No More Excuses - T-6 Weeks

That's it, I finally have no barriers in the way to getting properly fit. Stag doo was a blast but messy. Managed to get a couple of runs in but the acid test was always going to be escaping without illness or injury !!

Plan for this week is to establish some good habbits, start from a position that I can increase effort and get consistency across all the main areas I need to address.

Next race will be British Masters 5k at Battersea. I will use it as a fitness test so will not treat it as an A race BUT I will taper in properly just to see how I go. From where I am now it would be amazing if I could go close to the range my races were in last summer (16.00 - 16.22) but close to 16.30 would be the target. Not having races in the legs may be the only  hindrance as I will likely be race rusty.

Tuesday - I know, I know but I already blogged about Monday and that was purely recovery. Hit Eddington with John M for C&C training. Watching the amount of BLT guys training is insane. There is like 70-80 people knocking out crazy times around there.

Warmed up 2.5 miles and did some drills and strides.

Main set. 3 x (5 mins, 2 float, 3 mins, 1 float, 2 mins, 2 walk). 

43 mins total. Ran with Andy throughout and set 2 Ellie & Kate were with us (and dropped us at the end). Really, really strong session tonight, over the moon with that. 6.03/mm avge for the block and covered 7.08 miles.

Paces were -

Set 1 

5.00 - 5.24/mm  

2.00 - 6.32/mm  

3.00 - 5.07/mm  

1.00 - 6.24/mm    

2.00 - 5.14/mm

Set 2 

5.00 - 5.19/mm  

2.00 - 6.52/mm  

3.00 - 5.13/mm  

1.00 - 7.28/mm    

2.00 - 5.25/mm

Set 3 

5.00 - 5.25/mm  

2.00 - 7.23/mm  

3.00 - 5.18/mm  

1.00 - 7.26/mm    

2.00 - 5.18/mm

2.3 miles cool down including jogging back from end of the road. Total session was 11.8 miles which is huge volume for me but ideal for what I need now.

Really pleased with that, the float was bloody hard work. Those paces slowed as waited for others at the start but main sets were all bang on

HR well under control. Feeling strong on these sessions and pointing to a very good winter. Still feels hard at the 5.0x pace but all in all very happy with that as a starting point.

Wednesday - am) Gym. Standard session. Not been for a week so just did same weight as last time. Glutes tired but to be expected. Aim to keep these going and build strength for speed and explosiveness (and some weight loss). Need to start cleaner diet which will be a challenge as I add more intensity and volume.

pm) was very tired in the afternoon but knocked out an east 5ish @ 7.50 pace feeling OK. Improvement on last week but still not quite 100% healthy.

Thursday - track. No coach tonight and a small group. 2 mile warm up then into session. 3 x (800/400/200) off 200, 200, 400 jog.

I paced Ellie round for the longer reps then her and Gabbi hammered me on the 200s lol.

Splits - [2.37, 74, 34] - [2.35, 76, 36] - [2.38, 73, 31]

Not sure why set 2 went so wobbly but started with a 75 lap on the 800m so likely that.

Felt OK, still not flowing on track but it's coming. Road session def moving better so just speed work that's missing and that'll happen as we roll through winter. 2k cool down.

Pretty pleased how things are going, long way to go but starting to feel like I could race soon. Just over 6 weeks until Battersea so loads of time. 

Friday - Gym. Tired morning and biblical rain outside. With trying to protect the porch footings becoming a 2nd pool was quite stressful. Went single leg mainly at Gym, was not a full session and still getting used to 2 sessions per week so called it a day at that. Wet and moody outside so not really fussed about a run. Going long (proper long) tomorrow so prob best just to relax tonight.

That's 3 strength sessions this week in the bag. 24 miles run already so will be almost 40 by tomorrow off 4 days. Really starting to progress nicely. Big thing this week is that I have 30 mins at around 5.20/mm from Tuesday and 12 mins @ 5/mm from Thursday bagged as quality. 

Will need to start pushing ahead with diet tracking now, purely to start feeling healthier and start to adapt to the fatigue increasing mileage will bring. I need to hit my macro goals. Weight wise I am bang on where I need to be. 10 st 3.9 lbs this morning. I haven't focussed on nutrition other than not eating out and not drinking (since Sunday lol).

Still lacking conditioning, cannot believe how strong I am on session days and how weak I am between them !!  I guess that's much better than the other way around.

Next week will likely see a considerable ramp as I do training camp at the weekend. I'm still getting over whatever was in my system. If (and it's a big one) I can stay niggle free I am really confident about where I can get top this season. 

Saturday - 15 @ 7.43/mm with Dan. Avoided the rain. Bit bleugh just getting through this one. Will take some consistency to get back on top of these. Makes it a solid week though with all boxes ticked and a day to go!

Pretty consistent pacing today. Legs felt heavy but kept them moving. Definitely in that training camp mode where recovery is instantly met by fatigue! I am going to be tired until I get conditioning in the legs. Bit achey afterwards but to be expected!

Sunday - late start. Felt very tired. 7.5 ish miles at around 7.50/mm nice and easy. Felt better as it went on but fatigue bubbled away. Ate shit food, time to crack on with the food tracking tomorrow.

46.4 miles for the week. That's approaching the first 'proper' week. 2 sessions, 1 long run, 3 x strength. Pretty happy with that. From now on though I need to start getting my macros right in order for me to recover. Tracking first half of next week to see progress.

Lots of ways to progress from here. Taking my nutrition more seriously along with generally getting fitter and sleeping better should should lead to improved performance without burning too many matches. What's important though is that Tuesday is fine to be a push session BUT Thursday has to be under control or things will get on top quickly.