Feeling good

Hi,

feeling confident about 10 mile race - i have done 8 miles three times now, so it doesn't feel like an impossible fluke that i can run 8 miles...

I guess every new distance has challenges i have heard, and i think in my head i have gone from, 2,3,4,6,8, as markers (or maybe at the start 1.5)

NOW my next big jump is 8 to 10 and I am only planning one 9 mile and one 11 mile run before the next 'big race' ;-)

So, only 2 more long long runs to go then a 10 day taper, a taper should be for this race, 10 days for 10 miles, and cut distance by half - so, after Christmas and up untill Jan 10th (working it out) I will need to do 1, 2, 1, 2,2, 2, 1.5, 1 or something along those lines...

I have just read that you must decrease your intensity also during recovery weeks... I have only been decreasing distance and upping the intensity because i feel better...

So I have been doing that wrong all along... will be difficult to run 2 or 1 mile slowly and is it true that you don't decrease fitness? I know the point is to be rested and there is a possibility that I haven't been doing enough of that before races...

ps. i am absolutely going to hate tapering during the most boring longest week of the year!! Swimming pool might help...

The more grueling the better

HI, Can anyone else relate to this?? lol

I have just done an 8 miler, I walked a little - about 1 min per mile - as it was only my third 8 mile run and I have just had a cold...

So not a hell of a lot of training behind me, but hoping to step it up a bit and get enough miles under my belt to really do my best on this 10 mile race on the 3rd of Jan.

I went twice round a circuit and enjoyed the second time round more than the first, I think if I have to reach into the depths to pull something more gritty out - then i am having a good time...

It was really nice and cold, not too much wind, nice and sunny, end of the sunshine, early eve... I did exactly 14 min miles ... which is okay... improvement... used my specially adapted camelbak -(adapted with a bolted on leather pouch - where i keep my coffee beans and chewy sweets)- which seems to leak if i over fill it or don't close it properly - had horrible water going down my back lol

however I was perfectly dressed for the climate which makes a really nice change - as i tend to overdress or wear a waterproof which ends up wet through and take that off and tie it round my waist and it's still raining - so this made a nice change - great run all round really,

my sister did one circuit, faster than me and then read in the car while i went round a second time...

11.55 min miles

Hi, I did a 2 mile run today and am very excited that soon I will be improving more and more with speed and am already improving a lot!!!

This is the first time i have looked at my Garmin and seen anything under a 12 min mile avg and this run was only pretty short - a 2 mile run - BUT i did have a slow section where I chatted to my fiance, slowed down, shouted back to him walking, got my heart rate back, recovered, and then went on at a pretty average I thought pace... after running the first mile downhill in 11:03, so no surprises i was slower on the way back,

Thinking about doing another Cooper's Test instead of a 2 miler next time - good measure of my progress, i think i might be able to pull out of the forum archives my last result...

4 miles

4 miles is fast becoming a short run... my shortest run at the minute is still only 2 miles, but soon it will be 3 then 4 lol

I did treadmill run in 49.03 today for 4 miles, 1.0 incline.

It is feeling so short and achievable and not a big deal is what i am saying... I was a little daunted to see rest, 4, rest, 4, 7or8, 2 for the week, but this medium short medium long run doesn't feel challenging any more really - whether run fast or comfortably...

This feels massive because i remember really struggling with it not so long ago... beginning of summer, end of winter kind of time

Nice time for 4 miles

Hi , different course, will have to compare like with like but i was amazed at coming in at less than 56 mins for a 4 mile run yesterday!!

I think I used to struggle to come in in less than an hour really, and this was not far off sub 50 mins... w o w that sounds like something to aim for - I had a 4 mile run in 51:28 and feel great about it!! I think under 57 mins used to be an achievement and this feels like quite a differece...

BUT like i said it was for a different course - so not Really comparing like with like... might get the chance to try same route out as the 56 something tomorrow...

:-)

Tavy 7

HI, 7 mile race in 12.24 min miles!!!!!!!!! 4th from last out of 800, i don't understand why i am so slow!!! but i tried my best my hr was really up there and I finished in 1:27:01,...

The finishing line was very vague and i think i could have got in in under 1 27 if I hadn't slowed down so much - the guy on the mike said - by the way i'm over here - which really confused me because i was looking for my fiance... and I think i slowed down to a walk before he said - no, carry on!

LOL

So, i was not really awake, pscyhed up, or ready for this race i had done an 8 miler 2 weeks before, (slowly) and a couple of shorter runs but the last time i'd done a run before this race was a fast and easy 5 miler a week before - I was dieting and concentrating on losing weight and lost all motivation for anything else - was physically so drained trying to live on shakes and bars and one meal a day - and was only just feeling better a day or 2 before the race.... so I was a bit de trained!

The run was lovely really - I kept up with the oldest guy in his running club for the first couple of miles - and infront of 2 big guys in yellow jackets untill the last half mile...

a gentle up hill gradient for the first 2 or 3 miles and apart from another shorter gentle hill it was all downhill from there - elevation gain (and loss) of about 716 ft, so not a completely flat race but not hilly either, haven't looked at how that compares with my super hilly 10k that I love, but it bugs me slightly that i'm not really getting faster very quickly!

I suppose my slowest race ever was in 14.39 min miles so I am improving a little...

Bit exasperating looking at a list of 750 names and being 4th from the bottom...

Don't know how bothered I am...

recovery run!

Hi, today I did an EASY 5 miles, (if you follow this blog you will know about my unhealthy obsession with getting to the point where i can do EASY 6 milers)...

But after last weeks 8 miler, 5 seemed good for a recovery week,
been feeling really drained with my diet and actually 3 weeks of 14% increases avg. so that wasn't a good idea.

I will start again next week with a 13 mile week with a race at the end of it, unless I decide I need less than the 2x3 miles for a taper but should be ok....

Really looking forward to the 'Tavy 7' as in nr Tavistock 7 miles and it's T-shirts to all finishers,

I loved seeing 'Tavy 7' on a T-shirt when i did the '6 moor miles' race a while ago and thought about how nice it is to see that someone can race for 7 miles on a T-shirt! ROFL

I wonder if I will get fanatical about seeing Marathon T-shirts in the future... I actually already have a Marathon T-shirt - as it's a long term goal i guess it doesn't matter too much that i haven't done the Berlin Marathon '09 - and it's written very small... I am such a cheat!

The 5 miles went very well because i have rested 3 days before and was more than 3 mins ahead of my average time for the distance I did 12.52 min miles, which is not far off my hilly race speed (on a very gradual up and down incline) !!!!