You'll see in my Fling post yesterday I mention that my eating was a bit poor over the weekend - last night I sat down and worked out the calories, and realised that I'd spilled on into this week with a bit of excess consumption, which I've managed to get back in line again the last day or so. This morning is my weekly weigh-in, and unsurprisingly the numbers was nothing like last week's 3.6 lb loss! BUT, it's still a loss.... I lost 0.6lbs this week, taking the 17 week total for 2015 so far to 34.8lbs (15.8kgs) - just a hair's-breadth shy of 2½ stone. I'm happy with that - I know exactly why this week's loss was low, but it's all still going in the right direction.
So, now the Fling is flung, and my next SUMS role is volunteering at the West Highland Way Race in a little over 7 weeks' time (haha, some of you just flinched, didn't you?), it means that I have 7 weeks of focussing entirely on me, my training, and my weightloss journey. I also have the 10k race, and the fast approaching Half Marathon, to train for, and figure out where my training is going to go from there. It's exciting times, and there are half-ideas being formed, but in the meantime, reality means I have to get my head down and get cracking. :-)
Speaking to Andy Johns after the race on Saturday, he was explaining to me that he was walking proof of the theory of every 1lb of weight loss/gain being equivalent to running 2 seconds per mile faster/slower... it made me curious a wee bit, so I had a look at the data. 32lbs (which is roughly my weightloss between the flat parkrun on 1st Jan, and the one I did 2 weeks ago) is equivalent to a 3:19 improvement over 5kms, but what I actually did was improve those times from 42:08 to 33:18, hahaha. Of course, the 2 secs per mile per lb theory is only there if nothing else differs; but for me, my attitude, thinking, and approach is hugely different (and the weather was remarkably different too, lol). However, the Half Marathon is a bit more interesting, because arguably when I was doing Alloa in March, I was already in a new mindset, so not 'much' will be different by Edinburgh HM except for weight. For Alloa I weighed 185, and if I can continue to average 2lbs a week loss, in 4 weeks' time lining up for Edinburgh I'll weigh around 163 - meaning 22lbs, or a 9:36 minute improvement over half a marathon! So, from a 2:50:34 Alloa, can I actually achieve a 2:40:58 Half Marathon in Edinburgh at the end of May??? That would be a huge PB, but I'll be honest - I can't see why I couldn't hit that figure, if I train consistently, and continue to lose weight and work on the mental aspects of my journey. So, that number is there now; let's re-visit this in a month's time, and see what happens! :-)
I had a good gym session this morning before work - some weight-lifting, lunges, and a tough circuit of exercises, etc. The circuit in today's session was... err, "fun":
30 secs squat-to-press with a 12.5kg barbell
15 secs “active rest” – holding plank position with arms extended (i.e. press-up position)
30 secs clean and press with 12.5kg barbell
15 secs plank-rest as above
30 secs fast toe-taps on a step
15 secs plank-rest
30 secs Bosu burpees (burpees holding a Bosu on the floor then lifting it above head in the stand-up position)
15 secs plank-rest
30 secs v-sit crunches (i.e. with feet off the ground, knees bent at 90 degrees)
15 secs plank-rest
30 secs bicycle crunches
1 minute (proper) rest, then repeat entire circuit again.
Aaargh!! lol. Those "active rest" planks were a killer, and believe me, 15 seconds gets longer and longer as the sets go on, haha. It was tough, and I whinged, but I got it done. :-) I think circuit training, tabata, and weight-lifting is a big part of my success this year, together with the running - but mainly it's around food, and the mental training exercises I do. Changing the way I think about things has made the biggest difference in my life, and there's absolutely no reason for me to lapse back to old ways. So the only way now is forwards! x x
Sarah - you're completely right about the 2seconds per lb per mile thing. It is a rough guide only, and there are always so many other factors. It's a positive feedback cycle - if you're that much lighter, you can train for longer, you can train a bit harder and faster... and you'll run more miles and lose more weight.
ReplyDeleteThis can result in the classic runner's injury when the mileage goes up and up in response to that feedback. But that also makes a big difference. I'm getting by on far fewer miles that other runners. Just checked and I'm averaging 36 miles a week for 2015. If I did 50 miles a week, I know I'd see more improvements, but it's hard to fit that in with other things in life just now.
For my Fling, I am 13lb over my 2012 race weight - again reaching for the calculator, that's a 23 minutes difference. And guess what? My time was 28 minutes slower (with an extra 5 minutes in checkpoints due to no support crew). Hey, it does work!
Final bit of perspective - in my first marathon, I just wanted to bear 2 hours. That was the target. Six years later I ran 1:20, and that was more than just losing 3 stone.
Stay motivated, stay inspired - it's working!!!
I am going to assume you meant HM rather than marathon in your last bit. ;-)
DeleteIt is interesting, looking at the sums, but like you say, there's other factors come into play, and my training definitely picked up hugely as the year (and my confidence) got going. I will be interested to see what happens with the half marathons I'm doing this year, March, May and October, and how much I can improve, but I will need to get a bit more structured with my training, and keep putting the work in. x
Oops, yeah, half-marathon. Although I'd quite to beat (not bear) 2 hours for a marathon - who wouldn't?
DeleteOoh like all your sums guys, although I'm going the other way and will be slower due to weight on *sigh* Thanks for being so inspirational Sarah xx
ReplyDeletex x x
DeleteYour are right to be confident of getting a PB at the Edinburgh HM, all the results you have with running and weight loss are all pointing in this right direction.
ReplyDeleteI feel the 1lb -> 2 sec/mile rule is rather too simplified, while it might have roughly worked for Andy at the paces he runs, you currently (:-) at about half the speed, so for the same percentage improvement you'll see twice the sec/mile per 1lb weight loss. How much you weight to start off with also has affect.
For your own data I think just calculating the % difference in weight and mapping this to % difference in time looks to be closer to what you have achieved. Even this doesn't fully explain the large improvements you've seen, and as you've pointed out you've improved your mental resilience substantially and your base fitness it better too. The whole package has improved.
I believe the "whole package" has been improved further since the Alloa half, your 5k PB is a shinning example of 100% commitment, mental and physical resilience and intelligent pacing. Bring that game to the table even without any further improvements to fitness or weight-loss and you'd go faster at the half marathon. You aren't standing still, keep on the course you have set with weight-loss, self belief and pacing improvements and the PB's will roll. I don't think you even need to worry about times, just keep doing what you are doing and the improved times will come.
Andy raises the point about possible over-training and injury if you ramp up the training too fast. So far it looks like you've pushed your body hard at times but it's responded and come back stronger and faster, so you are clearly staying the right side of the over-training line. Awareness of this line is important, but it can be subtle thing that can creep up on your over weeks. Lots of quality sleep, good food and taking it easy when you're body is feeling sore should keep you on the right track.
And... 7 weeks... is it really that close now, ouch.... still walking around like an old man after the Fling...
There's a lot more to my improvements than the weightloss, absolutely - be really interesting to see where things go this year. I think, in terms of over-training, I'm managing that by being generally inherently lazy, and also by mixing running with the gym work and occasional swim too. By not keeping the stress on joints/muscles repetitive from one type of activity alone, I think it's making things stronger, and a bit more resilient.
DeleteSleep is something I'm definitely improving this year, too - more from the perspective of how it helps my mental health, than my weightloss and training, but of course it's undeniable there's a connection there too.