Friday 17th October
Complete rest. I had a race number for the Hogweed Major Muggle 15 the following morning, a 15 mile cross country race near Chipping Norton, and the first time the race was being held. When I entered I thought it would make a good, cheap training run and would give me the rest of the weekend to chill out and do other things.
As it turned out I couldn't find any motivation to go (I was too tired to even get my kit ready) and worst of all, the blister on my heel started peeling. By the time I had got rid of all the loose skin it was quite raw and needed a plaster. Several, in fact.
Saturday 18th October
Didn't go to the race. It was painful walking to the shop to get my paper, so God knows what effect 15 miles cross country would have had.
Went to the gym instead, did both classes, spinning and body pump. Spinning was better than expected, I pushed myself and opted out of Rich's excessive recoveries and got quite a sweat on. Body pump was interesting, Ali did the new release for the first time, which I actually quite liked. The squats track is hard, but the chest track is a bit easier than the last one, and the lunges track is a bit different. Found the abs track really hard, but I need to build up my strength in that area to be fair.
Sunday 19th October
Off to visit family in Melksham today for Sunday lunch so no time for a long run. Went to James' hour long spinning class at 10am which was really good. Unusually for a class at that time on a Sunday, it was full, which shows how good it is.
Had a really good day with the family, lunch with my sister Fiona, her husband Rich, their little girl Holly and my Dad. I also visited my sister Amanda and met my great nephew, Taylor "Dink" for the first time. I've never met such a happy baby, but he did cry when he was left alone with me for a little while. Oh dear.
Monday 20th October
Went out with the running club tonight which proved a bad move. Basically my legs were sore from the classes, and if I'm honest had enjoyed the weekend a little too much. Gerry was out and bossing the pace as usual, and I was struggling to keep up. In the end Andy and I did a different route, which was still about 6 or 7 miles. At least this was a wake up call to tell me how much my form has dropped and how I need to get back into some sort of structured training.
Tuesday 21st October
Speed work. Arranged to meet Martin Davis at the gym to do some speedwork on the treadmill. 1 mile to warm up, then I did 8 * 2 minutes at 14kph with 1 minute jog recoveries. Martin did seven reps, but at 18kph! Still, I think we managed to motivate each other. I managed to push the speed up to 15kp on the last few reps but to be honest hadn't done 2 minute efforts on the treadmill so didn't know how I was going to cope. 1 mile jog to cool down, then home for some tea before going to see the excellent Taken at the cinema. Why did I wait so long before seeing this?
Wednesday 22nd October
1.6k on the treadmill, body pump, then 3.4k on the treadmill. Would have run for longer after the class but had some trapped wind that made it uncomfortable, so I stopped. Still, not a bad session.
Thursday 23rd October
Hill reps tonight. Thought this would be good training for the Downton half marathon on 30th November, which will be my next major focus. Jog out to the ridge, one set of 10 reps, jog to Lydiard, another set of 10, hen jog back to the gym. Good session, but I need to find a longer and steeper hill - the obvious one would be Kingshill, but the problem with that is, there is a lot of traffic and I'd be breathing in all the fumes?
Anyway, still an effective session. Rest tomorrow so I am fresh for my run with Anthony on Saturday afternoon - the first in two years!
Thursday 23 October 2008
Friday 17 October 2008
Trying to get back into it (and struggling)
Monday 13th October
Very sore and stiff today. Fortunately it was only me, Andy and Steph going out running so we did the Cheney Manor route (6-7 miles) at a very steady pace.
Tuesday 14th October
Was meant to be doing a speed session on the treadmill with Martin Davis tonight, but neither of us were really ready for it so soon after the race. I just did 8k (5 miles) in the treadmill, nice and slow - I think my top speed was about 11.2kph!
Wednesday 15th October
Had a day (or rather an afternoon) in London today, sports and social club to see Jersey Boys. Managed a run in the morning, only about 20-30 mins round the block. I thought I'd get a good session in but I had too many other things to do, even though I was on the 1:30 train.
Had a good time at the show, spent a couple of hours sitting in a pub editing my book, which is not conducive to getting back into shape but needs to be done time.
Does a fifty minute walk from Blagrove to Old Town constitute training??
Thursday 16th October
Very tired today, by the time I had walked home I couldn't get to sleep and stayed up far too late. Went out with the running club anyway, there were four of us and no one wanted to go crazy, so we did the Kingshill route - about 5.5 miles at a steady pace (approximately 9-minute miles). Perfect for how I was feeling.
Very sore and stiff today. Fortunately it was only me, Andy and Steph going out running so we did the Cheney Manor route (6-7 miles) at a very steady pace.
Tuesday 14th October
Was meant to be doing a speed session on the treadmill with Martin Davis tonight, but neither of us were really ready for it so soon after the race. I just did 8k (5 miles) in the treadmill, nice and slow - I think my top speed was about 11.2kph!
