Training days. 110 - 113

I really should keep up to date with this thing. Thats another 4 training days i need to get up to date with

4 miles last Thursday which took my weekly total last week to 40 miles. A rest day on Friday and back out on the pavements on Saturday. That was a real struggle though. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else so after 2.5 miles i was done and had to stop. Sunday was a bit better. 7 miles but felt really down. It was as if all this running was getting me no where and this was never going to happen

The today the planets aligned, i got inspired and 15 miles ticked past without any ill effects!!! Apart from the pain of running that distance no reaction from any injuries. Hoorayyy. I might actually do this thing!!!

Training day 102 - 109

Well i have been a bit neglligent recently and have not been keeping up to date with my blog and that has mostly to do with holidays and drink!!!

Sunce last updating i have been away to the sunny climes of Benidorm on a boys away day the day lasting 6. I did manage a run whilst i was there. 8 miles in the mid day spanish sun with a hangover is not recommended. Since coming back it has been a bit sporadic. Returned last monday and managed a couple of runs on the tuesday and wednesday. 10 miles and 2.5 respectively. Then i was away for another overnighter and more drink. Managed anothe 10 on friday. 3 on sunday. 11 on monday 4 on tuesday and have just completed another 8. I am effectivly on week 4 of my training schedule. I should actually be on week 4 of my second training achedule ie sub 3 hour marathon training schedule but with the amount of injuries i have had that has just gone completely out of the window and now i am hoping just to get enough done so i can get round the thing!! I still have a problem with my hip and it twinged at 11 on monday so i stopped there. Hopefully now im back from holiday and the drink has stopped it will ease off because. Efore i went away my pace was picking up again and i was getting not so much problems from it so hopefully that will be the case again

Im still not doing hills or sprints and just doing the flatish 1.3 mile circuit and letting my hip dictate how far i go whilst trying to follow the schdule so hopefully that will be enough

Training days 97 - 101

It seems i have been neglectful lately in my responsibilities and have not updated my blog for some time

Day 97 was last sunday and was a 4 mile run. No ill efects and no problems

Day 98 was Tuesday. I just could not get the time to go out on Monday for one reason or another. I went out for 5 miles and felt pretty good. No aches or pains and was feeling quite encouraged

Day 99 was wednesday and was a 6 miles run. I felt really good and could have gone further but thought better of it

Day 100. Thursday. If i had realised it was my 100th training day i might have marked the occassion but as it was i was tired so only did 2.5 miles

Day 101. Is tht a bad omen. 101. As george orwell said room 101 was where all evil was kept. I paraphrase but you get the jist and on this my 101st training day my hip is really hurting again. 8 miles today and i have to say i was aware of my hip from the first step but it was at 7 miles that it really made itself known. I really should have stopped there but i conyinued on and finished the 8 miles. As i write this 10 hours later my hip is still sore and this is the first time since i restarted training that i have been sore after a run. We will see how it feels tomorrow and that will determine whether i run tomorrow or not

Training day 96 - 8 miles

Kept the pace steady at around 8.50/mile which is a hood 30 - 40 secs a minute slower than before my injury but alow and steady wins the race. I actually went firther than i intended today. I was only going to do 6 miles but i felt ok and there was no pain from my leg so i decided to keep going. Tomorrow is supposed to be a 12 mile run but ill be looking to do 8 again and if everything feels ok i might carry on and do 9 but no further. I really dont want to push my luck!!

Training day 94 & 94 - 5mile & 6mile run

2 more nights training with no setbacks. Again i kept the pace nice and steady and did not try to push it at all. Tonight i made a decision that if i felt ok i would push on from 5 to 6 miles and thats the case. I had no twinges or pain and dudnt feel any significant slow down in my pace

Again tomorrow i will keep it sensible and only go 5 miles or even just 4 depending how i feel. Keep it simple keep it safe

Training day. 92 & 93 - 5 miles & 2.5 miles

Well i have started back and i am back to week one of my training program. I managed 5 miles without any drama. I even took mu son out for the first 2.5 miles. Im not doing any hills or anything which can overly stress my holip or groin as its still nowhere near 100% yet. Im just hoping that if i can keep doing steady runs i can get enough done that i will be able to complete the marathon. Hopefully this will work out and come marathon time i will jave done enough and i will get round but i think the under 4 hour dream is definately gone


