Friday's tempo run on Saturday

Saturday:  Tempo Run

1 mile E: 11:31

2 mile T: 9:47

3 mile T: 9:31

4 mile E: 10:21

Total: 40:30

Many, many thanks to Johann, The Yogi, Beth and Frank for your encouraging words on my last post.  I had lost a little perspective on the whole training thing, and I was especially concerned about the quantity of miles I have been running.  Week 7 is almost at the halfway mark, and since it took me a while to get my head into the programme, I felt a bit panicky that I may turn up on 21 November and find that it was just not enough.
Since then, I have tried reading a bit more around Matt Fitzgerald's work, and since today's run was a tempo run, I found the means to renew my faith in the programme with this great article from Runner's World.  Indeed, today was really good.  I put my back into it, and was pleased with the result!  I am starting to see how quality sessions make you feel better about your training, and you can see the improvement if you continue.  Since I have never actually followed a programme of any sort, this observation is consistent with what all of you have said in your comments.
Well then, I am going to stick with this programme, and work at it.  I am quite curious to see the results in November.  Initially, when deciding on a programme, I almost went with Tim Noakes's Lore of Running programme.  Tim Noakes was at my alma mater (and might still be), and is a guru in the art of running.  I chickened out of following his programme mainly because Tim has you running for periods of time, rather than numbers of miles, and I did not feel a confident enough runner to do this in preparation for a marathon.
Still, the book is phenomenal.  I have a tatty, old third edition (1991), but it is revolutionary, considering what he said during the 80's is what people like Matt Fitzgerald are saying today.  There are definitely some chapters that I will be re-reading as this book is really worth it's weight in gold.  Who knows, one day I might be daring enough to give one of his programmes a go!

Running in autumn

After I signed up for Hyannis on Sunday, it seemed like a good idea to get more runs in outside. My hope is that I will start running OUTSIDE in the mornings, before work. It's easy enough on the treadmill, but when I run outside, I seem to need a lot of time to get my head together, my stuff and finally set off - naturally after checking my email and facebook.
So far this week I have been out twice, and it is really good to run outdoors at the moment. The colours in New England during autumn are incredible, and it is still quite mild. However, I have not quite managed the early start I was hoping for, so hopefully tomorrow will be a charm! I have already set out the espresso moka and my clothes, now all I have to do is set the alarm and I should be good.
I took the week off from my programme as I found I needed a bit of a rest, and just needed to go for straight runs. So no speed or hills this week. I have tried a few fartleks during my runs, but nothing really structured. I am enjoying the simplicity of these runs, but most of all, I hope to have established a bit of a pattern that will make it easier next week when I go back to the programme and running outdoors.
On a different note, I did not sign up for a Turkey Trot this year, reason being that I would like to do my run tomorrow that is earlier than 11 am. I am also planning a nice lunch, so would like to do everything with a degree of calm, rather than the mad rush that it was after last year's race. Well, that's it for the moment, I am excited about the run tomorrow....

Twas the night before the day before

My goal for the month of January was to run 100 miles. However, I only managed 85 - the 10K on Sunday goes towards February's count. Part of the reason for not managing 100 is due to the short runs this week, since I have had a bout of gastro-enteritis. It is truly hell to run like that and also a bit silly to insist on finishing.
On Monday evening I suddenly started having severe cramps after 1 mile. I ignored it and continued until mile 3 when I was forced to stop and after a few minutes on feeling better, I started running slowly. As soon as I tried running a bit faster, the pain, nausea and dizziness was so strong that at mile 4 I had to stop completely. I felt OK on Wednesday and went for a hilly run and some fartlek. That was pretty good, but near the end I started feeling awful again. Needless to say Thursday saw me a bit out of it, and this morning I did my last run before the race on Sunday. After any speedwork my legs always feel slow and heavy for a few days, but I hope this morning's run has shaken off the tiredness. I only did 5 miles, but it was an effort, so rest tomorrow and hopefully I'll be tip top on Sunday.
Tomorrow I also need to go and pick up the race bib, and hopefully something interesting will be in the bag....I love getting free stuff, whatever it may be! Must do: buy a pair of gloves and a pair of thicker tights. Actually I had a very nice pair of Saucony ones for years (I don't know if they even make them anymore). One glove is missing and the other is now being used as a toy for one of our pussy cats. Hopefully the new pair will fare slightly better. The weather is now so cold, that the river has frozen over - thick tights are a definite must, so let's see what Marathon Sports has to offer!