Feb 17

Ouch, this was hard on the back of last night. I felt like I was running on empty, and the heath hills were horrid. My knees are complaining, so I have begun to ice – I think its helping. At least it feels like I get a ‘night off’ tonight though.

written by Charky

Feb 16

Absolutely drenched. It was cold and very very wet – puddles the size of small swimming pools, and rivers flowing out of the gates of the park. Tonight was not a fun run. I was hoping to get some training in with Ted the trainer, but he wimped out and didn’t show, in fact the general turn out for the club was poor. However, those of us who were foolish enough to not let a whole load of rain stop us running, stepped out from beneath the cover of the Talacre sports center and reluctantly accepted the rain. I joined Kirsty for some threshold. We ran 10 x 3min fast with 90 seconds recovery. I did very badly with my timings and ended up guessing most of them, so consistency, as it should have been, wasn’t the theme of the night. The session wasn’t particularly hard, surprising thinking about my tired legs from Sunday. It’s exciting to think that I may be reaching a point where I am beginning to recover quicker and quicker.

written by Charky

Feb 16

Is the food of Gods. I like to eat it before running and after running.

written by Charky

Feb 15

It’s getting serious now.

written by Charky

Feb 15

Eek I skipped my Saturday run – birthday treat. I figured this was OK, seeing as it was indeed my birthday and I was going to be doing my longest run yet on Sunday. So, St Valentine’s day, what is more romantic than partaking in some serious long distance running in the rain? My boyfriend showed the ultimate declaration of love by getting up early, making me porridge, driving me to Richmond Park, and then running 11 miles with me. He is a star. Training without him would be near nigh impossible.

Well, I should have run 14 miles, I ended doing 15. This was partly because I just had to because I had to get back to carpark, and partly, just because I could. It was almost as if this last mile made me realise that I can run a Marathon – it is possible! Although I fear this was a little fleeting, as now, as I sit in bed writing this, my legs hurt, and boy do I feel tired. I need to be able to add 11 miles ontop of this 15. Shitballs.

written by Charky

Feb 13

It’s my birthday, no run today. I went to see the sharks instead.

written by Charky

Feb 12

What am I going to think about for 4 hours?

written by Charky

Feb 12

Today I am resting by eating lots of food. It is the day before my birthday and have very kindly been brought treats by work colleagues, some edible, and some I need to keep alive (my track record is not good).  Some I have kept for tomorrow, so I actually have something to open on the day!

My calves hurt from last night.

written by Charky

Feb 11

My schedule seems to have got to the stage where I feel like running is becoming all consuming. I can’t find enough sports socks to wear, all four pairs of lycra are constantly in the wash, and I am forgetting vital kit. At the beginning of the week it was the sports bra, today it was my HRM. I felt positively naked not knowing what my heart was doing, and especially as we were doing track, I would have liked to see whether I was ‘pushing it’ as I had hoped to with my runs this week. Oh well, it will be back on and reassuringly plotting my beats come the weekend.

Track was OK, I ended up doing  7 x 400m with 1min rests. Consistency was the key, and I managed a steady 1.33 for each lap – not my fastest – but we were advised not to run flat out due to the cold (flat out = longer recovery time = standing around getting cold) On the seventh lap I upped the ante, and sprinted past Camilla, who had been leading the ladies laps. I still have it in me, somewhere…

Tomorrow is rest day!

written by Charky

Feb 11

written by Charky

Gear

Snacks