Weight progress ticker

Monday 28 November 2011

100 mile month!

Yesterday I completed a 12 mile run in the FREEZING cold which wasn't as far as I had originally planned but I was freezing and joints started to ache! Nevertheless a 12 mile run in under 2 hours (1:59:39) is good in my eyes! It also means I took the total for November to:

104 Miles!


I feel like it's a massive achievement and I'm very proud of that number, I doubt I will have many more months in my life where I run that much. I've pretty much not missed a training session in 8 weeks and so the last 2 months have been great for me!

I am now taking 4 days off from running as I am going to Vienna with work. I'm still taking gym gear so I can do a few bits whilst we're out there but I think I deserve a 4 day break from running, something I've not had since September and it's now nearly December.

Have a good week all!

Erik

Friday 25 November 2011

Happy Friday everyone

Hi all,

I hope you're well! I've had a good week so far, I feel like I've gotten over my minor calf problem. That will be tested out when I run 4 miles tonight but it definitely feels better than it has done all week. It could be down to Tiger Balm (MAGIC) or compression tights or stretching or probably a combination of all 3.

I also broke another PB for the bench press yesterday with 75kgs - an increase of 12.5kg! - not sure how that works but I'm very pleased. My best mate and partner in crime Jonny came along for the first time to the gym for a gruelling work out which lasted about 1½ hours. I'll be interested to find out how he feels later.

I'm going to Vienna, Austria with work next week and so I won't be running Monday-Thursday, I'll take some gym stuff with me so that I can keep active. Anxious about not doing enough but I'm sure it will be fine.

Have a great weekend everyone.

-Erik

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Ran past two 11-13 year olds tonight... "Run fatty, run!!" followed by continued abuse until I turned the corner.

All the motivation I needed to smash my PB for the distance. Cheers lads!

Progress - some stats!

Personal Bests:
March 2011
Distance in 1 run: 2 miles 
Distance in 1 week: 5 miles 
Bench press: 30 kgs



Now
Distance in 1 run: 16.8 miles (3h 5min) 
Distance in 1 week: 29 miles 
Bench press: 62.5 kgs 
Half marathon time: 2h 10mins (November 19th 2011) 
Miles in 1 month: 87 (October 2011) 

Monday 21 November 2011

Feeling the effects

I am writing to you this Monday morning feeling slightly beat up. I had a really good run on Saturday morning, again with my friend Jamie and we ended up doing a half marathon. We did it in 2:09:46 which is averaging under 10min/mile. I'm very pleased with this as we ran up a massive hill after about 10 miles and did the last mile in 9:07.

Since then I've rested as Sunday-Saturday I had done a total of 42 miles and my body feels like it too! I have a sore shoulder (probably from my weight work in the gym), a sore left calf which was feeling cramp-like towards the end of the run, a sore right ankle and generally I'm feeling a bit leggy. I'm happy with the rest and the soreness isn't too bad. I will try to run again tomorrow, let's see how I get on.

Also, I put on a pound this week which I'm not to fussed with. I was good all week and so I think it's mainly muscle.

Got to keep powering on!

-Erik

Thursday 17 November 2011

Running with somebody helps!

In the past 2 days I have run with my friend Jamie who's at a more advanced level than me and he's ran marathons before. It's great insight because he is also coming to Barcelona for the marathon and so can give me tips along the way.

When you run with somebody it definitely helps! It makes the time go a lot quicker and especially if you run with someone that is a bit more advanced - it forces you to pick the pace up at all times which in itself is good training. I did 4 miles instead of 3 on Tuesday and 8 miles instead of 7 yesterday, both in very good time - mainly because of Jamie. The run yesterday was the first run where it has been FREEZING cold and so for the first 2-3 miles I did not enjoy it but in the end it turned out to be a good pleasurable(ish) run.

Let's hope the decent week continues, gym session tonight as per usual and then another run with Jamie on Saturday. We've said minimum 10 miles but let's see how far our legs will take us!

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Good recovery!

