Dublin Marathon, Mile 3

Monday, December 24, 2012

Week 49 - end of year

I havent really had time to keep this training blog up to date in the last few weeks. As usual, work has been hectic but in the last few weeks of the year its been crazy busy and we ended up with a record sales month in November and December. Both James and I were very happy with that and hope to build on that to have a good start for 2013. Our team is growing; we now have an admin assistant and are looking for a sales person to join early next year.

Training wise - i have been keeping up with it for the most part. I joined a new gym that opens at 0600 everyday and have been going there in the mornings before work which i strangely enjoy. The weather in Mannheim hasn't been the best for training outside recently so this new gym has been working well, but i did get to do a couple of outdoor runs recently. i went for a half marathon run last Sunday. It was meant to be a half marathon race that i entered but as the weather was so bad i didnt drive there and ran locally instead. The plan was for a PB but i didnt prep well - no breakfast beforehand and a few glasses of wine the night before meant there was no PB! My heart rate was up to 177 by Km 5 (181 is my max HR) so i had to pull back. i was going for a sub 2 hour time (2.07 is my best half) but once i knew this wasnt happening i just relaxed some more, took some walk breaks and started to enjoy the run. i ended up with a 2.17 time but hey, you cant win them all. I think the fact that it wasnt a race environment didnt help either.

Anyway, 2012 has been a great year for me. I've lost 20 or so kilos, ran my first marathon and started a new business. Although i wouldn't recommend marathon training and starting a new business in the same year to anyone, its been a good year for me and i am looking forward to what 2013 brings. I plan to run London marathon, Mannheim Marathon and hopefully Berlin too. Oh, and take our business to new heights!

My aim was to hit 87 kilos before the end of the year, which was the weight i was when i got married 9 years ago. I missed it by 0.4KG but thats good enough for me!

It was a nice feeling to lock the door last Friday knowing that I could relax and take some time away from work. As i write this i am sitting in a hotel in Austria after a days skiing. Michelle, me and Piper came down here for a couple of days over Christmas. Back to work on 27th and 28th and then meeting up with some friends for another ski trip over New Year, great! (If you know me then you know i love skiing more than running!).

After the New Year ski trip it will be back into training mode 100% for London. Thats going to be tough in
the winter months but no one said it was going to be easy... :)

Thanks 2012, its been emotional. :)




Sunday, December 2, 2012

Week 48 - back in training, again

The week just gone was the last week in our sales month at work, and it was pretty hectic. Nonetheless, I managed to get in 5.5 hours of training in this week which i was happy about. November in general wasnt really a great month for training, but i put that down to the winding down after the massive build up to Dublin in October.

Monday - X
Tuesday - AM Gym, weight and some light treadmill running. 2km
Wednesday - AM Gym, 6km good run with focus on midfoot striking, (new to me)
Thursday - X
Friday - had a double session day today but couldnt do the evening one, so i combined the two into the AM session. Bike, weights and then 7km as 2km warm up, 2 x 2km hard with 500 meter recoveries. This was a pretty tough session but i enjoyed it.
Saturday - caught a cold yesterday so i skipped todays swim session.
Sunday - Had a big bike session booked today but the snow came down big time this morning so i went to the gym. Done 1 hour on the bike and then 35 minute "hill run" on the treadmill. Very hard session and i was wrecked after it! 25 mins weights after too.

Total time - 5 hours 35 mins
Weigh in - 89.2 KG

Its good to be back in training mode again as the last few weekends involved big nights out and a few hangovers! Due to work commitments i cant manage any evening sessions at the moment so its up at 0530 for me and hitting the gym for early sessions.

Race wise, i now have a confirmed place for London marathon in April, and a half marathon in Germany in December. Hoping to pull a PB in the half.

Game on..........