Last night was a 2.5 mile run and i was quite stiff and sore. Its amazing considering the amount of training i have been doing that that should be the case. I dont want to push it too hard so thats why i did shorter mileage. Im off out again today and will do 5 miles again. As i said im still feeling the hip and groin so it will be nice and easy

Training day 91 - 15 miles

This training day was actually 11 days ago and it was a complete disaster. 8 miles into the run my groin gave in and i had to be picked up as even walking was difficult. It has been a real set back and i havent trained for 9 days. No running at all. So along with my last injury which was a 5 day rest up ive lost the best part of 3 weeks training

I have started back again now but no hills. No fast pace. Just do training and hope that i can get through the next 12 weeks and i can get the marathon completed

Training day 89 & 90 - 5k and 8 mile run

Day 89 was a 5K run it was supposed to be 5 miles but i had a busy day and only had time to get to the ym not outside so i thought i would do 5 miles on the running machine. Thing was i decided to do it fast. A bit too fast and completely burned myself out so only 5k was covered


Day 90 was today and it was an 8 miler which went pretty well. I kept to a nice steady pace that felt comfortable and came in at 72 mins (this run has a 1:13 gradient hill in it) so i thought that was pretty good although i would have liked to have gone a little quicker. I was beginning to feel my hip flexor at the end so thats a worry with a 15 miler to come tomorrow. I will alter my route a little so im not putting as much pressure on it do its fingers crossed time

Training day 88 - threshold runs

Today was threshold runs. 5 x 3 mins at threshold pace with 60secs jogged recovery between efforts. I didnt make rhe same mistake i made last time i did these which was just to run as fast as i could and ended up only doing 1 min cause i was knackered. This time i ran at a sensibly quick pace that i could sustain for the 3 mins. It was a good workout and i was pretty tired at the end. Still no real pain from the hip flexor but i was in the gym after the run and could feel a twinge but i thing that was just from the strain so hopefully it will be ok tomorrow

I am hoping that when i do the 15 miles again on saturday (big night out on saturday so sunday is a defo rest day!) that actually not being completely exhausted from early shift will mean that i am able to handle the 15 miles without any drama or injuries!!

Training day 87 - 10K

After the 5 day layoff i have been particularly inspired the last 2 days. Yesterday was a fast 2.7miles and today i went out to do a fast 10k. I set muself a time of beating 51 mins and came up just short finishing in 51.30 which was still pretty good. I really pushed it over the first 5 miles and had burst myself over the last mile. What i did manage was to burst the 50 min barrier for the 6 miles which over this hilly 10k i was really pleased with. I am now only 1min 30secs away from breakin 50 mins for this 10k. Hopefully i am now on course again. The hipflexor is ok. A little tender but ok

Training day 86 - 2.5 miles

I had to take a 5 day layoff this week because my right hip flexor really was sore. I had hoped to go out yesterday but i thought i wise that i give it an extra day. Today i was gonna go for a 5 mile run but i decided just to go once round my small route and do it quickly. I managed that and covered the last me or so at almost a sustained run. Felt pretty good at the end too. Not too much discomfort from the hip flexor either. Tomorrow i will try to go for a 10k. What the lay off does mean is that im repeating week 5 of my schedule so i have fallen behind where i want to be but hopefully no more injuries!!

Training day 85 - 15 miles

Out for a 15 mile run and it was a sore one. Up to 10 miles i was feelin pretty good but after 11 it was a struggle and i really had to grind out the last 4 miles. I am going to put it down to the 2 runs on the treadmill. Another down side is that i am injured again. My right hip flexor has been really sore since so i have now stayed off it for 2 days. Hopefully i will be able to get out tomorrow. If it runs into a 4 th day i will repeat week 5 of my schedule

Training day 84 - 10K

Weather was pretty bad again yesterday so the decision was made to run on the running machine. Again i decided to crank up the pace due to this and completed the run in 46mins 53secs which i was pretty please with even if it was a treadmill. I have been suffering today though. Really. Running on treadmills is just not good for you. Legs, ankles etc all stiff and sore.

