Tuesday 18 December 2012
Tuesday 27 November 2012
Endomondo Running Workout
Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 4.58 miles in 44m:01s using Endomondo.
Saturday 24 November 2012
back in the saddle
Well, I did the Leeds Abbey Dash last week. It was freezing when I set off at about 8am. Litterally freezing. My de-icer had less than a squirt left in it. It had warmed up a bit by the time I had parked up in Leeds though. I felt OK at the start, but I was coming down with a bit of a cold (excuse done).
I tried to warm up in what would be the holding pen, but people were wandering around gormlessley which made it difficult. When everyone started piling in, it just did some light jogging on the spot.
I was realistically in the sub 60 mins area and I was miles from the actual start line. There was a big screen I could see from where I was, pointing at the front runners as the gun went off. It was a further 5 minutes or so before I crossed the start line.
I felt OK for the first 5k, tried not to 'compete' with the other runnners too much as I haven't trained anywhere near enough (daughter had rotavirus the previous week). After the turnaround at the Abbey I started to feel a bit weak and slowed down dramatically. I was just plodding the rest of the way.
I managed to finish in 54 minutes though, so I am quite pleased with that considering.
I was in agony afterwards though.
Tonight, before dinner I went out to do an interval session. I did 5 sprints up a hill near the house (after a warm up around the block) then I jogged up the steepest hill in the area and went back home.
I will try to keep it up between now and xmas, with a 5 a side football session pencilled in for the 17th of December.
Sunday 26 February 2012
back on track
As the title suggests, things have gone a little better this week, but only on the weight loss front. I have been unable to run again this week due to family illness, but I have lost some weight and now weigh in at 93.3kg. So in three weeks I have lost 3.1kg which is 31% of the goal amount of weight loss. Not bad considering I have done little or no exercise in the three weeks in question.
I really need to kick on with training this week as the Bradford 10k is only four weeks away now. The pack containing my race number and timing chip arrived the other day, which served as a good reminder that the big day is looming.
I hope when I finally do get out there my calf holds up. On my last run it got a bit tight and I really struggled to get all the way around. That said I compared that run with some other runs on Mapmyrun.com and that night was a relatively quick pace, so maybe I'm not in too bad shape.
Interval Training
Earlier this week, I was up really early one morning (18 month old daughter since you ask) and as I sat there trying to make my head work what was on TV finally came into focus. What I saw was an 'informercial' for something called the Insanity workout.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLK28BHJDd8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Interesting, I'm sure you'll agree. Anyway, this got me thinking about my training for the Bradford 10k.
I know the benefits of interval training and have done many variations such as fartlek sessions, pyramids and even hill intervals on a treadmill, but I have never done the type described in that infomercial. So, I might try to build my own workout on this principle - long bouts of high intensity exercise separated by short rest spells. Obviously I will warm up before hand but then I will do about 3 minutes of maybe 80% maximum then back to a recovery pace for 30 seconds, then repeat for the rest of the run. I think I could do this in my usual 5 mile run which is quite flat then see how I get on. Hopefully this will help with weight loss and in turn, being lighter will help me run faster, which will help with weight loss and so on and so on...
New Running Shoes
This weeks just happens to be when I get paid and this means I should be able to buy some new running shoes. I say 'should' because being in full time employment, being married and being a dad to a young daughter means that getting the opportunity to go to a shop and get fitted for some shoes is not as easy as it could be. So I will let you know how that goes.
I really need to kick on with training this week as the Bradford 10k is only four weeks away now. The pack containing my race number and timing chip arrived the other day, which served as a good reminder that the big day is looming.
I hope when I finally do get out there my calf holds up. On my last run it got a bit tight and I really struggled to get all the way around. That said I compared that run with some other runs on Mapmyrun.com and that night was a relatively quick pace, so maybe I'm not in too bad shape.
Interval Training
Earlier this week, I was up really early one morning (18 month old daughter since you ask) and as I sat there trying to make my head work what was on TV finally came into focus. What I saw was an 'informercial' for something called the Insanity workout.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLK28BHJDd8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Interesting, I'm sure you'll agree. Anyway, this got me thinking about my training for the Bradford 10k.
