Change of name

Decided to update the blog name to something a bit more 'normal'. As much as I liked my former blog title, 'Project Carpe Viam', it was a bit of a mouthful and sounded a bit snooty me thinks.

'Running Rabid' is a bit more down to Earth and describes me a bit better too.

Not sure if I'll blog again until January so until then, Happy New Year peeps!

Winter blues

I had been going great guns a couple of weeks ago, getting out 3 times a week and making some real progress. Then came the snow...and the ice...and as much as I love snow and ice, running in it is a whole different matter. I chose not to risk slipping and cracking my head open on the pavement and kept indoors. As a result I have not been out in a couple of weeks - obviously my preparation is not ideal.

Then along came Christmas, and believe me, I did not hold back. Then came the after Xmas sales which sapped most of my energy for the following 3 days. And now I am rather feverish which means my breath is majorly restricted so I can't actually reach any decent pace or endurance. I think the first Sunday I am free I will need to go to straight into hitting 14-15km. Plus increasing my intensity during the week.

Training has been so poor for this, I'm getting frustrated with myself. Time to crack the whip and see myself through the first 11 weeks of 2010 and finish that half marathon. Woohoo.

Before day break

Went out at 6AM today and did a split run of 400, 800, 1200 and 1600m with a break of about 400m between each.

Realised today that I can get a bit more pace and not get breathless as quickly if I take bigger strides. I've been working on trying to take more weight on to my heels than bouncing off my toes and I think that ties in well with the bigger strides. Just need to build up a consistent technique so it becomes a bit effortless.

Still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do. Need to build up endurance to cover the distance and to not keep slowing down to walking speed!!! Fun weeks ahead...

The aftermath...

I suppose 4k in 22 minutes isn't bad going by my standards (in fact I think it's a PB!). Only problem is that in completing that 4k I was lapped 3 times by the race leaders and put the team well off the pace with 17km to go still...whoops!

Standards were extremely high and it showed how unprepared I truly was...lot of work to do between now and March, when I will be covering about 5 times the distance I managed today.

Don't think my legs were the problem - I just couldn't get my breathing right and I got breathless after about 4 laps. Might have been the freezing weather in part but it showed me where I really need to concentrate at least.

I was quite content with the fact that I did lap one person, but ideally I wouldn't have been lapped at all.

Anyways, onwards and upwards - out tomorrow morning practicing intervals to help build some cardio fitness and breathing rhythm. Will keep you posted.

...Til next time...