Tuesday 23 March 2010

An Introduction

Hello to all,

This Blogg is going detail my life, well as much as i'm willing to divulge, to the general public. So where to start, i guess an introduction would be best, for all you people who already know me, please bare with me i'll keep it as brief as possible.

My name is James Bailey, i'm 26 at the time of writing this, i live in Wilmslow which is located in South Manchester, work as a pharmaceutical market researcher in Bollington, Macclesfield and most importantly i run. Some people see running as a hobby or as a way of keeping fit, well to me it's a lifestyle. So much so the running comes first and most other things come a distant second. I began running competitively when i was 14, after excelling at cross country at high school i wanted to take it one step further. Since then i've had my triumphs and disasters, ranging from medals to crippling injuries. I'll not go into too much detail of those right now but i'll touch on one experience in each post.

So what am i going to talk about, mainly it will be about my running i'll try and talk about how i have to juggle my training, work and social life. To put things into perspective i am at work for 42.5 hours a week (including lunch) and i usually train twice a day, sometimes 3 times, sometimes once. On top of that i try and fit in a social life with family, friends from home, work and training group, it can get a little busy at times but i wouldn't want it any other way.

I'll detail my weeks from Sunday to Saturday, indicating my training as i recorded and how i felt. This week will be an overview of my training, i'll try and add in a bit of my social life where possible. Here goes...

Sunday 14th March: 9:30am (1:21:36, 11.11 miles, 7:21 min/mile) Out for long Sunday run with Matt Barnes, one of my training partners. We usually meet near Manchester Airport runway tunnels and then decide our route depending on how we are feeling. The previous day the two of us had competed in the Inter-counties in Birmingham, this is a cross country event which is used to select Team GB's World Cross country team. Cross Country isn't my thing, although i am getting better at it, i had finished 56th in a field of about 300. Felt a little tired and achy after the previous day so glad for a steady pace.

Monday 15th March: 12:52pm (23:35, 3.51mi, 6:43 min/mile) Usually run in the morning and do weights session at lunch but woke up feeling shattered, decided to listen to my body and go back to bed. Run at lunch was steady just another loosener as still a little sore.

19:05 pm Training at Sportcity (Warm up: 14:02 1.93mi, Session 4*1300 loops (3:44, 3:41, 3:39, 3:38) 2 min recovery between reps, Warm down:14:16 1.89mi) Over winter the group goes down to the Sportscity car park in Manchester to do road loops, it's probably the safest place for us to do it in manchester as we don't have to worry about cars or other people. Session went well felt comfortable and gradually wound up each rep.

Tuesday 16th March: 7:49 am (22:50, 3:25mi 7:02min/mi) Steady run in the morning from work, i usually do between 20 an 25 minutes in the morning, this is to get my legs moving and get some miles in. Felt a little stiff after the session but nothing unusual.

12:40 pm Gym for strength and conditioning session. I usually do this sort of session twice a week on a Monday and Friday. but it depends on my race schedule and how i'm feeling on these days.

17:46 pm (41:41, 6.47mi, 6:26min/mi) Evening run, usually do my longer runs in the evening when i have time and my body is fully loosened up, i'm not a morning person. Felt good and was clipping along at good pace.

Wednesday 17th March: 8:03 am (21:10, 3.05mi, 6:57min/mi) Morning run, felt ok nice and steady before the evening session.

19:06 pm Session Wythenshaw park: (Warm up: 14:06, 1.77mi, Session 5 Mile Tempo run 25:35, 5:07min/mi, Warm Down: 10:56, 1.30mi) With a race coming up on the sunday i didn't expect to be doing this sort of session, but my coach though it would be beneficial. It was quick at the start going through the first mile in 5:05min, dropped to 5:00min, then a 5:06 followed by a 5:10 and 5:12 as i dropped of the leading 2. Felt ok but realised i had done a quick session.

Thursday 18th March: 17:41 pm (41:53, 6.43mi, 6:31min/mi) Just the one run today, had started to feel tired due to the past few days and didn't want to drain myself. Again feeling good and a nice speed.

Friday 19th March: 8:01 am (21:45, 3:23mi, 6:45min/mi) Dropped my car off in Macclesfield to get cleaned which tied in nicely with my plans, so ran to work after dropping off my clothes at the gym on the way through.

12:52 pm (22:26, 3:23mi, 6:56min/mi) Back to pick up my car. Was running with a colleague who is planning to run Wilmslow half Marathon so a fairly steady pace for me.

Saturday 20th March: Rest day. I would usually do a half an hour run in the morning but i woke up feeling extremely tired and with a race the following day decided not too. One of the key things is listening to my body, when i feel over tired i rest up. You can only push our body so hard!!

Total Week: 55.79 miles

Fairly steady miles considering the week straddled two races, usually i'll get up to between 60 and 70 miles when i'm not racing and ease down on race weeks.

So this is the end of my first blogg, a little long but you have to start somewhere! Next week i'll tell you about one of the many things i have been through as well as letting you know how the race went!

Bailey

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