Have you ever tried a British Military Fitness class?

A few Sundays ago I was invited over to Clapham Common to join in with a British Military Fitness (BMF) bloggers event comprising of a taster BMF workout and some brunch to follow.

The date in question came a week after running the St Petersburg marathon, I know what your thinking not ideal timing.

However not being one to turn down an opportunity to try out a new workout (with a free breakfast to boot!) or to explore a different part of London I gladly accepted the invitation.

My motivation for giving this bootcamp session a go was my need to do more circuit style training to improve my fitness to aid my running which I have frequently referred to in previous posts.

Despite identifying the need to do more of this type of training it hasn't actually managed to find its way into my schedule so I thought this might be the chance to turn a corner and motivate me to do more circuit training going forward.

So early on a Sunday morning I was up and out early to catch a train across to South London and the vast green expanse of Clapham Common. It felt weird going out early on a Sunday morning and to not be going running but oddly refreshing at the same time  to be trying something different. 

I arrived in Clapham far too early such was my distrust of Sunday mornings public transport provision so I killed some time with a coffee.

It was soon time to meet up with an excited if apprehensive bunch of bloggers ready to be put through their paces by BMF instructors, worried about how they would survive an hour of being barked at by military personnel.

There was of course nothing to worry about, the instructors were all a friendly bunch and we even had the opportunity to hear from BMF founder Serjeant Harry Sowerby who gave us an explanation of how BMF was founded. In fact BMF was the first organisation to ever do any kind of group outdoor fitness classes. Its weird to think that group bootcamp type sessions were once an alien concept as now they seem to be a common part of outdoor exercise.

So down to business, bootcampers are split into ability groups based on your perceived fitness ability, blue bibs for beginners, red for intermediate and green for hardcore nutters! Post marathon I didn't feel brave enough to go for green so played it safe and went for red.

I was glad of the earlier coffee as I think I needed the caffeine boost to help power me through! 

An enjoyable if not sweaty hour followed where we took part in a variety of group and individual exercises.

All the usual kind of bootcamp exercises you would expect, press ups, sit ups, star jumps, squat thrusts, lunges and of course the dreaded burpee, not to mention planks, lots of planks. Planks for a short time, planks for a long time, standard planks, planks with variations and even planks as a rest in between exercises! Torture! 

It was great to be encouraged and put through my paces  doing familiar exercises as well as trying out new exercises and different variations on usual techniques. 

The end result was the rewarding glow of a good workout knowing that my body had been given a good workout and I had event worked out some muscles I never knew I had!

After a quick chill out recovering sitting in the park with some delicious brunch snacks it was time to head home and get ready for the week ahead. Ah yes before I forget the week ahead, my week ahead was plagued by awful pain in my glutes and hamstrings courtesy of all the burpees and lunges!

Big thanks to British Military Fitness and Active in Style for putting in a great event and for inviting me along, the goody bag was awesome! 

British Military Fitness now operate over 400 group exercise classes in 145 locations across the UK, if you are thinking of trying out something a bit different to challenge your fitness levels then why not give it a try!

Taking the plunge into an ultra

I have taken the plunge and signed myself up for an ultra marathon in the form of a solo entry to spitfire scramble 24 hour event.

The plan had be to enter as part of a team as in the last two years but my the team didn't quite materialise so rather than miss out I have taken a punt at going solo.

My aim will be to cover 100K in the 24 which will equate to completing 11 of the 9.8K laps. 

I am feeling nervous and apprehensive about what I have left myself in for and rightly so I haven't ran further than a marathon before apart from completing 6 laps at spitfire in 2014 (approx 58K) and 4 laps last year (approx 39K) but that is a different ball game compared to going solo. Those laps were all done pretty much as fast as I could where as running solo will be about slowing the pace right down and about trying to just keep moving. 

This is a big jump out of my comfort zone and I know I am going somewhat naively into this adventure under trained (it's 4 weeks away) and possibly under prepared (I don't have any fancy kit, I don't even own a garmin! I have recently bought a buff though so that's OK!).

