We're into taper week. I was excited for the race and taper week but the weather has taken a horrible turn for the worse and now I'm really not excited! I was SO looking forward to giving the race a proper bash at beating my PB.. but if the weather continues as it is, that chance gets further away! Hopefully, it brightens up towards the end of the week!

WEEK FOURTEEN TRAINING
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 13:10 | Pace: 8:50 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.39 miles | Time: 3:58 | Pace: 10:04 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.48 miles | Time: 15:55 | Pace: 10:46 min/mi
I did do the extra .4 I usually do on a run commute, however, I forgot to charge my watch and rather than not track the longer portion, I just turned it off whilst at work to conserve battery. I got another route PB on the way to the station in the morning which I was pleased to see. The way home was horrendous, not only was it pouring down, it was also really windy with gusts of wind, so I had to take a few walking breaks.

FRIDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.67 miles | Time: 14:39 | Pace: 8:46 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.41 miles | Time: 4:17 | Pace: 10:27 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.45 miles | Time: 15:20 | Pace: 10:36 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.36 miles | Time: 3:43 | Pace: 10:13 min/mi
Another fail this morning. I don't typically travel to work on a friday and I work from home, however, I was needed in the office, so had to travel in. Turns out Friday morning commutes are not fun. I got half way down the road before doubting whether I locked the door.. so I had to run back to the house to double check.

It was locked, but it made me a little late - ended up with yet another PB surprisingly, despite running back to the house, waiting to cross roads AND having time to take a selfie, haha!

The run home was epically sucky like the last run commute and I had to walk several times again. The temperature dropped and it was pretty harsh on my lungs.

SUNDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 6.21 miles | Time: 58:42 | Pace: 9:27 min/mi
I had initially planned on doing the run with Phillip on Saturday but changed our minds. Phillip then got caught up at work and I had to do my first long run by myself which was sort of weird when you've had someone run with you every week! What was supposed to be a fairly chilled 6 miles, turned out to be a pretty quick one! Watch reported both a 5KM and 10KM PB at the end. They're not official PBs but they're very close to which was a confidence boost!

Whilst I don't think I could maintain a 9:27 min/mi pace for another 7 miles, I'm definitely ahead of schedule to get the 2:10 I'm after at Cambridge this week.


CHALLENGES
Activity: 30 day challenge exercises

Did 4 days worth of the challenges this week, now that I'm doing the challenges a bit more frequently and not stupidly doing 4+ days in a row, I don't suffer so much with DOMS. I'm definitely noticing an improvement in my strength and I was able to do a couple of full pushups for the first time ever which I'm super happy with! It might not be alot to some.. but it's a lot to me!
The sessions are knackering though! I've been doing 2 days worth every other day and it's been taking me around 25 minutes to complete all 4 of the challenges which is more like a workout than a challenge. I suppose I can't really complain. I'm definitely going to continue with the challenges in March and hopefully start doing Kettlebell workouts too now that I've got a bit of strength back!

Question: How many training runs do you do per year? What do you find is the best way to increase your speed?

And just like that.. a few good runs can turn into a really bad one! I made some silly decisions this week which put a serious downer on the end of the week. Though, some positives did come of it, so I suppose it can't be all bad.

WEEK TWELVE TRAINING
MONDAY, TUESDAY & THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way
Brompton is back to normal, no horrible squeaking. As I mentioned last week, it went in for a service and they found nothing wrong and it's been working fine since. One other plus side.. is that it's getting lighter and lighter everyday and last week I rode home in almost total light outside(spoiler, I rode home in TOTAL light this eve and it was bliss!).

WEDNESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.47 miles | Time: 13:14 | Pace: 9:02 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.40 miles | Time: 3:53 | Pace: 9:36 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.46 miles | Time: 14:37 | Pace: 10:02 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.37 miles | Time: 3:36 | Pace: 19:48 min/mi

Wednesday is turning into my usual run commute day, there's definitely a trend, I'd hoped to run commute twice a week sometimes.. but my long runs are making me a little achy and I just dont fancy it, esp when it's super cold in the morning!

