Tempo Tuesday

And some other bits.. since Tuesday is now long gone (yes I'm on about last Tuesday, not today! Oops)!

I set out for my tempo run on Tuesday morning, the plan was actually 1 mile warm up, 2 miles at mid tempo (7.58 pace), 1 mile easy, 2 miles at mid tempo and 1 mile cool down... What I actually did was..

0.5 miles warm up
2 @ 7.32 pace
7.31 & 7.33 = 15.04
1 mile easy
2 @ 7.49 pace,
7.58 & 7.40 = 15.36
0.5 miles cool down

I was really happy with those paces, the first tempo portion was tough though but I set off at that pace by accident really and when I'd got into it I really didn't want to slow down. I think I slightly scared a woman when I stopped near her as she carried on walking a bit then turned round and looked at me and said, I just wanted to check you hadn't passed out... Guess I looked as rough as I felt then ha! I walked a little bit then jogged most of the easy mile before carrying on with the next tempo part.. To be honest I was hoping for times similar to the first but I was too tired. Happy with what I did though as it's still faster than I should have been.. I know sometimes I should probably ease off a bit but I just love going as fast as I can and seeing how much I'm actually capable of.

At some point I did some pushups... 11-15-9-9-15... I'm due to do some more but after rather a lot of Mothers Day excess today I think they will be done tomorrow!

8 miles in 1:07:19 ave pace 8.25
Mile 1 - 8.53
Mile 2 - 8.30
Mile 3 - 8.28
Mile 4 - 8.25
Mile 5 - 8.14
Mile 6 - 8.19
Mile 7 - 8.20
Mile 8 - 8.13

I was so happy with those 8 miles. It felt like such a strong run! I feel like my cardio system is really improving at the moment.. I just hope I feel as good after the 14 I'm setting out to do today! Eeeek, that will be a new PDR! That is assuming I finish! Wish me luch haha!

Plus some more push-ups last night... 14-14-10-10-15... only just managed the 15 at the end... These feel so much harder than the last time I attempted the push-up program! Oh well... At least my numbers are on the up.. slowly but surely!


Also last but certainly not least, Jess @ Almost Over Now gave me this lovely award. Thanks Jess :-) I love the amazing blogging community there is so much eoncouragement and motivation from you guys! I think this has already been passed on to most people since I'm a bit slow on the uptake so I want this to go to anyone who hasn't had it, consider yourself nominated!

A 6 Mile Stitch

But first, The Deep! Yesterday we went to the Deep with some of Mike's family, it's a pretty cool ocean life museam kind of like a small seaworld but all inside.

The Architecture
(those horrible looking clouds did indeed soak us on the way out)

An ugly fish... I'm not sure what sort!

Luminous jelly fish

Sharks

Nemo! They were so cute!

Now, on to the running!

6 mile tempo
1 mile easy, 4 miles mid tempo (8.38), 1 mile slow

My Plan
1 mile @ just under 10 minute pace
8.48
8.42
8.34
8.28
1 mile @ just under 10 minute pace

What I did
6 miles in 53.31 average pace 8.55
Mile 1 - 10.00
Mile 2 - 8.48
Mile 3 - 8.24
Mile 4 - 8.37
Mile 5 - 8.37
Mile 6 - 9.02

Why I didn't stick to the plan...
It's all well and good having plans, and I love making plans! But in running and training sometimes your body just wants something else! In the first mile I got a stitch almost straight away, this is really wierd, I never get stitches. I putt it down to the fact I'm running after a day out where I didn't plan my food or drink well. I know I was dehydrated before I left the door but it was too late to remedy, I also felt pretty full but I didn't want to put the run off any longer as we hadn't seen Roxie much all day and we wanted to spend the evening with her.

I took mile 1 slightly slower and paused at one point to try and get rid of the stitch, it soon became evident that the stitch was there to stay! I felt really defeated in mile 2 thinking I'm never going to hit pace with this stitch.. grump, grump, grump... However, just before mile 3 it dawned on me, the stitch was there to stay no matter what pace, and the faster I went the faster I'd get home and could stop running! Subsequently mile 3 felt strong and although I'd intended to go for negative splits I decided to just go with it! I pulled back a little for miles 4 and 5 aiming for pace of 8.38 and hit just under. Overall I got slightly faster than the mid-tempo pace. That just shows what the mind can do, if I'd stayed being all defeatist I'm pretty sure I would not have hit my time. My cool down mile was a bit fast too... I just wanted to be home!

Running is such a mental game sometimes, that's one of the reasons I love it!

Hope everyone's had a good week, mine's been pretty productive! I've bagged myself two job interviews and some more voluntary work. The job interviews are for working at care homes and the voluntary work will be on an acute psychiatric ward. All will be great experience for my application for mental health nursing. I will get on that course! I got feedback from my interview, apparently only 2 people from my group got on!! You had to get full marks on the interview and I was a few short, it was really competetive just to get an interview as they had a 300% increase in applicants... The lady I spoke to said I probably would have got on last year so that was kind fo comforting, at least it wasn't me, it was just that some were better. I also feel better for next year knowing they do think I'm capable. It just means a bit of waiting, but so long as it all comes together eventually what's a year?

