Monday 28 January 2013

Steady training

Last week I managed to defeat the evils of snow, cold weather and work to complete a week of training pretty much as planned. The most important parts of each week are probably the long run, and making sure I get 4 runs in. I did all that, so success!

It went like this:
Monday: Nothing - should have been strength but I never got round to it ...
Tuesday: Easy run - 4 miles & 30 mins Strength training (from yesterday..)
Wednesday: Fartlek run - 4.2 miles
Thursday: Cycle - 8 miles & 10 mins Strength training
Friday: Long run - 10 miles
Saturday: Easy run - 3.5 miles
Sunday: Rest

So I only did 1 1/2 of the 3 Strength training sessions planned, but as long as I don't follow this pattern every week, it's obviously no big deal. The bike ride was a short one due to time constraints, and also the fact that I was cycling very slowly. The long run was ok, but at an average of 9.23 min/miles, it was a long way from the speed I was running similar distances at last summer. I'm hoping the speed will improve over the coming weeks but I'm not too confident.

On Saturday I was very achey after Friday's 10 miles, but I wanted to go to Eastbourne Parkrun as it was their 1 year anniversary. I had been to the inaugral run last January, but then only made it to 6 more Saturdays since then. We are so often busy at the weekend, and I had definitely intended to go a lot more often than I did in 2012.

But it was great last Saturday. When I arrived there was a huge group of runners, along with a banner at the start and balloons. There was a photographer from the local paper, homemade cake for finishers, and best of all, the sun had come out for a change! The atmosphere was great, and they achieved their aim of beating their record attendance with 132 runners.


My run was my slowest ever, but that was expected. Having run 10 miles less than 24 hours before, it felt like the last 3 miles of a half marathon, and I got round in a leisurely, enjoyable 28 minutes something. I'm really glad I went, and I'm going to make it another goal of 2013 to go more often.

Waving hello to the photographer
The other thing I did last week was see my physio, and she declared my left leg (giving me pain since November), much better. The stretches she gave me have really been working - hooray!

7 comments:

  1. It's people like you who made me suck it up and run despite the wind and rain of the last few days. Hey, if you can run in freezing temps then I shouldn't let a little water stop me.

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  2. Nice job on getting all your workouts in! That race sounds fun, glad you were able to make it.

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  3. It's too bad we're continents away from each other. I just read your reading a book at the bakery in the middle of a ride comment. Bliss for sure!

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  4. Well done on a great week of training! You certainly no how to push through many things others won't. I'm still dealing with heat here on my side of our planet. I'm glad your leg is better.

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  5. Nice training week! So, my brother in law & his family are moving from Leeds to Exeter. Someday we will visit. Is that close enough to run to from your house? :)

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  6. That is great news! It's always nice to know your stretching is paying off!

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  7. Yippee! Glad to hear that injury is better!

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