Week 7 - A short run is better than no run

This has been one of those weeks where you wonder how you'll fit everything in.  With it being half term there was no Scouts on Monday, but we did have a camp planning meeting on Thursday.  Then I had a long trip up north to see family at the weekend (50 miles of roadworks on the motorway didn't make it any easier).  So my carefully worked out combination of short runs on busy nights and long runs on nights I don't have to go out all went to pieces.  

On the plus side I did get to try a new Parkrun this week at Ormskirk.  Very friendly and a nice course with a few gentle slopes for variation and two loops the larger of which is run twice.  The best bit is it's all on nice firm surfaces with just one or two places where there is a bit of loose gravel - which makes it very fast - my best time of the year so far by nearly 40 seconds despite the hills.

This week was planned to be an easy week with slightly lower mileage than last week for recovery.  I cut Thursday's run short by nearly a mile because of being short of time so I upped Sunday's distance from 10 to 11 miles to compensate.  Being away from home meant trying out a new route.  Now not every part of the country has hills and today's 11 miles netted just 20 m elevation gain - I can usually get that in the first half mile!

Cheshire Lines - a flat part of the Trans-Pennine Trail

Looking at the calendar next week looks like it's going to need even more juggling around to get anything like the mileage in.


Totals for the week:
21.98 miles
121 m elevation gained

LeJog: 171 miles ( between Taunton and the Avon Bridge)

Week 6 - Going Further

I miscalculated how far I was planning to run this week when I laid out my training diary and had to add a few extra squares to the graphic I use to keep track of my mileage. 

A good week with all training sessions completed including a rare lunchtime run with a friend.  Not sure it made me any more productive after lunch but it was nice to get out and a glorious day.

Parkrun was a mixed bag.  Course had dried out and what felt like a steady pace run put me 50 seconds off the PB I set a few weeks ago which was pleasing.  Less pleasing was realising I'd forgotten to pick up my barcode 😖 . Lesson learned and a spare barcode is now living in the car.

New shoes are good - ran 14 miles in them today with no problems.  Biggest problem was there are some seriously steep sections on today's run which meant a few bits of walking rather than running.

Garmin actually gave me a badge for today's run - must be a long time since I've run that far in a single session as the badges have been around for a while now.

That's my second badge this week as it gave me one for adding my new shoes on Tuesday.

This weeks totals:
31.53 miles
415 m elevation gained
LeJog: 149.08 miles (between Tiverton and Taunton)

Too Pink!

I bought some new trainers today as my current ones are close to 450 miles and starting to feel a bit thin.  

Why do manufacturers think that dusky pink is a good colour for women's footwear?  Seriously the first time I go out in the rain they are going to turn a dirty grey / brown.  

Won't take long to turn them mud coloured

Other than the colour they're really nice, good comfy fit and not too soft to run in.

Hailstones

It took until Tuesday for me to start feeling better, so a whole week without any running.  Tuesday's easy run was switched to Wednesday and Thursday's tempo run was more of a steady paced effort than tempo.

Parkrun on Saturday was more like Parkswim with big puddles on the course and lots of very slippy mud.  A steady paced effort rather than attempting a PB was in order, especially as I was still feeling a bit under par.  Followed up with another 3 miles to make the target of 6 for the day.

Finished the week with a very chilly 12 miler during which there was rain, wind and hailstorms - hailstones the size of peas really sting even when you're wearing a jacket with a full mountain style hood.  I forgot to take any gels with me so I was pretty tired and cold when I finished- 2 chocolate biscuits and a coffee in church is not enough to run 12 miles.  2 cups of green tea, hummus on wholewheat bread, a slice of fruit cake and a meringue were needed as a restorative.  Closely followed by nut roast, mustard mash and gravy as dinner.

This week's totals:

28.37 miles

418 m elevation

LeJog: 117.55 miles

A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down

I succumbed to a virus this week.  It started as a tickle in the throat on Monday and by Tuesday it was someone banging around inside my skull with a lump hammer, sore eyes, my throat felt like I'd swallowed a load of razor blades and everything ached - even my skin felt achy.  

It's a particularly persistent virus and just when you think it's gone it comes back in a slightly different form.  Yesterday it was dizziness whenever I turned my head quickly, a quite discombobulating feeling.

Needless to say my mileage for the week is a big fat zero 😟