Training for Half-Marathon

This week

2011-03-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

this week has been interesting, i have started to use the treadmill every time im at the gym. To start with i found this quite difficult as although my cardio has improved significantly i still get a stitch from running. however, i have used speedplay to get around this, by running at 9kmh for 100m then jogging at 6kmhs for 100m, this has allowed me to run much larger distances than i would have though possible when beginning this blog. Thursday i ran 6.6k with an average speed of 8kmh, today i ran 2.5k at the same speed.
I may only do light cardio on monday to give my knees a rest.

monday 21st

2011-03-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Today was more productive than i thought
First i did my customary warm up cycle of 5k
I then did 1k on the cross trainer, decided that it was time to move to the big boy league and hit the treadmill.
Did 3k at jogging speed, realised that my stride and technique is a bit off so got the personal trainer guy who works at the gym to help me out. need to raise my knees more and need more padding on my trainers.
Felt really lethargic, which was most likely because my breakfast was peanut butter and toast, iv learned my lesson from this and am now going to have plenty of carbs several hours before doing cardio.

friday 18/3/2011

2011-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

today was bit strange, did quite a bit in a short amount of time before dinner, then came back later and just cycled and tried the weights out. first session was fun, second i just felt tired and didn't enjoy it particularly.
in total for both session cross trainer 6K
cycled 21.63km
fair bit of weights but think il only do a session or two off free weights or weight machines a week, as im training for half marathon, not lifting competition.

2011-03-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

started with exercise bike as a warm up
time 22:34
calories 204
Distance 10.03km
speed 16.58MPH
HR 152

I then moved to the cross trainer for running
time 74:20
calories 583
distance 10.00km
speed 8.07KPH
average heart rate 165

i then decided to warm down on the bike

time 16:04
calories 127
distance 6.31km
speed 14.64mph
heart rate 143

altogether reasonably productive day

15/3/2011

2011-03-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Trained today during a gap between classes.
Started with bit of cardio on stationary bike

Exercise Bike
5.06km
Average speed 25.9KPH
Average Heart rate (hr) 149
Duration 11:45

I then had this strange idea of running 5k on the cross trainer, but instead of leaving the resistance alone setting it for the cardio training mode, which aimed to increase the resistance until my heart rate was higher than 165
Fun, but the resistance frequently changed, so i was running through syrup one minute and little to no resistance the next.

5.00km
Average speed 7.89km
Average HR 173
Duration 38:02

I then used the several arm machines and the leg press until exhaustion and called it a day, for a total time of 1 hour and 15 minutes

Introduction

2011-03-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am running a half marathon on 2nd july 2011. i am doing this for many reasons.
1. I was rescued by the Lifeboats when I was younger, and have wanted to pay them back for some time.
2. My fitness levels are atrocious, and as heart disease is in the family letting my cardiovascular health get any worse would be a massive mistake. I also have knee pains which may be helped with a more active lifestyle.
3. I used to be much fitter and i miss the mental sharpness and clarity that came with being fit. As i have put weight on and lost strength i have also seemed to become more prone to procrastination.

My initial weight at the start of my training was 80kg, as i am 20 years old and reasonably tall this isn't a big deal, however i struggle to run for a long amount of time. so my cardiovascular fitness could be better.
I attend college, where i am just finishing an access course before I head off to university in september to begin a degree in BioMedical science ( i want to be a doctor one day) and to fit my training around completing assignments and attending classes i have enrolled at the colleges own gym.