Sunday 19 January 2014

I Can't Get No Sleep.

I was reminded of two important things recently.

1) Running in shoes that have passed their best is painful;*
2) Running with little to no sleep is also painful and does no good.

I took two days enforced rest to get over some seasonal germs. Thankfully, it was over quicker than an X-Factor winner's career so I felt safe enough to get straight back on my marathon training plan with a steady hour on Saturday morning.

I'm sorry, Steve who?
Something unusual and lovely happened. My cold had aggravated my asthma a bit (not so lovely) and my blokey says he'll come on the run with me, just in case. It's the first time we've run together in a loooong time; not just because he hates running but also because the last time we ran together he left me in a cloud of dust after about 2 minutes and I spent 20 minutes looking for him, unaware that he was already home and in the shower. Hmmm.

True to his word, he ran every step of the way with me and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I noticed some discomfort in my feet and lower legs but put it down to tying my shoes too tight as it eased up when I stopped to loosen my laces. He also seemed to really enjoy the run and was pleased to discover that I was telling the truth when I promised that the canal route I had planned was chock full of dogs.



Pooches everywhere = happy camper.So happy that he agreed to join me the following day on the long run of the week. 1 hr 45 mins. I hadn't run for that long since training for the Ealing Half last year. The longest he'd ever run was, well, that hour we'd just done.

That night he didn't sleep very well. In turn, neither did I. He suffers with some monumental insomnia which we both hoped that marathon training would put paid to. We laced up Sunday morning feeling pretty groggy but geared up to bosh this run. Again, early on I got a feeling like the muscles in my lower leg were trying to explode out of my skin. Worse than yesterday but it seemed to go after half an hour and we ran along the Thames feeling pretty good. Time just flew by and before we knew it we had 11 miles in the bag and it's fair to say that blokey had a massive chufty on (translation - seemed very pleased with himself). We congratulated each other with a tasty, if a little tired, lunch and a trip to the cinema. We were both completely knackered and expected to be out like a light as soon as our heads hit the pillow. This was not quite the case. Between us I reckon we managed about 3 hours sleep and this carried on for the next three nights. Gah.



I still pulled a double on the Monday; we still managed a speed session together on the Tuesday and I ran with a friend on the Wednesday but my pace was pants, my legs hurt more than ever and my mood was pretty bleak. By Thursday I barely had the energy to speak to anyone, let alone run. We both decided to forgo the scheduled tempo session to get some rest as, due to commitments we had at the weekend, we needed to get our next long run in on Friday. I made a few adjustments to our bedroom and left a calm radio station on all night to take his mind off of his negative associations with bedtime, which seemed to help, and we both woke up feeling more human.

Our second long run was not quite as successful as the first but not a complete bust. We had to really drop our pace, almost down to 10 minute miles, as my legs hurt so much and he was experiencing some pretty harsh groin pain. But for the entire (almost) 13 miles he did not complain, he did not whinge and he did not stop. My admiration for how much effort he's putting went through the roof. Afterwards, I asked him if he's starting to change his opinions about running and whether he's getting any enjoyment out of the training. His answer: Well, I'm still doing it.

Ah. Oh dear.

Last night we had dinner with his folks. His dad has been running for years. He lives for running. He loves to talk about running. He has no idea what we are up to. Conversation turned to how my running was going and I just felt awful that, when his dad commented on how well I was doing, I couldn't boast about how proud I was of how blokey was doing and everything he's achieved since the start of the year. I felt really shallow, like I shouldn't be having the conversation and that it wasn't fair to not give the real credit where it was due. When we got home I brought this up. His answer: It's ok, I know how much I've done and I'm really pleased with it all so far.

Which is nice.

Our race numbers for the Reading Half arrived yesterday morning. His first ever race. I'm excited enough for us both.

This is how the plan has panned out recently:

Day 9 - 6.58 miles at 9:31min pace
Day10 - 11.1 mile at 9:17min
Day 11 - Run1 -  3.91 miles at 8:27 / Run 2 5.58miles at 8:47
Day 12 - Speed session (15 mins warm up, 6x 3 mins fast,1 min easy, 2 mins faster, 1 min easy, 10 min cool down) 7.2 miles at 9:10
Day 13 - 7.41 miles at 8:58
Day 14 - rest
Day 15 - 12.8 miles at 9:54
Day 16 - rest
Day 17 - 4.61miles at 8:50 (*Less than a mile into this run I was ready to have a small cry and walk back home. The pain was so bad but it gave me an epiphany: I need new running shoes, stat. My Nike app confirmed that my trusty steeds have borne me over 400 miles and it's time to commit them to the void. WOOOOOHOOOOOO!! NEW SHOOOOOOES!!!!)

