A few days ago I was contemplating a PR in the Lisbon half on Sunday. I had checked the long term weather forcast which said sunny, blue skies and 18ºC. Perfect for an attempt at a PR, or so I thought. Three days ago the weather forecast stated 20ºC, two days ago it was giving 22ºC and yesterday on arrival in Portugal the weather forecast said 24ºC for Sunday.
This morning I ran a small 4km as my last outing before the half. It was 16ºC out. The past few runs I been doing at home have been in temperatures between 4ºC and 8ºC, granted I was well wrapped up. Today was the first run done this year without a jacket and I could still feel the heat difference as I was out. Sunday will be 8ºC warmer. I've since revised my goal of a PR and will just go out and run it and see what happens. I hope there will be a lot of water stations on the route.
I'm going into the city today to collect my race pack and my wife's family are cooking pasta for dinner tonight and tomorrow night. I'll be making sure I get enough water in today and tomorrow and during the race. I've even brought porridge from Ireland for breakfast the mornign of the race. I'm also not having any wine until after the race. I think yesterday was the first St. Patrick's Day in a long time that was a dry one for me, but I'll celebrate Sunday night instead.
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
February 2011 Round Up
My final run for February was a 3km recovery run after the long 18km yesterday. The calf muscles were very tender and it wasn't the easiest 3km I've ever run but at a slow pace I got through it and tomorrow is a much needed rest day.
So to my goal of running 1,500km in 2011, how is that going? At this stage, two months in, I should have notched up a nice 250km to be on target. What do I have at the moment, 121.81km, I'm already a month behind. I knew when I set this target it would be a tough one for me. Having run 58 times last year covering 431km I knew I would have to get out more and add another 1,000km to my 2010 distance to meet the goal. Starting the year injured meant January was a tough month where I reached 40km and in February I had the flu which cut running out for a week. There are positives though. In both months the number of runs are in double digits, something I never managed once last year and this month the 81.23km is the furthest I ever run in a month, definite progress being made here.
I'm still debating about signing up for the Dublin marathon in October but I know if I do, the training will give me back the month I'm down on my 2011 goal which I'm still confident of achieving. Roll on March.
So to my goal of running 1,500km in 2011, how is that going? At this stage, two months in, I should have notched up a nice 250km to be on target. What do I have at the moment, 121.81km, I'm already a month behind. I knew when I set this target it would be a tough one for me. Having run 58 times last year covering 431km I knew I would have to get out more and add another 1,000km to my 2010 distance to meet the goal. Starting the year injured meant January was a tough month where I reached 40km and in February I had the flu which cut running out for a week. There are positives though. In both months the number of runs are in double digits, something I never managed once last year and this month the 81.23km is the furthest I ever run in a month, definite progress being made here.
I'm still debating about signing up for the Dublin marathon in October but I know if I do, the training will give me back the month I'm down on my 2011 goal which I'm still confident of achieving. Roll on March.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
January Round Up
January is nearly over, my first full month on this blog and the first month of my year goal. I set myself the goal of running 1,500km in 2011. This is 125km per month. So how am I doing?
Negative: I got injured on the first day of my goal with the IT band giving me grief resulting in me not being able to reach 3km in my initial runs.
Positive: A foam roller, an IT band strap and a stretching routine later the runs progressively got longer and the last two runs I've been pain free.
Negative: I only managed 40.58km out of the 125km per month I should be doing to reach my goal.
Positive: I ran 12 times this month. I never ran more than 8 times in a month last year so this is a personal best for me.
In the last three months of 2010 I ran very little. I'm starting to realise how much I missed it. I'm not at the level I was in September 2010 but I'm feeling good again and the stress is reducing. Got to love running.
Negative: I got injured on the first day of my goal with the IT band giving me grief resulting in me not being able to reach 3km in my initial runs.
Positive: A foam roller, an IT band strap and a stretching routine later the runs progressively got longer and the last two runs I've been pain free.
Negative: I only managed 40.58km out of the 125km per month I should be doing to reach my goal.
