While out for my run yesterday the thought crossed my mind that I haven't written a blog post for a very long time. This is a shame because as a novice runner my journey in this sport is still ongoing and I still feel as though I have much to share. The past year has been eventful for so many reasons.
Finding the time to run has been a bit of a struggle over the past year. I've been training to become a teacher, a particularly intensive course which was physically and mentally demanding so much so I found running has slipped down my list of priorities. I would run in short bursts of activity, over school holidays and weekends but trying to squeeze a run into my daily routine of school and college assignments was difficult.
Missing out on London 2011 may well be a blessing in disguise.
Finding the time to run has been a bit of a struggle over the past year. I've been training to become a teacher, a particularly intensive course which was physically and mentally demanding so much so I found running has slipped down my list of priorities. I would run in short bursts of activity, over school holidays and weekends but trying to squeeze a run into my daily routine of school and college assignments was difficult.
Another consequence of working in a school is disease. Working with large numbers of children I was constantly exposed to a lot of viruses and it was a virus that spelled the end of my running ambitions for 2011 suffering as I did from a seemingly unshakable infection for three weeks I found it very difficult to train to anywhere near the level I believed necessary to complete a marathon. I decided to withdraw from the 2011 London Marathon, it was a disappointing moment but I wasn't prepared to risk a similar experience to the one I had in 2010. After finishing the 2010 race I was determined to do better, my training was compromised by injury that time and I wasn't prepared to run again unless I felt prepared.
The consequence of Marathon withdrawal was a differed place, in fact as soon as I withdrew I knew I had made the right decision. All of a sudden I had an entire year of training ahead of me but not just training for the Virgin London Marathon (VLM) but the London Marathon 2012.
I started to think about periodization, breaking down my training year into sections or phases focusing on particular aspects to my training. I knew I needed to improve my fitness and my first target was quite simply to get fit enough to start training for an endurance event again. I also wanted to build some endurance training into my running before the end of the year, I also wanted to start my Marathon build-up slightly earlier, training over 16 weeks rather than my usual 12 week training program.
So with those targets in mind I started with a four week program of short running with mixed pace runs, interval training and strides. I can tell you that I hate fast runs, I find them extremely difficult but I was determined to get my running legs back. During those two weeks I didn't do any running over 25 minutes, concentrating on speed and strength rather than endurance. I have been getting used to this type of running and while I have started to do some longer runs the idea of speed work has become less abhorrent.
I'm now entering the second phase of my training as I prepare for the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October. I've decided to set myself a fairly modest target for this race with a target finishing time of sub 1:50. My reasoning for this is that I'm keeping everything in perspective. The Royal parks race will be my 8th half marathon but I intend to run Hastings in March 2012 as I prepare for the VLM and that's where I intend to attack my personal best time. For the moment the Royal Parks race is a great way to build some endurance into my training, build some strength into my legs and give me a great indication as to where I am with my running.
The next phase will be the all important marathon build up including the Hastings half marathon and at least a couple of 10km races. I've decided to extend my training, beginning at the start of December, this will give me a few weeks to recover from the half marathon training and time to do some more speed and strength work before the final push.
The consequence of Marathon withdrawal was a differed place, in fact as soon as I withdrew I knew I had made the right decision. All of a sudden I had an entire year of training ahead of me but not just training for the Virgin London Marathon (VLM) but the London Marathon 2012.
I started to think about periodization, breaking down my training year into sections or phases focusing on particular aspects to my training. I knew I needed to improve my fitness and my first target was quite simply to get fit enough to start training for an endurance event again. I also wanted to build some endurance training into my running before the end of the year, I also wanted to start my Marathon build-up slightly earlier, training over 16 weeks rather than my usual 12 week training program.
So with those targets in mind I started with a four week program of short running with mixed pace runs, interval training and strides. I can tell you that I hate fast runs, I find them extremely difficult but I was determined to get my running legs back. During those two weeks I didn't do any running over 25 minutes, concentrating on speed and strength rather than endurance. I have been getting used to this type of running and while I have started to do some longer runs the idea of speed work has become less abhorrent.
I'm now entering the second phase of my training as I prepare for the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October. I've decided to set myself a fairly modest target for this race with a target finishing time of sub 1:50. My reasoning for this is that I'm keeping everything in perspective. The Royal parks race will be my 8th half marathon but I intend to run Hastings in March 2012 as I prepare for the VLM and that's where I intend to attack my personal best time. For the moment the Royal Parks race is a great way to build some endurance into my training, build some strength into my legs and give me a great indication as to where I am with my running.
The next phase will be the all important marathon build up including the Hastings half marathon and at least a couple of 10km races. I've decided to extend my training, beginning at the start of December, this will give me a few weeks to recover from the half marathon training and time to do some more speed and strength work before the final push.
Missing out on London 2011 may well be a blessing in disguise.
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