Can I do it?

LarMan

These threads are excellent and really are inspirational, some of them are way out of my league but I really enjoy reading those Threads that start with people who haven’t run before and who end up completing a marathon.

Motivation
My motivation to run was to lose weight I am 42 male, father to four kids, husband to a great wife but my weight was definitely holding me back not just through being unable to do things with the kids but also embarrassment at my appearance. January 1st I was 114.5KG and struggling to tie my laces as the belly was getting in the way. I have been a yo yo dieter and over the previous year had lost weight but in the space of six months had put it all back on and more.

Weight Loss
So I resolved to do something about it. I lost some weight during the first couple of months of the year but lost motivation and by May had put most of the weight back on and on the 17th of May was 111.9KG. At this point I knew I could not lose the weight myself without some help so I re-joined Weight Watchers. I have been on these programs before and they work, it is not rocket science all they tell you is eat healthy and eat less than you need to and that should result in you losing weight. I followed the program and by the start of August I was down to 101KG.

Exercise
Now apart from golf I was getting no exercise so I decided I needed to get back to doing some. In 2010 I had done some running, I had even bought my Garmin 405, so I decided it was time to get running again. I decided to follow a program so started with the C25K. I love this program and would recommend it to anyone who has not exercised. It starts you off slowly which is brillant when you feel you will die after running 1 minute.
I stuck with the program and completed it, with the help of the C25K app on my iphone ,on Friday 21st Of October with a final run of 5K in uder 28 minutes. It was great to feel that I could run 30 minutes without stopping but I knew this was just a stepping stone to run my ultimate distance which was to run 10K. At this stage I had lost 4Kg and was down to 96Kg

B210K
The same makers of the C25K app also made a 10K app called B210K (Bridge to 10K) so I decided I would try and do this, it is a six week program aimed at graduates of C25K program. My first run was on the 24th of October, I have to say the thought of running 10K at that stage was very daunting, it still is today, but I am glad to say I have stuck with the program and tomorrow I will run my last run of the program which will hopefully be 10K in just under an hour. I have also lost a further 5KG and am now a more respectable 92Kg

As I got to the middle of this program I knew I would finish it and so to ensure I continued I wanted to set a new goal. I decided that my next challenge is to do a half marathon and have duly signed up for the Wicklow half marathon on the 25th of March.

So tomorrow’s run will be the first in my log. If you have read all this fair play to you, If I am the only one reading this then fair play to me. Onwards and downwards (weight wise.)

Goals for 2012
Run Half Marathon in 2:07
Weigh 80Kg

ronnie085

Good luck with the log, your flying already

LarMan

Thanks Ronnie

LarMan

Completed B210K program today. Ran 10.28km in 1 hour. Bit of a breeze in the last parts of the run but I was happy to have completed this program in a PB, 10KM came in 58:16. I was really hanging on in the end.

Monday I start the half Marathon training with some strenght and stretching.

captain P

Well done Lar, sounds like you're flying so far. Keep up the good work:)

turbot

BTW, if you are running regularly, make sure, if you haven't done so already:

1) You have the right shoes
2) You study correct running form

Not knowing this, meant for me, after approx 1 year of running every morning, my knees got very sore.

Also, maybe you'd light to consider something like the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT06UAzB8nk

I have had great results in terms of well being and energy drinking something like this every morning for the last three weeks.

LarMan

turbot wrote: »

BTW, if you are running regularly, make sure, if you haven't done so already:

1) You have the right shoes
2) You study correct running form

Not knowing this, meant for me, after approx 1 year of running every morning, my knees got very sore.

Also, maybe you'd light to consider something like the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT06UAzB8nk

I have had great results in terms of well being and energy drinking something like this every morning for the last three weeks.

You bring up a good point I don't think I do know proper running form. Can you recommend where I could find out.

Thanks

LarMan

LarMan

Monday
Strenght training

Small weights with 2 sets of 12 reps
Benchpress
rows
Triceps
Curls
Crunchs
Lunges

LarMan

Tuesday

A nice easy 3 mile run around work. Pace was kept deliberately slow as I was running with a friend who is recovering from a knee injury so we didn't want to push it.