I did have a bit of a confidence boost for mid week. First off was that I tried on a pair of long SKINS tights that I've had tucked away for the longest time as I felt like I was a sausage casing - they actually fit really well so I was pleased - then the actual run went well too. I managed under 9 min/mi for my run commute and felt really comfortable which was surprising! I'm definitely noticing some positive changes during my training!

FRIDAY & SATURDAY
Activity: 30 day challenge exercises
I've had better ideas than starting some body weight exercises two days before a long run. Everyone knows that if you're gonna get DOMS, they'll be worse on the second day. I was a little late to the game on this, ideally you start 30 day challenges at the beginning of the month. I had the fun idea of starting it mid-way through the week.. and to try and catch up over a few days.

On Friday, I did 4 days worth of the multiple 30 day challenges that I started. By god I was like jello afterwards. I was pretty sore on Saturday and knew I was in for the worst treat on Sunday, right in time for my long run, good job Laura!

I woke Sunday, barely able to sit up in bed. DOH! I suppose the only positive I can take from this is that I've actually FINALLY started some sort of strength training!

SUNDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 11 miles | Time: 1:58:31 | Pace: 10:46 min/mi

The plan was to run this a little slower than I did the previous week and have more time on my feet. I was aiming for 2 hours on feet and got just under.. but the run itself was horrendous! It was cold, it was windy and the DOMS from the previous day were ridiculous, my inner thighs and abs were SO sore and I spent almost the entire time whining.
I had to dash into a wooded area around 4 miles into the run for a pee and then it was hard to get started again. The only positive I took from the situation was the fact that my determination was on point! Despite struggling almost the entire time, there was no way i was going to give up. At the end of the day, anything can happen on race day and I have to be prepared to maybe have to push through some discomfort.

Question: Have you ever had a really bad run? How do you pick yourself back up again for the next week ahead?

A bit of a naff week in terms of quantity with running this week but in terms of quality, the two runs I did do this week were pretty good. I need to make sure I get in that third run during the week, I'm definitely fitting in a run commute and my long run but would ideally like another mid-run 3 mile run as an in between.

WEEK ELEVEN TRAINING
MONDAY, TUESDAY & THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way

I totally messed up on Monday. I cleaned by Brompton over the weekend to get all the sh*t off the chain and stupidly didn't take it for a ride to make sure everything was OK. Turns out I either knocked the brakes or got some lubricant on the rim of the wheel because, upon braking on the downhill on the way to the station, my bike was making the most horrendous squealing noise!
I had to take it slow so I didn't have to use my brakes as much, totally embarrassing! I did give my rims a wipe down once I got to work and checked over the brakes and luckily it wasn't too bad on the way home. Still the occasional squeak when I pull hard on the brakes after a week.. but I'm not sure what else to do about that! Fingers crossed it just goes away. It went in for a service this weekend and they didn't find any problems.

WEDNESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 13:10 | Pace: 8:52 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.38miles | Time: 3:50 | Pace: 10:11 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.45 miles | Time: 15:25 | Pace: 10:38 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.37 miles | Time: 4:11 | Pace: 11:23 min/mi

Run commute day and got myself a new route PB. Typically, I've only ever gotten a PB on my run commute route if i've been running late for the train and had to practically sprint. This time, there was no rushing, I felt fairly comfortable and arrived at the station to find that I'd ran my fastest mile and my fastest time for that route according to Strava.
My run home was almost all in the light which is amazing! I'm SO SO happy about it finally getting lighter, I'm absolutely sick of the darkness and it might help me fit in another run during the week if I have the option to run in the evening.

SUNDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 10.31 miles | Time: 1:42:18 | Pace: 9:56 min/mi

We ran the route from last weeks long run in reverse thinking that the nasty uphill we had would be a wonderful downhill, however, we totally forgot about a looooong downhill section towards the end of last week that ended up being our brutal uphill for this week.

I had a stitch at the start of my run which seemed to last a few miles, but despite that, I was happy to be maintaining under 10 min/mi for most of my splits - ended up with a new watch PB for 10k completing a 10k in literally just over an hour.. a little gutted not to get under but hey ho!