I really want to do this event though, as it's location in Hornchurch Country Park is so local to where I live, I used to live even closer and it's where I really started to train more extensively and it is easily one of my favourite places to run. 

So thank you to all the crazy #UKrunchat people who have taken up my Twitter timeline in recent months posting massive miles in training runs, ultras md other adventures, thanks for the inspiration! 

Already I have received so much support and advice, if you have any words of wisdom on how to approach this event, what kit to buy or pack, nutrition and hydration advice or anything else for a first time ultra runner please let me know I'm all ears!!!!

Running is a cruel bitch sometimes, or is it...

Last weekend (18th & 19th June) was meant to be another great running weekend. 

The plan was pretty simple, here is what was supposed to happen:

Saturday was my long awaited appointment to smash the 21 minute barrier at Hackney Marshes Parkrun.

Whereas Sunday was going to be all about having a fun time at The London city Mile, similar to the great time I had at the recent Westminster Mile.

Sadly neither of these things happened.

Here is what actually happened on Saturday....

In recent months I along with running buddies Chris and Tony have been working on our speed with the view of pushing towards a sub 20 minute 5K, alas trying to combine this with marathon training has resulted in us all struggling to knock on the door or 21 minutes let alone 20! 

Recently though I have felt like I have managed to successfully combine longer endurance training with my speed work and was feeling confident on dipping below 21 minutes on a speedy course like Hackney Marshes.

In recent weeks I have tested myself on the unforgiving hilly terrain of a course at Harrow Lodge Parkrun (22.51) and put my speed to the test at the super flat fast course of Barking Parkrun (21.17). In addition to this my speed work times have been impressive (even if I say so myself) and much improved from similar sessions earlier in the year. 

Barking Parkrun, surprisingly picturesque and very speedy

Regular speed work sessions have included:

• 1K intervals
• 400m sessions comprising of 400m efforts with 200m recoveries
• Treadmill sessions of 2minute efforts @14km/ph and higher with 1 minute recoveries

With the date of 17 June marked in my diary for several weeks I had really focused on my speed work in the weeks leading up to the date and even did a mini taper of sorts to ensure I was rested and ready to perform at my best. 

However come the day of the race I didn't feel 100% and in truth I hadn't felt great all that week but my running had oddly still felt brilliant so I figured a great time was still on the cards. 

I knew I was in great shape and I felt focused and ready to turn my goal into an achievement. 

It didn't quite happen though, the first two Ks went to plan and I was on a perfect pace to achieve my goal. Somewhere into the third K I realised I had no energy, I felt slightly sick and had the feeling of indigestion this was coupled with the re occurrence of my long standing tightness in my calf, all in all not good racing condition ms to finish the race in. I limped home in 22.40.

Running is a cruel bitch sometimes.

Speed training is hard and I had really invested a lot of time and effort into working on my speed, I felt I had got fast enough to hit my target but this was all dashed by my body letting me down when the time to perform came.

Running is a cruel bitch sometimes.

So here is what happened on Sunday....

Not feeling 100% I knew the city mile wasn't a great idea and also with a marathon in 2 weeks time I knew my efforts were better placed in focusing on a long run. 

So that's what I duly did, instead of one fast mile I did 18 slow ones. I know conventional marathon training advises not to do such a long run only 2 weeks before a marathon but I had had a nightmare of a run the weekend before when I had scheduled my longest long run. An overgrown trail route of shoulder high grass, a path overgrown with stingy nettles and torrential rain meant I was restricted to 14 as opposed to the planned 18 miles. 

Trapped laughing at rain around 12 miles into a long, not ideal

Sunday's run then turned out to be a run that very much reminded me that although running is undoubtedly a cruel bitch at times it is also an enlightening and inspiring force quite unlike anything else. 

Somewhere around mile 10 of my run a fellow runner pulled up alongside me and started to chat. Happy of the company I happily chatted away expecting the exchange to last for a few hundred metres before we went our separate ways. In fact we happily chatted for 4 or 5 miles keenly sharing our running experiences at what I found a more than challenging pace! 

