Training continues

Training for the Paddock Wood Half Marathon on the 1^st April 2012 is going ok, I could (and probably should) be doing far more, but as I discovered last year, training takes up a lot of time and right now I don’t have too much of that to spare!

Nonetheless, I am still running several times a week, this morning I got up nice and early and hit the Canterbury streets at 5.45am to do a pre-work five mile run!

Yes, I (and the many other runners I pass at that time in the morning) may be crazy, but it really is the best time for me to pound the streets if I can be prized away from the warm comfy duvet.

Not only does it set me up for the day, but the people I pass are friendly, whether it’s those getting the early trains to London, street cleaners, milkmen, fellow runners, dog walkers or stockroom staff having a cheeky break, many say “morning” as I pass. Give it another hour or so and the cloud of the daily grind will have got to them and they will remain silent with their eyes fixed on their route ahead or the job in hand.

Agreed, as it’s dark it’s probably not the safest time to go out, but I’ve been doing this on and off for over a year now and compared to running in the evening I feel safer as there is far less traffic and it’s always the same faces I see.

Ok, I’m not advocating this time of day to run for everyone, every town/city is different and you should assess your local conditions before heading out.

Although I’m still two minutes off my personal best for this route of 45 minutes (I am not a fast runner, and never will be) my old injuries are starting to rear their ugly heads, most notably my leg.

On New Year’s Day 2011 I was on a training run for the Bath Half Marathon when I tore a muscle in my calf. It was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced and made driving, let alone walking, almost impossible. Thankfully, after three months of weekly visits to a sports injury clinic I was repaired enough to get round the course on race day with a bit of a limp.

But today a niggle came back, something I’m going to have to watch very carefully over the coming months.

Shattered after running the Bath Half Marathon on the 6th March 2011

I’m already running 6.5 miles at weekends, but this Sunday I aim to up it to about 7 and begin increasing the length of my runs every two weeks. Ideally I want to get to the position where I’m running the full 13.1 miles in training. I know I don’t need to, but in order to believe I can do it on race day, I need to do it in training (yes, I know it’s all in my mind).

As you know, I’m putting myself through all of this to raise money for WaterAid, the charity I’m heading to Zambia with in less than three weeks time!

If you would like to sponsor me for the Paddock Wood Half Marathon click here.

To find out more about WaterAid or why I'm going to Zambia read my other blog posts and/or click here.