runography

It’s been a long time since I wrote about my running progress on here, a lot has been going on since the Great Scottish Run, and since I haven’t been training for a particular run I hadn’t much to say on the subject of running, or at least that’s what I thought. I have been doing minor maintenance runs, only just keeping myself active. I haven’t gained weight but I’m sure I have swapped a number of muscles with reformed fat.

My weight at the end of last week was 12st 4lb.

My problem has been to believe that since I haven’t got a run to train for, I have no goals. It was a real struggle after the GSR to motivate myself to put in a full training plan. It was easy for me just to do a maintenance run here and there, provided I could still run 6 miles I was happy enough, even if those runs were becoming fewer and further between. I also slipped back into regular smoking and believe me, smoking before going out for a run is no easy thing, in fact more often than not this was an excuse not to go out at all. I would normally wait until after my run before having my first cigarette of the day. What a mad way to live!

To summarize my demise since September lets consider where I was:

May/June/July/August I ran 80+ miles each month, with a record 94 miles in July. By the time I got to September I considered myself to be pretty fit. The night before my 1/2 marathon though I thought it would be wise to go out for 4 beers with an old mate and in the course of that night I smoked, even though at that point I hadn’t done so for weeks. It’s a sort of self sacrifice I think, I can’t see any other reason for it.

After the race I reduced my milage and covered only 49 miles in the whole of September, this included the 13.1 miles of the 1/2 marathon. Similarly, in October the mileage halved to 25 miles, with another 50% slash in November, down to a paltry 12 miles. I managed another 12 miles in December but as my weight was not increasing I was reasonably ok with not having to run.

It was around this time that I started to notice my leg and stomach muscles were not as strong and I was starting to feel that if I left it any longer I’d have to start all over again. So starting on Friday January 2nd I was training again with the goal of running at least 3 times a week. I didn’t expect to be able to do it on my first week back though. So far I have run

Friday 2nd Jan – 6.2 miles ( long run )

Sunday 4th Jan – 3.4 miles ( recovery run )

Tuesday 6th Jan – 6.2 miles ( long run )

These runs weren’t easy, but I can already feel the benefits and notice my leg muscles getting stronger again.

I now have a plan. For the next 4 weeks I’ll build up my distance, getting myself back to running 10+ mile long runs.

Then it’ll be time to start a 16 week training program for the http://www.edinburgh-marathon.com/ that’s right folks, a full Marathon.

“From Marathon Eater to Marathon Runner“, that’s been the caption at the top of the site, it’s time for it to be realised.

Race Day: Sunday 31st May 2009 -  9am

Charity: I’ve decided to run this for charity, and have chosen The Scottish Society for Autism – Once I get confirmation I’ll get sponsorship links setup for those who wish to sponsor me.