Well it only took me until week 3 to get behind with the blog update, whoops! A couple of days late but here is a little round up of Week 3 – I will warn you, it wasn’t particularly eventful, but not every week can be filled with races and PBs! Anyway, now that I have really enticed you into reading this… Enjoy!

Week 3 – WC 21st January 2019 

Monday

AM – Easy/Recovery 3 Miles

PM – Steady 7 Miles

You know the drill by now, its time for another double day! The previous week was a big one for me, and my legs were certainly feeling it on Monday morning. The 3 miles really dragged and I’ll be honest I really wasn’t looking forward to running again in the evening. But whadda you know, by the time the evening rolled around it felt like I had a new pair of legs! I did my usual route (I am very boring!) and the miles ticked by nice and quickly – the complete opposite to how the morning felt!

I do usually go to the gym on Monday and was due to go to with a friend in the evening (I usually go first thing!) But after walking in and seeing how busy it was, I sat on a mat for approximately 5 minutes, moaned, and quickly left. Note to self – don’t attempt the gym on a Monday evening in January! 

 

Tuesday

AM – Strength Training

PM – Club Night – Track 

After an early start coaching down at the track with mycrew I then headed to the gym to do my strength session I missed on Monday. I have started including Squats & Deadlifts into my sessions, and although its only been a few weeks, I am definitely noticing the difference & feeling stronger already!

Earlier in the week the weather really started to turn, which unfortunately meant the track turned into an ice rink, meaning we had to abandon our evening session and head over to the muddy, wet common instead (not impressed!) I was actually a little gutted as was really looking forward to heading back to the track, and I think it affected me a bit mentally – I really couldn’t be bothered! But, I was there, so I got it done! We ended up doing 8 x 2.30 minute efforts, with 60 second recovery.

This was also when I realised how much my legs were aching from the weekends efforts, so rather than being hard on myself for not giving 100%, I just ticked it off as another session down.

 

Wednesday

AM – Easy/Recovery 3 Miles

PM – Steady 6 Miles 

I’ll be honest, I am really not a fan of these easy morning runs. I’m tired, and they are always the day after a hard run so the last thing my legs want to do is run, but I am really starting to notice the benefit when I head out again in the evening… so they are worth it (or at least thats what I keep telling myself!) 

Same old same old again, another lonely 6 miles out and back to Clapham Common. It was dark, cold but I got the miles done and managed to keep a pretty good pace too, well once my legs had warmed up!

N.B If you have made it this far, well done! I really do feel like I need to apologise about how boring this week has been – but sometimes thats the reality of marathon training! 

 

Thursday

AM – Gym – Strength Training 

PM – Club Interval Session

Our Thursday club session was a little different this week, due to the National Cross Country Champs taking place on Saturday (SO GUTTED I MISSED IT) we skipped the usual hill session and once again headed over to the common (oh joy) for some speedy intervals.

I am still getting used to training with larger groups of people, it definitely has its benefits but can also mess with your head a little bit too! A lot of the men I train with are really really quick (a lot faster than me!) so a lot of the time I find myself at the back of the training group, which mentally can be hard. I automatically feel like I am running slower than I am, but 9/10 I am actually running the pace I should be, sometimes even quicker! Training with people that are quicker than you certainly can have its advantages & disadvantages but right now I find that it pushes me to work that little bit harder

 

Friday

REST DAY

The best day. Enough said!

 

Saturday

AM – Clapham Common Parkrun

One of my favourite days of the week, parkrun! This week I headed over to Clapham Common for the first time, and the best bit was meeting up with some of my PMGCoaching crew! During my time as a runner, I have learnt that you physically cannot go out every single week and run a PB and that some weeks you’ve just got to do your best and not get caught up on time. This was certainly one of those weeks. I didn’t have a bad run as such, but I was over a minute slower than the week before – just shows what a heavy week of training can do to your legs! A couple of years ago this would have REALLY bothered me and probably put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day (not even kidding) but again, I just ticked it off as another session done, and more miles in the bank!

