Too much has happened on the personal front over the past two weeks to fill in the detail here. Business travel also played havoc too. However, I have been able to keep up my running with a 5 runs totaling 44km. Temperatures have been a lot warmer too (mostly above 5C) so I have been running without gloves. I have also ben trying to push the speed up a bit over the shorter distances I have been running. I hope to get consistently close to 5 minutes per kilometer speed over the next few weeks so that I am in shape for a short 8km race in early May.
I plan to enter some 10km races over the next 2 months - just sizing up which are close to me and selecting which ones I should do.
Any comments or advice on how to get faster would be appreciated as I seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut at the moment.
I gave my normal Monday run a miss today as I have been feeling ill over the weekend with a sore throat, runny nose and general aches and pains (not running related). So I hope that situation improves during the week.
Monday 14 February 2011
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Pushing the boundaries
Yesterday I went for a run with a friend. This is nothing unusual as I run with friends all the time. Except that this friend is more than 20 year younger and in training for a Marathon in a few months' time. The distance we set was more than either of us had ever run in a single training session before and really pushed us both to a new level. We covered just over 30km (19miles) in under 3 hours with only a short stop to refuel and drink some water at around the halfway mark.
It was cold at the start (-2C) but there was very little wind and the sky was clearing with a high possibility of sunshine warming things up later. Although I had thought about running with a shirt on seeing as I knew we would be on the road for a long time I asked my mate what he thought and he said "what are you most comfortable with?". I replied that I prefer to run without a shirt and at that point the decision was made: no shirt.
The temperature when we finished was around +1C or +2C so I survived a full 3 hours in what many would say are very cold conditions. There were a few comments passed by other walkers and runners out on the route like the normal "Are you mad?"; "Don't you feel cold?"; and the best of the day from a passing runner kitted out wearing leggings, shorts, 2 shirts, gloves and a hat: "I thought I was crazy!"
I enjoyed the run and the company, we chatted along the way and encouraged each other a lot. I only walked on one very steep section of trail for less than 200m. It was a tough run but enjoyable and yes, I can still walk today!
As its the end of the month I think an update on a few other things is in order too. Total running distance covered in January: 169km (105 miles). Weight at the end of January 66.2kg.
I guess all of this made me think that:
1. Running a full marathon is now a real possibility and within my grasp
2. I should never even think about wearing a shirt when running
3. You only learn about what is possible when you push yourself to new limits and set goals (i.e. running distance; shorter time for a race; cold endurance temperature and/or time)
4. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be able to do any of this I would have told you that you were crazy
What things have you been able to discover about yourself when you push your boundaries? I would be interested to hear about them. Post a comment below or send me an e-mail.
It was cold at the start (-2C) but there was very little wind and the sky was clearing with a high possibility of sunshine warming things up later. Although I had thought about running with a shirt on seeing as I knew we would be on the road for a long time I asked my mate what he thought and he said "what are you most comfortable with?". I replied that I prefer to run without a shirt and at that point the decision was made: no shirt.
The temperature when we finished was around +1C or +2C so I survived a full 3 hours in what many would say are very cold conditions. There were a few comments passed by other walkers and runners out on the route like the normal "Are you mad?"; "Don't you feel cold?"; and the best of the day from a passing runner kitted out wearing leggings, shorts, 2 shirts, gloves and a hat: "I thought I was crazy!"
I enjoyed the run and the company, we chatted along the way and encouraged each other a lot. I only walked on one very steep section of trail for less than 200m. It was a tough run but enjoyable and yes, I can still walk today!
As its the end of the month I think an update on a few other things is in order too. Total running distance covered in January: 169km (105 miles). Weight at the end of January 66.2kg.
I guess all of this made me think that:
1. Running a full marathon is now a real possibility and within my grasp
2. I should never even think about wearing a shirt when running
3. You only learn about what is possible when you push yourself to new limits and set goals (i.e. running distance; shorter time for a race; cold endurance temperature and/or time)
4. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be able to do any of this I would have told you that you were crazy
What things have you been able to discover about yourself when you push your boundaries? I would be interested to hear about them. Post a comment below or send me an e-mail.
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