On a slightly different note i have been earing like a horse lately. All good stuff no rubbish and mOstly little and often. I have had some chocolate and a muffin today but you cant be good all the time. Have benefited from a wee rest today as i hve been really tired and im up for the challenge of 15 miles tomorrow weather permitting

Training Day 83 - 8 miles

Remember i said i was struggling with motivation just now. Well good grief it was hard going today. My legs were like lead weights and a a good couple of times i felt like stopping. There also seems to be a wee glitch wth my Nike app. Last time i did this run it said it was 7.25 mes. Today it was just a shade over 8 miles. I knew it was 8 miles. It must not have picked up the gps signal straight away. That has happened once before

Anyway. As i was saying my legs were like lead and i was actually beaten by the huge hill back toward my house. First time ever ive been beaten. I was keeping quite a good pace prior to that too. Lets hope things pick up tomorrow as its the same run im doing and then i get a rest day on sunday which i think im badly in need of to be honest

Training day 82 - 5 mile run

Yesterday was just to cold so the frost hadnt lifted from the ground and no way am i taking a chance on picking up an injury by slipping so i ended up doing 5 miles on yhe running machine. I decided to do it at a fairly quick pace and building it up throughout the run until at the end of it i was running at 4.15/K pace which is quite quick for me. What it meant was that i completed the 5 miles in 37 mins. I know it was on a running machine but not too long ago i could not have done that so its a good marker

I am going through a bit of a low point again. You sould think that having made a few breakthroughs recently and having done 14 miles last week that i would be raring to get out there but no. Im having to force myself to get out there. Its not as frosty today so no excuse not to go out and i will go out and do the 7.25 mile route today instead of the 5 my schedule says to make up for yesterdays running machine but it is an effort. I just think its because i have picked up another cold!!! What is going on. I think this is number 4 since the winter came on. Inalso think its because the milage is starting to go up. By that i mean im beginning to leave the 5 miles behind and am stepping up to 7 and 8 for each individual run so im out longer each time and with working shifts its gonna start getting harder. Monday is a 15 mile run!!

The last time i trained for this i was in a constant day shift position so it was easier and i wasnt doing the shift thing hich really takes it out of you. Especially 10 hr day shifts. Anyway lets hope the weather gets better and i get over this cold soon

Training day 81 - 4 miles fartlek

4 miles with 12 x 1 min efforts during the 4 miles. Not just efforts but 1 minute at a pace as fast as i could manage to the point where i was almost at a standstill at the end of each one but i managed to keep going after them. I didnt bother to time myself just made sure i completed it

No big traumas today. Just a day with a bit of effort

Training day 80 - 5.25 miles

A big breakthrough today. Did my hilly 5.25 mile course in an average pace of 7min 58sec per mile which is the fastest average pace ive managed in my training. I really felt that i could sustain my pace even going up the killer hill (twice) which is part of this route. Infact the second time round the route i managed that really hilly mile in 8.24 which was only 26 secs slower than my overall average pace

Really couldnt ask for more at this point in my training. No aches. No pains and thing going well. Tomorrow is some speed work

Training day 79 - 14 miles

As per my training schedule today was a 14 mile run. I set off at an 8.45 per mile pace as i was wanting to conserve my energy but i gradually started creeping above that and at the end of my run had comPleted it in 8.19 pace. I just felt good and did not feel as if i was running fast or particularly pushing myself. 14 miles in a shade over 1hr 56. When you consider that last week 13 miles took me 2 hrs almost exactly it just shows the difference in pace. I felt really good at the end too although the last three quartes of a mile were sore. This run also included my second fastest half marathon time of 1hr 48min 35 secs. My fastest official half is 1hr 47 min 37 so that really puts this time in perspective and that time was after 3 months of a marathon scedule and this was only the end of week 4!!

With only 4 months to go i am bang on target and still no pains. I am supposed to be doing 5 miles tomorrow but ill be too busy so its an extra rest day!!

