'Vows' help to keep on track for the half!

Misty memorial: Coventry's War Memorial Park, good for training,
and home to parkrun.

Event: Half marathon training
Location: Coventry
Date: 25/02/17

I WAS a marshal at last year’s Coventry Half Marathon. At that stage I didn't feel ready to tackle that sort of distance, but vowed that next year, I would be running in the event.

That might have been a bit rash. There’s one thing about making ‘vows’ to yourself and setting your own challenges. You can’t escape them! If you ‘wimp out,' there’s no hiding. Nobody else might know – but you do! And you have to live with yourself!

Well, 2017 is that ‘next year,’ and, as previously mentioned, this has required putting in a few miles in preparation.

Actually, I’ve got carried away.

I’d already registered for the Chillington Hall Half in May, and yesterday also signed up for the Kenilworth Half in September.

I reckoned if that doesn’t force me to hit the tarmac, nothing will. Not that it takes much forcing, but it does give you something to aim for, and a purpose for pounding the pavements. Setting goals can spur you to action.

My good friend and running buddy Jill, who started running classes the same time as me, has also entered, and we’re able to compare notes. Sharing the experience creates a great sense of mutual support and motivation.

I’m basing my training on Graeme Hilditch’s programme from his book The Marathon and Half Marathon, A Training Guide, while Jill is following a plan by Dave Long, the ‘fastest Coventrian ever to run a half marathon.’

Dave’s plan can be accessed through the Coventry Half website.

parkrun prep: runners warm up before their
weekly run in the park.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, they follow a roughly similar pattern, although Dave also includes parkruns as part of the routine.

We’re both using the schedules as a guide, rather than slavishly following every step. So in my case, if there’s a 4-5 mile tempo run scheduled, for example, I might switch that for a parkrun, with a 1 or 2-mile warm up and cool down there and back.

Tomorrow, I’ll be joining Massey Ferguson Running Club colleagues for the Draycote Water 10K. I was unsure about doing a long run and 10K on consecutive days, especially as I’d completed around 5 ½ miles, including a couple of deceptively ‘gentle’ but extended hill reps, with the club midweek, so decided not to.

When I first started running, I quickly landed myself with an IT band injury, which meant ‘time off,’ visits to the physio and a protracted easing back into action. You don’t know what your limits are until you hit them! Ouch!

But you learn quickly, and nowadays I tend to err on the side of caution.

On course: Cold wet mornings are
no dampener for these enthusiasts.

This hasn’t meant avoiding wet, icy mornings and the occasional tumble, but it has included taking note of any aches, pains, niggles etc, that could potentially develop into something more serious, and responding accordingly.

So far, so good. I’m gradually increasing mileage on the long runs – it was 12 miles last week, so I’m aiming for around 13/14 on the next one – and including tempo runs and fartleks etc as and when.

I don’t want to tempt fate, but for me, having a ‘flexi’ but determined approach – rather than being rigidly wedded to a pre-ordained schedule – and trying to tune in to what my body is telling me, seems to be doing the trick.

The - lactic? - acid test will be here soon enough, of course. But at least I’ll have kept my vows!