It’s only 13.1 miles, don’t worry about nutrition planning.
That’s easy for a seasoned marathoner to say but for many the half marathon distance is a real challenge and one that suitable nutrition planning can really be important. There’s as many answers to the question of what’s best as there is grains of sand on Bournemouth beach, but this article is a good general advisory one.
Happy runnings 😁 🏃♂️
www.runnersworld.com/uk/nutrition/a776478/how-to-fuel-for-a-half-marathon
Well I guess there are the good times and the bad times. And in a similar vein there are the easy going and the frustratingly difficult days. Week 8 training has definitely fallen into the frustratingly difficult.
I started the week with a recurrence of the knee ache that I had the week before. Given the closeness of the three Half Marathons I have planned over the next month I immediately became concerned:
I’m inwardly a glass half empty person always erring on the side of disaster not success and so this has knocked my confidence and ambition for how these runs go. I need to dig deep to find some positive thinking.
As for the training. Well nothing to talk about. Three short races of 5-6Km and they have been OK. No knee pain after and so they seem OK but I need to do 21Km which I’m very comfortable in running the distance but now I’m just worried the knee won’t make it. The runs were genuinely OK and I felt good during the runs. Decent relaxed pace, comfortable and relaxed. So there are positives to take.
So what else has been going down.
Well I can’t sit still for too long. I assume the minute I’ve been off training for over 24 hours I’m likely to see my body double in size and my passion for running just fizzle out instantly. I know it’s ridiculous and everything I read tells me to get a grip but I can’t help that at the moment. We all have different wiring and mine is just in need of a review and maybe some new fuses 🤷♂️
To keep things going and give me a sense of achievement I’ve expanded my evening fitness session. Russian twists with 5.5Kg weights, push ups, sit ups, clam shells, squats with weights and single leg squats too. These all feel like they have a positive impact and I feel good having done them. Finding these silver linings really does help.
So along with the knee I have also now developed two young children who feel being awake pre 6am is the best idea and along with my wife being poorly it means getting out to train early morning has been thwarted on a number of occasions. This just frustrates further but in reality my wife is good about this and is keen to find another time in the day that works for me to get out. I appreciate this but know it’s a lot to ask sometimes. I’m lucky I have this level of understanding.
What next?
Nothing is certain so what will be will be. I’d like to get out more and get some more miles out of these legs. But I’m also aware that maybe more time off would be beneficial in getting the knees freshest and strongest. That is until the voices in my head say – but if you don’t run you might not be able to on race day, you might forget how to, you might be useless !!! Argh 😤 choices in life are great and we are lucky we often have so many but sometimes training should be like a rubbish menu. One choice, like it or lump it, just get on with it. But life isn’t that easy and straight forward and that’s one of the things that makes us so immensely lucky – the ability to truly influence our own direction and life in so many ways. We have the key to make of it what we want.
So I’m going to see how it goes. Probably a couple of early week runs. Couple of midweek days off then a weekend with a few attempts of getting out. I would truly love to push near ten miles at the weekend – with no body complaints. This would just give me the confidence for Windsor the Sunday after.
So here’s to Week 9. I’m hoping it goes well.
We are what we make of it and we make it what we want it to be.
RidgewayRunner
As a treadmill user using it as the basis of various workouts is a great way to break the stigma of monotonous running. Some of these are great ideas to just give tour treadmill workouts a bit more interest and value in your training. Certainly worth a look!
www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/a28192841/treadmill-workouts
Saw this on Facebook and really enjoy reading about the psychology behind ultra running. It’s such a large part of the battle.
When you run you have to listen to your body, but when you venture into Ultras you have to change your thoughts. Your mind starts to shout louder than your body at times when tackling 50/100/200 km. trying to fool you into thinking your body has had enough. But sometimes it’s just voices and your body has the capacity to do more. Thats when knowing what to listen to and what to ignore is important!!
trailrunnermag.com/training/ultrarunning/train-your-brain.html
With it having been suicide awareness day this week this article is a timely and simply put article about the virtues of exercise, particularly running, in fighting depression and mental illness. Some references and links to more in depth material as well
The training plan for the week looked like this:
As a result of that my training ended up as:
So not at all bad really.
Overall on the week I felt OK. Started with a stiff left knee so dropped Monday training. Through in a hard treadmill session on Saturday rather than a recovery session which I enjoyed. And the week ended with a 20Km amble around South Oxfordshire towards Abingdon-on-Thames.
Monday – So felt unsure if my knee was just being a bit off or was a real problem. So played it safe and skipped my recovery run. Applied a bit of compression on the day and took things easy – still had to cycle commute to the station and back for work, and spend a day in the office, but otherwise fairly light on the feet.
Tuesday – Foundation Run – 42 minutes in Heart Rate Zone 1 and 2. A gentle run and a good 8+Km. achieved which is normal for me on this run. Good warmup for the week.
