Yup, my schedule is totally messed up, and I'm not proud of it.
After Saturday's strength and conditioning session, I was supposed to go for a 4mile run on Sunday.
We had planned to go to the Running Show in Esher, and after coming back, go for the run.
I had my food well planned in the sense that I had put the slow cooker in action before we left for the show.
The weather was horrific and it was nice to be indoors for a few hours.
The show wasn't huge, but had everything that was on my shopping list and more.
I had 2-3 things on the list:
1. Electrolyte tablets. I'm using the High 5 Zero one, and there was a great deal for 3 tubs for £12 with a water bottle, or 4 tubs for £15.
Knowing that 1 tub in the shop is £7, at 50% off it was a great deal.
2. I needed to get some compression socks, which I'm now wearing after my runs.
3. Maybe an additional pair of running thights as one of mine starts to break up in a place I ironed it too hot... Great deals on the Ron Hill stand. I really don't care if it's last year's ones, as the main difference is where to high viz lines are situated. So a great deal to have had.
There were lots of nice gadgets, but I managed to stay away from them.
We got some free t-shirts, some free bars, lots of literature, etc.
There was a stand to subscribe to one of the running magazines. With a 6 months subscription they offered a free running camelback, which is a backpack with a water reservoir in it.
As it was the end of the day, we asked them if we could have 2, especially as we couldn't really decide on the colour. Yeah! We did indeed.
It's scary to think though how much money you could spend on running. Between a good pair of shoes, and you need more than one. Some clothes, a good bra (at least for us women), a GPS watch, and so many more gadgets, it's a whole budget you can spend there.
However, on the way back we got stuck in awful traffic, and arrived home really late.
So being hungry, the run never happened :-(
Monday at my running group, only 1 person, showed up. It was Rakhee with whom I'm running the London marathon.
So I decided to do the short interval session, and we actually ran at a very good pace.
It was hard, but a good session.
Today, I finally managed to fit in my 4mile tempo run.
I never know if I will manage to finish the whole distance or not. It's after all the longest I've run so far.
So I started very slowly. I also knew that there was a long steady hill coming up and I wanted to see if I could run the whole way up. So I didn't want to be exhausted before reaching it.
The good news is, that I managed to run it the whole way up. However, when I finished the hill, I realised I had only ran 2.2km, and had another 4.3 to go!!!!
The loop I had in my head was much shorter than what I thought it was.
So I kept on running.
I managed to speed up for the last 1.5km and finish with a sprint.
I know I've been talking about it for a while now, but pacing is something I really don't know how to do yet. I hope with time and practice, it will come.
Let's see.
This weekend will be tricky as it's my mothers birthday. I will take my running gear with me, and time and weather permitting I will go for my long run, which is again 4miles but divided in 2miles with 5mins rest. Let's see if I can fit it in.
I do need to plan my sessions better and make sure they happen. Time is flying after all.
Oh, and Rakhee and myself finally got our fundraising page up.
Our aim is to raise at least £2500 for The Children's Trust.
If you do enjoy reading this blog, please do sponsor us. It will help me focus throughout those tough months.
Here is our page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/RakheeandAnne
Thank you so much!
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Saturday, 22 November 2014
Full Registration & Lots of Skipping
Yes, finally after knowing I had a place, but not having the written confirmation, it finally arrived on Wednesday.
I am now fully registered for the London Marathon on April 26th, running in aid of The Children's Trust.
By mid week next week, I also should have a fundraising page in place, as together with my friend Rakhee Shah we are going to try and raise as much money as possible for the charity.
As such, I already have put out a charity box in the studio, and would encourage anyone that comes along to leave their 1 and 2p or more in the box.
Every little penny helps!
If you would like a collection box to keep at yours between now and end of April and collect all your pennies along the way, just let me know and I'll make sure to send you one or give you one next time I see you.
This week was busy with work, and I did manage my runs, but didn't get my strength sessions in.
So on my rest day today, I cought up with one of them.
It included lots and lots of skipping. Not just in the warmup.
All that to work on ankle flexibility.
Some weights have also been introduced although overhead stuff is still hard due to my shoulder injury.
Hopefully Lucy Howe from Healthy Body Healthy Mind will sort that out over the coming few weeks, and it will get easier.
