Bourton Hilly Half

Tuesday 24th June
Track session, 6*500m, 3 minutes off the lead runner. Did 5 laps to warm up, 2 to cool down. Really struggled this evening, felt very tired after my exertions at the weekend. Felt I needed a bit of a rest.

Again, these sessions are becoming increasingly elitist, Clare was the only other person from group 3 and there weren't many people from group 2 either. I know I should compare myself to the people that don't do this type of training and wonder why they don't get any faster, but it can be demoralising when you are busting a gut and still coming last on every rep.

Wednesday 25th June
Body pump as usual, 2 miles on the treadmill beforehand, another 3 afterwards. Time for a rest now as I want to be fresh on Saturday.

Thursday 26th June & Friday 27th June
Complete rest on both days.

Saturday 28th June
Went to body pump in the morning but gave squats a miss. Went light on most other tracks as well.

Meant to relax in the afternoon before the race but had an upset stomach. Knew I should probably give the race a miss but went along anyway.

The Bourton Hilly Half is definitely one of my favourites despite the hills. Took the view again this year just to use it as a hard training run. The hill in the first mile was a killer, but still did it in 9mins 15 secs which is not a bad effort. Felt strong most of the way round and despite stomach pains kept up a good-ish pace.

Really bad news at mile 9, just as I had got over the last big hill I suffered a stabbing pain in my troublesome right hamstring. Managed to carry on but eased off the pace a little, and the pain did seem to subside a little.

In the end I was very happy with my time of 1:52:57 as this was about 6-7 minutes faster than last year and much faster than I was expecting. Had it not been for the upset stomach and hamstring injury sub 1:50 would have been a distinct possibility, and a very respectable time for the course.

Availed myself of a free sports massage (just a rub down really) and had a little walk. The hamstring was still sore but not as bad as it has been in the past. Still, it's a worry and I will need to manage the injury carefully.

Sunday 29th June
No running today, just 30-45 minutes of core work and stretching.

Monday 30th June
Again decided not to risk running, went to RPM instead. Used the foam roller on my legs afterwards which definitely seemed to help. Must do this more from now on.