fairweatherrunner

running blog

Tag Archives: British Military Fitness


by 5 Comments

It worked

Since I wrote about hating long runs earlier this month, most of my running has been at flat-out pace or at least one that requires a lot of effort.  From running a half marathon to bashing out mile or kilometer intervals at BMF run club. I’ve also pushed myself back up to the faster group for BMF classes where they take off at a hell of a pace with my little legs screaming ‘whatever happened to the warm up?’

This Thursday, half way around my second mile repeat at run club, I turned the corner into the wind, and thought something like ”this is blooming hard work” and “wouldn’t it be nice to go for a nice easy long SLOW run on a warm evening instead!”

My calves and achillies are aching and definitely telling me to ease off all the high intensity stuff and add back a few easy paced runs.  I’ve also found myself adding songs to my iPod shuffle because I thought they’d be great to listen to out on a long run.

Looks like I have invented my cure.  Just as well because I have entered Brighton Marathon 2014.


by 11 Comments

I hate long runs!

I have been thinking recently about how I feel now that Spring Marathons are in full swing and that I have pulled out of the Milton Keynes Marathon.

I am full of admiration for everyone who has made it through marathon training this winter. The weather has been foul and the cold has certainly contributed to some of my niggles.  How anyone finished a 20(+) mile run in the sleet this March with the added wind chill is amazing.  I didn’t even manage to get out for one lap of my 20 mile race let alone 5!

I am a little envious of everyone’s successes so far and that wonderful feeling of achievement that many friends will get when they complete their marathons over the next few weeks. It all takes hard work and putting the hours in on long runs. It was trying to fast forward and catch up my long run distance after injury that made me admit I was over doing it and postpone my marathon number 2.

I am tempted looking at other marathons later this year or for next and still hold ambitions of improving my marathon time but I think too much about the ‘whens’ and ‘ifs’ of the training and best timings with other commitments.

So my thoughts always come back to long runs and I have to admit that I just don’t like doing them. I can’t help but think that maybe if I liked them a little more I might not have been so quick to drop out of my marathon training.  I am happy to run 8 or 10 miles (and race a half marathon) but over that and I get a bit of a mental block and dread them before I start.  It was at the 12 mile point (or maybe it’s the magic 2 hour curfew) of a long run when I admitted to myself I was bored, cold and fed up and probably trying to push myself to hard too soon after injury (so got on a bus) and made my decision.

I then had a bit of a running slump week.  I cross trained and went to BMF where the runs are short before picking myself up with thoughts of shorter races.  I did manage to force myself out for a long run last weekend because the odd long run is still a necessary evil for half marathon training.  However even with a pre planned 12 mile route my legs somehow brought me home after 10 miles!  I dragged out another mile looping the block before I had enough muscle aches and pains to justify calling it a day.

Fortunately my recent saviour of my running mojo has been BMF run club.  I’m lucky that BMF Hyde Park is one of the BMF parks that holds a run club for members.  I’ve meant to go ever since I’ve been a member and after 6 or 7 years I finally ran out of excuses! (Dark won’t kill me and being home at 7pm for dinner and bed time for my sons, now 16 and 14, isn’t an issue anymore.)   There I have really enjoyed running some fast intervals.

It’s hard to describe the buzz I get from it which I don’t get from long runs.  I know it’s going to be hard work beforehand but don’t get that feeling of dread.  It’s amazing how you can blast out a km or more at best effort, thinking you’re ‘all-in’ but after 90 seconds recovery bounce off to do it all over again, and again. Running in the dark doesn’t bother me and it’s great to be running at my pace but within a group.  Fortunately both times I have found myself well placed mid-pack where there is the challenge to chase the front-runners and comfort of not being at the back.

The tired feeling after speed intervals is better too!  I sleep so well afer a tough speed session and my muscles feel happily tired rather than being painful and stiff after long runs.  Speed is giving me a spring in my step.  It’s great to find some pace again and my legs are feeling lighter now that I am leaving the slow shuffling heavy legged long slow runs behind me.

Good luck and well done to everyone who has or is about to run a marathon in the next few weeks.  If like me it’s not happening for you either this time, our time will/may come!  Or maybe as with many things in life, each to their own, embrace our differences and maybe admit we are more suited to other distances.


by 1 Comment

TevaSphere shoe review

_MG_7717

A couple of weeks ago I went to Hampstead Heath for the launch of a new running shoe from Teva, the TevaSphere.