Tomorrow, I will be going to visit the running show. Seemingly they have good deals on isotonic tablets which I am now having every day.
And might find some good compression socks to wear after my runs and workouts as per Rachael's instructions.
And I also need to fit a 4mile run in. My longest run so far. Let's see how that goes!
Now off to shower and chill :-)
I am now fully registered for the London Marathon on April 26th, running in aid of The Children's Trust.
By mid week next week, I also should have a fundraising page in place, as together with my friend Rakhee Shah we are going to try and raise as much money as possible for the charity.
As such, I already have put out a charity box in the studio, and would encourage anyone that comes along to leave their 1 and 2p or more in the box.
Every little penny helps!
If you would like a collection box to keep at yours between now and end of April and collect all your pennies along the way, just let me know and I'll make sure to send you one or give you one next time I see you.
This week was busy with work, and I did manage my runs, but didn't get my strength sessions in.
So on my rest day today, I cought up with one of them.
It included lots and lots of skipping. Not just in the warmup.
All that to work on ankle flexibility.
Some weights have also been introduced although overhead stuff is still hard due to my shoulder injury.
Hopefully Lucy Howe from Healthy Body Healthy Mind will sort that out over the coming few weeks, and it will get easier.
Tomorrow, I will be going to visit the running show. Seemingly they have good deals on isotonic tablets which I am now having every day.
And might find some good compression socks to wear after my runs and workouts as per Rachael's instructions.
And I also need to fit a 4mile run in. My longest run so far. Let's see how that goes!
Now off to shower and chill :-)
Thursday, 20 November 2014
Short and Long Intervals & Support Team
I've been slacking a little with my updates.
So since Sunday I had a rest day on Monday.
Then Tuesday, even though the weather wasn't great, I went out for my short intervals.
I felt like all I wanted to do is to get under the duvet.
I asked the others on Rachael's training group what they do, and all said to just get out there.
I do actually enjoy the sprints, so 12x100m was fun(ish).
Today, I went out for my new session, the long intervals. I was up for 2x 1miles.
I had to get to the GP surgery, and funnily enough the route I took was right 1mile.
On the way there, there is a bit of uphill and a bridge. I never managed to run that whole way to be honest.
So I started slowly, and I remembered what Rachael said to me the week before during our call. If you have to walk the uphill bits, do. But I tried, and was amazed it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
Filled in the paperwork, which was within my 3mins rest, and ran back.
I do realise that if I want to finish the London marathon in under 5h30, I need to run the whole way at 1min/mile faster than I did the last 500m where I sprinted a little.
So I know there is a long way to go.
However, those 2miles didn't feel too bad, which was the first time I felt good.
My second subject in the title is to find a good support team.
As you know by now, I've signed up with Rachael Hunt from Life Without Limits Endurance to get my training plans, support, coaching etc.
The physical and hopefully also the mental and nutrition aspect.
However, this week, I also started seeing Lucy Howe from Healthy Body Healthy Mind. Lucy is a therapist who is going to keep me injury free throughout my journey.
With all that training, but also with my existing injuries and background, it's important to keep the muscles active, lose, get them to function properly, and balanced.
And together with Lucy Vardy from Moon and Star Beauty Therapies who is taking care of my feet, it looks like I have a great team to get me there.
Later, I need to catch up on my strength training session I didn't manage to fit in.
But first for a nice shower and some business networking.
So since Sunday I had a rest day on Monday.
Then Tuesday, even though the weather wasn't great, I went out for my short intervals.
I felt like all I wanted to do is to get under the duvet.
I asked the others on Rachael's training group what they do, and all said to just get out there.
I do actually enjoy the sprints, so 12x100m was fun(ish).
Today, I went out for my new session, the long intervals. I was up for 2x 1miles.
I had to get to the GP surgery, and funnily enough the route I took was right 1mile.
On the way there, there is a bit of uphill and a bridge. I never managed to run that whole way to be honest.
So I started slowly, and I remembered what Rachael said to me the week before during our call. If you have to walk the uphill bits, do. But I tried, and was amazed it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
Filled in the paperwork, which was within my 3mins rest, and ran back.
I do realise that if I want to finish the London marathon in under 5h30, I need to run the whole way at 1min/mile faster than I did the last 500m where I sprinted a little.
