TRAINING UPDATE: Countryside cycling, travelator giggles and ramping up the speed

September has been a pretty active month. I've managed to squeeze a lot into the last four weeks which has been tricky to work around longer working hours and weekends away. What's been great is that I have been able to mix up my training and enjoy it with others.

At the start of the month, I headed back to my in-laws for a weekend break in the countryside. Their house is literally surrounded by fields and sheep and I was itching to get out and about on a rural run. It turned out to be a rather interesting one, where I got lost (twice) and came face to face a with a herd of cows. But I did get to enjoy gorgeous views, some hefty hills and a decent lungful of fresh air.

I had managed to reach seven miles on this run and by the following weekend, I subtly cranked the distance up to eight. I was back in London for this one and to make the run as scenic and interesting as possible, I opted to take in my favourite city sights. Starting from North London, the first few miles is a slog, running all the way down Holloway Road (not the most scenic start) and then down through Angel and Farringdon. These are really busy, smoggy areas so you do spend a lot of your time weaving in and out of people however, by mile five I had reached St Paul's Cathedral - the first hotspot on my run.

From here, I head over Millennium Bridge and onto the Southbank towards London Bridge. In the early mornings, I find running alongside the Thames so peaceful and with so much to look at, these final few miles normally fly by. When I reached Tower Bridge, I was on 7.95 miles (typical) so I had to run over the bridge. For the first time in my life though, as I reached the centre, the guards closed the gates as the bridge was being raised! This was at 7.98 miles. Still, it was nice to watch and once the suspensions were brought back down, I ran to the other end to complete the full eight miles. Overall, I managed an average pace of 8.27. Not as fast as I would have liked but I'll take it.

After this run, I realised that I had been lacking speed sessions. In fact, I hadn't really done a proper one in weeks! I decided to spend the week that followed focussing my normal training runs on speed work and fartleks. For one workout, I surreptitiously headed over to my local athletics track to carry out a session with my running club, something I have not been able to do in ages. I was really nervous as I had not run with others in quite a while. It annoyed me that I had actually reached this point of being unfamiliar and out of place. I was worried how fast I was going to be and when the coach read out the session, I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to complete it. It was as followed:

1x 1600m (threshold pace)

5x 600m (5-10K pace)

5x 200m (running hard)

I started off easy, making sure I actually did stick to threshold for the 1600m. I even found the first few 600m sets really tough and I savoured the 200m walk recoveries. However, by the 4th 600m, I had found my feet and felt strong and fast. I finished the session with an average pace of 6.32. My final 200m was also at a mile pace of 5.20 and I really couldn't be happier with that!

By the weekend, my legs were feeling pretty achey from these tailored sessions I had done but I wasn't too concerned as my training for the weekend wasn't your normal run in the park. It was an obstacle run in the park! I had entered my best friend and I into Rough Runners, a gladiator style obastacle race set on Clapham Common. You may be wondering why and I can explain...

...This race had a travelator!

We adored Gladiators growing up and I always used to love the finale course where the contestants would sprint up the travelator at the end. So when I saw this advertised, I had to enter just for this reason. It was such a laugh too. It was a mere 5K run with around 12 obstacles, including zip lines, punch bag walls, hanging beams (this hurt!) and a hilarious one called Swept Off Your Feet (inspired by Total Wipeout's, Crash Mountain).

By the time I got to the travelator, I was ready and raring to go. I opted for the fast lane (who wouldn't) but was gutted to have not made it up the first time. Its harder than it looks! Second attempt though, I sprinted as hard as I could and hopped up to the platform and finished with a little celebratory dance.

I had a bit of a messy recovery from Rough Runners as I had experienced a swollen and bruised ankle, which caused quite a lot of pain. Luckily though, I was back up and running three days later and managed to complete a strong fartlek session, which I adapted from a workout I read in Running Fitness magazine. I call it the five 5s:

5 minutes warm up jog

5 minutes @ 10K pace

5 minutes @ 5K pace

5 minutes @ 10K pace

5 minutes cool down jog

I find fartlek sessions really tough as the urge to stop for a rest is hard to resist. I especially found the 5K pace really hard and was counting down the minutes to the cool down jog. I managed to complete over 5K with an average mile pace of 7.55.

Come the final weekend of the month and I was off on my travels again, this time with my beloved bike in tow. I was heading to The Cotswolds to spend the weekend cycling with my friend from University. I was sooo excited for this as I haven't ridden my bike properly since the triathlon. It has only been used for my commute to work and I was really looking forward to going out for more than five miles.

The Cotswolds is simply stunning. We managed to complete 30 glorious miles in the sunshine, heading through little hamlets and villages and even stopping off in Stratford Upon Avon for a pit stop in a quaint pub. We managed to dodge some of the really steep inclines but we were faced with some unexpected hills along the way and it was great to be back in the saddle climbing up them! It made me realise how much I miss cycling and I will greatly miss being able to go out at weekend on my bike during marathon training. The thought of having to spend these running 20 miles still frightens me...

Anyway, that's an overview of September complete! Here's to a successful month of training. Lets hope October turns out to be the same (or better!).


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.

