January 2011
5 posts
10k with bro, night fell during, new bridge lit up, Maybeshewill.
This is where I wasn’t. Rather, I went for a door-to-door early afternoon, when the temperature rose to zero. Ended up taking the tram back home, still managed an 11k.
Conditions on the island are quite bad. Since no one bothered to clear the snow the track has the average slipperiness of an ice rink.
November 2010
2 posts
Last time I was out running at Margaret Island I noticed some curious construction work going on.
It actually looked like as if they were installing street lamps to the Pest side of the running track which was (and still is) notoriously pitch black after sunset.
Since the island is pretty much the only place with a long enough public running track in the city, and also considering the fact that these days night falls pretty early, this has the potential to be a huge improvement.
Fingers crossed they actually are doing what I assumed they were.
October 2010
1 post
I should have done this ages ago, just didn’t get around to it: closing down this project.
This is what happened.
My training schedule suffered a blow from me going to Germany. The following week I ended up going to Sziget Festival after all, preventing me from running again. (Even though - as far as physical strain is concerned - shows by Enter Shikari or Muse are no less demanding than a several kilometer run, in my opinion.)
Unfortunately I caught a particularly nasty virus somewhere along the line. I tried a few runs to keep the program alive, only to make matters worse. I only barely managed to get healthy enough on time for the half-marathon.
I also lost my job, meaning no salary either, and the marathon was quite expensive. Too expensive, in fact, for me to afford it.
I had a feeble attempt to find a sponsor of some kind, but even I didn’t believe anyone would bother.
So for now, this is the end.
August 2010
7 posts
… I caught a cold after all, probably at Sziget.
Regardless, I did today’s portion (6k) with a 4’45” / km average.
Had to get back to running after two weeks of laziness. (That is if you consider exploring foreign cities on foot and jumping out of control at festivals a manifestation of sloth.)
Anyway, wouldn’t have been me if I hadn’t made the mistake of doing week 6’s Monday training instead of week 7’s: 10k.
Monday rest
Tuesday 6x3min, 2 min rest
Wednesday 6km light
Thursday 10km timed
Friday rest
Saturday 11km medium
Sunday 150 min
Monday rest
Tuesday 4x1 km fast, 3 min breaks
Wednesday 6 km light
Thursday 6 km light + fast
Friday rest
Saturday rest
Sunday 10 km or 10 miles
July 2010
24 posts
We ran today’s 8k with my brother which somewhat slowed the pace.
I ran the 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 progressively accelerating then decelerating training today. I can’t really tell how it went until I upload and check the graph on Monday the earliest.
A supposedly light 8 km run scheduled for today, which ended up being a personal record again: sub 5’ kilometers all the way!
8.02 km, 39’40”, 4’57”/km
Quite an improvement since my struggle to run 5k under 30”.
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 8x2 minutes, 2 minute rests
Wednesday: 8km light
Thursday: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 minutes pyramid
Friday: rest
Saturday: 8km light
Sunday: 120 minutes
I did try but with the lack of technical gear I was afraid of catching a cold so I gave up after 15 minutes in the pouring rain. (Instead of 105…) Too bad, because this was going to be the first week I followed through the training plan completely.
Woo!
With the much anticipated cool weather I managed the fastest 6k I’ve ever run today: sub 5’ kilometers!
29’51” total, 6.03 km, 4’57” / km
Thursday’s 6k run didn’t happen so I went today. It was supposed to be a timed one - whatever that means. Regardless, I attempted to run faster than on Wednesday and despite the still persistent heat it worked: 5’09” / km … not too shabby.
Back in Budapest. I was kind of down but then I went running instead.
It wasn’t even that hot: there were showers in parts of the city and the temperature dropped, so even though the plan was a 6k light run my average speed ended up being 5.20 min/km.
Szolnok is in the middle of a huge plain, not even a little bump in the landscape, so I had to resort to 8 x 150 m sprints with light jogging/walking in between. I ended up running 5.94 km altogether, albeit slowly: 6.42 min/km.
It was also like a million degrees outside.
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 8 x 150m uphill
Wednesday - 6 km light
Thursday - 6 km timed
Friday - rest
Saturday - 6 km light
Sunday - 105 min
What a weekend! Pure undiluted energy explosion yesterday at Epica!
Celebrated today with a 90 min run: 1:30’05”, 5’52”/km, 15.32 km. (That’s 1197 calories according to the Nike+ software.)
\m/
This week has taken its toll. Last week at work, melting asphalt and no runs so far.
By the time I arrived to the running track I was confused: was it 1 minute runs or 1 km runs? I went for worst case and tried 1 km fast runs:
1st 4’18”/km; 2nd 4’39”/km; 3rd 4’40”/km
After all I did run 12 minutes altogether, more than the scheduled 10x1.
I really want a sub 4’ kilometer though.
Without further ado:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 10 x 1 min fast, 2 min breaks
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 4 x 1 km fast, 3 min breaks
Friday - rest
Saturday - 6 km light
Sunday - 90 mins
Even though a 75 minute run was supposed to happen, I had to give up after only 30’25” due to general shortness of breath and a danger of heat stroke.
Spurred by the events of Fast Friday I managed a 5’20”/km 6k run for today’s training. (32’11”)
Thursday didn’t happen but huge surprise today when I went for the first 1.6 km leg: I finished in 7’27”, which is 4’34” per km. I didn’t know I could be this fast.
Although since the iPod didn’t announce a personal best for the mile I suppose at one point I did run a faster first 1.6 km…
The other two runs were progressively slower: 7’41” (4’44”/km) and 7’58” (4’53”/km).
Since I got caught in a heavy summer shower I cut the run 5 minutes short of the target and ran for 35’05”. That’s 6.2 km with a speed of 5’39” per km.
From the book by Richard Nerurkar I chose a sub 4:00’ marathon training plan.
I’m happy with a sub 2:00’ half-marathon to be honest but why not aim for the stars.
For the first week I will need to run:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 40 minutes light
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 3 x 1.6 km fast, with 3 minute breaks
Friday - rest
Saturday - 6 km light
Sunday - 75 minutes
Actually, I was running before, the title is just about the tumblr thing.
During a marathon relay I finally made the decision that I should take running to the next level and 1) set an ambitious goal 2) start training regularly following a plan.
Since the longest run I have done so far was 23 kilometers I decided to attempt the marathon. The closest opportunity seems to be the 25th Anniversary Spar Budapest International Marathon 2010.
Armed with a borrowed book I set up a training plan which I intend to follow for the next 12 weeks. It culminates on September 26, Sunday, the day of the race.
Progress (or lack thereof) will be recorded here.
