And it begins!

Last week I started training for my first marathon – Loch Ness on September 29th. After last year’s injury training for Edinburgh marathon, I’m more determined than ever to reach that finish line.

My PT has kindly created a plan for me, one that’s all about increasing the mileage sensibly and getting that endurance sorted. She sees me every week so will be able to offer advice or tell me to back off… I promise to listen!!!

Here is how my first week went.

W/C 3rd June Monday

So this was a rest / yoga day, so it was a great way to kick off the plan!

Tuesday

Tuesday will be my interval sessions. I will be taking part and leading sessions with my running club in the local park.

This week was a straight forward session of running the big loop at an effort and recovering using the smaller loop. Here is a map for reference:

There were no set paces, but I aimed to progressively get quicker each time. Naturally, I set off too fast (it’s hard not to!) which meant I found it difficult to judge each effort.

By some miracle, I did technically get quicker with each effort by just a few seconds! I could also claim that I ran consistent paces but I want to be honest and admit that it wasn’t the plan. The most important effort, the last one was the quickest so I’m really pleased with that.

I did find it difficult but I’m proud for taking those first steps.

Wednesday

Moving forward, Wednesday will be an active recovery or rest day. This week however I had my PT session due to availability. This was heavily glute focused and I definitely felt it the next day!

It probably didn’t help that I also went on a hike earlier that day but it was worth it!

Thursday

The plan was to run a 5 mile steady run, which was with my running club. On a Thursday I run with the Bronze group and we go on some interesting routes…! Sometimes I plan them, but this week it was my friend Nigel’s turn (even though he was in London at the time). The route was enjoyable apart from the loooong stretch up Longwood Edge at the end. I run up it often as I live nearby, but always at the start of the run.

Having it at the end really tested my mental strength to keep going. I succeeded and it was the strongest I’d felt in a while. Strong as in, I didn’t feel overly exhausted.

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday

So Saturday means parkrun for me. It’s just a mile from my house so it’s silly not to run down there and take part.

This week however, Huddersfield parkrun was off due to another event in the park. In the past, I’d just do my own 5k nearby. I was very lucky to get a lift today from my friends to York parkrun.

York parkrun takes place at the racecourse and it is massive! We had to walk to the other side to get to the start line. The course is a lap and a half and it’s thankfully flat.

I felt really good which is something I’ve struggled with recently due to multiple factors. I decided to keep the 30 minute pacer in my sights. I soon ran with him and realised, I could go ahead.

I spent the rest of the run focusing hard on him not catching up to me and I succeeded with a time of 29:18. Thank goodness! Running round a racecourse is a challenge, yes it is flat but it’s also boring. I entertained myself by focusing on a runner ahead and seeing if I could catch them. It was a great morning.

Sunday

Today I had a ten mile run on the plan, something I was more than confident of doing. My only worry was if I was able to do it comfortably. I have recently found everything so exhausting, could I last ten miles?

I ran along the Calder & Hebble Navigation canal from Brighouse towards Sowerby Bridge. I was kindly given a lift by my friend Nigel who had his own run planned and along the route. I also saw some fellow Lindley Runners which was a great boost.

I set off a little bit too fast, the excitement of running somewhere different got to me. I soon settled into a rhythm reminding myself there’s no rush.

My Garmin told me it thought I could run it in 1hr 53 minutes. I thought this was reasonable with how poorly I’ve been running recently. Of course, the plan said ten miles easy so this would have been an ideal pace.

However, the time was there at the back of my mind. When it got to the last few miles I saw the time on my watch and knew I would easily achieve 1hr 50 minutes. So I did push it a little towards the end and achieved 1hr 47 minutes. My fastest ten miles in 6 months. Whoopsie!

I felt a bit tired later that day but not to the extent I have been. Most encouragingly, as I write this on Monday evening I feel fine!

Week 1 thoughts

I’m really pleased with this first week. It has been the first time in a while that I have felt in control of my running. I can run up hills steadily and not feel ruined. I can keep a consistent pace at 5k to reach my goal.

There is a long way to go, 16 more weeks in fact. But I’ve not had a win for a while so I’m taking it.