11 miler this morning, with iPod

I went out for a gentle 11 miler (at the time of writing for some reason the Garmin Connect site isn't allowing me to upload my run details) from Paignton-Torquay and back, twice.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was going to out with my iPod and listen to the Marathon Talk Podcast.  I actually enjoyed listening the podcast and this episode had Mike Tomlinson (Jane's husband) on the show.  It was a thought-proving episode, and Mike explained what Jane went through with her illness, including a lot of "hassle" from people questioning her illness etc.  As the episode mentioned, there are some strange people out there.  Mike has this month opened the York Marathon for entries, and after a quick Google it appears that the original 5000 place sold out in 2 days.  At the time of writing, 5500 places have now gone and they are seeing if they can raise it 6000 entrants.  See here for a report.

Another thing about the Podcast is that someone from the Runner's World marathon thread I am a member of was mentioned as she did 2 marathons back to back in January.

Anyway, I'm pleased to see that my achilles seems okay and didn't hold me up or bother me on the 11 miler, although it does seem a bit tight after the run.  I am planning on doing a "normal" week next week, to include the Wednesday club session that will involve a hill/tempo/sprint session of some sort.

I've also logged my four runs this week on the Marathon Talk website so I"m currently on track for Jantastic!

First run of the New Year

It's been a late start of the year for me, since completing the December running streak on NYE.  As I mentioned though, I have had a slight niggle in my achilles so have eased off to try and clear the injury up for me to start my marathon training properly.

So, I went out for a slow and steady 4-mile run on a flat route after work today and I'm pleased to say I felt okay.  The achilles did feel a bit tight for a mile or so, but after that it felt fine.  It was good to get back out again, and it was a nice run out on a scenic seafront route.

I'm going to continue to ice and stretch the achilles over the next week or so, and presuming I am okay tomorrow and not hobbling around I'm planning a 5-miler on both Wednesday and Friday and hopefully a slightly longer run (8-10 miles) on Sunday all being well.  All of this will be at a slow and steady pace on flat routes.

I've also got off to a start on the Marathon Talk Jantastic challenge as well, where I have set myself the target of doing four session a week through January.

Sitting here on a Sunday night....

....and I'm feeling positive.

I did a session at the gym today.  It was a light session due to my achilles issue, but I'm hoping I'll be getting out for a slow run on the flat tomorrow.  At the gym I just did 2x5mins slow running, 20 mins on the bike and 2x15mins of stretching.

Today is also my last day of drinking alcohol until February half term.  I knocked the booze on the head successfully in the last part of last year and felt this helped with my training, so I'm hoping to keep it going in the new year.  It remains to be seen if I continue to see improvements in my running, but I'm hoping I will.

As I sit here typing, the achilles is feeling okay so I'm hoping the issue has sorted itself out after 7 days off running.

Also, my wife has tonight reminded me that this time last year I was 14st 9lb (93kg) whereas this morning I was a much more reasonable 13st 2lb (83kg).  Here's hoping I'll keep around that weight over the next few weeks.

Achilles is getting better, but I haven't ran for 6 days

The achilles issue I mentioned in the previous post is getting better, but I have decided not to run for a whole week and have been going to the gym instead (yawn!!).  It feels ok (not 100%, but it's not painful as such ...more of a very slight discomfort) when walking around but when I lightly squeeze it there is some pain. The pain/discomfort has been reducing over the 6 days I've taken off. I'd say on a scale of 1-10 the pain when I squeeze it is only a 2, but I am wary of achilles injuries. 

Annoyingly, I felt it go when I was out for a long walk in the new year and not when running although I appreciate it still could be running induced. I do have a dilemma as my gym membership runs out on the 8th Jan and I was planning on not renewing it.  I'm thinking I'll go for a slow trot tomorrow and see how it is and then make my mind up about the membership.

I'm hoping to do the MarathonTalk Jantastic challenge and I've set my goal for January to run 4 times per week.  From the website, there are the following rules which help keep the motivation and consistency going in the early part of the year, with the objective being that you set the goals at the start of each month and report your progress against those goals on a weekly basis.

January = How many runs per week?

February = January + How far will you go?

March = January + February + How fast will you go?

Jantastic = January + February + March

You set it. You stick to it. You run. You get your 'Jantastic' score!

Running plan, plus achilles injury

I took some time yesterday to think a bit about a running schedule that would take me up to the marathon I have planned in early May.  I've been following and contributing to a thread on Runner's World where a marathon plan has been put together by someone (Shades) who has ran nearly 300 marathons so she obviously knows what she is doing!

I've tweaked it slightly to take into account of the following:

• I want to keep a Wednesday session going if at all possible.  This is the main Wednesday club session where I'll probably run either a hill or speed session.  This will be a tough session for me.
• I may move the Long Slow Runs to a Saturday as opposed to the Sunday.  This is so that I can try and get a long to some of the Saturday club social runs which I have enjoyed when I have attended.
• 2 weeks will be down on the recommended mileage due a couple of events I have lined up.  These are a half marathon and a 10K.  I have checked with Shades and she has said I don't need to worry about making up the mileage on these race weeks.

One thing I notice with the plan is that a 5 mile tempo run is included on each week, and the tempo mileage doesn't increase through the schedule.  I did check this with Shades and she has recommended that I do not increase this mileage.  My problem (and it's a problem I think many runners face, and is definitely not an issue with the plan) is that I am worried that I won't know for sure how fast I can run if I don't increase the tempo mileage.  However, I think I need to have faith in the plan and trust that it works with the main focus being on the endurance/long runs.  Also, the Trotters Wednesday session will be a tough and quick session for me as well.  This will take some discipline for me to hold back on increasing these tempo miles.

The plan itself doesn't seem too bad with a maximum weekly mileage peaking at 43.  This is about 8 miles more than my previous weekly highest, and coincides with the longest run of the training plan which is a 22 miler.

Unfortunately, I have tweaked my right achilles slightly so I am actually off running for a few days with the hope that it will clear up in a few days.  I am aware that achilles can be problematic so I am a bit worried at this point, keeping in mind that I haven't actually started the plan yet!  I am hoping that I will be ready to start running again at the start of next week......fingers crossed.

Today was my first day back at work following the Christmas and New Year break, but at least it's a short 2-day week this week for me.