The longest run yet - Week 14 River Moy Half Marathon Training.

• Monday April 18th Inferno Hot Pilates. 

• Tuesday April 19th Running Chicks group run 6.2 km at 35:23.

• Wednesday April 20th Inferno Hot Pilates.

• Thursday April 21st Running Chicks Group run 9.1 km at 55:31.

• Saturday April 23rd Strandurance21 Group Run 18 km at 110:17.

After taking a weekend off from running I was back with a bang for Mondays Inferno Hot Pilates class. I absolutely felt the benefits from doing 2 classes last week so I also booked in for Wednesdays class too. I really believe it has been these classes that have prevented me from getting injured so far and have helped with my breathing while running, and with the half looming in less than a month I am going to try to fit in extra classes. 

On Tuesday I met the Running Chicks for a nice easy short run in preparation for the West of Ireland Womens Mini Marathon  on May 1st. Apparently the run is a little hilly in parts but I think we have done enough that we won't be too overwhelmed. Once again I practised using the Alexander Technique and it seems to be making difference in overcoming tough stretches of road.

Isogel citrus

For my long run on Saturday we were told to bring some energy gels to keep us going. I was a bit apprehensive about taking them as I was worried they might upset my stomach or that they would be absolutely vile to take. 

So I did a test run on my short run just to see if it made a difference. I got the ISOgel in the berry flavour. It tasted fine and was more like a liquid texture than a gel and went down easy. Honestly I think I left it too late to take it and my run was too short to feel any benefits but at least I knew it didn't upset my stomach and I would know what to expect again.

Wednesday I was off again to Pilates for more punishment! It was my second time doing 2 classes in a week and it has definitely been a good move. Those tiny muscle aches are back but in a good way! And I have seen some definition emerging in my core and arms, all good! 

On Thursday we headed off to do our longest group run with the Running Chicks, we finished on just over 9 km and in pretty good time. I think most of the group are hoping for a sub 60 finish which I think will be manageable, we have done all the hard work now its amazing to see the progress in people who had started the programme doing zero running and now we will all do 10 km next week.

Moy Half Marathon May 14th 2016.

On Saturday I met up with the Strandurance21 group to do our longest run yet, a daunting 18 km. I honestly wasn't looking forward to it, it felt too close to 21 km which still seems impossible to me. We started off nice and slow and eventually 3 of us branched off into a manageable pace.
At around 9 km I took an ISO gel citrus with caffeine gel and I think it made all the difference.
I don't even remember the second 9 km loop, we were just chatting and away the whole time. I was so surprised to see we had done it in 1 hour 50 minutes as we had stopped a couple of times to take gels and stretch out a bit.

I was stoked as I would love to finish the half in 2 hours or under. The 18 km will be the longest run we will do before the half, the rest will be shorter 16 and 14 km. Absolutely thrilled with our progress as a group so far, there is even talk of a full marathon later in the year. Anything seems possible at this stage!