= 0 miles as on holiday!
= 0 miles as on holiday!
= 0 miles as on holiday!
and the hard work begins!
Not long now until The Yorkshire Marathon.
Yikes that is truly scary!
So after a really fantastic 3 weeks travelling from Las Vegas to San Fransisco to Los Angles to San Diego to Las Vegas I am now back home faced with the huge task of playing catch-up with my training!
We flew home on Sunday afternoon from Las Vegas to Manchester, but the combination of an 11 hour flight time and the 8 hours time difference meant we missed a full nights sleep and arrived home at around 11am.
Once I had unpacked the cases and got the first load of washing in I decided that 3 weeks without a run was quite long enough and decided to bite the bullet and go there and then!
I decided to be a little bit kind to my body, after all it was sleep deprived and had suffered over-eating and alcohol abuse in the past 3 weeks ... so I started with just a gentle 30 minute run.
I couldn't believe it when I went to put on my Garmin and the screen was blank - I think it had discharged itself whilst I was away! So after cursing loudly I used the next best thing - Runkeeper on my i-phone.
In this situation it was probably a positive substitution as I switched off the verbal cues and put it in my back pocket which meant I couldn't stress about my pace and I could just enjoy being out there again! It was a warm and muggy afternoon and I managed 3.56 miles at a slow 9:59 minute mile pace but enjoyed it!
On Tuesday the bible (my training journal) said I was to do a 45 minutes easy run. It was another warm and humid day and another slow paced run but I still ran 5.91 miles.
I'm trying to remain positive! At least I am managing to complete the distances albeit slowly! Last year when I came back from holiday I was seriously worried about my health whenever I went out for a run and usually ended up walking home - I thought my running days were well and truly over!
My training plan for Wednesday suggested a Circuit Training session but as I was going out Wednesday night when my local circuit class is on I decided to go swimming instead. I'm not the strongest swimmer but before my holidays both my technique and speed were slowly improving and I was worried I was going to be back to square one after the break. I was pleasantly surprised that I had managed to maintain both my speed and distance and swam 82 lengths (2050 metres) in an hour. Chuffed with that!
On Thursday I set off to do a hill training session. As I left the house I noticed an "older" runner coming up the street and my fragile ego couldn't of coped with being overtaken by him so I increased my pace slightly to keep ahead. I kept glancing over my shoulder and noticed he was still hanging in there, after I ran up the first hill heading towards the second he finally came up alongside me and said "Thanks for that, you kept me going then" I didn't admit I had increased my pace to stop him catching me! Anyhow Peter (he introduced himself) ran with me and we chatted about our running habits! He suggested we become running partners - watch this space to see if it happens! Anyhow I managed 6 reps of my selected hill and in a perverse way actually enjoyed it! It gives me something to focus on instead of thinking about running too much! Another 5.69 miles in the bag and a step closer to regaining my fitness! Thursday night I went to have a good stretch at Pilates, and my usual class and instructor has changed venues and is now in a fully mirrored dance studio - I'm not sure I like seeing myself from every angle in weird positions!
and then we come to today! The plan stated a 2 hour run, but I really didn't think I could manage this distance after the break but decided to run as far as I could but staying fairly close to home in case I died of exhaustion! I think my week of exercise has taken its toll of my poor legs and I only managed a very, very slow 90 minute run covering a pathetic 8.42 miles! You can view the weeks activities here.
Thank God Tomorrow is REST day!!
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