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Great to see that in my absence from the blog Em has managed to upload a new photo of us and I still look like I have an Elvis-quiff!
Note to self: must get rid of that head band
We managed to add in a speed session this week and finished a 6 mile run in 59mins, which is quite good for us. I think it must be the new trainers we are wearing in. The long run was 16 miles which I’m pleased to say we managed without too much drama. Legs are a little sore today. Em managed to miss a phone call as her mobile was the other side of the office and couldn’t get going quick enough to answer it today. Any tips on getting rid of knee pain would be much appreciated by Em, although I’m a physio I have refused to treat her. For those of you that think I’m evil I must just add I’m a hand specialist, the last time I treated a leg was 1999, after telling Em that she seems to have made an appointment with a proper physio!
This week is another step back week to let our legs recover a bit so the long run is “only” 12 miles.
Total miles this week: 26
Lessons learnt: Don’t trust a hand physio with your knee and planning a hand therapy conference in your head when you get to mile 15 helps with that last mile of running. Oh and….head bands may keep hair out of your eyes but don’t do anything for street cred when they make you look like Elvis.
Officially half way through the training programme now. And this week we ran the Sussex Beacon Brighton Half Marathon
I still can’t believe we actually did it.
It was a beautifully sunny day – not a cloud in the sky, quite cold but perfect conditions for a half marathon. We made sure we consumed a hearty breakfast of porridge before 7.30am and set off to the start line, a little bit nervous. We passed quite lot of professional looking runners on the way which added to our nerves but once we were underway it was fine. Took us 5 minutes to even get to the start line – imagine how long the marathon will take!! We completed it which was the main goal and managed an ok time of 2hrs 17mins too. There was a real mental challange at mile 10 when you are coming back on yourself down onto Madeira drive almost within touching distance of the finish and then you have to turn back and head towards the Marina – really tough mentally, especially as there are people passing you with about 300 metres to go! The race was really well organised and good fun.
Great experience for the marathon of how many gels we need to take and when. My mum and dad met us half way with a gel and then were there at the finish line to cheer us on those last few meters.
Zoe’s work colleague Dave (who as I rightly remember suggested once we did the half it’d be silly not to carry on and train for the marathon) won the race – with a personal best of 1hr 11 – well done Dave.
My legs are quite sore this week though I must say – walking down stairs is a challenge – Zoe seems ok which is a worry (note to self: must train harder!).
We also did another 7 mile run mid week and our usual 3 miles on the Tuesday so the miles are gradually ramping up.
Total miles this week: 23
Lessons learnt: In a race where there are lots of cameras – keep smiling! Oh, and consume more gels.
Here’s a picture of us with our medals at the finish.
Half way!
We’ve reached week 9 which means we are officially half way through our training programme. This weekend we are running the Sussex Beacon Brighton Half Marathon with another 4798 runners and doing (obviously) exactly half the distance of the marathon so we’re on track! This week we had to run a longer distance midweek which seemed a bit scarey – we ran 7 miles on the Wednesday but it actually wasn’t too bad at all – I think after the week before battling in all that wind and rain, it made this week seem quite pleasant. This week was also a step back week – slightly reducing the mileage to make sure we are ready for the following week. 10 miles on Sunday and it was a really lovely day – what a difference it makes – we ran along the seafront in the opposite direction this time towards Brighton which meant there was a fair bit of weaving round dog walkers, and inline skaters.
We are slightly apprehensive about next weekend in ‘race’ conditions but I think we’ll just have to treat it like a regular training run.
Oh, and we featured on the Moo blog this week – look here.
Total miles this week: 20
Lessons learnt: That actually I think we really are improving.
Ok, my turn to write the blog again for this week – I think the novelty has worn for Zo.
Ok, week 8 – phew! It’s not been a good one on the weather front. Our mid week 5 mile run was very frustrating – against the wind all the way out which meant no energy to run back particularly quickly. You do feel good once you’ve battled against the elements though I must say – even though a little wind-burnt! We have managed to train a full week this week though which helped.
On Saturday I bought my trainers that I’ll actually be running in for the marathon – it’s apparently about just the right time in the training to make sure they are worn in enough – Zoe not to be outdone also bought another pair – just so you know, due to Zoe’s ‘perfect/neutral’ running style she gets through 2 pairs of trainers to my 1. You would have thought that it would be the other way round wouldn’t you! We bought our trainers from the lovely chaps at Run in Blatchington Road, Hove – so big thanks to Fred who is always so patient with our daft questions.
For our long run on Sunday this week we were dropped off in Littlehampton and ran home. It didn’t seem achievable at the time to be perfectly honest with the howling wind and it just seemed so far away! 12 miles was the distance. It was really hard and in fact not that enjoyable because of the conditions – it just blew your legs all over the place and put extra strain on the the joints and the patience! We did it though! We experiemented with a Lucozade gel at 6 miles which seemed to do the trick giving us an extra energy boost – weird consistency but tasted ok.
My hip joints are a little bit achey today (Tuesday) so tonight’s run should be interesting.
Total miles this week: 23
Lessons learnt: Find an inland route on an extremely windy day as running on the seafront is just silly – not only do you end up having a hair style similar to a back combed eighties throw back, but it just makes you a bit grumpy and very tired!
