I've been feeling tired for a very, very long time. And for a very, very long time when people have asked me how I am, my stock answers we "tired", "ok" or "fine, thanks". I'm not sure what it is about the changes I've made recently, but I feel an awful lot better (sounds like a juxtaposition when I put it like that)! My new reply is "pretty good actually, thanks". What are the changes I've made? 1. Healthier eating (less meat, less dairy, more fruit and veg). 2. Intermittent fasting (I.F.) following the 16:8 strategy. 3. Focussing on quality of training over quantity, and adding more variety (really pushing myself in shorter interval sessions, shorter "long runs", adding in cycling and swimming, yoga 5-7 times per week). This morning I woke up to a text message that we had suspected fraudulent activity on our credit card. I had ordered a "click and collect" delivery from a supermarket for this morning (between 8-9 a.m.), and whilst on the school run, they phoned to say they couldn't take payment and I needed to contact them urgently. Meanwhile the traffic chose today to be horrendous. And normally right now I would also be suffering from horrendous PMT and this whole situation would have sent me into meltdown. Not so today. I just dealt with it, step by step. Without crying or reaching for chocolate! I feel so much better, inside and out. I managed a quick run this afternoon, and wasn't sure whether my body would be impressed with me, but I managed a pretty good pace for me post-marathon and my "cardio fitness score" went back up on my FitBit.
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I think I was really lucky to come home from the Cotswold 24 with no blisters or major damage (bruised toenail probably doesn't count!), but I think I underestimated how much it affected me physically as it's taken these 3 weeks for me to be able to run longer distances again.
I must admit I was starting to get a little worried, but faith has been restored with a couple of good interval sessions in the week (which have actually proved to me that I can run fast when I push myself a little), a 5 mile run yesterday then 13.1 miles today. This also brought my total weekly mileage up above my previous efforts (except the week of the Cotswold 24), which makes me feel a lot better. The balls of my feet are sore and I'm quite tired, but still able to function (I even mowed the lawn!). I've also managed to maintain my running streak (which I'm enjoying most days), and have managed to reach day 81 today! I'm planning to increase my long run to 15 miles next Sunday, followed by 17 the week after. I am having to juggle the long runs a little as I am (possibly stupidly) doing the Shine Walk two weeks before the RFL marathon. That's all for now - I'm off to give my feet a well deserved "volcanic foot mask" and moisturise! I kept it a bit quiet, but I was inspired to look for a 24 hour event after a friend (Emma) posted on Facebook about one she'd done in June - it sounded like a challenge I wanted to take up. The only one accessible to me this year was the Cotswold 24 Hour Race organised by 100 Mile Run, so I signed up.
I'll be honest, I didn't do any particular training except for continuing to train for my marathon. The laps were 9km (around 5.6 miles), so my aim was to complete 5 laps over the 24 hours which is 28 miles (just over a marathon). In retrospect, this may have been a little ambitious as I'd never completed more than 13.6 miles in training. Well, OK, canal, but it didn't have quite the same ring to it! I'm now on day 52 of my running streak, which I wasn't quite expecting. I've been suffering a bit lately due to the heat and being tired from early mornings/life etc, so a lot of my runs have been quite short, leaving me feeling a bit concerned about being in shape for the marathon. Last weekend I did my long run along the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath (once I'd run to it, which is about 3 miles from home). This week, I thought I'd see how Lexie would handle a run-walk-run down there, but decided to drive down instead so that we could just run and enjoy the scenery. I did have some concerns about how far she'd manage, so I set off with very few expectations (and a backpack full of supplies!). Turns out I needn't have worried. We settled into a rhythm of run 0.5 miles, walk 0.25 miles which seemed to suit us both pretty well. We stopped every couple of miles for water, and Lexie seemed to totally love it, even having the energy to hop into the back of the car at the end after 9 miles! It was blissfully cool and even drizzled for some of the time which was really nice. I stupidly didn't take any photos whilst we were out, but here's one of Lexie zonked out on the bath mat when we got home! So I started thinking about the fact that I've signed up for a marathon later in the year. Not saying that the idea fills me with dread but...well...after the Shine Walk last year, I did say to Dave "I'll never attempt to run a marathon" - famous last words!! I did some googling of walk-run techniques and stumbled on Jeff Galloway's Run-Walk-Run method. This basically suggests that you can actually travel faster overall if you take timed intervals of running and walking. The walking intervals give the body a chance to recover from the stress of running, and it keeps your core body temperature down. Using his guidelines, I decided on 3 minute run:1 minute walk intervals based on a running pace of 10 minute miles (which was my half marathon pace). I took a route that I'd run on Tuesday (4.7 miles). Here are the results: I was honestly staggered when I looked at the stats.
Even considering that I obviously took off at a faster pace today, that only accounts for 1 minute. This is definitely a technique I will be continuing for longer runs going forward, and I may look at 4 minute run intervals to try to increase my overall pace.
At the moment I have 2 guided interval sessions on my phone to choose from - Power Up 2012 (Pyramid Intervals) or Run Faster 1 with Chrissie Wellington, both from AudioFuel. I "found" AudioFuel after using the NHS "Couch to 5k" podcasts when I started running in 2014.
This week, it was Chrissie's turn to run with me (at least she says she's running with me - I don't believe it personally!). The session starts with a warm up, then has intervals of 2-4 minutes of either 175b.p.m. or 180b.p.m. I had set it up so that it would be followed by tracks at 170b.p.m. to keep me moving. I have started finding recently that actually 175-180b.p.m. isn't nearly as challenging as it used to be, so I think I will need to find something a bit faster quite soon. Once I am warmed up, I am coping pretty well with 170b.p.m. as a steady pace. I think this is good news as I am getting fitter. Aaaaanyhoo...the final interval took me up one of the hills that I had mentioned in Tuesday's blog, and that was a bit of a challenge at 180b.p.m.! I will be really glad when the weather improves - today was bitter and although I quickly warm up when I run, it's really not that tempting to get out when it feels like minus-something! On the bright side, I had a new snuggly top that I bought using a gift card that D's parents very kindly gave me for Christmas...
Distance: 3.58 miles
Time: 36m:21s Average pace: 10m:08s Fastest mile: 9m:50s Type of run: Intervals (AudioFuel Run faster 1) Cardio fitness score: 41 Today's run was my weekly intervals session. I used the AudioFuel "Power Up" pyramid interval session, which I've had for quite a while now (maybe the subject of my next review!) Today's session was pretty tough - I was expecting it not to be too bad as I'd had a complete rest day yesterday - but no. My legs felt heavy, my breathing felt difficult and I was sure I was running at my slowest - and windy conditions really didn't help (hair in my eyes, ugh!) Imagine my surprise when I saw that all of my miles were sub 10 minutes, the first time that's happened in quite some time. I was also exited to find my RHM race pack waiting for me when I got home! Sophie. 7985. And there was me thinking I was Runner 5... https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Marathon-for-Archie
Distance: 3.12 miles Time: 29:55 Average pace: 9:35 Fastest mile: 9:17 Type of run: Pyramid intervals Cardio fitness score: 40 |
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May 2018
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