After my virus last month I jumped straight back into 116 miles in 7 days. My legs of course complained and I struggled on some of my easy recovery runs. I know this is normal when I am overloading my body in this way. I went straight off this high mileage into the Chichester 10k. I knew I had tired legs and on my warm up I did not feel too great! It was a very blustery day and my effort levels were through the roof, I ran hard all the way to finish in a disappointing time of 34.04. I knew this was not a reflection of my form, but rather how tired I was. A week later I had Wokingham half marathon, this was to be another training run, so I ran through this as well clocking 94miles for the week, but I felt so much better, I ran 73.39 in control and then continued to run doing 23 miles in total for the day. This picked up my confidence for the following weekend, when I toed the line at the English National cross-country in Alton towers. I was very excited about racing in the tough muddy conditions, but the last minute shortening of the course did not work in my favour, they cut the race by 2k and changed the course so we didn't go up the steep long hill (this was the bit I was excited about). Despite this I managed to hang on to the tails of Hatty Dean and Lou Damen, to secure 3rd position. Now to build on my form and get a solid training stint in before I really test myself in the Reading half, my last race pre London Marathon.
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Monday 24 January 2011
Temporary Blip
It was going so well and I was finally starting to bang out some big sessions at a good pace. I was starting the marathon build up in a great place and really looking forward to getting my teeth into some good long runs. I usually have a rest pre-marathon build up, but for some reason I knew I would have to cash it in. I think I was being realistic with my daughter starting Nursery and all the colds and bugs that come with that. Just 3 days after Ruby started Nursery we both went down with a very bad sore throat and a nasty cough. I have been resting as I never like to train through sore throats, and after day 5 I am starting to feel like I could do an easy run tomorrow, hopefully I can wave this bug good bye and get my teeth into some good miles once more. If you are training for a marathon don't panic if you get ill, rest and make sure it has gone before you re-start your running again. 5-7 days of rest will not affect your overall fitness in the bigger picture!
Wednesday 12 January 2011
I was really excited about jumping back into international competition again at the Great North Cross-country in Edinburgh. The week before was no taper week, with the Somerley 10k on the Monday and then a cracking session with the Bournemouth AC lads on the Tuesday night, we did 3 x 15mins with 3mins jog rec, and I felt my strength returning, but the next day my legs were trashed. I was tired for the following few days, so I took it easy and did less miles. A short flight up north, I found myself walking off the plane in Edinburgh into a blizzard. Four inches fell overnight, and made Arthur’s seat look like a winter wonderland. However, the race was no wonderland for me, ghee I forgot how fast and intense XC running is and with a sheer wall to climb up on each lap..(.oh maybe that was a hill) I soon had jelly legs and lactic up to my eyeballs. Despite the grit I had to endure I finished a solid 8th and I enjoyed every moment of it. I am now excited about getting fitter and racing some more, and seeing myself get stronger and faster over the next 3 months.