The Importance of Carbs and Pacing

Yesterday I learned a very valuable lesson on the importance of Carbs and Pacing.

Last weekend I ran a surprisingly easy 10 miles by slitting it into 30 minute(3 mile) chunks - running for 30 mins, walking for a couple mins, running for 30 mins, and so on. In fact I managed to knock 5 minutes off of my time for the same distance from 2 weeks previously.

So this weekend I set off with a lot of enthusiasm to tackle my first 12 mile run.

I was careful to pace myself and run nice and slow and steady and found a fantastic stride and was able to just keep going. The first couple miles were tough as I was stiff from my Saturday hills session but once I'd run off the stiffness I felt great. At the three mile mark instead of stopping to walk I pushed right on and aimed for the 6 mile mark. I reached the 6 mile mark and I still felt good, so I carried right on.

Before I knew it I'd managed to cover 8 miles running steady the whole time. I surprised even myself - I didn't think it was possible! I felt invincible! .... That is until I reached the 9 mile mark....

The last 3 miles were torture. Without thinking, the night before I'd eaten a dinner fairly high in protein and low in carbs and my body was screaming at me now for being so stupid. I'd run out of energy and my legs were KILLING me. I was slowed down to a walk for a large proportion of the remaining distance and the only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that I had to finish the 12 miles simply to get home! I couldn't quit.

When I finally limped through my front door the first thing I did was scoff down a peanut butter and honey sandwich and then collapse in the bath. About an hour later I woke up to discover the water had gone cold. I was trembling for most of the rest of the day and was TOTALLY drained of energy.

Today I discussed my run with a fellow runner at work and she gave me the valuable advice that when it comes to pacing you often don't realise you've overdone it on a run until it's too late - until you've already used up all of your energy. Even if it feels like you're going nice and slow and you feel fine you have to remember to save something for the rest of the run.

So what will I do next time? Well I'll forget about healthy eating on a Saturday night and next time I'll pile on the chips and the bread and the cake and as much carbs as I can get. And next Sunday I'll stop and walk every 3 miles for a few minutes - even if I feel fine.

***UPDATE***

I apologise for the lack of updates on this blog at the moment.

Due to demands on my time I’ve not had a chance to post in quite some time, however I have still been training hard for the marathon.
I’ll be putting up posts over the next few weeks to fill you all in on the main events from the past few months.

Coming soon will be race results and pictures, weigh in results and the highlights of my training to date.

Week 11 update - Progress!

It's almost 3 months since I started training and I'm starting to really see the progress I'm making. My ankle has thankfully made a full recovery and I was back out again running last weekend.

This week I got out Tuesday and Thursday mornings before work. It's getting darker but there's still enough light in the mornings for me to go for my run. And thankfully there's still other people out and about running and walking their dogs for me to still feel safe.

Today my target was to do 6 miles. I looked up a route online based around the local parks and went for it this morning. However I forgot to account for the distance between my flat and the park and I ended up doing 6.7 miles instead - a bit further than I was planning but it was all good. It was hard work today, so I walked at 2 mile intervals, taking full advantage of where I had to cross roads to recover, but I managed to finish strong which is encouraging.

I'm really impressed with the discipline I've been showing so far. There are days when I really don't want to go running, but I've been good at getting out regularly and pushing through the lethargy and I'm still getting a kick out of going the distance.

I've also given myself an extra helping hand by investing in a Dawn Simulator Lamp to help my body wake up in those dark winter mornings. It gradually turns a lamp on, stimulating the production of those morning hormones which help your body wake up naturally. So far I've only used it one morning and it really made a difference, we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks and months.

Week 10 update - My first injury

After my no-go last Thursday I didn't have another chance to go running again until Wednesday. I spent the bank holiday weekend in Wales on a friend's hen-do where we did horse riding, rock climbing, abseiling and an obstacle course up a stream. My whole body hurt - it was quite a workout!

Wednesday was my first time out running in exactly a week, and although my whole body ached my legs were happy to be out running again. When I first started out I felt full of energy and it felt good.

About 2/3rds of the way round however I HURT! My back and ribs were killing me from where they'd been bashed about doing the obstacle course and I was in a fair amount of pain. I ploughed on as I had to get home anyway and it was just bruised and not a serious injury. However the pain of my back and ribs was masking something a bit more serious and more relevant to my running.

I'd gone over on my ankle on my way home from work and although when I started running my ankle was fine by the time I finished the route it was pretty sore. Thankfully it didn't swell up, but it's been aching ever since.

I called my dad (a qualified medic) and he told me R.I.C.E - Rest, Ice, Compression bandage and Elevation. Since it wasn't swelling I skipped the ice and tried to do the other three as much as possible on Wednesday evening and I've been trying to keep off of it since. It's doing much better so I'm hoping to get back out again this weekend.

