Over the hill

P.M. Only battle damage from yesterday is a tender right achilles, sore leg muscles and shoulder ache. As usual after a race slept badly. (5.5 hrs) Slow recovery jog in the woods on a lovely sunny afternoon to aid recovery. Total 11.2k in 1:00:56, av pace 5:26/k, 8:45/mi.

A.M. Colder & icy again for the longest run in the plan. I carboloaded the night before and set myself the goal to run this under 3hrs, focusing on keeping each 5k split under 23:20. I felt comfortable enough until the 25k mark when I started to really tire, after 32k it was just a hard, hard slog complete with mood swings when I miscalculated and thought I was going to be over my target. I broke a small energy bar into 3 pieces and ate that with water/apple juice mix at 12k, 25k and 35k. 5k splits: 23:05, 22:47, 23:10, 23:13, 22:56, 23:18, 23:00 and a final 3.6k in 17:04. Total time was 2:58:45. av pace 7:27/mi, 4:38/k. I'm glad this one is out of the way, within a training cycle this felt too much distance, 35k (21,7mi) I could handle better and recovery from more quickly.  

A.M. Woke up at 4:30 am, couldn't sleep anymore and so slipped out and got the 1st recovery run out of the way. Sore legs to begin and a very slow first 5k jog, started to feel better and a normal recovery run pace for the 2nd 5k. Time 55:19, av pace 5:32/k, 8:54/mi. 

P.M. 2nd short recovery run in the evening on the treadmill. 6,1k in 30:10, 4:57/k, 7:58/mi.

A.M. Stormy with strong winds. Legs felt weary to begin, ran along the cycle way to the next town where there is a quiet little track tucked away on the outskirts. Ran 5 x 600m with 90 sec jog inbetween. Times, 2:08, 2:11, 2:08, 2:12, 2:07. Then the run back along a country lane into the headwind. This is disused and forgotten now except for the occasional tractor but was the only route west many years ago. At the top of a hill before town is a very simple old stone bench, behind it two longer stone uprights and a stone block laid across. The farmers or traders who carried their wares into town would sit and rest on the bench after the pull up the hill  and their backpacks (wooden butts) would rest on the 2nd stone frame. Respect for them, they were hard people, the backpacks empty were extremely heavy. Enough history. Total today 17,1k in 1:18:45, av pace 4:36/k, 7:25/mi.

A.M. Too warm for the time of year 5°C/41°F (normally Jan is the coldest month) wet and windy. Med-long hill run today, no history, just hills and trees. My legs felt good and strong for a change on this run, all the fatigue felt was upper-body - arms and shoulders. Good hard-easy run, total 25k/15.5mi in 1:57:44, av pace 4:43/k, 7:35/mi.

P.M. Short evening treadmill run, 1k warmup, 5k at gmp, 2k cooldown. Total 8k/5mi in 35:25, av 4:26/k, 7:07/mi.

A.M. Stormy with strong wind gusts. Recovery run that turned out faster than normal but still felt very easy. Finished with 10 x 100m striders into the wind, hard but exhilarating. Total 14,4k/9mi in 1:12:12, av pace 5:01/k, 8:04/mi.

P.M. 2nd recovery run of the day, ran a short loop around the valley. Again felt very easy, Total 6,5k/4mi in 32:51 av pace 5:03/k, 8:08/mi, almost the same as this morning.

Good luck to all thee that are racing Painters tomorrow.

A.M. Very windy but thankfully the rain held off. Decided to run a classic Lydiard hill workout which I've been meaning to try for a while. Warmup 2k, then my circuit - hard uphill alternate running/bounding (670m, 11% gradient), recovery jog 370m, downhill fast relaxed striding 530m, jog 200m, then 2 x 200m strides with 200m jog inbetween, recovery jog back to start. Completed 4 sets. Easy cooldown run at the end for 4k. I found this a tough workout, legs trashed at the end. Total 18,5k in 1:29:11, av pace 4:49/k, 7:45/mi.