I'm off... bit by bit I'll get there!

smileyme1984

Well I’m a bit behind schedule with training logs and training in general, decided to go for the Athenry 10k at Christmas, just need to get the registration form in. Nervous and excited are 2 words I would definitely use to describe current thoughts on doing it. Haven’t a clue what to expect and just hope I’ll be able to do it in a respectable time in my own mind!

Anyway, finally think I’ve the knee sorted as spent the past few weeks getting a few short runs in and a game or two of football to insure I dont over do it. Started out last week with the running rightly. So here goes with the log (feel free to advise where I can change or improve on things or where I might be going wrong):

Last week: Week 1
Tuesday: 3.7 miles (nearly all flat road) in 36 minutes along streets in Dublin. Felt unsure of how it would go but afterwards I felt great, actually felt like I could have kept going for another while but didnt want to over do it. The weather was nice and cool so I suppose that helped too.

Wednesday: Same route in 35.5mins. Wasn’t sure about how good an idea it was running the day after but things came up for Thurs & Fri so I knew they were out so went for it again. It felt way quicker and easier, maybe it was the imagination but really enjoyed it.

Saturday: 3 miles at home in the country including bits of uphill and downhill. Took 28minutes. Was fairly close to the times I have done it in previously, I was tired and it was windy so I was just happy to get a run in.

Sunday: Played 5-aside for just over an hour. Just kept running as much as I could so as to cover a bit of ground. It’s good to be back at the football again after a long break.

As I said above if you think I’m doing something wrong or I should change something then let me know. I’m afraid my planning of the coming weeks is going to be a bit all over the place as have a few things coming up so might be runnning 2 nights in a row with 2 days off then, is it ok to be doing this??

The adventure has begun!!!

RedB

smileyme1984 wrote: »

I’m afraid my planning of the coming weeks is going to be a bit all over the place as have a few things coming up so might be runnning 2 nights in a row with 2 days off then, is it ok to be doing this??

Good luck with the log.

Well done on deciding on Athenry. Its good to have a specific goal. Have you done a 10k before?

No problem to have some days off as life throws curve balls at you. Sustainable running is the name of the game so as long as you're out 3-5 times a week you'll be grand.

smileyme1984

Cheers for advice!

Well done on deciding on Athenry. Its good to have a specific goal. Have you done a 10k before?

Haven't done a 10k before, as you said I thought it would help as a target based on the advice I got when I decided to start out running. Hope its achievable (think I should be able to do it anyway but maybe I'm thinking overly positively) but just don't know what sort of time to be aiming for after about 7-8 weeks runnning beforehand, or what to expect when running in a group like that or running that distance at all. Only one way to find out!!:)

littlebug

Good luck smiley:) and get your athenry form in quick.... there aren't many places left!

smileyme1984

I said things were going to be a bit all over the place and it turned out worse than I had thought. Here goes anyway, the little I got done for the week:

Tuesday: Did the 3.7mile route in 35.5mins so was fairly happy with that as I had company part of the way and it felt good to be doing something after the weekend and the day off.

Wednesday: It was wet and windy and I didn’t have a jacket with me so the hoody got heavier and heavier and the feet wetter and wetter but I decided I would try adding a bit further to the run. Ended up doing 4.2miles in 41mins (Is this too slow too??). Not sure if I should be trying to do it quicker but early on after starting out the legs felt sore and generally I felt tired but kept going and coming near the end felt grand again. I was happy with that for the evening distance wise even if the time wasn’t great.

Unfortunately that was it for the week, had a few nights out in a row celebrating results and going to the games and generally getting some much needed sleep to catch up on the past few weeks. Heading out later for 3 miles to see how that goes after that length of a break. I know I should have gotten out but was here there and everywhere until today.

Think I’m going to be a slight (even a big) bit underprepared at this stage for Athenry but will try to up things in the coming weeks once I get back from holidays at weekend. Hoping to get a few runs in on holidays too as I’ve got the entry in at this stage and don’t want to mess things up totally.

I know I haven’t gotten the 3-5 runs in as advised last week but back to it and hopefully I’ll be ok for Christmas! I hate the thoughts of not being fully prepared, especially after last week and what’s left of this week. Hope this will motivate me to get myself moving more. Also I’ve decided to go with a friend to his running group so hoping this will help!

RedB

No bother to you. 3 easy runs for the week thats in it and you'll be grand again

smileyme1984

It’s been a while but I’ve kept the running up! Back to 2 weeks ago, the week of the 16th when I posted last, was going to go for 3 miles but knew with things coming up I needed to go that bit further so went 4.25miles in about 41 minutes again. I know it’s just under the 10 mins for the mile but I was slightly bothered about things getting worse with holidays coming up.

Anyway, had planned to try get a run or 2 in on holidays but this never happened, instead we walked for hours and miles each day sightseeing etc so I was happy enough with getting miles in walking but in the back of my mind I kept thinking I’ll never get to where I need to be by taking days off and not running.

Returned home on Monday 23rd and the week went like so:
Monday: 1 hour of indoor soccer, stayed in defence so I had to cover more ground by going up and down the wings (I know it’s indoor but I’m still calling them wings!). Kept going anyway and felt alot better than last time I had played.

Took Tuesday off to recover from holidays etc but I’m back to walking to and from work, which is just over 6.5 miles a day, Monday to Friday.

