I must say that the figures really amaze me of my blog.
I’d like to say a big thank you to all who have visited, read and commented here.
I like running and I like writing about running so in 2016 I’ll certainly try to keep it up.
If you’re interested in the numbers, click the link below.
There has been a lot of changes in my training regimen since Summer, which I all want to share, but somehow I don’t seem to come around to writing more than 2 sentences at once.
So more is coming … probably 🙂
One of the things that have changed since Summer is the time slot of my long runs. The weekends are always super busy and with a 18 months old daughter and a SO that works 1 weekend out of 2 it isn’t always fun to run away (literally…) for 3h or so.
So we came to the agreement that I put my long runs Wednesday evening (or if that doesn’t work, the Monday) and it seems to be working.
In September I’ve managed to do 4 long runs –Â 1 20k (~12.5 miles) and 3 35k’s (~21.75 miles).
It’s especially with those last 3 I’m very happy! I’ve done a new lactate test on the track in the beginning of september (more later…) and it turned out that I can do my long runs faster (among others, but again, more later :-))
This meant that, three weeks ago, I went for a 3h long run, which is nothing new per se, but it did mean I was going to:
But I can say I pulled it off and am very very happy with it, because last 2 weeks I did it on Wednesday after doing already ~30k combined on Monday & Tuesday.
This gives me a new baseline and a very bright perspective for the future!
After my Trail Des Fantômes I took a week off (although I’ve done some small runs that week).
After that it was a week of work and decent running (70k week) and lastly last week I took another week off without running. I got back Friday and did a 2h sloooow run on Saturday. Someone I know went on a 6h solo run and asked a bunch of people for support.
So all this writing is mainly to show that resting can help.
Yesterday I went on my scheduled run, but because there was quite some wind I decided to do a Zone2 run instead of a Zone1 run (more on my zones here…).
In my Z2 runs I normally aim at a 4:44m/km pace (~7:37min/mile) and from the start I dove under that.
Even after 5km it was still going great despite it was headwind. I knew I would have the wind in my back going my back so I was hoping for a more than decent run.
Going back I started with about 4:22, so 22seconds faster than aimed.
Some quick counting showed I could manage a half marathon under 95 minutes if all went well. So I decided to add about 5 minutes to my training and I got my half marathon in 1:34:21.
According to Strava this is my second best half marathon ever!
(See it on Strava or Endomondo)
So do you ever run an awful lot better than you’d expect?
Has previous resting something do to with it then?
Nerves are rising, mileage is dropping and I’m eating carbs carbs carbs, I guess this can only mean one thing: it’s TAPER TIME!
Monday I did a slow run from an hour and I’m planning to do the same tonight, Friday a small half hour and Saturday is game time!
6h of running a 2km lap and hoping I manage to do it at least 33 times!
Writing this down already makes my heart pound, hope Saturday I can keep the adrenaline to a minimum 🙂
I’ve managed to run more than 1000k in three months.
Looking one year back you can clearly see that this is no small accomplishment for me.
Verrry happy and almost feel prepared for my 6h race 🙂
https://instagram.com/p/4hl-oMQZE2/?taken-by=ignace_s
Pfiieeoouuuwww…
That was basically my feeling after my Saturday run.
The last 100k week before my 6h run July 11th and I’m not really sad about it.
I felt like I was reaching the verge of overtraining: Constant tired, not really feeling like running, massive hunger all the time, …
So it seems it’s not a week to early to end my heavy weeks.
Three weeks before my race and I plan on doing 2 weeks of 70k (both in 3 runs, so plenty of rest days) and the last week will be tapering (it’s a must ;-))
I have some nice runcommute pictures of last week I wanted to share with you to start this week.
So last week was my rest week.
I “only” ran three times for a total of 70k.
But somehow I feel like my body is catching up with my heavy weeks from before last.
Since April I’ve been building hard towards my 6h race and I feel like my training is really working, yet it’s starting to get heavy as well. But hey, you don’t get better by doing all easy runs…
So last week was:
This week I’m planning my last heavy 100k week, but I’m guarding my tiredness, so it could be my schedule gets changed during the week…
Right now I don’t feel my body can take another 40k run, so that one really hangs in the balance.
On the plus side, that would be my last +30k run before the race itself on July 11!
Are you planning ahead? Easy week? Heavy week?
Either way: loads of fun to you all 🙂
I’d like to offer a first evaluation of my time commuting on running shoes.
