Start of April.
This time in 10 days time I hope to be treating myself to a rather large meal of some sort, hopefully some sort of Roast Dinner whilst holding a medal and a PB.
Operation Be Optimistic is happening.
My plan last Sunday was to get a 15 mile run out the way and then decrease my running from there – entering the taper period of the training. For the non-sportsman, this is the point that we enjoy being a little lazier! Unfortunately, I woke up on Sunday feeling horrible. My legs felt heavy & the stairs even took effort. Not a good start. It was also raining. But that’s not an issue, I quite enjoy running in the rain. Despite the legs, I set myself off out into the English summer weather of the sun peaking through the clouds, watching the rain fall down on us. Determined to still get through 25 km, I set out upon my 25km route, hoping the awkwardness in my legs would be shaken out. It didn’t happen, and I cut myself short at 16km. (10 miles). Disappointed but also pretty happy, there is one golden rule that you should follow when training: Always listen to your body. If it is saying no, do what it says. I could have pushed through the final 9km, but then I could have been injured. It’s a fine balance.
Into week 1 of tapering, I had my usual swimming class at Odyssey, with the coach, Victoria,, including the worst exercise in the sets. You cross your ankles and swim. For anyone who hasn’t tried this, your legs basically sink. So there I was, swimming with my toes scraping along the pool floor. After that, I got myself off to cricket training, to abuse my tired arms more by bowling for hour. I was ready bfor the aches and pains on Tuesday morning, but they didn’t come.
Tuesday = rest day. Beautiful. I watched the first half of the England match in the pub (lime & soda – coming up to 3 weeks sober now, went home for dinner and watched the rest of the game in bed. Party Animal.
Wednesday was a leg session at the gym and Thursday was originally planned to be a 10km run, linking in with Alex who is still in long-run mode for Prague. I got in Wednesday night and decided I wanted a bit longer. Alex has run 5.5miles by the time I joined him, with the next loop designed to be 10 miles before he ran off and did another 5. I may have diverted us a longer way around as I was enjoying the run and clocked up 20km (12.4miles) when I got home.
Over the weekend I shall brush the dust off the cycling legs for a small trip around the Hertfordshire countryside. There is one gym session planned next week, with it including light weights only just to keep the muscles awake.
The two runs that remain are going to be something between 12-15km on Sunday, & a 6km run midweek to keep my legs ticking over.
So next time you read my gibberish, I will be a quarter of the way through my events, maybe not in total distance, but in numbers. Bring on Brighton.