Abingdon Marathon Training - 10 weeks to go!
In last weeks vlog (video blog for the less tech savvy!) John and I explained that we were going to try out a Vegan diet initially for 1 week to see if it had any impact on our training. Our reasons for doing this:
1) We've been following an athlete (Jason Cherryman) who has been trying out this plant-based diet and had successes.
2) I'm concerned about the environment issues that arise from eating meat.
3) I put on a bit of weight during our holiday so need to shift that and I'd like to reduce my body fat percentage.
4)Lots of our friends are doing it!
5) For fun! - Something new to try!
So for one week we planned to only eat foods that were plant based - no eggs, butter, milk, cheese, meat and of course everything had to be gluten free as well.
Monday 7th August 2017
Today John went back to work so I was left to fend for myself. Those of you who know me will know that I don't like being along and I have to be doing something all the time. So I had to think of ways to fill the hours between 8am and 6pm when John got back from work. The first thing I did was head to Asda to do our Vegan, plant based, gluten free shop! This took a while because I had to read the back of every packet - I was amazed at how many products you expect to be Vegan have milk powder or butter in. Anyway, I still managed to buy a considerable amount of items in what was probably my healthiest ever shop!
I filled the rest of my day by tidying, ironing and watching the athletics - very inspiring.
I want to make full use of these next few weeks of summer holidays; I can actually train like an elite athlete. My aim was to run twice a day and do an element of weight training or cross training every day. I am aware that this is a more than I usually do so I planned to listen to my body and stop or reduce the mileage if I feet it was doing more harm than good.
Today, I used moveGB to book into a pure 'abs' class. I ran 3 miles there - nice and steadily as my calves were especially tight after yesterday's efforts in the long run. Unfortunately, when I got to the gym the class wasn't on. Instead I used all the weights machines do work my arms (which are often neglected).
For my first Vegan lunch, I had quinoa which I boiled with a vegetable stock cube to give it some flavour. Once it was cooked, I fried some mushrooms, courgette, olives and spinach before adding in some hummus and putting the cooked quinoa back in the pan to mix it all together. I ate it with rice cakes - it was really good!
In the evening, it was a GWR committee meeting so John and I ran to club and back which added on an extra 4 miles for the day.
For dinner, I cooked a vegetable stir fry. I used rice noodles and sweet and sour sauce (the only packet sauce which was both vegan and gluten free).
Tuesday 8th August 2017
Today's I decided to try out a class at the Vivo sports gym on the Welsh Back. The class is called 360 rig and is basically a circuits class using this large multi-use piece of gym apparatus. The best thing about it is that it's given me lots of ideas for how to use this rig (which is available for anyone to train on in the gym). The class was 30 mins and definitely got my heart rate up. I ran there any back to get an extra 4 miles ticked off.
In the evening, John and I ran to the river Avon path which is a relatively new discovery for us. It is dead flat and relatively quiet so idea for speed work. Today the plan called for 10 miles with 4 at half marathon pace. We planned to do 3 miles as a warm up, then 4 quick (turning around after 5 miles) and 3 miles steady back home. I am hoping that my new half marathon pace is going to be between 6:20- 6:30mm so for today's workout I wanted to aim for around that and see how it felt. After a hard run on Sunday and lots of training already this week, I knew this would be a challenge but I was keen to give it a good go.
We ran the first 3 miles steadily to get to the path. When my watched beeped at 3 miles I picked up the pace and hit 6:31mm average. It felt like I was working hard but I was pretty sure I could continue this for 3 more miles. Unfortunately, the path then got very muddy so despite putting in the same amount of effort, I wasn't hitting the pace I needed. Trying not to let this bother me, I focused on not slipping on the mud and falling into the river! The next two (muddy) miles were 6:44 and 6:50 - a little disappointing so, when I reached the paved path, I really picked it up and hit 6:22 for the last mile of effort.
As soon as I finished the speed work, my legs had had enough. My calves were tight and legs felt really heavy. I ran one more mile (8:44) before John took pity on me and suggested that we walk the last two miles home. 8 miles done with some good efforts - pretty pleased overall.
When we got home, I cooked Vegan burgers with mushrooms, onion and lettuce - yum!
Wednesday 9th August 2017
I met my aunty for lunch today and had the first experience of just how difficult eating out can be for vegans. We went to a cafe and every item on the menu had bread, eggs or milk in. Luckily they had gluten free bread - but what to put in it when you can't have any meat or cheese. I chose humus and roasted peppers and it actually wan't too bad.
In the afternoon I ran to purgym and tried out a 'legs bums and tums class'. I have to say I was not very impressed. The class comprised of us running back and forth accross the room carrying a weight and occasionally doing an exercise (eg: squats, plant, press ups etc). The instructor (who was about 21) clearly couldn't care less about technique and just wanted to act like an sergeant major!
In the evening we just did 6 miles with the GWR crew before heading to Hubbox (a new restaurant in Clifton) for Marcus' birthday. I had pre-checked their menu online and knew that there were a couple of vegan gluten free options. I would really recommend Hubbox - the food was great, nice atmosphere and excellent service. Also - the sweet potato fries were gluten free - a rarity!
