Week 14 done

So today marks the end of week 14 of my training for the London Marathon. It's been a frustrating week for me. Having finished last week on a real high having run 19 miles relatively comfortably, this week feels like a bit of a come down. I've had a cold for most of the week meaning that I've been feeling quite rubbish and under the weather and that's had an impact on the training that I've been able to do. But I want to finish the week on a positive note as I head into the final four weeks of training so I'm going to focus on the good things that have happened this week, rather than dwell on the training that I've missed.

So despite having a cold I've managed two runs, a yoga class and a Powerplates class. Not too shabby really. The first of the runs was with Boutique Running Club on Tuesday and was the fastest 4.2 miles I have ever run in my life with two sub 10.30 minute miles back to back. It's great to see my speed increasing on these runs - I seem to be able to run much faster, more comfortably when I'm with other people.

On Tuesday my charity running vest arrived back from the printers. Here's me modelling it - it's a fetching shade of neon green, not what I would have chosen to run in at all but it's all in support of my charity so I can't complain.

At least I'll be clearly visible!


On Wednesday this arrived

It's my running number for the Whole Foods Kingston Breakfast Run next weekend. It's a 16 mile run which starts and finishes in Kingston town centre which is about 4 miles away from my parents house. I'm going to take part in the race and then run back to their house afterwards. I figured it was a good way to have some company for most of my longest training run!

And then on Thursday the most exciting delivery of all. The final London Marathon magazine and confirmation of my running number!

I must admit to being quite pleased with the James Bond themed running number I've been allocated!

I've read bits and pieces from the magazine, which has all the information that I need to know about what to do on the day itself (on top of running 26.2 miles!) and felt quite giddy with excitement while doing so.

I am also now 75% of the way to my fundraising target which is a brilliant result with four weeks to go. I need to raise another £305 to get to my target so if you're able to help me get one step closer I'd really appreciate it. You can donate securely online here http://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Jones12

So while this week hasn't been great from a training perspective it's actually been pretty exciting. I'm now feeling much better and ready to get into week 15, the last week of full on training before the plan starts to taper.

This now feels very real indeed.

Four weeks today I will run the London Marathon!

Week 13 complete - phew!

Yesterday I completed week 13 of my training for the London Marathon by doing my longest run ever of 19 miles. It felt like a massive achivement, not just in that I completed that distance but in that I felt that I could have kept going at the end. A massive confidence boost with just 5 weeks to go before the big day.

But, I need to be honest and tell you something....I will be quite pleased once this training is over and the day itself is here. I think I've got to the point where I know I'm going to make it around one way or another and I'm getting a bit tired of running, thinking about running, stretching after running, eating before and after running, feeling tired from the running and planning what I'm going to wear when I'm running. 

Don't get me wrong, I still love running and the way it makes me feel but right now I feel like my body and my brain have been taken over by training for the marathon. I will be very happy to get back to running because I want to, not because a plan says I should.

So with that off my chest, back to last week. It was a funny week in that I'd done my long run from the week before on the Monday, as we'd been away. I also had to travel with work on Tuesday and Wednesday which always makes things that bit more difficult. I planned to go to my usual Tuesday night run with the ladies of Boutique Running Club but come Tuesday afternoon I felt so tired from Monday that I decided my body needed rest much more than it needed a relatively quick 4 mile run.

On Wednesday afternoon I managed to fit in a run after work, the plan said it should have been 9 but I knew my legs didn't have that in them so I decided just to do 5 instead. During this run I was chased by a dog for the first time ever. I'm not a massive fan of dogs and this one looked quite mean - it was a Staffordshire bull terrier I think

I saw it looking at me and had an inkling about what was going to happen next and sure enough as I ran past it started running after me. It caught up with me really quickly at which point I squealed like a girl and it's owner finally realised what was going on and shouted at the dog which backed off straight away. I'm sure it was just being curious but it's safe to say I didn't enjoy the experience!

On Thursday morning I got up early and did a quick intervals session - my legs still felt quite tired so again I didn't do the mileage as stated in my plan. On Friday lunchtime I fitted in another 4 miles - just to keep my legs ticking over before the 'big one' on Sunday.

On Saturday I went to a 2hr Yoga for Runners workshop at http://www.goodvibesfitness.co.uk/. It was a brilliant session that I really enjoyed and learned a lot from. We started by looking at some joint mobilising movements that can be done before a run and then at some key post run stretches. Some of these were completely new to me and are things that I will definitely add into my stretching repertoire from now on.

