Something of a return to form for me this week. After only completing three of my scheduled five runs in the previous week, I hit 100% again this time around. But that said, all was not quite as rosy as it might have looked: Tuesday and Wednesday were two of the least enjoyable runs I've done. I can't really pinpoint a specific reason, but I just did not enjoy them in the slightest. Over the weekend, we were up in Telford for a wedding, so I completed the Telford parkrun with my wife, before a shortened "long" run on Sunday after travelling home. That said, the mileage for the week was still in excess of 20 miles, so although I never ran more than 7 miles in one go, I guess it was okay.
Tuesday: 2.20 miles @ 9:31 min/mile
This run did not particularly start well! Having played football the night before, I didn't want to get out of bed. Having achieved that, I then discovered that it was raining and horrible outside, and wanted to curl back up in bed again. Somehow, I overcame that too, and found myself actually outside and going for a run. Which was something of a surprise! So much of a surprise in fact that I forgot which way I was meant to go. As a result, rather than a 3 mile run, this turned out to be a 2 mile run. Still, other than that it was... well... horrible. I basically spent the whole run wishing I was anywhere other than out in the rain and cold running. (Yes, yes, I know... world's smallest violin etc. etc.) Anyway, I did it, the miles are recorded, and sometimes that just has to be enough.
Wednesday: 3.09 miles @ 9:25 min/mile
On the bright side, I managed two runs pre-work in a single week for the first time ever. On the negative side, I found this run about as enjoyable as Tuesday's. On the bright side, I remembered to effectively go the wrong way again, and therefore cancel out the previous day's mistake.
Thursday: 6.35 miles @ 8:39 min/mile
After a couple of pretty miserable runs, I decided midway through this one that I was just going to push and run a bit faster. For most of my half-marathon training, I've been plodding around at a pace around 9:30, in order to minimise the risk of injury. I hate running within myself though: I love running quickly. And so, I decided that all things considered, I wanted to enjoy this run. I did. I meant to slow down again for the last mile or so, but I didn't really manage it.
Saturday: Parkrun, 5km (3.11 miles) @ 12:19 min/mile
As I mentioned at the top, it was a bit of parkrun tourism for me this week. Not only that, but it was my wife's first parkrun! Normally, my wife has the task of looking after our baby daughter during the parkrun, but as we were staying in a hotel full of our family this weekend, we were both free to run together. As an added bonus, it was Telford parkrun's first birthday, so we got to sing "Happy Birthday" at the start line, and had cake at the finish! Although the pace was obviously less than I would usually run, I actually think it did my legs a bit of good, flushing them out a little bit. Most of all, I was extremely proud of my wife for running the whole course, the furtherest she has managed since pregnancy.
Sunday: 6.27 miles @ 8:44 min/mil
We spent Sunday morning driving back from Telford to Taunton. As a result of that drive, and the weekend itself, which was pretty stressful and tiring, I didn't feel that I could face a proper long run on Sunday. I headed out on my four mile route, but turned off towards the end, and did something that I very rarely do: just ran where I felt like! Ah: turn right here, how about through that park there, ooo: let's go that way. It was fun, maybe not very practical to do very often in a proper training plan, but something I might try and repeat when I'm not so precious about getting everything as scheduled. I enjoyed the run in general, and my pace reflects (and maybe causes) that.
Monday 17 February 2014
Sunday 9 February 2014
Weekly Training Review: 3 Feb - 9 Feb
After a few weeks of solidly getting all of my runs achieved, and being genuinely enthusiastic about getting out for them, this week has come as a bit of a shock, and is the first real blip. All told, I only completed three of my scheduled five runs, which is disappointing, but it could be worse: I did my longer distances, so in terms of building for my half-marathon I should be okay, I just need to be wary of letting my body sufficiently recover.
Tuesday: 3.09 miles @ 9:35 min/mile
Amazingly, this is three weeks in a row now that I've managed a run before work on a Tuesday. Despite just being 3 miles at a slow pace, this was a pretty tough circuit. I played 5-a-side football on Monday night for the first time in a few weeks, and so my body was still trying to recover from that when I hurled it into this. It also meant that this was the fourth day in a row of exercise. But all that aside, the run was a pretty solid one, and I got around.
Wednesday: 2 miles
Missed a run for the first time in just under a month. I got quite down-heartened about this in the evening, but the fact is, the weather was horrible and I wasn't feeling particularly well. It's always a shame to miss a run, but I'm a bit more philosophical about it now!
Thursday: 6.35 miles @ 8:58 min/mile
The important thing was that I got back out again on Thursday. Despite missing the run the day before, I felt very tired during this run. I definitely had the edge of a cold or something, and working 22 hours across Monday and Tuesday probably didn't set me up particularly well for an energetic week. Pretty happy with the pace around this, considering how I was feeling.
Saturday: Parkrun, 5km (3.11 miles)
Amazingly, given the horrible weather that has been with us more or less constantly since mid-December, this was the first time that the Longrun Meadow parkrun has had to be cancelled. I would have liked to have got out and done some miles anyway, but the weather was pretty terrible, and I had things to do around the house, so it never happened.
