Saturday 21st March
Body pump as usual, I continued with my policy of doing my core exercises in lieu of squats and lunges. Did some more core exercises after the class.
Sunday 22nd March
Competed today in the Hogweed Hilly Half Marathon, at Horton, Gloucestershire. This was the fifth running of the event and my third time there. I chose it as a training run for London in 2007, and was so impressed I vowed to come back every year. It is what it says on the tin - a very tough, hilly half marathon but is also remarkably well organised and boasts some of the most glorious scenery I have seen in a race.
I started well enough, knocking out the first mile in about 8 minutes, but then reminded myself to relax and enjoy the run as much as possible. It was perfect weather for running, a beautiful spring morning.
The hills were hard as always, and I was going well until I got to the 8-mile marker. The hill in the ninth mile put paid to any hopes I had of a 1:50-ish finish. What's more, after that point my legs started to feel very tired (as I expected they would) and so it was just a case of trying to get round in under two hours.
I did it comfortably in the end, aided perhaps by some of the friendly young marshals handing out jelly babies to us! I was more than happy with a 1:56 finish, but wish I could improve my downhill running - the last section is a steep downhill stretch and there was nothing I could do to stop my fellow runners sprinting past me.
A nice touch was I got chatting to the treasurer of the Samaritans in Bristol (I was wearing my vest in preparation) after the race, talking at length about the charity and races overseas.
I had contemplated another run in the day but decided after the race that my legs could really do with an easier Sunday than they've had lately. So I made my way to the gym for a stretch and a shower. As I left I felt slightly sad, knowing that I wouldn't be taking part in such a lovely event for another year. Yes, I really do like it that much.
Monday 23rd March
Tonight there was a two hour "Spin-a-thon" at the gym to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. To tell the truth, it was quite a disappointment.
For a start, the entry fee was to raise a minimum of £50 in sponsorship which was always going to be a tall order in the current climate. I told someone a couple of weeks ago that I wouldn't be able to raise any sponsorship as I am already committed to raising money for the London marathon. I said I was quite happy to donate £5 of my own money to attend the class.
Even so, I was still surprised by how quiet the class was. The room was less than half full, and of the people there, most seemed to be staff members. The class itself was enjoyable enough, but I was careful not to go crazy with the resistance as my legs were still tired from yesterday so I never really got a sweat on.
Oh well, it's calories burned I suppose.
Tuesday 24th March
Steady run tonight, about 1 hour 10 mins. Up the railway path, through Old Town, down Drove Road and through town back to the gym. Just needed some thinking time tonight.
Wednesday 25th March
Body pump tonight, did 2k on the treadmill beforehand as a warm-up. Used my heaviest weight yet on the squats track, 42.5kg (or four reds and a yellow on each end). Might not sound a lot, but when you consider I'm doing squats for about 5 minutes, it's not bad at all. I usually use 40kg and it's amazing how much heavier that 2.5kg made it feel.
No RPM or other cardio as I needed to do some shopping and hate getting home too late.
Thursday 26th March
Interval session at the lake. Managed to knock out 5 laps, but they probably weren't as fast as they should have been due to my legs feeling sore from yesterday. That was probably to be expected to be fair. Good session nonetheless, need to do more speed and hill work to get good times in races this summer.
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009
First run in the sunshine!
Saturday 14th March
Body pump this morning. Missed out squats and lunges, but instead of nipping downstairs for an orange juice I used the breaks to do some core exercises. Did some more core work after the class as well which was good. Also had a long chat with Rachel (Barber) who was covering for Ali and who is also running the London marathon next month, for the first time. The only advice I was keen to impress upon her was not to worry too much about her time and simply celebrate the fact that she is taking part in the best race on the planet.
Sunday 15th March
Long run today and beautiful weather for it. Did the half route, starting from the gym, and soon realised that it was too warm to be wearing two layers of clothing.
This was actually a really good run. I wasn't sure if I'd cope with the distance after the 20 mile race last weekend, but my legs held up well I thought. The big difference was the mood of the people I met on the way; everyone was so much friendlier, other runners and cyclists said hello, drivers ackowledged me and the world seemed a much happier place. What a difference the weather makes.
That took me 3 hours 10 minutes and I knocked out a very slow mile on the treadmill when I got back to the gym. I wondered later if I hadn't missed a trick here as my legs felt strong enough to go a bit further.
