This week was always going to be tough. Lolly was away from home for two nights, Tuesday and Wednesday, and also had her Coaching in Running Fitness course over the weekend, meaning that I had sole parental responsibility for the kids for a fair chunk of the week. Given that I’d built my mileage back quite quickly, this seemed like an ideal week to ease off a little bit and take a “recovery week”.
Tuesday: Seaton coast path
I had meant to get out for a run on Monday, but it just didn’t happen for a variety of reasons. Knowing that Lolly was leaving early Tuesday evening, this only left me with Tuesday, otherwise I’d have to wait until Thursday evening. Even on a lower-mileage week, that would be a bit late for my first run of the week!
This one really did push things fine. Work went on a bit longer than expected, but I managed to get changed and out for four miles out and back along the coast from Seaton. I didn’t really have time for anything more – sure, I could have squeezed an extra mile in if I’d stuck to the roads, but where’s the joy in that?! Conditions were pretty awful, the ground was really wet and slippery after the snow at the weekend, and it was lightly raining and misty, so visibility was bad too! The first and last kilometre of this run were on road, which might be part of the reason I managed a 9:08/mile average pace, though I’m honestly surprised to see that even my slowest mile was 9:42, which given the mud… I’m very happy with!
Friday: Five miles general aerobic
This was just one of those runs where things just didn’t feel quite right. I can’t really pinpoint exactly what it was. I had an ulcer on the edge of my tongue which was very painful, and I possibly hadn’t eaten or drunk as much as I should have done. It also affected my breathing slightly, so maybe I wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Or maybe it was something else completely. But it just wasn’t great. I’d initially planned to go out at a decent pace, probably slightly sub-8:00/mile, and then push harder in the middle for a Strava segment effort. (Not for CR, which I’d have had no chance at, just because it was a good excuse for a ‘push’ in the middle of my run.
All those plans went out the window after the first mile; I’d just about managed 8:20, and thereafter continuing at around 9:10/mile felt tough enough. I still managed the five miles that I’d planned though, so no major issues.
Sunday: Seven miles ‘long’
Once Lolly was back from her course, I headed pretty much straight out for my last run of the week. Given that it was Sunday evening and we hadn’t had dinner yet, I couldn’t go too long, so I settled on “6 to 8 miles”. I hadn’t planned a route at all, so figured I’d just work it out as I went along. My first mile was the quickest, an 8:39, but after that I settled into the 8:50 to 9:05 range pretty comfortably. I ended up doing 7.11 miles, so pretty much smack in the middle of my target. Nothing too interesting about this run!
Weekly summary
The week went more or less as I’d expected. With everything going on, it was tough to find much time to get out for runs, but I managed to do three, and I clocked up 16 miles, which is sufficient for a “recovery week” style plan. I’d have been happier if I’d been closer to 20 miles, but I can’t be silly about it.
Next week, the plan is to get the mileage back up towards 30 miles, and hopefully incorporate the Street 5k on Wednesday as a bit of a time-trial to see where I’m at. It is far from my favourite race, as a five-lapper with sharp right-angle bends, but I’m pretty eager to see how I’m doing.