Initially, the plan had been to take a whole week off from running. But bearing in mind the fact that I had already had 3 days off the previous week with the bad back/ periformas problem in the lead up to Christleton, and the fact that I am a nightmare to be around when I can't run(!), I decided in the end that 4 days off, followed by a few days of steady running with no real sessions, would be enough to freshen me up again.
So breaking off from training after the race on Friday 19th of May, I picked things back up again on Wednesday 24th, and over the next 4 days I ran a similar route each day of between 8 and 8.5 miles at a pace ranging from low 6:20s to 6:35s. I finished off the week on the Sunday with a long run of 17 miles, and the rest must have done me good, as I found myself averaging 6:10 pace throughout and running really nice and comfortably.
So, at the end of the rest week, here were the stats:
Total mileage for the week: 50
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:19
Total mileage so far this month (May): 219.5
Total mileage for 2017: 1399.5
Average miles per day 2017: 9.39
Feeling refreshed and free of all the little niggles again, this week I have been back on the sessions and starting to think about the start of my marathon training, with Berlin now just 16 weeks away - both an exciting and scary thought at the same time!
I need to start ramping up the mileage a bit over the next few weeks, but this week was just about easing myself back into the sessions and introducing a bit of speed work and intensity to my running again.
On Monday I did 10 miles at 6:05 pace and I was really pleased as my pacing and rhythm couldn't have been much more consistent throughout and although the pace was a little quicker than I had intended, I wasn't especially pushing it too hard.
Now I have got back in the swing of track training, I am hoping to keep it a regular thing going again, and I managed to make it down there on Tuesday. I did a solo effort seen as I got away from work in good time and had a session planned out in my head of 6 x 1000 off a 90 second 200 metre jog recovery. I wanted to get each rep in at about 3 minutes each, which meant lapping at about 72 seconds per 400.
The session went well, and I recorded times of 2:56, 2:57, 2:58, 2:56 and 2:57 for the first 5 reps, I was beginning to feel it on the fifth rep, and it crossed my mind to leave it at that, but in the end I finished off with a steady 800 in 2:27 to conclude a decent session.
I ran home from work in St. Anne's on Wednesday, cutting out the commuting time and banking a nice 10.5 miles too at a steady 6:25 pace. The only downside was feeling the first symptoms of hayfever season kicking in as I ran past a string of freshly mowed fields! ðŸ˜
With attention turning to the longer stuff again now, my Thursday session with Rob Affleck is now deviating from the shorter, quicker work that we have been doing so far this year, towards some longer progression running. This week we did 10 miles and started off at 6:30 pace, working our way down to 5:25s in the last couple of miles. We came out with an average pace of 5:46.
I settled for an easy 5 miles on Friday, running home from work again (6:35s) before getting packed and travelling up to Grasmere for a club weekend away with Team Wesham, with the club taking 26 runners up to the Lakes, using the 17k and 10k trail races as a bit of a jaunt and making a full weekend of it.
We got lucky with the weather, and when it is sunny, the Lakes really are as good a place to be as anywhere in the world!
As for the race itself, I settled on running in the 10k, and am glad I did! The course was pretty brutal and unforgiving, with much of the route being off road and on rocky terrain. I recorded it as being 854 foot of elevation in total, and being unused to running off road I found it to be a really good change of scene, and a fantastic workout - but next time I probably won't take it on in my flats!
The whole atmosphere around the event was superb, and the race team made it a fantastic event to be a part of. I was pleased with how I ran, and the time was pretty much irrelevant considering the tough nature of the course. I was pleased to win though in 34:57, with team mates James Mulvany and Steve Waterhouse also placing in 3rd and 4th and getting in the prizes too.
I creeped my long run up slightly on Sunday to 17.5 miles, at a slower rate than the previous week (6:25s) as I look to gradually work myself up towards the bigger miles that are ahead of me over the next few months. The 16 week countdown is on, and all roads are very much now leading to Berlin.
Total mileage for the week: 77
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:25
Total mileage for May: 250
Total mileage so far this month (June): 46.5
Total mileage for 2017: 1476.5
Average miles per day 2017: 9.59
