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: Week 8 of half marathon training

I'm two thirds into my half marathon training and I must say I am feeling a little apprehensive. It has been a manic couple of weeks, what with a new job and just generally getting back into the swing of a normal routine post Christmas. I have managed to upkeep a strong steady plan (I may have missed two sessions though), yet I am feeling utterly exhausted!

Week six of training was my first week in my new job so I had get used to a new cycle route. This one is slightly longer than my previous commute and includes some short, steep hills. Three weeks in and I am already seeing the benefits this commute is having on my cycling. I feel faster and stronger which is an added bonus as it helps set me up for triathlon training in March. Anyway, going back to week six and it kicked off with a swim using my new Garmin watch that I got for Christmas. It quite simply is such a delight to have one of these on a swim now. Gone are forgetting how many laps you have done halfway through a swim and now I can finally see how fast I am going. This watch has an accelatrometer so I have to make sure I push off for the start of a new lap hard enough for it to clock a new length. For this session, I did a simple front crawl swim up to 1250m and was really pleased to come in just over 27 minutes. 

Next up on Tuesday was a paced four mile run where I really struggled in the first mile to reach a 7.55 pace. I was almost 30 seconds behind schedule! So I upped my speed and overall finished the run with an average pace of 7.54. This is great as its my half marathon target pace, however, due to that slow mile, I had to run the last three faster.

By Thursday, I had decided to venture down to the athletics track with my running club to kick off the year with a tough speed session. Annoyingly, I forgot my watch (I was livid!) so I had to run blind a session of:

1200m threshold running

5x 400m @ 5K pace

1200m threshold running

(60 secs rest between each set)

Despite not knowing my pace, I ran the fastest I could and felt super energised at the end - can you tell!?

At the weekend, I rested on the Saturday, rolling and stretching to get prepared for a 10K race on Sunday. This was the normal 10K I do - Mornington Chasers Regents Park 10K. I was oddly feeling quite nervous (even though I have done the race so many times!) about the pace I would be able to keep for this and the weather that particular morning was fecking freezing! By the time I arrived at the park, my hands and feet were frozen. I just wanted to get running to warm up!

Luckily after the first of three laps on the course, I had warmed up and was stripping off my gloves. I tried my best to keep steady throughout and managed to cross the finish line in 46.45 with an average pace of 7.30. I am really happy with this as it has been my target 10K pace in the tempo runs I have been doing.

The next day (and the start of week seven), I opted to do a workout session at home as my legs were a bit tired. For Christmas, I got Joe Wick's Lean in 15 book (which by the way I highly recommend) and he includes some HIIT workouts in there. Looking at the weights focussed one, I thought I could do it so I picked up my 5KGs and got to work. 

Oh my lord it was hard! I had to use these weights for squats, lunges, bicep curls, press up arm pulls and a couple of other things. I had to repeat the workout three times but sheepishly gave up after two as my body felt broken. Man alive I am weak! Give me endurance any day but tell me to do a weight session and I am useless. The next day I felt it too. Lets just say I took the lifts that day at work.

The rest of the week, I carried out a swim, hill repeats and a paced run, ending the week with a nine mile run. Joined by a fellow running buddy, we went out easy and finished with an average pace of 8.55. The distance didn't feel too bad either which must be good!

Come week eight and I am starting to feel tired. Work was particularly busy this week and I found myself staying late some nights, which caused a bit of disruption to my training plan. On Tuesday, I was supposed to get up at 6am for a run but told my alarm to f**k off when it went off. I laid in and woke up with enough time to get ready and dash to work. I felt guilty I didn't go for a run and so I decided to make up for it and would do a quick run session after work before I met my friend for a catch up coffee.  My GPS wouldn't work on my watch so I decided to run hard for 30 minutes. And I really did - so much so that halfway round the outer circle of Regent's Park I tripped and went flying! I managed to save myself from any rolled ankles or grazed knees thank god! I finished in Kings Cross where I met my friend and felt like I had maintained a good pace. When I got home that night, I decided to look at the route I took on MapMyRun and it turns out I did four miles bang on. So in 30 minutes that is 7.30 pace! Wahoo!

