Tired tired tired

The second run of week three is done and it was a tough one. Yesterday's three miles was okay. Steady and not too tiring. I'd say my rate of perceived exertion is still around four out of ten. That's about right to tally with the book. Today was a different story. My legs felt heavy and tired from the get go and that was hard because I knew it was four mikes today. It was hard to remember to say "but it doesn't matter " after thinking, "here comes that steep bit and my legs are so tired!" But I managed it anyway. It took fifty-three minutes, but I got there.

I thought the GPS on my watch was buggered up when it didn't tell me my time after the first kilometer. It beeped after thirteen minutes. Well, I'm slow, but seriously! So I thought the GPS was running wrong. It wasn't till the second alert that I realized it was running in miles rather than km. Somehow it has reset, which makes sense because the key tones came back again too and I had to get rid of them. Phew! I'd hate to have had to return it. It's no good to me without the GPS. That's what I bought it for.

I wonder if my tiredness was related to my dinner last night. Unexpectedly,  I went out after work to an Indian restaurant and I ate white rice, which I'm not used to these days. I will be eating brown and wild rice when I start to increase my carbs. Maybe the rice sapped me in some way because it's quite processed. Or perhaps the chicken jalfrezi? Though it was quite light and tomato based. Food for thought. I will definitely need to experiment with food long before the actual marathon. I'd hate to eat the wrong thing and have a crapper than necessary run that day.

Up to six miles now

Yesterday was the weekly long run. It's the first time that I've deliberately changed my routine to accommodate it, a sign of things to come for the next few months I think. I would stay at my mum's on a Friday night on a fairly regular basis, but this week I got a late train home instead, so I could get up early the next morning to run.

I was dreading it  in a way. Six miles is twice the distance I'm used to running at the moment, and while I was pretty sure that I could do it, I wasn't sure how well it would go. I was out before 7am,so it was still very dark, which was the plan. I wanted to have it mostly finished before it got too light. I tacked two 5k routes that I do together, and was pretty pleased with the resulting run, though it was weird to start into the second half, knowing I'd already done 5k, and there was 5 more to go.

I'm still not sure how  I will cope with the extreme length of time that the whole distance will take, but I am definitely becoming slightly more relaxed about the whole thing. Baring the boredom  issue, my main concerns at the moment are still the frost in the mornings (there were a few bad patches this morning) and whether a paleo diet is a suitable for marathon training. There's nowt I can do about the frost, but I've read a bit about the food, and I think I'll start eating brown and wild rice in  a week or two, up  my carb intake a bit during training and then a bit more a few days before the actual event. This article really helped How to fuel a marathon- Mark's Daily Apple

Garmin Connect? New toy. Did this work?

Garmin Connect

No Frost!

It was a positively balmy two degrees, no wind and absolutely no frost on my run this morning. Spring-like in fact. Well, maybe that's taking it a bit far, but it was pleasant. I'm thankful for every such morning. It was a three miler today and it went well. Again I was about three kilometers in before I started to fell my legs were tiring. There is consistent progress there. Love that! And that should only continue to improve as my fitness increases and my weight decreases.

The book refers to perceived rate of exertion and asks the runner to rate it from one to ten, one being no effort at all, and says the training shoyld rank somewhere between three and five. I guess I'm in that range. There's definitely effort, but it's far from killing me.

Chapter two talks about a positive outlook on everything and suggests that when a negative though pops up, it be followed with "but it doesn't matter." So I think, "I'm tired...but it doesn't matter." Or "Here comes this hill I hate...but it doesn't matter," or "It's raining...but it doesn't matter," and I run regardless. There are lots of these wee thoughts that occur and "it doesn't matter" deals with them all.

For me, the prevailing thought is fear of the distance. Chapter three suggests that I read the intro of the book again, which explains the success rate of the training programme. Must do that.

And my rubbed heel was fine today. I laced my trainers slightly differently and put on a really good blister plaster.  For good read expensive but it worked so it was worth it.

