Recovery Run - Feeling Great!

I did my inaugural recovery run today. 40 mins - some 4.5Kms or so. Slow and easy. It was great and I am sure by Sunday morning I will be good to go for my 12Kms long run. I cant wait. I notice there is a problem with the dates in my schedule in the last two weeks. Will sort it later.
Cheers.
A

Program is Ready Recovery Run tomorrow

I will be doing a recovery run tomorrow - for the first time in my life (damn - it needs discipline!) just an easy run, maybe some 4Kms or so for 40Mins. Then I will do 12Kms this Sunday. I have prepared my schedule and I am attaching it. It applies from Monday 4th August. I have 12 Weeks to the Race day. Note the Periodization I have done: moving to a long distance then drawing back before running a longer distance. Also, note that I try to give myself ample rest time to and after the long runs.
Let me know in case you have comments or whatever.


Lets do it!
A

I am back. Rested

I did some 4Kms today with tempo runs. It went well. I will be drawing a schedule for the next ten weeks in the next two days.
Cheers.
A
PS: I think I may have started with a tempo-run that is way too fast. My tempo pace should be around 5-6mins per Km. I have some pain but its just soreness. Its not an injury. But damn. I felt good for it. There was one runner I passed who tried to run after me. He burnt out in 3 mins and watched me disappear in the distance.
Today I met 6 runners. One regular one was running like a gazelle. As usual. Its people like him who inspire me and make me realize I need to work harder.
See What is my Tempo Pace?
I am looking at the following sites in drawing up a plan:
McMillan's Six-Step Training System
Running Times - A Tempo Run by Many Other Names
Marathoning Made Simple - What is a tempo run?
Marathin Training - Wikipedia
Runner's World: Your Perfect Tempo
Runner's World: We all Need Speed
The Path to Marathon Success - Tempo Runs

Tired.

Yeah. Over training and shit. I feel tired and I may be developing an injury in my left leg - shin pains. The new trainers are great. I broke them today in an easy 4Km run. I am taking a three days break. It will probably extend to a week as I am traveling upcountry for a project. At any rate, I need a break and will come back with a bang for the last 10weeks to the big day.
Cheers

Long Run 12Kms - tried sub 20 5K

I went for my long run yesterday - after a long time - close to 5 weeks. It went well. After 7Kms, I decided why not try and see if I can do 5K in under 20Mins? And I said why not? So I glanced my watch and started pushing forward. I pushed quite hard and after some 8minutes, I had covered 2 Kms. Then it struck and all plan collapsed as quickly as it was conceived.
A stitch.
I slowed down and jogged the rest of the way. But I felt good for it. I think I could've done it. I got pretty banged up though and there is some slight pain in my hamstrings and shins - I think its the usual soreness and its purely muscular.
And Oh, I got myself a new pair of Reebok runners. Prety good stuff. Cant wait to put it to work tomorrow. Cheers.
A

Legs getting Stronger but have long way to Go

My biggest problem in this running business has always been injuries. Leg injuries. From ITBL to splint shins. I read somewhere in MuscleTech that injuries are good because injuries are typically torn muscles. And one should even work the torn muscles harder so that they are replaced by stronger muscles. That must have been branch warren who said that. Here is Warren:

At any rate, these past four weeks since I started running three times a week, I have had to wrap a band round both legs to reduce chances of developing shin splints and reduce the devastation that the shockwave from my lower legs can cause as I step on the hard tarmac.

I have had to take a days rest after every run for my legs to recover and for the soreness to go away. I am glad to report that its getting better and better. In fact, my leg muscles are splitting as I am seeing. Take my leg muscles, particularly the anterior tibialis. It has been paining for two weeks now but today its dissipating and I feel the muscle has become stronger. I have learnt to transfer the pushing work to my left leg and so saved my right leg from the frequent injuries. I have also learnt to reduce my appetite for long distance so this year I may just make the 21Kms in 1.5 Hours.

40Minutes Regimen
I have decided to stick to 40 minutes. My strategy is to pack as much distance as I can in 40 minutes. So far, I am doing 6.5Kms in 40 Mins. My target is to do between 10-12Kms in 40 Mins.
So I will be striving every time to increase the distance I cover in 40 Minutes. Hopefully, in another four weeks, I will be able to run every day. Note that people who run 5,000M races cover between 60-200Kms every week. Yet I am aiming to run 21K and I am covering only 18Kms per week at the moment. So I still have lots of work to do. But I am alright. Just doing the right thing. One day at a time.
40 Minutes it is baby. Today I added another 100m to the 39minutes. I am gonna kick ass this time.

