So, I’m officially one week into my 1:07 half marathon challenge!
The first week has gone pretty well, with 16 kilometres of running under my belt and a weight session at the gym.
All my runs were fairly steady, but this morning’s effort was a little different. I ran a significantly quicker 5K than my recent efforts, clocking 29:01 in Zone 3.
I had been running 5k in around 32-34 minutes previously, albeit in zone 2.
My legs were still a little heavy (DOMS be dammed!) from the gym session, but I felt strong enough to power through.
I’ve also managed to drop at least 1.4kg (my weigh-in was on Friday, so that’s in less than a week), and I’m already feeling a little lighter on my feet when running.
A decent start, I’d say!
The weight loss is almost purely down to eating very clean and drinking only water, tea (yorkshire and green) and some weird apple cider vinegar and ginger drink.
I have given my wife the challenge of being my nutritionalist and she’s doing an awesome job for me.
I’ve still got a long way to go. To stand a realistic chance of running a 1:07 half marathon, I’ll eventually need to get my 5K time down dramatically — pretty much halving it. But hey, we’ve all got to start somewhere!
The plan for week two
Next week, the plan is to increase my mileage slightly to around 17–18K and include a longer run of 7–8K.
I’m also going to tackle the Gedling Country Park parkrun on Saturday to see what I’ve got in the tank when I put in a full effort. It’ll be interesting to see where my current fitness stands.
As the mileage increases and the nights get colder, I’m also looking forward to experimenting with some recovery methods and products.
I’m already a regular sauna user, but I’ve recently come across a new company in West Bridgford, Nottingham: Nottingham Performance and Recovery Clinic.
Their treatments include cryotherapy, red light therapy and hyperbaric oxygen. I’d love to give some of them a go, so I’ll have to save a few pennies and see what might be worth trying.
It’ll be interesting to see whether any of these treatments make a noticeable difference to my recovery as the challenge progresses.
Stay unrealistic.
