01-10-2015, 09:35 AM
I had a nice long response typed up but something went haywire after trying to post 
Anyway, let me try again.
Things are going well, still adjusting to my new routine, which is actually not much of a routine, as I'm mostly being shown the ropes, doing a lot of job shadowing so it's erratic at the moment. October and November will be less chaotic but not much better as I have formal training and then it's university exams. Still hoping to run some races in November though and a 15km at the end of October.
So with the scene set, training has been interesting. I wouldn't call what I'm doing training but I'm going for runs where I can. During the week I usually have max 45-60 minutes to run, though I can go longer during the weekend, and double days are out of the question. Where a slot opens up during the week I've been getting in a longer 70-75min run. Just to add some variety I do a short tempo or a fartlek when i can but not consistently. I've been lucky to be able to do some runs over the weekend with Caroline Wostmann and that's actually let me build up my long run to 1h30-1h45 and I manged a 2hr run last week but that will be once off. So in short I'm just douing mileage, maintaining fitness and pushing my endurance boundaries where I can.
I'm looking ahead to next year already, just more from the fact that December and January are awful months to train hard and race, it's already 30+ degrees now so I shudder to think how hot it will get then. After the November races I'm going to go to what I'm doing now and get in a longer build up then look to start 'training' in February. In terms of goals, I want to aim for a longer race, looking to train specifically, from an endurance and stamina point of view, not just doing one at the end of a 10km training cycle, at either a half marathon or a 25km race. I really feel like a change in stimulus will benefit me, just to get out of the grind of 10k training for 20-24 weeks, then from winter next year look to get back on it again. I'm secretly hoping for a Paula Radcliffe type effect where I come back from a longer race and bring the strength gained down to the 10km. I've definitely hit a performance plateau, despite the fact that my capacity in training is much higher than it was this time last year.
This is a selection of my chronological 10km race results in the last 18 months: 36:25 (Apr '14), 35:46 (May '14, PB), 36:41 (July '14), 36:20 (Sep '14), 36:27 (Oct '14), 38:19 (Dec '14 HOT!), 37:29 (Feb'15), 36:15 (May '15), 36:12 (June '15), 36:19 (July '15), 36:24 (Sep '15), 36:27 (Sep '15)
And on that, I'm really enjoying that aspect, being able to consistently keep with a 6h12 comrades runner on a long run and be fully aerobic (we chat the whole way) is something I never thought I would be doing
I also have it in the back of mind that on the two occasions in the past when I've trained for longer races, and half and then a full marathon, I've come back from those are when training for shorter races taken huge chunks off and feeling like I could run forever once the leg speed came back.
What are you thoughts?
Anyway, let me try again.Things are going well, still adjusting to my new routine, which is actually not much of a routine, as I'm mostly being shown the ropes, doing a lot of job shadowing so it's erratic at the moment. October and November will be less chaotic but not much better as I have formal training and then it's university exams. Still hoping to run some races in November though and a 15km at the end of October.
So with the scene set, training has been interesting. I wouldn't call what I'm doing training but I'm going for runs where I can. During the week I usually have max 45-60 minutes to run, though I can go longer during the weekend, and double days are out of the question. Where a slot opens up during the week I've been getting in a longer 70-75min run. Just to add some variety I do a short tempo or a fartlek when i can but not consistently. I've been lucky to be able to do some runs over the weekend with Caroline Wostmann and that's actually let me build up my long run to 1h30-1h45 and I manged a 2hr run last week but that will be once off. So in short I'm just douing mileage, maintaining fitness and pushing my endurance boundaries where I can.
I'm looking ahead to next year already, just more from the fact that December and January are awful months to train hard and race, it's already 30+ degrees now so I shudder to think how hot it will get then. After the November races I'm going to go to what I'm doing now and get in a longer build up then look to start 'training' in February. In terms of goals, I want to aim for a longer race, looking to train specifically, from an endurance and stamina point of view, not just doing one at the end of a 10km training cycle, at either a half marathon or a 25km race. I really feel like a change in stimulus will benefit me, just to get out of the grind of 10k training for 20-24 weeks, then from winter next year look to get back on it again. I'm secretly hoping for a Paula Radcliffe type effect where I come back from a longer race and bring the strength gained down to the 10km. I've definitely hit a performance plateau, despite the fact that my capacity in training is much higher than it was this time last year.
This is a selection of my chronological 10km race results in the last 18 months: 36:25 (Apr '14), 35:46 (May '14, PB), 36:41 (July '14), 36:20 (Sep '14), 36:27 (Oct '14), 38:19 (Dec '14 HOT!), 37:29 (Feb'15), 36:15 (May '15), 36:12 (June '15), 36:19 (July '15), 36:24 (Sep '15), 36:27 (Sep '15)
And on that, I'm really enjoying that aspect, being able to consistently keep with a 6h12 comrades runner on a long run and be fully aerobic (we chat the whole way) is something I never thought I would be doing
I also have it in the back of mind that on the two occasions in the past when I've trained for longer races, and half and then a full marathon, I've come back from those are when training for shorter races taken huge chunks off and feeling like I could run forever once the leg speed came back.
What are you thoughts?