Pace stayed around or under 10 min miles from the 10k mark, ended up also getting a new 15k PB of 1:31:59.
My hips and groin were really sore and achy at around 8 miles and we had a final uphill to tackle which I usually always have to walk up at some point. Phillip wanted me to try and run up the whole thing but I was too busy focusing on the soreness that I started crying, which then meant my breathing went off completely, which then followed by Phillip dragging me up the final bit with me bawling my eyes out! xD

The final mile was a little painful(I say painful.. but I dont think its injury, just soreness and a want to stop ;) ) and I struggled to pick up my legs.

I finished off with an extra .3 before stopping and ended up with a 10mile PB of 1:39:21. I had a little waddle of a cooldown back to the house.. and then subsequently a struggle to stretch and then step into the bath for a shower ;)

Question: What is your longest run prior to a half marathon? At what point do you start tapering?

A slightly better week than last week, 3 runs, would have preferred 4.. but I'll take the 3. The runs I did were fairly good and I did my first double digit run of half marathon training and of this year! Only 5 weeks left of training too!

WEEK TEN TRAINING
MONDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.50 miles | Time: 13:23 | Pace: 8:57 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.37 miles | Time: 3:57 | Pace: 10:47 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.17 miles | Time: 12:09 | Pace: 10:23 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.37 miles | Time: 3:48 | Pace: 10:10 min/mi

Got a thing for leaving things a little too late recently which means queue a huge panic to get out of the door and to the station.. On the one hand... it is pretty.. handy, in that I can kinda class this as a speed session as it entails a lot of sprints followed by some jogs where I'm incredibly out of breath ;)
It does make it sort of fun too. On the other hand though.. it's really annoying when I actually do miss the train as its a wait in the cold! Thankfully, I made this one on time!

The run commute back kinda sucked and i stopped early to walk, I just wasn't feeling it.

TUESDAY & THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.52 miles | Time: 14:29 | Pace: 9:32 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.35 miles | Time: 3:55 | Pace: 11:10 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.47 miles | Time: 15:47 | Pace: 10:43 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.39 miles | Time: 3:58 | Pace: 10:11 min/mi
Another not so speedy run commute because of the wind! I actually almost missed the train this time round. Luckily there was a lovely conductor lady who let me through the driver section after the doors close.

Note to self: Get your sh*t together and set off a bit later.. you can still sprint.. but don't leave it too late to the point where you miss the train.

The run commute home sucked big time. I reckon Im packing too much into my run commute bag and the weight is really making me struggle.. I need to consider leaving a change of clothes at work the day before on my cycle commute so I dont have the extra weight.

SUNDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 10 miles | Time: 1:41:10 | Pace: 10:07 min/mi

The plan was double digits and that's exactly what I did! We planned to do the route we planned 2 weeks ago that got smushed due to road closure.. turns out it's quite a good route. Unfortunately, the first half of the run was in some horrible wind out on open roads which was horrible and felt like it was zapping all my energy.. just when I thought we got rid of the wind.. came the beastly hill that I'd been told about on this route. Beastly is not the word I would call it it was absolutely horrendous and I needed to stop for a breather twice to get to the top. It was about .6 mile long.. but probably more like a mile with the slight incline beforehand.
After we got to the top, it was fairly flat followed by some downhill back towards stamford.. it was also unseasonably hot out! I had a long sleeved top and shorts and I was boiling! I'd have been more than happy with a t-shirt!

Pace was great.. I definitely need to learn to slow down for my long runs but its very hard when I have Phillip running with me as he is running extra slow to keep at my pace. With that said.. my pace is not too far off what I'd like for the half marathon so I was pleased with how it went and was feeling relatively OK when I got back to the house. In in all a great run and I'd definitely do that route again.. maybe I'll make it an aim to run up the monster of a hill without stopping!

Question: Is the lighter evenings making you excited or do you not mind the dark?

