I'm not gonna lie, this weekend was a write off. Those nasty, unwelcome visitors (hormones) came to wreak havoc in my life and those around me. While everyone one else was out enjoying the sunshine, I was indoors, either in bed, eating, crying, moaning and sulking whilst every part of my body ached! What joy.
Normally, I would rise above this, but it had me in it's grip this weekend and would not let go. Yesterday morning I was supposed to do a 40 minute long run but when the alarm went off and I found I could barely move thanks to the colossal amount of pain killers/antihistamines (thanks hay-fever) I had consumed during the very restless, hot sticky night!
Anyhoo, this morning marks the start of my third week of half marathon training. I'm very glad to say I finally got my shizzle together and got out there. It was hot, It was sticky, my joints still hurt like hell but I was going running if it killed me! Not only did I complete my 40 min run, it was the longest I have actually run continuously without stopping for a little walk AND I conquered a long hill that has been bugging me since the days of school cross country (22 yrs!) so I am looking at this morning as a success. Oh and I did it without feeling the need to block the world out with headphones :)
Monday motivation (could have done with this yesterday!):
Today was another easy run session. 30 minutes at a pace of around 12:30 so of course I averaged 11:39. The route I took today was all up hill for the first half and I even managed to go as slow as 12:15 at one point, but that felt like walking so I had to speed up again!
Yesterday I invested in a foam roller. I have been reading up about these as a way to maintain flexibility provide deep tissue massage (self myofascial release) and help prevent injury. Did a quick 20 minute session and it surprised me all the strange positions I found myself in and it was uncomfortable at times, particularly the IT band roll but felt better afterwards and i'm suffering no ill effects today!
Here's a little guide I found to using it:
This morning was a tempo run, a not very successful tempo run. When I looked out the window, it looked very overcast and a little breezy, so, in my wisdom I decided that i'd wear a small-ish vest top under my running jacket today. Bad move number one.
I started with a slightly longer warm up than usual then by the time I was ready to run, the Garmin had lost contact with the satellite so that put me off a bit. Bad move number two.
Next, in my infinite wisdom, thought that was the time to do a mile speed test (seeing as I was a already sweating like a pig at the butchers (as it wasn't that overcast or breezy, just muggy) and I haven't done any speed work for a few weeks, it was a spark of genius!). I set off on my mile with gusto and did manage a respectable (for me) 09:35 so this proves I haven't got much slower, but perhaps in better conditions I could manage a 09:25. When I finished the mile though, 'bad move number one' came back to haunt me. I was completely boiling but couldn't take the jacket off because I do not believe the good people of The 'Bourne are ready to see my pasty bingo wings flapping around at half six in the morning, so I remained in sweating pig mode for the remainder of my slow trot/fast walk back home to my sty!
So what was meant to be a half hour continuous run at a faster, but manageable pace of around 10:30 turned into a 20 minute disjointed mad run/walk affair. The important thing is that I have learned two things today: take a bit more care when deciding what to wear; and stick to the schedule!
Second week of half marathon training and I seem to be getting the hang of the easy run at last! Managed to slow down a little more today to an average pace of 11:46 so I can tell the difference between easy and tempo runs now. Still need to re-check my fast mile pace, but i'll do that tomorrow on my tempo run, just to liven things up a bit!
It was a little bit fresh this morning so I decided to try out my new bargain running jacket and it's great! Kept the wind out but I didn't feel like I was going to die from heat exhaustion at any point on my run and there was a fair amount of up hill running!
It's the start of another week so it's time for the Tuesday Tip:
There's a weird orange ball in the sky in the UK at the moment and i'm really not used to it! As today is Sunday it is long run day and today it was only 3 miles so it wasn't too challenging but the heat was another thing entirely. I went out at half six this morning, it was only 13 degrees C but I do tend to get a bit hot when i'm running so it felt to me like running through a jungle with the good old British humidity - and parts of the A2 are a lot like a jungle at the moment where the hedgerows have grown out of control!
Still having trouble with my pace. My long run pace is supposed to be a snail like pace of 12:30 but i'm having trouble going slower than 11:00 my average pace for today was 11:15 in the end. I might pop out tomorrow and do a quick mile test to see if my target paces have changed in the last few weeks.
So that's the first week of half marathon training done and I've got to say, so far, i'm enjoying it. Feeling so much fitter and stronger and it really hasn't had any impact on my day to day life either. Other than getting up a stupid o'clock, but that's not too bad!
Today was another half hour easy run and although the running itself was not hard, controlling my pace was. I should be trundling along at between 11:30 and 12:30 for my easy runs but this morning my average pace was only 8 seconds slower than my supposed tempo run on wednesday. Either I need to work a bit harder on my tempo runs or take it easier on my easy runs!
Maybe I'm just getting naturally faster so will have to do another fast mile test to see if my guideline pace levels have changed. Who'd have thought running would be this complicated eh??
Today was supposed to be a tempo run which should ideally be at a harder pace for the duration (30 Mins this week). It didn't go too well, I did go a bit faster than normal but boy was it hard going, about 20 mins in I felt like I wanted to stop, but just slowed the pace down for the last 10 mins and went at a slightly easier pace. My average pace at the end of the run was only 13 seconds faster than Monday's easy run. I also had about 2 hours sleep in total last night and was wearing my stupid pink mac which is probably like running whilst wearing a bin bag which didn't help things much!
I do tend to have moments when i'm feeling bad for not being fast enough then I just tell myself that i'm still really new to all this and my body still needs to adjust to this ridiculous exercise regime i'm putting it through. I know that with practice and experience i will get better and after all, no matter how fast or slow I go, i'm still enjoying the benefits of running and that is the best feeling ever :)
