Sunday Stats
It’s been a decent week of running, topped of with a 10K PB on Sunday!
First though, this week:
- I ran 25.98 miles
- At an average pace of 9.17
- with a total ascent of 2,425ft
The weekly total would have been 28 miles, however I had to cut the Wednesday run short. It was snowing heavily, so I couldn’t see much more than my feet. That and my legs were feeling heavy from speed work the previous day. Not to worry though, the weekend brought some great running!
Firstly, I felt oddly fresh on Saturday. I kept an 8.40 pace over 4 miles without feeling out of breath or tired at all. It was meant to be a slower, easy run.
On Sunday, the training plan called for a 10k race (1mile warm up and cool down either side) with a sub 50 minute target time. I wasn’t entered into any races so I mapped out a 6.21 (actually ended up 6.23) mile route and set at it.
1 mile jog to warm things up then straight into the 10K circuit. I picked up the pace, which knackered me out pretty quickly. You can see from the elevation profile below the first mile or so was pretty hilly.
It was tough but I managed to settle into a rhythm. Although I was pushing hard I did start to doubt I would make sub 50. I thought possibly 52 mins. Mile 4 – 5 helped me get some energy back in the down hill section which I would need for the last big hill on mile 5
In the last 3/4 of a mile I realised i might do it. The old legs pumped as hard as they could – I even told myself ‘come on’ out loud.
I eventually hit the 10K mark, looked at my watch and I had done it! 49 minutes 46 seconds! A sub 50 minute 10K!
Get in!
Until next time. Happy running
Running in Barcelona
What can I say. It is such a beautiful city to run in, especially around the Marina and along the beach.
I logged all 3 of the Barcelona runs, including maps, at Dailymile.com: Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday.
On Sunday the 14th Feb I embarked on, what I hoped, would be an 8 mile long run. I’m glad to say I managed 7.5miles and only got lost once! That was the first time I had ever seen the beach front or the Marina. During the day it was full of life. Busy yet very tranquil at the same time.
Since I had a few more runs planned for the week, it was on the agenda to get back to the beach for a morning run. Myself and a work colleague aimed for the beach on the Wednesday (17th), however, we didn’t take the correct turning and ended up heading down a main road towards a housing area. Still a good run though.
The next day I headed out, this time taking care to think about which direction to go in. I had to stop a few times to get my bearings but it was worth the slight worry about getting lost on my own in the early hours.
After setting off from the apartment on Las Ramblas, my first port of call was the marina. In the picture below you can see (from left to right) the retractable bridge called Rambla del Mar, Hotel W and a large cruise ship. This picture was taken around 7.20am. The sun is only just beginning to bring an orangey glow to the horizon.
Around quarter of a mile up from where this picture was taken I took a right along the Marina next to the Palau De Mar. The right turn we should have taken the day before! Not long after, I reached the beach.
It was amazing!
The sun was rising. Hardly a soul around except for the occasional runner. In contrast to parts of the city less than a mile away, it was so quiet. Only the sound of the waves gentle crashing against the shore filled the air. I stopped for about a minute just to take it all in. I remembered to take some more pictures too, which I’ll finish the post on. The 3 images were taken from the same position; the first facing to my left, the second straight ahead, and the third facing right. Stunning.
Sunday Stats
It has been 2 weeks since the last Sunday Stats post but what a 2 weeks it has been. I’ve been fortunate enough to notch up around 16 miles in the beautiful city of Barcelona, including a stunning run along the beach while the sun was rising over the Med!
So, over the last 2 weeks:
- I ran 43.34 miles
- At an average pace of 9.09
- with a total ascent of 4239ft
I pretty much managed to stick to the Marathon Training plan over the last fortnight with 2 exceptions. I missed a 4 mile run on Saturday 13th Feb and some speed work on Tuesday 16th Feb. I missed the Saturday run because i had to be up quite early for the flight out to Barcelona. Then, I missed the Tuesday run because of lack of sleep on Monday night. Unfortunately boozing and having a great time in Barcelona was not to blame. Instead, street noise and alarms going off woke me up a lot.
