Juneathon III - Days 1 & 2

June 2nd, 2009 § 3 comments

So, Juneathon started yesterday The goal is to exercise every day, but me being me I completely forgot it was starting (despite the hint in the title…), but luckily for ol’ me, I walk 2 miles a day anyway. So Days 1 and 2 sorted :)

Tomorrow I start my fitness plan proper again. What this entails is:

  • 3 days (wednesday, fridays and sundays) doing strength work (i.e., compound lifts at the gym: squats, deadlifts, bench press etc)
  • 3 days (thursday, saturday, monday) cardio (i.e., runs through the park)
  • 1 day (tuesday) “rest” (which, since it’s a work day, and I walk from the train station to work - c. 1 mile each way - counts as exercise, nyah)

My running is going to start from scratch as I mentioned t’other day, and I will be following Running From 30’s tip of doing the Couch to 5k plan, and then the Non-Runner’s Marathon Guide after I can do 5k without stopping. That’ll be interesting, since after a year of ‘running’, I can still barely managed 1.5k…

No other races lined up as yet (other than the BUPA London 10k next year), so right now I am concentrating on fatloss and endurance. My lung capacity is shit, and am hoping that dropping 3 or 4 stone will help with that.

Happy Junathonning!

Looking Forward

May 28th, 2009 § 9 comments

So, that looming 10k that was I dreading for months due to lack of training is now behind me, and I recovered much better than I thought I would (hobbling for only 2 days instead of 4). Now comes the time to take a look at what I am going to do for the next 3, 6, 12 months and set some fitness goals. I am still very much a big runner: while in the last year I have lost around 15-20lbs of fat (and put on around 10lbs of muscle), I still want to lose at least another 40lbs of fat to be in the condition I want to be in.

Half of my training schedule is now being taken up with strength training using compound lifts (a 5×5 format: see Strong Lifts for more information). The other half was meant to be simple interval training, however I hate doing cardio in the gym - the treadmill is like slowly running yourself into your grave, dead from boredom. So the natural alternative is to run outside.

Here’s the deal - I like to have an aim with everything I do fitness-wise other than “get fit”. My strength training is, natch, to get stronger and have a solid foundation of muscle (as opposed to the bodybuilding routines I’ve been doing the last year, which while helpful did nothing for my strength). The aim there is to be absolutely stronger than I have ever been in my life.

With the running, again I need an aim other than to get fit; it could be to be able to actually run for 20 minutes without stopping (I think I’m at about 10 minutes now, after running for a year!). Dropping my weight will help with that, of course, but what will it enable me to do?

So I’ve decided my running aim for this year is to lay the foundation for the ability to run - completely run - a 10k by early next year, and a complete half-marathon by mid next year.

And to do this, I’m starting from scratch… i.e., as if I’ve never run before in my life.

I guess the main issue now is to find a “newbie’s guide to running a half marathon without having to walk, given a year’s training (and hopefully without dying, either)”. Maybe Runner’s World has one…

BUPA London 10k 2009

May 26th, 2009 § 0 comments

Yesterday saw 9,000-odd people descend on Birdcage Walk in London for the 2nd annual BUPA London 10,000. This was my first ever 10k (and road race, period) last year, so it holds a special place in my heart, and it was with much nerves that I returned to it this year. It took me over 90 minutes last year, and with little training this time round I wanted to get at least a 1hr 20 finish.

From my review on Runners World UK:

I did this last year, where we basically had to swim around the course thanks to the rain. This year, despite a few drops while waiting for the start, ended up being nice and dry and not too warm.

The course, of course, is brilliant - through the heart of London with all the sights. With over 12,000 runners the atmosphere was brilliant, and it was great seeing a crowd of people ahead and behind.

Organisation, as with last year, is spot-on. Baggage reclaim quickly and friendly, and even down to having the timing chips removed (again, quick and friendly).

It’s quite expensive to enter, but I think if you have one special race per year, and you’re not one for marathons (I’m definitely not) then this is the race for you.

I managed to get ’round in 1hr 18m, so I’m very pleased. It was bloody heard going, but I managed to run most of the first 2km (the first 1.5 or so non-stop), and kept my walking breaks as short as possible (unfortunately there were quite a few of them!).

Now I have to decide whether I should continue with my running, or pack it in… that sub-60 still eludes me though.

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Back to it - Training run #1

May 3rd, 2009 § 0 comments

Run: 2.17km
Where: Tooting Bec Common
Time: 17:39

A tiring, short run today as I went back to the park for the first time since February. I tried to concentrate on my pace, and my breathing, and my stride, and all those things which after doing this for this long I should be able to do properly without having to think at all.

The first km was easyish, but the wheels fell of during the second, when my walking breaks started lasting much longer than I wanted them to, and my running breaks much shorter. However, this will improve over the next few weeks as I go back to the gym to improve my general fitness (following some Turbulence Training workouts), and plodding the trails 3 times a week.

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Three Weeks ‘Til BUPA London

May 2nd, 2009 § 0 comments

It be only a mere three weeks until the BUPA London 10k on May 25, and here I am not having gone for a trundle since February. I have to admit it was only this past week that I cam to realise just how soon the race was on (although I may not be running at all if they don’t hurry up and send me my pack!).

