Saturday 2015/07/18. Did parkrun (3.1 miles) followed by three three-mile laps of a circuit of my own cunning design. Which in practise actually clocked in at 9.5 miles altogether, giving a grand total of 12.6 miles - so nearly a half marathon.
Had the trots since Sunday morning, so not one of my better weeks, I'm afraid. As much as I hate missing running club nights, I just didn't feel up to a run on Tuesday. Had been planning to do a hill sprint session on Thursday morning, but since I'd missed my Tuesday run I decided to do my usual local run. And I saw some rabbits in a field, which was rather nice. The GPS on my phone failed to record the whole thing once again, but I know that the route is six miles and the pace felt reasonable. I took it very steady at first while I nursed along my glass knee, and I think that's why it felt quite okay at the end. In fact, I felt afterwards like I had really managed the whole run very comfortably, hills and all. Which is an encouraging sign that I may actually be getting fitter. Maybe the Saturday morning slogs are working!
If hills don't bother you, its a safe bet your conditioning is improving. Now, lets capitalise on our gains while momentum is with us. Whenever you approach a hill, instead of simply running up it, we want you to do double-leg long jumps all the way up the hill. When you reach the apex, turn 'round and run all the way back down and repeat except this time, turn 90 degrees and jump up the hill laterally. Won't be long before you're leaving 'em all in the dust!
Saturday 2015/07/25. Did a really s-l-o-w parkrun, gently warming up my left knee, as it felt particularly grumpy that morning. By the end of the five kilometres it felt fine. By the time I'd got scanned in and had set off for my 'long run', my knee was sulking again. So I repeated the formula of starting slowly and gently, and it held up very well. A lot better than last Saturday, in fact. I enjoyed the whole run much more this week. Did a 3.5 mile loop, then a 3 mile one, then repeated the 3.5 mile one. Although the whole lot actually clocked in at 10.2 miles on my running app. So that plus parkun was a total of 13.3 miles, but with a quick water stop between each 'lap'. This is where it feels like the training is getting 'serious', as I pass the half-marathon distance. Each week from now on is a step further beyond what I've ever done before. It's really hard work, but after Saturday I feel a lot more confident about my progress than I did a week ago.
Tuesday 2015/07/28. Running club, group 5. We did 7.2 miles at an average 8.5 mpm. We were close to 9 mpm on the long climbs heading out of town, but around 6.5 on the big tear up on the descent back in at the end. I was feeling like I'd been doing nothing but distance work lately, so a good brisk run where I was pushing myself to maintain the pace was just what I wanted, and I wasn't disappointed! My left knee has been feeling a lot less fragile for the last couple of days, and this was the first time for a few months where I was able to run with no pain or discomfort at all. And it has felt fine since. To say that I am delighted about this would be a MASSIVE understatement.
I nearly always feel like I'm pushing myself, but not always in quite the same way! Mixing up the types of run each week is the best way to train, I believe. So on Thursday I'll do a moderately-paced six miler with plenty of steep climbs; at the weekend I'll do my long run which will be fourteen miles where the pace won't really matter, it'll just be about going the distance; and then next Tuesday it'll be a hill sprint session.
Thursday 2015/07/30. Local run. Did 6.3 miles at an average 9.15 mpm. Very tiring after Tuesday's efforts, but I was happy with the time and pleased with my overall performance. The last steep hill climb did wipe me out a bit though!
The last few days have been overshadowed by the sad news that a member of our running club has passed away at a young age as a result of a brain tumour, leaving a widow and a toddler. The plan was for as many members of our club as possible to join his family and all run together on Saturday at his home parkrun (which is also my home parkrun.) Sadly, I couldn't be there, as I had to be down south helping my son to move house. But I managed to do a parkrun down there so I was with them in spirit. I had already promised to join a few other friends who couldn't be there on Saturday to meet up on Sunday morning and run the parkrun course together. So I did that, and used it as the first part of my weekly long training run. So I did another eleven miles afterwards, giving me fourteen in total. Now I'm exhausted. But I'm really pleased that I made the effort.
Tuesday 2015/08/04. Running club, monthly hill sprint session. I decided to do this slightly differently. I've got into the habit of really attacking the start of each hill, and I don't think that it's helping my dodgy knees. So last night my plan was to shorten my strides and get my little legs working faster, with lower impact. It seemed to work well, and I was just as knackered at the top of each hill as I normally am!
Saturday 2015/08/08: nice gentle parkrun followed by twelve miles afterwards, giving fifteen miles in total. Felt reasonably good overall, although the last two miles were a real slog.
Tuesday 2015/08/11. Running club, group 5. Did about 6.5 miles at an average 8.5 mpm. We really shifted a bit going along the canal, and my right leg really tightened up all the way from my glutes to my shin. After a bit I managed to run it off though, and felt fine after that.
Thursday 2015/08/13. Local run. Missed doing it last Thursday due to lack of time, but I wondered if I would actually benefit from having a bit more rest and recovery time. Well I didn't feel any more 'rested' than usual on my long run last Saturday, so I decided to run this Thursday without fail. It was a real pleasure setting off for my run with no knee pain whatsoever. And I really did feel quite spritely - or about as 'spritely' as an overweight 51 year old can feel! It felt like I was running the route quicker than I had done before, but in actual fact it was pretty much equal best with one time back in April, which I can't remember but the stats don't lie (I think.) I actually did 6.4 miles at an average 9.08 mpm. I tried not to slow down too much on the climbs, so they got my heart rate right up for a really good workout.
Saturday 2015/08/15. Gentle parkrun (3.1 miles) as my 'warm up', then 13 miles afterwards. Although it actually recorded as being 13.4, so a grand total of 16.5 miles. Took it a bit slower this week with the aim of conserving as much energy as possible, and I think it worked well. I was still totally exhausted by the end, but I lasted the distance and I think that's al that really matters as the mileage keeps notching up further beyond anything that I've done before. It's really just a test of endurance now, but I can feel myself getting stronger from week to week. I'm really looking forward to getting this over and done with!
Tuesday 2015/08/25, running club. After spending the afternoon getting soaked, I really didn't feel highly motivated to go for a run! But I went, more out of a sense that I really should go rather than because I wanted to. And as usual, I ended up feeling really pleased that I went. We did 6.3 miles at an average of 8.45 mpm. Which in itself sounds a bit dull, but it was a really cracking run. It was led by one of the group leaders who doesn't take our group very often, and he did a rather different route, with lots of variety. We had a few really quick stretches where we could open up a bit, alternating with some wicked hill climbs. By the end I felt like I'd had a really good workout. The rain had eased right off at the start, and although it was fairly heavy again by the end, by that stage it was actually rather welcome! Summer rain can be very refreshing when you are running.
Johnno, that's really fantastic. 13.1 miles was the most I've ever done and that was back in my 30's. You must be training for the full, then?
Yes, I'm doing my first (and possibly my last) full marathon in mid October. Before the last few weeks, the furthest I had run was 13.1 miles.