 

Sunday

AM – Long Run (19 miles) 

We all have them, those sessions that you dread or at least look at and think ‘oh shiiiiiiiit’ – this was one of those! The plan was 5k @ Easy pace, 10k @ Marathon Pace, 5k @ Easy pace, 10k @ Marathon Pace, Cool Down.  Easy right?

It’s funny, although I have ran quicker than my marathon pace in recent races and for longer distances, when they are built into a long run like this they always seem so much more daunting (anyone else agree with this?) but, it was on the plan, so it had to be done!

Luckily I didn’t have to attempt this on my own! A friend from my new club is also training for London and has similar goals to me, which is great as it means we can train together and can help push each other when it gets tough!

I can honestly say that was the hardest long run I had ever done in marathon training. The first 10 miles flew by and I felt really comfortable during the first block of marathon pace miles, but by the time the second block came around I was really having to dig deep to stay on pace. We decided to head to Battersea Park so we could run laps without having to worry about stopping for traffic etc. Surprisingly I didn’t actually mind this, although there is a serious GPS issue around that area so it was really hard to gauge how accurate our splits were (first world problems, I know!) and it was also really really windy… but as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

By the time we had reached our final cool down mile, I was well and truly done. I felt exhausted! But overall I was really pleased with how the run went, and off the back of a hard week, and my highest mileage week it was a big confidence boost!

65 miles for the week. 3 weeks down, 13 weeks to go!

Jordan xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a fantastic first week, it is safe to say that week 2 was a mixed bag… it started off well, dipped in the middle and then thankfully picked back up again by the end of the week. I make no secret of the fact that running & the London Marathon means a hell of a lot to me, so when even the slightest thing goes slightly wrong, I go into a panic! For me this week it was down to some silly training mistakes… which thankfully, I have now learnt from and will not be doing again! Spoiler Alert: Doing two back to back F45 classes after a 60 mile week is NOT a good idea. 

Week 2 – WC 14th January 2019 

Monday

AM – Easy/Recovery 4 Miles

PM – Steady 7 Miles

PM – F45 Athletica Class

Monday again? Oh go on then! My legs were feeling good after my biggest ever week I was looking forward to building up my mileage and getting some more big sessions in. I started the day with an Easy 4 miles, and I wont lie, as soon as I started running I suddenly felt the previous weeks efforts! One thing I have been guilty of in the past is running my ‘easy runs’ too quickly, so recently I have been trying to make a conscious effort to slowwwwwwwww down, and I am definitely seeing the benefits when I head out for my second run of the day. So 11 miles done, job done! Although I wasn’t quite finished and in my ‘say yes and do everything’ attitude I had purchased a week class pass for the local F45 studio (absolute bargain btw – £20!!) and enthusiastically signed up for a class every day of the week (I told you I was being an idiot!) but anyway, I headed to the class which was a mixture of strength & cardio all done at max intensity, for 45 minutes. I do love this type of training! It was hard work, sweaty and my whole body was aching by the end of it but I was feeling good!

Tuesday

AM – F45 MKATZ Class

PM –  Track Session

One word – OUCH!!! Although I train a lot and regularly strength train, my body clearly wasn’t used to the high intensity format of the class. I was aching all over. So obviously the sensible thing to do would be to skip the class to ensure I felt good for track in the evening right? Well yes, but unfortunately I decided to do the complete opposite and headed to my second class in 24 hours! GOOD ONE! After the class I was well and truly finished. My whole body had DOMS and I just felt wiped!

It also didn’t help that work was absolutely mental, I had a million and one things to do, so by the time it got to mid afternoon I was not only physically, but mentally exhausted too. I had a nap in the hopes it would give me some energy, I woke up in time for the session but just felt drained, achey and hungry. So rather than keep making the same mistake, I put away my trainers, had some dinner and got an early night.