Out hitting the trails, a great way to get away from everything

As if this friendly encounter wasn't enough the gentleman I spent an enjoyable time chatting with was a runner in his mid 60s who's times across all distances more than rivaled mine and in some cases bettered my times! Thank you Mike for sharing your experiences and your joy for running and indeed life, it was a pleasure to chat with you. 

So thank you to running for teaching me not to dwell on my disappointments and to remember that despite the set backs running is undoubtably a positive thing in my life. 

Learning about some of the mental aspects of running

I like the saying 'every days a school day' and the idea that it's always time to learn something new and running is no different.  

Last Wednesday was certainly one of these days as I attended the third part of 'legs, head, heart' @RunningWorks, a seminar looking at some of the mental aspects of long distance running.

I really enjoyed the evening and took away a lot of learning points. The talks from Dr Dan Gordon and Andrew Cohen-Wray also posed me several questions I could apply to my training and racing as I seek to improve. 

Here are some points I learnt from the evening which I hope you will find useful: 

First up Dr Dan spoke about pacing, an understanding of what pacing actually is and means as well as insights into research findings from Anglia Ruskin University's studies into marathon pacing. 

An understanding of pacing, Dr Dan explained that everyone paces, even small kids playing in the play ground. 

Judging your pace successfully is about optimising your physical performance. This is the basic idea of being able to run any given distance in your fastest possible time. We tend to think of pacing more in terms of long distance running but it's good to remember that even Usain Bolt has to pace himself over his sprint distances. 

Pacing is physiological and emotional

The brain regulates your pace based on comparisons to your previous runs.

The idea of global experience or being able to relax ahead of a marathon because you have ran several before and completed many long runs so you can think, 'I have been there and I have done that' and you are not fazed by the challenge that lies ahead of you. This experience of having done things before is important as experience matters when it come to pacing you need to have a frame of reference based on previous race experiences. 

Pacing well in training does not equate to pacing well in a marathon. Pacing is a learnt response and cannot be learnt through training. 

If you are interested in trying to calculate what pace you should be running your next marathon at a useful tool might be the flying runner pace calculator. 

The second part of the talk was from Andrew Cohen-Wray, Athlete in mind sharing his thoughts on marathon mental preparation. 

Goals

He posed some interesting questions to think over that are quite hard to get your head around. When training for a specific goal, whether it being completing a distance or finishing in a certain time 'what will happen if you don't get it?' Or 'what won't happen if you don't get it?'. I found these ideas really interesting and gave me a lot to think over.

Fears 

Then to help you deal with any fears you might have about a race naming your fears can help, knowing what you are afraid of can help you to overcome them and to worry less. Also thinking about what's the worse that could happen? Being aware of the worse case scenario can help you to prepare for all eventualities. 

Chunks

It's a common concept that a lot of us do, break your event down into chunks to help you cope with the overall task. Whether this is by mile, kilometre, 10K section, next jelly baby or energy gel or next lap. 

A marathon is after all only 8 and a bit parkruns if you look at it that way! 

The two most important things I took away for the evening though are as follows: 

'Learning the difference that makes the difference'

What little thing can you change to your training or race preparation that will make a big difference? Whether it's mental or physical there will be little things that can make a change. 

'Be the best that you can be'

Be aware of your own limitations and know what your capable of achieving in both training and a race. E.g. Can you realistically commit to a long run every weekend during marathon training if you work full time and have family commitments? This leads to the idea that 'you can only do what you can do with what you have'. I know I do not have the body and physical capabilities to run a 2.30 marathon neither do I have the finances to have a weekly massage or personal training sessions three times a week. I know however that with the right training I can run a sub 4 hour marathon and that needs to be my focus. 

So that's my closing thought, be the best you can be, learn what you can and work hard to achieve your goals, simples! 

Reinvigorating my running

You know when you put something off a few times and then before you know it you have been putting it for ages, then all of a sudden it's been so long since you did the thing it's hard to go back to it? 

When you keep procrastinating, become perhaps a bit lazy and start making up excuses and all of a sudden it's been months since you did the thing you were meant to do? 

Well this happened to me...

For almost the last year I have been in the lucky position to work literally opposite Regents Park, I can actually see the park from my desk. A runners dream right?! (I am open to discussing job swap opportunities!)

