Sticking to the plan

So now I am going into week four of the training plan and I can happily report I am sticking to it. This is all due in no small part to the simplicity of plan, but all down to my desire to do things thoroughly and progressively with the training block. On the downside of things I am eating too much and my nutrition is not matching my workout efforts just at the moment. With that said, there is no time like to present to get back on track so I am going to sit down and prescribe myself a plan as simple as running training one and see if I can turn that around.

The brief update is because I am very busy with all things non-computer based and haven't had time to write in recent days. After this particular silent pause it is nice to report progress rather than an injury at least :-)

The who, the where, the oh what now!

Wrestling with planning, and even perhaps sense of self, need time and space and that is perhaps the hardest part creating the opportunity. Getting some distance from the issues to get real perspective on everything, a really good run (or workout) can help that degree of separation from the 'oh what now!'s of daily life.

Perhaps not enough to create or re-create your life's grand plan but enough to chip away at the issues and rationalise some ways forward.

 - it's true that the world follows us around these days, the phone (coms hub) in your pocket the biggest culprit, though even the GPS on your wrist can tie you to planned targets and draw you out of 'free' running putting your brain into ranking your effort instead of open minded thought.

- how much do I use this time on the run for such simple pleasures? Not often enough, I give myself training plans that are too prescriptive all to often, I slave to GPS pace, and perhaps most of all run in a dissociative state of mind with my mind the wrong kind of blank.

I am not saying every run should be a zen feast of the mind but perhaps I / we should use our 'escapes' little more wisely.

11km in un-British heat

The training plan is in full swing, and so far I have managed to stick to the prescription set in the schedule. Last night saw an industrious 11km+ at the end of a long hot summers day, I set out after 8pm and worked my way around 75 minutes worth of walking (warm-up and down), long running and 3 spr'intervals (3x100m roll-ups - at least thats what I think they are called).

I finished feeling I had worked very hard in the unusually hot British summer we are enjoying at the moment. It is consistently10 degrees Celsius over the seasonal average which after a couple of days makes the average Brit more than a little grumpy (we love complaining about it whatever the weather!). Today I can feel the impact in my legs of the step up in training though happily my brain is enjoying working out the various 'new to me' sessions in the training plan.

The received wisdom is that by training in the heat runners get quicker when it is cooler in the autumn, but no one says by how much benefit on average this effect might provide. I only know that I am already hoping for a cool calm weather day for Berlin this autumn.

The other route

Over the past few weeks (okay, months) I have 'suffered' a string of injuries and issues that I had to miss runs and miss a marathon for, but yesterday I decided enough was enough (!) - I am taking the other route. I am going to focus of the running and training and not on where my next injury might come from. No longer am I going to run pondering my knee, my calve, my hip, my shoulder, my whatever... from here I am going to enjoy the runs I am doing and deal with issues IF they arise.

No, I am not going to run through pain or lingering aches and risk injury, I have simply decided to stop letting the recent catalog of setbacks shape my mental landscape while running. My hope is that by running free and relaxed I'll actually avoid many of the niggles or issues that in fact running tense and worried might induce.

I'll be certain to let you know how this goes in the next couple of weeks.

Ps. We are enjoying a near heatwave, clear blue skies, unseasonably hot temperatures, light breeze - not at all a British summer ;-)

One down thirty-nine to go - who is counting?

Not that I am counting but last night I managed to complete the first of around 40 planned run sessions in the training plan that I am following for my next marathon. I think I might have to get a nice big calendar and start putting great big crosses on run days completed.

This post was brought to you by tired Andy - short post, due to long day.

Berlin's 12-week plan - here we go!

Right, here goes, with the 12 week to go threshold crossed I am building my training around the plan sent to me by the organisers with a reminder that there are not many weeks before the event (!). It is a pretty progressive plan and so I will base my next 12 weeks activity solidly around it, the link to the page is below...

http://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/training-and-sports-medicine/the-marathon-training/training-plan.html

So that is it - a plan - now it is time for the action!

Ps. I've just made the above link 'clickable'.

Family holiday over but I have been running

This evening is the end of a busy and fun family get away which was a very different one in many ways. The most notable for me with respect to being 'on the move' was that I ran twice whilst we were away, and I really enjoyed random running around somewhere I had never seen before. Each run was around the same loop in the woods near our campsite, and on each occasion I was only interrupted from total solitude by two dog walkers so it was great.

On getting home I have even been for a run tonight after unpacking, thus racking up 18.76km for a week when I was 'on holiday'. I did it primarily because I have to get on track for my next marathon attempt, but I will definitely pack my running shoes for our next holiday too.