I am currently lying on the floor in a state of undress – as
my wife attempts to give me a sports massage. After 18 miles yesterday, I can
hardly move. This is tough – why oh why did I sign up to do this? I am sure it
will be worth it in the end, but as I lie on the floor today, I can’t fathom
how that will be the case. To save my dignity, I won’t upload a picture of this
though!
So what’s been happening – since there haven’t been many
updates in February! Let me give you a low down:
Week 5
On my 33rd Birthday, the weather was COLD. When I
got out of the car at Battersea Park the thermometer said it was minus 4! This
was the day we had that large dumping of snow.
It wasn’t till we got to Hyde Park that I started to warm
up. This week, I did complete a personal best distance wise and managed 15
miles.
Week 6
Week 6 was a riverside run; we ran from Battersea Park to
Limehouse and back. In total, I managed 17 miles (another PB) – though I
probably did 10 miles on my own, I thoroughly enjoyed it though – the weather
was cold but the sun was shining. I put my headphones in, stuck on my cheesy
music mix and just ran.
Week 7
I did 17 miles on my long run again. This time I was totally
on my own, as we were in Bristol visiting Manasi’s aunt. Somerset is hilly! It
started with a good run, but after 90 minutes the heavy rain came. So far, I
have been very lucky with the weather – and haven’t been rained on until this
week.
Week 8
I didn’t do anything during the week, as I have been flat
out with work but on Saturday I did 18 miles! Three of us started at 8am – did
6 miles, and got back to the starting point for 9am. We then picked up the rest
of the group, and did another 12 miles. The great thing about doing 6 before
meeting the rest of the group is that it felt like you were starting again when
we met the others. This meant I had 10 miles, when they had only done 4. Though
towards the end, I didn’t feel like I had a lot left in the tank!
This week marks half-way of my 16 week training schedule.
In the next 8 weeks, I plan to increase my mileage – up to 21 miles and then
taper off slightly. I also need to take a weekend off for my brothers stag do.
Next week – my running club has a 20 mile paced race on the Thames Tow Path. It
will be interesting to see how I get on with that.