Route is relatively flat with gentle inclines, cold at the start with a nice cold breeze into us.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133006684

LarMan

Wednesday

So today called for interval training. 5 X 400 at 5K pace. So my 5K goal is to reduce my current time to under 25 minutes. To do that I need to clip along at 12km an hour.

So after a warmup I started the first interval. I was judging pace based on the speed I feel when doing 10 Kph. The intervals were as follows

Interval 1 - 1:50.8
Interval 2 - 1:55.2
Interval 3 - 1:53.9
Interval 4 - 2:06.2
Interval 5 - 2:08.4

So I came in about 6 seconds faster than 12kph so close to bang on. However the last two intervals were slower than i would have hoped, they were uphill but it was not a big hill by any stretch of the imagination, more a gentle rise.

So the aim was to complete the rest intervals at 10kph. These came out as

Rest 1 - .37km
Rest 2 - .37km
Rest 3 - .34km
Rest 4 - .35km
Rest 5 - .31km


So slightly over 10kph pace. I was really feeling it at the end as it was uphill. Plenty of work to do to get to sub 25 but I enjoyed the intervals as it gives you some thing to look forward, that is the slowing down after the run

LarMan

Thursday

Strenght training following the strenght exercises as outlined in Hal Higdons half marathon plan

Friday

5 KM around work. I was due to do this yesterday but with the wind decided to postpone to Friday. I did the run same as on Tuesday but reversed it and upped the pace. Average pace was 5:47 per KM.

5Km on Saturday and 8 Km on Sunday.

pistol_75

LarMan wrote: »

Wednesday

So today called for interval training. 5 X 400 at 5K pace. So my 5K goal is to reduce my current time to under 25 minutes. To do that I need to clip along at 12km an hour.

So after a warmup I started the first interval. I was judging pace based on the speed I feel when doing 10 Kph. The intervals were as follows

Interval 1 - 1:50.8
Interval 2 - 1:55.2
Interval 3 - 1:53.9
Interval 4 - 2:06.2
Interval 5 - 2:08.4

So I came in about 6 seconds faster than 12kph so close to bang on. However the last two intervals were slower than i would have hoped, they were uphill but it was not a big hill by any stretch of the imagination, more a gentle rise.

So the aim was to complete the rest intervals at 10kph. These came out as

Rest 1 - .37km
Rest 2 - .37km
Rest 3 - .34km
Rest 4 - .35km
Rest 5 - .31km


So slightly over 10kph pace. I was really feeling it at the end as it was uphill. Plenty of work to do to get to sub 25 but I enjoyed the intervals as it gives you some thing to look forward, that is the slowing down after the run

Best of luck with your goals Lar and well done already. I think you may have struggled with your last 2 intervals as you were not really slowing down that much during the rest period. don't be afraid to slow right down during the rest period

LarMan

pistol_75 wrote: »

Best of luck with your goals Lar and well done already. I think you may have struggled with your last 2 intervals as you were not really slowing down that much during the rest period. don't be afraid to slow right down during the rest period

Thanks Pistol I am a slave to the clock and even though I know I should be taking my time, I am in a rush to get faster, patience is not one of my strong points. I think for the next inteval run I will actually walk between runs so as to give myself a better chance of doing the intervals at the speed I would like to get to.

RayCun

Rest intervals are for resting - stop running, walk, jog slowly, whatever, but don't be looking at your watch thinking "oh no! I'm resting too slowly :eek:"

ger664

Also run your intervals at your current 5K pace not your goal 5K pace.

Dory Dory

Bravo to you, LarMan. What you have already accomplished and what you set out to accomplish are inspiring. Best of luck to you.

LarMan

Saturday

3 miles, weather was nice and Fresh.

Sunday

So 5 miles called for, Work Christmas party the night before so plans to do this early in the morning vanished quickly. After a lie in till 10:30 and then the rugby, lunch and putting up the Christmas tree it was time to do the first of my LSR, a nice easy 5 miles. I took the slow part very seriously and never pushed the pace. I finished the run with a pace of 6:43 per KM which was slower than the pace I have initially set wich was a 6:30. As I mentioned before I am a bit of a slave to the stopwatch so keeping the pace slow was my goal.

