Easy like Tuesday morning

I was in bed at 8.30pm last night, unheard of. I was so exhausted on the way home from work and feeling really nauseous, so I thought a very early night followed by an early morning might help. I woke up naturally around 5am and stayed in bed lounging until about 6.30, very nice. My back is still fairly stiff and sore, and I didn't want to aggravate it.

I did 2.1 miles in 24 minutes today, a pace of 11.25, so slower than I normally run but this was a recovery day and eeeeeverything hurt. My right calf and knee were achy most of the way around, left heel joined in for a moment, my arms felt like lead. I was in my new Inov-8s so inevitably my feet started aching too. It was just one big ball of ache :-) On the plus side, a) I did it and b) I was barely out of breath at all - enough to sing along to the music playing on my iPhone for most of the time.

Time for a hot and cold shower and off to work. I think I'll try running in the evening tomorrow and see if the extra 8 hours' difference helps in terms of recovery time.

UPDATE: the reason the run was so crappy became apparent at about midday when I came down with a streaming cold. I'm tackling it with Vick's First Defence and Sudafed max strength, which is really helping me through the work day. If I feel okay then I'm running Thursday; if underpar then I'm going to save myself for the race on Saturday. Fingers crossed it's the former!

Week in review, 1 - 8 July 2012

This week I have run approximately 13 miles (didn't chart milage for Monday's nasty attempt but it was around the 3 mile mark) and run four days. I've tried out some new kit (Mizuno top, nice, Zoot tights, nice, Inov-8 shoes, nice but will need some breaking in). I've tried some new routes, now incorporating Herne Hill, and played Zombies with both interval runs and as a long run to collect items to open up new missions. I've sorted out some decent tunes to run to. I've also finally worked out how to stretch correctly and this is, I hope, going to make a difference to my run recovery.

On the downside, I had a horrible Monday run due to nasty hangover; my right knee in particular has been a bit painful, although nothing run-stoppingly bad. I am a bit worried because after showering from my run (using cold water on my legs as recommended by... someone) I twisted my back which did the heartstopping sharp pain thing. I hope it'll go after a proper night's sleep.

So my hopes for next week are:

1. Run intervals on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings
2. Sort myself out a personal best for my 5k on Saturday :)
3. Go long on Sunday - hopefully take it to the five mile mark

I stepped on the scales at 193.75lbs this morning; it'd be an achievement to step on the scales to 192 next Sunday. I need to be better/more careful about food intake this week as well as drinking less booze. Socially, there's the FNM gig on Tuesday night which won't be a big drinking night, and although I'm out with Hani and the cousins on Friday night, the run the next day should keep me focused on minimising the intake. George and Eoin are over Saturday night and then there's the meal with all the guys on Sunday evening. Let's see!

Progress towards goals:

18.25lbs down, 34.75lbs to go.
Hips down from 42" to 39", would like to reduce by another inch to 38"
Waist down from 38' to 35", would like to reduce by another 5 inches to 30"
Bust down from 44" to 39", would like to reduce by another 4 inches to 35"

Am just over one third of the way there.

I went LOOOOONG!

I didn't really fancy it this morning. It was cool (about 16 degrees), drizzly and I was hungover from the BBQ yesterday. However - once I got out there, the drizzle was lovely and cooling. I stuck on Zombies but removed the chase element, which was great, and added a different dimension to the run. I did 4.14 miles in 46.45, making it an 11.16 pace which is about right for my longest run :) Nice route too, down to Gipsy Hill, round the back of Dulwich College, through Dulwich Village, down to Herne Hill and then back along Rosendale Road, finishing at the pub. Ace. Time for stretches!

Cross training

Oh man it is tipping it down here in south east London. So much so our bathroom ceiling is leaking, which is definitely not good.

The rain was making me ponder whether it was worth fitting in a fourth this week; my slightly drink-impaired conclusion was that if it's drizzly or dry tomorrow, I'll try and fit in an easy run (treating today as my hard/long) followed by a long session in the pool, and if it's continuing to come down in biblical proportions then I'll just head straight to the pool and try and swim further than I've gone before. I've now done two 1250m swims and haven't swum in a couple of weeks; if there's no easy run then it's 1500m for me, moving up from 50 to 60 lengths. I also kind of don't want to piss on my own parade for what was a great run today - having a shitty run tomorrow (and I've drunk a lot today at the family BBQ so it's not going to best today) would be somewhat disheartening. Interesting how much my mental attitude matters with training. Training for what is the real question; wedding day or real life?

Ace run

Lovely, lovely run today. I did a 3.2 mile, 5k bounce around West Dulwich in my trendy new togs - Inov-8 225s and a pink Mizuno bib and new longer running tights. Getting used to the shoes will be a process I think, they were pretty comfy but about halfway around my right heel began to ache a little underneath. It went away again but was aching at the back by the end of the run, and my right calf felt a little tight too. However, I ran that mother in 35 minutes at a 10.56 pace which is, I believe, my fastest run to date :) I also evaded three zombies and completed mission 3 :) The weather was great too - 18 degrees, cloudy, with a cloudburst at the 21/4 mile mark which was nice and refreshing. Groovy!

Rethinking training plan

Much, much better run at lunchtime again today, running in 22 degree heat. The blue singlet/knee length short combo is working well now. I ran 2.68 miles in 30 minutes, making it an 11.13 minute mile run which for me is a good increase in speed. Because... I've gone back to Zombies, Run! It made such an impact on my aerobic comfort doing a long one after a couple of sessions of this and I think that is what I should be working on rather than distance, or rather a combination of the two, in the run up to half marathon training. If I do 2 x Zombies, Run! 30 minute interval sessions and one longer run a week, going up in five minute increments, I should be easily running 3 miles twice a week and four once at the start of the programme which is where I'm aiming for. I can keep playing Zombies on my Tuesday runs when I start, too, which I think will help keep me motivated. Very sweaty though, that's what I get for running at lunchtime.

Also - yippee! Have definitely broken the 14st plateau with a very creditable 13st 12.55lbs today! This is a mere 194lbs :)

Spoke too soon

Because today's run was horrible. I did have a hangover which didn't help - I am going to have to massively cut back on the alcohol if I want to make this work. I did 1 x 20 min run with a short walk break (and loo break - note to self, the Crown and Greyhound only has hot water in the ladies, disgusting to drink) then another 10 minutes - it was meant to be 20 but I just ran out of energy. I think it's also partly in my head - my chest wasn't aching and my legs felt fine, I just felt blergh. I also then had a mammoth walk home from North Dulwich as I'd run so far out of the way. Better luck next time...