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Eleanor's Endeavour

Eleanor's Endeavour

Tag Archives: training

Finding Your Limits

14 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Athletics, Bristol Balloon Fiesta, Championships, Mo Farah, running, strava, training

Mo Farah is the living embodiment of go hard or go home but that Athletic pack at the Championships sure did give him a run for his money.  They were like gazelles out there on the track, feet barely touching the ground, brows not even breaking a noticeable sweat.  Mo Farah runs 135-200 mile weeks depending on the article you read and in which point in his training it’s written.

Championship week asks questions about your own limits in training.  Serious questions when some Athletes are throwing mileage figures like that.  Strava says my weekly mileage is up to 13.1 miles now which was my weekly New Years’ Resolution. Week before last I did 14.44 miles.

A combination of physiotherapy and this half marathon plan has seen an increase in miles.  It might not seem like much.  The last time I managed 14.44 miles for the week was the first week of August 2017.  This shows white how much my back giving out effected my running.  I couldn’t run even 10 miles for a year.

I now have renewed determination to fit in my weekly mile target.  Everyone has to evaluate their own limits of what go hard or go home means to them.  It’s a balance of keeping motivated whilst knowing your own body so that it’s a safe progression.

I’m looking forward to getting back to my old running ways of 30 mile weeks. Last week I did 20 miles including two 20 mile days of field work at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.  As part of my finding my limits I’ve made an internal agreement to walk sessions if I can’t run them so I’m still doing the miles.  When I can’t walk run.  When I can’t run walk. I’m now an Admin and Marketing Assistant for Bailey Balloons so getting used to a new part-time schedule along with the fun of juggling summer term break.

Happy running,

Eleanor

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Training: Getting back into the habit.

15 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Tags

30 day yoga challenge, running, training

This year took a turning for the worst training wise due to illness in the first few months of 2015.  Apart from running the Alexander The Great Marathon I’ve only done one week of training a maximum 21.3 miles.  My goal for the year had been to beat last years weekly average of a poxy 9 miles and run 13 mile weeks.  Needless to say I’m a bit behind.  Apart from the marathon the longest training run I’ve done so far this year is a poxy 10 miles.

I’ve managed a few weeks at 13 ish miles but only a few.  However, it’s halfway through the year so there is still six months to turn it around.  It’s about getting back into the habit of running every other day like I used to when I first started.  Mixing it up with short speed training sessions and a long run.  So far I’ve been easing myself in to it, aware that too much of a sudden jump could cause injury, even if the amounts might seem small to other endurance runners.

Scheduling in short speed work sessions are easy.  All too often my training runs have been just over 5k (including the distance to work) so I’m surprised I managed the marathon at all.  It’s a pretty big jump from 5k to 42k.  I don’t want to keep repeating that leap.  I remember how hard those last five miles were.

It’s comforting to know that I’ve kept my marathon fitness throughout.  Now it’s about progressing it.  The long run to start with will be a minimum of 10k each week.  Once I get used to this I’ll start adding a hotch potch of speed of extra miles or speed work to keep up my pace.

Yoga has been helping keep my muscles feeling fresh throughout my new schedule.  I’ve promise myself I’ll do a 30 day yoga challenge.  I want to see if I can keep to a commitment of fitness just like with my schedule.  Especially when I know it benefits it.  Meaning I can go from one session to the next with the same intentions without tiredness from the intensity of the other.  This is important for enjoying the run and keeping fresh.

A phrase in the yoga flow I did on the weekend, “take a moment each day to pause and do nothing” something that resonated. I do so much. All the time. I need to allow myself a few moments of peace each day when I’m not focusing on what I have to do on my list and just appreciate being.

Namaste

Happy Running

xxx

Eleanor

The sound of hard work

14 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Tags

10k, 5k, marathon, medals, Olympus Marathon, racing, running, running bling, training, wind chime

This is the build up of two years of running at the end of February.  I moved house last month and only just got round to putting up my plaque that I bought a year or so ago for displaying my medals.  I had my window open at the time which let the air in through the room.  As I went about tidying I heard the medals chiming away.  I was proud that my hard work not only created health and fantastic experiences but a sound I could listen too in the present even if the events are considered in the past.  It reminded me of wind chimes and it sounded beautiful.  Hard work makes a soft sounding music for something so tough.
IMG_20150214_110730Step 1: Watch an insane video where Kilian Jornet runs up Mount Olympus along the wrong route and still breaks his record.

Step 2: Think positive, ‘I can do that!’ start running every other day one cold day in late February.

