8 weeks down, 8 to go!
Last time I reached the halfway point in cycle one it felt like a real landmark and at that time the risks of not racing due to Covid were still not a thought. Therfore, whilst I start to feel more positive after seeing races like the London Landmarks go ahead last weekend, for now I continue week by week.
Despite having done a long run last Sunday, knowing how my week was panning out, I was back out again on Monday morning first thing. It was a relatively easy 5 miler.
This was followed up on Tuesday with a set of 12x 200m. I do like mixing up with these speed sessions although they do leave my lungs burning! On Wednesday I was back at the gym and after last week having to bail after my jabs, it was good to get a full session in, especially as the next couple of weeks will be off again!
By Thursday I was starting to feel the tiredness creeping in but thankfully I was able to push on through with a nice steady 11km around town, knowing that the chance to take a break was coming.
The reason that I had run Monday was knowing that Friday was going to be an earlier start to head off on our holidays. Therefore, even though I wasn’t out early, the alarm did still go off at a similar time! We had a good journey and arrived in plenty of time for some time on the beach and a delicious pub lunch, perfect start.
Last year when we had come away on holiday I had done a virtual parkrun round Lindisfarne Island. However, with it back in England, it gave me the opportunity to revisit what is the more northernmost parkrun in England. I had visited The Pastures parkrun 2 years ago and as the closest to where we stay, a return trip was always on the cards. The run itself is two and a half laps if an undulating field with the picturesque backdrop of Alnwick Castle. It’s not really designed for fast times but thankfully it was a little drier this time which made it a bit easier under foot. The speed training is obviously paying off as I managed a 21:18 which was less than 20s off the time I had managed at Pocket on the return and that course is a bit faster. My brother in law did manage to take me in the final few hundred metres mind!
It then came to long run Sunday and I had switched the plan around a little to hit 18 miles. The thing was we were planning to go to Dunstanburgh Castle. I didn’t fancy a really early start so in the end the plan was simple, I’d run to the car park, meet the family there and then join them for the walk to the castle. The one draw back with this plan came when I was about 20mins late leaving the house! I should have been at closer to 5:50 pace but knowing I was behind schedule I found I was more around 5:25 as I started to eat away at the miles. The humidity was really starting to lift, shown by the fact that for the first time ever I actually drained by backpack of water. Eventually I did make it to the car park after a hilly 18 miles. However, the family weren’t there. I had said to go on ahead if I was running late and with the absence of any phone signal I couldn’t check so I had to carry on, eventually meeting them after I had seen 30km tick over. A little longer than planned but good to get some long miles in the legs and finish the first half of the plan. Now into the 2nd half and hopefully this time all the way to the end.
- Monday – 7.66km @ 4:57 pace
- Tuesday – 12x 200m – 7.31km
- Wednesday – Gym
- Thursday – 11.00km @ 5:12 pace
- Friday – Rest Day
- Saturday – The Pastures parkrun 21:18
- Sunday – 30.17km @ 5:21 pace
- Total – 61.14km
- Overall Total – 324.97km