe Thermo Wind Running Top (shop here). I got this for Christmas from the hubby and it is a beautiful piece of kit. It works to keep you dry and warm during the winter months as the yarns captures escaping heat. I was a little hesitant of its thickness and that I would overheat but it turned out to be an absolute lifesaver! The rain was awful and it kept me dry up until 7-8 miles before I started to feel slight dampness on my skin. I think that is good going though!

(wearing Mizuno Breathe Thermo Wind Running Top)

Going back to the actual run, I found myself going at quite a good pace. I was ranging between 8.10 - 8.40 mile pace and it felt comfortable and controlled. I ran all over North London and then ventured down to Angel and St Pauls, followed by running up the Southbank and over to Buckingham Palace. Doing 13 miles on my own was a bit lonely but I kept myself busy taking in some of London's wonderful sights. 

(Sunday morning practise for the Queen's guards)

By the final mile, I dug deep to try and do it at target half marathon pace (which I did) and found I finished the whole run in just over 1.48! To say I was chuffed is an understatement. I was surprised at this time as I did try to go at a pace that was casual and not overly strenuous. I'm pleased that this turned out to be faster than I expected. 

Coming into week 10, I didn't feel too tired from my long run. Again, I made Monday a weights day and headed out for a paced run on Tuesday. This did come out a lot slower than all my previous ones (and I mean ALOT - my average mile pace was 8.58) but I do think my legs were a bit heavy from the 13 miles two days previous. Due to social commitments, I skipped sessions on Wednesday and Thursday but switched them to Friday and Saturday. First up was my weekly swim session (which went well) and then early Saturday morning I headed out for a speed session.

I opted to carry out the pyramid session my club had done at training on the Thursday I missed. It involved started long and slow, then getting shorter and faster and going all the way back up to the top again:

1200m (half marathon pace)

800m (10K pace)

400m (5K pace)

200m (sprint!)

400m (5K pace)

800m (10K pace)

1200m (half marathon pace)

(60 seconds rest between each set)

I love doing these as at the time they feel bloody tough but you know you are pushing your body hard. If you decide to do these sessions, make sure you follow the correct pace. Try your best to go fast on the shorter distances but remember to reserve energy for when you are back up to 1200m. That last set burns! It totals just over 5K and I was happy with my average pace and mile splits:

The next day (today) it was my weekly long run. Now I was actually supposed to be doing the Regent's Park 10K race today but I felt like I needed to get another long run in for practise. So, I headed out on this gloriously sunny day to take on 10 miles. I managed to keep similar pace to last weeks 13 miles and again felt steady and controlled. Opted to do the last two miles at target half marathon pace and ended up doing them much fast than anticipated! Wahoo! The weather was so beautiful today too so London's sights were in their true glory. 

(Left: St Pauls, Right: Buckingham Palace)

So this brings me to the end of week 10! Looking back on my whole plan, I do feel pleased with where I am. Yes, I have missed a couple of sessions and maybe tweaked a few too many paced runs but overall, it isn't too shabby. Do I think I can secure that all important sub 1.45? At this time, I honestly don't know. Whilst I feel happy I can do the distance, I am a little fearful I will run out of steam at mile 9/10 and end up wilting away in the final stage. But, this could be mind over matter and I will need to ensure on race day my head in screwed on properly and ready to take on the challenge and reach my goals. 

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Extreme exhaustion yet running improvements!

(source: Quickmeme)

The last couple of weeks can only be described as exhausting. There has been a sudden drop in temperature, daylight hours have decreased and the sudden need for piping hot soup and Horlicks has returned.

I like to follow a pattern - its merely organisation. When it becomes challenging to follow that pattern, it does slightly irritate me. You will have seen that I love a good training plan (read here) and when it becomes hard to follow this regime, I automatically panic that I will lose everything I have trained for. I always wonder if this is a common concern for runners, or whether it's just me being paranoid..?

It has been mostly weekday training that has been hard to squeeze in. Due to a manic work schedule currently, finding the time (and energy) to squeeze in a run at the end of the day has been tough. Come 8pm, when I am ready to head out, my mind and body lacks the boost to go pound the streets. The pitch black outdoors is also incredibly uninviting. In my mind, I know as soon as I am out running, endorphins will kick in and I will find my running mojo but it is initially getting the foot out of the front door that I am finding hard to do.

So whilst weekday training has been in dribs and drabs, I have made sure I make the most of my weekends to work towards increasing my mileage and I am pleased to say that my goal to reach 13 miles by Christmas is looking very achievable.

I first started to see progress when I ran to Tower Bridge (read about this here) and reached eight miles. I found it tough but stuck to a controlled, steady pace of 8.27 per mile. I was happy with this but wanted to increase my threshold pace. So I followed this with a couple of fartlek sessions and hill runs in a bid to improve strength and speed.

Next up a couple of weeks later was The Mornington Chasers Regents Park 10K. Sticking to my plan to complete two 10Ks by the end of the year, this was the first. I decided to pick this race as it is my clubs own and it offers a slightly challenging, undulating course. I have done this race many times (my PB is 45.45) but my aim for this fixture was to get a sub 50. This event was to test exactly where my race pace was at.

