Over the last few weeks of my running come back I have very sensibly built up the mileage slowly. I would say it's been hard to be sensible...but it hasn't been hard at all! It's been very very hard to actually run as far as I have, running less would have been much easier.
Week 1 - 3 miles
Week 2 - 6 miles
Week 3 - 7 miles
Week 4 - 11 miles
Week 5 - 25 miles
Ok so it does sound like I haven't been quite so sensible this week, but the knee has been feeling a lot better and I did take a couple of days off mid-week as my IT band was very tight and needed some serious attention from the foam roller. I've also given the cycling a break this week so I don't over do anything by mistake. I also very sensibly resisted the temptation to do a race on Wednesday night - just because I can run 5km certainly doesn't mean my knee will hold up to racing 5km!
The main reason for ramping up the training all of a sudden is that I've been back in Shropshire for a couple of days and running is a great way to catch up with my old friends and revisit the routes I love through the countryside. Over 3 runs I've managed to run with Juliet, Claire, Nellie, Julie & Wayne - and with the exception of Claire I haven't seen any of them in 7 months! Of course having a bit of company and friends chatting away while you run makes running seem a LOT easier so I've ended up running 6 miles a couple of times without really realising how much time had elapsed.
This morning I had a lovely run with Nellie and Julie through the fields and round the country lanes near Nellies, followed by a cup of tea and a good gossip! I do feel really lucky to know so many beautiful running routes and have a huge choice of people to run with.
Flash back! Telford Ladies at Midlands Road Relay Champs April 2011 - a fab team to be part of. L-R: Juliet, me, Michelle, Lisa, Claire, Nellie, Cheryl & Kim
Monday - 3.8 miles
Tuesday - 4.5 miles
Wednesday - Rest, sore IT band
Thursday - Rest, sore IT band
Friday - 4.3 miles
Saturday - 5.7 miles
Sunday - 6.3 miles
Thank you to everybody who's run with me this week, dragged me round and kept my legs moving when I was struggling. I really feel like I've turned a corner with my training this week and hopefully I'll be able to push on from here and get some consistent miles in. I've been given the go ahead from my coach to try a few strides and maybe even a fartlek session this week so fingers crossed that goes well.
I'm currently hopeful I'll be racing the Midlands Road Relay Champs in 2 weeks time (hence the flash back photo!) and I cannot wait. Even if I'm running in the C team, it's giving me motivation to keep up the training even though running 6 miles feels way way harder than it did a few months ago!
Good luck to everyone racing the World Triathlon Champs this coming weekend. At the beginning of 2013 I would never have envisaged not being there, but illness and injury has conspired against me and whilst I was very grumpy about this for a bit, I'm now just very happy to even be contemplating a park run next Saturday.
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