When three becomes two ...

On Friday it was my birthday and since I was going out for a drink with friends to celebrate I went for my birthday run as soon as I got home from work at 4 O'clock.  My training plan stipulated a 4 mile run @ 9 minute mile pace plus 10 minute warm up and cool down. I decided to set Runkeeper as well as my Garmin so the little man could whisper in my ear how far behind or ahead of target I was whilst running.  It was a really nice sunny afternoon but I struggled to keep my pace fast enough.  I could blame the sun but I think it was more likely due to the 3 pieces of birthday cake I had devoured throughout the day or maybe I was just tired at the end of a very busy week! I could give a million excuses but I won't bother ... I'm just s  l  o  w!

Once home I downloaded my run from both my Garmin and I-phone and was very confused.  Although they had both tracked the run as being the same distance and the same average pace the split times were different which I find very strange! I had run 5.73 miles and the splits for the miles that count (excluding warm up mile and cool down mile) are Mile 1 - 8:59 Mile 2 - 9:24 Mile 3 - 8:54 Mile 4 - 9.22. You can compare the Garmin and Runkeeper tracking. However, whichever one I take as being correct I still didn't succeed in keeping to 9 minute mile splits for all 4 miles. 

Only 50% successful - I must run faster! 

For my birthday I got a lot of nice things including a Kindle Fire and a glider experience (another thing soon to be ticked off my bucket list which can be seen here.).  One of my pressies was an Adidas 3 bottle hydration belt,

Adidas 3 bottle hydration belt

and I decided to test it out on my run yesterday. As I had been out the night before I decided carrying water was essential to save further dehydration. I got changed into my running gear, filled the water bottles and adjusted the belt to fit (it had to be on the tightest setting).  I was a little dubious as the water bottles fit into the holders upsidedown and I was convinced I was going to end up with a wet ar**!  I jumped up and down on the spot to test this out before leaving the safety of my garden and all seemed well! No dribbles down my legs! 

I set off and within the first mile I stopped several times to readjust the belt as it jiggled about.  I soon decided I couldn't stop it jiggling and just accepted that it was born to jiggle! The belt must have circled my body a dozen times during my 9 mile run, it was very irritating.  

I needed the water however so there was a good reason to put up with the irritation! 

I didn't really have a route in mind but my marathon training plan stipulated a 1 hour 30 minute easy paced run so I thought I would just go where my legs took me.  Unfortunately my legs have very little sense of direction and I was dismayed when I realised I had done a big 4 mile loop, making my run 9 miles and I was still 5 miles from home!  I weighed up my options. a) keep running. b) walk c) ring for a lift! After consulting my watch I realised I had run for 1 hour 33 minutes (my goal time) so I very quickly opted for "C" and rang my husband to come and rescue me!  I didn't want to do too much too soon and put undue stress on my ankle - that was the line I gave my husband anyhow!! 

Once I had reached the agreed pick-up point I found a bench to sit on and went to get my final bottle of water out my belt!  DIASTER ...It wasn't there!  My three bottle hydration belt had turned into the two bottle version!! I wasn't happy!  Not only did the belt jiggle and wiggle the entire time the bottles obviously weren't a tight enough fit either.  Not fit for it's purpose in my opinion!  Anyhow, once my lift arrived we drove home via the same route I had run in the hope of finding the missing bottle but to no avail!  

You can view the route I took on this run here. Considering I had the annoyance of this belt hindering me I was fairly pleased with managing to run 9.15 miles with a 9:41 average pace! 

To add insult to injury (or should I say injury to insult!) when I got in the shower my side stung when the water cascaded over it.  I looked to see what was there and noticed I had 2 friction burns on both sides from the water belt! Ouchy ouchy ouchy!

My birthday present is now rendered useless (in my opinion) and I am disappointed in Adidas selling such poor quality running equipment!  

Looks like I will have to stick to my hand held running bottle or my horizontal bum bag style camelbak!  Oh well I suppose you live and learn! 

Today is Sunday ... and the bible that is my training plan says
REST! Yikes how do I do that?! To be honest it is raining horrendously and I am suffering with a hangover so rest is probably the best option!

I have survived week 2 of my marathon training and my stats for the week look like this:

Running :  23.41 Miles
Time on feet: 3:42:47

Cross Training-
Pilates: 1 hour
Circuit Training: 1 hour
Swimming: 1500 Metres
Walking: 6.15 Miles

Rest days: One

and my total training for the marathon to date is:

Running : 42.50  Miles

Time on feet: 6:45:58

Cross Training-

Pilates: 2 hour

Circuit Training: 2 hour

Swimming:  1.71 Miles

Walking: 9.72 Miles

Total Rest Days: 2

Bring on week 3 - I am ready for you!