Countdown to half marathon

Wet run: Cold, wet January 1 at the start of today's run. 

Shrouded view: Mist hangs over the park
during a midweek session.

Event: Half marathon training
Location: Coventry
Date: 26/12/16 - 01/01/17

IT was cold, wet, windy – and an uphill slog for a little over half my seven-mile route today.

All go? Traffic lights
reflected in the rain.

But this was the first day of the New Year, and I wanted to ‘start as I mean to go on.’

At least I’d have been visible. My knees and quads were neon pink in their battle against rain and icy wind.

It was actually quite ‘pleasant,’ in a masochistic kind of way, bludgeoning through the elements to complete the circuit.

I needed to do the run, as I’ve registered for a couple of half-marathons - my first ever - this year. They are:

• Coventry Half on Sunday March 19, this year organised by the council;
• Chillington Hall, at Brewood, in Staffordshire, on Sunday May 12, a new off-road event, organised through Mash Running.

With 11 weeks to go before Coventry, I reckoned I should get some training in (as well as working off that festive excess!).

I ran a similar seven-mile course for the first time last weekend. It follows part of the Coventry Half Marathon route.

Rain or shine: Up
another incline.

During the week I've completed both fartlek and tempo sessions, alternating between rest days.

This isn’t a random schedule slung together on a whim, but follows Graeme Hilditch’s programme from his book The Marathon and Half Marathon, A Training Guide.

A flick through running books or search on the internet reveals an endless - perhaps even bewildering - variety of plans, for all levels, ranging from a 16-week timetable right down to as little as 4 weeks. It’s a case of matching plan to ambition, lifestyle and experience.

I’d found Hilditch’s style quite accessible in 5K to 10K From Start to Finish, and after reading around a number of others, decided to go with his half-marathon model.

There is a danger, of course, that you become slave to the schedule. One of the key bits of advice offered by most, if not all those who know, is ‘listen to your body.’

Simply going out on a run because it’s ‘in the plan’ if you're genuinely not quite feeling up to it (which is not the same thing as can't be bothered to roll out of bed!) is asking for trouble.

Hilditch himself gives exactly that guidance, with the additional tip to ‘avoid trying to break the land speed record on every training run.’

Warm up: Sun trying to push through mist in the park.

As well as offering a cautionary note for those new to running – who need to build up fitness to be able to run 5k (3.12 miles) without stopping, before progressing to half-marathon training – Hilditch provides two plans, a beginner’s and an advanced. The beginner’s is a 16-week timetable, the advanced is 10. There are interchangeable elements.

I’m following the 10-week programme, partly because there aren’t 16 weeks left!

So my schedule from last Monday (Boxing Day), for example, has been:

• Boxing Day (Monday): 7-mile (11.3k) run. The plan actually suggests a gentle 4-5 miles but, hey, those mince pies needed working off!
• Tuesday Dec 27: Rest
• Wednesday Dec 28: 60-minute fartlek (this included steady 1-mile warm-up/cool-down jog to and from the park; so it was definitely not 1 hour of speed play!)
• Thursday Dec 29: Rest
• Friday Dec 30: 5-mile (8k) tempo.
• Saturday Dec 31: Normally parkrun, but used as a Rest day, in anticipation of longer run today (January 1).
• Sunday January 1: 7-mile (11.3k) run.

No easing up: On course, but
still raining!

My aim is to repeat a modified sequence next week – to hopefully include parkrun - then pick up the programme from that point.

That’ll then be on track for the remaining weeks of the plan up to race day.

I’m looking forward to the half, which will be something new for this year.

Bollards and beyond: Follow the grey wet road!

2016 was a year of firsts for me:

• First entry into organised races (yes, my very first bib & number!)
• First 5-mile race
• First 10k road race
• First trail race (10k)
• First event t-shirt
• First running medals!

Now to do them again in 2017, plus additional challenges like the half-marathons and, hopefully, some warmer, drier runs than today.

By the end of the year, I reckon it'll be time to tuck into in those mince pies again!

First 10k road race: at Stafford's inaugural 10k.

Sun and mist: Scenes from a cold and misty
midweek run in the park.