Not a great start to 2010

If I've started this year as I mean to go on, I could be in trouble.

Last week I was down for about five hours in total on my feet, but the snow - well more the ice - scuppered that.

Bugger.

Doesn't bode well for the rest of the year so I need to get my arse in gear to prevent it becoming a cycle on procrastination.

This week I've got:

Mon: 60 mins Fartlek
Tues: rest
Weds: 75 mins steady
Thurs: 45 mins cross training
Fri: 60 mins threshold
Sat: Rest
Sun: 90 mins w/30 mins @marathon pace and 10 @threshold

This is a bit interesting.

Fartlek tonight was a tad sketchy as there's still a hint of ice rink about my local paths. But, I got round, and I'm not dead, which in my book is a success.

Thursday is something new as I've not had cross-training on my schedule before, but any excuse to get mud on the bike is welcome. Though there was the word 'squat' in the detailed instructions, which conjures up images of the gym which sends a shiver down my spine.

Sunday could be quite an eye-opener/depression inducer as I'm not sure what my marathon race pace is yet, so no doubt Sally will have some insight into it matter.

At the mo I'm hoping for less than my first, and so far only, marathon in 2008 when I hobbled the last nine miles on mangled knees and came in at 5:17 - narrowly beating the first rhino back.

That leaves a nice wide window to aim for - making failure less likely - but goes against the whole setting tough targets (because marathons aren't hard enough!).

I've got a few days to mull it over, so for now I'll put my feet up and try to build up my resolve to turn around the first week of crapness

Obligatory New Year post...

As the Earth has completed another orbit around a gaseous ball of fire, it must mean it's time to look forward to 2010, and knuckle down to my third attempt to run the London Marathon.

I've been laying the groundwork over the last couple of months with Sally but now my calendar says it's the same year as this marathon thing, it's time for the laser beam focus.

My knee is complaining, but holding in, thanks to some stretches that Sally found for me online - will post on them in future as they're both useful, and entertaining to watch!

My schedule for this week looks like this:

Mon: rest

Tues: 60 mins with 4x1 miles at threshold (which aint v quick)

Weds: easy 45 mins

Thurs: rest

Fri: 60 mins Fartlek

Sat: rest

Sun: 2 hrs 15 steady

As you can see, I've already come on a bit since the equivalent period last year when, looking back at old schedules, I seem to be fannying around not doing much. I also need to get the knee-preserving stretching sessions in there too, so it's a busy time for my poor neglected body.

The big test for me is how the knee holds up, and how knackered I get from lack of carbs. This isn't solely down to running, as I'm often cycling to work and back (22 mile round trip).

This is down to my previous car share getting a new job in the summer and no longer being able to drop me off within bus-able distance, and me choosing two wheels over four to get in. It also explains my infrequent posting these days as I tended to do a lot of writing on the bus!

So, I need to get my ass in gear and hunker down for a few months to get this marathon monkey off my back, so look forward to more inane ramblings and drivel from me as we head towards 25 April and another London Marathon.

FFS...

I'm beginning to get the familiar, almost comforting, sense of loathing normally reserved for my own shortcomings or particularly inept colleagues.

This time, it's the former that's the subject of my ire.

After injuring myself before London, I swore I'd make sure I didn't go through that again, so have spent most of the rest of the year trying to strengthen the knee with physio, exercises, and low impact things like cycling.

I started proper training good and early thanks to Sally so there was lots of time to build up to avoid too much pressure on it, and all seemed well.

But then, last week, the unwelcome niggle crept back into my life like an acquaintance from school you never really got on with, and creeped you out a bit when they kept appearing uninvited wherever you went.

So it's a few days rest, ice, knee strap back on and some mashing with a tennis ball to try to get this infernal limb into some sort of workable state.

There's still the thick end of 18 weeks to go (just 124 short days) so I'm hoping that this is just 2009 giving me one last kick before it get's filed into the 'crappy years I need to forget'.

First fart tomorrow

It was bound to happen - as inevitable as southerners making a massive fuss about a little bit of snow.

Ever since I started this running lark it was clear, at some point, I'd have to have a go at "speed play" or, as it's more amusingly (to my juvenile mind) called: fartlek.

Tomorrow is my first session of farting - 40 mins of giving it a bit of welly for a bit, then jogging for a bit, then giving it some more welly, etc.

So, given my lack of discipline, I predict I'll do one longish one to start with, then lots of shorter ones as I gradually knacker myself out.

Even though I know I'll do it, it doesn't mean I'll recognise it and address the problem so I do it properly. I will try, but I know I'm an idiot so it's bound to go a bit wrong.

I put it down to my own special style of learning - I call it 'the hard way'!

And now, back to our feature programme...

One of the rules of successful blogging is apparently that you should never apologise for not posting in a while.

Some people interpret this as meaning you should post often to keep readers coming back, but for my own purposes, I choose to interpret it as glossing over my tardiness in a slightly flippant way.

So, non-apology over, what have I been doing?

A lot!

Sally - the personal trainer I won on Twitter - has had me doing a variety of fun things. Hill reps (gah!), intervals (double gah!), long, slow runs (bleugh!), and other fun things.

She's also been quite cruel about me using my bike so much (something about 'carb deficiency'...) but hasn't called me fat in a while - which is nice.

I had a crap few sessions last week, but had an extra day off yesterday as I gave blood on Monday. This gave me a chance to think a bit about my motivation (thespian that I am) and I realised I don't feel as enthused as I have in the past as I'm doing it by myself.

The double-ace joyness (real word (c) philrunslondon) of my last, albeit failed, attempt, was sharing the experience with others, and I don't think I'm there with it this time round.

So, I'm gonna be talking to myself/blogging more, and actively stalking others who are heading for Greenwich Park in April.

Expect nonsense, banality, crudeness and moaning.

You have been warned!