Step 3: Run the Bristol 10k. Convince your other running buddies Liam and Matt that Olympus Marathon is a good idea whilst they’re recovering from the shock of their 10k victory. Whilst on a race high anything seems possible.

Step 4: Buy a fancy running medal display with a funky slogan on it to hang your bling on. Attach it on a wall between a cross breeze created by the window and the door. It doesn’t look like much now but you just wait!

Step 5: Continue to run races around the local area and the Athens Classic Marathon to collect medals. Pile them on the hooks one on top of the other.

Step 6: Open the window.

Step 7: Listen to the beautiful sound of your hard work as the wind catches the medals and chimes them together. Your dedication to your running is making that sound. Your alarm at 6 am telling you to get up and run. Your choice over what to eat and when in regards to how it will benefit your training is making that sound. Your experience whilst running 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon and Ultra distances are making that sound. Your memories are making that sound. Your sweat is making that sound. Your success is making that sound. Remember that at the Start line of your next race. What tune will it make to you? Will you like its sound? There’s only one way to find out. Ready. Set. Run!

xxx
Eleanor

Memory Lane 9 Miles

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Tags

Birdcage, Bristol, Cake, Chocolate, Memory Lane, Peanut Butter, running, training, yoga

Distance: 9 miles

Time: 01:32:00

Elevation: Gain 163 ft Loss 396 ft

Weather: 3 Degrees Centigrade

Why walk down Memory Lane when you can run it?

Yesterday was my 27th birthday.  I  chose to run 9 miles of significant life locations up until I was about eighteen; schools, places of work, homes etc.  I didn’t manage to cover everything but it was a great feeling remembering where things are that I’ve not seen for years.

For example this is the Birdcage up by my first nursery in Clifton.

BirdcageOne of my presents was a yoga mat.  I intend to try to build yoga back into my daily routine. For years it was a staple.  Then I found running and forgot about it but stretching is equally important to avoid tight muscles.  I’m looking forward to getting used to it again!

It’s safe to say after 9 chilly miles I deserved this Gluten Free chocolate and peanut butter cake made by my friend Brendan and burgers and a few drinks with good family and friends.  So yummy and we all know chocolate is good for recovery.  Peanut butter is a good source of protein which each spoon containing about 8 grams of the stuff.

27Cake

Lovely day all round!

xxx

Eleanor

Findhorn Bay Coastal Run In A Blizzard

17 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Tags

beach, blizzard, coastal, commuting, environment, Findhorn Bay, footprints, Forres, running, sand, snow, training

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This afternoon was the coldest we’d experienced.  We noted that snow had become something so frequently seen that we barely noticed that it was snowing yet again.  Up North when the schedule says snow it darn well snows.  The morning was bright and beautiful as we visited Dallas Distillery and then as we checked out Kinloss Abbey the snows suddenly descended in a blink of an eye.

At that moment we questioned whether to carry on with our plan to visit Findhorn Bay.  However, the storm cloud cleared and the blizzard moved on so we decided that we’d chance it as it was our last full day here.  We were going whatever the weather.  Seeing a couple of runners braving the elements for the first time in days furthered my resolve to run.

I have a strange love with coastal running.  Running on sand is hard.  The resistance of the soft ground slows down the pace even on compact sand.  Technique and care must be taken on pebbled beach towards the rising dunes that separate in layers from the Findhorn so as not to risk turning an ankle.  Snow on the sand makes matters worse.  There is an extra layer to the resistance and ice to battle with on the pebbles.  Snow on sand turns your running game level onto hard core mode.

 

Two and a half miles into the run hIMG_20150116_140235eading east I hit a cloud that was dark yellow against the silvery sky that turned out to be a snow storm.  Probably the one we’d experienced earlier.  It was worse out on the coast without any cover from the wind.  The blizzard caused vision to worsen.  Snow hurts quite a bit when it’s hitting you straight in the face at eighty miles per hour.

By the time I found Steve and we navigated our way back to the car I’d done four miles in conditions most people wouldn’t even leave the house in.  I was caked in snow and had to dust myself off before getting into the warmth of the car.  I felt full of excitement, the adrenalin of the run, of going into a storm of snow and coming out again with your own two feet.

 

IMG_20150116_140155Just you and the elements all around you 100%back to raw nature.  Running along the snow covered sand the first thought that came through the serenity was about our footprints  As runners are our footprints any better than the ones we left before we started running?

