After the long run the previous day my legs were still recovering when I got to Monday. Due to work commitments I was unable to run at lunchtime as usual so decided to head out after work for a short beach front run. I had intended to do a simple 5km loop of down The Avenue, along the prom and back through Alum Chine gardens, however the gardens weren't lit so I ran to Durley Chine instead and back through Westbourne. The route ended up being around half a mile longer than I had hoped but I kept up a good pace (assisted by a strong tail wind) and was pleased that I had dragged myself out.
Tuesday was the long evening club run. I had aimed to do 10 miles and the usual suspects (Jill and Aaron) were going to join me. We had decided to do the Poole Park route. This involves running from Westbourne, through Penn Hill and down to Lilliput village. From here we would go into Poole Park via the Whitecliff entrance, round the boating lake, under the underpass into Baiter and then back round the harbour until we reached the marina. From here we would head back through Branksome park and back to the office. This route is normally around 8.5-9 miles so we would then have to add a loop on to make up the required distance. That was the plan anyway!!
Unfortunately as the group got a couple of miles in to the run one of the runners started feeling ill. Not wanting to take any chances we called his wife to collect him. The main group ran on whilst Captain John and I stuck around. Once he was safely collected we ran on trying to find the group. We followed the route detailed above but instead of running round the lake we short cut across the back to the underpass. From here we decided to cut across Baiter park (genius idea in the pitch black) and join the harbour side path (which was also not lit). Unfortunately the group had seen sense and decided to go a safer route back through Parkstone, so John and I finished off the route on our own. As we had cut short to try and catch up we came in at around 7.5 miles, so a couple miles down on what I had hoped to run. Having said that it was a thoroughly enjoyable run with John and meant my legs were still fairly fresh for the following day.
As I have said previously I am not a slave to my training plan. If circumstances dictate that I can't run then I will be flexible with my plans. Wednesday was one such example. On Thursday I was unable to run due to attending and presenting at a conference, coupled with slightly shorter than planned mileage on Monday and Tuesday I decided to run twice on Wednesday.
The first run was my early morning "10km" (not once been 10km so far!). As ever Simon Jury was there, but this week we were also joined by Scott Harris. We decided to repeat the previous week's route and aim to run 7 miles in under an hour. It was a nice morning for it; although bad weather was forecast we missed it and again were safely in the office before it hit. Having run 7.5 miles just the evening before I was pleased and surprised to be feeling ok in the morning. We kept up a respectable pace and it was only up through the Alum Chine gardens where i started to struggle with a bot of tiredness. Once again though we ducked in just under the one hour mark (although I didn't stop my watch so my actual time was a little over!
My second run of the day was the lunchtime club run. Once a month we have a larger group go out and we try and encourage potential new members to come and join us. We tend to split into a faster group (who run slightly further) and a not so fast group and we try and meet up along the way. My bravado meant that even though my legs were tired I ran with the faster group. The route went around the back roads of Branksome park before coming out on Canford Cliffs Road, down to Penn Hill and back to the office. The pace was under the 8:30 a mile mark and I was just about able to stick with it for the first few miles but as we got onto Canford Cliffs Road we met the not so fast group and I decided that rather than killing myself for another mile and a half I would have a nice leisurely jog in and chat with a few of the others. I ended up doing 4.5 miles in 43 mins and really enjoyed it!
This meant that Thursday was a rare treat; A REST DAY!! Prior to that I had run 27 consecutive days and over 170 miles so my body was due a rest and boy did I need it! I did toy with the idea of a late night 5km tor when I got home but settled for an early night. It paid dividends as I felt completely refreshed over the weekend.
So Friday came and I was due to do an interval session, but by this point I had decided to dial back the training a little to allow myself a bit more recovery time. I therefore headed out with Guy and Glenn for a Cliff top tedious route. It was a very pleasant lunchtime trot of just under 4.5 miles. We chatted most of the way round and I felt fit and strong. The previous days rest had done me the world of good.
Saturday and I found myself back at Winchester parkrun for my 69th outing. I once again volunteered to set-up, however Olivia decided that she would stay in bed in the warm, so I was on my own. After laying out the cones and putting the signs in place I headed to the start and chatted to some of the other runners. The horrific news from Paris was trickling through and it made me think about parkrun as a community and how it doesn't care what race, religion, colour, size, age, sex or sexual orientation you are, everyone is there to just enjoy a simple 5km run in a park. Everyone gets treated equally and everyone gets the same amount of support regardless. If only more communities were like that, maybe the world would be a better place. Anyway I digress.
River Park has taken a battering recently. With the fireworks last weekend and heavy rain in the week the course is muddy and fairly churned up in places. Some areas were hard to run on and caution was needed on the many turns. This wasn't held by it starting to rain just before the off and not stopping the whole way round.
I set off at a fairly steady pace (a little under 8min/mile) and maintained this for the first 2 laps. The third lap I tried to push it a little bit and tried not to get overtaken. I succeeded on both counts and came home in 77th place (4th in my age category) in 24:17. Another really enjoyable run and my legs were feeling good ahead of my long run!
Sunday, and once again I set my alarm for 6am, got ready and headed out before 6:30. Aim was to do 17 miles. Last week I had decided to deliberately drop my pace down and make it as easy as possible, but this week I wanted to push the pace a little to see how it felt and how my body reacted. The plan was to run from home down to St Cross Road and from there join my usual loop (4.75 miles around St Cross, the water meadows and the High Street) before running to the sports centre to meet Sarah and Olivia for a swim. I had set aside 3 hours for the run so that I wasn't late.
Once I got onto my standard loop I was able to settle and it was amazing how the miles flew by. I was trying to keep my pace under 10 min/mile and succeeded for most of the way with 15 of the 17 miles between 9 and 10 min/mile (I even dropped in a 9:19 at mile 15).
The run itself was pretty uneventful with the usual smattering of runners and dog walkers giving me cheerful early morning greetings and the pretty standard obstacle course that is the Sunday market set-up.
Immediately following the run I swam (well more like sat in the shallow end whilst Olivia played with her dive sticks) for an hour with Olivia and Sarah. This was probably the best thing I could've done because it really loosened my legs and kept me moving. This has meant that as I sit here writing this blog my legs are once again raring to go!!
Summary
All in all a good week. I was slightly short on my target mileage, despite a rest day, and really lowered the intensity of the runs. This meant I finished the week strong and 12 weeks out from the Thames Trot I am in really good shape. Here is my breakdown:
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | Total | |
| Target | 4.5 | 10 | 4.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 17 | 49.6 |
| Actual | 3.66 | 7.47 | 11.40 | - | 4.41 | 3.14 | 17.00 | 47.08 |
| Time | 32:40 | 1:10:35 | 1:43:44 | - | 39:51 | 24:17 | 2:45:12 | 7:16:19 |
| Pace (Min/Mile) | 8:55 | 9:27 | 9:06 | - | 9:03 | 7:43 | 9:43 | 9:16 |
Next Week
Next week I have planned to drop the mileage down slightly. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly I need time to recover and secondly I am away Friday-Monday staying with friends and it is not very sociable to go out for a 20 mile run pre-breakfast!
I will be up in Birmingham on Friday night so I have a good opportunity to do a new parkrun. Not sure where yet, but I'm very excited about the prospect.
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | |
16-Nov
|
4.5 | 10 | 4.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 10 |
See you next week!
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