37 Days Till HM - Ho Hum...

Went for a swim last night - which again is a first for a long time. Just swam for half an hour before I got kicked out to make way for kids swimming lesson.
It's a bit of a drag not running - I'll see how the legs feel tomorrow.

38 Days Till HM - C'est La Vie

I almost don't want to blog this. I'm still not able to run yet. I went to the gym on Tuesday night and did 40 mins in the bike, which felt great to do. My new trainers arrived on Tuesday night and I got up on Wednesday morning to go for a wee jog - but as I ran down the drive I knew I wasn't ready yet. I could still feel pain in the tendons (or whatever) beside my shins. I just don't want to even longer to recover to I am not going to run for a couple of more days. Am I being sensible, or just lazy?

Going to go to the gym tonight and go on the bike again. First time I've really done that before - lots of muscles I didn't know I had.

41 Days Till HM - Injured!

The reason I've been a bit quiet over the past few days is that I've not been running. I decided to listen to the pains in my legs and have given them a rest. A mate who is a sports physio (good mate to have!) confirmed that the problem is probably that I have been running too much in an old pair of trainers! I over prontate, so its not too clever taking risks like that. Having bought a new pair a month ago, I sent them back cause they were too big. I won't be doing any more running till my new ones arrive and my inside shins feel better.

I should really get on the bike at the gym - I'll try to keep my fitness up.

As I write, the packers are in our our house to ship our stuff to Oz. It's all becoming very real now!

46 Days Till HM - Priorities

Moved house yesterday. We are also up to our necks in packing for shipping to Australia. Talk about stressful. It's times like this that you wonder if you should really be going out for that run, or should you be helping your wife who has had to take time off work?

Anyhow - still got out this morning and did 4 miles (instead of 7!)32:06, splits were 7:47, 8:15, 8:03, 7:59. My legs feel like lead at the moment, muscles at the sides of my shins really hurting. We'll see if I can continue running every day at this crazy time (he says feeling sorry for himself!)

47 Days Till HM - Speedwork

First morning venture into the gym – man, it is so quiet compared to 6pm! It was ‘lovely’ speedwork this morning with 8 x 500m at 5K pace, which meant 16km per hour. It was pretty hard going, but I did it. I have only ever done speed-work on a running track once, but I imagine that it feels better than stewing on a treadmill. My problem is that after I’ve finished my reps I just want to jump off a die rather than doing a few kms warm down and stuff. I think speedwork is the hardest thing to do in terms of day to day running. You need to find the right place – I mean who wants to look like an idiot running up and down a road as fast as they can!!

We move house today into where we will house sit until we leave for Oz. The shipping day, Monday, looms ever closer, and poor Linda has been dumped with most of the packing. That’s what happens when you have loads of holidays to take!

48 Days Till HM - Rest Day

I figured that my legs needed a rest after last week, so instead of 3miles of easy running I'm having a break today!

49 Days Till HM - Long Run

Although my body didn't want to, I did a 12 mile long run this morning. Right from the start I could feel all my muscles aching, but I somehow I managed to keep going. I was meant to do it in 93 mins but I did it in 98 instead. I'm not too worried about that. My splits were 8:09, 8:00, 8:16, 8:05, 8:21, 8:16, 8:10, 8:11, 8:01, 8:11, 8:28, 8:06.

This is the furthest I've run since the London Marathon last year!

50 Days Till HM - Hilly Billy

Today it was a 6 mile run with a twist. It included 10 x 200m hills! I ran for two miles then ran up and down a steep hill near my house. I’m sure the people who lived in the houses down the street thought I was some kind of dodgy burglar checking out the neighbourhood. I’ll tell you. It would have to be a dedicated burglar to do what I did! Did it in just over the 50mins I was aiming for (51:43)

It’s been a great week of training so far. My legs do feel a bit sore though. The muscle down the inside of my shin bones are a bit tender to the touch – I hope it doesn’t stay that way for long.

51 Days Till HM - Overslept!

Didn't wake up till 8:30 this morning. Will do a run tonight when I get home and post the results then.
Got asked about my current PBs. I ran the London Marathon last year in 3:28:09, and the last Half Marathon I ran was about 7 or 8 years ago and I it was around the 1:40 mark. I need to run more official races to get some accurate PBs.
I know what my PB for the marathon will be in 2008... Sub 3 Hour of course!

