Running - AnnaTheApple

July 1, 2014

Week #3 Marathon Training

Another week passes… Apologies if you find these posts a bit dull as they’re so running-focused, I’m finding it a great way to track my progress and also something I can look back in future.

The week went OK. Running on my own, though not as fun as running with the club, is helping me stay focused on my goal and also avoid pushing myself too hard or doing more mileage than I should.

Monday – no running. Strength workout after work:

– 3mins calf raises
– 4mins bridge
– 10×3/leg bridge with leg to chest (see below)
– Marching bridge (Demo –> careful it’s loud when it starts!)
– 4x 10 running man (Demo)
– 3x 15 single leg dead lift (Demo)
– 100/leg clams with resistance band

Tuesday – strength routine at home when I got back from work day in London:

– 3mins toe lifts
– 4mins bridge
– 10×3/leg bridge with leg to chest (see below)
– 4x 20 running man
– 3x 20 single leg dead lift
– 100/leg clams with resistance band
– 15 press ups

Wednesday – I got up ridiculously early to do a hill session on my own. There are two great hills near me and I’ve been wanting to train on them for ages. I ran one mile to warm-up (8.22 pace) then alternated between the two hills. I ran over the first one as fast as I could, then jogged slowly down as a recovery. I then ran back over the hill and repeated the jog down. I then did exactly the same on the other hill. All in all, I ran eight up hills. This equated to just over two miles. I then jogged a mile back home. I was absolutely beat!

Thursday – I got up again early (we’re talking 5.10am) and went out for an easy recovery run. My problem is that my ego is getting in the way of these easy runs. Though I find it easy and I’m not exerting huge amounts of effort, it still isn’t easy-easy you know? I can’t seem to get it into my head I should be running 8.30s – which are really easy for me. This would be a far better recovery for me and less stress on my body. But my ego keeps whispering saying “you don’t want 8.30s on your stats for this run do you? People will think you’re slowing down and are a rubbish runner”. I know this is ridiculous though. I know I need to keep my easy runs EASY and my hard runs HARD. Otherwise it all merges and I’m unable to completely blast my harder ones. Need to work harder at this.

Strength workout in evening:

– 3mins bridge
– 2mins calf raises
– 4mins toe lifts
– 2mins bridge march
– 4×20 single leg dead lift
– 150/leg clams with resistance band
– 4mins crab walk
– 4x20secs/leg balancing on one leg with eyes closed
– 15 press ups
– 20 diamond press ups

Friday – off.

Weekend – Endure 24 (I’ll do a whole recap post on this as it was EPIC – but I only did two laps of the 5 mile route).

Just to talk quickly about some of the strength workouts I’ve been doing. I’ve been reading a great book called Anatomy for Runners by Jay Dicharry. Basically it helps you identify your weaknesses in running and the ways to improve on those weaknesses to avoid injury and become a better runner (sounds like something I definitely need to read, right?)

Leg to chest bridge

So like the geek I am, I took the book to the gym and followed some of the exercises. It’s a great book. Very interesting, though there could be more photos as some exercises were tricky to understand what was going on!

And I’m also incorporating different things like the running man, single leg dead lifts and balances, as well as lots of different stretches from Kinetic Revolution (<- love this guy, so many great articles and advice for runners). You can sign up to a free 30 day challenge and each day you get given a list of stretches and exercises to help you improve as a runner. I haven’t been following it to a tee I must say as I just don’t have time with everything else but I’ve been picking specific ones that I think might help me.

Do you do hills for running training? I’ve been fairly anxious because it’s quite a tough workout and I’ve only felt strong enough now to do it (ironically it should increase my strength).

Are there any fitness books you swear by that have helped you?

Have you ever done any crazy fitness thing, like running for 24 hours? Or being part of a relay team?

June 23, 2014

Week #2 Marathon Training

I loathe to write anything hugely positive about my running for fear that the sword of Damocles hanging above my head will drop…and injury will strike. However, I am trying my best to avoid that situation as you can manage!

I’ve pretty much followed my training plan but shifted some miles here or there depending on the time I had, though the overall week’s mileage remained the same. I’ve also modified the Ab challenge because I read a few articles about how it wasn’t that good for you…specifically crunches and sit-ups being bad for your back and neck, and rather than creating a nice strong core it’s actually just working specifically your abs. I’m not interested in getting a six pack or the aesthetic side of things but I do want a strong core.

