Saturday means Lyme Park – or at least that’s my plan now. I want to try to do this hilly run each Saturday before Sunday’s long run.
My newly clipped running partner clearly felt much better for shedding so much extra weight and left me standing at every turn, climb, descent – in fact just about everywhere. I’d calculate that she covers twice the distance that I do and every run’s a fartlek for her. Impressive.
Very exhilarating run today. I felt completely energised when we got back to the car. The weather was fantastic, the scenery as beautiful as ever and the pace, perfect.
6m | 1:00:47 | 10:19 | 165bpm | Hilly Run
Still nowhere near tempo pace (7:12), but much quicker than yesterday’s recovery run (intentionally) and just hit the low end of tempo zone for heart rate. Warmer today and no rain. Less humid than it has been, but still a little heavy and close.
It was nice to lift the feet a little more than usual and push ahead. A quick recovery to normal conversation and fully recovered breathing by 2nd flight of stairs in the office all point to progress – however modest. Still a long way to go to get to 7:11 at 166bpm, but I’ve made a start and that counts for a lot!
Tomorrow it’s a midweek long run. Will aim to get 11 miles in – child minding and dog-walking duties permitting.
4m | 32:37 | 8:11 | 166bpm | Tempo Zone
Wow! Today’s run was wonderful. Somehow weird how frequently this happens, but I barely slept last night – was still awake as the sun came up, I guess around 4:30 – 4:45. Spent the morning gardening, which given the length of our grass and the height and bushiness of the hedges, was quite tiring. We then headed over to my mother’s to walk the dogs and got home around 4:30pm.
Headed out for my usual 11 miler and felt very comfortable. I’m aware that I’m still running too fast (given the heart rate zone), but it was comfortable at this pace. I rectified the mistake I’d made on Thursday and took a 33cl bottle of water with me, just to wet the mouth more than anything. I think it made a difference. I didn’t fade towards the end and, though I could have run another couple of miles, in truth this was well measured and felt spot on for a training run.
A quick bath and I’m ready for another. Roll on tomorrow. Hope I feel this great!!
11m | 1:39:18 | 9:07 | 161bpm | Marathon Pace | 82.6kg
My heart rate was a little high before even leaving the house for today’s run. Nothing to do with the weather, fitness levels or anything else – just a little “misunderstanding” which stressed me out. That was probably the reason for pushing the pace a little more than I might ordinarily have done in this heat and humidity. Still, it felt great to press on and I thoroughly enjoyed the exhilaration.
6.65m | 55:48 | 8:29 | 167bpm | Tempo Zone
Despite around eight hours driving and a 4:45am start to the day, I felt remarkably enthusiastic about today’s run and really fancied an eleven miler (am I nuts?). Unfortunately, due to dog-walking and child-minding obligations, I had to cut this short to 7 miles.
So energised was I that I pushed the pace a little (it was 24 degrees and humid) and let my heart rate soar to an average of 173bpm. I know this is exactly what I shouldn’t be doing at this stage in my training, but sometimes the heart rules the head. Lovely!
6.65m | 56:13 | 8:28 | 173bpm | 10k zone
No sign of the heat letting up so another fairly “energy sapping” run this lunchtime. One of the problems of running with a partner is that it’s much harder to keep the pace so today’s easy pace really wasn’t (at least not for me). That could create a problem with my training unless I recover some fitness fairly swiftly. Too much too, soon could put paid to running completely so I need to be careful.
The only thing that clouded today’s run was leaving my socks on the bed when I left for work this morning. I’ve a couple of nice blisters on my instep to remind me to pack them tomorrow.
4m | 33:49 | 8:27 | 165bpm | Tempo Zone
Today was a recovery run, rather than a long run. I wanted to take it pretty easy following yesterday’s hills – not least because I’m still very early into this training block and I really don’t want to overdo things.
I checked my watch as I reached the front door and was surprised at just how “easy” I’d been taking it. At 166bpm, my heart rate would indicate a much quicker pace than the 9 minute miling I had just achieved. That’s way off the level of fitness I’m used to. Tempo pace (166-172bpm at last summer’s VDOT) was around 7:10 – almost 2 minutes per mile quicker.
I knew that my training had been intermittent (that’s being kind), but wanted to understand how I’d slowed so much. As I headed for the shower I decided to weigh myself. Bad move. I’ve gained almost a stone and a half through idle Cubasing over the past six months. That’s something I need to address immediately.
I’ve decided to add my weight to each Sunday run post, starting today with an embarrassing 84.9kg. I need to see this fall to 73kg and I’m giving myself three months to achieve that.
6.65m | 59:59 | 9:05 | 166bpm | Tempo Zone | 84.9kg
Peter's Hill
On this particular hot and humid Saturday afternoon few sounds proved more appealing than a dog barking.
