Training Week Commencing 28th January 2013

Coming off a good 2 weeks with fairly tired legs this was a crucial week to keep the mileage high.

Monday: 9.5 steady (7:33) + Core/Lifting (9.5)

Tuesday: long wu, 4,8,12,2k,12 (60) [75,2:31,3:59,7:00,4:14], wd (9.5)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Easy run into work AM; PM long w/u, 2 laps at MP, 4 x 900 hard [60], 2 laps at MP (no recovery before first or last 900), short wd (19.5)

Times: (20:20, 2:59, 2:51, 2:56, 2:59, 20:22)
Paces: (05:48, 5:25, 5:16, 5:22, 5:29, 05:48).

Friday: Easy run into work AM; PM 4 easy (9.5)

Saturday: 10 easy at 8:13mm (10)

Sunday: wu, 18.75 at 7:42mm (20)

Total: 78 miles

Summary:

Another good week - Wednesday is working well as my rest day. I was really pleased with the Thursday session where I'm now averaging 10:10 laps. It's clearly a bit different from the other sessions with it being split into two sections but I think I'm making solid progress towards in the relatively near future being able to average 10 minutes per lap and feel strong.

The flip-side of having the strong Thursday sessions is that I've definitely noted the effect on the Sunday (and other) runs with the pace substantially increasing. I'm going to hit the massage implements a lot harder in the next couple of weeks and see what the effect is and hopefully the pace will start dropping - although I was pleased to cover 20 miles this week.

The next week brings a different challenge as I'm now working from Canary Wharf for 3 of the next 4 weeks with an office without showers (although there is another office with them about 15 minutes walk-away). The hours should however be shorter as I'll be studying. The focus is more likely to shift to big singles which given that I'm training for a marathon may be no bad thing. This will likely cause my average pace to drop even further and so I'm going to need to make sure that I'm incorporating form drills on a regular basis (which I have struggled with recently in the snow and cold) so that when my legs start to freshen up I'm able to race at my best.

I've also got the last Surrey League XC of the season. After a disastrous last fixture it'll be interesting to see if I run a bit better this time on tired but significantly fitter legs.

Right - that's it for this week. Catch you on the trails.