Onwards to the Week 2

Slogger Jogger

Best wishes Larman. Not the easiest time of year to be starting a training regime. Keep posting here and it'll keep you motivated.

LarMan

Thanks slogger, yes hopefully it won't be as bad as last year.

LarMan

Monday

Strenght training as per Hal Higdons recommended strenght exercises.

Tuesday
3 mile easy run pace was, average pace was 6:25 per KM

No weight loss this week, probably down to the Christmas party.

LarMan

Wednesday

30 Minute tempo run, watch was a bit all over the place so pace was faster than I had intended, cold at the start into a headwind but luckily that was only for a few minutes after that it was a nice run

Weight this morning was 89.5KG

LarMan

Thursday

Another 3 mile run, I have to say I prefer saying 5KM sounds longer. Easy enough pace, run was uphill to start and then downhill with the final KM being uphill again. Pace was 6 minute KM.

Weight Friday morning was 88.9kg

LarMan

Saturday

Was meant to run this on Sunday but had to switch this to Saturday as we had some activities. 6 mile run at easy pace, felt good throughout the run

Sunday

3 mile run, This one felt tougher after the longer run yesterday.completed it at 6 minute per KM pace. Lovely night for a run, cold but not much wind so it was nice.

89.1kg on the scales on Monday morning. I did eat all round me over the weekend so expect that to go up as all that lovely fattening food settles in.

BobMac104

Great stuff. very impressive keep it up!

LarMan

Monday

Strenght exercise for right arm, lifted a a lot of full glasses of alcohol.

Tuesday
Oh my god in a very bad way in the morning, did not get out bed until 2:30. Felt better by 7pm so went out and did a 3.5 mile run in the rain, felt very shaky but managed to get through it in one piece.

Oh and I'll never drink again!

LarMan

Wednesday

Intervals 6 x 400 meters with 1.5 minutes of walking in between.

LarMan

Thursday

3 miles stready run. The weather is nice and mild again which is nice so it was back into the shorts.

rom

I lost about 2 stone in a few months. Very similar to yourself. If you have the time running slower and for longer distances is more of a fat burning exercise. If 80KG is the goal and its because you want a BMI of 25 or under your like me also. Running intervals is a way your more likely to injur yourself and then be pissed off cause you can't do anything for a few days or even a week. Running at a nice pace (your not out of breath) and for a longer distance will make the weight fly off more. Say call it jogging as in not a running stride (something you feel like you can do all day) It has taken me a year and a half to know why running slower is better for me. Like if you run as far as you can at 10k pace 3 times a week you will eaily be able to run sub 2hrs for the 1/2. If you are running like 9-10 min pace and over an hour for a session then you will get to your 1/2 goal. I am new to running. Did my first 5k in March and 1/2 in may 1hr 57 and 1/2 in june 1hr 51. Went from 94KG to 82KG. Regarding drink. It depends on what you are drinking if your not looking to give up. If you drink pints all the time then thats a lot of calories to shift. If you try and shift to less calorie drinks when you can like having wine, spirts and diet soda rather than beer all the time. I know there is something about drinking pints in the pub but try away from drinking stout and its the worst. I can show you what I did the last 3 months this year. You would be well able for it and you can see how slow I was. If you are looking for more info drop me a PM.

LarMan

Christmas is Over

So 11 days since my last log and I can safely say the diet has suffered greatly in that time. I haven't weighed myself today but I would guess I have put on 8 lbs. This despite the fact that I have continued running during the week off. The only consolation is that what went on fast will come off fast as well.

Saturday the 24th of December 2011

Was out the night before so left the car at the restaturant and got a taxi home. The next afternoon I ran over to get it, the distance was just over 5 miles.

Tuesday the 27th of December 2011
A nice easy 3.5 miles

Wednesday the 28th of December 2011
35 minute tempo run

Friday the 30th of December 2011
3 mile run, should have done this on thursday but couldn't so switched to Friday

Saturday the 31st of December 2011
3 mile easy run

Sunday the 1st of January 2012
7 miles, this was the longest run I have ever done, I had a new route so that made it easier mentally. It was a nice afternoon and with the new scenery it was very enjoyable.

