A steady six

Another good month following the training plan although the last couple of days have seen a slight hiccup by way of a sore and achey knee.

Each weekend has seen me increase my 'long run' by 5 or 10 minutes and on Monday I finally reached the 6 mile mark with my longest run to date of 70 minutes.  The run itself felt great on the whole apart from a sudden niggly pain in my right knee that started around the 4 mile point.  This actually got a lot worse whilst running downhill so I decided to take it easy at this point and walk for a short spell.  I managed to carry on running again after but my knee has not been too good since.  I decided to give today's training run a miss which was a bit disappointing as I'm really enjoying the new club runs with Cobra on Wednesday nights, but I did go for a half hour dog walk instead which freed things up a little bit.

I think that perhaps my new hill work on Wednesday nights plus the increased distance is not agreeing with my joints so I guess I just need to take it steady for a while.  I've entered the DK10K on the 2nd May so I have plenty of time yet.  I'm pleased that my breathing and stamina seem so much better so that's a start a least.  My aim is to be able to run a steady 8 miles by the time my race comes around, that way, 10K should feel at least comfortable.....I hope :-/

Here's this months results:

February 2012

Runs to date: 11
Walks to date: 11
Hikes to date: 0
Miles during Feb: 54.3 miles
Workout time during Feb: 12 hrs 30 mins
Calories burnt during Feb: 4892

Finally......Four Miles!

Have done great work with my training plan this month.  All my hard work has been logged on Runkeeper and this month I've managed to accumulate 26 activities over 31 days.  These includes walking, skating, hiking and most importantly, running.

I've continued with my short runs twice a week accompanied by my friend Jane and my long weekend run is now up to just over 4 miles which I'm quite chuffed about.  Tomorrow night also see's the start of the new beginners class at our local Cobra Running Club.  This will only be a couple miles but I thought it would be a great starting point for me to be able to work my way up to the clubs more advanced Tuesday and Thursday classes.

So far, I've managed to keep injuries at bay *touches wood* and just hoping with the gradual increase of 5 minutes per long run, I'll be able to keep things this way.

Here's my totals for the month:

January 2012

Runs to date: 10
Walks to date: 14
Hikes to date: 1
Skates to date: 1
Miles during Jan: 58.3 miles
Workout time during Jan: 16 hrs 15 mins
Calories burnt to date: 4907

Mission to get fit 2011 – Update 5....Race week!

Ok, so the countdown's almost over.  This Sunday will see me taking part in the Evesham Vale 10k in Worcestershire and I'm starting to get very, very worried.  Although I finally managed a long run of almost an hour on Sunday, I've done nowhere near enough training to prepare me for the 10k distance.  At my current long distance pace I can only hope to complete the course in around 1 hour 11 minutes (if I'm lucky) and that's a diabolical time compared to my previous years efforts.  However, I'm looking more to the next few months.  I've come a long way in the last couple of months and if I just continue the training my September race could see me getting my best time ever.

Not much on the training plan for this week due to Sunday being race day, so shouldn't be too taxing!

Week 6

Mon - Rest - Rest
Tues - Rest - Rest
Weds - 25 min easy - 25.36 min, 2.17m
Thurs - Rest - Rest
Fri - 35 min easy -
Sat - Rest - Rest
Sun - RACE DAY - 10K 10.30am Evesham Vale

Mission to get fit 2011 – Update 4

Dear, oh dear, oh dear!!!!

Last week turned out to be a complete wash out on the training front.  Went all the way to lovely Lake Como with great intentions and running gear packed in the case only to return with it still neatly folded having not seen the light of day!

Got back on the training program this week with a great 45 minute run earlier in the week and a superb hill training session last night.  I'm very worried no about how I'm going to manage 10k.  I really could do with another 2 or 3 of weeks where in reality I have just 7 days to go until the first of my 10k races.  Never the less I will do what I can but I'm not going to kill myself over the next week by trying to cram in extra training sessions.  This will only play havoc with the shins and really won't help in the long term.  I really should have taken a step backwards to re-do week 4 of the training plan but if I'm to stand any hope of completing the full 10k distance I need to get my long run up to an hour this week, so onwards to week 5.

Week 4

Mon - Rest - Rest
Tues - 25 mins fartlek or hills - None !!!
Weds - Rest - Rest
Thurs - 40 mins mod - None !!!
Fri - Rest - Rest
Sat - 50 - 55 min long run - None !!!

Week 5

Mon - Rest - Rest
Tues - 45 min mod - 43 min mo, 3.90 miles
Weds - Rest - Rest
Thurs - Rest - Rest
Fri - 25 min fartlek or hill run - 25 min hill run
Sat - Rest - Rest
Sun - 55 - 60 min long run - 59.17 min, 4.91m

Mission to get fit 2011 - Update 2

Yes, i know it's been a while since my last fitness update but believe me a fair bit has happened!

I returned from our Florida holiday once again having lost all motivation for running.  As I've said before I only have to miss a couple of weeks and it's then so hard to get back into it.  Anyhow, I went out for the occasional plod around the local streets but decided I needed a goal to help get me motivated - it was time to look for another race.  Scouring events on the Runners World website I eventually decided to enter the Acorns Triple Run, in particular the 5k run.  At first even the prospect of this wasn't enough to get my bum into gear but as the event drew closer I knew I had to get myself moving and slowly began to increase the number of runs and distance per week.

I completed the Acorn's Spring Run on 29th May in around 33 - 34 mins (sorry not accurate as I couldn't stop gps in time!) which I was quite pleased with.  At the same event 'P' also completed the Acorn's Half Marathon.  Whilst standing there watching runners (of all shapes and sizes) finish that Half Marathon I decided it was time to kick the training up a notch - if they could do it, so could I!

I've now entered the Evesham Vale 10k on 10th July and also the Lichfield 10k on 11th September 2011.  I've begun a training program to help me achieve the distance, as although I have completed a 10k before, this was 2 years ago and I currently can't run for more than 40 mins without keeling over at the side of the road!  I'm also getting my breathing looked into as I'm having some real issues on that point, hopefully once this is sorted it should make things a bit easier at least.

I'm hoping that by blogging my training plan for each week along with my actual runs it will help keep me motivated.  Sometimes it's just so difficult to juggle life and fit in that 4 mile run at the end of the day.  You hereby have permission to kick me up the bum if I'm not meeting my weekly quota! :)

So here goes Week 1 of the new training plan has already be completed...........well kind of! Yes, I know, not a very good start but week 2 is so far going much better :).  I will update week 2 as the activities are completed so check back for my progress.

Week 1

Mon - Rest - Rest
Tues - 20 min run, moderate - 20 min run, mod
Weds - Rest - Rest
Thurs - 25 mins, moderate - None
Fri - 20 mins, easy - None
Sat - Rest - Rest
Sun - 35 mins long run - 35 mins 4.8k

(Training plan with actual activity in blue (or red if not completed))

Week 2

Mon - 25 min run, mod - 25 min mod, 2.38 miles
Tues - Rest - Rest
Weds - 30 min mod - 29.36 min mod, 2.74 miles
Thurs - 25 min easy - None
Fri - Rest - Rest
Sat - 40 min long run - None
Sun - Rest - Rest