After this successful session, it went downhill from there as work was still crazy busy. I ended up missing a planned tempo run on Thursday. I tried so hard to get up on Friday to do it before work but I was unbelievably tired and just couldn't drag my body from the warmth of my bed. 

Do I feel guilty for missing this? Well yeah, but at the same time work has to come first over my hobby and sometimes this just cannot be helped. Instead of feeling bad, I am going to dust myself off and carry on. Next up is a 10 mile run tomorrow where I will again be going casually to get my legs used to the distance. 

To reflect on the past eight weeks and the next four until race day, I feel OK(ish). I don't feel strong and confident to secure the all important sub 1.45 but I am going on the hope that everything will all come together on race day. For now, I just need to keep focussed and simply do the best that I can. There is no point in worrying or piling on the pressure. At the end of the day, whatever I do will be an achievement and who can complain about that. :) 

Lipstick Runner. 

TRAINING UPDATE: Week 5 of half marathon training

The Christmas break is over and we are all back into our everyday routines. Mine hit me like a ton of bricks! After two full weeks off work, I am on struggle street this week trying to get my body back into life mode. Over the holidays though, I did have a strict workout plan in place to ensure I stay on track for my half marathon training.

It all kicked off with a parkrun on my first day of the Christmas break. The previous fortnight had been, to be quite frank, boozy and the night before this particular workout, I did opt for a few too many gins. I did feel quite rough come morning but I dragged my ass out of bed and trotted down to my local parkrun. I felt really queasy jogging there and did wonder whether I would be able to do it! Despite how I felt, it was punishment for all the endless G&Ts I had recently and whilst every step of the way hurt, I was impressed to finish in 23.41. No where near a PB but definitely faster than I expected! I also got to see my tri buddy for a catch up which was nice.

In the first week of the holidays, I was visiting my in-laws and I had three runs to squeeze in. I decided to do two before Christmas and one after. They live in the hilly countryside so these runs are tough. Everytime I run there my calves are in agony! I managed to bosh out successful paced and tempo runs pre Christmas Day but by the time it came for my weekly long run (this one in particular was seven miles), I was so full of mince pies and food, I was dreading it.

I had every right to dread it. I felt like a slug crawling through treacle on this run. Combine this with the hills and I was in agony! It felt like it went on forever and when I reached the last mile, I was so relieved for it to all be over. I managed a pace of 8.24. Not great but not too shabby either.

I feel like after this long run, everything went downhill in the second week of my break. By this point I had travelled over to my parents in Wiltshire (again countryside setting) but the weather was absolutely awful all week that I dreaded going outside.

Luckily Monday was spent doing a swim session so I was indoors in the luxury of a heated pool. My first run however was my weekly paced run. On this day, we were experiencing the gales from Storm Frank and I don't think I have ever ran in winds so strong. At one point, running up a hill, I had to stop for a moment as it took my breath away! On a positive note, I decided to run through the local park which does have some wonderful places to run...

The next day I was back out, this time doing a speed session of 8x 400ms. My legs ached from the pace run but I trooped on (again in gale force winds) and managed a pace of 6.42. This was a lot quicker than needed as 5K pace was required (which for me is 7.20s). Come the weekend though and it was a different story. As I woke up, I could hear the wind and rain whilst I was snuggled in bed. It was so bad I thought the window pane was going to smash!

