Weekly report
This week I have continued my attempt to form some good habits. While I have slipped up on the alcohol I have continued to eat well and run hard. I’ve been stretching every other day, which isn’t ideal, but has kept the stiff joints at bay with the help of cod liver oil.
On Monday I received my London Marathon rejection and so took out my frustration by running a tough set of long hill reps up and down the Leas in Folkestone. Four reps with a total of 1,800 feet elevation at 8.5 miles an hour. I followed this by a 1.5 mile warm down.
Then on Tuesday I decided to run to Summerhouse Hill a few miles from town. John had run there on Sunday and sent me a photo from the summit making me very jealous, so I decided to repay the compliment. I ran hard through town and out along the Channel Tunnel route, reaching the hill after 5 miles and crawling my way to the top. Photo taken, I took a rather circuitous route back through woodland to Seabrook and Sandgate making it a half marathon (see photos below). I followed it up with a cooling sea swim. It was an unusually hot October day.
Sensibly I rested on Wednesday. On Thursday I caught the train to work and then ran back to Dover across the cliffs. I tried, foolishly, to achieve a quick time ascending Dover Hill but blew up half way. From then on, my legs were empty, and it was simply a case of plodding home. The positive side was that I was able to look around and enjoy the views without worrying about time. There was a strong wind behind me which helped carry me back.
When I reached Dover, I took a different route over the hill rather than around the marina which added to the elevation making it another 1,800 feet climb total. It was a good run for keeping my legs ticking over while getting some hill preparation in for the Beachy Head Marathon.
Today I feel flat, mentally and physically. My body is tired and needs to rest. Today it will get it, and I will simply do a short yoga session. Tomorrow is parkrun day, so I will do a steady one with a few miles beforehand and then another rest day on Sunday.
My goal this month is 150 miles and I’m half way with a marathon to come at the end of the month. I’m trying to get the miles in early as I want to taper the week before the event. Tomorrow I look forward to reaching a landmark – on my tenth mile I will have reached 2000 KM for the year so far.