Weekly Update w/e 29.01.12 - 12wks to VLM12

Mon - 8.2 miles steady (7:13mm)
Tue - 8.02 miles progressive tempo inc. 11mins @ 6:40mm | 11mins @ 6:29 | 11mins @ 6:05mm
Wed - REST
Thu - 12.0 miles (6:36mm) inc. 9 miles Tempo @ 6:23mm
Fri - 5 miles easy (7:05mm)
Sat - REST
Sun - 1.94 mile WU / 6.10 miles 'Epsom Perch' Race (6:06mm) 5th/381 | PM 6.73 miles easy (7:04mm)

Total mileage - 48.0 miles (6:51mm)

"You can either be the sickness in your world, or you can be the cure."

Jessie Pavelka - Personal Trainer

In some ways I find the cut-back weeks harder than the big weeks. I start to feel relieved that I've got an easier workload, maybe take my eye off the ball a bit and then suddenly find I'm having to coax myself out the door for each session. This week was made a bit more difficult by an unscheduled trip home to my Folks' place mid-week to visit my Nan in hospital (she's doing well now thankfully) and a Stag-do on Friday night.

But, I still did all the planned sessions, and Thursday's long tempo run and the race on Sunday both went really well. The race particularly was the sign I needed that the training is making a difference. Hard to tell how you've done over an odd distance race, off-road, but I (relatively) comfortably ran a negative split over a tricky course in a time I probably would have been reasonably happy with on flat tarmac, so that's good enough for now.

Very much time to get my eye back on the ball now then as entering the 12-week lead up means I'm now following the 'official' marathon schedule I've been working on over the last few weeks; basically an over-worked spreadsheet that revolves around a few key runs each week.
Tuesdays - Speed; Generally long-ish intervals of 3-15mins in length
Thursdays - Long Tempo; 7-10 miles within a total run of 12-14 miles
Sundays - Quality Long Run; generally ranging from MP+60secs down to MP+15secs
I'm looking forward to the focus becoming nailing these 3x sessions week-in, week-out, rather than total workload. Here goes...

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR: 53, 70, 43, 61, 73, 48 

Weekly Update w/e 22.01.12 - 13wks to VLM12

Mon - 9.50 miles steady (7:18mm)
Tue - 5 miles (7:08mm) AM / PM 9.56 miles tempo inc. 16mins @ 6:18mm | 12mins @ 6:10 | 8mins @ 6:01mm
Wed - REST
Thu - 4 miles (7:18mm) AM / PM 10.14 miles steady (7:01mm)
Fri - 6.01 miles (7:09mm) AM / PM 5 miles easy (7:15mm)
Sat - 7.9 miles (6:26mm) inc. 20mins Tempo @ 5:52mm | 3.41 miles
Sun - 16.33 miles progressive (6:46mm) 4x 4 mile laps @ 7:04mm | 6:54mm | 6:41mm | 6:27mm

Total mileage - 73.5 miles (6:58mm)

Another new weekly mileage record, but more pleasing than the volume is the fact that I still managed to nail 3 good quality sessions (Tue, Sat, Sun). My legs were at their tiredest by Friday and I was considering scrapping the second run that day, but did it and kept it easy and everything held up.

Tuesday's quality session was one I picked from a schedule that Steve Way has put together for Bournemouth AC (look up his blog for some quality inspiration). They're all based on long, pretty hard intervals done at efforts from Marathon Pace right down to short Tempo pace. Five of us at club ran this session together which was great added motivation; we seem to have the beginnings of a 'sub-3' training group coming together so I'm planning to organise a few more Tuesday sessions like this to keep that going.

Saturday the Wife and me decided against a parkrun because I think we both thought getting more sleep would be more beneficial. I still wanted to do something quick though so thought I'd have a go at holding 5:50 pace on my own for a 20 minute 'time-trial'. I even manned-up and did the first 10 mins into the headwind along Eastbourne Promenade before turning round for the second 10 and it felt pretty cool to be weaving in and out of pedestrians at 5:40 pace on the way back.

With Saturday's tempo run going so well, I thought Sunday's 16-miler would be a real struggle and after the first 2 laps I was flagging and having a real bad patch. But picking the pace up gave me something to concentrate on and the end result was better than I'd planned. Based on this run, I'd say I'm already ahead of where I have been, fitness-wise, in any other marathon build-up. That's a good feeling.

I could have murdered a pint this afternoon watching the football, but settled for two bottles of Becks Blue (the non-alcoholic version) in a pint glass instead. Still tasted pretty good. The abstinence continues then.

