January Rundown

At the start of this month marathon training was not looking at all good. With about 15 weeks to go I should have been in the first weeks of a training programme, with a long run preferably around 8-10 miles. Instead I had a minor injury and had lost a lot of fitness after weeks of very little running. In December my longest run was 4 miles.

But in January I gradually dragged myself a bit further in the direction of where I need to go. I tried to get the right balance between increasing my long run quickly, but not overdoing it in a way that might lead to injury. The long runs increased from 5m, to 7m, to 8m , to 10m. Ideally I'd like to be running a little longer, but it's not an ideal world, so I'm fairly happy with that.

I've also more or less established a pattern of weekly training. I've run 4 times each week, including 1 long run, 1 hill or interval run, and 2 other runs. I've also FINALLY started to include some strength training, and most weeks I did 3 sessions of core work. I also did my physio-prescribed stretches at least once a day, and usually twice (but I was aiming for three times...).

My weekly training schedule has changed umpteen times due to the fact that I've suddenly got loads of teaching work, and then due to other commitments, which has meant my long run has gone from Wednesday to Friday to Saturday. But at least I've been getting them all done!

So my stats for January are:

Ran - 19x = 82.8 miles
Cycled - 3x = 24.2 miles
Strength Training - 13x
Stretches - Everyday

I also did one Parkrun, which was the 1 year anniversary event for Eastbourne.

Me on the right side in pink top next to man in blue!

Next month I've still got a lot of work on the horizon, and there'll be a week of half-term to contend with. I seriously admire people who work full-time and train for marathons. I've only been working part-time, and I have found it a real logistical challenge to fit the runs in. That's not going to change in the next few weeks, and I need to keep building long runs and weekly mileage, so fingers crossed!