Weekends sometimes Get away from you

So, I was supposed to run 1.5 miles this weekend for my long run. So, how did it go? Well, Saturday was a rest day. Did I rest? Not quite. I demolished a 60 foot fence then built a new one. Finished it on Sunday. Needless to say it was a really good full body workout. I did feel a little guilty about missing my run. I plan to make up for it today (a rest day).

My younger brother Mike, a serious runner, well Iron Man, suggested I use MFA 180-age. I took a look at it and for my age I should be training at 129BPM. Certainly will mean I need to slow down my runs since on the last one I was at 156. Should be interesting to see what a difference it makes. I will need to retrain my body to run a bit slower, but if I can achieve it, it could make a lot of difference to my long races. What it means is that as an example if I can achieve 10 minute miles at 129BPM, then eventually it could drop to 8 minute miles (something I did last time I trained for a marathon, the difference being my BPM was low 160s). If I can get my body to do this, race pace could be as low as 6 - 6.5 miles per minute!!! I don't expect to get there but it is certainly an interesting way of running. What it means is this long run takes on more importance. Instead of concentrating on pace I will be concentrating on BPM.

I'll update this post after the run, to let y'all know how well I did.

Ok, so back from a 1.5 mile run. I did manage to control my pace and apart from a 30 second downhill part where my BPM went to 143, the rest of the time it hovered around 129 and 130. It meant I wasn't out of breath, and I feel really strong. Overall a 9:47 pace.

As you can see, I had to slow myself down over the last half mile to keep around 129bpm. It will be interesting to see if I get faster over the coming weeks. Overall, I feel so much better than on other training runs. 

Couch to Marathon

Ok, so I completed a marathon in 2017 so why am I starting right from scratch? In 2017 I don't think I was truly prepared for the marathon. For a few days after I had incredible trouble going up and down stairs. For the next few years I really didn't do much running and when I started this year my legs were too out of shape. So this time around I decided to act like I was a total beginner and start right at the beginning. This was after signing up for the Alzheimer's Research UK's Triple Challenge. Still, the swimming and cycling part of that will be my cross fit days:).

So, Couch to Marathon. What is it? It is a 24 week program that takes you from 0 to marathon in a controlled manner. The program started as Couch to 5K, then 10K, 1/2 marathon and marathon. Needless to say the marathon follows the 5K, 10K, 1/2 etc..

So, this is week 1. So glad we are still allowed to run outside, otherwise laps of the back yard would not be fun.

Monday... Rest Day (nailed it!!!)
Tuesday the fun began. 2 minutes walking and 1 minute running. Repeat 10 times. Cool, I took a half mile walk to a nice rubber track. Then I power walked 2 minutes, ran a pretty quick 1 minutes and repeated. I did a very slow 2 minute walk towards the end when I got a phone call, but finished in 30 minutes and covered 2.9 miles. I was out of breath, sweating and by Wednesday was sore. This was not what it was supposed to be like. I had flash backs to 2016 when I pushed too hard to soon and got injured. I am determined to not let that happen again. I need to slow down, build up the miles, then when I am stronger I can add a little pace.
Wednesday... Rest Day (nailed it again!!!)
Thursday (Today) Back to 2 minutes walking and 1 minute running. Repeat 10 times. It was perfect weather, 68F. A slight breeze. I walked to the same track, then consciously made sure I didn't push myself too hard. It felt so much better. Hardly broke a sweat. 2.7 miles in 30 minutes. My maximum heart rate was 12 beats lower than on Monday. Tomorrow brings the first Cross Training session which will be on the stationary bike. Then on Sunday my first long run, a whopping 1.5 miles. This is going to take a lot of patience and determination, but this program will get me ready to do a few marathons before England 2022.