Did I want to go out for a run? No fricking way! I had to do eight miles and judging by the weather conditions outside, I did not pack the right clothing for it. I knew I couldn't miss this run though - the distance sessions for me are super important. So I forced myself to get dressed and luckily my sister let me borrow a thin windproof jacket (every little helps!). Setting off, the rain was so bad I felt utterly miserable. Weaving around the country lanes, I felt so isolated and had no enthusiasm what so ever. Two miles in I had to stop to check GoogleMaps as I got a bit lost. Getting my phone out from my bumbag, it was damp from the rain. In fact, I was soaked through to my pants and I could feel the shivers coming on. By this point, I thought 'sod it!' and turned around to head home. I didn't care about the eight miles, all I cared about was getting home. I did however take a slightly different route home, extending it slightly to finish at five miles. Appalling I know but I have never felt so happy to be back home and in my dressing down.

Coming back to London, I felt mixed about my training over the holidays. I hadn't had a great success in the sessions and I know this was down to my body being out of sync and drugged on endless mince pies. However, I had stuck (almost) to my plan. That surely is better than nothing right?

I am now back in the working routine and already feel good getting back into my daily schedules. I am back on the cycling commute and already completed two training sessions. Now I just need to stay focussed and avoid any minor slip ups before the big race on the 21st Feb.

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Week 2 of Half Marathon Training

I am successfully two complete weeks in to my revised Hal Higdon intermediate half marathon plan. I say revised as I have made slight modifications to his calendar to incorporate swim training too. So far, all is good and I have enjoyed following a detailed plan once again. With each session, I have followed the criteria Hal lists on his website on how they need to be executed. This has allowed me to get a good balance of pace work, strengthening exercises and distance training.

The last two Tuesdays I have headed out in the evenings to do three miles of paced running. This is where I need to train my body to run at my target half marathon pace, which for me is 7.55 per mile. If I stick to this, I am in the safe zone to secure a sub 1.45. The first Tuesday, all started well with my first mile being 7.55 but after that followed a slightly faster pace and I finished the whole run with an average pace of 7.41. For three miles, this pace was totally fine for me but I needed to slow it down a tad so my body will start to develop recognition for a 7.55 pace. By combining these paced runs with my long distance training and tempo work, it should all pull together to allow me to maintain 7.55 pace come race day. The next Tuesday that followed was definitely better paced. I managed 7.55 for the first two miles but the last one was still a bit too fast. I finished with an average pace of 7.50.

In week 1, I had to work my training around having a friend from overseas to stay for a long weekend. As many runners may know, it is hard to squeeze in sessions around, well, just life in general but I tried my best to get my training in without it interfering with time spent with my friend. Luckily, she is a keen runner and along with another training buddy, she joined us for a long run at the weekend. There was no focus on pace for this one - instead we have a nice natter and catch up whilst running around London visiting all the famous landmarks. We had a great time, except I did have a trip halfway and ended up rolling my ankle which was agonising. It swelled up slightly with bruising so I spent the following day resting and icing it.

Alongside my runs, I have also been keeping up my swimming. In the first week, I planned a technique focussed session where I swam drills of pullies (float held between the knees and the arms doing all the work), sharkies (swimming with arms coming up super close to the body), leg kicks (float out front at arms reach and the legs doing all the work). Below is the session in more detail:

250m front crawl

250m pullies

250m front crawl

250m sharkies

250m front crawl

250m pullies

250m leg kicks

The following week, I flipped over to distance training and this is where I swim front crawl until I reach a certain distance. I chose to fit this swim in at 6am before work. I have done this a few times now and I'm surprisingly growing fond of starting the day this way. The walk to the pool in the pitch black and freezing cold isn't too great though...

I normally complete 1250m in these sessions but I decided to increase the distance slightly and went up to 1375m (so basically an extra five laps of a 25ml pool). Over time, I will gradually step up the number of lengths until I am at 1500m distance training - the same as the swim in an Olympic triathlon.

