Target Sub Twenty

I’m happy with a good week that ended with me successfully passing my refereeing fitness test for another season.

Weight change: LOST 0.8 kg (Remaining: 4.3 kg)
Training: Tempo 11k, Speed Training, Recovery 5k, Tempo 8.5k, parkrun 5k, Fitness Test
Total Training Distance: 40.1 km

Weight loss

Down, down, down, down….

Training

This was a varied week that ticked the boxes that I am aiming for at the moment. These are:

• Feature hills as standard where possible (so I don’t get lazy on the flat)
• Ensure easy / recovery days (Don’t just do Tempo pace all the time)
• Include a Speed Training session (Hill Training also suitable)

I also had my ‘eye on the prize’ of my refereeing fitness test that was scheduled for the Sunday. It was important I didn’t destroy myself during the week, as failing to take the test for whatever reason would mean I would not be given any appointments in August.

I put in several Tempo runs, with appropriate recovery runs on ‘off’ days, and also a decent speed training session. My intention on the Saturday was always to run a really easy 5k (maybe around 25 minute pace or slower), but the stars aligned and my ‘run at a constant pace’ turned into running 21:48. Oops.

What was interesting is that I didn’t feel particularly destroyed after that, and was fresh for the fitness test the next day, which I passed comfortably. Again, I felt strong both during and afterwards. This is another good sign that my fitness is coming back and a great baseline for me to build on!

What’s next?

I have my first pre-season game on Saturday, which will be a good test of match fitness (which is different from general running fitness!). I’m really looking forward to that.

I need to keep up the variety of training (keeping hills featuring as standard where possible) including weekly speed training. That may be a bit challenging in the next week due to a trip abroad, but I will do my best!

Another good week! The weight continues to come off, and the fitness is notably improving. I am feeling generally stronger when out running now. Another way I would put it is ‘less wobbly’ !

Weight change: LOST 0.8 kg (Remaining: 4.3 kg)
Training: Tempo 11k, Recovery 5.45k, Race 5.6k, Recovery 5.6k, Speed Training, Walking parkrun 5k
Total Training Distance: 39.7 km

Weight loss

In a phrase: Steady as she goes…

Training

I got a decent amount of training in the bag this week, alternating ‘hard’ sessions with Recovery runs between them. It has been pretty warm out there as well which has added its own challenging dimension to some of the training.

With the recovery runs, I’m now ensuring hills feature wherever possible. Not in a major way, of course, as they are meant to be easy runs. Instead, it’s a way to keep my body ‘hill aware’ as it is way too easy for me to slip into the habit of going out for a flat runs.

I have covered the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge in an earlier post. I was happy to hit both sub-22 minute 5k pace and a ‘pass’ pace for my upcoming football refereeing fitness test ‘in situ’. I could really feel the benefit of the recent speed training and hills in recent weeks — the flat course of Battersea Park, complete with lots of shade from the trees, made it very fast!

I moved my speed training session to later in the week to accommodate the race. This week it was:

• 4 x 400m
• 4 x 200m
• 4 x 400m
• Rest periods: 1 minute between reps. 2 minutes between sets.

Unlike some previous sessions, I was able to maintain my pace (‘Fast 5k’) throughout.

What’s next?

This week the main focus is my refereeing fitness test, which will be on Sunday. The key element is the Cooper Test, run on the track. For my level, the requirement is 2700m in 12 minutes. I’m confident of hitting this. My PB is 3000m, set last year. I’m less sure whether I will hit that this year, and will make a decision on the day whether to go for it based on the temperature.

I will still mix in the usual runs where possible. However, Saturday’s parkrun will definitely be gentle!

Following on from last week’s blip, I am happy to report that this week has gone pretty well, even if I ended it with a bit of a disappointing parkrun performance.

Weight change: LOST 1.4 kg (Remaining: 5.1 kg)
Training: Easy 5.5 km, Speed Training, Easy 10k, Tempo 11k, parkrun 5k
Total Training Distance: 39.1 km

Weight loss

A week away on holiday, plus some fluctuation, led to an increase in weight last week. This graph tells the story, plotting just the Monday results where they are available:

Thankfully, the line is moving in the right direction again!

Training

A decent amount of training this week.

The big plus was setting new PBs at the speed training session, although it was also indicative that I was going waaaaaay too fast at the beginning of the session.

And that segues nicely to the negative: My pacing is still awry overall. It hasn’t helped that when I went to do sessions to concentrate on just this aspect (going nice and easy!) I was either suffering a little from overtraining effects (Wednesday), or it was horrifically humid (Friday).

I am working hills in more now as a general routine which should help with stamina overall.

I’ll be covering the overtraining aspect in a separate posting later this week.

My Garmin 735xt‘s strap decided to protest as well, so has been replaced…

parkrun Time Trial!