We moved through some yoga poses which are particularly good for runners, poses that strengthen and stretch hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes and quads. My particular favourite was pigeon which provides a fantastic stretch for the hip flexors and glutes!

We ended the class with some relaxation and visualisation techniques which I could see could really help before and during a race. The teacher also shared tips on nutrition and hydration and I felt the class feeling stretched, strengthened and more knowledgable - not bad for a 2 hr class.

It's fair to say that for most of the week I have been thinking about the long run. It was scheduled to be 18 miles, the second longest distance in the plan. My longest run previous to this had been 16 miles and I had struggled from about 10 miles on and pretty much walked the last few miles,so I was quite concerned about how this was going to be. I'd mapped out my route, added some 1990s rock tracks to my running playlist, had a very sensible Saturday night with a carb laden dinner and gone to bed at a reasonable time. Full marks for preparation.

On Sunday morning I woke up at 7am, made my porridge and banana, ate it and then went back to bed for an hour or so while it went down. By 9.30am I was dressed and prepared and ready to run. Mentally I was feeling pretty good, I can never tell how I'm going to be physically until I get going. I set off feeling OK but quickly realised that it was going to be one of those days when the first few miles feel really hard. By mile 4 I was seriously wondering whether I would make it to 10 miles, let alone 18. I had an energy gel - a Powerbar gel with caffeine (which are now rivalling High 5s as my favourite), and suddenly things clicked into place. The next few miles felt relatively easy and before I knew it I was over 10 miles.

By this point I was walking for around 2 minutes every 10 and sometimes a bit more. I have realised that I am not going to be able to do my 9 and 1 routine for the whole of the marathon and that 8 and 2 becomes a lot more comfortable after about 9-10 miles. For me, the marathon has always been about getting around with a smile on my face, enjoying the experience. If that means I have to walk a bit more then so be it.

By 14 miles I was heading for home and feeling pretty good. My legs were a bit tired but nothing like they had been on my 16 miler and I was able to run for a bit more of each mile. Some of my 1990s rock tunes chose to play themselves at great points on the route - I never imagined I'd run past St Paul's cathedral listening to Enter Sandman or past the Tower of London with Killing in the Name of ringing in my ears!

By the time my Garmin ticked over to 18 miles I realised that I was still a mile from home and feeling good. I decided to keep going and decided that I would run the whole of the last mile. And so I did. The amazing thing was that as the Garmin showed 19 miles I felt that I could have kept going. It was a fantastic feeling.

At the start of this training I had trouble visualising how far 16 or 18 or 19 miles was. This map of my run shows exactly how far 19 miles will take you - I love how far out it is zoomed to be able to fit it on the page!

Today I have been to see my osteopath for a regular 'maintenance' check and am delighted that despite running 19 miles yesterday I have no significant issues. My recovery routine, yoga and stretching are obviously working well for me and giving me the best possible chance of getting to that starting line in good shape.

The starting line which is now less than 5 weeks away!

I'm raising money for a great little East London charity and would really appreciate your support - if you are able to help me towards my fundraising target that would be fantastic - you can donate securely online by following this link http://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Jones12 Thank you!

Week 12 complete - two thirds through!

So I've just completed week 12 of my training for the London Marathon and there are just 6 weeks to go before the big day. The last 3 months since I started out on my training have really flown by. I have run over 230 miles in that time and it's difficult to believe that I am now two thirds of the way through my training.

This week was a step-back week in my plan meaning that the long run decreased in mileage to just 12 miles. The fact that I can say just 12 miles give you some idea of how far I have come. My perceptions of what is easy or difficult have changed a huge amount in the last 12 weeks and lots of other things have changed in my world as well. For example:

* This week was an 'easy' week - I have done 2 yoga classes, a powerplates class and run a total of 28 miles. Only in the world of a marathon trainee would that be considered 'easy'!

* I now consider 8 miles a reasonable distance to consider running before work. I used to struggle to complete 3.

* I completed 12 miles comfortably today feeling confident all the way round. Just 5 weeks ago I was really nervous about running this distance for the first time.

* I have done set my alarm for between 6.15 and 6.30am each weekday this week and got up to do some form of exercise before going to work. I used to scoff at people who said exercising in the morning sets you up for the day, I am now a total convert

* My Sunday cooked breakfasts have been replaced by porridge and banana. While I kind of miss my scrambled eggs on toast they just don't set me up for a long run in the way that porridge does.

