Alive and Amplified

Due to work commitments I'm doing most of my running at the gym and it sucks. It's boring. There's nothing to look at aside from the TV and it's always on some rubbish reality TV show or MTV. I find myself thinking about how many more minutes I've got left to go 1 minute into the run. It's not as good as running outside in terms of technique,the difficulty of propelling yourself forward versus keeping up, not to mention fighting strong winds or dodging around people going slower than you are. It's hotter than running outside with no wind to cool you down and I get really sweaty. :(

Still, it's always there. It's never raining inside the gym. It's never sunny inside the gym - although sometimes in summer the AC does sometimes fail. It's never windy inside the gym. There are no jokers telling me I should be running when I'm walking to cool down after a 4 mile run. There are no hecklers at all in fact. I'm not going to be run over by someone on a school run. I'm not going to get overexcited Jack Russels running up to me and doing circles around my feet.

Today's run was a 35 tempo run. I intended to do 10 minutes warmup, 20 minutes at 85% of HRM, and 5 minutes cooldown. But I forgot to set a custom 85%, thought Garmin Level 5 corresponded to 85% when as far as I can tell it's closer to 90%. I should have known something was up when I was running at suspiciously close to race pace, but I kept up anyway. I know better for next time. It was a good run, and despite the dull surroundings I enjoyed it and felt knackered but energised at the same time by the end of it.

What a Difference A Day Makes

Ahh... Today's gym session went better than yesterday's. I had a better (but still not great :( ) night's sleep and two days of eating healthy and balanced meals at the correct times under my belt. Following Hal Higdon's plan  I had to do a 3 mile run at an easy pace. I set the treadmill to do a hill session at no more than level 3 to mimic running outdoors and used my Garmin to keep my heart rate under Zone 4. (I've just realized this is probably closer to 80% instead of Higdon's recommended 65%-75% so I need to set a custom max for my next run.)  I did the same yesterday and finished the 3 miles in 30:22 with an average heart rate of 161. Today I did it in 28:35 with an average heart rate of 161 as well.

I really love being able to do this.

Dragging Me Down

Today's song from my gym playlist is one I usually skip because the tempo is too slow and being dragged down is the opposite effect I want to get from my workouts. But I haven't slept well recently due to travel for work and work-stress and today I went to the gym expecting an easy time but actually I struggled quite a lot due to being knackered. It was a drag (badum-tish).

I've settled on a 10k plan for my next 10k - I'm going to do Hal Higdon's 10-K Training: Intermediate. It's an 8-week plan that incorporates some basic upper body strength training which shouldn't result in straining my core, some speed workouts, and some long slow runs. It looks like it's the right intensity for what I want to achieve plus I will hopefully be able to go through it twice before the race in November. I will also be doing some yoga. I can't join a class because I can't find any near to me which are at a convenient time and location so I'm on the look out for a good yoga DVD or podcast. At the moment I'm sticking with a very basic one by Chaz Rough called Yoga for Runners.

I did the first session of the training plan - a 3 mile run and strength - today and the run was difficult when it shouldn't have been, mainly due to being tired and not doing much running last week. Although maybe I shouldn't beat myself up too much because I ran two hard races last week and my body did need to rest.

I've subscribed to a couple of running podcasts as well recently - the best being RunRunLive2.0. There's always interesting interviews and useful tips. Even if I'm nowhere near as fit or accomplished a runner as the guests I find their stories inspiring. Some of the tips I can use now, and others I'm keeping in mind for when I'm a better runner.

Do you subscribe to any running, fitness or health podcasts?

Missing - Mojo - Last seen on 17th July

Like the title says I've lost it big time. If I'm honest I think I'd even lost it before the 17th July. I've been stressed and unhappy about work this last week in a way which I'm not going to go into on my blog, and this has been affecting my eating habits. I've been miserably stuffing my face knowing I'm not hungry. I got halfway through a bag of chocolate-covered brazil nuts and thought, "I don't want these. They're too sweet and I feel a bit sick and I'm not hungry." But I finished them anyway. On top of that I've done no exercise at all since my last race.

I can diet, I can moderate my intake of alcohol, I can eat fresh fruit and vegetables, I can hit the gym hard.  However when I'm feeling unhappy I hit calorific food hard. There's no middle ground with me - I'm either gaining weight or losing it, and I'm getting sick of it. I want to lose this final stone and reduce my bodyfat %.  Come payday I'm going to get Intuitive Eating, which I think will help me

Overall I need to:
Work out a training schedule for my next 10k.
Get back to the gym.
Stop eating crap.
Stop wallowing in self-pity.

