How not to prepare for a half marathon

There are a few key things to bear in mind when preparing for a half marathon.  Firstly, you need to train.  I knew I'd failed on that one when I logged my miles for August and realised I'd clocked up a grand total of 40.  I considered pulling out of the Glasgow Half Marathon but decided that, with the scarier challenge of the Nokia Coast to Coast just around the corner, it might be a good idea to fit in another 13.1 miles in preparation.

This blog is littered with the mistakes I've made in my own training - as I've said before, I know what to do but sometimes find it difficult to put into practice.  And I'm no natural athlete.  Here are a few of the principles I follow when constructing a training plan, and where I went wrong:

• Specificity - whatever event you're planning for, the training needs to be specific to the demands of your chosen sport.  Cross training is brilliant for building general fitness and preventing injury, but if you don't run in your training, you're unlikely to fare well in a race.  Your body gets stronger through repeated overload followed by periods of adequate recovery and appropriate nutrition.  This leads to 'adaptation', i.e. your body gets used to working harder. I had hoped my regular 2 hour+ bike rides would see me through a similar length of run. But while cycling works your heart and lungs in a similar way to running, the strain it places on your leg muscles is different.  Not to mention the fact that I didn't prepare to run on the road at all.  I spent almost all of those 40 miles running on trail, which didn't get my poor legs ready for the mean streets of Glasgow at all. No wonder I can't walk down the stairs today!
• Volume - the frequency and duration of your training also need to be appropriate.  Obviously if you're running a marathon, you'll need to log more miles than if you're training for a 5k.  Most marathon and half-marathon plans involve 5 days running each week.  However, I really like the 3-day plans from FIRST, which are easier to fit into a busy schedule and allow a bit more variety if you have time to train on another couple of days.  But less than 3 runs a week really isn't enough to prepare for a race above 10k, and an average of 10 miles a week certainly isn't far enough, no matter how much other activity you do.
• Intensity and progression - to avoid putting too much stress on your body, which will hinder your recovery and thus your adaptation, it's important that most of your training is at at an easy pace, slower than you plan to run the race.  But a couple of times a week, harder efforts will really help you to get stronger and faster. During rest periods, your body repairs itself and gets stronger, so hard days should be followed by an easy day or day off.  A weekly tempo run, at around your half marathon pace, is important to prepare your body for the pace you'll be running at in the race.  And another session of short, intense intervals will help you to get progressively faster.  If you increase the intensity and/or volume a little bit every week, you'll see results in no time.  Well, maybe not no time, but over a 12-week period, you'll have plenty of time to get ready to run your best half.  I didn't give myself 12 weeks to train properly, and what I did do was sporadic - a long run here, a tempo session there - so I had to stick to easy run pace to get myself through the race.  

The main event, an adventure race from Nairn to Glencoe, is only two weeks away now. I'm glad that I did the half marathon, even though I finished 18 minutes slower than my personal best, because it will have helped to get my body ready for another race.  It's too late now to ramp up my training for the Coast to Coast, so I'm just going to take it easy and enjoy the scenery.  But this sorry episode has really reminded me of the importance of planning and training consistently.  My focus for the winter is being kind to my body and building general strength but, if I decide to chase any PBs next year, sticking to a proper plan will be my number one priority.

I run, therefore I am... But am I an athlete?

I sometimes like to pretend to be better at running than I am. There, I said it. I don't intentionally lie, but when I tell my work colleagues, friends or family that I'm going out running or entering an event, they seem to assume that I'm actually quite good. I'm not. But I don't always correct them. In my own little world, I am an athlete.

What qualifies someone as an athlete? Is it being world class; being better than your competitors; or simply being the best you can be? If it's the latter, this year I'm really going to try.

The reason I'm thinking about this is that my favourite yoga teacher (a definite athlete) recently came back from her travels. My husband (also an athlete - as evidenced by the 3 hour marathon and amazing cycling ability) isn't very flexible. As we've vowed to spend a bit more time together next year, I thought it would be a good idea to sign up for some classes.

I noticed a new "Yoga for Athletes" class, aimed at cyclists and runners, and thought it would be perfect. For him anyway. So I signed us up. I can't wait to get back to it - it's been over a year and I'm missing the sun salutations and willing my hamstrings to streeeeeeeetchhh. Ahhh. It should really help with the marathon training and, for once, I'll be able to do it beside my hubby. When we're out running or mountain biking, I can't see him for dust.

It's been a while!

Okay so I know it's been a very, very long time since my last post. It may seem that my dedication to writing this blog has waned but the truth is I've just been too busy. I see that it was back in September that I last wrote - where did the last few months go?

Well, I managed to complete the Loch Ness Marathon. Huffing and puffing my way round in 4 hours and 11 minutes. A whole hour and 9 minutes behind my husband. Even though I'd been much more religious and structured about my training than him. Natural athletes - grrr! The hills were horrendous - apparently the scenery is beautiful but I can't remember seeing anything at all after about 15 or 16 miles. No Loch Ness monster. No castles. Not even the loch! I recovered much more quickly than after my last marathon attempt 4 years ago and have even now signed up for the Edinburgh one in May 2010. Less than 5 months to go so I'm now starting to think about a training plan again.