* I have my own tin in the kitchen for my running fuel! Mr J loves jelly beans but he knows to keep his hands off these!

* I took the day off work today to do my long run. We were away at the weekend at my cousin's wedding. I knew that I would be in no fit state to run yesterday (I was correct) so decided to take the day off today to make sure I didn't miss a long run. This is the second time that I have taken a day off work in order to do a long run. Some would call this madness, I call it dedication!

It's good to reflect on how far I've come before looking forward to the final 6 weeks of training. In just 3 weeks time I will complete the longest training run in my plan and then start to taper for the big day itself. Part of me wishes it was sooner, part of me wishes I had longer to prepare. All of me knows that the training I have done so far and will continue to do will set me up to do the very best I can on April 22nd.

In just 40 days time I will run the London Marathon!

I have a charity place and have pledged to raise £1250 for a small London charity called the Docklands Settlements. It would be fantastic if you could help me on my way to meet that target. Just follow this link to make a donation securely online http://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Jones12

Thank you!

And just to finish I thought I'd share this photo with you - taken on Saturday night at the wedding. Me and my cousin doing our very best Adam Ant 'Prince Charming' moves on the dancefloor - counts as cross training, right?!

Week 11 - Done!

So here I am at the end of week 11 of my London Marathon training and I'm pretty proud to report that I can now run 16 miles! Well, I can now complete 16 miles, most of it running is probably a more accurate statement. Either way, it feels like a significant achievement.

This week has been a week of lessons learned for me. Here are some of the things I've discovered this week:

* My Adidas Supernova Glide trainers are not providing my feet with as much support as my Brooks Ghost 4. I think this may have contributed to the ankle twisting incident last week. 

* My knees hurt after wearing my Adidas trainers on a long run. This has never happened with my Brooks

* These two points above are making me wonder whether the Adidas trainers really are right for me. I've decided not to wear them for long runs anymore and may try them again on a couple of shorter runs before deciding whether or not to ditch them all together. It will be annoying if I have to do this as I've only had them for a month. It's just not worth the risk of picking up an injury though if they're really not right for me.

* It took me 2 days to recover properly from my 15 mile run last Monday.  I felt the difference of not doing a yoga class the next day - I think they really help.

* My Deuter rucksack can hold 15 litres, however, I can't run with it on my back if I fill it up completely, it's far too heavy and uncomfortable on my back!

* I like jelly beans as a fuel for my long runs. They're definitely going to be part of my fuelling strategy on April 22nd

* It is possible to complete 16 miles when you've only had about 3 hours sleep. It's really not easy, but it is possible

* My Nathan hydration rucksack is super comfortable to run with, I'm really impressed with it. So much so that here's a picture of me with it on, ready to go out for my 16 mile run wearing my new pink Ronhill top - did I mention it was a size 12? ;-)

So 11 weeks in and a 15 and 16 miler complete in the same week and my total training mileage has now tipped over the 200 mile mark. There's just 7 weeks to go now until the big day and that makes me feel a mixture of nervous, excited and a tiny bit sick at the same time. I only have two more runs to do that will take me beyond distances that I've covered before - an 18 and a 20 miler in 2 and 4 weeks respectively. This is one of the things that makes me nervous but I know my plan has been used by thousands of others to successfully complete their first marathon and I need to trust that it will also work for me.

For the last few weeks for a variety of reasons I've not been able to stick ridgidly to my plan on weekdays but this week I intend to follow it to the letter. I'm also going to add in a Powerplates class as I feel like I need to do some additional strength work and this will really help.

Next week is classed as a stepback week in that my long run is cut back to less mileage - just 12 miles on the plan for the weekend. Listen to me -  "just 12 miles" - I can't quite believe that I typed that but that is genuinely how it feels. How things have changed over this last 11 weeks!!

I am also delighted to report that I've now raised over £800 for my charity, thanks to the generosity of family, friends and colleagues. I still have a way to go to reach my fundraising target though so if you were able to sponsor me and help to get me get one step closer to my target I'd be incredibly grateful. To donate securely online please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Jones12 Thank you in advance for your support - I really appreciate it.

Week 10 complete - one day late!

This week has been a bit strange for me training wise. We stayed in Brighton on Sunday night after the half marathon and then flew off to Iceland for 4 nights on Wednesday. I managed to fit in a 3 mile run on Tuesday and then again once we were back on Sunday afternoon but apart from that I didn't do any other running, or my usual yoga classes.