Week 9 update

Tuesday morning I was up bright and (very) early and impressed even myself by managing to fit a 3.4 mile run in before work. It was a gorgeous morning with the sun rising over the park and it was lovely and quiet with just the crazy people of the world out and about (some woman feeding the squirrels and us runners). I also managed to do it in under 10minutes/mile which made me really happy.

Wednesday was another beautiful morning in the park and for change of scenery I did the 2.8 mile route - again putting in a sub 10 minute/mile time. I felt really good after the race - ready for the day. And thankfully the rain had the courtesy to wait till after I was done running before arriving. :)

Sadly on Thursday the public transport let me down. To compete in the 5k race I had to get to the venue by 7:20pm at the latest, meaning I had to arrive home from work at 6pm. Due to heavy traffic and then train cancellations I didn't get home till 6:30pm. And by then I was utterly exhausted so decided to get an early night and catch up on some much needed sleep - I'll need all of my energy for this weekend! It'll be action packed so hopefully that'll make up for the lack of running.

As I'm now managing to run my current routes with relative ease I'll be looking to increase my max distance to 6 miles by the 11th of September, even if to start with I have to walk parts. That'll hopefully take my running route past Buckingham palace - what a great place to live!!

Week 8 update

On Tuesday I chose to take it easy after my dodgy run on Sunday so I did a short 2 mile run which went well. On Thursday I picked up the pace and did the 3.4 mile route in a reasonable 35 mins despite the rain.

Saturday I just couldn't be bothered, but on Sunday I pushed myself out and managed to do the complete 2 parks (5.4 miles) in a good 55 mins, running the whole way and only stopping to cross roads safely. It felt good to get such a good run in and it was a good end to the week.

My plan for this next week is to run Tuesday, Wednesday and then run a 5k race on Thursday as I'll have to take next weekend off as I'm away for a friend's hen-do. I'm really excited about the 5k race as it'll be exactly 2 months after my first one and it'll be a good comparison.

Week 7 update

This past week I've been pretty busy so didn't have time to go travelling across London to compete in races, but I made up for it by making sure I did the equivalent distance in Hyde Park instead as I could be out and back in under an hour.

Thursday night I did the full top of both Hyde Park and Kensington Park Gardens and back - a route of 3.4 miles in a reasonable 35 mins.

Saturday I decided not to run as I wasn't feeling too great - generally pretty exhausted.

On Sunday instead of the 5 mile race I did the complete 5.4 mile circuit around both parks. However half way round I had to stop and walk for a while as I wasn't feeling well - which was really frustrating as I knew I had it in me to run the full thing.

Despite the week starting well it's ended on a bit of a bum note but I'm hoping it'll pick up this next week. I'll wait and see how I'm doing this next week before I make any further plans.

Week 6 update

After my mid-week review of my aims in running I put in a good week.
Thursday morning before work, despite sleeping in, I was able to nip out
for 2.8 miles down the side of Hyde Park. As I knew I was running late I
pushed myself to run the whole way, but it wasn't too difficult as I found
a good stride and managed to do it in about 25 mins.

Saturday morning was the Serpentine's monthly handicap race. It was a grey
muggy day with some drizzle. A couple of the girls I ran the race with last
month were there and we started at about the same time. It was nice to have
people to pace myself with and it was our aim to do the full 4.3 mile race
without having to slow to a walk.

After a quarter of the way round I was struggling so I slowed and let them
pull away, I really didn't think I'd catch them up again. I managed to keep
going for the second quarter when I caught up with a girl who'd started
earlier than us. Now last month we stopped to walk at the halfway point to
catch our breath, so although I'd made it this far and was overtaking this
girl I knew if I didn't pace myself I wouldn't be able to make it all the
way round without walking. So I decided to fall in with her and keep it
nice and slow and steady.

This got me through the third quarter but it was a struggle. By the time we
got to the 3/4 mark we were starting to get overtaken by the main body of
runners making for the finish line. The girl I was running with had to slow
to a walk but I was determined to run the whole way round and strangely the
people overtaking me gave me extra energy to push on.

Then as I came up to the final 1/8th of the race I started to overtake a
couple people - this really gave me a buzz and I powered on. It was a
struggle not to go hell for leather too soon, but I held back knowing I
didn't want to burn out before the finish line. I overtook one of the girls
I started with - I really didn't think I'd catch her but I did. Then as we
came up to the finish line she came sneaking up behind me - I wasn't having
none of it! I was only planning on jogging across the finish line but this
sudden burst of competitiveness found me some extra energy and I sprinted
across the finish line, beating her by 2 seconds! I got quite a fun buzz
from it too! :)

My final time was 46mins and 31seconds - a personal best, shaving a couple
minutes off my time from last month.

