By Andy Teale

Week 2- Building Momentum

So my first training blog ended on a high.

After 5 weeks of running a mixture of 3Ks, 5Ks and 10Ks, I had finally conquered the 15K mark. It was tough, but I was pleased to have completed a third of distance I’ll need to cover on 24th May, when I take on the Uganda Marathon.

In case you missed last week’s blog, I’m still very much a learner in preparing for these events and still learning the ropes in long distance running, but I’m hoping this blog will keep you spurred on in your training, especially if you’re a newbie runner like me!

So how did the last week of training go? Was it a success?

Well, in short: yes and no.

The Week's Training Plan vs. How it Actually happened
The Week’s Training Plan vs. How it Actually happened

Unfortunately as you can see, the week didn’t quite work out the way I had planned. After my big 15K the Sunday, my legs were aching more then I thought they would, so I had to bring forward my rest days. Later in the week I needed an extra rest day too, and shortened my run on Saturday as I had to consider the limitations of my body. This was a little disappointing as it meant I couldn’t cover the total amount of miles I had planned to over the week.

However the week was far from all doom and gloom- there were two significant highlights.

Highlight 1: A 10K PB

My run on Thursday saw me claim my faster 10K in training yet.

Ironically, up until the 9.75K mark I was completely unaware of the time and it felt like one of my worse runs so far, to a point where I wanted to stop early in all honesty. But as I looked down at my app, at the distance of ‘9.75K’, I suddenly realised I was on a time of 45 minutes exactly. I was way under my PB of 49:09.

The mentality of the run flipped in a second as I realised a PB was within my grasp. Suddenly I discovered there was still energy left in the tank, and this gave me the impetus to push on. I had to keep telling my legs to stride forward every meter, but I reached that 10K mark.

Then I looked down at my phone- I had a new 10K PB!

A new 10K Pb reached!
A new 10K Pb reached!

Highlight 2: The 20K Conquered!

My big challenge of the week again fell on the Sunday. After reaching a distance of 15K the week before, the goal this week was to try and reach 20K. ‘Today isn’t about the time’ I told myself, ‘it’s just about increasing your distance. I can work on the time later on.’

As you can see, I was feel pretty optimistic pre run!
As you can see, I was feel pretty optimistic pre run!
20K later, not quite a thumbs up at the end, but I made it!!
20K later, not quite a thumbs up at the end, but I made it!!

The 20K run was certainly the hardest training run to date, especially 6-10K. Pushing through that part of the run really was difficult, but things did seem to pick up in the second half. My legs were jelly by the last 2K and I felt like I was running at snails pace, but I eventually crossed that imagery finish line. The photo post-20K of me might show me looking pretty tired, but I was all smiles on the inside knowing I was step closer in my preparations for Uganda.

Building Momentum

This week has definitely proved a learning curve in terms realistically planning how many miles my body can cover in a week, and when I realistically need to plan rest days. So that’s something I’ll take into account when planning next week’s training.

Of course though, I’m so pleased to have reached 20K (just under the half marathon mark) and gaining a new 10K PB too. With the distance of my runs steadily rising and the odd PB starting to pop up now, I feel like I’m starting to gain real momentum in my training.

If I can keep the momentum going with regular small runs, steadily chip away at the bigger distances, and stick to my plan of ‘miles, miles, miles’, fingers crossed I’ll reach that finish line in Masaka in less then two months time!

The Challenge Ahead and Next Week’s Training

As the 24th May draws closer, details of the course and conditions are starting to filter though now, especially from those lucky enough to already be out in Uganda.

If you haven’t already, I especially recommend taking a look at last week’s email newsletter, as it discusses aspects of running in Uganda such as altitude, temperatures and hills. It actually helped shape my training plan below for next week:

Week 7's Training Plan
Week 7’s Training Plan

Therefore in next week’s blog I’ll be writing about some the different things I’m trying in training to ensure I’m especially ready for those Ugandan conditions. Fingers crossed, some of these ideas might inspire your training routines too!

I’m aiming to hit the half marathon mark next Sunday too (which is slightly farther than my top distance of 20K). I’m going to be bold too, and time this one, to gauge where I am in training currently, compared to when I trained last year for my first marathon.

So until next time…

Keep going. Keep running. Keep training. 🙂

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