Couch potato to marathon runner

2 x 10 = Jelly legs!

2012-02-09T02:38:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Things progressing quite nicely here, I had a great last week and was ready to break a PB when out of nowhere the snow started to fall, thus spoiling my chances for a run on Sunday.

I therefore felt this week, that it would be good to make up for some lost time. I decided to do 2 consecutive days of 10 mile runs. Both felt great and I actually felt like I had more left in my legs for both of them! I did a 10.7 and a 10.3 mile run in the same time (1h 49mins) as the 2nd run I was running with my running buddy at a bit of a slower pace for 4 of the miles.

Combined I therefore had 2 days, 21 miles in 3h 38mins and over 3000 calories burned. I am determined to smash this marathon. My plan is now to not run until Sunday and go for broke - 20 miles. It will be the longest run I do before the race. Wish me luck!

Killer run

2012-01-30T02:43:00.000-08:00

I have had a really good week and stuck to the plan pretty firmly, except for on the Sunday where I decided I really needed the extra miles as the race is coming up soon! I pushed myself and did 14.23 miles in 2:29:58!

My legs are like jelly today but I am very pleased with 14 miles and a 28 mile week which is only 1 mile off my record. I will try and break that record soon!

Updated Training Plan

2012-01-25T00:49:00.001-08:00

I'm back!

2012-01-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Sorry I have been MIA recently. It is for good reason. I came back from Sweden and only had 1 week at home before I jetted off to the US, I then came back and was busy all last week with a house move. This week I am settled in at my parents which is a very strange feeling! I left home 7 years ago and so it will be a bit of an adjustment but I will survive.

I can now switch off and focus on what I need to foucs on - RUNNING. I've fallen behind the training schedule slightly but I am aiming to make up for lost time and this started with a 4 mile run to ease my way back in yesterday. Today I will aim for 6-8 miles and hopefully I will do ok!

Time to FOCUS

Hat trick and PB!

2012-01-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

This week I have run 3 days in a row to really try and get back into the swing of things! 4,8 and 4 mile runs on the menu this week and after the 8-miler yesterday I felt really tired.

I couldn't have predicted today's run - 4 miles in 35 minutes! 8:44 minutes per mile pace which is a PB by a long way! So chuffed right now. Got to keep it going and up the distance! I got a long run on Sunday - haven't decided on distance yet but I will definitely do at least a ½ marathon.

Have a good weekend all!

First run back!

2012-01-05T00:26:00.000-08:00

First run back yesterday! 4 miles to ease my way back into the swing of things.

My chest ached and I had a bit of a stitch for the first 2 miles but it got better. I finished in 40:29 which was slower than how it felt but overall I am pleased to get going again. I am going to skip the gym this week and run Thursday, Friday and Sunday too. I got a feeling I will have put a lot of weight on and so I need to push this down ASAP.

Over Christmas I didn't take any care or precaution of my diet and did 0 exercise (unless drunken dancing counts). I will have put some weight on but hopefully it will come off quickly.

This is my year!

2011 - what a year!!

2011-12-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

Can I just start by saying WOW! 5000 hits is more than I could ever dream of when I started this blog, part of me thought I would give up training and revert to my useless unhappy self within a month or so anyway. I've started training before and given up pretty quickly for a variety of reasons, none of which I am sure about as this time it has been entirely different. I've maintained a motivation level required to keep going for most of the year and for that I am grateful. Most of this challenge is a mental challenge rather than physical, in my opinion.

I can only say thank you to ALL of you who have kept reading, kept supporting, kept commenting. The support has been fantastic! I definitely hadn't come this far without all your help. I've got some way to go yet but I definitely feel like my goals are achievable! So as it's the end of year I thought I would summarize 2011 and give a mention to a few people that have helped me along the way.

It was March 2011 when I decided to train for a marathon, when I came up with the idea. The biggest thank you for this has to go to my best friend in the world and brother-from-another-mother Jonny Keeling. I jokingly came up with the idea of running a marathon and he said "I'll do it if you do it". That was the biggest kick for me initially. We then planned for a years time and collaborated training plans etc. It's a great shame that he can't be there in Barcelona but I know he will do a marathon himself one day, I hope to run it with him!

