OP
JCK Charity run. (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter bianconero
- Start date
As I promised my fans, I will start writing about my running as often as I can before the big day.
A while back I wasn't that much into sports or fitness, I just tried to do some exercise from time to time and of course I took the bicycle to work regularly but it wasn't what I am today. It all happened in September when I was having some trouble sleeping and a colleague/friend suggests that I run. Well, I have run a few times before but never regularly and never seriously so I thought what the hell, I'll give it a try. I remember very well that I ran 3.5 km at a pace of 7 minutes per kilometer. I slept well that night and that drove me to spring the same track the day after. When I reported to her the outcome she started giving me tips and suggestions on how to improve my running and following them I found myself really enjoying every single minute. I did that for two weeks running every other day and then I decided to get myself a new gear. I started with shoes and then started adding other accessories. The running kept improving and I started to get addicted.
After one month she started nagging at me to register for the half marathon in town. It is the biggest half marathon in the world and this year it has a record participants with 54000 runners. The idea was not that bad, the race was seven months away and with the progress I had in one month made the decision easier as I thought I can be fit to run 21097.5 meters. But in the mean time I needed motivation and that's when I took my first run in November, a 8.8km race in the woods. 54 minutes was my time but the ambience made the whole thing about races a lot different. The outcome was of course more addiction.
Right after that race a major event happened in my life and it was when I got myself a running partner. This new partner is fun, I was able to control my runs more, I was able to control my heart rate and of course I was able to keep better track of what I were doing. Yes, the new partner is nothing but my Garmin Forerunner 405 CX
And then the winter started to peak in Sweden but that did not stop me from going out and taking a spin. My training changed by then and I started to variations. At least three sessions per week where one is HIIT, a short distance and a long distance were a must. My long distances were bound to 10 km in preparation for my coming race. It was on the 31st of December where I run my second race. The gun was shot at noon on a 10 degrees below zero, sunny and wind free Göteborg. One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and I completed the whole thing in 52 minutes.
The snow covered Sweden and the training has become more and more difficult but all of this can be solved. I bought spikes for my shoes, I bought warmer gear and I kept running at the same rate. At least three runs where one of them is HIIT. I used to drive half an hour to get to a track where I could do my HIIT as the running club there packed the snow and covered it with pebbles. The sessions were not fun I promise you but the feeling afterwards was second to none and the big day was getting closer and closer.
The snow started to melt and when I took my first 10 km on asphalt it was a huge surprise that I was able to complete it in 47 minutes. It was then when I decided to run the seeding race for the half marathon. A quarter marathon stretching to 10548.75 meters in two laps. It is mentally more difficult to run two laps but seeing that I could cut down my pace that much it was no problem signing up. 50 minutes and 12 seconds was my time and that puts me in start group 4 out of 22 which is excellent for a beginner.
I will not go into details about my training sessions but you can imagine the freedom I got when the snow was gone, the distances started to increase drastically and so did the joy. By then I started adding gym sessions to improve my core and strengthen my body, my diet has become more calculated and the amount of junk consumed has diminished significantly.
Last Saturday it was time for a test race and I took a 12km race 100 km south of where I live. It was a windy, rainy day and the BBQ I was promised afterwards made me finish the race at a pace of 4:58 min/km completing the race in 59:41.
On Tuesdays I train with a group HIIT and other sessions that are not fun by myself and today was our last session. We had 3 laps of 3 km where I ran at 4:51 min/km but the most important aspect of the session was to be able to drink at the end of each lap. The purpose was to learn to drink while running.
My training sessions are much less now but each session has a purpose, I am planning a test run on Friday where I will run the complete distance at a controlled pace. Another session early next week is also on the schedule and if I feel energetic, I might do a small jog on Thursday two days before the big day.
Stay tuned, more to come.
A while back I wasn't that much into sports or fitness, I just tried to do some exercise from time to time and of course I took the bicycle to work regularly but it wasn't what I am today. It all happened in September when I was having some trouble sleeping and a colleague/friend suggests that I run. Well, I have run a few times before but never regularly and never seriously so I thought what the hell, I'll give it a try. I remember very well that I ran 3.5 km at a pace of 7 minutes per kilometer. I slept well that night and that drove me to spring the same track the day after. When I reported to her the outcome she started giving me tips and suggestions on how to improve my running and following them I found myself really enjoying every single minute. I did that for two weeks running every other day and then I decided to get myself a new gear. I started with shoes and then started adding other accessories. The running kept improving and I started to get addicted.
After one month she started nagging at me to register for the half marathon in town. It is the biggest half marathon in the world and this year it has a record participants with 54000 runners. The idea was not that bad, the race was seven months away and with the progress I had in one month made the decision easier as I thought I can be fit to run 21097.5 meters. But in the mean time I needed motivation and that's when I took my first run in November, a 8.8km race in the woods. 54 minutes was my time but the ambience made the whole thing about races a lot different. The outcome was of course more addiction.
