Must stop eating like I'm a waste disposal machine!

December is always a bad month for my diet and my figure but I think this year I've really outdone myself.

On 5th December, I weighed 161lbs - today I am 169.8lbs!  That's an absolutely obscene increase in a month, and I really am quite appalled with myself, but what did I expect?! Scoffing mince pies, chocolate and unheard of quantities of cheese every day throughout December has resulted in me putting on 8 pounds since the beginning of the month and now I feel (and look) in very bad shape!

Today is where I reign myself in, and start to eat like a runner - I'm determined not to go on a diet, but I am gonna to start fuelling my body, rather than using it like a waste disposal machine.  I'm running marathons in April and May, and without eating properly I'm not giving myself the best chance to achieve what I know I can.

I'm just about to head out for my first run of 2011 - I'd better make sure it's a hard one!

I shouldn't have had that chocolate croissant...

Wake up early - done.
Healthy cereal breakfast - done
(Nearly) 10km run - done

But....got home to see a chocolate croissant calling to me from the kitchen side.

I couldn't resist, and gobbled it down...trying to justify it because I'd just been for a run.  Never mind the fact that there was no protein in there, loads of fat, and really not what I needed at all, especially as I'd already had my breakfast!

2 hours later I still feel guilty about it...must have a healthy lunch today and try to control my snacking urges, although no doubt there'll be biscuits and mince pies later.  This is probably why I'm not losing any weight ;)

Marathon training starts today

Well, this is it - the big day has arrived. Today is the start of my 18 week marathon training programme. This is where I'm going to make or break my dream of running an awesome race at London on April 17th...and then getting round at the Shakespeare marathon in Stratford, 3 weeks later.

On the Ben Does Life blog I recently read this post about his efforts in the Las Vegas marathon, which he ran on December 5th.  Part of the blog is about time goals for finishing a marathon:

"When a runner is training for a marathon (other than the first one, where the goal is to finish), he or she has a few different time goals.
A: The public goal – as the name implies, this is the goal the runner tells people when asked what his goal is. Barring a complete meltdown, this goal is easily attainable and would even be a slight disappointment to the runner.
B: The actual goal – Usually about 5-10 minutes faster than the public goal. The runner will tell close friends and family about this goal. It’s also the time that the runner feels comfortable striving for and thinks there is a reasonable chance of hitting.
C: The secret dream goal – The runner doesn't tell anyone this goal, because he knows that the stars would have to align and everything would have to fall perfectly in place for the secret dream goal to happen, and if a runner knows nothing else, he knows that during 26.2 miles, nothing ever falls perfectly in place."


Of course, depending on how training goes, the goals I set myself may change, but as of today, I have these goals for the London marathon (although at Stratford it will just be to get round and enjoy it).  Unlike Ben's public goal, mine though would not be a disappointment, nor will it be easily attainable...it's twenty minutes faster than my PB, and an hour faster than my last marathon attempt!
Public goal: 4hrs 41mins
Actual goal: 4hrs 29mins
...and as for C...well, I'm just not telling ;)

My marathon training schedule

Here it is - 18 weeks of early mornings and constant washing of running gear!

This schedule isn't too gruelling compared to some of the plans I've seen, and my maximum mileage in a week only gets up to 41 miles, three weeks before the big day.  I have three very long runs (a 20, 21 and 23 miler) and will try to swim once a week and go to the gym once a week for the duration of the schedule to get in a bit of cross training too.

I'm determined to stick to this, although I'm not going to beat myself up if I miss a day here or there, or substitute a gym day for a rest day when I'm feeling tired.  Although I desperately want to achieve my goal time in the London marathon, I want to enjoy the whole process too!

Feel free to have a look at my schedule through this link: My 18 week marathon training schedule

My mountainous half marathon

Today was my last race of 2010...the Bedford Harriers Half Marathon and I had an absolutely great time.    I had hopes of smashing my PB and having a sub-2hr run on this race, but very soon in, I realised that the course was incredibly (ok not quite mountainous) hilly, and there was no hope of achieving that...but still went out to try and get as good a time as I could.

It took me about 3 miles to settle into my stride, which is longer than usual, which I'll put down to not having run much in the last couple of weeks due to the snow, but once I got into it, I felt really comfortable as the miles passed...and also discovered that I'm actually better than many (of the people that run at my kind of pace) at hills.  There are a lot of pretty hefty gradients on my training routes and so I'm definitely used to them, but as I always train on my own, I've not really been able to compare my speed up and down them with other people.  Fantastically though, I actually found myself overtaking a fair number of other runners up and down the hills, and although I know it's all about running your own race...I did enjoy that. However, it's the exhilaration of the downhills which made the race so fun - my average pace over the 13 miles was 09:29/mile...during down some of the downhills I was going 2 minutes faster than that!  It was awesome & I absolutely loved it!!!

I'm still working on changing how I run, and only very occasionally did I find myself heel-striking - the majority of the race I was striking mid-foot and I really feel it makes a difference to my pace and how comfortable I am as I run. It's only a matter of time before I buy my first barefood-esque shoes! However, I do think that change in my strike is to blame for the burning pain that I had in my calves during the last half a mile - it was excruciating, and I really don't know how I managed to keep going...but I did, and pretty much as soon as I'd stopped running, it went away...so that's all right ;) I know I should build up slowly to the transition, but this is the first time I've really had problems from the change, so think I'm probably getting on alright.

Well, a great race, which was also incredibly well organised by the Bedford Harriers, and a great way to round of the racing season.  I still managed a PB too...I finished in 2hrs 4mins