My work outs have all gone pretty well. No niggles or pain. The best runs the last two weeks were obviously the exploration of Barcelona. I have some pictures and I’ll do a separate post on them soon.
The last two runs this week (Saturday & Sunday) have been back home. Cold!!
Today’s long run run was a slow 9 miler. A cold bath afterwards felt great. We ended up going for a 5.5mile walk in the afternoon, which probably wasn’t a good idea as my legs feel a bit stiff and tight now. A bit of stretching may be required.
That’s all for today I think. Happy running!
Marathon Training Plan
It’s taken a while. But finally, 1.5 weeks into it, I’m ready to do a post on my ‘adventurous’ Marathon training plan. It looks a tough one, hopefully I’ll cope and not curl up into a ball and cry half way through because it has gotten the better of me.
Define Adventurous
Last year I completed the Edinburgh Marathon, stumbling across the line with a time of 5:19. While I’m glad I made it round when I should have (according to my physio) made an early exit, I wasn’t too happy with the time.
To you adventurous might and probably does mean something different to me. Adventurous for yours truly means I’m embarking on a heavy training plan that will hopefully get me round the Edinburgh Marathon in a sub 4 hour time.
At the moment my personal best for a half marathon distance is 1:59:48 in training (Dec 09) and 2:02:19 in an official race (Sept 08). So, you see right there that achieving a 4 hour or less Marathon time is going to require a bit of work.
The Plan
Firstly, I should mention where I got the training plan from. You didn’t think I came up with it myself now did you?!
The training plan was taken from Runners World UK’s series of Ultimate Marathon Training Plans. I think these plans are Subscriber content only, so if you hit the link you’ll have to log in to see them (if you have a subscription to RW that is). The plans are provided in plain text format – I worked my magic and put it into a spreadsheet, colour coding to my hearts content.
Sub 4 Hour Marathon Training Plan:
As you can see from the image above it’s predominantly made up of slow and easy runs with midweek speed work, tempo and some Hill & Fartlek thrown in for good measure.
There are 3 races scheduled in the plan. Only thing is, I’m not signed up to do any races on those dates yet. At the end of last year I did sign up to a Half Marathon, however, it falls on week 6 (13 mile slow run). Should I still run it? At the moment i’m thinking yes but just stick to running it at the planned pace but your thoughts would be appreciated.
As for the other race slots, if I can’t find any local races to enter, for Half Marathon distance anyway, I’ll run the Glasgow to Kilmarnock route I planned and ran a few months ago. As for the 10K in week 4. I’m still looking.
Feed Me
There is a lot of running to be done. I already have a (kind of) healthy diet but I’m going to need a supplement to aid recovery. Protein for muscle tissue repair and carbs to help top up my Glycine levels after a run.
Thanks to two awesome Twitter friends, supplement suggestions were quickly fired at me.
Firstly I looked at Lucozade Sport Recovery Powder. It has decent levels of Protein & Carbs at £10 for a 10 serving tup. A price I was willing to pay. However, @leslie1976 suggested having a Frijj after every run. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a fun packaged thick milkshake. I would never have thought of it as a supplement but, as he kindly pointed out, it contains the same amount of protein and roughly the same amount of carbs (and only 3% fat) as the Lucozade recovery powder.
Next, @runningfairy suggested using Promax Diet. A more technical approach than the Frijj but worth a look. I had a look around their website and saw they offer a recovery powder called Recovermax. A little pricier than those mention above but worth a try I think.
Just now, for easy acess, I bought some Frijj to take after this weeks runs. Next week I’ll try the Lucozade recovery powder and after that I’ll try and get my hands on some Recovermax.
In addition to taking supplements to aid recovery I’ll also indulge in Ice Baths, well more like really cold baths. I had one after a run the other day and felt the benefit the next day so it must be ok. Plus, if it’s good enough for pro sports men and women then it’s good enough for me, lol.
