sinj's running foolishness 2007

Treadmill - 5 miles. Legs sore after long run yesterday and definitely feeling under the weather.

Disaster! Have caught a nasty chest cold after the run in Richmond Park last week in horrible weather. Have missed 24 miles of running over the weekend.

Today is the first day that I feel human again so I ventured out for a gentle run (40 minutes). Quite comfortable but feel a little weak afterwards (soon to be rectified with some comfort food). Planning to make up for my missed long run tomorrow if I am feeling stronger. If not, Thursday, and I have a half-marathon race on Sunday (Hastings)...

frustrating being ill when I just want to RUN and keep to my programme. I know all the advice is to STOP and do nothing, but it is annoying feeling like progress is slipping away :(

new route round the park today (Richmond Park, that is) that takes in Kingston Hill and Kingston Vale. I'm still only 95% so found the hills hard. Glad I got out though - definitely on the up.

NOW we're talking. Feeling MUCH better today so went for my familiar home loop (working from home today).

Felt really good and flew round (if you can call my plod flying).

Got my fastest ever time (54m) on the route and feel revitalised.

Have got 1/2 marathon race on Sunday and am now looking forward to it, rather than dreading it (as I was a couple of days ago).

Thanks Sasha for the valuable advice the other day :)

Simon

Pushed for time this week as we're going down to my mum an dad's for the weekend for the Hastings Half Marathon tomorrow. Up early and out for my normal loop (6.7) which was fine, but not as good as Thursday. 57m.

Still have 5% chest cough. Annoying but not affecting running.

Having been unwell and missed some training, plus having trained quite hard this week I wasn't expecting great things, but once I got down to Hastings seafront I had a good feeling about the race.

The weather was beautiful and having done the route before I felt very comfortable. The first 5 miles is steep uphill and then the remainder of the race is downhill or level on the whole.

Didn't push too hard but still did my planned marathon pace comfortably on the uphills and faster on the downhills so came in at a time >5m faster than before.

Very happy :)

(then to pub with family for smashing pub lunch and a guinness!!!)

The Doctor has given me some antibiotics to clear out the last of the devil from my lungs. She also gave me permission to keep training as long as I felt well - which I do! She also carried out a general asthma check and was VERY pleased with my improvement/progress which I guess is as a result of my fitness training and lifestyle changes. All good.

because of the asthma thing i'm running the marathon for Asthma UK, so if you're reading this and can spare a dollar or two, please sponsor me via http://www.justgiving.com/simonpowell2007

today's run was relaxed. A bit sore after my race on Sunday but good. 40mins.

Stuck to the treadmill today due to the inclement weather and my cough.

62m. Treadmill is dull :)

relaxed run out in the sunshine. goodish pace, around 38 minutes

gentle run in preparation for the big two-o tomorrow. Took it very steady. 41m

Today is the big day - Twenty miles. Weather warnings have been out and we were expecting sleet, snow and strong winds. Well, one out of three isn't bad  - it was very windy but still sunny in the morning when we did our run.

3 hours and 5 mins for (at least) 20 miles - very happy. The last 3 miles were tough, which is what you would expect, given that it is new territory for me.

Very happy with progress and the fact that I appear to be "back on the bike"...

Quick plod on the treadmill. Surprisingly straightfoward after Sunday's 20. 40 minutes at fixed pace. I find these sessions useful only for trying to guage what a steady pace is.

My treadmill sessions are usually at 12 km/hr and my target marathon pace is slower than this - so I like to get a feel for this and then ease slightly under it for outdoor sessions so I am very comfortable on the LSRs.

On a real high at the moment knowing that I have broken the back of my training plan ;)

Hilly route through Richmond park with Roger. Legs heavy after all the miles mounting up over the last week. Will be glad of my day off on Friday!

Lighter weekend too ahead with just an 8 and a 12 on my program. Can't believe I think a 12 mile run is light!!!!!

went to football on Thursday (too risky - definitely the last time before the race) so decided to do my 5m today. Did a treadmill run and introduced lots of incline intervals which made it more interesting (and tougher) than usual. Still stuck to 8m pace.

40m

a frosty run this afternoon. Very chilly, but i have a lovely new Nike windcheater jacket thing which is great. Three runs on the trot over the weekend is going to be hard. I also (boo hiss) had a beer at lunchtime *before* my run which is a stupid idea and I could definitely feel the effect (probably 50% psychological!)

1hr 18min.

Third day on the trot - have had visitors all weekend so had to wait for them to leave before setting off. More pleasant than yesterday but third day in a row means quite heavy-legged. Second half picked up and felt quite fresh at the finish.

All routes near my house are hilly, so my local times are always slower than flat routes/races so I'm still optimistic about that 4 hour time on the 22nd.

Less than a month to go!

slightly sore hip and knee after the 12 on Sunday so skipped a day on Tuesday. Did a nice lap of the park today in the spring sunshine - very nice :)

still a little pain in the knee. Hip OK.

1:20, 9.2 miles

quick run on the treadmill. I have my last LLSR on Sunday (20 m) so I want to keep myself prepared for that, but not aggravate this knee/hip niggle. They're now reduced to the odd twinge when I'm NOT running. The run was fine - very gentle.

40mins, 5 miles.

I have a 5 on Saturday before the 20 which I may or may not do depending on these slight niggles. I think after 16 weeks of increasingly intense training my body is starting to protest a little!!

S

Pacey, easy run to prepare for Sunday's long one. Very nice :) 5 miles in around 40 mins...