And So Beginnth Week Two.

I was seriously worried about the weather I would greet on my run this morning. I'm so anxious that frost will curtail my training for the next month or two. As it was, I needn't have worried. There wasn't even a hint of frost anywhere on the route this morning. It was great. And the run itself was good too. Without meaning to, I actually did the five kilometres in just (and I do mean just) under forty minutes. It didn't feel much harder either. Go figure!

Well, that was yesterday. This morning was a four mile run and there was definitely frost on a fair bit of the route, though thankfully nothing that stopped me running. My right heel is still rubbing even when it's swathed in plasters. I will clearly need to find a better way to protect it. It bled today and that would be most unpleasant over twenty-six miles. 

I do wonder if I will be able to stick the boredom of running by myself for so mamy hours. I get pissed off with myself after half an hour! And hill worry me. There are a couple of short steep ones on my regular routes and by the time I'm at the top of them, I'm barely shuffling, never mind running. Still, I know I'm gettig stronger so hopefullt hills will become more manageable,  even the six mile Antrim Road stretch of the marathon route.

I'm also starting to wonder about getting enough carbs for long runs from my paleo eating. I will really have to read up on it.

First Long Run

At this point, the long run isn't much longer than any other, but this is the one run in a week when I need to have a day of recovery before and after it. Today it was five miles, next week it's six, then seven. Of course, I'm not supposed to think any further ahead than the run I'm doing, so enough of that.

I definitely felt an improvement today. Definitely.  And I'm really happy about it. My recent runs have all made my legs really fatigued from the start. That wasn't the case today. I felt relatively comfortable for about the first three kilometers. I then felt even better once I'd hit four km, coz then I was on the downward slope, over halfway there. This is becoming a theme with me. I actually unintentionally speed up on the second half of the run. It's no problem on a five mike run, but it's going to make for a slow, miserable thirteen miles on Marathon Day if I continue like this. 😊

I ran 8.60 km in an hour and ten minutes. At this rate, the marathon will take about six hours. I know at the moment, all I should care about is finishing, and that's what the book says, but I'd like to come in under six hours. There really is no point projectiong into the future.  I don't want to be unrealistically optimistic or go the other way and depress myself. I've no way of knowing how I'm going to be doing a few weeks from now. Already, the difference is brilliant.  A couple of weeks ago it felt as if all my runs would be dogged with heavy legs for the entire distance, and today that proved not to be the case. Even running a full two km more than I'd previously gone was totally doable. So goodness knows how I'll be feeling in a few weeks. (Fingers crossed 😃)

The main thing to worry me this morning was the weather. It was still dark and though cold, nothing base layer didn't deal with. I only ever feel the need for it on the top. My legs are usually fine in capri pants. No, it wasn't the temperature but the frost. There were parts of the pavement that were totally clear, but then there were other parts that were treacherous. Thankfully, for the most part, the street lights showed the slippy patches up. They really sparkled. And the only time I came genuinelt close to slipping was when I'd stopped. There was a bad patch at the marina. I was fortunate enough today,but it was a bit nerve wrecking so I hope this cold spell doesn't last to long. That said, I'm a lot luckier in Bangor than a lot of places are. There's some serious snow about at the moment in more rural areas.

But enough of the Barra Best material. That's fifteen miles done this week and I'm well chuffed. I think early on a Saturday morning is the best time for my weekend long run. It gets it done and there aren't many people about. Plus, it starts the day well. I get up early and have the whole day ahead of me. It's a great start to the day. And I made a big bacon, mushroom and onion omelette for breakfast. Boy did I enjoy that! I even put a photo on Instagram. Better be careful though. I don't want to become too much of a running/marathon bore. 🏃 🏃 🏃

Day Off

It was nice to get up a whole hour later this morning. Mind you, halh six came round quickly. Still, it felt like a lie in :-) The result is that I'm looking forward to my three miles in the morning.