I didn’t feel guilty about missing my session, I was just annoyed with myself that I had overdone it which resulted in me missing key training, but luckily… this is only week 2!

 

Wednesday

AM – Easy 6 Miles

PM – Steady 6 Miles 

Two words – DOUBLE OUCH! So the DOMS had well and truly hit, I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I ached this much. Even walking hurt! I had arranged to meet up with my friend Sally for some chatty miles in the morning, and for the first time in a long time, I actually felt anxious about going for a run. I was seriously worried that my legs weren’t going to work and I wouldn’t be able to run (did I mention I can *sometimes* get a little overdramatic?!) and I came very close to cancelling my run date. But, after some very pathetic messages to Sally basically begging her to go easy on me, I headed to Putney for our run! Thankfully she was up for some chatty easy miles, and what do you know.. as soon as we started running my legs felt loads better! Surprise surprise, I got worked up for nothing! Sometimes some easy chatty miles is all you need!

 

Thursday

AM – Progressive 7 Miles

My legs were FINALLY starting to feel back to normal, and although they were still a bit sore I was determined not to miss another run. I headed out with no expectations, and just let me legs do all the work. I started off at a comfortable place, and then luckily as I warmed up, I fond my natural pace and got progressively faster as the miles ticked by. Phew! Panic over. My legs still worked and I hadn’t completely broken my body (again, not being dramatic AT ALL!)

I had booked a sports massage with the highly recommended Function360 Physiotherapy  for the afternoon – I couldn’t wait! It had been far too long since my last sports massage, and now that my mileage & training is increasing I need to make sure I am giving my body the TLC it deserves. As much as I love a good massage, if you haven’t had one in a while, they are not what I would describe as an enjoyable experience! Every single muscle in my legs felt sore, and I spent most of the session clenching my fists and screwing my face as I winced in pain (if you have never had a sports massage before I know I am probably not selling it, but TRUST ME it’s so worth it!) but it did the trick! My legs felt SO much better after the session, and it just reminded me how important they are when you are training for a marathon… this will be the first of many visits during this training block, and I am already looking forward to my next one (well, sort of!).

Friday

REST DAY

HELL TO THE YEAH! Even though I had missed sessions this week, I was respecting how knackered my body had felt and didn’t try to play catch up. It was far from a relaxing day though, it was an early start (and my first real experience of the tube at rush hour, not fun!) as I headed back to Peterborough ready for a super busy weekend!

Saturday 

AM – Parkrun & The National Running Show

I had been looking forward to this weekend for ages! It was the first time I was meeting lots of PMGCoaching members and also lots of other amazing people from Instagram, and it’s safe to say the day didn’t disappoint!

Before the show myself and a few others decided to meet up at Kingsbury Water Parkrun (any excuse for Parkrun tourism!) I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go, my up and down week was playing in the back of mind, but as soon as we lined up ready to go, I couldn’t help myself and just went for it! And the result.. a brand new PB! I finally dipped back under 18 minutes and clocked 17.47!! I couldn’t believe it! The icing on the cake was then later in the day when I found out I had got the 4th fastest female time in the UK that weekend!! It made me realise that although I had been stupid earlier in the week, taking it easier for a few days and looking after myself was 100% the right thing to do – running well is a lot more than just getting the miles in!

After Parkrun I then headed to the NEC for the show and ready to meet even more members of PMGCoaching. It was such an amazing day! I got to meet and chat to so many people and caught up with some of my faves! I can’t wait for next year already!

SUNDAY

Race – Folksworth 15 

Ahhhh! My first key marathon training race… that came around quickly! I have done this race twice before, with last year being the toughest race I have EVER done (running in a blizzard is NOT fun) so I was really looking forward to getting out there and seeing what I could do. I did have a goal time in mind.. I wanted sub 1.40 and my other (secret) goal was that I wanted to win (I’ve got a competitive nature, I can’t help it)

The weather conditions were PERFECT! It was pretty cold but the sun was shining, it wasn’t windy and there was absolutely no chance of a blizzard so it was automatically a million times better than the year before. I was feeling confident but I also knew that I couldn’t get too carried away at the start, there are some monster hills on the course and I wanted to make sure I felt strong for all of them.