Again though, thanks to @runningfairy and @leslie1976 for their advice.
That’s It
So there you have it. Do you care? At best, probably not. That’s far from the reason I posted this though. I posted it because if it’s up here, where people can see it, then I have to do it.
It’s a way to motivate me. Pretty much what the blog as a whole is for to be honest, motivation.
If it does interest you and you decide to use this plan for yourself at some point, let me know how you get on with it. I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Right, I’m off for a run…
Neti Pot [Videos]
I used a Neti Pot for the first time last week. It’s pretty good. Leaves you feeling really clear. Doing it though is odd. It’s a really bizarre feeling. Almost wrong, but somehow right.
Anyway, rather than bore you with the benefits of using a Neti Pot (of which there are many), I did what any person would do. I search YouTube for demo videos. Some funny ones below.
If you’re in the market for a Neti Pot, even after seeing the videos, I got mine at http://www.netipot.co.uk/ give them a look.
Ice Bath
That ice bath yesterday seems to have done the trick. My legs are feeling pretty good today. Better than I expected after 3 days straight running.
I read up on it after I had the the bath yesterday. Quite interesting how it rids your muscles of debris, lactic acid and what not.
So, the outcome seems to be I think I can get past the feeling of sheer stabbing cold if it helps this much.
Yay for for science!
Sunday Stats
I think I got a bit carried away this week. I did a lot of miles (for me). But, i’m not apologising. Before we go any further though,
This week:
- I ran 24.19 miles
- At an average pace of 9.32
- with a total ascent of 2107ft
As I was saying, I think I got a bit carried away. It felt pretty good, I had a great run on Wednesday and I don’t feel tired or sore.
There may be a couple of reasons behind why I got carried away. 1) I started my ‘adventurous’ marathon training schedule, and 2) I took up a ’100 miles in February’ challenge on Daily Mile.
These two influences alone have really motivated me. However, although the miles have increased significantly, I’ve been cautious. Slow or easy runs only. No speed work and no tempo, just slow/easy runs for the next couple of weeks.
In a bid to stay injury free, today saw my first ice bath after a long run. I lasted about 5 mins. To say it was uncomfortable is an understatement but I plan on introducing a cold bath into my post run routine at least twice a week. No pain, no gain as they say.
Next week sees much of the same in my schedule – 5 days running. But, and this is a big but, I’m working away the week after. I leave on Saturday so I’ve no idea where or how i’m going to do my long run next Sunday or the midweek runs that follow since the crappy hotel doesn’t have a gym. It also means no Sunday Stats next week either.
I’ll try and post some updates though.
Until next time, happy running!
When Was the Last Time You Felt Great Running?
It’s been a while since I even considered that question. Mostly because I haven’t felt great running for a couple of months. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve felt good but I haven’t felt great.
This morning was a different story though. My alarm went off at 5.20am. I woke up straight away (no snoozing for 5/10mins) and got out of bed. I got changed into my running gear. It looked cold outside so I put on and extra T on top of my base layer (as well as my long sleeve & jacket). I even had half a slice of toast with a lot of honey and a little water before heading out.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that waking up and getting ready went pretty smoothly.
The run itself was great. It was crisp outside (-4c according to Accuweather), quiet, moonlit and generally nicer than usual. I ran just over 5 miles. Felt like I could have run a few more to be honest.
All in all, it felt great this morning. Why though? There wasn’t much difference to my usual morning run. Maybe a little fresher when i woke up but i ran the same route and saw the same people. Wonder if waking up fresh is what made it.
When was the last time you had a great run? hopefully you have great runs a lot. Let me know though, would be nice to hear your stories.
DailyMile updates
- Paul posted a workout May 14, 2012
- Paul posted a workout April 28, 2012
- Paul posted a workout April 6, 2012
- Paul posted a workout April 4, 2012
- Paul posted a workout March 28, 2012