Mercifully, this coming week is a cut-back week with around 50 miles planned and no doubles! Looking forward to the legs feeling fresher.

WEEKLY MILEAGE SO FAR:
53, 70, 43, 61, 73

Weekly Update w/e 15.01.12 - 14 wks to VLM12

Mon - REST
Tue - 7.32 miles steady (7:02mm) AM / 7.54 miles inc. 5.54 mile Tempo @ 6:00mm PM
Wed - 7.41 miles steady (6:47mm)
Thu - 13.01 miles (7:01mm)
Fri - 6.23 miles recovery (7:42mm)
Sat - 0.9 miles WU / 5.05 miles Lloyd Park, XC no.3 (6:08mm)
Sun - 14.10 miles (7:14mm)

Total mileage - 61.6 miles (6:59mm)

I'm happy to have hit the mileage target for this week (60+ still feels like a lot!) and with two decent quality sessions in there (Tempo & XC race). Really felt like I was flying on Tuesday night's club run so pushed on on my own, but then the legs were a bit narky for the next 2-3 days from running so hard. I need to remember to keep an eye on the next session, even when I'm feeling good, and keep a lid on it a bit - especially at this early stage.

Friday was planned to be an easy double but I cut it to just one run in an effort to feel a bit fresher for Saturday's Cross Country, which seemed to work. Lloyd Park was pretty much firm and dry underfoot and bathed in cold, crisp sunshine which was a bit of a gift! We fielded our strongest team of the season and managed to drag ourselves out of the relegation zone into mid-table stability, 5th of 9 teams overall now. I was pleased with my progressive run, getting quicker on the 2nd lap and having enough energy to outsprint Matt at the end to come 3rd Elmbridge on the day (behind Chris & Tom).

Sunday's long run was always going to feel a bit tough just 24hrs after racing, but running it with Chris & Tom was a big mental boost, the miles ticked by nicely after all. Tom is fairly diligent when it comes to post-run recovery and so chatting to him inspired me to have my first ice bath on Sunday evening! No actual ice, but a bath full enough of icey-cold water to submerge the legs... for 10 minutes. Its fair to say I spent the full first minute whining like a little girl, but it's not so bad after that. It it helps keep me injury-free I don't care, I'll do it!

Plan for the coming week is 70+ miles, a parkrun and the end of the base-training phase.

The Story So Far...

Weekly Update w/e 08.01.12 – 15 wks to VLM12

Mon - REST
Tues - 5.49 miles inc. 2M @ 5:46mm & 1M @ 5:43mm
Wed - 3.75 miles easy (7:20mm)
Thurs - 10 miles steady (7:23mm)
Fri - 7.42 miles steady (6:46mm)
Sat - 2.1 miles w/u / 3.14 miles Bushy Parkrun 18:05 (5:46mm) 6th/1000
Sun - 12 miles (6:56mm)

Total mileage – 43.9 miles (6:59mm)

Cutback week went roughly to plan, although by the end of mid-week I thought it was all going down the pan a bit. Wednesday’s run was supposed to be a steady 10-miler but in the ridiculous winds (30mph?), and with an odd lack of energy, I simply came to a grinding halt on an uphill, turned around and jogged home. Zipped up the man-suit Thursday morning though and got out before 7am to get the 10 miles done. Weather was still rough so the pace wasn’t very impressive, but was pleased to get the week back on track.

Previous to that, Tuesday night’s club session with 2 x long intervals in it went really well. Managed to do the 2 mile section about 15-20 secs quicker than I usually would so another sign that fitness is improving.

Saturday’s Parkrun was good fun, if mostly because of the completely mental amount of people there (first time any parkrun’s ever got attendance into 4 figures!) I felt really good going through the first 2x miles in 5:38 and 5:40 but a headwind along ‘the playground straight’ meant the 3rd mile was rubbish. Still, feel like there’s something good to come with a Parkrun soon so will keep plugging away. Next attempt will be 2 weeks time in Brighton, my favourite course. Should have yet another pair of zany racers to debut there too. This evening I ordered some Adidas Adizero Adios, in the same luminous orange as my new Adizero Bostons (still unworn as yet!). These will replace my Nike Marathoners as my new 5K/10K shoes. Will send a pic of both pairs together for comedy effect once they’re delivered.

So now moving into a final 2x week cycle of ‘base training’ before another cutback week and then into the 12 week schedule. Will try and hit mid-60s and mid-70s mileage in these 2 weeks. And that’ll be the end of the planned cake baking*.

