Absolutely drenched. It was cold and very very wet – puddles the size of small swimming pools, and rivers flowing out of the gates of the park. Tonight was not a fun run. I was hoping to get some training in with Ted the trainer, but he wimped out and didn’t show, in fact the general turn out for the club was poor. However, those of us who were foolish enough to not let a whole load of rain stop us running, stepped out from beneath the cover of the Talacre sports center and reluctantly accepted the rain. I joined Kirsty for some threshold. We ran 10 x 3min fast with 90 seconds recovery. I did very badly with my timings and ended up guessing most of them, so consistency, as it should have been, wasn’t the theme of the night. The session wasn’t particularly hard, surprising thinking about my tired legs from Sunday. It’s exciting to think that I may be reaching a point where I am beginning to recover quicker and quicker.
Eek I skipped my Saturday run – birthday treat. I figured this was OK, seeing as it was indeed my birthday and I was going to be doing my longest run yet on Sunday. So, St Valentine’s day, what is more romantic than partaking in some serious long distance running in the rain? My boyfriend showed the ultimate declaration of love by getting up early, making me porridge, driving me to Richmond Park, and then running 11 miles with me. He is a star. Training without him would be near nigh impossible.
Well, I should have run 14 miles, I ended doing 15. This was partly because I just had to because I had to get back to carpark, and partly, just because I could. It was almost as if this last mile made me realise that I can run a Marathon – it is possible! Although I fear this was a little fleeting, as now, as I sit in bed writing this, my legs hurt, and boy do I feel tired. I need to be able to add 11 miles ontop of this 15. Shitballs.
Today I am resting by eating lots of food. It is the day before my birthday and have very kindly been brought treats by work colleagues, some edible, and some I need to keep alive (my track record is not good). Some I have kept for tomorrow, so I actually have something to open on the day!
My schedule seems to have got to the stage where I feel like running is becoming all consuming. I can’t find enough sports socks to wear, all four pairs of lycra are constantly in the wash, and I am forgetting vital kit. At the beginning of the week it was the sports bra, today it was my HRM. I felt positively naked not knowing what my heart was doing, and especially as we were doing track, I would have liked to see whether I was ‘pushing it’ as I had hoped to with my runs this week. Oh well, it will be back on and reassuringly plotting my beats come the weekend.
Track was OK, I ended up doing 7 x 400m with 1min rests. Consistency was the key, and I managed a steady 1.33 for each lap – not my fastest – but we were advised not to run flat out due to the cold (flat out = longer recovery time = standing around getting cold) On the seventh lap I upped the ante, and sprinted past Camilla, who had been leading the ladies laps. I still have it in me, somewhere…
A bitterly cold evening – the temperature is dropping again, and the air feels ominously like snow… I was due for dinner at my brother’s just after 8, so time was pressing. The schedule said 7miles slow, and I did 7.5miles pretty fast. It didn’t feel like too much of a strain and I feel fine today. I actually enjoyed pushing myself – which makes me a little concerned that I have perhaps been taking it too easy. New outlook, from today – I’m going to up the pushing and see what happens. My Brighton half Marathon is in sight, and I would love to bag a PB.
U2 dominated my shuffled play list and it was surprisingly motivating – Sunday, Bloody Sunday made me sprint the last 0.5 mile home.
Glasto – U2 – I’m still not entirely sure – old material = great – new stuff = tiring.
Run with the club, was accosted and asked whether I would take a group out. Was a little reluctant as it meant I wasn’t running exactly as my schedule dictated. However, I only had about three followers and ended up going a little faster than the 8 min mile I advertised. I have a horrible feeling I lost someone on the way though, I was hoping he knew the route…
I ended up running further than I had planned, as I managed to forget a vital piece of kit – my sports bra! (I was dangerously close to calling it quits because of this) I forced myself to make a detour via home, than ran onto club, and back home afterward. The club run was saved.
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