So instead of doing the sit-ups I do Russian twists instead to work my oblique muscles (side abs?) and instead of the crunches I do bicycle crunches which I hear are better for your back and more dynamic. I’m not judging anyone else doing the Ab Challenge (Ben is sticking with the regular plan), just personally for me I didn’t want to risk anything. Everything else on the challenge I’m sticking to.

So last week, this is what went on:

Monday – no running. 45 minute strength workout:

– 100 weighted squats
– 4mins toe lifts
– 3mins calf raises
– 4mins crab walk (—> demo)
– 3mins bridge
– 1mins bridge pulses
– 10×3 bridge leg lifts

Toe lifts

Tuesday – 5k at a fast pace. Not breaking any records here but I’m chuffed I almost fully negative split it (damn you 0.1 nubbin).

I also did a strength workout after work:

– 30 x3 (per leg) hip hikes
– 30 x3 (per leg) backward lunge and knee lift with ankle weights
– 5mins toe lifts
– 3mins calf lifts
– 24 x4 (per leg) clams with resistance band (—> Demo)
– 30 (per leg) bird dog (4-8 sec hold) (—> Demo)

Wednesday – 10k Race for Life in Basingstoke.

I ran this with my friend at her pace to support her in her first 10k. It was such good fun! More on this in another post, though I will say she smashed her target at got 1:04 which is brilliant (and she could have done better but we were held up by walkers).

Thursday – no running but a strength workout after work:

– 4 mins bridge
– 3x 10 (per leg) bridge leg lifts
– 5 mins toe lifts
– 3 mins calf raises
– 3x 1min heel taps (—> Demo)
– 5 mins crab walks

Friday – 4 mile run on feel keeping it easy. Another (almost) negative split run! I wear my heart rate monitor for my runs so I can make sure I’m not pushing too much. My heart rate was an average of 157 (my fast 5k on Monday was 172 average).

Saturday – 5k at Parkrun. In my plan I had said this was a speed session so I wanted to push it.Parkrun Selfie

I just ran as fast as I could basically. There was a girl in front of me the entire time and though I managed to overtake her twice she still beat me.It was a bit frustrating but what are you gonna do! I should have kept to her shoulder and not wasted energy in premature over-takes and seen if I could pip her towards the end.

My time was 21:42 and I was third female. Not too shabby!

Sunday – I got up early and ran a 7 mile easy paced run. I found this run quite tough. Even though it was early (8.30ish) it was already very warm. I struggled to maintain a good pace and felt a bit rubbish. I don’t think what I ate the day before had helped… (BBQ and lots of cake).

From the get-go it just felt like a slog.

After the run Ben and me met up with our friend to go for a 15 mile bike ride again.

I enjoyed this a lot more than last week. Not sure why but it felt nice to work the legs in a completely different way. We didn’t go at any great speeds but it was just nice to be out in the sunshine, chatting away while moving the legs. I think we’re going to try and continue this every week when we can but probably move it to a Saturday as the long runs are going to increase and I won’t fancy a bike ride afterwards!

Total of 23 miles.

I’m pleased with the week. Feel like I’m getting faster and hopefully getting stronger.

How has your week been?

Has the sun been affecting your running?

Have you ever done the Race for Life?

June 18, 2014

The Scone Debate and dog selfies

My friends from university came down on Saturday for a visit… (*whispers* because it’s my birthday this week) Well we combined it with a sort of hen do celebration for my friend, Charlotte, who’s getting married in less than two weeks. She is doing a ‘planned elopement’ to Italy with her to-be hubby for a romantic ‘just them’ ceremony.

