AM. Run 23½km inc. Watford Half marathon
1½km w/u
Half marathon: 1:31:40 (7:00 mi/mile), brisk, HR157(171)
0.8km w/d
Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2530623
Results: http://www.sportsystems.co.uk/ss/resultsEvent.htm?eventId=319
Ended up going down the pub last night and having five pints of Breakspear, so not feeling as fresh as I could be for this event. I’ve missed some mileage in January, so it was only ever going to be a steady run out for me. I’ll save a big effort for Milton Keynes in a month.
Bumped into and old friend Errol Maginley in the HQ, he was running with some mates who were planning on doing the London marathon later in the year, but this would be his longest race, and “Savaloy” from the tritalk forum on the start line. I was aware that I only needed to treat this as a steady, fast training run – if I went too hard I could do more damage to my long-term plans than good. I set off at a pace about 15-20 seconds slower per mile than my “usual” half marathon pace. This felt very comfortable and I got to halfway in 46:18, running the second half in 45:22.
Very enjoyable, I was surprised how just a little easing in my usual race pace made the running much easier. No hanging on for the last mile or sore feet. My calves stiffened up a bit, but will be fine in a day or two.
72.9kg
Categorized in Racing and Run
PM. Cycle 122km (28.6km/h), steady HR 134(159) asc. 755m
A nice day for a bike ride for once, I took the afternoon off work and went out through Henley/Goring/Blewbury and a loop back home. Just a small shower through Cray’s Pond and a rainbow afterwards. Even Didcot power station looked quite good in the sunlight. My back was aching a bit after 2 hours, and I hope it doesn’t linger on into the spring. I don’t fancy riding a 12-hour time trial with it aching like that. Bike needed a bit of a wash when I got home.
My cold has mostly gone, and I’m thinking that I might have to step up my mileage if the weather carries on like this. I’ve not been for a swim for a week – been too tired in the mornings, although that’s mostly the effect of the cold, I think.
74.1kg
Categorized in Cycle and Long ride
Run 100km/9 sessions
Cycle 757km/14
Swim 17400m/5
Erg 6km/1
Weights 2:05h/2
Hours per week: 9:39
Rest days 4
A fairly solid month’s base, although it’s been a bit of a struggle. The weather’s been colder than I can remember for many winters, and the snow hasn’t exactly helped. I started the month with a sore back which is slowly getting better, but it’s kept me off the erg when it would have been really useful to be able to cross-train on it. I’ve still not registered a time for this months C2 Challenge (10km), but have until 11pm tomorrow to do one - a lunchtime attempt is on the cards. I’m back running after tweaking a calf muscle, running in the snow on the 11th, and a small cold in this last week hasn’t been great. Hopefully February will give me a chance to regroup and get some more miles under my belt.
Categorized in Monthly summary