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: Fighting Flu

If you follow me on Twitter, you will see I have been poorly the last week. After waking up one morning with a dry cough and a sniffle, it quickly escalated into a lot of pain and illness which resulted in flu. Brilliant.

Last week started off pretty good though! I returned back to normal training through my running club. Going back to see all my friends and fellow runners was fantastic! The feeling of normality in my training schedule gave me hope that my injury is long behind me now. I managed to attend the social run on Tuesday and also track on Thursday, both of which I haven't been to since early June.

I was a little nervous diving into a heavy HIIT session with fellow club members at the track. When I also arrived, I had a bit of a dry cough but thought this might be due to pollution from my cycle ride there. Once we got started with the drills, it had disappeared and so thought no more.

After drills of high knees, heel flicks, skipping and strides the session was set. 4x 1200m at 5-10k pace followed by 4x 400m hard. I set off with a club friend who went off ahead of me but my aim was to try and stay within 10m of her. We'd of normally run close together before my injury anyway so keeping her in close sight was good going in my eyes. After 2x 1200m, I was seriously flagging. Sweating bucket loads and huffing and puffing, I carried on a strong as possible but was running more towards 10K pace than 5K. I also had the 4x 400m in the back of my mind too so needed to keep fuel in the tank for them.

Our coach had been sneaky as when the 400m came round, the rest periods decreased. 90secs, 45secs, 30secs, 15secs. Wowee were these hard! I actually managed to speed up for these and really pick my feet up which felt brilliant! I was however glad to see the back of them afterwards. My core felt tight, legs like jelly but my mind reassured as I didn't feel like I had lost to much speed in my absence. Cycling home wasn't too bad either but I was out like a light once my head hit my pillow that night.

Friday however, was a very different day. Waking up for work, I felt all bunged up and heady like I was getting a cold. The dry cough also returned. 'Sods law!' I thought. Now I've got my fitness back I get a bloody cold! Still though, I went to work but by lunchtime I felt so awful I came back home to rest. Snoozing on the sofa all afternoon, I felt myself getting worse and worse. By nighttime, all sorts of symptoms had started, which I won't go into deal about but it involved sick buckets and many toilet trips.

By Saturday I had a high temperature and my joints, muscles and skin were sore to touch. I was in so much pain (especially my legs) I hadn't slept a wink the night before and cold flannels were my go-to in a bid to cool me down. I rang NHS Direct who booked me into a clinic a few miles away to see a GP. Even getting there via taxi seemed like so much effort. I was shaking due to pain and dehydration and felt so sick! I also looked like DEATH!

The doctor diagnosed flu and declared me contiagious (my fiancé who kindly came to the clinic with me shuffled his chair back at this point). She stocked me up on dehydration sachets which you add to water and told me to sleep, sleep and sleep more. I couldn't actually wait to get home back to my bed to practically quarantine myself.

(my flu flighting friends)

By Monday, I still felt awful so stayed at home. The aching has subsided but the headiness and sweats (sorry) hadn't. I did manage to sleep that night so opted to try work out on the Tuesday. Getting there was awful. I took the bus and I felt like all my senses were on high alert. When I get a cold, I have this thing where cigarette smoke stinks. I mean, I know it does anyway but I mean it smells so bad you can taste it in your throat and it lingers there. Anyway, this man got on the bus and sat next to me. I knew instantly he had just smoked a cigarette. The smell was SO bad (sorry to this man. When I'm flu free it honestly wouldn't bother me) it made me gag. When I got to work I felt so rough I made a Lemsip in the hope to clear my sinuses and rid the smell.

By around 10.30am, things did not feel right. I felt boiling hot, I could feel the sweat on my forehead and before I knew it, I was rushing to the loo retching. Luckily I avoided being sick but the dizziness was there and I honestly felt really upset at how I felt. My boss sent me home to which I spent the next 48 hours nauseous, weak, hot and snotty. What's worse was that I was too scared to take a Lemsip in case it made me sick so I was avoiding all medication and relying on my trusty Vic to clear my sinuses.

By Wednesday afternoon, I had 80% recovered. After a long soak in the bath, I felt awakened so much so that I even pulled the blinds up to let natural light in (before this dark rooms were my solace). I did however have a nasty cough but after everything I had been through, I was happy to settle for this. All this illness has well and truly wiped me and out and I hate to say it, but training went out of the window. Walking up stairs tired me out! Once the flu is 100% gone, I am going to start off lightly (hopefully at the weekend) but heading out on a jog. I'll try my best to make it 6-8 miles but I will not even be looking at the pace. It is a shame really as I was enjoying getting back into training hard but I do fear diving back in if I am not fully recovered.

Another thing I am also going to do is book in for a flu jab. Never do I want to feel like this again! The NHS here in the UK does offer it to patients who are at risk of flu (e.g. elderly, asthmatic) but you can also purchase the inoculation for a small fee if you don't quality for it automatically. I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially those who are very outdoorsy or live in large cities. The more people around you, the easier it is to pick it up. With the flu jab, you can be reassured that all you can contract is a cold. That's something I can definitely settle for. Find out more information on the NHS's flu vaccination HERE.

Here's to a productive update next time. One involving exercise.  

Lipstick Runner.