Hello! If you read the blog, you might know I like a run and then I like to talk about it, so with that out of the way here is my training plan for the next few weeks for the Mo Run 10 km race on Sunday 25th November. Last week I got the first cold of the Autumn, so really struggled to get any exercise in. To the point where on Saturday I was a shivering drained mess. Luckily Victoria fixed me up with a kitten covered hot water bottle. So from Monday to race day I thought I would let you know my training plan. For those wanting to participate in a 5 km or 10 km in Belfast at the end of the month more details about the race, plus a nice discount code at the bottom of the post. For anyone in the UK, there is a 7% discount on the Mo Running website so sign up! Let’s get into the plan.
Running
As I am still trying to get back to a full bill of health from being sick I am going to ease into my running a little. I will focus on getting a couple of midweek 5 km’s in and then leave the longer runs for the weekend for the first week. The weeks closer to the race I will up the mileage a bit more and also try to push myself harder on the runs. The illness has not been at an ideal time and so I may have to pull back on that sub 1 hour aim and just hope for a PB for the year, which isn’t very fast but 1 hr 4 will be around about the aim.
So that means running a bit faster and trying to get my cardio up to keep myself going as I have had this annoying trend of letting my head tell me around 3 miles into a 10 km race this year that I can’t keep running at that pace and then my race falls apart from there. Be it my brain telling me my calf is much sorer than it is, or just, well anything. I want to break that little habit before it becomes a major issue. But I will begin to push more for running faster and building up the distance from there on Sunday.
Seeing as Stormont Estate is effectively just a hill, I know I will want to make up some time up the climbs as I am usually pretty good at that. So a lot of hill running will be spread throughout the plan. Luckily I live at the bottom of a 1 km hill that has a sharp incline at the start, so hopefully some runs up and down that will help prepare the legs. But I will need more than that, and if you read last weeks post you know what else I have planned.
Stepper
To help mix up the training I will be having some much needed gym time. This is so I can get my cardio in a bit better shape and can go longer on some machines than maybe I could currently when running. With the stepper, I want to get my legs used to steepness and to feel a bit of resistance that I honestly don’t think a cross trainer can do. Plus I like chasing floor targets! I will try and get Victoria to join me on these as I will have us do a hill session on it so we can feel the resistance grow and then eventually subside. No idea if it will work, but it will be worth a go!
Bike
I love a good indoor cycle and I want to get into outdoor cycling, but I am a little bit nervous about that just yet so I get on a nice stationary bike at the gym. I have spoke before about the two workouts I like on the bike and I feel both will assist me with getting my legs ready and to boost my cardio levels. One workout is all uphill and although short in 16 minutes in length, involves continuously going up a level every 30 seconds until you reach the highest level and then pushing it hard and keeping the reps up for 2 and a bit minutes. It is a shattering workout, but it has to improve the legs for aggressive climbing/inclines!
The second workout is a much longer one and ranges from 40 minutes to 1 hr 30 of cycling up and down smaller hills. I see this one as the one to get my endurance up and to help trick my brain into thinking I can keep going for longer. It isn’t an easy cycle due to the levels it reaches and for the length of time it reaches, but I do enjoy them after the fact as I know I have put in a considerable amount of effort into it!
Well that is a rough idea of my training plan for how I will try and get in better shape for the race at the end of November!
I want as many people possible to run with me and if we can all chat about our training it would be great so luckily MoRunning have provided me with a discount code for anyone interested in taking part in the Belfast event, so enter “MR18_BlogBelfast” on the website and you’ll get 10% off your entry price for either the MiniMo, 5 km or 10 km race. For more information about the race, please click on the link here to find out more. If you are not in Belfast but want to know if there is a race near you please look here to look for the closest race! If there are no races near you then you can still sign up for a MoRace as they have a virtual race option for you and you will still get a medal and a headband upon completion so everyone is a winner! Well, finisher!
As MoRunning is used to fund raise for The Movember Foundation I want to let you know that they want to achieve their target of £50,000 for this year. I hope you will help them with as it is an important cause. So come along on Sunday 25th November for any of the races and join me on a nice run through Stormont Estate!
Disclaimer. I received a free entrance fee for the race for this post (but because it is for charity I have donated my entrance fee to the organisers). I will not receive any money from the price of the code, this is just an additional code to get you a bit more money off the fee.
If you want to chat more about any of my posts, please follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to also receive updates. Until next time, thanks for reading and I hope to see you again soon!
Scott H Gilliland 
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