Wednesday – Tempo – with 25 minutes in Heart Rate Zone 3, sandwiched between warmup and cool down. I like this, but it’s not overly fast. Its an easily achievable higher effort run as its not flat out and its a shortish duration.
Thursday – Rest Day
Friday – Long Intervals – this. was 5 minute at high effort with 3 minute recovery, repeated 3 times. Again its warmup and cool down. This is much more my kind of run. I like the higher effort runs. In this particular run I got some good Strava segments and some good personal achievements according to Garmin.
Saturday – bit of piste for me. Decided to follow a session plan recommended in the book ‘Running up that hill’ by Vassos Alexander. He quoted that when trying to get a sub 3 marathon he used to run a treadmill session for an hour. This session was 5 minutes at target marathon pace, then 1 minute flat out! For me I targeted 4:17 min.km for half marathon pace and then flat out for me on my treadmill is 16kph (that’s the highest setting I have!).
As for the result of that, I thought it was great. Hard but great. I. got a years best 5K and 10K as well as 1 mile time.
Sunday – Routine long run. Took a route north form home today, bit. of road, then grass followed by gravel path, road again then Thames Footpath. Finally back on tarmac/concrete to the finish. Best part of 20Km distance, 2Hrs and bloody cold!!! First tun with the long sleeves and gloves. When I started it was between 1 and 4C so some extra layers were very much the order of the day!
I also had the pleasure of watching an early morning balloon flight start in Abingdon, some beautiful sunrise over the horizon and some beautifully misty sections of the Thames river.
Next week I’ve not settled exactly on the plan. Probably similar to week 7 before starting to wind in before the Half Marathons. Couple of effort runs and then the final long run on the 15th.
Keep up the good running and training and stay motivated as the Autumn starts to take a hold of the mornings!
RR
Well sad as it may seem, winter is just around the corner and so thoughts start to turn towards changing the plan for what to wear, running with a lighthouse sized lamp strapped to my head and the inevitable challenge of finding both running gloves for each of my three pairs – yes I know 3 and the chance of finding any pair is remote! Anyway this link is from the NHS UK which has some simple reminders for those planning runs over the cooler months.
Happy running 😁
— Read on www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/safe-running-in-winter/
Well training is reaching the final few weeks and so its the last couple of weeks before taper starts. The past week has been a good mix of medium paced intervals, hill sessions and a long trail run, amongst easy recoveries.
Last weeks activities were:
Monday: Recovery run, easy pace morning run. Recovery from weekend long run and get the legs moving for the week
Tuesday: Cruise intervals – Heart Rate Zone 3 intervals. Felt good and nearly. 10Km in 48 minutes – not PB pace but a good pace for a training run
Wednesday: Evening foundation run – little faster than the Recovery – allowing the Hear Rate to push into Zone 2, but still a low effort run, keeping the legs moving.
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: Hills !!! The return of the hills. 9 reps of 1 minute uphill at pace. Really. enjoy this effort session and really managed. some satisfying speeds, keeping up with the progress made in the previous 3 hills sessions
Saturday: Short session today as. the youngest ones decided a super early wake up call was in order. Saturday morning I’m on the Daddy. day care. roll so morning runs are always at. risk. So it proved today. I managed a short 5Km int he evening, which was a good pressure release after a stressful day of over excited kids!! Sometimes you just need an outlet!
Sunday: Long run on The Ridgeway. First time out. on the Ridgeway since Race To. The Stones, Did an out and back route solely on the Ridgeway National Trail route, from a car park near Chilton (by the A34). It. was great. a very early start 6am on the trail! and a fresh cool autumnal feel already there on the 1st September. Got 14 miles on the legs, the trails were as expected, some elevation and some pretty rough terrain underfoot. But. such an enjoyable place to run.
So overall the week was good. I had a more motivated week following last week. That lethargy I suffered last week and mentioned in my update was not there. I was happy getting out, more eager to put the running shoes on and more motivated to train. I guess the post-holiday blues may have been the culprit, but then there are times when its just a bigger struggle some days more than others. So I’m going to put it down to experience. It’ll happen again and I’ll struggle again at times to feel the passion. This week’s it back, so I’ll embrace it.
Next week:
This is. a lower mileage week (Week 7) followed by a normal mileage week (8) then 2 tapering weeks (9 and 10), ending with the Windsor half marathon.
I’m confident of completing but. know a PB in the HM will be challenging. It’s my PB course but. I’m keen to see if I can push it that little bit. Conditions will be part of it, as well as training. I’m in for the challenge – lets see how the next few weeks go!
Let’s be honest we’ve all gone for those longer runs and felt early on that it just isn’t clicking. Normally no reason or warning it just isn’t gonna work today! This article is a nice read about how to deal with those runs that just don’t feel right!
www.runnersworld.com/training/g28801533/how-to-get-through-long-run-reader-tips
Another option for some run challenges. At about 60 miles it’s a good one to try!
Three Castles Path (England) – LDWA Long Distance Paths
Ridgeway Runner 