The Training Plan

With the training plan due to kick-off tomorrow, I thought it would good to give you a rundown of what it actually involves. I have to admit, 'kicking-off' is probably not the right phrase, as it starts with a rest day.

The plan is broken down into three week cycles which increase with intensity.  As well as various runs, building in length and pace, there are 'strength' and 'cross-training' to help build up my base level of fitness.  These will fade out towards the end of the training, with race-specific focus the key.  And of course, there are the coveted rest days.

The three weeks cycles are broken up midway, and at the end with 'race weeks'.  As well as the Droitwich half on the 2nd March, I'm also registered for the Dewsbury 10k on the 2nd February.  It's a good step along the way in my training, and means also a good chance to get used to what a race day entails - other than the inevitable hard work and pain!

At the moment, it's not the intensity of the runs that worries me - I'm doing the Parkrun at just under 8mins/mile at the moment - but the length of the runs.  I've never actually done anything over 5k, and so although we build gradually over time, and with longer runs having slower pace, it's still rather daunting.  Still, I can hardly do 13.1 miles on the back of only ever running 3.1...

Fifth Cannon Hill Parkrun

I completed my fifth parkrun at Cannon Hill today, and have to say I am pleased with my progress.  I've achieved a PB each week, and have got my time down to 24:42 - just over four minutes quicker than my first one, six weeks ago.

One of the things that I'm most pleased with is not just the time (although I'm quite smug about that too...) but is how I feel after a race.  The John Wayne days are long behind me, and I can go running the next day if I feel so inclined...  I'm very rarely inclined, but that's not that point!

You can see the Garmin data of my latest run here.  The blip at 0.6miles was where I accidentally stopped the workout by pressing the wrong button on my Garmin.



I'm not sure why my pace was so erratic.  If you compare it to the previous week (below), I was up and down like a yoyo!  I had my Garmin set to display average pace, rather than current pace which might account for it a bit, but this was the same setting as the week before, so there shouldn't be much difference.  I think last week I started out at a steady pace, and so my average pace was always really my current pace too - whereas this week I started out rather quickly which always meant I had a surplus on the average pace front, so it was hard to know what my actual pace was, other than by watching how quickly (or otherwise) my average pace was coming down.

Obviously the difference scale graphs doesn't help...

The Challenge

Having completed a few more Parkruns, and gone out a few times in the week, I decided that I needed something to work to, other than the Saturday morning 5k's; something more stretching that would motivate me, and push me to my limits (although if you see me at the end of one of the 5k's then you'd say I had probably reached my limit already...).

So I, along with my brother-in-law and a friend, have entered the Droitwich half marathon.  World famous, it may not be, but due to busy schedules, and an unwillingness to travel too far, it suited our purpose.

My sister-in-law (married to said brother-in-law) has kindly drawn us up a ten week training plan which should mean that we at least get round, and hopefully do it in a respectable time too! (For respectable, read 'not last').

So this blog will be where I chronicle my progress on the training plan, and hopefully you can all have a chuckle as I stumble my ways towards 13.1 miles.

Built for comfort, not for speed

If I had to describe my physicality in six words, then the above would probably be it.  I've always been fairly active, but married life, a desk job, and a love of food mean that I am not really the svelte figure that I would like to be.

So when my brother-in-law came to stay a couple of months ago and said he wanted to do the Cannon Hill Parkrun (an organised timed 5k in our local park) I decided against my better judgement that I'd take up the challenge and join him.

I was really pleased with my time (28:51), given that I'd done no specific training for it, and had only decided at 10pm the night before to do it.  And it's fair to say that I was bitten by running bug.  And even walking like John Wayne for the next week didn't dampen my spirits!