Progress is impossible without change

So after a couple of weeks of following a plan of around 25 miles a week, this week involved a few little changes...

Training plan

My partner, Lee has been a huge motivation these past few weeks in the moments I've wanted to give up during the transition to make running a habit, not a chore. Together we decided to add a couple of miles into my plan this week.

Monday- 4 miles- trial run in my new Boosts
Tuesday- Rest day
Wednesday- Was supposed to be 7 but after a misjudged route, ended up with an extra half.
Thursday- Rest day
Friday- 4 miles- I swapped my Thurs and Friday round
Saturday- Was supposed to be 10 miles but doubled back into my second mile for a toilet stop (a pint of lemon water half hour before wasn't such a good idea!) used the extra half mile as a cooldown.
After the minor hiccup at the start I got into a really good pace and managed to beat last week's 10 mile time by nearly 4 minutes! My Thurs and Fri will now be a permenant swap and it's so great to start seeing some improvement.

Diet

Getting back from my run last Saturday, Lee said there was something he really wanted to try...no it's not dirty!! He suggested that for one month we give up meat, dairy and eggs and try a plant based diet. This coming from the chicken, bacon, cheese 6'2 destroyer. So we have thrown ourselves in head first. A couple of trips to local health food shops and we'd stocked up on coconut oil, chia seeds, goji berries, flaxseed, tahini, almond milk, fruit, vegetables and spices. It's now been a week since we started and it's certainly been a challenge at times but we are continuing to discover new recipes and ways to keep my sweet tooth and Lee's biscuit addiction at bay. I'm going to be interested to see in the weeks to come if a change in diet will improve my progress.

Having a (very bossy) two year old means at the weekend I need to make the time for her and fit in my training so tomorrow I'm going to combine the two with a buggy run to the park. With a final 5k to end the week I'll hit a total of 95 miles for the year so far.

She believed she could, so she did!

A week in the life of a marathon trainer

39 miles and counting

It is only the 11^th January and I can’t believe I have already run more miles than my previous record MONTH! Marathon training is well underway and I have so far stuck to the training plan- if sometimes through gritted teeth.

3rd January- Last Saturday saw….rain, a hell of a lot of rain. In the time it took to get changed into my running gear it went from a dry, mild day to freezing torrential rain.

I did try to give Lee the look of ‘I can’t run in that’ but he was having none of it so I would have no one else to blame but myself if I didn’t pull myself together and get out of the door.

On stepping out one thing was for sure. My shower proof jacket would not survive…I was right.

Result:

6.2 miles

9:06/mile

56:36

4th January- It honestly rained yesterday?! I headed out Sunday evening for a steady 5k, perhaps trying to prolong the time more than anything to try and prevent the inevitable Monday morning back to work around the corner.

Result:

3.1 miles

8:51/mile

27:48

5th January- Monday was supposed to be rest day but still in my New-years-healthy-eating-resolution-haze I decided to head out to Lidl to stock up the fridge for the week. Packing my rucksack with Ikea bags I headed out- yes I am the crazy one running the dark streets with florescent slap bands and a red rucksack! Good excuse for some resistance training.

Result:

3.1 miles

8:57/mile

28:07

6th January- Rest day. These are just as important as the days that I don’t run. Recovery is a huge part of my marathon training and I want to protect myself as best I can from injury.

7th January- Wednesday night I had planned to do a 4 mile loop when I realised we had run out of bread which we needed for Isabella’s sandwiches for nursery the following morning. Lee saw this as a perfect excuse to request a bottle of wine so I again headed out with my rucksack, running back the second half with all of the above- plus a couple of custard slices as a treat.

Result:

5 miles

9:19/mile

46:44

8th January- By Thursday I was exhausted from a week getting back into routine and working again after a long break over Christmas. It was most definitely a shock to the system but on returning home I dragged myself out to do the loop I had previously planned including a 270ft climb. It wasn’t pretty.

Result:

4 miles

8:57/mile

35:57

9th January- Rest day. Throughout my training leading up to London, I will plan in at least 2 rest days a week. Friday night involved carb loading in preparation for Saturday’s planned 10 miles.

10th January- Saturday morning my alarm buzzed at 6.30am. It’s Saturday for crying out loud! Getting out of bed was the hardest it had been all week but I knew I need to be up and get breakfast before heading out- accompanied with the cries of ‘mummy mummy! Wheatabix!’. To break up my long run I planned it into segments including Shrewsbury parkrun to make it more digestible and give the illusion that it wasn’t as far as I thought…

I started my run with 2 miles to the Quarry before joining in Parkrun. Finishing these two parts, I knew I was half way and would now just need to battle the wind back home before finishing with a 5k lap. On my way back home I went into my thoughts and started planning my afternoon (seeing as it was only around 10.30am). I decided to have another bash at my sweet potato chocolate brownies so decided my run would take a detour to pick up some chocolate. I texted Lee to put the bag and some money out for me so I could grab it on my way round.

Now, if you are reading this and you are a runner you will more than likely know the mile points in most directions from where you live. So, as I carried on up to the shop I worked out if I did just an extra .2 of a mile I would actually finish on 11 miles!

After being pulled into a faster pace at Parkrun, I found myself slowing towards the end of my run finishing with a 9:54. That’ll teach me!

Overall though, I am just so pleased to have got the distance under my belt. Only another 9 training miles to find on top of that and it is only 11^th January so I won’t complain.

Result:

11 miles

9:15/mile

1:41:54

11th January

Today’s run had been planned as a 5k but as soon as I headed out early afternoon I could feel my shins resisting.

Instead of powering through, I made the decision right at the start to cut down to 2 miles and work on some foam rolling and stretching when I got back. This was most definitely the best decision. Listen to your body!

Result:

2 miles

9:33/mile

19:15

I still struggle with the thought that I am in fact training for a marathon but this week’s training has shown me I can do what I set my mind to. It hasn’t always been easy to get out of the door and I know I will experience both good and bad runs but these few months will definitely be an exciting journey.

If it doesn't challenge you....

...it doesn't change you.

Firstly Happy New Year! I can’t believe how quick it went but it was certainly one to remember.

We had a fantastic Christmas break as a family that just topped off the year. From trail running up Haughmond Hill with Lee, completing three half marathons to my daughter’s first day at nursery and a wonderful visit to the Lake District; it will definitely be hard to beat but I think I can give it a good go!

Run geek run!

Shrewsbury Half Marathon

Amongst my training towards London Marathon in April, I will also be working towards my diploma in Online Marketing. I’m so excited about this opportunity which I hope will lead to bigger and better things.

So, on to the traditional New Years resolutions…ones I hope to stick to.

1. Eating healthily

By this I don’t mean any fad, rubbish diets, just straightforward clean eating with the occasional treat. The best way to change bad habits- keep it simple and realistic.

2. Train properly

It isn’t just a case of pulling on my trainers and heading out of the door anymore, it’s time to take it seriously and try my best to prevent injury through stretching, light weights and core work.

3. Get contact lenses

More of a mental note than a resolution but I definitely need to sort this before heading to London- although sometimes the world looks better with fuzzy edges...

I think that’s pretty much it. When it gets to April, I don’t just want to do London marathon, I want to run it knowing I did it to the best of my ability. It’s not going to be easy and I’m pretty scared to say the least but if I put my mind to it I know I can do it. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone right?

Training is already well underway and I’m hoping to steadily build up my mileage over the next few weeks.

2015, lets do this!