..the 2014 5x50 Challenge starts tomorrow. For me, it will start with a six mile run in the morning, a nice steady run as it will be just a week to go until my first marathon (but more about that later). The 5x50 Challenge is a fantastic event where you sign up to do 5km of running, walking, cycling, swimming every day for 50 days, or you can do 30 minutes of an alternative exercise. Last year, I mainly ran or cycled and changed by target partway through and decided to aim for an average of 10km a day. I achieved this target and finished the challenge by celebrating with a seven mile off-road race, followed by a seven mile cycle ride home on a very hot day. It was a huge boost to my confidence and, although my running hadn't been great during the challenge, I did see improvements afterwards and felt able to take on my first HM a few weeks later. Previously, I had started training for the 2012 Birmingham HM and the 2013 Ironbridge HM and both times had to drop out due to injury.
This year, my impending marathon means I'll have to be more imaginative and adaptable with my exercise on the 5x50 Challenge - I need to be careful not to overdo it beforehand so I'll be alternating running with yoga and/or pilates (luckily my BH bought me books on both these subjects for Christmas so I can work through those). Afterwards, I have no idea how soon I'll want or be able to run so the first week will probably bring more of the same mixed with some time on the cross trainer. After that, I want to start cycling to work at least twice a week (8 miles each way) and to re-start the Julia Buckley Fat Burn Revolution . I did try this alongside marathon training and managed the first week before being struck down with a nasty cough and sinusitis that put me out of action for a good couple of weeks. Afterwards, I decided I was probably better sticking to the one goal for now and then concentrate on TFBR afterwards.
I'm also quite keen to find different activities for my 5km/30 minutes a day - ideas that have been discussed so far on the C25Kers on Facebook page are skipping, space-hoppering, tandem-cycling, trampolining.....I fancy trying unicycling but I'm mainly hampered by not having any money to spend on a unicycle so that may be one for a later date. I'm hoping to be able to organise some sort of get together both for the local 5x50 challengers and for some of the mighty NHS C25K team.
As I mentioned above, I will be running my first marathon next Sunday. I'll be running the Brighton marathon and hopefully raising more funds for the MS Society. I chose a marathon training plan from George Anderson at Intelligent Running. His plan appealed because I've learned that I need to stick to three, sometimes four, runs a week or I start getting injured. I also need to avoid overdoing it and wearing myself out and he emphasises the importance of not over-training.
In spite of my good intentions, it would be stretching a point to say I've stuck to the plan. In the first couple of weeks, I missed a few runs as my son ended up in hospital; January is always a nightmare for me at work so that was a challenge in itself. I built my runs up to 15 miles, and was surprised how good I felt the next day. Then came an easy week and I did 10 miles with three at threshold pace (more than I should have done) and was feeling happy with the way training was going. The following week I was struck down with a really nasty cough and sinusitis that stopped me running for two weeks. I managed 9 miles for my comeback run - they felt ok at the time but it took me far longer to recover than it had taken after the 15 miles. I stuck to steady runs for the rest of the week, figuring the best thing was to move regularly so it didn't hurt so much next time. This seemed to work as I then comfortably managed a long run of 19.1 miles, averaging a few seconds per mile slower than target marathon pace. That took me up to taper time. Stupidly, I made a decision to run parkrun on the grounds that I "only" had to do 10 miles the next day. The morning of parkrun, I noticed I was coughing a bit again but not badly. I set off too quickly, weaving in and out of other runners, and had to make myself slow down a little but I was making good time and on course for a PB. At about 2.5 miles though, my chest felt bad and I had to stop to cough and cough and cough. I turned my Garmin off and decided to give up but then decided to start again but take it easy as I had to get back to the finish en route to my car anyway. I think I'd stopped for a minute or so and my official time was 30:17 so I'd like to think that had it not been for the cough I'd have got that PB. I felt terrible at the end though, coughing had given me a banging headache and lightheadedness. What shocked me more though was how much it had taken out of me for my run the next morning - I found it so tough that I decided early on to call it a day when my friends stopped, rather than carry on up to 10 miles. I'd forgotten how much it affects my Sunday run if I push myself hard at parkrun. A lesson learned (will try not to forget it again).
It also seemed to have aggravated my chest and cough and I ended up back at the doctors this week. I was relieved to be told it wasn't the infection hitting me again but just residual inflammation. I was prescribed an inhaler to use before running and as required thereafter - it seems to work but I'm sticking to steady runs for now. I'm thinking along the lines of rest and damage limitation ! I suppose I am a bit worried that I'm under-trained for the marathon but I haven't given up on the idea of aiming for my original time target. I have back up plans in case it becomes obvious that I'm not ready but as long as there are no crises between now and the big day I'm still focused on plan A. If it doesn't go to plan (and even if it does, to be honest) I'm already thinking ahead to which marathon I should do next......either to do it properly because I haven't got the result I want, or just to see what happens if I get to follow the training plan more closely.