I know the benefits of interval training and have done many variations such as fartlek sessions, pyramids and even hill intervals on a treadmill, but I have never done the type described in that infomercial. So, I might try to build my own workout on this principle - long bouts of high intensity exercise separated by short rest spells. Obviously I will warm up before hand but then I will do about 3 minutes of maybe 80% maximum then back to a recovery pace for 30 seconds, then repeat for the rest of the run. I think I could do this in my usual 5 mile run which is quite flat then see how I get on. Hopefully this will help with weight loss and in turn, being lighter will help me run faster, which will help with weight loss and so on and so on...
New Running Shoes
This weeks just happens to be when I get paid and this means I should be able to buy some new running shoes. I say 'should' because being in full time employment, being married and being a dad to a young daughter means that getting the opportunity to go to a shop and get fitted for some shoes is not as easy as it could be. So I will let you know how that goes.
Monday 20 February 2012
Training - Week 2
My training program has yet to take off in earnest. I managed to get out with running club on Thursday, but it was a bit of an ordeal for several reason. Firstly, I'm still not quite back into the swing of things since Christmas and this was evident the other night. Secondly, my calf muscle was starting to give me some grief, especially up hills and as anyone who know this part of Yorkshire will tell you, they are unavoidable. And to top it all off, everyone else was on one, so we ended up covering about 8.5 miles when normally we would do about 7.
Alas, I didn't make it to the final winter league fixture yesterday (not at all sad about it) which was in Halifax. I didn't fancy going all the way to Halifax to struggle up muddy hills with no grip. I don't mind a hill but these things are like the Travelator on Gladiators. I once met Jet (fittest one) from Gladiators in an amusement arcade in Wrexham. Least said about that the better. So yeah, winter league, not my cup of tea. I think, going forward I will do some off road training though, as for the same reason I think it could be quite beneficial to overal fitness and hill-climbing ability.
Regarding the weekly weigh in, no change at all this week. One the one hand this could mean I lost more weight and then regained it, or vice versa. Or there was no change. It does mean that when I do my graph at the end of all this, week one will look more impressive than week 2. Still 2.2kg in 2 weeks is a lot, whether it was all in week one or not, so I will look at it positively.
One thing became clear this week is that I need new running shoes. The shoes I run in now are my second serious pair ever and they are a bit the worse for wear so once payday arrives I will hobble on down to my local Sportshoes store and get myself shod. That will give me couple of weeks to wear them in before the Bradford 10k, and the Leeds Half Marathon.
I might get out tomorrow night for a flat run (thinking of my calf again) of about 5 miles, which will hopefully make the next Thursday session more bareable. Hopefully. Then, maybe next week I can start thinking about going to the Tuesday night training sessions. They are hard, and I need my leg to be reliable before I go sprinting up hills and whatnot.
Ciao for now.
Alas, I didn't make it to the final winter league fixture yesterday (not at all sad about it) which was in Halifax. I didn't fancy going all the way to Halifax to struggle up muddy hills with no grip. I don't mind a hill but these things are like the Travelator on Gladiators. I once met Jet (fittest one) from Gladiators in an amusement arcade in Wrexham. Least said about that the better. So yeah, winter league, not my cup of tea. I think, going forward I will do some off road training though, as for the same reason I think it could be quite beneficial to overal fitness and hill-climbing ability.
Regarding the weekly weigh in, no change at all this week. One the one hand this could mean I lost more weight and then regained it, or vice versa. Or there was no change. It does mean that when I do my graph at the end of all this, week one will look more impressive than week 2. Still 2.2kg in 2 weeks is a lot, whether it was all in week one or not, so I will look at it positively.
One thing became clear this week is that I need new running shoes. The shoes I run in now are my second serious pair ever and they are a bit the worse for wear so once payday arrives I will hobble on down to my local Sportshoes store and get myself shod. That will give me couple of weeks to wear them in before the Bradford 10k, and the Leeds Half Marathon.
