Training Week 34 Recap

Hej!

I've just returned from a weekend trip in Stockholm. I was thinking whether it was better to stay in Oslo and concentrate on training, because the weather in Stockholm was so horrible! But actually it's not any better here in Oslo as well. No doubt the trip to Stockholm curtailed my mileage seriously this week, but as soon as I got back to a rainy Oslo I managed to get in some much needed mileage, and I even upped the intensity to make up for the lack of running this weekend. You just have to do what you gotta do, and if the rain gods come out to play then so be it!

Despite the crap weather, Stockholm was a great place and I highly recommend it. I didn't see any of the folks from ABBA, unfortunately. But enough about that, let's see how I did this week.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 34 mins 26 secs, 5.3 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 33 mins 1 secs, 5.1 km.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 38 mins 15 secs, 5.7 km.

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 33 mins 34 secs, 5.3 km.

Thursday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 75 mins, 13.32 km.

Detail: Warm up for 16 mins (2.4 km). 10 mins of threshold with 90 secs recovery (2.4 km). 5 x 3 mins at 10k pace with 90 secs recovery (740m - 750m). 10 mins of threshold with 90 secs recovery (2.4 km). Cool down for approx 15 mins (2.4 km).

Sunday

Type: Continuous hills

Time and Distance: 100 mins, 18.4 km.

Detail: Warm up for 11 mins. 10 sets of 5 mins at threshold with 60 secs recovery. Cool down for approx 30 mins.

Total Weekly Distance: 53.12 km

Comments: Another sub-standard week. Because I decided to holiday in Stockholm this weekend, it affected my weekend runs - specifically the long run session, the continuous hills session and a recovery session. After returning from Stockholm there was only time for one session, and it was a no-brainer which one I decided to do. Instead of doing 6 sets of continuous hills as prescribed, I decided to do 10! And it really felt great! Because I had to forego the long run, I decided to incorporate my warm-ups and cool-downs at my typical long run pace, whilst also dragging out the cool-down phase to 30 mins, and I didn't really feel that tired afterwards as well, so I guess that's a positive!

Improvements: Week 8 marks the halfway point of my marathon preparation. The long run is now reaching 2.5 hours, and there will be more interval work at Bislett Stadion for me, so I'm really looking forward to that! There will be no holiday for me this weekend, so let's see if I can break 90 km in mileage this week!

Well, this week wasn't a total loss. Remember, success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. Even though I didn't get in all my runs this week, as long as I stay consistent from here on in (and also plan my weekend holidays more judiciously), then I will definitely get better (fingers crossed!).

Time to sleep now - a hard run, digesting a big dinner, and writing all my thoughts down (as well as walking around like a tourist in Stockholm) has drained my batteries!

The hard work starts now!

Aaron

Training Week 33 Recap

Hi all,

This has been a slightly easier week for me in the sense that I didn't do any high mileage or many hard sessions. Just as so because I have just relocated to Oslo, and it takes time to get into things in a new city even though your training still goes at a fast pace. This week was all about testing my progress, so let's see how it went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 29 mins, 4 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 28 mins 51 secs, 4.4 km.

Thursday

Type: Marathon pace

Time and Distance: 57 mins 38 secs, 11.7 km.

Detail: Started easy for 26 mins, then increased the pace to goal marathon pace for the next 31 mins. Covered approx 7.5 km in the marathon pace session.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 32 mins 6 secs, 5.3 km.

Saturday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 51 mins 50 secs, 7.6 km.

Sunday

Type: Marathon pace

Time and Distance: 141 mins 1 sec, 27.9 km.

Detail: Easy for 15 mins, then a half marathon at goal marathon pace, then easy for 30 mins.

Total Weekly Distance: 61 km

Comments: Not a great week. This week was all about testing my progress and the results have been mixed. The acid test was the half marathon at goal marathon pace, and by that I should have done this in 1:30 and still feel in control. Instead I was 6 minutes off the pace. If I were to point the finger (and it's really easy to do this when things don't go your way), I would have to blame the heat, as I did this run at 2 pm in the afternoon while the sun was high in the sky with no cloud cover. Was feeling good at the 4 km mark, but things got harder and I got slower. Overall, it's not encouraging.

Improvements: Week 7 is back to the grind with more mixed pace running and continuous hills. I will have to see how I can get the most out of every session from now on.

If there's one thing to look forward to, it is the amount of quality running I can do in the future. I live very very close to Bislett Stadion, the most well-known sports arena internationally, the venue of the IAAF sanctioned Bislett Games, and the place where many athletic legends have broken world records. Here are some pictures.

The entrance to Bislett Stadion

At the entrance of Bislet Stadion are two statues of Norwegian sporting legends, once of which is former Norwegian marathon runner Grete Waitz. The other is speed skater, Hjalmar Andersen.

The interior of Bislett Stadion. Something tells me I'll be spending quite a lot of time here. And the best thing, even for such a prestigious sporting venue: it is free and open to the public!

Time to grab something to eat, and maybe reflect on my less-than-stellar run this afternoon. I wonder what would have been if the weather wasn't so hot.

