Milestones and Promises... #run2012miles

After the barrier breaking epic that was last week...(I think my auto DM weekly round up called it Stellar!) I knew I was going to have to take it easy and I could hear my body groaning right from the off on Monday.  In summary...

Mondays run was far from ace
Tuesdays run was full of pace
Wednesdays run lacked get and go
Thursdays run went slow fast slow
Fridays run had a frightful mile
Saturdays run just brought me bile
But the route that was run on at the end of the week
Made me glad for this challenge, there's no place for the meak

So that sees me through day 50 of my running streak and the fact that it wasn't the longest or fastest, the wettest or the coldest got me thinking about what makes a streak special, and more importantly why I feel I should carry on doing it at the expense of hard training sessions that need more rest afterwards. 

Well I'm not sure why other people do streaks, some say it's a good base training, others think this is just mad, but what I've noticed is that it is forcing me to try and understand and listen to my body a little more.

In the past when training for events such as the London marathon I have religiously followed the programmes given to me by others.  These are inevitably generic, and although they often come with a number of caveats, warnings and some might say promises (Get you round, Intermediate, Sub 3-hr!) none of them are designed for me and none of them really should be followed to the letter.

Whilst the times, targets and techniques outlined in many of these programmes are very well researched, have a very good grounding in respected training practices and may even on occasion work, they do also encourage a rather one dimensional aspect to training, that could if not compensated with a gooddose of level headedness leave you feeling like you're always chasing goals and feeling guilty if you don't manage to meet your daily quota.

I think the key thing here is motivation.

If this long to-do list motivates you to get out and train, then it must be a useful tool.  However if you don't listen to your body and either push yourself too far because you're being told to, maybe causing you to feel too tired and miss a session later in the week, or cut a run short when you have plenty in the tank then I'm not sure you are going to getting as much from your efforts as you possibly good.

By having the goal to run every day, I'm forced to listen to my body on a daily basis and make judgement calls as to when I can go longer and when I just have to put in a mile.  The motivation is there to get out even when feeling lazy or under the weather and whilst I may only do a mile or two to keep the streak alive, it's a mental victory that I will be able to call upon when the going gets tough at the later stages of longer runs.

I have also found that because I'm listening to my body (with my Garmin, quite literally my heart!) I'm able to tailor runs that push me when I need it but enable me to tick over and recover in between.

So whilst others may say it is a daft idea to run every day, I have to say that I have never loved running as much as I do at the moment.  I'm never going to win any races, but I win every day I get out there and keep the streak alive.  It's a baby at the moment, but as it grows I'm sure I will become quite proud of the achievements we will have shared along the way.

It works for Ron Hill...

So, who fancies meeting up on Easter Monday for day 100?

Happy running!

Well it seems to be working...so far!

One of the motivations for beginning this running frenzy was the plain and simple fact that I thought that it would help shift some weight.  This wasn't the main reason I should point out, that was a desire for sanity that had been lost through inactivity, but lets say that weight loss, being a happy side-effect of regular exercise was a fairly easy thing for me to aim at given that I'm not likely to be breaking any records any time soon!

Whilst I'm not exactly massive, I have since stopping running in Feb 2011 put on over 10kg and started to fill out a little too much.  So to get myself back into shape i decided a little running was called for....and it seems to be working!

Towards the end of last year we purchased a rather snazzy set of Withings scales that not only measures body fat %, but also automatically uploads the data to a website and a free iPhone app.

Now whilst scales that measure body fat are not exactly revolutionary, the fact that these wirelessly transmit the data to a website and allow you to link this to 3rd party software (such as SportTracks, Runkeeper or Training peaks to name but a few) results in a very convenient and almost seamless way of keeping track of these body metrics.

I'm not about to start diving into a full product review as Ray has an excellent in-depth review here and I agree totally.  This is a quality and useful piece of kit that really lives up to it's desire to look like an apple product.  It functions well and despite a few issues that Withings have had with recent server attacks, I haven't lost any data and their customer and tech support crew have been great at keeping users informed of what has been going on.

One of the great features is that the scales auto sense users by intelligently matching to previous weights, thus enabling multiple people to use the same device without any complex menu interactions or button assignments.

Anyway, the long at the short of it is that the running seems to be doing it's job. 

Weight in Blue, Fat Mass in Red

So through January both my weight and my fat mass have shown a downward trend.  I'm not quite sure why there are so many spikes, but suspect it is due to the variety of workouts and me not being brilliant and always maintaining optimum hydration.

Fingers crossed this will continue.  I know I need to start looking a little more at nutrition...and stop all of the biscuit and haribo munching that I can be prone to, particularly after a long run...but it's heading in the right direction, and along with the gradual increase in mileage I hope that this will continue to improve as the year goes on.

How slow can you go...(say it with me)...How sl...

When friends and family members who are getting into running ask me for any pointers, one of the first things I normally tell them is to slow down.  Running too fast and pushing yourself over into the anaerobic zone is a common problem for many runners.  One which leaves them feeling exhausted and often lethargic because they are simply pushing too far.   

Why is it I can't take my own advice?

My understanding of any form of training is that it is about balance, and those who train using heart rate zones will know that the most efficient training for fat burning is within the recovery zone of around 60-70% of your working heart rate. 

Generally I've always aimed to combine workouts within the following zones:

• Recovery: 60-70&
• Steady aerobic: 70-80%
• Efforts: 80-90%

I won't go into all the figures as Brian Mac does an excellent job on his website, but for me this is gives me a recovery run target HR zone of between 143 & 156 bpm.

So if I want to burn fat that is where I need to be aiming...and now for the shocking part!

At the moment, I'm so out of shape that I'm hitting these bpm at around 12min/mile pace.  This doesn't mean I'm not capable of running faster, just that running faster is moving me into aerobic exercise and encroaching on the Anaerobic zone that will leave me sore in the morning...and I don't have time for that at the minute!

Since for now the target is building a strong base, I'm going to really try and stick to keeping my HR down, even if it means I'm being overtaken by purposeful mums with strollers!  I may start to pick up again when February comes around and I have to start my Edinburgh Marathon training in earnest!

As my family will tell you, I can on occasion be fiercely competitive (one of the reasons Monopoly gets hidden away at Christmas!), which makes slowing down very difficult for me.  So I need someone to compete with me at who can run the slowest mile during January...whilst still maintaining a running gait (of sorts!).

Find me on dailymile.com or tweet me @mgossage #2012in2012 if you fancy giving it a go!

Lets build some bases!

Run number 011: 6.7km out around the Gladiators ground up to Gloucester Rd and looping back home
Run number 012: 4.1km out and around GCCC again, shorter loop home.