I did do some cross training while we were away which you can read about in my previous post here

Knowing that I wouldn't get much running in over the course of the week I took today off work as well so that I could do my long run. This week it was scheduled to be 15 miles. Although the mileage was daunting I was looking forward to trying out some slightly different fuel and also wearing my hydration rucksack for the first time. Up until now I've managed to cope with just a water bottle but as the time I'm running increases the volume I can comfortably carry in my hand just isn't enough to keep me going.

I got the Nathan Intensity Hydration vest as a Christmas present from Mr J. It's a nifty bit of kit.

It's a small rucksack that has two main compartments, a small one for holding a mobile, keys and anything else you need to take out which for me now includes an Oyster card and some cash, just in case of emergencies. The larger compartment is for the water which is contained in what looks like a hospital drip pack!

Attached to the pack is a tube with a valve on the end which cleverly dispenses water when you bite down on it, but not at any other time. The water pack goes in the large compartment and the tube goes through a hole in the top of the compartment.

The shoulder straps have additional compartments which are perfect for holding gels and an mp3 player. There is a strap that fastens across the chest and also has a clip for the water tube so you can fix it there and stop it flapping about when you run.

I filled the water pouch up with the maximum two litres of water. I wanted to test out what it felt to run with that amount of water on my back. I was really surprised at how comfortable and light the rucksack felt once it was on my back.

The first couple of miles of the run were good, I kept a relaxed comfortable pace. The hyrdation pack made it easy to sip water when I wanted to and was much easier than carrying a bottle of water. At around 3.5 miles I managed to twist my ankle. I'm not really sure how it happened but it felt quite painful and for a while I was concerned that I'd sprained it. I walked on it for a while and it started to feel better again so I started running slowly and it felt OK so I decided to continue.

At around 4 miles I started to feel a bit tired so I took the first of my gels - this was earlier than I have done in previous runs but I thought I'd better listen to what my body needed. I took a High 5 gel which had added caffeine - not something I've tried before as I'm quite sensitive to caffeine and need to be careful with how much I have. To be honest I didn't really notice any difference to the regular one.

Miles 5-7 felt quite tough. I'm not sure how much of this was mental as mile 7 took me practically past my front door, not something I've done before on a run. However, by mile 8 and a couple of jelly beans, another new fuel I was trying out, I felt more relaxed and back into my stride.

I arrived in Victoria Park and took the opportunity to run a couple of miles on the grass/mud path to give my legs a break from the relentless concrete that I tend to run on. By this time I had switched to my 8:2 as my legs had started to feel tired. I was taking a couple of jelly beans every 20 minutes or so - they seemed to help and were quite palatable.

By the time I had left the park I was well into mile 11 and things started to get tough. I took some extra walking breaks to help and kept telling myself that I had run this far last week and that I could do this, I just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Once mile 13.5 arrived I was into new territory and not far from home. I took another gel for the last push and managed to get back into a good running rhythm again. As my Garmin ticked over 15 miles I had a huge smile on my face. It had been tough but I had done it.

So that's week 10 of training complete, albeit a day late. With now less than 8 weeks before the big day things are starting to feel quite serious but I feel like I'm on track to achieve my goal of completing the distance with a smile on my face.

While we were away my running vest arrived from my charity. It's a rather fetching flourescent green and already has my 'colour co-ordinated' head working overtime trying to plan the rest of my outfit!

The vest is a size 12 and while technically it fits me I don't think it's going to be comfortable to wear for 26.2 miles so I'm swapping it for a larger size. Marathon day is not the day to be wearing clothes that aren't comfortable.

This afternoon I went into Canary Wharf for a bit of active recovery, otherwise known as shopping. The new spring running clothing was in store and I couldn't resist buying a new pink Ronhill outfit. I took a risk and bought a size 12, I know this range comes up slightly large and wanted to see how far away I was from being able to fit into it. I was absolutely delighted to get home and find that it fits!

So today I ran the furthest I ever had and bought the smallest clothes I have done in my adult life. I'm pretty darn pleased with that!

The coolest cross training ever?

This week we went to Iceland for 4 nights. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go and we planned the trip for Feburary hoping to see the Northern Lights. Unfortunately the weather was against us and we didn't see the lights but we did have a great time and saw some fantastic sights all the same.

I had packed all my running gear with the full intention of getting out for a run but the combination of terrible weather - ice cold wind, rain and snow and the fact that it doesn't get light until 9am meant that I didn't manage to get out for a run. Not that my legs had a rest, we walked a lot, quite a lot through snow and were generally very active every day.