Had a steam after the run and wondered if that is helping my training, ie are the sessions in the steam room keeping my muscles looser and reducing the build up of lactic acid? It's the only thing I've been doing different of late so it could be.
Monday 16th March
Recovery run. Up the railway path (was just about able to see where I was going, so the light is improving), down Drove Road and back through town to the gym. One hour ten minutes approx. Not bad for an easy run.
Tuesday 17th March
Speed work. Out to the lake, then three laps hard. Approximately one hour on my feet. Would have done more laps but needed to go to Sainsburys and wanted to go to the cinema tonight. Felt I did well on the laps considering I was still recovering from Sunday.
Cheap Tuesday's film was He's Just Not That Into You, which I really enjoyed, and not just because it featured a semi-naked Scarlett Johansson. There was a lot in there about relationships which I could relate to, and it was good research on the subject for my writing, if you see what I mean.
Wednesday 18th March
Body pump with Ali followed by RPM with James. Excellent as always. Noticed the latter was busy, wondered how many people noticed me making a tit of myself in pump when a weight went flying off the end of my bar in the back track?
Thursday 19th March
Run with Kev and Gerry. We covered 11 miles at an average of just under 9 minutes per mile. It was faster than that, but a slow mile up a hill dragged that down. Still, good effort for a Thursday, especially considering how tired my legs are now. Definitely rest tomorrow, pump and core work Saturday ahead of the Hogweed Hilly Half on Sunday.
Body pump this morning. Missed out squats and lunges, but instead of nipping downstairs for an orange juice I used the breaks to do some core exercises. Did some more core work after the class as well which was good. Also had a long chat with Rachel (Barber) who was covering for Ali and who is also running the London marathon next month, for the first time. The only advice I was keen to impress upon her was not to worry too much about her time and simply celebrate the fact that she is taking part in the best race on the planet.
Sunday 15th March
Long run today and beautiful weather for it. Did the half route, starting from the gym, and soon realised that it was too warm to be wearing two layers of clothing.
This was actually a really good run. I wasn't sure if I'd cope with the distance after the 20 mile race last weekend, but my legs held up well I thought. The big difference was the mood of the people I met on the way; everyone was so much friendlier, other runners and cyclists said hello, drivers ackowledged me and the world seemed a much happier place. What a difference the weather makes.
That took me 3 hours 10 minutes and I knocked out a very slow mile on the treadmill when I got back to the gym. I wondered later if I hadn't missed a trick here as my legs felt strong enough to go a bit further.
Had a steam after the run and wondered if that is helping my training, ie are the sessions in the steam room keeping my muscles looser and reducing the build up of lactic acid? It's the only thing I've been doing different of late so it could be.
Monday 16th March
Recovery run. Up the railway path (was just about able to see where I was going, so the light is improving), down Drove Road and back through town to the gym. One hour ten minutes approx. Not bad for an easy run.
Tuesday 17th March
Speed work. Out to the lake, then three laps hard. Approximately one hour on my feet. Would have done more laps but needed to go to Sainsburys and wanted to go to the cinema tonight. Felt I did well on the laps considering I was still recovering from Sunday.
Cheap Tuesday's film was He's Just Not That Into You, which I really enjoyed, and not just because it featured a semi-naked Scarlett Johansson. There was a lot in there about relationships which I could relate to, and it was good research on the subject for my writing, if you see what I mean.
Wednesday 18th March
Body pump with Ali followed by RPM with James. Excellent as always. Noticed the latter was busy, wondered how many people noticed me making a tit of myself in pump when a weight went flying off the end of my bar in the back track?
Thursday 19th March
Run with Kev and Gerry. We covered 11 miles at an average of just under 9 minutes per mile. It was faster than that, but a slow mile up a hill dragged that down. Still, good effort for a Thursday, especially considering how tired my legs are now. Definitely rest tomorrow, pump and core work Saturday ahead of the Hogweed Hilly Half on Sunday.
Thursday 12 March 2009
Gloucester 20 mile race
Thursday 5th March
Complete rest.
Friday 6th March
Full body massage with Ali. Interestingly it didn't hurt anywhere near as much as usual, apart from my upper back being a bit tense. Keep doing whatever you're doing, he told me, as it seems to be working. I would say my body's just getting tougher.