I then spent March - July training really hard and I even worked my way up to a half marathon! This is where I got a bit complacent. I had applied to the London Marathon, I was already at 13.1 miles after a few months... I can relax a bit, this stuff is easy! How wrong was I?!

I spent July-September doing a few bits but nowhere near the required rate to improve. I found out in September that I found out I didn't get a space in the London Marathon, motivation was at an all time low.

Here is where the 2nd mention comes in: Dave Knight came up with the idea of a foreign marathon as an idea which would be much cooler than London. Dave has ran some marathon's before himself and so he's been giving me invaluable advice throughout the but he even went as far as to sign up for the race in Barcelona with me! This has given me the biggest spurt of motivation this year.

Since October I have trained really hard. Much of the help has been from Jamie Seward who has done several runs with me and dragged me round when I haven't wanted to go, and gone at a faster pace than I was comfortable with. He too is racing in Barcelona. The final person in the quartet to race is Scott Robson who has been supporting me from afar (Munich, Germany). He too signed up for the race and has been going through a similar training plan to me (as he is also a beginner unlike the other two). His support has been great, we've spent many a nights on Facebook chat discussing our training.

It was also in October where I decided to start going to the gym once a week to compliment my running training. Mark Anderson is single-handedly responsible for all my great progress in the gym, it really has helped me tone and I owe Mark a lot. I will hopefully start training with him more than once a week once the race is done!

Other mentions has to go to all my friend and family who have all commented, encouraged and listened to me bang on about my training. It's taking up a massive part of my life at the moment and so I probably spend way too much time talking about it. Their constant reminders of how well I am doing, how much weight I've lost, how good I'm looking makes me feel better than anything.

Another tool which has helped me through the year is www.myfitnesspal.com. It's a fantastic place to get advice on diet and exercise. I have 140+ friends on there who are a massive part of the support network when it comes to my training. Anyone wanting to lose weight or train for a physical challenge should sign up - it's free!

So since March I've lost 21lbs, gained some muscle (for the first time ever), spent countless hours on the road and will after and 8 mile run tomorrow have run 400 miles. I've got a LOOOOONNNNGGG way to go but thanks to all these people above and others I feel like it's achievable.

I am taking Christmas and New years off and going to my home town in Sweden for some rest and relaxation. Ready to re-charge the batteries for the new year - the hardest work physically is still ahead.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Erik

Good news just before Christmas

2011-12-19T02:10:00.000-08:00

I've not been as active on the blog recently but that is probably because I am so busy all the time! I have however had some good progress in the last week or so. I did a few runs and was still feeling a bit under the weather but yesterday I actually felt decent for the first time in a while.

I set off at a super-slow pace as I wanted to run for at least 2 hours, that was my goal! I ended up doing 2½ hours and 14 miles. The pace wasn't the best I know but the distance is fantastic considering my running in December hasn't been much to shout about until now.

I then weighed myself and found I'd lost 3½ lbs in 1½ weeks which made me very happy. I'm now at my lightest yet at 13st 5lbs or 187 lbs. I only want to lose another 10-12lbs, I can taste success :-)

I'm taking Christmas and New Years off, I deserve it. I'll come back in January ready to hit it hard. I'd love to be at 175lbs or so by race day and it should be achievable!

All the best

Erik

Coldest run yet

2011-12-13T11:32:00.001-08:00

A tip to myself. Run in the cold! I went faster than normal and finished 4 miles in 37:13 which is nearly 9 minute miles and a record!

Now for a nice warm bath, I deserve it!

Random weigh-in!

2011-12-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

So I realized I hadn't weighed myself since the 19th November and I decided that I needed to do something about that. I was very nervous due to the fact my last run was nearly 2 weeks ago and I'd had 3-4 drinking sessions and terrible diet in that time. I was expecting to put on like 5-6 lbs.

I only put on 1! Can't wait to get healthy and start running again. Keep pushing that weight down until Barcelona!

