Erm, it's been a while hasn't it?? I've not forgotten, just not got around to it. Must get myself one of those, a round tuit. Be quite useful I think.
Anyway, the good news is, whilst I haven't exactly been writing about it, I have been actually doing it. Running, that is. Out of all my scheduled training sessions in the last couple of months I have only missed 2. Which given the ramblings in my last post is quite remarkable really.
First thing I would like to crow about is that I did take my running stuff to Isle of Wight Festival. And I did use it. And not just because I'd run out of clean clothes either! I took to the streets early on the Friday morning. It wasn't the greatest run I have ever tackled as I did have a few scoops on Thursday night and I was rather tired. I did manage 3 miles though and once I'd had a drink of water I felt quite good. There was only one outing. It's just not good running after a skinful. Or in mud that would have gone up past my ankles. But at least I managed one. It was rather amusing though, being out on the streets of Newport at 7 o clock that morning. I was having to dodge past people staggering up the street from the night before. Quite a few of them. And they all looked at me like I was the nutter!
Next thing - I am now running 10k fairly comfortably and in reasonable time too. My first outing I managed it in 57min 51 sec. This week I cut that down to 56 min 5 sec. I am starting to think that I might actually manage to pull this off! Even though the half marathon is more than double this distance, to think that I was panting like an asthmatic, chain-smoking ant just running to the post box round the corner a few months back is quite encouraging when I look at what I can achieve today.
I have to confess that I have succumbed to another gadget though. I got myself (or rather Mr Lawson got me) a Garmin Forerunner watch with heart rate monitor and GPS. It's fecking amazing! Most crucially, it tells me how far I've gone and how fast. I was previously guessing my distances based on my time, assuming I was clocking up roughly a mile every 10 mins. I was fairly pleased to find that although my distances were fairly close to what I thought (I tested them out in the car too) but my speed was a little faster. I am now getting close to 9 minute miles. Whilst it did cost a few quid it really is a brilliant piece of kit. When you get back you plug it in to the computer and it shows you a map of where you have been and a breakdown of your heart rate and your timings (also elevation but that's pretty useless given that I live in the Fens. It's a flat line!) so you can really easily compare your times and work out your strategies.
Yes, I really said work out strategies. If you thought, as I did, that you just train a lot, shove your trainers on, have a gulp of lucozade and cross your fingers that you can last for 13.2 miles then you are, as I was, mistaken. I am sure that some people do do that but this whole thing has completely taken over my life. If I am not out running (and lets face it, it feels like I'm doing a lot but in terms of time spent, it works out at the moment to be about 2.5 hours a week actual running activity) then I am reading about it - I bought Paula Radcliffe's book 'How To Run' (I figured she knows her onions) and I also subscribe to Women's Running magazine. Is there any need for a separate mag for women? Given that they discuss such burning issues as how to make your bum smaller and which sports bras are best for the larger of knocker then I would say definitely there is a need. And it's really informative. If I'm not reading about running then I am looking up my stats on my Garmin page, working out how much time I might be able shave off my next 10k. If I'm not doing that then I'm looking for the best 10k to half marathon plan to suit me when my current training plan ends in 10 days. Trouble is, they are starting to look far more serious now, '15 minute easy run' is being replaced by '50 mins steady run' or '40 mins fartlek'. And what has happened to my 3 rest days?? Looks like I'm only going to get one from now on. Still, looking on the bright side, the side effects of all this are AWESOME! I could have sworn I saw a bit of muscle definition in my midriff area (when did it become a core??) the other day. Whilst I don't weigh much less than when I started I am most definitely smaller. Result!
Anyway, I am resolving to keep more up to date with my blogs from now. I think about what I am going to write when I'm running, it just rarely gets transferred on to virtual paper. If only there were an app for that! Second thoughts, I'm not sure I would like my thoughts directly downloaded.....
Until next week then!
J xx
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