Runaway's Log

Runaway.

After several months of inconsistency followed by 3 months of no running whatsoever I've decided its time to get back into routine and what better way to keep me on track than to start a log.

With no specific racing goals in mind, the short term goals are too get fit, shed a few pounds and stomp those bad eating habits.

I've always had a fascination with long distance running - anything from 10km to the marathon. Ideally if all goes to plan I'd like to attempt a marathon by the end of the year. The longest distance I ever raced was 10 miles about 3/4 years ago so this will all be completely new to me.

At the moment I'm just doing my own thing with no set training plans so all advice would be greatly appreciated!

Saturday 30/04/16
16 minutes easy - first run in over 3 months! I surprisingly didn't feel as bad a I thought considering it was early morning and 24 degrees out. What a feeling when I finished - the buzz is back

Monday 02/05/16
Sunday off as I was away all day and I didn't want to overdo things coming back.
16 minutes easy again. Not as warm this morning, about 19-20 degrees but I was on the lash last night (another thing that has to be cut back on ). Turns out I covered slightly more distance. I might try and increase it to 20 mins tomorrow. I'll see how I'm feeling, I just want to be careful not to rush back into it because 16 mins was still quite a struggle.

Runaway.

Monday 03/05/16

21 minutes easy. A nice change in the weather today and it was much cooler with a light mist although still quite humid. A 5 minute increase on yesterdays run but I actually felt better so its a step in the right direction The cousin (who recently got bitten by the marathon bug!) is trying to get me to run a half marathon with him in 4/5 weeks time and although I'm very tempted I'm not sure I'll be around for it. It'll be something to aim for either way!

denis b

And there is always a local Parkrun. Bound to be one close to home and they are held every Saturday morning. Its something to aim for in the short term and they are free.

Runaway.

denis b wrote: »

And there is always a local Parkrun. Bound to be one close to home and they are held every Saturday morning. Its something to aim for in the short term and they are free.

Thanks! I'm not living in Ireland at the moment but a quick Google search shows up two parkruns close by. It might be a good idea to keep the motivation levels up. After all that's why I stopped in the first place.

Wednesday 4th of May
25 minutes easy. 4 minutes more than yesterday at a slightly faster pace but the same effort levels. I was wrecked going into this after a long day and was quite surprised when I felt somewhat good, hence the extra 4 mins. I'm taking today off so as not to overdo do it and hope to get around 30-35 mins done tomorrow. I've decided that once I get up to 75-90 mins non stop running I'll start measuring distances with my old Garmin.

Runaway.

Friday 06/05/16

40 minutes easy. An extra 15 mins on Wednesdays run I had originAlly planned on doing 30-35 but I felt good beforehand so I settled on attempting the 40 mins. I foolishly went out in the middle of the day for this and it was around 28 degrees so the heat took a bit out of me but other than that I felt great.

Things are moving along nicely. I've gotten it into my head that I definitely want to do a marathon this year even if it's just completing the distance as opposed to actually racing it. Early days yet though. I'll leave it another few weeks before I make any decisions.

Runaway.

Summary of week ending 08/05/16

Mon: 16 mins easy

Tues: 21 mins easy

Wed: 25 mins easy

Thurs: Off

Fri: 40 mins easy

Sat: Off

Sunday: Off

A decent first week back. The plan was to run 4 out of 7 days so it's all going accordingly. I hadn't expected to get up to 40 mins so quickly and as a precaution I took 2 days off afterwards and I must say I definitely needed it! Groin and glutes were very stiff! I'll head out again later with the cousin, I think he has about 6 miles planned.

The bad eating habits are getting curb stomped this week and to start it off I cooked a lovely steamed salmon dinner. If anyone would like to share some healthy recipe ideas I'd greatly appreciate it!

Runaway.

Monday 09/05/16

50 minutes easy. The two previous days off obviously stood to me as I felt fairly good for this one. I think I'll peak at 50 mins for the week, no point in trying to increase the distance on every run. The weather was horrible and extremely windy for this but sure it reminded me of home Plenty of stretching afterwards, I imagine I'll be stiff tomorrow!

Runaway.

Tuesday 10/05/16

20 minutes easy. The body felt good today after yesterday's 'long' run. I didn't want to over do it so I settled on 20 minutes and felt fresh finishing. I won't get out tomorrow as I'm off to the outback for a few days.

Runaway.

Thursday 12/05/16

30 minutes easy. Tired.

Friday 13/05/16

20 minutes easy. Felt good. Could have stayed going.

Monday 16/05/16

41 minutes easy. Felt strange on this run. I was tired and heavy legged starting off but didn't seem to get any worse as the run went on. Ideal weather conditions too, around 25 degrees with no wind.

Runaway.

Wednesday 18/05/16

50 minutes easy. Felt good!

Thursday 19/05/16

40 minutes easy. Felt great again.