The archivists amongst you will remember my first ever entry was bemoaning my poor performance at last year’s BUPA 10k - my first ever race. Since then I have knocked 15 minutes off my 10k PB, but I am not holding much hope that I will have another PB this time (but who knows, eh?).

So, I need to get out there and put some asphalt under my feet before then I think. It being a lovely long weekend this weekend gives me no room for excuses!

BUPA London 10,000 - Fundraising

February 17th, 2009 § 1 comment

I’m running the BUPA 10k in May, and looking to raise funds for the Everyman Campaign.

Anyone have a few spare coppers they can throw my way, via Justgiving? :)


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Start as you mean to continue

January 1st, 2009 § 3 comments

So it’s been a month since I went out for a half-hearted run through the snow (as I’ve been concentrating on resistance work for the last couple of months), so what with it being the new year and the gym being closed, and being scheduled to do some HIIT, I decided I’d best go out for a trundle.

It would also give me the chance to try out the Chi Running techniques I’ve been reading about to sort out my running style from shuffling pensioner to actual athleticism.

So I went out for a spin around Tooting Common, 3.1km all told, in a frightfully slow 26 minutes. The Chi Running techniques, when I remembered to use them, were actually very helpful. I’m sure it’ll take a few more spins to get the hang of it but I did find myself able to run at a reasonable pace (14km/hr at one point - woosh!) without too much extra effort. Lovely!

So here’s to more than one run a month this year.

PS: also tried out some proper stretches and leg drain thing from the Chi Running book, and my legs feel fine. Amazing!

Day 1, Back At It (Briefly)

November 23rd, 2008 § 2 comments

Today was day 1 of my new training plan, so I put my kit on and rugged up with an extra layer, stepped out the front door into snow! I hadn’t realised it had snowed (although it was a sprinkling really), but as I was already dressed I went out anyway.

I was supposed to be going for 45 mins, but lasted 10 before I turned and ran back home, with freezing fingers. Perhaps some gloves are in order. And warmer layers. (A chance to buy more running stuff, perhaps?)

But my legs held up much better than I’d feared, so that’s something.

Best Laid Plans, etc

November 20th, 2008 § 2 comments

Fresh from my Brighton 10k and the huge success of actually running a lot (more than 20%) of it, this week I decided I was ready to stretch beyond the 10k and try my hand at something longer (that’s what she said…). So obviously, my mind turned to a marathon.

Whoa, steady on, said my boss, maybe be a little more gradual. Try a half at least, or perhaps a 10 miler.

So I have picked out a half-marathon in March, which will give me 12 weeks or so to train, although it’s the Steyning Stinger which is on the South Downs, very hilly and muddy and right up my street really.

So, before then I actually need to train and get some shorter-than-a-half runs in as additional training and goody-bag-grabbers under my belt before then. Boss is trying to get me to do an 8-or-so-miler in December. I think it’s the Duck Pond Waddle down in Worthing, but I’m put off because I can’t sign up online, and I don’t have a cheque book, and why won’t they let me sign up online? This is the internet age for goodness sake!

But the ultimate aim is for a marathon sometime after June. I have an 18-week training schedule to start with next week, although I’ll stretch it out a bit as we’re going to Australia for 3 weeks in March/April, during which I’ll probably do no training at all (let’s be honest), so June might be doable?

So that’s the plan at least.

Brooks Brighton 10k

November 16th, 2008 § 4 comments

We stayed over at friends last night, who luckily live just outside of Brighton at Upper Beeding, so we (wifey and I) were chauffeured to the starting line this morning, and I also had a small cheering group which was very nice.

This was my third 10k, and as I’d run the last in 1:20 over lumpy, grassy ground I thought I’d manage this - a flat run along the Brighton seafront - in at least 1:15. But as I’d done no training specifically for this, this morning I was having doubts.

Into the pen we all went 10 minutes before, and it was quite a squeeze. The nerves started coming in, and by the time the clock started and we began the slow slog to the start I wasn’t sure how things would go.

Once over the start, through the funnel, I was able to begin a slow jog, and I surprised myself that I was able to go for 1.68k before I had to slow down to a brisk walk. One thing I haven’t managed to control yet is my pacing, which affects then my breathing and so I end up having to take walking breaks. Could it be an endurance problem, or do I just need to train more and find a comfortable pace?

At 4k we began running up a slight incline, which felt like a bloody mountain and I really struggled. By this time to lead pack were passing us in the opposite direction on the way to the finish - fit fucking bastards.

Turning at 6.5k, and I was pleased to see there were still a handful of people behind me. I picked up the pace and bit and managed to pass a few people I’d been swapping position with back and forth, and left them behind me (he says, like he was actually moving faster than a pensioner (I wasn’t - two in their 70s beat me by at least 20 mins)).

At the 9k, I stopped walking and began running again, and next thing I know a guy with a backpack was beside me on the phone, running alongside. I looked at him, and lo’ it was my boss who was also running today (we hadn’t seen each other before hand). He’d run out - after finishing 30 mins before - to find me, and so we ran together for the last 1km, him offering me advice as we ran down the hill and spurring me on. I can’t believe I ran the full final kilometer. I finished feeling like I was about to vomit.

So - finishing time, 1hr 14 min. Lovely!

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