A Writer shouldnt Wrun

Crisp cold morning. It's 5.15am. Few people moving about. Some are huddled at bus stops. The wind so cold, it has a bite. It snaps at my eyes. Tears well in them. I wipe them away sedately. Running man running.
I start slowly as I manoevure my way out of the buildings towards the road. I am wearing a tshirt, a sweat shirt, and today I have added a high-visibility vest on me. I cover the first Km and reach the roundabout then turn to Jogoo Road. I meet night guards leaving their night duties walking home. I am highly visible to I run at the edge of the road, not on the uneven, rough pavement.
The streetlights in the last Kms before I turn back are off so I run in the dark and I do it on the road. When vehicles approach, they give me a wide berth. I observe in satisfaction: the high-visibility jacket works!
I eventually turn after 20 mins and run back, I am paying attention to how I lift my legs, how I propel myself forward, and most importantly, how I place my feet on the tarmac. I lift my legs clean off. When I reach the gates and check my watch, its 39 minutes. I am glad as I pounce up the four floors. I enter the house and stretch, do some 30 press ups and 50 squats for warm down, stretch some more and then polish my shoes and make some breakfast.
I turn on CNN's AC 360. Apparently, the Bush administration have grown some brains and realized that negotiating with Iran to stop its nuclear program is not such an idiotic idea. This of course puts McCain in a bind because he has attacked Obama for suggesting the US needs to engage in "tough diplomacy" with "our enemies."
I take some roasted groundnuts and 5 slices of bread with some margarine and marmalade and black tea then leave.
I am 40mins late. I arrive in the office at 8.40am. I haven't finished reading Richard Carrier's Response to Stephen Davies, titled "Stephen Davies Gets it Wrong."
A Writer shouldnt Wrun. Wrunning is a FotherMucker.
A

Did 6Kms

Woke up at 4.45. Warmed up, stretched, gulped some water, changed and hit the road at 5.10am. Ran for 38 minutes. Twas meant to be 40mins but I decided to make my return journey faster. I did. By 2 mins. Hence 38 mins.
I feel okay. I feel inspired, like I could do this for the rest of my life. Tomorrow I rest. Wednesday I repeat, but maybe do 43minutes. I should then concentrate for the next few moths on how I can cover a greater distance in 45 Minutes.
No hitting the plateau for me. I got weight to lose and distance to cover.
The 6Kms is a conservative approx. Recall that I did 21Kms in 2:02 last year.
A

50 Minutes Run - Now for a 48Hr rest

I ran for 50 mins today. I think I should rest for the next two days and run again on Monday. This is to give my legs some time to heal and reduce chances of injury.
Otherwise, I am on track. I will be back in Nairobi and will likely stt cutting more weight because my diet will be leaner.
Cheers.

Running Now

I am clearly departing from my jogging pace. Today I covered the same distance I covered on Monday but in 34 mins. So clearly, speed is my new addiction. I felt good for it so I let it rip. I am avoiding sprinting because nothing attracts injuries like sprinting. Anyways, it went well and will give it another shot on Friday or Saturday.
Cheers

Feeling Great!

I covered the distance I covered last week in 37 minutes as opposed to the 40 that I did last week. I am also feeling lighter and getting leaner. Today I actually ran and involved my upper leg muscles some more.
I will be running again on Wednesday and Friday. Last week I ran on Tuesday (30mins), Thursday (36 mins) and Saturday (40 mins). I am still running in Mombasa and would rather use the same route while trying faster speeds. On Monday, I will move to 45 minutes and see how it goes.
Cheers.

It worked!...Sorta

I opted for running three times a week (instead of two consecutive days then a rest on the third day). So I ran on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. My legs were pretty banged up from the previous week's run so I started slowly and worked my way up gradually. On Tuesday I ran for 30 minutes. An easy run. Since I was running on plain tarmac, I had to watch it lest my legs suffer the brunt of pounding on that hostile surface. I sorta felt sore on Tuesday but Wednesday saw most of the soreness gone. On Thursday I ran for some 36 minutes and I got sore also. And Friday saw the soreness fade away. And today I ran for 40 minutes and I do not feel sore. The distance I covered today, going by my slow pace, is around 8 Kms. I covered the same distance in 50 minutes in February this year and had to suspend running for a week and a half because that run woke up an old in jury.
At any rate, I am feeling great. On Monday I will start with a 45-50 Minutes run. If I can manage a 1 hour run, three times a week, I will consider myself free at last. I will be trying that in the week beginning on 15th July.