Week 4 – Enjoy your body…it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

On my running playlist this week was Baz Lurhmans ‘Sunscreen‘ song, which has in it the frankly brilliant line…”enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own”. After the pain of the Numskull last week I was determined this week to really try and beat those guys, enjoy my running and really just try and appreciate the fact that my body definitely feels fitter, leaner and ultimately much much stronger after only 4 weeks!

A combination of some good advice from an experienced Marathon runner at work (sort your playlists out and run near other runners) and some online reading about why people choose to run (to forget about everything else and just listen to and communicate with their body – breathing, stride length, heart rate, etc) ensured that the numskull was well and truly silenced. All three runs this week were full on, none stop and with extra distance and/or time added because I was feeling so strong. Christ I must have been feeling good, I even threw in another ten lengths on my recovery swim. Listen to this as it brilliantly encapsulates how I felt in all my runs this week.

I am really feeling the benefits of the training plan now I have to say. Having the structure of the plan and the regularity of it have meant that I have slowly but surely built up my strength, endurance and commitment to it. Great work Coach Lauren.

Other big news, outside of the running/training, is that the first four half marathons are now booked. The runs are…

Sunday 27th July – Wimbledon Common Half Marathon HERE
Sunday 17th August – Burnham Beeches Half Marathon HERE
Sunday September – Old Deer Park, Richmond Half Marathon HERE
Sunday 19th October – Great West Run, Exeter Half Marathon HERE

The first one was already booked due to location (really close) and date (as late in July as possible to give me as much training time as possible). The second one was chosen purely for the date as I have a few weekends already booked out for other stuff so the 17th was really my only option. The third one, The Old Deer Park, Richmond, was chosen because A: it is now my ‘home’ run and B: it means I can run it with one of my oldest (in every sense) friends Ben Holehouse. Finally the fourth one was chosen because then Ben and I can go for a weekend in Exeter and run it with another our our oldest friends (in every sense) Micky Roberts.

I actually like the idea of trying to run them with a different friend each time going forward so if there are any other volunteers out there please get in touch. Anyone fancy Burnham Beeches on the 17th August? Anyone…

Anyway, run down on the rest of my week is:

Monday
– Tour De France corporate day out with TFL. Beer, wine & champagne. The whole of my training week re-jigged for 5 seconds of excitement on The Mall.

Tuesday
– 20 minute run on the plan extended to a 4 mile run in 34 minutes as was feeling very strong. A friend on Facebook, Andy Gill, summed this up fantastically with Antony – 1 v Numskull – 0.

Wednesday
– Rest day

Thursday
– Interval training. 25 minutes total. 5 minute warm up, 15 minutes of 90 second intervals, 5 minute warm down. 20 minute workout at the outdoor Adidas gym in the Old Deer Park Richmond. An additional mile run to get back to work. Antony – 2 v Numskull – 0. (Thanks Giller, going to keep using this going forward.

Friday
– Recovery swim of 60 lengths (2,000m) at Pools on the Park, Richmond. 60 lengths none stop with some front crawl thrown in as well in the new goggles. Special thanks to Kristy for coming to get me afterwards though – fair to say I was a little bit broken. Antony – 3 v Numskull – 0.

Saturday
– Rest day

Sunday
– 10 mile run to Kingston and back in 1 hour 27 minutes. Strong for first 7, horrific for the last 3. Needed to prove I’d be alright for the first half marathon on the 27th July. I think I will. It’s a clean sheet for the week with a final score of Antony – 4 v Numskull – 0. Stick that right up you Brainy!!!!!!

Finally…I know, it’s a bit of a mammoth blog this week but stick with me, I’ve chosen the first charity that I’d like to try and promote as part of my first Half Marathon.

The aim of this is not to guilt you into feeling that you have to donate through my own JustGiving page or anything like that, but merely to highlight a charity that means something to me personally, a charity that I think does something worthwhile and the rest is up to you.

With the Man Project being 12 Half Marathons in 12 months you’ll have plenty of chances to find one that resonates with you. It’d be great if you could pick the one you like most and make a donation of even only a couple of pounds, but it’s up to you…

All the stray dogs we saw on our holiday in Mauritius, including Frank pictured, nearly broke my heart so my first choice of charity is Paws in Mauritus.

Thanks!

Frank in Mauritius

Tour De France

This Weeks Mantras