I don't expect miracles with my running, or my weight loss to get back to a weight I feel comfortable with when I am running, I expect to just tick along. Gone are the aspirations for new records, or the belief that I can break 3 hours for the marathon, I simply came to the conclusion a few years ago, that I can tick along nicely, have a few peaks and troughs, set some reasonable attainments, and work to achieve.
In this light, I set myself a 20 week programmes to succeed in Philadelphia, come November. When I set out I was struggling with my running. Times that were easy to achieve only 12 months ago, left me struggling for breath, and my legs like jelly. I was near 200 lbs and Philadelphia was but a distant dream. Three weeks have ticked by, and improvements are starting to show. There was no point in trying to jump in with two feet and run 30 mile weeks straight away - I would have given up by Week Two. Here we are in Week 4, and slowly but surely things are coming together.
Last Saturday I ran 7 miles, and yesterday, Day One of the 4th Week, I ran a timed session on the treadmill. It was only 7:53 pace for 3 miles, but it was good to run under 8 minute pace and not feel like I was killing myself. I recovered easily, and knew there was more in the tank. Tonight I went for a short run on a local route familiar to long time readers - it's my Two Bridges Run, along the Quays, over the Sean O'Casey Bridge, back along the North Wall, and over the East Link Bridge to home. It's somewhere between 2.25 and 2.5 miles, and tonight, with no real effort, I ran it some 11 seconds faster than ever before - a sign that I'm Ticking Along nicely.
The distant dream is starting to become thinkable, the training progressing. Of course I need to increase the mileage, but steadily, not in any great leap forward. I'm satisfied that things are going well. The weight is down to 194 - I'm aiming at a pound a week over the twenty weeks, the goal being 180, so 14 to go, and nearly 17 weeks to the race - fingers crossed.......
1 comment:
Keep up the good work Liam.... you are doing very good, all things considered. I have started running on the mill again myself. (certainly not clocking anywhere near the mileage I did in Wyoming, but the scenery isn't as captivating. Obviously.) Hugs!
Post a Comment