Working 9 to 5 (Or Maybe Later)

So the gist of this post is that Dolly Parton had way better hours than I’ve managed this week!

On Monday I was in Gloucester, so didn’t have time for a run beforehand, and was then in chambers until about 7pm that evening (so more 7-7 than 9-5.  Dolly = 4 hours up on me).

On Tuesday I was in Bristol, so I got a 5 mile recovery run in that morning, and then worked 9-6 (another hour to Dolly).

Wednesday saw a little bit of a reprieve, as I had a dress fitting in the morning (my clever dressmaker friend is making me something that will actually fit: when you’re as short as I am and built like a long-distance runner, shopping is a nightmare).  However, I then had to go and deal with a hearing (leftovers from the day before).  But working 12-5.30 saw me 2.5 hours up on Dolly, so overall the balance of the week was only 2.5 hours in Dolly’s favour.  RESULT!  I’d also managed to do 11 miles with 4 at marathon pace that morning, and although my tired legs couldn’t quite hit 6.52s the whole way, it was still a good workout for the cardiovascular system.  I then had an orchestra rehearsal, but that is fun, not work.

Thursday I wasn’t in court but still had to work, and although I took a 2 hour break to walk to a massage appointment, have the massage, then walk home, I worked 8-10 (plus another hour’s break for a run).  So that’s 8-7 excluding the run and massage breaks, which left Dolly 3 further hours up on me.  Dammit.  5.5 hours in total.

By Friday I was pretty tired and sleep deprived.  Although I probably should have done my second 11 mile run of the week that evening, I didn’t.  I plodded 6 miles (bearing in mind I had post-massage leg heaviness to contend with).  I had, however, only worked 9-5.30, so finished the working week (always assuming Dolly got weekends off) 6 hours down on a 9-5 existence.  To be honest, that’s fairly par for the course, it’s just that in the first week back you really feel it.

On Saturday I eventually got myself out of the door for my 11 miles, but it was plodtastic.  I think my fairly long day at court on Friday had left me dehydrated, and my legs had only had about 14 hours recovery.  Urgh.  Still, running isn’t always about having great training sessions, and you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Today I had an orchestra rehearsal from 10.30-1.30, and I couldn’t quite face leaving the house at 6.45 to ensure my run was done in time to go to orchestra without a mad dash being involved. So I ran afterwards.  17 miles: my longest run for something like 10 or 11 months!  It did get a bit ploddy towards the end, but brought up another 55 mile week.

Now, I think I had a rush of blood to the head when I prepared my training schedule because I haven’t scheduled a recovery week next week (i.e. a week where I reduce the mileage to let my legs freshen up).  I definitely need one after 3 weeks at 55 miles per week, as my shins feel a bit tight.  If there’s one thing I’m not prepared to do now it’s to push too hard, too soon, so I’ll swap things around and take my recovery week next week.

 

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New Beginnings

The week began with a 5 mile recovery run.  My legs were pretty tired: in fairness to them it had been something like 2 months since they’d last done 55 miles in one week!

I had good intentions to run on New Year’s Eve, but a week of rich food had caught up with me, and I had a bad night of IBS symptoms Monday into Tuesday, so took New Year’s Eve as a rest day.  Thankfully I felt a lot better on NYE than I had the afternoon and night before, so I was able to keep to my other plans, namely lunch with my parents and my aunt (T was working, poor thing, so missed out on some delicious cheese souffles).  Still, even without a final run of the year, I covered 2,007 miles in 2019 (yes, there was a tiny bit of me which had wanted to abandon my schedule and do 12 miles on 31.12.2019 once I realised my total on 31.12.19…).  And that’s a heck of a lot more than I managed the year before!  NYE evening was pretty quiet, as T was on call, so we stayed in and had nice food (lots of little courses to help pass the time: I’m not a night owl, so would happily go to bed at 10pm unless the time is filled!).

I started 2020 the way I hope it can continue on a regular basis: with a 10 mile run (I’m not sure the 8.30am lie-in will be such a regular feature, sadly).  I also did my first speedwork since I can’t remember when exactly (probably the first weekend in November?): 3 x 1 mile at marathon pace.  They came out as 6.51, 6.51 and 6.46, so 2 just under 3 hour marathon pace and 1 with a bit more wiggle room.  The foot felt fine 🙂

On Thursday I did another 10 miles, but at a very steady pace (8.24m/m) as my legs were a bit tight and tired.  On Friday I did 8 miles with 12 sets of strides and again things felt ok (although my legs were still a bit tired, so the overall pace wasn’t amazing: I was pretty much jogging in between the sets of strides).  Saturday was a nice easy 6 mile recovery run.

That just left today’s long run: 16 miles.  My longest since September, I think!  It came out at 8.14m/m, which is slower than my marathon training bible would suggest for my target times, but there is plenty of time for the speed to come back.  At the moment, it’s more important to get used to running for that long again.

55 miles for the week.  The foot is ever so slightly tired, so I’m icing it as a precaution (and taking that as a sign that my instinct to not start marathon training for a few more weeks yet was spot on!).  But all in all, that’s not a bad start to 2020.

As for 2019, it’s not a running year I’ll remember with any great fondness in terms of running well, apart from finally racing a half marathon again, but at least I am starting 2020 in a better place than I started 2019.  Yes, I’m still having to manage some weaknesses in my body, but that’s part of becoming a veteran with quite a lot of running miles on the clock, I guess.  Let’s see how the tightrope walk of training hard enough to run well but not so hard the body gives up on me goes!