Daz Does Tri

Steady 10k at just outside 7/mm today.  Looks good on the tin but legs are still smashed and I feel double tired.  Good news that 7s felt like walking but I really need the old bones to start feeling better to push on tomorrow. Not a horrendous week so far - 33 miles bagged so should just about hover around 40 with some quality in there.  Ideally I'll get 2 x track in next week and a Parkrun but we'll see how the legs are handling things.

As holiday season finishes upyesterday was really day 1 of autumn training.  Time to get consistent. Things are pretty good, I'd say off last weekend I'd be fairly confident of going 16.45 in an evening 5k.  Still, fucking long way to go !!!

After Thursday's tough session, the legs were pretty battered on Friday for an easy 4 mile spin out.  HR was lunar, think it hit 160 bpm for 7.30/mm at one stage.  Decided to hit Great Denham Parkrun on Saturday for a hard workout. The plan was see how the start went and if OK push on, if not just try and do some productive efforts.  Off to Venice in the afternoon (see what I did with the title!) so wanted something banked in case I didn't do much whilst away.

Session today, first 'proper' session on the new plan.  A 1,500m winter special from the days I was one of Ken Leader's Red and Gold army! 12 x 400m off 30 seconds recovery. 

Plan today was 5 progressive. Olden days Daz would have started around 7/mm and pushed down to 5/mm by then end with last bit practically flat out.  Finish feeling fresh as a daisy and ready to go hard the next day. The old body doesn't hold up to that any more.  Started around 7.30/mm and pushed down to 6:45/mm with an easyish last mile.

Been away at the holiday home for a couple of weeks.  It's my favourite place in the world to train. Quiet trails, a near 800m lake loop & no wifi !! Long story short, week 1 started to feel like I was really getting somewhere.  Hit Swindon parkrun on the second Saturday thinking I could go sub 17 and boom, legs just felt completely flat. Could not push pace, couple that with a Garmin signal problem (7/mm for first few hundred meters slowly reducing to a 5.37 first mile), a hilly course and the head went and it was barely a threshold effort at 18.13 (they messed up the winners time and gave him 2nd place so officially it was 18.25 which 5th place got lol). I ran 17.51 for 5k of my 0.45m on / off alternate laps on the Wednesday before which was a 5 mile session!

Wow, last couple of days have been tough.  Last nights run was supposed to be on the harder side of steady but just couldn't get the legs into it.  Finished up with 6.5 @ 7:26/mm - HR was crazy low but perceived effort was high.  This mornings run was another slog 8:34/mm - not sure the first couple of miles was accurate - but on the plus side legs felt slightly less fucked up at the finish than the start!  Will probs try and plod same again later.

Easy 3 this morning. First mile felt like I was back on the couch to 5k but settled in and felt pretty good by the finish.  Need to keep these regular easy doubles in, they help with the weight and keep the miles up.   Nice to run with no pressure either, I'm not fussed if these are 8s or 9s just nice to run totally relaxed. Kingston Handicap tonight.  Arrived late so no warm up.  Set off with Chris from riverside (first timer) a minute up on Al.  No need for me to run these at 100% this is a great way to get some decent pace runs in at threshold.

So after Saturdays horrific Parkrun, the plan was to run 800m at the EAL in Peterborough on Sunday. Achillies felt pretty gubbed in the morning and after warming up with Sawyer decided it wasn't worth the risk. Carded a zero for the day and hoped a good night sleep would clear it up a bit.

So Thursday, felt indestructible after a decent track session. Woke up Friday morning feeling horrible. Tried a run - absolute fuck fest, think I lasted a minute. lungs ached and felt shite. Ended up in bed early not fancying my chances of Parkrun today. Alarm went off at 7 and to be fair I felt good.  Woke up, legs felt shocking but a cup of tea and a slice of toast later I knew today I would be running.

Went to bed all smug and confident, woke up like an 80 year old !! Not sure what happened but my lungs were in a terrible state, had real trouble taking a deep breath and had a feeling like my whole respiratory system was aching.  My back ached and ankle was sore and legs generally felt fucked!

Easy 3 to spin the legs and burn some of the 4 lbs I gained in Munich off this morning. Pace came in at a respectable 8.02/mm to be fair.  Easy day then track tonight. Change of plan from the usual #chubclub tempo as I wanted a fitness test adn Dan wasn't about anyway. Met DC and the plan was 4 x mile off 200m walk recovery (~3 min).  Agreed to aim at 5.30 and see what happened. Take a lap each as the wind was pretty strong.

5 days with the family in Munich - we do love a city break!  First the review.  It's a bit shit if I'm honest.  Fucking expensive. Everyone smokes like it’s 1976. It's a bit like Paris. Could do with a lick of paint. No good for running. People take their dogs to the zoo (?? Ffs) Won’t be rushing back.