Sadly I couldn’t make Parkrun in the morning. It would just have been a nightmare to have got back in time and wash and dry the beast that is my hair. So many hours of my life wasted drying it…But I did manage a speedy 5k on my own earlier in the morning. Anyway, my friends arrived at 10ish. We had the usual hen do bits and pieces (penis straws are always standard, right?) and some cupcakes one of my friends had made to celebrate Charlotte’s wedding. We caught up and then headed out to my favourite tea shop…

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately perhaps) it is very close, about 2 miles. So we walked there chatting. Girls just like chatting don’t we? Ben joined as well and was an honorary girl for the day 😉

I’ll never get sick of afternoon tea. I had ham and mustard sandwiches, a fruit scone with cream and jam and a slice of LEMON MERINGUE sponge cake. Sorry for the caps, I got all excited. There were pieces of meringue on the top all crushed and lovely. Seriously good cake. Though I must say, the best part of afternoon tea for me is the scone. And there’s always the debate of jam or cream first. I’m of the opinion that it should be jam first, then a dollop of cream. Otherwise the jam gets all smeary? But this is a fairly heated debate. Ben is a cream then jam man – how are we together?? 😉

Then we had a good long walk back through some lovely countryside. The next day was a five mile easy paced run and then a 15 mile bike ride. I never feel the same love for bike rides as running but it was nice. I still can’t not break on downhill’s though. A cardinal cycling sin I hear.

We popped over to my parent’s house later on as it was Father’s Day. We all just sort of monged out in the conservatory relaxing. Can parents ‘mong’ out? Not sure. We had some selfie fun with their absolutely mad dog Lexi.

She is literally wired all the time. She’s the same breed as Alfie (Westland Terrier cross with a Cavalier King Charles) but she couldn’t be more different. She’s a beast. She’s eaten a bag of POTATOES before. And bitten through a can of beer, spraying it everywhere. What fun for my parents.

Ben doing his best ‘gangster’ impersonation. I think he’s been watching too much of The Wire…

Tonight I’m doing the Race for Life with my friend from work. She’s a fairly novice runner (and I mean that in the nicest way). She’s done a 5k race before and has now made the leap towards a 10k. She’s done lots of training and even went to her local Parkrun (ahh I’m so proud!) so I’m sure she’ll be fine. I’m going to run it with her and support her.

She told me last year she had no one to cheer her on or hug at the end because her husband and son didn’t really understand the importance of it and didn’t go (I think it’s a cultural thing, she’s Indian and in India running isn’t really done, or so I’ve been told). I found this heart breaking and said I’d sign up and run it with her. Ben is coming to support, my mum and dad will be there and she’s guilt tripped her husband and son into watching now so she’ll have loads of support. She’s hoping to run it in around an hour so finger’s crossed for her please!

Do you like a lot of support at a race? Both my parents and Ben’s mum love to come and watch and cheer us on. Though my dad properly likes to get involved – he likes to pre-read the course map, find a good spot, work out our paces of where will be when. He’s a runner at heart!

Do you have any pets?

The Big Question: jam or cream first?

June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

Week #1 Marathon Training

Morning all. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on documenting every single week of marathon training (assuming I do manage to complete all the training without getting injured…there’s confidence for you). But as it’s the first week, why not.

My marathon training plan is HERE. Alongside this I’m also doing the ‘Ab Challenge’ which I started on the 1st June. This includes, every day (except for a few rest days), sit ups, crunches, leg raises and a plank. Each day the number increases (for the plank, the length of time increases). It’s no joke now having done Day 15.

Monday – no running, but I did a 45 minute strength workout after work.

This included:
– 100 weighted squats
– 3x 10 weighted calf raises
– 3mins toe lifts
– 2x 20 of kick-backs, leg swings and hydrant lifts

Tuesday – 3 miles easy run in the morning. For my easy runs I’m trying to keep to around 8.30mins/mile which is a comfortable speed. I also did another strength workout after work.

This included:
– 3mins calf raises (no weight)
– 3mins toe lifts
– 3x 1min side planks
– 2x 1min plank with leg touches to the side
– 3x 30 Russian twists

Wednesday – We had the RR10 that evening. This was an off-road 4.5mile race (the RR10 is a set of league races with all the clubs in our area).

I really wasn’t feeling motivated. I was in a bit of a bad mood anyway. Then they delayed the start by 15 minutes and that just furthered by lack of motivation. I ummed and arred about whether to run with Ben or on my own and push it. I decided to push it. Within the first mile I knew it wasn’t a good run. My hip was niggling (possibly because of the unstable terrain?) and I just felt tired.