A rather crappy week of training this week. Had some unplanned rest days with taking Kia to the vets last minute(thankfully, she's OK!) and a lot of crappy weather that put a stopper on some of my runs. Sometimes I wish I had a gym membership or a treadmill so I could get them done. I'll just have to have a better week next week

WEEK NINE TRAINING
MONDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way

Never much to say on this anymore, its a cycle commute and nothing major happens, I note it just because its exercise and I guess part of training.
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.50 miles | Time: 13:38 | Pace: 9:07 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.34 miles | Time: 3:35 | Pace: 10:35 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.46 miles | Time: 15:31 | Pace: 10:36 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.38 miles | Time: 3:51 | Pace: 10:10 min/mi
Nothing like being late to get you a route PB! Left the house a little late on Weds morning, leaving me a few minutes less to get to the station on time(otherwise I've 20-30 minute wait for the next train). Ran as fast as my poor legs could carry me and thankfully made it on time!

I did make a little bit of a boo boo and wore my Adidas Pure Boost X for the first time in forever and my feet were absolutely killing me when I got to the station and ached for hours afterwards. They weren't too bad on the way home though.

It's very slowly getting lighter in the morning which is making me super happy.. before long it will be light when I come home!

FRIDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 3.29 miles | Time: 31:42 | Pace: 9:39 min/mi

A little runch on friday.. more like 3.5 than 3.3, I went down to a housing estate not too far away as I thought there would be a route down to one of the main roads at the other end, however, turns out it's a complete dead end with no way through, which slowed me down a bit AND I stopped my watch to ask for directions and forgot to start it again. Doh!
Not a bad run overall though, pace was OK despite some wind and my legs not really wanting to play ball. No niggles at all which I was happy about *touch wood*. I have been stretching more so hopefully that's helping!

I would have also had 2 other cycle commutes but the wind was horrendous on Thursday and as I mentioned I had a last minute appointment with the Vet for Kia.. so they just weren't meant to be.

As a complete side note. It appears that Phillip has decided for himself that he is going to run the Cambridge Half with me. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the situation as I didn't really want the pressure of trying to beat my time.. but maybe it will work out in my favour to have him as encouragement in the final few miles. He hasn't really been able to fit in running with his work hours and has literally only done 1 or 2 runs a week of which 1 of those runs is with me at the weekend. So he ultimately knows he has not trained properly to run his own race.

Question: Do you ever run with your partner or friends?

Another week has passed, another week closer to the half marathon. Feeling good overall but hoping to add in some specific sessions to my training. Sessions have been abit hit a miss too but still pleased with how the week overall has progressed.

WEEK EIGHT TRAINING
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way
TUESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 13:55 | Pace: 9:20 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.36 miles | Time: 3:53 | Pace: 10:48 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.48 miles | Time: 15:57 | Pace: 10:48 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.38 miles | Time: 4:19 | Pace: 11:18 min/mi

My mid week run commute went pretty well.. however the challenge comes with choosing what to wear for these runs! More often than not, I'll totally misjudge what to wear. I wore a long sleeved top, long tights, gloves and a buff and was too hot despite it being chilly.. then other days.. that doesn't feel like enough.
Hips/groin were a little sore at the start of the run commute but eased off fairly quickly, thankfully. It has been making me a little nervous(especially as the half is getting nearer and nearer) but I've been making more of a conscious effort to make sure I stretch for a while after a run.

FRIDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 3.25 miles | Time: 30:50 | Pace: 9:26 min/mi

My first runch! I kept saying for the longest time that since i moved and started working from home on Fridays that I'd make use of my availability of a shower at home to run at lunch time. Finally did it and the run was pretty hit and miss.
Hips/groin again were a little niggly at the start but went eased as I warmed up, however I then ended up with really sore calves for the most part of the rest of my run until it was too much and I stopped for a break at the top of a hill. Weirdly, when I stop and let it ease and start running again, it seems to go away(or at least isn't as bad).

Despite the niggles, my pace was great for the whole run. I maintained a 9:26 min/mi. Watch says I got a PB for 5k.. which isn't true.. but is for the amount of time I've had the watch. Strava also says that the run was my fastest for the route.

SUNDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 9.26 miles | Time: 1:35:14 | Pace: 10:17 min/mi

Ahhh, Sundays long run. I didn't want to go too far as I've mentioned I'm about 2-3 weeks ahead of plan with distance(I suppose it can't be too much of a bad thing). However, we wanted to try out a new route which ended up being tracked out as just over 10 miles. Things didn't quite go to plan as we got about 4 miles in and there was a closed road. We instead ended up doing an out and back instead as there was no alternate road closeby to get where we needed to go.
We added on a loop at the end to make sure we got 9 miles and ended up on 9.26. Didn't have any hip/groin niggles this time round but did have calf issues until I had stopped and it eased(not sure how stopping seems to make it go away but I'll take it..). Legs felt pretty good when we got back to the house. I'm definitely alot fitter than I think I am, I think maybe the cycle commutes are contributing, that and terrain change from my usual flat routes in the fens.

I think I'd be pretty confident with doing a half marathon in a few weeks if I needed to, I'd just like to get some speed in my legs now which will hopefully be more of a focus over the next coming weeks.

Overall happy with how training is going, I'm happy with the distance I've covered thus far on my long runs. Hoping to get in a speed/hill session at some point during the week and maybe/hopefully the route we were supposed to have done for my Long Run yesterday will be available to do this week.. we will see!

Question: Ever had a route planned and had to change it mid route? 

Missed two training diaries due to having new years on a Monday where my training diary fell.. and to be honest.. there wasn't much to say about last weeks or this weeks training so I may as well have fit it into two.

I always like to fill in a training diary anyway, so I have a way to document my training, regardless of whether the week went badly. So, here goes..

WEEK SIX TRAINING
MONDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 6.01 miles | Time: 1:03:49 | Pace: 10:38 min/mi

Christmas day run with Phillip, his mum and the dogs. Half off road and half on road. It was a lovely crisp morning and the roads were completely empty which was nice.
The rest of the week was spent resting and eating mostly with not much of anything else.

WEEK SEVEN TRAINING
MONDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 8.6 miles | Time: 1:29:28 | Pace: 10:24 min/mi

You'll notice there's two 8.6 mile runs this week. I hadn't intended on that but since it was new years day, we put off our long run on the Sunday and instead headed out on the Monday instead.
This run didn't really go too well. Right from the off, I felt really sluggish and my calves and shins were feeling quite sore. We headed out to Burghley house, we'd never been there before so went on an exploration run. The estate grounds are absolutely beautiful, lots of tracks to run around, it'd be good for loops and adding mileage.

I did have to stop on the way home to stretch out my calves which did seem to ease it slightly.. Turns out we ran too much around Burghley house that we ended up adding extra mileage on and what was supposed to be 7 miles ended up at 8.6.
The last mile was horrible and my hips and groin were really complaining, had to do plenty of stretching when I got home.

TUESDAY to THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way

Not much to really say about these commutes except for the commute on Thursday which ended in tears. Some motorists are such idiots on the road when it comes to cyclists. Despite having lights on my bike, my helmet and a bright reflective backpack, indicators on my helmet and my arm out, I almost got took out by a car trying to overtake me as I was heading into a slip road to a side street off the main road.
SUNDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 8.6 miles | Time: 1:31:13 | Pace: 10:36 min/mi

Absolute nightmare of a run.. all thanks to Phillip. I had originally planned an out and back route for simplicity on a long run, I knew roughly where our turn around point would be. We had planned on 7 miles and it certainly didn't turn out that way. Near the halfway point, Phillip had seen a public byway through a field and wanted to explore for a bit of a change of scenery. I wasn't so sure. We're still relatively new to the area so I hate exploring with the possibility of getting lost.
After passing through one field, we met a farmer who gave us some friendly advice of where we could run up to.. we ran through a few fields until we hit the road. I advised Phillip that we should turn back as the sun was setting and he was adamant that google maps would take us back home if we kept following the road. Muddy tracks, fields and a lodge later.. we ended up on a MAIN road.. with it getting dark.. I was getting tired, we'd hit 7 miles and wasn't sure how far we were off home.

Luckily, we found a side road to take after a mile or so and finally made it back safely but I was SO mad at Phillip and definitely won't be trusting him again to lead the way!

I need to get back on track with the running.. I will be back to Run Commutes this week and I'll be heading out a little earlier on our Long Runs to make sure that if we ever get lost again, we won't ever be in that position again!