So despite the inevitable weight gain I was delighted to have gotten all my runs in. Looking forward to next Sundays long run.

LarMan

Tuesday

4 miles steady pace, new runners being used now Asics Gel not sure what model. Felt a little twinge in right calf but nothing serious.

Weight this morning was 91.2 so 2.1 KG gained in just over two weeks, impressive. Back on the straight and narrow now so should see that weight dissapear as the milage increases each week .

LarMan

Wednesday

400 meter Intervals X 7

Conditions were fairly windy out there but thankfully the rain was not too bad. I finished the run and was jogging home. I was going from the road to the kerb and my foot slipped off the kerb. It feels a bit sore now, certainly could not run on it. Hopefully it will be OK tomorrow after rest fo 24 hours.

LarMan

Thursday

3 miles, I was worried about my foot but although it is still a little sore I was able to complete the run without any problems. Starting to feel like I have a bit of a cold coming so I hope that stays away. Friday is a rest day so that should help.

Weight Friday morning was 90.2

LarMan

Saturday

3 mile pace run. did this in just under 27 minutes.

Sunday

8 miles due today, did not feel great since Saturday. youngest daughter has been ill with a virus and I think she has passed it on. At the same time I still wanted to try the run. I knew from early on I didn't feel great. What was easy enough the week before was difficult this week. By mile 6 I had nothing left and had to start walking, did a little bit more running but most of the last two miles were walked.

I will take it easy this week and won't run unless I feel like I have more energy.

Weighing scales this morning said 88.6KG

LarMan

Tuesday

Ok back after 3 weeks of no exercise due to chest infection and trip to states with work. Very aprehensive about starting back. I took it easy and kept the pace slower than normal. The run itself was fine but this morning my legs or more to the point my groin is sore. Anyway glad to be back running again with only 7 weeks to go the the half marathon.

weight was also up to 89.5 but that was marginal and I hope to start losing it again soon.

LarMan

Wednesday

Tempo Run, the good news is that i completed it and it was a good tempo run in that I kept to the pace I wanted. The bad news is that I am very sore after it and somewhat during it.

I van barely lift my legs up while sitting and can't do it without some discomfort. I think this is just down to not having exercised for 3 weeks but I was surprised at how much the muscles would hurt after what was a relatively short gap. Anyway I think I will take a day off today and run 3 miles on Friday. Again the pace is slower than normal as I recover.

LarMan

Saturday

Gave myself a couple of days off to get let the legs recover. So by Saturday I had no pain in my legs so I did 5KM. I still found this quiet difficult so although I was due to do a long run on sunday I decided against it to allow myself more time to recover. This week I will need to do all the runs as I don't have any more lee-way in preparing for the race.

Krusty_Clown

LarMan wrote: »

This week I will need to do all the runs as I don't have any more lee-way in preparing for the race.

It's better to be under-trained, rather than over-trained. Don't try to catch up on missed runs (though I'm pretty guilty of this myself). When's the race?

LarMan

It's on the 25th of March, was feeling confident before I got the chest infection, not so confindent now. I'm glad I took your advice about starting early as at least I'm not behind - yet!

LarMan

Tuesday

4.5 miles at 10kmh pace. Good run felt good throughout but legs were a little tired by the end.

LarMan

Wednesday

Today was interval training of 400 X 8 intervals with 1 minute 30 seconds walking between intervals.

Weight this morning was 89.5kg

LarMan

Thursday

3 mile run including a pretty big hill. pace was right around the 6 minute per km pace.

LarMan

Saturday

4 miles pace. I ran this at 5:40 per KM pace and was pretty happy with the pace. I do have a little niggle around the groin but nothing that would stope me running.

Sunday
9 miles LSR. so this was the longest I have ever run. The route was quiet hilly at the start and it was tough going. My groin did start hurting quiet early on but again not enough to really affect me. I knew that the first 5 KM would be the toughest in terms of hills, but after that I knew it owuld be flat with the last few kilometers downhill until the last kilometer which would be uphill again.