It's Been a While..

I never seem to post on here when I've not been training, and I was still feeling a bit rough after my intervals I haven't done much this week, training anyway! Been fairly busy otherwise! I did a talk at SEED, the ed group on Wednesday about my recovery. I was pretty nervous but it seemed to help the people there and they were really grateful that I'd talked about my experience and that made it so worth doing. I also found out about a conference on treating ED's and I'm thinking about going, if I do get on the mental health nursing course I would really love to specialise in eating disorders and that is likely an area I would do my dissertation on so it could be really useful, but it's over 100 pounds which is a lot of money to me at the moment.. Not sure if it's worth it...

On Friday I was supposed to do my 7 mile tempo run... let's rewind to Thursday night.... We went to one of our old student haunts as Mike's grandad was doing a poetry reading there and after he went home we got rather drunk.... All night I was still doing the tempo run but come Friday, I wasn't doing the tempo run, I haven't got drunk in a looooooooooooong time and I felt rough as anything! I did manage something though - just!

10 DB woodchoppers
10 DB squats
5 push-ups
30 lateral jumps

x 8 rounds in 12 minutes

Not nearly a tempo run but better than nothing! I still got my tempo in, I did it today, I normally take Saturday as a rest day but I've had plenty of rest this week and the week wasn't going by without my tempo!

Tempo Run
1 mile warm up (10.02)
2 miles short tempo (8.33, 8.12)
1 mile easy (10.53)
2 miles short tempo (8.36, 8.13)
1 mile cool down (9.58)

1.04.27 ave pace 9.13

Tempo runs are sooo hard! I can't believe how much effort they seem to take out of me, this felt a lot harder than my last 7 miler and that one was a fair bit faster than this one at 8.48 per mile.

I tried a go energy gel in the middle mile. Not a fan! I've never tried a gel before and I didn't like the taste... plus I'm not convinced it really helped me.. Anyone else from the uk had the go gels before? What do you think? I got it free in my half marathon packet but I don't think I'll get them again, I preferred the coconut water.

Weekly Totals
Miles - 10
Push-ups - 40

Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend!

Lots of Tempos!

Did everyone have a good weekend? Mine was fun, I had an induction course to go to on Saturday which was ok, had some time afterwards to wander round York which was good! On Sunday it was my glorious day off so I got some running and bodyweight strength done I love days off!! I'm trying to get my masters application sorted out right now... If I can't get the right music career or any career at all I need to make changes so I'm really hoping I get on to the Social Work Masters... I think it would open so many doors for me! Cross your fingers please ;)

Weekly Totals
Miles - 15
Push-ups - 80
Chin-ups - 80 seconds on the bar
Pull-ups - 0
Neck exercises -0
Isometric punches - 0
Wrist curls - 0
Core work - 1


Core Challenge
Nobody let me know they had finished the core challenge, soooo... if you all comment with your before and after plank times I'll put you all into a hat and pick out the winner! I know it's easy for life to get in the way, it did for me. But I'm sure even if you didn't get two a week you all improved so let me know!

I set out planning to run my first 11 miler yesterday... My mp3 player ran out within 2 miles so I decided to run my tempo instead! I can't get the data off my new garmin yet.. it was cheap because it's slightly faulty, the mode button doesn't work so when I tried to upload it, it crashed the garmin centre as it tried to get all the persons runs as far back as 2006! I'm trying to get sports tracks instead as that lets you choose which to upload but my laptop is on its last legs and I can't get it to work. Anyway I'll post my stats from memory.. I didn't do very well, it seemed really hard and I think it's to do with my fuel before hand, I didn't have my usual breakfast and I don't think my replacement breakfast was enough and I had it too early so all in all not very successful! I got my old lungs back haha

Roughly I did
1.5 miles warm up at 9.20 pace
2 miles at about 8.10 pace
1 mile at 9.10 pace

The last mile was just impossible and I've no idea why, it was so much effort to keep it at 9.10! Some days just don't work too well I guess!

In the evening Mike and I did some tempo push-ups/core/chin-ups,
Tempo push-ups 4 seconds down, 1 second hold at the bottom, 2 seconds back up
6 x max / 60s core hold

Tempo chin/pull-ups - 4 second hold at the top of the bar, 4 second hold at 90 degrees, 4 second hold at the bottom
6 x chin/pull-up / 30-60s core hold

Took less than half an hour and got quite a lot of work done, not bad :-)

Hope everyone had a fun Monday!

It's Not Supposed To Be Easy!

I did my tempo run today, good news, no soreness from the deadlift... guess that means I should add more weight next time ;-)

Tempo run 4.1 miles in 36.38, average pace 8.58, average heart rate179.

