So, what else? Well, I'm in a rest/recovery week, and then from Monday my VLM training begins!! Eeeek. :-) I've got someone writing me a training programme, so I don't have to worry too much about that, I just have to get out and get it done... I'm under no illusions about how challenging this is going to be! I've decided to join Strava too, for added accountability and support - and for whatever else the programme will help me with. With 28 weeks to go until the marathon, I have a lot to do, and a lot to learn.
I looked back on the 17 weeks of training I did for the half marathon, and it was pretty eye-opening really. I did 73 training runs, covering 333 miles... incredible, for me!! But what was even better was when I looked at my average pace per week (in minutes per mile). It's a fairly reasonable comparison to make - each week included a speed session, a long run, and a couple of other runs, and really the pace only differs on those weeks where I had a race, or went after a parkrun PB. Over the 17 weeks, I beat my 5km PB twice, beat my 10k PB, and took over 8 minutes off my half marathon PB. Insane! But it's this chart that shows the bigger picture, the general trendline, and that I'm rather enjoying looking at:
Anyway. This was just a wee update to let you know I made it through the half marathon alive, and my sub-2:30 goal was very definitely met. The race report will follow, hopefully in a day or two - and then I move straight into training for a marathon! Plus moving back to that focussed approach to eating that I had between January and June this year, then lost completely... It's time to get that back on track. It's generally a very unusual time for me, but exciting - I'm changing my daily routines around, to allow me to train consistently over winter without worrying about safety in the dark, and I'm taking positive steps all over the place. I'm still getting my head around a lot of it! Back soon, with more to say... x x
Well done on the great half marathon time and PB. Your graph of training paces illustrates where this time came from and how it was earned through consistent dieting followed by consistent training. There are no easy routes to such big improvements.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the lull on the diet front is related to increase in training load. Doing more training certainly makes the body crave more nutrients, especially when you bang out high intensity or longer runs. It's certainly easy to give into temptation and grab low micro nutrient but high calorie food when your depleted.
I suspect it's more than just about the body needing to replace burnt calories, I suspect the will power required to do hard interval sessions, do long runs and do races all eats into the will power we have left over to resist temptation on the food front, so it's a double whammy - you body actually needs to replenish nutrients so craves them, and your used up all your will power to resist temptation for a quick fix.
I'd even go further than this and consider how our core motivations affect our will power w.r.t different things in the lifestyle we choose at different times. If your core motivation is weight loss then missing a work out in less important than slipping on a meal and visa-versa. Could it be that your core motivation shifted through the year from making progress on the scales to making progress on the race results?
Loosing weight has been a big factor in your improved running performances this year - especially in the first 6 months, while improved training has been the big factor since. To make further strides forward on both you may need to consciously balance your goals. This might be that you opt to make training a little less intense and will power draining so that you can more easily regain focus on getting your weight down. Anticipating when will power and energy levels will be depleted and avoiding them, defusing them or doing something positive about it when you get to these points. Prior planning might help here - preparing post exercise meals prior to doing the exercise might help avoid the temptation to make poorer choices.
When looking at your marathon training planning I'd recommend looking at it in context with the rest of your life and adapting it need be to fit with the ebb and flow of motivation/will power that you'll have available for all the challenges life throws at you. The optimum marathon training plan for a dieter/runner will be different to that of a runner who's not planning to loose weight as well.