The run went to plan for the most part untill I hit the 8 mile mark when I had to climb up a padestrina bridge and then was face with an hill. I had to take a walk for 3 minutes or so to get some energy back. I started running again when I had one kilometer to go. I could feel my calfs cramping up so I took it easy. The definately felt like I had run out of puff. Aerobically I felt fine over the run but my legs do feel heavy while running

LarMan

Tuesday

4.5 miles. Outward part of this run was into a stiff cold breeze. No problems om this run and second half with wind on my back I felt strong and pace was good. The only problem I have is my weight is not going down if anything it is slightly up. My diet is not as clean as it should be but I would have still expected to be loosing some weight.

LarMan

Wednesday

40 minute tempo run, pretty fast run with slower sections at the start and end. Probably went a little harder in the middle then I wanted to as I was pretty beat by the end of the fast section. I was able to recover though and was please with that.

Weight today was 89.5kg so no weight lost in a week

LarMan

Thursday

Ran 2.75 fast kilometers to a meeting I was attending. When the meeting was finished I ran 5KM back home. the 5KM back home was quiet tought.

Friday
Hadn't been on my bike for about 7 months so decided to take it out for a spin and rece the route for my Sunday run. I had expected that given the amount of running I had done and the fact that I was close to 3 stone lighter that this cycle would be easy and for the most part it was until I hit a steep hil. I eventually had to get off and walk the hill. In total I cycled 17 KM.

Saturday

This was the first time doing 5 miles at pace. I always feel that this is a tough run and I was pleased to do the 5 miles in just over 44 minutes which is a very good time for me.

Sunday

This was a big run for me, the first time doing 10 miles and these 10 would give me my first marathon distance, granted that is over the course of a week. I decied to bring some lucozade sport with me as I felt the previous week I was out on my feet so I wanted to make sure it wasn't dehydration or lack of carbs that was causing the problem. I did take the opportinty to walk up some of the steeper hills while drinking. When I hit the hills it really hurts but my route has a fast finish with the last 5KM consisting of 4KM downhill while the last KM is uphill. Finished the run in 1 hout 39 minutes which again I was pleased with.

The right side of my groin is still a concern and was tightening through the run. I will need to do more stretching to try and help with this.

Weight this morning was 88.7KG

LarMan

Tuesday

Did the reverse loop of last Saturdays run. I was faster by 40 seconds with the last KM all uphill and into a headwind. What was most pleaseing was that each KM was done in under 6 minutes. I was very happy to have done this on the last uphill KM as previously it would have taken at least 30 seconds more so I see that as a real improvement in my fitness.

LarMan

Wednesday

9 X 400 meter intervals. Weight was 88.6KG this morning

LarMan

Thursday

So I am now only 4 weeks away from the race date and I am still on plan. I am now in week 9 of the 12 week plan. Thursday's run was a 3 mile run. Alot of which was uphill. No drama although those first few Kms always feel tougher than I expect them to be.

scriba

Inspiring stuff Larman. It's great to read about someone ahead of you in their training. Keep it up!

LarMan

Sunday

Today on the schedule was a 15KM race, well I have no race to do so I set my goal of doing the 15KM in under 1 hour 30 minutes. The route was a couple of laps of my home town, this would include some hills but also some down hill so good opportunity to recover.

First lap was fine, my groin felt a little strained but nothing much. I had asked my son to have a drink ready for me on the start of the second lap and he was duly there so I took a minute to take some fluid on board and then the second lap. I hit my tarkeg of doing it in less than 1:30 but only just.

After the run I did some stretches to try and combat the groin strains I am having after the long runs, I think this helped as I was not as sore afterwards.

Only 4 more weeks of training before the race with this week being the longest in terms of milage.

One thing that is concerning me is that my toes are going numb at about the 10KM mark. I eventually got some feeling back into them by curling the toes a few times but it is quiet disconcerting.

Weight was 88.6KG this morning, diet wise I was pretty good so the fact the weight is not going down is dissapointing.

Krusty_Clown

Where did you buy your shoes? Are you sure they're the right size? It's a good idea to move the toes around anyway.