So close to London and my mileage should really be peaking. So I won’t lie, the low levels I achieved this week were a little worrying. However, I am hopeful it is a blip that I understand and next week will be back to normal (if not more).
The week was always going to be a bit bitty as we had a trip to Northern Ireland on Tuesday. Therefore, Monday should have seen my first run of the week. I had everything planned out and a new route to try as we were staying overnight at my inlaws. However, when my alarm went off it was quite apparent that my calf that had tightened up on the Half Marathon pace run I had done the day before, was still very stiff. I thought about running through it but in the end decided that one missed run was less bad than pushing the damage.
Tuesday was always going to be a day off as we set off over the Irish Sea. What I didn’t fully appreciate was the impact it would have on the rest of the week. Back at Easter my sons best friend moved back to Northern Ireland so we were taking the opportunity to go see him (and get to take the kids on a plane for the first time in 4yrs). For price reasons we were flying from Manchester so when the flight was rescheduled earlier to 7:05, a hotel stay the night before was called for. Why is it though that when you have a really early alarm and need every second of sleep, it is not forthcoming? I ended up getting the grand total of 2hrs.
The day was lovely and we had a great time. We visited Hillsborough Forest which was ringing a bell in my mind until I realised that it was a newly started parkrun post lockdowns. (Good to know if we plan a future trip over a weekend!!). The flight back got us back to Manchester around 9:30 and it was at this stage something that had seemed a good idea at the time came back to bite me! To save on costs we were driving all the way home. Roadworks on top of a day out and poor sleep the night before did not help at all! Finally we got home around 12:30 and I was shattered.
Fortunately my PT, Kev, wasn’t able to do my usual session but I was far too tired to get up and run instead after the previous days exploits and as Wednesday is now my day in the office, by the time I was home I was completely shattered and ready for an early night.
The tiredness from out day trip wasn’t sorted out by Wednesday’s sleep either and I managed to sleep through each and every alarm to get up early. The afternoon and evening weren’t an option either as we were needing to pack for a few days away.
Friday morning did finally see me get some exercise done, but it was at the gym rather than a run. This strength work is important though but having now gone 5 days without running, it does start to feel like an eternity!
Thankfully though, Saturday is parkrun day and I was able to get out again. I have written in more detail about my trip to Dalby Forest parkrun, but it was a relief to get the legs moving. The reason for the trip was that we are in Scarborough with my entire family.
The Sunday run on my plan was one of the longest in the entire 16 weeks. A 20 miler. However, as we are away and there are so many things we’re wanting to do, stepping out for over 3hrs (probably closer to 4hrs once you allow for my faff!) didn’t really seem fair. Therefore I had made a proactive decision that this run will get done once we are home. I did want to get some miles in though so in the end headed out for just over 13k. It was a lovely way to see a little more of somewhere I hadn’t visited before although some of the hills are brutal!
All in it has been a very light week. However, with the latest rules on how they plan to run London coming out, it does start to feel a bit more real. Next week has the plans to do both the missed long run and the one that should be in it so should rebalance the mileage a little.
- Monday – Rest Day
- Tuesday – Rest Day
- Wednesday – Rest Day
- Thursday – Rest Day
- Friday – Rest Day
- Saturday – Dalby Forest parkrun 20:57
- Sunday – 13.32km @ 4:47 pace
- Total – 18.32km
- Overall Total – 445.75km