My only downfall in this first two weeks was missing my first ever tempo session. For this, I must honestly hang my head in shame. The after effects of my work Christmas party left me a little worse for wear (I blame a concoction of tequila and martini's) and I mean in a bad way. In fact, I have contemplated giving up alcohol - or at least cutting back. In the two days that followed this hangover, I had awful nights' sleep, craved carbs and sugars and just felt absolutely shattered. Were the endless flow of drinks worth it looking back? Erm, no.

Despite this slight hiccup, I have been pretty good and even started week three how I have planned with another paced run - this time near my family home on the trails which was a nice change. I am now up to 3.5 miles for these sessions and again, it was a tad too speedy (average pace was 7.45 again). Being amongst the woodland and breathing in fresh, country air did the body good though.

Next week I head home for Christmas and for me this will be the biggest challenge. The temptation to sit eating a tin of Quality Street in front of The Grinch will be huge, however, I will try my hardest to stick to my plan and carry out each session planned. I have made Christmas Day and Boxing Day my rest days so I can indulge then :).

Lipstick Runner.

Wokingham Half Marathon 2016 - training starts NOW!

(recent picture taken at Fixture 2 of Middlesex Cross Country League)

I have been a bit of a running geek this week and built a 12 week plan for my upcoming half marathon in February 2016. 

My choice of race is Wokingham Half Marathon and whilst this will be 4th, it will have been two years since I raced this distance and I am feeling a little out of my comfort zone. Having spent a lot of time focussing on shorter distances, I will find it tough training to achieve 13.1 miles and a shiny new PB. With a current time of 1.45.30 (Reading Half Marathon 2014) I am desperate for a sub 1.45 but currently lacking confidence to achieve this. This is just under 8 minute mile pace, which for me over this distance is rather quick!

I decided yesterday to research half marathon training plans and as next week conveniently marks 12 weeks until race day, I opted for a longer plan to allow me to steadily rebuild my speed and distance. I was browsing Hal Higdon's website (American Runners' World contributor and all round running expert) and came across his intermediate level half marathon plan (which you can see here).

This plan is for those who want to improve on previous times and experiences but still offers a schedule that is easily manageable. Over the 12 weeks, he combines a mixture of easy runs, with speedwork, tempo sessions and strength building. The latter two I rarely do so I am excited to follow a plan where these are essential. 

Of course, I'm sure I am not the only one that follows training plans down to every, exact detail (please tell me I am not!?). Looking at this plan, I did see a lot of running (in my opinion a little too much for a half marathon) and I knew that I wouldn't be able to commit to six days a weeks. I don't particularly want to either. I also want to be able to continue with my swimming so I'm maintaining upkeep of my triathlon training in the background. With this in mind, I have devised my own personalised training plan that takes 75% of Hal's version but mixes in swimming and maybe an extra rest day (sorry Hal). 

My aim is to train on average 4/5 times a week. Every week consists of a steady short run and then a long paced run at the weekend but I will be alternating each week between speed sessions and tempo runs. For these tempo runs, the aim is to build up my pace so I am carrying out a run where I test different speeds over certain time periods (e.g. a 30 minute tempo run will consist of 0-10 mins threshold pace, 10-20 mins at 10K pace and then 20-30 mins easy running). In the past, I have tried these sessions a couple of times and found them really hard so I know they will be a big challenge in my training.

For those like me who have a winter half marathon in the diary, now is the time to start planning! Never have I felt so organised for a race. With my plans stuck proudly on my fridge, all that I need is the enthusiasm, determination and strength to follow every day to achieve (hopefully) that much desired sub 1.45.

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: ITB Troubles

The last couple of weeks have been what can only be described as ‘jumbled’. Half Marathon training was supposed to be worked around Mizuno Endure24, my biggest challenge to date, yet what has happened is well, not much.

In the week leading up to Endure24, as I mentioned in my last training update it was going to be a taper week. I had the time off work also so I spent it concentrating on getting my bike sorted for commuting and also seeing my fiancé, who had returned from a work trip.