So I know there is a long way to go.
However, those 2miles didn't feel too bad, which was the first time I felt good.
My second subject in the title is to find a good support team.
As you know by now, I've signed up with Rachael Hunt from Life Without Limits Endurance to get my training plans, support, coaching etc.
The physical and hopefully also the mental and nutrition aspect.
However, this week, I also started seeing Lucy Howe from Healthy Body Healthy Mind. Lucy is a therapist who is going to keep me injury free throughout my journey.
With all that training, but also with my existing injuries and background, it's important to keep the muscles active, lose, get them to function properly, and balanced.
And together with Lucy Vardy from Moon and Star Beauty Therapies who is taking care of my feet, it looks like I have a great team to get me there.
Later, I need to catch up on my strength training session I didn't manage to fit in.
But first for a nice shower and some business networking.
Sunday, 16 November 2014
The first 5k
Today was the first race as per the training plan. A 5k run.
I registered with a client and my sister in law for the Movember run. A run in aid of men's diseases.
I've done some before, so the distance wasn't too daunting. However, I had in my head that I wanted to run under 40mins, but at the same time, I knew very well that per my training pace, there was no way I could do it, if I was running at tempo run.
We got there on time to put on our numbers and moustaches. Yes, it was part of Movember.
When my nieces saw me first, they got so scared, they nearly started crying, hence at the end of the race, I straight away took the mo off, and stuck it onto my water bottle.
Off we went at 10am, and as with all the other runners, I did go off way too fast.
Somehow after the 1st km, I started struggling. Knowing that I've ran 2x 2miles only last week, I just couldn't understand why.
So I decided to walk for a minute or so, before running again.
My pacing was the whole way off. Yes, I'm running with a garmin, so should know better, but have no clue yet how to do it.
Just had to walk a few times along the way.
However, I was looking at the time and how much distance was still left, and thought, hmmm, this can be done.
I finished the race under 40mins, in 39:15 as per the official time.
So you'd say, well done, you did what you wanted to do.
For me, it's kinda, yes, I did it, but not in the way I wanted to, e.g run the whole way round.
My friend Alison was giving out medals. So she gave some to my nieces as well. They seemed very happy.
Definitely need to work on pacing this month. Looking at my pace and splits, I ran way way too fast, compared to what I did in training by quite a bit.
The next race is end of January, and a 10km, so hopefully by then I will have learned what to do!
Still, job done!
I registered with a client and my sister in law for the Movember run. A run in aid of men's diseases.
I've done some before, so the distance wasn't too daunting. However, I had in my head that I wanted to run under 40mins, but at the same time, I knew very well that per my training pace, there was no way I could do it, if I was running at tempo run.
We got there on time to put on our numbers and moustaches. Yes, it was part of Movember.
Off we went at 10am, and as with all the other runners, I did go off way too fast.
Somehow after the 1st km, I started struggling. Knowing that I've ran 2x 2miles only last week, I just couldn't understand why.
So I decided to walk for a minute or so, before running again.
My pacing was the whole way off. Yes, I'm running with a garmin, so should know better, but have no clue yet how to do it.
Just had to walk a few times along the way.
However, I was looking at the time and how much distance was still left, and thought, hmmm, this can be done.
I finished the race under 40mins, in 39:15 as per the official time.
So you'd say, well done, you did what you wanted to do.
For me, it's kinda, yes, I did it, but not in the way I wanted to, e.g run the whole way round.
My friend Alison was giving out medals. So she gave some to my nieces as well. They seemed very happy.
Definitely need to work on pacing this month. Looking at my pace and splits, I ran way way too fast, compared to what I did in training by quite a bit.
The next race is end of January, and a 10km, so hopefully by then I will have learned what to do!
Still, job done!
Saturday, 15 November 2014
New Plan Unveiled and Motivation
So yesterday I got my new plan through.
I had a long chat with Rachael, and we went over the new plan.
I now have 5 sessions a week.
Tuesday is short intervals, Wednesday is Strength and Conditioning, Thursday is long intervals, Friday is Strength and Conditioning and Sunday is long Tempo run.
The exercises in the S&C are all a notch harder, and most now involve also additional weights as opposed to body weight only.
Lots of skipping and mobility work.
