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Training Regime
Various people have expressed an interest in my training regime and the number of miles I’m running outside the organised events I’m participating in. I joined Virgin Active back in November when I won the Hero Award and can honestly say I’ve never made so much use of a gym membership!
With so much mileage being put on my legs during organised events, it is a careful balance between how much running I can do between events to avoid further impact to my ankles and knees. My daily regime usually sees me in the gym early, where I’ll start with a gentle run for about 20 minutes as a warm up. I then head over to the weights section, rotating on the different pieces of equipment for approximately one hour to help improve my core strength and balance. I usually stretch out each day with a half hour swim and finish with a much-needed Jacuzzi.
I’m currently (having to pick up the mileage I’m running each day in order to train for the Marathon of Great Britain in September. This will see me running 175 miles over five days and carrying everything I need to survive for the week in a 65 litre back pack – this doesn’t include a Marriott Reward Card – just a tent! The toughest day is 55 miles in a day, sleeping over night in the tent I’ve been carrying, followed by another 30 miles the next day – I must have be deranged when I signed up to do it! Anyway, on top of my regime in the gym, I am also putting in some road running miles, with a back pack – last week I did a further 20 miles, 3 days in a row but I’d be lying if I said that at this time that this was consistent.) now having completed the MOB and Sydney Marathon, in the process of working on my speed for the up and coming selection of shorter events in October with both the Great North and Great South planned.
In terms of my diet, I’ve always been lucky enough to eat whatever I want and not put on weight. Since embarking on my challenge in March, despite continuing to eat like a horse, I lost approximately a stone in weight – which is hard when you don’t really need to lose it to begin with. I’ve got a really sweet tooth, which I haven’t been able to curb. This probably hasn’t been helped by the high sugar drinks and gels you are given when you compete in marathons to give you energy. Basically, I’m still eating all the bad stuff, just being strict and eating it in between three very large but health meals each day. My snaking in between never seems to be a problem – I’m always hungry! Following the MOB I lost a further 3/4 of a stone which I am now in the process of also trying to get back!
To try and keep some weight on and help me build muscle I’m also following each of my meals with protein drinks – they don’t seem to be working but then if I wasn’t drinking them maybe I’d have lost even more weight! The truth is I really like them, again full of sugar, but they do seem to curb the hunger for a while.
In an attempt to prevent and repair damage to the cartilage in my legs, I’m also taking Litozin tablets daily and a selection of other pills to improve the regrowth of the cartilage.
So, I’ve started to record the mileage I’m running outside
of my organised events to give you an idea of the 'real' miles I'll be covering
this year - even if the majority of them happen within 10 miles of my house.
Training Miles by date (4 week cycle)
| Date | Long Run | Sprints | Swim | Gym/Cycle |
| Sun - 30th Sept | Great North 13 miles | Yes | ||
| Mon - 1st Oct |
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| Tues - 2nd Oct |
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| Wed - 3rd Oct |
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| Thurs - 4th Oct |
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| Fri - 5th Oct |
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| Sat - 6th Oct |
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| Sun - 7th Oct |
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| Mon - 8th Oct |
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| Tues - 9th Oct |
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| Wed - 10th Oct |
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| Thurs - 11th Oct |
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| Fri - 12th Oct |
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| Sat - 13th Oct |
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| Sun - 14th Oct |
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| Mon - 15th Oct |
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| Tues - 16th Oct |
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| Wed - 17th Oct |
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| Thurs - 18th Oct |
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| Fri - 19th Oct |
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| Sat - 20th Oct |
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| Sun - 21th Oct |
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| Mon - 22nd Oct |
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| Tues - 23rd Oct |
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| Wed - 24th Oct |
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| Thurs - 25th Oct |
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| Fri - 26th Oct | ||||
| Sat - 27th Oct |
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