OK, OK, parkrun is not a race but it is a great opportunity to assess 5k performance. I got to run sans-running buggy at the weekend. How did it go?

Well, it was perishingly hot, and I failed at pacing again. I recorded a disappointing 22:37. I won’t be too disheartened at that due to the conditions, but it still feels like there is an awful lot of work for me to be doing!

The Week Ahead….

I’m racing in the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge this week, so a focus of my training has to be to stay fresh for that. This will mean shifting things around a bit, as I can’t really do a full-on speed training session the night before!

There is also the opportunity for me to do an updated Time Trial with my running club (done monthly over the lighter part of the year) — that one I will play by ear depending on how I feel post-race.

Onwards!

The scales were kind this morning, with my weigh-in hitting 80 kg exactly — one of my Achievements along the road towards hitting a sub-twenty 5k.

I weigh myself every morning as part of keeping the focus, although I stick to Monday mornings being the ‘weekly update’ day.

It’s steady progress. I hit 82.5 kg back on 29th May, so essentially 2.5 kg in a month (including a week’s holiday in that time).

My target weight is 75 kg. I’ve hit that weight before and it has been a good one for me. After that…. I’m not sure yet!

Strategy remains a fixed 2000 kcal per day, with any exercise calories earned eaten back. That’s always a good incentive to get out running: 10k works out to be around 800 kcal…. Enough for a pizza 😉

A ‘blip’ of a week in terms of the weight, although expected due to being on holiday. However, consistent training continues…

Weight change: GAIN 0.9 kg (Remaining: 6.5 kg)
Training: Tempo 10k, Speed Training, Exploring 5.5k, Walking parkrun 5k, Buggy Run 7k
Total Training Distance: 33.9 km

Weight loss

I have been away for a week on holiday with the family. This has meant not eating particularly well, although not particularly excessively all the time! My honest opinion is that some of that 0.9 kg gain is also fluctuation / temporary and that it is going to be come down again pretty sharpish.

I have been ‘back on the wagon’ since Sunday and so the right habits are back in play.

Training

While the diet might not have been great, I did manage to keep up the training.

It was great to get in some speed training at a local track, and to explore the other running routes on offer.

In terms of ‘running feel’, I do feel that my running form is returning, and that was particularly evident in the track session and also when out on a buggy run session last night. My overall speed seems to be picking up and my movement feels more fluid.

In terms of the coming week, the speed training will continue to be essential, backing it up with getting the miles in. It’s really important to keep things balanced so that I am improving performance without breaking myself!

Conclusion

I am disappointed in myself in the weight gain, even with the ‘I was on holiday!’ excuse. I’m confident it will come down again though.

This coming week is about ensuring I am properly back on track, and building up the training so that I can start thinking about a 5k time trial to assess my progress. Whether that is at a parkrun or just done solo I’m not sure yet…

This week everything has continued to go well, with more weight loss and managing to get back on the track for some speed training!

Weight change (Tracked to Friday): LOST 0.5 kg (Remaining: 5.6 kg)
Training: Speed training, Recovery 5.5k, Social 8.3k, Buggy parkrun 5k
Total Training Distance: 26.8 km

Weight loss

I was only able to track up to and including Friday, but this still yielded great results. Just need to keep at it! I’m still seeing a theme of plateauing though: Weight drops, then climbs a bit during the week, then there is the next ‘big drop’. Then the cycle repeats. As the overall trend is downwards, this is nothing to be concerned about.

Training

I covered the speed training protocol in an earlier blog post. It was good to get back on the track. Key is to ensure either a speed or hill training session each week. I really feel the benefit from doing them.

One flaw this week was a lack of a tempo run. I had a social and ‘buggy speed’ parkrun (Which is intensive, albeit only 5k). Social (‘easy’) pace is definitely important in terms of mixing things up but I would like to keep everything in balance.

Conclusion

A good week, overall. Certainly in terms of weight loss and speed training. I do need to keep up the training volume and variety, in conjunction with ‘easy’ runs where appropriate. Let’s see how that balancing act comes out over the weeks to come.

A solid week for weight loss (and the diet to support doing that properly) but not as much training as I would have hoped for.

Weight change: LOST 1.3 kg (Remaining: 6.7 kg)
Training: 1 x Tempo 8.5k, 1 x parkrun 5k
5k Benchmark: 22:29

I’m happy with the continued weight loss, especially as it had to be done amongst the ‘challenges’ of going out for our Anniversary meal, and going away for several days to participate in the UK Games Expo. These changes in routine are always where it can be a little too easy to go off the rails.

However, I only put in one training run (Tempo) and a parkrun (c/o Arrow Valley). The parkrun was valuable, as I ran this one solo without the toddler in the buggy, so was able to get a benchmark 5k time. It’s not very pretty right now but helps me understand where I am.

This coming week I need to step up the training a bit (still mostly concentrating on baseline fitness) so that I am working on both sides of this challenge.