Some good progress has been made in week 2 of my quest to run a 1:07 half-marathon.
Firstly, I upped my weekly mileage from 16km to 18km. That’s an increase of 12.5%.
I’m aware that a weekly mileage increase of more than 10% is frowned upon by the serious runners’ bible, but hey, it’s not by much. And let’s not forget that I’m as hard as nails.
The mileage increase came from my long run, extending it from 6km to 8km, and I think this is a good plan going forward.
I’ve seen it suggested recently that the long run, and time on feet in general, are among the most crucial elements of training for a half-marathon or marathon. I think this is even more important for someone like me, who has excellent natural speed but lacks the leg conditioning to sustain it over longer distances.
The other runs were an easy 5K around the 32-minute mark and a 75% effort at parkrun, where I clocked 28:03. I was quite happy with this because my local parkrun course contains a couple of brutal hills and is pretty slow overall.
There’s still a lot more to give in these 5K efforts, but I’m always slightly worried that my legs won’t recover quickly enough from a hard effort and that my training will suffer as a result.
Weight-wise, the scales didn’t budge this week. FFS.
This was a little disappointing at first, especially as I’ve cut out processed food and been eating super clean.
The Boditrax machine did tell me that I’d lost 0.7kg of fat and gained 0.7kg of muscle. I was also carrying an extra 0.5kg of water, so there were some pleasing signs overall.
My body fat is now down to 24.4%, the lowest it’s been since early in the year.
Most importantly, I feel great, and I’m fuelling properly too.
I’m incredibly lucky to have a wife who lovingly cooks me delicious meals throughout the week, and she’s been fully on board with making them as healthy and nutritious as possible.
Chewing gum and drinking plenty of water have felt like cheat codes for keeping sweet cravings at bay and preventing overeating.
This week, I’m going to aim to extend the long run by another couple of kilometres and perhaps introduce some speed work or have another crack at parkrun.
I recently discovered the Mona Fartlek through the excellent Nick Bester’s newsletter, and I’m genuinely excited to try these types of runs.
The pace and stamina I’ll need to get remotely close to a 1:07 half-marathon feel a long way off. And that’s because they bloody well are.
I’ve made a good start, though, and I’ll keep plugging away.
Until next week.
Be consistent and stay unrealistic.