And the running will be focused on pacing, as I'm rubbish at that.
If I want to run my marathon in 5h30, I do need to improve my current pace.
The longest run this month is 4miles non stop. I think that's feasable.
One main question we discussed is quite a bit of mindset and motivation.
The biggest question came when Rachael asked me if I really enjoyed it at all.
And my answer was: NO
Right now, I find running still very difficult, and I don't enjoy it.
However, I have a very clear goal in mind, which is finishing the marathon, running the whole way, in under 5h30.
And it's that end goal that makes me do those workouts and sessions. I do hope that one day I will find running easy enough to say I am enjoying it. But right now, I'm not.
And I think that is what makes me understand my clients sometimes.
It's not that they are enjoying it very much, although we do try to keep our sessions enjoyable, have a laugh, etc.
But if they think of the end result they so badly want to achieve, it should keep them on the straight and narrow.
I know that last month, I didn't follow the nutrition plan as I should have done.
I've done better than previous months, but am nowhere near what Rachael would like to see, and what I know I need to do to make it a success.
I am still struggling with drinking water throughout the day.
So this month, I will allow myself 1 nice special meal a week (I don't want to call it a cheat meal as I don't feel cheating is a good thing, but a nice special treat meal), and the rest I will try and follow the plan.
The only weekend I know I will struggle, will be in 2 weeks time when I go and visit my parents. As I know my mum always cooks everything I used to like when I was a kid, and cram it in 2 days time!
So let's see how it goes. As long as I see improvement, I will be happy.
Oh, and btw, my weight hasn't changed much at all, but I lost some inches all over. So that's a good start.
I had a long chat with Rachael, and we went over the new plan.
I now have 5 sessions a week.
Tuesday is short intervals, Wednesday is Strength and Conditioning, Thursday is long intervals, Friday is Strength and Conditioning and Sunday is long Tempo run.
The exercises in the S&C are all a notch harder, and most now involve also additional weights as opposed to body weight only.
Lots of skipping and mobility work.
And the running will be focused on pacing, as I'm rubbish at that.
If I want to run my marathon in 5h30, I do need to improve my current pace.
The longest run this month is 4miles non stop. I think that's feasable.
One main question we discussed is quite a bit of mindset and motivation.
The biggest question came when Rachael asked me if I really enjoyed it at all.
And my answer was: NO
Right now, I find running still very difficult, and I don't enjoy it.
However, I have a very clear goal in mind, which is finishing the marathon, running the whole way, in under 5h30.
And it's that end goal that makes me do those workouts and sessions. I do hope that one day I will find running easy enough to say I am enjoying it. But right now, I'm not.
And I think that is what makes me understand my clients sometimes.
It's not that they are enjoying it very much, although we do try to keep our sessions enjoyable, have a laugh, etc.
But if they think of the end result they so badly want to achieve, it should keep them on the straight and narrow.
I know that last month, I didn't follow the nutrition plan as I should have done.
I've done better than previous months, but am nowhere near what Rachael would like to see, and what I know I need to do to make it a success.
I am still struggling with drinking water throughout the day.
So this month, I will allow myself 1 nice special meal a week (I don't want to call it a cheat meal as I don't feel cheating is a good thing, but a nice special treat meal), and the rest I will try and follow the plan.
The only weekend I know I will struggle, will be in 2 weeks time when I go and visit my parents. As I know my mum always cooks everything I used to like when I was a kid, and cram it in 2 days time!
So let's see how it goes. As long as I see improvement, I will be happy.
Oh, and btw, my weight hasn't changed much at all, but I lost some inches all over. So that's a good start.
Friday, 14 November 2014
DOMS and New Programme
My glutes definitely felt it after Wednesday's workout.
I'm actually still feeling it today, but yesterday was hard going. Or at least, hard moving from seated to standing and from standing to seated.
But I know it's all worth it (or at least that's what I am telling my clients....)
At 4pm today, my new month's programme will be unveiled.
Rachael just asked me if I was ready.
Sounds evil if you ask me.
But as much as I am apprehensive, I am looking forward to it.
Sunday it's my first 5k race. I haven't run a 5k for a long long time.
I would love to run it in just under 40mins, but I know that might not happen.
I will start slowly, and hopefully speed up as I go along.
