Training for Virgin London Marathon 2019, from 10K

I have been somewhat remiss of late with my posting, mainly because I have done nothing 😞 I rested up, apart from stretching and strengthening exercises, no running to allow my calf to fully heal ahead of the Great South Run, on the 21st Oct. I got up at 4am to meet the coach with my fellow club members at 5:30am I have never got up this early in my life for a run!!! We had some good laughs on the bus, all be it everyone was a bit groggy eyed and the banter was a bit slower than normal. After being held in the pen for what seemed like forever we were off and my calf went again 1.4miles in. I was gutted, well, devastated, I have never had a DNF (did not finish, not all y readers are sporty;) ). My poor running buddy had to sprint to catch up with some other friends, i felt awful afterwards, never seen her look so tired after a run. Anyways, I stopped my Garmin, as you do, text my physio, then hubby, priorities right? As I limped back to the start, a couple, supporting the runn...

After having to bail during last nights Terrifying Tuesdays (speed reps) Session, due to calf pain, I went straight to see a sports physio this morning. He has diagnosed a minor calf tear and has said I shouldn't run for 7 days minimum 😪 As it happens, this couldn't have happened at a better time, I'm having my 7th tattoo session tomorrow, more colour being added and i will be unable to run for 5 days anyway, since this rest was already scheduled into my plan, I only have to adjust it for the extra 2 days. Hopefully the rest will do the trick. Then to re-strengthen it!!!

Training with friends I ran with Lisa again this evening. The plan was to go a little bit further than our last run of 3.2 miles We set off, doing our local Park Run route once again, although we had agreed in advance to run the football field part in reverse since we both hate that bit. The run went really well with less walking and a fast pace than before. I think Lisa's confidence is coming back. Love a good ol' catch up and natter Quick stop at home to grab my water and I headed off with the lovely Cathy to do speed training with the gorgeous coach Jane.  Starting with a gentle 1 mile warm up we then set off for 1/2 mile sprints at our 5k PB pace. first lap went well, i did start out too fast, but managed a quicker pace than i have of late, after a 90 second rest I set off for the return 1/2 mile lap, planning to start a little slower than the last one, half way through, my left calf started to hurt bad, felt like a cramp. I tried jogging gently, then ...

Running is more than just putting one foot in front of the other, lot https://www.rivertontrackxc.com/nutrition Firstly i am no expert on nutrition and can only share my own experiences, hence adding the link above from someone who seems to know their stuff. I am a avid reader, I like knowledge, and I like to understand why I should do what I do, I rarely remember the technical reason, just the gist of it. I read something a long time ago about nutrition, its easy to forget stuff though so always worth re-reading from time to time. I know one expert will often have different opinions from another but they all seem to agree that carbs are what fuel our runs, primarily at least. I also read that it is good to do a fasted run at least once a week if you plan to run distance, according to some nutritionists. The theory is, as I understand it anyway, that over a marathon it is impossible to maintain the amount of carbs you will need. Carb loading before a long run helps, bu...

Sittingbourne Striders 10 Miler Today was long run day, and it just so happens that I was due to run 10miles, happy coincidence that I booked this race earlier in the year, before I had even thought about marathon training. The weather was ideal for running and coming off the back of Mondays and Wednesdays runs, I was feeling good mentally. My only hang up was the top of my foot, which is still sore, though no worse than it has been. Not knowing what is wrong with it is a bit of a risk to run on it, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. First we set off, with the lovely Sarah driving and John and myself as passengers, thanks again Sarah for the lift, hope you enjoy those cupcakes ;) It was club champs, so several of our fellow members were also there. John told us about the run, and what to expect. I don't usually enquire ahead of a race, I would rather not know to be honest, however, he informed us that there was a buggar of a hill a mile in, and that most people walk...

My friend Lisa helped me a lot when i first started running. We first met at an ad-hoc team run, on a Sunday, where I was struggling to keep up with everyone. Lisa stayed with me. We began to run together regularly and she helped me to several PB's, having more faith in me than I did myself. Life got busy for Lisa and her running started to take a back seat, eventually petering out completely. Roll on seven months or so later and I got a text saying "fancy a run?" and of course, I said yes. Lisa just wanted a gentle run for about 30-40 mins, walking if needed. On Saturday, at Park Run, after my run I noticed my left foot was quite sore, across the top. Im paranoid about injuries these days and feared a stress fracture as it hurt, across my metatarsal, to bend my toes in either direction. We decided on the Park Run route, which was quite a surprise as it has hills and is not the easiest of come back runs, we did walk a little bit, but not much and our running wa...

9 Mile Run Ran down to meet the fellow rebels with Cathy, I love our chats, they always feel quite grown up and intellectual lol. It is 2.34 miles downhill and always feels like a good warm up. I had decided to do the 2 loops, when Cathy suggested we part half way through the second loop and run home, so we informed our fellow runners we would not return for the register to sign out and i set off for team run with the legend that is Jimi as he was tail running the longer route. Haven't seen Jimi in a while and he had just completed his 165th marathon!!!!! no, thats not a typo either. Jimi is such a gent, and very humble about his achievements and i love those rare opportunities when i get to run and chat with him, not sure he feels the same way about me yakking away. That said, i find this route tough so i wasn't talking as much as I huffed, puffed and cursed a bit as we climbed the never ending hill. Cathy and I met at the designated spot and ran home, with more intel...