Monday, 24 November 2014

Week 6 & 7

Week 6
Day 1
Determined to go out slower today I started off at a snails pace and it paid off. I got round my usual 5k route and decided to go further because I felt that good. I dropped Joe off at home and ran, feeling loads better than when I just set off. This is where it has all clicked into place with me. I felt that buzz that people always talk about that I always thought was a myth and only people who were 'born to run' could experience. I went for 4 miles and made it feeling fantastic. This has definitely given me a new lease of life for running and achieving my goal.

Day 2
We spent the weekend up at my parents house in Ambleside. This is always a worry as there is so much food and alcohol there it's easy to fall into a sloth like existence, but I was determined to go out. Saturday morning I woke up and went back to sleep, it wasn't going to happen.

Then my husband decided to show me up and went for a casual 10k run around the mountains (he's the type who was born to run, grrr). So I felt my competitive spirit coming out and I got up on Sunday morning and set off out to the hills. Wow, it was so difficult! I don't know how these fell runners do it. Downhill was harder than uphill, I tentatively placed my feet on all the rocks attempting to avoid the slippy ones and the leaves and moss and sheep poo, there were death traps everywhere!

And then I found myself in a bog surrounded by sheep, thinking I was going to get stuck and eaten alive slowly because no-one would find me. It was a pretty harrowing experience so felt like I had achieved a lot when I found myself back at the safety of my parents house. However, I looked at my Nike+ and it said I had done a measly 2.7 miles! But I am thinking my GPS didn't work properly because I had been out for an hour and it only said I was out for 37 minutes, that's my excuse anyway...it made me feel better.

Week 7
Day 1
The hill/bog running had paid off! 6.05 miles (the .05 is very important)! Almost 10k, in fact I would have done 10k if my GPS had been set to km instead of miles. Best feeling ever after that run! Took me 1 hour 14, but each mile was faster than the last and felt great, so could probably get a good time if I had really pushed myself.

To celebrate I booked myself a place on the Guys 10 mile road race. Not much of a prize I think you'll agree but after that run I feel like I can really do it so am going to really go for it and try to get way beyond the 10k (16k I think it works out to be). Even if I have to walk some of it at least I'm getting the distance in and can build on speed.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to get out again this week, but am planning another big run tomorrow in Week 8 so will hopefully be able to get a few good runs in so will report back next week on the build up to my 10 miler!



What I have learned
Never trust a GPS, or sheep

My Goals
To get beyond 10k

Feeling
Amazing after my 10k breakthrough!

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Weeks 4 & 5

I'm combining these weeks together just so I can cheat as Week 4 was a bit of a write off.

Day 1
Went out in the morning with Joe and tried to go for 5k but struggled so cut it short. Felt rubbish and legs were still very sore. Couldn't catch Joe again.

Day 2 & 3
Didn't happen! We were busy with selling our house and hosting a Halloween party, although I think because I was so disappointed with day 1 I didn't have any motivation to go out again anyway.

So, without further ado I will skip to Week 5!

Day 1
Horrible rainy dark Tuesday morning I managed to peel myself away from my nice warm bed and get out there. I dragged Joe out of his slumber and we set off onto the streets. 

A lot of training advice I have read says to keep your pace 'conversational'. Personally I didn't think the two were very compatible, when I run I breathe so heavily I can't hear anything else. Picture a red sweaty puffing and panting, headband wearing mass and you have me. Not exactly a conversation starter.

So I set off as slowly as I could to try and maintain a conversation with Joe, and it worked! I'm usually running as fast as I can to get the pain over with more quickly, no wonder I can't go very far! But this time I felt really good. We did 3 miles and I felt I could have gone further, my pace also increased with every mile so I was obviously feeling good (lets ignore the fact the second two miles are more downhill).

I think the rest did my legs good also as they felt a lot better than after previous runs. 

Day 2
Same again. Didn't feel as good but managed it a little quicker with a sprint finish which was fun!

Day 3 
Same again, although Joe pushed me to start quicker to try and get our time down to under 30 mins so I obliged but the inevitable happened and I ended up having to walk after the first mile. Really annoyed with myself so went a wee bit further (actually tried a shortcut but got lost so ended up having to run further!) and did a sprint finish again.

So you can see from this weeks activity my mood got worse throughout the week and run 3's pace ended up being the same as week 1 even though I went out faster because I had to walk, so the moral of the story is...

What I have learned
To start slow!!!!

My Goals
To build up to 4 miles next week

Feeling
Quite proud I've run 9.17 miles in a week and feel fine for it. My legs are obviously building up some resistance finally and dare I say it...it's getting easier...?