Here is a phrase you may just get tired of - this week I did my longest run so far, and my highest total mileage. Monday's long run was 8.1 miles, and my total for the week was 21.5 miles.
I did my four runs out of doors, as usual, plus a bit of extra running on the treadmill at the gym. There are several reasons why I might run on the treadmill: if I need just an extra mile or two to hit a weekly target; to do a speed intervals session; in the depths of winter, if running outside is impossible; and my reason for doing it this week - some sort of test.
I mentioned in my first blog that I'm using a heart rate monitor to control my level of effort - to make sure that my "easy" runs really are easy. In theory, as I get fitter I should be able to run faster for the same level of effort. A month ago I did a test on the treadmill, to find out what speed I could run at while staying just under a particular heart rate - 70% of my working range (140 beats per minute) and 75% (146 beats per minute). I repeated the test yesterday, and am happy to report that in both cases I can go about 5% faster at the same heart rate.
The lower my heart rate at any given speed, the longer I will be able to maintain that speed for. And 26.2 miles is a very long way!! There is a lot of training still to do, but all evidence of progress is welcome. Here's another piece - this morning's run was 4.3 miles, and that doesn't seem a long way to me any more.
The fundraising has also got off to a flying start, with close to £300 raised already. With 27 weeks to go to the marathon, things are looking good. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.
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