Training blog

As I write this I'm waiting to hear if we can still fly to Northern Ireland for Christmas. We were hoping to spent some socially distanced time outside with my in-laws but that got cancelled and they are now in Tier 4. And my brother can't come home for Christmas as he's in Wales. It's hard to put into words how frustrated and sad I feel, especially after the last year of restrictions and cancelled family holidays. I'm most sad about missing out on time with my nephews and nieces. They make Christmas so much more fun and I secretly love being woken up early by excited small people. I don't know what the right thing is to do but I do feel that Christmas has been a light at the end of the tunnel and someone has just switched it off.

Onto more positive things! I'll post about my training as usual but include more information about mileage etc as requested.

Saturday 28th November

10km progression run - av 7.21/mi pace. Not my fastest running but pleased with the progression.

Sunday 29th November

Run with Dani - a hilly one. Total 10.57 miles. Easy pace i.e. 8.16/mile

Total mileage for the week: 36.37 miles (see previous blog for an explanation of the low mileage).

Week starting Monday 30th November. Total mileage 65.58 miles.

Week off work this week - we were supposed to be away with friends but instead the first half of the week was a lockdown and the second half still under restrictions (Winchester went from Tier 1 to 2). I'm currently using the Believe Training Journal - I bought it years ago and am only getting round to starting it. It asks you to check in every 4 weeks or so. I wrote the following....

My aim for the week was to feel more controlled in the speedier sessions and have more than one pace, not just easy and flat out.

Monday 30th November

50 mins with strides - 6.18 miles

Andy's S&C class in the evening.

Tuesday 1st December

AM 50 mins including 14 x 30 second hills at a controlled pace and with a slow jog recovery. I did this session with Ellie. She's much faster over this session but I aim to get a bit closer with every rep - I don't often achieve it! Mileage 6.28.

PM Easy run and a chat with my lovely friend Claire Mac (check out her interview). 5.17 miles round Southampton where we discussed how much we miss hugs!

Wednesday 2nd

Lovely morning run with Ellie - 70 minutes - 8.76 miles. Bit of trail, bit of path and some road.

As I'm off work I fitted in an extra session with Tom Smith of personal training.

Thursday 3rd

Soggy and muddy run in the morning - 4.95 miles.

In the afternoon I did 4 x 6 minutes off 60 seconds aiming to feel controlled. Total distance 7.64 miles. Felt fairly good during and had a huge endorphin rush after.

Friday 4th

PT session today and no running. Moving on with the trap bar dead lift. Lifting more than I weigh now - so satisfying.

Saturday 5th

We went to Shropshire this weekend so we could meet up for walks and runs with two of our friends.

Morning run with Minna - really lovely run round an undulating route on country lanes. 8.19 miles.

Sunday 6th

Hilly, long run with Minna. It was equally amazing and awful! Amazing views, great company but my quads gave out fairly early which made descending difficult and painful. Gave me the shock I needed to prepare for the Dragon's Back Race though. I really need to work on my descending skills. 18.40 miles, over 4000 feet of climb and almost 4 hours of running. Epic day! We stopped at McDonalds on the way home and I had a McFlurry and a chocolate milkshake in quick succession. Recovery food!

Week starting 7th December. Total mileage 52.02 miles.

The aim for this week was to recover from the weekend's long run and use the end of the week to get some decent training in again.

Monday 7th

Recovery shuffle with two friends, Ed and Ben. Legs in pieces. It's quite hard to run and laugh at the same time, especially when your legs don't seem to work. 3.52 miles @ > 9 min miling.

Tuesday 8th

AM Oh my quads! 4.64 miles.

PM Didn't go to my club session as my legs were still too sore. 6.44 miles bumbling round Winchester. Legs felt like wood.

Wednesday 9th

Early morning easy run before work as I'm on call overnight. 6.30 miles

Thursday 10th

Tired today. Late night at work last night and missed group training as didn't get out in time. Probably a blessing in disguise as I needed a bit more recovery. Felt a bit overwhelmed today with my to-do list so convinced my husband Tom to come with me for a run to chat it over. 5.43 miles including 6 x 40 seconds hard with 60 seconds rest.

Friday 11th

Jog to and from PT (1.85 and 1.95 miles)

Great session with Tom Smith.

Saturday 12th

Team Vosser session at Farley Mount which was GREAT! Finally have my legs back again! Total of 9.30 miles. We did 2 x 800m and 3 x 1 mile over an undulating, muddy loop. Tough but great.

Drove to London afterwards to go to Kew Gardens with friends. So lovely to see friends, even if it was freezing.

Sunday 13th

12.60 miles over a hilly route.

Week starting Monday 14th. Total miles 58.75.

The aim was to get all the runs done. Overall a great week of training during one of the toughest weeks of work I've had.

Monday 14th

Late at work so sadly missed a Festive track session with the Team Vosser group at Winchester.

Tuesday 15th

30ish minutes recovery run in the morning - 3.52 miles.

In the evening I dashed out of work (on time, thanks to my colleague - woohoo!) and managed to get 16 x 30 seconds hills in before dinner outside with friends. Really fun, exchanged our secret Santa presents and drank far too much wine for a weeknight! One of the nicest things I've been to in months.

Wednesday 16th

Nice mid-week longer run of 11.11 miles before work as I'm on call overnight. Felt surprisingly good given my red wine head.

Thursday 17th

Pretty terrible day at work, but forced myself to get my kit on and go to the club session. Run Therapy! We did 8 x 80 second reps off 50 seconds although the first rep was accidentally 90 seconds. Followed by 6 x 90 seconds reps. All around a grass loop. Felt a lot better afterwards than I did before. Total 7.98 miles.

Friday 18th

AM Run with Ed and Ellie, two friends. We all got soaked and covered in mud. Legs tired - Garmin told me I needed 55 hours of recovery afterwards and we ran 8.42/mile pace. Eeeeek! 5.18 miles total.

PT with Tom Smith in the afternoon. Great session - 67.5kg on the trap bar deadlift. Woohoo!

PM Easy run - 3.55 miles.

Saturday

Another amazing session at Farley Mount - 8 x 3 minutes around a hilly loop off 2 minutes followed by 6 x 30 second hills. Worked really hard. The loop was really muddy so even with fairly gnarly trail shoes on I slid around. Total 7.54 miles.

Sunday

Oooff tired legs today. 14.44 miles, a bit of a struggle and absolutely ravenous all day.