Now it really has been a while!

As the title says, it's been ages since I last posted!
That doesn't mean to say I haven't done anything - I've done plenty, just not intense 6 days a week.
And to be honest, I've missed the aches and the pains, so time to get back in the proverbial saddle!

I really miss those 15+ long runs at a weekend! I don't know many people who can do those sort of miles, so back to it!

The plan (ish)

Monday night - run, fells while the light good minimum 6 miles
Tuesday night - badminton, I'll use this as a tempo speed session
Wednesday - run, same as Monday
Thursday - badminton, I'll use this as a tempo speed session
Friday - run - road / trail session
Saturday / Sunday a long run on the fells and if time another run too!

Running alongside these sessions I will incorporate body weight exercises, core sessions, heavy punch bag work, stepper etc.

I do like body weight sessions. Last year I was doing 1000 squats in a session, 10 x 100

I've recently discovered the  map my run app so will be experimenting with that compared to my garmin watch.

Anyway all this will kick off this weekend.
I plan on getting up to 50+ miles a week by October 1/2 term.

As with most plans I do think you need a goal to aim for - I'll be putting a few hours thinking time into that one.
After running the Coniston Marathon last year I do fancy something similar or maybe longer to aim for, Haworth Hobbles 33 miles? Who knows ... Yet!

So there we have it - time to put some serious running sessions in again!

It's been a while!

It's been a while since I last posted.
So ... here we go.
Since February, I've missed less than 10 days training of some form or other!
Times, I've doubled up and completed 2 sessions in a day.
now, you would think at this point that I felt great?
Not quite great, but pretty good moving towards being tired!
My conundrum now is, do I keep pushing, or rest up more?
I'm thinking of backing off mid week and increasing my weekend long run.
Long runs at the moment are 13 - 15 miles, so I'm thinking of increasing to 18 - 20 miles at weekends.
My worry is, I'll increase weekend runs and still be training with the same intensity mid week too.

Last week did a steady 13+ miles out to Peel tower and back - felt weary coming back, not sure of most of that ended up in my head though!? That's what happens occasionally on longer runs.

Typical training at the moment consists of -

Monday - 5 mile hilly run or cross training (turbo) for the same time it would take me to run a steady 5 - 6 miles, increasing intensity as I train.
Tuesday - Badminton 70 mins fast session.
Wednesday - Run 7+ miles
Thursday - Badminton 70 mins fast session
Friday - Turbo as above up to an hour
Saturday - rest or up to 5 mile run
Sunday - Long run 15 hilly miles

= 30 - 35 miles running a week + 2 hard badminton sessions, + up to 2 hours turbo

Trying to up the running to 40+ miles a week, my problem as is most peoples is time!!

13 weeks until the marathon.
26.2 miles and 3,200 ft of climbing!!
Can't wait!!

Where we're up to

OK, I know it's been a while since I last posted.
Work has been very busy, but I have managed to keep training.
My routine has been increased (slowly) which is good and I feel pretty fit at the moment.
I'm managing to get some sort of exercise in every day, or almost every day of the week and have been able to do so for the last month!
Training usually consists of 2 to 3 runs a week, a longer / ish run at the weekend. Another run at the weekend and a run midweek, this tends to be a hill session.
In between There is the trusty bike session. This is turbo and tough that I've increased to an hour a session, this I normally do 3 to 4 times a week.
Badminton 2 times a week - fast and furious, great for anticipating and quick feet.
On top of all this, plenty of walking and specifically for leg strength, body weight squats! I've been doing these in a variety of sets, depending upon how I feel, what exercise I've done prior etc. However I tend to complete 8 sets of 50 - 400 squats a day. The plan is to up this to 10 sets of 50 or more to equate to 500 squats a day.

Half term this week, so the running will be increased significantly, plus the mileage. The trick with this is to not over do the running. The recommended rule of thumb is to increase by 10%, no more. I reckon, I'll increase by much more, maybe 50%. I've done this in the past and been fine, touching as much wood as possible.
Time will tell.
I'll try to get a number of long runs in over the week, 15+ miles at a time and also have a recce over Pendle.

