Run like the Wind…

Today officially marks the beginning of my Marathon training. I have 4 months to get into shape to complete my second 26.2 miler. Not the most inspiring of starts. The weather is pretty dull, grey and cold, and my ipod failed me. Usually I wouldn’t mind but I hadn’t planned a particularly exciting route, so I was looking forward to zoning out a bit. Anyway, I had set myself the mission of doing a pick up on my run. A couple of weeks back, I went to a pottery painting thing with my cousin, where I painted a rather handsome mug. Not knowing when I was next going to be in Greenwich I decided I should pick it up mid run. A little challenging running back with a mug in my right hand, but my run had had a second purpose, and I felt good because of it. I ran 8 miles, at around 9min mile pace. I need to do some sums and decide what my marathon pace is going to be, as I know my longer runs should be run at around a minute slower than this. So I guess 8min mile Marathon. This gives me a straight 3:49 to aim for. However my last Marathon I ran a 3:51, with what felt like a little extra left in the tank. So perhaps I need to have a rethink and step up the challenge a bit….

Tuesday’s session was tough. Tom took us to Primrose hill where we did 7min at threshold pace up and down the hill, followed by   5min, 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min at increasing speed, with 1min rest in between. It was v. tough! To try and push that little bit faster come 2mins, yuk. I was feeling a bit coldy, so was pretty wiped out afterwards. Writing this two days later, I was supposed to be running tonight but I’m going to skip, I feel too gross. I think I better start proper training this weekend… help. No time for colds then.

Wish I had been wearing my heart rate monitor for this one.

Thought I better aim for a long run today. I managed 7 miles. Wasn’t the easiest run, although looking at the stats I seem to have sped up. I need to get back in the habit of making sure my long runs are consistent.

First track session for a long time – ouch. I felt very slow.

Feeling a bit sluggish at the moment, but I made myself take part in one of the speed sessions tonight at Chasers. It involved 2 x 5 min 1/2 marathon pace intervals, followed by 8 x 1min (in 4th gear?!) with decreasing recovery times. It was pretty tough, but I like taking part in these sessions as you have no choice but to push yourself. You can see below, on the HR graph, how my heart recovered less and less in correspondence with the 8x1min reps. Getting closer and closer to starting training, yikes..

Plans for this evening so I got up this morning for a run. It was 7am and it’s still dark this time of year. Not the most interesting run, but I ran to the viewing point in Greenwich Park and stopped for a moment to admire the skyscape lit up. I had my headphones in and as I ran back toward Blackheath the sun had begun to rise – it was cloudy but you could see strips of orange where it had succeeded in breaking through. I really enjoy this time of day  – it’s hard to explain – it feels almost secret – as if people haven’t yet caught on that its the perfect time to observe the world and steal some thinking space.

First run back with the Chasers. Fork I was slow, puffed out and wobbly – and wobbly not just in my legs. It can only get better, no? I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time for a long time tonight. I’m interested to see how it changes the more I train.

My T shirt arrived last night. It is rather nice.

Back to Chasers tonight – I haven’t been in over a month! One could say my training starts now… I’m not feeling 100% (sore throat) so I’m hoping to do a fairly easy Madam Tussuads run. I began doing some strength exercises last night – something which I need to  keep up throughout training to make sure my hips don’t play up.

I’ve decided to cut out useful recipes and stretch info etc from my backlist collection of runnersworld, and keep them in a folder. I am a full nerd.

New trainer day today. Sadly my feet don’t lend themselves to the aforementioned Nike trainers. Instead, because of narrowness and a slight over pronation I had to settle for some Asics. Fine by me, but just not quite as sexy as the purple Nike’s. Another short one with Ray tonight. Back to club next week, once I’m back at work. Will also continue with my lunch runs. I’m hoping I can fit my training runs into early mornings and lunchtimes a bit more this time, so I can reserve evenings for work and chill out time. My new trainers are an 8.5 – half a size bigger than usual, and one of my feet is bigger than the other. Interesting.

The sun was out, so we went for a gentle run to the park.