Wednesday: Took a chance and kept going for a bit extra on the usual route so ended up doing 4.7miles in 42minutes. I was well surprised with the time and rechecked where I had gone to make sure the distance was correct so I was surprised that I managed it in that time....

Thursday: To avoid overdoing it after last night I just went 3.2miles and it took 30:25mins, I knew from early on that it wasn’t as fast as the previous night as felt tired and legs felt a bit heavy at times (if that makes any sense!) but was just delighted to be doing something and based on Wednesday kept thinking that bit by bit I was getting fitter and finding it easier.

Friday and Saturday involved a few social events so didn’t do much apart from walking! Felt happy based on the week even if it only involved 2 runs and a game of football. The aim now was to improve on the 4.7miles and get a third run in for the coming week.

RedB

Well done. Maybe try to keep the longer run for the weekend if you have more energy then and do 2 medium runs during the week? The walking every weekday plus indoor soccer will all help with general fitness plus keeping stiffness at bay.

smileyme1984

Finally a chance to get up to date, from the 29th of November on this is where I got to:

Sunday: The longest so far, 5.2miles in 46:58mins. Was feeling bad after watching the triple header of soccer on TV so thought I’d go that bit further, and see how it felt. Felt like I could go another bit handy enough but don’t want to over do it.

Monday: Got another game of Indoor soccer in for over an hour, was feeling great and had no problems covering ground.

Tuesday: Went for 3.7 miles, it took 35:44mins. Knew it would be a slower one but wasn’t expecting a lot after Sunday and Monday and knew I would be going on Wednesday again so wasn’t too bothered.

Wednesday: Went 4.2miles in 38:33mins. Feel like I’m improving each week and looking forward to St Stephens Day provided everything goes well over the next couple of weeks!

Thursday & Friday all involved the usual walking but no running but planning another longish one Sunday all going well.

I used to play 5 aside on Sundays and plan getting back into it in next week or so, so I don’t plan on doing the longer runs at the weekend, however over the past week or so I’ve had the chance to go Sundays with the way things worked out.

Will see how it goes anyway!!! Only 21days to go so hopefully I'll be ok!

smileyme1984

Sunday 6th: Went for a long run with the target of 5.7miles. Half way through I decided that I would see if I could go the full distance I needed to go so ended up doing 6.2 miles in 55:38mins. I was delighted

Monday 7th: Played over an hour of 5a-side indoor, it was all going great until I tried to turn to shield the ball, lost balance a bit and didn’t land my right foot rightly on the floor leading to a bit of a twist on the knee too. Didn’t feel too bad, woke up Tuesday and the ankle felt so bloody!

I decided that walking roughly the 7 miles a day would be enough for a few days as didn’t want to aggravate things. Ended up it was the following Monday before I did anything as didn’t feel comfortable at times at all. Just did a slow one on a different route and then on Wednesday went 4.2miles in 37minutes felt great.

Next problem…. Had a few Christmas parties/dinners to go to and then the cold weather kicked in, I’ve basically done nothing but walking around town a few times since Saturday when I’ve chanced taking the car out. The roads are absolutely lethal around here the past few days so spending most of the time inside and I don’t have a gym membership. Athenry is 3 days away and I’ve nothing done hardly in 2 weeks. Extremely disappointed at how things have turned out. Think at this stage if weather permits I’m still going to go ahead and do the 10k, was hoping to do it in under the hour but just see myself struggling badly to reach this now but will give it a go all the same. I don’t want to waste the entry and had seen this as a target that I was really motivated to reach so not prepared to pull out now even if I realistically am well short of where I need/wanted to be to finish the 10k.

I was thinking a while ago too that there might be a pitch I could get to tomorrow, provided roads are not too bad, to do some running on, just so I’m not a total mess on Saturday, would this be a good/bad idea at this stage? Even if I did 4 or so miles? I hate been underprepared but will know better for next time. I’m delighted overall however that I’ve regained/surpassed previous fitness levels to get to where I’ve been but disappointed its slid a bit/a lot in the past few days.

RedB

I'd try to get in 3-4 miles today if you could just to keep some life in the legs and maybe do a good stretching session afterwards. Having done the distance already you know that your general fitness is up for it. Just focus on enjoying the run and feeling good about getting to this level. There'll probably be a good crowd there and some will be in better shape than you, some in worse shape. Its a very busy time of the year so don't be too hard on yourself. You have done well to get to the starting line so smile, say hi to a few people and soak up the atmosphere. Its great doing an event like that. Hope it goes well for you.

smileyme1984

Thanks for the that, went there to a pitch nearby, it was -4 according to the reading in the car dash, its so nice out!! Felt a bit of a struggle in the frozen grass (longer in patches than I'd expected) at first but glad to have gotten a few miles in, I'd guess between 3 - 3.5miles roughly, followed by stretching. Felt like keeping going near the end for another while but will just go for a walk tomorrow. Glad I've done something for the day!

Looking forward to doing the first run anyway, would be delighted to finish it within the hour but will see what happens. Thanks for all the advice!:)

littlebug

Hi Smileyme... best of luck on Sat. I'll watch out for someone with a permanent grin and say hello If I finish in 55 minutes-ish I'll be very very happy and by looking at last years results we'd be fairly mid-pack at that.
Fingers crossed for "good" weather.:)
Well done on the progress.