3 runs in two weeks definitely isn't what I planned, but the holidays and festivities always seem to get in the way!

Let's get back on track!

Question: Have you ever gotten lost on a run? Ever had a near miss when cycling before?

Merry belated Christmas, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful food and family filled day. Coming at you a little late with my training diary for that very reason! Last weeks training wasn't too bad, had a couple of off days, one cause I was working from home and very busy, the other taking my Dad to the airport and spent the majority of the day in the car driving. Despite that, I think I did OK this week.. Let's get into it!

Also.. apologies for the lack of pictures.. it's literally too dark to take a picture of anything, it just turns out black and it's super annoying!

WEEK FIVE TRAINING
MONDAY
Activity: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way

My only bike commute for the week not much really to update on, it's the same old each time. Except gathering by my times, it was probably very windy as I was a bit slower than usual.

THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 13:15 | Pace: 8:45 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.4 miles | Time: 3:53 | Pace: 9:40min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.47 miles | Time: 15:11 | Pace: 10:21 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.38 miles | Time: 3:54 | Pace: 10:17 min/mi

Did a run commute to work on thursday and it was my second fastest run ever to the station because I left the house a little late and practically had to sprint there. Oops! Thankfully, I didn't miss the train which would have been horrible! I also had a pretty good run on the way back and managed a decent pace despite the nasty uphill.

FRIDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 7.32 miles | Time: 1:14:14 | Pace: 10:09 min/mi

I messed this one up. I had to nip to the post office to pick up a parcel and took my run commute bag, thinking whatever I had missed would fit in the bag. However, it didn't and I had to walk back home with a pretty hefty box! Though.. tbh I'm glad I didn't decide to take my brompton down otherwise I'd have struggled to get it back home.

SATURDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 7.32 miles | Time: 1:14:14 | Pace: 10:09 min/mi
Long Run day and after missing last weeks long run, I knew I had to redeem myself this week, so headed out with the intention of doing 7 miles. We went on a bit of an exploratory run as the weekend is currently the only time we can actually explore as it's light outside. We cant during the week as its too dark in the evenings and we'd get lost very easily.

There was a nice out and back route that we did down to a nearby village, partly uphill on the way back, I've had some useful route tips and i've been using strava to plan out my next few long run routes, so I should be all set.

The run itself actually went really well and I felt great for the most part. Happy to have maintained just over 10 min/mile for the 7.3 miles. Need to get in some speed work to see if I can get down my average pace. Would ideally need to be going 09:55 min/mi for 13 miles in order to get the 2:10 that I want for my half marathon goal. I think it's more than achievable.


So, that's it for this week. Would have liked to have fit in a longer run during the week but I had 2 days where I was working from home/travelling so didn't get the chance. Still happy with the runs I completed this week and more than happy that the 7 miles I did felt pretty good.

I definitely feel stronger when Im running which is a mega positive as I usually don't really feel great during longer distances. I'm interested to see where I'll be in a few weeks.. esp when I start getting into double digit long run distances.

Question: Do you like to be adventurous when you go running or do you stick to the same routes for your training?

It's week four.. and whilst this week started OK, it ended pretty crap. The weather is really taking its toll on me at the moment. Im not feeling running with the ice and in the cold. I also left christmas shopping till the last minute and it messed up my training at the end of the week.. I'm just gonna get straight into what I did do and not dwell too much on what I didn't.

WEEK FOUR TRAINING
TUESDAY and THURSDAY
Activity: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way
Just two days running this week. Probably would have been three had it not been for the snow last weekend. It was far too slippery to do anything, I couldn't bike commute or run and even worked from home. Bike on Tuesday was scary as hell not knowing if there was any ice on the roads with it being so darn dark. Did a bike commute on Thursday too to give my legs a rest from the run commutes
TUESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.51 miles | Time: 14:38 | Pace: 9:47 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.36 miles | Time: 4:00 | Pace: 11:06 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 16:59 | Pace: 11:26 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.41 miles | Time: 4:23 | Pace: 10:49 min/mi
A scary run commute, it was way too dangerous to take the bike due to the snow and ice on the roads, so hoped my trainers would hold up. Paths were quite icy and the roads actually weren't too bad. Thankfully, it's not too busy at 6:30AM in the morning so I used the roads rather than the path for most of the route.

