Striders Marathon Training Run #3: The Farleigh 12

The weather forecast was cold but sunny. I couldn’t decide what to wear, so I asked Twitter…

The general consensus was shorts, so I wore shorts. In December. The girl who is always cold & wears a hoody in the middle of summer. Who am I?

Right choice. A GLORIOUS winter’s morning, cold, crunchy frost under foot but glorious winter sunshine above our heads!

I won’t lie, after yesterday’s cross country this was a tough run. My glutes & hamstrings were protesting from mile one (may also have been protesting about the number of squats I did on Friday morning but that is another story…). It was challenging but as I kept telling myself I need to get used to running on tired legs.

75% off-road it was the kind of run I enjoy. Many of the trails were familiar from some of my little exploring adventures earlier in the year but it was nice to hook several of my runs up into one longer route.

I’m sticking with the middle group for these longer club runs. At times it was a little on the slow side but at this stage I’d rather keep my long runs slower than push to soon.

12.25 Miles, 1:59:51, 9:47 min/mile (still well within my 9:30-10:00 LSR target), 825ft elevation gain

And I totally won at post-long-run recovery…

Rest & Recovery

After Saturday’s XC & Sundays long-run my legs were crazily sore & I could feel few little niggles brewing. I’m notoriously bad at listening to my body & easing off, I usually carry on pushing & end up injured & I can’t afford that this stage of training. My ‘official’ training schedule starts on Boxing Day & I have worked hard since my last injury in the summer to get back to full fitness. So, after the Fairleigh 12, I put my running shoes away, pulled out my goggles & spent the rest of the week in the pool.

Had a great week of swimming, reminded me how much I love the water. I’m hoping to keep up with one session in the pool a week whilst ultra training, I find it great recovery & good cross training. In fact I credit my speedy return to running form after a couple of months out injured this summer to the time I spent in the water.

So that triathlon I keep talking about…

Stop. One crazy goal at a time…

A super speedy Sunday ten

My feet were itchy, my legs felt ok, the sky was blue & the sun shining. I could not waste a glorious Sunday like this! My six days of rest were over, I was going running…

Having been obsessed with hills & mud recently I’d neglected some of my favourite London runs & just wanted something simple & flat(ish) so decided to run to Greenwich. This had been one of my favourite runs as I was training for Brighton & London marathons at the start of the year & although I’d cycled it over the summer I hadn’t run it since March.

Something worked in my rest week & route choice because this run felt good.

I started conservatively with 8:35 & 8:40 min miles, then I threw down the hammer & just ran. My miles got progressively quicker (bar a little blip in mile 6) before 7:40 at mile 9. I eased off for my final mile to cool down & when I saw the pace & splits was a little surprised!

10 miles, 1:22:05, 8:12 min per mile. And flat enough to not bother mentioning the elevation!

Met the husband in Greenwich, who’d given the motorbike a quick spin, for a wander round the Christmas market, coffee & lunch. Sent my running kit back with him on the bike & then discovered the trains home weren’t working… Doh!

22 miles run for the week with just under 900ft elevation gain. Plus 5 miles in the pool too!