Start of the Pennine 100

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

New Year, Old Body, New goals


Well, I have done almost a month of steady shorter and longer runs with the aim of building a solid base from which to begin my training programme proper. I am doing a 10k speed trial with Justin on Thursday to enable me to calculate my VDOT time, which will effectively allow me to set all the times for my programme - from intervals to easy runs. While I have tried to be sensible over the past few weeks while I make sure that I really do seem to have put the problems of last year behind me, I am SO looking forward to returning to a more structured approach to my running. It makes it so much easier to see where I need to put the work in and that I don’t waste effort on the wrong sort of training.
Most of my recent runs have been off road and I do feel that this has paid off. Although the times per mile are slower, I have been able to get out more often as I have had very few aches after each session. It also means that I have been able to put some concentrated effort in at the end of each run by trying hard to pick up the pace in the final mile. All good practice for the last push at the end of a race! I have done a couple of longer runs (up to three hours on the ground or around 18 miles) and given the lack of light at this time of year, these runs have usually involved using my headtorch. I know a lot of people don’t like running off road in the dark but I do find it very focusing running to the beam and I love the sense of isolation it creates (I know – sad!).
I had a really enjoyable run on Boxing Day while I was at my Mum’s for Christmas. My Aunt’s running club always put on a well organised and well attended two lap race over four(ish) miles for those who can get themselves out of bed! I started well but the second mile of each lap was a long slow uphill against the wind and when I came round for the second lap I was done in! I averaged just over 7 min/miles. Not fast but not too bad after a big Christmas dinner the day before and a few real ales (possibly not the best way to taper for a race!).
Away from the training, I have been looking at how to better make use of social media sites to promote my Personal Training business and hopefully you will see the fruits of this research very soon!
Happy Running!
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Training Plan

Week M T W TH F S SU
1 Rest 6-10 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run (or about 18 miles)
2 Rest 6-10 Miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run
3 Rest 6-10 miles, including 2x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP (5:00) Rest 2-hour run 3.5-hour run (or about 20 miles)
4 Rest 5-8 miles, including 3x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 6 miles, middle 2 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run 2-hour run
5 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run (or about 20-24 miles) 3-hour run
6 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run
7 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run, last hour at MP
8 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2.5-hour run
9 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
10 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
11 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2.5-hour run 3-hour run
12 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run (or about 27-29 miles)
13 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run
14 Rest 9 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2-hour run
15 Rest 7 miles, including 3x1 mile at MP Easy 5-mile jog 7 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run Easy 1-hour jog
16 Rest 6 miles, middle 3 at HMP Easy 5-mile jog Easy 3-mile jog Rest: Stay off your feet 50-mile race Rest. (Duh.)

Key:(MP) Marathon Pace: the pace/effort you can hold in a marathon
(HMP) Half-Marathon Pace: the per-mile average of your best half-marathon
(TMP) 10-Mile Pace: the per-mile pace of your fastest 10-miler
Recovery for HMP/TMP: Jog slowly until you feel fresh enough to start the next repetition.