My January total of runs now equals November and December. I'm finding two runs a week sensible to manage, plus my cross training. Circumstances conspired against my usual activities so I headed out for a short, quick run, and short and quick it was! I did my fitness test loop and got a PB of 00:10:34 for a 1.34 mile run. That's 4 minutes quicker than last year. Back in 2008, before there were two twinkles in my eyes, I did it in 18+ minutes with a mixture of running to a lamp post and panting to the next.
Since the HM, my runs have been fairly short, usually around the 30-40 minute mark, so I felt it was time to go for the hour / 6 mile zone, and I did! I've changed my pre run preparation as I've noticed that dairy seems to have inconvenient side effects, so today I went for an energy drink which seemed to give the right amount of fuel for the job without creating too much digestive work. My energy remained good, and I managed to maintain a good pace of running without burning out or needing to walk like usual, and that had a really positive effect on my pace. Most of my miles had a pace of 10 mins or less which bodes well for my 1 hour target in April.
Today I used my usual combination of Zombies app and music, but to encourage faster pacing on my shorter runs, I've recently downloaded some tracks aimed at specific paces. Not my favoured style of music, but it seems to be having a positive effect to getting to target.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Snow fun
On Boxing Day it snowed. Properly. Then froze and stuck around. No gritters ventured in to the neighbourhood so the roads and pavements were in dreadful condition. I'm proud to say that I was not thrawted. I decided to do a short, fast run, doing laps of the local wood where there was more give in the ground. I couldn't help but say "wow" at the view of the fields behind, pristinely white and sparkling against the sharp blue sky. Alas, I didn't have my phone in me for a crafty picture.
One of the things I love about running is the freedom combined with the rebellion of being severely underdressed compared to the booted, hat and gloved walkers in their snug coats. Two long sleeved t-shirts and my windstopper, gloves and a fleece headband were more than enough to keep sufficient body heat for the occasion, a strong contrast to my sledging gear!
I then had a couple of days off as the state of the ice got worse. By New Years Day it had thawed so I hit the roads aiming to do 3x3min interval runs. I need to work on the recovery bit as I tend to end up at a walk rather than gentle run. This was the weak part of my HM training, so I'll focus on this type of work before starting a 10k plan (excuse to rummage through my magazines)
This morning was a return to circuits. I've noticed since the autumn that I'm able to put a bit of power into burpees for the first time which I think can be attributed to the running. All in all, a productive start to 2015.
One of the things I love about running is the freedom combined with the rebellion of being severely underdressed compared to the booted, hat and gloved walkers in their snug coats. Two long sleeved t-shirts and my windstopper, gloves and a fleece headband were more than enough to keep sufficient body heat for the occasion, a strong contrast to my sledging gear!
I then had a couple of days off as the state of the ice got worse. By New Years Day it had thawed so I hit the roads aiming to do 3x3min interval runs. I need to work on the recovery bit as I tend to end up at a walk rather than gentle run. This was the weak part of my HM training, so I'll focus on this type of work before starting a 10k plan (excuse to rummage through my magazines)
This morning was a return to circuits. I've noticed since the autumn that I'm able to put a bit of power into burpees for the first time which I think can be attributed to the running. All in all, a productive start to 2015.
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