So Sunday and Monday I was in a lot of pain. My legs and my right knee were hurting quite bad so I tried to do as little as physically possible and as it turns out, I recovered well! I was tonight supposed to do a 3-mile recovery run and I ended up doing 4 miles at a very good pace 9:30min/miles. I felt great and could have carried on a lot longer and so I'm very pleased with this.

I am due to do a 7 miler tomorrow and so I am going to aim for 8 miles just to get ahead of plan. I am cheating a bit this week because I am going to move the long run from Sunday to Saturday and miss out Friday's run all together. This is because Saturday is 1 of my allocated drinking days (I set 5 days between Oct 1st and Christmas where I could drink) and so I only have 2 left after that before Christmas.

Let's hope this week goes well! Onwards and upwards!

Sunday 13 November 2011

New PB and more weight loss!

Hi all!

As I write this I have some very achy legs! I broke a PB this morning and ran 16.8 miles in 3 hours and 5 minutes. I was supposed to run 12 according to my plan but I decided to run til fail and I did just that about 2 miles from home. My legs were really tired and I am just pleased I managed the distance... I am also very pleased as I finished the week about 6 miles ahead of plan!

I then stepped on the scales and I had lost 3½ lbs this week! That's 9lbs lost since the 16th October, great progress!

-Erik

Thursday 10 November 2011

New Jeans!

I've done well this week with the running and so I thought I'd treat myself to a new pair of jeans - I've dropped 2 sizes! Can't remember the last time I was this size, I think I was about 14/15 yrs old. Chuffed!
Another great run yesterday - 6.8 miles in 1h 6min which is faster than 10 min miles and that's great news for me! Never done that far that quickly! Much needed and deserved day off running today but not resting - heading to the gym as per usual to be put through my paces! Need to buy some new clothes - all the ones I have are too big! Great feeling!

-Erik

Wednesday 9 November 2011

4.8 miles yesterday but I am going to count 4 as I only deal in full miles and I'm rock&roll. Motivation at an all-time high at the moment. Got to keep it up.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Going for it!

So this week I am due to do 3,6,3 and 12 mile runs as you can see on the last post. I want to try and push ahead of the schedule as I felt so good during my 11-miler on Sunday. I want to do 4,6,4 and 15miles - aiming for a PB in terms of total mileage for the week and total distance for 1 run (The furthest so far is 13.1 miles which I did in June). I'll let you know how I get on!

I'd also like to point you to my new fundraising page. ----------->

It's a really great charity that I volunteer for as well in my spare time, any donations are hugely appreciated as I know they go to something good.

Wish me luck!

Erik

Monday 7 November 2011

Good few weeks!

I've had a good few weeks! I wanted to illustrate this by showing my training plan in the past few weeks and the next few weeks coming up. All the ones highlighted in green are ones that I've completed


You can also see the total mileages for the weeks and also the total mileage since March (when I started my running training seriously). I am pleased with the progress - I haven't missed a single session that has been planned in 5 weeks.

As you can see though, the next few weeks I get in to some serious mileage and so I just hope I can keep it up!

11.1 miles run and 3lbs lost

The title sums it up very well!

A good 11.1 mile run yesterday, all though my GPS tracker (which was VERY kindly and unexpectedly bought for me as a birthday present on Thursday) logs 11.1 but when I log it on to the software on the PC it says 12.7 miles. Not sure which one to believe but I'll count 11.1 as if I am doing longer then I'll be pleasantly surprised when I do the race and find it easier.

Either way a very good run, and I lost another 3lbs even though I had one of my 5 allocated drinking days on Friday to celebrate turning 25 on Thursday. I'm starting the 26th year of my life in good form!

-Erik

Thursday 3 November 2011

Best run yet!

So yesterday I went on a 6.5 miler with my mate Jamie who is running the marathon with us in Barcelona. I think it was my best run to date. We kept a good pace - about 10 min/miles and we also took the course past 2 gruelling hills! The 2nd of which was right at the end. I managed to sprint up that hill and finish really strong! The last mile of the 6.5 was the fastest and so it was great!

This is how I looked immediately after :-D