I might get out tomorrow night for a flat run (thinking of my calf again) of about 5 miles, which will hopefully make the next Thursday session more bareable. Hopefully. Then, maybe next week I can start thinking about going to the Tuesday night training sessions. They are hard, and I need my leg to be reliable before I go sprinting up hills and whatnot.
Ciao for now.
Sunday 12 February 2012
overcoming setbacks
Amazing Weight Loss
This week was to be the first serious week of training, but as with all best laid plans it went belly up. My wife and daughter have been ill all week (flu and conjunctivitis respectively) which means I have been totally unable to train as I have not been at work I have been 'on-call' for both of them. I have heard professional sports people say that being competitive at the highest level means you have to be selfish, and I concede that if I had gone on with my training as planned, that would have been a selfish act in the circumstances. Perhaps it's just as well that I am not a professional sportsman then.
But, like all true heroes (ahem) I like to turn a negative into a positive and this week I was able to maintain the dietary changes I had planned to make and this has reaped rewards in the form of some excellent weight loss. Last week, you may remember, I weighed in at 97kg. This week I now weigh 94.8kg, which is a total loss of 2.2kg. Not bad for some easy changes.
The Secret To Amazing Weight Loss
'What changes are you making?' I hear you ask. Well, I have been following the principles laid out in Timothy Ferriss's book The Four-Hour Body, which is not only about weight-loss but also covers aspects of fitness and performance. I have used these methods before, so I know they work. It's just a case of sticking to it, which I have found overall, quite easy as the nutritional guide includes a weekly 'cheat' day, which is today for me. I was doing what Tim calls the Slow Carb Diet before Christmas but slowly dropped each and every principle on the lead up to and during and after the festive period. The Slow Carb Diet , as you might expect, does have some similarities to the Atkins Low Carb Diet, which also worked very well for me a few years ago. I still had some good weight loss but towards the end this petered out, and this weeks result is superior to anything I achieved last time around. I think this is down to the fact that I have not compromised. The principle is simple, but in practice finding replacements for bread, rice and pasta can be a challenge. Beans and lentils are the answer. With a few eggs thrown in too. Eggs are actually very important, for breakfast Tim recommends eating two eggs within 30 minutes of waking. I have done that this week and can confirm that it works.
So I hope to build on this good start and get some good training runs in before next week.
PS. I did book my place on the Bradford 10k this week.
This week was to be the first serious week of training, but as with all best laid plans it went belly up. My wife and daughter have been ill all week (flu and conjunctivitis respectively) which means I have been totally unable to train as I have not been at work I have been 'on-call' for both of them. I have heard professional sports people say that being competitive at the highest level means you have to be selfish, and I concede that if I had gone on with my training as planned, that would have been a selfish act in the circumstances. Perhaps it's just as well that I am not a professional sportsman then.
But, like all true heroes (ahem) I like to turn a negative into a positive and this week I was able to maintain the dietary changes I had planned to make and this has reaped rewards in the form of some excellent weight loss. Last week, you may remember, I weighed in at 97kg. This week I now weigh 94.8kg, which is a total loss of 2.2kg. Not bad for some easy changes.
The Secret To Amazing Weight Loss
'What changes are you making?' I hear you ask. Well, I have been following the principles laid out in Timothy Ferriss's book The Four-Hour Body, which is not only about weight-loss but also covers aspects of fitness and performance. I have used these methods before, so I know they work. It's just a case of sticking to it, which I have found overall, quite easy as the nutritional guide includes a weekly 'cheat' day, which is today for me. I was doing what Tim calls the Slow Carb Diet before Christmas but slowly dropped each and every principle on the lead up to and during and after the festive period. The Slow Carb Diet , as you might expect, does have some similarities to the Atkins Low Carb Diet, which also worked very well for me a few years ago. I still had some good weight loss but towards the end this petered out, and this weeks result is superior to anything I achieved last time around. I think this is down to the fact that I have not compromised. The principle is simple, but in practice finding replacements for bread, rice and pasta can be a challenge. Beans and lentils are the answer. With a few eggs thrown in too. Eggs are actually very important, for breakfast Tim recommends eating two eggs within 30 minutes of waking. I have done that this week and can confirm that it works.
