Thank god for running. This week I have been trying to manage a number of different workmen; mason, plumber, roofer,..., who are doing some work on my house. I think without my daily exercise I would have committed murder by now! Apparently the customer is always wrong.
Monday was a gym session of 45 minutes static cycling, 20km, followed by some weightlifting. Then on Tuesday, I set off for a theoretical 5-7 km run uphill which finished up being 9km. The weather was very mild and the scenery so nice that I got a little carried away. After my usual mid week rest day, I was back at the gym for 3km on the rowing machine and some weight training.
The end of the week was busy with work and family commitments. Friday I missed my training run, but consoled myself that I was skiing with my son's school. So at least I worked on my thigh muscles. Finding time to train is not easy, between work and family commitments
there is always a good excuse to miss a session. However if I do skip a
session I often find myself unable to sleep. My legs ache and twitch
with a need to exercise. In addition getting out and training really
has helped with my stress levels and I am markedly, according to my
wife, more relaxed.
On Saturday morning I managed to get out for a 10 kilometre run, in very mild spring like weather. However on Sunday it was pouring with rain so I went to the gym and jumped on the hated running machine. I gritted my teeth through 5 kilometres of varied speeds and inclinations. I really need to get out and run in some bad weather though to build my stamina. The day of my race it could easily be raining and cold, the mountains can hold surprises even in the summer. I need to be sure that I have got the mental stamina to push on despite the climate.
vendredi 29 janvier 2016
lundi 25 janvier 2016
Week 21: Signed up for race
The week started with sore knees after yesterdays long run. I have been doing stretches on by Illiotibial band in the hope that this would get better. Strangely my knees do not hurt while running and after some exercise the pain goes away. I went to the gym and did some cycling and weight training. My knees felt better afterwards.
This week the Echappe Belle subscriptions opened, so I signed up. I am only doing the 'Parcours des Crétes' but it is still 47km in the mountains, with 2750 metres ascent and 4000 metres of descent. Now I am committed and there is more motivation to run. I studied the road book and began to plan reconnaisance runs over certain sectors. I will have to wait for the spring when the snow has melted away.
Tuesday I headed out for my first short run of the week. I wanted to do some hill work as I am still worried about running up hill. I ran 6.4km on a circuit that mixed uphill and downhill. I felt quite good and managed to run, all be it slowly, on some of the uphill stretches. I felt like going further but I am following the advice from different sources and sticking to two short (speed and strength) runs and one long run per week.
After my midweek rest day I went back to the gym, which was unfortunately busy, and worked on the static bike, the rowing machine and some weights. Friday was a short, fast run around the local reservoir. My time is still inching down towards the 5 minutes per kilometre mark.
Sunday I set out for the same long run as last week with my fingers crossed that my phone would hold out. There was a hard frost on the ground so I wimped out and waited until the sun peeped over the mountains. The first ten kilometres went very well. I was able to dissassociate myself from the running and didn't seem to suffer at all. The return leg also went well with a quite fast run uphill. However after the 16km point things became a little more difficult. My hip began aching and my knee was sore. I soldiered on and so did my phone. I finally clocked 21.5km, so that's my first half marathon in 2 hours and twenty minutes.
This week the Echappe Belle subscriptions opened, so I signed up. I am only doing the 'Parcours des Crétes' but it is still 47km in the mountains, with 2750 metres ascent and 4000 metres of descent. Now I am committed and there is more motivation to run. I studied the road book and began to plan reconnaisance runs over certain sectors. I will have to wait for the spring when the snow has melted away.
Tuesday I headed out for my first short run of the week. I wanted to do some hill work as I am still worried about running up hill. I ran 6.4km on a circuit that mixed uphill and downhill. I felt quite good and managed to run, all be it slowly, on some of the uphill stretches. I felt like going further but I am following the advice from different sources and sticking to two short (speed and strength) runs and one long run per week.
After my midweek rest day I went back to the gym, which was unfortunately busy, and worked on the static bike, the rowing machine and some weights. Friday was a short, fast run around the local reservoir. My time is still inching down towards the 5 minutes per kilometre mark.
Sunday I set out for the same long run as last week with my fingers crossed that my phone would hold out. There was a hard frost on the ground so I wimped out and waited until the sun peeped over the mountains. The first ten kilometres went very well. I was able to dissassociate myself from the running and didn't seem to suffer at all. The return leg also went well with a quite fast run uphill. However after the 16km point things became a little more difficult. My hip began aching and my knee was sore. I soldiered on and so did my phone. I finally clocked 21.5km, so that's my first half marathon in 2 hours and twenty minutes.
dimanche 17 janvier 2016
Week 20: The snow has arrived.
This week started with a short 5 kilometre run, once around the local resevoir and then some hill sets. Running as fast as I could uphill for 30 seconds and then a recovery jog down. I am a little concerned that I have difficulty running uphill, I usually only manage a fast walk before running on the level sections and descents. My target race in August has an overall climb of 2000 metres.