On Thursday I did what must rank among the coolest cross training ever. We went snorkeling in Silfra, a rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It cuts through the Thingvellir National Park of Southwestern Iceland. I've only snorkelled once before and that was in Hawaii in warm tropical waters. This couldn't have been further from that experience!

We were taken to the dive centre of Scuba Iceland where our guide for the morning, Finni, talked us through what we would be doing and then got us kitted out in our thermal 'base layers'. Mine was a little on the large side!

He then drove us out of Reykjavik to Thingvellir, a 45 minute drive which took us through some amazing, snow covered countryside. After a quick toilet stop at the visitor centre we arrived at Silfra

We walked to the edge of the fissure to the place where we would soon enter the water and Finni took us through exactly what we would do and where we would swim. From the surface it all looked pretty unremarkable, I could see the water was clear but that was about it.

Back at the van we started the difficult process of getting into dry suits. These are large and cumbersome and we all needed assistance from Finni to get into them. It took a group of 4 of us about half an hour in total to get kitted up. I've got to say that it's not the best of looks but with the temperature of the water at around 2 degree celsius I really wasn't too concerned about asthetics!

After the suit came gloves, a hood and finally the all important mask and snorkel and after that it was off to the edge of the fissure to get into the water. I was brave and volunteered to go in first. After helping me get my fins on and making sure my mask was secure and watertight Finni pushed me off into the water and told me to 'relax' and have a look around.

As soon as I put my face in the water I realised what the fuss was about. The water was crystal clear and the visibility was fantastic. There are no fish in the water, just rocks and algae, so you might wonder what there was to look at. Unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera so I've found some pictures on the net to show you what we saw.

The colour of the water was just amazing. So many different shades of blue and green which changed as the depth of the water changed.

Once everyone was in the water we began to swim along the fissure. My feet were a little bit cold but apart from that I didn't really think about the fact I was floating in near freezing water - it was so fascinating to see the colours in the water change as we moved along. To begin with there was a bit of a current to help us along but soon that changed and we needed to swim against a different current to move us in the right direction.

The dry suits gave us amazing buoyancy but also made moving around quite difficult so kicking our way along the fissure was actually quite hard work. But so worth the effort

After making our way through areas called the Blue Lagoon and The Cathedral we made a left turn and swam back towards the edge of the fissure to clamber out onto the rocks. We had been in the water for around 35 minutes and my legs were telling me that they'd had a pretty good workout!

Once out of the water we walked back to the bus and got out of the dry suits - a far easier process than getting into them. Finni produced hot chocolate and cookies - just what we needed to warm us up and replace some of our lost energy.

It was a great experience, something I'm really glad I've done and although I didn't manage to run while I was in Iceland I certainly did some very 'cool' cross training!

Brighton Half Marathon - reflections and lessons learned

So two days after my first half marathon and I've had time to reflect and think about what I've learned. I want to record this here so I don't forget about it!

* Porridge and banana works really well as a pre-long run breakfast

* There is little point in running one of your fastest miles in mile one of a half marathon - better to save this for a 5k or 10k race

* It's easy to get carried away at the start because it 'feels comfortable', slowing down takes discipline but will reap rewards later on

* One gel an hour was enough for a half marathon, I may need to increase this as the mileage increases

* High 5 gels are definitely my favourite, for consistency if nothing else

* Too much Lucozade Sport makes my mouth feel quite sticky - I need to follow this with water

* Switching from a 9:1 to 8:2 strategy helped a lot in the later miles and made only a little bit of difference to the mile times

* Always trust your Garmin. It is right!

* Active recovery works - walking around in the afternoon helped to stop my muscles from completely siezing up

There are some questions that I still need to answer during the second part of the training:

* Can I survive 26.2 miles on gels alone? Will I be able to stomach it?

* What made my feet cramp up from mile 11 and how can I stop that happening again?

* Can I do 26.2 miles without any music - there will be a lot more going on on the streets for the London Marathon but a bit of music might provide a bit of a lift during the tougher parts - I know it would have helped on Sunday

* I averaged 11.50 minute miles for the half marathon - what is realistic for a whole marathon? I need to know this so I know if I am going off too fast at the start

* My hamstrings really weren't that happy from mile 8 onwards - how do I stop that happening again?

There's plenty of miles to be run in the next 9 weeks that should allow me to answer some, if not all of these questions. Some I will probably only answer for sure on the big day itself!