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?