Just run it off!

Completed my last scheduled run of the week (and month of January for that matter). It has been snowing again this weekend and the park was the worst its been so far for running. It felt like running through a minefield, carefully having to contemplate where to put your feet, cause one wrong step could result in disaster. The slush, snow and ice don't make it much fun to run: wet feet, slippery, people everywhere, and having to concentrate more on where you run, rather than the running itself. It also feels wayyy more heavy like running through a sandpit with loose sand. I'm not a fan of these days. But the pain in my calves has gone away, as has my cold! :)

On the flip side, the park was packed with people today. And during the 3 laps I spontaneously bumped into friends and family, meaning I stopped to walk and talk on two occasions. The first time was nicely timed because I got the mother of all cramps in my side, just below my right lung. Excruciating. But walking it off doesn't seem to work, you simply need to run it off ( oh yeah and a tip that works for me is to blow on the back of your hand, looks funny I know, but works). I've noticed that on a few occasions. Keep running and eventually (5-10 minutes later) the knife is slowly pulled from the ribcage...

I've run 10 KM today, 29 KM this week and a bit more than 100 KM in January (in 11 hours, running 9.3 KM/H with 152 BPM on average). A good month and excited to see what Feb will bring, hopefully more progress.

Next week, 6 weeks out to the competition, its gonna be busy as I have a 45 minute run (CANCELED), heavy duty speedwork, and 2 x 70 minute runs in the holy schedule. Hope the park is accessible!

It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.

- George Sheehan

Trouble?

Did my scheduled 50 minute run yesterday, in which I did 8.3 KM. Overall the run went well, tried to run a bit quicker but in the process I think I might have slightly pulled my calf muscles... oh dear. Both are pretty sore ever since I finished my run, and even today they feel rather sore. Tomorrow I'm down for a 65 minute run but I'm hoping that will go OK. With the timepressure of the competition looming above my head its no time for shananigans.....

On the good side, the park is ice-less again, meaning you can now concentrate on running rather than on not breaking any limbs. Temperatures are at about 4 degrees, so perfect running weather. The Garmin 405CX GPS lost reception in the first 5-10 minutes, which was new for me (it was rather overcast but that shouldn't matter??) But quickly it picked up the location and was reliable for the remainder of the run. And yes, I'm still running in my gay gear but it really works in keeping warm, thank you very much.

No news is good news!

Not much to report, good run last night, 65 minutes, 10.6 KM at roughly 150 BPM, at -6 degrees C in the Vondelpark. The good thing (I think) is that my heartbeat is staying lower than it has and remaining constant during the run. Next to that I'm quite able to complete the distance and time without needing to stop.

However, annoyingly enough, yep you guessed it, I have another cold...... Started in the weekend and continuing now. (that makes 4 in 5-6 weeks?) I will however keep running as long as it is a head flu, from the shoulders up, and no fever. Only 6 weeks to go until the competition. But if the holy schedule says I'm on track and will be ready for 22KM, then that's what I'll gladly believe.

Two runs to complete a record week! :]

Hardcore week this week; in total 4 runs of which I completed the last (and also best!) run today. This afternoon I headed out to the Amsterdamse Bos (AB) to experience a change of scenery. Up to now all my runs have taken place in the Vondelpark. Its been snowing again last night so everything is white again, and the AB was packed with sledding kids (big hill right in the middle of the AB). The holy schedule said I needed to do a 70 minute run but ended up doing 85. Legs felt great for a change! Slower than I liked because the raods were slushy and icy. But a wonderful winter wonderland.

Oh yeah, and for this run I used the GPS course function on the Garmin 405CX, which in one word is awesome. I've never really been in the AB before so I looked up a course on www.runnermaps.nl and loaded it onto the Garmin. The watch showed me exactly where I needed to go, only getting confused two or three times. On top of that a crosscountry competition in the AB meant that I could not run the exact route, but the Garmin took me to the nearest point where it picked up the route again. So whenever I want to run somewhere I've not een before I can use the course function easily and reliably. Cool stuff!

Check out my 12 KM 95 minute run here

And yesterday I did a 45 minute run in the park. That one did not go too well, legs felt like pap.... Overall still  a nicely paced run however so I feel good about it.

So yet again, faster, longer and further running than any previous week, progress, yes love PROGRESS!!

Totals this week: 4 hrs running time, 37 KM. Not bad.

Tough as nails!

Did my weekly interval training last night, this time 8 x 4 minutes and man, its tough! :) Having to run at 90% of max heartrate makes 4 minutes seem incredibly loooooooong! :) Seriously panting, drewling, sweating and all that lovely stuff, and that 8 times in a row. You need to have slight masochistic tendencies to like this type of training but I keep telling myself that its for the greater good, that come March 14th it will pay off.

