Speeding up and slowing down - Week 5 half marathon training.

• Sunday February 14th road run 10.28km at 60:32.

• Monday February 15th trail run 6km at 32:03.

• Thursday February 16th beach walk 8km.

• Wednesday February 17th easy swim lengths for 45 mins and 4.2km at 28:54. 

• Saturday February 20th Group Run 10km at 69:56

Some friendly advice-DO NOT GO OUT THE NIGHT BEFORE A 10KM!!

But first-Another week over! Group run yesterday prompted me to head out on a gentle run on Sunday night, however when I hit the 2.5km mark I was feeling swift and light so decided I would run into town, by the time I was at 5km I was even more confident and wondered how I would do if I tried for 10km. To make up the kms I did have to run up and down my village like a lunatic twice, but I made it back home in 1 hour 32 seconds hitting 10.28km! 

I was thrilled, as this was my first long run since the summer before and I didn't feel tired, sore or breathless at all! Progress like this makes the rainy, cold training days worth it! 

I had great intentions to be up bright and early for a swim on Monday morning, alas I slept through the alarm, just as well as I had planned an easy 3 km trail run but I pushed it to 6km instead, and I don't think I would've managed it along with the swim. 

Wednesday, I also slept through my alarm but my Dad had my back, and off I popped for a 7.30 swim. The pool is pretty quiet at this time in the morning so swimming nice easy laps is a great way to work my muscles but in a more relaxing way. I also decided to head out that evening for a short run as our running couch predicted we would do a 10km group run at the weekend.  Since I had great notions of myself (delusional) I headed out for a gentle road run, however halfway through I could feel my left calf seize up, I should have stopped and stretched it out but I was determined (stupid) to keep going. The pain continued to worsen and I was literally hobbling the last 1km back home. My calf and foot continued to seize up and I went to bed with painkillers for the night.

I had hoped to do my Pilates class the next morning but I was crippled! My leg was so stiff and painful and I didn't want to injure myself further especially for the 10km at the weekend. So I skipped the class and my run for the day, opting instead to do a 8km easy walk of Enniscrone beach, while not ideal at least I was doing something productive and not quitting on the day. I was going to go out on Friday for a run but my leg and foot were still stiff and sore so I decided not to chance it. I had thought I'd get some speed work done, but put it on the back burner for next week.

Friday night I attended the Mayo Sports Stars Awards, the mixture of late night, heavy food and never ending wine proved difficult to get out of bed Saturday morning.
I had been looking  forward to the 10km group run all week and although I felt lethargic and exhausted I was determined! After 3 km I got my first stitch and had to stop. Usually I can run with a stitch but this was particularly sharp and painful (dehydration),and was the first time in ages I'd had to stop mid run, I took a few minutes and trudged on. Again at about 6km I had another stitch and had to stop, and the last few minutes of the run I had to walk. I finished in 1 hour and 9 minutes,  8 and half minutes later than my Monday victory. Moral of the story, don't go out the night before a training session!

I had great plans for the week but my tight calf put all that in the pipeline, I am glad I didn't push it too much the rest of the week and sure I still have loads of training time coming up to Kinvara and the half. Next week we are doing our first group race at the 5km Park run so I will be definitely have to work on my interval sprints, here's hoping!

Thanks for the support!

1 month in- Week 4 Half Marathon Training.

• Monday February 8th trail run 7.2km at 44:22.

• Tuesday February 9th Inferno Hot Pilates.

• Wednesday February 10th easy swimming lengths for 45 mins and trail run 7km at 43:52.

• Thursday February 11th trail run 8km at 45:21.

• Saturday February 12th group run 7.5 at 46:23.

I can't believe I have already been training a month toward my half marathon goal. Every week I see improvements in my fitness levels which in turn is spurring me on to keep going with the training. Basking in my new runners persona I decided to sign up for the Rock and Road 10km Kinvara race in March. They do various races for runners and walkers and the route is pretty straight forward, nice and flat for my first real race. I feel like I need a small goal in between my half marathon to keep me focused and ensure I am in constant training mode, plus it will be such a boost getting my finishers shirt and medal.

On a side note I have been experiencing the strange phenomenon of phantom sole bleeding(????) this usually occurs about 4km into my runs where I inexplicably feel like the soles of my feet are on fire and bleeding (anyone care to explain) apparently uncommon as there seems to be zero Google searches for this. While not terribly comfortable, it has yet to put me off, will investigate further!

My Monday run involved a variation of the usual trail run I have been doing for the last couple of weeks,  I feel the benefits of the uphill/downhill route when I go on the weekend group runs as it forces me to speed up and slow down at different intervals causing me to focus on controlling my legs and breathing properly.

Off I went in Tuesday to my Inferno Pilates class, as the class had some new beginners, we took it down a notch. My initial thought was yay!! this will be easy! But No! The 30 degree heat is INTENSE and the repeated muscle focus kept me on my toes and it was a struggle to finish strong. However I still enjoy the class and  I can definitely feel my muscles, particularly my core, have strengthened significantly, all beneficial to help reduce the risk of injury and I have even been contemplating doing 2 classes a week (crazy person alert) closer to race day.