30+ miles this week

Compared to the last few weeks the amount of running has been upped.
Sunday was 12 miles, 1800 ft, Tuesday was 8 miles 1300 ft and Thursday was 8 miles and 1500 ft plus 2 lots of badminton and a turbo session.
Anyway, the hardest run so far for me was Thursdays run.
We, that's me, Nick and Dave set off along the Great Hameldon race route. We've run this literally hundreds of times. The race is 6 miles and 1100ft, doesn't sound too difficult and to be honest, the first half wasn't.
The initial climb up through the coppice was ok, the run out towards the 'Golf Ball' was fine. After that, the ground was completely saturated and what were paths had turned into streams. What was damp moorland was now thigh deep bogs!
So, the first climb to the top of Great Hameldon, now not on the race route was tough going. Every step was taken with care to make sure you didn't disappear up to your waist.
After the climb to the trig, we ran off Hameldon, (great fun a fast decent!)
We followed Nick, always a mistake who took us off track for a while until he managed upon the right path again.
This time we ran up through the stream, that used to be a path before returning to the bottom of Hameldon again. The climb to the top was tough!
Finally at the trig, while Dave and I were having a quick drink, Nick saw his opportunity and started on the descend. Sneaky or what. The run off Hameldon is great, but quite technical following the race route. There are plenty of rocks and boulders sticking out of the moorland. It also has the potential to be pretty quick.
We caught up with Nick, had a quick chat and moved on. This section for the next couple of miles is either downhill or flat so you can up the pace here to race pace - good fun, but hard.
The last climb is only about 300ft, but drags. After climbing this it's an easy run home.

A good run out, but one I found pretty tough!

The trig on Hameldon Hill - very wet - and if it's wet on top it's really wet lower down!

Last weeks training

Before I forget to update, this was the summary of last weeks training.
I've added Nick's first, as he keeps pestering me!

4 week of training    11^th December  Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs
Back on the diet  and aim for 20+ 

SUNDAY	Mytholmroyd	7	ND	Mytholmroyd  fell race 1350feet hard race wet
MONDAY			ND	1 Circuit gym
TUESDAY	Liver Hill	4	D	600feet
WEDNESDAY				Rest
THURSDAY	Hambleden hill	6	D	Ran with Dave  1000 feet
FRIDAY
SATURDAY		11		1800 feet training  run with Mark. Felt great
11th- 17th				Rest

Total running 28 miles  all hard running due to weather


My training for last week is ...
Weight 11 stone 5lbs
Try for 30+ miles next week.

SUNDAY	Run – 6 miles, hilly run		Good	A hilly loop session around Musberry Heights etc.
MONDAY				Rest
TUESDAY	Badminton		Good	Badminton 1hr – fast and furious
WEDNESDAY				Rest
THURSDAY	Bike - Turbo		Good	40 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100.
FRIDAY	Hill session		Good	4 miles of hill work in 40 minutes. Up hill 100m, down 50m repeat
SATURDAY			Good	11 mile run with Nick, 1800 ft of climbing, good stuff!
27th – 3rd	Bike – Turbo Squats 4x50 Situps 4x50		Good	55 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100. Felt great

Overall a good ish week. It was really busy at work, so struggled to get decent time on feet running in. Something that will change with the holidays looming!

First snowy run in ages!

On Saturday morning, Nick and I set off at 8.30am for the first snow run we've had probably since this time last year. Over the last few months we've had lots and lots of rain. Because of this, the water table level is really  really high at the moment and the ground is completely saturated. Hence the run was wet, boggy and tough to run on, at times through!!
Anyway, steady. The run was one of those that I had been thinking of doing for some time. The run included road, trail and fell with plenty of climbing. The first 40 minutes were totally up hill.
I do enjoy runs that I haven't run before.
I'd checked the run out on the OS map and worked it out to be about 10 miles.
10 miles really isn't too difficult to get round, but 10 miles through snow and bog definitely took its toll.
On returning home the watch showed we hand run 12 miles and climbed around 1,800 ft.
A great run, felt pretty good, but a lot tougher than I imagined.

Fantastic views, but tough to get through - I suspect there will be a few more of these runs.

Nick's training

As I was having an enforced rest week through injury, Nick was still up and at them, managing three runs for the week, including a local fell race, whilst also visiting the local gym!
Me thinks he's too much time on his hands and needs to get some proper work done.