-Erik

Sick and frustrated

2011-12-08T02:20:00.000-08:00

So I took some time off when I went to Vienna which means I had done 0 miles in December when I came back on the 1st. Then due to ill discipline and pre-arranged party plans I didn't run at the weekend. Now thanks to some flu-like illness I still am on 0 miles!

It's very frustrating! I hope I can get better soon so I can get back on with increasing my mileage!

100 mile month!

2011-11-28T03:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I completed a 12 mile run in the FREEZING cold which wasn't as far as I had originally planned but I was freezing and joints started to ache! Nevertheless a 12 mile run in under 2 hours (1:59:39) is good in my eyes! It also means I took the total for November to:

104 Miles!

I feel like it's a massive achievement and I'm very proud of that number, I doubt I will have many more months in my life where I run that much. I've pretty much not missed a training session in 8 weeks and so the last 2 months have been great for me!

I am now taking 4 days off from running as I am going to Vienna with work. I'm still taking gym gear so I can do a few bits whilst we're out there but I think I deserve a 4 day break from running, something I've not had since September and it's now nearly December.

Have a good week all!

Erik

Happy Friday everyone

2011-11-25T00:34:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I hope you're well! I've had a good week so far, I feel like I've gotten over my minor calf problem. That will be tested out when I run 4 miles tonight but it definitely feels better than it has done all week. It could be down to Tiger Balm (MAGIC) or compression tights or stretching or probably a combination of all 3.

I also broke another PB for the bench press yesterday with 75kgs - an increase of 12.5kg! - not sure how that works but I'm very pleased. My best mate and partner in crime Jonny came along for the first time to the gym for a gruelling work out which lasted about 1½ hours. I'll be interested to find out how he feels later.

I'm going to Vienna, Austria with work next week and so I won't be running Monday-Thursday, I'll take some gym stuff with me so that I can keep active. Anxious about not doing enough but I'm sure it will be fine.

Have a great weekend everyone.

-Erik

2011-11-22T09:23:00.001-08:00

Ran past two 11-13 year olds tonight... "Run fatty, run!!" followed by continued abuse until I turned the corner.

All the motivation I needed to smash my PB for the distance. Cheers lads!

Progress - some stats!

2011-11-22T02:52:00.000-08:00

Personal Bests:
March 2011
Distance in 1 run: 2 miles
Distance in 1 week: 5 miles
Bench press: 30 kgs

Now
Distance in 1 run: 16.8 miles (3h 5min)
Distance in 1 week: 29 miles
Bench press: 62.5 kgs
Half marathon time: 2h 10mins (November 19th 2011)
Miles in 1 month: 87 (October 2011)

Feeling the effects

2011-11-21T03:54:00.000-08:00

I am writing to you this Monday morning feeling slightly beat up. I had a really good run on Saturday morning, again with my friend Jamie and we ended up doing a half marathon. We did it in 2:09:46 which is averaging under 10min/mile. I'm very pleased with this as we ran up a massive hill after about 10 miles and did the last mile in 9:07.

Since then I've rested as Sunday-Saturday I had done a total of 42 miles and my body feels like it too! I have a sore shoulder (probably from my weight work in the gym), a sore left calf which was feeling cramp-like towards the end of the run, a sore right ankle and generally I'm feeling a bit leggy. I'm happy with the rest and the soreness isn't too bad. I will try to run again tomorrow, let's see how I get on.

Also, I put on a pound this week which I'm not to fussed with. I was good all week and so I think it's mainly muscle.

Got to keep powering on!

-Erik

Running with somebody helps!

2011-11-17T00:45:00.000-08:00

In the past 2 days I have run with my friend Jamie who's at a more advanced level than me and he's ran marathons before. It's great insight because he is also coming to Barcelona for the marathon and so can give me tips along the way.

When you run with somebody it definitely helps! It makes the time go a lot quicker and especially if you run with someone that is a bit more advanced - it forces you to pick the pace up at all times which in itself is good training. I did 4 miles instead of 3 on Tuesday and 8 miles instead of 7 yesterday, both in very good time - mainly because of Jamie. The run yesterday was the first run where it has been FREEZING cold and so for the first 2-3 miles I did not enjoy it but in the end it turned out to be a good pleasurable(ish) run.