So I hope to build on this good start and get some good training runs in before next week.
PS. I did book my place on the Bradford 10k this week.
Sunday 5 February 2012
Half Marathon Training
I intend to run the Leeds Half Marathon this year. I have taken part before, but last year it fell on the day of my daughter's Christening. Since then I have done the Bradford Half Marathon (2h4m, not a good time by my standards but the training wasn't what it should have been...) and a couple of West Yorkshire Winter League events. The WYWL runs are off-road/cross country and I have discovered that this is not my forte when it comes to running, I am most definitely a road-runner. But it can be fun to slosh around in all that mud from time to time.
I was feeling a bit like the training was going nowhere this morning so I decided to make a fresh start and set some goals. The first goal I set was to lose 10kg in 8 weeks. I decided this as I weighed myself this morning and I was 97kg. I would like to get down to 87kg by the end of March/April as I have a wedding to go to and I would like to fit in my brown suit a bit more comfortably by then.
For my next target, I have decided I will try and beat my Bradford 10k time from a couple of years ago, which was 44m 05s and a personal best. This one might be a bit of a tall order but, in for a penny, in for a pound. This falls in line with the first challenge as the Bradford 10k is on the 25th of March.
So when you set goals or targets, it's important to make a plan of action as to how you are going to achieve those goals. So here goes. I joined my local running club last October, but haven't filled in my membership forms. Well I sent them off this morning so I can enter races now and choose the affiliated member option without feeling guilty. I will enter the Bradford 10k tomorrow (at work ;P) so am committed to that at least. I will run on Thursdays with RC and maybe Tuesdays on my own and sometime at the weekend. As the weather warms up (hopefully) I will also go for some sneaky little runs in between those days. I will try to do one or two long runs in the lead up to the race as well.
Before all that, I need some new running shoes. The ones I am using now are very nearly falling apart and they have worn on the sole so much that my foot turns as I put it down. Not good. I have some off-road shoes (bought for the WYWL) but these are not up to road running as they have no cushioning in the heel. So I will make a trip to Sportshoes Bradford to get shod, as it were.
Well, that's all for now, wish me luck and I will keep you updated.
I was feeling a bit like the training was going nowhere this morning so I decided to make a fresh start and set some goals. The first goal I set was to lose 10kg in 8 weeks. I decided this as I weighed myself this morning and I was 97kg. I would like to get down to 87kg by the end of March/April as I have a wedding to go to and I would like to fit in my brown suit a bit more comfortably by then.
For my next target, I have decided I will try and beat my Bradford 10k time from a couple of years ago, which was 44m 05s and a personal best. This one might be a bit of a tall order but, in for a penny, in for a pound. This falls in line with the first challenge as the Bradford 10k is on the 25th of March.
So when you set goals or targets, it's important to make a plan of action as to how you are going to achieve those goals. So here goes. I joined my local running club last October, but haven't filled in my membership forms. Well I sent them off this morning so I can enter races now and choose the affiliated member option without feeling guilty. I will enter the Bradford 10k tomorrow (at work ;P) so am committed to that at least. I will run on Thursdays with RC and maybe Tuesdays on my own and sometime at the weekend. As the weather warms up (hopefully) I will also go for some sneaky little runs in between those days. I will try to do one or two long runs in the lead up to the race as well.
Before all that, I need some new running shoes. The ones I am using now are very nearly falling apart and they have worn on the sole so much that my foot turns as I put it down. Not good. I have some off-road shoes (bought for the WYWL) but these are not up to road running as they have no cushioning in the heel. So I will make a trip to Sportshoes Bradford to get shod, as it were.
Well, that's all for now, wish me luck and I will keep you updated.
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