An outdoor cross trainer/running shoe which has been ‘designed to meet the performance needs of the outdoor athlete. With a first-of-its-kind spherical heel and pod-arch system, the TevaSphere technology delivers a more natural point of impact, efficient transition and superior stability on varied terrain‘.

Teva want to offer a minimalist style shoe for runners which will not require them to change their stride and adopt a forefoot strike.

‘ with TevaSphere we are delivering a technology-based solution that addresses the shortcomings of both minimalist and over-supportive athletic shoes.” Participation in non-traditional outdoor sports such as adventure racing, obstacle courses and mud runs is steadily on the rise. In an effort to meet the demands of this growing group of consumers’,

001I like that they aim to give a minimalist style shoe but with protection and support for both heel strikers and mid foot strikers. As a mid foot striker who heel strikes when tired, I have picked up a few injuries running long distances in minimalist shoes. The shoes’ distinctive ‘pods’ at the mid foot act as guard rails giving support where needed making the shoe suitable for all types of runner guiding the foot into the neutral position.

004

Over the past few weeks I’ve run in them many times, on pavement and road, hard paths, grass, mud and snow during easy everyday runs, British Military Fitness classes and even a speed session. They fit well and are comfortable both with my orthotics and without. The women’s model has a narrow heel and a wide roomy toe box (I have wide feet) although maybe not as wide as some barefoot shoes which let your toes completely splay out.

They have a minimalist feel with a fairly low heel toe drop so felt natural running on the forefoot and quite fast. I’ve enjoyed a few sprints at BMF in them and a reasonably fast mile during speed work. I don’t like over squishy cushioned shoes and like that these are quite firm. They are maybe even a little too firm for my taste on tarmac and wouldn’t be my first choice of shoe for many miles of pavement pounding. I did however find them really good shoes for running in mud and great in the snow.

A lightweight, low profile, stable shoe for off-road which feels secure on uneven ground and gives reasonably good grip. Great for BMF classes with lots of stopping and starting, backwards and forwards and sideways moving on grass.

You can find more about Teva’s products here.

_MG_7713


by 5 Comments

Snow running

I had a great BMF class today in Hyde Park and realised that running in the snow can be fun.  Especially if it’s on fresh powdery snow over grass.  Although an hour, on and off, running up to my ankles in the stuff is hard work!

Janathon day 21, 1 hour BMF class including 2.5 miles running, more squats, far too many star jumps, several minutes of plank (can’t do sit ups either at the moment… shame), several snow balls thrown and a winning team tallest snowman!


by 2 Comments

Snow excuse

Today for the first time during Janathon or Juneathon I haven’t run. London was snow free for an hour after driving my sons (pampered, yes) to school but my leg and glute muscles were not warm, loosened nor awake and sense told me to stick to my plans not to run early or go to BMF to avoid innjury, even if it meant missing today’s opportunity.

Instead I walked to the shops, twice (2 miles exactly, half of which carrying shopping.)

As the pavements will be too icy to run on tomorrow, I seriously toyed with the idea of going to parkrun which is on soft grass so less slippy to get a run in. Unfortunately my local one has now been cancelled so my return to parkrun will have to wait another week.

Janathon, Day 18: Two miles walked plus 20 press-ups. (Proper ones, yes toes not knees on the floor)


by 6 Comments

Keeping Warm

I went to BMF again today. I manned up and went back to my normal red group, where I survived the hour and the cold. I am however devastated that due to my still slightly sore ribs I can’t do burpees.

I kept warm wearing my Hippsy Waist Warmer. It’s an extra layer for keeping warm around the middle and kidneys. Great if you favour low-cut jeans or short tops and very useful extra layer around the middle when running, cycling or exercising outdoors in cold temperatures. I like it because it keeps my top tucked into my bottoms. Top tip, size down if wearing with lycra so it doesn’t ride up when moving a lot but maybe not for casual with jeans, a Muffin top is not a good look.

picture from hippsy.co.uk

Janathon day 16. 1 hour BMF class (reds) including… 2.5 miles running, 100 press ups (mostly wimpy girly ones), 50 situps (only managed half – poorly ribs) and 200 blooming squats (such a tragedy I can’t do burpees).


by 6 Comments

Back to BMF

My marathon training for the Milton Keynes Marathon started today with a rest day. So I went back to British Military Fitness. Not that BMF is a rest, but it is a change and I’ve missed it, having not been for a month. I did sensibly slide down to the mixed beginners and intermediates group for a gentler class for my first day back. I also wanted to have working legs tomorrow.

(Yes I know rest is important during marathon training and I will take my rest days after Janathon.  Fortunately the big marathon miles don’t start until then.)

