So finally we have some hot sunny weather. This is great in so many aspects. Everybody loves the sun, except maybe the unfortunate fairskinned among us, it makes everyone much happier and brings the world to life. For a fairweather runner like me its also lovely to see weather like this. Its so much easier to get out there and get the job done when its like this, no excuses of "Oh its raining, I'll go in an hour" and then 3 hours later "Oh its still raining, I'll give it a miss". Even with this weather I havent got much running in since my last blog, only 2 runs to be precise. One before an exam and than a very very hot one today. I'm going to kick on from this and start training properly now, with no excuses. Even more so when Im at home as my Dad will make me go out and get the training done, so no shying away. I have 2 "races" lined up in the next few months before the 1k (still no date set for this day of bant, sort it out lads). I will come to these races in a bit.
First things first, exams. Over the last 2 weeks I have had 6 exams. 3 in maths and 3 in sport. This year has been the first year I have ever worked for exams, and even then I didn't really do enough as I should really be doing, especially with not working hard throughout the whole year. I think I will pay for this come results and will be happy with an average of around 55% for the year, meaning that I'm still in reach of a 2:1 next year where hopefully I will finally work hard. Knuckling down to work is something I have always promised myself I will do "next year". Ever since being disapointed with my GCSE results, and then scraping into Uni its always been "next year". Well now is the time for it to be NEXT YEAR and not "next year". This is the business end of 15/16 years of education. The past matters no more, its the degree I come out with this time next year that does. I need to get out of cruise control and pull my finger out. The same can be said with running. No more "it's raining I'll go tomorow", its got to be "Yeh its raining but fuck it, I'm going out there and who knows, maybe I'll enjoy it"
So, the races I mentioned earlier. These are both 1 mile races on the road that seem to be starting in Leicester. There is one on both 4th June and then (I think) 6th July. I hope to do both of these and hopefully come the 2nd of the 2 races, after just over a month of good consistent training I can pull a new mile PB out the bag. I have done a fair few mile races on the road at an evening of "training races" in Derby. Its a fast flat course, with the only problem being its an out of back so you lose both a few valuable seconds and your momentum and flow when having to slow, and 180 round the cone and getting going again. My PB for the mile was set here probably a couple of years ago with it being 5:22. Not very fast at all and well due for being smashed. Incidently my brother ran around 5:22 for a mile a few weeks ago, and is currently knocking out 59/2:18s in 400/800m races. That 800m time is the sort of pace I would need to go through 800m in to break 3 mins for 1k. So this proves to me that I can get out there and do it if I can get back to the sort of mile times I used to run, and obviously I would hope to be going under 5:22.
Now exams are over I have a lot more time to do other things, such as run... However its also now tempting to go on big smash ups and consume a lot of alcohol and then the shite takeaways that usually follow. However I'm going to try and stay clear of that this summer, maybe just 1 big night out a month or so. Hopefully this will go a little way to shifting some of the excess weight I am currently (and have been for since I first discovered Beer...) carrying. I had a biggish night out on Saturday with it being the end of the exams. We started drinking at 2PM and didnt stop untill god knows when. Although this, coupled with being up at 6am to revise, left me absolutely knackered when I got to FAB so it wasnt such a good night, but was a good day none-the-less. Along with drinking too much, I also eat too much shit. I am a big lover of chocolate and eat far too much of it. This seems to have come to a head over the past few weeks with exams and the chocolate "helping me through revision". This needs to be sorted out and cut down on and I will hopefully manage to do so which will go along way to helping me run faster which at the end of the day is what I want to be doing.
Finally, I read a very long, but informative article last night on Lance Armstrong and his tests from the 1999 Tour De France. I'm not going to go into it at great detail, but I am gutted to say the least. He has always been a hero to me for what he did, so to find out that he was 99% on EPO during that tour was horrible. Obviously there is still some element of doubt, there always has to be. He himself has always been 100% adament he has been clean so hopefully this is the case, however the article didn't read that way at all and really looked very bad for him...
This leaves this blog on a bit of a downer but I couldnt not include something about it, I'll instead bring something positive to this and say I am looking forward to these 2 mile races, the 2nd one moreso, and with some good consistent training, there is a PB there waiting for me. However CONSISTENT TRAINING IS THE KEY.
Thats it for now, plans for this week are 3/4 runs and then hopefully a game of cricket on Saturday if I get back into the team after being in Birmingham for the last 4/5 weekends.
Mdog x
Monday 24 May 2010
Friday 14 May 2010
This is only the beginning...