The reason for these interval training is for top cardiovascular training, meaning more stamina and improving overall speed. We'll see. I need to do a 45 minute run tonight and a 70 minute run on Sunday. For the latter I think I'll head to the Amsterdamse Bos.

Good start to week 3

Today started week 3 of my half marathon training with a good 60 minute run in which I almost completed 10K, or three laps. A little ticked off that I didn't actually manage the full three laps in 60 minutes (300 meters short, d' oh!), but still making progress. In total 9.7K totay and although it was slightly tough, still feels good to have completed 3 full vondelpark laps for the first time! Thursday speedwork and then more distance runs.

Weather is super nice to be running, 4-5 degrees, clean park, no wind, no rain, perfect. Can now feel the legs again, but a days rest before the 8x4 minutes interval speedwork. 291 days to go to the NYC Marathon! :)

Half Marathon training Week 3 has started

Another 60 minute run under the belt last week, did 9.3 KM so not too shabby! Am quite amazed that I'm able to keep this up, but on the flip side, its not even half of what I need to do in March, a little frightening! All the reading and research suggests however to have faith in the training schedule, stick to it and you'll be fine. So that's what I'll do!

This week a 60 minute run, even tougher speedwork than last week, a 45 minute run, and a 70 minute "long" run on the schedule (these "long" runs will get much longer!) so anxious to see how that will go. The weather is a little milder meaning a clean and non-slippery park and less chances to sprain ankles etc.

Will keep you posted!

Speedwork done - tough as hell!

Right, just returned from the first interval training: 6 x 4 minutes at 90% of max HRM, with 2 minutes rest (slow dribbel) in between. After that I did 2 x 10 minutes with 1 minute dribbel in between. Very tough indeed but went well in the end.

Here you can see today's run! (If you click on the player and put the heart rate against speed you can see the intervals well reflected). So a tough training today, but cool to see it completed! Yup yup.

8km in 50 minutes, not bad!

Already in week 2 of the half marathon schedule (only did two out of the four runs last week due to flu/cold). Yesterday did a nice 50 minute run, almost 8 km in a snow covered park at -5 C, which was encouraging. Tempo is going up again, the legs and feet seem stronger and the heart rate remained nicely in the zone. All in all a good run. Today I can slightly feel the legs, but I'll go for a nice walk in the park later on and hopefully that will speed up the recovery.

Tommorow I'll be doing my first speedwork, 6x4 minutes interval with high heartrates, we'll see how that goes!

For now I'm a happy camper and getting faith back for the race! :]

Health

Can it be true, as I checked my temperature again to verify. Yes it is true, another blimmin' fever! The annoying cold turned into another flu, meaning snot productions are through the roof and the fever and headaches are back too. Really hate it. Also means I'm not running yet again.

Not sure what's going on but am really fed up with it now, even more so now that time is slipping through my fingers. Hard to stay positive in these times, as scrooge would say "bah hambug!"

Only 10 weeks before 22 KM!

So as of today there are only 10 weeks left before starting the half marathon in the Hague. YIKES! I have moved to the new 10 week schedule which is more aggressive (see Friday's post) which means I'm out running 4 days a week.

Regardless of my rather severe and snotty new cold I did go for a run yesterday in the Vondelpark, and in this wintertime it is so nice. Kids were iceskating on the ponds, a white snow/ice blanket covered the park, the sky was blue and the sun was setting, really nice scenery. Great to be out, and with 2 degrees freezing my only slightly gay gear is keeping me remarkably warm and comfortable.

Yesterday's run 

City Pier City Run 2010 - registered!

Finally, the registration is open for the Fortis CPC run on March 14th, and yes, it's official, I'm registered.

Together with my good pal Joop, we'll be running this one. Gonna be fun.

Fortis City Pier City Half Marathon 2010

New year, new schedule, new gear!

So check this out:

Jayroon's Garmin Connect Profile

First run using my brand spanking new Garmin Forerunner 405CX! Great HRM device with integrated GPS. It really tracks everything you can think off and does it really well. Above you can see the run I completed on the last day of 2009, 2 laps Vondelpark in 45 minutes. Thanks to the family for getting this for me for X-mas. I guess I can also see this as a down payment or big ass commitment for having to run New York in November..... :) So really no way back now.

Feeling better again, (although I just caught another cold, never been sick this often in my entire life!) and have note done too much running over the holiday period, however I did get started again on my new 12 week half marathon schedule. I won't be completely done with it when I have to run 22K on March 14th, but I'll be close (if nothing goes too horribly wrong over the next months) and it's better than not having a plan at all!

 So anyway, back on track, I need to run about 20 KM a week so that should be doable. You can see my half marathon schedule on www.runinfo.nl

Yet I am strongly considering changing over to the more agressive 10 week plan: here!