Last week I managed to get my first 5 mile weekday run in on Thursday and I will be gradually getting rid of the 4 milers. It felt good and it was nice to push myself a bit more during the week. I bloody ached the next day but that's a good sign I guess that I pushed my body a bit more than normal.
On Friday I did another 4 miles which was same old same old which I have decided to work on. I had noticed I had become complacent with running average 4 mile times and it wasn't feeling like I had a workout. For Tuesdays run I decided to pick up the pace and treat my run as a bit of a time trial. It really is amazing what a change a slight increase in effort can make to a run. In the end I shaved 2 mins off my average time and averaged a pace of 9 minutes a mile (as opposed to 9mins 20 average). It felt good and it was good to break a sweat again and I was really feeling the pain after.... the good kind of pain.
SOooo Sunday's long run (10 miles)! I woke up with earache and a tummy upset and was really contemplating running in the evening but the prospect of a dark road run instead of a scenic, country run gave me a kick up the backside to get out. I spent Saturday evening concentrating on nutrition, ensuring I ate (mostly) good food and complex carbs. Now that I am running over the 90minute barrier I need to ensure I carry water, energy drinks and a few snacks for the way. So i stocked up on Gatorade, packed some Jelly Babies and some Sesame Snaps and off I plodded.
I opted for a there and back route (which I will be doing again) on the route 64 cycle route from Newark to about a mile away from Collingham. This is a cycle route that me and Craig have done before (but up to 18 miles) and its wonderfully flat once your off the roads and really pretty. There is also a mixture of surfaces to run on too (tarmac, gravel, soil) so it makes it more interesting. This run just felt right in every way, I was nervous going into double figures but something just kicked into place and I felt great. My pace was consistent, the weather perfect, my legs were coping fine and there was not a soul about other than the odd runner every 4 miles or so. I felt so good that I managed a 200m sprint at the end (7 mins a mile). No aches and pains the next day too = RESULT!
So following my fast run on Tuesday, tomorrow I'll be doing 5 miles and then another fast 4 on Friday. All in all feeling pretty good and thinking of investing in a new tattoo once I've finished the marathon so I best get designing! Going to be investing in one of these for race day too..... brilliant idea for the target time hunter http://www.pacetat.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment