Category: Reviews

I actually had to go to Strava just now and count the weeks to check that it really was week 9.

So, this week:

Monday- Rest. Sports massage. Cleaning. I felt surprisingly good a day after my 17.6 mile run, but then was ill later on.

Tuesday– Spent the morning sleeping/ having visits to the bathroom. Had toast at lunch and felt a bit better. By the evening fancied some fresh air so had a gentle run across the fields.

Wednesday– Meetings at work.

Thursday– Meetings at work.

Friday– Walk after work.

Saturday– Parkrun. My second fastest time on that course- most of the mud has now dried so it was much easier to grip.

I treated myself to a parkrun hoodie this week- it is so soft and cosy- I love it! From wiggle if anyone else is interested.

Sunday– 20.6 miles.  After a shower, a smoothie and pancakes, we had a short walk (probably less than 2 miles) and the I had an afternoon nap- I really needed it!

3/4 runs completed. Joker played (as I missed the 4th run). Distance target of 20 miles done. Weekly total of 27.6 miles- should have been in the 30’s really. But there are still 5 weeks to go.

Yesterday I was not feeling as good as I felt last Monday- I was really surprised by how little my legs ached the next day last week. But I had to do a bit of foam rolling before I went to work as my legs were so stiff. I have not been hobbling, but if I sit for a long time (eg in meetings) standing up again after is interesting to say the least. I had a walk after work, and then a bath (I remembered the salts this time) and that helped loads.

Thanks for all the comments on the last post- I think that probably the 20 mile training run is the sensible choice- even though it doesn’t start until 9.30am, so I won’t be finished until 1.30pm, and home later as I will have to drive, I think the race day rehearsal, water stations and hopefully good atmosphere will help me more than just going out alone.

Next weekend I only (only) had 12 miles on the plan, but I think I might add to this a bit, so that the 20 the weekend after isn’t such a shock, but I will see how I feel as the week goes on.

It is whizzing by! I managed to panic myself today by clicking on a link from the Brighton marathon- 39 days to go! That does not sound long at all.

So, last week went like this:

Monday– Rest. Had a bath to try and help as my legs were a bit stiff. Noticed the Epsom salts as I got out. Whoops. Must try harder next time.

Monday morning post-half marathon treat= a yummy chai latte

Tuesday– Club run. A new route which ended up being 5 miles (and some did more as they were looping back). Legs felt pretty heavy so just went at a steady rate and chatted.

Wednesday– SRC run. Only 2 of us turned up! The run leader accompanied us on a bike. Originally was going to go further but only just got home in time to make the start, so 4.5 miles was the total.

Thursday– Pump.

Friday– Rest.

Saturday– Parkrun with my dad. He was going to take it easy, so I joked I would try to keep up. It started raining at the start, so we sheltered behind a tree (the wind was making the rain go properly sideways). We had a good catch up on the way around and he even let me cross the finish line first (we got the same time). It was pretty cold and although we both enjoyed it, we were glad to get back to the car. Then I popped home for a shower before we headed over to my parents’ for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent catching up on work.

Sunday– Long run day. I laughed at my plan, as until now it just said the exact number of miles, whereas this weekend it said 17/18 miles. If you had a choice, what would you choose? In the end I mapped out a route that was just over 17 miles, and thought that if I felt OK I could always run up and down the road at the end to make it up. I woke up before my alarm (7am), had a vanilla pulsin’ bar (thanks to Jess for suggesting something more dense than porridge), had some water and then stopped dilly dallying about and just did it. The route ended up being 17.6 miles, and it was so windy that I could not face adding the extra bit on. It was slow- I think I should be doing 11 min miles but it was less than that, but then I think at least I finished. Andy even said when I got home “you don’t look too bad”. And I didn’t have to stop. After walking around town, and having a late lunch I even managed an afternoon nap- I went to lie down and listen to a few more podcasts and then suddenly it was an hour later!

4/4 workouts done, long run distance done (I had put 17 miles in) and 30.2 miles in total.

Next week the joker will be played as I will be at work for a couple of evenings and know I won’t get the 4th run in. I have set my March targets (4 runs per week and long runs of 20/12/20/12, and a time target for one of the 20 milers). Next weekend is a biggie- 20 miles. Eek!