Nick's training schedule is below


3 week of training    4^th December  Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs   Target to run 25 miles. Do a best time on Liver hill so I can do a PB 30^th March

SUNDAY	Bolton by Bowland	8 x 800	ND	Bolton by Bowland 2010 result 68min 14sec  / 2009 -  75min 56sec poor weather. – G diet
MONDAY		2.5	ND	Gym  1 circuit – G diet
TUESDAY	Liver Hill	5 x 800	D	Run with Dave
WEDNESDAY				Day off
THURSDAY				Day off
FRIDAY		4	ND	Road run with Mark
SATURDAY			D	Party night
4th – 10th

Total run 19.5 miles dropped of training for a couple of days
4 week of training    11^th December  Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs 

30 weeks to go

After falling last weekend, being put in plaster from my elbow to my thumb, being told I couldn't do anything for at least 11 days, with a possibility of pot for 6 weeks, this week was better than expected.
The pot came off Tuesday, being replaced with a splint, so although I had to still be careful, I could at least do bits.
So the training this week was light, (4 rest days!) but still ran twice, plus a couple of turbo sessions which is much more than nothing at all.

SUNDAY	Run – 7.5 miles, hilly run		Good Then BAD	A hilly loop session around Musberry Heights etc. 7.5 miles. 5.5 miles in fell hurting left hand / wrist. Hospital pm – in plaster! VERDICT - Nothing for 11 days!!!
MONDAY			Bad	Feel like a caged Tiger!!
TUESDAY			Bad	Back at hospital – Plaster removed, splint on. Can start again sooner than expected.
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY	Bike - Turbo		Good	40 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100.
FRIDAY	Road run – Hill session		Good	4 miles of hill work in 40 minutes. Up hill 100m, down 50m repeat
SATURDAY			Good	Rest
4th - 11th	Bike – Turbo Squats 4x50 Sit-ups 4x50		Good	55 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100. Felt great

Need to get more running done.
The road run on Friday pm with Nick was, for a road run, concentrating on hills, actually quite enjoyable. Plan to do 2 to 3 of these a week. Felt strong going up hill which is a great feeling to have. Could have done quite a few more reps, but didn't want to over do it!

This week, plan to pick up the training again.
The week after is 2 weeks of holidays and hopefully a few long runs. The plan is to do a few 15 miles plus just to see where I'm at with regard to stamina. I think I should be good, but time will tell.

Injury that could have been worse!

So after running in rain and hail stone I slipped and fell hurting my hand.
I was now in pot, from my elbow to my thumb for a minimum of 11 days, maximum of 6 weeks!
I was already beginning to feel like a caged tiger!
My wife's cousin and family came round Monday evening to see us and check out the injury. Anne is a nurse.
Anyway the upshot is, the pot is off, replaced by a splint.
So, I can run again, bike again, etc and no 6 weeks of pot!

The week has been pretty quiet, but a lot better than it could have been!

Gone from this for a potential 6 weeks to running again !!!! Happy days!!!

Injury!

After a steady to good week of running, bike, body weight exercises etc I thought I would cap the week off with a steady 8 mile run from Clough Head car park, through the woods over looking the reservoirs, up to Musberry heights etc adding on climbs, sections as and where I fancied.
The weather was pretty rough, hailstone and rain for the majority of the time I was out. Also due the recent torrential down pours the ground was in places completely water logged.
After 5 miles of wading through tracks that were now mini streams I headed for home.
I followed the Rosendale Way back, taking it nice and steady. I knew the ground under foot was potentially very slippy and took a few detours across moorland.
Back on the Rossendale Way, I took about 3 steps and whallop.
My legs ended up above my head and I came down to earth with one almighty bump!
At the time I remember thinking how painful the fall was. I looked down to see a jagged rock sticking up that my hand had hit.
The amazing thing is, when you fall, you jump up really quickly.
I set off back to the car thinking that the pain would go away. It didn't!
2 miles later I got back to the car, drove home, showered.
The pain got worse. So off to the hospital.
4 hours later, I left in pot being told I had broken my scaphoid bone at the base of my thumb.
I had to return 11 days later to re check.

This is the section of the Rossendale Way where I fell. The difference being this was thick with water and hail.

