This week started in the sun of Mallorca, and so Monday and Tuesday were both steady ten milers along the harbour and sea front off Palma. It makes such a change to have that wonderful climate and scenery to train in and amongst, I loved every moment and made the most of the time out in Spain before returning to face the British winter season.
Upon landing back in the UK, I managed to fit in another steady run after work on Wednesday, and my main session of the week - the only real 'effort' of the midweek, during an easier than normal training week to allow for recovery from Palma Half, came on Thursday. I did a 4 mile tempo session with Rob Affleck and was happy with how my legs reacted as they allowed me to run at a nice and even 5:15 pace throughout without really pushing too much. It is a positive sign that I have recovered well from the race and am in a good place ahead of my next bout of races next month.
Friday was a case of sneaking a quick 6 mile easy run after work before taking Moll to the illuminations that night.
On Saturday, Wesham took over the organisation of the Lytham Hall Park Run, as a way of showcasing the club to the local running community. It was a great little event and hopefully has helped to promote the club's main headline race, Wesham 10k, which takes place next month. I built the Park Run into my week's long run in an effort to do my bit to show my support for the team.
Meeting up with Luke Minns at the crack of dawn, we did a gentle 35 minute warm up and the same length cool down, with the 5k acting as a nice little speed work session in the middle of a total 13 mile run. It was actually quite a good morning's workout as we ticked over at 5:25 pace through the 5k. It was great to have some company too, as having someone to talk to and bounce off really helps to pass the time.
On Sunday I finished off the week with a late 10 mile run after a busy day of gardening at the house, but I managed a solid 6:15 pace, so it made up for a slightly reduced distance from what I would usually try to do.
One last thing to note for the week is that I have put my name down on the entry list for my next marathon attempt, with entry submitted for next September's Berlin marathon. So now I have my next huge target to build towards - with the race now 48 weeks away, and the marathon training block due to begin in around 32 weeks time. It is obviously a long way off, but I now see the next 32 weeks as being 4 lots of 8 week training blocks in order to get myself in the best position possible by the start of that main block of training next summer.
The first of those blocks will see my aim to average 70 miles per week and attempt to lay down new 10k and 10 mile PB's before Christmas.
Total mileage for the week: 68
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:28
Total mileage so far this month (October): 226
Total mileage so far 2016: 2746
Average miles per day 2016: 9.31
