Recovery

12M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

I'm tired after yesterday. But still in one piece. And full of excitement having read that I'll hopefully get to line up with Kenenisa Bekele as well as Haile G and Mo Farah at the Great North Run.

Mile reps around Battersea Park

25M double; recovery run & long run incl mile reps
7M am recovery run
18M pm long run incl 6x1M off 90s jog (& a set and a bit of tennis)

I ran a weird session this evening, a bit like I ran fairly often in 2011 when I had to get back to Brixton from a north London speed session.. This time it was because I was trying to fit a session in to a busy evening that also included a game of tennis in Battersea.

The mile reps were squeezed in after a five mile run to Battersea and before my tennis (which was followed by a run home). The reps were pretty solid I think. It's a really good route around the perimeter of Battersea Park. I hit a pace of about 5min/mile and held it for all of the (just).

Easy

10M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
3M pm recovery run

My legs felt a bit battered this morning when I set out thanks to yesterday's long run. But they got going well and I was pretty springy by the time I got to work and again on my way home. I only had time for a very short one this evening - I had to pick up the small one.

Summary of week ending 28/07/2013

Mon 22/7 - 12M double; 7M & 5M recovery runs
Tue 23/7 - 14M double; 9M am mixed rep session & 5M pm recov
Wed 24/7 - 12M am medium long crescendo run
Thu 25/7 - 14M double; 7M recovery runs x2
Fri 26/7  - 16M double; 9M am incl 6x1M off 90s & 7M pm recov
Sat 27/7 - 10M double; 6M & 4M recovery runs
sun 28/7 - 23M am crescendo run
TOTAL - 101M

Twenty-three mile crescendo run

23M am crescendo run

I got up at something to do with five to fit my long run in this morning ahead of other plans. On the positive side, the streets were empty and it was cool enough to let me really go for it. I ran the same route as the last few weeks but with an extra loop in Hyde Park to give me some extra distance. I over-did it and added three rather than two miles, so I ran 23 miles in total.

Endurance at a steady pace isn't a problem now that I've strung five long runs in a row. Endurance at speed is what I need to work on now...

I ran without my Garmin again and just went on effort, but it felt good. The middle (6.15ish miling) third felt good. And through the final third, I felt like I could keep pushing hard and didn't start tightening.

101 miles for the week!

Some recovery miles

10M double; recovery runs x2
6M am recovery run
4M pm recovery run

My legs felt beaten up this morning but were much better by the end of the day. Hopefully they'll be ready for a long one in the morning.

Mile reps to Stratford

16M double; mile reps & recovery run
9M am incl 6x1M off 90s jog
7M pm recovery run

It's another Romford clinic day and I wanted to get another rep session in ahead of the weekend, so I tried some mile reps along the canal to Stratford wearing my pack. They went better than they might, though it's never the same with a pack. More like hill reps really - I had shoes, clothes and a laptop on board. Still, my legs got a good going over. And there is a Greggs near the station in Stratford so I could refuel on a Belgian bun.

The way home was a new variation. I got off the overground at Homerton and ran down to the canal at Victoria Park and then home the usual route. I was cream crackered.

Easy - on tired legs

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

My legs deserved their rest today. My two runs were very relaxed.

Ron and I had a really useful discussion over dinner about my training over the next few months... building towards the Frankfurt Marathon on 27th October. High mileage is coming my way very shortly.

Twelve mile crescendo run

12M am crescendo run

My legs are good this week, so I'm cashing in with plenty of hard running. I could only feel a bit of yesterday's run in my quads and that was gone by the time I'd warmed up. I ran two loops of the Heath perimeter, the first third gently, the middle third fairly swiftly and the final third hard.

Another sharp little early morning session

14M double; rep session & recovery run
9M am incl 5M of 400m-1.2M reps off 90s jog
5M pm recovery run

I ran a similar session to the one a did on Friday morning again today. Reps, around the perimeter of the Heath. They were deliberately more variable in length today, with the longest at about 6 minutes and the shortest somewhere around 400m. The persistent glow in my quads more than twelve hours later tells me it was a good one.

It was made more refreshing by the heavy rain and hail showers that were passing. Sadly, those had gone by the time of my ultra-sweaty-ultra-slow evening run.

Recovery

12M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

My legs are more together than I might have expected after yesterday. By the evening, they felt positively good.

Twenty mile crescendo run

20M am crescendo long run

I was scared before I started my run this morning. It takes a few of these hard long runs to get your confidence up and I've not hit one hard since February.

I didn't have my Garmin (battery failure heading out the door), so I ran it by feel. I used the same route as the last two weeks - 20 miles with the last 8 or 9 mainly along the canal back from Limehouse. It's a better route than I've had in my repertoire since we moved to NW5. The routes I've used before have involved 4 miles up hill at the end (from the river) rather than the 1.5 this one involves.

I ran the first couple of miles easy (probably 7.30 miling), the next five or six nice and steady (more like 6.30 miling), the middle six or seven miles (from Hyde Park Corner to Mile End Road) at something that felt like 6.00 and the final six or seven at about 5.30. The whole run came out at about 6.15 pace, which means my estimates were probably fairly close to the mark.