Saturday 7th March
Complete rest. Unless you count housework as exercise - instead of going to the gym on Saturday morning I used the time to give the house a bit of a spring clean.
Sunday 8th March
Competed today in the Gloucester 20-mile road race (which starts and finishes in Framton-on-Severn). I did this in 2007 as a warm-up for the London marathon and was using it today for the same reasons. On that occasion it turned out to be an enjoyable run and a confidence booster. Today was much the same.
It took me less than an hour to get to the race which was less than I remember it being. Plus the parking was better organised - in a field where the start line was also, plus we could drop our baggage off and pick it up at the race HQ. The negatives were a poor pre-race briefing with most of us unable to hear what was being said and people being warned for running more than two abreast - if two people are already running two abreast, how else do you get past them?
I started the race well, probably too well. I was doing sub 8-minute miles for the first four, slowed slightly in the fifth, and then the weather came into play. It rained hard, hailed even, and there was a strong wind for large parts of the race.
That notwithstanding, I was still feeling good at 10 miles and passed the 13-mile marker in under 1:50 (not a bad half marathon time for me). There was an incentive to speed up just before that point, as someone just behind me obviously had an awful running style and his trainers were making an awful, grating noise (you know the kind). It was honestly like chinese water torture and in the end I decided to sprint for a while just to get away from it.
It wasn't until after about mile 16 that I really started to suffer, but fortunately I made some friends who kept me going. I'm not sure what was wrong, it felt like a bad stitch but it could have been my body starting to dig into it's fat stores, but without me slowing down to ease the process. I chatted to a bloke who was also training for the London marathon and there was also a bit of competitiveness between myself and a girl who had been neck and neck with me most of the way round. I know it's sexist and typical me, but she was very attractive and I decided early on I wasn't going to let her out of my sight! So I decided to use her as kind of a pace maker.
I had expected to finish in around 3 hours (9-minute miles) so bearing in mind the weather and some discomfort in the last miles I was pretty delighted to finish in 2:48 (2:47:52 if you go by my chip time). A nice touch was chatting to the young lady in question (Siana, I found out) on the walk back to the race HQ to collect my bag and t-shirt. She told me she is training for the Edinburgh marathon and will be doing a lot of the local races in the coming months, so let's hope our paths cross again one day soon.
Monday 9th March
Quite sore today and definitely not up to running with the group, but surprised myself by managing 8.8k (5.5 miles) on the treadmill, albeit at a very steady pace. It was only meant to be 5 miles by the way...
Tuesday 10th March
Not ready for a speed session but managed 10k, a little quicker than yesterday. Gutted to watch England come close to winning the last test and drawing the series v West Indies but to be fair the latter deserved the series victory.
One of my toes is quite swollen and painful and I'm not sure I'll be able to do much running the rest of the week.
Wednesday 11th March
Just RPM tonight. Missed body pump tonight as I was showing someone (potential lodger) round the house. What a pain in the arse this business is at times. I didn't mind picking her up from her hotel (which was on my way anyway) as she didn't know how to get to my house using the bus routes, but I was astounded when she asked me if I could give her a lift into the town centre so she could view another place!!! So I gave her walking directions and made my way to the gym for RPM, which was good as it always is with James.
Thursday 12th March
RPM again. Toe is a little better today, and I managed to cut some of the dead toenail away, but I don't want to aggravate it as I'm hoping I'll have a race number for the Bath half marathon on Sunday. I know I won't get a great time as my body won't have fully recovered from Sunday, but I would like to enjoy it.
Complete rest.
Friday 6th March
Full body massage with Ali. Interestingly it didn't hurt anywhere near as much as usual, apart from my upper back being a bit tense. Keep doing whatever you're doing, he told me, as it seems to be working. I would say my body's just getting tougher.
Saturday 7th March
Complete rest. Unless you count housework as exercise - instead of going to the gym on Saturday morning I used the time to give the house a bit of a spring clean.
Sunday 8th March
Competed today in the Gloucester 20-mile road race (which starts and finishes in Framton-on-Severn). I did this in 2007 as a warm-up for the London marathon and was using it today for the same reasons. On that occasion it turned out to be an enjoyable run and a confidence booster. Today was much the same.