The run back was still pretty icy and alot busier.. but I survived and it wasn't all too bad, just very cold!

THURSDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.5 miles | Time: 13.48 | Pace: 9:11 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.36 miles | Time: 04:08 | Pace: 11:36 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.48 miles | Time: 15:32 | Pace: 10:32 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.39 miles | Time: 3:48 | Pace: 9:39 min/mi


That's it for running.. just two run commutes to work. Whilst it's better than nothing, I'm really not happy about missing out on my long run this week. It better not be the start of things to come.. but I felt really off, I'd been busy the whole weekend trying to get christmas shopping done and then it started raining and that just solidified the whole thing.

Thankfully, I'm still more than ahead of schedule, so one missed long run won't do too much damage as long as I dont do it again and the weather is a little kinder.

Question: Do you struggle with training when it's icy/snowy outside? 

We're into the third week of Half Marathon Training and it feels like it's flying by which is a little scary! I missed a run this week but I'm happy with the runs that I did do this week. I have made some minor tweaks to my plan which I knew was going to happen, it always does. I'll explain further down in the post as it is mostly a tweak to my long runs.

WEEK THREE TRAINING
MONDAY and THURSDAY
Activity: Bike Commute - Distance 2 miles each way
Only 2 days again for last week. I had one day off work as we went to go and see Phillip's Niece at his mums house for the day. The other two days were just like normal days.. same idiot drivers.. one of which nearly took off my arm as I was 'indicating' to turn into the housing estate and they wanted to overtake me instead...SIGH!
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 13.52 | Pace: 9:20 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.4 miles | Time: 3.56 | Pace: 9:46 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 1.49 miles | Time: 15:19 | Pace: 10:17 min/mi
Activity: Run | Distance: 0.37 miles | Time: 3:51 | Pace: 10:25 min/mi
Wasn't feeling it.. but went out to run commute anyway. It was fairly mild, long tshirt, no jacket. Did need my jacket on the way back so thankful that I took it with me. My RunBox is serving its purpose, it's a great run commute bag - I mentioned it in my favourites for last month and I'm planning to do a review for those interested!

Pace is always quicker on the way to the station in the morning, I have to run a little faster as I would HATE to miss the train again!
SATURDAY
Activity: Run | Distance: 6.6 miles | Time: 1:07:25 | Pace: 10:13 min/mi
So this is where I changed things up. I usually do my long runs on a Sunday, however, it makes much more sense for me to do it on a Saturday. I would typically run on a Saturday, no more than 3 miles, but that means that my legs aren't really fresh for my long run.

The second thing I changed was my distances for long run. I started my training a little earlier than usual and despite not doing too much running over the last few months, I don't think I've lost much fitness at all which I hadn't expected.

With that in mind, I still have 12 weeks left until race day.. so I've had to re-think my distances for long runs on a saturday. I had originally planned on doing the distances twice before upping the mileage. In other words, doing 6 miles, 6 miles, 7, 7, 8, 8 etc.. however, I wasn't particularly fond of doing each of the distances twice and it makes just as much sense to go up my half mile increments and still having more than enough time to reach my max distance before the half.
So, I had 6.5 miles on the plan this weekend, did sliiightly over. I definitely could have ran further and part of me really wanted to, just to see how far I could go but Phillip convinced me to just stay with the plan and stop.  Part of me is a little bummed I didn't just go for it but I'm happy that I felt I could go further anyway!


So, only two runs this week.. I had planned on a 3rd run on Sunday but it snowed and snowed and snowed and it was just way too slippery to go out in! We did have a little walk in it though and I almost went over on my arse several times, further solidifying my decision not to run!

Hopefully, I get in a couple more runs next week. I plan on run commuting tomorrow and may actually run commute twice this week as I wont get the chance on Friday to run as I have an office christmas lunch!

Question: Do you have a strict training plan or does your plan change throughout training?