Let's hope the decent week continues, gym session tonight as per usual and then another run with Jamie on Saturday. We've said minimum 10 miles but let's see how far our legs will take us!

Good recovery!

2011-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

So Sunday and Monday I was in a lot of pain. My legs and my right knee were hurting quite bad so I tried to do as little as physically possible and as it turns out, I recovered well! I was tonight supposed to do a 3-mile recovery run and I ended up doing 4 miles at a very good pace 9:30min/miles. I felt great and could have carried on a lot longer and so I'm very pleased with this.

I am due to do a 7 miler tomorrow and so I am going to aim for 8 miles just to get ahead of plan. I am cheating a bit this week because I am going to move the long run from Sunday to Saturday and miss out Friday's run all together. This is because Saturday is 1 of my allocated drinking days (I set 5 days between Oct 1st and Christmas where I could drink) and so I only have 2 left after that before Christmas.

Let's hope this week goes well! Onwards and upwards!

New PB and more weight loss!

2011-11-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

As I write this I have some very achy legs! I broke a PB this morning and ran 16.8 miles in 3 hours and 5 minutes. I was supposed to run 12 according to my plan but I decided to run til fail and I did just that about 2 miles from home. My legs were really tired and I am just pleased I managed the distance... I am also very pleased as I finished the week about 6 miles ahead of plan!

I then stepped on the scales and I had lost 3½ lbs this week! That's 9lbs lost since the 16th October, great progress!

-Erik

New Jeans!

2011-11-10T09:17:00.001-08:00

I've done well this week with the running and so I thought I'd treat myself to a new pair of jeans - I've dropped 2 sizes! Can't remember the last time I was this size, I think I was about 14/15 yrs old. Chuffed!

2011-11-10T04:15:00.000-08:00

Another great run yesterday - 6.8 miles in 1h 6min which is faster than 10 min miles and that's great news for me! Never done that far that quickly! Much needed and deserved day off running today but not resting - heading to the gym as per usual to be put through my paces! Need to buy some new clothes - all the ones I have are too big! Great feeling!

-Erik

2011-11-09T02:32:00.001-08:00

4.8 miles yesterday but I am going to count 4 as I only deal in full miles and I'm rock&roll. Motivation at an all-time high at the moment. Got to keep it up.

Going for it!

2011-11-08T03:37:00.000-08:00

So this week I am due to do 3,6,3 and 12 mile runs as you can see on the last post. I want to try and push ahead of the schedule as I felt so good during my 11-miler on Sunday. I want to do 4,6,4 and 15miles - aiming for a PB in terms of total mileage for the week and total distance for 1 run (The furthest so far is 13.1 miles which I did in June). I'll let you know how I get on!

I'd also like to point you to my new fundraising page. ----------->

It's a really great charity that I volunteer for as well in my spare time, any donations are hugely appreciated as I know they go to something good.

Wish me luck!

Erik

Good few weeks!

2011-11-07T04:23:00.000-08:00

I've had a good few weeks! I wanted to illustrate this by showing my training plan in the past few weeks and the next few weeks coming up. All the ones highlighted in green are ones that I've completed

You can also see the total mileages for the weeks and also the total mileage since March (when I started my running training seriously). I am pleased with the progress - I haven't missed a single session that has been planned in 5 weeks.

As you can see though, the next few weeks I get in to some serious mileage and so I just hope I can keep it up!

11.1 miles run and 3lbs lost

2011-11-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

The title sums it up very well!

A good 11.1 mile run yesterday, all though my GPS tracker (which was VERY kindly and unexpectedly bought for me as a birthday present on Thursday) logs 11.1 but when I log it on to the software on the PC it says 12.7 miles. Not sure which one to believe but I'll count 11.1 as if I am doing longer then I'll be pleasantly surprised when I do the race and find it easier.

Either way a very good run, and I lost another 3lbs even though I had one of my 5 allocated drinking days on Friday to celebrate turning 25 on Thursday. I'm starting the 26th year of my life in good form!

-Erik