Then early last year I started running in Regents Park in the morning before work most often accompanied by at least one running buddy and the run usually consisted of a track session using the running track on the north side of the park. 

The track is a better setting for an early morning session than any gym

Back in the autumn for one reason and another I stopped going, it's so easy to fall out of a good routine and life can throw so many things to get in the way.

Last week I finally got back to running an early morning session. I loved it, it felt amazing, I loved being in London so early, I loved exercising before work and feeling great throughout the day.

A pre dawn shot of London overlooking Regents Park

I was annoyed with myself for having missed out on so many of these sessions over the last six months. 

Then on Saturday I took part in a run with UK fitness bloggers which departed from near Liverpool Street and explored a little area nestled in between Wanstead, the river and the City. 

I really enjoyed the experience of exploring, running somewhere new and taking in some sights.

I realised I had gone a bit stale with my running. I remembered how fun running can be when you use it as an opportunity to explore and for adventure.

So last night after work I embarked on a partial run commute home, leaving my work near Great Portland Street I ran through the City and along the river back to Liverpool Street to catch the train home.

It felt great! I ticked up sub 5 minute KMs despite a back pack and a heavy laptop.

London looked epic lit up in the winter night.  

I hadn't run in London for over a year and not even spent that much time walking around either. So many regular places I used to pas have changed, larger buildings disappeared, new modern structures cropping up all over the place. 

I suppose the point of my story is the idea that usually you won't regret doing things but you do regret not doing things.  

It's a notion based on a quote from a wiser man than me.

I don't like Mondays, but I liked this one!

The last few weeks, the last few months even has seen a steep decline in the number of articles on my blog. That's not to say I haven't been running, far from it, I have been running more than ever. 

Recently I have really struggled to find the motivation and brain power to write anything, I have had plenty of good ideas and have on several occasions started to write things but have just lacked the will to get anything published. The only reason I can think of for this is my new job which I started earlier this year which certainly takes up a bit more mental energy as well as more of my time. 

So what better way to get my motivation reignited than on a Monday, but not just any Monday, a Monday off work. Not only a Monday off work but a Monday off work started off with a run. 

Monday marks the start of the working week, along with the dread of embarking on five days of work that hangs over the working population like a dark cloud on a Monday morning there is also a ray of optimism that every Monday brings. A new week, a chance to start again, a whole range of new possibilities for how the week might turn out.

It depends how you look at it, you can choose to treat it as an opportunity or fear it as a dreaded curse. I summed up these kind of thoughts and feelings in an article I wrote for Running Junkies last year which can be read here if you so wish.

Any way back to today, I am now less than two weeks away from the Vanguard Way marathon and although I have trained hard I am not feeling particularly marathon ready. The reasons for this is mainly due I think to poor diet in recent weeks as well changing my training to bring a greater focus to each run and to really concentrate on pacing. Despite this added focus I feel more confused about my pacing, how fast I can run and how I should pace my marathon, but anyway that's a story for another article which I will hopefully write shortly! 

This morning I found myself at the house of my brother in law and running buddy, not to mention frequent character in my blog, Tom in Tunbridge Wells following an excellent day at the cricket yesterday watching Essex v Kent at the Nevill Cricket Ground in Tunbridge Wells. Despite a day sat in the sun drinking a few amount of alcoholic refreshment and an evening spent sampling some of Tunbridge Wells fine drinking establishments not to mention a late night curry we were still keen to venture out for an early morning jaunt. 

What followed was a 7K speedy canter out of Tunbridge Wells along a bridal path out towards the Sussex border providing some great views over the South East. It was quite a hilly little run with at last three decent testing climbs and a few gentle downhills. 

It was still a humid morning with a thick covering of cloud following early morning showers, a light drizzle provided some nice refreshment without getting us too wet.

On a clear day the views but be spectacular but today they were hidden from view, the moody weather conditions not wanting to unveil what lay beyond.

I must admit I struggled at first, the steepness of the run, the beers and ciders consumed yesterday along with Tom's rapid early pace all proved rather challenging.