This next week I have a further 3 races which will cover my training quite
nicely. On Tuesday it is my work's handicap race - a circuit of 3 miles.
That'll be a new experience for me, running at lunchtime, running with my
work's running club and running in Reading so it'll be interesting to see
how it goes! Hopefully it will go smoothly as I'm planning on making it a
regular occurance, especially when the winter draws in and running
before/after work stops being an option.

Then on Thursday evening I have the athletics league 3.5 mile race followed
by the summer league 5 mile race on Sunday. I'll give them my best shot,
try to do them without having to stop to walk and see how it goes! I might
go running with the club on Saturday morning, but I'll decide on that
closer to the time - I'll see how my body is doing as I don't want to
overdo it. So here's to a good week!

Review of Race Entries

At the start of the week I was planning on competing in the 1 mile club
championship race taking place this evening. However upon assessing how far
away the venue was from my apartment and figuring out how difficult it
would be to get there I began to review why I was competing in the race and
whether it was really worth it, especially considering it will take me five
times as long to get to the venue than it'll take for me to run the race
itself! So this made me review - why am I running and what do I hope to
achieve?

First and foremost, I am not running to win races, I'm training for a
marathon - 26.2 miles. The bulk of my training is focussing on building up
mileage. Any races I do between now and the big day will be purely for
preparation purposes. I am under no delusions that I'll win any of them,
there's far too many faster, fitter people around. As stepping stones to
running the marathon I would like to compete in a 10k, a half marathon, and
other similar distance events. I'll also work on interval training to
improve my fitness and my speed, as well as some hills work, all of which
will work toward preparing me for the marathon.

Short 1 mile races however wont exactly give me any benefit. They do not
fit into my objectives to run a marathon. They would be ideal if I were
training to do sprinting, or to compete seriously in shorter
distances...but I'm not. So what is the minimum race distance I'm willing
to do? As my first ever race was a 5k I can see benefit in doing future 5k
races for comparison purposes to see how I'm improving since the last one.
I think it is reasonable to set this as my minimum race distance.

There are however a series of races that I DO have a chance of winning.
Both the Serpentine running club and the running club at my work do monthly
"handicap" races. These work by staggering the start times for the runners
based on their previous race results with the idea that everyone finishes
the race en-mass. As you are running against your own previous time, the
first person across the line (and therefore the "winner") is the person who
has improved on their previous time the most. As *fingers crossed* I will
be improving over the course of the next 9 months as I train for the
marathon then these are the races that I stand a chance to win - and it is
my aim to win them! Quite simply - this is an achievable goal which meets
my objectives.

So what did I do this evening instead of competing in the 1 mile race? Well
I chose to use my time more wisely and go for a run in the park - making
the most of the extra time I have to go for a longer run than I typically
would mid-week. I ran from my flat, the full length of the top of Hyde Park
and Kensington Park Gardens and back - a distances of 3.4 miles total which
I did in about 35 mins. I ran quite fast as I wanted to get home before it
started to get dark and I took short breathers to tide me over but all in
all it was a good run.

Week 5 update

Thankfully after a very long week my stomach bug finally cleared. However last Sunday we went to the Farnborough Airshow and although I was prepared for hunger, thirst, rain, cold, and even dry eyes, I stupidly wasn't prepared for direct sun! I got absolutely scorched, definitely the worst burn I've ever had. My poor shoulders and chest blistered and the sunglasses outline burned into my face caused great amusement at the office. Since movement and sweating wasn't exactly desirable I decided to take another week of running.

Yesterday I helped out at a club track and field event (smothered in suncream this time!) but it got me itching to get out running again, so although I'm not 100% healed I got on my running shoes today and hit the park. Man it felt good to be out running again!! I took it easy, although I did the full 5.4 mile circuit of the park I walked to the park and back and alternated running and walking around the park, running a mile fairly quickly then walking about a half mile. I got a real buzz every time I got running and I'm looking forward to my next time out!

On Tuesday evening I'll be competing in the 1 mile club championship race, then I'll do a 2.8 route on Thursday morning before work and finally a long run in the park on Saturday before heading off to help at another track and field event for the club. I'll be gently easing myself back into running, and then next week I'll ramp it up a bit more, I want to start getting some more mileage in.

Week 4 update

Well this week started out well - Monday morning I was up bright and early at 5:50 and I ran the 2.8 mile route I like to do. I completed it in about 25 minutes. I'm definitely speeding up and finding it much easier to run the full route, which feels really good.

Sadly however I came down with a nasty stomach bug which had me in hospital for blood tests and has wiped out my running for the rest of the week. I've had to pull out of the planned 10k race that I was due to run on Sunday as I'm still not 100% recovered.