Positive: I ran 12 times this month. I never ran more than 8 times in a month last year so this is a personal best for me.
In the last three months of 2010 I ran very little. I'm starting to realise how much I missed it. I'm not at the level I was in September 2010 but I'm feeling good again and the stress is reducing. Got to love running.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A Little Longer
The goal for today was 4km and to run slower than Tuesday so as not to put too much pressure on the knee. I hoped that this would get me the extra distance. The place I normally run was locked up so I parked up the car and ran to the nearest green area.
I ran at a nice easy pace and I kept going until the knee started to ache. I've learned to stop when that happens (you would think it was something that I should know and not have to learn). At the end of the run I didn't hit the goal of 4km but i had run 25 minutes, 5 minutes more than the last run which is a big positive.
I used the foam roller today for the first time. I really hope it it works because it hurts like hell. The half marathon is now only 52 days away. The recovery rolls on.
I ran at a nice easy pace and I kept going until the knee started to ache. I've learned to stop when that happens (you would think it was something that I should know and not have to learn). At the end of the run I didn't hit the goal of 4km but i had run 25 minutes, 5 minutes more than the last run which is a big positive.
I used the foam roller today for the first time. I really hope it it works because it hurts like hell. The half marathon is now only 52 days away. The recovery rolls on.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Goals for 2011
Happy New Year everyone. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was waiting for the year 2000 to come along and thinking it never would and now it's 2011 already. Where did all the time go???
As it is a new year I guess I should try to set myself some goals to complete by the end of the year. So here they are. I purposely kept them small, at 5 and hope that I'll have achieved all five before 2012 comes rolling around:
1. To run 1,500km in one year.
2. To run my first ever marathon by the end of the year.
3. To run a half marathon in under two hours.
4. To find time to read a bit more, maybe finish a few of the books that I bought that are collecting dust in the house.
5. Lastly to spend more time outdoors this year, whether it is just grabbing my camera and going for a walk or heading off somewhere witht he family. The idea is to try to spend less time couped up in the house.
It seems simple on paper, who knows it just might work.
As it is a new year I guess I should try to set myself some goals to complete by the end of the year. So here they are. I purposely kept them small, at 5 and hope that I'll have achieved all five before 2012 comes rolling around:
1. To run 1,500km in one year.
2. To run my first ever marathon by the end of the year.
3. To run a half marathon in under two hours.
4. To find time to read a bit more, maybe finish a few of the books that I bought that are collecting dust in the house.
5. Lastly to spend more time outdoors this year, whether it is just grabbing my camera and going for a walk or heading off somewhere witht he family. The idea is to try to spend less time couped up in the house.
It seems simple on paper, who knows it just might work.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
1,500 Kilometres in 2011
So my last bit of constructive running was in September, since then I've been pretty lazy. I've decided that needs to change and I'm setting a target for 2011.
So this is my target, to run 1,500 kilometres in 2011. This is a big goal for me as I usually lose motivation and take weeks, if not months, off at a time. I can't do that and complete this goal. Over the year I hope to enter a few races and complete the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October 2011, which will be my first ever marathon.
I'm going to post all runs, training and races, on the blog and with a bit of luck and hard work I'll meet my target and complete my first ever marathon running 1,500 kilometres in one year in the process.
My first race will be the Lisbon Half Marathon in March but before that I need to get rid of this flu and start running again. Chirstmas is only days away so after the party season is over the training will start. I think I'm looking forward to 2011 already. Happy running.
So this is my target, to run 1,500 kilometres in 2011. This is a big goal for me as I usually lose motivation and take weeks, if not months, off at a time. I can't do that and complete this goal. Over the year I hope to enter a few races and complete the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October 2011, which will be my first ever marathon.
I'm going to post all runs, training and races, on the blog and with a bit of luck and hard work I'll meet my target and complete my first ever marathon running 1,500 kilometres in one year in the process.
My first race will be the Lisbon Half Marathon in March but before that I need to get rid of this flu and start running again. Chirstmas is only days away so after the party season is over the training will start. I think I'm looking forward to 2011 already. Happy running.
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