That was the week that was....

I've been lax.... in some respects. Exactly a week since my last blog and update on the marathon training but as you may expect, there are reasons. Along with work, family and training, Week 3 of full on marathon training saw the countdown shrink to double figures and THAT was the point (99 days to go) I had told myself I would start with the begging e-mails. Half a dozen a night, individually typed rather than copied and pasted asking for support at www.justgiving.com/marathonmez and yes, training was still required!!!

Tuesday was supposed to be a simple single circuit of the island, 4.6 miles but to make it a little more interesting I made it a Fartlek run. Varying the pace of the run after the warming up 10 minutes with bursts of speed, walking and pressured stretches, one of the most useful parts of this in "Mass" runs is it gets the body used to little bursts of speed required to accelerate past other runners.
Wednesday was "Hill Climb" with 10 ascents and descents of Church Hill here on St Marys and Thursday was again a straight circuit of the island, though this time, no Fartlek. The wind was pushing gale force, there was driving rain and though physically it was comfortable, it was a struggle against the elements.
Friday was a rest day and Saturday, to get me back into it I ran a 6.2, relaxed and with random running music playing.
Sunday was the "Long Run". A little stretch more than last week at 10.8 miles and....... it went well. In very chilly conditions (there was snow all across the mainland) and at a steady pace I was just 2 minutes outside 10 minute mile pace and after nearly 11 miles, that's something I'm happy with.

In terms of my Virtual Run across the south of Britain, I ran 32.1 miles round St Marys this week, equating to a run from Plympton to Dartmouth, calling in on three friends, two "I CAN" affiliated schools and about 16 family members in and around South Brent.

and that's what my training looks like, in linear terms rather than "Running round in circles".