Training Day 78 - 10k

After Thursdays exurtions and getting caught in the rain and the snow i had a rest day yesterday and was back into it today. Was night shift last night got to bed at 5 and then was up at 9 to take son to his football. Then was out to do a 10K. My schedule said easy run but it was anything but that. No sleep and running really do not mix. All the way round the run my leg felt like total lead. I am sitting here writing this and feel pretty good it was just really heavy legs. Tomorrow is a big 14 miles so i better get a kip tonight

Training day 77 - 7.25miles

Was gonn give myself a rest day today and go out tomorrow but changed my mind. Decided to go round my 8 mile route which includes the 1:13 hill which is a killer. Not done this route in a long time. Managed to get past that really steep bit and felt pretty good for the run. Turns out its not 8 miles but 7.25. My schedule said a steady 5 miles today but i felt inspired. Again no aches or pains woohoo. Touch wood things are still going along nicely!

Training day 76 - 10k

My schedule said that today was an 'easy 5 miles'. I dont have a handy 5 mile route other than going round my short 2.7 mile route twice so i just did my hilly 10k route. To make things interesting i decided to set myself a time limit of 52mins to comPlete it. I had a problem straight from the off in that the wind was pretty gusty and seemed mostly to be in my face. To achieve my goal i had to keep an average pace of 8.20 or there abouts. I was going along fine but when it came to the long up hil between miles 2 & 4 thats when the wind was right in my face and at my 4 mile time check i was way. Ehind schedule at 8.42 pace!!

Over the next 2.25 miles i really tried to push it and finished in 52.24. Just missing out but had really upped my pace and even did a new PB for a mile during a run of 7.15!! So not all was lost. I reckon without the wind i might have beat 51mins. My ultimate goal id to break 50 mins for my hilly 10k which would be a real achievement considering going by my Nike app my quickest 10k so far is 50.02 which was on the flat!!

What is encouraging too is no aches or pains!!

Did i mention im also running in new shoes now. I could feel the life had gone out of the other ones so a pair of Nike Dart 2 being used now and are feeling much better. Its a pair i got on holiday specifically to use when the other ones wore out. I have a pair og Asics Gel Asperus on the way which will take over from the Nikes. The reviewed quite well when i checked them out so we will se what happens with them

Day 75 - 5 mile run

Gave mysel a day off after the 12 miler but got back into it last night with a quick 5 miles. Felt really gOod frOm start to finish which is unusual because i hate speed work. Still at the end of the 5 miles i was timed at 40mins 24secs. About 10 secs of which could be trimmed due tO starting my Nike app and gerting the phone in my pOcket etcso i was really please especially since i increased my pace over the last mile.

Bit on the stiff and soe side today but im putting that down to the fact ive noy really had a long lie this week so the body is starting to get tired and sore

Training day 74 - 12 miles

OMG!!

The wind was a complete nightmare. I was running round Strathclyde park and that meant down one side the wind was practically picking me up and pushing me along but down the other side i was into the teeth of a terrible head wind and on more than one occassion i was running and not even moving!! I finished 12 miles in 1hr 41mins which isnt too bad. I reckon i could take a couple of mins off that due to the wind. No real aches and pains but the little toe on my left foot is in tatters and was bleeding quite badly. I am beginning to realise that all im really doing now is managing injuries. I am defo gettin too old for this. Wht today does mean though is that i have covered 42 miles this week!!! Thats tons. The last time i trained for this i was nowhere near that sort of milage at this stage primarily because i was studying for exams at the same time so was running in my linch break which meant i was doing lots of shortish fast runs with a longer on at the weekend. Hopefully this means my ambition of beating 4hrs is within reach

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Training Day 73 - 10 miles

Weather took a turn for the worst last night so it was 10 miles on the running machine and i felt really good the whole time. Even managed to conquer the boredom of running on a machine. Did it in 80 mins on the nose which was running at what i hope to be my race pace. Too much to do today so never got out for a run but will get out tomorrow

Training day 72 - 7 mile run

Gave myself monday off after that slow painful 13 miler on sunday and was feeling a lot better yesterday. The discomfort in my right hip flexor had gone so out i went. To make things a little more interesting i decided to split my run into 2 halves. The first half i ran the circuit (which is round the road of the place im staying at the moment and is about 1.3k long) in a clockwise direction in as high a pace as i could maintain. At the end of 6k i stopped for 4 mins then ran in an anti clockwise direction for 6k at a more moderate pacE. at the end i felt quite good although my left knee was a little painful. This happened the last time but is just a bit of fluid build up and came with increasing milage and went away after a time so i
Not concerned just now

I am giving myself a rest to ight as with the lack of sleep here my body is just not recovering and i am just sore!! Back into it tomorrow!

