runography

A lot can happen in a year, work and family life have gotten hectic with so much to do that getting some spare time to do some blogging has proven difficult, and so I’ve neglected these fair pages for a while.

What happened to the 2011 Edinburgh Marathon ? Well, I did actually run it

What was my time ? Well I had a hell of a race, I was really enjoying the day, the weather was perfect, although still a tad warm and I had found a couple of folk to run with at the start line. We ran/chatted for a long time and with 18 miles on the clock I was feeling great and on target for a 3:50 – another mile in and a different story.

I had another swig of Lucozade Sport, and a few more Jelly Babies and 1 minute later, the Stitch started. 19 miles in and I get a damn Stitch even though my legs were feeling great. I continued for 3 miles, with the pain getting worse, until at 22 miles I had to start a walk/run approach as it was agony. I was determined to get below the 4hr mark, although I think the target was a double edged sword. I knew I had 10 mins to play with as my time was on track for the 3:50, so I knew I could afford to walk/run a little.

My finishing time was just below the 4hrs, a respectable 3:59:17 – a new PB

Still disappointed that I had to walk/run, but heh-ho, not too shabby.

After this, I was putting in a lot less running until going on holiday to Florida in July, where I put in 4×5mile runs. Came back from holiday and felt as if I’d torn my left Achilies. Been resting it on/off ever since – probably should have gone to the physio, but as I had no race to target I wasn’t that concerned. A mistake I think as I’ve been out for far too long now.

Had a few comeback attempts this year, with me managing 20 miles in a week not that long ago, but I have been stop/start.

Time to get back into it again, best way for me to do this is to target a new run.

I’ve not attempted the Great Scottish Run since 2008, therefore I think it’s time for a comeback, so today I’ve signed up for the 2012 Great Scottish Run on September 2nd 2012.

I’ll keep you all posted…

Starting weight is also worth reporting.. 14st 3lb – I haven’t been that weight since before I started this running malarky. Problem has been that after I gave up Marathon Training, I never gave up the Marathon eating (which was a perk of the training, but only sustainable under training conditions).

Target race weight.. 12st 2lb (That’s the lightest I’ve been during all my running, so an achievable target ? I hope so)

I’m back, and this time more hopeful of keeping an up-to-date blog of my progress as I start my 3rd attempt at Marathon training. A brief summary:

Started running:  January 2008 (not really intending to be a runner, but caught the bug very quickly)

Tom Scott 4mile Road Race: April 2008

MHFS 10k: June 2008

Great Scottish Run 1/2 Marathon: Sept 2008

Attempt 1: Edinburgh Marathon 2009 – 10 weeks into training and struck down with IT Band issues.

Attempt 2: Edinburgh Marathon 2010 – Completed in 4:23 but it was run/walk from mile 18. Very disappointed, weather was a killer as it hit 25C and was more like 30C on the road.

Attempt 3: Edinburgh Marathon 2011 -  Started official 16 week program countdown yesterday.

Currently I’m feeling very fit, although my weight is back up to the 13st 4lb mark, but it was 13st 8lb at the start of January. I’ll be looking to bring that down fairly quickly due to the high mileage I’m going to be putting in (starting week 1 at 31 miles, going up to 54 miles by week 13).

I had been training consistently well from around august until the end of November, when training got curtailed due to SnowMaggedon. Only put in 25 miles in December as there just wasn’t any way I was going to run in the -14C temperatures, or the depth of snow we received.

Managed around 80 miles of pre-marathon program base building during January to get back into the swing of things.

First Marathon Program session – 7miles – 1:00:04 – averaging 8:45min/mi

Currently targeting for Edinburgh – 8:50min/mi (this will be adjusted as I get into the program)

Over the past year I’ve been very sporadic in my training, some months doing as little as 6 miles of running. I’m not close to the way I felt when I did my the Great Scottish Run in under 1:48. It’s been getting me down, not to mention increasing my girth. Manged to get back up to 13st 4lb, from my 12st 2lb slimmest.

Well, that’s all about to change again, Marathon training starts this week. 16 weeks to go and I’ve been preparing myself nicely over the last few weeks. I’m now running 10km in 56 mins, not fast I know, but it’s a good start since I had managed to drop to just over an hour. It’s fairly easy to see why, if you only run once every 4 weeks or so, you aren’t going to keep the pace.

Aim is to not miss any sessions, training program has tempo/speedwork on Tuesdays, long runs on Fridays and recovery runs on Sundays.

More to follow, including a link to my program, if I can get the link to work properly. In the meantime, I’ve just realised my road tax is due today, so better sort that out before midnight.

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/racing/runners-world-smartcoach/3057.html?uan=3057&hour=0&mins=50&secs=0&rlen=tenk&rdst=mara&mpwe=16&startf=123xyz&diff=vhard&lrdy=5&slen=16&trainstart=ds1265063237084&metr=miles