There’s nothing like a good race to get you feeling confident about your running. Though confidence and enthusiasm needs to not fall into getting overly-confident (aka cocky).
My Brighton Marathon PB has given me such a boost. I’m not lying when I say I am genuinely still shocked by my time and how good I felt running. I didn’t actually think I could get a PB let alone a significantly sub 3:20 time. So it’s definitely boosted my confidence in my own running ability.
With that in mind I have two main goals. I’d love to get my half marathon time a bit quicker. It’s currently 1:34:30. I’d loved to be closer to 1:32. I have the Jersey Half in June which is supposed to be quite flat and fast so I’ll be aiming for that. During this time as well I’d LOVE to get a sub 20 at parkrun. In terms of time goals, that’s all I have. I’m generally not hugely bothered about times but it would be nice to “give it a go” again… who knows. And it’ll be nice to have a proper focus for my training.
So going forward I want to do to put a bit more thought into my running. I do just tend to run all the miles at one pace and occasionally blast a parkrun out. This isn’t a great way to train, so I’ve heard… I also want to get to running five times a week, rather than my four times.
OK this all sounds like me heading towards doing too much and over-training and getting an injury but I’m going to be cautious, listen to my body, recover adequately (sleep and eat well) and CRUCIALLY make sure I run the fast stuff fast and the slow stuff slow. Ideally I’ll have a Tuesday run where I’ll put the effort in and do an actual speed session, then have two other runs I keep SLOW and gentle, then Saturday parkrun (which I won’t blast out every week but plan when I want to) and then a Sunday long run, sensibly paced.
Again, this is all very much “in theory”. I can get fairly negative about my running and believe I’m injury-prone so I’m always expecting the fun times to stop at any point when my next niggle crops up. Watch this space I guess 😉 But I am going to try so hard to be sensible and not just run all the miles at my usual pace. Basically I’m hoping to think more strategically about how I should be running. Let’s be honest, I don’t usually do this so this is all very much new territory for me.
Alongside my time goals, I obviously wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have my fluffy goals too. I’d love to tick off some more parkruns from the alphabet challenge (Jersey will be done in June) and tick off a few more tourist locations.
I also have a bit of an itch to do the Cheddar Gorge Marathon to celebrate turning 30 in June. I really loved that marathon. Yes it’s tough and super hilly, but it’s so chilled and scenic. And what would be more fitting than running a marathon as a way to celebrate my birthday? But it’s all very much just thoughts at the moment…
What are your current running goals?
How do you like to celebrate big milestone birthdays?
Do you have structured training or do you just run how you fancy?
I love this post and your new focus. I’m a firm believer of the fast runs fast and slow runs slow (I know i’m a broken record !). However i’m going to call you out for sandbagging again, I think your half marathon goal is a bit soft….you can do sub 1.30 based on your current form! The birthday marathon sounds good! I’m running a half marathon on t birthday this year, good timing !
Hmm we’ll see!
Ahh running a race for a birthday is always a good idea in my book 🙂
Totally agree that you need different types of runs in your training. As you know, mine is pretty structured thanks to having a PT for a husband
I also have a milestone birthday this year, so I’m hoping to celebrate it with a running event. And food. There has to be food!
Allison recently posted…Week In Review – Music And Excitement!
You’re very lucky to have such a wealth of knowledge so easily at hand 😉
I really like having a mix of fast and very slow runs across the week, and the sessions have really helped me. Well done on your PB by the way!
Lauren (@PoweredbyPB) recently posted…SDW50 2018
They clearly have helped you! Well done on YOUR time too!
The fast and slow runs are a good idea I think. My club runs and parkruns tend to be my faster runs as I run faster with other people, then my solo runs tend to be slower as I just enjoy them and pootle along. I sometimes try to do some sort of hill training during one, but at the moment I’ve only managed to fit the fourth run in after yoga so I don’t feel like blasting anything out.
Jersey sounds exciting! And what a great way to celebrate your birthday- Stockholm marathon was my celebration of turning 30, although it was a few weeks after, on my actual birthday I ran a 20 mile race!
As for goals, I sometimes wonder about a faster parkrun as I think I should be faster, but then I usually turn up and prefer to enjoy the run itself. More tourism of course- I liked doing the Herts ones so now I am considering another county, maybe Bucks as that is fairly near and I’ve done 2 already.
Maria @ Maria runs recently posted…Northala Fields parkrun for the compass challenge
Exactly this. Sometimes I just fancy having a fun run at parkrun and enjoying myself rather than pushing it and not enjoying it as much.
I did my first marathon for my 35th birthday – it was brilliant! I doubt I’ll be back to more than a half by my 40th birthday, but I’m wanting my sub-4 marathon by the time I’m 42…
That’s a great goal to have 🙂