Week 9 Report - 1 week to go!

Week 9 of my Couch to 10k in 10 Weeks challenge complete and I cannot believe that I am into my final week. It has been a tough week for motivation and I have struggled to get out there but I did manage to pick myself up and get on with it!

The first work out was on Sunday. I wanted to do another 5k but instead only managed 4 before I ran out of steam however, I did do this in good time with a quite satisfying 22:44.  I did this on a Sunday Morning at about the same time as the 10k run will start so it was a bit worrying that I did not perform as well as I wanted to but there are a few factors that I need to take into account.

Firstly, I woke up in the morning and went straight out. Lesson #1, on the morning of the race, I will get up early and stock up on Porridge to get some energy into me. Next, I was not in a particularly great mood and was still suffering a motivational crisis. Running is not just a physical thing, there is a huge mental element to it and if your head isn't in the game, your heart won't be either (I needed to cheer up a bit and just get back on it!!).  Finally, I did start off again at a pretty fast pace. 05:20 approx for the first 2 laps consistently, including a significant hill and it is no surprise that I burned myself out.  So made a few mistakes on this run but can be pleased with my pace, at least that is something.

I wanted to make amends on Monday and I got a bit of a boost just at the right time. My official number and timing chip arrived from the Great Scottish Run.  21332 is my ID and it was just the boost that I needed. Talking with colleagues again in work about the run and sharing in the excitement of the up and comming challenge has lifted my mojo and got me wanting to do some more training!

Bad news was, I got home from work and spent too much time admiring my consignment, taking some pictures and generally feeling like a kid on Christmas day that I left it too late to go for the run. A bit of an own goal you might say but no matter, I will go for it on Wednesday.

Wednesday comes, and I am right back on it. a 9k in 55:34. Not quite the 54:00 that I need to be in under to get by 60 min target time for the 10k but I am feeling good again and motivated to complete this task.

 

I would not manage any more runs this week but next week I need to "Taper" down my efforts.  I will be starting with the Glasgow Parkrun on Saturday, then look to complete a 9k on the Monday, a 5k on the Wednesday, then its a rest up until the Sunday - Race Day and my 10k achievement day!

Weight loss for the week was a pitiful 100g but again, I had a bit of a bad week in terms of diet and exercise so it is no great surprise.

Picture of the week is without a doubt, my race pack arriving. It came at such the right time and has got me motivated again!

 

There is a team of us raising money for the Ceridian Payback Foundation which is a charity that is run by volunteers to help disadvantaged children. A great cause, that is very close to my heart and all I ask is for a small donation to the charity if you can afford it by texting PAYB99 3 to 70070 to donate £3 to this excellent cause - its the price of a pint folks, or you can donate another amount by clicking this link!.

Thank you all so much for your support of my efforts, kind words, motivational comments and of course, your donations to our charity - it really is very much appreciated!

 

Week 8 Report

Week 8 of my Couch to 10k in 10 weeks programme for the Ceridian Payback Foundation and with just about 2 weeks to go until the Great Scottish Run, I am looking to get myself up to my maximum 9k distance this week and try some speed work to see about getting my times down and into the 60 minute territory that I am targeting.

At 6 minutes per kilometre, I think that this is unlikely. Previous runs tell me that my comfortable pace 06:30, which brings me in at 65 minutes however, I do have a tendency to start faster, then settle in to my run with the last couple of kms being a struggle as I reach the limit of my ability.

 

So before we get into my progress for the week, a few words about preparation and mine starts with the music. For me this selection helps to get me motivated to start with but then settle me down into a nice run then pick me up again in the 2nd half.  I usually like to finish on Bill Conti, but in this case, I want this to me my best case target, with U2's Vertigo, getting me home if I have fallen behind. 

 

Everyone will have their own preference in music by I find getting the tunes right will help get you over line in good time.

 

Next for preparation is a good warm up and warm down.  This is an area that I am quire bad with but I do try to do a warm up and stretch to before my run.  Starting with a little bit of stretch running, 10 high knee steps, 10 kick back steps, 5 left side steps, 5 right side steps then repeat this 3 times.  Once done, I do my stretches (I read on runners world that stretches should never be done on cold muscles). Starting by stepping out over a meter from a wall, do 10 wall push ups, keeping feet flat, then stretch the calves by stepping each leg in and bending the knee while pushing against the wall. Once done, I stretch my hamstrings, then do some lunges to stretch my legs. A side stretch on each side and I am shaking it all off and pulling my knees up while setting up my phone for the music and map my run before setting off. 

