Half way there!

Yesterday I did a really good 13.1 mile run.

I was determined this weekend just gone to get in a really good long run to finish my running week off well and thankfully that is just what happened. I was a little apprehensive before I set out as this is the furthest I have run for some time but I knew that I needed to up my running to the next level this week and start to get some decent longer runs in (after all its only 2 months now until the marathon!). I also tried out Galloway's run/walk technique during this long run and I think this really helped me both physically and psychologically. I did just over three miles before I started to introduce the walking breaks and then I did 4 minutes of running to 1 minute of walking and it worked out really well. I think the fact that I was concentrating on the clock was also a valuable added distraction!

I would be lying if I said the run was easy; it was a challenge and physically my legs did start to ache at around 10 miles but I am so pleased that I persevered and finished it. I felt relieved but extremely pleased with myself when I got home! It has also given me more confidence, knowing that I can do a half marathon distance, so hopefully the two half marathon races that I am aiming to run in March now won't be so daunting. The first race that I am doing is the Nike+ Milton Keynes Half, this race is on the 8^th March and the second one is the following weekend and this one is at Silverstone (running around the formula 1 race track!).

My pace and finishing time for my run yesterday wasn't great, but I was pleased that during each of my 4 minutes of running I managed to up my running pace to slightly faster than a normal long run pace. The question I am asking myself at the moment though is, if I continue to get on well using the run/walk technique should I use this in races?

Anyway this week has been another successful running week and to summarise, below are the runs I completed for the week:

Wednesday: 3.84 miles, 34:52

Thursday: 5.23 miles, 49:43(treadmill)

Friday: 2.35 miles, 21:13 (did feel very well on Friday so had to cut my run short!)

Sunday: 13.1 miles, 2:09:50

Total of 4 runs covering 24.5 miles for the week with 3 hours, 55 minutes and 38 seconds 'time on my feet'.

Ideally I would like to see my mileage increase to over 30 miles per week this is the aim anyway!