Update:
Went to the gym and did my speed-work for the day. I did 7 miles in total with 4 miles of that at half marathon pace – which meant running at 7.9 miles per hour for 3 miles and 8.8 miles per hour for 4 miles in the middle. I was really tough – I felt like giving up so many times, even hit the stop button a couple of times, but I kept getting back on to finish the exercise. Well, actually, to be honest I skived off the last half mile!

52 Days Till HM - Beautiful Day

I'm very pleased with myself today as I managed to do an 8 mile steady run before work this morning. Even ran it within the 60 mins I was suppose to - 59:56. Splits were 7:25, 7:28, 7:28, 7:39, 7:37, 7:31, 7:17, 7:28. (Content smile on my face!)
It was a beautiful morning too, clear sky and the sun rising just as I finished. Shed my outer-layer half way, it was good that I passed home at that point. There's something nice about running in shorts and t-shirt when everyone who passes you is wearing hats and scarfs!

If I ran at the pace I ran this morning for a marathon then I'd do about 3:15 - if wanted to go sub 3 hour then I'd need to do every mile in under 7 minutes! That is certainly a way off at the moment.

Only 70 days till I finish working..... then its off to OZ! Wonder if morning runs will be the same again?

53 Days Till HM - Rest Day

Went to gym last night and killed myself of the treadmill. Managed to successfully complete my first speedwork of this current training program. Did 5 x 1K at 5K pace, which meant running at 16 km per hour on the treadmill. Again, I stumbled off looking like a beetroot!
Got up at 6:30 this morning, but decided that since I trained last night that I'd take my Friday rest day today. That puts the pressure on me to train now everyday for the rest of the week.
We're shipping all our stuff off to Australia a week on Monday, so it's going to be a busy week and a half.

55 Days till HM - Back in the Saddle

Well my half marathon training programme tells me I am starting week 5 of a 12 week programme - where did the last 4 weeks go?! I feel like I'm well behind in my training but I'm going to press on never-the-less. I'll aim to follow the programme pretty strictly from now on, honest.
Started off again this morning with an easy 3 mile - phew! Did it in 23:45. Splits were 7:56, 7:40, 8:08. I wish all my runs were going to be as easy as this!
Here's to some hard training!

Back to Treadmill Running

Eased myself in with a steady 5 mile run on the treadmill. Man, it gets so hot in the stupid gym! Not really looking forward to this kind of running, but I suppose it is always going to be second best. Nothing beats the wind in your hair and the fresh air to cool you down!
Feeling almost back to full health now.

Still Not Feeling 100%

Still got this cold and don't particularly want to go out training and make it hang around any longer. Is that just a bad excuse for not running?
I just joined the local gym again which hopefully means I can get my speed work sorted out on the treadmill. When I was training for the London Marathon last year it seemed to work out nicely - you just push the buttons and you need to keep up! Looking forward to actually feeling like going to the gym!
My goals for this year as follows:
10K - sub 40mins
Half Marathon - sub 1:30
Marathon - sub 3:15
We'll see what the year brings :)

Day ?? - Back to Work

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The long gap in my blogging unfortunately reflects an equally long gap in my training! What can I say - it was the holidays, and on top of that I just had the messiest tenants in the world move out of the flat I own in Scotland and had to spend 3 days cleaning and redecorating (thanks dad!). Running quickly slid down the priority list.
But I'm back at work now, although with a bit of a sore throat. I may try to get out tomorrow.
Bought a new pair of trainers yesterday on the journey back south from the New Balance factory outlet in the Lake District. Got a pair of 856s to replace the 854s I've bought three times in a row - you get a bit board with the same shoes after a while!
In reply to some comments I've received (the only two!):
I do have a heart rate monitor but I haven't started using it for training. I'd love to get into it but find it a bit confusing - are there any good books on the subject?
On my way to running sub three hour I am currently training for a half marathon in March. I will be on route to Australia when the main marathons are on here as I would have just trained for one of them instead. I'm aiming for a 1:30 half which 'they' say is like a 3:15 marathon. My current plan is to try to run at least one marathon a year, getting the time down each time - sounds simple eh!
Here's to a fantastic year of running for all!