 

At the end of my run, I make sure I do my stretches again, and do some spot running while walking back to the car.  I find this helps to stop me getting stiff and prevent injury (both things that have happened to me when I did not warm up properly!).

 

Activity:

Activity for the week was to be a 5k speed run and then 3 9k runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  As can the chart shows, the 5k became a disappointing 3, but without making excuses, I was still feeling a bit ill with the cold from last week and looking at the time I did it in, it can be argued that I probably burned myself out by starting off too fast. I suppose the reality is a bit of both.

 

On the Monday, I did achieve the 9k and set the benchmark down. Mission accomplished really as I proved to myself that I can do it and this was a huge confidence boost. I had forgot to update my music list on this day so ran out of tunes after 8k. That 9th was a lonely and arduous task without something to listen to. It really makes a difference to get the music right!

 

Wednesday, I was up for attacking it again and trying out my new soundtrack. I never got started till quite late, at around 18:55 in the evening. I could not believe how quickly the nights were drawing in, so I actually did a twilight run, with it being full daylight when I started and almost complete darkness when I finished. A really great experience. the times were good too so I was really pleased with this run. 

 

 

Unfortunately, I did not manage a run on the Friday, I was really tired after work and decided to rest but ultimately, I was really pleased with the performance gains this week and have set myself right up for the final full training week.

 

The weight graph for the week show a increase again, but I have not been particularly great at keeping the calories in check although, I am burning 2,500 calories in the week. I am definitely dropping fat though and this is becoming increasingly obvious.

 

It has been another great week of training and I feel ready for my 10k. Next week though, I want to focus on my times to get me in under the 60 minutes. My favourite pic from the week is my darkness finish. 9k is showing on me by completing this in the twilight was really fun experience.

Once again folks, if you like my efforts and would like to support the Ceridian Payback Foundation, the please visit the Just Giving Page here or Text PAYB99 3 to 70070 to donate the price of a pint to help disadvantaged children!

Thanks for your support so far!  

 

Week 7 Summary Report

Into week 7 of my Couch to 10k Challenge for the Ceridian Payback Foundation which started with a rest day on the Saturday (managed a 7k the night before and knew there was a long hike on for the next day). 

Sunday saw me taking to the hills with some work colleagues and friends. Stob Gabhar was the location and this was to be an all day event.  I tried to log the full route with Map My Run, but after getting to the top of the hill, my phone battery was whining at me to stop, so I had to switch it off at the summit.  The hill walk was approx 7km to the top and rising to approx 1000m up. It took 4.5 hours (1 way) and the calorie burn was logged at just over 3,800.

Monday, I was feeling the effects of the 9hr hike so opted for a light swim to help me loosen up a bit.  I have a real problem with my swimming technique so wanted to work on this (as opposed to swimming for distance).  In total, I did about 400m.

 

Tuesday was a run day in Alexandra Park and I was still feeling a bit stiff from the weekend. Had a very good warm up and set off at a light pace. To  my amazement, my legs lost their heaviness after about 2km and I felt like I was right back on it again. I was really surprised to still have the 8th km in me as this is an up hill but I did manage it and even felt ready for the 9th, but after the long hike on Sunday, I was not wanting to push it.

Wednesday is a rest day and on Thursday, I came down with a cold.  Not quite the man flu that was being accused, but enough in my chest to make me think twice about a run.

 

 

Progress is easy to see on this graph. If we remove the track run [T], we can see a clear improvement in distance and lap times. It seems that I am achieving good pace for the first 5 kilometres the slowly struggling near the end.  I was just over the 30 minute 5k and feel ready to extend to 9. Will attempt a speed run on the 14th to see if I can make it. (see next week's blog for details!)

 

Weight log for this week was 99.7kg (15st 10lb). Feeling good again with another 1kg weight loss. The interesting point to make here is that I did less exercise with 4 days of inactivity but I managed to lose weight on this week. This re-enforces the theory that doing more regular running builds muscle where as leaving a gap in the training gives the body an opportunity to burn the fat without building muscle.

 

Altogether another satisfying week. I have had a good range of activities, maintained my 8km achievement and lost some weight into the bargain.  With 3 weeks till the run, I am really looking forward to it.

Finally then, if you like my efforts and can manage to help us raise cash for the Payback Foundation, please text PAYB99 3 to 70070, for the price of a pint, you could really help us help disadvantaged children or if you would like to donate another amount, please click here or on the button.

