Week 8

I am losing track of time again! I honestly thought I’d written most of week 8’s post as it happened, but apparently I didn’t! Oh well. This is now nearly a week late…

I had the week off, which was much needed. Having not had more than the odd day off for months, a whole week to switch off was very much appreciated. The first couple of days, I really didn’t do much as I was so tired! But the rest of the week was a bit busier and fun.

Monday – cycle session
Most of Monday, I did hardly anything! I was so tired! I had plenty of motivation to do things and plenty of things to do, but really needed the rest. I felt pretty much okay after the long run otherwise, though I suppose doing a long run then lots of DIY is quite taxing so it’s maybe no shock that I needed a bit of downtime. I did drag myself out in the evening to a cycle session which I really enjoyed. I tried to put a bit of effort in once a lap and really enjoyed myself. I am gradually becoming a bit more confident on my bike.

Tuesday – club run (8.7 miles)
Tuesday was fairly similar to Monday in that I didn’t really do much throughout the day. I was really tired again, and my achilles was a bit sore. I wasn’t really sure whether to do a club run in the evening, but decided I’d head over and if I was struggling or in pain, I’d just stop. As it turned out, my energy levels were fine and my achilles was okay for most of the run as well. It was a beautiful evening for a run and I had a lovely chat to one of the other ladies on the run. We pushed the effort at times, but otherwise it was nice and steady. I wasn’t really sure afterwards whether running on my slightly sore achilles was a good idea, but mentally I felt much better after the run.

Wednesday – tempo run (6.2 miles)
By Wednesday I felt so much better! I had promised I’d help my friend with some DIY again in the morning so after a lazy morning, headed over. We got some more painting done and made good progress! In the afternoon, I actually felt like doing a strength session so did that, then some yoga, before heading out for a run with a friend. She’s much faster than me but we do occasionally run together. The run felt pretty hard but I was concentrating on breathing and chatting rather than looking at my watch – it was only afterwards that I realised we had been running faster than I expected. I was really pleased with the pace, it definitely counted as a tempo run for me! It also gave me a bit of confidence that I haven’t completely lost all my fitness (or at least that I’ve regained some!) and that at some point, I’ll be able to move up a group for club runs.

Thursday – rest
We travelled up to Northumberland on Thursday for a wedding and left fairly early, so no time for a run (plus, I probably needed a rest after Wednesday’s run). My exercise involved walking in heels, and a little bit of dancing. Mostly it was really lovely to see my school friends after not seeing them for so long.

Friday – easy 30 mins run (3.48 miles)
I woke up early Friday morning and headed to the gym, figuring I’d get my heavy achilles exercises done first thing so that I wouldn’t have to do them when I got home. Since I was there (and was the only person in the gym), I figured I may as well do a little strength circuit. Any time I actually feel like doing strength, I do it before I change my mind! I did a small circuit of four exercises (two lower and two upper body), three times round, then two core exercises three times. I then headed down to the pool to meet my friends, and although I did a few lengths, we mostly splashed around and sat in the jacuzzi!
We then drove to Durham and met my parents for a little walk, then headed back home. Once we got home and sorted, I headed out for a short run just to get my legs moving. I had my best ever low HR run, 8:38min/mile pace. It was net downhill – but in my defence, only because I ran further than I thought I would!

Saturday – easy six miles and swim
On Saturday I volunteered at parkrun. I had been planning to run beforehand, but that didn’t happen! I usually have no issues with motivation to go out running but just wasn’t massively feeling it, however I planned a little route that ended up on Town Street so I could pick up a couple of things from the supermarket and some cake from my favourite cafe. That was the little boost I needed! I swam late afternoon, my first swim back at the local pool since restrictions eased. It was quite a nice time to swim, and the slots are now an hour long rather than 45 minutes, so I was able to swim some extra lengths.

Sunday – 20 miles
Long run day! I ran over to Bramley to meet a friend, so had already got eight miles under my belt by that point which was a nice feeling. My legs didn’t really feel like co-operating for much of the run. Maybe it’s tiredness, maybe it’s from swimming, or maybe it’s just marathon training and my third long run in a row. Whatever it was, I was definitely a bit tired, but the run was still nice. It was one of those where I was definitely glad when it was done though.

It was a decent week of training – 44 miles. Not quite up to what I was doing pre-injury but for now, I’m quite happy with that. It was good to get plenty of time on feet, plus a decent tempo run and some easy miles. And so nice to have a week off work!