Till the next update...
I'm actually still feeling it today, but yesterday was hard going. Or at least, hard moving from seated to standing and from standing to seated.
But I know it's all worth it (or at least that's what I am telling my clients....)
At 4pm today, my new month's programme will be unveiled.
Rachael just asked me if I was ready.
Sounds evil if you ask me.
But as much as I am apprehensive, I am looking forward to it.
Sunday it's my first 5k race. I haven't run a 5k for a long long time.
I would love to run it in just under 40mins, but I know that might not happen.
I will start slowly, and hopefully speed up as I go along.
Till the next update...
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Another Deceiving Workout!
I'm back on track with my workouts. Last week was no good, as I was so tired, but it's super important to listen to your body.
Since Sunday, things are back on track.
Today it was back to a strength and conditioning session.
When I looked up the workout, I was wondering why Rachael had written out such an "easy" workout.
After the warmup, which for most people is already a full workout, it was time for some squats, bicycle crunches and lunges.
All interestingly timed, but what is 20 seconds on, 10 second off. Not much I thought.
The squats were perfectly fine. Then came the bicycle crunches, which in my mind would have been the easier part. However, because of the drills and run from yesterday, I did feel my hamstrings while doing them. Which I was quite surprised with.
And then, the lunges, which were actually hard at the end of the workout.
But, workout done, and on to the next one on Friday and my first 5k race on Sunday.
Together with a few clients, we will be participating in the Movember Run.
This morning, I went to buy some moustaches, so us ladies, will blend in with all those men growing one.
I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter from The Children's Trust. Seemingly we've gone from being an applicant to a participant in the computer, but the official letter hasn't arrived yet.
Hence the reason why I don't ask for sponsorship yet. You never know....
Since Sunday, things are back on track.
Today it was back to a strength and conditioning session.
When I looked up the workout, I was wondering why Rachael had written out such an "easy" workout.
After the warmup, which for most people is already a full workout, it was time for some squats, bicycle crunches and lunges.
All interestingly timed, but what is 20 seconds on, 10 second off. Not much I thought.
The squats were perfectly fine. Then came the bicycle crunches, which in my mind would have been the easier part. However, because of the drills and run from yesterday, I did feel my hamstrings while doing them. Which I was quite surprised with.
And then, the lunges, which were actually hard at the end of the workout.
But, workout done, and on to the next one on Friday and my first 5k race on Sunday.
Together with a few clients, we will be participating in the Movember Run.
This morning, I went to buy some moustaches, so us ladies, will blend in with all those men growing one.
I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter from The Children's Trust. Seemingly we've gone from being an applicant to a participant in the computer, but the official letter hasn't arrived yet.
Hence the reason why I don't ask for sponsorship yet. You never know....
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
A Good Run and a Bad Run
On Sunday, after a week of not being consistent, I got back on track and went for my tempo run.
It was a 30min run, and I was averagely happy with my distance.
I can see that running half an hour is a little bit easier, and not as tiring. But I'm still not happy with my pace.
I know it's only been 3-4 weeks, but I am as usual very impatient!
I do need to work on pacing, and I know it's on the programme to discuss with Rachael next time we have our chat.
Today, it was the speed & interval session.
I went out for the 1/2mile warmup job.
Then did my 5x 100m sprints, which I thought were very good.
Did the drills to ingrain some of the POSE running technique into my running.
And then it was time for 4x 800m with 2 minutes rest time.
That was a big fail....
I know it's all in the head, but just the thought of that distance made me think I couldn't do it.
I left the house doubting myself.
And the thing is, that I know I can run 4x 800m, but only slowly. And since this is supposed to be a speed session, I just can't make myself do this session, knowing that I will be soooooooo slow.
I started my first interval, and at the speed I was going, there was no way I could have run 800m. At least not in my head.
So I made it a 4x 400m session.
Disappointed I couldn't follow the programme.
But there is a slight good news to it. I was faster than the same session I did 2 weeks ago by over 1 minute!!!!
Not sure Rach will be happy with me. But that's the best I can do right now, until I feel more comfortable with all this running thing.
Definitely in the head, but need to work on it.
It was a 30min run, and I was averagely happy with my distance.
I can see that running half an hour is a little bit easier, and not as tiring. But I'm still not happy with my pace.