Normally Tuesday is my gym session but I was passing a test to accompany schoolkids skiing. I decided that this could replace my time at the gym, as I would work on my thigh and backside. After my midweek rest day I had an intensive session at the gym; cycling hard for 20 mins followed by some weight training for core strengths. I finished off with some work on the running machine, setting the incline at 7.5% and running as fast as I could for as long as I could.
Friday I was due to go skiing with the school in the afternoon but managed to slot in an 8 kilometre circuit round the reservoir. I was quite pleased as despite the cold and icy conditions I managed a personal best time.
I finished the week with a long run. It was hard to get out in the cold -1°C, so I made sure I did a thorough warm up. The first fifteen minutes wasn't easy but once I got into my rhythm I felt quite comfortable. Unfortunately my iphone decided to act up and stopped recording after 7.5 kilometres. Up to that point I seemed to be making good time of around 10 kilometres per hour. Despite my annoyance I pushed on. There was an icy blast blowing off the resevoir and a few snowflakes falling, but I didn't feel too cold. The run went relatively well but the last couple of kilometres were hard work as my hip and knee were sore. Once home I stretched out my leg muscles and calculated my kilometres on a map. I think I managed approximately 20 kilometres, my longest run yet which might explain my leg pains.
Now I think I'll start looking into a watch to record my runs. The front runner at the moment is the Garmin Foreunner range. They link with Strava and I will be able to associate them with a heart rate monitor. This means I can record and work on my effort.
Normally Tuesday is my gym session but I was passing a test to accompany schoolkids skiing. I decided that this could replace my time at the gym, as I would work on my thigh and backside. After my midweek rest day I had an intensive session at the gym; cycling hard for 20 mins followed by some weight training for core strengths. I finished off with some work on the running machine, setting the incline at 7.5% and running as fast as I could for as long as I could.
Friday I was due to go skiing with the school in the afternoon but managed to slot in an 8 kilometre circuit round the reservoir. I was quite pleased as despite the cold and icy conditions I managed a personal best time.
I finished the week with a long run. It was hard to get out in the cold -1°C, so I made sure I did a thorough warm up. The first fifteen minutes wasn't easy but once I got into my rhythm I felt quite comfortable. Unfortunately my iphone decided to act up and stopped recording after 7.5 kilometres. Up to that point I seemed to be making good time of around 10 kilometres per hour. Despite my annoyance I pushed on. There was an icy blast blowing off the resevoir and a few snowflakes falling, but I didn't feel too cold. The run went relatively well but the last couple of kilometres were hard work as my hip and knee were sore. Once home I stretched out my leg muscles and calculated my kilometres on a map. I think I managed approximately 20 kilometres, my longest run yet which might explain my leg pains.
Now I think I'll start looking into a watch to record my runs. The front runner at the moment is the Garmin Foreunner range. They link with Strava and I will be able to associate them with a heart rate monitor. This means I can record and work on my effort.
lundi 11 janvier 2016
Week 19: Getting serious
I had planned a run for Monday morning but as it was absolutely pouring down with rain I swapped my plan and went for a gym session, originally programmed for Tuesday. At least all this rain means that it might be snowing higher up, good news for the ski stations. Everybody had been getting a bit nervous with all the dry weather before Christmas.
I jumped on a static bike and road at 25km for one hour varying the difficulty on the machine. I also did a bit of core strength work on the weights machine before heading for fifteen minutes in the hammam.
Since September last year I have been following a flexible plan of two or three runs per week and one or two gym sessions. Now with my target race eight months away I have decided to set myself a proper plan. I want to do two short, around 5km, runs per week. These will be hill and circuit training to work on speed and strength. Then I will finish the week with a long run. This run will not increase by more than 10% per week. The only problem with this is that if I respect the 10% rule I will be running 90km on my last long run before my race. Possibly too much! So every two months I will run the same length on my weekly long runs. Then in the penultimate month before my race my longest run will be 44km, closer to my goal. In the last month I don't plan to run more than 20km. I will also try to go to the gym twice a week to work on core strengths and rest my legs. This plan has developed from different plans I have seen on line and my experience over the last few months. I may well have to adapt it but I think it is reasonable.
I jumped on a static bike and road at 25km for one hour varying the difficulty on the machine. I also did a bit of core strength work on the weights machine before heading for fifteen minutes in the hammam.
