Not for Me

I have been running now for nearly 2 years; in that time I have slowly built up from 0 to 5k, 10k and half marathon distances with the latter being the most difficult in terms of requiring the most energy, focus, motivation, will power and raw determination to complete.  I have come to the conclusion following a long run last week that I always struggle to muster the required motivation or focus for the longer runs.  Yes, I'm sure if I persevere it will come, but the bottom line is that I simply do not enjoy running for long distances enough to warrant me continuing on with my current plan of reaching the Marathon distance.

I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't reach the full marathon distance but I can already feel the pressure that I felt I was under lifting.  I can no divert more time, energy and focus into hobbies that I currently enjoy more including golf, walking, cycling and photography.

So what about running?  I fully intend to continue running and I’m now looking forward to returning to more enjoyable and relaxing distances (10k and under) without the pressure of a plan.  I am also looking forward to adding some variation / cross training now that our work has access to the local gym and swimming pool at a vastly reduced rate.  I will also try to get back in the saddle of my bike to add some further variation.  These activities and training elements moving forward should enable me to maintain my fitness, loose some more weight (aiming for a comfortable 34” waist, currently at 36”), improve my core strength which still feels weak since by back injury earlier in the year and to enter the odd race up to and including the half marathon distance with the aim of beating my Personal Bests.

As always, I’ll keep updating this Blog with my progress and experiences as I go.

Final Attempt

Every time lately, no sooner that I start feeling positive about my running, I end up feeling injured again afterwards which has put doubts into my mind as to whether my current goal of reaching Marathon distance for me is attainable.  To that end I've decided that if I can’t do it this time for whatever reason, then I will be more than content to return to distances under 13.1 miles knowing that these better match/suit my natural ability and fitness levels.

To that end, I’ve settled on another of Jeff Galloways plan which I have adapted (see below) to fit in with my preferred running schedule.  To determine where I should start, I pushed myself last week and managed 11 miles which sees me slot onto week 5 of the adapted plan to commence this week more or less.  All runs less than 60 minutes will be run in their entirety as per normal and longer runs will be completed using Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run technique.  The exception to this rule is running club runs on Tuesday evening as I enjoy these runs the most and the distances run on these days will determine how far I want to go.

Week No.	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thu/Fri	Sat/Sun
5	40 min	40 min	Off	5 miles	Walk
6	40 min	40 min	Off	13 miles	Walk
7	40 min	40 min	Off	5 mi MM	Walk
8	40 min	40 min	Off	15 miles	Walk
9	40 min	40 min	Off	4 x 1	Walk
10	40 min	40 min	Off	17 miles	Walk
11	40 min	40 min	Off	6 x 1	Walk
12	40 min	40 min	Off	6 mi MM	Walk
13	40 min	40 min	Off	20 miles	Walk
14	40 min	40 min	Off	8 x 1	Walk
15	45 min	45 min	Off	7 mi MM	Walk
16	45 min	45 min	Off	23 miles	Walk
17	45 min	45 min	Off	10 x 1	Walk
18	45 min	45 min	Off	6 mi MM	Walk
19	45 min	45 min	Off	26 miles	Walk

So there we go, my final plan laid bare to see whether I can go the distance.  Regardless of the outcome, I am looking forward to redirecting the energy and time used to up my running mileage in the last 12-18 month to my other leisurely and more enjoyable hobbies that I have neglected as well as continuing with just maintenance and running club runs.  

After all, I’m almost at my target weight and size so I just need to continue maintaining fitness and building core strength to help minimise future back and neck related injuries which have dogged me this year. 

Getting somewhere...

Right, after another osteopath session and no more serious injury issues I feel like I'm getting back into things a little better again despite feeling inadequate when running in the wrong group at my local running club this week.  When suddenly your running the fastest mile you've run this year...you know that your in the wrong group and that pace over anything more than 1 miles is unsustainable!  

It's a shame because even when I dropped back to a slower group, they were still gunning it a little too much for my liking.  I hope this was just a blip and normal club support services resume next week as it was certainly the hardest run I've done in a while and I could have done without the fastest mile segment at the start which I might as well use for my most recent Magic Mile.  It took me quite a lot out of my legs and I didn't feel like running for the rest of the week!

I still want to try and get up to full marathon distance this year and I'm looking at attempting some longer runs shortly to try and get back into routine.  I've actually walked further the last two weekends then I've run for sometime so hopefully that work will help keeping me upright for longer when I attempt longer runs.

I still intend to use the Galloway walk break technique for the longer runs and the running club follows a similar technique with regular short stops to regroup which suits my style of running and helps me to enjoy them much better as they feel less of a slog!

Then if all goes well, I can start introducing some core strength exercises into my routine and perhaps some cycling commutes when the weather improves.  This week I'm looking at starting back at Week 15 on the Galloway programme but I will attempt the long run with the view of just seeing what I can do.  For this I'll plan a long 14 mile route but will ensure that if I'm struggling that there are opportunities to bail out if required.