Week Three - Getting Stuck In! ......

Into week three and training is properly underway. Sunday was Father’s day but unfortunately for Toby a work day none the less ,so with Grandma visiting for the weekend I left the girls at home and headed to Caldecotte Lake to meet a couple of the other Z2H’s for a morning jog. It turned out it was a superhero marathon and also the Great Greyhound  walk so we shared our 10k with several versions of superman, batman and wonder woman interspersed with some bony four legged friends and not forgetting Kick Ass. Hopefully Glynis and Sarah weren’t too annoyed by my incessantly beeping GPS and will invite me back next time – I promise I will make time to read the instructions beforehand!

I wanted to make the Monday evening social run this week but I was indulging in a guilty pleasure of mine ‘ An intimate evening with Russell Watson’ (not as saucy as it sounds I promise) at Milton Keynes theatre so I headed out early doors for a four mile loop from home. The first three miles were good; it was a lovely morning and not a soul about. There I was contemplating the day ahead and feeling smug that I was already up and running when this sudden wave of nausea washed over me, I slowed to a walk and let it passed and then tried again but the same thing. I shuffled the last mile back home feeling a bit deflated. Maybe it was just lack of sleep and the early start, I don’t know but I didn’t like how quickly I went from feeling fresh to utterly useless.

Intervals and core were on the cards for Tuesday and you could feel the nervous energy as me and Connie climbed out of the car at Tony’s waiting to see what he had in store. At the time the interval session seemed like hell on earth with my breakfast constantly threatening to make an appearance however once we got back to Tony’s for the core session the pain of the intervals paled into insignificance as Tony pulled one horrendous exercise after another out the bag. Mountain climbers, power jumps you name it we tried it. “Same time next week” says Tony ….. “err sorry I’m washing my hair!”

Wednesday was a complete rest day so on Thursday I was up bright and early and off to the David Lloyd. I played with the big boys in the “sweaty-grunty” area of the gym, a place 2 months ago I would never have dared set foot before practicing some of Tony’s torture core exercises and heading for a swim. Earlier in the week I had purchased a new sports bra from Boobydoo and thought I would try it out for the Redway Runners interval session on Thursday evening. A 600kcal burn and a marvellous Houdini impression later and I was ready to go! Ladies beware if you are buying the Shock Absorber Run Bra you WILL need to watch a YouTube video first before you can get dressed! Campbell park was the venue for intervals this week, it was hot and sticky and a tough workout but enjoyed myself and owe a special thanks to Julie for getting me to do the final lap.

After getting myself into trouble the night before with mentor Tony for overdoing it I took Friday as a rest day – swimming counts as resting right? To finish to the week I headed down to the Parkrun. Luckily Doug saw me looking lost and lonely and found me a buddy to run with. I owe a lot to Paul for getting me round still smiling and knocking a massive 2 minutes of my PB coming in at 23:55 a great way to finish the week!

 Amanda

 

 

Week Two - A week of firsts

Writing this week by week is already starting to feel a bit like The Apprentice. I am half expecting Alan Sugar to pop up and fire me!

 

After a lovely rest day on Saturday I joined RR for my first Sunday club run. The sky looked grey and threatening rain, the kids were dressed up as witches and pretending to turn each other into frogs and the sofa and a Netflix kids movie were calling me but instead I headed off to Stony to meet an army of green runners.  I think I can confidently say this was the first longer run (GPS said 6.44 miles) I have EVER actually enjoyed so thank you to everyone that made me feel so welcome I will definitely be back for more!

Tony has set me homework this week so Tuesday’s instructions were a 3 mile run with the first 2.5 at easy pace and the final 0.5 with a bit more welly! If points are being dished out for turning up then I got those but nothing more. It was a hot day, I went out way too fast and by the time my last 0.5 mile arrived I barely had it in me to increase my pace. I did but couldn’t hold it for long and the resulting sticky sweaty mess that was me arrived home wishing I had done EXACTLY what I was told. Lesson learnt – sorry Tony!

I was having a day off from running on Wednesday but did manage to pop into the gym for some upper body work. I have very little upper body strength which is something I am trying to work on.

Thursday was the day I met my partner in crime, Constance for the first time at Tony’s for a hill session. We ran up hills, we ran down hills and we tried very hard not to be sick. We were heckled by the kids in the park and tried to mow a couple down off their bikes, all in an evening’s work! We headed back to Tony’s where he promptly put us through our paces and demonstrated our appalling core strength – the only way is up from here! Tony tried to soften the blow of his training schedule with a glass of wine, it helped but there’s no denying this is going to be tough. I am happy to have Constance and Tony by my side; we are going to make a great team!