How have the first two months of the year gone for you? If you are doing Jantastic, what distance have you chosen for your time trial? One year I predicted 27 minute 5k, did a parkrun in 27.10, and then realised I had managed to predict 27 hours as my time! I did not score well that time!

Half term seems a long time ago now!

Monday– 16 mile run (due to being away at the weekend). No heating made this not fun at all, because I knew I was coming home to a cold house. 3 + hours, then a visit home for a shower meant that it felt like it took up most of the day.

Tuesday– Rest. Visited some friends, played games and ate cake (and crudites!). Returned home to a warm house- phew.

Wednesday– Waffle House brunch with some friends. 8 mile Sweatshop in the evening. Feeling good.

Thursday– Walking in London (another brunch with another lot of teacher friends). Body Pump was fully booked so did the instructor’s earlier class, Body Conditioning. I remembered while doing it that I used to do that class before I tried pump. Pulled up my leggings and heard a rip- turned out I had ripped the pocket off- I was very worried for a few seconds there!

Friday– 4 mile run- I saw an owl. It was amazing. I was running along and could see this huge white bird sitting on a post. As I got closer it took off and swooped through the trees, and then looped back again. I tried to take some photos, but as soon as I stop running my glasses fog  up, so it was a bit difficult!

In the top right hand corner of the photo you can see the n shape of the owl against one of the trees.

I ran out and back, and as I got back to that part it flew across the path in front of me. Amazing. I went for pancakes at my parents’ house and my dad told me that owls section their hunting ground into quarters and search it very logically, which is what the owl appeared to be doing.

Anyway I was finding it quite tough and that was just what I needed to remind me why I love running.

Saturday– Lots of walking around Brighton.

Sunday– Brighton half marathon! Hooray! And then more walking around the town, and the train stations, and the underground….

So, 4/4 workouts done. Max distance of 16 miles done. Weekly total of 41 miles!

I also had a look and I have run 91 miles in February so far (as the week before last I only managed two short runs)- if all goes to plan I will get over 100 in a month which seems like a big amount to me!

Well, this week did not go to plan. But then they can’t all, can they?

Southwold on Saturday

I had a bit of a cold from the week before, and I was so shattered after that 15 mile run. Monday, as per usual was a rest day. We did have a walk in the evening, as a walk on Sunday afternoon had helped a lot with my legs.

Tuesday– OH run. I was feeling OK- I had packed tissues in preparation, but the air was so cold it felt uncomfortable breathing in. We did an extended version of a route I had done before, and kept doubling back to join back on the end again (I really like that we do this- no-one gets left behind, like in Lilo and Stitch), but it ended up being nearly 5 miles. That final mile was tough as I was really feeling the aches in my legs. When I got home I suddenly felt awful, and after a shower and dinner I fell asleep on the sofa- very unlike me.

Wednesday– I was meant to do 8 miles, but I already knew I wouldn’t do that. Two meetings after work meant I got home late (I could have made SRC with a manic rush) but I had an awful headache and knew it would not be a good idea. So my evening went painkillers, shower, beans on toast, Bake Off on TV.

Thursday– Body pump. I do love this. Still kept to lighter weights. Coughing a bit. Grrr.

Friday– Had planned a short run after work, but I got home too late for that, as we were driving to Suffolk after dinner so I didn’t have time.

Saturday– Lots of walking by the sea and around a couple of towns.

Wonky houses! 

Sunday– A bit more walking. We got home to find that our heating had packed up. I had planned a short run- my long run was pushed to Monday (half term) as I knew we were away. I could not decide what to do, but we still had a little hot water left in the tank so in the end I went for 4 miles and then had the quickest shower ever (thankfully I had some dry shampoo!). Partly I didn’t think that attempting 16 miles after only running once in the week would be that sensible, but also the weather was good and I fancied one after a long car journey.

So, only 8.6 miles completed in total, and 2/4 runs. My distance target was 8, but I didn’t make that either. I played my joker which I think gives you the distance target, and doubles the workouts, so officially I am still on 100%.