31 weeks to go

Overall a good week.
The run Saturday up and over Musberry Heights was great - felt strong, getting up and over climbs and feeling strong. The rest of the week was quite intense with plenty of exercise most days. Overall feeling strong.

The weeks summary -

SUNDAY	Run – 7.5 miles, hilly run	6 x 1000	G	Ran with Nick and Dave. A hilly loop session around Musberry Heights etc. 7.5 miles, felt great!
MONDAY	Exercise bike 45 mins + weights, arms and shoulders + 250 body weight squats		G	Tension on bike at 30 out of 50. Revs at 80 1st 10 mins, then upped the tension and revs to 90+ continued 40 mins. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
TUESDAY	Badminton + 250 body weight squats	1hour	G	1 hour of badminton – speed session. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
WEDNESDAY	Exercise bike 45 mins			Tension on bike at 30 out of 50. Revs at 80 1st 10 mins, then upped the tension and revs to 90+ continued 40 mins
THURSDAY	Badminton + 250 body weight squats	1hour	G	1 hour of badminton – speed session. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
FRIDAY	Weights, arms and shoulders + 250 body weight squats		G	Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
SATURDAY	Same run as Sunday – with a twist!		G	5 miles into the run, things going well, then fell !!! Hospital for the afternoon!!
27th – 3rd				A good week, up to the fall Saturday!

Next post all about the fall

32 weeks to go ...

Overall it's been a good week of training.
Managed to do some training most days and at times managed to double up sessions.
Week one looks like ...

20^th November  2011 Sunday. Target - Coniston Marathon 26.2 miles,  42.2 kms. Targets 9 ish min miles. Time total about 4 hours. Weight 11 stone 7lbs.
32 WEEKS OF TRAINING TO GO
1 week of training      Weight 11stone 7lbs                                           G, A, B – Good, Average, Bad

SUNDAY	Run - Hambleden hill	6 x 1000	G	Ran with Nick – Steady run after a 21st
MONDAY	Exercise bike 45 mins + weights, arms and shoulders + 250 body weight squats		G	Tension on bike at 30 out of 50. Revs at 80 1st 10 mins, then upped the tension and revs to 90+ continued 45 mins. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
TUESDAY	Badminton + 250 body weight squats	1hour	G	1 hour of badminton – speed session. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
WEDNESDAY	Exercise bike 45 mins			Tension on bike at 30 out of 50. Revs at 80 1st 10 mins, then upped the tension and revs to 90+ continued 45 mins
THURSDAY	Badminton + 250 body weight squats	1hour	G	1 hour of badminton – speed session. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
FRIDAY	Weights, arms and shoulders + 250 body weight squats		G	Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
SATURDAY	250 body weight squats		G	Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
20th – 26th				A good week, capped off with a good 7.5 mile run – felt strong

Overall an OK week – need to get another run in midweek – Thinking of a hill session on Wednesdays or a long ish run with hills involved. That will give me 4 runs a week, 2 to 3 bike sessions, need to use the stepper more, squats every day, try to add a set of 50 every 2^nd week. Weights, arms, shoulders, back and used for squatting.

Nick, the person running the marathon with me has also filled in a training diary, see below.

 20^th November  2011 Sunday. Target from today Coniston Marathon 26.2 miles  42.2 klms. Targets 10min. Miles total 4hrs,24min. Weight 13stone 6lbs.
32 WEEKS OF TRAINING
1 week of training      Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs  

SUNDAY	Hambleden hill	6 x 1000	ND	Ran with Mark
MONDAY	No Run		D
TUESDAY	Liver hill	5 x 800	ND	First 4 laps 7min 47sec./ ran with Dave
WEDNESDAY	Marl Pits	1 x 1	D	4 laps of marl pits Gail 11min 6sec / joined gym / started diet  = G good  - A average  - B over eat
THURSDAY	Liver hill	5 x 800	ND	Slow run with Dave / diet G
FRIDAY	No Run		ND	Rest day G diet
SATURDAY	No Run		D	Rest for long run Sunday – Party night G diet
20th – 26th		17 miles

Weeks training-  Weight 14stone 6lbs 2 ozs  I have eaten like a sparrow all week to lose 1lb. Great first week with running  eating and yes less drink.. Will take four weeks to get fit for running