One of my team mates who wasn’t running cheered me on but at this point (maybe mile 2) I was considering dropping out. She shouted “just enjoy it!” when she realised I wasn’t feeling it. This really helped. Suddenly I realised, “hey, yeah I can just run this as slowly as I want and it doesn’t matter. Just get the miles in.”. My whole mood changed and I dropped the speed and just ran comfortably. Loads of people overtook me but I didn’t care. Eventually my friend Matt caught up (I was hoping Ben would catch up and I could run with him but he was having a rubbish run as he was exhausted (*cough* and hungover *cough*) after getting back from Bucharest earlier that day). So I ran with Matt instead and helped push him along (well sort of, I’m not sure who was pushing who!)

I finished 39th or 38th position (can’t remember) out of the females. Previously I’ve been 10th and 11th but I actually didn’t mind. I’ve also come to realise I don’t like the RR10s one bit. They’re heavily competitive (you aim for position not time), they’re in the evening, they’re always a very short distance and they’re off-road so there’s a big chance of turning your ankle (which a guy at our club did). To me it’s not worth it during my marathon training. Sure it’s a good speed session but I’d rather do that with the club Tuesday night on road or on my own where the pressure (that I put on myself I hasten to add) is less. I know I sound extremely ‘sour grapes’ but the relief and weight off my shoulders felt when I decided not to do anymore was huge. I felt so much better.

Thursday – another after work strength session:

– 2x 1 min side planks
– 3x 30 heel taps
– 3mins toe lifts
– 3mins calf raises
– 3min bridge
– 10x 3 bridge leg lifts

[I’m focusing on areas that I know I’m weak and also making sue I have strong shins and calves as I’m terrified about getting shin splints – because let’s be honest, that’s the next thing I’m bound to get]

Friday – another easy 3 mile run in the morning.

Saturday – I didn’t get to Parkrun because my uni friends were down so I went for an earlier 3 mile speed run. I was chuffed with this. Not my fastest but on my own not too shabby!

Sunday – 5 mile ‘long’ run (fairly amusing but it will get longer later) I really enjoyed this.

I ran very comfortably, rarely looking at my watch and was happy to see my paces were around 8 minutes. Bodes well!

Total run miles: 18

After getting back from my run and Ben returning from his, we had breakfast and then (without showering – yep we’re that gross) we headed out for a 15 mile bike ride with our friend, Nathan. It was fairly hilly and we didn’t blast the speed so it was quite nice.

I was fairly shattered for the rest of the day. Onwards to Week 2!

Do you put pressure on yourself to the point you stop enjoying something?

What workouts have you enjoyed this week?

What workouts have you hated?

June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Braishfield 5 mile beer race

Five mile races are, in my opinion, so much better than 10ks. You get to 2.5 miles and you’re half way! Yes this is an obvious statement, but mentally it’s so much easier to segment the race when everything is hurting.

I’m not keen on 5ks and I hate 10ks. I much prefer the longer distances – 10 miles and halfs are perfect. I get into my stride and enjoy the race because I’m not absolutely blasting the pace. Five miles are a kind of happy medium because I’m not clinging on to the speed (well, my version of speed anyway) for too long, which I think 10ks push me to. Though I suppose I should be running faster than I would in a 10k…

Before I get onto the Beer race, can we just talk about the random fluke thunderstorm on Saturday morning? What was up with that!? Ben and me headed down to Parkrun in rain and crashing thunder and lightening. Ten minutes before the start the heavens opened up in a big way and soaked us all.

We were helping pace a friend round as we were racing the next day. There was a nice group of us running round together. We all got soaked and covered in mud.

As Ben and I drove home, blissfully unaware of what was to come, I daydreamed about a lovely hot shower. We got home to find the water wasn’t working. Bare in mind that our legs are covered in mud, we’re absolutely soaked and freezing. What timing!? In the end we had to go round Ben’s mum’s house to borrow her shower – we were so grateful!

Moving on to Sunday, Ben, me, our running club friend, Matt, and our support crew (my parents & Ben’s mum) went to the Braishfield 5 mile beer race. So-called because you get a token for beer and a cake afterwards rather than a medal.

Ben and Matt wearing their ‘Smurf’ trainers (Adidas Boosts)

The weather was very warm, but I knew they’d be a bit of shade on the course so I wasn’t too worried.

