We're getting there......slowly.......very slowly

So i've started my half marathon training plan and so far it's going ok. I went out for my easy run the day after my 10k, did 4 miles in about 50ish minutes so think that was taking it pretty easy. I then did my 4 mile interval run. I've not done any speed work before so was wondering how this was going to pan out. It was going ok until i got to the 3.5 mile mark when my foot started to go numb so i thought i'd better finish up there.

Unfortuntely i never got round to going for my 3rd run as i went for a few beverages with friends (well it would have been rude not to) so didn't go out again until sunday. This was going to be my LSR of 8 miles, my furthest distance yet, so was rather looking forward to it. However after less than half the distance my legs were feeling terrible, they just felt so tight and numb and i was developing a pain in my right ankle that i had to call it a day and rest up a bit. I'm thinking that as i hadn't ran since wednesday that my legs had decided they wanted to start of a bit slower so i left my LSR until tonight.

Went out tonight after work for my 8 mile LSR and i'm happy to say i completed it in 1 hour 21 minutes and 43 seconds. I know this doesn't sound particularly quick but for i think its a good time as if i keep it up then i'm looking at a 2 hour half marathon. Considering i could only just run for 30 mins a couple of months ago and now i'm up to nearly an hour and a half i'm feeling good about my progress and hope that it continues.

Hope you're all keeping well

Until next time....

Playlist
Spineshank - Synthetic
Spineshank - New Disease
Korn - Blind
Adema - Tornado
Adema - The Way You Like It
Boy Sets Fire - Last Year's Nest
Chimaira - Split
Fightstar - Paint Your Target
Fightstar - Palahnuiks Laughter
Innerpartysystem - Don't Stop
Mammal - Smash The Pinata
Mudvayne - Not Falling
Tool - Stink Fist
Tool - Prison Sex
The Offspring - Hammerhead

In your face 10k!

Race day today and I have to say I did better than I thought I would. Given that my attempts at running in the morning failed miserably and this race was taking place at 10:30am I thought this would end up going the same way and I'd be walking most of the way round. However, I perservered, and managed to complete the course in 1hr 17secs. Not exactly world record breaking but not bad for a fat, sweaty lump! It probably helped that the course was flat and the route I run when training has about 4 hills!

The atmosphere was great too! It was only a small event with about 600-ish runners but everyone was really friendly and as a first time race runner was made to feel welcome. It also ups your confidence a bit when you have people clapping for you at the half way point (my 10k consisted of 2 laps.)

My next step now is to follow a half marathon training plan. There is a HM in May i'm considering entering however i'm going to see how the training goes before I do. Obviously with training for a HM it will involve doing more mileage and training more often than i'm used to so want to make sure i'm ready to take on the challenge. After that, who knows whats next!

Until next time folks!

Oh Bugger!

As it's less than a week now until my 10k (Sunday 13th if you're interested) I thought i'd best keep the running to a reasonable minimum, not so little that i'm not working myself but not so much that i'm going to cause myself an injury. I thought a nice 3-4 mile run would suffice and keep me nice and loose.

I got a little over a mile and my calfs were beginning to feel a bit stiff, I thought this to be nothing unusual as it happens sometimes and doesn't affect me, however tonight was a different story. My calfs got so tight that I had to walk for a bit and after re-commencing the running, after about half a mile, I got a pain in my shin that left me walking the rest of the way home!

Thinking that this is going to completely bugger my race on sunday I thought long and hard about what I may have done differently that could cause my legs to stiffen like they did. I ate the same foods, at pretty much the same time as I usually do on a weekday at work, I was up and down all day so my legs should have been pretty warm, I wear the same trainers so i know it wasn't them and then I remembered.......I forgot to stretch!

So people, lesson number 1: Stretch before running. Just a little bit. I usually do some lunges, then running on the spot, kicking my heels up to hit my bum.

So next time, I shall remember to stretch and hopefully won't run in to this problem again (no pun intended)

Until next time people!!


Playlist

Maximo Park - Our Velocity
Tinie Tempah ft. Eric Turner - Written in the Stars
Hadouken! - Mecha Love
Pendulum - Blood Sugar
Pendulum - Fasten Your Seatbelt (Live from Brixton Academy)
Pendulum - Salt in the Wounds
Pendulum - Crush
Pendulum - The Island Pt 1
Pendulum - The Island Pt 2
Pendulum - Slam
Pendulum - Tarantula

Here goes nothing!!

Evening all!

This is my first ever post/blog so please be gentle! Just thought i would say hi and introduce myself.

My name's Dave and i live in Staffordshire. I started running at the beginning of the year after trying to put on a pair of trousers and found the seams were ready to burst! I've decided to start this blog aswell as a way of documenting my efforts and achievements and maybe so that others can learn from my experiences.

Currently i'm running around 6 miles in about 1 hr 5 mins. I've entered myself in to a 10k race which takes place on March 13th as a way of motivating myself to keep up the running as i have something to aim for. After this i'm going to start following a half marathon training plan to help build up my fitness and to give me another goal to aim for.

Anyway, thats all for now. Just thought i'd get this started and give an idea of where i'm up to! Feel free to leave comments or ask me any questions, i'll be more than happy to answer them.

Happy trails!