I have been fortunate to have hit a period of form over the last 4-6 weeks and have been running consistently and racing well, topped off by a solid showing at Freck Half last weekend.
Having come through a difficult spell during late March/April I am more than aware that form is of course a very temporary notion, and that soon enough it may be the case that my recent improvements plateau off once more. If that is he case then I will have to step up the training programme again and build towards the next target races.
In two weeks time I will be off on my summer holidays with Moll and the family for a fortnight of sun, I have banked on using the first week as a complete rest week from training, with some light running in the second week to try and see me ticking over and not losing too much fitness. I think the holiday is coming at a good time for me, to allow my body to recover from all the recent races and to allow me to freshen up ahead of what I hope will be a big second half of 2016.
So the next couple of weeks will see me trying to train hard and eek out every last ounce of energy to try and get myself in the best possible place ahead of the upcoming break.
I haven't completely set in stone my races for the second half of 2016 yet, but I have now begun to turn my attention towards these targets. It is likely that I will look for a September half, in order to give me something to really get my teeth into after my holiday and to have a target to strive towards. From there, I will look for a 10k to aim at - possibly Leeds Abbey Dash, despite not enjoying that particular race last season, or maybe Cheshire 10k if the current course measurement saga is resolved in time. Hopefully I will also finally get to have another crack at a 10 mile race, having last raced over that distance in 2014.
This week's training was hit by more chronic tooth pain, which saw me take a couple of days off from training and affecting my weeks work. I took Monday off after the half marathon and went out to watch the football, then Tuesday saw me racing again, with a comfortable win at the Thornton interclub, with a pleasing time of 26:23 for the 5 mile promenade loop, despite having also raced just some 48 hours previous. Wednesday saw me do a steady 7.5 mile recovery run, whilst Thursday was an enforced day of rest. Friday saw me do a swift 7 miles.
Saturday was my 26th birthday and I chose to celebrate by having a real crack at the Preston Park Run, before working in the afternoon (as you do). I knocked 14 seconds off my previous best display on the course and finished in 16:03, with my calves battered from a third hard run in 7 days.
I finished the week with a very wet 18 mile long run through the lanes at 6:20 pace. Due to the lack of mileage I tried to ensure every run through the week was a decent sort of pace.
Total mileage for the week: 49
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:12
Total mileage so far this month (June): 214
Total mileage so far 2016: 1714
Average miles per day 2016: 9.63
