Week One - Foundations

So, a wee bit of context to start things off.

On Sunday 23rd April I aim to be running around the streets of London (panic?), and over the course of the next 16 weeks I am following a very regimented training plan to get me there. I was meant to break my marathon cherry in Berlin last September, but in a typically male way I decided that I didn't need to follow a plan and could just up my game (and my distance) and I'd be fine. Turns out that doesn't work and if you run 17 miles before the body is ready your body is gonna break down. 

And break down it did! Sprained medial ligaments in my left knee pounding like a drum on every single impact, be it walking or running for a number of months. So, running was very quickly a no-go, Berlin was off the table and I had to go swimming which sucked. It was only in December that I managed to get any sort of milage back in my legs after damaging my knee at the end of June. 

Not cool.

So yeh, context. This week I start my very-regimented-training-plan and I think that it is going to be tough. I need to be running three times in the week which is pretty bleak at this time of year as well as a long one on Sunday - the day of rest! In the past I have managed to motivate myself pretty well by writing about it. Not necessarily for the consumption of others, but if it is down on paper (or screen), it sorta means I have to do it. Otherwise I'm a let down and no one wants that.

So I'm going to write - and the crowd goes wild!

I plan to write an update every Sunday for the next 14 weeks with real time content throughout the week updating on each run, probably some fairly inane rambling but it gives me something to think about out on the roads other than how great it's going to be when Liverpool win the league.

So, week one - the plan describes this week as thus; 'The next four weeks are about building a base of easy running - building time on your feet without the fatigue of faster running. This will form the basis from which to introduce more marathon-specific training.'

Ok - cool.

Oh, one final piece of context. The blog title. The Running Jaffa Cake. Jaffa Cakes are like aeroplane fuel when it comes to half marathons so... much like the miles, just gonna double them right up and become one for the marathon. And it's nice and catchy and looks funky in the font up at the top.

This is my plan, it is based on four runs a week with the main distance run on the Sunday with smaller conditioning runs throughout the weeks. This came from the magazine that they sent out with the YOU GOT A PLACE IN LONDON! letter.

All being well this should be relatively achievable. It is only one extra run in the week, it'll get tougher when the milage on a Sunday heads up over the 10 mile mark. It's worth saying that I ran 65 miles in December based on three runs a week ranging from five to seven miles so the really deep foundations are already there.

Run #1 - Tuesday 3rd January

The plan said run for 20 minutes but until now I've been so in the routine of running to completed mile marks. So I ran for 25 minutes and did 3 miles. Now obviously this is a dangerous precedent so it is the last time I will do this. Felt my knee a little but I think that's more me building up the start of this training plan in my head and fretting. Decent pace, 8.35 per mile. 8.30 is the marathon target pace.  One down!

Run #2 - Wednesday 4th January

It's pretty cold (2'c) and I'm not hugely feeling it. I don't know if I have ever run back-to-back days before but alas, I now have. Steady enough half an hour - knee alright and 3.52 miles in the can at 8.33.

Run #3 - Friday 6th January - CANCELLED

Well, this is a little embarrassing. The knee. Always the knee. It flared up the night of my last run and is still sore now. As this wrote me off for four months last year I've got no option but to be cautious. It hurts in the same place and I am concerned. I won't be running today and we will see how the weekend goes. Gah.

Sunday 8th January

Feeling more optimistic now sports fans. I have done two thirty minute spin sessions this weekend and also walked round the village and I think (pray) that it has only been a minor flare up. 

So that, hopefully, is good news. It is also a massive jolt of reality and DON'T BE AN IDIOT. My knee can not hack back-to-back running days. Even three miles was enough to do some damage on the second day so I am going to reassess the very-regimented-training-plan and perhaps replace one of the week runs with a spin or a swim - yay.

I have had concerns about my knee going in to this training cycle which I think is only natural - but I expected trouble to hit after big milage, not after six miles in two days. But it is good to know now and, touch wood, come out the other side still ticking.

Anyway, this is what I've been listening to in Week One. Yep, I'm going to do a different playlist every week to keep me sane and trust me - it'll be FULL of bangers.

So all in all, the week of laying 'foundations' hasn't been all that successful and the irony of me altering the training plan after one week is painful. But with any luck I'll be able to get going again on Tuesday without a long term issue which would risk derailing the whole shebang.

Fingers crossed!