Has anyone else had any luck with other intuitive-eating promoting books, or is Intuitive Eating the be all and end all?

Sunderland 5K Road Race 24:26 NEW PB!!!

The website bills the Sunderland 5k Road Race as 'fast and ideal for PB's'. The race is held in the paths through the park around the Silksworth Sports Complex. The course through the park goes around the lakes and so it's attractive race for one held in Sunderland. It's also very flat. I'd go as far as saying it was mostly downhill because the first part was downhill and the rest of it didn't contain any major hills. It was well organised and stuffed full with running club runners. I felt very nervous and out of place being there on my own.

Route of the Sunderland 5k.

Elevation of the Sunderland 5k. Verrrrry nice.

The first mile started off with a long stretch downhill and was very easy. In mile 2 I deliberately slowed down so I didn't burn out, and sped up in mile 3 because I was worried about not getting a sub-25.

I almost managed not to embarrass myself, but right at the finish line I thought someone pointing pointing out the finishing line was holding out his hand and I slapped it like an absolute muppet. How embarrassing?! I only afterwards realised what he was doing because I saw someone running down by the the side of the finish line instead of crossing it.

So how did I get a sub-25 5k? I've been training for a 10k which built up my endurance and stamina. I got a psychological boost from knowing that if I could run at a certain pace over a longer distance I could certainly go faster over a shorter one. I did interval training which increased my speed. I've done about 5 5k races now so my body is accustomed to running at a high effort over that distance. I also chose a race that was well known for being a good one for PBs.

Time: 24:26 (from my Garmin - my whistle time is easily 15 seconds longer because it took me a while to cross the starting line)
Avg Pace 07:42
Splits: Mile 1 07:22, Mile 2 07:53, Mile 3 07:50, Mile 4 (0.17 miles) 01:20 (avg pace 07:45)

Things to work on: Getting a sub-24 5k, not slowing down too much in the second mile.

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to have a victory glass of white wine!

And rest...

I'd barely finished Sunday's race before I was trying to work out my next 10k goal. My long-term goal is still a sub-50 minute 10k but right now I'm going to aim for a sub-52 10k. There's a couple of 10k races coming up in the northeast over August but I'm going to hold back and give myself a few more months to train. All being well I'm going to enter the Town Moor Memorial on November 13.

HAHA! I LIED  My next race will not be in November. A week ago I entered the Sunderland 5k Road Race. The course is billed as being flat and fast. I probably shouldn't have entered another race so soon after my last one. I'm going make another attempt on a sub-25 5k. I'm probably going to be desperately disappointed and will be whinging about it on here, but the flat course and convenience meant I couldn't resist. I rested yesterday and am resting today, kidding myself that if I treat Sunday like a long slow run I'm sort of 'tapering' before my 'proper' run. Um. Or something like that.

Anyway. Over lunch I went vegetable shopping in a local greengrocers and I was a bit like a child in a sweet shop. I bought globe artichokes, yellow (YELLOW!) tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, some of those flat peaches that are popular right now, and boring red tomatoes. I also saw some samphire and salsify, two vegetables I've never eaten before, which I didn't get because I really had no clue how to cook them. The internet tells me samphire is best steamed, and salsify can be peeled and treated like any other root vegetable. They are on the mental 'to buy' list.

Yummy yummy fruit and vegetable haul

 I've got some ground flax seed left over from the GN10k goody bag - how do you prefer to eat it if you do?

Great North 10K Recap - Edited

When I got up on Sunday morning it was tipping it down. Ru-roh, as Scooby Doo might have said. Fortunately the rain had eased by the time my family and Mr Scientist and I parked in Newcastle and it was merely drizzling by the time we got to Gateshead Stadium for the start of the Great North 10K. I was really anxious before the race and the weather did nothing for my nerves. I found myself alternatively wishing it would be called off, feeling sick, and wondering why the heck I put myself and my family through this for fun, and not only that, but paying for the privilege as well. Glumly I set my Garmin running partner to a slower pace, anticipating finding running on wet roads more difficult.

Full recap after the jump. I've edited this post to include a bit more info about the run.

Route of the Great North 10k according to my Garmin