It took me less than an hour to get to the race which was less than I remember it being. Plus the parking was better organised - in a field where the start line was also, plus we could drop our baggage off and pick it up at the race HQ. The negatives were a poor pre-race briefing with most of us unable to hear what was being said and people being warned for running more than two abreast - if two people are already running two abreast, how else do you get past them?
I started the race well, probably too well. I was doing sub 8-minute miles for the first four, slowed slightly in the fifth, and then the weather came into play. It rained hard, hailed even, and there was a strong wind for large parts of the race.
That notwithstanding, I was still feeling good at 10 miles and passed the 13-mile marker in under 1:50 (not a bad half marathon time for me). There was an incentive to speed up just before that point, as someone just behind me obviously had an awful running style and his trainers were making an awful, grating noise (you know the kind). It was honestly like chinese water torture and in the end I decided to sprint for a while just to get away from it.
It wasn't until after about mile 16 that I really started to suffer, but fortunately I made some friends who kept me going. I'm not sure what was wrong, it felt like a bad stitch but it could have been my body starting to dig into it's fat stores, but without me slowing down to ease the process. I chatted to a bloke who was also training for the London marathon and there was also a bit of competitiveness between myself and a girl who had been neck and neck with me most of the way round. I know it's sexist and typical me, but she was very attractive and I decided early on I wasn't going to let her out of my sight! So I decided to use her as kind of a pace maker.
I had expected to finish in around 3 hours (9-minute miles) so bearing in mind the weather and some discomfort in the last miles I was pretty delighted to finish in 2:48 (2:47:52 if you go by my chip time). A nice touch was chatting to the young lady in question (Siana, I found out) on the walk back to the race HQ to collect my bag and t-shirt. She told me she is training for the Edinburgh marathon and will be doing a lot of the local races in the coming months, so let's hope our paths cross again one day soon.
Monday 9th March
Quite sore today and definitely not up to running with the group, but surprised myself by managing 8.8k (5.5 miles) on the treadmill, albeit at a very steady pace. It was only meant to be 5 miles by the way...
Tuesday 10th March
Not ready for a speed session but managed 10k, a little quicker than yesterday. Gutted to watch England come close to winning the last test and drawing the series v West Indies but to be fair the latter deserved the series victory.
One of my toes is quite swollen and painful and I'm not sure I'll be able to do much running the rest of the week.
Wednesday 11th March
Just RPM tonight. Missed body pump tonight as I was showing someone (potential lodger) round the house. What a pain in the arse this business is at times. I didn't mind picking her up from her hotel (which was on my way anyway) as she didn't know how to get to my house using the bus routes, but I was astounded when she asked me if I could give her a lift into the town centre so she could view another place!!! So I gave her walking directions and made my way to the gym for RPM, which was good as it always is with James.
Thursday 12th March
RPM again. Toe is a little better today, and I managed to cut some of the dead toenail away, but I don't want to aggravate it as I'm hoping I'll have a race number for the Bath half marathon on Sunday. I know I won't get a great time as my body won't have fully recovered from Sunday, but I would like to enjoy it.
Thursday 5 March 2009
Easy week
Monday 2nd March
Nice easy week this week, both to recover from the long run yesterday and to get myself fresh, physically and mentally, for the Gloucester 20 mile race next Sunday.
Surprised myself greatly by managing to knock out 10k on the treadmill tonight, even though it was pretty slow - I didn't get above 11.2kph and that was only in the last kilometre as well to be fair. Followed this up with some abs work for about 15-20 minutes. Good session for a recovery run.
Tuesday 3rd March
Speed session tonight, albeit not as intense as usual. 1.6k warm up, then 10 * 2 minutes at 14kph, followed by 1.6k cool-down. I know I usually run for longer and faster but I've had a couple of twinges in my calves since Sunday and didn't want to risk any damage.
Got to the gym late as was in work until 6pm so no time to go to the cinema tonight. Oh well, there's always next week, and maybe Saturday afternoon.
Wednesday 4th March
Body pump followed by RPM. Enjoyed both classes as usual, careful not to overdo it on the legs. Plan now is complete rest for three days with a full body massage with Ali on Friday. I have always performed best in races when I've had two or three days off and I'm hoping to finish the 20-mile race in under three hours, which is about 9-minute miling. I'll have a much better chance with fresh legs.