Since September last year I have been following a flexible plan of two or three runs per week and one or two gym sessions. Now with my target race eight months away I have decided to set myself a proper plan. I want to do two short, around 5km, runs per week. These will be hill and circuit training to work on speed and strength. Then I will finish the week with a long run. This run will not increase by more than 10% per week. The only problem with this is that if I respect the 10% rule I will be running 90km on my last long run before my race. Possibly too much! So every two months I will run the same length on my weekly long runs. Then in the penultimate month before my race my longest run will be 44km, closer to my goal. In the last month I don't plan to run more than 20km. I will also try to go to the gym twice a week to work on core strengths and rest my legs. This plan has developed from different plans I have seen on line and my experience over the last few months. I may well have to adapt it but I think it is reasonable.
Tuesday, after a night of rain, the sky was clear blue. I waited until the sun struggled over the hill and burnt off the mist in the hollows before going out. I jogged up to the hill and did some hill sets. 6 x 30 seconds as rapidly as possible uphill, jogging down. After a 3 minute rest I did six sets again. I finished off by continue uphill for a while before jogging back down the road. My objective was to concentrate on strength building.
After my mid week rest day I went back to the gym and did a very intensive two hour session of rowing, weights and bicycle. I had a lot of stress and anger to burn up; New Year always leads to soul searching about my path in life, and frustrations at work were the causes of these feelings. The session left me feeling invigorated and ready to tackle the world.
Friday I woke up dreading the long run. I forced myself out the door early and ran for an hour and a half. It was not easy but I forced negative vibes out of my mind and managed 14km at a very respectable pace. I seem to be slowly eating away at my runnng times.
I finished the week with a 5km run on the running machine at the gym. I hate running on machines 5km is about my maximum. I decided to do some speed sets. I also worked on my backside muscles having read some stuff about Illiotibial Band Syndrome and the affect it can have on knees and hips.
lundi 4 janvier 2016
Week 18: New Year resolutions
Monday found me still in London and dragging myself out for a quick 3km run over the muddy local heath, dodging the shetland ponies. Then it was back home to France and resolutions to train more, eat healthily and drink less. Wednesday I got back into my gym routine, with 30 minutes on the static bike followed by 2km on the rowing machine and some weightlifting. I also got in ten relaxing minutes in the hammam which helped remove the stress of a family Christmas.
New Year day I woke up feeling a little heavy and tired from the night before but decided to go for a run. I set myself the ambitious target of running up to a mountain hut in the mountains. The first two kilometres rise gently and my pace was good. However as the route got steeper my calf muscles began complaining and I was soon down to a rapid walk. I did not find it easy, perhaps the food and drink of the festive season were to blame, or my recent lack of training. Maybe I was also a bit ambitious. The route rises 1200 metres over 10km. There are very few flat parts so I walked most of the time. After two hours I found my legs getting shaky so stopped to eat a cereal bar. I felt better after this and as the path plateaued was able to run through pleasant pine forests carpeted with bright green moss and grass. I had now reached the snow line and although it had not snowed for three weeks there were still pockets of snow to negotiate. In some places the snow had been packed into hard ice and at one point I found myself flat on my back, luckily I was uninjured if a little bruised. I finally arrived at the mountain hut and met up with my family after 2 and a half hours. I decided to walk down to avoid injury as the snow was very hard and icy. My calf muscles felt pretty tight so I made sure to stretch well.
After a rest day I went out for a family run around the local reservoir, a 3.5km circuit. I managed three circuits and pushed myself for the last one increasing my speed. As it was a Sunday and not raining there were lots of people running off the holiday over indulgence.
I also started reading a new running book that my wife received for Christmas. I must admit to being a bit ashamed to read what appears to be a girly book, but it turns out it is a good beginners guide to running.
New Year day I woke up feeling a little heavy and tired from the night before but decided to go for a run. I set myself the ambitious target of running up to a mountain hut in the mountains. The first two kilometres rise gently and my pace was good. However as the route got steeper my calf muscles began complaining and I was soon down to a rapid walk. I did not find it easy, perhaps the food and drink of the festive season were to blame, or my recent lack of training. Maybe I was also a bit ambitious. The route rises 1200 metres over 10km. There are very few flat parts so I walked most of the time. After two hours I found my legs getting shaky so stopped to eat a cereal bar. I felt better after this and as the path plateaued was able to run through pleasant pine forests carpeted with bright green moss and grass. I had now reached the snow line and although it had not snowed for three weeks there were still pockets of snow to negotiate. In some places the snow had been packed into hard ice and at one point I found myself flat on my back, luckily I was uninjured if a little bruised. I finally arrived at the mountain hut and met up with my family after 2 and a half hours. I decided to walk down to avoid injury as the snow was very hard and icy. My calf muscles felt pretty tight so I made sure to stretch well.
After a rest day I went out for a family run around the local reservoir, a 3.5km circuit. I managed three circuits and pushed myself for the last one increasing my speed. As it was a Sunday and not raining there were lots of people running off the holiday over indulgence.
I also started reading a new running book that my wife received for Christmas. I must admit to being a bit ashamed to read what appears to be a girly book, but it turns out it is a good beginners guide to running.
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