Sunday: 11.38 miles @ 9:39 min/mile
The furthest I have ever run - again! While last week I crept over my previous distance record, this time I surpassed it by over a mile. I got out pretty early, hoping to avoid the worst of the weather, but in the end the day was a lot better than forecast, so I probably was out in more rain than I needed to be! Still, it certainly wasn't bad weather, and I felt pretty good. My left knee was a bit painful during the run, and certainly gave me trouble through the rest of day, but it doesn't feel too bad. Worryingly, I was quite short of breath at the end, which is not something I've ever really experienced while running before, especially at this sort of pace. It might be connected to the edge of a cold I have - hopefully it isn't anything more serious than that.
Saturday 8 February 2014
Weekly Training Review: 27 Jan - 2 Feb
Late yet again for my training review. This week (not the week I'm writing about) has been pretty difficult and tiring, so there was no mid-week topic blog either. Bit gutted, but hopefully I'll keep on top of it better next week.
Tuesday: 3.09 miles @ 9:07 min/mile
I managed to get out before work again, for the second week in a row, and had a pretty good run. I still don't find it easy to wake up that bit earlier to get myself out, but it is definitely nice to then have the evening free. On this occasion, it was even more important to make sure I ran in the morning, as I had a sports massage booked for the early evening, and I figured I was unlikely to want to go straight out for a run after that!
Wednesday: 2.20 miles @ 8:10 min/mile
This was one of those odd, and rare, runs in which I felt like I was running slowly, but in fact when I looked at my time, it turned out that I had run pretty quick! The sports massage from the day before only really showed in terms of highlighting how much my calf muscles ache (massage was limited to quads and hamstrings!)
Thursday: 6.35 miles @ 9:24 min/mile
On a cold Thursday evening, I managed to drag myself out, wearing three layers on top, and gloves! I generally don't like wearing gloves (or a hat) to run, but on this occasion I needed them. I consciously slowed myself down a couple of times during the run, as it felt like I was running away from myself a little. My knee niggled a little bit, but nothing serious. This was my last run in January, and for the third month in a row, I set a new record for distance: in total I clocked up 89 miles during the month.
Saturday: Parkrun, 5km (3.11 miles) @ 7:48 min/mile
For the first time in quite a long time, I ran with someone else at the parkrun. One of my mates from football came along for his first time (though he ran two or three half marathons last year, so he's no newbie to running). He hadn't run for a few months over the winter, and doesn't generally run such a short distance, so it was a little bit slower than I had been running recently, but it was fun to run with someone else. I peeled off halfway through the second lap and finished the run on my own, and given that the time was still under eight-minute miles, I can't complain that it was slow!
Sunday: 10.20 miles @ 9:25 min/mile
The furthest I have ever run! My previous furthest was 10.1, and when I initially mapped this route out planning it, this was also going to be about 10.1. But, given that I was feeling okay at the end, I added on a small stretch to just give myself that little boost of knowing that it was the furthest! Okay, so the next weekend has 11 miles planned anyway, but still. I was aching pretty badly for a lot of this run, but beyond that I was actually surprisingly okay. Maybe my body is really starting to learn to keep itself together.
Tuesday: 3.09 miles @ 9:07 min/mile
I managed to get out before work again, for the second week in a row, and had a pretty good run. I still don't find it easy to wake up that bit earlier to get myself out, but it is definitely nice to then have the evening free. On this occasion, it was even more important to make sure I ran in the morning, as I had a sports massage booked for the early evening, and I figured I was unlikely to want to go straight out for a run after that!
Wednesday: 2.20 miles @ 8:10 min/mile
This was one of those odd, and rare, runs in which I felt like I was running slowly, but in fact when I looked at my time, it turned out that I had run pretty quick! The sports massage from the day before only really showed in terms of highlighting how much my calf muscles ache (massage was limited to quads and hamstrings!)
Thursday: 6.35 miles @ 9:24 min/mile
On a cold Thursday evening, I managed to drag myself out, wearing three layers on top, and gloves! I generally don't like wearing gloves (or a hat) to run, but on this occasion I needed them. I consciously slowed myself down a couple of times during the run, as it felt like I was running away from myself a little. My knee niggled a little bit, but nothing serious. This was my last run in January, and for the third month in a row, I set a new record for distance: in total I clocked up 89 miles during the month.
Saturday: Parkrun, 5km (3.11 miles) @ 7:48 min/mile
For the first time in quite a long time, I ran with someone else at the parkrun. One of my mates from football came along for his first time (though he ran two or three half marathons last year, so he's no newbie to running). He hadn't run for a few months over the winter, and doesn't generally run such a short distance, so it was a little bit slower than I had been running recently, but it was fun to run with someone else. I peeled off halfway through the second lap and finished the run on my own, and given that the time was still under eight-minute miles, I can't complain that it was slow!
Sunday: 10.20 miles @ 9:25 min/mile
The furthest I have ever run! My previous furthest was 10.1, and when I initially mapped this route out planning it, this was also going to be about 10.1. But, given that I was feeling okay at the end, I added on a small stretch to just give myself that little boost of knowing that it was the furthest! Okay, so the next weekend has 11 miles planned anyway, but still. I was aching pretty badly for a lot of this run, but beyond that I was actually surprisingly okay. Maybe my body is really starting to learn to keep itself together.
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