Hope you are happy with your increased presence on the blog Tom?!  

The frustration I have running with Tom is that where as I like a thorough warm up routine prior to setting out running Tom is more of a throw on some running kit and head straight out the door type of guy. It's just the way our bodies differ and I must say I am envious to be able to just run rather than needing to stretch muscles and increase blood flow before contemplating heading off. So it took me a good 3 or 4 Kms before I felt warmed up, anyway that's my excuse for struggling to keep up with Tom on the first half of the run! 

Back at the house Tom cooked up an excellent post run breakfast, a Jamie Oliver inspired concoction, sweet corn pancakes topped with tomatoes, avocado, pancetta, syrup, natural yogurt and a squeeze of lime juice. It sounds far too much for one dish but all I can say is, it works!

What better way to start a Monday?! Certainly better than being stuck on my desk ploughing my way through the weekends email. So with an invigorating run under my belt I am looking forward to my training ahead this week, of course it will be scaled down a bit as I start to taper but it will be enjoyable none the less. 

I hope your Monday and your week got off to a great start, whatever you have planned make the most of your week and have a great weeks training!

How I smashed my parkrun PB

How was your Bank Holiday Weekend? Was it an opportunity to get some running in? Maybe the Milton Keynes Marathon? A parkrun? Or just getting in some miles for your next event?

For me it was quite a low mileage weekend as I prepare for the Hackney Half next weekend the 10th May.

I did however head over to Hackney Marshes for parkrun on Saturday morning. Its my second visit over to their flat and fast course and where as last time I wasn't in great shape to capitalise on the speedy conditions this week I was!

Last month on the 3rd April I struggled to complete the course in 23 minutes and if it wasn't for the pacing from Chris Brammer I doubt I would have ran 24 minutes let alone 23.

But this weekend just four weeks on from my 23 minute time I crossed the line in a a superb tome of 21 minutes flat! Not only was my time vastly improved but I felt OK running faster compared to feeling awful at running the slower time last time out.

So how did I achieve this improvement in a relatively short period of time?

A disappointing time and performance in April made me realise how much my training had fallen off in the first few months of the year. I realised I needed to push myself hard to get my fitness levels back to where they once were so I could be in a good position to launch a good assault at a sub4 marathon later on in the year as well as being able to try and run a sub 1.40 half marathon at Hackney on the 10th May.

So running a faster parkrun become a small objective as part of my bigger running goals.

To help me towards my goals I launched my ambitious April campaign which set myself some ambitious goals for April as the name suggests.

But what were the changes to my training that resulted in me running so much faster? 

1. Speed work

The main element of my training in between the two parkruns has been speedwork which has comprised of two components:

Treadmill intervals - 

In the period between  the two parkruns I completed ??? Treadmill interval sessions. These runs were generally your typical interval splits of a period of high speed followed by a resting period at a more comfortable pace. As a general guide my sessions would comprise of 2 minutes of a slower pace of 10.0km per hour followed by 1 minute or 2 minute bursts of 14.0-14.5km per hour repeated 3 or 5 times.

I started off with 3 circuits of slower paced times at 14.0km and then building this up towards completing 5 circuits at 14.5km.

I also completed some fartlek sessions on the treadmill where I would alternate my pace between 10.0 & maybe 15.0 km per hour running bursts of 30 seconds, a minute or longer at a variety of paces.

The other session I did once or twice as I got faster and more confident was going from a gentle walk at 6.0km per hour to sprinting for up to a minute at speeds of up to 16.0km per hour, a real lung buster to keep things fresh!

Track work

Another element to my training which I have recently started to incorporate is track work. This follows my experiences at the asics 26.2 bootcamp where the main training exercise was a 5K track run. The run was split into sections 400m easy, 200m hard and repeated over the 12 laps which I think means you have a 400m hard section to finish with. 

So using the running track on the North West side of Regents Park I have been repeating this session. I cant pretend its an easy session but then its not meant to be either. Its pretty tough firstly to keep pushing yourself repeatedly for the harder sections, secondly to keep motivated to stick to the plan and thirdly to keep mentally focused on the task. It can be pretty tricky sticking to the 400m & 200m  splits multiple times when you get tired and your mind stats to wander.