You may have seen references in my tweets and elsewhere on the blog to Peter’s Hill. This is the name given to a soul-destroying climb up to the isolated house which overlooks beautiful Lyme Park. It’s not really called Peter’s Hill, but we named it after the home of Buffy’s dog trainer which you can just make out – centre horizon – on the photo (left). The shot is taken about one mile into the run and the climb is much steeper than this photo would have you believe.
The increasing clarity of cheerful dog barking as I neared the summit today was such a welcome sound. If the excited shouts of “good boy!”, “well done!” and claps of appreciation weren’t intended for me, I didn’t care. I’d take the praise anyway.
I guess it was the heat and the fact that coat clipping is overdue, but even Buffy looked a little worse for wear as we approached the fifth mile and final ascent – yet another steep one. What was I saying about Cheshire being as flat as East Anglia?
I am not in the least bit concerned about the pace or heart rate on this run. It was warm, it was hilly, it was a challenge. It was great fun!
6m | 1:03:54 | 10:46 | 166bmp | Hills
I still seem to be choosing the hottest days to run. Tempted by cloudless blue skies, I forget how much harder it is when you’re just starting out (again). True, the heat always saps some of your energy, but when you set off wishing you were twenty pounds lighter, it all seems so much more pronounced.
Nonetheless – and as I so often write – very enjoyable. So why the heck can’t I remember the “very enjoyable” bit when I’m panting up on of Cheshire’s notable inclines (a county as famous for its hills as East Anglia), or when I decide that I think I’ll give the run a miss and have another potato cake? I hate how the mind fools you around like that.
6.5m | 57:39 | 8:46 | 167bpm | Tempo Zone
Musically, things are ticking along quite nicely. Reasonably pleased with the compositions. Just finished a couple and looking to start track number three of Deva in the next couple of days. (Just giving the ears a bit of R&R.)
But I’m finding no rhythm or consistency in the running. It seems that I’m out for a couple or three days and then something comes along and that’s me done for another week. Last week it was the unexpected biopsy, before that a trip to London and earlier in the month, four days at Disney. I’m not sure how I managed to fit the running in around this kind of stuff before, but I think it’s to do with early starts. I know the dog would really appreciate that, so maybe it’s time to kick off the 6.00 am runs again.
Today was very enjoyable. Typically slow pace / high heart rate, but that’s not concerning me at all at the moment. I just want to get two or three months solid running behind me so that it’s locked in again.
4m | 34:12 | 8:32 | 173bpm | 10k zone (hah!)
Those adjectives would be great for some physical activities, but when associated with running, neither are desirable.
It’s going to take a while to find any form and for that reason alone, it’ll also be some time before I post anything even vaguely interesting about my runs, but I’ll continue to upload them here anyway.
4m | 33:39 | 8:26 | 171bpm | Tempo Pace
Fourth day out (day off tomorrow). Still hot. Still unfit. Still wondering if Cubase should carry a health warning. I’ve been so absorbed in music for the last six months that I lost sight of just how out of shape I was becoming. The great thing is, there’s immense satisfaction in pulling yourself back into condition.
I love running. Nothing makes me feel more alive (and dead – I’m typing this from the floor). I’m looking for consistency in June to build a little foundation. More of the same first couple of weeks in July and then start throwing some quality sessions in as August approaches.
I think my target of 1:30 for GNR is out of the window, but I’m determined to shave those two minutes off my half marathon PB some time soon.
4m | 35:32 | 8:52 | 172bpm | Tempo Pace
6.5m | 55:48 | 8:34 | 169bpm
Almost a carbon copy of Tuesday’s run except that today was a touch warmer and it didn’t rain. I’m conscious that I said on Tuesday that I need to concentrate on slowing down and I’ve actually run marginally quicker today, but the truth is that this feels very comfortable. I wasn’t short of breath at any point and could easily hold a conversation. A text book illustration of easy pace.
So I really don’t understand why my heart rate is still in tempo zone. Could it be stress? Things are a little pressured at work, but I don’t feel particularly stressed. Anyway, not going to dwell on it – just keep going, try to slow down a little more and build the base.
6.5m | 56:50 | 8:38 | 172bpm
It’s probably time to check myself in! I can’t believe the heart rate I’ve recorded today given the (slow) speed. 172bpm takes me into 10k pace, but I’m running significantly slower than I ran the NYC marathon (8:28). I knew I’d lost some form and today was quite warm, but that heart rate is incredible. All of which leads me to the inevitable conclusion. I need a plan.
I’m going to spend some time revisiting some of my old training logs tonight and figure out a strategy. If I’m to improve on last year’s GNR time (let alone achieve a PB and complete in less than 1:32) there’s a huge amount of work to do. And my diet needs some attention too.