I can’t believe Jantastic is half way to being completed! This week I need to think about my aim for the Brighton half. Last time I ran it (in 2013) I did it in 2.12 which was a pb for me- I was aiming to hang on to the 2.15 pacers so I was very pleased. But since then I have run faster twice- 2.10 in St Albans (also 2013- a very hilly course though) and then in 2014 I did 2.06 at Bath- I felt awful that day though. So the sensible thing would be to aim for a course pb, but then I do feel like if I managed 2.10 on a hilly course, then I should be capable of that on a much flatter course. We shall see.

Treats for me! Toffee apple curd (I do love an interesting curd flavour), lemon+ passionfruit, and lime + mint, plus some peanut butter chocolate, and salted caramel peanut chocolate (from Gnaw-folk/ Norfolk…). Andy bought himself some beers from the Adnams brewery so it’s all fair!

Where do you like to go for the weekend? How is Jantastic going for you? 

So the old school marathon talk listeners might remember the first year of Jantastic. After the first month they carried it on and called it Febulous, and then came Marchvellous- before they decided that was long enough! Anyway, month 2 means that you select your workouts per week, and also include the distance of your longest workout each week.

Now, I can’t work out how to view them, but for the first week I had to run 15 miles as my longest of 4 runs, as per my training plan. Next week I didn’t choose such a long run because we are away for the weekend, so my long run will actually be on the Monday of the following week (half term).

This week:

Monday– Rest day. I considered a walk when I got home, but my cold was pretty bad- my sinuses were sore and my teeth and eyes were aching, so I opted for PJ’s on in front of the TV instead.

Tuesday– Club run. We did 4 miles- mostly chatting with another member- it was so cold at first it was hard to breathe or feel your legs!

Wednesday– I opted out of SRC as I still had my cold so didn’t fancy trying to keep up with the others, plus there was the option of cutting it short if I needed to. 5 miles was on the plan, and 5 miles was completed, again in the cold. Kept a pretty good pace too (just over 10min miles). I wanted to be home a bit earlier too, as my eye had been a bit sticky- I initially thought it was down to doing some Vicks bowls, but then I thought it was more like conjunctivitis. It said on NHS direct that you could go to a pharmacist, and there was one open until 9, so we went along and I was given some antibiotic eye drops- much easier than the time I got it before and had to wait at the doctors for a few hours until they had a gap in appointments.

Thursday– Hooray- booked onto pump. Kept my squats and back weights a bit lower, which I think is better for me at the moment.

Friday– Rest. Had a walk after work.

Saturday– Went to parkrun with my dad and brother (I realised I had forgotten my barcode so Dad had to turn around and drive home, so by the time we parked we had to jog to the start). I played a game of “catch the person in front” and didn’t look at my watch at all. It seemed to work, as I was very surprised to see 28-something in my watch as I crossed the finish line! All 3 of us got course pb’s! 28.35 for me- the fastest on that course and it is a hilly one! Perhaps a jog to the start is the way forward?

Buckwheat pancakes, blueberries (mostly hidden under the pancakes) and that amazing vegan butterscotch sauce to celebrate a pb! Woohoo!

Sunday– 15 miles. I need to start having breakfast before I go I think. But I couldn’t decide on anything, so took some dates with me, and ended up forgetting and eating them during the final mile. The run was OK, but I got quite stiff towards the end. Plus the weather was weird- sunny (not complaining about that) but really cold- you could see your breath the whole way around. So I got very sweaty but stayed really cold. Quite strange really. After my shower I got back into my PJ’s (could not decide what to wear), and had a lovely coconut drink (Chi chocolate coconut milk) while I cooked French toast, which I had with a banana and blueberries and sauce. I was going to laze about, but then of course active recovery is best, so we had a 2 mile walk in the sunshine.

So another successful week. 27.3 miles, only one more than last week but that was down to my cold in part. I do have a task for this week though- to actually plan something to eat before a long run- I know I need to start trying things, but I feel so much better running on an empty stomach, so at the moment I don’t have that motivation. So you can all tell me off if I don’t do it next week.

Do you have a good pre-run routine? I tried porridge for a bit, or toast, and sometimes have a clif bar before a race, but I can’t settle on something that I really like.