I’m slow updating the blog this week, busy times… So going back to last Friday…

Back playing squash with my Dad again following the Christmas shutdown. First game I nearly won but after that I was soundly beaten. Two weeks off and the muscles were not expecting 40 minutes of dashing around and I was quite achy on Saturday morning.

Saturday I decided to shake out the squash aches with a run. This was the worst run I have ever had. I was out for a little over an hour and covered seven and a half miles but I didn’t enjoy it. My legs fatigued so it was laborious to move them, just underneath my toes started to ache, my shins were sore, and I found myself having to walk for stretches of the distance. Not happy about that really, I have less than seven weeks to go before the killerthon and I’m running like I did 12 months ago. To compound matters all of the above aches are with me five days later which has meant that I haven’t really been out there rebuilding my stamina.

Yesterday I played squash, this time with a mate from work. This is secret extra court time so that I get good enough to give my dad a run for his money, and certainly playing someone of my own ability I was able to win a couple of games, but it is a good all round work out too. Nearly a thousand calories are burned during a game of squash which seems to be more than pretty much any other activity.

I’ll have a rest day today and then another game of squash on Friday with a run on the weekend… I do get the feeling that I don’t know how to train for an race though. When I was training for the DW kayak race (which is still on my mind btw. I just need a plan of action) I was running and swimming. When I was training for a swimming event I was out on my bike and now that I am training for a distance run I am playing squash.

I do need to research into my sore feet problem though as it is quite a painful issue at the moment and quite demoralising knowing that after a run I am going to be hobbling around for a few days. The internet will find a solution for me.

Last weeks training was a complete fail. The snow and ice was too much and in the end I didn’t head out at all fearing broken ankles. Saturday swimming was also a non event due to other plans, Sunday however was a nice day and I went out for my first run since the end of December. It was a five mile steady run with a burst of VO2 Max at the end because a thumping tune came on my iPod.

I have been suffering with wicked blisters, absolute killers. I had read on the web that blisters might be caused by too tight trainers so I tied my shoes less tightly and I didn’t suffer so badly. Next run out and I will tie them less so again and hopefully I will be able to get rid of them completely.

This week I am back into gear though. Honest. I have convinced a mate at work to start playing squash and now that the weather is back to pleasant I am sure I will be out running now…

I’ve got nine weeks to go now before the killerthon and I have really got to get my training into gear. I have been using the Christmas period and the wintery weather as an excuse for doing little in the way of training for this race but I can do this no longer.

Sunday I got myself moving again with an arctic trip up Snowdon, deep snow, avalanche warnings, crampons and ice axe. It was actually one of the best mountain trips I have had for years. All the additional kit added to the weight hauled, and the deep snow and technical nature of the climbing meant that we were moving more slowly that we would have otherwise. Six hours on the mountain and about 6 miles covered. Absolutely knackered today though.

The people at the killerthon are sending out weekly training emails which are pretty comprehensive and very similar to my own drafted training plan, so I will adopt theirs as it gets emailed to me once a week and reminds me that I should be doing something. I will be following the intermediate schedule.

So this week I will be doing.
Monday Rest.
Tuesday – 30 minute easy run.
Wednesday - 4x 750m, 3x 500m, 3x 300m with 90sec recoveries
Thursday - 50 min relaxed or steady run
Friday – rest (actually will be playing squash)
Saturday – Cross train. (swimming)
Sunday - 1 hour 20 min long run

Monday rest, no problem with that. My PS3 is calling my name for that session.
Tuesday 30 minute easy run. Perfect, I have a nice 3 miles route just for runs like this, just need to wrap up warm and hope it doesn’t snow too hard.
Wednesday… Not sure about this one. I will need to work out some sort of plan with a running track or something. Not sure will have to research how to do this one.
Thursday 50 minute relaxed run. Again, no issues other than the cold weather.
Friday I will be playing squash instead of resting, but I don’t think that should cause too many problems. Different muscles get worked out on the squash court so I should still be resting the running ones.
Saturday cross training fits nicely with my Saturday swimming sessions that we were doing before Christmas.
Sunday big run. Again, not real issues with that, though I might substitute that with another expedition up a mountain while we have snow to enjoy.

Well the Christmas went pretty much to plan. Too much food, too much drink, pretty much zero exercise and here I am with ten weeks to go before a 24km race not exactly in race trim.