By the time Endure24 came, I was energised and relaxed and managed to run four strong laps in the most horrific weather conditions (read my full review on the event HERE). The last lap was my toughest and I started to get a very familiar pain in my right knee. This was the sort of pain I had suffered a year previous and straight away I knew it was the dreaded return of the irritated ITB.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) first became a problem for me last September and came across in a weekend training run when I was running up a hill on Hampstead Heath. A very annoying, tight pain could be felt in the knee joint and for a good couple of weeks, I tried various stretches at home for knee related injuries. It wasn’t until I attempted a fast track session and pulled out in agony that my coach informed me that it was in fact not my knee but my Illiotibial Band I had triggered. Where the band runs from the pelvis and extends down over the knee, it has become almost ‘taught’ and was rubbing again my knee, causing inflammation and aches.

I was prescribed new stretches and a daily dose on a foam roller (at the time I used a Sprite bottle which works just as well!) and after a month or so, the pain decreased and eventually stopped. I did have to pull out of St Neots Half Marathon as that was at the peak of my ITB problems but I did manage to attempt Cabbage Patch 10 in a reasonable, yet slightly painful, 1.20.

So, going back to Endure24 on my final lap when that all too familiar knee ache kicked in, I knew exactly what I needed to do. This time, I have invested in a foam roller and have spent the last fortnight putting the right pressure on my ITB to almost loosen and relax the tension.

The week after Endure24, I did no running what so ever but I did start my cycling commute to work. I saw this as a great alternative for exercise and is less invasive on my knee than running. I also managed to squeeze in an evening at the local swimming pool so by Friday I was feeling ok(ish). 

Oh how I jinxed it.

Friday evening, my fiancé and myself took a nice evening walk after a meal out. During this walk (where I was wearing supportive trainers may I add), a searing pain appeared in the side of my left foot. This baffled me as I was merely strolling along a flat path but the feeling was very uncomfortable. I thought I may have trapped a nerve so went to bed that night thinking the pain would have subsided by the morning.

That weekend, I had another challenge to face in the form of the tough and very muddy obstacle course, Insane Terrain. Waking up on the Saturday and still feeling the dull, continuous ache in my foot I was a bit dubious about tackling this 10K course. After studying my foot for signs of swelling or bruising, to which there was none, I tried to shrug it off and ignore it. Travelling up to Peterborough, where Insane Terrain was taking place, I took some Nurofen to numb the pain slightly but by the evening, it has returned stronger. My friends Mum who is a nurse looked over it and after massaging it could feel a lot of tension and suggested that I drop out of the event on Sunday. I was gutted as my best friend had bought my place for my birthday and I felt awful letting her down, so the next morning we decided to opt for the 5K course and take it slow. Her Mum & Aunt were also taking part so it felt more of a team effort.

I won’t go into too much detail on Insane Terrian here as a Race Rundown will follow but I can reveal that it was actually a lot of fun. Despite crossing the line and smelling like a swamp, we were all in fits of giggles and actually, running it together proved to be more entertaining. The ankle held up, especially as I drugged myself with Nurofen again and even though I felt a bit battered from the course, I was still smiling.

This last week I have managed two runs and another full week of cycling to work and back. By Tuesday the foot and knee were feeling much better and were almost a distant ache and so I opted to go for a 5K. I don’t know if all this cycling is tiring me out or its where I haven’t ran properly for a couple of weeks, but I felt shattered! I managed an average of 8.15 minutes per mile but boy was it tough! The aches from my ITB also made a presence in the last 2K, signaling that perhaps my struggles weren’t gone for good.

On Thursday, I really wanted to head to my weekly track session as I had missed so much these last couple of weeks. Conscious that my strength and speed have suffered, the urge to go back out that, guns blazing is too fierce. However, my knee niggles weren’t far from my mind and instead of tackling a fast session with my club mates, I opted to go home and do my own speed session up on Ally Pally.

Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace) is a great place for fellow North London runners to head if they want to get a good training run in. If you want a run with a challenge, there is the big climb up to the Palace which gets the heart rate working but there is also a great flat straight if you want to concentrate on faster, shorter sessions.

This quiet pathway measures almost 400m so I find it is a great alternative to track training and the quietness and nature of the park is, to me, rather therapeutic. After a half mile warm up to the park, I did some drills before carrying out a session of 2x 800m at 5K followed by 4x 400m hard. It felt tough and when I got down to the 400m, the knee just about held up but I could definitely feel it was still hindering my performance. I then finished with a run home to complete 5K.

My splits confirm a loss in speed but I was surprised I managed to keep this pace despite everything that has unraveled these past few weeks. The half marathon training schedule on the fridge that I try to follow religiously is lacking in activity and I am worried how this will all contribute to my half marathon in September. I really don’t want a repeat of St Neots again and so I have decided to take it easy until my ITB has fully repaired. Injury, which I guess this is, is only temporary and half marathons can be run again and again. Whilst I am pining so bad for that glorious sub 1.45, keeping my body in correct working order is far more important.

For now, it’s all about getting in to the rhythm of cycling to work and introducing mileage over slower speeds. The less impact on my knee the better and so I hope to integrate some swimming sessions into my weeks (if work commitments allow) to help repair and build my ITB. I know what I can achieve and if I cannot reach that point at the moment, I know that one day, I will eventually reel back in my target pace.

This motivational message basically sums it up for me.

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Half Marathon training begins!

Summer is finally here (hurrah!) whilst I am looking forward to a season of 10Ks, I also need to think about training for my autumn half marathon. The event I have chosen is Chippenham Half Marathon in early September and after I missed out on sub 1.45 at Reading in March, I want to get my training plan right to ensure I don’t repeat the same mistakes.

I haven’t been on a long run in a while and so I thought I would kick off training with a stable 10 mile run. I did one of my favourite routes, which takes me through North London into central and to Southbank for a long stretch to Tower Bridge. I really enjoy this run as it is mostly flat and I love the feeling of running along the riverbank early in the morning.

I wanted to run at nine-minute miles pace to get back into the swing of longer distances but as I started off, I was clocking off 8.30s and felt pretty good! I’ve had a few lousy runs lately and I was concerned I wouldn’t keep this pace for long. Halfway into the first mile, I also realised I left my water bottle at home which put me on edge. I do have a habit where I depend on plenty of fluids on long runs and I was really worried I would start to flag without this handy. I made sure I stopped at water fountains in Hampstead Heath (mile 2) & Regents Park (mile 5) and was really chuffed at how I coped without having my water bottle. I thought I would feel really thirsty but I didn’t feel too bad.

As I approached the Shard, I have 1.5 miles to go when the sky went really dark. I sensed a big downpour was brewing so I picked up the pace in the hope to avoid the approaching showers. At 9.8 miles, the heavens opened and a nice storm thundered over London. Sprinting the last stretch, as soon as my Garmin hit 10 miles, I stopped the clocked and scuttled for shelter under the bridge and cowered with a load of tourists. I was thrilled to see I completed my final mile in 7.40 and after spending time under the bridge stretching and cooling down, I felt fantastic, even if a bit soggy. 

Overall, my average pace was 8.20 and whilst this is much faster as I had planned, I am really pleased I kept this speed, especially as I haven’t done a long run in a while. I felt really good throughout the run – it was strong but steady and even the following day, I didn’t have any aches or pains, which must be a very good sign!

Lesson: keep steady training in mind!

Whilst I am thrilled with these results, I must remember to not be too eager. I definitely feel my training for Reading was overworked and training too hard, too much made me tired come race day. I need to keep this at the forefront of the training and make sure I don’t go off tangent again. My next long run will be two weeks after this, so I will be giving myself plenty of time to rest and recover and focus on other areas of my training.

Lipstick Runner.