Back on Track

It's been a while since I last wrote anything here.. Well, I wasn't able to run in three weeks because of my flu and after that a terrible cough. Now I've been building up my condition for three weeks. At first it felt awful, I thought that I can't run this half marathon, but now I start to get my faith back :) I have given up my time target, though.. I have 8 weeks to go and I haven't been able to focus on my running as good as I wish.

And I haven't been able to use my sport tracker because I ran out of my data allowance on my phone. How stupid is that! I have to change my contract and get a bit more data.. :D

..Setbacks... ..

Aaw, whole last week without running because of my damn flu. It started on last weeks Sunday with sore throat and then it turned into proper flu and really blocked nose. Now it's Monday again and it  doesn't seem to be any better, actually I feel a bit pressure on my right side sinus, which is not a good sign. Today I started to flush my nose with a nose can. It is actually really useful and makes you feel a lot better. I should have started to use it earlier...

For this I can blame only myself, I did my last run when it was pouring and I was soaked and sweaty and I didn't go to warm shower straight away. I just got stuck on internet and after a while I realized I was shivering and really cold. And next day I had really sore throat! I think my 11 hour working days haven't made my recovery any easier eihter.. If I don't get better soon, my dreams of my 2 hour run will shatter away...

Running in the rain

Second week of my training and I feel fabulous! My pace development is nice and steady, and running feels quite light.

On Tuesday I did my first interval training. I have to admit that after this training session I felt like dying! I did 6 x 2 min fast running - 2 min joggin. I think the reason why it didn't feel so good was my problems with proper breathing. I didn't seem to find proper breathing rythym and then I had this penetrative pain in my stomach. Usually this pain goes away when I take deep breaths and try to blow my lungs as empty as I can, but this time it didn't help at all.. On my way back home I spotted these pretty butterflies on the wall, I certainly didn't feel like one while running :D

On Thursday and Saturday I did regular steady pace runs. On Thursday it was 25 min jogging and 20 min running. Whole journey went really fast and it was nice to run eventhough it was pouring. I mean raining BIG time! I have noticed that for me it is easier and much lighter to run in the rain or in cold weather. Sunny days are nightmare for my training...

On Saturday it was raining again! This time I did 45 min run and I was really pleased with my pace. I really enjoy training, it feels so good everytime. My biggest motivator is Sports Tracker, it is so fun to train with it. You don't need to wonder how many kilometres you have ran or is your pace high enough.. There is few functions that is miss though, it would be great to have somekind of interval timer in it.. It would help a lot. 

This week I've been taking Maca powder every morning. I'm not quite sure if I have noticed any difference. Running have felt a bit lighter though.. Hmm.. Maybe I need few more weeks to tell if it helps or not. :)

And something about my fundraising.. I haven't got started as I wished, but still I'm sure I will beat my target. At the moment I have focused on my training, but I think at least when Uni starts I will get some good results on my fundraising as well.

First 10k try-out

This time I made a little experiment, how long it takes to run 10k and how does it feel. Well, it was hard and maybe I shouldn't have done that on my 3rd training day.. But I did it, and I'm still alive! :D And to be honest I thought I would be in terrible pain next day, and I'm not! Conclusion: I'm pretty happy for my current condition. Now I will have two days off from training and on Monday I will do an interval training. I'm a bit scared of that..

I have a 12 week plan for my training which aims for 2h 30min time, but somehow I'd like to aim for 2 hours.. I found a 30 week plan on the internet and I think I might mix those two plans a bit. That 30 week plan included a bit more interval trainings which should improve my pace, whereas the 12 week program aims to improve my stamina. By mixing these two programmes I thing I will manage to run my 21k between 2h and 2,5h. And my last experience reinforced the idea of my 2 hour target.

I really enjoyed my last run! This time I wasn't running just in the middle of the neighborhood (which is kind of boring). I headed to the river and the landscape changed quite quickly into counrtyside.