I was not properly organized, which meant I had to start with what I had “in stock” around my house.
So I took my 20l hiking backpack and packed it with all my clothes, towel, soap, shoes, lunchbox, …. Put on my running clothes and shoes and off I went.
First impression “this is awesome, I’m running to my work, FFFRREEEDOOOOM!”
Second impression “This backpack is not OK for running to my work”.
Second day I tried pushing everything in my trail backpack that holds my camelbak. Waaay to small.
So although running to work felt like a good idea, I soon realized that preparation is everything (isn’t it always…)
I bought a new backpack at Decathlon that was suited for long trailruns.
I think I’ll write-up a review some day for it, because it suits me pretty well for my needs.
The biggest plus about it, is that the band around the waist is with velcro. Why didn’t anyone think about this earlier!
Along with the new backpack I decided to leave an extra pair of shoes and one of my older jackets at work. I do not need these during my run and as I have a desk job, it’s ok it’s one of my older, more worn, jackets.
This way I could free up some space and my was my backpack more than big enough for my needs.
I also have a small towel with fast drying microfiber which is just big enough for a quick shower at work.
Then it’s just rolling everything neatly in a roll and start filling the backpack.
If you have any questions whatsoever I’ll be more than happy to answer them.
Hit me up in the comments or info@tellemaboutrunning.com
349k oh wow …
Best running month ever! No really, I do not talk about the feeling per se, but number-wise it’s definitely my best month ever!
I’ve picked up running around February 2013 and before May my maximum distance was 324km in September 2013.
Now I’ve not only broke my distance-in-one-month record, but I’ve managed to run +300km 2 months in a row.
You can imagine how happy (and tired ;-)) I am right now!
Chance is I’ll manager +300k in June as well, but a lot depends on how my body will cope with 3 weeks of heavy training (this week being 3 out of 3)
Have fun in June, I hope you all will see a lot of sun this month!
Last Saturday I set out to run a nice bike route near my home. It’s mostly flat and would lead through a forest, some suburbs, the countryside and canals.
As I’m training for a 6h run in July, I needed to add some extra distance to my long run. This route was 44k, so perfect!
As you all know, preparation is everything for running this kind of distance and durations, so I layed out everything I needed to make sure I had enough supplies.
The weather got me doubting what to wear but I settled for my Tribesports outfit.
The short sleeves could end up being a problem, but I took my chances.
The route started about 2 miles away from my doorstep, so I took the bike there. An extra 4 miles wasn’t exactly what I needed at this point and in the end it would give me the opportunity to ride the stiffness out at the way home.
At the start there was a nice sign with the entire route mapped on it, so after a quick snap of it for some aid (you never knew…) I set out.
The first 21k/13mi passed at a reasonable pace. I ran consistent (6min/km=9.65min/mile) which was the pace I hoped to average on in the end.
Combined with a heart rate between 130 & 135 I felt good and strong.
The route was changing enough and pretty enough to be interesting, which helps a lot on these looong runs.
After the first half I felt my energy sapping.
The plan was to eat a date every 2km and something stronger (chocolate, meli-koek, piece of gingerbread) every 8-9km, but I felt I needed to adjust this to every 5-6km or I would be drained way before the end.
At about 30-35k I felt everything getting harder and harder.
My hip joints were getting sore and my knees were getting more sensitive. The breathing and the muscles however were still cooperating very well.
This all changed at about 38k.
I hit the wall. It wasn’t a big wall, but it was a wall none the less. My emergency caramel gel were promptly put into my mouth along with some gingerbread and a good deal of water and after struggling about 15min I felt it got slightly better.
But the best was behind me… I already knew at about 35k I would end up doing more than 44k (I was back on familiar terrain) and the last 8k I was struggling.
Not that I was totally kaput, but my heart rate was consistently at about 140 and my pace had dropped almost 30s per km.
To add to my “luck” the weather started getting worse, wind started swelling and was in my face, I got into a rain shower (short one, about 5 minutes) and I because of this all, my arms were getting cold. (this may sound more dramatic than it was.)
But I just kept going and ended at about 46.5k.
I ended up eating/drinking:
The aftermath is great, yesterday I wasn’t all that sore, but I was tired.
Today the same, no soreness, but I could have used some more sleep… But tonight I’m aiming at another 20k, heavy week 2 out of 3 is starting!
PS: If you’re interested in live updates, you can always follow me on twitter…
How was your long run? Seen some nice things during?
Ever ran a layed out route (for bikers)?
