I had recognised a pattern. If I had less than 7 hours kip for more than 2 nights in a row, I'd wake with a bad head which would progress to debilitating migraine by lunchtime, and then ease off in the evening.
The response to this was clear. Go to bed earlier. However, over the past couple of weeks, I've broken this golden rule of sleep at least twice with no ill effects. The conclusion: my lack of any conditioning and fitness were having a much more corrosive effect on my life than I had ever guessed at.
The maths of the benefit are pretty positive. I spend about an hour and a half running each week and gain between 5 and 7 hours each week awake in return. That's a bargain.
Over the last week and a bit, I've maintained my running schedule much better. Monday was my last run at 7 minutes x 3 and went OK. Wednesday I moved up to 8 minutes x 3 which strangely felt a more comfortable distance and time.
Friday nearly didn't happen. I got stranded in London due to the storm-force winds closing the rail network. I had a suit, my PC and a credit card. The credit card got me a room for the night, so I ditched the PC, jacket and tie, and headed out into the West End with a collegue for a good Chinese meal and spur of the moment tickets to Spamalot. Cool.
Having made the best of a bad lot, I still didn't know how I was going to get my Friday run in. Thankfully, despite chaos at Euston station, I managed to get a train home and arrived by lunchtime. So first job was pounding pavements which was great relief from the previous 24 hours.
Monday 22nd was much colder. I'm starting to increase the clothing layers now and I expect it to be well sub-zero centigrade tomorrow morning, probably -2C or lower. I'll be watching my step!
Last 4 runs :
Monday 2.1 miles, 21 minutes @7:1 run:walk 9:59 pace 11C
Wednesday 2.42 miles, 24 minutes @8:1 run:walk 9:55 pace 13C
Friday 2.46 miles, 24 minutes @8:1 run:walk 9:46 pace 11C
Monday 2.4 miles, 24 minutes @8:1 run:walk 10:01 pace 4C (trouble crossing a road!)
Phil, congratulations on your marathon finish. Just brilliant!.
Mr Stumble.
1 comment:
Andy ... I remember chuckling when I read in one of your first posts that you thought you were in good shape because you took the stairs instead of the lift. Altough you haven't progressed as fast as you would have like over the past 9 months, you are probably in the best shape of your adult life. Plus, you now have friends all over the planet. You just can't beat that.
Thanks for you plug to my blog. I know you'll complete your first marathon much sooner in life than I did.
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