The old adage is that you shouldn't feel guilty for missing a run, it won't hurt in the long term. This wasn't how I felt about the 70 minutes of easy running I'd skipped on Sunday morning in lieu of a lie in before we headed to the south coast.
As touched on in the last update, squeezing in four runs last week would be tight. In the end I had some good fortune, meetings got moved around, giving me Friday morning back. Now though I write this on a Monday morning when I'm fighting off the lurgy, fearful already of missing my targets for week four before the week has even started.
The week started with a weigh in and was closely followed by some hushed expletives as to not wake anyone. After weeks of rest before Christmas and the predictable festive binge I'd found myself over the 14st barrier for the first time since May and thoroughly unimpressed with myself.
It used to be the sight of 15st on the scales that would press me into action, now it's 14. I really have no excuse to be getting that heavy, it won't help my pace return if I'm having to carry extra weight with me. I decided it was time to eat more sensibly during the week, indulging on the bad stuff only at weekends....
As touched on in the last update, squeezing in four runs last week would be tight. In the end I had some good fortune, meetings got moved around, giving me Friday morning back. Now though I write this on a Monday morning when I'm fighting off the lurgy, fearful already of missing my targets for week four before the week has even started.
The week started with a weigh in and was closely followed by some hushed expletives as to not wake anyone. After weeks of rest before Christmas and the predictable festive binge I'd found myself over the 14st barrier for the first time since May and thoroughly unimpressed with myself.
It used to be the sight of 15st on the scales that would press me into action, now it's 14. I really have no excuse to be getting that heavy, it won't help my pace return if I'm having to carry extra weight with me. I decided it was time to eat more sensibly during the week, indulging on the bad stuff only at weekends....
The Run(s)
Monday afforded me some daylight. I'd booked the day off as leave when we were considering staying on the south coast for longer. This gave me both a lie in and the chance to run without a headlamp. 70 minutes of easy running made for some funky route planning, insufficient time to get to Rickling or Stortford, so I'd have to be creative. Only now does it dawn on me that a lap of Elsenham would have ticked most of the boxes.
Instead I found myself on a much used summer route, the Lime Kiln Lane loop, from there I stayed on the main road until the Birchanger turn and headed back uphill to Forest Hall Park. Maintaining pace was fairly simple, the uphill push as unpleasant as you'd expect, I felt reasonable though. A few zig zags of Stansted and I was home and straight onto the foam roller, easing out the quads.
I could have gone out on Tuesday morning, unsure why I didn't in retrospect. All the running kit was laid out ready, I suspect the weather kept me in bed!
Instead I found myself on a much used summer route, the Lime Kiln Lane loop, from there I stayed on the main road until the Birchanger turn and headed back uphill to Forest Hall Park. Maintaining pace was fairly simple, the uphill push as unpleasant as you'd expect, I felt reasonable though. A few zig zags of Stansted and I was home and straight onto the foam roller, easing out the quads.
I could have gone out on Tuesday morning, unsure why I didn't in retrospect. All the running kit was laid out ready, I suspect the weather kept me in bed!
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| Onto the roller after Monday's easy effort |
It wasn't until Thursday that I was on my feet and ready to start what was effectively the week's first run according to the plan. I'd swapped the order so it was time for some tempo, surely the heart monitor would come into it's own here? With time of the essence I opted for a quick five minutes warm up. The tempo routine was simple, 3 minutes at tempo, 2 recovery. I managed the prescribed five sets in the usual state, never as slow as I should be whilst recovering and never as fast as I could be during the tempo. The feedback was that I hadn't suffered enough, will need to push more on future runs!!
On Friday I managed to haul my ass out of the house with less faffing and another easy saunter around Stansted with the aid of my headtorch. I'd somehow managed to put my Garmin into lap mode, so found myself having to calculate what my total time was. To aim for 35-40 minutes mean around the six kilometre distance at easy pace.
All I needed was a long run on Sunday to leave me at even par and back on track for Cambridge. My usual pre run procrastination was dragged out even more than usual with a realisation that illness was on it's way. I could feel the build up of gunk on my lungs and took the unusual step of drinking a cup of tea before heading out of the door. Tea and original Lucozade are two signs that I'm ill. I put faith in the hot tea to melt through the catarrh on its way south!
I didn't feel too impeded so finally got myself out of the front door at twenty to eight. This long run would be 80 minutes in length, and opportunity to head out to the equally loved and hated Manuden to Rickling route. Other than a near constant hacking up throughout, I felt pretty good. Taking the run from the Manuden end certainly makes it a challenge. You climb up Mount Manuden as I've named it on Strava. The fun doesn't stop there though, you reach the crest and think that's it, only for a short downhill straight into another climb. It's another kilometre before you stop ascending. My pace was fairly consistent, only slowing for a particularly hairy section before Rickling, lots of ice to negotiate.
The rest of the run went to plan, trying to keep a rhythm on a horrendous pavement that the local authorities don't feel the need to maintain. I kicked into a faster pace before climbing up Pennington Lane, still had plenty in the tank after an hour of easy which was pleasing. I got home in 81 minutes, just slightly over target, though my fastest on this route is 76.
The Eat
I couldn't really indulge after the long run, the rest of the day I attempted to hibernate, fighting the lurgy. After a breakfast of eggs, avocado and salmon, nothing else in the day really had much inspiration.
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| Long run reward |
Trying to be good in the week failed, a colleague wanted a McRib and I was still yet to experience one. Let's just say the McRib is one of those things where the anticipation is greater than the pay off. I'll stick to my usual in the future (or even try to abstain)!
Whilst in London on Saturday I did try and intriguing burger from the Burger Cocktail restaurant, a Giraffe / Tesco sub chain. The regular pattie was topped with a mac and cheese breaded pattie. I'm not sure if it worked, all for the innovation though.
Whilst in London on Saturday I did try and intriguing burger from the Burger Cocktail restaurant, a Giraffe / Tesco sub chain. The regular pattie was topped with a mac and cheese breaded pattie. I'm not sure if it worked, all for the innovation though.
I did reward myself on Monday with a visit to Knead Food in Bishop's Stortford. The decadent sausage rolls they sell felt like a well deserved treat following 11 clicks earlier in the day!
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| Monday's reward |
I'm back on track, though in essence I can get through a half marathon with just the easy runs under my belt. How quickly I can complete it will come down to the tempo sessions.
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