On the quiet (or perhaps it is obvious to everyone else...) I am a bit of a geek about statistics when it comes to running, and probably many other things (Have you seen Star Wars in Ascii?? BRILLIANT!). I log every run - the distance, the time, the weather conditions, what shoes I was wearing, what sports bra(!), where I went, if the run was flat, hilly etc, surface underfoot, and the type of session it was. So obviously it goes without saying I know my total weekly mileage:
2 Weeks ago - 63 miles
Last week - 66 miles
This week 70 miles
Holy crap! I quite happliy average the 50s but this is new territory to me.
Strangely it hasn't seemed like a chore. I've managed to find the time. I'm quite lucky in that I don't really have a rigid work routine, so I can take a little more than hour for lunch or bunk off a bit early to do a run - however my guilty conscience dictates that I will make up the time elsewhere either by staying late or stuffing a sandwich down with one hand whilst typing with another. At the moment it seems to be working. Despite some horrible weather conditions recently I am looking forward to every run at the moment. My legs whilst occasionally feeling tired at the end of a run seem to be feeling good and recovering well.
This week I had a pretty easy run on Monday with the club. My legs felt good after the previous Sundays hilly Lake District 20 - although I can't say I was massively pleased to be dropped by the "steady" group in the middle of the woods because we were doing an easy chit chat pace. Thank goodness us girls stick together and Emma and I found our way back without being axe-murdered. Supposedly they did try to find us so I can't be too cross.
Picture the scene, it could have happened so differently:
Interviewer: "So Mo Farah, what do you think cost you the Gold medal today"
Mo Farah: "Well I'm not sure, but I used to beat everyone else down the road back to the club in training, was always first in to the showers and I used to get the pick of Lynn's cheese wraps before anyone else got there."
My point is I don't think too fast a pace in training is the way to go but hey, I take some blame less chat more running we might have kept them in sight.
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| "Just run a bit quicker . OK?" |
Despite a lot of long runs and slow miles, I have been keeping a bit of speed in the mix and was somewhat surprised at my pace on Tuesday when I had to do a run with some 1 mile effort sections in. I ran some miles at the effort I would expect to run a 10K at, ended up clocking 3 miles that started with a 7. It felt great. I will have to get to some sort of 5K or other short distance race soon and see what happens before this effect wears off.
These days I do a lot of my running in Bristol. I have a few routes from work, and there are some really nice ones. Where I work is basically at the top of a big hill, and I think that 1 mile climb at the end of every run can only be a good thing for strengthening the legs. These days I have no fear of hills in fact some hills that I used to notice seem to have dissapeared these days. Thursday lunch time saw me winding my way up through Ashton court for a (short) long run, with deer peering at me from over the fences. I'm a sucker for this sort of scenery - I think I'm regressing, loving the routes that have cutesy animals (no horses or cows on the loose thank you) and the prospect of seeing balloons and other interesting stuff. I made my way over the suspension bridge and as usual the heavens opened at the furthest possible point from home. With rain dripping off my nose and down my back, for the first time I noticed they have signs up with the Samaritans phone number on the suspension bridge, although I was in more danger of throwing a tourist off rather than myself. FFS have some awareness of your surroundings and don't just stand there gawping when you see me running towards you!
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| One of the more amazing sights from some of my Bristol runs |
I got back home Friday night and proceeded to do another long run, and up at eight am Saturday to do... another long run. I train with and without music, but I have to say Saturday I was feeling great and bopping along to "Sounds of the sixties on Radio 2". Yes I am officially old. Secretly I also quite like Pick of the Pops with Tony and Elaine Page "Musicals" show on a Sunday. Shoot me now, or at least get me a new zimmer frame for Christmas.
I'd been looking forward to Sunday, as I've been staying away a fair bit whilst my work buddy is living up in Las Vegas - it seemed like I hadn't seen the girls from Dudley Ladies for ages. Another few hours putting the world to rights (one of them very kindly stayed with me to 16.5 miles - it always helps not to have to do these things on your own) and an end to the week - 20 miles in the bag.
I am sad to say that one of my friends husbands is suffering from cancer in an almost identical form to what my Auntie had - he had been given a first dose of chemo but it doesn't seem to be working - in a similar way to her the cancer is quite agressive :( and another running friends mother is also similarly ill. I really feel their pain. It definitely reminds me why I am doing this and makes me feel more determined to give it some effort and dig deep when I'm feeling the pain. In real terms I don't actually know what pain is do I?
I've just treated myself to a Sunday roast dinner and then the afternoon in bed catching up on the Olympic Women's Marathon and Triathlon. Stuff the subsequent Sunday night/Monday morning insomnia, sometimes that level of laziness is just what you need. Recovery is as important as training! :)
28 days to go and its all good.
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