Here we go again! Will it be a case of 3rd time lucky? After two abortive efforts last year, I now have everything crossed that this will be the time that I start this training plan and actually see it to completion by lining up at London on October 3rd.
Last year I managed 12wks the first time I set out and before then pandemic took hold. This was then followed up by a somewhat surprising 8wk spell at the same time last year. This time who knows?
Before writing this blog, I actually went back and re-read the equivalents from the last two attempts. The first time round all the talk was about the training plan I had found and there was no indication of what would happen. Why would there be though? At that point the only Corona most people had heard of was the beer and the thought of what was to come was alien. The second time however was a different mood. I remember starting in June last year expecting the race to be called off after only a week. The fact that I managed 8 weeks in the end was a real surprise.
This time? Honestly I don’t know what to think. Generally I am quite optimistic and with vaccine programs advancing etc. then I hope October 3rd will be a celebration. However, the last 15 months have taught us all how unpredictable life has become so for now I will train one week at a time!
At least after 2 runs so far, I have a lot of trust in the plan to lead my fitness in the right direction so when I headed out for the first, slow run, it didn’t feel too bad. Regular beeps from the watch that I was going too fast helped get me in the rhythm.
Tuesday’s rest day was then possibly one of the most important days of the whole plan. Around Easter I started to have real issues with one of my wisdom teeth. My sleep was being impacted and most runs ended with my mouth hurting. Fortunately, I was able to get a hospital appointment to get it removed so, whilst the operation itself wasn’t pleasant, I am now able to continue the plan without that hanging over me. Wednesday I took as a second rest day as I will still feeling the after effects.
Thursday and Friday’s runs were simply getting some steady miles under the belt so the first speed of the week was on Saturday. While my daughter danced I did my virtual parkrun. We had all hoped this would be the final one but with a slight delay to the restart it will be a few more weeks until I’m back at Pocket. The run itself was OK but the fact it was 1 minute slower than the exact same run one year ago in attempt 2, shows there is a little bit of speed still missing after a less intensive winter than the prior year.
Ironically Sunday ended up as a rest day. When I write these diary entries I tend to update as I pass through the week. Therfore the comments above about:
I am now able to continue the plan without that hanging over me
These were all written before Saturday night. This was when my mouth swelled right up and I had an awful night’s sleep! The plan had been to wake early and get my run in before the kids did Junior parkrun but when my alarm sounded, I needed more sleep! I have had the tooth checked out again and it is healing but it may be another few days of pain before I can really enjoy the benefits!
- Monday – 6.42km @ 5:41 pace
- Tuesday – Rest Day
- Wednesday – Rest Day
- Thursday – 7.71km @ 5:43
- Friday – 5.41km @ 5:24
- Saturday – 5km non-parkrun 21:29
- Sunday – Rest Day
- Total – 24.54km