I did have a guilt fuelled run on the Saturday after new year, a jolly five miler but that was all.

The start of the new year has now seen snow of epic proportions and although I have had every intention of going out for a run, I actually haven’t dared to venture out into the cold.

I’m going to have to do something though, I am feeling a tad unfit and have added some additional insulation to my midriff which will need to be shifted.

Probably the last post of '09

Due to Christmas my 14 week training program has gone a bit awry with things getting cancelled so I can go out and be merry. Last week was all to cock with just a big run on Saturday to add to the road miles.

Problems are occurring though. Firstly I am getting hideous horrendous blisters in the arch of my foot. Really gory messy things which made running difficult and putting shoes on afterwards agony. One blister was just shredded skin by the time I had completed the 7.4 mile run and although sore, wasn’t as bad as the blister on my left foot which was still intact, it was about the size of my thumb and for some reason I couldn’t lance it, it resisted the needle as though made of rubber, so every time I put pressure on my foot, the fluid felt like it was about to explode out through the skin. Not nice. To make matters worse I had tried to protect the area with strips of tape, which were supposed to take away any friction that was causing the damage. The blisters formed anyway.

Then the other thing which is a new pain is my toes. My three middle toes hurt like hell, still do actually. The internet tells me that it is because I am landing too hard on my feet. I’m intrigued how I can land less hard on my feet, unless I learn rudimentary flight I can’t think how to go about it.

So here I am at Tuesday in Christmas week and I have zero plans now to add any more miles onto my tally, I also have quite extensive plans to eat and drink to excess. I think week 4 of the 14 week plan will see me having taken a back step from where I was two weeks ago. I might blog again before Christmas but don’t count on it, as there is slim chance I will have done anything meaningful to blog about.

Will continue in the new year.

The great north swim was on channel 4 this weekend and for about 5 seconds I was on telly faffing around with my hat while someone in front of me was getting interviewed. I don’t know why he was getting interviewed, I was too excited about being on telly. Watching the swim over makes me want to sign up for it all over again though.

This Friday, me and my dad played squash for the last time in 2009. This Friday I have friends over and then it is Christmas and new year. I am finally able to play a game with a degree of ability. The ball now goes where I want it to go. I know my dad is holding back a lot of game winning shots because he pulls them out every now and again when I start getting cocky but I am starting to ask questions of his game. I think at some point in 2010 I will be good enough to give him a run for his money.

Saturday swimming was good. I put in 50 minutes or so, and about half of the lengths I swam freestyle. I am adopting total immersion teachings into my technique and I do think it is making improvements to my skill. I do still tire but I think it also has something to do with my breathing timing. Taking a breath every second stroke seems a bit too much and I sort of hyperventilate, taking one every fourth stroke sees me gasping for air and struggling, and I can’t do every third stroke as I find it off putting turning my head to the right for air. I am toying with a four, two, four breathing rhythm which might be working out for me. I’m off to some swimming forums later this week to find out if there is anything else I can try to improve my freestyle technique. I want to do the mile in 30 minutes next time out.

Sunday big run was out in the frost and was pretty chilly but it didn’t matter as I had my winter running clobber on. I wanted to run at a fast pace so pushed hard, every five minutes or so I noticed that I had settled back into a steady pace again and would then surge on, only for my high cadence to slow back to steady, which I would notice and on I went. It might have been cold but I was working hard enough for my sweat to steam off my thighs. A little over 7 miles in a little under an hour. Certainly the furthest I have run at that sort of pace, and although I was stuffed when I was done I think I can increase the distance at that speed over the coming couple of months. I did hurt my paws a bit with a couple of cracking blisters in the arch of each foot, and those rather than exhaustion is what made me glad to finally stop. Might need to research advanced blister protection too.

Week one of my 14 week training program is finished, just about, game of squash tonight to be played yet.

The run on Thursday was cancelled due to lack of interest but I don’t think it is going to be too much of a dent into the training regime as long as I don’t skip sessions too often. I am also going to have to adjust the plan a bit as I haven’t taken into account Christmas week, week 4 is going to be a bit disrupted with the festivities so rather than try to stick to the routine and fail, I will adjust it to take advantage of the days I have free and write off the days I haven’t.

Tuesday run was good though. Cold, and I failed to warm up adequately so my calves locked up pretty quickly and made running a little painful. There was also a hint of shin pain again so I am going to have to be mindful of that for the next time.