This week I decided to stop following The Cool Impossible training schedule. I have basically done the whole of it, only 2 weeks left, but they were not the right training runs just before the next trail marathon. So now I am going with my own schedule like in the old days, but with a lot more knowledge.
I used to run just as fast as I could and once in a while do some interval training and run a bit longer the week end. Now after almost 1 year and a half following well organised schedules I think I know what I am supposed to do. I know the importance of recovery runs, frequent interval days and tempo runs. So now I am going on my own!
Last week I did a lot of speed work and the 38k on Sunday left me really tired so the plan was to keep it relaxed this week, do more next week and than taper for the Rail To Trail Wendover marathon.
Monday I rested after the long run on Sunday.
Tuesday I woke up and it was snowing! Beautiful! I went out super excited as it does not happen very often. The beauty was that the roads were I live are not that travelled at 5am so the snow was fresh and untouched. As light reflects on the snow it was easier to see where I was going and so I decided to take a route tat is usually too dark at this time of year, from the Teddington Lock to Hampton Court Palace on the river path. Fantastic soft snow. I wanted to do only 10k, but I was enjoying it so much I had to do more. I ended up doing a sort of fartlek for 13.5km. It’s a shame that it rained later on and no snow was left anywhere.
Wednesday, to prepare for the next trail marathon, I went for a run on Kingston Hill to do some hill repeats. I did five 500mt climbs and used the downhill to rest. then on the way home I did 5 fast sprints. It was incredibly cold, but I felt very good and strong.
Unfortunately by the time I was on the train to work I started feeling a bit strange: super headache and nausea. So much so that by 11am I left work and went back home. I spent most of the day sleeping and the day after I decided not to run.
Friday I went out for a 13k run where I tried to go a bit faster than a recovery run, but not too much. Ended up with a 4:18 min/km average. I felt good.
Saturday I did not want to do a long run as this was the rest week so I went out armed with just one gel and the handheld bottle (this time with salts in it) and went for a run around Richmond Park via Richmond Bridge. I tried to keep a steady pace under 4:30 and did it without any particular effort. Nothing special to report apart from the fact I enjoyed it very much. Saturday mornings are the best of my running week.
On Sunday it was sunny and I could not resist and decided to do the run I skipped on Thursday, so I went out for a relaxed 12k run in Bushy Park. Beautiful as always.
Talking about Bushy Park, have a look at this wonderful video by @juliableasdale.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/116106944]
Overall it was a good week, especially the run in the snow. As planned, I did less km, 75k in total. Next week I will do more kms and then taper. I cannot wait for the next marathon! Then I will have a third marathon in March. After that 7 weeks to do the final preparations for the NDW50. The plan is to increase the weekly km by doing two long runs during the week end and rest on Monday instead of Sunday. I will need to work more on time spent running more than on the speed which I tend to do too much.
See you!