Week 19

Wow I hurt! I am just relaxing after a 19 mile run this afternoon. That run was the longest I had done by 3 miles, and probably the last 5 were uncomfortable! Hopefully there will be no residual damage done by the run, my thighs and calves hurt but I had an ice bath when I got back and am stretching regularly.

I totalled 41 miles this week, I missed my Thursday night run as a) it was my parents anniversary and b) I needed a break! Still, 41 miles in a week is a good number and a increase of 3 miles over last week.

The miles continue to increase next week, with the 'cherry on the top' being the 20 mile run next Sunday... All I can say is thank god the NFL is back otherwise I'd go mad on the treadmill.

I took 1 run outdoors this week, on Tuesday, and frankly it beat me up. It's made me realise that I definitely need to strengthen by running a lot of outdoor miles in the next 7 weeks so will aim to do both my Tuesday and Thursday 5 mile runs outdoors this week. Hopefully I will feel better after those runs.

We have a lot of travelling coming up with will create havoc with my schedule. I am already making plans to adjust my schedule to make the most of the opportunities I will have to run.

Here's to hoping I can walk tomorrow, otherwise I'll be asking wifey for massages :)

Week 18

A good week, back on track! As hoped I kept to the schedule and managed all 38 miles which was my best weekly total thus far. Most of the runs were a little uncomfortable however, for different reasons. I had cramps 2 times and also felt light headed once, but that abated after pounding some Gatorade. Overall I am obviously pleased with this weeks efforts however, and the aches and pains can be understood when we consider a week on week mileage increase of 14 miles.

Next week sees a big increase in mileage once again. My long run on Sunday will be 19 miles and the week will see me run for 45 miles in total, and another big jump week on week. Having missed several important runs recently I am determined to 'fulfill' my obligations this week. It's very important as next week will be the first of my longest training weeks...

The first of my 50 miles weeks is next week. I will do 3 of these weeks as I lead into the Marathon. My long run (and longest I will do in training) will be 20 miles, and those weeks will be complimented by two 10 mile and two 5 mile runs.

This week will see me take my running outdoors again starting with my two 4 miles runs on Tuesday and Thursday. I'll then follow that up by adding my Saturday runs as of next week which will alternate between 10 and 6 miles. By the middle of September all but my longest run will be outdoors and, eventually maybe even those will be.

Week 17

I let myself down this week. Unfortunately only 24.5 miles were run despite 41 being scheduled. I missed my Wednesday night 8 miler for a break, and then managed to screw up my times and didn't have time for more than 8 1/2 miles of my long run on Sunday. That was only half what I was due to run. Hopefully there will be no negative impact to my fitness but I need to ensure that I meet all my goals this coming week.

This weeks schedule is a total of 38 miles. A big jump week on week after the shortfalls however very manageable. I have two runs of 9 miles, and my long run is only 12 miles. It's very important that I meet all these goals as from here on out I am basically at my full weekly mileage as I proceed for the last few weeks of training.

Next week will see me run 19 miles and then I alternate with 2o miles runs followed by 12 the week after, that continues through to mid October when my mileage tails off to rest for the race.

I'll be taking my running outdoors again soon. The temperature is dropping and I hope to start running 3-4 times a week outdoors in September and October. I will start with my shorter Tue/Thu runs then add the Saturday run (with the 'Mummy Mountain Running Team'). It's possible I will also add my Wednesday run to outdoors as we get closer also.

Aside from last weeks blip the training really is going well. No injuries to report. I have 10 weeks to go and feel very strong, long may that continue!

Week 16

Well, sleep deprivation got the better of me this week, one guess why...! To be honest, it wasn't just my first born. Aside from the regular awakenings for Ava's feeding during the night, our puppy Violet also choose this week to have 'bathroom' issues and also disturbed every 2-3 hrs. Of course it is too much to expect them to be on the same schedule so, it felt as though we were up every 1-2 hours for a few days!

Despite these disturbances and also my return to work this week, I managed to maintain my schedule through Saturday, letting just that run suffer.

In total I covered 32 miles this week. That was 8 miles less than planned but I am very happy with the end result. The long run this week was 16 miles which I completed today in 2h16m at an average pace of a little over 8m30s per mile. If I could maintain that for the marathon I'd finish sub 3h45m which would be a great achievement.

This coming week sees just a 1m increase in my scheduled mileage, Sunday's run is 17 miles. Of course with my missing this weeks Saturday run I am looking to run 9 miles more this week.

I am in unknown territory now. Not only have I never run as far at one time (today's run was 2.9m longer than I have EVER run) I have also never clocked the this kind of mileage consistently week by week.

