A new month, a new marathon

Well, today I signed up for the Greater Manchester Marathon on the 6th of April 2014

http://www.greatermanchestermarathon.com/

This gives me 9 months to prepare, plenty of time I should think!

Need to be cautious in how I train, I don't want to risk further injury.

A wedding & 4.5 miles

I went to a wedding in Letchworth this weekend just gone, and staying overnight I took advantage and went running Sunday morning, due to getting lost I did 4.5 miles rather than the 3 I was planning, took about 1 hour 10 mins.

Not bad all in all.

Runkeeper is my new best friend

Well, if my GPS works ...

Just ran 3 miles - in just over 36 minutes!

All because I had the Runkeeper lady shout "12 MINUTES! 1.12 miles" in my ear (well obviously the numerical bits changed....

The tracking forced the logical part of my brain to run percentages, and to do more running. I am going to try and build in a second run this week.

3 miles 40m 35s

OOOOOOOH boy is is hot today, I feel like I walked more and I think that reflects in the fact I did less distance in approximately the same time

I do now have a knee & ankle support so that I am certain is helping, feels like my leg is on a spring, I think I need to work on my stretching routine though, if anyone has any good resources for this, let me know!

Woop!

I bloody well did it, 3.2 miles, 40 minutes, I know that aint fast but I travelled 3 miles! contiguously (well apart from when that car almost reversed into me!)

Thats step 1 on the road to (man)chester! woop!

The post I didn't want to write

You may have noticed the utter lack of posts over the last 3 weeks.

This is due to the fact I sprained my ankle, and upon leaving my house the following day the pain bloomed as the ankle made a lovely (read 'horrifyingly unpleasant') clicking sound.

I had hoped to start running after a week off, and resume my training but my ankle decided it wasn't up to the idea. After seeing a doctor I have the advice to do low impact exercise for 2 weeks, which will take me up to next Thursday, as such I dont think it is realistic for me to still make the Chester marathon.

BUT! I am not going down easily, I plan to keep up the blog and the training and refocus for the Manchester marathon which is traditionally April, which gives me 10 months left to prepare.

Another day, another run to work

So my ankle collapsed on Friday which eliminated my weekends training, but time to "get back on the horse" as they say

0.9 miles, 12 and a half minutes, spot on pace wise, shame that at that pace I am not really running.

Also my shorts didn't want to stay up, which was a small issue, need to get some proper running shorts I think.

I'm running too fast

I have after this morning come to the realization that I am running too quickly, leading to quick exhaustion and a profound lack in distance 'run'. I cover the first mile in 12 minutes; about a minute too quick as of right now.

I need to reduce my running pace to about 4.5mph, or 13:20 a mile for right now. I'm not after speed, I am after longevity.

Yeouch, that hurt!

Ok, I think I really need to work on my stretching routine.

Went on a run last night and the stitch in my side still doesn't quite feel resolved, nevertheless I need to go running tomorrow.

Yesterday went well, thanks for asking, I did about 2 miles in 30 minutes. Near died afterwards though.

Running in Germany

Twice as hard, did 1.29 miles in 17 minutes. 

Lack of water likely didn't help. Need to find a water bottle. 

5 pulsing - In the gym

So I've just been to the gym and did my 5min Jog - 5 min walk x3 set

Quite frankly I found it straightforward, now after 40 mins of cool down and sat back at my desk, a little more achy, but still feel energised. The really strange thing is the jogging was easier than the fast walking.

The stats:
Jogging pace: 5.6 mph
Walking pace 4.0 mph
Distance covered: 2.36 miles

I will find that more difficult on the road and while I am in Germany I need to do that 3 more times! Oh yeah, I am off to Germany tomorrow so expect my posts to be much more succinct, as computer time will be at a premium.

I know what you are thinking more succinct, that'll be hard.

Prelim 1 - The 5 Jog / 5 Walk week

Over the weekend I did a further 2 walks in the right range for Week 4 of the prelim so this week is a stretch week, the aim for this week is to do 30 minute sessions where I repeat the pattern of 5 min jogging, 5 min walking 3 times.

Over the weekend I did go have my gait analysed and purchased suitable running shoes as well, my ankle seems to have recovered from the trip I had so all is looking good for week 1 of preliminary training!

Day 1 - Walk 1 of Prelim Training Week NULL

So, first walk and my ankle crunches, great! Well, strap it up and move on, i know this injury well. The 0 Day Euphoria has worn off now and I'm just putting all the practicalities together.

The training plan I am following calls for a certain level of fitness before you start the true plan, so there is a 10 week plan to get you started, I started by trying week 3 of it out, and did that fine. The plan is to find out where it taxes me then start from there and work my way up to the prelim success (30mins constant jogging) by June 16th.

Training for the Race starts June 17th.

So, I may have been slightly drunk last Friday, but that isn't truly where this story starts ...

I was 19, impressionable and had just seen the Stafford half marathon pass my house, and I thought to myself "I would like to run a marathon". Fast forward to March 11th 2010 and my 20th Birthday, I realised I was 20 and no closer to that goal, it was then that I resolutely said I wanted to run a marathon before I was 30.

*      *      *      *      *

Fast forward back to last Friday once more, I sat in a pub in Oxford, after my 2nd pint (and a good way through my 3rd) slightly tipsy, and mentioned this in passing to one of my colleagues, and he came back at me with "I'm running a marathon, why not train with me? Why not make it THIS year?"

So here I am, the furthest I have 'ran' to date in one session being my secondary schools 800m race, I have just signed up for the Chester Marathon on the 6th of October 2013, Now its real and true! Expect a post everyday I go 'running'. The clock is ticking