Wednesday 15th October
Had a day (or rather an afternoon) in London today, sports and social club to see Jersey Boys. Managed a run in the morning, only about 20-30 mins round the block. I thought I'd get a good session in but I had too many other things to do, even though I was on the 1:30 train.
Had a good time at the show, spent a couple of hours sitting in a pub editing my book, which is not conducive to getting back into shape but needs to be done time.
Does a fifty minute walk from Blagrove to Old Town constitute training??
Thursday 16th October
Very tired today, by the time I had walked home I couldn't get to sleep and stayed up far too late. Went out with the running club anyway, there were four of us and no one wanted to go crazy, so we did the Kingshill route - about 5.5 miles at a steady pace (approximately 9-minute miles). Perfect for how I was feeling.
Thursday 16 October 2008
Swindon Half Marathon 2009
Friday 10th & Saturday 11th October
Complete rest. No going to body pump or anything silly like that. Not that I was expecting to do all that well on Sunday, but I wanted my legs to be fresh and my enthusiasm level to be high (ok, high-ish) for the race.
Usual Saturday pre-race routine consisted of a trip to the cinema, the film this weekend was the excellent How To Lose Friends and Alienate People. I'd been looking forward to it for some time, and obviously any film with Kirsten Dunst and Megan Fox is going to get my vote, but it was very good indeed, very funny and a nice story line. Simon Pegg goes from strength to strength in my view, and I'm thinking if my book were to be made into a film, it would have to be a choice between him and James McAvoy to play the main protagonist. Tough one that.
Sunday 12th October
Anyway, back to the present day. I really wasn't expecting to get anything out of the race, especially with it being just a few days after coming back from holiday. I agreed to run it with Terry, which would make it more enjoyable and stop me going off too quickly.
It was certainly enjoyable running with Terry, but sadly it didn't stop either of us going off too fast. We were going at roughly 8-minute miles until we got to the hills at about 4 miles. Slowing down then was inevitable, and it was getting increasingly hot that day.
We did, however, stop and walk at most of the drink stations - I usualy try to keep running, but Terry finds it hard to run and drink at the same time. The short recoveries definitely helped, and we didn't lose too much time doing it.
The target time was under 1:50 but as it got hotter and hotter that became increasingly unrealistic. In the end all I cared about was finishing the run. I managed to stay with Terry almost the whole way, but I knew how hard the last mile was going to be and wasn't going to take any chances.
As it turned out, we were only about twenty seconds apart, and I was happy with my time of 1:51:35 given the conditions. It was disappointing not to have improved my time at the event in the last few years, but it did occur to me later that on each occasion I have always just come back from holiday and not been on top form.
Next year, could be different; most likely I'll go on holiday after the London marathon and be in better shape come the Swindon half in October. But I'm not going to think too far ahead yet; there are plenty of challenges over the next twelve months.
Complete rest. No going to body pump or anything silly like that. Not that I was expecting to do all that well on Sunday, but I wanted my legs to be fresh and my enthusiasm level to be high (ok, high-ish) for the race.
Usual Saturday pre-race routine consisted of a trip to the cinema, the film this weekend was the excellent How To Lose Friends and Alienate People. I'd been looking forward to it for some time, and obviously any film with Kirsten Dunst and Megan Fox is going to get my vote, but it was very good indeed, very funny and a nice story line. Simon Pegg goes from strength to strength in my view, and I'm thinking if my book were to be made into a film, it would have to be a choice between him and James McAvoy to play the main protagonist. Tough one that.
Sunday 12th October
Anyway, back to the present day. I really wasn't expecting to get anything out of the race, especially with it being just a few days after coming back from holiday. I agreed to run it with Terry, which would make it more enjoyable and stop me going off too quickly.
It was certainly enjoyable running with Terry, but sadly it didn't stop either of us going off too fast. We were going at roughly 8-minute miles until we got to the hills at about 4 miles. Slowing down then was inevitable, and it was getting increasingly hot that day.
We did, however, stop and walk at most of the drink stations - I usualy try to keep running, but Terry finds it hard to run and drink at the same time. The short recoveries definitely helped, and we didn't lose too much time doing it.
The target time was under 1:50 but as it got hotter and hotter that became increasingly unrealistic. In the end all I cared about was finishing the run. I managed to stay with Terry almost the whole way, but I knew how hard the last mile was going to be and wasn't going to take any chances.
As it turned out, we were only about twenty seconds apart, and I was happy with my time of 1:51:35 given the conditions. It was disappointing not to have improved my time at the event in the last few years, but it did occur to me later that on each occasion I have always just come back from holiday and not been on top form.
Next year, could be different; most likely I'll go on holiday after the London marathon and be in better shape come the Swindon half in October. But I'm not going to think too far ahead yet; there are plenty of challenges over the next twelve months.