Turns out, my race pace is faster than expected! Seems those speed sessions paid off. At times during the race, I did wonder if I was holding back. I am well aware of how easy it is to overdo it on a 10K. I wanted to remain strong with even splits and that is exactly what I achieved, plus a finish of 46.54! Each mile ranged between 7.22 and 7.42 which I am super pleased with as it shows I am starting to control and own my pace.

Following my 10K high, I decided to up the distance to 10 miles. For this, I ended up being back in my home town and took the opportunity to enjoy a relatively flat route for this. I opted for the towpath, which I thought would be nice and scenic with fresh country air when in fact I found it incredibly dull and continuous. I couldn't wait until I reached five miles as I knew I could turn round and come back! Despite my lack of interest on the route, I again felt good, despite having another awful week of missed training sessions. I completed the run in 1.22.16 which is only four minutes off my PB for this distance!

By seeing this progress, I have really started to enjoy running again. Post triathlon, I really struggled to get back into distance running. I missed my 5Ks and HIIT sessions but these last few weeks, I have reignited my passion for road running.

To finish off this post on an even bigger high, today I woke up and headed out on an eight mile run. I took a similar course to my Tower Bridge route but decided to head west when I reached Southbank towards Big Ben. As I hit eight miles by the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben struck 10am and I was so, SO happy to see that I had ran this distance four minutes quicker than last time and hit an average pace of 7.55.

I AM FINALLY BACK IN THE SUB 8 CLUB!

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Cross Training

This week I have loved the sunshine and whilst I didn’t quite follow my half marathon-training schedule, I managed to squeeze in lots of activity.

I’m starting to get more into cross training. I’ve not been one to do this but now I have my bike, I want to make more effort to try out different activities rather than just sticking to running. I actually really enjoyed mixing it up and once I start cycling to work, I will be able to make the most of varied training which I think will play a crucial role in my running developments.

After a weekend of running on Saturday and exploring all of North London by foot on Sunday, Monday was very much a rest day for me. Tuesday, I opted to go for a swim. I was supposed to attend my club run and I even took my kit to work but towards the end of day, I felt exhausted. I really felt the urge to go swimming (a sport I love) and so I ditched the trainers for my swimsuit and headed to my local pool.

When I go lane swimming, I aim to always complete 25 lengths in sets of five and alternate between breaststroke and front crawl. This week was the first time I used a swimming hat (I’d washed my hair the night before and couldn’t be bothered to do it again ha!) and I remember having a blue Aqua Sphere one lying around from a magazine event I had been to yonks ago. When I got out the pool and was changing, I took the hat off and my hair was SOAKED! Dripping wet like it would have been if I hadn’t worn the hat. That was rather disappointing (and annoying) and I won’t be using that hat again for sure. I also sported some horrific goggle marks (proof HERE).

Wednesday I met with a close friend who has started to run. This is the first time we ran together and we opted to head down the very steep Highgate Hill and up onto the Heath for a gentle 5K. This was merely a fun social run so we just had a nice little jog to stretch the legs. Plus it was boiling hot, so it was nice to not push it.

Thursday was my weekly track session with the club coach. Being a former sprinter, I do tend to be stronger at these types of sessions and I love getting the chance to pelt it round the track. This session was all about strength building and managing controlled discomfort. We started off with 800m at threshold pace, following by 2x 800m at 3K pace and 5x 400m HARD!

I really, really pushed myself at this session and was thrilled to land my first ever sub six-minute mile! I was absolutely shattered when I got home (as you can tell by the picture below) but I was really chuffed with my improvements.

Friday was, as it always is for me, rest day. This is normally my time to head out for drinks and see friends and that is exactly what I did. I only had one drink though (the sunshine made me crave Rekorderlig) as I had to get up early Saturday morning to head out for a scheduled eight mile run. I opted for my favourite city route but took the option that heads through Angel, past St Paul's and over Millennium Bridge to Westminster. 

A very sunny London!

The weather was divine – blue skies and very hot! I was aiming to do 8.30-minute miles but I finished with an average of 8-minute miles and felt very controlled throughout my run. What I also love about this route is that eight miles brings me to The Mall where I get to finish in front of Buckingham Palace – one of my favourite spots in London.

Buckingham Palace

Sunday I was itching to take my new bike out for a ride. I haven’t really been on it much since I purchased it and being new to cycling in London, I want to practise being out and about in the city before I begin the hectic cycle to work in the mornings.

I didn’t really know here to head so I decided to cycle up to Hampstead and down through Swiss Cottage to Regents Park. The first couple of miles were uphill which I found really tiring (more so than running!). By the time I got to Regents Park though, I felt fairly confident on my new wheels and after a pit stop for a quick drink, I cycled back through Primrose Hill and Chalk Farm to go back on myself home. I think I cycled around 10 miles, so not far in bike terms, but it was definitely a very enjoyable hour!

Pit stop in Regents Park 

This coming week I am off work (hurrah!) and will be spending some time with friends and family before heading over to Reading to take part in this year’s Mizuno Endure24. I’m running with my former athletic club and I am SO excited! I’m set to run four laps of five miles over the 24 hour period so I will ensure I set myself a good taper in the days leading up to it. I will of course be posting live updates on Twitter & Instagram so make sure you keep up with that (@lipstick_runner for both channels) and a blog post will follow shortly afterwards.

Lipstick Runner.