In the last 7 days:
| activity | # | time | miles | km | climb | |||||||
| Stretching | 1 | 30:00 | ||||||||||
| Total | 1 | 30:00 | ||||||||||
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| T | W | H | F | S | S | M | |||||
Thursday Jul 3 | ||
| Stretching 30:00 [1] | |
| A good stretch. | ||
Wednesday Jul 2 | ||
| Note | |
| After watching wee Andy get a pure drubbing, took big sis's dugs oot fur a wok roond King's Park anat. About 1.5-2hrs but I won't count it. Really should do some stretching as back and hamstrings are tight as me wallet.
Should really start thinking about the next phase of training as I hadn't thought beyond the end of June really. However, before I look forward, perhaps I should look back and see what can be seen. In January 2007 I was in the worst shape of my life as a result of a sedentary job, long commute, lazy, alchoholic friends and no particular goals or motivations. I was still doing a reasonable number of events, but they were not races in my head, and were not sustaining my levels of fitness which I could feel ebbing away. I had been in good shape in August 05 for example. However, it was not really a strong sustainable fitness - I did infrequent bouts of intense exercise (the threshold run was my favourite) but no easy sessions. This meant I was injury prone and many muscles were underdeveloped. In fact some very long runs I had done in the winter of 04/05 had given me shin splints which I was struggling to get rid of. Most advice suggested that rest was the only solution. Advice I was happy to take. Of course, it is now clear in my head that stretching and light exercise is required to resolve this problem. Anyway in Jan 07 I resolved to get myself in order as I really wanted to see how fast I could go, feeling I actually had a bit of running talent that I really hadn't utilised. One cannot be a waster forever. As an independent man, of independent means, I was able to arrange my life to suit this new goal and moved to Stirling. For most of 07 my training involved walking the 2 miles each way into and out of work. The key, I felt, was to build a really solid base level fitness. The wise man builds his house upon the rock. I also attended o events, a series of circuits classes and the occasional game of badminton (deliberately avoiding too much running). By August 07 this had got me to pretty much the best shape of my life - after the 6days and a wee cycle tour round the north of Scotland had got me in good condition I set 10k and half marathon pbs in quick succession. In September 07 we now stepped things up significantly with the FVO training masterplan. The major change here was a weekly intervals session and always a run on a Wednesday. A man who had lost his left pinkie and right arm could count the number of interval sessions I had done previously on his one remaining hand, so this was new territory for me. As the nights drew in, and I usually went into hybernation, the combined forces of Attackpoint and the FVO posse kept me coming back for more. Of course, I had to want it myself, and this should not be underestimated. The intervals really killed me as I just did not have the flexibility required to run at such speeds. However, by the start of 08, we felt ready to up the anti again and introduced hill reps as well. Again, an activity I had virtually never done. These weren't quite as tough as the intervals and made a significant difference to my ability to climb hills: they do exactly what they say on the tin. The season upon us, I had good orienteering runs at the British, Scottish Sprint and Relays and the JOK Chasing Sprint as well as a few good hill races - Devil's Burdens and the flatter races at Kinnoull and Knock of Crieff, and I even won a couple of puntery ones. I also set a 10k pb by 40 seconds on the hilly course at Kilmarnock. Overall in the UK Cup, I finished in easily my best position, although hardly outstanding. Nevertheless, it should put me in more favourable start blocks for next season. So all in all, pretty good, although I have not speeded up quite as much as I would have hoped in all honesty. What have I learned? A good solid base is essential - to remain injury free I really need people to go running with - I find it hard to motivate myself to get out there alone A good training diary is motivating Goals are required - to keep me going Intervals are painful - but effective I love ridge running My technique will probably never catch up Good, righto, so now for Phase 3 of Rosco's training masterplan mwwaahaha. Now the first question really is - will there be one? Do I really have it in me to step it up again? Will this actually make much of a difference? Or am I now pretty much as fast as I will be? Can I continue to be motivated even allowing for the uncertainty around my "career"? If it goes ahead then, If I need a goal, what should it be? A marathon seems the obvious answer - there are far too many variables in orienteering. Should I start thinking about weights? Do I need to really up the mileage? Do I need strength and conditioning - even though I hate repetition? Should I actually get myself a proper plan, rather than a few vague ideas in my head? Is it really important to run at specific speeds, rather than just getting out there? Should I consider diet? Is that taking things too far? Should I get right into it? Or give myself a timeout? Do I need a running club? Do I need faster runners around me? This is a step into the unknown for me - I've never previously built on good fitness. Can I have a swimming pool, conservatory, snooker room, balcony and turret for my simple wee house, or will it just be a lick of paint? Actually, I think a better analogy is: can I turn my BMW into a Ferrari? Or will it just be a slightly better BMW? I have some pretty clear ideas myself, but any suggestions gratefully received. | ||
| C • Life choices? 6 | ||
Tuesday Jul 1 | ||
| Note | |
| (rest day) | ||
| Intended to do some stretching. Instead, had a haggis supper. After all, I am a Scotsman. | ||
| Yesterday | ||
| • | Life choices? | 6 |
| Fri 7/04 2008 & Older | ||
| • | niice | 2 |
| more... | ||
 Stirling, United KingdomPartly Cloudy 54°F (feels like 54F) Humidity: 82%, Winds: 3mph
more details Weather data provided by weather.com® | ||
| Monday Jul 7 |
 59 F
Showers |
 40% |
| Tuesday Jul 8 |
61 F
Showers |
 60% |
| Wednesday Jul 9 |
64 F
Few Showers |
 30% |
| more weather | ||
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