Thursday 9 October 2008
Jon runs London 2009!
Good news on my return to Blighty, I have been very fortunate to receive a place in the Flora London Marathon 2009!
Apparently there were 120,000 people applying for just 20,000 places so that shows how lucky I was! Maybe poetic justice for the trauma and disappointment of having to pull out of Berlin...
I don't intend to start training in earnest until Jan '09, and most of the races I will do in preparation will be ones I can use as hard training runs (Rough 'n Tumble, Slaughterford, Tough Ten or Terminator, Hogweed Hilly Half etc).
I have already spoken to Samaritans and will be on their team, I anticipate that the money raised for Berlin 2008 will be moved to the new appeal in some way, shape or form.
As I have now more or less finished the first draft of my first novel I will be juggling my training routine with the editing/re-writing process as well as approaching agents and publishers so it should be a very interesting time to say the least!
More details to follow as and when..
Apparently there were 120,000 people applying for just 20,000 places so that shows how lucky I was! Maybe poetic justice for the trauma and disappointment of having to pull out of Berlin...
I don't intend to start training in earnest until Jan '09, and most of the races I will do in preparation will be ones I can use as hard training runs (Rough 'n Tumble, Slaughterford, Tough Ten or Terminator, Hogweed Hilly Half etc).
I have already spoken to Samaritans and will be on their team, I anticipate that the money raised for Berlin 2008 will be moved to the new appeal in some way, shape or form.
As I have now more or less finished the first draft of my first novel I will be juggling my training routine with the editing/re-writing process as well as approaching agents and publishers so it should be a very interesting time to say the least!
More details to follow as and when..
Pre-and post Holiday training
Saturday 27th September
Just body pump today. Felt really rough and struggled. Definitely need to give my body a break.
Sunday 28th September
Bit of a blur to be honest, think I did about 9 miles but very slow. Went to a party the night before and had to crash in an armchair as not prepared to pay a fortune for a taxi. Ouch.
Monday 29th September
Went out with Terry and Kev for a long run before driving to Gatwick. We did about 11.25 miles a reasonable pace (can't remember what exactly) but I never thought I'd see the day when those two had to ask me to slow down. Good way to go off on holiday.
Tuesday 30th September - Tuesday 7th October inclusive
Absolutely f*ck all. Unless you count a few gentle strolls and a dip in the Med as "training". Did nothing at all except sleep (a lot), eat a full English breakfast every day, read three books (and started the editing process of my own!), drink beer, sit on my balcony with a bottle of wine, have a couple of beers at the pool bar every night, go out to dinner, and maybe go on to a bar for a nightcap.
It was a good holiday, but nowhere near long enough. I definitely needed an extra week. I felt shagged out for the first 3 or 4 days, then felt a bit more relaxed by the fifth day, then the holiday was over and I had to pack my bags and come home. Big sigh.
Wednesday 8th October
Body pump. Dropped my weights to break myself back into it gently. No cardio for the same reason.
Thursday 9th October
Steady run with Becky, she reckoned the route was six miles, but I reckon it was about 7 or 8. We were out on our feet for about 1hr 10 so it must have been.
Anyway, a good way to blow out some cobwebs and get back into it. Swindon half on Sunday so nothing more until then.
Just body pump today. Felt really rough and struggled. Definitely need to give my body a break.
Sunday 28th September
Bit of a blur to be honest, think I did about 9 miles but very slow. Went to a party the night before and had to crash in an armchair as not prepared to pay a fortune for a taxi. Ouch.
Monday 29th September
Went out with Terry and Kev for a long run before driving to Gatwick. We did about 11.25 miles a reasonable pace (can't remember what exactly) but I never thought I'd see the day when those two had to ask me to slow down. Good way to go off on holiday.
Tuesday 30th September - Tuesday 7th October inclusive
Absolutely f*ck all. Unless you count a few gentle strolls and a dip in the Med as "training". Did nothing at all except sleep (a lot), eat a full English breakfast every day, read three books (and started the editing process of my own!), drink beer, sit on my balcony with a bottle of wine, have a couple of beers at the pool bar every night, go out to dinner, and maybe go on to a bar for a nightcap.
It was a good holiday, but nowhere near long enough. I definitely needed an extra week. I felt shagged out for the first 3 or 4 days, then felt a bit more relaxed by the fifth day, then the holiday was over and I had to pack my bags and come home. Big sigh.
Wednesday 8th October
Body pump. Dropped my weights to break myself back into it gently. No cardio for the same reason.
Thursday 9th October
Steady run with Becky, she reckoned the route was six miles, but I reckon it was about 7 or 8. We were out on our feet for about 1hr 10 so it must have been.
Anyway, a good way to blow out some cobwebs and get back into it. Swindon half on Sunday so nothing more until then.
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