In the words of Bon Jovi, “whoa we’re halfway there”! In some ways it doesn’t seem very long at all since I started this 16wk training plan. However, 8 weeks down and I am halfway to Manchester (and then London).
After a new longest (again!) last Sunday, Monday was a well needed rest day. Thankfully though, these long slow runs aren’t leaving my body too achy (at least so far). That said, I am very much a fan of compression socks post long run to help me along.
Tuesday called for some more intervals so I was back on the same stretch of path I’d used last week. This time it was 12 lots of 200m. The temperature had dropped right down for the morning thanks to a strong wind. Run in one direction it was quite pleasant, head the other way and it was freezing!
However, it wasn’t quite as cold as Wednesday morning. Not only did it call for the full layers, gloves and snood look. There was no need to remove any layers either. I did find myself pacing the 7m a little faster though as my body tried to get back to the warm a little quicker. Thursday’s gym session was also a bit cold affected. Not only did I have to scrape the car before heading out, the metal bars on the weights were freezing to hold!!
Friday morning should have been a simple 5m. However, having got up and dressed, my kids needed me. They come first so an impromptu rest day was called for.
Overall the mileage for the week was quite low in comparison to recent weeks. One of the main reasons for this was that the plan called for a Half Marathon race on the Sunday so there was a bit of tapering going on. Now as it was my sons birthday I wasn’t going to race but I had made plans to try and simulate the race on the Saturday morning. I’d planned on doing 7 laps of a 3km loop I had used earlier in the training plan to beat my 10km PB.
In many articles I have read, there will always be some sessions that don’t quite go to plan. This was one of those. I got up early Saturday morning and headed out. The thing was even as I was warming up I wasn’t quite feeling it. I started off and after my first 3km lap I was already 18s behind my target. This was disappointing but my target was stretching. The next couple of km I was back on track but it was really hard work and by the end of 6km I had completely hit the wall. This sounds a bit ridiculous after such a short distance but really highlighted the need to fuel properly. I’m currently reading Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall, in which there is a lot of talk of the “Natural Method” and utilising body fat for energy. I was really hoping my body was a quick learner but I really couldn’t get over this bonk and back on the pace. I would have happily headed straight home but kept going as far as I could. I widened up the loops and eventually managed to knock out a tired 10m.
I did think about pushing out the full Half Marathon distance but I was eager to get home for another reason. Unfortunately some mindless idiots had vandalised my sons football pitch so football was off. Instead, both of the older two were wanting to join me for Pocket parkrun. I’ve said it many times on this blog but I do love how the running bug has got my kids as well and it is something I can enjoy with them. Our time was a 2.5min PB for my 6yr old daughter and I’m so proud of them both.
Although I’d moved the Half Marathon, there was still a run scheduled for Sunday. It was meant to be my youngest first official Junior parkrun now he is 4. Unfortunately though the core team made the 100% correct decision to cancel because of Storm Ciara. It was a shame he couldn’t run on his birthday but we still registered him and ordered his wristband so he can ‘properly’ join in with his big brother and sister in a couple of weeks time.
Overall the week came in at 36km which was a low since week 4. However, I think my body needed bit of a rest. Total training mileage is now up to 364km and I know the second half is going to be much more. However, I’m ready and with my fundraising now at just under £300 for The UK Sepsis Trust as well, I’m happy this training is also helping me raise funds for a great charity.
- Monday – Rest Day
- Tuesday – 12x 200m 7.76km
- Wednesday – 11.28km @ 5:26 pace
- Thursday – Strength and Conditioning session
- Friday – Rest Day
- Saturday – 17.13km @ 5:18 pace followed by Pocket parkrun with the kids
- Sunday – Rest Day
- Total – 36.17km
- Overall Total – 364.84km