Judith's Marathon Journey

Yet more wild and windy weather forces me back to the treadmill!  Ran to Kilbirnie Park to pick up some cricket gear, but after that – the treadmill… about 5k altogether, finishing with 5 x 100m strides…

Then weights…

Ran to the gym then made up to 5k on the treadmill.  It’s good that my ‘easy’ pace on the treadmill has moved from a plodding 7min/km to 6:40, even 6:30 on a good day – must be doing something right.

This was followed by a Pilates class.  I call it ‘hard’ – instructor calls it ‘challenging’!

Yesterday was a rest day, and today just the ExpressFit class…

There were only two of us at the class, so I guess we worked a bit harder with all that individual attention!  But it wasn’t too bad – I surprised my self by managing step-ups on to a bench! But it exposed how ‘wobbly’ I am – still work to do on core strength, obviously!

Tuesday started with FitExpress – we really are racking up the intensity! We now have a food diary and weekly goals to complete, and it feels serious!

I experimented with a protein supplement – just like a chocolate milkshake – for lunch, with scrambled eggs.  Just trying to ramp up the protein.  With the race to come in the evening, I needed to be fuelled but I have to be careful what I eat prior to a race because I tend to throw up!  Often I eat very little on a Tuesday, so this was quite a change – and it worked!

After a 1k jog to the start, I managed the 5k in 29:55 – which was slower than I’d like, but the northerly head wind for the last km was a bit of a handful!  Without that I would have been on target for a better time… The good part was that I felt pretty strong through the race – and I didn’t throw up!

So I need to work harder on eating more! Probably more protein….

Ran about 5k – the last half on the treadmill.  Then worked on strength exercises – managed 2 x 8 reps of about 80kg on the leg press! And the overhead press exercise seemed easier this week.  Not so the press-ups!

Sunday came and went without a long run!  Or any run!  I was feeling off-colour – queasy gut – a good sign that all is not well.  I’ve certainly struggled with the intensity of the work I’ve been putting in, so I decided to take another rest day, and think about what’s going wrong.

I’m going to have an easy week this coming week – although Tuesday will inevitably be quite intense, with ExpressFit in the morning and the 5k race in the evening.  But I’ll cut the ks down to 30 – which was probably due anyway.  But instead of ramping it straight up again next week, I’ll just do the 10% increase thingy again.  I should still be in good shape to start specific training for the Round the Bays half-marathon by early December.

Yesterday, Day 19, was a much-needed rest day…. Should have been a Pilates day, but I needed the sleep more!

Today started with a 1k jog into gale-force winds to my boys’ cricket match, which we abandoned after a handful of overs… So off to the gym.  No chance of continuing to run outside in that!  So 4k on the treadmill, finishing with 5 lots of 100m strides – just because even 4k is BORING on the treadmill!

Followed up with weights and a good stretch.  Then a lazy Saturday afternoon….

The Day X title is getting a little monotonous – promise to do something about it, but not right now!

Today was a hard slog…. started with 5k on the treadmill – but I was a bit late for FitExpress, so I ramped up the speed over the last km to get finished!

Then Jess decided we needed to be extended in our circuit!  Why today???  So exhausted – still sore and sorry 8 hours later!

Looking forward to my rest day tomorrow!

Yesterday – long(ish) run home from work: Molesworth Street to Kilbirnie via the Bays.  About 8km, in 55:25 – sounds a bit slow, but I was happy with the effort – I was carrying my backpack, after all!

It was a lovely evening – strong northerly helped the cause!  The forecast had been for thunderstorms with hail – but all that eventuated was a bit of a drizzle as I reached Kilbirnie shops!

I’m a day behind with the posts – had trouble finding my way to the blog last night!  For some reason, the way I had logged in every other time didn’t work!  Figured it out this morning! So record intact….

ExpressFit this morning – many of the exercises were variations of squats – and I love squats!  So really enjoyed this workout.

I went back to the gym this afternoon to run on the treadmill – it was so, so windy out that I decided not to do the usual Tuesday 5k race.  Instead I churned out 5 x 400m on the treadmill at faster than 5k race pace, and finished with some ‘strides’ – total, including a warm-up jog, of 6km – in about 38 minutes.

So double training today – I’m pretty tired now – although mostly mentally. I hope I’m physically tiered enough for a good night’s sleep!