* a term off the RW sub-3 forum really. Building mileage, consistency, frequency etc without doing much structured quality work is referred to as cake baking; building a big aerobic base fitness before going into the more refined phase of a schedule that adds Reps, Tempo Runs, Marathon-paced sections etc. Bake it, then ice it. Sounds cooler when my imaginary friends on the forum use it...


Weekly Update w/e 01.01.12 – 16 wks to VLM12
Mon - 5 miles (6:51mm)
Tue - 10 miles (6:55mm) AM / 5 miles (7:11mm) PM
Wed - 10 miles inc. 4 mile Tempo @ 5:57mm
Thurs - REST
Fri - 8.61 miles (7:25mm) AM / 5.42 miles (8:14mm) PM
Sat - 11.05 miles inc. 10 mile Tempo @ 6:26mm
Sun - 15.78 miles (7:37mm)

Total mileage – 70.9 miles (7:08mm)

So, my biggest week of mileage ever and the good news is I came out of it unscathed; my legs and body in general feel in good shape. I've actually enjoyed the increase in volume, but I think it would have been much harder to get done had I been at work this week (8.5hrs of running). This is the 3rd week of increased mileage completed (51, 53, 70) so this week will be a cut-back week of around 45 miles to let the body absorb the mileage. Hopefully my fitness has increased a bit as a result of this first cycle.

Stand-out run of the week would probably be Saturday's tempo 10-miler, subbed-in instead of a parkrun because I thought something long and fastish would be of more benefit at the moment. Being able to knock these out (relatively) comfortably in under 65 mins is something I've been trying to do for a while, so I was pleased to nail it on this attempt without having to go to the well too much.

Sunday's long run was necessarily done at a comfortable pace because I was pretty hungover still from NYE. Back on the wagon now though so that won't be an issue again for some time hopefully.

Looking forward to a lighter week with 2 rest days now before doing a final 2-week cycle of cake-baking, with a planned 65 followed by 75 miles. That might prove to be a stretch too far once I'm back in the office, but will give it a crack.

Weekly Update w/e 25.12.11 – 17 wks to VLM12

Thought I'd start the weekly updates now as the week just gone would have represented wk1 of a traditional 18 week marathon plan. As I said, I'm not calling it marathon training yet, but can't deny it’s on my mind.

Mon - AM 6.23 miles Treadmill (7:24mm) / PM 6.36 miles (6:46mm)
Tue - 9.02 miles (7:01mm)
Wed - REST
Thurs - 14.00 miles (6:51mm)
Fri - REST
Sat - AM Norwich Parkrun; 18:04 (5:40mm) 11th + 1.4 mile WU / PM 6 miles (6:56mm)
Sun - 7.02 miles (6:57mm)

Total mileage - 53.2 miles (6:56mm)

So, not quite the planned week of 'low 60s' mileage, but still pleased with it. Friday was an unplanned rest day because I was just feeling thoroughly wiped out, so if it hadn't been for that I'm confident total mileage would have been where I'd planned it to be. Also, it represents 2 weeks in a row of 50+, following a long long spell of averaging more like 35 p/wk so the hike in volume has probably been significant enough still. This week I will aim for 60-something to complete a solid 3-week block before a cut-back week.

Saturday's parkrun was the only quality session this week. The more eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that 5:40mm doesn't add up to an 18:04, but the course came up as 3.19 miles on the Garmin! The route's been changed recently due to building work in the park and I suspect they've done a shoddy job of re-measuring. Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Also, the first time I've done a parkrun hungover for some time - the previous evening featured a few pints, some prosecco and a JD & coke. Consequently, it was a suffersome experience, and being overtaken on the line by someone in a Santa hat was presumably my penance being paid.

I was particularly pleased with the pace of the long run, especially as it was over a very undulating out-and-back course towards Guildford (2580ft of ascent/descent for the total run). I haven't really been monitoring the pace during the steady runs or long runs; just turning the watch on, running how I feel, and seeing what I come out with at the end, so it really is good to see the pace normally come out as 6:xx. I'm happy with that and its a good sign that general fitness is increasing, but will try to remain cautious of pushing too hard on these runs.

This week I'll add in another quality session, a fairly short, sharp tempo run of 4 miles, and will hopefully get to either Bushy or Brighton parkrun on New Year's Eve.

In other news, one of my Xmas presents from Lyndsey was a new pair of shoes to run London in - a fluorescent orange pair of Adidas Bostons. They are my zaniest pair of racers yet and I love them.