My Wednesday morning swim was such a success that I decided to go on a 7km loop of Belleek (crazy person alert number 2). It was the first sunny spring day we have had and even though I'd had an early start that morning and was feeling tired  I still managed to focus and completed  my run in less than the 45 minutes my coach had instructed us to do our solo runs this week. All small successes in the quest for half marathon!

Thursday was another beautiful day and I was up early to hit the parkrun, initially planning on 5km but managed to fit in 7.5 in 43.21. I usually don't run on Fridays and applauded myself on a good training week until I read a message on our marathon Whatsapp group chat that someone had done 9km in 50 minutes that day! Oh well, positives thoughts for next week!

Saturday was group run again. This time we stepped in up by including the dreaded hill repeats. Not exactly the funnest thing to do on a Saturday morning but my trail training during the week helped keep me  focused and plough on ahead. We finished up with a short road run and accumulated 7.5km for the morning.

So as my first months real training comes to an end, I am feeling even more positive with my progress and all the small milestones I have completed. I am really looking forward to Kinvara where I think my competitive streak will kick in (hi Dave!). Next week I will be doing some speed work and interval training to balance out the distance training I have been doing so far.

Thanks for the support!

Ninja style-Week 3 Ballina half marathon training.

• Sunday January 31st  7.6km at 44:17

• Monday February 1st trail run 6km 33.42.

• Tuesday February 2nd Hot Pilate's.

• Wednesday February 3rd easy swim laps for 45 mins.

• Thursday February 4th trail run 6.92 km at 36.42 and 2x400m track laps.

• Saturday February 6th Group Run 8km at 48:07.

I am always amazed at how good I feel after a run. So for me, getting up on Sunday morning to go out and work up some kms is no big deal. In fact I am getting to the stage where I feel like I need to go out and run just to feel normal (obsession growing). I set out on the usual Belleek parkrun route and like the week before decided to add in an extra 2 km at the end. I set my watch but again decided not to check it as I ran. It was a lovely morning and I felt energetic and on form. I definitely noticed my pace increasing but my breathing was steady so hopefully that's an indication that I will be ready for speed work soon.

Monday I was out again and just for fun (crazy runners mindset) I decided to do the trail routes in Belleek woods rather than the usual parkrun. I really enjoyed the variation this route offered, the steep hills got my heart rate up and while I did feel out of breathe at times I was pumped that I was managing to stick out this route without stopping. I was worried that I might turn my ankle but the surface was actually fine and I survived injury free and in pretty good time.

On Tuesday I headed off to my Inferno class confident that I would kick ass. How wrong I was! Our instructor keeps upping the ante each week with cruel and senseless punishments,like 8 rounds of close to the chest push ups,30 seconds on 10 seconds off, I am pretty good at telling myself to keep going but these absolutely killed me, I couldn't finish the set it felt physically impossible at the time but I focused on hammering through the rest of the exercises a
nd as usual I felt elated and  enjoyed the rest of the class.

The almost immediate burning fire in my arm muscles embarrassingly indicating my zero upper body strength led me to decide to do few laps of the Ballina pool on Wednesday morning. I love swimming so I arose without too much grumbling at 6.30 (God help us) to be in the pool at 7 (that crazy runners mindset again) and spent 45 minutes doing nice slow strides quickly realising I was not as fit as I thought and lamented (ahem ...celebrated) over the fact I would now have to add swimming into the mix as it would help strengthen my core and also work on helping my breathing technique.

By Thursday my arm muscles were killing me from the Pilate's class, simple things like dressing myself or lifting a fork to my mouth caused me to wince in pain, and I found myself once again cursing my new found hobby but I persevered with my run, doing the same trail route again. I felt faster than I did on Monday and I picked up an extra km making my finish run 6.92! I couldn't face not making it to 7 so I popped up to the track and did two laps (what have I become?!!) just to get me over the 7km mark!

The group run on Saturday happened to cover the same basic route I had been doing all week, so I was able to keep up the pace and not get totally annihilated by the hills and rocky terrain. As our runs coincide with parkrun we had to double back onto the main road to our starting point,
the wind started to pick up and I found the last 500m the toughest to keep up, we had to finish by doing a last lap of the track and I was behind my group however my running coach had my back and his crazy screaming BRIDGE THE GAP LYNDSEY actually pushed me to pick up the pace for the final track lap even though I felt exhausted. I finished with my group and was pleased with how the morning went.

All in all I had a lovely training week, I was pleased with my solo runs and my timing and I am happy to continue to hit the pool over the next few weeks, even just to get in some relaxing laps, at this stage every little bit helps toward my half marathon goal. My increasing distance and pace shows my continued improvement and I am feeling really confident with all my work so far, my dad keeps telling me its not to be endured but enjoyed so I am keeping that in the back of my mind all the time, these are the weeks that count so I have to remain positive and run happy throughout!

Happy Training!