Saturday Is (not) The New Sunday

So yesterday and today, I have been feeling the effects of early monring training runs, 12+ hours at work and David Dimbleby. So when it came to yesterday morning, and given that Kate was running in the evening, having had 5 hours, sleep the idea of going out in the rain wasn't too appealing. Plus some good friends keep saying I need to taper. So I stayed in bed an extra hour, before heading to the BP garage in Hemel to read the front pages and grab a coffee and muffin.

I planned to evening session to be some speed work at Westminster Lodge on the track, followed by spinning at the gym. Alas, the track was closed due to some winter thingy, so I headed out towards the Hollybush, before returning to the gym, completing an 8 or so mile loop in 55 mins. I then continued to the spin room as planned, whilst Anthony told us we were going Brazilian in the morning. I was slightly worried, plus I'm out of wax. I then headed home for an evening in front of the sofa, and some fun with the foam roller, courtesy of Karen the physio.

So Saturday morning came. Mr. McIntyre had planned to do Sunday's run today, which kind of offset things a bit. If we were to do Sunday's run on Saturday, then I should expect the shops to remain closed until 10am and be having dinner with my nan as I write this. Plus, does that mean I can do Saturday on Sunday? It would be unheard of to go to work the day after Saturday. And when do I do my washing, let alone put the clocks back? Niall - you've confused me! So anyway, as it turned out, I awoke at 6:20am, turned the alarm off and went straight back to sleep. Only to be woken by my mother and father who decided we needed to go to London to get Visa's for NY next week. A quick inspection of the tickets and a handy link to the ESTA gov website, and we were all visa'd up.


So off to the gym. A quick 10 minute burst on the cross-trainer at level 18, then into Spin for Anthony's Brazilian. Having recently downloaded Bruno I was a bit scared, but thankfully he was talking about Brazilian music (although Equador by Sash is a little further South). So a medium 45 minute session before heading to Starbucks for a well deserved coffee. After lunch, I planned to do a pyramid session at Westminster Lodge (200-400-800-1200-800-400-200), however I couldn't be bothered to fuss with my Garmin, so attempted the 10X400m reps I did on Monday. I think it may have been a combination of eating only an hour before and having had a tough week and spun in the morning, but I was struggling after 5, and what stopped me was the pain in my right arm. It was like I had been punched. As I write this, I am trying not to let it hit the desk. Some Ibuprofen will hopefully keep it at ease until tomorrow. My Garmin however lost the data from today's 5 reps - clearly a sign.

Tomorrow the plan is to run with Speirsy & 2 others over a 10-12 mile course at marathon pace. Quite looking forward to that. ANd one week to go until New York and counting...

Wish I'd Have Stayed in Bed(mond)

Waking up at 5:15am when my flat is the same temperature as outside, is not inspiration for a mid-distance run. Add the rain and fog, and I still question why I bothered. Anyway, left the flat and headed to St. Albans to meet Kate, before heading to Fitness First to ditch my bag and head out towards the country lanes. Yesterday was my physio session with Karen, who couldn't stress enough how much I need to lay off the stretching, and that I am just too flexible. No wait - wrong way round!

I'm glad Kate was also questioning why we were doing this, given the bad weather. But we up the high street, towards Batchwood road, before heading up Blue House Lane and into the woods towards Bedmond. It is amazing how dark it is now. You actually cannot see a thing. We just hope the cars see us, as their headlights blaze through the hedges. But luckily, the lack of light disguised the hills, so when we were into mile 7 and I wondered why my legs were tightening, it was a relief to see we had finished the bulk of the hills. So back towards St. Albans, before breaking out onto the Chiswell Green road, then heading back passing the fancy houses and then back to the gym.

11.6 Miles in 1:28. Nothing amazing, even though we were sure we were going faster until we heard the 7:30 bells from the tower. Planning on doing Yoga later.

Run, Spin, Wind & Rain

As with most Wednesday's, I got up at 5:15am, shot over the St. Albans, picked Kate up then headed to the gym before embarking on a medium paced run before the 7am spin. The only difference was the weather and the light - or total lack of it!

So we headed out towards Hollybush, running up Blue Tree Hill. The turning from the A414 to Hollybush was enough to make you turn back! Kate had almost turned back yesterday as it was just too dark, but braved it. Given that we only ran this a few days ago, the change in light was unbelievable. So the pace wasnt too fast, given fear of breaking legs and needing to save some pace in case the grim reaper were to show. So we finished the run in around 48 mins (5.87 miles) - can't expect great things given the weather and the bad light.

Next was spin - usual 45 min session. Dodgy bike meant my leg kept spinning out the peddle. Quick shower then off to DSGi to prepare for the launch of Windows 7 and the promo codes.

Physio tonight with Karen then longish (11-12 mile) run in the morning with Kate - just hope we get some light (-:

4:30am - 11.2 mile run and PT session

Back at 7:30am today from the Tuesday session and starting from home as off into London today. So a steady 11.2 mile run around Chiswell Green, from St. Albans, missing out Batchwood as the rapists and mass murderers may still be looming form the night before. Finished slow in 86 mins, but guessing this decrease in speed was due to yesterday afternoon's reps.

