Outlaw Half Training – Weeks 4 & 5 sort of done – Some good, some bad…

After the rather downbeat previous post things picked up the following week. A quick chat with Adam from GreenlightPT (who set my training plan) set my mind at rest and getting used to running a long run the day after a long ride is part of the process. In other words – suck it up! 🙂

Week 4 was recovery week, mainly the same sessions but slightly reduced distances for the runs and bikes. It started well with a good turbo session, but during my swim session on Wednesday started to get some shoulder pain. Not sure if it is due to using muscles I’m not used to using or whether I’ve actually hurt something. I dropped to the back of the lane and finished the session but it was still sore the next day so icing it every day to see if that helps.

Had a massive breakthrough with my tempo run on the Thursday night – I went to the club run (been about 6 months…) just intending to run a good steady pace. Once I got going, felt so good pushed it on a bit and ended up running the route the quickest I ever have, and there was more in the tank. After pain in my knee for over nine months and countless physio sessions I cannot explain the relief and excitement that running that evening gave me. To say I was happy was an understatement.

It kind of went downhill from there…missed my swim on Friday as shoulder was still sore (although I did do a turbo session instead). With 25mph+ winds on Saturday did another turbo session instead of the long ride and Sunday’s run was a slip and slide affair with ice on the ground, cut short as I felt a bit rough.

The feeling a bit rough turned into a stinking cold and meant week 5 was a bit of a non-event. I eventually dragged myself out on the bike on Saturday – it’s still so blinking windy, will it ever end? Then on Sunday managed a quite satisfactory 10 mile run.

So, things are coming back together again – but I really would like to have just one ride this year without the wind making me feel I’m cycling in treacle or blowing me across the road – please?

Outlaw Half Training – Week 3 done – 16 weeks to go – really??

Phew! Struggled this week big time – I’m writing this very quickly before I take myself off to bed. If it tails off a bit, I’ve already fallen asleep. It’s not just the tiredness that is kicking in now, but also the mental toughness that I need to toughen up on a bit if I’m honest.

I’ve completed every session (one tweak to my run intervals as usual while my knee gets better) so I do have a real sense of achievement but am just struggling a bit with the whole putting it together concept – there’s not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel – well it is 16 weeks away still! The bike rides seem hard (I don’t think I’ve managed to ride in anything other than gale-force winds since New Years day), core hurts (never done it before), turbo is mental (jelly legs central) and even running is a struggle (10 miles today – hurt – I ran two marathons last year 10 miles should be a walk in the park…!) and swimming, well, my supposedly stronger element took a bit of a hit this week too.

But, it’s all good as I know I’m getting some good training in, I just don’t think i was quite prepared for how tough it was going to feel. But looking forward to next week – recovery week although still as mad as this week, just not quite as far…

The tunnel – no light showing yet – but I know it’s there…

Outlaw Half Training – week 2 done – what did I learn?

Second week now finished and didn’t miss a session, even managed to do them on the days they were intended! Only the run sessions were altered slightly while I return to fitness so all in all I’m pretty pleased with my work this week.

I have discovered though that there’s more to this training lark than simply completing the session, yes that’s important but I have felt really tired all week and constantly hungry. And (according to my other half) quite irritable…I had a think and realised that I normally only get about 5-6 hours sleep a night. I’ve managed like this for many years and as many fellow parents will know this is quite normal. But now I’m training a fair few hours a week – mostly at the start or end of the day, I’ve actually realised that sleeping is something I need to pay attention to and will be striving over the next few weeks to get into the habit of going to bed a bit earlier.

Another area I need to pay attention to is food and drink – I love my food and in some respects one of my main reasons for training is to justify eating copious amounts of food and alcohol! But I have recognised that I need to fuel my body properly to be able to cope with the demands of training but not overload it with rubbish, or booze – the last one is going to be difficult…