I feel inclined to say a runner’s footprint is far more positive.  Being a new found commute runner I use the bus a lot less saving money and time. Running makes us more in touch with nature and aware of our environment.  We leave our footprints physically in the mud of the trails or the ghosts of them on the road.  It upsets me to see that some runners choose to deposit their used energy gel and drinks bottles on sides of the road.  But on the whole a runner’s footprint does more good than bad.

Our footprints travel the world in search of adventure.  The thrill of the race.  They raise money for the charity.  They motivate others to run and be healthy.  We think more about what we eat and how it fuels our body.  They leave a memory of us and an impression with people that see us as we experience the world.  Running has taken me places I’d never even thought about discovering.

The thing is that to our ancestors running wasn’t something that they squished into their day.  It was how they survivIMG_20150116_141653ed.  How they hunted and how they travelled without the comfort of another option.  Odd, then, how things evolved into having to make time for something which was once as natural as breathing.

 

This thought is initially what inspired me to take up New Year’s Resolution #1 which is to run or cycle commute wherever possible.

xxx

Eleanor

Descent To Fort Augustus

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by elladuv in Running

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Tags

Fort Augustus, inspirational, Inverness, Kilian Jornet, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Marathon, Loch Ness Monster, mountains, Patrick Rothfuss, running, snow, training

Aviary Photo_130658172870035143

Yesterday afternoon meant a drive to Loch Ness just past the city of Inverness.  It was a long drive through a fresh batch of fallen snows.  Two inches of it coupled with black ice made it slow going.

The Loch Ness Exhibition informed us that this freshwater lake, the largest in the land, was 23 miles long.  It took us through a handful of interesting rooms designed to tell us individual segments of the exploration into the sightings of the famous Loch Ness monster.  Unfortunately the idea that only 20% of the Loch’s natural food chain would be left over for our Nessie disproves the idea that a large monster could sustain itself there.

Being a runner I had researched the Loch Ness Marathon route so that I could run sections of it.  However, having left late, then driven to and around the Loch with a visit to the Exhibition Centre I only had half an hour of diminishing silvery daylight turning dusk blue on this cold mid-January afternoon.

So I had Steve drop me off 5k away from Fort Augustus, where the marathon route starts, and he drove off to get food and wait for me at the village.  I turned on some Prodigy and ran 5k of pure descent to the village on the South Side Loch Ness.  I had nothing but the descent, my thoughts and the beats.  I clocked 28:28 minutes for the run by the time I met Steve at the Visitors Centre.  At this point the last of the weak sunlight had set and the lights had turned on in the village setting odd balls of yellow light against the dusk blue snow on the surrounding mountains.

I let my thoughts wonder as freely as possible. My mind began to think about what I wanted to do with this blog. Initially I began a document called The Journey To Mount IMG_20150114_161448Olympus to note down my progress as a runner whilst I was on the journey to the main goal – Mount Olympus Marathon.  The Journey To Mount Olympus seemed too long.  Also not very profound as people do it each year so why would one individual’s journey to being ready to run this marathon make me any different to all the other good inspirational training blogs out there?

It is said that everyone has a story so perhaps being a good inspirational training blog is a goal to strive for.  Eleanor’s Endeavour is the idea of the story.  Having something other to tell my readers than just how my workout went and reviewing races (race reviews in the pages fixed above) that I do along the way.

I think in a way then his isn’t necessarily about that main goal.  I think that it’s about the how.  The accumulation of experience that equates to that overall eventual victory that I’m still hoping for one day.  Next month it’ll be two years on from the day that the video of Kilian Jornet running up Mount Olympus inspired me to run.  I’ve achieved so much already.  I want this to be an appreciation of the adventure of running.  The joy it gives you.  As Kilian coined it, ‘the search for happiness’ through running.IMG_20150114_163514

With this in mind I pledge to endeavour to adventure as much as possible.  Finding the adventure in the run even on training days that might seem ordinary.  Actually having a think about things.  Trying to effectively utilise the calm happy setting that my mind goes into when I run.  Patrick Rothfuss’ character Kvothe calls it the Spinning Leaf when he is practicing an art called Ketan which seems to be a mix of yoga and martial arts.  His description stuck with me even after reading.  That mind set we all go into when we run, that hidden place, filled with almost childlike calm and happy thoughts.

That’s the forecast at least.  A vague one.  The future will tell where my feet will fall next.  At least I’ve gotten out the front door.

IMG_20150114_163844

Xxx

Eleanor

 

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10th International Alexander The Great MarathonApril 5, 2015
26.2 From Palla To Thessaloniki

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