Thank you all so much for your support on Facebook, by reading this blog, ecouraging me directly and by donating to the charity. The comments, well wishes and donations have really helped my to keep my motivation going and get me to a place where I feel that I can acutally do this!!

 

Picture of the week...

 

 

 

 

Week 6 Summary Report - New Format

It's the end of week 6 and it has been a very tiring one for me. Having left the Week 5 with a sense of disappointment about my weight loss aspirations, I have decided to stop blogging on Nutrition as for those of you who have followed my blog thus far, I think it is understood and I am aiming to consume between 1700 and 2100 calories per day, and had made a concerted effort to each sensibly without crash dieting and still allowing myself the odd blowout in when I have a family party or engagement with friends.

Making the realisation that weight loss is not a good measure for performance with runners means that there is effectively no point in performing a calories consumed/burned analysis but I will continue to track my weight and the calories burned as I find these things an interesting aspect to this experience.

 

So, to get us started this week, we should look at the activities.

 

 

Saturday was an away day to Pitlochry for some white water rafting. This was one of the most exciting things that I have done ever and when I plugged in the time doing it to Map My Run, got a calorie burn of 915! Jackpot.

Sunday, I was completely shattered from the day's activities before and given that I had an active week before hand, spent the day having a good rest. The advise on the Great Scottish Run website states firmly to listen to your body and rest when called for. Mine was yelling "Enough Already!!" so for the first time in ages, I took an afternoon nap, which turned into a 3 hour knockout but here is an interesting fact - Calories Counter .net website advise me via thier calculator that I burn 90 calories for every hour sleeping. So this wee effort works out at 270 calorie workout (not that I'm counting it in!).

 

Monday, I normally do a swim on a Monday but was still feeling quite tired. I was also aware that I was going to the Running Track at Bellahouston Park on Tuesday to push my limits so decided on another rest day.

Tuesday, I went to Bellahouston Park for a track run. Managed a lifetime achievement of 8k and I did it in 47:06 which is well within the 6 min/km target that I have set myself. I was really pleased with this result as it is a solid indication of where my fitness is and I just feel like the 10k is so within my grasp.

Wednesday, Scheduled rest day. After pushing on the track I am a bit sore so need a good rest.

Thursday, Back to my normal training run in Alexandra Park except that I need to push the distance again, so 7k is the target with a push to 8 if I have enough in the tank. I had to give it a good warm up at the gates and was pleased to look up to see that I had an audience. Not sure if their expression was one of appreciation or disbelief but they cheered me up and posed for a photo before I set off. 

It was another great run out, but doing 8k on the track and 8 over a hill every 2 kilometres is an entirely different thing so I completed the usual 6k and was really quite spent at that but kept pushing on to the 7k.  Odd Kilometres are quite flat so I managed it ok but I am just not ready yet for the hill a fourth time, so ended it at 7k - really tired but pleased with the milestone.

Friday, This would normally be a swim but my 2 hard push runs have taken it out of me, so I decide to conclude the week there.  Less activities but more of a push, so another good week!

 

 

Kilometre times are definitely tumbling. The Track run on the 03rd was a real indication of my current fitness and I managed the 8k well within my 6 min/km target. Still some work to do on the hill runs but I am confident that I can do this. 3 weeks of training left and I feel that I am so close.

 

Weight loss was an unsurprising 100g loss.  I have reached what runners.com calls the "Runners Plateau" where I am burning fat but building muscle. It makes sense that while I am in a mode a pushing myself, I am getting stronger. I will, however, keep a track of my weight just for curiosity.  I am refusing to diet as I know that in order to train healthily, I need the calorie intake. 

I know that I am getting slimmer - got into an old pair of jeans at the weekend, a size less than when I started. That is result enough for me to know that I doing something right!

 

I have now started the fund raising for the Ceridian Payback Foundation by setting up a Just Giving Page.  This Charity is run by Volunteers so all of the funds raised for this event will go to making the disadvantaged children and their families a bit easier by approving grants of equipment that they would not normally get access to via the NHS.

 

Please folks, if you enjoy reading my blog and are feeling a bit charitable, then please sponsor my efforts, and those of my colleagues who are raising money for this worthy cause by either clicking the link to donate or you can use the text number below.

 

 
TEXT:   
PAYB99 3   to 70070 to donate £3
PAYB99 5   to 70070 to donate £5
PAYB99 10 to 70070 to donate £10