After the hot, too fast, horrible run earlier in the week I followed Tony’s instructions to the letter and had Friday as a rest day. I nearly went to the gym for a swim but was tempted by a Wagamama’s chicken katsu curry and Jurassic World at the cinema instead!

A drizzly Saturday morning set the scene for my first ever parkrun and it was great to be joined by several other Z2H’s. Under the wing of a much more experienced Redway Runner – Niam we headed off round the course and all managed to finish smiling! Today was a special parkrun, my first ever and my mentor Tony’s 250^th!!!! I doubt I will ever be reaching this milestone so I pledge to eat cake after every parkrun just for good measure!

 

 

This week has been a week of firsts for me, it’s been great fun and long may it continue!

 

Amanda

Week One - And so it begins .......

Sunday 7^th June 2015 was the start of something special for me.  I have embarked on the Redway Runners “Zero to Hero” Marathon training programme with the end goal … you guessed it – a marathon! The Milton Keynes marathon in May 2016 to be precise.

 

 

Now, literary genius I am not! I reserve this title for my gorgeous blogger friend Ashleigh who is much more deserving, so anyone reading this should not expect any great amusement just an account of my training week by week.

 

Week One

So having applied to take part in what I think is going to be a fantastic opportunity I received an email from the programme organiser, Doug inviting me to attend one of two introduction sessions. Great I thought, really excited – then I read the instructions and location. I was expecting a chat / introduction and possibly a short run to determine ability when I immediately clock (and subsequently check out online) “Special Ops” as the venue. My heart starts pounding and I wonder what I am letting myself in for. Friends and family will know, the adventurous type I am not so immediately my mind is racing with thoughts of abseiling, high ropes and laser tag. Not wanting to fall at the first hurdle and knowing that there are occasions in life when you just have to get on and do something I arrived at Special Ops on Sunday (and what a glorious sunny Sunday it was) to be greeted by several Redway Runners and a lovely bunch of equally looking nervous candidates!

A great afternoon was had, some tyre hopping, wall scaling and brainstorming (I managed to survive) and the afternoon was finished off meeting my mentor – Tony. Tony had been introduced at the start of the afternoon as the man who knew everything about marathons. We haven’t had the chance to really get to know each other yet but already I know he is going to be my strongest asset and I am chuffed to have been paired up with him (Tony however may not be saying the same about me after a few weeks of listening to me huffing and puffing)!

So far I have survived the introductory session and Tony suggests we meet at the club run on Monday evening so he can see how I run. "Only 4 miles" he says ….. "easy pace so we can chat" he says …. Well, I got round, I don’t know whether you can call it a conversation. I managed mostly to squeeze out a yes, no or brief answer between trying not to die. However really glad to have made it along to my first run with the Redway Runners and I went home with a spring in my step (and my new GPS on my wrist which I didn’t manage to work out how to turn on). The phrase all the gear and no idea springs to mind!

In line with Tony’s training plan I set off for my next run two days later – Wednesday. This time on my own and with the GPS turned on. This was also the debut for my new set of trainers. 

 

 

I did a four mile trip out to the lovely Stoke Bruerne along the Canal where I roped the other half in to come and collect me in the car (I’m nowhere near ready for an eight mile loop yet). Overall the run felt good and no blisters from the shoes.

I headed up to the David Lloyd on Thursday. Toby (my other half for those that don’t know) had been talking about a treadmill version of a bleep test so thought I would give it a go. Start at 8.5 kph and increase speed by 0.5k every minute. So in a nutshell once you get going there’s not much respite. I made it to 13.5kph before whacking the stop button and collapsing in a heap feeling very sorry for my surrounding gym goers who must have been listening to me wheeze and puff for the previous 10 minutes! A few squats and lunges later I head back into the café to meet Toby and my youngest Emily only to find they have been eating cake – I think I definitely got the worse end of the stick!

Friday, last run of the week was supposed to be another shot at the RR club run that I did with mentor Tony on Monday. It was hot, humid and as soon as I started running I felt exhausted. Then to top it all I went the wrong way and ended up back at the first lake – my sense of direction is awful! I then spent a few minutes aimlessly jogging around Willen trying to up the mileage a little bit before heading back to DL with a total 3.5 miles on the clock. Oh well you can’t win them all. I am having tomorrow off before joining the club for their Sunday run from Stony Stratford – wish me luck!

 

Amanda