The good thing is that I am still enjoying the training and aside from my aching muscles from today's run, I am injury free. I am looking forward to taking more of my running outdoors and plan on going a Scottsdale running team in September for my Saturday 10m runs. By the end of September I in fact hope to have the majority of my runs outdoors as it will cooler by then.

Starting this week I am going to change my Tue/Thu runs to incorporate hill and interval work once each, this will help my overall stamina and strength for the longer runs.

Lets see how it goes!

Week 15

As hoped I managed to get back on track this week and clocked 30 miles which was a 20 mile week on week increase! That's obviously not how the plan was set, I of course missed substantial mileage last week (for a very good reason!) which meant the drastic increase.

The training went well overall. My sleep pattern is a wreck with the new arrival, we're waking up 3-4 times a night for feedings so I can hardly claim to be very fresh. I did however complete all of my runs in good times and am heading into the new week feeling confident.

I have another big jump in mileage this week. Assuming all goals are met I will hit 40 miles. All my runs are increasing in distance, my Tue/Thu runs are now 4 miles each, my Wed/Sat runs are 8 miles and the long run is (gulp) 16 miles!

You may recall that I have never run more than 13.1 miles, a half marathon, so the long run this weekend is a bit daunting. I missed a 14 mile run 2 weeks ago as I was in the hospital which would have made this run more 'appealing' for want of a better word. Hopefully missing that run will not have an adverse affect on me this week but, I will do what I can.

16 miles will take me roughly 2hr10 to complete, that's a lot of time to gather thoughts on a treadmill! Thank god for the Olympics, at least I'll have something interesting on the TV to keep me amused...

Week 14

What a week! Running wise, it wasn't my best but, baby Ava Helaine was born on August 1st and everything else just seems a little less important :) The last few days have been a whirlwind. I spent all day Friday and Saturday in the hospital with Nicole and Ava and ever since we have been home essentially sleeping and eating on Ava's schedule.

Training wise I completed my Tuesday and Wednesday runs relatively well (Wednesday's 7 miler was a little tough) but thereafter I missed my runs, 3 in total and 24 miles. A bit of a set back for sure but, I can justify it, it's not like I missed runs due to laziness or being hungover!!

This week is one of the 'resting' weeks I mentioned previously. My long run this Sunday is just 10 miles, the Wednesday/Saturday runs are 7 miles a piece. I have no concerns on completing any of this mileage despite missing 3 runs last week. Next weeks long run does concern me however, it's 16 miles! That's 3 miles more than I have ever run in one go, and will require not one but two changes of treadmills! (see last week...).

Although I had no aches and pains to speak off, the 6 day lay off from running I am sure did me good. Aa break of that long will not have an adverse affect on my stamina but allows my joints recover!

So, time to sign off and go and see my baby girl and baby mama who are curled up on the bed. Remember, we sleep when Ava sleeps now!

Week 13

Let me just say, running a half marathon (13 miles) on a treadmill is a little dull... I guess I should thank the Discovery Channel for starting Shark Week as it made the 1hr 50m I was running pass quickly!

I had a great week. Obviously I completed my long run of 13 miles earlier today and also did 2 runs of 6 miles and 2 runs of 3 miles. I even managed to do my cross training on Monday, I went for a 30 minute bike ride.

In total I covered 31 miles this week which I am sure is the most I have ever done in a week. 13 miles is actually the longest I have EVER run so that I am feeling good afterwards is very pleasing, the training is going so well that even runs of this distance are not having any adverse affects on my body.

The mileage increases next week by another 3 miles. The long run will be 14 miles which will come in at just under 2 hours, I'll also do 2 'easy' runs of 7 miles a piece, one will be tempo which means starting at a slower pace and building to race pace before reducing down again.

The long runs are getting a little challenging in one way; my gym limits the time you can run on a treadmill to 60 minutes... If you remember, today's run took 1hr50m. So, to do this without an abnormal stop whilst I restart the machine I actually lent over to the machine next to me and got that going at my pace then, when machine # 1 was about to stop I literally hopped over to machine # 2 and kept going, there was barely a break in stride!

I am sure the other people on the gym must think I am crazy but, it works, I did it for my 11 mile run a couple of weeks ago also! I do stop my personal timer for a second or two whilst I switch machines but the important thing is that I barely break stride. I hope to be able to finish the marathon without stopping so it's important that I train that way also...

Next week will likely see the birth of Baby Cookie. I'll aim of course to keep my training going as much as possible but I can't see myself leaving the delivery room to do a quick run! "I'll be back in a couple of hours love, just going to run 14 miles, can you hang on until then...?!"