I know it's only been 3-4 weeks, but I am as usual very impatient!
I do need to work on pacing, and I know it's on the programme to discuss with Rachael next time we have our chat.
Today, it was the speed & interval session.
I went out for the 1/2mile warmup job.
Then did my 5x 100m sprints, which I thought were very good.
Did the drills to ingrain some of the POSE running technique into my running.
And then it was time for 4x 800m with 2 minutes rest time.
That was a big fail....
I know it's all in the head, but just the thought of that distance made me think I couldn't do it.
I left the house doubting myself.
And the thing is, that I know I can run 4x 800m, but only slowly. And since this is supposed to be a speed session, I just can't make myself do this session, knowing that I will be soooooooo slow.
I started my first interval, and at the speed I was going, there was no way I could have run 800m. At least not in my head.
So I made it a 4x 400m session.
Disappointed I couldn't follow the programme.
But there is a slight good news to it. I was faster than the same session I did 2 weeks ago by over 1 minute!!!!
Not sure Rach will be happy with me. But that's the best I can do right now, until I feel more comfortable with all this running thing.
Definitely in the head, but need to work on it.
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
The routine went to pot....
Yup, the routine went to pot...
Well, I did my workout on Friday. It was a strength and conditioning session. It was actually a bit easier than expected. Which was good.
Especially as at night, I had a 13mile night hike planned in Central London, all dressed up for Halloween.
We started from somewhere close to the Tate Modern and went through most of the sites of London at night.
The most impressive, were the poppies at the Tower of London.
It was 1am by the time we reached it, and it was just powerful.
We finished the walk by 5am, and after some breakfast at the finish, it was time to hurry home, have a shower and go to my first client for 7am.
I have to admit, I struggled to stay awake. But more importantly, I didn't really have time to stretch properly.
Which meant that on Sunday, I was very very stiff.
I wasn't really up for my tempo run of 2x 2miles with a 5mins rest in between.
Monday, I started my new novice running group. As it was their first session, we did lots of short intervals and quite a few drills. So at least I considered that to be my speed interval session.
And today, I went out for Sunday's tempo run.
It was a sunny morning, and after breakfast, it was time to get out there and just do it.
I was quite disappointed to see that the path all around the park was only just over 1km. With 6.2km to go, I thought it would get boring.
I bumped into a client of mine on my second loop, so jogged alongside him while he was walking home and we had a little chat.
And then it was back to running. Even though it was a slow one.
It definitely made me realise that if I manage to sustain this pace for 26miles, I have about half hour or so to get faster if I want to achieve my goal of running the full marathon in 5.5h.
Rachael says not to worry. So I'm not worrying. It's just an observation.
Entering my 3rd week of training now.
Well, I did my workout on Friday. It was a strength and conditioning session. It was actually a bit easier than expected. Which was good.
Especially as at night, I had a 13mile night hike planned in Central London, all dressed up for Halloween.
We started from somewhere close to the Tate Modern and went through most of the sites of London at night.
The most impressive, were the poppies at the Tower of London.
It was 1am by the time we reached it, and it was just powerful.
We finished the walk by 5am, and after some breakfast at the finish, it was time to hurry home, have a shower and go to my first client for 7am.
I have to admit, I struggled to stay awake. But more importantly, I didn't really have time to stretch properly.
Which meant that on Sunday, I was very very stiff.
I wasn't really up for my tempo run of 2x 2miles with a 5mins rest in between.
Monday, I started my new novice running group. As it was their first session, we did lots of short intervals and quite a few drills. So at least I considered that to be my speed interval session.
And today, I went out for Sunday's tempo run.
It was a sunny morning, and after breakfast, it was time to get out there and just do it.
I was quite disappointed to see that the path all around the park was only just over 1km. With 6.2km to go, I thought it would get boring.
I bumped into a client of mine on my second loop, so jogged alongside him while he was walking home and we had a little chat.
And then it was back to running. Even though it was a slow one.
It definitely made me realise that if I manage to sustain this pace for 26miles, I have about half hour or so to get faster if I want to achieve my goal of running the full marathon in 5.5h.
Rachael says not to worry. So I'm not worrying. It's just an observation.
Entering my 3rd week of training now.
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