Right after that race a major event happened in my life and it was when I got myself a running partner. This new partner is fun, I was able to control my runs more, I was able to control my heart rate and of course I was able to keep better track of what I were doing. Yes, the new partner is nothing but my Garmin Forerunner 405 CX
And then the winter started to peak in Sweden but that did not stop me from going out and taking a spin. My training changed by then and I started to variations. At least three sessions per week where one is HIIT, a short distance and a long distance were a must. My long distances were bound to 10 km in preparation for my coming race. It was on the 31st of December where I run my second race. The gun was shot at noon on a 10 degrees below zero, sunny and wind free Göteborg. One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and I completed the whole thing in 52 minutes.
The snow covered Sweden and the training has become more and more difficult but all of this can be solved. I bought spikes for my shoes, I bought warmer gear and I kept running at the same rate. At least three runs where one of them is HIIT. I used to drive half an hour to get to a track where I could do my HIIT as the running club there packed the snow and covered it with pebbles. The sessions were not fun I promise you but the feeling afterwards was second to none and the big day was getting closer and closer.
The snow started to melt and when I took my first 10 km on asphalt it was a huge surprise that I was able to complete it in 47 minutes. It was then when I decided to run the seeding race for the half marathon. A quarter marathon stretching to 10548.75 meters in two laps. It is mentally more difficult to run two laps but seeing that I could cut down my pace that much it was no problem signing up. 50 minutes and 12 seconds was my time and that puts me in start group 4 out of 22 which is excellent for a beginner.
I will not go into details about my training sessions but you can imagine the freedom I got when the snow was gone, the distances started to increase drastically and so did the joy. By then I started adding gym sessions to improve my core and strengthen my body, my diet has become more calculated and the amount of junk consumed has diminished significantly.
Last Saturday it was time for a test race and I took a 12km race 100 km south of where I live. It was a windy, rainy day and the BBQ I was promised afterwards made me finish the race at a pace of 4:58 min/km completing the race in 59:41.
On Tuesdays I train with a group HIIT and other sessions that are not fun by myself and today was our last session. We had 3 laps of 3 km where I ran at 4:51 min/km but the most important aspect of the session was to be able to drink at the end of each lap. The purpose was to learn to drink while running.
My training sessions are much less now but each session has a purpose, I am planning a test run on Friday where I will run the complete distance at a controlled pace. Another session early next week is also on the schedule and if I feel energetic, I might do a small jog on Thursday two days before the big day.
Stay tuned, more to come.
OP
View attachment 41746
Let him inspire you.
How much have you got so far?
I intend to start naming and shaming.
Let him inspire you.
How much have you got so far?
I intend to start naming and shaming.
OP
Haile Gebrselassie has set his sights on breaking the world 10k road-race record when he competes in Sunday's Great Manchester Run.
The 37-year-old Ethiopian, who has won two Olympic and four World gold medals, is hoping to collect his third Manchester title.
"If the weather remains OK, the flatness of the course makes it an ideal for breaking records," he said.
Kenya's Micah Kogo holds the current record - 27 minutes and one second.
Kogo set the mark in 2009, two months before Gebrselassie last set foot on the Manchester track.
Gebrselassie said: "I was well on target to pulling it off until the halfway mark but it fell away when on my own I was running into a strong headwind all the way back on the return leg.
"This year of course I want to make another challenge to do so. I'm in great shape and I've been thinking about the race ever since I was invited to take part at the beginning of the year."
The athletics veteran faces former world marathon champion Luke Kibet of Kenya, eight-time European cross country gold medallist Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid and Britain's Dan Robinson, among others.
The Great Manchester Run will occur alongside the GreatCity Games in the same city on Sunday 16 May.
What a man!
The 37-year-old Ethiopian, who has won two Olympic and four World gold medals, is hoping to collect his third Manchester title.
"If the weather remains OK, the flatness of the course makes it an ideal for breaking records," he said.
Kenya's Micah Kogo holds the current record - 27 minutes and one second.
Kogo set the mark in 2009, two months before Gebrselassie last set foot on the Manchester track.
Gebrselassie said: "I was well on target to pulling it off until the halfway mark but it fell away when on my own I was running into a strong headwind all the way back on the return leg.
"This year of course I want to make another challenge to do so. I'm in great shape and I've been thinking about the race ever since I was invited to take part at the beginning of the year."
The athletics veteran faces former world marathon champion Luke Kibet of Kenya, eight-time European cross country gold medallist Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid and Britain's Dan Robinson, among others.
The Great Manchester Run will occur alongside the GreatCity Games in the same city on Sunday 16 May.
What a man!