I'm absolutely determined to break 4 hours this time. It should be do-able because the course is really flat compared to Loch Ness. We'll see. In the past I've tended to use a 3-days-a-week schedule (like the FIRST ones), but I think I'm going old-school this time and aiming for 4 or 5 runs a week. Since I last posted, we've moved office (far, far away!) and I've started studying for a Masters, but I think I can just about fit in a lunchtime run 3 or 4 times a week and then go for the big one on a Saturday. That should still leave me time to fit in one or two evening weights or yoga sessions and a Sunday bike ride. I'm going to be a busy bee. Even so, I'll try to be a bit better and update this once a month.

Anyway, it's still Christmas, so I'll sign off for now. The chocolates and cheese and biccies are calling. After all, I need to have something to run off in the New Year!

26 days to 26 miles

The countdown is progressing and I'm starting to feel like I actually will be able to complete the dreaded 26.2 in less than four weeks time. I surprised myself with a better than expected 1 hour and 52 minutes at Sunday's Glasgow Half Marathon. How I managed to knock 9 minutes off last month's effort I'll never know. I didn't even train last week at all. Could that be the secret? Hmm, or maybe it was because it was pouring with rain and the scenery was grey and grim - I just got my head down, my I-pod on and got it over with as quickly as I could!

In complete contrast to the last time I ran a marathon, I'm now doing okay with the weekend long runs but not so well with the mid-week tempo and interval sessions. Work has been a wee bit stressful and the weather has been terrible so, instead of getting out in the evenings, I've been working later than usual and then collapsing in front of the TV. Lunchtime gym sessions have been replaced by eating in front of my computer. This is not good because I know that running de-stresses me better than anything else. When things are getting on top of you it's even more important to make that commitment to yourself. So, this week got off to a good start with a hill reps/circuits session with the girls in the park. Even though my legs are still a bit stiff from Sunday, I feel so much better.

Whose idea was this anyway?

Five and a bit weeks to go 'til the big M and I'm nowhere near prepared. Where did the summer go? It only seems like days since I was meticulously planning my 16-week training schedule - dreaming about reaching peak fitness and slashing 30 minutes off my time. Ha!

My initial enthusiasm for the running club soon wore off, because:

• Tuesday night long runs were too long and I didn't like leaving the dog at home - she likes running too but the beach is so much more fun than the road and she hates being on the lead
• Thursdays were great but the boys were just too fast for me - why was I the only girl? I thought this was a good challenge at first, but the novelty of playing catch up didn't last and I started to feel demotivated.

I haven't given up on the club completely, but twice-weekly is now more like once-a-month. I am still sticking to three runs a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - but have replaced Tuesday's club run with a circuit/hill reps session in the park straight after work. The beauty of this is that it gives me the chance to catch up with a couple of the girls and still get home in time to take the dog out. Thursdays are either running club or 5-6 miles with the dog, and Saturday is the long run.

Ah, the long run. My nemesis. Try as I might I could not get past 9 miles. It always felt like there was so long to go until the marathon that there was no hurry to go longer. I got bored and took a short cut home. Then two weeks ago I did the Haddington Half Marathon and was shocked into action. Another personal worst! It was a warm and sunny afternoon and I was tired, but that's really no excuse. I just hadn't put in the training and I had no one to blame but myself. It didn't bode well for the marathon.

I'd really love to beat my only other marathon attempt (4 hours 20 minutes, 4 years ago) so I'm now pulling out all the stops. I did 14 miles last Saturday - 7 out and 7 back so I couldn't cheat - and intend to add on 2 a week until I hit 20. I'll also add in some cross-trainer and bike sessions on my non-running days, to try to get my fitness up without over-training.

Can I reach my best-ever fitness in less than 6 weeks? Watch this space!

Marathon sleeps to marathon plan

I'm back from holidays and finally over my jet lag after 3 days of feeling like the walking dead at work. I slept for nearly 12 hours last night and almost feel human again.

I managed to keep my training coasting along over the holiday. I fitted in a few runs, hikes and bike rides and even 2 gym sessions. If nothing else, it counterbalanced the massive amounts of food I was putting away and I actually came back a couple of pounds lighter. I tried my best to be healthy but had a few lapses and developed a new found love of peanut butter cups. Mmm.

The cupboards have been bare since we got back so I'm just about to head off to the supermarket to stock up on healthy provisions.  I'll need them because my 16-week marathon preparation plan kicks off in earnest on Monday...

Planning moves into the 21st century

At last! I'm finally getting to grips with all the websites and technologies that are available to help me with my training. Like twitter, I signed up for Fetch everyone a good 18 months before I actually started to use it. I just didn't have the motivation to figure out how it worked.

Until now, my training log was strictly low-tech - scribbled in diaries or on bits of paper. Not any more! This week I finally succumbed to the lure of Fetch everyone's gadgets and gizmos and put it all online. The site is great - I've mapped out a few runs that I do regularly, uploaded some recent runs from my Garmin, logged recent race times and prepared a plan for the next four weeks training.

The trouble is, I'm now addicted. Between Fetch Everyone, Facebook, emails and this blog, not to mention work, I've been sitting on my bum for an unhealthy number of hours every day. How do you know when to stop?

To compensate, this week I joined my local running club and I've also started daydreaming about entering a marathon later in the year. I swore I'd never do another one after being unable to walk for days after the last time, but it's been four years now and I'm in the mood for a challenge. I think I'll get next week's 10k out of the way first though.