Nice easy week this week, both to recover from the long run yesterday and to get myself fresh, physically and mentally, for the Gloucester 20 mile race next Sunday.
Surprised myself greatly by managing to knock out 10k on the treadmill tonight, even though it was pretty slow - I didn't get above 11.2kph and that was only in the last kilometre as well to be fair. Followed this up with some abs work for about 15-20 minutes. Good session for a recovery run.
Tuesday 3rd March
Speed session tonight, albeit not as intense as usual. 1.6k warm up, then 10 * 2 minutes at 14kph, followed by 1.6k cool-down. I know I usually run for longer and faster but I've had a couple of twinges in my calves since Sunday and didn't want to risk any damage.
Got to the gym late as was in work until 6pm so no time to go to the cinema tonight. Oh well, there's always next week, and maybe Saturday afternoon.
Wednesday 4th March
Body pump followed by RPM. Enjoyed both classes as usual, careful not to overdo it on the legs. Plan now is complete rest for three days with a full body massage with Ali on Friday. I have always performed best in races when I've had two or three days off and I'm hoping to finish the 20-mile race in under three hours, which is about 9-minute miling. I'll have a much better chance with fresh legs.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Ultra training
Saturday 28th February
RPM and body pump in the morning. The first class was a mistake - I intended to do body attack, purely because I fancied doing something different, but I was put off by someone before going in how told me it has quite a high impact on the knees. So as I was at the gym I decided to do RPM instead. I didn't go mad with the resistance or pedalling, but should really have given my legs a rest before my long run tomorrow.
Sunday 1st March
Time to really crank up the mileage if I want to do a 33-mile "Ultra" marathon in May (I have sent my entry form off for the Marlborough Downs challenge) so the plan was to do an hour on the treadmill followed by 20 miles outside.
It didn't quite pan out as planned, I did slightly more than an hour on the treadmill - 12k to be precise, but this was only because I hit the emergency stop button by accident at 7.8k! So rounded it up to 12k - 7.5 miles.
Headed outside and wasn't sure which route to take, so decided to play it by ear a bit. In the end I did the Blagrove route then headed up the railway path, along the canal, across the motorway, then cut back on myself and did the Elcombe route. When I got through Wroughton I turned up Pipers Way and then headed down Marlborough Road and then along Queens Drive and back through town to the gym.
I've no idea how far this was, but I was out on my feet for exactly 2hrs 50 mins. Admittedly most of it was a bit of a plod and there were some walk breaks (including when I saw an old friend, Wally, who I hadn't seen for a few years) but I followed it up with a mile on the treadmill (more of a mental exercise than anything) so all told I did four hours of running. It would have been comfortably over 20 miles and the most important thing was I get used to being on my feet for this length of time.
RPM and body pump in the morning. The first class was a mistake - I intended to do body attack, purely because I fancied doing something different, but I was put off by someone before going in how told me it has quite a high impact on the knees. So as I was at the gym I decided to do RPM instead. I didn't go mad with the resistance or pedalling, but should really have given my legs a rest before my long run tomorrow.
Sunday 1st March
Time to really crank up the mileage if I want to do a 33-mile "Ultra" marathon in May (I have sent my entry form off for the Marlborough Downs challenge) so the plan was to do an hour on the treadmill followed by 20 miles outside.
It didn't quite pan out as planned, I did slightly more than an hour on the treadmill - 12k to be precise, but this was only because I hit the emergency stop button by accident at 7.8k! So rounded it up to 12k - 7.5 miles.
Headed outside and wasn't sure which route to take, so decided to play it by ear a bit. In the end I did the Blagrove route then headed up the railway path, along the canal, across the motorway, then cut back on myself and did the Elcombe route. When I got through Wroughton I turned up Pipers Way and then headed down Marlborough Road and then along Queens Drive and back through town to the gym.
I've no idea how far this was, but I was out on my feet for exactly 2hrs 50 mins. Admittedly most of it was a bit of a plod and there were some walk breaks (including when I saw an old friend, Wally, who I hadn't seen for a few years) but I followed it up with a mile on the treadmill (more of a mental exercise than anything) so all told I did four hours of running. It would have been comfortably over 20 miles and the most important thing was I get used to being on my feet for this length of time.
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