Week 8: School holidays

The kids are on holiday for the next two weeks, and although one is off on Scout camp I still have the other to occupy, so my schedule might suffer a bit.  It should be a good test of my motivation to see if I use them as an excuse.
I felt pretty buoyant at the beginning of the week. This was mainly due to how comfortable I had felt during my long run of the week before.  Monday I only managed a short bike ride with my daughter, but I justified this to myself as a necessary rest day after the successful Sunday run.  Always cautious about training too hard, too fast!  Tuesday my daughter headed off to the pool with a friend.  I could have gone too and varied my training but I am not a big swimming fan plus the pool is cold.   Instead I opted to do some speed training.  I jogged to the running track and did some circuits.  After I had finished two sessions of six sprints, I still felt strong and I decided to carry on around the reservoir.  By the time I got home I had run 10km, my speed was better dropping below 6 minutes per kilometer.  It seems the training is beginning to pay off.
After my usual midweek rest day, I was again with my daughter so we took another longer bike ride.
On Friday I wanted to do some hill training as the previous week.  My wife decided to come with me.  She ran a Marathon in March but has not done any varied training apart from her normal runs.  We jogged to a local hill and did two sessions of six, 30 second hill sprints.  Hard work, but hopefully making us stronger.
Sunday I ran along the river in the valley again.  I completed 12km in 1h20, not as fast as I would have liked and hard work.  My backside muscles were aching and I was pretty slow.  I suppose that in the words of the late, great John Denver, "Somedays are diamonds, somedays are stone."

Week 7: Catch up

As I missed my long run last week I decided to change my schedule and start the week with this.   I had an appointment down in the valley so took the opportunity to run somewhere different.  The river on the valley floor is protected on both banks by an embankment.  This embankment is topped by a well maintained path, great for running.  I decided to run as far as I could for 30 minutes and run back.  I expected to do about 10km.  The first 10-15 minutes was hard work on a tarred road.  Finally the road became a track and I got into my stride.  Apart from a dog walker, whose hound showed an unhealthy interest in my heels, I didn't see anyone else.  A reservoir came into view and as I had been running for nearly half an hour I decided to run around it before heading back to my car.  I felt comfortable and my legs seemed okay until the last kilometre when my left hip became sore.   By the time I got back to the car I had done 12km.  I made sure that I stretched well and drank plenty of water.
The following day my hips were okay but I was feeling pretty tired.  I pushed myself to the gym.  After a disturbingly short  thirty minutes on the rowing machine, I hobbled off and did some upper body weight training.  I felt very lethargic and tired.  Not sure if I am getting my nutrition right so decided on a big lunch which seemed to help.  As my wife is vegetarian we do not eat a lot of meat, so iron deficiency could be an issue. I usually have a cup of coffee, a bowl of cereal with honey, cinnamon and milk followed by two rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast.  Lunch varies but usually involves some ham and cheese with pasta/ rice or potatoes and a piece of fruit.  Dinner also varies but usually involves rice/ pasta or potatoes and a vegetarian sauce.
For my second run of the week I had decided to do some hill repetitions.  These are recommended for strength building.  In my village we have a Trail Station and one route is a 200 metre climb.  The idea is to run fast up the hill for 30 seconds and mark the spot.  I ran up about 100 metres.  Next you walk or jog back down, before running back up to the spot.  This sequence is repeated 6 times before taking a five minute pause.  Then the repetitions are repeated again followed by another five minute pause.
The next day I was back at the gym for a 20km static bike session.  Saturday was another rest day and my son's rugby tournament.  Sunday I was spectator at a Marathon relay race in overcast, cold and grey conditions.  Teams of six run 2x ten kilometres, 3x five kilometres and finally 7km to complete the 42km.  I have not registered myself for  a race yet but I can feel that the time is coming soon when I will need this element of motivation to push me on.  Later in the afternoon the sun had come out and I went out for my last long run of the week 12 kilometres.

Week 6: A tough week

Woke up on Monday morning with sore hips after my long run.  Normally it is a fitness day at the gym but the question of overtraining was hanging in the air.  A quick "google" did not reassure me.  Apparently hip joints can get inflamed and cause all sorts of problems.  I finally decided to go to the gym and see how I felt.  I opted for the rowing machine.  The seated position seemed to be okay and I managed half an hour of intense rowing.  I followed this up with some weights.  My hips actually felt better after this.
The next day was pretty miserable and lacking the courage to run  outdoors I headed back to the gym and the running machine.  I decided on 8km which is around what I run outdoors.  I found it pretty tough going.  I am not used to running in one place and my gaze kept wandering to the counter, which seemed to click round incredibly slowly.  It finally took me an hour to run 8km, which is very slow for me.  Then I realised what had gone wrong I had set the incline to 4%, so I was effectively running uphill.  On returning home I found the an article on Running hills from Men's Health useful.
After my midweek rest day I was due another run outside.  However I felt a cold was coming on and as the day was damp and chilly, I decided to try and conquer the running machine.  This time I followed the advice in the article.  I started slowly on a 1% incline; five minutes at walking speed, then five at a slow jog, and finally building to my usual pace of 10 minutes/ kilometre.  I ran for 8km and slow down gradually finishing with a 5 minute walking pace.  It was certainly easier than the last time and my pace was back to normal.  The next step is to incorporate changing gradients as advised in Men's Health.
As this weekend was my wife's fortieth and we ate and drank too much, I skipped my long run.  I will have to do more next week.

Week 5: Off the beaten path

As my knee was feeling better I decided to be a bit more adventurous this week. I have been running for a month now but so far I have not attempted any uphill or trail runs.  Monday I spent thirty minutes on the rowing machine at the gym and did some weight training.   Then, for my first run of the week, I  started my usual tour of the reservoir.  After one and a half circuits, I felt quite comfortable and decided to head for the hills.  I only managed 350 meters of altitude and had to walk the uphill sections, running along the contours and downhill, but I was pleased with this first attempt.  I really enjoyed the sensation of running in nature and the need to concentrate on where I was placing my feet.  As I ran the last kilometer home my body felt good.  I completed 12km in total.
For my second run I decided to work on speed again at the running track.  After three slow jogs around the 400m track I alternated 30 fast runs with jogs and fast walking.  It was hard work and I found myself walking more than jogging between the sprints.  Hopefully if I do this more regularly it will get easier and improve my overall speed.
The next day it was the gym and some cycling.  I ambitiously programmed 50km but as I only had an hour I only managed half that.  Followed this with a bit of weight training.
This week I managed a third run after my rest day.  I did 14km with my overall speed improving.  I think I need to work on my mental endurance to push through and run further.  At the moment my mind is a quite lazy and it takes me a while to get into my stride and just enjoy running.  I have started listening to music which, although anti-social, seems to help.
One positive aspect of all this exercise is I seem to be sleeping better and getting up in the morning is easier.  I also feel more positive, dare I say content, in general.