Arrived at gym before 6:30am's session which today entailed:
Set 1 - 10 pullups (full dangle) & 10 press ups on medicine ball (repeated 3 times)
Set 2 - 55kg Bench Press (10-15 reps) couples with 25kg bar for biceps (15 reps). (repeated 2 times)
Set 3 - Dips (15 reps @ 90 degrees), with bicep curls (25kg X 15 reps) repeated twice.
Set 4 - Pyramid on treadmill (1 min at 10km/h flat, 1 min @ 15km/h, 1 min at 10km/h incline 8)
Set 5 - Dumb bell raises (floor to over head for 1st set, then floor to side for second) with 20 then 100 back tail raises off the mat (repeated twice)
Set 6 - Stepper (level 20) at overspeed coupled with cable pull, and incline chest press - 30 reps (2 diff sets)
Set 7 - Leg Press (79kg) - 2 sets of 15, with a final hold of 15 seconds.
Set 8 - Quad stretches

and all done by 7:30am.... Now off to London

10 X 400m Intervals

Today is the forteenth day that comes around twice a month (or thrice if I am really unlucky) where I have to be at work for 7am. As much as I had planned to do a 5am run, the fear of relinguishing my duvet was too much. The thought of cycling was also deterred by the near miss with a Morrison's lorry on Saturday, who came to the conclusion that I was an appartion and he could drive through me.

So having spoken to Kenny on Saturday and Spearsy yesterday about intervals, I decided it was time to do more speed work, and 2 sandwiches and a flapjack later, that time had arrived. The session was simple - run from Fitness First in St. Albans to Westminster Lodge, do 10 reps of 400m with a 60 second rest in between, before running back to the gym. Simples!

All went to plan. Best lap was 80 seconds, with a maximum speed of 4:26 p/mile. Definitiely something to work on. Planning to do intervals once or twice a week now at Westminster, so if you wanna join me....

Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16680349

A Bike, A Bison & 16.5 Miles

This weekend was jam packed with endurance. The plan for Saturday was to meet Kenny and Paul at the West Common roundabout, however only Kenny showed as Paul was saving himself for today's (Sunday's) grand finale.

So we set off down towards Redbourne before finally heading to Whipsnade and Dunstable whilst taking in Berkamstead, Ashridge, 6 Deer and some wallabies. Despite seeing the wallabies when we reached the top of Bison hill (which had been deemed impossible by some), I was safe in the knowledge that we hadn't climbed up to Australia as Kenny reassuringly pointed out that we were by the fence of the zoo. Averaging around 20 miles for the duration, we then headed back home (Kenny to Harpenden and me to Hatfield), meaning I completed exactly 50 miles in 186 mins.

So Sunday came only to soon and Simon and I had planned a twenty-one mile 7-7:15 run either in Hatfield or Harpenden. Harpenden was the choice and off we set with Niall, Kenny, Paul and newbie John, before taking a lead along the St. Albans Road and heading towards Fishpond Lane, around the park and back towards Wheathampstead. After going through many fields and slipping in speed, we mutually decided to cut the run short and stay fresh at the end. So we arrived back at Niall's house a little after 9:15am, having completed 16.5 miles.

Check out the stats here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16574655

So the afternoon consisted of work, Curb Your Enthusiasm and ironing, before heading to Fitness First for some x-training, an interval spin and then abs. Off to nan's for dinner then home to bed as an early start tomorrow.

Twenty Mile High

So this is my first post in a very long time. Sunday marked the day of my planned long run. With only four weeks to go until the New York Marathon and the Herts 10K being only a week away, it was time to get some miles in at speed. The rest of Running Fource were doing an easy hour in Harpenden, whilst Niall recited Abba versus from his gig the night before.

So I set off at 7am on this cold morning, heading out from Hatfield towards WGC and then into Panshanger. A minor detour (i.e. missing the turning for Hertford) meant I had already accumulated an extra 1.5 miles by the time I reached the Cole Green Way. I then headed up towards Hertford, being crossed twice by a one eared dog and some serial rapist on a bike. With the aim of hitting Hertford with 10 miles on the clock, I actually was closer to 12. I then span round and headed back along the Cole Green Way, before doing a lap through Panshanger. Again, I found myself de-touring from the usual route. Thirty odd minutes to be precise, before I was back on track. I then looked at my watch and realised I had already run 19 miles and still had some 5 or six miles to go before I hit Hatfield. I carried on until I passed the Welwyn/Hatfield roundabout, where I hit exactly 20 miles and decided to walk the rest. My aim was to run 20/21 miles and I wasnt going to run any more. Walking towards Stanborough Lake, 2:33 mins of sweat started to freeze, and I whimped out and called a taxi home (it would have still been some 2.5 miles to walk).

All in all, pleased with the run. Even managed Spin in the evening.