And because of my stupid obsession with running proper loops (I can't stop and just turn around), my 10k became 12k.. There isn't too many bridges in some parts of the river Cam, so I ran all the way to the river closure close to Biggin Abbey Cottages.

On my way to the closure the ground was "a bit" wet and really muddy and sometimes it felt like running in the jungle. My eyes and mouth were full of insects. Luckily the way back home was much drier and the road was really nice. Maybe I should next time just use the better side of the river and try to get rid of my obsession.

Today I bought some Maca powder, which should be good source of protein, fibre and some minerals. I was planning to mix it in my morning smoothies which usually include natural yoghurt, milk, berries, banana and some random fruits. I have heard that many athletes use maca to boost energy and stamina, and there are reports that this root can increase mental function as well. Now I'm going to find out how it affects on me. I've also been taking some magnesium regularly, because of my previous shin problems. Let's hope it will help...

http://www.justgiving.com/riina-riihonen

Feel like a winner!

Today my legs were really sore for Mondays training. It was extremely hard to just change my clothes and go for a run. But I did it! This time I jogged 35 min, walked 2 min, run 10 min (fast pace) and for cooldown 8 min walking. Altogether 55 minutes and 8.1k, nice.

I think I couldn't do today's run without my music. I picked just right soundtrack! Everytime I felt exhausted the music gave me strength to keep going with good pace. Today's album was Faithless - Back to Mine. My playlist was a bit different, but you can get some idea what kind of music I use while running. And again my head was full of thoughts, this time I was imagining how it feels to cross the finish line. Hmm, it must be great feeling.. I bet I'm going to cry :)

Now I have also started to track my training in Sports Tracker. It draws my route and calculates my pace and distance. Pretty cool :D Maybe there's a little geek living inside of me, I just love to use those all kinds of apps and programs. One device that I'd really like to get is a heart rate monitor. At the moment I can't afford to buy one, but maybe I could ask it for Christmas...

And last but not least, here is one picture from my route. Smell of flowers was amazing and it was quite nice and sunny when I left the apartment, but in the middle of my route Mother Nature blessed me with refreshing shower. Again.

http://www.justgiving.com/riina-riihonen

Getting used to British "summer"

First week and first day of my training. 5 min walk - 30 min jog - 5 min walk- behind and it was pouring. But it didn't bother me, I had too many thoughts in my head: how I will start my fundraising, am I good enough to write this blog in English and will I reach all my targets this time.

I am well known for planning and starting things but never finishing anything. The latest memory is my project 365 which had so promising start, but then againg I got too busy and I had too many excuses why I couldn't finish it. And to be honest now I feel really bad about it.

Yesterday I wached also movie "Life in a Day" which was really touching. It didn't do any good for my already sentimental and maudlin mind. And what the movie was about:

 "What do you get when you ask the people of the world to chronicle a single day in their lives? You get 80,000 submissions, 4500 hours of footage, from 192 countries. Kevin Macdonald has taken this raw material, all shot on July 24, 2010, and created a 90-minute paean to what it means to be human in the world today."

In the end of the movie there was a girl who said something like this: "All day I have been waiting something special to happen, but nothing happened! Absolutely nothing. And I'm not going to say how great person I am, because I'm not. I'm just a normal girl. But still somehow this day feels special."

After my first run: exhausted, soaking wet, happy.

My route

https://www.justgiving.com/riina-riihonen

Run to the Beat

Last week I decided to make two of my dreams come true: to do something to help others and run half marathon. I am doing this 21km (13.1 mile) run on 28th of October in London and I'm raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma research.

In this blog you can follow my 17 week training and fundraising. I have planned to do some bake sales and maybe some music events as well. This is my first fundraising project and I'm REALLY excited about it! Let's see how it goes! :)


If you already feel like helping me, here is my fundraising page:


http://www.justgiving.com/riina-riihonen