Welcome to my training report for week commencing 23rd February 2015. Part of a series of weekly reports, briefly summarising my training during that week and plans for the following week. You will find the vast majority of my workouts published through my Strava, Runkeeper and Movescount accounts. Where applicable I have provided direct links to specific workouts on Strava below, should you wish to see more detail on them. OK so lets get into it…

Last week (commencing 23rd February 2015)

Well it was all going so well!  The week began with what I thought was hay fever (yes I get it really early from tree pollen) but some became apparent was illness as well.   I started the week with good intentions but after my Monday run I was pretty wiped out and couldn’t face either the turbo session or run hill reps I had planned for mid week.  I took a total break from running and instead focussed on core strength work, specifically on my quads in preparation for the Hardmoors 55 coming up.

By Friday I felt well enough to return to runnings and despite not feeling 100% was pleasantly surprised with the pace I could hold.  However following this my two planned early morning long runs were binned as again was feeling pretty wiped out.  Come Sunday afternoon was feeling perkier, so strapped on the trail shoes and headed out for a lovely run along the river.  Again as with Friday was pleasantly surprised to be able to hold 12kph pace despite all the mud and strong head winds.

So on the plus side I got lots of core work in which will only help in my up coming races.  Some re-planning for the coming week to try and squeeze my long runs in before starting my two week taper into my next race.   Hopefully the illness is behind me and I can get the next block of training completed successfully

Monday

Morning core session

Wot no footbridge! Ely

Headed out for an easy recovery run, decided to mix it up by taking a new route home. Despite Ordnance Surveys assurances the footpath eventually disappeared and was left to jump a eight foot dyke and find my way back across The Fens in the failing light. Made it eventually, although had to push the pace harder than planned to make it home before dark. Legs didn’t feel too bad after last weeks run, even with the heavy mud and flooding on the majority of the trails. 6 °C, WC: 0 °C, 35km/h WSW, 64%

Tuesday

Complete rest

Wednesday

Morning core session

Thursday

Morning core session

Friday

Lunchtime trail run, Ely

Few days off with sickness, so decided on a nice easy trail run for my return. Felt pretty good and beautiful day to be out running, sweating out the remainder of my cold. Felt so good that I pushed harder on the final few km’s to test legs and fitness out. Hip flexors felt a little tight on outbound leg but a quick stretch seemed to ease things a lot. 6 °C, WC: 2 °C, 20km/h WNW, 72%

Saturday

Morning core session

Sunday

Racing Under The Weather, Ely

Been feeling ropey all week so had to bin two planned morning long runs this weekend. Feeling a little better this afternoon, got a pass from the family, so headed out for a 2 hour trail run. Bad weather on the way and despite feeling q little ropey decided to push the pace a little. Felt great and comfortably held 12kph on the way out, despite strong head wind and thick mud. Started to tire on return leg but still bought it but just under 12kph. Pretty happy considering how the week has been and just beat the rain home, so full marks all round. 10 °C, 31km/h W, 50%

Weekly summary:

In the last week there was 6 hours 39 minutes of training, with a TSS of 454.6 and total distance of 52.5km broken down as follows:

  • Run: 52.5km in 4h 29m
  • Cycle: None
  • Swim: None
  • Core work: 2h 10m

Plan for next week (commencing 2nd March 2015)

With my next race only 4 weeks away, I will continue to build the mileage and also inject some hill work into my training.  The Hardmoors 55 is a late addition to my racing calendar and is the hilliest ultra I have attempted to date.  Living in the Cambridgeshire Fens, hills are few and far between.  However being creative this can be overcome and I will include some hill work on the turbo trainer to help build leg strength, along with some hill repeats while out running.

Here is the plan for this week

Monday (Double run day)

  • Early morning long run up to two hours
  • Easy lunchtime run 

Tuesday

  • Rest day with full core session

Wednesday

  • One hour endurance turbo ride

Thursday

  • Rest day with full core session

Friday

  • Three hour long trail run

Saturday

  • Three hour long trail run

Sunday

  • Rest day with full core session

So that’s the plan! Feel free to follow my progress through my Strava, Runkeeper or Movescount accounts. Will be back next week with an update on how it went and plan for the next training block.