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Keep Going, No Matter What!

I, like many other people over the last few weeks, have had to come to terms with the race that we have been training so hard for has now unfortunately been cancelled or delayed until later on in the year.

Unfortunately mine hasn’t been delayed till later on in the year it has been cancelled all together, luckily my place will be transferred to next years race which is great.

My initial reaction was probably different to other people who found out that their marathon wasn’t going ahead because mine got cancelled much later than London or Manchester marathon so I was very much expecting/ waiting for it to happen, which made it a lot easier to take.

I think the main negative I have faced since hearing the news that my race had been cancelled was that I have been struggling with motivation already and it’s only been a week! I am very much a goal oriented person so to not have a race to work towards at the minute is really difficult for me. I have tried to make it so I am more just going for runs when I want to and have a bit more fun with my runs again, not try and beat myself up when a training run doesn’t go how I would want it to go. Obviously the biggest negative is that all our hard work feels like it is for nothing in someways, there is no end goal.

Although there are a few negatives, I think there are still positives to take from all of this. The main positive is that I have all trained hard to improve so that means I am much fitter now than if I didn’t do any training at all. Whether you have been training for your first ever marathon or a 10k you will still have improved your physical fitness so when you next stand on the start on your next race you can be grateful that you have had even longer to prepare for the race.

One of the main positives for me was that my training didn’t particularly go very well so in some ways it was good that it got cancelled because it means I have more time to prepare for my marathon when it does come around and make sure I am 100% ready for it whereas if I was to run the marathon in May I’m not sure if I would have been able to hit my target time.

I think the main thing we all need to make sure is we try and keep up with the running whether it is carry on training or we just go for runs in general because we need to make sure we don’t lose all the hard work over the past few months.

Stay active everyone!

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Marathon training week 5

This week I finally got the news about my marathon. Unfortunately it has been cancelled completely not just delayed to a later date so I will be running my first ever marathon next year instead of this year hopefully.

This news has really effected my training this week I found it really tough to motivate myself for a long run.

My first run this week was hill repeats. I did 1 mile warm up then 5 hill repeats (3x 60 second up 90 seconds down then 2x 60 seconds up 45 seconds down) then 1 mile warm down. I thought this run went really well and I think I must be one of the very few people that actually enjoy doing hill repeats I just think they a great fun and a really good chance to push yourself.

My second run of the week was a 7 miler with a variety of different paces. 2 miles easy, 3 miles at marathon pace (10:30/mi) 2 miles easy. I really enjoyed this run and I felt really comfortable pretty much the whole time, I have been trying really hard to make sure my easy pace is slightly slower just so that I can guarantee that my heart rate is nice and low.

The first that actually got effect by the news of my marathon being cancelled was when I planned to run 13 miles but I started running and my legs felt a bit heavy and I just couldn’t be bothered to push myself at all so I only ended up doing 4 miles which was slightly annoying but I just need to get myself motivated again with a new goal and then train for the marathon again next year.

My last run of the week was great fun it was a pretty hilly progressive 6 mile run but I found that I was really fresh and I could really push myself. My last mile was about 45 seconds faster ran than the one before it I really wanted to push myself on that last mile and I did.

I’m hoping by the end of this month I can run over 100 miles for the month I’m on 75 so far and I have only completed over 100 miles before once and that was really tough on my body but at the minute I feel really good so the marathon training has done a lot of good for my endurance so hopefully I can keep building on this and slowly increase my weekly and monthly mileage.

Marathon training week 4

First run of the week was 3 easy miles my legs felt pretty heavy from Cambridge half marathon. My heart rate was nice and low but I probably could’ve still gone slower just to make sure my legs weren’t pushed too much.

My second run of the week was once again a easy 3 miles the next morning so my legs still felt heavy I probably shouldn’t have ran just because I think my legs needed a bit more resting.

I decided to have a rest day then ran again my last run before the weekend was 3 tempo miles I wanted to make sure I got a run in that was slightly quicker than all the easy runs I had done so far in the week.

My last run of the week was 15 miles which is my longest run to date. I have never ran longer than a half marathon before so I am really happy with the distance and time. Surprisingly the first couple of miles were a bit tough but once I got fully warmed up my legs felt really fresh and the next 10 miles were really comfortable. The last few miles were a bit tough I definitely need to get better at picking me feet up so I’m not shuffling when my legs get tired.

Marathon Training Week 3

I started this week with a nice easy recovery 2 miles. After Sunday’s long run I wanted to keep the run nice and easy and make sure my legs feel okay.

My second run of the week was with Norwich road runners again. I did my normal 1.2 miles there as a warm up then I decided to go on the shorter route as I had Cambridge half marathon at the end of the week so wanted to make sure I felt fresh for that. Unfortunately I ended up running the last 1 mile by myself because I lost the running group 😂 so instead of running back to meeting point I decided to take a slight detour and just go home. I ended up doing 5 miles so 6.2 miles in total at a tempo pace for me so I am pretty happy with how the run went.