I was quite pessimistic about this race. I knew I wasn’t anywhere near the shape I was in last year and I haven’t been consistently running since the hip saga. But hey ho, with the goal of CAKE in mind I warmed up and got myself ready on the start line.

Previously I’d achieved 34:20 and so I (doubtfully) set myself the challenge of sub-36 minutes. It’s a fairly hilly course but all on road.

As I got into the first mile I felt OK. I decided to ignore my watch and just run on feel. I was conscious to not blast it out and ruin myself for the rest of the race. I also knew there was a lovely hilly on the first mile.

I remember last year how bothered I was about how many females were ahead of me at this point, but this year I just tried to ignore it and run my own race.

As I got into the second mile, I just felt so tired and fed up. I could feel myself struggling, my pace was rubbish and I was hot and bothered. Self-doubt and annoyance just clouded my brain: “You’re rubbish”, “Last year you were so much better – what have you done in a year?”. I considered just dropping out. Pretending I felt ill or weak. How terrible is that?

I passed the 4 mile marker at at 2.5 miles as the course loops back on itself (I hate this, so demoralising). To keep myself going I kept thinking “soon you’ll be back here, in under 15 minutes.” So I kept that 4 mile marker in my head as my next target to get to.

I managed to pick one girl off ahead of me which perked me up a bit, but I still saw three girls ahead of me. I was also certain there was another far ahead too. I finally got to that 4 mile marker and knew it was under 8 minutes until the end.

A man ran up next to me. He was faster than I was so I started to drop back from him, happy for him to overtake. At this point the race was over for me. At absolute best I could be fifth female so it was all about maintaining that position and just finishing now. He turned to me and said “come on, keep with me”. I replied, “no, no, you go on. I can’t”.

But he replied, “No come on, dig deep.” Believe me, I was digging deep to stay with him. Everything in my body was screaming at me now. But it felt rude to not stay with him. He was absolutely brilliant. He kept pushing me, even when I whined “honestly, go on.” He just kept me going. We picked off one of the girls ahead.

Then we turned the corner, and it was the final lap around the field (thank god I knew about it this time!)

He kept pushing me and encouraging me. And we finally caught the other girl!

Then the final sprint.

And finish! Out of 303 runners I came 52nd and 3rd female with a time of 35:50.

Honestly, without that guy’s help I would have come 5th female and probably just coasted to the end. I turned round and thanked him and gave him a hug. I was so chuffed! He really pushed me and got me that position.

Ben and Matt’s race had been good as well. They ran a fair way together.

For Matt it was his first 5 mile and so a PB whatever. Despite feeling some nasty pains in his foot, he achieved a great time of 37:27.

Ben’s target had been 37 minutes and he got 37:04! So he was very pleased too.

And then the best part: cake of course!

The selection was amazing. This photo doesn’t even do it justice. There were so many options! I went for a slab of rocky road.I gave my beer to my dad (of which he was very pleased with) as there’s no way I could have drunk it after the race. I rarely drink beer at the best of times!

And of course, the support crew who we were very grateful to cheer us on.I didn’t actually know I was third female at this point though. I wasn’t sure how many girls had finished in front of me so we decided to wait and see the prize giving, just in case. Plus the sun was shining and it was nice milling around talking to people (and also buying more cake…shhh!)

I’m not going to lie, I was (am) disappointed with my time, which is stupid because I knew I wouldn’t get close to last year’s time before the race began. Also I was in such better shape this time last year with all the 10ks I was doing. But I couldn’t help but just feel a bit rubbish about it. Seriously, a minute and a half worse? And I was putting everything into it.

Anyway we stood there waiting for the results, and I only had a glimmer of hope. So I was genuinely surprised and so very chuffed when they called my name for third!

We got given a glass tankard with our position on the side.

It was a good day out, don’t get me wrong, and I’m over the moon with getting third (and cake). But I can’t shake the disappointment. Because of my stupid niggles and hic ups I haven’t been able to improve on my times. It’s like, what have I been doing for a year?! Where’s my progress?

But I know I just need to focus on my next challenge and not get bogged down with the shorter distance races that I don’t enjoy as much.

Have you ever been disappointed with your performance?

How do you move past a disappointment?