Mile 1 (warm up) 9.41 HR 167
The warm up mile was no fun! It started raining seconds after I left my house and a minute in to the run it started hailing!! Erm where did spring go? A few minutes in and I contemplated going back home to pick up my gloves and hat cause it was cold and those nasty hail stones were stinging my face. Decided this would mess up my planned route so it was easier to stick at it and brave the cold! I ended up running the warm up a bit faster than I intended cause at this point I wanted to get home ASAP!

Mile 2 (tempo @ 8.28) 8.24 HR 183
The first tempo mile I started far too fast, I looked down at the garmin a few minutes in and realised I was running a 7.30 pace. I slowed right down cause I knew I was not keeping that up for two miles. It got tough quickly even with my slowed pace and I just kept repeating to myself, it's not supposed to be easy, it will be worth it in the long run, push through it!

Mile 3 (tempo @ 8.28) 8.28 HR 186
After the first mile it got really tough! I hit a bit of a wall and could not make my legs go faster than an 8.40 pace. This went on for the first few minutes so I tried slowing a little to hopefully get a new burst of energy from somewhere... It worked.. I slowly sped up back to an 8.30 then and 8.24 then finished exactly on my prescribed pace of 8.28. This mile was horrible! I kept thinking you're no runner, it's never going to work, but then I kept saying quit whining it's not supposed to be easy - hence the title! And I just kept repeating that. Once I was back at the right pace I thought come on, only .25 of a mile left you can keep this up for that long, pull yourself together! I was so glad when the mile ended!

Mile 4 (cool down) 9.25 HR 182 (+.1 to get home)
It was soo tempting to stop the watch and let my HR slow a little before I started the cool down but I decided that felt like cheating so I just started off reeeeally slowly, caught my breath a bit and then picked it up to a comfortable pace. Boy was I glad to see my front door! This tempo was tough!

I made Apple and Raspberry Crumble tonight, the recipe isn't as indulgent as conventional versions as I lowered the fat content by quite a lot, I'm going to experiment with it a bit maybe adding part margerine part applesauce to get a better topping but it's pretty good for a healthy version so I thought I'd share the recipe. It tastes better with custard!

Crumble Base
5 Apples chopped into 2cm dice
1 Tbs xylitol or sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 Tbs cornflour mixed with 1 Tbs cold water
Sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg
1 cup of frozen raspberries

Crumble Topping
2/3 cup oats
1 and 1/3 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup xylitol or sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup margerine

Directions
Preheat oven to 180c
Cut apples and cook with xylitol, water and spices.

Once the apple has softened add the cornflour and water mixture gradually until the appley liquid is thickened, add raspberries and stir in.

Mix all the dry crumble ingredients then add in the melted margerine, mix with fingers, top apple and raspberry mixture

My kitchen after baking!! eeek! Look at Tia trying to climb up the drawers, I think she likes crumble!

Bake the crumble in the oven for 30 minutes, enjoy with custard.... maybe let your cat try a little custard too... this kitty is spoilt!

Bondi band giveaway here.

3-4/02/10

Sorry I haven't posted for the past two days, I'm not even sure how I ended up so busy but I've barely been on the computer. On Wednesday I did my first ever tempo run, I went into it feeling quietly confident, how wrong was I!!! It was one of the toughest runs yet, I don't know if it's because I took my intervals a bit fast on Monday or if it's down to the fact that the slow base building running I'd been doing can lower your pace temporarily but I could not keep pace. My average heart rate for the fast portion of the run was 178 and my highest was 188, tough!! I hope I do better next time it comes up in the schedule!

03/02/01
AM - Tempo Run
1 mile easy prescribed pace of 10.11 ran at 10.23 (included running up a flight of stairs which I guess must have slowed me down cause I was on track until then, finished the mile right after)
3 miles at short tempo pace prescribed pace of 8.36, I ran at 8.48 per mile
1 mile easy again, prescribed pace of 10.11, I ran a little faster at 10 minute pace, it didn't feel like I was pushing it too much and I just wanted to get home!

PM
Isometric punches x4 sets Jab/Straight/L.hook/R.uppercut
Push-ups 5x12
Wrist curls 5kg 3x20
Reverse wrist curls 1kg 2x30
Uneven wrist curls 0.5kg 3x20
Core work - 15minutes

04/02/10
Boxing - 2hrs
Warm up - 10 minutes jogging/ stretching

Skipping - 6 x 2min

Heavy bag - 9 x 2min

Power circuit - 20s each station/ 2 rounds

• Bench dips
• Db punches
• Box step ups
• Mountain climbers
• MB Slams
• Shadowboxing
• Military press
• Sit ups with a twist
• DB Shrugs
• Push ups
• Full jumping jacks
• Upright rows
• Leg raises

Cool down - 10 minutes stretching
included 47 push-ups

I have a 6 mile slow run planned today so I'll be back later!