Here is a quick report of the last two weeks. Again I concentrated on speed works.
The first week I ran a total of 90km.
I did 10 easy km on Monday and 15k on Tuesday at 4:34 min/km (which is good considering all the beer I drank the day before).
Wednesday way interval training day: 3k WU + 5x(1000@3:50 + 2’r) + 1.5k CD. Painful but good.15 more km on Thursday (at 4:29, notice how I am trying to keep a decent pace every day now).
Friday was the painful day. After 3.5km of warm up I ran 10k at a pace faster than 4:00 min/km. I managed to do it. I ran the second half faster too.Good training for my next half marathon. I also purchased a second pair of Saucony Zealot. I love those shoes, but the first pair had given it all after 900+ km.
For the week-end we went to the Isle of Wight and ran on the country roads on Saturday (11k) and on the coast trails on Sunday (12k). Beautiful place. It is worth going back to explore the trails and maybe see some sunshine!
After a day of rest I went out for a quick run on Tuesday (11k at 4:18). Legs felt good. On Wednesday I ran my usual 15k, finishing with some sprints. I added to that another 15k run on Thursday and took it easy with 10k on Friday.
On Saturday I ran the Bushy Park Parkrun to test whether the latest sessions of speed training had helped.
You can see a video here.I am the one with the black t-shirt and dark blue hat at around the 12th position. And in 12th position is where finished. In 18:10 which is exactly my PB from last year. Which only means one thing: my speed is back, I am as fast as last year even after all those long long runs. I am very happy.
On Sunday I ran 22k at 4:24 to feel cool and complete another 90km week.
Next week I will take it easy as I taper for the Richmond Park Half Marathon on Sunday.
But the most important and thrilling piece of news is that I found my next big challenge. I was looking for something as big as the NDW50 for the second part of the year and decided to enter The Druids Challenge. It will be the first time I take part in a multistage event. Running 3 ultras in 3 days (84 miles in total) will need some serious training. I cannot wait!
Have fun!