For earlier Janathons and Juneathons I have logged 3 miles running for BMF classes.  An average based on a few classes when I have worn my garmin and recorded moving time, within the hour class,  of about 30 minutes and total distance of 2.5 to 4 miles.  I recorded my class today and we ‘ran’ (forwards, backwards, side-stepped, dragged each other…) for 20 minutes out of the hour class covering 1.9 miles.  We didn’t stay cold, after the sprinkling of snow, because plenty of the running was at sprint pace and we had lots squats and lunges in between to keep us warm. However my knees did complain so I’d better get my foam roller out.

bmfjan13

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/262002020

On another day I might have decided that 2 miles was not enough for my Janathon daily mileage and dashed out for a second run.  Today I was clean and warm and definitely not going out again in the freezing rain.

Janathon day 14.  1 hour BMF (blue/red) class 1.9 miles run and a few too many lunges.


by 3 Comments

I ran!

I know that that, in itself, shouldn’t be too much of a surprise seeing as this is a running blog but I’ve been off in the wilderness so my 4 mile plod on Thursday and today’s 10K were my first proper runs since Rutland Marathon 4 weeks ago.

Whilst I haven’t been running (as in, put on my garmin and plod out the door), I have gone to BMF classes 3 times a week so I’ve not been completely idle. It’s been nice to get a bit of speed back and enjoy some sprints free from heavy legs and marathon injury worries but the peak of my endurance is now 400m!

It’s not that Rutland Marathon finished me off it’s just that as well as some rest and recovery and down time from running I’ve had to reconnect with the rest of my life and put in a bit of time to catch up with family, friends, work and domestic stuff having been somewhat marathon obsessed for a few months. I’ve also had to sensibly give myself a good recovery to get over my Achilles problems and the past month with low mileage has meant that I am now free from ankle/heel pain when I run.

I also found myself post marathon at the top end of my normal weight range having fully embraced the fuel and carb loading part of my marathon training. So have used the past few weeks whilst taking it easy to experiment with intermittent fasting.  I’ve restricted myself to 500 or so kcal 2 days a week which so far is working as I’ve lost a couple of pounds.

So having rested and recovered I then found myself without the will to run (or blog).  I tried and another week passed.  I bought some new longer running tights and ran a 4 miler on my own earlier this week and wrote half a blog.  I signed up for some races, filling next years calendar and added the Regents Park 10K’s for December and January to get me started.

Today was the first and I fortunately met up with Alma so I had no excuses that it was too cold, too early and not turning up, but instead had a very enjoyable run with company, not looking at time or pace and running a fresh route.

Our breakfast afterards was good too.  Thanks Alma, Mojo restored.


by 10 Comments

On the up!

Many thanks for your comments, suggestions and support after my last post. I hope I haven’t put anyone off training for a first marathon too much! It’s a journey after all so there are obviously going to be one or two ups and downs (if it was easy, everyone would be running marathons!)

After last weeks down this week things are definitely on the up! I am now running in my widest fitting running shoes, going commando and strapping my rib cage with plasters to avoid chafing and I’ve bought myself a Camelbak so I don’t have to get angry with my water bottle. Most of all I’ve sorted out my head, which was the main problem.

This week I went to BMF three times, in place of my midweek runs, where we had some laughs and I was happy to realise that I still have some pace in my legs. We also had some great post BMF coffees sitting in the sunshine by the Serpentine where we put the world to rights. Thanks team, head sorted and motivation restored.

I also got some fantastic marathon training advice for long runs from Rosie. Get a train or get dropped off miles from home and run back. Then there is no way to take a short cut, miss out a lap or give up (unless you find a handy passing taxi!) and every step of the run is a step nearer home. She also suggested getting a train out to Teddington and running the Thames path back to central London.

So started my research into the Thames Path and on Saturday morning I got the tube out to Canary Wharf and ran the 14 miles of Thames path back to Hammersmith.

morning sun over Canary Wharf

Tower Bridge and The Shard coming into view

the end in sight at Hammersmith Bridge.

Plus an extra mile towards home by which time it was getting warm and I decided I was far too hot and knackered to make it all the way home so rang my husband to come and get me!

A brilliant run, my best long run and furthest distance ever. I ran alone and without music but didn’t feel all the miles because for 2 1/2 hours I was happy to view the wonderful sights of London, smile at other runners and dodge tourists.

It’s a fabulous route following close to the river all the way apart from a few parts in deepest Fulham. I am only sorry, as a runner and a Londoner, I’ve not run any of the Thames path before. Now I’m off to plan the next one!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,013 other followers