Easter training

Thursday 9th April
Running club tonight. I had suggested a long-ish run of about 10-11 miles as it would be a nice way to wind down before going home for the Easter weekend.

As it turned out, we only covered 6.2 miles in about 57 minutes. There was the option of carrying on at the 5 mile point with Gerry, but by then I was tired and just wanted to go home and enjoy being off for a few days.

Friday 10th April
Went to Ali's lunchtime body pump class then did a speed session on the treadmill afterwards. 1k warm up, then 8 * 3 minutes @ 14kph, 1k cool down.

Went quite heavy on some of the tracks in pump, Ali advised me after the class to always have a good selection of weights handy so I can adjust during a track if needs be.


Saturday 11th April
Body pump again, Rachel covering for Ali today. Ran to the gym from home and back again but didn't do any more cardio than that because I wanted my legs to be fairly fresh for my final long run tomorrow. And I have to admit, I found it hard doing pump two days in a row.

Sunday 12th April
Last long run today before the big day in two weeks. Set off to do my usual 20-miler, the Swindon half route but starting from the gym.

I felt surprisingly strong for most of the run, so much so that as I started the trek along Queens Drive into town I decided I could probably run a bit further, so when I ended up heading through Cheney Manor and along Akers Way, past the lake and along Cartwright Drive to the gym. That must be a good 24 miles and I managed it in less than four hours, despite tired legs and dehydration from enjoying being on holiday.

I'm optimistic now that the hard work will pay off on the big day. Whilst I haven't got a 10k or half marathon PB in the build up, spending long periods on my feet and all the strengthening work should pay off in the last few miles. All I need to do now is taper down, load up on carbs and avoid any nasty bugs and illnesses doing the rounds.

Monday 13th April
Ran to the gym and did RPM in the morning. Thought this would be a good way to get some of the lactic acid out of my legs. Did some core exercises as well as I was more than a little reluctant to go home and do housework for the rest of the day.

It wasn't that bad in the end, it was a lovely day weather-wise so I managed to cut the grass and do some tidying up in the back garden. Summer is coming!