I fell as I was walking to the train after work this evening. Never mind the lose of dignity (did I even possess any?) I'm just glad I didn't hurt myself. Imagine the annoyance if I'd twisted something and couldn't run! That's why I need to be careful if we get any ice or snow. I don't want to slip and banjax myself. Though part of me would be so glad of the excuse.

Day Two And Already I'm Pooped!

I got up fifteen minutes earlier than yeaterday because today's run was scheduled to be four miles. Given that I'm really incredibly slow at the moment, I wanted plenty of time so I could cook breakfast afterwards. 

As runs go, it was okay. It took me to be at nealy 4k before I started enjoying it. I suddenly realized that I had less to run than I'd already done, so I was happier. A serious bummer was my right shoe starting to rub after about two kilometres. It's never done it before and I hope it doesn't become a regular event. They only have about 100 miles on them and I've just paid £120 for a Garmin watch so I don't want to have to buy more shoes for a couple of months. I'd like to get some in about late March so they are well worn in but still fresh enough for the marathon.

It was a decent run but now I am really tired. It was an early start and I didn't really go to bed early enough to accommodate that. Still, I finish work at four today and have no run tomorrw, so I can revive a bit.

Day One!

First run of the official training done! I'm pleased with myself that I got up early, as it would have been a struggle to do it after work and eating out at an Indian restaurant. The weather was very windy, especially the last 1.5 km on the sea front. I think I'll avoid there tomorrow. But it wasn't overly cold. I was tired from the get go though, which disappointed me, given I had a recovery day yesterday and I had quite a good run on Saturday, tiredness wise. Ah well. I felt good afterwards and hopefully it'll get easier as I get lighter and do a few more miles. In a few weeks, a three miler will almost be a wee jaunt.

So it was three miles on the schedule and that's what I ran.

PMA

Tomorrow the training programme begins and I have conflicting feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand, I feel sick every time I think about running twenty-six miles. There's a countdown on the first screen of my Runkeeper app. It currently says 112 days, 11hours and 19 minutes. It goes in to seconds as well. Every time I see it, my stomach lurches. On the other hand, as I stand in the shower after a run, I often consider the last wee bit of the run, in Ormeau Park, and I imagine crossing the finish line and just bursting into tears. Good, really tired tears. That's a nice image.

I know a positive mental attitude is vital to completing this project, so as I rack up the miles and read this book, I'm going to be working on that. The run tomorrow is three miles. This week it's three, four, three and five. Nothing too mental, though it's a while since I ran as much as five miles in one go. Still, the  first two weeks are a gentle beginning.

The training schedule is from the book that I'm reading, "The Non Runner's Marathon Guide,"by Whittset, Dolgener and Kale. I can genuinely see myself being able to complete the first couple of weeks. Even thinking that far ahead is sort of counter to what the book advises. I'm supposed to think just one run at a time. So I will concentrate on tomorrow's three miles. I need to do it before work as I'm going out for a meal after work with my colleagues to an Indian restaurant. I definitely won't be able to run after that. 

Time to get serious.

I am serious about running the marathon, so I have checked out a couple of training programmes. Both of them are sixteen weeks long. I took a couple of weeks off, both sensible eating and running, for Christmas and my sixteen weeks starts on Monday. Hence the title.

I've chosen to follow "The Non Runner's Marathon Guide" based on a college course which takes students from absolute beginner to marathon finisher. The only stipulation is that you be able to run for a full half hour a few times a week and that you do that for two weeks before the sixteen start. This week I've done three miles on three occasions so far. I hope to get out once more before Monday.

In a change ot tact, I have run on a couple of evenings after work. Since I seem to have a bit of a problem getting myself out of bed some, I mean a lot, of mornings, evenings may be the only way to go. I hate that there are loads of people about to see me, especially as I am so fat again, but needs must. I'm sure I'll toughen up to the idea as I get used to it. It really hasn't been too bad so far. When I get to having to do longer runs, early morning might not be the best option anyway. Runs are going to be longer and more tiring. I fell asleep briefly on the train to work this morning as it was, after only 5k!