I set off a little quicker than I planned (whoops) but I wasn’t being a complete idiot and soon settled into a comfortably hard pace. Just after the first mile we were welcomed with the first challenging hill of the course, my pace naturally dropped a little but I didn’t push it and just concentrated on getting to the top, which was then followed by a really steep downhill slope, again I ran within myself and kept it steady, I always have visions that if I go too crazy I’ll end up flat on my face, which I definitely didn’t want to happen! Just as I settled back into my pace, it was then time for another beast of a hill! Personally this is my least favourite one, it’s not as steep but one of those horrible, long, gradual, energy sucking climbs.. but trying to be as positive as ever, I was just mentally ticking them off. 2 down, 4 to go!

The remainder of the 1st lap flew by, lots of long flat sections before reaching the 3rd and final big hill climb. Phew! One lap down.. now just to do it all again and try and keep a consistent pace. Easy right?

I was feeling good but definitely felt my legs getting tired, so at mile 8 I took a Caffeine Bullet and waited patiently for its to work it’s magic. I personally have never had any adverse side effects (💩) and have used them in my last few long distance races as they really work for me. My legs were still feeling tired but my pace wasn’t dropping, result!

The 2nd lap seemed to go by in a flash! I knew what to expect from the hills this time, and I’m really pleased I managed to keep my splits pretty consistent with the first lap. Before I knew it I was approaching the last couple of miles, and I realised then that as long as I kept a similar sort of pace I would be well under my sub 1.40 goal!

The final mile started at the bottom of the last hill (thanks for that) and that was probably when I ran my slowest in the whole race. I can really tell when I’m tired on hills as my stride seems to be half of what it usually is, but once we got that out of the way it was the home straight!

I crossed the line in 1.35.44 – over a 14 minute PB from the year before, and I felt great! I didn’t feel completely broken and thought that just maybe with another 14 weeks of training my goal marathon pace isn’t as out of reach or as scary as I thought… bring it on!

This race, and the whole weekend, has been a huge confidence boost for me. And I hope it just proves that with hard work, motivation and consistency you can, and WILL improve. Here are my splits from 2018 v 2019.

So, that’s week 2 done and dusted! 45 miles in the bag. Lessons learnt & 2 new PBs. 14 weeks to go…. !

Jordan xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, here we are. The start of 2019 and the start of another London Marathon training block, I honestly cannot believe how quickly this has come around! I have set myself a huge goal for the marathon this year, which means my training is going to ramp up a notch! I am going to be using my blog as my training diary, I will share the good, the bad and everything in between, and I hope you enjoy sharing the journey with me.

Also, I am not going to be posting every single stat/detail about my runs or sessions. If you would like to follow me on Strava then please click here. 

Week 1 – WC 7th January 2019 

Monday

AM – Easy/Recovery 4 Miles

Gym – Strength Training 

 PM – Steady 6 Miles 

For this block of training, my mileage is increasing which means a couple of days a week I run twice a day. I introduced this into my training back in December to get my body used to the build up, and I actually find it really beneficial, especially when I have had a hard day before! The aim of the morning run is to just shake the legs off, no pressure on pace or speed (which is good as my legs were feeling it from Sundays efforts!) and then pick up the pace a little for the evening run. Which so far, has been working really well!

If you have been following me for a while then you know I am a huge advocate for Strength Training so I always make sure I add at least two sessions a week to my schedule. I have previously done two Strength & Conditioning posts for and Upper & Lower Body workout, and I will be adding more in the near future.

Here is a little video of what I got up to this week

10 miles & day one, done!

