Sodbury Slog and more..

Wow. Almost two weeks have gone by with no update. The truth is, I've been so pre-occupied with editing my novel, this blog (and my training, to an extent) has suffered. If there's one thing I've learnt this year, there's only so much I can take on before something has to give.

Sunday 2nd November
I took on board what Anthony had told me about keeping up my long runs, and decided to do the Swindon half route, starting from my house. It wasn't the best of runs, and probably not the best of days to do it. For some reason I decided to do it wearing my glasses, which was pretty silly - it was raining hard and I had to keep stopping and wiping them.

There were too many walk breaks in this run and as it went on I just ran out of energy. I had obviously done too much yesterday and tired myself out. Oh well, at least I got out there.

Monday 3rd November
A nice surprise for me today when my friend Lisa at the gym approached me and asked me if I wanted to go for a run outside. She hasn't run for about a year with a hip injury, so it was great to hear she is able to go out again. She only wanted to do about 3 or 4 miles, which was fine with me tonight. So we just jogged out to the lake, did a lap, jogged back, and had a good catch-up. Result.

I had no inclination to do any more on the treadmill when I got back. Time to ease off a bit, if only for one day.

Tuesday 4th November
Speed session with Martin on the treadmill. 3.2k warm up, then 8 x 2 minute efforts, 1 minute recoveries. 2k to cool down, so 10k total. Lowest speed was 14 kph, highest 15.5kph. Quality session.

Wednesday 5th November
Double classes tonight, body pump and RPM. Upped my weights in pump a bit, successfully. Ali commented that I had taken Steph's comments about his weights putting everyone else to shame to heart. Yes I had, but sometimes you have to push yourself don't you.

RPM seemed a bit flat tonight though. A run of some kind would probably have been better.

Thursday 6th November
Complete rest tonight. Went to Bath for a well-earned night out with Pete and a much overdue catch up. We haven't been out on our own since his wife had a baby in Megan so we had both been looking forward to it. Nothing heavy, just a couple of beers and a curry. And maybe a wee dram on the train home..

Friday 7th November
Just ran on the treadmill tonight as I had no energy to do anything else. Wanted to do 7 miles but ended up knocking out 10k. I had had a really shitty, stressful day at work and just felt drained. No wonder I'm burning the midnight oil in pursuit of a career change..

Saturday 8th November
Body pump, but missed out squats and lunges. Went fairly light on most of the tracks, resisting the temptation to try and impress anyone.

Sunday 9th November
Competed in the Sodbury Slog. I think this will be a regular event for me, as I really can't think of anything better to do on Remembrance Sunday (well, I can..)

Drove down with Andy and Steph, two "Slog virgins". Not sure they knew what they had let themselves in for. Anthony was also there, with his club the Brackla Harriers.

I had a good run, just staying with Andy for the duration of the course. I think he struggled a bit, his core strength perhaps not being as good as my own. Steph ran her own race and finished a few minutes before us. Fair enough - she went face first into the trench at the end and had to run to keep warm. Andy also had a nasty fall, going flat on his back, which knocked the wind out of him. I had a few close shaves but managed to stay upright (for once).

Not sure those two went home as happy as they should have, but I guess it's not everyone's cup of tea. As I say, I would do this event every year, by dint of the fact that it is excellent value and great fun and you go home with a fantastic long sleeved t-shirt for the winter and a more than decent goodie bag. I do hope though, that however good I get, I will only ever treat this as a fun event, and not worry about my time or position.

Monday 10th November
2 miles on the treadmill, then I did a really silly thing and went out with the running club. 7 miles and I struggled to keep up - I was more tired than I thought. To be fair, the rest of the gang admitted they wouldn't have been able to run the day after Sodbury. Maybe my recovery periods are getting shorted, which augurs well for London next year.

Tuesday 11th November
Speed session again, same as last week except I cranked up the speed to a low of 14.5kph and a high of 16kph. Must aim for 2 minute reps at 16kph, if not faster.

Wednesday 12th November
Just body pump tonight, then I went home and did some editing.

Thursday 13th November
Ran on the treadmill, 7 miles. Not feeling too good, have a sore throat. May be an incipient cold. I hope not; I've got enough problems without that.