Week 5 cont. Watford Half

Thursday I went to the gym but just did twenty mins on the cardio equipment (rowing machine and steps) before doing some leg weights. My shins were sore and decided to rest them fully – learning lessons from previous years. Saturday ended up being busy with other things – I could have fitted a session in but decided that another rest day would be beneficial. I felt a bit restless but was definitely the right decision. Often the hardest part is taking a rest and not training when you are in the swing of things! You feel if you stop then you will lose all the benefits of the hard work when in most cases the opposite is true.

The rest days paid off though as I had a storming Watford half marathon. Was there with Mum and Dad who were running it for about the tenth year in a row (you can see where my running genes came from!) and Vicki who lives near mum and dad and is their running buddy. Set off at a decent – 3min 55s per KM (see timing section below) – that’s just over 16 on the treadmill for any of you gym bunnies. Didn’t think I could keep it up but got stronger and stronger as the race went on. There are a number of hills which I flew up – surprising as I generally run on the flat in London, however I put it down to all the strength training in the gym. Was overtaking people all the way round and finished in 1hr 21mins 16s which is my second best time ever and impressive considering the number of hills and windy conditions. In split terms that’s 3min 50 sec per KM so had kept up an excellent pace. Is amazing how much faster you can go in a race with competition – when doing speed work in the gym I often do 2min bursts at that pace and feel exhausted. Legs were pretty knackered after but it felt better to have had two rest days and then a powerful run than if I’d just done three average training runs. Back to London for a bikram yoga session to losen up the muscles.

Will be a day off on Monday and have a sports massage after work to treat myself. Sounds fun but in reality sports massages, if done properly, are often brutally painful.

KM RanWeek 5 total 54km  (plan 70km)
Week 6 Plan 70km

Timing:

I run with a Garmin 305 watch  (see Pic) – I bought it three years ago and has been brilliant for training and races. It uses GPS to work out how far and fast you have run. For training gives you a real sense if you are getting faster and great for interval training. For races you get instant feedback on your pace without having to wait for mile markers. I did get a bit obsessed and used to run around focusing more on the watch than my running. Now, for casual sessions I run without it and just go at whatever pace my body feels like that day – sometimes fast sometimes slow but makes the whole experience less stressful and more enjoyable.  Much recommended to everyone – the latest version 405 has more functions but is harder to control and more expensive.