16 miles... another 10??

Last Sunday, I ran about 14 miles and yesterday I ran just over 16. I'm finding this all a bit painful and wanted to curl up on the pavement by the end. The thought of running another 10 seems as agonising as climbing K2 at the moment ... but I suppose where's a will, there's a way and I shall be smiling (?!) around the course on 10 April in Brighton!

My knee is not too happy and I will be seeing my consultant on Thursday. And on Friday, I am off to Nepal for 2 weeks! Very exciting.... when I come back, I'll have to hardcore train and fundraise! I've raised a mere 100 pounds so far and was hoping for about 4,000 in total.  A lot of work to be done!

I found a new running route yesterday: to Angel, Kings Cross, around Regents Park, back to Angel and up to Clissold Park and home! Very nice although there is a bit of stopping involved due to pedestrians and stop lights....

Week 7...

Run on Sunday: pain, pain nothing but pain. From beginning to end. It was largely my fault though as I didn't eat anything before, brought nothing to drink, did not warm up/stretch. Taught me a valuable lesson about cutting corners, I suppose... ! But anyway, 2 hour run in the bag.

Monday: went to spinning. Was exhausted. Realised I need to eat more. Speaking of which, I have been gaining weight - not sure how that's possible?!

Tuesday: 5 mile run. 3 x 1,600 fast with 2 minute recoveries. It hurt but felt great at the same time. Not sure whether that makes any sense? My miles were very quick (for me). It makes me wonder why I am still so slow on the long runs. Given that my heart rate is quite low on the long runs maybe I should be pushing it a bit more.

Knee: touch and go at the moment. Ankle: not great. I really don't know if I'll be able to keep up the training (at this rate).

Ah well, enough whining! Onwards and upwards!

Sore knee, sore ankle

I've been pushing it with the run on Sunday and another quick five miles on Tuesday and 7 miles today. My knee is sore, my ankle is swollen. This does not bode too well. I'll try and keep going but it's a bit of a wait-and-see situation at the moment...

I've also just signed up for the BUPA 10k (that should be doable even with my knee...) which I ran last year and really enjoyed. I thought it might be fun to run it and see how I compare to last year. Let's be honest. If I am not quite a bit quicker this year, I won't be too happy. At the same time, I'm just not a fast runner and I'll have to accept that. Let's say.... 54 minutes. That should be doable. Surely?

Busy weekend ahead. Must go back to Snow and Rock, cycle/run tomorrow, walk in my hiking boots, dinner with various lovely people, then big run on Sunday and King's Speech. It's good to be busy though. And it promises to be a busy week at work next week...

26.2 miles - really??

On Sunday, I went for my first true "long run": 2 hours - roughly 11 miles (I went at a very slow/comfortable pace). And it was HARD. By the end of it, my legs ached, I was tired and could not possibly imagine how to run for another 3 hours. I still can't imagine running for 5 hours. It's Tuesday and my legs are still sore... My left knee seems to be ok - for now. It was a bit sore but I stretched a lot and went for an easy spinning class yesterday to ease the soreness (seems silly but it really helps).

So, what's next? Another 2 hour run on Sunday. 5 miles today, a spinning class tomorrow (if I can make it out of work), an 80 minute run on Thursday, some easy cycling on Friday, a short run on Saturday (possibly) and yeah... so on. I'm very torn between training as much as possible and getting enough rest - I'm finding it a difficult balance to strike.

There is a good chance that I'll go to Nepal for two weeks in February which means missing two weeks of crucial training (but hopefully trekking at a high altitude will be good for my cardio fitness...?).

The highlight of my run on Sunday was the discovery of an energy gel that is NOT horrible: SIS GO Energy Gel. Less gooey, less horrible than anything else I've tried!

News news news

I have been inspired to be a better blogger by http://7marathons7continents.blogspot.com/!

Training is going fairly well at the moment. My knee continues to be sore and my physio has warned that unless I can run for about 80 or 90 minutes this weekend, I probably won't be able to complete the marathon in April. I am determined to prove her wrong!

I've been back to spinning classes and running and am doing as much as possible to get fit very very quickly.

My training will, however, be interrupted (most likely) by a two week journey to Nepal! I am hoping to go to Nepal at the beginning of February to help out with DFN work and to trek. High altitude should get me fit very quickly, so I am obviously keen to do that. Dr Yarrow has suggested attempting to summit a 7,000 peak but I think she can tackle that by herself! Being Austrian, I know it's hard enough to go up to the 3,000-4,000m range....

So this is all fairly exciting - yet to be confirmed!

The pain of January....

Right. Back on track - more or less. January is proving to be difficult (in all sorts of ways). I ran for an hour yesterday though and am therefore sort of back on track with training.

Another hour today. Getting back to the spinning routine as well...  Playing catch up but it's proving to be a distraction and that's welcome...

Swine flu...

It wasn't quite swine flu but some nasty bug has put me out of commission for ten days in total... So, I am well and truly behind with my training. Up until then, things went well - physio seems to be helping my knee and spinning was getting me into shape (quickly).

Today is the first day back in the gym!