Tuesday

AM – Cardio Circuit Class (Fiit) 

Before I moved, I used to regularly attend a Bootcamp/Circuit style class on a Tuesday morning. I have really missed it, and although my gym does do classes, I havent managed to get along to one yet. I have started using the Fiit app which has hundreds of workouts that are led by qualified instructors, all of which you can do from the comfort of your own home! I picked a cardio circuit class which was only 25 minutes long, but definitely hard work and was a good way to get a sweat on before lunch time!

Full disclosure – I was gifted premium membership from FIIT which includes unlimited free classes, a Heart Rate Monitor and exclusive offers. Thank you.

PM – Track 

Ah good old #TrackTuesdays – love it or hate it, speed work is key when marathon training, and it is something I always include (no matter how much I moan about it!) Tonight was my first official track night with my new club, and I can honestly say it was the toughest track session I have ever done! I have never trained with such a large (or fast!) group before and it really pushed me to run faster, and more consistently then I have ever ran before! The session was 8 x 500m/60s rest/300m/60s rest and it was not pretty! But it was just what I needed and gave me a huge confidence boost going into my first week of training.

Wednesday 

AM – Easy/Recovery 3 Miles

PM – Steady 7 

Ah another #doubleday – these sure do come around quickly! I won’t lie, my legs were sore on Wednesday morning! They were so heavy, it felt like I was trying to run through treacle! I forgot how much a tough track session destroys your legs.

For my evening run I was doing something a little different, I was heading to the Olympic Park to the Run Through Chase The Moon Event. I was really excited as I was asked to lead the warm ups at the start of the race (although not sure if you could call it that, it was FREEZING) and then I had the chance to run the 10k afterwards. I am usually guilty of ‘racing’ every single race I do, I cant even trust myself at parkrun! But I had a plan, and I am pleased to say I stuck to it! I ran a nice steady pace the whole way round, and tagged an extra mile on the end to hit my mileage. Result!

Thursday

AM – Gym – Strength Training

PM – Long Run/Hill Session

This is fast becoming a day I love to hate. Mainly because I know its going to be hard work! Thursday is a club night and we train hills – a necessary evil! As I now live in London, I no longer have my car, so to get to my sessions most of the time I run there rather then relying on the tube. It’s a really good way to get those extra miles in, but also makes this tough session that little bit harder! On average these nights end up being around 10-11 miles and means I don’t get home till around 9pm. Its tough, but I just keep telling myself it will all be worth it (hopefully!) on the 28th April! The session tonight was 10 x 60 second hill efforts. Why is it that 60 seconds seems so much longer when you are running up hill?!

Friday 

REST DAY

The most important day in any training plan! I was so looking forward to today. My legs are definitely feeling the increase in mileage & harder sessions this week. I had a good old roll & stretch session and also did a relaxing Yoga class through the FIIT app.

Saturday

AM – Jaybird Sport Meet Up (Easy 5km)

Gym – Strength Training

Thanks to my rubbish body clock, for some reason I was wide awake at 5.30am on Saturday morning, I couldn’t get back to sleep so I took myself to the gym and did one of my allocated strength sessions. I wouldn’t usually train at the gym on the weekend but as I was having an easy run day I decided to get an extra gym session in.

I then headed into Central London to meet up with the rest of the Jaybird Runners team! My legs were feeling a lot better after my rest day, but we kept it pretty easy with an easy paced 5km around Hyde Park! In a way I was quite glad I didn’t make it to Parkrun as I probably would have pushed it and tried to run fast!

Sunday

AM – 17 Miles 

I had been looking forward to this all week! I know I might sound like a weirdo, but if you hadn’t guessed already… I love marathon training, and especially the Sunday long run! I made plans to go with a friend, I reaaaaally wanted to go to Richmond Park, so thats what we did! No pressure on pace, just some nice chatty miles, and we only got lost a handful of times (my speciality!)

Ending the week on 58 miles, my highest ever mileage week! Roll on Week 2!

Jordan xx