Having completed this session twice I had improved by about 49 seconds on my second attempt a week after my first although feel I wasn't at the peak of my performance on either attempt. Apparently its common for runners to record times faster than their PB during this kind of session and I will be looking to record some faster times in the coming months.

2. Insanity fitness classes

In between the two parkrun attempts I have started attending fitjess fitness a local fitness class that do insanity classes on a weekly basis. I completed the class in three consecutive weeks prior to the second parkrun and although I have it hard I think it has been really beneficial.

The class is so tough with minimal rest breaks and has been a great cardio workout and has left me drowning in my own sweat every time! It has definitely been a big factor in increasing my cardio capacity which is so important in increasing my short term sprint capacity for a 5k run. 

I would highly recommend an insanity or similar bootcamp circuit training style class to any runner as a great way to improve fitness through cross training. 

3. Improving my gym training

Working on the idea that in order to change the outcome of a race you need to change the training that goes into preparing for the race I concentrated on changing the training I did in the gym.

Some examples of what I have done in the gym in the interim period between my two runs are as follows:

• 1 minute rowing sprints - completing 1 minute at maximum exertion on the rowing machine and either repeating or alternating with other cardio exercises.
• Higher intensity warm ups - Such as a few minutes higher intensity on the cross training rather than slower sessions.
• core/ab work - A few new exercises incoropoarted into my routine such as a plank push up which is demonstrated here a great exercise to work you upper body as well as your core muscles. 

Pushing myself that bit harder in the gym and focusing my efforts on training that is a bit more specific although harder has definitely been worth it in terms of feeling fitter and stronger. 

So mixing these improved training techniques with some good nutrition has been the foundation to achieve my faster parkrun time and smashing my PB. I hope you have found this helpful and motivational to help you improve your own training and results. If you have any other suggestions on techniques you have used I would love to hear them!

Day 17 A tough run made better with music

Today's run - Recovery run - Pavement - 5K - 28 mins

Today was a tough one, with bootcamp planned for this evening I had to head out early to get my run in which was fine a part from the fact I had attended Pigs Ear Beer and Cider Festival last night and had a few drinks and got to bed rather late!

So while preparing to head out this morning I decided I needed a little something extra, a bit of music aaccompaniment Fresh in my mind was runnersworlds compilation of their best running tracks and I had already added my favourite of these tracks into my own spotify playlist alongside my own running songs.

So off I ran with a soundtrack of the best morivational and uplifting tunes playing away in my ears. It definitely spurred me on and have me an injection of pace that would otherwise have been lacking.

Franz Ferdinand's Take me Out was a great start and by the time The Red Hot Chilli Peppers had fired up their anthemic Cant stop my air guitar was in full flow! It goes doen as one of my best running experiences as it really connected me back with the simple enjoyment of running and reminded me of how great running is. This was pretty much exactly what I needed after the disappointment of not progressing to the next stage in the Asics Target 26.2 competition.

Despite being gutted at not progressing I am relieved at not having to put myself through the stress of the public vote and am genuinely excited and pleased for the lucky ones who have got through.

Nows the time to challenge myself

With just over a week to go to the third and last marathon in my three marathons in three months I am very much thinking about what I have learnt from the experience and what I can get out of this last marathon.

The aim had be to go under 4 hours in at least one of the races, an aim I now realise looking back was a tall order as only one of the events was suitable for a quick time as the other two routes were off road, undulating and hilly.

I have still achieved a decent new PB though knocking over 15 minutes of my previous best.

As I have said before the more I train for marathons and the more I run them the more I understand the challenge that is a marathon.

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about. 

PattiSue Plummer, U.S. Olympian

I realise more an more that I need to push myself harder and not be constrained my own preconceived limitations in terms of how much I can train or how fast I can run.

I know with some decent training and with an event where things work out OK I am capable of running a sub 4 hour marathon but more than that I know I am capable of running much faster than simply trying to just dip under the 4 hour mark.

With this in mind I have decided to run my last marathon blind/naked/watch free.