Cheers!

Aaron

Training Week 32 Recap

Hey guys,

Another very hard week for me, with increased training demands and juggling relocation as well. Thankfully I've managed to bank all my runs this week and the mileage has increased from last week by a little. Here's how this week went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 29 mins 6 secs, 4.2 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 27 mins 18 secs, 4 km.

Type: Threshold

Time and Distance: 58 mins 34 secs, 11.6 km.

Detail: Warm up for 15 mins. 30 mins at threshold pace.

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 58 mins 54 secs, 8.4 km.

Thursday

Type: Mixed pace

Time and Distance: 70 mins 33 secs, 13.5 km.

Detail: Warm up for 15 mins. 10 mins of threshold with 90 secs recovery. 4 x 3 mins at 10k pace with 90 secs recovery. 10 mins of threshold with 90 secs recovery. Cool down for 15 mins.

Saturday

Type: Continuous hills

Time and Distance: 63 mins, 11.42 km.

Detail: 15 mins warmup. 3 sets of 12 mins at threshold with 90 seconds recovery. 15 mins cooldown.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 29 mins 24 secs, 4.4 km.

Sunday

Type: Long run

Time and Distance: 120 mins, 21.6 km.

Total Weekly Distance: 79.12 km

Comments: More huge mileage this week, but only slightly higher than last week. Last week had 2 longish runs, while this week focused on faster running. On the day of Sunday's long run, I actually felt like skipping it as I didn't get that much sleep the night before. But I still did it anyway, albeit at a reduced pace than my other long runs. I'm glad to have banked more miles that morning, otherwise I wouldn't have made 60 km this week!

Improvements: Week 6 is going to test the progress I have made since I first started. There will be two runs at my goal marathon pace, including a half marathon distance done at goal race pace. That means I have to run this in 1:30 or under!!!!! I've never done this before in a training or a race setting before. It will be interesting to see how that goes!

Tomorrow I will be relocating to Oslo, Norway, for around 3 or so months, to experience a new culture and working environment (still working with the same company). Relocation is always crazy, but I've managed to plan this one out well, and still do my 8 runs a week, so I guess I'll pat myself on the back for that. Hopefully running in Oslo will be a good experience, i.e. not crazy hot like in the UK of late, good surfaces, a few hills, or even a flat stretch of road to do some speedwork. I hope for a smooth transition tomorrow, and hopefully it won't disrupt the coming week's training as well.

Now, it's time to grab something to eat and find a place to watch the World Cup Final! Since Germany got knocked out (and came 3rd in last night's match), I'm going to support the Dutch tonight. Hopefully it will be a cracker of a final. GO ORANGE!

Cheers!

Aaron

Training Week 31 Recap

Hey guys,

This has been a very hard week for me, with work commitments suddenly increasing and also a "relocation" tossed in for good measure (more on that later)! The good thing is that I've managed to bank all my runs this week and the mileage has really started to go up into new heights. Here's how this week went.

Monday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 28 mins 36 secs, 4.1 km.

Tuesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 28 mins 29 secs, 4.2 km.

Type: Threshold

Time and Distance: 70 mins 43secs, 13.3 km.

Detail: Warm up for 15 mins. 3 x 12 mins at threshold pace. Each 12 mins covered around 2800-2900m.

Wednesday

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 44 mins 12 secs, 6.7 km.

Thursday

Type: Easy long run

Time and Distance: 75 mins, 14.9 km.

Saturday

Type: Continuous hills

Time and Distance: 63 mins 18 secs, 10.8 km.

Detail: 15 mins warmup. 3 sets of 10 mins at threshold with 90 seconds recovery. 15 mins cooldown.

Type: Recovery

Time and Distance: 30 mins, 4.42 km.

Sunday

Type: Long run

Time and Distance: 105 mins, 20.4 km.

Total Weekly Distance: 78.82 km

Comments: Huge mileage this week, and even more remarkable was that I did this in a crazy week. The long runs are getting longer, and the threshold runs are building up in frequency. It's hard to put in 8 runs a week consistently, especially when work decides to start ruling your life, so I am hoping that I keep banking those miles again and again.

Improvements: Week 5 of the sub-3 hours training programme is starting to become very serious. The long run is now 2 hours, the hill sessions are harder, and the threshold runs are now starting to be mixed up with real pace work, i.e. running at speeds close to my 10K pace. 10K pace is going to be faster than my threshold pace, so expect high mileage this week!

I mentioned the dreaded word "relocation" earlier, and I've decided to relocate to Oslo, Norway, in mid-July for around 3 or so months, to experience a new culture and working environment (still working with the same company). While relocation is never a good thing to go through (all that packing and moving and the stress of it all), hopefully the cooler Oslo climate will help with my running. It's crazy hot here in the UK and the heat is making the running a little uncomfortable. I've had to rearrange my running schedule to only run when it's cool, but the sun is already out and blazing at 7:30 a.m. in the morning, and I'm not really a morning person as well.

Now, off to do some packing, and also to catch the Wimbledon final on TV!

Cheers!

Aaron