Most of you reading this will probably know about my 1km 3minute challenge set to me by some members of BUAC. If you didnt, you do now. This all started with Wilko challenging Goolab to a race over 3k at some point in the summer. This then led Nick to starting a group on facebook about it and even adding a cheeky comment something along the lines of "this will be the biggest race of the summer (only overshadowed by Maddog finally racing)". This is what I believe prompted Deano to suggest that I do a 1km TT as a warmup act to the main event. A number of other possibly races are popping up as well, such as the potential for a BUAC vs LUAC Chunder mile and I saw a suggestion this morning for a 186 Dawlish race over either 800 or 1500m. It seems like its shaping up to be a great event whenever it may be held.
This all leads onto why I have started this blog. A 3 minute target has been set, and while this seems an easy time to achieve, this for me will be a challenge. I've never been a good runner, just in it for the fun and enjoyment of getting out there and forgetting about everything else other than putting one foot infront of the other. I basically run when I want and when I feel like it. I hope that by writing this blog It will keep me motivated and give me a good chance to share my training and hopefully get tips from others as to where to improve, what not to do, what to do etc. This should keep me motivated to train hard to achieve the 3 minutes and then hopefully from there push on and continue training properly and then race over the winter in things like the Birmingham Legaue for BUAC.
I started running at a lateish age of around 16 (I'm now 20). Running has always been in my family with my Dad being a very good runner representing both County and Country and taking County titles on all 3 of road track and Cross Country. Many a day were spent as a youngster at cold and wet cross country races and then beautiful days (or not so beautiful days...) at Regional and National Relays at Sutton Park. I guess this bringing up as what has led me to enjoying running and following whats going on in the world of Athletics. I've never been a decent runner purely because of the fact I don't train consistently, I drink too much and I eat too much crap. Less of the excuses though, this challenge lies ahead of me and I will be completeing it.
I currently have 8 days untill my exams are over, having just completed 4 in 4 days. After this Im sure there will be a few blow-out days with a few big night outs but after that its onto the straight and narrow(as much as possible), knuckling down, completing this target and then hopefully onto bigger and better things and maybe becoming a half-decent runner. I dont think I will ever manage the same PBs and achievements that my dad got through running, but to get close would be a great effort, and a very hard one at that..
I hope to keep this blog updated with what training I have been doing ( or not doing... feel free to give me a kick up the arse if this is the case ) and any other "exciting" goings on. Hopefully by doing this I will manage to stay motivated and smash through that 3 minute barrier. Many people will see this as a bit of fun, which Im sure the whole evening of "races" will be, but I'm aiming to take my part of the deal 100% seriously and hopefully prove to others, and more importantly myself, that one day I could be a half-decent runner if I really do give it a good go.
Untill next time...
Mdog
This all leads onto why I have started this blog. A 3 minute target has been set, and while this seems an easy time to achieve, this for me will be a challenge. I've never been a good runner, just in it for the fun and enjoyment of getting out there and forgetting about everything else other than putting one foot infront of the other. I basically run when I want and when I feel like it. I hope that by writing this blog It will keep me motivated and give me a good chance to share my training and hopefully get tips from others as to where to improve, what not to do, what to do etc. This should keep me motivated to train hard to achieve the 3 minutes and then hopefully from there push on and continue training properly and then race over the winter in things like the Birmingham Legaue for BUAC.
I started running at a lateish age of around 16 (I'm now 20). Running has always been in my family with my Dad being a very good runner representing both County and Country and taking County titles on all 3 of road track and Cross Country. Many a day were spent as a youngster at cold and wet cross country races and then beautiful days (or not so beautiful days...) at Regional and National Relays at Sutton Park. I guess this bringing up as what has led me to enjoying running and following whats going on in the world of Athletics. I've never been a decent runner purely because of the fact I don't train consistently, I drink too much and I eat too much crap. Less of the excuses though, this challenge lies ahead of me and I will be completeing it.
I currently have 8 days untill my exams are over, having just completed 4 in 4 days. After this Im sure there will be a few blow-out days with a few big night outs but after that its onto the straight and narrow(as much as possible), knuckling down, completing this target and then hopefully onto bigger and better things and maybe becoming a half-decent runner. I dont think I will ever manage the same PBs and achievements that my dad got through running, but to get close would be a great effort, and a very hard one at that..
I hope to keep this blog updated with what training I have been doing ( or not doing... feel free to give me a kick up the arse if this is the case ) and any other "exciting" goings on. Hopefully by doing this I will manage to stay motivated and smash through that 3 minute barrier. Many people will see this as a bit of fun, which Im sure the whole evening of "races" will be, but I'm aiming to take my part of the deal 100% seriously and hopefully prove to others, and more importantly myself, that one day I could be a half-decent runner if I really do give it a good go.
Untill next time...
Mdog
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