It's frustrating as I could begin to see progress with my running, but there's no point in pushing my body too hard at this stage of my training. If something like this were to happen closer to the marathon day I don't know how I'd manage it, but fingers crossed I'll not suffer too much of this over the next 9 months!

Week 3 update

My rest last weekend did me good as this week I was back fighting fit.

Tuesday morning was a shock to the system being back out running again, but it felt good. I ran the 2.8 miles in good time, running pretty much the whole way.

Thursday however wasn't so pleasant. It was raining, it was grey and I struggled to find my stride, but I battled on and did the full 2.8 miles in a decent time. At least the rain was a good motivator to keep me going!

Today I was planning on going running with the club, but as I had plans for the afternoon I went out earlier in the morning and did the full 5.4 mile circuit from my apartment, around Hyde Park and Kensington Park Gardens and back. It was a lovely morning and although I started out too fast, I slowed down and found a good stride which saw me all the way around the circuit. I managed to run just about the whole way, only stopping to walk short sections to cross roads and things. I was really pleased with my progress today and it set me up for feeling great for the rest of the day.

I play on running the same alternate day schedule this week, Mon, Wed, Fri and then on Sunday I'm signed up for doing a 10k race. I'm a bit unsure as to whether to go for it or not as I've never run that far before, but I reckon I should be able to do it, even if I do have to walk for parts of the race. It should be an interesting challenge at least!

Week 2 update

This has been another good week of running for me. Still just building up the mileage and my fitness.

Monday I did 2.8 miles. I ran a good proportion of it, but there was some walking as I'm still getting used to it.

Wednesday was my best run yet. After work I ran 4.3 miles with the Serpentine Running Club (a full circuit of Hyde Park and Kensington Park Gardens). I met the other runners at Speakers Corner and we set off in one big group, everyone finding their own stride. As we spread out I found myself running next to another woman and we got chatting. Infact we didn't stop chatting till we'd completed the full 4.3 miles - running the whole way!!! We found a really good stride that suited us both and the chatting helped to keep our minds off of the running and we managed to cover much more ground, much more quickly than we thought we would, leaving us both feeling pretty fantastic.

Friday - I slept in so instead of doing my 2.8 mile route I did a shorter 2 mile route instead, and as I was short of time I ran much faster than normal, meaning I tired quicker and had to walk sections. But I'm glad I didn't use sleeping in as an excuse not to go running.

As for a long run this weekend - as I've already done a long run this week (on Wednesday) and I've done a great deal of walking over the course of Friday evening and Saturday while out shopping (clocking up more than 5 miles walking!) I decided to not go for a run this weekend as my body is quite achy.

My plan for this next week is to run Tuesday and Thursday mornings before work and then do a long run on Saturday. Keeping the alternate days schedule that's been working quite well for me so far.

My First Week

Well it's only been a week so it's too early to start celebrating my commitment to this but I am still proud of my effort this week. The knowledge that this is me training for a marathon has driven me far more than any desire to lose weight or get fit has ever done in the past. Despite blisters, heat and work commitments I have managed to do all of the running that I planned out at the start of the week.

I've already posted about my run last Sunday and my race on Thursday. Tuesday morning I did a quick 2 mile run before work and managed to do it in about 20 minutes which I was quite pleased about. It felt good to be out running on a beautiful morning while the park was still quiet - even though I was half asleep when I started! By the time I was finished I felt GOOD!

This next week I have no races lined up. As my knees and hips are feeling a bit achy I think I'll spread my running out this next week and aim for Monday morning before work, Wednesday after work with the club, Friday before work and then Sunday do a longer run in the park. That gives me tomorrow off to rest which I think my poor joints will need!

First Run

Today was my first run in about 6 weeks, I ambitiously went for the full 5 mile run around Hyde Park, which considering the temperature outside (29 deg C) turned out to be the best idea as it kept me in the shade for most of my run.

As I've been out of it for a while I was nice to myself and only ran about half of the distance, walking the rest. It was hard work and I was definitely feeling it by the end - the heat really didn't help. But then neither did the blisters I developed about half way round, but I chose to finish it and deal with the consequences when I was done. I'm all bandaged up now so no serious damage done there.

All in all I'm pleased with my run today, I pushed myself without being stupid about it.

The plan for this next week will be to go for a run Tuesday morning before work - approximately 2 miles. Then on Thursday evening I hope to run in a club organised 5k race after work in the evening, followed by a run with the club on Saturday morning. I'm currently entered in for a 5 mile race on Sunday, but we shall see how I'm doing by then.

I'm a member of the Serpentine Running Club (see link at the side). It's my hope that between them, the running club at my work and the internet I can get all of the information and support I need to train for the marathon, but if I don't feel I'm getting ready in time I may resort to using a personal trainer, but we shall see - they're expensive!