Recovery run (al tempo)

I set out with the firm intention of doing a recovery run, despite my lack of interval training this week. It has been too tiring this week to envisage anything more serious and although I was just about over my cold, I couldn't face a tough session in the early hours of the morning.

As soon as I set out though I felt good in my body. The couple of days rest had done me the world of good and I set off at a comfortable pace, completing the first kilometre in 4:29. I then decided that as I hadn't done any interval work that I should at least push the pace a little and try and do a tempo run. 2nd kilometre in 4:19 and then 3 and 4 in 4:11 and 3:59 respectively. I eased off instinctively at this point and ran the next few kilometres at 4:10 pace before accelerating to 4:00 pace again for kilometres 9 - 12 and then 3:35 pace to finish.

12.8 km all up in 52:22 which is one of my fastest times for this course. An average speed of 4:07 over the distance.

Fitting one in

I struggled to get out of bed Friday morning when the alarm went off so I rolled over hit the snoozze button and went back to sleep. Laurence was no help at all telling me that I needed the rest and that I shouldn't go out. She's a bit of a devil actually, tempting me to take it easy, and the sad thing is that I listen to her and then feel all guilty afterwards.

It was a good thing then that I left work early on Friday evening and told Laurence that I'd go for a run when I got home to compensate. It was still early evening when I got abck so I put on my running kit and headed out along the usual route. I'd been planning an interval session in my head to put in a bit of quality but running after work by yourself is hard to get motivated and the 3 x 2km that I'd been planning took the back seat.

Despite this breather I allowed myself, having run the first couple of kilometres at a fairly brisk pace for the start (about 4:20 / km), I decided to push it a little and to turn the run into a tempo session. It may have been early evening but it was already dark and I couldn't see my splits as they flashed up every kilometre. I did notice that I ran around the roundabout, or just over 4 km, in 17:10 so I thought that I wasn't far outside my best time for this course when I went through this point in 16:45. This encouraged me so I started to push it harder from here and really worked my stride and felt my quads stretching. I started to really fly in the park as I chased a runner down the path and then noticed that I went through 10km in around 41:00 so the minute I'd lost at 4 km (compared to a 15 km/h pace), I'd pulled back some of this.

I was beginning to tire but the watch kept me going, knowing that I wouldn't be far off my training PB for this route. I was still running my kilometres under 4:00 and looking at the Garmin afterwards, I ran the last 850 metres at 3:35 pace. I finished the loop in 51:40, beating my personal best by 10 seconds in the process. Chuffed to bits and this helped ease my conscience about not doing the early morning run.

12.8km in 51:40 or an average pace of 4:02 according to the Garmin.

Tempo run

I woke up after a reasonable night's sleep and I felt good. I felt better than good as I was full of energy and raring to go. I was also feeling guilty and had been thinking about my morning run from last night and how I could compensate for the lack of interval training from the marathon plan for both Monday and Tuesday. I finally decided on a tempo run. A run at threshold pace around the usual circuit and to see how I would cope.

I literally hit the street running and set off at a decent clip down the road. The weather was clear and cold and the sun had not yet risen to warm up the air. I ran down to the river and it was too dark to see my pace when the autolap beeped to indicate the end of the first kilometre. I had negotiated the track in the dark and now I was flying along the road beside the river, opening up as I no longer had to worry about potholes and twisting my ankle. The garmin beeped again for the second kilometre and I still couldn't see what pace I was doing but it felt not so much fast, as uncomfortable. I figured that I was running about 15km/h and I could manage this for 4km before I would need a break.

The discomfort grew as I pushed on and by 4km I allowed myself to slow down, figuring that I would accelerate again after a couple of minutes and try and run a second 4km at this pace. I'd seen that my pace was just under 4:00 for the last kilometre and I allowed myself a little relaxation before starting again. This section I ran into the park and the path towards the castle. This is my favourite spot and it was no hardship to run fast along here. In fact, I felt so good here that I didn't stop again, my muscles warming up to the pace and the discomfort. I pushed the pace all of the way back to the house, telling myself that I could create a new record for completing this circuit.

I ran back to the house in 51:50, completing the 12.9km at an average pace of 4:01/km. I felt great and not even that tired. The kilometres went as follows:

3:55, 3:58, 3:54, 3:59, 4:30, 4:11, 3:58, 4:00, 3:59, 3:59, 4:03, 3:57 and then 3:39 pace to the end.

The guilty feeling had gone and a big smile of satisfaction had replaced it.

Thursday Tempo

I figured that I probably wouldn't have the time to get to the club session tonight and since I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment, I shouldn't let up on the chance to get a decent session in. I decided that running an interval session on my own wasn't very motivating when I don't have a clear objective or training programme to work to at present. I finally settled on a tempo session with the unspoken objective of running at marathon pace around the 10km route.

When I woke up, the day had already begun and it was another beautiful day with a clear blue sky. It was only when I got outside that I realised that the temperature wasn't as warm as I expected - around 6°C. Cool but perfect running weather and I set off at a good pace.

I was feeling better in my legs after Tuesday's intervals and I noticed how several times after a hard sesssion, the tempo runs seem to be easier, more natural. I felt good being out there and enjoyed the speed aswell as the thought that there was still room to push it further. I felt good enough to reconsider my route and to add in an extra 2km around the park in Maisons Laffitte, plus the added luxury of coming back through the forest from the railway line. I only started looking at the Garmin after the 5th kilometre when the lap showed 4:33. I was surprised by this as I felt that I was going a lot faster. The next 2 laps went by in 4:17 and 4:11 so there might have been a glitch on km5 but that just spurred me on to run a little faster.

13.33 km all up in 57:30 or an average of 4:18 per km. Just below marathon pace as an average and a great boost mentally this morning. I've got to the point where the training is beginning to pay off again and it encourages me to push harder.

I've been reading Marathon Mama's blog this week and she has been writing about her running ethos. She quotes one from Velominati, rule number 10 which states 'It never gets easier. You just get faster'. I talk about this with Laurence frequently, especially after a particularly hard session and you wonder what the whole point is. It doesn't matter whether you're a leisure runner, just looking to keep your weight in tow, or an international athlete, the training always hurts the same. Your objectives are different but the pain is constant. Changed the subtitle on my blog to show how important this is to me.

To quote Velominati again: 'Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired'.