Week 3 Run 2

Not much to report here - I didn't do it! Was scheduled for Friday lunchtime, but didn't get a chance to leave the office, and decided that, as it was only 3 miles, it would be okay to miss a training session for once.

Week 3 Run 1

Went out with the club tonight and had a really nice run. The pace was comfortable, certainly didn't push myself, but I kept it steady the whole way round. Since I had netball training last night and a netball match tomorrow, I didn't want to over do it today!

Was chatting to a lovely lady for most of the run who is also training for her first half marathon (a few weeks before mine). I don't normally talk that much, as most of the members know each other really well, but it really helped the time pass quicker - I didn't once feel like I wanted to stop/turn back or was bored. :)

Length: 4.6 miles/4 miles
Time: 53:00 (approx - forgot to stop my HRM as soon as we'd finished!)
Pace: 12:02 min/mile(approx)

Training Plan - Week 3

Week three of the training plan looks like this:

Tuesday: General run - 4 miles (Running Club)
Friday: Easy run - 3 miles (Lunchtime run)
Sunday: Long(ish!) run - 6 miles [I have a hectic weekend involving alcohol, so know I won't be up for a long run the morning after, so am going to keep it shorter this week]

Weekly Total: 13 miles

Week 2 Run 3

Really tough run today. Wasn't in the mood for the long run that was scheduled. Decided to try the old trick of running for 1 mile and if I'm still not in the mood, then at least I tried. I always find that by the time I've done 1 mile, I've losened up and am happy to carry on. Not today. After a mile I really wasn't enjoying it, but decided to push on to mile 2, still not enjoying it, but decided I had to carry on to mile 3, so that if I turned around then, at least I'd have done 6 miles, which is really the shortest distance that I would class as a long run.

Finally at about 2.5 miles in it got better :) I felt comfortable for the next 5 miles, although still would have happily stopped and had to have an arguement with myself everytime I came to a junction - carry on on the pre-planned 9 mile route, or head back home via the quickest route! Towards the end, my legs started to feel tired, but I pushed on, and am really pleased I did. Am glad to have a 9 mile run under my belt, but I realise that this half marathon is going to be more of a mental battle than a physical one.

Length: 9 miles/9 miles
Time: 1hr 51m 45s
Pace: 12:25 min/mile
Half Marathon Time: 2hrs 46mins (based on this run - provided by Fetcheveryone.com)

Week 2 Run 2

Just a short lunchtime run today, to keep the legs moving. Did a few sprint intervals, but also walked some of it as the path was so boggy and muddy!

Length: 2.7 miles/2 miles
Time: 31:30
Pace: 11:32 min/mile

Week 2 Run 1

Went out with the club tonight and had a pretty good run. I went out with the main group and we kept up a good pace - quicker than I would have gone if I'd have been out on my own, which can only be a good thing! Pace was closer to race pace, although the pace below doesn't reflect this as there was quite a lot of stop starting; crossing roads, waiting for people to catch up etc.

Length: 4.4 miles/4 miles
Time: 53:14
Pace: 12:06 min/mile

Training Plan - Week 2

Moving on to week two of the plan - 7 weeks to go now!

Tuesday: General run - 4 miles (Running Club)
Friday: Easy run - 2 miles (Lunchtime run)
Sunday: Long run - 9 miles

Weekly Total: 15 miles

Week 1 Run 3

Today was my long run - 7.5 miles planned. Really hadn't been looking forward to it, I hadn't run this far since early December! I planned out a route in advance and set off.

First few miles were horrible - I had several stitches and really wanted to turn back. But with 7 weeks to go until the big day, I knew I had to knuckle down. Pace was a little slower than I'd have liked, but I did walk a couple of sections due to the stitches.

Partially frozen Fleet Pond

The second half of the run was much better, I got into my stride and relaxed a bit. Legs felt good throughout, although a bit tired towards the end, and I actually felt stronger at the end of the run than I did at the beginning. So much so, that I added in an extra loop to make it up to 8 miles (slightly overestimated though!). :)

Ducks on the pond

Length: 8.3 miles/7.5 miles
Time: 1hr 40m 30 s
Pace: 12:08 min/mile
Half Marathon Time: 2hrs 43mins (based on this run - provided by Fetcheveryone.com)

Week 1 Run 2

Another lunchtime run. Calves were *so* tight, that they really started to feel sore after 5 minutes, so I stopped and really stretched them out, and they were okay for the rest of the run. I think my aerobic DVD (which contains lots of jumping!) had obviously given them quite a workout the other night!

I ran from work to Richmond Park, quick mile in the park, then ran home. It was okay, am starting to dread my long run this weekend - am not enjoying my runs much at the moment :(. Was a struggle to not turn back early today - how am I going to manage 7.5 miles (heck - how am I going to manage 13.1?!)

Little stream in Richmond Park

Length: 3.3 miles/3 miles
Time: 37:50
Pace: 11:22 min/mile

Week 1 Run 1

Managed to drag my ass out of the office for a lunchtime run around snowy Richmond Park. Was very pretty, but also very cold and icey! Its very open and the wind was strong - made my eyes water! Paths were very slippery, so was slower than usual and had to cut the run a bit short to get back to the office in time.

Snow covered Richmond Park

Length: 2.7 miles/3 miles
Time: 32:20
Pace: 12:07 min/mile

Training Plan - Week One

So, my first week on the new training plan - only 8 weeks of it! Have already amended this slightly as the snow has limited my running options slightly, so am planning to still do 3 runs, but slightly shorter than planned.

Tuesday: General run - 3 mile lunchtime run (running club cancelled)
Friday: Easy run - 3 miles
Sunday: Long run - 7.5 miles

Weekly Total: 13.5 miles

First Run

So, although my training plan officially started today, I went out for a run yesterday.

I'd planned to do 6 miles, but the snow reduced this to 4.5 ('just' 9 miles short of the half marathon!). Although running in the snow itself was alright (although harder than running on the road), I had to walk 1.5 miles on icey pavements to get to the forest to start running, and along with the difficulty of running in the snow, the extra time it took and having to avoid obstacles such as fallen branches, ice and children sledging. After an hour I'd had enough, and still had to walk back home!

Snowy Hawley Woods

It was very pretty though, and looked very 'Narnian' (before the witch dies obviously!).

Am finalising my training plan at the moment, and will post it up asap. :)

The time has come...

Well, now that 2010 is well and truly here, the time has come to create a training plan and start training! As I type this, I have just over 8 weeks until Bath Half Marathon, which sounds scarily close - I'm trying to ignore the countdown timer on the blog :D

*The Aim*
I'm aiming to run 3 times per week during this training, and the aim is just to finish - I'm not looking to set any speed records!

I know I can run a comfortably for 60-90 minutes (6-8 miles) and have run two 2-hour runs (both races), so I need to have one long per week, which focuses on building up the distance. I'd be really pleased if I could complete one 12 mile run prior to the race; realistically I don't think I'm going to have time to complete the full distance beforehand. The other two runs each week, will be much shorter (one with the club and one during my lunchbreak at work), and for these 8 weeks, I'm not going to worry about speedwork, track sessions or time trials. I can go back to them afterwards.

*The Plan*
So my exercise week will look something like this (also including non-running training sessions);
Mo - Netball Training (1 hour)
Tu - Club Run (4.5-5 miles, around 1 hour)
We - Netball Match (alternate Wednesdays, 1 hour)
Fr - Easy/Short Run (2-3 miles, 25-30 minutes)
Su - Long Run (6-12 miles, 1-2.5 hours)