Thursday 10th August 2017
Today I met with the Maestro at lunchtime for a run. We did 7 miles around Ashton court which was lovely as they were just getting ready for the balloon fiesta.
In the evening, John and I had a PT session with Jules. I ran there which took my daily total up to 10 miles. PT today was BRUTAL. Jules started by giving us a range of exercises to do eg: squats, sit ups, press ups (all with weights) probably about 10 different activities in total. we did 25 reps of each exercise which was pretty hard. Then he announced that we were going to do the whole thing again but with 50 reps of each! Seriously difficult - 50 reps is a lot and really pushed us both to the max.
When we got home we treated ourselves to gluten free vegan ice cream with vegan chocolate sauce!
Friday 11th August 2017
We were up early today to see the hot air balloon launch from Bristol's annual balloon fiesta. By 5:30 am we were up and about running up to the observatory where we knew they'd be a good view. We were not disappointed. Over 50 hot air balloons were launched and drifted through the sky and towards our flat!
We chased the balloons home and enjoyed watching them glide past our balcony.
During the day today I went to yoga at Cargo 2. I'm really starting to notice results from it. For example, when I first started, I couldn't do the side plank at all - today I held side plank for a good amount of time on both sides.
I rested for the rest of the day as I wanted to give parkrun a good crack tomorrow.
Saturday 12th August 2017
Due to the balloon fiesta taking place in Ashton Court, parkrun was cancelled so a group of us took a trip to Riverfront parkrun in Newport. When we arrived I was delighted to see that the course was flat and concrete - my two favourite things in a run! It was also an out and back course which I love, because, I like to know where I am going and I look out for landmarks on the way out that I look forward to seeing again on the way back.
My aim for today was to get a parkrun PB (sub 19.23) so I knew that all my miles needed to be under 6:10 mm pace. That shouldn't be too hard because it's been aaages since I've ran a flat parkrun. I set off, running along the river, and got into my rhythm. But because I'm so used to running at marathon pace, I'd got into my 6:45 rhythm! Pleased that I noticed early on, I quickly upped the pace and stormed passed a whole host of men (always fun!) until I hit 6:05mm pace. This felt comfortable so I tried to maintain this pace...until I saw the Maestro not too far ahead! Ahha! The chase was on. I picked up the pace again in mile 2 (5:55mm) and was gaining on him for a while...until the turn when he clearly spotted me and panicked that I was so close! With him speeding up, I couldn't catch him but I did manage a 6:11mm last mile which got me a 6:03mm average and a new all time PB of 18:44.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing and napping before heading out in the evening for an engagement party in Clifton.
Sunday 13th August 2017
After a rather heavy night yesterday, we quickly decided that it would be best to run in the evening -after we'd recovered. We spent the day eating, hydrating and napping before heading out to run about 5pm.
I wanted to do a run of over 20 miles today but wasn't sure I'd be up to it given that about 60% of my body was still made up of Prosecco! However, once I got started, I actually felt really good. My legs felt strong and I felt like I could just run and run. Unfortunately, John wasn't feeling quite as spritely. He did 10miles with me and we averaged around 8:30mm pace. Once John left I decided I wanted to challenge myself to run the last 11 miles at all under 8mm pace - this was so that I could practise pushing myself to run faster towards the end of a race (negative split). Up to about 14 miles it felt really easy. There were balloons overhead, it was dry but not too hot - perfect running conditions. From 14 miles onwards it was a bit harder but I pushed through the pain by ticking off one mile at a time. One strategy I use when running is to bargain with myself. My deal today was that I get a sip of water after every mile that was under 8mm. This helps you to forget the pain that your body is in and just concentrate on the time and distance, it also helps you not to focus on how far you've got left - I just think about each mile one at a time.
I arrive home to find that John had a delicious dinner all ready for me! Risotto with onion, white wine, mushrooms and spinach with home made sweet potato wedges and asparagus - seriously good!
I finished 21 miles in 2 hours and 49mins with an average pace of 8:04. Really really pleased with that run - I'm really feeling the benefit of eating healthily, upping the miles and cross training.
Total for this week - 70.01 miles
Next week, I'm going to try and do much of the same. Similar number of miles, trying to weight train regularly and run twice a day where possible. John has also advised me to try and run more longer runs so I will add that to the mix as well.
So how did I find the Vegan diet.
Well, I feel very healthy. I've lost all the extra holiday weight and dropped a couple of % of body fat. My friends however have had to suffer my increased windyness! Furthermore I've spent a lot more time on the toilet than usual! Have I missed anything? Yes. I really miss hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream. Also eggs - on of my favourite things are John's eggy breakfasts!
So next week, I am going to continue to eat as much vegan food as possible to continue to eat healthily. I am however going to re-introduce eggs, cheese and milk to my diet. When I am shopping or out at a restaurant, I am going to look for vegan options first and foremost and I am going to cook vegan food at home. I've really enjoyed the challenge and would recommend others to give it a go. For health, weight loss or just for fun! Why not?!
No comments:
Post a Comment