It's been about 2 months since I signed up for the half marathon...and I have to say that I'm pretty glad that I did. The holiday season has well and truly kicked off with the double-double bank holiday weekends and it's normally about this time of year that my fitness attempts fall flat on their face. We normally have a week off in the spring, and seven lazy days off, eating pub food and generally chilling out normally means that any exercise regime goes out of the window. After a week you get worried that going back to the gym will just be too hard so you leave it for a bit....then a week becomes a month, and before you know it you're back to where you started.
Not this year though. It's true that I did have a week off from the gym while having my week off work, but the looming spectre of getting the Bristol Half made me pre-empt my usual vacation laziness. I made a plan to avoid losing track in the only way I know how - by spending money that I don't really have: I was going to buy a bike.
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| Specialized Allez 24 - My Bike! |
I’ve done some good mileage on the bike now; about 170miles on my week off and a bit more since, with my longest so far being 46 miles on relatively flat terrain. I didn’t really plan it, but having the bike available as a third training option has helped take some pressure off of my dodgy and somewhat knackered knees, which were beginning to suffer from running.
I’ve still had time to do some running though. I’ve done a 10k training run, just to see if I can, and managed it without too much discomfort (although my legs were hurting the following day!). Normally I’ll try and cram in a couple of 5k runs after work each week, as well as going to the gym and occasionally getting out on the bike.
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| The Bristol Half Marathon Route - At least it's flat |
I’ve lost about 32lbs so far, and my fitness is improving well, so I’m resetting my goal for the half marathon. The target time is now less than 2 hours. I’ll never be an endurance runner, regardless of training, as I’m just not built for it, so if my knees hold out, and I can do that I’ll be ecstatic.