I am just going to run it as hard as I can without monitoring my progress on any watch or tracking device and just see where that takes me.

Marathon running is all about the challenge of the 26.2, how to train for it? Can you run it all? Will you finish it? Pushing yourself through the pain.

For me I know From experience what the training requires, I know I can cover the distance, I know I can complete it in a decent time and I know I will be OK afterwards.

So now it is time to just worry about running it as best I can with a freedom to allow me to achieve my real potential.

Healthy Foodporn

I have been doing a pretty good job of eating well and eating clean this week. 

However not everyone around me seems to be doing the same which can make it hard to stick to my resolutions.

So I thought I would revisit some of my healthy snacks I have bern eating recently and share them here as a way if hopefully motivating everyone to start/keep eating clean.

If you are in the mood for something really unhealthy then check out my greek holiday foodporn (http://idratherbeoutrunning.blogspot.com/2014/05/greek-holiday-foodporn.html)

Remember you are what you eat!

Running love

I apologise now, this might get a but soppy!

My well used worn out trainers next to a pretty pink new pair, what does this picture mean? My wife is starting out running! 

I love this picture. Heres why...

I love running and I love my wife. Sometimes she would say I love running more than her and it has caused some arguments over the years.

Recently she has started out on her running journey. 

I love the fact I have inspired her to give it ago and she wants to gain the same physical and mental benefits from running that she has seen me benefit from.

I love seeing her fledgling motivation and determination and the effort she is trying to put it. 

There is a part of me that is envious that she is at the start of her journey and she has the endless possibilities of running ahead of her.

How far can she run? How fast can she run? Will she run a 10K one day? Or even a marathon? Or even further? 

She has so many discoveries ahead of her as she gets stronger and faster, who knows what she may be able to achieve.

How ever fast or far she does or doesn't run I look forward to being there and supporting and encouraging her all the way.

3 marathons in 3 months pre 30 challenge

I turn 30 early next year.

Its fine I can deal with it I am not going to have a break down but at the same time it is a pretty big deal. 

I decided a while ago I needed to achieve something or have some sort of focus in the run up to the landmark birthday. 

So I have plumped for 3 marathons in 3 months at the end of this year. 

I know its not that big of a challenge as there are people that do marathons everyday or straight after each other on the same day. But as someone who has only complete two marathons before over the space of about 4 years doing 3 in 3 months sounded like a pretty good challenge especially when you think of the commitment in training over the next 6 months. 

These are the 3 marathons I am all signed up for: 

Vanguard Way Marathon - Croydon, 3rd August 

Robin Hood Marathon - Nottingham, 29th September

Brentwood Marathon - Brentwood, Essex 26th October 

The Vanguard and Brentwood marathons are off road trail marathon where as Nottingham is a city road marathon so there is a bit of variety and the added challenge of more difficult terrains. 

So the training begins, I am really excited and motivated for the trials that lie ahead, BRING IT ON!!!!

A second runless weekend

A second consecutive runless weekend, feels so odd not doing something that is usually the main focus of my weekend.

As is so often the case when I am not training so much my motivation for eating well falls away. This week has also coincided with a few drink fuelled nights out so that combined with subsequent hangovers has further limited my training abilities.

I decided to cook up a tasty and healthy meal yesterday though and managed to knock up a really nice fish and veg bake.

Which went done really well, nice and light with plenty of good stuff in it. 

However saturday night was a different story as opted for some indulgent comfort eating.

Nachos with tex mex dips and mounds of melted cheese. Ultimate comfort eating! Was so good as a blowout snack.

I did get out this morning for some circuit training in the park. I have been really enjoying working on circuits comprising of the usual body weight type exercise such as press ups, squats and star jumps and some skipping thrown in for some cardio as well.

Had a nice post workout breakfast to set me up for the day.

The great thing is tomorrow is a new day and the start of a new week, so a fresh slate to start again. My aims for the week are to get back eating healthier, to get a gym session or circuit session in every day and to continue working on my strength and conditioning work. I am hopeful of having a bit of a run towards the end of the week or maybe at the weekend as my groin is healing up and starting to feel better.