Woah! Next level graphics!




                                                     
Do you have a 'go to shoe' that you always wear or are you a running shoe maverick?

How's your training going?


Friday 10 January 2014

Happy 2014 - training is in full swing!


We are now into the second week of January and I am in the second week of my training for the Brighton Marathon. I thought that I would be able to post more frequently but the reality is that lots of extra running combined with long, busy days at work equals not an awful lot of time to write. I take my hat off to other bloggers I follow and admire who combine running successful sites with full time work and hope to find a nice balance very soon.

So the training - so far so good! Things did get off to a shaky start, not so much for me but for my blokey, who's the reason I'm running the marathon in the first place. He spent some time in December building base fitness and getting used to the Garmin I got him for his birthday. It seems to have really spurred him on being able to see the progress he's made and he has now acknowledged the fact that he starts out waaaaay to fast. We're talking the first mile completed in under 8 minutes and the noveltly of running being well and truly done in pretty much immediately.

Christmas came and went in a blur, New Year passed as quietly as you can expect when you live near the Thames (and by that I mean as quietly as an air strike during an apocalypse and turned up to 11).


The decision to stay in for NYE was made so that we could start our training plans on January 1st. What could go wrong? We are dressed. We are ready to get out the door. Blokey goes to the living room to picks his keys up from the coffee table and from the other end of the hall I hear a sad and painful "aaaaarrrooooomphaaaaaaaah". I find him doubled over, hand clutched to his side and clearly in a lot of pain. A few months ago during a gentle jog on a treadmill at the gym, one of the muscles around his ribs popped and it seems that the act of bending down has done the same. Quick change of plan from New Year's Day run to him writhing in agony on the sofa and me trying to find somewhere open to buy painkillers.


 First three days of his training plan out of the window, yes, but when the pain died down he was more determined than ever. He's completed every run in the plan since then and even invested in a copy of Men's Running. Plus, because he was still a bit sore he learned the secret art and benefits of (you've guessed it) running slower. You can't just go all out all the time or building stamina is nigh on impossible.

I've really enjoyed the training so far; the double days, the long runs, recovery runs etc, but I decided to take a very big step this week. I do most of my running solo. All the runners I know are far, far better than me and I find every excuse in the book to not run with their group. This week I took the plunge and went to my first ever track session. I bought new, lighter shoes (Mizuno Wave Precision 12, if you're interested) so that I'd be financially invested and less likely to back out. I was nervous but a bit excited and planned to get there nice and early to warm up and do my best. Unfortunately work was manic and I left 40 minutes later than I needed to and forgot my new shoes. There was no time to warm up and I went too hard and too fast on the first couple of reps, upset my asthma, got left at the very back of the pack and generally did pretty rubbish. It was soul destroying to see everyone else peg it off into the distance. However, I learned a LOT and am actually really looking forward to giving it another go next week.

Quick overview of my schedule so far:

Day 1: Easy 50 mins, 5.63 miles covered, average pace: 8:54 mins per mile.
Day 2: Easy hour, 6.82 miles covered, av pace: 8:44.
Day 3: Long run on Hampstead Heath, 8.36 miles, av pace: 9:11. Lots of mud and dogs.
Day 4: Double day. Run 1, recovery run of 30 mins, 4 miles covered in 8:05 pace (strong backwind and downpours). Run 2, easy 50 mins, 5.68 miles covered in 8:55 pace.
Day 5: Track session - 2x1000m, 3x800m, 4x400m and 3x200m. Av pace 6:48 (ouch). Sense onset of seasonal lurg.
Day 6: Steady 75 mins, 8.38 miles, av pace: 9:11 and acknowledge definitely getting the lurg.
Day 7: Lurg.
Day 8: Lurg.

Hoping to get out for an easy hour tomorrow, lurg permitting. As you can see my pace and my germs are all over the place at the moment but I am confident this will even out over the next couple of weeks as I get used to the extra miles. I know it's a long journey but right now we're both really focused and I'm selfishly really enjoying that we can chinwag about training together.

Do you run on your own or with a group? If both, which do you prefer?

What races are you training for this year?