Training day 71 - 13 miles

I was feeling good today after last nights run and set out with a good deal of optimism. I started too fast. First mile was completed in under 8 mins and from there in in i tried to maintain a reasonable good pace but by the time i got to 8 i was starting to feel it big style and my pace started to slow considerably. Eventually finishing the 13 miles in 2 hours on the nose which was pretty slow.

It really made me think is it harder this time or am i just pushing the milage sooner. The programme that i usually follow is no longer on line and was more of a slow build up of miles. This programme throws in a big run every week as a challenge. Last week was 12 miles and i could only manage 10. This week was 13 and i succeeded but i felt like death afterwards!! It has taken nearly 2.5 hours for me to feel reasonably normal again!!

Still. Im still on course and am at the half way stage as far as milage goes with still 4.5 full months to go. Barring more injuries (just jinxed it didn't i!?) i think i can do this

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Training day 70 - 6.7 miles

Its amazing what een a semi decent sleep can do for your body. After sleeping or not sleeping as the case was in a strange bed all week i was back in mine last night and todays run was a million times better. The foot was not too bad and i managed to keep up a reasonably good pace and felt pretty good at the end. In fact the last 2 to 2.5 miles felt really good. I never really had any dinner today either. My stomache has been bothering me all week too so i only has a couple of salad sandwiches for dinner so the run was all the more surprising

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Training days 66 - 69

Day 66

10 miles - good grief. 2 days of constant drinking really took its toll. I wAs knackered but managed 10 miles with no ill effects. A course which is residential started on monday. More food. Less sleep

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Day 67

5.5 miles at a pretty good pace and again no ill effects. Am writing this on friday night so commenting on something i did on monday. Food on my course immediately disagreed with me and the toilet has been visited more often than i would have liked



Day 68

Hill sprints. Managed a 2 mile warm up and then 5 x 1 min hill sprint with a jog back to the start. I was gubbed. I am a bad sleeper and the fact i am staying away from home in a different bed really does not help me. Very poor sleep so body is sore and tired plus food still not agreeing with me



Day 69

A 4 mile run when i wAs hoping for 6. Again another extremely bad nights sleep and i am just physically tired. Not only that but my sore left foot has started playing up so i will be giving it a rest over the next 2 days and will get out again on saturday

Training day 65 - 3 miles

A cold again which meant i was in bed for 5pm last night and only gOt up again for work at 6am. SO no run last night. Felt a lot better today so went out tonight but knew straight away i wasnt rIght. I felt as thought i was running with someone elses legs. I kept going for as long as i could but had to stop in the end. Lets see how it goes tomorrow

Training day 64 - 6 x 3mins threshold runs with 60 sec jog between sets

Wind and hail still howling but i still went out there. Yeah me!! Lol

Today was speed / stamina work which i hate. 6 x 3 min runs at threshold pace. Which i took to be at as quick a pace as i could sustain for each 3 min run with a 60sec jog recovery between sets. Runs 1 to 4 were pretty decent but 5 and 6 i was pretty much grinding to a halt but got there and it worked out at exactly 4 miles. Not too bad a little run. But oh no. The left calf has started twitching again

Training day 63 - 8 miles

Thank goodness

The ankle i turned on boxing day was fine so managed my run fine. It was actually the first run in a very long rime where i had no aches or twinges. The wind was pretty strong and there was occassional hail stones and lots if rain but i felt really good and enjoyed myself. Hopefully after all these recent setbacks this is it because the countdown is now well and truely on. May 27th is not that far away!

Happy New Year