My last run of the week was Cambridge Half Marathon. I didn’t know what to expect for this race it was by far the biggest race I have ever ran in. Unfortunately to begin with I didn’t feel very well and wasn’t sure if I was actually going to run, I slowly started to feel better so I decided to run. The crowds were amazing and helped me a lot I’m not sure I would have been able to finish in 2:12 if it was for the crowds at the end pushing me on. Overall the race was amazing the only issue was near the end when the path got slimmer it felt like I was going to trip over people so it did knock me off my stride a bit which was a bit annoying.

I have completed 21 miles this week I hope next week I can complete a few more miles and hopefully complete 14 miles on my long run. I’m feeling a lot more confident about my marathon training now that I have been without injury for some weeks now.

Marathon training week 2

The first session of the week was with Norwich road runners. I did a 1.2 mile warm up and warm down. In the middle I did hill repeats which when you do them with other people they are actually a lot more enjoyable.

The session was 2 minutes up 2 minutes down with 90 second rest then 2:30 up then 90 seconds down with 2 minute rest. 3 times of these made it very difficult by the end of it. I wanted to make sure I didn’t go all out because I am still slightly worried about my foot failing on me again.

8.6 miles Todays session was with Norwich road runners again. Once again I did 1.2 miles warm up and warm down with 6.2 miles in the middle. I kept it at about a tempo pace it was still pretty conversational for me but I was definitely more out of breathe than I normally would for an easy run.

I wanted to make sure this run was super easy so I only did 3 miles mainly because my legs were pretty sore from past two session I think I definitely need a rest day though.

Sundays long run was 10 easy miles. I want to make sure for all of my long runs for the build up to the marathon is nice and easy and a a slow pace for me. I was really happy with this run and was surprised I had no issues or pains when I finished. I think the main aspect that helped me the most was the fact that I did a long warm up before I started running. I am starting to realise that stretching is very important to prevent any injuries.

Marathon training week 1

This week I decided to restart my marathon training after have a few weeks off due to injury.

I wanted my first week back to be pretty easy and to slowing increase the intensity so that I can hopefully be injury free from now to when I get to start line on May 17th.

My first session this week was a tempo 3 miler I ran at 10:37/mi pace. I wanted to test myself a little bit and see how I would get on, the pace was pretty comfortable I think I could’ve gone a little faster but I didn’t want to push myself too much.

My second session of the week was 3 tempo miles again. For my tempo session I try and go at a pace that is around a minute quicker than my easy pace but it does tend to vary a fair amount. I ran at a 10:01/mi pace I wanted to not look at my watch too much and just go off how I felt whilst running so I was really happy with the pace.

On Friday I decided to keep it nice and easy at 10:49/mi pace. 5.5 miles done but I did want to do 6 miles but my legs felt a bit heavy so I decided to a slightly shorter route.

My final run of the week was Thetford 10k. The weather wasn’t the best and as it was a trail race the ground was really muddy and wet so it did make it pretty difficult. Unfortunately I didn’t get to warm up or anything before the race so when I finished it was my injury did flair up a little bit but hopefully with some ice and stretching I will be fine to keep running. Overall it was a really fun race I just need to get more use to running on trails because I don’t do it all to often and I need to get use to going at a slower pace for all the trails.

17.7 miles completed this week I’m pretty happy with that I just need to make sure I slowly increase my miles so that I can stay injury free. I’m hoping I can do a 10 mile long run next Sunday.

Dealing with injury

Dealing with injury

Over the last couple of years I have had my fair few aches and pains but never a couple of days before a race so this is a new experience for me.

When I first started running a couple of years ago I experienced a lot pain in my shins and no matter what I did I couldn’t get rid of the pain. After a couple of months of dealing with the pain in my shins I went to go and see a doctor about it. I got referred to an orthopedic doctor he said that I had plantar fasciitis this is when your foot moves side to side causing added strain on the ligaments in your shins and feet. When I found this out it was very reassuring because I was certain it was shin splints and I was worried it would be very difficult for me to recover from. I was given orthopedic insoles that I have to wear in all of my shoes, they are hard plastic and took some getting use to but since having them in I haven’t experienced any shin or foot pain since.

Putting some ice on my ankle in hope it will get better soon

This is the first injury I have had in a while and with me having a race on Sunday and half way through training for my first ever half marathon this couldn’t have come at a worse time. I was running on one of my normal routes but as I went round the corner my ankle just gave way and twisted nearly making me fall over.

With this being injury happening so close to a race it has hit me rather hard and it can be difficult to stay positive so if I am able to run Sunday I will be very happy to finish I won’t be bothered about the time at all. Its horrible because the weather is so nice outside and all I want to do is go out for a run but I know all I will do is make the injury worse. But I am also embracing it slightly as this is a good opportunity for me to do some reading and race research so its not all doom and gloom.

Hopefully next week I can get back on track with my training plan and smash my goals but for now I’m justing going to rest up and hope for the best.

Hope you found this fairly interesting Ben