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Spring 25/26 - Podium Race Week

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And just like that - race week is here. Status report - legs are battered and tired! In a good way, lots of volume, feel training fatigue and in the last 3 weeks I have pretty much hit everything I have aimed at. Parkrun last Saturday shows that on fresh legs, on a better course I should be capable of running well.  The negative - my left upper quad / hip flexor is sore and has been for a couple of weeks. My back is also very tight. Possibly related, either way I'll try and debug both myself. This week, the plan is a full taper. After 19 weeks of building from zero, BASE is done and I need to freshen up. 100% clean eating, massage on Thursday, physio on Wednesday, ease off everything (as per Batteresea) and give the body a 100% chance to feel absolutely pinging for Saturday. Monday Up, feel very tired but as previous a good training fatigue that shows training is working. Quad is sore, back is tight. Today the plan is to work through all the good stretches and rolling to try to re...
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Winter 25/26 - 10k Training Week 3

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Finally starting to feel a bit of consistency coming in.  Time to reflect - it's actually been a solid block now of training since resuming in November - 18 weeks. In that time I have only raced once so I think it's fair to call it base work !! Fitness is improving as are paces. I'm at the point where I am holding back effort and covering decent training volume at intensity.  I'm not getting carried away, I know I've done very little quick stuff but the plan was always to get to Thorney at threshold. It's March, the weather is picking up and I am healthy. One small niggle at the top of my left hip flexor / quad but that seems manageable and I'll keep an eye on it and stay on top of rehab. The plan this week is - rest Monday, threshold Tuesday, easy hour Wednesday, something like 12 x 400 @ 5k on Thursday, easy Friday, LT1-2 Parky Saturday and pace job for Cambridge half on Sunday. It's got opportunity this week as I want to give myself the option to hamm...
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Winter 25/26 - 10k Training Week 2

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Finally back on track after a few weeks of taper / illness affected training. It's felt like it would never stabilise but a solid session on Sunday was just what the doctor ordered. The plan this week is to continue with the build. Back to group training on Tuesday and benchmark some paces. Ideally confirm 16.45 pace for 5k and 35 flat pace for 10k. This week requires some moving around as we have a few things going on so I'll put a rare Monday run in and possibly need to go slightly longer for my long run. Monday 23rd February Weigh in 64.9 kg. Weight is now stabilising into the 64.xx range. It's been a long steady drop but I am in target range now where I'd like to be when race fit. From 67.xx in November to 66.xx in December I am now about right. Recovery run. Ended up feeling pretty bleugh after a late morning meeting and getting out later than expected. Fuel was not quite right but it was what it was. Dropped it to 7 miles @ 8.08/mm for 128 bpm. Good numbers but fe...
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Winter 25/26 - 10k Training Week 1

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And so, with the disaster of a non starting indoor season behind me I roll on to the build up for Thorney 10k. Catchup - Got fit, got ill. Currently getting over that and rebuilding. No sessions last week, just all mainly easy running. Monday Rest. Travel to Lisbon. Tuesday Up early. Run easy -> steady. Actually HR is almost entirely easy. 8.65 miles @ 7.16/mm @ 135 bpm. Felt good and nice ot be in shorts and tee shirt. LOTS of walking in the day and place is banged out full of hills and stairs. Wednesday Ditto. Decided on something steadier to see how things are. Definately feeling healthy now it's just getting crap off of my lungs. Little fresher out but still much warmer than home - 12 degrees or so at 8am. Stuck to the same sea front route as it's the only real flat piece of land in town. Route is made up of everything from rough cobbles (40%) to purpose made tarmac (30%) with the rest all sorts of shit. Not amazing under foot but not the worst. 10 min warm up, 40 min st...
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Indoor Race Block 2026 - Mile / 3000m

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Enter race week with a sore throat! After a pretty solid 14 week build from zero I hit my first real roadblock - a sore throat. First illness in about a year.  I think I'll do this update a bit different. No daily just waffle shit. Monday 2nd February 2026 Rested Monday as I wasn't feeling it at all. I'd rather be ill than injured but it drains the motivation out of my soul! Massage with Jenny and just chill. Pretty much make the call to can Wednesday as I just don't think I'll be ready by then plus I really don't need to put out a properly shite performance. Wake up Tuesday feeling better but still nowhere near 100%. Will jog later and do some strides just to do a basic engine check. From here the plan is to (ideally) carry on with Wednesday, do Tuesday session on Thurs, easy Friday, hit a Parkrun on Saturday harder, standard steady Sunday. That's the perfect comeback as I'll have opp at PR to get something out of the taper plus I'll bank a good T...
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Winter 25/26 - Indoor Training Block

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4 weeks to race fit. First one in the bag, plan from here is a solid 4 week block where I bring a 4.57 road mile down to a 4.45 indoor track mile !! And hopefully follow that with a sub 9.20 3k. Big plans, I'm sitting pretty so far I just need my body and the weather to play ball !! Outlined the rough plan but the changes from here are mainly - a mile/3k pace session each week, shorter, steadier long run and a steady run. I'll use the odd Parkrun on my long run but the basic principle is continuing long threshold work, basic rehab and consistent 55 mile weeks. Week 1  Monday 5th January 2026 Weigh in 66.5kg. Frustrating ! No idea why that's gone back up, possibly too many crisps and possibly need to reintroduce tracking. I'll see how things pan out this week. No run today but hit gym for uppers and rehab. Small bit of plyo - these are going to be key. My right ankle is still massively unstable and my left hip still has issues. Along with the weather these are the only t...
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