HM training week3 day1:

15 minutes in zones 1&2, 10 minutes in zone 3, 10 minutes in zone 4, 5 minutes in zones 1&2

I was a bit apprehensive after my head whacking accident yesterday, and I do think it made me feel slightly under par, but I’m ok.

But ... this was hard. For starters it’s hot, (you can see how red I was from the photo), which means your heart is working harder, which means it’s more difficult to stay in the zones. Not helped by forgetting my hat. There were several moments during this when I very much wanted to walk or stop altogether. I didn’t manage to get my heart rate down at all from zone 3 during the last 5 minutes.

But I saw lovely things, like the red kite that hovered above me for a full minute, and the tangle of tiny pink convolvulus in somebody’s garden.

I feel terrific now. A big dose of runners high -

[MikeJones68 Half Marathon]

Oh my, that looks technical! x

[Hidden in reply to MikeJones68]

Haha yes! Luckily all I have to do is start my watch, the training plan for that day comes up, it tells you the run description, then you have the colour zone you should be in on the screen, plus your actual hr zone so you can slow down if you’re going too high. And it beeps at you too to tell you to get the rate down. X

[AlMorr Half Marathon]

Sorry about your head whacking accident yesterday, it seems to have healed quite quickly as you say you have now got a big dose of runners high, that chart indeed looks quite complicated but I am sure you understand every bit of it.

[Hidden in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks😊 Yes, it seems ok today. Still bruised though. I’m learning bit by bit what it all means 😉

[Sadie-runs Half Marathon]

So glad you are okay after yesterday’s head bump, Flick. Phew! Even better, that you are enjoying a runner’s high now! 😁 You may have wanted to stop on this run, but you didn’t, so hat’s off to you (oh dear, no hat!) for your mental stamina - all good training for a HM! Well done dear Flick. 😘👍

Sadie-runs xxx

[Hidden in reply to Sadie-runs]

Thank you dearest Sadie. The effort was worth it for the buzz after. this is also highlighting where I’m capable of more, just like Marcothon did. How is your training going? Xxx

[Sadie-runs Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

😁 Good stuff my lovely. I can see you getting fitter and fitter!

My training is not as scientific as yours (if anything, it’s a little ad hoc sometimes!) but I am really enjoying it! Have got my fuelling right for the long runs (which I LOVE) and pacing is improving. The strength training is really paying off, I must say, as I feel I recover quite quickly after long runs or hard efforts. 16km tomorrow - a new milestone - wish me luck! 😱 xxx

[Hidden in reply to Sadie-runs]

How do you fuel? I haven’t done any long runs this year, except the ill fated 15k, and that was in April. Last year I took a fluid backpack with Tailwind and carried gels 🤢

You will absolutely smash that 16k xxx

[Sadie-runs Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Since running 14k, I do a mini carb load a couple of days before, making sure I plan in some pasta and sweet potato. Wasn’t eating many carbs before, so thought I’d try it. On the run itself, so far Tailwind and jelly babies seem to do the trick, and I have Nakd bars for when I get to 17/18k. I just don’t fancy gels! xxx

[Hidden in reply to Sadie-runs]

I eat a lot of carbs, so that side of things should be fine. Gels are foul, but I bought a big box of assorted flavours last year, so ive got to finish them 🤮

It sounds as if you’ve got the fuelling well worked out 😊 xxx

[Sadie-runs Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

It’s not been hard, as I do love my food 🍎🥒🥑🍰🥖🥟! Started losing a little weight when I began running for longer, so pretty much jumped at the opportunity to stuff my face! 😂😂😂 xxx

[Hidden in reply to Sadie-runs]

I ate everything while doing Marcothon last December, and went down a size in jeans - except they were too tight over my bulgingly muscly calves !!!

[Agelesslass Metric Marathon]

Well done Flick. What a complicated set of figures, mmm not sure I could follow these for myself. So pleased you’ve not been stopped running by your head bang, could have been nasty. Remember your hat next time. Great run 👍👍😀

[Hidden in reply to Agelesslass]

Thank you so much - and I did remember the hat today 😊🥵