I didn't feel at all tight by the end and was still full of running. Which tells me I'm ready for some proper training.

92 miles this week.

Just six on a Saturday

6M am steady run

I 've not run on a Saturday in ages. In my good patch of form earlier this year, I was taking one day off every 2 or 3 weeks. It'd be good to get back to that pattern.

A sharp little session to start Friday

9M double; rep session & short steady run
6M am incl 8x800m-1K hard off 90s
3M pm steady

I had less time than I might have this morning for my run, despite getting up at 5. So it was a shortish, sharpish affair. My afternoon run was earlier than usual too and as a result was VERY sweaty despite being so short.

Steady

15M double; steady run & recovery run
10M am steady run
5M pm recovery run

I ran at a fairly decent pace around the Heath perimeter and to work this morning. And nice and easily home. Fooof, it's hot!

Parliament Hill reps before the heat arrived

16M double; hill rep session & recovery run
11M am incl 8x1.3K up/down Hill reps in 5.04-5.15 off 90s jog
5M pm sweaty recovery run

I got up just before six this morning to get my session in before it was hot. It's all relative and I was still a sweaty mes by the end of my first three reps, but it was way better than doing them later in the day. I ran a slightly longer route up and down Parliament Hill to follow a path cut in the long grass, so my reps were probably a bit closer to my times of six months ago... bit still with room for improvement.

I can't tell you how sweaty I was at the end of my recovery run this evening. Luckily it ended at Ruby Violet with a refreshing (chilli chocolate) ice cream.

Recovery

12M double; recovery run x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

Two easy ones again. I'll run hard in the morning...

Recovery

14M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
7M pm recovery run

Two sweaty slow runs. My morning one looping around the Heath and then the direct route to work. My evening run through Regent's Park, Primrose Hill and the Heath. I'm feeling pretty full of running.

Twenty again

20M am steady long run

I felt better again on today's long run. Not too hot thanks to a fairly early start. No tightness (or real tiredness) by the end. I'm ready to start increasing my long run pace now.

89 miles for the week...

Early morning tempo

15M double; tempo run & recovery run
10M am including 7M at tempo
5M pm recovery run

I was not in the mood for my run this morning - sleepy. I coaxed myself out the door with a coffee and found I my legs felt much better than yesterday. I ran the same route as last Friday, around the top of the Heath, starting with another race with a bike up Swain's Lane. I ran hard from there to Baker Street (seven miles) and then warmed down to work.

My evening run was a slow, sweaty recovery run to Ruby Violet for ice cream with Y&H.

Steady

15M double; recovery run & steady run
5M am recovery run
10M pm steady run

I ran steady this evening ahead of a session in the early morning cool tomorrow. Ten miles feels fine again now.

Recovery

12M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

I felt pretty shattered today after last night's session.

Oof! Nausea inducing mile reps

15M double; recovery run & mile rep session
5M am recovery run
10M pm incl 4x1M off 4min and 6x75m downhill sprints

It was a tough session this evening at the track. Four hours later, I am still bobbing along under a film of lactate and feel sick when I stand up too fast.

We ran mile reps off too much recovery for my liking, meaning that the pace was more brutal than my legs are currently comfortable with. My reps came in at 4.54-5.04. Then we finished with some down hill sprints.

Recovery

12M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

I kept it easy today after yesterday's 20 miler. My body is still getting used to the mileage, so am am being careful. Last week I notched up 75 miles. My target this week will be 80-90. And I might Ryan a slightly faster long run. I'm gearing up nicely towards a solid block of training and some proper fitness.

Twenty

20M am steady long run

I'm definitely getting my endurance back. This week, I upped the distance to twenty miles and felt pretty fresh by the end whereas last week I was tightening in various places from the fifteen mile point (and ran eighteen in total).

I ran a big loop including the canal, a fair chunk of the Thames and the usual Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Primrose Hill, Heath segment.

A decent tempo run

16M double; tempo session & recovery run
10M am incl 7M tempo
6M pm recovery run

I ran a decent seven miles at tempo this morning on my way in to work. I warmed up for a K or so and then headed around the perimeter of the Heath and then through Primrose Hill and Regent's Park. Even in the down hill sections I managed to persuade my legs to keep going at a good speed. My morning at work was augmented by the post-session endorphin rush. I may have been a bit irritatingly chirpy.

Easy again

11M double; recovery runs x2

5M am recovery run

6M pm recovery run

Two easy runs today ahead of a proper session on Friday morning...

Easy

12M double; recovery runs x2
7M am recovery run
5M pm recovery run

Two easy runs today. Feeling pretty tired.

Slowly increasing the distance on my reps

11M double; recovery run & rep session
5M am recovery run
6M pm incl 10x800ish m off 90s jog

I'm slowly increasing the mileage on my rep sessions. Today, I increased it to 5 miles of hard running, with about a mile of jog interspersed. The first three miles were on the route home and the second three on the Heath. The two reps I ran up Parliament Hill were gut wrenching.

Just five

5M am recover run

Nice and easy to work this morning. I'm less stiff thanh after last week's long run but still need to be cautious.