Archive for the ‘base training’ Category
Posted in Dublin Marathon, Scarborough, base training, marathon, training
Tags: Dublin Marathon, Rain, suffering
Last week saw the end of my base training schedule. Now I need to crack on with the actual marathon training so I have a hope of meeting my 5h30m target. Unfortunately, the classic British summer weather meant that my first day of marathon training was not a good one.
Now I don’t want to sound dramatic, but today’s run was definitely not fun and involved an element of suffering. It was grey and overcast when I set out and it didn’t improve at all. First, it started spitting, then it turned into a full-on rainstorm. Even though I had foreseen this and taken my coat, this soon became wet through with the rain, making every movement cold and uncomfortable.
So all of this combined to make what should have been an easy 3 mile/30 minute easy jog into a gruelling slog. Each step felt like I had already ran a marathon before it. Hopefully the weather will improve in time for my next run on Wednesday.
Posted August 4th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in base training, training
Tags: Effort, headland, North Bay, Peasholm Park, Sea Life Centre, sun, Sweat
Lots of sweat, in fact. Wednesday’s run was a 60-minute moderate jog, which would not usually have me slick with sweat. However, this time the weather was warm and sunny and even though the breeze was fairly cool, it was still quite humid. My route was the same as usual, going round the headland, then back along the North Bay promenade and through Peasholm Park.
After Monday, when I had to stop without finishing my route, I was quite happy with my pace today. Running around the corner of the headland back towards the North Bay I didn’t feel totally knackered like last time and kept up the same moderately fast pace all the way up to the Sea Life Centre.
I’ve measured the distance between the junction of Albert road and Marine drive up to the Sea Life Centre as a mile and I use how long it takes me to run this distance as an indicator of my pace and how fast I’m running. During this run I managed to complete it in just over 10 minutes, which is actually quite fast for me – usually I aim for a speed of around 12 minutes per mile, which is equivalent to 5h30m marathon pace. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted July 24th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in base training, training
Tags: Effort, exhaustion, headland, North Bay, Peasholm Glen, Peasholm Park
Effort was the theme of Monday’s run. My base training schedule called for a 45-minute jog at moderate pace. After a fairly easy 30-minute jog on Saturday, I felt this outing shouldn’t be too different. The sea was unusually rough and the weather was more appropriate for a blustery January morning. I decided to change my usual route, running around the headland and back again, as every wave that came in crashed on the promenade, making it far too dangerous to run along.
The main disadvantage of running round the headland is that it is exposed. On the way out, the wind is behind you and gives you a welcome push, but on the way back towards the North Bay, the wind is against you. This can really slow you down when you are already tired enough from running. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted July 23rd, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in base training, training
Tags: base training, fartlek, hill work, intervals, tempo
So ends my first week of base training. The variety of running styles made a welcome change from just running the usual route and I can see how this is going to prepare me for the rigours ahead. The interval training was probably the hardest and most exhausting because the continual running at a sustained fast pace for several minutes, which is tougher than it sounds.
The long tempo runs were also a challenge, having to run at a moderate pace, just below my aerobic threshold, in order to increase my stamina. Hard work. After that I had another week of easy mediu-length runs to recover, then it is on with the same schedule repeated but to a higher intensity. That means longer runs, longer interval periods and more jogging up hills. Great!
Posted July 21st, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Dublin Marathon, Edinburgh Marathon, Leeds 10K, base training, marathon, training
Tags: base training, fartlek, hill work
After giving myself a few days to rest after the Leeds 10k, I started last week on the first phase of my training for my next big challenge, the Dublin Marathon 2008. After running Edinburgh, I think there is room for improvement. I plan to run Dublin in a time of 5h30m, which would shave nearly an hour off my Edinburgh time. That would be quite an improvement on my Edinburgh time – if I can achieve it. To meet this ambitious target, I’ve now embarked on an intensive “base training” schedule.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted July 9th, 2008 by Simon
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